Caution!

Please excuse my mess- I am doing some redecorating!!!

Well hello again...

Hello Strangers... I know it has been forever... I don't need a lecture... I don't need to even go there... I have enough guilt on my own...

What's important is I'm back and DID YOU MISS ME :)

Maxi - Me

Today in Texas it was 94 degrees - so to me that means HELLO SUMMER! And to me, summer means MAXI DRESSES! You can dress them up or down and wear them to any occasion and still look appropriate and pulled together! My mom is a petite 5 feet and my BFF is a tall drink of water and they both look amazing in these. They are my fave go to summer wardrobe item as I dress them down with bangles and flats or up with wedges and dangles> L.O.V.E THEM! Here are some of my fave that are totally affordable from Forever 21 and Victoria secret! Happy Shopping!

Working Out Blues....

I have been trying to diet and exercise more lately. I have this terrible habit of getting all crazy and then burning out really fast with my healthy lifestyle. I change my entire life in a day and work out like crazy and it is amazing for a week then I can't seem to stick to it. So... I have been trying the gradual apporach, slow and steady wins the race, right? Ands I have been trying to keep one of my favorite quotes from my undergrad days at OCU in the back of my mind....

"NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS SKINNY FEELS"

Wish me luck!

Bridals!

Here are my Bridal Pictures! I loved them and LOVE this southern tradition (Ricky and his Chicago family certainly did not understand! It was an amazing day that I spent with my mom and MOH and had a dress rehearsal of all things wedding! We took pics at my reception venue, 7 Senses and at Highland Park United Methodist Church which is on the corner right by my alma mater SMU! LOVE!

Time to Party!

Here is a little highlight of our reception thanks again to our amazing photographer Stafani - see post below! It was truly the night of my life (please excuse my ill fitting dresses that were a) altered wrong 2 days before the wedding and b) tied WAY too tight to my boobs were falling out!) My only real frustration of the entire event - wish someone would have told me :/ Oh well the Kemph Krushes were wildly flowing so let's hope no one noticed!

Check out our reception here! Enjoy!

Time to Party

That's Mrs. K to you!!!

Hey Guys! I am back - I mean really, truly, no wedding to blame my stress on, BACK! Whoohoo! And I am officially a married woman! I thought the best way to kick off my blogging rebirth (hehe) was to give you a highlight into the most wonderful day of my life! And to give a shout out to my wonderful photographer Stefani at Tru Identity Designs! The day was perfect - the weather was wonderful, all my favorite people were there and at the end of the night I was married: success! All of this was captured perfectly by the wonderful, amazing and oh so talented (not to mention so cute) Stefani. Seriously ladies if you need an amazing photographer for engagement, bridal or wedding pictures she comes highly recommended from me. Not only did she capture every shot that was important and more, but she was on time, professional, calming, and had the amazing ability to make my groom smile naturally! Snag her while you can!

Please check out some of our ceremony pictures here on our photographer's blog and I promise a reception post and LOTS more blogging to follow from me!
Love you all and thanks for hanging in there with me!!!

Thankful all year long....

I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving to write my T-Day post. Because let's just face it, nothing makes me feel more warm and fuzzie inside than a house decked out in lights and trees! Not to confuse one holiday with another (no worries there will be a separate holiday decor post) but there is just something that hits me in the days after Thanksgiving that really makes me realize what I am thankful for. But more importantly than when I make this post is the reminder to be thankful throughout the year, not just on Thanksgiving Day. I know I tend to get wrapped up in everyday stresses and often forget to slow down and enjoy life along the way.

Now the list spreads from trivial to grandiose and I am sure I will forget a few things, but right here in this moment, this is what I am thankful for:

- A career that I love and a business that is booming
- My beautiful doggies
- Hugs and kisses from my beautiful niece & that my future niece is growing strong and healthy in my sis-in-law
- Starbucks
- Great friends who really know you
- An awesome relationship
- My staff
- My memories of my grandparents
- A wonderful home
- Supportive parents
- The love of my life - and that he totally gets me and brings to the table everything that I am lacking - we are a perfect whole
- Having my mom as my boss
- Christmas music
- Mani/Pedi's
- My beautiful bridesmaids
- My brothers and their wives and kids
- Fab accessories
- My ability to and love of dance
- My fiancé’s family and how loving and welcoming they are of me
- Being a daddy's girl - still, at nearly 27
- Everyone that is helping me plan the wedding of a lifetime
- Love & Life and so so much more!

Happy Thanksgiving - all year long!

Man's Best Friend

"Be the person your dog thinks you are..."

Monogrammed Mayham

I don't do anything in life half*** - I mean, half way... I either go big or I don't go at all. This has proven true with my love of leopard print, my realization of rhinestones and my monstrous obsession with all things monogrammed/embroidered. Seriously people, I LOVE a good monogram!

And with my new last name coming in just 4 months I am trying to embrace any and everything monogrammed - now as crazy as I might sound or that my fiancé might argue that I am - I do know where to stop. My house has 'hints' of leopard print and while I may have more hints that others; our home certainly does not look like the animal kingdom... yet :)

The same applies to embroidery -

As far as bags go, there is no limit, because clearly we only carry one bag at a time. Here is one that I am loving right now:


As far as clothing goes - robes and after shower wraps are a must - how else are we supposed to tell the leopard print robe from the dull black terry man's robe? Can I get an amen here people!? Here is a pic at my bffs wedding last year and the lovely leopard monogrammed robes she got the girls as gifts. So cute!


