Down to the Wire

There's only a few days left until we leave for two whole weeks and journey to the other end of the world! Okay, it's just the other side of the U.S. but it'll feel like the world by the time we're done. I feel ready but not ready at the same time. I'm having some issues with my wedding dress (i.e. I decided I don't like it at all after it was hemmed) so I feel like I'm on Project Runway scrambling to finalize exactly what I'm going to look like come wedding day.  I'm sure it'll all come together by Friday morning and if not oh well. As Demi Lovato sings, I really don't care! I'll just be happy marrying Roy in whatever dress I have on (which I hope is the one that's being delivered today).

The last week has been a whirlwind with shopping for last minute items ($$ like water) and also getting sick and being useless for two days. Roy has been busy fixing up rental unit #9. We did manage to get in some activities like a City Islanders soccer game and a boat party for Angela's 16th birthday.

City Islanders Game on 7/23 vs. Oklahoma City. My first semi-pro soccer match. It was more fun than I'd thought it'd be.

Final Score 3-3 (tie). We were up 2-0 and then OK had 2 quick goals back to back to tie it.  After another OK goal we were trailing for awhile but came back with a goal not long before time ran out.

Angela's 16th Birthday Boat Party. She was only 11 when she first came to the U.S. *tears* The cousins' visa got renewed for another five years so in a blink of an eye she'll be turning 21. OMG.

Angela and I.  We have a Stage 5 Creeper on board.

This week we have some farewell dinners and I'm trying to get as much skating in as possible before I become mostly sedentary for the next two weeks. I guess it won't be any different than being in the office. I contemplated taking my skates with me but I'm sure Roy would not love driving around and searching for skating rinks for me to skate in. I'll have to treadmill it or swim as much as I can when we're at the hotels. Has anyone tried the chewing the food and spitting it out diet? Yeah that's not gonna work.

I set up a USTREAM channel so that we can broadcast some highlights of the trip and the wedding ceremony to the folks back home. I don't know if providing this type of access will be a stroke of genius or one of life's great regrets.  Stay tuned.

Holy Matri-money

Our wedding is less than 3 months away and our reception is less than 6 months away. Where did the time go?! I'm kind of glad it's quickly approaching though because knowing how I am I need to feel the pressure a little bit to get my butt moving on some projects. Plus I'll be happy to not be draining my bank account anymore. Gah! I know it'll be all worth it in the end but sweet baby Jesus it adds up FAST.

I'm not sure if I mentioned what our final plans were but we are taking a road trip out to Las Vegas starting on August 1st. The goal is to arrive at the ARIA Resort & Casino by August 13th and get married there on the 14th. We're taking the long way to Vegas in a rental car via the Black Hills, Yellowstone, Pacific Northwest, and down the Pacific Coast. We'll stop to see my friend Liz in San Fran and also Roy's sister and brother-in-law in Torrence. We've always wanted to do a road trip across the country and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it. Since our time is limited (and we ain't rich) we are going to fly back from Vegas the 16th. Hopefully we won't want a divorce after we've spent two weeks in a car together. I think we'll be okay as long as we're not camping or using leaves as toilet paper. Some family and friends are meeting us in Vegas for the wedding but we are also having a local reception in Pennsylvania later in the year on November 15th.

Here are some updates on wedding stuff:

DRESS: Went to a Nordstroms at KOP with my cousins last Saturday to try on dresses. I found out that it takes 4-6 months for a dress to arrive once you order it so it was just for style reference only I guess. I really want a short dress due to the expected 100+ degree temps in Las Vegas but the short styles they had were frumpy. I tried on a couple of long dresses and fell in love with a Vera Wang column dress. It was mucho expensivo ($3200). I have an appointment at BHLDN next month down in DC so I'll have to pick one from there. It only takes 7-10 days to get those dresses in, thank goodness.  

Big smile for Vera Wang (4003BN)

This off the rack dress looked okay but would need to be altered and I think it makes me look old(er).

