So, I have made to decision to move on to a new server for my blog! I was ready for more possiblities and customization that is available through wordpress.com, and have decided to create SqueakySneakers2. Please follow me there on a continuously exciting journey of blogging!

http://squeakysneakers2.wordpress.com

See you there!

Today was such a different morning for a Floridian! When I got into my car, it was covered in frost! It took 5 minutes for me just to defrost all the windows!

I swear it must have snowed last night because every patch of grass I drove by on my way to work looked white! I almost pulled over three times just to take a picture of it! I did snap this one at a stop light though, but it's not even the best shot! Pretty crazy!

Work was pretty slow today since everyone is still on vacation through the new year, so I spent the majority of the day looking at wedding flowers! Here are my favorite ideas

Brett and I have been talking about getting a Christmas tree since we have moved in together, but we have never found the time....until now!

Brett's mom gave us all his old ornaments from when he was a kid, so that we would have some to put on the tree. It really makes the apartment feel like the Holiday's are here, and lights up the whole living room! 

This year was such a special Christmas, because my parents and brother came up to Tampa to celebrate all the festivities with Brett's family, for the first time!

Brett's entire family pretty much lives in Tampa, so they go all out with the celebrations. I have always told my family how much fun it is, and this year they got to experience it too! Since we are going to become one big family soon, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to unite both sides of our family!

The weekend started on Thursday, with my parents driving up to Orlando to stay the night before heading to Tampa in the morning. We woke up early Friday morning and packed up the car to head to Tampa, and my parents checked into their hotel, got ready and headed over to Debi's (Brett's mom) sister Sue's house, where we celebrate Christmas Eve every year.

There is tons of food and drinks and everyone  catches up, and in this case, meets my parents a brother for the first time! There were chick-fil-a chicken nuggets, and pizza bread, and this amazing cheese and bacon dip all spread out on the bar, which you can see was delicious! We ate and drank so much, until all we could do was sit and watch the kids open their presents.

All of Brett's aunts and uncles have children...and they have children, so there were a lot of kids!! My mom and I were playing with Caroline, who is 4 now and was a newborn when I first started dating Brett! She is adorable!

We let the kids open their presents first, so they are kept busy while the adults continue eating, drinking, and eventually start the gift exchange!

Opening the gifts is probably the most fun event of the night! Not only because you get a gift, but becuse of the game we play! Everyone brings a gift to the party, not addressed to anyone and sticks it under the tree when they arrive. Then, when it's gift opening time, everyone picks a number out of a basket and that is the order that everyone picks their present.

Now, there is a strategy to the game! If you like someone else's gift enough, you can choose to steal their gift instead of picking a wrapped one under the tree, making that person choose another gift! After three hands touch one gift, it is frozen so no one else can steal it! It is so fun to see what people go after, and what people will end up with! We made out pretty good!

The next day was even more fun! Every year, Brett's parents cook a big brunch and have their old neighbors Len and Jagy over, and this time my family as well!

We woke up bright and early at 7 am to open presents with the four of us and Len Jagy and my family all arrived at 10am, with more gifts, food, and drinks! We made bloody mary's and mimosas and continued opening gifts until noon!

Finally it was time to eat, and brunch was amazing! Debi made her famous hash brown casserole, which was delish! We also made a breakfast casserole which had english muffins, sausage, eggs, cheese, and bacon! It was all you needed for a breakfast feast! There were also warm croissants and bacon, and a fruit salad! Yum! 

After brunch, it was time for everyone to nap and I went back to the hotel with my parents for a little to spend some time with them. Their hotel was the Marriott on Clearwater Beach and there was an awesome Boardwalk that we took a stroll on, but it was so windy! 

After our walk on the boardwalk, we went back to the room to get out of the wind and rest a little before heading back over to Brett's parent's house for prime rib dinner! More family were there to greet us when we arrived and more food and wine were consumed! I think I was in a food coma by then, so the rest of the night went un-photographed!

As you can tell, we all had a fantastic Holiday and I am so glad I got to spend it with both my families! 

Can you imagine.... next Christmas Brett and I will be married!

I totally did not expect to find my dress so soon, but when my mom and I saw it, we just knew that it was the perfect one! We had an appointment at Alfred Angelo, to try on their dresses, and it wasn't until the 4th one that we went, "Wow!" It is totally different than what I had invisioned, but it is perfect!!

You know you picked the right dress when you leave the store and can't wait to try it on again! Makes me want to get married tomorrow!

Anyways, I am not going to post a picture of the dress, because you know who might see this post, but I will post the picture of the runner up! This is the dress that didn't make it home:

My mom and I did great at the store and got earings, a gorgeous vail with swavorski  crystals, and a headpiece!

They said that it could take up to 3 months to get the dress in after it is ordered. Which is good i guess, since I ordered it 9 months in advance!

One more item on the to-do-list marked off!

It is the week of Thanksgiving, and I am so excited for this year's festivities! My cousin, Liz, and brother, Will, are coming into town tomorrow night to break up their long 7 hour drive from Tallahassee. I can't wait to see them! It has been forever!!

This past weekend was such a great getaway! We made our way down to Key West to enjoy Fantasy Fest in style! My friend Nicole's boyfriend, Jordan, is a pilot and actually flew us down to Key West in our own private plane! It was amazing!

