Weekend Musings

It was a beautiful weekend in Atlanta. Mid-60s, and sunny. We got to eat lunch on a patio, enjoy the weather with friends, and spend a nice relaxing weekend. 

We finally got around to go see Black Swan. It was one of those movies that simply leave you speechless. It was intense, dark, raw, and breath taking at times. I can't say that I loved the movie, because it is tough to "love" such a story, but I will say that I loved Natalie Portman's performance. 

She was able to lose herself in this role, and give her audience everything they deserve from such a character. There were so many questions that came through my mind as the movie ended; however, I quickly came to the conclusion that we are simply watching a beautiful woman slowly fall into insanity, as she is trying to overcome years of insecurities, and will to be perfect. She does this gracefully, evilish at times, but nonetheless beautiful.

Mila Kunis - I was actually disappointed with her in the sense that I was expecting a lot more out of her character. I was hoping for more. I feel like her character was really slow to develop, and it was difficult to understand what her intentions were. Did she really want to take Nina's place in the Swan Lake? I'm not sure - but she did give a great performance. It was a nice change from her usual roles. 

On a more fun note, I had a lunch/shopping afternoon planned with my bridesmaids Saturday, and I found my bridesmaids dresses!!! You have no idea what a relief this is for me. I feel like I have spent HOURS searching on the internet for "the perfect" dress. 

Everything I would find would either be way too expensive, or just not what I truly wanted. I feel a little weird about making my bmaids spend a lot of money on a dress they are going to wear once, so my goal was to find something cute, and under $150.

We went to a large bridal boutique and Atlanta, and after trying on about 10 dresses, they found THE dress :)

via

Now this picture does not do it justice, because the dress is in a shiny taffeta, and the color is "platinum." I wanted somewhat of shiny dress since our wedding will be outdoors. This dress, paired with bright orange flowers is going to look amazing on pictures! I can't wait! 

Oh yea - I went back to my original idea of an Orange & Gray wedding. I love it - and I am starting to put together so many cute ideas I will share with you in the upcoming weeks. 

I know I said I would do a Wedding Wednesday post, and I will. I feel like the planning is finally up and going, and I finally have somethings to share with you :) 

Happy Monday everyone, and have a GREAT week !!!

Fill In the Bank.....One Day Late

I know I am one day late -but something must have happened because I could have sworn I posted this yesterday. Hmm oh well. Here you go ladies!

1.   If my house was on fire and I could only grab 3 things I would grab  my folder with all important paperwork (passport, US citizenship certificate, etc); my jewelery box because it mostly contains old pieces from my grandmothers and mother, and my laptop.

2.  A smell I really like is  how the house smells after a good cleaning. There is nothing better than sitting on the couch after two hours of dusting, vacuuming and admiring it all :)

3.  Something you might not know about me is  I was born and raised in Paris, France until I was 16. I still speak French everyday with my family. 

4.  Some of my favorite websites to putter about on are  facebook, netvibes (it hosts all the blogs I read), cnn, right now the knot, hautelook, etsy, wedzu..just to name a few.

5.  This weekend I will  be going going bridesmaids dresses shopping with my beautiful bridesmaids, and spent some quality time with Michael.

6. Nothing makes me happier than  when I am spending time with mine or Michael's family, and my close friends. No feeling is better than being around the people who love you!

7.  A bad habit I have is  to want to do too many things at once. I always feel like if I'm not multitasking, I am wasting time! 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!!! 

Music Crush

I discovered Lilly Wood and the Prick while I was in France before the holidays, and immediately fell in love with them. 

My cousin kept playing their CD on repeat, and I am now obsessed with her voice - so I thought I would share it with you :) 

What do you think? What about you all? Any new music crushes lately??

Busy Life, Busy Bee

I know we are not even a full month into the new year, and already, I feel like the last few weeks have been a roller coaster of events. Good and not so great - but not too bad either. 

Between getting trying to back to a normal work routine (you know, minus the snow storm that shut down Atlanta; the Martin Luther King holiday; and taking a sick day last Friday because I was sick), trying to get back on track with our wedding planning, my cousin fighting for her life, and simply hoping for a week where there is nothing going on - I feel like this is the first week where I am semi-sane. 

Let me let you in on some pretty big news I got at work last week: the Wendy's Arby's Group (my company) has decided to sell Arby's. Yes, not even two years after Arby's acquired Wendy's and millions of dollars were spent moving both headquarters down to Atlanta. 

