Bubbas Nation

Picking up dinner for the Manns.  Everyone is still sick at home.

Game Night= Cookie Night

A few weeks ago, we were spending all our free time with our good friends Andrew and Andra.  They were planning their move to London and were waiting on their visas.  When Tommy and I left on our honeymoon, we didn't know when we would see them next and we were pleasantly surprised to see they were still in Phoenix when we got back.  Once we settled in we spent every ounce of time with them before they boarded their flight to London.  This included an endless amount of time having game nights, enjoying happy hours, movies, Sunday Fundays and everything in between.  We just did not want the time to end...

One Saturday night, after we finished multiple games we decided to lay back to indulge in some desserts and drinks.  Lucy took the moment to fully relax, while begging for a dessert for the number one hostess.  I am sure everyone is surprised to hear this, don't worry she didn't get one.

As I finally get around to blogging something from sometime in June, I struggle to find all the words to reflect on the complete memory.  Since today I was lucky enough to touch base with two friends who recently moved across the world to tackle the next big adventure I am beyond grateful.  Thank goodness for technology and a quick chat with those we love.  I can't help but reflect on all our fun memories and we look forward to our adventures across the big pond in the future.

Cheers to Fundrew!
Cheers to Panda!

The Cheeto Guru

The little man loves himself a Cheeto puff.  When asked what his favorite food is, Cade answers "cheeettos".  He must be following in Aunt Snack's footsteps.  Have a fabulous weekend.  The Manns are off to Minnesota today.  We can't wait to attend our first wedding as a married couple :-)

Honeymoon Adventure Details... coming soon

In the meantime, while the suspense builds :-)  Our honeymoon was the first trip Tommy did not wear any Cardinals or ASU clothing.

What a treat!

Friday Favorites: Wedding Edition

Ahhhh where to begin, where to begin...

My second favorite vendor, in no particular order was my florist, Malori from Hoot and Holler. 

 From our first coffee date I felt like she got my vision. Malori cared about making everything perfect for our big day.  I knew I wanted color, every color, the more color the better.  I also knew I wanted the perfect arch to highlight the amazing Camelback view.

To say that Malori created my vision was an understatement.  Malori went above and beyond and the colors made every picture pop.  

I loved the simple Southwest cactus twist within the table centerpieces.

Hmmmm...

Can we go back to May 16th??

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.  I can't believe it is almost July.  Where did June go??

Happy Birthday Cade

Where in the world has the time gone??? Cade is 3 years old and being his aunt continues to be the best job in town.  Mimis and Papa spoiled him this year with a kitchen for his birthday.  I don't know who is more excited Cade or Mommy.  Cade continues to make us all laugh, smile and appreciate life.  Aunt Snack and Uncle Tommy wish him the best birthday ever!  We look forward to celebrating more tomorrow.

If anyone is looking to try out a new restaurant Cade's Cafe is open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

#NerdyGirlsWeekend

Mixed in between all the wedding madness, I fit in a fabulous weekend to Santa Fe, also known as Nerdy Girls Weekend.  A friend and co-worker, Jillian and I headed to the Four Corners ABA Conference.  I was blown away with the culture, beauty and calmness of such a unique city.  Jillian was the perfect companion to support and grow my nerdiness and the number one fan of constant laughter.

For my first professional conference, the speakers exceeded my expectations.  It was great to represent SARRC at a national level.  The conference refueled my behavior analyst confidence and made me fall in love with my nerdy side once again.

In between speakers and yummy food, we did a lot of exploring and tried our best at a church selfie.  This picture definitely captures the fun we had and explains our friendship in a nutshell.  I can't wait till the next Nerdy Girl Weekend.  I sure hope Jilly-o is all in.

Favorite Things... Wedding Edition

Lately blogging on Fridays has turned into a favorites update.  Since my latest obsession is still May 16th, 2015, I thought it might be fun to highlight some favorites from our big day.  

Who knows where the first month has gone?? Luckily our photographer is amazing and reminded us about an amazing day with the completion of all of our wedding photos just one month after.  

Rachel Solomon was definitely a vendor favorite.  From prompt responses, perfect attention to details, a creative eye and attentive ear, and most importantly she made us feel comfortable.  Putting Tommy at ease so that he is not giving his cheesy smile is a hard task to conquer.  Not only did she produce pictures that I couldn't have dreamed up, she is also a great person inside and out.  I am bummed that she won't be able to shoot us for something else :-(

Rachel Solomon Photography

Swimmer Boy

Cade is a super swimmer these days and as he approaches 3 it doesn't take him long to pick up things.  Cade went back to a summer swimming refresher course and before we knew it he was swimming across the pool. I am one proud auntie!

His smile is deadly!

Friday Favorites

After a long week at summer camp, I will keep my blog post short.  With an upset stomach to start off my weekend off wrong, I am looking forward to relaxing on my couch with my puppy.

