The Countdown to A Royal Wedding

Guess who took off from work to watch the Royal Wedding?!  ME! 

An invitation card for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is seen at Buckingham Palace in London

I may not have an invitation to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding but I definitely plan to watch it - all of it - including the pre-wedding and post-wedding coverage, beginning at 10 p.m. local time!  

I wasn't around for Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding but from all of the footage, and by what people have told me it was INCREDIBLE!  It was a once in a generation event: the crowds, the fanfare, and of course, the dress and incredible train!  

As a bride-to-be who is obsessed with everything wedding, and a person who has been bitten by the Royal Wedding bug, this is a wedding I cannot miss!  

The "Instrument of Consent," which is the Queen's historic formal consent to Prince William's forthcoming marriage to Kate Middleton, is displayed at the Crown Office at the House of Lords on April 21, 2011 in London, England

The British Union Jack hangs over London's Regent Street on April 20, 2011, in preparation for the wedding between Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011.

Herald Painter Robert Parsons sketches the new coat of arms for Kate Middleton's family at the College of Arms in London on April 18, 2011. Middleton will use this coat of arms until her April 29 royal wedding to Britain's Prince William, when it will be merged with his coat of arms.

Master Taylor Lance Sgt. Matthew Else checks the cut of an Irish Guardsman's uniform during an inspection in Windsor, United Kingdom on April 21, 2011. Irish Guards soldiers are preparing for ceremonial duties during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29. William is the Colonel of the Irish Guards.

Household Cavalry prepare for Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate MiddletonA state Helmet is polished during preparations for the royal wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton, at Hyde Park Barracks in central LondonA state helmet is polished during preparati0ons for the royal wedding

Wedding Wednesday - it's almost Invitation Month!

My wedding schedule had May labeled as "Invitation Month." With April drawing to an end I was becoming incredibly anxious and excited to get started on our invites!  Unfortunately my excitement was unexpectedly transformed to a major panic attack when the person I expected to do our invitations had to cancel on us.

::  Y I K E S !  ::

I tried to be calm but I couldn't help freaking out.  It scared me that I would have to start all over again: search the net, look through magazine clippings for preferred vendors, look at samples, read reviews, email and speak with potential vendors, etc...

Begrudgingly I began the process of selecting (another) stationary vendor.

It was very important for me to select a great vendor.  After all, the invitations are the first taste the guests will have of the wedding!  I want something simple (no pockets, please) and classic, but also chic and modern (gimme some invitation bling!).  

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Thankfully, after hours and hours, of research I think we are extremely close to selecting an invitation vendor (again)!!  No deposits have been paid just yet, and I am still communicating with a couple of vendors but *fingers crossed* we will be back on schedule for a successful "Invitation Month." 

A new do!

It's been a while since I had my hair cut, but after looking in the mirror the other day I decided it was time for a change!  After flipping through magazines and browsing the internet I was inspired by the following pics:

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And here's my new do!

new do @ the Zoombathon!

BTW: The Zoombathon was a lot of fun! I don't know if it's quite my thing (jumping and dancing around in large groups makes me feel super uncoordinated and awkward), and I highly doubt I will be participating in any more Z-thons (lots of sweaty people packed into a room ooges me out just a little) but it was a great fundraiser for Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear victims and hey, it was great exercise!

Fabulous Friday - Floral Blooms

Fresh flowers are a beautiful way to celebrate that spring has sprung! 

My absolute favorite flower is the peony: it is romantic, delicate, and luxurious!  Along with the peony,  here are a few of my favorite flowers!  -all of which will be incorporated in my wedding bouquet!

peony perfection

ranunculus. beautiful.

light pink garden roses

hydrangea

lovely lisianthus

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! 

A Cake (almost) too Pretty to Eat... almost.

I may not have decided which cake company to go with, but I definitely have an idea of how I'd like our  wedding cake look.  My cake must-haves are:

• (White) Fondant
• Round cake tiers although I am amenable to a petal-shape tier 
• A white / silver color palate 

My cake "wanna-haves" are:

• sugar flowers (personally I don't like real flowers on a cake)
• sugar lace - I love how simple and delicate it looks 
• thin, neat, and even piping
• simple cake topper (if any)
• a little bit of bling or shimmer 

Here are a few cakes that are inspiring our wedding cake design:

cake by Sweet and Saucy Shop 

via The Caketress

cake by Sweet Cheeks Baking Company

cake by The Caketress

cake by My Wedding Concierge

cake by The Wow Factor Cakes

cake by Sweetopia

Wedding Wednesday! - Cake Tasting

Mmmm... CAKE!  Cake tasting is a wedding planning highlight.  I mean, how can you go wrong when you are treated to delicious samplings of (free) cake! The Mister doesn't really care for cake but thankfully, I haven't had to go to my tastings alone, Mother has stepped up and is a FABULOUS cake tasting buddy! 

