Bear Hug!

(image from here....just on a side note, I was actually googling pictures of care bears to post since I'm pretty sure one was called hugs a lot or something of that nature..children of the 80s, help me out! what was that bear's name???)

Happy Friday all! I just wanted to give a shout out to all my awesome friends and family and the always amazing blogger community for the sweet thoughtful comments you guys have posted lately (you know who you are). Thanks for everything!

P.S. What are you guys up to this weekend? Hopefully I am finishing wedding things (see: all previous lists). Also, we have wedding 3 tomorrow!

***Also: Listen to some Bowie this weekend in honor of this lady! Britt, you totally rock and your wedding is going to be phenomenal! I know it!***

uh-oh

(image from here... I would just like to mention that in 5th grade we made 'homemade' stress balls out of balloons and some kind of constarch mix. I popped it almost immediately. This whole stressed out business is nothing new)

So as I was catching up on fellow bloggers' posts this morning, I realized something scary. If Angie has 17 days to go, I have 18 (also, go to angie's page and check out her amazing photo shoot with something i sent her)! Scratch that, that post was from yesterday. I have 17 freakin days left!!!!! I should have probably done something last night instead of staying up until the wee hours of the morning reading this (I can't put it down, well I had to to go to work and drive my car, etc but thats besides the point). Ah, whats done is done. Today is another day where I can put off doing things another day. So here my friends are a couple last minute lists:

1. finish thank you gifts (I keep having new fun ideas but maybe I should tone it down a little and just get it done already!)

2. finish cake topper

3. make tissue poms (I have sort of lost steam when it comes to this... I am doing a lot of thinking along the lines of 'well I already have a lot of other decorations, do I really need more.....' )

4. finish buying supplies for bachlorette (pinata, decorations? do people care about decorations for a bachlorette? atleast i can wait on buying the food)

5. finish putting together OOT bags (the supplies are literally sitting beside the bags, also I have one more bag to make, new(er) guest is definitely coming now)

6. call caterer & cupcake people

7. buy a bathing suit (so dreading this....)

8. finish buying any last minute supplies I want/need on day off (remote timer for camera, extra tissues, etc)

9. i realize this is a little premature but at some point in the future, I need to pack

10. finish typing lists/ asking for day of help

11. print out signs (why is this hard?????)

here is what is actually happening (not on a to-do list):

1. stressing out about people who haven't rsvp'd yet but not want to call them then just give up hoping they will and assume they are coming

2. stressing out about how I look awful in every picture taken of me and oh god what are the wedding pictures going to be like?!?!??!?

3. while stressing out about how i look fat in pictures, continue eating

4. stressing about about imaginary things like what if i get an awkward sunburn before the 15th (which will undoubtably happen....any "tan" i get is an awkward sunburn)

5. stressing out about gifts i'm making (as part of the gifts, i have been looking for quotes/poems, nice prose, etc and found nice ones on most family members except mother-in-laws, am i the only person on earth who really likes their mother in law?? I even googled 'nice mother in law' and it still got me nowhere. help?!!?!)

6. i'm sure theres some other stresses rolled in there too.

aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

things i learned this weekend

1. probably no matter what, I am going to cry at my wedding

2. something is probably going to go wrong at my wedding and that is okay

3. our wedding is probably going to be really great

4. i was a pretty stinkin cute kid

(I am rockin that hoodie! Ha ha. I am in the midst of exploring old photos for some super secret thank you gift ideas)

Now to elaborate:

The wedding yesterday was awesome. Completely awesome. The bride looked amazing in a short white dress and bolero with super cool vintage orange jewelry. It started to rain so the whole thing ended up taking place inside this amazing restaurant. After the rain there was a great rainbow! Oh, and did I mention the bride made fantastic paper flowers? And not paper punch flowers, painstakingly hand cut ones?!?! And did I mention how to-die-for the food was?!??!? So ridiculously tasty. Also, we sat with some fun recently engaged couples and did the whole "how did you meet?" and "how did they propose?" business so that was fun, especially after some wine. The readers made me weep (Ryan did a great reading and I even had a shout out in it!). The officiant even wore a bow tie he had found on a trip during college with the groom. He had promised him that when he got married, he would wear it to his wedding. how great is that?!

