Most people call me Belle, though my Louisiana roots also have people calling me "Cajun Sparkle" from time to time. I am on an ever-changing journey that has taken me many, many places but I wouldn't change it for the world. I love my hubster Bear, my hilarious family, my little pom Pearlie Mae, making people laugh, and being a Critical Care RN. Join me on my journey, and you may come away with few cajun sparkles yourself! ;)
I can finally write about the changes going on in my life right now. I really wanted to wait until things became final and fell into place before I put it all out there. There were several different ideas bopping around in our minds, and I didn't want to jinx anything.
So without further adieu,
Bear and I are moving to North Carolina! This is where Bear is from and we will be so close to his family. My family is spread out over the US, and we plan on having my sister move there with us.
We both got jobs in NC, put our house on the market, purchased a new home in NC, and are leaving our current jobs within a few weeks. (!)
It hasn't really "hit" me yet that I am leaving. I have moved around so much that I wonder if it really will. I do know that I am excited about being closer to family and living in a bigger town.
See Exhibit A:
My niece Baileigh. Most ADORABLE personality ever.
(I will have to share the vid of her playing Barbies one day. It is hilarious. Rapunzel and Cinderella were fighting over lip gloss. It was a big deal, and one of them ended up throwing 'bows' at the other.)
I also know that I will miss the fabulous friends I have made here. There's nothing better than having truly wonderful friends in your life, and we have several people that we can call friends for life here in Oxford.
(Below: My BFF Randiva and I. We worked together in ICU, and have been BFF since we met! I am really going to miss my twinkie.)
I will NOT miss the Hotty Toddy cheer. Will NOT.
We are hoping that this spot will be one that we call our "forever home". I will REALLY, really miss being so close to Louisiana, but I know it will still be there when I need some NOLA in my life. I will always carry my "cajun sparkle" card in my back pocket.
Pearl is SO excited, too. She knows she will be the Queen P. Because after all, it IS Pearl's world and we all just live in it. Our house in NC has a fenced in back yard and a deck that she will enjoy thoroughly.
I can't wait to write about this new adventure more now that I can talk about it!
Remember me? Apparently I fell off of the blogger-mobile. (That is my story.)
Recently I have been so busy that I haven't left any time for myself. NOT cool. I left my poor little pink blog stranded.
I decided to grab the keys and hop back on to the blogger-mobile for a few reasons.
1) I truly believe that blogging is sort-of like therapy. We throw all of our (censored) feelings and thoughts into this white box and hit publish. Just typing things out sometimes allows everything to make sense.
2) I love that you can go back in time and see everything in your own words and pictures.
3) I love reading all of my friends blogs SO much!
4) Big changes are coming my way, and I want to be able to share everything as I go.
5) No I am not pregnant and don't intend to be for at least another 4-5 years.
6) I always think: I should blog about that! Then I think, well I don't reaaaally blog so that would be totally random.
Anyway, in attempt to document my life for the aforementioned reasons I am going to update more. Period.
These past couple months Bear and I have had the time of our lives. We have had showers, the amazing wedding, and friends and family smothering us with love. Bear and I just feel so blessed. I am so thankful that we had such wonderful people with us to celebrate our special day. The TBM (Tory Burch Mafia, for those of you who aren't familiar) made an appearance, and I loved everyone SO, so much!
I can't wait to share pictures with ya'll! They should be in soon. I will fill you in with details!
In the meantime, Bear and I decided to stop by the Oxford humane society today. We both discussed before the wedding that we would have 2 dogs. We would each pick our own. We walked in and right away found the sweetest Australian Shepherd. She just loved Bear! He passed by her cage and she just sat there, watching him walk around the room with her tail just wagging out of control. When he went to look at her, she sat pretty and licked him through the cage.
Bear asked to hold her and she put her head on his shoulder and wagged her little tail so fast. It was too cute! Needless to say, we filled out adoption paperwork and hope to have her here by tomorrow! We already went to buy her lots of treats, toys, and lots of puppy supplies. We can't wait to love on her!!!
I love reading blogs. There are so many great stories, recipes, and words of wisdom that people share. I am going to try a 30 day challenge to get myself blogging again. I've seen others do this and I find it fun to read.
Day 1 of the challenge: Post a recent picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts about yourself. Bear and I at the Oxford Christmas parade. It was FREEZING out, but we got a great view with friends on the balcony at a downtown restaurant.
