Bridal shower, part I.

Community Bakery cupcakes in the wedding colors. My favorite. 

I can't believe I'm blogging about my bridal shower. Not the blogging part--the bridal shower part! The past few months have flown by, and I know the next 73 days are going to go by even faster. 

The bridal shower was hosted by family members on my mother's side. It was beautiful. 

I felt so honored and blessed that so many people came to celebrate such a special time in my life. I got to see a few people I haven't seen in a very long time. 

I didn't know it was possible, but it made me even more excited about the wedding! 

My sister's house was so cute! 

Sister and mother!
Tomorrow, I will cover more and have tons of photos in part II. 

Wedding invitations.

We're a little behind on this wedding task. It sneaks up on you so fast! But I did get a chance to meet with our invitation lady this week, and I believe we've decided to go with something simple and classic. I love so many things, but I couldn't make a decision so I decided to stick with a traditional look.

My phone photos aren't great, but the invitations will be a dark ecru with gray ink. My current debate is whether we should go with matching thank you cards or do something fun for those.

What would you choose for thank you cards?

99 days.

Have you noticed that when you get behind on something it becomes increasingly harder to get back on track? This is normally the case with healthy eating/working out habits. In my current case, it's blogging.

I'm taking this weekend to organize ... my life. I have so much going on right now, which I love. But I hate feeling guilty because I'm not doing everything I want to do.

After Mr. A left Tuesday (remember, he travels for work constantly), I was feeling a bit down when I walked in the door Tuesday night. When I walked into my bedroom, these flowers on my nightstand stopped me from crying (I was seriously about to break down ... it's hard every.single.time).

I can't comprehend what it is like for military families. Sure, the boy will only be home about six days this month, but I know those six days would mean the world to so many people. So I try to remember how lucky we are ... but it's still hard.

Here are some topics I plan to cover next week:

• How close the wedding is! 99 days, to be exact. 
• Pre-marital counseling. We started Monday. 
• Kitchen Queens
• A giveaway! 

Have a fabulous weekend, friends! 

If the shoe fits.

Actually, I’m talking about the dress.

When I arrived at She Said Yes, my dress store, Monday during my lunch break, I realized I should have arranged for someone to come with me—it’s a pretty overwhelming task—seeing the dress you ordered four months ago for the first time.

Luckily, it fit! Sure, there will be a few alterations, but I’m just glad it went over my hips, honestly.

I didn’t realize I was shaking until the sales lady handed me the earrings I wanted to try on with the dress. I can’t imagine what I’m going to be like on the wedding day!

Obviously, I can’t show you a picture of the dress just yet, but I can show the earrings I chose. I LOVE them. It’s going to be hard not to bust them out before the wedding.

The earrings are by Meg Jewelry, and the name is Hatti.

Today, my mom bought this cute frame (it's big--20"x20") that we will probably use on the candy bar at the reception. I hate to say it Cinderella, but my shoes are way better than your glass slippers.

Happy Tuesday!

I traveled to see my wondeful family this weekend.
On the way to our family reunion Saturday, we stopped by my favorite bakery--Community Bakery.
Of course I had to get a cupcake.

Wedding magazine addiction.

This week, I realized I had a problem when I got home and noticed I bought a magazine that I had already bought ... and read.

But I can't stop. This is the ONLY time in my life where I am going to spend ridiculous amounts of time and money on these beautiful publications. I already have a magazine addiction in general. I'm not even going to show you the stacks I have. I've recently started throwing them away, but it's hard!

I hate to admit it, but this is not even all of them. 

Even when I finish each wedding magazine and cut out the photos I want, I can't bring myself to throw them away. So, I slap a Post-it on the front and write "done." Is this a problem? I think I'm a magazine hoarder. I get it from my lovely grandmother. Growing up, I loved going through her back issues of Country Living, Good Housekeeping and Reader's Digest. My mom also loves magazines, but she throws them away.
Is this a problem for other people?

