Birthday Gift Review

Guess who's one spoiled lucky girl?! 

J took a hint from this post..

 Wait for it....

 A new leather travel bag!!!!

 With a cross-body option :)

 And a fun blue interior

 Oh, and did I mention I was in the market to upgrade my wallet?

 Love at first sight I tell you.

Motivation

In need of a little fitness motivation? Here are a few pictures I found on pinterest that seem to resonate with me. 

I seem to have more motivation this year to get in shape & stay in shape than I did the year of my own wedding! I'm serious. I don't know why, but knowing that I'll be sitting at the head table of 3 weddings this summer scares the crap out of me. And I'll be giving a speech at one as the Matron of Honor! Yikes! So with no big white dress to hide behind, I have been working my butt off. And I'm loving it though!

 Love this.

 

 This is the hardest thing to accept. I totally want instant results. Who doesn't?

 You better believe it!

And finally, a quote I read on SkinnyRunner:

"You don't get what you wish for, you get what you work for."

How is that for motivational?! Happy Thursday everyone! One day closer to the weekend!

Pictures via Pinterest.

Wedding Wednesday

As I mentioned in my post Monday, this past weekend I had the honor of attending a friend's bridal shower. Lauren is marrying one of J's best friends, Ryan, and J is the best man in their wedding.

They've been together for as long as I can remember now, and are getting married Memorial Day Weekend.

Random fact - Lauren & Ryan also have a Beabull! Only their dog, Oscar is an English bulldog/Beagle Mix, where as Tucker is an American Bulldog/Beagle Mix. You can definitely see the difference, here are the 2 as pups last year-

What a good sharer Tucker is! :) Although his eyes are definitely saying mom, he's hogging my bed...haha

Anyways, back to the bridal shower! I had so much fun. I've become friends with the girlfriends and fiance's (and soon to join the wifey club with me!) of some of J's good friends and they are always hilarious. Never a dull moment.

Here's a play by play of the shower in photos...

Although this shower wasn't a "surprise" it is still so overwhelming to walk into a whole room of women! Lauren walked in simply beaming.

Gift opening! How fabulous is her dress and shoes??!!

Ryan showed up during the gift opening

I don't have a picture of it, but Ryan also ripped the ribbons off our gift to them. Babies to come! Tell me you've heard of this old wives tales? I made sure to wrap our gift with tight ribbon. :)

And lastly, what do you get when the groom's parents own a Floral & Candy Shop? Gorgeous centerpieces!

According to Ryan's mom, Lauren was originally thinking of using Mason Jars for the flowers at their wedding but has since decided she'd like something a little more formal. So, being the sweet, thoughtful woman that she is, she incorporated the Mason Jars and twine into the shower!

And because there were at least 4 vases on every table, including where the cake and brunch buffet were....there were more than enough to go around! Yes, this happened...

Oh, and this too...

Extra chocolates for J!

And I'm happy to report that my vase is still looking beautiful.

Oh, and to help you locate this talented florist, here's a link to their website - Candy Jar and Designs in Bloom

They did our wedding flowers and I loooooved my bouquet! I've actually loved every bouquet I've received from them! And no, they have no idea that I'm giving you a link to their site, or praising their hard work. But seriously, if you're on the South Shore of MA, check them out!

Congratulations Lauren & Ryan! I hope you enjoyed your bridal shower and got many of the gifts you've registered for!



Next up on the wedding list is a friend of mine from home! I still owe you a post on her shower which took place a few weeks ago, but her bachelorette party is this weekend so I will be posting about both soon! :)

St. Augustine, FL

After saving all her pennies over the winter last year, my mom rented herself a place on the beach in St. Augustine, Florida for the month of April. And she's decided to do it again this year! So baller.

I'm pretty sure my mom is in better shape than I am. She's an avid swimmer, biker, and kayaker so getting an extra month of warm weather is really great for her. Last year she came back in amazing shape, and a great tan to boot!

Easter happened to fall at the end of April last year, after a major tax deadline for me - April 15th. So it was the perfect timing for a week off.

J & I flew in from Boston, my sister and her fiance flew in from San Francisco, and we all spent a week at the beach basking in the sun. At this point last year, I had been working 6 days a week since mid-February and logging about 70+ hours a week. So once we were in St. Augustine, I took a break from heavy thinking. My hardest decisions for the week were, beach or pool, frozen drink or beer, morning run or sleep in, etc. If I didn't already say this, it was just what I needed.

