What I'm Loving...Monday.

I know I know; it's not Wednesday, but I wanted to blog and I don't have the energy to download my photos from my friend's bachelorette party in Dallas last weekend. :) People, it was a blast! Although an entire weekend of bacheloretting has left me tired...even today.  (I'm old) So, headed to bed soon...

Okay, anyhoo... I have a few things I've been kind of lusting after lately and thought I'd ramble about them.... 

Hunter boots. Every year, I wish I had a good pair of rain or snow boots. And these are adorable and come up high enough to keep my pants dry, too! (When I was in Venice and it flooded, I realized how important not only waterproof shoes are, but TALL waterproof shoes...haha.. Granted, I doubt I'll be in another Venetian flood anytime soon). Do you have some? Do you like 'em? Worth the cash? 

Hunter Rain Boots 

New sunglasses. I always go Target-cheap b/c I'm afraid I'll break them (and usually do), but I kind of want some nicer sunglasses. If I buy some and break them or lose them, you can say you told me so.

Ray Bans

Jewelry armoire. Or more specifically, a mirrored jewelry armoire. Problem... the only ones I've really found are the Hayworth one (below) for $400 or the Horchow one that is at least double that price. *Gag* I'm all for a cheaper mirrored one, but I can't find any! But, by week's end, my earrings end up tangled or all over my dresser. And I have a place for my necklaces, my bracelets and two places for my earrings. The consolidation that could take place with an armoire would be cuhrazy. (First world problems here....I realize this).

Hayworth jewelry armoire from Pier 1. 

Pumped for tomorrow b/c some of my bridesmaids are coming with me after work to select the bridesmaid dresses! 

Annnnnd that's all she wrote for this Monday evening. G'nite! 

Friday Confessions

These are my confessions (totally wrote that while mentally singing the song).

1. I'm sure everyone in Tulsa is confessing this today, but I am SO happy about the weather today! I want to have cocktails on a patio somewhere. 80 degrees... I'll take it!

2. I've been wanting to try clip in extensions forever, but just never got them. Ideally, I wanted to get them early enough to break in before my wedding in October b/c I wanted to make sure I like them. I have several friends who wear them a lot and they just look SO good. And with my superfine hair, it just seems to get flatter the longer it gets. The more product I put on it so it DOES something, the more it dries out, so I've kinda just been letting it be flat. Anyhoo, I'm in a friend's (who is also my stylist!) wedding next month so thought I might as well break some extensions in now! She went with me to pick out some clip in extensions this week. Last night at my hair appt, she curled them and showed me how to put 'em in! I frekaing love them! Fake hair for the win! Well..it's real hair...but you get it. Here are the ones I got from Sally's beauty. I think I got dark blonde frost and they matched my hair perfectly- no dyeing required! (But since they're real hair- which yes, is a bit creepy-you can totally dye them). Everyone's like "quit talking about it! People can't tell so don't tell them!" But I don't care about telling y'all... I love them!


This is my "I'm in a parking lot and love my extensions" face. I dunno. (I promise I wasn't driving b/c well...that's unsafe and weird. Parking lot photos are totally safe and normalish.)



3. I have toilet paper in my shoes right now. Yes. Right now. I've had to walk a TON today (blogging at lunch) and my feet are rubbing in the shoes and burning. Folded toilet paper helps. Even if it's weird.

4. I don't even think I own anything green to wear this weekend. Not like I'm planning on going anywhere to be pinched, but just saying. Also.. I should comment on the not planning on going anywhere to be pinched. I confess that I'm not in the mood for a crazypants-green-beer-drinking-time. I kinda want to drink a green beer whilst sitting down somewhere comfortable. (When did I get old?)

5. I'm feeling a leetle overwhelmed with wedding planning. I love it, so it's a good overwhelmed, but I also realized it's freaking MARCH and my April is bananas, so I need to get a lot done this month.

6. I have no idea who to send save the dates to. Everyone? Just people who have to travel? Almost everyone? Sheez.

I think that's all I've got. Happy weekending, friends!

Movie reviews

So, like I said in my last post, Eric was sick all weekend. :( That means we stayed in and watched movies...and he got to pick. I'll just preface with that.

