Jessica and Jake

Jessica and Jake

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Bachelorette Bash in KC

Katie and Leah threw the BEST bachelorette party E-V-E-R in Kansas City August 19 - 21!!!! I have the most AMAZING friends!!! Thank you all sooo much for coming out and celebrating my final fling!! They all definitely know how to make a girl feel special. :)

Day 1:
Katie and I started our drive to Kansas City, bright and early. We planned it perfectly to pick Malina up from the airport since she was flying in from Dallas.We checked into our hotel, which was located in The Plaza in Kansas City. There's so many great restaurants and shopping down there! And it's such a beautiful part of KC. We walked down to Kona Grill to meet all the girls and enjoy happy hour. Leah had just gotten off work, so it was perfect timing! What a great way to start the weekend!!

So happy to be with my fabulous friends celebrating my "Last Fling Before The Ring"

Leslie and Kristin joined us after they were done enjoying some Plaza shopping. Cara went to her sister-in-law's house to pick up her beautiful and sweet baby girl Emery Lynn...who was almost one at the time and I had yet to meet. Luckily for me, Cara is so sweet and endured bringing EL to happy hour so I could officially meet my beautiful "niece." I have loved her since the day Cara had her and was so happy that I finally got a chance to see just how beautiful she is ~ the weekly pictures Cara sends me just do not do her justice.

Sweet EL ~ She does not look happy to be with Aunt Jessica. Ha!
 We went to Brio Italian Restaurant for happy hour and dinner. It was delicious!! I think they had the best lasagna that I've ever had. After dinner we went to a local pub for some dancing. It was a blast!! Unfortunately, I rolled my ankle at the pub before we even ordered a drink. Good thing I didn't let it stop me from dancing the night away with my girls! :)
Love you all so much!! Thank you for being part of such a fabulous weekend!!
The hostesses with the mostest ~ Katie and Leah!!!
Day 2:
Katie, Malina and I woke up early Saturday morning to get some Starbucks and walk around The Plaza. It was a beautiful, cool morning ~ perfect for walking and enjoying the scenery. We got back to the hotel to get ready for lunch and the Boulevard Brewery Tour. What a great way to spend the afternoon! I even ventured out to try some new beer and found out I really like Boulevard's Tank 7. I've got to find some here in Fayetteville.
Even Kansas City supports the Razorbacks ;)



After Boulevard Brewery Tour, we got cleaned up and got ready for the wild and crazy bachelorette bash. We went to Leah, Kristin and Ann's house for the Lingerie Party. Everyone chipped in to rent a party bus to take us down to the Power and Light District for dinner. We ate at Maker's Mark Bourbon House for dinner and it was the best steak I've ever had. Then on to party in the Power and Lights District. Such a great restaurant and great location!! We had our own private dining area as well as our own private patio. It was such a perfect dinner and night! So much fun!! Like I said earlier, these ladies definitely know how to make a girl feel special!! I am one lucky girl!!!

The party bus!!!



Thank you all so very much for such a wonderful weekend!! It was such a fun weekend! I could not have asked for a better time! You all made it perfect and I am so blessed to have such great friends! I love you all so much!!! xoxo

Thursday, August 11, 2011

So In Love

Back at the end of April, Jake and I took our engagement pictures and now that there's less than a month to go before our big day, I think it's time for me to share them with you. Jeremy Cavness did an AMAZING job!!! We are so fortunate that he captured so many great pictures of us!! Here are some of my favorites!!


 








Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Wedding Wednesday

I cannot believe that we are getting married in 72 days! I am so ready! So, I've been really bad at keeping up wth my blog. Things are just so crazy busy, and I know it's all about to get busier. I wanted to take a little bit of time and recap what has happened in the last couple of months.

We have decided on our florist. ZuZu's Petals! My Mom and I are soooo happy with them. They are going to make our vision come to life and I cannot wait to see it. The only hint I'm going to give is that we are only using white flowers...everything else has to wait until September.

We ordered and received our invitations. They are perfect!! They go with our "whimsical" theme so well! Thank you so much Wedding Paper Divas for designing and printing beautiful invitations. Again, I don't want to give too many details because I still want the element of surprise for you all come September. Hopefully this just makes everyone more excited about celebrating with us.

