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WEDDING WEDNESDAY: SAVE THE DATES MEET CALLIGRAPHY

This Wedding Wednesday was a bit exciting for me to share! Our save the dates went out a couple of months ago, and although I’m a little late in sharing this, it was still exciting finding the pictures of these beauties to share with you all. As many of you know from prior post, I’ve been practicing some calligraphy on my free time. I’ll be honest, I haven’t picked up my nibs or my ink in a little while. But like I said, finding these pictures definitely sparked my interest once again to keep going and getting better at it! So what better way to share a new hobby with those whom are special to us and will be sharing our special day with us? Well.. By adding a little personal touch to our save the dates of course! I must say I was entirely excited for this project, it was two things that were special to me and I got to share them all at once!

To begin with, what bride doesn’t get excited to send save the dates?!? Umm… I’d like to think all brides do! It’s such a special moment, knowing that you are finally able to literally share that date in the near future that will be one of the best days in your life! It’s a love filled announcement to all those special people who will be sharing with you that day. To me at least, it sounds priceless. So for me sending these out was a big happy deal and being able to personalize them with my own personal touch made it more special.

Xavier and I wanted to make sure we sent out something that said “us.” Our save the dates would have to be simple, clean-looking, yet classy and warm. So when picking the style for our save the dates, we made sure to find what fitted those wishes. I think we did a pretty good job at finding save the dates that defines us. I also wanted to make sure that we brought in our wedding colors in some way and start to kind of give people the feeling of what our wedding day will be like. Grey, white and Gold were all incorporated and these simple yet classy save the dates from wedding paper divas suited us perfectly! We were very pleased with them and the quality and most importantly their price! They always have such good deals going on. Perfect for bride and grooms on a budget! The envelopes were plain white but this is where I got to be creative and add that little personal touch with my calligraphy. A little flourish and some pretty handwriting and pretty colors did the trick! I was in love with them! We’ve gotten so many compliments and couldn’t be more happy with them! Hope you all enjoy them as much as we did.

Some advice for your save the dates!

-shop around, many websites have coupons and special deals on amounts or specific dates along with free samples

-order extra envelopes, whether you’re the one addressing your envelopes or hiring a calligrapher, we all make mistakes. Ordering a couple more will give you some room for error with no stress

-return address stamps like our lovely stamp from littlemamapretties, will save your hand some tiredness and save you cash! Ordering return address labels can cost easily above $70 for maybe 100. Our pretty stamp cost us,$20. And we will be using it for our wedding invites later on! Score!

-pretty vintage stamps are hard to find, and can add up as well. Your local US post office has a variety of wedding/love stamps for your occasion. I loved our vintage like stamps we purchased at our local post office in sheets!

-envelope sealing stickers are a cute and easy way to spice up the look of your invites! We purchased our “love” stickers at our local Michael’s arts and crafts store for $5.

-make a wedding website online for extra information for your guest and add your wedding website to your save the dates, people will have a good idea of the arrangements they will have to make and some sites even have RSVP options, we already have a couple and haven’t even send out invites!

Did you personalize any of your wedding paper goods? If so, how so? We’d love to hear!

Jen ❤

*all images are property of La Vida, life as it comes

OUR JOURNEY IN THE BIG APPLE: DAY THREE

Our Journey in the big apple, is way past due! But after almost a year of putting it off, I have decided to give it a try once again! For those of you who are not aware of these previous “Journey in the big apple” post, you can check them out here and here. Last October we made a trip to New York City and it was an unforgettable trip, experience and a true trip to cherish, especially since it was the trip where we got engaged. With the engagement put aside, the trip in all honesty was an amazing trip. A trip where we experienced so much of the city on our own that we were so proud of ourselves. I don’t think there’s a week we don’t go without reminiscing on our trip. With the warm weather already paying a visit to us down here in sunny south florida, I can’t help but to think back on that cool, chilly weather we experienced on our trip. It was such a pleasant change for us Floridian’s who really never get to see the change in seasons.

Day one and two consisted of our arrival day and day two included our engagement day in Brooklyn. Well day three, we decided to head on over to the west side and visit Chelsea. Here we made a couple stops during our day! After breakfast we made it over to the Chelsea Market, walked the streets of Chelsea and made our way over to The Highline Park. Other stops also included The Frying Pan NYC at Pier 66a, Hudson River Park Pier 66a, and Madison Square Garden at night for a music event we had originally planned on attending. If you’re wondering if any of these are worth visiting, I hope our pictures can convince you of a big YES!

