Flowers, flowers, flowers

Wedding Motto #2: The things you love and care about will surprise you. It's okay.

I heart flowers. I'm surprised by this really because for awhile I thought I didn't. I was convinced I'd just order some flowers on the internet, throw em in a vase, and be done.

But then I saw pictures like this:

image here

And this:

pretty pretty image here

I was in love.

With these:

ranunculas. hard to spell, but so pretty image here

You may have noticed I'm also in love with peonies. But we have a September wedding. So sadly those are out.

So that is my current love affair. Now I need to choose some colors...

What about you? Any surprising flower love? Fave flowers?

You can follow my flower pinboard (and all my wedding lovelies) by clicking here

The one where we choose a venue and go with it.

Wedding motto #1: Just go with it.

After a lot of internet research and absolutely zero in person viewing we decided on a venue. Planning from LA is tough, but it also helps us to make decisions and just go with it. No agonizing over five thousand visits to different venues. No worrying that we should see just.one.more. Nope, we made a spreadsheet, weighed some pros and cons, and in the end went with our guts.

So what did our gut tell us?

The Newberry Library with a wedding in the park across the street.

image via

Here is beautiful Ruggles Hall, where we will have our reception.

Image via here

Cocktail hour will be in the lobby with this gorgeous staircase:

no clue who they are, but won't it be fun to have a grand entrance down this baby? image here

Here's another view:

image here

The ceremony (with the as yet undetermined officiant) will be held in Washington Square Park:

wait till you see my fun ceremony decor ideas...

image via

So why did we pick it?

• It's a downtown venue, which we really wanted. It's close to the lake, near lots of hotels, and close enough that I can get that law school classroom shot I've been dying for :)
• You can use any vendors you want--huge plus
• You can use a caterer who lets you bring in your own booze. Enormous plus (read more later about our fun "beers where we've lived" plan)
• Sweet non-profit vibe. Their brochure is a word doc. No joke.
• Affordable (for a downtown venue) and comes with those lovely opera chairs!

So there you have it! We booked her sight unseen. I confess my parents took a peek at it and loved it so we aren't totally blind here. It was booked up solid through next August so we will be tying the knot September 22, 2012.

Can't wait.

Mean Lawyer Girlfriend No More!

This Mean Lawyer Girlfriend is now officially an **ENGAGED** lawyer :)

We were at the top of our favorite hike in LA and Doug asked me to be his wife. It was perfect.

Ross Dress for Less, I Judged You

I admit it. I was totally judgey when it came to Ross Dress for Less. I had seen them around over the years and just assumed it didn't have things I would like. I had no good reason for this, no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, to support my snap judgment. I just thought I wouldn't like it.

It was similar to the way I always went to Target over Kmart. I totally judged Kmart too (and was wrong). I just thought I'd prefer Loehman's or Marshalls and was too lazy to go into Ross.

Well today I proved myself wrong. I had to restrain myself from buying everything in there. (okay maybe not everything). But I spent about $60 and walked away with some pretty rad stuff:

• A Calvin Klein pencil skirt--$7.99 (you read that right) I'm in love
• Fifty bajillion frames (including matting) for about $3-8 each. Yes please.
• Printed linen fabric canvas. $7--for real. Loves it
• Swanky looking printy thing to hang in my office (a splurge at $16.99)
• Microfiber dish clothes in fun, bright prints (my mom and sister will tell you how badly I needed theses)
• Welcome mat area rug thing--$4.99
• Bath mat--$3.99

Seriously, amazing deals. And cute stuff.

So Ross Dress for Less, I apologize for being judgey and will judge no more. You are a quality place and I could have spent far more than I allowed myself.

so if you were judgey like me, do yourself a favor and check them out!

ps--i realize pictures would have helped this post, but i'm lazy