Who Doesn't Love Wedding Cake?!

Hello All! I hope this week is rounding out nicely for everyone. 

Of course Fiance' and I have been full steam ahead with wedding planning. We had orientation at our church on Monday which went wonderfully. I love all the ministers and can't wait to see who will be marrying us. Below is a pamoramic shot of inside the church. Since we will be getting married at 5:30 in February, they said the sun will be setting right through the stained glass hitting the alter and it will be darker around the main seating. AHHHHH! So excited. 

 

Next week is meeting with the caterer for tastings of food and drinks. YIPEE! 

Which brings me to this weeks topic, wedding cakes! We have our official tasting with Edible Designs by Jessie July 11th. Which means I have 21 days to come up with a design I want for my cake, and also for Trev's. I know I want to keep with our black and white theme (MAYBE SOME TIFFANY BLUE) but goodness there are a lot of choices out there! So here are some of my favorites I have found. Feel free to sound off on the ones you like. :)

What do you think? I think the first and last are my favorites as of now!

Here are some fun ones we have found for Trevor. Of course he is most proud of being an Aggie, but nearly all of his friends who have been married before him has gotten an Aggie cake and he thinks he may want something different.

He's a chemistry nerd so he actually loved this idea. (LORD help me)

Ultimately it will be Trev's choice on his cake. I know he will come up with something fun!

***Update*** I am still working on becoming certified for body pump! Woo Hoo. On Tuesday I will be teaching two tracks with them MIC! Say a little prayer for me. 

Happy Thursday Dolls! 

The Proposal Story! (Finally)

Thursday, May 2nd seemed like any other Thursday to me. I woke up and got ready for my typical Thursday. Knowing I had a long day at work didn't make me any more excited. Little did I know, it would be anything but an ordinary day....

While at work that day I was texing with my friend Jessica. We had made plans to have a gossip fest wine night earlier that week. We were texting back and forth trying to figure out a location. We originally had made plans to meet somewhere in the middle of our two homes, after all, Houston is a big city. Over the course of the day though, Jessica started suggesting a particular place not far from her house. I will deny this if you ever ask me about it but I really was annoyed at our new location selection since it was nearly to Jessica's house but I went along with it anyways. She also said that she would pick me up from her house, which confused the hell out of me since we were going to somewhere that was right down the road from Jessica's house. But Jess came up with the perfect excuse and said she will be picking up her 17 month old daughter at her in-laws house after we were done that night. (Clueless Moment #1- Didn't even phase me)

When I got home from a VERY long day at work I noticed that an Engagement Basket that I had made for Housewife's Engagement (To catch up on that, check out this previous post). I yelled politely called out to Trevor asking where the heck Housewife's basket was. Trevor came down the stairs to inform me he had to take the basket to work for a presentation. My response was "A basket.... for a presentation?!?! What the hell kind of presentation is it that you need a basket?" He stumbled through some excuse and I actually bought it. (Clueless Moment #2-this basket was actually party of the proposal). 

Trevor and I then went up to a tanning salon so I could get a spray tan for the wedding that upcoming weekend. On our way home from the tanning salon I turned to Trevor and said "Do me a favor, before you propose, make sure I get a spray tan." (Seriously, swear on my life. I can't make this up) I had no idea that Trevor was trying his absolute best not to lose it since he was planning on doing just that in a matter of hours. Also, on the way home from the tanning salon, Trevor gets a call from his brother Matt. When Trevor answered the phone I could hear Matt talking very enthusiastically about something but out of no where Trevor cuts him off and says "I'll call you later", and hangs up! I was really confused at this point because Trevor loves to talk to Matt any chance he gets. When I asked him what that was about, Trevor just said he wanted to spend time talking to her since I would be out all evening. As sweet as it sounded, I  didn't buy that at all and just figured he was talking about playing Call of Duty later (which I despise).

Shortly after they got home Jessica shows up at our house and says she needs to change before we head out for dinner. SHE TAKES FOREVER! I was again, slightly confused at her behavior but just thought maybe she needed some down time after a full day with her 17 month old daughter, when in all actuality she was stalling to give Trevor time to get things ready. We finally get in the car to head to our selected location and Jessica turns IN to our neighborhood instead of OUT to the main street. When I asked her what the heck she was doing, Jessica said she wanted to look at the neighborhood playground because Mackenzie (her daughter) just loves tire swings. After driving by the playground and turning around, we pull up to a stop sign where Jessica stops so she can get directions going on her phone, which wouldn't be a big deal. But we were stopped for like 10 minutes! Trying to get direcitions to a place that is right by Jessica's house. LOL

