Life

#EmnBWed – MOH Dress

| The Bee Life

In prep for our upcoming shopping trip, I been doing some searching for MOH dresses. I definitely have a lot of ideas and want something that is unique, stunning and going to make a statement for my right-hand MOH.

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I’d like to say I have the color figured out and style – but about the only thing I am certain about is the length. I have some color ideas, but it ultimately comes down to what Kates feels comfortable in and what looks best on her! Since Kates is my one and only in the bridal party we can totally work and find what she likes, be picky and shop around more.

I think Nordstom has a lot of stunning bridesmaid dresses, but the price point (no surprise) is a bit higher than I would want my bestie to spend. And as much as I would love to check out one of the newer sites with dresses, there are just a lot of styles and fabric combinations that just need to be tried before buying. We will make the rounds closer to Katie so that she can work to order and pick-up at her convenience.

More to come on the first shopping trip!  I am hoping we find something so we can cross it off the list and start looking for accessories, but I also don’t want to rush it and make sure it’s perfect from all aspects!

Sources: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right 

#EmnBWed – The Cake!

| The Bee Life

Our wedding updates are going to be a little different this year leading up to the wedding. How? I’m going to share my inspiration and focus on different areas of the wedding. And maybe share a few thoughts at what we will be doing for our special day.  cake-inspiration_the-bee-lifeSpoiler: I love cake.
Another spoiler: This is surprisingly (or not) going to be one of the areas that we skimp on and save money. Why? Because wedding cakes average cost between $350-$600 based on cost per slice. I don’t love cake that much.

We are going to keep the cake simple and still delicious. I also want to have multiple cakes and maybe even come cake pops or other sweet treats for guests to enjoy.  I am 50/50 when it comes to a cake topper, so more to come on that – it has to be us, it has to be unique. One of my wedding DIY’s will definitely be making some cake stands, although I cannot figure out the style/color just yet. Like I’ve said before… the details are what is going to drive me cray! But I’m happy to essentially have this task crossed off on the to-do list.

Until then, enjoy some cake.

Inspiration Shared:  Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Catch up on all the wedding planning madness:
December Update | November Update | October Update

Cheers to 2017!

| The Bee Life

Happy New Year! Ringing in 2017 was an absolute blast! I cannot get over the fact that we’re already two-days in to the new year, and reality is finally starting to set-in after a nice, long, much needed holiday break.

Our New Year was spent with family, it’s always fun when my extended family Christmas lands on New Year’s Eve. For our family Christmas we always enjoy pork, sauerkraut and dumplings, presents, white elephant, pass the trash, LRC, and this year we added in a few other fun games like the mitten present game (made famous by the internet). Oh, and add in about six dogs, a handle of Titos, 22 people and six bottles of champagne, beer and you’ve got one helluva night, let alone New Year’s.

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2017 – I cannot wait to see what you bring, I know you’ll be full of firsts, amazing moments, lots of laughs, I’m sure a few challenges and tears. Coming from a year with no expectations, that was unbelievably amazing I can only imagine what this year will be like.


Cheers to you, cheers to 2017!

It’s Been Fun, 2016!

| The Bee Life

Wow – this year has been so epic.  I look back at pictures on everything that has happened and I just can’t get over all of it. In honor of the last 3-days of this amazing year, I wanted to share a look back at each months highlight, although I must admit it was hard picking just one.

2016 Highlights: Getting engaged, Katie & Travis’ wedding, celebrating 5-years with B, traveling to Denver, Jackson Hole and Kansas City, going to the World Series, Cavs NBA Championship and a new job! Among countless others!

January – NYE
February – Engaged!
March – Weekends in NY
April – Girls Weekends
May – Katie & Travis! Photo credit: http://www.iburiphotography.com/
June – Cavs Parade!
July – Neighbors & Picnics
August – Jackson Hole!
September – Wedding Prep
October – Weekends with Friends & Family
November – Saying Yes to the Dress
December – Christmas!

These 12 pictures don’t even come close to giving this year the justice it deserves.  I am sad to see this year end, but SO excited for 2017!

What were your highlights from 2016?

Cheers!

Christmas 2016 – Recap

| The Bee Life

I must admit I’m still in a bit of a daze from yesterday, it was amazing!  These recent years have shaken up the norm a bit, but after six Christmas’ – B and I finally got to spend it together at my parents!  It’s quite different then what B is used to, so I was a little nervous that he would be bored out of his mind.

Christmas Eve was full of baking and frosting cookies, Christmas music, family, laughs, and lots of food and drinks!  The family went to the early mass, came back and took photos in front of the tree, as always. We watched Home Alone, Arthur’s Perfect Christmas, and the end of It’s A Wonderful Life (we turn it on at the same time almost every year!) We then had to head to bed so Santa could come – yes the presents aren’t put out until everyone is asleep.

