#224: Happy Birthday

Today is my other "A" friend's birthday. Annie and I have been friends as long as Allison and I have been friends. The three of us went to breakfast this morning. With our three crazy busy schedules, it was a miracle that we were all able to get together!

Annie is my fashion diva. She keeps me up to date on the newest trends and is always sending me links to shoes and clothes. I love it! She is always reliable and always there for me when I need to talk (which is usually during the day, thank God for gchat!).

Since we forgot to take a picture this morning, here's a picture of the two of us from mine and J's engagement party last June!

Love you girlfriend! Happy Birthday again!!

#223: 29 days...

...until we are here:

Oh yeah, and we're getting married in 27 days too. So that's pretty exciting!

#222: More girls.

Here's a shot that J's mom got of me and the bridesmaids that attended my shower (my K girls, you were missed!)

And a special thanks to J's sister for making my bee-you-tiful tissue paper/ribbon bouquet. Can't wait to pull that puppy out at the rehearsal!

#221: Girls.

So I promised you a picture of my new hair color, and I always deliver:

It's a lot darker than my natural color (which is actually what we were going for), but I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out.

I feel kinda fierce. Like I run the world:

#220: Pick Me Up Thursday

If you remember from this post, I thought I had found my amazing pink glitter nail polish. Alas, that was NOT the right color.

But today, three-plus months later, I found it. I was at a store called CosmoProf with my friend Ash. It's a store for beauty professionals only. We went in to find a hair color for me and to browse. Lo and behold, in the seriously discounted OPI nail polish section sat IT. The color. And it is called DS Opulence (DS stands for designer series). I paid $6.75 for it. The non-designer series polishes were $4.75! What the crap. They sell for $8.50 at Ulta. I love that Ash is a stylist. I bought my favorite seche vite base and top coats for less than ten bucks combined (the top coat alone is ten bucks at Ulta). Love it.

After making our purchases, we headed off to color (and trim) my hair. And let me tell you. I absolutely adore it. I'd share a picture with you, but I need you to come back tomorrow...so you'll have to wait until then :)

#219: American Idol Winner

I definitely should've put some money on my American Idol pick for this season...

If you remember from WAYYYY back in the beginning of the season, I picked my top three finalists. Oh, and check who I pegged for #1:


And look who won tonight:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20497555,00.html

That's right.

And here's another performance by him, for good measure:

#218: Sharing is Caring

I have SO much I want to share with you at this point, but I can't! I have to keep some things a secret for now. Let's just say I'm getting very excited about our centerpieces and our programs (which are both half done). I can't wait to see my out of town family and can't wait to spend the day with all the ones I love! But I can share about my day:

I had to leave work early today because I had an awful migraine. I hadn't had a migraine that bad in almost a year. It was excruciating. I tried drinking a Coke (usually helps to get rid of minor headaches), got a neck adjustment from my boss (my neck and shoulders were hurting so I thought that might be contributing to the head throbbing) and took two Tylenol before I finally gave up and knew I needed a nap. Luckily, my replacement trainee at work is AWESOME and told me she had everything under control and that I needed to go home. I was very grateful she was there today, because I wouldn't have been able to make it through the last hour and a half of work.  I headed up, pulled the blinds closed in my room and passed out on my bed. A mere thirty minutes later, I woke up and felt SO much better. I felt a little woozy, but that passed after about ten minutes and then I felt my head clearing up.

In short, I have NO idea if today was a good day or bad day. I just know it was a day. One day that has now passed. And one less day until I'm married!

#217: Toast

I love antique shopping. Thankfully, my mom does too. And she knows where all the good stores are.

On our most recent trip to Lancaster, PA, we did some shopping. I walked away from the weekend only spending ten bucks. No lie.

I ended up buying two vases (just plain clear glass ones for everyday use) and our toasting glasses!

J and I didn't really care much about the glasses and certainly didn't want to spend a lot of money on them. I do, however, want to pull them out for special occasions, and of course, anniversaries.

And you shouldn't be surprised at our non-conventional toasting glasses. These are not champagne flutes, my friends:

Those are pilsner glasses. I snapped a picture of one and sent it to J who immediately responded with "I like!" and thus, they were bought. When two people agree on something, it should be so. No hesitation. Don't give either party a chance to change their mind. That's just one of the pearls of wisdom I've learned from wedding planning.

