Pop Tart Pops

{Bakerella via the Family Kitchen}
As I've mentioned, I am doing an early morning wedding (because I couldn't possibly wait all day to get married...plus it means I get to be a bride for longer, wear my dress for longer, and celebrate with my friends and family for longer...win,win,win)

That being said, we are doing a brunch reception so I am always looking for creative brunch ideas. That's when I found these! How adorable are mini poptart pops!!

OUR FAMILY’S ”We-Love-Bakerella” TRIBUTE TREATS: Bite-Size Cherry PopTart Pops

FOR THE TWO-BITE POPTARTS
1 c. fresh cherries, pitted and diced
3 T. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
2 T. water
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 pkg. prepared pie crusts

FOR THE POPS
wooden popscicle sticks

FOR THE GLAZE
1 c. powdered sugar
1-2 T. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
food coloring and sprinkles (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine cherries, sugar, cornstarch and almond extract. Heat on stove over medium heat until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool. Unroll pie crusts and using a pizza cutter to slice them into 1 1/2″x 2″ rectangles (I used a ruler to measure mine into equal sizes. Just use a butter knife to score your pie crust before cutting).

Place a wooden popscicle stick on top of one of the cut rectangles, then spoon a small amount (about 1 1/2 tsp.) of cooled cherry filling into the center of the pie square, taking care not to get it near the edges. Gently lay a second rectangle over the top of the cherry filling. Press the edges of the rectangles together with a fork. Transfer to a baking sheet. Bake poptart pops in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or just until the edges begin to brown.

In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to make glaze. Tint with food coloring, if desired. Spoon over cooled poptart pops, sprinkle with colored sugar, and allow to the glaze to harden slightly before serving.

Amazing!

Table top

{Green Wedding Shoes}
Love the use of the doilies for the menu! It reminds me of the Martha Stewart idea to use the doily as a charger under glass plates.

{Source: Unknown}
Love the butterflies on the spoons. I am not a huge fan of butterflies (it is really 90s stamp tramp tattoo-y to me... no offense) but its such a sweet touch and if they aren't everywhere it could certainly still look really nice. Also it reminds me of the Martha Stewart floaty champagne glass escort cards.

**Yes, I spent last weekend going through all of the Martha Stewart DIY projects.

{Source}

Our wedding photographer

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately and one of my favorite things to do when I'm feeling down is looking at wedding pictures. I especially love to swoon over Julie Comfort's blog! I fell in love with Julie's photography long before I decided I wanted her to be our photographer. I fell in love with the way I felt when I looked at her pictures. They really made me want to be one of those brides... All her couples look so happy, and in love but not posed. The emotion in her pictures looks so natural and easy. Best of all, all the weddings seem to have a slightly different feel. They don't feel like the exact same shots with different couples in different settings. Her pictures really made me feel like that could be me, and that she would be a wonderful addition to my (our) big day!

So I decided to contact Julie. I was super nervous about getting in touch with her because I had such high expectations and I didn't know what I would do if it didn't work out. After a few days of email tag, I was finally able to talk to her on the phone, and it was great!

The moment she said "I'm really like a ninja," I knew we would be just fine. Here are some of my very favorites from her blog:










What do you think?

For more info click here.

StDs - Designed/Delivered Part I

As previously mentioned, my StDs finally went out on Monday... and people have already received them. I thought it would be a good time to share my STD process.

The StDs were designed and printed in Stamford, Connecticut about a month ago. I took the Metro North up to Stamford and met with my bridesmaid L.

Immediately, L got to work in her home office. (She does this for a living!)

This is me giving her a thumbs up! I was pretty useless. At some point I just have so many ideas that I become indecisive so I just provide general statements of approval.

We finally got them printed!!! This is LA checking out the prints and making sure they were consistent, making sure the black was black and all the edges were clean. I love that my friends are perfectionist just like me :D

Then she cut and whole punched the individual save the dates! She punched little semi-circle notches in the side of the StDs because we tied a piece of twine around each invite... as a mnemonic device of sorts since we used "Tying the Knot".... I know it's a little cheesy but I liked it :D

Because were were ignoring her cat, he made sure to remind us that he was around!

My job was to put holes in the calendars for the little heart shaped brads.

They really turned out great and I'll post the final invites soon enough.

Bridesmaids' dresses!!

{ModCloth}
I stumbled across this gorgeous dress on ModCloth last week. I kind of fell in love with it and although I decided awhile ago to let my bridesmaids pick their own dresses, I decided we should try to get this one instead! So I recognize that its pretty low in the front and pretty low in the back but is so super cute and all my bridesmaids could definitely pull it off! Plus I think it will look great on a beach with no shoes and hot with good jewelry and a pair of hot heels for the evening reception.

I ordered a few so that they can try them on and we'll see how it goes! Keeping my fingers crossed!

Three pairs of wedding shoes!

