NYC!! NYC!!

John and I leave for New York in mere hours!!

We'll be hanging with my big sis at her little apartment, meeting up with the rest of the fam on Friday (my parents and little sis fly in then), and going to my cousin's wedding on Saturday.  It's going to be FUN!

I also haven't gotten to do many vacations this year due to my spending fast, so this is a huge treat for me.  I'll be on a serious budget, but hopefully I can still have fun and be stingy all at the same time.  I'm usually pretty lax while on vacation, so wish me luck!!

Catch you kids on the flipside... :)

Image found via pinterest. 

Ryan & Amanda's Wedding

At the end of July, one of my longtime-all-the-way-back-since-high-school friends got married.  Ryan and I have been friends forever, and I love the kid.  I'm so happy that he met a wonderful girl like Amanda!  

Their wedding was in a church with a gorgeous view of the mountains.  Amanda looked absolutely beautiful, and the ceremony was short & sweet.  The reception was back in town at the Mile High Station - right near where the Bronco's play at Mile High Stadium!  The venue was gorgeous, and we had a blast dancing the night away. 

 My parents have known Ryan about as long as I have, so they were there too!  My Dad with our friend Kat. 

 

The centerpieces - aren't they lovely?? 

 Katy & George - pics of their wedding coming soon!  I was glad we were all at a table together - I love these guys. 

Me and my mom - she's laughing at something, but I have no idea what!  Like mother like daughter I guess! 

 My little sis & mom - I love this picture! 

 My dad & my mom - already boogie-in'!  My mom REALLY wanted to dance at this wedding, and she pretty much grabbed anyone she could find to be her partner!  It was pretty hilarious! :) 

 THE FOOD.  Holy crap - it was delicious.  I think that was the first thing I said to Ryan when I finally got to congratulate them "THE FOOD WAS AWESOME!"  Yeah, I like food a lot.  It was all buffet-style, and oh-so-amazing.  The burger is actually a crab cake slider, and there were tons of veggie-friendly sides.  I was in heaven. 

There's a teeny tiny bride & groom back there doing their first dance, I swear. 

 There they are!  

 My parents still dancin'!  Told ya so... 

Meredith had some fun with the napkin rings.  Hilarious!

 Oh yes, there was much dancing. 

 Whoa - bird's eye view!  If you'd been able to see down our shirts, I totally wouldn't have posted this.  I do have some modesty, you know. 

I feel like this is foreshadowing for Katy's wedding!

My little sis & me! 

We all had a wonderful time, and I'm so glad that I could be there to celebrate with everyone.  I have an amazing group of friends, and they seem to all be getting hitched this year!  LOVE THEM!!

Hair Ideas (for Katy's Wedding)

My wonderful friend Katy is getting married in exactly 1 month - holy cow!  It's sneaking up on us pretty quickly, and her bachelorette party debauchery is scheduled for this weekend.

Gosh, it's amazing how much these wedding things cost.  I did some quick calculations last night, and including my bridesmaid dress, this whole love-celebration will probably cost me just over $300.  I'm not complaining, mind you - I want to help & make this experience as special as I can for my lovely Katers, and if dropping a little dough helps then I'm more than willing.  Also, I'm sure a lot more people (including the bride and groom!) will be spending a lot more money than that.  But that amount is with me being a cheap-ass!!  Whoa!

Will I be buying a new pair of shoes or jewelry?  Nope.  Will I be getting a mani / pedi?  Nope, I can do that myself.  Makeup?  Same right there!  Hair?  Uhm.... crap. 

I'm no hairstylist.  I have particular ways that I "style" my hair, but that usually means A) curly, or B) straight.  It has only recently gotten long enough to put in a ponytail or pigtails - but neither of those are going to cut it for a wedding that has been themed Vintage Glam! 

Here are some ideas I'm looking at for inspiration (thank you, Google image search)! 

Do you think there's a tutorial on how to think your hair longer within 1 month?  I didn't think so. 

 This one is a little over the top, but look!  It's a heart!  How CUTE is that?? 

I do have bangs, so they'll have to be used in the hairstyle in some way.... 

Oh, how I love the BUMP!  I don't know if I could make my hair do that, but hey, I'm experimenting. 