Now at this point I am starting to really believe the rumors that after women have babies they get EXTREMELY scatter-brained. Utterly confused why Jessica needed voice activated directions to go back towards her own house, I decided just to let her sort it out. We finally get driving and Jess takes the WAY long way to get to their location. And by long way I mean taking 1960 over Beltway 8 in Houston at 6:30. Anyone who lives in Houston will understand the absurdity of that route. Now I'm really thinking hard at this point about ever wanting to have kids  if it makes you this bonkers. We were almost to our location when Jessica gets a call from her husband JB, who as far as I know, is at his parents house with their daughter. They exchange a rather funny conversation and when she hung up she told me that JB was asking about how long to heat up Mackenzie's bottle for when in reality he was actually with Trevor at the location and asking for an ETA! (Clueless Moment # 1,548)

They arrive at a place in Spring called The Vintage. As they are making their way towards the center of it all, (from the furthest parking spot away) I started asking Jessica where we are going and she's pretty much not answering me and telling me a random story about running into a poll one time. I decided to just give up, and follow her. As we come into the main area that has a big fountain and wine barrels surrounding the courtyard, we pass up the first place that I originally though we were going. I just keep following Jessica thinking we were just going to a different one when she passes the next one up too. While looking at Jessica, I ask where the heck we are going, Jessica replies, "I think I want to go here" and she is looking forward. Not realizing what she is talking about I finally turn my attention forward and  (To my complete and utter shock) I see Trevor standing their all dressed up holding a BASKET (yes the basket from earlier) filled with 3 dozen roses.

I couldn't move. Once I saw him standing their, smiling so big, I seriously stopped walking. I was in pure shock. All the signs from that day came flooding back to me at once and I couldn't believe I had missed it all.

Some of you may ask how I didn't know, after all we have been dating for nearly 6 years, it couldn't have been a surprise. Well I can tell you 100% it was a surprise. I knew it was coming but always thought it would be on a holiday or at least a weekend. Which Trevor told me later, is the exact reason why he did it on a random Thursday in May. He wanted me to have that moment of surprise and shock. (I love surprises) He also knew trying to get me to any location out side of the city (like on a vacation or day trip) I would have picked up on it and realized what was going on. Back to the story though...

As I stood there not moving, I heard two things. One, Jessica telling me to WALK, and two, a camera going off. I turned to the right to see JB, Jessica's husband taking picture of it all. At this point their was no doubt in my mind what was happening and I started to (in true Danni fashion) shake uncontrollably. As I made my way up to Trevor I can tell you I've never been so happy in my entire life. Once I made it up to where he was standing he began to tell me all the things that every woman dreams of hearing from the man of her dreams. As he spoke, tears began to fall down my cheeks. He finished his speech and then he dropped down to one knee and said "so with all that said, I NEED you to marry me." He then opened a ring box to the most beautiful ring I've ever laid eyes on. I somehow managed to get out a yes and even more impressively, Trevor somehow managed to get the ring on my extremely shaking finger. After that Trevor picked me up, and kissed me for the first time as his fiance. BEST. MOMENT. EVER

Once he put me down and I was able to stop crying, Jessica and JB came out and congratulated us. I was so happy they were a part of our special day. JB took some more pictures and then we went into the wine bar and restaurant that just so happened to be the first place Trevor and I went out in Houston. For next thirty minutes I could barely speak. I think I said "THIS IS CRAZY" about 20 times. That was all I could get out! Once I finally found my brain and voice again, I called my Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and Friends and let them all know the good news while we all enjoyed some delicious champagne, wine, and dinner. It was an amazing and perfect day that I will never forget as long as I live. 

We have to say thank you again to JB and Jessica for helping Trevor with the big moment. You guys are amazing and we love y'all! 

I am so blessed to have found the man of my dreams. I cannot wait to become his wife. 

A lot can happen in 3 weeks!

Hello fellow blogging world friends! Last time I wrote was about three weeks ago, and I was celebrating my best friend's engagement to the man of her dreams. Well as God and fate would have it, the very next day ended up being one of the best days of my life. A day I had waited 5 years and 9 months for, the day a dream would come true. On May 2nd, 2013 Trevor asked me told me that he needed me to marry him. How did this long awaited moment feel you ask? About like this...

It seriously was the most amazing moment and I was completely, 100% surprised, which was quite the shock to me because I believed there was no way Trevor could pull a fast one on me. I am going to write a proposal story blog at a later time but I need to get all the pictures my dear friends JB an Jessica took of the big moment uploaded as well before I do that. Here's a few shots of the bling, boy did good. :)

So wedding planning has officially began and let's just say I am a moving quickly. In the 3 weeks and one day since we got engaged we have chose a date, booked the Church and reception venue, selected our photographer and videographer, chose our wedding party & wedding colors, and last but certainly not least, I have bought my wedding dress! We will be getting married on February 15, 2014. Can you tell I don't want a long engagement? 

