Refashion: Wedding Cake Edition

Once upon a time, I had a very delicious wedding cake. I only got to eat a little bit of it, so luckily my mom saved the top layer and put it in the freezer for me.

A year passed, and my mom decided to be even nicer by overnighting it in the mail for me, so I could eat it with my husband for our one year anniversary. Despite her best efforts at packing it up, it arrived looking like this:

But the cake still tasted delicious, so I thought it would be a good time to test my culinary skills by making the oh-so-trendy, and kind of overdone treat called "cake pops." I guess all you need is a baked cake that's all crumbled up with frosting, and considering that step had already been done thanks to the United States Postal Service, these were pretty easy to make.

I used this tutorial, which was very easy, so I'll probably make these again sometime for entertaining or something. Here is the finished product:

 That top layer of cake sure made a lot of cake pops, I must say. So if you want any, come and get them!

One Year Later

"Grow old with me, the best is yet to be."

Robert Browning

I don't keep a journal, and I realize that's a shame. Especially for life changing days like a wedding day. But let's be honest here, my journals always suffer because I get so embarrassed reading the crap I wrote as a teenager knowing that my posterity will read it. So, I justify my blogging as a form of journal because I know that at least five people will be reading it, so I won't say dumb things. You're my tester audience.

So anyway, I got married one year ago today. And I really want to document some of my favorite details of that wonderful day that I have yet to do, so I don't forget.

I want to remember how great it felt to pack up the last of my stuff and leave Provo after my last final the day before the wedding. Even though I still had a mini breakdown on the drive up to Kaysville (bless Victor for persevering through those), it was still a feeling of accomplishment. I remember spending the afternoon just with my sisters and my mom, just painting our nails and doing last minute wedding projects, and it helped calm me down from the nerves and emotions that are involved in that situation of "oh my gosh, I really am getting married tomorrow."

I want to remember the wonderful evening before my wedding, where we all came together for our rehearsal dinner. I was still on edge, because a lot of people were late, and people that told me they were coming didn't show, and people that hadn't been invited showed up. But there was finally that moment where I realized that none of that mattered, and that it was time to just sit back, relax, and soak up the sweet memories that were ahead.

I want to remember everyone's sweet toasts at the dinner. They meant so much. It was such a memorable evening. I still think back on it and smile, feeling so grateful for the wonderful people that are in our lives, and who were there to support us and celebrate with us.

I want to remember the morning before my wedding ceremony. I had the worst butterflies in my stomach. As I was getting my hair done, my mom was there to calm me down. She drove me up to the Bountiful Temple, and I was still extremely anxious as we were getting some of the paperwork ready. But as soon as I went back to the bride's room to get ready, I was able to calm down, because of the peaceful spirit that exists in the temple.

I forever want to remember how my grandpa married us, and how before our ceremony began, he took us to a separate room to talk to us. Unfortunately I don't remember everything he said to us, but I do remember how sweet it was. Our wedding ceremony was very calm and very sacred. My grandpa gave us some very wonderful words of wisdom and beautiful blessings for our marriage and our life together. I also loved that it was short and sweet.




I want to remember the calming and happy feeling I had as we were taking photos, and especially when we went back to my parents house for lunch afterward. My family was there, and all of Victor's family was there, and his friends who flew out for the wedding. It wasn't anything organized or formal, but everyone was just happy and enjoying themselves. And I looked at the guy who had just became my husband, and it just felt really really good, for lack of a better word.

I want to remember what a beautiful evening it was the evening of our reception. The weather was perfection. So many amazing people came and shared the evening with us. I want to remember the music, and the food (what little of it I ate). I danced one dance with my husband, and one with my dad, and honestly, that was enough for me. I much preferred to just be able to talk all night to everyone that had come. So many people were in uniform, and made me feel like a princess. (How's that for cliche?!)

I want to remember how bittersweet it was saying goodbye to everyone at our send-off. It was my last evening living in Utah, and I knew I wouldn't be living there ever, if not for a very long time. But it still felt great to be embarking on this new adventure, and this time with someone at my side. And I want to remember the rest of the evening, but naturally, that is stuff that will never be written down on paper. (wink!)

