Me and the Girls, getting down.

Saturday night was my bachelorette party. Marta and Ashley put together exactly what I wanted. Since I'm old now I didn't think that going out clubbing was going to be the best idea. Besides a lot of my friends have little ones and can't be out late any more. So I decided that bowling would be the best idea.
The bowling alley I like has rock and bowl. They turn down the lights and turn up the music. I love bowling so this is what I wanted to do.
Beforehand, some of us met for dinner at the Purple Cafe. Kris thought the waiter was cute so she made me take a picture with him:Unfortunately you can't see all the cool tattoos he had on his arms. I also got a complementary creme brulee dessert. It was yummy.
Here's a picture of me and some of the girls:Front row: Jen, me, and Marta. In the back, from left to right Cindy, Ashley, Janet and Kris. It was incredibly hot yesterday which is why we are all a little shiny. Do you like my top? Kris bought it for me. I didn't know what to wear, so she went out and found me this top. Which was so pretty. She's such a good friend!
Then we headed over to the bowling alley and had some fun there.I love that our waitress had bunny ears on. She was tickled that I was celebrating my bachelorette there. That's Lori in the middle. I've known here since I was 3 years old.
I really didn't think Marta would buy me the a penis cake. It was pretty funny.
This was after a few drinks. Erin is getting married in August. Her bachelorette's in Vegas the weekend before my wedding. I can't wait to hear the stories from that one.
Me and Kris. She made sure I safely got to the party! She's getting married next year! I cannot wait for her wedding. Marta (Maid of Honor) and me. Marta made me wear the sash although it wasn't really made for a plus size gal. She's been such a good maid of honor. I couldn't have asked a better person to be in my wedding!Ashley (Matron of Honor) and me. I was so glad she was able to stay all night. Her littlest one is still breastfeeding and she thought she might have to leave early. Ashley's such a calming force. I know that I'll be calling her over the next couple of weeks, needing her to help me calm down. I can't imagine life without Ashley!
I think those are the tame pictures I can show you. Some of the girls brought me some lingerie and other naughty accessories. It was such a good time. We had so much fun, but I cannot believe that the wedding is coming up in less than 3 weeks! Everyone kept saying that they'll see me at the wedding. I'm like no, I'll see you before that. They were like no, probably not. It seems like time is flying so quickly now.

And the Bride Wore a Black Brace

So for the past week or so my right wrist has been aching. I wasn't able to put pressure on it. Tai massaged it but suggested I go to a doctor to make sure it wasn't carpal tunnel. I kept calling it wedding related carpal tunnel. But I agreed and went to get it checked out.
No carpal tunnel but I do have tendinitis. So I have to wear this:
For the next 3 weeks. I told the doctor there is no way I'm wearing this to my wedding. She mentioned I might be able to find it in white. I laughed, like hell, I'm going to wear this thing at my wedding.
It is a PITA to wear. I'm so limited in what I can do. Writing is really hard. I'm able to type fine though. I'm definitely not wearing to my bachelorette tomorrow. But it is helping, my wrist does feel better.
I do blame all the craft projects for this though.

M-I-C-K-E-Y

So remember I sent Mickey and Minnie an invite? Well I got this in the mail.
Tai was pretty excited. He didn't know I did that. It'll be a nice keepsake for us to have. I'll be wearing that pin the day after. And maybe to work on my first day back.

Check Off the Cake!

Saturday Tai and I went to a local Asian bakery to look at the selection. We decided on the Asian bakery because we like their selection. When we walked in and talked to the guy at the counter about cakes for our wedding. He asked us to wait to talk to another woman about ordering cakes. As soon as she heard wedding is pointed to this cake:I'm so sorry if this is your cake. It's not my style and it doesn't match our wedding at all. I started to explain this to the woman, but she started telling me about the different colors the cake could come in and they could match our wedding colors. She couldn't grasp that we didn't want this cake. Finally Tai explained to her that we wanted several different little cakes instead. So we ordered 8 cakes-tiramisu, swiss chocolate, fresh fruit, and black forest- 2 of each. We'll also order some vegan, gluten free cupcakes for those with allergies.
I'm pretty glad to have this checked off. Plus I think we'll be thrilled with the results.

Must Take Photos: The Girls!

