Surprise Date Night!

Mike had left for work yesterday morning after making sure that I knew to be dressed and ready at 6:30pm when he got home from work. It was date night. He gave me no heads up on what we were doing or where we were going, or even what to wear. He just said be ready and I'll see you then. I spent the day working on designs and responding to emails before finally finding the motivation to get up, get ready, and get dressed. I opted for a caramel floral dress, grey cardi, my brown waffleweave jeffrey campbell litas, and my new (huge!) Betsey Johnson bag. I was ready. 

I was going through my email when I heard a knock at the door. The girls got all excited and were barking like mad. I picked up Pip (she'll dart down the hall!) and went to open the door. All I could think was "Who is knocking at 6pm on a Sunday?!" I opened the door to find the most dapper fella standing on the other side. Grey blazer, white dress shirt, hat, dark jeans and even some brown loafers. And he had roses in his hand! Eep! He said he was here to pick me up for our date. I die! Maybe I'm biased but my heart melted and I felt like that was the sweetest thing ever! I mean, he knocked!! At our own house! Love!

I grabbed my purse, gave him a kiss and off we went! He said the dinner plans had been foiled as the restaurant he had planned on taking me to was closed on Sunday. Instead we opted for a little sit-down restaurant in Mt. Juliet on our way East. He never let on to what we were doing but about an hour later we are driving in the middle of absolutely nowhere and I start to get an idea. I didn't share the idea because I thought he'd think it was silly if I were wrong, but sure enough we pull into a sweet little drive-in theater! Double feature, please! We settled in to watch Harry Potter (so good!) and Horrible Bosses (so funny!). 

He had planned it all on his own and best of all, he kept it a secret! I have a tendency to figure out what he's scheming so I tried really hard not to this time around! It was such a wonderful date and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world!

Isn't he the best?! xo

PS; I had to do the picture below to assure people that we hadn't just gotten engaged! I guess the 2nd picture up there hints of it but I'm assuming these people weren't aware that we got engaged in March! hehe That picture is the lock screen on my iPhone! I love it (thanks to Susannah and Chris for snapping it!)

PPS; I feel bad for basically begging for votes but I had a look-see through the AE rules and prizes and get this... If I'm in first place tomorrow at midnight then I'm automatically in the final 4. If I win the final round then I'll get $3,000 to put toward my small business dreams! AKA my mobile shoppe! AKA I wanna come visit you with it! This would mean I wouldn't have to take out a small business loan! It could speed things up like no other... so with that, I beg of you.. please throw a vote or two my way! If you could share it with your friends I'd be infinitely grateful! I don't even care about the campaign part... not having to rely on my credit or anyone else for funds to start my business would be amazing! Here are my three entries: ONE // TWO // THREE! (If you go to the LCH Facebook page, you can just click "SHARE" underneath the post and share with your friends! <3)

FroYo Dates are the Best Dates

Froyo dates with my mister are some of the very best dates of all! xo
(I actually don't really like froyo... but the sorbet is deelish! and I may fill mine with gummy bears like I'm 5 years old, but that's okay!)

Mike's Photos

Mike took some photos of one of our neighbors the other night. We moved our thrifted couch out into the brick hallway and then went upstairs for some shots, too. You can't really tell in these photos but it was easily 100 degrees upstairs inside! Derek was such a good sport and I'm really proud of Mike! You can check out some more of the photos on his blog! Go tell him he's fantastic! ;)

PS; That standing bass' name is Rhonda. Isn't that fab? She even has her own Facebook page! I'm glad to know someone else names their instruments/tech gadgets/cars. Do you have names for any of your favorite pieces?! (My iMac is Martha, my MacBook Pro is Francois, and my Xterra is Meg... which is short for Megalodon, the largest shark to ever grace the ocean!)

In Nashville? Want Your Picture Taken?!

