Happy Halloweenie!

Boo!

We only bought one pumpkin this year.

Yep, only one. The big one that looks like it is rotting, but really it is just dirt. He was $14. The other 6 pumpkins - FREE! It seems than I have much better luck at church pumpkin patches than I do at Goodwill, yard sales, thrift stores... I guess waiting until the night before Halloween to buy your pumpkins has it's perks. We decided to only carve one Jack-O-Lantern so the rest of the pumpkins could stick around for Thanksgiving decor until they rot. We have a new tradition of watching The Office on Thursday nights with our mentor couple (now great friends), the Shades. We carved pumpkins with them - here is their's... his name is Jean Luc. (He is french, duh)

They took photos of the action last night - I'll share them with you when I get them. The rest of our little punkins have moved in around our friend, Gladys.Ain't she cute? Do you know what else is cute? All the weeds that have grown THROUGH the bed of leaves surrounding our house. (We refuse to clean up ANY leaves until they have all fallen.) Have a safe and fun night Trick or Treating, and have a wonderful weekend!

I Gave In.

On Friday, I spent over 12 hours in airports or on airplanes.

So, naturally, I bought this to pass the time...

...and now, naturally, I have a crush on...

(him, not her.)

So, now I'm thinking, naturally, how can I find a movie theater while I'm on my honeymoon, so I can see the movie?

I have seriously been missing out on this series, and for those who care, Justin knows about the crush, and since it is on a character rather than a real person, he is OK with it.

UPDATE: I just found out that the movie actually comes out Nov 21 in the USA, so I won't have to see it on my honeymoon. Whew, I was worried.

I'm Back!

My goodness, I've been missing you all! Let me tell you, it is pure torture being away on business, and unable to keep up with everyone in blogland!

I had a wonderful bridesmaids weekend away in the lovely Boone, NC, complete with a lingerie shower! A restful weekend with the gals was exactly what the doctor ordered...Look at all the good loot! (Don't you just love the word 'loot'?) And yes, that is a furry crown in the middle bag. I think that one won't make it in the luggage for the honeymoon...

Speaking of crowns... I saw so many cute princesses yesterday! Did you know that in addition to being a designer, and a fiance, that I teach dance? I usually only teach the older competitive team, however this year I added a 3 and 4 year old class to the mix. How could I pass up the opportunity to teach my flower girl AND ring bearer in the same class? So cute. Yesterday, I let all the kids wear their Halloween costumes to class... they were adorable!Left to right we have: a princess, SuperGirl, Minnie Mouse, a Butterfly, another princess, a Ballerina, another Butterfly, Swiper (from Dora), Snow White and Cinderella. Swiper is my cousin and flower girl (she did have a mask on, but that lasted all of about 10 seconds). Unfortunately, my little ring bearer couldn't be there yesterday, and we didn't have a little Pirate there to chase all the little girls... I told all the kids that when they saw their parents they had to say "Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet!" It is really fun to be a kid again with these little sweeties!

the one, the only (maybe)... WEDDING WEDNESDAY!

Welcome! I hope the thousands of new readers today can grab some coffee, get comfy, and really enjoy reading about all of this wedding BLISS! Whether you are reminiscing about your own sweet wedding, or daydreaming about your upcoming big day, we want to hear (and see) it all! Give me advice! Show me photos! Tell me funny stories! OOOOH, even better... Tell me what you always love the most and appreciate the most when you are a GUEST at a wedding! With our upcoming nuptials, we really want the whole evening to be romantic, fun and memorable for our guests, so please... spare NO detail!

Here's how you play...

Unfortunately, I cannot figure out Mr. Linky (apparently he is like most other men on the planet). So all you have to do is post a comment with a link to YOUR blog post about weddings! I promise I'll visit every single one of you, and I will even post about my favorite finds later this week!

To start you off... Go visit JENNIFER and KRISTEN!!! They are good little girls, and have already posted about wedding fun. Jennifer started with an inspiration cake, and ended with an entire dream wedding all planned out with photos - her shoes and groom are breathtaking! Kristen has photos from her wedding last year, and they are so sweet they just melt your heart. Check them out!

Here are some inpiration photos I used in the "conceptual design stage" of my wedding... can you tell I'm a designer?

Ok, at the sound of the wedding bells... GO! I can't wait to hear from everyone!!

Wedding Wednesday

Well, guess what... I must still be a natural blonde under all the highlites. (Hi-lights? highlights?) Tomorrow is STILL Wedding Wednesday, but I have no clue how to do this whole "Mr. Linky" thing. So, here's the deal...

