I like Twigs

after debating the barn vs. ballroom for HOURS... we have come to the conclusion that twigs are key...

and thats all we got...

Productive Weekend

Though it was stressful at times, this weekend actually delivered.

We have narrowed it down to two choices... BOTH within our budget, and BOTH are beautiful.

The Officer's Club at Ft. Belvoir...


And the Stable at Bluemont Vineyard...


Everyone let me know what you think!

Colors were more fun when you were little... Part 2

Here is what I meant by my blue and green, or purple and green color schemes...

But I really am leaning towards the blues and greens- and yes those are paint swatches... It really helps having two design students as roommates :o)

I HAVE ACTUALLY made a semi-DECISION!

Ta DAAAAA-- Yes I have made a decision... one little teeny decision!

You know those wonderful roses Corey sent me for Valentines day... well this is what they look like today...


BEAUTIFUL!

I am so in love with them I want to use 'old' roses for the center pieces... like 3 -4 days old so they are big and open like this! And this actually will be helpful since I... and by that I mean WE... are making center pieces ourselves!

Not this color... don't know what color yet... thats why its only a semi-decision... ;oP

Colors were more fun when you were little...

OK I am struggling! I still have not really set any color scheme for this shin dig... HELP

I kinda like these though...

These lovely "Boards" came from Snippet & Ink good site for some inspiration.

So I guess we are somewhere with Greens, Blues, or Purples? Ugh, still have no idea... and does it matter that my wedding date could be practically any time between January and April? AHH

I have TWO exams this week...

And this completely explains why I would rather be doing wedding stuff than study... notice the TINY 'work' area hahahaha

This one's for you...

This is for those of you who think that a nice summer outdoor wedding would just solve all of our problems...

Amanda's Reasons for wanting an indoor WINTER wedding...

1. No one likes a sweaty bride
2. No one likes a sweaty father of the bride
3. No one likes mosquitoes in their wedding cake
4. No one likes Virginia's weather - any time of the year!
and last but not least...
5. No one wants to see one of these at the wedding of their dreams...
I mean I am very into the rustic wedding... but more of the chic rustic... which includes running water ;oP

Watch out bridesmaids...

Since the location shopping has been so traumatizing... I would rather spend my time shopping for bridesmaid dresses... NOT the wedding dress- that seems stressful too- I'd rather dress other people ;o)

So remember the next couple months you should probably randomly send me presents or love notes because you know its MY day soo you may end up in one of these lovelies...

Oh and boys don't think you are safe here either...

Click Here for more ugly dress fun!

I Hate Valentines Day...

So I may hate Valentines Day, and I may hate the fact that I never actually get so see my Valentine on Valentine's Day... BUT I do love presents, and I Certainly love, love, LOVE Mr. Corey Dahl!

Be jealous ladies, because Corey is getting pretty good at this whole perfect guy thing! ;oP

Invites

So I got a present in the mail today, kind of nice since I haven't recieved any wedding mail in a while...

Here's what I got:
Invitations! Ok this is part of the fun of wedding planning... not astronomically expensive, and not really even that hard to choose... I am leaning towards square... plain... pretty :o)

Don't know which one yet, guess you'll have to wait and see what shows up in the mail!

Find me this... Here!

Why is it, that in the wee hours of the morning, after searching google, yahoo, goodsearch, I finally FINALLY come across my dream location. Its PERFECT, exactly what I want!...BUT its in North Carolina... kill me, just kill me now.... to look at my dream wedding... that will never HAPPEN... go here http://www.fearrington.com/house/weddingbarn.asp#4

And someone start renovating one of those barns in Nokesville so I can have my damn dream! Thanks!

Location, Location, Location

The bain of my existence at the moment.... LOCATION for the wedding/ reception. Who knew that it would really be this hard? I was thinking look at a few places... see which ones I like... and who ever has the best price wins.... man was I WRONG! This is getting to be really frustrating, and the wedding in Vegas is starting to sound better and better everyday.

This is where we are so far...

The Old Town Hall in Fairfax... Love it, great old town location, buuut its small... really smalll.... Our guest list has definitely out grown it!

Portuguese Club, Manassas...
VERY pretty inside, its a ballroom- but its very classy, and there is LOTS of space, and a great bar in another room. Theres marble floors in the foyer, beautiful hardwood floors, and chandeliers! But haneous outside, teeny windows, and this is one space that is actually too big for our crowd... but theres a disco ball... for real... hahha

Coomber Barn, Herndon...SO I haven't been here yet, this is one of Mom's finds... I told her I want a barn... Wellllll its defiantly a barn on the outside... not so much on the inside! It would take a lot to make this space wonderful, but there are windows... and the price is right.

The Barns at Wolf Trap, Vienna...

My Favorite so far! Its very rustic and different! They are two barns taken from New York and reassembled here in Vienna! I love the flow of the space, and think there is a lot of potential. But I am the only one who as seen it, and the price is a little higher than some of the other places. Hopefully I will be able to get everyone up there to see and they will love it too.

SO those are our choices so far, there doesn't seem to be any more locations big enough for us that meet all of our wants...

We still need a church also, so if you know of any that are near any of our potential locations please speak up!

The Proposal

Finally! After seven long, dramatic, emotional, ahem- wonderful years, Corey and I are finally making it official!

Although I swore I would know when he was going to propose, I have to say I was completely surprised! There were so many times where I thought 'maybe this it it', and was completely wrong, this time he got me- which I have to say is pretty hard to do.