Oh, and how much did these bad boys cost?

They broke the bank. At one buck per piece. That's two dollars total. Perfection.

#216: Visiting Music

I posted a status on Facebook today about my ceremony music and there was a request for me to post my song choices!

I'm not going to share them all, but I will share a few of the prelude songs (which are played while guests are being seated) and the bride's processional (I've always been open about my choice).

Without further ado, here are three of my eight prelude songs:

1. "You're My Home" by Billy Joel
link to Billy Joel's version
This is actually an amazing cover of it! (YouTube won't allow embedding of Billy Joels' version)


2. "Sweet Pea" by Amos Lee



3. "Make You Feel My Love" by Adele





I will be walking down the aisle to "Canon in D" which is a pretty popular wedding song. My mom used this song when she and my dad married over 25 years ago, and I love the way it sounds. This is the song being performed by San Francisco Early Music Ensemble Voices of Music using the original instruments Pachelbel intended for use to play this song. This version is beautiful, but mine sounds quite different.



And there you go! What do you think? Do you love Adele's voice as much as I do? 

#215: ConGRADulations!

The reason I didn't post Friday was because I was busy attending TWO graduation ceremonies at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). J and his roomate, B, graduated this semester and their department graduations were both on Friday. It worked out perfectly.

J's graduation was at noon, and I rode with the Meltons (family J has lived with for the past three years, love them!) over to the ceremony, where we met up with J's parents. The ceremony itself was boring, entertaining, depressing, cold, boring, interesting and boring all at the same time. Sense a trend? The speaker was depressing (he stated the unemployment rate, said it didn't look good, said success was failure...I was a little lost). 

The cool part about the graduation (since it was HUGE. All the art departments were included, like communication arts (J's department), music, theatre, scuplture and fashion) was the "Family Photo Pit." They set up a designated place for family and friends to take pictures right in front of the stage. It was awesome. And the graduates sat to the right of the stage. J sat in the fifth row, two seats in from the outside aisle. It was a perfect place for him to sit, because I was able to see him! It was so nice! (This is your fair warning: there are a TON of pictures in this post!!!)

This was my view from my seat. You can't tell from this picture, but this is when all the graduates were filing in to their seats. I was so sad I couldn't see J walking in! I actually saw his friend Noah, and little did I know, J was two people in front of him! 

Each department had their own sign/banner/sculpture. J's department (communication arts) is the one on the right that says "OPEN." 

 My view from the family photo pit.

 Zoomed in on the graduates! Can you see J? Hint: he's got his head down because he was texting me!

There we go! Handsome man!

Going to get his diploma (forgive my iPhone for the blurryness).

 A picture off J's mom's camera. Happy!

 J decided to park in a two hour street spot...for a two hour graduation ceremony. We decided a ticket would be worth paying, but I prayed that he wouldn't get one. And he didn't! Praise God for answering that prayer.

 With my graduate!

 Mom and Dad G with J :)

Momma Beth and her boys!

In the back of J's parent's car on the way back to the Melton's for a little grub before B's graduation!

After some food, we headed back into the city for B's graduation. It was much smaller than J's, and frankly, a little more entertaining.

Us with B! Congrats again!

After my second grad ceremony, J and I grabbed some grub and I headed home. It was a great couple days in Richmond and I can't wait till I'm living there permanently!

#214: Yard Sales

I haven't been to a yard sale in ages. So since I was home Saturday morning (only one more Saturday working to go!), I decided to see if I could find a few near my house to check out. My sister-in-law went with me (well, more like I went with her since she drove), and after driving around for awhile (and passing multiple shady/crappy looking sales), we stopped at one that was being held in a community pool parking lot. We had only gotten to the first table when I saw something I wanted: a kitchen cart. Checked the price tag. Not shabby. But the test was seeing if it could fit in the car.

After some seriously bungee tying by the previous owner, it came home with me!! I was so happy.

They bought it from IKEA for $100 and how much did I snag it for?

TEN BUCKS. Yes, you read that right. Crazy.

Obviously, there's some damage on the top, but that's nothing that a sander and some mineral oil can't fix. I'll most likely be putting this in our dining room, actually. I can't wait to load it up with linens and towels in the drawers and display some of my beautiful glass on the bottom shelves. And I will most definitely be filling the top with yummy food for a buffet housewarming party. Can't wait!

