Thanksgiving

I am thankful for:
1. being able to own a house
2. having wonderful friends
3. getting free undies at vs
4. having a great family
5. having a fantastic fiance
6. having money saved
7. only 40 more minuets till i go home
8. having all working body parts
9. driving a convertible
10. owning dogs that are always happy to see me
11. having a job
12. having a job with benefits
13. having a job with comp time
14. my dad's anti thanksgiving dinner the day after
15. cable and dvr
16. remote controls- because getting up to change the channel would be too much work
17. being able to afford a carpet cleaner
18. my dishwasher
19. my own office
20. having a proportional body

I am sure I will add to this later!

VS Rave

hehe, I'm not married, and I used the word RAVE.... muhahhaha!!!

ok, so like I said in the previous post, I buy too much from VS. Well, when ordering things for my bpics I bought a cute little babydoll with matching undies... I spent a whopping $58 :-(

Well, it was back ordered..... and I don't have it yet. I noticed it went on sale for $39!!! I was quite upset, so I emailed them.

Since my purchase fell within 3 weeks of them putting it on sale, they are refunding me the difference!!!! YAY!!!

VS Rant

So, lately (well since last Christmas) I have spent too much money at Victoria's Secret. Jeremy gave me a gift card last Christmas and I have a hard time buying undies anywhere else now. Well, over the last month, I have spent a significant amount of money there for my b-pics, I guess they appreciated it enough to send me a "free panty card" . So I went in last night to retrieve my free panties.... ok, the little card said a $7.50 value... which most all of their Pink collection cotton ones are. I picked out a pair of festive ones and made my way to the register with them and another pair (after perusing the store for 15 mins or so, with NO one asking if I wanted help... usually you can't get those sales girls out of your ass!) I went to the register with my 2 pairs of panties.... and handed her my free panty card. She politely told me that neither of those qualified, and pointed me towards the direction of the ones that did qualify. I said ok, and told her I didn't want the festive ones then. I made my way over to the bin of very plain, non-fun undies and picked a pair of gray ones. I walked back to the counted where she told me the gray ones didn't qualify, they had to be pink, ivory, navy or white. THE GRAY ONES WERE EXACTLY LIKE THOSE!!! Why did it matter???? So, I went back to the non-fun undies and DUG for a pair of pink ones, because naturally, the only ones left were size anorexia or I'm an over-eater. Anyways....

I got my stupid, non-cute, non-festive, plain, free panties.

We bought our wedding bands!

We made a trip down to Diamonds Direct in South Park Charlotte. (This is where my engagement ring came from) We went because they have a sale a few times a year when everything is 20% off.

We had decided right after we had got engaged that we would use my moms wedding ring instead of buying a new one. We went on Friday night to see if they could make it into a square shank (like my e-ring, a. jaffe) The lovely sales girl, Kristina gave me her honest advice and was so helpful. She immideatly took both my e-ring and my moms ring to be cleaned, and she resized my moms ring right there! She brought them back to us, and I knew that it didn't need to match my e-ring, it looked perfect just the way it was! So, we took her advice, and didn't remake the ring.....

Well, we had talked about having diamonds put into my moms ring, and buying another eternity band to flank both sides of my e-ring. Well after we got my moms ring back, and I didn't want to change it, I still wanted to look at eternity rings.... WE LOVED the way it looked with my e-ring and my moms ring! So I will have my e-ring, my moms ring, and an eternity ring to wear all together! :-)

We also found Jeremys wedding ring! It's a simple brushed finished ring. Perfect and simple.

I got in a fight.....

..... on the knot!

What is the world coming to!?! I "raved" about my band experience from the night before, letting the girls know I had found a band at a great price, that seemed awesome... (btw, the band members all have real jobs... they are all music teachers of some kind, band director, music teacher, ect..) this is just their hobby.

I got FLAMED for sharing my good experience! After posting, this was the first comment made...

"I find it hard to have a rave opinion on something until after the actual event... things have a way of changing. Not saying they will but you never know. "

I responded with "no offense, but could you be just a little positive."

Well needless to say it got ugly, I ended up emailing the girl who was being bitchy and letting her know exactly how I felt. I didn't feel the need to make it public, although I am sure some of the things I said to her, many more girls had been thinking for a while. Sometimes I really like being the whistle blower on someone being a bitch, and call them out!