Bridesmaids Dresses

I decided on a bridesmaids dress a couple weeks ago, but I don't think I posted about it. I had a tough time making a decision on a dress for eight people. I like symmetry, so I wanted everyone's dress to be the same. And I knew I wanted them to be long and gray, but that's about it.

This was gorgeous, but this place didn't offer much service.
So, we didn't know until after she tried it on that it didn't come in gray. 

Crazy eyes! Again, no gray. 

My sister came up for the weekend, and we made it our mission to find the dress. Well, that didn't happen. But the store where I got my dress (She Said Yes) carries a brand I really loved, and while the dress wasn't in the store, I knew I loved it. The sister, Kristin, loved it, too. I also thought it would look great on all the girls. And it has pockets!

One more thing to mark off the checklist.

Dress Appointment
As I told you earlier this week, my dress is here. So, I'm going in Monday to try it on. I'm excited, but nervous! What if something's wrong? What if it doesn't fit? Ahhh!

I'm also going to try on these earrings with my dress. I think they just might be the "ones."

Meg Jewelry "Hatti" 

Happy Friday! 

Wedding weight loss.

Guess what? My dress is in!

While tasty, Bubblicious isn't helping the situation. Goodbye, sugar!

After four months of waiting for it to arrive, I’m terrified to go try it on. Let’s just say I was between sizes and opted to go with the smaller one, positive I would lose a few LBS over the course of the past few months. Well, that didn’t happen. Shocker, I know.

But, I’m going to put on my big girl hat and call the dress shop this afternoon to set up a time to go try it on. I won’t start fittings until the end of August, so there’s still time (I know you’re rolling your eyes now).

If you’re married, did you lose weight before the wedding? If you’re not, do you think you will?

As usual, I’m in a weight loss competition at work, which is another motivation. I won last time! OK, so it was only five pounds and everyone else pretty much quit, but oh well.

Today's lunch was berry good. I had to.

So was our Fourth of July ice cream cake.

The past week has been crazy because I’ve had guests at my house and the boy was home. Everything is back to the usual level of craziness, which means I have no excuse to eat out every.single.night. It was fun while it lasted.

Colleen and Rachel, both bridesmaids. Rachel was in town all last week, and we had too much fun!

Happy hump day!

Bridesmaid dresses and a veil.

My lovely sister came to visit this weekend so we could go pick out a bridesmaid dress. You see, I need to pick one in the next few days or the dresses won’t be here in time. I can’t believe it’s getting that close!

Who knew picking out a bridesmaid dress would be harder than my wedding dress? It’s hard choosing a dress that will look good on eight different body types and also isn’t outrageously expensive. I found some great dresses but they were either too expensive or didn’t come in the right color.


Doesn't come in gray.



Neither does this one.

I’m waiting to get prices on a couple of dresses today, so hopefully one will work out. I know I want the dress to be long and gray. And probably one shoulder.

I can’t believe I didn’t take a single picture of my sister and I. It’s probably because my camera still isn’t fixed.

One thing I did purchase this weekend was my veil! I got this veil without beading. It will be here in four to six weeks.

My biggest wedding concern right now is getting out ALL the save the dates. I sent a few last week and some more today, but it takes forever to address them all (in case you were wondering). My advice: start doing everything about a month before you think you need to.

Random wedding fact of the day: My wedding stone is blue topaz.

Happy Monday! I hope this week is fabulous.

Super cleanse and chiavari chairs.

I stayed up practically all night Friday getting ready for our neighborhood garage sale.

Saturday morning, I was in the garage at about 6:15 a.m., and it was still chaos. Nothing was priced. The boy strolls out with a donut in his hand, pushing the button to open the garage as he walks out.

“Noooooooooooo!” I scream.

Doesn’t he know the second you open the garage, regardless of the fact that the garage sale wasn’t supposed to start until 7 a.m., people will flood in.