Tomorrow, you've got to leave me some comment love! I'll post tomorrow morning, and I want you to leave a comment with a link to your blog entry about your wedding. I promise I'll read everything, and I'll even try to post about my favorite entries later this week!

I am having to leave tomorrow for an install with work in Florida, so I'll be gone until Friday night - but stop crying! I'll take my laptop with me and check all 6 of your cute little blogs when I'm in my hotel in the evenings.

Now, back to filling you in on the past few days...

This past weekend my hubby-to-be completed his first half-marathon! I know alot of you that I know in real and blog life have men that do this, or full marathons, or triathlons, or whatever, and you're thinking "Half-marathon? pshh, whatev, Lauren. That is only 13.1 miles and that is like soooooooo easy." Well, I think it's pretty darn great, considering he only trained for 4 weeks!

I had to include this photo... I have no idea who this guy is, but he was stretching hard core with his white gloves on! (Leah, you would have cracked up if you saw it!) I was standing by myself on the sidelines laughing until I snorted! Justin finished the race, averaging 10 minute miles - Great job, honey!

Can't wait to see everyone's wedding goodies tomorrow!!

Friday

How has this week slipped by me? I have barely blogged this week. I haven't taken a single photo this week!

One thing I have done is thought about a way to bring all of us together, and introduce all my known and unknown bloggy friends to each other.

SO...how about this?

NEXT WEEK, in honor of the 50 DAYS LEFT until my wedding (can you believe it? I think I might make a paper chain!), I will put a Mr. Linky thingamabob up, and I want all of YOU to post a link to a blog post about YOUR wedding! If you are married, show us pictures! tell us stories! give me advice! If you are NOT married, then show me inspiration pictures of what your dream wedding would look like! and you can still give advice if you want to! I can't wait to see all your pictures... maybe they'll be as pretty as this wedding:So simple, yet so elegant.

Sound good? Let's plan on WEDNESDAY of next week. That will give all of you ample time to round up all your old or not so old wedding photos, scan 'em in, and write something to go along with it.

I'll remind you again next week, but until then, HAPPY WEEKEND!

Meet Phoebe Mae...

Phoebe Mae is my dog - a Maltese.  I adopted her from the Watauga Humane Society on April 5, 2006.  She was 3 years old then.  Before she was taken to the humane society, she was living in a puppy mill in a trailer with 35 other dogs.  She had 3 litters of puppies within her 3 years of life.  She had never been outside, nor had she ever had dog food.  Over the last 2 years with Phoebe Mae, we have really loved watching her develop a sweet personality and really funny habits.  When I first adopted her, she did nothing but sit and look depressed all day.  She wouldn't eat dog food, was not housebroken, and bucked like a bronco if you put a leash on her.  Now, she LOVES to eat dog food (and anything else she can put in her mouth... last week we found her eating a DumDum lollipop the same way a human would eat one), she tells you when she needs to go outside, and she doesn't really need a leash outside - she stays right by your side.  She can sit, shake, dance, catch treats in her mouth, and is learning "Lay Down".  If you tell her to "Go get your baby," she will run and bring you one of her 20495825610245 toys.  She loves playing on PhotoBooth on her mom and dad's mac. 

This dog LOVES wearing clothes, and you better believe she dresses up for Halloween.  Maybe soon I'll do a Phoebe Phashion Show and take a picture of her in every outfit she owns...  Anyways... all of this was meant to introduce you to the spoiled little dog we love, and give you some background knowledge before watching this video of her.  Make sure your volume is up, so you can hear her talking in her sleep!!

My New Friends

I'm a little late in posting, but....Y'all, I got to spend some quality time with these lovely ladies, and it was just wonderful. I already knew some of these bloggers in real life (like, way before they were bloggers) and the others I am very happy to call new friends in real life.
Bottom Row: Me, Kendra, The Nester
Top Row: Jennifer, Kimba, Jill (SHE SO NEEDS A BLOG!), and Emily

This weekend was a busy one...
Friday, we took a quick road trip to Boone to pick up my wedding dress and have dinner at the Mountain House.
Saturday, we took a road trip to Raleigh for me to have my bridal portraits made and to have dinner with Justin's family. After "dieting" (aka starving myself) to fit into my wedding dress, it was like heaven to eat as much as I wanted for dinner at Mellow Mushroom.
Sunday, I taught dance all day, and finished just in time for Awaken. I love my church. Really. Afterwards we went to Krispy Kreme. Have you ever noticed how horrible your clothes smell after eating at Krispy Kreme? It was a little nauseating on the drive home...

