happy birthday!

happy birthday to the best dad i could ever hope to have.

love you to the moon and stars.

happy birthday!

happy birthday to my stinky baby <3

 

my baby is the big 4 today! or 28 in doggie years.

ps. if you use instagram, you have to download the abeautifulmess app!

happy birthday!

today is my husband's birthday! still feels weird to say haha!

 

 

happy birthday, sweet pea <3

 

sorry about the water marks; you never know who is on the internet these days..

it's my birthday! / 24 before 25 list

holy moly! it's my birthday!

today i turn 24 years old. which is crazy because i feel like i just turned 18 like 2 minutes ago, but hey, i'll take it!

some of you will remember i made a 23 before 24 list on my last birthday. click here to see how i did (not very good, i admit, but wedding planning took up most of my free time..)

since i now have one whole year until i'm 25....

1. get married!!
2. read 12 books {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
3. cut my hair
4. go to 2 concerts {1, 2}
5. spend more time with family
6. get back into blogging on a regular basis
7. pay off my credit card (failed item from 23 before 24)
8. go on a wonderful & relaxing honeymoon
9. hand-make valentines and give them to all of my friends
10. go to 5 places that i have never been to before {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
11. go on a hike
12. freshen up our kitchen (paint? refinish cabinets?)
13. go on a camping trip (probably more like glamping)
14. buy a vespa scooter
15. do a good deed for a stranger
16. buy myself a really really really really nice purse (coach, maybe?)
17. volunteer at an animal shelter (taken from my 23 before 24 list)
18. treat myself more often (massages, manicures, etc.)
19. help plan an amazing first birthday party for our godson, noah
20. spend new years 2014 in an exciting city, like new york or vegas!
21. participate in some sort of marathon/walk for a good cause
22. get wedding photo stuff done - albums, prints framed & hung, etc..
23. reorganize/redecorate our guest bedroom (also kind of from my 23 before 24 list)
24. take more pictures, iphone or otherwise


ps. yesterday was the 2-month mark on the wedding countdown, and tomorrow is my bridal shower! what a truly amazing birthday!

happy birthday, with love

happy birthday to my snickerdoodle lady <3

getting lilly is one of the best things i've ever done in my life, and i can't imagine what it would be like without her.

lil, your mama and papa love you very very much, and are so excited to celebrate your birthday with you!

please don't judge me for loving my dog so much!

psst. click here for most posts about lilly!

happy birthday, with love

today is my main man's birthday!

that's right, the mister of this beautiful blog turns 27 today <3

baby: i love you more than you'll ever know, and i hope you enjoy your second-to-last birthday as a single man

happy birthday, with love

happy birthday to my blog!

i started this baby 1 year ago today! my oh my what a difference a year makes!

thank you to all my readers, old and new, for reading the nonsense i post each day. i truly do love you all <3

and here are the 5 posts ya'll have loved the most over the past year:


the story of randy's proposal, december 5



my mug on fuckyeahgirlswithtattoos, november 26

our engagement 'announcement', november 29

the best haunted house in lb, october 26

appropriately, my valentine's day post from last year, february 14

 

 

my birthday celebration

as you're probably aware, yesterday was my birthday!

i spent my 23rd birthday at work, but i did take the day before my birthday off for some low-key celebrating.

i began my day with something very exciting - (most of you who know me personally already know this..) my good good friend carmella is pregnant and randy and i got to go to an ultrasound appointment with her!

the baby would be special regardless, but the tiny peanut is extra special because it's our god child <3 so crazy how this tiny life with a mind of its own is growing inside of another human being!!

the three of us went out to breakfast afterward, and then randy and i did super exciting errands like getting a guest parking pass for our street and getting our cars washed.. i did get to nap, so it wasn't a total bust!

for dinner, we met back up with carmella along with her husband, matt, and momma, sarita. we went to a super nice dinner and carm baked me a delicious birthday cake!

happy birthady! <3

yesterday wasn't too bad either. i woke up to numerous facebook notifications and got "happy birthday" wall posts from many special people throughout the day. then randy and i went to dinner and finished off the evening catching up on real housewives of beverly hills and teen mom 2. all in all, it feels pretty good to be 23..

a true 23-year-old!

silly stinkerella

happy birthday/23 before 24

23 glorious years ago, my mother pushed me out of her va-jay and the world instantly became a better place!

haha i'm kidding. but yes, today is my birthday.

and because i have a whole year to go until my next one, i decided to make a 23 before 24 list!

for those of you not familiar: this is a list of 23 things that i want to do/accomplish/see/feel/hear/etc. before i turn 24.

1. decorate our bedroom
2. pick (and book!) a venue + set a date for the wedding
3. pay off my credit card
4. go on a real vacation with randy
5. do something wonderful for my parents to show how much i appreciate them
6. take a day trip to balboa island
7. get an awesome portrait of lilly tattooed (or at least started) <3
8. buy something from etsy.com - i bought some wedding stuff from etsy!
9. make a new, close friend
10. land my first paid photography gig
11. go to a concert - i haven't been to one in soooo long!!
12. complete a paint-by-numbers
13. re-purpose something found around the house
14. do something different with my hair
15. make randy a fancy-schmancy dinner for our 4 year anniversary (jan 27)
16. plan a solo trip to oregon to spend time with my grandparents
      i didn't make it up to oregon, but i did get to go to santa barbara with my grandparents!
17. volunteer at an animal shelter
18. attend + complete manicure school *not happening before i'm 24
19. go to the winchester mystery house in san jose
20. whip our extra bedroom into shape - i want an office/tiny guestroom
21. take some really nice self-portrait photographs
22. read a book about meditation
23. have >$1000 in my checking account after rent, bills, and savings

i can't wait to cross some items off of my list! and don't worry, i'll take you all along with me ; )

happy birthday with love..

i know i'm technically closed, but i had to stop in to wish my baby brother, aden blue, a very happy & wonderful 8th birthday <3

i love you, buddy!

alaina