How I got engaged

Stevie and I just celebrated 6 years of marriage, which was great fun (maybe I'll post on our favorite B&B getaways sometime). Ever heard our engagement story? It's crazy.

We'd dated in Dallas, on and off for years (! exhausting, isn't it, ladies?!) and were "off" when I was offered a job transfer to faraway Cincinnati, Ohio. I knew nobody here, but felt I should make the jump into the unknown. I'd thought Stevie and I were supposed to marry one another (though I never told him), but here I was, moving a thousand miles away from him. Scary. But again, I just thought I was "supposed" to move here!

Fast-forward a year, and I was driving to my friend Cary's house in Erlanger, KY for a 'girls night out'. I pulled up, but Cary wasn't there- Stevie was. I was totally SHOCKED to see him there--we obviously hadn't spoken in a while. (exactly 5 months and 3 days... but who was counting?) I even started crying, because I'd tried so hard to be done with this guy and here he was, back in my life!

Turns out, he'd secretly planned this with Cary (who was out of town watching a football game! She duped me!) and, after a lot of prayer and consideration, had also decided that we were meant for each other. So, that very night, after about 8 hours of talking (and more crying), he proposed to me. Yup, right there in Erlanger, Kentucky. I said yes, of course!

And it's been working, very well, for over 6 years now! All right!

(This is, I think, the most recent photo of us. It's from a little weekend trip to Colorado, about a month ago...)

Kosher Cake Tasting!

Stevie and I just got back from a fun cake tasting at Maribelle Cakery on Reading Road. They are such a great organization and their philosophy of using the freshest ingredients and never freezing cakes before you get them is something I really like. Anyway, they've just introduced a new line of Kosher cakes made without using any dairy products! Sounds like magic to me- I can't imagine trying that. But they have chocolate and lemon-based cakes, and they're really amazingly good. It's good for me, too, because it provides more options to my Jewish brides who want to follow Kosher practices on their wedding day. So here's to Maribelle and cake tastings! This is one of the perks of the business that me and Stevie really "dig in" to!

(the photo here is a cake from one of my weddings in June 2007 that Maribelle created. Beautiful!)

The VBellamobile

I don't know if any of you have seen me motoring around town, but if you have, you've seen Belle, my Nissan Murano. (This isn't a product endorsement, but I will say I love my car!) Belle is kind of cream/gold, which fits in with viva bella's colors, and her license plate says that she's a working girl. Just thought I'd share with all you guys a happy moment we shared, when I first started the business.

Look for me and Belle tooling around downtown, northern Kentucky, Dayton, and especially in Oakley!

finally, i'm blogging!

Zooming right into the 1990s, here I am with a VBella blog.  Awesome.  My husband (heretofore referred to as Stevie) has been blogging with his friends a long time, and always thought it'd be a great thing for me to do, too.  And I've thought it sounded fun, but it also sounded intimidating.  Anyway, he's helped me get this thing up and running (along with my genius web designer, Chris Bollman) so here I am!

I'm really looking forward to having a more in-depth conversation with friends and partners of viva bella, and sharing with you some of what I experience as we make beautiful weddings and events happen together.  I'll be sharing some insights from an event designer/planner's perspective (thus the title "viva bella inside out"), as well as some personal thoughts and experiences.  I hope you join in the conversation with me!