It's a Girl's World...or is it a Boy's?

Saturday night was way, way too much fun! I'm so glad that my friends ended up throwing me a Bachelorette Party after all! I know, I know...everyone assured me that a Bachelorette Bash is a must for every bride-to-be, but at first I had my doubts about whether it was really that essential. I mean with a pregnant Matron-of-Honor and mostly married best friends, I wasn't sure if I'd have anyone attend, and to be honest, the risk of a party-bust seemed overwhelming.  But deep down I absolutely adore a good night of dancing and secretly hoped for a fun girls' night out! Well, my wish was indeed granted when my good friend Ashtin insisted on organizing a once-in-a-lifetime Bride's Night Out! With only a week to plan, she managed to order the cutest "Bride-to-Be" sash, the most colorful and lively boas, and of course an adorable crown for the Bride! She even arranged for a wonderful dinner at "Shakespeare & Co." followed by a special table at "The Penguin," a fun dueling piano bar! Dinner was absolutely delicious and extremely fresh. My sweet friend Jennifer refused to let me pay for my dinner (which turned out to be a recurring theme from all the girls for the evening), and it was fantastic to chat with my 10 closest pals. Even the atmosphere at "Shakespeare & Co." was unique--the decor was quite European, almost Victorian with a shabby-chic twist, while the crowd was young and hip--the most interesting of combinations! After dinner we got all dolled up in our party wear and headed to "The Penguin." We were immediately ushered to our table and our party was treated the entire night to free goodies! The owner even set over a fun "I'm a Keeper" t-shirt for me along with numerous glow sticks and other treats ;-) After enjoying several hours at "The Penguin" we were ready to hit up a more lively club and moseyed on over to "Trust," where the dancing was great! If it hadn't been for an unfortunate drink spill down Ashtin's dress, we may have stayed there the entire night. Instead, though, we ended our party at an unnamed underground club, which had quite a diverse patron population--a few straight individuals, a few homosexual individuals, various races, and even some dwarfs! All in all it was certainly a night to remember and I made so many fun memories that I'll never forget! I feel that my girls & I formed a special bond that we'll always share :-) Below are a few pictures from the night!

On the Way to the Party!

Outside Shakespeare & Co.  Love my ladies!

Getting Ready to Dance!

Ashtin & I!

Dancing!

Note the pool of boa feathers! We left a trail of them everywhere we went!

 

Kissy Faces! Lots of love floating around!

After a great night with the ladies I was in need of a seriously relaxing Sunday with my Darling Fiance'! We spent some great quality time together and even managed to sneak away to watch "Brave," which was amazing, by the way. Let's just say I honestly wanted to be Scottish after that movie!

Sunday evening I spoke with our wedding florist who informed me that due to the record highs we've had across the country, the peony growing season is officially over, and instantly I began to worry about my bridal bouquet. Since childhood my only wedding dream has been to have an enormous, lush bouquet of soft white peonies, and I so desperately wanted them. Thankfully though, she immediately calmed my fears and informed me that her wholesaler was able to order them all the way from Alaska, so my peony dreams will still come true! What a fun story to tell our grandchildren some day, huh?!

Monday was by far one of the most product wedding days we've had so far! We were finally able to completely pay all of our remaining wedding bills (huge sigh of relief!), select our ceremony songs & cake table linen, and deposit our cash wedding gifts. We even received four wonderful sets of our formal china from Darling Fiance's mother & one from family friends in Minnesota! We continue to be overwhelmed by the love and support our loved ones are showing us during this special time in our lives!

Today, though, may have taken the cake of fabulous days this week. This afternoon I finished my ICM class by taking the Epidemiology & Biostatistics final exam (so only physiology remains, yay!) and then Darling Fiance' & I rushed to Central Baptist where my Sweet Sister was waiting anxiously to learn the gender of her sweet 16-week-old baby. And the verdict is....it's another bouncing boy! I cannot be more thrilled to gain another nephew and my only worry now is how on Earth will I split time between those two sweet boys equally? It'll be a wonderful challenge and I'm sure the new little one will pull at my heart just as much as little Eli has! And some of the best news of the day? My Darling Fiance' landed a wonderful job with the state government in the Department of Air Quality and will now continue to gain more experience as a Civil Engineer! I'm the proudest fiancee' in the world today and am certain that in the years to follow he'll make me such a proud wife!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

A Very, Very Busy Week!