Now that wedding invitations are finished, and the dark clouds of stress and envelopes have lifted, hopefully I will have more fun crafty things to post. (Did I tell you that my mom and I found urns on clearance a while ago at Old Time Pottery? only 99 cents! brilliant!)

THE Invitations

Once upon a time, I promised you I'd show you pictures of my beautiful DIY wedding invitations. Please allow me to preface these photographs with the following information:

1) I think it ended up being more expensive to make these than it would have been to just order them. Who knows, I don't really care anymore. Whatever, I'm over it. ;)

2) The photographs are very poor quality. I am sorry. If you have a problem with it, you are more than welcome to buy me a nice new camera with all the bells and whistles.

3) If you can't tell already, I am a little irritable today. Forgive me. I was up until 1 am this morning RE-ADDRESSING alllllllllllllllllllll of my invitations. Why? Because after I spent the first 1o hours addressing them the first time, I realized that the invitations did not fit into the envelopes that were all ready and waiting to go. Hate me. No, seriously. I hated me.

Ok so here are the pics. I guess this is my version of Friday Photos (I refuse to spell Photos with an "F") I really hope that my attitude changes as the day goes by. Thanks for being my bloggy and real life friends, even when I'm a jerk :)

This is the front... it has navy blue velvet ribbon. tres yummy. It looks like it's off-center here, but I promise it is not. I am way too much of a perfectionist for that. Here's the inside. So pretty. Champagne metallic pocket folder, Sand metallic borders and font/typeface color, and clean white paper. If you look very closely, you can see the snowflake/medallion details. All design work is by the lovely talented Kate Reece. She did all the design work for THOSE CREATIVE WOMEN, too. Do you need a graphic designer? Kate is awesome and you should hire her. See all those papers behind my invite? Those are bills that are spread all over my kitchen island. They are my very own designerly version of scary Halloween decor. Here's another shot of the inside...

Here are all the "deets" up close and personal. You all are invited to the ceremony! Please come. I would love to see you there, and would love to see the photos you take! However, the reception is invite only. I'm sorry - I wish that I could sit down and have dinner and cake with all of you, but my mom and dad only have so much money to spend. And we're not going into debt over a WEDDING, people. Seriously. I mean c'mon. Really. (Whew, am I fiesty today, or what?)And finally, the uber exciting back... I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I have a busy one with wedding dresses and bridal portraits and dance classes. See y'all Monday!

60 days!

I don't know why, but the excitement of getting married in only 60 days is hitting me all at once today! I am so giddy! I am sure the stress will hit me this afternoon, when it's back to assembling invitations, but for now I'm riding on cloud 9! (Leah, I got that figure of speech right!! yes!)I love this guy....

I'll post photos of our DIY invitations later today...

Those Creative Women

So after weeks of your begging and pleading for details on the big November 8th surprise... I give you...

THOSE CREATIVE WOMEN

Those Creative Women are really excited to come together for a fun holiday show in Greensboro. You can buy food, jewelry, stained glass, tassels, garlands and a lot more - and guess what?? Free gift wrap. Uh huh. I said it, and I'm not takin' it back. It will be the PERFECT place to come with friends and shop for the holidays AND meet those creative women! (Really, we just want to meet you!!) Who are "Those Creative Women" you ask? Well... there is Kendra Adachi from My First Kitchen, The Nester from Nesting Place, Cindy Cage from Imagery Limited, Melody Watson from MelodyWatson.com, and yours truly, Lauren Farrington from December 6th.

Go to our website for alot more info, and if you have questions, just let any of the creative women know and we'll help you out. Also, do you want a blinkie? I think we have one, but I don't know how to put it on a blog. I'll try to figure it out today :)

I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET Y'ALL ON NOVEMBER 8th!!

News...

I think we have a florist, people. I am not telling you who it is until we know for sure. We still need to meet with one more lady.

The biggest news is that Amelia's professional photos are up. Yes, my 2 week old niece had professional photos made when she was 7 days old, and no matter how much they cost, they were WORTH IT. I am not posting any photos today, just so you will go to PHRECKLES PHOTOGRAPHY and drool over the amazing photos of sweet Amelia. All photos were taken by Marie Cox, who is also our wedding photographer, and we just think the world of her. So, go check it out!