Weekend Goodies! aka NO LACE!

Friday-
Ventured down to downtown (or uptown? I'm not sure what you call it!) Charlotte to the courthouse. Asked the sheriffs office on the first floor where to find a certified copy of my criminal record, sent to the second floor to the criminal clerk of court, stood in line, made my request, back down to the first floor to pay $15 for it, didn't have cash, she sent me back up to the atm on the 2nd floor, back down to pay her with cash, back up to the criminal clerk of court to give her my receipt and get a piece of paper saying I have no criminal record..... ugh! All this just to send it in with my application for a temporary alcohol permit!!! W.O.W

Then on to Poppies to order the adorable pumpkin shown below!

Then the gym

Then cooked steaks with the honey! :-)

Saturday-
Got up, did some chores around the house, ate breakfast.... then a bad headache started to set in.... so I layed back down for a bit..... showered.... and got ready to leave for the beach!!!

11:45 AM- Melanie arrived, we packed up the car and headed out!

2:30- Made a pit stop in Cary to see Olga, seamstress extraordinaire! Dropped off the dress (got told I bought the WRONG type of bra to sew in the dress..... so I'm back on the bra/corset hunt)

Then off to the beach we went! We arrived at our hotel about 5 PM, and to Melanie's surprise, Melissa and Jennifer, some friends from home were waiting there to surprise her! Boy was she surprised!! After the initial shock wore off we headed to dinner at the beach, came back and had cake. We hung out in our plush (FREE) hotel room for the rest of the evening.

Sunday-
We ate a fantastic continental breakfast at the Comfort Suites, packed our things and headed out to see the sand, where Karen, Sabrina and Sabrina's little boy Kaleb met us. We also had another surprise for Melanie- our friend Marianne drove in just for the day to spend her birthday on the beach with us! She was again, in shock! Saturday was Karen's birthday so I wanted to celebrate a little with her.... we had cupcakes on the beach, YUM!

We ended our trip with a late lunch to P.T.s Grill for some good greasy hamburgers and fries!

It was great to have a weekend that wasn't focused on wedding chores, but to focus on someone elses celebration instead!

Here's the only pictures I have from the weekend, hopefully more will surface on facebook soon!

Kaleb and Sabrina enjoying cupcakes on the beach to celebrate Karen's 24th!

Poppies Personalized Pumpkins

:-)

I saw these about a month ago when I was in Poppies (a monogram shop in Huntersville) and thought they were just the cutest things ever! After a month of mulling over the price of the larger one... I decided it was worth the splurge! $145 + tax + shipping later....... I will soon be the proud owner of a handmade pumpkin with "Horton" written in the mouth! It will sit on the bar at our wedding!!! :-)

The Anti Flower Girl Dress....

Last week sometime I saw a very pretty wedding featured on the Green Wedding Shoe Blog.... I followed over to the photographers website and left a comment asking where the little girls orange dress was from, hoping the bride would see. She did! Of course it's J Crew! I ventured over to the site, and it was on sale... but still $49... I emailed my sister and she got them! Now my two adorable nieces will be wearing these dresses on our wedding day!!



Want the dress for your little angel? Click here!

Those Shoes....

So last week I posted about the awesome little flats that Aeriel dug out of a box for me at the J Crew Yard Sale.... I finally got around to taking their picture :-) I want to wear them so bad, but I am pretty sure these are the shoes I am going to wear for the ceremony, so I'm saving them!

Extra, Extra Read All About It!!!!

We interrupt this normally wedding related blog to bring you this news....


I've lost 3 pounds!!!!!!!!


After my workout yesterday I reluctantly stepped on the scale in the women's bathroom. Last time I did this, my weight had not budged from 151, so I had not been wanting to get on the scale. I guess I just couldn't resist yesterday! I'm glad I saw 148 when I hopped on! Now I feel like all that sweat and exaustion is worth it!

