Category: Angel’s Life

I love the excitement and anticipation that comes with this time of year.  Although much of the hustle surrounding Christmas can be closely related to a preoccupation with gifts and material goods, I strive to keep my mind and heart focused on the reason behind the season.  As Olive gets older, we are looking forward to infusing our holiday traditions with meaning, drawing her attention to the beauty of Christ and His arrival here on earth.  There are many family gatherings we will enjoy later this week, with bountiful feasts to eat and beautiful packages to open.  Above all, however, we hope Olive grows up to learn about the greatest gift we’ve received, and how it allows us to truly have joy in all circumstances.

This year will be a different experience because we aren’t going to see our families until Christmas Day.  While we will surely miss the fabulous Christmas Eve celebration with Erik’s family (the Italian seafood feast known as festa dei sette pesci), we are excited to begin laying the foundation for our own household traditions.  I love brainstorming ways to make these occasions memorable for our family!  Decorating the tree was so special this year, seeing Olive light up (pun intended) as we adorned it with heirloom ornaments.  I know that as she gets older, these activities and moments will become precious to her, too.

Here are a few fun Christmas activities we’ve enjoyed so far this month.

getting our Christmas tree (about 7′ tall) the weekend after Thanksgiving

Hospitality Night in Cambria + lights at the Cambria Pines Lodge

there’s nothing like Disneyland at Christmas

Christmas light trolley tour in Santa Barbara (our first time and SO much fun!)

3rd-annual dinner at the over-the-top Madonna Inn: it’s a Christmas extravaganza in there!

Christmas party at church!

sitting by the fireplace and watching classic Christmas movies

indulging in special treats like homemade cinnamon-sugar donuts (baked!)

3rd-annual Christmas Mamas Party for my dearest friends in the wedding industry

We are planning to have a sweet morning at home on Christmas with just the three of us.  It’ll be our first Christmas waking up in our own home!  I’ll make a special breakfast and Erik will read scripture.  Then, we plan on heading to spend the rest of the week with family.  Does your family do anything special this time of year?  I’d love to hear about your own traditions!

I hope you have a warm and blessed holiday with your loved ones. See you again soon!

It was such a joy to host our first Thanksgiving this year; in a lot of ways it felt like a rite of passage.  Once you’re hosting holidays, I think you’re a bonafide adult.  😉  We have been traveling so much this year that we felt like we just needed to slow down a bit this season.  After some discussion, we decided to stay here for Thanksgiving and simply invite our families to join if they were willing.  With my sister out of state, and one of Erik’s sisters out of the country (on her honeymoon!), we knew the family would be a bit spread out.  In the end, we hosted just a handful of relatives: my parents and Erik’s eldest sister and her family.  Our table of 9 felt perfectly intimate and cozy and we were able to enjoy a wonderful meal along with meaningful company.  I especially enjoyed watching Olive playing with her two cousins!  She doesn’t get to see them very often so it is a shriek-fest of joy when she is with them.  What a blessing!

I had my sweet mama here to serve as the ultimate sous chef.  She helped me wash, peel and chop vegetables all morning while I tended to each dish.  She also washed dishes and countertops, packed up leftovers and helped me make a lovely turkey broth.  We shared a lot of great conversation in the kitchen and agreed we ought to do more cooking together.  It is such a timeless way to connect parent and child, mother and daughter.  Working alongside one another, we laughed and reminisced and taste-tested.  I can’t tell you how grateful I am for her beautiful heart of sacrificial service.  There is no doubt about it — my mom is the most servant-hearted person I know.  The way she works so hard (to this day) to bless me, my sister, and our husbands (and Olive, of course!) convicts me of my own need to serve more.  How’s that for gratitude on Thanksgiving??

