January 2010

Some of you noticed yesterday, but I wanted to make an announcement today that Blue-Eyed Bride has a new header! The amazingly talented Ashley Brooke Designs created a brand new header for me and I’m so excited! I wanted a combination of the former header, but with a little more artwork to showcase some of the most important parts of my life.

I think she hit the nail on the head!

the former header (also designed by Ashley Brooke Designs)…

…and the new header

I am a huge fan of Ashley Brooke’s work, and I’m so excited to announce that she is the first official sponsor of Blue-Eyed Bride! You’ll notice her logo in the right sidebar on the home page, and if you click on the “Sponsors” tab on the menu bar, you’ll see all of the work that Ashley Brooke Designs has created for my family, showers that I’ve hosted, and for my personal use.

I’m so proud to call her a friend!

Head over to Ashley Brooke Designs to see her Valentines That Give and make your purchase. All of the proceeds go toward relief in Haiti. Tomorrow, January 22, is the last day to place your order. You can email Ashley Brooke at info@ashleybrookedesigns.com to place an order.

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I am on board the fit train and I’m not planning on getting off any time soon. Because it’s working!

I’ve had a great week and I lost 4 pounds from last Wednesday to today. I’ve been counting points and haven’t gone over my points yet. I’m saving up my flex points for the weekend, so I can enjoy myself when the opportunity presents itself.

I’ve also been going to the gym on a regular basis. I have gone four times each week for the past two weeks. I started going to Body Pump classes and I love it. It’s a huge challenge and completely wears me out, but I’m enjoying it. It’s obvious the I’m getting stronger already. My clothes are already fitting better and I am very encouraged.

When I geti n my groove with counting points, I get so into it! I love the challenge and find it so much easier to resist something bad when I’ve spent four days being good and avoiding bad things. Why throw all of that away on a cupcake?

I want to share my meals with you and hopefully give you all some ideas of what you can eat and cook at home.

For breakfast, I’ve been eating one of three things:

1) Weight Watchers 2 point bagel with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray and all fruit strawberry preserves (3 points)

2) an Egg Beaters egg white omelet with one triangle of sliced Laughing Cow Swiss cheese (3 points)

3) Special K protein cereal with skim milk (4 points)

The omelet is my favorite breakfast option because it contains so much protein and really keeps me full until lunch.

For lunch, I eat a Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones. I really do enjoy these.

For dinner, I’ve been cooking. One of the hardest things about sticking to Weight Watchers is keeping your husband’s tummy satisfied. This is where the Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast cookbook comes in. These are our choices for supper this week and they’re all linked to the recipe on myrecipes.com. I figured up the points per serving using my points calculator. Cooking Light provides all the nutritional information, so it’s easy to keep track of what you’re eating. If you substitute ingredients, be sure to account for that when calculating your Points.

Black Bean and Corn-Topped Potatoes 5 Points (so delicious! We ate these on Saturday and Sunday and Todd absolutely loved them!)

Portobello and Black Bean Quesadillas 5 Points (again, completely delicious and completely satisfying! Dipped in salsa, these were even better.)

Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Spicy Avocado Spread 7 Points (I made this last night and plan on making them again tonight. I only make enough chicken for one night’s worth. But they took 5 minutes to prepare and they were so yummy!)

Creamy Garlic Shrimp and Pasta 7 Points (On the menu for Thursday night and I can’t wait. I’m such a sucker for pasta.)

Grilled Chicken with Rustic Mustard Cream 6 Points (We’ll make this on Friday night or Saturday night, depending on when we might leave room to go out to dinner.)

The only meals that really need a side dish are the grilled chicken and the BBQ chicken sandwich. I used Baked Lays for the sandwich and steamed broccoli for the grilled chicken. The chips were 2 points and the broccoli was 0 points.

I planned out all the meals on Saturday afternoon and we went grocery shopping on Sunday for everything. It has been so nice to have everything in the house and not have to run out to pick up any last minute items.

So now I’m losing weight and making myself more domesticated! It’s a win/win!

How did you do this week?

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I’m just elated after last night’s Golden Globe awards! Y’all know I’m obsessed with Glee. It’s brilliantly written, the singers are fantastic, and it gives me my Broadway and pop music fix every week.

Well two of my favorite things of the night were:

1) The beautiful Lea Michele in her fantastic Oscar de la Renta gown. Some people say she should have worn a more age appropriate dress, but geez. For her first Golden Globes appearance, I say, “bravo” to Lea. Strut that big Oscar masterpiece! She looked fantastic. It’s a shame she can’t just walk around singing all the time. I’d listen!

2.) Glee won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy Television Series. I hope this means that Glee is here to stay. Good thing Jay Leno isn’t on FOX!

My new obsession (I’m late to this party), Mad Men, won top honors in its category. So it was a pretty great night! It’s wonderful to see so many beautiful gowns in one location!

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This is the end! Last set of questions… these are the randoms that didn’t exactly fit into another category.

Is there a story behind your engagement ring? It looks like it is estate…beautiful!

There’s not a story behind the engagement ring. We did go ring shopping and my setting wasn’t one that was on display. After about 30 minutes, the salesgirl came out and said, “Here’s one where we just set the diamond. What do you think?” I loved it. It was so gorgeous. I knew that I wanted a ring that was an estate replica and that’s what I found. I wanted a couple of things changed about the one in the showroom and Todd says it took a few months for the ring to get ordered, get made, and get back to him. I love it!

Now that you have Hudson, how do the dogs play out in your family dynamic? I’m kind of nervous about that one…

The dogs didn’t pay him much attention at first, but now it’s good. We have to tell them to get back or stop licking him every once in a while, but he loves them. He reaches out to pet them now. And he cracks up every time Boudreaux barks or growls at something outside. So funny!

If you could host your own show, what would it be about? (talk show, design, wedding, etc)

Hmm… such a fun question! It would be fun to a host a wedding show, but I think I’d pick a design show!

I think I may have noticed on twitter (maybe?) that you’re going to the Carrie Underwood concert in May (me too!)…so here’s my question. Who else would you love to see in concert?

We are going to the Carrie Underwood concert on May 1. I’m beyond excited. She is my absolute favorite and I just can’t wait. We’re also seeing Jimmy Buffett on February 23 as part of Todd’s birthday celebration. I’ve been fortunate enough to see most of my favorites in concert: The Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Crosby Stills and Nash, DMB, Coldplay and many others that aren’t quite so “classic.”

I’d love to see U2 and The Rolling Stones in concert someday!

I would love to hear about your wedding registry! What is your formal china pattern and your silver pattern?

Our every day pattern is Juliska “Thread and Berry.” We got chargers, salad plates, and some serving pieces in green. We got all the other pieces in white. I love the contrast!

Our formal pattern is Vera Wang Wedgwood “Vera Lace.” We have Waterford Lismore with platinum rims for our crystal. I didn’t register for silver because my mom has a full set, Todd’s mom has a full set, and Todd’s grandmother has a full set. Someone will gift us with some silver someday.

