#178: Round Trip

Today I made a round trip to Richmond. I've grown accustomed to spending hours in the car by myself, so this wasn't much different...

...except that it was a Thursday AND I was going down for a pre-employment testing session with a prospective employer. I was SO nervous the whole morning/early afternoon until my appointment at 2pm.

I met the really nice HR rep and she had me do...basically a math test. It was a series of 50 math/problem solving questions and they increased in difficulty. I had twelve minutes to finish as many as possible. I got to number 41, but had skipped two questions. I was 100% confident that about 85% of them were correct. The rep said that they run the scores of the test to see if your problem solving methods match up/mesh well with their training methods.

And apparently they do! I got an e-mail less than two and a half hours after my appointment asking me to come in for an interview next week. I was overjoyed and SO relieved. Now I'll get to make another round trip next week.

And if it includes any of the same things included in my day today, then I'll be a happy camper driver:

 

My handsome love <3

 

Dinner at The Black Sheep in Richmond

 Dessert at Sweet Frog. So yum.

#177: Paparazzi

I'm a celebrity! Ok, not quite. But I finally made it onto another blog besides my own! Our photographer, Peter, asked me to write a guest blog post for his blog. He gave me free range, but I decided to pull from this post and write some tips for current brides and brides just starting in their wedding planning. Even if you already read that post, pop on over to Peter's site and check out my post there. I added a little bit more oomph, just to try to lure readers over to my blog. You know how I roll.

Here's the link: Wedding Planning Tips from a Soon-To-Be Bride

And I absolutely adore the never-before-seen photo he added at the end of my post.

(On a side note, I feel a bit sheepish right now. After reading Peter's praise for my commitment to my blog writing, I've had to write two posts in one day just to catch up again. So if you found my blog by way of my post on Peter's blog, I apologize. But this is how life is. So get on the bandwagon!)

And if you agree with me that I am a celebrity now, feel free to sing along:

#176: Sticking My Head in a Bucket

I really hope that my clever title got your attention. Because this post is going to be muy interesante (that's "very interesting" for all you non-Spanglish speakers). As I write this, I have wet fingernails. However, I want to eat popcorn. You can deduce from my title how I am satisfying my hunger while drying my nails. Bam.

Ok, so I'm not sure how interesting this post it going to be after that introduction.

I have so much to tell you about what's been going on. I was going to try to split each thing into its own separate post, but I think it would take me ten days to tell you what's happened in the last five. And by the time I got to post five, you would probably be thinking "okay, so this was ten days ago?" And ya'll know I like to keep things relevant and up-to-date.

So here's what's been going down in my town.

 This is what my basement looked like post-sister moving out. TV on the floor and NO floorspace for my workouts.

 Lots and lots of boxes!

 Got the TV up on a table and started to stack up boxes underneath it. Two reasons: I didn't want to waste space, and I didn't want the TV to fall very far if the table gave out (it's not exactly the sturdiest table). Check and check.

Finished product! Lots more room to move around now. And my boxes aren't laying out in the open to get stepped on or kicked. Which is good, because they're full of antique glassware. 

 I took this last photo of my Steve Nash Wheaties box. Yes. I said last. Meaning I threw him out. It was time. We had a lot of good years together, but sometimes relationships don't work out. J will be happy about this recent breakup.

Ok, tears sopped up. Let's move on. 

Bridal shower invites went out! Two of my awesome in-town bridesmaids (the other four live out of town, two of them being in states very far away (sad face)) came over and helped my mom and I assemble the invitations. My mom addressed them with her amazing handwriting and I stamped them and put the return address label on them. I love how they turned out. When I can get my hands on one again, I'll snap a picture for you!

Helloooooo Facetime! J got an iPhone last week and we are LOVING facetime. Such a marvelous invention. 

And in other iPhone news, I actually WON a few games of Words with Friends. Surprising. 

Oh, and here's a big change. I got bangs! My fabulous stylist friend Ashley indulged my whims and gave me some super cute bangs last night! I'm still getting used to them, but I am loving them. Can't wait until the sides grow out a little bit (they were short to begin with because I had trim my sideswept bangs a little too short).

Last night, right after getting them cut. Not styled here.

 Right after I did my hair this morning. Bangs are a little too poofy at this point.

End of the day. Much, much more relaxed. Loving them!

What do YOU think?

What's been new with you?

#175: Engagement Pictures, Take 3!

Here's a few of my favorites from our shoot with Peter...I'd post them all because that's how much I love them, but these are my top top top favorites!