I loved being the hostess this year; every part of the process delights me.  From planning the menu, to shopping for ingredients, to setting the table, I take such pleasure in creating a special experience for my loved ones.  You know how they say the cobbler’s children have no shoes?  It’s true in the event world, too: we spend so much time planning personalized celebrations for others (whom I love!) that we often skip the effort for our own families.  While I know that a get-together (especially Thanksgiving!) does not find its value in perfectly placed flatware and manicured tabletops, I still think there is worth in thoughtful details that make a guest feel special.  I tea-stained cheesecloths for a simple runner (under $5), gathered Trader Joe’s tulips + spider mums in some vintage brass and Delftware vases from my own collection, and used my own china, flatware, napkins and amber glassware to set the table.  The pumpkins are part of our home’s fall décor — I just moved them from the living room to the dining table.  Candles always elevate the formality of a tabletop so I just placed votives into extra amber goblets I had!  To top everything off, I foraged some fallen leaves from the neighborhood.  And by “foraged,” I mean I pulled over on the side of a road and picked pretty leaves off of someone’s yard while their dog barked menacingly at me.  It was hilarious and worth it!

My favorite part of our Thanksgiving table (other than the people around it) was the table itself.  My amazing husband built the table the week before the gathering, using reclaimed wood and US-made steel hairpin legs.  He even made a matching bench for one side!  We look forward to hunting for just the right vintage chairs to complete the set; on Thanksgiving we just used old dining room chairs we had.  Being the sap that I am, I felt there was a unique symbolism in gathering around a table that was built by my husband, hosting our very first family holiday.  I can’t wait to make many more memories around that perfectly imperfect table.

Here’s a glimpse of our gathering…

prep in progress

not the best pic of me and my mama but I’ll take it!  😉  Next year we’ll take more pictures of people!

before: slathered with sage butter and stuffed with shallots, apples, lemons, celery and herbs.

after!  Don’t mind my amateur trussing job.  It was delicious!

the beautiful table + bench

Erik’s beautiful sister, her husband, and two sons (Olive’s cousins) — check out Olive’s awesome bedhead!

homemade vanilla bean ice cream

dessert: apple crumble à la mode with salted caramel sauce

I hope you all are having a great weekend!  We are doing lots of tidying/cleaning — I feel like I have the spring cleaning bug a few months early.  I’m taking advantage of the motivation and purging tons of stuff.  See you again next week!  🙂

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones.  Erik and I hosted our very first Thanksgiving and it was a joyful day from start to finish.  I’ll be sharing more about our Thanksgiving celebration later this week!  In the afterglow of the last holiday, and in great anticipation for Christmas, I wanted to get this post up as soon as possible.  I actually planned to write and post it last week, for Thanksgiving itself, but prepping for our get-together took precedence.  😉

Every November here in the US, we are collectively reminded to give thanks for what we have.  It’s a time when we reflect on the bounty of what we have and savor it.  As I tick off my own list of blessings, I am reminded to direct my thanks to the great Giver of gifts: my God.

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” // James 1:17

I have a powerful and loving God, and a life-giving relationship with Him.  I have a devoted, silly, inspiring husband who loves me with patience, grace and humility.  My daughter — I have a daughter!! — fills our home with laughter and my days with profound lessons.  I have a wonderful family who lends me support and encouragement on a daily basis.  I’m blessed with an amazing group of friends, near and far, who have been by my side for unspeakably joyful moments as well as the dark valleys of heartbreak.  I am fortunate to live in this beautiful country.  While it may be imperfect (as we all are), it is still a place where I can enjoy freedoms that are denied to others around the world.  I have much more than I need and a whole lot of what I want, too.  Some might say it is easy for someone “like me” to express gratitude.

It catches me off-guard when someone will tell me something along those lines — that I have it easy, that I lead some sort of charmed life.  I suppose that if you’re only seeing snippets on the blog or photos on social media, it might be possible to think that.  Those who have read this blog over time, however, or know me in real life, know that I have experienced many sorrows along with my sweetest days.  I’m not here to list off burdens or compare griefs.  That’s not what this post is about.  I’m simply saying that we all have experienced pain and difficulty.  The beauty is this: gratitude transcends those circumstances and experiences.  A spirit of gratitude revels in the everyday blessings.

You’ve probably heard the difference between happiness and joy: happiness is based on your circumstances.  It can be evoked by a delightful occasion and dashed by a terrible situation.  Joy, however, is deep-seated and unwavering.  It is a disposition of the soul — a comfort and peace that cannot be shaken or diminished.  My joy is found in my relationship with Jesus Christ.  Because of who He is and what He’s done for me, I can live and walk in JOY.  When someone tells me I seem like a really “happy person,” I know that what they’re really seeing is the joy of Christ in me.  And that is a blessing (since I am so imperfect and cannot reflect Christ perfectly)!  In times of distress and trials, I can rest in knowing that God’s sovereignty and love never change.  When my heart aches and longs for things I do not yet have, I can still rejoice in what I do have in Him — that which can never be taken away from me.

