Modern red

Modern red must also be code name for orange, because I swear this sweater is orange. It's even more orange when you join coworkers for a Euro Cup game at a German restaurant... (doh, it wasn't planned).

JCrew Factory: Vneck in modern flame; Blouse: H&M, Skinnies: Banana Republic; Necklace: Tiffanys (gfit)

Apologies for the frazzled hair and wrinkles as it was the end of the day. I own a normal JCrew version of the vneck and the factory version is just a bit thinner but I still love it. If it ever goes on sale again I'll prolly snap up another color or two just because they are so great to layer.

This weekend FH and I are off for our last wedding before ours - we're headed to Philly for the weekend. I'm especially excited as I've never been to Philly before and am fully prepared to eat a cheese steak (or 2) and see the liberty bell. Aside from that and the wedding, I'm hoping to explore a bit of a new city before hopping on a plane and coming home.

Speaking of weddings, we are now under TWO MONTHS! Can't believe how fast time is flying but to be honest I'm so excited. RSVP's have been rolling in and the responses/notes that people have been writing in make opening the mail that much more exciting. By far has been the best from my future brother in law which made me laugh for quite a bit.

The weather here in SF has been nice, albeit windy so I've been trying to soak up time outside on lunch breaks. This little guy was my buddy the other day and made me smile.

Hope your weekend is great... any big plans on your agenda?

On saving money

Money. Green. Dough. Benjamins. Whichever way you decide to call it you just can't function without it. For the past several years I've personally struggled with money. When I got my first job I lived at home for almost a year. I didn't have to pay rent - I only took care of my cell phone, car insurance, and whatever else I deemed necessary. Enter spending hundreds on handbags, accessories, shoes, clothes. You name it, I bought it.

Upon moving out I was in for a huge surprise. Saving money - and living on a new budget was not as easy as I'd thought. After hours being cut at my fulltime job in late 2008 and draining my savings fund to stay afloat in 2009 I decided that 2010 would be the year of reform. Between the start of 2010 with a pathetic savings account and the start of 2011 I had managed to save 10,000. Of course - selling off a lot of unused expensive designer bags and items helped, but I'd like to think that I've started to get myself into the right direction.

Credit cards have always been my worst enemy. With our recent trip to Europe and engagement, I've kinda gone a little overboard with eating out. But, I'm back on track vowing to chop them up for good (only use them to get more travel rewards) and be done with them forever.

As a result... I've been crunching the numbers on a slower day here at the office and I'll be able to meet my personal goal this year of saving. I'm a little nervous about seeing my new paychecks in May since I'll be contributing to my 401K fund and dental insurance will be taken out. I may have to rework things, but the difference shouldn't be that huge. Plus, I can always up the 401K amount once I've hit my savings goals. And I'd really like to give myself a clothing/spending allowance. I did buy about 49.00 worth of stuff from H&M this past weekend, but I had budgeted that into my biweekly paycheck (look for a reveal later on this week!)

Additionally, I've decided to start putting aside money to a wedding fund. I figure that if there's something I'd really like to have for the wedding (I'm thinking a photobooth....) that I can save for it and buy it myself. It'll give me something to look forward to, and feel proud about on my big day.

Anyway. So I apologize for the off topic blog post, but I just thought I'd throw this out there. Anyone can save - even if its 5, 10, 25 a month. Financial security and freedom is fantastic.

A big piece of love.

in its pretty tacori box

I am so excited to announce that after 8 years 5 months and 6 days of dating my boyfriend is now my fiance. On Thursday  morning he got down on one knee and proposed with my dream tacori ring. I'm thrilled beyond belief. Both of our familes are really happy and excited, and I'm still in a bit of an OMGWHAT moment. But that's okay. I'll somehow survive. ;)

pardon the notebook...

LOVE the detailing!

I'm definitely thinking next year. We haven't set a date yet but I have a few in mind. I've already found my bridesmaids - my sister is my MOH, fiance's sister, and my best friend since grade school. I'm way excited to start dress shopping. My dream dress is an enzoani number, but I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to spend that much money on a dress.

I have to admit in all of this happiness there is a very bittersweet element. I'm so extremely sad that my grandpa can't be here to see this. I want to pick up the phone and call him so so badly. I'm also coming to the realization that my grandma will probably not be able to see the wedding as its just not feasible for her to do so. I would hate to confuse her even more. As a result, my mom has offered me my grandma's pearls on her wedding day for me to wear. I'm also going to carry my grandpa's wedding band on me so I can have both of them with me on my big day.

I do have a reveal of my holy grail item coming up in the next few days. Until then, champagne really doesn't get old!

weekend in pictures + wardrobe musings

I thought this might be a nice thing to start doing on a weekly basis. Now featuring - laura's weekend in pictures wrap up!

On Saturday morning we had quite a bit of rain here in the city. That didn't stop Dave and I from being able to get out of the apartment for a bit. We went down to the farmer's market on embarcadero had picked up some yummy jam, tried artisan cheeses, and were able to try our hand at pressing fresh apples to make apple cider.

After we dried off a bit from the rain we headed south to half moon bay for the wedding of a childhood friend. The wedding was gorgeous and the clouds gave way to some sunshine for the bride and groom. We had a great time (even a little too much champagne) but that can never be a bad thing when you are happy! I had a great time celebrating with Dave, my sister, my dad, and my sister's boyfriend Ray. It was probably a good thing that we had our own table to ourselves since we were pretty entertained by the seashells, cake, and anything else that we seemed to get our hands on at that point in time.

After the wedding Dave and I headed back up to the city for Halloween Eve with some friends at a club. We got home really late but had a great night dancing and admiring other people's costumes.

Sunday was a lazy day - we had brunch at once of our favorite restaurants in Nob Hill, took naps, did some housework, and had a great dinner with his mom and sister in Jack London Square. The sunset was fantastic!

Because of a gift exchange I did on one of my forums I finally got my paws on one of the chinchilla bath houses (as shown above). Frankie loves it so much he really doesn't want to share with Ollie and I might have to get him his own.

The weather is definitely changing here - I'm not complaining. As long as the skies are clear, the air is crisp and there's no rain I'm a happy camper.

Anthropologie and J Crew have definitely been my source of fashion as of late. H&M has actually had some pretty good sales too (I think I saw a sign up today - buy 1 sweater, get 1 free - oh noes!). Quite frankly if I had the cash I'd redo my entire wardrobe - but until I win the lottery I don't see that happening any time soon.

Anyway - today is Tuesday (and it's after 12 already, yay!) so get out and VOTE if you haven't already done so and have a great day! (And be safe if you partake in any post-giants winning the world series celebrations).