The Best Surprise Bridal Shower Ever!

So this past Sunday my mom and three sisters threw me the best bridal shower ever! It was a surprise too! Well, I knew I was going to have a shower at some point, and I had an idea of a few weekends it may have taken place, but I had no idea where it was or any of the details! It was a great day, so many people made it from all over, and I got so much awesome stuff. My mom and sisters really put a lot of time and heart into making it a perfect day, and all the little details were so pretty and perfect! Ready for photo overload? Here goes!

How cute is that chalkboard? I have it on my kitchen table now so I can count the days! 

Walking up the steps to the party!

Yea I definitely was about to cry here! Luckily I held it in and awkwardly waved haha

I love this picture of us.. except that I spent like an hour curling my hair and it already pretty much fell out within the hour

The decorations were so pretty!

Some of the cute games! The ring game got ugly! And I love the Memory game (I had to guess who wrote each one) and the date night ideas (my aunt wrote Naked Twister omg). We also played a few other games, like He Said/She Said, Who Has the Groom Under Their Seat (I got the Donald haha), and the Newlywed Game. It was so fun!

Delicious food and the adorable banner of pictures of Brian and me. How cute was he?!

My sister MADE this cupcake cake! It was so yummy and looked amazing!

The tables were set up so cute! I love the centerpieces so much, I have all of them on my mantle now!

The cute favor boxes!

How cool are the M&Ms?! I love them!

We definitely got spoiled!

My sisters, my mom, and I. Sorry for the blurry pic. They did such a great job with the shower and I am so grateful!

Almost everyone who came, minus 5 who had already left. We are so fortunate to have so many loved ones!

I love balloons! I have all of the mylar ones attached to chairs in my kitchen :-)

Like I said, best shower ever!! Stay tuned later this week for ALL the wedding details. P.S. I just made a new Twitter account so follow me on there! Also, YAY my Bloglovin' link is working again! 

I'm Back!

So I may or may not be back! *Hint, I am, probably not on a 4-5 times a week schedule, but who cares?! It's been something like 10 months since the last time my words graced this awesome space on the internet, so I guess maybe I should do somewhat of an update, yea? Don't worry, I won't go into what I ate for breakfast everyday (most likely a smoothie..), I'll stick to the big stuff.

My nephew was born last November! He's 9 months old now and absolutely adorable. He is on the verge of walking already (he took an unassisted step two times yesterday, and he walks behind walkers and around tables now). He giggles, it's not fair that one person can be so cute.

We got a puppy in December! Her name is Oatmeal and she is a chocolate lab. She's already 10 months old and she is so sweet but has LOTS of energy.

I got sinus surgery in February, woo? I had a lot of stuff done that was supposed to make things a lot better, but unfortunately I am allergic to something like 17 things, including dogs, soooo yea, the surgery opened my sinuses up nicely for all the allergens to get in. I am doing sublingual immunotherapy (like allergy shots but instead it's drops you can use at home) so hopefully by next spring my body will start to feel the effects. I am just getting over bronchitis and a sinus infection, so that's cute. Fingers crossed I'm healthy for the wedding! This is how I felt for like a month after the surgery, it's definitely not for the faint (feint?) of heart.

Hansel (one of our mini dachshunds in case you're new around here or forgot, it's okay) had two neck surgeries in March. He is doing SO awesome though and it was a great decision. Thank God for doggie neurologists. In the picture below, he's the one on cage rest.

I got in a car accident in May (no worries, just a burned/bruised arm and busted lip), so I got a new car! 2015 Chevy Trax LT AW, it has the highest safest ratings in a small SUV and 10 airbags woop!

My beloved Pee Pop died of brain cancer in June. Around 300 people showed up to his funeral, which was such a testament to how he lived his life. He did so much for his community and would strike up a conversation with anyone. He will definitely be missed big time by so many people.

That's really it for the updates, besides things like holidays, birthdays, vacations, etc. Oh and the WEDDING, which is only 7 weeks away! I will do an update on ALL things wedding next week. And by all, I mean ALL, so get excited! If you have any wedding planning questions feel free to ask me, I'm basically an expert now you know.

Fall Swap Reveal!

I got partnered with Emily in this year's Fall Swap! I love doing swaps, and I love everything Emily got me :-)

The candle smells so good, the scarf and earrings adorable, and I have already painted my nails and am drinking hot chocolate out of the cute mug!! Thanks again Emily!!!

Excuses Excuses

Am I the worst blogger on the face of the planet? Nah, probably not, but I haven't been the best one lately either! I still feel like my life is a whirlwind and though I'd like to think it will calm down a bit soon, I'd be kidding myself because with the baby shower, Halloween, my sister's baby being born, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. that just isn't going to happen! So what have I been up to lately?

Reveling in the fact that we picked the best wedding date for peak foliage. I think I've mentioned it before know it's dorky, but when Brian and I were picking a wedding date we researched peak foliage dates in Pennsylvania. We went with October 17, 2015, and I think it is going to be perfect. Within the next week almost all the leaves will be changed over and it's going to be pretty!

Suffering from my stupid allergies. Luckily last week my doctor gave me a steroid shot to help calm things down because functioning was not something I was capable of there for awhile. I love love love fall and these allergies have kept me holed up inside as much as possible and away from the beautiful 50-60 degree fall weather! At least I have my fall/Halloween decorations to look at, my candles to smell, and my fireplace to keep me warm.

Taking care of Reese after her $730 dental surgery. When we got her back, unfortunately she hadn't been taken care of very well, so after getting her shots and groomed (she got a lion cut and it's adorable), she needed a dental cleaning and to have 4 teeth removed, poor thing! She's doing great and will be back to eating solid food tomorrow.