Do you think y’all will stay in the Shandon area or move to the suburbs eventually? It’s something that I constantly think about even though I don’t have kids yet. All of our friends live downtown…but I would prefer my kids to go to school in the area I grew up in.

We absolutely love the Shandon area. More specifically, we’re in the Wales Garden area, but I do love our neighborhood. It’s great for walking the dog and pushing the stroller. We have great neighbors. We can stroll down to Starbucks on Saturday mornings. It’s close to everything. We do love the area and we do love our house.

We’re very well aware that we can get a lot more house if we move to the suburbs and it’s very tempting. We want more kids and we’ll need more space eventually. We’re zoned for great public schools and there are great public schools in the suburbs. There are also great private schools in Columbia. We don’t know what we’re going to do about schools yet, but we’re going to be prepared and make sure that we live in an area where we’re happy with the public school situation.

How do you get things done? That is a very vague question, but I mean do you have a to-do list and tackle things one at a time? Or just a general idea in your head of things you need to do this week? What keeps you motivated?

I pride myself on being very organized! Todd might say that I’m organized to a fault. I’ve learned to leave room for spontaneity.

I use my trusty MomAgenda to write everything down. I plan our meals and have running to do lists. Now that I’m so carefully counting points for Weight Watchers, I also keep up with this in my MomAgenda.

Hudson keeps me motivated. I want to be the best mommy that I can be and the best wife that I can be.

What are some of your favorite hostess gifts? I know you’ve mentioned candles before, but I’d love some other suggestions as well!

I think a bottle of wine, a yummy candle, or a bouquet of flowers are a great hostess gift. My only issue with flowers is that the hostess usually has to stop what he or she is doing to properly care for the flowers. I prefer low maintenance gifts like some dessert, a bottle of wine, or a candle.

I love your blog! I was curious if you are selling any of your maternity clothes? I am in need of some chic expecting mommy style and didn’t know if you would consider parting with your trendy mommy threads? What were your favorite maternity items? What are your must-have items?

I’m not selling any of my maternity clothes because I plan to wear them again with the next pregnancy. But I think the best thing to purchase for yourself while you’re pregnant is a pair of your regular jeans in maternity style. There’s nothing that makes you feel more like your usual stylish self than a great pair of jeans. I got my 7evens and Citizens of Humanity jeans in a great maternity pair and they lasted the entire pregnancy. Such great buys!

My question is if you ever receive any negative comments on your blog and how you handle them? I struggle with making our blog private and leaving it open because very rarely i will get a weird annonymous comment that is border-line rude. Does this ever happen to you?

I do get the occasional negative comment. It’s never fun. I’m a very sensitive person. It never makes sense to me why someone would take the time to tell me I did something wrong in my pregnancy or delivery. Or to tell me to “get over myself.” Someone emailed me once just to tell me that I was “self-important and hedonistic.” That one really hurt my feelings. Then there was the comment that said that one of Hudson’s newborn photos looked like we were neglecting him.

I don’t ever leave negative comments. My general thought is to just move on if you don’t like what you’re reading on a blog. I especially don’t like the anonymous negative comments. But, what can you do? WordPress doesn’t have an options for you to block anonymous comments like Blogger does.

Sometimes I respond to negative comments via email and sometimes I just ignore it. Most of the comments are personal and I can get a little defensive.

I absolutely love the photos that Tracy Turpen did of your family! I looked at her website, and I am blown away! How did you find her? I am looking for a photographer in the Raleigh, NC area to do some pics this summer, and I am having the hardest time. I am spoiled now that I have seen Tracy’s photos! If you could give me any tips on finding a photographer, I would REALLY appreciate it.

All of the photographers that I’ve ever hired have traveled to come to where we are. That is always an option!

We used Kelly Moore for our wedding and engagement photos. Kelly has a friend named Millie Holloman who is an amazing photographer out of various cities in North Carolina– including Raleigh. She has a team of four or five photographers. Millie came to Columbia to take our newborn photos.

I was talking to Ami at Elizabeth Anne Designs one night about local photographers and she told me about Tracy Turpen out of Charleston. We were beyond impressed with Tracy!

Some good resources for searching for photographers in your area are the EAD Vendor Guide and the Style Me Pretty Little Black Book. You can look for all kinds of vendors with these resources.

What’s your favorite cookbook?

Wow! So many. I’m in love with Junior League cookbooks. My favorites are from places that I’ve lived: River Road Recipes, The Cotton Country Cookbook, and Down By The Water.

I also love all of Ina Garten’s cookbooks. Right now I’m living out of the Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast cookbook because it’s good for me!

How long have you been blogging and how did you build such an amazing community…I just started and I am curious how to build it because I love the interaction and suggestions of making “blog” friends…

I started blogging in September 2007 because we were planning a wedding. About six months later I got my first comment from someone I had never met!

I began commenting on other blogs that I found and then people start linking back to your blog when they read comments and eventually come out of hiding. I also submitted some boards to Style Me Pretty and Abby linked to my blog. That’s how I met Cyndi of Southern Daze!

Eventually others started reading, there was mutual commenting, and friendships were born. Comments lead to emails, g-chats, and tweets and before you know it you’re flying to fun cities to hang out with your blog friends!

(This one is from my best friend!) If you had to pick ONE song that brings you back to our Columbia (or college) days together, what would it be, and what were we doing? NO you can’t pick Sangria Wine!

We used to dance around our house and apartment to Sangria Wine! So much fun!

My one song– I’m going to pick two– is Man In Motion (St. Elmo’s Fire) or The Finer Things!

So when do you and Todd plan on having another child? How close together would you like to them to be?

We’re not sure yet. We think about it, but then I just think I’m not ready to try to handle two of them! I’d like for them to be close together in age, but I also don’t want to bite off more than I can chew. Maybe when Hudson is 2 years old…

Were you and your husband on the same page as to WHEN to have children? I see so many women who are ready, but their husbands aren’t quite there (especially when they are within a year of the same age). Did you and your hubby discuss this before marriage?

We discussed it a little bit before marriaged. We had planned to wait two years before getting pregnant, but…. Y’all know we got married in May 2008 and Hudson was born in June 2009. So we didn’t wait two years.

I’ve asked Todd before, if our little miracle accident hadn’t happened if he ever would have told me when he was ready to have a baby. He said, “Eh. Probably not. I’m not sure I ever would have thought I was ready.” I think it’s just a guy thing. He’s ready now and he’s an amazing Daddy.

I have a random, for fun question: if your house was on fire, what 5 things would you run out the door with? Humans and pets not counting!

I’d grab our camera bags (video and Canon Rebel) that hold our cameras and all the memory cards. I’d grab my baby book and a box of photos in our closet. Everything else is replaceable, but those photos and memories are completely priceless.

As a fellow Erin, what is your middle name? And what sort of names do people incorrectly call you over the phone, email (probably either telemarketers or working world emails.)

Hilarious. I’ve been called Ernie and Irwin before. People often misspell it and write “Aaron.”

