I despise details.

I can't believe I am thinking that title, me the queen of detail and all kinds of party planning nonsense.  yet that's where I am right now.  I'm ready for the details to be done and over with.  I'm almost worried I can't enjoy it anymore now that these little things that gave me so much joy to plan and create and obsess over are now just another thing to worry about!  But I'm not finally doing a post just to complain when there is plenty more obsessing to do over wedding details =)
First of which: my jewelry.  You may recall me finally saying screw it with the necklace and finding something nice, but then I realized it was me talking and changed my mind.  Cause thats how I roll.  And I found these bad boys:

Love them!  So honest opinions~ do you think these would look ok with my dress?  I still get the bling earring factor I love, but with a simple necklace and matching bracelet for some extra sparkle (minus the grown up pearls I can't seem to pull off).  I really hope this matches cause I don't really have much time to find anything else!




Next on the list~ update on projects-
Felt pomanders are done~ I finished 24, so we'll have one on every other pew.  And anyone who doesn't like it can just make sure to not mention it to me cause its too late to change my mind~ I am done, done, and done with those!

Programs~ this was a project I ended up passing on in favor of my sanity (I know, loose thread already), so I found an awesome seller on etsy (my wedding savior, or nemesis to Sean) who is custom making me these bad boys:

Obviously, this will have our names on the front, but you get the idea.  Love them even more cause all I had to do was type up the info and she formatted it and will print it all out for me at a very reasonable price (at least I think my sanity is worth much more than she charges!) =)  I only got 150 so some people just won't all get one~ once again boo hoo and go away if you don't like it~ 

And no I'm not getting irritable before the wedding, why do you ask?

One very special project that I've been trying to figure out for some time is how to incorporate Nico into the ceremony.  First I wasn't even sure if the church would let us do anything, then I had to figure out what we wanted and what Nico would even do! Once again, etsy my love to the rescue:

It's called a family union medallion (and will be on a thicker more boyish chain by the way).  It has 3 rings melded together to make a pendant and what will happen is after we do the ring exchange and our vows, Father will call Nico up and Sean will recite a short thing to Nico (Sean only cause I wouldn't be able to get through it without crying) and then Father will bless the necklace just like our rings and then we both put it on Nico.  Sounds kinda cheesy but I know I will lose it then, so girls I will need tissues for sure at this point...

Two quick more things before I leave, one happy and one not so much:

First, the bad, which includes the bad, the ugly, and the hated:  I wish guest lists and RSVPs and seating charts would go away and never come back- They better hope they never meet me in a dark alley cause they will not make it out in one piece, and I hope I never have to worry about anything like this again.  Ever.  This alone made me wish more than anything else so far that we had up and gone to Vegas.  Vegas doesn't worry about seating charts and RSVPS and people changing their mind on how many people in their family is coming.  Seriously, IF you really have to change the amount of people coming, there is NO need to change it more than once.  Or twice.  Or at all.  Cause at this point, you're lucky you have a seat and a meal.  Yep I just went there.  

Ok, now for the good~ my sisters threw a super fun bachelorette party and we got some cute pics (courtesy of Lindsey): 

Who can top that?  

I changed my mind on something

What?!? No way~ me?  I can't believe it!!...Oh yeah that's right- I've changed my mind on EVERYTHING so far...oops.  (Except for Sean~ didn't change my mind there!) =)

So what's the latest change?  The tables at the reception, of course.  I've been wavering back and forth and at our venue walkthru last Friday, I wanted to have a decision made~ so here it is:

Obviously not the best picture but you can see we are going with the venue's white tablecloths, my purple runners and damask squares along with black napkins (one is folded on the left side with our candy bag sticking out)

Final decision?  Yep, locked in.  I think the purple pops so much more against the white, and project 862 looks much better too.  Project 862 is my newest torture device, which is sticking black trim around all 4 sides of the damask squares. Looks sharp though doesn't it?  I totally love it even though it is so much different than the original plan.  But I've strayed so far from the original plan, who really cares?  And as seen in the picture, all the paper flowers are done and boxed in their vases ready to go.   And the kids bags are all put together (minus the last minute goldfish baggies we will have to throw in there so they don't get stale if we got them ready now!) and in this super cute matching bag:

These turned out cute, I hope the kids like them! =)  Now I need to figure out how to make sure the kids know to grab one...Any ideas?

