Three Months with a Cherry on Top

Today marks our three month countdown!!! Aahhh...all of a sudden that clock feels very heavy. I am not sure why, but when we were engaged almost 18 months ago, the three month countdown always seemed daunting. I knew it would be "go time", and ladies, it's go time. From here on out, every weekend is devoted to the wedding or somebody elses - did I mention there are four weddings from May 1st to July 18th - one of which mine!? OUR WEEKEND (Boy is Andrew in for a rude awakening!) Friday: After work, I am running to a darling consignment and vintage bridal store to hopefully find my wedding jewlery including the all important hair comb. It needs to be vintage and needs to have a little sparkle. I want it to be a tender suprise amdist the pile of waves on my head. Something like this would be divine:

Saturday: After cleaning the heck out of my house (this has been on the back burner lately) I need to once and for all finish doing the inventory on my over 200 pieces of milk glass! This is no easy task: count, measure, and take a picture of each piece to be put into an excel spread sheet. It's the only way I can get an accurate number for flowers. I love that milk glass, but I hate the project! The milk glass is sitting as centerpieces (about 5 - 7/table) full of monochromatic flower arrangments like this: Then its off to the mall to find the shirts for the boys. We are asking them to purchase their own shirts and wear their own suits. We provide the bow ties (from J. Crew -done and done). Apparently there is a certian kind of shirt they need? I dont know, it's Andrew's thing.

Sunday: Oh Sunday - so excited! The unbelievably talented Kate Erickson is coming to do my makeup and hair trial run. Check her out at: http://www.kateerickson.com/. I am so excited for this, I can't even tell you!! I love everything about getting my hair and makeup done. I love to see what other 's view as my strengths. I have been growing out my hair since we were engaged (so long, I can't wait for the bridal bob post wedding!), becuase I want my hair to look uber romantic. When I saw Portia de Rossi's hair for her wedding, I knew it was exactly what I wanted. Soft but gathered. Clean yet unplanned. It is the perfection of hairdo's and luckily Kate loves it to. Here it is (note the importance of a lovely hair pin):

Weekends have been officially lost to the wedding and it is seeming a bit hectic. But, I have yet to dislike this process or lose sight of the real treat: our marriage. Three months of running around, stressful decisions, and the checkbook looking slim, but in the end it's being married to Andrew that is the cherry on top!

Put a cork in it

I finally have my Andrew back. After four years of hard work and not a weekend to ourselves, we are officially a couple again. And how did we celebrate a weekend without studying? I put him on wedding duty and he spent his Sunday in front of the TV watching college basketball and cutting 200 wine corks. Only one very bad cut to his finger later, and we are able to cross that off the list!

I bought the 200+ corks on EBAY for $15.00. We definately could have gotten there on our own, but figured drinking 200 bottles before our wedding in three months is a bit counter productive. So, they arrived quickly and without any problems. Once they are done, they will look like this:

I think they are going to be darling and certainly fit out Loire Valley cocktail hour. Thank you honey bunny for all of your surgeon like slicing!

Tick tock Tick tock

Lately, it seems I am in a constant state of waiting and anticipation. A little update on our pre-nuptiul status.

Andrew returned safely and clean shaven (he grew a massive beard - which I hated) from his Bachelor Week in Vail and Breckenridge. He is lucky to have great friends who made the trip from all over the country to join him in extremeness. Andrew is not the strip club kind of guy; he prefers long days on the mountains, followed by hot tubs with beer. Reason 5007 that I love him. Now, I am waiting on my own girl power weekend...the beach can't come soon enough!

Still absolutely no word on lovely little love shack. This is why our country is in such a mess - a qualified young couple with stars in their eyes offers to buy a house that the owners want to sell. Three weeks later, the bank still hasn't gotten back to us. Geesh, move over Obama, I have a bone to pick with these bankers.

The first dress fitting - the highly anticipated moment was last weekend. My mom, who was in from out of town, and my lovely personal attendant joined me. So nervous, that the dress I loved would look different. That I wouldn't like it as much, that the color would be all wrong, and most importantly, that I would still look like the stuffed sausage I was in it in August. When I took it out of the bag, the seamstress gasped. That was the best reaction I could have asked for. It truly is an amazing dress and I love it more today than I did when I bought it. As I stepped inside (no easy task), the dress zipped with ease. Too easy and too big. As Martha would say...It's a Good Thing.

