Cookie Thursday

Wednesday evening, after the lovely bridesmaids' tea, my Lexington girls and I returned home together. Despite being exhausted from the nights' activities, we were all anxious and excited for the wedding, and thus spent the entire hour-long commute chatting away!--What was the most current weather forecast for Saturday? When were we having our hair styled? Did everyone have their jewelry and shoes? How were last minute plans coming together?--We were all full of questions, and by the time we returned back to the city I felt anxious about all the remaining tasks! I knew we could pull it all together, I just didn't know exactly how many sleepless nights it would take to do so. Anxious, I tried to focus on my day-by-day tasks as specified in my self-compiled master to-do list, which was broken down into an hour-by-hour play-by-play. I found comfort in this organization and after changing out of my cute tea dress I prepared for the night's tasks--putting the finishing touches on the house before Darling Fiance's groomsmen arrived from the Great White North, packing Pretty Puppy's food and toys for her week-long visit with our neighbors, and packing for our stay at the Bridge.

I speedily finished cleaning the house and packing Pretty Puppy's goodies, and was knee-deep in a suitcase full of bridal accessories when I heard a knock at the door. Smiling, I flung the suitcase shut and dashed down to meet Darling Fiance' & his pal Conor, who had just flown in from Fargo! Pretty Puppy excitedly pounced on her new best friend, who looked thrilled to have finally arrived down South! We spent the next half hour catching up with one of our favorite Ginger's before being interrupted by another resounding knock at the door. Darling Fiance' & I exchanged huge grins as we realized that the rest of his best friends had finally arrived! We nearly fell down the steps with eagerness and threw open the door to find the bright, smiling faces of Adam & Peter. The Minnesota boys were together again, and boy, was it chaotic! At 1(or was it 2?) am I finally decided to hit the hay and leave the boys to their reminiscing. I later learned that they didn't turn in until around 3 am after enjoying pizza and "bro-time" at Old Chicago. All I knew at the time was that when I awoke at 6:30 the next morning they had all crashed in the guest bedroom except poor Conor who had been booted to the couch! I should've taken pictures of this grown-up sleepover, I know, I know, but I was too busy thinking about feeding four hungry men at the time. And feed them, I did! I made two huge platter-fulls of Swedish Pancakes (thin, crepe-like pancakes that Darling Fiance' adores) and apple pancakes, which were devoured in mere minutes by the hungry guys! After washing it all down with glass-after-glass of milk, orange juice, and coffee, the guys began getting ready for their day while I headed off to begin my day's adventures, which began with a last-minute eyebrow wax at the salon.

Next, I headed to Rack Room Shoes where I desperately hoped to find my wedding day heels. I know what you're thinking--you didn't have your wedding day shoes by now?! And the answer is yes, well no, I did not actually have them yet. Let me explain...months before the wedding I had found the perfect pair of heels for the big day--a gorgeous pair of sand-colored stilettos with a cute half bow on each heel. When one would stand with her feet together the half-bows would join to form the most adorable full bow I had ever seen. I immediately purchased these gorgeous heels only to realize just days before the wedding that when I donned them I was about a half-inch taller than Darling Fiance'! What had I been thinking?! Darling Fiance' is tall, but so am I, and six-inch heels simply would not work! Thus began my frantic heel-search. Thankfully, though, by what I now believe may have been something of a shoe miracle, I found my new perfect pair as soon as I entered Rack Room! Boasting a more modest three-inch heel and the same gorgeous sand-color as the stilettos, these pretties also had a cute bow detail and a peep-toe front. I was amazed! After snagging the shoes, I stopped in at good-Ole Wally-World where I grabbed as many LED tea-lights as possible, which we'd be using in our post-ceremony luminary bags. Then, as Darling Fiance' & his guys spent the day playing paintball at his Bachelor Party and picking out our get-away car, I headed to Bath County, where one of Mom's coworkers was loaning us her office's industrial kitchen to bake our wedding favors--four of our favorite types of cookies!

