The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Hello sweet bloggie lovelies!

This is the time of year that I look forward to the most! Not only because thanksgiving is my all time favorite holiday (hello carbs), but because of everything it embodies... Which includes the fact that your Christmas decor is finally unleashed into the glittery light filled splendor that it should be! This holiday season I find myself grateful for a number of things. I'll talk of those first and then of course Christmas decor photos is a must!

I give every thanks to God for...
The good health of my family, my friends, and myself. (I had my first mammogram a few weeks ago and it shows I am cancer free!)
The faith that I have I God.
The husband God brought into my life this year.
The amazing celebration we were able to have with everyone we and our families know and love in honor of our wedding.
The simple things... A home, food, jobs and simple comforts that we often take for granted.
Love... In family, in spouses, in our true friends, and that of strangers who help others.
And also glitter... Glue guns... the ever wonderful "50% Off Sale" that is always going on at hobby lobby... I am thankful for girlfriends to invite over to enjoy our newly made Christmas delights during our annual HOLIDAY PANTY PARTY!

That's right ladies! It's that time of year to gather the best girlfriends you know and enjoy a night of girlie holiday fun! Martinis, treats, a girlie games all by the light of the tree and the sparkle of each ornament! It's one of my favorite nights because it's so relaxed, silly, and girlie! The Panty Party will be our first holiday gathering of the season and to say I am excited is a serious understatement. The Panty Party is hosted by my bestie Emily and I and it began as a tradition while we were in college. Over the years our group of girlfriends has evolved a grown... As it continues to do... and now its a much bigger night than when we first began! "The More the Merrier" is absolutely the perfect sentiment for this party. Each year with each new friend in attendance it's better and better. This year it is being held at my house and Em and I have lots of great treats in store! Party Pics will follow in a later post gals!

For now let's talk Pre-Party home prep! I love making christmas decorations. Garland, wreaths, trees, more garland, and possibly 3 more wreaths... I love it all. From the application of each sparkle to every burn I will surely suffer from my glue gun, I basque in the glory of a fully blinged and perfect Chriatmas original. Advisory... If there's no glitter your craft is not complete gals! Hello people Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus! Thus, it is only natural that my home should look like it's a birthday celebration the entire month of December (and possibly January if I can convince Michael the holiday splendor should remain!). To prepare for not only this special occasion, but also for my own personal love of all that is Christmas decor, I give you my personal winter wonderland...

Candy Cane Wreath... with lights in the mesh ribbon!

 A little "P"ersonalization! 

Bay Window Decor for the Bean!

Sofa Table Entry

Front View

Apothacary Jars with Ornaments inside! My Fav addition this year!

The Hearth and Fireplace.

Front View

Christmas Tree!

Second Tree in the Kitchen

The Peacock Tree Topper my Mom made! Crafting runs in the family.

Burlap Table Runner! So easy to make...Outline a letter.. add glitter...string ornaments with fishing line! 

Front View

Full Length

Kitchen Wreath :)

This was made by one of my Besties and other Party Hostesses... Emily Bradley...TOO CUTE!

Cheers Lady Bugs! 

A NEWLY MRS.

A Baby Pumpkin Patch

Hi Ladies,

Happy Fall to you all! Today was a very exciting day... Baby Shower Day! My best friend Sarah is having a precious baby boy. He is expected to arrive into the world on Christmas Day. Could there be a better gift on Christmas? Fall is a season of love for me and my girlfriends. Fall is when we all met each other at UK, fall is when we tailgate, go to football games, spend time at Keeneland, play outside, fall is the time when weddings have happened, when we carved pumpkins, we could jump in the car put the windows down and sing at the top of our lungs while the crisp breeze rolled across our skin, fall today was a day we celebrated a new chapter... babies. I am so excited for Sarah and Matt and their son to be, Mr. Carver Mclin Pank. I was so happy to see Sarah and of course talk everything baby boy today! Emily Bradley, Emily Kapp and myself hosted our Fall Baby Pumpkin Shower at my mom's house. My mom cooked the most delicious "baby sized" foods. As many of you know my mom is pretty much the best thing on the planet. Please enjoy the pictures of everything baby, fall, and friendship below.

Carver's Candy Table with Party Favors

The Buffet!

Hot and Cold Cider with Mason Jar Cups! 

Centerpieces

Diaper Cake

Mommy Sarah and Baby Carver's Gifts! {atop a bail o'hay}

Dessert Table {Pumpkin Cake Balls, Pumpkin Trifles, and Chocolate Peanut Buttercup Cookies}

Sarah's Mom, Grandmother, Sister, Mother in Law, and Sister in Law

Girlfriends!

Gifts on the Hay!

Party Favors {Cake Balls}

Pumpkin Cake Balls {Cake Balls are a fine art. They are tricky little devils with the power to leave you broken hearted sitting on your kitchen floor crying covered in chocolate candy coating... I've been there sisters.}

Baby ducks about to dive in!

