Winter Wonderland to the Sunshine State

So my traveling definitely didn't go as originally planned, but yesterday I finally made it to sunny Florida. We were snowed in on Saturday so my flight was definitely canceled! Luckily, thanks to JetBlue it was super easy to reschedule. I think it took me all of 5 minutes online! I must admit I was secretly hoping it would be canceled so I could stay and play in the snow with Nicholas. We had so much fun! I think we ended up getting like 18 - 20 inches of snow! The Poe Cat was very puzzled by the snow and spent several hours staring out the window on Saturday.



But then he tired out and spent the rest of the day looking like this.



Here are a couple pictures of us outside.






My leg in the snow in our front yard!!


Our Street



I can't believe yesterday I was looking outside and seeing tons of snow and now I'm in Florida totally focused on the wedding! I finished the seating chart over the weekend and I think I've got everyone at a table where they will be comfortable and have fun. I think the only thing I have left to do is put names on the place cards!

This afternoon I'm going with my sister, my bridesmaids, and some friends to my parent's condo at the beach for my bachelorette party! The wedding is in 5 days! I'm so excited!

Getting Married in 9 Days!!

Nicholas and I are officially in the single digit wedding countdown…9 days to go! I am so excited I can hardly stand it!! Today was my last day of work (short day – we all left at 11) until January 6th! I am supposed to fly to Orlando tomorrow, but it looks like my traveling plans could get a little interesting. We are under a winter storm warning until 6 am on Sunday!


(from weather.com)
5 to 8 inches of snow tonight and accumulating 6 to 10 inches tomorrow…that’s a lot of snow for Virginia! I think our last snow was only 1 or 2 inches.

Luckily, I have plenty of time to get to Orlando and worse case being delayed a day or two isn’t that bad! After all the snow I’m sure I will be happy to arrive in sunny Florida!

Another one of our engagement pictures

Distracted Online Fun

Once again I am completely useless at work...all I can think about is my wedding in 10 days (and Spain)! Since I've been so unbelievably distracted lately, I've discovered two websites that I now absolutely love...polyvore and alice. I've been playing on polyvore for hours today. I don't know why I find it so enjoyable to recreate my outfits online, but it is so much fun!

I actually just discovered alice yesterday while I was reading a post by the future mrs. smith. I immediately created an account and started searching for products that the fiance and I use. (Literally 20 minutes after I found this site the fiance called to tell me we were almost out of toilet paper...so I added it to the cart!) What a great way to make sure our home is always stocked with the necessities! Not to mention, shipping is free (I so hate paying for shipping). I am such an organizer, so I basically jump for joy when I discover any new way to further organize my life.

Obviously I couldn't spend all that time online without looking at clothes...and now I am in love with this top I found at Anthropologie. It has little buttons in the back are simply fabulous! I'm definitely stopping in our Anthro after my hair appointment this afternoon to see if they have it!


(Anthropologie Partly Cloudy Top)

Wedding Countdown: 10 days

Random Tuesday Fun

I decided to take a half day off work today to do some honeymoon packing. The fiance and I decided that we are only going to bring carry-on bags, so I need plenty of time to be organized with my packing. This could get interesting because I am a serious over-packer!

This last week before leaving for Florida and the wedding is turning out to be quite a busy one! This morning at work we had our holiday party (and a little surprise celebration for my upcoming wedding...so sweet of everyone) and tonight I have the Junior League holiday party. Believe it or not, I am even getting Nicholas out of the library to come with me! Tonight's low temperature is 31 so maybe I will wear my fabulous red coat.

With all the craziness lately I am having a difficult time relaxing. I'm not someone who is satisfied doing nothing...it stresses me out rather than relaxing me. So I've been beading a lot lately when I need a break from my never-ending to do list. These are two of my newest creations.




(I didn't realize it when I bought these beads, but this necklace goes great with the Lilly Pulitzer skirt in this post.)

Another exciting thing today - the weather is finally warm enough (high of 57) for me to wear these shoes! I bought them at Anthropologie (they are A. Marinelli) about a month ago and I haven't gotten a chance to wear them until today!



Random cute picture of the Poe Cat. He was playing in the sheets while I made the bed. I realized the other day that if I follow the Poe Cat around with a camera I am probably going to be so much worse when I have kids!



Wedding Countdown: 12 Days

It's Getting So Close!

I cannot believe it's already Monday! After my shopping excursion on Saturday I spent Sunday catching up on laundry (and then doing all the ironing I created from doing laundry). I got it all finished, so now I can start packing for the honeymoon. I'm leaving for Florida on Saturday and I want to have our honeymoon bags packed and ready to go so I don't have to think about them next week!

I'm so excited to get to my parents' house and finally see our ketubah! I spent months searching for what I wanted (simple, pretty, and definitely nothing overdone or too ornate) with no luck at all. Finally, I stumbled across an artist, jenniferraichman, on etsy.com that had exactly what I wanted. This is a sample picture of the ketubah design we chose from her etsy page.



