So the Saturday of our wedding weekend flew by and I thought I would just sum it up in pictures for you guys

The Sombrero I am wearing was a wonderfully thoughtful gift from my brother-in-law

One of our groomsmen Alex took pictures all day for us so of course he needed to be in one!

After the rehearsal I got MY WEDDING PRESENT!!!!

My husband is a crazy person and bought me the most amazing car ever. To be fair, my little Toyota Corolla has definitely gotten its love the last five years and had over 70K on it. I was insanely surprised and still am adjusting to the fact that it is mine. SO PRETTY!!!!

We hosted a brunch at our house and then the girls all got our nails done (somehow I have no pics of this time period – strange). Then my maid of honor and I got our hair and makeup done for the rehearsal dinner. I got a ton of questions about this and my friend Patrick Ta did both our hair and make-up.

He is AWESOME and so sweet. You can book him here: Glammed.Co@gmail.com .

For those of you who asked – my dress was from Nordstrom’s.

We had our other wonderful friend Katie who took pictures of the rehearsal dinner for us too.

We were spoiled

My GRANDPA made it!!! He will be 97 this June and we are so blessed that he was able to travel here with two of my aunts. Today also would have been his 70th Wedding Anniversary which I did short post on earlier.

And some of main ladies and guys (somehow we don’t have one with everyone on both sides).

Love them all so much!

Stayed tuned for Part Three which will have the actual wedding!

John and I were so blessed to have my grandfather give a reading at our wedding and I can only hope that our marriage is filled with as much love and respect as theirs was.

Thank you for being such a wonderful example to us, we miss you Grandma <3

Things I learned from Grandpa and Grandma:
1. Eat fruit every morning
2. Take a walk
3. Have your heart medicine
4. Be thankful for what you have
5. Say your prayers
6. Love your mate

These are my goals in MFP.

And here is what my eats have been looking like

Annnnnd…..a little stretching as part of my mini goals for Under Armour’s #whatsbeautiful and #IWILL challenge. Don’t forget to Follow me on Instagram!

I had last minute stuff to finish because (like a crazy person) I made everything for the wedding. My maids and other friends helped me a lot and I could not have done it without them.

MENUS:

I ended up rounding the corners of these.

ESCORT CARDS AND SET UP:

I hand painted each one so they are all different

Ignore the messy background

Annnnnnd….FAVORS:

97 hand painted wine glasses! With the help of my maid of honor we handed painted each person’s name on a wine glass and that acted as their place card at the tables and take home favor.

The end result was something like this:

Finally Friday came my mom came up and we ran a bunch of last minute errands and then I had my hair and make-up trial for the wedding with the amazing Michael Franco. Then he smoked my eyes out and fluffed my hair so I wouldn’t look exactly the same

P.S. I got a TON of questions about my glasses, they are prescription Gucci. They were expensive but worth it because I literally wear them every day.

Lucky for me (all dressed up!) we had a welcome dinner/graduation celebration for all of our out-of-town and in-town guests.

They surprised me tons of balloons and funetti cupcakes and all kinds of great stuff

And what would a celebration be without a champagne toast??

It was such a great night and filled with so much love and so many friends and family, it really could not have started out the weekend better

Stayed tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of the Wedding!

The Designer Whey French Vanilla Protein Shake was so good. I normally do not like pre-made shakes, but this one was super smooth, not chalky at all, had a great flavor and didn’t leave me feeling over full at all. It was great both pre and post workout. Shockingly I drank the chocolate one too and really liked it. It was just the right amount of chocolate flavor, almost like chocolate milk, and wasn’t too overpowering. 

The Designer Whey Protein Bars were tasty too, great for an afternoon pick-me-up during my review classes. They are a little higher in sugar than what I normally have (ranging from 10-14g) but by far one of the better protein bars I have had. To make sure I didn’t get a sugar slump I just ate half the bar with something else. Again this is just me and my sugar intake weirdness not anything against the protein bar.

I have also started taking 1-2 tsp of the French Vanilla or White Chocolate Protein Powder and mixing it into my coffee when I don’t feel like having it black. I really like the protein powder because it dissolves easily and quickly, and I have found a lot of powders don’t do that. Directly from Designer Whey about their powder:

“The more active you are, the more your body needs protein to recover.  Our reformulated Designer Whey Protein Powders are packed with 18g of premium natural 100% whey protein (the right amount per serving for your active lifestyle, yet easy on your digestive system) and offer an excellent source of calcium, vitamin-D, and B-vitamins while being naturally flavored and sweetened – all for only 100 calories! ”  

Overall I am really impressed with their products and the powder and pre-mixed protein drinks are definitely something I will be adding in to change up my proteins.