When I arrived, Mom & my Sweet Sister, Tiff, had already begun mixing up the oatmeal-raisin batter (Darling Fiance's favorite!) and were in the process of dropping them onto massive baking sheets. I joined right in and a couple hours later we had already baked 400 oatmeal-raisin cookies! Originally we had agreed to make around 800 cookies that day--200 oatmeal-raisin & 200 molasses (both are Darling Fiance's favorites) as well as 200 snickerdoodles & 200 wedding cookies (my two favorite varieties). We suddenly realized though, that somehow the oatmeal-raisin recipe was yielding double the amount we had planned it to yield, and we had ended up with 400 of this variety alone. Without missing a beat, Mom suggested that we keep the extra 200 for the bridesmaids, groomsmen, vendors, and family members who would be helping setup the Woodland Center the next day. Problem solved, we moved on to the molasses cookies. Mom, Tiff & I found our cookie-making rhythm as Tiff became queen of the batter mixing, Mom became the chief batter-dropper, and I became the master-baker. In a few short hours we had cranked out another couple hundred cookies and it was on to the snickerdoodles. This variety required a bit more time as each individual cookie had to be rolled in a sugar-cinnamon mixture before being baked. Together though, we hand-rolled each and every snickerdoodle and had moved on to our last variety--the wedding cookies. These too were hand-rolled, but this time in sweet powdered sugar, before we began the massive clean-up effort. I was amazed at the good spirits and swift work of just the three of us--in about 8 hours we had baked 1,200 delicious cookies for our wedding guests to enjoy! And, dare I say it, we had a great time doing it! Below are a couple photos from "Cookie Thursday."

Mom & Tiff Working the Industrial Mixer

First Batch of Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Tiff's thinking, "How Many More Do We Have to Make?!"

We Make a Great Team!

Mid-Day Tally--600 Cookies

All 1,200 Cookies!

Exhausted, the day was nowhere near finished for the three of us--Mom & Tiff ran to the store to pick up last minute wedding items while I (and the cookies!) headed to Mom & Dad's house to load up the car with wedding decor to be delivered to the Bridge that night. Thankfully, I had reinforcements to help with the loading process--Darling Fiance' & his three pals met me at Mom & Dad's and together we loaded both cars with beautiful wedding decor--baskets, southern-style fans, mirrors, candles, etc. After making the hour-long drive to Natural Bridge, we unloaded both cars into the Woodland Center and Darling Fiance' & I headed back to Lexington (another hour-long drive!) while his guys checked into their lodge rooms. My dear friend Katie, as well as Darling Fiance's Mother, Grandmother, and Aunts, had arrived earlier that day and we were anxious to welcome them, not to mention all of the guys' suitcases had been left in our home, so Darling Fiance' had volunteered to fetch them before returning to the Bridge that night. After visiting with Darling Fiance's family in their hotel, we returned to our home, where Katie was waiting. Darling Fiance' hurriedly gathered all of the guys' bags and headed back to his room at the Bridge (where he finally arrived at midnight), while I caught up with Katie. Together with her mother, she had prepared the cutest bag of goodies for me, complete with a body scrub from the Dead Sea, nail emery board & buffing block, and a delicious Hershey bar! What a sweetheart, right?! After plenty of reminiscing, we finally turned in for the night around midnight, but I struggled to fall asleep, so instead finished packing and preparing for the next day. When sleep finally found me it was after 2 am! **A warning to future Brides--this pattern of sleeplessness became very, very common for me in the 2 weeks prior to the wedding. I later realized that for 14 consecutive days I had been running on 3-4 hours of sleep, sometimes less, each night. But somehow, miraculously, I wasn't the least bit tired! My cortisol & adrenaline must have been near record levels, which, thankfully, was just enough to power me through the most important day of my life!

We're Back and We're Married!

Good afternoon my sweet, sweet family & friends! It feels SO great to be back to blogging and back to sharing my life with you! The last three weeks have been absolutely amazing! Darling Fiance' & I are enjoying our 16th day as husband and wife (yay!) and couldn't be more thrilled with how our wedding and honeymoon turned out! Over the next several days (and probably weeks!) I'll be sharing all the wonderful details with you--how the last couple days before the wedding were spent, how we felt on our joyous wedding day, and how special and amazing our honeymoon was! I'm looking forward to reliving all of those wonderful emotions and can't wait to do it with you guys! 

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

Terrible Tuesday & Wonderful Wednesday

While I have literally enjoyed almost every moment of wedding planning up until this point, it pains me to inform you that Tuesday will unfortunately go down in history as "Terrible Tuesday, " for a number of reasons. It all began with the dreaded programs...

