Friday Five!

I cant' believe it's already Friday again! This week has flown by.  I am REALLY trying to do at least 3 posts a week, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.  I finished up my gifts to ask my bridesmaids last night! I really love them and am so excited to give them to my girls.  Here are my 5 things :)

 

-ONE-

 

Jeff has finally agreed to let me re-do our bedroom!! I will do a whole before and after post when it is completed...we are still in the really early stages.  I don't have a lot of free time lately, so here's to hoping that it doesn't take me forever!  Of course, I am still sticking to neutrals (my fave)!  The first thing that we are searching for is a new bed or headboard.  I think we are going to get a headboard simply because they are so much less expensive.  We are planning on moving after the wedding and hopefully everything will work in the new house, but in case it doesn't--I want to make sure we don't spend too much now.



1. Safavieh Axel Upholstered Headboard $219.41  |  2. Samuel Lawrence Carolina Upholstered Headboard - $244.99  |  
3. Roma Tufted Wingback Headboard $284.99  |  4. Clip Corner Nailbutton Headboard $169.99   |   5. Halifax Headboard $477.95   |  6.  Arlene Headboard $363.95

 

-TWO-

 

My "PINsperation" for the room :)

 

 

Overall, I want something clean and cozy.  A lot of whites and off whites.  I may add a few pops of light blue, but I'm not sure yet.

 

-THREE-

 

Who knew there were so many different whites!!  Currently, we have three walls painted a sand color, like a darker tan.  The fourth wall is light blue now, and I want to paint it white, but which white!?  The ceiling is white as well, so I want to make sure they match but of course I don't know which white the ceiling is.  Any tips!?

 

-FOUR-

 

Our room is really wide, so I am going to center the bed with one of the closets and add a sitting area!  I'm super excited and want it to be a nice place to cozy up and read a book or watch tv.  I'm looking for a comfy chair and small table and maybe a lamp! Here are some items I like.. all from Target of course!

 

 

-FIVE-

 

To Keurig or not to Keurig!?  This has nothing to do with my bedroom...but everything do to with actually getting my bedroom done!  We on the search for a new coffee maker.  I currently have an espresso machine and make a lot of Americanos, but am looking for something a little more versatile.  Does anyone have any opinions!?

 

 

 

XO Nicci







Valentine's Day in New Jersey!

Last Wednesday we took the red eye from LAX to New Jersey to visit Jeff's family!  They are always such short trips, and always so much to get in.  Before we left, Jeff gave me my Valentine's Day present, which was a bar necklace with the coordinates of Florence on it! It's from an Etsy shop called Bip and Bop and they have THE CUTEST stuff ever!  Obsessed with this "mrs" necklace also!

I absolutely love it so much and will wear it every single day.  It is simple enough to wear all of the time and has such a special meaning.:)  I really want to get a plan gold chain to wear with it!

 

Then we headed off to the airport for our midnight flight, which was delayed and caused us to miss our connecting flight from Chicago O'Hare to Newark!  It was terrible.  It was 5 AM CST and we were dead tired.  We ended up not getting another flight for about 4 hours and finally made it to New Jersey at about 3PM as opposed to our scheduled arrival at 9:30 am that morning.   

 

When we finally got to Jeff's parents house we saw this:

 

 

SNOW! 

 

and this gift from Jeff's mom:

 

Engraved champagne flutes that say "Mrs. George" and "Mr. George" and a bottle that says "I love you" in different languages!  SO cute.  Anyone that knows me knows that I love anything and everything personalized and engraved!  We also had a box fully of Hershey's kisses.  It was the best welcome to Jersey!

 

Thursday and Friday nights we went out with some of Jeff's friends from high school.  He rarely gets to see them, so it is always a good time.  We spent most of the days lounging while I made work calls and went out in the snow on Saturday! It snowed pretty much all day on Valentine's Day, it was so pretty...but so cold.  Saturday night we played "The Newlywed Game" with Jeff's sisters and their boyfriends.  We didn't exactly win, but it was a great time :) 

Lounging watching TV on Friday still so tired from our flight!

 

It first started snowing on Saturday morning!

Exploring in the snow

 

We got back early yesterday morning and now life is back to our normal 75 degree weather!

 

XO Nicci

Five on Friday!!

And it's the weekend again, just like that!  Well, almost. :) 

 

I officially had my first break down as a bride-to-be this week.  We are having a hard time finding a priest to preside over our ceremony.  The Immaculata requires that all non-parishioners secure their own priest.  I also have been having a heck of a time deciding on the reception venue.  So many different things to take into account, and of course trying to get everything I want to fit into my little budget!  Jeff said that I am focusing too much on the small details, and everything will turn out perfect.  Easier said than done!  Who knew I had such expensive taste. Here is my 5 on Friday....all about weddings. :)  Take a look at my wedding Pinterest board to see all of my inspiration!

 

-ONE-

Draped Ceilings

Now that I have seen it, I can't go back.  I am in LOVE with draped ceilings and walls.  There is something about it that gives the entire room such a romantic feel.  I knew I always liked it, but this has turned into something that is a must-have for me-- which is unfortunately because it isn't cheap!

 

-TWO-

MONOGRAMS!

