My flavor of the week.

My latest obsession has lately been ideas for outfitting my bouquet. There are so many pretty things you can do with the handle of the darn thing, I'm not sure how I'm going to pick which one I really want.

The first being the classic ribbon & bow.

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Nice, simple, understated and classic. It's just not me though.

The next thing I came across was the handle wrapped in lace.

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Oooooo So pretty! And it goes well with my "Vintage Beach Chic" wedding

Then I saw this...

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Yep! That's a hankie wrapped around the stems!

I. Die.

I love this idea so much and since I will be attempting (and hopefully successfully executing) my save the dates on hankies, I think this idea is perfect!

I will most likely go with something more like this for my bouquet though.

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Perhaps my new last name initial monogrammed in blue? And maybe throw on a starfish broach for good measure. Since we will be on the beach and all.

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Too much you think? Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and buy it anyways cause its $9.00 at Sears.

Hopefully all the thought and planning I am putting into the details will make our wedding look amazing in the pictures. I really believe that even if I am the only one who notices them, it will make me feel so good to see my plans come to fruition.

What special details are y'all planning?

Dress shopping round 1

So you must be thinking....This girl is straight up cray cray! Yep, its true, I went dress shopping over a year before my wedding! Granted I didn't buy anything , but I got a really great idea of what I love...and what I didn't love so much. One lovely Saturday morning my MOH Petit Four and I set out on a wedding dress adventure. Now, without further adieu...The dresses!

Oh wait...one more thing.

The first salon we went to was the Bridal Salon of San Antonio. We were so excited and happy since it was our first appointment of the day. They had us look through this big closet of dresses which were kinda hard to sort through. The consultant was rude, but we trucked on and tried not to let it bother us. Here is what we came up with.

This was the first dress! I liked it, but I think we decided it would be too much for the beach.

So, after the first one, I told the consultant that I wanted something a little simpler. This is what she gave me.

As you can see from my face I was ready to punch the consultant in the face take the dress off and try on another one!

I think I actually liked this one, but it was $6000. Figures.

Our appointment lasted like 26 minutes at this place. I may be an amateur but aren't they supposed to be longer? I have seen enough Say Yes to the Dress episodes to know I was jipped!

We wont be going back here.

The second place we went was Mayfair Bridal. This place had TONS of great reviews so we were really excited venture in. The place was small, and there was another bride there with 12 of her closest family and friends. They had nice dresses, but they were impossible to find! Also, only a couple of the dresses actually fit me, so I felt like a total porker.

I saw this dress in a magazine and I loved it on the model. On me, not so much.

Here's another one that was just 'ok'

This is what I thought I "should" wear, since we are having a destination wedding. After actually trying on a light, flowy, airy dress, I'm not so hung up on what I "should" be doing. Haha.

I didn't even want to leave the dressing room in this one.

This pretty much sums up this dress appointment, hahaha, not sure what's going on with my hair.

The final place we went was the most amazing wedding salon EVER!!!! They had so many dresses and our consultant was so sweet. This was at the Bridal Galleria of San Antonio. I pretty much loved every single dress I put on here. My mom and grandma joined us for this appointment.

Totally NOT what I thought I liked. But I loved it :D

This dress was amazing, and it made my mom cry! I loved it, but I think it might be too hot for the beach. I was sweating like a pig while trying on the dress in an air conditioned room...sorry kinda graphic heh.

Don't I look so much happier at this place???

And now, for my most favorite dress from the whole wide day!

Pronovias- Finesterre

I really didn't want to take this dress off. It fit perfectly and it felt soooo good. I felt like a dream!

Check out that train! soooo pretty.

The most valuable part of the day was realizing that most of the dresses I was swooning over, looked absolutely hideous on my bod! When did yall start dress shopping? When did you buy your dress? Did you ever have dress regrets?

*All pictures are personal pictures unless sourced.

Our super-magnifico, mini staycation, anniversary extravaganza!

We are back in action after a wonderful lil vacation to Gruene, TX! (pronounced 'green') We ate entirely too much and drank too much, but that's what vacays are for, no?

(all of these are personal pictures)

The first night we were there, we visited historic Gruene Hall. It was a lot of fun but the live music stopped at 8, which was kind of a bummer.


We walked around and looked at all the shops on Monday. This was my fav, I really liked their philosophy on working. heh.


Ahhh, a beautiful Hill County sunset!

Our B&B was right on the river, which was awesome. The other awesome thing was that I never got a picture of it :D blogging fail lol


So, now that my pants are a little tighter from our vacation, its time to embark upon Thanksgiving! I finally went to the grocery store today, which I have been putting off since last week. I told yall I would give you my (almost)World Famous Banana Pudding recipe!

Here's what your gonna need.
My secret ingredient is the whipped topping. Other wise, its just plain ol nana pudding.

Step 1: Follow the recipe on the jello box. (heh.)

