The 6th Annual Christmas Party!

My friend Jordan and I (see the above pic? That's us!) hosted our 6th annual holiday soiree last weekend and I say this every year but think it was the best year yet!

Instead of a sit down dinner with place cards and hams and potatoes and lots of stress, we did a cocktail-style event and it was fabulous! We had cabaret tables and about 20 different appetizers and desserts, not to mention holiday punch and of course, the white elephant gift exchange! 

This year might have been the best year when it comes to the... um... variety of the white elephant gifts haha and seriously it was such a blast. 

I ended up with a Christmas clock that plays holiday songs every hour and some other lucky winners went home with a 49ers snuggy, a homemade twinky machine, and a pickle (to name a few!) 

This party is one that I look forward to each year - it's the best way to get all our friends from the past 6+ years together and spend a fabulous evening mingling and chatting and catching up. 

This year we had over 50 people come (!!!) and a new addition to the festivities included a photo backdrop that was made by Jordan's sister Kendel - it was maybe the most amazing backdrop I've ever seen and she also was the unofficial photographer of the night and took everyone's pictures in front of it! (seriously Kendel, you're a champ) I didn't even manage to take any photos of the centerpieces, the food, or the decor because I was too busy chatting and then suddenly 4 hours had passed and the party was over. 

What a night! Without any snow around it had hardly felt like Christmas, but after this party I was catapulted right into the Christmas spirit!

And thank you to everyone who came!

And I apologize in advance if your picture didn't make this post! There were  a lot to sort through and some most likely definitely slipped through the cracks!

^^^ Look at how amazing this made-from-scratch-and-held-together-with-3-nails backdrop is!

See previous years HERE and HERE!

A Fashion Post (Awkwardness Abounds)

Hello there!

So, if you've been reading this blog it might be somewhat obvious that I like fashion-y things. 

I like fancy dresses, I love dressing up, I enjoy a good shopping trip, etc. 

But one of the hardest things for me is finding skirts and dresses that are 

l o n g enough. 

Don't get me wrong, I love having long legs, but depending on the fashion trends at the moment it is sometimes a tad tricky to find clothes that fit properly and are still decent looking haha. 

Enter eshakti.com

They are an entirely online store and they sell all sorts of clothes, but I specifically like the way the do dresses and skirts. You can completely customize how long you want the hem length to be, the style of the sleeves, even whether or not it has pockets!

Cool huh?

So when they contacted me about this awesome fairy skirt all I had to do was tell them my height and where I wanted the skirt to hit on me (I specified just below the knee! Midi skirts are my current weakness) and voila! I now have an awesome skirt that fits the way I want it to. 

PS- I wore the outfit below to a wedding and got no less than 10 compliments from people on it! 10! 

shirt: jcrew      skirt: c/o eshakti.com      shoes: steve madden

Resolving:

I mentioned in this post how a few of my new year's resolutions included updating and refreshing our little apartment, and those resolutions are well underway!

We've lived here for about 2.5 years now, and nothing has changed much (from an interior design perspective) since we moved in. 

So, over these last few weeks I've been brainstorming and rearranging, and then re-rearranging, until finally voilá! 

The bookshelves are color coordinated and my coffee table is finally realizing its full potential. 

What do you think?

^^^ a christmas present this year from my sister serving her mission in New Jersey! ^^^

^^^ Our apartment is also hosting its very first live plant! Isn't she a beaut? ^^^

See how the bookshelves used to look here. 

An Evening Stroll:

Last night, after a whirlwind first day in Paris that included finding JP's school,  getting him all checked in, finding every supermarket with a 3 mile radius of our apartment, and discovering our shower didn't work, JP and I decided we would go on an evening stroll!

About ten minutes later, we ended up at the Eiffel Tower and I couldn't believe it -- we live SO close! Just a short walk away! The lighting was perfect and we had such a fun time walking around; we saw brides and grooms taking wedding photos, a bachelorette party in a limo that stopped to have a dance party, and tons of parisians congregating on the park in front of the tower eating dinner and drinking wine. So we decided to blend right in with the locals and take a million pictures (ha ha ha). 

Enjoy!

*also, as of about 20 minutes ago, our shower is working! Hallelujah! :)

St. Patty's Day

Upon getting dressed I really thought my dress was green... a light shade perhaps... but green nonetheless! 

However I was informed by the 6-year-olds I teach in Primary that it was definitely yellow and the only thing saving me from a pinch was my green necklace - thank. heavens. 

I have a hard enough time keeping their attention without also trying to dodge pinches haha.

see last St. Patrick's Day what-we-wore post here.

LOVE this perspective:

[My greatest victory has been to be able to live with myself, to accept my shortcomings. I’m a long way from the human being I’d like to be, but I’ve decided I’m not so bad after all. ]

— Audrey Hepburn 

Family Picture Time?

We took family pictures this last week because with my sister Anne leaving on her mission and everything, our family isn't going to be all together for 18 months! 

So it was decided that family pictures were probably a good thing to have taken because the last time we took family pictures was... umm.... never? Literally. We have never taken official family photo-shoot pictures before, so the whole experience was actually pretty hilarious. 

(I mean, I'm already not super comfortable with the whole posing in front of a camera thing... and apparently it's a family trait)

photos by Monika

(the same girl who designed the clothes from this fashion show!)

Who Wore It Better?

When I got married, it was great for lots of reasons, but one major plus is that my wardrobe greatly expanded!

I wear JP's clothes (mostly sweaters/watches/socks) all the time and it's awesome!

He bought a new sweater in Australia aaaand I sort of love it, so I've snuck it out of his closet and worn it a couple times :)

HEY Utah Readers!

You guys, I have some really exciting news!

The photographer who shot my wedding, Valory, is doing a giveaway! 

And not just any giveaway; she is giving away a whole wedding day shoot free of charge!! 

Can you believe that? 

I was so excited I had to share it with you. 

SO, if you are getting married in Utah this year, head on over to Valory Jean Photography to find out the details on how to enter! 

It'll be one of the best wedding-planning decisions you make, trust me! 

And if you're not getting married, tell your engaged friends!

Val is such a fabulous photographer and captured every moment of mine and JP's wedding day perfectly. 

Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about her. 

In fact, a photo is worth a thousand words so here is some of her work from my wedding: