Wedding Wednesday: Questions I Asked Our Cake Designer

Happy Wedding Wednesday!

Does anyone else feel like this week is flying by? But in a good way? :)

Today I'm going to share some questions I asked our cake designer and next week I'm going to reveal our cake/cupcake design! 

 

• Are you available for my wedding date? A lot of the cake designers I spoke with will book up to 3 or 4 wedding cakes per Saturday. So don't fear if you have a cake designer you really want and worry they will book up!
• How long have you been baking cakes? I guess getting someone you know that bakes delicious cakes/cupcakes doesn't really pertain to this question. But someone just starting out is kind of scary! You may think you have a wedding cake and the week of the wedding when you try to confirm and you get a voicemail - scary! But for me, cake taste is important and I want someone with experience, it may not be as important to you as it is for me. 
• When do you actually bake the cake? How many days before the wedding? How do you keep the cake fresh? ALL very good questions - no body wants a dry cake or stale cake! 
• Is there a delivery charge? Most places do charge a delivery charge, luckily for us it is only $25 because we're about 10 miles from her bakery. 
• How is pricing established? Is it strictly a per slice charge, or are there extra charges for certain designs? Our cake designer is charging per slice and per cupcake (since we are having both). Also, an important question for your caterer (if that's who will be cutting the cake) how much they charge to cut each slice. I've heard some places charge up to $3 per slice to be cut on TOP of how much you're paying for the cake. Also, once I reveal our cake design, we're lucky enough for her not to charge for decorations! Some cakes can get pretty detailed! So it's understandable if the cake designer would charge extra for some designs. 
• Is a deposit required? What are the terms? When is the final payment due? All important questions for any vendor you're booking for your wedding. I love getting receipts or contracts, it gives me peace of mind that I don't have to worry down the road if a vendor is going to bail on me. Whenever we are doing any of these things we always take money with us to put down a deposit, if you really like it you don't want to lose that person!

 
 

Ipsy January 2015 Review

Happy Tuesday!

I was excited to test out a lot of this past month's Ipsy bag. 

Here's everything I got:

I have been using this moisturizer for over a week now and still have some left of this sample! As you guys know, I break out very easily so I'm always afraid to try new facial products. After reading reviews I felt less hesitant. Surprisingly this product does not make me break out, and leaves my skin moisturized! In the winter my skin gets very dry so it's frustrating, this helps with that flaky skin I get around my nose and chin. You can purchase this here for $40 for a full size. Will I be buying the full size? Most likely not, I can't justify a $40 bottle of moisturizer. 

This is a very pretty shade of blue. I don't have much to say because I haven't used it. I'm trying to give my nails a break after painting them every day in December. You can find it  here for $6.

 

 I don't know what my obsession with brushes are because I always end up using the same ones. Haha.
But I was excited to try out this Elizabeth Mott All Over Shadow brush. How could you not love the color of this?! I must say after using this brush a few times I do love it. It picks up pigment really well and has well packed in bristles for easy blending use. You can find it here for $9.99.

I also got two new eye shadows. I have used Pacifica eye shadows before from Ipsy glam bags and have not been impressed, and I'm going to have to say the same for this. The pigmentation just isn't there for me. I like color to show up on my lids not fade away once you apply it. Even with eyeshadow base this just doesnt show up.  I'm not even going to link it because it's not worth it in my opinion. Save your money.

On the other hand the BellaPierre loose shadow is absolutely amazing. It is a sifter jar so it is a little harder to use, but it is well worth is. The color pay off is just amazing. You can find it here for $14.99

See my swatches of both shadows below

  

The BellaPierre is to the left and Pacifica is to the right. 

Have a great night!

Weekend Recap: Atlantic City, OOTD's, DIY Dice Earrings and Fiance's Birthday

Happy Monday!

I had a very enjoyable 3-day weekend and wish I could re-live it all over again. :) It was a very hectic weekend but a lot of fun. This weekend was my fiance's big 3-0 birthday! He didn't want to be reminded of it so I made sure not to mention it at all. After all, I wouldn't want to be reminded of my age as I get older on my birthday. 

After my work day on Thursday we were off to Atlantic City! I have been looking forward to this since the beginning of January, I was so excited! I have a lot of pictures on my camera (I'm trying to use that more than my phone) so I'll share the few that I do have. 

I made these earrings quick the night before we left for Atlantic City, I don't even know why I bothered because I completely forgot about them! On Black Friday Joann Fabrics had a bunch of charms on sale for .99 so I picked up these cute pair of dice charms and just made them into dangle earrings. I think they're cute and I'll get use out of them eventually - we'll be returning to AC soon I'm sure. :)

This is a bar inside the Resorts Casino that is part of the restaurant Margaritaville that is on the casino floor. On my fiance's birthday both of his parents came to visit so that night of his birthday we drank at this bar, it was a lot of fun. I highly recommend this bar, there is plenty of seating and service is really good, plus the music gets good later at night. :)

This was my outfit for his birthday, he even gave me a compliment on it. It's the little things that you remember. I wore my "military" jacket from Kohls, Old Navy stripped skirt, Wal-Mart tights, JCPenney booties, Forever 21 infiniti scarf I got on Black Friday. 

We decided to take a stroll on the boardwalk as the sun was setting. Isn't the boardwalk so pretty?

On my fiance's birthday one year ago his cat passed away and last year when we were in Atlantic City we found out the news and he wanted to drink. His cat's name was Nana, so we had Bahama Nana's. We're actually going to have them at our wedding for our signature drink in remembrance of her. :) So this past Friday we had a bunch of Bahama "Nana's" :)

Our view from our hotel - so pretty!

This is my outfit for Saturday. We had intentions of just walking the board walk and going some shopping so I wanted to be warm. I wore this sweater dress I got for Christmas from Love Culture, tights, Ugg boots and my Ebay blanket scarf. I was nice and warm. 

 Once I transfer the photos from my camera to my computer I may share more. 

Now onto planning the rest of my week in my Erin Condren planner. I LOVE that thing, I get so much more done during the week instead of saving it for the weekend. Haha. 

Have a great night.

 

Wedding Wednesday: Cake Inspiration

Happy Wedding Wednesday!

Today I'm sharing some pictures I used as my wedding cake inspiration when I went to meet with our cake designer (more on this in a separate post). 

I always pictured my wedding cake to be cupcakes but my fiance convinced me to do a cake and cupcakes. And I agree with him. It's just not a wedding without a big cake. And smashing a cupcake in each other's face isn't the same either. Hehe.

I didn't want to incorporate any of our wedding colors (pink and orange) into the cake. I always pictured it to be white with a touch of glitter/sequin, to me it gives it a more classy/elegant. I am also not a fan of flowers, I think it looks nice, just not for me. I guess I was a little picky. I love my cake!

Anyway, here are some inspirational photos I used from Pinterest:

I haven't decided if I'm going to do a groom cake yet, but I love the idea of the following one:

Have a great night!

Erin Condren Life Planner 2015 Unboxing & How I Use It

Happy Tuesday!

I finally had time this weekend to take pictures of my new Erin Condren Life Planner. 

I'm sure you have seen me posting a lot of pictures on my Instagram (vzaleski) of this planner, I just can't get enough of it! It's one step closer to my 2015 New Years Resolution of becoming more organized. 

I asked for this planner for Christmas as I would never spend $50 on a planner for myself. So far, it's been worth every penny. After using it for a month I find that I'm getting more things done that I've been wanting to get done. I usually take time every Sunday and sit down and plan my week. I found that doing this forces me to see what's coming up in the next week AND what I want to do in the next week. I'm always saying I never have time to get things done, well this forces to re-evaluate my time and actually get things done. 

Along with getting more organized, I also am using this as my planner for my upcoming Wedding. There are so many dates and times you need to keep track of I would never be able to remember them without writing them down. It's also a way for me to look back, especially if I'm like "When did we book them?" or "How much of a deposit did we put down?" etc etc etc!

I am also using it to plan my blog posts. If I plan out what I want to blog about, it forces me to take time to get the things ready to take pictures and edit them. 

ANYWAY, onto the unboxing:

I ordered a custom cover for my planner. Erin Condren has a ton to choose from and you can even create your own. Soon I'll have to purchase another after I get married! :)

This is the back cover. 

She also included these with your order, a bunch of stickers. I love the owl "This Book Belong To:"

I keep my silver sparkly headband around it to keep from losing anything I have inside. 

Monthly tabs.

On the inside is a over view of the months, this way you don't have to go through every month to see what date falls on what day. 

This was when I was first started to decorate and plan (I've gotten much better - I promise!) Before the weekly planning the planner has a month overview with a little side bar for notes. 

This is my first week of planning. As you can see we went away for New Years Eve so I did some decorating on those days. Along with starting my diet for the wedding. On Sunday we met with our caterer so I wanted to make sure I remember what time it was. 

Week two I was starting to get the hang of it. 

This is what your typical week looks like. It has your days broken out between Morning, Day, Night. A lot of people cover them up with washi tape, which is what I am doing. I haven't decided if I like doing it that way or not. I like the idea of not being confined to morning, day or night for my planning, but at the same time, I do, especially if I want an overview of what I am doing for the night. 

On the side is where a lot of people create a To-Do list for the week. On the bottom is where you plan your meals, exercise and daily dos. I use this section for what I want to blog about for the day. 

There is a big section for just notes. I've seen people put in their recipes they want to try, or track their weight and exercise or just a grocery list, the possibilities are endless. I plan on creating a page dedicated to my cleaning schedule. 

 And then there are plain pages without lines. I've seen people just draw in these, I haven't decided what I'll use it for yet.

You also get a page of Birthday stickers. I love these! It's an easy way for me to keep track of everyone's birthday. And next year when I am planning again I can look back on this planner to keep track of everyone's birthdays!

There are also Game, Hair Appt, Doc Appt, Mani/Pedi, Vacation stickers. 

You also get a bunch of blank ones as well to fill in. 

This is a loose calendar for a quick overview of birthdays instead of going through your planner week by week. 

It also gives you an overview of important dates. 

In the back is a "zip lock bag" for any loose items. I plan on keeping my pens and stickers in it. 

There is also a interlocking ruler. I use this to mark what week I'm on, it's just easy to flip to that way. 

If you're interested in the planner you can find it here. 

Happy Planning!

Weekend Recap: Creamsicle Cake, Planner Supplies, DIY Birthday Card, Super Bowl & More

Happy Monday!

Any one living on the East Coast sick of the snow yet?! I know I sure am. And I am not happy with the ground hog for seeing his shadow, shame on him! 

My fiance's birthday is this Friday and it's a tradition for me to bake him his favorite Creamsicle Cake, but since we will be out of town, I made it a little early for him. Maybe I made it for me too.. hehe. It's SO good!

When I was picking up the ingredients I wandered into the craft section of Wal-Mart and picked up some cute owl stickers for my Erin Condren life planner along with some .97 washi tape!

As I was organizing my new-found sticker collection I came across some of our cruise pictures from August 2014. Wishing I was back there!

Tomorrow I have a blog post about all my recent planner supplies I've been picking up here and there. Can't wait!

Sunday I did some shopping online. I was deciding between these two hangers. When I receive it I'll reveal which one I chose! SO excited for this!

Super Bowl Sunday just isn't that fun if the Philadelphia Eagles aren't playing - I'm sorry, I can't help it. I love my Eagles!

Since my fiance's birthday is coming up I decided to make him a card and this is what I came up with.

Have a great night!