The Devil is in the Details

After a thrilling night at the drive-in, where we saw 'Inception' on opening night, Bryan and I have been enjoying a lazy Saturday morning. We slept in, Bryan made some breakfast sandwiches, and I immediately leapt into wedding-mode. It's no secret I have been hounding Bryan to make a move on our officiant. The good news is La Belle Weddings confirmed with me that our invitations are in the printing process, so I'm happy about that. I'm hoping to have everything addressed and sent out in the next three weeks. We are requesting an RSVP date of September 1st. Why so early, you ask? Well, 1.) I'm completely neurotic and live with someone who just recently misplaced an invitation of a dear friend. So I know things happen with invitations and if this means I have to stalk people to find out if they're coming or not, I want to give myself ample time to do this. And 2.) There are things I have to do that are solely dependent on how many people are coming to the wedding (i.e. place cards, favors, programs) so the earlier I have this information, the less stressed out I'll be. I've joked that I want to have NOTHING to do the week of the wedding - aside from the obvious picking things up/dropping things off between vendors and venues. But I'm really going for it, I want to have everything that needs to be printed done, every order finalized, and every welcome bag put together. I do not want to be biting people's heads off as they come into town - no one likes a grumpy bride.

Today has been somewhat entertaining because we've been on the search for the perfect cake topper. Granted, this search has been solely on-line (where do you even buy cake toppers?). I had thought about using my parents cake topper, but for reasons I can't disclose, upon a second look, it doesn't work with our cake. But we are going to use one of the readings that was included in my parents' wedding ceremony, so I think that is a cool aspect of tying something from their wedding into our's as well. We've got certain aspects of the wedding that will be inspired from each of our parents (and even grandparents!), so as we get closer and things get finalized, I will share more details.

The funny thing about this whole cake topper issue is that it doesn't appear that brunettes often marry light-haired men. What is the deal with this? What do cake-topper makers have against strawberry-blonde hair? Nothing when it comes to the female (the strawberry blond brides are overwhelmingly also marrying dark haired men). So today has been a day of ascertaining whether I can actually paint a dark-haired groom's hair lighter. Is it like hair-dye? Is it harder to go from dark to light? It also appears if a lighter-haired man is getting married, he is marrying a blonde bride. Yes, I got all of this from cake toppers!!! Needless to say, I think we've solved our problem (My motto in life: 'When in doubt, go with Lenox'), but my gosh, what a debacle.

The other issue of the day is our unity ceremony. Bryan has wanted a unity candle from day one. I was reading a post, however, that pointed out that getting married outdoors increases the probability the candle will get blown out. How horrifying!! Can you imagine us lighting a candle as a symbol of uniting our lives and the thing blowing out??? I would cry. I brought up an alternative unity ceremony, but Bryan doesn't like any of my ideas. The compromise? We'll have a Unity Candle if I get to pick the cake topper :-) But if the candle blows out, expect a loud "I Told You So" from me in Bryan's directions. Mid-vows, I don't care. I will say it.

We are off to Bridesmaid Tatum and Eric's house to drop off her bridesmaid dress and have a late lunch. I know I mentioned this in a Facebook status the other day, but the dresses are in. So David's Bridal is off the hook if, and only if, the sizes are correct (remember, they didn't record the sizes). M.O.H. Nicole tried her's on the other day and looked fabulous, so I am hopeful the rest of the dresses are correctly sized for all the other girls as well (minus any easy alterations). We have a great evening planned with our friend and Bryan's coworker Edmund and his adorable girlfriend, Melissa. So I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend, go see 'Inception', and I will bring everyone up-to-date on next week's upcoming events! It's gonna be a VERY exciting week!!!

Time to Kick Bryan's Butt

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a meticulous list-maker. I'm obsessive. I make lists of things to-do in various places in my life - in notebooks, on index cards that I shove in my purse, on my own hands. Some people flick the lights off and on, I make lists. It calms me to write down what I have to do, even if the list is a full-page long. Nothing is more satisfying than physically crossing something off of a list.

Of course it is somewhat funny that I am marrying someone that flies by the seat of his pants. If an issue comes up, he attends to it in the present. But overall, there is no laying out of plans in order to determine what is happening in the future, no matter how immediate. When we started the process of planning this wedding, I knew I'd do the bulk of it. It only makes sense. I work ALOT less than Bryan does and I genuinely enjoy doing a lot of this stuff - thinking about flowers and food and music and favors. It also allows me to indulge my enjoyment of making lists and organizing things. But I knew I couldn't do EVERYTHING. And luckily I've had an incredible amount of help between my Mom, Aunt Claire, and of course the amazing women in my bridal party.