I write these words and I believe them with every part of my heart, but I still fail in practice.  I catch myself wishing or wanting for more, begrudging the abundance I have and even desiring the gifts of another.  We redefine luxuries as needs.  We compare treasure and are left wanting.  I need to be reminded sometimes (even in writing something like this post!) to give thanks at always.  I must rest in the gracious provision of God and trust that He cares for me.

Gratitude is so closely tied to contentment: simply being satisfied with what you have.  It seems like we are trained from childhood to always want more, to strive for more.  It’s a tragic misdirection of our energies.  We see time and again that people who have more are not necessarily more fulfilled.  (In fact, I’ve seen almost the opposite…)  Contentment is not about quantity but perspective.  When we live in gratitude and mindfully acknowledge what we do have, we find contentment.  We can thank God for what we have, where we are.  We can rest instead of resist.  We can lift praise rather than petitions.  Let me be clear: I am not against self-improvement or goals or ambitions of any kind.  The question is whether or not my achievement of those goals (on my timeline, according to my plans) is tied to my joy.  If I live and die by the plans I make for myself, I am setting myself up for disappointment.  I would be chasing happiness, not joy.

This year is the first year that Olive really “gets” Christmas and we are seizing the opportunity to instruct her about the true meaning of the holiday.  We pray she will grow to cultivate a heart of contentment, acknowledging what she has (and who it comes from) and being sincerely grateful for every blessing.  All I want for Christmas is a heart of contentment and a spirit of gratitude.  All I want for her is the same.

Thank you for letting me spill a bit of my heart here today.  I am truly thankful for YOU, taking the time to read my fumbling words and sharing life with me.  What are YOU thankful for?

Happy Monday, everyone!  How is it already Thanksgiving week?!  I am equal parts shocked and delighted.  This year we have the pleasure of hosting Thanksgiving in our own home and I couldn’t be more excited.  With all the traveling we’ve been doing this year, it feels great to just be home for the holiday.  😉  I also look forward to creating more of our own little traditions as a family as Olive gets older.  If you follow me on Instagram, you saw a sneak peek of the reclaimed wood dining table that Erik is building for me.  I can’t wait to set it for our Thanksgiving meal!

Over the weekend, I spent some time menu planning and pantry-stocking for the big meal.  I plan to pick up the perishables and fresh veggies tomorrow from our local farm.  Here’s what’s on the menu so far…

  • Appetizers: cheese, charcuterie, lots of olives (yum!)… maybe a roasted cauliflower soup
  • Whole roasted turkey (we picked up an organic, free-range turkey from Mary’s Turkeys // raised about 150 miles from me!!)
  • Apple + Pecan + Chesnut Stuffing (apples from our favorite local apple stand: Gopher Glen)
  • Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots (a healthier take on my childhood favorite, using green beans from our local Rutiz Farms)
  • Chardonnay Glazed Carrots (recipe from Better Homes and Gardens)
  • Roasted Brussels Sprouts (with and without bacon, of course)
  • Twice Baked Potatoes (fully loaded with cheese, bacon, sour cream and chives)
  • Sweet Potatoes with Pineapple and Marshmallows (yummmm!  This is Erik’s sister’s specialty!)
  • Whole Cranberry Sauce
  • Apple Crumble (Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Fuji and Christmas Bliss apples from Gopher Glen)
  • Homemade vanilla bean ice cream with salted caramel swirl
  • Our favorite warm apple cider.  It makes the entire house smell heavenly as it sits in the crock pot!

What am I forgetting??  I’d love to hear your Thanksgiving meal “must haves” in the comments.  I still have time to improvise!  🙂

Hope you’re having a great start to your week — see you soon!

I had such a busy summer that I have fallen (extremely) behind on my Olive updates here on the blog.  In fact, the last one was only up through June 12, 2014!  In an effort to catch up, I’m going to share a longer Olive post here today.  Hope you don’t mind.  😉  Here’s the latest up through October 31, 2014.