 

I've been obsessed with monograms for quite some time now, and am definitely looking for ways to incorporate it into the reception.  I love this monogram at the head table.  I really like the moss covered, but I don't think that will fit in very well with my colors.  We keeping everything very neutral, with some hints of blush. 

 

-THREE-

The Dress

It just so happens that every dress I am in love with is Vera Wang.  Not exactly in my budget!  To be completely honest, I'm not sure exactly what I want for my dress.  I know I want something big! :) But, that's about it.  Jeff hates mermaid and fit & flare, so those are ruled out anyways.  I also don't want it to be TOO big.  I haven't been to try on anything yet, but want to have ideas of things for them to show me.  I love the skirts of both of the above, the "tattered-ness" of them, but I also love the straight lines of the skirts in the ones below-- both are Hayley Paige. DECISIONS!

 

-FOUR-

The chairs

 

 

Throughout this process, I have also found out that I am apparently a chair snob.  I LOVE CHIAVARI CHAIRS!  Again, something that I never knew I NEEDED, but now I do.  $10 a chair, do you think it is worth it!? One venue (my favorite at this point) is offering them to us for $5/chair.  I just love the way the look and bring that romantic elegant feel to the room.  A lot of the other chairs remind of one of two things: 1-a conference or meeting or 2- a barbeque -- and my wedding is neither of those!

 

-FIVE-

 

THE GUESTLIST!

 

Who get's a plus one? Who doesn't?  Which kids do we invite? Who do we leave out? Is there a limit on the number of friends that your parents can invite when they are paying for the wedding?  If someone invited you to their wedding, must you invite them to yours?  Don't we all have that one friend that you really want to invite, but then you have to invite someone else if you invite them, and then their sister, and then their parents....and it keeps on going!!!  These are all questions that we are struggling with currently.  We are at about 180, and wanted to keep it to 150.  My mom is continually adding more people and told me to make sure I have some extra room for "about 20 more"!  What I don't want to is to spend too much of my budget on food so that I can't have my draped ceilings, peonies, chiavari chairs, and monograms! :)

 

 

I am going to continue to do my 5 on Fridays wedding themed, until I run out of stuff to talk about..ha! Like that could happen.  I am super excited for this weekend!  Hopefully, I will get my priest booked tomorrow and send all of the paperwork and deposit to my coordinator at The Immaculata and get our "tentative hold" turned into a confirmed date.  We also have to get to work on planning all of our pre-martial counseling programs through the church.  I also have a great friend who I met studying in Florence that is going to be in Santa Monica for work on Sunday!  She lives in Austin and I haven't had a chance to get out.  We are also leaving for New Jersey on Wednesday!  We haven't been out there since August, so we are beyond excited. A good busy. :)

 

 

XO Nicci

 

 

 

Day Two of Venues

Happy Monday!  I can't believe I never got to finish this post, I started it last Monday.  The last week of the month is BEYOND stressful in sales.  I began the week at only 56% of my monthly quota, so I had to work my tail off. :)  I ended up hitting my goal early Friday afternoon! 

Soo.... Last Sunday morning we woke up and headed to breakfast at the one and only Broken Yolk in PB.  We are on our low carb diet, so omelets it was!  It was crowded, as usual, but we didn't have to wait and it was pretty tasty.  We then headed to The Ultimate Skybox, which is downtown in the Gaslamp, right near Petco Park.  It was a beautiful venue, but not exactly what we are looking for.  It is super modern, and I am looking for something a bit more romantic.  Also, it's just a little too small for us.  They can hold up to 200 in what they call a "moving reception" which is more like a few buffet stations, in lieu of a formal sit down dinner.  We want to keep things more traditional and hold a sit down dinner.  We stayed here for a bit and then headed back to the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay for our final tour!

The tour was quick and to the point, but we LOVED the Regatta Pavillion, which is a seasonal tent on the property.  It's HUGE-- 9,000 square feet!  The size alone, as well as the BEAUTIFUL drapery is what sold me. Of course, I didn't take any pictures, but here you can see the drapery from this image I found on Google.

It really is stunning.  The flooring here is brown, but it was actually gray when we looked.  I also want to see if we can continue the draping on to the walls of the tent for a more romantic look. 

 

PROS

• Tent is included
• Tent is ALREADY fully draped
• Pretty views of Mission Bay and the bridge
• Tent is HUGE -- almost 10,000 sq ft, which allows us room for a couple lounge areas (!)
• One hour of hosted bar included 
• Very resort-y
• Music has to be turned down at 11; but we have the space until midnight
• Chiavari chairs INCLUDED!

CONS

• Only rounds of 8 included
•  Tent is carpeted, thankfully not the brown in the above picture, but it is still a gray color.  I prefer non-carpet.
• Property is a bit more secluded than the downtown properties that we looked at.  There is another hotel across the street, but not a ton of hotels nearby.  This doesn't bother me that much; the hotel is huge and also offers room blocks. 

 

Okay! So those are all of our venue choices.  We are so confused on which to choose!  Slowly sifting through options, working on budgets and trying to get a more concrete number for the guest list.  I have an extension until February 13 to get everything turned in to the church, so I am hoping to have some free time this weekend!

 

XO Nicci