My MOH K got married in September, so her shower was last July (yes almost a year ago, hush.)  The shower was held at her now mother-in-law’s house, and it was gorgeous!  The spread of food was amazing…

The decor was creative:

(We each wrote down advice to make K a bouquet!)

The gifts were plentiful:

And I got to put my bow-hat making skills to good use:

My friend (and bridesmaid) M’s shower was held this March.  I had never been on the planning end of a shower before, and Jesus was it stressful… and expensive.  But at the end it was so worth it!  This was also the first shower I’d been a part of where it was completely a surprise – and she sure was surprised.  It was great!

The favors were these intricately designed cookies in the shape of wedding cakes.  Each cake was different!  We also played bridal shower bingo as M opened up pressies… and if anyone wants the template, I should be able to find it somewhere to send you!  Just email me

And just as with K’s shower, I got to make the bow hat again!  I love how it turned out.  A lot of people think that showers get boring – but if you’re the one creating a bow masterpiece, it flies by! 

The bridesmaids all came together to put on a great shower for M.  She got tons of gifts, and I think she had a great time.  

Have you ever planned a bridal shower?  Tell me it was stressful for you, too?!

Anyway, for months now I’ve been telling myself to blog about our lovely invitations.  And of course, like all of my wedding posts, there’s a story.

Once upon a time, I stumbled upon Blush Paperie.  I promptly fell in love with the colors and the beautiful designs.  I ordered a few samples, and received them over the summer when I had off from work.  I remember calling my mom going “omg I’m in stationary heaven.”  The invitations were embossed and the papers were soft like cotton.  They were matted on a complimentary color paper.  The fonts… oh – the fonts!  I knew I had to have them.

Flashforward a few months.  I’m in Target, and find a clearance rack with two boxes of 50 invitations… for $7.99 each!  I buy them.  They are pretty, but not as pretty as the Blush invitations… but for $16, the bride has to make it work, right?  Here are the invites:

So it comes time to actually print the invites.  We don’t HAVE a printer, and a good printer that would produce quality invitations would be ridiculously expensive and not worth it.  We reach out to the guy my MOH used to print her invites, and 1) he was rude and 2) he was almost as expensive as if we just ordered our my dream invitations.  A few nights of number crunching, and it was decided… why spend money on printing invitations that we didn’t LOVE?  Sure we could have saved money, but by the time we printed the invites, printed the rsvps, got a calligrapher for the envelopes, etc – we’d only be saving $100 from ordering the beautiful stationary-heaven invites through Blush Paperie.  So we did!

A few emails to the owner Michele, and we had our order placed.  It was so quick and painless.  We shot a few proofs back and forth, and she even changed her usual design a smidge for us.  She was so pleasant to work with (she even handled my OCD-esque requests with humor!), and I was almost sad when I didn’t have a reason to email her anymore!  But my sadness was quickly replaced with giddy joy over the beautiful invitations.  (And I mean quick – the entire process took approximately 2 weeks.)  Check out these beauties:

Savannah invitations with Adios font for the script wording and Garamond Small Caps for the body of the invitation, by Blush Paperie.  LOVE!

*sigh* and check out the insert cards:

You can see how she custom-made our RSVP card, as the typical design is that of the reception card above it.  I loved the way it looked with the design on the side.  Michele was so accomodating!

And finally, we had our invitations digitally calligraphered (is that a word?  it is now!).  Look at all the yummy font:

Plus – the icing on the cake is that since we sent them out around Valentine’s Day… the stamp cancelling machine printed a heart on the envelopes!  I had debated as to whether to get the envelopes hand-cancelled or not, and for once it turns out that my laziness actually paid off

Anyway, this story has two morals.  1) Go email Michele from Blush Paperie!  I promise you won’t be disappointed.  and 2) Don’t buy things just because they are cheap.  You WILL change your mind (this happened to me with bridesmaids jewelry too…) and you will be out money.  Even $15 adds up!

p.s. anyone want 100 champagne swirl invitations?  I’ll give you a bargain deal of free

We got married!  I know it’s been a while since I’ve been around but I had to pop in and share the joy.  It was truly the best day of my life – not just because I married my best friend, but because we were surrounded by so much love.  We’ll never again be in the presence of so many people from so many different aspects of our lives at the same time, all celebrating our love.  It is so sappy, but I’m trying hard to absorb as much of that feeling as I can while it’s still fresh.  I have lots to fill you guys in on, but in the meantime, here are a few teaser pictures from our amazing photographer…

Of course, we always knew that getting married in the Catholic Church would mean that we had to go to Pre-Cana, but in our heads it wasn’t real.  I mean going to talk about your relationship in front of a priest?  AWKWARD.  But alas, we came to a point (umm February, aka 2 months before our wedding!) where we couldn’t put it off any longer, so we signed up for the one session in a place where we would at least feel at home… Saint Joseph’s University!  (Go Hawks!)