So what else have I been doing the past few weeks (after my finals of course,  cause before those I was too busy to sleep!) ??  Take a gander at my living room:

Yep, that's my house. and I couldn't even get far enough away to see the bags packed on the other side of the cutouts on the left!  I think I have some organizing to do...

Any other changes?  But of course, you think one new project is enough?  I finally figured out the aisle decor at the ceremony~ still sticking with the idea of pomanders, but staying a little non traditional and using purple felt (to match the bouquets!)  Now I had no idea what a pomander even was before wedding world, and mine are imperfect just like me, but here are 3 completed ones:

They will hang on the side of the pew to decorate the aisle, either every 2 or 3 pews, depends on how many I get done!  There are 24 pews on each side, split in half with a walkway, so I have a few options for the layout.  For now, I'm just trying to find all the felt I need and cutting away at these circles.  As opposed to the dreaded squares from the paper flowers, these are 4" circles cut out of the felt, which I have to say is not really any easier.  But the folding/gluing is SO much easier!! Let me know what you guys think of these babies and also when you can come help me trace circles and cut out felt!!

One more question I would love some feedback on here is jewelry.  I'm not a huge jewelry person, and I'm finding it hard to decide on wedding day accessories.  Is this because I have no sense of style and matching?  Possibly.  Also possible I am an obsessive bride to be who can't make a decision on anything...Either way, I am having doubts about the jewelry I loved with the first dress and if it actually works with the new dress!  So I bought some new earrings to play around with and these are my fav so far; what do you think?  The plan would be wear these bigger earrings and no necklace: 

And they were only $7 at Kohls, much better than the $50 earrings I was checking out online...

I will leave you with one last piece of eye candy~ I bought this little dish to hold my jewelry (whichever I end up with!) while getting ready the day of and I'm totally in love with it.  Can't wait to see it in pictures =)

New Addition!!!

Look who came to join the party on June 19th!!!

Reminders for the boys (and an update for the girls!)

Not that any of the boys check this, but I wanted to throw out a reminder to all the groomsmen, as well as the Dads to go to Mens Wearhouse and get fitted for their tux.  The kids should wait until 1 month out (at least thats what I was told from the tux place), so they have some time still, but the deadline is fast approaching for the men to get this checked off my list =)

As for an update, just a quick one that we will be getting ready at the hotel instead of our house!  I booked our suite for the night before as well, and I use the work suite only because thats what they call it~ really not that big or that fancy, but it should work fine (I hope!).  This is at the Courtyard Marriott, and there is a link from our wedding website if anyone needs more info on that, like directions or anything click here for the link  .  I'm thinking if we can plan on the girls meeting there around 8 am, then the boys can all meet at our house where Sean will be whenever they decide on a time!  Hopefully this works for everyone!!

My hair person will be there to help too she blocked it out in her book already so that makes 3 people total.

I'll check with mom about mani/pedi I think she was going to as well.

I am completely in for the airbrushing/make-up i'll need it! haha

Want me to come over Friday( this week the 23rd) and help with things? I'm free and would love to come help. Let me know!!!

I also have someone who can alter dresses for cheap(if its length not drastic of course) so let me know I am calling her to meet for mine this week.