Last but not least: the girls.
Found on Brides. com. Such a requisite shot. The fake primping shot!From Lathon Photography. Another required shot. The bridesmaids with the groom. I'd like to do something sassier than this though.From Bobbi+Mike. Bring on the sass baby. This is what I'm talking about. I want crazy pictures!
From Claris Photography. My girls have attitude and I want to remember that when I'm old and grey.
From Matt Adcock. And lastly some sexy ladies.

Last Chance to Steal Some Inspiration!

This is probably the last knottie roundup before the wedding (eee!). Here are some last minute ideas for me. Just regular old ideas for you though.
BeknmikeI want to do this so no one steals Dad's spot.

Pretty roses. Makes me reconsider my no roses stance.
Natalie&Mark
The theme here was peacocks (seriously). This is a very unique color combo.
Plus she rocked this orchids in their bouquets, bouts and centerpieces. Awesome.
Stephm0188
This week I've been going back and forth about getting a crinoline. I was supposed to pick one up over the weekend but ran out of time. I thought I'd go during the week but that's just going to be possible. So I'm going to let it go. This bride did and not wear a crinoline.
I love this centerpiece. So cute and easy!
MrsLavallee
I'm totally loving her dress! She looks so beautiful!
I absolutely love this winter wedding. So pretty!
I plan to continue doing these knottie bio roundups for a while. At least til Kris' wedding.

Why You Shouldn't Put A Bottle of Wine and a Pair of Scissors in a Plastic Bag

Saturday night I went to Jen's to work on my favor tags while we watched chick flicks. I threw all my paper products, all my tools, the movies, and a bottle of wine in a plastic bag and headed to Jen's. When I got to Jen's I grabbed the bag, rip! All the stuff came tumbling out, onto the pavement and crash there went the bottle. All my stuff got completely soaked. I decided the scissors were the culprit.
But despite that and forgetting half the stuff I needed, I got the tags done. I finally found a 2 1/2" round punch. Then I used a 3" template that I had with the Creative Memories cutting tool. I've had that cutting tool forever and I really like it.
I also bought a new eyelet setting tool. It's the first time I used it and the first time I ever used eyelets. It was pretty easy but the glue made the paper wet and it was hard to punch. So I had to wait a little bit before punching. I had a few of the favors with me so I was able to complete a few. So here's one completed:Sorry it's a little blurry but you get the idea. I have to finish tying the rest of them this week. Then I'll be able to cross them off completely. Yea!

Make Take Photos: The Bride!

Now let's turn our attention to me-the bride.
From Rebel with a Camera. Very sexy. I think this one would be easy since we have a lot of grass at our venue.
From Sol Tamargo Photography. Think I can find a couch at the campground. I doubt it. Either I'll have to use a couch at the hotel or perhaps recreate this with a bench. Again really sexy.
Found here. I'm just crazy enough to do this. Tai keeps saying he's going to make sure the photographer gets me picking my nose or pulling a wedgie out of my rear. And that photo will be on our holiday cards. How about this one instead?
From Juliette Harrison. I've never really climbed a tree in my life. But something about wearing a big dress that makes me want to.
From Mae Photo. Another mysterious bride laying on the ground. I think this one would be suitable for framing.
From Sean Flanigan. Definitely getting a pedicure the day before the wedding. And I hate shoes so I think I will be running around barefoot.
What are some of your must have shots for yourself?

OMFG! One Month!

What the deuce? We have a fracking month! Well I was threatening major freakout today but none so far. The day is not over yet and I have my alterations tonight. Perhaps after that.
So what have I been doing? Well, let me show you what's been completed.
First the sign for the card bucket:
Next the signs for the reserved tables. We decided not to do table assignments but we are reserving a few tables for those A listers (my dad, my aunt, Tai's mom, perhaps Tai's sister).
So I decided to do bathroom baskets. No picture of the completed basket but here is the sign. Yes, I ripped off that poem. But at least I didn't use the whole poem.
Rehearsal dinner invites. These are ready to go once I get envelopes to mail them. I hope to that before the weekend is over! And here I shameless ripped off the whole poem. I don't care that it's kind of hokey. And I apologize for that mess at the bottom. I don't know what happened!
Stuff I don't have pictures of:
The suits are done! Jeff went and bought his and Tai's suit last Saturday. Jeff did a really good job. Funny story though. He insisted on buying Tai a tie. I told him we had ties but he insisted this tie would look really good with the suit. Fine, fine, whatever. We go see the suit and the tie. And yea the tie is really nice. Tai notices the tie came with handchief which he got really excited about. Tai turns to me and says I'm going to look fly with that handchief in my pocket. And I'm like no you aren't. You're wearing a bout not a handchief. It's too much it won't look good. So Jeff says he'll eat Tai's bout so Tai can wear the handchief in his pocket. And I can see him doing it too!
Dad bought his suit Sunday. He also needed to buy shoes. I had no idea that Dad was so picky about shoes. He said he wanted plain black slip on shoes. So I found one pair but it was too plain. Then too shiny, too big, too wide, not wide enough. He tried on every shoe in Sears. Finally he found these:

