Wedding Wednesday

I'm something like 150 days from my wedding day - or about 5.5 months.

The thought of it makes me nervous and excited, giddy and overwhelmed, and wedding thoughts are starting to creep into my dreams in the middle of the night.  I've been trying to keep cool, but with every passing week, I feel the knots in my stomach growing a little tighter.

The next big item on the agenda is my 1st wedding shower which is being held in Chicago on February 23rd. I've got my dress and shoes, but now I'm trying to find some hostess gifts that express my gratitude for such an enormous undertaking.

I love the idea of an entire gift basket

Chicago. February. Enough said.

Monogrammed anything is my new obsession

I want to be thoughtful and creative, and have it be meaningful too. Did you have any gifts that were big hits for your hosts? Do tell.

The Best $200 I've spent

World market was having a chair sale a week ago, so on a whim after work, I popped in and walked out with these bad boys about an hour later.

In the store, I loved the fabric but wasn't 100% sure how it would mesh with the rest of my house. Thankfully, I think they were a match made in heaven.



They are a little busy with the rug, but they don't compete and I quite like all of the fun going on in my little dining room.

There are still a lot of items we need for this condo - and next one up is going to be a headboard for our master, but we are inching away and turning this place into quite the stylin' home if I do say so myself.

Weekend Report

 Don't you hate when Friday's at work are the craziest and most stressful? It's really just not supposed to be that way.

But, thankfully at 6, I picked Joel up headed out for a dinner date at Rick Bayless's West Hollywood restaurant Red O. 

 After one spicy margarita in the bar, I was officially on weekend mode.

I really liked the sexy ambiance of the restaurant, and the food was pretty fantastic too - with our favorite dish by far being the ceviche.

Saturday morning I dragged Dawn to do 4 miles at Westridge Canyon with me to work off the chips I shouldn't have eaten the night before. During the run I spotted my celeb crush, Will Arnett, so that clearly made my day.

To keep the theme of the weekend alive, Saturday night we went out with new friends at El Cholo in Santa Monica. It was a pretty different vibe from Red O, not as fancy, but the four of sat at the bar, sipped a lot jalapeno margaritas and just about closed the restaurant down. 

And, from the 30 jalapenos I drank this weekend, I can no longer feel my tongue.  

Sunday I ran around the neighborhood, again, to erase some of the damage from night before.

 

 

Sunday night we made soup, had some wine, watched the sags and got ready for the week ahead. 

Here's to another go at it!

 

2 things to try

1.SoulCycle

 

The good:

-It's a fast workout at only 45 minutes

-You burn up to 600 calories

-The music is loud and fast

-The lights are off so no one can see you a. sweating profusely and b. failing at the dance moves

-It's total a total body workout 

-You leave feeling pumped up, happy, competent, and energized

The bad:

-It's pricey, and you have to rent shoes

-Being a newbie, there are "dance" moves that you don't know and can't keep up with

-It's really hard to clip your shoes in and out of the bike!

2. This recipe

 

The good:

-It's creamy, cheesy, and healthy

-Super easy to make

-Easy to find ingredients

-It's got 165 calories per serving

-Makes great leftovers

-Is as close to pasta as this girl is getting right now

The bad:

-There is flour, so it's not 100% carb free

-It's hard to stop at just one serving

 

Bonus points for doing both in one day!

You'll thank me!

"THAT" day.

We all have um, right?

It just seems that I have those days like every friggen week lately.

Yesterday, after I worked out at the office, I decided to drive back home around 3 to finish up the day at home. I had the bright idea to stop at the grocery store "really quick" to pick up some essentials. Well, Trader Joes didn't have the essentials I needed (spaghetti squash), so I had to make another stop at Bristol Farms - which means, at this point, I'm starving beyond belief.

While I was there, Joel asked if I could pick up his dry cleaning that was across the street.

By the time I got home at 3:45 - absolutely famished, only have eaten two eggs at 7am and clocked in three miles and weights. I was about ready to bite somebody.

Instead of me, my dog almost did the honors.

And who was that someone that Roscoe decided to act a fool in front of?

My friggen property manager.