SJU Campus Ministry runs a one-day program for couples about to be wed, and I am so glad that we approached Pre-Cana in this way.  First of all, one session meant only having to dread going ONCE.  Not every week for six weeks.  (That would be a lot of dread!)  Second of all, since the program was on a college campus, a lot of the couples who ran the program were professors at the university… aka they were great at public speaking and discussing topics with a younger crowd.  (Robert and I actually recognized a lot of the couples from our undergrad classes, so they were mostly around our age.)  Time passed quickly, and I actually left Pre-Cana feeling awesome about our relationship.

Decision Making:

We first started talking about how to make decisions, and the best way to fight in an argument.  The couple presenting was lively, and they brought up a few excellent ways to approach things.  First, they mentioned that in decision making, you should reframe the situation so both the husband and wife were on the same side of the decision.  This way, the husband and wife are a TEAM, and not individual players trying to win.  (This might have been why Charlie Sheen’s marriages didn’t work out.  #winning.) 

The couple gave an example of when they were debating whether or not to buy a boat.  “it’s a lot of money,” said the wife.  “but it’s a great deal!” said the husband.  “maybe we can buy it in a few years,” said the wife.  And around and around they went… until one of them brought up the subject of the kids.  With only a few more years until their oldest went to college, they realized that there wasn’t much more time to spend as a whole family on the boat.  And once they were on the same side of the argument (the “it would be a great way to make memories” side), it was an easy decision.

The couple also discussed how to properly fight, and gave good suggestions such as:

• make physical contact with each other while you’re fighting.  fight the urge to push the other away.
• don’t go talking to third parties about your issues.  resolve it with the person who matters – your husband (or wife, or boyfriend, or fiance, whatever!)
• figure out what scares your partner.  this could help you figure out why they fight with you.  maybe your spouse comes from a broken family, and they are just afraid you are going to leave them like they were left before.  take this into consideration when you fight.
• don’t bring up anything in the past.  focus only on the matter at hand – not how many times that issue has come up before, or any unrelated issues that you think will help you “win.” 
• it’s not about winning!  really.  listen to each other instead of trying to formulate your next point while the other person is talking. 

Natural Family Planning:

One word: ugh.  You guys, I really tried to go into this one with an open mind.  I think I even said to Robert that this might be an option for us to try once we were ready to have kids.  (AKA in approx a bazillion years, for those of you keeping track.)  Then the couple started talking. 

First – I have to say, that both the husband and wife were doctors.  I.E. not college professors, and therefore they were not in the least engaging.  They were very preachy, and for someone who was talking about Sex and Intimacy, they were too shy and uncomfortable, which made everyone else uncomfortable.

Second – once they started discussing NFP, they mentioned how they were kind of… surprised… by their first child.  A real poster couple for how NFP really works, right?  They then went on to discuss the process of NFP, and words like cervical mucus were involved.  After I finished vomming, I really didn’t want to hear much more.  I think I’ll be on the birth control pill forever.  (TMI?  Sorry.)

(Something tells me that NFP isn’t all rainbows and star power as seen above.)

Hot Topics:

 The last segment of the day was hot topic-type issues such as budget, children, where to live when we get married, family, friends, and more.  We did a lot of exercises individually and together to see where each other stood on things.  This was very helpful, as it showed us how in sync Robert and I truly are.  (Barf, I know.)  But I’m serious guys, we rocked all those quizzes.  Go team!

Anyway, guys, Pre-Cana wasn’t all that bad (minus the NFP section… oh and the terrible, long Mass at the end!)  Ultimately we were happily surprised, and walked away feeling warm and fuzzy, and super in love.  (Barf again, right?)  And in the process, I feel like I learned a few more things about my religion.  (here are a few, in case you wanted to learn too!)

• Priests can’t because your family is supposed to be your highest priority.  And if your highest priority is your family, how will you take care of your church?  
• The church believes that marriage is meant for procreation.  And if you’re in a homosexual relationship, you won’t be able to procreate, and therefore the Church isn’t so keen on gay marriage. 

Do I agree with these stances?  Not necessarily!  But it was nice to learn about why the Church has the rules that it does. 

Anyway, Pre-Cana turned out to be a great experience, and provided us with lessons that actually seemed applicable in life – not just in the church! 

Did/would you do pre-marital counseling of any sort?  If so – what was your experience like?

To celebrate, we headed downtown to cash out some Groupons that I’ve been collecting.  Our first stop was The Academy of Natural Science to check out some dinosaurs!  Robert loves dinos  

Rawr!

