.... you're halfway moved out of your apartment!
Throw in the fact that we're two weeks away from Christmas (read: Christmas tree, presents, gift wrap, everywhere) and that we're storing wedding gear (read: candles, mason jars, bridesmaid dresses, a lot of decor "stuff") AND that we just bought the new TV (read: the old TV and it's entire entertainment center are sititng in the middle of Mark's dinning room) and.. things get difficult.
Oh, the stress. Oh, the mess.
One big part of marriage is the merging of two households. My household consists of a one bedroom apartment filled to the brim with a lot of knick knacks, tupperware and cat toys. His household is an actual house, overflowing with not only his stuff, but also his roommate's stuff, and now.. half of my stuff. That's a lot of stuff.
We decided early on that we aren't going to live together until we get married. We have our reasons, just like people who choose to do the opposite have their reasons. We almost caved when we first got engaged, but we decided that since we've waited this long, we could surely make it a few more months.
But. My apartment lease runs out December 31 and while I could have renewed it for another six months and everything would have been fine and dandy, the idea of not paying rent for six months and saiving up a big pile of cash sounded a lot better. I am so very fortunate to have the world's greatest aunt and uncle who live just up the highway from me, and who happen to be empty nesters living in a great big ol' empty house. They so kindly offered to let me stay with them until the wedding, sans rent!
So thus, we are moving all of my stuff out of my apartment and cramming it into Mark's house, wherever it will fit. The guest room was our obvious storage space, but lo and behold, we actually will have guests over the holidays, so it's all going into the bedroom and the dining room, more or less. We've decided that walking around the house is totally overrated. Climbing is way more fun.
The plan is to be moved out of my place before Christmas so basically.. this weekend.
Ahh!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Christmas Cheers and Reindeer Ears
The Crazy Christmas Bachelorette Party was everything we hoped it would be: festive, silly, fun and filled with plenty of Santas and reindeer!
The five hostesses with the Mostesses met up at the Sheraton in downtown Austin to get to work. We each had our areas of expertise to get ready, and the clock was ticking!
Morgan, Sadie, Me, Ashley, Meredith
Sadie, Entertainment Chair for the evening, had collected photos and video clips from all the guests that she made into an amazing video. We played it for everyone at the party and let's just say it was a hit. My sides were hurting from laughing so hard! Sadie really put in some sweat and tears into this project, which I know the Bride (and everyone!) loved.
Yours truly took on decorations. Here I model some tinsel and admire my string o' panties, which only fell about three times. Success!
Bridesmaid and friend of the bride Morgan was in charge of costumes. A self-proclaimed craft queen, Morgan really ran with the costumes. Her theme? Christmas tacky. Check out those bows on the shirt our bride wore (most of) that night! And that veil? Complete with poinsettas and Christmas garland, it stood out wherever we were, as well as got tangled up in Royale's hair... many times. Morgan also brought reindeer ears for the all the guests, which guarenteed we could always find each other, no matter how crowded the bar (or elevator) was.
Ashley was in chrage of beveraves. Christmas cocktails and pink champagne all around! Also please note my excellent use of Christmas lights in the bar area (decoration shout out, what what!).
Meredith made sure everyone got there that night with her adorable invites. We hung one on the door of the hotel room, procliaming to everyone on our floor that yes, we are having a bachelorette party in here and we dare you to call and complain about us being too loud!
The evening was a total success. When dressed as festive as this bunch was, would you expect anything less?!
The five hostesses with the Mostesses met up at the Sheraton in downtown Austin to get to work. We each had our areas of expertise to get ready, and the clock was ticking!
Morgan, Sadie, Me, Ashley, Meredith
Sadie, Entertainment Chair for the evening, had collected photos and video clips from all the guests that she made into an amazing video. We played it for everyone at the party and let's just say it was a hit. My sides were hurting from laughing so hard! Sadie really put in some sweat and tears into this project, which I know the Bride (and everyone!) loved.
Yours truly took on decorations. Here I model some tinsel and admire my string o' panties, which only fell about three times. Success!
Bridesmaid and friend of the bride Morgan was in charge of costumes. A self-proclaimed craft queen, Morgan really ran with the costumes. Her theme? Christmas tacky. Check out those bows on the shirt our bride wore (most of) that night! And that veil? Complete with poinsettas and Christmas garland, it stood out wherever we were, as well as got tangled up in Royale's hair... many times. Morgan also brought reindeer ears for the all the guests, which guarenteed we could always find each other, no matter how crowded the bar (or elevator) was.
Ashley was in chrage of beveraves. Christmas cocktails and pink champagne all around! Also please note my excellent use of Christmas lights in the bar area (decoration shout out, what what!).