Well my dear friends, this week has absolutely flown by, yet again! It seems that the closer we're getting to the wedding the busier and busier the days are becoming! Each day this week has been jam-packed with school tasks (boo!) and wedding to-do's (yay!). Monday was definitely the most relaxing day of the week. To be honest, after such a busy weekend I couldn't quite help myself, Darling Fiance' & I just had to indulge in some pool time. And let me tell you, it was fantastic! We enjoyed basking in the warm summer sun, then cooling off with a dip in the crystal clear water! After the pool escapade I entered wedding planning mode and determined to get some things checked off my to-do list. First, I confirmed how many of the bridesmaids were planning to have their hair styled on wedding day. I then proceeded to check-in with our stylist, Chris, and was delighted to hear that he was still good-to-go for wedding day and was looking forward to our bridal trial run in early July! I also confirmed dates for a practice-run with Caroline, my makeup artist. Later that evening I worked on our thank-you notes for all of the wonderful gifts we received at our shower, and before you know it, the day was gone!

While Tuesday's tasks were fewer in number, they were certainly much more time-consuming. In the early portion of the day Darling Fiance' & I finished all the shower thank-you notes. It took several, several hours, but we wanted to send special, personalized messages to all of our friends and family--after all they have supported us tremendously over the years and also took the time to select wonderful gifts for us! After finishing the thank-you's we headed over to meet with our wedding planner. There's actually quite the story associated with the wedding planner situation, so allow me to diverge ever so slightly to share it with you...

In the spring of 2011 I attended a free weekly bridal planning series called "Bride's Night Out." There were about 6-10 brides from all over the state that attended these sessions which focused on various aspects of the wedding day from food to attire to ceremony planning. At the end of the series there was a drawing for a free month of wedding planning from "Always Planned," and guess who won? Miss-Never-Wins-Anything...yep, it was me! After getting over my hysterical joy (after all, more help on wedding day is always a great thing, I hear!), we decided that it would probably be most helpful to utilize the free month of planning and advice in the month before the wedding, and now here we are!

During our planning session we worked through the day-of-timeline for the big day, which definitely alleviated some stress from this bride's busy mind! Having a plan always makes things feel more organized and even having a rough outline of Saturday's events was amazingly helpful! We also talked through the reception room layout and finalized some top-secret decor ideas! Sorry my dears, I'll have to leave you in suspense for 22 more days ;-)

Wednesday Darling Fiance' & I mailed the thank-you's and attempted to finalize our ceremony readings. We'll have two readers--our Matron of Honor (Sweet Sister) & Best Man. My sister & I already selected her reading, but for the Best Man, we're still not sure. We've been debating about whether to include a more light-hearted reading, a scriptural passage of importance to Darling Fiance' & I or another heartfelt, sweet reading. Unfortunately, despite narrowing down our choices, we still haven't selected his passage...stay tuned for that!

Finally on to Thursday...in the early part of the afternoon I spoke with Darling Fiance's Best Man's mother (well that was certainly a mouth-full!). She is without a doubt the scrapbook queen and even owns her own business through Creative Memories! She very kindly offered to craft a fun reception book for Darling Fiance' & I, and of course we gleefully accepted! The book will feature various photos from our latest engagement session as well as fun writing prompts for our guests such as "Tell us your best date night ideas" and "Where do you see us in 10 years." She asked for our engagement photos and I spent half the night picking our 40 favorite shots and figuring out how to share them with her. In the end, she whipped out the book in just a couple hours, and even sent us a preview! We're so excited for you to see the entire book, but for now I'll share just a couple pages:

Aren't they wonderful?! Thank you so much to Ms. Rene for doing this book for us!

Just after I finished sorting out the reception book with Rene, my friend Ashtin invited me to get a pedicure with her, and as we have a special event planned for tomorrow (can anyone say Bachelorette Party?!), I thought a pedicure was much needed! It was great to catch up on some girl-talk with Ashtin while getting our piggies pedicured and I can't begin to thank her enough in advance for throwing the Bachelorette Bash! I'm sure we'll have way, way too much fun, so get excited to read all about it in my next post!

