The Preppy Bride at 2365

Moving Day!

2010-07-14T17:05:00.005-04:00

Hey friends! I know it's shocking that I'm actually posting a blog today, and there is good reason for that! I have decided that the time has come for me to begin writing on a different blog. I have really been missing blogging lately, and I realized that I never blog on this blog for a few reasons. I created this blog to share our wedding plans with family and friends, and made hundreds of new friends in the process! Now that the wedding is long over, I just feel uncomfortable with having a blog with "bride" in the name of it. I know that many of my followers are brides-to-be, and I feel like I am letting them down when I don't blog about wedding stuff. And I think non-brides are turned off by reading my blog because they think it is ALL about wedding stuff. I also don't really love the look of this blog. It became way too cluttered for me, so I didn't enjoying looking at it, and I can't blame others if they feel the same way! I am definitely not deleting this blog, because I LOVE looking back at everything. This blog is priceless to me because I can look back at any of the posts that I made over the last 2 and a half years and I am instantly transported to that particular day or time, and I love that. So, that being said, I hope that ALL of you will join me on my new blog, which is located at: http://523griffins.blogspot.com. If you click over, you will see that I had to go with a line from a Dave Matthews Band song for the title of my blog... I mean, how could I resist??

Like I said, I hope everyone will read and enjoy the new blog, which I just did 2 quick posts on - so there is actually something to read over there! Thank you to EVERYONE who has visited this blog at one time or another. I NEVER imagined that so many people would read and interact with me. It has really been amazing!! Lots of love to everyone!

traditional anniversary gifts... what do you think?

2010-05-18T10:57:00.006-04:00

so our one-year anniversary is just around the corner (as in, it is THIS sunday!) and i think we have decided that we just can't play along with the whole "traditional/modern" anniversary gift-giving requirements. for those of you who don't know what i'm talking about, here is a chart that tells you what type of item you are supposed to purchase for your spouse each year:

so, traditionally, this year we are supposed to get each other something made of paper. it seems that the usual gift for this year is tickets to something, just based on what all of my married friends have done. i didn't want to go that route because i didn't want to buy US tickets to something because then its a gift for US and not a gift for HIM. if you don't go with tickets, what else can you buy that is made of paper and something unique? books and stationary come to mind, but those are both things that neither of us want or need. once i realized how difficult it was for the first year, i started looking down the list and realizing it was only going to get worse. look at the 4 year anniversary: fruit and flowers. FRUIT AND FLOWERS? SERIOUSLY? i'm sure you could think outside the box and turn that into a trip to wine country because of the grapes that are involved but come on, who really wants fruit and flowers for their anniversary gift?

so now i'm really curious... those of you that are married, do you follow along with these rules? and if you do, i would LOVE to hear some of the gift ideas you have come up with. and if you're not married, do you think you will follow them?

never have i ever...

2010-04-21T10:37:00.003-04:00

we've all played this game, right? and we know its a whole lot LESS about what you haven't done and a whole lot MORE about calling out your friends? well anyway, i was having a conversation with a friend last weekend about random foods that i refuse to eat and it turned into a pretty funny chat about seemingly normal things that i have never done, eaten, etc during my 29 years on this earth. i decided that i needed to share some of these things, so here goes!

1. i have never eaten: a hot dog, a snickers bar, fried chicken, mustard, chicken wings, pepperoni, or anything from mcdonalds except french fries (just to name a few)
2. i have never had my eyebrows waxed (it freaks me out - and no, i don't have a unibrow, thankyouverymuch)
3. i have never driven a car with a stick shift
4. i have never seen the movie "old school" (which is cause for divorce, according to my husband)
5. i have never been admitted to a hospital, broken anything, etc.
6. i have never had the chicken pox
7. i have never had a car payment or paid for my own car insurance
8. i have never had a credit card
9. i have never failed a test, quiz, etc
10. i have never been in any kind of wreck
11. i have never had a cavity

ok so now that you're all thinking that i am the most boring person EVER, here are some not-so-normal things that i actually HAVE done!

1. i have been to the top of, and inside a volcano
2. i have watched humpback whales breach in the ocean from a boat that was about 20 feet away from them
3. i have owned my own business
4. i have met my favorite musician EVER, dave matthews!
5. i have been to NBA, MLB and NFL games... and even got to be a VIP at a Chicago bears game once where we got a police escort to the game and then got to go on the field during the pre-game!
6. i have watched someone give birth
7. and i have also watched someone die
8. i have been to 31 US states (and i'm not too interested in some of the ones i have left haha)

i could really go on and on about the funny things that i have never done, and especially the things i have never eaten! now blog friends, PLEASE tell me that i'm not the only one who has never done a lot of random, normal things?!

i'm alive...but just barely!

2010-03-30T16:25:00.006-04:00

hey friends! im sorry that has been almost a MONTH since the last time i blogged, but i have been SO BUSY! here's a little run-down of what's been keeping me away from my blog...

1. sickness!

for about the first 8-10 days of march, i was layed up in bed with some sort of crazy flu-type virus. i had the craziest cough i have ever heard come out of a human being. my brother, who is a doctor, actually thought there was a possibility that i had the whooping cough! luckily, after being on antibiotics for about 6 days, it finally went away. but of course, after it was gone i had that yucky lethargic feeling you get after being sick so i pretty much did nothing for a few more days!

2. work!

i know i never really did a "formal" post about my new calligraphy business (since it became an actual business) because well, i sometimes think its awkward to self-promote. but i have to say that creating an actual website has GREATLY increased my business and i am very luckily to be very, very busy right now! it is wedding season, so i'm glad we got everything up and running at a good time! all of my blog readers that are brides-to-be should check out the blog on my business website. i blog from time-to-time (when i actually HAVE time!) about wedding-related things that i love!

3. (finally) getting our biggest master bedroom closet in order!
i probably need to clarify that a little bit. our house is overflowing with closets. our master bedroom and bathroom have a grand total of FIVE closets between the two of them. our main master bedroom closet is about the same size as my first dorm room. for a long time, i have been shopping and reading and trying to decide what to do with it to make it look more organized. because i'm off my blogging game i forgot to take before pictures, but here are some current pictures of this work in progress.

let me start by saying that, yes, my husband does have more clothes than that. the problem with his side of the closet is that his shirts are so long that they overlap the bottom shelf if we hang them on the top. eventually we want to take out those wire shelves and put in the long closet poles but that is another project for another day. i bought the dresser at ikea last week for $129 and drawer organizers for the inside for $10. let me tell you - those drawer organizers have changed my life. sometimes i open the drawer and just look at all the organized goodness. another big change in the closet was that we switched out all of our white plastic hangers for cherry wood hangers and i am sort of in love with those as well. it was kind of an expensive switch, but i think it is already paying dividends. i just love how finished the dark hangers make it look, even when everything else in there is a mess!

okay i'm done making excuses! just wanted to fill everyone in on why i have been a horrible blogger! now i need to go read some blogs before something else comes up! have a great day, friends!

another little project!

2010-03-02T11:12:00.005-05:00

back when i was planning our wedding, i bought these frames to make framed monograms for our gift table and the corner of our bar. while i still love the framed monograms, we don't really have a place where pink and green makes sense in our house. i love the thick white frames so i decided to re-use them to add some color in our kitchen. here are some pictures:

i just bought some modern-looking scrapbook paper that matched our kitchen and put it in the frames, then made a little design in photoshop and framed that between the two. i really love the interest and pop of color that it brings to the kitchen. what do you think?

see ya later, snow!

2010-02-18T09:47:00.005-05:00

today, we will be going from this...

to THIS:

tonight we are heading to san diego to visit family and friends and also for ryan's grandfather's wedding. let me tell you, my ghostly white self CAN'T WAIT to see the sun again. you know it's bad when the local meteorologists are SO EXCITED that the weather is going to get "up to freezing" today. ugh. get me out of here!!

easiest valentines day bouquet EVER!

2010-02-03T10:46:00.004-05:00

after my last post, i had several twitter messages asking "what is in that bouquet on your table?" well let me tell you, it is the cheapest and easiest thing ever! here is a close up:

i just took one of my monogrammed vases (you can't even really tell that part) and put in a bunch of sweetheart candies (that is - after i found out that my dog ripped open the bag and ate half of them!) and then some fake red and pink tulips. i'm normally not a huge fan of fake flowers, but i couldn't figure out how to make this work with real flowers and the water that would need to be in there without using 2 nested vases. this is the extent of my valentines day decorating... as you can tell, we REALLY go all out! :)

Kitchen Makeover - Before & After!

2010-02-01T12:23:00.006-05:00

warning: LOTS of pictures ahead!!! it pains me to show you these before pictures - that's how much i hated it. promise we can still be friends afterwards! here goes..

BEFORE:

....aaaaaaannnnndddd AFTER!

i think it is sooo much warmer and feels both bigger and more cozy at the same time. obviously, we still need to put some stuff on the walls. i have a couple of things picked out, but it involves a road trip to cincinnati for me to get both of them. overall - i'm kind of in love with this room now! what do you think??

what's dominating my time?

2010-01-25T18:21:00.003-05:00

THIS MESS:

remember that kitchen makeover i was hoping for? yeah, well, it's in full effect. before and after pictures to come soon...(hopefully)...

2010: Show me the MONEY!

2010-01-04T14:19:00.006-05:00

for some reason, i always think of "resolution" as such a dirty word, so like a lot of other people, we are just going to set some "goals" for 2010 instead. one of our biggest goals this year is to SAVE MONEY!! we aren't doing anything drastic, just making some little changes that will hopefully go a long way!

one of my friends, mandy, always seems to find the best coupon deals and i read about them on her blog and on facebook, so yesterday i decided to ask her for her secrets! i was curious about joining "the grocery game" (which requires a paid membership) but she helped me learn that there are a lot of free resources out there that give you the same information! since there are SO many of the coupon/deal websites out there, i was so happy that she was able to give me a few of her favorites. here are the sites:

www.hip2save.com
www.moneysavingmom.com
www.kcpennypinchinmama.com
www.mommysnacks.net
www.mymemphismommy.com
www.stlmommy.com

(p.s. - if you don't have meijer, kroger, etc. i have seen a TON of other coupon sites for the publix & bi-lo stores as well as the west coast stores like albertsons, vons, ralph's, etc.)

so, armed with my artillery of websites, i sat down for about 3 hours last night and worked out my "game plan." it probably wouldn't have taken so long but i was reading EVERYTHING on these websites, and making a ton of notes. i went out on my shopping trip this morning and my 2 stops were target and meijer. since i am a newbie at this heavy-duty couponing, i forgot to take pictures of what i bought! i will say that i definitely had a full and somewhat over-flowing cart of stuff at meijer, and it was about twice the volume of stuff that i normally buy. here is what my receipt looked like:

that is definitely an impressively long receipt in this household! so, how much did all that stuff cost? well, when the cashier originally rang it up, it was a few cents under $70. After all of my coupons... it was... $33.00!!!!! That means that I SPENT $33 and SAVED $37!!!!! at target, I only had to buy a few things (12 pack of pepsi max, granola bars, green tea) but my total was $3.73 after my $3.80 in coupons!!!

i'm going to keep a running tally of my coupon savings on my sidebar so that i can keep track of our savings! is anyone else starting a 2010 savings plan of their own?

2009 in pictures

2009-12-31T11:22:00.009-05:00

i have LOVED seeing everyone's "2009 in pictures" posts so much that i decided that i needed to do one of my own! it seems like a lot of people didn't really enjoy 2009, but i absolutely loved it. yes, the economy sucked and we felt it just like everyone else... but for us, the good definitely outweighed the bad in 2009. here are some fun pics and highlights of our 2009!

the ice storm/blizzard of january 2009:

finishing our wedding invitations after MONTHS of work:

we bought our first house!

my bachelorette party in chicago:

GETTING MARRIED in may!

honeymooning in maui:

MEETING DAVE MATTHEWS!!!!

uk basketball becomes first team to get 2000 wins!

this, in a very tiny little nutshell, sums up my 2009! i hope that everyone's year was just as blessed and eventful as ours was. have a safe and happy new year's eve- and best wishes to all of you in 2010!

kitchen confessions

2009-12-29T13:17:00.002-05:00

i hate my kitchen. i know, hate is a strong word, but not strong enough to express how i feel about our kitchen. to make matters worse, i picked out everything for our kitchen LESS THAN A YEAR AGO. our house is barely a year old, and we have lived here for 10 months. over those ten months, i kept telling myself that i would "get used to" the horrible, horrible color mistakes that i made in the kitchen. buuuut, that didn't happen; i only grew to loathe the space more and more. the room was such a beast to paint that my poor husband laughs nervously everytime i talk about my desire to re-paint the kitchen. he thinks i'm kidding. i hate it so much that i'm not going to post pictures of it, but they are obviously spread throughout this blog for anyone who wants to look at them and feel thankful for their own kitchen.

that being said, there are structural and design parts of the kitchen that i DO like. i love the dark wood cabinets, i love the picture window with window seat, i love the big open wall, i love the stainless steel appliances and i'm okay with the tile and countertops. so basically, everything i hate about my kitchen lies completely in what i have done to it. i blew it. and, anyone who knows me will know that admitting defeat is not something that i do on a regular basis.

so i have begun scouring the internet and various design magazines in hopes of finding some inspiration for our 2010 kitchen makeover that my husband still may or may not be aware of. my question to you, my dear readers, is: what online sites do you use for home decor inspiration? it is a little overwhelming to begin this search because there are SO many options. to be honest, as far as our home goes, i normally just get an idea in my head and go with it and 90% of the time, we end up loving it. our current kitchen would be the other 10%.

please answer my cry for help!! what are some of your favorite sites for inspiration?