Stake Land. Dystopian adventures + vampires + religious fanatics= this movie. Now, don't get me wrong.. I love dystopian stuff...and I've been known to also dig vampire stuff (*coughTwilightcough*), but putting everything together and adding religious fanatics...yeah. And it was pretty gory (*gag*), but not really as much as I thought it would be. (I think Walking Dead has de-sensitized me...haha). I played on Pinterest and half-watched this movie. Admittedly it had a decent plot line (which is more than I can say for some of Eric's our other recent Netflix selections) and it had Declan from Revenge (Eric from Gossip Girl), so that's a bonus, but the Oscars committee definitely didn't miss anything by leaving this one off their list. Just saying.

Red Dawn. Okay, I actually really did want to see this. For some reason, I missed a RIDICULOUS amount of super popular movies growing up (think Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club, Breakfast at Tiffany's, etc..) and still (rightfully) get teased about that, but I managed to see the original Red Dawn and really dug it. Anyway, we watched this on Friday night and I liked it decenly well. I mean, I was fine that we watched it in our pjs on the couch for $3 on AppleTV instead of $20 in the theater, so don't go rushing out to rent it from my review here...haha.. but it was okay and kept my attention...which is half the battle when I have my computer booted up while a movie is playing. And it had Peeta. You can't go wrong with Peeta.

Speaking of movies, there are so many good movies out now that I haven't seen yet! And I STILL haven't seen Silver Linings Playbook or Les Mis. :( I mean.. Stake Land was close, but I still want to see the others. ;) I think Eric owes me a movie this weekend now that he's feeling better... Granted, I did make him see Safe Haven...on opening weekend...so there's that. Eh well. Happy Tuesday, friends!

Weekend Recap!

Happy Sunday! This weekend was fabulously full of baby celebrations! 

Sadly, my fearless fiancé has contracted the funk. What is "the funk?" It's something that's kept him on is butt surrounded by tissues most of the weekend. Poor guy. So, Friday night, we stayed in. And on Saturday, I had big intentions of going out later that night with friends, but then it started raining....and well...the couch is just so much more comfy when it's raining. 

Saturday was Beth's shower for her twin boys, Heston and Reaves (seriously, how cute are those names?!) She's not due until late June, but we wanted to celebrate early to give mamma enough time to get her gifts all set up, etc. :) I co-hosted the shower with some fantastic friends and it was so fun b/c I feel like we all brought something to the table...er...cradle...er...you get it. The theme was "Hawk's Nest" (matching their last name-Hawkins) and it turned out so adorable! I'm mad at myself for not getting more photos of the decor and food. A couple girls had really awesome cameras so I let them capture the day and figure I'll just steal pics later. :) Kristy made some fabulous cupcakes that had little nests/eggs on them. Freaking.adorable.

Clockwise: 1. The cute invite and some "nest" decor. 2. Beth and other adorable mamma-to-be, Ashley. 3. Banner that Ashley helped me make! 4. Beth's adorable birdie shoes, matching the shower theme. How cute is she, right?! 5. The glowing mom and me. 6. The hostesses and our beautiful friend, Beth. :)

It was a pretty great afternoon...not gonna lie. Love this girl so much and so happy to we got to spoil her a little for the day. :) 

Sunday was another friend, Lori's, baby shower for her little one also due to arrive in June! The hostesses made the event super cute, with a "Whooo's having a baby" theme and owls everywhere. :) Lori is a fellow Chi O alum (from S. Carolina) so we have an extra appreciation for each other's love for owls...(and think it's totally unfair that there weren't any cute owls when we were in college, but whatever).  The hostesses made some awesome peach drink that us non-expecting ladies could add champagne to... It puts mimosas to shame, people. Need.the.recipe.

Clockwise: 1. Some good friends from work with the mamma-to-be! 2. Adorable "K" decor. 3. Lori opening some of her gifts! 4. Shower theme was "Whooo's having a baby. Check out the adorable owl labels on everything! 5. Mamma and gifts for baby K. 6. They're not finding out the gender, so shower guests got to choose bow tie or hair bow and pin them to the onesies. (I totally picked hair bow). 

