dream job wonderland

Here's the long story.. A few years ago I nannied for an incredible family in La Jolla who took me in, loved me, and adopted me as one of their own.  Their Mom had just made the terrifying discovery that every woman fears and they were beginning the heart breaking roller coaster that is breast cancer. They had the sweetest three kids that needed me while their mom was sick. I feel so honored to have walked through that journey with them, the many highs and lows and unknowns that come with cancer.  Praise the Lord, Celeste came about in the end healthy and cancer free!!  The year I was there was such a blessing to me then and continues to bless me now.

I lived with the Trudeau family for 6 months and was even more so apart of their everyday lives.  Their friends became my friends and I knew all the kids and families around the neighborhood.  Celeste has the greatest group of best friends that a woman could ask for.  Those women are always there for each other no matter what and I admire and love them so much.  One of Celeste's best friends is the sweetest woman named Catherine.  I got to know Catherine very well and had her kids over all the time and built an amazing relationship with her.  One day I was walking to the school with her to pick the kids up and I was talking to her about Nick and telling her how I knew I was going to marry him and I had a feeling he was going to propose soon.  What I didn't know at the time was that Catherine is a wedding coordinator.. no, not just a wedding coordinator, the most amazing and sought after coordinator in La Jolla.  She told me that as soon as I get engaged "we'll talk".  I was so excited.  That very weekend Nick proposed and then began the planning with Catherine.  She got me in touch with all the right vendors and helped me create the perfect wedding and I owe everything to her for that!  She made the process so fun and organized and exciting!


As if this story isn't long enough, here is a little more background, all leading up to what this is all about..
I have always loved the wedding industry.  A girl named Stephanie was my best friend growing up and we used to say that one day we were going to be wedding planners and name it BS Weddings, clearly for "Brittany & Stephanie Weddings" but it was a huge joke because who would really hire someone to create their perfect day with a name like BS Weddings, hahaha :)  So,  from a young age I have always wanted to work in the wedding business.  The passion has always been there.


A few weeks ago I decided to email Catherine to see if she had any room in her business to take me on and put me to work.  I loved the idea of doing something that I completely enjoy and that gave me a purpose while also giving me experience and learning from the absolute best!  She emailed me back almost instantly and said, You're Hired!  We had our first meeting and hit the ground running and I am loving every second of what I'm doing and already have many projects I'm working on.  There is a lot to do leading up to our first wedding of this upcoming busy season!!

Catherine's business  {CBS Lifestylist} has blossomed over the last few years even beyond wedding coordinating.  In addition, she is now a stylist for different photo shoots and magazines and amazing at it. She has even written a book in the last year!  She is one talented woman.  She runs the show and does it all with such grace and poise.  She has an assistant for the styling and fashion side of things and now I am her assistant for the wedding side!  I honestly couldn't be more thrilled for all that is ahead and that she has in store for me!  I am excited to learn the ins and outs of putting together beautiful weddings, from paperwork to getting in touch with vendors and everything in between, and then seeing the brides big day come together!

This new opportunity couldn't have come at a more perfect time.
2012 is full of major blessings.. I can feel it.

whatta wonderful weekend

what a weekend!!  it was a fun, crazy, busy, non-stop, celebratory, relaxing, fall weekend that i got to spend with my sweet husband.
on saturday we went to a wedding out in the sticks in Ramona and celebrated the marriage of Teale & Justin.. now known as Mr. & Mrs. Gunter!!  It was absolutely beautiful.  they spent so much time on making sure every last little detail was perfect and everything was homemade.  i was blown away.  there were paper lanterns, and lights strung in the trees, burlap everywhere, a dainty chandelier hanging over the dance floor, vintage trunks and dressers.. all outdoors in the country.  can you say ROMANTIC?!  i love going to weddings.  i love watching friends promise their lives to another and enter into the most incredible journey of marriage.  i love sitting next to nick, holding his hand, and feeling so blessed that i am married to my best friend.  i love being in love and the beauty of marriage and knowing all that the couple at the altar is about to experience.  i get so giddy and excited for them.. ahh, i just LOVE love.