So I've been going back and forth about these Badgley Mischka shoes. I LOVE them but I hate how popular they are. Then I got a 30% discount off anything email from piperlime and I knew I just had to do it so I finally go the shoes! Plus they were only $100! (Original Price $215)

But then I saw these:
They are kind of cute, right?? Especially, if I decide to go with flats instead of heels...since we ARE getting married on the beach. Assuming it doesn't rain then we'll do it on the covered terrace... hmmm

THEN I saw these on Rue La La today, which were on Ideeli two weeks ago but they didn't have my size... SO I GOT THESE TOO!


I don't know how I ended up with three pairs of wedding shoes but they are all returnable so hopefully I'll be able to make a decision once they get here. Which ones do you think are the best? I could keep two I suppose... one for the ceremony, one for the reception?

I LoVe my FH

Sorry I've been a little MIA for the last week. Last week was insane! Not only did I have class and work (as usu) but I had two mini papers, a presentation and a final exam.. so I didn't have very much time to blog. It all got done but I was exhausted, grumpy and really just over it by the end of the week and Saturday was Dave's birthday! So we spent all day doing birthday stuff (well most of the day... "we" spent part of the day being grumpy).

Unfortunately the grumpiness didn't end there! I woke up this morning with a major case of the Mondays. I was suppose to start my hot yoga class this morning but it was pouring so already the day was off to a horrible start. Dave suggested (very nicely) that we take the save the dates to the post office. So after about 30 minutes of totally unnecessary grumpiness we packed up all the invitations (in a ziploc bag, two plastic bags, a paper bag and a purse) and headed to the post office. When we weighed the envelopes on the little do-it-yourself automated thingy they were too heavy for the 44 cent stamps which spent forever peeling off the bad envelopes to put on the new envelopes. I was literally on the verge of tears. I don't know why... I was just so tired and didn't want to deal with it. So we got in the long line to see how much additional postage the envelopes needed and when we got to the front we were told that they were actually ok! Some would see this as a small victory, I saw this as delayed frustration. I asked her like 5 times and made her weigh three different envelopes but I'm still not convinced they won't all come back with a huge "insufficient postage" stamp on them!

This was the attitude with which I left my house this morning to start my day. Let's just say things only got worse from there.... from being blown off for a group meeting... to standing in the pouring rain for 20 minutes waiting for a bus. I just couldn't catch a break.. THEN i got home ans saw this:

I stumbled over this ottoman as I walked in the front door.

It says "STOP! You have a quest (a small one) Take off your stuff and put it down here. Put down your umbrella and shake cold and wet. For you must brace that dirty place to which you ate to go most in our abose. SEEK YOUR TREASURE."

I hate our new kitchen. For no reason other than the fact that its not as shiny and new as the kitchen in our old apartment.
On the freezer door I find this "Check'd the counter?" (I HAD NOT, so I did that)

On the counter! Two yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! Then back to the freezer.

A homemade peanut butter cookie with butterfinger ice cream sandwich! Yummy. The sign says: "Sorry things have been so rough... Hopefully this will help you feel like we're counting down to the best day of the year!"


Final note under the cookies.

I love my FH.

The Royal Wedding Party Sweepstakes

Wedding Central is having a $5000 giveaway!

The rules are a little complicated, but basically, the more people you get to register the more entries you get in the random drawing at the end. So to all my friends and family, I would love you to enter on my behalf. (Obviously, if you won the money, it would be yours fair and square!)

To enter click here.

Sample Sales and Group Discounts

In the last few weeks I have become obsessed with signing up for different sample sale and group discount websites. The idea being, I have champagne taste on a beer budget (it's probably closer to a Prosecco budget but you get the point). I've a "member" of Gilt, Ideeli, Rue la la, Haute Look, and Groupon for over a year now. While I love the sample sale sites, I don't think they are a great wedding resources. I think they will be great resources for wedding shoes, jewelry, and bridesmaid gifts. I am finding that Groupon really has the most interesting wedding related deals. They always have deals on teeth whitening, or photobooks! I realized I was going about things all wrong and I really needed to shift my focus.

In light of this realization, this week I joined Buy-with-me, Lifebooker, HomeRun, and Living Social. I've already mentioned my interest in developing a hair/skin/teeth whitening plan for my wedding day. I really think this may be the answer.

For instance, today Lifebooker featured a deal for $99 Eyelash extensions ! I did a little research on yelp and it seems like $300 is the going rate for a set of eyelash extensions. So this seems like a pretty good deal.

This also highlights the problem with this plan... there are constantly deals for things/services that I didn't necessarily think of. *Sigh* Another win for the wedding industry.

Shoe Festish: Obsession much

I was really really really trying to be a good student today. I was checking on the delivery of my International & Comparative Criminal Law book from Amazon (yes, we are ten days into the school year and I still haven't cracked some of my textbooks) but when I logged onto Amazon this is what I saw:



Even Amazon wants me to find a gorgeous pair of wedding shoes! That being said, I heart Karen Millen! I don't know much about here but I ran into these shoes on ASOS. Although I adore all four of them, I think that the three gray ones would be a perfect selection for my wedding day! (Yes, I think I need three pairs of shoes.)