She proceeded to tell me I needed therapy for my anger. She was also still upset I did not thank her immediately after she gave me some advice about another band weeks ago. (Oooh, I waited 2 whole days to thanks her... big freakin' deal)

... Well, I am a daytime knottie... meaning I post during the day.... when I got home and had relaxed a few hours, I decided to log back into the knot and see if anything had happened after her last bitchy post to me (I elected to respond via email after that, and not log back on the knot).... Low and behold, several of the other girls had attacked her for being so negative and told her she should have been excited for me!

"Oh wow. Nothing like being flamed for being excited about your wedding and the vendors you plan on working with. Maybe "rave" isn't the best word because that seems to imply they already did a great job at your wedding. But does that really matter? Jemessica is excited, why not be excited with her? I can't imagine why there aren't more newbies running around this board.

BTW the band sounds cool and it sounds like a nice deal too. Good find!"


Thanks for standing up for me and all the other girls who are tired of being "flamed" over something stupid.... btw... don't EVER use the word "rave" if you haven't already been married... apparently it's a big no-no!

And, I feel the need to mention this particular girl, made a RUDE comment to me 2 days ago, and I let it go, I didn't even respond, I was being the bigger person. Clearly, after her comment yesterday, I was tired of taking her crap.

If you can't POSITIVELY offer advice, don't offer it. Just as I didn't choose my words carefully (ugh, using the word rave, which apparently I can't use because I'm not married). She didn't choose hers wisely either.

I also feel the need to mention she has been married for a year and a half, and is still on the knot. While I think it is important to have married ladies on the local boards to give reviews and advice, I figured she would have migrated over to the Nest by now.

For now, via email we agreed to disagree, and agreed to be civil.

I won't let someone with a negative attitude run me off the knot.

and btw--- I posted about this on my month board, and an NC newbie knottie came out and said, that is exactly why she doesn't go on the NC board anymore.

OUR Band! :-)

We made the journey up to Winston Salem last night to attend a band practice. We met the Double Take Band in the basement of Pete Roddas home. They were so much fun to watch! In the cramped little basement their was Pete, the leader of the band and guitarist, Cathy a singer, a keyboard player, drummer, electric guitarist, 2 horn players, and they let us know the trumpet player was missing. We are getting 8 people for $1400!!!!!!

Pete is Emceeing the whole night for us too! I am so excited now! I know our reception is going to be so much fun!!! :-)

http://www.doubletake.cc/ (the new keyboard player is not on their website)

Traditional Cake? Non-Traditional Cake?

So having worked at a bakery for 2 1/2 years in college, I have a great respect for people who create cakes, the time and effort that goes into an edible piece of art is ridiculous!

I knew a while ago (probably while working at the bakery) that I had to have a pumpkin chocolate chip cake... one of our specialties! And since I want to get married in the fall... I figured how perfect!

Let me define my definition of Traditional and Non-Traditional cakes.... Traditional- multi tier, lots of elaborate decor, flowers.... Non-traditional- Maybe a small "traditional" cake for Jeremy and I. A small 2 tier cake made just for him and I. Then serving multi flavored cupcakes, or homemade pies, ice cream.....

Traditional Cake Pros:
1. it's pretty :-)
2. It's what people expect when they arrive at the reception
3. It's "tradition"

Traditional Cake Cons:
1. Freakin' expensive!!!
2. Their can be a lot left over... especially with an odd flavor like pumpkin
3. Most have fondant... I HATE fondant, it taste nasty

Non-Traditional Cake Pros:
1. Less expensive
2. our family and friends will feel special if they get to contribute a goodie!
3. I always like going to potluck meals and getting a plate of different desserts...
4. People have options, if they don't like pumpkin they can have something else

Non-Traditional Cake Cons:
1. People won't have a giant cake to oooh and aahh over
2. Some stress of the people that will contribute a special goodie


I am thinking Non-Traditional wins....

Our bakery.... and my former employer!

maxieb.com

Ideas

I love it when people give me new ideas! My lovely bridesmaid just sent me this.... a great twist on a normally "plain" luminary!

Martha Stewart's website!

Our Conversation

Last night we had a conversation about what was important to us about our wedding. These are the things we discussed...

