{ Halloween 2010 :: Bieber Fever }

While my costume this year was nothing to write home about (I found a sailor hat 2 minutes before we walked out the door and threw it on with a striped navy shirt...woop-di-doo!) my roommate Kiele on the other hand hit the jackpot with this one.

Seriously, how many girls do you know that could pull off JUSTIN BIEBER!!! I was so obsessed with her costume that on the way home from our neighborhood Halloween Party Saturday night I decided that he, I mean she (this is so confusing!) needed a photo shoot with the Benz. This one was my favorite of the night. I call it Bieber and the Benz. Beiber Fever anyone?

I'll probably post some more pictures later of the rest of the roomies and I, but I just thought this one deserved it's own post. HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!

{ Design By Aubrey :: Wedding Update }

Last weekend I designed some gorgeous wedding flowers for my dear friend Tiffany and her now husband, Brian. I absolutely LOVE the way these blooms came together to create a completely unique and organic look. Some of my favorite arrangements to date! To see more from this wedding click HERE!

{ Diary of a Designer :: Blog Lift }

The blog got a face lift! And if you're like me and read most of your friend's posts on Google Reader, you'll have to click on over to check it out. I did it all by myself. Isn't she pretty? I think I'll keep her for awhile.

{ The Mormon Bachelorette :: Season Finale }

The Mormon Bachelorette is over and I survived...barely! For the last 8 days I've been fighting off a sore throat, fever, headaches, and a nasty cough. Lucky for me it hasn't stopped my adorable boyfriend from spending as much time as possible together. Oh yeah, that's right, I have a boyfriend! Meet Matt Laidlaw in all his 6'6", blonde hair, green eyed glory. I swoon!

I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have such a happy ending to this little adventure my friends and I began just 2 short months ago. If you would have asked me then if I saw this marvelously happy ending now, I would have been quite skeptical. But here I am, blissfully happy and ready to fall in "true Mormon love" with the cutest guy I've ever known...and he's blonde! Maybe that's where I went wrong all those years. ;)

I'm just so amazed at how great life is and how the Lord has his hand in everything we do. Am I saying the Lord had a hand in TMB? Yeah, I guess I am, because I can assure you that if He didn't, I would have quit weeks ago. Not only was it exhausting physically and mentally, but it really took a toll on my emotions!

It was almost excruciating to endure the ridicule that came at me daily. And not only from complete strangers, but from my very own friends, and even ward members. Initially I was shocked, but I guess I need to realize that not everyone is going to support such a radical idea. Lucky for me, it all worked out in the end. And while the haters continue to hate, I'm too busy falling head over heels for my man, Matt, to even notice!

{ The Wedding Day :: Paul & Brittany }

{ MORMON BACHELORETTE UPDATE: The dates are going great! I've never been happier and more exhausted in my ENTIRE life! The 2nd dates start Friday night so be sure to cast your vote this Thursday for your favorite Bachelor to continue onto the second round. We now resume to our scheduled posting.... }

Back in August I had the rare privilege of helping my dear High School friend Brittany prepare for the most important day of her life. No, not the day she finally discovered makeup (although I was there for that day too!) but her wedding day to the love of her life, Paul Jepson. It was my pleasure to help make the beauty of her day come alive as one of her day-of coordinators and bring the vision they had so carefully and creatively designed, come to life!

Everything you see was all beautifully hand painted, hand sewn, and hand sculpted by the bride and her loving mother and sister, and then I lovingly spend the day putting everything together at the venue. While the hours were long, they were filled with so much visual stimulation and excitement for Brittany to come in and discover the most beautiful garden wedding wonderland. It really was a perfect day! I'm so grateful I could be even a small part of it. Congratulations again Paul & Brittany. I love you both with all my heart and can't wait to plan my trip to Denmark next year. Hope you like house guests! :)

Take a moment to check out some gorgeous photos of their wedding day featured on the blog 100 Layer Cake. I love everything about it! So fun, whimsical, and so Brittany!

{ MB Mocktail Kick Off Party }

What better way to set this things in motion than with a Mocktail Party with all your closest friends! Last night was such a blast.