My middle name is Elizabeth, but I dropped it in favor of my maiden name as my middle name.

How did you meet your husband? How long did you date? How did you know that TC was the one?

Todd and I met while we were both working at the law firm where he worked before going out on his own. He came by my desk and we talked and I thought, “Hmm. I’d like to see him again.”

We started dating in December 2005 and got engaged in April 2007.

I know it’s cliche, but I just knew that he was the one. I knew before our first date. He was so kind and funny. He’s the wittiest person I’ve ever met– and I’m not the only one who thinks that. I knew we had a lot in common before our first date because we spent months emailing before going on our first date. The night of our first date, I said to my friend, “This is the last first date I’ll ever go on.” And it was.

I would love to know where you get your bedding, I really like your style! Where did you go to college and how did it decide it was the right place for you?

I got the bedding for our bedroom from Eastern Accents. It’s part of their limited edition “hotel style” collection. I love its simplicity while still having gorgeous colors!

I mentioned that I went to Louisiana Tech. I chose it because it felt like home. It sort of was home. We moved around a lot, but Ruston is the closest thing to a hometown for me. We lived there for five years when I was growing up. My parents also attended and met at Louisiana Tech. And my grandmother went to Louisiana Tech. It’s truly a family place for me.

What is your favorite “everyday indulgence” while you still stay healthy? I recently discovered dried figs; they are like candy.

I love snacking on the Mister Salty 100 Calorie packs of chocolate covered pretzels. So satisfying!

I have a legal internship in Columbia this summer…do you have any ideas on fun things to do, or good restaurants I must try while I am there?

You must visit the Riverbanks Zoo. My favorite restaurants are Mr. Friendly’s, Garibaldi Cafe, Rockaways, The Gourmet Shop, Rosso, Ristorante Divino, and many, many more! You must go shopping in Five Points and on Devine Street.  And I’d love to hang out while you’re here!

What is the best vacation you have been on/what was your favorite vacation? Where would you go if you could go anywhere?

My two favorite vacations were our honeymoon on Maui at the Grand Wailea and when I backpacked for 40 days around Europe with my best friend. So many countries and cities in such a perfect amount of time.

Hopefully we’ll go to Greece soon! It’s near the top of my list. And Napa Valley.

What is your least favorite holiday? What is your favorite holiday?

I’d have to say that it’s New Year’s Eve! My favorite is either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I love family-centered holidays.

Do you make money on this blog? How so?

I signed up with Share a Sale a few months ago. All the “ads” you see in the right sidebar are from Share a Sale. If anyone clicks on the images, they are taken to that company’s website. If you buy something during that visit, I get a percentage of the sale. I have made a very minimal amount of money in the last couple of months, but it’s good to make some money.

When signing up with WordPress and purchasing my domain and paying a company to host my blog, I have had to pay a good amount of money to do all of that. The sales help cover that a little bit. I still haven’t made enough through the “ads” to pay for all of that, though, so please don’t think that I’m bringing in the big bucks!

What is your favorite diet food?

I love Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones. I can’t help it!

What is your favorite piece of jewelry that you own other than your engagement ring?

Probably my David Yurman pearl ring that was my “push present.”

What do you love about your hometown? What do you miss about your hometown? What do you love about Columbia?

I miss a lot about Ruston. There are some wonderful little restaurants there like Ponchatoulas, The Dawg House, Papa Joe’s, and Monjuni’s. I miss the food. I miss the people. A lot. Some of my good friends (some that read this blog) stayed there after college and I miss them so much! I msis the times that I had there in college with my friends.

Columbia… I love the blend of the capital city with the college town. It’s a good mix. I love having college students around. I think it keeps the city young. I love our church and there is a lot of good food here, too. I wish my family was a lot closer, but it’s a good place to live.

What is your favorite book of all time? Favorite character?

The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

Can you give me info on moving from Blogger to Wordpress and having your own domain?

I am definitely not an expert and I got a lot of help from Mojito Maven of Make Mine a Mojito. But the first thing I did was purchase my domain. Then I went to BSP Hosting to select my hosting package. Through there, you register your domain and there are WordPress plug-ins to turn your dot com into a WordPress blog. Then, there are theme options with WordPress and we chose the “Thesis” theme. (You can get more info and purchase the Thesis theme at Make Mine a Mojito.)

Lots of steps and I know nothing about HTML. The Mojito family did a lot to get my blog set up and running. The talented Ashley Brooke of Ashley Brooke Designs did my header.

But once it is all set up and running, WordPress is great to use! There are so many options for your blog and you can have many pages. It was great timing for me because I wanted to do so much more when Hudson was born.

How and when did you get involved in Junior League? What do you love about it?

I joined the Junior League of Columbia in 2006. I absolutely love my placement (committee). I’ve made some great friends and I was fortunate enough to find a placement that I loved. I’ve stuck with this placement for three years and will do it again this year for my fourth year.

I love that we’re able to give back to Columbia in such a big way. I love that each woman is able to find a way to use her talents to give back through various placements.

Did you make a wedding album of photos or stick to framed shots around the house. If you DID make an album- did you go through your photographer, a separate graphic artist, or do you own online? If so, any hints, tips or suggestions? I’m a little overwhelmed with my 3000+ photos, the choices & the costs!

We got such an amazing deal. My wedding photography package included everything: our engagement session and an album, my bridal session and an album, and 6 hours of wedding coverage and an album. The included album had every single photograph in it–printed on the page. None of this “proof” size photo nonsense. What do you do with that many proofs anyway?  We ordered a more coffee table friendly album that was beautifully designed. I featured it on the blog abotu a year ago. It’s truly a masterpiece. Kelly Moore (our photographer) designed that one and had it printed, too.

Our package also included a handful of prints in various sizes from all of our sessions. Then I just ordered more for the wall.

I told you we got a great deal!

This was fun, friends!

 

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Are you bored yet? Hopefully there’s a little something for everyone in all of these Q&A sessions. If you haven’t found anything that you’re interested in, have faith. There’s a new week ahead and Friday will be my last day answering the questions! This has been a lot of fun for me, though.

Health and Beauty

Erin, I’d love to know what you do to keep your face glowing – your hair so healthy & shiny – and your figure so trim. You look like the picture of a happy healthy mom. And I’d love to glow too.

Can I just say that this question flatters and surprises me to no end? I have struggled with my skin for so many years and even the slightest flaw now makes me worry that a whole village of flaws is coming soon. My worst skin years were my sophomore year of college, but a change in diet, skin care, and some medicine have helped.

I didn’t have a single blemish when I was pregnant. The pre-natal vitamins made me sick, but I took Flintstones vitamins throughout the pregnancy. I started on the pre-natals in the third trimester when I could tolerate them. My hair also grew about a mile during that time, too.

These days, I just wash my face twice a day with Bliss products and then use the Galvanic Spa system three times per week. I drink a lot of water and try to keep my hair off my face as much as possible.