I was introduced to Teale a few years ago and was just drawn to her.  she loves people so recklessly, her heart for ministry is incredible, and her love for the Lord is amazing.  she is an incredibly talented photographer and we were so honored for her to capture our wedding.  Nick and Teale have been friends for about ten years and we quickly became like sisters and people actually thought we were so we just call each other sis.  it must be the blonde hair and blue eyes or something :)  Meeting Justin was so much fun because we are from the same place and it turns out that we knew so many of the same people.  His love for God, his heart for ministry and missions couldn't align more with Teale's.  They are an incredible team for the Kingdom of God and I'm so excited to see how He is going to use them.  They are taking off to move to Tennessee to start their lives together and their ministry.
I loved celebrating the two of them because i love them both and they are beyond perfect for each other. i'm so thrilled that the Lord brought them together.. especially the way He did.  They have such a cool and unique story and if you love sweet love stories, especially the kind that give you goosebumps at the way God works, go here and read it --> Justin + Teale's Story


sunday morning was gloomy.. just the way i like it!! seeing as it's the middle of october and technically fall, it should be gloomy with crisp cool air outside.  the kind of weather you can dress cute and pull out the boots and scarves and drink pumpkin spice lattes.  so that is exactly what i did.  unfortuantely in san diego, the weather just likes to trick you and very shortly heats up to 80 degrees.  outfit fail.  anyways, we had an amazing morning at church.  we have been going to the father's house in san marcos.  it's a little bit of a drive but completely worth it.  we have felt so loved and welcome there and more importantly the spirit of God is alive and present in that church.. His presence is so evident and the people are diligently seeking the heart of God.  We love it and we're so thankful to finally be at a church like this one.
after church we decided to spend the afternoon in Julian.. because it's beautiful up there and seemed like a very "fall" thing to do.  we planned on eating apple pie and picking out pumpkins.  neither of which we did.  we shared a carmel apple, ate lunch and were way too stuffed to eat their famous apple pie.. and the line was two streets long.  and as for the pumpkins.. it was so hot up there and i decided that to pick out pumpkins it had to be colder.  so until the temperature drops below 80 degrees, the hitches aren't going to be buying pumpkins.


before heading home, i wanted to go to a japanese market to pick up a few things for dinner this week.  i have been wanting to make homemade real miso soup, because those instant packets just don't cut it.  we had to go to the actual japanese market because henrys and vons don't carry miso paste.  walking into this store was unreal and i felt like i was back in tokyo  and okinawa again!! nothing in the store is in english and the employees barely spoke any english.  we had no idea what to look for, where it was, or how to know when we found it!!  so this sweet japanese lady who didn't even work there walked up to us and said, "uhh hi, do you know what you're looking for or where to look?"  i guess it was obvious that we were totally lost, hahaha.  she took us around to get all the things we needed and explained so much to us.  she was the sweetest little thing and told us that she was from osaka, japan and married a man from wisconsin and now lives here.  Thank God for that adorable lady or we would probably still be wandering the aisles!!

i'm so thankful for such a great weekend.. time to rest up for another week!!

{alex & faith}

 

on saturday we went to the beautiful wedding of alex & faith.  the ceremony was held at the la jolla presbyterian right in the heart of the la jolla village.  the ceremony was beautiful.. very traditional with modern touches.  the reception was a few short blocks away at the darlington house.  it was the most precious and perfect location for a reception.  once again it was so wonderful to see old friends and celebrate faith and alex.  one of the special highlights, that brought me and literally everyone else to tears, was the father daughter dance.  here is a little bit of back-story.. faith has three brothers and one sister, and one of her brothers is mentally handicapped.  his name is grant, and he is so precious.  i went out to chicago (where faith is from) with faith for spring break our freshman year of college and i got to meet him, along with the rest of the family.  so growing up, grant always loved the movie an american tale:fivel goes west, and especially the song we all love, somewhere out there.  when faith was about five she sang that song for some function and her parents taped it and have held on to it all these years.  grant wasn't able to make it out to the wedding from chicago so they so beautifully honored him.  for the father daughter dance, faith and her dad danced to the song "somewhere out there" and it started with faith's five year old voice singing and ended the same way.  it was so touching and emotional.  after we got our tears out we danced the night away celebrating the new 

mr. & mrs. cameron!

my friend shelby sang a few songs during the ceremony. she has such a beautiful voice

mrs.zimmerman waiting to watch her daughter walk down the aisle

 

faith's bridal brunch

i love la jolla. 

duh, i got married there.  it's just so beautiful and the ocean is always so blue and the shops are so quaint and fabulous.  

one of my best friends is getting married in la jolla on saturday and for an early celebration she had a bridal brunch at the la valencia hotel in la jolla this afternoon.  it was so pretty, and classy, and perfect.  i feel so blessed to have been a part of this special occasion and even more blessed and thankful to have faith in my life.  she has been one of the greatest friends i have ever had.  at one point during the brunch a woman who has poured into faith's life for a long time gave a toast.  she said some simple words but wow.. it was incredible. she pointed out how beautiful faith's name is and all the meaning behind it.  