Bryan had only a few tasks - which he brought upon himself:

1.) Officiant - he thought he had it easy with Father Bob, but with 93 days to go, Bryan has not found us a replacement. He's gotten suggestions for replacements, but not taken any steps to actually secure a person for our wedding date;

2.) Rehearsal dinner - After shooting down several of my rehearsal dinner ideas, Bryan sprung to action finding us a venue and some possible caterers. We visited the venue, priced it out, and I was happy. What did I find out the other day? He still has not put the deposit down on the venue. Um....so it's GREAT that I'm having invitations printed out for the rehearsal dinner with a venue we do not technically have for October 14th yet.

3.) Honeymoon - With all of the other things I've had going on, wedding-related and otherwise (interviewing for jobs, figuring out what's going on with school at UGA), I told Bryan I did not CARE where we went for a honeymoon. My only requirement is that I don't want to be dragged around some city like a ragdoll. "That's insane, who would do that?" you ask. Well, Bryan doesn't need sleep. He has more energy than anyone I've ever seen - which is something that I love about him. But when it's vacation-time, Bryan is all about go-go-go-go - every attraction in whatever city we're visiting along with attractions in surrounding cities - whereas alot of the time I'd rather curl up with a good book, a cup of tea, and nap at will (I call this 'visiting Mom and Dad'). The go-go-go-go mentality worked fabulously in the Pacific Northwest (where I did want to see every possible thing that I could've fathomed), but it's not what I want for our honeymoon. For me, The Perfect Honeymoon = cocktails + delicious food + relaxation. Whether it's on a beach or on a polar ice cap, I'm not concerned with that detail - well, maybe in order to pack the appropriate clothing that will be important, but otherwise, I don't care where we go. All I know is we're no closer to having a honeymoon booked than we were a few weeks back when Bryan started throwing out fabulous suggestions like Antigua and St. Lucia. Since then, it's been quiet and he's back to being obsessed with house-hunting.

My to-do list? I accomplished quite a few things this morning including making some solid decisions on our ceremony music, inquiring into follow-up proofs for our invitations, and setting up an appointment with our florist to see a "practice" bouquet (August 4th, woo-hoo!). Some of the things on my to-do list I have completed only half-way because I need Bryan's input on them: ordering a unity candle, solidifying the reading selections/ceremony outline (you know what'd be awesome for this - an officiant!!!), and of course, Bryan and I need to go pick out a wedding band for me and inquire into re-casting his grandfather's ring!!!

I should be exercising away my stress in preparation for the dress fitting next Saturday, but instead I'm sitting (literally) on edge trying to figure out what else I can accomplish in order to lighten the load a little bit. However, there is one other big thing I did this morning. I added to the "Things to do in Atlanta" tab on our wedding website, so check it out. You can tell which things I like the best given the little blurbs that I wrote. But all of those suggestions are fantastic (patting myself on the back). If you need anything logistically-speaking (more specifics on locations or what combination of things would be easiest to do in one-day increments, let me know). The website address is:

www.theknot.com/ourwedding/BryanHoey&StephanieGutzler2010

And I can be reached at tomboybride2010@gmail.com for questions, comments, or concerns.

Have a great day, everyone, I'm off to light a fire under my fiance!

Insanity!!!

Oh my heavens! What an incredible time we had! The picture shown above is all of us girls kicking off our night at Tin Lizzy's in Buckhead. I began writing this blog yesterday but didn't have the energy to finish it - mainly because I thought I was going to be sick and I couldn't focus on any one thing for more than 15 seconds at a time (try prepping to teach a Math class on a Monday morning in this condition). Nonetheless, I hope you get a few laughs and enjoy the pictures. It was truly a night I will never forget...oh crap, I forgot that I had forgotten some of it. Ok, well, what I remember was AWESOME (which luckily IS most of it!)! And here it is!

However, notice above there is a man with an open shirt. Let this serve as a warning: the pictures you are about to view in no way reflect the morals and values of those in them! :-P It was a wild time, the drinks were flowing, and I can't believe this used to be a typical Saturday night for me - well, minus the stripper!

Before we headed out, I was lucky enough to get ready in style with Bridesmaid Lindsay and my soon-to-be-'sister' Sonia at the St. Regis Hotel in Buckhead. Amazing room, amazing view, champagne, cupcakes...what more could a girl ask for??

Oh yeah, a ride in a Bentley!!! I'd like to call this picture, 'Bride in Bentley with Giant Pimp Cup'. At this point, the Pimp Cup is still empty, but not for long...