It was Friday December 21st, I was coming back from a long week of "working" at L'Oreal in New Jersey, although there was way more eating going on than actual work. Anyway, after bickering for almost the whole week I was ready to get home, it was my brother's 25th birthday and I missed my puppies Madison and the new addition Cooper- oh and of course I missed Corey ;o)

Looking back I should have thought the 50 phone calls on my drive home were a sign, but Corey always did love the phone, and of course he just missed me so much he couldn't wait for me to come home :o) I was set to arrive sometime around 4:00pm or 5:00pm, and Corey had to work until 6:30pm - or so I thought. as I got closer Corey called and called, and it got to the point of hitting the ignore button! When I finally answered I had to pee so bad and I was counting down the signs to the rest stop, of course answering the phone made me miss it! So I decided to swing by Corey's work (which is right off of I66) for a potty break, and being the lovely girlfriend I scored some tasty treats from the party at L'Oreal, I thought the Koons of Manassas boys and Corey would enjoy. SO I go in and Mr. Dahl is not there! The other advisors and mechanics played it off much better than I thought they would, and they simply told me that he was on a test drive with a customer, I tried to stay and wait but they convinced me it would be a while. Now I'm no idiot, I have listened to Corey talk about Koons for 7 years now, a test drive does NOT take 30 minutes... but anyway I got my potty break, left the goodies for whenever he would return, and got back in the car- to promptly call my boyfriend to see for myself what he was up to. After 3 calls he finally answered- whispering- sticking to the story that he was on a test drive, and it was a problem customer- well my business skills kicked in and I said - well if you're in the car with them DON'T call them a problem to their face! - he rebutted with well SHE's really cool- AHH hah! Caught you! you're out on a test drive with some hussie! ASS! I was so mad, but I just blew it off because of course Corey wouldn't do that! I'll just have him explain later.

Well I finally get home - to Corey's condo- and I walk in to my puppy!! Madison was there to greet me with all her might- she misses me so much it hurts sometimes! I thought oh I love my boyfriend, he brought my puppy for me :o) Then I head upstairs to get the other puppy who is still in his cage, crying like a banshee, I stop to see a note on the door- It tells me how much someone missed me that week, and where I could find my next letter. I toss it on the table and take care of the puppies- they've been inside all day and of course they have to pee. When I got back from our walk I go to check out the second note- which was in the closet with the dog food- at that point I thought the note was from the dogs and there would be some new toys or something to play with, but no just another note, with another lead to a clue. I got to note number 3 easily and again it lead me somewhere else. At this point I knew they were from Corey, but I thought maybe he left me a present somewhere or flowers, something - of course to cover the fact that he was out with some HUSSIE! haha just kidding.

Well I couldn't remember where the water leak started - which was where I was supposed to find note number 4, so I proceeded to unload my car, eat something, play with the puppies, and I almost we out to target for some shopping- I was feeling fat from my week of eating- all of my clothes were snug. Anyway I decided to find my prize first. I looked everywhere- and could not find where the water leak started! I finally called Corey- who remember was at work- and quickly asked 'WHERE did the water leak start?' and he spat off 'the back porch!' I quickly hung up because I knew he wasn't waiting for that phone call, he was waiting for the 'I love you so much thank you for the ___' call, and I thought oooo he's gonna be mad at me for hanging up--- and when I opened the door - AHHHHH Corey was outside!

Now the rest is a little blurry, I remember his face- he looked scared! And I remember him pulling the ring out of his pocket- and opening the box- then I tackled him, started crying, then I gave him the chance to get on the knee- but then I promptly tackled him again- I remember spitting out a YES in my sobbing, but Corey begs to differ, BUT I don't remember him even asking- so THERE were even!

When we went back inside- poor Corey was out there in the cold with a t-shirt on for a while- he gave me my first Bride magazine! Since I always told him I wanted one but it was bad luck to plan your wedding before you were engaged, and the moment he asked me I'd make him drive me to the store to buy me one! He took care of it!

All in all, it was amazing! The fact that he actually surprised me was incredible, and even more incredible that with everything that happened that day I HAD NO CLUE- I guess the blond thing works sometimes.

That night we met up with the family and some friends for Christopher's 25th birthday, we went to Tony's pizza, had pitchers of beer, and headed off to Bowl America- and not the classy one on Balls Ford, we went to the Liberia one! A couple more pitchers, lots of horrible bowling, and a oh so classy announcement on the loud speaker ended our evening perfectly! It may have been a little low class for some, but a night out with the parents and my brother plus the Nasites was the perfect engagement celebration!

I get to Marry my Best Friend!

So I've decided that I am the luckiest girl in the world. Not only do I get to marry a man who inspires me, who supports me, and who loves me, I get to marry my best friend!

For those of you who don't know Corey, I wanted to tell a little about him. I met Corey way back in 2000 when my brother dropped off a friend at his house. Corey was playing basketball outside and ran up to the car to say hello. I was in love - well as much as an 8th grader could be in love! A few years later we started to date, and its been a long road, but every year there is more to love.

Corey is a grown up in a 20 something body. He has always been the responsible one, and has taken on many challenges in the past couple years. He recently bought his first home in Gainesville and he got a puppy to go with it! He also got a promotion at work and is now the GM Service Lane Manager at Koons of Manassas, where Corey has worked since he was 16! Talk about commitment to a company! Corey started parking cars, then he changed oil, became a mechanic, and then a service adviser. At 24 Corey has definitely surpassed everyone's expectations, and although he still gets 'baby face' comments - he always treats all of his customers and colleagues with professionalism and respect.

My favorite thing about Corey - has to be his ability to brighten everyone's day! Corey has always been able to make me laugh, no matter what mood I am in. He is incredibly down to earth, theres not a shy bone in his body, and he is that guy who would do any thing for anyone. Oh and who can't love a guy who enjoys a Cosmo every once and a while! ;oP