Ode to Weddings!

Okay, so there really isn't a countdown left. It is GO time. Off to do errands and hang with my mom and sisters - girl time - before the rehearsal dinner. 

When Joanna (my girl crush) of A Cup of Jo left for her honeymoon this fall she featured different couples and their "secret to a happy marriage" - I found all of them inspiring. I thought these would be a nice way to end the week before I start my new chapter with Peter and the girls. 

ENJOY the posts. Scroll down and you will see more and more to read. 

So, this is my last POST until I get back from our honeymoon - Wednesday, December 2. We leave next Monday. Cannot wait to write all about our wedding and honeymoon. Toodles until then! 

2 more days...

OMG. WOW - tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner at The Bristol. And then the BIG DAY. I cannot believe that it is finally here. So excited. An excitement that I cannot even define. I'm thrilled to be spending the day with my closest friends and family - to celebrate the next chapter in my (our) life. I think sometimes you can get so wrapped up in the planning piece of weddings that you forget why the party (per se) is even happening (you are getting married - saying your vows to someone who you plan on spending the rest of your life w/). WOW - big stuff. 

I'm thinking of writing a letter to Peter for him to open Saturday morning. There is something about pen to paper that feels good to me. In all the craziness of the planning, being w/the girls, I want to take some time out to write him a letter - I like this idea. We wrote letters to one another in our pre cana class and I still have mine. I keep it in my wallet. I love it. I think I was born in the wrong era - when emails are means of communication now (don't get me wrong I'm definitely pro texting / IMing / emailing for sure) but there is something special about reading a handwritten letter and touching the paper. 

So tonight I'm going to sit down and write Peter a letter - and I will just write what comes to me. The other night when we were discussing this past year and a half he mentioned he "knew" that this was going the distance when I met the girls. I remember that night so vividly. It was a magical night. 

My Latest Obsessions

Happy Wednesday. My Mom and stepdad arrive tonight and my Dad and Bonnie arrive tomorrow!! So excited. We are all having dinner at my sister's place downtown tomorrow evening. So fun! 3 more days!! 5 days until we are BASKING in the sun. 

Peter's sister in law Peg downloaded all her tunes to our new Ipod. I'm OBSESSED withLisztomania by Phoenix. I also like this one by Phoenix as well. It is so nice to have music going all day - the girls and I have our own dance party in the afternoons! We will have to take a video of our Happy Dance! So cute! 

Cute flower girl dresses from East Side Bride. The girls ended up with the following dress from J.Crew. They LOVE it. We are adding a black ribbon around the dress to match the black dresses of the bridesmaids. My sister Stephanie is wearing this dress with these fun shoes. Love it! 

Love this post from A Cup of Jo - Mint Water - would be perfect for a dinner party. 

I'm at Old Navy quite a bit shopping for the girls. I may have to check out this adorable trench coat next time I'm there. I have always wanted the classic Burberry trench but the price tag from Old Navy is more my speed. Much better cost per wear. I use the cost per wear concept ALL THE TIME. At an early age my mom taught me this concept. Thanks MOM! My wardrobe (actually my wallet) thanks you! 

 

My Latest Obsessions

So, 4 days until the wedding! Craziness. Lots of little details and last minute errands. But pretty much everything is in order. Now it is game time! Cannot wait. 

For the next couple of days I'm going to be blogging about my latest obsessions. I usually post My Latest Obsessions on Friday but thought I would finish off this week w/some of my favorites! 

I seem to wear workout pants all day long - seems to be my uniform as of late (much to my dismay as I never thought that would be the case). Ha! But I love this cute workout top by my favorite place Lululemon. I saw it on one of the gals that work there - and it looked awesome! 

I've featured Linda & Harriet's 2010 letterpress calendar before however, now they have made a gift set that includes the calendar - that is so cute. LOVE IT. Liz of Linda & Harriet started a blog that I read on a daily basis. 

I would love to make these yummy Whoopie Pies (via Little Brown Pen). Wouldn't they be fun for a favor for a dinner party? You can buy the DIY Whoopie Pie Gift Kits on Etsy. My friends

Taryn and Brian had whoopie pies as their take aways at the end of their wedding. It was so cute. I also love her Keep Calm and Carry on Calendars (spoof) for Men. What a great gift. Funny too. 