Booking our church turned out to be way more complicated that I thought. With faith being something very important to both Trevor and I, we of course knew we wanted to get married in a church. We attend a Catholic church in the Copperfield area of Houston called St. Elizabeth Ann Seton  It's a very large congregation and they actually have like 8 masses on Sunday. (Very different form the church I grew up in with your choices on Sunday being 8 AM or 10:30 AM.) The head Priest at SEAS is Father Paul E. Lockey, PhD, and he is absolutely amazing. His homilies are incredible. This guy knows how to make you listen! We quickly fell in love with him after attending for a short time and new that is the church we wanted to call home. Well wedding planning comes along and I call to make an appointment to meet with him about planning our wedding. Not only is meeting with him just not really an option but the next appointment wasn't until June 4th. (I called on May 6th) That was a disappointing blow. 
So over that first week I called nearly every catholic church in our area trying to work out appointments...epic fail number two. Most of them wont even offer you the church for a wedding unless your a member...fair enough. And the ones that would allow it either A-was extremely expensive to rent, B- Not only expensive but you have to use our organ player for all music (old world wedding anyone?), or C- all of the above options and you could only get married at like 2 PM. Lucky for us though, we quickly found a lovely alternative that worked out great. 
Our friends, Marina and JC, attend a great Methodist Church (which works out because technically Trevor is Methodist) in the Memorial area which is an idea location since it's pretty central to all the places we were looking at using for the reception. After calling and chatting with their wedding coordinator, I was certain this is where we were met to get married. She was so easy to work with and wasn't asking me to give her $1,000 just to hold a tentative date and BONUS, the church is STUNNING, like for real. It's really big and dramatic looking and if there is one thing I've realized I like when it comes to my wedding it's dramatic things. THINGS not PEOPLE. No dramatic people please.

 After touring three venues in Houston and getting prices from countless others, I have decided one thing; the wedding industry did not suffer from the bad economy. HOLY CRAP are some of these places insane. You put a down payment on a monster house with what some of these people spend on wedding in the city of Houston. However, through the rainstorm of searching for a venue we found the sun, an incredible venue located in the neighborhood we both lived in when we first moved to Houston, The Heights. The owners of the place are just good people and aren't out to "nickle and dime" you out of everything nor do they ask for your first born as the down payment. The venue is called the Grand Ballroom at the Height's Villa. I can't wait to share more details and plans regarding our reception at this wonderful venue. If you are in the market for a wedding venue I HIGHLY recommend checking them out. Unless you have an unlimited budget then by all means head to the Crystal Rice Ballroom and go ahead and submit your application for Platinum Weddings. 

Our photographer choice was a no-brainer. Foto-Tech is a photography company based where I grew up, Beaumont, TX. Now some of you may ask why I would go with a photographer from back home when I have tons and tons of amazing photographers right here in Houston. I'll tell you exactly why...1-their work is amazing. 2-Their prices are equally amazing when comparing to Houston photographers giving the same quality of work, and 3-They are a husband and wife team that we have met at weddings we have attended and they are just good people. We already feel comfortable around them and have seen how hard they work at the weddings they photograph. Did I mention they are a blast and love to have fun as well? Win-Win situation. We have selected our videographer but haven't signed our contract yet so I will share once that is done.

Nearly all of our wedding party knows they have been picked to be a part of our special day. All of my girls know and Trevor has two groomsmen left, one needs to check his mail, the other has a special surprise coming. By next Thursday everyone will know and I can share how we asked in a later post. We are having 8 bridesmaids and groomsmen each, plus one honorary bridesmaid and 2 ushers. Yes I know that is a lot, do I care you think that's too many? I do not. Moving on.....

Wedding colors!!! I have always wanted a black and white styled elegant evening wedding with small use of an accent color. Choosing an accent color turned out to be a challenge. But after open house at our reception venue we have decided to go with..........a Tiffany blue/turquoise color!  It will be really fun to watch everything come together. Hopefully I can stick with the accent color selected without changing my mine between now and February.

 Lastly and most exciting for me I think was buying my wedding dress. I wanted to wait for a weekend when I could have my MOH's and bridesmaids in town but I clearly had Z-E-R-O self-control. One week plus a day after I got engaged I decided it would be good to just go look at wedding gowns since I truly had no idea what styles I liked or hated. My dear friend and Bridesmaid, Marina, came with me and it was such a fun experience to share with her. We went on a Friday at 2 so the salon was nearly empty. It was so fun to try on all the different styles and I quickly realized things I liked and things I absolutely hated. I walked out that day being in love with two dresses but knowing that my mom and grandma (who so graciously offered to buy my gown) wanted to be there when I tried on dresses I made plans to come back. Well, as you can see from this post, I don't move slow, and three days later I had my Mom and Grandma in town and we were off for another day of dress shopping. I'll share a post later about the experience of finding the dress but it was everything I could have hoped for an more. My dress is SO different that what I thought I was going to wear, which only makes me more excited! And my Mom and Grandma there with me meant so much and I know I will treasure that moment forever.

