~MOH~

In less than a month, I will be representing my BFF, Jaima, as her maid of honor! Technically, I am considered a “matron of honor” but I really do not care for the word “matron,” in my mind it does not have a positive nor youthful connotation. I have taken my role very seriously, and have sincerely loved every minute of it!

First- I love Jaima. We have been friends, through thick and thin since 9^th grade, 14 years old baby! Our paths first crossed at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Parish. In 1991, Jaima and I both made our first Holy Communion here. Not knowing one another at this time, it is quite random that in my stack of pictures from this special day, someone caught a shot of Jaima and her Mom. {Sign from God}. Years later, completely across the Salt Lake valley, Jaima and I made our Confirmation together at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Parish in 1998. {Sign from God}. At last, we were both freshmen students at Juan Diego and our friendship blossomed, LOL.{Sign from God}.

We have gone through high school, college at the U and lots of boyfriends together. She was with me as a Bridesmaid on my Wedding day (and she introduced Mikey and I) and now I will stand by her side on her Wedding day.

My role as MOH: Well, considering I am a newly wed, I am neurotic, I love spreadsheets and I love fashion… I have had a lot of advice to offer Jaima, whether she has wanted it or not, since the first day of wedding planning.

I knew the day was coming, as I gathered my spreadsheets, books and lists of vendors for Jaima. Chris told me he was going to propose, and I was in on popping the question. I got to set up the scene for the proposal for Chris. I was an amazing secret-keeper and Jaima was totally surprised.

DUTIES: dress shopping, flower advice, cake advice, invitation shopping, groom’s gift planning, engagement picture hair and makeup, consultation on all things attire, consultation on all things WEDDING, linen shopping, ring shopping with Chris, bridal shower/bachelorette party hosting, consultation, wedding day practice makeup, wedding day practice hair, consultation, words of encouragement on her hard work and her rocking bod, reception detail prep and consultation, support, love, friendship, consultation, LOL. It truly has been such a fun experience so far and I’m truly excited for October 9!

Stay tuned for hair and makeup and other day of details. Now, onto another day as a rockin’ MOH with plenty of consulting!

I {heart} the sweet aromas of fall, and so does Mikey

Ah… fall is in the air. The weather has cooled, sweaters and boots warm the body, Starbucks is serving pumpkin spice lattes, fall décor is out in full-swing and warm aromas of spiced pumpkin and cinnamon flowing from the Scentsy and candles fill our home. Mikey’s happiness has arrived, his favorite time of year.

To bang, or not to bang.

With fall in the air and sweaters and boots in the closet, the new season means hair changes for many of us ladies. Adding warm rich colors to a head full of summer highlights and perhaps a style change. This summer I ran with a few months of highlights throughout my whole head but then opted to switch back to my regular dark color (minus the red nowadays) half-way through the summer.

{Side story: Like most of us, good or bad, I have had my fair share of the days of light hair. Naturally, I have a more golden tones in my brown hair than I tend to show off… within about 1.5 months after a color, you can see golden brown roots. I have come to find that no one would guess this, thanks to my incredible colorist, thanks Mom, and the fact that I simply look better with dark hair. Circa freshman year of high school, 1999, I was SO into Britney Spears and wanted to look like her. I begged and begged my Mom to add more and more highlights to my hair each time we colored it. Long story short, it was light (not blonde) and was not hot like Britney. Since then, I have rocked some more natural highlights: carmel, red, light brown tones. Time after time, I love one solid-color, a deep dark rich brown. My hair is in such great condition when it’s all one color. And, using a semi-permanent color every five to six weeks ensure the condition and overall health of my hair plus, my dark color still has dimension and shine versus a flat super dark look. Ah…. The joy of having a super talented hair dresser as a Mother. Gotta love it.}

With no hair color change in my foreseeable future I am faced with the decision of whether or not to bang. I have had bangs for years! Last year around wedding time, I began to grow them out (just a little) to create more of a swoop effect for the big day. I cut them once after the wedding and have been growing them out since (with the exception of the one chunk getting caught in our shitty blowdryer I have been using since my nice one burned out on me). I have a big forehead, so I feel like bangs are critical to my life, hence the reason I have nearly almost always had them. I love the low-maintenance of my now longer bangs (below the nose)… Pull them back in a headband, easily pin them back with bobby pins, tuck them into my high pony tail… etc. The part I am not so sure of is everyday down wear. I cannot decide- does this look even work for me? I get mixed reviews but trust the brutally honest opinion of my youngest Sister, Emily. She likes them long, and so does Mikey.

