The Best Weekend Ever, Part II or, Wedding: A Recap.

Ohmigosh you guys, I am back.

Despite my daily need to read blogs, I haven't been feeling, lately, the daily need to write one. After the wedding, and before it lets be honest, I just couldn't rally the extra motivation.

But THE HUSBAND ;) has been bugging me because, according to this post, the best weekend of my life was my bachelorette party. And he's pretty sure that after all the work and $$ that went into our grand wedding affair, that weekend should take the cake. When he's right, he's right. So, slip the Chicago girl-love extravaganza into a close 2nd place and I'll share few quick memories about THE BEST WEEKEND EVER.

Photo c/o Zach M!

Like I said, I'm just doing a few short memories, because no one needs a play by play of someone else's wedding. 

• The epic craziness of having two (extremely loving and beautiful) families running all around Indianapolis in the days before the wedding. Seeing two families collide (sometimes literally) and come out the other end as one.
• Our State Fair themed rehearsal dinner - could not have been more fun. We dressed like cow-pokes, ate fair food (note: Indiana State fair, why do you not offer elephant ear sundaes on the regular? cos OMG), learned line dancing, and told stories - some funny some sweet, a good mix.
• After mother-daughter bridal yoga, feeling so calm and relaxed during all the day of preparations. Hair, makeup, snackies - all with your favorite women? Can't complain. And I really didn't feel nervous - just excited and happy. I was expecting I'd be a wreck (I nearly drowned my self at high school graduation) so this was a nice surprise.
• Speaking of surprises, receiving some lovely ones from the guys in my life. A beautiful blue box from my dad and a sweet card and flowers from the groom. Oh, and I had such fun sneaking around making Matt a surprise for the day of too :).
• Hiding out at the venue making sure no one saw me. My bridesmaids were like special ops - no one was going in or out of that room without their approval. 
• Photos - um, so fun. Why am I not a model? Don't answer that.
• All of a sudden, it's time to walk out and I just can't stop smiling. No tears, just a hug for my dad and locking eyes on Matt. I don't remember seeing much after that - just those blue eyes.
• The ceremony was perfect. 
• My matron of honor walking directly into a tent-pole when we were taking pictures. No injuries, lots of laughs.
• Hearing the 4 best wedding speeches I could have imagined - my dad's, my matrons' and the best man's. Oh, there you are, tears!
• Greeting everyone after dinner (yes, I ate!) was so fun. Good reminder why we invited all these people after all ;).
• Dances: 2 goods, 1 bad and ugly. My dad and I were tip top, dancing with the stars quality. Matt and his mom were adorable. Matt and I stunk up the joint, but boy did we have fun.
• The rest - dancing, hugging, smiling so much I couldn't see straight, shouting out loud to Meatloaf, making s'mores, learning to Douggie, basically just having the most fun ever possible.

So there you go. If you can find the right person, go ahead and marry them because weddings are awesome! No seriously, finding the right person is the prize. The wedding is just icing on the cake that makes you realize just how truly lucky you really are.

Thanks to all the guests and well-wishers. We are blessed beyond words.

xo,

E.

How to Have the Best Weekend EVER

This is a step-by-step guide on how to have The Best Weekend EVER.
Pay close attention, as this is a multi-decade process . . .



1. At an early age, begin collecting a varied assortment of fascinating, fun and intelligent female friends. Continue, without stopping, into adulthood.
Illustration: At one (drunken) point in said weekend, I recall saying that I was like a serial killer in that I collected women. The one difference being that I made them my friends, rather than wearing them as skin suits.

2. Particularly, make friends with at least one insanely talented planner. She should have mad research skills and an endless sense of duty to find the best attractions a city has to offer. Bonus points if she is incredibly organized, diplomatic and wears cute clothes. Give her full reign to surprise and delight you.

3. Meet and accept a proposal of marriage from the man of your dreams.

4. Attend a bachelorette party in your own honor, thrown and attended by your very best girlfriends who join you in singing terrible karaoke, eating and drinking with aplomb, and totally taking over one of the major US cities. Allow them to positively spoil you with gifts and attention, and bask in the glow of SO MUCH LOVE.

5. Collapse in happy exhaustion, reveling in the fact that you just had The Best Weekend EVER.
Note: It may take you up to a week to fully recover. This is totally normal side effect of TBW EVER.

I am...

Hey there. Felt the urge to blog today - is that a documented medical condition yet? Anyways, I've missed having the time (or making the time, more accurately) to write and connect with you fine people. So here is a new method I'm trying (inspired by Orchid Grey) to organize my thoughts on the week.

by Etsy artist mylittlepixels

This week I am:

Dreaming about...going someplace - preferably warm. I'm having a major travel bug attack and I just want to play hookey, pack a bag, and jet. Also, anyone have tips for finding what the cheapest flights are from your departure airport? I don't care where, I just want to GO!

Planning for ... duh, THE WEDDING! Found a wonderful florist, had engagement photos (round II) taken by our fabulous photographer, and just generally getting stuff done. Also excited to throw my best friend her wedding shower next month!

Excited about ... learning Photoshop! I needed to for work, but taking the classes and practicing on my own has been really rewarding and I feel that I'm gaining a really marketable skill. Props for professional development!

Stressed about ... Oh, just getting things done. Like save the dates, invitations, guest list, band/dj (the ongoing debate), bridesmaids dresses, catering contracts, decor, showers. And having to have opinions on EVERYTHING.

