Twenty-nine and feeling fine

The past month has been a blissful blur of treats, tulle, and well... more treats.

As can be relayed from my last post (an entire month ago… eep, I’m so sorry!), my birthday was absolute magic. After work, I joined my family for a delicious dinner at Mess Hall in Los Feliz. And DROCK joined us!!!!

[All the yummies]

Adding to the excitement already felt due to short rib poutine, we were sitting right next to one of the actors from New Girl.

[Hello, Principal Foster]

We were equally star struck by the menu - street tacos, juicy burgers, creamy baked mac n cheese. After stuffing ourselves to the brim, we trekked down the road to continue in the consumption. The whole reason we headed to the hipster-central of Los Angeles was to finally set foot in Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. I have been dreaming of this place since the moment I read about it in the Saturday Section of the LA Times. Jeni is an ice cream god and had me at the first mention of "salty caramel." I was not disappointed. The cornucopia of flavors was unique and delectable. Because Matt and I are serious about ice cream, we each got the "study" (a sampler platter of ice cream with four miniature scoops) and shared.

[My kind of studying]

The deliciousness included:

Salty Caramel – the flavor that made them famous

Birch & Marhsmallow - think rootbeer float.

Brown Butter Almond Brittle

Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate Specks

Sweet Corn and Black Raspberries

Middle West Whiskey & Pecans - holy whiskey, they weren’t kidding

Sweet Cream Biscuits & Peach Jam

… and I am totally blanking on the last one!

A second visit is in order because Ooey Butter Cake was out AND I see that they now have Sweet Potato Éclair and Thai Curry Pumpkin. Thanksgiving in an ice cream bowl. Just the way I like it.

We kept the celebration going the next day with our final caterer tasting for the wedding. I say final because… WE HAVE A CATERER. God Bless America. Food is one of our Top Three priorities for the wedding (are you surprised?) and we were having a tricky time finding just the right fit. I am so glad we decided to go to our venue’s grand opening celebration because that is how Colette’s Catering magically fell into our laps. The Fullerton-based company had been added to our venue’s preferred vendors after we had gotten the list so didn’t even know they were an option. About 20 mini beef wellingtons later, Matt and I knew they were the ones. From the get-go, Rosemary was not only so easy to get a hold of and easy to work with, she totally got our vision and has helped us tailor our menu to be exactly what we were hoping and dreaming of. I am so excited… and so dang hungry. To top it all off, their chef used to work at Animal. It’s all just too perfect.

The following week brought another belated birthday gift… I got to try on my wedding dress for the first time!!!! It’s even more beautiful than I remember. The moment was extra special because in addition to my mom, I had my dad and grandma there to see. It made all of this dress up and event planning feel real. Crap, I’m getting married!

It’s crazy how it all sneaks up on you though. I was going over my wedding expenses thus far and marveling over the fact that we have been at this for almost a year. Seriously, looking at purchases made back in March made me think, “How the hell was it that long ago?! And how did it become October, just under four months til the wedding!?” The holiday season is beginning and at the tail end of it all is the biggest celebration of them all… at least for me J Going to allow myself to life in this moment and enjoy each part of the next four months jam packed with celebrating and time spent with my loved ones and husband to be. Life is good.