Wedding Recap: The Groom's Cake

Jason gave the picture below to our cake place. He can read all about the meaning behind it to Jason HERE, but in a nutshell it's from the movie, Lonesome Dove.

And here is how it turned out!

Way to go Julie's Cakes! They got our bride's cake right on too! See Wedding Recap: The Bride's Cake!

Go Jason!

Jason and I went to Hotel ZaZa last night for Jason's induction into MPI's Houston Chapter Board of Directors as President Elect. MPI stands for Meeting Planners International for those of us not in the hospitality biz. I was super excited not only because I am so proud of my hubby, but because I had never been to ZaZa. I usually have class at these events so I never get to go support J at these things...it was a treat!

The cool centerpieces designed by Let It Fly Events...

Shout out to La Torretta Del Lago - Jason's resort!

And there is Jason up on stage taking his oath.

My Attempt at Being Domestic

A few weeks ago, before orientation consumed my life, I got the domestic bug. I went to the grocery store and actually pre-planned menu items. I successfully made a pot roast and stuffed peppers! This is big for me to do during the week because between working full-time and being in graduate school, I am wiped out by the end of every day, then my weekends are spent playing catch-up.

Anyways, I even got the itch to make some cupcakes! I know, cupcakes aren't exactly a gourmet feat, I have never made them before. I made strawberry cupcakes with vanilla icing and red velvet cupcakes (Jason's favorite) with cream cheese icing.

They turned out great and it gave me a chance to pull out all of my cupcake related items that I got as wedding gifts (Thanks Karin, Jessica and Nicole). I even pulled out my favorite Lenox Butlers Pantry Cake Stand...thank you Grammy and Vic!

The Search for the Perfect Wedding Dress

I couldn't share pictures before the wedding of my wedding dress search since I knew Jason hates surprises and would peek, but now I can! My mom and I looked a few places in Houston for wedding dresses and weren't really jazzed by anything. We found a few that would suffice, but you really don't want to feel like you are settling when searching for your wedding dress.

We went to high-end boutiques that were too rude to want to deal with and we went to low-end places where none of the dresses I tried on looked that great.

Then we found the place. We knew it was THE PLACE before we even found THE DRESS. But with so many possibilities that were exactly what I was looking for, plus the professional, patient, NICE, and knowledgeable sales people, both my mom and I knew that this was the place where we would buy my dress. In case you live in Houston and are getting married, this fabulous place is Ventura's Bridal.

I tried on about 10 dresses, but narrowed it down to three. I am very curvy in my bottom...meaning I have a large butt, hips, legs and a "trouble tummy." So, mermaid styles or thin, satiny material looks awful. I am not a poofy, fairytale dress kind of girl either. I knew it had to be ivory and romantic looking, not too fancy. I also was leaning toward lace (absolutely no beading) and halter (just because it normally looks good on my body).

Please excuse the pics of me by the way...it was raining that day so my hair was a mess and this was pre-wedding diet...PLUS- most of the dresses I was trying on were too small, but it gives you the idea...I know, excuses, excuses!

Dress Option #1: Watters Bride

Ivory alencon lace halter dress with trumpet skirt and sweep train

Dress Option #2: Watters Bride

Ivory re-embroidered lace spaghetti strap gown with ivory charmuese lining and sash. Sweep train.

Dress Option #3: Watters WToo Bride

Ivory english net spaghetti strap gown with beaded cut-out flowers on bodice and skirt with fawn colored grosgrain ribbon at shirred empire. Sweep train

If you read, WeddingBee, then you know Mrs. Quiche...I just realized she just got married in this dress! Looks totally different on her since she is so tall and skinny!

Ultimatly, I am super happy with the dress I chose. Option #1 didn't seem to flatter my body and seemed to be too much material. Option #3 seemed a little too casual and young for me. I felt that my dress was perfect for the type of ceremony that Jason and I had and let's face it, in any bride's mind there are the three things that she wants to happen when she has that perfect dress on:
1. She takes her man's breath away. Check
2. She feels like the prettiest, most special girl in the universe. Check
3. She has great pictures that are timeless so she can show her children how pretty mommy was when she married daddy. Check

I'm Freaking Out...

Because of this amazingly gorgeous picture!!! If you read my blog regularly you know that I am obsessed with peacocks. My amazing photographer, Kelly Niemann knew this about me and captured it brillantly on film at our wedding...and yes, Kelly- I stole, I mean borrowed this jpeg off of your twitter. You know I was dying to blog about your awesome shots!




I can't wait to share more of these stunning pictures with you. By the way...today is J and I's One Month Wedding Anniversary- I love you baby!

Have a great day everyone!

Chelsea

Where I Have Been The Past Week...

At work! It is Orientation time at HBU so I moved into the dorms last week for a 2-week stay. We have four sessions of Summer Orientation to do for our incoming freshman! That means that every other day is deja vu with a new group of kids checking in. It is super tiring, but lots of fun!