We left on our honeymoon the next morning, and I called my parents on the phone while waiting in the airport. We were on still on a high of what a great day it was. My parents told me that they were going to Park City that day with Victor's family, and it made us so happy that our families hit it off so well. Such a blessing.

My one regret is that it all happened too quickly. You put so many hours and so much money for the event, and when the day comes, it's the one day that you really wish you could have slowed down. Or I wish I could re-live it every year in celebration---at least the party part.

To all of you that were there, thanks for being a part of one of my fondest memories. And to that guy who was my boyfriend, then my fiancee, and then became my husband, I love you. Here's to many more years!

i'm the pathetic friday featured bride

so THIS is how i will be remembered by the bridal shop i bought my wedding dress from. so be it.

and for the record, i still would have ordered my dress from china (maybe just not the company that i did)...i know plenty of people who it worked out for: my sister being the main one. i knew it was a risk--luckily it only set me my dad back a couple hundred dollars.

i still plan on selling that fated dress on ksl or something. OR, it could be my most dramatic re-fashion yet!!

hmm....stay tuned.

The Best of 2011

2011 was a great year---one that I will always remember. It was also my first entire calendar year of blogging, so I have it all documented here! Let's look back, shall we? Presenting one year in the life of Andrea/Annie Ostler/Castro. (My name has changed a lot this year as well, apparently)

In January I announced my engagement to the interweb: everyone was so sweet and supportive. That's a great way to start the year! We both had to go back to school, and then I visited him in NYC where we saw Mary Poppins with my new fiance's sister.

i'm still in love with this sparkle

February was ok, but winters at BYU are rough. Good thing we had Jimmer to cheer us up. I also visited fiance in NYC again: obsessed much?

eurotrash 2011

March involved lots of wedding planning, lots of school, and some fun on the side with my besties. I got to present my senior capstone paper at an English symposium at BYU, which made me feel like a real scholar. That was fun.  My fiance came for spring break, and we took engagement photos. It was tricky to get nice pictures when it's so ugly in March, but somehow we made it work!

We also planned on running a half marathon in Moab, but chickened out and ran the five mile race, except for my hard-core bestie, Kimmy. I had never been to Moab, so that was sweet.

In April, I finally bought a wedding dress, and, of course, did more wedding planning. Fiance came to Utah again to see me fake-graduate from college, and we also took bridals/groomals in St. George. We got to go to Zion's Nat'l Park (one of my fav places on the planet), and hang out with my sister. And the weather was wonderful. I also started my very last school term as an undergrad, which was very exciting.

May was mostly stressful and emotional: you know, the typical bride stuff. But I got to meet Tim Gunn, so that made it better. And then, me and my parents went to Annapolis together to see my homie graduate. It was a really, really good weekend. And what made it even better is that for the first time in a year of long distance dating, there were no more good-byes, because Victor came back to Utah with me to get ready for the wedding.

Oh, June. You were the best month of them all!! We went to St. George again and visit my old stomping grounds at Tuacahn.

photo used without permission from Sarah

And then, I finished school for real. The night of my last final was the night of my rehearsal dinner, which was such a wonderful night. It calmed me down after so much school and wedding stress, and at that point I realized that all the planning was over, and it was just time to sit back and take in every minute.

My wedding day was such a happy day. It was full of my favorite people, beautiful weather, and a brand new husband.

We then spent one wonderful honeymoon week in the Dominican Republic and it wasn't enough. I can't wait to go back. Then we finished the month moving to the land of Virginia.

July was one hot month on the east coast. We headed back to NYC for the 4th of July and saw "Anything Goes" on broadway. We also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We had lots of fun that month. It included my parents visiting for a day, celebrating my b-day in D.C. with friends, and then celebrating Victor's birthday in beautiful Williamsburg.

