so we booked our wedding venue.

photos from this trip

as of yesterday, we have officially booked our wedding venue!  it is my absolute dream venue in santa barbara and the perfect combination of rustic, woodsy, coastal, and romantic.  we’ve never even seen it in person but i am completely and totally obsessed with it.  i’m getting so giddy just typing this!  our date is pretty inflexible due to reis’ med school schedule so that made it rather difficult when searching for venues.  when i originally e-mailed our venue, they said they were booked the whole month of november.  so the search continued.  then about a week later, they e-mailed me saying they had accidentally overlooked the schedule and our date was actually available!!  meant. to. be.  anyways, i’m ecstatic.  so is reis.  we just show it differently (i.e. i text all of my best friends immediately with multiple exclamation points (!!!) and he just says “that’s awesome.”)  oh, i love him.

thanks so much mom and dad for going to check it out AND for being our wedding planners AND for dealing with all the “fun” stuff like contracts.  i love you.

our easter.

remembering what jesus did for us and his eternal promises.

going to sunrise service at waimea bay.

coffee drinking.

after-church picnicking + catching up with friends.

lounging on the north shore.

napping for me + surfing for reis.

i love easter.

my wedding planner.

ever since we got engaged, i have been wanting to get a wedding planner/notebook to stay organized.  our friend brett gave me a moleskine notebook awhile ago and it was too beautiful to just do any ordinary thing with it so i was saving it for something “special.”  i think our wedding is pretty dang special so i decided to convert it into our wedding planner!  i printed out martha stuart’s wedding checklist to stick in there, have been picking up paint chips for color inspiration (mint + neutrals is what i am currently loving), and have been jotting down random notes here and there regarding photographers, venues, videographers, yadda yadda.  i also started on our guest list (that thing is hard to make!) and things are starting to come together.  it’s all just so exciting!

i really am loving being engaged.  such a fun and happy and special time for reis and me and i want to savor every moment.

flower faux pas.

bottled drinks are expensive.  so i’ve been saving them for a dual purpose: vases for my kitchen window sill!  with lame faux flowers.  so chic, i know.  but i am never home and would forget to add fresh water blah blah blah.  so they would probably die faster than i could enjoy them.  enter: fake flowers!  i actually kinda like em.  and they make my kitchen all cheery.

sunday dinner.

i am loving this whole “doesn’t get  dark til after 7″ thing.  reis and i went to diamond head market & grill last night for dinner and it felt like summer!  it’s close to my house and has really good fresh, local food.  or you can buy stuff inside the market to take to go.  yum yum.

p.s.  can you believe it’s april??  what the heck?  i swear it was just january and i was in california for new years’s eve.  but this means that there are only 2 more weeks until tax season is officially OVER.  and amen to that because i am struggling.  so much stress, so little time.  i am super excited to get my life back to normal and have saturdays free again!  my skin is looking way too pale from being trapped inside all day and i cannot wait to camp out at the beach all.day.long.  let the countdown begin!

running essentials.

i like running. a lot.  i like running even more when it’s not tax season and i can actually go on runs.  outside.  in the sunlight.  not on a treadmill at 10:00 at night.

anyways, here are a few of my running must-haves!

lululemon tank and shorts:  expensive.  (ridiculously overpriced, actually) but kinda worth it.  their run: speed short is my absolute favorite, but each pair is $54.

shoes: i’ve been trying out different running shoe brands and haven’t found one i love.  i overpronate so i need stability shoes and i’ve tried a few different asics and mizunos.  still on a mission to find my fave.

garmin 405: THE watch that this girl made famous.  less bulky than the 305.  really good for anal people like me who like to know their exact pace/distance/etc. every 43 seconds.

headband: i have a sweet cowlic and awesome flyaways so headbands are a must for me.

nike sport bras: love their dri-fit ones.  and i normally find mine at nordstrom rack or ross for $12.

nike compression shorts & tank:  sometimes in the super hot summers here in hawaii, i like to wear spandex and a looser top when i run.  baggy shorts + ultra sweat = not a good combo.

clif shot bloks: awesome for long runs and good flavor options.  or whenever you feel like a gummy bear but are trying to be “healthy.”

iPod suffle: get the older 2G.  it’s not a touch screen so i like that a lot (sweaty hands/touch screen not a good mix) and it’s perfect for clipping to your shorts or tank.