123 Days - Update by Photo

When my mom and Aunt T were in town, some of my girlfriends got together to help me with a DIY project for my centerpieces - gold-leafing bud vases.  I read about the project in a December issue of Real Simple.  Let me be straight with you; there was nothing simple about this project.  We got half of the bud vases accented with gold leaf before I decided that it would be nice and add dimension to the reception if only some of the bud vases were accented with gold. . . A very big thank you to my mom, Aunt T, Marisa, Beth, and Adrienne for helping me.  The vases look beautiful!  Thank you for humoring me.  (Also, a big message of love to Adrienne, who brought Georgetown Cupcakes for my Mom and Aunt T to have a tasting!)

Since Sam and I decided to brew beer for our big day, we knew that we couldn't have normal champagne flutes for toasting our marriage and so began the Epic Beer Glass Search of 2010.  I looked EVERYWHERE for beer goblets and chalices to personalize.  In a day of frustration, my bridesmaid and college roommate, KB, graciously offered to help me with my search.  Ask and you shall receive, friends!  She is a GENIUS and officially the Queen of Google.  Within a matter of hours, KB produced the perfect personalized chalices.  The Rachel and Sam chalices arrived a few weeks later as early wedding presents from KB.  I am blessed to have such a wonderful friend!

We are very proud to announce that our littlest friend, baby love, and flower girl, Mia (She is all of that and more!) is officially walking!  Woot, Meemers!!  Now, here's hoping she is ready and willing to show her moves down the aisle in September.  No pressure.  

Four months to go!!

127 Days - Wedding Dresses: Part 1

I've been thinking a lot about wedding dresses lately.  So my next few posts are going to cover my thought process on wedding dresses, how they make me feel, and why they shouldn't be such a big deal.  

I won't lie.  I am like a lot of women (and some men too!) who have imagined their wedding days since they were small children.  Your wedding day is meant to be the happiest day of your life.  You wear a beautiful white dress, you promise to love your honey forever and seal that promise with a kiss, and then after smushing cake in each other's faces, you dance your socks off!  But through the course of being an expert bridesmaid and helping my girlfriends plan their special days, as well as spending a crazy amount of time planning Sam's and my special day, I have come to realize that there is no correct way to have a wedding and that every couple has the right to plan a wedding day that is personal.

This thought process was solidified last week, while I was watching a wedding show with Sam on television that pits four brides against each other in an effort to win a honeymoon at a resort in the Caribbean.  These wedding shows are the crack cocaine of wedding planning - addictive, but deadly, and often in the end make you feel bad about yourself.  I had to resist the urge to be sick all over my living room when one bride said her budget was $55,000 (It still gives me chills), but I resisted the urge to change the channel because I am glutton for punishment.  One of the brides, heretofore referred to as "Turquoise" was planning a wedding for under $10,000, which having been in the planning process for a year, I consider to be small miracle and a girl after my own heart.  Turquoise and her groom planned a morning ceremony and reception at a venue that looked over a pretty beach in order to save money (Great tip!)  When the moment arrived for her to walk down the aisle to greet her groom, she surprised everyone when she appeared wearing a turquoise wedding dress.  Turquoise wore the dress in memory of her mother, who passed away a few weeks after the girl became engaged. The color turquoise was her mother's favorite and was a way for the girl to incorporate her mother's memory into her special day.  Turquoise solidified my full support when a self-proclaimed traditional bride in the congregation made a face that looked like she had been sprayed by a skunk as Turquoise walked down the aisle.  She understood Turquoise's rational for the dress, but it wasn't the right choice for a wedding.  The self-proclaimed traditional bride felt that a bride must wear white on her wedding day.

Yes, its tradition in modern, Western cultures to wear white on one's wedding day.  Its obvious when you look at any wedding magazine, blogs, and bridal shops.  But Google would have you know that white wedding dresses didn't become popular until after the Victorian era, when women married in any color and the dresses were meant to be worn again.  White dresses, in our society, are typically believed to be symbolic of purity, but in fact, blue, not white, was the symbol of purity in the Middle Ages and is where the phrase "something blue" originated.  With that in mind, I have one thing to say - Suck it, evil, self-proclaimed traditional bride!

Images are from Etsy Sellers: AwesomeToppers, Goose Grease, and SugarRushCakes

128 Days - Break outs and the transitive property

Wedding planning on our budget causes me stress.

Stress causes me to break out.

∴ My skin hates me.*


For my married friends, you know that wedding planning isn't always pretty. Four months away from the big day and I am in the midst of the not-so pretty stage.  I am getting to the root of the problem by starting a more structured skin care regimen that will hopefully help me get rid of my current break out/the never-ending break out.  Each day I make sure I am drinking 64 oz of water to keep myself hydrated. Also, in the morning, I use a gentle face wash, followed by a balancing toner, and a facial moisturizer with SPF 20.  In the evening, I am taking the same steps, but also using a spot treatment.  I am using a calming and clarifying mask from Lush twice a week and using a exfoliating treatment once a week.  Our bathroom has turned into a one-stop med spa, except I don't get a hot stone massage at the end. (sadface.)


I am also doing my best to manage my stress from work and wedding planning.  I am taking evenings off to do other activities I enjoy, like cooking and knitting.  I have also started my walking regimen again.  I walked three miles after work last Friday and three miles on Saturday morning.  I also walked the six miles home from work yesterday. (It's not six miles normally.  I took a wrong turn. . . )


Since starting this more structured regimen a few weeks ago, my skin is beginning to look clearer.  I am hoping that by managing my stress levels and focusing on other activities, I will be able to prevent future break outs.  