Our Home for the Holidays...

2009-12-13T20:44:00.007-05:00

Welcome to our Christmas home tour! Whether you are a regular reader, or your visiting via The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes, we're glad you stopped by! I will be short and sweet since these tour posts are all about the pictures! Hope you enjoy our home tour... have a very Merry Christmas!

Our First Married Christmas Card!

2009-12-08T19:09:00.004-05:00

I was sooo excited to see the UPS man show up today because I knew he would be bringing our Christmas cards with him! After searching high and low on every card-selling website that I know, I ended up creating our cards on Shutterfly. I decided on Shutterfly because they met all of the items on my wish list for our Christmas cards. I wanted our cards to be: photo cards, less than $100 total (for around 40 cards), good quality and just plain CUTE! Here is what we came up with:

(sorry about the photo quality - it was hard to figure out the flash on these!)

I am SO THRILLED with how these turned out because as much as I love the design, I was SO afraid of what kind of quality the paper was going to be when they arrived. Honestly, I could not have been more impressed with them. And no, Shutterfly isn't paying me to say this - although that would be great! ha ha! I chose the "matte" option because I am personally not a fan of the photo paper cards (nothing against them, I just never end up picking them!) These are very heavyweight and come with envelopes that are equally as heavy.

I ended up ordering 40 cards and paid less than $60 including shipping. I googled
"Shutterfly coupons" and found a % off coupon and a free shipping coupon and was able to use both.

And of COURSE I will be using Preppy Bride Design calligraphy to address them ;)

Wedding Invitations for a Snowflake Soiree!

2009-12-06T20:32:00.006-05:00

I recently was asked to make wedding invitations for one of the very first friends I ever made, and of course I was honored to do so! I literally met this girl on the first day of Kindergarten and we have been great friends ever since. She is having a winter wedding in January with an ice blue and snowflake theme. Here are the invites I came up with for her:

I am thrilled because she was SO happy with how they turned out! I am also proud of myself for making 175 3-piece invitations with envelopes and 225 monogram labels for under $475! Many of my loyal readers will know what an accomplishment this is if they remember the cost of my invitations and I only made 120!

One great thing about being married...

2009-11-12T10:25:00.003-05:00

...is waking up to notes like this on the bathroom vanity:

Yes, that is "I love you" written in q-tips and cotton balls and I found it when I woke up this morning. It is DEFINITELY the little things that mean the most!

Floral Monogram Letters DIY Idea!

2009-11-09T18:14:00.006-05:00

I was out spending some birthday gift cards today when I went into Kirklands and immediately had a DIY idea for my bride friends! Everyone has seen the floral monograms that many people will use on the outside of the church doors, or various other places around a wedding, right? Well in case you don't know what I'm talking about, here is an example from Felicity Flowers:

During my wedding planning months, I read MANY accounts of brides DIY-ing these monograms and having a lot of trouble when trying to glue flowers onto a wooden or foam letter. Well, I noticed that Kirklands now carries a monogrammed floral letter that would make this DIY task so much easier! Here's a picture I snapped with my Blackberry:

Basically, these letters kind of look like moss and they are covered with faux ivy. I would guess that they are about 18" tall. I think you could attach a cute ribbon and use them just like this, or you could always cut the ivy off and attach a new floral, or just add some florals into the ivy. Another good thing about these is that they are a steal at $19.99 but anyone who shops at Kirklands knows that they will be even cheaper very soon! Kirklands also ALWAYS has a 20% off coupon online so that would make them $16 each! Click here for a current coupon!

If anyone goes with this idea, you MUST email me some pics of your finished products - I would love to see them! Little things like this reeeeally make me miss my crazy days of wedding planning!

I'M ALIVE!!!!!

2009-10-26T21:48:00.009-04:00

Hey friends! Well I am officially the world's worst blogger this month because I have been SO BUSY! I have had so much to do around the house, lots of visitors in and out, started a new job...ended a new job (long story!) and I've been working on a LOT of new stuff for my Etsy Store!

As much as it PAINS me to share this mess with you, this is the disaster that is my desk area while I'm working on my new projects:

And since I have shown you the mess I've made, I will also show you a few of my latest profects!

Rosette Football & Basketball Onesies:

Custom Ornaments:

and Canvas Christmas Signs!

As you can see, I am definitely getting into the Christmas spirit!

Thanks to all of my awesome followers for sticking around during my little hiatus, I promise that regular blogging will now resume again! :)

Happy Fall!

2009-09-28T11:46:00.004-04:00

Remember this post when Carter wanted to wish everyone a Happy Spring? Well today he wants to send Happy Fall wishes your way...

The windows are open and the Fall breeze is blowing in... which makes us very happy here at 2365!

Hope everyone has a great week!

What NOT to do at your team's football game this weekend...

2009-09-25T09:39:00.005-04:00

Warning: there is some language!!

Happy Friday... and GO CATS!!!

DIY Tutorial: Wall Tiles

2009-09-24T09:29:00.009-04:00

I had several requests for a tutorial after my last post about the wall tiles in our bathroom, so here it is! You will seriously not believe how easy and cheap this project is. First off, here are the supplies you will need:

1. Set of cork wall tiles. These are sold by the school supplies in Target, Walmart, etc. They generally come in packs of 4 so I only needed one pack. A lot of people also use plywood squares for the tiles, but I wanted mine to have a bit of a "worn" look since everything else in the room has clean lines. I got the set of 4 tiles on clearance for .99, but the regular price was only $1.99.

2. 1 sheet of scrapbook paper for each tile that you are going to make. $1.89

3. Paint for the edges of each tile. I used gold, again because of the worn look, and also because it would match the "G" on the other wall. $0.39

4. Spray Glue. I already had this, but I think it is no more than $2.00

5. A paintbrush (foam works best on the cork), ruler, scissors and a pencil

The first step is to take each of the cork tiles (they are 12x12 size) and cut them down to the size that you want for your wall. I cut mine to 8x8. Measure them off with your ruler and pencil, and then just cut with scissors. The scissors on the cork will give the tile a rough edge, so keep that in mind while cutting.

The next step is to cut the scrapbook paper just a little bit smaller than the size of the tile. I wanted there to be about .25 inch on each side that would show the cork underneath, so I cut squares out of the scrapbook paper that were 7.5 x 7.5 inches each.

A note about the paper that you choose - It seems to look a little better of you choose the scrapbook papers that have a little bit of an "antique" look to them. It just seems to make the overall effect turn out a little better, but of course the choice is yours!

The next step is to paint the edges of the tiles. It is pretty self explanatory - just paint all 4 edges of the cork tiles with whatever paint color you choose. Make sure to get the sides of each tile, since they will show when you hang these up on your wall!

After the paint is dry (it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes) then you spray each tile all over the front side with spray adhesive AND spray the back of the scrapbook paper. Try to do this outside or in the garage because spray adhesive has a mind of its own!

Finally, place the paper on the tile and press firmly all over to make sure it is secure. I put each of mine under a book for a few minutes just to be sure that they were good to go. When you know that the paper is secure, then you are done! All you have to do now is put the tiles on the wall. You could use small tack nails but I actually just used the little square adhesives that come in the package with the cork. They are just little white sticky squares that you put on the corners and center of the back and then attach them to the wall. This way, you don't have to make holes in your wall. I also did a test on my wall and the adhesives did not take the paint off the wall when they are removed. Then you have your finished product!

I hope that this tutorial is user-friendly, because the project itself was SO easy. If anyone decides to make the tiles, I would love to see your finished products!

One room down...way too many to go!

2009-09-18T10:01:00.006-04:00

So, we have now officially lived in our house for just over six months. As of last week, we still did not have one room in our house completely finished. I mean, we did have that whole wedding thing taking up a lot of our time, but all of the blame can't be placed there. The main reason that nothing has gotten finished is that I am the absolute most undecided person on the face of the planet. I am terrified to go through the hassle and work of painting a room and then hating it when it is finished. (Don't worry, this has already happened in our kitchen... and Ryan is just THRILLED at the prospect of repainting the whole kitchen!). This is also the reason that I refused to buy my wedding dress until the 11th hour, because otherwise I knew my mind would change.

But back to the finally finished room. I got this awesome monogrammed shower curtain as a Christmas gift from my sister last year, and I basically wanted to build the entire room around that curtain. Here are some pictures of the finished product:

The most expensive thing in this room is the shower curtain. I have to REALLY love something to buy it when it isn't on sale or when I don't have a coupon! I made the tiles on the wall because I really needed a splash of color on the dark walls. Those tiles are my mini rendition of the famous Ballard wall tiles that you see everywhere lately. My version cost $5 and took about 30 minutes to make. I will gladly do a tutorial if anyone is interested! I also rotate out my Domino Magazine (R.I.P.) collection in the magazine basket because they will never get old or outdated!

The State of the Blog

2009-09-10T11:32:00.003-04:00

Since the wedding has come and gone, I have received a lot of questions about "what will happen to your blog now?" I also received a lot of inquiries about "what happened to your other blog... Life at 2365?" Well, I deleted that blog awhile back in preparation for what I would need to do post-wedding, which is to combine my two blogs. I'm thinking something like "Preppy Bride at 2365." But I will not be getting a new link or a new blog, all new stuff will go on this blog. I feel like you put so much effort into establishing yourself with a "name" in the blog world that I don't want to do that all over again now! I know that many of you began reading because you were also planning your wedding and now that mine is over I hope that you will stick around and see how things go after the wedding! Everyone knows that our wedding was extremely DIY-heavy and I am definitely like this in my day-to-day life so I hope that I can share some more of my projects with you. I am excited about this blog not being so wedding-centric anymore because it will allow me to blog more often, if you don't mind my extreme randomness.

So in the meantime I am working on a major overhaul because I'm sick of looking at this same blog layout that has been around for over a year! I am going to attempt to spruce up my layout on my own but I may have to enlist the help of a blog designer (recommendations would be GREAT!!).

Last thing.. several people have asked about a honeymoon post. I actually blogged about the honeymoon before I got to the wedding recaps. I know, it seems like the wedding recaps went on for 75 years. So if you are interested in the honeymoon pics, go here and here.

Our Wedding Day: The Bride & Groom (last recap!)

2009-08-31T09:41:00.009-04:00

Today is my very last wedding recap post! I thought it was fitting for my last recap post to be pictures of the new Mr. and Mrs.! Thanks for letting me share all of the recaps of our big day!

Our Weddng Day: Wedding Party Favorites

2009-08-28T15:50:00.006-04:00

Today I am sharing a few of our favorite wedding party pictures. We have sooo many pictures that it is hard to narrow them down, but here are some of the best ones! The last two... of the ring bearer and flower girls... may be two of my favorite pictures ever! Enjoy the pictures!

Our Wedding Day: Bride & Groom Portraits

2009-08-26T10:23:00.005-04:00

Only a few posts left of the wedding recap and I must say, I am a little excited about getting back to regular blogging! The last few posts are from the posed pictures by the photographer. Today, some of the bride and groom individual portraits. Enjoy the pictures!

Our Wedding Day: The Toasts

2009-08-23T18:11:00.005-04:00

I hadn't originally planned on doing an entire post on our Matron of Honor and Best Man toasts but I thought that we got some really cute pictures and I had to share. Both of their toasts were very, very funny as well as thoughtful and sweet. Enjoy the pictures!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-19T23:34:00.003-04:00

If I would have known how much FUN it was to have a giveaway then I would have done this a long time ago! I love meeting new blogger friends and having new blogs to read! And also, a big THANK YOU for your awesome support, comments, blogs and buttons about my new venture! It means the world to me! :)

Ryan and I decided to do this the old-school way:

And here he is picking the winner:

and the winner is...

KATIE C. from Southern Seersucker!

Congratulations, Katie! Email me your address at preppybride@gmail.com and I will get your goodies out to you!

Thanks again to everyone for the support!! Back to the wedding recaps tomorrow!

Preppy Bride Design GIVEAWAY!!!!!

2009-08-11T17:55:00.004-04:00

In case you haven't noticed... I'm taking a little break from wedding recap posts. I didn't want anyone to get bored! So what is the best way to beat blog boredom? A GIVEAWAY of course! Most of you will remember a few weeks ago when I introduced my new business venture... Preppy Bride Design. I am happy to say that I have had a lot of success in my first month of business! In order to make the whole process easier for customers across the world, I have also opened a new Etsy Store! It is still in its early stages, but has been great way to meet clients!

