It Was a Beautiful Day for a Shower!

It really was.  It was a little overwhelming, but overall I loved every minute.  I wasn't sold on the idea of a shower and registering for things, but I was happy my mom talked me into it.  There was laughing and crying and EATING.  I got some amazing things that I wasn't expecting at all.  My mom and sister went above and beyond the call of Shower Planning Duty.

They had a sort of Kitchen themed party.  So Tina sent out recipe cards with the invites so that everyone could bring me one of their favorite recipes along with a non-perishable item for the wishing well.  I scored HUGE here...Matt's grandmother gave me her recipe for this Polish cookie she makes around the holidays with the fillings for them.  I can not wait to make them!  This is the one cookie (among a million other Polish dishes she makes) that I drool over while at her house!  There were a good mix of main dishes, soups and desserts.  I can't wait to try some of them.

My family and friends were so generous to bring such nice things for me.  Among the usual's were lingerie, pots and pans, bake wear.  My sister totally surprised me with a sewing machine!  I can not even tell you how excited I am to learn how to do this with her!  She made me the coolest aprons and oven mitt! 

I don't want to go on and on, so here are some pictures from the day!

I had just opened a locket with a picture of my grandmother inside (I can pin it to my bouquet).  She's been gone for almost 4 years, but we miss her everyday. 

The cake is was white cake, raspberry mousse filling and chocolate buttercream...it was awesome.

I couldn't have asked for a better day!

40 Days and Counting!!!

Yay Weekend!

Over all it's been a pretty good week...other than my poor Devils getting knocked out of the playoffs last night with their horrific display in the last 2 games.  I'll get over it just in time for the season to start up again in October.  Until then I will cheer on my aunt's team, the Detroit Red Wings...all season long we have a great time poking fun at each others teams, but when one of our teams loses in the play offs we graciously root for the other.

On to other things...My shower is tomorrow!  I'm really excited!  It's going to be really small, nothing fancy.  But it will be nice to have a get together with the girls in the family.  Unfortunately, my best friend who is my Maid of Honor (Tina is my Matron of Honor) will not be able to attend.  She lives in North Carolina and is in her last semester at college.  She has finals so she needs to stay and finish up.  I can't lie, I was a tad upset when I found out she wouldn't be there, but I understand she has school.  And in her LAST ever semester, she needs to do well.  It's not the end of the world I guess.

My mom and Matt's mom chatted on the phone yesterday.  His mom is so cute.  Matt is an only child, so this is a pretty big deal for his parents.  She is so excited and wants to help do anything she can.  I am so lucky that I ended up with a man that has a great relationship with his mom.  It makes it so easy for me to get along with her.  She told my mom how much she and her husband love me and that they are so happy to have me be a part of their family.  Which, in my current emotional state made me a little teary!  

I can't wait to post after Saturday!  I'm going to take as many pictures as I can.  I'm used to being the photographer at every event, so I'm not sure how this is going to work, but I'll find a way :o)

Have a great weekend!!!

Let the PlayOffs Begin!

Big hockey fan -->RIGHT HERE.<--  

And my Devils are in action tonight!  Super excited!  I don't know if any of you are interested, but I'm writing about it anyway because this makes me happy today, lol.

I love hockey.  I haven't always been a fan, but thanks to my wonderful fiance, I am completely hooked.  I happen to think it's one of the greatest team sports to ever be played.  I have been a fan of basketball and baseball, but the action in hockey is like no other.  It's fast and thrilling and entertaining...what's not to love?!

Say what you will about the fighting, but it's been a part of the game since it became a sport and until someone changes that, it will remain a part of the game and I don't really have a problem with that.  I would like to say, however, that I am happy that the NHL has revised the rules for hits to the head.  Things were getting a little out of hand this past season and it needed to be done.

And not to sound too much like a girl, but have you ever seen a hockey players body?  MEOW.  I know this because I am lucky enough to be marrying one in a couple of months ;o)

Here are a couple of shots from a game we went to recently...Zack Parise (#9) is my "other" husband.

Now We Wait...

...for response cards to start rolling in!  That's right, our invitations are "officially" mailed!  

I'm slightly paranoid about them falling apart, but hopefully the glue tape will hold, lol.  I joked with a friend that I'd mail her a glue stick because I don't ever want to see my invitations again.  Ever.

I love the way they turned out, and I am a pretty crafty person, but this was in no way fun for me, lol.  People, just buy them and hire a calligrapher, or bribe your aunt/grandmother with the beautiful handwriting.  Maybe it wasn't that bad, I do feel a little sense of accomplishment.  And Matt was a huge help in the final stages.

Tina and I are going shopping tomorrow.  I need a few things to get started on my table #'s.  At least I only have to make 10 of those!  I also have to finish my cookie jars, still working on boutonnieres (I can't find the correct pin for the back), I need to make signs for my guest book table...check this out:  http://www.guestbookstore.com/index.html

So cool!  A friend of mine used them at her wedding and guests LOVED this idea!  She told me that she and her husband look back at it all the time....I hope my guests feel the same way!

