#642: so. like.

we laughed.
we danced.
we cried.
we hugged.
we grubbed.
we drank.

we married.

#641: stuff i'm delegating.

what i've chosen to delegate isn't necessarily what you will delegate. but i'll share anyways.

because you ask. and i answer. (about 10% of the time. sorry.)

1) rehearsal lunch picnic: cousin and her friend will be doing the set up at the park, pick up of the food, keeping the drinks ice cold, etc.

2) picking up my dress: mom.

3) lugging of the centerpieces to the venue: thanks dad.

4) lugging of the placecards (and the stand and the tree that decorates it) to the venue: bridesmaid.

5) slideshow: sister.

6) setting up of the sand bottles for the sand ceremony on day of: bridesmaid.

7) guestbook table and polaroid picture taking and program passing outting on day of: 4 cousins.

8) putting boutonnieres on the gents on day of: bridesmaid.

9) checking the set up of the centerpieces on day of: bridesmaid.

10) keeping me focused on happiness: to-be-husband.

plus, the DJ and the site coordinator have the ceremony and reception schedules broken down to the minute along with the seating arrangements and music selections. not going to think about it anymore. if it happens the way we planned, great. if not, then that's the way it goes, yo.

#640: advice.

i'm not really qualified to impart any advice.

but let me do so anyways.

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a lot of brides have told me that the week before the wedding is CRAZY NUTS INSANE CRAZY and CRAZY. they just want it to BE OVER...like COME AND GO already. have i used enough CAPS to EMphasize my WOrds.

i've heard it so often since even before i got engaged...that i actually did the unthinkable, peeps.

i didn't procrastinate.

i gathered. i prepared. i gameplanned. i action-listed. i delegated. i coordinated. (uh, this blog? hello?)

and...

...i'm now at the point where i will be totally and completely letting go of all reigns to let the people who have stuff to do, actually do what they're supposed to do.

it's not like i'm not going to have stuff to do or figure out or finish. but i don't think i'm going to WIG OUT right before the wedding worrying about all the details (and there are a LOT of details to figure out. no really. a lot.)...because i've taken care of everything beforehand.

and certainly, when the wedding day arrives, i'm not going to sweat the minutia. i'm not going to have an ounce of concern. i'm going to cruise. i mean. this isn't natural, of course. it'll take effort on my part to not want to oversee every little thing on the day of...but i will work hard to keep those things out of my mind. other than that, my biggest 'job' will be reminding myself to be in the moment, to take in as much as i can, to smile and hug and touch up any smeared makeup.

that's it.

ANYWAYS. so. i guess my advice here is two-fold.

1) don't procrastinate.
2) don't forget to enjoy yourself during the planning process.
2.5) ...and on the day of.

me personally? i think #2 is harder. it's easy to get really wrapped up in the stress, anxiety, and the CONTROL part of planning...and unbeknownst to yourself, letting that become your entire experience. there were times when i had to check myself...and looking back, i'm so glad i did. because i've never once thought -- "i want it to be over already" or "planning sucks" or etc. it's been a joyride for the most part, ladies. and i guess i'm saying what i'm saying because i wish the same upon you.

...and with my own wedding date getting closer and closer, it almost feels like the beginning of the end for this blog, doesn't it?

i don't know.

have a great weekend. xoxo.
tto

#639: open letter. ish.

hi stephanie.

can we be twins? pretty please?

because i'm diggin' the do you posted. like way.

many thanks.
tto

#638: he's busy.

and just so talented, that max.

#637: daddy.

after fretting for hours and hours...we finally found the song for the father-daughter and mother-son dance portion of the reception.

it's the song. perfect for us.

don't care what anybody says.*

"love will keep us alive" -- eagles


photo by the wonderfully talented team over at one love photo.

*i mean, i care, of course. but i'm just sayin.

#636: red nails.

my nails are short. so i think i could fly with poppy red nails. but i'm nervous they might be kind of "too much" against all the WHITE i'll be sporting on the day of.

you? are you going neutral or planning to flash some colorific?

anyone go either way and regret it?

(let's keep toes out of this and talk about fingernails only. toes have a lot less visibility. sorry toes.)

#635: ellie's back.

congrats ellie!


via mint.

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you know she's going to share lots of visual goodness. first up, her invitations. are you as inspired? can't wait to see what's next.