Sooo... in celebration of my successful first month and as a way to spread the word about my new site and store, I am holding a giveaway for a few of my current favorite things! I have been picking things up time to time whenever I ran across something cute and now have an array of things to share with you! Here are the goods:

This giveaway includes the following:

Set 2 (1 large, 1 small) Eco Totes
Set 4 Preppy Polka Dot File Folders
Set 4 Preppy Stripe File Folders
Polka Dot "To Do List"
Polka Dot "Menu Planner"
Pink & White Polka Dot Daily/Weekly Planner
Green & White Stripe Luggage Tag
Pink, white & orange Long Notepad
2 Yankee Candle Votives - Sweet Strawberry & Kiwi Berries
Forever 21 Pearl Headband
The Cocktail Bible
Set of 50 Custom Return Address Labels
$20 Starbucks Gift Card

The rules are simple - just like most other giveaways! Here are your options:

Become a Follower/ Tell me that you are one - 1 Entry
Leave a Comments on this Post - 1 Entry
Blog about the Preppy Bride Design site or Etsy Store (feel free to use any of my pictures, icons, links) - 5 Entries
Put the Preppy Bride Design logo & link on your sidebar - 5 Entries

That gives you the possibility of 12 total entries!!!! This giveaway will end on Tuesday night, August 18th at midnight. I will announce the winner on Wednesday, August 9th.

GOOD LUCK!!!

hanging out with DAVE MATTHEWS!!!!!!!!

2009-08-02T21:26:00.008-04:00

Every summer, Ryan and I go on a trip to Noblesville, Indiana for a two-night Dave Matthews Band concert and camping trip with another couple. It is definitely something we look forward to all year. Last Wednesday, Ryan got a phone call from the Warehouse saying that we had been selected for a meet and greet before the show on Friday night... which means that WE GOT TO MEET DAVE!!!! Let me tell you.... NOTHING makes me feel nervous or intimidated and I was literally a nervous wreck with anticipation while we were waiting to meet him.

There were basically about 15-20 people in the Meet & Greet, including Dallas Clark who plays for the Indianapolis Colts. It was funny, he said "I go to work with Payton Manning everyday and yet I'm still nervous about meeting Dave." After we found out we were going to meet Dave, we were trying to figure out something funny to say to him because we didn't want to be those people who are like, "ohhhh I love you.. I'm your biggest fan... yada yada yada." So when he came up to us I said "I thought we were in line to meet John Mayer?" and he laughed and said John Mayer was his friend but he was taller, better looking and then said something else that was extremely funny but not G-rated blog appropriate! We talked to him for awhile and he was so easy to talk to and definitely didn't act as crazy as he sometimes does in interviews.

Enough talk... onto the pictures!

Our Wedding Day: The Cakes!

2009-07-29T17:38:00.007-04:00

Anyone who is a regular reader of my blog may remember this post where I shared my obsession with drawing what our cakes were going to look like. I, being the cynic that I am, never dreamed that our cake designers would get the cake designs EXACTLY like I wanted them to be. Well, I was happy to be proven wrong and I was so overwhelmed with happiness that our cakes were even better than I had imagined. Not to mention, they were both DELICIOUS. Each layer of the main cake was a different flavor and the groom's cake was called "Chocolate Peanut Butter Explosion." Yes, it was as good as it sounds! Enjoy the pictures!

Our Wedding Day: Reception Entrance & First Dance

2009-07-27T10:40:00.006-04:00

Sorry about the little posting delay... it was a crazy (bad) week here last week and I didn't have a chance! Here are some pictures from our reception entrance, a couple of our favorite wedding party entrances our and first dance. Our wedding party entrance song was Jimi Boys...a Dave Matthews Band and Jay-Z remix that was kind of a joke intended for our best man and matron of honor... he loves Jay-Z, she loves Dave. Everyone loved it. And our first dance song was Nothing Fancy by Dave Barnes. It has always been "our song" and I cry every time I hear it! Enjoy the pictures!

Our Wedding Day: Reception DIY Details

2009-07-17T12:06:00.006-04:00

I thought it would be fun to show some of our DIY projects "in action" at the reception! Many of you have been with my blog for the long haul and have seen the creation of so many of these items so I thought you might like to see them on the big day. Enjoy the pictures!

Our Wedding Day: The Ceremony Part Two

2009-07-14T17:33:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the delay in getting to part two... it has been a technologically rough week here at 2365! Worst of all, my blackberry took its own life on Friday and I won't have the replacement until tomorrow or Thursday. This has definitely made me realize that the whole "crackberry" thing is no joke! Anyway... onto the pictures. Enjoy!

Our Wedding Day: The Ceremony Part One

2009-07-08T10:58:00.006-04:00

I wanted to do the ceremony pictures in one post, but then I realized that there are so many pictures that I want to share that it would have just been too much! So I'm going to break it up into a couple separate posts... Enjoy!

Our Wedding Day: Here Comes The Bride!

2009-07-06T11:21:00.005-04:00

Here are some pictures of my entrance into the wedding! My mom and I came in on a horse-drawn carriage and everyone loved it! I also really enjoyed having those few minutes to just relax and talk to her on our ride down. Enjoy the pictures!

BIG NEWS!!!

2009-07-01T13:19:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone! I am taking a mini break from the wedding recaps to share something that I am sooooo excited about! Today I am introducing and launching my very own design blog! I have been working so hard on this for the past couple weeks and finally think it is ready to share with the world! My design blog is a project that I am very passionate about... where I am currently designing party invitations, wedding programs, birth announcements and calligraphy. To browse the categories, you can scroll the blog like you would normally, or you can use the links on the right-hand side under "Products." There are several products available in each category but I am continually going to be adding more! Please click on over to Preppy Bride Design to see what I've been up to! And, get excited because I am going to announce a FABULOUS giveaway in just a few days to promote my new venture!

I can't wait to see what you think of everything... and as always, your feedback is more than appreciated!

Our Wedding Day: Wedding Party Entrance

2009-06-29T07:44:00.008-04:00

Today I am excited to share the entrance of our wedding party and families. These pictures are self explanatory, but be sure to check out how FAR everyone (especially my bridesmaids!) had to walk to get to the aisle. They had to walk down a hill on the semi-solid ground wearing heels just to get to the aisle! I hear they were taking bets with each other on who was going to go rolling down the hill first! Luckily, everything worked out and no one tumbled down the hill into the guests! Enjoy the pictures!

Next up... Here Comes the Bride!

Our Wedding Day: Ceremony Details

2009-06-25T20:46:00.007-04:00

Again, just as with the other recaps, I'm just going to let the pictures do most of the talking. Today I am sharing the details of our ceremony! It took place outside at 7:30 p.m. and the weather was absolutely perfect. We had a 60% chance of rain all day... so one stressed-out bride was definitely sweating bullets! But it really ended up being perfect in the end. Enjoy!

Next Up... Bridal Party Entrance!

Our Wedding Day: Getting Ready!

2009-06-23T09:50:00.007-04:00

Okay now the real fun finally begins! I'm excited to finally be sharing actual wedding day details, and the timing couldn't be better... since today is our one month anniversary! yay! I don't think these recap posts need a whole lot of words... and I know I always enjoy the pictures more than the words so I will try not to be too windy! Here are some pictures of the girls getting ready:

Those last two pictures of my Mom are two of my favorites from the entire day. She was doing SO GOOD all afternoon with not being too emotional, and then when she had to put the veil on... it was all over :) It was so sweet and nearly made me have a breakdown right then and there. And, before you ask, yes I DID use SoleMates on the bottom of my heels. No one noticed them all day because you can't see them under the dress. And, they were definitely necessary since the entire ceremony was outside and it did rain for a little bit the night before. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Next up... Ceremony Set Up & Details

Our Wedding Day: Wedding Party Gifts

2009-06-21T22:26:00.008-04:00

Hey everyone! I am so excited to share the details of our wedding party gifts with all of you. I meant to post this earlier in the week but I have been a little sidetracked. You see, I too have succumbed to the Twilight phenomenon. I have made fun of all of my friends and family for reading them so I decided to read them myself just so I could put some value to my opinion. Well, I was definitely proven wrong. These books are good. I mean really, really good. I was an English major in college and have probably read more literature than the average person, and that's why I was so snooty about the possibility of these books being good. Just trust me... do yourself a favor, get it over with and just read them if you haven't already!

Okay back to the recap! First, the boys. All of the guys in our wedding got different gifts. Sadly, I didn't remember to take pictures of all of them. Our ushers and guest book attendant got monogrammed rocks glasses, and I don't have any pictures of those. For each of the other guys, we got them each two gifts, and three for the Best Man. We tried to get them something to keep, and something tangible that they could use regularly. Their gifts included: personalized & framed sports bar signs, personalized Makers Mark cigars and cigar box, sports team wine bottle stoppers & corkscrews, personalized bottle of Woodford Reserve, and various other things. Here are some pictures of the boys' gifts:

I wish I would have taken pictures of everything all wrapped up... the boys LOVED the pink and green polka dot wrapping paper!

For our flower girls, we got them each the same things: a monogrammed purse, bow headband to wear in the wedding, pearl bracelet & pearl earrings, Claire's mini makeup kit and a pack of fun, colorful bracelets. For our ring bearer, we got him a video game for his PSP and a personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bat. Here are a couple pics of their gifts:

Since both sets of Ryan's parents live in other places (San Diego and Colorado), we wanted to get them something related to Lexington. We found these Lexington platters and fell in love with them, so we got them each one along with a stand to display it:

For my Mom, I got her a sterling silver frame with two 5X7 slots, and dates engraved underneath. One was from Easter in 1984 and I put a picture of the two of us inside. The other, of course, was the wedding date and will hold a picture of us from that day. On the top of the frame, I also engraved "I love you more because I'm bigger" because this is what she and my Dad both used to tell me when they said goodnight to me, from the time I was little to when I was in college. I also had this pendant made for her that displayed a picture of her and my Dad on their wedding day. I thought it would be special for her to wear, since she would be missing him more than anyone,

And of course I saved the most fun gifts for last... my bridesmaids! In the beginning, I planned to get them each something timeless like a Tiffany bracelet or something, but in the end I opted to go with a lot of little things that they will use all the time. Each of them received a monogrammed tote bag, monogrammed beach towel from Preppy Monogrammed Gifts, monogrammed spa robe from Monogram Chick, a pearl necklace and pearl earrings, their shoes for the wedding and some simple black flip flops for the reception. My Matron of Honor also got an extra little gift but it is an inside joke that isn't even worth trying to explain! Here are some pictures:

All of the girls LOVED their gifts. I tried to personalize each of their gifts to the colors that I thought they would like the best, so each robe's monogram is the same color as the towel's monogram. I am so thankful for both Monogram Chick and Preppy Monogram Gifts because the quality of the items I purchased was just amazing! I can't wait to order some for myself with my new monogram!

All in all, I think each person was really happy with their gifts. I'm really glad we went with gifts that were different for each person because I honestly feel like it made them feel more individually appreciated... so that would be my gift-giving advice for all you brides to be!

Next up... Getting Ready!!!!

Our Wedding Day: Practice Makes Perfect!

2009-06-15T18:07:00.010-04:00

I know everyone just wants to see wedding pics, but I decided that I will do the recap of the big day in order, so today I am going to share the details of our rehearsal!

Our rehearsal was on Friday May 22nd on an unseasonably muggy night! It took place outside, so we were definitely going as fast as we could to get things figured out and get out of the heat! Now that it is over, I can honestly say that we would have NEVER made it through the rehearsal (or any part of the weekend, for that matter) without our awesome Day-Of Coordinator, LeAnn. She was definitely not afraid to get everyone where they needed to be, when they needed to be there... which was definitely a huuuuge relief to me!

Onto the pictures! First up is one of my favorites. You can see my nephew Jake, the ring bearer, being his usual wise-guy self and cracking up 3 of the groomsmen, Ryan, and our minister:

I'm pretty sure this was taken when Leann made the announcement that we were going to do one more run-through, and his response was "kill me now." Funny what you can get away with when you're 7!

And here is another one of my favorites, with all of my girls and our minister, Kyle, who had apparently just said something really funny!

And although he will kill me for this, here is my new brother-in-law with my fabulous practice bouquet. He definitely would have been a great flower girl!

After the rehearsal, our rehearsal dinner was held at A.P. Roots Restaurant here in Lexington. The private room is a gorgeous space with dark cherry wood wainscoting and equestrian themed art. I wish I had more pictures of the details, because Ryan's mom Debbie did an amazing job decorating it, in pink & green of course!

Ryan & me:

My matron of honor and her husband (and a groomsman), John:

My mom and older nephew, Josh:

Another favorite... here are the boys working on the laptop & TV to make our DVD play correctly. We were having some SERIOUS technical difficulties and I really thought Ryan might have a nervous breakdown. Luckily, they got it working and everyone loved it!

Ryan and his aunt (who is really more like a 2nd mom/sister combo), Vicki:

Ryan and his mom, Debbie:

Those are just a few of our pictures from the rehearsal night, but they are some of my favorites. Everything was absolutely perfect... even the technical difficulties. We had a wonderful and easy rehearsal followed by a fun and relaxing rehearsal dinner with great food and drinks!

Next up... Wedding Party Gifts!

Just Maui'd - Part Two!

2009-06-10T14:27:00.012-04:00

As promised, here are some more honeymoon pictures! First up, one of my sunset pictures. There is NOTHING like a Hawaiian sunset. I swear I have about 30 sunset pictures because it is just something you never want to forget!

