How Many Yards Do I Need?

That seemed to be the question all weekend...For myself, this is a little harder than for most. I am zoning in on my "inner Martha" and tackeling yet, another DIY project. This time kids, I am making napkins. for. 150. people. And I am not much a seamstress.

I feel that I need to preface this post with this, I am creative, I enjoy decorating, planning, and incorporated unique ideas with everything I do. So for our wedding, why would it be any different? A list of things I have done or plan to do is on an earlier post, scroll down if you haven't read it.

So throughout the past 5ish months, I have carefully planned the colors, the decorations, the dresses, etc....I have a lot of the aubergine (plum) color, a lot of the orange color, and very very very little of the pops! of magenta....hmmmm...something's wrong here, I wanted aubergine, orange, and pops! of magenta....not aubergine and orange? The flowers that the I am holding will have some magenta, the other flowers may have some magenta, but other than that, there is no pinkish magenta color anywhere. I have slightly been avoiding this situation just because I felt that it would just come to me and I think it was also a little bit of a pain to have to think of more ideas....Even for me, I can only handle so much of DIY projects and I am up to my ears in DIY projects...I don't need another one! Well that all came to a halt last week. As I was reading my websites and getting ideas, it came to me.....Why don't I make my own napkins with patterns that will have magenta?! This shouldn't be so hard right?

One thing about me is, once I have an idea, I do it...so how will I accomplish this dawnting task? With help...tons of help. My sister figured it all out, the dimensions were calculated, I saved the email, and printed it out so I could take it to the store. I went out and bought fabric, which I need to tell you, it is so cute! It will go perfectly with my table clothes and I think will add a nice little touch. I will learn to sew better (my grandma from Texas taught me but apparently I didn't take that lesson with me as I grew up), and most importantly I have saved myself just a little bit more money.

Stay tuned as I update my napkin adventures!

A Rather Engaging Afternoon

Since the day we got engaged, we already knew who would be our photographer: Kat Musacchio. As my sister's Mother in Law, a fabulous photographer, it was a no brainer, we would use her for our wedding. She has taken my family photos for a few years now, and when I knew that she would be coming down for my sister's baby shower, we had one day to get the engagement pictures done. Kat was also present the day Nick proposed at the beach, she captured every minute of the wonderful day, took tons of wonderful shots of everyone, the beach, and the sunset; however, there was one place that I just knew I wanted pictures taken. Nick's fire station. Every second of our wedding planning process has been spent making sure that this wedding will be us, the pictures, the songs, the venue, the flowers, down to the center pieces. I felt that his work is a huge part of who Nick is, just as the beach is about us, I knew that the station said a lot of who he is and what his passion is.

So we set out at 3 on Good Friday, after a stop at Office Depot (Kat got an amazing deal on a new SD Card) we were on our way to Loma Linda. Once we arrived, the boys working were washing his truck, we thought, perfect! it will be clean for us to take pictures with :) We started taking pictures on the anitque fire engine, also known as the Mack Truck.

After warming up a bit to the camera we were good...Kat was able to capture one of our favorites, below:

The truck was clean and waiting for us! One of our favorites from this part of pictures:

After the station we went to Redlands where Nick grew up. Kat and I both shared the next vision and were set to find the perfect spot. We wanted an old building with exposed, bare materials, so he drove us to the older part of the city, and found this building....awesome! I just love how Kat was able to capture all the right angles...

I just can't get enough of this one...makes me laugh :)

On our way home, Kat mentioned that she wanted to shoot a little bit more up the street from my house. The sun was right, the location was set, and it couldn't have been any better.

What a Weekend!

And what a weekend it was....I have been waiting to put up a post on here for a couple weeks, because being the planner that I am, I knew I wanted to blog about a fabulous event that has just passed....Talitha's Baby Shower!

