Happy Monthaversary!

Remember back when I was planning a wedding? Yeah, so, we did it! We got married October 2 - and it was wonderful and beautiful and so much fun. I giggled my way down the aisle. Cried through a song with my Mom and my Maid of Honor. Laughed at the sniffles that came from all my bridesmaids during the ceremony; hooted when Mark got down to "Low."

I adored each and every one of my vendors. We did such a great job picking such wonderful people. I've talked to every one of them in the month since the wedding - because it would have been weird to just not talk to them again. We had developed friendships that went beyond just working a wedding.

Things I'm so glad that we did: Sprung for the cake I wanted, trusted my gut on the first photographer and went with a new one (even though I lost my deposit), giving my DJ free reign to really play what they want and read the crowd, rented the bridesmaid dresses, had someone else do my hair and makeup, spent the night with my mom and best friends the night before, asked my sweet new niece to be our flower girl, let Mark choose a friend to perform the ceremony (he was a jack of all trades), had a low-key rehearsal dinner, Mark surprising me with a champagne that I LOVED, letting our bridal party with with their guests (at tables of honor), video recorded the ceremony, getting snacks for the rooms - I was famished after dancing that much, oh yeah - and getting married to my best friend.

Things I would have done differently: I would have looked at Mark more when I walked down the aisle (I kept looking at our friends and family), and I wouldn't have stressed about anything - because the things I worried about were inconsequential on the day of.

oh, but I know what you really wanted anyway - the pics!

Wedding Stationary Reviews

Back in December, my pal Ashley at Bride on a Budget hosted a giveaway. (she hosted lots of giveaways, but this one I actually won!) It was for some personalized stationary/thank you cards from Gifts in 24.

My information was sent off to them in December and when I hadn't heard anything in February, I contacted Ashley; who let me know that when she got her items from them they took FOREVER and to just sit tight. Considering I'm still 5 months out from the wedding now - I wasn't in a hurry. But in March and April when Ashley followed up again (and I followed up once as well) Gifts in 24 didn't have any record of my order or the contest or anything. And they were unwilling to work with Ashley to make it right. So, boooooooo on them. Seriously.

BUT, what did work out well is that Ashley worked her magic and was able to give me an alternate prize. And what a prize it was! The fine folks at Vistaprint offered me 100 free thank you cards. They even threw in expedited shipping, since I'd already waited so long for my prize.

I have ordered from Vistaprint before and was very impressed with their business cards (We had our photo sharing cards printed through them) but the thank you cards were even better. We had them printed on linen paper - and they fit nicely with the sunflower theme of our wedding. Besides, it's the first thing I have with my new name on it! And I adore the printed pattern on the inside of the card too.

So, a big thank you to Vistaprint and to Ashley!

More Wedding Junk (with pics)

I have photos!

I finished the flower girl basket today. It's got sheer bows/ribbon in burgundy/black/white on the sides. I had them flowing down but with a black and white patterned dress, I thought it was too much.

And the table numbers were done over the weekend (they are little table tents - but you can't tell that from the photo).

Now it's your turn to weigh in on the cake topper. There are three that I've gotten over the course of our engagement. One is a Princess House Crystal bride and groom, another is a set of birds, and the last is a vintage (40s or 50s) ceramic couple. Mark really wanted people and not animals - so I think it's really between the vintage couple or the crystal couple. What do you think?

for those of you who are budget concious, here is the breakdown.

Flower Girl Basket - $10.20

$3.20 basket (easter clearance at michaels)

$2.00 flowers (2 bunches from dollar tree)

$3.00 ribbon

$2.00 green stuff to stick flowers in

Table Numbers - $13.00

$3.00 white card stock

$1.25 damask paper

$1.25 black textured paper

$7.50 adhesive (martha stewart - full price michaels)

Cake Topper - $14.75 (i included them all since I won't be returning any of them)

$0.00 Crystal bride and groom (gift from my aunt - she bought it at a yard sale)

$6.75 birds (full price at michaels)

$8.00 vintage couple (flea market find!)

