We're Still Lovin' Gangnam Style

While 'What Does a Fox Say' is quickly taking over our Friday Dance Parties, we still can't get enough of Psy and his silly Gangnam Style dance craze. So much so, that I knew it had to be requested at the wedding that we attended this weekend. 
Ellington loved every minute of the attention she got from taking over the dance floor. She instantly struck the 'Gangnam Style' pose when she heard the first few notes of the song and continued dancing late into the night (by late, I mean she passed out as the reception ended at 11). Honestly, I don't know how she had the energy since she woke up at 7 that morning, but it made for a great nights sleep!
Enjoy!

Bridal Shower Fun + a Freebie

This past weekend, I helped to celebrate a lovely bride-to-be. The location was perfectly located in Charlotte's artsy neighborhood and the food at Amelie's French Bakery was incredibly delicious + it was so nice to actually enjoy a morning meal without the kiddos around. Who knew that chewing and tasting your food could be so relaxing??

Anywho, I was in charge of setting up the games for the bridal shower. I love a good game, but I am more familiar with toddler games, so I had to dig a little to come up with some fun games for this group. I also had a small challenge of coming up with games that would include the few non-English speakers that we would have in attendance. I came up with the following 3 games:

I apologize for the bad iPhone picture. My eyes are hurting already from looking at it, but it's the only photo I have since my real camera was left at home. Sad face. 

Toilet Paper Dress Game If you've ever been to a bridal shower which included games, then you have most likely played this game. You divide the guests into groups and each group chooses one person to be the 'bride'. Next, each group dresses their bride in their own designer bridal gown using ONLY toilet paper. The bride then picks a winner for best wedding dress design and that group walks away with a prize. The prize I chose was an oven mitt filled with supplies needed to make cupcakes since the shower was kitchen themed.  This game is also a winner when it comes to preparing for the game. The only supplies needed are: 3-4 rolls of Toilet Paper for each group Prizes for the winning group Name that Herb Sticking to the kitchen theme of the bridal shower. I gathered 10 spices from my kitchen (in actuality, I left my spices at home, so I had to borrow some from my mom). Cover the labels of each spice and write a number on each jar. At the shower, pass the spices around and have each person write a guess to each spice or herb down on a piece of paper. The person who has the most correct answers wins a prize.  Supplies needed: 10 Spices or Herbs  Numbered Paper to cover labels of spices Pens + Paper for guests to write their guesses A Prize (s) for the winner Bubble Gum Game Also known as 'How well do you know your Groom?' This is a fun game to play to see how well the bride really knows her groom. Simply email a list of random questions to the groom and ask the bride what she thinks the groom answered during the shower. To make things more interesting, make the bride chew a piece of bubble gum each time she gets an answer wrong. Questions can be anything from 'How does he like his coffee?' to 'If you could be any animal, what would you be?' Supplies needed: Question + Answers from the groom (obtained ahead of time) Bubble Gum
In addition to the games, I had a little printable set up on a side table with recipe cards for guests to fill out with advice on marriage or suggestions for future date nights. I had so much fun making it, that I decided to turn it into a free printable for you girls! Click here for the free download. 

Enjoy! Linking up with Chits & Giggles and Little Bit of Class, Little Bit of Sass for Wedding Wednesday today. 

Let's Wrap it Up

This weekend, I am cohosting a bridal shower for my husband's cousin. I can't share a lot with you just yet, but I will surely have plenty of pictures and details next week. What I can share with you is how I wrapped her gift. 

I'm not sure if this is just a southern thing or if bride's all over the country are doing this, but a bow bouquet is a must where I come from. It can be as simple as tying / taping all of the bows on bridal shower gifts together or you can get a little fancy by adding a paper plate. The bride will then use the bow bouquet (also known as a ribbon bouquet) as a substitute for the real thing when walking down the isle during rehearsal. 
Y'all didn't know I was the fancy type, did y'all? Normally, I would just bring a paper plate with me to the party, but 2 little munchkins have taken every brain cell I have and turned my memory to mush… I was afraid I would forget the paper plate and ruin the party! Okay, so the party would not have been ruined. 

Anywho. I thought I was being pretty nifty with the idea to make the paper plate apart of the bow on my gift. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but I won't forget the plate now + I won't forget to actually make the bow bouquet at the party with this little reminder sitting on my gift. 
There's my tip for the day. Anybody else have any last minute tips to pulling off a fantastic bridal shower? 
Linking up with Chits & Giggles and Little Bit of Class, Little Bit of Sass for Wedding Wednesday today. 

A Wedding Anniversary

It feels like John and I have been together for decades and we kind of have, well, one decade. This year will mark 12 years since we started dating. But, today we will be celebrating 4 years since we said 'I do'. 

I'm still crazy in love with that boy that I fell in love with in high school and absolutely adore the man he has become. Here's to many many more years of wedded chaos!

