Boudoir Session

(Sorry I couldn't think of a catchy blog title at the moment but figured the pictures might make up for that)

So I decided to go through with it and a couple weeks ago had the time of my life. Laura from Pennace Photography was amazing! She makes you feel so comfortable that I didn't even need an ounce of alcohol to get me relaxed like I thought.

My amazing co-worker did my makeup and made me look like rockstar on the cover of Maxim. Here are a few sneak peeks.

Yes that is Twilight that I am reading, don't judge. LOL It matched my big sexy red heels!


One of my favorite pictures from the shoot!

Amazing shot

She took over 650 photos in an hour and half and there were just so many great shots it was hard to only choose 40! This was well worth the money and I am so thrilled that I have these photos for the rest of my life because one day I am going to look at them and be like "Damnnnn, Grandma was hot back in the day!" LOL jk.

I received the "Little Black Book" the other day and I cannot wait to give it to him this weekend before his bachelor party. I'm hoping to tape his reaction on my phone since it's going to be a good one! I will keep you posted on this for sure!

*all photos courtesy of Pennace Photography

Hi blogger friends, are you still there?

Hello blogger friends,

I know it's been a month or so since I last blogged, please forgive me! We are now down to 39 days until we get married....again. Yes. That's right. Again.

In order to have a symbolic ceremony in the Dominican Republic we have to present our marriage certificate and in the state of NY it can take up to 30 days to receive that. We realized this last week when we went for our marriage license and decided that we couldn't wait much longer since were almost at the month mark. One phone call later and we were confirmed to meet with the judge this past Monday.

It honestly didn't hit me that this was for real until the judge started speaking and we had to hold hands. My knees got a little weak and the butterflies fluttered. I was extremely happy and at the same time trying to convince myself this wasn't the real marriage since I didn't want it to take away from our ceremony next month. It was about a minute and half and we didn't exchange rings which was great.

I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs!

Ok I know I know....we decided not to call each other husband or wife until after September 18th but it is hard at times. You may be wondering, "well what date will you celebrate your anniversary on?" since we get that a lot from people and the answer is: the day we exchange our vows will be the day we celebrate, September 18th.

Seriously life gets so busy the last month and half with wedding planning ESPECIALLY when your close friend is getting married a month before you. I'm sorry I've been M.I.A. but I promise to blog more leading up to the big day!

Anybody finding it crazy busy the last month before the wedding??

Need a little help from my friends!

I know what you're all thinking....Where have you been!?





It's been a tad crazy busy this summer that I've been slacking with keeping you posted. My bad! I do need your expert opinions though on what to wear for the home reception. The attire is semi-casual so I was thinking of wearing this:

This little number is by J.Crew in Ivory. I figured this would be a cute end of summer dress that I could wear a cardigan with should it be cooler than expected. Maybe a cute little necklace as well.

My FMIL e-mailed me asking if I was going to wear my dress for the HR too. I replied and told her no since I think I'll stick out like a sore thumb and people would wonder, 'why is she wearing her wedding dress a week later?' So I believe word got out to his family and his Aunt inquired as well as to why I wasn't going to wear my dress to the HR. Ugh. So i've seeked a few other outside opinions and I'm just wondering about yours.

Also please note, I have a TTD session two days after my wedding which is 5 days before the HR. I'm a little concerned that the dress won't be in tip top shape after since we'll rolling around in the sand and water and I'll have to pay for express dry cleaning when I get back.

Should I suck it up and wear the dress for the first two hours so people can get pictures in and his family can be satisfied or shall I continue with my original plan? I could possibly play it ear and see how the TTD goes and make a decision after? I just didn't want to get all dolled up and get my hair done for the HR.

What's your thoughts?

Bedazzle Flops!

Remember my 'attempt' to bedazzle my own flips flops? If not, click here. I was pretty bummed that it didn't work out and I failed miserably at what I thought was an easy DIY project.

So I caved in and decided to purchase Swarovski flip flops from an AMAZING Etsy seller JS Creations.

She not only does flip flops but she blings out custom t-shirts and tanks, hair pins etc. The process was smooth and they arrived in about two weeks. I'm actually thinking of having her make me a "Mrs." tank!


I neatly opened the tissue paper to reveal these beauties below:

How AWESOME AND AMAZINGLY cute is it that she put her own logo on them!?? I was super excited to parade these around the office to show them off. These bad boys came all the way from Hawaii which I thought was cool since our wedding is in the tropics. I highly recommend using JS Creations for hassle free purchase at a decent price.

Bling Bling Baby!

Not motivated for a wedding....

Ok so don't read into the title just yet! It's not what you think.



I had lunch with John yesterday since he's been working a lot lately and we barely saw each other this weekend since I was visiting my sister. And the conversation went a little something like this:


J: I was thinking how awesome it would be to receive pictures of you for my birthday since it's my last year as a single man.

Me: (almost spitting out my food) What? Umm you mean boudoir photos??

J: What are boudoir photos?

Me: Who put this stuff in your head?

J: No one, just a random thought.

Me: Normally a bride gives her groom the day of the wedding boudoir photos.

J: Oh, I didn't know that.