Okay enough wedding talk for today. I just had to share the exciting news and all the wonderful things to come!

Any advice or words of wisdom for me? Leave me a comment!

Happy Friday dolls! 

Not Your Average Wedding Wednesday

So Saturday....I woke up and dragged my butt to Zumba then Body Pump (second time team teaching, WOO!) and after went to the always delicious La Madeline with Trev. While were enjoying a fruit tart thingy my phone rings. It's my ever so awesome Housewife/Soul-Sister calling I'm sure to tell me about her weekend get-a-way she is at with her BF. 

ME-"Hey, what's up"

HW-"Colin Proposed!"

Me-"OHHHMYYYYGODDDDD!!!!"-

I use all caps because the volume was a bit much...like loud....so loud that the whole restaurant turned and stared at me. I swear even the cheerful French music cut off.

I run outside and proceed to hear the shortened version of the amazing moment she whole heartedly deserves. The full version I got a few days later once her phone had stopped being blown up, was even better.

I always love proposals where the girl seriously has no idea, and this my friends, was just that. She knew that her and C were serious but wasn't expecting the ring at this time. He even hired a photographer to take pictures of the proposal, which turned out fabulous. It also made Housewife realize she should probably pay more attention to her surroundings since she got stalked by a dude and his small son for about 30 minutes and never even noticed them. But seriously the pictures are amazing and C did a great job making sure HW had no idea that it was coming. I don't think I have ever seen her smile bigger or cry more. This girl is not a crier but the (happy) tears just wouldn't stop that day. 

This girl has been a huge blessing in my life for the past 5 years and I don't have any sisters but I tell ya she is as close as I'll get. She has the biggest heart and loves unconditionally. I seriously can't be any happier for her and cannot wait for all the laughter, probably some tears, and special moments that come with planning a wedding. 

MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

Long time, no Blog, New Obsession

SO I disappeared for a few months....sorry about that. But I'm back and ready to share some things going on with me!

Last June, Trevor and I moved into our own place. A house with a yard and all. It's fabulous. :) but I have a point here...

When we moved from our respective apartments to the new place we decided that we should probably find a new gym closer to our house, even though we had no complaints with our small, local gym in the Heights. We decided to enroll with a 24 Hour Fitness within a few miles of our house. The first day we went to work out, I decided to try one of the workout classes...it just happened to be something called Body Pump.

HOLY. CRAP.

I have never been more sore in my life that I was the following days. I must have been crazy, because I kept going back. Nearly 10 months later, I'm a bit obsessed now. I go at least 3 times a week and up to 5. I've personally never experienced a workout class that pushes me time and time again. The music is great and the track sets are always changing so your muscles are constantly being worked over.

Over the past 10 months the instructor has become a friend, which is great until I decide to slack for a SPLIT SECOND and get called out! (it's all for the sake of fitness I know) Becoming friends with the instructor has really motivated me to get the courage to look into getting certified, but I haven't been brave enough to take the plunge yet. As much as I know the routines, it's scary to think about being up there in front of a room full of people expecting you to go boss hog (there's the southern Texan coming out in me) on this workout, all the while being the perfect example for them. Plus, your talking...while working out...for an hour! It's a bit overwhelming. However, last Wednesday I did team teach an entire class with P (the instructor). That was a big step for me. I realized quickly that looking down the whole time just wont work and that you have to be able to handle all those people watching you. When the class first started I wanted to throw up I was so nervous, but then as the class went on, I got more and more comfortable. I realize that talking will be an even bigger step but it was a small step for me that gave me a little more push towards actually getting certified.

I've been reading as many blogs I can find on the certification weekend and have really found so insightful posts, which brings me to the point of my debut back in the blogging world. I am putting this out there! I will be certified by the end of this year. I'm putting it in writing. December is a long way off but I want to make sure I give myself plenty of time. However, I do think it will be happening much sooner, especially is Miss P has anything to do about it. Saturday I will be team teaching again. Saturday mornings are always completely filled up so this will be a big day for me, but I'm ready for it. It goes back to loving the workout and believing in it's results. When I walked into that class nearly a year ago, I was barely doing any weight and now I keep up with the "all-star soccer moms". I have muscle definition I didn't even know I could get. It really is an incredible workout and you can't ever peak because you can just keep going up in weight. I LOVE THAT!

Any already certified body pump peeps out there that have any advice for me??? Feel free to share!

Anyways, that is enough rambling for now, but I did just want to share this little update with you all.

There is some other exciting events that I hope to share with you soon as well but for now that's all I can say. ;)

Happy Thursday Dolls.