Not that these are his all time favorite shoe but I felt that he was ok with these.
We bought our rings as well:

Tai's pretty happy with these and I like them. We bought them from Amazon and got them lighting fast.
I also broke down and bought those fans:
I was lucky and won 50 off eBay and found a knottie selling 15 more. I'll just tie ribbons on them and they'll be ready.
We've recieved about 1/2 of our RSVPs so far. Saturday is the deadline so we'll see how many calls we have to make next week.
I'm going to be working on the favor tags on Saturday night. Tai will be at poker so I'm getting together with a friend to watch chick flicks and working on the favor tags. I'll post pictures sometime next week.
I'm more in shock about little time there is til the wedding. I can't believe we'll be getting married next month. I still giggle when someone mentions my future husband. I'm in shock that I'm going to be someone's wife. It's funny that I'm gaining a whole new family too. Well he is too. So strange to think we are almost there!

Make Up Trial #1

On Saturday Kris and I went to get mini-makeovers at the Estee Lauder counter at Macy's. I had heard about their Double Wear foundation so I wanted to give it a try. I thought it felt really good and lasted until we got back to Kris' and her puppy licked my face. Saturday was warm but it didn't feel the make up sliding off my face. So I bought the foundation and a pressed powder. Here's a picture (and I apologize for the face I am making):I tend to squint when I smile so I refused to smile. I wanted to be able to see my eye makeup! I'm not happy with the lip color but I can keep looking. Now I have to make a time to meet with Tammy to do a hair and makeup trial. Of course I'll post pictures when we do that.

So Not The Anti-Bride

I saw this article on She Weds the other day, so I of course rushed over to read it. I try to do things unconventionally but I pretty much fit the mold of the a bride.
You need to be convinced to have a wedding-ha! I had to convince Tai to have a wedding. He really wanted to keep it low key (since it's his second and all). I think we managed to keep it low key so far.
Bridal boutiques give you the creeps- I love bridal salons. So much in fact I keep finding some for Kris to go to so I can go with her! Hello? I love clothes! Pretty dresses, of course! Some of the people that work at them give me the creeps though.
You don't believe that the wedding is "all about the bride."-Ok, I think this is the only one I agree with. I make sure that I talk about our wedding, not my wedding. Tai's opinion is very important in the process so I never lose sight of that. Of course there's also our family and friends who play a huge part of the wedding process.
You let your bridal party decide what to wear-Yeah, I sort of did. I am coming in with more "guidance" as the big day gets closer.
Save the dates. What save the dates? Party favors. What party favors?-Ha. I'm all over all those little knottie must haves! Save the dates-done and custom made by yours truly. Favors? Been bought just have to try ribbons! Bathroom baskets? Of course.
You'd rather go for a hike than have a bachelorette party.-I've been looking forward to my bachelorette since I was 21. Way back in the day I used to be quite the club goer. And I love to dance. Sadly I've gotten old and the traditionally bachelorette party is too much for me. But we're still having one.
You opt for nontraditional wedding invitations-Yeah ours are pretty traditional.
You fight tooth and nail not to have a bridal shower-For me it wasn't about being the center of attention. It's part of the experience of being a bride. I've never done this before and I don't plan on doing it again. I wanted the whole package!
You don't own anything resembling a wedding planner-Ok, I don't have a wedding planner. I have one expandable file folder where I have all our contracts and important wedding documents.
You only need a few months to get your act together-Sorry, we needed the full 14 months of engagement. Not only to plan everything but to get the cash to pay for everything!
Thanks, Jennifer for sharing that article. I wouldn't have ever seen it. And I guess I can't call myself and anti-bride!

