Now that we are coming down from the wave of engagement proposals, we are crashing down into wedding planning season. Everyone seems to know one somebody who got engaged during the holidays, or maybe it was you. Brides to be are now working in overdrive to read every tip, blog, and magazine that mentions the word 'wedding'.

As you comb through articles on wedding themes, wedding colors, wedding flowers, wedding dresses, and wedding tips, in order to achieve your dream wedding, we often forget one small detail: wedding guests. When I say guests I also include your wedding party in this category. They are not only representing you and your partner, they are also putting in time and money before hand to make sure your day is perfect as guests.

Now don't get me wrong, this day IS and SHOULD be about you and your partner, but you also want to make sure your wedding guests have a good time too. I know you can't make every single person happy, but from my own experience of all the weddings I have gone to in the past 5 years (always a bridesmaid. never a bride.. lol), I have learned some pretty valuable lessons for planning my own wedding one day.

• Location: We all want our wedding days to be magical. We often dream of tropical islands with beach backdrops. This is all fine and dandy if your are planning a small intimate wedding with a few close friends and family. And when I say a few I mean under 10. Most people cannot afford to fly to an exotic location for a weekend to watch you get married. I don't say this to be mean or shatter your dreams, but lets be realistic. Choose a location that is easily traveled to and will not cost your guests an arm and a leg.

• Favors: This day in age we know a lot of people who are not living local to us or where our wedding is going to be. Traditionally weddings happen in the brides hometown, and today most of us do not still live in our hometown. Many guests may be flying to get to you. Think smart when planning favors for everyone. Liquids, jams, and anything over 4 ounces that may be suspicious to a TSA agent at the airport should be crossed off your favor list stat. I take this tip to heart when I packed away some jam that was given me as a gift, not even thinking and was pulled aside and searched at the airport. No fun!

• Intentions: When getting married, we are left with the duty of choosing our wedding party. This can sometimes be very daunting because we can't pick everyone. Do not invite the people who did not make your bridal party list to participate in the bridal games so to say. A friend and I had this happen. We got invited to do all of the pre-wedding events (ie: mani/pedi's, bridal brunch, ect) yet were left to clean up all of the messes and handle last minute issues. In theory it sounded like a good idea. In reality we were really upset we got stuck with all the problems when we had planned to come and celebrate her wedding. Not be her runner.

• Children: This is a biggie. If you are NOT planning to have children at your wedding, you MUST make it clear. Never assume your guests understand they should not bring little Johnny to the reception. If you feel like this will be an issue you may either want to call the guests with the children to let them know personally or plan to offer a childcare option for anyone who cannot leave their kids at home. This is a sensitive subject but it is your party and at the end of the day this is your decision.

Now I am sure there are loads more things that I am missing, but these are some biggies. You don't ever want to make it difficult for your guests to make it to your wedding. You never want them to get searched at the airport. Never make your guests into your slave for the day. And certainly never make someone feel bad about having kids. These are all things you can easily fix by thinking ahead. Think ahead and your wedding will be great for everyone involved. 

I am wishing you a a successful journey on all things wedding planning. I hope some of these tips have helped you workout something you haven't even thought about yet.

Do you have any tips you would like to add? Anything happen to you as a guest?

Do children still have dreams? Do they still want to be firefighters or policemen? I can't remember the last time I was in the presence of a child that really had a dream. I often wonder if this is where the world is heading, or if this is just a little hiccup along the way. The children of today are way more concerned about social media and the latest electronic device, then what they want to do with their adult lives.


When I was 5 I wanted to be a dancer. When I was 10 I wanted to be just like my mom. When I got into middle school I wanted to be a scientist. I wanted to study the stars in the sky, not the stars on the tv. As I got into high school I wanted to be a photographer AND a scientist. I strived to take all of the classes I needed to be the best student for what I wanted to be.

Today I work in science AND take photos. I won't ever be a dancer, but I still enjoy doing it when no one is watching. I'd like to think I am more and more like my mom everyday, even though I do not have any children of my own yet. My dreams to a point did come true. I feel like I lived up to the expectations of my childhood dreams. Not because I felt I had to; because I wanted to.

I recently caught up with a friend who is a school teacher. She said the lack of enthusiasm of her students is really starting to become a problem. They do not want to do the work, but expect to get the good grade. They want to spend all of their time socializing on their phones rather then taking notes in class. Does this make anyone else sad? Where has the innocence and magic of our children gone? Where did all this entitlement come from?

Did you have a dream as a child? What was it? Help bring the magic back into the children's lives.

Happy Friday folks! I am participating in my very first High Five for Friday or H54F. I am excited to recap my week and be grateful for the week I had. As I mentioned here, I am working on a happiness project this year and January is the month of R & R (Relax and Refocus). I am well into my half way point and this week certainly gave me 5 things that I can be happy about!

1. Monday brought me talk. That sounds funny, but I made the decision this year to talk to a counselor about managing my stress better. With the new job, a serious relationship, and some family chaos, I left 2014 in a pretty big stress mess. This was my second session and I am happy I made the decision.

All of these items make my heart happy!

2. Hot baths (With tea and candles of course!). I received some really nice hand made bath products from a friend for Christmas, and they prove to be heavenly. The relaxing herbs mixed in with epson salts are what my body needed. I got out of the tub and instantly felt ready for bed. So dreamy!