also, bought some tissue paper to make poms. E-mailed camp, bartender. Bought a new dress for wedding 3 next weekend. Borrowed some jewelry from my momma to hopefully wear to the wedding. got last parts of out of town gift bags. not feeling super productive but feeling okay about it.

did i mention i found out many people at the wedding (by many I mean under 5) have read my blog??? how exciting!

this could be our little secret....

Anyone else know this song? It is stuck in my head like crazy! Also, I have been replacing 'higher' with 'ryan' and serenading him. It is definitely on our wedding playlist.

Anyways....

Today we went to an awesome rehearsal cookout for our officiant. I am really excited for their wedding tomorrow. It is at an orchard/vineyard with 50 guests (I feel so honored to be part of the 50!). Anyways, anyone still looking for rehearsal dinner ideas, I highly recommend a cookout and/or place with a pool (I suppose this goes mostly for hot weather weddings unless you want to do a polar bear plunge theme). It was cool and delicious and relaxed (her sister made gazpacho shooters! I would have eaten them all but didn't want to be piggish. like I always say, I would weigh 5 lbs if I always had to eat in front of people I am meeting for the first time/ really skinny people). I am also excited about the gift we got them but I think she reads my blog so I will not post about it until after tomorrow. Speaking of gifts we need to discuss how amazing the handmade gifts are that she got. In addition to a wonderful hand-stitched phoenix (arizona reference, they lived there) and a wonderful painting, her stepdad made this:



Can you even deal with how amazing this is?!? 'Cause I can't. He handcarved all the chess pieces and made the board and everything! The pieces are all musical instruments because the bride and groom met at a band camp when they were younger. I almost wept when I saw this.

Seeing as this post is already all other the place, let me briefly go off an a tangent then we can circle back to gifts. Is this alright with everyone? Good! So I've been thinking about karma and how awesome life can be when you have amazing people all around you. I'm not just talking friends and family (they are amazing but this is understood). I'm talking the guy who pumps my gas, the people behind me in line, the people who let me go in traffic, amazing bloggers who I adore reading and who are going to be sending me prizes! And little things like snuggling with cats and awkwardly hilarious sunburns and playing songs on repeat (I guess this has to do with the top part of this post, it all circles back!). Whenever I get ridiculously stressed out about the wedding, I really just need to stop and think about how great things really are, remember these sweet little moments and think about how INCREDIBLY lucky I am that I get to marry, live with and have babies with the best guy around.

Alright, last topic: gifts. I need/want to get gifts for everyone helping me out. I am thinking small tokens of appreciation (already done with bridesmaids, my dad and know what I'm getting my mom). Suggestions? I have a few ideas but always like your input!

Tomorrow: wedding 2! Then wedding 3 next weekend, then (gulp) our wedding is wedding 4 in just a couple weeks! weeeee!

have a good weekend everyone! thanks for listening to me ramble!

giveaway?

I am no longer in need of the ring pillow I made (a combo of a shy 3 soon to be 4 year old and some steep steps!)



Any takers? If more than 1 person wants it, let's do this thing old school. I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 50. First person who guesses, wins!

wedding prep as an infomercial...

Do you ever try to make garlands? Do you try to sew them and find the fabric is too thick or the needle too thin and resort to hot glueing them together instead (don't you judge me!)? Do you finally get around to making several strands then simply throw them in a pile so you can go watch a movie with your super sweet fiance? Do you then spend the entire next morning (hours, people) untangling massive piles of string? Well have I got the solution for you!

Introducing.... A PAPER TOWEL ROLL!

Simply cut slits in the top and bottom of the roll and wrap around!* No more tangled mess!

(If I was truly dedicated there would be before and after pictures of me and of course it would all be black and white)

*can't take credit for this. Think I saw it on Oh, Happy Day a while ago

more signs!

