Monday, January 17, 2011

Ashley Gain Featured~ Runway Ready Linens

If you haven't already made a visit to Arizona Foothills Magazine's *new* Wedding Blog it is a must.

As Arizona Foothill's preffered wedding planner Ashley Gain has had the pleasure of contributing to their Wedding Buzz Section!

Recently we wrote an article about a fabulous fashion show that would make any bride-to-be swoon. At an private event held in Scottsdale the scene was set for the most fabulous wedding vendors and planners in the valley. Wildflower Linen turned their stunning collection into high fashion dresses that made their way up and down the catwalk. The models worked this season's most fabulous wedding table ware.

{Photo's compliments of Sedona Bride}

To see more pictures of this amazing event, visit our article!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

rules of engagement

Well, beautiful blog readers, this is it, my first ever video blog "live" from my office. I touch on my three "Rules of Engagement" when it comes to starting your wedding planning!

Stay tuned for more video blogs to come. Let the planning begin!


Rules of Engagement from Ashley Gain on Vimeo.

Monday, January 10, 2011

My Home, Our Home

The line didn't seem too long, they probably didn't mind the wait. Even on a Saturday it was worth it to them. They wanted the Congresswoman to know that they thought she was doing a good job. That they were grateful she was a leader in their state.

Like something out of a love story, Dorwin and Mavy were friends during High School in Tucson. They graduated, moved on, married and raised families elsewhere. When their spouses had passed they reconnected, fell in love and decided to spend the rest of their lives together. A life that the whole world would forever remember.

On a crystal clear Saturday morning a gunman opened fire in a parking lot. His gun turned towards the line which Dorwin & Mavy Stoddard stood. Bullets hit her legs, but when the gunman went to shoot again Dorwin protected his wife by taking a bullet for her. Hitting him in the head, he passed at the scene, the love for his wife was worth everything, including his life.

In the midst of this horrific story Dorwin's unselfish love give us hope. Hope that where there are moments of horrible darkness there are moments of glimmering love. Love that we can never really realize until we are faced to do the unthinkable, to take a bullet for the one we love.

I cried a lot this weekend, but this story hit me the hardest. True love is something only the lucky find and how beautiful the love story of Dorwin and Mavy is. How beautiful and strong real love is.

To Dorwin, nothing was more important than Mavy.

If we are only so lucky that we can be the Mavy to someone in our own lives.

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I was born in Tucson. It's there that I learned to ride my first bike, where my four younger siblings were born to complete our family, where my dad woke me up the 2 times it snowed to sit outside in blankets and watch, where I built forts in our backyard, where I became one of the captains of my cheer squad, where I went to prom, where I graduated from high school.

Tucson is where I left to go to college, where I call when I need my mom, where I return for holidays, where I go to visit my best friends.

No matter where I go or what I do, Tucson is home.

You were most likely not born in Tucson, but it's your home. Arizona, the United States, it's our home. And when this awful, horrible moments occur, it breaks our hearts....it hits home.

AT 10:10 Saturday morning my parents had just pulled into the Ina & Oracle intersection, a family friend watched outside Safeway as the bodies fell to the ground, and my brother, working across the street just sat at a table and watched as the victims were taken away.

That Safeway is where we shop, only a quarter of a mile from my parents house I have been there hundreds of times.

I don't think there are words for anyone of us to explain how a sick person can destroy the lives and memories of so many. How one minute can change the course of so many things.

There are words, however, for where we go from here. Love, Peace, Hope.

Words that can bring true change if we put them to work.

Monday, January 3, 2011

being brave

My gold sequence dress reflected dancing dots of light all over my husband's black suit. A glass of champagne in one hand and his hand in the other, it was our 4th New Years Eve.

Under a tent on the top of a building overlooking Sunset Boulevard a clock was counting down the few seconds left of 2010 right in front of us. I couldn't help but just stare as the time disappeared, how quickly it went 5....4.....3......2.......1.....poppers popped, confetti fell from the sky, horns honked on the busy road below. Complete with a kiss at midnight......just like that 2011 had arrived.

The year flew by, way too fast. Each moment now a memory.

Where did the year go? I started thinking about the things that defined this year...... our 2nd wedding anniversary, friends who had welcomed their beautiful babies into the world, healing after a difficult knee surgery, watching my family heal after the tragic death of a very young family member, my husband getting an amazing new job........so many defining moments.

I have a journal that each year I write out my goals for the year. Sometimes as I write I get a little scared, scared that my goals and dreams are too big. Scared of failing, scared of not achieving all I have set out for myself.

Needless to say, I always write them each down, one by one. Because, you see, I believe in faith.

I believe in taking my future seriously and knowing good things lie ahead. I believe in taking risks in order to make my dreams come true. I believe in my dreams, I believe that I will achieve all of my dreams.......I fight my fear, because it doesn't want me to believe.

You see, two years ago on New Years Day I wrote down that I wanted to start my own company. As I wrote a little voice deep inside of me told me I was crazy but I kept writing, even though I was scared.

What if my fear had won?

What fear will you fight this year?

Happy New Years to a fearless you. *bravery*