Roll Call

It's time to make yourself known. Who is still out there?

I feel like I've been out of touch for too long. Especially after I checked in with Rhi and saw that she's planning her wedding to "the boy" that I remember her going on her first date with. And after I heard through someone else that Erin is expecting twins!!

So congrats to you both!!

Can I just say that everything I know about my blog friends I learned on Facebook? Facebook is ruining the face of blogging. It's too easy to twitter or facebook a one-liner. Who knew we'd see the day when we thought blogging was a more personal way to keep in touch? hehe.

As such, every post ends up being an "update" of what's been going on. After a rocky start to 2010, I think things are getting much much better.

The puppies have made life a little more crazy. We added Meatloaf to the mix and he was pretty well behaved when he was tiny. Now he's Daisy-sized and he's LOUD. He likes barking. He also thinks "sit" means "speak." Which is actually just darling. Much cuter than how he thinks "high-five" means "bite the hell out of my arm."

Work is work. Nuff said.

Mark hurt his back pretty bad, which left me bowling alone (and badly). But, thankfully, he'll be back next week. whew! And he's going to be starting softball again next week. That will be nice - except that the weather isn't nice yet; so I have to prepare for cold nights. (some of the games start at 9:30!)

Other than that - it's all wedding, all the time. haha.

I'm really down to just finding one vendor. The DJ. We have a meeting with some people next month that I'm hoping will fit the bill perfectly. I'm very happy with the line-up we've arranged for this shindig. Everyone really fits in with our personalities and the feel we want for the day. Today I met with my fabulous florist to get things squared away. She came up with some pretty ideas; you can see them here.

I finished putting the ribbons/charms on the bubbles. Of course, I figured out that the basket I bought is too big for them (grrrrr).

I also did some mockups of the programs - which one do you like better? Mark is leaning towards the one that folds up. I'm indecisive. You know this.

Next on my list? deciding on invite wording and starting to print the invites. woot!

BLAH-ging

I'm totally blah. Sorry about that.

I'm back in full wedding planning mode, and also feeling sorry for myself. Neither of these things have anything to do with the other.

I'm typing two handed, but probably shouldn't be. I had a punch biopsy on my shoulder today and I keep pulling the stitches. Not good. I'm listening to poor little Meatloaf whine in his bed because Sister-Daisy didn't have to go to bed too. He'll be over it in about a minute though because he's just seriously good natured. He's a happy little guy. I'm hoping he's going to love that he's going to daycare with Daisy in the morning. He's still a little skittish around other dogs; but he's getting used to them. I'm hoping daycare helps.

Hopefully it will help him to forgive us when he goes in to be neutered on Thursday.

Yeah, probably not. But again, he'll get over it. Besides, he'll get extra special treatment too, I'm sure. I'll be home with him for three days in a row - so yeah, one spoiled puppy coming up!

Today I did lots of googling. Looking for DIY flower arrangements. I'm really leaning towards using sunflowers, which seems like a fairly easy thing to put into bouquets. I have the prettiest black and white damask ribbon that will look fabulous. I'm just worried about buying bulk wholesale flowers and having something go wrong or have them arrive looking awful and giving me nothing to work with. Although, I haven't heard any bad reviews...so I'll probably go that way. (I'll also probably order the smallest order I can in the next month or so - that way I can check out the quality and my DIY abilities!)

I've got a DJ appointment scheduled. They are actually driving down (about an hour and a half from here) to meet with us. They seem really nice and are VERY reasonably priced. I got a suggestion from a friend at work....her DJ played the more classic smoother music at the beginning of the evening (read: for the older people) and then slowly moved into more modern dance music as the night wore on. Seriously though, I think that when it all comes down to it - it will be like my girlfriends (and their boyfriends because they will be stuck!), Mark's friend Gregg, my mom and my aunt Claudia...they will be the ones left standing.