Roscoe is an anxious dog (like mother, like son) and when we leave the house, he gets really freaked out. If people bend down to pet him, he normally runs behind my legs to hide. This time though, he lunged at this woman and honestly tried to bite her. He's never done anything like that and it freaked all three of us out.

Joel and I have to make expensive and quick decisions to rectify this issue immediately - because having a dog that is willing to nip is totally unacceptable for me.  Dog behaviorists are expensive and time consuming, and there is a risk that they don't work., but what are our options? The doctor we are currently looking at charges $250 by the hour.

Roscoe is the most loving dog I've ever had...but, when strangers approach, I can't trust his behavior. And, I get worried about what would happen if we had a baby? Would he love on it like he loves us?

If you have any recommendations - I'm open. I'm pretty sure the dog behaviorist is in our future but the nearest appointment available is mid-march.

So seriously.....

Thank God for Tequila.

Weekend Report

On Friday while I was on the road, I made a quick pit stop at World Market just to browse. We have been in dire need of adding two chairs to our dining room set and I'd been getting emails from WM that there was a major sale going on. I spent an hour in that freaking store trying to pick the winners, but I finally settled on these:

I would love to show you how fierce they look in my house, but Friday afternoon my phone completely fried out.  Last week a waitor spilled wine on my phone, and it finally fizzled to the point of no return.

They are going to replace it, but they have to file an insurance claim, so I'm waiting to talk to their insurance people before I go and buy a new one. Being phoneless & cameraless is not fun.

Friday night we had a few friends over and discovered that the combination of red wine and tequila is a horrendous one - especially the next morning.

 

We still managed to do a total house spring cleaning, which I counted as my workout - and by that point I was feeling good enough to have a few mimosa's on our patio and enjoy the stunning LA weather that was delivered to us this weekend.

On Sunday, Shelby and I got back to Westridge Canyon and clocked in another 4 miles. We were both still feeling a little fuzzy from our Friday night antics, but we got it done and it helped cap the weekend on a better foot.

After the run we went a registry event that was being hosted at Bloomingdales in Century City. They had a bunch of LA vendors for local brides, and since I'm getting married in Chicago, we just browsed the china, sampled some of the goodies, and stalked a little on "Mr. Sheee Sheee Sheee".

 

I'm going to really keep a close eye on food and workouts this week. I've been feeling frustrated since I got back from Mexico, and haven't seen any serious results, so I'm upping the ante this week. With a tapas party to look forward to on Thursday, I'm hoping I can keep myself hungry in check until then.

Friday Thoughts

 

The weather these last few days in LA has been glorious! We are back in the sunny, 70's and I've been keep my windows open and getting outside for runs as ofter as I can. I'm starting to wonder how I will be able to handle the long, gray, cold winters once I move outta here! Thankfully, we're here for a while!

For Christmas I got two monogrammed goodies (with my soon-to-be last name). My Marley Lilly scarf order from my sister Nellie got here right on time and I just ADORE it!

 

My other monogrammed goodie, from Max & Chloe, one of those great gold necklaces, is still not here. And that's not even the kicker. Joel ordered it for me on 11/29 with a guaranteed delivery date before Christmas. HA! Can you believe that? I will never shop from this site, ever, ever again and I would highly suggest you find someone else to do your necklace too if you're in the market.

I am still obsessing over my Save the Date and almost want to marry it more than Joel! ;)



My house is dying for some spring cleaning and organizing so on Saturday, Joel and I have a plan to pull out some booze, crank up the music and get some serious drunk cleaning going. Which, if you have to clean, that sounds like the best way to do it.

We don't have many more exciting plans beyond that - some runs and hikes since my next 10k is 3 weeks away and hopefully a little shopping too!

Happy Weekend

Wedding Wednesday: Our Save the Date

Well, ladies....feast your eyes on our Save The Date!

Do you love it? I'm seriously obsessed.

We worked with the amazingly talented Courtney Callahan who is going to be handling all of my paper needs to the big day. She customized everything about the Save the Date, and even designed "our logo" - that you'll have to wait and see - and really developed the entire look for our wedding. If you are in the market for anything paper, she is your girl.

I can't believe that all of our guests have these babies in their hands. It's getting real!!