3. Soup and tea with a good friend. It's always nice on a cold wintery night to get together with a friend to catch up over a nice cup of tea and some hearty soup.

Bad photo, but it was pretty dark!

4. Yoga. I signed up for a stress management yoga class. Yesterday was my first session and I really loved it. This makes me happy because I also wanted to meet new people, and classes are a good way to achieve this. I was able to go to a place that truly made me feel at peace with some of the things I have no control over. I hope to use some of these lessons for years to come.

5. Getting to spend time with my other half. He has been very understanding to my crazy schedule and moods swings as I try to refocus my energies to positive ones. I don't know what I would do without his love and support when I am going through turbulent times.

Stay tuned as I continue to update you on my happiness project and more helpful tips to relax!

It's no secret that I am not a fan of Winter. I would be happy if we only had 3 seasons a year. If I really had it my way It would be Summer and Fall. My two favorite times of the year. Although one thing that does get me excited about winter is all the hot tea I consume and all the hearty meals I am making. The things I can live without is my flyaway hairs on my head, dry skin, and products that make the dry skin worse.


Influenster must of been eavesdropping on my thoughts because when I received my Frosty VoxBox it was packed with things to ease the cold punch of winter. You may remember seeing these items on my VoxBox unboxing video. Today I want to talk about all of the products and give them my ratings!


Ecotools Sleek + Shine Finish Brush: This excited me because I really needed a new brush. Mine was a few years old (Oh my god the horror!) and was really starting to fall apart. The bristles on the Ecotool's brush are super soft and non-damaging. I can brush my hair and not have a ton of breakage and it looks nice and shiny when I'm done.  Score: A+

Fruit Vines: These babies were so good they didn't make it past the first day! I am a big vines fan to begin with and having them in bite size pieces is really dangerous. That bag didn't have a chance with me! If you are a fan of the vines you will be a fan of these. Same product, smaller size. Score: A


Rimmel London Just Let It Go: I am not sure how I feel about the name of this because honestly Frozen is EVERYWHERE these days and I am kind of tired of it. #sorrynotsorry. As for the product itself it is pretty great. It is gentle on my skin. It takes off the makeup, especially the dark eye liner.. Speaking of eye liner:

Rimmell London Scandal Eyes Kohl Kajal in Black: I really liked the consistency of this eyeliner. It went on smooth and seemed to hold up all day (and night, racoon eyes ya'll?). But I am also very fond of black eyeliners so it's hard for me to find one I don't like. The combined score for both of these is a B+ (Only because the remover was called "Let It Go..")

My first post of 2015 mentioned some nifty new glasses I've been sporting from Firmoo.com. They are a pretty sweet deal if you ask me, and are much cheaper then ordering from an optical store. I know how this feels from both ends of the spectrum because I am an ABO certified optician and sold eye wear for many years. As an optician you want your patient to get the best options for their needs and sometimes this gets costly, especially if you do not have insurance.


Today I want to share with  you some tips on ordering eye glasses online. It can be quite daunting if you are unfamiliar on how to read your rx (prescription) and what information they are asking for in the ordering process.

The most important thing you need to do BEFORE ordering glasses from an online shop is make sure you have a current prescription. In most states that I am aware of, prescriptions are good for 1 to 2 years. If you haven't had your eyes checked for over 2 years, please do this first. It will save you in the long run.

Once you have had your exam and your doctor is recommending new glasses, I recommend still working with the optician. Try on as many shapes, sizes, and colors as you'd like. This will help you get a feel for what works best for you. Remember when ordering online you cannot try them on. So pay close attention to the sizes you are trying on as well as the shape when you're in your doctors office.

Most frame information can be found either on the temple (or arm if you will) or on the bridge (the area where your nose goes). The pair I have has this information on the arm. Pay special attention to these numbers, as they will help you immensely when selecting a frame online. Here is what each of those numbers mean:

F048: This is the frame style or name.
49: This is the eye size or the area you are looking through when the glasses are on.
18: This number is the bridge; or the size of the area that sits on your nose.
140: This number is the length of the temple (arm).
C1: This is the color of the glasses according to the company that makes it.

The next step is also important and I feel necessary to be done by a professional. The online ordering form is going to ask for your PD (pupillary distance). This is the measurement of the distance between one pupil to the other. Most online ordering companies will instruct you on how to do this but from personal experience, letting the professional do it for you is the better option.

Once you  have your PD measurement, make sure you get a copy of your prescription. Now you should have all the tools you need to order your new pair of glasses online. Once you have picked out the glasses (Remember to write all that info down when you're trying on glasses at your doctors office!) you want you will come to a screen that will look like this:

Source: Firmoo.com

This part is SUPER important and very sensitive to your final product. Please make sure you transcribe your prescription EXACTLY as it is written on the paper provided by your doctor. One little tiny typo can cause you big problems. And most of the time that problem will cost you. If you made the mistake; an online shop normally will not remake these for you without payment. The same thing goes for the frame. This is why you must pay close attention to the details.

Once you have put in all of your prescription items, the site will ask you if you want any other options. These options include things like Anti-Reflective Coating, Transistions (The ones that get dark in the sun), Scratch protection, and so on. Most of the time these things are just options to preference. You do not have to add them.


 Now you just hit send, pay, and your glasses will be on your doorstep in no time!

So what do you think? Will you order your next pair of glasses online?