Sneaking Up.

Wow, so it's been awhile since I have written in here. Life has definitely been crazy busy for Bryan and I. I cannot believe we are so close to the six-month mark. Everyone said it would slowly start to creep up on us and when it did, the months would start flying by. Boy, were they right!

I thought I would give everyone an update on the wedding planning. My parents returned from their trip to India about two weeks ago. I can't say much about the dresses they bought back because in the Indian custom, the bride's wedding dress is unveiled on the day of the wedding and not even my brother can see it until then! All I will say is it is everything I dreamed of wearing and more. As for Bryan, let's just say he is going to look like the most handsome Prince I have EVER seen. The bridesmaids dresses are incredibly beautiful. I had a slight moment where I wished I was one of the bridesmaids instead of the bride only because their dresses and accessories are GORGEOUS. I can't wait for my gals to see it. My parents and brother's outfit are incredible as well; they are going to look stunning. We also got a peek at the invitations and programs, and they turned out quite beautiful. My dad is the person I should give all credit to! He knew what we were looking for and bought just that home. Impressive. Overall, we were so pleased with everything and couldn't believe how much my parents had accomplished in such a short period of time. We were nothing short of being speechless.

While we were home over Thanksgiving, we got a chance to visit Savvi Formalwear where Bryan picked out the tux for his groomsmen, the dads, and our ring bearer. All I can say is they are going to be STUDS!

Slowly and slowly, we are starting to get things checked off our list. My dad booked a videographer before they left for India. Now we need to start generating our guest list, addresses, assembling the invitations together, our floral arrangements and of course our awesome playlist for the reception!

Six months and counting!

Love.

Chicago.

Our vacation to Chicago was absolutely lovely! We got to see some wonderful sights including Millennium Park, Willis (Sear's) Tower, Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier, and an awesome Architectural Boat Cruise. I have to say, the cruise was probably our favorite park considering Bryan and I are both architectural nuts. We love it. Overall, our vacation was wonderful! We hope to go back someday, maybe when it is around Christmas time. I bet downtown is beautiful around that time of the year. Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Love.

We're Off to the Windy City.

Wow, it has been awhile since I have written anything. The next few weeks are going to be crazy busy and so fun, I can't wait! Tonight we are driving back to St. Louis and leaving early tomorrow morning to go with parents to Chicago. It's going to be wonderful to spend some quality time with my mum and dad! (I wish my brother was able to come.) While we are there, we hope to show Bryan some of the awesome sites of Chicago like the aquarium, Sear's Tower, Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue, and an architectural river cruise (for the architecture lover like us!). Also, we are going to swing by some Indian shops to try on some outfits and give my parents a better idea of what our taste is before they head off to India next month (I can't believe how time flies)! Repeatedly I find myself shocked as to how it is already September. We are so close to the NINE month mark! I am SO SO SO excited.

So much to look forward to over the next few weeks:

* My 25th Birthday

* My first Cardinal's game in the new stadium (eeks!!!)

* Trip to Raleigh with some of my best gals

* Bryan's family reunion

* Trip to Chicago with my mum and dad

I will post some pictures of our trip to the Windy City next week. Until then, hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Much love.

Ohhh I Wanna Take You To Jamaica...

This was me attempting to sing the Beach Boys song. If you have not guessed it, I shall tell you. Bryan and I have booked out honeymoon to Tower Isle, Jamaica! We are going to be staying at the lovely Couple's Resort where not only are they going to be able to accommodate to my gluten-free diet, but they offer a wide variety of activities including the Dunn's River Fall tour, a catamaran cruise, a couple's massage, trip to Margaritaville, horseback riding, and all the water sports you can think of! You can only imagine the excitement Bryan and I are already feeling. Our travel agent, Denise is a peach! She is going to make our life simpler by taking care of our honeymoon for us. Enjoy some of the pictures below of the Couple's Resort in Tower Isle.

September is giving me a lot to look forward to. We are going to Chicago with my parents to browse through some Indian stores and show Bryan the best parts of the Windy City. Not to mention my first Cardinal's game at the new Busch stadium (sad, I know) for my 25th birthday, a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina to see some of my best gals, and a family fun-filled weekend with Bryan's family for their big family reunion! Oh, how I love September! Be on the lookout for many more pictures and updates! Love.

Good Bye Double Digits.

