Rivers West

I am so excited to say that Rivers West (my Uncle Charlie's band) will be playing at my wedding! They are a really fun group of guys that play music ranging from Jerry Jeff Walker (Matt's fav), the Eagles, the Beach Boys, Lynard Skynard, and much more (mainly ranging in classic rock, my fav)...They will definitely set the mood for a fun, outdoor wedding, and who doesn't love jamming out to live music! Check them out online at http://www.riverswestmusic.com/. They're are always playing somewhere around town.

Whitestone Celebrations

One afternoon on the way out to Frisco to hang out with Mom and Tommy, Matt and I were passing through Downtown (oldtown) Lewisville when we discovered Whitestone Celebrations. Having both lived in the Lewisville area for over ten years, it was quite a nice surprise to see this place. The city has been renovating old town for a couple years now, and Whitestone was one of the newest additions. On the sign in the window display, it said weddings and rehearsal dinners...so I frantically searched for a something to write on...anything..I wanted to get the website down before we drove past it...(the older I have gotten, I now have to write everything down: ideas, appts, thoughts, websites...everything) or I run the risk of forgetting it forever. So the only thing I could scrounge up was a chewing gum wrapper..and wrote down http://www.whitestonecelebrations.com/ in brown eyeliner...LOL.

Later that evening, I dug out the wrinkled chewing gum wrapper and typed in the website address. At first glance, I absolutely fell in love with this place. It has an intimate feel to it, and very "antiqueish". The building itself is over 100 years old, and the beautiful, original ceilings are still in place..as are the wooden floors. It's also family owned and operated, and upon speaking with Ruth , the owner and identical twin to Tammy Faye Baker,over the phone it felt perfect.

A couple days later my mother, Marta and myself took a tour with Ruth and went over everything. The place is HUGE compared to what it looks like out front, and the bridal suite is adorable! For anyone interested they host family reunions, corporate luncheons, showers...birthdays...anything...and they have catering available as well. It was diamond in the rough..and I'm so glad we found it. To sum it up...we loved it and booked it for July 11th!!! Cheers :)

Dress shopping at StarDust

After tearing out what seemed like hundreds of pages in bridal magazines, I found the one I couldn't live without...I mean, it was the kind of dress in which the world would stop turning if I couldn't have it....Isn't that sad? LOL...anyway so I frantically called my mom, and she told me to call StarDust and find out if they had that particular dress to try on...Soooo, with my palms sweating, I called StarDust, and sure enough they had my dream dress at the store...A flood of emotion came over me ranging from, hysteria to excitment. All I know is that I HAD to get there to try on my "dream" dress. So my mother, Marta (Matt's mom, and the BEST mother-in-law a girl could want),and I made an appt for the following weekend..

The night before my appointment I was so filled with anticipation and excitment that I.....ate an entire pizza...no joke...LOL Anyway..So we arrived at the bridal salon, and it was amazing...every brides dream. You walk up this elegant staircase..and into a sea of tulle, lace, and satin..Hands down, the most amazing dresses you have ever seen. Wendy, the woman I had the appt with, greeted us, and commenced the dress try-on marathon. I was so nervous for some reason, that I spelled me name wrong! I should've had a glass of wine beforehand or something.

We pulled about 20 dresses or so, and the one that I could not live without..I was sweating everywhere...It such a surreal, special moment for all of us. Then Wendy broke the ice, by asking me if I was shy, b/c Iwould have to get down to my skivies. At that point I was so happy to be there, that I would've done it outside if i had to....Anyway, the "dream dress" was the first one to try on...so she and I went into a large spacious dressing room, she put the bustier on me, and then pulled this giant, marshmellow, sea of tulle dress over my head...very pretty, but very....large and poofy...and so not me. It's funny, things just look differnt on models in magazines, then they do on people who actually eat. But without hesitation, my mother started crying when I waddled out trying not to fall on my face...That thing had 12 layers of tulle...no joke..I mean, you'd have to have a portable AC unit in there for a summer wedding. So, to my dismay, my "dream dress" was no longer in the running..

After a ton of pictures, laughter and some tears, I found the dress I could not live without...It fits my personality perfectly...its playful, elegant...and just perfect. I wish I could post pics on here, but I don't want Matt to see it! I have seen tons of adds for it in mags. The designer is Alvina Valenta, and it should arrive around the end of January. I hope they can build an expandable wasteband in it, because I will need one after the holidays!

Engagement....How Matt proposed

September 27th was an unusual day to say the least...It was a long, hot day at work, and when I got home that evening, I wanted nothing more than to take a shower, take off my grimy make-up, and watch Greys Anatomy. So...I did just that..but around 8 p.m. I got a call from Matt, he'd been at his parents house, and he suggested that we go out for dessert...Without hesitation, I responded "no, I look horrible". Well, a couple minutes later he arrived at my apartment..and looking back now, there was something different about him..like nerves or something..At the time I was too tired to notice. He sat down next to me on the couch, and asked me again.."Ang, lets just go out and do something...like go eat dessert..it will be fun". I said "You really need to plan things better babe, it's just way too late, and I look horrible". Well, Matt has this certain look that can melt anyone's heart..and a feeling of guilt took over me. So, I finally gave in, and off we went.
Matt took me to the place we had our first date (Mimi's Cafe)....I honestly had no clue he was going to propose because we didn't even get there until 8:45, and in a perfect world, of course I would look my best, and be all dolled up, and because I looked as though I had just crawled out of a dumpster, I was certain this wasn't the night he would propose. And furthermore, he had said that the entire weekend we were going to take a trip down "memory lane" and visit all of the places we loved (and still do) since we met. So I assumed that it might happen over the weekend.
After a late night dessert and a couple yawns later, the waiter brought the check. This is definitely when he really began acting weird..At this moment my stomach dropped to the floor, tears swelled up in my eyes...and then out of my control, I let out this loud, blubbering sob...He started kinda of laughing (probably out of embarrassment)and then began talking about the first time he saw me, etc.. I was dumbfounded..i had no clue...and he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. Of course i said yes....in between sobbing...and the rest is history...I never knew I could feel this amazing..I feel so complete knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend and soul mate...I would've never thought this time last year I'd be writing this, let alone falling in love with Matt...but it goes to show, that through all the darkness in life...there is always a silver lining...