Since I was able to at least deep clean my bathroom before my stomach ache settled in, I feel at least semi productive.  I have been eyeing cute products from Ashley Brooke Designs for quite some time now and with new products on the horizon, I am hoping I can snag this adorable mug if we are under budget this week.

These summer weekends I've enjoyed snuggling up with a good book.  I downloaded a free copy of The Boston Girl due to a Facebook recommendation.  So far, so good!  It may have even sparked a book club reunion. 

And probably my most favorite moment for the weekend is the completion of my wedding photos, how can one pick a favorite when they are all simply perfect.  Happy One Month Mann!

Rachel Solomon Photography

My Last Single Days

Please don't mind that it has taken me four months to write this post.  It's hard to put into words the happiness I felt this weekend.  Since some of my friends live from a distance, I decided to put my bachelorette party and shower into one weekend, in hopes that more people would be able to make it.  So I was beyond thrilled when so many friends could make it.  From Jessie, who I've know since I was 3, to her mom, Kate from college, Emily, Judith, Lynette and everyone in between.

The week before my special weekend I remember be overwhelmed and stressed at work.  I am thankful to have a supportive boss who calms me down and makes me be present.  Work allowed me to take a couple days off to share and enjoy this special weekend.  I don't know how many times I looked around the room and was overwhelmed by all the love and wonderful, amazing women.  I am so lucky to call my friends.

The wonderful thing about a wedding, besides finally committing to starting a life together is the love and support you receive from everyone you love.  It is no surprise to my friends that I LOVE weddings, so they did not disappoint when it was my turn.  Phone calls, texts, trips, and every type of social media were used in order to plan my last weekend as a single lady.  I can't say thank you enough for all the laughs, love and companionship.  It means the absolutely world to me!  Tear.

There were only a few pictures taken but I have been meaning to share them for what seems like forever now... enjoy

Kate, Emily, Sam and I

Linds, Jillian and I

Party Bus

Shower Time

Emily, Me, Jess and Lynette 

The Party Animals 

Jamie, Alex and I

The Bachelorette Gang

A few of my favorite things

Planner | Day Designer

The Perfect Lipstick | Chanel

Spring Bag | Michael Kors Crossbody

Glad to be back

While the honeymoon was absolutely fabulous, and I promise to blog more about it, The Manns were sooo excited to get back to this little fluff ball.  Lucille Suzanne Mann.  Lucy's doggie registration came in the mail, so we are formally going to change her name.  Yep were those weirdos, life before children.

While the transit back to real life, laundry, cleaning, work, pilates, and more cleaning was not exactly what I wanted to do Lucy made things at least manageable.  We thought she might give us the cold shoulder for leaving her, she does that every once in awhile, but she was right by our side as we settled in to married life.  

We've been working on putting things away and unpacking all our new fun wedding stuff.  I told Tommy that it's fun to look around and see the condo look like our grown up condo and less like my college condo.  Moving on up!!  

This weekend has been busy and since our friends Andrew and Andra still haven't received their visas, we have tried to spend every day with them.

Yummy food at Four Peaks on Friday night.

Game night on Saturday.

I think my abs still hurt from all the laughing :-)

Sunday Funday at Two Brothers (with Jordan and Lindsey too)

While we wish them the best on their adventure to London, we are soooo happy to spend more time with them!  Cheers!

A Whole New Level of Coffee Experts

My friend Dana has inspired me to blog today.  Not because this post has anything to due with her specifically but more due to a promise she made to herself, to blog once a week.  I mean I have plenty of stuff to write about, I just am not using my time to write, so this one's for Dana.  Hopefully I can keep the same promise.  I started this post a few weeks ago, when Tommy and I were enjoying wedding registry goodness, aka the good life.  We received enough gift cards for Tommy's favorite registry item, a Keurig!

Most people know by now The Mann loves his coffee and consumes it daily (I mean we try to travel through the Denver airport at all costs just to stop at Caribou).  You might be surprised to hear how late the Manns are to the coffee game, but it seemed as though Christmas came early when I surprised Tommy with the Keurig after a long round of golf.  

While we are still learning about all the amazing things the Keurig can do, it is safe to say I was afraid Tommy would push back the wedding due to extreme happiness.  Great news is your coffee can be amazing and you can still want to marry your best friend :-)

Please note our adorable cups from Anthropologie, also wedding registry goodies, Tommy uses them most days :-)  I love when Tommy loves what I love, ahhh married life :-)

Bubblin' with personality

A picture says a thousand words and these two pictures tell me that I have a very adorable nephew, with uber personality and a very fun sister.  The Marasigans went to the farm quite a few weeks/months ago, yes I am once again way behind on my blogging.

Cade loved all the animals, which reminds me about the goat who ate my dress at the zoo.  Cade is beyond brave to hang out with a big grin on his face in the animal cage.  We never know what is going to come out of Cade's mouth these days and more often then not it leaves us all laughing and smiling.

We are too lucky because he is too cute.  Until Cade's next big adventure...