I also went ahead and booked a trial run with a makeup artist that I found online. She's located very close to where the wedding will be held; and she was running a special this month. (free trial and 25% off!) So, while it's a bit early - I'm going to do that next week. I figure it's not like hair - my face will probably not change color/tone before October. It's funny because she asked me to bring photos of "makeup inspiration" and I realized that all the photos I pulled are of the same girl. LOL Apparently, I know what I like. (not too dark, smokey eye, pink glossy lip) It was actually kind of funny too because I sent out an email to my bridesmaids just letting them know that if they were interested in getting theirs done - that I was doing a trial and they all were interested - and one even asked if someone was coming to do hair too. I hadn't decided that yet either. Maybe closer to I'll look into that. I'm not sure what kind of veil for sure yet since I'm making some dress modifications. :)

I think Mark and I picked out the style of the cake too. I found a photo online of a white cake that had black lace placed onto it. And since my dress mod includes adding black lace trim - I think that might work out just perfectly.

gosh, I feel like I haven't gotten anything done, but once I started typing it all out - I realize I am not nearly as bad off as I thought! Especially since we're going to meet with the caterer to finalize everything next month and we're going to go check out the classical guitarist (for the ceremony) next month as well.

I really need to get on the elliptical and get camera ready for our engagement pics - I'd like to do them in May(ish).

So what are you guys up to?

Paper!

My office is getting more and more stingy with the websites as of late. I tried uploading pics to photobucket, but it wouldn't allow it. Which meant I couldn't post to theknot.com. So I tried uploading the pic to our wedding planning website, but that's blocked too. GRRRR.

So I'm posting the first step of my table numbers here. Good thing I hardly ever blog :)

I plan to put a thin burgundy border around these, and then a thicker black and white damask frame around that. I'm still deciding on whether or not I will put them on the table in a clip or if I'll use floral picks to have them sticking out of the centerpieces.

It's Quality Not Quantity

I realize I haven't been a very good blogger (Mark keeps reminding me that I haven't updated). However, I am saving you from the "the dog chased the cat, she barked, I made her go outside, she ran around and then we all went to bed" type of entry. You're welcome.

However, I'm pretty excited about the fact that I have another tie in (sort of). As I sit here typing, I am not only watching Dr. Phil, but I am also NOT going to the grand opening of the new Super Walmart that is like less than 1/2 a mile from my house. However, Miss V is publishing my Walmart story on The Aisle Files on Thursday. Be thankful it isn't the one where Emily laid the smack down on a very small troll like woman. That's another story for another time.

Since I don't update often, let's appeal to the masses on several levels.

1) I joined a "The Biggest Loser" club at work. It's a team weight loss competition, and we're going to be putting together walking teams too - so hopefully that will get me on the right track to being the size I want to be before seriously dress shopping.

2) Speaking of which (this in particular is for Lindsey), we're still tossing around ideas on theme/color for the wedding. Any suggestions? links? pictures? The only things that are certain are the location which has medium color wood floors and chairs, and 1/2 wood walls with white/cream on top and a stone fireplace; and silver accents and sunflowers. Everything else theme/color wise is up for discussion.

We've gone from burgundy and leaves to tangerine and lemon. I'm still thinking fall, but with a kick. And seriously, any ideas you have, please send 'em. There's a darling flower patterned dress on david's bridal's website and also - the cute pattern - also comes in shoes! peep toes! really! So with a maid of honor in patterned dress and solid shoes and bridesmaids in solid dresses with patterned shoes....swoon!




But is it fall enough? and is it mean to make the girls wear orange?

Also - I think we might go more traditional with the cake topper - though, we're avoiding the one where the bride has her legs wrapped around the groom. I think that should be saved for the wedding night, if you know what I mean.

But what about something like this? (also - Mark hasn't seen these so...tell me what you think, Mr!)


And I think that's all I have. Besides, my dinner is ready. hehe.

A Post With a Tie In

I'm pretty excited because 1) it's been forever since I've blogged and I actually came up with something that I think you will want to weigh in on and 2) that I have an actual tie-in because I've been so lazy and watching awful TV all week.

