Tuesday, March 31, 2009

And they are off...

Our invitations that is!!

I just got back from the post office. I asked if I could hand cancel the envelopes and the women looked at me like I was a bit crazy. She said the machine will do that, so I just decided to leave it as is and I handed them over.

Here's a sneak peak of all the invites stacked up:


While our invites weighed less than an ounce, they were square. But I thought the stamp was pretty cute:

And I got to use my favorite stamp on the return address cards:

Overall, I was in and out in less than FIVE minutes. It was so short and sweet. Now I feel nervous, Mr. Peep and I are the only ones who have seen the finished product. I hope they are a hit!? Anyone else get a little nervous after putting their invites in the mail?

More on the invites to come in a few days!! Gotta make sure my peeps get them first!

Monday, March 30, 2009

I feel pretty

Oh, so pretty!


There is nothing like love that makes you feel pretty. AND there is something about purchasing new makeup that makes me feel prettier. I've been holding off buying some new make-up but with the wedding less than two months away (gasp!!), I figured it was about time to splurge.

Since I try to rotate between splurge items and drug store make up- I'm going to include all of my favorite things in this post.

First up: Face lotion. I only buy face lotion with SPF, and I love this lotion by Neutrogena:

But recently I've upgraded to the anti-wrinkle stuff (18 years of Southern CA sun growing up, I need all the help I can get):


For my spluge, I wear Origins Youthtopia Eyecream:

Now that I have a base, I like to wear a light foundation. My absolute favorite splurge is Laura Mercier's Moisturizing Foundation, and of course, her concealer is the absolute best (and it lasts FOREVER):


But more likely than not, you'll find the wallet friendly Neutrogena Healthy Skin Cream Powder in my make-up bag.

Here is where I start to feel really pretty, I love love Benefit's Dandelion Blush. I've also been known to wear their Georgia Peach, Dallas, and the newest one: TEN.

When I can't quite splurge on Benefit, Almay's Powder Blush is a great back up, and their new Natural Blush has me intrigued.

When it comes to mascara, I never waiver. It's Maybelline's Lash Discovery Mini-Brush Washable Mascara:


The mini-brush makes my lashes oh so long.

As for eyeshadow, my favorite is Nars Duo Eyeshadows. You can use it both dry and wet. And I like the Alhambra Duo because I usually just wear the more nude shade during the day, but I spice up my eyes with the gold at night:


For my lips, I am all over the place. I've been attached to my little tube of Nars Sheer Captiva for so long. It looks super dark, but it can go on more like a sheer.

But I've recently become a fan of Benefit's Full-Finish Lipstick. I've almost finished off my tube of Swoonderful, so my recent purchase included their No Competition. On my lips, it's a saucy combo of pink and red:

And it feels a lot more like a gloss than a lipstick.

For everyday- I sport the Carmex cherry chapstick. While I don't go around kissing girls, I am truely addicted to it.


So there you have it, my make-up splurges and saves. What's your favorite slurge or great buy?

Friday, March 27, 2009

Showered with love

A couple weeks ago, Mr. Peep and I made the trek down to my Brother's house for a double family shower- for Mr. Peep and I and to introduce Baby Henry to the extended family. I am sure you can guess who stole the show??

My brother lives just North of LA, so we made it a family weekend. My whole family rarely gets together- last time it was for our engagement party in August. Before that I couldn't really tell you, so it was a treat to spend the weekend with the littlest members of our bridal party. Here they all are waiting to go to the party:


When we arrived the presents were already piled high on the table:



Of course after eating and catching up- it was present time:

Can you guess who our helpers were??? I am smiling ear to ear because breakfast trays mean breakfast in BED!! While Mr. Peep is thinking- unbelievable- now I have to serve her in bed too!! It really is true love!

Mama Peep once again worked her magic, she scanned the card my Great Aunt gave my Mom for her shower over 40 years ago, and put it on the cover of our present. (I hope it didn't get thrown away!!- note to self- must look for card)

Isn't it perfectly vintage!!

The best part was that the attention quickly turned off us and onto the Baby:

See how excited all the little kids were?

I can't thank my Cousins enough for throwing such a great party!!

And a party it was. I loved that it was focused on getting the whole family together. Yet, I was most shocked when they took a picture of all the kids and I wasn't asked to be in the picture!! Being the youngest in my generation, it felt weird sitting at the big kids table and to realize that I've been replaced!

The best part, the party wasn't over after the shower. We got to go home and get some good playtime in the backyard:


And of course, I had to get in on the bubble fun:

Overall, it was so great to just hang with the fam. And I think Mr. Peep is finally getting the hang of this Uncle thing- what do you think:


All pictures by Mama Peep.

Did anyone else have a fabulous family shower weekend??

Spring In Bloom

This past weekend- right before my hair and makeup trial- I got a chance to meet up with our fabulous florist- Huckleberry Karen Designs- at the hotel. I hadn't met with her since May, but our meeting reconfirmed that she's the best!! And now I am doubly excited to see our flowers on the big day.

When we fist met I didn't have strong thoughts on what colors the bouquets should be. All I knew was that I wanted dahlias for the personal flowers and wheat grass for the centerpieces.