My goal is to drop 7 pounds over the next 5.5 weeks... I will be down 10 pounds at the wedding, if I pull that off!

Breakfast today- Naked Juice and Oatmeal
Lunch today- Pimento Cheese Sandwich and Cottage Cheese

:-)

From Dad's View....

No, not my dad.... I would probably fall out if my dad had a clue what "blogging" meant!

I have been following August 15th bride..... well clearly, she is now married.... and her dad is blogging his persecption of the events.... please read this post of his....

Get In the Giving Spirit!

And no, I don't mean wedding gifts!

Head over here to read about how bad the Wake County Salvation Army needs our help! Take a moment, make a small (or large!) donation to help them get this building to look like this!

oh and....

I bought the coveted Martha Stewart glitter from Michaels to *bedazzle* some poor, innocent, mini pumpkins. Surprisingly, the glitter wasn't much differently priced than "regular" glitter.

Weekend Goodies, Part II

I did some serious wedding list checking-off yesterday!

Made some returns that I'd been meaning to do. Made a couple of trips to Target.

Got these for our guests rooms the night of the wedding.... they will be filled with bottled water, snacks and maybe a little candy :-)



Got these for the candy on our dessert table :-)



Got boutonniere pins, ribbon, pins for the guest book, clothespins for name tags/ place card makers, candy corn.... I got lots of things marked off my "to do list" and "to buy list"

:-)

Weekend Goodies!

Lots of stuff accomplished this weekend!

We got our invitation for our 3rd shower!! It's a NCSU tailgate theme!!! We are super excited :-)



We got our marriage license!

**Sorry No Pic**

Here's the wedding night outfit... isn't it crazy appropriate for our fall, rustic wedding!?!



Much more to come!! :-)

Lunch, Lunch, Lunch, Lunchy, Lunchy, Lunch!

After much debate over what to do for lunch on the big day, I finally made a decision. We are having boxed lunches catered and delivered to our hotel room from the same people that are doing our dinner! :-)

Yum!

ALL THE GREAT OPTIONS FOUND HERE!

Chop Chop

The hair is cut! WAHOO!!! :-)

On another note- I swung by the Victoria's Secret at Southpoint in Durham to pick up my wedding night outfit :-)

..... I saw it about a week ago when I was there, decided that I had a giftcard at home I wanted to use towards it, so I would just go get it from a store in the Charlotte area or online. Easier said than done. NO ONE had the outfit, nor is it available online. I finally called the Southpoint store on Tuesday in a panic, luckily, they still had it, and could hold it for me! I was super excited to get it yesterday, even if it did cost me a small fortune. I will post a picture of it soon! It's ivory, with an orange tie under the bust, and a gray design on the top.... pretty damn close to our wedding colors! :-) I love it!!!!

Hair... :-)

I will try and make this wedding related....

Finally, I will be going from this mange......


back to this, at 6:15 PM today.....


So that my hair will look like this for the wedding....


I got my hair and makeup trial with Elizabeth scheduled for September 1st! :-)

Identification....

Since our wedding party and family members don't know each other I thought it would be good to make name tags for the rehearsal dinner.... I found these, and thought they would be good to mark their seats at the reception too!

Found Here

Boudoir Sunday!

No Sleeping In... AGAIN!

I was up at 6:30 AM yesterday to hit the road with Aeriel again, but this time to BFE Louisburg for our outdoor boudoir sessions with April Sirit of Evoke (Aeriel's Photographer) and Ashley Stephenson of Story Photographers (My lovely Photographer!). We stopped to pick up my sister, and then on to the location. It was a beautiful piece of property outside of Louisburg.

I can never say enough good things about doing boudoirs. It's an out of body, freeing expereince that all women should experience. Everyone should have the opportunity to feel that amazing about themselves. After the last 6 weeks, of maybe having breast cancer, I wanted to celebrate the fact that my boobies are healthy. It's a liberating, empowering experience, that makes you proud to be a woman. Seriously- look into this ladies, it's not a cheap hobby- but well worth E.V.E.R.Y S.I.N.G.L.E P.E.N.N.Y!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You cannot put a price on the emotions this will evoke on you.