15 Interesting facts:
1) I loved working Trauma. The most rewarding feeling is helping someone go from a traumatic event back to life, and then back to normalcy. Sometimes it doesn't always happen that way, but coming together as a trauma team and working like mad to save a person is one of the best feelings ever.
2) I was born in Saudi Arabia. My dad travels a lot with his company and we happened to be in Saudi at that point. (Yes, I am an American citizen)
3) I was one of 150 out of 8,000 to be picked for American Idol tryouts in the 2nd season. I tried out in Houston and sang Alicia Keys "Lovin' you". It was one of my best tryouts. The next day, I got super nervous when I tried out for producers and I wasn't picked. I never tried out again.
4) I LOVE LSU. If you know me, everything can be related to LSU football. If you're wearing purple, I will try to get you to wear gold accessories. I secretly hope that one day Bear will snag a position there.
5) I love making new friends, but miss Louisiana. No matter where I live (D.C., FL, and MS as of the past 3-4 years) I always go back to Louisiana and think, THIS is home. Because well, it is.
6) I have broken 2 bones so far in life. I broke my wrist in my teens doing some fancy rollerblading work, and I also broke my coccyx. Basically, I broke my butt bone. Worst pain ever. Pain meds make me feel nauseated/sick, so I laid in bed for 6 weeks until I could sit up. I then had to bring my ultra cool doughnut pillow (whom I affectionately named Justin-Bobby) everywhere for months.
7) I can play 4 instruments. (nerd)
8) I taught a weight management class and still LOVE nutrition. I have tons of recipes that use alternate ingredients to make it healthier. I have a passion to help people learn more about how what you eat affects your mind and body.
9) I helped write a legacy document regarding healthier lifestyles for President Bush during an internship I did at the Department of Health and Human Services in D.C.
10) I love buying presents for people. This dates way back to the time I took my mom and dad's gold necklaces to school. I kept one and gave the other to a friend. You know, as a best friend necklace. Needless to say mom had to come up to school to get that back. I also called QVC when I was 10 years old with a pile of change in front of me. I asked them if they had any jewelry available. It was my mom's birthday and I told her that I would CAREFULLY count the change to make sure I had enough. She told me to call back when I was 18. Rude.
11) I am a morning person. I love 5-6 AM, and I work the best from 5-8 AM. I am usually in bed by 9pm. When I was younger (until about 18) I was the total opposite.
12) My cars name is Bonqueisha. My friends named my last car Bonqueisha, and I guess the name carried over.
13) I am the worst person EVER with directions. I rank dead-last in people who can find their way to places. I have to go there at least 23 times before I can remember it without nervously clutching directions in my hands. If my gut tells me to take a right, I know that I should go left.
14) My wedding is 37 days away.
15) I want to start my own charity/grassroots organization one day. I haven't decided what it will be yet, but I have always wanted to do it.
I'll be back tomorrow with day 2. May this rev my blogging engine!
I know many girls who have had amazing make-up at their weddings. I am talking the kind of make-up that 8 hours after application, their faces look flawless. Recently, I've been gathering make-up looks for my wedding day.
Since it is one of the most photographed days of a woman's life, Many think it would be appropriate to hire a professional to make them look glam. I am hiring the same professional that my big sis in Phi Mu had. Her look was truly red-carpet worthy.
If you don't have the extra money to spend on a make-up artist, or just want to try your hand at creating an amazing evening look, search no more.
Kandee Johnson, a fabulous makeup artist, gives you a step-by-step on how to apply your makeup for your wedding night without the use of airbrushes. Also in this video you will find tricks to contouring and shading your face. She even had some tricks up her sleeve for a nice smoky eye. Hello, who doesn't love a smoky eye?
Even if you're not getting married soon or are already married this video is worth the watch. After all, who knows when the next glamorous night on the town will be?