I am not going to bore you all with specific, but basically, Arby's will be sold to a private investor, Wendy's stays a publicly traded company, and more than likely, they are going to move all the Wendy's operations back to Dublin, OH. So, where does that leave me?

 

I am not pushing the panic button just yet - because this kind of business deal can take months to go through, so my job is not in jeopardy at this moment. However, I am being precocious, and I have put myself out there. Which means I have updated my resume, met up with a few recruiters, and I am keeping my options open. 

We shall see where this takes me. I am a firm believed that things happen for a reason, and I feel like this could be a good thing, and possible, the "push" I needed to see what else is out there.

Aside from wondering where I am going to be six months from now - I have been busy with baby and bridal showers for my soon to be sisters-in-law. We decided to host both showers this past Saturday, because it was Michael's grand father's 90th birthday, and his family was in town for the big surprise party. 

We managed to plan a brunch baby shower for Allison and Baby D;  followed by a cocktail/dinner bridal shower for Betsy. They both turned out GREAT - and I had so much fun with the planning, and spending girl time with everyone :) Here are a few photos of our big weekend! 

 

 the beautiful Mama-to-be!

 

 

sisters-to-be :)

I feel very blessed, and lucky for my soon-to-be second family. I don't have any sisters, and I am so thankful for Betsy and Allison, and the relationships we have developed in the lat two and a half years. I am so excited for the baby to come, and for being a bridesmaid in Betsy's wedding in April.

These two ladies are very special to me; which is why they are both my Matrons of Honor, and I can't wait for them to send beside me on my wedding day!!! 

I hope you are having a GREAT week!!!

Blacked Out

Nope, I am not talking about how I ended the night after the Atlanta Falcons lost to the Green Bay Packers in our first playoff game. Although, had this been 4 years ago, I would have probably told you that yes, I drank my sorrows away to forget about what seemed like the most unreal performance by my Falcons. 

You remember how I mentioned that Michael and his brothers were borderline obsessed with sports? You can imagine the mood once the game ended. We all left the sports bar where we watched our team get spanked by the Packers - and left immediately after. The ride home was very quiet, and I went straight to bed as soon as we got home. 

 I still love you Matty Ice!!!

Oh no, I am not exaggerating when I tell you that Michael was on suicide watch all day yesterday, and that he even watched reruns of 90210 with me to avoid stumbling on any Falcons talk on espn/internet. Yes, we take sports to hear in this house - and this loss is going to be a tough one to get over.

I am still thankful for a GREAT season, and believe that Matt Ryan will lead his team to a Superbowl. I know it!

The reason for this title is actually a lot more fun (and girlie) than the Falcons loss. I had today off for for the Martin Luther King holiday, and after I spent most of my day cleaning, organizing and doing six (yes SIX) loads of laundry - I met my mom at the mall. 

I have a gift card to Zara, that my brother got me for Christmas and thought I would check out the sales. I did not find anything - too many "end of the season" clothes, and I decided I would just wait for the new collection. Well, I walked through the Nordstrom shoe department on my way out - and there, it happened. 

I went straight towards the Tory Burch stand, and for the millionth time, I tried on the Reva ballerinas. I actually asked for my size this time, put both shoes on, walked around, checked myself in the mirror - and without thinking twice I said "OK" the the salesman. WHAT?! I walked out of there, feeling like I had just blacked out!

Yes, this is quite the splurge. But I have been so good lately when it comes to shopping - and Michael gave me the go head, and said I deserved to treat myself :)

So, here there are - my new babies!!!! 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!

Fill In The Blank Friday

Hi lovelies - I hope you all had a great week :) For those of you who live in the South, I hope the snow is almost gone, and that we can soon return to our normal lives!!! 

Here are your fill in the blank Friday! 

1.   I feel happy when I know all my chores are done, my home is clean, and I get to lay on the couch with Michael while we watch something good on TV. It's one of my favorite moments! 

2.  I get silly when I've been up for too long, and get delirious. This especially happens during my close weeks at work after I've been working for 10 hours straight, and start mixing up all the numbers, and rambling about nothing!

3.  Something that makes me sad is when I feel like the people around me forget that I am getting married, and never acknowledge what should be such a happy time. Don't get me wrong, I understand that we are all busy with our lives - but there are just certain people around me who I thought would be more excited.

4.  Something that makes me annoyed is gosh - I have so many little pet peeves! The one that definitely makes me cringe is people who chew with their mouths open - OMG! 

5.  A time that I've been truly surprised was  - I would say when Michael proposed, because it is SUCH a monumental moment of my life - but at the same time, I knew that it was coming at some point. However, when my parents told us we were moving to the U.S. 11 years ago - I was speechless! 

