Pre-Review: Crest 3D Whitestrips

Yesterday I got my hair did, and today, marks Day 1 of the teeth whitening. Haha. I've never actually felt I needed to get a teeth whitening treatment... however, I figure, can't hurt to be, whiter? So, we opted for the indulgence of the Crest 3D Whitestrips in Professional Effects, Advanced Seal. Target had a variety of options at a variety of price points. We went for the 30 minutes a day, 20-day supply - currently listed at $37.99. (The one step up, was the 2 hours a day, 7-day supply.)

It's unclear WHEN you are supposed to put the strips on... The directions recommend not to put them on directly after brushing.... So... a few minutes, after? (That's what I did..) The strips themselves were easy to take off their backing, and surprisingly easy to position. They had a solid, sticky but not annoying consistency. I sat around in them for about 30 minutes, and there was no particular pain or discomfort... just a weird jelly-like feeling around my teeth. I wasn't sure if I should be like swallowing spit or what, Haha. Taking them off, they were very sticky- stuck to my fingers, and suddenly I realized my teeth tasted kinda...I don't know. Chalky? Kinda odd. Tho' when I looked in the mirror... I feel like I did notice immediate results. They did look, white. (Hopefully it's not just my mind.. haha)

I have my retainer on now, so nothing out of the normal there. Anyway, we'll check back in about 10 days. I'll let you know.

20 Days til' the Rest of My Life :)

I must say, I haven't been keeping up with the blog entries as I would have liked. Initially, I wanted to document the entire wedding planning process; however, I came to realize, I wanted to keep a lot of things less public, and actually a surprise - for our friends and family. Nevertheless, as the date is fast approaching, and being that everything is engrained in my mind, I will be back-dating entries, so that I do have an official "log" of all the events, and decisions of the past few months :)

Well, I must say, it's 20 days away, and I'm nervously excited, or excitedly nervous? The thought that God has placed this man in my life, and now, we are to start the rest of our lives, together... is nothing but a blessing.

I pray we strive to seek the Lord, in all we do, in the decisions that we make, in all that is to come, for each other and our family. That's the least we can do, for He has brought us together. You have helped me to understand God's love, a bit more. And for this, I am grateful. Love you. 

Blue Print Cleanse: Skinny Bitches!

I'm in Day 2 of my 3rd BPC 3-day cleanse. Why do I do this? I actually pay good money, to drink juice and nothing but the juice. It functions as a "detox" – flushes out the toxins in your system, allows your body to reset and re-adjust. It does make me pee like crazy… so it must be flushing out something. My skin feels and looks much more resilient, and I do feel light and energized. Personally, I do it to jump-start healthier eating. I've been attempting a low-to-no carb and very protein-restrictive intake diet, and it's hard to just do it from scratch. I do expect to weigh less on the scale, how could you not? You're not eating! I also do expect to "gain" some of that back once I get some freakin' Shake Shack (just kidding) :( but it's a running start…and I feel light. I yearn to feel light. The ultimate feeling, aside from indulging in that first bite of truffle mac & cheese, is feeling...skinny. I'm about 5 days til' my cousin's wedding, about 2 weeks til' Miami, and 6 months til MY wedding. Skinny bitches, unite!

BTW/ This time around, I'm doing Excavation. I bought the drinks individually from FreshDirect, they deliver and its cheaper than ordering directly. (You will not get the "instructions" or the fancy emails and what not, but if it's not your first, and you're good at googling, you should be okay!) – Also, just to note, the Green juice.... is hard, I admit – but there is NO after-taste, and that my friend, is critical.

Say Yes/Maybe to the Dress!

I tried on wedding gowns. (Ahhh!) I was able to get a Saturday appointment at Lovely, about 3 weeks in advance. I did want a small boutique feel, but more importantly they carry Watters gowns. Anyhow, so on this blisteringly windy, and quite frankly absolutely– gross day.... my mom and my bestie bridesmaid made it to the cutie shop in the village....... Awkward. Haha. Not the shop, but the first try-on......Weird! The first gown was, very detailed, very pretty. Too pretty, at the time. I was incredibly uncomfortable with the experience and my head was all out of sorts... durf. Sweating. Not attractive. By any means.......After the 2nd gown, I started to feel better, ha, and it was actually quite fun. My stylist wasn't incredibly friendly, but was very helpful and sweet. Actually, I am in all seriousness, considering, highly-considering that first dress... so we'll see...

Happy Valentine's Day: Smurf Orchids

I really thought u bought me a tree

which made me a little sad

cuz the old tree would see the new tree

and probably be sad

when the old tree is trying so hard to make it

**

This was my convo with the finance, as I received my smurf orchid! He sent me a beautiful gardenia bonsai last year, and it grew lush and green all year. As winter approached and with the unstable the radiator in my office, the bonsai's been... not looking so hot. Jay's been telling me the past few days/weeks that he got me a replacement tree... and I was secretly a bit nervous! Thanks, Lover <3

Will you be my Bridesmaid?

The fiance and I jet-setted shortly after getting engaged, before we even had a chance to tell many of our friends in person, how it went down. I did want to ask my girls the honor of being my bridesmaids, sooner rather than later, so as we headed to the Dominican Republic, I sent each of them a boxed gift from < flourpotcookies.com. Now, I'm super finicky about stuff like this. Knowing me, I rather bake the cookie myself, frost it, bow it, wrap it, tie it, box it, mail it, all my freaking self... simply to ensure I know exactly how it will look when sent out and (hopefully) when opened. Sigh, but after seeing the photos online, and reading some of the reviews... eh, I was like okay... skeptical, but hopeful enough.

Turns out they arrived perfectly. The gift box came wrapped in a box, and delivered to each girls' doorstep. I was also worried the cookies would be overly sweet...as those frosted kinds could be, but surprisingly I hear they were very tasty, and not grossly sugary. Obviously they all said yes :)

Our Wedding Venue: The Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

It's interesting that people seem to want to know how and why we chose our wedding venue. How? I google'd my ass off! Literally. I initially was searching for a small, quaint inn or hotel, by the water, convenient for out of town guests, but feels like "California", casual and comfortable. Did I mention we're planning this is NYC? As I read review after review, of every single waterfront hotel and inn in the Orange County area...which then easily spilled over to the entire Southern California– I realized, do I really want to get married in a hotel? I didn't really want, rustic, or hipster-modern, or ultra-modern, or ballroom, or a barn, or the beach...I definitely did not want an on-the-beach ceremony... I just wanted... whatever I couldn't find...

Just when I thought all hope was lost... mostly due to price– (but honestly, if it was perfect, minus the price, of course I would have considered it...ha, let's be real.) I came across, the life-saver.
< She logged every place in Southern California, you can get married, period. THANK YOU!

Griffith Observatory. Empire State Building. Rockefeller Centre. Mont Juic. Eiffel Tower. I love that feeling, of being a little bit closer to the sky, juuuuust a little bit closer to God. The Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, is a park at the peak of 511 ft. The building itself is modern architecture, reminds me of the NYC < Highline. It's not a barn, and it's not the beach, but it's entirely nature on top of a hill, with 360 views of the California, skyscrapers, mountains, Pacific and Catalina Island, and the Hollywood Hills.

There's a also a stair climb, if you'd like to hike to our wedding.

Actually, I wouldn't mind attempting this one day?

Anyways, so this is the spot. Super excited :)