SHOWERED with Crate & Barrel

One of the best things about getting married has to be these amazing showers that get planned for you! Not only do I have the best bridesmaids putting on these for me but I am fortunate enough to have 2 bridal showers. I feel like the luckiest bride, seriously I do! My first bridal shower is on July 18, 2009 up in Granite Bay. We decided to have it up there so that my family and Gregg's family wouldn't have to travel down to San Diego (since they're already coming for the wedding). Gregg's mom Denese called Gregg the other day and said that she couldn't attend the GB shower because she was going out of town that day but had bought us a gift. However she got confused and thought that our address on Crate & Barrel's registry link was wrong, therefore she sent it to our apartment. Here is me in the midst of the unwrapping and viewing of our amazing present!!!

Denese and Ana (her little daughter - Gregg's sister) got us almost our entire set of everything for ALL OF OUR EVERYDAY WARE, holywow! We were ecstatic and have already started using these amazing plates. The are soo much better than the Ikea ones we've collected over the years. lol. My favorite ones are the big platters that she got us - I love those because they are PERFECT for entertaining....also she got us our fun "asian set" that have the chopstick holes/chopsticks with the bowls. SOOOOOO FUN!!!!!

**A special thank you to Denese and Ana for one of the best shower gifts we could have asked for!!!!**

Wow!!!

Harley Boo

I think as the *mommy* of a puppy I could probably blog and take pictures of my little boo boo all day long. I think some people see this as annoying or obsurd as it is not a baby that I'm blogging about but rather a little animal. However, I know there are some special people that really like to read and hear about him - so this post is for you *special dog lovers*!

This picture below is one of my favorites. Harley is giving his dad a *high five*!!! He is so good at this trick and i love it because his legs are so short and so little that he literally has to lift the whole side of his body to reach up that high! What a cutie pa-toot-tie!!!

One of these days (probably after we're married) I want to do a fun photoshoot with Gregg, Harley and myself. He is just the cutest little bundle of joy and brings so much happiness to both our lives. He definitely has a special bond with both of us - in very different ways. I imagine this is how our children will be too - he is such a good "starter baby" and we feel so lucky to have him in our lives. This is the best picture I could get with the 3 of us actually *looking* at the camera. Well I guess Harley's not really looking, but close enough! Here is our little Anderson Family!

For those of you who met Harley when he was just a lil guy, you will enjoy these next two pictures below. Where his black coloring is, he was grey and where his brown/white is, he was pink! Now look how pretty he is!? I love how the camera makes his eyes look blue - but don't worry kids, he's got beautiful brown eyes. Serious puppy dog eyes too - they always make me want to give him people food - I spoil him I know!!!!!! How can you not when this little one is looking at you?

Whenever Gregg and I say "You wanna......" he always cocks his head to the side like this picture below. He absolutely knows that we're going to say either...."bath" "ride" "walk" "treat" - something to that affect. Usually his ears will go down when we say bath and he runs and hides. Super cute!!! Here you can see his stature and how short and little he is. I guess you could say he is *a petite male* lol!!

Honestly I wouldn't have him any other way. He is the reason I can get through the day sometimes and I know Gregg and I love him more than anything. Sometimes I'll just lay there with him and pet him and it makes me feel so much better. I forget everything else that went wrong that day and concentrate on this wonderful animal that makes me so happy!

I love you Harley boo!!!

Peruvian Smeruvian

This year to celebrate Sashie's birthday she invited a few of her friends to go to a Peruvian restaurant in PB called "Latin Chef - Peruvian Cuisine". Since she is Peruvian, she knew exactly what to order on the menu - it was awesome! It was a very interesting experience only because I've never eaten that type of food before! We started out with a very traditional ceviche of fish (that was kind of raw) with oversized corn kernels - a very fun/interesting experience, lol!!
Then Holly, Laurel, Shaunna and myself split a tofu and chicken wrap (that was delish) and then we split a big noodle/chicken plate. All in all it was such a quaint and fun resturant it felt like we were in Peru!!! There were tiny cups, complete with "bring your own wine" and good company!

Happy 26th Sashie!