::First Stop after our breakfast at Friedman’s Lunch, was: Chelsea Market and district::

It was fall time on our trip and Halloween preparations were in effect

How NEW YORK is this? Fashion shoots in the city.

:: Second Stop: The Highline Park, a railway line converted into a trendy park full of activity and art::

::Third Stop: Pier 66 Maritime Bar & Cafe along with The Frying Pan NYC, a historic rail float barge with the Frying Pan historic lightship permanently docked, who becomes a local favorite bar and hangout spot in the city.

::Fourth stop: Hudson River Park Pier 66a::

::Fifth Stop: Madison Square Garden::

Stay tuned for our last two days in the Big apple! More exciting places to share!

-Jen ❤

*all images are property of La Vida, life as it comes

LIFE LATELY

Life lately has been busy.. But things are starting to settle down a little more. Of course there’s the busy days and the less busy days, but so far so good! Life lately has been full. Full of busy schedules, work, errands, wedding planning, moving out, moving in… It’s been full of emotions, cries, laughter, family and friends, but most importantly love. The love for each and everything we must do has kept us going. Love for what we do, our surroundings, our family and most importantly eachother. And to be honest, I am grateful for all the fullness, because if it wasn’t full we wouldn’t be complete. Life lately is a constant reminder to appreciate all we had, have and will have.

About two weeks ago, we made our biggest sacrifice thus far as a couple. We are staying with my parents in order to get a little break and save up for our wedding 6months from now and for our future home. It was a decision that I prayed because I knew it would be an adjustment not only for me again but for my fiancé. So far so good. We have learned to appreciate all we have been able to do thus far and what we had. But it’s also been a blessing to be sharing with my parents as well. They’ve been through a lot and are hard working individuals whom we learn something from each day. Family time has been my biggest happiness. Being able to spend more time with my parents, brothers and little sister has been truly special. My sister and I share a special bond being so far apart in age, and it’s been a whirl of fun watching how she grows each day not just in height but her personality. She keeps us on our toes, but she also brings the light back to us in the humility only a child holds. To say the least, it’s been special. Some sacrifice with loosing our personal and private place, but mostly joy behind a move that is only making us learn more from eachother as family.

Work has been busy, overtime is in full effect to save up for this wedding coming up! We are tired most days. But trying to make the best of our days off. While we mostly try to get some extra sleep in, we squeeze some errand time, family time and some much needed date nights just for Xavier and I. It’s important for us to find balance. And while at times I feel like work is consuming us more little by little whether it be physically or mentally, it’s a constant reminder of finding our balance and to be grateful that God has provided us with a job and most importantly our health. We know he will guide our way and we will be okay.

The LORD demands accurate scales and balances; he sets the standards for fairness. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ NLT)

Nursing week just passed and I just want to mention how terribly grateful I am to work with the group of nurses I work with. To be flat out honest. They kick butt!!! I am honestly part of an amazing group of nurses. We all have our strengths and weakeness, but from that comes the biggest lessons because we get to learn from eachother. I have to be honest by saying that there are three individuals that I am so lucky to call my work partners, my friends and most importantly my family. They are my girls. We are a group of girls that were meant to meet. I have learned so much from them, not just nursing but about life, love, patience, kindness and about having a giving heart. They have my back and I have theirs. They have become my sisters. I cherish our friendship and hold it dear to my heart. Vanessa, Dianna and Desiree, thank you for keeping me sane through the struggles of nursing, the hardships, and for being there through our accomplishments, laughters and craziness! Love you girls.