I use all Aveda products for my hair. I use Color Conserve shampoo and conditioner once a week. And then I use Dry Remedy (because I have very course hair) shampoo and conditioner once a week. Confession: I only wash my hair twice per week. That may have something to do with having healthy hair. It’s so dry and course that I find it getes too dry if I shampoo too often. There. I said it! My “dirty” secret is out.

As far as my figure goes… I’d hardly call it trim. But thank you for the compliment. I’m working very hard these days to get it back.

What is your favorite diet food?

I love Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones. I like cooking from the Cooking Light and Biggest Loser cookbooks, but it’s just easy to pop in a Smart Ones. My favorites are Creamy Rigatoni with Broccoli and Chicken and Three Cheese Ziti Marinara. Yum.

How’s the running going? Are you ready for the race?

It’s going. I hurt my knee a few weeks ago, so I was a little discouraged. I’ve been doing Body Pump classes and spending a lot of time on the elliptical in hopes to stretch my leg out and get some of my strength back. I hope to be ready for the race. The whole thought of it intimidates me, to be honest.

What ever happened to Weight Watchers Wednesdays?

I’m still following Weight Watchers– more strictly in 2010 than I was in 2009. I will occasionally post about it, but it’s too hard for me to always devote Wednesdays to Weight Watchers. I like to keep my blog a little more open than that. But I promise to post recipes and give updates when there’s something worth posting about!

I saw you wrote about having a breast reduction. What made you want that?

Well, I think that would be a little obvious, but I had a breast reduction because I felt like my breasts were too big for my body. They got in the way. They dictated what I wore. I had the surgery the year I graduated from college and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. My insurance covered it, so it wasn’t a financial burden. When I was in the 8th grade I remember my friends talking about them. Not ABOUT me or around me, but they were always a topic of conversation and that can get old after a while.

College life, Sorority, Working Girl

Where did you go to college? Were you an Alpha Chi Omega? Are you involved with the local alumni chapter?

I went to Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana. (Go Bulldogs!) It was a great college experience in a town that I love dearly. I was an Alpha Chi Omega and was even the President. I’m not involved with the local chapter or alumni chapter. Things are a little busy, but I’d definitely consider getting involved someday.

What was your job before you were a SAHM?

I was an Events Planner for a college at the University of South Carolina.

What is your dream job? Will you go back to work someday?

My dream job is to be a successful wedding planner. But I’m not sure that I have the drive to work and sacrifice time with my family to do that someday. I really don’t know if I’ll go back to work someday. The time that I most want to be home is when my kids come home from school. So maybe something part time? Or something on my own out of the home? Wedding planning? Yes, please!

Wedding Stuff

Did you ever sell your wedding dress?

I thought long and hard about it, but I never did it. The economy took a hard turn and I didn’t feel like I’d be able to get back the money that I thought my dress was worth. I’m not attached to my dress, but I don’t want to sell it for just $500 when I know what I paid for it. I had it professionally cleaned and spent a good amount of money on that, too. It’s safely in its box, freshly cleaned, under a bed in our house. I may never open the box for fear of having to have it cleaned again. And if someone does want it and wants to discuss purchasing it, we can definitely talk about it. I realize my chances aren’t great any more now that the dress is almost 3 years old. I purchased it in May 2007 for my May 2008 wedding. I do love it! (and for those new to the blog it’s a Carolina Herrera dress.)

What is your favorite wedding portrait?

Is it vain if I say my favorites of just of me? Two of them are from my bridal portrait session and one is from the wedding day. {all by Kelly Moore Photography}

What are your favorite colors for weddings? Have you made any color/inspiration boards lately? What do you think about purple and red? Would you make an inspiration board for me?

My favorite wedding colors vary. I think they should be representative of the couple. I used pink and gold and they were so “Erin.” I love marigold, purple, yellow, pale greens, gold.

I haven’t made any color boards lately, but here are some of my old favorites. I used to have access to Photoshop and it was so much fun to play around and make the boards. I need Photoshop again so I can make more boards! {These were all either made for friends, for me, for fun, or for Style Me Pretty contests. Two of them were featured on SMP.}

Please forgive me for not being able to properly credit these photos. All of these boards have been featured on my blog before and were properly credited then. I no longer have the original files showing me where I got all of these images.

This is the pink and gold board that I created for our wedding.

I put together this purple and gray board for a reader that wrote to me.

this board was designed around the gorgeous Reem Acra dress that Olivia Wilde is wearing.

I did this one for a friend. I still hope she uses it. Hint hint! This one was featured on Style Me Pretty.

A color board based around the gorgeous cotton photo by Kelly Moore. This one was submitted to Style Me Pretty and made it to the voting round of a contest.

Yellow and black- just for fun! I do know that two of these images are from Thoughtful Day, one of my favorite blogs!

A baby shower inspiration board based on “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. I created this one for a contest.

Just an idea for a little girl’s birthday party. This one makes me really happy.

I would absolutely make a purple and red inspiration board for you. Email me and I’ll get to work!

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Life as a Mom

I have a lot of friends who are moms to young kids and as a single gal, I want to be as supportive a friend I can, but I never know what the right thing to say or do is. I have no idea what goes on in a day where you are at home caring for a child, as opposed to being in an office all day, so usually I don’t say a word and just let them vent… but is there anything people have said to you to encourage you or pick you up that you really appreciated, and wouldn’t mind sharing with us clueless single gals?

If you aren’t sure what to say, maybe you could just say, “I hope that when I have kids someday you can help me by reminding me what it was like for you and letting me know how you got through it.” The first few weeks with a newborn are just a blur. I was in Babies R Us today with Hudson and we were playing and he was babbling. And my mind flashed back to 7 months ago when he was in his baby carrier and I felt like I had no clue what I was doing or where I was!

People usually just said to me things like, “It gets so much easier and so much more fun as time goes on.” And they also said, “Everyone feels the way you do. Don’t worry.” And that always made me feel better.

Now that you’ve transitioned to be a SAHM, what does an average day in your life look like? Have you met a community of other moms that you can interact with (playgroups, etc.)?  Do you ever feel lonely or isolated, like your days are full?  Do you feel challenged?  Do you have other adults to interact with?

Whoo…a day in our lives. Here’s a rundown:

1. Wake up and feed Hudson his bottle.

2. He plays in his pack ‘n play while I get dressed- these days I just get my gym clothes on.

3. I feed him his rice cereal and fruit after he’s been awake an hour.

4. We play and read books.

5. He gets another bottle around 10:00 a.m. He goes down for a nap three hours after he wakes up. He usually sleeps a little over 2 hours. (Lately Todd’s mom comes over during this time and I go to the gym.)

6. He wakes up and gets another bottle.

7. We play some more and go for a walk.

8. He takes another nap for about an hour and I do some housework, check email, blog, catch up on phone calls, play with the dogs, etc.

