Is It Fall Yet?

With August came a heat wave, new starts for so many people, and a love of waiting on our househunt.  Check out what else we did this month!

In August...

We headed to the desert for a weekend of booze, river time, and friends for our annual trip: Extreme Arizona.

Handsome Husband and I celebrated our four-year "dating" anniversary by heading to the OC Fair and catching an All American Rejects concert!

I caught up with an old friend, Ms. Art Teacher (who recently resigned and should now be called Ms. Professional, but for continuity's sake we'll keep her as Ms. AT!), when we had quite the romantic dinner for two.

Cedar Creek Inn

San Juan Capistrano

Best Friend Cute Apartment and I had a long overdue girls night, where we hit up happy hour and walked the mall.  Girl talk was much needed.

Mother-in-Law Red, Gardning Mom and myself headed to Chapman Law School for their "Parents and Partners" Orientation for incoming law students, where we learned many things: lawyers are the most amazing society of people ever to have existed on the earth (I shit you not, they asserted this to us), and HH is in for a rough four years.  Good thing he's got such an amazeballs support system rooting him on!

{Via}

MIL Red hosted a fun afternoon at her beachside apartment where we got to learn about new skin products, eat some yummy munchies, and some of us even got a facial out of the day!

Handsome Husband was an awesome DD when he drove us, along with Cute Apartment and her boyfriend, Number Cruncher, up to LA to celebrate Best Friend Fashionista's birthday at a lively restaurant in LA - Tokyo Delves.

Birthday Girl Fashionista!

HH had his very first day of law school!

We said some sad, but oh so exciting goodbyes to Sisters Singer and Swimmer as they headed off to college, to live somewhere else other than home for the first times in their lives! 

We got together to celebrate Cousin Ronomon's birthday with a BBQ lovingly hosted by his fabulous wife, Tutor Girl.

Clockwise from upper left: Cousin Teeny Girl posing like a lil cutie, Lil C gettin' his cupcake on, Cousin Ronomon opening presents, and the family playing bocce ball.

Things Thursday: Thing You Might Not Know About Me

1. I'm a very strange eater: I don't do crusts on sandwiches, hate crunchy foods, and cannot stand my food touching other food.

2. I am a total hot head - my temper can get out of control if you piss me off something fierce.

{Via}

3. I did not always want to be a nurse, I used to want to work in Marketing or Public Relations, and even started going to college for that initially.

4. Counting "step" grandparents, I grew up with a total nine people I considered grandparents as a child.  Divorce was big.

5. I was the first of most of my girlfriends to get married - total trailblazer.

My and my girlies hugging it out on my wedding day, minus someone who maybe shouldn't have been there in the first place.

 

6. I have terrible anxiety - when I am nervous about something I can't eat, sleep, or really function at all effectively.

7. Since 2008, I have moved a grand total of six times - not counting our impeding move.

8. My mom and I are uber close - like I told her before I even had sex for the first time that I was going to close. 

9. I don't take showers nearly as often as your average chickadee.

10. I really like the scent of cleaning products - hand sanitizer, Windex, etc.  It's a problem.

Stress Casey and Cold Shoulder Tops: A Love Story

I recently learned the name of a trend I've been all over for about a year: Cold Shoulder Tops.  If I didn't love these types of tops before, you better believe I do after hearing that's what they are called!

Check out these adorable CSTs (Cold Shoulder Tops...duh):

Source: wetseal.com via Chana on Pinterest

Source: bostonproper.com via Jillian on Pinterest

Source: fashionologie.com via tania cristina on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kim on Pinterest

Source: laurenconrad.com via Brittany on Pinterest

I mean, if LC wears it, it's gotta be fashioniable, right?

Quotable Tuesdays

Pinning!: Pinterest Link Up

"Pinning!" is a Weekly Pinterest Link-Up

(Share pins, meet others who love "Pinning", get inspired!)

First Time?  It's simple just follow these rules:

 Please follow your hosts' blogs & Pinterest boards: 

Courtney // Baxtron{Life} //

Kimberly // A Night Owl //

And your Co-Hosts:

Megan // Absolute Mommy //

Casey // Stress Case //

Taylor // Goings on in Texas //

then

 Link up your Pinterest Inspired Post & Profile below

and

Make sure you link back to the party!

<center> <a href="http://www.baxtronlife.com/search/label/Pinning" target="_blank"><img src="http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m307/bagleykim/Pinning200x200PP.jpg" height="150" width="150" /></a></center>

Share the link-up:

Tweet

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Now for my Pins of the week!

A few weekends back, we headed to LA for a birthday celebration for my Bestie Fashionista.  And a few weeks before that, I had to brain storm on gift ideas for the girl who has just about everything!  After a little purchase that was too cute not to buy, I decided to make her a little sumthin' sumthin'.  And where did I find my inspiration?

The one and only Pinterest.