A great weekend with fabulous reasons to celebrate. :) Tonight, Revenge is back on (wahoo!), Walking Dead is recording (double wahoo!) and I made a pretty good dinner that wasn't just edible, but was actually good (shouting from rooftops...haha). :)

Monday is once again sneaking up too soon...but I hope you all had a great weekend to help make up for the case of the Mondays arriving tomorrow.

Weekend Recap!

Happy March! March means green, flowers, rain, SPRING... and maybe some snow... if mother nature goes wacky in Tulsa like she has occasion to do. But let's just focus on the spring part, shall we?

**FRIDAY**

So, a lot of you might have seen on facebook in instagram, but Friday was Gracie's 6th birthday! 

I didn't make her wear her "birthday girl" tiara this year...mostly b/c she hates it. I found this cute bandana at Petco instead. :) This little beast means so much to me, in case it isn't obvious. 

I got her when she was 4 months old as a little rescue pup from a friend who did puppy rescue. I'd just changed jobs and was so scared of getting a dog b/c I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. What if I traveled a lot? What if I was never home? I was still pretty freshly out of law school so what if I got laid off and couldn't afford vet bills and stuff if she got really sick? (You're seeing that I'm a little paranoid sometimes). Anyhoo, I remember laying in bed and crying the night I got her b/c I wanted to keep her so bad, but I was worried about all of those things. I drove home from Broken Arrow (work at the time) to my apt in downtown Tulsa every day at lunch to let her out for two months. We worked on crate training and potty training...during the summer where we got like 35/40 days of rain. Picture me in my pajamas getting drenched begging my little puppy to "Goooo potty! Go potty! Goooo potty!" and then "GOOD POTTY! YAY! GOOD POTTY!" And since I lived close to downtown, this was typically done with commuters driving past. I'm sure I looked wildly entertaining. Or annoying. Either way.  

She consoled me when a bad relationship ended. And had an...ahem...upset stomach...the first time I brought Eric over to see my apartment. (I was like "I promise this doesn't happen a lot...Please just..uh...just hold your nose for a sec..." In retrospect, he must have really liked me...) She was a nomad with me staying at hotels and friends' houses during the ice storm of 2007 when half of Tulsa (including me) lost power for 13 days and I refused to board her b/c she would have gotten scared. I could go on and on... 

She snores louder than a 300lb man (seriously, I have video to prove it), has a gross appetite for cat poop sometimes, and makes strange pig-like noises when she's hungry. She smiles when she's happy and tilts her head to one side when I talk to her as though we're having a very serious conversation. 

She's my furry kid and I couldn't imagine the past 6 years without her. :) And now she's got a fabulous little brother who has already just as irreplaceable. We don't know when he was officially born, so we're going to assign him a birthday. :) 

**SATURDAY**

Eric and I went to our local Habitat for Humanity's gala and got to get all dressed up. :) Eric owns a tux, which I thought was silly at the time he purchased, but kinda awesome when we have events and he doesn't even have to think about it. Black tie optional? He's opting in. ha!

I got a spray tan. I was SO TIRED of being pale. (First world problems, I know). Well..get this... I think I had some weird reaction, but only on my back. It ITCHES, people. My back itches like cuhrazy. I barely make it through work meetings without going full on chicken pox scratching. And when I scratch it, I swear it feels like how Gracie must feel when I scratch her belly, judging from her reaction. Yeah, that good, people. My guess: I haven't been in awhile so I'm wondering if they switched the chemicals somehow. Either that or I've developed some rare skin disease on the same day I got a spray tan. Yeah, I'm with ya. I doubt that.

Okay, I didn't intend to ramble as much as I did. Eh well..it's my blog. I ramble. It is what it is. Hope you had a lovely weekend, friends!

Ooh also...just watched the Walking Dead from this week and I'm really ready for some sh*z to go down with the governor. Just.saying.

It's OK Thursday

It's OK...

* That I sleepily verbally asked the dogs for 5 more minutes when they woke me up this morning wanting to go out. They totally understood.

*  I'm SO OVER cold weather, but am also concerned that I have nothingtowear for spring. (I think this every year. It's totally not true. I realize this.)