Got yourself a cute fiance/husband/boyfriend? Want some snazzy photos of you taken together? Are you a mom with an adorable family? Want some family portraits? How about just a regular ol' guy or gal who wouldn't mind some professional photographs to use online? Mike is now booking FREE portrait sessions through part of June! He's looking to fill out his portfolio, achieve a certain aesthetic, and do what he loves to do most... photograph people!

I'm so very lucky to live with someone so talented and driven. His passion is photography and that is undeniable. He's motivated and determined to make it his life career and I am behind him 100%! He takes all of my photos for this little blog so you should be familiar with his work! The above pictures are of Miss Susannah Bean and her beau, Chris! Two of our very favorite people in the whole wide world!

Maybe you're on a shoestring budget and can't afford engagement photos? Whatever the case may be, we'd love to work with you! (I say we because I'd obviously be there... as his "assistant"... toting around bags and gear! haha) If you live in Nashville/Franklin/Clarksville, etc, or anywhere (as long as you can travel to Nashville) then email me and let's set something up! We're willing to travel within 20 miles of Nashville if the location is that great. Mike loves to shoot outdoors, on location, with interesting backdrops.

If you take part then you will receive a .zip folder with the edited images after the shoot and you can use them online, have them printed at Walgreens, or whatever! If you're interested, please email me at kaelahbee@gmail.com with the subject line: "Photoshoot!"We can discuss when and where, and props, too! It'll be fun, I promise! xo

PS; The winner of the $50 Urban Outfitters giftcard is: Brandy Nicole! Congrats! I'll be in touch! xo

Happy Birthday, Mister Flynn!

Today is my mister's birthday! I'm so very very lucky to have him and I can't wait to spend the whole day with him, spoiling him with "back tickles" and lovely treats. He's for sure my Prince Charming! 

Happy Birthday, Mike! I love you! xo

A Date Day and Thrifting!

Date days are my favorite! Sweet treats like froyo and sortbet. Hours of sifting through thrifted finds. and lovely company to spend it with!

How's your weekend shaping up so far?

PS; Anyone need a "scraf" or two? ;)

Wedding Wednesday! Mike's View!

I'm excited to open up the blog today to my mister, Mike! At the suggestion of someone in my FormSpring we thought it'd be awesome to let him talk about the whole proposal deal himself! And share pictures of the ring! I know Mike's had some reservations before about the ring.. it's very unique and non-traditional. To me, it's absolutely perfect! Everything about it fits into our relationship and our story. Every time I look at it I'm reminded that our relationship with each other is unique, one of a kind, and completely hand crafted to fit our lifestyle. Fate! I think it's amazing and while I know I may be biased, I hope you see what I mean!

Hello, this is Mike. Hopefully everyone knows who I am. Otherwise this post isn't going to make much sense. Kaelah received a question in her Formspring stating that it would be interesting for me to write a Wedding Wednesday post to hear what I have to say on the matter of our engagement and soon(ish) to come marriage. Despite my initial feeling of, "why in the world does this person want to hear anything I have to say", I was excited. (apparently so was Kaelah) So to that person, thank you for inviting me to "speak" with you about this. To everyone else who clicked on this post unknowingly subjecting themselves to my raving, I'm sorry. Now without further delay, let's talk about feelings and stuff. 

Oh, everyone wants to know about the ring. Everyone that hasn't met the fiance yet is still more interested in meeting the ring. Maybe for this segment of the post I'll just stand awkwardly off to the side as to not hinder your view of The Ring. I know Kaelah has mentioned already that her ring is made from a natural, uncut diamond and hand hammered gold. Definitely an untraditional choice for an engagement ring. I have to admit this scared me at first. Kaelah and I had spent a few afternoons ring shopping. We went to jewelry stores and looked at more traditional rings, but we also found an artist that designed this natural hand made one-of-a kind rings. I could definitely tell Kaelah was drawn towards them. When I first saw them I was in love. I thought they were unique. I went back and forth for a while between the traditional and the untraditional. The one thought I kept having was what were other people going to think of her ring (and the ring giver) if she had something so uncommon like the hand made ones? That's when it hit me, it wasn't for them, it was for us. 