We made it to Tin Lizzy's somewhat late (hey, it took me awhile to look like my most fabulous self!) and everyone looked amazing and beautiful. I sat down to chips and some delicious guacamole, queso, salsa and about a quart of margarita poured for me into my giant Lil' Jon cup. All the ladies wore black dresses and sunglasses. The theme of the night was "Mission: Impossible". Inside pink and black balloons were missions for each of us. I've seen people do this stuff at bars for bachelorette parties and always thought it was lame, but I found it HILARIOUS when it was us doing it! My mission was to "Get a cute guy's phone number and call it standing next to him." This was accomplished using Bridesmaid Tatum's phone since I carried literally nothing with me all night - well, except the Lil' Jon cup.

Some of my favorite missions were "Walk up to a guy and tell him how much you love your booty" (M.O.H. Nicole had this one and she ROCKED it). "Put lipstick on a guy" (Poor Megan, this guy had to be restrained by his friends in order for her to accomplish her mission, but she did it!). "Stand up and start screaming, 'Why is everything always about HER!?'" (Bridesmaid Tatum had this one, and since she was sitting next to me, it was SO funny!) But the winner of my favorite mission of the night was Sonia's mostly because of how she accomplished it. Her mission was to tell a guy a dirty joke. Simple enough, but none of had dirty jokes. Except Tatum. (Because I'm no longer drunk, there is no way I'm typing out the joke. Ask me about it sometime because the way Sonia did this was seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life.) It was a two-line joke and Sonia picked this innocent-looking guy at the bar. He was so sweet that he didn't even seem to get it which resulted in Sonia having to emphatically tell him what it meant. It was priceless.

Emily had to get a guy to show her his muscles - wow, did she pick the right guy, or what?!? Thank you, Emily. Thank you.

Below, M.O.H. Nicole is getting the news that she will be shouting from the rooftops how much she loves her derriere.

Sonia telling her joke. I wish I could write it here, I do. Just thinking about the delivery of it makes me laugh.

I think I'm giving a thumbs-up there, even though that could possibly be me dancing (more than likely it's a thumbs-up!).

My Atlanta- (and Fayetteville, NC!)-based bridesmaids. We were on our mission!

All of us girls outside Tin Lizzy's - even though I'm not sure why we took the picture facing away from Tin Lizzy's (we're in front of Tin Lizzy's, but we're facing it instead of having it behind us). It's entirely possible none of us realized the little sense this made. But it's still a cute pic!

Landry, Landry, Landry! My favorite comic! He bought me my first shot of the night - which really was more like a drink (You can't see the size of that thing in the picture, but it was HUGE!). So I had to drink it like a drink - remember, a marathon, not a sprint.

The comedy club was so awesome. We got to see lots of funny comedians! I'd like to think we were pretty darn funny ourselves given that we didn't stop talking to them through their sets. In normal conditions, I think we would've gotten kicked out. But we were 11 women dolled to the nines and drinking lots, so hahaha, we got away with it! And on another note, I'd like to give my Award for the Drunkest Person of the Evening. Right now you're probably thinking, "Tomboy Bride, that HAD to be you. You're the Bride!" No, my friends, in fact, the Award goes to someone who wasn't even affiliated with our party. The title was taken from me by a girl sitting at the next table over with her boyfriend (oh wait, I guess her fiance). The first comic took the stage, congratulated me on my upcoming marriage, to which we heard, "I'M GETTING MARRIED TOO!!!" Our table of ladies responded, "Oh, that's great, congratulations." "SEPTEMBER 25TH, WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

"Wow, ok, Congratulations," the comic said. "I've got 5 minutes, ladies, I've gotta do my show...Does anyone here have a really embarrassing tattoo?" "HE HAS A CENTAUR ON HIS ASS!" The Girl from the Other Table yelled, pointing at her future-husband. The comic continued, but instead all you heard was, "A HALF-A CENTAUR! HIS BROTHER HAS THE OTHER HALF, HE'S IN THE MILITARY. WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!" Awesome. I loved it. I think her fiance ended up carrying her out of there. So funny. Back to pictures...

Bridesmaid Tami and me! We had the bright idea on Friday night when Tami came in from Fayetteville to drink 2 1/2 bottles of wine and stay up talking til 4am. I'm not exactly sure where we re-connected with our 22-year-old selves, but I'm STUNNED we still managed to stay up til 6am Bachelorette night. Crazy.

All the girls with Comedian Dan.

And me with an empty Pimp Cup...

But I recovered, adjusted my veil, and we were off to Club Havana!!!

Tatum, me, Megan, and Sonia - whoo-hoo, let's dance!

A great picture of Sonia and Mary Beth!

Bridesmaid Tatum - such a character.

Yes, I'm all squinty. I may have had a few drinks (read: about a gallon of margaritas). I can't believe I actually used to do this on a weekly basis.