Step 2: Measure about a cup of whipped topping INTO the banana pudding. Revolutionary, I know. It makes the pudding so yummy and amazing.

Step 3: Line your 'nilla wafers in a dish all along the bottom and sides. (make sure you save some for the top of your finished product.

Step 4: Cut up your banana and mix it in the pudding.

Step 5: Put a few 'nilla wafers on top of the pudding. (I like to make faces out of the wafers, but that may be just me)

Step 6: Relax and enjoy your nana puddin that will surely get you praise and compliments wherever you go! Do yall have any recipes that are super easy that people can't get enough of?

So if I dont see yall till Thanksgiving, I hope everyone's day is filled with lots of family, friends and turkey (and pumpkin pie)

Getting mail is so fun!

So this has been a very exciting Friday for me!!! I received my Japanese masking tape in the mail and I cant wait to start my DIY projects :D

I am also going to give the save-the-date DIY another go-round. We will see how it goes. I just ordered my "vintage handkerchiefs" from etsy, and I am going to attempt those super awesome handkerchief save the dates! I will keep yall posted every step of the way. Even if it is a fail.

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Sunday is Mr. HB and I's 4 year anniversary, and we are going on a mini stay-cation for a couple of days in Gruene, TX. I'll see yall next week! I hope yall have a great weekend and I'll be back before Thanksgiving to share my (almost)Famous Banana Pudding Recipe!!!

My very own DIY fail.

So one of the first DIY projects I wanted to undertake was our save the dates! I figured that these would be a good test for me. A test, that sadly, I failed miserably. It's really quite comical, you see.

I figured that they would turn out something like....this

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Ok, so maybe that's aiming a little high for one of my first DIY projects, but hey, what can I say, I'm a dreamer.

The first thing I decided to do was make sure that I would be able to address the envelopes I bought with my printer. I really had my heart set on this because I'm pretty sure I could totally fool people with faux-ligraphy that I downloaded from DaFont

This is what I wanted the addresses to look like.
(Better Heather on DaFont)
Did I mention the font is free?

So here is where the humor starts. I worked on this for a couple of hours (don't judge me) and I feel like pictures say it best.

Yep, thats Mr. HB trying to get my tiny envelope out of the printer. He asked me why I put such a small envelope in the printer and I just told him he wouldn't understand. What? He wouldnt.

And so, I leave you with the finished product.Notice the detailed ink stains on the envelope. I call that 'tarnished' it's very vintage.

Sadly, I think the save the dates will be retired to the graveyard of DIY failure. Maybe those Vistaprint save the dates weren't so bad after all.

Did you have any DIY failures? Was it something you completely underestimated on the difficult meter?

Waitin on you Christmas

When your wedding is 16 months away, sometimes it seems like there isn't much to be done.

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So I busy myself with things like cake toppers, invitations, color schemes, DIY projects and things that will take some time to decide on.

Here are some of the awesome things I have found so far...


I am in love with this cake topper.


Look at the sand!! (eeeee) I think instead of flowers, I will put seashells there.

Look at these little wooden rascals, they are so in love.

Etsy store MilkTea

Everything about it is customizable! From their hair, to the color of flowers you want and even the skin tone!

Even though I *thought* I had decided on a color scheme...I accidentally stumbled upon this little number that has got my heart spinning. In a very, very good way.

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I also scour the world wide web for invitation inspiration and I came across this amazing website. They are downloadable (is that a word? not sure.) and some of them are FREE. Yes, you can thank me later, and some of these styles are actually pretty legit.

Visit and download them here


So, in a nutshell, this is a day in the life of a gal in the midst of a long engagement. I realize that this post is somewhat scattered and I apologize for that, but whats a girl to do when there's no planning to be done?

How long is/was your engagement? What did you do to busy yourself when there seemed like there was nothing to plan?

What do you mean I can't have sparklers?

Pretty, ain't it?

Image via Once Upon a Time Photography

So what happens when your venue doesn't let you have them? There are several places here in town that no longer let you use sparklers for your grand exit. So tragic. Who knows, maybe they got sued by a bridesmaid whose hair caught on fire from an errant sparkle that made its way to her overly hairsprayed head? That would be a good reason. I found an alternative to the traditional rose petals, rice, monkey poop and whatever else you might think of.

(drum roll please)

ECO-FETTI!

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It kinda looks like snow...Hmmm, it snows at the beach right? Oh well, I'm still gonna use it! What are your guests tossing while you make your grand exit?

Damn you Dr. Scholls!!!!

There goes another one of my million dollar ideas out the window! I'm pretty sure I thought of this at least 3 years ago. *sigh* Guess I'll just have to suck it up and spend the $12 for these awesome shoes.

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On a lighter note, I have been looking though the interwebs for color inspiration for our beach wedding and I have decided on a beautiful palette! Hopefully I wont change my mind this time. I guess you could call the theme "Vintage beach chic"...yeah, that sounds good.


So what do yall think? How did you pick your color palette? did you ever change your mind?