Bridal Shower: Part Two

Up next for part two of my Bridal Shower ... I want to talk about the people! The very important ladies that took time out of their lives to celebrate with me!

This group of ladies are near and dear to me - of course missing a few that live out of state - and I am grateful to have them all in my life.

Chelsea and Marie

Me, Brandy and Katie

My Aunt Suzanne, Courtney and Grandma Barb

Grandma Sweeney and I

Grandma Barb, Me and My Mom

My future Sister-In-Laws {Nichole & Brittany} and Mother-In-law {Shelly}

These sneaky ladies ... Aunt Amy, Me, Gram and Amanda 

Jen Davis - The woman who hired both Mike and I at Ruby Tuesday and cheered us along to not only date but eventually get married.

Of course my beautiful bridesmaids {just missing Laura}

Last but certainly not least .. this handsome man showed up with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers ... He really is the sweetest.

{Special Thank You to Brandy Rose Photography for capturing the day!}

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I am officially taking a break with our wedding only 8 days away!!! 

I'll be back on October 5th to share all the details with you!  

Bridal Shower: Part One

My bridal shower was a few weekends ago and boy was it special, so special that I have decided to share it with you all in two parts.  The first part {today} I want to share with you how beautiful it was! My girls did a great job with everything, especially Marie.  They took the Bridal Shower Pinterest Board and made it come alive.  While I did insist on helping with some of the printable decor {for my Etsy Shop purposes of course} It was really nice to just enjoy the day.

The shower was at Shoogie Boogies in downtown Sarasota.  It is a quaint little place, hidden off the street, with a lush garden setting.  Since it was early September {still REALLY hot} we were inside - A beautiful room, that was actually shipped over from England, and went perfectly with the theme.

Lets start with invitation .... 

You can purchase this customized invitation HERE

The black, white and gold palette of the invitation set the tone for the entire shower:

I thought this was a sweet idea from Brandy and a different take on giving the bride advice.

Its part of a Bridal Shower Package you can get in the Shop.

This was my favorite ... and possibly because it was a surprise.  Marie asked mike to list 10 things he loved about me and she framed all of his answers and displayed them throughout the shower.

This was a project put together by my cousin Amanda.  She gathered all the selfies and memories from my bridesmaids and put together this frame.  I had helped her print them since she was not going to be able to attend the shower {she lives in Buffalo} and then much to my surprise ... not only did she fly in to surprise me she brought my Grandma Sweeney and Aunt Amy!! 

Chelsea was so sweet to put this display together of young me ... as they say, you don't know where you're going without knowing where you've been.

We did some fun games that Courtney and Amanda put together ... Mad Libs and Word Searches

This sign, along with the "To Be" are available in the Bridal Shower Package in the Shop.

A special thank you to my lovely ladies for putting together what I thought was the perfect shower.

{Shout Out to Brandy Rose Photography for capturing the details}

Grandparents Day

This Saturday ... or rather, tomorrow is Grandparent's Day.  While its not as common or celebrated as Mother's and Father's Day I think it is quite important.  After all a lot of times grandparents are your first baby sitters, first friends, first role models and of course ... the first to spoil you.

I have been lucky enough in life to know my grandparents - in fact both are still alive on my mothers and fathers side.  They have both taught me a great deal and they have both made a major impact on my life.

I lived with my fathers parents {Gram and Pop Sweeney} on weekends when I lived up in Buffalo ... Poppy always let me watch my favorite movie {Home Alone} on my rocking chair in front of the TV.  Gram ... well she is special, I could spend paragraphs talking about how special she is to me but I will save that for another date and time.

My mother's parents {Grandma Barb and Papa Tom} live here in Florida.  Grandma Barb taught me a lot growing up: how to sew, how to drive, how to cook some recipes and the list goes on.  She was instrumental in forming my domestic side.

With all these special people in my life I wanted to make sure they knew how special they were.  That is why I sent them Grandparent's Day cards with a fun quote and sweet message.

I have created some cute, fun and sweet Grandparents Day Cards in my Shop.

They are Instant Downloads so it is not to late to make sure your grandparents know you care.  I'm sure a simple note will go a long way with those who only wrote letters, notes and cards in their day.  Take a look at the options below:

To all the grandparents out there I wish you all a Happy Grandparent's Day!

Bridesmaid Series: Marie

As we come to the last lady {dear god I hope I didn't forget someone - two weeks before a wedding can  have you a bit scatterbrained} I would be most inclined to say I've saved the best for last ... after all it is my Maid of Honor ... 

Marie { or Mary VonOsterhousen as I like to call her } met back in 2006.  I make a note of this date because we thought it was 2005 and we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary but after much thought and deliberation we found out it was in fact Halloween of 06' so we'll have to save our anniversary celebrations for next year.  

If you haven't already heard the story as we like to tell it so much, we met at a Halloween Party where we showed up in the same costume ... GASP! Yes! The thing is, it wasn't even a common costume ... it was a sexy plumber for heaven's sake ... I mean really!?!  Needless to say after the initial "Oh, no she didn't" we became fast friends as her husband {boyfriend at the time} and I had a little too much to drink and were dealing with our sicknesses in the same bathroom.  How about that for TMI early on.

While our early years of friendship centered around drinking, dancing and gossiping our friendship has since flourished into what I can only describe as a sisterhood.  She is someone who truly has your best interest at heart and really does feel for you, your situations and your family.  She is someone who will sit and actually cry with you because she feels the pain your feeling rather than just wiping your tears.

I know that her and I are a match made in heaven because the partners that we have chosen to spend our lives with are the counter parts of us.  Let me explain that in better words ... I am Jason (her husband) and she is Mike (my soon to be husband) and if we have chosen life partners exactly like each other then we must be perfect for each other.

Marie is compassionate, loyal, truthful, intelligent and an overall good person which is hard to find in this day and age.  The sense of humor that we share is not often found in others - which is why we are the only ones laughing a lot of the time.  She is one of the best people I could have standing by my side on the most important day of my life. 

{ Marie and I at her Bachelorette Weekend }

{ At a Bills vs Miami Game }

Fun Fact: Marie and I were both born in Buffalo and lived a short distance away -- and never met until we were both in Florida.

{ A fun ladies night out } 

{ Beach Shenanigans }

{ Halloween - Not "THE" Halloween Though .. }

{ One of my favorite pictures of us .. }