My sister Stephanie and I made our usual pit stop at Anthropologie this weekend. She bought this adorable Elbow Patch Blazer - check out the pics - and you will notice the cute scottie dog lining! 

Reflections

Wow. So, 5 days until the wedding (we are in single digits here!). Peter and I went to The Bristol Saturday PM to check out the rehearsal dinner space. LOVED it by the way. We are super excited to have it there. 

Saturday PM we had a moment to ourselves and we just looked at one another - and said - really, has it only been a year and a half. Yes, it has. It has been one jam packed year and a half - full of lots of changes, full of wedding planning, and meeting new people. 

Reflections on this past year and a half: 

• None of this would have been possible without open and honest communication between myself and Peter. That is for sure. 
• I'm now less hard on myself than I was in the beginning (when I started watching the girls). Believe me, remembering my internal breakdown at the grocery store now makes me laugh. And many many WTF moments (and I know that those moments are not done). 
• Schedules are key. We now have our schedule down pat (school, pick ups, drop offs, dinner time, bath time, bed time). When we are on schedule all of us are happy! 
• Vans are not as bad as I originally thought! Cannot believe I'm saying this! 
• Allow 10-15 minutes on either end of anything (when dealing with the girls). 
• The girls remember EVERYTHING - so watch what you say and promise! 
• Family means more to me than ever (this includes my family, Peter's family and the girls' mom's family). 
• BE FLEXIBLE. This is a big one for me. Kids change everything. Schedules and priorities change once they are in the picture. 
• I respect all parents on a whole new level. Parenting is rewarding yet also very challenging and often exhausting at times. 
• I'm finally okay wearing my work out pants all day...(this took awhile). 

I'm sure I will continue to learn more about myself and my new family as I continue along this journey. There will be ups and downs and times of pain and times of pure JOY! 

My Latest Obsessions

Happy Friday! Running around doing last minute errands -- 8 MORE DAYS!

Daily Candy recently featured these beautiful one of a kind Elliot Mann bags. They would make a great gift.

Interesting paper chandelier from Pottery Barn.

I want to copy this perfectly messy french bun. Love it.

I would love to wear this greyscale cardigan on a chilly fall day.

It just dawned on me that we won't be back from our honeymoon until December 2nd. Wow - not much time to get a head start on holiday shopping. I have Girls Night ornament exchange party upon returning. I think I might try one of these paper ornaments from Essimar from Etsy. This paper peace ornament is really neat.

Adore the photos from this wedding in Tuscany (of 100 Layer Cake). This reminds me of my stepsister who was married in Italy several years ago. What a fantastic week all of us had.

I love these pen and ink drawings by Teagan White - love the lace detail.

This salted butter caramel ice cream looks sinfully DIVINE! So yummy. And I love the bowls they are in. Very pretty.

Aren't these blackboard placecards adorable? LOVE THEM. I would love to make these.

My Latest Obsessions

I have so many favorite "obsessions" this week that I thought I would post them Thursday and Friday. So here is my part 1 of 2. ENJOY! 

OMG. I'm super obsessed right now with these beautiful chairs from Anthropologie. AND I found on Apartment Therapy a How To: DIY Upholstered Folding Chairs. I WANT TO MAKE THEM! Here is Apartment Therapy's original post about them. IN LOVE. Not that I have enough on my plate...but WOW would love to make these (spring project maybe?). 

I love Paper Source. They now have a new blog. I love their post about a "grateful box" for Thanksgiving. Very cute. We will be gone for Thanksgiving this year (on our honeymoon!) but next year I would love to start a tradition of this sort. 

I love stationery. Hello Lucky! has amazing items. I saw on Daily Candy that you can get 30% offif you use HELLODC to check out. They also have a blog that I read on a daily basis. Great stuff. 

I've been thinking about tights/hosiery lately - this article from Refinery 29 was fun to read. 

I love letterpress - adore it! I wanted to add a few letterpress items to our wedding welcome bags. I worked with Laurie of Lucky Bee Letterpress (via Etsy) -- and I am in love with her designs. We came up with a few fun items to put into each bag. She was easy to work with and I will for sure use her again. Let's just say that I fell in love with the hedgehog coasters andnotecards! 

