Wifey Wednesday: Popping the Question to Your Girls

Hey everyone!

Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week :)! This week I wanted to share how I asked my closest friends to be my bridesmaids! We got engaged over a year and a half before our wedding, 19 months to be exact, and so we wanted our bridesmaids to know we wanted them at our big day ahead of time! Especially since almost half of our bridal party was from out of state. The day we got engaged, I called my friends and told them that we were getting married and that we wanted them to be apart of our day, but I still wanted to officially "pop the question" to my girls. I made boxes for each one of them with their name on the front and the question on the inside. Here's how I did it!

What you'll need
- Wooden Cigar Box
- White Paint
- Wedding Color Paint
- Black Paint
- Paint Brushes and Sponge Brush

Step One: Paint the cigar box white with 2-3 coats (or whatever color you want) and let dry over night

Step Two: Cut out a design of your choice where eventually your words will go and trace around it in the lid of the box

Step Three: Paint the outside portion your primary wedding color two coats and let dry over night

Step Four: Paint the inside with your question and the outside with the names. You can do this by using transfer paper or projecting the words with a projector and painting over them. If you're a boss like my mom, you can freehand. Which is what she did. (Thanks Mom!)

And that's it! I also added a little bit of information about each girl and how I met them into the box as well as information about our day. Another thing I did was add a paint swatch of the color we wanted to be our primary color. And finally I added pearl necklaces and earrings for them to wear on the big day. They turned out adorable! And no one forgot their jewelry on the big day either ;). Of course I got this idea from Pinterest, but tweaked it to make it personal and my own!

TIP: Make sure you confirm with everyone that they are willing and able to be a part of your big day. Someone could have the best intentions, but may be scared to tell you that they can't make it or can't afford it. Have the realistic conversation about money early. Things add up. Dresses, bachelorette party, bridal shower, wedding weekend. It's a lot, and if you have the conversation early you will avoid problems later. Let your bridesmaids know you want them there on your day and to talk to you about any issues so you can figure them out way in advance. It happens a lot that people drop out of weddings way after you ask them because  they are  too scared to talk about it when all the excitement is happening, it happened to us with a girl and a guy! Just prepare yourself in advance that some people might not be able to commit to the time and/or expense of your day.

So how did you pop the question to your bridesmaids? Have you seen other super cute ideas? Share them, I would love to hear!

Thanks for reading!
- Olivia

#BookWorm: The Testing

Hello fellow readers!

Last week I finished reading a new book called The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau. It is dystopian novel similar to The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent, and The Giver in my opinion. The premise of the book is about a girl named Cia who lives in a colony called Five Lakes, a small colony formed after the Seven Stages of War occurred. The colony's families have one goal: get your child to be chosen for The Testing so they may have entrance into The University to study and help repair the broken world around them. The Testing consists of four sections: written, problem solving, teamwork, and physical travel. Those who make it through all four stages are interviewed and if they pass the interview, they can study at the prestigious University. Cia's father was chosen for the testing, and so Cia has always dreamed of proving to her family that she can change the world, since her four other brothers did not get chosen. Well, Cia does get chosen for The Testing, however before she leaves on her big adventure her father warns her about the dangers of Tosu City and The Testing that he experienced many years ago.

This book was incredible. Yes, I said incredible. Although I have read all of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner books and recognized similar themes to those books in The Testing, this book stands on its own. It has a good plot line, a lead character you love, and great supporting characters as well as important themes. Overall I would give it a 9/10. It isn't quite up to Divergent or The Hunger Games, both series I would overall rank a 9.5/10 overall. However, it is pretty dang close. Another thanks Amazon.com suggested reads for this page turner! I can definitely see this book turning into a movie in the next few years. I would hope producers would give it the same chance they gave these other dystopian, post apocalyptic series because I think it would be a hit. I have the other two books of the series on my Amazon wishlist and am hoping to purchase them in the next months!

I have one final book to read from my massive stack that I got over this year, isn't that crazy! The book is Elixir by the one and only Hilary Duff! My middle school role model. Okay and still is basically. I love her. Anyways, I am going to have to have my mom bring me some books from Florida to keep myself busy until I can afford to do an Amazon order ;). My friends have made comments about the mass amount of books I have been going through, however take a book loving girl who has worked two jobs the past five years and give her four weeks of free time and a fresh stack of new reads and this is what you get: lots of #BookWorm posts :). Once I am back to work in a week and a half, my reading will slow down I am sure! So send some suggestions that I can add to my Amazon wishlist as the holidays are just around the corner! Have any of you heard of the book The Testing? If so and you have read it, what did you think? Do you feel it could stand on its own in the blockbuster world with the rest of the similar series? Voice your opinion! I would love to hear!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)

Movie Moments You May Have Missed: Legally Blonde

Hey everyone!

One thing I love to do is watch movies over and over again. Unlike some people, if I enjoy a movie I have to watch it again. And if I REALLY enjoy a movie, I watch it a lot. There are quite a few movies I have seen probably over twenty times. Legally Blonde is one of them. I saw this movie for the first time in middle school and I barely caught all the quirky moments or jokes. However now I have seen it over twenty times, easy, and I still find new things when I watch it. So here are some movie moments you may have missed while watching Legally Blonde whether you've watched it once, or twenty times like me.

1. The age of Elle and her sorority sisters
Elle is supposed to be an undergrad in college, yet somehow every person in the college scenes look like they're 30.

2. The reference to pill popping by Serena
When Elle is depressed about Warner and starts talking about going to law school, Serena says "can't you just take a Percocet?". I don't know why, but I found that hilarious. Probably because before I was a nurse I didn't even know what Percocet was.

3. When Professor Stromwell whacks a student on the head with a pencil
When talking about Aristotle's quote on the first day of class, Professor Stromwell asks David if he would be his classmates life on the fact that the quote was by Aristotle and whacks the kid she's referencing on the head with a pencil.

4. When Enid is talking to Warner about ovaries and semen at the party
Elle walks up to Warner in her bunny suit and Enid is telling Warner about how the word semester is sexist because it almost has the word "semen" in it and instead should be called an "ovester"

5. Paulette's ex-boyfriend lives in a "trailer park"
But it looks more like a junkyard...

6. Paulette and Elle are randomly shown sitting in the nail salon at Christmas
But really, so random? And why was this scene included?

7. The UPS guy lets Elle sign for Paulette's package
The UPS guy asks Paulette to sign for her package, but when she acts like a moron he hands it to Elle to sign... Weird.

8. When Elle shows Paulette how to bend and snap, she doesn't do what she shows her at all...
Not exactly the snap that Elle just did.

9. Elle leaves her Porche's top down with all her designer luggage piled inside of it
On a busy street... with people walking by... while she says goodbye to Paulette. Hmm.

10. David is wearing New Balances in court
Instead of dress shoes like everyone else, showing his uniqueness once again

Fun Fact: One thing I learned when looking up things about the movie (yeah I like to learn about movies when I watch them) was that the final scene where Elle says the inspirational quote was not originally in the film. It was supposed to end with her walking out of court after burning Warner. The film crew and cast had to fly to the UK where Reese Witherspoon was filming another movie and the scene was filmed at Dulwich College in London.

If you've never watched this movie, you're missing out on a laugh. It really is good and there are so many little funny things that you may miss the first time. It's hilarious. And teaches you a good message about not judging people or underestimating them! Have you seen anything else people may have not noticed in movies that you thought was hilarious or odd? It will be something I look for when I watch movies now! 

Thanks for reading,

- Olivia