We stayed at the Westin Key West Resort and Marina, where the cruise ships dock! The resort was beautiful and in the perfect location! We walked up and down Duvall Street so many times, cause it was only 1 block away! 

Some of the highlights of the trip included amazing seafood, perfect weather, chocolate key lime pie, drag queens, ghost tour, and just walking around checking out all the crazy costumes!

It was such a great getaway! Brett was even trying to figure out a way to move there and live there! The "Ultimate Florida Lifestyle" as he likes to call it. I did not disagree. It is the perfect place, for adults especially, to just chill, party, and enjoy life! Can't wait to go bacK!

We did it! Our wedding date is final and we have chosen the perfect venue! It is the South Seas Island Resort in Captiva, Florida. 

I can't wait to start planning, and coming up with ideas for the wedding! I feel like my brain is bursting with ideas and I can't wait to go into wedding planing mode! I know we have a year, since the wedding is on October 9th, 2011, but I know it will fly by so fast!

We loved this property because of the Kings Crown Lawn! It was exactly what Brett and I wanted and we thought it was the best location. It has the view of the ocean and beautiful palm trees, without the sand!

You can check out the property at SouthSeas.com. It really is beautiful!

Now that we have finally decided on the perfect location, all the litte details fall into place. The next step is to finalze the contract, and work with the caterer on menus and other details. I think I am jumping the gun on this one, but I am already researching florists and design companies to help me with decor! So Fun!

Now that I am back into the groove of working, and my usual schedule, it is back to healthy eating! I packed a lunch to bring to work today to keep on track!

This week is flying by! Since I was out on Monday there was a lot of catching up to do at work, and evryone is getting ready for our Food and Wine Classic that will be going on this weekend! It is a first time event, and I get to go help with the videography and photography!

I am excited to see the event as well, it looks like a lot of fun and I am so glad I get to take part in it! You can read all about it at the website here: http://www.swandolphinfoodandwineclassic.com/ 

This weekend, I also wanted to start thinking of Halloween costume ideas, for our trip to Fantasy Fest in Key West in 2 weeks! Should be a blast! Nicole and I were thinking about being fairies, but there are so many different kinds! :) Should I be a good fairy, or a bad fairy? I guess we will see!

Good morning! Wake up Winnie, it's time for your walk!!

On our morning walk this morning the weather was beautiful! I was actually cold! I love when the seasons change this time of year! The weather is perfect for picnics, going to the park, and especially running! 

I even opened the balcony door this morning to let the cool breeze in, and guess to loved it!?

This past weekend Brett and I made our trip to the west coast of Florida, to find the perfect wedding venue! It was a crazy and hectic schedule but we made it! This was our schedule of events for the weekend:

Friday:
   - I worked a half day, until 12:30pm
   - Brett picked me up right from work and we headed to his parents house to drop off the Win.
   - Our first appointment was at 2:30pm and it was at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater.
   - Right after that at 4pm, we had another site at the Tradewinds Resort in St. Pete Beach 
   - Met up with Brett's Parents, and cousins, at Ozona Blue, a great restaurant on the Marina   

Saturday:
   - Woke up early to head down to Naples, FL
   - 10am first appointment at the Ritz Carlton
   - Lunch Break
   - 12:30pm our next appointment at La Playa Resort
   - 4pm last appointment of the day at the Naples Beach and Golf Resort
   - Check into our hotel room at Holiday Inn :)
   - Dinner at Carrabba's

Sunday:

   - Headed out early to our first appointment at the Sundial Resort in Sannibel at 10am (Which I didn't tke pictures of, becuase you do not want to see it! bleh!)

   - Our last appintment of the day was at the South Seas Resort in Captiva at 12:30pm (We think this is the one! So you don't get to see it either! hehe Not yet anyways!)

   - Made our way back to Tampa, to watch football at the Brick House restaurant with our friends Loreyn and Thomas

The restaurant was so cool! It had a huge patio with tons of flat screen TV's and played every football game! Inside, they even had couches set up with TV'S in front of them like you are sitting in your own living room! So Cool! and the food was amazing! I got a chicken parm sub with a side cesar salad!

Monday:

   - We had one more site visit at the Sheraton Sand Key at 10am and Brett's parents came with us! It wasn't a very fun visit though, and only took us about 10 minutes to know it wasn't the right place. 

   - Finally done! We headed to Pickles Plus, which is a really great deli over looking the Gulf! 

It was cool because right outside our window there was "Crew Parking" for the movie they are filming there call Dolphin Tale, or something like that. I guess it is a Disney movie with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd! We tried to sneak a peak at their trailers, but couldn't find them! :)

After lunch we heading back to Orlando, where I had a dentist appointment. Bleh! Then it is back to work!

So that was our weekend! It was action packed! 

After touring 8 venues, Brett and I think we found the perfect place for our wedding! We really loved the feeling of the South Seas Resort in Captiva. It had everything we loved! The green grass, a great beach Luau area, beautiful rooms, and so many activities for our guests, and for us! I really think it is going to be a fantastic venue!

There are so many things to go over still, and we need to work out some details and budgeting! I am so exited to start planning the colors and just everything! But that will definitely com e a little later, and I will let you know my ideas! I have to many!

As for the rest of the week, I am trying to get back into the groove of things. Work was pretty hectic today, and I have lots of things to do before bed! Plus Brett is making me chicken parm tonight! Yum!