Thursday, April 29, 2010

i heart...

... www.etsy.com! I always have really, but today I think I realized I don't want to shop anywhere else. You can find absolutely everything on there! It's getting me so excited for things I had barely even thought about before, like my wedding cake and my bridal shower. Plus there are great gift ideas. Not to mention I love all the shop owners. Since they are in business for themselves I think it makes them a whole lot more friendly and willing to accommodate. All the more reason why you can find anything there; if you find something you like and want to tweak it a little, you can! It's practically all custom! So that's where you can find me today... lost in the website... finding the most adorable things!

I am inspired by so many things on it... wedding related or not... here's just a few...


all these items can be found on etsy! Clockwise from top left:
1- http://www.etsy.com/listing/45800769/handmade-birch-bark-flowergirl-or?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=birch+basket&ga_search_type=all&ga_page=&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title
2- http://www.etsy.com/listing/43477361/faded-blue-summer-sky-eco-organic-cotton?ref=fp_feat_6
3- http://www.etsy.com/listing/45818608/2-custom-luggage-tags-hand-stamped-up-to?ref=sr_gallery_3&ga_search_query=luggage+tags&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title
4- http://www.etsy.com/listing/45332197/feathery-plumes-no-11-watercolor?ref=fp_feat_3

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

second guesses...

You already know by now how much I was having doubts about my wedding gown. But that is one tiny thing on a whole laundry list of things I have had doubts about while planning this shin-dig. The pictures below will illustrate what I'm talking about...

The first gorgeous picture comes to us from Kate Botwinski Photography and I found it on www.oncewed.comIt's completely stunning pictures like this one that make me think I'll regret not having a veil. I see this and I think "that could be me!" or "I need a picture JUST like this one!" But sadly, I will not get that chance. C'est la vie.

Next up is from Allegro Photography, and it can be found on www.stylemepretty.comWhile this picture is beautiful, it reinforces that I am glad I made the decision to get married outdoors. That aside, it makes me long for those adorable tutu dresses the flower girls are wearing! I knew from before we even got engaged that I wanted to have flower girls in tutu dresses. However, my fiance not exactly loving the idea, and fearing what my nieces would really think if I wanted to put them in these frilly things, I opted for a simpler approach. They will still be the cutest things you're ever seen, but thanks to this picture I still wonder "what if..."

Here we have a picture from Paul Morse, found on www.districtweddings.com This one is SO fun and in short, it really makes me wish I was getting married in the city. I had checked out a hotel in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore before we decided on CBF and I keep thinking, we could have made it work. How great would it be to have glamorous pictures taken at night, in the middle of a bustling city, where it seems everything is revolving around you? Romantic, I know.

At the end of the day though, I realize that all of the decisions I've made are decisions I wanted at some point, and even still want. I can't have a wedding on a beach, and in a city, and in a vineyard all at the same time! I know that even if I did have a veil I'd be thinking "what would I look like without it?" or simply "this stupid thing keeps getting in my way!" and the same goes for all the other doubts. If I had them, I would ultimately want something else. I know my wedding will be wonderful, and the most important thing is that Patrick and I will be married when all is said and done. And my husband-to-be is the one aspect of this wedding I do not have doubts about! Thank goodness for that!

finally feeling productive!

I would have blogged this yesterday, but you'll see why I didn't in a minute...

This past weekend Patrick and I trekked up to Maryland to get wedding stuff done. And did we ever! We got into town Friday night around 8 and spent the evening with our respective families.

Saturday morning, Patrick and his mom went to a tailor so Pat could get his suit fixed up. His appointment was at 9:30 am, I can't believe he made it there! We then spent the morning helping my parents pack up my grandparents house which has recently sold. From there we went down to Annapolis to meet Pat's mom at Buddy's to discuss our menu for the rehearsal dinner with the managers. We got everything squared away and it's going to be awesome... everything you could ever want when dining in MD! We left Buddy's and only made it right downstairs where Patrick got sized for his wedding band, and we picked his and designed mine! We had to leave my engagement ring there so they could make a cast of it so my wedding band would fit perfectly around my diamond.

After that we had some time to kill before meeting my parents at Ruth's Chris for dinner, so we walked around Annapolis and we managed to knock out my rehearsal dinner outfit and I got a dress and jewelry to wear. It is SO cute and I can't wait to wear it all! Then we met my parents for dinner and caught up with some friends.

Sunday we slept in and eventually headed down to Annapolis to get my engagement ring back just before they closed. They had it all reshaped (I managed to squish it into an oval and we're not sure how yet...) and cleaned for me so it sparkled like crazy! Then we had to rent a trailer and pack it up with basically everything we had left in MD at both our houses. We got back on the road at 8 pm on the dot. Yep, that's right. Eight pm, as in at night.