faith is what our foundation in Christ is built on.  faith truly emulates the full meaning of her name.  she is such a beautiful woman inside and out and loves the Lord.  the woman also said that faith is a very unique person, there aren't many like her in the world.  she is a woman of few words. she doesn't always have to speak and be in the middle of a crowd, but when she does speak, her words are so wise and meaningful and i have seen that to be true so many times in our friendship.  she has given me so much wisdom when other people didn't.  she is so loving and caring and it blows me away.  all this to say that i loved every second spent this morning honoring and celebrating faith, the beautiful bride to be!!

beautiful sisters.. faith & whitney

so delicious

mimosas are the best

faith & her two favorite blonde brittanys

such a beautiful day!!

i can't wait for saturday!

reminiscing

it's no surprise that i'm feeling sentimental today and loving spending quality time with my hubs this weekend.  i can't believe how quickly this first year of marriage is going by.  it's so crazy to me.  so many of my friends are getting married and starting their exciting journeys and it just brings me right back to the day we said our "i do's".  what i would do to relive that day.  looking at our pictures and watching this video (that my sweet cousin chris taped and put together for us) never gets old.  God is good and we are so blessed :)

mr. & mrs. jennings

on saturday my sweet sister in law avery said i do and married a man who loves her like no one ever has before.  the last 5 days have been a whirlwind adventure!!  on wednesday night nick and i flew from san diego to denver.. we flew to denver instead of omaha or lincoln because the tickets were a couple hundred less!!  so when we got to denver we rented a car to drive to nebraska.  nick had rented a dodge charger to surprise me and have a super cool car to have for the weekend, BUT, they were out.  the nice lady at the counter said that since they were all out we were going to get an upgrade! woohooo!  apparently in denver an "upgrade" means mini-van.  we just laughed so hard and owned it! 

from there we drove to the krogh's house in a suburb right outside of denver to stay for the night.. even though we barely had any time with them it was good to see julie & cindy for just a little bit!!

friday morning we got up and on the road and drove about nine hours to get to timberlake ranch camp where the wedding was going to be. 
that night we started right away working on wedding details and then spent the night around the campfire before bed.  there is something so amazing about being around a fire with family.. i love it.
friday morning, avery's mother in law hosted a little bridal shower for her.  it was just family and sweet and intimate.

 after the bridal shower we headed back to the cabin we were staying in and worked on putting together our bridesmaids bouquets & opened our gifts from avery..

we all couldn't believe that avery, on top of planning a wedding in 4 months, had the time to make us each a beautiful quilt that fits our own individual personalities!! okay, but on the other hand, we totally could.  avery is the most thoughtful person i have ever known and is so incredible at making people feel so special and loved!  when nick and i got engaged she sent me the sweetest care package with a million little things in it, each with their own notes.  she is so amazing!
although a little out of order.. here's how the rest of the wedding weekend played out..

avery going over her vows before putting on her dress

havi, lace, blake & i

blake!

lucas!

at the rehearsal.. nick walking his mom down the aisle

i'm doing make-up, havi is working on the hair!

hitches

ave & all her brothers

at some point these all/were hitch girls :)

love my man

these never get old

so blessed with amazing mom & dad in law

the bride and groom letting go of their floating lights!

a tearful goodbye

gosh, i love him

my adorable nephew, everett

our cute flowers

after the wedding, we had a major family and friend hangout at the cabin.  the next morning was mothers day and all the guys cooked breakfast for the moms, it was so sweet.  i'm so glad i was there to love on my sweet mother in law, but it was also bittersweet because i couldn't give my mom a big hug.
after a relaxing morning we packed up and headed out camp back to the house to spend one night with family.  picture this.. sitting on a porch swing, on the porch of an old cute farmhouse in the middle of nebraska, where it's quiet outside, the breeze is warm and all you can see are green pastures.  i wanted to just press pause and stay in that moment forever.  words can't describe the feeling of how peaceful it is and how evident the presence of God is there.. so unreal.

after driving 7 hours back to denver we finally made it to the airport and on our way home

i loved these few days and i love being with family and i love the reason we were there.  i am so excited for avery and warren to start a new chapter in their lives as husband and wife and what an amazing team for the Lord they will be!  as we were were leaving, i was so sad to say bye, but my heart was also so full.  i feel terrible for people who marry into families and have in laws that they dread seeing.  i couldn't ask for a better family to call me their own.  they bless me and love me more than i could have ever asked for.  when we were saying our goodbye, my mom in law was hugging me crying and said to me, "i am so thankful that you are my daughter and i am so thankful that you are nick's wife"  those words, yet simple, meant the world to me and all i can say is that God is good.