Everyone looked so pretty. Pictured here: Christine, Megan, Nicole, Tatum, and Emily.

Oh boy, I think Nicole was getting ready to watch the entertainment! I don't know when this started but all of a sudden there was a dude with his shirt open placing me in a chair (the previously pictured gentleman at the beginning of the blog). He was hilarious. And I say hilarious because my reaction to male strippers is sheer laughter (yes, the one other time I've seen them). I don't know if it's a reaction out of being embarrassed or what, but I covered my face and screamed. Too funny.

Some final pictures: A nice picture of Bridesmaid Tami and M.O.H. Nicole. In the last two pictures of me, I'm not certain if I'm disliking the fact that my margaritas were replaced with vodka (I would NEVER dislike this, so I'm not sure why I'm making this face) or if my body was staging a coup and trying to get me to spit out any further adult beverages. I do look fierce though. What would Tyra say? Oh, and P.S., notice I no longer have a veil. This may also be the portion of the night where I lost my shoes (Thank gosh Tatum and E have them!)

And there you have it. The morning after was painful (especially since I woke up so early). Bryan was on his way home from North Carolina where he spent the weekend for our friend Frank's bachelor party. So I didn't even have him there to take care of me! Tami was there to moan and groan with me, though, and we made it through the day. My stomach still wasn't super happy with me this morning, but after some Starbucks this morning and Wendy's for lunch, I feel back on track. I'm ready to do it all again in 2 weeks in Philly!!!

Bachelorette Madness!

32 hours and counting until the beginning of my (first) Bachelorette Party!!! Bryan left me this morning to head to Wilmington Beach for a Bachelor Party (funny enough, it's not his!). So I'm left to my own devices to primp myself, assess whether I need new shoes or not (I think, yes), and make sure the apartment is clean for Bridesmaid Tami and Elijah's arrival tonight. I also am supposed to tutor in the middle of all of that. So I did get an early start this morning on my quest to do my hot party dress justice.

It's funny how all of this reminds me of how old I really am, two examples: 1.) In about 7 minutes from now, I will be washing the dye out of my hair to reveal a head free of stray gray hairs (well, I guess the grays will still be there, but you won't be able to see them!); 2.) M.O.H. Nicole and I actually had a conversation yesterday to strategize how we're going to save our energy in order to party the night away. My take on this was to relax during the day Saturday and randomly nap throughout the day. Nicole was favoring chemical methods by proposing coffee, Red Bull, or 5-hour Energy. I just keep reminding myself: it's a marathon, not a sprint. A drink an hour, and I will be ok. Oh, who am I kidding, I just hope I don't get sick on my new dress!

Nicole even said, "Remember? We used to be so hard-core." She's totally right. We used to literally drink and dance all night long then head out for a post-night-out snack (in total, putting us home at about 4:30am). Given the fact that I don't drink much anymore and tend to go to bed around 11pm at the latest, I have better odds these days of getting up at 4:30 am then staying out that late! Saturday, I'll be happy if I'm still going at 2am - but I am going for the gold!

Additionally, the conclusion of the World Cup is this weekend. Bryan mentioned this morning, "Maybe we can go watch the last game at George's bar on Sunday." There are a few things that might be going on with me Sunday: a.) I may not get out of bed...the entire day, b.) I might be able to peel myself out of bed, but not want anything to do with a bar, or c.) I may feel like a million bucks (this last one does NOT have good odds).

My wedding to-do list next week is pretty focused on the music for the evening. Bryan and I are going to start to make our "playlist". And I've gotta check in with some of my amazing vendors while I'm at it to make sure we're still on track. Finally, by the end of next week, I'd love to have an officiant. That would great. Because frankly, all of this stuff is fun, but with no one to actually marry us we're just a bunch of people having a great party (still cool, but a little expensive to not even end the night married!).

In the little bit of time this took me to write, I've talked myself out of new shoes (I'm starting to equate any money I spend with food our guests will be consuming. A new pair of shoes is equivalent to a good amount of appetizers!). I've gotta go find the fabulous shoes I wore to the engagement party and see how they look with my new dress! I guess this is another way of saying I'll be wearing someone's entree tomorrow night :-)

New York, New York

Wow, is there a lot to cover today! I write this blog from what looks and feels like a new apartment – it’s so clean!!! I’ve spent the entire day up to this point cleaning our guest bedroom, kitchen, and living room. I am excited for Bryan to get home and see the place, but am apprehensive about the 30 minutes after he gets home in which he will destroy it Tazmanian devil-style. Tomorrow’s adventure will be our bedroom and closet – both of which are A MESS. But I’ve done well so far, so hopefully I can keep it up!

