Friday, July 29, 2011
Makena's Dance Recital
Firefighter Olympics
Location, Location, Location
At the start of summer break, we got to visit the venue to see an actual wedding set up and were able to see how everything all comes together for the special day. We took our families and they also shared our love for this beautiful place.
After searching the Internet and wedding magazines, we finally came to the decision that this was the place and nothing else was going to do. We love the beach (obviously), but had so many reservations about the weather, etc. and just didn't feel like it fit our style we were trying to accomplish either.
We made the important decision to meet with the site coordinator and were so pleased with everything the venue offered.
Here it is!
Strawberry Farms is located on a beautiful golf course that is hidden in the hills of Irvine. It's west of the 405 which means it's closer to the beach (that is a major "plus" since Irvine can get warm!). The barn is what sold us! It is such a unique venue and will fit our vintage style just perfect!
The day we met with the coordinator was a fun day spent with my mom! While my mom and I went into the barn to measure, plan, etc. Mike hit some golf balls on the driving range. He loves that the venue is at a golf course.
Mike and I planned to go back to Strawberry Farms this July 20th to celebrate a year away from our special day (his idea! Just love his thoughtfulness), but unfortunately he was on shift that day :( We will have plenty of return trips! In fact, we plan on going back next Friday to have lunch before I have to go back to work.
Baby Boy Cohen
We waited some more hoping that we could see him through the window since we hadn't heard anything for a while. No such luck...he didn't want to make his appearance yet.
He's here! Look at those smiles! ;) *I missed the opportunity to snap a family picture with Kevin :( Sorry! Just another example of my poor picture taking skills this summer :(
I just melt when I look at this picture. Just too precious.
Nana holding baby Cohen for the first time :) He is already wrapped around her finger like Makena!
Such a precious little face and so tiny!
This little one is so in love with her little brother!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
A little (to say the least) behind
Baby Cohen: Oh my goodness...absolutely in love with this little man. He is just too precious and we cannot get enough of him. And as for Makena, I am in total shock (still) that she is going to be a kindergartner...where did time go?? She is the cutest Big Sis and so good to her brother! Pictures to come soon of his birthday! ;)
Plenty (way too many) of doctor visits: I've experienced a migraine or two before, but nothing like experiencing them once or twice in one week for over a month straight. I was having them so often that I panicked (shocked? I bet not.) and told my doctor that I thought I needed a brain scan (MRI) just to make sure there wasn't something more serious going on...he thought I was nuts, but ordered my scan. Luckily, everything came back great...needless to say, these awful migraines have made me nuts all summer and have prevented me from doing so many things that I had on my "To Do" list :( I blame these (number one reason for sure!) for my lack of blogging!!!!!!!!
Wedding planning: I was so sad to not fulfill everything that I wanted to accomplish this summer. I had so many ideas that were put on hold due to those pesky migraines :( I did, however, manage to build my own wedding binder (which I'm quite embarrassed by. It's a little, um, OCD). Sadly, we came to the conclusion that everything is just way too expensive and really had to come to the harsh reality of making our budget smaller than we had anticipated. It's so crazy how everything is outrageously inflated when it has anything to do with a wedding. One BIG decision we made was finding our photographer. Check her out: (http://www.bethanybelleblog.net/). The second I saw her work, I knew she was the one for us! We are so excited she will be shooting our engagement session (love the ones she has shot..check them out on her site) and our special day! It now all comes down to pretty much the little things that I have been dreaming and envisioning for months now. :) Let the fun begin!
Amongst all of that, add in a TON of beach days (can you blame us?), great family time, Huntington Beach Fire Department firefighter Olympics, Padre Game, pool days, Makena's dance recital, plenty of trips to Strawberry Farms, and throw in a few crafty days here and there (I was lucky if I squeezed in 3).
Did I mention any sort of vacation or getaway? Not this summer! Looking forward to that honeymoon next summer! We have been looking into the Maldives! Yay!
There ya have it...my long explanation of why I have been such a blogging slacker. Please forgive my lack of blogging and I promise to add pictures soon! ;)
P.S. Um, Where did summer go? So sad :(
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The date is set!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
We are ENGAGED!!!!!
(Long story too! I use our blog as a scrapbook so I have to document every detail!)
Over the past few months, I started to get the whole "ants in my pants" feeling since most of our friends were either newly engaged, married, having babies, etc. and I wondered when our time was going to come. Poor Mike was taking the brunt of it all and kept getting the same question, "When????" from not only me, but everyone else (family, friends, etc.). It was the question that weighed on my mind constantly considering the fact that we have been together for 7 years, bought a house together, and we both were beyond positive that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. As March 18th passed (our anniversary), I thought maybe something was going to come soon...well I waited patiently and patiently...
