summertime lounge.

june already? that means i'm getting married in 3 months. wow, time flies. 

being that it's now june and officially summer, {well not officially, but you know what I mean...} i put together a little playlist that i'll be enjoying today at the pool because I have the day off.

some of the songs are new, most of them are old, but i love them all.

this playlist reminds me of an open air lounge overlooking the ocean somewhere exotic.

by the way, i'm always interesting in hearing new music. so please share some of your summertime favorites!

memorial day.

just wanted to pop in and say hello!

i don't have any big plans for memorial day. but, i'd love to be drinking a strawberry margarita at a backyard barbeque.

wishing everyone a happy memorial day.

banana bread.

someone once told me if your bananas are getting a little too brown to eat, throw them in the freezer. 

once you have a few, you can make really good banana bread, because it's better when the bananas are really ripe.

now what?!?

the frozen bananas are taking over my freezer and I've yet to make Banana Bread!! 

they just keep piling up. there are currently 9 in there.

{that enough for banana bread, right?}

nick just flew out to california until friday for business.

i'd be the best fiancee in the world if there was a loaf of homemade banana bread waiting for him when he gets home next weekend. don't ya think?

so here is my plan for this week:

1. find a delicious banana bread recipe.

2. buy all the ingredients i need.

3. make banana bread for my love.

where are the best recipes online? 

i usually check out cooking light first... any other tips?

i really want a wig.

so i finally watched this week's glee

{on nick's computer because my DVR really screwed up}

and, i REALLY want to wear a crazy gaga wig for my bachelorette party!!!

how awesome would that be?

yayayayayyayaya! i just got super excited.

and i just had the best hot fudge sundae.
{sh-sh-sh-sugar high!!!}

{*}

just ordered gifts for my bridesmaids!

and I really, really want to blog all about it because I think that they'll love their gifts, but being the sweet friends that they are, they check out my blog sometimes and I don't want them to see their gifts!

so we'll have to be secretive about it...  so bridesmaids, please DO NOT click on these links

I got each of them something from here and something from here {my favorite}!

I've been planning a Bridesmaid Brunch/Lunch, too.
{thanks to my sweet grandmother that offered to host it!}

i'm thinking about having a restaurant cater to my parent's hotel suite the saturday before the wedding {but, i still need to ask them about it!}, we can have brunch/lunch and mimosas on the huge balcony there. {click here, then on terrace suite to see the balcony}.

by the way, our wedding is on a sunday... 5 September

or, make a reservation at the cafe at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and have brunch there.

if any ones has any ideas, please share!

{image via}

happy hour{s} with my favorite person in the world.

we went to the gingerman, a beer pub, in fort worth last night for a little HH. this place has hundreds of beer on tap from all over the world. i prefer the fruity ones like pyrimad apricot or purple haze.

nicholas like the manly beers... the dark ones.

nicholas and i played to rounds of darts - and he beat me both times. i'm not overly competitive, so it doesn't really bother me. 

but, it always makes me think of our first date.

we went to dinner at this cozy italian restaurant called Nonna Tata and had a great conversation, delicious food, and a couple glasses of wine. not wanting our night to end there, we decided to go to a pub that had pool and darts.

now, i'm not very good at either pool or darts, but every once in awhile i'll make some tremendously lucky shots. nick on the other hand is good. he can put the dart right where he aims it.

well on our first date, we had a little competitive flirting going on. nick kept bragging about how good he was at pool and about how is dad is a dart master and he used to play darts with him all the time.... I kept bluffing and saying that he'd better watch out because i'm a pool shark. 

long story short. i played the best pool game and the best dart game of my entire life. i beat him fair and square! haha. first in darts. then in pool. and I never let him live it down.  

no matter how many times we play and i lose, i will always have those first 2 wins.

busy little bee.

hehe.

wow, i've had a lot going on recently! i've been doing a lot of wedding things. like organizing contracts to make sure all my payments are on schedule, reading contracts, mailing deposits, etc. 

i have major wedding A.D.D. though. 

as soon as I start a task, I think of something else I have to do. 

i've gotten about halfway through 3 different blog posts, but then I get distracted and never finish or post it. 

this post is just to break the silence for the last week here at mille baisers blog.

