Love & Hearts

With the Holiday of Love quickly approaching, I thought it'd be fun to look at some Love & Hearts attire and accessories!

"If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."~Love Actually












Personally, I LOVE the necklace and the ring! And well, the PINK sweatpants of course - can't have enough of those!

What do YOU love?

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Looking For Blogs to Follow?

Check out my childhood classmate Justine's new blog Tobin, Inc*
Here's a picture from her wedding day last June, isn't she gorgeous!?

Valentine's Day Flashback

With the upcoming holiday, I thought I'd do another flashback! Now, we didn't always take a picture on every Valentine's Day so some of them are just around February 14th of that year :)
2004 - Our first picture together!
2005 - In the Townhouse @ Fairfield
2006 - At Sky Bar in Fairfield
2007 - My Little cousin had her Sweet 16 Party and Jay DJ'ed it...that was our Valentine's Day that year!
2008 - In Long Island
2009 - In our home before dinner @ Max A Mia
This year for Valentine's Day, we'll be on the cruise! We'll be sure to take a picture this time!

Weekend Recap :)

So, Thursday night Jay & I headed to the dress shop to pick up my bridesmaid dress for Jess' wedding. I was also picking up her MOH's dress. We chose different dresses but they were both supposed to be berry. Well, when they were brought out, one was berry...the other was "berry" but was more like a bright red. I know it's not totally clear in this picture from my phone but trust me they were SO different! After a few long conversations between Jess and the shop owner, my dress will be re-ordered in the same fabric as the MOH's dress...It will arrive in May; thank God we started this early!
Friday night, we just hung low while Jay DJed. Here's Batman hanging on his mat.
Saturday morning, Batman laid down by the door to the deck just staring outside (must have been staring at the birds or squirrels). He looked a little depressed, but he was fine come later on in the day! I wonder if he knows we are leaving this week...
Saturday afternoon we began to get organized for the cruise. We laid out all of our clothes then brought up our new luggage to pack - quite the process!
Batman kept hopping in the luggage...He really wants to come on the cruise with us....
Later that afternoon he kept giving me this look like "Are you leaving me, Mom?"
Saturday night, I decided to give Jay his Valentine's Day present. (Even though he said mine's not ready yet, I knew he could use his for his packing for the cruise...)
Here he is opening the teddy bear (that I got for free with buying 3 greeting cards haha)
And his other gift...we had a $25 limit btw...they're personalized gym shorts! (What he always says he needs for hanging around the house) and they say "Property of Jennie XOXO" Hahaha
If you're interested, you can find them here!

Today, well of course, it's Super Bowl Sunday! Batman woke up super early so we're sitting on the couch watching Season 3 of the OC on DVD (There is NO good TV this early on a Sunday morning). Then tonight we'll watch the game! Hope you're having a fabulous weekend :)

Valentine's Day Cards...With a Twist

Valentine's Day is just around the corner - are you ready? Do you have a card for your significant other? Well, if not, rather than go to CVS, check out some of these unique cards...Sure to get a
smile...or at least escape the norm!
"since sliced bread""and i-i-i-i-i will always love you-ou-ou"
"for my better 1/2"
for the moms...
"love is...scheduling sex during 'naptime'"and..."remember when 'date night" was followed by 'date morning'?"

"pugs and kisses""basic needs: you, food, sleep, shelter"

"you're the mac to my cheese"
"you're a good catch"
"wanna hump?"
"i heart you best"
"i love you"
"be mine"
"to my valentine"
"this gigantic heart is for you"
mini animal cards
mini sweets cards
"i love you"
"to us!"
"happy valentine's"
And...because we all have one...a card for your single girlfriends
"f**k valentine's day"
Source: 1-7, 8-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, 21

Happy Birthday Becky!

Happy 26th Birthday to my fabulous Miss Becky! So good to celebrate it with you last weekend; have a wonderful day!

Need Your Help With a Quick Vote!

