engagements.

Zak and I have been counting down the days to see our engagement pictures.. and they're finally here!

 First, I want to say that our Photographer Cami Dunn is the bees knees. She is amazingly awesome.  And not to mention, tremendously talented.  I mean, she made us two doodle birds look pretty put together - that says a lot. Not only is she a brilliant photographer, she's a wonderful person as well. She made our entire engagement session fun and comfortable, we were at ease and had a blast. Her direction, style and creativity is through the roof. You should check out her adorable work at, camitakesphotos. 

When we first talked with Cami about the look of the engagement pictures, I told her I wanted to take them somewhere that didn't necessarily seem like Arizona. Don't get me wrong, I love our state. But I wanted to go for more greenery and less desert. So Cami took us on a little adventure to Tonto National Forest, where she found a beautiful little place for the backdrop of our pictures. 

So alas here are some photos we can't get enough of. 

P.S it was very hard to pick just 5. 

P.P.S we're saving our all time favorites for our save the dates/invites, so you'll be seeing those puppies soon.

We had ourselves a fancy little picnic.

Golly, I had a hard time posting only these.. I'm literally obsessed with each and every one. But, I'll just have to wait till the big day to post anymore. Anywho, up next we take our bridals. I fell in love with these instantly, so I can only imagine how darling the next ones will turn out. 

bridesmaids

Now Introducing.. my bridesmaids!

well some of them at least.. a few are missing!

This past weekend I had a little get together with these great gals at La Grande Orange Pizzeria. Side note: if you haven't been there yet, you MUST go asap. It's absolutely adorable, and their food is to die for. Just look at my pizza..

Makes me want another.

I am so lucky to have these ladies in my wedding.  Each of them play such a significant role in my life, and I couldn't imagine my big day without them. I cannot thank them enough for their continuous love and support. Say hello to my bestest, best friends.

Meet Charlcie.. she can make anyone laugh. 

This is Amanda. Fun fact about her: she's the one who introduced Zak and I.

This is Gabrielle! Alpha Phi sista for life.

Meet Amy, she's the BEST roomie a girl could ask for.

LITTLE SISTER! aka Lea, she has a heart of gold.

Meet Kelcy, Zak's little sister and now my little sister too:)

My sister Ericka {the maid of honor} and cousin Ashley unfortunately couldn't make it. They sure were missed though! My night with these girls was a complete blast and I about died from all the laughing. I cannot wait until the next time we all hangout. Thank you girls for such a sweet evening. I know I say it alot.. but again I'm truly blessed with such wonderful women in my life. 

save the date.

Why hello there!

 I know know, from the looks of our empty blog one could assume that planning for the big day has come to a hault. However, I'm here to report that we have {miraculously} been able to squeeze in time to go to tastings, book vendors and visit venues. With senior year here and in full swing, Zakary and I are both channeling in on our passions, which we’ve been anxiously waiting for. His medicine, mine broadcast. With internships and med school applications, finals and midterms, deadlines and thesis writing the two of us are racing to the finish line- and we cannot wait to graduate. So then you add in planning a wedding and wa-laa you have total chaos. But good chaos, don't get me wrong- I wouldn't have any other way!

 I'm not going to lie, it's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me.. I swear I get attached to every photographer, decorator or idea that pops into my head and when reality hits and we have to make some decisions I tend to get a bit upset. But thankfully that's where Zak and my mom step into the picture and talk me through my slight snap decisions and reassure me that our wedding will be perfect, and just how I imagined it to be. We're very lucky to be surrounded by love and support {and help} from our delightful friends and family.. without them this wedding planning business would be a whole lot harder.  Okay I'm finished with my sappy wedding planning stories, onto the fun fluffy stuff!

I'm very pleased to announce that we have set a date at our dream venue! I can't even start to count how many locations we looked at. There was always my favorite one, it went perfectly with my vision, but in the back of my head I knew was too expensive and just wasn't going to workout. But somehow someway my amazing mother pulled through and we were able to book 

Stonebridge Manor on June First twenty thirteen. 

{save the dates are to come}

In other big news I asked nine {yes that's right, I said nine} amazing women who are truly dear to my heart, each in their own way to be my bridesmaids. We have a little get together planned at the end of next month, and I cannot wait! I am very blessed to have them in my life. And thrilled to have them standing by my side on the best day of my life.

{I sent these gems to each gal pal}

And one last exciting detail.. drum roll please! I FOUND MY WEDDING DRESS! Yep that's right, I found my dream dress at this amazing boutique in Scottsdale called Mariee. I always heard that your dress finds you, you don't find it and boy is that spot on. My mom found it hanging on the rack and suggested I try it on. I didn't think much of it at first glance, but then once I put it on, laced it up and twirled around in front of the mirror we all knew. When you try on your dress you'll know it's the one- and after trying on dozens of beauties I found the one. 