I finally started writing everything down.

my current To-Do list is about 25 bullets long!

i also am way behind in google reader and haven't watched this week's Glee. {ugh}

back to it. :)

girls weekend in austin.

my wonderful friend from college, Allison, is getting married next month. to celebrate her last weeks as a single lady, we had a fantastic bachelorette party weekend in Austin, Texas. it was a blast!
Austin is an awesome city for a bachelorette party.

our first night was just unbelievable. seriously, if you want to have a night on the town and not spend a dime - just make one of your friends wear a veil and a sash that says "Future Mrs. _________".

the first stop was at Moonshine {modern home cooked foods}. the place didn't take reservations, and even showing up at 9:15pm, we still were going to have to wait about an hour to be seated. {it was also graduation weekend for the University of Texas - so everywhere was going to be busy!}. we moved over to the bar area to wait, and a group of guys offered to buy us a round of shots... SURE, why not!? let the celebration begin. well, they ended up buying ALL of our drinks and our dinner! {there were 7 of us girls} i'm not sure how much everything cost, but this place wasn't cheap! there were about 12 guys in this party, probably in their upper 30s and most of them had wedding rings on, nice/normal... not sure why they were inclined to pay for all of our stuff, but it was fine by us!
we thanked them and parted ways after dinner.

the rest of the evening went on in the same fashion... free champagne, free shots, free drinks, free cover, no waiting in lines, etc. it was so much fun.

if you've never been to or heard of 6th Street in Austin... it's pretty much a whole street that is blocked off in the evening lined with bar after bar after bar. it is so crowded and feels like everyone in the city is out to have a good time.

we even had our bachelorette up dancing on a bar! this one bar on 6th street called the Dizzy Rooster asked her for her ID when she got to the bar, then the bartender put her ID and a shot in the rafters in the ceiling above the bar. if she wanted her ID and drink, she had to climb up there to get it! it was so funny. here's a video clip of it! you can hear us girls cheering her on in the background.

the rest of our weekend included a lingerie shower, some pool time, brunch and mimosas, more bar hopping, a bachelorette scavenger hunt and a lot of laughs.

some of the things on the bachelorette scavenger hunt:

1. take a picture with the cast of Jersey Shore

2. kiss a chinese man with a mustache on the cheek

3. find a guy with an out of state ID

4. rub criss angel's dragon tattoo

allison is such a great sport and i'm so happy to be one of her bridesmaids. she has a great sense of humor, is gorgeous, giving and lots and lots of fun!
congratulations, allison!

i have some AMAZING news.

i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed! i passed!

I PASSED MY EXAM!

I read that letter about 5 times just to be sure!!

I spent most of the month of april studying for this exam...  and I guess all that studying {and complaining about studying} paid off! I'm so proud of myself.

In case you are wondering, Nutrition Support is a very unglamorous aspect of nutrition, but is life-saving. Basically if a person can't eat or drink regular foods/beverages because of a surgery, disease, cancer, stroke, etc, they require Nutrition Support to get their calories, protein, vitamins, minerals and all that. These patients can be fed with a formula via a tube that goes straight into their stomach or intestines or they could also be fed via an IV straight into their veins. Sometimes they'll just need it short term and sometimes these people rely on Nutrition Support for the rest of their lives. So as a Nutrition Support Certified dietitian, I assess patients' needs, prescribe adequate nutrition and manage their symptoms with the rest of the nutrition support team (doctor, nurse, pharmacist, etc.)

Probably more than you wanted to know, but I'm just so excited!

when things collide.

getting married. the formal union of a man and a woman. and all their stuff.

nick has been slowly, but surely packing up his belongings at his house, getting it ready to be put on the market. and during that process i've had the opportunity to take inventory on all of his things that will become our things.

including but not limited to...

signed baseballs, posters of athletes, posters of dead musicians, a 49ers blanket, a 49ers helmet, a HUGE tv (and not the kind you can hang on the wall-- the kind that takes up 1/2 the living room floor), etc.

lucky me.

ideally, nicholas would have a man cave with a keg and huge TV and any sports posters on the wall that he wants. however, we probably won't have all that in our 900 sq foot apartment.