#634: off the list.

on a brighter note, finished as of this weekend and yesterday:

*seating chart
*cardbox
*programs

yippee.

#632: it's like. art.

photo by...
who else...
max...

#631: stuff.

hi again.

i've been wanting to share these pictures with you. because i think they're nice.

but before i do, let me just say that after a small meltdown earlier this week, i feel like i'm in a good place. in other words, i've got my sh*t together. for now.

big sigh of relief.

i'd also like to add -- that i wouldn't be even close to this sane without my little sister. she's been cc'd on every email i've been blasting out for the past few weeks re: for crafts, for the rehearsal lunch, for the guestbook table, for meetings, for ideas, for a song she's going to sing during the ceremony, for the slideshow she's putting together for our entrance, for drams. everything. she only just turned 25 (our little baby!) but she's been my friggin' anchor. go figure. she's done things unprompted like clearing her schedule for this entire month so that she could be available to help me with any and all things.

i mean. srsly? i'm not even close to being as thoughtful.

and to put things into perspective, let's just say she's the kind of person who has 1000+ friends on facebook. uh, not in a weird way but in a she's-a-major-social-butterfly way. do you know what i'm saying here.

anyways.

point being. there isn't quite anything like a sister and i'm so stankin' happy to have mine. she's not my friend...she's my sister.

it's different.

here's a shot of our placecards and a closeup of the centerpieces. my bridesmaids and i spent a saturday and sunday (read: 8+ hours) cutting, folding, gluing, horsing, hurting (glue gun = scary).

#630: our vows.

awwwww shiz. break out the kleenex yo.

i know i'm going to lose it when we say our vows to each other. we (as in I) decided to use the format sara and matt used. except we're cutting out the "because i love you ____________" bit.

so basically, we're going to each state 5 "i love you because ___________"s.

we finally finished them last night and i like them. we're clearly not trying to impress anyone with our wit or sentiment (you know. because we both have both in spades.) and i'm actually surprised neither of us went the overly-sentimental-gag-me or haha-so-funny-but-not-really route.

our words to each other are exactly that. words. words to describe what is normally very hard to put into words.

my favorite line from his vows: i never want to be without you.

i'm thinking of responding: suckaaaaaa.

#629: the cake.

hi guys. say hello to our cake. (i mean. i haven't ordered it yet. but i plan to this week. unless i change my mind.)

it will be a 6-incher from sweet lady jane. and FYI, a 6-incher serves 6-8 people.

WHAT, you say? WILL THAT BE ENOUGH, you say?

thing is, my venue has a dessert course option that's included in the cost. so i'm opting to serve the house chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream.

what that means is. i will not be paying for a separate so-called wedding cake. yay. well, i'm paying for the 6-incher...but that's it. it's almost like a prop. something to cut. because we want to cut a cake.

word.

p.s. i have two hangnails on my left thumb. one on the right and one on the left. eh.

#628: "so, is it getting crazy?"

in a word, yes.

until now, i think i've been pretty zen about the whole thing. but we've entered the final stretch and i find myself running through about 10 different lists/ schedules/ charts in my head at any given moment.

so yes. it's crazy.

the main may to-do's:
*seating chart
*finish placecards
*vows

hm. doesn't seem too bad. but there are a lot of other little things. logistics. delegation. decisions.

btw. i know this blog has been uber self-absorbed for, oh, like forever, and then even more so for the past few months. but.

gotta get get. ok?

love you.

#627: my dress doesn't fit.

so. like i had my second fitting yesterday.

and my dress was tight. not the 'that's TIGHT' as in 'that's AWESOME'. more like 'that's tight [on you]' as in 'it barely zips up'.

great.

but not all is lost. it has motivated me to get my act together and put the extra poundage in check. i was going to start a 30-day running stint a few weeks ago but after 2 days, i had gotten way sick and ended up being out of commission for almost 2 weeks. i'm 98% now so i will start running again tomorrow morning.

but running alone won't help me. so i plan to change my diet. as in...no more fried foods, no more junk food, no more eating a full meal at 10pm and falling asleep at 10:10pm. all things i enjoy but can no longer afford to do at this point.

hopefully all things combined, in a few weeks, i will be a happy, healthy bride who can still breathe with her wedding dress on.

and yes, when i bought the dress, it fit perfectly.