Sprinkles!

I just discovered that Houston is getting a Sprinkles Cupcake location in April 2009! It will be in Highland Village!!! You already know how excited I was when Houston got a Crave Cupcakes, but Sprinkles is the mecca of cupcakes!!!

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of enjoying a Sprinkles cupcake, you are in for a treat. Their original location in Beverly Hills garnered a lot of celeb hype which put them on the map...anyone a fan of Bridget from "The Girls Next Door?" I was lucky enough to try them last year during a Dallas trip.

They have yummy classic flavors like milk chocolate and vanilla, but my faves are strawberry and red velvet. They also make more original flavors like pumpkin, banana, chocolate peppermint, orange, carrot and mocha. You are also order the cupcakes to have different shaped toppings like the Christmas logos above.

Head over to my wedding blog to get some ideas on how to incorporate Sprinkles into a wedding!

I can't wait until April 2009!~

The Houston Snow Storm

Well, maybe it wasn't a snowstorm, but it actually snowed yesterday!

[We got just a little excited at work yesterday]

[Then, when I walked out of class last night, Gavin was covered!]


[Jason and I took a walk in it last night...it was our first snow together]

[And Tucker was miserable...poor little guy was a trooper with his sweater]

Crisis Averted!

We are a go for May 23, 2009!!! We even booked our location today!!! Our friends have decided to move their wedding so we don't have any more conflicts. I am so excited!!!

Need to vent!

Has anyone had difficulties when trying to set a wedding date? If you have, or know of anyone who has in the past, please share your stories! I could sure use it. This post is simply a vent...

J and I were originally planning on getting married in August because it did not seem too rushed and was one of the only months that I could actually have a wedding and a honeymoon with my school schedule. Literally, my only 3 options are May 09, August 09 or 2010!

The only Saturday in August that this would work was August 15. If I do it earlier, I am in finals, if I do it later, I am back in school! We were not completely sold on August because it is THE HOTTEST month of the entire year in Houston. I am talking average 96 degrees and very humid, plus Jason and I really want to get married outside. We were still going to move forward, until we realized that my brother will be graduating college that day! I am so proud of him and he has worked so hard, so there is no way I wanted to pass over his big day.

So, we looked at May. I looked up everyone's possible graduation days in our family and May 23 was clear! Any weekend earlier, I am in spring finals or it is Jason's sister's college graduation. Any week later and I am back in school.

I called our venue of choice with my one date in mind in May thinking it is WAY too late to get it because this is a popular place, but it was open!!!!!!!

Jason and I were so stoked. May 23 is perfect in so many ways:
- J and I met on February 23 and the first movie we saw together was "23" so needless to say, that number is special to us
- May won't be as hot outside
- Our venue is available!
- Won't be hurricane season so no potential of a ruined honeymoon
- It is sooner than the August plan...I can be Jason's wife sooner!

But then (enter dark clouds) while I was sitting in class this evening, Jason chatted me online and said that his best friend and his fiance, just announced that their wedding just got scheduled for May 23. WHAT??? We just saw them at dinner 2 days ago and they told us their wedding would be in June. Trust me-I would have checked with them had they said May. They told us that they won't change their date because it was the only day in May that their church was available.

So, I immediately called my mother, and her reaction was:
"you can't change your wedding just because someone can't go...you can't make everyone happy"

Good point mom, but it is his best friend. The worst part isn't even that they will miss each other's wedding (which sucks) but that all of their friends (they are a really tight group of guys who have grown up together) will have to choose which wedding to attend. This just doesn't sound good!

I know what you are thinking...have one in the early afternoon and one at night. NO-we live 3.5 hours from each other so that would just not work and unfortunately, most of Jason's friends live very close to the other may 23 wedding so by default would probably choose the other wedding.

We are still waiting to see what the other couple decides or says. They never returned Jason's last text.

Does anyone have advice or a similar situation?

Our Wedding Blog

Jason and I send greetings from Corsicana, Texas, Jason's hometown! We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. We have been blessed to spend lots of quality time with my family and his and to visit with friends we haven't seen in awhile.

We have officially started our wedding blog! I told you it would be coming soon. We created the header together today and would love for you to stop by!

We named it, The Perfect Catch Wedding Blog, for the obvious reason that we are each other's perfect catch, but to also highlight Jason's love of fishing and all of the time we have spent doing this together. It felt appropriate since we even got engaged on the beach during a fishing weekend.

Visit it often so we can share our stories and pictures of our planning process as we make the transition from boyfriend and girlfriend to husband and wife.

http://theperfectcatchwedding.blogspot.com

Rachael Ray's Wedding Rescue

So remember this couple from my last post...

Well, they were planning on getting married in July 2009, had picked a reception venue, put down deposits, and was trucking along. Post, Hurricane Ike, we all learned that their venue along with others in Houston went bankrupt due to the storm and bad business practices. All of the deposit money was lost!

In comes, Rachael Ray, who surprised dozens of couples, John and Carol included, with a group wedding at Minute Maid Park! The only catch-the couples had to get married the very next weekend (and they could only invite 10 guests) and this was back in October so needless to say, John and Carol felt too rushed and decided to move forward with creating their dream wedding which is now to take place in April 2009.

You can see the whole episode of the "Harris County Brides" on Rachael Ray's website, but here is a clip of where they told the couples the plan...it is hard to see Carol because she is so cute and tiny, but John is in the lime green shirt...he gets a close-up!!!

http://www.rachelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/rachael-ray-giving-us-wedding/

Congratulations Ashley and Wentzel!