Working an extra day a week in the office. So you know how I "work from home" for my job now? Well I still was going into the office Tuesdays and Thursdays 9-12, and now I am also going in Wednesdays 1-4. Meh, it's alright, I'll take it.

Caught up in baby shower planning mania. We have like 45 people coming to my sister's surprise baby shower next weekend! It's being held at my parents' house, and it's been a lot of work. Between having to rent tables and chairs to put in my parents living room (which we are going to have to take all the furniture out of for everyone to fit in there and in the kitchen), ordering the food and cake, making and printing games, favors, ordering and making decorations, etc., it has been nuts, but I cannot wait. Seriously, it's going to be awesome and I can't wait to share pictures. Also, I can't stop buying baby clothes and looking up baby stuff. Hopefully when my nephew is born it will cure this baby fever.

Watching tons of fall TV and Beverly Hills 90210. Fall seriously is the best time of the year. The shows are just top notch (now I sound like my dad). I watch Revenge, Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Selfie, Manhattan Love Story, 19 Kids and Counting (#ashamed), The Goldbergs, American Horror Story, Nashville, How to Get Away with Murder, and Parenthood (okay okay and Girl Meets World..what? It's cute). Am I missing any of your favorites? Brian's just happy hockey's back.

Rooting on the Orioles in their playoff run! Let's hope for the World Series, Brian and I will be 100% getting tickets to that. Let's go O's!

Sly Fox

Sooo glad that tomorrow is finally October, one of my favorite months ever! Anyway, Friday was my endocrinologist appointment, and it went so well! The doctors were responsive and ordered more testing than any other doctors I've seen for these problems combined. So Friday night I had to take some pill at 11pm, then go get lotssss of bloodwork between 7 and 8am Saturday morning #fun. Oh, and all day Saturday I had to do a 24 urine test... I won't get into any more details because it would seriously be TMI. I just hope for all that I get some answers, fingers crossed!

Our wedding venue has finally been completed, so on Friday night my parents, Brian, and I actually got to see it all finished for the first time and it did not disappoint. These iPhone (6!!! it finally came!) pictures don't do it justice. The venue also has a little restaurant so we ate there and the food was so good! I seriously cannot wait for our wedding, it's going to be awesome!

 The barn is where we are having our reception, tell me it isn't gorgeous?! Oh, and we will actually be using more rustic, square, wooden tables (you can see them a little bit up in the loft area). There's another loft area on the other side, and we won't actually be having any seating up there... this was set up for a 190 person wedding, ours will be closer to 100. Where that huge table is will be the dance floor at our wedding!

The fireplace and huge patio area is gorgeous and is where our cocktail hour will be!

I didn't take a lot of pictures of it but the bridal suite is gorgeous! It has an awesome bathroom, lots of nice seating, mirrors, and it's so big and private, I love it! 

Hmm what else did I do this weekend? Went to Walmart (twice), went to church, watched a bunch of Lifetime movies, and my mom and I got matching dachshund PJs at Kohls. Be jealous, they're adorable. Plus I got a bicycle shirt, a new bra, and Snoopy socks. I know.

Oh and something super creepy happened. I noticed my air pressure light on my dashboard was on Saturday morning, so Brian checked the pressure and sure enough there was a screw in my tire. Luckily it was a slow leak and was driveable after we put more air in the tire. I got it patched up for only $20 on Sunday, NBD. But what's super freaky is this: my sister and I have the same car, mine is silver, hers is black. When I was at my parents' house in the middle of last week, Savanna's back right tire was nearly flat, because of a nail in the tire. I HAD A SCREW IN MY BACK RIGHT TIRE TOO. Same car, same tire, same week, same problem, same solution (patch). How weird is that?!

Friday Five: Fall Edition

You know I had to do it. Everyone else is going on and on about fall and I'm over here like, umm it's MY favorite season, so I had to do at least one fall post. #sorrynotsorry << that's my favorite hashtag in case you didn't already notice. Anyways, without further ado, my favorite fall things:

1. Cooler weather. I've told you guys all about my sweating issues, and with fall comes 50 degree temps and that's awesome and sooo much better. Plus you get to drink hot cider and eat soup and wear sweaters and scarves and boots and leggings and plaid and and and...

2. Leaves. If you haven't been to the Northeast in the fall, well, you've been missing out. The colors around here are seriously amazing, and it seems to be starting early this year (though that better not happen next year because I'm getting married October 17th and the leaves better still be on the trees!)

Okay this was a weird year--8 inches of snow while the colored leaves were still on the trees.

3. Fall Activities. Like football- no, I don't watch it, not really, but I love trying out different fun and fall recipes for us to eat during the games on Sundays while I watch 90210 on my KindleFire. Plus, Brian has flag football games in the fall an hour away for work, which otherwise would suck, but the games are riiiiight near an Anthropologie and a Cheesecake Factory, so I'm down to go, as long as I pee in advance--those porta potties are sick nasty. Other awesome fall activities like pumpkin and apple picking are also in this category.

4. Fall-scented candles. Yea, me and every other female in America over the age of 18. But seriously, how can you resist scents like Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, Sweater Weather, and Cider Web?! And I will add pumpkin scented soaps, body washes, hand sanitizers, and lotions to this list, because obviously I have transitioned my entire routine to be fall-related.

5. Decorations.We had a bunch of friends over last week and everyone complimented all my fall decorations. Now I have like nothing in comparison to my mom, who has as many fall decorations as she has Christmas decorations (which is tons!), but I was still pretty pumped that people liked my decorating :-)

What's your favorite thing about fall? Have a good weekend guys!

P.S. My gold iPhone 6 is coming today and I am so excited!