As soon as I had roused myself sufficiently & gathered all of my wedding paraphernalia, Pretty Puppy & I headed to my parents' house to finish some last minute details, namely the ceremony programs. Now, over the past several weeks I had worked numerous evenings on the program layout  and upon embarking on my drive home, was confident that all we would need to do was print a test version for approval. Ha! Little did I know what chaos was about to begin! After arriving at my parents' home, Mom & I caught up a few minutes before heading to town for printing. We looked over the computer version of the program and made numerous changes before leaving. After arriving at her office, though, I suddenly realized that I had neglected an entire section of the program, which meant that I spent the next two hours re-formatting the entire document in an attempt to fit it in! What was worse yet, though, was that no matter how small I made the margins, or shrunk the text, it simply wasn't going to fit into the layout we had originally envisioned. Mom & I ultimately decided to abandon the original plan in favor of a newer format, which, after several more hours, finally worked! I was unbelievably relieved when we at last began printing! 

Oh, but the fun was just beginning..as soon as Mom & I began printing a couple test versions, her printer demolished our gorgeous cardstock--the machine literally ripped the paper, crushing our printing hopes! After numerous failed attempts to print, I was ready to abandon the program project all-together! My patient, loving Mother, as always, came to the rescue, though, and my hope was once again revived when we located another printer that could supposedly handle the weighty cardstock more efficiently. Indeed, we found success, and were able to print 20 perfect programs. We approved each one and decided to run the remaining copies that very moment. Meanwhile, during the printing, Mom & I would fold and cut the completed versions. We were finally finding our rhythm when the printer finished. I jumped up and gleefully grabbed the pile, but before returning to the table with them I decided to quickly double-check the top one. My heart literally fell through the floor--the top program boasted a lovely upside-down inside segment of text. I hurriedly flipped through the rest and realized that halfway through the printing job the machine had switched orientations. This meant that half of our programs were perfect--but the other half were ruined. I hate to admit this, but I was so angry that a tiny tear welled up in my eye.  We just couldn't win that day...

Mom took one look at me and knew in an instant that something had gone very, very wrong. After she discovered the problem we both felt defeated and angry, for after all, we didn't have any extra cardstock on which to attempt a reprint. At that moment, we simultaneously began packing all of our things and Mom directed me to return to the city, while she dealt with the programs. I had no clue how we were going to solve this problem but I knew that if they were in Mother's hands, they'd be perfect.

Pretty Puppy & I did indeed return to the city, where I was determined to complete a positive and meaningful task. I chose to finish wrapping gifts & writing thank you notes, and by bed time my mind had temporarily forgotten the programs--at least enough to allow me to rest.

Wednesday morning I turned my attention toward more positive and enjoyable tasks--I was desperately trying to wash the previous day's failures from my mind. I began the morning with a quick stop at Kohl's to look for a party dress. I hadn't found a "going away" dress or a "reception gown," and thus thought it would be the perfect opportunity to peruse their summer dress collection. Within moments I had found a cute sequined mini-dress that screamed "PARTY!" I just had to try it on! Success! The dress fit like a glove and I knew that for it's modest price & fun details it had to be mine! After dress shopping, I moseyed to the other side of town to get my engagement ring cleaned for the last time as a single woman! Post-cleaning it sparkled and glimmered so beautifully--I couldn't help but steal glances at it on the car ride home ;-) It definitely made me feel more and more excited for the big day!

That afternoon I finally packed for the honeymoon--which was just too fun! I loved seeing all the bright colors & tropical patterns that I had collected over the last couple months come together. I began dreaming about the white sands and warm, balmy nights--let's just say ever since then I'm extremely anxious to disappear for 7 days on our island escape!

After packing, I quickly prepared for that's evening's festivities--the Bridesmaids' Tea. I chose a fun coral dress with pearl accessories for a cute, girly look. I then met up with two of my lovely bridesmaids and we thoroughly enjoyed mani/pedis at a local salon before heading to the tea. The Tea itself was absolutely wonderful! My cousins & Aunt Katie had decorated the tables with lovely plum & cream tea pots, goblets, and cloth napkins. Our plates were all elegant Longaberger pottery and our tables were filled with lush fresh hydrangeas and roses. Our dinner was FANTASTIC--we noshed on potato soup, fresh summer salad greens, chicken cordon bleu, green beans & crescent rolls. Then dessert was my favorite--red velvet cupcakes! I think we were all dying of food pleasure after that amazing meal! We ended the evening with gift exchanges and lots of hugs! I have the best family & friends, and it was refreshing to celebrate with them! Below are a few snapshots from the tea!

All Ready!

Beautiful Tables!

Adorable Favors--Teapot Ornaments!

Red Velvet Yummies!

Fresh Summer Salad & Flavorful Entree'

Aunt Katie & I Passing Out Gifts

Girls Enjoying their Gifts!

Wedding Day "Getting Ready" Robes & Personalized Hangers!

Love My Cousins & Aunt!