3 cars, 3 girls, 3 websensers = THE MEAN GIRLS

Well as most people know I work with Amanda and Shaunna. Not only do I work with Amanda and Shaunna, but both of them are bridesmaids in my upcoming wedding!!! I found it very fun/silly that all 3 of our cars were parked next to each other and felt compelled to take a photo! Better yet, we decided to jump on our cars and take this silly picture (taken by the talented Mr. Pip)! Just being around them every single day for eight hours makes the work days doable. I love having them to chat with, vent with, bounce ideas off of, eat lunch with! I feel beyond lucky that I get to work and play with these girls every day and know that they are truly the ones that keep me a float in my job - especially every end of quarter! Thank you to you both Shanty and Tomo ~ you truly are my life savers!! Muah! Also - the "title" of this blog..."The Mean Girls" - apparently when we travel at work, we are always together...and now as a joke the boys call us "The Mean Girls" like in the movie...since we're always walking/talking with each other. They know we're nothing close to the word....but they always say it and so we've embraced it!!!! Don't worry they have their name too "Camel Crew" - lol, don't even ask!

Besties/Bridesmaids/Bwords

There comes a time in every engaged girl's life where she needs to have a "girls night out". Obviously my night was with my "besties" Shaunna, Jaime and Sasha....we decided to go out to good old "Dog of the Moon" and celebrate our friendship. Originally we were suppose to go out with A LOT of other people but they never ended showing up - not a problem. We had our own fun. I love this picture of Shaunna and I - we look like a fan was put on us and we're modeling....NICE!

Probably one of my favorite pictures below....I love when we do the "hugging" pose - I'm sure we'll recreate this same look on my wedding day + 5 other bridesmaids, hee hee! Can you believe we've all known each other for almost 8 years??

Fun Facts about the 4 of us:

1. We are all older sisters of younger brothers

2. Jaime has always been the only blonde one out of us

3. We all met in the dorms our Freshman year of college

4. Each of us have lived with each other except for Jaime and myself

5. Our birthdays are within 10 days of each other - same year!

6. We have never all been single at the same time

7. I am the first to be married out of the 4 of us

Yippeee!

Here is one of the best pictures of the night. I saw this girl who was clearly celebrating her bachelorette party and I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to celebrate with her. Probably because I was out with my best friends/bridesmaids too!!! Therefore I proceeded to buy her an inappropriate shot that involves a lot of whipped cream. Her friends/bridesmaids LOVED it and we decided to all take a big group photo together. She probably had one of the best nights of her life, celebrating not only her single life drifting away but also sharing the joy of being with her very nearest and dearest girlfriends!!!! Definitely a cause for celebration!!!!

26 years old!

This year I turned 26!!! Wow! I can't believe I can actually say that I am 26 years old and engaged....who knew!??!?! On the Thursday before my birthday I walked into work and found this! My desk was beautifully decorated by 4 of my best friends at work....Nic, Shaunna, Nicole and Tom (aka Amanda). It was such a wonderful sight to see and I felt so special. I can never tell them enough how amazing and blessed I feel to have these girls around me every single day, eight hours a day! They seriously make my job wonderful!

I also decided to fly home this year to celebrate with the family! A few things I did...got my hair colored by the wonderful and talented Maritza. Did a great amount of bonding with mom while shopping for bridesmaid goodies. Chatted and went over wedding detail with Daddy. Watched movies with brother David. Experience the best homecooked meal ever made by Mom!!

I'm not sure why I went home this year but if I had to guess, here's why:

1. After next year, I will be a married woman and it probably won't ever be just my small little family of four and myself. From here on out my "husband" Gregg will be joining us for all family events and celebrations (not that I'm complaining) but it was very special to have it be just us four....one last time.

2. Shelly and Maritza!!! My wonderful Maid of Honor and best friend Maritza are a HUGE part of my wedding and planning an amazing shower for me the following month - I felt like I never get to see them and miss them all the time, so a flight home just to hang out and hug each other was completely necessary!

I love how great these pictures turned out, my backyard is so beautiful in Granite Bay and the lighting is perfect! Having my brother there was seriously the icing on the cake. He is growing up so fast (21 years old in only 4 days) and I just love being around him! (so do Shelly and Maritza, lol)

All in all it was a wonderful birthday filled with great friends and incredible family. Even though we didn't do anything crazy, it was still so great to share another year of my life with the poeple that I love!