Beauty update:

This one's for the ladies (and boys I suppose if you want your nails done...)
NAILS:
I have a spa booked for Mani/Pedi's the friday before the wedding (the 18th) starting at somewhere between 10 and 11.  They are able to do 4 at once, so we'll have to do some rotating.  We can start at 11 with 6 booked, but if any of the moms get in on it, we'll push it up a little earlier.  And we can being wine and snacks as I guess they only supply for the day of packages =(   So if everyone brings a bottle of wine we'll be set =) And Katie~ I've got Katelyn down (and paid for) for polish on her fingers and toes, so I hope thats ok!  I've only booked myself, Katelyn, and Niki, Sara, Jennie, and Caurie, so if anyone else wants in, no problem I just need to let them know we'll be there earlier!    They have the "no chip" polish which I got as a trial (sorry I don't have a pic!) but it kicks so much butt- I got it done last Wed and it still hasn't chipped or faded or anything~ I'm pretty sure there is an upcharge for it but well worth it in my opinion!   The salon is AbFab and its right by Lino's so super close to my house and everything (yeah I know- convenient for me!) =)  My favorite part is AbFab stands for Absolutely Fabulous, which we will totally are.

MAKEUP:

I finally found it!!  I booked an airbrush makeup artist who will come to us wherever we are and do makeup.  I really need a head count on who is in so I can let her know, she does regular makeup ($45)and airbrush ($65) and I think will go cheaper if we get all the girls in on it.  This is also option for moms if they want, so spread the word!  At this point, she's meeting us at 8 am to get started, and I have to figure out if the hotel suite is large enough otherwise we are going to all meet at my parents house.  I decided I don't want to have to worry about space and cleanliness at our house that day, hence the different location =)  I do have a pic of my makeup trial (don't mind the hair- its a long story and I don't want to talk about it...):

What do you think?
The best part is, over 5 hours later it looked the same as it did right after it was done!  I had to get some sleep, so I didn't get to test it any longer than close to 6 hours.

HAIR: still a work in progress.  I've got Lauren doing mine (I think) and Katelyn's but I'm not sure how many others, so a friend from work (Michelle) is coming to help.  We may need 1 more, so I'll keep you updated as I know a few of you have your "people" =)  We may need to borrow one of them for the day.

SO let me know interest in these and I'll make sure they are booked =)

Finally an update!

I have hit a serious lull here in wedding land but there is always time for me to get distracted from schoolwork, so here it is: an update.  I know you've all been waiting at the edge of your seats, right? =) ha- I'm sure.
A kindof work in progress is the table setup at the reception.  I realized I have bags for the candy, bookmark sleeves for the photobooth favor, photo sharing cards, along with trying to figure out how to set up a list of all the candies available and let people know to take it!  So here is what I came up with (along with help from a friend at work who is a genius with stuff like this~ so practical whereas I am more and more flighty.  It would be perfect if I can figure out how to combine all of these elements into one specific area, and that's where my awesome friend Jan suggested the napkin fold.  Such as this one used for a menu:

But we would use it to tuck the bag, favor sleeve, card, and whatever other junk I have to have...=)  Such as this (but with a napkin around it...so it looks like the picture...) 

Another bright idea that is completely unnecessary is a flip flop basket at the reception, such as this inspiration pic: 

I had a coupon for Old Navy and ordered a bunch of purple, black, and white.  Yes I have 2 different shades of purple as I already had some pairs from Target's $1 aisle...I figure I can split the purples up between the baskets and it will be fine, right?  

Check out all these flip flops! 

Yeah~ I think I go overboard sometimes too...But Everyone can use a pair of flip flops, right?!?

For an update on these darn paper flowers, we are over halfway there (only?!?) as I have 17 vases filled and I need around 30 (depending on final guest count...) 

I'm putting the vases together rather haphazard like just to get a feel for how many more I need, and here is what I have so far: 

This is how they are put together and then the pic with 2 boxes is showing  the flowers from the top view...