Olive is growing into such a kind-hearted, curious and silly little girl.  She truly delights me everyday and I doubt I’ll ever “get over” the magic of her.  Olive wakes up each morning in the very best mood.  We hear her call out to us from her crib in a sing-song voice saying, “Maaaamaaaa!  Daddyyyyyy!”  When we crack the door open we see her standing up with a beaming smile on her face.  “Good moh-ning!  I missed you!!” she’ll say as we scoop her up.  She is enthusiastic about the little things, like going to the park (again) or running an errand with me.  She is talkative and opinionated, but tender and obedient.  We were at the grocery store this week when we passed by a display stuffed animals.  “Loooook, Mama!  There’s a pony!  Oh Mama I love the pony!”  I reminded her that we had plenty of toys (including ponies) at home, and we weren’t going to be taking a new one home today.  She placed the pony back on the shelf and skipped over to me.  We do our best to raise Olive with a loving, patient heart but I have to say… this girl has something special.  (Ugh, I’m such a mom, right??)  I thank God everyday for this precious girl He entrusted to our care.

Here are some highlights from late summer through October…

  • She spent lots of beach days with “Mimi Donna” from church.  She loves digging in the sand, chasing the waves and climbing all over the beach playground.
  • We continued to attend storytime at our local library, where Olive enjoys singing, reciting nursery rhymes, making crafts and of course, listening to stories.
  • Our treasured friends Ryan & Cary visited us from Texas and we had a blast with them!  Olive loves them so much and I love watching their special bond grow.
  • Since Ryan was here, he graciously took photos of our family.  We are in love with every single one of them; it is a blessing to be in front of his camera!
  • We celebrated the 4th of July with a good ol’ fashioned church BBQ, followed by a failed attempt to view fireworks (living by the ocean = intense fog obscuring the beautiful display).  We still had a great time!
  • 3-4 days a week, we visit a local park to just run wild and free.  Olive wants to climb every structure, ladder, and wall.  She’s fearless but also quite agile.
  • On our trips to Los Angeles, Olive and I make sure to grab lunch at Chick-Fil-A and visit the Santa Barbara Zoo.  It’s a sweet little ritual that we’ve both come to love.
  • We visited the California Mid-State Fair as a family.  Olive loves visiting the livestock and watching the dazzling lights on the various carnival rides and booths.  I love the smell of fair food in the air.  😉  Ahhh, nostalgia!
  • Our organic garden produced a bounty of delicious vegetables including snap peas, green beans, cucumbers, kale, lettuces, and six types of heirloom tomatoes.  Erik gets all the credit for the preparation and tending of the garden.  With our over-producing cucumbers, we decided to make a bunch of pickles.  Can’t wait to crack open the first jar in a week or so.
  • For our 9-year wedding anniversary, we took a little roadtrip through California.  We had stops in San Francisco, Berkeley, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes, and Yosemite.  My sister and brother-in-law (Anna and Sean) were able to join us for the last leg of the trip and we had a wonderful time together.  I love introducing Olive to some of our favorite places.
  • We had an impromptu visit from my best friend Kristin, and her daughter, Siena.  It was so great having her here for a night, and watching our girls play together.
  • Per usual, we took apple season by storm and made it out to our favorite local orchard, Gopher Glen, on a near-weekly basis.  As the apple crop winds down, we are still out there frequently, picking up late-season varieties and plenty of their incredible cider.
  • Olive spent some quality time with both sets of grandparents during various trips to LA.  It’s a blessing to have all of our family just a short drive away!
  • We took Olive trick-or-treating and she had a blast!  It started pouring rain when we were wrapping up, so we had to sprint to the car.  We still got soaking wet.  🙂  It was a hilarious memory I know we won’t soon forget.