At Paradise Pastries our cake tasting was driven by cake and filling flavors that I was interested in.  The combinations included the following:

Vanilla cake with Guava Cream 

Yellow cake with Strawberry Cream

Coconut cake with Ganache

Chocolate cake with Haupia (Coconut)

Red Velvet cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese

Yellow Cake with Pineapple 

The white chocolate cream cheese frosting was really good! The white chocolate was very subtle but it added a nice flavor boost.  

While I'm not a huge fan of pineapple the flavor was light and complemented the yellow cake well.  

At A Cake Life I was not able to choose the cake or fillings in the tasting; the tasting selections were based on their best sellers.  

The cake tasting included the following flavor combinations (left to right) as shown below:

Yellow cake with Strawberry Cream 

Yellow cake with Lilikoi (a tart fruit)

Chocolate cake with Oreo Cream Cheese

Chocolate with Chocolate Raspberry Cream

Guava Cake with Guava Cream 

Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese

 I really liked the yellow cake with strawberry cream filling! 

Although I wouldn't choose the Oreo cake for my wedding, I think it would make a delicious birthday cake.

 Nom. Nom. Nom! 

Although I have narrowed down my cake search (from 4) to these two companies, I haven't confirmed with either yet.  Currently, I am leaning toward A Cake Life based on the overall consultation and design feedback.  But solely based on the tasting, I'd have to choose Paradise Pastry simply because I was able to taste (and liked) the flavor combination I plan to order (White cake with a Coconut filling) while I wasn't able to taste either flavor with A Cake Life.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.  

Do you think it's important to taste a wedding cake before you commit and put down your deposit?

Has anyone ordered their wedding cake without tasting it? 

it's (almost) TEA time!

The Mister and I haven't begun our wedding invitations just yet (I know, I know! We will be mailing our deposit and begin work this month) but I had some invitation fun working on my Tea Party invites!  I really enjoyed perusing through weddingpaperdivas.com as well as picking the actual invitation design and wording.  

Although the invitations have pink-ish hue, I used a reliable double sided tape to adhere a lavender card stock backing, which I felt complimented the colors nicely; the card stock was also a great way to add weight and substance to the invitation.

All invitations are in the mail.  Time to patiently wait for the responses!  

and . . . decide what to wear! 

Gimme my REFUND!

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Today is Tax Day! 

Gah! It felt like such an ordeal to do my taxes (probably since I was such a procrastinator) but alas they are F I N I S H E D ! 

Thank you turbo tax!  

I'm happy to say that I have  a REFUND (Fed & State) coming my way! 

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Here is my list of what I'd like to get with my tax refund:

Yves Saint Laurent sandals YSL Tribute 105 Patent

Le Creuset Red Cookware

a personal trainer to get me wedding ready

And what I actually did with my tax refund:

I added to my Roth IRA :)

Did anyone do anything fun with their refund? 

Have a great week! 

Fabulous Friday - Etsy.com

The more engrossed I become in wedding planning the more inspiration I am finding on etsy.com!  Here are a few of my favorite finds that may find their way into our wedding!!

via ourhobbytoyourhome

via myambercolouredworld

via lovegrowsbygiving

via luxedeluxe

via beachhouseliving

via tiers0fjoy

Does anyone have etsy finds/inspiration they want to share? :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Zaa Zaa Zoomba!

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A couple of weeks ago I signed up to participate in a Zoomba-thon.  Whaat? I've never even been to a Zoomba class!  And now I'm going to a Zoomba-thon?!  Yup!  A few of my friends and co-workers who are Zoomba regulars (read: fanatics), convinced me to sign up by telling me I will have a lot of fun, but more importantly, it is a fundraiser with all proceeds going to earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear victims in Japan.

I didn't want to be a complete newbie when I showed up for the Z-thon so today I went to my first Zoomba class! To be honest, I was a lotta bit nervous about going to my first Zoomba class, but despite feeling slightly awkward and uncoordinated I had a great time!  I don't know if I will become a regular but I think I have few more classes in me!