Friday, February 28, 2014

Ready for The Red Carpet!

Pals, sorry for the light posting lately. Lots of things going on over here. I promise to try and be better in the future! 

Today is gloriously, finally Friday and I couldn't be more excited... my dear friend Stacy is coming into town today for the weekend! She lives in Denver and has been freezing her butt off the past few months - every time we talk on the phone, I brag about the gorgeous weather here in LA, so she finally booked a ticket. Great, right? Yup - except the biggest rainstorm in years will be hitting LA this weekend. Poor Stace. We'll still manage to have fun, even if it has to be indoors!

I'm also super excited because THIS WEEKEND IS MY SUPERBOWL!!!! Yes friends, Sunday is the Academy Awards and I am SO excited! You all know Ramz and I are huge movie fans and this is our favorite night of the year. A few friends are coming over, I have grand plans to make a cheese platter, and I cannot wait to live-tweet the red carpet. I guarantee you won't want to miss my snarky commentary on whatever god-awful ensemble Anne Hathaway shows up in...


Speaking of the red carpet, I'm leaving you with this little graphic I thought was awesome - a hand-drawn history of every dress worn by each year's Best Actress Winner! So cool. I cannot wait to see what everyone is wearing this year!!!

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: A Visit to A Wedding Fair!

In honor of "Wedding Wednesday" I thought it might be fun to show you all some pictures from a wedding fair my mom and I went to over the weekend!

Truth be told, this was not our first fair. We actually found out about one a couple of weeks after I got engaged and were so excited, we bought tickets to that one without researching it at all. BIG MISTAKE. It was, to be honest, completely awful. Full of tacky vendors and horrible cheesy ideas... I was horrified. 

Since then I've been a little leery of wedding fairs... but surprise surprise, I entered a contest on the wedding blog 100 Layer Cake and actually won! My prize was two tickets to the Wedding Love Tour in Manhattan Beach, and my mom and I spent a few hours there on Sunday and had a very nice time. 

Listen, I love gold glitter more than anything, but even I know the flatware does not need it... that being said, it sure is pretty!


Enormous balloons. I'm obsessed. These are SO fun. 


Look at these gorgeous florals! I absolutely love anemones and thought these bouquets were amazing.



Obviously our favorite part of the fair... sampling treats...


... the funfetti cupcakes were OUT OF THIS WORLD.


Haha mama. Such a little cutie pie.


Of course, we finished our afternoon with a little jaunt inside the photo booth. How could we not?!


There were videographers, registry experts, dress designers, planners & coordinators, calligraphers, you name it. It was a MUCH better experience than the first fair we went to and we actually really enjoyed ourselves.

And speaking of wedding fairs... I'm MOST excited for one that's coming up in a few weeks, put on by none other than my own wedding planners! Bash, Please hosts The Cream every year, and by all accounts it is the wedding fair of all wedding fairs. I cannot wait... I promise to give you all a full report!!! 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

THE BRITNEY RECAP

It's been ten days since we returned from the epicness that was Britney Spears live in Las Vegas. TEN DAYS! How have you all existed without hearing about our queen Britney Jean!?

Let me just get this out of the way up front - the show was awesome and yes, she lipsynced through the entire thing. Didn't open her mouth and sing a single note once. BUTTT her body was BANGIN and she was super smiley and her dancing was on point and she was having fun and NOT going cray and smacking paparazzi with umbrellas while she shaved her head so I was a happy camper. More on this later.

We got to Vegas on Friday night and checked into our hotel - we stayed at MGM this time cuz my gambling has reached the point where I have my own casino host who hooked me up with a super cheap room. I did it! Yayyy. We met our pals for dinner at Shibuya (delish sushi, suuuuuper pricey) and then gambled and drank and hung out all night. 


The next morning, Ram and I headed over to Caesars for some more gambling, followed by a delicious lunch at Spago - smoked salmon pizza for the win, since I wasn't exactly winning at the slot machines.



By Saturday afternoon all of our friends had arrived so we all met up in Aria for some drinks and cake and - you guessed it - gambling. I'm smiling in this picture but I'm mad because I just blew $40 bucks in about twelve seconds on the Sex & The City slot machine. Boo!


I was SO EXCITED for the show on Saturday night I literally was bouncing around. We had a big group dinner at Jaleo in Cosmopolitan and I swear I could not even sit in my seat I was so excited! Here we are before the show and at dinner :)






After we ate, the boys walked us across the street to Planet Hollywood for the show and bid us farewell. We walked into the theater and two things happened immediately... #1 - we spied the ACTUAL RED LATEX ENSEMBLE WORN BY MS. SPEARS IN THE "OOPS I DID IT AGAIN" VIDEO. I let out a shriek of joy and insisted we take a group photo.