* I'm thrilled that March is TOMORROW! It's no secret that my least favorite month is February. I know I share that with many of you. It's been alright this year. Coming out on the other side pretty much unscathed. But, still...ready for March. :)

* I'm kind of addicted to my online wedding registries. I get on them, edit them, delete things, add things... It's getting ridiculous. I haven't even published them anywhere yet.

* I kind of freaked out the other day realizing our save the dates need to go out in April. Time is FLYING.

* I eat Cheerios for pretty much every meal when Eric is out of town. #lazy

* I stole Eric's hand moisturizer from his work bag (without telling him) b/c it's the only thing that really helps my super dry skin! (Seriously...it's awesome. Jack Black's industrial strength hand healer. Ulta has it.).

* I've gotten the "your mailbox is almost full" message at work approximately 8 times this week. Stuff's been busy!

* I saw this image on a friend's fbook and stole it immediately. Love it. Leaving you with it.

Happy Thursday, friends!

Weekend Recap!

Feet up. Oscars on tv. Dogs conked out beside Eric and me. Blogging. :)

Weekend was good! We've had some crazy Oklahoma weather lately. The last time I blogged, it was snowing. Today, it was 65 degrees. Tomorrow= prediction of snow and "blizzard like conditions" in some places. Random. 

Anyhoo, Thursday, Brooke, Ashley, Jenny, Sarah and I got together for sushi and (lots of) wine. Please note my extra full wine glass. That place doesn't mess around with wine. I dig it. That said, thanks to those full wine glasses, I'm pretty sure we'd all decided to get owl tattoos (We're all Chi Os :) ) before the night was over. Thankfully there are no tattoo places next to the sushi restaurant we were eating and my body remains tattoo-free. 

Friday night, a few of us got together to celebrate Candice's (center) birthday! A bevy of blondes with our fabulous friend and stylist in the center. :)

Speaking of hair, I'm trying to grow mine. No idea what I'm doing with it for the wedding, but I want it to grow. Just bought biotin today and am hoping it helps a little. My other friend has some other vitamins she recommended that I need to get. Other tips are welcome, long haired friends! :) 

Saturday was Roman's 1st birthday! I feel like we were just at Kristy's shower; time is FLYING! He was so great with his cake, the singing, everything. :) I wanted a photo with him and he was starting to get a little fussy. Three girls started doing hilarious things to try to get him to smile. Needless to say it worked...for us both. 

Look at how great Winston is doing on the leash! Eric and I took the pups for a walk today since we're expecting craptacular weather the rest of the week. Friday is little miss Gracie's 6th birthday and I hope the weather's better by then b/c she always gets a super long birthday walk. The long birthday walk may or may not be to make up for whatever I make her do (wear hats, pose for photos, sit still while I sing) on her birthday...haha...

 Saturday, Eric and I took our first stab at registering. I know you can do most of it online, but I really wanted the experience. I mean...getting to zap things with that little gun...fun, right?! Have to admit, it was fun, but also kind of exhausting. I ended up coming home, completely editing the list online and registering at two more places...completely online. And the lists are definitely not final.

Things I learned while registering:
* I have no idea how many place settings to get. Blowing.my.mind. 8? 10? Same for china and for every day dishes? Ihavenoidea. I haven't registered for either china or everyday stuff yet b/c all the options made my head hurt.
* Speaking of everyday dishes, did you know that Pottery Barn dishes measure too large for some dishwashers and cabinets?! So glad a friend told me that b/c they measure too large for our cabinets! Blerg.
* I want stemless wine glasses AND stemmed wine glasses. Excessive? Eric thinks so. Me? Not so much.
* Dude. Dysons are EXPENSIVE. I mean... I knew they were cost prohibitive for me to just randomly buy on a trip to the store, but I'd never really priced one out. I went ahead and put it on the darn registry b/c I know we won't get it, but I figure I can use any gift cards towards it since it's the number one item I want. (When did I get old and really want a vacuum?!) Currently, Eric and I have two vacuums..one better for attachments (mine) and one better for floors (his). Getting two out every few days is super fun and all, but yeah. But putting something that pricey on the registry felt awkward. Is that awkward?
* I have no idea what 1/4 of the cooking/kitchen items at BBB and Williams-Sonoma actually do.

Hope you gals had a fantastic last weekend in February! Bring on March!!

