My Wedding Report

Call it stress, hormones, aging or whatever but my skin has been freaking out lately. Overall I have to say I’ve been blessed with good skin. I never had terrible acne as a teenager if anything it is worse now then back then. However, sometimes my skin will be great and then suddenly it just switches personalities and starts to break out, get bumps, dry spots or just be icky. My skin is very sensitive to my stress levels, that time of the month, and weather changes.

I’ve been following all of Lo’s posts, but I paid close attention to her recent post on Recession Proof Skincare. Over the years I’ve splurged for different products from Clinique, Laura Merceir and a few others. However, lately as we budget for getting married the extra money just is not there for some products I’ve relied on in the past. Lo’s post was a lifesaver as I trusted her to recommend some great products that wouldn’t break the bank and I could buy more than one product without feeling like I needed to only eat bread and water for a week to make up for it.  I’ve decided to look at it from the perspective that I really need to step my skincare up a notch to make a deposit in my skin for many years to come. And of course I want that beautiful bridal glow on my wedding day!

Between reading Lo’s Recession Proof Skincare and Paula Begoun’s detailed list of recommendations I wrote down some products on a post-it and headed to the local drug store. Here are a few of the items that I bought.

Cetaphil Face Cleanser: I’ve heard so many great things about this face wash so I thought I should give it a try.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control 3-In-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment: This is kind of a scrub. I’ve used one from Neutrogena before and didn’t like the smell, but this one is much more subtle.

Source

Stridex Triple Action Acne Pads

Biore Self-Heating Mask

Olay Quench Body Lotion Normal to Dry Skin with Green Tea: I‘ve used the original quench lotion before and really liked it. Now I’m giving the new green tea a try.

Source

Neutrogena Eye Cream: I’ve never used eye cream before to be honest but I thought I should begin the line prevention now.

I will let you all know how the new routine goes. Or you can just let me know if you notice that I post a picture where my face looks horrendous.

There are a few things that I already have and have worked for me in the past.

Laura Mercier Daily Moisturizer: As a daily moisturizer I use Laura Mercier. It’s a little more expensive than the products above but I really like it. I’d also recommend the tinted moisturizer.

Origins Spot Remover: This is seriously a great product if you need to get rid of a blemish. I notice a huge difference when I put it on a blemish at night and then it is either gone or almost gone in the morning.  It lasts forever because you need just a dab.

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Dessert Essence Blemish Stick (from Trader Joes): I use this kind of like the Origins, but it is a little more gentle and is a roll on.

I’ve also started taking a daily multi-vitamin for women and have been trying to drink lots and lots of water. I’m terrible at staying hydrated so I bought myself a CamelBak Pepperdine bottle (see the pink one  below)  to carry around everywhere. I have cut out soda, alcohol etc. during the week and only 1 cup of coffee a day.  I notice that by carrying the bottle I seriously drink so much more water than I used to.

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What products have you found that work for you? Any others I should add to my list from my next drugstore run?

The next thing I want to figure out is a good teeth whitener. Any suggestions?

Who wants to hang out with our newest bee, Miss Frenchie and I??? It is kind of last minute, but we wanted to see if anyone could join us. We are going to be eating some delicious Mexican food. Chips and guac…yum!!

We are meeting this Wednesday (April 29th) at 5:15pm at Avila’s El Ranchito in Laguna Niguel.

Address:
27941 La Paz Rd. Suite E.
Laguna Niguel, CA

Comment below if you think you can make it!

Well after my last post about wooden details, I happened to come across a few more inspirational pictures I had to share with you all. You probably are all thinking I’m crazy, but I thought a few of you might appreciate a little bit more inspiration.

Brooklyn Bride via EAD

Brooklyn Bride

bycrjewelry Etsy Store found via A Mountain Bride

I was actually looking for this image for the last post, but couldn’t remember where I saved it. EAD

And look at these amazing invitaions from one of our readers, MissOMally. After seeing the beautiful pictures on the boards, I pm’d her to ask for permission to post the pictures. They turned out awesome and I just had to share with you all. Thanks MissOMally!

