I received an email yesterday from our videographer saying that the trailer for our wedding video was up and the whole thing would be complete next week. I was so excited considering after getting our pictures back from our photographers, we were a little disappointed. Partially our fault for being a little too caught up in the moment and not making sure we got shots we really wanted, partially their fault for doing next to no editing and almost strictly shots from a distance.
We watched the trailer and and absolutely loved it. If the whole video is seriously anything like the trailer it will be exactly what we wanted. After watching it repeatedly throughout the day and night Mike and I decided to share with anyone who cared to see.
By the way, our videographer was awesome. I seriously wish I had booked her before the photographers, because she does both photos and video with her fiance, and I would have had her do both. If you are in the Lake George/Albany area and getting married, seriously book LaRose Media.
We got to choose five songs plus our first dance song to have incorporated into the video. I can't even get over the song she chose for the trailer. Just perfect. We love it! Haha. And I have no idea how I did those high knees during Double Dutch in my 5 inch heels without breaking an ankle. Okay, here it is!
Rachel + Mike Trailer from LaRose Media on Vimeo.
So much fun to watch this over and over again and relive our wedding. I'll probably do the same with the full video when it gets here. Best night of my life!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
Little Squirrel
Yesterday while working in the backyard, out of the corner of his eye Mike noticed something fall out of one of our trees. He walked over to investigate and found a young squirrel lying on the ground, unmoving and barely breathing. Being the animal lovers that we are, I was determined to help it. I immediately made my way to the computer and began looking up wildlife centers that would accept injured squirrels. Of course, it had closed 15 minutes before the squirrel had fallen out of the tree.
I did some more research to see if there was anything we could do to try to help it until the center opened back up this morning. The squirrel still wasn't moving, and wasn't making any distress noises, which wasn't a good sign. There was also blood around it's mouth and on it's chin, like it had landed mostly on it's face or head. Mike wasn't convinced the squirrel was going to live, and honestly, I didn't either, but I had to try.
I sent Mike to grab a cardboard box while I went inside and grabbed some old pillowcases we had lying around to line the box with. (By the way, if you ever have to save a little squirrel, don't put towels in the box. Their nails get caught in the loops in the fabric and they can break toe nails and toes if they get caught during a panic.) He carefully picked up the squirrel and put it into the box before we carried it into the garage.
Apparently when young squirrels fall out of trees, they can go into shock even if they aren't really injured, and this lowers their body temperatures. I filled up a large water bottle with warm water and wrapped it in another old pillowcase and placed it on one side of the box to provide heat for the squirrel to keep it's body temperature up and hopefully eliminate the shock. Not wanting to stress it out anymore than necessary, we put the box in the garage for the night, since it was really our only dark quiet place to keep it.
I knew enough not to feed the squirrel or give it anything to drink since all wild animals have very strict diets and any variation in that diet can kill them. Instead I spent my night checking on the squirrel every hour until bed, making sure it was still breathing and the water bottle was warm, replacing it if it wasn't. It's safe to say I didn't get much sleep last night because I was either worrying about the squirrel or downstairs checking on it.
It spent the whole evening and night curled up in a little ball next to the water bottle. It wasn't moving much, but it was alive and that gave me hope when I headed to bed. When I checked on it again this morning it was much more alert which was amazing to see. It started climbing up onto the water bottle and moving around the box when I was around.
As soon as the center was open I prepared the squirrel for transport. When I did that, it started moving around the box, trying to climb out the sides, and chirping in distress. I know that it definitely had a jaw injury of some sort because it's chirping was really quiet and it wasn't opening it's mouth at all, but hopefully that's something the vet at the wildlife center can fix. I also noticed it was holding it's left front paw a little strange as it moved around, so it might have injured that as well. I dropped it off this morning at the wildlife center, giving it it's best chance to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.
I actually cried a little after I left, because Little Squirrel (as I started calling it last night) was just too cute. I mean, how could you resist helping this little guy (or girl - no idea)?
I don't care if some people think they are pests or don't like them. They are a living being and deserve every chance to live their lives just like we do. I don't care what kind of animal I find injured in my backyard, I'm going to do whatever I can to help it. I don't know how injured this squirrel was, but I'm going to believe that it'll be rehabilitated and then released into the wild to live a long happy life.
Update: We received a card in the mail from the Wildlife Center that told us that Little Squirrel had been fully rehabilitated and released back into the wild! The center backs up to a state park, so there is plenty of safe space for Little Squirrel to make it's home!