A little midweek recapping

Hey ya! I was off work Monday for President's Day, so I kinda skipped the whole weekend recap thing on Sunday night. Thought I'd hop to it now...

Friday, Eric and I went to Lucky's to have a nice, slow-paced dinner and celebrate the day of luuuurve. This isn't a great photo, but hey.. it's the one we've got so I'm posting it. :)

Oh and let me back up.. Some of you saw on Instagram/Facebook but lookie what greeted me at my desk at work on Valentine's Day morning! We really don't do anything big to celebrate Valentines Day other than cards and maybe a little dinner or something, so I was FLOORED. He gets major props for surprising me and for even knowing I loved this bag b/c I didn't ever really even mention it...outside my random blog post last week that is. But by that time, the bag was likely hiding somewhere in our house and I had no idea! haha!

 Anyhoo, Friday night, Eric, my new bag and I went to Lucky's for dinner and then went to see Safe Haven. :) Per usual, the book was better than the movie in my opinion. They changed quite a bit, I thought. It was still good, but I just preferred the book.

Saturday night, Eric and I went to a dessert party at a friend's house called "Champagne and Sweets." How fun is that?! They have it every year, but this was our first time to attend. It's a cocktail-type event and his wife makes tables and tables full of desserts. They have bartenders on site offering awesome champagne concoctions. My favorite: the bacon waffle. :)

Sunday night, I had a little girls time with some friends since we were off on Monday. :) And then Monday, I went back to a local bridal boutique with my mom....

....TO BUY MY WEDDING DRESS!

That's right! Sara, Beth and I went on Saturday to re-visit my top three (at three different places) and at the final place, Facchianos, I saw a different dress I hadn't tried on before. Randomly decided to try it on even though I wasn't sure the style was what I wanted. Put it on...and fell in love. I walked out and Sara and Beth gasped. (Always a good sign, right?) After parading around in it and totally not wanting to take it off, I was confident I'd found "the one." 

Ignore my haphazard scarf. I'd just come out of the dressing room...

So I took my mom back on Monday to try it on again (she loved it!) and make it official. :) So excited and so random that it was just some dress I hadn't even been considering! I didn't really understand that whole "the one" thing b/c I liked a lot of dresses, but yeah... I get it now. This one is just miles above the rest in my opinion. And while I got excellent service everywhere, I just adore the ladies at Facchianos. They really make the experience so special. Highly recommend them.

Absolutely thrilled!

Next wedding step: Registering! We're going this weekend to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get started. :) Thank GOSH for The Knot with all the little reminder emails: "You have 8 months til you're wedding. You should be starting to register." If you have any registry tips, must-haves, etc, feel free to forward my way! :)

******

I'll leave you with a quick pic from this morning. Yesterday, I was in a jacket and today, it's snowing...a lot. The pups were fascinated by the large white flakes falling before I left for work today. :)



What I'm Loving Wednesday

What I'm loving today...

1. This movie comes out tomorrow! Loved the book. Can't wait to see the movie! Kinda hoping I can convince Eric that this would be a great Vday present to see this weekend...haha.. I'll let ya know how that works out for me.

2. This bag needs no explanation. *sigh*

Michael Kors Selma Large Top Zip Satchel

 3. The makeup blogger I love (Tiffany D in my side links) talks about Sigma brushes all the time. I added two to my Christmas list and Eric...er...Santa...put them in my stocking. Love love love them, especially this one. Flawless bronzer application that really contours my cheekbones if I want. I got this and went "ooh..that's what it means to contour..." haha...

Sigma f20 large powder brush

4. Honeymoon researching. Have I bought a dress yet? Nope. Is it royally stressing me out? Yup. What calms me? Honeymoon research...

Who knows where we'll end up, but doesn't this photo of Moorea make you sigh? Yeah, me too. 

Weekend Recap!

Hiya! 

So if we're friends on Instagram, you know I was in Houston last week at the winter NAPE meeting. I rarely travel for work these days...which is totally fine... but it was a nice break in the daily grind to get out of the office. Plus, I learned a LOT! 

My friend and coworker, Nicky, and me at our company's reception in Houston. 