9. He wakes up and gets another bottle and we do the whole thing again. He still gets a botle every three hours.

10. He gets his supper/vegetables around  6:00 p.m. He gets a bath at 6:30 p.m. and his last bottle for the day at 7:00 p.m. Then he’s in bed until 7:00 a.m. or so and we do it all over again.

Some days we run errands, but I try to limit my errands to once a week. It’s good to get Hudson out of the house, but I find that I’m more responsible and spend less money if we only go to Target and Publix or Piggly Wiggly once every week. I make a list and am totally prepared when we go.

Now… for me. Todd gets home around 6:15 every night and after Hudson goes to bed we have our time. I get dinner started around 6:00 and we eat after Hudson has gone to bed. This way we can enjoy it more and relax. We watch TV and spend time together and then go to bed.

I had something to do every night this week at 6:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. with Junior League and Bible study. I spend a lot of time with my friends– more time than I did when I was working.

I don’t feel isolated. I have a great support system and we live in a part of town that allows me to see people frequently. I don’t have constant adult interaction, but I do have adult interaction. I’m very fortunate that my mother-in-law can keep Hudson so I can go to the gym. That gets me out of the house and I’m able to get rid of some energy. Our gym does have a nursery, but I’m waiting for him to start crawling before taking him there.

I feel challenged every day. I think all mothers know that it’s a very challenging job. I’m not saying that everyone would like being a SAHM, but I love it and it was absolutely the right decision for me.

Do you and TC have names already picked out for your future kids (assuming you want more kids)? Hudson is such an adorable name!

We have a couple of girl names picked out, but I’m going to keep them to myself. I probably won’t keep the name a secret if I get pregnant again, but for now I just want to keep it to ourselves. One of the names is a family name and I just love it.

What are your tips for being a stay at home mom?

Don’t have any expectations. Don’t expect it to always be perfect and don’t compare yourself or your situation to anyone. Like everything, it’s what you make it. The best tip I can give is to be organized. Have your grocery lists made up. Fold laundry during nap times. (When there’s a newborn you need to take naps during naptime!) Babies can be hard to please. There will definitely be bad days where you can’t wait to go to bed, but you know that tomorrow is a new day and that you get to start over.

Please tell me why you love being a SAMH? Did you make any cutbacks? Where you scared to leave your job?

I wasn’t scared to leave my job. Fortunately, our situation worked out where we didn’t lose much financially because of Todd’s job. But we are making cutbacks right now because Todd has just started his own firm and we just have to be conservative.

I love being home with Hudson every day. I love being there for all the moments. I love making my house into the home I’ve always wanted it to be. This is the best thing that I can give to my son. I’m not saying that for everyone– but I wasn’t a happy person with the way things had been going at work, and I don’t have days like that anymore. It’s such a personal decision, but I never wake up dreading a day. This life is not glamourous. I tend to look like a hot mess these days because naps are fewer, but I love what I do.

I want to be a SAHM when the time comes but I stress out when I think about the fact that my income won’t be coming in anymore! What things were the most difficult to cut back on, and which were the easiest?

Clothes and shoes. Hands down. But I’m trying!

How much TV time do you allow him?

Hudson is a mover. He doesn’t sit still very long. He’s not crawling, but he scoots and rolls. But he will watch about one Baby Einstein show every day. Today we watched Baby Van Gogh and he was completely captivated. I usually put it on after he finishes his supper. We have a TV in the kitchen and when he’s done eating I’ll wheel him over to the TV and put in a Baby MacDonald or something from Baby Einstein. That’s his fussy time, so he is usually calmed by it and really enjoys it for a few minutes. No TV during meals though! He’s too easily distracted for that.

 

Baby Tips, Tricks, and Fashion

Any tips on how you got Hudson to sleep through the night (7a-7p)?  When did Hudson start to sleep through the night/go down at 7pm on a regular basis?

I’m sure I’ll get some comments on this one, but this is how it worked for us.  Hudson just had to cry it out. Before crying it out, he went about 7 hours before waking up. We saw his pediatrician and she assured us that our big boy was not hungry and was only waking up out of habit. She told us that we needed to teach him how to fall asleep without the aid of rocking or a bottle because some day we’ll need to just say, “Hudson. It’s time for bed.”

So when he was 3.5 months old we had him cry it out. He has been sleeping in his crib since he came home from the hospital. We have a video monitor and we just watched him in the video monitor that night. At that time, he was going to bed at 10 pm. He cried for about 30 minutes and went back to sleep. No pacifier. He was still swaddled at that point, too. The next night, he woke up once and cried for 15 minutes. The third night, it was 5 minutes and the fourth night he didn’t wake up at all.  I know that mothers are torn on this, but it worked for us. We have not been into his room in the middle of the night since he was 3.5 months old and now he’s 7 months old.

When he outgrew his swaddle blankets and Woombie, we moved him into a Halo Sleep Sack.

A few months ago he started getting fussy around 9:00, so we let him go to bed at 9:00 and he still slept until 7:00 a.m. Then around Halloween, he was really fussy around 7:00 p.m. We thought, “Well, let’s just put him to bed. He may wake up at 5:00 a.m., but we’ll just see.” He slept that night from 7 pm-7 am. And he did the same thing every night after that.

There is the occasional night that we’ll hear him babbling around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m., but we don’t go in there. We wait for him to go back to sleep– and he always does– and then he wakes up again at his usual 7:00 or 7:30. I guess it’s “tough love” but I know that I wake up during the night and I always go back to sleep. And I knew that my baby could, too.

Any websites pertaining to babies that you check religiously? Ex. What to expect, Baby Center, etc.

Only if I have a question about something specific. I’m not big into going “by the book” or “by the website.” But if I think he has a cold or if he seems to have a reaction to some food, I’ll check Baby Center or some general baby message boards after Googling the topic.

I do pull out my “What To Expect” book once a month or so to check on milestones.

You did a product review probably around when Hudson was 3 months. I would love to read another product review now that Hudson is out of the swing, bouncy seat, etc and into toys and other stuff.

I will! It’s hard, though, because all babies like different things. But someday soon I’ll share what we liked and didn’t like.

Where do you like to baby clothes shop, whether it be online or in store and what are your favorite brands of baby clothing?

My favorite places to shop for baby clothes are Kelly’s Kids, Hanna Anderson, Orient Expressed, two local stores called Little Lambs & Ivy and Bumble Boutique, Janie and Jack, and Baby GAP.

My absolute favorite layette brands are Kissy Kissy and Magnolia Baby. I love Feltman Brothers and Bailey Boys for sweet dressy outfits. Funtasia has great, happy outfits.

The cute little reversible overalls from his 6 and 7 month photos are a brand called Boojue, based out of North Carolina.

I hope this helps!

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Baby Showers

As a new mom, any advice to offer someone {me} throwing a baby shower for a friend? What did you love about your shower or what would you have liked?