After the museum (and all of the screaming children on field trips), we needed to refuel with some Mexican food and of course some alcoholic beverages at Mexican Post!  We had a Groupon for this as well, and since I do love myself some Mexcian Post, I jumped at the opportunity to visit!

We feasted on nachos, burritos (for the boy) and fajitas (for me!)  Super yum, as usual!

After our feast, we high-tailed it to the closest pub to watch the second half of the SJU-Duquense game in the A-10 Tournament Quarterfinals… which we WON!  What an amazing way to round out the day.  There was even another Hawk fan in the bar to share in the excitement.  High-fives all around!  The Hawk Will Never Die!

Saturday, we started out the day with another Hawk game, this time against Dayton in the Semi-finals.  Unfortunately we lost, but I couldn’t help but be appreciative of how the team really rallied around for the second half of this rebuilding year.  We have a strong freshman class, and I can’t wait to see how next year goes!

After the game, we headed out to join the Erin Express!  We really only went to one bar, but the beers were good, people watching was classic, and company was handsome.  What more could a girl ask for?

It was a great long weekend, just like this was a [great?] long post.  I know I said I’d keep it brief… but I couldn’t help it!  How was your weekend?

- A few months ago (ok ok, a long while ago), I purchased 15 hot yoga classes through Groupon. I have yet to use any of the classes. I find excuses to not go every week, but really I’m scared that I will sweat myself into a puddle and not be able to move.

- I have been telling myself (and Robert) that I was going to go to one spin class a week from New Years til the wedding.  It’s the end of February, and I haven’t gone.  Just like yoga, I completely chicken out every week.

- I love food.  I love butter, and olive oil, and soft cheese, and italian meats.  I love pasta and cookies and proscuitto and ice cream.  And I just can’t bring myself to pack a turkey sandwich for lunch every day, regardless of what my wallet and my waistline tell me.

- It’s 64 days til our wedding and I’m feeling a little mushy around the mid-section.  See above.

[source]

Send help, please?

But instead of freaking out about the details that I have LEFT, let’s talk about some of the details that have already been done.  Starting with my pride and joy, the Save the Dates.

One of my very first wedding ideas was to make a Photobooth type image with the two of us holding signs that said “save” “the” “date” “4.30.11” (full disclosure: I MIGHT have had this idea before we got engaged.  I can’t remember )

I thought this idea was so creative and unique – no one had ever done it before!  A quick google search brought me back down to reality.  But look at this inspiration:

[source]

[source]

In an effort to save money, I was all about doing these myself – finding a template online, taking our pictures, and printing them 2 to a photo page via an online printing company.  Robert, however, had a different idea.  You see, we’ve been to quite a few weddings in the past few years and have received quite a few STD’s in the mail  (yes you heard that correctly!).  Most of them have been magnets, and we slapped those babies straight up on the fridge.  Robert wanted to make sure that our STD would get slapped on the fridge too, so he preferred his STD in magnet form.  (Cmon, read that without giggling.  I dare you.)

Most of the photo booth style magnets however, weren’t what we were looking for.  Most of the templates would allow you to provide pictures but they had the signs filled in already, but I had my heart set on handmade signs.  So a few more google searches brought me to Fresh Impressions, where they help you customize your entire magnet!  Our lovely photographer helped us snap a few pictures in the “photobooth style,” and we submitted them to the website.  After a few emails and a minor mishap involving us accidentally receiving magnets for North Star Behavioral Health Services, we had our save the dates!

Of course after viewing that fabulous inspiration above, I couldn’t just stick the magnet in an envelope and call it a day, right?  I headed to papersource to get some #10 flat cards in beet, some photo corners, and a silver pen.  A few days later, I had these [slightly more] thoughtful Save the Dates:

Lovely, yes? I’m quite proud of them.  We packaged them up in regular white envelopes (may I suggest getting the envelopes with the self-adhesive flap?!  Saves your tongue and some time!)  and as a hint of what was inside, I stamped all of them with this baby:

And finished them off with the best investment ever – our new rubber address stamp! (I thought I had a pic but my camera must have eaten it.)  I only included our first names so it is far more versatile for before and after the wedding.  And *spoiler alert!* after having to send out  invitations and rsvp envelopes, this guy has totally proven its worth.  How did I ever survive without one of these guys?  Ours is the flair stamp from Paperwink, and loved working with them.  GET ONE NOW.

Anyway so that’s the story of  how our Date was Saved.  Let me know if you have more questions about how we actually assembled them, etc.  It really was a breeze, just a time consuming breeze

What’s hanging on your fridge?

I am lucky enough to still be close friends with most of my girlfriends from high school.  And while I didn’t follow any of my friends to college, a good number of them went to school together, and made very close friends there too, who have now become my friends.  A lot of us have moved away, but we still come back to see each other as often as possible.  Even if we go a long time without seeing each other, I know for certain that there will be one weekend a year where I get to see all my girls… Bitches Weekend.