Our Hotel in Bath

We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in Bath with classic English touches that made me feel like we were staying in a quaint bed & breakfast, but with all of the amenities of any large hotel.

Our room was very cozy and conveniently located right above the reception site.  This was perfect for this pregnant lady since the reception was all of 8 hours long.  During the wedding reception, I slipped away to our room several times to rest a bit, but I could still hear and view the celebrations by opening the window. :)

 One of my favorite little details of the hotel was the option to borrow some boots to go roaming around the grounds of the hotel.

 We didn't do much roaming around, but what we did see was gorgeous.  Their gardner must be one busy guy (or girl).

 If you ever happen to find yourself in Bath and need a place to stay, I highly recommend the Homewood Park Hotel & Spa.

A Wedding in Bath

The wedding was gorgeous and the cute little village church was the perfect ceremony site for this lovely couple.  It was held in a very old church in Bath.

There were so many details to the church that I just wasn't able to accurately photograph, but the archway leading into the church courtyard was one of my favorite details.

I also loved that they chose to have people throw flower peddles for their little getaway from the church.  It was such a fun moment in the celebration.

Looking back at all of the photos from the wedding, this seems to be my pose for the day.  I was in that I-feel-more-fat-than-pregnant stage and I was trying to showing off my belly, so people didn't think that I just overindulged on delicious food during our trip. :)  We all have these silly moments, right?

John made so much fun of me because I kept stopping to take pictures of these adorable garden doors.  It was just so pretty to see a pop of color amongst all of the old stone walls and buildings.

The happy couple's getaway car was a perfect fit for this traditional English wedding.

The cocktail hour was held right outside our hotel, which was nice since the cocktail hour actually lasted FOUR hours.  Apparently, this is the norm for English weddings... You drink for 4 hours after the wedding ceremony and then proceed to the reception to eat dinner and drink some more.  **Sorry to the woman who I caught bending over.  I couldn't find another shot of the cocktail hour, so I had to use this one.**

The reception venue was a large tent set up in the hotel garden and it was lovely during the day and night.... The wedding was probably around 10 hours from start to finish.  I made it through unscathed (probably due to the fact that I couldn't drink any alcohol), but many people had to retire early.

Can you imagine a wedding in the US lasting this long?  Most of the reception time was taken up by dinner and speeches.  The speeches were incredibly funny and entertaining!  I think John has already written half of his speech for Ellington's wedding already.  I reminded her that she was only one and might even be one of those women who just chooses not to get married in the future, but he is determined to give his speech at some major event in her life.  I'm not planning Ellington's wedding just yet, but I do see lots of parental embarrassment in her future.

A Secret Garden and A Very Old House

Our trip to England wasn't just a chance to see the Olympics or get away for a few days, we traveled across the ocean to celebrate the marriage of a lovely couple that John met in graduate school at UAB.  To kickoff the celebration, the bride's parents had a little meet and greet / rehearsal dinner for family and faraway friends in the backyard of their Bath home.

From the home's exterior on the mountainside, there appeared to be no backyard and little greenery.  After a quick glance of the amazingly decorated interior, we were directed to a huge backyard.  It was so unexpected.  Although the backyard was quite large, it felt cozy and was very peaceful.  Each little corner of the yard was like a little private garden.  Speaking of gardens, the flowers and plants in this yard should be featured in a magazine pronto!

Aside from the gorgeous landscaping, the house had a few fabulous features of it's own.  The house really stole my heart.  Due to the fact that the party was outside and the lovely bride was busy greeting guests, I kept my house snooping to a minimum.  I am hoping we get an invite back to this place in the future for a tour and a tour of Bath from the bride's very knowledgeable father. :)

According to the bride, redecorating and remodeling this house has been somewhat of a hobby turned job for her mom.  Over the years, it sounds like her mother has redone every room in the house... twice.  During one of those remodeling projects, an old staircase leading to a basement was discovered.  How cool is that?  You just happen to find this original staircase with a secret room while redoing your living room.

I love love love what she did with the discovery!  The location of the staircase didn't really work well for the flow of the room, so a custom piece of glass was put over it to show it off in the room and the basement is now accessible from a different staircase.  Simply stunning!  Really, why is this house not already in a magazine?!

I am kicking myself for not taking more photos of the interior of this house.  Every single thing in this particular room was amazing.  The family has lived in Singapore and the US and much of the decor reflects their travels all over the world.  Oh, and did I mention that this house is very old and so rich in history?  Old houses are kind of my thing.  And this house wasn't just an old house by American standards... no, it was European old.  Just think about all of the history this house has seen.

Leather & Crystal

No, I'm not redecorating or incorporating leather and crystal into my wardrobe.  Those two items are the traditional and modern day 3 year anniversary gifts.  That's right, John and I have now been married for 3 years.  Really?  It feels like way longer... not in a bad way.  We started dating in 2001, so maybe we should just think of this as our 11 year anniversary.

