Save The Date!

So finally.. I swear.. Cross my heart, that I will be a better blogger. I am horrible. BUT I officially have a new job with Frito-Lay (praise the Lord) that allows me to be at a desk, with a computer, and lots of free coffee. So let the blogging begin!

First off wedding plans are coming along quite nicely. The printed, vintage bridesmaid dresses are in and will be delivered next weekend to all the Arkansas girls and thanks to Posh Floral for the incredible and mind blowing ideas on all the decorations/flowers, that part is done. My dress will be here in August/Sept. It's going to be AMAZING. EEk! and last but not least, our save the dates were finally sent out.

Sweet and talented Bethany Briscoe (soon to be MRS. Toney) created our save the dates and the envelopes. The pictures were taken by Allison Davis photography. We really loved our engagement pictures thanks to her and would recommend her to anybody!



Front



Back

 The poem on the back was very cheesy but I LOVED it because it told our little love story and how we met. I think it made it a little more personal!

Loving Life,                                                               
Abigail

Apple Boulevard Trunk Show

So there is a new thing in my life that not only steals my time but my most of my check book. My sister and her husband have created there own clothing boutique! It's called Apple Boulevard. If you don't know my sister she for sure is a fashionista straight out of a magazine! I am kind of obsessed because the clothes are so dang cute. 

What's fun is anyone can buy from her boutique at any time at her online website or she frequently has trunk shows out of friends houses. This past monday was her first trunk show at on of our best friends house, Lauren Monk. Here are a few pics of the party!

Such a fun set up and I want her fire place!

Vintage jewelry display

Necklace tree! My favorite display piece :)

Fun 70's looking bets

Yes.. i bought this dress! She pulled it off
quite nicely!

So much accessories! 

These are clip boards that I made last minute! They were
super easy and so fun for customers to fill out information

Lauren was the hostess with the mostess!

Mr Apple and my nephew. He has no idea
the family he was born into.

Two LOYAL customers!

Trunk show was a hit!! I am broke once again but at least I look good :) I can't wait for more shows and lots of new shipments to come in on Monday. The other exciting part is they are going to the Vegas market this august to gather lots more goodies for the fall season! So check out her website.. appleboulevard.com or on facebook and twitter. They will ship it or make a drop off straight to your house! so very excited for the Apple family! Stay tuned for more pics of the latest trunk shows and new clothing!

Fashionista in training,

Abigail 

March...It was a Great Month!

A look back into the month of MARCH...

This is the first time this month I have had the time to sit down at a computer and blog. Between wedding planning, family birthdays, Prestonwood Womens retreat, softball and WORK.. I have zero time on my hands.

As for the wedding..
I literally am at a holding point. Its horrible. So far I have picked out two different cakes and two different bridal dresses! lol I am horrible at making decisions! So before the end of April I have to have both of those very important items ordered.

As for the bridesmaid dresses, They are being ordered this week! Because I have the best bridesmaids ever...They have already sent back their measurements. To match the vintage wedding theme the dresses are PRINTED.. Yes, PRINTED! and I'm obsessed! We also ordered some special shoes for them to wear to the reception ONLY.

Me and Dick are using our artistic abilities and went and bought a piece of furniture from the Frisco retail shop and are actually re-painting it and turning it into our guest book sign in table! We love doing projects together. I am so excited and its going to be my favorite color.. turquoise! So there will be pics coming on that little beauty!

We also ordered the fun stuff like my garter, toasting flutes and my guest book. Mostly on the fun artsy websites like ESTY. They have great handmade stuff out there and usually its very good price.

Softball
So the best part of my weekends are softball. All of our couple friends and Sis and brother in law created this church softball team. We are named Beauty and the Beasts. ha ha. So far we have only practiced but our first game is next weekend. I am not the best, but trust me dick is trying his hardest! Our jerseys are hot pink.. so cute. So many pics to come of our fun little team.

Pretty turns 50
My sweet mother turned 50 on March 10th. Not only did she get to go to Mexico with her friends, her office threw her a huge "50 and fabulous" party. I MEAN HUGE! Her entire office was pink. Including a runway, streamers, pics of her back in the day, and cakes from "Delicious cakes." To top it off me and angie got her Paula Dean sterling silver measuring cups and spoons! totally recommend them to anyone and I may register for them for my wedding! For dinner we took her down to the Bishop arts district to Tillman's roadhouse. WOW... Best food ever and we might of gained a pound or two! She was very blessed by so many friends.

Lake Weekend
One of my favorite weekends was two weeks ago. Like 8 of us went to White Bluff golf course by Lake Whitney. It was PERFECT weather. The boys played golf and the girls layed by the pool all day. At night we cooked a huge dinner and had bon-fires! So relaxing! I can't wait to go back!

So that's what I have been up to in the month of MARCH. I swear to be a better blogger and have tons off fun stuff to announce coming soon!

So blessed and a loved daughter of the KING,

Abigail

Snowstorms and Cheesecake!

So as we know Texas isn't normally blessed with the beautiful white, fluffy snow that most states across the U.S. get EVERY year. Normally we get the flurries and just maybe the roads might have spots of what they call "black Ice." But for some reason God said let there be snow and boy did we get snow! This is the second year in a row that we have had more than 8 inches of snow fall.

A few weeks ago we not only got the snow but under the snow was 3 inches of ice. Literally no one knew what to do. They cancelled schools and my work was closed for 4 days!! We all swore that if we even had snow plows in Texas that they were all in Arlington at Cowboys stadium for the Super Bowl.

Me, My mom, The Apple Family and Dick spent 4 days couped up and let me tell you we had a BLAST! Lost of Rockband, yummy treats, playing in the snow, and of course wedding planning!

Katie broke her herself! The snow was misleading with the THICK ice underneath. We could barely walk down the street!