Today I met with my aunt aka florist about the flowers and vases. I am very excited because I think it is going to be very colorful and fun. Then I came home and worked on lists (what needs to be done day of, contact numbers, what to pack and bring, etc). I am going to type up checklists to streamline the process. Also, I made these signs:


this is my favorite for sure...


I'm going to fold these in half and put them on tables. I don't think I need to put them on benches because we are going to have people helping seat the guests. What do you think? Should I use them there too just in case?


This makes me laugh. I'm probably overtired.

Time to work on the #$@% garland!

summary of a weekend (so far)

*woke up late

*cleaned

*did not even bother to shower until almost noon (I know I am such a rebel!!! without a cause too!)

*watered the plants/picked some veggies (I am so psyched about my vegetable garden! I know this is not wedding related AT ALL but I have been picked (and eaten): radishes, eggplants, tomatoes and cukes so far! I also have tons of herbs growing, some strawberries, beets and various bush beans. I also have a kiwi and lemon tree (the kiwi apparently is some kind which actually grows in the northeast? I'm dubious but only spent $3 on it) I even have the cukes sitting in pickle brine as we speak. The tomatoes I am gobbling up like a good Italian girl. Also, anyone have any good eggplant recipes? Mine are growing like crazy and I have 1 good curry recipe that is wearing out its welcome at this point.)

* added matchbooks to favors. Realized I am about 10 short. Have to go back to dollar store. (No biggie, I also have to make some belts to go with some dresses I plant to wear to upcoming weddings. They are a bit too billowy for me and I found a great tutorial on making an easy classy belt)

* finished paper pinwheel garlands

* made paper cones for flags and made a garland out of the cones! I think this will be fun outside where we are doing the ceremony. It will be part of the ceremony and decor at the same time. Hooray!

*got a couple more rsvps for yes (actually had a couple reversals from no to yes to...anyone have these?!)

* one of the funnest parts of the weekend so far? Eating sundaes with Ry and working on our playlist. Then singing really loud in the car (They Might Be Giants' cds are excellent driving music). Then singing and rocking out some more this morning. This is going to be fun.

* grilling some lunch (by which I mean having lunch grilled for me)

*found old fun suitcase upstairs to bring to have people put cards/gifts in (we said 'no gifts' but if I know our families.....)

* talked to high school friend about name change process (a MUCH better resource than a website. also less scary)

* started lists like: what to bring on day off (I'm thinking typing and printing this will prevent forgetfulness), what to pack, what decorations are needed, where they go, etc.

* updated wedding website with wedding weekend events, pictures

* ate a whole bag of green grapes and watched a marathon of 'Dateline: Real Life Mysteries'

still to do:

*finish cake "topper" (oh yeah. remember that thing? well now I know what Ryan is wearing so I can finish that)

* string fabric flower garland

* buy more matchbooks

* stop eating so many grapes

hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! (and managing to stay cool!)

1 month

Woot, woot. I am marrying that guy I love in 30 freakin days. (Okay, breathe. You'll get everything done you need to. Anything you don't, not important, right? RIGHT?!?!? Okay, breathe). Because I love me some lists, here are the last minute things I'm worrying about/need to finish/start:

1- finish favors

2- finish stringing garland (soooo easy! why am I putting this off like a mofo? what is wrong with me? I know what it is! Its bad tv and couch potatoe-ing needing my full attention. If only they wouldn't play marathons of 'I'm Pregnant and....' and I didn't hobble together a dinner of handfuls of chips, some low fat pudding, a few bites of a bad frozen dinner and few sips of awful soup.....If all that didn't happen, then I would be productive...or not)

3- make final signs- one greeting guests at entrance, signs for bathroom, reserved seat signs (since we are not having a seating chart, we just want to make sure immediate family/bridal & groom parties are near us)

4- speaking of seating charts, one thing I saw and loved at the beginning of this 'inspiration' process was a chart bride has at her wedding that explained who everyone was . I would looove to do this but not sure how feasible it will be. We'll see.