This is Malama Aina, a secluded beach that you have to use a 4X4 to get to, otherwise you hike down a really steep and crater-filled hill. Since we had a convertible, we had to go with the hiking route. It was SO worth it:

We kept driving around the north end of the island, past Kaanapali and saw some amazing views:

I had to take this picture. The Hawaiians sure do LOVE their spam!

We met several couples and families at the pool at our condo and went out to Lulu's with one of them. Here we are headed out to meet them:

And here we are at the Old Lahaina Luau. We LOVE this luau and it is definitely the one touristy thing that we will ALWAYS do! It is just the best time!

Here is our (somewhat lame) attempt to write our new monogram in the sand at night:

And I took this picture JUST for y'all.... our dessert from BJ's Chicago Pizzeria. It was this massive hot chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream on top... calories don't count on your honeymoon, right?

And last but not east, what would Hawaii be without a rainbow? It rained for a total of about 5 minutes over the entire 2 weeks. The rain was totally worth it when we saw this:

So that's it. We took about 150 pictures but I really didn't think you would want to see all of them! It was an amazing honeymoon... really everything I could have asked for, and more!

Next up... let the wedding recaps begin!

Just Maui'd!

2009-06-09T14:19:00.008-04:00

We're back! Our honeymoon was absolutely amazing and I wish we had two more weeks of it! We have been to Maui twice before and have done all of the "touristy" stuff, so we wanted to go there and just relax. In our opinion, Maui is absolutely the most beautiful and best place in the world so there was no doubt about where we were going! I thought I would go ahead and share some pics from our honeymoon while we are waiting on the pro pictures. I have received a TON (as in around 1300!) pictures from guests so far so I am working on narrowing those down so that I can share them!

As soon as we got to Maui and went to pick up our rental car, we were given a free upgrade to a convertible since we were honeymooners! This was our ride for the week:

And here are some pictures of the view from our balcony:

Here we are going out on our first night there... notice the long hair... it will be gone soon!

And here is Ryan later that night after we ate at Fred's Mexican Restaurant. We both got SO SICK!!! It was AWFUL!!!! But, it did provide me with this funny picture...

Here we are the next night, post-haircut and post-recovery from Fred's:

And this was the view I had most of the week...

More Honeymoon pictures to come tomorrow!

It was perfect.

2009-05-25T05:13:00.002-04:00

Our wedding day has come and gone. Everyone was right... it goes by so much more quickly than you can ever prepare for. Everything was perfect. Even for my high (read: extremely anal) standards, it was still perfect and I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm currently blogging from the airport at 5:00 a.m. as we are heading to Maui for a two-week honeymoon! So, blogging will be light for a couple weeks but I can't wait to get back and share pictures and recaps as they come along.

Thank you so much for all of your support, advice, ideas and love throughout the strenuous planning process. We couldn't have done it without you!

Shower Recap!

2009-05-20T10:15:00.009-04:00

Since I have little time for actual blogging this week, I thought I would share some pictures of the of the shower that was held for me on the 9th by my wonderful bridesmaid Haley and her equally wonderful mom Robin! It was absolutely PERFECT and just beautiful! Enjoy the pictures!

Here are some pictures of part of the spread and my gorgeous cake! -

And here are some of my lovely guests!

Three days to go! Please pray for us to have a sunny day!

Bachelorette Party Recap!

2009-05-19T11:50:00.003-04:00

Before I get into all of the bachelorette party debauchery, I wanted to say a BIG thank you to all of your sweet comments on the previous post about my Father. It definitely was not easy for me to talk about but I'm glad that I did because I was so touched by all of your sweet words. Things like that make me so amazed at the power of the blog world and the strong connections that you make with people. So, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

Now onto something completely on the other end of the spectrum! This past weekend, we traveled to Chicago for the weekend for my bachelorette party. We stayed at the amazing W Lakeshore downtown and I have to say that it was one of the best hotel stays that I have ever had. The hotel was BEAUTIFUL, it is in a great location, has 2 bars/lounges on-site and the staff was absolutely wonderful. They really make you feel like royalty! We spent both nights going out to several bars, restaurants and of course shopping on Michigan Avenue during the day! I didn't make it to bed before 4:30 either night so I have definitely been trying to make up for that the past couple of days! I have been to Chicago a million times because I have family in the area, but I have never really been for something like a bachelorette party so I have to give another shout-out/thank you to Nina for hooking us up on all of her wonderful suggestions on where to go. Your suggestions were definitely put to good use. Thanks, Nina!

Now onto the pictures! It was difficult to actually find some G-rated ones that were appropriate for the blog world but I have come up with a few to share! In the pictures you will see that my lovely MOH Ashley had shirts made for everyone to wear when we were hanging out in the hotel room and as a keepsake. Everyone also had gift bags with a logo on the front that said "Gettin' Down in Chi-Town... Angela's Last Call" and the date. The bags had beads with the logo also on them along with some personalized koozies for everyone, water bottles with the logo on the label, Vitamin Water (for hangovers! ha!) and some other little things. Anyway, here are some shots of the action!

Those are really about as "family friendly" as it gets. Of course I had all of the usual penis perephenalia but I also had a "Soon to be Mrs. Griffin" sash that I hope you can see in some of the pictures. We had SUCH a great time, I definitely could have stayed for a couple more days!

Well I better get back to planning.... Im getting married in FOUR DAYS!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!

The Father of the Bride

2009-05-13T16:45:00.003-04:00

This isn't going to be a happy post. Like... not even a little bit. There is something that I have never mentioned on my blog, and it has been itching at me for awhile. Regardless of how much planning I do and how many projects are on my list, there is one very important element that will undoubtedly be missing from my wedding. That element is the Father of the Bride.

Just over 7 years ago, my Father passed away after a long and difficult battle in and out of the hospital that we still don't fully understand. We were told for several months that he had a blockage in his duodenum but that it wasn't cancerous and could be removed. On Halloween of 2001, we were told that it was cancerous. And then literally the very next day we were told that it was not. He was in the hospital for months on end while my patient and devoted Mother sat beside him day in and day out and would not leave his side unless forced to do so. He lost weight quickly due to the blockage and each time that I saw him, it became painfully harder to look at the strong and powerful man that I had known for 20 years as he lay in a hospital bed filled with tubes looking increasingly more frail and lifeless.

On the afternoon of January 24th, 2002, I had just returned to my apartment after my classes at UK when my sister called to tell me that our Dad had a perforated bowel and that they were going to have to do emergency surgery to fix him. I threw a bunch of clothes in my bag and sadly, something told me then and there that I needed to bring something to wear to my Father's funeral. UK is approximately 115 miles from my hometown, and I made it there in approximately 63 minutes. My friend Haley and her Mom had called me on the way to tell me that they were on their way to the hospital to meet me there in case we needed anything. To this day, I'm not sure they know how much that meant to me.

I met my family along with my friend and her Mom in the waiting room and sat impatiently for about 15 minutes until a doctor said he would like to speak with the family in another room. We followed the doctor and he proceeded to tell us everything that happened during the surgery. I don't remember anything that he said until the very end of his description when he said "and then we lost him... and we couldn't get him back."

Since that day, not a single day has gone by that I have not thought about my Father in some capacity, and the last 14 months of planning a wedding without him have made that even worse. My Dad and I had talked about my wedding a lot. I am the baby of the family, and he always told me that my wedding day would be such a sad day for him because it would mean that all of his children were gone and on their own. We talked about what we would dance to at the reception. We had it narrowed down to Life's A Dance by John Michael Montgomery because he said that song had made him think of me since I had gone to college; or Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino because he taught me how to play it on the piano... and he sure did like to sing and dance around to that song.

As a small tribute to my Daddy, here is the bouquet charm that I will carry on my wedding day, along with a few pictures from our rehearsal video.

As I sit here with tears streaming down my face, I know in my heart that I would give up all of the work, money and time that has been put into this wedding if only my Father could be here to see it. Thank you for reading, and for allowing me to share a very important part of my story.

How sweet it is...

2009-05-06T17:44:00.006-04:00

... to be finished with my candy buffet! I must say, getting the candy buffet all fancied up was a much harder task than I originally thought! I have had the jars for the candy forever, we finished the candy boxes about awhile ago (as in LAST JUNE! haha), made this sign for the center of the display and had already bought all the candy so the last task was making the jars look pretty!

I knew I wanted some labels on the jars, so I printed some up in my second favorite font (DJ Fancy), printed them out and glued them to some cardstock and then glued that to a ribbon and put it on the jar. They do not all look the exact same, since the shapes are different. Here they are all together:

And here is a close-up of one of them:

A word of advice to anyone out there who plans to make some labels of any sort to put on their candy jars (or anything else that is glass) - USE THE HOT GLUE GUN!!! The first time I put these together, I used some glue dots and tape runners thinking that that would work. Well, by the time I woke up the next morning, pretty much everything fell apart and I had to start over. The hot glue gun worked wonderfully... and everything has been holding up perfectly since then!

I also added some ribbon to the scoops and ladles that we will be using for the candy. Here is how they turned out:

The scoops were purchased here and the ribbon is from Michael's.

That is one more project down and only a couple to go! It really is bittersweet!

Twitter...

2009-04-30T11:11:00.008-04:00

I gave in. It is so addicting, almost as bad as facebook. Here is my link:

http://twitter.com/angelafaith41

I have recently started updating myself, as before I was just reading everyone else's tweets! I need some new people to follow! Who else is twittering? Send me your link!

Our Invitations: Cost Breakdown

2009-04-27T22:14:00.002-04:00

I swear this is my last post about our invites, but I had some questions about costs, fonts, etc. that I need to answer! So, here goes...

The font that I used for our names is called Albemarle Swash and it can be downloaded for free here. The font that I used for everything else is Felix Titling, and it comes standard with just about any Office software.

As far as costs, I am going to break it down store by store, which should be easier.

From Paper and More I bought:
-150 4-Bar Solid Bright White Envelopes = $23.97
-300 Sheets Bright White Linen 8.5 x 11" Cardstock = $47.97
-Shipping = $3.99
Total = $75.93

From Cards and Pockets I bought:
-120 Onyx Metallic Perfetto Pocketfolds @ 1.38 each = $165.60
-120 Fuschia Metallic Invitation Mats for Perfetto Pocketfolds @ .18 each = $21.60
-120 6.5" Square White Envelopes @ .20 each = $24.00
-Shipping = $14.31
Total = $225.51

From LittleBeaneBoutique on Etsy I bought:
-150 Square Labels (for the front of the invitation) = $47.25
-Shipping = $5.95
Total = $53.20

From Expressionary I bought:
-1 Square Address Embosser (for our return address on the back of the envelope) = $14.40
-Free Shipping
Total = $14.40

From Michael's I bought:
-40 Sheets Azalea Starsdream Metallic 12X12 Cardstock = $40.00
-Corner Punch/Embosser Combo = $14.99
- Fiskars Paper Cutter = $20.00
- 10 Tape Runner Refills = $50.00
-3 Rolls of Pink Satin Ribbon = $6.00
Total = $130.99 (not including tax)

From Staples I bought:
-6 Ink Cartridge Refills @14.99 each = $89.94
Total =$95.34 (including tax)

From Kinko's I bought:
-31 Cuts for invitation and inserts @ $2.00 each = $62.00

Shipping Costs:
-120 42-cent stamps for RSVP envelopes = $50.40
-120 $1.20 Stamps for main invitation envelope = $144.00
(they cost more to mail because of the shape and weight!)

Grand Total.......$851.77

This is based on 120 invitations. That breaks down to about $7.10 per invite. I know that this wasn't exactly an economical choice, but DIY definitely does NOT always mean less expensive. Buying all of the main supplies like paper, envelopes, etc. is not expensive, but the little things that you don't think about like tape runners (or glue), ink cartridges, cuts and shipping are where the money really adds up.

I hope that all of this info helps some of you other DIY brides out there!

Our Invitations! Part Two...

2009-04-20T21:46:00.004-04:00

I'm back with more invitation details! Here are some details of the writing that I used to address the envelopes. I'm not ashamed to say that my parents got me a calligraphy set when I was about 9 or 10 and I used to write my friends' names in calligraphy on the front of their Barbie Valentines, birthday cards and anywhere else I could. So, I have had some practice in that department. I didn't go with an all-out fancy writing on the envelopes because that just doesn't fit the vibe of our wedding. Here are some examples, sorry about the blurring!

I tried to get a picture of our return address on the back of the envelope, but it was basically impossible for me to photograph. We had a custom embosser made of our address, so I am sure you can imagine what it looked like!

Here are some pictures of our invitation inserts. Yes, I realize the info on the Accommodations card isn't centered, but I promise it was centered on the actual invitations. I just happened to grab a misprint for the pictures! Pay close attention to the responses on our response card. They have been a HUGE hit with our guests!

This response card has definitely elicited some fun responses. I highly recommend these... even our male guests have enjoyed adding comments to them!

Getting these invitations finished and mailed was definitely the biggest sigh of relief that I can ever remember having. I LOVE going to the mailbox everyday to see who has responded! Ryan and I have both refused to take the envelopes from our friends, insisting that they mail them. I mean come on... the stamp is right on there... don't deny me of the best part of my day! :)

Our Invitations! Part One..

