Blog Heaven

I have to admit that in the past couple of weeks I have really gotten into the wedding blog scene. I can't help myself! There are so many inspirational wedding blogs out there that you can't help but get lost searching through them. One minute your sitting there and then all of a sudden you realize an hour has gone by and you have a million ideas for something as simple as place cards!
I have loved going through wedding magazines with my mom and sister for as long as I can remember and I guess this is just the next step in my wedding planning addiction.
There are probably a million wedding blogs (trust me, I've done the leg work) but here are some of my fav's:
Style Me Pretty
erin ever after
Once Wed
East Side Bride *so funny
La Belle Bride
Sienna Wedding

And of course my standby fav websites:
The Knot
Martha Stewart Wedding

Words to live by...

This weekend I went to see my handsome fiance for the first time since we got engaged.  I love going down to visit Kevin because we get to spend some quality time together and it's so different than life here in NYC.

Anyway... Kevin and I encountered something while driving from downtown back to his house in Milton (see below for action shot)

I decided that, while very stange that the lady had decals professionally made and placed on her car, were words to live by... and ultimately qualified to be shared on this blog:

In case you can't make that out... it says "I love my husband... Even when he's grouchy"

Engagement Presents..

I've received two really great gifts since Kevin and I became engaged... Not sure if anybody else is in the market for an engagement present for a friend but I figured I would share...

The first one is a beautiful pair of Waterford champagne flutes for our toast at the reception (my sister comes through again!). They are really lovely and I can't wait to get to use them...

The next is an awesome martini glass (thanks Kat!).  If you aren't familiar with Lolita glasses... you should be.  They are really funny hand painted martini or wine glasses with cocktail recipes on the bottom.  I received the engagement one...

and here is the recipe that is painted on the bottom...

Celebration!

Well last night I celebrated the recent engagement with some of my closest friends. We went to the Bourgeois Pig and had so much fun! In case anybody was looking for a great place to go for drinks/fondue after work you should definitely go here -  It's really cool inside and best of all... they have 1/2 price bottles of wine on Mondays and Tuesdays!

Engagement Pictures!

I thought I would share some of the pictures from the night we got engaged. These pictures were taken right after it happened... at approximately 1am!

I had started crying after Kevin asked me and ended up getting mascara all over his shirt... so this picture is me pointing to a perfect eyelash mark...

Here is a close up of the ring...

Awww....

I wish I had more but we could only stand still for a couple seconds... just long enough to take these.

Wedding Planner/Organizer

So my incredible sister just gave me a great planner/organizer to help keep me organized during this planning process.  It's really awesome and is going to be so helpful! It's a binder so it makes it easier to add things as I go. It comes with a 3-hole puncher to add in anything I need, clear bags to put any loose ends in, folders, business card holders (got my 1st card for a photographer on Friday!) and even a hot pink bag that says "Bride" on it! The last part is actually true but I don't think I'll be using that.
It also has great tips for saving money and developing a budget.

It's basically the Cadillac of wedding organizers.

The "Big" Question (from Kevin's perspective)

The Question. Well actually it’s two questions starting with asking the father then asking his daughter. After exchanging a few emails with Anne’s Dad we agreed to speak over Easter Weekend.  Now this seems easy enough, but let me tell you it can be a bit stressful. Fortunately, all went well and I received the green light to ask Anne.  I had originally planned to speak with PK (Anne’s Dad) over Easter then surprise Anne a few weeks later, however, in light of my recent success with PK and having the ring in hand (courtesy of Derek’s “Diamond Guy” who is phenomenal) I had the urge to be spontaneous. A bit of advice to guys who find themselves in a similar situation and are reading this; make sure your ready to pop the question in front of her ENTIRE family. As I mentioned this was a family weekend filled with family events so my proposal was not on the official agenda. I finally found a window of opportunity between Sneaky Pete’s, which is a story for another time, and bedtime.  Anne was distracted in our room when I turned her around and dropped to my knee. Now I know there was no band, champagne glass, or clever gimmick, which is nice, but what I had worked out just fine; a ring and the element of surprise. And Let me tell you she was surprised! She didn’t believe it was happening until the ring was on her finger. The conversation we had will remain a mystery because she apparently had a conscious blackout and I’m keeping that hilarious gem to myself. What transpired after was your normal wake up the parents and sister routine to tell them the big news as I hang in the corner hoping they’d invite me back next year. I guess everything is ok with them because they treated me to breakfast the next morning!  

(*picture from right after it happened to follow sometime next week!)

It all started when...

I guess we should start from the beginning...

We met the summer going into our senior year of College. To be more specific... we met July 3, 2007.
My cousin, Jacqueline, had dated Kevin's cousin, Drew, at the time and they had a 4th of July party to go to in Red Bank (shout out to Grace!) to watch the fireworks. As it turns out - Kevin and I were both dragging our feet... but Jacqueline promised me that Drew's older cousin was cute... so I agreed. As I recall, Drew had to do some persuading himself to get Kevin to attend the party too.
The actual moment I laid eyes on Kevin are documented. See below for the progression of  pictures... and please note Jacqueline standing next to me.

We had the best night ever together... and just clicked the moment we spoke to each other. We love to retell our own versions of that night (who spoke to who first, etc) but it definitely set the groundwork for what would happen exactly 2 summers later.
We went out a couple more times that summer of '07- Kevin is from Barrington and I would visit PC - but eventually Kevin had to go back to school and so did I.

One day in May 2009 I got a message from Kevin looking to catch up.  I was surprised but so happy to hear from him.  We exchanged emails a couple of times before we took to the phone.  We were worlds apart - Kevin in Corpus Christi, TX and me in SoHo, NYC - but we had more of a connection than ever.
Kevin decided to come visit for the same 4th of July party and things got very serious very fast.
See below for the pictures from the same party - July 3, 2009 (check out Kevin's awesome patriotic shirt):

I visited Kevin in Corpus 2 weeks later and the rest is history! We visited each other every 2-3 weeks and Kevin even lived with me and my lovely roommate, Ali, for the month of November.
Kevin popped the question in the wee hours of April 4th, 2010... but I'll let him tell that story!