Now, for Xavier and I, our relationship lately has been stronger and stronger. We have learned a lot about eachother not just this past year but even more so now that we are back with my parents. We both agreed that it would be a change for us as far as our home, but we agreed that as long as we are together, we would be just fine. It’s been important for us to find a balance in our relationship as well. The time we spend alone as a couple to keep the fire going is very important to us! Sometimes the tiredness, work and life becomes a bump in the road, but we have talked about making time for us. We feel it’s very important to keep a well balanced relationship in our alone time and time shared to be about the quality of it. As long as we have faith, love, respect and all those other great things, we will keep getting stronger.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭7‬ ESV)

Life lately, well it’s been good. We are more than blessed I’d like to say. We have our good days and we have our little not so good days. But life lately has been good. Finding balance, love and strength is an ongoing process that keeps us alive and going. And with all that we have seen lately, experienced and still are waiting to experience, I must say we are doing well. We have been very grateful lately for our families, our friendships that support us like family each day, our growing love for eachother and our health. We are more than thankful to be healthy and strong. Life will continue tomorrow and pick up where we left off today. For now life lately has been… More than good.

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. (‭Psalm‬ ‭36‬:‭9‬ ESV)

This is a little glimpse of life lately…

This little awesome coffee house was our location for our date night recently. My amazing parents at my dads birthday dinner. Little sisters weekend celebration to universal studios. Nurse life and my amazing friends who even sneak in a little FaceTime with me if I’m not working that day! These two are best friends and last Saturday I got to enjoy a weekend of watching my dad coach my little sisters soccer team and game.

How’s life lately for all of you? I hope it’s amazing!

❤ Jen

SOFIA TURNS SEVEN

Sofia turned SEVEN last week and I can’t help but look back at my little sisters #7 celebration! It was definitely a family affair full of surprises for our little Sofia! This year her birthday fell on a week day.. and we all know that a weekday birthday for a little one is no fun! lol But thanks to big brothers and sisters, we would take care of that and make sure it was a day full of fun for her! Unlike many little seven-year old girls, my sister is no fan of princesses, pink nor sparkly…(She kinda takes after me on that..woops) What she is a fan of and a HUGE fan of on that note, is horses! The love she has for them is overwhelming… Overwhelming in the sense that it’s this good emotion, that consumes you with love and a smile when you see her eyes light up when she sees one or is riding them in lessons. It fills me up with joy honestly. So what better way than to celebrate with some horses on her special day!

I wanted to surprise Sofia.. So my plan was to set up a little cake table while she was in school so that when she’d get home, it was her birthday surprise! Well, that’s exactly what I did… The night before I had seen a couple of ideas online to incorporate horses and well my first task was a cake. A simple cake, with a silhouette of a horse. Let me start off by telling you this… I’m NO baker.. but I try! lol So a boxed cake would do, lol. Let me humor you all… the first cake?… well it fell apart while I was taking it out of the baking pan… sigh. But thank goodness for my honey! He’s so sweet…because I wasn’t having the greatest day and when I saw the cake fall apart, I almost went into tears. Luckily for me, I have the best fiancé ever… He took me to the grocery store and made me try again! So cake number 2? Success! lol Easiest thing to do was decorate the cake… Some cream cheese frosting and a chocolate sprinkled horse silhouette! A couple of goodies from target and I was ready to decorate the next morning before she came home from school!

I was so excited to share these photos with you all, not only because I was proud of how our sweet little set up turned out but most importantly because of the smile on our sweet little sofas face! It was priceless! I can’t wait to share more birthdays with my little sister! Most of you know that I adore her and she keeps me going and wanting to be a better me for her eyes!

Our celebrations didn’t stop there..Some games for the day, and a horse cake to wrap up the night. After, came some planning for our family trip to Orlando to keep celebrating with our little Sofia for the weekend. Lets just say the fun continued and its safe to say she had a great 7th Birthday!

We all love you Sofia! We all wish you many many more birthdays to come, full of that love, happiness and personality you have. May God continue to bless you!

My brother and Little sister, we miss you joe

excuse our messy look!!

Happy Birthday Little Sister, We all Love you!

WEDDING WEDNESDAY UPDATE

A Little Wedding Wednesday update today! We are officially at the 8 month mark and things have been steady as far as planning goes. The feeling of being overwhelmed has settled in comparison to the beginning of our planning to a subtle list of to do’s. I would be lying if I said that we don’t feel overwhelmed still, but I think we have a better grasp and understanding of the whole “wedding planning.” Little by little we have scratched things off our list and to be honest there’s one in particular that’s my favorite! But I will go into that in detail a little later! Just know it’s exciting! We have managed to have things under control for the most part so far. One thing that has gotten the best of me recently has been “color coordinating” something I never thought I would say, but it did, lol. We still have things to do and things to figure out, but it’s okay because I know that we can do it. We have really gotten a lot of the big things taken care of and now its seems to be coming down to the small things and small details. I have a lot of ideas running through my head and I can’t wait to actually be able to make them happen. For now, we will continue our steady pace and share with you what else we have crossed off our check list!