I did some more research to see if there was anything we could do to try to help it until the center opened back up this morning. The squirrel still wasn't moving, and wasn't making any distress noises, which wasn't a good sign. There was also blood around it's mouth and on it's chin, like it had landed mostly on it's face or head. Mike wasn't convinced the squirrel was going to live, and honestly, I didn't either, but I had to try.
I sent Mike to grab a cardboard box while I went inside and grabbed some old pillowcases we had lying around to line the box with. (By the way, if you ever have to save a little squirrel, don't put towels in the box. Their nails get caught in the loops in the fabric and they can break toe nails and toes if they get caught during a panic.) He carefully picked up the squirrel and put it into the box before we carried it into the garage.
Apparently when young squirrels fall out of trees, they can go into shock even if they aren't really injured, and this lowers their body temperatures. I filled up a large water bottle with warm water and wrapped it in another old pillowcase and placed it on one side of the box to provide heat for the squirrel to keep it's body temperature up and hopefully eliminate the shock. Not wanting to stress it out anymore than necessary, we put the box in the garage for the night, since it was really our only dark quiet place to keep it.
I knew enough not to feed the squirrel or give it anything to drink since all wild animals have very strict diets and any variation in that diet can kill them. Instead I spent my night checking on the squirrel every hour until bed, making sure it was still breathing and the water bottle was warm, replacing it if it wasn't. It's safe to say I didn't get much sleep last night because I was either worrying about the squirrel or downstairs checking on it.
It spent the whole evening and night curled up in a little ball next to the water bottle. It wasn't moving much, but it was alive and that gave me hope when I headed to bed. When I checked on it again this morning it was much more alert which was amazing to see. It started climbing up onto the water bottle and moving around the box when I was around.
As soon as the center was open I prepared the squirrel for transport. When I did that, it started moving around the box, trying to climb out the sides, and chirping in distress. I know that it definitely had a jaw injury of some sort because it's chirping was really quiet and it wasn't opening it's mouth at all, but hopefully that's something the vet at the wildlife center can fix. I also noticed it was holding it's left front paw a little strange as it moved around, so it might have injured that as well. I dropped it off this morning at the wildlife center, giving it it's best chance to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.
I actually cried a little after I left, because Little Squirrel (as I started calling it last night) was just too cute. I mean, how could you resist helping this little guy (or girl - no idea)?
I don't care if some people think they are pests or don't like them. They are a living being and deserve every chance to live their lives just like we do. I don't care what kind of animal I find injured in my backyard, I'm going to do whatever I can to help it. I don't know how injured this squirrel was, but I'm going to believe that it'll be rehabilitated and then released into the wild to live a long happy life.
Update: We received a card in the mail from the Wildlife Center that told us that Little Squirrel had been fully rehabilitated and released back into the wild! The center backs up to a state park, so there is plenty of safe space for Little Squirrel to make it's home!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Aruba!
So we left for our honeymoon the Monday after the wedding and went to Aruba. We were originally thinking Barbados, but it was so difficult to fly in and out of from the airport closest to Lake George. Also, summer is hurricane season in the Caribbean, but Aruba lies just outside that area so we wouldn't have to worry about a hurricane blowing up on us. The fact that we could skip all-inclusive and get some culture in Aruba, while also being able to drink water from the tap also aided in our decision to choose Aruba instead.
We landed in Aruba in the afternoon so we had enough time to kind of wander around the hotel and the beach area to check it out before heading to dinner. We found a tapas place for a pretty good first dinner. After we finished eating we walked through the rest of the shops and restaurants to scout out where the rest of our meals would come from.
We spent the first two full days in Aruba just laying out by the water. It was so nice to finally not have anything to do, that I wasn't in a rush to do much exploring. We did learn pretty quickly that it's windy in Aruba. Not sure if that's the case all the time, but I had read that there could be some pop up weather due to it being hurricane season in most of the Caribbean, so maybe the wind was a product of that.
The first day we chose to lay on the beach, and that wasn't the best idea we've ever had. Every time a wind gust picked up we would just get railed with sand which hurt like a bitch. We learned our lesson and spent the rest of the time claiming chairs by the pool where the hotel blocked some of the wind, there was no sand, and the ocean was still next to us when we needed to cool down.
The only other thing I noticed and thought was a little strange was the complete lack of waves, even with the wind. Seriously, waves were just non-existent. The water was definitely a little colder than I was expecting considering we were almost in South America while in Aruba, but not cold enough to keep me out. In fact, it felt nice to hop into the water while the sun was beating down on us all day.