I could not have ever guessed that this is where we would be at 3 years past our wedding day.  For some reason, I still feel like we are fresh out of high school and playing 'house'.  Anybody else still feel like they just graduated high school or is it just me?  In reality, my high school class will actually be having our 10 year high school reunion later this year!  What?!

Anywho, back to our anniversary.  John took over the planning, so our night consisted of dinner and a trip to the batting cages.  Not the romantic getaway that some prefer, but it was just right for my taste.  We left Ellington with Aunt Esther, so we enjoyed our first baby-free dinner since... maybe this time last year?  We also decided against gift giving this year.  Instead, we will be putting our anniversary funds towards our trip to England in August.  I cannot wait!

In 3 years we have moved to Alabama, moved back to NC, John earned his PhD, and I had a baby, plus we celebrated that baby's 1st birthday.  Yeah, we don't like to do things slow in the Yi household.  I'll leave you with my favorite picture from June 20, 2009 because this is a wedding anniversary post after all. :)

The Perfect Day for Another Wedding

On Saturday, my beautiful older sister got married to her high school sweetheart.  It was SO. MUCH. FUN!  The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous, but I think their choice of venue for the reception was my favorite part of the wedding.  The reception was held at the Trolley Museum in Charlotte and I loved everything about it. The food - BBQ, the music - they had a great DJ who actually got out on the dance floor to teach you the dance moves to each song, the decor - I mean, what's not to love about having an antique trolley at your reception?, and the bride & groom looked so happy together!  They even snuck away before their big send off to change into matching Charlotte Bobcats jerseys with their name on the back - super adorable!  Sadly, I was having too much fun to stop and snap a few pictures, but I am sure that the photographers got plenty of good shots to post later.  The only pictures I actually have in hand are the extra photo booth polaroids from their guestbook (see above).

Ellington was a trooper and spent most of her time on the dance floor.  About half way through the reception, her little eyes wanted to shut so badly.  She didn't want to miss any of the dancing, but she finally passed out after plenty of cuddles from my mom and her incredible friends.  It was a long weekend, so I am hoping Ellington catches up on her sleep this week!

Congratulations to the happy couple... Rafe & Malone Lockaby!

This is the video slideshow that I made for Malone & Rafe's rehearsal dinner.  Sorry about the incredibly poor quality.  Unfortunately, I can't post it to YouTube, so I had to downgrade the quality in order to get a file small enough to post here.

Awesomeness in Asheville

The weekend away was amazing!  We stayed in an amazing loft in the heart of Asheville.  Everything about these lofts was just my style... exposed brick, gorgeous furnishings, incredible hardwood floors, cozy nooks, and prime location!

Let's just say that I would move in if they were for sale and I was relocating to Asheville, but they're not and I'm not. :(  Fortunately for you, you can stay there too if you are looking for an amazing place to stay in Asheville.  Highly recommend them!!

No photos will be posted of our shenanigans because 'what happens at a Bachelorette Weekend, stays at a Bachelorette Weekend' or maybe just because I look absolutely horrible in all of them.  I can assure you that we had plenty of fun.  Friday night just may have included a few drinks, a lot of karaoke, a lesson on how to pose for pictures, maybe some midnight yoga, and lots of catching up with fantastic girls.

Saturday was plenty of fun too!  We started the day with window shopping and a walk through a lovely local crafts market where I snapped a few pics of my favorite booths.  Sorry, I was too busy checking out the group below to pick up the names of these incredibly talented crafters. :(

This group was outside of the craft market singing the day away.  They (LYRIC) were absolutely amazing!  I swear I was singing just like her during our karaoke fun on Friday night... don't laugh!  Everybody knows that I can't sing, except Ellington.  Shhhh! Don't tell her yet.  She'll figure it out one day.

After a phenomenal fried chicken BLT at Tupelo Honey and a deliscious salad at Fig Bistro, we had a little fun dancing and cheering on the drag queens at Scandals night club.  So. Much. Fun!

Vintage Tea Party - Bridal Shower

My older sister is getting married this year and we have been busy with party planning for the past month or so.  A week ago, we finally had the party and it was so much fun!  I won't bore you with too many details, but I do want to mention some fun things that we added to make the shower a little more personal.

The hat displays are actually made from hats that were from my grandmother's and great-grandmother's collection.  This was totally my mom's creation and everyone loved them!  Many of them are really cute and hats are coming back in fashion thanks to a certain royal wedding last year.  Unfortunately, my head is far to big to fit into any of these beautiful hats.  The tablecloths are also my great-grandmother's.