The rest of the summer involved exploring Washington D.C., going to Civil War reenactments, crafting, decorating my apartment, and enduring a hurricane.  We celebrated Labor Day in NYC, of course. It's the best! We saw "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" with Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, and we loved it.

My friend Lindsay came at the end of September and it was so fun showing her around. And right after that, my parents came. It was awesome.

In October/November, I went to Arizona to see my other sister, and we had a great time. I got to see my first mission companion, and we also went to see Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, Taliesin West. During all of this, my poor hubby was camping out in the woods.

November in Virginia was beautiful. The fall colors were so pretty. And we went to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball and explored Richmond. We also went out of town for Thanksgiving, to...you guessed it, NYC! Our good friends Megan and Alicia came with us, and we also met up with Victor's bestie Zach and his girlfriend, who both came down from Boston. It was a fabulous weekend, and my husband got some much needed rest from work.

December kicked off with Christmas parties and holiday decorating, and Victor had to endure one week in the woods (I re-read The Hunger Games during this time and imagined Victor's time in the woods to be something like this: hungry, tired, and war---minus all the killing) before we could finally head off to Utah for Christmas!

christmas pajama party

If you made it through this post, good job. I really enjoyed putting all of this together, because it was a great way to remember all the awesome things that have happened this year, and all the great people they happened with. I have a pretty wonderful life. I'm so thankful for all the experiences I have had this year, and for all the things I've learned. Thanks for being a part of it.

Let's see what next year brings!

100th post special!

I started this blog a little over a year ago. I wanted to write something big and grandiose for my 100th post, but I don't have much to offer right now....and let's be honest, you wouldn't have even known it was my 100th post if I hadn't have just told you. Am I right?

So, thanks for still reading even though sometimes my posts might be sub par. I love all of my faithful readers--all ten of you (and that is not counting my husband). Here's to a hundred more!

And before I sign out, here's a little video I got from my sister in law this weekend: one of my favorite moments from my wedding (yes, I'm still relishing in it). I'm so happy she go it on video.

I have talented friends

So, a lot of what made my wedding so fabulous was brought to you by my friends and their various talents. That's the way to go in planning a wedding, I think: work with people who know you and your personality.

Let's start with the invitations. Brought to you by my talented designer friend Austin Johnson. I really can't imagine using anything besides the invite that I did. It was a perfect in establishing the feeling that I wanted for the wedding. And like my griefs that I had about finding a wedding dress, invitations were the same way for me: nothing I saw in stores or online was what I wanted. So, thank you Austin. And if you are interested in using his talents, contact him on his blog.

Next, the music. Why have boring musak at your wedding when you happen to know a lot of talented musicians? For my rehearsal dinner, I asked my friend Scott Rakozy to play the piano. Rakozy is an incredible piano player. He's better than any guy you have seen at Nordstrom. He just shows up without any music and plays all your favorite songs. What a great way to start the beginning of a wonderful wedding weekend.

Then for the reception, I asked my friend Jake Burch and his band to serenade me and my guests with their soothing, hip, and romantic jazz music. They were great, and so many people complimented me on their behalf. If you are getting married in the Utah area, do yourself a favor and hire these guys! You can contact Jake on his blog as well.

photo courtesy of Sarah Holden

And, remember my whinings about finding a cake? Well, all of that was resolved by asking my friend and neighbor Chrissy Avery to make my cake for me. She had made my sister's cake, and I knew she would do an amazing job. I had a vision, and Chrissy fulfilled it! I wanted a sugar flower cake topper, something that Chrissy had never done before, and just like that she learns how, and it was perfect. And delicious. I was actually sad in thinking that I never really got a proper piece after the tiny piece I shared with Victor, and then I remember that the whole top is being frozen for the one year anniversary. I always thought that was a silly tradition, but I was mistaken! I can't wait to eat more cake...fat kid moment.

Oh, that cake!!

photo naturally from Sarah Holden...

These were of course only a few of the highlights of the best day of my life. Let's not forget all of you wonderful people who came to see me. I love you all. Hugs and besos. (the "besos" is a foreshadowing of my next post, which should be about zee honeymoon!)

