A Christmas Card

Matt gave me the best Christmas card this year and I have to share it with you. I look forward to any holiday/birthday where I will get a card from Matt because he writes the most thoughtful things.

Christmas 2008

Poems, by Matthew Telken

May I,
Take all of your pain away.
Help you taste all 23 flavors of the world without over indulging.
Capture life's picturesque moments.
Keep you energetic and bright-eyed.
Savor the many fruits of a healthy life.

How great is that? And he put something in my stocking to match each sentence.

Ibuprofin for the pain. Diet Doctor Pepper for the 23 flavors. A new Sony camera to capture many more memories to come. A Starbucks gift card to keep me sane during the week. And finally, a pack of Starbursts to taste the many fruits of life.

This is one card I will remember forever and I love Matt so much for being, well, him.

A night out on the town!

This past weekend, I had so much fun hanging out with my high school friends! Matt and I first met up with Jen and Kelly at Roxane to catch up. I accidentally had too much to drink :-) It's hard to keep track when you're deep in conversation!

A quick shot of me and Matt

After Roxane, we headed down to Lucas park to meet up with Lauren, he husband Mike, and Arin. It was a little thing I like to call a mini high school reunion.

What a great night! The Captain was in full effect. Not sure I can have him as a friend for a few weeks. Christmas pictures up next!

Tag You're It! (A little late)

My friend, Lauren, at LiveLaughLove, tagged me to talk about my Christmas traditions. I'm sad to say that Matt and I don't really have any yet! But I will be able to share more after our first Christmas next year.

One thing that I do each year is celebrate Matt's birthday the weekend before Christmas. He is a Christmas Eve baby and I never want him to feel jipped out of a great birthday. We went to Schlafly Bottleworks to try it out and were so surprised! That place is amazing! We loved it so much we are planning to have our rehearsal dinner there.


Christmas Eve, Matt and I part ways. I never like missing Christmas Eve at my house. My family goes to church and enjoys some great food that my mom makes once a year. Vegetable pizza, Sweedish meatballs...I could go on and on. It was all delish! Then we hang out, watch a movie and I sleep over. Matt goes to church with his family. Next year, we'll have to figure something else out!


Christmas Day, Matt comes over early to open presents with my family. We go see a movie (and have for years and years) and head over to his parent's house. This year was especially nice because my mom, dad and sister came over to the Telken's house to meet the crew. It was great for everyone to finally meet!

I'm not going to tag anyone now, but will be sure to have more Christmas traditions for you next year. One thing Matt and I will do from this Christmas on is stocking stuffers. I love surprising him with small things that make him happy. He even got me a new camera this year! With all the pictures I take, my cameras don't last as long as they should. :-)

Pictures to come next post! Thanks again for sharing your Christmas traditions.

Save The Dates are out!

My mom is a savior. I had no idea how talented she is with Photoshop, but she created our Save the Date mailings and is working on our invitations now. Wow! They turned out so great. Thanks again, mom!



And Matt helped me out big time with my non-existent assembly line. Check out our new Crate & Barrel brown couch!

I had to get a quick picture of our new TV, courtesy of Matt Telken. We were watching football, as usual. But I don't mind, I LOVE FOOTBALL! And I'm number one in my fantasy league at work right now. Wish me luck - I want that Skadoosh Cup!

And of course, a picture of us was needed.

Alright, have to jump off. Next post, tag you're it and Christmas. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Talk soon!

Weber Shandwick Holiday PARTAY

Matt and I have been going to holiday party after holiday party. But the one party we look forward to the most every year is the Weber Shandwick Holiday Party! My work always throws the best bashes and this year was no different. Especially since we created a band out of people in the office. We call ourselves, "The Relations", and we sure brought the RAWK to the party on Friday night.

Meredith and I before the drinking happened


The band, setting the stage for a great night!


Our set list included: We Got the Beat, Warrior, Heartbreaker, I love Rock & Roll and Talk Dirty to Me. Naturally, I dressed the part of Joan Jett, the ultimate Heartbreaker.


After the setlist ended, I changed and hit the stage again! This time, I had some helpers from the crowd.


My lifesavers! And Vegas crew in just a few weeks!


Me and Matt...the photographer of the evening.


It was a great night! I wish I could have hung out with everyone more than I did. It's hard being a rockstar. :-)

Let's do a quick recap of the night.

Before...


And after...

I was definitely muttering "ouch" a lot the next day. But good times all around!

Engagement Pictures!

We got our engagement pictures back last week and I just can't stop looking at them! I have never had a professional photographer follow me around and take pictures - it was so weird, but in the end, SO much fun!

