4 Years of Wedded Bliss...

it's hard to believe that it has already been 4 years since JD & i were married. i think about our wedding day often & how it was absolutely the most perfect day. i love JD more than words can say & I am thankful everyday that the Lord brought us together. who would have known that in the summer of 2005, when i decided to stay in auburn & take a job serving tables at a local pizzeria, that it would mean finding the love of my life? the last 4 years have brought us so many memories - and now, as we await the arrival of our sweet baby, I look forward to what our future together holds...

loving this

check out this really unique *customizable* piece of art from one of the blogs I follow, MadeByGirl

This little beauty might make its way to the Baker house in the near future...


...and a TOTAL steal at just $45!

Kate + Nate :: Wedding Pictures

a few of my favorites from their big day...

itchin' for a hitchin'

I love the title of this post becuase it was what Katie's sweet grandfather (Daddy Woody) said before the blessing at her wedding rehearsal on Thursday night... and he couldn't have been more right.

This past weekend we attended the Davies / Kivett Wedding in Nashville, TN. What a beautiful wedding it was - Katie really did an excellent job in planning every last detail for their big day. Everything was so beautiful, & so personal, & reflected both Katie & Nathan perfectly.

This weekend was also really special to me because it was a chance for me to catch up with all of my *favorites* from high school & all of my *favorites* from college! I thought my head was going to spin with excitement! Seriously, how lucky am I?!?

I want to go on & on about how much I love my bestie & her terrific *hubs*, but I'm afraid that little sensitive / emotional me won't be able to hold it together long enough to get through the post... hopefully my pictures will be able to do it justice.

Katie & Nate - You both hold a very special place in my heart & I am so very happy that you have found one another. You are the perfect compliment to one another, & I can't tell you enough how your love for one another radiates to everything that you do. I know that you will have a lifetime of happiness together! MUCH LOVE & CONGRATS!

I'm going to load some more of my pictures from the weekend this week to share - but until then, here's a sneak peek...

bestie

this past weekend I traveled to one of my favorite cities to celebrate one of my favorite people, Katie Davies.

Katie & I have been best friends since high school & after graduation, we even lived together for a year in college.

Katie moved to Nashville the same year I moved to Birmingham, 2007. We worried about the distance, but it's a straight shot up 65N from Birmingham right in to Nasville!

Katie is marrying her absolute perfect match, Nate on April 1 in Nashville. This past weekend we celebrated Katie by having a "GNO" = Girls Night Out. Friday was a fun night out on the town at her favorite watering hole, Robert's; Saturday was her linger shower, in the fabulous home of another bestie, Sarah Flory; Sunday was Katie's Bridal Tea at her aunt's home. Three fun days of celebration!!

Here are just a couple of photos from the weekend:





I can't wait for the wedding day & feel so honored to have been asked to be a part of it! JD & I can't wait to make many fun memories with the Kivetts in the future!

catching up

Hi all - things have been busy around the Baker house, so I haven't had a chance to post lately {oops...}

Since my last post, I helped to host a wedding shower for my good friend, Leigh Ciarkowski! Leigh & I met in our bunco group in 2009 & we quickly bonded over our mutual love for dogs! Leigh & her future hubby have 3 dogs: Bettis, Maggie, & Peanut. Here are a couple of shots from the wedding shower, which was held at Leigh's friends' BEAUTIFUL home in Avondale - please note the LOVELY cake that our friend Emily made special for Leigh (www.primecakes.com):







After Leigh's shower, JD & I went out to celebrate {valentine's day} with dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse! JD stumbled upon a gift card at work & when nobody claimed it, we thought it must be fate! Dinner was lovely & we had fun getting all gussied up for a night out!



Over the weekend we tried to spend as much time outdoors in this beautiful spring-like weather as possible! I met some friends from the Phi Mu Alum group for an officers' brunch on Saturday while JD stayed home to bottle some more home brew! Sunday we palled around with our friends, Liz & Richard, after their return from their Las Vegas vacation! The group indulged in lots of al fresco drinking, per the usual...

This past Wednesday we celebrated my 27th birthday!! Sweet JD was so excited to give me my presents bright & early that morning! My most favorite was a special edition of the book The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. The thing that makes this book special is that it is part of a collection with beautiful, unique cover art done by Penguin Books Senior Cover Designer, Coralie Bickford-Smith. Here is what my new book looks like - can't you just imagine it on a bookshelf?!?


{yes, this picture was taken in bed - I was that excited to start my collecting!!}

There are several other beautifully designed classics in the collection - I can't wait to collect more of these beauties!!