And this is from my other BFF at my last bridal shower - do these girls know me or what?!


Now household items are a little different. This is where less as more comes into play. You could seriously do your entire house, but I aim for the 'hints' here and there or for one big bang. Here one of my high school friends Melissa whet for the big bang approach and I LOVE IT!!!


And our new little ice bucket that I just got! Whoohoo!


Here are some other monograms I love – not that you should do all of these by ANY means!







With Christmas coming up and a birthday right before feel free to check here for my monogrammed wish list! :)

Happy Halloween!

Please excuse the short post today...

My parents are having a halloween party tonight and my day is going to be filled with making a pumpkin barf guacamole, making sweet nutter butter ghosts and baking 48yummy mummys, oh and finguring our what Spencer and Heidi would wear if they were going to my parents party tonight...

Oh and pick up dry cleaning for tomorrows wedding, clean kitchen, spray tan... and maybe shower ;)

Happy Halloween Yall! Hope it is a fun and safe weekend for all!

Life Lately...

I'MMMMMM BACCCKKKKK!!!!

Did ya miss me?!

Today is one day shy of a month break from blogging. Not that I planned to take a break, there has just been a lot going on lately.

One of the sweet families at the dance studio lost their 17 year old son in a very unexpected accident. They have three other children; 2 that are very active in our studio and one that is college aged. This was of course an unbelievable loss for this family, but also for our dance family. Ryan was a great brother and was always around cheering on his sister or playing a part in their family car pool. Needless to say he is greatly missed. Over the last month I have spent my blogging time doing laundry for the kids, cooking meals for the family and organizing help for them, clearly that was my priority. But now, as they start the healing progress I finally feel like blogging again. So here I am...

I can't believe in a few days November will be upon us... so scary!

October was a crazy month! I didn't even have one weekend 'off.' And by off I mean with out something to do for one day.

It was an exciting month however!

Here are some of the things that occupied my weekends...


My first Bridal Shower with my dance studio students and here with my sweet hostess...



Showing off my china!


Ricky and I's trip to Chicago for his 10-year reunion...


and to visit our BFF's Matt and Alli (Allison how did we not get a pic together the entire trip)

SMU Homecoming in which I was cheering on the sidelines... I do not have any pics of this, because after 10 mins there was a tornado and we had to evacuate... only in Texas.

Any 2 of my student’s competition in their first pageant - we got 1 winner and 1 1st ru... not too shabby, congrats girls!!!


And this weekend won’t disappoint –
Friday -Halloween Party at my Parents
Saturday- Pageant Friend’s Wedding
Sunday-MPFO Brunch followed by Halloween
Whoo-hoo I am glad to be back!

New or Want... both!

There are a few things as the top of my list as far as needs in our home.

1 being a king size bed...

2 a new couch...

Now our house is on the market so we are waiting until the big move to get these two things, but I am hoping it happens sooner than later so I have already started shopping around. Since my sweetie and I have COMPLETELY different decorating styles this is sure to create a "heated discussion" among us. He would rather live in a clean, modern museum than a chic, rich and lavish home. But as he is learning with wedding planning, it is easier to give me what I want than to fight about it. Sounds like we are gonna have a great marriage right ;)

Here are a few swoon-worthy couches! Too bad they can’t be on our registry!












Love them!!!

34 years and still kickin'...

***I have been working on this post for over a week now, I just haven't been able to find the time to finish it between running a business, planning a wedding, selling a house, being on a 10 year reunion diet, oh yeah, and sleeping. So without further delay - a week and a half too late anniversary post for my parents!***

Today my parents celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary. Wow. Congrats mom & dad, what a wonderful example of commitment you have set for me. When Ricky & I get married at the start of next year we will have been dating 2 months shy of 7 years. I feel like that is an eternity. I can't wait to know what 34 feels like or 50 for that matter.

I often think back to what my parents were like in this stage of their relationship. Where they nervous, excited, how did they know each other were 'the one.' Were they anxious about having kids, did they already have kids names picked out, what where their dreams as a couple. I feel like I think about these things more and more as Ricky and I get closer to embarking on this journey of our own. We are both so blessed to come from loving families that value the family unit. It was something that was very important to us when seeking a life partner and I couldn't be happier at how well the two families have accepted each of us into their own and even bonded together.

Even though kids are not happening anytime soon, I often think of what our children will be like. Who will they look like, what will they learn from us, can they please have Ricky's math skills and my love for dance - will they be healthy, have goals and build a great life of their own? So much of who I am I gained from my parents. I look like my mom - blonde hair & blue eyes, I have similar passions with her - dancing, shopping, dancing, shopping.... But I feel like I have inside attributes of my dad - I will talk to anyone, I have his kind heart, I am sensitive. I feel like I am a wonderful little mix of both of my parents wrapped up into one. And I hope our kids are just like that.

Wedding anniversaries are such milestones. They mark growth and change - children growing up and parents growing older. They mark job losses and gains, family vacations and new homes, they mark pets and challenges and happiness.

But most importantly they mark love. Happy Anniversary mom & dad. I love you.