I have some serious, life-altering decisions to make as the Fall season approaches: to bang, or not to bang?

BANG:

NOT TO BANG/ROCKIN' THE LONG BANGS:

Ariana Marie Rice

Ariana rocking the cute little outfit I got her and headband I made her!

Mikey and I took four days off of work, packed our bags and headed to Kentucky to stay with (my sister-in-law) Alicia and Jon and to meet their new new little bundle of {pure} joy, Ariana Marie Rice. One-month old two days ago, Ariana is thee most precious little baby girl, as you can see from the pictures.

I cannot wait to see them all (Ariana in particular, LOL) when they travel to Utah for Christmas.

Baby hungry? A little bit, I will not lie... but man is she a lot of work! For now, I love to hold her and play with her every second I can but hand to her to Mommy when it's time to eat, {ETC.}!!!

Carrie Bradshaw moment:

With all of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, never-ending bills and debt and lack of the "ideal situation;" when are you actually ready?

Jaima's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Bash

I do not get to do it often, but I have a passion for planning parties and all that it entails. Details details details! In celebration of Jaima getting married on October 9th, Megan, Alex and I {the bridesmaids} hosted a fun shower and bachelorette celebration in her honor. Being so into planning, organizing and "crafting" I headed the event and had a blast doing it!

Jaima has been given showers by family and family friends - but I wanted to be sure that she had a shower with her girlfriends as well. Knowing that I wanted to do a bachelorette bash as well, I thought combining the two would be perfect! We mailed out these personalized invitations to close girlfriends ...

Now, the fun planning began.

Some of the prep:
My house was a disaster for days, cluttered with ribbon, paper, pictures, etc. My little baby Honda carried decor, and desserts, and more oh my!

SO inspired by Amy Atlas and her incredible dessert tables, I decided to do something on a smaller scale, but still beautiful and delicious! This table was the focal point, and my pride and joy, of the entire party! Each of us girls, Megan, Alex and I made a couple of desserts to showcase on the table and fill the tipsy tummies of the girls at the party. I gave each dessert a wedding-themed name and with the help of my designer Kenji, we created dessert name tags. To coordinate, I made two "Bride to Be" banners, one for the bar and one for the dessert table. Using the same color scheme and type as the dessert tags!
The theme of the party was inspired by the traditional bachelorette black and pink decor, with an added twist of homemade touches and damask linens.

Delicious Greek buffet from City Greek.
We served chicken gyros with all of the toppings and sides!Drink mixing station!
A tribute to Jaima and her kissy face...
pictures from the last 5 years or so of thee famous Jaima Kissy face!

The table... filled with seven tasty selections, pink sugar-rimmed glasses
and coordinating touches ..
These strawberry-infused, Blushing Bride Cakes were topped with strawberry cream cheese frosting were delightful. The strawberry flavor in the cupcakes and frosting came from my recent homemade jam... I added a generous amount in both and they came out fabulously! I created the rich chocolate flavor from an ample amount of
Hershey's cocoa powder... SO good!Alex made this tasty Partay Parfait... Vanilla wafers,
raspberry pudding and raspberries... so good and so cute in the champagne glass!
Alex also made these delicious blonde brownies
and the vodka soaked watermelon (both to die for)!Megan made these perfect pink heel sugar cookies and penis-shaped cupcakes... so professional it's a wonder they do not carry both of these items in ALL bakeries!Pink sugar rimmed martini glasses and decorated wine bottles were fun, girly details added to the table for variety and height. The Bride-to-Be and Me!
Jaima got some great gifts... canisters, kitchen accessories, gift cards and sexy lingerie!

We wrapped the party up and headed to Habits... Jaima's favorite dance spot, and mine!

Love making posters more than anything...

one reason I loved student government so much! LOL
We all had an incredible evening... sweat, sore legs and plenty of drinks for all of us! I am so happy for my best friend of 11 years. Cheers to her Wedding Day only 32 days away!

I lalalalove party planning. If you are ever looking for help, or someone to coordinate an entire event (party, shower, wedding, etc.) please do not hesitate to contact me.
I am for hire! Depending on your needs, vision and budget - we can negotiate!

Sidenote: I was a bride-to-be just over a year ago. My how time flies!!!