{Karen Millen - $227; Karen Millen - $278; Karen Millen - $227; Karen Millen - On Sale for $177}

I.heart.wood!

...Don't be dirty!

{Source}
So while I was at Paper Presentation last weekend I saw there great wood veneer paper which I have fallen in LOVE with. I am always really excited and surprised when I find something I've never even heard of before and this was definitely one of those times.

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This is one of my favorites. I love the combination of wood and lace. I think the branches and birds give it a great vintage, garden romance feel but I wonder if you could use orchids or something to give it a tropical beach feel.

Most of these invitations seem to be letter pressed (which doesn't quite make sense to me), except for the first one which is laser cut which is too cool. I love the way they slide the colored paper through the ends to make it a double-sided invite.

But I wonder if you can just print these? Would you have to use a laser printer or could the veneer hold ink??

Laura? :D

DIY Disaster

{Not me}
I had this horrible DIY disaster this weekend.... Dave and I actually had a very productive wedding day Friday. We went to look at things for our registry at Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma. Then we went to DSW to look at wedding shoes. Finally we went to Paper Presentation to pick up envelopes and paper for envelope liners.

Paper Presentation was A-MA-ZING! It was so overwhelmingly awesome... floor to ceiling paper! We (I) spent an hour just touching the different papers, which I'm sure is frowned upon but I couldn't help myself.

Then we spent Saturday lining the envelopes which was really fun! (I'll post all the pictures once I send out the invitations) The disaster took place on Sunday when we couldn't get out printer to print the font we wanted so I decided that I could just do by hand. hahahaha... The arrogance. I should have known it was a bad idea when I screwed up the first envelope! I spelled my own home town wrong

But then D decided in that moment to start being exceptionally supportive and convinced me it looked great and that if I just slowed down it would be fine! I did a few more and realized I still hated it but thought maybe I was being a little psychotic. After all, D said it looked fine. Maybe I was just too close to the issue.

Fast forward to an hour later and about 25 envelopes in... I was hysterical. I hated it. I knew I hated it but I let him convince me I didn't hate it, which made me angry at myself and a little at him. Why would I write in black ink!?!? I hate black ink. I am such a perfectionist. Why would I think I could ever send those out!!?!? I should have just waited...

So we are gonna have to try again this weekend :( Sigh. On a happier note, this does mean I get to go back to Paper Presentation :D

Shoe Fetish: Fresh Finds!

This weekend I spent a good hour and a half at DSW trying to find wedding shoes. Unfortunately there was nothing that really stood out but I didn't come home empty handed. I got a great pair of black BCBG flats!

SoI am still on the hunt for shoes, which I may have to put on hold because everyone has their fall colors and boots out now. Si I may haae to wait until next spring or New Years (because I love sequins and glitter!)

I'll also have to keep a close eye on all the sample sale websites such as Gilt, Ideeli, Rue la la and Haute Look!

For instance, today Ideeli had these amazing Betsy Johnson shoe sale! I particularly love the baby pink stilettos with the roses... unfortunately I was at work until 3 so by the time I got to my computer they were all sold out in my size :*(

{Betsy Johnson}


But I also found these great Betsy Johnson Shoes on my new favorite shoe site, Heels.com!

{Betsy Johnson - Law $135}

Did you notice they are called "Law"? It seems like it could be meant to be...

Favorite Finds of the Week

It's been a busy and productive week! I got my save the dates done! I put down a deposit on Punto de Vista! I booked a photographer!

All this on my first week of class...

Well to wrap-up the week... here a few of my favorite inspirations that I found this week!

{Bridal Party Tees}
{Ruffled}
{Etsy}
{100 Layer Cake}

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend.

Location confirmed!! Punto De Vista

I decided to just pull the trigger and book Punto de Vista! I am not going to lie... it was terrifying and its so hard for me not to get on google to make sure I got the best deal possible. (I don't know why that would make me feel better because I would either waste hours confirming a decision I can't change or find out I got shafted and feel horrible about a decision I can't change! Argh... grumble, grumble)

We picked Punto de Vista for three reasons:
1. We really wanted to be within driving distance (around 2 hours driving being the max) from San Jose ... so we picked Manuel Antonio
2. We didn't want a cookie cutter resort wedding. When I was considering getting married at a resort, I started having nightmares about showing up at the resort and being the third wedding party to arrive... so we decided to get married at a private villa.
3. We really love our friends and we loved the idea of turning our wedding into a big group vacation. So we decided we wanted to rent a private villa large enough to house our whole bridal ... so we picked Punto de Vista

Here are more gorgeous pictures of my wedding location: (YAY)




Yes, it IS a rooftop jacuzzi with a view of the Pacific Ocean!



















*** Maybe it was meant to be!! the architect/owner of Punto de Vista is originally from Manhattan Beach. That's where D is from!! Did I mention that I'm a huge believer in fate :)