honeymooning in bora bora

"Holy sh*t!, this place looks like a sceensaver," said Jon Favreau's character in Couples Retreat. And I cannot think of a better description.  It was like something out of a dream

Sometimes when traveling, the photos you see online of destinations tend to be a bit better than the reality {thank you, photoshop}.  But not here.  Bora Bora was so much more beautiful in person than the photos we saw online.  It was quite literally paradise.

We took three planes and a boat to get to the resort.  Door to door it was about 18 hours of travel and completely worth it.

{the view from our bed}

Honestly, I had no idea these shades of blue existed naturally, without paint or the touch of digital enhancement.
  

{morning coffee}

{yep, that's a shark}

{this photo is straight out of my canon rebel- isn't that color amazing?!}

LMF

Our St. Helena weekend wedding

We did it!  We're married!  

It's such a cliché, but the day really flew by so fast.  

I'm trying my best to hold on to and remember every detail.

My friend, and our fabulous photographer, left our wedding and immediately sent us a photo from the day.  Seriously, how awesome is that?

What a perfect moment she was able to capture.  I am beyond grateful.

And beyond grateful to that man in the photo above, for marrying me.
I truly don't know how I got so lucky.

Why am I online 2 days after our wedding  Well, due to some commitments at work, I wasn't able to take a ton of time off.  But there was just enough time to get married and have a fabulous week-long honeymoon in Bora Bora, and for that I am grateful.

We leave tomorrow night. 

See you in a week!

LMF

wishing your life away

I've had so many things to look forward to these past few weeks: my bridal shower, friends weddings, our wedding in two days, our honeymoon...and many things unrelated to weddings too.

I find myself saying, "I can't wait 'til it's the weekend." Or "I can't wait 'til our honeymoon." 

Like, I just wish it would get here faster.

Whenever a phase like that goes through my head, I hear my mom say, 

"Don't wish your life away, Lauren." 

I don't think I really understood what that meant when she first started saying that to me.

But I do now.  

Today is my first day off work for our wedding this weekend.  My mom and I are having mani / pedi's together, picking out the flowers for the bouquets, and making candy as thank you gifts for the vendors that we're working with on Saturday. And that is all I'm going to think about.

Today, I am wishing that it is today.

LMF 

image via

fall

{image via | words via Jim Bishop}

It's officially fall.

I've always loved this season.  

I loved the start of the new school year - shopping for school supplies and new school clothes. 

Fall was one of my favorite seasons in Paris too. The tree-lined streets were gorgeous.  

And Northern California doesn't disappoint.  I love the colors of the vineyards during this season.  Plus I'm a sweater weather kinda girl.  And this is the month where San Francisco really shines.

But now, even more so, this season, September to be exact, may be my new favorite going forward.  

I marry this guy in five days.

{paris - september 2012}

LMF(D)

tahoe weekend wedding

We drove up to Lake Tahoe this weekend to watch some amazing people become an even more amazing couple.

It was a gorgeous wedding overlooking the beach with a gorgeous mountain backdrop.  Even more gorgeous was how the groom couldn't stop staring at his bride.

This is the one photo I took at the wedding.  I read this a while ago and decided to put my phone away, let the professional photographers document the occasion and just enjoy myself and celebrate.  Congrats E&H!

The morning of the wedding Dan and I walked around the lake.  

I love Tahoe.  It reminds me that I live in such a fantastic place: California. 

Beaches, ocean, mountains, cities, country, vineyards, snow, sun, we've got it all.

Dan skipped rocks.  

I can't.  It's like whistling {another skill I don't possess} the harder I try the worse it looks.

P.S. Did I mention I'm marrying this guy in less than 3 weeks :)

LMF

Hostess gifts

My bridal shower is tomorrow.  We've already received a few wedding gifts and honestly, every time I'm handed a gift I can't believe that I'm marrying my favorite person and people are buying me gifts for it.  It just seems crazy!

A close friend of my future mother-in-law is throwing the shower, which is beyond generous.  It's a lot of work to throw a party, especially a shower, I think.  I mean most, if not all, of the guests are people she's never met before.  I am so so grateful.  

I've been trying to come up with a sweet gift to bring her as the hostess.  

Here were a few of my ideas.

{stationary 1 / 2 / 3 | cheese knives | candle | homemade treats}

After our moves this summer, I've sort of been feeling like we have so much "stuff".  So I thought maybe it would be nice to get her something that she could use rather than something that would add to our growing collection of "things".

Last weekend while in Napa, I stopped at my favorite olive oil company (aptly named Napa Valley Olive Oil Manufacturing Company) and picked up a large bottle of their amazing olive oil and their pomegranate balsamic vinegar {so delicious on salads especially with strawberries or peaches}.

A friend I used to work with, always wrapped her packages in fabric swatches.  It looked so pretty and so unique.  And with inspiration from this pin, I decided to wrap my gifts in pretty dishtowels from Anthropologie for an added gift.

I wrapped each bottle in a dish towel with raffia and then included a recipe for my favorite meyer lemon olive oil bread.

Hope she likes it!

Happy long weekend!

LMF

Roaring 20's

This is the year of weddings for me.  So many friends are getting engaged and getting married this year.  And I am loving it! The showers, the brunches, the bachelorettes, maybe even more than the weddings themselves.  It's so nice to have so much girl time.

This weekend we had a bachelorette party for my friend Jaliffa.  Her matron of honor, Erin, (and soon-to-be sister-in-law) planned this fabulous Roaring 20's party.

I'm not usually into costume parties. For some reason I just don't really like dressing up as something else. I've never really been a fan of Halloween.  

But Saturday night was so much fun! My "costume" was a black cocktail dress and heels so maybe that's why I was good with it.  It was so much fun to see everyone dressed up.

Erin had feathered headbands and strands of pearls at everyone's place-settings so those of us who had dressed a bit more 21st century still looked the part.  A few fake cigarette holders were floating around too.

LMF

P.S. You were missed, Lo!