On Thursday Mike and I decided to take a trip out to De Palm Island for an all-inclusive 8 hour all you can eat, drink, and snorkel trip. We hopped on the bus, took the ferry, and spent all morning and afternoon laying on the beach on the island and snorkeling. I had only been snorkeling once in Mexico, and it was horrible, so I was really looking forward to seeing what Aruba had to offer. It was amazing. Mike and I were in the water three different times for at least half an hour each time. The place even offered food you could buy for the fish. We didn't buy any, but enough people did that we got to experience the swarm of fish suddenly surrounding us.
There was also a small water park on the island so we spent some time hanging out there. I'm not a big water slide person, so I just sat in the shallow end catching some sun while staying cool while Mike did work alongside the rest of the 8 year old kids there, haha! We also found a ping pong table going unused, and went to town. I'd never really played before, and Mike is a master at the game, so we were just playing for fun.....until I realized that I was pretty good for a first timer. I'm pretty dead set on buying a ping pong table for our place now.
Friday we decided to explore the downtown area of Aruba. We hopped in a cab which dropped us off and grabbed lunch at a place he suggested. That was where we discovered papaya hot sauce. I've got to admit, I'm not a big fan of spicy things, but holy cow is this stuff good. Mike hightailed it to a grocery store to buy a bottle to bring home immediately. We picked up a couple of souvenirs before heading back to the hotel.
Saturday was our last day so we spent that sitting by the pool and hanging out in the ocean enjoying our last day of zero responsibility. By Sunday afternoon we were on a plane headed back to NY with a 17 hour drive from there to St. Louis looming ahead of us. As much fun as the honeymoon was (and relaxing), it was good to be back in the states, and especially to see Bauer again! He however was much less excited to see us. While Mike got some attention he literally refused to come see me the entire night after we got back. Guess he was kind of pissed, haha. By the next day he was back to giving me hugs and cuddling up after getting over his anger at being ditched, even if he got to spend the entire week with his best friend Nash.
I would definitely recommend Aruba, and not going all-inclusive (um, liquor is so cheap at Duty Free there!) so you can experience everything the island has to offer. As long as you can tolerate the wind unlike one woman we heard saying she would never go back. Here's some more pictures from the honeymoon.....
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| The view that greeted us from our balcony |
We landed in Aruba in the afternoon so we had enough time to kind of wander around the hotel and the beach area to check it out before heading to dinner. We found a tapas place for a pretty good first dinner. After we finished eating we walked through the rest of the shops and restaurants to scout out where the rest of our meals would come from.
We spent the first two full days in Aruba just laying out by the water. It was so nice to finally not have anything to do, that I wasn't in a rush to do much exploring. We did learn pretty quickly that it's windy in Aruba. Not sure if that's the case all the time, but I had read that there could be some pop up weather due to it being hurricane season in most of the Caribbean, so maybe the wind was a product of that.
The first day we chose to lay on the beach, and that wasn't the best idea we've ever had. Every time a wind gust picked up we would just get railed with sand which hurt like a bitch. We learned our lesson and spent the rest of the time claiming chairs by the pool where the hotel blocked some of the wind, there was no sand, and the ocean was still next to us when we needed to cool down.
The only other thing I noticed and thought was a little strange was the complete lack of waves, even with the wind. Seriously, waves were just non-existent. The water was definitely a little colder than I was expecting considering we were almost in South America while in Aruba, but not cold enough to keep me out. In fact, it felt nice to hop into the water while the sun was beating down on us all day.
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| See? No waves. |
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| Hellos! |
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| Loved our underwater camera |
There was also a small water park on the island so we spent some time hanging out there. I'm not a big water slide person, so I just sat in the shallow end catching some sun while staying cool while Mike did work alongside the rest of the 8 year old kids there, haha! We also found a ping pong table going unused, and went to town. I'd never really played before, and Mike is a master at the game, so we were just playing for fun.....until I realized that I was pretty good for a first timer. I'm pretty dead set on buying a ping pong table for our place now.
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| At the water park |
Friday we decided to explore the downtown area of Aruba. We hopped in a cab which dropped us off and grabbed lunch at a place he suggested. That was where we discovered papaya hot sauce. I've got to admit, I'm not a big fan of spicy things, but holy cow is this stuff good. Mike hightailed it to a grocery store to buy a bottle to bring home immediately. We picked up a couple of souvenirs before heading back to the hotel.