Anyways, it was an eventful weekend! The Peachtree Road Race was a fun event and I was a little bit of a mess. Here’s how it went down:

I was slated to start in group R and Bryan in group T. Neither of those are good! Of 55,000 or so runners, I’m guessing I was somewhere around 53,678^th to start moving. And of course, that’s just the nature of the Peachtree. Unfortunately, no one was moving fast enough for me. And after two fast, easy miles, I was overcome with being hot, crowded, and surprisingly not feeling so great (like I was going to enter dizzyville and then just fall down). I couldn’t get moving. There were people cutting me off, running in front of me, and then flat-out screeching to a halt. It was mass chaos in the back, and I was not happy about it at all. Especially since I had expected to go out and get a decent time. I told Bryan if I couldn’t beat ‘em, I was gonna join them. And I slowed my pace down to a power-walk-type thing. I told Bryan to take off. He insisted on staying with me for awhile, robbing himself of the great time he was so capable of getting. But eventually, he gave in. He, of course, also found it fun to be dodging around people (I think I enjoyed it once upon a time, too, but I’m losing patience in my old age).

Once I got in between the buildings of Midtown and hit somewhat of a nice breeze, I got a second wind. The people who were walking had moved (at least somewhat) to the right and I was able to start passing people. I am actually shocked with the time I ended up with due to the amount of walking that I did and to Bryan and I losing a minute or two for him to tie his shoes at one point (truth be told, I finished 6.2 miles in 1 hour, 11 minutes).

When I reached the finish line, I immediately started to beat myself up. What had happened out there? I was physically prepared. Did I not eat enough this morning? (I had deviated from my normal bagel-and-P.B. pre-race breakfast for two slices of bread from the Fresh Market. It’s so yummy, but probably not calorie dense. And stupid me put margarine on it – not even p.b.!) Regardless, I was so mad…Until I started listening to the people around me who were crossing the finish line. They were celebrating finishing 6.2 miles, nevermind their time!

I felt terrible. I remember running my first race – the Race for the Cure 5K in downtown Atlanta in 2004 – how I crossed the finish line and was so excited and so thrilled just to be there. I remember my first Peachtree the following year. And feeling the same elation that my fellow runners were expressing; so accomplished to have finished the distance in the elements (hot and humid, always) around all of those people. I remember finishing the full marathon I ran in San Diego a year after that and my first half-marathon in Atlanta the following year and thinking in both instances that I absolutely rocked (no matter how long it had taken me)! Where was my sense of appreciation?

My perspective immediately shifted back to the fact that it’s the 4^th of July! What is more American than the Peachtree Road Race?! My answer: NOTHING! The Peachtree + barbecue + Budweiser + fireworks = Happy Birthday, America!!! There are people fighting wars for our freedom, and here I am bellyaching about being hot and what bread I ate this morning. There are people who are paralyzed and can’t even walk, and I’m whining about my time. So I made a conscious decision to stop being a jerk and enjoy my day and the fact that I’m lucky to have gotten to run the race at all!

Oh, and P.S. the real story was my future B.I.L. who ran the Peachtree in a blazing 48:47. It was his first 10K! Incredible!

Ok, so onto the wedding announcement and then I’ll share some pictures from New York City. I think most of you knew I was trying to arrange this, so it won’t be a shock. But our transportation is officially booked!

‘Who’s transportation? ‘ you may be thinking. Well, if you’re staying at the hotel (or not staying at the hotel, but want a ride over to the venue), it’s YOUR transportation!

Here’s the story: We have booked a Coach bus with Cooper-Atlanta Transportation to take guests to and from the hotel the day of the wedding. The hotel does have a shuttle, but the shuttle a.) only holds about 14 people at a time, and b.) stops running somewhere around 11pm. Our reception goes until midnight! The shuttle would probably be great if you want to take it the night of the rehearsal dinner (Thursday). But on Friday, time is of the utmost importance. Our ceremony start time is 7pm. There is a prelude to the ceremony though beginning at 6:30pm. Ideally, I’d like all guests at the venue at 6:30pm. If you plan on driving yourself, there’s a real treat in store if you get there early. If you want to take the Coach bus, the first bus (as of right now) will be leaving the hotel at 6:20pm! This Friday evening, I will be driving over to the Homewood Suites to time how long it takes in Friday traffic to get over to the Payne-Corley House. Assuming it only takes about 10 minutes, the first bus will leave at 6:20 and drop our guests off at 6:30. Don’t forget, the bus is going to have to drive the 10 minutes back to pick up the next round of guests (6:40pm) and the 2^nd bus-load of guests will be dropped off at about 6:50pm.

