the DRESS....

This past weekend when my Momma and Sister arrived ...we BOUGHT my Wedding Dress! I had narrowed down my selections quite a bit and decided on a designer that I adored.  It was just a matter of selecting between several I really loved.  So, what's a girl to do when she likes elements of several? Design her own of course! Brides by Lori in Sandy Springs actually called the designer and we mixed and matched some of the elements on my dress with another dress that I also loved.  It was such a thrilling experience.  I don't think I stopped smiling all day!  It was definitely a long day, but the best part was that I got to prance around the store all day in the dress sample! Here's a sneak peak of my joy and happiness:

Straight from The ROYAL wedding, was TLC's Say Yes to the Dress moderator Monte Durham.  Couldn't believe he was actually at the store the day I was buying my dress.  He was a hoot and added so much spunk and creativity to our experience.  He told us all about British wedding traditions from Princess Diana's wedding to Duchess Katherine!  

It was an very successful day.  I even decided on a bridesmaid dress and color.  More details on this later.  Poor Jenn and Mommy had to stay over Sunday night since my wedding dress apointment lasted from 1 till 5pm on Sunday!~  We went out for Mexican afterwards and met up with Kevin.  It was quite a weekend of meetings and dresses, but so happy to dream about my dress and imagine the actual day!

Kevin and I are off on Friday night to hear a band that is performing in north Georgia that we are strongly considering for our wedding.  Then we are hitting the road on Saturday morning for one of Kevin's college friend's weddings in Augusta.  Then on Sunday we will get to spend Father's Day with Mr. Golden.  Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's out there! Especially my Daddy who I love dearly!

Less than a year out...

We are less than a year out and things couldn't be more crazy. The wedding planning has progressed slowly over the past two weeks.  May has been quite a busy month for us.  We were up in GORGEOUS Lake Toxaway for for the first two weekends of May celebrating my Mom's birthday and Mother's Day, and I just got back from New York for work on Friday evening.  It was a weird realization that I would not be spending my Mom's birthday with her next year as Kevin and I will be on our honeymoon.  We enjoyed a lot of family time and explored some amazing new hiking trails at Gorges State Park. 

New York was a blast, but it really made me appreciate living in Atlanta.  I was very happy to come home!  I went alone for business and had hoped that Kevin would join me, but we never got it to work out.  Unlike others, I don't mind eating by myself or traveling by myself.  I went up Wednesday afternoon for meetings that started on Thursday, so I found myself with an open evening in New York.  What's a girl to do? I luckily was staying at the InterContinental Times Square, literally a block away from the theater district.  I made my way to TKTS and scored a 50% off ticket to Phantom of the Opera!  Kevin was quite jealous as that is his favorite play.  It was awesome and a great evening! (solo traveling is not so bad when you have a theater right outside your hotel!)

Yesterday Kevin and I ventured to one of my favorite Atlanta entertainment spots, the Dekalb Farmer's Market.  Kevin had not visited and he was quite intrigued by all the food!  It is really quite a site.  If you ever come visit, it's somewhere I will take you- just for fun!  We came home and made lobster tails for dinner together- something about cooking in the kitchen together- quite therapeutic! 

Then we went to go see "Something Borrowed," the Emily Griffin movie I have been dyyyyying to see.  We were running a little late to our show time and me, being the anal person I am about time got a little anxious about the movie being sold out.  Kevin thought it was hilarious that I was getting so hyped up about a movie! It took us a while to find a parking spot which added to my worry that I wouldn't get to see the movie!  Thankfully, we made it in and found seats.  It was a phenomenal movie which I highly recommend.  Kevin said, "as chick flicks go, it was pretty good!"

This week will be pretty fast as I have a team building day on Tuesday for work.  The two options for the day that our team voted on were:
a) Braves game and lunch
b) Lunch outside and each person receives $20 to "pay it forward" in some form or fashion
I voted for option b as I really love the idea of "paying things forward."  As of Friday there was a tie 7-7 on the selection.

Mom will hopefully be in town this weekend to finalize my wedding dress selection.  I am so excited about this as I have narrowed down some GORGEOUS dresses!

Why is it that time goes by so much faster lately?

Somos Novios

This past weekend was quite a trip! I think Kevin and I have finally wrapped up our "on the road tour 2011" (at least for the next two months while he is in tax season!)  Sorry for being so absent the past two weeks (Caroline Inge-my personal apologies to you! I was reminded by Caroline that I was being a bad blogger via her facebook post!) We have just been living life at warp speed!

Last Friday we traveled to the Atlanta airport to pick up my sister and then drive home to Gainesville, Florida.  We arrived around 10:30pm to a lovely Valentine's day dinner buffet prepared by my parents.  Highlights included chocolate dipped strawberries and a latin favorite, Picadillo.  Unforutnately, we had to delay our visit to Miami as my grandfather was in the hospital and had to have an operation on Saturday at 8am.  We decided to stay close to Gainesville over the weekend visiting Papa in the hospital each day and to leave for the concert on Monday morning.  We had a really nice visit in Gainesville.  On Saturday night Kevin and I located Father of the Bride at Best Buy and we all watched the DVD (15th Anniversary Special Edition) together.  Even though we have all seen the movie before, it was a real treat to watch it since we are actually going through the process now!

Sunday was also a special day as my mother, sister and I got to play with my Mom's wedding dress! It was the first time it had been opened since her wedding day.  It was the most fun we have had yet during the engagment period! I loved looking at the dress and imagining what her wedding day was like!

Monday morning I worked from 7-9am and then we were off to Fort Lauderdale for the Bocelli concert (Sunrise to be exact).  The concert was at 7:30pm so we were on a schedule to get down there.  We had a lovely Valentine's day dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse.  None of us had ever been to one before and were very intrigued by the process of bringing meat around on skewers.  It was very entertaining.  We rode together in my mother's car as the concert had a complimentary Lexus parking lot.  We were so impressed when we drove up to the concert and got front row parking! 

Valentine's Day Dinner at Brazaviva Steakhouse!



Andrea Bocelli was magnificent! He literally took my breath away! It was a chance of a lifetime to be able to see him live on Valentine's Day!

 We had great seats and could see the entire orchestra.  My best friend Amrita attended his concert in Boston back in the fall and filled me in on all the highlights.  She was right when she said how amazed I would be! He sang all my favorites, Somos Novios, The Prayer, Granada, Time to Say Goodbye etc.

It was definitely an experience I will never forget! Thank you to my sister for such an incredible Christmas present!

Our family outside the Bank Atlantic Center, Sunrise FL

Tuesday morning bright and early, we jumped back in the car and drove home to Gainesville, grabbed a quick bite of lunch and stopped by the hospital to tell Papa goodbye.  Then it was back on the road again for five more hours.  Kevin and I got back to Atlanta last night after a long but fun filled weekend! 

The wedding plans are coming along.  My mother visited the first weekend in Feburary and we finalized a few things.  I can confirm that the wedding will be held here in Atlanta at our church and reception will follow!  I will wait to share the reception location until it's contracted!  I will post my mother's visit re-cap later this week- just wanted to share the Bocelli highlights first from Valentine's Day!  Thank you to all who sent such sweet thoughts about my grandfather and our travels.