Love love love, Annie

The Mr. and Mrs.

The day that I had planned for for months came and went too quickly.

But it was perfect. Perfect wedding. Perfect honeymoon. I will share more later, of course. Right now I'm trying to get my apartment put together. I'm a Virginian now. And I kind of miss Utah. A lot. But Virginia is cool too I guess, and it has an Ikea, so as of tonight, I'm a happy girl!

You should know

You should know that I get married in 2 days.

You should also know that my wedding, if all goes according to plan, should be off the hook! (One of my friends says (and I quote) "It's like the mini royal wedding!" Yes, this friend will forever be on my good side.

And even though the invitation says 6-8, that's just to discourage people from coming last minute to the party. It will go past that, and it will involve sweet music, dancing, swords, and delicious food. Didn't get an invite? Please forgive me, and still come on down! Friday night, The Lion House, Salt Lake City, Utah.

You should also know that parking validations will be provided for the Joseph Smith Building parking lot below the Lion House. Holla.

Happy mini royal wedding week. I love you, and hope to see you there!

Oh they say when you marry in June

Umm...I'm getting married in less than two weeks!! That's all.

I'm glad I'm a June bride.

Let's not forget, being a bride can be AWESOME

Because I have realized that the last few posts about my bride status seem to be a little debbie downer, I need to point out that being a bride is actually pretty fun, and I need to enjoy it while I can because after I get married, I'll just be a married person. No more attention over that!

First of all, let's not forget the person who makes the whole being a bride feel extra special: the groom. My groom is especially wonderful because he is very low maintenance and he let's me do whatever I want with this wedding. My mom especially appreciates this, as well! He also is very patient during my freak outs and still loves me after them. He's the best.

This is us on our first date, a year ago TODAY. It seems a little extravagant that our first date would be seeing my favorite musical in New York City, but clearly my groom was working his moves to win me over--and it obviously worked.

Anyway, I also have to say that another reason that being a bride is awesome is all the awesome people that want to throw parties for you and give you gifts. How nice is that?! I never thought of having a bunch of bridal showers, but all these wonderful people want to throw them for me!This sounds conceited, but what I am trying to say is that there are so many great people in my life who love me (and want to give me presents). People are great. I love you.

So yeah, being a bride definitely has its perks. Happy weekend!

Being a bride is stressful

Way to state the obvious.

It doesn't help that I'm in school, which is also very stressful, but the difference between school and wedding planning is that when I get things done for the wedding, I get excited rather than just that school feeling of "oh, that's done. woop de doo."

My latest stress as the bride besides the fussy bridesmaids (you know who you are :) ), invitations (which you should be getting any day if you haven't already), and the food (now resolved and I hope you are excited, because it's gonna be good!), is THE CAKE.

Choosing a cake is rough!

I just want something like this: is that too much to ask?!

I actually just found a few ideas last night that I'm very excited about. Now I just have to choose. That's the hard part. Anyway, besides that, it's going pretty good, besides the occasional freak out/crying session. I guess that's just how it goes. And hey, I'm getting married in ONE MONTH! And graduating. And moving. I think that entitles me to freak out once in a while.

I hope to see you at my going away party aka my wedding reception.

Love, Annie

Being a bride is emotional

I think this kind of post is going to be a weekly thing, by the looks of it. But every week, I am up and down on this whole wedding business. Can you say anxiety? Btw: six weeks!!

I feel like this post is kind of a current apology/pre-meditated apology to those who fall in the path of my roller coaster emotions (unless you're on the good end, then consider yourself lucky). The thing is, as I am writing this I am feeling so good about life! The sun is out, I feel so in love--loving this time of year and this time in my life. But it was not like that all weekend. The happy high kicked in yesterday afternoon and sailed even higher after the announcement of a certain someone's death. Weird, that it could make me so happy, but so it is.

