Reordered OOT (Out of Town) bags. I hope they get here on time!
Bachlorette Party:
So much fun!
Tons of friends
Lots of food
Too many drinks...
This was water. Or, the Blue Dolphin as it is called... I guess. Look how cute it is! Kimi, Rachel and Erin did a great job decorating and organizing it. THANKS SO MUCH! I felt super special all night...
Day 7
...All day recovery
I did get some gifts ready and Bill and I started working on the ceremony... Nothing like leaving one of the most important things to last minute
Day 6
Happy Father's Day!
Shopped till I dropped with Bill. First pre-wedding week major fight, check! What a great recipe for a fight: Spending tons of money, tons of stress because of the upcoming event, and fatigue. Oh well, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger! And we aren't dead... so, ya.
Finished our table numbers! Look at how we did 'em:
These are the numbers that fit on top of the wooden sticks that were cemented in the pail. I hate how most of the numbers turned out. OH WELL! You'll see how they came out later. K?
Started the name placement game. I hate this game. It's like a horrible logic puzzle that really effects peoples' lives for a few hours. I hope no one gets mad at the choices!
Holy goodness. I cannot believe it is almost here. I am running out a time, getting a little overwhelmed at the moment. Oh well. I have a list in my head of all the things to get done. Bill and I have a list that is also written down. It's funny because I start doing something and then he says "wait, you just start doing stuff that's not on the list. I feel like you are just making up more work for you to do." Ha ha... There are just too many little things to do. However, I just go through each thing and figure out "what needs to get done so that is done?" And then do it. For example...
Yesterday, DAY 9!
I completed the Guest Book Table set up. It looks awesome and all bundled up in a box. Thing on the list for that still, pens! Need to buy pens today.
I finished the veil and it looks really pretty. My mom did most of the work, of course. But I added the little detail on the clip.
Those fabric roses are pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it. You get ribbon and then you wrap the ribbon in a circle. However, as you wrap, you twist the ribbon. Here is a YouTube video of what I am talking about:
I watched this about a million times until I got the hang of it...
I got my make-up! I ran by the mall and decided to go to the Mac counter and get some make-up for the big day. 30 minutes later, my face was done and I spent... some money... (crying inside a little)... and now I am ready! And I will have make-up to last for a century. Make-up: DONE!
Fixed my tan. It was hideous. Out of all times to get a bad tan, the week before my wedding. You can still tell A LITTLE that there is an out-of-place line on my chest. Oh well.
I bought books for the rings. I was going to do pillows, but something just turns me off about pillows. I don't know, it just doesn't go with this rustic theme we are going with. SO, books! What do you think of that? We will tie ribbon to it and then put the rings on them. Cool, huh? And simple. What was hard, though, was finding the perfect book. I wasn't going to use just any book (I saw the Communist Manifesto, the Bible, books on how to cure your relationship...), I wanted books that spoke "us". And I also wanted them in our colors. It was hard at first, but then all these books just came together! Look how it looks:
These are the ugly book covers. Sorry, they were ugly. What can I say?
There is book on Frank Ghery (Bill and my favorite architect), a book on Music Appreciation, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love, a book on wedding etiquette and the history of it (hello! awesome!), a and a book on gardening. Perfect for us. Now, we choose 2 books for the rings, one book to paste the ceremony script in, and 2 books to paste our vows in. Then, during the ceremony, we will read from those books. CUTE, HUH???? On with the list of things to do: Finish books. Tie ribbon to them.
I was able to hire some free labor to clean my house... Just kidding. My mom and dad came over and helped clean my house so it is ready when we leave. They were champs! My house is beautiful and it was done in no-time. It really does help having tons of people help clean a house at once! Sure beats doing it by myself.
Wednesday, DAY 10!
I finished Kimi's dress. I added a yellow flower to it to make it "blend" with the rest of the wedding party. We all have two toned colors in the wedding party, so she will too! Kimi's Dress: DONE!
I put all of the mason jars away. Whew! Mason Jars: DONE!
I finished the Guest Book pages by copying them at Kinkos and putting photo corners on them so our guests can attach Polaroid pictures of themselves on it. Love it!