Donuts with Dad

This morning Cate and Margaret had "Donuts with Dad" at school. So adorable. Precious. They were beyond excited to hang out with their dad. 

I think I fell more in love with Peter when I met his girls. The love and adoration that all three of them have for one another is beautiful. I loved watching the girls climb all over him like little monkeys. It was clear that all three of them loved one another enormously. 

I have found myself over the years doing something that my Dad used to do during our Sunday night dinners or anytime we would get together for a weekend or event. Upon prompting from my Dad at the end of the weekend or meal we told the group what our "highlight" was - in turn keeping those fun memories going strong a little bit longer. I love this idea. I have done it with Peter and with my friends. 

I don't remember if I had something like "Donuts with Dad" at my school but some of my favorite childhood memories are as follows: 

• Going grocery shopping (one on one) with my Dad (don't know why but it was always so fun!). 
• Riding bikes (and not just riding down the street) - we always had a destination in mind (the deli - where we had lunch or a treat). 
• Sunday Night Dinners at his place (we always rotated out stir fry or a chicken dish) and he always had frozen yogurt for us. It was during these dinners that we went around to tell everyone our "highlight" of the week. 

Several weeks ago in my "Latest Obsessions" I featured Rules for my Unborn Son by Walker Lamond - which would be a cute gift for someone having a little boy. He even has a blog. And I love the Blogger Metro Dad's The Rules: 25 Life Lessons for my Daughter. 

11 Days to GO!

NOTE: Above picture was taken the night we got engaged! I LOVED that night. 

OMG. I cannot believe it. 11 days to go until the wedding. Lots on our to do list. Last minute details and things to cross off our list. Guests start arriving next week. My mom and stepdad Travis are flying in next Wednesday and my Dad and his girlfriend Bonnie come Thursday. 

I remember when we had 64 days to go and when we sent out our wedding invitations. Time flies. Lately I have been a bit emotional about getting married. This is something you think about for so long and then you start to truly imagine it once you meet that special person. I'm so excited. I'm excited for our journey together - with the girls - and adding more kids to the mix! 

Beautiful Fall Weekend

I love fall. I love the colors of the changing leaves - oranges, golds, reds - and all the textures that are out there (falling leaves, wearing sweaters, layers of clothing).

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous - warm temps and sunny skies. On Saturday Peter and the girls raked the leaves in the back yard. The girls were giggling and jumping into the huge piles of leaves. They had a ball. Smiles all around.

We had our good friends Sarah and Dave over for an early dinner. I promised to make Cincinnati style chili (Cooking Light version - with ground turkey) and honey cornbread muffins. Both were a hit with the crowd. I had even more fun making it this time because I used our new Le Creuset Round Dutch Oven (in red). We received it as a wedding gift from one of my favorite readers (of my blog). Not only did the chili simmer nicely in the dutch oven - I loved looking at it - such a pretty design. I really love it. NOTE: I seriously cannot believe I'm saying out loud how much I love an item of cookware - long gone are my single days of no cooking and grocery shopping.

On Sunday we went to the Bear's game with Peter's brother in law and his wife. Such a nice afternoon - perfect weather! It was so nice to be outside.

Thursday Night Dinner

Last night I made Stuffed Peppers (without rice) - and they were awesome! I was a bit stumped at the grocery store as I didn't know what crushed tomatoes were - but I knew that they would be in the section with the diced ones, etc. I almost went ahead and bought the diced ones thinking they would do - until I spotted them. I now see the difference. 

I was laughing as I was preparing the stuffed peppers - talk about multitasking. Simultaneously the following things were going on - I was helping Cate with her homework / making them dinner (of dino nuggets and strawberries) / talking with my mom on the phone about last minute wedding details / switching over the laundry - trying to time everything perfectly so that the girls would be in their bath while the peppers were in the oven. 

I can officially say that I'm SO READY for 10 days and relaxing alone with Peter. It has been one busy year and a half. Sometimes I forget how much has changed. I used to never even go grocery shopping - as most of my meals were eaten at work (we had a kick a** fully stocked fridge and pantry that I LOVED). 