Our late-June through October 2014 photomosaic:

Our little Olive — I can’t believe how thoughtful, sensitive and witty you are; it takes me aback on a regular basis.  You can read me like a book already, and when I’m low on energy or excitement you say, “Show me your smile face!!”  It never fails to make me grin.  You are fearless on the playground but you still hate getting dirty.  Your favorite foods include all Asian cuisines (that’s my girl!), cheese, olives, peas, eggs and chocolate… of course.  You are crazy about pirates (thanks to Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and use words like “Ahoy!” in your everyday speech.  You love wearing skirts and dresses that let you twirl.  You sing all.day.long (and actually can carry a tune quite well!).  You’re into imaginative play and like to create scenes and interactions with your stuffed animals.  Each has a personality, a voice, and certain mannerisms.  It’s fascinating to watch!  You are a puzzle-master and an avid builder of towers with your blocks.  About once a day, you pretend to be a puppy for 5-10 minutes, barking instead of talking and panting excitedly.  It’s hilarious and I kinda hope you don’t grow out of it anytime soon.  Your puppy name is “Woofy.”  🙂  Your favorite activity these days is simply being in the kitchen with me, standing on a stool and helping mix and stir and put ingredients together for dinner or biscuits or a pot of coffee.  I can’t wait for many more memories made in the kitchen, cooking side-by-side.  You are the cutest sous-chef!  We love you and all your brilliance, your quirks, your creativity, your affection and sweetness.  You are a marvelous creature of our great God and it is pure joy being your Mama and Daddy.  xoxo 

Hope you’re all having a great start to your week!  See you again soon.  🙂

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  It has been another packed and exciting week over here with new clients, new venues, and new projects.  I’m also loving the temperature shift… I’m welcoming the sweater weather with open arms!

On Monday, I joined my darling new client (hi M!) for a venue visit near Santa Barbara.  It was a magical morning and eventually resulted in her selecting the site for her upcoming wedding (hooray!).  I thought I’d share the simple outfit I wore that day.  In true Angel-form, I’m wearing another dress, pair of tights, and some booties.  This nicole dress by LuLaRoe is an easy favorite — it is super soft and comfy with pull-on styling.  It has 3/4 length sleeves and a twirly skirt that feels effortlessly feminine.  I threw on a neutral puffy vest to stay warm without restricting my arms.  My 3 favorite gold layering necklaces completed the outfit.  And of course, I’m running out the door with wet hair.  I never blow dry my hair and let it air dry every day of the week.  🙂

dress: Nicole dress by LuLaRoe // vest: J. Crew // booties: Pamela Love x Nine West

on-site under a majestic sycamore tree, over 200 years old!

I hope you’re all having a great week!!  See you again soon!  xo

Today is an exciting day for our family, as Erik’s older sister is getting married!  We are so thrilled for her and her fiancé, whom we’ve known and loved for years now.  They will exchange vows after dark, in a super romantic rooftop ceremony in downtown Los Angeles.  As a fun bonus, Erik, Olive and I are all in the wedding!  I’m a bridesmaid, Erik is a groomsman, and Olive is one of two adorable flower girls.

One thing I am NOT, however, is the wedding planner.  😉  Although I assisted in pulling a few things together for Meg, I really wanted to enjoy the wedding day as a member of the bridal party and family.  I am grateful for some sweet friends who will be managing the set-up and day-of details so we can all relax today.

The wedding has an underlying Art Deco and Gatsby-inspired theme, since her venue is a historical building with period architecture and furnishings.  This made it a ton of fun picking our my bridesmaid dress (we all go to pick our own!) and accessories.  My lovely friend Heather from Twig and Twine did the dark and moody florals — I can’t wait to see everything come together!  Feel free to check my Instagram today where I’m sure I’ll post a few sneak peeks of the big day, too!

photo by Callaway Gable

Congratulations, Megan and Anthony!!  We love you so much and are truly delighted to see you join together in marriage.  Let’s celebrate!

Everyone else — enjoy the weekend and see you soon!

I’m no fashion blogger but I have always enjoyed dressing up.  I know my love of color and pattern come straight from my mother, who has styled me in quirky outfits since the 80’s.  We grew up with humble means but my mom always knew how to put together a lovely outfit.  I remember her taking us to Gap Kids and telling us we could each pick one item from the clearance rack; it had to have been marked down at least twice.  Somehow we’d always seem to find the perfect pieces in just the right size; Mom told us it was God’s way of providing for us.  We always seemed to gravitate toward the same kinds of items and styles.  Not much has changed — I’m still borrowing from my mom’s closet!