Aunt Katie Gave Mom & I the Most Beautiful Longaberger Tea Pots!

Practicing the Boys' Bow Ties for Saturday :-)

My Cousin Laura & I!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

Mad Monday

Monday morning, first things first, I decided to run over and speak with our neighbors about Lily. This sweet mother/daughter duo agreed several months ago to watch her for us while we are away on our honeymoon, and thankfully they are fantastic with dogs. Having two of their own, they joked that "one more wouldn't make any difference" to their daily routines! You can imagine how relieved and thrilled Darling Fiance' & I were! And to make things better still, not only does Pretty Puppy love our neighbors, she loves their dogs, too! When she stayed with them several weeks ago as a "trial run," the mother/daughter duo reported that she had played until she could barely keep her eyes open! Thankfully, when I visited them Monday, they confirmed the plan and were excited to see our little one bright and early Thursday morning!

Next, I dashed over to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few more candles and wreaths for our ceremony & reception decor. Thankfully, they had everything we needed to complete our wedding day vision, which made me one happy lady! They even had a gorgeous spray paint color called, "Ballet Slipper," that I had been searching for at other craft stores for months! I was absolutely thrilled to finally find it as this spray paint would complete one more little detail for our wedding day chair decor. You'll have to see if you can spot it on wedding day :-) After my Hobby Lobby run, I finalized our chair & linen pick up times, Groom's cake pick up time, and other miscellaneous details with our vendors. Before I knew it, it was four o'clock and Darling Fiance' was back in town after a hard day at work, which meant that it was time for us to head to Fleming to meet with Grandpa about our ceremony (my Grandfather is a minister and will be officiating our ceremony along with my childhood pastor).

We spent the rest of the evening at Grandpa & Grandma's house hashing out the details of our ceremony, from the seating of the Grandmothers all the way to the Recessional. As we are incorporating a couple unique details into our wedding, this took a bit of time, but thankfully by the end of the night we had settled everything. Darling Fiance' & I were both thrilled and excited to actually walk through the ceremony with Papaw--it made it seem all the more real! As the days are drawing closer we are definitely getting more and more ready to become husband & wife!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

Super Sunday

I have fondly begun referring to yesterday as "Super Sunday," although, truth be told, I'm pretty certain that every day from now until the wedding will be "super" in its own right ;-) Every moment yesterday was packed with wedding tasks and tid-bits, from printing the menus to putting the finishing touches on the house before guests begin arriving. Thank goodness my sweet Darling Fiance' was right by side all day, helping to tie the loose ends together! 

Unfortunately, though, my initial zeal was dampened a bit when my morning began with some unpleasant back pain, which I still haven't quite determined the cause of. I assumed it was the way I had slept and attempted to patch myself up enough to accomplish that day's tasks. I'm a bit disappointed to report, though, that the pain is still nagging away at me this morning, so I can only pray that it eases away before all the fun festivities begin on Wednesday evening! After loading up on ibuprofen (and by that I mean taking one, haha!), Darling Fiance' and I finally finished printing our gorgeous wedding day menus. Elegant and graceful, they definitely blend with the remainder of the wedding decor seamlessly! Now that we have the menus finalized, I can't wait to see the entire tablescape together! And on a side note, I'm not going to lie, I think my mouth watered a bit as I was reading the menu ;-)

My next big task of the day involved arranging all of my childhood photos into the powerpoint that already contained Darling Fiance's. I knew this would take some time, as we both have numerous adorable pictures to share with our loved ones, but I honestly had no idea it would take 3 straight hours! There's just so much more to a powerpoint than throwing the pictures on there randomly, though, so I should have expected it. First, there's the chronological order, then the special effects, and, of course the overall aesthetic appeal of the show. Hopefully we accomplished all of those in our slideshow, but the bottom line is, we honestly just want our guests to enjoy it! We'll see how it pans out on Saturday, but until then, our fingers will be crossed :-)

After being glued to my laptop for so many hours, I was definitely ready to move! My back had loosened up a bit, so Darling Fiance' & I seized the opportunity and finished storing some of our wedding gifts. We then cleaned the house and prepared for the arrival of family members from afar who will be joining us on Wednesday evening to kick off the celebrations! I can hardly wait to see all of our loved ones! Now we just have to hope it doesn't rain, as the forecast is predicting :-( There's still plenty of time for that to change, though, so I'm trying my hardest not to fret about it!