I don't know if you can tell from the pic, but I put a rhinestone in  the middle (ish) of each flower, so there is a little big of bling for the tables =)

I had a few seconds of panic and terror when I realized I will be mailing out the invitations this month...THIS MONTH...Ok breathe...yes I have less than 3 weeks to finalize everything and get together late additions and make sure they are all still glued together and nothing is missing...  I have a bunch put together and mostly done except for the final check:

That's around 100 in there, looking down into the bag I bought special for the wedding (its in our print, and has a C on it)  Yes I am a dork, and I love it =)  And here are my stamps, bought from Zazzle~ you can't read the writing, but our names and wedding date are in the black part at the top.  I call it subtle, some might say difficult to read...

And I will leave you with a final piece of eye candy; probably one of my favorite wedding purchases here.  Lots of this wedding has been things I like and things I hand picked.  Granted I hand picked this one too, but this is all about Sean.  Those closest to Sean know he never leaves the house without a few choice items in his pockets.  I won't go into details but one of those items is chapstick.  Not the brand necessarily, just a lipbalm of some kind.  I love it cause I can always borrow if I lose mine, but otherwise its just one of those things that make me smile cause it is so Sean.  =)  So here it is:

I had to get 2 in the pick so you could read all the wording, and Yes, these are custom made chapsticks with a mint flavor/smell and they are 100% all natural, too =)  And even in our wedding colors, how awesome are these??  LOVE them!  I'll have a bunch for the ladies and then some in each bathroom basket too in case anyone needs some chapstick!   

I'm off to kickboxing class~ woohoo (I'm trying to get myself pumped for it...)

Coming up....

And the parties begin! For all the shower on April 23rd is at JMK Nippons, I believe only the address was on the invites (or the 3 I saw only had the address). Just incase you all were looking for a house or something it is not. It should be a fun and delicious day! Games will be figured out too haha I know you love them Candice. I am on break until the 12th so any help you need I am available. It is time to buckle down and finish things so whenever we are all available to work on projects we should probably do that.

Candice your dress is beautiful and you don't need to change. The anxiety thing is all a head game with stress and such. Remember you have been working out and eating different so of course things are going to fit differently. It's all okay!! Besides I don't think you could look more gorgeous in another dress!!

Anyone ever heard of this phenomenon?

It's a little thing called "Dress Anxiety" and I think I have discovered this new and terrifying term this week in a not so fun way.  I had my dress fitting Sunday, supposedly my final fitting, but the dress wasn't ready.  No biggie except when I put it on, the thing fit different than I remembered.  Is this all in my head, or has my trainer/torturer Nicole changed something in my body shape.  My slightly curvy (I like to say voluptuous) figure that seemed to look great in the dress when I bought it, seems to not fill it out quite the same anymore...
Do I screw the training and eat oreos and pizza until the wedding?  Nicole and I think not.  Do I get the dress adjusted some for my hopefully even slimmer profile by the wedding?  Or is this all a big subconscious ploy of my glutton for punishment brain to make me second guess my dress??  I've seen this on "say yes to the dress" and it never works out the same; one girl got a new dress and one just tweaked hers a little.  Oh what I wouldn't give for Randy to pick out my dress...
I love my dress, right?  I tried on others and kept going back to this one, right?  Surely I can adjust this dress to fit the way I want, right?!?  I can't stop thinking about this and I'm not sure what to do.  I'm thinking I need to go to the store and try on my dress again to see what the hell I'm talking about~ they have to let me even though its in alterations, right?
And why do I feel like every post is a "freak out" post and not an actual update?  I hope this doesn't become a pattern...

Not much new here in wedding land

Hi all~ thought I would check in but I don't really have any updates.  Had my second fitting today, which was fairly uneventful as my dress wasn't ready to take home yet...And I can't post pics because Sean looks on here, so no fun visuals or anything either!  Yeah I'm boring today.  We decided on which of my 2 pairs of earrings I will wear (the bigger blingy ones won out) and which veil I will wear (the simple longer one won out here) so that was good to have those decisions out of the way.