My brother is ALWAYS the first to wake up on Christmas morning, even as we have gotten older and his normal wake up time wasn’t until noon. This year was no exception, we had group texts going off just before 7am with a handful of Christmas emoji’s from him. We dragged ourselves out of bed and grabbed some fresh coffee and a cutout cookie. From then on the rest of the day was a blur of goodies, waffles, more Christmas tunes, laughs, facetime, games and a HUGE Cavs win!!

It was so awesome finally having B home with me for Christmas that I so dearly love! I think B had a pretty good time. *winks*

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

| The Bee Life

Wishing all of you a very merry and happy Christmas!

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I hope you all eat one to many cookies, sip a few tasty drinks, have lots of laughs and dance to your favorite songs. I hope that you all enjoy your favorite traditions with family and friends and cherish the time together.

 

Merry Christmas! XO

 

#EmnBWed – December Update

| The Bee Life

It’s time for our monthly wedding update and the last one for 2016! With less than a year away and according to The Knot’s wedding checklist I think we’re doing pretty good, especially with those “Essential” tasks.

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Within the last few months we were able to accomplish;
– Venue = Booked
– Church = Booked
– Caterer = Booked
– Wedding Dress = Bought
– Rings = Purchased
– Hotel Block = Reserved
– Invitations = Being Designed
– Photographer = Secured
– Cake = Figured out

What else is there to do? *smiles* … But in all seriousness we are both feeling really good going into 2017 to be full-on wedding planning mode, with some fun and breaks in between! A few things we’ll be continuously working on/really need to get started on is working out and getting in shape, whitening our pearly whites, and slowly buying some of the little details as we find them and go.

With that being said going into our wedding year,  I would love some ADVICE from any current brides planning their big day or all you veterans out there with anything you learned, would’ve done differently, cut costs on, etc.

This past year has been a whirlwind and I just know this upcoming year is going to be pretty much the same (if not worse!) and I want to enjoy every single moment of it, because 2016 was amazing.

XO —

Winter Weekends – Christmas Tree

| The Bee Life

The first weekend in December means the Christmas decorations are out and the tree is cut down! Growing up in, essentially, farm land, and now living in a suburb of a city, it’s a little harder to find Christmas tree farms without having to go for a drive.

We had found the perfect spot last year, had our cash ready and went for a drive. Well, we started out walking and looking for the imperfectly-perfect tree.  And we kept looking… and looking… and looking… it got to the point where we were about to leave and just buy a pre-cut one from a larger department store (no fun!) but then, there she was! Literally at the very end (or beginning), right before we were heading back – tall and skinny just like we wanted.

She was a little goofy, but we went for it, and cut her down!  We also got a fresh wreath and a bundle of swag and then headed back to grab a few other items to finish trimming the tree and house.  Once we got the tree in the house and in the stand, it was seriously perfect. We spent the rest of the weekend listening to Christmas music, decorating inside and out, watched Home Alone and stayed cozy at home!

 

Weekend Recap – Thankful

| The Bee Life

I had full intentions of getting a few posts out last week with the long weekend and holiday break; but I was enjoying my time “off” far too much.  But, I hope you all had a blessed and happy thanksgiving this past week.  B and I were lucky enough to have three thanksgivings and spend some time with friends in between too.

Our Thanksgiving was a bit reshuffled this year, we normally have two on the actual day, but one was early so we only had an evening dinner.  We had the whole day to ourselves, it was kind of amazing!  Knowing this ahead of time, we had signed up for our local Turkey Trot, which offered a 5k race or a 5-miler, of course we picked the 5-miler. *smiles* The weather was mid-40’s and a misty drizzle, but in my opinion, perfect for a run. There were 9,000 participants in this year’s Turkey Trot! B stuck it out and ran with me the whole way, not to mention we both loved the race course.

We were home by 11AM, got cleaned up and then headed over to the neighbors for some snacks and beverages before everyone had to get to their various family dinners.  It was so fun spending a quick, impromptu few hours with the crew, we’ve gotten to know them well over the last year and a half and we’re grateful to have such awesome neighbors!

We spent our Thursday night dinner with B’s family, laughing, playing games and watching football!  Friday we headed to one of my aunt’s for my family’s Thanksgiving, there was plenty of food, whiskey sours, buckeyes, stuffing, laughs and dogs to go around. But by dinner number three, we were definitely  beyond stuffed, and thankful for our thanksgiving dinners to be over!

It was great catching up with everyone and being reminded how blessed we are with all the amazing people in our lives.  This past weekend was a busy one, but the long break was definitely needed.  Now it’s an official kickoff to the Christmas season!