Meredith made sure everyone got there that night with her adorable invites. We hung one on the door of the hotel room, procliaming to everyone on our floor that yes, we are having a bachelorette party in here and we dare you to call and complain about us being too loud!
The evening was a total success. When dressed as festive as this bunch was, would you expect anything less?!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Party Games
What's a good Bachelorette Party without some party games?!
Besides taking care of the decor, I also took charge of the games for my BFF's B-ette weekend in Austin. We've all been at showers and parties where we've been forced to play some pretty cheesy games -- think building wedding dresses out of toilet paper or making words out of the bride and groom's first names. I promised the other hostesses that my games would be cheese-free!
It seems pretty standard that, in my circle of friends at least, Bachelorette Parties also include a lingerie shower. So with the help of Martha and some creativity, I got things ready for the Name That Undie game. Have ya'll played this one before? It's one of my favorites. For each gift that the bride opens, the guests come up with a name for the ensemble, and a tag is tied to the piece with its name on it. Come honeymoon time, the bride gives her groom a choice of what she should wear each night, based on its name. He doesn't get to see anything until after he choses!
I found some cute stickers by Ms. Stewart at Michaels. They are supposed to be for photo captions, but they ended up working perfectly for the game. They had who, what, where and when lines on them, which we'll use for the gift's giver, undie description and newly christened name.
I mounted each sticker on some cute scrapbook paper, added a sticker and ribbon, and the tags were ready to tie onto the gifts!
Game Numero Two was an old standby classic - How Well Does the Bride Know Her Groom? I emailed the groom-to-be a list of questions for him to answer, and then the bride has to try and guess his responses. For each wrong guess, she has a sip of champagne, and for each correct guess, we all take a sip. I've also seen this game played with gum and candy, making the bride take another bite for each wrong guess. I tried to think a little out of the box with this one, asking questions like "what time is your wedding?" (groom's reply: 6ish) and name all the Bridesmaids (which, I'm glad to say, he got right!). I also added some multiple choice questions such as, Which would you rather:
a) the bride get a tattoo of her dad's face on her back, or
b) the bride wear permanent socks, 24-7
(he picked B, in case you're curious!).
And for the third and final game, I made jingle bell necklaces for all the guests to wear (reminder: our party is Christmas themed) with a little card on each one. Each card has a task written on it that that person has to make the bride do that night. Some of them are:
Take you picture on a sports car
Ask a guy to marry you
Write your phone number on a bathroom stall
Dance with ten different guys
Once each girl gets the bride to complete her task, she gives the bride her necklace. The goal is for the B2B to have all the necklaces (and a whole lot of jingle!) by the end of the night.
Note: Cats are great crafty partners. They especially like to help with projects that involve strings and/or bells.
What are some Bachelorette games you've played that aren't too cheesy? I'm always looking for a new idea!
Besides taking care of the decor, I also took charge of the games for my BFF's B-ette weekend in Austin. We've all been at showers and parties where we've been forced to play some pretty cheesy games -- think building wedding dresses out of toilet paper or making words out of the bride and groom's first names. I promised the other hostesses that my games would be cheese-free!
It seems pretty standard that, in my circle of friends at least, Bachelorette Parties also include a lingerie shower. So with the help of Martha and some creativity, I got things ready for the Name That Undie game. Have ya'll played this one before? It's one of my favorites. For each gift that the bride opens, the guests come up with a name for the ensemble, and a tag is tied to the piece with its name on it. Come honeymoon time, the bride gives her groom a choice of what she should wear each night, based on its name. He doesn't get to see anything until after he choses!
I found some cute stickers by Ms. Stewart at Michaels. They are supposed to be for photo captions, but they ended up working perfectly for the game. They had who, what, where and when lines on them, which we'll use for the gift's giver, undie description and newly christened name.
I mounted each sticker on some cute scrapbook paper, added a sticker and ribbon, and the tags were ready to tie onto the gifts!
Game Numero Two was an old standby classic - How Well Does the Bride Know Her Groom? I emailed the groom-to-be a list of questions for him to answer, and then the bride has to try and guess his responses. For each wrong guess, she has a sip of champagne, and for each correct guess, we all take a sip. I've also seen this game played with gum and candy, making the bride take another bite for each wrong guess. I tried to think a little out of the box with this one, asking questions like "what time is your wedding?" (groom's reply: 6ish) and name all the Bridesmaids (which, I'm glad to say, he got right!). I also added some multiple choice questions such as, Which would you rather:
a) the bride get a tattoo of her dad's face on her back, or
b) the bride wear permanent socks, 24-7
(he picked B, in case you're curious!).
