The Royal Wedding Recap - UPDATE

Did you wake up and watch?

I didn't go crazy and wake up super early, that's what DVR's for! I was up and in front of the tv by 5:15 and the lack of sleep was so worth it!

photos via

The wedding was gorgeous and they did have their own special touches to the ceremony but I'm so glad that I'm not royalty. Yes, it would be very cool, but I'm so looking forward to the intimacy at Brandon and my wedding with only having our closest family and friends there!

I do wish my hair looked like hers though, even just in everyday life...grow hair grow! Note to self: just when you think you're never getting engaged, don't chop all your hair off in protest because less than a week later, you will be!


OMG! There's a SECOND dress! After the Queen's reception and a quick rest at Prince Charles' house, Kate (I mean Duchess Catherine) changed into this stunner! And the men changed into double-breasted tuxedos!

Why only have one Bourbon?

In life it always pays to be selective. This is indeed true for love and for bourbon. What could be better than combining the two? With this in mind, a recent blog post on the Garden and Gun website about a wedding in Hilton Head, South Carolina has given me the perfect idea for our wedding: a bourbon tasting bar. As a few of you may know I am a huge bourbon snob and my personal favorite is a premium small batch of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey Labrot & Graham's Woodford Reserve. Part of being a bourbon snob is the understanding that there is only one way to drink bourbon: neat and at room temperature. Neat meaning no mixers, no juices, no fruit wedges, nothing but that delicious nectar that only comes from the Kentucky hills. Additionally, you should never put ice or chill bourbon. It's like talking back to your grandma, you just don't do it. On this note here are three of the six bourbons that I know will be apart of our bourbon tasting bar. We will be selecting the other three after thorough research.

1) Labrot & Graham's Woodford Reserve2) Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve
3) Basil Hayden's Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey

Wedding Shoes

Anthropologie came out with their new line BHLDN (pronounced beholden) a few month ago (maybe this past fall?) They have great wedding dresses that are very unique and some amazing dresses that would be perfect for bridesmaids...if only they had a larger variety of colors!

But what's really stolen my heart are the SHOES!

These might be my wedding shoes:

 I adore the blush color and they definitely "go" with my dress! Another plus? Every single reviewer keeps talking about how comfy they are! Besides, who doesn't love a good bow? I also love how the slingback has an actual buckle. The ones with elastic bands tend to not stay around your ankle as well.

And in case I'm feeling a bit more traditional...they have them in ivory too!

[Royal] Wedding Fever

I know that there are very few people as excited about the royal wedding this Friday as I am. I'm a bit obsessed. It does go beyond just a wedding for me. I've always been fascinated by their lives and the history they've been born into.

I'll admit that I've already set my DVR to record every single wedding, William and Kate, Charles and Diana, etc. special and will undoubtedly be waking up at 4am on Friday morning to watch the pre-ceremony festivities and the ceremony before work.

Like everyone else, I cannot wait to see what Kate is wearing. Her style is already iconic and just as much as her dress, I want to see how she'll be wearing her hair and what tiara she'll choose. I definitely think the dress will have some sort of lace and a little cap sleeve at the least. It is the UK and she is marrying the future King of England...modesty and elegance is always expected.

I could definitely see her in something like this. It has a very Grace Kelly feel to it and is actually the dress that Ivana Trump wore to her wedding. The lace and silhouette make it romantic and elegant, but it would still show off her amazing figure. It also has a nice train which is a requirement for Westminster Abbey, but I don't see her being so over the top like Diana's 25' train.

Vera Wang Esther

Or my original wedding dress crush with some kind of straps added:

Vera Wang Whitney

On a more personal wedding planning note...
Brandon, mom and I will be going to meet with the folks over at Classic Party Rentals on Saturday to discuss tent, linen and chair rentals! I'm so excited! Hopefully seeing things together will help us with color choices and tent liner options. I'm sure it will really help us to start envisioning even more what that day's going to look like.

And thats all folks...almost

Today marks the ends of classes for me in law school. I would love to say that I am sad or that I am sentimental about this day, but I am not. I am excited! The end is in sight. No more papers and late night reading assignments or being stood up in class.
The other added bonus.....(wait for it).....GETTING PAID for HOURS and HOURS of work. This part will make the past three years worth the wait. On this note I am going to list of the 10 things that I am most excited about.

1) Marrying the Love of my Life: Kelsey!!!!! (June 30, 2012)














2) Law School Graduation (May 13, 2011)











3) Fred and Sarah Beth moving back to RALEIGH!!!! (Easter Weekend)










4) Easter (April 24, 2011)













5) Having 2 1/2 weeks between the end of exams and studying for the N.C. Bar Exam














6) Kelsey's Birthday (June 25, 2011)











7) Mother's Day (May 8, 2011)













8)Opening day of WOLFPACK FOOTBALL (September 3, 2011)










9) Finishing the N.C. Bar Exam (July 27, 2011)














10) Marrying the Love of Life: Kelsey (exciting enough to be on here twice)

Marry Me

Whenever I hear this song, I can just picture Brandon and I having our first look. It makes me so happy and I could literally listen to this song over and over. If only it wouldn't annoy everyone in the office...
Only 438 days left...slowly but surely.