When we first sat down she promptly told me that she's already seeing dahlias at the market. AWESOME!! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I heart dahlias. In fact, we kinda picked our date so there was a glimmer of hope that we'd have dahlias on the big day. We decided that my bouquet would be more of a soft pink with whites. Something like these:



Just in case dahlias weren't going to be available I took a few inspirational pictures of other flowers:


Half way through the meeting- she started laughing. Apparently every other bride in the world would die to be in my shoes: Peonies are THE flower around the time we actually get married. And while, I love me a beautiful peony- they are sort of a second choice flower for me. But really, can you call a peony a second choice??

I also heart these sweet pink ranunculus flowers:


Or how gorgeous is this bouquet??

For my bridesmaids, I want the same flowers, but with a bit more POP. Again, dahlias, peonies and ranunculus- but a darker shade of pink. Kinda like this:


As for the boys, Mr. PT is picky. He doesn't want traditional- i.e. a rose, calla lily, or orchid. So we're going for the modern and budget friendly Mum. A white mum for him and kermit mums for the boys:

We are also doing small bouquets for the Mom's and pinned corsages for a few other female family members- this way they could pin it to their dress or their purse. I just want to make sure they are recognized.

To save on some reception decor, I bought five vases from Michaels for $3.99 each to hold the girls bouquets and to decorate the cupcake table and guest sign in table. Similar to this:


As for the reception decor, we made a last minute decision (last minute compared to the last 16 months of planning) to alternate between wheat grass centerpieces with dahlias popping up:

source.
And a more traditional spring centerpiece:



After planning this thing* for so long, I am now officially excited for our big day! The kind of excited where your stomach starts to hurt. In the next two weeks I have a meeting with both the hotel and our photographer. It's getting close!

What made you most excited for the big day??

*yes, I lovingly refer to our wedding after 16 months as THING.
All of the photos, unless noted, are from Project Wedding.

Monday, March 23, 2009

My Hair and Make up Trail

Last I left you, I was deciding between soft and romantic or sleek and modern for my hair trial. When I got to the salon I had pretty much decided that I loved this picture:


I had also decided (with the help of my florist) that I wanted to wear a big beautiful gardenia in my hair:


So Amy from Oxenrose made sure to do a style that could incorporate a flower. I apologize for the pics from my car, but after my trail I was on my way to March Madness and I never did get a better picture. Here's part of the back:


And here's a side view:



I thought it looked great- as did everyone at the bar. But the one problem- it started to fall out. My thin hair couldn't hold up the bobby pins, so I'll be emailing Amy that I need some more supportive pins.

In addition to my hair trial, I also got my make up done!!

I had a really hard time finding images of makeup I liked, but I did find one pic on our own Weddingbee Pro Laura's website that I loved:


Because I love the hive, here I am as I arrived at the salon (pre-bang cut).

I had to put on a little foundation and lip gloss because I had a meeting that AM (more on that next time), so I can't say I am totally sans make up here.

And here I am after Mollie did her magic. I have to say that this pic was taken after my hair trail as well, so it had been a good hour and a half since she'd applied my lip stick. Plus, I had her cut my bangs a bit shorter since I am SOO bad about coming in for a bang trim.



What I loved about Mollie was we played around a bit. She initially did one eye in browns and the other in golds. I then asked for mixture of the two. She quickly removed what she had already done and combined the two- it was perfect!! See how the make up plays up the hazel in my usually brown eyes:

Since I usually wear brown and gold tones of eyeshadow this totally felt like me- just better. We didn't do foundation, but she did suggest using bronzer rather than a blush. She mentioned that the excitement from the day would naturally bring out the pink in my cheeks.

As for what makeup she used: She used Mac eyeshadow, but for everything else, she introduced me to a new brand: True Cosmetics. It's a mineral based make up line and I loved it!! On the day of she'll be giving me a lipstick and mascara for touch ups, and she'll also be putting on individual eyelashes- which I fell in love with after seeing Mrs. Cherry Pie's long lashes!!

Overall I couldn't be more excited. I was also able to book appointments on the big day for my bridesmaids and other family members!! It's going to be so much fun- they'll reserve the upper level of the salon just for us and we can bring in champagne and breakfast for a big old party!!

With about two months to go before the big day, the wedding is starting to feel real. How'd your make up and hair trial go? How far out did you do it before the actual day?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Hair today...Hair trial tomorrow!!

Yep that's right, I have my hair trial tomorrow!! And let me just tell ya, this trial has been a year in the making.

What do I mean? Well, here I am circa Spring 2008:*


And here is my hair today, on the first day of Spring 2009:*

Yep. I am one of those short haired girls who has been growing my hair out for the last year. And let me tell ya- it's driving me crazy!!! You will be sure to see a Post-Wedding Chop Chop post from me very soon after the wedding. I might even dare to sneak it in before we leave for the honeymoon (three days after the wedding)!!!

While I have had a few hair cuts along the way, it feels like my hair grows freakishly slow (I've even resorted to taking prenatal vitamins to speed up the process). To add to that, I have very thin, fine hair and not a lot of it. Which means wearing it down is just not an option- unless I want ridiculously limp hair by the end of the night.

So an updo it is. Currently I am grappling with wearing my hair soft and romantic:




Or a sleek and modern:



I think that these two pics are a good blend of both:



Oh, and I must add, I will be sporting fringe on my big day, and I hope to wear a flower in my hair (it is San Francisco after all, ha ha).

What do you think? Do you know how you are doing your hair on your big day, and maybe even more importantly, where did you find pictures for your inspiration?

*Yep, I am a freak that takes pictures of my hair at work with the little Mac Cam.

All hair pictures taken from Project Wedding.