Our Wedding... Part 1 - Date Night

On Wednesday November 7th, Aaron and I had a date-night planned. We met up at home (I had the whole week off to finish organizing and clean the house) and ventured to The Boathouse for dinner. We had put a splurge dinner in our wedding budget so we went all out with appies, wine, dinner, and dessert which we never do!

This was the night we were going to exchange gifts. I was so nervous because I wasn't sure how he was going to react to mine.

He went first, and bought me a pearl bracelet, just like I'd wanted. I held out buying one for myself in hopes that he'd get me one!

Then it was his turn. The first gift contained this box:

 

Inside the box was a bottle of wine from Napa Valley, vintage 2010 (the year we got engaged). The next gift was a picture frame, with a heart made of wine bottles and stickers about San Francisco and Napa Valley.

He wasn't really sure what to do with it. He thought it was cool artwork, but when I told him to think a bit harder, he realized we were going there! I booked us a 4 night trip to San Francisco in May, 6 months after the wedding. He was blown away. He couldn't believe I'd saved for over a year to make the trip happen for us. At first he was a little bit worried that his gift paled in comparison, but I told him that it was EXACTLY what I'd wanted, and couldn't have asked for anything else. It was what I needed, and something I'll treasure for the rest of my life.

After dinner, we went home to try to sleep and get rid of the nerves.

Up next: Rehearsal Day!

Showered with Love

My mom and aunt organized my bridal shower for me on October 13th, 2012. It was a day full of love, friends, and family, and I was very overwhelmed with the amount of kindness I received.

 

It was a potluck style event, with the theme of Around the World. Everyone brought a delicious dish from different countries including India, China, Ireland, England, Japan, Mexico, and Italy. My mom and aunt just went crazy with the food!  My favorite was the fruit bouquet!  

My cousin's wife made some beautiful wedding colored cupcakes that I'm sure I had 2 of... cheating on my WW diet!

 

After we ate lunch, we got to the games... it was so much fun! We did one game where my mom asked my husband-to-be questions, and every time I answered a question wrong, I had to take a piece of gum. YUP - I ate the whole pack of gum! :) But some of Aaron's answers were so sweet, like what he loves most about me is my ability to be silly, and what he thinks I love about him is also his silliness. And it's so true! We also played a game where I had to guess everyone's celebrity crushes, and some were disturbing! :)

When the games were complete, and I was utterly good and embarrassed, we got on with the gift opening which made me extremely nervous! Way too much focus on me! :)

I received a lot of money to go towards our amazing honeymoon in Mexico, but I also received a lot of thoughtful gifts.

As well as this racy number from.................. MY MOM!

Jay, as the maid of honor, made me a very personal gift of a journal for our marriage full of cute photos of Aaron and I. I still haven't had a chance to use it, but I'm going to make more of an effort to jot down important milestones.

I got some cute stationary, Rubbermaid containers, a Christmas ornament, and the most amazing gift from my mom that had me hysterically crying... a locket with a picture of my deceased cat to pin to the inside of my dress so he'd be with me on my big day. Even writing this now, 7 months later, I still cry. Dakota was my baby, and even though he's been gone since 2005, I miss him every day.

 

The day was filled with so much love from all the generations in my family - my mom, my 2 aunts, my new mother-in-law, my step-mother, friends of my mom's that I've known my whole life, new members of our family, my best friends... it was more than I could have ever asked for!

 



 



Stagette

On September 22nd, 2012 all of my bridesmaids and a good friend showed up at my house at the crack of dawn. They had kept me in complete darkness about what was in store for my "Last Fling Before The Ring"... aka stagette. They only told me to pack for one night and bring a cute dress. I was all packed, working on little sleep due to the excitement, and buzzing with anticipation.

When they all arrived, they gathered in my carport and announced "GET READY TO CRUISE, LEGARE!"

We all piled into Darren's SUV (the perks of having a friend working for Avis) and headed south of the border!

After stopping for breakfast at Sherri's in Bellingham and receiving our stagette gear such as fun pins and logo shirts announcing the end of my single life, then making a quick pit stop at Target for some essentials (booze, snacks, wine, lip gloss, fireball, more wine), we were on our way to the cruise ship in Seattle!

We arrived at the terminal, already a bottle of champagne in us, ready to rock that boat!

Once on board, we settled into our state room. The girls did an amazing job with organizing everything. They got us side-by-side rooms with adjoining balconies that we split 3 girls to a room. They segregated me to the other room while they went to town decorating for the festivities. When they were all done, they presented me with an abundance of very thoughtful gifts! From a bridal-themed box of Philosophy lotions to a wedding colored water bottle to lip gloss and mascara and much, much more... I was spoiled. And it all came in this beautiful teal bag I'd been drooling over about 18 months earlier that Jay tucked away for the special occasion!

After I surprised each girl with a gift that had meaning behind it, and we all shed a lot of tears, we pulled ourselves together and hit the deck to enjoy the sun, fruity drinks, and lot of fun dancing!

 

After we enjoyed the outdoors some more, we headed back to our room for dancing and wine. This part of the party is for our eyes only (we got a little crazy)... so we skip ahead to dinner.

 

We enjoyed dinner in the dining room where we had reservations. We all got dolled up in our finest, and ordered pretty much everything on the menu. The food on this cruise ship was amazing, and I still get tummy grumbles when I think about their fettuccini alfredo - probably the best I've had anywhere EVER!

After dinner, we got touched up and headed to the club Y'ALL!  We danced our butts off and headed home to order in some pizza and try to avoid a hangover. (Emily and I were the only 2 who didn't feel like death the next day!)

 

It was an amazing day and a wonderful evening full of laughter, dancing, and quality time spent with the best girlfriends I could ever hope for! They all went above and beyond to ensure that I had a great time and a weekend that I'll never forget.

PS - Check to see how many people ended up wearing my fedora through the course of the weekend! :)

Absent Blogger Here!

I just haven't had the time, energy, or creativity to be a consistent blogger. But I'm on a new journey now and have decided that I'm going to try to stay more active with writing.

What's new in my life??? Well... I had my stagette last September, my bridal shower in October, married in November, new house in December. Life has been amazing, crazy, wonderful. Things have been insane! We just finished our kitchen renos, and we're now talking about renovating our garage into living space.

We are doing the balancing act of family, friends, home improvements, work, losing weight, me starting a side business, and Aaron going to school.

I'm going to start this from the beginning and try to be more consistent! :)

HAPPY DAY!

Addition to my Resolutions...

I've been reading a lot on blogs about choosing a word for the new year, and trying to include that word in all facets of your life. I've been thinking a lot about what my word would be, and I think that word will be "TRY". I tend to let myself be a pushover, and I'm going to try to change that. I also tend to be impatient, and I'm going to try to change that. But on another note, I also want to "try" new things. I want to eat at food carts, try a new hair style, include  a new excercise class in my routine, explore new places, plan travel - TRY!