#71: Presents Present

J and I got some good loot for Christmas! We got a lot, so let me just share my top five! Some of these were just for me and some of them were shared gifts:

1. Refrigerator Boxes: If you're not an antiques enthusiast, you may just think I mean Tupperware. But I don't. I mean glass dishes that stack together neatly to store your food. I LOVE them. I've been looking for a complete set (a large square, half size rectangle and two smaller squares that all fit together nicely) for awhile. My parents went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for their anniversary back in November and my mom came home and said, "I am SOOOOO excited for you to open one of your Christmas presents." I can only think she was referring to these bad boys.

2. Artist/Ring Glasses: My mom and dad got us these cute martini glasses because they are so us! One is paintbrushes (obviously for J) and the other one has a cute engagement ring on it. She said they were super cheap and didn't expect us to use them for anything but decoration, but that she really liked them for us. So cute and we love them :)

3. Games: J wouldn't let me put games on our registry at Target because, and he is SO 100% right, "we need more important things than games." Yeah, yeah. So I must've lamented about this to my sister-in-law and my FSIL too many times, for they both bought us games!! We now own Apples-to-Apples (a Christmas present from a friend a few years ago), Jenga (our Black Friday purchase last year, along with Rummikub), Scrabble Flash (SIL), Monopoly (SIL) and and Whoonu? (FSIL). We had just played Whoonu? the previous week with J's family after we celebrated his birthday (we also opened it up and played on New Years Eve with my family!). It was SO much fun, and I'm so happy we own it now :) Thanks to my awesome sisters for those!

4. Master bedroom blanket: Our master bedroom color scheme is black, white and gray with a pop of canary yellow here and there. We've registered for a black bed skirt, a white down comforter and a gray micro-plush blanket for those cold winter nights when layers upon layers of blankets are needed. Well, my parents bought us the gray blanket for Christmas! We were so happy and it's the first thing we own that will go on our bed. We immediately nuzzled up to its softness.

5. Diamond necklace: I had jokingly been asking J for diamonds for Christmas, knowing full well I was not going to get them. It was a silly request. But lo and behold, in my stocking from J this year, at the very bottom, was a little blue box. And inside was a beautiful heart necklace with a single diamond in it. I love it! I've worn it everyday since Christmas! Thanks babe! (Next year, I'm totally asking for the BMW I've been eyeing...)

 

So did you get anything good this year? Let's share!

#70: Christmas Recap

I'm back folks! The break away from blogging was much-needed. And now I'm back with lots of life updates and wedding updates!

We had a wonderful Christmas last Saturday! We started off the day at 8:45am with Little Monster banging on all the door with a plastic spoon. I thought he was going to take down my door with that spoon!!

We opened our stockings and then started on presents. We go around one at a time and open one present at a time (the little ones were continuously opening presents to keep them busy and happy and they were STILL opening them after we were done...). It usually takes a couple hours, but it's nice to see what everyone got! We took an intermission when our breakfast was done in the oven.

Let me tell you about Christmas breakfast at our house...it's amazing. We've had the same breakfast for 18 years and counting. We refuse to eat anything else on Christmas morning. I'd tell you what it is, but then I'd have to kill you.

Seriously.

Ok, only slightly kidding. Just a chopped limb, that's all! But for reals, this breakfast deserves the honor and glory of its own post. So watch for it in the coming week!

After we finished breakfast and presents at my house, we headed over to J's parent's house. They have a different tradition, so they opened all their presents on Christmas Eve! The only ones that were left were from them to me and from J and me to them. That sentence looks completely wrong, grammatically speaking, but you get what I'm saying, right? Ok, good.

We were only at my FIL (back to that good old Knottie lingo...FIL means "Future In-Laws") for a couple hours, and then we were back on the road. We headed back to my house to meet up with my family to make the drive up to Baltimore. My dad's parents live there and we've always gone up to their house for Christmas dinner. It's a crowded place with all the cousins, significant others and this year, four toddlers under the age of three!! But it was so much fun!

J and I have absolutely NO clue what we're going to do next year, because this is the fourth (and last) year we've spent Christmas Eve apart from each other. Both of our families do a big dinner on Christmas Eve and then we go to church. Maybe we'll start our own tradition next year :)

What are your family traditions? Do you have a special meal every Christmas? How do you open presents?

#69: Break Time

Well folks, I've missed a couple of posts and have not been feeling like myself for the past few days, so I've decided to take a break from blogging. I don't want to set a return date, but I'm hoping in the next week or so I'll be back in full form, ready to update you on life and wedding plans!

But for now, entertain yourself with our wedding website (and make sure you leave a comment! There's a link at the bottom of our home page.)!

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! I've never been out of sorts for this many days in a row before and am hoping to be back to normal soon :) xo

#68: Merry Christmas

Introducing our wedding website!!! Check it out and let us know what you think!!! Thanks to Peter Davis for the excellent design and execution!! Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends and remember what this season is all about!

Click here to visit our site or just check it out below!