Bitches Weekend started in 2007, and has been a yearly tradition of drinking, eating taco dip, making each other breakfast, and sunbathing.  (Sometimes too much sunbathing). 

(the first bitches weekend, circa 2007)

The same crew comes back year after year, and it’s such a routine for us now that we all know who we’re driving with (Leslie), what time we leave on Friday (after a half day of work), who brings what (Les and I always get the alcohol!), and what bed we sleep in (back bedroom, next to Leslie.)  Perfect.

I didn’t think anything could get much better.  But, you see, I’m the first one of my friends to be getting married, and apparently they wanted to do something special for my last Bitches Weekend as a single gal.  And special doesn’t even begin to cover it.

It didn’t start much different than any other bitches weekend.  We had been planning to go out in Atlantic City on Saturday, so we’d been talking for weeks about all the cute dresses we were going to wear.  This didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

On Friday night when Linds and Lili arrived, they went grocery shopping.  This didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

On Saturday when some of the girls and I took a walk, and the rest of the girls went home to get ready for Church, that didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

When we walked back to the house, and the back gate was locked, I just thought “hmm so much for wiping off the sand, I’ll just use the front door.”  That didn’t seem out of the ordinary.  (Damn I’m naive.)

It wasn’t until I walked through the front door to see this (well, plus all my gorgeous friends), that anything was out of the ordinary.

And then I cried.  And then I was presented with a tiara. 

And Bitches Bubbly, and yummy snacks.

And beautiful necklaces that my beautiful friend Whitney made just for us.  And this amazing pint glass, that couldn’t have been more perfect.  (Yes, I still drink out of this at least once a week!)

We got ready…

and headed to AC.  The girls had put together a very detailed and amazing scavenger hunt that we started on in the car, and we reconvened at Carmines for dinner.

The rest of the night was a blur.  We drank girly drinks and I just soaked up the love that I felt from all of my friends.  There are no words to express how I felt that night, and how I feel when I think about that night.  It was such a sweet (and perfectly executed!) surprise, and I just can’t thank all of the girls for the most perfect Bitches Weekend Bachelorette Party a girl could ask for.

What was the sweetest thing that your friends have done for you?

This is huge, guys.  I know a lot of people talk a lot of smack about the Knot – and most of the time I agree with them.  But I’ve tried a bunch of other wedding organizer websites, and the Knot’s is the most consistent. PLUS they’ve recently updated it, and it’s actually pretty user friendly now.  I couldn’t care less about the rest of the content on the Knot – I think it’s hard to navigate, often slow, and not updated frequently enough.  But this checklist keeps me coming back every day.  It held a lot of frivolous items, but I know I might forget about some of the details once the wedding comes around.  And if nothing else, this self-proclaimed “queen of lists” LOVES having such a beast of a list to dominate.  And clearly, I’m dominating. 

Go team.

However, since we already have all sorts of fun mugs and tea kettles, we really didn’t register for much fuel for our habit.  The only exception is the tea set that is a part of our china set (isn’t she a beaut?)

But I can’t help but sneak a peek at some of the other tea sets and accessories that are out in the registry world right now.  In my dream kitchen, some of these lovely pieces would be in my cupboards.  Maybe they’ll find their way to yours!

For those of you who have friends that also enjoy a good cup of tea, I love this set of mugs that nestle into a sweet carrying tray.  There’s nothing worse than trying to juggle mugs full of hot water, so anything that allows you to look like a calm, cool, and collected hostess is worth it in my book.  These mugs are available from Crate and Barrel.

And for everyone who loves their new married initials (or for anyone who just loves their last name, really!) there is this cute set with a monogram.  Pair the tea pot with a mug with your first initial – one for each member of the family!  Perfect for brunch with the family… and you’ll never worry whose tea you’re drinking!  Both the tea pot and the mugs are available from Pottery Barn.

If I were living in a cool, modern loft, I would totally want this tea set in my home.  Its silver tone is reminiscent of a classic tea pot, but with a fun new shape.  Tea is such a warm comfort, but this cool cone shape adds a bit of playfulness.  I found this set at Bloomingdales.

And finally, for all of you who might be like me and already have too many mugs and tea pots, I’m sure you can fit a few little accessories in your kitchen!  I am loving all of these little guys from Crate and Barrel…

A tea infuser stick for the delicious loose leaf teas:

A tea box so that your tea cabinet looks nice and organized (unlike mine!):

And last but not least, this adorable teabag rest will give you a place to put your teabag after it’s been steeping.  No one wants a bitter cup of tea (or a mess on the coffee table!)

Are you a tea drinker?  Or do you always start your day with a cuppa joe?