Andrea's Bachelorette Weekend!

What an awesome weekend spent in Colorado Springs celebrating my sister's upcoming nuptials! It was the perfect mix of relaxation, celebration, laughter and quiet time topped off with some great food and drinks. I'll start off by saying that the girls really made this trip. There were 9 of us total and Andrea is so blessed to have some amazing girl friends. They're fun and just easy to be with. We were all on the same flight coming and going, which made traveling enjoyable and also really easy to get to and from the airport! The rest of the weekend:

Preparations
After a quick flight and easy breezy cab rides to the house, 4 of us took off to the grocery and liquor stores. Priorities, people. I'll keep this short but let's just say our liquor store bill was more than the grocery bill.

It's a good trip when they provide a box. I felt a tad scandalous being pregnant and running through the place with a bottle of Boone's Farm. 

We didn't really decorate since Amanda and I arrived with the girls and wouldn't have had time to set up so we had these cute personalized cups for spa weekend favors. They were stuffed with spa-type items from L'Occitane. I had big ideas of including Kashi bars and all kinds of stuff but I ran out of space. Oh well, thought that counts ;) 

I was so nervous about how these would travel so I took pictures beforehand - ha.

Adorable personalized candy wrappers. I wish I would have done these for G's birthday favors and called it a day.

Personalized confetti from the same vendor. I'm too lazy to link but let me know if you want their info!

The Broadmoor

There are not enough positive adjectives to express how spectacular this hotel and spa are. We had 2 meals there, one at the top point of the resort that looked out to the city (it was just our group - so cool!) and the other was Sunday brunch. I've seen my number of Sunday brunches but haven't experienced a brunch quite like this. More buffet tables and food than you've ever seen - promise. It was a great way to cap off the weekend. The spa was great too. I had a lavender bath soak and prenatal massage. And a lot of quiet time in this room.....

We all kinda camped out in this room and made it home.  It was divine.

Taking a stroll at the hotel

The Views
Anna took us for a drive through the Garden of the Gods, which offers incredible views of the red rock formations. We didn't take nearly enough pictures.

Top: Me, Rachel, Bentley, Janey, Anna, Meredith
Bottom: Amanda, Andrea and Emily

Lingerie Shower
I was so impressed that all of us were showered, dressed and ready in time for the lingerie shower. My Mom made her famous cookies for the affair (a bachelorette party staple in the shapes of hearts and lips), we had a cheese tray and we made Andrea sip on the awful, blue Boone's Farm when she answered Rogan's trivia questions incorrectly. Fortunately, she's the peanut to his butter so she answered most correctly. ;)

With Amanda and Andrea!

Cheers to the Future Mrs. Giles!

Andrea received some beautiful gifts! Some personalized with her new monogram - so fun! (Side note: Anna's parents just bought this home recently - hence, the bare shelves. That said, it had some awesome upgrades! I took notes for my future Colorado home :D) 

The Rabbit Hole & The Dirty Bee
Okay, so it's not really called The Dirty Bee. It's the Golden Bee. But hearing Andrea mistakenly refer to it as The Dirty Bee was the best ever and we decided that this should be the new name. If you've been there, you'd understand the slip up. ;) The atmosphere of The Bee can't be manufactured or drawn out in some business plan. I don't know it's long history but it almost seems like it's accidentally cool. Every table was full of some serious sing-along-bar devotees. Some great people watching and even better sing alongs!

That drink was on fire. No, really.

Delicious dinner at The Rabbit Hole

Rachel, Andrea and Bentley at The Golden Bee

A picture with our new (very-intoxicated newlywed) friend, Who's Jeff? That was the name we gave him.

Ahhh, the yard beer. Andrea was pleasantly (not really) surprised. Hehe.

Coming Home
I was really sad to leave Colorado. Even though I was eager to get back to Grayson and Beau, there's something about a relaxing weekend with great weather and fun people that can get you kinda sad when it's all over. I DID have pictures like this texted to me all weekend so how could I not be a little eager to get home? :)

Grayson hung out with Cole at Oktoberfest Saturday!

These cuties actually parked the car and came in to help me with my bag. Total sweethearts b/c we all know parking at the airport is up there with dental work.

We can't wait to celebrate the future Mr. & Mrs. Giles in New Orleans in just 3 short months! xoxo

Reynolds Happenings

Happenings this past week...

First, foremost and coolest, a surprise package came in the mail for me this week! It turned out to be a formal invitation from my sister to be her matron of honor! She and Rogan are marrying in New Orleans on NYE so it was perfectly and appropriately festive. She wrote the sweetest note that brought me to tears but she was quick to write that I should save my monogrammed hankie for the wedding. :) She plans to have a second line (you know, where the jazz band leads the party through the streets of N.O. while everyone dances and waves hankies or umbrellas usually with a cocktail in hand - holler!). It's going to be awesome! Of course I said yes! xoxo

We had some fun play dates this week, one of which was with our friends Alison and London at Willowbend. I really love that mall (so much better than the one in Frisco :/) And I love those girls. I would describe Alison as having the best intelligent humor who asks thought provoking questions to which she really wants to hear your answer. I depend on her for great conversation! And I depend on her daughter for some serious laughs! I've said it before but London is like no other!