We finished the day with gift-wrapping and note-writing for our lovely wedding attendants. Spending some time putting our appreciation on paper certainly caused us both to reflect on our bridal party. Darling Fiance' will have three of his childhood best friends and one college friend by his side on wedding day. And boy, have I heard some fun stories about these guys and their adventures! From mischievous nights of tee-peeing to lake-side camping and hot drum-line practices, these guys have been through it all together. I know that they mean the world to Darling Fiance' & even though they'll be separated by hundreds of miles in the coming years, I know their friendships will always stand the test of time, because to him, they're more than best friends, they are brothers.

As for my girls, I'll have my wonderful Sister, two college best friends, one very special hometown best friend, and Darling Fiance's younger cousin by my side on wedding day. These girls come from very different parts of my life, but each and every one fill a special spot in my heart. My Sister has been my biggest fan, my second mother, and my strongest supporter over the years. While we may butt heads from time to time, she's always watching over me and we always come back to one another. I'm so thankful to have such a supportive and loving big Sissy, and I'm so glad that she'll be there helping me on wedding day, just like she does every day!

My friend Jennifer & I have known each other since freshman year of college, when we lived in the same dorm. We have spent many-a-night at the library, cramming for test-after-test, and we even went through medical school applications, interviews, and acceptances together. We now attend the same medical school and I couldn't ask for a more loving, funny, and loyal friend. She's always there when I need her, and for that, I'll be forever grateful. I know that over the years we'll still be laughing about life together!

My dear friend Katie & I have also known each other since freshman year of college, when we met in an introductory chemistry class. Spunky and hilarious, Katie has kept me in stitches ever since! We used to trudge to the library together for late night study sessions, which would often be interrupted with bouts of too-loud laughter! Over the years, despite pursuing different majors and careers, Katie & I have realized that our friendship is one that will be ever-present. Now that college is over and she's moved back home, I love visiting her down South and plan to continue doing so. I hope that my "Georgia Peach" will always remember she has someone who loves her dearly up in 'Ole Kentucky!

Sabrina & I have known each other since childhood, when we lived in the same hometown. The funny thing is, though, growing up we weren't ever close, probably because we were in different grades in school. Last year, though, when I moved into my townhouse, Darling Fiance' & I ran into Sabrina & her husband Daniel, who were living in the same community! That meeting was truly meant to be! Since then, we have become the best of friends, enjoying girls' nights together, spontaneous lunch outings and even fun coffee breaks. I have been lucky enough to get to know her family over the last year, too, and I can honestly say that I feel like she's my second sister! We have so much in common and I am so blessed to have found her. I know that over the years, as we go through life, marriage, jobs, and babies together, we'll always be two-peas-in-a-pod!

When I first met Darling Fiance's younger cousin, Emma, I knew that she was a very talented and special young lady. Her infectious smile, her warm heart, and her amazing talent for the theater just drew me in to her. She radiates kindness and this, together with her hard-working attitude, will allow her to achieve all of her goals in life, I'm certain! I'm so thankful that she's going to be a part of our special day and can't wait to see her this week!

All in all, Darling Fiance' & I both agreed that our bridal party means the world to us, and without them, and our amazing families, this week of wedding festivities wouldn't be possible! On that note, let the wedding celebrations begin! 

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

Catching Up, Part II

The second half of this week was definitely just as exciting and busy as the first! It all began on Tuesday morning when I woke with a start--for some reason I had a feeling that I had slept through something very important. Thankfully I had not missed a crucial appointment, meeting, or wedding event, but if hadn't woken at that very moment I most certainly would have! I had slept straight through my alarm and was in danger of missing my dentist appointment, which was all the way back in my hometown, about 2 hours from the city! As quickly as possible, I cleaned up, topped off the Buick's gas tank, and rushed home. Despite some massive construction delays, I managed to slide into the appointment a mere 7 minutes late--whew! To make matters worse, though, the previous night I had fallen asleep with crest white strips firmly adhered to my chompers, so my entire mouth was sensitive and sore :-( Thankfully Dr. Henderson assured me that I hadn't permanently damaged my teeth and in a few short days they'd be as good as new! I left his office feeling clean, sparkly, but yes, a bit more sore. 

