my FAKE wedding~

A couple months ago, my dear friend Kelli (owner of Bloom's & Blossom's) called me in a bit of desperation... She needed a couple to help out in a photo shoot for a project she was participating in - A wedding photo shoot at the Park City St. Regis!  I never thought Ace would go for it, but he did!  He was such a good sport!  We are NOT the most photogenic couple, but I thought I'd share some scenes from our fake wedding.

And here are some of the images from the photographer.

Kelli does such an AMAZING JOB with flowers... she's awesome!!!
All in All, we had some fun, getting our first wedding out of the way :).

  Oh, and check out the fancy hair!  Not anything I would choose, but
pretty cool!!!
Dress Rehearsal - DONE.  Can hardly wait for the REAL WEDDING!!!

Virginia for the Holidays

I am so not a seasoned blogger... when I uploaded these pictures, they came out totally backwards... Oh well, I'll start with some of the fun stuff!  A big reason I joined Ace in VA for the holiday's was to secure a venue for our WEDDING!  We were able to tour a lot of fab options, and ultimately we decided on one of these...

Will it be the sight unseen Georgetown Option?  They are doing a major remodel to the space!

 Or will it be the quintessential DC hotel less than a mile from the white house...

 Or another hip Georgetown option...

 Or trendy city style with amazing views?

You'll have to stay tuned to find out which one we chose, we are pretty excited about it and think it'll be great!  All were amazing options, and I feel pretty lucky to be getting married in our Nation's capital!

The other huge reason for the trip was to spend some time with Ace's Fam!  The trip was a success in all fronts!  Here are some more snap shots in no particular order:

Visiting his lovely sister Zuzu, and her adorable kids in Richmond.

Ringing in the New Years with our good friends Graham & Helga at a local fish house.

HaPPy nEw YEarS!!

It was wonderful getting to know some of Ace's Aunt's/Uncle's/Cousins!

We went and visited Ace's handsome brother Amir in Charlottesville.  He only had
a small break from the hospital (ENT resident), so we took advantage and took him
to breakfast for a quick visit.

Hanging with G & H again!

Cooking Class

Thanks to Ace and Holly, I've developed a love for Cooking, which was pretty out of character for me back in the day!  I originally started cooking once in a while for Ace to show appreciation for all the nice dinner's out. Holly took it up a notch, when last year she sent me a cook book complete with her no fail recipes!  It's possibly the nicest gift I've ever received!!!  It's really enriched my life, and given me a lot of joy.  It definitely takes me about 3 times longer to execute the recipes than it should, but I'd like to think I'm getting a little more efficient.  I thought it was such a thoughtful Christmas gift from my Dad, when he gave my sister's, mom, and I a cooking class this year!  We were able to learn the art of Soup making.

LISA :: ME :: KRISTIN :: MOM

Not the most flattering pic of Lisa and I making a mean cream of mushroom!

Thanks Dad!!!

Sundance

We were able to see Third Eye Blind at Sundance... Which took me straight back to 1998!!!

Do Do Do - Do Do Do Do Do!

Somehow Ace always pulls out free VIP tickets each year.

Time flies... it's strange to think this is the 3rd Sundance concert we've seen together...

A Quick trip down memory lane... Last year at Nelly had me listening to "Just a Dream" for several months after!

And the year before Nelly was Snoop!  You win some, and lose some... This night was a battle...

Cheers to Sundance!

An Engagement Dinner with friends!

Breaking Bread with some good friends to 

celebrate ENGAGEMENT!

Engaged!!!

On December 18th, 2012

the love of my life got down on one knee, and I said YES!

I was totally taken off guard..  I knew it was coming one of these days, but did not expect it on this typical Sunday afternoon.

Moments before he proposed!

Little did I know there was a sparkly ring in that Subway bag!

Minutes after- totally surprised!

Such a wonderful day!

I cant' wait to become Mrs. Allak on March 30th!

I scored a really wonderful guy.  Our love story is a decade in the making, and I love this guy so much.  He makes me stretch, and he makes me grow.   He is a man of character and strength, and definitely one of the smartest people I've ever known.  I know it'll be an adventure, and I can't wait to open this new chapter in our lives.  (gosh I need some tissues right now, I'm tearing up).  I'm so thankful for second chances.