We didn't get back to NC until 3 am Monday, and I had to be up for work just 2 hours later! Needless to say I spent Monday afternoon catching up on sleep instead of blogging... But I'm back now! Really productive weekend, huh? I'm proud of us (especially of Patrick since he was involved in all that productivity)! We also managed to get things in motion for fun favors for the rehearsal dinner, along with welcome baskets for our out of town guests.

Since I feel like I can't post without a picture (you need something to break up the monotony of my rambling)... I'm going to dedicate an entire post to pictures next! 95 days to go... AH!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

double digits

Oh. My. Gosh. I cannot even BELIEVE we are under 100 days to the wedding. I still have SO many things to do!!! But the good news is that the invitations are done and ready to be sent when my (pre-ordered) postage (that comes out April 30) arrives! Also... my wedding shoes came! I love them! and they were only $15! Fantastic, right?!

Now I just need an officiant, and a wedding night hotel room, and a honeymoon... oh and a new job and a new house... but who's cares about those minor details??

Sorry I don't have a more exciting post for this monumentous occasion (t minus 99 days)... But what I do have is this gorgeous picture I found on www.greylikesweddings.wordpress.com from a photographer by the name of Amanda at CelebrateLife Photography. Yet another inspiration for my e-shoot next month!


For now it's off to Maryland for the weekend to meet with a restaurant (Buddy's! My old 'home away from home') to go over a rehearsal dinner menu, and wedding band shopping! I can't wait to get my ring cleaned... like REALLY cleaned (not just with a toothbrush and toothpaste). Happy weekend!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

*updates*

Two great updates...

One: I can't believe I didn't mention this before, but... Patrick got his orders changed (thank you Lejeune!) and does not have to report until about 10 days after the wedding (which even gives us time for a honeymoon!)

and

Two: Thanks to Danielle over at www.districtweddings.com, I may have found that loophole I've been searching for in regards to an officiant! Check out her website for awesome info on different DC venues!

life's a garden...

Dig it!

It's ok, I realize I'm a huge dork. But my wonderful neighbor Randi took pictures of our garden yesterday and I'm promptly stealing them to post here... PS: Mom- look for the pansy you gave us in front of the tree!
Ain't it purdy?! Hah! Pat and I did all this work on Saturday. We weeded, laid mulch, and planted flowers in the front of the house and around our little tree. It was a great workout, and I'm still sore from it.

I wanted to post this because it makes me feel better about accomplishing next to nothing on my to do list from yesterday. Here's my list and what I accomplished:

1 - finish addressing and stuffing invitations - CHECK
2 - wait for shoes to be deliverd- CHECK
3 - find someone to marry us
4 - check out videographers
5 - work on our play list
6- clean guest room - CHECK
7 - decide on a honeymoon
8 - book a hotel room for the wedding night
9 - nap
10 - 3 mile run


Yes, that is 3 things on my list of 10 that I got done yesterday. Even though I don't really count waiting for shoes I know won't be delivered til the end of the week accomplishing anything... So we'll say I got a solid 20% on my performance yesterday (but I didn't nap even though it was on my list, and that's semi productive so maybe we'll say 25%).

To my credit, when I started cleaning the guest room I turned it into an overhaul on the house. Not only did I pick up my clothes that were strewn all over and put them away, I also vacuumed the whole house, washed and changed the sheets on both beds, did all the laundry in the house (there was a lot I promise), did all the dishes in the house (again - a lot), and I mopped the kitchen and laundry room. This, along with straightening up the house to make sure the slip covers were fitting properly and dog toys weren't scattered all around, took me all friggin' day!

I also made it to the post office to return a package (shapewear I bought for the wedding that I don't need anymore - yay!) and I had them weigh one of my fully assembled invitations (since they ALL are assembled now!) and I discovered that they weigh more then what is allowed for a regular 44 cent postage stamp. So I went home and removed all the inner envelopes from the invites. Sorry guys but they'll just get thrown out anyways and I have really cute 44 cent postage I want to use! Plus it saves us 17 cents per envelope!

So all in all I'd say the day wasn't a huge waste, would you?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

things i'm working on today...

1 - I WILL finish addressing and stuffing invitations (and as soon as it's payday I will be ordering my cute postage!)
2 - Eagerly await the arrival of my wedding shoes, which I ordered yesterday! That is if you count flip flops as shoes :)
3 - Trying to find someone to marry us (still searching for that loophole...)
4 - Checking out some videographers
5 - Continue working on our play list
6 - Cleaning the house because we have a friend coming to stay the night (that means I have to transform the guest room from my closet BACK into the guest room... this might take me all day)
7 - Get Patrick to decide on a honeymoon (or just agree with my pick)
8 - Book a hotel room for the wedding night (now that we've finally picked one)
9 - Nap (got NO sleep last night... running on empty here... waking up at 5 am doesn't help)
10 - 3 mile run (ha)

I am pretty sure there aren't enough hours in the day for all this junk but I will do my best! I'll let you know how it goes!