5- actually type of events of that weekend, events of the day

6- give caterer final # (our caterer and cupcake girls are very relaxed and don't want any deposits)

7- thinking of good dance-y songs that aren't 'We are Family' (nothing wrong with that song! Just not for us...I'm thinking more like 'Dr. Feelgood and any Journey song except 'Open Arms'... I want people dancing and I think people dance less to songs they don't know, right?)

8- finish buying gifts for anyone ever who is helping us with the wedding (eeek!)

9- buy a badass pinata for the bachlorette fiesta

10- change my name (and shift current last to my new middle name. also, no idea where my social security card is...oops!)

11- type up what I need help with on day of (mostly decorating, probably should include pictures/drawings)

Phew. That's it (for now). How are you guys dealing with the stress/last minute things? Heavy drinking? Heavy Ben & Jerry eating? Give me tips.

10?

According to the knot, I only have 10 things left to do (Project Wedding still has me at 26). What the?????? Ryan just got his suit, my mom booked and invited people to the pre wedding dinner and we applied for our marriage license, so those were a couple more checks off the list. While that number is awesome since it is so little, it is also super scary because the wedding is almost here and the knot's list doesn't include things like 'Lisa, finish your damn garlands! Put those little matchbooks into all your favors! Facebook harass people who haven't rsvp'd and whose help you need! Why haven't you bought tissue paper!? You need to make poms! Why is the paper you bought to make cones to hold the flags still sitting there?! Make those damn cones!' (So basically, I am picturing the knot or any other wedding website with a checklist, yelling at me like Harvey on Celebrity Fit Club. Oh, don't act like you don't watch it. Oh, you really don't?? Well, you are a better person than I)

(image from here)

venue pics!

Stopped by the venue, to drop off last minute paperwork and payments. My mom sent me an email that said 'first of 50!' So clearly I have a couple pictures to show you guys:

Driving up to the lodge

Outside of lodge

Inside the lodge. This is where we will sit & eat & dance. Also, those poles running around the room are what I will hang the tissue paper poms from.
Trying out the garlands (with some assistance from the very nice guy who works there). Hooray! I like them! What do you think??

table for guest book postcards/mailbox

Table for cards/gifts and favors. Unsure what to put the favors in (can I just stack them??) but I am going to put out a vintage suitcase propped open for cards/gifts. Ryan had such a great idea for us to write each other cards and put them in there so people will know where to put their cards and also so we can write each other a little something something.
*Help needed: Where should I put the kid's activity sheets??? Hmmmm....

And hopefully where we are getting married. Only thing is some people can sit on the benches but some will have to stand (we will have a mic so people will be able to hear us). We may get married up on the porch instead for more people to be able to see us. Regardless, people are standing. The actual ceremony will only be between 15-30 minutes and we're having an open bar for the reception. Oh yes, they will be rewarded for standing.

wedding 1

So yesterday attended wedding 1 .......and it was really really awesome. It was super emotional (I'm a crier anyways but this was one was killer I tell ya! I was a weepy mess...I'm sure the wine and rum and coke weren't helping). It was kind of eye opening to see a real wedding in the midst (lets be real here: towards the end) of planning one. And theirs was kind of perfect. They got married. They were happy, they cried. EVERYONE danced. The food was good. The drinks were good. It rained, no one cared. And you know what? I can't tell you what the place even looked like (and that is not because of the torrential rain; also it was at a country club like place to give you an idea) . I'm sure it was nice but all I remember are the people there. How the room was filled with so many happy, caring faces and isn't that what we all want? Our loved ones having an absolute blast, dancing, lots of hugs and cheek kisses and drinking and more dancing (P.S. Ryan was a dancing fool last night and I loved every second of it! I love that man so damn much). I am still on a happiness high from the day. Also, another reminder is that my feet still hurt because I spent the majority of the night wearing these suckers:

(image from kaboodle)

Yowza I know but ouch.

so it begins...