Before the festivities began, the Staffers and I were pampered with hair and makeup from the girls at Lake Forest Beauty School. it was seriously such a treat. It was so fun getting reading with all my besties. I never went to any of my High School Proms but I imagine that this is what it would've felt like. So fun!

The guests arrived around 8pm and enjoyed "mocktails" and hors d'oeuvres while mingling around the fireside. So classy! I love any excuse to get all dolled up!

The rest of the night was filled with meeting some of the bachelors, impromptu toasts, and dancing with friends! It was an absolutely fabulous evening and now more than ever, I think we're ready to get on with the dates! Speaking of...I better run. Date #1 will be knocking at my door in 2 hours! While I'm out, check out our Mocktail Party video on the blog by clicking HERE. Ok, I'm off. Wish me luck!

{ Summer Vacation :: North Shore, Oahu }

Alooooha!!! We're home! And I probably should've blogged about how wonderful and relaxing this trip was before I exhausted myself with the preparations for The Mormon Bachelorette. Starts tonight people!!! But we'll save that for another post...

Our Hawaiian vacation was absolutely perfect! The whole fam was there, we stayed in an absolutely gorgeous private condo in Turtle Bay, the little sis and I went running every morning so we could pig out on Ted's famous Chocolate Haupia pies every night, swam with sea turtles (twice!), ate way to much Shave Ice, basked in the sun til we were golden brown, enjoyed the most delicious Thai food, tried a SUP for the first time, did a little surfing, made sand castles with Little D, helped my bro buy the essentials for school: a surfboard and a scooter, and LOVED every minute of it!









This was just a sampling of how much fun we had on the North Shore. The rest of the pics are up on Facebook if you care to see more. It really was the most wonderful family vacation. I hope we get to go back to "pick him up" before he leaves for a mission sometime next spring!

{ Brigham Young University - Hawaii }

This morning I'm hopping on a flight with the rest of my fam to drop my baby brother Scott off at college...in Hawaii! He's seriously gonna love it there!!!

I had the awesome opportunity to attend BYU-Hawaii after my freshman year of college and loved every minute of it! I still remember riding my longboard to school each morning, stopping by the local fruit stand for some fresh pineapple, then heading home to the A-Frame at the end of Pounders to study, surf a few sets, and fall asleep in the sand.

Oh to be 18 again! My little brother's gonna have such a blast! And so are we. See you all in a week!!! Then "D-Day" begins. Oh boy.

{ Lake Mohave :: Amphibious Car }

Have you ever seen such a thing? The style. The grace. I think I'm in love.



Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you all enjoy your day off. I know I will.

{ Photoshoot :: Baby Max }

Okay, I know this is going to make my little nephew Dallen so jealous, but I just can't help myself. How cute is this baby? My roommate's adorable nephew Max came to town this weekend and she asked if I would take a few pictures of him. Here are a few of my favorite shots. Look at that little snaggle tooth. So cute!

{ The Bridal Bouquet Toss }

Guess who caught the bouquet? Two weddings in a row! It's a sign...that I've grown taller than all the other girls at weddings these days or that I've become overly aggressive in hopes of snatching that coveted bouquet. Either way, it's mine. And I'm next. :)

{ Mormon Night At Angel Stadium }

So, maybe this was forever ago, but I figure that as long as I get this picture up before we're too engrossed in football season, I'm fine, right?

A couple months ago my ward joined a few hundred of our friends for Mormon Night At Angel Stadium. It's a long running tradition I've participated in since I was wee-one. I know some people will argue that baseball games are so boring, but I just LOVE puttin' on my red tennies, grabbin' a hot dog, and cheerin' on my Halos!

{ Who Is Reality Nephi? }

Move over Reality Steve! There's a new blogger on the scene. And he's more righteous, rugged, and ridiculously funny than you.

So if you're following my journey to find "true Mormon love" on The Mormon Bachelorette, you'll certainly want to tune in to Reality Nephi to keep up with the latest gossip, rumors, and insider information. Click HERE to check out his latest posts!

{ Three Reasons Why I Love These People... }

1. Mark is the best husband to my little sister Jacki, an amazing Daddy to my sweet little nephew Dallen, and my favorite go-to attorney for all matters legal.

