Red Wedding Shoes, Revisited

Recently, one of my past blog posts about my desire to wear red shoes with my wedding gown has been getting a ton of hits... I have no idea what the sudden surge is, but it seems that a lot of people are just as obsessed with red wedding shoes as I am! Here are lots more red wedding shoe photos for brides and bridesmaids. I'm in love with all of them, and found a ton of awesome inspiring photographer's sites in the meantime. Enjoy!

{source: Joe Elario Photography}

{source: Real Photography}
**ABOVE ARE THE EXACT SAME SHOES I'M WEARING!!!**

{source: Jules Bianchi Photography}

{source: Sweet Fashion Design}

{source: Stacy Able Photography}

{source: Sweetchic Events}

{source: Eric Hegwer Photography}

{source: Sara Heinrichs Photography}

{source: Young Designs}

{source: Gersham Photography c/o With This Ring}

{source: Ampersand Photography c/o With This Ring}

{source: Jason Crader Photography}

{source: Hoffer Photography}

{source: Becky Hill Photography}

{source: ChocoStudio}

{source: Instant de Bonheur}

{source: Elisabeth Millay Photography}

{source: Luce Bella}

{source: Pink Posh Photography}

 

Meet Gypsy Rose

So I have a funny story to share. First off, Joshua and I were really excited that our new apartment allowed pets. We've wanted a puppy for awhile now, and we couldn't wait until we moved to a place that allowed them. With that said, we were planning on waiting a few months until we got settled in before getting one. Also, I had my heart set on getting a Westie... my family had Westies growing up and I was sure I wanted a little white Westie I could name Piper.

Now let's rewind to about two weeks ago, when Joshua and I first arrived in Virginia from North Carolina. We were dropping off our UHaul before heading to New York for the second part of our move. Wouldn't you know... the UHaul drop-off was also a pet store. Weird, right?

Joshua went to the register to return the keys to the UHaul and collect our receipt, while I wandered into the back to look at the puppies. I thought, "Hmm, maybe they'll have a Westie..."

Well. They didn't have a Westie. Instead, they had this beautiful little baby:

{Gypsy Rose}

Meet Gypsy Rose, the newest (and first) addition to our family! Gypsy is a 3.6 pound Chi Pin, or 1/2 Chihuahua, 1/2 Miniature Pinscher. She's a hybrid or "designer dog," meaning she was specifically bred with these two dogs to have the best characteristics of each. She's small like a Chihuahua, but strong and smart like a Mini Pinscher.

Basically, Joshua found me in the back of the pet store watching our future puppy tackling her brother in the crate. She was tiny and feisty, and so freakin' adorable! Our hearts melted and we took her out to pet and into the "play room" with us to see how she was... and the rest is history.

We're so in love!

It's so adorable seeing my big, strong Marine with this tiny, precious puppy. And he just loves her. He plays with her, takes her for walks, teaches her to climb steps, holds her under his coat to keep her warm... it's seriously one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

{First trip to PetSmart}

{Hanging out at Mom's house}

{My tiny little puppy}

{All bundled up and headed out into the cold}

{Pink fleece... to keep her warm!}

{Our little family}

{Gypsy loves her bed!}

Redesigned!

Hey all! Phew, what a year it's been already! And to be completely honest, I've been avoiding my blog like the plague while it was still all decked out in Christmas decor. Joshua & I have spent all of January moving into our new home... and we love it! I finally feel a sense of relief now that the Christmas decorations are down both here and in our home.

It will be so nice to be settled in and unpacked, but we aren't quite there yet. In the meantime, you can expect some fun posts coming up from me in the near future... I did a lot of thinking about where I want this blog to go and what I want it to become, and I've decided to just let it be. This has been, and will continue to be, my personal blog... where I blog about all the things I love.

As some of you know, it started as a blog to help me through Joshua's last deployment to Afghanistan. It's grown into a way for me to share my creativity, design things for fun just because I want to and not because I'm being paid, and a great way to meet new friends and keep in touch with my long distance family and friends. I'm excited to see where it will go from here!

