Funky Friday ~ I Love my Mom!

My Mom is the best!  I know, everyone thinks that - I mean at least those of us that have great Moms. But mine truly is, and for a number of reasons.  The number of reasons actually, is so long that I could do a Funky Friday blog ... about all the things that are great about her ... every Friday ...  for a couple of years!  And maybe I will.  But today I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite things about her.

She communicates by mail!!!

I know!  Isn't that crazy??  And it's not just Birthday or Anniversary cards.  It's the actual old-fashioned, send a note because 'I'm thinking of you' or 'I'm proud of you' communication.  I'm so lucky.  My kids are so lucky.  Even my co-workers are lucky!  Every once in a while we'll get something in the mail from Judith.  We can tell it's from her before we even see the return address.  She's a professional calligrapher so it's not just addressed - it's designed.  Here's an example of one of our treasures:

Once we're past the envelope, what's inside is usually pretty thoughtful as well.  A newspaper article or printing on a topic she thinks might interest us.  Something travel related.  Something that relates to the location of our office.  Something related to someone we may know, or have heard about.  The list is endless. 

One of my favorite things to get from her is a comic.  You see, I don't read the comics.  I don't think they're funny.  But she does read them.  Daily.  And she thinks they're funny!  The funny thing is, when she sends one to me, I THINK IT'S FUNNY!  And it makes me happy to know that she's thinking of me.  And it makes me happy she knows it will make me laugh. 

Here is the one we received at the office today.  

It's funny, right?  And yes - it's true!  And SO typical of my Mom.  Both the conversation Lizzie is having with her Mom, the fact that she thought about me, and she knew I would appreciate it!  I especially love the smile face and exclamation point she added.  Brings forth another smile.  I love you Mom and call me anytime!!

Until next time...

W.A.T.W. ~ Celebrity Beach Bodies

As I sit here doing some online swimsuit browsing for my upcoming family spring break trip to Mexico, I somewhat wish I was a celebrity and could visit a spa for a few of the 'treatments' I'm sure the celebrities must get to ensure their bodies look their best for their beach vacations!  (I'm convinced it MUST be the treatments and not a good 'ol, well-balanced diet and a little bit of exercise - who lives like that!)

Although it's a little late in the day for a blog, it is Wednesday, and I am a fan of our W.A.T.W. posts.  So. Here's a few celebrity beach pics featuring the latest hot spots of the stars.  Thank goodness I haven't gone on my trip yet...I wouldn't want to have to post a photo of myself and have to compete with any of these photos!

I would love to vacation with these three women!  I love them all!  Although I must say Drew and Reese are darn brave to vacation with that body of Cameron's.  The three friends were attending a fitness retreat at the Amansala Resort in Tulum - doesn't sound like much of a vacation to me!

Reese Witherspoon / Cameron Diaz / Drew Barrymore

Hawaii is always a popular destination for the stars!

Jessica Simpson & Eric Johnson / Ashley Simpson & Bronx

Ashley Tisdale / Giulina Rancic / Lea Michele & Cory Monteith

Cabo seems to be another favorite celebrity vacation hot spot! 

Jennifer Aniston & Justin Theroux / Jessica Alba / Leeann Rimes & Eddie Cibrian

You can't go wrong with a Caribbean beach and St. Bart's seems to be on the radar of these celebrities!

Ryan Seacrest & Julianne Hough / Channing & Jenna Dewan Tatum

Jon Bon Jovi / Kate Moss

(This one's for you Maria!)

Of course, most of us 'normal' folk usually get only one week of vacation (if we even get that!).  Long vacations are not hard to come by for our celebrity friends.  A trip to Australia is 'no worries!'

Hugh Jackman / Bethanny Frankel

10 days from today I'll be on the beaches of Mexico in the beautiful Riviera Maya.  Although I don't have time to make it to the spa, a few more days of eating a half of an apple and a few leaves of lettuce and I'll be about as beach ready as I'll ever be!!

Until next time...

My Hungry Little Caterpillar Turned ONE!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! As I mentioned in the blog last week, this weekend was a busy one for me. On Saturday we threw a party for our little man who just turned one and it was a blast! I'll share a few pictures at the end of this post as promised :)

But first, I want to share some snapshots from the Wedding Fair yesterday. As always, I met some really great brides and grooms who I am very excited to work with! It's always fun to hear all of the different travel ideas, dreams and preferences, and (although this sounds cheesy, I'm still going to say it...) my goal is to help make each of those wishes come true! I truly do love helping couples find the perfect place to escape.

Since decor and dresses are two of of my favorite wedding aspects, I'll share pictures of those:

We had such a great time celebrating Blake's birthday with our very favorite people on Saturday! I decided on a 'Hungry Little Caterpillar' theme which is very fitting, considering Blake's favorite thing to do is EAT. I still have yet to find something he doesn't like. As a result he seems to grow out of his clothes waaay too often but I have to say, I love how easy it is to feed him!

Goodie bags for the other little ones with caterpillar sippy cups and sets of crayons. 

Gotta love the dollar section at Target!

Yummy treats! Colorful Trix crispies, caterpillar cake pops and an assortment of cupcakes.

We served baked spaghetti, pizza, my favorite Barefoot Contessa salad and good ol' bread & butter. I thought it was pretty delish!

Blake and his Daddy

Blake and his Mommy - Cannot believe I have a one year old!

Blake and his Mimi

Waiting patiently for his dessert

 *Happy Birthday to you! *

1st cupcake ever and what a surprise -- He loved it!

I'm ONE!

Ok enough reminiscing about my weekend... Time to get to work!! Have a great day everyone!

Simply Bridal's Wedding Infographics

Guess what? It's almost time for the Wedding Fair again! (Time really does fly... It seems like I'm always mentioning the upcoming Wedding Fair). Anyway, it's this Sunday, March 10th at the Convention Center. If you're planning on attending, please come say hi to us - We'd love to see you!

Going along with the topic of weddings (which as you know, is one of my all-time favorites), I'd like to introduce you to a company called Simply Bridal. Although their site has only been live since 2011, they have quite a list of accomplishments! They've hosted several successful showcases in Los Angeles and have been featured on popular wedding blogs such as Rock'n'Roll Bride, Style Me Pretty, Wedding Chicks and HuffPost Weddings. The newest hit blog they'll be featured on is... ours! ;-)

Two of their writers, Natalie and Anna will be periodically featured as guest bloggers on our site. Sample topics include beach bridal fashion, destination wedding decor, celebrity honeymoon destinations, exotic honeymoon locales and info on getting married overseas. Better yet? They'll also be offering a discount to our readers for Simply Bridal products including wedding gowns, veils, accessories and bridesmaids dresses.

One thing the Simply Bridal blog features are these adorable wedding 'infographics.' I snagged a few of my favorites and included them below, but I'll be sure to post a few more in my next post when I share the details regarding our exclusive discount with you! Coming soon....

Hope to see many of you on Sunday! And HOPEFULLY I'm fully recovered from my baby's 1st birthday party on Saturday. We have almost 70 of our family members and closest friends coming to celebrate our 'Hungry Little Caterpillar.' I know, I know. We're crazy to let the party get that big, but he only turns 1 once and we have a very fun circle of people we'd like to celebrate with! I'll be sure to share some pictures next week.