Grateful for ... Spending time with special people. Seeing my grandparents. Meeting florists with my mom. Brunch with my girl Dana. Sunday nights with my SB family. And every evening with my love. I'm a lucky girl.

Proud of ... Matt and me! We are doing so well on our healthy living goals. Combined, we've lost about 50 pounds. I can't wait to get our measurements taken again to see how many inches we've lost, too.

Personal goal ... Make a photobook. Read this post by Younghouselove and got instantly stressed that we a.) almost never take pictures and b.) almost never do things with the pictures we have. We are making so many memories this year that I want to preserve them.

Praying for ... People and animals out in the cold. This winter is just brutal and everyday I'm grateful for being inside and warm.

Ok, and now the fluffy stuff:

Reading ... The Twelve, by Justin Cronin. This deserves a whole post on its own, but read the first in the series, The Passage, rightnow.

Watching ... Um not much. No Modern Family or Nashville episodes last night, wtf? Top Chef is over (what a crappy finale, too). I don't know what to do with myself. At least the season finale of Mindy was awesome.

Listening to.... Other than "Thrift Shop," I'm enjoying my Pitch Perfect Pandora station. What? A Capella is hot right now.

All In The Plan

Hi guys,

Sorry - I have been massively mia lately, huh?

The planning bug has taken hold of me - planning for the new year, for grad school, for this huge stinkin' diet, oh, and of course, for the wedding. 

via pinterest

Some days, I love crossing items of my list and charging forward into the very well thought-out future...

And some days, I sit on the couch and cry in total indecision. 

It's a pretty fun rollercoaster, let me tell you.

My goal this week is to give myself a pat-on-the-back for all the check marks accomplished - and gather steam  to tackle the rest of the list.

Thanks for hanging in there!

xo, E.

Happy Happy!

Happy New Year, folks!

Jan. 4th  isn't too late to still be saying that, is it? Because I've been saying it all day already...

Anyways, we had a wonderful Christmas break and I hope you did too.

here

We traveled over the river and through the woods to just about as many houses as we could fit in a week and half - and still missed people we wanted to see! But our visits were great and Santa was overly generous - I received so many nice presents and loved seeing ours get torn open, too (especially by two excited little boys). We also had a bocce ball engagement party, which was pretty much the coolest thing ever.

After all the holiday excitement, we were major lame-o's for New Years Eve. Nothing wrong with being home on your couch when the ball drops, amirite?

Of course, we did sit down and make some resolutions for the new year. Matt and I had actually been working on them for a few days - it's so much more fun to have someone to team up on these goals with! And just for added resolution we put these up on our fridge - no forgetting!!

2013: Bring it on.

• Duh, work out and eat healthy. But the real resolution is to feel great about ourselves in time for our wedding. So, thanks to our friends Zach and Dana, we picked up a copy of Bob Harper's The Skinny Rules and we're following it to a tee. Don't you just hate friends that inspire you to do unpleasant things that you know you really should do? Sheesh. And we've got a personal trainer lined up for later in the month, once we stop feeling hungry all the time :(
• Have FUN planning our wedding. We've already had enough with wedding stress -the rest of this process is going to be fun, or ELSE! Anyone not on board with that can jump off.
• Volunteer. We spend almost every Saturday cooing over the puppies up for adoption at Petsmart, so we think we'll do something to help out with them.
• Use our free time wisely. So often, we come home exhausted and just camp out on the couch all night ... which just makes us feel more tired and busier on the weekends. So we're going to try to fill our weeknights with some chores (laundry night, wedding planning night) plus even more fun traditions, like our favorite Modern Family / baking night with the Dewey-Gills.
• On top of all that, I'm back in the saddle of the great grad school search. I'm talking to a program (offers online and hybrid classes, plus would take transfer credit from ND) and hope to take a class this year!

So, share the goods. What are your resolutions? 

Wedding Updates

To all the (seemingly millions) of people asking me about my wedding plans, this one is for you.

Weddings are exciting and beautiful and sentimental. They are also huge pressure-pots of expectation, emotions and stress. We already have a ton of those things in our lives right now (moving in together, new jobs, etc.) so the wedding planning has stayed decidedly on the back burner until our lives are just a smidge more settled. So here you go - exactly where I am in the wedding planning process:

1. Pinterest

I've collected some lovely pictures (mostly with the help of wonderful people who have pinned things for me themselves). Here are some of my favorites:

We'd like to get married outside! here

Awesome patterned invites- here

Pattern & Lanterns - must haves! here

Love a starry tent reception! here

2. General Preferences: Fall, outdoor, bright colors, fun music, great food.

3. Location: we have a scrawled-out list on a piece of yellow legal paper. Indy area, outdoor component, slightly out-of-the ordinary if possible :)

5. Facebook: my facebook friends rock. After one appeal, I've gotten so many websites and magazine resources to look at: stylemepretty.com, apracticalwedding.com, theknot.com etc. Thanks guys!

That's it, I promise! It just hasn't been happening, y'all. We are so excited for this to be a fun process, to involve all of our dear friends and family in this exciting time. It'll be a challenge for sure - we've got busy lives, budget constraints (gotta save up for a sweet honeymoon!), and we're living away from the location and the majority of our family and friends. But just you wait, once we get 'er done, it's gonna be awesome! So thanks for your patience- and stay tuned!

xo,

E.