After my dentist appointment I met up with Mom and we perused a local gift shop for some one-of-a-kind gifts for my Aunt Katie & Cousin Laura who are hosting the upcoming Bridesmaids' Tea. They've spent so much time planning this wonderful afternoon get-together, and I just know it will be absolutely amazing! I literally cannot wait to celebrate with my girls! We found the perfect gifts, which I'll conveniently omit in case they decide to read ;-), and then proceeded on to Fleming, where we unsuccessfully searched for more candles but did find a beautiful handkerchief to complete my wedding day ensemble! After grabbing a quick bite of lunch with Mom, we headed to my dress fitting and bustling appointment. I hadn't had my gown on since early November (I know, very risky, wasn't it?!) and I was worried that it may be too big, too small, or just wouldn't flatter me the way it had the day we bought it. To my excitement--and amazement!--the gown fit wonderfully! It was a bit looser than November, but not dramatically so, which allowed us to avoid alterations! Hooray! The gown actually felt perfect, and looked even more beautiful, than the day we found each other! It coaxed a smile out of my little cheeks that just wouldn't go away! Having my gown on again made the wedding day seem even closer, and all the more exciting, too! My Mom & Ms. Donna, both of whom are sewing specialists, created a gorgeous Triple French Bustle which was more beautiful than the pictures I had fallen in love with earlier this month. I really began to feel that things were coming together and knowing that my dress was ready was an amazing feeling :-)

After "Bustle Time," Mom & I headed to another local store to pick up more candles, lighters (for the sparklers), and gifts for the little ones. As some of you already know, we're having 10 youngsters in our wedding (my little cousins and a couple close family friends), and we're calling this special group "The Parade of Sweeties!" These little dolls will be ringing bells and carrying signs during our ceremony, so we wanted to ensure we had fun and cute little gifts for them. Stay tuned to see their gifts--again, I don't want to ruin the surprise for their Mommies who may be reading ;-). After a long day of wedding tasks, Mom & I collapsed at home, where, I hate to admit it, I fell asleep sitting straight up! Ha! Wedding planning sure can take it out of you!

Although it was Independence Day, Mom & I made Wednesday our Natural Bridge day. We left home pretty early that morning and arrived with tape measure, paper, and pencil in tow, poised to work! We immediately began measuring the enormous fireplace, mantle, and hearth in the Woodland Center, which will be one of the major focal points of the room. We plan to fill the entire fireplace with gorgeous candles that will cast an amazing glow on the whole room. We then spent a couple hours perfecting the room layout and determining where we'd place guest tables, our sweetheart table, gift table, favor table, etc. When all the dust had settled we had devised the perfect layout! Needless to say, I was extremely relieved that we would be able to easily accommodate all 210 guests, with plenty of space to spare! Have no fear my dancing friends, there will be a generous dance floor, which Darling Fiance' & I plan to take full advantage of! I was also thoroughly pleased to see that the park had extensively power-washed our wooden walkway. We'll have such a fresh clean space for the big day :-)

After the Natural Bridge work-off, we made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some last minute grilling necessities, as it's a family tradition to celebrate the fourth with fresh grilled burgers & dogs! Darling Fiance', who had the day off from work, had driven down to celebrate with us, and together we shouldered all the cooking responsibilities for this year's festivities! First, we prepared this AMAZING summer dessert called "Red, White, and Blueberry Shortcakes," which consisted of layers of homemade shortcake, strawberries, blueberries, and light whipped cream--yum! I wish now that I had taken a picture to share with you--it honestly was as beautiful as it was delicious! Then, I created a unique burger chock-full of seasonings and spices--after all, there's nothing I hate more than bland beef. A mixture of ketchup, mustard, worcestershire sauce, steak seasoning, Cajun seasoning, and minced onion made for one amazing burger! We, or rather Darling Fiance', also grilled smoked sausages and franks. While I did all the prep work, my sweetheart cranked up the grill and actually cooked all the food himself! I was so proud! Unfortunately, though, due to this year's drought, we weren't able to enjoy fireworks, but instead we watched the NYC display on TV, which was definitely still fun! It was just great to spend time together on the last holiday before the wedding! Family time is, after all, so, so important!

Thursday morning Mom & I prepared test batches of our family cookie recipes which we'll be baking for our guests as wedding favors. Thankfully, we discovered one error in the molasses cookie recipe, and were able to correct it before the big day! We then calculated just how many batches of each recipe we'll need to prepare. As we'll be giving out four different cookies, we will have to cook six batches of each recipe! That's over 800 cookies! Thank goodness we'll be using a commercial-grade kitchen and will have many hands to help with the baking! That day promises to be an exhausting one, I think! Ha! I can't complain though, I adore baking and it was my idea to give cookie favors--sorry Mom! ;-)

Thursday afternoon I enjoyed watching my sweet nephew, Eli, as well as our Pretty Puppy while Sweet Sister was busy at work. The day literally flew by, and before I realized it, it was 5 o'clock and time for Mom & Dad to celebrate a very special milestone. July 5 is their wedding anniversary, and this year they have been married 36 years! Isn't that amazing?! To celebrate, I encouraged them to go out for dinner while I watched Papdad. Thankfully, they took me up on my offer and enjoyed a much-needed date night, which I was beyond happy about! I wish they could do that more often, but one date night is at least a start!