Saturday was our last day so we spent that sitting by the pool and hanging out in the ocean enjoying our last day of zero responsibility. By Sunday afternoon we were on a plane headed back to NY with a 17 hour drive from there to St. Louis looming ahead of us. As much fun as the honeymoon was (and relaxing), it was good to be back in the states, and especially to see Bauer again! He however was much less excited to see us. While Mike got some attention he literally refused to come see me the entire night after we got back. Guess he was kind of pissed, haha. By the next day he was back to giving me hugs and cuddling up after getting over his anger at being ditched, even if he got to spend the entire week with his best friend Nash.
I would definitely recommend Aruba, and not going all-inclusive (um, liquor is so cheap at Duty Free there!) so you can experience everything the island has to offer. As long as you can tolerate the wind unlike one woman we heard saying she would never go back. Here's some more pictures from the honeymoon.....
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| There were lizards all over the place down there. I think they're so cute! |
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| In downtown |
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| So sad that places like this need Pizza Huts to please tourists - Branch out people! |
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| Not terribly afraid of people |
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| Saw these guys all over the rocky areas |
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| Sunset from the balcony |
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Wedding Day!
I woke up on the morning of June 30, 2012 and immediately started crying. I'm already typically an emotional wreck, and realizing it was my wedding day took a toll the second I turned off my alarm. Having to stop myself from turning into a blubbering idiot was an overriding theme of the day. My hair and makeup girl showed up at 9 am followed closely by my bridesmaids and my wedding day officially got going.
Everyone talks about nerves and such on your wedding day, but I wasn't feeling it. I was just really excited. Then, I was getting my hair and makeup done around 1:30 that afternoon. Most of my bridesmaids were taking care of making sure the reception area was set up and I was in the room with just one bridesmaid and the girl doing my hair and makeup. It was quiet in the room for the first time when suddenly it hit. My stomach started to tie itself in knots, and my heart started racing. No cold feet for me, but I started to panic about whether Mike would like the dress, my hair, and my makeup. I mean, I couldn't look like shit on the most important day of my life! Thankfully the girls calmed me down and the day resumed.
Of course just after my hair and makeup finishes a couple of the ushers came by to take my stuff up to the room Mike and I would share that night and bring Mike's note and present to me, and pick up my note and presents for him. While my note was written on lined notebook paper, because that's all I had access to the night before, Mike had to one-up me (so typical, haha). They handed me our iPad, which Mike had recorded a video on the night before as his "note". I cried my eyes out listening to what he had to say, and work on a bridesmaids hair had to come to a halt for a makeup fix.
Later I was dressed and ready to go and it was wedding time. It felt like an eternity that I was hidden in a room while everyone else walked down the aisle. Finally it was time, and off I went. He'll probably kill me for saying this, but Mike made me cry when he started to tear up as I got to him. Thankfully I held it together enough to get through most of the ceremony, up until vow time. I'd started to tear up listening to Mike say his, but when it was my turn I literally had to pause halfway through for a moment because I was on the verge of a total breakdown. I made it through better than I expected, which was awesome, but I don't think I heard a single thing our officiant said. I was too busy grinning like an idiot at Mike and forcing myself to hold the tears in.
We were then officially married and got to spend the rest of the night celebrating with our closest friends and family. Unfortunately last minute a few couldn't make the trip for the wedding. One guy couldn't get clearance by his doctor to travel after hitting a deer on his motorcycle the previous month and flying a nice 100 yards down the road. One of Mike's groomsmen also couldn't make it because his wife gave birth the night before. Thankfully one of our ushers stepped up and filled in.
Towards the end of the night something really awesome happened. Turned out there were fireworks over Lake George that night. It was unexpected and I found out about it only the night before. My dad joked that he spared no expense for the wedding, but it was amazing to be able to enjoy those before the party ended.
For the record, I highly recommend using music from the Vitamin String Quartet for pre-ceremony, ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner music. We received so many comments on how awesome it was to listen to. If you don't know, VSQ does orchestral versions of modern mostly rock songs. People had a blast trying to pick out what all the songs were. Since Mike and I don't agree on music most of the time this was a great choice for us. We chose mostly 90's to early 00's music from bands like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Coheed and Cambria, etc.
Our music lineup (all Vitamin String Quartet covers) went like this:
Parents and groom entrance for ceremony - "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac
Wedding Party entrance - "Soul to Squeeze" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
My entrance - "Beautiful Day" by U2
Recessional - "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins
When we made our entrance to the reception we wanted to choose something that would typically be played at a hockey game for a team's entrance, because let's be honest, hockey runs our lives. We chose AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" the real version. Our first dance was to "Stuck on You" by Failure. Not exactly first dance material, but it's our song and our wedding, so we did what we wanted, decent first dance be damned, haha. People spent all night saying how "us" the music selection was.