Oh, London! A very blurry Grayson thought she was so funny!

Is this not precious?!

Cruisin'

We bought a boat bed for Grayson off Craigslist! I have been looking around for probably 4 or so months for this bed so that Beau wouldn't have to build it (he was seriously thinking about it :)). This one was by far the best quality and the closest to the Pottery Barn bed I really wanted but a fraction of the price. More to come on this when it's all complete but here's a sneak peak. And if you're wondering - we have no idea when we're switching Grayson as he's fine in his toddler bed and we're in no rush to shop for the twin mattress. We just had to jump at the quality/price/location of this one!

The family actually had two boat beds for their sons. Thank goodness we only need one - they are 9 ft in length!

Grayson loves times with his Pop and Mimi and I love being over at their house! They make awesome dinners and I can relax in the evenings while they play with him. :)

Lincoln Logs!

Soccer Tots was Saturday and Grayson really buttered up to the Coach at stamp time. :) He was like the stamp guard watching carefully as the other kids got theirs. It was pretty adorable.

Grayson wore the new hat that Alison and London gave him to dinner with our neighbors Saturday night.  I didn't think he'd keep it on but he wore it most of the time! We later went to Paciugo for gelato and the kids played at that fountain that Grayson loves so much at The Shops. Being with the Asels and their 3 kids is always  an eventful time! 

Twisted Root has random back drops. They look more like they're on an episode of Storage Wars. :)

Finally, some of our best moments are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Grayson likes to crawl in bed with us and love on his Daddy and Brinkley. I get asked every once in a while how I handle Beau's weekly travel but it's actually pretty easy. My parents take really good care of us during the week and then EVERY weekend is a 3 day weekend for the 3 of us. When other people get excited about their 3-day weekend holidays, we get excited for a 4-day weekend. :) It really works well for us and I wouldn't trade these lazy Friday mornings for anything!

Brinkley was licking Grayson's ear. He giggles so hard at that!

And then see below for Sunday's Life Group party!

Amanda's Bachelorette Party....9 months late

I can not believe I never posted the pictures from Amanda's bachelorette party! I was just going through old photos and came across these...


not-so-brief recap: It was a wonderful weekend at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel! A beautiful hotel that, if you have ever been stuck talking to me about my vision for my house, you know I love the way they did this hotel! A Cowboy Zen feel, if you will, that proves that I can mix Texas western with anything. Like Pottery Barn, for example. :)


I digress....Amanda, Andrea and I did a sisters spa day there, then had Amanda's friends up to the suite for a lingerie shower and then out in Downtown Fort Worth, which is always a good time. Drinks and apps at Grace (LOVE this swanky place) and then mexican food at Mi Cocina. Most everyone spent the night and then we went to brunch at Brownstone. I seriously recommend this place! Any weekend centered around my sisters, good food, champagne and massages is a perfect one in my book! :)

We had fun decorating!

The invitation 

Sprinkled fun pictures of Amanda throughout the room. :) 

Amanda's glass had it's own veil! 

My Mom is the coolest! She made us her famous sugar cookies in
the shape of lips and hearts. They were a BIG hit at 2am.

The picture on the left is from my bachelorette
party....wheeling a cooler wearing my party veil. Ha! Silly girl.

The future (well, now present) Mrs. Tarr

CREEPIEST blow up doll ever!

Of course I left the camera in the room when we went out. There's a reason my aptitude test in high school made no mention of event photographer.

A Busy Girl

Now that we (sadly) have Nikki and Brad's Destin wedding behind us (which I still need to blog about) it's time to look forward to the other events on our calendar! We leave in ONE WEEK for Boston and Cape Elizabeth! I am SO excited for my sister's wedding and I have LOTS to do before we go! The bright side to the planning is that the weather is so different from what we have in Dallas, that I can pack the entire family now! Sweaters, boots and coats are in our future and since the high in Dallas is 94 today, I can go ahead and get a jump on the packing since we won't need any of those winter clothes this week. :) We will be gone for 6 days so simply packing up food/clothes/diapers/Baby Benadryl/toys to entertain/bottles/etc. will take up quite a bit of room! 


Here is my progress with Grayson's stuff (he's helping....by chewing on my heel):

Who's wishing we sold this couch now, huh?! Not me! Yes, it's in our bedroom but it's just sooo convenient. :) I digress....So I figured the best way to do this was to line it up by day, starting with his comfy travel outfit (that will transition from 90 degrees to 50) for Wednesday on the left and moving from day to night, day to night outfits into the following Monday when we fly out. Diapers/food/blankets/wipes on the left then bibs/burp cloths, mittens, winter hats/bucket hats and then finally his rain coat (which made me realize I don't have ONE single legit coat that fits him anymore - yikes!). Socks, PJs, shoes will just have to wait since we're still using them. 