Friday morning it was all about the cookie recipe booklets--Mom & I worked on binding the cute keepsakes for a couple hours before I realized I needed to pack up and head to Pretty Puppy's Vet Appointment. After two painful weeks, it was finally time to have her spay stitches removed! That was such a happy moment, I can't even properly articulate my relief! It has been SO difficult to keep her from agitating her wound, let alone from running! Needless to say, Friday afternoon was one of the calmest in what seemed like an eternity! After the vet appointment, I headed back to Lex where I emailed all of our vendors the final reception room layout, wedding day timeline, etc. Then, I dashed over to Michael's to pick up more ribbon and other wedding necessities before spending a fun evening with my Darling Fiance'. This was perhaps our last date night before the wedding--which made me think, was "The Amazing Spiderman" the last movie we'll ever see as single people? If so, it was definitely a good one to mark the milestone with!

Finally, Saturday arrived and brought with it another full day of beautiful wedding chaos! Early in the morning, Darling Fiance' helped me scan all of my baby pictures into the computer, which was quite an accomplishment! Now all I have to do is arrange them into our powerpoint, which will still require a couple hours of work, but at least we're halfway done with that project! I've included a couple sneak peeks below which may help tide you over until wedding day!

Following the scanning ordeal, we headed out to get Darling Fiance's final hair trim and stopped to pick up our program paper. Both went splendidly, which left me plenty of time to get ready for my lunch date with Sabrina. We enjoyed catching up briefly over salad & tea before I had to rush off to my makeup trial run. Now that was a fun, fun part of the day :-) Caroline, my makeup artist, is an absolute sweetheart and captured my wedding vision better than I could have imagined! Let's just say you may be seeing some touches of old-Hollywood glamour on July 14th ;-)! 

After the trial run, Darling Fiance' & I headed to my friend Leah's beautiful downtown wedding. She and her fiance' married in a gorgeous Methodist church in what I would classify as a speedy ceremony (think 15 minutes!), and then met us all at The Round Barn for the reception. Leah looked radiant in a mermaid style silk gown with lace overlay while Jordan sported a gray suit and navy tie! Very dapper, indeed! Below are a couple snap shots of the day, which was filled with navy dresses, hot pink rose bouquets, 100 degree weather (boo!) and mason jars galore (yay!). Thanks to Leah & Jordan for allowing us to share in their special day!

Beautiful Church Decor

Reception Tables

Darling Fiance' & I Enjoying the Reception

Leah & Jordan's Pretty Sweetheart Table

Toasts and Cake Cutting

First Dance as a Married Couple!

Our Friends Michael & Cara

I must admit, though, more than once Darling Fiance' & I looked over at each other tonight and just couldn't believe that the next weeding we'll be attending will be ours! We can't wait!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart

Catching Up, Part I

My goodness, SO much has happened since we last met my dear readers! Firstly, please allow me to apologize for our long separation. This last week has been both amazing and chaotic, so much so that it has been difficult to find even one spare moment to catch up with you! Because of this (and to save you from a 20-paragraph-post, ha!) I'll be recapping the last week and a half in a couple posts over the course of today and tomorrow. And then (get excited!), we'll be moving to daily posts! The past couple days alone have been extra-busy, so I can only imagine what the next week will look like as we approach wedding day! Thus, I think those daily posts will be fun updates for both you and I! Well, on that note, let us begin!

After finding out that I'll be an auntie to another baby boy last Tuesday (which I'm still grinning about, by the way!), the rest of my week was brimming with final exam studying, studying, studying! I did, however, manage to take a couple study breaks to sneak in a few wedding tasks ;-) First, Darling Fiance's mom & family friends sent us some fantastic childhood pictures of my handsome groom over the years! We sat down together to flip through them and laughed, grinned, and giggled until both of our cheeks ached! It was so neat to see Darling Fiance' in all the special stages of life--baby, toddler, teen, and now, man. It even made me think, is this what our little ones may look like someday?! I sure hope so! Those cute dimples, rosy cheeks, and gorgeous blonde locks just melt my heart! As a special sneak peek, I'll share a couple below, but to see the rest (as well as my baby pictures!) you'll have to come to the wedding!