After work, JD & I met up with some sweet girlfriends at our favorite neighborhood bar, Parkside Cafe, for a couple of drinks, followed by dinner with my sweet sister in law, Katie All in all, a great birthday all around - I'm looking forward to what year 27 has in store!

Last night I did something totally fun & different with some fun girlfriends from work - Sips n' Snips!! You may be familiar with a similar concept, Sips & Strokes, where friends can get together to "sip" a beverage of choice & paint a picture under the guidance of an instructor. Well, Sins n' Snips is a little different ---- still sipping beverages, but instead of painting you are MAKING A FLOWER ARRANGEMENT!!! I was sooo excited to do this as "learning how to arrange flowers" was on my bucket list - and this way was much more fun as I had friends by my side! Here are a few pictures from the night:







and the finished product:



I LOVE them!!! And I can't believe that I did it! The really great part about doing Sips n' Snips is that the fabulous instructors (who own & operate Helena Florist) give you ideas & techniques for creating different arrangements at home!

This weekend we are heading back to GA to visit my parents & attend 2 wedding showers for my bestie Katie Davies! I'm sure to have lots of updates from that visit!

Until next time,

peace & love.

the bakers.

Sarah & Daron : THE LAS VEGAS WEDDING

Well, we made it. This past weekend was what we've all been looking forward to since May - the FLORY WEDDING in LAS VEGAS!! It was EVERYTHING I thought it would be, plus more! To no one's surprise, Sarah looked absolutely breath-taking. By far the most beautiful bride I've ever seen - and I'd argue that her bridal portraits could easily grace the cover of the top Wedding Magazines! Everything about the weekend festivities was perfect - and now the happy couple are enjoying a well-deserved vacation in Antigua!
A few of my favorite moments from the weekend include:
*Christine getting frisked at the Birmingham airport before 7am on Friday morning
*Arriving at the MGM Grand hotel for the first time & squeeling when I saw my girlfriends...and they were squeeling too.
*Getting VIP treatment at TAO all night for Sarah's bachelorette party {thanks Em!}
*Watching the AUBURN TIGERS beat UGA on Saturday
*Hearing everybody speeches at the rehearsal dinner - S&D are so very LOVED!
*Mr. Bill {Sarah's Daddy} video-ing EVERYTHING from his iPhone 4... & then immediately editing & posting it on youtube :)
*and I have saved my very favorite part of the weekend for last: The Wedding Ceremony. It was personal. It was emotional. It was unique. It was Sarah & Daron. I will never ever forget the beautiful words exchanged that day. There wasn't a dry eye in the bunch...

Here are a couple of photos I got from the weekend - enjoy!!







We are so happy for our dear friends, the Florys, & wish them the very best for a life full of love & happiness!!

JD & I can't wait to go back to Vegas - I have a feeling that it's the kind of place that you can go several times & have a completely different experience with each visit!! Until next time, I'm gonna start "boning up" on my Roulette skills :)

lingerie shower? success.

Just a quick shout-out today to two of my absolute favorites: Katie Davies (soon-to-be-Kivett) & Brittany Cole - these two cuties hosted the greatest lingerie shower this past weekend in Nashville (quickly becoming my favorite city)!!

The big fuss was for another one of my favorites, SARAH ELIZABETH WILCOX (soon-to-be-FLORY)!!! That's right folks, we're at the 31-day mark until S & D tie the knot in the fabulous LAS VEGAS NEVADA!!

BUT - I can't get too excited about the Vegas wedding... afterall, I've got to get another dear friend, Liz Perry, hitched this weekend at Lake Martin :)

But seriously, Kate & Brittany - thanks for doing such a great job on the pin-up themed shower!! Everything was great : food, fellowship, fun. You should consider an international party planning business :)

(*sorry no pictures from this trip... as usual, the batteries in my camera were dead - as were my back-up-batteries. death.)

LOVES!

PS: I hope there are as many Jersey Shore quotes being thrown around in Vegas as there were in Nash this weekend :) "Grenade. Grundle. Chodes."

LBP is getting MARRIED!!

This past weekend was absolutely LOVELY!! It was perfect Fall weather & best of all, I got to spend it with friends at the lake!! Saturday morning a small group of friends went to Lake Martin to celebrate Liz's Bachelorette Party :) Here are a few pictures from the lingerie shower:




We can't believe that in two short weeks Liz & Richard will be getting married!!! We are so excited to be able to share this special day with them!!

vIvA LaS VeGaS!!!!

