Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Stock. Our. Bar!

When my cousin Aaron and his wife Connie mentioned they wanted to throw us a Stock the Bar party, Matt and I were thrilled! It was not only our first shower, hosted by my dad's side of the family, but it was at the place where Matt and I met - Bar Napoli. That made it all the more special...a celebration of us uniting and the memories of us meeting there.

Me and Matt all fancied up for our first shower!
Me with the guys at the shower. What a good lookin' bunch!

My dad always likes to have a ladies picture, so why not?

My wonderful family - 3 out of 4 extremely tipsy. Woops!

The hosts! My cousin Aaron and his wife Connie, my cousin Heather and her husband Jason, and my Aunt Linda. All from my dad's side. Thanks again guys!

We actually had a great time opening gifts. Neither of us likes to do this sort of thing (open presents in front of 30+ people), but we did it and had a great time. This ice bucket is from Emily and we are going to be using it at the wedding. Adorable!

Matt and the dad's

Matt with my family

The girls!

Afterwards we went to Bar Louie and then to Tara and Derek's. Things got a little crazy, so I'll leave you with one last picture.

We had such a great time (obviously). Next wedding event? My bachelorette party! We are heading to the Kansas City Plaza next weekend and I. can't. wait.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I Am Picky. Oh So Picky.

I finally found my shoes. This is the fifth pair I bought for the wedding and the ONLY pair that looks great and feels great. What do you think?

They are the Nina Electra and come in so many colors. And not only are they adorable, they got great reviews from buyers on Zappos. I'm sold - finally!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

This Woman's Work

I honestly don't even know what to say. I have never been so touched during a So You Think You Can Dance episode and I have never felt so emotional during a performance. Millions of women around the world are affected by breast cancer. Millions of people around the world are feeling the pain through someone else. That is why this dance was incredibly important, because I have felt the pain of cancer in my life, through family, through friends, through strangers.

I have heard from several people that anyone of the top 8 dancers could have performed the dance and it would have ended with the same emotion. That's fine, I probably agree a little. But Melissa and Ade, one of my favorite couples from the beginning, created a story. If you didn't notice, Melissa was crying throughout the dance. She felt the song. She lived the story.

I'm sorry for such a sappy post, but I haven't felt so strongly about a dance in awhile. I truly believe this performance made an impact on everyone who watched it. It's not who danced it that matters, it's about the steps, the emotion and the story that unfolded.

This is obviously my video of the week.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Oh and p.s.

95 days until the wedding! EEEEK!

SYTYCD VOW + Highlight

I desperately missed Travis and now he's back! The contemporary piece he coreographed last week for Jason and Jeanine was unique, beautiful and memorable. This dance definitely tops the list of my all time favorite performances, most of which include Travis from when he was on the show. My all time fave? The bench routine.



And because I love it so much....

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Finally!

Yeah, I know! I have been taking forever to put up pictures, but the beginning of our wedding shower season has started, so sadly, it's going to take a lot to get posts up over the next few months.

But I definitely want to be able to keep everyone posted on our latest wedding updates and weekend plans. I'll promise now to do my best to keep up.

So now...the long awaited Fourth of July weekend pictures! Matt and I had been working towards this weekend for weeks. We decided to throw a party in May and had to put together a to do list to get the house, both inside and out, ready in time for family and friends to see it. I have to admit, it was HARD work, but it turned out great! The weekend went perfectly and it was so great to hang out with some old friends (and their parents!)

The weekend started with a quick and random trip to the wineries with the Lewen family (AKA my second family). We had a nice time catching up, hanging out and drinking some great wine.

Arin and Andrea have been my best friends since 3rd grade. I was in Arin and Josh's wedding last year and I feel so blessed that they will be by my side this October. A quick shot for the books...man, I look tired. But cute, nonetheless.
One of my favorite pictures of the year! Dan and Andrea photocrashing our picture - hilarious.

Now, onto Fourth of July! I took some pictures of our house to share, since I haven't posted any of our updates. Our cute decorations definitely added a festive touch!
The sitting area. Still working on this room...

The console table area. One of my favorite parts of the house to date.

The living room - love the colors we chose.

Another view...

The backyard

Our new patio furniture. LOVE!
And the party has begun. Me and the Lisa's hanging out.

Our group from high school (minus Jen). As Lauren said in her posting, we all dressed like our husbands (well, and my fiance). How strange! I love this group - we have so much fun together.

A picture of just the girls. LC, I still want to see the video of our clapping routine!
My fab work friends stopped by to partake. CAW!

And of course, I had to post this pic because I love me some Lauren. :-)

The last picture of the night. Christian drying his crotch with my hair dryer in the bathroom. I'll let you create your own story to go with this picture. ;-)
Overall, it was such a great weekend! Matt and I officially succeeded with our first party and I'm sure we'll do it again next year (and probably many times before then).

As a sidenote, Matt and I had our first shower this past weekend. It was a Stock the Bar party thrown by my dad's side of the family. Where was it? It was at Bar Napoli in Clayton, where Matt and I met. How great is that?! I'll try to get pictures up tomorrow, but we have pre-marital class (second to last one -woot!). We'll see if I can make time.

Until then...hope everyone is doing well!

Monday, July 13, 2009

SYTYCD VOW

Oh, Wade Robson, how I've missed you!

I know I've been MIA. July 4th weekend and this past weekend updates to come!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

SYTYCD VOW

This dance is to die for. A-MAZING!


Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Socks

You may or may not see some fun socks at the wedding. LOVE them.