As you know, my life has become "all things wedding" - you know, between bitching about work and going to book club. While surfing the knot at work (shuddup), I noticed a link to a groom's site called "the plunge." It sounded interesting, so I checked it out.

Most of the advice was pretty right on. For example, including a female friend in the wedding and fighting to have that friend in the wedding. Unless you've slept with her. Then no. Not even if the bride to be says it's okay. It will NEVER be okay. Well done The Plunge.

Then I moved onto the article about the groomsmen responsibilities. One of which is making sure that the groom doesn't cross "the cheating line" at the bachelor party. The article linked to other articles that explained certain areas in detail. Such as exactly where that cheating line is. It basically ranked different types of cheating - and the author indicated that his threshold is kissing. Kissing is definitely cheating. But innocent flirting wasn't. He also ranked having sex with a random girl as worse than having sex with a stripper. Which, I also agree with. I mean, sex with a real girl could lead to something like a relationship. Sex with a stripper leads you to the poor house.

Of course, the next link was too - I cheated, now what?! Okay, so ideally, your groom to be wouldn't cheat. But, the article talks about how depending on what line was crossed, how the groom should handle it. Most of the advice was to "let it lie" (read: don't tell). I was horrified. But then I thought about it some more. I'm definitely not condoning it, nor am I giving someone permission to have one last fling - but really, I can see where not much good would come from telling the bride about an indiscretion that was a one-time, alcohol induced mistake.

And the other side of me says, he better tell her. And she better kick him in the balls.

I think the real problem is that if he cheated, (a one-time dumb thing), at a bachelor party...there are too many other people who know about it for it to remain a secret forever. It's just not possible. Someone will tell their wife/girlfriend and word will get back to the bride, and then oh crap will there be hell to pay! Besides, if anyone else knew about it, and the bride found out later, she'd feel like everyone's been looking at her like she's an idiot. If there were guarantees in life, one of which being that no one will ever find out that you were a scumbag, then I'd agree to let it lie. Especially if it were just a kiss. Don't do it. But if you do, don't tell us.

For example, on Paris Hilton's My New BFF (see! awful TV!), Paris had her BFF Wannabees throw a bachelor party for one of her friends. During the party, one of the girls "beat him with her vagina" in the worlds most puke-evoking lap dance; while another girl kissed the groom after he bellowed to the crowd "I need one last REAL GOOD kiss."

They revealed their indiscretion to his fiance the next morning in a "walk of shame" meeting where they berated the kissing wannabee. Needless to say, the Fiance was NOT HAPPY. She accepted the girl's apology and told him "they have some things to talk about." THIS, would have been a good time to not have the whole thing on tape. You could have just let it go. I mean, the fiance had to be pretty clueless considering she is/was going to marry a guy who is FRIENDS WITH PARIS HILTON. A guy who's bachelor party was thrown by Paris Hilton. THIS was perhaps your first of several clues that maybe this guy wasn't marriage material.

So tell me - where do you fall in this debate?

Also - disclaimer - this has nothing to do with what Mark may or may not have planned for his bachelor party. He and his friends are all good guys, and I don't anticipate him needing to refer to these articles except for entertainment. :)

Can We Get Married Tomorrow?!

For those of you who are out there thinking, "OMG woman, seriously. You have 18 months till your wedding, spare us the details!" you might want to step away from the blog. And maybe come back in for the last couple paragraphs - unless you hate puppies too (in which case, what is wrong with you?!).

As you know, there will (eventually) be a much anticipated wedding next year. October of next year to be precise. Last time I updated we had reserved the church and the reception location and were talking to photographers. And we had decided on a noon wedding.

On Monday, we talked to the caterer. From that conversation we decided to move the wedding to 3 p.m. so that the owner of the catering company would be available for the wedding (his restaurant is open that day and he'll need to be there during the day). This is also good because 1) the lighting will be so much better at 3 than noon for photographs; 2) I can actually light the candles that I'm putting in those pretty pretty votive holders I bought off craigslist; and 3) we can plan more of a dinner than a lunner. Which was too confusing.