{side note: dress not pictured, it's a surprise}

So in my spare time {if I manage to find some} you'll catch me scrolling through Pinterest, reading bridal blogs and looking over to-die-for wedding blogs trying to get inspiration for my wedding day. I don't really know the exact "theme" per say of how the big day will be.. but I do have "buzz words" {my Southern Weddings planner told me I needed these?} to describe how I visualize the day's events. So without further adieu, here they are: classic, American, vintage {slight}, blush pastels, greenery, backyard formal and whimsical. Okay, so when reading these aloud them seem a little all-over the place, and random, but I swear they'll come together. Here's my little look-book to get a better understanding. Enjoy!

I'm very excited to be blogging again. It makes me really sad when I don't find time to do so, since writing it a large {very large} part of journalism. I truly love writing, telling stories and having them come to life through videos and photographs. My goal is to devote some time to my own personal stories like I do at school, and with my internship.. and share them here.
Being engaged is a very special time in our relationship. We both cannot wait for our wedding day, and are beyond excited to be husband and wife. But, I keep telling myself, that I just need {as I peak at my little countdown of only seven months-two days-twelve hours and five minutes left}to be grateful to have found the love of my life, be thankful for each day of our engagement and to not get too swept up in the wedding plans.. I need to just simply enjoy our engagement. 

the evidence.

The pictures from our special day have finally arrived! When I received the call that they were in, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, and could not wait to see them! They turned out amazing, and better than the both of us could have ever imagined. I'm truly blessed to have our moment captured on film.. Zak went above and beyond, to say the least. Here are a few of our favorites, enjoy! 

YES. 

It's official, we're engaged!

the proposal.

It really happened... we're engaged! It still hasn't hit me, each time I say, "my fiance' " I can't help but to smile uncontrollably. Our whole weekend was a fairy tale, and each time I look back on it I still can't believe how everything fell perfectly into place. Zak is amazing, and I am beyond grateful be spending the rest of my life with such a wonderful man. 

So without further adieu, this is how the best day of my entire life went. Last weekend, Zakary surprised me with a trip to Catalina Island, it was a little getaway before both of our summer jobs started. Each day we planned out our activities, however on Sunday he told me he had a change in plans, and that he wanted to take me out to a surprise dinner. He asked that I put on my favorite dress, but to hold on the heels because he wanted to show me something before we ate, and it consisted of a good walk up a hill- so heels were out of the question.

As the sun began to set we walked up a winding road to the edge of a mountain that overlooked the entire harbor and city on one side, and the endless ocean on the other. It was absolutely breathtaking. We followed a little path that lead to the peak, where a huge tree was hanging over the edge with a swing dangling from its branches. There was another couple admiring the view, and Zak just asked that I ignore them, since they were probably just tourists too. 

We stood there for a second, taking in the sunset and that's when he turned to me and asked if I loved him. I of course replied with a lingering yes.. and that's when he got down on his knee, pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him. I was in shock. I just kept saying, "oh my gosh this isn't happening" (over and over again) and then finally he stood up and said, "Sidney just say yes!" I just kept smiling and yelped, "yes, of course!" He slid the ring over my finger, picked me up and we couldn't stop kissing. It was a dream come true, and I couldn't believe it was finally happening. 

Then, low and behold I found out that the "tourists" were actually photographers that he had hired to take pictures of the whole entire thing! They captured each moment of the proposal- we cannot wait to see them. We then had a little engagements photo shoot all along the mountaintop, as the sun glistened against the ocean. We'll hopefully, have those pictures in a couple weeks!

After the photo session, we went back to the beach, where we shared a banana split on the boardwalk to celebrate while we called our parents, (who were at my moms house having a dinner to celebrate the engagement and waiting anxiously by the phone). My dad was choking up and they were all so excited! After sharing the news went and had a wonderful dinner on the water. Once we got back to our little beach house he surprised me with the bible of all wedding books, Southern Living Wedding Edition, planner and keepsake book so I could finally stop pinning all my darn ideas and turn them into a reality!

The next morning he took me back up the mountain to the Wrigley Manor (the founders of the island) for breakfast, and it was actually apart of the spot where he had proposed the night before. We spent the rest of our day calling friends and family to tell them of our wonderful news from our little proposal spot overlooking the island.

Again Zakary planned such a wonderful weekend, and I couldn’t be more excited to marry the man of my dreams. 

banana split on the boardwalk. 

dinner on the water.

And the ring.. :)