It worked out, but it was definitely stressful at the beginning. Luckily, people dug through the piles of stuff and almost bought EVERYTHING! Seriously. We made $400, and we didn’t have anything priced above a $20 TV. We sold TONS of clothes, which is unusual for a garage sale. I sold at least 20 pairs of shoes. That's $20, folks! Yes, it didn't matter the brand. I sold them all for $1. Let's just say a few people got some great deals.

And while I slept that afternoon, Mr. A loaded everything left and took it to Goodwill. The entire sale went undocumented by my camera (phone). But it's good because we were SO BUSY!

I feel a weird sense of accomplishment. I’ve NEVER gotten rid of so much stuff. Let’s just say I’m sentimental. I keep things like the shirt I wore for my 21st birthday, even though there’s no way I’d ever be able to wear that sequined halter top in public again.

I’m pretty sure it has a new, loving home now.

After a “nap,” the boy went to play golf while I read magazines by the pool. We originally planned to go to the lake, but garage sales are exhausting. It turned out to be a perfect Saturday.

Perfect spot to cool off after a hot golf game.

I'm definitely jealous of the fact that Blake is dating my man Leo.

Wedding Reception Detail
I've said this before, but our reception is at the Springdale Country Club. I can't wait.

My phone shots are stellar.

And this Saturday there was a wedding at the country club, so I got to see someone else’s reception setup, which was very beneficial. And I love the chair covers! I would love to have chiavari chairs, but at $7 each, it’s just not feasible—unless we went without … food? I don’t think so.

I heart chiavari chairs. 

Often times, I think chair covers look messy and wrinkly. And it’s totally a personal preference, but I don’t love the colored sash around the white chair cover. But I think these would be perfect.

I snapped this photo before they finished decorating,
but I love these chair covers (not more than chiavari chairs, but for chair covers, they're fab)!

Natalie and Steve.

Things in my neck of the woods haven't been so rosy.

My sinus infection is still hanging on, and I'm afraid I will never hear normally again.

This means while everyone was having a blast at the lake this weekend, I was stuck at home assembling save the dates. Mr. A actually helped me a bit Friday night, but the whole process just takes a while.

In fact, I'm still putting together the address list. Who knew this would take so long? And who knew when you asked people for their address, they might not respond? Does this mean they don't want to come? Yes, I admit I'm overly sensitive. Unfortunately, this is never going to change.

When I came home Friday to the love package from magnetStreet, I got very excited! And I was impressed with the packaging. Everything was placed in a cute, blue box. They also sent some wedding invitation samples, which I thought was nice. Who knows ... maybe we will use them for everything!

In the midst of placing the magnets on the carrier cards, Adam and I ran across one that was a little out of place. Good thing we noticed so Natalie and Steve didn't get an uninvited guest at their wedding!

Seriously. This was in the middle of our stack of magnets. How did this happen?

Yes, those are our hands. :)

Isn't the box cute?

Adam even remembered to get "weddings stamps."

Yes, that's my address. Please don't stalk me.

Can some please remind me to get my camera fixed? The iphone photos just aren't cutting it.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is the gross food photo of the day:

I convinced Adam to go to a new yogurt place Friday.
My toppings: berry captain crunch, strawberries and mini Reese's Pieces. Yum!

Save the dates and tornado devastation.

We finally ordered our save the dates this morning. I know I'm about a month behind, but it's our wedding--we can do what we want, right???

If you go to our site, please note it is under construction (AKA there's not much there yet). I will finish it before I send out save the dates, obviously.
 
Devastation
Please keep the people of Joplin, Mo., in your thoughts and prayers. It's pretty devastating. That's where the boy grew up, and much of his family still lives there. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it's going to take a while for the town to recover--and things will never be the same. I'm sure you've seen it on the news, so you know just how bad it is.


 

This is one of Joplin's two hospitals.

This is the high school.



The Flying J.

Outside Academy Sports.



Walmart in Joplin ... there are no words.