2009-04-19T21:46:00.004-04:00

Let me start by saying that I am SO sorry for my recent lack of posting, but we have had some serious technical difficulties around here! First I couldn't get my camera to work, then the battery died and we couldn't find the charger. Luckily, Ryan came through and found the charger in one of our unpacked boxes today and now my blogging can resume! I am going to try to blog everyday this week so that I can catch everyone up on everything! And, since our invitations are pretty detailed, I thought I better break them up into a couple of posts. Enjoy!

Here is what our guests saw when they opened the envelope. We opted to not use an inner envelope because, well, they are kind of pointless and wasteful. And since we used pocket folders, the folder basically served as the inner envelope. (You can click any of the pictures to make them bigger.)

And here is what they saw when they removed the label and ribbon:

Here is a close-up of the main invitation:

And here is the side with the inserts:

Tomorrow I will share more details of the inserts and our calligraphy, embossing, etc. I can also do a cost breakdown if anyone is interested. These invitation posts are so long overdue, I hope they are worth the wait!

We've got rings!

2009-04-06T18:55:00.004-04:00

So today Ryan and I decided to go pick out our wedding bands. Apparently we should have done this a long time ago because the people at the jewelry store were freaking out. But, we had no trouble getting exactly what we wanted and getting them well within the amount of time we have left before May 23!

I went in knowing that I wanted something with the same edge as my wedding band and I wanted it to be pave cut. I also knew that I did not want anything custom made to be flush with my engagement ring because I like for the two rings to look separate. Ryan just wanted something "manly."

Here is what we ended up with:

I got a pave cut 1 carat eternity band, and Ryan got a brushed Titanium band that has a little bit of a shiny edge. I love how mine looks with my engagement ring and I may or may not be wearing it as I type this!

Ryan had a little bit of trouble deciding between titanium and tungsten carbide because he knew he definitely did not want gold or platinum. He doesn't think those are very manly. The sales lady told us that the main difference is that if he should have some type of bizarre accident, the tungsten one could be cut off of his finger and the titanium one could not. I basically decided not to give my opinion on this and sat there wondering what kind of finger-threatening events she was alluding to. Despite her warnings, he ended up with a titanium band because it was his favorite of all of the ones that he tried on.

This was definitely a HUGE check mark on the to-do list since wedding bands are pretty high on the importance list. Another HUGE check mark was finally getting our invitations finished and mailed last Wednesday! I'm going to give it just a couple more days to make sure they are all delivered and then I will be sharing all the details with you! I can't wait to see what you think!

Just a little something to brighten your day!

2009-03-24T15:39:00.003-04:00

Carter wants to remind you to always take time to stop and smell the flowers! Happy Spring!

I'm Kreativ!

2009-03-20T11:19:00.004-04:00

Boy am I feeling loved! I received the Kreativ Blogger award from four of my absolute favorite blogs: Kentucky Katie, The Farmer & The Southern Belle, Lovely Tonight and Just Lovely! Seriously if you have not checked out any of their blogs, then you must do so! Seriously, stop reading. Go check them out! haha:)

The award rules are as follows: List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love! Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard letting the whole world know...you are Kreativ.

Here is my list of 7 things I love, other than the obvious ones... Ryan, family, friends & Carter!

1. The McDonalds Filet-o-Fish singing fish commercial. I seriously cannot get enough of it. Just ask Ryan. I send him text messages that just say, "give me that fisssssssh!"

2. Keeneland starting 2 weeks from today! I can't wait!

3. OPI California Raspberry nail polish. My favorite color ever, and my Springtime staple!

4. The NCAA Tournament. Okay, so Kentucky isn't in it this year. Whatever. Once I fill out my bracket, all loyalties go by the wayside and I become determined to win every bracket pool that I've entered.

5. LOST. This is the best season EVER. It is by far the greatest show on tv right now, and maybe the greatest show ever. Ryan and I put the phones on silent and lock the doors every Wednesday night at 9:00. We love it!

6. Wearing flip flops. I was able to bust them out 3 times already this week! Yay Spring!

7. Our new house! I just love it. I am so glad we found it!

Okay, so, I am horrible at passing on awards because I never narrow it down to just 7 or 5 or whatever, so I am passing this along to all of my followers! You all deserve an award!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

A slave to my invitations...

2009-03-17T18:15:00.007-04:00

...is really all that I am these days. I realize I haven't blogged in 11 days and that is just unacceptable! Basically, when I am not working, unpacking our house, or watching UK lose a basketball game to some crappy team, all of my time is spent working on our invitations. Naturally, I went the DIY route. I created the design and then had them printed on a nicer printer and I have been working nonstop on assembling them since then. I haven't even completed step one. But, nevertheless, I am going to share some sneak peeks with my lovely readers! A lot of our invitees read my blog, so I can't show them completely until they are mailed out on April 1. If that day ever comes. Anyway, here are some snippets of what has caused me to be a horrible and neglectful blogger:

So there you have it. Step 1 is about 90% complete at this point and I should be able to move onto something else later this evening. Then it should be smooth sailing from there! I will be sure to share more pictures as I make more progress. Wish me luck!

New Checks and a New Blog!

2009-03-06T19:40:00.003-05:00

So, I have been thinking. While the planning of our wedding is still an HUGE part of my life, there is also a lot of other big stuff going on with us that I can't fight the urge to blog about! But, since this is obviously a wedding blog, I decided to add another blog to be a companion to this one! The new blog will be about buying our first home, transitioning into our new life, and just day-to-day stuff. I have lots of random stuff I often feel like blogging about, but most of those things wouldn't make sense on a wedding blog! So, I would love for everyone to check out or new blog, Life at 2365. It is definitely in the early stages (as in I only have one post!) but I have so much to share!!

Back to wedding stuff... I have gotten a lot accomplished this week! I had my first dress fitting, delivered our ceremony vases to our florist, paid off another vendor (okay, Mom, so you did this... but it is still something that we get to check off the list!) and, the bridesmaids dresses came in! Here they are, looking oh-so pretty despite the fact that they are basically in massive ziploc bags:

I am so in love with these dresses, I seriously could not pick a different dress if I had to. The material is so nice, I really really hope that these will be re-wearable!

Tomorrow is our engage-iversary. I can't believe I have been engaged for a whole year. Everyone says "oh the time will just fly by" and I honesty didn't believe it when I thought about having 14 months to plan. But, everyone was definitely right. I can' believe we only have 2 months to go! Yikes! But, I am sooo glad that I have my blog to look back on to remember all of the planning, stress, projects and comments along the way. Only 78 days to go!

Catching Up!

2009-02-23T15:34:00.006-05:00

Ever get that "chicken with its head cut off" feeling? Because that is the definition of my life right now. As of today, we have EXACTLY 3 months until our wedding day! I seriously feel like I have been engaged for 27 years, but it hasn't even been one year yet. I wouldn't change our engagement length for anything though, because I like having plenty of time to get everything just how I... um I mean WE... want it! So not only are we working on all the little last minute wedding stuff, but last Friday we closed on our very first house! It is so exciting and overwhelming all at once. I think I am most worried about wedding stuff getting lost in the move, so I labeled various wedding boxes with things like "Drop this box and die" or "Lose this box and lose your life" so hopefully anyone who helps us move with get the picture. In the meantime, I have been able to get a couple more things crossed of my to-do list. Last week, I was able to pick up a couple of our flower girls' gifts. Here they are:

Okay now don't tell my flower girls, but I got those adorable hot pink, bamboo-handled purses on clearance at Old Navy... for 80 cents each! I just took them to my monogrammer and got both of them monogrammed for $7, so each bag cost me about $4.30 total! I am going to get them some other little girly things, but I thought that these bags were something they could use for a long time. I also was able to get our vase etched that we will be using for our sand ceremony. I absolutely love the sand ceremony idea. For anyone not familiar with the ceremony, it is the same symbolism as the unity candle but with two colors of sand poured into a vase or jar that you get to keep in your home. I bought an apothecary-type jar at Michael's and had it etched with our initials and here is how it turned out (with my lovely blue dish towel inside so you can see the monogram!):

I have to admit, I thought that the monogram would be bigger, but I am still happy with how it turned out. Please excuse the clutter behind the jar that is currently consuming my home.

In other news, I also received an award from a great new blogger, Erica. I got the Love Ya award:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Thank you, Erica, for this award!

And finally, I am going to do my very FIRST giveaway once I have over 100 followers, which should be very soon! I'll pass along the details soon!

Registry Cards... A Quick & Easy DIY!

2009-02-17T09:19:00.008-05:00

I have a really quick, easy and inexpensive DIY project to share today! This project is making registry cards to include in shower invitations, or anywhere else that you see fit. I'm not sure why, but I know a lot of brides-to-be are uncomfortable with "advertising" their registries with their shower invites. Let's be honest... if you are inviting someone to a shower, they know that a shower is a party where you bring gifts, and 9 times out of 10, they want to know where you are registered so they don't have to go out on their own and try to find you something that you want. A lot of times, stores that offer bridal registries will give you pre-made registry cards to include in your invites. I didn't really like the idea of several little pieces of paper flying out of my shower invitations when they were opened, so I combined our registries on one small card. Here's how it went:

I purchased a pack of Avery Two-Side Printable Clean Edge Business Cards at Wal-Mart for around $6. This pack includes 120 printable business cards. When I got home, I downloaded the template to design the cards in Microsoft Word. Now, that step may sound a little complicated to someone who isn't computer savvy, but trust me, it couldn't be easier. You basically click the template that you need, open the file from your desktop, and you are ready to design your card. My design was very simple. The top line says "Angela & Ryan are registered at:" and then our registries are listed below. I used the same albemarle swash font that we have used for everything else for the top line, changed the colors to pink & green and voila! This literally takes about 5 minutes. Then, I just ran the sheets through the printer (be sure to only feed one sheet at a time, i.e. don't set the printer for 5 copies and put 5 business card sheets in the tray) and they came out looking like this:

The sheets are pre-perforated, so then you literally just fold the page slightly and your cards will pop out, each one looking like this:

And with that, you are basically finished. I, on the other hand, have an obsession with rounded corners, so I used my corner punch to round them out while watching the Bachelor (yay for Melissa being in the final 2!) so my final product looks like this:

These cards are printable on both sides, and I considered putting our wedding monogram on the other side, but um, I have a lot of shows on Monday night... and I just didn't have the time!

So there you have it.. about $6 and 30 minutes later, this project was finished, and I think it will be a nice touch to our various shower invites, as well as a big help to the invitees!

Flower Girl Shoes... Help!

2009-02-12T13:52:00.005-05:00

Those of you who read my blog regularly may remember the picture of our flower girl dresses from this post. The dress is a very simple silhouette with a dark pink sash around the waist. As of now, the only other accessory that I have for each of them is a headband bow that matches the sash. Those are the only pink things that I have them wearing. Lately, I have been doing some online shopping for their shoes and have discovered that a lot of little girls' shoes are... well... kind of hideous. Not only am I striking out when finding something that is somewhat stylish, but also I am worried that I will buy shoes that don't match their dresses, and it will look weird. So, I am considering the idea of pink shoes for the flower girls, so they would kinda match me and my pink shoes. I am a real sucker for colored shoes with a white dress, plus pink shoes would ensure that the dress and the shoes aren't a huge clashing mess. Here are some options :

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Those are just a few of the cuter options that I have found. For some reason, I really like the idea of them wearing simple pink flats. I'm just not into big buckles and straps and sequins and stuff like that. I also feel like they would get a lot more use out of cute shoes like these. Especially the older flower girl. Total diva!

So, as far as the whole flower girl shoe issue, what do you think of the idea of pink shoes? I wish I could find some pictures online of flower girls in pink shoes, but I keep coming up empty. Since we all know that I'm not a shoe person, any help, advice or better options would be greatly appreciated!

The Wedding Party: Gifting the Girls

2009-02-05T11:39:00.021-05:00

I'm sorry that this post is a day later than it was supposed to be, but thanks to a break in the weather yesterday, I was able to go pick up my dress in Cincinnati. I am SO excited and love it even more than I remember! It definitely feels "real" now that I physically have the dress in my posession... well, in my coat closet:)

Back to gifts. Today will be devoted to gifting the girls in your wedding party. My overall advice would again be to make it as personal to each individual girl as possible. I will get more into that later, but my first recommendation are the tried and true Stephen Bonanno Sandals:

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The great thing about buying Bonanno's? Well, other than the fact that you can customize the colors and they look great with everything.. if you purchase 6 pairs of Palm Beach sandals at regular price ($95 each), then you get a pair of Emma Sandals with your new initials at half price! If that isn't a great incentive, then I don't know what is! Bonannos really are a great option, because they will be enjoyed by your girls for years to come!

Next on my list is a gift for girls who love to accessorize, and really, what girl doesn't?! Monogrammed jewelry has always been a popular gift for wedding parties, but these items are not the monogrammed sterling or gold items that we are used to. I am loving these modern Monogrammed Wooden Pendants & Earrings from Morgan & Company:

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I love, love, love the modern look of these pieces. Monogrammed sterling silver pieces are definitely beautiful, but they are also really common, and obviously you don't want to give something that your girls already have! These are also VERY affordable, at $15 for the pendant and $20 for the earrings; and monogramming is just $6 per piece. So you could get a pendant & earring set monogrammed for just $47 per girl!

