Wedding #1: Santa Barbara

Those are my cutie patootie nephews ; )

I'm so excited to be able to share my wedding photos with you guys today! Our wonderful photographers edited these pictures and sent them to us only 4 days after our wedding in Santa Barbara (talk about great service!) They created a slideshow for us so we could play it at our wedding reception in Edmonton, which took place this past Friday and was so much fun, more on that one later ; ) I hear stories of brides waiting six months to a year, even a year and a half for their wedding photos so my husband and I feel extremely lucky to get them back less than a month after we tied the knot! And I'm happy to be able to share some of them with you ; ).

I was never one of those girls who dreamed about her wedding day or what she was going to wear as she walked down the aisle, (I dreamed more about what song was going to be played) but I knew I didn't want a big wedding. When D. and I got engaged in beautiful Santa Barbara last year we fell in love with the city and I knew this was the place I wanted to get married. Luckily my now-husband thought it was a good idea as well ; ). We invited 22 of our closest friends and family to our wedding, (which just so happened to take place exactly a year later from the date we got engaged, I swear I didn't plan it that way!) and I'm so glad they all got to experience the charm of Santa Barbara.

We had a short, intimate ceremony with one of our good friends Kosi officiating, which was really special to us, he did such an amazing job! We hired a Spanish guitarist to play before and after the ceremony and we wrote our own vows. Afterwards our talented photographers took us to what could be described as an enchanted forest -seriously I thought I was in a fairy tale! - for photos. We couldn't be happier with the way they turned out! For our reception we decided to have it held in a private room at Stella Mare's, a French bistro located next to a bird refuge. I chose this venue because it looked absolutely adorable on the internet (this is how I did all my planning for our destination wedding), and you didn't need to add too many decorations because the shabby-chic decor was enough on its own. We also had use of the private terrace where our cocktail hour was held. The food and service at Stella Mare's was amazing! We didn't have a dance after dinner, we saved that for our Edmonton party ; ). Which was a good idea because we were both exhausted by 10:30 p.m. ; )

We couldn't be happier with how our wedding day played out. It was so weird because I was so calm and relaxed the whole day, which is SO un-like me! A couple of people asked me why I wasn't freaking out and I guess I just had a feeling that everything was going to go well and that at the end of the day I would be married to my best friend and would finally be able to call him my husband! It also helped that it was a very small wedding and I felt extremely confident with everyone involved in making everything run smoothly. I also had the best bridesmaids by my side, who were a great support ; ). Our wedding day was a day full of so much love, a day we will never forget. We felt truly blessed. Thank you for following along and for reading, I know this blog has been heavy on the bridal posts, I promise I'll go back to normal blogging next week!

Wedding Details:
Ceremony Venue: Santa Barbara Courthouse
Reception Venue: Stella Mare's, Santa Barbara 
Photography: Jessica Fairchild
Flowers, Decorations and Rentals: Casi Cielo Events & Flowers
Hair: Shelley Zydek (my sister-in-law!)
Makeup: Lisa Tatum (my cousin!)
Wedding Gown: La Sposa Pronovias "Mullet" style from The Bridal House
Earrings: Haute Bride
Shoes - Sterling 
Bridesmaid's Dresses: Bill Levkoff from The Bridal House
Men's Suits: Moore's

My California Travel Diary

Besides getting hitched in California, we also had time for a little vacation fun and I thought I'd share my travel diary with you all. I LOVE California, it's my favorite place in the world, I think I may have lived there in a previous life or something because it always feels like home to me when I visit! I love the sunshine, the palm trees, the warm weather, the ocean, the healthy food, I could go on and on and ON. But I won't, instead I'll just explain some of these photos ; ).

Clockwise starting from the top left-hand corner: After landing at LAX we rented a car and drove to Santa Barbara. We stopped in Malibu on the way for lunch and unfortunately I didn't run into Cindy Crawford again like I did last time : (. , palm trees in Montecito, my favorite green juice from Pressed Juicery (it's so good!), D. after we picked up our marriage license at the Santa Barbara Courthouse.

More palm trees (I'm obsessed!), enjoying the sunshine with our friends at Butterfly Beach, my bridesmaids the morning of my wedding walking around the Four Seasons Biltmore (which we did not stay at, but we pretended we were guests at tee hee), hanging out by the pool.

We had a beach day the day after the wedding with all of our friends and family, which was so much fun! The next day we took a drive through the Santa Ynez Valley, that's me at the Santa Cruz County Fair (which was closed, we were there too early), another photo from the fairgrounds. This is where "The Lost Boys" was filmed so we had to stop!

After we left Santa Barbara D. and I drove North up the coast to San Simian where I almost drove our rental car off the cliff because I didn't put it in park (oops) and then through Big Sur (that's the top right-hand photo) which was absolutely beautiful! We stayed in Carmel which is just outside of Big Sur and went to a vegetarian restaurant one night in Pacific Grove called Julia's, it was the best vegan food we've ever had! And it was funny because the host was also the server AND the chef, it was a one-man band! Last photo is of my handsome new hubby driving, on our way to San Francisco ; ),

The Golden Gate Bridge! My cousin Lisa and I. She lives just outside of San Fran and I'm so happy we got to spend time with her and her lovely hubby! They took us on a tour because D. had never been there before so we got to see Mrs. Doubtfire's House which made me happy but sad, too. (RIP Robin Williams.) And then we took in the sight of the houses that you see at the beginning of every "Full House" episode, they're called the Seven Sisters except my photo only shows 3 of them ; ). Couldn't fit them all in!

