Wedding Blog & Giveaway Winner!

First of all, I'm proud to announce my new wedding blog, The Rustic Bride! I'm going to be posting my inspiration, rants, reviews, and random thoughts on all things wedding! Feel free to follow if you are into that kinda thing.

Image via One Love Photo

Next, we have the giveaway winner from the $100 Shopbop Giveaway! Congrats to Lisa from Confessions of a Call Center Gal! Lisa was chosen from Random.org.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Black Velvet

Meet my current favorite dress, this lovely black long-sleeved number! It is as warm as can be & can be paired with just about anything.  I wore it with red tights and gold oxfords on Christmas, but didn't get any pictures because I was busy working in the morning & going from house to house the whole day! Alas, the dress is perfect for such occasions or simply going to Tropical Smoothie, as Shelby & I did last week.

I want to thank you all for your warm regards to my engagement post & all of your well wishes!  It is truly the most exciting time in our lives and while most people in our lives are extremely supportive, there have been a few challenges in sharing the news that has ultimately lead to unforeseen circumstances.  I don't want to go into much detail, because really, when the news went public, we were completely flooded with friends and family who were so overjoyed & were practically waiting everyday for us to make an engagement announcement.   Nothing & no one can bring us down, and tough situations like these are what bring Patrick and I together even closer.  We know that no matter what the situation, when life gets tough, we have each other to rely on. I'm naturally a worrier, but when doubts about school, work, money, and the future arise, I just step back and realize that I have Patrick, and it is the most comforting feeling in the entire world.


In more positive news, I've set a date to look at wedding dresses... the weekend of March 12! My mom, my stepmom, and my best friend (hopefully!) are going to Baltimore for a trunk show of a designer I absolutely adore & have had my eye on for a while, but of course I'm not going to reveal on here until after my big day! I will say, though, that Pat has seen the one particular dress I want. We are nontraditional like that! I searched forever for a vintage dress, but ultimately had no luck & I really didn't want to buy online. Bummer but I've already planned out engagement photos & I'm going to be wearing one of my favorite vintage dresses for that!

I promise, no more wedding blabbing from this point on, except for mentioning the big stuff perhaps! I'm going to try to start up the wedding blog tonight, for those of you interested! I will tweet the link & post it next time I do a blog post!

*photos by Shelby Ballou!

$100 Shopbop Gift Card Giveaway!

In celebration of my engagement, I have teamed up with Shopbop to host a $100 gift card giveaway! Shopbop.com has easily been one of my favorite shopping websites since I can even remember. I browse the "What's New" section several times a week and can't get enough. Since I'm in the market for pretty dresses (engagement parties & engagement photos & rehersal dinners, oh my!), one of the first places I went to browse was Shopbop.

Shopbop is THE shop to covet all of your fashion needs.  Into trends? Shopbop's got you covered. More of a basics girl? They've got more than you can imagine! I've been in the market for a pair of black leggings & absolutely love what I found.  Several brands to note include Falke, Plush leggings, and David Lerner leggings.  I'm a strong believer that you can never have enough staples, especially when the quality is the utmost priority of the shop, which Shopbop has clearly proved time and time again.

Rules:
1. Anyone can enter & this contest is open to international readers! (Shopbop even offers free international shipping in 3 days. Need I say more?)
2. Be sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win!
3. One comment per person.  You may leave one additional comment if you tweet the contest and link to this page.  You may also leave one additional comment if you blog this contest and link back to this page.
4. Contest ends Sunday, January 16, 2011.
3. Good luck!

* P.S.- Shopbop has an amazing "Under $100" section that I adore- be sure to check it out!

Apple of my eye, acorn of my tree

Yesterday, I had the best day of my life.  Patrick and I decided to meet up for a breakfast date at our favorite place, somewhere we've been going since we were in high school- Beckett's.  He showed up to pick me up with the most beautiful flowers!


While we had the camera out, I had to show off my new Frye boots Patrick got my for Christmas. Am I the luckiest girl ever, or what??

We enjoyed our favorite, eggs benedict, and let me tell you.. it was the best eggs benedict I've ever had.


After breakfast, it was POURING rain! We put on some good tunes and headed out. Patrick told me he was taking me to a secret location and I was blindfolded! I've never been blindfolded before and it was a little nerve-wrecking, considering I'm a control freak. It was funny though, I knew exactly what part of Norfolk we were in (on the interstate, there are these bumps on a particular exit, and I take that exit everyday to school), but had no idea where he could be taking me.

Once we were parked, he led me out of the car into the "secret location." He said he was looking for the perfect spot in the "secret location" and finally took the blindfold off. When I opened my eyes, we were in a little cozy bookstore that I had never been to! He then gave the most beautiful speech, and reached out for a book on the bookshelf.  He had created a book, entirely from scratch (yes, including the binding).. "The ABC's of PBJ." For those of you who don't know, our cutesy couples nickname is PBJ (Patrick and Brittany Jerome) after discovering on "The Office" Pam Beasely and Jim had the same nickname.  The book was a collection of poems, alliterating each letter, a-z, incorporating inside jokes, memories, and the most heartfelt words I've ever read in my life. By this point, I was crying so hard that the words were blurring and I just saw the outline of Patrick on one knee, holding out a ring. I lost it and once he said those magical words, it took me a minute to compose myself enough to say yes!


 After we were officially an engaged couple, we couldn't contain the excitement and were eager to share the news with family.  Luckily, my dad's entire side of the family was gathering that night for a late Christmas celebration.  It warmed my heart to see everyone so happy for us.

I should probably explain one thing. The engagement wasn't really a huge surprise, although the way he proposed certainly was! In fact.. back in April, I picked out my ring! Remember this post? That's the day I found it! It was at my favorite vintage shop and I knew from the second I saw it that it was my ring. We had been talking marriage for a couple of months so naturally I decided to see what was on the market. The ring never even needed resizing! It's circa 1930s sapphire with diamonds on the side.


Oh yeah, and did I mention that we've already began planning.. as in several months ago? Thus, why things have been so quiet on the blog! I am so pleased to say that we will be getting married November 5, 2011! We have our photographer, videographer, officiant, and I *think* I've found my dress! I'm so excited to share all of this with you, and if you read this entire post.. kudos! I will be sharing this journey with you guys and I've been toying with the idea of starting a little wedding blog to post my inspiration.. perhaps a Tumblr? Let me know what you think!