this photo sums up my saturday morning.  i slept in, got up and did some work, went back to sleep until 2, and then went out for a late lunch with reis.  it was really amazing.  the rest of the weekend i was wildly productive with random projects i’ve been working on (i’m a little too obsessed with checking things off my list), i started working on the jayAdores site design 2.0 (i’m really excited about this one), and we started planning our honeymoon (i’m really reallllyyy excited about this one!).  all in all, i feel super refreshed today and i think my r & r on saturday is really helping me hate this monday much less than i normally despise this day of the week!

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.

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.

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!

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.

(photo taken at papailoa beach, the morning reis proposed!)

oh hey blog.  nice to see you again.  it’s been awhile.

this girl has been busy.  reis finally got his tentative schedule for next year so we were able to pick a tentative date.  we are getting married in california (hopefully santa barbara/santa ynez area!) so i’ve been scouring the internet searching for venues.  i’ve e-mailed about 15 places:

3 don’t hold events anymore

5 are booked the entire weekend of our date

2 are too small and won’t hold the amount of guests we will be having

3 haven’t responded

1 that’s oh ya know, only $22,000 to bare bones rent the place,

and 1 that might actually work (hallelujah praise the Lord!)

wedding planning is so so fun.  it’s all i want to do.  (but hot dang, i’m realizing that weddings are so ridiculously expensive.  so many 4 and 5-digit numbers that make my head spin.)  on my lunch breaks i’m sending out e-mails to vendors, texting pics of wedding dresses to my mom and sister, reading wedding blogs, and then when i get home until i go to bed, i’m googling venues and making uber-cool formulaic excel spreadsheets to stay organized.  planning a wedding from 2,500 miles away is a bit difficult.  but thank goodness for my amazing parents who are just plain awesome and are going to great lengths to make our special day so very special.  oh and that groom of mine?  he’s pretty great too. (i.e. sample convo: me: “hey babe, what do you think of this place?” him: “yeahh, looks cool, sounds great”.  good answer.)

happy aloha friday!