Eric and I were both in Houston most of the week, returning on Friday evening. Saturday was rainy which provided the perfect excuse to be lazy bums with our two furballs. :)

While we were busy planting our asses on our sofas, we discovered the Netflix original show, House of Cards. Not gonna lie.. kind of obsessed. I threw a bit of a hissy and almost turned it off after the opening scene. For fellow pup lovers out there, the show opens with a dog dying. That doesn't ruin anything for you and it gives you more warning than I had. After Eric convinced me, I finally gave in and watched the whole first ep. On episode 9 and so far, no more animal issues. Phew. 

Saturday night, some friends were headed to Kid Rock while Lauren and I headed to see Bill Maher. Our groups merged for a little dinner festiveness at Mi Cocina. Mambo taxis? Yes please. :) 

I dunno if I've mentioned but poor little Winston has issues with leashes, cords, anything that looks like a cord... It makes me sad. I kind of think he was tied up at one point. Anyway, it's really hard to walk Gracie and him alone b/c Gracie LOVES walks, so when Win sits down and braces his little body on the sidewalk, things get a little crazy while she pulls on my other arm. (It's entertaining in my head. Reality? Not so much...haha). And he won't go unless Gracie is going. So, Eric and I teamed up today. It started with Win running to my car and then crawling under it and hiding. Poor guy. After a little coaxing, some carrying, and some treats, he ended up loving his walk by the end. :) 

Oh and while Eric and I were packing to head back to Tulsa, tickets to the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival went on sale...featuring Mumford and Sons! Guthrie, OK (easy drive from Tulsa), is one of their ONLY stops this year, so tickets were a hot commodity. Thanks to Eric's parents working both their laptops, we got tix! I'm not even that obsessed with the band- just think it'd be fun!

And that's it, folks! Hope you had a great weekend!

Weekend Recap!

You guys are freaking awesome. Thank you so much for your comments on my last post. While I'm sorry to hear that so many of you have encountered similar situations, it's also comforting that I'm not some horribly rude bridezilla. Thank you for sharing your situations and for making me feel more justified in the whole thing. As a couple of you commented, I'm actually glad it went down this far before the wedding...plenty of time for feelings to subside and everything to normalize.

The weekend
Eric was on an annual ski trip this weekend so I had the casa to myself til today. This weekend started off a little bumpy but righted itself and turned out pretty solid. :) Why did it start out bumpy? Below you'll find the weekend in photos, clockwise order...

1. Thursday night work reception thing. (If I do something on Thurs evening, I always include it in the "weekend" in my head). Picture it. EXTREMELY windy downtown. No...you're not thinking windy enough. More wind. Okay...you're there now. Wind + your clumsy friend Jackie= epic clumsiness. I was leaving a reception (in a dress), wind blew a hotel door back into me as I was pushing it to leave, I got off balance and hit the pavement. Casualties: my thumb (just badly jammed I think b/c it's better today), my palm, my (very scraped) knees, a toe, my pride (since the dress flew up)...and my iPhone screen. Lame.sauce. So glad it wasn't worse.  Lesson: I'm not only clumsy on stairs (the breaking back incident of 2008), but also in windy doorways. Cool.

2. Friday, things got way better. :) Some friends and I went to a totally random bar (complete with mardi gras decor) to hear a potential band for the wedding! Love them for coming with me. Cocktails + dive bar + friends + good music = voluntary memory loss about the tumble taken on Thurs night. :) All of us voted in favor of the band, so I just need to make it official this week! So excited!

3. Saturday morning, participated in The Focus Group's photo workshop themed around Valentines Day. Got to wear an adorable white pants romper from my friend's new spring line. I think I smelled faintly of smoke and dive bar from the night before, but it certainly doesn't look like it in the photo above taken by my very talented friend, graphic designer and photographer, Sherman! He's such a rockstar. :) The Focus Group is such a cool org with great people and I'm really lucky I've gotten to join them in some of their projects.

4. Got home from the shoot and two adorable (and very LARGE) dogs wandered up to me. Obviously someone's pets, the pups looked lost and thirsty. I opened my back gate and they went right on in like they owned the place. :) We have a local lost and found Fbook page in Tulsa, so I posted info there. Within 2 hours, the owner had seen the fbook post (thanks to others' shares!) and was coming to get his dogs! So happy they're home!  Definitely a top feel-good moment of the week.