#67: House Hunters

Although J and I know for sure that we're moving into an apartment come June, it doesn't deter me from doing a little house hunting in my spare time. I'd like to thank the Petersiks over the Young House Love for that. They recently bought a new house and I now love little one level ranchers. I never thought I could. But now I do. The brick, the..one level, the detached garages, all of it. Crazy.

I was on Zillow.com the other day just perusing houses in the Richmond area and I found a house (although, not a one level rancher) that literally took my breath away (cue Top Gun soundtrack). Of the seven photos of the house on Zillow, I gasped at five of them.

You can also find the house at http://www.609bancroft.com/.

Here are the stats on the house that I am in love with, but will never move into:

- 4 bedrooms
- 3 bathrooms
- Originally built in 1915
- Roughly 1,800 square feet
- 4 fireplaces (all with restored original mantles!)
- Original 1910 clawfoot bathtub in the upstairs bathroom. Yes please.

And without further ado, here are the pictures I got off Zillow:

 Gorgeous outside! Love the covered porch and the dark wood front door.

 Gasp #1: Love the ceilings and the dark wood mantle. I die. Seriously. And don't even get me started on the high ceiling and the super wide doorway!

 I feel like this room has SO much potential. Perfect. Imagine the light fixture possibilities!

 Gorgeous well-lit dining room area. And the dark wood floors. Gasp #2.

 I can't believe the spaciousness of this kitchen! Gasp #3, soooo much potential in this kitchen. Matching barstools would be a must. Maybe take out the storage on the left and extend the counter and put in more cabinets (matching of course). And the walk in pantry on the right? I die.

 Um, HELLO his and her sinks in the master bathroom! I love them! Definitely gasp #4. Again with the dark wood. But I love the seperate mirrors, the gorgeous lighting AND the vanity in between.

Gasp #5: I love love LOVE indoor sunrooms and patios. The light wood cabinets make the room feel light and airy. This room has a lot of potential for changes. I would probably get rid of the cabinets or find use for them elsewhere in the house, only because J has some amazing artwork that would go great in a sunny room like this. I'm seeing a nice daybed and some comfy chairs and of course, lots of plants that I hope to somehow keep alive.

So there's the house that made me die. Literally. It's bananas. (Puh-lease tell me you watch The Rachel Zoe Project?)

#66: Knotties

No, this post isn't about how to tie different knots (although I do know two Eagle Scouts that could teach you a thing or two about knot-tying...). Soon after we got engaged, I discovered The Knot. Really original name...tying the knot...the knot...dot com. So clever.

From here on out, I'll be referring to The Knot as TK. You'll understand why when I start using all the other abbreviations people use on this site.

TK has a lot of cool features, most of which I don't care for or need. They have gobs of photos of bridal gowns, shoes (all ugly), bridesmaids dresses, flowers, cakes, you name it, they got it. They also have a checklist...check mine out.

See how many things I have yet to do? Let me show you my edited screenshot.

Yes, that would be 154 items, in case the font is too small for you to see it...thanks TK. Really.

The feature I love most about this site though, is the boards. People can post about anything and everything and then other people can respond and create a thread. This is very similar to a facebook status or something and having people comment on it.

People who post on these boards are called "Knotties." Again with the original name. You're killing me!

I have my June 2011 girls. There's probably over a hundred of us! These are some of the sweetest girls I've ever met (even though I've never met any of them in person!). They are always encouraging and willing to help a girl out. I've asked numerous questions and they've all be answered so sweetly and with such good advice!

We use cool lingo like:

WR = Wedding Related
FI = Fiance
STDs = Save the Dates (I cringe every time I read this...)
WP = Wedding Party
PIP = Picture in Post

I can feel your jealousy of our cool "knottie lingo" oozing through the computer screen. I know. You don't have to tell me. If you want to be cool and ask me how my BMs are doing and if my FSIL is cool, go ahead. My bridesmaids are all doing well and my future-sister-in-law is, in fact, very cool. Thanks for asking. Do you feel cool now? And why do I keep using the word cool? Should I switch to groovy? No? ok.

But back to my June 2011 girls. I've got a bunch of date twins (girls who are also getting married on June 25th) and it's so awesome to count down with and chat wedding stuff with girls who are just as obsessed as I am! Because as much as my BMs love me, I'm pretty sure they really don't want to hear all about WR things every time we talk. You're welcome BMs :)

Another groovy thing about TK is that there's a step-up place to go AFTER the wedding is over. It's called The Nest. They're killing me with these highly original names! I've ventured over to TN sometimes, but I'm content to stay with my girls for now.

Got any cool abbreviations to share? Just don't be jeal that I use abbrevs. Yeah.

#65: WNU (Wednesday Night Update), Not Quite as Cool as MNF...

I feel like I haven't given you readers a good quality post in awhile...sorry about that. Life has been so crazy and with J home for just two weeks, I'm soaking up all the quality time I have with him. I PROMISE things will get interesting soon! With Christmas and New Years coming up, there will be lots of life (and present!) updates.

All I know is that I hope I don't have this reaction to my presents (credit to J for sending me the link):



I have a very big Christmas present in the works for you! Make sure you check in at some point on Christmas day, I'll post it early!!!

And I promise, something wedding related coming up tomorrow!