This is my favorite detail!  My mom found this picture from my sister's 4th birthday.  Malone was a bride and I was a bridesmaid (Carney was still in my mom's belly).  Isn't it funny what kids think up for their birthday parties. :)

Lastly, one of Malone's friends turned what was left of her bridal shower cake into a 'Happy 30th Birthday' cake for later on that evening.

This was one exhausting weekend, but I had lots of fun and I hope everyone else did too!

When Pigs Fly

I apologize for the awful pictures... some day I will actually learn how to use this fancy camera.  Anywho, I finally did something to our entryway.  Now, it actually looks like somebody has lived here for more than a few weeks.  I can't promise that anything looks complete beyond the foyer, but that's life with a baby for ya.

This was just a quick fix, I hung a series of pictures from our wedding and honeymoon in South Korea.  I even made some DIY artwork.

The Art HeartWork was inspired by several pinterest finds and I LOVE it! Is was super simple too... just just use fabric for the background and cut hearts from map printouts.  I use Seoul - South Korea (where John was born), Raleigh - NC(Where I was born), Charlotte - NC (Where we met), Birmingham - AL (Where we 1st lived), and Durham - NC (Where we live now).  The word art is actually from our 1st dance song.  I love it!

This little area is definitely not finished, but I had to share the little DIY art and, of course, this little guy!  He makes me smile when I pass him on the way to the coffee pot each morning.  I thought about taking a can of spray paint to him, but I have decided that I like him just the way he is right now.

Have you made a simple change that pulled a room together lately?  Have you not put a single thing on the walls yet (even though you have lived in a space for nearly 8 months)?  I am certainly guilty of the latter.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Dear John, Can We Get Married Again?

I am so excited about my sister's upcoming wedding! I have already pinned dozens of pictures of wedding related stuff and I can already tell that I may have to leave the country when Ellington plans her wedding. There are just so many cute / creative ideas out there for a fresh / unique wedding. My minded is flooded with new ideas for great weddings.

I think that I finally understand why some couples choose to re-new their vows year after year... they just want to throw another party! :) So, check out some of the fun wedding ideas that I have found throughout the interweb on Pinterest.

Happy 2nd Anniversary, John!

Cotton is the traditional 2nd Anniversary gift, but this year we decided to throw out tradition and just have a quiet night out. Unfortunately, this didn't fit into out busy schedule. With a baby that has now taken over our lives, we don't exactly have a lot of time to celebrate us. Instead of a big weekend away or a fancy dinner for two, we spent our anniversary weekend in Charlotte with a full schedule of showing off the baby.

Life sure has changed a lot in the past 2 years and my love for John has only grown stronger! It's sappy, but I did manage to make a little artwork for a mini-gift.

First comes love, then comes marriage!

My older sister got engaged to a wonderful guy yesterday! I am so excited for them both! They have know each other since high school and have been together for many many years, so this was bound to happen someday. You can bet that their wedding will be one party that you will NOT want to miss! Congratulations Malone & Rafe!

PS How is it that I have no pictures of the two of them together? Oh well, this will have to do for now. :)

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Van Wie!

On July 24th, 2010 KK and Doug got married! It was absolutely gorgeous and the Biltmore Estate was the perfect place to have the ceremony. KK was a beautiful bride and Doug looked happy as always. They are the cutest couple and I am sure that they will live their happily ever after to the fullest.

Dinner and dancing nearly killed my waistline and my feet, but it was well worth it! Note to self... ALWAYS bring a back up pair of flip flops or just don't wear heels!

CONGRATS KK & DOUG! A toast to the happy couple.

One Year Ago

This year has flown by so fast. Sometimes, I still feel like John and I are dating and I should be on my way back home soon. We have kept this anniversary simple and quiet because we have a little something planned early next year that I will blog about later.

The first year anniversary gift is traditionally paper, so I framed my favorite part of our wedding ceremony for John:

Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created and it is created in the following ways;
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say ‘I love you’ at least once a day.
It is at no time taking each other for granted.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing life.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivation flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which dependence is equal, dependence is mutual, and obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

I try every day to be the right partner. John is not only the love of my life, but my best friend. I am so lucky to have such a great person in my life.

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Casey!

On October 10, 2009 Pat Casey & Julie Fulp got married! They are the cutest pair. Pat is one of John's fraternity brothers and I spent a lot of time hanging out with Julie (& Pat) on all of the fraternity formals to the beach / mountains. In fact, Pat finds a way to get in EVERY picture I have of John and me (see example below).

Anyway, the reception was fantastic! The food was delicious & it didn't hurt that there was an open bar. Give people free alcohol and they'll love any party! However, I would have loved this party even if there wasn't a drop of wine. They had these amazingly delicious mini crab cakes and I could have gobbled up that entire cake. Julie and Pat are absolutely perfect for each other. I know they will bring each other joy for years to come.

CONGRATS PAT & JULIE CASEY!!

John & Pat Celebrate

John & Sarah get their dance on!