Filed under: wedding food and treats
Nom Nom! I made pineapple infused vodka as a shot option for the wedding. Just got a call from the venue saying no hard alcohol so we are going to have to say it’s sangria.
One of the many reasons I love Ryan is because he is not your average guy. He did not want strippers, Vegas, “last fling before the ring”, or the typical guy bachelor party. In fact he was pretty mellow about even having one. Obar thought it would be nice to just have Ryan’s bridal party and their significant others come to our house in Newport and have a beach day, dinner, and a couple drinks.
The gang started off by grabbing lunch at Big Belly Deli. Then we all headed to the beach. We got to use some of the games we bought for the wedding…you know, break them in. We were concerned bc it was dark and cold all morning. But within a half hour of everyone arriving the sun peaked out and it turned out to be a nice day. Hooray!
Next stop, Nick’s Restorante in Costa Mesa. That’s Ryan and my fave pizza joint. I can’t believe how much tapenade, pizza, and pasta out table put away. And we had leftovers! Which I may or may not have eaten for breakfast 😉 I stink and forgot to get a group photo. But I did get Jeff still going after the pizza once we put it in a to go box. ha ha
After we got our carb strength we went to The Boulevard for some shuffle board and drinks. We popped into Goathill Tavern were Scotty finally convinced me to take a shot. As you can see, I’m not a happy camper.
We ended the night with a slumber party at our house with Scotty, Dana, Miko, Caitlyn and of course us. It was a fun day and it was great to get Ry’s bridal party together and introduced.
Filed under: our engaged fun life
So we jumped on the bus and headed to the JW Marriot. When we got there Suanne used her bamboozling skills to get us without having to wait and I got in for free. Once in, Kathleen bought us all a shot. Then the dancing commenced.
We met a group of 8 married guys in crazy outfits and danced with them most of the night. I spent a good amount of time dancing on a speaker box with Whitney. I was having such a great time that I forgot to get anymore drinks. I didn’t need them and I was happy I didn’t tucker out and I remember the entire night clearly.
On our way out Suanne spotted a limo and got him to take us to our resort. The next day I awarded her with a trophy for best bamboozling skills. It was a great end to a fabulous day with some amazing ladies. I’m bummed it’s over. But we have the main event and more dancing and laughter coming up in a few weeks. whooohoooo!
NIGHT NIGHT!
Filed under: our engaged fun life
While the rest of us goofed off at the pool, Miko, Kathleen, Whitney, and Ashley went back to the room to decorate. Miko did an incredible job! She bought cigar boxes and made them into beautiful flower arrangements. She bought vintage posters to cover up the cheesy hotel pictures. She hand made tassels and garland. But the real kicker was the incredible gift boxes she made for all the guests. They were wrapped beautifully but the contents knocked my socks off! She used the same style label for personalized cups for everyone. I was so impressed!!!
We played a short game of FUBAR before heading out to Costas at the JW Marriot.
To be continued…..
Filed under: our engaged fun life
On June 2nd 14 of us heading to the Desert Springs Villas in Palm Desert. My friend Justin let me use his uncle’s employee discount so we got 2 condos, loads of snacks, dinner, breakfast, and more drinks than we could consume for $40 each. We are ladies on a budget. Â It was 104 degrees when we arrived so we kicked off the day with a pirate themed pool party.
Filed under: Uncategorized
On April 28, 2012 Kathleen Selke (my amazing soon to be sister-in-law), fabulous Aunt Cheryl, and wonderful Aunt Eileen hosted my bridal shower at the Selke residence in Playa Vista. Mama Stanley, Whitney, and Noelle used their creative skills to help them decorate and make the home stunning. I did not want a bridal shower because I was so worried that it seemed selfish and that my friends would think it was lame and feel obligated to spend more money on a present. I’d never been to one before but had an idea in my head. I am so happy that they convinced me to have one. It was such a fun day full of love and laughs.
Kathleen did a fantastic job with the decorations. She used our colors of gray and yellow for the DIY decorations. She really captured the vintage rustic feeling we were going for. Aunt Eileen went to the LA flower mart to get the whimsical flowers. They were exactly what I had in mind. Whitney used her photog skills to capture it all.
I couldn’t help but cry when I saw all the hard work that went into making me feel special.
