You're Invited

*pokes head in* Hi.

I know (once again) it's been quite a while. I haven't been blogging near as much as I normally do and I blame that on traveling, being away from the comfort of my home and pure laziness :) Anyway, I FINALLY got our invites done and have to say that so far they were my major slip up in the wedding planning process. The invites themselves turned out beautifully, above and beyond my expectations but I definitely messed up. I planned on sending them out early June and they just went out yesterday, the RSVP date is August 10th. Oops. I didn't listen to the valid advice of "Weigh your invites beforehand!" and ended up having to quickly slap on some ugly gold ring stamps next to my adorable birdie ones because they were the only decent thing available. At that point I just wanted to get them out already and could no longer put anymore energy into caring about them. So that was the negative aspect of the invites, onto the positive!

It makes me sad to blur out so much of prettypenjen's beautiful calligraphy but you know how privacy on the web goes.

Sorry about the poor lighting.

After Party invites courtesy of Stinkerpants Designs. I was so thrilled with her work that I ordered a canvas print of it to hang in our home. I just adore her drawings.

Our actual invites were done by Ginger of Serendipity- Beyond Design who did our save the dates as well. We gave her just a few of our general ideas and she really took creative control to turn it into something that was better than we could imagine!

The actual picture of us looks much better in person, I had to edit it just to make it visible because of the crappy lighting :/







I'm hoping for some thoughtful responses back. We plan on collecting and saving them into an album of some kind.

So now the invites are done and finally out of the way. 69 days and counting!

A bad blogger indeed.

Oh blog how I have missed you. I know it has been a while... a long while.. and I have neglected you so, but I come humbly bearing excuses and pictures to make up for the lost time.

See?

First off I have to say this past Fourth of July was the best Fourth of July yet and I was in bed by 11 pm and didn't even see a single firework! Lame you're thinking right? Nope. This is because I was in Napa, CA with my super cool aunt and uncle wine touring, shopping and ending the day with a game of Scattegories. I went with my mom and met up with T who is currently doing a 6 week summer job. We aren't used to be apart so this has been a difficult time for us. At least we got to eat the best peaches of our life!

We got the recipe which was really simple. You drizzle olive oil and grill them just until marks have been made and then you drizzle sage honey with a touch of sea salt and some sort of ricotta like cheese on the side. So so very good.

Needless to say it was an amazing weekend and I am officially a fan of California weather especially after returning to muggy, hot Florida :/

In the meantime I have been bouncing from house to house and living out of a suitcase like a well cared for hobo but it's not so bad because it helps the time pass faster this way. I love visiting my family but I have been away from home for such a long time. I'm emotionally drained and I can't help but miss my somewhat boring life. Plus no blog stalking in so long! How I miss it. Anyway, I've gotten a lot done for the wedding so I thought I would share... I will go over most of these in detail after things calm down some.

* Booked our photographer and are so excited about her work!

* Got our main invites in

* Got our After Party invites in

* Ordered a little something for my wonderful bridesmaids (to be shared at a later date)

* Preparing for our beautiful calligraphy envelopes to come in

*Tried on my wedding dress that FINALLY came in

Still needs to be altered more but yay no more giant clips in the back!

*Got my cute birdcage veil from Kasia Fink (still contemplating a longer one for fun pictures)

* Received my reception dress and the flower girl tutu dress

That's pretty much it so far. This past month went by so fast I can't imagine how fast the rest of the summer will go! We have about 3 more months to go (has fourteen months really gone by??) and I can't wait for this wedding whirlwind planning to be over with and the actual wedding/cruise week to get here! But not too fast because I still have flowers, programs, cake and more to decide on!

A Not So Mad Tea Party

Tea time!

My tea party bridal shower went amazingly well without any major mess-ups! No tea spills or falling in heels (which I was worried about). Just a few bumping into tables and sweating in the spotlight.

We were lucky enough to have a little stand with tons of hats and boas already provided so there were a few brave people who had fun with it.

Hmm... maybe a little too much fun? T already caught a lot of grief from his guy pals about attending a tea party so thankfully they don't read my blog or they might stumble upon this dandy little picture. Ahem..potential blackmail maybe? ;) (I could never be so evil).

I love this one of me and my mom because of how she's smiling at me with motherly love.

Of course there is also seeesterly love!

T decided to surprise me with a little "How well do you know the groom" game he had taken the time to prepare.

You can see by my "I can't believe you are doing this to me" face here.

But it got some laughs and that's all that really matters.

Plus I eased up too after a little bit and realized bridal games aren't so bad.

I was supposed to chew a *giant* gumball for the ones I got wrong (I think I missed around 4 out of 20). I'm very thankful there are no pictures of this spectacle.

Present time!

I like this shot because it shows off my "Alice" bow in action. I ended up really loving it with the whole ensemble (Urban Outfitters pulls through again!).

We ended up with so many amazing gifts! From gift certificates (always handy), to a blender, coffee maker, rice cooker, coocoo clock, bathroom set and matching dishes *yay!*

I also learned of a superstition that I never heard of before. Apparently when you gift a knife set as a wedding present, the recipient is supposed to give the giver a penny for each knife point in order to avoid bad luck. For good measure, I was gifted 15 pennies that I was able to give her. Whew. Bad luck adverted!

A crafty friend of ours was in her element creating a paper plate/bow masterpiece! She did such a good job :)

Speaking of craftiness.. Karin Hope crafted these whimsical origami paper flowers that I loved so much I almost wanted to keep them all for myself! Everyone was able to take one as a favor, they were an immediate hit! There was also little heart shaped tea strainers as well as rose flavored marshmallow hearts by Whimsy and Spice. They were unique and delicious! Many thanks to Peony::Love for leading me to them!

I felt so loved and still can't believe how lucky we both are to have such amazing friends and family. *Que in big cheesy grin here:


We know there were some that couldn't make it but we completely understand and hope to see them all at the cruise and/or after party that's right around the corner!! (Ahhh!)

A Bridal Tea

While it's not a shame to be blurring out my attempted "calligraphy", it is for these lovely invites by Cheerup Cherup.







T helped (and by helped I mean did) these little maps with directions to stick in with the invites. They are two-sided and a nice touch.

No toilet paper dresses or bridal bingo at this shower. Hate to disappoint but it's just not my style. Oh and boys are invited even though there will be tea and pink :)

*I'm still trying to talk T into going as I'm not the type who likes to be center of attention. Normally I much prefer hiding out in the background so even though I will have a fun time, my comfort zone is sure to be pushed this weekend!

Here's a sneak peek of something to do with my upcoming tea shower!

Karin Hope does great work.

Baaack in the USA!

What an experience but it's good to be home.

Love this.

For full instructions see Once Wed.

I won't lie. I'm just a wee bit sad that we won't be bothering with a cake stand. Cake stands are something I've never once thought about but then I saw ones like this and these and it made me a bit wistful. Yes we could look for one just for our wedding... but let's be real, bringing my own cake stand to use on the cruise is borderline excessive no matter how pretty is may be. Plus cutting costs wherever we can is always a good thing!

Today I'm off for a long Europe trip with T and two friends. It will be fun but I won't be able to update for a while. Once I get back I will have my bridal shower just around the corner (so exciting!) Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Thank you for always inspiring me to do my best!

p.s. Sorry the post office lost your card that I slaved over. Just believe it was very sweet and endearing k? :)