11. Tuesday is 11 days to go... Do you want another number? How about 184. Yes, that is a lot. Of what, you ask? Well, here you go:
Yes, those are our vases and mason jars that are to be used at the wedding. We have had them in the garage, piling up as we got more and more (thanks Melinda, Sanchez, mom!). Tonight I had the great fortune to take them all out, count them and sorta clean them (sorta = dishwasher. Hey, I have to wait for them to clean! That requires effort!). 184 mason jars. Wow. Then, I took the number of each size and divided them by the number of tables. That was a great math equation. "If I have 10 tables, 1 gift table, 1 name placement table, 1 guest book table; and I have 43 jars, how many goes on each table?" I got it figured out, and now I am ready.
Well, sort of. I have to pack them all up. So far I have about 8 carefully packed boxes of mason jars. By tomorrow, they are out of here and I will not see them until they are nicely positioned on that reception table. Wow, all this effort for a few hours of one day. Oh well, it's my wedding. It'll be worth it!
What else did I do today? Hummm....
Figured out a transportation issue. All I have to say is limo is out, school bus is in. Oh yeah.
Got a weird tan. When one problem gets figured out, a new one enters. Perfect. Guess I'll have to figure that one out in a few days. I know, it sounds weird. A weird tan? But I did. I tan so easy, I had the wrong swimsuit on, and not there is a line across my chest that is, well, weird. Ugh.
Worked on the veil with my mom. We have been having fun working on it. We both decided that a veil is so easy! And do you know how much they cost? $200! At least! So we spent about $50 on a homemade one. Sure, there is some loving care and man hours, but it is worth it. And my mom is doing an AMAZING job making it special and pretty. I love it! Here she is, hard at work:
I worked out. The moon was full today! Look at that moon on the run. It was amazing.
And hot. Sac-town got to the 90s today! Bring on that hot weather, I have been dying for some heat!
And now, this. It's 1am. I need to go to bed. Another eventful day tomorrow!
OM. The days are going to continue to fly. I cannot stand it. WAIT! HOLD ON!! I NEED MORE TIME!! I guess that is what I get for doing EVERY SINGLE THING FROM SCRATCH! Oh well, I love it and am so excited for the final day. However, it is getting more stressful. B and I have been a little snappy with each other lately. Humm... I wonder why? Oh, ya, cause we are planning a wedding together! It is only natural that we are going to vent to each other, get mad with the other, question the other's actions... What's great is that we come back from it, though. If we didn't, something would be very wrong.
Today (I mean yesterday, Monday, not Tuesday...), Day 11:
Guess what I did? I went to San Francisco! Yes, I needed a day to me with my trusty friend, Francois the Ford Focus. I don't know why, but I always get so relaxed on a long car ride...
And, so, today was what I needed. Now, I did have a reason. Have you been to Zara? It is one of the best stores in the world and the closest one to me is in SF. I bought some amazing scarves there for the wedding dress (Mendocino will be cold, so I need a cover-up just in case!) a while ago, and I wanted to return the ones that didn't look right. And, well, because I was going to "the city" (as we Sacramentans call it), I decided to stop by my equally favorite city of Berkeley. Ahh man, there is a Crate & Barrel outlet in Berkeley. So I had to go there. And then I needed to go to Paper Source since it is right there. Oh, and then I HAD to pop my head in the Anthropologie to see what was on sale. Come on, I had to... Don't worry (I'm talking to Bill here), I didn't buy anything. Only stuff for the wedding at Paper Source. Sware.
After I needed to go to the Urban Ore. Have you heard of it? It is the biggest, umm... the biggest... dump? I guess? It is a place to find any kind of old window, door knob, old door, crap furniture, recycled anything... It is awesome. And a huge, organized, dirty mess. It is great for hunting for that weird thing you think you need. I found an amazing window, a shutter and a cabinet door. See? You can find anything. I'm going to incorporate those things on the place name table. You'll see.
I did make it to Zara and then rushed home to do my Tracy A video and then take Bill to the airport. Yes, he left me. :( He'll be back on Wednesday. Hey, it is the perfect excuse for me to make a total mess (yep, I'm the messy one). And then I HAVE to clean it all up on Wednesday.