You guessed right if you are thinking what I am thinking. Today marks 9 months and so many days until Bryan and I get married. No more double digits for our countdown. So much has been going on in both of our lives that I keep forgetting we are still in the wedding planning process and have so much to look forward to in 9 months and so many days. We are working right now on getting the little things accomplished. This week we hope to settle on a honeymoon destination and resort as well as transportation. We are meeting with the sweetest travel agent this Friday and discussing our options for our honeymoon! We will reveal next week where we are planning on going so stay tuned! The next big thing is to start working on our centerpiece idea and acquiring all the pieces we need for it. Besides wedding planning, we hope to have another weekend of fun and relaxation mixed in with reading and more photography! I have been feeling a bit sick lately, so hopefully some rest will cure it. I still can't believe how fast the months are going by until we are Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey! We cannot wait!

P.S. I told Bryan about yesterday being 10 months until our wedding day. Here is how our conversation went.

Bryan: "Should we celebrate the countdown like we celebrate the countdown for St. Pat's?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Bryan: "You know...by going to the bar."

Me: "Oh dear. Maybe a wine bar?"

Bryan: "Sweet."

Haha. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why we are so great together! I love you, B! Love.

Girls Weekend.

I wish I was still at the Lake. For the three days I was there, I forgot about everything that has been going on in our lives. The calm voice of the Lake, the laughter heard from every woman there, and the cute faces of the girls that I couldn't get enough of. What a great weekend it was. For the first time, Bryan's mom's side of the family decided to have our first annual "Girls Weekend." I cannot express how much fun it was to get away and spend some time with all the wonderful gals. There were aunts, nieces, granddaughters, daughter-in-laws, a future daughter-in-law, and mothers. Most of what I will always remember from this weekend is the laughter. It makes me smile every time when I think of how much we laughed that weekend. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard that tears were strolling down my face. I've said it once, and I will say it again, but I am one lucky gal to get to marry into one heck of a family! Enjoy the pictures. Much love.

Blog Makeover.

Wow, I need to get back in the swing of writing here more!

In other news, I am sure you have recognized a little blog makeover. I really like the black background and colors. I hope you all noticed that pictures (oh the fabulous pictures) were added as well. I know what you are wondering, and you are correct. We got our engagement pictures in yesterday, and we love them! Kelly Manno is pretty spectacular, and I highly suggest her to any of our friends and families. I don't know if there was a picture I disliked even slightly. She captured Bryan and I's personalities not to mention our style very well. She basically rocks! If you have a Facebook account, they are posted on my profile. Check it out!

I have pictures and a recap to post sometime this week of the first annual "Girls Weekend" with Bryan's mom's side of the family. 14 gals + yummy food + delicious drinks + one lake side house = a blast. Stay tuned. Love.

Sneak Peak.

I cannot believe I have forgotten to write a post on this. For now, I will leave you all with a little teaser or I shall call it, a "Sneak Peak." Our AMAZING (that is an understatement) photographer, Kelly Manno, took our engagement pictures a few weeks ago. She posted some of her favorites from our session on her blog a week ago. Bryan and I don't even have a word to describe how in LOVE we are with them so far. We will be getting the rest sometime soon. Enjoy!

Engagement Pictures.

As for the weekend, hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am starting my weekend early by going to see "The Ugly Truth" with a friend, and then I'm off to the Lake of the Ozarks with all the women on Bryan's mom's side of the family for a Girls Weekend. I am so excited! I have a feeling we are going to laugh a LOT and do some relaxing! I hope to catch up on reading my really good book "Belong to Me" and taking some more pictures! Catch you all next week where I will have some pictures up from the weekend! Lots of love.

Little Taste.

As we go through the wedding planning process, Bryan and I are learning all the different traditions that hold true in my culture. Saturday night was simply intimate and beautiful if I must say so and will give you all a taste of the cultural experience you will be a part of in less than one year. My parents invited Bryan's immediate family, my aunt and uncle, and some of their friends over to our house. Once everyone was there, a ceremony was performed by my mother and aunt. After the ceremony, my aunt read from a scroll and officially announced our engagement as they would in India. Once the ceremony and announcement were over, we all got to celebrate by eating some fabulous desert and appetizers made by everyone. It was a wonderful time, and it made Bryan and I so happy to see our families come together! It makes us realize how wonderful our families are and how grateful we are for them!

