04-01-10 through 04-3-10 A catch up!

On Thursday April first I did not care about April Fool's Day but I did care about trying out the food at The Hacienda. Since we were considering the location for the wedding we were given a free dinner to try the food there. They are only open to the public as a restaurant on Thursdays so we had to go early in the evening so that Curtis could get to the class he teaches. The food was DELICIOUS! Seriously the best restaurant enchiladas I've ever had! And everything else there from the appetizers to the sopapillas were awesome! We were very impressed. They also have a Sunday brunch. We have to check that out soon!

Friday April 2nd we went to Temecula wine country to see a couple of possible wedding venues and do some wine tasting. It is so pretty out there! And the wine is so very good. We visited The Falkner Winery and Wilson Creek winery. Falkner is gorgeous and would be perfect for the wedding but is just a bit out of our price range. And we're concerned about making our guests trek out there as well. But yeah, it's super pretty. And their wine is also VERY good. We did a tasting of 7 wines each and they were all good! I hadn't eaten much so I got tipsy pretty fast. Also, my taste buds are a bit off lately ever since my cold and so I couldn't really handle my favorite reds and instead was really favoring fruity whites. Weird.


We also stopped for lunch at Wilson Creek Winery. The food at the Creek Side Grill was so very good! I used to do shows and attend parties at that winery years ago. It's been built up and expanded quite a bit. It's really pretty too but I think for the wedding I am favoring Falkner Winery. But it was neat to visit Wilson Creek and to have some of their famous Almond Champagne. Also, the busboy was cute and I in my tipsy state wanted to bite him. True story. Curtis loves me anyway. In fact after we left wine country he ended up buying me frozen yogurt with our friend Dean. I love frozen yogurt! And seeing Dean is always nice.

On Saturday April 3rd we had an early Easter dinner with Curtis's family. It was a nice day and as usual we stuffed ourselves silly on Curtis's mom's food. Seriously. SO. MUCH. FOOD. She always starts out with lots of yummy appetizers and so it's hard not to fill up on them but then when the main course is ready it's hard to eat! But it was all really delicious and we all had a really nice time catching up with everyone.

03-30-10 Good day, bad night.

Today we went and looked at wedding locations. We went to three that are all owned by the same lady. Tivoli Terrace which is in Laguna Beach and decorated in a European style. Tivoli Too! Which is also in Laguna and decorated in a Mediterranean style and The Hacienda which is in Santa Ana and has an old Spanish ranch house kind of style.

We thought we'd like Tivoli Too the best, and while it was certainly lovely, we really ended up loving The Hacienda. All three locations pretty much do everything for you and they allow your pets to be involved as well! That alone was a big plus for us! Frankie HAS to be in the wedding.

The Hacienda is a historic location built in an old ranch house that is almost a century old. It is also the biggest location of the 3 and it has lovely indoor and outdoor areas which is really what I wanted most out of my reception site. It also has two lovely chapels to have the ceremony at and all three locations are reasonably priced.

We still have some other places to check out and to consider but, so far The Hacienda is the front runner. They even gave us some of their award winning Viennese Spiced Carrot Cake. I'm not a huge carrot cake fan but I gotta say, this cake was so very good! It also has free parking and is somewhat central to most of our guests.
My photo of the day is of me with the box of cake they gave us to take home and try. Mmmmm.

Then I got home and well, the night could have gone better. I lost something important (not my ring, don't worry) and it appears to be gone forever. I ended up walking over 5 miles trying to find it, but it did not turn up.

On the plus side, I didn't freak out. This is pretty huge for me. I tend towards freaking out when things go badly but have been trying to do better about that. I still freak out sometimes but I am getting much better. I attribute this in large part to the wisdom and understanding of Curtis. Last night was just one of many nights where as he walked miles with me to try and find a proverbial needle in a haystack with flashlights in pitch black areas, I realized just how lucky I am to call him mine and how much he has added to my life. He was a good boyfriend, he is a great fiance and I am certain he will be a wonderful husband! I picked a good one and I am so glad that he also picked me. :)

03-29-10 Monday... again

Again I had big plans for Monday. And again I did not really accomplish them. on the brightside, I managed to walk Frankie about 3.5 miles so, I got SOEMTHING done. I also spent about 8 hours researching possible wedding venues only to come up with the same places I had already found.

I also bought this magazine along with another wedding magazine. "Cesar's Way". It's all about Cesar Milan and dogs. I love Cesar. I don't really put all of his advice to use as I tend to spoil my pets, but I do find that a lot of what he has to say is very useful and true. And this magazine has so many great photos of dogs! It just made me happy. And it was nice to take a break from wedding magazines and read a heartwarming story of a dog who saved it's owners life, or to gaze at all the adorable faces on the adoptions page.

And that was pretty much my day. Oh, and I still have a cold. I hate this damn cold.