Here I am with some coworkers...


And our amazing orientation leaders who are current HBU students who lead the incoming freshman to get registered. Do you like our shutter shades?

The best part is that at every opening session, the orientation leaders perform a dance to get the crowd going to "Boom Boom Pow" by Black-Eyed Peas!

Our Honeymoon Journal: Day Seven

Sad day! We had such a wonderful honeymoon that we didn't want to come home. Who wants to leave paradise? We didn't have to be at the airport until 1pm, so we slept in, went to breakfast one last time and took a final walk on the beach. Then off to the airport...

I was so sad to leave...but at least I was coming home with a great tan and a wonderful husband! Back to the real world.

Our Honeymoon Journal: Day Six

Our last day was spent soaking up as much sun as we possibly could! It was breakfast-pool-lunch at the beach-pool-dinner. We went for a short walk on the beach and I bought some silver and turquoise earrings. We had such a great time that we did not want to leave!



A little kittie came and sat under my lounger at the pool. Our resort had tons of kitties running around!

At our last dinner...we went to the fancier restaurant at the resort and had an awesome shrimp past dish. We of course enjoyed the peacock entertainment too. Look how tan we are!

Our Honeymoon Journal: Day Five

On Day Five, Jason got the itch to golf. Puerto Vallarta has a course called Vista Vallarta that has a Nicholas course...did I spell that right? I am not a golfer, but I wanted to support my boy so I was the designated golf cart driver. It was great though because I was able to read and check out LOTS of lizards!

Lizards were everywhere! And what seemed to be different kinds too. When you would drive down the cart path, they would scurry every which way across the path! I was in heaven.

The view was not too shabby either...

A girl can pretend, can't she?

After golf, we went back to the resort and laid by the pool until dinnertime. We had another excursion that evening called Rhythms of the Night. It was a boat ride to an island for dinner on the beach and a show. The boat ride was awful! The water was very rough and I felt sick the entire time...but I didn't get sick at least!

Dinner!

And how we were welcomed!

We had a great time! The show was awesome! Boat ride home, not so good, but, more on that tomorrow.

So Happy!

I just love this pic that Jason's stepmon, Denise took at our wedding. We are so happy to be married!

We have really enjoyed our first few weeks of being married and back from the honeymoon. I actually have cooked meals for us- stuffed peppers and pot roast-all by myself....well, with my mom on the phone telling me what to do! I am going to make Jason's favorite cupcakes this weekend for him too. I'm trying to be a good wife.

Jason has been an awesome husband too-picking up the house, taking the trash out, making the coffee in the morning and calming me down when I get really stressed out...which is every night!

We have such a fun and busy summer ahead of us. We have tickets to see my favorite bands: Aerosmith and They Fray, both in July. We also have Coldplay tickets, but can't go anymore due to a conference I am going to for work. (Let me know if you are interested in 2 Coldplay tickets for their July Houston show). We already attended one wedding so far, but have another one in July. We are also trying to have a long weekend in New Orleans with some friends.

In the midst of all of these activities, I am moving into the dorms on Sunday for SOAR-Summer Orientation and Registration. This is my 3rd year to do this, but I will hate to be away from Jason and Tucker! I will be tied up with SOAR for 2 weeks. Then in July, my office is hosting a national conference on our campus. We will be so busy and will be moving back into the dorms for that week!

I am also in the middle of the summer semester for the MBA program. I will graduate from the program in mid-December! This will be a really hard semester because one of the two classes I am in right now is Finance. I am not a math person and have never had finance before. Lots of hard work ahead of me these next few months, but hopefully I can get some fun in too!

Hope you have a great weekend! I have a conference Saturday morning at another university in town, then homework and packing time!

Our Honeymoon Journal: Day Four

On day number four, we decided to head into town and explore. We wanted to do some shopping and see a new side of Puerto. It was so beautiful! The shops are along the water and there is so much art and unique sculptures to see.

Jason wanted to stop at Senor Frogs...

And I was excited to see a Starbucks; although we did not stop!

Then we stopped and had lunch at Glam. It was so yummy! We had guacamole of course and chicken tacos.

We were pooped when we got home (the hotel) so we didn't even go out to dinner. It was room service all the way!

Our Honeymoon Journal: Day Three

Day Three we were relaxed and ready for an excursion. Doing a canopy tour was a must on out honeymoon itinerary so off we went! It was a long, hot, miserable bus ride, but once we were there we were excited and ready to go!


Getting our gear on...

I was a little nervous at first...

But then off we went:

And we were pros!

After the tour, there was an animal area where you could feed monkeys and an iguana!

Both a monkey and the iguana peed on me!






After a long day, Jason and I went to the pool with a couple that was also honeymooning. We met them during the canopy tour and they were staying where we were. We ended up having lots to talk about with them! Below is me and Alex.

After pool-time, we cleaned up and went to our beach restaurant for steaks. Then off to bed!