We are getting so excited as the months are going by. We're down to less than 11 months. I cannot believe how fast time is starting to fly. Before I know it, I will be an official Lindsey! Love.

Congrats Jordan and Annie!

I was not kidding when I said I had a lot to blog about! This past weekend was...how do I put it... simply amazing! It was a weekend devoted to spending time with both of our families. This post is dedicated to Bryan's cousin, Annie and her new hubby, Jordan. Now, I must start off by saying Bryan and I had tickets to the Coldplay concert in St. Louis-we LOVE Coldplay! After we bought the tickets, we found out about Annie's wedding causing us to sell them to a friend. I will say the wedding was worth every minute of being in attendance to the concert. (It might help that we saw them already once this year.) Their wedding was beautiful last Friday afternoon, but in my opinion, you can never go wrong with an outdoor wedding! I remember the whole night being an absolute blast. I told Bryan when we were getting ready to go how much I adored his family. There is never a boring moment b/c everyone is always doing something to make you laugh or just having fun! The celebration did not stop at the reception. It continued on at the Himmel household, which only got better as the night progressed! Opening presents Saturday morning was a great time as well. I, for one, will say Annie was glowing with happiness, and it made my heart bubble with happiness! You might notice a tequila bottle in one of the pictures. Let's just say that little bottle made for some of the best entertainment the night before! Another plus to their wedding was I got to use my camera. I definitely learned some things, but I am pretty pleased with how the pictures turned out for the most part! After the wedding, we made a stop at little Izzy's first birthday party at a park in Troy! I don't have words to describe how cute this little girl is. Take my word for it when I say she just is. Love.

The Fray.

Gorgeous outdoor theatre-check. My best friend-check. Three amazing bands-check check check. Last Wednesday, Bryan and I went to see a band I have long awaited to see-The Fray at the Starlight Theatre (check out picture below). What I did not know until recently was Jack's Mannequin was one of the opening bands. Needless to say, it was one amazing concert. I think it might tie in second place with Brad Paisley's concert (Coldplay still remains number one and always will I believe). What I loved about this concert was how the lead singer interacted with the crowd. He told us about all those days when he was younger how he had to wake up at 4 in the morning to open a coffee shop and work late hours. He continued to tell the crowd how grateful he was for their fans to allow them to do something they love. The encore gave me goosebumps and made me tear up (surprise surprise) when he was talking about the world right now and how hard life is for some people with the economy and wars going on. While they played "Happiness" as their final encore song, it made me realize how lucky I am to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family not to mention one heck of a future hubby! Shout out to my amazing fiance: Thank you, B, for the awesome tickets and for a wonderful date night! I love you.

Main Street St. Charles.

Oh do I have some catching up to do on here. On my last post, I mentioned I would comment on the new Harry Potter movie that came out. I know there were many that loved the movie. However, as an avid reader of all the books, I was not as impressed with the sixth movie. Please do not get me wrong. I thought it was good, but not as good as some of the past Harry Potter movies. I know there was a lot that happened in the sixth book, and to cram it all in one movie that was long to begin with, would have been hard. However, I wish they would have included some of the major details they did not include in this movie. On the flip side, I thought this one was hilarious. Martha and I sat by one another, and I think at one part of the movie (when Harry is a little happy), we could not stop laughing. I'm pretty sure we embarrassed Ryan and Bryan. I am hoping that splitting the seventh movie will avoid leaving out some of the important details.

Moving on, the engagement pictures were awesome; we were blessed with weather that is not heard of in the middle of July-70s and partly sunny! I know what you are thinking..."Whhhhaaaaattt." We were thinking the same. Bryan and I had so much fun with Kelly. Exciting news with Kelly: she is pregnant with her third child! I think it must be baby booming time because there are over a handful of people I know who recently got pregnant that are due in January and February of 2010. Anyways, I want to take a moment to tell everyone if you ever need a photographer, look into Kelly Manno! Bryan and I felt like we were on an adventure with her going all over St. Charles. She has an eye for this stuff because she would bring us to the neatest and most fun spots to take pictures. We will hopefully get those back in the next month or so, so be on the look out for them. I know we both are very excited to see them!

Afterwards, we decided to ventured around Main Street since we never get a chance to enjoy that part of town. Not to mention, it gave me a chance to take my new camera out and play with it. It was so much fun. We had breakfast in this cute coffee shop and some ice-cream later on. I love places that look like Main Street. We ventured into some of the antique shops and found some neat things. I would love to live in that part of town.