Since our last update we also have:

√ 5 of 7 bridesmaid dresses
√ Food Tasting
√ DJ
√ Flowers
√ Engagement photos (this is that favorite of mine 😉 )
√ Finalized guest list

Not too Shabby huh!? We have also done much more and if you can’t remember what else we have crossed our list, you could read bout it here. We are actually in the works of getting our engagement photos very very soon and we couldn’t be more excited. Since we will be receiving our photos in a couple of days, we have been brainstorming about our save-the-dates! We previously blogged about ‘minted’ and their lovely sample wedding package we received. Well, we have been trying to weigh out our options and what will both be economical for us and give us what we want. So, we have also received a cute sample from Wedding Paper Divas. Pretty soon, we will be scratching that off our list and I have to say, we are pretty close to making our decision once our engagement pictures get to us. I can’t contain my excitement! Check out Wedding Paper Divas and their invite samples… cute right?

We’d love to know if any of you bride to be’s have used Wedding Paper Divas for your save the dates or invites?! How are your list of to-do’s looking?

∴Happy Wedding Wednesday∴

CALLIGRAPHY IN THE WORKS

Calligraphy in the works! I was super excited and super nervous to share a project I recently finished for one my good friends Desiree and her fiancé. I was super excited for many reasons but super nervous for many other reasons as well. For those of you who don’t follow my instagram, to catch you guys up a little bit I figured it was most important to share this post with you. The past couple of months, I had a recent ‘goal’ or ‘hobby’ to put it into better words. That hobby being, Calligraphy.

Since I was little, I could remember always doodling and writing and probably not being the best with ~~going green~~…sorry trees! ( I really do love the environment, I swear, lol) When I was younger, I could remember being the happiest and most at peace, just writing random words, or doodling and even drawing. Clearly I did not become an artist, but I could definitely write in decent cursive. After running into some calligraphy work and seeing the work of some fellow bloggers and a wedding around the corner, a spark of interest fired and I figured it was worth a shot! I may not be a professional calligrapher or know everything about it, but little by little I’m learning more. I’m also learning about myself more, and how much I enjoy getting away from the hassle of life sometimes and just being in my own little world. It works out actually, especially since while practicing, it allows me to go into my own little world and relax and enjoy time with my pen and paper.

One reason the spark came about and whats pushing me to get better little by little, definitely has to do with wanting to address our own envelopes for our wedding. So here and there during the week, my nibs, paper and ink come out to play and I..practice! Well, with that practice came a little showing off..lol… and of course like a normal person, I enjoyed showing my progress with my family and closest friends. I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I have a couple close friends to me who are also getting married. Well jokingly, I would tell them that I would give them the “friend discount” and I would address their envelopes too. Little did I know it, I was really about to get my hands on some of their envelopes!

My friend Desiree is also getting married this year and actually it will be two weeks before Xavier and I. To put it simple, its been fun, sharing the experience with her! And to make a long story short… She one day decided to ask me a serious question..lol Want know what it was? She said…”Jen, will you seriously do our save the date envelopes?” I secretly jumped in excitement..lol…But right after, I questioned myself and asked my honey, if he really thought I could do it! I couldn’t ask for someone more supportive than him, because of course, he said YES! So… my response to Desi was.. YES!

Lets just say, before getting my ink on her envelopes, my palms were sweaty and I was hesitant to make the first stroke… but before I knew it I had the first envelope done! fewf! After a couple or so, my confidence grew and I became less scared as I finished yet another envelope. It was time-consuming but I was determined and was actually enjoying every minute of it! Like I said, I’m not a professional calligrapher, but hey I’m proud of what I was able to do for my dear friend. Her happy face was sufficient for me to feel I did good! I’m so grateful for the trust she placed in my hands with her save the date envelopes and hey… maybe this is the beginning of something great! I always have wanted to start a little etsy shop.. =) What do you all think???

Here is my first clients addressed envelopes! Enjoy!=)

Any inquires!? lol