TGIF: Spring is almost here!

TGIF is no understatement. This has been a long week. That's how we all seem to feel on Fridays, right? This is our first weekend back in town as a MARRIED COUPLE! And I am so so so happy to not have anything really planned. I'm sure there will be a good deal of unpacking presents, and cleaning, but there will also be so much lounging and I cannot wait! Do y'all have any big weekend plans?

Meal Planning

If you saw my post on Monday, you'd know I was trying out meal planning for the first time. It has been really nice to have a brand new dinners and recipes to try out every night. But, I think I will try a different approach next week. This week we had a few crock pot meals, but they all only took 4 hours, so we ended up starting them when we got home - which kind of defeats the purpose. We also had a few meals that just took an hour or less to prepare. While none of that is super time consuming, it is still just another task to have to complete every night. Another meal to prepare, and another kitchen to clean up. I know, life.
I think for this upcoming week I'm going to get the plans together at least by Saturday so that we can go to the grocery on Sunday morning and pre-prepare a lot of items during the day Sunday, even if it is just chopping onions or crushing garlic, that's still one less thing to do during the week. I think it is definitely a trial and error game, but I have been pleased so far! Do any of y'all meal plan? I am still seeking any and all advice on what you think works and what doesn't - please share!

The Bachelor

I'd like to say that this is my only guilty pleasure on TV, but I think the truth is that all reality TV is my guilty pleasure. Oops.
Anyways, this week's episode of the Bachelor was the famous "Fantasy Suite" episode, of which all of the girls took advantage. At the risk of approaching a touchy subject, I honestly don't know what I would do in that situation, as either the contestant or the Bachelorette. I think the bigger news on the episode this week however, was that Ben said "I love you" to TWO girls. That's right. TWO. I'd always assumed it was an unwritten, or actually written, rule that they were not allowed to say it back to the contestants because if it was clear to the fans and audience who was favored, then there was less incentive to continue watching. Well, I guess you get around that by saying it to BOTH of them. I mean JoJo was genuinely shocked, she's watched the show enough to know that normally they just dance around it. I can kind of see where he's coming from, but I feel so bad for both of the girls because the fact that he said it back, right now they both think that they'll get the final rose, and obviously that is not going to be the case. I'll be very interested to see "After the Final Rose" that airs after the finale and how the runner-up really felt about it all.
Unfortunately we have to wait two weeks - this upcoming week will be the "Tell All" episode, which is always full of drama. Y'all, I can't help it. It's like a train wreck that I can't look away from. Please tell me I'm not the only one.

DietBet (again)

Do you know what happens when you go to an all inclusive resort for 6 days? Let me tell you. You will gain at least five to eight pounds. Like a solid gain of five pounds, not just, "Oh, I think I gained five pounds at Thanksgiving dinner." Legit. So I am back on the DietBet train, well actually, I've been on it in a maintainer which requires that I stay within 2% of my starting weight - which I am currently over. For now I've also joined a Kickstarter which requires you to lose 4% of your current weight within 4 weeks. I have completed three of these before, and won two of them. I think my chances are pretty good on this one (knock on wood) because I am going from an almost stationary lifestyle of work and wedding planning to 5 days a week at the gym. Fingers crossed!
To find out a little more about DietBet and my first experience with it, check out this post.

Post Wedding Blues

I have officially been married for thirteen days and it has been more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. We went on a honeymoon the Monday immediately following the wedding, so I am finishing up my first week back at work. I came across a lot of articles while I was planning the wedding that said after the wedding you will have "Post Wedding Blues" because it will all be over and you won't have any planning to do. Well, at least for now, that couldn't be further from the truth. I enjoyed planning my wedding, but it was A LOT of work, and took up A LOT of time. I am so happy to have more time to spend at home with my husband (!), and it's time that we can just hang out and eat dinner and watch TV instead of going to Michaels and Home Depot and making seating charts and painting candle holders and assembling signs and monogramming napkins. You get the picture. I'm sure I will feel a little sadness that it's all over, but it's only over because our marriage is starting, and isn't that what it's all about?

Orange is the New Black

Maybe I watched all three seasons within a week and a half, maybe I didn't. Spoiler: I totally did. And since there are only three seasons, I am desperately waiting until the summer for the new one to air. As with most shows like that, I'll probably forget about it, and rediscover it after it about a month after it's released. Have any of y'all watched it? What did you think? I am super interested in trying to find out how realistic some of the things that happen are, but I haven't had much luck on that research. Only a handful of articles with interviews by the producer and previous inmates.

Hope you've had a great week so far, let's get this weekend started!

