BPs and BFs

This past weekend I went home to spend a couple of days with my Mom and Dad before heading Mom and I headed out to Lubbock for my bridal portraits. Why Lubbock you ask? THIS is why Lubbock. The most amazing photographer EVER (Lauren Clark) lives there! I have been stalking Lauren since our friends Greta and Benny got married a few years ago. Lauren did their wedding and engagement photos and I was so wowed that I started following her blog and prayed that I would get to have her as my wedding photographer when Casey and I got married. After we got engaged, she was the first call I made to see what availability she had for 2010 and as fate would have it, she was only available on Nanny's birthday- August 21st, the day that I had always wanted to get married on. Perfection! When I went to schedule my bridal portraits, I was unavailable on the weekends that she was going to be in Houston and Austin, so I decided it would be perfect to visit one of my best friends Melissa McKay in Lubbock AND get my portraits done in the same weekend. Side Note: I love "kill two birds with one stone" situations. I had been meaning to visit Melissa and this worked out perfectly!

So on Sunday morning Mom and I loaded up her Volkswagen Beetle Convertible and headed to the Great Red West (haha). It took us about 8 hours, but honestly the drive was not bad at all. We had a great time hanging out as both of us love road trips. Sunday night we hung out with Melissa and her handsome cotton farmer boyfriend Zach and his parents and ate amazing sushi at this little place in Lubbock. I had never heard of sweet potato sushi, but it was AMAZING.

On Monday we got up and headed to the mall to go shopping and then had lunch at this adorable place called Stella's. After that it was go time. I felt like a crazy person running here to get my hair done, then across town to get my makeup done, then across town again to pick up my bouquet and then finally back to Zach's house to put my dress on and head out the door for photos. I'm really glad I got to do that though because I felt like it prepared me a little better for the day of the wedding. We met Lauren at Starbucks and then headed to a ton of different places to take photos. I LOVE how creative she is and how she really knows how to direct people in order to get the best looking photos. We got to see all of the photos on Wednesday and I am truly amazed at how beautiful they are. She is definitely one of the most talented artists that I have ever met. I wish I could post one of the photos on here, but unfortunately Casey reads "our" blog sometimes and I really don't want to ruin his surprise.

After heading back from Lubbock on Tuesday I picked up my cousin Jen (also my matron of honor) and my adorable God daughter Abby. I think I drove a total of 13 hours that day but honestly, I had such great company the whole time that I really didn't notice how much time I was in the car.

On Wednesday we headed to the pool early and hung out for an hour or so. Abby loves the water and it was so much fun getting to play with her. Here are some photos from the day:

Me and my cousin Jen

Me swinging Abby :)

The rest of this week we have just been hanging out and now I'm waiting for my mom and best friend Leigh Anne to get here for my bridal shower weekend YAY!