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









 

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