After The Wedding

A lot of people ask me what we're doing after the wedding. At first I thought they meant that night. Oh, we're camping there at the site. Hanging out with our friends, I'd say. But that didn't satisfy them. No, after the wedding. So, I'd say, no, we're not going on a honeymoon. Too poor right now plus I am out of vacation time. But that was not the answer they were looking for. I have decided that what you are you doing after the wedding is code for when are you having the babies?
Tai and I have discussed having children at great length. I'm not interested in bearing my own children and adoption always seemed like a good idea. But Tai was never interested in adoption and thought that if he ever had kids, he'd like them to be biologically his. Since we couldn't agree and having kids wasn't high on either of our priority lists, we decided no kids.
Then one day Tai said that he saw a little girl on the bus and she was so cute that he felt the urge to have kids. So we discussed it again. I'm not ready right now to have kids. I'm kind of worried since I haven't had that must have babies urge I might never have it.
But after we discussed the babies again, I went to party where a 3 month old was present. She was cute and when her mommy heard I was getting married she plopped the baby on my lap. Time for you to get used to kids, she told me. Honestly I'm not a baby fan. I love my friend's kids. I'll hold them, but I never get excited to see them. But this one was cute and not threatening at all (I'm usually nervous that I'll drop them or they start crying). I held her the majority of the party. Somehow the I don't think I want to do this changed into maybe I could do this.
After the party I told Tai, I'd be willing to discuss the babies again after the wedding. Honestly I think we have to decide what are going to do then. I can go back to school and try to change fields. Tai wants to find a job that's less stressful and pays more. I think we have a lot to decide before we can solidly say bring on the babies. Plus we are getting older and the babies might not be possible (who knows). But I'm keeping the conversation open.

Currently....

playing
In order to help me lose a couple of pounds this month, I bought DDR for the Wii. It's so much fun. I even got Tai off the couch for a couple of rounds. There is a workout mode so it helps you track how many calories you burn.

using
I actually had this pizza cutter on our registry but I found it at a deep discount. I couldn't help buying it! It works so well. I recommend it.

drinking
We bought this on sale at Target on a lark. So yummy. I combine 3 tea bags of this with 3 bags of plain green tea and it's perfect. Just flavorful enough but not overwhelming.

listening

Tai and I love this song. At least once a night he'll ask me to play this song. It's our current favorite.

Old, New,Blue & Borrowed

Ok, now I have everything for this post and I took pictures for it so here we go.
I pleaded with my aunts (Dad's sisters) for them to let me borrow something for the wedding. One aunt graciously provided me this:My grandmother's purse. It's much more sparkly in person than in this dull picture. It's not only something old but something borrowed since I'll be sending it back to my aunt after the wedding. I'm so excited. This aunt won't be able to make it to the wedding so I'll have a little piece of her with me. And it's a piece of my grandma who is no longer with us. I'm planning on carrying this down the aisle and not a bouquet.
For my something blue I bought these a looong time ago (soon after we were engaged):
I knew I wanted to wear flip flops. Hello? July, it should be warm. And I wanted something blue (ok aqua) and sparkly. I love them. And they are new so the qualify for that too.
And I bought when from Kris' mom which I was going to use for my something blue and new. I still plan to wear it. It's so pretty. I wanna wear it now!
Are you planning on following this tradition? If so what are you wearing?

Where I Have Been?

While I was searching for bios on the knot, I stumbled across Scarlett's Closet. Holy shit Batman! Here's a huge selection of designer gowns marked down thousands of dollars! How about this Pronovias for $399! Or this Anne Barge for $495! Or A Jim Hjelm dress for a bridesmaid for $39!
Honestly this is a goldmine. Run, I tell you, run to Scarlett's Closet!

Must Take Photos: The Married Couple

I don't want stiff photos of Tai and I on our wedding day. I think the days of stiff photos are making way for more interesting and relaxed pictures.From Jacque Lynn. Think I can convince Tai to lie on the grass with me. I'd probably be too afraid to do this before the reception.
From S1 Photography. I love the lighting of this one. Very romantic.
From F8 Studio. I love this quirky one. It make you smile when you are old.
From Steve Depino Photography. I think this one should be easy to do with a red barn.
From Alison Rose Photography. Another quirky one. She looks like a fun person and he looks like he really loves her. Love how you can assume that from a photo.