The seamstress didnt want to pin me because my body is changing so much...so I am waiting until May 19th for my first official pinning.

We are at the point of the wedding planning, where most everything is squared away and we are riding the wave. It is the first time since we got engaged, that I have gotten to sit back and imagine the day, no decisions necessary. Just simple day dreaming. I am over the moon excited for the day and thank my lucky stars that I have had the glory of time on my side. I am going to take this time, to love my honey and be so thankful that we are going to be married.

What a Tulle

Seeing as though tomorrow is my very first wedding dress fitting (slightly terrified, and slightly excited), I thought it time that I describe my Wedding Dress Shopping Experience.

Unlike most brides, this is one aspect of the wedding that I was dreading. As a girl who has been dieting since I was twelve, the pressure of perfection on my wedding day daunts me. So, it is no secret, that trying on a white dress in front of my friends and family, didnt exactly scream "FUN" to me. Dont even get me started on the clamps - that is cruel and unusual punishment in my book.

But, like falling in love, serendipity stepped in. I was at a bridal boutique with one of my girlfriends searching for her wedding dress. I was there for moral support only - no dress shopping for me much to the distaste of my friends. I oohed and awed and then something caught my eye.

All by it's lonesome was my dress. Sitting pretty on a mannequin in all its tulle and glory. I approached the mannequin as if it were pitbull, fearful but curious. Upon closer inspection, I melted into its aura. One look, that is all it took.

I finished with my friends, quietly making eyes at the mannequin. I spent the entire night sleepless. I left work early the next morning and ran back to the bridal salon. It was first dress I even liked, tried on and then bought. They say it happens that way - I didnt think it would for me, but I stand corrected.

Now for the drama. I went back several times to try the dress on and eventually agreed to buy the dress off the floor for a lower price. After I signed the credit card slip, left with my girlfriends feeling revived and excited, I recieved an email from the salon owner. She had made a mistake and charged me too little - that she made an error in judgement and couldnt sell the dress to the agreed price. Knife in heart.

Emails went back and forth, and she wouldnt budge. Eventually, becuase I was too emotional to deal with it, Andrew had to get involved. It was the last thing I wanted, for my future husband to be involved in any way with the dress. But, he stepped in and to my rescue, Prince Charming resolved the issue.

It has been six months since I purchased the dress and not a word shared with the owner. Tomorrow, my mother and I will march in, take the dress and go elsewhere for my alterations. It is a yucky turn on what should be an amazing experience. Lesson Learned: Sometimes my Prince needs to a-Dress our issues.

Finding The One

Your heart starts pumping, tingles sizzle up from your belly, your eyes widen, and all of a suddent the future looks perfectly clear. You envision the family you will form, the memories you will make, and the years of happiness to anticipate. You have found "THE ONE" and you cant remember a time when you weren't so certain that this is it.

Okay, well, it wasn't quite like that with Andrew, that took time and learning. We were kids and...we were very drunk. The "one"moment happened wayyyy into the relationship...about three years. Different story...

WE FOUND THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot tell you how good it feels to walk into a house, a house that you have been trying to find, and just know. It is everything we have been looking for!

We met on Sunday to see 7 houses. This was house three and there was no turning back. I think I have probably been through about 150 houses - no kidding. This process started about a year ago and has been emotionally charged to say the least. The last house (The Dog) was crossed off the list when I got a bid back for 100k to make it even somewhat attractive. I just cant live in a house that doesnt have some curb appeal.

This house came on the market on Friday. It is on a street in St. Paul that has a beautiful boulevard and huge old oak trees. It's a dream come true street - think Father of the Bride street...just perfect!

We trudged through the snow to get to the front door. The house is on its way to foreclosure (I would say about 1 in 5 houses that we look at is - sad) so the walk wasnt shovled and it is empty. The minute we walked in, I knew it. Gorgeous hardwood floor, large archways, crown molding, built in cabinets, iron railing...my dream house. It was built in 1930 and has been lovingly mantained. It has so much charm, I dont even know where to start.

So, the offer is in and now the waiting game begins. It's a different scenario than most sales becuase the owner is the bank. It could take up to a month which, for a girl who does not posess the virtue of patience, is like playing in traffic.