When I get my cd, I will be posting a picture or two here! I cannot wait to give these to Jeremy, he is going to flip!!! :-)


Ashley shooting me.... :-)
Photo courtesy of ElizabethTolley- via facebook..... best makeup/hair artist. Period.

Saturday.....

No sleeping in! I was up at 7 AM to hit the road with Aeriel up to Asheville for the J Crew Yard Sale! I went 2 months ago, and this time it was at least triple the size!!!! It took us 4 HOURS to go through all the boxes!!!!!! It was nuts, I thought for sure we'd be headed back to Charlotte by noon..... nope! We didn't get back to my house till almost 6 PM! I had to forgo my nail salon date with Melanie and go alone that night. Then off to target for some last minuet boudoir preparations!

I spent $121 at the J Crew Yard sale.... on this....

Blue Strapless Chiffon Dress
Grey sweater
2 White tank tops
Orange ruffly cardigan
Red sweatpants
Jeremy- black sweater
Jeremy- rusty red sweater
Jeremy- navy sweater
Jeremy- Corduroy pants
orange and white peep toe flats (which I may wear for the wedding!!)

and.....

GREY LEATHER KNEE HIGH BOOTS!!!!

Very successful shopping!!! :-)

Busy Busy Weekend..... Friday!

We'll start with Friday... since that's where the weekend starts! :-)

I have the lovely privilege of getting off work at 1 PM every Friday. So I left work, and rode up to Sertoma, for what was probably my last trip up there before the wedding. I met Kathy of Salem Kitchen to give her the tour, and let her know our setup. She was very helpful, and also informed me that we will need to get liability insurance for the wedding because we are serving our own alcohol, we'll also need a temporary alcohol license.... ugh.... more things to research and pay for.... if we'd used their alcohol and bartenders, they already have those things in place- but it's much more expensive.... :-(

I was amazed how clean camp was!!! :-)

Making a List, and checking it twice.....

Tomorrow afternoon I am off to Sertoma to meet with the caterer for a "walk through". This will also probably be my last chance to go up there before the wedding weekend! I needed to make a list of things to do, see, ect.

1. Take lots of pictures of the rec hall rafters, to plan how to hand the lit wreaths.
2. Seek out "loveseat size" benches, for our parents to sit on for the ceremony, and us at the reception.
3. Count the benches.
4. Seek out sofa tables to be placed at the back of the ceremony site for spigot jars and programs.
5. Inspect hotel rooms, and decide which one will be used for getting dressed.
6. Take pictures of the computer room aka the kids playroom
7. Let caterer know about the "board room" that will be used for the vendors dinner.
8. Discuss the possibility of doing boxed lunches the day of the wedding, and possible delivery of them?
9. Inspect camp store, for storing ice cream and flowers
10. Ask about getting several extra gallons of tea for the spigot jars.

This will be us soon!!!!!
(photo from Rodney and Susan's wedding in May)

Preparation....

has begun for this Sunday.... Boudoir Shoot #2 with Ashley of Story Photographers!

I have a few last minute errands to run to get all my supplies for the shoot, and gotta get my nails done on Saturday :-)

I cannot even begin to explain my excitement! We are shooting out in a big field, with tall grass and a pond :-) I look forward to feeling super hott again!

Holy Honeymoon!

Jeremy's parents informed us last night, they are paying for our honeymoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's their gift to us, holy crap! Just so you know.... that's like $4k! I can't believe it, we're in shock!!!