Talitha had come to me months ago and asked if I would plan the Southern California shower for her, of course I said yes, are you kidding?! It would be fun! I started putting together ideas that I wanted to do, checking out sales, and various stores seeing how creative I could get. I think I am taking a break from going to Michaels for a bit...however, they are having a huge sale right now so if you need to get some crafty supplies, right now would be the time to do it. Anyways, I took pics along my planning process so I could blog about it afterwards. Please feel free to take a looksie, comment, or whatever you would like.

A week before the shower, our kitchen table looked like this: Controlled Chaos, if you will.

First, it began with the cake diapers. After emailing all the lovely mamas that I know, I went to Target to buy some diapers....did you know they come in sizes? I just thought they stretched! I bought two boxes, one box in size 1, another in size 2/3. We decided to make a game out of the diaper cakes, Guess How Many Diapers are In Each Cake? So fitting for the event I thought. In case you're wondering, there are 140 in the big one and 91 in the small one...I packed those bad boys in there! By the way, I had a very handsome helper with the big one, Nick hand rolled at least half of those diapers with rubber bands!

As I spent my lunches shopping at Michaels, Pier One, Target, etc...I found some fun little prizes like this Rate that Wine Note Pad:

Once I was finished gathering all the prizes, I wrapped them in tissue paper and put some ribbon on them:

Next up: Food.....we ordered Tal's favorite, Buca di Beppo, had a local baker make some Red Velvet Cupcakes, and washed it down with various wines, ice water with fresh cut lemons, and mock champagne that was a hit!

It's now present time! Talitha's little girl received tons of cool clothes, super cute bikinis, and fun little shoes! She is definitely going to be the best dressed little booger in Oakhurst! Take a look at some of the pictures some of Tal's expressions are priceless!

We also had prizes to give to some of the guests during the opening present time. We had a random timer go off and whoevers gift Talitha was opening was the winner! Now looking back, I kinda feel it would be fun to give a gift to the youngest attendee: Emmy! :) Look at her cute little dress!

All in all, it was a fun afternoon with the ladies. I had a blast planning it and loved spending time with the fabulous women who came!

For another person's perspective please click here:

http://themusacchioproject.blogspot.com

Stay tuned for my next post: Engagement Pictures!

It only took 4 months

I hate to say it, but this post won't be a fun one...I had my first very very bad dream about our wedding. I woke up looking like this:

Let me start from the beginning. It was a modge podge of a dream I guess you could say. Nothing was really clear and absolutely nothing got resolved. Some of the bad things that occured were:

• Bridesmaid dresses were all different, one BM even got a taffeta mermaid style fuscia color dress with RHINESTONES!
• My hair and makeup were not done, I ended up having to go to MAC to get my makeup done and I told the make up artist I had 30 min, she said no problem, I can do that...well, she couldn't find a stool and had to have maintenence come and deliver one, and they took forever. Meanwhile, my dad shows up trying to smooth over the situation but I hear him saying everyone is at the church waiting. It is now past 5 and still no sight of my bridesmaids!
• I was by myself as I attemped to get ready, nobody wanted to be there with me. One of the BM dropped off my wedding dress, but just left it on the floor. in the bag. all wrinkled. That's not how you treat a freaking wedding dress!
• Nick got mad at me so we were actually fighting during the hours leading up to the wedding.
• He saw me before the wedding, which in my book, is a BIG no-no.
• All the vendors were late in their deliveries, including the flowers and the cupcakes.

I am sure I am forgetting some parts of this dream, although, I would like to forget the whole thing...I woke up with a headache, and it has not gone away since. :( I hear that these dreams are normal for bride-to-bes. I guess I am lucky that it has been 4 months and I just had my first one.. But I do know one thing, I do not want to be alone on my wedding day!

How many of you ladies have had dreams like this?

Makin a List...Checkin it...over and over again

It's wedding planning season...You know what that means! I realized that I haven't really been keeping people up to date with the wedding planning. Not that I don't want people to know, I just haven't really done it. Then I thought, my blog would be a great place to keep everyone up to date! Those of you who know me, know that I love to plan stuff.