I was able to switch the time with the church with no problems and I'm just waiting to hear back from the photographer that we decided to go with to make sure that a 3 p.m. wedding works for her - and then we'll book her too! YEAH!!!

Our meeting with the caterer went so well, and both Mark and I were thrilled with everything he had to say. He's very reasonable and he's just the nicest guy ever. His staff will handle all the set up and rentals (linens mostly since the location comes with tables and chairs). They will pass hors devours, serve a fabulous meal, bartend, and cut and serve the cake.

Mark and I had pretty much decided on a feel for the wedding, which was that we would be surrounded by people who love us and are genuinely happy for us. I wasn't sure how vendors were going to fit into that - but so far, we've found the nicest and most accommodating vendors possible. I can't wait!

Out of curiosity, for those of you who are married - what things did you do or not do that you wished you would have done differently for your wedding? Any tips for a beginner? hehe.

*****

I hear something funny from one of the daycare moms at Daisy's daycare. She said, "You know, it was so hot today, so I tried to get Daisy in the pool - but she would only put her front feet in." Um....Yeah, Daisy is a pool lovin' fool! So she must have been feeling kind of contrary that day. She was pretty tired, apparently, since the owner of the daycare said she should pay me for the day since Daisy wore her dog out so bad he was passed out on his back with all four feet in the air. (hee!)

We took her to the dog park last night, where she played with a cute young yellow lab named Carmen. They played and ran and jumped in the pool. She also got to play with Malakai - which really just gets her in trouble. She will find someone to play rough with and Malakai will come along and want to join in - but he's really vocal and kind of rough - so it looks more like they are ganging up on the dog. We had a couple incidents that required us to grab her and sit her down for a time out, but otherwise, all was good. And she did, in fact, play in the pool, the little turd.

I Am Officially....

Well, I'm not sure what you'd call it. But I'm kind of tickled by the fact that I have decided to enter the strawberry jam contest at the county fair. I sent in my registration yesterday - which means I will be making jam early next month so I can send it in mid May. heeee.

Yesterday I got back into the wedding planning. I've been slacking for a week or two because of this awful head cold. But now I'm feeling better, and frankly, work sucks, so I spent some time yesterday sending emails and checking on a few things. I was talking with one of the photographers yesterday - our mission now is to find photos that we really like to send to her so she can show us samples of similar things that she's done.

Next week we meet with the person we want to perform the ceremony, the caterer, and one more photographer. So we will be back in full swing.

Let's see, what else? Oh, Daisy got in trouble at the dog park on Monday. She had been playing really nice with all the dogs - it was a particularly mellow day at the park. But then, she decided she wanted to wrestle with this big german sheperd. And he decided he did NOT want to wrestle with Daisy. But she wouldn't get out of his face. Like, "hey! play with me! Hey! You! Hi!" and I'm chasing her around trying to make her stop - while the other dog's owner has a hold of him. Finally I caught her and I made her leave. I admonished her with, "if you can't listen and behave, then you can't stay and play" Of course, all I got in response was a giant doggy grin. She passed out almost immediately in the backseat of the car anyway, the little turd.

I'm sure by now, Today, she's already living it up at daycare.

In other news, I'm looking for a new job. I have a couple leads and a few apps out. Keep your fingers crossed for me, wontcha?

How To Lose Customers

Mark and I experience horrible service this weekend. Two different types of service, as one place. We like to keep it simple.

We have been meeting with photographers for the wedding, and had made an appointment with a local woman to review her albums. We were supposed to meet her at Hina's Tea today. We arrived about 10 minutes early and decided to go ahead and order.

The woman behind the counter was very short and had a little bit of an attitude. We ordered smoothies (one peach, one mango) and told her they were for "here" since we had planned to meet the photographer. After looking around and realizing that there was really no place to sit, and that we might have to move our meeting to another location, I asked her to change the order to "to go." She YELLED into the backroom - "make them to go!"

