EEEP!

long lost blog!!  i have not been able to access the editing tool and have been wanting so badly to update this!

wow. we have done so much.  we have everything printed.  we have packaging for s'mores.  we have our readings.  we have our table names.  we have small details. signage. a guest book.  a PLAN!  the count down isn't months or weeks, it is days!  our rehearsal dinner is on the 10 day forecast (which means our wedding day is on the 10 day forecast tomorrow, holy schmoly!).

people will arrive in c'ville next thursday (cinco de mayo!) and we don't have a lot planned for that day except organizing ourselves, putting together the hotel bags, and dinner!  friday starts the wedding-official-fun! bridal luncheon, boys' golf outing, rehearsal, dinner, welcome cocktails, etc!

it's so soon! and I just can't believe it! i am going to try to update this with more behind-the-scenes... but this little BTB is bizzzzy!

So much to catch up on!

This will serve a place holder for the MANY posts I am due to write!  Which will include:

• Bachelorette Party!!  Affectionately dubbed the #BBBB (Blair's Bachelorette Beach Bash). It is safe to say my girls spoiled me rotten!
• Engagement pictures: a good friend took them for us in & around Georgetown on a mild mid-March Saturday.  We got some great shots and now feel more comfortable in front of the camera!  I have trouble uploading pics to Blogger at work, but I'll post a few to Facebook :)
• Bridal Shower: oh boy...what a fun night!  It was "entertainment" themed and we had the best time.  There were so many small touches (Blair & Adam M&M's, napkins, cookies, etc) and the food was outstanding!  We had a ball.
• Whirlwind trip to C'ville: we have another coming up this weekend (hair-trial!), but the one we did in March covered big topics - wedding ceremony, finalizing the cake, tasting the white wines!

I can't believe we are about to hit the 1 month mark!  Which also falls on our 6 year anniversary (dang!).  Not sure we'll be doing any celebrating together, though.  For Adam leaves with his buds for his BACHELOR party. Charleston, SC - you've been warned.

Updates with pictures are next...promise!

Fancy Plates

I am so looking forward to this upcoming weekend (yes, it is only Monday!).  My "entertainment" themed wedding shower is Saturday night (hosted by 3 of my momma's friends), and during the day Saturday we're taking engagement pictures with one of our friends!  She is building her photography-portfolio and needs to take shots of couples- so we happily agreed to help her out ;)  And the weather seems to be cooperating! 60s & 70s by the end of the week, yeehaw!  And Sunday is going to be a whirlwind trip of wedding to-do's in C'ville... but that's for a future post :)

But let me get back on topic!  The topic of fancy plates (aka China!).  Adam and I went back & forth on whether or not we wanted to register for china.  My mom breaks out her china for big dinners (parties, birthdays, holidays), and I love hers (gold rimmed with fruit on it).  Adam's parents have a few sets of china, so they were on-board with us registering for it, too!  So off we went to Bloomingdale's (who has one of the best registry systems, if you ask me)...and there we spent the next three hours....

Yep. Talk about indecisive.  The first pattern we chose is so hideous I'm not even going to describe it.  I'm not even sure how we talked ourselves into it?!  Gag.  We were totally lost!  Luckily my mom was able to meet us up at the store and gently guided us to some patterns that weren't so hard on the eyes.  We ended up combining 2 patterns - one is blue & white and the other is gold & white.  I think they will be super versatile, and both of our moms signed off on the patterns :)

One tradition I've heard about recently is doing china Sundays.  I think it would be so fun to have an immediate excuse to use our nice dishes!  Not sure we'll do this every week, but perhaps once a month is a good goal? :)

Oh! And some of the RSVPs are coming in!! So fun to get them and see the sweet/funny/loving things people have written on them.  

Take THAT To-Do List!

Oh me oh my! Adam and I were busy this weekend, literally driving all over the greater Commonwealth of VA to get things done for the BIG day. Want a little break down?