Carver Mclin Pank

Shower Invitations

Baby Food Jars from our shower game...have Sarah taste all the baby food and guess what flavor it is. Pretty sure Carver will never eat anything with Chicken in the title. 

The sign I made...Thanks Hobby Lobby for your bedazzley paper options.

Mommy Sarah

For his rough days at the office.

UK FAN!

For the Safari Nursery

Duh every baby boy needs Sperrys

Whale Shaped Bathtub

Mommy Sarah and Hostesses 

Well Ladies... I hope you are as excited as I am about this sweet babes which will soon be born into this world! Congrats Mommy Sarah! We love you and sweet baby Carver!

Cheers,
A Newly Mrs.

1 Month, The One, and Onesies

Hi Ladies!

I am not even going to start my blog with an apology this time... I realize I am probably in so much trouble for having not posted in FOREVER! I also need my bloggy design master... *cough* Le Pink Lou Lou, to update my "Future" to "Newly".  As you all may have noticed I am slightly boggy impaired. Being that I have officially been married 1 month this week I figured it was time for an update on life, love, and marriage in a serious way!

So let's start with the most blissfully amazing day of my life shall we? Can I even put into words the joy that I felt on this day. To steal a phrase from a friend of mine, I would compare it to your entire body bursting into glitter. (As you all know I have an affinity for glitter, so I do not use this term loosely.) The wedding weekend began Thursday with a kickoff cookout at my parents house. Anyone who was in town and had time to stop by, did. It was wonderful. My Mom's wild high school friends were there and had my dad doing tequila shots by 8:00. I now understand #1 more about my Mom and how she is with her friends and #2 where I learned my party skills from.

Friday was my beautiful bridal luncheon hosted by "The Dance Moms". This is a very special group of ladies. Short of a sorority in elementary/middle/high school...  dance, and more importantly the girls I danced with, were my sisters. We grew up in a studio playing make believe everyday after school to a background set to music. Our moms glued eyelashes, sewed sequins, traveled a million miles for competitions, and probably spent a million dollars... all for 4-7 minutes of dance (472 times over) and a life long friendship among the dance moms and their daughters. It was so amazingly special. A room full of the girls I love the most, the women who raised us and who we model ourselves after. Bliss. Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Michael surprised me with the BEST slideshow of our lives and now of the beginning of our life together. I will post this once YouTube allows me more then a 15 minute window of video time. Any suggestions on that?

After the dinner we had a girls sleep over at my mom's house. Up chatting and having wine and talking about the big day to come. I would say, other than walking down the aisle, the moment I was looking forward to the most on this day was staying at my mom's house. For holidays, sicknesses, breakups, and anytime I just miss her I love to stay at my mom's house and sleep in her room. There's something soothing, comforting, and peaceful about sleeping next to your mom. I knew on this night I wanted to lay down with her, just us, just girls, just giddy about the day to come and enjoy every moment of being her little girl on this night. I thank God for letting her be here on this day. Bliss.

Saturday... the day... I woke up with all my sweet girlies got Starbucks and headed to our little prep station! We had mimosas and yummy treats. We got ready at the Boone Center which is also where the reception was. Little Pink Lou Lou and Court Court came to be my day of ladies! They are awesome! They set up nick nack paddy wacks all over the Boone Center for us. You can see some of the awesome details of the day along with some teaser photos here.

**Alicia is an artist. She thinks so creatively and has a magic touch behind each special moment she captures. I am so so so very thankful that she was here on this day... not only because she captured some of the most precious moments of my life, but because her presence is a blessing in itself. I couldn't be more happy with the album of wedding proofs she sent me today! As soon as they are ready a post WILL be made darling dears! **

And then before I knew it I was in my wedding dress, my mom pinning my veil, seeing my dad for the first time, taking pictures at all the locations we had planned, almost killing the trolley driver for never picking up the groomsmen or the groom  (oops how'd that slip in there?), riding in the trolley with all my girls waiting for 6:30, and then finally standing in the back of the church with my dad waiting to see Michael for the first time, my one... The One. My sweet Dad, he held my hand so tight like he always has. Bliss. One of his friends made a video of my dance with my father which is so sweet. I will post that soon.

I feel like I blinked and we were married and in Mexico. Pretty much the most amazing feeling in the world. As I sat on the plane the morning after the wedding I couldn't help but think about my sweet friends and laugh with pure unaltered joy. They were all still sleeping/drunk from the night before in this moment I was having, but none the less I was thinking of them and how lucky I am, we are. I love you dear hearts. When I said earlier that I felt my body was bursting into glitter... you are the sparkle in my heart. Thank you, thank you so much. My heart is still overflowing for you. Bliss.