Now that there was a ring, there needed to be a place. This question drove me crazy. Where do you ask her to marry you? I had nothing. I wanted people to witness the event and hopefully get some pictures (which they did), but I didn't want to do it somewhere that wasn't personal. Just a few people that really mattered. Then I had an idea. What if I propose on our trip to Wilmington? This place is special to us, there are beautiful spots all around the city (like a river with a beautiful little section along it sprinkled with blossoming bradford pear trees and illuminated with twinkle lights. You get the idea...) and there will be important people to share the moment with. Done. 

Leading up to the big question my mind was just a mess. On one had, I was really excited. On the other hand, I was way too nervous for any one person to be. On the other hand (I know, too many hands, but I'm making a point here) I couldn't determine whether or not it was really. Was I really about to ask her to marry me on this trip? I talked to both her parents and my parents about it before we hit the road. Kaelah said she would call our parents to make sure I talked to them about it before she said yes. She didn't by the way (Kaelah's note: "But I did ask!!!"). That would have really killed the mood. I also talked to Chris and Susannah about it at a rest stop just after we made it into North Carolina. They were excited. That's when I told Susannah to arm herself with a camera at all times. 

Well, day three into the trip and I still hadn't done it. I kept telling myself I just hadn't found the right time. It was better than telling myself I had no idea what I was doing and that I was just plain way too scared do it. The four of us were out having a good time on Saturday night checking out a few spots around town when I asked Chris for his advice. He told me he had no idea either. Great. I told him I was trying to come up with a good plan, that's when he told me trying to come up with an elaborate plan was a bad idea. Ok, I'm listening... He went on to tell me that Kaelah would unravel my plan about a quarter of the way through it. Thus making it less special. Yeah, that seems about right. She always knows what I'm doing way before I'm even aware. We decided that the element of surprise was my only hope. Well good, because I managed to surprise us both. 

Here's the surprise, I had no idea I was even doing it until about two minutes before I actually did it. We left one of our little hang out spots on saturday night and were walking down town. Chris and Susannah were walking a little ahead of us. Kaelah and I lingered behind having our own little conversation. I think she was telling me I was annoying. As we were walking down a side walk that runs perpendicular to the river that's when I saw it. The Spot, to go along with The Ring and The Girl...and oh, yeah, The Fiance. There it was, twinkle lights glowing like a beacon of hope, saying: "Go ahead Mike, you can do this." I grabbed Kaelah's hand and asked her to cross the street with me. Now, with my heart working over time I held her hands I told her that I wanted to be able to annoy her every day for the rest of our lives. I told her that I loved her and that I wanted to be with her forever. I fumbled to pull out the ring out of my pocket. I think she started to realize what was going on then. I got down on one knee, (about the time Chris says "he's doing it, he's doing it, get the camera.") and I asked her to marry me. To which she said, "Really? Really? No.. Really?" I reminded her that she should probably say yes at that point. So what does she do? She cries. A lot. Then, finally, she says yes. I did it. 

Oh, future, what is it that you hold for us. Well, when I asked Kaelah to marry me I told her that I wanted a life with her wherever we decided to settle down. We still haven't quite figured out where that might be. All I know is that involves Kaelah opening a store somewhere, me taking a lot pictures, fat dogs and eventually, cute little babies. That's a pretty rough out line of the future. I know it involves the two of us for a long time to come. As far as the wedding goes, if you've been reading Kaelah's blog for a while you've seen beautiful weddings (which you have gotten me in place of today. Again, I'm sorry.) Our wedding is going to be all of that and more. I'm just going to leave most of that stuff to Kaelah. She'll be better at it anyway. 

And now... the ring! (Excuse the dirty nails! Oops! Probably shouldn't have even mentioned it!)