Um, thanks.

A few minutes later, our smoothies were in fact in to go cups and being handed to us. However, one of them was only 3/4 of the way full, and the guy said, "I don't remember which one is which" Uh, what? So, being that the general rule for french fries is that the boy usually gets like 5 fries, and the girl gets half a plate, I assumed the full one was mine. And in fact, it was. Yeah me!

We waited a little longer, and didn't see the photographer. We did see a woman that had a bag that we thought might be a photographer...being that one of the others we met with had a similar (not good) look.

We took a short walk, where Mark said, "it's probably that lady with the bag" and I said, "uh, would it be horrible if I said, "if it is her, I want to go home NOW?!" But we decided to go back to the tea house. We stalked the strange woman. She didn't talk to us, and pulled out her homework (whew!)

So, we ended up leaving.

Later, I received an email from the photographer that said, "I hope you're having a nice Sunday afternoon. Our appointment today didn't end up on my calendar, do you have time to meet next week? My treat."

Um, no. Just no. Seriously? Oops, your wedding didn't end up on my calendar! sorry!

(in my defense the woman was wearing a top that did not fully reach the top of her jeans and her belly was hanging out - and while I think my friends would enjoy having someone to mock, I didn't want her distracting the beauty of the day.)

To my bridesmaids: Sorry!
To the rest of the wedding guests: You're welcome.

I'm Not the worst blogger - but I'm bad

Some other people we know are much worse about posting regularly, but I've been pretty lame. I'm lame at reading and commenting too. So i'm going to do better. :) I hope.

The people in my "real" life are probably bored of wedding talk, but I know some of you EAT IT UP. So a quick update might be necessary. We drove about 45 minutes yesterday to buy desserts at the bakery that we are seriously considering for the cake - because they are THAT good. We've met three photographers, and I set up a meeting with another, but of course, we're busy that day. grrr. We're meeting with the caterer next month. I've been talking to Mark's mom about flowers and centerpieces.

And we've begun the fight over the guest list. (good times!) We started with a "we want a really great loving vibe" theme and it's moving towards "we can't not invite this person" theme. Which will greatly impact the number of people we will be inviting, and therefore changing the whole vibe. As predicted, this will probably be one of the few things we won't be able to agree on. And yes, I had big plans of not being bridezilla. Wish me luck. :P

We've also wandered into the "well, you can't invite one kid and not invite the others." Which, is a huge issue since, frankly, neither of us are big fans of kids in general. We don't necessarily dislike them, we're more neutral. Except in the case of one - I LOVE my friend's daughter. She's just darling. I bowled her into the wedding (this consisted of me going up to bowl and Mark saying, If you get a strike, she can be in the wedding - I totally got a strike! woohoo!) We might have to have a yahtzee game to make other decisions (like, band vs dj)

In other news, work has been kicking my ass and I haven't had time to do much personal stuff. I did actually pay all my bills on time this month though, which is different. I've had the money in previous months, but never had the time to just sit down and do it. You know, like blogging. I use bill paying as a way of measuring how out of control my personal life is. If I can't find 10 minutes to pay all my bills ONLINE, then I'm obviously neglecting other areas.

Like emailing my book club girls at 11 p.m. the NIGHT BEFORE our meeting.

I'm taking in all the victories that I can though. Including reading 4 books in the last week and a half (OMG I love Karen Kingsbury!) and remembering to water my newly planted flowers EVERY SINGLE DAY. Tomorrow I intend to put in my 9 hours and then check out and watch my boy play softball.

Now I Speak

Thank you for answering my last blog. It's good to see that some of you are still out there! hehe. I wanted to clarify that the questions had nothing to do with the wedding and any subsequent showers that may or not be thrown for me/us.

It was brought on by the recent rash of strange baby shower texts. First, two caveats:

1) I still go by what Emily Post says is proper - I'd rather err on the side of being too polite than not polite enough (although, if you catch me being impolite it's because I meant to, not because I didn't know better!) and

2) I like to text message - ONE ON ONE. Sending blanket text messages like, "Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone in your phone lacks sincerity. And in some cases people are paying ten cents to receive your message.