 Everything fits well, maybe a little looser at the top than it used to be which  is good but worries me slightly.  Don't get me wrong, I want to slim down, but not too much cause I don't want to play around with my dress too much more!  Brings me back to my original idea of switching out the zipper to a corset tie back; that way it has some room for adjusting (and can be tightened to help me suck it all in!) =)  My plan is to wait another month and if I feel like I may need it changed, my next fitting in the first week of May and I can figure it out then.  Talk about waiting till the last minute~ I'm sure I will be freaking out if it really has to happen less than 6 weeks from the wedding, but no use worrying about it yet, right????

And I just realized our invites will mail out in about 3 weeks~ ALREADY?!?  Yeah I gotta finish those babies....And we have got to get together for another project night sometime, as I still feel like there are a million things to do.  Mad rush at the beginning and then a huge lull~ gotta start back up again soon!

Somebody PLEASE remind me!

Please remind me that there is no need to go crazy over the paper not matching and that it is not the end of the world if one flower is folded crooked.  Please remind me that this is a celebration and that I'm supposed to be excited to have fun and not stressed about the details.  Please remind me that the wedding photos are still just pictures and 99% of them will be stored away in an album forever anyways, even though everyone says they are all you have left.
 I will have more left~ I will have my husband.  If I have a hair out of place, or not perfect makeup, it doesn't matter and I'm probably the only one who will notice.  No one will see the quartz paper isn't exactly the same as the opal, even though they are both white.  No one will remember if there is any decoration on the pews at the church and no one will care if I don't have extra bling on my belly band for the invitation.
Why does it seem like 3 months isn't enough time to find a dress for the rehearsal dinner and have my hair/makeup trial, and learn our first dance?  
I am trying to figure out why I've been so anxious about this whole thing and I can't explain it.  I've learned after planning Nico's parties that I like planning and personalizing parties to who we are.  I guess that's what I want to do with the wedding.  I want it to be beautiful and fun and unique, but most of all I want it to be an extension of who we are.  Since we are pretty boring (some would say modern, some say lazy) people in general, I guess I need to work on minimizing the excess.
  Am I going to be more laid back now that I've realized this?  Probably not.  But Please remind me of this when I am freaking out.  

Drumroll Please

Introducing our table mockup:

Ok- Yes my camera blows, and no, these aren't the squares (they are the runners) and yes, there are supposed to be hydrangeas on top of each empty glass holder...But still- its a mockup =)  Notice the black satin overlay with the awesome purple runner =)  Ok, so it's a rough mockup, but you get the idea!  And here is a pic with the white vases (which I've found the rest of by the way~ so I have over 20 now just in case I break any or something crazy!):

This shows a better idea of the table size as well as the lovely chairs we will not be putting chair covers on...And I'm not bitter at all about that...
Once again, you'll notice not every vase has the paper flowers in it, but I was already lugging this box into giovanni's to the tasting, so I had to bring as little as possible!  Here is a better pic of the chairs:

I swear they are blue in the ballroom, but the worker swears they are the same as these, so at least they are purple...trying to make myself ok with them, so humor me!

Now both of these pics have my votives with the damask, but the venue provides plain votives pictured here:   

I threw one of everything in this pic, but it won't really be that mixed up!  Which candles do you think look best?  I guess if I use both styles, it might look too busy and have too much around the candy for people to get to...My plan is to get some hydrangeas before the next walkthrough , along with having everything else ready to put on the table,so I can actually have all the pieces and play around with it some more.  Hopefully I can make up my mind by then!  

Any opinions?

"don't let the details become bigger than the purpose"

This is my newest post it note by my computer (attached right under my screen actually).  Pretty self explanatory I think =)  In my mess around my desk, and the whole house recently, this is one note I'm going to keep up so I can remember it.  I kinda feel like that's what this whole wedding is becoming; just me working on 50 thousand details and completely losing sight of the reason for the whole thing in the first place!  And believe it or not, this little post it note with a quote (I found randomly on one of the many wedding blogs I check regularly) is helping keep me grounded.