I need your help, followers! Jess & Cory (remember them here? or how about here?) entered a contest from Crate & Barrel to win an "Ultimate Wedding"! (A $100,000 prize!) [There are also very fun other runner up prizes!] Well, the reason I'm telling you is they need YOUR vote! It does require a sign up via email but when you get the email to verify your account, you're able to vote, it's THAT easy! Here's the link to their entry. I (and Jess & Cory) really appreciate your vote!

Here are some fun pictures of them as of recent:
In the photobooth at my wedding:
At Oktoberfest in Newport:
At Jay's Surprise 30th Birthday Party:
In the contest to win their engagement session!
Check out their super cute engagement session too here!

Wedding Wednesdays: Something Old!

Ahh, the fabulous tradition of Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue! First up, Something Old! Here are a few ideas I found that I thought were great, unique ideas.
- Tie your Grandmother's rosary to your bouquet
- Ride in an old classic car
- Sew one of your father's or grandfather's old buttons into your dress
- Carry your grandmother's old compact
- Tie an old ribbon, perhaps from your childhood, around your bouquet
- Wear a vintage necklace
- Put up pictures of your relative's wedding days at the reception
- Use a pillow from your childhood as the ringbearer's pillow
- Carry a vintage purse
What I did for OUR WEDDING...
My aunt actually made my Something Old. She took a couple of lace pieces from my deceased grandmother's dress and attached it to shiny new white satin to fashion it into a garter! It was incredibly special. This is the garter with the picture of my grandparents on their wedding day.
MOH helping me put the garter on on my wedding day
Inspiration pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Pictures from my wedding courtesy of Zenobia Photography Studios.

Weekend Recap!

Well, the weekend started a tad early this week with my working from home on Friday. I wanted to be able to leave for Long Island in the early afternoon so it made more sense to work from home. Here's my little helper making sure I'm as productive as possible!
Friday afternoon, I started the 2 hr and 45 min drive to Long Island to Becca's house. This is the picture I sent Jay when I was driving through Stamford, that's where he grew up.
Here I am approaching the Throgs Neck
Friday night, Becca and I went out to Baja Grill for some yummy Mexican salads and margaritas! They were 2 for 1....
So, of course I got 2! Bec had the Sangria Saturday morning we woke up, had some coffee and then did Jillian's shred! Intense (as usual!) Then we headed to a spa called Tahiti'a to get manicures! We both got a dark purple color. Saturday afternoon, we met up with Becky to give her her birthday present. We got her a Coach cosmetic bag filled with new makeup.
The three of us went to an early dinner at the Main Street Cafe. Here's a view from downtown Northport.
Then it was time for the partying to begin! We got all dolled up and hopped on the train to head to the city. Notice we had our beer and wine...Apparently everyone drinks on the train on the way to the city! Weird, right?

This was our destination....Latitude Bar...very cool place

All the girls...a Fairfield reunion
A co-ed bathroom at a bar in the city....gross
Ada & Ant
Meg; opening her present. We got her a Coach pencil case filled with school supplies
A little too much fun...
Someone's drink...not mine haha who took this?

This picture makes me laugh...no idea who took it

This could be considered an awesome idea or a really bad one haha
The happy couple
Me & the birthday girl
Another one...WHAT is going on here? What are we talking about and who took it? Makes me laugh...
This little guy was waiting for me when I got home on Sunday...he was VERY happy to see me...Feelings were mutual, buddy

Hope you had a great weekend :)

Off to Long Island!

After work today I'm headed to Becca's house in Long Island for the weekend! Tomorrow is manicures then an early dinner with Becky in the afternoon. Tomorrow night we're heading to Latitude in NYC for Meg & Becky's 26th birthdays! Fun girls weekend in the city! Be back Sunday night with lots of pictures I'm sure!
Have a fab weekend ;)

Happy Birthday Meg!

Today my good friend Meg is turning 26! (We'll all be celebrating with her tomorrow night in NYC!) Happy Birthday Meg; have a fabulous day & I'll see you tomorrow!

I Blinged Out My Phone!