Oh Friday, my good friend, how I enjoy it when you come to visit! And this Friday was no exception!  Darling Fiance' & I left the city very early (unfortunately I had to miss class) so that we could drop our sweet baby, Pretty Puppy, off at the vet's office. It was time for that moment that I had dreaded for months--her spaying. I know I'm a sucker, but I feel like she's my first child or something and so have dreaded this surgery more than I care to admit. Thankfully, though, the vet was reassuring (even though his assistant dared to utter, "Well there are always risks with sedation, you know"--ugh!), and Darling Fiance' & I felt comfortable leaving her in his care. After dropping off our Pretty Puppy, we decided to surprise my mom at work and enjoyed spending an hour or so with her and her quilters (she was teaching a Quilt Block class this morning). We then moseyed on over to the County Clerk's Office to get our marriage license! Our impending marriage suddenly felt very "legal" & at that moment we both realized how amazing our life together is going to be! Below are a couple pictures of us signing our license:

After getting the license we enjoyed a quiet lunch at "The Lemon Tree," a wonderful local family-owned restaurant specializing in southern cuisine! I enjoyed the fruit plate while Darling Fiance' noshed on a unique turkey wrap and cinnamon-sugar sprinkled sweet potato fries! The food was nothing short of delectable and Darling Fiance' & I both agreed that we would be frequenting "The Lemon Tree" more often in the future! Finally, we visited my parents for a couple hours and headed back to pick-up our sweet little pup. Much to my delight she came out wagging her little nub (she doesn't have a full tail :-) ) and was clearly thrilled to see us. The vet reported that she flew through her laser surgery with flying colors, but that she would need plenty of rest to recover properly. This would involve restricting her exercise to very light walking (no jumping, running or twisting about--very difficult for a border collie!) and avoiding stairs (a difficult task in a three-story townhome). Thankfully we set up baby gates and she slept the evening away! Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery!

Next time we meet, dear readers, I'm sure to have made wonderful new memories with my gals and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

A Weekend of Fathers and Fun!

This past weekend was definitely as exciting and busy as I had imagined it would be! The fun began on Friday evening with our Sushi Girls' Night. Now, I know this may sound completely ludicrous to some of you, but I had never tasted sushi until Friday! In all honesty, the thought of any raw meat makes my stomach do a little flip-flop, and not in a good way! But, as my dear friend Sabrina and I share very, very similar tastes--and she, by the way, loves sushi--I was determined to try at least one bite at our fun outing! After eating a cup of delicious Japanese vegetable soup I had finally worked up the nerve (or perhaps succumbed to peer pressure!), and tried the tiniest bite of Sabrina's "Out of Control" sushi. It was the most surprising taste--a bit salty, a bit spicy, and 100% wonderful! I was literally amazed! I later found out that this particular sushi contained cooked scallops, and thus is not a "true sushi," but nonetheless, I was thrilled with its taste and very proud to have lost my sushi virginity ;-). At that exact moment I vowed to someday persuade Darling Fiance' (who is even more shy about sushi than I) to try this delicious new treat...I'm still working on that one, but here's to hoping, right?!

Anyhow, aside from the delicious cuisine, I truly enjoyed spending some time with the ladies! Sabrina's girls' nights always feature a "time for sharing" in which each guest answers a couple of pre-determined questions. This always leads to hilarious discussions and great memories! Friday's "time for sharing" focused on two main questions: 1. We were all instructed to wear our favorite color to the girls' night, and were then asked to describe its' significance to us. 2. Describe an event or item that has inspired us as a woman. Now, after first hearing the second question I was rather perplexed by its tone of vagueness. What on Earth has "inspired me as a woman?" After much thought it suddenly hit me--my mother! There is no finer example of "woman-ness" than my loving, kind, and determined mother. She consistently amazes me with her stamina, persistence, and determination, let alone her kindness! We've always said that Mom works about four full-time jobs: her actual full-time job as an Extension Agent in our county; her caregiving job for her father, an Alzheimer's patient that lives with my parents; her job dealing with billing and payroll for the company that her and my father own; and her job taking care of her family and the farm. Shew! She's definitely a busy, busy woman, but somehow she keeps it all together and even manages to put delicious food on the table, too! After sharing this story, many of the women agreed and even mentioned that this inspired them to be better mothers! Some of the other girls shared novels, stories, etc. that inspired them, and I think we all learned a lot about each other and self-improvement! After sharing time, we parted ways and determined that we absolutely must do these girls' nights more often! Below are a couple photos from our fun evening!

The creative presentation of our sushi--yum!

 The girls!