#213: Half A Lifetime Friend

Here I go again, skipping posts and all the junks. I apologize once again for falling behind on my duties. And to make up for it, I will be posting FOUR posts today. So get ready!

The reason I didn't post Thursday was because it was my friend Allison's birthday! I headed down to Richmond (after spending the morning going over our online candy order and floral order with my mom) to spend the afternoon and evening with her. We went to Cafe Gutenberg for lunch, walked around Carytown with her brother, his girlfriend and a longtime friend of ours. So much fun. Then we went to Sticky Rice (sushi) for dinner and then out on the town. Best Thursday I've had in a long time.

Love this girl. I've known Allison since middle school. We've had our ups and downs like any friends do and after THIRTEEN years (that's more than half my life, people), Allison is still one of my nearest and dearest friends!

And just for icing on the cake of friendship, since I'll be moving to Richmond, we'll be even closer! Yay!!

Happy Birthday again, Allison! Love you!

#212: Blech

Feeling down in the dumps tonight. Just stress upon stress. With a side of stress. So much to get done for the wedding. So much to do to prepare to move three weeks from tomorrow. Training my replacement at work (she's doing fabulously, it's just more exhausting for me to let her do the work, rather than do it myself).

Tomorrow is one of my best friends' birthdays. I'm heading to Richmond to spend the majority of the day with her, which is going to be awesome. Then on Friday, J graduates from college! How amazing. I am so proud of him. Later on Friday night, J's roommate also graduates, so we'll be in the stands cheering him on. Then I'll be driving home Friday night. I'm so excited for the events of the next two days, but all I can see right now is my energy level dwindling.

Sorry if this is totally jumbled and whack. Long days will do that to a person!

#211: Laguna Niguel Wedding Case Study

We haven't done a case study in a while, and I came across an absolutely breathtaking wedding today on Style Me Pretty.

This wedding had so many amazing things.  The flowers, the light and airy feel, the joy, and the fun. I loved every aspect of it. Here are my eight favorite shots from the gallery.

1. The dress. I. die. I know it looks so simple, but I love the small train and the flowy look of the skirt. I love how it's a figure flattering dress without being super tight or revealing. Perfect.

2. And that bouquet? Amazing. I would literally give my firstborn child to have peonies at our wedding. It unfortunately falls too late in the spring (technically it's summer on June 25), so peonies are out of season and no florist can guarantee that they would be carrying them then. So for now, I will salivate over these beauties.

3. Again, this is such a simple thing. But add the silver stand and more gorgeous peonies and it's breathtaking. Well, that...and I like cake. Just being honest here.

4. Chivari chairs, flowy linens and more peonies. What more could you ask for? Love the soft uplighting on the walls as well. It makes the room look so much larger!

5. I don't know this bride, but I teared up when I saw this picture. I have no idea how I'll feel when my mom is zipping up my wedding gown, but I'm hoping I've got at least half the smile this girl does! Pure joy right there.

6. And to continue in the parental theme, I also teared up when I saw this picture. Frankly, I tear up when I think about any aspect of our wedding ceremony. My dad giving me away, saying our vows, being pronounced husband and wife. I feel so blessed that I get to marry the man of my dreams and I'm sure the overwhelming feeling I currently have can only increase!

7. Do I really need to comment on this picture? Breathtaking.

8. Hello new dress! Hello dancing! What a fun couple! J and I have two left feet (ok, he doesn't, but I don't want to look like the only loner who can't dance, so I just included him), so I doubt we'd look this coordinated dancing. We'd probably be in a pile on the floor if we attempted it!

So that is my take on this gorgeous wedding! There wasn't one aspect I disliked. And honestly, if I were to throw a different wedding (I absolutely LOVE the one we're planning now, don't get me wrong), it would look just like this. I would incorporate the soft pastels of the peonies and keep everything else white and simple.

What do you think about this wedding? Are you as in love with peonies as I am? Did you believe me when I said I'd give my firstborn child? I'm not sure my mom or J's mom would actually support that decision...