Happy Friday!

xoxo 

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Wednesday Showcase

TGIF, it's football time in the Bluegrass!

okay, okay, I know, its football time everywhere :)

Football Tailgating Season

Y'all. There is nothing I love more than a good tailgate. I love to plan them, I love to go to them, I just love everything about it. We didn't get to go to the UK or UT games last weekend because we had to  meet with the wedding planner (see below), which was pretty much the opposite of a football game. This weekend we're heading to the Tennessee v. Oklahoma game in Knoxville and I am so excited. Not only is this going to be a big game for Tennessee, but they are also doing "Checker Neyland" again, and it was a lot of fun last year. From what I understand it started as a big push from a couple of fans to get everyone to wear either white or orange, depending on where your seat is, so that from far away it looks like a checkerboard. And let me tell you, it. was. awesome. It actually worked, and worked well. And honestly you didn't have to be that far away to see what was going on. Basically from anywhere inside the stadium you could look across and it looked like a checkerboard - I was very impressed. Here are a few pictures from last year, and I'll be sure to document it again this year because it seriously looked photo-shopped it was done so well.

Wedding Planner

After having a couple  lot of moments of extreme stress over trying to plan our wedding and trying to coordinate everything that needed to be done, as well as keeping all important parties informed, I finally decided that we definitely needed someone for day of coordination, and preferably someone who could help out a little bit along the way. Luckily my mom was able to talk to a few people at home and found a woman who can do as little or as much as we need, which is perfect. We met with her last Saturday and I feel 100x better about everything. There were definitely still some stressful moments because me, my finance, my mom, and both of my fiance's parents were there - so there were a lot of opinions. But, I could tell she was working towards what I  wanted to make happen and not getting bogged down with all of their ideas as well. I'm hoping this will be a much smoother process and all of my winter wedding fears will subside. Well, most of them at least :)

Unpacking

I have finally (almost) finished unpacking from moving out of my apartment and it is so nice to come home and not see boxes and boxes everywhere. I also did a major purge of some clothes and my closet, at least for now, is very organized and looks great. I invested in getting all new hangers for my dresses because I just think it looks so much better when all of your hangers match, if anything it can give the illusion of organization. I'll try to include a few pictures soon. Working with a small closet is always a struggle, and especially trying to use the empty space on the sides that I can't really get to. If y'all have any suggestions, it is still a work in progress and I am always looking for input!

Goodbye to the Pastels :(

While I was unpacking and getting my closet organized, I also started putting away all of my summer clothes. It was definitely a good thing because it cleared up some space in my closet, but I just hated to put them all away. Don't get me wrong, I love boots and oversized sweaters as much as the next girl, but I love bright colors, pastels, seersucker and sun dresses. I am also an extreme rule follower, so when Labor Day came around I knew I had to put them all away for now. That being said, it is barely going to get to 70 today, so I guess mayyybe it was time to pull out my fall clothes anyways. 

BigBrother

Do any of y'all watch Big Brother on CBS? My mom and I have literally been watching it since the first season - which I can not believe was 17 years ago! I've since been able to get the finance into it, to the point that he sometimes is more interested in it than I am. They are down to the final 5 now and I honestly don't know if I like any of the ones that are left. I kind of felt like this season there weren't any major stand outs that I was really pulling for. I do think John is hilarious though! If you watch it, what are your thoughts??

Have a Great Weekend, Y'all! Go CATS! 

xoxo

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TGIF, time to RELAX!

TGIF, Y'all! I feel like this week has flown by!

Vera Bradley Purchases

A few months ago I got a travel jewelry case from Vera Bradley. I've always had some kind of travel jewelry bag, but I was starting to out grow the one I used most often/it wasn't really designed for bangle-like bracelets. It didn't have a lot of give. Enter: the perfect jewelry case from Vera Bradley.
Since then I've also been admiring the travel hanging organizers for quick weekend trips, or really anytime that we travel. Because honestly my suitcase usually consists of at least two small makeup cases, along with all of my other toiletries scattered throughout my suitcase, and me praying they don't all open up. I first saw their hanging organizer in the outlet store around here, but there weren't any patterns I loved, so I just couldn't justify getting something that I thought I needed but didn't really like, knowing I'd find a way to replace it sooner rather than later. Well, as we were gearing up for this vacation, I thought I'd give their website a quick look and boy did I luck out! The pattern that my jewelry organizer is (which I love!) is being discontinued so the whole line of it is on sale, plus last week Vera Bradley was celebrating its anniversary and the entire site was 25% off, and - my favorite part - free shipping. So I miiiight have broken my spending freeze, but I am now the proud owner of the cutest travel organizer I have ever seen!

State Fair

We went to the state fair last night and it was so fun! Admittedly, I had never been to the state fair, only the county fair, and needless to say, I had no idea what to expect. The entire expo center was full of the most random vendors, and then the outside was exactly what I would expect for a fair - rides, all of the fried food you can imagine, and silly games. I indulged in a bloomin' onion, and I am pretty sure I shouldn't eat for the next three days because of all of the calories! Have y'all ever been to your state's fair?