After an evening of much-needed rest following girls' night, I was ready for all the fun that Saturday promised! Around 2 pm on Saturday afternoon Darling Fiance' & I began preparing for Brittany & Jantzen's wedding, which was to take place in Lancaster, about an hour's drive from the city. We had decided to meet my friend Jen at her apartment to carpool to their celebration, which was a wonderful decision! Jen and I gabbed away during the whole ride, which definitely made the trip pass quickly! When we arrived at their ceremony location--a beautiful old church nestled in the heart of the town, the same church in which Brittany's parents had married--we were promptly directed to our seats and anxiously awaited the start of the ceremony. It was a heartfelt and beautiful ceremony, filled with meaningful scripture and beautiful piano music. My favorite moment, though, had to be when Brittany and her father entered the church--Jantzen definitely teared up and as a result I nearly did too! It certainly made me even more excited for our rapidly approaching big day!

Following the ceremony, we made our way to the reception, which was held at Brittany's parents' home, a short drive from the church. They had erected a large tent behind their home, which was filled with round tables that faced the head table. The tables were covered in a floor-length white linen and topped with a beautiful navy cloth, golden chargers, and navy napkins. Each table had its own unique centerpiece, but all contained splashes of navy, hot pink, and peacock feathers--the theme of the evening. Below are a few pictures of the decor:

After quite some time, the Bride & Groom finally made their grand entrance and I was able to more fully admire Brittany's gown. She wore a mermaid-style silk-satin gown with a chapel length train, which was embellished at the bodice and hem with beautiful lace. The back boasted gorgeous buttons that ran the full length of the gown. Her hair was styled in a french twist and was adorned with a peacock broach, but no veil. She looked radiant! Immediately following the couple's entrance, we were directed through the buffet, which consisted of a fresh summer salad, pork tenderloin, green beans, hashbrown casserole, and rolls. The meal was absolutely scrumptious! Later, the special dances were performed and the cake was cut! The music consisted of beautiful ballads from all generations, including "Georgia," "Brown-eyed Girl," etc. but was not too amenable to dancing, and thus, the crowd began to thin. Brittany had, at this point, changed into a knee-length sleeveless white shift dress, and made her way from table-to-table greeting her guests. When she arrived at our table, we enjoyed getting to catch up with her and learning about their honeymoon, which would take place in Jamaica! After speaking with her, though, we thought that we should perhaps head out, and began the journey back home. All in all, Brittany & Jantzen's wedding was beautiful and fit their personalities to a tee! Their magical evening ended with a breath-taking sunset, which made the day that much more perfect! We wish Brittany & Jantzen the most beautiful life together and can't wait to see them again soon! Here are a couple more images from their special day:

Enjoying the festivities:

 Gorgeous Sunset Images:

Jen & I at the Party! Love her!

After yet another desperately needed night of rest, Darling Fiance' & I headed home to spend time with my Daddy for Father's Day. We had already decided on what gift we would make him this year--a fun poster board filled with candy and a cute story. As a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll save you all the lengthy description and simply show you our finished creation:

 Funny, right?

We put the finishing touches on the gift and headed home, where we spent the day laughing, talking, and catching up with my family. Needless to say, our poster was a hit with Daddy! He thought it was clever and creative, not to mention delicious! Later in the afternoon we prepared a delicious meal of steak, cole slaw, and fresh creamed corn from the garden, which my Daddy loved! The best part of the day, though, was when my Daddy & I selected our Father-Daughter dance for the wedding. My goodness, talk about a tear-jerker of a time! We listened to about eight songs, crying through each one, until we finally picked THE song. Again, you'll just have to come to the wedding to find out our final selection! Before long, it was time to head back to the city, and the weekend had slipped away! Darling fiance' & I both agreed though, there was no better way to spend the weekend than with the ones we love--our friends and family!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

30 Days to Go!

Oh my goodness! 30 days to go and I absolutely cannot believe it! I had been thoroughly warned by family and friends that the last couple months before the wedding would fly, but honestly, I had no idea that they would slip away this quickly! It seems like yesterday the wedding was 6 months away! These last four weeks are going to be filled with lots of love, lots of fun, and plenty of family time--I can't wait!

Since our household shower, Darling Fiance' & I have been busy with school, work, and admiring our new household goodies ;-) With only 3 weeks of school left, I'm busy trying to finalize assignments and prepare for our final exam, but I'm anxious and excited to wrap this school year up! In between all this studying and family time, Darling Fiance' and I have been trying to make some progress on the last few wedding details including music selections, ceremony programs, etc. We spent a few hours this week on our reception "Must-Play" and "Do-NOT-Play" lists, which was quite hilarious! I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that on more than one occasion I broke into song and dance...and so did Darling Fiance! We hope our guests love our music choices as much as we do and can't wait to see a packed dance floor on July 14th! To give you a sneak peek into our reception (and just to get your happy dances going!) I've included a brief sampling of our music choices below! Enjoy!