I think this one is just beautiful.  Again, I don't think my hair is nearly long enough (nor do I possess the talent to make it do that), but I think it's totally gorgeous! 

This weekend I'm going to experiment with some styles - using the photos for reference.  Lord only knows how well I'll be able to tease my hair into submission with the supplies that I have (note to self: get about a gallon of hairspray), but I'm going to give it my best practice shot.  Keeping in the back of my mind that it'll cost me about $60 at LEAST to get it done by an actual stylist - I'm going to use that as motivation. :) 

Wish me luck!

Katy's Bridal Shower

Last weekend was Katy's bridal shower.  We all gathered at her parent's house, played games, drank champagne & punch, ate delicious food, and opened gifts.  It was a super fun day!

We started with a game of "Make a bridal gown out of nothing but toilet paper"!  We divided into teams, and here are the 4 styles we came up with...

Sasha - looking like a flapper in the 20's.... in toilet paper. 

Becca (the star of my team) wearing a modern-type dress...

Geneva in her wrapped / braided dress....

And Kat (the winning group) with the knotted braids!

Don't they all look so lovely? :)

Don't worry - we composted the toilet paper afterward.  I was very dissapointed with the fact that we were playing a game that was SO not "green" though! ;)

Katy - isn't she lovely?  I'm so excited for her wedding - it's coming up SO soon!!

The winning team with Kat!

Beth & Beth.  This is how Beth would look like with Beth's hair though. :)

Yah, I can rock a T.P. braid like no other.

I think those are supposed to go on UNDERNEATH your clothes.... well, actually, I don't think they're supposed to go underneath anything at all.  Hmm....

Paper bouquet!  Geneva is quite the artist.

Ladies loungin'!

Silly faces!

It was a lovely day all around - and Katy's mom (and friends) made each of us a customized painted glass with each of our names on it.  How sweet! :)

Jeff & Tina's Wedding

A couple of weekends ago we went down to Colorado Springs for Jeff & Tina's wedding.  It was a super fun weekend with lots of friends, food, drinking, dancing, and celebrating!  We had an amazing time.  Here are some pictures... 

 If you look closely you can see Pike's Peak in the background!  Pretty rad! :)

Aww our little motel!  It was the Silver Saddle, and had one heck of a view.  I loved the old-timey signs on all of the motels in the area too - they were straight out of the 50's, and fantastic.

 After the ceremony we had some time to hang by the pool before heading to the reception.  A lot of us didn't want to get ready all over again, so we just hung out & gabbed!  It was fun. :)

My tootsies!  I love this nailpolish.  It's one from the OPI line that they made for "Burlesque" when that movie came out.  It's bright pink & super sparkly and I LOVE IT!

 My fella - being lurkey?  Lurking like a shark?  Something like that.

 Katy is totally one of the most fabulous people I know.  I love that she wore this headband that I got her as a gift too - that girl loves the color turquoise more than anyone I've ever known! ;)

 I love this photo!  It was right outside of where the reception was held.  I told everyone "FREEZE!  I wanna take a picture!" and they all stopped and turned to me just like that.  I could not stop laughing - it was perfect!

 Ah yes, the romping we did in the little field... you'd think we were drunk already!

 Me & Katy-poo.  Love that girl!

 

 More romping!

 I can't believe Andy caught this moment.  I was in awe of this awesome stick we found - it was twirly and looked like a magic wand!  I may have been a little TOO excited, but it still came out as a pretty hilarious shot!

 Chandeliers....

 And cake-cutting!

 

 My friends are goofballs - why I love them!!

 One of the guys at our table showed us how to make a "bra" out of our napkins.  Well, we decided that they looked more than kitty ears, and then it just got outta control...

 

See what I mean? ;) 

I thought this was SUCH a cool idea!  Tina took this crazy amazing photo of a tornado (Jeff is a storm chaser), and they auctioned it off!  I think they raised almost $500 from their family members!  WOW!

 And then, came the dancing...

 ...and the dancing....

 Love this one!!

 Bouquet toss!!

 

 John teaching Bill how it's done...

 My sunglasses certainly got around that night!

 

 I LOVE taking pictures like this!

 

Oh, you thought the party was over after we left the reception hall?  Well, you'd be wrong!

 

Sigh, I love all these crazy kids.  What a fun wedding weekend!!! :)