Plan my day, plan my food, plan how much water I drink, what I am going to wear for the day, when I will be able to do all my errands, plan my runs, plan my plans that I may have planned in 4 weeks and then just in case, I plan a backup plan for emergency cases of course...I think you get the point.

Well when it comes to events, parties, WEDDINGS, I go crazy! It is so fun for me, I love it! Nick and I got engaged November 27, 2009, if you don't know the story, click TheKnot. (side note: it was perfect and nothing short of amazing).

I have made countless excel spreadsheets with formulas that add up every penny we spend, every penny we save...Which I'll have you know, I have been able to save a ton of money by doing my research, blogging on http://www.weddingbee.com/, and find all the wholesale outlet stores online...hello, http://www.save-on-crafts.com/. I also have tracked how much we have left, who paid for what, and when our next payments will be sent. I looked at the spreadsheet today, entitled "payment tracker" and noticed a lot of pink check marks next to the items that have been paid for a/o taken care of. I won't bore you with all the details, however, I will show you some ideas that I have come up with!

Above, are our Save the Date cards. I designed them in photoshop, made to be a postcard. You will see the front and back :) I am also designing our invitations, already have the paper, the design is final, and the envelopes are stamped and just need to be addressed! With the help of my loving fiance, things have been pretty easy going so far...

My bridesmaids will be wearing these dresses from www.twobirdsbridesmaids.com! I love th idea, 14 ways to wear 1 dress :) Color is Aubergine (also known as plum). I can't wait to see the ladies in the dresses! So exciting!

Next up, the center pieces. My center pieces inspiration came from this simple little set up here. Instead of the vases, I will be having mason jars. :) So southern, can't help but to add a little bit of my southern roots into the wedding! Nick and his dad are getting part of an old tree trunk then we are going to be slicing them into little stands to put on the tables.

Manzanita trees are stored away curtousy of my dad, battery operated chinese lanterns are safe in their box, I also bought our lights that will be hanging over the dance floor, similar to the picture below:

Next big things are, the bakery (I think I found a good one for our cupcakes), dance floor, pedals, fabric, finding the correct candles, making my veil, and of course, one of the most important items on the list.....my dress. She will be coming in any time in between April to June. It is perfect. I went in the other day to show Lacy, and I got teared up again when I saw it. I cannot wait to put it back on :) Pictures of the dress will not be on here my friends, but I can assure you it won't be anything like this awful one:

After all the wedding stuff is done, we will be staying at the Tokoriki Island Resort in Fiji!

This is a Public Service Announcement...

...for all you drivers out there that don't run....listen up. or should I say, read up...

This morning, I got a glimpse of what my future will be as a runner. It's 7:05 a.m. I am running a few minutes late on my morning commute. Thinking to myself oh geez I need to get going..wait, it's rideshare Thursdays I don't really have to rush that much. (Who knows what "rideshare Thursdays" is anyways? I mean, can't every day be a "rideshare day"?)

Anyhoodle, I get in my car and head down Indian Hill Blvd, I pass the school, stop at the light on Foothill, head down my favorite part of the street, towards Memorial Park, and then, it that instant, I see myself in about 30+ years. Waiting at the light, there is a woman, I would say in her late 50's maybe early 60's...she looks great by the way. She is doing that little running dance you do if you are a runner, waiting at the light..This light is a somewhat pointless light on Indian Hill, one that I hardly ever stop at, and when I do it's one of those lights that pisses me off, because I am almost home, or I am in a hurry to get to work, and it just makes me wait there for a minute or so. So I have yet to mention the Mercedes C Class in front of me, this is where I start my rant. Are you ready for it?