We finally received the proofs of our engagement pictures. They are absolutely AMAZING!!!! Thank you SO MUCH Jeremy Cavness for your creativity and great eye for capturing those special moments!! Unfortunately, I don't have the hard copies of them yet, so I'm not able to share any of them on the Blog or Facebook. Don't worry, because I cannot wait to share them. I hope you all like them just as much as we do. :)

On a different wedding note...two dear friends of mine got married in June. It has been so fun to go through this process together. My dear friend Alex married her prince charming June 4th. Congratulations Alex and Will!! They had a private ceremony, then escaped to a fabulous honeymoon in the Bahamas. When they got back, they had a big celebration at the lake. So much fun!! It was absolutely a perfect way to celebrate the two of them!! My great friend Leslie, married her best friend June 18th. I am so happy for Leslie and Brice!! Their wedding was absolutely beautiful!!! Leslie was stunning!!!!!! And it was a blast!! They just got back from their fabulous honeymoon in Dominican Republic. I cannot wait to get together with her and hear all about their wonderful time!!
Crandall (left), Alex (beautiful bride on the left) and me at Alex and Will's Lake Party Celebration
Me, Leah, Leslie (beautiful bride), Kristin and Cara at Leslie's reception. That is a fan in my hand - the reception was outside and it was hot!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

4 Months and Counting!

Wow! I cannot believe that four months from today, I will marry my best friend and become a Mrs. It's wild to think that nine months ago I was looking at what I thought was going to be a looong, thirteen month engagement. Well, everyone was right...the time has flown by!

Jake and I took our engagement pictures at the end of April. We went all around Fayetteville's Square and on the University of Arkansas campus. Our photographer, Jeremy Cavness, is amazing!! We all had such a fun time. I was somewhat nervous that Jake wouldn't really come out of his shell for the pictures, but he really impressed me. He even had a few ideas that we took advantage of. Let me just say, there was a lot of laughter! I can't wait to see them and share them!

We have finally decided on a caterer. Drum roll please...Kruton's Catering! Thank you so much Leslie for telling me about them! Jennifer (Kruton's) has planned the perfect meal for our big day ~ a nice southern meal. She's even going to do our cakes! Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Ha! Jake and I are very happy with them and we hope everyone else will be too!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy Birthday to Us!

What a crazy month April has been! I am realizing that I am not as good as keeping up with this blog as I want to be, but I promise I'll get better...So April always starts out with a bang. I celebrated my 28th birhday and Jake celebrated the big 30th! We had such wonderful birthdays and are so lucky that we were able to celebrate them with our families!

To start things off, the evening of my birthday, April 8th, we went to George's Majestic Lounge for happy hour to listen to Red Ambition Band. I think Jake and I were the youngest couple there. Ha! Red Ambition is playing at our reception and let me tell you, they were great! Everyone, bring your dancing shoes because we're going to dance all night long! After George's we met up with a few friends at Ferrell's, then walked down to the Wine Cellar to listen to one of our good friends play an accoustic set. What a great way to celebrate! The next morning, my parents picked us up around 8:00 and we headed to Hot Springs to enjoy the horse races. It was a beautiful day and couldn't have been more perfect! We had a wonderful time! That Sunday, we went to my Grandmommy's house to do even more celebrating with my family.
Monday, the 11th was Jake's big, special birthday ~ his 30th! We had a low key night, celebrating his special day, just the two of us. His family was able to come into town the following weekend. They got in late Friday night, so we really didn't do much, just drank some wine and visited. I can't believe it, but us "kids" lost track of time and stayed up till around 3:00 catching up. Saturday, we went down to campus and Dickson St. We walked around, looked in some shops and grabbed some lunch at Jose's Streetside. We went to the Razorback baseball game Saturday night. We played Mississippi State and pulled off a win. After the game, we went back to our house and I surprised Jake with a cake ~ I mean, what kind of a fiancee would I be if I didn't get Jake a special 30th birthday cake? It was red velvet, delicious, and definitely a surprise for Jake! It was a great way to end an already great day!

Thank you to everyone who helped make our special days truly special and memorable!! We are so very blessed and I know this is one birthday we will never forget!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Napa Valley

I went to Napa at the end of March to celebrate my friend Leslie at her bachelorette party! Her maid of honor, Kristin, planned such a wonderful trip! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of it. It was such a fun time and a great experience!

We all flew in to Sacramento on Friday, March 25, 2001 and arrived around 12:00 - 12:30. Once we got our rental cars, we drove to our first stop and winery of the trip, Dommaine Chandon. It was such a great way to start! The area was absolutely beautiful! We tasted a few wines and enjoyed a nice lunch. Then we checked into the hotel, Westin Napa. Once everyone got settled and freshened up, we surprised Leslie with a Brooch Party. She said she was going to have her wedding cake decorated with brooches, so we all thought it was a great idea to get her one. We finished our first night by going to a restaurant and bar called Bounty Hunter. It was some great bbq and the best bear can chicken we've ever had.

Saturday morning, March 26, we started our tour of three wineries. Our first stop was Alpha Omega. We had our tasting in their private room. It was so neat and special and they really knew how to make us feel like VIPs. The next winery we visited was Sodaro Estate Winery. This one was my favorite! The grounds were absolutely gorgeous! We got a tour of the wine cave, where we enjoyed a tasting in our own private room and lunch. We were the only people at the winery and that made it feel so personal and intimate. Our last stop was Rutherford Hill Winery. We arrived a tad late, and had to rush through our tour since they were getting ready to close. We still had a good time and learned a lot about wine and Napa Valley. We even stumbled across some wild turkeys on the property.
Alpha Omega Winery
Sodaro Estate Winery
Rutherford Hill Winery

Saturday evening was Leslie typical bachelorette party. We had her lingerie shower, then hit the town. We had dinner at Iron Chef Morimoto's Restaurant. It was delicious!! Then we went to the lounge area to party. We ended our night (or should I say morning?) back at the hotel bar for a few more laughs. What a fun way to end the day!