JITT

JITT also known as Junk in the Trunk, came and went in the beginning of May.  My Mom, Sister and I got our VIP passes and headed out early.  There were many treasures to buy and waffles to be eaten.   Tommy and I found an adult dresser, goodbye dresser from IKEA that only had 3 out of 6 drawers.  We're moving on up in the soon to be Mann household. 

As always JITT was a blast and we are counting down the days until the next one in September.

#TeamUpForAutism

In February, SARRC teamed up with some local grocery stores to raise money.  Customers could easily donate when checking out at AJ's, Bashas and Food City.  SARRC Staff even got to win movie tickets when they participated, Tommy loved that kind of reinforcement.

So naturally I teamed up for autism and spent my grocery money at AJ's for the month of February. :-)

The True Masters Champ

While the fiance's away the boys will play.  Tommy got together with a few of his buddies to play golf and compete for the green jacket.  From my understanding the boys have started a new tradition, and with new clubs on the horizon it should be no surprise that Tommy won the jacket.

What group of friends wouldn't have an official ceremony??

Glad they had fun, until next year I guess??

One of these things is not like the other

Prep Master

We are at it again.

And some might say were crazy, but at least this time around I am the prep master.  The fruits and veggies are ready to go.  Tommy has joined my modified Whole30 in preparation for the big day. We are a few weeks in at this point and Tommy has lost 10 pounds.

There is nothing I like better than an organized fridge, okay maybe there are a few things that would come before a stocked fridge ;-)  Happy Monday!

Exhausted Sunday

While I usually try to relax over the weekend, I try to find some time to squeeze in some Cade time and when I do I never regret it.  Last weekend Ali and I went to Nordstrom to make sure Cade is ready for the wedding.  We all know he will steal the show.  I love cruising in the car with this gleaming smile.

After brief shopping trips, exchanges, alterations and a quick trip to the playground the car ride home was a little quieter.  It was so helpful to have Ali's help with wedding tasks and Cade's help to wear Lucy out.  I think our weekend was a success.  Until next time.

Bachelor Nation

I think I have about 20 posts to write.  Between work and wedding planning I have just been plain lazy :-)  As summer is approaching I am missing my trashy t.v. shows.  I miss the days of group texting through the Bachelor (yes for 3 hours).  While the next season is approaching, I have a few girlfriends who would greatly appreciate some Bachelor humor, and a few friends who won't---scroll to next post if so :-)

It's Here!!!

The feelings that happen when planning a wedding are almost indescribable.  I may be one of the few brides that thinks that wedding planning is easy and fun but when the UPS delivery man presents the huge box to my parent's front door, I am overwhelmed with emotion.  It is mind-boggling to think I selected this dress four months ago after getting engaged less than 24 hours before. More importantly I signed a contract after parading around Kleinfeld for roughly 30 minutes, so when the box arrives my mind starts to race...

will it fit?

what if it's too long?

will it be as fabulous as I remember?

is it the right color?

who will do the alterations?

what shoes will I wear? flats? wedges? pumps?

how will I wear my hair?

will everyone like it?

veil? no veil?

statement earrings? or delicate?

will this live up to everything I've imagined since I was six?? okay maybe younger :-)

In reality, and with time I have realized that all of these questions will get answered and fine tuned, and to be quite frank it's really not worth losing sleep over.  Every time I have a fitting, I contort my body into my dream dress and realize it looks simply perfect.  It is exactly what I have imagined, and I can't wait for Tommy to see what's in this beautiful brown box.  

Even more I love that if the shoes squish my toes, or the stone on the earrings is slightly too large, or even if I am not sure the length is just long enough for the grass the fact of the matter is none of this matters.  None of this is important without the Mann (pun intended) who will be standing besides me in that hot day in May.  So as always don't sweat the small details or else you will distract yourself from all of the good, and there is always good, always.

Just to confirm it is perfect and will be everything I've dreamed of :-)

Week 4, the final countdown

I would have never thought I would make it through all 30 days, no cheats!  I am lucky to have the support of family, co-workers, friends and one perfect fiance.  (He did Week 1 with me before work got crazy).  

Days 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27: Tiger Blood!

I would agree with this tagline.  I am starting to cook more and made unique recipes like this granola and some chicken parm.  Both were extremely yummy!

I even tackled a baby shower with sooo much delicious food and sweets.

 A yummy juice from Nekter helped to fill me up.

I was soooo proud of myself the day I cooked my own chicken.  I knew someday I could keep another human being alive, which I have always been a little afraid of :-)  As well as I was becoming a better wife for my future Mann.  Since Tommy was working crazy hours, I was prefecting cooking for two, cleaning and prepping on my own.

Day 28: 28 is a as good as 30 right?

I mean look at that meal.  Talk about lazy, I am pretty much just going through the last 2 days at this point.  I know I will make it but I can't help but relax/cook less and stop and look at all the food I can eat in 2 days.  By the way most of the food I am not even interested in, due to thinking about all of the sugar.

Days 29 and 30: Holy OprahIt'sAlmostOverWhatAmIGoingToEatNow?!?!