So, the question is....Where is my stuff going to go?!
And the second question is.....Traveling friends/family with babies, what am I forgetting?!


Other items on the agenda:

• write my toast - eek!!
• pick up Grayson's altered suit
• coordinate dog sitting (we have 3 people taking shifts)
• you don't even want to see my clothing list - everything from rain to cold to formal attire to touristy walking clothes to shoes and accessories for all possible weather/occassions - we may not have to lock the house when we leave ;-)

Then, when we return, it will be time to seriously start planning for the following things (not in order):

• Grayson's 1st Birthday - warning, I'm taking a theme to an extreme. An "extheme" if you will. Ha! ;)
• Mother's Day
• Taking photos of a friend's delivery (like sweet family with new baby above-the-sheet pictures, not of the birth. c'mon now! ;-) )
• Lisa's Baby Shower
• Our summer garage sale
• Brooke's bachelorette party & wedding (I think we want to stay in Dallas the night of the wedding)
• Gifts for a couple of Birthday parties
• Tri Delta's Gamma Phi Charter Member Dallas Weekend! (got that?!)
• And then later on in the summer, 4th of July and Beau's 30th Birthday!

We have never really been this busy so I need to be organized....like that's going to happen!

Wedding Bands - Not the dancing kind!

Beau and I shopped for wedding bands today! I don't know why I put an exclamation point behind that sentence - it was neither exciting nor eventful! It was actually not like I expected it to be - more stressful than anything. It's difficult to shop for something that will be with you at all times (think about it - there is nothing else a part of you like a wedding band) and represent the greatest thing that has happened to you. I say difficult b/c I just want to make sure I love it forever and there are SO many options these days. As I have mentioned before, I don't do very well with a lot of options :-) That being said I'm pretty sure I found my ring! It's beautiful and the more I think about it away from the store, the more I fall in love with it!

Beau had a difficult time as well but for different reasons. I think it's tough for a lot of men who have never worn jewelry in the past to suddenly walk into a store and be excited about rings! I guess everyone is different but Beau actually had a tougher time than I had imagined. It's a big decision and of course none of them "felt right" b/c he has never worn rings before. Again, now that we have been out of the store for a while and have had time to think about it, he is leaning toward the last band he tried on, a classic white gold band.

I'm glad this portion of the planning process is almost out of the way - it just means we are that much closer to the big day! 4 1/2 months to go!

Wedding Website is up!

It feels good to check things off my list. This has been a hot one since we want to include the website on the save the date cards that are going out soon. In case you haven't had enough of my wedding babble, here it is:

http://staceyandbeau.weddingwindow.com/

I swear this blog really wasn't meant to be all wedding! I could go into the mystery bumps on my dog's stomach....see, wedding stuff isn't so bad! ;-)

My Inner-vention

Beau and I have decided that I need an inner-vention. Not an intervention. An Inner-vention. I figure that since a) I know about it and am involved and b) it's just the 2 of us within the walls of our home, that 'intervention' is a bit misleading. It all started when my Aunt and cousin, Elaine, graciously gave me their old wedding magazines. An entire box, actually. The box sat in the living room for about a week. I was hesitant to go near them fearing that the options would make me anxious. That's how I am - I get anxiety with too many options. Mainly b/c my taste is all over the board and spans traditional to contemporary, bold colors to light, formal to casual. So, I have discovered a process that works best. My Mother and I have such similar taste and she knows my "vision" for the wedding that she picks out several options (think invitations) and I choose. Easy enough. This has made the process seamless....And then I got into the box. Since then I have questioned every decision we have made, re-thought the vision of the wedding and ultimately returned to square 1 sending people a link of a dress that I like. They kindly remind me that I already have a dress. Like I forgot. There is a magazine on each night stand by the bed, in the bed, on the coffee table, in the kitchen, on the couch, and yes, in the bathroom. I'm out of control! Beau has kindly offered to make the box "disappear".

So, Elaine, if you read this let me know if you want to pass on the box to any of your friends that can handle such a sweet gift!! ;-)

Not my photo.....but you get the 'picture' ;-)

We have a church!

I still can't believe we finalized the Church! We did things a little backwards (long story) but it all came together and it's perfect! The ceremony is going to be at the Corpus Christi Cathedral - also where I had my First Communion all those years ago :-) This Church has always had a special place in my heart - not only because of this and b/c it's beautiful but this is also where our high school graduation mass took place. It was very cool.


I have a feeling this is going to be the longest walk of my life ;-) Not because of who will be standing at the end waiting for me (can't wait for this part!), but b/c I don't like being stared at. So, 250 of my closest friends & family looking at me for, what will seem like forever, is going to make me sweat. Just warnin' you, Beau ;-)



That being said, I do understand that it is a once in a lifetime experience and I will revel in it...I have 7 months to prepare!