I will also be starting a new professional blog solely for my business and design/photography projects. There will not be a link to this blog there, even though I know anyone could easily Google me and find both blogs.

But, that's okay with me. I work pretty hard not to post anything too personal (or embarrassing!) here, while still be open and honest and letting you in on the fun things in my life. That won't be changing anytime soon.

In the meantime, let me know what you think of the new design... all tattooed, patriotic, camouflage bits of it. I'll slowly be updating my sidebars and other info too. Today, my goal was just the header, a simple signature, and a new button... which I'd be honored if you would grab for your own blog!



<center><a href="http://hardcorpslove.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="Hard Corps Love"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0tioYXAuG3I/TUEIjuNrLPI/AAAAAAAABaI/QBBRjuUIz2E/s1600/hardcorpslove-button.jpg" alt="Hard Corps Love" /></a></center>

Semper fi!

11 in 2011 | January Update

{Take for your blog!}

Hello friends! Can you believe it's already the 11th of January? I can't! That means it's time to update my progress on my 11 goals for 2011 already. Wow! But first things first...

Sorry I've been MIA all month. But right now, Joshua and I are in the midst of packing and moving our lives to Virginia. So everything has been all over the place as we go from North Carolina to Virginia and New York to Virginia gathering all of our furniture and possessions and putting them all in one place!

Also, please excuse the appearance of my blog. I realize it's still a mess of Christmas trees and sparkle, but until I can take a few minutes to redesign everything, you still get to experience all the holiday joy it brings to your screen... haha.

Alright, now! Onto my first 11 in 2011 update!

1. FASHION | Find my personal style and be more fashionable.

• I've definitely been making so much more of an effort to be fashionable this month! Aside from the days we've been packing and moving, I've been setting aside the extra time each day to really plan out my outfit and find my own style! I started out by ringing in the new year in a cute new skirt and top from the Gap, black tights, brown ankle boots, and a colorful bracelet that felt a lot like "me." I'm also 3/4 of the way done with Lauren Conrad's Style book and picking up lots of tips from it!

2. DIET | Reach my goal weight.

• Slacking. We've been on the road so much that I've been eating crappy and consequently feeling crappy. This one is so hard for me. I love the Weight Watchers program, but I need to find a new meeting center in Virginia and get back on track.

3. LOVE | Plan for & have the perfect wedding.

• In progress! While Joshua and I are here in New York to pack up our furniture and the rest of my things, we've made three appointments for wedding planning... a company to rent chair covers, napkins, table cloths, and table runners from; a florist; and the venue planner to discuss our menu and other wedding details.

4. BUSINESS | Launch my design business.

• Check it out: Graphic Grace Design. Step one to getting my business off the ground!

5. BLOG | Redesign & upkeep my blog.

• Slacking. I had a whole new, pretty design planned out and ready to upload, but it was all tailored toward my design website and since I decided to keep the two separate (thank you so much for your opinions on this, by the way), I now have to redo it all and figure out how I want to decorate around here!

6. EXERCISE | Work out 3x a week, minimum.

• Week 1, check! On Monday, Joshua and I went for a run. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I ran up and down a billion flights of stairs carrying heavy heavy boxes while we moved our things from one state to another! That so counts as workouts.
• Week 2, in progress. We'll be moving all of our furniture from state to state this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so we'll we how that goes and if I can squeeze in any additional workouts!

7. MONEY | Spend less, save more.

• So hard to do while moving. Honestly, we have not been doing a good job at this as a couple. So yeah... slacking. Needs improvement!

8. TIME MANAGEMENT | Be 5 minutes early. Everywhere.

• I've actually been doing this! Okay, so I haven't been a full 5 minutes early, but I've definitely been early and not late anymore! I was 4 minutes early to a photo shoot last week, 3 minutes early to meet friends for lunch, and 2 minutes early to my hair appointment today. Seriously people, this is me doing well.

9. SCRAPBOOK | Get up to date with j&d scrapbooks.

• Our lives in 2011 are up-to-date thanks to Project Life! Whoo hoo! It's my favorite thing ever!