Source: positivelysplendid.com via Casey on Pinterest

Source: forchicsake.com via Casey on Pinterest

Source: pin4fun8777.blogspot.com via Casey on Pinterest

Source: breakfastatyurmans.tumblr.com via Casey on Pinterest

Source: diy.weddingbee.com via Casey on Pinterest

Wanna know which gift idea I went with?

Come back next week for a tutorial!

Thank you, Courtney, for letting me co-host this week's addition of "Pinning"!

THANK YOU to all who linked up last week!

So, who's "Winning at Pinning?"
This week it's Lizzy & Jane's Opulence Collection:

Lizzy & Jane feel free to grab the button, and flaunt it!

Each week a winner is chosen to flaunt the title of "Winning at Pinning" for successfully wowing us with the best Pinterest find.  The winner will be featured/announced in the following week's post!

WANT TO BE A GUEST JUDGE or HOST? 

Email us!

Are you "Pinning"?  

Come on, everyone is doing it.  

Join us MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.  

***

Link up your PINTEREST INSPIRED POST below:

***

Link up your PINTEREST PROFILE below:

Show & Tell: Wedding Bells Ringing

Today, I am linking up with one of my favorite bloggers ever, Becky at From Mrs to Mama for her new Show & Tell linkup series.  The theme for today's Show & Tell is Wedding Bells Ringing, and anyone who knows me knows I love talking about my wedding, so this is right up my narcissistic alley!  Here goes!

Are you married? If so when did you get married, and tell us about your special day. If not? How would you describe your dream wedding?

I am married, to my favorite person in the whole wide world, my Handsome Husband.  We were married on February 26, 2011 (which, if you're counting makes yesterday, August 26, 2012 our year and a half anniversary!).  Our wedding was at a golf course in Fullerton, and it was the best day of my life.  It was fun, exciting, and beautiful and my wedding was my dream wedding, thanks to a fantastic Husband, and some very generous and loving parents. 

Show us some wedding pictures. Either yours or of some that you love.

You can see tons of wedding pictures all over this here blog!  Check this tag HERE for lots and lots of wedding posts!  Here are some of my most favorites from our special day:

I will forever love this photo taken of my Husband right before he came to the wedding venue and saw me for the first time - he looks so excited!

No tears walking down the aisle for this happy bride!

We did it!

One of the last photos of the night - nothing quite like a bride in a bar.

How about the engagement? Tell us your story. If not engaged, what's your dream proposal?

I love our engagement story.  But I'm still working on our love story, and would really like to save that post for when I get there in sequence!  Coming soon, promise and it's a good one!  Spoiler alert: I argued the entire way to our destination - I really had no idea what was coming!

If you wanna get caught up with our love story, you can check it out HERE!

Show us your wedding rings or an engagement photo! If not engaged/married ... show us your "dream" ring.

I love my rings - my engagement ring was my dream ring when I received it, and it still is!

Tell us why you think marriage doesn't work out for so many? What can we do to make things last?

I think part of the reason marriage doesn't work for so many is because people see an out.  By no means do I think divorce should be illegal or anything crazy, but it just seems to easy to so many to say "Eh, this is too hard, I'm out" and move on.  My Husband and I like to look at divorce as a non-option (not that it has even reared it's ugly head - we've only been doing this a year and a half!).  But regardless, marriage is hard, and if you think there's always the option of taking the easy way out, you might just do it.



Four Eyes

I've been keeping a little secret from my readers for quite some time.

You ready for me to spill?

Here goes.

I can't see.

Okay, slightly dramatic, but seriously I have the worst vision.

For years, I have been wearing my glasses only when it is absolutely completely necessary.  Not because I don't like them, in fact, I kind of do!  (Is it just me or can you wear no makeup and look like a scrub and then put on some eyeglasses and instantly look brainy instead of drabby?)

So, it has come the time to start looking for another pair of glasses for Four Eyes over here.  For two reasons:

1. Last weekend, while standing with Cute Apartment on the sidewalk of an average width street, she was shocked and appauled I could not read the lit-up sign across the street from where we were standing.  Granted, I wasn't wearing my bifocal glasses at the time, but still - me thinks my eyes have gotten a bit worse.

and

2. It is seriously unsafe for me to drive at night without my glasses anymore.  And since I wear them so sparingly, sometimes I'm caught out without my specks.  My solution?  Wear them more often.  Yeah right - my solution is to get a fresh new pair, so I'll have a spare to leave in the ole Jeep Liberty.

So when GlassesUSA.com contacted me about their company, I was so excited to check out their website!  They have so many options for cheap glasses, and what girl on a budget doesn't like cheap!

Do you think I could pull these off?  I'm worried I would feel like I was playing dress up everytime I put them on!

GlassesUSA.com

Another fun feature on GlassesUSA.com is their Virtual Mirror, where you can see what the glasses might actually look like on!