 
6.  I am so thankful for  Michael, my family and his family. They are the people around me who I know truly love me for who I am, and I am so grateful for it. 

 

7.  I feel loved when  I get a random text message, email or phone from someone close to me who calls me just to say hello, and see how I am doing.

I hope you have a GREAT three day weekend!!!! 

XoXo!!!

This, That & The Other

I've been sitting here trying to come up with a good post title, and decided that I should just go ahead and start typing. It's been a while since I've blogged, and I feel terrible for it!

I have to say that our Holidays were good - but a little more hectic that I anticipated. I'm such a fan of Christmas, and every moment leading up to it - but this year, we had to put Christmas aside, because my cousin had to be admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital, after what we believed, would be her last couple of days with us. As mentioned before, she has breast cancer, which has spread throughout her body - especially her lungs. She does not breathe well, and needs oxygen at all times.

Her doctor suggested she did a procedure where they do a small incision on your side, and deposit a small amount of talc in the area of the lungs where the water kept building up - and preventing her from breathing. She had surgery the Wednesday before Christmas Eve, and unfortunately, she had a terrible reaction to the procedure. We thought we were going to lose her - and honestly, I am still wondering how she is still here. The doctors told us that this is the times where there must be a God, because they do not know how she made it through the whole experience. 

Needless to say, celebrating Christmas was the last thing on our minds. I still managed to go over Michael's house on Christmas Day, and it was great to be around his family. I needed the break - even for one day. We had delicious foods, exchanged gifts, and enjoyed some time together. 

The following days after that, I spent most of my time between work and the hospital, until we were finally told that my cousin was allowed to go home - with a nurse that would come see her once a day. GREAT NEWS! I still can't believe she is still with us; but she truly is a fighter, and I am so impressed with her will to survive this terrible disease. 

Our New Year's Eve was spent at a cabin in the North GA mountains. We rented a cabin big enough for us, and Michae's brothers/wife/fiancee/soon to be baby D! We had such an amazing time relaxing, eating good foods, and not feeling guilty for just laying around in comfy clothes all day! We started this tradition last year, and I feel like this is something we are going to carry on as the years go by, especially when we will have children we can take with us! 

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Now onto the New Year! So far, it has been quite interesting. The first week was dedicated to my year-end close at work, where I spent about 50 hours trying to make sure I got through everything that needed to be done for the end of the year. The week was such a blur that I did not even realize it was a 'new year.' 

I'm sure you have heard about the crazy snow storm that has hit Atlanta since last Sunday. We basically got about 6-7 inches of snow - which is Atlanta world means a shut down of our city, schools closed for the entire week, and 3 days snowed in our apartment, with no access to work because of the roads being so icy. 

Hey, it is not everyday that we get a few days off work, paid, and get to work from home in our pj's! Of course, after two days Michael and I started having 'cabin fever', and it was nice to be back at work today. It's funny how much we realized that we needed other humans interaction. I believe that ruled out my idea of moving to a deserted island if I ever won the lottery!  I would get WAY too bored! 

I am basically working two days this week, then have another three day weekend because of MLK on Monday - not bad! But I still feel like I haven't gotten back to a routine just year, and I am ready for it. I have started my "wedding conditioning" diet, but unfortunately I have only gone to the gym once this past week and a half. At least, I can blame it on the weather! 

All in all, things are great - I truly cannot complain. I am getting back into wedding planning, and my big thing right now is to find a caterer. I will feel so much better once we have that out of the way! I have not made any big resolutions because I know that I never hold on to them. 

This year, I have simply decided to take more time to do things. If you knew me in person, you would think that I am a very passionate person, and sometimes I feel like my anxiety translates into that. I tend to want to get things done immediately, and it seems like I am always on to go. 

At work, in the gym, sitting and watching TV - I always have to multitask. I cannot watch TV without playing with my phone. I cannot work without music. I cannot start a project without finishing in as soon as possible. I simply cannot relax, and enjoy doing one thing at a time. 

I want to take more time taking care of myself, and the people around me. I want to take the time to plan my wedding, and not worry if I don't have everything ready just yet. Most of all, I want to enjoy every minute of everything, because time truly does fly by - and I feel like everything just passes me by. Does that make sense?!

I apologize for the lack of posts lately - but I truly did not have the time/energy to do it without actually taking the time do write a good post. 

I am leaving you with a few pictures from the last couple of weeks - enjoy! It is good to be back my lovelies!!! XoXo!!!