Not Another LA Blonde

Tag: love

  • 5 Things I Learned in 2017

    Y’all can we just take a second and let it sink in that it is actually 2018 already. Personally, I feel like my whole month is already booked. I’m busy every weekend and I don’t see any signs of it slowing down! For me, January is filled with basketball games that my girls have to cheer at and competitions pretty much every Saturday and then wedding things every other day of the week.

    With all that being said, there are a few things that I learned in 2017:

    1. Don’t let the small stuff bother you: In my opinion this is huge. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to stop and think about what is worth getting into an argument about. I’ve learned that not everything is worth getting mad about and that some things are just out of your control no matter how hard you try to keep it in your control. This is a constant struggle for me because I let everything get to me ALL the time.
    2. Take time for you: Be a little selfish. You only have one life to live, so say no sometimes. Take the time you need to become the best version of yourself.
    3. Don’t tell your secrets to everyone: Ah this is another huge one! I’ve learned the hard way that you can’t trust everyone even if they seem like you can. Find your trusted friend, coworker, family member or whatever and hang on tight to them. Not everyone needs to know everything about your life. There are people out there who would love to know every little dirty secret, but they don’t have your best interest at heart.
    4. It’s ok to cry: I’m a huge crier ALL THE TIME!! My parents and brothers actually use the phrase “When is she not crying?” when describing me. 2017 brought A LOT of tears. Wedding planning is hard y’all and the tears come easily.
    5. Let go: let go of the need to control everything. Let go of the self doubt. Let go of any negativity. Let go of anyone holding you back. Just let go of it all. Learn to delegate. Know that you can’t take on the whole world all by yourself. There are people who want to help you.

    2017 was quite a year. I had plenty of self doubt, there were tears (more than I’d like to admit), there were days that I just wanted to run away from everything and say see ya later. I also learned quite a bit about people this past year. Who knew that planning a wedding would be so stressful when people tell you that it’s the best time of your life? I see other people being successful and I wonder when it will be my turn or if my blog will ever be more than just a hobby?

    BUT don’t get me wrong, 2017 was filled with soooo many great things and I’ve been blessed to live the life that I have (you can read my 2017 post here), but it doesn’t mean every day was easy. Things take time and I want y’all to remember the 5 things I talked about above and learn with me. I want to keep growing to become the best version of myself.

    I can’t wait to get further into 2018 and to see what not only the year has in store for me, but what God has in store for me and my soon-to-be husband AND I can’t wait to share it all here with you!

    XOXO

  • The Engagement Party

    The Engagement Party

    Happy Monday y’all!! I know that last week I only posted one time but like I told y’all, I’ve been super busy these last couple of weeks. Here I am to tell you what I’ve been up to…the Fiancé and I finally celebrated our engagement with our families this past Saturday. It was a TON of work but the final outcome was everything I hoped it would be.

    Ok, so for starters, we’ve been planning this party since about May. It was supposed to be in July, but my future in-laws house wouldn’t be done with their remodel by the beginning of July so we pushed it back to the beginning of August instead. The remodel at the house should have been done around mid-July, but as of Monday of last week, it still wasn’t finished (eek, talk about stressful!). So we were about a week out and the remodel seemed to be never-ending and I honestly didn’t think it would be done in time. I think magic was made because by Friday, the bathroom and living room were about 95% done and the backyard had grass and was landscaped making the remodel pretty much done.

    Friday morning my mom and I went to DTLA so that I could pick up the flowers I needed to make all the centerpieces. As soon as we got to my house, I finished the welcome sign that would be hung for people to see as they walked in and then got to work on cutting and arranging flowers. Once we were done with those, we headed over to the fiancé’s house to start setting up (there were still tons of workers there so not much got done). We all worked really hard on Friday to get as much stuff set up as possible.

    Saturday morning rolls around and we head back over to the house to finish setting up all the details. Let me tell you, it was not smooth sailing, there were lots of sweat, tears and threatening to cancel the party (what are y’alls thoughts on kids at an engagement party?) Anyway, we got it all resolved and ended up with 100 people over at my future in-laws house for the party. I made most of the decorations used at the party and my parents helped me with pretty much anything I needed. My future husband’s parents also helped us out a lot too. Even though all of our bridal party couldn’t be there, we had such a great time with everyone who was able to make it. I can’t thank everyone who helped out enough for being there for us even when I was being such a pain!

    Here are some pictures of the decorations I made for the party:

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    Here are some shots of us, the bridal party and our parents:img_6506img_6510.jpg

    Sunday afternoon the fiancé and I opened our gifts and were pleasantly surprised at how generous people were (any money we got is going straight into the wedding fund account because every little bit helps)! That’s all for my fun-filled weekend. I hope y’all went and did something fun and didn’t work too hard!

    XOXO

  • Wedding Venue Shopping Pt. 1

    Wedding Venue Shopping Pt. 1

    Happy Sunday y’all! I hope you’re out there having brunch and sipping on mimosas!

    As you all know, I got engaged in November and I said that I would post about my adventures of wedding planning. I’ve said from the beginning that I didn’t want a Wedding Planner because I don’t want someone to come in and change all of my ideas, plus I’m controlling and like to be in charge at all times!

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    Yesterday Mr. Fiancé and I went with my parents to check out a venue that I’ve had my eye on for probably a year now. It’s basically an empty warehouse, but with the right touches it would be perfect for the country rustic theme we want. When we left there everyone but me was a little less than thrilled about the venue. Of course I was heartbroken because this is what I’ve wanted for so long that I really hadn’t looked at any other venue.

    Here is what the space looked like on our walk-through

    Once I calmed down enough and actually talked about it, I did realize that there were a few flaws in the place that I’ve worked up so much in my head. For starters, the lady that we met with didn’t have a portfolio of prior events that have been held there, something that might show what the space looked like all done up since, like I mentioned before, it’s literally an empty space. There were a few other things that once I thought about it didn’t like either:

    • They have these support poles that are half painted yellow (you can have white drapes put on them)
    • There is no private bridal room
    • There is no on-sight kitchen (everything has to be catered)
    • There is no separation from the cocktail hour space to the dinning space (I know this might seem silly to some people)
    • You also have to bring in your own dance floor and extra lighting

    Here are some pictures of how beautiful the venue looks when it is all done up and is exactly the reason I want to have my reception here! In my opinion, it is just so different than other weddings I’ve been to.

    This is a photo of what that same space looks like done up for a wedding! Isn’t is just so beautiful though?

    I absolutely love this bar area! It fits perfectly with the theme we are trying to obtain!

    That being said, I will be open minded and start looking at my other options but I know that I don’t want to compromise so much that it’s no longer the wedding that I’ve always envisioned for me and Mr.

    Until next time!

    XOXO