Another great idea is a theme gift. One idea is a spa theme, because what girl wouldn't love a day of pampering?! You could arrange a spa treatment for the girls, and give them a little gift to go along with the day, that they could use again and again. Here is a great spa wrap from Monogram Chick:

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And slippers from The Pink Monogram:

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Giving a spa gift gives them a day of pampering, with these cute accessories to remember that day for years to come!

My final idea for the ladies is an example of how I would "make it personal" for my Matron of Honor, and since she doesn't read my blog, these may actually be some of her gifts:)

Since presentation is everything, you could start off with a cute monogrammed tote, like this one from Monogram Chick:

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Then, you can fill it with things that are personal to you. For example, in college, we had our Thursday night ritual of watching The O.C. and eating Mad Mushroom Cheesesticks (seriously, if you come within 100 miles of Lexington, you must order them) to start off our night. So, I would throw in a couple of these:

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Along with a set of these:

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...because our Thursday nights were never complete without a drinking game.. or 20! And finally, to make it even more personal, I would throw in one of these Monogram Chick Recipe Card Boxes:

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And I would fill it with food and drink recipes from our college days when we lived together, and beyond. It could even be funny things like a grilled cheese recipe, because I actually did have to teach her how to make one. You could also alternate recipe cards with photos of the two of you, as an added touch. Even if you choose not to fill it, the recipe box is still a great gift. I had this one on my Christmas list... but my procrastinating fiancee didn't get his order in in time! This entire gift would only cost you around $100 but would be SO special and memorable!

So, those are my ideas for bridesmaid gift ideas. I hope that my personalization example gives you a good idea of how my mind works when it comes to gift giving! The bottom line to me is just to make each recipient feel like you put a lot of thought into giving them something special, not just a lot of money. Good luck with your gifting!

The Wedding Party: Gifting the Groomsmen

2009-02-03T11:17:00.010-05:00

I received a question yesterday from a reader, Carly, who was asking about ideas for wedding party gifts. While I can't publish exactly what we are getting our wedding party (because some of them read this- hey guys!), I definitely have plenty of ideas to go around! My biggest thing when it comes to buying wedding party gifts is to make each gift as personal as possible. By "make it personal" I don't just mean monogram it, although anything monogrammed makes a great gift in my opinion! What I mean is that I do not think every person in your wedding party has to receive the exact same gift. You have different relationships with different people, and I think your gifts to each of them should reflect that. Since this is a picture-heavy topic, I will be focusing on the groomsmen today, and tomorrow I will give you some ideas for your ladies!

One gift that I am particularly fond of is the Personalized Louisville Slugger Bat. These can be personalized with a name, date, even the receiver's favorite baseball team, like this:

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These bats are about $62.00, they come in several finishes, and you can buy hardware to display them on a wall, so they are an all-around good option. And yes, Alicia, the D-Backs reference is for you:)

Staying with the sports theme, since it applies to so many guys, next up are Sports Cufflinks from Cufflinks Depot. These cufflinks can be personalized to just about any team for any sport that you can think of. A word of caution, cufflinks are great for guys who actually have opportunities to wear them, so be sure that your guys will use them if you go this route. One particularly cool pair that I found (that I'm sure my brother will salivate over as he reads this) are these Yankee Stadium Historical Seat Wood Cufflinks:

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I have to admit, those are pretty awesome. The blue that you see is an authentic piece of wood from a Yankee Stadium seat that was removed in 1973. Since the current Yankee Stadium is soon to be a thing of the past, these are a great collector's item. They are a little pricier, at $150 per set.

The next item, also sports related, is a framed print that the receiver could put in his office, "man room" or anywhere else that he sees fit. Let's say that your groom and one of his guys happened to be at a really great game for their favorite team, whether it was the World Series, Super Bowl, or just a regular exciting game, this would be a very personal gift, as well as being one that will definitely get used. One in particular that is close to my heart would be this one:

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I know it is too small to read, but it is a framed print from 2007 when Kentucky (finally) beat Louisville in football. This one is an example of what is personal to us, and a couple of our groomsmen, so I think it makes a great gift. This particular one costs $145. Framed sports stuff like this will generally run you about $75-$150.

Generally, but not always, sports-related gifts are great for groomsmen. If you live in a city where there is a sports team that all of your guys follow, then you have so many options for great gifts. You could always buy them tickets to a big game, because memories like that can be even better than a tangible gift. Or, you could just buy them all season tickets if you happen to have a money tree growing in your back yard!

So, where does that leave you if your groomsmen aren't into sports? Well, there are still plenty of options for great groomsmen gifts. Just try to be as personal as possible! Here are some ideas:

One really great website for some male (and female) pampering products is The Art of Shaving. Their stuff is also available at Nordstrom's. They have a whole section just for gifts that are basically old-school barbershop style shaving kits. They are great for guys who love to be pampered, whether they will admit it or not. Here is an example:

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That is the 4 Elements of a Perfect Shave Kit, and it will cost you $100. There are 4 scents to choose from, and refills are cheaper so this could be a great investment for your guys.

Another idea? Tools. My fiance wasn't a big tool guy until a couple of years ago, and now he loves them. When we watch home improvment shows, he is always sure to comment on the tools being used, and exactly what quality they happen to be. If your guys are into tools, your groom generally knows it, and will know what brand they are partial to. Since pictures of drills and saws aren't exactly pretty, I'll spare you the visual. But a simple trip to Lowe's or Home Depot should do the trick on this one.

Then there are the electronic-minded guys. I know that buying XBOX, PS3 or Wii consoles are big for groomsmen gifts, as well as iPods, which are a great idea if your groomsmen are active and could use them for working out, or travel a lot and could use them when on the go. An iPod is always a great gift idea, if you should happen to have groomsmen that don't already have them, which I'm sure is rare these days. If this is an option, the new iPod Nanos will run you about $150 each, and they come in a lot more colors than they used to.

Well, I think that this list should at least give you a good start on some different routes for groomsmen gifts. A good plan of attack is to figure out what each individual guy is into, set a price range, and buy gifts as personal to each man as possible. I really think the days of monogrammed flasks and beer mugs are behind us because, well, a lot of men already have that stuff. There are so many great options out there if you just get creative! I hope this list has helped, stop by tomorrow for Part 2: The ladies!

All snowed in with nothing to do!

2009-01-28T15:35:00.010-05:00

It's officially happened. I don't currently have ANY projects that I need to be working on, and I have no idea what to do with my free time! Granted, we still don't have invitations, but that is because I am still working on the design. And I'm actually not even stressed about them, because I have my plan all mapped out, we just need to finalize everything. I haven't had to go to work in 2 days and normally I would be so happy to have time to work on wedding stuff. But, I am so caught up/ ahead of schedule that I have actually been able to..... relax.....and boy has it been wonderful. Here is the reason why I haven't had to work this week:

{looking down our street from the non-existent driveway}

{tree in our front yard that fell from the weight of the ice & snow}

{Carter investigating the damage!}

So, as you can see, it is a mess. There are about 2 or 3 inches of solid ice covered with at least 2/3 inches of solid snow. Days like this make me thankful that I don't live in the Northeast, where this happens way too often! Instead of working on wedding stuff, I have been watching hour after mind-numbing hour of the Real Housewives of Orange County, of which I have probably seen each episode at least 3 or 4 times. I just love it! After that marathon was over, I had to switch to the Soap Network and old episodes of the O.C. and One Tree Hill. When I haven't been losing brain cells in front of the TV, I have been hanging out with this little snow-loving guy:

Gosh, isn't he the cutest? He would stay out in the snow all day if I would let him. It is just the best thing to watch him romp around and dive in the big piles of snow. As much as I love being at home with him, and being off work, I don't know how much more of this weather I can take. On the bright side, we have 117 days until our honeymoon in Maui! Yes, it's a long time, but at least we have something to look forward to!

Our Pink & Green DIY Card Box

2009-01-22T16:09:00.010-05:00

This may be my favorite DIY project yet. Not so much because of the finished product, but more because it was just soooo easy. We needed a card box for our gift table, and I wanted something that was just sort of small, because we are also displaying one of our framed monograms (not the one pictured) on the gift table. So, I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and got the supplies:

A 10X10x10 cardboard box with lid, fabric, ribbon, a craft knife and spray glue. My total was around $20. Because I chose a damask-style fabric with a design that goes in one direction, I could not just wrap the box like a present and call it a day. Instead, I cut 2 long strips of fabric, each long enough to secure inside the rim and just wide enough to fold the edges over. I sprayed the long sides and folded the edges so they would have a finished look. Now, if you ever plan on doing this, and you can sew, it would probably be a good idea to just hem the edges. But, I am still a very novice sewer and even hemming an edge can be tricky for me. Sad but true. After getting the edges finished, I attached one panel to the box, which looked like this:

After applying both panels to the sides, then came the lid. I basically wrapped the lid like you would wrap a present, only making sure that the sides were straight and not pointed. After the entire box was wrapped with fabric, it looked like this:

For the slit in the top of the box (which I forgot to picture), I attempted using the craft knife that I bought. Bad idea. That knife wasn't even worth the $1.99 w/ 30% off that I paid for it. It broke as soon as I attempted to cut with it. So, I had to rummage through Ryan's tools for something, and luckily he had a very sharp box cutter. This worked perfectly. I made a slit just large enough so that you could see it, but not so wide that you could see inside, since my unfinished fabric edges were secured in there. My last step was to wrap some pink satin ribbon around the center, securing it with the spray glue, and then attaching a little sign on the front, in the same font (albemarle swash) that we have used for all of our wedding stuff. Here's the finished product:

This entire project only took one rerun of The City to complete, which is less than 30 minutes for those of you who don't speak MTV. All in all, I am really happy with the way it turned out. But, I do have another suggestion for anyone who may attempt this project. Basically, spray glue= evil. My fingers are sticking to the keys as I am typing this. It gets everywhere and is sooo hard to get off of your fingers. So, it may be wise to try something else. Or if you do use spray glue, maybe try some latex gloves or something.

As of tomorrow, we have 4 months to go... and hardly any big projects left! woohoo!

Etsy Love: unlesssomeonelikeyou

2009-01-19T17:43:00.005-05:00

Don't tell Ryan, but I have a serious crush on someone. That someone is Etsy seller unlesssomeonelikeyou. I was browsing around Etsy today looking for unique and different wedding invitations (no...we still don't have invitations... more on that later) when I ran across this seller. I was immediately in awe of how cool and different their invitations are. The little blurb about the seller basically says that they wanted something different for their invitations, so they created wedding posters to send each person that was invited in lieu of a traditional invite. Here are some examples:

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Seriously, how awesome are those posters? The only problem, I really don't think we are "cool" enough for invites like that! ha! After I decided we couldn't use them as invites, I thought about framing one and letting guests sign it as our guestbook, but we have already spent a small fortune on the Polaroid guest book idea, so there is no going back now. I really thought these posters were way too cute to pass up, so I ended up ordering one similar to the first picture shown. I think it will look great framed & matted in our home. I will definitely share it with you when it arrives:)

And on a side note, please continue to pray for Harper, Kelly and Scott from Kelly's Korner. Anyone who reads her blog regularly knows what a wonderful person Kelly is, and that everything they are having to go through with Harper is heartbreaking. I'm sure they would love for you to stop by and give them some words of encouragement!

Still ridin the mo' train...

2009-01-14T23:16:00.005-05:00

And by "mo" I am of course referring to momentum. This week, I have crossed two more "little things" off my list! Anyone who reads regularly may remember the coloring books that I blogged about a while back. I needed a holder for the coloring books, so I made one that would match the basket for our programs. Here is the finished product:

This was a reeeeally easy project, but I think it will give a nice effect since it will match the program basket. I also finished my flip flop buckets, and the signs for these buckets. For anyone who is new to this idea, you basically offer flip flops at your reception to any women (or men, if you choose) who want to kick off their heels and boogie in something more comfortable! Here are some pictures of the flip flops, signs and finished product:

I wrapped each pair of flip flops in ribbon simply for the presentation. I think they look much more enticing that way! I also put the sizes on the toe area so that it would be easier to find your size, rather than searching through several buckets. Those tags peel right off. I love this idea not just for the functionality, but also for the extra splash of color. I really hope that the ladies at our reception will actually put these babies to good use!

Bathroom Basket Signs... Check!

2009-01-08T21:47:00.003-05:00

Just call me Little Miss Progress this week! Tonight I finished up the signs for our bathroom baskets. I wanted a little something beside the basket to let people to know that the stuff inside was supposed to be used... in case they were unfamiliar with the whole idea. I bought the baskets, which are actually a photo box and an accessory tray, back in May. My Mom and I have been accumulating some stuff to put inside them here and there whenever we see a good deal, but we don't have a whole lot just yet. I decided to do a little mock-up of what the baskets would look like in action. Here they are (with some random stuff from my cabinets... the actual wedding baskets would be much more full!) :

And here is a close-up of the ladies' basket sign:

The pictures are hard to see, but the little poem I used for the ladies' sign reads:

We're so happy you're here to share our special day,
But should something happen to go astray,
Please help yourself to the contents within,
Hairspray, hand lotion and even aspirin!
Use what you need and leave the rest,
It may be useful to another guest.
So repair the damage that may have been done,
Then hurry on back and join the fun!