After oohing & aahing over Darling Fiance's childhood photos, I arranged them into a powerpoint to share with our loved ones at the reception, and took the rest of the evening off to enjoy some quality time with my future husband (just so you know, that gives me chills to write!). We enjoyed a wonderful stir-fry dinner and even shopped a bit for our honeymoon attire. I really can't believe that we'll be basking in the sun alone on a gorgeous sandy island for an entire week! I am literally LONGING for that special vacation! Thank goodness it'll be here before we know it! 

The next evening, after much debate, I decided to try a personal airbrush tan. Now, I've had my fair share of automatic booth spray tans, which, unfortunately, I've never really been happy about. I've even tried some top-shelf self-tanner, which was definitely an improvement over the booth, but still frustrating to apply and not perfectly natural-looking either. After being thoroughly impressed with a couple of my classmates seemingly over-night beach glows, I decided to explore the personal airbrush tan. This requires a good exfoliation prior to tanning followed by a visit to the salon, where one undresses to their level of comfort. The tan-applier then enters the room and proceeds to personally airbrush a deep, dark glow onto the exposed areas. This process takes a mere 15 minutes and then you are left to dry off and dress. I am proud to say that I don't believe I've ever received so many compliments on my skin (or been so tan!) in my life. For the first time, I actually felt like the tan was very natural looking, and instead of an orangey-hue I came out with a golden brown glow. I decided at that moment that this would be my pre-wedding tanning ritual. In all honesty, both Darling Fiance' & I spent many an afternoon at the pool attempting to achieve a natural golden tan, which did work to some extent, but about two weeks before the wedding I realized that there was simply no way that this fair-skinned bride would be dark enough without an intervention. As I absolutely will not ever enter another tanning bed in my life (medical school and a skin-cancer scare will do that to you!), my options were to remain fair or try the airbrush tan, and I'm glad that I'm choosing the latter. Not that I'm not proud of my natural skin color (I am, for sure!), but let's be honest, everyone looks better with a bit of color!

Friday morning I completed my final exam (which went very well, thankfully!) and then unfortunately received some awful news. My Grandfather (Daddy's Father) had been rushed in the middle of the night to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Fortunately, the surgery went well and Papaw was already feeling better by the time Darling Fiance' & I made it to the hospital. We spent the rest of the day with my family trying to nurse Papaw back to health. I even made two chocolate cakes (one for Papaw and one for Sabrina, just because I thought she'd love it!) and I like to think that all that chocolate helped hasten his recovery ;-). After a long day at the hospital and at Grandma & Papaw's, Darling Fiance' & I volunteered to return to my parents' house to watch Papdad while they spent the night with Papaw. Unfortunately, that night proved to be a difficult one, to say the least. Papdad fell twice in the middle of the night, and he was so weak that I had to recruit Darling Fiance' to help me lift him. The next morning, he could barely walk and again had to be lifted and carried everywhere he went. At this point I was extremely concerned. Papdad has definitely been declining more rapidly lately, but this was just plain troubling. I called Mom & Sweet Sister and they both agreed that he probably had another UTI. Darling Fiance' & I pushed the fluids all day and tried to let him rest as much as possible. Thankfully, by Sunday he was doing some better, and we believe we narrowly missed another hospital stay!

After my parents returned from Papaw's, my mom & I spent some time picking out my baby pictures for the wedding slideshow. It's amazing how many pictures one family can accumulate over the years! We sure had a great time and I can't wait to show you guys the full presentation on wedding day! Stay tuned, I'll show a couple sneak peaks tomorrow, but remember, there are so many more that you'll be able to enjoy come July 14th!

Finally, on Monday morning, I had my wedding hair trial. This went much, much better than I could have ever dreamed! I explained to my stylist Chris, who will also be doing the bridesmaids' and mothers' styles on wedding day, what I had envisioned, and he literally took off with it! By the time he had finished, I was able to imagine the full wedding day look for the first time! Let's just say that my hair will be very romantic and elegant, thanks to Chris' expertise! After the trial run, I threw up my hair (so as not to ruin the surprise for Darling Fiance') and finally counted all the RSVP cards. It looks like we'll be expecting 175 adults and...get ready...about 30 children! Thankfully, I had already planned for all those little ones, and their special tables will be amazing! They'll be filled with fun activities, stickers, crayons, and even crowns that they can decorate to their hearts' content! Not to mention a full spread of trinkets and sweet goodies! My wish is that when all is said and done, every guest, young and old, will have fun at our wedding!

Til Next Time...

Hugs & Kisses,

A Southern Sweetheart