The food was absolutely incredible. Kathleen had a caterer bring in the delicious finger foods. He brought his 2 cute sons to drop off the food. They were so excited to get a cupcake to go. Aunt Cheryl had the cupcakes made by a friend. They were huge and so nummy.
The games were a blast!
I was so thankful for all the generous gifts everybody brought.
Then Aunt Carol read back everything I said while opening gifts as “things I will say to Ryan the night of our wedding”. I was crying with laughter and had a hard time breathing. So I was a bit embarrassed. ha
It was an amazing day and so much fun! I was so grateful to have Ryan’s family and my friends in one place and everyone meshed well and I had zero stress. It was so fantastic!
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With the countdown to the wedding in full effect we are tying up all the loose ends. Trying not to panic haha.
I started the morning by sewing beads onto my beautiful Mori Lee wedding gown. It was a floor sample so it needed some love. No pics because the dress is a surprise to Ryan. I tried it on again and felt beautiful. Something that was lacking with the others I bought. In other dress news, I sold the second J Crew dress to a super nice pregnant bride to be for what I bought it for. So glad I was able to sell the first 2 dresses and didn’t lose any money. Whoop!
Ryan and I took off to Nordstrom Rack and he found a Penguin belt that matched his Cole Haan shoes perfectly. He also bought his wedding bow tie (Penguin). It looks great with his navy Kenneth Cole suit. Thank you Nordstrom Rack for having great deals on man sizes. *Ryan says to leave the brands out of it but I’m documenting as much detail as possible as a reference. So there Ryan!
Next stop was Crate and Barrel where we did some exchanging. After was Cinderella Bakery to see if the size of the cake would fit on the cake stand inside the bird cage. The 7″ will fit perfectly! Hooray!!! The cakes there were amazing!
We headed to growers direct and trader joes to get the ingredients for pesto and chimichurri. We tested out the food processor that the Stanley family gave us. We logged the recipes in the Stanley cook book Carina gave us at my bridal shower.
I also figured out the “ring pillow” alternative. We have a bird theme so I thought it would be cute to have Jake walk up with a vintage bird cage with our rings inside it.
We got dressed in our Sunday best for Mother’s day at the Selke’s. Teri brought a bunch of family pictures to go through. We found a bunch of cute ones to use for the slideshow and vintage ones to print.
Filed under: our engaged fun life
Every year Kathleen puts together a Yosemite camping trip. Miko and Caitlyn are usually our camping partners but they couldn’t come so we invited the Sardagnas. We headed up on Cinco de Mayo so a celebration was in order. I brought a sombrero and beads. I may have worn it half of the way up. 🙂 we needed some entertainment for the 6 hour drive.
Mario was awesome and brought tequila. We had a group of drinkers this trip. Our group consisted of Scott, Kathleen, Fabian, Keana, Amy, Gustavo, Christina, Mel, Grant, Mario, Laura, Ryan, and I. Gustavo and Christina brought up cherry moonshine. It was so strong but awesome. There were lots of laughs and stories around the camp fire passing around the beer, wine, tequila, crown,moonshine, etc.
But it wasn’t all drinking. We got some super hiking in. We typically go to the top of Vernal Falls. This time we went passed Vernal to Nevada falls and Liberty Cap. It was absolutely beautiful! It was about a 5 hour hike. We will definitely do that hike again. I can’t believe we’ve been stopping at Vernal all that time.
After our hike we hopped on our bikes and road to Yosemite falls. It’s always incredible the power those falls exude. We stood on the bridge getting wet and feeling the wind.
On our way out we looked back at the valley and made a promise that next year we will hike Glacier Point and make this a backpacking trip. Can’t wait!
My love for gingham goes way back 30 years. When I was a baby I had a complete yellow and white gingham set up. I’m talking clothes, crib, blankets, teddy bear, room decorations, etc. I think being surrounded by that happy print and color may have contributed to my current obsession with it. Maybe?
We have been incorporating it into the wedding with hopes of not turning the theme into a family BBQ. So far I used it in our cake topper and today’s candy table banners.
I totally scored when I found some gingham curtains at the salvation army for a few bucks. Made it super simple for today’s craft. No sewing required! Always a good thing for me haha.
Here’s a mock up of the candy table. Looks delicious!
thedwarfandthegiant 