Ski, Celebrate, Ski, Celebrate ...

I realize I've been woefully absent recently. I blame that on my general feelings of "what the heck should I blog about these days?!" and the fact that I've been really busy.

What have I been busy doing?...

In early March we spent three days at the Canyons in the Utah. It snowed A TON right before we got there and at the beginning of our trip, so we had AMAZING snow.



We stayed slope-side at the Hyatt Escala (thank you Hyatt points!) and really enjoyed it. Here's the view from our suite.


Then we celebrated St. Patrick's day with a party bus bar crawl with a bunch of USC/Long Beach friends. Ridiculous!

Us:

(Yes, my husband had a beard. Yes, he's shaved now.)

Our crazy crew:


Later in March we celebrated a family friend's wedding in Temecula, CA.


My Dad was a reader at the wedding and did a great job.


The day after the wedding we did a little wine tour around Temecula (South Coast, Thornton, and Callaway) and picked up some yummy white wines.


We finished up March with another ski trip BACK to Utah to celebrate a friend's 30th Birthday.


The snow wasn't as good this time because it was 55 degrees on the slopes (yikes!). But we had a blast anyway.


I started off April with another celebration in San Diego where I got to meet Rachel and her husband for lunch/sightseeing while they were on their Spring Break.


Rachel and I have been blogging, emailing, and gchatting buddies for years, so it was AMAZING to finally meet her in person! She is just as sweet and as cute as she is on her blog. Come back and visit CA soon, Rachel!

So that gets you up to speed. Some more life updates from me will be coming your way soon!

Matrimony at 10,000 Feet

Last month we went to Eagle/Vail/Edwards, Colorado for my friend's wedding

We stayed the Westin Beaver Creek. SUCH a gorgeous hotel. Check out this view from our room...


We got upgrade to an amazing suite which was seriously almost as big as our condo. It even had a washer/dryer that the Mr. clearly liked.


The wedding was at the The Lodge at Cordillera. It's a super gorgeous property! This was view from the wedding site...


Crazy fact -- this hotel was made famous by the whole Kobe Bryant scandal.


The ceremony was wonderful and the bride looked amazing.


They even had their Chocolate Labrador as their ring bearer. So cute!


This was their getaway "car" that dragged kegs behind it. The bride and groom own a brewery so it was very fitting.


Here I am with the Bride and bunch of the Bridesmaids. A bunch of my friends were Bridesmaids so it was fun to hang out with all of them!


The reception was rockin' and filled with lots of beer. Here's the bride and groom's first dance...


The day after the wedding the new Mr. and Mrs. threw a BBQ at their brewery. Fun times and great beer!


I've been to a TON of weddings this year. The next one is a couple of weeks. I think that will bring me to a total of 8 weddings in 2011. Whew!

Went to the Chapel in Oxford, Ohio

A couple of weekends ago The Mr. and I ventured to Oxford, Ohio to see one of my oldest friends get married!

She got married at the Sesquicentennial Chapel at Miami University in Oxford on a ridiculously hot day mid-west summer day.

It was such a beautiful wedding chapel!


The inside was gorgeous as well. It made me wish I'd had a chapel wedding.


The bride's parents are my parent's best friends. It was so wonderful to see them walk their daughter down the aisle.


The groom and she looked SO happy.


No, we were NOT bridesmaids. My friend and I just happened to dress very similarly! Too funny!


After the wedding we headed to the reception at the Shriver Center.

The bride had SO many great DIY details!


It was proof you don't have to spend a ton of money to have a beautiful wedding. Her wedding favors were homemade cookies. So cute and yummy!

The bride and groom have known each other since they were kids but didn't start dating until recently. They put together and adorable display case of their childhood letters, pictures, and emails from when they started dating. So stinkin' cute!


We danced the night away! But near the end of the night I finally snagged a picture with the bride. Love her!


Overall we had an amazing time in Oxford. Such a cute college town! And SUCH a fun time with friends and family!

Have you been going to a ton of weddings this summer too?

Wedding Reminiscing: Top 10 Things I Loved about Our Wedding

It's almost our THREE year Anniversary.

Yes, I'm well aware that this blog should be called "Newlyweds Next Door No More" or something, but I still feel like a Newlywed and I like my blog, so it stays as-is. My blog = my rules.

Since I've been thinking about our wedding, I though it would be fun to remember the top things I loved about our wedding


1. The guy I married
Duh. What kind of wife would I be if I didn't say that? But really, he is the best. I though that then and I think that now.

2. Our Ceremony

I loved the entire ceremony. It really was the most important part of the whole wedding. I loved the readings, the music, the Pastor, the message, our attendants, the view, the sand ceremony, and the San Diego summer air. Our vows was one of the best moments of my life.

3. Our Faith and Our Families
I love how we focused on our Christian faith in our ceremony. And I loved how our families played an integral part in the ceremony with readings and songs, and in the reception with hosting and toasting.



4. Our Friends
Never again in our lives will so many of our friends from childhood, schools, work, church, and beyond be in one place (except our funerals... how sad is that?). So many people traveled from afar to be there for us, which meant the world to us.




5. Having a Turquoise and Tangerine Wedding
When we chose these colors as our wedding colors, I quickly found out that they are not common. But I loved having a tangerine and turquoise beachy wedding. It reminded me of a sunset hitting the ocean. To add the perfect amount of "beach-chic" we decided to accent with pencil starfish and sand dollars.

This was my turquoise and tangerine wedding inspiration board...


And this is our REAL turquoise and tangerine wedding collage.

Not bad, huh?!


6. My Dress

I LOVE that dress. Still. Period.

7. The Band and Dancing the Night Away
I wanted a dance party and I got a dance party. The Ultratones rocked and I literally danced until the last song at 1:00 AM. I wasn't about to leave that party early.



8. The UpLighting in the Ballroom
I know this is a random thing to love. But just $400 turned an ordinary ballroom into a spectacular tangerine and turquoise paradise. The uplighting was the most ambiance-changing decor item we did.



9. The flowers
Our florist did a fantastic job on our wedding flowers without breaking the budget! My bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquets were made with ivory/tangerine roses, ranunculus, and gerbera daisies and was garnished with beautiful turquoise beads. But our ceremony flowers were my favorite! I loved the rose garland with starfish that got we married under.

10. My DIY Projects
I unleashed my creative juices (and saved a ton of money) by doing a bunch of DIY projects for the wedding. It was so much fun and it really added a special touch to the ceremony and reception. My three favorite DIY projects were the starfish escort cards, the sand dollar charity favors, and the ceremony programs.

I also did ceremony signs, reception signs, reception table names, menus, out of town gift buckets with a letter, thank you cards, a card box, and photo collages for the entrance to the ballroom. Just message me if you want any of my templates!

Wedding at the Grand Del Mar

This past weekend a family friend of ours that I've known my entire life got married at the Grand Del Mar in San Diego.

And WOW! What an amazing wedding.


First The Grand Del Mar was amazing. It's like a luxury, modern, Italian palace in the San Diego hills.

My parents were lucky enough to stay the Grand Del Mar. Here's my Mom and I in the lobby. Yes, the wedding was black tie.


The bride and groom got married in the Chapel on site at the Grand Del Mar. Gorgeous chapel!


Here we are, waiting for the ceremony to begin.


And the reception was ah-mazing.

The centerpieces were these giant "trees."


They had a rockin' band called "Energy." And as soon as the Bride and Groom did their first dance we filled up the dance floor for the night!


We also had like 6 courses of amazing food. There goes my diet.


The bride and groom looked so beautiful and happy. And my whole family had an amazing time!