Everything is so much prettier with snow!

My dogs IgLoo was actually an IGLOO!! :)

 Now for the best part of this blog... CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION CHEESECAKE. Only would Paula Dean make such an incredible yet so bad for you dessert! I am not joking this is the best Cheesecake that has ever touched my lips!

Here is the recipe... It is long and lots of layers but thats what makes it AUH-MAZING. But in short it has a graham cracker crust, a layer of chocolate, a layer of carmel, a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough, and then cheesecake.

Prep Time:

30 min

Inactive Prep Time:

8 hr 35 min

Cook Time:

1 hr 30 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

1 (9-inch) cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Chocolate Layer:

• 6 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Cheesecake Layer:

• 1/2 cup caramel syrup
• 1 (16 1/2-ounce) package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Chocolate Ganache:

• 6 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
• 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

For the crust: In a medium bowl, combine the cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter, stirring to combine. Press the crust into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 6 minutes; let cool.

For the chocolate layer: Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter (or microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes total). Whisk in the sugar, eggs, and flour until just combined. Pour into the bottom of the cooled crust and bake for 15 minutes; let cool.

For the cheesecake layer: Spread the caramel topping evenly over the cooled chocolate layer. Cut the cookie dough crosswise into 1-inch slices. Place the slices in an even layer over the caramel, pressing gently together to seal the edges.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and flour until just combined. Stir in the sour cream. Pour the mixture over the cookie dough layer and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and gently run a knife around the edges to release the crust from the sides of the pan. Let cool completely.

For the ganache: Using a double boiler, combine the chocolate and cream and melt (or microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 1 minute total). Spread over the cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

I originally made it for Dick for Valentine's day BUT he loved it so much that he is actually serving it as his groom cake for our wedding in November! We are very excited about it.

Look at those layers! I actually left off the top layer of chocolate gnosh because I thought that I might have a heart attack! BUT it was plenty sweet with out it!

He was in heaven! Cheesecake has always been his favorite!

With warm hearts and a tummy full of cheesecake,

Abigail

Baby Jonah's Dedication

Have I told you about my sweet nephew? I'm pretty sure if you know me  you know that I have the cutest baby nephew named Jonah Dalton Apple. He now is four months old and a few of his hobbies include: dancing a jig with one leg, eating bananas, sitting in his Bumbo for extended periods of time, laughing out loud, flirting and watching sports. Here are few pics of this little hunney...

 

This past Sunday this little fella was dedicated at our home church Prestonwood Baptist Church. He is such a blessing in our lives and it is so exciting to see what God has planned for his life. We continually to pray for this gift and LOVE watching him grow!

The Apple Family

Not the best pictures! But he is with Pastor Graham in his snazzy suit and tie! There is no doubt that this kid will be best dressed..


Now let's just hope that his first words are on the lines of Ab, Abbs, Aunt Babs, I'll take any of them!  :)

Loving on this little boy everyday,
Abigail

Viva Las Vegas!

Our very own Miss Arkansas, Alyse Eady, gave us every reason to go to a little town called LAS VEGAS! So me and two of my best friends packed up fancy duds that glittered and shimmered then headed to the city that literally never sleeps.

Not only did we get to see all the shopping, casinos, and crazy people  Vegas offered, we got to go and support our EEE sister in the 2011 Miss America pageant. So here are a few highlights of our weekend.

We got the privilege of staying at the hotel Bellagio! I highly recommend this place. It was absolutely incredible and we stayed on the 11th floor facing the amazing fountains. It was incredible! 

Erica and Joy

When we first arrived at the airport and our town car limo
was awaiting us. We felt a little bit special to say the least!
The guy quickly gave us a list of do's and don'ts while we stay. 

View from our hotel window of the strip and fountains.
It was glamorous!

"Lady Chocolate" was in our hotel. I wish she would have fit in my suitcase.

So during the day we spent all our time going into all of the hotels to see the special attraction in each one. We also did our fair share of the amazing shopping and eating! And YES we walked everywhere but ate everything! It cancelled out :)

Inside the Venetian. If I was to pick the most romantic hotel, this would win gold. The river ran through the entire length of the hotel and the guys steering the boat would sing these sweet love songs in Italian. In some parts of the day the hotel the ceiling was painted like a sunny day day in Paris the other half was Paris at sunset. 

The sunny day. There was lots of little bistro restaurants, accompanied by the best shopping in the Venetian.

First day of shopping down the strip. This was outside of Cesar's Palace.

The fire/lava show outside the Mirage Hotel

Paris
You could eat in the top of Eiffel Tower

Some of the moving statues and show inside of Cesar's Palace Hotel and casino.

Second day of shopping. Outside of a much needed Starbucks. Our feel were dying and we were exhausted.

The biggest H&M ever! Manicans were hanging from ceilings everywhere and it was 3 stories.

Inside our hotel room about to headed out for dinner

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum! It was fun but kind
of creep to see all the celebrities! They look so real!

Since she is my favorite Actress of all time
I got a little excited to see Cameron Diaz!

The only picture from the pageant just to prove we were THERE!

 That was just a few of the hundreds of pictures from our trip! The only sad part was we couldn't take our cameras into the actual Miss America pageant! Well we snuck them into our dresses but couldn't take "flash photography" cause it was live television. So we snapped one very quickly at the end. How many times in your life do you get to go to Miss America?! So we couldn't take any of the beautiful girls on stage in Planet Hollywood or of Alyse but she was absolutely stunning and represented the State of Arkansas so well. We thought she won the won the thing but came into a VERY close 1st runner up. Talk about on the edge of your seat and leaving with no voice!!

It was one of the best trips ever! Congratulations to Miss Alyse Eady once again!

With glitter still coming out of my suitcase and tired feet,

Abigail