I will leave you with this gorgeous picture from www.oncewed.com, which is pretty much exactly what I am envisioning my engagement shoot will look like in just 3 and a half short weeks!Also, check out my sister's blog (welcome to the jungle link on my side bar) for some more pictures of this guy:

My new nephew... Murphy Thomas!
born 4/15/10 6 lbs 15 oz

Isn't that the sweetest picture you've ever seen?! I can NOT wait to meet him!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

getting down to the wire

So as we draw nearer to the wedding day, Pat has yet to get any firm word about his orders being changed from that same day. Hopefully we'll get official word soon, or I might just lose my mind. In the mean time I am also currently looking for new housing closer to our soon to be new base. This is very sad news because I absolutely adore where we live now. We have the best neighbors in the world!

Since the wedding has kind of taken a backseat to more pressing needs, I haven't TOUCHED the invitations in I don't know how many weeks. However, we did order fun vases for a portion of the ceremony. They are engraved and they came out SO cute. Although, one (the bride's vase, of course) did have a bad scratch in the glass. The company I ordered them from (www.graciousbridal.com) was more then happy to just send me a new one. I didn't have to return the damaged one or anything. It was a very quick, and refreshing phone call to make. They are great and brides I recommend checking them out. They've got all kinds of fun stuff!

We are still trying to find a way around the Maryland marriage laws and have the person we want to marry us actually marry us, but I don't think that's going to happen. There has got to be a loophole somewhere, right? Will keep you posted on this one...

Still no set honeymoon, or even a room for the wedding night. Oh and no transportation or videographer yet. Although I just recently started looking into those 2 things. And here I thought I was ahead of the game. Nope... way wrong.

Well it appears that I should be very, very busy, so I guess I'll leave you with another inspiration board of ideas for the reception while visions of centerpieces dance in my head...

new challenge

So we are officially at less then 110 days to the wedding. At this milestone one of my lovely (PS: Stef... I had to retype that because at first I spelled it lovley... thought you'd enjoy that!) bridesmaids, Emily, and I have decided to take on a challenge. We are going to try and lose a pre-established amount of weight before the wedding. With only 109 days left now, I need to get a move on it!

But really, this idea came about because I had another dress fitting this weekend, and to my surprise, and total excitement, the dress had to be taken in again! Hooray! And now that it fits me so much better then it did when we bought it (when it was 4 sizes too big), I can now officially say I am in love with my dress!

I know for a fact I'm not the only bride-to-be who has doubts about her choice of dress. Especially when I bought it so early and so quickly! I was extremely doubtful, and almost tearful, worrying about how I made the wrong choice, and how was I ever going to tell my mother that I didn't love it. Well now she knows I had those feelings, but only after I was beaming in the dress at my last fitting. It's perfect and I can not wait to get my hands on it and wear it on my night.

Bringing us back to the task at hand, the wedding day challenge, at this fitting on Saturday the seamstress told me I'd need on more fitting, on May 1st, then I could take it home (pending any changes needed that day) and then I could just bring it back 2 days before the wedding to have it pressed.

Um... what? You're telling me that I am going to have to go 3 months in the summer without gaining or losing weight. It was my plan to keep on working out and losing weight right up to D-Day (please refer to previous post as to meaning of this term).

So I am kind of just ignoring this minor detail, for which I'm sure the seamstress will hate me for when I make an appointment sometime in June to have it taken in again. Because it will have to be taken in again, I promise you that.

Anyways... if you want to check out our newest venture... you can read all about it at www.2fitzillas.blogspot.com. Get it? Fit-zillas? Like Bride-zilla? Only with getting in shape? Well anyways, enjoy it. The more people that are reading it, the more motivated I will be!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

usmc stands for...

...get USed to Making Changes.

So today my plans were to work on finalizing honeymoon plans, booking a hotel room for the wedding night, working on the invites some more... anything I could do to give me an excuse not to clean the house. However, the Marine Corps has decided to divert my attention away from current wedding plans because now I might have to start ALL OVER.

In the beginning of our engagement we were concerned that deployment MIGHT be an issue since Pat's future plans were so up in the air. After he came home and things settled down we were less and less worried because it was looking like there would be no deployment for a while.

Don't fret, no deployment yet. Just orders. For him to report. To a new duty station. On our wedding day. Are you kidding?

So as of right now... I might be getting married by myself on July 31st because Pat will be tied up in NC at his new station. Awesome. Oh this comes only a day after they tell him they might not let him re-up his contract because they currently have too many marines. So not only are they stopping us from getting married, but they are stopping us from having a career and money and a house.

THANKS A LOT!

So what do I do now? Besides hyperventilate...

Oh and on a side note - we still don't have an officiant because we just found out the one we were planning on can't legally perform the marriage in Maryland. Anyone up for a trip to the courthouse next week?