Like every vacation, ours was too short but we're planning to take an official honeymoon when it's -30 degrees and miserable here, in January or February, somewhere hot!

Thanks for reading! And thanks for all your comments in my last post, you guys are the best!

xo

My California Adventure!

Helloooo everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts! I have a good reason for not blogging though: I was on vacation in sunny California last week with D. We had an amazing time! We flew in to San Diego and stayed with my relatives for two days (I miss them already!). Then we rented a car and drove up to Long Beach, stayed there for a couple of nights, then drove up to Santa Barbara and stayed for three days, then made our way back down to L.A. and flew out of LAX last Sunday. These are pictures from my iPhone and Instagram, funny enough they turned out better than the pics I took with my DSLR. (I blame the photographer - me!) Clockwise starting from top left: My Aunt and Uncle took us on a tour of San Diego and we stopped in beautiful La Jolla to see the ocean, walking in Venice Beach (it's a bit of a freak show down there), hanging out on our rooftop of our hotel in Long Beach, a smoothie and a juice from Cafe Gratitude in Venice Beach. (So good!)

I met fellow blogger Carrie from This Free Bird! We had become friends through the internet and have been following each other on our blogs and social media for about 3 years so it was so nice to meet her in person! D. and I met her at her boyfriend's restaurant, The Corner in Hungtington Beach. The food was AMAZING! And he customized a dessert for me, vegan and gluten-free! After Long Beach, we drove up the coast and stopped in Malibu and put our feet in the ocean. I also went into the All Saints store there where I found these boots! Sadly, I did not buy them : (.

It was soooo easy to eat a vegan and gluten-free diet in California, which I was worried about before leaving on vacation. But they have juice bars, smoothie shops and serve acai bowls everywhere, which is what you see in that first picture. While in Santa Barbara we drove to the Santa Ynez Valley and went to Sunstone Winery I didn't drink any wine (I just don't like the taste) but I drank a lot of Pressed juices while in California, this green one was my favorite. The last pic is of a Santa Barbara sunset one night. Breathtaking, isn't it?!

Yes, that is a pig with a bit of a mohawk whom we met on a bike ride, being pushed in a camo baby stroller. He was very friendly! ; ) We went on a ferry ride to Coronado Island while in San Diego with my Aunt and Uncle, that's D. riding on the bike path in Santa Barbara (I am in LOVE with palm trees), the last pic is another one of the winery.

So we met this hippie dude in a parking lot (he was as high as a kite) and I had to take a picture of his van. He glued all these little figurines on it. Crazy, hey? We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast while in Santa Barbara, called the Harbor House Inn which was just lovely and they provide bikes for all their guests so D. and I rode our bikes all around the city. When we were in L.A. we went to see stand-up comics perform at the Laugh Factory and everyone was hilarious, there was one comedienne, Iliza Schlesinger, who almost made me pee my pants. We also drove around Bevery Hills that day, that's The Beverly Hills Hotel.

My favorite beach, Butterfly Beach in Montecito (where Oprah has a house!), another pic on the beach (with my crazy, frizzy, naturally curly hair!), the infamous Chateau Marmont Hotel! (I tried lying my way to get in but security was too tight.) And another juice!

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS!! Wherever I was in California I was always on the lookout for celebrities! I actually put it out into the Universe: "Universe, please let me see some famous people while I'm in California." We saw a few: pregnant Tammin Sursok, who plays Jenna on 'Pretty Little Liars' came out of a store in Venice Beach while we were driving past, Dustin very proudly pointed out Brent Spiner who played Data on 'Star Strek' when we were at Malibu Country Mart, Edward Furlong stepped on Dustin's foot while walking on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood (he looked really strung out) and I chatted with CINDY FRICKEN CRAWFORD in a Malibu Starbucks!! She was in line behind me and I turned and saw that famous mole on her face and was like, "OH MY GOD, CINDY CRAWFORD IS BEHIND ME!" She was on her cell phone. Once she got off, I couldn't NOT say something to her, I mean she was RIGHT THERE. So without thinking about what I was going to say, I turned to her and said, "I just have to say I LOVED your workout tape from the '90's with Radu." (Radu was her trainer, click here for the workout video.) She laughed and said, "That was a long time ago! That workout was hard, it's still hard!" I told her I used to do it all the time when I was a teenager. She said, "That's too funny!" Then I left and went outside to meet D. I told him, "Cindy Crawford is in Starbucks, Oh My God, you HAVE to take a photo of us, I talked to her, we're like besties now!" So we waited but when she came out she was on her cell phone so I didn't want to bother her. But she smiled and waved at me and said "bye" when she left! She was so nice! The last celebrity we spotted was Mila Kunis at LAX (sans Ashton). We saw her going through security and then ended up sitting right behind her at a restaurant in the airport. She was with an assistant I think. D. would not let me ask her for a photo, he said she looked like she didn't want to be bothered which was true. Actually he begged me not to ask for one and asked me if I could act normal. So I obliged, you're welcome D.! But I did take a picture of him instead and in the background you can see the back of her head. She was wearing a ball cap.

Although it was exciting seeing all these celebrities, my favorite part of the trip (besides spending time with my relatives) was when we spent time in Santa Barbara and Montecito, which is right next door to SB. We absolutely loved it there! It is such a beautiful place and we hope to go back soon!

I hope you're all having a great week! What's new with everyone?