Sash Me

My new best friend is the UPS delivery man because he brings me lots of J. Crew goodies! (If only he were paying for them!) Yesterday, I squealed with glee as I saw the oh-so-pretty J. Crew box perched on the porch and inside there were two cotton blouses that I just couldn't live without, a pair of giant black pants that I am going to return immediately, and the loveliest slice of heaven that I call The Perfect Wedding Dress Sash. Actually, I am anxiously waiting to try it with my dress when my maids are here to give me their thoughtful opinions. ;) But either way, it's the sweetest little sash I ever laid eyes on and I just want to squeeze it and pet it and try it on with EVERY outfit.

I love you, Jenna's Picks and Free Shipping! Oh, did I mention 20% Off Fall Sweaters? And where have these adorable WELLIES!!!! been all my life?! J. Crew is going to be the end of me.

My Summer Heart

Summer is coming to a rapid end and for the 3rd year in a row, Steve and I did not fully enjoy the sweetness of summer because we were too busy searching for a place to live, packing, moving, and unpacking and oh my god THANK the LORD this was the last time. As much as I love the warm weather and long days of summer, the coming of Autumn always makes me feel incredibly good inside. I can taste the brisk evening air on my tongue and it reminds me of peppermint mochas, visiting the Avila Barn, slipping into a cozy sweater, baking cookies and making my famous "leftover soup". I love the changing of the leaves and all season long I day-dream about jumping into piles of crunchy leaves in New York's Central Park. One day!

The last week of summer has been calm and relaxing. My scar is starting to heal up - see! The Doc did a great job using one of my pre-existing neck wrinkles as a template for the incision. Way to go!

I got my new camera lens (thanks for the recommendation, Maren!) and I absolutely love it! I always had a hard time getting close-ups on objects with the perfect crispness and background blur (there might be a photography term for this), but now I can get that perfect, artsy shot! I haven't had many opportunities to shoot much yet, but I've been practicing on my roses outside and of course Steve's lovely face! I am hoping to get some nice photos to print and hang around our house like I did before.

Steve has been busy fixing sprinklers, pulling weeds, organizing the garage, catching gophers and his latest victim - a big, fat, hairy, RAT! Steve is in heaven at this place.

click photos to see full size

Some exciting things coming up:

• Engagement Shoot with Applemoon Photography!! - October 11
• Bridesmaid weekend - October 17, 18 (cake tasting!!!)
• Bridal Fair - October 18
• Thanksgiving in Idaho - November 26-29

How to Delight Me

• Let me shake up the champagne so that it really pops when I open it
• Bring a back-up bottle of champagne so we don't have to drink the now bubble-less bottle that I already popped
• Do the dishes
• Tell me it's time for ice cream and serve me a great big bowl
• Email me and tell me about your life
• Take me to Ikea
• Come over for dinner
• Take me to The Grove to eat the best sweet potato fries on earth
• Give me a back rub
• Dance with me
• Surprise me!
• Talk about your favorite music and what it means to you

How to Annoy Me

• Respond to my email with a phone call
• Talk on your cell phone while ordering food, banking, checking out at the grocery store, etc.
• Wipe your nacho cheese Dorito fingers on my couch
• Blast the Air Conditioning
• If you are a complete stranger, ask to try on my engagement ring
• Use your left blinker signal, but actually turn right
• Wait 10 seconds before you start moving forward when the light turns green
• Heat up your leftover fish in the lunchroom at work
• Ask me if I go to "Poly"
• Ride your bike along Orcutt road
• Install carpet in your bathroom
• Say, "it is what it is"
• Bring goatheads into the house
• Talk to me about football

Laboratory Findings

Ten days ago, my ENT removed what he thought was a thyroglossal duct cyst from inside my neck. After a grueling and uncomfortable week being horizontal on the couch, I went to have my ONE stitch removed and the first thing out of the doctor's mouth was, "so there was a surprising lab test result..." which TOTALLY freaked me out, but he went on to tell me that the "cyst" was actually a random lymph node!! WTF?! He said he has never seen a lymph node growing where it was growing in my neck, and that he was shocked to hear these results. He said removing it will do no harm what-so-ever, so it was probably best they took it out since it is so unusual anyway.

I am recovering pretty well. The front of my neck is pretty sore and I still can't look upwards completely. Unfortunately, the left side of my neck is swollen so I have half a double chin. Sexy! Pray to the goiter gods for me!

Definitely NOT a Bridezilla

I've sorta stopped wedding planning at the moment because of all of the house stuff and surgery, but I am hoping to get back into it soon! Next on the list: caterer, musician for ceremony, groom and groomsmen clothes, and registry! We're probably registering at Crate and Barrel, Home Depot, and one other place. I also need to figure out transportation, lodging for the wedding night, and where on earth we're going on our honeymoon! I would LOVE to do an engagement shoot so I can use the photos for a guest book and save the dates, but not sure it's in the budget anymore :( We'll see if we can save our pennies!!

Here is some more inspiration from one of my favorite wedding blogs, Green Wedding Shoes. The photos below are from a couple different weddings featured on that blog. I love the colors and textures of the flowers and of course the use of succulents in the bouquets. I am also thinking about using cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake and I like the simplicity of these below.

Ride Into the Sunset

How freakin cool would it be to ride off into the sunset in one of these after our wedding? Umm VERY COOL.



http://www.classicmotoringcarrentals.com/