Also in other wedding news...I think we finally have a song!!  I'm pretty excited about it..mostly because we actually agreed on something!  It meant a lot to Matt to pick the right song since he loves music so much.  And I think it suits us perfectly.  Now unfortunately for you guys, we have decided to keep it a secret until it's played on our wedding day (SORRY TINA)!  We just want people to have that "aww" moment.  But honestly, I'm not sure how many of you would know this band anyway...but I still don't want my sister You Tubing it (for those of you that don't know, my sister reads my blog)!  Eventually I will post the highlights of our play list after the wedding.

It's been a good week overall hope you guys have a great weekend!!!

Had a Happy Birthday/Easter Weekend!

I had a pretty busy weekend.  Friday Tina and I celebrated our 29th birthdays with some grilled burgers and dogs and the infamous DQ ice cream cake.  Tina made me some pretty awesome gifts...most of which I have already put to use :o)  After gifts and cake we dyed Easter eggs with the kids...the big kids had fun helping too!

The weather was gorgeous all weekend, so on Saturday Matt and I went on a long hike.  I love days like that, when it's just the 2 of us doing one of the things that we love doing together.  I can't get enough of those moments.  I've been getting super sentimental with the wedding less than 2 months away now!

And finally on Sunday...Easter!  We did brunch at Tina's house.  I made egg casseroles.  Yummy!  It's pretty much 1 dozen eggs, a little 1/2 & 1/2 and what ever you have on hand to throw in...I used sausage, bacon, potato, peppers and onions.  Oh, and some cheddar cheese melted over the top...yummmm.  I made a vegetarian version too for my cousin.  We also had ham, croissants, cinnamon buns (courtesy of Tina) fruits and baked french toast...my aunt has a killer recipe for this and everyone loves it.  

We played outside most of the time.  My brother-in-law set up the badminton set and most of us took a turn.  The kids enjoyed the Easter egg hunt...I think the boys had more fun hiding the eggs, lol. 

That was my weekend!  Hope you all enjoyed!!

A Good Week in Wedding Land

OK, the excitement has officially settled in!  Not that I haven't been excited, but I think it's hitting me more now that we're almost 2 months out.

A lot was accomplished this past week.  So here is the rundown:

Matt and I FINALLY got our Directions/Accommodations cards printed out.  I had been having a problem with our brand new printer not printing the images dark enough.  I guess it was one of those things that ended up needing a man's touch.  I don't easily admit defeat, but the printer got one up on me.  I just need to rubber stamp the accommodations side and those are officially done.  Maybe I'll get to that today since we are spending Sunday in.

We (my mom, sister and myself) decided on and ordered the flower girl dress!  I can not wait to see my niece in this little number:

I mean HELLO CUTENESS!

On Thursday I went for my first fitting!  I think this is where all the excitement happened.  I was going to take it to David's Bridal since that was where I bought it from.  I made the appointment and then decided to see if I could find some reviews on their alterations department...let's just say what I read was less then stellar.  I tried to call the day before my appointment to cancel and no one ever picked up!  No voice mail, nothing.  So I just decided NOT to bring it there...good thing I didn't because we had torrential rain the day I was supposed to bring it and the whole store flooded!  PHEW!  I feel bad for any one else that had dresses there.

On to plan B.  My future mother-in-law had mentioned when we were shopping that one of her neighbors had her own seamstress shop in the town they live in.  So I asked her for the info and made my appointment.  I can not tell you how happy I was with her service!!  She is so sweet!  I could tell right away that she was knowledgeable in her field and I felt right at home in her cute little store!  I had been going through a phase where I wasn't happy with the dress I had gotten, but as soon as she started pulling and pinning and explaining I loved it all over again!  We decided on a French bustle, which will look something like this (This is NOT my dress, but very similar...I found this pic cruising the internet)

It is going to be gorgeous!

Now it's all coming down to details.  I have to finish addressing the invitations, finish the boutonnieres, make the tags for favors, etc. Things are moving right along!

Butter me baby, 'cause I'm on a roll!

Great Start to Spring!

What a great weekend I had!  The weather was great, the company was even better!

On Friday, my sister came over with my nephew and we took a little trip to the dollar store.  What's not to love about a dollar store?!  I ended up not buying anything, but Tee (that's what I call my sister) got some Easter stuff for Emily's teachers and aids.  David was getting ants in his pants, so we went back to my house.  And since the weather was GORGEOUS, we walked down to the play ground in my condo complex.  I think he had a pretty good time!

Then on Saturday Matt and I took our HIS motorcycle out of hibernation.  We haven't been out since waaaay back last summer.  We took a little ride up to High Point State Park with my parents and brother who also have motorcycles.  If you drive all the way to the top there is a great mountain top view of the county.  It was so pretty.  And of course, since I didn't not bring my camera with me, I missed a great opportunity to snap a photo of a bald eagle.  I could kick myself.

Sunday was a hiking day at "our" park.  I call it that because it's where we always end up on a nice day...we were also engaged there.  :o)  We bumped into good friends that we don't get to see a lot because they moved pretty far away.  They just happened to come up to visit family and we were so lucky to see them!  After catching up for a bit we continued on our way.  A few piles of snow were still fighting the good fight, but it was mostly gone...even if Matt had to eat the rest of it.

And finally in wedding related news, my mother actually found a dress she was happy with...and in the first store!  Hell hath frozen over, pigs are flying, cat's and dog's living together...I can't even believe it.