Roadtrip!!!!!

There has been absolutely no wedding planning going on the past couple weeks.  I can't even lie about it.

Literally the middle of nowhere. So hot!

There has been; however, an awesome road trip. We drove from Washington to Las Vegas.  On our way there, we drove down through Idaho, out into the middle of nowhere eastern Nevada.  Just open desert and highway.  It was a sight I've never seen before, and to be honest, one that I really don't need to see again.

Left: View from our sweet suite. Right: View while
laying poolside

Vegas was amazing.  I had never been there before, and it was crazy! Upon check in at The Paris, the nice lady helping us asked if we wanted to upgrade to a suite for a nominal price. Of course we said yes. I had never laid in a more comfortable bed in my life. This suite was literally as
large as our small house, complete with a jacuzzi tub, walk in closet, and bidet. How to actually use the thing, I don't know and wasn't adventurous enough to try. I thoroughly enjoyed walking around and people watching all the while drinking my yard of margarita. Our time in Vegas was short (only 2 nights) but it is definitely somewhere I have to go again just to see more sights and take in a show or two.

The Village in Mammoth

Our return trip home was a bit different. On our way out of Vegas, we stopped at the In-N-Out Burger. Never having been down in California (save for a trip to Disneyland when I was 4), we HAD to stop and eat there. Everything I've ever heard about the place was true. Cheap and delicious. We made it to Mammoth Lakes, Ca for our overnight stop. It's definitely somewhere we want to go back. We ate at a local restaurant called Base Camp Cafe. Yum Yum! I highly recommend if you're in the area. We mosied around The Village before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Chris' idea for the next day was to drive through Yosemite.  At first I was reluctant because it was going to add a couple extra hours to the day of driving, but am I glad that we did! The park was absolutely gorgeous! We stopped along the highway that goes through the park for some photos, and continued on our way.  We eventually met up with good old I-5, stopping for dinner in Medford, Oregon. It took us a little while to find somewhere to eat, but we settled on Kaleidoscope Pizzeria and Pub. On our adventures we try to support local businesses when possible, and so far we haven't been disappointed. Kaleidoscope has a wine list with about 100+ wines, and somewhere around 12-15 microbrews on tap. Needless to say, Chris was a happy camper. Not only was the food fairly priced, but the barbecue chicken pizza we got was mouthwatering. When dinner was finished, we continued our last leg of the trip for the night. We pulled into Hood River, Oregon at about 2:30am, waking my good friend up to let us in her house.

I love Hood River. It's a small, tourist town, but the atmosphere is definitely chill. We stopped for lunch at the 6th Street Bistro and Loft which is known for its organic, local menu and beer selection. Since Chris had never been there, I gave him the abbreviated tour passing by the expensive gift shops, all-natural eateries, and yuppie sports shops.  We did stop at Dog River Coffee Co. because it's my favorite. The atmosphere is hip and modern mixed with retro details like the old coffee and hot chocolate push-button machine. The walls have pieces by local artists for sale along with a guitar hanging next to a sign that reads "Play Me." I admit I was sad to leave Hood River, but knowing we were only three hours from home was good motivation to get back on the road.

We left Hood River so late that we decided to stop in Yakima for dinner before we made it the rest of the way home. If you don't want to go to a typical chain restaurant in Yakima, head to Miner's Burgers in Union Gap. It is the quintessential burger joint. The Big Miner is quite literally as big as my face! They put a whole tomato on each burger, and the fry sauce is killer. As our last "vacation dinner" it did not let us down.

Home again, and back to work, but this was a great trip that we will forever talk about. "Hey, remember that first big road trip we went on? How much fun was that?!"

PS: my camera is super special and won't load onto my computer. So all I have are pictures I took on my phone. Never fear though, I documented everything!

Summer Lovin

My fiance and I received our first wedding invitation for the summer season sometime in May.  Then we got another one.  And another.  And another.  Literally, three weddings in the month of July, miraculously all on different days.  Then we got one for the first Saturday in August, and another for later that month.  I think everyone we know was getting married this summer!  
Despite all the driving, budget gift-giving, outfit picking time it took for these weddings, they were all for dear friends and wouldn't have been anywhere else.
Ok, sappy.  Other than the fun that we had, the man and I had a lot of conversations about what we want out of our own wedding.  On the car ride home from every event, the dialogue went something like this:
Me: So... what did you like?
The Man: The ceremony was really short.  That was good.
Me: So... what didn't you like?
The Man: They really needed a person instead of just an iPod.
and so on...
It gave us great insight into what we wanted.  We were able to see what worked and what didn't work.  The experience, though sometimes stressful, was a wonderful way for us to really get a grip on what's in store for our own wedding and planning process.  Not to mention, it proved a great way for me to use retail store promotions, sales, and rewards for gift giving! Yay!
To celebrate our summer of love, I rounded up some photos of fun ideas we took away from some of the weddings. 

I love the idea of doing a photobooth at the reception.  It really gives guests a sense of involvement, especially for those of us who cringe when they call for all the single ladies to converge on the dance floor to catch the bouquet!  Something else I also cringe at are favors.  You know the kind: a bottle of bubbles, a badly scented candle with the special date on it, etc.  I was so pleased when our friends gave out these sweet teapots with a simple tag.  It was a nice nod to the bride's Chinese heritage.  The yellow and gray quilted centerpiece, I fell in love with.  There was one on every table for this backyard potluck reception.  A couple mason jars with flowers, and voi la!  An utterly adorable, non-fussy centerpiece. Did I mention twinkle lights and champagne? Yes, please!  So, not only was Mickey and Minnie Mouse the centerpiece for one of the tables at this last wedding, but they also served as a substitute for table numbers.  The bride sculpted each clay centerpiece after famous couples: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Calvin and Hobbes, Kermit and Miss Piggy, Johnny Cash and June Carter... you get the idea. It was fun to be able to walk around looking for my table (Fred and Ginger) seeing all the cute characters.

Photobooth pic by memory montage productions

My First Blog

Once upon a time, I had a journal.  An actual, open the book, write in it with a pen, journal.  As I've gotten older, I've realized how outdated this kind of writing has become.  A modern idea of journaling is now tweeting and clever status updates on Facebook.  I admit that I've been on Facebook for some time now and am completely addicted.  I will also admit that I'm one of those "lurkers." You know, the people who rarely post updates but looks around to see what all their online friends, friends of friends, and total strangers are up to.  It's a sickness, really.

With that being said, and if you missed the "About Me" section to side, I'm getting married.  As soon as the man and I got back from our engagement trip, I started poking around the internet for wedding ideas.  I've come across several wonderful blogs that I look forward to reading almost everyday (check out "My Favies").  I decided I wanted to take a stab at the blogosphere and have my very own.  If anyone is going to read it, who knows!  Whether it's good, or bad, or somewhere in between, I always feel better after I get my thoughts out.

So, this will now be my journal.  Instead of opening a book, I will be opening my laptop, writing about my wedding planning, inspirations, and hopefully a good story or two every now and then.