Anyway, not to dwell on the dark moments this weekend, but seriously, I was in hysteric crying for a lot of Saturday. Things that set me off were things that usually would have made me upset anyway, but never to the kind of crying where you can't speak because you can hardly breathe and you make those unattractive gasping sounds. This rarely happens to me, so the fact that it happened multiple times in a 5 hour period is off the charts. What can I blame it on? Myself? The people around me? The birth control? I don't know. But please, have some patience with me these next few weeks. I will try to get a grip and realize that the things that I am freaking out over are really trivial.

I made the mistake of looking at my bridal photos as I was watching the royal wedding highlights AGAIN which was a big mistake. My dress disappointed me: it wasn't Kate's. My height: I look so short and stumpy standing next to my tall and handsome fiance ugh! This is just one example of how I am going a little bit crazy. (I look at the pictures now and am completely happy with them)

On that note, I will end my whining. I love my life. I really do love being a bride. And I love you!

I got sucked in

I just have to say that I am now obsessed with the royal wedding, now that it has actually happened. I hadn't cared much, but I was really curious to see what Kate's dress looked like, so I woke up at 4am telling myself I was doing it just to see the dress. But as soon as I saw the guests with their incredible hats, the beautiful Westminster Abbey, and the gorgeous Kate getting in the queen's Rolls Royce, I was hooked. I only watched about 40 minutes of the ceremony, but I can't stop thinking about how beautiful and elegant it was. All my little girl royal fantasies were unleashed once again. I REALLY want a sweet hat now. Seriously. Wedding present, anyone?

And for the record, even though Prince William has gone down on the hot scale due to his receding hairline, I thought he still looked dashing. And Kate was gorgeous.

In other news, this semester I am taking a writing class that is meant to teach us how to write in a way that is not boring and stuffy academic writing, so I am required to start a new blog and encourage people to read it. Like I said, it should be interesting and not boring, so feel free to read it please! You can find it here: http://andreaostler.blogspot.com. I decided on this url address because a) I use Andrea in my smart people academic world because it sounds more sophisticated than "Annie", and b) it was required for the class so the professor could recognize it as our blog. Anywho, I hope you enjoy the double dose blogging of Annie/Andrea!

Happy weekend. I'm very excited about this weekend, because I get to meet someone dear to my heart. Someone who I have written about on this blog expressing my desire to meet him and be best friends with him. This is my chance! Stay tuned. Love you all.

Being a bride is magical

A lot happened this weekend.

My fiance came into town. That was fun. I fake graduated from college. That almost felt liberating, considering the fact that I have school tomorrow. Ha.

I got to go to the happiest place on earth. No, I'm not talking about Disneyland, I'm talking about St. George!! The weather was heavenly, the city was welcoming, and the food was delicious. We went to Zions and it was free which made it even happier. I love that place.
And I took bridal photos in St. George among the beautiful red rocks: a dream I have had since I lived there 5 years ago.

That was all great, but the best part of the weekend was when I was taking pictures up around the Dixie rock, and a little girl was yelling to me until I heard her, "HI PRINCESS!"

If that doesn't make you feel special, I don't know what else would!

It reminds me of the Friends episode when Monica wears a wedding gown to do the dishes, and then she convinces Rachel to wear hers after a bad day. Putting on a wedding dress somehow does wonders. Who'd have thought?

My name is Annie, and I buy things in fits of passion

Today I decided to skip my afternoon class, telling myself that I was going to use the time to write my paper and study for my test, but secretly it was because I knew that my wedding dress was supposed to be coming any day now, and I was hoping it would be today. And it did come. I anxiously opened it....and unfortunately was disappointed when I tried it on. I knew I was taking a chance with this dress. I mean, look at it.

Sooo beautiful. And so $3000 dollars. And now I'm learning that after you try on the real thing and feel the beautiful, flowing silk charmeuse, the imitation fabric used by China is not the same thing. If anything, it's very very disappointing. But, like I said, I knew I was taking a risk.

