Already July??

Honestly, I am not sure where the first half of this year has gone. While there have been lots of happy moments in these months of newlywed bliss, there have also been some struggles.

Thankfully, I have an amazing husband by my side to help me stay strong and focused on the future. He always puts things in perspective for me. I realize that this post is vague, but I emotionally cannot go into all of the details. Just wanted to get this out there and off of my chest.

If you read this in the coming days, please say a prayer for my grandmother.

Meet my man, Ben!

My sweet husband planned a surprise weekend away for us. A few days before we left, I found out where we were going. It is pretty funny bc Sean (the husband) is not the best with secrets. However, I was still thrilled to find out that we were making our way down to Birmingham to see Ben Harper at City Stages.

City Stages is a three day event held annually in downtown Birmingham. There were tons of different acts on the schedule, and we took several in on Saturday. Ben closed Saturday night, and it was the third time that Sean and I have seen him together.

Our first dance song at our wedding was Forever by Ben Haper. Thus, he holds a very special place in my heart. I love his lyrics and different styles. He is definitely one cool guy! If you are not familiar with his work, please check him out. You can visit his site here... http://www.benharper.net/

Sean and I had a great weekend away! I am so blessed to have such a thoughtful guy by my side forever.

It's Back!!!

The much anticipated Sex and The City movie hit theaters on Friday. Of course, I saw it...twice in one day! While the critics have not been too kind, I thought it was absolutely fabulous!

The only thing that I could have done without was all of the nudity. However, I guess that part of what made the show what it was. By far my favorite character was and is Charlottoe. She really shows some spunk in the movie that I can definitely identify with!

So if you are thinking of seeing, please go and take a gal pal with you!

Total Slacker!!!

How has it been two months since I last updated this blog?!? Really, I have been meaning to update because I have had a lot going on in my world. I now have two new jobs with two fabulous groups of people so that has been keeping me very busy. More to come on that soon.

Anyhow, it is almost June and I am determined to update here at least twice a week. This summer and fall should be full of lots of new and exciting things for me so stay tuned!!!

The Color Red

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Red

Your color is red, the color of racy sportscars, blushing cheeks, and luscious roses. Red symbolizes passion, romance, and love. So, since you're ruled by red, you probably trust your feelings more than your brain and tend to act spontaneously. If you see something you want, you go for it without thinking twice — impulsive is your middle name. You don't wait around for people to make decisions, either; you dive right in. Quite the romantic, you pay close attention to your emotions. In fact, if your heart isn't in what you're doing, you won't be satisfied. Of course, even when you do pour all your energy into the projects you tackle, your impetuous nature means your passions can shift as frequently as the wind. That's why some reds have trouble with commitment. Our advice? Next time you're feeling fickle, think before you act, if possible. You might be surprised at the results. Overall, though, it's great to be red. No one lives life more completely than you do.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

Good Reads

From the time I can remember, I have always loved to read. Whether it be classic literature; art; history; or chic lit, I am always reading something new. It is one of my favorite ways to pass the time. There is just something about getting lost in a good book that soothes me.

I found this amazing site where you can track all of the books you have read, give reviews, find new books to put on your must read list, and meet new friends.

The site is called Good Reads... http://www.goodreads.com/

Check it out and find something new to read today. If you ever need any recommendations, please feel free to hit me up.

My New Baby

Last week, my sweet and very thoughtful husband surprised me with a new camera. I have expressed a lot of interest in photography, so he thought this would come in handy.

Yup, this is my new baby. The Canon Rebel XTi.



Here is my fave photo so far of our niece Isabel (aka Izzy) on Easter. Is she not adorable? She will be two in June and is already sassy. Her old brother had better watch out.

My name is Stephanie, and I am a Lostie.

I am so addicted to Lost! Last season when they announced that Season 4 would not air until January 2008, I thought it was the end of the world. Now that we are back on the island, I am watching and attempting to unravel the mysteries.

Last week's epsiode with Jin and Sun broke my heart bc they are one of my favorite story lines on the show. If you have not watched the show before, I highly recommend renting the previous seasons on DVD. Otherwise, you might be (for lack of better words) lost.

It really is no surprise that I fell in love with this show since JJ Abrams is co-creator and executive producer of the show. JJ has created two previous shows that I also followed. He was the co-creator and executive producer of Felicity and creator and executive producer of Alias (one of my all time fave shows).

