0023 -- nice and naughty!

our wedding is a mere 24 days away so i've spent the last two weekends with some of my absolute favorite people at two very lovely and very different bridal showers! the first shower was hosted by my soon to be mom-in-law, Kathy and her best friend Glenda at Glenda's gorgeous beach front home in San Diego. It was so magical! The weather was warm, the food was amazing (as always as both Glenda and her daughter Arles are super stars in the kitchen), and the company was just perfect:
Glenda and I with her precious pup Camille

Kathy and I

just some of the lovely ladies who came as well as the view from Glenda's deck

presents!

my bridesmaid Sarah made my rehearsal bouquet!!

me and my girls

this weekend my maid of honor and ladywife, Marissa, threw me a VERY naughty lingerie shower! she and her husband decorated their whole house with black plastic, naughty torture devices, handcuffs, and hand painted signs! the food was amazing as Marissa had of course stalked my tumblr and made me treats based on my recent posts. perhaps the coolest part of it was the video that she, her husband, and Jordan made so that we could play our version of the "newlywed game"! it was amazing!
most of the girls!

the spread with Bowie overlooking on it all

the ladywife and hostest

i got a thing for Bowie...

and the craziest wiener cake ever!

i have been having so much fun and can't wait to get married now!! i'm so thankful for my girl friends! <3

0020 -- the long and winding road

jordan and i are getting excited for the next few months, and are currently trying to save some money so we're finding some new ways to have fun, hang out, plan things without spending any scratch as we're getting married in only 64 days and there's still a lot to be paid for! post wedding we're hoping to take a week to drive up north through the California coast and Oregon coasts as a "faux-moon" since we'll be waiting to save up to take a proper honeymoon! of course trying to decide where to go is an adventure in itself! here are a few possible routes we looked at:

neither of us have ever driven all the way up the coast. although we've both been to different areas up that way. we've got a small list of cities and spots we'd like to hit, but are trying to keep a pretty open mind since we don't have any definite time that we need to be up north! as well we're trying to camp most of the cities on the way up. hopefully we'll be able to find enough camp grounds and rest stops that will serve us. here's the places we'd like to see:
santa barbara & san luis obispo
cholame (where James Dean died), cambria, san simeon (for Hearst castle)
big sur for camping and hiking
carmel & monterey (jordan has never been to the aquarium up there!)
sf, berkley, & oakland
glass beach
redwoods & humboldt
camp blanco st park, or
eugene, or
astoria, or
along with all that we've been trying to look up some good car games. my best marissa is letting us borrow these auto/driving bingo cards which will be great.

do you have any fun car games that you could share with us??

0014 -- bridal shower prep

i'm known to be quite type a and tend to plan things way in advance. with our weekends quickly booking up and trying to make sure we still have time to relax i've been trying to prep for my upcoming bridal shower! i'm not a very traditional gal so i've been having a bit of a hard time knowing how to dress for all these parties. i've been thinking white since it's a bit out of the norm for me and it's definitely screams bride. here's a few that i've had my eye on recently:

available at: zara, free people, free people, wasteland, wasteland

after much deliberation here's what i ended up with from wasteland and cost me under $60!:

as much as i love the floral crown trend, i just don't think that i've got that sweetness that it takes to pull it off, as well i'm a sucker for playing with my now lavender hair! here are a few accessories i've been thinking of wearing with it:


bracelet from etsy, knuckle ring from etsy, heels from zara, necklace from need supply.

0012 -- working it out

less than 90 days to the wedding so i'm in crunch time for my workouts, clearing up my skin, making sure my hair is somewhat healthy (although let's be honest, i've had 4 very drastic color changes in the last year so it's a bit beat up). last week i had a seriously menacing cold so unfortunately i worked out only twice, leaving me feeling like i have a ton of catching up to do.

i've been working out via FaceTime with my maid of honor and dearest friend, marissa. every day at 6:30 i get home change into my sweats and running shoes and we do something isometric routines to help keep up our bums and make sure our arms aren't wiggling when we wave. here are a few of our favorites (of course we add in some sumo squats, lunges, and planks too):

along with our 6 day a week workouts we've also been trying to drastically change our eating/drinking habits. instead of drinking 4 nights a week, we've curbed it to one or two and our food intake has changed from meat with most meals, to meat once or twice a week. it's been a bunch of big changes, especially for jordan but he's been a great sport about it all! i've always been a big salad fan, so i've been making this AWESOME mango dressing that reminds me of the one at native foods. i would strongly recommend it and it's good on everything from salads to quinoa!!

mango dressing (raw & vegan):
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen mango
1/2 cups safflower or sunflower oil (i used a nice olive oil that we have and didn't use the full 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup maple syrup (i used organic agave)
1/4 cup lime juice (i subbed for lemon since it's all we had)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
blend in a small food processor or blender. extra dressing can be saved for few days too! enjoy!!