90s Nite, LA Pool Party & Bridal Shower!

Each day of this weekend really deserved it's own post cause they were all so individually fun. But I guess since I don't have pictures to illustrated 2 of them very well, it's better collapsing them anyway.

On Friday, September 7, my coworker love Jessica had her last day at our work. She's going on to another university now and while I"ll miss her endlessly, it will be nice to be able to just be friends now! We started the morning, together with Iris, at IHOP and I went big and celebrated with cupcake pancakes. They were just as delicious as they sounded. Jessica chose the music for our shared office and it had a real 90s kick. I ended up bringing that home with me that night. AJ and I made dinner, put on 90s music, and played MarioKart into the night. We never ran out of 90s music. We started fighting over the direction of the music so we had to take turns choosing 2 songs each. It was pretty nostalgic... everything from Wallflowers, Everclear and Fuel... to Matchbox Twenty, Counting Crows, and I threw in some Jewel haha!

On Saturday, we went up to LA for a massive pool party for two of AJ's friends (brothers) who just happen to have birthdays 3 days apart from one another. It was a good time that even featured it's own donut wall. The pool was freezing.

That's me in the water talking to the girls while AJ and his friends are playing basketball and I'm screaming everytime I'm splashed because it's ice water. I drove home in the evening and left AJ up there, who was spending the night to watch football the next morning.

Then of course Sunday, September 9 was my last bridal shower! It was so great to see everyone who showed up and can we talk about that amazing brunch??? I had no part in the planning or executing, and it was so exciting to see such a beautiful event put on by family and the bridal party. I had a great time there and again - that brunch! It was a gooooood day to not be counting calories!!

Thanks everyone who came - can't wait to celebrate at the wedding with you all too!

Paddleboard Labor Day

I had a low-key three-day weekend, which was exactly what I wanted, so I was happy. I was actually under the weather for a lot of it, which wasn't exactly enjoyable, but it wasn't so bad that I was bedridden, and it made AJ go out of the house with me having an excuse to stay in and enjoy the quiet myself. We still made it out to the Newport dog beach on Saturday, where Anana actually went swimming in the bay pool! That was my first time seeing her swim (she hates water) and she looked MISERABLEEEEEE hahaha, poor baby!

Then on Monday, Kathleen came with me and AJ to go paddleboarding in the Huntington harbor. I had never been to Sunset Beach (hidden gem!) or to the Huntington harbor (that I can remember anyway) and it was so fun and pleasant!

Me trying to sit back down probably lololol

That's Kathleen up there docked for the
camera hand-off

I really, really love paddleboarding. AJ and I did it in Belize and that was my first time doing it. This time it just reinforced how much I loved it. It's so calming and fun and still a workout. I'm shockingly not that fond of the beach, but I do enjoy waterways, so places where you can paddleboard are way more appealing to me than other places.

That evening I spent some time with Khaleesi Bug, who must have had a good day judging by her smug satisfied face and how dirty she is!!

This week is gunna be insane. My best girl here, Jessica, got a new job and this is her last week with us. So on top of all the transition and hand-off, the week is compressed to 4 days so everything is way busier than usual. I barely got to sit at my desk today for the first time at about 3:30!!!

Our Not-Wedding Wedding Date

A friend of mine from my San Diego days is this beautiful Italian girl named Elena. She got married last year on September 2nd and hashtags it often, so I always remember it.

I actually assumed that AJ and I were going to get married on September 2, 2018. We got engaged August 22, were home from Belize August 31, and started the venue search not long after. Because this whole industry is highway robbery, I was researching ways to cut corners, and one big one was always choosing to get married on a day other than a Saturday. We were looking in September 2017 so I figured aiming for about a year out would be safe, and it was a regular question if they had September 2, 2018 available and if they would give the Sunday rate, which was usually cheaper than both Saturdays and Fridays, but some venues were jerks and, taking into account the Monday holiday, still charged the Saturday rates for Sundays of three-day weekends. I also liked 9.2.18 since 9x2=18.

At any rate, we were gunning for September 2, and when we finally found our venue, which was amazing, they didn't change rates for days or seasons, so we weren't beholden to any timeframe and long story short, we loved the idea of December in the end.

Anyways, ever since we booked it I never really thought twice about it, but Elena posted for her one year anniversary today and used her hashtag #2settembre and then I remembered this was almost going to be our wedding day! Can't believe it's already been a year since then. And now we're already down to 97 days. On the one hand, I enjoy all the extra time for planning and saving money and getting things done, but on the other hand I'm starting to get burned out on it and ready to be done with all the planning and stress and looking forward to just getting married!

Okay, hope you all have a lovely Labor Day tomorrow.