I had a few baby showers and they were all wonderful. A good friend in Dallas hosted one, my former co-workers hosted one, and my friends from church hosted another one. Each one was a little bit different, but the best part about all of them was the company. I think the most important thing in hosting a baby shower is to make sure you listen to the expectant mother’s wishes. I am not a fan of shower games. I don’t really know why except that they always make me a little uncomfortable. But if the mom-to-be wants games at her shower then do some of those fun baby shower games. I don’t even know what they are because I just don’t like them!

Pregnant women love to eat, so have some of her favorite foods there. The baby shower in Dallas had the most adorable decorations and flowers. The hostess used the Martha Stewart paper poms and hung them outside. She had fun flower arrangements arranged in glass baby bottles. The shower that my church friends hosted was really special because all of the guests wrote little prayers and well-wishes for our family on pretty little pieces of paper. The paper had a hole punched in it and ribbon that looped through the hole. They were all hanging out this adorable twiggy tree. I kept all of them and can’t wait to show them to Hudson one day.

The things that make a shower special are the sweet touches. You can do this without spending a lot of money and you can do it by spending a lot of money. It’s up to you, but how much money was spent won’t make a difference to the mom-to-be. She’ll just remember how special everything was.

What do you think are maybe the top 3 or 5 things to get someone for a baby shower?

We just sent some gifts to some good friends of ours that are expecting. Todd really wanted to send a few certain items because they were lifesavers for us. I did a post once on what my favorite gifts have been. But these are the things that I think every parent needs: Swaddle Designs blankets (it was better for us than the Miracle Blanket), The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD (amazing demonstrations of how to calm and soothe your baby), and a Woombie for when your baby grows out of the swaddling blankets.

Entertainment

Do you have time to watch television? If so, what are your favorite programs?

This question cracks me up because I watch a lot of television. If you follow me on Twitter you know that last night I was tweeting about the ridiculousness of The Bachelor and tonight I’ll be tweeting about The Biggest Loser and American Idol. I like reality TV and scripted drama and comedy. I just love TV. My favorite shows to watch are The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, American Idol, LOST (starts soon!), Damages (another GREAT one), Dancing With the Stars, and Real Housewives of Orange County and New Jersey. Todd and I are also know to love a good episode of Law and Order: SVU and Dateline.

We’re on eastern time and our shows don’t start until 8:00. So we usually have plenty of time to get Hudson to bed at 7:00, eat our supper, and then settle in for the TV watching. I can’t say that my husband is particularly interested in any of my favorite shows, but he plays along.

Fashion

What are your favorite pair of shoes?

Any of my TB Revas. Seriously. I have them in a few different colors because they are the most comfortable shoes ever. I can wear them with almost anything. They are the perfect “mom shoe” for me because I can make myself look put together and still be comfortable enough to do all the moving around that I have to do durning the day.

What are your favorite jeans?

That’s a hard question to answer these days. My favorite jeans ever are my 7even A-pockets. They were particularly flattering on my bum and I would wear those jeans until they’d get a hole in the knee and then I’d buy another pair. Another favorite is the Citizens of Humanity Kelly jeans. They’re also a good boot-cut jean and they have a fair amount of stretch that makes them comfortable. I was able to purchase both pairs of jeans in maternity jeans and that was wonderful!

These days, however, things have shifted and none of my old jeans fit yet. Right now I’m wearing a pair of Banana Republic trouser jeans in a very dark wash. They’re flattering and don’t seem to make me look as big as I am right now. I didn’t spend a lot of money on them. But the day that I can fit into my favorite jeans again will be a very sweet day.

I was wondering if you could recommend any budget fashion staples since I am a college student and love the products you often mention but cannot afford them right now!

I’ve mentioned before that I am not a fan of TJ Maxx or Marshalls. I know that some people find amazing things there, but I am patient and I don’t deal with crowds very well. I also get really frustrated when things are disorganized and I can’t figure out where things are. So, I try t0 do any bargain shopping online. I love finding a good sale and I signed up for Shop It To Me over a year ago. I’ve gotten some amazing items through Shop It To Me alerts. I think every girl needs the following items in her closet: a great-fitting crisp button up white oxford shirt, a black turtleneck, a great-fitting pair of jeans that can be dressed up or dressed down (not too trendy), a pair of black pants that will go with almost anything, a comfortable pair of black pumps that are appropriate for dates or job interviews. I know the colors are all basic black and white, but if you get those things in your closet, you can work around them and spend less money on cute, trendy tops and sweaters or a fun skirt. You should have a few things in your closet that make you feel as comfortable as you do when you’re wearing sweatpants and confident just knowing that it fits perfectly!

I really loved when you posted about your clothes and outfits. Will you post more of these in the future?

Absolutely. I’m going to the gym a lot more now, so when I get dressed I put on gym clothes. I know– it’s so glamorous. But I’ll post more. I haven’t been quite as inspired in the cold weather, even though I love cold weather clothes.

Home Decor

Where did you/do you get your great fashion and design sense? You always look so polished and your home is stunning (you know I’m obsessed with your house).

I’ve always loved fashion and home decor. I get it from my mom. She has a great eye and has started a new career for herself in decorating. She always just decorated our homes impeccably and I learned by watching her. Now I watch a lot of HGTV!

One of my rules is that I don’t want my home to look like the pages of a Pottery Barn catalog. I know a lot of people think this is crazy and I do love looking at the Pottery Barn catalog. But I want my house to look like us. Like we live there and made it our own.

So for every brand new piece of furniture in a room, I try to also have something older and interesting. Todd says my style is “neo-traditional.” I like traditional looking pieces, but I like to mix in some modern accessories or a modern chair. I also like to take an antique and put a modern twist on it. Like I have these gorgeous chairs that were my grandmother’s. They needed to be recovered, so I chose a bold, modern print for recovering them.

Accessorize with things you love– beautifully framed snapshots, interesting souvenirs from vacations, a coffee table book about one of your hobbies.

Your home and clothes are always so nice and cute! Do you save for this stuff? If so, any tips? We don’t struggle financially, but I have a hard time saving for big things, especially stuff like furniture.

We try to save all through the year for things like this. This past year has been a little more difficult because we had a baby, but before Hudson, we just saved any of our money that wasn’t needed for our mortgage and our utility bills. Because my mom is a decorator and goes to Market in Atlanta and Dallas, she can get things wholesale. She we just go with her to Market to get our things wholesale through her. This has saved us a ton of money. I know that we’re very lucky being able to do it this way. I don’t particularly care about brands when shopping for furniture– as long as it looks right.

Another thing I’ll do is if I find a chair that I like and the price is right, but I don’t love the fabric, I’ll buy it and have it recovered. And then I still come out ahead in the end than if I’d paid retail at a more expensive store.

It has been completely eye-opening to be able to shop for furniture at wholesale prices. And I will never pay retail again.

Your house is so adorable while still looking grown-up. How do you find decor and accessories to fit your style?

