LOTS OF NEW UPDATES!

So, I haven't really posted anything recently because not a whole lot has been going on. However, last weekend Perrin and I made the trip back to Madison to do some oh so important wedding planning. The biggest most important thing that happened is that I BOUGHT A DRESS!!

I wont disclose here what it looks like but the detail that I can share is that it is lace and it is BEAUTIFUL. I wasn't planning on buying a dress right away, but with my friends and family sitting around and watching me I just couldn't pass it up.

I go back and forth all the time about showing Corey pictures. In fact, today I almost broke down and showed him pictures of the dress. One minute I can't imagine keeping a secret that big from him for the next year. The next I absolutly want him to be surprised. I have heard both sides of the story and I guess I will just have to decide.

Do I show him a picture of the dress, but not ME in the dress?

Do I keep it a complete secret until that moment he sees me coming down the aisle.

Honestly, I hate secrets and I couldn't keep one if my life depended on it. The dress is just so beautiful and I love it so much I can't imagine not sharing that with him!? AHH I am so confused.

The second big thing we have decided is the venue. We haven't made any plans for sure yet, but after the tour I absoulty fell in LOVE with the Overture Center in downtown Madison. If we go with there the date will be January 19! Which just seems so perfect because then we will get to share our wedding anniversary with one of my best friend's birthday's! Also, it is the day before our little nephew Mason's first birthday. Matt and Kelly, Mason's parents, live very far away and we don't get the chance to see them as much as we would like. How perfect would it be to have them in town with us to celebrate his FIRST birthday!

I don't know about you but it seems like fate to me!

Presca Marie - by Maggie Sottero

Presca Marie - by Maggie Sottero

Wedding Bliss

No new news to report on the wedding planning. The stress and the reality of the whole thing has really come down on us as of late. It doesn't help that I have been walking around without my engagement ring for almost a month! Went to have it re-sized and it came back too small, so we had to send it back AGAIN! It was absolutely devastating. Hoping for my ring back soon.... I will keep you posted.

It's All About the Shoes!

So the most important thing about your wedding day is obviously the dress. However, the second most important thing (the third being the groom) is the shoes! There is just something about putting on a pair of high heeled shoes that transforms you into a whole new person in the 10 seconds or less it takes to slip your feet into them. For a vertically challenged woman like myself, I feel particularly attached to a pair of beautiful 4 inch pumps. Not to mention, the slimming power of the high heeled shoe. Nothing like standing up an extra 5 inches on your tip toes to flatten those abs and tighten those glutes! 

You can bet that if I get my way, I am going to have on a spectacular pair of expensive shoes I can't afford on my wedding day.

Today, I think I might wear Manolo's:

The gorgeous, stunning, satiny ruched Caucedo d'Orsay Manolo Blahnik Pumps. Did you notice how nicely they match my current bridesmaid dress colors? I am dying inside just thinking about these on my feet. 

Meet, my second favorite Manolo's. The only reason these came in second is the fact that they are a little bit overused due to them being the iconic "Something Blue" seen on Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City movie. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE sex and the city, I am just not sure I want it to be a part of my wedding. Again, I said I'm not sure, these may be too gorgeous to pass up. 

If I decide to go with a white shoe, and possibly give up my first born son to Neiman Marcus, the Manolo Swan Embellished Satin Pump are the shoes I would die to wear. I love them. I dream about them. I am not sure that I can live without them for another year. However, they are quite expensive as you might imagine, but so is anything that is embellished with crystals and made in Italy. 

That is enough day dreaming for today....

I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.

Marilyn Monroe

The Proposal

On January 1, 2012, only a few minutes after the proverbial count down, my soon to be future husband and all of my friends took me outside to take pictures. I was the only person in the whole park that had no idea we were not actually out there to take pictures, though pictures were taken for a very different reason.

I hate secrets, I hate not being in the know and I hate not being able to control and anticipate just about everything. So, as all of my friends and family can attest to, keeping a secret from me is no small endeavor. Corey made this surprise possible by tricking me into thinking he was going to propose on Christmas of this year. When it didn’t happen, I was very disappointed, but let go of the idea of being proposed to thinking to myself, and telling all of my friends who secretly knew the whole time, that I was happy with waiting and hoping for it to happen within the year. On New Years Eve 2011, we went out to dinner with all of my best friends in Lowertown St. Paul, I can honestly say that I had no idea what was about to happen. However, the excitement in the air was palpable because everyone else knew what was about to happen.

Across the street from the restaurant we were eating dinner at was beautifully lit Mears Park. Ironically enough, it also happened to be snowing. I love the snow and the winter time, and the huge falling snowflakes and the sparkling lights of the park could not have made the night any more romantic. It was fate that we were there that night with all of our best friends and the snow was falling so perfectly.

Just as I was getting ready to pose for pictures, I turned to Corey and suddenly he gets down on one knee in the snow and looks up at me. It is one of those moments when you know exactly what is happening, but the shock doesn’t allow you to process. All I could think or say or do when I saw the ring in his hand was “what is that?!” He smiled at me the way he does and says, “Lindsay, would you spend the rest of 2012 and every year after that with me?” From that moment on the entire night was a blur. I remember screaming for joy with all of my friends who finally could share their secret with me. I remember clapping and congratulations from everyone. I remember the happiest night of my life, but most of all I remember the tears and happiness in my fiancés eyes.

It was without a doubt, the greatest night of my life. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect moment to remember for the rest of my life, and I never even saw it coming.

See all the pictures posted on FACEBOOK! 

BRIDESMAID DRESSES!!!

So obviously since the second I was engaged I have been dreaming of my wedding. In fact, I've already started to put together a binder of all the things I have collected. From dresses I love to flowers and venue information. I am lucky enough to have a fiancé that actually cares about the wedding so his input is so helpful in moments that I am overwhelmed with what to do. However, it does make coming to a decision on some things a little bit more difficult. Like colors for example. You better believe that if I liked it, Corey didn't. But after going around and around and around for a few days I think we FINALLY thought of some colors we actually like. We definitely both like navy and while navy and green were my first choice, I am falling a little bit more every day for navy and dark purple. 

Right now I am in love with the purple ranunculus flowers. They are similar to the buttercup, come in lots of colors and are in season in the winter:

The first dress I found that I like, the short sleeveless navy dress from J Crew:

Second, and my favorite of all the dresses right now, the JS Boutique Strapless Beaded Mesh Gown:

Third, is the BCBG timona strapless silk gown which grows on me more and more and more as I stare at it, which I do often: 

Your thoughts, comments, concerns????? 

We're Engaged!

You better believe it! Corey and Lindsay are FINALLY engaged. After years of dating, not dating, long distance relationships, buying dogs, moving away together and just loving each other, Corey finally proposed.

I know I can hardly believe it either, but we couldn't be happier. I am so lucky to have found the man of my dreams. I know without a doubt, that no matter what happens and no matter what we go through, we will come out of it together. I've finally found someone who I know will love me no matter what and that I can spend the rest of my life with, because if there is anyone I want to be watching Fox news with while eating dinner on TV trays at 5:00, its Corey.