I saw a girl at work have a black and colorful Coach cover for her berry and I was like "omg I need that..." (need mayyyy be a stretch haha). So we went to the mall this week and I ended up getting 2 of them! One for my berry and one for my iTouch (which was getting pretty banged up). I got the traditional Coach pattern since it matches my everyday bag...Not gonna lie; I'm slightly obsessed with them already haha
Here's the view of the front:
and the backs:
Last night, we went to the Cheesecake Factory in Blue Back Square with my in-laws to use the gift cert. we gave them for the wedding! We started off with fried mac & cheese and omg...they were SO good! Like unbelievable.
We were so full that we didn't have room for the cheesecake, but it looked so good I had to take a picture!Happy Greysday :)

Wedding Wednesdays: Engagement Rings!

Until we started looking at engagement rings, I had no idea how many different options there were! I never really pictured what mine would look like and I actually ended up changing my setting before the wedding. Here are a few of the beautiful sparkly options...but really there are SO many more not shown here!
Here we have a round center stone with channel set diamonds in the band (by: ArtCarved)
A trend that is somewhat popular is using multi-color stones (by: Leigh Jay Nacht)
In terms of side stones, there are one side stone on either side, seen on this one (by: Mark Schneider Design)
Or this one with two side stones on either side (by: ArtCarved) Another option is to have pave diamonds around the band; seen here (by: Ritani)This one I found struck me as very unique with it's swirly patterns (by Vanna K)
Another widely popular option is a vintage style ring (by: Timeless Designs)

And, of course, the ever classic...solitaire (by: ArtCarved)What I have for MY ring...Emerald cut center stone with diamonds on the band, pave style
What kind of setting do you have? Was it what you always wanted? Did your fiance/husband pick it out himself?
All inspiration pictures courtesy of The Knot

Periwinkle by Barlow Jewelry

Good Morning Ladies! There seemed to be a decent amount of interest in my new bracelet from Sunday and it looks like the Tickles website does not actually sell online. So I looked at the tags on the jewelry this morning and the brand of both the bracelet and the necklace is Periwinkle by Barlow. I hope this helps you find a store that sells it near your homes! Have a fabulous day :)

(PS first time posting from my berry-hope this works! Didn't have time to post before leaving for work this morning!)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Weekend Recap!

Batman and I drove to Rhode Island for the weekend, while Jay had to stay in CT to DJ both nights. Friday night, we got in late and just hung out at my Mom's house. Saturday we woke up early, played around for a while, and then my Mom and I went out for some pampering! We got our eyebrows threaded and pedicures...it was awesome.
Saturday afternoon, Batman and I went over to Jess' house to get him acclimated to being there. (He'll be staying there when we are on the cruise). He had so much fun exploring their house and hanging out with Jess! Maybe even too much fun, he fell asleep!
Saturday night was my cousin's 10th birthday party @ Dudek's Bowling Alley! I don't have any action shots since I didn't have my camera but I did snap this with my phone...Hard to see so I'll tell you. It says Jen 96 Bob 90...i.e. I beat my Dad! Who's in a bowling league! I think he just had a really bad round but hey, I'll take it!
Sunday morning, we just hung around my Mom's...Batman knows to hang in the kitchen...That's where the food is, duh!
Before I took off, my Mom and I ran down the road to Tickle's since I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket ;)
I picked up this silver necklace:
and this awesome huge silver rose bracelet! I realize this is not nearly as practical as the necklace, but I plan on wearing it next weekend!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend! :)

All packed up!

(in incredibly stylish weekend bags I might add...hahaha) Heading to RI for the weekend! Some planned activities are pedicures with Mom, going to Jess' so Batman can explore her house a little (before staying there for the week of the cruise) and a bowling birthday party!
Will surely have updates on Sunday night; have a fabulous weekend :)

Wedding Wednesdays: Bridal Bouquets!

There are so many options for the bride's bouquet! What color flowers to carry? White; off white; the same color as your bridesmaid's dresses; a completely different color? Which type of flowers do you want in your bouquet? Are those flowers in season during the time of your wedding? I found when planning my wedding that conversations with your florist are very important to make sure your vision can (and will) come to fruition.
Here are a few different style bouquets that are all beautiful in their own way:






A cascading look
Add some feathers to your bouquet for some sass
What we did for OUR WEDDING...
I carried a bouquet of roses, all in shades of pink
The bouquet was tied in material from my MOH's dress; so that it matched my bridesmaid's dresses

All inspiration pictures courtesy of The Knot. My pictures courtesy of Zenobia Photography Studios. My bouquet courtesy of Flowerthyme.