We haven't gotten any of our professional photos or video yet, but received so many amazing pictures from friends and family. I figured I'd throw some of those in here and put up some of my favorite shots from the photographers later on when I get them. Before I do I just wanted to throw out a big thank you to everyone who sent either of us messages wishing us good luck and congrats. It means so much to us to see all the support from family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike. I'm the happiest I've ever been right now and looking forward to what the future for us holds. Thanks again!
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| Sign outside of our reception room |
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| Reception room - view of Lake George and surrounding mountains out windows |
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| Close up of table settings (annoyed that ribbon came off my favor box) |
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| Cake! |
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| Just pronounced husband and wife |
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| First kiss! |
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| Married! |
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| Wedding Party (3 guys on left were ushers) |
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| Love this photo of ring bearer and flower girls |
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| First dance |
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| Double Dutch ropes |
Friday, July 13, 2012
Wedding Week
It's official, I'm a married woman! Before I get into the wedding itself, there were so many other things to talk about. Due to the fact that about 90% of our guests were from out of town, we ended up not just having a wedding day, but a wedding week! It was awesome to spend so much time with our friends and family.
Mike, his parents, Bauer, and I hopped in the car early Saturday morning on June 23 and made the 17 hour drive from St. Louis to Lake George. We all stayed with my parents, and while everyone was happy to see each other, I don't think anyone was happier than Nash, my parents' dog, who hadn't seen his best friend Bauer in two months!
On Sunday I took my last opportunity to relax. I wasn't going to have a day without something to do until a week and two days from then. I probably could have gotten some things done that day, and it probably would have made my life a little bit easier that week, but I saw a break and took it!
On Monday Mike's best man and an usher-turned-groomsman got into town. First thing was first though, we had to get our marriage license. After we finished that we picked them up at the airport, and spent the day giving them a little tour of Lake George.
Tuesday Mike played some golf with the guys and then we did the last minute running around taking care of final payments for vendors and such. Then we went out for a nice dinner at one of our favorite spots in Lake George, George's. It was an early night for us then because we had a really full next few days.
I spent all morning Wednesday baking four Gooey Butter Cakes, because I had decided at some point before the stress had kicked in that it was a good idea to give out homemade Gooey Butter Cake as favors to the guests at the wedding, along with the mini champagne bottles we had ordered. Then I had to run down to the airport to pick up one of my bridesmaids and then pick up my wedding dress. Due to my bridesmaids dresses not getting in until the previous Friday, my two out of town bridesmaids couldn't have their dresses shipped to them and get fitted in time. After picking up my bridesmaid I had to run to the dress shop to get her dress along with the dress of the bridesmaid arriving the next morning. We headed straight to the seamstress's house for a fitting a mere three days before the wedding. From there we headed straight to a local park where Mike and I were holding a meet and greet barbecue for all the guests who were in town already. Fours hours mingling in the park was followed up with some Martha's Ice Cream for those from St. Louis who had never had flavored soft serve before. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with friends in Lake George.
Thursday was another busy one. It was bachelor/bachelorette party day and Mike had a mini golf tournament set up for the guys in the morning. I had to meet my other out of town bridesmaid early that morning so I could get her to a fitting only two days before the wedding for her dress. I was in serious doubt that the dresses would be done on time, and fit well. When that was over I had to head back home and make four more Gooey Butter Cakes. In the afternoon my maid of honor picked me up and all my bridesmaids and I spent the afternoon laying by the lake. Then it was time for the bachelor/bachelorette parties! Mike and his group stayed in Lake George while the ladies and I went to Saratoga for the night. After dinner we ended up at a drag show where I was pulled on stage, but thankfully didn't get too embarrassed. After the show we continued to bar hop until our ride came. On the way back I let Mike know we were headed home, and he insisted on all of the girls meeting the guys out. Not a typical end to the whole separate bachelor/bachelorette parties, but it was a really fun end to the night.
On Friday the girls all came over and helped me slice up, box up, and attach ribbons and seals to the cake favor boxes while Mike went on an hour steamboat ride with his side of the family. After that was done Mike and I had to pack up bags for the next two nights because we'd been staying with my parents up to this point. Then we had to get all of the favors, centerpiece parts, seating charts, etc. up to the wedding location. After checking in to separate rooms at the hotel, Mike and I met up with everyone for rehearsal and then dinner afterwards. After dinner ended we decided to meet up with everyone in town and hang out the rest of the night with them. We ended up finishing our night off at an arcade taking over skee-ball.
After exchanging our won tickets for really ridiculous things we didn't need Mike and I said our goodnights and headed back to the hotel. It was really strange to have him walking me to my door only to leave to head to his own room. I mean, we've been living together for 6 years, so this was a new thing for us. The second the door closed I started to cry. It finally kind of hit that I was going to be married the next day. I spent the next few hours struggling to fall asleep, and eventually gave up and watched a late night playing of Super Troopers on Comedy Central.
And that's how I spent my week leading up to the wedding. It was busy. It was stressful. It was fun. It was probably the best week of my life. Check back in a day or two for a blog about the wedding, complete with pictures some of the guests took! Still just dying in anticipation for the pro photos and wedding video.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wedding Stress
Yikes, it's been forever and a day since I've posted! I can't lie. I've been living, breathing wedding planning since I got back to St. Louis in April. It's all I've done it feels like. I honestly have dreams about the wedding every single night. Sometimes more than one dream. No, I'm not making that up. And then when I finally wake up, even after a non-wedding dream, my brain goes straight to thinking about the wedding.
Are the centerpiece vases going to be on time?
Can the DJ find the kind of obscure songs we really really want to have played?
Will the bridesmaids dresses EVER show up? (More on that later)
How come a whole third of our guest list didn't RSVP?
What the hell am I going to get my flower girls and ring bearer?
Even worse, what the hell am I going to get Mike?!
I've been using multiple checklists to make sure that I get everything done, and finally got sick of going from one to the next to the next. I wrote down all the things that are left that need to be done and when they need to be done by. After the hours I've spent working on things today I've got 41 things left to check off. And I'm going out of town for an entire week starting on Sunday. The worst part? None of it is procrastinated! I still have no idea why I chose to plan this entire wedding completely on my own, especially when my Maid of Honor's step mom is a wedding planner. Seriously. Call me an idiot, it's fine.
Most of the planning has thankfully gone off with no issues. That is until the time the bridesmaid dresses were supposed to come in. And they didn't show. The next day, not there. The day after that, still not there. Come to find out, the shop kind of "forgot" to tell me the shipping date had changed to two weeks later. Okay, I can deal. Until the shop then "forgot" to mention that the two dresses that have to get shipped to out of town bridesmaids are going to be an extra shipping charge for those girls. I'm sorry, I remember asking about that and being told there wasn't a shipping charge. I may or may not have called the girl on the phone a liar. Now there are backups from the designer themselves and the dresses won't be into the store until two weeks after the newly updated date. Then they still have to ship the dresses to my out of town girls. And that's as long as the date the store was given by the designer is accurate and not delayed again. I hope there are some ultra fast seamstresses around.
I'm just really over the whole having to worry and plan and think about the wedding stuff at this point. I was having fun with it until about a month ago when things just seemed to start piling up. I've spent hours upon hours the past few weeks and I feel like I've accomplished nothing. Thankfully I can look at my checklist and see that many of my 41 things left to do are simple things like confirming with vendors, or going to my final dress fitting that is already scheduled.
I'm just glad I had a nice reprieve over the weekend for my birthday. Saturday was my official birthday but I got kind of a whole weekend out of it, which was awesome. On Friday Mike took me shopping and then out to dinner at Sidney Street Cafe in Benton Park for my first time. Service was a little slow, but the food was absolutely incredible. Then we met up with a few friends for drinks outside on the patio at Molly's in Soulard. On Saturday we met up with another couple and visited a couple wineries, just spending the day sipping vino, sitting outside, and talking. I spent most of Sunday in recovery mode taking a nap by the pool.
I'm not sure when I'll post again. Like I said, I have a one track mind right now. Most likely it'll be after my honeymoon in Aruba. Until then, happy summer everyone!
Are the centerpiece vases going to be on time?
Can the DJ find the kind of obscure songs we really really want to have played?
Will the bridesmaids dresses EVER show up? (More on that later)
How come a whole third of our guest list didn't RSVP?
What the hell am I going to get my flower girls and ring bearer?
Even worse, what the hell am I going to get Mike?!
I've been using multiple checklists to make sure that I get everything done, and finally got sick of going from one to the next to the next. I wrote down all the things that are left that need to be done and when they need to be done by. After the hours I've spent working on things today I've got 41 things left to check off. And I'm going out of town for an entire week starting on Sunday. The worst part? None of it is procrastinated! I still have no idea why I chose to plan this entire wedding completely on my own, especially when my Maid of Honor's step mom is a wedding planner. Seriously. Call me an idiot, it's fine.
Most of the planning has thankfully gone off with no issues. That is until the time the bridesmaid dresses were supposed to come in. And they didn't show. The next day, not there. The day after that, still not there. Come to find out, the shop kind of "forgot" to tell me the shipping date had changed to two weeks later. Okay, I can deal. Until the shop then "forgot" to mention that the two dresses that have to get shipped to out of town bridesmaids are going to be an extra shipping charge for those girls. I'm sorry, I remember asking about that and being told there wasn't a shipping charge. I may or may not have called the girl on the phone a liar. Now there are backups from the designer themselves and the dresses won't be into the store until two weeks after the newly updated date. Then they still have to ship the dresses to my out of town girls. And that's as long as the date the store was given by the designer is accurate and not delayed again. I hope there are some ultra fast seamstresses around.
I'm just really over the whole having to worry and plan and think about the wedding stuff at this point. I was having fun with it until about a month ago when things just seemed to start piling up. I've spent hours upon hours the past few weeks and I feel like I've accomplished nothing. Thankfully I can look at my checklist and see that many of my 41 things left to do are simple things like confirming with vendors, or going to my final dress fitting that is already scheduled.
I'm just glad I had a nice reprieve over the weekend for my birthday. Saturday was my official birthday but I got kind of a whole weekend out of it, which was awesome. On Friday Mike took me shopping and then out to dinner at Sidney Street Cafe in Benton Park for my first time. Service was a little slow, but the food was absolutely incredible. Then we met up with a few friends for drinks outside on the patio at Molly's in Soulard. On Saturday we met up with another couple and visited a couple wineries, just spending the day sipping vino, sitting outside, and talking. I spent most of Sunday in recovery mode taking a nap by the pool.
I'm not sure when I'll post again. Like I said, I have a one track mind right now. Most likely it'll be after my honeymoon in Aruba. Until then, happy summer everyone!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Disasters Averted
Oh my, it's been a while. I came up with like 50 great ideas for blog posts while laying in bed falling asleep only to have forgotten them in the morning. Then when awake the only things I could think about writing about were not things I was really looking to share with the general public. Some stuff has to remain family and friends only, ya know?
Things are really starting to speed up lately and I feel like I just don't have enough time, which is so not true. If you follow me on twitter at all you know that two weeks ago I was dog-sitting my parents' dog, Nash while they were on a cruise. Nash and Bauer are absolutely best friends so it was non-stop playing for 10 days. Bauer's kind of a lazy guy. He enjoys his naps. Nash on the other hand is hyper-energetic and kept me on the go more than I'm used to. It was okay though, I think the dogs had a blast seeing each other for so long.
The day Nash went home I had planned on cleaning, but was so tired I decided just to paint my nails and catch up on TV instead. Then Mike came home from a road game at 8:00 that night and informed me that the team was coming over the next afternoon for a BBQ. My reaction was: I'm sorry, what?! Let's just say I did a superficial cleaning job to get ready. Usually I hate hosting and asking people to bring things, but with the late notice there was just no way I could whip up enough food to feed a hockey team. Of course, asking the guys to bring a side dish resulted in half a dozen different bags of chips with just a salad and a pasta salad that lasted about 5 minutes each as side dishes. I was so busy just getting things out on the table I nearly missed out on the meat. 10 pounds gone in about 10 minutes. Oy. At least the weather was nice and it seemed like everyone had fun.
Then the wedding stresses started. Basically all on the same day I realized that I hadn't heard back from our not even confirmed officiant in almost 2 weeks. Not good. Then I got a phone call from my mom that the rehearsal dinner venue had literally closed down and disappeared overnight. When I say disappeared I mean signs down, phones disconnected, website shut down, restaurant cleaned out disappeared. No notice, no phone call, no email, nothing. Thanks, guys! Then the bridesmaids dresses arrival date was 3 weeks later than I was originally told it would be leaving them a really tight schedule to get alterations done. And the store doesn't do alterations anymore so they'll have to find someplace else to go to get them done. And I still have to supply a wedding shower guest list to my friend who is hosting my St. Louis shower. Also, can't forget that I need to get 100-something invitations assembled and addressed to send out in the next week. Lastly, I have a phone that seems to not want to stay connected on a phone call for longer than 5 minutes, which isn't helping.
I mean, seriously, all at the same time?! I literally sat on the couch and started to cry as the hits all came. Then I got pissed and took Bauer out for a jog to relieve the stress. Well, a jog is what I meant to do. I ended up sprinting in anger and was literally dragging Bauer by the leash towards the end. I didn't even realize it until I'd run myself right into the beginning of an asthma attack. Kind of felt like an idiot bent over and wheezing in the middle of the sidewalk trying not to let the attack get full blown while my neighbors stared at me with no offer of help.
It was the first time I felt stressed, like really stressed, over the wedding. Up until that point things had worked out pretty perfectly. I didn't know what I was going to do. Then in a matter of two days I got in touch with the officiant, found a rehearsal dinner venue, and got a call that my dress is in. Disasters averted. Funny how things work out sometimes.
My stress is done.....mostly. I still have things I need to squeeze in in the last few weeks I'm in NY. I've got things going on here in Binghamton to take care of before we leave. I just can't believe where all the time has gone. I can't believe the season is almost over. Has 6 months really gone by that quickly? Is the wedding really as close as it is? Don't expect a lot of updates in the next few months. I've got a crazy amount of things on my plate. Hopefully when I do get a chance to update I won't have any more freak outs to report.
Things are really starting to speed up lately and I feel like I just don't have enough time, which is so not true. If you follow me on twitter at all you know that two weeks ago I was dog-sitting my parents' dog, Nash while they were on a cruise. Nash and Bauer are absolutely best friends so it was non-stop playing for 10 days. Bauer's kind of a lazy guy. He enjoys his naps. Nash on the other hand is hyper-energetic and kept me on the go more than I'm used to. It was okay though, I think the dogs had a blast seeing each other for so long.
The day Nash went home I had planned on cleaning, but was so tired I decided just to paint my nails and catch up on TV instead. Then Mike came home from a road game at 8:00 that night and informed me that the team was coming over the next afternoon for a BBQ. My reaction was: I'm sorry, what?! Let's just say I did a superficial cleaning job to get ready. Usually I hate hosting and asking people to bring things, but with the late notice there was just no way I could whip up enough food to feed a hockey team. Of course, asking the guys to bring a side dish resulted in half a dozen different bags of chips with just a salad and a pasta salad that lasted about 5 minutes each as side dishes. I was so busy just getting things out on the table I nearly missed out on the meat. 10 pounds gone in about 10 minutes. Oy. At least the weather was nice and it seemed like everyone had fun.
Then the wedding stresses started. Basically all on the same day I realized that I hadn't heard back from our not even confirmed officiant in almost 2 weeks. Not good. Then I got a phone call from my mom that the rehearsal dinner venue had literally closed down and disappeared overnight. When I say disappeared I mean signs down, phones disconnected, website shut down, restaurant cleaned out disappeared. No notice, no phone call, no email, nothing. Thanks, guys! Then the bridesmaids dresses arrival date was 3 weeks later than I was originally told it would be leaving them a really tight schedule to get alterations done. And the store doesn't do alterations anymore so they'll have to find someplace else to go to get them done. And I still have to supply a wedding shower guest list to my friend who is hosting my St. Louis shower. Also, can't forget that I need to get 100-something invitations assembled and addressed to send out in the next week. Lastly, I have a phone that seems to not want to stay connected on a phone call for longer than 5 minutes, which isn't helping.
I mean, seriously, all at the same time?! I literally sat on the couch and started to cry as the hits all came. Then I got pissed and took Bauer out for a jog to relieve the stress. Well, a jog is what I meant to do. I ended up sprinting in anger and was literally dragging Bauer by the leash towards the end. I didn't even realize it until I'd run myself right into the beginning of an asthma attack. Kind of felt like an idiot bent over and wheezing in the middle of the sidewalk trying not to let the attack get full blown while my neighbors stared at me with no offer of help.
It was the first time I felt stressed, like really stressed, over the wedding. Up until that point things had worked out pretty perfectly. I didn't know what I was going to do. Then in a matter of two days I got in touch with the officiant, found a rehearsal dinner venue, and got a call that my dress is in. Disasters averted. Funny how things work out sometimes.
My stress is done.....mostly. I still have things I need to squeeze in in the last few weeks I'm in NY. I've got things going on here in Binghamton to take care of before we leave. I just can't believe where all the time has gone. I can't believe the season is almost over. Has 6 months really gone by that quickly? Is the wedding really as close as it is? Don't expect a lot of updates in the next few months. I've got a crazy amount of things on my plate. Hopefully when I do get a chance to update I won't have any more freak outs to report.
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