1. We met with our priest!  And we like him a lot!  We had originally thought we would be doing our pre-marital "counseling" (I hate calling it counseling because it's not like our relationship is in jeopardy...but I do like the idea of fixing something before it happens, so this is like taking your marriage-vitamins!), BUT he said he's not a licensed therapist, so why would he do it (touche, Reverend Jim, touche).  So, while our chat with him went well (and we'll plan on meeting with him a few more times before the wedding) we're now on the prowl for a couples/family counselor in the DC area.

2. We met our potential baker!  Y'all, we just loved Jenny from Paradox Pastry! She's a firey lil lady who knows how to make some delicious cakes.  Adam and I had zero clue about what we wanted our cake to look like (and to be honest we're still looking for inspiration), but I have a feeling Jenny will be a source of great ideas and of course yummy cake :)  Oh! And her bakery is called "Paradox Pastry" because she is also a personal trainer. @#$% what?! It's insane. Flavors we greatly enjoyed: Almond cake with chocolate ganache, and red velvet.

3. WE ORDERED THE SAVE-THE-DATES!!!!!!!! Wait, WHAT? Yup, we did! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our back!  This whole time I was nervous we would just pick something because it as getting down to the wire (we're on the cusp of the 6-7 month sendout), but you know what? WE LOVE THEM.  I'll post a pic of the picture we used, soon.  But hey, I want them to be a surprise for our guests :)

4. We have totally jacked up our website.  It's awesome. We are sort of obsessed with it and can't wait for our save-the-dates to go out so everyone can love up on it!

Phew. I'm exhausted just from recapping it all!  Our weekend also included wine tasting, bbq'ing, time with the fam, and football (way to go 'Skins!).  Next weekend: invitations (yup, already!).  Before that though, I FINALLY get to see b'maid MARIAH! Who I haven't seen since January, which is way too long. I'm so excited :)

Wedding day in Annapolis

Adam and I went to a fabulous wedding in Annapolis the other weekend!  It was one of Adam's friends from high school and who graduated from the Naval Academy (Beat Army!) and his bride-to-be is from Annapolis, so it was the perfect wedding location.  We stayed at the Irish themed O'Callaghan Hotel (the only thing Irish about it was the lady at the reception desk with an Irish accent!) which was within walking distance to the church!  They had a beautiful ceremony, and this being my first Marine wedding, we were able to witness the "sword tunnel" - the newly wed couple passes through the swords, but before passing they have to kiss ;)  Once they make it through the last pair of swords, one of the Marines slaps the bride on the tush and proclaims "Welcome To The Marine Corps!" I LOVED IT :)

The reception was at the Chesepeake Bay Foundation - SUCH a fitting location for Annapolis.  It was right on the water, with a dock, beach, and amazing views.  The dancing & bar were outside under a tent, and the dinner & cake were inside.  Crab cakes, mini grilled cheeses, shrimp cocktail, and mushroom-cheese tarts were passed around while we enjoyed the open bar during cocktail hour.  They had this great 2-man band who played very appropriate songs (Jimmy Buffett and Beach Boys during cocktails, and then other fun wedding songs once the party started!).  The Marine men got up at one point and sang songs from the ship (hilarious, I wish I had taken a video!). 

We finished the night off with a round at Pussers and then some live music at Middleton Tavern.  The bride & groom got a beer with us at Pussers, but went to bed shortly after (they had a 7am flight out of Dulles...AHHH!).  (Adam and I are still debating about going out after our reception - half of me wants to continue the celebrations with everyone on the corner, but the other half of me wants to just start my new life with the hubs right away!! We'll make that decision closer to the big day :) ) We walked around the harbor on Sunday morning, had a great brunch at Kitchen (we couldn't get into Chick & Ruths!), and "oooh & awed" at all the massive boats yachts!