SHOES:  My cousin and her husband generously gifted me with wedding CHOOS from Neiman Marcus. They are gorgeous.

WEDDING BANDS: Picked up mine a couple days ago. Roy's is on its way. He is a 12.5 ring size so it's on special order.

WEDDING DECOR:  Roy started working on the project I gave him for the reception this past weekend. The letter cutouts came out really nice. The ampersand was his favorite (not).  I have an appointment to look at linen rentals this Saturday. Sounds exciting doesn't it?

"R" is for...?

FAVORS: Finalizing a design. Need to order before July. What is it? Hint: It's for all you beer drinkers out there and it's not a bottle opener.

FLORAL:  Not even close.

CATERING: On the to-do list...

GUEST LIST:  Uhhh...

INVITATIONS:  Crap...

WELCOME GIFTS:  Help?

And people plan weddings more than once? Why?!

We Like to Party

My blog posts have been sparse lately because my mind has been preoccupied with party planning and work has been less than stellar. Roy and I are planning to get hitched in Vegas sometime in August and then we're celebrating our newly married status with a shindig back home in November.  So far we've got the venue, DJ (with karaoke!), photo booth and photographer booked.  Right now I'm figuring out what to do about catering. I get a lot of questions about the dress, both for the wedding and reception, but I don't really have anything picked out. I do know it's got to be short for Vegas because it'll be hot as balls out there. I just want to get the major details out of the way and then it'll be easier to focus on the frou-frou stuff.

I've also purchased a domain name for the wedding web site and picked theme colors:

Midnight Navy, Peacock Teal, Plum, & Berry
 



I really like the jewel-tone look and I couldn't just pin it down to two colors.  The venue is a barn so it'll be very "woody" and I think they will all go well together.  I was digging the neon color trend but I imagine that'll look really outdated in the pictures. These colors might look that way also but the 80's always come back to haunt us now and again so why not.

I've given Roy two major projects for décor; I'm sure he'll wait until October to start them. Have you ever planned a large party? Got any tips??

Wedding Fever

Okay, I fully admit I've been exhibiting bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia when it comes to planning a wedding. One minute I want to run away and elope and the next minute I want to go all out. And as Roy points out, I want to get married at the last nice place went to (Baltimore, Vegas, and in a few weeks it'll be NYC). But I think it's finally dawned on me that I do want to have a nice get together (locally) and have all our friends and family in one place, on one night, for good food, drinks, and all the crazy fun and memories that come with it. I came to this conclusion recently because I remembered that when my friends got engaged, I so looked forward to attending their wedding and if they didn't have one, I would have been bummed. Especially with a guy like Roy, who is always making people laugh, I think a lot of people would look forward to it. I would. So what's a few thousand dollars when it's spent on the people you love, right? GULP. It's only money. It's only money. It's only...

So, we actually have an appointment this Saturday to check out a venue. Things just got real. I'm hoping that it'll be one and done so we can reserve the date and get on with the rest of the details that need to be reserved, worked, re-worked, DIY'ed, fitted, tasted, tested, invited, and all that good stuff. Oh, and remember that September 2014 wedding date I might have mentioned? Well it's going get pushed back if this venue is a go. It's that freakin' popular.

I'm ready to get this ball rolling and I'm also excited because Pantone just came out with their 2014 Pantone Color of the Year! I had somewhat jokingly told Roy and a few others that Pantone will be deciding the color theme of the wedding. Here is what they chose:

via

And me likey! Purple is my favorite and I think I can work with this in different variations. The easiest and obvious way to incorporate it would be to have purple orchids at each table or something.  Kind of pricey but maybe that'll be it for the flower budget! Ha. It doesn't really scream "Fall" wedding but that's probably a good thing.

P.S.  I had a dream last night that I was at my wedding reception in a beach house. I was also secretly pregnant and had a glass of wine in my hand. Not sure what that means, but thank goodness it was just a dream!