G-Chat with the almost hubby...

me: ugh finished all 29 thank you notes for yesterday

you owe me

Sent at 3:40 PM on Monday

Jeremy: i love you

me: you owe me

Jeremy: i love you

me: you owe me

Jeremy: i love you

me: I KNOW YOU LOVE ME

Jeremy: hahaa

me: YOU ALSO OWE ME

Jeremy: maybe one of these days i'll take you out for a treat

me: 29 thank you notes = serious hand cramppage

Jeremy: haha

me: yeah you owe me a treat, and scrubbing our bathtub

Jeremy: :-)

me: and just so we are clear a treat = del friscos or something similar

Sent at 4:02 PM on Monday

Jeremy: WHOA WHOA WHOA

it might be wendy's

me: I call bullshit

Another Busy Weekend!

Saturday- Olivia's 7th Birthday Party :-)
Decorating Cupcakes




Opening Presents



Sunday- Newton Shower :-)
All the yummy homemade goodies :-)


Presents! We got so many beautiful things, that I had to leave 1/2 of them at Dad's house!

Financial Advice

Advice about affording your wedding.....

If you are 6-12 months out from your big day, consider doing what we did..... I had a chunk of money that two weeks before we were engaged, I had stuck in a CD with Wachovia. I lucked out and stuck it in there just before interest rates plummeted, and managed to secure a 4.25% rate. That CD is about to mature in 2 weeks. I have made about $1000 just letting that cash sit there! This will help us out a bunch when it comes to write those big checks in a few short weeks!

You do normally have to have a minimum of several thousand dollars to be able to open one. DO YOUR RESARCH ON RATES! Don't think that YOUR bank has the best rate. I surely didn't shop around last year, I just stuck it in Wachovia bc that is who I bank with. I have been looking around lately to see who has the best rate so that I can stick out "leftovers" after the wedding back in a CD. Currently Citi Bank has the highest rates... just over 2%..... not great, but better than nothing!

Check out high interest checking accounts (I have a checking acct with Allegacy Federal Credit Union that pays out 6% when you complete certain tasks each month... they are simple too!)

Check out money market accounts too, if you think you'll be needing to pull money out periodically.

There are so many options out there, just do some research! It will pay you back!

Dropped $549.97 like a rich girl....

I bought all our flowers yesterday. ALL. OUR. FLOWERS. The rational side of me says "Oh my Jesus, you are a MORON! You just spent twice your car payment on something that will be dead, and in the trash only days after you receive it!" Then the other side of me says.... "Eh, they're pretty :-)"

I went with pretty.

I purchased 300 white tulips, 100 orange tulips, and 25 white calla lillies. Plenty of flowers for the girls to carry, me to carry, the guys to wear, and to decorate the tables with.

Backtracking....

.....A couple of days so that I can show you a few more photos from my WONDERFUL girls weekend!!!! :-)

Me and BM Karen :-)


FSIL and FMIL (and future niece, if we're being technical!)


Me and my sister, and MOH Jenny, before going out!


All of us!


At dinner!


Shower Time


My nieces arrived home from the beach right as the shower was ending


My BM's and I after the shower

And..... They're Off!

The invitations I have slaved over for weeks and months.... they got dumped in the big, blue mailbox at the post office today! I guess it's for real now.... their will actually be guests showing up on October 3rd!!

Thank You Thank You Thank You

The writing of the Thank You notes has begun! What a daunting task.... but I am knocking it out like a champ!

Post 2 of Today....

Today marks the 2 month mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-)

The Best Weekend Ever!

I cannot begin to express how lucky I am to have amazing girlfriends. We all came together this weekend for some good 'ole girl fun, with a little bit of wedding stuff mixed in! It was like being 10 years old at your birthday party sleepover. I only took one picture all weekend (but don't worry, they took TONS! As soon as the shufferfly account is created I'll post pics from it!) my one picture was of my packed car before I left my sister's house yesterday......




I am so blessed to have so many people who care about me. I cannot even put my feelings for all of you into words. Thank you so much for your time and generosity, you'll never know how much I appreciate it all.