We are using different text that what's in the picture and instead of six lines at the bottom ours only has five - 2 on top for Nicholas and me and 3 on the bottom for our two witnesses and the rabbi. It would forever drive me crazy if we had three witness lines and one of them was blank!

I still need shoes for my going away dress! I don't know why I've waited until the last minute to do some of these things...I just haven't been able to make up my mind about what I want. This is the dress I'm wearing (from Anthropologie).



We're going to the airport directly from the reception so I'm thinking pumps - definitely nothing too strappy. My problem is what color! At first I was thinking just something black (but fun)...but then I thought maybe purple (my sister suggested red). I just don't know!

These Franco Sarto pumps come in both red and purple on endless.com (which I totally love). They're really pretty, but just not incredibly fun! Has anyone seen any fun pumps lately that would go with this dress? Should I go with a bright color or something more traditional/classic?




Wedding Countdown: 13 Days

Happy Hanukkah!

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah! Since the fiancé is in the middle of a week and a half of finals we just celebrated with dinner at home. Even the Poe Cat was feeling festive.


(Doesn’t he look thrilled?)

As I mentioned in a previous post (Hanukkah Fun) my soon to be mother in law bought a beautiful menorah for Nicholas and me, but I'm afraid it will get ruined if we actually use it! My idea was just to keep that one for decoration and buy another one to actually use. Unfortunately, the pickins are pretty slim on Judaica where we live (AKA candles were the only Hanukkah item I could find and the only store that had them was World Market). My plan was to order one online, but I’ve been so busy lately that I completely forgot! By the time I remembered it was too late to order anything and have it arrive in time…so I had to come up with another idea. Here’s a picture of what I made for the fiancé and I to use this Hanukkah.





This morning, while the fiancé went for his daily date with the library, I made a quick trip to Lynchburg (a little over an hour from where we live). There are two J. Crew clearance stores there and they are fabulous! Anything returned from online or catalog purchases is sent to these stores, so they definitely aren't outlet stores. It's great for me because they have some petite items. Obviously it’s kind of hit or miss, but today was definitely a hit! I bought a coat, cami, and skirt for under $200. Love it!


Double-Cloth Lady Coat in dark poppy


Frances Silk Ruffle Cami in ivory


Perfect Pencil Skirt

Wedding Countdown: 15 Days

Happy 101 Award

Thank you so much to Desperately Seeking Seersucker for giving me the Happy 101 award! So sweet of her and I love her blog! Here are the rules:

1. List 10 things that make you happy.
2. Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.

10 things that make me happy:
1. my very soon to be hubby Nicholas
2. the Poe Cat
3. living in the South
4. meeting other Kappa Deltas
5. making pretty jewelry
6. pretty stationery
7. baking
8. drinking mimosas at brunch
9. receiving letters and cards in the mail
10. wearing Lilly Pulitzer to brighten a gloomy winter day (or really any day...)

10 bloggers that brighten your day:
1. Keyola Pey
2. Pink and Green Precious and Preppy
3. Tales of a Short southern Momma
4. The Preppy Pearl (I love her post today about Bewitched - a fave show of mine!)
5. Emily Elizabeth and the Big Blue Dogs
6. Jewish Girl in WASPs Clothing
7. The Preppy Pink and Green Puppy
8. Spotty Prep Goes Healthy
9. Life is Better in Heels
10. Maryland Pink and Green

Wedding Countdown: 17 Days

What I'm Loving Today

The weather is gloomy today and it has me dreaming of sunshine and bright colors. With the wedding so close I am having such a hard time concentrating on work, so I decided to take a little internet shopping break. (Ok, I probably would be doing this even if I could concentrate…) Here are some of my favorite gloomy weather mood brightening finds.

1. Lilly Pulitzer Tradewind Vintage Capri Printed in Multi What the Shell Patch: I’ve loved these for awhile, but they don’t have them in our Lilly store (so I can't try them on for the tailor to see if he can take them in to my size). I need to see if they can have them sent to the store for me to try!


2. Lilly Pulitzer Harper Dress in Glistening Green Madly Glamorous: This dress is fabulous! It would be so much fun for my upcoming Spanish honeymoon.


3. Kate Spade Puzzle Jacquard Dyan Dress: The shape of this dress is so classically pretty and I love a good ruffle.


4. Kate Spade Coney Island Stevie Bag: I love green! Enough said.


5. Kate Spade Keswick Channing Charm Bracelet: So pretty


6. Rugby Ruthie Wool Vest in Marigold. Love this vest. I usually steer clear of yellow on the top half of my body (it does horrible things to my skin tone), but I think a vest in this shade might work.


7. Boden Silk Printed Scarf: I love silk scarves. They keep my neck covered in cold weather, but they aren’t too stifling to keep on inside.


8. Boden Soho Blazer: There’s been such a serious shortage of colored blazers this fall, but I love this one!


Wedding Countdown: 18 Days

Snowy Weekend Recap

We had our first snow of the winter on Saturday! Nicholas woke me up at 7 (as he was leaving for the library) to show me how beautiful it was outside! I think we got like 2-4 inches of snow. I’m so excited it finally feels like winter. Here are a few pictures from early Saturday morning just after it began snowing.


Our apartment is one of five in this old house (c. 1880 I think). I know...I clearly have an obsession with pretty old restored buildings.



Obviously it was super cold outside, so I stayed in and got a lot done around the house while Nicholas spent most of the day at the library. (I think this is his last week of classes before a week and a half of finals begins!) For dinner, I made a big pot of turkey chili…perfect for a cold, snowy night and we stayed in for a 3 weeks until our wedding champagne celebration and family game night (we tried to make the Poe Cat play, but he was more interested in attacking the game pieces). We have a serious collection of board games (cool..I know) and Saturday we pulled out Clue Mysteries. Such a fun game!



Yesterday I finally finished and ordered our guestbook. I made a photo book from Creative Memories and I think it’s going to turn out really well. (Although honestly at this point I don’t really care, just as long as we have something for guests to sign!) I’ve had such a time getting the book finished because for whatever reason I couldn’t make anything look exactly how I wanted it. I think I tried like 4 or 5 different types of photo book software before finally going back to Creative Memories (where I started originally)! This is the picture I put on the cover. It’s one of my favorite engagement pictures!



Nicholas and I also bought our angel tree presents yesterday. I got two angel tree tags from Junior League; one 18 months old boy who wanted a piano (what?!) and a 2 year old boy who wanted a Go Diego Go 3-in-1 potty training set. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing! Lol I’m sure we looked crazy standing in the middle of the baby section staring at potty training stuff! I think we ended up picking out gifts that will make both little boys happy. I wrapped them when we got home and dropped them off today. I kind of want to get more…I love buying angel tree gifts!

Here’s a cute random picture of the Poe Cat!

Busy Week and Getting Excited for Spain

With the wedding practically around the corner there is so much for me to do! Between work, finalizing last minute wedding details, trying to find time to decorate for the holidays, and starting to think about honeymoon packing I hardly even have time to sleep. I feel like I’ve been all over the place lately! I finished all my shower thank you notes on Monday, but I kept forgetting to mail them until this morning (when I forgot again, but remembered just as I was leaving for work so I ran back in to get them).

After about an hour of work this morning I decided to take half a day off today and spend some much needed time getting wedding stuff done. I have a provisional/sustainer Junior League social and cookie swap tonight so there is just no way I would have been able to finish everything if I stayed at work until five! Luckily, I had time last night and I made cute Hanukkah cookies to take to JL so I didn’t have to worry about that today.



I’ve gotten so much accomplished in just a few hours at home today! One huge thing to cross off my list is sending our band a song list. I’m so happy to have that finished! Well, almost finished because I still don’t know what songs to use for the bouquet/garter toss. I just don’t want anything cheesy, but I don’t really know what kind of song would go there. Any suggestions? What songs did y’all use for those?

I’m also in the process of working on the seating chart for the reception. I feel like I’ve read a lot online about this being stressful, but I actually think it’s kind of fun. It’s like a puzzle. (Odd, I know...probably the same reason I’m an accountant.) I think I have spreadsheets for just about everything wedding-related. Right now I’m working on one for honeymoon packing. I have no idea when I should start this, or if I already should have started! Does anyone know?

Fiance and I are going to Spain for our honeymoon and I’m getting so excited! We are staying in a hotel that has gotten fabulous reviews everywhere we’ve looked. It is an old 18th century manor house that has been completely redone into a 14 room hotel. (Obviously I really love old restored buildings – with all the modern conveniences) They have some cool services, like a library, laptops with internet access available for guests to check out, and a collection of classical music CDs that guests can also check out. Here are some pictures from their website.

Rooftop terrace


Sitting area in the lobby (I think)


One of the rooms. They all look different, but I just think this one looks so different and romantic.


Wedding Countdown: 24 Days

My Vintage Inspired Wedding

The fiancé and I are getting married on December 27th so it is now officially my wedding month! My idea for the wedding was for it to have a somewhat vintage feel, but simple and not overdone. This is an inspiration board I made for the wedding. I can’t remember where all the pictures are from, but I think most of them are from the knot and marthastewartweddings.com. The chandelier is from Horchow (love that website).



I saw the necklace on etsy.com and fell in love with it. The designer is luxedeluxe and I will be wearing it on my wedding day! As you can probably tell, green is my main color. I'm wearing green shoes and our cake will also be green! (Somewhat similar to the middle cake in the picture.) I am obsessed with the picture of the couple kissing beneath the lace and used that as an inspiration for our chuppah.

The place we’re getting married is an old Victorian Home that’s been converted into a restaurant that caters to weddings and events. It’s recently been completely redone and it’s so perfect for what I imagined. I am obsessed with the ballroom! It’s just so absolutely gorgeous. Here is a picture of the ballroom from their website (doesn’t even come close to doing it justice).



We are also holding the rehearsal dinner there. Here are pictures from their website of two rooms we will most likely be using.





Wedding Countdown: 26 Days