*All photos from StyleMePretty.com, courtesy of Boutwell Studios

#210: Advice

At my bridal shower, each place setting had a little card. On that card, everyone was supposed to write words of advice for our marriage.  I actually just now sat down to read them. Here's a little sampling:

-Be ready to sacrifice
-Pray together daily
-Make sure to always have a bottle of Moscato in the house
-If you both put the other first, you'll both be supported and content
-Remember that you're a team!
-Live every day as if it's the first day you met him
-Leave "love notes" in places he will never expect to find them
-Always keep your sense of humor, and never take yourselves too seriously
-Tell him at least one thing each day that you appreciate about him
-Always laugh
-Keep having dates as a priority, no matter how long you've been married or what is happening in your life
-Always remember to compromise and bend to meet each other halfway
-Have patience (spoken from experience. My grandmother wrote this and my grandparents have been married for 56 years!)
-Never go to bed angry (At least 5 people wrote this, it must be true!)

Thank you to all the wonderful ladies who gave me such sweet advice!

#209: Tacky

I'm back today to share a couple of my favorite gifts from my shower yesterday. So here we go:

1. This awesome clock! J wanted to register for it to put in his office. And now he has it! He was so happy and I've gotta be honest, this clock is growing on me. And I kinda want to put it somewhere else in the apartment so I can see it too!! (And because I'm working on humility, I'll be really honest: It took me a couple turns to figure out how the clock was set up...I'm not always the sharpest tool in the shed!)

 

2. Ok, so this isn't really a gift, persay, but I got to see my little monster! I had missed him so much since he and my sister moved. It's been a nice five or so days hanging out and hearing all the new things he has to say. "Ta-da!!!!!" and "What's that?" are my favorites. 

 

3. This one has a very special story. I picked up the red Talbot's box to open it and my cousin Jessica stood up and said, "okay, so let me tell you the story behind this present." I immediately began to panic. She then proceeded to tell me that this was given to her at her bridal shower seven years ago by our second cousin, Kim. It was given to Kim at her bridal shower ten years ago by her mom, my great-aunt (dad's aunt) Clare. And now I shall introduce: Tacky Bridal Doll. Seriously, that is her name. 

J said she was prettier than me. What a funny guy.

I'm pretty sure she'll end up somewhere at my wedding! Stay tuned...

#208: Bridal Shower

Today I had my bridal shower. My mom and sister and sister-in-law (and her sister too!) did an amazing job! I felt so incredibly blessed by everyone's generosity! I'm going to do an overview today, but I'll be back tomorrow with a couple of my favorite gifts!

Mom decided to take our wedding color scheme (brown/white/green) and mix in a little red and pink to decorate for the shower. She did some amazing silk flower centerpieces! She also pulled out some of her antique glass to serve food in. And of course, we drank the punch from martini glasses. Classy!

You know I  wouldn't do an overview without mentioning the food. We had chicken salad sandwiches, a fruit (cantaloupe, green grapes and blueberries) and three cheese tortellini cold salad in a sort of yogurt sauce, kettle potato chips, deviled eggs and pickles. And then for dessert, my amazing sister made chocolate cupcakes with my a sour cream chocolate frosting, almond cupcakes with my grandma's frosting with almond extract, and of course, her famous chocolate chip cookies. So yum. Ridiculous actually.

So here's a few photos:

Isn't that big flower arrangement gorgeous? I absolutely love it. We're planning on pulling out all the pink and red flowers and replacing them with whites and greens for the wedding. Can't wait to see the statement it makes in our venue!

#207: Miss Attitude

 Please excuse the fact that this was not posted on Friday. It still works, okay?

Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?


Okay, in-between news it is:

It's Friday! (Cue Rebecca Black. Oh wait, is that fad over now?)

Now. The good news is that I have my dress back from alterations! The bad news is I can barely breathe in it. But I personally think breathing is overrated. It's like sleeping. Completely unnecessary. So we're good.

This is where the title comes into play. When you buy your dress at David's Bridal and get your alterations done there, they steam your dress for you prior to you taking it home. I asked for my dress to not be steamed now, so that I can bring it back the week of the wedding. They charge for every steaming after the initial one. Now here's my thought process:
-There's still six weeks left until the wedding.
-I was planning on leaving the dress out of the bag once I got it home so it won't get wrinkled again (and don't worry, it won't be in a place that any one in my house goes).
-I'm not leaving my dress out of the bag for six weeks. Six days, maybe, but not weeks.