So, you can probably tell that I have done my research on skin care, but I'd love to know if anyone has any miracle treatments.


*Mrs. LaBarge, my high school math teacher, would be so proud of my real life application of logic proofs!

Maid of Honor Guest Blogger

So Rachel is crazy and thought a cure for my recent boredom would be to be a guest blogger to her well written baby. I'm not a foreigner to the blogging world. I tried to blog to describe my wedding plans but lets just say Rachel is much more dedicated and creative than me.

Rachel thought it would be nice to share my thoughts on what I felt were the best, most memorable parts of my wedding and what wasn't so great. So here it goes. . .

Let me say first of all that my wedding was a blast!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never had so much fun as I did on that day. I actually still love to go back through my pictures and watch the videos to relive those moments. Hopefully, by looking through some of the pictures I can come up with some inspiration.

My favorite memories of 10.10.09:
1. My brother coming to visit me while I was getting ready was a great surprise and a nice way to help me relax while we were getting ready.
2. Putting on my entire ensemble down to my necklace and shoes. I've never felt more beautiful than on my wedding day!!!
3. I remember the beginning of walking down the aisle with my Dad and then half way down the aisle, I looked at my Dad and then at Randy, started to feel the emotions of the day start to hit me, and then the rest of my walk down the aisle is a complete blank.
4. Hearing Randy tell me his vows!
5. Our first kiss!
6. Being around all of our friends and family (many that we don't get to see very often with our work schedules)! Our reception was a blast because they were there! When push comes to shove, it doesn't matter how much you spent, what your center pieces look like, or what kind of food you have. What matters are the people who are there to celebrate you and your husband! (I do suggest some rockin tunes though)

Some things I believe are highly overrated:
1. Hiring a professional photographer and then having a long list of must have pictures. The guy is a professional. Relax, let him do his job, and get through the must see pictures as soon as possible so you can enjoy your party! It goes by quick, don't miss it!!!!!!
2. Being a micro-manager over small details. It is easy to get worked up over the teeny tiny things. No one really notices and if they are judging you over them then they are at your wedding for the wrong reasons.
3. Bouquet toss: hence why I didn't do one!


My last piece of advice is to remember to take a moment for you and Sam! The day goes by quick and all you need to remember is that the day is for the two of you, not anyone else.





















Also, I didn't have this at my wedding but I've decided it is a must:
Thank you etsy.com for this work of genius!

158 Days - What is marriage?

Thank you, Grover, for putting marriage into perspective.

159 Days - Brewing Our Wedding Beer

Most of you know that Sam and I are big beer fans.  For those of you that didn't know, Sam and I are BIG beer fans.  We are such big fans that we decided to brew a beer for our September wedding.  We went down to the Shenandoah Brewing Company (SBC) in Alexandria, VA to brew a Belgian-style Trippel Ale.  The guys at SBC gave us access to the ingredients we needed (Belgian candi sugar extract, Chinnook hops, Tettnanger hops, and Trappist yeast) and pretty detailed instructions on the brewing process.

For those interested in the nitty gritty:  

First we brought the water up to 200 degrees and stirred in the pitcher of candi sugar extract.  Once the brew was at a rolling boil, we dropped the heat and added in the bittering hops little by little in order to prevent it from boiling over.  After the brew bubbled for 75 minutes, we added the finishing hops slowly and let it bubble again for 15 minutes.  Then Sam stirred the brew in a circular motion in order to create a "dimple", or a foam circle, in the center of the brew.  The brew sat for another 10 minutes and then the guys at SBC poured it into a big white jug.  

Before we poured the yeast into the white jug, we got to taste the pre-beer, or beer that has not fermented.  Our pre-beer tasted at first very sweet and finished off bitter.  At that point, we also measured the gravity of the beer, which predicts the alcohol content by volume.  Our gravity measurement predicted that our beer will be somewhere between 9 and 10 percent alcohol by volume.  This made Sam very happy.  Thoroughly pleased with our brewing skills, we added the yeast to the jug and proceeded to roll the jug back and forth to each other for eight minutes.

C'est tout.  The guys at SBC will handle the fermentation process and in six weeks, we will go back to SBC to bottle our beer.  Sam says we are not allowed to drink it once it is bottled because the beer won't taste right for at least a few weeks.  Instead, the beer will sit for three months in our friends cool, dry basement where the flavor will develop into trippel-awesomeness.  We might have to taste test it at some point before the wedding though. . . 


To be continued. . .

164 Days - $10 Challenge: Round II - The Headband

This go-round, the $10 Challenge was initiated by myself. I have been searching for a few months for a hair accessory that would bring my wedding dress, veil, and fabulous shoes together but with two conditions; 1) It must be under $10, and 2) I must be able to wear it again. 


Fait accompli! 

I went to Anthropologie on Friday to do some "look but may not have" shopping. (Anthro is one of those sick addictions where you can almost convince yourself that $68 Cocktail Spoons are reasonable because they are so cute and . . . useful!)  While meandering between cocktail dresses and scented candles, my friend and I started perusing the accessories table where she noticed this number.  I thought it must be $32 like other Anthro headbands (eek!), but when I looked at the tag, it was on sale for $9.95. Win!

$10 Challenge Score: Rachel - 2; Wedding Industry - 0

Woot!