A dear, dear friend of mine got married last night. You can read all about Ashley's wedding planning process at her wedding blog, Ribbons and Bows. All of Ashley's hard work and eye for detail paid off because it was a GORGEOUS wedding. I was honored to be apart of their special day. Ashley and Wentzel are on their way to Hawaii as we speak. Enjoy the pictures I took from last night and visit Ribbons and Bows in a few weeks to see more pics and hear about the honeymoon!

Now I am soooo excited for Jason and I to begin our wedding planning. Jason's resort has it's grand opening this weekend too (I'll post those pics later) so we can really focus on us now!

[The gorgeous flowers that lined the pews of the church. BTW, the wedding colors were brown, white and green.]

[This was at the entrance of the reception...loved the large photo that Ash chose]

[Notice the white damask table linens...this was a huge debate for Ashley of either ivory or brown. You chose right Ashley!]

[Mr. and Mrs. Bouwer at their sweetheart table]

[The first dance as husband and wife!]

[MOH and BM Amy and Robert gave the best speeches filled with embarrassing stories of Ashley and Wentzel's early days. Everyone was cracking up...great job you two! You can also see how great the bridesmaid's dresses were.]

[I love this shot because you can see the back of Ashley's gown]

[This is a great DIY project. Ashley and her mom made the wine labels and the table cards]

[I love this cake! So simple and classy! Each layer was a different filing flavor. I had lemon and it was amazing! I wanted more, but I didn't want to be that girl.]

[Wentzel's grooms cake. I don't know the official flavor, but it tasted like dark chocolate and amaretto to me...also amazing!]

[The work girls: Me, Ashley, Page and Dianne]

[I wore polka dots in Ashley's honor...we both just love them!]

[Next wedding on the radar is Carol and John's. They are getting hitched April 2009!]

Congratulations once again Ashley and Wentzel! I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon. See you when you get back!

Surprise!

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend my stepfather's 80th surprise birthday party! He is truly an inspiration to Jason and I on how to live life. The party was at Carolina Creek Christian Camp-a camp that my parents started. It was a very emotional day filled with lots of fun!

The grand kids performed their camp song for everyone.

Shelley gave a speech and introduced into a video of LE's life.

LE was presented with a gorgeous ariel shot of the camp from the camp staff.

The cake...the theme of the party was "The Best is Yet to Come"...that's a fire hazard!

Whoa!

Gorgeous day!

The huge zipline that we did is behind me...I was not nervous until I got up there!

Mom and me!

Jason and LE

We survived the zip line!

More engagement pics!

My mom emailed me a few more pictures from the engagement weekend. Thanks Shelley!

This was my first attempt at the wedding blog header for Jason and I...truth be told, I did this one way before we were ever engaged! As soon as the blog is ready I will let you know!

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings!

We are a little excited. My co-workers Ashley and John are both engaged too! Ashley's wedding is next Saturday and John is getting married in April. So when are Jason and I tying the knot? We are not absolutely sure, but we are thinking about August 2009!

Nice ring John...he is actually jealous...he wants a 'mangagement ring" so bad!

The Perfect Catch

Jason and I are engaged! We are so excited and can't wait to begin the planning process (maybe me a little more than him). We will let you know as soon as the wedding blog is up, but don't worry...Life's A Beach is here to stay!

Now to the story! Jason and I planned on going to Matagorda, Texas for the weekend where my mom and LE have a house. Jason and I love to go to get away, relax, and enjoy the scenery. When we are there, we are super casual (picture me with no makeup), and just kick back usually fishing, laying out, and taking lots of naps! We were supposed to leave Friday after work, but I didn't feel well (thank you Chick-Fil-A milkshake) and Jason was exhausted. I complained about not wanting to go this weekend because we were so beat from our week, but Jason convinced me how relaxing it will be and that we need to get away!

Saturday morning we hit the road for Matagorda around 7:30 a.m. and arrived around 9:30. Jason immediately hit the dock and began fishing and I just hung out with my mom and played around. One side note, I never wear makeup or bring cute clothes to Matagorda because there is no need. We NEVER go anywhere or see anyone so it is pointless. I used to pack tons of outfits, but then learned after a few trips of over-packing.

Mom urged me to put some make-up on with the guise of wanting me to show her my eyeliner, shadow, etc...we were just playing around. I then had a group project for my MBA class that had to get done so I busted that out for a few hours. Around 3:30, I asked Jason if we could go to the beach. The beach is one of my favorite places and one of my favorite things to do in the entire world is walk it with Jason. We have done this many times, picking up shells, chasing birds and talking.

As we were walking around, Jason kept drawing things in the sand with his walking stick. I thought he was just being silly, but now looking back it was odd behavior. We walked around for awhile looking for shells. I separated from him for a moment to chase some birds (yes, I am weird). There was also a little boy walking around that I was getting a kick out of because he was holding a giant crab claw. Jason yelled over to me to come and look at the picture he drew me. In my head I was like, "oh goodness!"

Then I saw this and he dropped to one knee. I will spare you the amazing speech! I freaked out and said yes (although I can't remember actually saying it) and we celebrated!

Here is the ring that Jason gave me. This picture does not even come close to doing it justice...it is the most beautiful and unique ring. I love how everyone that sees it, says that it just looks like me!

Oddly enough, there was a guy playing guitar in the water which created an awesome soundtrack to the whole event making it so much more romantic. I immediately asked Jason if he had hired him, but no, it was just fate!


We then drove back to the house where mom and LE were waiting! We went to the Waterfront restaurant for a celebratory dinner. Remember how I said that I never pack any nice clothes...Jason even thought ahead and packed a few dresses, purses and shoes for me to wear to dinner...sneaky man!

It was the second best day of my life...the first being the day that I met Jason on February 23, 2007.

He truly is the perfect catch!