"I'm a DJ - here's my card"

Yup; that's pretty much the line Jay used on me the night we met! Ohh; the memories...
As I was cleaning out a scrapbooking drawer recently, I found the DJ business card Jay gave me the night we met: September 5, 2003...6 years to the day before our wedding day :)

Maybe We Need To Up His Food Portions?

Think he's trying to tell me something? Silly dog; out of the fridge!

Weekend Recap!

Saturday, we had Batman's haircut (fiasco) and then just laid low with him in the afternoon. In the evening, we drove down to Milford for a family dinner at Armellino's. The food was SO good!
Our drive down there:
Jay, cousins and his Dad
This didn't work out so well...
MUCH better!
Wilson's
Sunday, we went to the CT Science Center which is fairly new but we had never been and wanted to check it out.
Here's Jay doing a baseball throw game:
Taking his photo for the baseball game
I'm on a cover of a magazine! "Jen Friese gets the blood pumping" haha
Doing the ring game...don't let it touch the metal!
In the music/sound exhibit...very cool
Racing sailboats
We did our grocery shopping after that and are now spending a relaxing afternoon with Batman. Making personalized pizza's tonight for dinner...mmmm! Hope you had a fabulous weekend :)

Puppy Gets a Haircut!

This morning Batman went to Best Friends doggy spa to get a puppy haircut/cleaning. We went back to pick him up a little after noon and, I'm not gonna lie, I didn't even recognize him when he came out! Don't LOVE this cut; what do you think? Next time I'll have to be a little more clear with them I guess; but at least he is all fluffy and clean!

NYC Style?

The last weekend in January we're having a girls night out in NYC for Meg & Becky's 26th birthdays (so fun!) and I desperately needed something new to wear (of course!). We went to Express (twice) this weekend and needless to say the first trip was not successful! The next time, I had a few shirts, went to go in the dressing room and saw a silky black one-shoulder top shining from the rack outside the dressing area. I immediately grabbed it and knew it'd be the one...What do we think, ladies? I need it to be long to cover up my little holiday belly (that hopefully Jillian Michaels will whip into shape once my DVD gets in the mail; let's go Borders.com!) But in case it doesn't go away...this hides everything!

P.S. This is where we're going - HOW cool does this place look!?

We Have a Puppy Preschool Graduate!

Tonight was the last class for Puppy Preschool and Batman ("and his family" haha) passed with flying colors! Congrats little guy!

Wedding Wednesdays: Cake!

These days, wedding cakes are all about color! White on white (while still classically beautiful and always a viable option) is rarely seen anymore; without at least a pop of floral color. With the advent of shows like "Ace of Cakes" and "The Cake Boss", brides want BIG and BRIGHT; and nothing is off limits!
Here are a couple of white cakes with pops of color:


And one with LOTS of colorSquare cakes are becoming more popular
This one is for a friend...Let me know if you see this...
Intricate fondant on this cake with the flowers
A different pattern for each layer - very creative!
Initials and monograms are becoming popular as decoration on the cake or as a cake topper
Another idea is having your cake specifically themed for your destination wedding or holiday wedding...
A Vegas-themed cake
A 4th of July themed cake
Another option is cupcakesOr even just a few smaller cakes...
Or for the super-creative, a cake made of giant cookiesWhat we did for OUR WEDDING...
We wanted a mad hatter style cake for our wedding in pink and white to match the theme
We met with the artist who drew out the sketch right then and there and it came out better than we could have even imagined!
Secret alert...Our cake was a "dummy cake"! (Meaning it was designed on styrofoam and not on a cake!) The country club that we got married at provided delicious cake for all of our guests so we didn't see the need to spend the money on another whole cake. This cake was just for decoration and we pretended to cut it ;) Shhhh
All inspiration pictures courtesy of The Knot. All my pictures courtesy of Zenobia Photography Studios. My cake was created by Something Different Cake Couture.