This weekend we're going back to Atlanta for Adam's cousin's wedding (can't wait!!).  Todd (Adam's cousin) and Leah are such a FUN FUN couple.  I'm sure it'll be a blog-worthy wedding :)

The McLean Engagement Party! (part 2)

Now for a post about the timeline of events leading up to the engagement party (which, even though it was almost two weeks ago, I still can't stop thinking about! Gosh it was fun).

10:45:  Mere and I arrive in McLean with Starbucks and our game-faces on, it's time to be put to work!
11:45:  My two aunts from Richmond arrive with food, coolers, and more helping hands, YAY!
1:15:    We take a lunch break and meet Adam and his momma (who is in town for the party) in town for a quick bite and we end up bringing them back to the house with us to help.  Seriously, we needed all the help we could get!
2-5pm: we are running and scurrying around outside & inside prepping, scrubbing, chopping, etc! Oh, and did I mention it was about 100 degrees outside and full humidity? Yep, welcome to a DC summer!  Luckily we had the A/C cranked up inside and lots of cold drinks to look forward to.  At this point we had enlisted the help of all my cousins, brothers, 1 neighbor (she was going to be our waitress for the night), and our roommate!  It was literally "all hands on deck."
6pm: party starts!  By the time we had our first margarita our nerves had calmed :)  I have no idea how we would have done it without everyone's help!

 Just some of the gorgeous & thoughtful decor my mom did :)

The party went by in a blur (albeit a happy, happy blur!), but I think Adam and I were able to speak with each and every one of the guests.  The outpouring of love, support, and well wishes from our friends and family was truly unbelievable!  And what I loved best was that our 20-something friends, my family, and our parents' friends got along SO WELL.  Everyone dealt with the sweltering heat without one complaint.  And the big hit of the night was when Auntie UVA brought out PATRON shots!!  My mom, and Adam's mom took some, too!  Too fun :)

Sweet sorority sisters who came to celebrate!

Wasn't kidding about that Patron!

Cheers!!

I think we're going to have our Atlanta engagement party this fall, and I'm already looking forward to round two.  If our McLean engagement party was any indication of what the wedding is going to be like, than I can't wait until May 7, 2011 :)

The McLean Engagement Party! (part 1)

I can't wait to share all the details from this crazy, amazing, wonderful, hectic, perfect weekend!  It was hot has as heck and we were all sweaty, but it (a) didn't rain, and (b) after the first margarita I don't think people really cared how hot it was!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend! I'll be back with more details soon!

before the guests arrived

me with some of the cousins (and bro!) in attendance 

 great surprise from my aunt: Patron Shots!

some of our great friends who made it for the party, thanks everyone!!

My parents put on one of the best parties I'd ever been to (and I'm not just saying that because they are my parents! It really and truly surpassed all of my expectations!)!  Thank you Mom & Dad for EVERYTHING.  And to everyone else who helped out, you rock! Thank you x 1,000!  

All photos are Mere's

Where do I even begin?!

It has been a whirlwind of an engagement thus far! It has been exactly 47 days (whoa, already?!), and we have several things already accomplished:

• Date! (5/7/11!)
• Reception Venue
• Bridal Party (although not all of the party have  been officially asked yet!)
• Bridesmaid dresses (and potentially one color we'll be using, yay!)
• Hotel blocks
• Transportation to & from reception
• Caterer (99% certain on this one!)
• Ceremony (99% certain on this one!)

Things in progress:

• Short list of bands
• Where the heck me + Family will stay
• "Get Away" car
• Short list of photographers
• "THE" Dress shopping
• Wedding Website
• Rehearsal Dinner location

Wow, I'm not sure if writing it down makes me feel really accomplished, or really behind!

Mere (and MOH), and my mom have been PRICELESS. Actually, you'd think my mom was born ready for this gig :)

In the next few posts I'll write about the proposal (it was pretty darn cute), our unofficial engagement party (thanks Mere!), how we chose the venue, our ceremony crisis, our Foxfield Get Together, bridesmaid dress shopping, how I asked the b'maids, and much more!

Stick around! I hope you'll like it :)