#2 important thing that happened: I walked by the "Britney Swag Table" and out of the corner of my eye, spied this here hat. FOUR SECONDS AND WAY TOO MANY DOLLAR$ LATER (seriously don't ask) that puppy was on my head, where it remained for the rest of the evening after we all took turns posing in it. Yes, I'm an adult woman who is engaged to be married.


ON TO THE SHOW!!!! I know I joked about Britney above but honestly, the show was great. I kept looking around at everyone in the audience and thinking about how her fan demographic had changed over the years - I've been to every single one of her tours (with the exception of the Onyx Hotel Tour - the one where she hurt her knee and met K.Fed and it all went downhill and no I don't think that's a coincidence I'M SORRY I WASN'T THERE FOR YOU BRITNEY) and it was nice to see that the whole theater was filled with women (and gays) my age... people who grew up listening to Britney and are still rooting for her, all these years later!


The theater was much smaller and more intimate than I was expecting - we had good seats and were about 100 feet from the stage, which was awesome. We also were sitting in the last row of our section, which proved very helpful as we had a FULL ON DANCE PARTY throughout the concert and at one point, left our chairs entirely and literally danced in the aisle. I have video if you are so inclined :)




OKAY ONE MORE THING I SHOULD MENTION: Britney was BRUNETTE. I don't know about you but this was the one thing that disappointed me. Britney is a blond and I wanted to see her tossing her yellow waves all over the place :(

I have a MILLION more pictures and videos but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is reading who is planning on seeing the show! If you are on the fence... just do it. She's a legend. Come on, you know it's gonna be a good time. 


I already have my tickets to see her again - not kidding, we're going again in May! It's Britney bitch, how could I not?!?!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Warm Weather Wishlist

I'm really sorry for all of you who are freezing your tushes off on the East Coast. Maybe we can switch places? Cuz it's 80 FRIGGIN DEGREES HERE IN LOS ANGELES AND I FOR ONE WOULD LIKE TO WEAR MY CUTE BOOTS AND SWEATERS.

Okay. Maybe I shouldn't yell. I will admit it's kind of nice to eat lunch outdoors on the patio and take leisurely strolls in sundresses and flipflops and sleep with the air conditioning on (all things I have done in the past week).  But here's what the warm weather is doing - it's making me want to start shopping for spring! The stores are full of adorable patterns and bright colors and soft pastels and I'm loving it all :) 

Here are some of the things I have my eye on!


ONE:
I love maxiskirts. I love the color turquoise. And oh boy do I love leopard print. Therefore, I consider this skirt from Anthropologie to be a total no-brainer. WANT NEED.

TWO:
I'm gonna go ahead and deem this a mullet shirt - business in the front, party in the back. ASOS keeps killing it with their dresses and this is no exception.

THREE:
Oh hello, adorable J.Crew tunic. I love your embroidered detailing and subtle stripes. Get in my closet, please.

FOUR:
I am really feeling these Baublebar earrings. I love the shimmery, opalescent stones and unusual shape. So pretty!

FIVE:
Okay, I must admit this is not on my wishlist... because I've already purchased it! It's made out of the softest lightweight material, which means it'll be perfect for spring, but the best part of it is hands-down the little asymmetrical ruffle. It's so sassy! (I think Anthro is sold out online of mine, but this one is super similar!)

SIX:
Look at this little J.Crew cuff! Love the gold studs on the lucite - so chic.

SEVEN:
I'm alllllllll about some new ballet flats for spring. Especially if they come in a gorgeous pale shade of lavender :)

EIGHT:
Okay, okay, I purchased this too. I'm considering wearing it for our engagement pictures - more on that to come! I have always loved long, light, kimono-esque cardigans and tops, and I couldn't resist this one with its beautiful colors and awesome pattern.

NINE:
There's NOTHING about this Kate Spade necklace I don't love. Sparkly bright gemstones? Yes please.
_______________________

I KNOW, I KNOW, I OWE YOU A FULL BRITNEY RECAP!!!! Coming soon, I promise. Spoiler alert: it was awesome and she is my queen. In the meantime, stay warm if you're on the East Coast, and enjoy the sunshine if you're in LA like me :)

Friday, February 7, 2014

BRITNEY HERE I COME

Words cannot EVEN express my excitement right now. This afternoon, Rami and I are heading off to Vegas with a bunch of friends for a weekend getaway. The reason for the trip?

