Wednesday, February 22, 2012

the bride guide: how to change your last name


Joy of joys! The wedding is over and it was the best day of your life. Everything went off without a hitch and now you are husband and wife. What do you do now? Well, there are many answers to that question... but one thing to do is change your last name! (If you are the kind of girl who chooses to do so) This was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. But, once I decided how I wanted the government to recognize my name, I had to figure out what all needed to be changed and how to do it. Here is the order of what you have to do and how to go about doing it. Good luck, brides!


1. Find that little piece of paper at the bottom of your marriage license. Carry this around with you as you go from place to place changing your name.


2. Go to your area social security office and change your social. You will need this first before going out and changing everything else. It is simple to do. Go in, take a number, fill out the form, show them your marriage license slip, and swear you are telling the truth. 


3. The next step is your drivers license. Either wait to get your new social, or bring the receipt with you to the DMV (along with your handy marriage license slip). 


4. You have a year to change your name on your passport for free. All you need to do is mail: this form, your old passport, 2 new passport photos, the fee, and that handy marriage license slip. You do this last because they keep the slip.
***A year from issue, not a year after getting married. 
But you still don't have to pay full price to update it. 

Now the US government recognizes your new name! Congrats! 

Other things to change:

Your W2 info at work
Insurance info
Credit Cards
Bank Account Info


Good luck!



Sunday, February 19, 2012

oscar month

Hello lovely,
To celebrate Oscar month the husband and I've been watching as many Oscar winning films as we can. Tonight it was Amadeus. Our criteria is the film has to be nominated or have a nominated actor or actress in it. It's been really fun. I'm also taking the opportunity to check off a few more films from my top 100 list. Here are the films we've watched so far. Hopefully we will be able to squeeze Benjamin Button and All About Eve in before the awards.
Hope your Valentine's Day was full of love. I took some photos of Niles' Valentine. I was pretty proud of the wrapping. I'll post soon.
love,
alyssa renee













Saturday, February 11, 2012

favorite things: blue heaven


pinch me.
i've died and gone to blue heaven! 
husband, feel free to buy me any and all of these things for valentine's day.