Look here for more pictures from the original board post.

Ok I think I’m done sharing the wood inspiration pictures. Now I need to get back to focusing on finishing my Save the Dates!

Last Friday I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Joey and a few of the other hive members Miss Burgundy, Boddy and Rachael in San Diego. We had so much fun talking and laughing while enjoying some delicious desserts. Although I have to admit we probably sounded pretty funny to anyone listening to our conversation, “Lemonade is getting married this weekend. Oh did you see Deviled Egg’s cake? Cupcake’s recaps have been great.” It may have sounded like we were crazy, but at the same time I loved being able to be with a group of people who read Weddingbee just as much as I do and knew exactly what I was talking about!

Thanks ladies for a fun night! And I’m so glad Miss Joey was able to fit us into her busy schedule while she visited San Diego.

For those of you that weren’t able to come, we missed you, but will definitely be planning another meet-up soon!  Any suggestions for where we should go next time?

In order to keep up with the huge list of blogs I read I use Google Reader.  All of the newest posts are delivered straight to my reader and it’s easy to keep track of them.  I hesitated to start Google Reader, but now I love it, other than it’s harder to comment all the time now.  I’ll often “star” my favorites for inspiration, tutorials or just useful information. As I went through my “starred items” the other day I began to notice a certain theme in some of the posts. Lately I’ve just been loving any sort of wooden detail. There is just this rustic charm to using wood slices, branches and signs throughout the wedding.

Here are some of the wooden details that have caught my attention lately.

It would be such a unique detail to use wood slice platters during your cocktail hour.

Ritzy Bee

The details of this cake are so sweet with the carefully placed branches and birdies sitting atop a simple tree stump.

Green Wedding Shoes

I love bird houses.  I think their charm could make for the perfect escort card table display.

Carrie Patterson

Never can get enough hand painted wooden signs leading the way.

Snippet and Ink

I never would have guessed something as simple as branches with ribbon could be so endearing when carried by a child.

Carrie Patterson

These escort cards are simply adorable.  Even better? There is a DIY tutorial!

Oh So Beautiful Paper DIY Instructions on {scissor variations}

Even having wood in the accents of a venue adds so much personality to a wedding.

Once Wed

I would normally not say wood is appetizing, this cake looks scrumptious!

Once Wed

This picture is from one the design blogs I read.  I could see this organic wooden table being perfect for the lounge at your wedding and then being reused as your coffee table at home.

Apartment Therapy

And of course the wooden theme carries beautiful into paper, whether it be a background or graphics of trees or branches.

Hammerpress via 100 Layer Cake

I thought this was an appropriate way to sum up my wood inspiration. Doesn’t Kathryn from Snippet and Ink always have something that just goes perfectly?

Snippet and Ink

What sort of details have been standing out to you lately? Do you ever pick up on a certain theme after awhile?

Anyone know where to get some good wood slices from?

Who is ready for delicious desserts with some fabulous hive members, Miss Joey and I??? This Friday is the San Diego Meet Up and I am so excited! And if that doesn’t sound tempting, look at this sampling of desserts from the tarts and pies menu!

Delicious!

We will be meeting on Friday, April 17th at 8:00pm at Extraordinary Desserts in Balboa Park.

Extraordinary Desserts
2929 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103

If you are planning on coming or thinking about it, make sure to comment below and RSVP on our evite!

Evite URL: http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/SIRHAUWYTZZDPVCYOWIE/weddingbeeSD (You may have to register on evite if you have never used it before)

Can’t wait to meet you all!! Let me know if you have any questions!