Do you have a hard time finding protein and protein products you like?

A little bit about the campaign from Under Armour:

DECLARE A GOAL. THEN SHOW US HOW IT’S DONE.

Together we’re redefining the female athlete by setting epic goals and pushing past where we’ve ever been and where we thought we could go. Join us. Set your own personal goal. Then document your journey by posting videos and photos that tell your story from start to victory.

We’ll continuously post challenges for you. But that’s just the beginning. Show us your journey. Show us what makes your story the one that stands out from the rest. If you meet your goal, set a new one. Make it even bigger. Prove to everyone, and yourself, that you have more than what it takes.

THE COMPETITION.

Every week we’ll give away Under Armour Swag Bags full of gear to women who are seriously getting it. We’ll also feature profiles on our home page and in the “Top Performers” section of women who are really setting an example for all of us.

After 8 weeks, we’ll announce the 10 finalists who’ve documented the most impressive, motivated, monumental stories.

Winners will be announced mid-July.

THE PRIZE.

Three winners will be flown to Costa Rica to attend a four-day yoga and surf retreat. In addition to the lessons led by world-class instructors, winners will be treated to transformative massages, spa treatments and healthy, locally-sourced meals prepared by personal chefs. All while staying in plush accommodations looking out at the ocean. A retreat worthy of the women who earn it.

 To join the What’s Beautiful Campaign just go here and then follow me (if you want) and if you want to join my Team Summer Strong head over here.

My team goal is: Commit to TWELVE weeks of healthy living. This can mean committing to walking a certain distance every week, creating new goals in the gym, changing your eating habits, taking care of your self emotionally. Whatever you goal is, COMMIT to it for TWELVE weeks. That’s just one summer out of your life . 

I WILL.

My personal goals are this awesomeness:

These are just my big ones but I have plenty of smaller ones along the way that  I will be sharing as I complete them if you join in be sure to tag me @monika_fit and #whatsbeautiful #IWILL and #summerstrong so I can see your goals and progress too!

What are your goals? Long term and short term?

First off! – Cinco De Mayo we stayed at home and celebrated with some Sinless Cocktails – this mix is awesome. It has 5 calories and is tangy as opposed to super sweet. I loved it! Amanda Adams has posted about Sinless Cocktails before so I was super excited I got to finally try the mixes. Zach, one of the creators (along with his gorgeous wife Cat), contacted me to try them and participate in their Fitness Friday and I am so glad we got to connect.

This mix is perfect because you literally only have to add tequila, a little extra for the Fatkid we didn’t have to add any extra lime juice, which I usually need. I also could not taste the sweetener at all, which you all know if a big thing for me. These babies have 5 calories per serving and I have to say I enjoy them a lot more than some other low cal mixers that I have tried.

Even more than just creating this product, Cat also hosts the Stay Sinless blog with Fitness Friday features and reviews of different fitness activities and they have SinlessTV which I am becoming fast obsessed with. Not only is Juliana Daniell (one of my idols) a host, the three other lovely ladies are hilarious and informative. I get a kick out of them.

Be sure to head over there and check it out.

Then my maid of honor had her gender reveal and she is having a BOY!!! Whee

We had to wear the color of what we thought the baby was. You will notice all of the Team Pinks…that LOST

And I GRADUATED!! Insane. I cannot believe it’s been three years and I am done. It was such a great feeling walking across the stage with my classmates.

Finally, last but certainly not least, I am so excited to be participating in Under Armour’s What’s Beautiful Campaign and I Will Challenge.

I am going to do a big post on this later today or first thing tomorrow but if you want to see what it is about really quick just go to What’s Beautiful here and then join my team Summer Strong here

Thanks so much for putting up with me while I sort out our new married life I can’t wait to share more about everything that is going on with us in the next few days so keep checking back for posts!!

We chose:

• Organic Unsalted
• Touch of Caramel 
• Cinnayum

The Organic Unsalted was more for me than the Fatkid. I used this when I literally just wanted to eat the peanut butter with a spoon. The Valenica peanuts give it such a good flavor on it’s own that I didn’t even miss the salt. It also is a nice consistency – not too creamy (oily) and not so hard that it’s difficult to spread. Just right!