 Dinner at Morimoto's

Sunday, March 26, we spent our morning relaxing at Estate Cave Spa Terra. It was so relaxing and a great way to start another fun day!! We were greated with champagne and told to enjoy ourselves, since we were welcome at the spa all day. We definitely didn't want to leave, but we still had the rest of the day ahead of us. We went to Gotts for lunch. Let me just say, it was the best hamburger, fries, shake combo I have ever had! We walked next door to the downtown market and got everything we could think of to have our own wine tasting: wine, cheese, dried berries, salami, and bread. We set everything up in our hotel room and enjoyed the afternoon, drinking, eating, reminiscing, and dancing. I think this ended up being almost everyone's favorite part of the trip. It's hard to beat fun times with your girlfriends! We decided our snacks were cutting it and it was time to have some dinner at our hotel's restaurant. It was our last dinner all together. We celebrated the fabulous trip we were all happy and blessed to be a part of and toasted Leslie!! This is one trip to remember!!!

Our wine tasting in our hotel room 

 Celebrating Leslie and our last night in Napa


Thursday, February 24, 2011

Best.Delivery.Ever!!!

My wedding dress came today!! I got a call last Friday that my dress had come in and that they would ship it and my shoes on Tuesday. I am so happy that theycame today!! I headed straight to my parents' after work so I could try them on. I am so happy!! It needs a couple adjustments, but it's going to be perfect!!!



Monday, January 31, 2011

A 90th Birthday Celebration!

My Grandma turned 90 on Friday!! Our whole family came together for her celebration. It was so wonderful!! What a special moment to be a part of. Grandma was able to see nieces, nephews and friends she hasn't seen in so long. I think she really enjoyed herself this weekend. :)

It was also nice for us because we don't get up to the farm as often as we'd like. This was the first time we have seen everyone since last May. It was great!! Jake came with us and this was his first time up to the farm. He survived and I think he even enjoyed himnself a bit. Ha!

I'm so happy I was able to be with so many people I love this weekend! Here a few pics from our trip. Enjoy!

"Happy Birthday to you!!" ~ "To me?!" Birthday Cake #1


Grandma with all the Blaske cousins, except Chad ~ that's supposed to be him on that plate. Haha!

Grandma with all of the first and second cousins, except Chad and Alissa

Grandma with Birthday Cake #2




Thursday, January 27, 2011

Our Engagement Story

Jake and I got engaged on August 6, 2010. I had no idea when I woke up that morning that it was going to be such a special and memorable day, and one I will never forget.

Jake's parents own a vacation home in Harbor Springs, MI. It is beautiful up there! We go up there in early August so that we can vacation with all of Jake's family - his parents, his brother Josh, and Josh's girlfriend, Malina. It has become our annual vacation and it is always such a wonderful time!!

Jake's family loves to golf, so they live on a golf course, just outside of Harbor. There are three courses of nine holes each. Malina and I don't golf, but we are learning. The only time the four of us were able to go play nine holes was on Jake and my last day there. We were going to play golf that morning, eat lunch, pack and start day one of our trip back home (we drive so we can bring our pups). Little did I know that my life was about to change.

About to go play The Birches - my golf pose

on the course

We made it to the 9th hole of our course, The Birches. Jake's parents were waiting on us because we were going to eat lunch at the club house after we were finished. We all finished up, took a couple pictures and headed back to our golf carts. I put my club up and sat behind the driver's seat of the cart. I was getting impatient because Jake was taking for-ev-er!! I just kept thinking of how much there was to do before we hit the road and made it to our first stop, about six hours away.

9th hole of The Birches

The next thing I noticed was Jake standing in front of me. I remember thinking, "What in the world is he doing? Get in the cart. We've got to go meet his parents for lunch." The next thing I knew, Jake was slowly getting onto his knee. He pulled out a box. Before he could even say anything, I looked over at Malina and Josh in the next cart and said, "Is this for real?!" I couldn't believe it. I looked back at Jake and he told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him. Of course I said YES! I cannot wait to start our family and spend the rest of my life with him! On September 10, 2011, my dream will come true!


This pic makes me laugh. Jake had just finished asking me "the question" and had gotten up. He handed me the ring box (in my right hand), and I had just handed him my golf ball (in his right hand). It makes us laugh because it looks like Jake is proposing with a golf ball. :)

I said YES!!!

enjoying some alone time

We're ENGAGED!!

Celebrating with Jake's family!
Harbor Springs, MI

Birchwood Farms
August 6, 2010

Celebrating with my family when we got home!
Fayetteville, AR