Birthday Beauty

I got some pretty great beauty products for my birthday. Does my family know me or what? I can't wait to try out this oxygen peel from Philosophy. I am already addicted to Philosophy's cleanser, Purity and the moisturizer Hope in a Jar. Philosophy+My Skin=The Perfect Match because my skin has never looked or felt better since I started using Purity. The peel has great reviews and it claims to reduce oiliness and minimize pores. I can't wait to try it out. I'm going to start this Sunday!

I returned the other Remington straightner with the extra long plates because the handle got too hot and I burnt my fingers. I haven't tried this one out yet, but it's a standard 1'' plated Remington (but with an pretty design). I love the pink leopard, don't you?

Lorac Couture Shine in Vintage

When I had my bridal makeup trial run, the makeup artist used this pretty, neutral lip gloss. I knew I had to have it and so, my soon to be sister in law surprised me with this for my birthday along with the next holy grail product below, Brow Zings!

The MUA also used this product on me- Benefit Brow Zings (in dark) and I was amazed at what a difference it made. I filled my brows in with regular eyeshadow but this is a wax and shadow duo and the color and definition that it gives is unbelievable! First you define your brows with the colored wax and set it with the powder. It comes with a mini pair of tweezers, and angled brush for the wax, and a blending brush for the powder. This is definitely a holy grail product for me now. I'm not sure how I ever did my makeup without it.

My grandmother got me what she refers to as "the signature scent of a bride." It's the original Vera Wang and it smells sooo pretty-very fresh and light.

My Bridal Shower/ Birthday Weekend -Pic Heavy-

This past weekend was definitely one of the best weekends of my life. It was my birthday weekend (b-day was the 18th) and my bridal shower was on Sunday. My shower was held at a local winery and it couldn't have been more perfect of a day. Everything was beautiful, the food was delicious, and I was surrounded by an enormous amount of love all weekend!

All of the following pictures are clickable to enlarge.

To start of, here's my entrance: -carrying a case of toilet paper! You'll see why later

The beautifully decorated room:
The centerpieces were "wine fund" banks that were converted into vases and filled with flowers. I wrote a message on each table's "wine of the day" board.

The amazing dessert table.

If you click to enlarge, you will see the detailed cupcakes my cousin made-they were adorable!

I had a display shower. For those of you who are not familiar, guests bring unwrapped gifts and the gifts are recorded as you come in and then displayed on a table for guests to view at the end of the shower. It was actually nice to not have to open presents in front of everyone because it gave a lot more time to mingle and make my rounds from table to table.

The following pictures are of the display:

Our place settings and serving pieces

My "Little Black Apron" with pearls and all, wedding photo album, pillows, etc.

cake stand, coffee mugs, spice rack, Kitchen Aid mixer!, toaster, skillet, cutlery set, etc.

Notice everything is stainless steel!

Our monogrammed doormat and hand towels.

I adore these!

The head table, with all of my girls!
How awesome is this table?! I love all of the grapes hanging from the top and the huge (heavy) chairs! We all felt like princesses for a day.

One of the games was making a bridal gown out of toilet paper- SO much fun!!

At the end of the shower my fiance came and brought me flowers!

The day of the shower flew by so fast. I can only hope the wedding day doesn't fly by that fast! Thankfully, I have tons of pictures to look back on because the day is such a blur that you don't have time to absorb everything that is going on around you.

Saturday, my BFF/Maid of Honor came in from Philly. We got her dress fitted, did a little shopping, and went to a local bar for some drinks. The next day was the shower and then later that night, we hit the casino for my birthday! I'm still trying to catch up on sleep and it's already Wednesday!

I want to apologize for my lack of posts lately but as the wedding is fast approaching, I find myself with less and less free time. I'll do my best from now until then with posting. I have a couple of shopping hauls that I want to get up here soon...so look for that next!

Shoppng Haul -Dresses & More! pic heavy

I was on a mission this weekend to find 3 dresses and surprisingly enough, I found them all at the same place! I went to the mall and found nothing, then TJ Maxx-nothing, then Marshalls-1 possibility, then Ross- and I found all 3 dresses and more. I love that place!

Bailey Blue

I love the extra tulle underneath that makes it fuller and more "party-like.

This will be worn to either my shower or rehearsal dinner.

I can't decide between this and the next Max & Cleo dress.

Suggestions???

Max and Cleo

I adore the neckline on this dress. It needs to be ironed but this dress is stunning. Shower or Rehearsal dress? please excuse the blue bra peaking out here.

City Triangles

My fun bachelorette party dress.

Strawberry's

Black & Pink Heathered T-Shirts

Strawberry's Hair Clip/Pin

Remington Extra Long Ceramic Plates 1'' Flat Iron

I picked this up at Ross- a $50 straightner for $20- can't beat it!

I wanted one since my hair stylist used a 1'' to create curls so I'll be playing with this in hopes of getting a better curl. Flat iron curls are supposed to hold better than curling iron curls and they're more wavy as opposed to the ringlets you can create with a barrel iron.

Wedding Hair Trial

I had my hair trial the other day and it went perfect! I love my stylist! She totally got what I was trying to explain and what I had pictured in my mind. I am obsessed with my hair. It definitely came out way better than what I had pictured. I want the back to be a little fuller and thicker so I bought clip in extensions.

Anyone have any experience with clip ins?

I have to dye them to match my hair color perfectly so any dying tips are appreciated.

Wedding Wednesday: I'm a 2 Dress Bride!

I'm officially a 2 dress bride! I found this vintage dress on ebay and I couldn't be happier with it. I knew from the second I saw it that it was meant for me- it's girly, pouffy, fun, and sexy!

It needed a little TLC. The beads needed to be tightened, some needed to be replaced, and it needed to be cleaned up. I had the dress dry cleaned and it came out perfectly white, then I dropped it off with my seamstress and she fixed all of the beadwork for me.

I'm so excited to wear this dress! I may be more excited about this dress than I am about my actual wedding gown (that cost wayyyyy more). I haven't decided if I'm going to wear this to the reception or the after party. I want to get as much wear out of my gown as I can so I'll probably slip into this on later on in the night for dancing.

I definitely feel like this is a dress that you will either love or hate.

I happen to love it, do you?

Did you wear or are you planning on wearing a reception dress?