WE'RE GOING TO SEE BRITNEY SPEARS IN CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of you know I am a DIE-HARD, LIFELONG FAN of Ms. Spears, as well as my intense love for Las Vegas. When she announced her residency at Planet Hollywood, I think it took about twelve seconds for me to get on the phone with our friends and make arrangements to see the show ASAP. (As a sidenote, I will also admit I already have tickets to see her again in May. When it comes to Britney, I do not fuck around.)

I leave you with this - the music video for Britney's (You Drive Me) Crazy video, which to this day is my favorite Britney song. Rumor has it she is performing it in her show. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!


Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I'll be back next week with a FULL report on our darling Britney Jean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Our Post-Engagement Party Brunch!

My last post about quiche reminded me that I never shared the pictures from the beautiful post-engagement party brunch that Rami's parents hosted for us the day after the party! I know it's been a few weeks since it happened, but I want to post about all our wedding-related festivities so I'll always be able to look back and remember them :)

Rami's parents invited all of our family members and out-of-town guests to their home the next day - it was so nice to relax in a smaller group, especially with the visitors. The night before was a total blur so it was fun to just sit and chat! How cute is this Paperless Post invitation inviting everyone to continue the celebration? It tied into our black & gold invitations perfectly.


Now onto the food. Have you ever seen anything so freaking gorgeous in your entire life?! I swear, when R's mom said "brunch", I was picturing bagels and cream cheese, not an entire table full of the most delicious breakfast foods in the world. We're talking three different kinds of frittatas, bruschetta, breads and crackers, fruit salad, tomato buratta caprese, veggie platters, and no less than 15 different kinds of cheeses. I'm not kidding.



Oh, and a make-your-own-crepe station! Insanity. Not pictured: the chef making them hot off the griddle! The bride enjoyed a nutella & raspberry crepe, thankyouverymuch, and the groom tried to eat half of it :)


The Arizona crew ate so much at lunch we had to retire to the front yard to walk it off... and take pictures while goofing off :)




Members from both sides of the family had January birthdays, so we celebrated with one big cake for everyone - so nice!


R and the mamas:


Speaking of mamas, this is a cute pic - Ram's grandma and mom, my grandma and mom, and me smack dab in the middle!


Apparently there was an important football game going on that day, so everyone crowded into the den to watch. #sport 


Me and the Bean. And her Chanel. 


Posing with the Mr. & Mrs. balloon with my man. I can't believe I am going to be a Mrs!!!!




Monday, February 3, 2014

"That Is So Quiche."

When I blogged about the White Elephant Party a few weeks ago, I got tons of requests for more information about that quiche recipe! You all have good taste… it is SERIOUSLY delicious!



The recipe is by Martha Stewart – I’ve been making it for a few years now and it does not disappoint… it ALWAYS looks gorgeous, gets tons of compliments, and of course, tastes amazing :) Here’s the original recipe, with my tweaks listed in pink...

Martha Stewart's Goat Cheese Quiche with Hash Brown Crust

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus more for pan
1 package (1 pound) frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
12 large eggs
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1 package (4 to 5 ounces) soft goat cheese, room temperature
4 scallions, thinly sliced
garlic powder
zest from half a lemon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 9-by-2 1/2-inch springform pan with butter. Line the sides of the pan with strips of waxed paper (the same height as pan); brush paper with butter. I did this the first time I made the quiche, but never again. I spray the springform liberally with olive oil spray and have had no issues with the crust sticking.
Squeeze excess moisture from hash browns. Mix in a bowl with butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and a couple of good shakes of garlic powder. Pat into bottom and up sides of prepared pan, using a moistened dry measuring cup. I use my hands to pat the hash browns into place - I leave about an inch of space at the top of the rim. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk sour cream, goat cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until well combined; whisk in 11 remaining eggs, scallions, and the lemon zest. Pour into crust and bake until set, 45 to 50 minutes. 
The quiche should jiggle only a little bit in the center when it's done. Take it out of the oven, let it cool slightly, and undo the springform pan after about 10 minutes.

The goat cheese with the green onions is a really great combination, but I've also made it a few other ways:
- Caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms
- Sliced tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese
- Chicken apple sausage and sauteed garlic
- Spinach and feta cheese

It's the perfect brunch dish - delicious and substantial, but gorgeous enough for a fancy party too. I hope you try it and love it as much as I do. 

By the way - if you don't understand the title of this post, click here and watch this. YOU'RE WELCOME! #soquicherightnow