So now you know...I am a Lostie and not afraid to admit it!

Here is a little fun quiz on the website. If you watch the show, you will know that Sawyer loves to give his island mates nicknames. What would yours be? Find out here...
http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=nickname

Turns out my nickname would be Sugardrop...I like it!

Happy Good Friday and Easter to everyone!

Tagged

Tagged!

ABC QUESTIONS

A- Attached or single: Married
B- Best Friend(s): Sean and Kelly Michelle
C- Cake or Pie: Chocolate Cake

D- Day of Choice: Saturday
E- Essential Item (s): cute shoes, lip gloss, gum or mints
F-Favorite type of music: eclectic mix
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: bears

H- Hometown: Nashville, TN
I- Indulgence(s): anything sweet and chocolate
J- January or July: July
K- Kids: 0

L- Last movie: Dan in Real Life, Hit Man and No Country for Old Men
M- Marriage Date: November 17, 2007
N- Number of Siblings: 0
O- Oranges or Apples: oranges
P- Phobias or Fears: sharks

Q- Quote(s): For we walk by faith, not by sight 2 Corinthians 5:7
R- Reason To Smile: my husband
S- Season: Fall
T- Tag : If you haven't been tagged consider yourself tagged
U- Unknown Fact About Me: umm...I snort when I laugh sometimes (blush)
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: oppressor

W- Worst Habit: not putting laundry away
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: ultrasounds i guess
Y- Your Favorite Food: Italian
Z- Zodiac: Scorpio

Flowers, Music and Food...Oh My!

Now that we had our photographer, we started the search for a florist, DJ and caterer. I already knew that I wanted to use fall colors since the wedding would be in November. In my mind, I was already picturing brown, orange, cream and greens.

We met with three florists and told them what we envisioned. The first two quotes were astoundingly over our budget. There was no way we were paying $6000 for flowers! After surfing The Knot, I found CarryAnn with Fresh by CarryAnn. She just recently opened her own shop in the Providence Marketplace and is so fabulous to work with. Plus, she was very affordable (less than half of the first two quotes we received) and even offered suggestions that would help keep the end cost down.

Not only was she offering suggestions to help our budget, she made me a sample bouquet for my bridal portrait and transported the ceremony flowers to our reception site. Totally above and beyond what I could have expected. You loves what she does and it shows. Check out her site...http://www.freshnashville.com/

When we visited CJ's Off the Square, they told us about Blake with Select Sound. After doing a little research, I found all great reviews for him and his services. Plus, he does lighting which was another possibility for us. After meeting with him, I knew that he would be perfect for our reception. In the end, he also provided us with a projector and screen for our growing up montage along with some spectacular amber colored lighting that really set the ambiance for the night. He has now changed the name of his company to Nashville Event Lighting. Honestly, I am not sure if he is only focusing on the lighting industry or not. However, you can visit him here and contact him to find out. http://www.nashvilleeventlighting.com/

Alright, so I enjoy good food but was not really concerned about who catered our reception. I am more of a detail kind of girl. My wonderful MIL offered to take care of the food and drink details. In the end, we booked Mary Weary with Menu Maker Catering. She was also great to work with and provided a delicious buffett! Yes, Sean and I did actually get a chance to eat at our reception. After we were introduced as a married couple, we took our seats at the head table and were served so that we could mingle afterward. We got many compliments on Mary's work. http://www.menumakercatering.com/

I can hardly belive that it is already March! We are looking forward to some warm and sunny spring weather!

Who to choose, who to choose....

Once we decided to get married at Sean's church (Holy Family Catholic Church in Brentwood), we needed to decide where to have the reception. The first place we visited was Lillie Belle's in Historic Downtown Franklin.

Lillie Belle's is a historic Queen Anne style Victorian house that was built in 1892. They serve lunch and host teas, baby and bridal showers, rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions. If you want you can even getting married at the house. While it is quite charming, in the end, it was not the style that we envisioned for our wedding. http://www.lilliebelles.net/index.html

The next site that we visited was CJ's Off the Square which also located in Historic Downtown Franklin. While CJ's was much more our style with it's indoor art gallery and outside tent with garden, it was not large enough to host all of our guests. http://www.cjsoffthesquare.com/

Sean's mom works for Saturn and told us about the local UAW hall. We agreed to check it, but to be honest, I was apprehensive about anything called a hall. In the end, we were pleasantly surprised. The "hall" was very open with high ceilings and a large dance floor. It also has beautiful chandeliers and sconces along with walls. Plus, we got a great deal which allowed us to put the extra money toward the lighting I really wanted.

