Fall Soup Time

It's fall in California...even if it is still almost 80 degrees outside.  I am going to pretend it is cold and shut myself in my house all weekend.  We haven't had a weekend at home since our wedding and it shows.  Laundry is piled everywhere, our house is dirty, our poor doggie needs a bath and our future baby room is stacked with gifts and wedding crap.

I bought a butternut squash at the fruit stand by our house last weekend so this weekend it is time for soup!  I might try this fun recipe for Baja Butternut Squash soup since I am already missing San Diego.

I am so ready for real fall weather.  Next weekend is Halloween and my hubby's birthday so I have to figure out what he wants to do and make some plans...I can't be a bad wife already!  All I really want to do is relax and watch movies, bake and enjoy each other's company.  Hopefully with a clean house and a clean doggie.  Let's see how far I get with that this weekend.

The Rehearsal Dress Swap

I finally have my rehearsal dress...again...sort of.

It all started months ago...my Mom found the cutest most perfect dress at J Crew. I knew I wanted a classy white strapless dress and this one was just perfect. She bought me a size 8. She brought it over when she came to visit one weekend and it was a little big. So we returned it to the nearest store which is about a 30-40 minute drive. We dodged a rain storm and a crowded mall just to purchase a size 6.

So last night I tried on the size 6 dress that we bought at the store and with the growing baby bump and my new larger bust size it barely zipped. It would have fit only I might have ripped it off in pain halfway through my practice walk down the aisle...which I am pretty sure Father Ben would not have appreciated.

Today my FI and I returned to another mall still a pretty long drive from our house and returned it. The dress has long since been gone from the store so I knew they wouldn't have a larger size. They didn't. Good thing I had looked online before we left the house and they did have a size 8 so I put it in my cart. I couldn't find the receipt so I was scared they would give me some crazy low price for it since it was so long ago that we bought it only the nice lady at J Crew gave me full price for it! She also offered to order me the online one so I could avoid paying shipping (I never knew you could do this from the store...good tip to know about) only the online people said it was out of stock. I told her I had one in my cart at home only she said it was probably long gone because the cart doesn't hold the dress if someone else wants it. I was sad and left the store empty handed with a gift card for the original price of the dress $98.00 so it wasn't a total loss.

I just got home...looked in my cart and suprise suprise the dress was still there...on sale for $69.99! I had to pay the $10.50 shipping so I still ended this crazy whirlwind dress swap with a $20.00 J Crew gift card! Not that it will buy me much only still...pretty fun!

Let's just hope the dress comes this week in time for me to take it with me to San Diego.

If you are having a wedding soon I totally recommend looking at all the cute white strapless dresses that are on sale at J Crew.

Did I mention it even has pockets...which has to be my fav trend of this year in dresses...

Two Month Countdown

We have two months to go as of today...let's just hope our San Diego wedding is as beautiful as this one by Susan Yee! She is such an amazing photographer.

I can't believe it is almost October 3. I am so ready to walk down the aisle. My Mom was in town this weekend and I tried on my dress again and remembered how much I love it. How is it possible to find the "perfect" dress that is made just for you?! Now I just need some little alterations and I will be ready to go.

My shower was this weekend too. So much to share! A big thank you to my amazing Mom for a shower I will be swooning over for years to come. More on that shortly...

Adventures in Cake Land

The "Cake Guy" was our first appointment in San Diego. We drove all day so we were pretty wrecked by the time we arrived. Just stepping out of the car in La Jolla made me completely forget the long journey by car and I was instantly transformed into a happy tourist. There were cute boys with surf boards and pretty surfer girls in bikinis...how I miss living in a tourist town.

The Cake Guy (self proclaimed) welcomed us with a pretty white pastry box filled with cakes and pastries from their retail shop. He knew we had come a long way so he wanted to stock our hotel room for us! So cute!

The actual tasting was a blur. Neither my FI or I really are cake lovers so this was the easiest appointment yet! We pretty much decided on what we didn't like first...which was pretty easy. We ended up picking "Bridal Chiffon" which is cake with a layer of lemon cream and a layer of raspberry. So pretty!

Our other two layers we decided on without even tasting them. The Cake Guy told us his wife's fav cake is their fudge filling and fresh bananas...we love both so we went with it.

The cake is three layers and all ivory with white decoration. We didn't pick one of their standard designs. The Cake Guy took a picture I had torn out of a magazine and transformed it into exactly what we wanted! An eclectic ivory and white vintage style cake. The Cake Guy kept my magazine page so I have nothing to share with you lovlies...only two months to go!

Thank you to Flour Power in San Diego for an awesome cake experience! The Cake Guy entertained us for almost an hour with hilarious celeb sightings, wedding stories and all his adventures. It isn't often you meet such amazing and thoughtful people like him.

Back to the Bachelorette...

Bridal Shower Excitement Returns

I was totally freaking out because only like three people had RSVPd for my bridal shower as of Friday...then my Mom called me tonight and said we had six RSVPs just today!

I am going to stop stressing and just enjoy things from now on...I don't know why I stress?!

I have an amazing fiance and great friends!

For now I am going to keep swooning over this lovely bridal shower! How cute is this?!

This inspiration board created by Brenda's Wedding Blog.

Fresh Sign In Book Idea

I love our wedding planner...she is pretty much just amazing. Her fun new idea for a sign in book? My fiance calls it the "yearbook style" and I call it totally fun.

The idea is to find a book of photography or a coffee table book that you love and have people pick a page they like and sign on the page in the margin. What I think is so cool about this idea is then we get a sign in book that we love and that will actually be displayed in our house...instead of just getting put in a drawer with our other "keepsakes." I like the idea of having something usable.

We decided we are going to shop for a fun book about San Diego since that is where we are getting married. We are headed down in three weeks so we will shop for a "souvenier" that doubles as our sign in book.

See the books displayed in this chic living room...love the idea that our book will always be out. Thank you to D Magazine for this living room picture. You know I love the milk glass...further proof that all my milk glass can be displayed in a funky cool way.

It's Official...I Am a Bachelorette

First of many...I am still detoxing from my bachelorette party last weekend.

This is Confidential restaurant in downtown San Diego.

Such a fun night.

Love San Diego Style

I am pretty much obsessed with the idea of our engagement pictures being done at a local fair...only there is no fair in San Diego when we are going to do ours.

I just had to share this adorable picture of this loving couple at the San Diego County Fair.

Did I mention that this was also taken by our incredibly awesome wedding photographer Phil Paik of Phil Paik Studios?

Our pictures are one month away and I can't wait!