I called Josie and she ran over to see it and console me. We talked about how I would try again, this time with a different "back up" dress, and a different China dress maker. Then we went to Maglebys Fresh to console myself with chocolate cake. Next to the restaurant is a bridal store that I have seen many times but have never gone in. This time we did. I ended up trying on a dress that fit me wonderfully, and honestly, it makes me feel like Elizabeth Bennett, or Eliza Doolittle. Take your pick. Did I mention that I want my wedding to have a Victorian feel? Because this dress totally embodies that.

Yeah it was more than the China dress. (Which I plan to sell, btw) But it was still a steal of a deal. So, I was going to wait until my mom got back from Florida at the end of the week to maybe buy it, but after leaving the store and getting my dad's blessing on the dress, I began to panic. What if it wasn't there when I went back?! So, we went back to the store (after calling them asking them to keep it open a little longer) and bought that dress. No refunds. No exchanges.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Only a few months ago, I bought a beautiful pair of boots because I was waiting at the mall for the tire to get changed--I had had a kind of annoying day, and the flat tire was the cherry on top. Those boots have served me well this winter.

Anyway, I have a dress!! It is fabulous!!

And I also bought an Anthropologie top at Down East for a ganga bargain. Win win.

Homework? I'll think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day. And I have my wedding dress!

A Little Sampler of Engagement Photos

I'm still waiting to see the rest of my pics, but these are some that my photographer has shown me. Your thoughts? I feel pretty good about these, except the kissing one. I don't like it, and Victor's lips look like they are protruding out like six inches!

Are you obsessed with bridal blogs?

I am! Bridal blogs are legit. They feature some beautiful weddings. I just can't get enough.

My favorites are Style Me Pretty (I think this one beats all), Snippet and Ink, and Ruffled Blog. Ruffled Blog features all DIY and Indie brides, so there are so many cool ideas. I guess that in the Mormon world, there are tons of DIY and indie brides, because so many of the featured weddings are LDS ones. Good ones too--not your typical cultural hall weddings.

What is DIY you may ask? Well, it's a term I had never heard of before all this wedding planning business, which shows you how crafty I am not. It's "do it yourself," people. And oh boy, have I been DIYing up.

Some of my do-it-yourself projects for this wedding of mine include invitations--yes, invitations. And I'll tell you what, I am glad I did. What's the point of searching endlessly for cute invitations that are ridiculously expensive and not exactly what you want anyway? And when you have friends who are talented with Adobe illustrator, it just makes sense. And I love the way they turned out. I think it's tacky to drop dollar amounts, but I'll tell you this amount: I'm getting them printed at Staples for less than $300 for 500 invitations. They're not printed yet so maybe I'll end up eating my words, but I'm pretty confident they will turn out great.

The other major DIY project I have been working on is my centerpieces. It's been my favorite part, because it's been involving the auction excitement of ebay, buying lots of stuff on-line which means getting packages in the mail which I love, and scouring antique stores. Side note here: I have found the most legit antique stores her in Utah county--and I seriously doubted they existed.

And the other one I have been working on are my wedding favors. I finally had found boxes that were the perfect shade of pink and have folded a whole lot of them, only to discover that the color got discontinued. I only have 200. I could buy another color, but I don't really want to. So, think of getting a cute favor from my wedding as a door prize of sorts. First 200 people get 'em! Maybe this will motivate you to come. Or the live music. Or just the mere pleasure of seeing me.

So, if you have any other ideas or tips, feel free to share!

Love, the DIY Annie

Love Day

To my valentine: I love you. Te iubesc. Te quiero. Wo ai ni.

Cu drag,
Annie

Honeymoon: check!

At least I can be rest assured that with all the wedding stress, I will be rewarded in paradise. After deliberating about where to go, we've gone with the option that not only includes some of the world's most beautiful beaches, but also stress-free planning because my fiance has spent all his childhood summers there. We're going to the Dominican Republic!!
And as I was perusing photos on the internet, I came across this list of the top ten most beautiful honeymoon destinations. This is number five. I am so excited.
That will be me walking on those white sand beaches in less than 5 months. Happy day.