Must-Play's:

"Never Alone,"Lady Antebellum with Jim Brickman

"How low can you go," Ludacris

"Dance Again," Jennifer Lopez & Pitbull

"My Chick Bad," Ludacris

"Cupid Shuffle," Cupid

Ella Fitzgerald – "Cheek to Cheek"

 4 Tops – "Sugarpie Honeybunch"
Louis Prima – "Jump, Jive, An’ Wail"
Etta James—"At Last"

Louis Armstrong--“What a Wonderful World”

Do-NOT-Play's:

"The Chicken Dance"

Taylor Swift Songs (no offense, just not our style!)

So I think we'll have a little something for everyone, which I hope will keep the party going strong. And of course our DJ will accept requests, so definitely come ready to shake your tail feather! Aside from the party songs, we also selected our special dance songs, but you'll just have to attend the wedding to hear those ;-)

This past week we also made some progress on planning the "Ladies' Tea." This special get-together is being hosted by my Aunt Katie & her beautiful daughters and will focus on celebrating the special women in my life. The honored guests will include my Mother, Sister, Bridesmaids, "The Rose Girls," and my Future Mother-in-Law! I absolutely cannot wait to visit with my gals while enjoying tea, snacks, and some much-needed girl time just before the big day!

Aside from all the fun wedding plans, Darling Fiance' & I also spent some time this past week car shopping! Now we're not planning to purchase a vehicle for quite some time (perhaps in 6 months to a year), but being the proactive man that he is, Darling Fiance' has already been doing his research! He's spent his evenings for the last several weeks pouring over pamphlets and reading safety reviews and mileage reports! I'm beginning to believe he's a late-blooming gear-head! But to be honest, I appreciate his research endeavors--I don't have the time (nor the interest, truthfully) to analyze gear specs and advantages of 2WD vs. AWD. What I am interested in, though, is reliability, MPG, and comfort, because after all, those 14 hour drives to The Great White North sure can be lengthy! After all his reading and deciphering, Darling Fiance' decided that it was time to test-drive! So we spent a couple hours last week speeding around town in everything from Kia's to Toyota's to Honda's! It was beyond luxurious to cruise in such new vehicles! I felt very spoiled during those hours! As time goes along, I'll keep you posted on our future four-wheeled decisions.

This weekend promises to be a VERY busy and fun one--Sabrina and I have our girls' night Friday, Brittany & Jantzen's wedding is Saturday, and of course it's Father's Day Sunday! So remember, give your Papa a big hug and spend plenty of time with him, I know I sure will be doing just that! 

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

The Mother of All Weekends!

Darling Fiance's Mother was coming! His Mother was coming! This rang through our heads as we swung into full alert the Wednesday before she arrived. In preparation for her visit we spent the day cleaning and cooking in an attempt to better welcome our guest from the "Great North." Finally, after much anticipation, she arrived this past Thursday! We celebrated her arrival with an afternoon of shopping & relaxing and then finished off the day with an evening at the salon! I introduced her to "Chico's" where she proceeded to purchase several new tops, prompting us to plan a return visit later during her stay. Later, the evening at the salon was nothing short of miraculous, I must say! When we first arrived, Darling Fiance's Mother mentioned that she wanted a new look, but wasn't sure about how to accomplish this. She asked my opinion and I excitedly offered her my ideas: a stylish, shorter cut to give her 'do some shape, complimented by fresh new colors of warm, sandy blondes. To my astonishment, she agreed to the makeover plan and (three hours later!), I was absolutely amazed with her new look! Here are a couple before and after photos, I just couldn't help myself, I had to share!

Before:

 After:

So what do you think? Definitely a more natural blonde hue--no more grays here! I personally think she looks ten years younger! Freshened up, indeed!

After our evening of shopping and make-overs, Friday afternoon seemed peaceful and relaxing. Darling Fiance' & I took his Mother on a visit to Natural Bridge to view the ceremony & reception sites. It was, unfortunately, quite a dreary day, so after our short stop at the Bridge we all agreed against a muddy hike. (We decided to save that for another trip.) It was then that we parted ways for the evening--I headed home to spend time with my parents before our household shower the next day while Darling Fiance' and his mother headed back to Lexington for the night.

