February Goals

January has come and gone...

I know I say this about everything... but seriously...  what an eventful month it's been! =)

I love the monthly goals... so tangible and focused.

So for a quick recap, some of the things I set out to do for this month were:

1. Start Project Life...
which I did,  and I love! If you want to learn more about Project Life look here. It's basically creating a page a week for the entire year, so a total of 52 weeks. It's a "back-to-basics" approach to scrapbooking and I love it.
I bought this chevron binder from Target to store the inserts,

I'm a little behind because I had this God-forsaken procedure, also known as a wisdom tooth extraction, done to me and the last thing on my mind was Journaling about it.
However, I did complete the first three weeks and I love it so much.

2.  I registered for the GRE! ahhh. March Madness, here I come.

3. We took our Save the Date photos, here is a quick preview ;)

4. I deferred all of my loans, yay yay!

5. We gathered *most* of the addresses we need to send out invites

6. I made the "Here lies our Future Home" sign.

7. And lastly, we took pictures with it!

Looking forward to what creative projects will come my way this valentine's day month!

It's nice to meet you 2013!

Happy New Year!!! What an exciting year it's been. So eventful and memorable.

Exactly two years ago I started this blog the same way many people welcome the new year, with a list of resolutions- a plan for the upcoming year and hopes for the future. While I still have hopes for the future, I did not want to make a list of resolutions this year! Jessica gave me this idea last year, and I stubbornly decided to make another list of resolutions for 2012...

After managing to only successfully complete two of my resolutions- I'll keep to myself which ones- I decided to go with a more short-term plan for the year: Monthly Goals!

I love the idea, plus I was sold by this adorable end of the year mosaic.

So without further ado: My January Goals

 So much more feasible! Excited for this year and all of the plans that will come month by month =)

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!

Now it's my Turn to Pop the Question...

I think it's pretty safe to say that I was planning who my bridesmaids were going to be long before I even knew who my groom was going to be. I also think it's safe to assume that most of them knew that I would be asking them to be a part of my wedding. But I still wanted to do something a little more creative than. "Hey, I know it's going to cost an arm and a leg, and I know you're gonna have to pose for like a gazillion and twelve pictures, and I know you will be the first person I come to when I'm stressed out of my mind and shamefully acting like a bridezilla, buuuutt how's about being my bridesmaid??"

Which, truth be told, had I done it in that exact same fashion, they probably would have still said yes because they're that awesome, but when I stumbled upon this adorable bridesmaid box from Bethany at Rinse, Repeat,  I just knew I had to recreate it!

So I added my own personal flare and completed it with wedding-inspired details and Viola! I am so happy with the way they turned out!

I started by buying six unfinished cigar boxes from Michael's and spray painting them ivory.

I then used masking tape to create a striped pattern by painting the exposed stripes with a golden yellow acrylic paint (also purchased as Michael's). 

Drying them was a bit tricky since I didn't want to get acrylic paint everywhere, but I also didn't want to hold each box until it was dry, so what I did was stand them on their side with the excess tape that was hanging  off the edge of each box.

After they were completely dried I hand-stamped each of my bridesmaids' names on the box.

I used this box as an opportunity for the girls to get a better feel for the styles of both the wedding and the bridesmaid dresses, the color palette of the wedding, the inspiration behind the wedding decor, and as a chance for them to learn a little bit more about each other.

I included a postcard-sized paper sharing a little bit about each individual bridesmaid that included their name, their role in the wedding party, their favorite color, their favorite ice cream, their favorite romantic-comedy, my favorite memory with them, and the qualities I admire most about them.

I wanted them to have a lot of say in the bridesmaids' dresses, they're the ones that are going to be wearing them after-all, so I offered up some of my ideas and left the floor wide open for suggestions. Whether they wanted to go matching dresses or mismatched, whether they wanted to go gray or yellow for the dress, what accessories they wanted to do and so on.