"The dress looks so much cuter in person" I would say to my bridesmaids. "It has a bigger bow than the picture shows, and you actually tie it on your shoulder! See how it can be tied in a bow?" Little did I know, I was showing my bridesmaids the wrong dress. Most of my bridesmaids called in their measurements to save a trip to New Orleans, so no one knew any different. Here's how it went down. The other day my future sister-in-law called to mention that she thought the sales associate was confused about my bridesmaid dress style number. "I told them AV 9947 and they got so confused!" she told me. So while I was running errands today, I decided to call the bridal shop to get some clarification. I had the style number memorized, so I spewed it off to the owner who just so happened to pick up the phone. "We don't carry that line here", the store owner said. "?!?!?" I thought. I saw the dress in person and it looked like the pictures I'd been sending everyone. Clearly, I was confused. He then told me the style number he had and I looked it up. Whoa. I was wrong about the style number the whole time! Though they have similarities, they were TWO different dresses. There was a reason I kept thinking it looked so much cuter in person. It wasn't even the same dress!
A couple girls wanted to buy the gown from a different retailer. I was fine with that as long as the dress came in on time and it was the same dress. I am SO glad no one ended up doing that.
Ooops. Bridal fail!!
** The dress pictured in this post is the CORRECT dress. Whew!
I really have no excuse. I am pretty disciplined in every area of my life except blogging. I always say I'm going to do it and keep it updated, but that rarely happens. Maybe having more free time will allow me to blog more. For now, I will call it a "Blogger-nation". It's a hybrid mix of blogging and hibernation.For those of you who know me, you know I am pretty excited about my upcoming wedding. I love planning all of the little details. I wanted to share with you some of those details I have chosen. Flowers: I love flowers with lush, full blooms. I also love southern culture. When I walk around my hometown, I see houses lined in hydrangeas. That is why I chose white hydrangeas for my bridesmaids. Simple, yet beautiful and full.
[via bloomery weddings]
I REALLY wanted Peonies for my bouquet and I considered cabbage roses/garden roses as an alternative (they look like cousins). Unfortunately, they are not in season and if we imported them from somewhere else we would run the risk of a delivery of lack luster blooms. Not OK.
After I cried myself to sleep for several nights about the peonies, I chose a bouquet similar to the bridesmaids with a little more green and flower variety.(No, I didn't really cry myself to sleep. I dried my tears before going to bed. I speak sarcasm.)
Cake: For the cake, I wanted something classy and simple. Are you starting to see a trend here? If not, keep reading. I am positive you will catch on. I am always drawn to simple designs with elegant details. I have a wonderful friend from high school whose mom makes unbelievable cakes, and she is going to make the most delicious and beautiful cake ever. Mark my words, and underline them.
Check out her cake designs at The Pastry Bag if you are ever in Louisiana and find yourself in great need for a gorgeous cake.
Dresses: My Bridesmaids will be wearing long black Jim Hjelm dresses. When I was trying on bridal gowns, some of my lovely bridesmaids asked me what I thought about a one shoulder dress. I love symmetry, so I kind of brushed it off. [Side Note: This is when my ADD comes in handy. They don't take offense to me brushing things off because they know I get easily distracted. There are lots of shiny things in bridal stores. Trust me.] When they brought this dress to me I knew those were the dresses they'd be wearing. We all loved them. The bow can be adjusted to wear on the shoulder or near the bust of the dress. It is universally flattering and it passed the dancing tests.
Shoes: I would like to formally introduce you to my new beautiful bridal shoes. When I got them in the mail, I dropped everything else I was holding and carefully opened the box. If someone would have filmed me opening the box, it would probably look pretty pathetic and hilarious at the same time. I felt like I won the Kate Spade lottery. I carefully peeled back the sticker and each layer of tissue paper like I was trying to hide the evidence. Truthfully, I just loved the wrapping. The dustbag was even cute. Have I mentioned I love Kate Spade?
Here they are. Prepare to be amazed.
They are the perfect heel height, classy, and would you look at that little bow? Love.
One of my best friends and bridesmaids, Brandi is designing and printing my invitations. When I get one of those I will give you a sneak peek! She is a graphic designer and blows my mind with her creativity.
The Dress:
You know I will not be posting my dress on here until after the wedding! But I will say that I can't stop thinking about it since I ordered it 2 months ago. I've shown all my best friends but Bear, and I want it to remain a surprise until I walk down the aisle. My taste in dresses have dramatically changed over the years. When I was younger I liked the designs that today I would look at and think "DISASTER".
These details are by far the most fun things I have planned so far. I also LOVE shopping for my bridesmaids. What was your favorite part about planning your wedding? Were you a hands on bride, or would you have liked someone else to take care of everything?