As I mentioned, my style is “neo-traditional.” A lot of our furniture were pieces that I had before we got married or pieces that were passed to us from my parents after they moved. We had a good start and we only had a few things that we had to purchase when we moved into our home. As time went on, we decided to update some things, and we bought a new bed. We got a couple of new chairs and a new sofa. I look everywhere for things that I like and don’t limit myself to one or two stores. I know that I can find great accessories at lots of different places like antique stores and other places. I was at an antique store and found an awesome little desk clock and the fleur de lis that we have hanging on the wall in our bathroom. I paid pennies for it, but both of those pieces are favorites of mine.

How did you start the process of furnishing/decorating for your new home? We’re in a very small condo now with minimal furniture that we will replace when we move into a bigger house and I’m overwhelmed at the thought of having to buy new furniture for every room. How long did it take and any tips? I’ve been googling “average cost to furnish home” so I can get an idea of how much we’ll be spending…I really have no idea how much things like window coverings cost…

As I mentioned above, we both had furniture from our families that neither of them wanted to start with. I had some of my childhood furniture that were antiques and translated well to an adult home. It takes a little while, but my advice is to take it one room at a time. Finish one room before starting another. It will help you stay focused while shopping if you know that you’re only looking for one specific room at a time.

My next purchase will be new dining chairs and draperies for our dining room. But I think we’re going to have to wait until the summer for that one.

I love love love your gallery wall! I have wanted to start one in our home but as soon as I start I get overwhelmed by the amount of pictures, options, keeping it updated, etc.? How did you narrow it down? Did you start small and grow or hang them all at once? Also how frequently do you update the wall?

I’m ashamed to admit this, but I haven’t updated our gallery wall with Hudson’s newborn photos by Millie Holloman or our most recent family shoot with Tracy Turpen. I did buy prints from both of those sessions, but I haven’t had them framed.

But I had all of the wedding photos that I wanted framed. I chose those just based on my absolute favorites and the ones that I thought would look most interesting on the wall. I chose photos of our parents, our friends, my brother, our dog. I wanted there to be pictures of everyone on the wall. We did hang them all at once. Once they were framed, I laid them all out on the floor in a grid and just kept rearranging until it was right. Todd starting hanging and did a great job.

I had planned to rotate the wall and take about half of the wedding photos down, but we still haven’t had the Millie Holloman and Tracy Turpen photos framed. Framing is obviously the expensive part, and I don’t skimp on this. I know I could frame them in inexpensive frames, but I spent a lot of money on the photos themselves. The framer that we use puts them under protective glass and it really preserves the photos. We just need to go have them framed, but I’ll show an updated gallery wall photo when we get it all done.

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Thank you so much for all of your questions. I’m so excited to share the answers with you. I can’t believe how many fun questions there were!

There are a couple of things (my health and our finances) that I may be a little vague about, but I’m not opposed to emailing anyone more information if you’d like it. The internet is a big place, so I’ve got to be a little careful.

I’m not going to be able to answer all 100-something questions in one post, but I’ll take it one question at a time and will hopefully answer all of them before the end of this week. (The questions are italicized and bolded and my answers are below.) I’ll be answering in the order that they were asked, so if you’re looking for the answer to your specific question, just look back at the comments to see where you are on the list.

So my question, when are you going to come to Dallas and take me clothes shopping? You know I can’t dress myself.

I love to shop and I’m happy to come help you shop for your wardrobe anytime I’m in Dallas!

You said that you had troubles with childbirth? What happened? Also, do you plan on having more children?

(I want to just mention that I’m happy to answer this question without it being TMI, but I just request that no one respond and tell me why these things happened to me. It has been a tough road.)

My actual delivery was not a problem. It took a long time because I was induced at 39.5 weeks. They decided to induce me because it was obvious that Hudson was a large baby (9 lbs 6 oz) and any longer in there would mean an even larger baby. I was in labor (via pitocin) for 25 hours with 2 hours of pushing. None of that was much of an issue because I had the epidural. I had to have an episiotomy because of Hudson’s size and that is definitely the absolute worst thing about childbirth. When I got home everything was fine and then two days later I started having problems. I went back to the doctor and it was confirmed that my episiotomy had broken down. The stitches were no longer in tact. I went back four weeks later to have it repaired—which meant six more weeks of recovery. One more surgery is required to make sure everything is back to normal. This is one of the reasons I plan on having a c-section next time around. Once I get completely healed and get everything back in perfect condition, I don’t want to risk going through any of this again.

That being said, I definitely want more children. I love being a mother and would really love to have a large family. I know I’ll enjoy it when the kids are young and I know it will be a lot of work. But I really look forward to having 3 or 4 grown kids, their spouses, and their kids all at my house at Christmas!

How tall are you? I know that’s a weird question, but I always wonder how tall people are.

I’m 5’8” tall. While I’m fairly tall, I do not have long legs. My torso is long and I always have trouble finding shirts that are as long as I want them to be.

What is your housework routine? Are there certain days you perform certain tasks at home or just whenever they need to be done? Do you do all of your laundry at once or daily? You just seem so organized and your house looks so clean in all of your pictures. I need your tips.

I don’t really have a housework “routine.” We have two dogs and they shed and bring in lots of leaves from the outside. I keep up with their messes on a daily basis. That usually means vacuuming one room or another every single day. I clean the kitchen countertops on a daily basis. I do laundry once a week, but if there is a lot of laundry piled up and I have some spare time I may do it two or three times a week.

My “secret” is that I have cleaning people that come every week. They clean the first floor every week and they clean the whole house every other week. They do a pretty deep cleaning every single week and take care of all of the dusting. I thought that I’d be able to keep up with it all when I started staying home with Hudson, but there isn’t a good way to keep up with the dog hair and get everything clean all at once.

What is your favorite part of being a mom to adorable Hudson? How has your relationship with your husband changed since having a child?

My favorite part about being a mom…I’m not sure there’s just one favorite thing. I love the amount of love that Hudson and I share for each other. I love how the love between Todd and me multiplied after Hudson was born. It is so much fun to watch him learn things and do new things and think, “Wow! He’s mine! We made him!”

What are a few “staple” items you would recommend to add to your wedding registry? Any unnecessary items you wish you had left off of your registry?

I loved registering for our wedding gifts! There are some obvious gifts like the Cuisinart food processor (11 cup, not 14 cup) and the KitchenAid stand mixer. But the things that I am most happy to have nearly two years later are the gorgeous serving bowls and platters and the oven-to-table pieces. Our pattern (Juliska) had a lot of gorgeous oven-to-table baking dishes and they are just gorgeous! You don’t even need platters with these. It’s so nice to have so many gorgeous serving pieces if you’re hosting a dinner party, a shower, or just having friends over for dessert.

Do you ever have bad days…when Hudson is difficult or you and TC argue? You always seem to have it together, very inspiring. Please tell me you have bad days.

We definitely have our share of bad days. I try to put a good idea of what our real life is like (the good and the bad), but I also don’t want to document that bad parts of our life. I don’t need to look back and remember a silly argument that TC and I had over taking the trash out. And I don’t want to write too much about how often Hudson cried on a particular day. Those aren’t the things that I want to remember in 10 years. I’ll always know that they happened, though.