Best (New?) Blog Award!

I was given this award by Katie at Life of an Army Wife (thanks, girl!)

The rules of this award are as follows
1. To accept the award, you must post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted you the award, and a link to their blog.
2. Pass the award on to approximately 15 other blogs that you recently discovered, and think are great!
3. Contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

There's quite a few blogs I've found in the last couple of months, so here we go! Check these ladies out!

Jen @ A Daily Dose of Davis
Beth @ All I've Ever Wanted
Danielle @ Living in the 'burbs with the Lenz's
Megan @ The Lenz's
Lindsey @ Won't You Be My Nabor
Courtney @ The Nitz Family
Southern Cinderella
Caroline @ Simply Smithwick
Katie @ Life in the Fulmer Lane
Kelsey Claire @ Lavender, Leopard & Lace
Keeping Up with the Davidson's
Jayme @ The Kentucky Blonde
Leigh @ La Bella Vita
Tay @ Jimmy Choos & a Baby Too
Risley @ Adventures of the Wilkinsons

We are very busy tonight @ the Friese household between 2 hours of AMERICAN IDOL and 2 hours of the Biggest Loser! How will we find the time to watch it all!? ;)

Weekend Recap :)

Saturday, our big plan was to go to the 3:00 showing of Avatar in IMAX 3-D. We went to the mall (found a new shirt for the NYC birthday celebration on January 30th - score!), grabbed lunch then got to the theater an hour early. There were only 5 seats left and they were all in the front row! Instead of craning our necks for 2 hours and 45 minutes, we decided to buy tickets for the Sunday show and head over to our friend's Pete & Jackie's house.
Jackie made a delicious pulled pork and we watched the football game. Here's Jay and Batman chilling in their living room.
Their cats, Bebop and Romeo, weren't Batman's biggest fans...here they are meeting through the glass....both a little hesitant.
Sunday, we went to see Avatar and it was AMAZING! (Way better than I thought it was going to be haha) Here's a picture of me in the incredibly attractive 3D glasses that Jay took (and proceeded to put on Facebook) before the movie started.Hope everyone had a fab weekend :)

Saturday Plans

Today we are going to the mall, then seeing Avatar in IMAX 3D, then hopefully stopping by our friends house for the tail-end of the football game. Has anyone seen Avatar?
Have a fab weekend :)

Maddox is OK!

Just wanted to say Thank You to all the lovely ladies who offered their T&P for my nephpup, Maddox. He had the surgery on his ACL, had to stay overnight for 2 nights and is now home and recovering! Here's the poor little (big) guy:

Wedding Wednesdays: Bridesmaid Dresses!

There are many options you can choose for your bridesmaids...Here's a few examples of how these different options can be done!
:: Matching solid color tea length dresses
:: Matching patterned tea length dresses
:: Matching tea length dresses, with a unique color for the MOH's
:: Matching tea length dresses, with a brooch, on the fancier side
:: The same tea length dress in a rainbow of colors
:: The same tea length dress in similar shades:: Different style tea length dresses in the same color with a unique color for the MOH
:: Different style tea length dresses in different shades of one color
:: Different dresses in different colors with similar detailing
:: Matching floor length dresses, on the fancier side
:: Matching floor length dresses with an accent color sash
:: Different style floor and tea length dresses in the same color
:: Different style floor length dresses in different colors
What we did for OUR WEDDING...
Watermelon floor length dresses; unique dress for each girl. Based on their own shapes and styles, they all wanted different dresses so it worked out perfectly!We also got a pearl pink sash for my MOH to have her stand out a bit
All inspiration pictures courtesy of The Knot. All my pictures courtesy of Zenobia Photography Studios. My bridesmaids got their dresses at David's Bridal.

Puppy Prayers Please!

(Not for Batman)

My nephpup (my brother's bull mastiff), Maddox, has tore his ACL, can't walk and is having surgery tomorrow. Please keep him in your thoughts! Poor guy

Here's some of my favorite shots from this Christmas:

Last Christmas:
The night we first met:

Boy has he grown! Good luck little guy!