Selling Back Books

I shared a few weeks ago the many ways you can save money when you're buying text books. But, another one of my personal favorite "savers" is to sell back any books that I no longer need. You can go about this in a couple of ways. School bookstores will usually buy back your books, but not for a whole lot. Amazon also has a great deal where you can send in your books (free shipping) and receive an Amazon gift card for the balance. Both of these are great because the money is guaranteed and you're not waiting for someone to actually buy it. However, sometimes the amount they are willing to pay is quite low and you tend to feel like its not really worth it. That was the case for a few of my more recent books (because apparently tax law books are worthless?). Then I noticed Amazon gave me the option to list my books for sale on my own, and I thought  I'd give it a shot. Within two weeks I'd sold all five of the books I had listed, and I am getting a direct payment to my checking account! So if you're like me and have any law  or other text books laying around, or really any kind of books that you're looking to get out of the way, I would highly suggest checking out this option!

Dinner with my Big!

My Big in my sorority lives about an hour away from me now, but I haven't seen her since we accidentally ran into each other at Keeneland in the spring. She texted me earlier this week to see if I wanted to come up for her birthday dinner and I was so excited to get a chance to see her! Going to a small school where everyone kind of spreads back out after graduation can be tough, and we are lucky to be so close to each other, so I'm trying to make more of an effort to hang out with people that I can see more easily than others. I'm not sure where we're going yet, but I am really looking forward to it!

Wedding Plans

Earlier this week I mentioned some of the concerns I was having about the fact that we were having a wedding in the middle of winter. While there are still some things I am trying to sort out and envision to fit in with a winter wedding, I am so excited about all of the progress we are making! We have finally selected our band, caterer, and hired a wedding planner to help with the remainder of the decisions, as well as coordinate on the day of. Let me tell you, knowing that someone else will be the point person and that I can honestly trust her and enjoy that day was a huge relief. My mom met with her and said she was great, and I am meeting with her in a few weeks and cannot wait to share all of my ideas and hear her suggestions on how to make it all come together!

How has your week been? Do y'all have any big plans?

Have a great weekend, y'all! 

xoxo

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Wedding Wednesday, 178 days to go: Coming to Terms with a Winter Wedding

photo source

I am literally counting down the days until my wedding. I know that it is going to be the best day and I cannot wait! But, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little (very) concerned about having a winter wedding.

As most girls do, I've been picturing my wedding day for as long as I can remember. That picture has changed with time, but it has always included all things bright and colorful. I always assumed my bridesmaids would wear pink, the guys would be in seersucker, and there would be pops of yellows and green all around and gorgeous outdoor scenery. This all still sounds like my ideal wedding, except that now I'm getting married in February. There is no colorful outdoor scenery in February. There are no bright shades of yellow in February. And there is certainly no wearing seersucker in February.

(Almost) every decision I make is very well thought out, and very intentional, and our wedding date was no exception. He proposed in November of last year, and we knew it would take at least one year to plan. We also knew that with the bar exam this summer, the months of June and July were essentially non-existent when it came to all of the checklist items. Football season also played a large part in pushing the date past the fall, and by then, I honestly knew I'd be too impatient to wait around all the way until next summer. I mean y'all, if I could have gotten married this February I probably would have. All of this to say, we chose February, but as I am getting deeper into the planning process, it is harder and harder for me to envision exactly what a February wedding is supposed to look like.

I know, I know, Pinterest is where I should be looking. But let me tell you, it is very difficult to find inspiration for a "Winter Wedding" that does not revolve around poinsettias and snowflakes. I am a warm-weather, bright-color kind of girl. There is absolutely nothing appealing to me about a snowflake motif. Although, I will say, some of the pictures of weddings I have seen in the snow are gorgeous. Like so much so, that I kind of want it to snow on my wedding day (I'm sure I'll be regretting this if we end up with another winter we had like last year). But honestly, if I'm going to endue the cold, I think at the least I deserve the pictures to prove it, right?

Obviously at this point the date is set, and by obviously, I mean we have the church and reception venue booked, so we're pretty set on the date. And y'all, I am doing my darndest to reimagine my ideal wedding, but it. is. hard. I always imagined pretty pinks and yellows, short dresses, and warm sunshine. I am now trying to imagine long flowing navy dresses, shades of green, and snow on the ground. I used to consider if I would provide guests with sunglasses, now I'm considering blankets. I used to think that fur stoles were just hmm . . . not something I was interested in, and now, I think maybe it is the only way I will stay warm, and perhaps they are actually really nice. I'm working on it. I literally have a Pinterest board called "Embracing the Cold." It will be the best day of my life, and it will be beautiful, I just don't know what it is going to look like. Yet.

How did you choose your wedding date? Was it convenient, did you want to wait until the venue was available?

Have a great day, y'all!

xoxo

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