The honeymoon... Incredible. We laid by a beautiful pool and ocean, drank waaaaayyyyyy too many frozen drinks, got a little sun burnt, I gained like 5 LBS from the all inclusive dining and ohhhhhhhh.... you may have picked up on my theme from the blog title. What was the third phrase? Oh yes...Onesies! As in what babies wear. Pump the breaks ladies! I'm not preggo but my bestie and MOH is! hehe I totally had you there for a sec! Go me! Sarah is going to be the MOST wonderful mommy. I can't wait to go on this new adventure with her and enjoy every moment of this sweet time for her and Matt. I can't wait to find out if its a boy or a girl.... LET THE SHOPPING BEGIN! Sarah also writes a super fantastical bloggy blog and if you need dets on all things Southern, Bourbon, Cooking, and DUH Kentucky check her here! I have LOVED catching up tonight little bloggy belles! More to come... I SWEAR!

Cheers,

A NEWLY MRS.

Bride to Be Touring the Country...

OH Hi Lady Bugs... Long time no Blog? I know I know... dog house for me again! Honestly, I have been so incredibly busy with my new job I haven't even had time to check Facebook...much less sit down and enjoy writing a little witty ditty for my bloggie sistas...which saddens me. Also, theres this thing coming up, MY WEDDING, that I have been trying to organize like a mad woman. The problem is that I am traveling literally every week day from now until May 28th...yes that is exactly 1 week before my wedding.

A little travel break down shall we gals? OK...
Currently, I am sitting in a hotel in Madison, FL. Our work email was down briefly and so my bloggie door was opened when my work window closed! YAY! Have you been to Madison? The answer is likely NO. Let me give you the run down so you don't feel the need to vacation here anytime soon. The only hotel here is a Best Western which is situated conveniently across/next door to the only 2 dining establishments in the town. These establishments are a gas station/McDonalds combo to the right of us and a Wendys/Dairy Queen/Subway/Gas Station which is across the street. Luckily I can survive on blizzards alone so we are good there minus the fact that eating a blizzard for every meal for 3 days will likely cause me to gain 5 lbs. Actually, I'm sort of lying because we did eat at a lovely Mexican joint downtown. Sadly, they couldn't offer us the margaritas we had come in for because they had recently lost their liquor license. As a way of making it up to us he did offer us our beers to go. WTF? The liquor license made sense at this point. Instead, I ate my weight in chips and salsa. Gaining weight is NOT in the cards if I am planning to wear the big white dress I ordered. So I took myself down to the hotel gym, which is actually a hotel room converted into a gym with plastic mirrors glued to the wall and treadmill. Not a lot was accomplished because I got immediately distracted by the Royal Wedding hoopla on TV. Dear William and Kate... My wedding is better...Just Saying. And would likely be way more entertaining if televised because my friends are ridiculous and so are my parents.
After all the fantastic offerings Madison has had to showcase I got to thinking about all the remaining trips I will be going on over the next few weeks. I immediately panic when I think about it...

• Next week Monday - Friday Louisville, KY to Dallas, Tx to Keene, Tx to Lubbock, TX back to Louisville and the home.
• The week AFTER next. Monday - Wednesday driving to Atlanta, GA.
• The week AFTER the week AFTER next. Tuesday - Sunday Fort Lauderdale, FL for the work week and then Friday I head to Indianapolis to meet all my best girlfriends for my BACHELORETTE PARTY!!!!!! My little girlfriends are the most lovely, beautiful, classy yet wild and crazy as hell woman you have ever met. The following statement about KY girls is 100 % true. Thanks Ashley Judd for putting it so perfectly...

"Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they're from Georgia. But us Kentucky girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin'. And if we have an opinion, you know you're gonna hear it."
*This is a weekend I can't wait for...probably one of the best times I will ever get to have with all of the girls I love the most in the world. BLISS. *

• The week after the Bachey Festivities Monday - Saturday morning - I come home from my Bachey Sunday, jump on a plane to San Diego Monday, then to San Fransisco, then to Modesto, then back to San Fran then jumping on a red eye home Friday night and arrive back to Lexington Saturday morning.

Then its done...that's my wedding week. Did you just throw up in your mouth a little bit because you got so nervous for me? Did you consider I might have a panic attack or nervous break down through all this? I did all those things for about 10 minutes after I figured out for sure I would be gone all these days. I called my mom crying about how I would be fat for my wedding because I couldn't go to Pure Barre if I was gone alllllll this time. Pure Barre Dana? Really? That's the main concern that comes to mind? NO of course I don't want to be away from Michael and the Beanie. Then I was done with it. I love my new job. I love the people I work with and I love what I am learning to do. I also Love to travel and see things and places I haven't before. I realize the travel is a pretty stressful during this time, but it makes this time pass quickly. I want that. I am ready to have our day together and I am ready more then anything to be married to Michael. I hate being away from him and the Bean during all these weeks but our honeymoon will be the sweetest time together because we have been apart so much up until then. For that, I am a little grateful. Weird? Yes. I think it will help us to cherish the wedding day and the time on our trip even more. I love that.


I hope all you darling girls are doing well and I hope you will say a little prayer for me if you think of it! I need patience, patience, patience, and a whole lot of coffee!

Cheers and Kisses,

A Future MRS.