On that note, I'd like to share news about a HUGE meeting we had with Giovanni's today~ our tasting!  I wasn't sure what to expect or how they were going to serve anything, but I came armed with my gigantor wedding binder as well as a box of pieces for the table setup so I could play around with how the centerpieces and overlays would look (more on that later!).
I didn't get any pics, so you'll have to believe me when I say almost everything was YUMMY =)  I searched to find good internet representations for your viewing pleasure:

First off, the sausage puff (will actually be italian sausage so much better than this pic, but you get the idea!

Next is the crab cake, which Sean knew he wanted before we even tasted:

Then we tried this fancy sounding pastry filled with things I didn't think I would like, but actually turned out delicious: called a spanakopita (or as Nico called it: spankopita!)  :

The next choice was mine and most likely mine alone, but it had to be done.  We are officially serving mini grilled cheese during cocktail hour: 

Oh Yeah~ totally perfect as I could eat grilled cheese every day =)
They will be mini triangles, like if you cut it into quarters at an angle (just like I do for Nico!) and just like my grandma always did for me....Wish I could get grandma's grilled cheese for the reception but I don't think that would work...

Then we moved onto entrees, and without tempting you with our non-choices, I'll let you know what we ended up with as our main course:

Actually a horrible pic, but once again it is all I could find quickly~ chicken de jonghe, ours has one bone sticking out fancy like and a good sauce drizzle too =)  It was the favorite by far, so it won even though I thought for sure the fish would be better (other options included chicken marsala (my usual fav) and crab stuffed orange roughy (Sean's original fav)!)   Along with that will be the julienne veggies:

 And roasted red potatoes:

So what do you think?  Are you as hungry as I am??

Anything new?

Strangely, I feel like my updates are about less and less actually getting done~ but yet I feel so much busier every day!  I came across one solution to my problem with the paper flowers, and the answer may lie in yet another form of paper flower.  This one much easier and quicker I swear!
So I was searching through "aisle decor" and "per decor" and such for inspiration and its amazing how few options there really are to go non flowers and non bows.  The majority of images were of pomander balls, which I have to admit I had never heard of before wedding planning so don't feel bad if you have no clue what these are!  The paper flowers that were going to be a ball (but now may be reception decor) could be one form of a pomander of sorts, but many are made with flowers, either real or silk.  These babies can get expensive!  I saw everywhere from around $10 to $60 just for the fake flower ones~ and theres no way I can justify that on aisle decor for the church!  Enter the tissue paper flower pomander.  Here is my first attempt (or I guess I should say my second since I took the first one apart...:

Now this was SO much quicker, but I'm still unsure if I like the look of it.  My plan is to bring the finished product to the church when we meet with the musician next week and just try it out and see what I think.  I feel like it's missing something~ and I did add one rhinestone inside each paper flower, but they just seem kinda blah~ what do you think??
I am also debating ivory tissue paper with purple ribbon to maybe alternate or just throw a few small ivory ones in the mix...Maybe I just need to shell out the money and buy some made with silk flowers.  At least it won't look like a big ball of paper...

I'm sure the UPS man is getting very tired of coming to my door but we got yet another package a few days ago, something rather small and insignificant in the scheme of things, but I still love it and am super pumped:

It's our guest book pen.  Yep with a huge black ostrich feather on it!  Ha- completely unnecessary but totally worth it. =)  Makes me smile just to see it








  I've had to take time to work on Nico's upcoming birthday parties (thats right I said parties as in he is having 2!) so hopefully more to come later!

Now....

Okay now that I am moved in and mostly unpacked, but stealing internet still I can check the site. I think another day is in order for us to pow-wow together instead of via blog. I'm basically free anytime I have to coach some nights but am always free after 6(except mon when I have yoga) hah I'm doing my share for the weight loss-no back fat- pictures too. The vases are cute, I think they will work. I hear you about not finishing flowers we have a ton still. Let me know anytime I'm needed I will come help!!