Tomorrow is our first of the 6 weddings we are attending (including our own) between now and October. I think it will be a blast, I am super excited for the bride and groom and they'll be lots of people there I like. Also, I need to learn how to bust a move in high heels. In addition to the festivities, here is a summary of what has been preoccupying me this week:

1.- my "bachlorette" (anyone else send out evites (or in my case facebook invites since I somehow messed up the evite and it wouldn't let me use the picture of my cat and a bottle of captains. see below.) and then crazily check the rsvps? nope just me?).



2.- Babies.

3.- Garlands. almost done with paper pinwheels ( a combo of 'TheFirst 48' and fro-yo helped me finish a chunk last night)! Next stop, fabric flowers. I am going to try to bring some with me when I go to the venue on Monday to see how they look!

4.- the last of "the list" (major things left: get marriage license, confirm guest list (hey! ya you the 38 left! what the deal??, give ppwk to venue, pay vendors, get freaking married!)

5. - Party Cat (was I the last to find out about this????)

6.- New Glasses!

What are your weekend plans? Hope everyone has a good one!

(also sorry for the insane use of parentheses within parentheses)

TNT knows drama

I am taking a popsicle break from garland making. Its just me, some grape popsicles and a pile of paper pinwheels. Oh and tons of law and order episodes. This is some serious ACTING, people. This used to be one of my favorite shows and maybe its the combination of hot glue fingertips and sugary popsicles but it seems so over the top tonight. Lord.

Alright, time to get back to work!

still full of cake...

weekend roundup!

not necessarily as productive as I wanted it to be (garlands? untouched), it was a great weekend nonetheless. Heres the breakdown:

-had a wonderful birthday full of grilling, my signature potato salad, tons of diet cokes and frescas, red velvet cake and an ice cream sundae bar. What can I do with a tub of caramel and no ice cream left? other than pour it directly into my mouth?

- do you remember when I posted about the lemon tree and the suitcases? Well my family reads my blog for sure. I got a lemon tree and both my mom and mom-in-law got me suitcases (now I get why when I went suitcase shopping with my sis she said everything was "stupid" and "ugly"). One set may be returned for store credit aka new shoes (I think I have to wear something nicer than foam flip flops to the upcoming weddings we are attending). Also received amazing salad tongs! (trust me if you saw them, you would agree!)

- received several RSVPs ( a bunch of no's which is sad but I totally understand, especially since they are out of state)....only 41 left ( if you are reading this and haven't RSVP'd...please! let me know either way! I won't be mad! I just need to know!)

-sent an official evite for bachlorette....bought solo cups and stickers and faux diamonds for deluxe solo cups ala A Los Angeles Love

- met with the photographer to discuss "must have" photos...she is awesome, I am so pumped...She is also getting married soon and Ry is her officiant (end of the month!)

-had another cookout to get rid of some of our colossal leftovers with the best man and best lady

-did some more work on out of town gift bags...also bought matchbooks for favors

- built trellis' for my out of control cuke plants ( I am growing both pickling cucumbers and lemon cucumbers which are round and yellow... I also bought a backyard homesteader book! Oh man if we only had no neighbors and a little more land, I would so be raising livestock!)

-did I mention our new neighborhood has their own 4th of july parade? I got lots of starbursts!

phew...I think thats it

so...how was your weekend?

I'm getting married next month...

(by this print here)

...and that is totally crazy to me. They are ordering me a new name tag at work (even though I've never worn my old name tag. I work at a college, we really only wear them when the freshman come and when the freshman come I'm usually in our office doing some crazy project and nowhere near the freshman. but I guess in case anyone gets lost and wonders into our office?? Lord, I'm rambling) and the new one has A NEW NAME on it.

its on like donkey kong, ladies.

I hope everyone has a fun and festive weekend! drink some wine, eat some burgers and do some partying. (and say a toast to her!)

**side note: don't know how much I'll be posting this weekend. its my birthday and they have parades just for me (sorry america, its true)