***He said if I kept talking about getting engaged, it wasn't going to be a surprise...how could I not talk about it though?! :/
The next morning (May 10), he walked me to the garage and said his usual goodbye. He wasn't acting strange, etc. even though he asked me if later I wanted to go with him to pick up "the machine"...I mumbled yes and drove off. On my way to school, I started laughing to myself wondering what on Earth "the machine" was. I must have been tired when I left because I didn't question him at all. I called him right before I got to school and asked him what "the machine" was and he said "Oh well I meant the cake stand". I just laughed and promised him I would leave right after school. He was obviously nervous and words just came shooting like a rocket out of his mouth!
We ended up at Pottery Barn. I managed to tell the girl the story about him breaking the stand, etc. while he stood there NERVOUS (I still had no inkling of anything,...), but still acting completely normal. It was his idea to go take a look at Crate and Barrel and see what they had as far as book cases since he has been looking for one. We were taking unusually long in the kitchen section (he always rushes me and never looks around himself). He was looking at everything (odd! He definitely was NERVOUS and come to find out, he was STALLING TOO since he wanted to make it to the beach at sunset 7:30! This was all in his plan!). I mentioned to him, as we were leaving, that it would be fun to walk around the store with the registry gun and register for things (again, how ironic and what an odd thing for me to say!). This was nothing he hadn't heard before, but was dying inside since he knew something was coming! We left Crate and Barrel and I thought we were headed home. He asked me if I wanted to walk around downtown or at the beach. He eliminated the choices and said, "we are going to walk at the beach" before I could answer. I told him I was starving since I hadn't eaten since noon. He said he wasn't ready for dinner and not hungry (when is he never hungry?!) and we would stop at Bristol Farms to get a snack. He had to play it off the entire time that he wasn't starving since he had to stall. As we got off the car, I noticed his hands were sticky and sweaty. I told him it was like he was going to give a presentation or something (again, another odd thing to say!). He proceeded to tell me it was the HAND SANITIZER gel he had just put on and to check my hands too because they were probably the same. I just ignored it and we went on our way.
We began driving towards the little downtown part of La Jolla as I ate my snack and we chatted. At this point, I still thought nothing was unusual. We started driving towards "Wind and Sea" (an area of beach) which was kind of over by where we went on our first date. Still didn't sense a THING! He put on a jacket he hadn't worn in a while and I thought it was kinda of funny he was wearing it since it was more of a winter jacket and it really wasn't that cold (again, another sign I didn't catch on to!). The sun was set to go down soon and it was a little chilly. It turns out, he had tried on 3 different jackets that afternoon to see which one hid the box! hahah! We started walking through the neighborhood where you turn off to go down the path to the set of rocks where we ended up on our first date. Still, I'm not thinking anything. We got down to the spot after he had managed to trip twice and still managed to have "sticky hands"! LOL! Nerves! There was a couple down on the rocks close to the water and 3 girls sitting closer to us talking. Too bad it wasn't just us. He was bummed, but knew he had to do it then! We hung around for a while looking down below at the water. We took a picture (which I posted to FB and for some reason, must have tipped everyone off that it was going to happen soon because most said so!)...still had no inkling what so ever because I had a feeling that I would be waiting another few months or so. We began to walk away and start walking up the hill and I began to tease him and tell him, "you know, we went here on our first date...but, you don't care!". I turned around and saw him down on his knee holding a box telling me, "but I do care"....there was nothing I could do, but BURST into tears! I was so taken back by the moment and was totally speechless...words cannot describe my emotions at that particular moment. After all of the events that took place earlier, the location we were at, etc. he managed to pull this whole thing off without me catching on to ONE THING! I could not believe it was truly happening! I cried for about (what felt like) 10 minutes straight and finally told him "YES"!!!!!!!!!! The ring he picked out is more than I could have ever imagined. It is the most perfect and beautiful ring EVER! Not only was I in shock, we both were!
First picture after being engaged! :)
Baby Shower for my sis!
I stamped a pennant banner to top the small strawberry filled cake (my mom decorated it!). Lemon Cake Pops (dipped in white choclate and drizzled in blue chocolate with yellow sprinkles)..so yum!
Shortbread squares with caramel and chocolate
Oreo mini cupcakes with buttercream frosting...my mom is super talented and such a baker!
I was really going for a vintage theme...I had a vision and went with it!
I created tags for a "note" tree for baby Cohen. My idea was to have everyone write a note to him to go into a scrapbook with their picture.
They clipped their tag to the tree with mini clothespins.
Mason jars for strawberry lemonade! :)
I planned the theme around the invitation! Love ETSY!
Proud Mommy and Big Sister! :)
Stacy
Joy
Wendy
These were the favors...wooden magnets with scrapbook paper...Mike put cicken wire on the frame so we could hang the bags.
We played this as one of the games :)
Mike's Mom :)
Sisters:)
He crashed the party! :) (at the end!)
It was such a fun shower to put together! I love the whole planning process too! Now, if I could only figure out a way to party plan and teach! ;)