My ever lovin' mama Laura Baria wrote this beautiful love letter to all the other MOB's out there! (*MOB serves as both Mother of the Bride or, on my darker days, Mother of the Bridezilla and, on my darkest days, Mother of the Bitch.) We didn't always see eye to eye on certain major wedding details - I thought a large portion of the budget should go toward making it look like Martha Stewart and Pinterest made 10 million flower babies just to decorate my wedding, and she thought a large portion of the budget should go toward inviting everyone she's ever met, and every celebrity she hasn't. But (thanks in large part to the men who love us), we made it to the wedding without killing each other. We both compromised. And it was the happiest day of my life and, I think, one of the happiest of hers (next to the day I was born of course. And the day my brother was born. And, probably the day I moved out of the house and out of her hair.) She writes below about her favorite moment of the wedding, which was one of my favorite moments not only of the wedding, but of my life, too. Mom, thank you for making my wedding dreams come true. I love you and I will always "be your girl forever."View Article
Today is my last full day in Vancouver. One of my best friends from childhood is getting married this weekend, and I leave for her wedding tomorrow to dive into my bridesmaid duties. I am not gonna lie, I am craving being at a wedding again and am so excited! But I'm really bummed to be leaving this city that I've fallen so deeply in love with. The people are nice, everyone has dogs, it's right on the water and the food is insane - the Italian cuisine especially. Tony had to shoot late last night, so I took myself out to dinner at one of our favorite locals spots, Nook. There was a chance he'd be able to meet me, so I ordered enough food for two and brought my iPad to read a book while I waited. He was never able to come, so I'm pretty sure the waitstaff thought "my husband" was an imaginary excuse to eat 2x as much food. But I don't care, I had fun drinking prosecco and shoveling pasta into my face alone. To my credit, I brought Tony's meal home for him. To their credit, I did eat all the appetizers. We'll call it even. I hope you're having a great short week! Here are a few distractions to get you through this hump day...View Article
I celebrated Labor Day by forcing my loving and supportive husband to labor over taking pictures of me for the blog. It was one of his few days off, and Vancouver is just too beautiful a city to not vogue all over it. I don't believe in fashion rules mostly because I can't remember them, and also because I'm OCD and want to continue wearing something I love even 1) when it is no longer "in fashion" or 2) if I've already worn it several times this week. SO WHAT. So, a day after Labor Day, I'm boldly going where no proper lady would go and WEARING WHITE. Lacy, fringe-y mini dress white.View Article
You guys know I am all about entertaining, so it pains me to be out of town on a long weekend ripe for party-throwing. The food truck scene up here in Vancouver almost makes up for it (I had a pizza-sandwich for lunch that was a real game-changer for both my soul and my waistline)... Almost. I hope you are all getting a half-day tomorrow and have plans to eat, drink, wear white for the last time if you follow society laws or sit in traffic on your way to Burning Man. If I were throwing down with my friends this weekend, here's what I'd be making...View Article
Tony is working crazy long days on set up here in Vancouver, so we're making the most of whatever free time he has, whether it be with popcorn for dinner at a late night screening of "Mission Impossible," a date night by the water or me eating cupcakes in bed while he runs up and down the stairs of our 18-floor hotel (that was this morning). A few days ago, we tried a restaurant called Miku on the waterfront. It was the first meal we'd been able to share together in a few days, so I decided to go all out and actually shower, do my hair AND make-up. And since Tony had only seen me in the hotel robe for several days, I decided to wear his favorite outfit of mine, this floral romper. Here's a photo shoot we did near the restaurant, right by a cruise ship port and lots of tourists who felt really sorry for Tony having to take so many pics of his wife...View Article
I am addicted to wedding announcements. This probably doesn't come as a surprise, given my feverish obsession with all things WEDDING. But even as a kid, I would flip to the back of my mom's Town & Country magazines to pore over the beautiful pictures of society ladies' weddings, and steal The New York Times my dad would bring home on weekends to read the wedding announcements. So, it was a very exciting moment for me yesterday when my hometown newspaper, The Davis Enterprise, featured Tony and my wedding announcement yesterday!View Article