A view walking out from the pool

View from the beach at the condos

Parents hitting the waves

 The 2 most important men in my life

View Easter morning

 

The 2 most important guys in my mom's life

We also made a trip to the alligator farm...

St. Augustine is the oldest European-established city in the US. It was founded by a Spanish explorer in the 1500's and still has much of Spanish charm. We had dinner in the old city one night and it was so reminiscent of Seville. 

Dinner was to celebrate Jackie & Adrian's engagement. Crazy to think this was a year ago already!

Although I can't go for a whole week again this year, I am so looking forward to my long weekend in the sun in a few weeks. It'll just be me & my mom- girl's weekend. :)

**UPDATE** - I will be adding our trips to the Travel page as I post about them!

Weekend Things

This weekend was a busy one!

And it certainly had me feeling lucky. In the past few years I have made some fun new friends thanks to J's friends choosing some great girls to date. And I really couldn't ask for a better family, both immediate and extended.

So first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!! (my brother-in-law)

Saturday afternoon I had a bridal shower for J's best friend's fiance, Lauren. She is probably one of the sweetest girls I know. Not exaggerating, ask anyone. J is the best man in their wedding and we can't wait for it. It is going to be ridiculously fun! Oh, and as the date of the best man, what do I wear??? I'll post all about her bridal shower later this week!

Saturday night was dinner with my in-laws. My brother-in-law's birthday is today, my father-in-law is tomorrow, and my birthday is Wednesday! Crazy, right? Jay loooved this when we were dating in high school and had no $$. :)

J is one of 4 boys so I have gained 3 brothers and a mother & father-in-law who treat me like one of their own. I realize that having been around for the past 10 years helps, but still, they have always been this way. And HILARIOUS. I'm always in for a good laugh when we're all together.

Here's a peak at the loot they gave me for my birthday! Loved it all.

Morocco travel book, Ann Taylor gift card, 2 Alex & Ani bracelets, my most favoritest perfume in the world that I've been wearing since freshman year of college, and TNF Better than Naked Shorts. They know me well.

Dan, who's birthday is today, also received a few workout related gifts. And we joke about who clearly works out in the family and who doesn't. Dan & I both asked for, and received, workout clothes at Christmas too. Oh, and no one else did. Haha. For me, new workout clothes get me really excited to hit the gym or go for a run!

Here's a picture of J & my brother-in-law Greg causing trouble while the gifts were being passed out -

What.a.couple.of.studs.

Here is the whole clan at dinner-

Sorry it's dark! Asked the waiter to take this one...oh and love the waiter photo bomb in the background?? :) (I *borrowed* this photo from my mother-in-law)

Sunday was a lazy day during the afternoon, but Sunday night J & I had dinner with my parents. It's restaurant week here in Boston so we certainly took advantage of it! The four us dined at Ruth's Chris and it was amazing.

Mom & dad both got filet mignon, J got New York Strip, and I tried their salmon. Everything was delicious. Of course, I don't have any pictures from the night. :( But it was really nice to spend sometime with my parents. I'm pretty sure I'll be indebted to them for life. They've provided me with a great childhood and an excellent education. Not to mention the unforgettable wedding J & I had! So much fun. They are very sweet, thoughtful parents. AND, they bought me a plane ticket to Florida for my birthday! Woohoo!! I cannot wait to hit the beach with my mom.

In other news...

I've been thinking about a schedule for this blog lately. What do you think? While I'm still working on the details, the sidebars, the links, etc and just building up the blog in general, I've decided that a certain schedule to my posts would be helpful.

I usually set them to post in the morning, but other than that they have certainly been a mix bag of ideas. Over the next few weeks I'm going to stick to the following topics, since these are the most important to me right now:

Monday -Fashion and/or home decor
Tuesday - Travel
Wednesday - Wedding related
Thursday - Healthy Eating and/or Fitness
Friday - Miscellaneous

I'm sure there will be a few random posts here or there, but having a schedule definitely helps this cluttered mind feel a tid bit more organized.

Clearly today is not at all fashion related....schedule starts tomorrow.