So Friday’s dry run for me is a big deal. I am going to pretend I AM the Coach bus! If these times need to be adjusted, I will be updating everyone. (Plus, you will get a finalized itinerary when you arrive at the hotel). We are encouraging our guests to make use of the bus, not only because it just makes your life easier, but we 100% do not want anyone to risk drinking and driving. So please, even if you live in-town and are not staying at the hotel, if you want a ride to the venue, head over to the Homewood Suites (then sleep it off in the lobby!). I also may be adjusting timing based on how many people I hear are planning on taking the bus as well. If the bus needs to do three trips, we will plan for it so that our ceremony can start on time without any guest missing a thing.

Onto the NYC pictures! Happy 60th Birthday to my future-M.I.L.!

Bryan and I in Central Park enjoying the view. I really want to go in one of those paddleboats on the river that day. It was so pretty and looked very romantic.

Bryan is about to get mauled by a bear statue in the park. It was a ferocious fight, but Bryan managed to come home in one piece. The bear was unharmed in the taking of this picture.

A pretty picture on the ferry of my future M.I.L., future B.I.L., and future husband!

Bryan and I in the museum on Liberty Island. Behind us is the original torch from the Statue of Liberty! How cool is that!

Climbing up the 334 steps to get to the Crown! I wasn't intimidated at all starting the trek up to the crown, but once we got to this insanely spiral-y portion, I was officially creeped out. My heart rate was also through the roof. What a great workout!

We all made it! It is as small as it looks up there and it is NOT air conditioned (A digital thermometer inside the Crown read 99.3 degrees. Thanks to NYC for being extremely hot on this particular day!). But it was really cool to be in there!

Bryan and I on Liberty Island with Manhattan behind us.

Below, who else can you send to Ellis Island - a place where so many brave immigrants came to the shores of the U.S. looking for a better life - and have come back with a picture of the word 'poker'?

I carried this sign around all day and was bound and determined to get photo-ops with it! The sign at Ellis Island (to the left). And here is the sign at Tiffany's on 5th Avenue (below) after my future M.I.L. received her surprise Tiffany bracelet!

Little Italy is by far one of my favorite places in every city that has one (which hopefully is every city). Here is everyone at this delicious restaurant called Giovanna's. The staff here did it up. They had all of us to deal with, but still brought out slices of cake large enough to accommodate the big 6-0 candles we had brought AND even comped the champagne we had ordered! (Oh, and if you go here, get the Stuffed Artichoke - it's like Grandma's recipe - plus capers!)

Well, it was a busy 48 hours, but we managed to also get to Times Square for a few pictures as well. It was a marathon blog, but I'll post another update later this week prior to my Bachelorette festivities. Until then!

The Shoe Shopping Excursion

Finally, a Saturday night relaxing at home. I'm watching all of my Poker boyfriends on TV and plan on sitting right here until I fall asleep. We have an early morning tomorrow since we're running the Peachtree Road Race (Bryan's 1st!). I'm quite excited. I'm gonna run as fast I possibly can, but I already told Bryan he can speed ahead of me and I'll just meet him at the finish with my future brother-in-law. We'll all start together which will be nice though, along with Bridesmaid Lindsay! And Maid of Honor Nicole will be cheering us on along the course. So it should be a very fun-filled morning!

Today was an adventure. M.O.H. Nicole was brave enough to come to the mall with me to look for shoes to go with my wedding dress. From my general scanning of the shoe selections in various stores the past few months, I wasn't feeling particularly hopeful. In fact, I had convinced myself this was going to turn into a torturous search that was going to end with me coughing up lots of money.

We met at 9:30 this morning at Macy's. I told Nicole exactly the style I had in mind and how skeptical I was about finding it. By 9:45, I had my shoes. It was outrageous. Macy's had the perfect shoes down to the last detail. I <3 Macy's >

We killed a little bit of time looking at jewelry and dresses until the rest of the mall opened. I mentioned that since my shoes cost a mere fraction of what I thought they were going to I may as well spend the leftover money on a dress for my upcoming bachelorette parties!!! (And we wonder why I can't seem to save money).

This was slightly more challenging, but by 11am, we had the PERFECT dress for next weekend and 3 weeks from now! So I was a happy girl leaving the mall today. And I am hoping to physically stop traffic in this dress :-)

Nicole left for some pool-time R&R while I went to The Fresh Market to prepare for Bridesmaid Lindsay's birthday dinner that I was cooking up for her this evening. Lindsay eats very clean, so I was keeping the meal gluten-free. Note to anyone who is curious: gluten-free meals aren't nearly as disgusting as you might think. Gluten is in almost everything, but not in rice (which makes life really easy if you're trying to make a gluten-free meal). I had been doing some research this week about gluten-free sweets and was definitely NOT going to try to make any from scratch (rice flour??? Uh, I'll keep my $4 and just buy a pre-made mix). So I decided on a pre-race/birthday dinner for Lindsay that included sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, yellow squash, julienned carrots, and sun-dried tomatoes served over a bed of angel hair rice noodles. I also wanted to serve a spinach-strawberry salad topped with goat cheese.

