Burnout

I've been slacking in the wedding post department...

I think it's due to three things

1) I'm tired after work and would prefer to veg on the couch and catch up on TV

2) I've been working hard to finish up my thesis so I can finally have my Master's in hand

3) I'm tired of wedding planning.

Yes, you heard me. I'm tired of planning this wedding. I want it to be THE DAY. I'm tired of thinking about it and planning each little detail. I'm ready to actually live it and see how it's going to come together. I'm sure I'll miss this (unfortunately) HUGE part of my life when it's actually over, but I'm willing to take that risk. lol

3.5 months to go... still more details to plan... *sigh*

One Step Closer....

I just submitted my FINAL DRAFT of my thesis to the print shop at my university up in BC... it will be printed, bound and delivered to my department tomorrow and I go up there to present my paper on June 7th! I can't wait for this to be done!

I FOUND THEM!!

The hardest part about planning the wedding so far has been FINDING SHOES! Who would have thought? I think I've tried on more shoes than I did wedding dresses. You can read about the drama here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

But tonight Jacob and I went to JCPenney's to take a look at what they had. I received my yearly $10 gift certificate in the mail the other day (I get one for being a JCPenney's card carrier once a year around this time) so I figured I'd give them a shot. I tried on four pairs of shoes and actually decided on one of them! They are on back order so I won't get them until the middle of May, and they aren't blue... but damn it, they will work and I'm tired of looking. lol Plus, they were already on sale for 50% off, AND I had that $10 certificate, so I paid a whopping $9.99 for my shoes!

Without further delay, here they are (picture them in white)... and they will be in my hands (finally) in the middle of May:

Question From My Dad

My dad left a question for you all as a comment on my last blog post... since I figure no one will see it there, I thought I'd give it its own post so he can get some opinions! =) (If you don't know what I'm talking about, read about it here).

But should the embroidery match mom's dress, or be more in line with the wedding colors?

Dad

Mom's Dress..... and Dad's Guayabera?

Went "home" this weekend to take my mom shopping for HER wedding day dress. My mother is NOT a) a dress person and b) a shopper so I knew right off the bat it was going to be "fun". lol

We started the day by having brunch with a couple of my bridesmaids and then headed over to David's Bridal to try on dresses. My mother did not want a dress that showed "too much" cleavage (this equated to anything with a V-neck), did not want to wear something that wasn't "age appropriate" (which meant she didn't want to look slutty or like she was pretending to be 20 again), and needed something long to cover her "ugly leg". My only requirement was that I really didn't want her to get a "mother of the bride" dress... I wanted her to look GOOD, not like some ol' fuddy duddy.

I started pulling dress after dress off the rack... anything that was long and not strictly strapless (another of her requirements). Mom huffed and puffed a little, but tried them all on for me. Finally, when were just about out of choices, she found THE DRESS. She ordered it in "Sangria" and plans to add spaghetti straps and wear a matching chiffon wrap. I approve. =)



As did my dad, who then decided he needed to find something to wear. My dad is one of those 50-something guys you see wandering around town in one of many Hawaiian shirts that adorn his closet (you know the guys I'm talking about!). I was joking with him that I need to find him a fancy Hawaiian shirt for the wedding... apparently he had other ideas.

He wants to wear a Guayabera... No idea what this is? Yeah... me either! It's some kind of traditional tropical wedding garb. He got a bit excited when he found this website where you can order them with custom colored embroidery. He wants to get an ivory shirt with purple stitching so he matches my mom. I'm fine with it... it kind of suits him.

What do you guys think? He reads this blog so I'm sure he'd love your comments! =)

And the Winner is.....

Bridget over at "And Stanley Makes Three"!*

Thanks to Digital Room, Bel now has 100 custom printed post cards! Bel plans to use them for:

"[P]hoto cards at the wedding - telling people how to upload their pics for everyone to see!"

Congrats! You should be receiving an e-mail within the next couple of weeks with info on how to claim your prize! Be sure to post pictures of the final product! I always enjoy seeing how they turn out! =)

*Winner selected with the help of random.org

To Avoid Getting Three Toasters*

Jacob and I registered for gifts on Sunday. We figured that with only 4 months to go it was probably a good idea to finally do it.

In all honesty, I was NOT looking forward to this part of the wedding planning process. 1) I hate "shopping". I prefer to know what it is that I'm looking for and then go find it. 2) Jacob and I have VERY different tastes. He is a very "dark" person (blacks, dark greens, etc.). I am a very "light" person (look at the wedding colors... guess who picked those out? lol). I wasn't looking forward to the towels, bedding, etc. where you actually have to match/pick a style... I just knew we were going to be doing our passive aggressive arguing (me: What do you think of this? him: It will work. me: But do you like it? him: How about this one *showing me something black* me: hmm.... what do you think of THIS one instead *showing him something in blue*). This is NOT my idea of a fun afternoon! lol

We decided to register at Target. We both shop there, it's pretty easy for anyone, anywhere to get to, plus prices are reasonable.

Before we left the house I told Jacob that he needed to get pumped up to do some major shopping. He just looked at me and smiled like I was nuts. Little did he know...

We spent FOUR HOURS in Target. Some of the store associates even said, "Wow, you guys are still here". Jacob made a comment that he was surprised that the guest service agents were the same ones at the end of our trip as they were at the beginning... he thought for sure we would have seen a shift change. He even made me stop halfway through the store to take a coffee break at their snack shop... lol I TOLD him to prepare himself! Why don't boys ever listen?

All in all, it wasn't TOO bad. Our biggest battle came over silverware. Seriously. Who would have thought the question of whether or not we needed forks would have almost brought me to tears. lol Jacob just didn't see the point in getting new silverware when we already had perfectly satisfactory silverware.