Decisions, decisions

First things first, I keep changing my mind and need some opinions please!
I've posted pics of the generic table mockup, so you have an idea of what I'm thinking...Here's the deal~ I'm estimating 20 guest tables, and these are the huge 10 person tables so I need a centerpiece that won't get too lost, right?  Half the tables will have the 8-10 inch cake on a stand and the plan was to have the square cube vase under to hold the hydrangea and everything.  Then the other 10 tables have the giant vases/jars of candy with candles and/or hydrangeas around that.  Problem?  It's me so of course!
  First, I only have around 35 of the squares.  This is of course after deciding I wanted to put 3 of these on the tables (or at least the tables with cake).  So either there are no flowers on the candy tables or I have to come up with another 30 of those holders which are conveniently no longer sold at the dollar store (cause I checked!)
Enter solution number 1:

A small white vase with Love in purple~ totally perfect and I bought all they had (only 6 of them!) =( Guess where I found these babies?  Target, in the dollar aisles of course~ so love them even more!  Want to see what I did with it (just a mockup, not complete or anything!):

Remember the paper flowers for the aisle decor at the church??  Well the church may just have to go undecorated cause I don't know if we can make another million of them- which I still haven't finished enough for even the church yet  (kindof joking, kindof serious here...the church is really beautiful all on its own...)!!  As for the mockup above,  I glued a rhinestone in the center and stole a few of Nico's pipe cleaners to use as stems and those were SO easy, they just slide right in the middle with no glue or anything!

So- the question is~ do I use the cube/hydrangea combo for the cake tables or the candy tables and this white vase/paper flower combo for the other?  Or is there some awesome idea I am completely missing here that should be done?

Option 2-  I have a TON of glass jars and containers for candy, so do I scratch the whole idea of the cakes on the tables and just put candy as all the centerpieces?  I'm feeling like if I am mixing and matching the hydrangeas with the paper flowers it might be too much to mix and match the cake/candy also...What do you guys think?? I'm on overload and can't seem to make a decision!!!  Also, if you ladies wouldn't mind hitting up your local target for these white vases, I will reimburse and pay shipping and everything if needed!!  I would need at least 24 more I think...

As for other news, I had these pics on my camera the night I was playing around with the flowers and just had to share them.  This is how Nico terrorizes our poor dog Sophie:

Top picture is Nico's toy that has velcro arms and legs that he wrapped around Sophie and she kept growling at the poor stuffed toy!  2nd picture is Nico putting popcorn on top of Sean's head knowing Sophie would climb on him to get it.  Yep, that's popcorn sitting on his head...And Nico wonders why Sophie doesn't like him!  =)




But I'm wandering~ back to a few new things that I'm super excited about:

Ordered these for the boys (Connor, Nico, and Zach) with this awesome fabric I found~ if you look close you will see it is a damask print with a rock and roll mixture of guitars and speakers and what not, but thats not even the best part.  Look at what's inside

Its got crayons and a pad of paper stashed inside.  I almost want one for myself!  Think they will like it??  

I have a few more pics, but I'm thinking this is long and I really want feedback on the centerpieces and what you guys think, so I'll save the rest for another day =)  

I'm going to be...

a buff bride!
No, seriously, you think I'm joking?!?  =)  I have realized I am completely letting myself go.  Pants are fitting a little bit tighter, my bra is even less comfortable, and I'm stressing about how my arms are going to look in my dress.  Will anyone else notice my arms or the back fat I feel I have when I wear my dress?  Probably not, but I will and I don't want to have to deal with seeing that in 80 million pictures after the wedding!  So I have a plan, and her name is Nicole.
Everyone, please meet Nicole:

