Our Last Night with the Bride-to-Be...

I'm telling you - this girl went all out for her big day. And everything leading up to the wedding was beautiful and grand.

For the rehearsal, we started off at The Westin to practice for the big day. Then, they rented a bus and drove us to our beautiful park downtown (you know - the one where Lucas and I always do our lunches together).

On the bus

Waiting for us at the park was a huge white tent set up by the pond. They had strung up photos of Shelby and Brad from their childhood to present day. We all enjoyed looking through the old memories together!


Then, some good Southern BBQ was just calling our name!

...and sweet tea, of course!

But the best part about the evening was seeing the happy couple together...

photo courtesy of Saguaro Shadows photography

and spending time with dear friends.


Oh, and the presents were nice, too! :)

Beautiful necklace and earrings!

Picnic in the Park on a Hot Summer Day!

Whew! It is toasty outside!! I'm not going to complain though because I'll take a hot summer day over rainy or cool on any day of the week!!! The husband and I found a nice table in the shade and enjoyed lunch together in the park.

I forgot my camera but he did manage to snag a picture of me with his iPhone.

I promise I'll give you a full photo recap of my very busy wedding weekend soon. But classes for my MBA are now officially underway and I am swept up in school fever!!! I think I originally underestimated the amount of work it will take to complete an MBA in just over a year while working full time and - of course - maintaining my tennis and social calendar. I'm crossing my fingers as I dive right in to graduate work. Hooray for school!

Musical Mondays: First Date to First Dance

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Today's Musical Monday's post is in honor of my good friend, Shelby, and her new husband, Brad. I have lots of awesome pictures to show you ~ but first sit back and listen to their First Dance song as you read the story that makes this song so special to my dear friends.

Photo Credit: Rick Paul

In Shelby's words:

We will dance our first dance as husband and wife to “Feels Like Rain” by John Hiatt. The first time I heard this song was the result of Brad’s knack for romance. At the end of one of our first dates, we drove to the park that would later become the site of our engagement. Brad blared this song out of his blazer called “ole busted”. As we danced in the moonlight, I fell in love with the song and began to fall in love with Brad. The song eventually became “our song”.

Ladies, this guy really knocks romance out of the park. I'm so glad that Shelby has found such an amazing man to spend the rest of her life with. Congratulations, you two!

Feels like Rain
by John Hiatt

Shelby's Last Days

Shelby's last days as a single woman are winding down... and what better way to enjoy them than by spending some quality time with friends. You see - Shelby is not just getting married. She will be moving off to live with her husband in Tucson, Arizona. So we are certainly cherishing these last few days with her.

Last night the girls dined at a fabulous restaurant - Dolce - and I joined them later for some wine. We snapped a group picture and then headed over to their very chic suite in The Westin.

Liz - the Maid of Honor - had these precious cups on which we all wrote our words of advice for the bride. Mine said: "Always make time for yourself! (And keep this cup full!)" Everyone had some beautiful words of wisdom that Shelby can now treasure forever (as long as she hand washes)! We popped a few bottles of champagne and put the glasses to work!

Then it was time for presents - bring on the lingerie!

I got her a sweet little pink cami and skirt.

I know Brad will enjoy everything Shelby received!

After the presents we all changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the hot tub. We had so much and enjoyed ourselves for about 30 or 45 minutes before we were kicked out. The pool area closed at 11 and by this point it was past 11:30. Apparently they are quite sticklers about closing time at The Westin. Oh, well!

More adventures in bridal bliss coming this evening! And the wedding is tomorrow. So I'll have all kinds of good pictures on Monday!

Beach Trip - RECAP

How often do six girls get together and have a fun, drama-free weekend together? I'll tell you. Not often. But we had the best group of girls EVER on our fun weekend beach trip!

We laid out on the beach, visited The Wharf, had a fun night out and a fun night in, and shopped to our heart's content (actually I could've shopped more).

Through the weekend we talked about our relationships, our future, and the impending changes our group will experience soon. We are sending Brittany off to D.C., marrying Shelby and sending her to Tucson, AZ, and welcoming baby Landon (yay!) in September.

I feel rejuvenated coming off our three days together. The sun and sugar white sandy beaches mixed with the best friends a girl can ask for surely make my worries wash away with the tide (or maybe 'makes my worries peel away with the top layer of my skin' is a more fitting analogy at this point).

Bling! Bling! Our bride to be in all her glory!Bachelorettes Dancing on Stage with Man Candy

And the fun isn't quite over yet. We have another bachelorette tonight, rehearsal tomorrow, and wedding on Saturday. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures so you can admire how beautiful the bride will most certainly be.

Giveaway Alert!!!

If you have a blog you are a winner!!! Sounds too good to be true, right? Hop on over and visit Kimba to catch all the details, but Brittany from Lewa's Designs is giving away this amazing extra-large dandelion.

If the winner does not happen to be me (please let it be me) then I will no doubt loathe the person who has this beauty in her home. BUT, all is not lost. Just by blogging about it - I'm hoping to bring this little guy home:

(but I would like a little birdy facing left, in chocolate)

I'm already debating on where he should go. Maybe I need a few more......

I Heart Girl Trips!

I have had a busy day at work today and I'm about to go play some tennis with the husband (tonight is our first mixed doubles match of the season). So I don't have long, but I am still so happy coming off of my holiday weekend with the girls that I wanted to share a few pictures!

This was no doubt one of the best trips EVER! I'll tell you more about it later.

Wish us luck at tennis!!