Saturday was, in short, beautiful chaos! My mother, sister, and I spent the early portion of the day preparing for the shower. We gathered table cloths, candles, vases, and baskets for decorating purposes as well as homemade mints that my mom & I had prepared just the night before! Then, in the blink of an eye, my mother & sister dashed away to decorate the church, banning me from arriving until just 15 minutes prior to the start time! I anxiously waited to leave home, feeling lazy & useless. When I did finally arrive, though, I was amazed at the beautiful decorations! Our church basement was filled with whites, creams, and pinks as well as three beautiful cakes from our family cake-baker, Carolyn:

My mother, sister, aunts, grandmother, cousins, future mother-in-law, and other friends and family did a wonderful job of making the space beautiful! After taking in the wonderful decor, I spent quite some time enjoying the company of our guests! It was fantastic to have church family, friends young & old, and immediate family all together in one room! This made me realize that I can't imagine how I'll feel on the wedding day with even more of our loved ones together! We began the shower festivities with a beautiful blessing from our dear friend Rev. Henrietta G. and proceeded to enjoy the delicious treats before us. During the meal we played two bridal games: the bridal purse game (where guests were provided a list of items that may or may not be housed within my purse, and were asked to mark which they thought I possessed), and a marriage scramble (where guests raced to unscramble a list of wedding-related nouns). Visitors became quite competitive and involved:

In the end, only the winners prevailed, though, and were rewarded with candles, fragrances, and all sorts of goodies!

After the games, I began opening our mountain of gifts! More than once I was moved & overwhelmed by the generosity of our loved ones! We received many special gifts, some of which included a red KitchenAid mixer (from Sweet Sister, Brian & Eli), beautiful pots & pans, gorgeous crystal, elegantly embroidered towels, and two very special quilts--one from "The Paducah Gals" (three very special ladies that recently went on a quilting trip with my mother & I) and one from my sweet, sweet Momma. Both were absolutely gorgeous and will forever hold special places in my heart. And in fact, both were made since our Paducah trip together (only about a month ago)! Here are a couple pictures of the quilts:

The Paducah Gals' Quilt:

Momma's Quilt:

Darling Fiance & I are truly so blessed to have such loving family & friends! After our shower we truly feel ready to begin our new life together and create our own little family! I couldn't have asked for a more special day and I will be forever grateful to all of you that made it possible!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

Tasting, Racing & Pool-Party'ing

Friday afternoon proved to be as busy as I had imagined, maybe even more so! Before leaving for our tasting, Darling Fiance' & I stopped by Purdon's to pick up three different chairs and our table linen for the reception. I had originally imagined that natural wooden chairs with white padded seats would look perfect in our natural setting, but over the past several weeks I'd begun to doubt my decision and wondered if white wooden chairs would be more appropriate. The only solution to this dilemma would be to take a few of the various options to Natural Bridge directly! Seeing is believing, right?! At Purdon's though, we were surprised to see that there were not only 2 wooden chair options, but 3: a light natural wood, a dark natural wood, and a white wood. Here are some images of the choices:

I was concerned that the white wooden chair would be too stark a contrast against the soft mossy greens and earthy browns of the ceremony site. However, much to my surprise, the white wood was a perfect compliment to the weathered, slightly grayed wooden walkway! Both of the natural wood options clashed with the differently-colored wood of the walkway! So, it was the white wood that had taken the trophy in the walkway test after all! Now it was on to the Woodland Center to test the chairs in our reception room. The Center has a gorgeous vaulted wooden ceiling and stone pillars that stretch from floor to ceiling. A massive fireplace is unquestionably the focal point of the space while a large, smooth, glassy floor lightens up the large room. Our table linens are a gorgeous sand-colored duchess satin, which coordinates beautifully with the stone pillars. Because of their formality, though, the natural wooden chairs were much too casual for the room! Things simply did not coordinate well! So in the end, the white wooden chairs prevailed again! So the decision had been made--white wood it would be!

After this decision, we were thrilled to enjoy our tasting! Daring Fiance' & I were joined by my parents and Troy, the event coordinator at Natural Bridge. To be honest, I was a bit nervous about the tasting! The quality of the food for our wedding is very important to us, but the everyday food served at the Bridge is mediocre, not outstanding! This definitely concerned me and as we waited to begin the tasting I prayed that the menu I had submitted would be a tasty as I had hoped. Finally Chef Susan emerged with her smart little white coat and trays full of beautiful cuisine! She had prepared both the rehearsal dinner and reception menus, so by the time she had laboriously unloaded her trays, our immense round table was brimming with tasty treats! We began with the rehearsal dinner menu. For this meal we had planned a Kentucky-themed cuisine so that Darling Fiance's guests from the "Great North" would feel welcomed and at home. Lightly breaded, fried catfish (that would be caught just the day before the meal, we were told) was complimented by sweet potato fries (Darling Fiance's favorite!), cole slaw, and a Kentucky-favorite--spoon-bread! All the dishes were delightful, and no changes were made to the rehearsal dinner menu! I was surprised and amazed that the tasting was progressing so smoothly!

Next came the reception meal! For our first course, a gorgeous salad of mixed greens, strawberries, feta, and candied pecans was topped with a light fruit vinaigrette and crispy won-tons! The salad proved to be quite the presentation as the won-ton tower stretched to beautiful heights and the fresh strawberries sprinkled the greens in gorgeous pops of color! Much to my delight, the salad was just as fresh and delicious as it was beautiful! No changes with course #1 were necessary! The entree' course of fresh pasta with a creamy pesto sauce and balsamic-glazed chicken breast accompanied by locally-grown fresh green beans was also impeccable! The only change made to this dish was swapping bow-tie pasta for miniature shells--the angel hair that I had hoped for simply would not hold its shape well enough for the big day, we were told. The sauce was altered slightly too, and after those two changes we were finished! I was confident that our reception food would be all that I had hoped it would be! My parents heartily agreed and as the ladies in the party began hashing out details of the big day with Troy, the men wandered off to chat about hunting and fishing! Some things never change, right? ;-)

After our wonderful evening at the Bridge, Darling Fiance', Pretty Puppy, and I made our way back to my hometown to prepare for the next day's big event--Eli's 4th Birthday Party! Sweet Sister had indulged her son's wishes to have a "Duke's of Hazard" themed event, because, after all, little boys' Birthday's come but once a year! Because we were expecting 100 degree weather for Eli's party, Sweet Sister had thought it the perfect time to pull out Eli's jumbo-sized kiddie pool for all the little ones to enjoy! And enjoy they did! At one point during the party, there were 10 "young-uns" splashing around in the pool as their delighted parents looked on watchfully. It was a smashing success, indeed! Carolyn, our family cake-maker, had crafted an adorable "Duke's" cake for the Birthday boy, complete with a flying General Lee! He was delighted with his special cake! In fact, he was too busy enjoying the cake, pool, and his company to open all of his presents! He did manage to open the gifts from his Granny & Bapsy (my parents)--which consisted of new clothes, a t-ball glove, and other wonderful goodies--as well as the gift from his "Sissy" and my Darling Fiance'--a t-ball set complete with bat, balls, and a stand! I think he was pleased with his new toys, but as the attention span of four-year-olds is as short as can be, he didn't spend too much time playing with them, but instead rejoined the pool party, where he stayed for the rest of the evening!

Sunday afternoon, normally spent resting and catching up on school work, was instead devoted to finishing our invitations! Mom and I began working on them around 11 am and finished around 9 pm! I'm proud to say that I hand calligraphed all 200 invitations while mom completed nearly all the inner envelopes! We made a great team and the finished products were beautiful, even if we were exhausted by the end! Hold tight for photos!

While Mom & I were finishing the invitations, Darling Fiance' was enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime trip--the Indy 500! My dear friend Sabrina had called the previous day explaining that her father, husband, and brother-in-law had an extra ticket for the race and would love if Darling Fiance' could attend! He was, of course, thrilled at the opportunity and gladly accepted! They left very early on Sunday morning and didn't return home until late that evening, but according to Darling Fiance', they had a blast! It was military appreciation day and the fans were all grateful to attend the big race! Our guys were privileged to sit up close near the action and had wonderful pictures to prove it:

Memorial day was spent cooking and cleaning but ended with a fun family cookout! Darling Fiance' prepared hamburgers and hot dogs galore while Mom grilled onions and bell peppers and prepared other fresh greens for our dining pleasure! After noshing on our delicious meal, Darling Fiance' & I relaxed a bit before returning to the big city, a busy but enjoyable weekend under our belts!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart