Wannabe Fashionista

You know who I envy? Girls with fashion blogs. You know who I'm talking about. Those people who post daily pictures of their fabulous outfits. I am always sitting on my couch in sweats clicking jealously through pages and pages of these fashionistas perfectly done up. I wish I had a job where I got to look cute everyday. In reality, I'm a nurse who wears scrubs everyday and works night shift. So unglamorous. So today I am pretending to be fabulous and posting a picture of what I wore yesterday just because I just bought the shirt and lovvvve it.


(Yes, I made Jonathon take a picture of me...in the bathroom...)

Shirt close up....you can't tell, but it has elephants on it. Adorable.

Wedding Decor

I made a few purchases on Etsy today and I am so excited to start playing around with centerpiece ideas. We are going with a winter/rustic wedding theme and I think these will be so appropriate. My very favorite things are these birch wood candles.




I am planning on having those be the centerpieces with maybe pinecones and flowers scattered around them. These are the actual flowers that I want, however they are currently out of stock:

I also bought this adorable monogrammed birch vase. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I am a sucker for anything preppy/monogrammed.


My final purchase was a barn wood planter box. I'm thinking I'll do flowers similar to those in the picture but I'm not sure where I'm putting this either.

I also need to figure out how to add in the aqua. I am wondering if maybe we'll do aqua table runners or chair covers? Still working on it.

Dirty Jersey

Why is it that Americans are obsessed with Jersey Shore? They are such a poor representation of young people today, yet we tune in each week to watch them drink their faces off and act a fool. I was turned off after seeing clips from season one. Season two escaped me and I still didn't understand why these trashy folks from New Jersey were getting so much publicity (except they're not really from Jersey? Wait, what??) So then the third season rolls around and I don't know WHAT came over me, but I started watching. And you know what? I kind of loved it. Some of the stereotypes are over the top but seeing that my sister lives in Jersey, I can attest that many people living there really are that tacky. Which leads me to this:


Who dresses their child up like a ho and teaches them the drunken Snooky pose?! Kind of hilarious.

Sad Face

The Mister is leaving for FOUR MONTHS. He is visiting various residency programs that he will be applying to in the fall in hopes of getting a better feel for the program and to see if he is a good fit there. He leaves next Saturday and will be home the end of September :(

While I am obviously upset that he is leaving, I know that this is the best thing for his career and for our future together. I am trying to be strong for him because I know how stressed he is to be living out of a suitcase all summer and travelling alone. I will be alone too, as all of my family is on the east coast and his is in Seattle. AND, it just so happens that my BFF out here in Vegas is moving to Florida in July! No fair!! But I do have a wedding to plan so that will hopefully keep me busy....in the meantime I'll try not to look like this:

Winter Wedding

Our wedding is scheduled in January and every time I tell someone that, they look at my like I'm crazy. While we don't live in a snowy freezing environment, January certainly isn't wedding season in Las Vegas.

So why January? Jonathon has one month off in the next year. Based on our schedules and the fact that we are moving away next spring, we decided that January was the best time for us to get married. I can't say I grew up dreaming of getting married in the dead of winter, but I am enjoying the creativity of planning a unique wedding. I put together this little inspiration board to help depict what I am imagining:

Our colors are aqua and black. I am such a girly girl and always thought I'd have a very pink wedding, however I want to run with the "winter wedding" theme and pink is just not winter appropriate! My bridesmaids will wear short black cocktail dresses, each of them a little different from the others. I'm still trying to figure out the flower situation. I lovvvvve big fluffy flowers like peonies and ranunculous, but do we need to stick to all white? How do you incorporate color into flower arrangements when your colors are black and aqua??

Pre-Cana

In order to get married in a catholic church, you first must complete premarital counseling or "Pre-Cana". Some churches have weekly meetings over a period of several weeks, however we chose to complete it in one 8 hour day.

We were joined by about 15 other couples and I was surprised to see we were among the youngest people there. Many people were considerably older which made me wonder if this was their first marriage? I'm nosey that way....

We met some lovely people and discussed topics such as finances and family planning. The first part of the day was spent looking at ourselves and the families that we grew up in and how that will impact the family that we create when we get married. We each took a survey and then compared answers. It was funny to see our answers...the were almost identical and we literally used the same words to describe ourselves and each other.

All in all it was a good day, I learned some things and we got the chance to take a closer look at our relationship. Here are some key things that I took from this experience:

*When asked to write down the names of the 3 most influential people in your life, you should PROBABLY write your fiance's name (and preferably next to the #1) Thanks Jonathon!!

*Currently about 50% of marriages end in divorce. Couples who partake in any premarital counseling through their church reduce that rate to 25%. Only 2% of couples who pray together wind up divorced.

*I know Catholics are all about Natural Family Planning (yes we got a handout on that). I have a feeling that the Duggar's utilize this form of birth control and therefore am not interested!

All About the Shoes!

As I posted yesterday, I purchased my wedding clutch which now completes my wedding day look. I have the dress, veil, necklace, bracelet, shoes and bag. I bought my dress at the first store I went to after trying on maybe 8-10 dresses. I loved it and the search was over. The shoe situation was not so easy. I was leery of white since it's "so bridal" and you won't even see them under my dress. So then I considered comfort over style but quickly decided that flip flops and chuck taylors are just not fabulous enough for your wedding day. Then I tried to find blue shoes to act as my "something blue" but got frustrated when I couldn't find the right shade of blue to match out aqua wedding. Finally, one night while I was at work I found the perfect shoe. It's higher than I wanted to go, but they are gorgeous and surprisingly comfortable. Behold, my wedding shoes:

I found them at Neiman Marcus (online) and they are Juicy Couture. My only concern is the height but since the fiance is also tall (I'm 5'9, he's 6'4) I think it will be fine. We are just going to be significantly larger than everyone else in the bridal party!

The Registry

Jonathon and I set up our first bridal registry the other day! We registered at Macy's for china, dinnerware, flatware and a few other things that he felt the need to scan when I wasn't looking (two different types of beer glasses? a beer pitcher, really?) I was a little worried that it would be a stressful experience, but the consultant was so nice and I'm really excited about our registry! I like the idea of picking whatever you want and asking people to buy it for you. When else in your life is that socially acceptable?! Here are the take away points that I have learned from this experience:

1) China is flipping expensive. They really aren't kidding when they talk about a "place setting" and are referring to dinnerware FOR ONE PERSON...and it costing over $100. And after you get over that shock you know what you do? You ask for TWELVE of them. Baller.

2) A disheveled 20-something named Raphael will offer to help you and warn you right off the bat that he "doesn't do weddings". Never mind the fact that he works in the Bridal Department. At this point he will call his coworker back from her lunch break to help you navigate the store. He also may take this opportunity to go smoke a bowl (I'm just assuming here....) Let him go. Consult his coworker (you know, the one that does do weddings?) She will take care of you and redirect you when you choose ugly gold china. True story.

3) If you find regular dinnerware that you fall in love with, scan the suckers and be done with it. Fiance will whine about how ugly it is for approximately 5 minutes. Redirect him to the barware section and he will forget about it and leave you to continue scanning every damn accessory piece that matches your ugly plates. Scan. Them. All.

Mother Clutcher

Look what I got :) This sequined mofo has totally made my day...

I decided to go to the Kate Spade and Coach outlets in search of bridesmaids gifts this afternoon. Saw some cute things and got a couple ideas but bought nothing. Well nothing for them! I did find this gem for MYSELF and I had to get it. I saw a girl post a picture on WeddingBee of her sequined rose gold clutch which I fell in love with and decided I needed one too. Hers was a Halston and was like $300 or something redic. This baby is from Coach's Poppy line and was originally $200 but I got it marked down to 40% off and an additional 30% which ended up costing just $77!!! Win win.

My only dilemma is that our wedding colors are aqua and black. Does this matter? I am wearing all white (duh) and the girls are in black cocktail dresses, the aqua accents will be in their jewelry and the reception decor (I'm thinking). So is it acceptable to carry this fabulous clutch even though it literally matches nothing? I just LOVE it and couldn't come home without it.

Dear Bethenny...

Dear Bethenny Frankel,
I flipping love you. I love your freakishly adorable baby and hot ass husband. I love your show and your ridiculous antics (that one where you did the book signing at Costco and like 5 people showed up? Hilarious). I am envious of your incredible bod and that you supposedly like to eat garbage but somehow look like you only eat carrots. I love that your family is drama and somewhat of a disaster but that you managed to make it out of there relatively normal and well adjusted (if we could all be that lucky!)

Here is what I do not like; I do not appreciate the local liquor store being out of Skinny Girl Margaritas. I do not like that they will not be getting another shipment for at least 2 weeks. Not ok. I live in Las Vegas, arguably a metropolis of all things alcoholic. How does this even happen? If you could fix this that would be fantastic. Also if you would like to come over for a cocktail I'm sure that can be arranged. I love you. And your ginormous fake boobs.
Sincerely, Stephanie

How S met J

It all started in an elevator. I was in nursing school in Philadelphia at the time and Jonathon was working on his masters degree. We unknowingly lived in the same building and frequently passed each other on the street. One afternoon, I was on my way up to my apartment with my boyfriend at the time when Jonathon hopped in the elevator too. I introduced myself to him and we chatted for a minute before getting off at my floor. I honestly was just being friendly but ex-boyfriend got upset at me for flirting with another guy. Perhaps he saw something that Jonathon and I did not because shortly thereafter, ex-boyfriend became, well, ex.

Jonathon facebooked me a few weeks later and said he was going home for spring break but that we should hang out when he got back. We did. A lot. And we were strictly friends for awhile. A few months later we began dating and fell in love :)

A year into our relationship we both graduated and Jonathon got accepted into medical schools in California and Nevada, and was waitlisted at our first choice in Philly. Rather than riding the waitlist, Jonathon accepted the offer in Nevada and at the last minute (after accepting a job offer and then changing my mind!) I decided to move with him. Best. Decision. Ever. We have now been in Vegas for 3 years and Jonathon graduates from medical school next spring. It's been a long and crazy ride but I am thrilled to be marrying the love of my life.

Oh heyyyy

Hola! I am creating this blog to assist in my wedding planning. At the moment I am hoping to incorporate several DIY projects into our big day and have been creeping around on random people's blogs to get ideas. I am hoping that this blog will act as a place where I can post my inspirations and perhaps also get feed back on some of my crazy ideas.

My name is Stephanie and my fiance is Jonathon. We are getting married January 20th, 2012 in Las Vegas (no, we are not eloping and yes, we live here). We literally have zero family living in Nevada and therefore are making everyone fly to us. We are getting married in a Catholic church and our reception will be held at a local country club. Details on that to come :)