10. KINDNESS | "Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty."

• I can't pinpoint anything I've done worthy of this resolution in the past 11 days, other then donating some clothes and shoes to Salvation Army. That isn't really what I had in mind when I made this goal though, so I'll work on improving it.

11. KEEP IN TOUCH | Regularly update email, photos, Facebook, & website.

• It's been tough the last week or so with the move, but I've been taking photos daily for Project Life and updated Facebook with New Years pics already. Working on it!

I'm updating this from my mom's laptop and in the midst of boxes, papers, and lots of distractions, but next time when I'm home and updating my 11 in 2011 from my own computer, I'll include photos!

{Ten On Tuesday} Life Lately

I am already loving the heck out of 2011. Both Joshua and I have been so productive already this year. It feels great! Since right now is a BUSY time for us, here is a quick "10 on Tuesday" list of what's been up!

1. I can't believe it, but GraphicGrace.com is launched! I got so much positive feedback from both family and friends (real life and blog life) and it just felt so good to finally do it! Now I'm looking forward to finding new clients and hopefully making this my full-time job for years to come.
2. But not until we pack & move. Today, we started packing. It's not going to be too huge of an ordeal since the place we're living in is furnished, but it's still taking some time and organization. We've lived here since September!
3. Once we finish packing up here in North Carolina this week, we're moving up north to Virginia! Our new apartment is gorgeous, and I am SO excited to move in!
4. When we get to Virginia, we have to unpack our U-Haul and then go up to New York to get our furniture. All of my things as well as the things my mom is giving us is at the house. Couches, beds, dining room tables, the whole nine yards. Then we're U-Hauling it back down to Virginia.
5. I took our friends Felice & Christian's engagement photos yesterday! They came out great and I cannot wait to share them!
6. I scrapbooked the first two pages of our Christmas 2010 album, also part of the December Daily bit I was supposed to be working on last month, but never did. Will also be sharing these soon!
7. Joshua and I have been obsessed with TV on DVD lately. We finished Season 1 of Spartacus, Season 1 of True Blood, and we're currently watching Season 1 of Dexter. They're our late night guilty pleasure. Love, love, love!
8. Speaking of TV, tonight is the premiere of the Biggest Loser! I hear it's Jillian Michael's last season, so I will probably be watching! She's my favorite.
9. I'm seeing all my close friends this week before we move. I'm going to miss these gals!
10. My biggest, hugest, happiest obsession right now is PROJECT LIFE. Ohmygod, I'm so obsessed. I ordered it on a whim and told Joshua WE HAD TO HAVE IT to document all the important moments of our lives in 2011, since it's going to be SUCH an incredible year for us. It arrived late last night and we stayed up all night setting it up and filling in the first 3 days of the year! I love that he's into this with me, for me! Finally, an easy way to scrapbook that let's me be creative but is also fast. Perfect for my busy life!

Happy New Year!

As these photos from our New Years Eve show, we had a fun but low-key New Years with our closest friends, Felice and Christian. We're so going to miss living by them and being together! Felice and I have been friends since the 5th grade, over 15 years now. Joshua and Christian both became friends in the Marine Corps and have been through 2 deployments together.

We set up Felice & Christian over a year ago, and they're now engaged and planning a wedding for next August! Felice is a bridesmaid in my wedding, and I'm maid-of-honor in hers. Christian is the best man in our wedding, and Joshua is a groomsmen in his!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years Eve!

It's Official!

Hi everyone... I could not be more excited right now. I've officially launched my website, Graphic Grace Design! I'd love to hear your feedback and get your opinions on what is or isn't working.

I've gone through much debate about whether to include the link to this blog or start a new "professional" blog. I've gotten mixed responses from family and friends, but ultimately I decided not to include a link to Hard Corps Love on my professional website.

Now the debate is whether to:
A.) Start the new professional blog & continue keeping this personal blog.
B.) Keep only this blog and not worry about having a professional blog.
C.) Combine both blogs into one blog, either under Hard Corps Love or a new title.

What do you think?

P.S. I love 2011 already.