Anyway, after four hours in the store and another three-ish online when we got home, we have pretty much finished our registry... even though Target is telling us that we are only half way there based on the number of people on our guest list. I REALLY don't think I can find another 80 products to register for!

Was anyone else out there NOT jumping at the chance to register for gifts?

*Funny thing is, we don't even HAVE a toaster on the registry... we did register for a fondue pot though... kind of excited about that! lol

FOUR Months!

Only FOUR months until the big day... 122 days....

We started at over 13 months... with 400+ days.... I can't believe how quickly it's gone... I'll do a better recap of what's done/what needs to be done soon... but now it's off to work. =)

I LOVE Digital Room! (**Giveaway!**)

OK, so, check this out... remember yesterday when I posted about our map inserts and how I really wanted to print out our invites through Uprinting because I was so impressed with the print quality, but that the cost was a bit above what we had budgeted for our DIY invites?? WELL... this morning I e-mailed my contact at Uprinting to ask if there was any way to get some sort of a discount on the larger postcards as a "sponsored blogger". Well... I heard back today and not only are they going to cut me a deal and GIVE me the 5X7 postcards, but they also asked me to host a post card giveaway for my readers!!!!! I AM ON CLOUD NINE RIGHT NOW... There is really no way to wipe this silly grin off my face! lol

So, for all my wonderful readers, here are the giveaway specs for you:

• The giveaway comes from Digital Room printing
• The prize is 100, 4X6 postcards, full color on both sides
• Three business day turnaround
• Free UPS shipping
• Open to US mailing addresses only
• Must be 18 to enter

You can use these for all kinds of fantastic things... map inserts =), Thank you cards, save the dates, menus, recipe cards, invitations... use them for personal or business purposes (you do NOT need to be a bride-to-be to enter this contest!). Designs and uses are only limited by your imagination! =)

Three ways to earn entries (please leave your name and contact info!):

1. Post a comment telling me how you would use them,
2. Blog about it and link back to me and Uprinting/Digital Room... leave me a comment with the link,
3. Ask your blog readers to mention you when they enter this giveaway (earns a entry for both of you!)

You have until Sunday night to get your entries in! The winner will be announced Monday morning! (I love being able to start someone's week on a happy note!)

Uprinting has been one of the best things about wedding planning so far for me. I have been so impressed and SO thankful!

THEY ARE HERE!!!!!

So..... VERY VERY HAPPY TODAY! =) If you remember, a few weeks back I won a Uprinting.com giveaway over at Planning My Purple Wedding. I was sooo pumped because I REALLY wanted to make our map insert cards in color and this was the only way I was going to be able to do it and stay in our budget.

Well... I did it! I designed them, had them proof read by friends and family, like, a billion times, and sent them to print...

THEY CAME TODAY! And I LOOOOOOVE them! =)




One side is a map (which I made!) with directions between the ceremony and reception sites... the other is an informational piece asking guests to visit our website to RSVP and for additional accommodation, registry, and event info. Did I mention I love them? =)

We are so happy with the way they turned out and the quality of the printing that Jacob and I are contemplating having Uprinting print our invitations as well... the only problem is that doing so will be just a bit over budget... hmm.... stay tuned. =)

Long Time No See

It's been about a week since I've posted anything... and it's been one CRAZY week! I've been so busy at work and then either too exhausted to even think in the evening or had plans of some sort. Not much new in the wedding planning world.

Jacob and I got the chance to go see Cirque du Soleil's Kooza on Thursday thanks to tickets that were donated to my agency. It was SPECTACULAR! I've never seen a Cirque before so I wasn't sure what to expect--it was absolutely awesome!

Last night Jacob and I had our first dance class! We decided to take a swing dancing class through the local community college this term. We aren't doing it specifically for the wedding... Jacob and I have been talking about taking a dance class for months. We decided to just go for it! I think we're going to have a good time for the next 8 weeks. =) It helps that our female instructor is cute... I don't think I'll have to convince Jacob to go every week! lol

I ordered a bunch of stuff online this week... I'll say more when everything finally gets here! =)

Need Your Opinions Ladies!

So... I have had a HARD time finding shoes for the wedding. I am tall (5'10") and just slightly taller than my fiance... so heels are OUT. Do you know how hard it is to find cute flats that are wedding appropriate?? Not to mention in blue ('cause I REALLY want blue shoes!).

So... this is what I'm thinking... dyables.

I found a pair of Charlottes from Unforgettable Moments through Payless... here they are, picture them in blue:



But, my problem is that they are kind of boring. I want a little bit of pizazz.... so, I started surfing etsy for shoe clips and I found a few choices (click on the picture to go to the etsy listing)... I need some opinions! Keep in mind that my dress is "diamond white" (half way between white and ivory).

Option One:


Option Two:


Option Three:


And Option Four:

I absolutely LOVE the peonies... but I am concerned that they may be too "pristine" for my "diamond white" dress. What do you all think? I really do like all of the choices... so give me some feedback. It is sooo hard purchasing accessories when I can't really try them on with my dress. =(

Go West Virgina!

I want to preface this by saying that I know NOTHING about college basketball. I entered the March Madness pool at work just for the hell of it. But guess what? Somehow I managed to guess right! lol If West Virginia wins today* I win $150! GO WEST VIRGINA!!! Momma needs a new pair of shoes! ;)

*P.S. If Duke beats West Virgina today, but then lose to Michigan in the championship game, I win, too!

Different Kind of Wedding Dream

I had a dream last night that another wedding blogger* and myself were starring together in an episode of Law and Order: SVU**. I didn't realize how big a part of my life you all have become! lol


*I'm not going to tell WHICH blogger it was, 'cause I don't want to freak anyone out!

** I really need to pay attention to what I watch right before I go to bed! =)