5. Fun couples shower for Ryan and Jessica! They're getting married on a Caribbean cruise next month! (They're huge OSU fans..hence the orange and black). I could totally use a cruise right now, couldn't you?

6. Finished Saturday with a fabulous little wine and cheese party thrown for April's birthday. I'd never paired wines and cheeses (at least the way they're supposed to be paired), so it was fun AND educational. I think the wine may have wiped out the ability to retain the education I gained about the right cheeses for certain wines, though...haha...

Not pictured** Today, I may have vacuumed a sock into the attachment hose and spent 30 minutes trying to use large sticks from the yard to poke down into the hose to dislodge said sock. Now there's a broken stick AND a sock lodged in the hose. Just call me Susie Homemaker.

Audacity and awkwardness: wedding edition

I don't understand people sometimes. 

So... I am lucky, blessed, fortunate, and a zillion other synonyms....for so many amazing, supportive fantastic friends and family. We've had so many people so excited for us, for our wedding, for our lives together.

So then.. why does it take one sour grape to kind of ruin my day?

Don't you hate that? It's like a zillion people could tell you they love your outfit/hair/shoes whatever... and then if ONE person says something mean, it just hits harder. Even if you don't really let it bother you, it haunts your brain a little bit.

Anyway, I've started to realize that weddings certainly bring out the emotions in people.

I got a call from someone on the day of our engagement party. I haven't seen her in 6+ years, so she's never even been on the blog. Anyway...I was in an amazing mood... I'd had my makeup done, just booked the makeup artist for the day of the wedding, and was on a total high! I was headed home practically whistling to myself to change into my awesome RTR dress when I got that phone call. I almost didn't answer it, but I did...

We started talking wedding stuff and I asked her to help with some stuff for the wedding. She replied with "um...maybe" and after a long pause where I was trying to process that she'd just said "maybe," she said " I don't want to ruin your engagement party tonight, but..." I sighed heavily with that statement...She finished with "...I'm really hurt that I'm not a bridesmaid."

I couldn't help it. I got mad. And defensive. I'm usually a people-pleaser and take the path of least resistance b/c really... who the hell cares about a little compromise... But, no. Not for my wedding. Sure compromises are going to take place for the wedding, but not on something like this. I was just angered.  I probably didn't react well.

I came out swinging a little bit. I was just so frustrated. I know it was obvious in my tone...I feel badly about that. I was like a bridal bulldog for a second... talking about how she'd never met Eric and how I hadn't seen her in over 6 years...or talked to her more than 15 times during those years. I wanted her to be included, but what I wanted wasn't good enough...

I ended the conversation abruptly. I didn't really know how else to end it. It makes me sad that this is likely going to impact my relationship with part of my family now. I love her. I want her to be included even though she wanted a bigger role than I'd intended. But I don't think I should have to compromise on who gets to be up there with me on the day I get married. But then I'm also sad to have hurt someone's feelings and glad she had the guts to tell me about it. It's just a difficult situation.

Wedding planning is amazing, fun, fabulous... but I also feel like I'm going to offend someone at every turn and not even mean to. And if I spend the entirety of this planning process worrying about offending everyone, I'm going to lose my mind. But I also don't want to be some crazy bridezilla that's like "my way or the highway..." So it's hard where to draw a line on compromising. And I hate feeling like I hurt someone's feelings just by planning our wedding day. There are things I'll forget, things I meant to say, do, people I meant to invite to things, etc... That doesn't mean I'm intentionally being mean or exclusive. It just means I have a zillion things going through my brain and sometimes things get left off my mental list. *sigh*

I want to write that person back...or call her... But I don't really know what to say. We obviously have a difference of opinion and I'm still hurt and offended, especially knowing I was headed out to celebrate that night when she called. But I'm sure she's hurt and offended, too and it probably took guts to decide to call me and talk about it, regardless whether I was headed to an engagement party. So we're kind of at a stalemate in some ways.

This was a rant. Just kind of wanted to vent it out. Thanks for listening, friends...Sorry I got all heavy on ya. Now go read the much more lighthearted and fun post below... :)