 I am SO glad that this crazy idea in my head actually photographed well. The table is an antique of my mom's. The books are all mine and they pretty much sum us up. Cupcakes, art, DIY weddings, and some history/art history thrown in there too. We're not really big lemonade drinkers, but we were in a public park so they had a no alcohol/no glass policy. Otherwise, we would have brought wine!

 J is such a goofball. He really makes me laugh so hard I cry sometimes.

 I know this probably seems conceited, but the reason I included this photo is because I remember exactly how I was sitting when Peter took this photo. I was literally sitting on a rock while J was sitting behind me. I am SO glad it didn't look at awkward as I felt. My mom loves this photo too!

 So here I am, doing my modeling thing, while the love of my life is looking lovingly at me. I love the sweetness in his gaze and I wasn't even aware he was looking at me!! Love this man.

 I would love to demonstrate how Peter took this photo. He literally stood behind the rather tall French easel we had set up (which I bought for J for our 3rd anniversary, by the way) and put his camera up in the air and snapped away. I absolutely LOVE the angle of this photo.

 All about the kissing shots.

 I have a confession. J and I were standing across the pond/lake from Peter and I blurted out, "but I can't see our reflections!" to which J replied, "...umm...(trying so hard not to laugh, which he eventually did, once I realized how dumb I sounded)...we can see Peter's, so he can see ours." Enter dumb blond comment here. Wow.

So there's my take on a few of our shots. Peter will be putting some more images in an online gallery for us, so you know I'll be sharing some more!

#174: Outtake

Last Sunday, we had an engagement session with our wedding photographer, Peter Davis. He already released a preview photo and I posted about it here.

Last night, he sent me one of the outtakes from our shoot. Not only did he catch Josh yawning, but he also caught me yawning. He decided to be nice to me and only send the one of Josh yawning, so here you go!

Well, aren't we just an attractive couple?

#173: LC

If I could have one celebrity as my BFF, it would, without a doubt, be Lauren Conrad. (Was that too many commas?) I have loved her since I saw her on Laguna Beach. And of course I watched her on The Hills.

And of course, I shop her clothing line at Kohl's. I seriously heart her line. I wish I could literally buy every piece from it!

It just so happens that I got both my bridal shower and rehearsal/ rehearsal dinner dresses from her line. I fell in love with both of them and I think the design of each will fit the occasion! Unfortunately, my bridal shower dress is no longer available online so I don't have an official website picture to show you. So you just have to wait until after my shower to see what it looks like!!

As for my rehearsal dinner dress, I wanted something both dressy and fun. I don't know all the details of our rehearsal dinner, but I figure you can't go wrong with a cute dress and some killer heels.

And this is what I got:

It's super fitted at the top and flared at the bottom. Oh, and did I mention it has pockets? Sign me up! You know I love me some pockets...

I also picked up a chiffon tunic from Lauren's line. I had been wanting one for awhile. I want something non-form-fitting that I can wear over leggings. I wanted to be able to wear it with both heels and flats.

The top picture is the shirt on Lauren. The bottom picture is the color I actually got it in. Love it! It comes with a cotton camisole underneath and not one of those flimsy ones. The sleeves are very billowy and is a far cry from the usual form-fitting clothes I usually wear. Can't wait to break this out...maybe tomorrow!

All photos courtesy of Kohls.com

#172: Tapas and Sangria

Today (I guess technically, yesterday) was friend Alyssa's birthday! I met up with her and some of her coworkers at a tapas restaurant in Old Town Alexandria. It was so much fun! The restaurant was called La Tasca and since none of us knew what it meant, I whipped out my handy dandy iPhone. It means "a cheap dive or bar." I also didn't know was tapas were, and Alyssa informed me that they are little plates of food. Um, hello! I get to order multiple plates of food and it's acceptable? Sign me up. I heart tapas. I ended up ordering garlic cheese bread and empanadas (but I got to order them in Spanish and use my cool accent! And yes, I know "empanadas" is Spanish...). So delicious. I love the combo of good food, good drinks and (new) friends! Happy Birthday Alyssa!!

In other news, the government shutdown is not happening! Praise the Lord. It would have affected our family drastically, as my dad works as a government contractor. And a family of seven, with a wedding in eleven weeks, has a lot of expenses. What bothered me the most about the whole shutdown situation was that our troops would not have been paid more than half a paycheck on April 15. Those men and women fight for our freedom and they deserve exponentially more than they currently get paid, not have it taken away from them and their families. I am very happy that, and I'm excluding my not-very-nice opinion of politicians, they reached an agreement and that shutdown will not occur.

And it's the weekend! What could be better than that? Oh yeah, seeing my babes. Soon though...