Now that we knew where the festivites would be taking place, it was time to start with the many other factors. At the top of my list was finding a photographer that was a mix of creativity, modern and fun. After doing a lot of researchand some recommendations, I narrowed our choiced down to three. Our first appointment was with Whitney and Peter Carlson of Dove Wedding Photography. Instantly, I was drawn to them and their style. They are this young, artsy, down to earth married couple. While Peter mostly handles the business affairs, Whitney and Jenn our the actual photographers. The other cool thing about their company is that Jenn resides in Atlanta, so they cover a wider area than just Nashville.

After our meeting with them, I took a day to think it over and decided to book them. We did not even meet with the other two photographers that I had on our final list. My gut was telling me to go with Dove, and so we did. Not only did they end up shooting our wedding, we also did an engagement session with them last May. I was so thrilled with that single experience, that I also decided to do a bridal session.

Today, I am so very thankful that we chose Dove. Not only do we have some amazingly gorgeous photos that we will treasure forever, I also feel that we made some new friends. There will definitely be more to come here in regards to Dove because they were one of my favorite, if not my fave, wedding vendor.

Please check out their site. http://www.doveweddingphotography.com/ If you visit their blog and scroll down a few posts, you will see some photos from our wedding day. http://www.doveweddingphotography.blogspot.com/

In my next post, I will post some of my fave pics that the extremely talented Whitney and Jenn captured. Until then, be full of love; joy and peace.

2007: The Year of the Wedding

So the majority of 2007 was spent planning my marriage to Sean. I never knew how much work goes into a wedding! Since details are important to me, I did a ton of online research before making any final decisions.

First big decision we made was to have our wedding and reception here in Nashville. Originally, we considered doing a destination wedding somewhere in the Carribean. However, in the end, we decided that we really wanted all of our family and friends with us on such a special day.

Here are a couple of my fave online wedding resources for any of you brides to be out there.

The Knot was a huge help, so I definitely recommend checking out their website. They even have local boards so that you can get ideas and tips from brides in your area. http://theknot.com

Another great online resource is Weddingbee (which I still read today even though I have been a married woman for nearly three months). When we were planning the wedding, they were looking for bloggers. I was tempted but did not know how good I would be at keeping up with the blog demand. http://weddingbee.com

Next, I will talk more about how I found my specific vendors. We were so blessed to find some really wonderful people to work with!

The Story of Us

I officially met Sean in November of 2005 at work. While we worked in different departments, we sat near each other for a few months before ever speaking to one another. Finally, we said hello while I was frantically running back and forth to the copier near his desk.

Soon after, he added me to his inter-office IM and we began chatting on a daily basis. One thing lead to another, and we began dating in January 2006. Since I had just gotten out of a long relationship, I was totally not looking for something serious. Of course, you know what that means. Yup, I feel in love in a matter of months.

Sean proposed on Saturday, November 25, 2006 while we were having dinner at Opryland Hotel here in Nashville. I was completely shocked since we had been talking about a possible spring 2007 engagement. After I gained my compsure (tears stopped briefly), I said yes!

Fall has always been my favorite time of year, so I had dreamed about having a fall wedding for a long time. Once we looked over the football schedules for our alma maters (Auburn and University of TN), we set the date as November 17, 2007. Yes, you read that correctly. We had to plan our fall wedding around college football. If we had scheduled the wedding on a big game day, our guests (and the groom) would have been preoccupied. Crazy SEC fans!!!

Having a date set, the next step was to choose where we would be married. More details in the next post....

Newbie Here!!

Well here it goes...

This is my very first attempt at writing a blog post. For the last year or so, I have really started getting into checking out blogs on a daily basis. I would have to say that the best thing about a blog is that anyone, anywhere, at any time can find out what is going in your world. They are a great way to stay informed and get ideas on thousands of different topics...anything from sports to scrapbooking.

Since both Sean and I have quite a few friends and relatives that live elsewhere, I think starting a blog is a rockin' idea! So here I am, beginning a blog which I hope entertains and informs both current and future loved ones.