And for the third and final game, I made jingle bell necklaces for all the guests to wear (reminder: our party is Christmas themed) with a little card on each one. Each card has a task written on it that that person has to make the bride do that night. Some of them are:
Take you picture on a sports car
Ask a guy to marry you
Write your phone number on a bathroom stall
Dance with ten different guys
Once each girl gets the bride to complete her task, she gives the bride her necklace. The goal is for the B2B to have all the necklaces (and a whole lot of jingle!) by the end of the night.
Note: Cats are great crafty partners. They especially like to help with projects that involve strings and/or bells.
What are some Bachelorette games you've played that aren't too cheesy? I'm always looking for a new idea!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Bridal Boot Camp - The Results!
Cue the dramatic music.
Last weekend I went to my last class of boot camp for our final workout and.... the results. Yikes.
We started the (freezing) Saturday morning with six laps around the track. In forty-five degree weather. I live in Texas. I am a wimp in the cold. Then we ran suicides down the football field. Did more pushups than I could remember. And several other painful things. But I stuck it out. Finally, the hour ended and we gathered round to get our results.
I was nervous, for sure. I knew I didn't eat well for most of the five weeks, and I was afraid that was going to completely negate all the working out and physical activity I was doing in the class. When my name was called, I went to get my slip of paper with my before and after stats and debated waiting until I was in the car to check them. But everyone else was comparing their results, so I bit the bullet and took a peek.
I lost.... 1.3 pounds!! Woo! I'll take it. Better than nothing. MUCH better than gaining. I also lost a total of 3.5 inches total (from waist and hips) and gained a half inch in my biceps (which I am preeeetty sure is due to the fact that I was wearing a fleece pullover on the day they took the last measurements, but shh, don't tell). I also lost just over .5% body fat, so again, much better than nothing.
I left the class feeling very motivated. Hey, I can do this stuff! And just imagine how much better it could have turned out if I actually hadn't eaten Thanksgiving dinner four times?! So I'm ready to sign up again for the class in January, only this time - with the wedding looming only six months ahead - I am going to stick to it FOR REAL.
You've got my word. Wedding dress, here I come!!
Last weekend I went to my last class of boot camp for our final workout and.... the results. Yikes.
We started the (freezing) Saturday morning with six laps around the track. In forty-five degree weather. I live in Texas. I am a wimp in the cold. Then we ran suicides down the football field. Did more pushups than I could remember. And several other painful things. But I stuck it out. Finally, the hour ended and we gathered round to get our results.
I was nervous, for sure. I knew I didn't eat well for most of the five weeks, and I was afraid that was going to completely negate all the working out and physical activity I was doing in the class. When my name was called, I went to get my slip of paper with my before and after stats and debated waiting until I was in the car to check them. But everyone else was comparing their results, so I bit the bullet and took a peek.
I lost.... 1.3 pounds!! Woo! I'll take it. Better than nothing. MUCH better than gaining. I also lost a total of 3.5 inches total (from waist and hips) and gained a half inch in my biceps (which I am preeeetty sure is due to the fact that I was wearing a fleece pullover on the day they took the last measurements, but shh, don't tell). I also lost just over .5% body fat, so again, much better than nothing.
I left the class feeling very motivated. Hey, I can do this stuff! And just imagine how much better it could have turned out if I actually hadn't eaten Thanksgiving dinner four times?! So I'm ready to sign up again for the class in January, only this time - with the wedding looming only six months ahead - I am going to stick to it FOR REAL.
You've got my word. Wedding dress, here I come!!
Monday, December 7, 2009
What craft project requires glitter and panties?
A Bachelorette Party, of course!
As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend some friends and I are throwing a Bachelorette party for our BFF and Bride to Be, Royale. We're meeting up with a bunch of ladies in Austin, where we have a hotel room and some great activities planned for Saturday night. We divided up the planning responsibilities among the five hostesses, and I took on decorations and party games.
Since the B-ette party ended up being in the middle of December, we decided to give it a silly Christmas theme, complete with holiday sweaters, Christmas cocktails, reindeer antlers and gifs under the tree. I decided to go old school with my crafts for the decor, using - you guessed it - glitter and Elmer's glue. Remember when all your crafts consisted of glitter and glue? Well, its a little messier than I remembered, and Mark's living room floor may have a hint of sparkle for the next several weeks, but I made (slightly shaky) personalized stockings for all the guests, with the bride's name glittered in gold. Some of these took me about four tries of wiping off the glue and starting over again, but alas, here they are!