Here were some of the pictures I took. Love.

Cannot Sit Still.

The title of my post pretty much sums up how I feel today. Why you ask? Many reasons. The first of which is getting to see Harry Potter tonight with Bryan and our roommates, Martha and Ryan. I did not want to fight the crowds at the movie theaters yesterday, so we opted to wait a day. I do not think it will be any better, which is why you will find me in line waiting, so we can get some good seats and enjoy the AWESOME movie I have long awaited for. A review will be awaiting soon afterwards.


The second reason mainly has to do with the amazing weekend that awaits us! We are heading...you guessed it...to good ol' St. Louis. What might you ask excites us about this weekend's visit from any other? First up, we have our engagement pictures with our AMAZING photographer, Kelly Manno, in Main Street St. Charles. (Check out the link on the right under "Blog Love" to see her blog full of more wonderful images.) So far, the weather is going to be perfect for our engagement pictures-mostly sunny with a high in the 70s. WHAT?! In the middle of July. My thoughts exact! Hey, I am not complaining. We have a meeting with Father Don that afternoon, so instead of driving around all over town and back to Main Street, Bryan and I decided to spend the remainder of the morning walking around Main Street and grabbing a bite to eat. If you have never been, Main Street is full of cute little shops, cobble stone walking paths, and this cute, old town feeling that I love! (Check out the picture from Skyscraper Forum to see what I mean.) After our meeting, we plan on heading to Troy for the annual, best, most favorite time (excluding all holidays) of the year for Bryan and I-Lincoln County Fair! Not only are we possibly going to be blessed with lovely weather, but Blake Shelton is going to be the main performer. Who is excited? This gal. After a fun-filled Saturday, I hope to spend part of Sunday morning relaxing on Bryan's mom and stepdad's sunroom reading "Gracious Living in a New World" by Alexandra Stoddard (I am going to meet this woman once in my lifetime-she is an unbelievable and inspires me in more ways than one!) and sketching! Life is fabulous. Have a wonderful weekend! Love.

I. Love. Holiday. Weekends.

Did I mention from my previous posts how much I love three day weekends? Well, our 4th of July weekend was amazing. Originally, we had planned on going to the Lake of the Ozarks. However, our plans changed Friday morning, and we made different plans.

Friday was awesome! We enjoyed a nice lunner (in between lunch and dinner). Afterwards, we went to see The Proposal. (Yes, Bryan gets brownie points for going with me.) I loved the movie, and I think Bryan did as well. We spent a majority of it laughing. It was funny and sweet. Plus, Sandra Bullock is such a great actress, in my opinion. I'm so glad we went to see it because I got a chance to catch a glimpse of the trailers, which after each one, I kept whispering to Bryan I wanted to see. (Side note: Movies from Sunday through Thursday only cost $5.00 at the AMC theaters, at least in KC. I love it.) The next movie we are waiting for is Harry Potter-one week from tomorrow! The best part of the day was heading to Weston, MO to take our friends Ryan and Jane to this awesome Irish bar Bryan and I love called O'Malleys. They have live Irish music, and we had such a blast with the band. They had some fun songs that we even sang along to! Not to mention, great Irish accents. These two men had some gifted talent to say the least. I'm pretty sure Bryan, Ryan, and Jane were quite happy with the drink selection as well!

Saturday we relaxed for the majority of the day. In the evening, we headed to downtown to Riverfest to go see the fireworks show. It was great! Plus, I was in love with my strawberry and peach smoothie (see picture below). YUM. Sunday, we spent the day relaxing, watching movies, and headed to the Plaza for a bit in the afternoon. It was so nice to walk around and just enjoy the gorgeous afternoon. (Side note: I think I wanted to buy everything at Anthropologie. Thank goodness Bryan was with me to give me some self-control. I love him.) We stopped at the cutest popcorn and candy shop to buy a piece of white chocolate with M&Ms and crunch chocolate bark. We enjoyed it with a yummy smoothie at a coffee shop. *sigh* If only all Sundays could be spent this way. Plus, we made some yummy meals while we were in town! My favorite yet was some oven-baked french fries with fresh herbs. Overall, our weekend was wonderful. I haven't felt that rested and relaxed in awhile. It was so nice to be in town and do some of the things we both wanted to do in KC! Hope everyone else had a wonderful Fourth of July! Much love.