My favorite pieces typically include lots of color, playful patterns and whimsical details.  My personal style is decidedly feminine with a touch of the unexpected.  I noted on Instagram yesterday that if I had a “uniform,” it would be a dress, tights and some booties.  Enter this darling Ruffle Sleeved Tangier Dress by Shabby Apple.  I was delighted when they sent it to me last month and tried it on immediately (that’s sort of my m.o. when I get clothing in the mail: rip it open as I’m walking to the kitchen and try it on before the wrapping hits the floor; haha!).  It fits like a glove and is well-constructed; the fit is super flattering.  I love the sweet ruffle sleeves (which are voluminous without making you look like a linebacker) and the poppy orange color.  The pattern is an Morroccan-inspired floral (part of their Marrakech Collection) that reads a bit retro-tropical to me.  The material is a silky smooth satin that is light and floaty and is perfect for layering this fall (I added tights and a denim jacket).  I’m going to try it out with a sleek long-sleeved black tee underneath next time!

dress: c/o Shabby Apple // jacket: Escada Sport // boots: Volatile (via Anthropologie but still sold here)

Shabby Apple consistently offers clothing that is modest, ladylike and vintage-inspired.  My current wish list is a mile long but here are a few other items that caught my eye: this skirt // this dress // this scarf

Thank you to Shabby Apple for sending this dress along; I know it’ll be in heavy rotation this season and beyond!

Today I’m off on a mommy-daughter day adventure!  Olive and I are spending the entire day doing some of our favorite things together and I can’t wait.  See you soon!

Congratulations to the winners (I couldn’t resist and picked two!) Erika and Gicel from my Rosy Rings giveaway!  I already emailed both of you ladies and can’t wait to get your candles in the mail.  Everyone else: thank you for entering!  I hope you get to check out these wonderful candles for yourselves.

[I actually wrote this post yesterday but it seems to have vanished into cyberspace.  If anyone got it via subscription, sorry for the redundancy!]

Although we had discussed otherwise, Erik and I decided at the very last minute yesterday that we’d dress Olive up after all.  On Thursday night, I had drawn a nose and whiskers on Olive’s face with black eyeliner just for fun and we couldn’t believe how excited she was about her ‘transformation.’  I love that at this age, everything is magical.  In between weekday errands Friday morning, I made a pit stop at a pretty desolate costume store, expecting to just grab some black cat ears and go with the proven (and cheap) winner from the night before.  But, I spotted a solid contender (close to Olive’s size!) on the picked-over racks: Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  The sales associate gave me 25% off and it was a done deal.  When I brought the costume home to Olive, she lit up with pure delight!  “Mama, I’m Pinkie Pie!  I’m not a baby, I’m a pony!  Neigh!  Neigh!”

We took our little pony out for a bit of trick or treating around 5p and I’m glad we went early.  We beat most of the crowds, snapped some cute pics in the fleeting light, and had gathered enough candy so that by the time the rain starting coming POURING  down on us, we were ready to go without regret!  Our sprint back to the car in the deluge was one I’ll never forget.  We all got soaked to the bone, even with two large umbrellas in tow.  It was hilarious!!  With the land so thirsty for rain, I don’t think anyone could complain about the 1.5″ inches we received last night.

We got home and quickly changed into our PJs before feasting on take out and watching Wall-E together.  🙂  It ended up being a really laid back and cozy evening as a family.  I’m glad we made the game time decision to dress Olive up; these photos make me smile so big and capture a key part of her personality these days.  Pinkie Pie’s effervescent spirit sure reminds me of my Olive !

In other news… I’m not sure if any of you have noticed, but my website and blog have been down and/or really buggy for the past week.  Long story short, I needed to switch hosting companies after a big server migration debacle.  We’re still ironing out little kinks but should be back to 100% early this week.  If you sent an email in the past 48 hours and it bounced back, please re-send.  Thank you for your patience; you know I love hearing from all of you: clients, readers, family, friends!

Enjoy your Sunday (Fall back? Don’t mind if I do!) and I’ll see you soon!

PS // Grateful November Day 1: I’m grateful for the rain we received this weekend.  We need it so desperately and I have to admit, I think I could almost hear the state’s collective sigh of relief as the floodgates opened last night.  It was refreshing, it was beautiful, and it left the skies so wonderfully clear today.  I even spotted a rainbow in the hills this morning.  🙂  Grateful for a God who reminds us of His provision in spectacular ways like a band of colors stretched across the sky.