*side note: his birthday is in the middle of August*



And so the conversation continued on but I wasn't sure if he was serious or not. This came from way out of left field. I wondered who put that bug in his ear! My first reaction was not a good one but I didn't let him know that. I just kept it inside to boil. This was just so random I was still in shock. I didn't even think he knew about pictures like this.

I've never really given the idea some serious thought. I personally didn't think he would like a gift like that. I saw Mrs. Cola's Boudoir photos on WB recently and they looked amazing and she's like me "size wise" so I knew not to worry about that.

So I came back from lunch and couldn't stop thinking about this random conversation we just had. I really would love to surprise him with a little black book of photos but I don't think I have hundreds of dollars to spend right now. So I took to the classified section of WB to see if anyone is offering boudoir sessions in the NYC area. My search didn't go far since the listing was one of the first ones. Laura Pennace is a photographer who is looking to expand her work outside of wedding photography. I was shocked at the price! I thought it would be at least $1000 for a session.

So I contacted Laura and we exchanged e-mails back and forth all day and it was so easy to talk to her and ask questions. All of a sudden I got this sudden urge to get my butt to the gym so I can look good in these pictures. I thought to myself, ' a wedding doesn't motivate you but a boudoir session does. Huh, that's kind of funny.'


So as you can see the title of this post isn't what you thought it was. I am still so excited for this wedding, 81 days!


I am meeting with the photographer today to discuss ideas and get to know her better to establish a level of comfort which is her number one concern. I'm very excited and still a little in shock that I'm actually going ahead with this.

More details to come.

Have you considered a boudoir photo session?

Reality Bites....

I've been a bad blogger and I haven't updated you on a sensitive subject but I was honestly waiting for the outcome to write this post. Remember back in April I wrote about the decision to not invite his father? If not, click here.

About two weeks into May I got a text message from my FI saying to send an invitation to his father and not asking any questions and to just trust him. Ok. I wasn't exactly happy with that text but I trust him and I sent it out that day. I honestly did not think that was a smart idea because I'm sure by now (this was in May) that they got word other family members received invitations and they didn't. I was right. His sister mentioned to us over Memorial Day weekend that their father was upset he didn't get an invitation. Now it looks like we sent one just because he was upset when really my FI wanted to do the right thing and let this be his last attempt at reconnecting with his father.

It makes me sick to my stomach waiting for their reply. RSVP due date was June 1st and of course we still get responses to this day. And today was the day I opened up the envelope and saw this:

Sorry for the sideways photo but my computer is being weird and it automatically uploads like this! So tilt your head to the side if you haven't already and take a look.

CLEARLY they checked off 'will attend home reception' and then crossed it out. On purpose? By accident? Definitely on purpose and to make a point. I'm livid and I'm hurt. Its not that I didn't see this coming but you always hope to see the good in people. I called John up and told him and he just said "ok" like it was nothing. I know what happens when he is quiet like that. It will take a couple minutes to sink in before the emotion starts to show. A few minutes later I got a text saying that he will cut them a check for $800 (if you don't remember that story click on the link above) that he owes them (from 2002!) and a letter to his father which he says will now be easy to write. That's $800 that could be used to celebrate our wedding without them BUT its his money and if that's what it takes to end this chapter in his life than I'll stand by him. I don't agree but I support him.

I know that we are only months away (86 days to be exact!) from our wedding and to focus on this negative energy is a waste of time. We have the people we love sharing our special day with us and that's what should matter most. Gosh, it's easier said than done! I want to send back the RSVP card in a frame that's engraved saying "Best Dad Ever!" It's taken a lot of strength to hold back from dialing his step-mother and going off on her. But I won't.

I will just sit back and hope one day his father looks back and realizes how big of a mistake he made by not being part of his son's life. Karma.....(and now I break into a little singing ditty of Justin Timberlakes "what goes around comes around" LOL...laughter is good).

Any drama making your blood boil lately? Do you find the closer the date, the more emotions come out (i.e. drama)?

With this ring....

...I thee swoon. Or drool!

I received my wedding band in the mail the other day and I can't take my eyes off of it. Way back this winter I explained that my engagement ring was a green diamond. Oh, you don't remember? Read here. So when it came time to pick out my wedding band, it was easy as 1-2-3. I wanted a matching band. So I called up Diamond Nexus Labs and spoke to a representative. She was super sweet and she remembers working on my appraisal for my e-ring. How cool is that?? She looked up my information and had everything ready to order. It was that simple. It would take a week to create since it's a custom order and then a couple days to ship.

Say hello to my little friend.....


This little box comes in a bigger white box with a beautiful green bow and Godiva Hot Chocolate. I forgot get pictures of that since I was ripping the box open at the time, can you blame me??

Oh it's such a beautiful sight. I didn't want to take it off. And no, I don't think it's superstitious to 'try' it on before the wedding. I wanted to make sure it fit right (wink wink).

Tried to take a snazzy photo with the ring box but it didn't exactly work that way. All these photos are courtesy of my 5mp camera phone. Not bad to be honest!

And there you have it folks. Just another thing to check off the list! I couldn't be happier with our choice and I absolutely love working with this company. Not only are we doing our part for the environment but we also aren't breaking the bank.

Have you bought your band yet? Are you happy with your results? Does the box stare at you and call your name out to wear it? LOL