After describing our day, the dresses, and asking them to RSVP for the first fitting of their dresses, I finished off the box by including paint swatches of the color scheme and inspiration pictures for the wedding. I wrapped the letters with a lace ribbon and tied off the paint swatches and pictures with some twine and labeled each section of the box with a yellow tag.

After it was all done I tied off the box with baker's twine and attached a printed tag that read, "Now it's my turn to pop the question..." and sent them off.

This project was sooo fun! A little time consuming, but so worth it. My favorite part was seeing the face of my bridesmaids as they opened it. Worth every minute I spent on them.

Minnie Mouse Party!

I recently just went to a "Minnie" themed birthday party for Oscar's cousin, Priscilla this last weekend.
The yellow and red color scheme coupled with the Disney details were just so cute- I had to share.

Her mom, Dannette, surprised her with this gorgeous party for her 26th Birthday!

The centerpieces were a bedazzled Mickey head with a bouquet of white and yellow daises. She also made a gorgeous banner, a beautiful cake, and a delicious candy table.

How much do you love that cake??

Priscilla's mom did such a great job of decorating and adding touches of hand-crafted delights. She made Priscilla's shirt and tutu by hand! So cute! And that cake stand is actually an accessories basket that she purchased at Ross for $7.00. She simply flipped it around and used it as a cake stand. What a good idea!

And the candy... oh the candy! She dipped Mickey Mouse shaped rice crispy treats and had them displayed on the candy table, alongside, yellow and red licorice, skittles, Disneyland lollipops, and other fun-sized treats.

She made the banner, making sure to pay attention to every detail and adding Minnie Mouse ears to the corner of each letter. So cute!

She also supplied Minnie Mouse ears for all of the guests that we were able to take home as party favors.
We had such a great time!

Queen Bee Market

A couple of weeks ago I went with my sister to the Queen Bee Market! It was so fun to see everyone's displays and even buy some goodies. It was even more fun to explore all of the vendors blogs once I got home. I will definitely be going again!

As if I didn't have a good enough time at the market, I indulged in some Panera Bread right after the Market.

Sooooo goood! If you want to read more about the Market and see some pretty pictures make sure to visit my sister's post here.

"The Story"

As I mentioned, I just recently got engaged to the love of my life and best friend. And for six months I have constantly been hearing, "So what's the story?? How did he propose?? Tell us the story."

So here is our story... which I obviously think is the best one ;)

Oscar and I started dating my junior year of high school. We fumbled through our first Valentine's day together mainly because I was apparently too inquisitive for a first date. We endured countless high school Winter Formals, Homecoming, and Jr.  Proms. And on April 28, 2006 he asked me to be his steady.

We went through trying times in college- ups/downs/ upside-downs  Times that challenged us both as a couple and as individuals... but no need to fret! This story has a happy ending.

Oscar's been with me through thick and thin, tears and laughter, sunshine and stormy weather, and I couldn't be happier about our future wedding and our future life together.


"The Proposal"

On April 28, 2012, on the 6th anniversary of when we first started dating, Oscar asked me to be his future wife. And I know the question is if I was expecting it and the answer is, "No!" Shocking as it may be I was totally surprised when he got down on one knee and popped the question.

He told me he had made reservations for a restaurant to celebrate our anniversary, but he wanted it to be a surprise. So he blindfolded me and I was guessing where we were street by street so he decided to take an alternative route to throw me off. Upon arriving to our mystery "reservation," we walked a couple of steps to where he had set up a romantic outdoor dinner set for two in his backyard, complete with twinkle lights, torches, candlelight, and romantic music (and no, I still didn't see it coming!)

He proceeded to serve me salad, a parmesan crusted chicken, and finished it off with white and milk chocolate-covered strawberries.  He had also chilled sparkling cider which I had assumed was to make a toast to our six years together. 

 As I was pouring he said, "Wait, before we make a toast I wanted to tell you that I love you and..." and this is the point where I tuned out because he got down on one knee and I got one look at this bad boy                    

... and said, "Yes, I will" and he said, "Babe, wait let me finish!"

And from that moment on I've been the future Mrs. Bustillos and I wouldn't have it any other way.