Compliments of the Newlyweds

And the mens' sign reads:

If you've stained your tie, your hair is out of place,
You've got bad breath or whatever the case,
We've put together a basket to help you along,
Now hurry back out before you miss the next song!

Compliments of the Newlyweds

I used the same fonts that I used in our programs, so there will hopefully be a cohesive feeling to everything. I found some variations of these poems in a lot of different places online, and then just adapted some of the words to be more "us." These little signs cost me about $7 to make both of them, but I feel like they add so much more to just a plain ol' basket full of stuff!

Our Preppy Programs: A Labor of Love!

2009-01-07T10:18:00.004-05:00

Last night, we got to mark a BIG one off of our wedding to-do list when we finally finished our programs! I started working on the design for the programs months ago, and made more and more samples until I got exactly what I wanted. I have always thought that the program was a really important part of the wedding because you get to acknowledge everyone who will play a part in your big day, and it is the first tangible thing that your guests will receive to set the tone for your wedding. I hope no one takes offense to this, but a folded printout piece of paper just doesn't set a great tone, in my opinion. So, I wanted to create something that went along with our overall theme and color scheme. Here are some pictures of our final product (please excuse the ugly blurring!) :

We really started working on these over our Thanksgiving break when Ryan & I made a little assembly line of cutting the white cardstock, cutting the pink cardstock, rounding the corners, etc. We finished most of that part over Christmas break, and at that point they just needed to be assembled. For this part, I used Therm-o-Web Tape Runners to secure the white card to the pink, and then to secure the top of the second white card. I used some other tape runner brands when I would find them on sale, but I would not recommend anything but the Therm-o-Web. The others were not as permanent as I would have liked, and the tape would get caught up and ruin the whole roll. After all 200 were assembled, it was time to apply the ribbon. We used green satin ribbon in 5/16" size. We went back to our assembly line technique for this part, and Ryan would measure & cut the ribbon and then I would apply the ribbon to the program, again using the tape runner. This process took forever. But each time I would finish one, I would tell Ryan how I was madly in love with these programs, so it was definitely worth it. The cost breakdown went something like this:

100 Sheets Pink Azalea 105# Metallic Cardstock from Paper & More : $32.99
200 Sheets White 100# Paper Company Cardstock from Michaels : $20.00
Therm-o-Web Tape Runner & 12 Refills from Michael's : $67.00
6 Spools Offray 5/6" Green Satin Ribbon from Hancock Fabrics: $2.12

Total= $122.11, or about 61 cents per program.

Was this process headache-inducing and seemingly neverending? Yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I am SO happy with the result of all our hard work... and even happier to mark a BIG project off of the to-do list!

Too Much?

2008-12-29T11:09:00.003-05:00

In my neverending search for more ties, I ran across these that I really love. But I'm having trouble deciding if the polka dot pattern would be too much with the stripe pattern of Ryan & Jake's ties from my previous post. Here they are:

The color of the pink and the color of the green are perfect, but I can't decide on the dots. Whaddaya think??

Tie One On

2008-12-22T21:06:00.005-05:00

So, I have stumbled upon yet another decision that we cannot seem to make for ourselves. This decision deals with the ties for Ryan, the groomsmen, ushers and Jake (ring bearer.) The ties that we have planned on using all along, and still will use in some way are the Lilly Pulitzer 50/50 Club Stripe Ties in pink & green, which in my opinion are the best ties ever made! Here is a picture of Ryan's tie along with Jake's tie:

The greens aren't really that different. Blame my stupid camera. Anyway, we both LOVE these ties and originally had planned to have all of the groomsmen wear them, along with Ryan & Jake. But, then I got to thinking and remembered that the groom and ring bearer are traditionally supposed to match, and this is a tradition that I really do like. Well, if we went with this option, nothing about Ryan would stand out, and that sort of bothers me. I mean, it's not like anyone will have trouble knowing who the groom is, but I would like him to look a little different. So, now we are considering different options. We could let Ryan & Jake wear these ties, and all of the groomsmen wear pink & the ushers wear green, or vice versa. We also considered some of the Lilly prints for the groomsmen, but there really aren't any that I am that crazy about for a tie. They are all wearing black Ralph Lauren tuxedos with a black vest, so really anything will go with that.

So that is where we are at right now. Basically our only options are all striped ties, or the option with Ryan & Jake in the stripes and other wedding party guys in either pink or green. I just feel like that might end up looking so boring for pictures of just the groomsmen, but then again I could be wrong! Does anyone have any opinions for me? Or any other ideas of something we could use? I don't know what I would do without all of you ladies and your great ideas!

(Oh... and Merry Christmas!)

There's no place like home for the Holidays...

2008-12-14T20:27:00.008-05:00

And while we don't actually spend the holidays at our house, I decided I would still share a little bit of what our home looks like for the Holidays! I have loved seeing everyone else's Holiday decor, so I decided I would join in the sharing! In case it isn't obvious at this point, I am once again exhausted of wedding planning. And I figure if I'm sick of doing it, y'all are sick of reading about it! I'm glad that the timing worked out, and at least I have Christmas to distract me for awhile! So, here goes with my mini home-tour of what we have done so far. First up, the tree & fireplace:

Sadly, my camera can't seem to take a picture without the flash being on, so my tree looks a little sad in the picture. It really does look better in person! And yes, those 2 Christmas frames on the mantel don't have any pictures in them yet. I'll get to it... eventually! Next up is our kitchen table:

Now, we don't really ever eat anything at this table.. which is why it stays decorated for various seasons & holidays pretty much year-round. My favorite part has to be the snowman napkin rings... I have major love for snowmen. Next, our nativity:

I love, love, love my nativity. It is the Willow Tree nativity, and my Aunt Barb bought me a different set each year as part of my Christmas present each year until I had the whole set. I also have the large Creche (sp?) building part, but it wouldn't fit on this shelf. I guess I need a new spot for my nativity next year! Last but not least...

Carter and one of his favorite decorations, his snowman pillow on the couch. They pretty much snuggle with each other all day while we're working. He is also sporting his fun green & red polka dot Christmas collar from Mud Pie/Mud Puppies. He is dreaming of a White Christmas more than anybody, because this dog LOVES the snow!

Well with that I will conclude my mini Christmas tour of our home. I hope everyone enjoyed it!

A Preppy Present

2008-12-10T21:57:00.008-05:00

Today was a great day. When I got to work, I had this huge box from Dean & Deluca on my desk, with a card attached on the side. I opened it, and it was from one of my clients, saying that she sent me a "small" gift of appreciation for all of the help I had provided her throughout the year. When I opened the box, the first thing I saw was this:

And then after wading through a pile of pink-ness, bubble wrap and freezer packs, I got to this:

And that, ladies & gentlemen... is the Dean & Deluca Sweet Couture Crocodile Pink Cake. Now, I know you can't tell from the pictures, but the detail on this thing is ridiculous. I looks like an actual pink handbag, with crocodile embossing and everything. Keep in mind that I only have a phone relationship with this client, and talk to her maybe once or twice a week, and she somehow knows me well enough to send me a gift that is: a. Pink, b. a purse and c. edible. I love her. This may be one of the greatest gifts ever. And as much as it pained me to cut into this thing, Ryan was pretty excited about eating a piece of cake that cost almost as much as our entire wedding cake. To make it even better, here's what this baby looks like inside:

To be exact, it is a layered Tahitian vanilla bean cake with chocolate fudge and white chocolate butter cream. Or, as I would call it, heaven. I seriously suggest adding this to your Christmas list ASAP.

DIY Cocktail Flags & Stirrers!

2008-12-04T22:21:00.007-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for being such a boring blogger lately, but I have been SO ridiculously busy! I constantly have so much to do right now with Christmas, wedding stuff, work, and then I have been sick the last 24 hours to add to all of the stress! Oh well.. on to better things. I have spent some of my (rare) downtime working on yet another DIY project. I have to admit, this is one of my favorites. Let me introduce you to my Cocktail Flags:

I plan on having these cocktail flags behind the bar, so that the bartenders can put one in each drink that is served. I bought 500 of the drink stirrers from Bar Supplies and I would highly recommend them to anyone who was looking for anything bar-related. Their customer service was awesome. Anyway, after I received the stirrers, I made a quick and easy template in Microsoft Publisher, and printed out 500 of these labes (front and back) on regular white cardstock. Then cut them and ran them through my Xyron, which put adhesive on one side, and laminate on the other so that the flags are nice and stiff. For the design, I just used the monogram that I ordered months ago, and blogged about here. We are also using the monogram on the front of the favor boxes, so I think these cocktail flags will help tie everything together nicely. Here is a close-up of the flag:

It doesn't really look that blurry, but my poor camera has seen better days! I think these cocktail flags would work great for many different parties.. holidays, showers, bachelorette parties, and so on. All in all, I am just excited to cross one more thing off of the big bad list! What do you think of my latest creation?

An Award... and A Recipe!

2008-11-25T22:20:00.005-05:00

Well first and foremost, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone! I am so ready for my 4-day weekend! I received something extra to be thankful for today... a lovely award from Sarah at Downtown Southern! Here it is:

Isn't that cute? I'm so excited to receive it! Thank you, Sarah! I am also excited to pass it along to 5 other fabulous blogs. Although I am hooked on just about every blog I read, I am going to pass it along to:

1. Tales of a Northern Belle -for her always entertaining stories and recaps!

2. Preppy Southern Princess - because all of her stories make me reminisce about my college days!

3. The Adventures of Maverick and the Mrs. - because she is downright hilarious, and she and her husband are just adorable together!

4. Nautical by Nature - because she has such amazing taste, finds the cutest things, and shares my Gossip Girl obsession!

5. Southern Prep - because she also cracks me up, and her wedding blog inspired me so much!

I am also supposed to list my "Five Fabulous Addictions" to go along with my award..

1. The MAC Paint Pot. So, the one I have is supposed to be used for an eyeshadow base, but I use it for everything from concealer to a lipstick base. It is my lifeline!

2. Philosophy Caramel Apple Lip Shine. All of the Philosophy Lip Shines are great, but this one is so yummy!

3. Hanky Panky underwear. PLEASE tell me that you have worn these. My friend Haley gave me a pair of them, and they are seriously the greatest underwear EVER.

4. Yankee Candle Black Cherry Car Jar. Okay so I used to think the "Car Jar" was kind of tacky, but this is the best air freshener my car has ever smelled.

5. Chance by Chanel Perfume. This is my absolute favorite scent. I have never had as many compliments about a perfume until this one!

Thanks again, Sarah for my award!

And lastly, I know I don't really blog about recipes (mostly because I don't cook!) but I made the BEST pumpkin pie for my work Thanksgiving party tonight after I saw it on Paula Deen's Thanksgiving episode, and I had to share! It is actually an Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie with Praline Pecans on top. Instead of writing out the entire recipe, if you are interested, you can find it here. And, here's a little visual taste of the finished product:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Exactly 6 Months From Today...

2008-11-23T21:51:00.002-05:00

WE'LL BE MARRIED!!!! OMG!! I can't believe that we have been engaged for 8 months now, and that the 6 month mark has finally arrived. Since the beginning of my planning, the 6 month mark has been looming over me, because all the wedding websites, magazines, etc. recommend that most of the big stuff be taken care of by that date. We have had everything booked for months now, and I have been working on a lot of little stuff so I feel like I am somewhat ahead of the game!

One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is what to use for my "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue." I know a lot of stuff is new... like my dress, veil, shoes, etc. and my Mom & I joke around that she is my "Something Old" even though she's really not that old to begin with. So... as always... I am coming to all of you for inspiration! What did you, or do you plan to use for this aspect, if you are participating in the tradition?

Tagged.... and this is a good one!

2008-11-19T21:15:00.007-05:00

So, I was tagged by Kentucky Katie to go to my 6th picture folder, then find the 6th picture and tell the story of it. Much like Katie's photo, mine also took place in Nashville. Here it is:

Yes, there he is in all his glory, my lovely husband-to-be... funneling a beer. We were in Nashville to watch UK in the Music City Bowl last New Year's Eve. This was during our 8 or 9 hour tailgate in the parking lot of the stadium. As you can see, we love tailgating! I am more of a beer pong/ flip cup/ jello shot/ cornhole person myself, but Ryan LOVES his funnel. Holding the funnel is our friend (and groomsman) Brent. I mean... that's what friends are for, right?

I think this is a really fun tag, so I am going to pass it along to Hannah D & Queen B and The Mrs. I'm excited to see what you ladies come up with!

A Shoe Update!