2. Jacki lets me trade clothes with her every time I come into town, even though she knows I'm a size bigger and might stretch them out. So nice of her! (She's wearing my favorite shirt and I'm wearing hers!)

3. Little D is not just THE man, but he's MY man! And he knows it! And gives me all the attention I want, all the time, and I love, love, love, love, love it!

{ 24 Hour Roadtrip }

Sometimes you just need to get out of town! Even if it's only for 24 hrs! My BFFs Erin and Emily piled in the car with me Friday after work for a quick weekend trip to Arizona to see my precious nephew, my sister and bro-in-law, and of course the girlfriends! We got there at 10:00pm Friday night and were back on the road home by 10:00pm Saturday night. We must be crazy! But oh the fun we had!

If you wanna see a ridiculous video of our 24 hour AZ adventure, click HERE!

{ TMB :: The Interview }

This morning at 6am there was a quiet knock on my bedroom door. "Come in..." I whispered as I brushed the sleep from my tired eyes. It had been a late night of planning, prepping, and organizing for The Mormon Bachelorette and as the voice walked through the threshold I thought silently to myself "This better be good."

"The video is here!!!" were the words I heard as my roommate Erin walked through the door, computer in tote. A slight smile pursed my lips as I sat up and said "Get over here! Let's watch it!" Together we huddle under the covers, and spent the next three and a half minutes laughing, giggling, and making fun of ourselves.



I know I should be horribly embarrassed by this whole thing, but for some reason I'm just not. Maybe because I've had so much support and love from all of my friends that I'm entering this journey with the attitude of "What have I got to lose?" So check out the video and then head over to our site www.themormonbachelorette.com to nominate the most eligible bachelor you know!

{ Triple Wedding Feature }

I just finished up 3 weddings in 7 days. That's a LOT of wedding flowers people! Thanks to my wonderful Mom, my friend/intern Stefanie, and my little sister Kellie for their tireless efforts to help get everything ready in time! To see more pictures of the wedding flowers and to read the complete posts, click HERE or visit my website at: www.designbyaubrey.com.

{ THE MORMON BACHELORETTE }

So, maybe you've been wondering where I disappeared to? Maybe not. Well...I've actually been busy working on a top secret project that is finally ready for it's reveal. Meet the first MORMON BACHELORETTE! Yup, it's me!

After sitting around the dinner table with a bunch of friends last Sunday night, we all joked about the possibility of starting our own reality show/blog based on my favorite tv show, The Bachelorette. Soon, the talk got serious and we realized, "Hey, we should really do this." So a few days later the blog was created, a facebook page started, photo shoot scheduled, bios written, rules defined, and applications created.

I hope you're all as excited as I am to embark on this journey to become the first MORMON BACHELORETTE. The date's begin Thursday, September 16, 2010. Be sure to follow my journey and tune in for more details on our website: www.themormonbachelorette.com. Here's to finding "true Mormon love!"

{ Photo Credit: Justin Gibby }

{ Lake Mohave 2010 }

I'm home from Laughlin, trying to get caught up on all the work I left behind and feeling overwhelmed, but even more so with all these pictures we took!!! And believe me, there are soooo many pictures to go through. I don't know how I'll ever choose which ones to post. So while I try to decide, I'll share one of my favorites from the trip.

When you first look at this picture of my little brother you might be slightly confused, wondering what in the world he is doing behind that boat? But remember, I went with a bunch of 18 year olds. And when 18 year olds get bored of wakeboarding, surfing, skiing, and kneeboarding behind a boat, they are bound to resort to extreme measures to find fun. Hence, body surfing behind a boat! Can't wait to show you more...

{ Feature Wedding :: The LDS Bride }

It's always exciting when I sit down at the computer, check my email, and find a sweet surprise like this:

"I'm happy to let you know that you have been featured on The LDS Bride!"

Thank you so much to the amazing Kris Sundberg of Burnt Exposure Photography for submitting this beautiful Newport Beach wedding, and an even bigger thank you to Paige Green of The LDS Bride for singing my praises. Click HERE to view the complete post.