I know what I'll be doing tonight...

I have been waiting for this night since the last new episode that aired way too long ago was over. Dying! If Chuck and Blair don't end up together and engaged at the end of the next five episodes and Brandon happens to say something negative about the two of them, he might be the target of a "murderer of love" comment (yet again). And if you don't watch GG, then you're seriously missing out.

XOXO

What a day (or two)...

Yesterday, Brandon got into a car accident and luckily he's okay, for the most part. He was stopped at a stop light and a guy plowed into the back of him, claiming "he didn't see him"...or the light I guess. Brandon hit the back of his head on his seat, so he went to the ER to get everything checked out and they "scanned his cat." Fortunately, everything internally was good so they gave him some medicine for the whip lash. He's been feeling pretty good, but is definitely sore today. I'm just glad that's the worst of it!

The weather in Raleigh today has been interesting to say the least. Being the Wolfpack faithfuls that we are, we headed to Carter Finley with Tommy and Katie for the the Spring game this morning. We got out to the tailgate lots (where we loved being able to park wherever we wanted) and the weather was iffy. It wasn't raining, but we knew the heavens could open up any second.

We headed over to the Wolfpack Club BBQ Bowl to see my cousin, Adam and his ACW sauce team who were competing. Unfortunately they didn't win (I think they were robbed), but their barbecue was definitely was the best! You can buy their sauce here.

The rest of tailgate was a mix between rain and wind, but we got a reprieve when it was "game" time. The wind and rain both stayed away, but TOB decided to end the game towards the end of the 3rd quarter because the bad weather was coming in.

Good thing too because an hour later, the heavens opened up and tornadoes touched down all over Wake County. So scary, but I think everyone's okay!

We've just been taking it easy tonight, so I've been looking at things on my want list.

Longchamp Le Pliage Suitcase with Wheels

I've loved this suitcase for forever now and it'd be perfect and so stylish for when I go to New York in July!

Singer 7430

Anyother thing that I've wanted for forever. I really want to be one of those super creative/thrifty people who sees junk and turns it into something awesome and a sewing machine is essential in this. This one even has an embroidery function. A monogram lovers dream!

I'm currently having a strong desire/need to decorate my office at work. I spend 40 hours a week (give or take some socializing and picture taking) and it just needs to be spruced up. My current chair is just one that was around the office. I think a bamboo chair in a fun color would be a great replacement and the cushion would make it comfy. This chair is by Jonathan Adler and is $495. It's a mute point because it's not available anymore, but that's insane! So begins my Craigslist and Flea Market quest.

Bridesmaid Dresses

Happy Friday! Can you believe we're only a week away from Good Friday? April has flown by already! 2 weeks until the Royal Wedding! Coverage starts so early in the States. 5am! It looks like I'll be missing my Thursday night shows to turn in early, so I can be up and not missing a minute of it. It will of course, be DVRed so I can watch it all over again too.

Now for my own wedding details...
I don't plan on going to look at bridesmaid dresses anytime soon, but it's always fun to look! I know lots of girls on the June 2012 board on The Knot have either already found their BM dresses, ordered them or are going to look very soon. So...I think that justifies me at least look, right?

Here are some of my favorites right now:

Jenny Yoo Justine

Jenny Yoo Breanna

Amsale G629C

Amsale G632C

Amsale G450C

I think they'd all look great in a champagne color and are light and airy enough for a summer wedding. I love Amsale and the idea of a long dress, but I'm just not sure if I want to go short for the season. (My love for Amsale is so apparent that Brandon thought that's who made my wedding gown. I do love her gowns, but he's wrong. ;) ) Either way, I don't think I'd be too particular on the shoes. If we go long, I think it might be cute for everyone to wear Jacks. This way they'd be comfortable and it would still be fancy enough since they'd be in a long dress. For short dresses it might be a little harder since champagne is in the gold family, I would either do a gold heel (maybe) or a classic black pump - of their own choosing...I just don't know yet.

The Final Countdown

Almost as important as the countdown to the wedding...Brandon graduates from law school in one month from today! I am so proud of him for how hard he has worked these past three years. He's been so involved and really embraced law school in every way, meeting lots of great people because of it. Brandon says he can't wait to never walk in this place again, but you and I both know he'll be back to visit.

Graduation is being held at the Meymandi Concert Hall in the Progress Energy Center. I'm sure there will be a few dry eyes in the house, but I definitely won't be one of them. I'm glad they've chosen such a big venue to hold graduation. It feels like a "little too much" which makes it just perfect. Anything short of over the top just wouldn't justify all the hard work and years of stress that they went through to put those two letters on the end of their names.

I know Brandon and everyone else still has a lot of work in between now and May 13th, but the end is finally in sight! (Well, until it's time to start studying for the bar).

And look at the cute caps they get to wear!