Matt and I were definitely troopers. The weather wasn't that great, but we pushed through 3 hours of shooting in the cold and rainy weather. Good thing the umbrella pictures look fabulous. Ok, so here are a few of my favorites from our wonderful photographer Tom Warwick. What do you think?!

And since we had Tom for the day, we couldn't resist taking an updated family picture, with Cooper of course!

I'll have the wedding site live very soon - so I'll post the link as soon as that happens!

PSA for the Beauty Obsessed!

I have finally found a teasing comb that works - and one that works for hours! My sister Jenny had this in Kansas City. I used it once and was immediately hooked. It totally changes the look of my hair, and with short hair, it's necessary to have some volume!

Supposedly in St. Louis, you can only find it at Sally Beauty Supply. It's called the Mebco Styling Brush and is only $1.59. If you need some volume, go buy this immediately.

Danielle

I have known Danielle Tripp since seventh grade. We have done so much together and I love her to death!! Here are some fun pictures of us through the years...









I guess I should say, Danielle Boxberger, since she got married in September.



D is genuine, funny and an all-around wonderful friend. So who else but Danielle to be one of my beautiful bridesmaids. Since Danielle lives in KC with her husband, Adam, I had to think of something fun to send her way. Photo book!

Here are a few pages for your enjoyment.







And the big question?!

Love you, D!

Finally - Leslie and Christian's Wedding

It took longer than I thought to get these pictures up, but here they are!

Leslie and Christian had such a beautiful wedding. It was great to see a wedding in my church, finally! I can't believe after being a member for 23 years that I hadn't seen a wedding earlier. Speaking of church, this is where Leslie and I met years and years ago in elementary school. We have been friends ever since and I cherish our friendship!

The beautiful bride and groom seeing each other for the first time.



Saying their vows.



Lauren and I singing, The Prayer. We did a great job! This picture isn't great though.



The kiss!



Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey



After the ceremony, I went over to the Lewen's house with Matt and asked Arin, Andrea and Jen to be bridesmaids. I was trying to think of something cute and my sister, Jenny, helped me paste their faces on some bride and bridesmaids picture. It was at least creative!



Matt and me at the reception which was in the big white tent at Doubletree hotel. It was cold, but it was fun! Plus, we still had our Cabo tan.



Me with the bride! Congrats again, Les.



And of course, the night wouldn't be complete without some high school reunion shots. Lauren, Arin, Andrea, Jen and I are so good at this part!



Love you girls!



The night was wonderful and I wish Les and Christian all the love and happiness life can bring. Man, before you know it, it will be my turn. That makes my stomach churn. So much to do!!

So much to say!

I know I disappeared for a little, but I'm back! Things have been crazy and will be until the end of the year, so I'll keep you as updated as I possibly can.

I'm not going to post a lot tonight, but will highlight last week and will write more when I can.

Since my last post (the hair cut) I...

• ...Went with Matt to O'Fallon, IL to buy his new 50" TV and sound system (what joy!). But I have to admit, I love watching TV over here now, it's like a movie theatre!
• ...Had another practice with my band - if I haven't mentioned in a previous post, I'm in a band. It's for my work holiday party and we are actually really good. Surprising, huh?
• ...Asked another one of my best friends from high school, Danielle to be a bridesmaid and got to hang out with her and her adorable husband this past weekend.
• ...Went to Kansas City for Thanksgiving and had a great time hanging out with family. Matt and I asked my three little cousins to be ring bearers and flower girl in our wedding.
• ...Bought a wedding dress!
• ...Had a second Thanksgiving at Matt's parents house with the Telken crew. It was nice to see everyone, it had been awhile! Plus, I had time to ask Lynn, Matt's sister, to be a bridesmaid; Darla, Matt's sister-in-law, to be a greeter/candle lighter and Matt's niece and nephews to, you got it, be more of our ring bearers and flower girl. We are going to have six of the little one's involved if you're keeping count. Our reception is going to be 21 and up, so they can't come...it's nice to involve them in the ceremony.
• ...Went to a couples shower for our friends Mike and Heather, getting married in March.
• ...Took our engagement pictures.

So much going on! I'll post more soon - along with pictures. But not of my dress, that is something I will not share. :-)

I want this dress!

Too bad it's $1,500! This is a Zac Posen silk dress...and I'm officially in love.

That is all.

My New Haircut

What do you think?

A look from the side...


Check out the "hidden" red pieces


I'm digging my short new do!


Girls, I love Chris! She is the owner of En Vogue and the most amazing hair stylist. If you ever need a reasonable cut/color, she's your gal!

What do you think?