That being said, I think things are changing from the days of Miss Manners, but some people may be going too far with how relaxed they are about occassions where gifts are required. (and to totally branch off - where are the thank you notes people?!)

But yeah, over the past month or so I've received an invitation to a baby shower via text message (a blanket text message to a bunch of people, because I know at least one other person who got the message). The reason for a shower is "shower" the person with gifts. It's the premise. For a wedding, a gift is not required, for a shower, it's pretty much the whole point.

So, I think we all agree 1) spring for invitations and a stamp! 2) Don't throw a "give me presents" party for yourself. A point of contention is the "who" but I think in the oldern days (ha!) an immediate family member shouldn't hold a shower because then it's your family asking for gifts. Or something like that. I think we've gotten away from that a little, and that doesn't bother me as much as the other two things. (That being said, my bridesmaids - who are not related to me- are throwing my shower and have, in fact, already bought invitations! They are so awesome)

And I know the only one shower for your first kid (unless it's been 5 years between the first and second, etc) is old school....but for me, I don't like the idea. I think people are still going to bring gifts for the new baby, it just wouldn't necessarily be a "shower" type event. In fact, I spent several hours working on a crocheted baby blanket for a second baby. I sent the gift over, but didn't go to the shower. It was a couples shower too, which I'm not a huge fan of. None of the guys want to be there, so it just feels VERY uncomfortable.

So, sorry Mark. My shower invites are pink and have wedding dresses on them. You might not want to be associated with that anyway. Love you!
(and yes, we totally discussed this before, this is no shock to him. In fact, I believe it was relief I saw wash over him when I mentioned that they bought the invites.)

And also (sheesh - won't she shutup already? and what's up with the parenthesis?) Mark was a sweetie yesterday...I was having a bad day and he sent flowers and solicited donations for the Walk to Empower for me. He's an awesome fiance and I can't wait to be his wife.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Not The Best Way to Announce an Engagement

My friend's parents live down the street from us. I don't see them often, or visit ever. However, I had to make a hasty visit on Sunday.

Mark and I went to leave the house at the same time on Sunday morning, but we were going to separate places. We locked the front door and the security screen and left.

So I thought.

Later, after taking Abby to the groomer, stopping by work to pick up a project binder that I needed to work from home, and grabbing lunch; I headed home.

When I got there - the security screen was open. I thought, "that's odd" and I was nervous about it. So I decided to try the doorknob to see if the front door was also open. AND IT WAS! I only opened it about two inches and then I RAAAAAAN down the driveway my 300 pound binder, while whispering to myself, "OMG.omg.omgomgomg."

By the time I drove the block to my friend's parents' house, I was crying. They answered the door, and the husband called the police. Then I called Mark. He was on his way home, and he said, "you know, I might have left it unlocked." Um, well I'm not going in to find out....so hurry home.

The husband went down to meet the police (who didn't show up even 20 minutes later when Mark got home). So while we waited, I worried. And I talked to the wife. I hadn't seen her since we got engaged, so we talked wedding and oohed and aahed over my bling. It was a nice distraction.

Once we knew Mark and her husband had made it down there, we drove down to meet the boys at our house, and Mark determined that it was clear inside and that yeah, he totally just left the door unlocked. Apparently he had forgotten his work keys (he was also going to the office) and he came in frantically looking for them so he could go and hurry up and get done what he needed to do. And in his haste, he left the door unlocked. And almost gave his future bride a heart attack.

Wedding Stuff

So, Mark and I went and looked at our possible wedding locations...and now we're in full planning mode. Almost daily I'm getting emails from him asking me about this idea or that vendor. Yeah for boys who get involved!

And, since I'm still super swamped at work....I'm posting a few pics of the locations we're looking at (a historic church from the 18/1900s) and the reception hall.