It was then that the alterations manager copped an attitude with me and told me it didn't make a difference because my dress was going to be wrinkled once they put it in the garment bag. I said, "I'd rather it be wrinkled for ten minutes until I get it home than for six weeks." I also told her I didn't appreciate her attitude. I'm not above telling people that they're out of line. I would expect someone to tell me if I was being rude to them. And at this point in wedding planning, I've seen it all. At first, I let it go. But then I noticed it kept happening with every person I came in contact with. And it started to get old. Really old. So now I speak up. And I feel so much better about it.

#206: The System is Down

Did anybody get my Strong Bad reference in my title? Well it means two things:

1. Blogger system was down Wednesday
2. Today you will get to encounter Strong Bad/ Teen Girl Squad

Lucky you. I decided to get away from wedding planning for this post because frankly, that's what I'd like to do at this point. I'm ready to be done. And be married. And be in Mexico. Sipping some kind of rum drink (sorry, dad, but it's true). In a bikini. Next to my husband.

J and I facetimed on our iPhones the other night and we traded Teen Girl Squad quotes back and forth for a good three minutes. I love that man. I was cracking up. So now I share it with you. Enjoy.

Teen Girl Squad Favorite #1 (I'm totally crushing...CHILDREN!)
Teen Girl Squad Favorite #2 (my blood hurts)
Teen Girl Squad Favorite #3 (You made Brett Bretterson up in 1st grade. He's not real//grood. great and good.)

You're welcome.

#205: Lancaster Recap

Alright, finally. Here's the recap of my weekend in Lancaster with my mom.

Mom and I left Friday night to avoid having to get up at 6am to get on the road on Saturday morning.

This is what it looked like on our drive up:

Yeah, not so pretty.

We made it to our destination (about 75 minutes outside Lancaster) around 10pm and went to Ruby Tuesday's next door to the hotel for a late dinner. Then we went to our room and got to work on wedding projects.

This was mine:

And this was mom's:

I stamped a white "g" on 300+ squares of green textured paper. And mom painted a large canvas to be used somewhere for our wedding (like I would tell you where!). We made good progress.

The next day we got up early (and by "got up" I mean mom pulled the hotel curtains wide open at 8am...ugh) and made our way to Lancaster. We decided to hit up some of our favorite antique stores. I was on the hunt for something, but I didn't know what it was. I was sure it would hit me in the face when I saw it.

I came across these gems:

Gorgeous, right? Oh, and yes, that's a liquor dispenser. I wanted to buy it so badly, but luckily, the $50 price tag talked me out of it. It literally said, "Do not buy me." And that was that.

Mom and I went back to the hotel in the middle of the day, walked around the outside parking lot for some exercise and discussed different aspects of the wedding and wrote stuff down. It was very productive for mom to find out my thoughts on certain things (like how much I hate columns) and it was interesting for me to realize there were tons of little details I hadn't even thought about yet (like where the wedding party would go after the ceremony was over).

We had an early dinner at Good N Plenty which was amazing and delicious as always. I actually had trouble finishing my meal, which might be hard to believe because it looked like this:

Yep.

Moving right along. We went to the floral warehouse that was our original purpose for this trip. And were we ever disappointed. We literally walked out of there with no flowers. We bought some ribbon, some paper, and I bought two vases just to have (for when J brings me home flowers for no reason).  Bummer.

Sunday, mom let me sleep in until 8:30 (how nice of her) and we headed to Waffle House for Mother's Day breakfast. Mom received a pink rose when she walked in, which I thought was really sweet.

Isn't she beautiful? She'll probably kill me for putting her picture online, but I think it needs to be seen. (Oh, and I want to be buried in my wedding dress, just so you know).

We moseyed around antique stores for the rest of the day and I had such a good time looking around:

 Aaaah treasures

 Love the collections of colored glass!

 My great grandma had a tree like this and now my dad has it. Me and my siblings are preparing to fight each other for it.

A class of 2004 Coke bottle. I wanted to buy it, but I could see J asking "why?!?" so I didn't. 

We got on the road back home around 3:30 and I was so sad to leave these views behind:

I was ready to get home and get stuff done around the house, but I wanted to take the rolling green fields and buggies with me.

Engagement: 495 days down, 45 days to go!!