I am a mover, shaker and decision-maker

Hey all! It's been awhile (my fault, I know!). The exciting thing is that I have a lot to report. I think I will do a quickie double-blog to report on recent decisions and then to post some inspiration for our save-the-dates/invites. So! Recent decisions that have been made: booked for El Cap Canyon, bought my wedding dress and booked and started shooting with our photographer! First, we have booked El Capitan Canyon. I am so so excited for this location because I think it has EXACTLY the right feel that Jake and I want for our wedding: outdoorsy and family/friend-oriented.
Second: I bought my dress!!! It is a Pronovias from 2006 and I got it at a sample sale in Santa Barbara. I tried on a few newer dress that were absolutely gorgeous but I new nearly the instant I put this dress on that I loved it. The longer I wore it the more I could envision myself walking down the aisle in it, and when I spoke with my Mom about adding little handmade touches to it (flowers made by my mom, changing the neckline to sweetheart and changing the back to V-shaped) I knew I had to have it! It is ivory-colored and made out of raw-silk; definitely fitting the "natural homespun" feel that Jake and I have agreed upon. I really just love that I am going to be able to take the dress and make small changes to it that make it mine. So excited!!!
So lastly, Jake and I officially booked our photographer. As I mentioned before, we have chosen Josh Gruetzmacher, who I went to high school with, and we have already taken our engagement pictures with him! We shot them in Santa Cruz, where Jake and I met, mainly at the UCSC campus. We drove up to campus and immediately found an old barn that we shot at for about 30 or 40 minutes. I was freaking out the whole time, especially when we went into the barn, because I am NOT a rule breaker! Fortunately we didn't get caught and we got to take some cools pics in front of old farm equipment like this one:

This was one teaser that Josh posted on his blog, I will post more as we get them. We also shot in the redwoods, at Merrill College and at the Meder Street Park on a quilt that my Mom's grandmother had made. Can't wait to see them!
So that's about it so far. My MOH Ali has been searching high and low for bachelorette party locations, which has been exciting... Since I'm not a "bachelorette party" kind of person I think we are just doing a girls weekend away or something, which is definitely more my style than craziness in Vegas or something like that! Also my Mom and Grandma are down visiting right now while Jake is in Colorado and we have been hot and heavy on the wedding planning. I think we chose colors today (purple, green and a little bit of golden-yellow to accent) and scoped out invites. Speaking of which, see above blog post!!! Hasta for now : )