I'm getting married!

Brad & I are engaged!!! It happened November 19th & I'm just now finding time to blog about it! Check out our wedding website for pictures of the best proposal ever :) www.mywedding.com/bradloveslouise

It's a little surreal to be planning my wedding for real. I used to read wedding blogs or pin wedding images on Pinterest all day for fun but now it's not just a fun time-killer, it's real & I love it! Even though my main task right now, finding a venue, has been causing me a lot of stress, I love that all our ideas will come together & we'll have a beautiful wedding & then be married! Here's what we have decided/planned so far:

• Picked our colors: fuchsia and cobalt blue
• Picked our Save The Dates- made by the very talented calligrapher & designer, Angi https://www.facebook.com/angeliqueink:

• Bought my wedding dress: can't post a pic because Brad might see it :) but it has pockets and a tilted bow on the back!
• Bought our wedding rings: I can't wait to wear mine! Now what should we engrave in them...

We need to book a venue & set a date ASAP. Then I will be able to relax a little bit.

Oh, exciting news! We are getting our engagement pictures taken while we are in Paris by Juliane Berry, an American photographer living in Paris! http://julianeberryphotographyblog.wordpress.com/
I am so excited because these pictures will be so unique & I think it will be a good way to introduce Brad to the city (we're taking the pictures on our second day). I just hope it isn't miserably cold while we're there. I want us to be able to walk around & enjoy ourselves without freezing. I might need to bring some hand warmers!
Here is my December calendar. It's one of my favorites:

Forever After

I started a business!! It's called Forever After and we sell wedding favors & gifts. I can't believe so much has happened in such a short amount of time! I remember talking to Julie back in August when we carpooled to work at the zoo about how cool it would be to own a boutique. Now, we have merchandise, homemade decorations, business cards, Facebook & Twitter accounts and a blog! We learned so much along the way. Like how to register our name with the county, how to get an EIN number, how to order wholesale from suppliers, how to set up a business bank account, how to make our own items like pinwheels and banners, how to negotiate with suppliers, and how to design a logo. Now we have a super cute boutique space inside Sugar Bee Sweets Bakery & Boutique and I couldn't be happier! 


After we took a small business class at the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center, we decided to start small. Getting a bank loan and trying to open up our own store would have been extremely expensive, challenging, and stressful. Having our own store our ultimate dream but our small space fits us right now. We are able to continue working full time at the zoo because Sugar Bee Sweets has a cashier who handles everyone's transactions. We are able to enjoy the fun part of owning a business- finding new items to carry, making new home-made gifts, and trying to get our name out there- while someone else handles the not-so-fun parts like paying electricity bills and dealing with sales tax.  


Here is a picture of Forever After!

You check out Forever After here: 

www.facebook.com/foreverafterwed
www.twitter.com/foreverafterwed
www.foreverafterwed.blogspot.com (designed by me :))

Oh! And here is my November calendar:

Updates!

My last post was about me wishing I was in Paris...Well, I leave for Paris on December 17th! With Brad! The same day of his college graduation! I'm really excited to go back after 4 years, to see my grandparents & to show Brad all the places I grew up going to! Paris during Christmastime! I bet it's magical :)

Halloween is right around the corner so we made "Spooky Town" at work where we all made our own haunted houses out of bird houses. They look awesome & I love all the fun Halloween decorations around the office! This is my haunted house:


















Brad and I started going on dates in November & became official on November 23rd so November/fall is our season. I am anxious for fall weather because that means it is the start of our season :) & it's the start of sweaters, boots, hot chocolate, fires, scarves and pumpkin pie!!

Also, things are coming together for my future project! It's amazing how things work out! I'm very very excited! Stay tuned for more information on that!

And here are the calendars I made for August, September (my birthday month!) & October!

I Want

for this to be me in Paris right now:

Summer

Wow, it's just been a long time since I last posted!

I have been spending my summer weekends shopping, swimming in Brad's pool or going to bachelorette parties, bridal showers and weddings. So many of my friends are getting married this summer! When did we get old enough to get married??

I did something I wanted to do this summer! I finally went to a Ranger's game on the 4th of July & they had fireworks after the game! :) I'll post pictures soon.

Here are my June & July Calendars:

June is about things that remind me of summer:

July is about roadtrips and traveling because I have an urge to go somewhere exciting this summer (even a small roadtrip would be fine!) I have gone somewhere every summer since I can remember so it's strange not to have anything planned yet. But I'm going to make my own summer adventures anyway!

Things I love right now

Ruffles! & this bag! From monsoon.co.uk

Chevron print

Chevron print

Chevron print

Kate Spade

Colmar, France- a gorgeous little town that I want to visit.

Little shops/restaurants/boutiques- I think it would be cool to own one someday.

Little shops/restaurants/boutiques

Little shops/restaurants/boutiques

Happy (almost) May!

I know it isn't May yet but I decided to make my May calendar baseball themed & I couldn't wait to make it. I was wondering what I would do for May since I've already focused on spring with the March and April calendars & May isn't really considered summer. Then I thought of baseball- the season has just started & I'm looking forward to going to one of the Fireworks Friday Texas Rangers games soon! Yay for fireworks & baseball! Go Rangers! 

Happy April!

Spring is finally here! I'm loving the warm weather. Wow, I can't believe I've worked at the zoo for 5 months now! Time really does fly!

Winter Wedding

Here's the other inspiration board I finally had a chance to make for my friend- the silver & purple winter wedding one!

Yum!

Happy March!

Here's my March calendar. It makes me feel like being outside in the warm spring weather. I wish I had a hammock in a garden where I could read on the weekends! :)

Yellow is Happiness

I made this board for my friend who said she is in between yellow with touches of lemons/lemonade and a wintery violet & silver scheme for her future wedding (girls like to talk about these things!). I think this yellow wedding would be perfect for summer. I'm working on the violet & silver board next so I'll have that one up here soon.

This is my favorite image from the board!

Summer Engagement Session

xoxo

I just can't get enough of Valentine's Day decorations & cards!


Funky Shique



Akimbodesign



Creature Comforts








HycCreative

& this is cute :)


handz

Happy February!

I finally got around to making a calendar for February! Hearts, roses, red & pink!

I love Disney!

I just watched the Beyond Beauty featurette on my Diamond Edition Beauty and The Beast DVD and it reignited my obsession with Disney animation! I found some sketches/autographs from Glen Keane, a Disney animator (he drew Ariel and Rapunzel!), & I decided to write to him in the hopes that he will make me a sketch as well! 

 

I also found these Disney art books with beautiful artwork and sketches that I really want, The Art of Tangled & The Art of the Disney Princess:                                  

The Art of Tangled

The Art of Tangled



The Art of the Disney Princess






The Art of the Disney Princess

Country Love

My friend, Kristie, is getting married in October & I'm her Maid of Honor, yay! She gave me a few suggestions of what kind of Bridal Shower she would like so I had fun making a Style Board. She wants it to be outdoors, with a "Country Love Songs" theme. Country music love songs will be playing & we will serve lemonade in mason jars.

Here's what I came up with:

Art Projects & Cupcakes

A cute art project from Lisa Leonard that I can't wait to try! Maybe this weekend?! Tutorial here.

I love kevinandamanda.com. This blog is a fun read and Amanda takes beautiful pictures! The blog has free handwriting style fonts, amazing food and dessert recipes and pictures galore of food and the places they visit! Here are some of her recipes for yummy looking cupcakes & some other cupcakes she's had at various bakeries around the country:

Decadent Snickers Cupcakes with Chocolate Mouse Filling Recipe

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes Recipe