truthfully, nicholas has pretty good taste... i love his furniture and he has awesome art collection.

maybe the movers will accidently lose the one box that has all the sports memorabilia in it.

just kidding, dear.. ;)

dilemma resolved. for now.

consensus is... mille baisers = 1,000 kisses.

thank goodness.

mille baisers will still be named mille baisers. kisses to you all! :)

but, in my panic that my blog title was a translation error, i tried to get creative and come up with a new blog title. one that i liked was "love is all you need." 

like the beatles song {i've been listening to this vitamin string quartet version}

i was playing around with the title and created a new header. although i'm not changing the name of my blog, i decided to keep the header! 

i have to admit, i'm pretty proud of it. 

my amazing parents gave me the new photoshop software this year for christmas {thanks mom & dad!}, but i haven't figured it out yet! i had to learn photoshop in high school, but this version has so many crazy features, i'm lost. i have, however, found a free photo editor online called gimp that is similar to that earlier version of photoshop that i learned in high school. so that's what i used to create my new header.

maybe after the wedding when i have a little more free time, i'll take a photoshop class and figure it all out!

blog identity dilemma.

{*}

i know i have a few friends out there that speak french. if you are reading this, i need your help.
back in october, when i started this blog, i wanted to name it love, lacey. but that was taken.
i like french. it sounds so romantic. so i thought i'd say love, lacey in french.
well, i don't speak french, so i did a little google search and up comes mille baisers which i think translates to lots of kisses.

today, just being a little curious, i googled mille baisers and some not-so-good slang translations of what that means came up. i won't repeat it. but, if your curious, you can google it. trust me, though - its not pretty.

so, if you speak french please tell me if the title of my blog is horribly offensive! i'm thinking about changing it either way, but i can't think of anything creative right now!

at least i know what faux pas means. i think...

take me out to the ball game. and joe t's. and pete's piano bar.

whhewww... what a fun Saturday!

nick and i met up with some friends at a TCU Baseball Game. TCU lost, but I honestly wasn't even watching the game. Just chatting away... enjoying the nice weather and company.

then, we all met up with even more people at Joe T's, an awesome Mexican restaurant in fort worth, where nick and I are having our Rehearsal Dinner. there were 20 people in our party! the crazy thing about this restaurant is that you can't make reservations, they don't accept credit cards, and there are only 2 things on the menu. enchiladas or fajitas.

And, check out this line... we stood in line for an hour, but the atmosphere, food and margaritas are definitely worth the wait!

and you can drink margaritas while you're waiting in line, too. which helps to pass the time! :)

after dinner, we headed downtown for some rowdy fun at Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. I hadn't been there since college. i loooove piano bars... everyone requesting songs and singing along.

alright, these party animals are ready to go home! :)

i wooonnnn!

Can you believe it?

I won 1st place in a poster presentation at work today! :)

picture i took at the hospital today after they announced i won.
{just kidding its from wehearit}

There were 21 posters total, 9 in my category {evidence based practice}... and I WON!

the judges were the president of the hospital, the chief operating officer, and the chief nursing officer. 

go me!

tonight, i'm celebrating with wine, a stromboli, roasted vegetables, my love, and a movie! 

i knew it was going to be a great day.

stop and smell the latte.

good mooorning, everyone!

today is going to be a good day. i can just feel it.

{hope you feel it, too.}

i have a poster presentation at work today... basically i did a process improvement-type project, created a gigantic poster with all my data, and now i'm competing against other people at the hospital for the best poster. because it's nurses week, there's no way i'm going to win, but I'm still excited to present it.

oh yeah, and it's FRIDAY.

my smart body.

the last couple of days i've been craving fruit and veggies.

mangos, strawberries, blueberries, pears, tangerines, a smoothie, spinach, salads, asparagus, broccoli, even brussels sprouts! i need to get to the grocery store. or farmer's market.

i think its because i haven't been getting my 5 servings of fruit and veggies in a day like I should.

aren't our bodies so smart? well at least mine is.