This evening I did do some Wedding related stuff. I started and finished the Menus for the wedding and I did some major design work on the place cards. Look at this amazing work in progress:
Sorry Kari, Taush, Kimi and Rod (who doesn't check my blog anyway), I used you guys as guinea pigs for the design.
Ok, tomorrow is a BIG day. I have about 20 things to do and complete. Let's see if I get close to finishing them.
I can imagine that in two weeks exactly, 14 days from this time of 10am, I might not be feeling well. And I hope that feeling is because of sleep deprivation and party exhaustion. That sounds AWESOME.
14 days! Can you believe it? Sorry about the lack of posts - I told you that Fridays and Saturdays would be bad days to post. However, I did do a lot of stuff those days. Let's recap.
Day 15 - Friday
Took care of some of the fun reception activities. Thank goodness for Martha Stewart on that one, again. Here is a link (in case you are interested) in some of her fun reception ice-breakers. I did one, but I'm not telling... Well, here is a hint of the one I did... It may not be hard to figure out. I also will give you a step-by-step on how I did it... I know, not that super "secret" as you may think!...
Buy some of these:
Get some fonts! www.fonts.com is really awesome.
Go to "find fonts" and click on "free fonts". There are tons of really cool fonts that are totally free! And amazing. Goodness, I love fonts. I can really talk about it forever. Fonts are so cool! They can look pretty, make you feel good about what your reading, incite emotions like "happy" "sad" or "yuck" (time new roman does that to me every time I look at it). I love fonts. Wait, did you know I love fonts? I do... I'll shut up now.
Start the project. I used Apple's "pages" program. I really like it.
Print project:
Cut it:
Punch the corners so they are round:
See?:
Glue it to some other color paper:
Cut that to size:
See?:
Round corner that, too:
Grab your eyelet maker. This is mine:
Put an eyelet in:
Add ribbon:
Attach it to this:
And that is what I did on Friday.
I also had a dress fitting, the last one. I LOVE MY DRESS! I made some major changes to it and it looks awesome. Sorry, no pics though. You gotta wait on that one!
Day 14, Saturday:
Shopping day! Bill had his bacherlor party in San Francisco. He went with a few friends and my brothers. Needless to say, I picked him up at the train station drunk as ever. And happy. He had a fun day. I do think there ARE some secrets, but I won't ask.
So, I went shopping with a good friend. I got some cute outfits for the Honeymoon - Hawaii baby! And I'm all set.
I also started working on adding a flower to my maid of honor's dress. More on that later.
I worked out. So, I guess I'll talk about my fitness inspiration... The lovely, the beautiful, the so-in-shape-and-hot-it-makes-me-sick Tracy Anderson! (T.A. for short, ok?)
First off, I like exercise videos. As stupid and nonsensical as it sounds, sometimes I am too lazy to leave the house and work out. Ok, maybe lazy is too harsh, but listen, I have a point. Going to the gym requires getting in my car, driving, parking, walking to the desk, walking to the locker, getting my water... a lot of steps! And a lot of time - all that takes about 20 minutes. If I stayed home, I would be 20 minutes into the work out. And, well, going out for a run is good but sometimes it's too hot, too cold, too wet, too... outside-ish. So, a good work out at home is a nice thing when I have no time or no energy to battle the natural elements. I have a couple videos that I like, but nothing that ever really "fit" with me. I wanted something interesting, that didn't get too old, that made me feel good and that complimented my lifestyle. And, well, T.A. met those things.