Weekly Update

It looks like I'm only updating like once a week - so I'll get a head start on this week and do it on Sunday, how does that sound?

Let's see - Daisy is still full of energy. She's found a new way to deal with it though - digging. She has been digging in our flower beds. Exhibit A:

I've had to do a little rearranging at the house. It seems that Minnie really likes this vase of fake flowers that I usually keep on the buffet. She's been rubbing her little face on it and knocking it off. Which, in turn, makes Daisy bark like a crazy person. So I moved the vase to the dining room table. That worked for like 20 minutes. And now it just lays on its side on the table. Minnie took the opportunity for a photo shoot:
Pretty!

Needless to say, we are probably not getting a Christmas tree this year. Nor will we be putting up many decorations. I'm still trying to figure out where to hang the stockings since everyone has one (I got Minnie's recently and Daisy's about a month ago). It will be sad without Chance and Golem's stockings though, so maybe it's better to be more low-key. I'm not really feeling all holiday spirity. Well, I take that back. I'm excited about some projects (like our gift of warmth and adopt-a-family) at work and I'm excited about holiday get togethers. I'm just kind of stressed about shopping and all the stuff that doesn't even really matter. go figure.

As for wedding stuff - we're talking plans. I think the only thing that will stress me out is the guest list. We really need to decide if we want to make it really small and intimate or if we want to have everyone there. That will probably help us decide if we want to do it in 2009 or 2010 (read: more people = more money required = wait one more year). I think I've decided that I'm going to try to rent a dress - I'm really against spending a frillion dollars on a dress to just have it sit in the closet forever. Because I'd probably never get rid of it, and I'm not naive enough to think that in 25 years when I have a daughter who might be getting married that she'd want to wear my out-of-style dress. So, to save me (and my non-existant offspring) the guilt and the closet space, I contacted the dress rental place to see if they can get the gown that I love. (keep your fingers crossed). Otherwise, we've pretty much decided autumn (october), sunflowers, and these darling leaf invitations. And that's pretty much it. But, considering we have 11 months or 23 months to plan - I think we're doing pretty good.

Ending on a good note: I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I love stuffing. and then I can start cookie baking for the holidays! yeah!!

The Bling

And now the moment some of you (Lindsey!) have been waiting for.
The Bling! It's perfect and gorgeous and soooo shiny. Mark has good taste. :)

Okay, Okay - Sheesh!

Boy, you ladies are DEMANDING. Hee.

We had a pretty eventful weekend, but I know you're just here for the good stuff...so I'll get to it. Mark and I went to Fort Bragg (on the Northern California Coast) Thursday night through Sunday afternoon. We try to go once a year because we both LOVE it there. This time we brought Miss Daisy with us, to stay in a cottage for the weekend.

We arrived late in the night and got settled in. We spent most of the drive talking about how he had bought me a ring (Mark is HORRIBLE at keeping secrets) and that I should NOT expect him to propose because the ring was being set/sized and he wouldn't be able to pick it up for a week or so.

On Friday we got up early and took Daisy to the dog park to play and then we stopped for breakfast. After breakfast we went to my favorite beach (Glass Beach). Afterward, we went walking through downtown (it's a cute little town) and checked out the shops. The pet shop was having a pet halloween party and Daisy was having fun eating treats and she got her picture taken, while I tried a scavenger hunt game.

Then we went to Mark's favorite beach, Jughandle. We all had a blast watching Daisy chase the waves and just enjoying the light rain.

When we got back to the cottage, Mark dropped down to one knee and asked me to marry him. I said, yes and asked him what he had in his hand. It was a rock. A rock shaped like a heart that he had picked up on the beach. :)

The rest of the trip was a series of eeeeeeks and yippeees and shmoopiness. And he wasn't kidding about the ring - I really do have to wait until next Monday to get it! And I'm just giddy with excitement and happiness (everyone in our family is just over the moon about it).

We're thinking of having a fall wedding.

More details about our trip and some more pictures later.

Guess Who's Getting Married!

Fort Bragg, CA
October 2008