blog favorites from 2012

it's hard to believe that this is the last day of 2012!



*source

before i get ready to ring in the new year, i want to take a moment to reflect on this one that is very rapidly coming to an end..

i wrote a post about old friendships and what happened when i tried to revisit some of mine. i'm glad i reconnected, even if just for a moment in time.

finishing my rooster tattoo. even though it turned out i wasn't finished..
*disclaimer: i admit, i finished my tattoo in december 2011, but i didn't share until 2012!

finding out that our godchild was going to be a godson! even though carmella knew it was a boy like 4 days into her pregnancy..

picking our wedding venue and setting a date. nothing will make getting married feel more real than deciding on these two details. wedding planning in general has been so wonderfully stressful and rewarding. thankfully i only have a couple more months left of it..

deciding to scale back on blogging so i could concentrate on wedding planning, spending time with family and friends, and living outside of blogger.com

the arrival of noah on june 25. watching him grow has been such a blessing for randy and i. not to be biased, but he is one of the cutest babies i have ever known, and i can't wait to see what life has in store for him!

seeing jason mraz with randy. this was such a great date night! randy and i haven't been to a concert that we've both really enjoyed since probably 2007 or 8.

taking a santa barbara trip with my dad and grandparents. i will always cherish this trip to sb! spending time with your family when you're an adult is seriously the best thing ever (if you have a good family, that is).

celebrating a year of being engaged.

randy and i did an 8-week weight-loss challenge and lost (combined) 25 pounds! it's been a couple of week since it ended, but we've been maintaining the lifestyle changes and are continuing to be a healthier couple!

so there you have it, folks - my favorite blog moments from 2012! i hope you all have a wonderful (and very safe) new years celebration, and i'll be seeing you on the other side :)

blog vacation

hello my precious readers!

as you may have been noticing, i have not been posting here every day lately :( i can't tell you how unbelievably busy i've been, and while it's been a good sort of busy, it's muddled up my mind a bit and taken over my blogging capabilities.

so instead of coming up with lame space-filler posts every day, i've decided to take a small break from my blog. it was always my intention for this blog to be something enjoyable for both the writer and the reader, and if i'm not into it right now, you all won't be either after a while.

so until further notice, the posts on this blog will not be as frequent as once a day. i still intend to continue wedding wednesdays, as lord knows i have enough material to keep that going for a while, as well as some other things i've already put into place for the future. and of course if i have any big news or if anything strikes my fancy and i need to share, this is the first place i will come.

i deeply thank all of you - friends, family, and strangers alike - for your continued support and interest in my little ol' blog, and i'm sure i'll be back up to speed after a while.

in the mean time, i hope this new month of april is wonderful and successful for you all!

i've been a bad blogger!

i've been a crappy blogger lately! and trust me, i'm well aware.

so i'm going to bribe you with recent photos in hopes that you'll all love me again :]

creme brulee inside of a waffle.. doesn't get much better!

these are both gone already

my hubby on his 27th birthday

lazy ladies sunday with lilly

my maid of honor's baby bump!

double date night with my parents

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

 

 

the blogger's manifesto

new layout!

hello lovelies!

i hope you're all done with nursing hangovers from new year's celebrations. i'll update you on my christmas and new years in the next couple of days!

i personally couldn't think of a better way to usher in the new year than by updating my blog layout!

jess of irocksowhat graciously created some .gif files of images that could be used to spruce up a blog layout or photos or for whatever - so i focused on some of the elements of her design and went with something minimalistic yet girly (take a look around, please!)

anyway, i have the day off of work today, so i'm going back to bed!

2011 favorites

there are 12 days until 2012! (disclaimer: not counting today..)

to commemorate another passing year, i thought i would share my 12 favorite posts from 2011..



feb 18; a fashion profile on my dad, tim



march 20; a recap of how we celebrated randy's 26th birthday

 

may 17; a post for lilly's 2nd birthday <3



may 28; our norcal road trip for a friend's wedding, family time, and a giants game

june 17; the very first what i wore post



june 29; my post on body image



july 19; my explanation of the slow-carb diet. i've lost almost 15 pounds this year, and i think this helped..

july 21; the first (and apparently only) thyme to cook with carey

sept 23; my first posting of pictures from carmella's wedding on baby a

 

oct 1; sharing the start of my arm piece with you

oct 26: the best haunted house in long beach - that i was a part of!

  

dec 5; sharing our engagement story (november 28)



 

alaina

back in action

hello lovies..

so i am well aware that i've been slacking on posts lately. trust me, i feel very terribly about it!

it took me longer than anticipated to bounce back from my new york trip, but i think i'm finally back in action and ready to get this shit started!

here's what you can expect in the next couple of days:

some special birthday shout-outs

thoughts on this year's mtv vma show

the few pictures i took in new york

plus showing you what i mean by working a trade show

and of course some other goodies <3

ps. head over to sometimes sweet to check out her black & decker steam mop contest!

how to blog: according to zoe & louise

happy tuesday!!!

so although i have my own post about tips & tricks for starting and maintaining a blog, zoella, a blog i have been following for a couple of years now, made a youtube video with her friend, louise, about blogging.

watch this video and swoon over their gorgeous english accents (like i do!)

until next time..

<3 alaina

wanted: inspiration!

happy memorial day to all!

hopefully you're reading this from the comfort of your own home if you have the day off of work like me!

anyway, i feel like my life has been so busy lately that i haven't been able to dedicate as much time to this blog as i would like. even worse - i feel like i'm not as eager of a blogger lately.. but it happens, right??

lilly telling me how lame i've been lately

and not like june is going to open itself up for me to blog more; the summertime is always so busy for me between family stuff and work. but it's a good busy, don't get me wrong.

i guess i just wanted to apologize for being lame lately. i'm trying to round up some interesting things to write about and share with you, so please stick around!

enjoy your day!

until next time..

<3 alaina