Bryan and I attended the Peachtree Road Race Expo this afternoon and I am happy to say both of us are signed up for our next Half-Marathon! Interestingly, it takes place only about two weeks before the wedding, so hopefully neither of us falls and breaks something (teeth, limbs, all of the above). It'll be a careful run for the both of us, but the training will definitely keep me in shape! I need to avoid the seasonal beer belly I get from the start of football season! It never really bothers me since my belly hangs around (literally) from September through January, but once I get fitted for this dress, there's no going back. No beer gut until October 17th for me!

We had a great time at the Expo, getting tons of samples from our favorite exhibitors that are always at these things (Cascadian Farms, Larabar, Odwalla). We always joke that we don't have to eat lunch before going into an Expo. You can eat an entire meal just walking around!

A little later on the birthday girl came over and dinner turned out delicious! I told Lindsay that I'd be serving her birthday dinner next year on matching dishes (maybe even the china!) and using matching flatware!! I had made some gluten-free brownies that absolutely rocked (turns out if you add Ghiradelli chocolate chips, anything is fabulous)! Lindsay and I ate two apiece! Hey, we're running it off in the morning anyway!!! :-)

Bryan and I are now making playlists for tomorrow's run. We have a wake-up time of about 5:30am then a long, lazy day ahead of us grilling poolside with the newly engaged Will and Meredith.

I will have a new wedding detail coming up this week, so stay tuned. It's something that you know I've already been thinking about, but I'm going to make it official. Until my next update, have a safe and wonderful 4th of July!

Nothing But Time

It's definitely not my style to post two blogs within a 24-hour period, but it is officially "July break" for me until next Thursday when I head back to tutoring which means I've got plenty of time to dedicate to the blogosphere. I apologize if yesterday's blog was a downer for you, a few people have gotten in touch to tell me they feel bad. I am aware that most of you read this blog for happy news, and after a peaceful night's sleep (and sleeping in til 8am!), I am back to my upbeat self.

There's plenty of new wedding-related activities to talk about, but first, a funny Bryan story. And know that this is only funny now, in retrospect. It was not funny at the time. Bryan almost got himself stabbed with a butter knife during this exchange.

Tuesday evening, I had come in from work around 5ish. I walked Maggie, fed her, and decided to catch up on 'The Bachelorette' in full force (I am finally caught up, so we may gossip about this in upcoming blogs!). I sat for about 2 1/2 hours watching this stupid show - I can't help myself - when Bryan came in from work/the gym. We headed to the kitchen and started unloading the dishwasher (something both of us hate, so we often do it together) and making dinner.

Bryan says, "I'm so mad at Daniel, he told me that Paraguay won today." For those of you who are wondering why I'm mentioning Paraguay, which is apparently a country in South America, the reason is because they're playing in the World Cup. So Bryan was mad at his co-worker and friend, Daniel, for spilling the beans that Paraguay won. Typically Bryan comes home and plops right on the couch to watch the games he DVR'ed during the day. So I said, "Yes, I saw that on Facebook. Who did they play? Portugal?"

Timeout. Read my sentence again. These questions clearly imply that I didn't even know who Paraguay played. I knew they won because people had posted, "Yay, Paraguay!" and things of that nature on Facebook. But there was no mention of the opponent. So in asking, I chose the only other opponent that I knew of that was still in this World Cup thing - Portugal. Ok, so it goes:

Me: "Who did they play? Portugal?"

Bryan: "WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT? WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THIS? STOP TELLING ME ABOUT THE GAMES!"

Me: "What?"

Bryan: "STOP TALKING, STOP!"

Me: "What? I don't understand? You just said Daniel told you they won and I confirmed, yes they won. But I don't know who they played, who did they play?"

Bryan: "WHY ARE YOU STILL TALKING? YOU JUST RUINED THE GAMES FOR ME!!!"

Me: "How can I ruin the games? I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAMES, AND FURTHERMORE, I DON'T CARE!" (Yes, he got me yelling at this point since I didn't know why we were yelling).

Bryan: "WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME ABOUT PORTUGAL?" At this point, his arms were flailing as if I had given up our first born for a tour of the Hershey's factory or something.

Me: "Ok, you know what? I am out of here, I am not standing around while you have a psychotic attack."