How did I meet her? Some silly article from Gweneth Paltrow explaining her amazing trainer - she has core strengthening, plus cardio dancing. It's hard, but you get results quick. Blah, Blah, Blah. (That is a link to Gweneth's website Goop where you can hear from her, first hand). I though, well, why not? It works for her, why not a tiny bit for me? So, I bought a few DVDs and, well, I guess I like them. Well, at least one of them. What I own is her Mat Video and a Dance Cardio DVD. You are supposed to do one with the other (a total of 2 hours but, who has 2 hours except if you are a high-paid celebrity?). I tried to do the Dance DVD, but my two left feet cannot hang. I could do it if I were more motivated and driven, but I usually say "forget it" and go for a run. The video is fun and is done so "anyone can do it" - it has a step-by-step lesson of the dance, and then you dance with her for 10 minutes. Then, after that dance, there is another dance that you learn and then you do it with her. I think there are 5 dances all together? So 50 minutes of dancing all together. I can imagine that if you do if for 6 months every other day it would get easy quick. However, it took me forever to get the first one down, and I really don't have time to sit and learn the others (remember, wedding? 17 days?). Hey, the fact that I got one dance down is impressive since I am more often trip than hold rhythm!
What I do love is the mat video. Here is a little preview:
What do I like it?
Her exercises are doable, she does not talk too much (which is annoying at first when you are learning and need more information, but which is nice after you get the hang of it and you still have to listen to her for the 30th time), and she makes you feel like you can be her.
She is hot! And it's nice to think that you can look like that too, one day, after many videos I guess.
The Mat workout is 50 minutes, but it is broken up in different segments that never get long or boring. So, once you get to the end, the time has flown by! That is awesome since working out can be grueling sometimes. Plus, after doing the video a bizillion times, it is nice that it still flies by.
She has a few arm workouts that help you get "ballerina arms". She stresses strength without bulking, and that is exactly what I want. No huge muscles, but toned arms. And, well, admit it ladies, our arms are the easiest things to worry about once you start seeing wings. A good arm workout is nice to have around! That's a plus with this video.
The workouts are tough, but it gets easier. That's how I know it is working, cause I can do and finish the workouts. And then, I feel good after that I challenged my muscles (accessory muscles to T.A.) and completed the hard task. Ahhh, the sense of accomplishment.
I can cut the workouts up and do arms one day, legs another and so on. However, because of the wedding, it is arms EVERYDAY
What I can't stand about her and what a lot of people complain about?
The girl can't count. She'll do 10 repetitions on one side, and 30 on the other. Hello? So you have to learn to go on your own pace to even it out, to count for yourself and to not get frustrated. It's not that big of a deal. Really.
She flirts with the camera. "Oh, look at me. I'm super cute so I'll pout and bat my eyes at you". I sware that's what it looks like she is thinking. However, I have concluded that she does this because she is a little insecure with the camera. She messes up sometimes and then smiles, coyly. It's pretty human. So, a little nervous smile makes her seem a little more "real". (But, it can also make her seem a little annoying and conceited.)
She doesn't cue. Which is annoying at first, but then you learn to live with it. However, when your head is down and she stands back up without letting you know... A little awkward and frustrating.
So that is that. This is what I do every day. A little T.A., some cardio, and I better look nice in the wedding photos. :)
Ok, ok; I know, I know. I needed some time off, ok? This is what I did...
Yesterday, Day 19:
Girls day! Yesterday I worked out like a champ, took care of some gifts for the family and then got to hang out with some awesome girls. There's nothing like taking some time with friends to eat pizza, drink beer and watch THE MOVIE Bridesmaids.
Awesome! The movie was great and very appropriate for the theme of this blog. I can relate to the movie, well, somewhat. Maybe not all the hype and over-ambitious bridesmaids, but definitely the fun and the prep for that day. A little less drama, crass humor and crazy awesome surprises (Wilson Phillips? Probably a no-show)... But a good laugh, never-the-less.
Oh! I did do something productive! Make-up trial! We went to Macy's afterward and was able to get some make-up trial in. It went well, as any make-up trial will go. I really just hate getting my make-up done because it is always too much and too-not-me. Here, what do you think?
I like the color, just not the intensity. I really thought Bill wouldn't notice. He did. Then he explained that he didn't really like it. I then took one eye "off" and asked him which eye was better - he picked the one without make-up. Figures. We'll see what I end up doing. I am not getting a professional to do my make-up, so the trial is really a trial and lesson on how I will apply (or Kari, since I asked her so long ago to do my make-up. Kari, you still in?)
Today, Day 18:
Today was a day off, again. I am letting the house fall away during all this wedding madness, so I had to pay some attention to it. I also needed to just take some time away from the wedding madness for me. So, I just took the day off. No exercise and no major project...