Well we have officially booked our honeymoon and I am so excited! As I’ve mentioned before we have been looking forward to the honeymoon for awhile. It will be my first real break after finishing graduate school and will be the first time that we just have time away and have nothing to worry about. With that in mind, we really wanted to go somewhere that was beautiful, where we could relax and still have lots of options if we want to go do something.

Well our criteria brought us to Hanalei Bay Resort on the North Shore of Kauai. We love Kauai because it is so beautiful and is not overly populated or developed. Now what’s the “scoop?” I want to share the awesome deal we found and hopefully it will help if you are also planning a honeymoon on a budget. But first I have to share the view from our shower!!

Yes this is the view from the shower alone! Amazing! And don’t worry, it’s not a full exposure window, but you can make it fog so people don’t see in and think they are getting a show! haha Anyways, I just thought that it was funny how good of a view just the shower has!

When we started looking into different resorts and hotels we were finding that a lot of the rooms started at around $300 a night for a view of a garden or a mountain and then an ocean view was through the roof. This would be great if we could afford that option, but we are on a budget and didn’t want to use all our money on just the hotel.

We next turned to looking at privately owned timeshares and condos. Specifically, we looked at the Hanalei Bay Resort where my family has rented condos from before. The facility really is a resort with a full lobby, concierge services, restaurant, bar, pool etc. but some of the rooms are privately owned and listed on various websites. In our experience the privately owned ones have better views than the rooms you would get through booking at the hotel! The resort shares a private beach with the gorgeous and soon to be reopened St. Regis Princeville Hotel. Which means you can also use their facilities if you want to get drinks or walk to some other yummy restaurants. The beach is down a private beach path downhill and if you are tired after a day in the sun, they will shuttle you back to your room. The staff is really friendly and helpful.

After doing lots of research and price comparisons we found a newly renovated studio with an incredible view for $160 a night! You think this is a good deal? After the owner found out we were honeymooning and on a budget he lowered our rate to $120 a night! How is that for “aloha spirit?” I guess it shows you that it never hurts to ask and you never know what people will do to make your honeymoon extra special!

Here are some pictures of place we are staying so that you can get an idea:

View from the private patio in our studio.

It is just perfect for what we need and allows us to save a lot of money for some of the fun excursions we are planning. We thought about maybe spending a few nights at one of the resorts, but after getting such a great deal we decided to stay our whole time at the Hanalei Bay Resort. I just wish we were going sooner. I’m looking forward to enjoying the beautiful scenery and of course quality time with Mr. Ducky.

The gorgeous and secluded beach! You never have to worry about getting a spot down on the beach since only 2 resorts share the area. It also has some great snorkeling!

If you are interested in looking for your own condo or rental I listed a few of the websites that we used. Some of the websites have rentals anywhere you can imagine! Now an important thing to keep in mind is that because they are privately owned the interiors are all decorated differently and some have been recently remodeled. Mr. Ducky and I found a remodeled one, so the shower, bathroom and kitchenette have all been upgraded. There is ultra fancy and nicer than what we have down to ones that have never been updated since the resort was originally built. It just kind of depends what you are looking for, but I’m sure there is something that appeals to everyone. Just spend time looking at all the websites and checking out the different pictures.

These links are specifically to the Hanalei Bay Resort, but you can figure out how to get back to their main page.

Summit Pacific Kauai Vacation Rentals

VRBO: Vacation Rentals By Owner

Aloha Condos

All Pictures from Summit Pacific, VRBO, and Aloha Condos.

If you are specifically interested in the Hanalei Bay Resort use this map, as a guide for where the rooms are relative to the resort layout.

What have you done to save money on your honeymoon? Do you have any recommendations for fun excursions, activities or restaurants in Kauai?

After leaving Pepperdine (go here for Part I if you are just catching up), we headed to an awesome beach spot that Mike knew about. We definitely hiked down a small cliff to get to it, but I think it was well worth it. The day was coming to an end and the gentle lighting just was perfect for the beautiful setting.

All Photo Credits go to Mike Larson Photography

These last few pictures were just above the beach as we were getting ready to leave for the day. Mike asked us to wait behind them and took advantage of the gorgeous scenery.

We had so much fun with Mike, Rachel and Chloe. The afternoon seemed to fly by! I’m so excited that they will be shooting our wedding as well and can’t wait to hang out more. I think that the engagement pictures were a great way for us to get more comfortable in front of the camera, not to mention a chance to get to know some wonderful people. Also, as an FYI Mike is a destination wedding photographer. Their studio is actually based in San Luis Obispo, but he is often in the LA area and is traveling down to San Diego for our wedding.

Well that’s it for the Duckling engagement pictures! What did you think? Any ideas for which ones we should use on our Save the Dates and website?

What are your favorite e-pics from your own shoot? Share them below, I’d love to see!

Where have I been? Well things have just been crazy and I have lots of posts to catch up on. I’m two weeks away from finishing my last semester of my graduate program! However, the first thing I absolutely have to share with you are the engagement pictures! I last left off telling you about the wonderful make-up advice from Lo.

After getting ready we jumped in the car and headed up to LA to meet our photographer, Mike Larson and his wife Rachel (Remember when I talked about them way back when?). Mike and his team had just gotten back from Costa Rica a few days before and spent the whole weekend shooting a wedding in LA, but were willing to spend the afternoon with us shooting our pictures. Mike was taking pictures, assisted by Chloe who is one of the associate photographers. We originally were going to start shooting at the Getty Museum, but the place was packed so we started heading towards the coast.

Mr. Ducky and I met at Pepperdine during our undergrad years, so it made sense that we’d return to our beautiful campus for some engagement pictures. We have so many memories from this place and we felt like having pictures there would give extra meaning.

We started off in a little patch of wild flowers that overlooks the campus. Mike warned us that we would feel super awkward for the first five minutes, but then it would be okay. Well, he was definitely right. We just giggled awkwardly for the first five minutes and slowly relaxed with the fabulous coaching and encouragement from Chloe.

All Photo Credits are to Mike Larson Photography

Who remembers that we make all major decisions via Rock, Paper, Scissors? Not sure that it’s the best way to do it, but hey it works.

And here is some evidence of awkward giggles thinking, “Are we looking as funny as we feel?”

After our warm-up we headed over to Alumni Field that sits right on PCH and is the first part of Pepperdine’s campus you see from the road. It overlooks the ocean and is where lots of the major events and graduations happen during the year.

Blowing little dandelions makes white things stick to all your hair and clothing…but isn’t it amazing the detail a camera can capture?

Revenge of the dandelion!

We headed up to Hero’s Garden which is at the very top of Pepperdine’s campus and has just a gorgeous view. The garden was built to honor a Pepperdine alumnus who died on of the 9/11 flights. It is just serene and was a place we often went when we were first dating to just relax, talk and take in the beautiful scenery. It’s actually where we first said I love you.

Awesome…

With Mike’s encouragement, we jumped into the fountain to get some more shots.  I love the reflection you can see.  It was kind of cold though and I luckily had a dress to change into, Mr. Ducky sacrificed his jeans for the creative cause.

Water fight! If you are going to get in the fountain you might as well splash. Actually we really didn’t get each other that wet. Mike directed us to splash in front of or behind one another to get the picture so that we could avoid getting soaked.

A few more pictures on campus before leaving for our next spot.

Well that is it for Part I at Pepperdine, next we headed to the beach but I’m going to keep you in suspense for a little longer. Actually I think I like the beach pictures even more! We had a great time with Mike, Rachel and Chloe. They are truly wonderful people that have a passion for what they do. If you get some extra time check out Mike’s blog and Chloe’s blog to see some of their amazing work.

Do you have any favorites? We are finalizing our Save the Date design and trying to choose which picture to use. But those are a whole different post to come soon!

What was your engagement pictures session like? Did you choose a place that had special meaning as well?