And with that, I took the Thank-You-for-Watching-Maggie card I was mailing to Nicole and walked out the door. I was SO MAD. He came in after a long day and started screaming at me. ABOUT SOCCER. I know you should never leave during a fight, but I didn't even know what we were fighting about?! All I knew was I didn't want to be yelling about an event I a.) knew nothing about, and b.) don't give a shred of a rat's butt about.

I mailed Nicole's card and headed over to the grocery store - the Tomboy Bride needed some wine. Bryan began to call my phone 456 times. Finally, I answered, "Where are you?" he asked. "I'm at the supermarket," I told him. "Are you coming home?" he asked. "Well, where else would I go?" I responded. So with that, I returned home 10 minutes later to an apologetic fiance. But this is what I've concluded: a.) There is no reasoning with Bryan when it comes to sports, EVER. Even if I'm going to ask a question, I'm better off just keeping my mouth shut. He later admitted he thought I was trying to tell him Portugal won (they didn't - and Paraguay had played Japan). I'm not quite sure where he got that in my exchange with him - but again, there's no logic here.

And,

b.) The next World Cup is in 4 years. In 4 years, I am taking a month-long vacation. I am vacationing through the entire thing in some country where the team did not make it (this year my choice would've been Ireland!).

Ok, so with that ridiculousness out in the open, let's get down to business.

I had made a short list the other day for myself of things that need to be done:

1.) Transportation - (I've been working on this, but have had no luck!) We are aiming to provide transportation for all guests staying at the Homewood Suites to and from the Wedding.

2.) Start looking for unity candles - I like the idea of the Sand Ceremony where each person holds a cylindrical vase of sand and we pour it into a larger, engraved vase together. Bryan wants a Unity Candle. I like Unity Candles, too. But now I gotta get one for us!

3.) Start outlining the ceremony - It would probably be a good idea to also nail down who our officiant is. This would be very helpful.

4.) Music!!! - Bryan and I are very particular about what we want played at the wedding. Bryan hates older music (of course, exactly the type of music I love and grew up on!). So there's lots of compromising to do here.

5.) Programs - We know everyone who's going to be in the wedding, and who we're going to ask to do readings (although we need to do that too...). Officiant? TBD.

6.) Ask the appropriate family members/friends to participate in our ceremony.

6.) Wedding rings - You'd think this would be one of the first things I'd have us do. I'm so not fussy on this point that selecting the actual ring is on the back burner. But I KNOW we've gotta go select soon!

7.) Shoes and skivvies for the big day - I need them for my July 24th Dress Fitting!

8.) Honeymoon - Bryan has suggested every Caribbean option there is, then recanted on some of his suggestions. Uh, this is why I don't plan our trips.

9.) Pricing my idea for favors - I'm really excited to do this. I'm not giving anything away on this, but I will tell you the favors will be holding the place cards. I may give some details on how I'm doing the place cards, but the favors won't be revealed until the Big Day.

I am planning on attacking this list over the "July Break" as well as getting in quality time working out and watching movies that I haven't seen that Bryan has no interest in (I just rented "Brothers" with Tobey Maguire and yummy Jake Gyllenhaal.) I also have a TON of cleaning to do. I am antsy to clean this apartment top to bottom. I went crazy at Target earlier, even buying myself rubber household gloves!!!

Finally, we did get our invitation proof. I'm very happy with how everything looks although between myself, Bridesmaid Mrs. Smith, M.O.H. Nicole, and my parents we had about a dozen suggestions of things that needed to be changed, moved, re-worded, etc. I'm hoping the lovely ladies at La Belle Weddings don't want to strangle me for all of this.

And speaking of M.O.H. Nicole, she needs some kind of award for all her hard work. Is there some kind of public recognition I can give her or a contest for M.O.H. of the Century I can enter her in? She's been looking up honeymoon destinations, arranging for babysitters so others can go to my Bachelorette party, and just generally keeping on top of everything. I could go on and on about all of the amazing things everyone in our bridal party has done for us to help make this wedding a successful event. But that's a separate blog entirely! I'm going to need very large Thank You cards for all of them! Speaking of Thank You cards, I'll leave you with this insane story. This is how bananas I am about Thank You cards:

Last week, before we left for New York, I purchased a Thank You card for the individuals who bought our remaining silverware on our registry from Macy's. I wanted Bryan to write it with me, and we ended up going to New York before getting to sit down and word it properly together. Monday evening, we wrote it together and I practiced writing it so it would look pretty. Tuesday, I wrote it out on a card only to HATE how it looked on the card. So yesterday? You guessed it. I went and bought another card! Last night, I took even more care to make it perfect and today, we mailed it. The moral of the story? I really do mean each and every one of those Thank Yous you all are getting!!!!

And with that, Thanks for reading! Pictures from New York will be posted when Bryan stops hogging them!