Next up, I decided to hit up the Christmas aisle in Walmart for some inexpensive holiday decor. Eight dollars later, I had three strands of twinkle lights and thirty feet of tinsel. Eight dollars! That's my kind of price! I felt like I was still missing some stuff though, so I decided to hit up Victoria Secret and snag some of their 5 for $25 panties, and then found some ribbon and clothespins to create a string of panties to hang by the "mantle" (read: hotel room wall) along with the stockings. Extra bonus- the bride gets to take that decor home for the honeymoon!
I'm finishing up some posters and a couple other decoratey (totally a real word) ideas to bring along with me. I'm running out of time, so I might have some last minute crafting to do once I get to Austin this weekend. You're allowed to carry a hole punch onto a plane, right?
As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend some friends and I are throwing a Bachelorette party for our BFF and Bride to Be, Royale. We're meeting up with a bunch of ladies in Austin, where we have a hotel room and some great activities planned for Saturday night. We divided up the planning responsibilities among the five hostesses, and I took on decorations and party games.
Since the B-ette party ended up being in the middle of December, we decided to give it a silly Christmas theme, complete with holiday sweaters, Christmas cocktails, reindeer antlers and gifs under the tree. I decided to go old school with my crafts for the decor, using - you guessed it - glitter and Elmer's glue. Remember when all your crafts consisted of glitter and glue? Well, its a little messier than I remembered, and Mark's living room floor may have a hint of sparkle for the next several weeks, but I made (slightly shaky) personalized stockings for all the guests, with the bride's name glittered in gold. Some of these took me about four tries of wiping off the glue and starting over again, but alas, here they are!
Next up, I decided to hit up the Christmas aisle in Walmart for some inexpensive holiday decor. Eight dollars later, I had three strands of twinkle lights and thirty feet of tinsel. Eight dollars! That's my kind of price! I felt like I was still missing some stuff though, so I decided to hit up Victoria Secret and snag some of their 5 for $25 panties, and then found some ribbon and clothespins to create a string of panties to hang by the "mantle" (read: hotel room wall) along with the stockings. Extra bonus- the bride gets to take that decor home for the honeymoon!
I'm finishing up some posters and a couple other decoratey (totally a real word) ideas to bring along with me. I'm running out of time, so I might have some last minute crafting to do once I get to Austin this weekend. You're allowed to carry a hole punch onto a plane, right?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Stars, They're Just Like Us!
They Craft!
Saturday afternoon, I was frantically running around trying to get some things accomplished before watching UT in the Big 12 Championship Game (ps. Hunter Lawrence, I love you). I knew I wanted to work on some crafty wedding projects while the game was on, so I stopped by Michael's on my was over to Mark's house. Once inside, I grabbed a basket and started my lap around the store.
This weekend my BFF/college roomie is having her Bachelorette party in Austin. Five bridesmaids (myself included) are hosting the party, which will have a Tacky Christmas meets Lingerie Shower meets Night on the Town theme. I am in charge of games and decorations, so I hit up Michaels with a few items in mind, but was also looking for anything and everything that jumped out at me. I literally walked through the entire store, aisle by aisle, waiting for inspiration to hit. After about an hour (what happens to time when you're in Michaels, seriously?!) I headed to the check out line. I was digging through my coupon bag in my purse (yes, I carry a gallon size Ziploc bag full of coupons at all time. Laugh if you must, but I NEVER pay full price!) when the lady behind me (who must have seen all the clipped coupon goodness) asks if I have any spare ones she can use. I strike up a conversation with her as I rummage through my pile a little more to find her one and she tells me I'll never guess who she just saw in the yarn aisle.
"Who?" (I'm thinking hmm.. maybe it was a Dallas athlete? But in the yarn aisle? Maybe not.)
"Uma Thurman."
"Wha? Uma? Uma Thurman's in this Michael's right now?!" (Frantically scanning around the store to catch a glimpse)
"Yeah. She was buying yarn. She said her friend is teaching her to knit."
"Does she live in Dallas? I can't believe this!" (Still searching everywhere for her. I seriously walked up and down every aisle in the place. Some even twice. How could I have missed here?!)
"I don't think so. She must be visiting someone."
Sigh. It's my turn to pay and I've missed Uma. But be it known that Uma shops at my Michaels. Or at least she did this weekend. If you happen to see her knitting in the pages of US Weekly next week, know that you heard it here first. Uma crafts with the rest of us. Stars. They really are just like us!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
I Survived!
Five weeks ago, I started a boot camp class. One day one, they weighed us, measured us and calculated our body fat percentages and then last night, I went back for our “after” measurements. Our last day of class is Saturday, at which time they will give us our results and someone will be crowned The Biggest Loser.
