In the mood to dance... In the mood for a little romance

Hello loverlies! I feel like I am in the middle of a whirlwind of busy-ness and can barely keep up, but am thoroughly enjoying myself and the ride! :) Please excuse my lack of posting as I enjoy the view... In the meantime, here is a glimpse at what I have been up to and what will be coming up!

This past week, we finally had the photo shoot and it completely exceeded my expectations/imagination. All of the vendors involved went above and beyond to make the day possible and I think we all deserve a *high-five* for how much we hustled that day and, actually, all the days leading up to the shoot. I can't wait to share all the juicy details, but one is that the shoot will be featured in the February issue of a very special, very awesome wedding e-zine, so I can't spill anything until the issue comes out! eeks! But I promise, it will be worth the wait. I am ecstatic that my first photo shoot is being published and couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with for the publication!  Of course, I will keep you all updated.

This Sunday was Eddie's birthday and that kept our weekend pretty packed. On Sunday we had a taco night party for a little over 20 of our close friends and family and a few of them stayed until the next morning! :) It was a good thing that Monday was a holiday. One dear friend even came from up north, which was so nice of him, especially considering all of the rain and traffic! I didn't plan anything too fancy, just good food and good friends. What more do you need? To top it all off, my super sweet cousin picked up a cake from Junior's Deli in Los Angeles and oh. my. gawd. The cake was specially ordered and it was the BIGGEST and most SCRUMPTIOUS cake that I have ever had the pleasure of laying my little eyes on! It was so tall that it didn't fit in the cake box and they had to put two cake boxes together and make a little cake-house for the darn thing. It was a chocolate cake with a whole layer of real bananas and another whole layer of real strawberries. yum-oh!

(this is not a typo - my cousin's call Eddie, Teddy Graham's because they say he looks like one, and I have to agree. :) When we got back from our honeymoon, he was all nice and tanned and they called him chocolate teddy grahams. lol.)

I have also been busy helping to prepare for the Utterly Engaged magazine's Utterly Spankin' New Year Party happening this Wednesday 1/20 at the Astor Classics Event Center in Anaheim from 7-10. you don't want to miss it!! It is going to be spectacular with a ton of great wedding industry vendors and yummy eats! You can go here for tickets!

In addition to helping plan the party, I have entered their Modern table scape design challenge with three other extra awesome people/vendors - Melody from My Sweet and Saucy Shop, Megan from Mae Mae Paperie and Gina from The Mille Fiori. I will show the pictures of our table later this week, after the party. Or you can come to the party and see it in person! I can't give you details, once again, because the challenge will be judged by guests of the party (that can be you!) and you are not supposed to have any way of knowing who created which table. Everyone attending is allowed one vote. There are 14 teams entered, and I am sure there will be tons of great ideas and eye candy that night. I am honored to be working with such a wonderful team and among such great competitors. But I have to say, I think we are gonna ROCK the challenge! :) Our ideas are pretty fantabulous, I do have to say so myself.

Of course, I have also been very busy visiting some spectacular venues with my brides for their upcoming weddings. 2010 is going to be a SUPER year. I can already tell! I am completely booked with some of the most unique and special couples and weddings from June to October and have already made the decision to quit my "day job" in May, so I am super stoked for everything the next year has in store! Once again, I can't wait to share more details, but for now, I will share some amateur pictures I took with my point and shoot at some of the different venues I have visited with brides in the past few weeks.

The Union Station in Los Angeles. This location is just too cool and has been the setting for many famous Hollywood films. Remember the bank scene in Catch Me if You Can?

The Casa Del Mar hotel in Santa Monica. I LOVE the colors of this ballroom. I can stare at the ceiling all day. 

The Four Seasons at Beverly Hills. This arrangement is always there in front of the ballroom, provided by the hotel. How cool is that?

The Balboa Yacht Club, private club in Corona Del Mar. Isn't the view breathtaking?

Finally, I am human and I can get tired and cranky from too much excitement and lack of sleep, even if I am really uber-grateful for everything I have been blessed with these past few months. So, on one of our routine trips to the grocery store together, it was raining and I was feeling a bit gloomy, nervous, and dare-I-say, PMS-y about the possibility of rain ruining Eddie's upcoming surprise birthday party. I was shuffling around the produce section, complaining that the avocados labeled "ripe" were hard enough to seriously hurt someone if used as a projectile object, when the song, "It Had to be You," started playing on the loud speakers. This was our first dance song, so of course I looked at Eddie and asked, "Do you know what song this is?" (insert sass and attitude because I expected him to not know the answer). To which he replied, "Of course! It's our first dance song. So, we should dance!" He dropped his basket, grabbed me and started spinning me around, right next to the rock-hard, over-priced avocados.

I can only hope everyone experiences love like this. I really do wish it for every one of my brides and every one of you, my readers. In the midst of the chaos of your everyday life, good or bad, love really does sustain us, don't you think?

Dancing and laughing like that reminded me of one of my fave songs by Ingrid Michaelson, "Little Romance." I know her song, "The Way I Am" has been played at it's fair share of weddings, but I feel like "Little Romance" is so underrated and overlooked. In any case, it would be such a loverly first dance song. Some of the lyrics:

You're in the mood for love
You're in the mood to dance
You're in the mood for a little romance
You're in the mood for love

I see you pressed those pants
I see you styled that hair
There doesn't seem to be much of it there
You're in the mood to dance

Can I have the last chance
To be your little romance
Can I have the last dance
I'm in the mood for love

I'm all dressed up tonight
I've waited all night long
When will they finally play your song
I'm in the mood to dance

Yes. Dancing in the produce aisle reminded me of this song... and the Veggie Tales theme song. :) If you have anyone special in your life under the age of 5, you know exactly what I am talking about!