GlassesUSA.com is even offering some special promotions to Stress Case readers:

STOREWIDE OFFER

Take 15% off your entire order amount + FREE shipping (orders over $50).

Code: FS15

Take 10% off any order of prescription glasses.

Code: Blog10

Your welcome, fellow four eyes!

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post, but all thoughts, opinions, and words are mine and mine alone.

Sparkles

Inspired by some gorgeous nude sparkles Twin Beauty School was rocking on her nails when I saw her last weekend, I went for some subtle but fun sparkles this week on my nails:

As you beauty mavens probably already know, love & beauty is Forever 21's beauty brand.  Their products seem to be very hit or miss (their eyeshadow for example...a no go), but I have had great success with their polish!  Their names are nothing to write home about though, as you can see this fabulous cover is named simply, "Magenta".

Best part about love & beauty polish?

The price.

$2.80 for a sparkly glitter?!

Sold!

Lots of Link Love

 

Like Tara, I think it's important to emphasize the importance of community in the blog world and not only focusing on ourselves and our own blogs, but to spread lots of blog love to those who deserve it.  Every other Thursday, I will highlight the posts over the last two weeks that touched me, made me laugh, pulled at my heartstrings, and inspired me. 

• Chelsea shared some blogger genius when she told us 2 Things Your Blog Doesn't Need - and boy, is she right!

• Stephanie had me laughing at her list of Things You Won't Hear Come out of Her Mouth this Fall, in relation to Fall clothing.

• Kelly rounded up another four girls for Round 2 of The Messy Project - a super cool fashion blogging project she started last month!

 

• Kate gave us an insanely valuable post - Eyeshadow Brushes 101: What to Use, When to Use it, and Why.

 

• Steph and Laura reviewed four facial scrubs and shared their wealth of knowledge on skin care with their readers.

 

• Tess shared her incredibly adorable wedding details from her recent nuptuals - my favorite?  The shades with their names and wedding date!

What blog posts are you lovin' on this week?

The Hunt To Homeownership: Escrow's Not a Real Word

This is actually not related to our current sitch, one I'm keeping slightly hush hush on until I've got real news, just thoughts from a crazy Stress Case trying to buy a house.

Here's the thing.

A word should have one meaning, maybe two if it's real wacky.

But, "Escrow"?

Not a real word.

Just think of how many ways people use it! 

"We're opening escrow!"

"Oh, we're in escrow."

"Escrow is preparing those."

"Have you talked to escrow lately?"

"I've got to go to escrow to pick something up."

"We just closed escrow!"

So, what the eff is escrow anyways?

Cause something that can be used as a noun, verb, action, and location - sounds like a myth to me!

Guess I should have picked this page-turner up.

{Via}



Quotable Tuesdays

Our Pose

You know how you have your pose with your close girlfriends?  (Awkward crickets soon to ensue if me and my lady friends are the only ones who do this.)

You know, someone is waving a camera in front of your faces, and you and your girlfriend exclaim to one another in unison, "Okay, now let's do our pose!" and you both immediately go into your choreographed positions for the cutest picture of the night?

If you don't do this, I'm not sure we can be friends, because I do it with just about all of my girlfriends.  But the first chickadee I started this with?  Best Friend Fashionista.

It just so happens to be BF Fashionista's birthday today - the big TWO.FOUR.  Hey Fashionista, welcome to your mid-twenties!

So, what is our pose?

This little gem full of best friend love:

One of the oldest photos of us during our pose I could find - circa 2007.

So, I thought, what better way to celebrate this dear friend of mine's birthday than taking a little walk down memory lane.

At a random college party in San Diego, and two consecutive nights on a girls' trip to Santa Barbara in 2007

At a college party at UCI, Fashionista's own "MasqueRAGE" Party, and a Company Holiday Party in 2008

My 21st Birthday, BF Fashionista's 21st Birthday, and the Soccer Season Initiation Kick-Off Party in 2009

I swear we were friends in 2010, but I couldn't for the life of me find any photos of our pose!

2011 was a big year!

Top: At my wedding in February 2011

Clockwise from Upper Left: Fashionista's Housewarming Party, My Bachelorette Party in Palm Springs, Our rehearsal dinner, and My Bridal Shower in 2011

A very happy birthday,

to a very good friend.

I'm happy to have a friend like you - one that I can be silly with, depend on, and reminisce with.

Happy 24th, Fashionista!

First Day of School

Today, my handsome smartie pants husband goes off on his very first day of school.

Law School,

that is.

After HH's graduation from Undergrad, Summer 2010.

I am so proud,

nervous,

anxious,

and excited to get this new chapter of our lives started!

I don't think it's going to be easy,

but I do hope it's going to be worth it.

Good luck to my very Handsome Husband,

I know you will do amazing.

And if you ever feel alone,

just remember I'm right by your side the whole time.

(Or at least a text message away.)