The Art of Love

A couple of weeks ago, my friends in Houston came out to help me celebrate my upcoming wedding. My wonderful Bridesmaids who live here, hosted me and several friends at Pinot's Palette.  I was super excited as this is a place I have literally been trying to go to for almost 3 years !

My lovely Bridesmaid

Me & my cousin

Painting with a purpose

The theme of the shower was, " The Art of Love" and I must say I truly felt loved on this day. I have wonderful friends who care for me.  The two Bridesmaids who hosted brought a nice spread of food, decorated the place and paid the fee for all of my guests to paint. My guests bought plenty of wine for us to share & I got some lovely gifts that I will enjoy on my honeymoon.  I ended up putting my painting up in my utility room. It really looks nice there.

A nice spread

My beautiful hostesses !

Having a blast

We had a really cool instructor who was funny & cool. As the wine flowed, we got a little rowdy and a little risqué and she hung right in there with us. We got to bring in our own music, so you know it was going down ! We had a nice little private party.

Me & another girlfriend

Yummy Cupcake- Wedding Cake Flavor

I was giving her tips on the technique

The finished product !

More good friends !

Showing off our artistic talent

Of course all of the Wineaux's in the house had to keep the party going !  We left there & because we were not ready to go home ended up at the Tasting Room & did some " Patio Parlaying "  into the early evening with more wine & more laughs. I had a very nice time.

Have you ever been to one of the paint & wine places popping up all over the country ?




Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex

The Perfect Gift

I really love creativity and well thought out gifts. When you can tell that someone went out of their way to do something tailored to you, it really means something.

Two of my Aunts got me the sweetest most thoughtful gift. The theme of the Bridal shower was " Recipe for Romance"

They bought me a beautiful Hope Chest filled with all kinds of  stuff.....

A frame with our "Save the Date" inside

Box full of Love !

A bag of poems

There was so much stuff that I didn't have time to go through it while at the shower, but when I got home & examined it more closely, I was very touched by their thoughtfulness.

All of my recipes for romance..............

The box was filled with a snuggle throw, champagne flutes, candles, chocolate, a bottle of champagne & a few extra surprises.....,

But the most touching thing was all of the poems and words of wisdom concerning marriage that they included in the multiple envelopes.

I know how to follow a recipe !

Heartfelt words from both my Aunts....

The last part was funny. I didn't get it at first. They referred to an ICE Pack & my imagination went wild. LOL What they were referring to was "In Case of Emergency " and all else fails........

HA ! It was a football & an nightie in the form of a referee shirt, an Officiant hat & a whistle to call a flag on the play ! LOL. My intended is a huge football fan, so this was a good joke as to how I could most definitely get his attention in the event of a crisis.

It was too cute.  I really appreciated all of the time & effort they put into creating  a gift that was meaningful that I will use for years to come.


Have you gotten any creative gifts lately ?

What is the best gift you ever received ?

What is the best gift you have ever given to someone ?

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex

Recipe for Romance ! * Photo Heavy *

Greetings my Blog Peeps !

I have been MIA, getting ready for the nuptials coming up in.....28 days !

My beautiful sister, along with a couple of my Bridesmaids hosted the most wonderful shower for me in my hometown last month. My little Sissy is super creative and I love her to life !

The invites read...

Help the Bride-to-Be learn to cook up the perfect "Recipe for Romance." Join us and the award-winning Chef Derek Nettle in the kitchen at the Venue 104 Bistro where he will teach us the fine art of making Italian cuisine. Please bring a gift for the Bride to help her and the Groom keep the romance alive.


Myself and 14 ladies had the most amazing day ! We had the entire restaurant for almost 4 hours. They set up one side with tables for us to partner up and cook & the other half of the restaurant was where we ate all the food that WE had prepared under the direction of the Chef.

We had such a great time. I am still getting emails & texts about what a unique, fun and non-traditional idea it was. My sister is the best. She and one of my other bridesmaids put it all together & I was totally blessed that day.   Here are some pics....

They were setting things up

I was focused !

My beautiful Bridesmaid

Even my mama learned something new !

My lovely sister, the creative one.

Trying to get it just right

We were teasing her because she NOT known for cooking

He was teaching me a trick !

On the menu was Panzanella Salad, spinach Stuffed Cannelloni, Classic Turkey Meatballs and for dessert, Butter Cake with Macerated Berries and Mascarpone. It was all delicious and we learned quite a few tips, tricks & techniques from the Chef & his Assistant.

We even made our own croûtons !