Touch of Caramel was the Fatkid’s favorite. He liked that it was a very subtle caramel taste, almost just a hint at the end.

CinnaYum is to die for! I guess I was already partial to it because I used to still love cinnamon and sugar toast. SO GOOD. I ate this on rice cakes over the weekend and didn’t realize how much the Fatkid had been eating until I open it and there was a huge chunk missing

Notice the little beggar in the background.

The folks over at PB Peanut Butter are offering a discount for you guys! Buy two jars and get one free (limit one free jar). Just use the Code: blogger4  at checkout. Let me know if you order (and love) them too!

I cannot believe how fast this last year has gone and the wedding will be here before we know it! I apologize that I have been absent lately but in my absence I was doing the following things:

1. Writing my final paper for law school (due tomorrow!!)
2. Applying for the bar – DONE!!
3. Taking the MPRE – Done! (Hopefully I passed )
4. Working – as much as I can to pay for all the upcoming craziness and unforeseen bills.
5. Sleeping I have been exhausted lately, I’m sure because I am stressed to the max.
6. Trying to make sure that we have all the big things lined up for the wedding.

Try to bear with me a little longer until I get this last paper turned in and figure out what I am doing with my dress (on Monday). If you don’t follow me on Instagram you should! Even when I don’t post here I still post pics

How do you handle stress?? I sleep and make sure to get my workouts in (it’s my only ME time right now)

Second I want to say that I think what happened yesterday at the Boston Marathon was horrific. My heart and prayers go out to all those involved. I started to write this the night before it happened and now my perspective has shifted but I will let you guys read it anyway:

So when I posted about the wedding last time everything was coming together perfectly. The colors were all turning out just right, the invitations all got out (mostly) ok, everything was right on track.

Now that the wedding is in just five weeks I feel like everything is falling apart :’( We had a bad experience with our cake vendor and I am now trying to pick another. The linens we wanted ended up having way too many extra fees we weren’t aware of (so now I need a new vendor) and worst of all. My wedding dress doesn’t fit. I feel like that last sentence should look like this: MY WEDDING DRESS DOESN’T FIT. Cool. I went for what was supposed to be my second fitting with my maid of honor on Saturday and the place basically told me they couldn’t take my dress in without completely reconstructing it. She didn’t really feel comfortable doing that because I didn’t buy it there. Now I have to fly to California to go back to where I originally bought my dress so that they can (hopefully) fix it. It has to be taken in by so much (I think the sizing was wrong) and I cannot stop freaking out. [End first post]

Well. I stopped. Yes I want my dress to be beautiful, I would be lying if I didn’t. But that is NOT the most important thing about the day. I am most excited to get married. John is my best friend and I think all too often that I don’t know what I would do without him. We had such a great date night on Saturday after my colossal meltdown.

He is far from perfect  but he is perfect for me. I would not have survived the many meltdowns in law school and planning this wedding without him. Although…. he has managed to ruin each surprise I have had for him regarding the wedding. Which is why I can tell you that the shoot I had today was my bridal shoot. Read between the lines. I had my hair and makeup done by the wonderful Patrick Ta and then my wedding photographers Kacey and Taylor made the shoot so much fun. John found out about it literally right before I left the house this morning. I swear he always does this.

Anyways, I loved my hair and makeup and can’t wait to see the final result.

Hair and Makeup: Patrick Ta

And…I started our seating chart (which is kind of a nightmare but I think is way easier when you use stickies, like so). I drew on a white board and traced a cup to make circles, squared out the bar, dance floor etc. And then color coated people (wedding party, friends, my family, his family). This way  we could see who was where and move stuff accordingly. Also our to-do list is getting shorter! The wedding is officially in less than 5 weeks! CRAZY!

And fun new packages keep arriving!! We got our ceremony wine box – it is PERFECT.

From: arrowsarah on Etsy

From: arrowsarah on Etsy

I found it here on Etsy.

And Heart Sparklers!

VIP Sparklers

Found here.

Now I just still need to order a few other small details and hammer out the rest of it. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we got engaged. Time really does fly.

Did you do a bridal boudoir shoot for your Groom?

What personal touches did you add to your wedding?