Love is in the air, you hear the swooshing of taffeta with every step, & Cannon in D is on repeat in your head... that's right - it's wedding season!

To get this season started, my dear friend & college roomie, Lauren, got married a couple of weeks ago in Selma. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony & reception at an old plantation home - the perfect setting for a truly Southern wedding. Not even a rain storm could mess with their perfect day! I wish she & Lee a lifetime of happy memories!

Next up, in early August, JD's cousin Janet is getting married here in Birmingham! She & her fiance Bradley are such a fun couple - we are looking forward to the wedding festivities!!

Kicking off the Fall, our good friend Liz is getting married on Lake Martin!! I was honored when Liz asked me to be a bridesmaid & I'm looking forward to the bachelorette party, showers, etc... So much fun!! We are really excited for she & Richard - they are a perfect match & I know they will have a lot of fun together!

Wrapping things up will be the Flory nuptials!! That's right friends, it's official - we're going to LAS VEGAS this Fall for SARAH & DARON'S WEDDING!!!! The official wedding date is Sunday, Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand - it's going to be super luxurious & FUN for all!! I'm ready to pack our bags today & hit the road, but there is much to do before then... starting with their engagement party next month!

On another note, my cousin's wife had a baby girl this week - welcome to the world, Lexi Pinkston!! Can't wait to meet you on our next visit up to Chi-town! Congratulations to Jamie, Renee, Jake, & Ashley :)

JD & I have signed up to be volunteers at the Greater Birmingham Humane Society!! We completed our orientation & are looking forward to training in the near future! We figure that we have a lot of love to give & there are a lot of animals who need some - rather than bringing them all home (which was our original idea - not very practical...), we thought we'd devote some time every month to the GBHS! I urge all of you to find a way to give back to the community - you will find it is extremely rewarding!

Mom & Dad are making their way down the second leg of their "Midwest Tour" - they started by driving to Chicago to help my aunt & uncles get my grandmother's house in order to put on the market; next stop is Farmington, MO to visit with Mom's aunt & cousins; the last stop will be to visit my mom's brother, Uncle Joe, in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Wishing them safe travels until their return home in the next week!

Happy early Father's Day to all the dad's out there :)

Not much else going on with the Bakers - until next time...

peace & love.

SPRING has SPRUNG

Hello All - hope everyone is experiencing as good of weather as we are in Birmingham! Sunny & hot (almost 90* today) - with a slight breeze. Too nice to be chained to the desk, if you ask me :)

First & foremost - I am so tickled to report that my very best friend Sarah got engaged a couple of weeks ago!! She & her FIANCE, Daron, have been dating for 5 years - I am able to recall that because they met while working together at Brick Oven Pizza Co. in Auburn, which is where & how JD & I met! I know she is going to have such fun with wedding planning - & that they will have a lifetime of love with one another! Couldn't be happier for her to have found such happiness with a great guy like Daron! Congrats guys :)

Not a ton to report here... I traveled to Boston a couple of weeks ago for a work conference - my first time to "bean town" & it was lovely!! I spent most of the week in a conference room, but I did try to sneak away & make the most of my trip - I did the historical walking tour which hit up all the "hot spots" of downtown Boston, saw Feneuil Hall & did some window shopping, spent some time in Boston Common, took the "T", had a beer at the bar that inspired "Cheers", & much more... While in New England, I was able to rent a car & drive up Hwy 1 in to Maine to visit one of our hospitals in Portland - such a beautiful drive! I must-do for anyone in that area!

Last week was my friend Natalie's birthday -we celebrated with our friend Julie, who drove over to visit from Atlanta! It's always good to catch up with my girlfriends...

JD has final exams this week for his first term at Troy - already knows that he made an A in his Info. Systems class (yay!) & will know about Econ later in the week! He's been working so hard & I know he is looking forward to a *brief* break until his next term starts.

We did a little bit of yard work this week - mostly just putting straw in the beds & pulling weeds... nothing exciting, but wow what a difference it makes! JD & I have been brainstorming this week about inexpensive improvements / projects we could do around the house to give it a little "face-lift"... toying with the idea of painting a couple of rooms or maybe we will go ahead & reorganize our laundry room? Hmmm...

Mom & Dad are coming to visit this weekend - I hope the weather holds out because we bought tickets for the Birmingham Barons baseball game Saturday night! It's nothing like catching a Braves game at Turner Field, but it will scratch that summertime baseball itch if you've got it!

I guess that's all I have time for for now - until next time...

peace & love.