Yummy Dessert

My stepdaughter & her baby surprised me !

They were so hungry they forgot to take off their gloves LOL

By the look on her face, the romance gifts got a little spicy !

The Chef was funny & friendly !

Such a fun group !

It was a wonderful day, not soon to be forgotten. I was so appreciative & just happy to be in this place in my life.


What's the most original party idea you have ever experienced ?


Thoughts ?   Comments ?  Questions ?

Beautifully Complex

Love Renewed

Last weekend we traveled for the wedding of one of my Sorors. It was actually a 10 Year Vow Renewal. However, it was a full out extravaganza. They had 200 people in attendance !  This is a much loved couple. It was a beautiful ceremony. It was held at a museum, they had the cocktail hour BEFORE the ceremony, and the music was great.  The personal vows really did me in since this couple had real life to reflect on, they were just that much more meaningful. 

Lovely expression

The food, was good, but the cake was phenomenal & very creative.  I managed to eat just a little bit in moderation, since I have a wedding dress to get into very soon, LOL.

The Groom is a Golfer !

It was pretty and tasty !

It was great for Mr. Mixologist to get to meet some friends he has only heard about & it was like a family reunion of sorts. My line sisters,  college friends and old co-workers were all there.

Line Sisters  !

The Blushing in Blue Bride !

My intended :)

It was such a beautiful wedding & nice pre-lude to our big day which is fast approaching ( T-minus 67 days !)


How was your weekend ?


Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex

August Already..... **Photo Heavy Post**

Can you believe we are over halfway through the year already ? I know I have been MIA on this blog for quite a minute. I wish I had more hours in the day. With all of this wedding planning, work drama, and family stuff keeping me busy, my social networking has had to take a backseat.  Let's catch up a bit shall we ?  Here's what's been going on with me......


One of my girlfriends turned 40 in April &  we had a really nice Birthday Bash for her.

Party People in the House !

My love picked up another Degree (with honors) &  we had a small gathering to celebrate his graduation. We went to Simone on Sunset. Love this place. If ever in Houston you must check it out.

So proud of him !

TiffanyinHouston on the left & Tarsha on the right!

My Girlfriend hosted her annual Crawfish Boil & as usual, we had such a good time, with those mudbugs !

Our Crawfish Cook on the left !

Of course Cigars were involved LOL !

Me & my girl TiffanyinHouston

Of course he found a baby to love on :)

Me & my heartbeat :)

We hosted a Semi-Random Happy Hour with friends ....
We started out at Eighteenth Cocktail Bar  (cool spot) & then did a little bar crawl.

My sister, brother & nieces & nephew came to visit us for a week in July, it was great time. We went to Galveston to the Pleasure Pier (can you believe I left my camera ? ) I was so digusted.LOL The kids had a ball & I was more engaged since I wasn't busy taking pics.   We also did some wedding planning stuff while they were in town. My nieces were having fun trying on dresses for the wedding...

Tickled Pink......

My love surprised me with a trip to New Orleans for my Birthday in July. I wasn't expecting to go back until September, since are on this wedding savings budget, LOL. I didn't find out until about 3 days before we left. He had already booked a Hotel. I was able to bring my veil & make an appointment so that my stylist could do a hair trial for the wedding. I also got to take a lot of new pictures for the photo book I am working on.

The view from our room

Of course I got my seafood fix. This was my dinner one night at Saint Lawrence. I had an awesome drink here called the....yep, Saint Lawrence but I didn't get a pic of it. It was a very well crafted cocktail. It was my favorite Vodka, Titos, along with Champagne, St. Germaine & passionfruit. It was deelish !

Of course I HAD to have a Hurricane at Pat O' Briens.  Is it funny that I have never had a meal there after all of these years of traveling to New Orleans ? LOL

Category 6 Hurricane !

We had taken off work on Friday & were all set to have a wonderful extended 3 day weekend celebrating my birthday & planning for our upcoming wedding. Things were going well until late Saturday night, when the Zimmerman verdict came in & we were out at a bar. We were both in a funk. I tried to shake it off on Sunday (my actual birthday) but the Mister just had a really hard time.  Talk about a buzz kill.

As then to top things off, we got a call later that day from my close girlfriend's husband telling us she had been rushed to the hospital by ambulance so we had to leave NOLA in a hurry to get back home. ( I will try to blog about this more later).


The good news is my friend is on the mend. Praise God !


What's been going on with you ?

Have you done anything fun this summer ? 

Thoughts ? Comment ? Questions ?

Beautifully Complex