03-28-10 Wedding Marching

Well, March has just been flying by. Since my motto for this month was "Make My Life Better March", I feel the need to talk about how that actually turned out for me. I feel pretty good about March. I hated that I was sick for pretty much the whole month. I hated that I was so lazy due to being sick that I missed most workouts and also slacked on walking Frankie as much as I like to. BUT...other than those small setbacks, I had a rather amazing month. Here are the highlights:

~Curtis and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary.
~We managed to catch most of the Oscar Nominated Movies I wanted to see before the Oscars.
~We spent a lot of nice quality time together.
~WE GOT ENGAGED!
~Curtis and his partner Zeke SOLD THEIR FIRST SHOW TO A BIG NETWORK!
~I'm planning a wedding and therefore I get to talk to my closest friends WAY more than usual and see them more often too. Woo-hoo!

Now, because of the engagement, some other stuff on my "list of important stuff to do" has slipped a little in terms of how important it is right this second because until we have a date, location and all the big decisions for the wedding done, it's petty much all I can think about. Once we have all that stuff out of the way, then, I'm pretty sure I can relax. But finging a location and picking a date are BIG things that need to be taken care of prretty quickly for me. And finding a location takes time and effort, driving all over to see all the possible venues and stuff.

Anyway, that's my little update on March. Onto the events of today!

Today was the last scheduled brunch at a restaurant called "Spadra". Spadra is a great little restaurant that had great brunches and the most relaxed atmosphere of any place I've ever been to. It was the kind of place where ou could eat breakfast or brunch and then just relax and chat at the table for a long time without feeling pressured to leave. Having been a server I always made sure we weren't keeping anyone from making money or keeping anyone from having a table. But Spadra was just kind of "chill" that way. If you lived in the area or had gone to school there, or just knew people there, then there was a good chance you'd see people you kneew there. It will be missed. Oh sure, there's lots of other good brunch places to go to, but they don't have the ambience or feel of Spadra. We started going there with our friend Dean and then other people started to join in as well. Dean was unfortunately sick today so he missed out, sadly. And a few other people also couldn't make it, so, today we said our goodbye in a smaller way than planned with Scott and Liz and baby Aurora. It was very nice. There was a rumor that they might stay open a little longer. I guess we'll see. But today was the advertised last day for brunch. This is me and Curtis at the last brunch.



After that my mom and I went wedding dress shopping. More dresses. I found a couple more that I really loved. But they were pricier than I would have liked. Still, it's nice to know what I like and what I don't. My sis in law, and bridesmaid, Kerri also joined us for a bit.

03-27-10 One of those days...

So, today I had an early morning start for me. It was a busy first half of the day. When I got home I was ready to get some more stuff done, workout and then maybe take a little nap before Curtis got back home. Instead... I came home to find everything somewhat falling apart. I don't want to get into it. Let's just say it involved dog poop, blood, spilled garlic butter, bruising my knee and even more laundry....

But after all that we met up with some friends to hang out for a bit and then went to a birthday party. It was a good night all in all and we got to see and spend time with a lot of friends. That's always nice.

Our first stop of the night was Scott and Liz's house to hang out with them, their baby, Liz's mom, and our other friends Jeff and Ami. My photo of the day is of the girls involved iin that group. :)

03-26-10

This is my pillow in it's brand new pillowcase that is now torn apart. Frankie has never torn a pillow in his life yet this week he seems hell bent on destroying the bed. I am certain that he didn't do this on purpose. If he really wanted to attack the pillow he would have torn it much more than this. I think that he really just was scratching around the bed trying to make a comfortable "nest like" bed as he and most dogs do before laying down and his claws (which are in need of a trim, which is my fault) tore it a bit. It was also a very cheap pillowcase, not exactly the best quality, but still.... it wasn't the best way to end the day.

Today wasn't a bad day, but neither was it a great day. The day kind of got away from me. Though, I did manage to get some cleaning done. I've been very tired this week. And still kinda lazy physically. I think it has to do with the fact that this stupid cold still won't go away completely and the stress of job hunting and wedding planning at the same time. so, in an effort to not be too lazy I cleaned today. I scrubbed the bathroom, did about 6 loads of laundry and cleaned my room a bit. I was feeling pretty good about things when Curtis and I left for dinner. So, I wasn't thrilled when I saw my torn pillow. But it wasn't the worst thing either. Oh well. Such is life. Frankie's a wonderful dog, but, like any dog (or child for that matter) there are situations and behaviors I could live without. But in general, I believe that the good far outweighs the bad in having a pet.

03-25-10 Mama's Got a Brand New Bag... of bedding.

Today I went shopping. I needed new seets because Frankie spends a lot of time in my bed and is a sheet destroyer. He doesn't mean to destroy them but sometimes he gets all excited and digs around on the bed and accidently puts holes in the sheets. :( But in all fairness I've only had to buy new sheets once since I got him and I've had him three years so, it takes a while to inflict his damage. ;-)

Anyway, the photo is of the new light green sheets. I'm on a green kick right now.

After that I tried to get some more stuff done but then I accidentally took some Benedryl instead of Tylenol and I knocked myself out for most of the evening. Oops! I really need to focus more at times like when taking medication! Yikes!