I started the class out with much excitement and faith in myself to stick it out. I have a wedding dress to get in shape for -- what better motivation could there be?! Our trainer told us on that first day that these workouts were only part of the plan, and that 75% of our results would be based on what we eat for the next month. She encouraged us to eat lots of protein each day, have small meals and snacks every few hours, and drink water, water and more water. I was ready to commit! Bring on the strapless dress and honeymoon swimsuits! I’ll do whatever it takes to kick-start my wedding workout.
For the first week, I was gung ho. No office chocolate bowl for me! Nothing but green beans, grilled chicken and bottled water. Week two, I was still eating my protein and veggies, but the occasional trip out to eat didn’t seem like such a bad idea (but I ordered a salad!). By week three I was back on my daily Diet Dr. Pepper, occasionally sneaking a mini snickers bar and grabbing lunch at Chick-fil-a. Week four rolls around, and oh hello, it’s Thanksgiving! Not only did I miss one of the classes that week (we were out of town - totally legit excuse!), but I also ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pie not one, not two, not three but FOUR TIMES that week.
When Monday rolled around I knew I had to start over and get geared up for our weigh in on Wednesday. I ate the salad bar at work and skipped out on the ranch dressing. I drank plenty of water and pushed myself extra hard at boot camp class that night. By Tuesday I was still going strong, even going for a quick extra credit run that evening. Yesterday morning I considered going liquids only to help make up for the Thanksgiving Week of Doom, but knew I’d never make it. So I had another salad for lunch. Two hours before our class started, I might have eaten two mini chocolate bars - but would those really make a difference in 120 minutes time!?
So it was with a bit of fear that I stepped on the scale last night. We don't get our official results until our last class on Saturday, and I'm afraid of being a little disappointed. I think I fell off the bandwagon on the eating well side of the deal, but - I will say this. Last night we ran 6 laps around the track, or one and a half miles, without stopping. This was a feat for me - I have been a wimpy jogger for a long time now, never lasting very long consecutively. We also ran suicides across the football field, did lunges to the fifty yard line and back, did push-ups out the wazoo and ran the bleachers for ten minutes straight. I know I've improved my endurance and if I keep it up (which I plan to!), I will be wedding dress ready by this summer!
Boot camp results to come later this week!
I started the class out with much excitement and faith in myself to stick it out. I have a wedding dress to get in shape for -- what better motivation could there be?! Our trainer told us on that first day that these workouts were only part of the plan, and that 75% of our results would be based on what we eat for the next month. She encouraged us to eat lots of protein each day, have small meals and snacks every few hours, and drink water, water and more water. I was ready to commit! Bring on the strapless dress and honeymoon swimsuits! I’ll do whatever it takes to kick-start my wedding workout.
For the first week, I was gung ho. No office chocolate bowl for me! Nothing but green beans, grilled chicken and bottled water. Week two, I was still eating my protein and veggies, but the occasional trip out to eat didn’t seem like such a bad idea (but I ordered a salad!). By week three I was back on my daily Diet Dr. Pepper, occasionally sneaking a mini snickers bar and grabbing lunch at Chick-fil-a. Week four rolls around, and oh hello, it’s Thanksgiving! Not only did I miss one of the classes that week (we were out of town - totally legit excuse!), but I also ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pie not one, not two, not three but FOUR TIMES that week.
When Monday rolled around I knew I had to start over and get geared up for our weigh in on Wednesday. I ate the salad bar at work and skipped out on the ranch dressing. I drank plenty of water and pushed myself extra hard at boot camp class that night. By Tuesday I was still going strong, even going for a quick extra credit run that evening. Yesterday morning I considered going liquids only to help make up for the Thanksgiving Week of Doom, but knew I’d never make it. So I had another salad for lunch. Two hours before our class started, I might have eaten two mini chocolate bars - but would those really make a difference in 120 minutes time!?
So it was with a bit of fear that I stepped on the scale last night. We don't get our official results until our last class on Saturday, and I'm afraid of being a little disappointed. I think I fell off the bandwagon on the eating well side of the deal, but - I will say this. Last night we ran 6 laps around the track, or one and a half miles, without stopping. This was a feat for me - I have been a wimpy jogger for a long time now, never lasting very long consecutively. We also ran suicides across the football field, did lunges to the fifty yard line and back, did push-ups out the wazoo and ran the bleachers for ten minutes straight. I know I've improved my endurance and if I keep it up (which I plan to!), I will be wedding dress ready by this summer!
Boot camp results to come later this week!
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