{photos from weheartit, of course}

on my way to the airport to pick up this handsome man.

 can't wait to give him a bear hug and a big smooch!

i love love love him.

let's check that one off the list.

last wednesday and thursday i met with lucia, my wedding planner.

i was in a very decisive mood.

i decided on the {basic} table layout for the reception including food, bar, head table, cocktail tables etc. check.

i decided on this awesome videographer. check.

i decided a DJ. really looking forward to DANCING at the wedding. check.

i decided to make our great escape {around the block} in a horse-drawn carriage. check.

we are staying at the hotel where the reception is... so we'll have this big send-off, drive around downtown fort worth for a bit, then we'll head back to the hotel and hope we don't run into anyone! :)

i decided on a more specific color palette. check.

and when i say i decided i really mean we decided. nick has been playing a very big role in all of the decisions. seriously. but, i'm the one communicating with the planner...

ohhh, and i also met with another florist. still waiting to get to estimate back from her, but i think she'll be great.

flower market, seattle, washington.

still to do:

pick our wedding rings

meet with our sponsor couple for marriage prep

ummm..... and a thousand other things i don't feel like typing. haha.

{by the way that picture has nothing to do with this post, but i like it.}

tuesday night present progressive verbs.

daydreaming about hawaii.

regretting the third slice of pizza i had for dinner.

watching glee. is it just me, or was the first season so much better?

contemplating the next four months.

drinking fresca. but ready for some cold ice water.

missing nicholas. he'll be back tomorrow!

pining for a new summer wardrobe from anthropologie.

appreciating everything and everyone in my life that i love.

listening to the cars drive by below my balcony. not the most relaxing sound, but i love the breeze. 

delighting in that good yawn i just got out!

wishing everyone a good night.

hoping your week is splendid.

{photo via weheartit}

i would love to be in cannes, france for the film festival.

 the cannes international film festival begins tomorrow.

although i was lucky enough to visit the beach and red carpet in cannes in july, 2008, it was a couple months after the city was glittered with movie stars. 

i remember sitting on that beach after the sunset, eating McDonald's. 

yes, i know, why go all the way to france and eat McDonald's? 

well, i had one of the WORST meals in cannes. 

i noticed on several menus that some of the pizzas had an egg on them. well, i thought it give it a try. so i ordered a pizza with sausage, an egg, onions, and a few other things. bad idea. the sausage wasn't crumbly italian sausage like i was used to, but instead several whole links of greasy, middle eastern flavored sausage still in the casing. the egg wasn't bad, but the pizza was ruined. it was my fault, i ordered it, but I still couldn't eat it. so instead of taking another chance on something else, i went with a safe cheeseburger and french fries. 

{at least the fries were french, ha.}

beautiful los gatos.

i'm back from california!

i flew into DFW last night around 11:30 - texas time.

i wish i could have woken up this morning on california time, still. 8:30 am, rather than 6:30 am.

we stayed in los gatos, ca at the most beautiful hotel, which was walking distance from downtown los gatos. the downtown area was so cool! i felt as if i had discovered a rare gem.  

i love that everyone was out and about, awesome stores and markets, great food and so dog friendly! all of the shops kept water bowls outside their stoop for the pups.

which is kind of ironic, because the name los gatos means the cats in spanish. :)

i wish i had some pictures of the downtown area, surrounded by gorgeous {mulit-million dollar} homes and breathtaking gardens. {there may be a few on nick's iphone, but he's still in cali until wednesday.}

i am still in awe of how gorgeous all the flowers were!

and the weather was just amazing. a little chilly at night, but heavenly during the day.

i swear the flowers are on steroids. i have never ever seen roses that big. just beautiful.

can't wait for nicholas to come home though!

its tough being apart.

los gatos bound.

guess what?! nick and i are flying to california tomorrow!

he has a work meeting there next week, so we decided to fly up early and play.

i can't wait. {other than the fact that my flight is at 7am.} 

we are staying here in los gatos, near san jose.

and we have dinner reservations here.

i'm ready to enjoy the warm days and cool nights. and see the mountains! :)

{photo via weheartit}

a day at grapevine lake. engagement shoot part 2.

after we left downtown grapevine, we headed over to grapevine lake for a change of scenery.

if i had to choose one favorite picture {which is nearly impossible},

i think it would be the first picture.

it is just so serene and tender.