It’s true — I haven’t blogged in ages!  As things got busy around here with my final weddings of 2014, the blog took a backseat.  Then, I spent the majority of the last month finalizing preparations for the very first Love & Splendor workshop.  I’m here to report that by God’s grace, the event was a smashing success.  I am still floating on cloud 9 from the experience, and I know it will be a few weeks before I can fully process the beauty of it all.  It will also be a bit before we see the professional film photos from Ryan Ray (eek!!) so these iPhone snaps will have to do for now…

This past Sunday, as I scurried around the Heirloom LA Salon with Michelle, prepping for the welcome dinner, I confessed that my heart was beating wildly in my chest.  She couldn’t fathom why I’d be nervous.  After all, I’m definitely not afraid of public speaking, and I was totally prepared and ready for the workshop itself.  I told her that I thought my nerves were a mix of excitement, anticipation and maybe even a bit of self-imposed pressure.  I spent nearly a year thinking about hosting a workshop, and then planning every last detail.  I wanted to present a workshop that was impactful, educational, and inspiring.  Once we had our attendees locked in and registration closed, I think it became real to me.  There were 15 incredibly passionate, intelligent, creative women coming to this workshop — would I meet their expectations?  Would I be “worth” the journey some were making (from as far as Greece, Canada, Detroit, Pittsburgh…)?  In the end I knew all I could do was my very best, and all I could give them was myself, genuinely and freely.

Once the ladies arrived on Sunday and the introductory hugs were given, my nerves naturally calmed.  I felt truly humbled to spend a few days with this beautiful group of women, just sharing my heart, my story, and the lessons I’ve learned in the 9 years I’ve worked in this business.  With such an intimately-sized group (the perfect size!!), I got to spend time chatting with each of them, too.  I got to hear about their goals, their struggles, their desires.  We laughed together, I cried (haha! at least 3x on Tuesday — all happy tears!), and we shared some unforgettable moments.  When I walked into the farewell dinner at The Washbow, I burst into (joyful) tears.  I felt like I had finally given birth, in a way… something I had dreamed of for so long had finally come to fruition and I felt so blessed.  I am SO thankful I put on this workshop.  I am SO grateful to have met each of these hearts.  I can’t wait to keep in touch with each of them, following their journey in the years ahead.  Look out for these ladies — I think the L&S “alumni” are the best of the best for the future of this industry.  😉

I could not have put on this workshop alone and I plan to blog a bit about each of the speakers, collaborators and sponsors for this workshop in the weeks ahead.

Our amazing team included: Ryan Ray // Heirloom LA // Green Wedding Shoes // Jesi Haack Design // JL Designs // found vintage rentals // Julie Song Ink // Casa de Perrin // The Venue Report // Elysium Productions // La Tavola Linen // Sweet Lucie’s // Sweet and Saucy Shop // Financially Wise Women // The Washbow // 10.11 Makeup // Flipbooth LA // Jacobsen Salt Co. // Rosy Rings // Il Fustino // Pinch Provisions // Herbivore Botanicals // Malvi Joy // Solstice Canyon // Vanesa Rey // Rifle Paper Company

For now, let it suffice to say that I had the BEST team of people behind me for this workshop and that made all the difference.  Above all, I have to give all glory to God.  Anything good in me, any gifts that I have, come from Him.  I am so grateful for the opportunities He has given me.

I also have lots of general blogging catch-up (life, Olive updates, real weddings) to do.  Now that my 2014 season has come to a close, you’ll be hearing more from me here again!

I’ve already been asked many times — will you do another workshop?  I think the answer is a resounding yes.  But, before diving into that process, I will be taking time to relax, recharge and pray about it.  It’s important to me that each workshop has the same level of intention, purpose and attention to detail as this one did.  Once I have some information to share, you’ll hear about it!  If you would like to join the interest list for the next workshop (and have priority pre-sale for tickets before they are released), feel free to email workshops@loveandsplendor.com.

Thank you to each of you who has followed along here on my blog (or on Instagram) as I embarked on this inaugural workshop journey.  Your love, support, prayers and encouragement mean the world to me.

Have a wonderful weekend and chat again soon!