Life with a baby can be very stressful. Sleep is hard to come by for  a few months and everyone just wants to make the baby happy. But when you’ve gone without a good night’s sleep, the slightest thing can upset you. We have just as many marital spats as any other couple. But we love each other and we love our little boy and we just try to forget about the bad stuff.

Erin-I love reading your blog…I’m not sure how I first stumbled upon it, but it’s definitely one of my daily reads. I am so excited to be able to ask you a question!

Our engagement pictures did NOT turn out well, and I’m nervous about how our wedding pictures will look. You have so many fantastic photographs–I actually emailed your photographer asking if she had our date available, and she didn’t:-(. However, I’m wondering whether or not you sat down with her and talked about shots you wanted on your big day-or did she just know to do them? The pictures I’ve seen from your wedding are so beautifully composed that I can’t help wanting to have some shots be similar at mine. Let me know if it was just Kelly Moore’s great style, or if you gave her direction in what you wanted. Thanks!

p.s. I’m a Carolina Herrera/Manolo Blahnik bride, too! My shoes are silver…I really wanted something I could wear after the wedding, so refused to go with ivory.

Wedding photography! Such a fun topic!

We loved our wedding photographer so very much. I completely trusted her, her style, and her ability to do an amazing job. I can honestly say that I didn’t give her an ounce of direction. We had a beautiful venue, and it was a pretty day. I had fun umbrellas for my bridesmaids as part of their gift and we decided to use them in our bride/bridesmaids photos. But Kelly gave us all the direction and we followed her. She has an amazing eye for what will be beautiful in an image. And it could be the most ordinary thing. I didn’t give her a list of “must shoots.” We had about 30 minutes devoted to posed photos and Todd and I saw each other before the wedding. We spent about 45 minutes doing our own little session. The only “must shoots” were of family and my family was where they were supposed to be at the right time for those.

I think it’s very important to be organized and to let your photographer know what kind of wedding photos you like. But I also think you’re cheating your photographer if you tell them you want your photos to look exactly like another photo that you like.

It’s also very important to trust your photographer and their previous work. You chose the photographer, so let them do what they do best. In your case, not liking the way your engagement photos turned out, you should sit down with your photographer and be honest. Tell him or her what you didn’t like and how you hope it will be better at your wedding.

Confrontation is never fun, but it’s so much more important to have your one and only shot at gorgeous images on your wedding day turn out exactly the way you want them to.

Best wishes to you!

How many children do you want to have?

I think I’d love to have three or four children. But ask me again after we have our second child!

Was there anything you wish you could have changed or done differently at your wedding?

Our cake. It was delicious, but I was never happy with the way it looked. I wanted the cake design to replicate the lace design that we used on our save the date, invitations, programs, and wedding signage. The cake-maker was never confident making the lace and my vision just never came to fruition.

What are some things you are looking forward to wearing in the spring?

I really love winter clothes. I hope I’m not the only one. You know, I’m trying not to start browsing at spring clothes because I don’t need to purchase anything. I also just look forward to wearing clothes in my pre-baby sizes. It could be plain old t-shirt. I just want it to fit!

I’ve recently had a career change and am very interested in the potential of doing some wedding planning. Any tips on how to get started? A cousin of mine is getting married this summer and has asked me to help her with planning her ceremony. I know experience is a great place to start but where to go from there? Also, best resources you would recommend?

You are so fortunate to have a loved-one that wants you to help. I think that is the best way to get started. You have a “client” that already trusts you and wants you to be in charge. As far as planning a ceremony, I would watch videos and look at ceremony programs of lots of different ceremonies. It’s nice to see what you like and what you don’t like. I’d also ask to get a list of all the songs in advance so you can plan everything out ahead of time. You definitely want to be prepared and know exactly what’s going to happen before you see everyone. Ask the bride to give you a list of the attendants in order by height before the event. The maid/matron of honor and best man will know their placement in the line up ahead of time. But the others should be placed according to their height.

The biggest tip I can give is to listen to the bride and groom and honor their wishes. You can tell them what you think looks best and works best, but nothing feels worse to a bride than having a ceremony director that won’t listen to her or let her do some things her way. Trust me, I’ve been to those weddings and it’s not a happy place.

What are some of your favorite blogs to visit? Friends and people you don’t know.

My most favorite blogs are the ones that are written by my best blog friends, fellow mommy friends, etc.  Make Mine a Mojito, Elefantitas Alegres, It is Everlasting, According to Nina, Kelly’s Korner, Tales of the Trees, Spice and Sass, Southern Daze, Living our Own Fairy Tale, Pretty in Pink Megan, Puttin’ on the GRITS, Slynnro, All Things Fluffy, Fashionable, and Famous, In This Wonderful Life, and In No Simple Language. There are lots more! There are a few design blogs and wedding blogs that I just adore (This Young House, Brooklyn Limestone, EAD, EADL, Style Me Pretty, Southern Weddings), but I love catching up with my friends every day and seeing what they’re up to!

My favorite blogs are the ones that give me a true glimpse into someone’s life. It really is like checking in with your friends every day.

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The weeks sure do fly by! We’ve had a week of highs and lows and I’ll share it with you.

1. Our family pet, Beaux (short for Beauregard), lived the last of his days yesterday. I’ll do a full tribute post for Beaux someday soon just so you can all hear his story, but for now I’ll just give you the short story. We got him when I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. He was a beautiful, sweet Golden Retriever, and was honestly the best dog I’ve ever been around. He was incredibly obedient and still very sweet. My mom and dad are struggling as they are constantly reminded of him. He was 12 years old and just a great boy. We got to spend a full week with him in Tennessee over the Christmas holidays and it was wonderful. We’re going to miss Beaux a lot.

2. Todd and I have a really fun weekend planned with a yummy dinner at Rosso tomorrow night then we’re going to see Sherlock Holmes. We’ve really been on a movie-going kick lately. And I love it. We both have breakfast plans on Saturday and dinner plans on Sunday night. We’re looking forward to a good weekend.

3. The SEC reigns supreme! Congratulations to Alabama for winning the BCS National Championship! Of course I’m happy that a school from our conference won, but the whole thing was very bittersweet. It was so sad that Colt McCoy was hurt so early in the game and unable to play in such an important game. For him and for his team. Then, when Gilbert, the back up quarterback came in. Holy smokes. Don’t you know he was just terrified? I’m sure he had no idea that he would really have to play in that game. But then as he found his confidence and got better and better, I started wanting Texas to win! I just love a good story and I’m glad that he was able to give Alabama a good fight! I’d say it was a good game.  And I made Weight Watchers Taco Soup for the game- watching fun!

4. I am loving all of your questions! Thanks for playing along. I will answer them this weekend and post them on Monday and Tuesday of next week. So go ahead and post more questions if you want to!

5. I have a good week of making healthy choices. I’ve worked out 4 days this week and I’m feeling great. I just hope I start seeing results soon.

Happy weekend, everyone! Stay warm!

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