That is kinda a lie.
I did get my hair done. According to some research, your hair looks the best 2 weeks after a hair cut. So, I booked my haircut for today (even though it is 2 weeks and then some). It turned out nice and will look great for the big day. Hair, done.
Plus, I kind-of figured out my seating card holders tonight. I will not show the final design, but I will show you where the inspiration came from:
Super cute, huh? And from the one and only, Martha Stewart. Well, I am sure it did not come directly from her, but from someone she pays to make up really cute stuff. Close enough. Thank you Martha Stewart, you are amazing. I really believe so, and I hope you agree. If not, just check out her website and that will be enough. She is brilliant - decoration, organizing, her recipes (I probably cook one once a week)... I love her.
Anyway, I started getting those ready. That'll take awhile. I'll give the step-by-step later. They are really easy once you get the hang of it. You'll see.
Can you believe it? 20 more days! UGH! I have been waiting forever for this event (wait, that could be an understatement since I have been technically waiting for this day since I was 5). Bill and I have been engaged since October of 2010 - wow, forever ago. So now that this crazy day is 20 days away! AHHH! Exciting! I cannot believe it is almost here.
So, now, what did I do today?...
CAKE TOPPER!
And it looks amazing. My inspiration is from this:
So cute! Of course, instead of buying it, I had to do my own. So, I did. Here's how.
Bought/Get supplies
Floral wire - both bare and covered
Cute ribbon flowers
Ribbon
Silver beads
Wood base
Fabric
Small puffy balls (what are those called? Pom-poms! I'm dumb and not erasing what I wrote originally just in case you guys thought I was a genius or something)
Wool Roving
Needle Felting Needle
Glue gun
Drill
I first worked on the birds. Have you ever Needle Felted? If not, try it! It is tons of fun and easy too. What you do it you get Wool Roving (at your nearest big craft store - the big JoAnns, Beverly's and Ben Franklin is where I found stuff) and a needle-felting needle (also at the store. Just NOTE, this is NOT your average needle. It has barbs on it that essentially work the wool into a knot). Get some foam to protect yourself! Then teach yourself by looking up needle-felting on YouTube. I watched this video and felt pretty confident afterward:
You essentially just jab the heck out of the wool to shape your creation. It is JUST like using clay, but NO mess and you are using a needle. It is fun and so addicting. However, not for kids. The needle is really sharp and I have poked myself a bunch of times. So, please be CAREFUL. And have fun, cause it is.
So, I created my birds using the needle felting technique. They turned out super cute, I love them.
THEN, I created the stand.
Curved the covered floral wire to form the arch. Marked where I wanted that on the stand.
Drilled the holes into the stand to fit the arch.
Took the wood base and covered with fabric. Glued that on.
Cut holes where the floral wire/arch would fit.
Took the arch, twirled ribbon around it. Glued that on.
Attached the arch to the base.
Started placing flowers in random spots. Just to get an idea! I didn't glue them them on!
Wrapped green flower wire in a few spots, and then curled them around to get a vine affect.
Once flower placement was made and wire was on, I tied green ribbon to the arch to be the leaves. I cut the ribbon to appear like a leaf and melted the tips of the ribbon very slightly to prevent fraying.
Also wrapped green flower wire in a few posts and attached a silver bead, just to get a shiny thing on the arch.
Glued the flowers on top of the leaves
Glued other random things to fill in and add color - Pom-Poms to be exact
Tied the ribbon on top.
Placed the arch on the stand
Glued flowers at the base
Glued ribbon around the base
DONE!
In the picture there is a faux cupcake since we are going to be doing cupcakes at the wedding. Our birds will be put on one special cupcake.
100% californian, lover of traveling and learning, teacher, music obsessed, eater, proud alum of St Mary's College in Moraga, procrastinator, listener... i don't know what else.
my bill and me. this picture says a lot. we met in 2005, we have lived together since 2007 and have been married since june 2011. we are totally in love most of the time, totally brother and sister some of the time, totally enemies a little bit of the time, and totally best friends all of the time.
