an unforgettable bridal shower.

there are really no adequate words to describe the unbelievably AMAZING bridal shower my sister, sister-in-law, and two best friends threw for me a few weekends ago in california.  like, seriously.  just look at these photos!  what!?!  i still look through them and am just amazed by every single detail and beauty of it all AND the fact that they did it all for me!  i am blessed beyond measure, that is for sure.  they all know how much i love little details so they went over-the-top in every. single. aspect of the night with intricacies that i appreciated more than they will ever know.  when i first walked out into the yard, i’m pretty sure my jaw just about hit the floor.  i was seriously in awe at everything in front of my eyes that i immediately ran back inside to grab my camera because light was escaping us and the beautifulness NEEDED to be captured on my camera before it was too dark.

the table settings were impeccable and glamourous (so in love with the green bottles/vases and black & white striped runners).  the gorgeous market lights were strung just for my shower by heather’s dad!  the escort table (yes, they had an escort table!) had custom designed name tags for every guest.  the appetizers and dinner (mostly made by the talented janelle) were insanely delicious.  the food presentation was incredibly detailed (how cute are those little glittery pom poms?!).  they had an italian soda bar, a bellini bar (complete with black & white striped straws), a candy station (with a ridiculously cute backdrop that heather made!), AND a dessert bar (with hundreds of homemade goodies & an ombre cake)!  they had customized mint favors at every place setting, beautiful and classy balloons (of which the hanging garlands were slaved over by my sister for 3 days!), matching sugar paper napkins, customized labels for every dish/drink/dessert (taylor did ALL of the design for the night and i loved that it was all cohesive from the invitation to the signage to the name tags!)…i really could go on and on and on about everything.  it was a truly unforgettable night and i am forever grateful to my hostesses (and everyone else who helped!) for going to great lengths in planning this event and for making me feel so special in this exciting time of my life!  love you guys SO. MUCH.

for more deets on this “bridal shower of a century” as my good friend ann-marie has coined the event (and quite accurately so!),  janelle’s recap is  here and you can also check out ann-marie’s post here — she helped set up and took a ton of beautiful photos!

1st photo by my sis, photos 3&4 by ann-marie

weddings require a lot of dresses.

two weekends ago my mom came to hawaii so she could be here for my bridal shower that reis’ mom and aunty threw for me (it was an adorable italy-themed soiree in honor of our honeymoon destination)!  we also utilized the time she was here to shop for the necessary dresses i need for wedding events quickly approaching — my california bridal shower (this weekend!), my bachelorette party, the rehearsal dinner, and our north shore reception.  as you can see, sparkles and sequins were at the top of my list and i’d say i was pretty successful (and of course i needed some sparkly shoes to top everything off).  can’t wait for the weekend!  my last trip to california before we go back for THE WEDDING!

1.5 days in california.

here’s a little timeline of how our [crazy, jam-packed, no sleep] weekend went down.

5:00 AM – i land at LAX.  reis was on a different flight (long story) so i hang out in the terminal and use some free wi-fi.  my dad picks me up and we go to starbucks while we wait for reis’ flight.  which got delayed about 3 times.

8:15 AM – pick reis up and head over to intelligentsia coffee in silverlake.

9:00 AM – meet up with the adorable kristine (our amazing letterpress printer who printed our invitations!) to pick up our wedding invites.  (oh MY, i cannot wait to show you!)

9:30 AM – drive to santa barbara.

11:00 AM – see our venue for the first time ever.  it took my breath away!  it was even better than i had expected (and i had really high expectations!).  we planned out some logistics of the layout/setup, etc.

1:00 PM – meet my cousins at los arroyos in downtown sb for some ridiculously good mexican food.  and we were starving at this point so it tasted even more delicious.

4:30 PM – (not pictured) a wedding hair trial!

6:30 PM – we meet my niece and snuggle that ridiculously adorable face.

8:00 PM – my mom cooks a delicious homemade family dinner to celebrate my 25th year of life with my entire fam (i feel so old now).

8:30 PM – my girlfriends  come over to help me assemble our invitations…and they stay until the crack of dawn.  literally.  (thanks so much you guys!)

4:00 AM – finally get to bed after realizing i didn’t really sleep the night before, and oh yeah, i’m kinda tired.

9:00 AM – family breakfast!

10:00 AM – more niece snuggling.

12:00 PM – finish the invitations.  ready for mail out!

1:00 PM – (not pictured) second to last wedding dress fitting with my mama!  (it is turning out beautifully and exactly what i wanted…and more.)

3:00 PM – back to the airport we go.

and back i go to CA again in 3 weeks for my bridal shower!  i cannot wait.

my newest obsession.

this past weekend, reis and i flew to LA for a super quick trip with the main reason being to meet our precious new niece, ryan nicole.  she was born two weeks ago and i have been dying to snuggle those cheeks since the minute she was born.  i am overwhelmed with the amount of love i have for her and i never knew i could feel this way about anyone!  i wouldn’t necessarily say i’m a “baby person” and never really understood how people could just stare at babies for hours.  oooh ohhh NOW i get it.  i literally could just watch her for the whole day and be perfectly content.  i already miss her like crazy and can’t wait until i get to see her again in just a few weeks!  for now, i just demand my sister and brother-in-law send me a daily pic (or 2 or 3 or 4) to get my ryry fill for the day.

the rest of our weekend was filled to the max and we were incredibly productive doing wedding stuff (more pics of the weekend to come soon)!  it was way too short like always, but so special and fun to be with my entire family for the first time since ryan was born.

sunday funday.

this past sunday was a much needed day of relaxation from all things work and wedding planning.  after church we spent most of the afternoon at the beach where we set up camp and i proceeded to take a much needed nap.  reis’ one request for the wedding is that i “get a little bit of color” — so hopefully this weekend helped offset the results of me being trapped in my cubicle all week.  we are less than two months away from the big day and with everything left to do, it will be hard to fit in more days like this, but i sure hope we can squeeze them in somewhere.  i need to be pried away from my computer screen more often — lately i’ve been going straight from work to my home computer designing wedding stuff until the wee hours of the morning and then bam, i’m back at work in front of a computer. again.  i kinda forgot how much i loved hawaii until this weekend!  we are so blessed to have gorgeous beaches like this such a short drive away.

sweet november.

image of vernazza (one of our stops in italy) via

november will pretty much be the BEST MONTH OF MY ENTIRE LIFE.  i am getting married to my best friend.  we leave for ITALY (!!!) on our honeymoon the day after our wedding.  then we fly back to hawaii 10 days later and our north shore reception will be held in reis’ parent’s backyard 2 days after thanksgiving!  and my whole family is flying out for it too!!  i can’t believe it’s all coming up so quick!  so much to do – so little time!  but i am enjoying every single minute of it.  it’s so weird — i want the next two months to fly by so it can be here already, yet i want it to go super slow so i have more time to do everything i want/need to do for both our CA wedding and our HI reception.   i am trying to blog as often as i can (which obviously isn’t happening) just so i can re-live this special time in my life when i’m feeling nostalgic.  but dang…time is of the essence and any of it that i do have is spent crafting, scheming, and designing (three of my favorite things!).  so considering wedding stuff will be taking over my life (plus 2 more trips to california before the wedding), this will probably become “my wedding diary” blog for the next 2 months.  hope you’re okay with that.