She would probably drop me immediately for posting her pic, but shes got it on her website, so it's not like she was hiding it =)
Who is Nicole, you may be asking by now~ well she is my new personal trainer.  Yep, I signed up this morning for a 12 week session of 3 day a week workouts one on one with either Nicole or her equally buff husband.  She's really awesome and is completely flexible with my schedule.  Even said I can bring Nico if I need as long as he entertains himself and doesn't A-screw up my workout or B- play on the equipment =)

I start tomorrow with a complete evaluation, which means, weight, measurement, and pictures (UGH)~ but then the workout begins and hopefully much better pictures in my future!! Though I will never rival Nicole's picture, I am looking forward to some much needed stress relief as well as taking care of myself and hopefully getting rid of the back fat issue =)
And the second best part?  Sean gets to do this with me (if timing works out!) So he will get the same eval and can join me for workouts and go on his own 1 day too.  I don't have a buff bride and buff groom picture...

anything...

that can be shipped to me that i can help with?

Bling Bling

We went ring shopping today and found Sean's wedding band =)  Now that we have both our sets, it feels closer somehow~ which once again makes me freak out that I don't have enough time!!  Before I get to that, though~ Another project I've had on my mind had to do with the jewelry store as well; but this one kindof a different purpose.  If you haven't seen my "right hand" ring- here it is:

This was my dad's pinkie ring and I love it but as I get older and have a beautiful ring on my left hand, I've been wanting to take the blue stone and put it in a more girly, grown up type setting.  Basically a setting that isn't a man's pinky ring setting =)  So I asked the jeweler about it today (and Busch is totally amazing by the way~ they have been SO nice to us!)  And Sean had a great idea, which totally surprised me but I love it: Our plan is to take the stones out and reset them in whichever setting I choose, which apparently can be done pretty inexpensive, then (this is where Sean's idea came in) they can melt down the gold (the band is white gold) and form it into whatever type of band Sean picks and it can be a "right hand" ring for him.  If it works out, I have another ring of my dads~ you gotta see this cause words can't describe it:

We can take out some of the diamonds and put them into both of our new rings.  Sean said something sweet about it being like out gift from him for the wedding and like his blessing even though he won't be there.  Regardless of the fact we didn't get along before he passed, I still like to think he would be happy for us and it means a lot that Sean thinks about that too even though they'd never met.  So thats the plan and I'm pretty excited about it and hope we can get it done before the wedding!

As for Sean's wedding band, it gave me an excuse to try some ring shots.  This was much harder to do than I thought, especially cause of the shape of my ring and since there is a band on either side, it doesn't really want to sit properly...

Yes my photography skills are sadly lacking...but these showed Sean's ring the best I could.  And I got another look at my full set which I totally love and can't wait to wear it all together!  Don't mind the ugly ring guard piece on my ring either~ apparently my finger shrank some over the winter so I got that put in so I don't lose it or anything.  I'm super paranoid at work since I am constantly washing my hands and taking gloves on and off.  After I have the full set together and in the summer I'll have to see if I am going to resize or if it will work better. 

I have absolutely no further progress on any wedding projects whatsoever...productive aren't I?...but I did make a wedding related decision this week.  Wedding and sanity related I suppose~ I'm meeting with a personal trainer this thursday to discuss a bridal bootcamp style training session.  It will be 12 weeks of 3 days/wk workouts to help me feel better and look better by the wedding.  I'm hoping this works like it is supposed to and is a stress reliever instead of causing more stress for the 3 hours it will take away from school/wedding.  I am looking forward to it though, and Sean laughed because it is basically me paying to be held accountable and have someone make me schedule my workout in.  Otherwise I just won't do it; if I've learned anything at all, its that I won't follow any sort of workout program on my own.  And its one on one training so I can work specifically on the areas I need/want to, so I am excited however also scared out of my mind that I'm going to get my butt handed to me on a platter!!

Hopefully by the next blog entry I will have some progress on at least one wedding project...