My life revolves around food and drink.

One view of the garden at Coltivare- it is very peaceful, I love it!

I have had a super busy few weeks at work and because I am really proud of my employer, I thought I would share some pictures here on the blog. I really like working at Coltivare-"Houston's best new restaurant". The people are nice, the food is simple, the ingredients are delicious, they value my experience and allow me to have a super flexible schedule- what more can you ask for? If you are in Houston and you have not eaten here....come have a drink in the garden and check it out!

It is eggplant, okra and pepper season in the garden at work!

Chef Ryan and Vinny make some means Salumi at Coltivare's sister restaurant- Revival Market.
 I will have a sampling at the wedding- yummy! 

Anyway, when I haven't been serving other people food and drinks, I have been shopping around for serving equipment at local restaurant supply stores- gathering information in order to get an idea of a budget.  Like I have explained on a previous posting, I am in charge of the food and drinks at our wedding reception. I have delegated most of the food out to other people- but it is important that everything is set up properly and that we have the proper serving utensils, etc. I am definitely renting some catering supplies, but it seems like most things are pretty affordable to buy. The date is approaching quickly, so I have actually been buying stuff I know we will need....

I found some awesome serving bowls and baskets at Ross for super cheap- love this stuff! 

Our wedding homebrewing session lasted into the night this past Saturday- a family that brews together, stays together! 

We made an appearance at Monkey Joe's for Connor Stiver's 5th Birthday on Sunday for pizza and cake.
 (Connor is one of my best friend Jenn's son- I cannot believe that he is already 5! Time flies when your an adult- whew.)

Some of the wedding ties for the groomsmen arrived this week! 

All of our groomsmen are coming to Houston tonight on their way to New Orleans for Nathan and Bryan's joint bachelor party- I feel lucky to get to spend a night with all of them before they hit the road for NOLA! I am headed to Austin tomorrow to celebrate with my bridesmaids and girl friends for the weekend- I am really excited. I am sure there will be a healthy (or overly indulgent) amount of drinking and eating this weekend.....stay tuned for pictures and stories next week! 

Decoration Sneak Peak

We drove to San Angelo for the weekend- and although we drove 6 hours in the rain to get there, it was most definitely worth the drive! We went to lunch with my grandfather Jerry (who will be walking me down the aisle), visited with my grandmother Louise (who turned 91 years old on Sunday), had a wedding meeting with Amy Fox (my "day of coordinator") and went to dinner with my mom for her birthday on Saturday. Needless to say, it was a very productive weekend! As promised, I took pictures of some of the wedding decorations in order to give everyone a little sneak peak here on the blog!

One of the biggest limitations of our wedding venue, is that there is not a lot of outdoor lighting in the space we have chosen to have the reception. And because it will be dark for most of the celebration, my mom decided to hunt for old chandeliers, refurbish them, have them rewired and hang them in the big trees. Here are 3 pictures from the beginning of her DIY project until the end: 

                   

                        She took off the crystals, cleaned them and
                  repainted the frame

Chandelier before....

                                                   

                                                                 Finished product! Rewired and ready to go!

Another cool chandelier she found at a thrift store and plans to refurbish! 

We are going for a Bohemian vibe- and they have planned decorations for several different "spaces".  The ceremony will be held in a lovely area under a giant tree, it will be decorated with big brass arches, ribbons, candles and big comfortable rugs. After the ceremony, they plan to move out the chairs and move in comfortable lounge furniture- creating a relaxing area for visiting throughout the night. We will also have a dancing area, food buffet tables and the tables for sitting for dinner and drinking in the middle of it all. 

We decided to stay away from expensive floral centerpieces, and to decorate all of the tables differently. It should be a fun way to save money- and I love everything so far! 

Here are some pictures of some of the table decorations:

Boho lights and table decorations

More candles and table decorations

A few of the many colorful table clothes- every table will be different! 

Lastly, after trying on my wedding dress in hotel rooms, seeing my reflection in TV screens and small bathrooms for the last year, I finally got the chance to try on my dress at Korona's (my family wedding dress store) in front of the large mirrors. Little girls grow up thinking the wedding dress is the most important part of wedding planning- and after growing up selling wedding dresses, 

I can honestly say I have a love/hate relationship with this sentiment. 

Since the last time I tried it on, my mom tweaked it a little- making it more individual and flattering on me. Having my mom and grandmother there together, reassuring me it was a perfect fit for my personality and body type, was a really good feeling. It was a feeling of confidence in my dress that I was waiting and hoping for. I am really excited for everyone to see it on our big day! 

I am putting down my phone now....

For the past two weeks, I have decided to limit my wedding planning to a few hours a week. 

Mainly because, now that invitations are out, key family members have decided to become more involved- which is great! BUT, I have spent a lot of time emailing, calling and texting regarding their questions, opinions, details, etc. I really want this planning thing to be fun, and text fighting with someone in your family for hours on end (about something stupid) can really take the fun out of it!
But all in all, I am in a good place- most of the big things and some of the little things are already done, accommodations have been finalized, bridesmaid dresses have been bought, and I have been able to chill out a bit and stay away from my phone.
(Do not worry- things will liven up in the next few weeks and I will have a lot of blog material!)

While I have been planning this wedding for what seems like forever, I realized I hadn't taken the time to explain my plans here on the blog.
I have basically divided the planning into three general parts:

1-My (and Nathan's) responsibilities: reception food, booze, music, flowers, guest lists

2-My mom's responsibilities: wedding/reception venue and decorations, wedding dress, invitations

3-Nathan's mom's responsibilities: rehearsal dinner, groom's suit, rings

While I have been involved in guiding our mothers to my vision for the weekend, this division of labor has allowed us to work independently of each other (with some emailing and phone time- of course), which has been important because we all live 6 hours apart.
Obviously, there are many facets to each of these duties (and a lot of things not on the list above), and I have delegated my stuff out a lot further. I will continue to update the blog over the next few weeks with details regarding the way I have chosen to organize my responsibilities, and hopefully some fun pictures!

Stay tuned, we are headed to San Angelo next weekend! I am planning to try on my wedding dress, to have a face-to-face family wedding planning meeting, and to check out what my mother and her crew have been up to in the DIY decoration department- from what I have seen so far, I am excited!
(I am praying my mother's vision for our wedding is close to my own- haha).

"Sawyer, put down the phone and pay attention to me!"