15 DAYS TO GO!!! 

My Latest Obsessions

NOTE: I'm making dinner tonight so my usual Thursday post featuring a recipe will be tomorrow. And my Friday Latest Obsessions is today! ENJOY. 

This is a hilarious video. A little MJ for their wedding and his bride. 

Love this line at Anthropologie. Gorgeous glasses and clothes. 

I heart this necklace from my favorite shop. I could live and breathe Anthropologie. Just ask my sister (as the two of us were there last week - just chilling on their couch - at times we think we live there). 

Okay, so I have a girl crush on Joanna Goddard of the blog A Cup of Joe and writer for Glamour. She is chic, funny and creative. Here are some pics from her fun wedding. I even stole a fun idea from her wedding for my own - which you will see later! I also love the post about her mother's advice. Very true! 

Love the typography on this wedding invitation suite. So beautiful. 

Wouldn't these party blowers be FUN to make? 

I used this nail color last week - love it. Such a fun fall color! 

There are a few blogs that I read on a daily basis. Snippet and Ink is one of them. I love Kathryn's posts and I admire her for one of her latest posts - where she is honest and open with her readers. Very brave. 

I've been added to Stepmother's Milk's Blog List. She wrote the book The Package Deal: My (not-so) Glamorous Transition from Single Gal to Instant Mom and the creator of the blogStepmother's Milk. BTW a good friend of mine sent me this book which ultimately inspired me to start blogging. 

And lastly, we picked out what song I'll be walking down the aisle to - Carolan's Concerto. LOVE IT! So pretty. 16 DAYS TO GO! Wahoo. 

My Mom's Wedding Dress

I had my second wedding dress fitting last week and my little buddy Margaret was with me. She was in heaven - who wouldn't be - surrounded by so many beautiful dresses! I love my dress more and more. 

I thought back to when I tried on my Mom's wedding dress last spring when I was home. I have always heard her talk about her dress - as she made it herself. It took her months and months to make it - and she loved it. I had never seen it in person so we decided to unwrap it from the box that it had been in for 30 plus years. I was so nervous trying on her dress - as she was a mere 98 pounds when she got married! 

We took it out of its box and wow - it is GORGEOUS. I think a part of you always wonders if your daughter will wear your wedding dress. I know I think about it with my dress. My Dad's two sisters wore their mother's dress and then one of my Aunt's 2 daughters wore it as well. It is such a wonderful tradition. And my stepsister wore a dress that was in her husband's family. I love the idea of walking down the aisle wearing a dress that has been worn by your mother or your grandmother - so special. 

Obviously I decided on my own dress (which you will see pics of in 17 DAYS) but I wanted to share the experience of trying on my mom's dress. I loved it. And I love it even more knowing the hard work and time she put in to making it. She was taking a grad school tailoring class at the time and made the cardboard slopers which made the dress custom fit for her. She used peau de soie (duchess satin) and embroidered silk organza and hand sewed on lots of tiny seed pearls. 

Okay, so I'll give you a description of my dress (pics to come AFTER the wedding): 

Ivory silk organza scoop neck, fitted torso with net overlay with Alencon appliques, pleated tulle skirt accented with lace chapel train. I LOVE IT! 

Have any of you worn your mother's dress or a relative? Please tell! 

Holiday Traditions

We have been talking about our family lately and after the honeymoon Peter and I are so excited to just relax and all be together. It has been a busy year and a half. Our calendar seems to never stop. I've been thinking lately about some of my family traditions and how I want to incorporate them into "our" family. 

One of my favorite things to do with my mom and sisters when I was younger was to make a gingerbread house. We always started making it the weekend after Thanksgiving. On Friday when a lot of folks were out shopping all the sales we were putting together our gingerbread house (however, ours was never made out of gingerbread!). My dad would always make the roof out of a box top and then we had to look for the perfect box for the base of the house. And then came all the frosting, graham crackers (instead of gingerbread), and tons of candy! 

I would love to start this tradition with Cate and Margaret. It will be fun to start our own holiday traditions. 

What are some traditions that you remember doing with your family? Current traditions? 

*The pic is of Meg's gingerbread house (of Megnut) who wanted to go back to her tradition of making gingerbread houses.