1. Round tables are nice, but if we can use rectangle ones for free, we'll do it!
2. It is not necessary for our bridal party to stand up there with us. They can sit on the front row and be just as important.
3. Jeremy wants to serve dinner, beer and wine, I agreed.
4. Should we buy all our dinnerware and glassware and hope to resell it after? or spend 1/2 the price and rent it, but with no return on investment?
5. He wants to wear a tux.
6. We are not doing favors. We are feeding you dinner, getting you drunk, and providing you with a free place to stay for the night.... I don't need to give you a gift for coming.
7. The wedding cake.... have a big one made for everyone to eat ($700)? or do a small one for just him and I ($150), and then have a dessert bar, with homemade goodies from some of our family members (free!)?
**side note** I worked at the bakery that we will be getting our cake from for 2 1/2 years..... I couldn't not do a cake!
8. just because I was invited to someone elses wedding, does not mean they have to be invited to ours.

I am sure we will add to this list as time goes on..... but that's all for now!

I am so glad to start planning a wedding together with my hunny!

what prompted me to blog?

So, after being on the knot 24/7, talking with other brides and getting ideas, I have come across 2 blogs I have found particularly interesting. Those are the 10000wedding and 2000wedding. Yesterday I found the 2000wedding blog. I sat at my desk at work and wanted to cry my eyes out. I started to realize that I was making what should be "our" day into MY day. I had to have everything perfect, and choreographed like a dance routine. It was becoming a show instead of a wedding.

I emailed the blog to Jeremy, knowing he was probably to busy at work to look at it, I came home last night and wanted to talk with him about it. I asked if he looked at it, he replied "briefly." Then I cried.

I told him all of the above. That when I want his opinion on something to please give it. I want our day to be about us, not the centerpieces, not the dress, not the flowers or wedding party. So, we are starting over.

I have already bought a dress.... I purchased a designer dress at the "bargain" price of only $1300. I now want to puke, and while I do LOVE the dress, I will be just as pretty in something that cost me $200. Well since the deed is done, and money spent I will wear the dress.... and I will resell it after the wedding!

So, lets go back....

Since I have been engaged just over 2 months now at lot has gone on!

Jeremy and I were engaged on September 15th in Little Switzerland, NC. Upon our arrival back home, I immediately started to research colors, dresses, bands, caterers, ect. I became the bride every vendor wants!

From the time I saw my sister get married when I was 11, I knew I didn't want a big church/country club wedding. Her wedding was fabulous, beautiful, and a fairy tale brought to life, but I've always wanted to get married outdoors. I have known for several years that I wanted to be married at Sertoma 4-H Center, an old mineral springs resort that is now owned by NC State and used as a summer camp. After spending several summers as a camper, and 2 summers on staff there I was sure this was the place for me to get married (to whomever that might be).

In the last two months of brainstorming, and planning I have now realized that I have been planning a cookie cutter wedding, only we are getting married at Sertoma. We made the guest list, and it has topped out at 206, I feel like I am inviting people that I don't care to feed dinner, serve them free alcohol, and my day would be just as special without them. Sadly, some of these people are my family. I have decided that just because I was invited to your wedding when I was 7 does not mean I have to invite you to mine, especially since I have only seen you twice in the last 5 years. This sounds harsh, but my mom passed away when I was 17 and we just have not kept up with her side of the family as much. I have only seen them in the last year because my grandmother passed away in February, and now everyone is fighting over whos getting what.... I don't need those people causing a scene on mine and Jeremys day. I don't trust them to be cordial for a few hours.

So now I feel like I am back at square one.... lets start over... lets pretend I just got engaged last night....

OMG! I'm engaged! Let's start planning OUR wedding!

My first blog

So, after my first wedding planning breakdown yesterday, I decided that this would be a good way to chronicle what I am thinking, feeling and doing in the days and months leading up to mine and Jeremys wedding day.

I have always "looked down" upon blogging... thinking it was selfish to think that there were actually people out there who cared what you did on a day to day basis, so you write about it. Well I am now realizing, it's great if people read it, but if they don't I can still look back and read my own thoughts and feeling... like a public diary, I suppose. So, I apologize for being so judgmental about blogging... Here we go!