2008-11-12T22:31:00.005-05:00

Anyone who reads my blog regularly may remember this post that I wrote back in June about my quest for pink wedding shoes. I have probably looked at or tried on about 12-15 pair of pink shoes since that post, and haven't really found any shoes that I felt I loved enough to break the bank on. You see, ladies, my problem is that... I am not a shoe girl. I know, gasp if you must. I will probably lose all my readers on that comment alone! ha! I am most definitely, 100% a bag girl. I can justify spending any amount of money on a bag, but I just don't feel the same about shoes. A $65,000 Dior Detective Bag came into my workplace once, and I had my picture taken with it. Not kidding. I mean I like cute shoes and all, but I just can't justify dropping so much cash on them, even if they are wedding shoes. So anyway, I wandered into Payless on my lunch break last week and saw some black peeptoe shoes that I loved for my bridesmaids. I wanted something simple, with a heel no more than about 2.5" (because the ceremony is outside, and there will be some walking in grass) and preferably with some type of accent on the toe area. Well, these shoes fit the bill. The even better part? They were $14.99. I immediately sat down on one of those mirrored stools and started texting my bridesmaids for their shoe sizes. I knew we had to have these. Well, as the responses started coming back, I realized that the store did not have a lot of this particular shoe in stock, and I was out of luck on several sizes. I went to the sales girl for help, and we started looking at these particular shoes online. As soon as she pulled them up, I noticed a bright pink pair next to the black. I really almost knocked her monitor over when I saw them. She told me that they didn't have the pink in stock, but found my size in pink at a store about a mile away. She called and had them held for me, AND gave me a $3 coupon off my purchase since I had to use gas to drive to the other location! Score! I immediately went and tried them on, and subsequently purchased them because they are perfect. As soon as I got back to work, I went directly to the website and purchased a pair for each of my bridesmaids. Before I tell you the obscenely ridiculous deal I got, here they are:

I mean come on... Payless or not... how CUTE are these shoes?!?!?! I am envsioning one of those really cute shoe pictures of me and my girls, and I love the fact that everyone would have the same shoes! Back to the sweet deal I got.... I got mine in-store for $11 after the $3 coupon. I got each pair for the girls online for $15 each, then I also used a $10 coupon that I googled and found, and also got free shipping. So... I got all 6 pair for $76.00! Now, at first I did feel a little... cheap (?) about getting my wedding shoes at Payless.. but these shoes are SO comfortable, and exactly what I was looking for. .......and it just means I get to spend more money elsewhere.... like maybe on this... in the fuschia of course:)

We've Got STDs!!!

2008-11-06T22:07:00.008-05:00

.....and of course by STDs I mean Save The Dates. Did you think I meant the other kind of STDs? Come on....get your mind out of the gutter! Anyway, I can finally post about our Save The Dates because they went out in the mail earlier this week and I am getting reports that most of them have been delivered! I got the basic idea for our STDs (sorry, I really can't write out the whole thing every time!) from some Knottie bio that I looked at months ago, but I really don't remember the specific Knottie's name. She had written a little mini bio of her relationship and I loved the personalization aspect. I wanted to do something similar, so without further ado, here is what I came up with:

You should be able to click on the picture to make it bigger and read the paragraph if you want to. And please don't hold the "he votes left" part against me. I swear I would have never "said yes" had I known that part beforehand. haha :)

I made the whole design in Microsoft Publisher and it only took about 20 minutes to do, once I knew what I wanted to write. Then I took the design to Kinko's and had them all printed and cut on some heavyweight cardstock. I also bought the envelopes that matched the cardstock. For the outside, I embossed "Save the Date" in the upper left-hand corner with my latest obsession, my heat gun. I also made a quick envelope seal program in Publisher, and printed them out on colorful cardstock, because I was too excited to send them out to wait on an order of labels to arrive! I ran them through my Xyron 510 machine to make them into stickers, and convinced Ryan to help me put them on. Here he is in action, along with a picture of the finished labels (minus my address... in case any serial killers are reading):

Naturally, I had to DIY my STDs because I am so weird about having the same stuff as other people. And honestly, I couldn't really find any pre-made ones out there that I was really in love with. I think I made a good decision because this was a really inexpensive and fairly painless task, minus the envelope licking that Ryan is still complaining about to this day. Here is the cost breakdown:

Kinko's: $71 for the cardstock, printing & cutting for 140 cards as well as 140 envelopes
Michael's: $13.00 for cardstock for labels and new Xyron cartridge
USPS: $50.40 for 120 stamps (we made extra cards)
Grand Total: $134.40!!

I think $134 for the whole project, including shipping, is pretty good! I am really, really happy about how they turned out. What do you think??

Halloween Pictures!

2008-11-02T22:26:00.007-05:00

We had a GREAT weekend. Today, we had my family birthday party (more on that later!) and last night we went to a Halloween party hosted by our friends Alicia & Brandon. Ryan and I decided to dress up as Tony the Tiger and Cap'n Crunch, and our costumes were a hit! I pretty much made everything about them by hand. I bought a plain orange sweatsuit for me, blue blazer for him, and made the rest. There were a lot of really great costumes. Here are some photos from the party:

Ryan & I at my mom's house. And yes, the Frosted Flakes box was my purse for the evening!

Me and my friend Amber, who was a scary prom queen.

Me & my friend/ bridesmaid Haley.

Me and the other Haley in my personal favorite costume of the night, Amy Winehouse. She even had the Blake tattoo and a little white makeup on her nose, too funny!

Ryan, Me, Alicia & Brandon.. who are obviously Sarah Palin and John McCain. Believe me, John McCain sure is taller in person!

Hope everyone had a GRRRRRRREAT Halloween! (get it?!)

BIG NEWS........

2008-10-29T23:17:00.006-04:00

...........I GOT A DRESS!!!!!!!!! That's right, Ms. Dress-Buying-Procrastinator-Extraordinaire finally picked out a dress! I have to admit, I was TERRIFIED about dress shopping. All along, I have been so intimidated about trying on dresses because I was so afraid I would hate everything. And in retrospect, it was SO much fun. Maybe I'll pretend I haven't picked one yet so I can try on some more!

Anyway, last Saturday morning, I set out to go dress shopping with my mom, my sister, my MOH Ashley, my niece Jessie and my nephew Jake. I had an appointment at Fabulous Bridal Boutique in Covington, KY at noon, and planned on heading to Bridal & Formal as well as the other shops in the bridal district in Reading, OH, which is a little over an hour from here. Ashley, Jessie and I got to Covington a little early and decided to stop into Madison Avenue Bridal because they did not require an appointment. We pulled a few gowns and decided to start trying them on, because everyone else was on the way. The store associate picked a certain gown for me to try on first because apparently, I had pulled the same dress in 3 different sizes without knowing it. Well ladies, I know you have heard it a million times, but it was THE ONE. About the time I put it on, my mom, sister & Jake came in and my mom started crying immediately. I knew that was a good sign! We all talked about it, took some pictures (which sadly I can't post since Ryan reads my blog!) and tried on several other dresses. Then we moved onto the Fabulous Bridal appointment. Everyone picked out a bunch of dresses for me to try on, and every time I tried one on, I compared it to dress #1 and honestly didn't even want to walk out of the dressing room when it didn't compare. But, I did, and we were there for a couple of hours trying on dresses that were absolutely gorgeous, but just not cutting it for me. We decided to go have lunch before heading to more shops, but I told everyone I wanted to go try on dress #1 again. So we did, and as soon as I had it on, everything was right with the world again! I told everyone I officially felt like a bride. I knew there was no point in even trying anything else on, because this was it! So, I got all sized up, my wonderful Mom paid the bill, and that was that! I mean... what was I so afraid of?!?! I could do that every weekend!

So, without further ado, (Ryan - close your eyes!) here she is:

I mean can you really ever beat the look of a crisp white shirt? The pleats are to die for, and I am scouring the internet trying to find that headband!

......Okay not really. Give me a little credit! And since I know that Ryan would never, ever click a link to see my dress, you can all click to see it HERE. And no, I did not get the gloves. Not my thing.

Here are a couple more pictures from the dress shopping day. Ashley & I having some champagne at the boutique... her first of like 12 glasses I swear!

And the whole group after the dress was ordered. And please disregard the fact that I am standing in the least flattering pose ever:

And finally, this was Jake's reaction as we walked out of the boutique, thanking God that we were done dress shopping:

Classic!

The Coolest Pumpkins on the Block

2008-10-23T23:21:00.003-04:00

Here's what I've spent the last two nights working on...

I guess I could have done a Barack O'Lantern, but that would be WAY too scary :)

Tag- I'm It!

2008-10-20T21:54:00.002-04:00

I was tagged by Old Friends & New Shoes to post 7 facts about myself. Here are the rules:

Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.

Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Here Goes!

1. I am the pickiest eater you will ever meet. There are a lot of very "normal" foods that I have never eaten, and probably never will. Some of those foods are: hot dogs, Snickers candy bars, pickles, mustard, tuna, corn dogs, and the list goes on...

2. Much like Kate, I ALWAYS set my alarm on an odd number. I am so OCD about this that if I wake up on an even number, I lay there until the minute changes. I also set my clock forward so it doesn't seem so early when I have to get up. I really don't know what time it actually is when I get up, I just know that the alarm says 8:29. I am such a freak.

3. I have a slight obsession with cocktail napkins. I have one drawer in my kitchen that is fully devoted to them, and they all don't fit in the drawer. I buy them every time I find a package on sale that I know I can use in the future, because we love having people over, and I must have cute napkins to go with whatever we are doing, even if Ryan & I are the only ones home!

4. My best friend makes fun of me because of my candle rules. I cannot handle fruity or sweet smelling candles when it is cold outside, and I also cannot stand spicy, vanilla, pumpkin or cinnamon-type candles in the Summer. I thought everyone felt this way?

5. I am SO superstitious about UK football and basketball games. Not only do I stick with one "game day" outfit if we continue to win when I wear it, but I also make sure to wear the same underwear, use the same koozie, drink the same thing, etc. I had to change things up for the Arkansas game last Saturday (after our loss to SC) and what do you know- we pulled off a HUGE comeback and won! I'm convinced that my outfit had a lot to do with it:)

6. I am a re-run junkie. Ryan hates this about me. I could seriously watch the same episodes of The Hills, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Gossip Girl, Saved by the Bell, etc. over and over again with no problem, and I regularly do.

7. I shed like a golden retriever, yet I still have more hair than anyone I know. Seriously, the amount of hair I lose on a daily basis is completely insane.

I'm not sure who has already done this tag and who hasn't, so as usual, I tag anyone who wants to play!

Engagement Pictures - Take Two!

2008-10-15T20:35:00.004-04:00

Last Thursday, we took our second set of engagement pictures. This time we got to take them with our awesome wedding photographer, Natalie. We took them at Waveland, an old museum here in Lexington, and of course we had to bring Carter along for a few shots! We really love them all, but here are some of our favorites:

We like these soooo much better than our beach pictures, but Fall is my favorite season so I'm sure that has something to do with it! What do you think?

Our First Registry!

2008-10-08T08:27:00.018-04:00

On Saturday, we started our first registry, at Target. We decided to go with Target for the "little things" that I was debating about in this post. Registering definitely lived up to the hype. The only problem? Ryan is a TOTAL scanner gun hog. Here he is in action:

He is scanning some stainless steel trash cans that we later deleted, because they have better ones in the bathroom department! This picture was taken early in the day when our scanner gun ACTUALLY WORKED. Our gun stopped working and beeped constantly, and finally a store worker told us to hit the yellow button on the side instead of the trigger, which is totally not as fun. One of my favorite registry items is the Pink Dyson DC07 vacuum. Sadly, I really like to vacuum, so Ryan could care less what color our vacuum is. Here I am with the Dyson, one of the 4 or 5 things I actually got to scan that day!

I never thought I could be so in love with a vacuum cleaner. Isn't she a beauty? Here are some other Target Registry highlights:

The Brown Halfmoon Hampers with Linen (I have wanted these since the day I first saw them!):

The Fieldcrest Damask Shower Curtain:

My other personal favorite items are the 24-packs of Cherry Wood Hangers (we requested 8 boxes, but probably need more!) I don't know what my deal is with cherry wood hangers. I just love how nice and neat a closet looks with everything hung on them!

Another thing I just realized as I was doing this post, several things that we registered for are not showing up on the registry, so I had to add them online. I don't know if this is a result of the faulty gun or what, but I would recommend rechecking everything once you are finished. I can't wait to give this registry thing another go at Macy's this weekend!

Rethinking the Bridesmaid Dresses

2008-09-29T22:54:00.007-04:00

My indecisiveness has caught up with me again. This time, with the bridesmaid dresses. The more pictures that I see of brighter pink bridesmaid dresses, the more I want something different. Don't get me wrong- the pictures are beautiful and colorful, but I think I would like something more classic that I will not get tired of over the years. On that note, there is obviously no color more classic than black. So, the current dress that I am loving is this one, but with a brighter, fuschia sash:

This dress is by Dessy and the style number is 2058. If you make it with the fuschia sash on their website, it looks so pretty. It looks very classy, but with a splash of color. The sash is not attached, so the dress actually might be wearable again... but I guess everyone says that! The other reason that I love this dress is that they have an adorable flower girl dress that can also have the matching fuschia sash, which I think would look great in our pictures. This is the flower girl dress (Dessy # FL4002), just imagine it with a brighter pink, matching sash:

I reeeeeally wish I could cut and paste the right color for the sash, but I tried and tried to no avail. I think both dresses would look better with the sash tied in the back, and it would look pretty walking down the aisle. I am actually hoping to get these tried on by at least one of my bridesmaids soon, so hopefully my girls could just send in their sizes and be done with it!

On a side note, I did DIY something else this weekend. I made this framed monogram that I would like to hang on the wall behind the gift table:

Everything looks super bright and neon on my camera, but I swear the colors are not that bad. I seriously need to stop with the DIY or I am going to lose my mind! And lastly, a picture of Carter watching the San Diego Chargers game this weekend. I swear he is smiling:

Hope everyone has a great week:)