So, you have the fabulous looking runner lady doing the running dance, impatiently looking at her watch, the signal, the watch, the cars, and so on. Then you have the fancy Mercedes C Class in front of me, then you have the yellow light. I notice the yellow light, I also notice that the Mercedes C Class begins to speed up not slow down. Then I see my future. Right there in front of me, and I begin to laugh and cheer on the fabulously in shape lady runner to my left. The Mercedes C Class zooms by the runner, and the runner stares the car down and throws her arms up, I can't really read her lips because my eye sight isn't the best, but I pretty much know what she is saying. I think you do too.

Ok drivers, here you go. This has been building up in my heart for yeeeaaarrrrssss. SLOW DOWN, PAY ATTENTION TO RUNNERS, WHEN YOU ARE AT A SIGNAL, A STOP SIGN, A CROSSWALK, LOOK BOTH WAYS. WE ARE OUT THERE, WE KNOW YOU DON'T PAY ATTENTION, WE LOOK OVER OUR SHOULDER, STARE YOU DOWN IN THE CROSSWALKS, WE KNOW THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO RUN US OVER BECAUSE YOU AS THE DRIVER THINK THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT AWAY....

I live in Claremont, I have several routes that I take, depending on time and my mood, I switch it up quite a bit. My favorite 6 mile run happens to have many intersections, on average, I am at about 10 lights a/o stop signs.

I am that woman...I throw my arms up at people who don't wait for me, I point my fingers at them, I yell, and tell them to slow down. I can't tell you how many times I have almost been hit because the driver makes a left turn without looking at me. I do occasionally get those drivers who roll down their window and say sorry. Those people make me happy. They acknowledge their mistake, which in turn, I forgive them.

My point is, I want to run for the rest of my life, and I also want to live a long life. I don't want to run in fear that at any moment, I could get hit by a car. I have read countless stories about runners who get hit, like this one:
http://rwdaily.runnersworld.com/2008/09/i-almost-hit-a-runner.html.

Please read this, understand my frustration, and be more careful.

Thank you :)

222 days

<--- I wish I was doing this right now....Mondays are lame. They have to be my least favorite day. Another weekend has come and gone, my errands keep piling up, and I can't stop thinking about how I want to run after work. I think it's crazy how you just fall right back into your typical work week you know? Like this past weekend was great, was with Nick, did a ton of errands, spent time with friends, did a whole bunch of wedding stuff, the list goes on....then this morning I woke up at 5:30 (well, technically 4:30 bc my sister woke me up) and did my morning routine, coffee, devo, checked email, hung out with killian :), then within an hour I was out the door and on my way to work. What would happen if I just didn't go into work? Like one day I decide, I'm not going to go into work today. I don't even have that in me, there is no way I would be able to do that.

Some random things on my mind today: I want to run. I got new running shoes and I can't wait to break them in even more than they already are. I have a young life meeting tonight from 7-9; however, the season finale of The Bachelor starts at 8...should I DVR it and catch up when I get home? Or should I just watch it once I get home? The first part is boring anyways....plus I already know who supposedly gets the rose. I can't wait 'til Nick gets off work! My wedding dress is all paid off....YIPPEEEE! I should be receiving my mason jars tomorrow in the mail (center pieces for the wedding), I ordered my lanterns, oooo I need to find a dance floor hookup....Can you tell my mind is all over the place?

We were looking at puppies online this weekend, and I found a website that was a no kill german shepherd rescue center in LA. We saw this little puppy that had an infection on her face and she just needed someone to love her and take care of her. I balled my eyes out, like full on sobbing. Nick made me close my laptop and not go back on that website. I wonder if she's ok...then that very same night, we went out for sushi (yes, I now like some kinds of sushi) and they had this big giant fish, his name was Daniel, he looked like an eel but wasn't. He was stuck in this little tank and didn't have much room to swim. I cried when I found out that they weren't going to buy him a new tank. I don't understand why people just disregard animals. I have such abig heart for them, why can't everyone?

I love Nick.

1. He's honest and loyal

2. He puts me first

3. He comforts me when I need him and even when I don’t

4. His love

5. His sense of humor

6. The fact that I know exactly what he is thinking and what he is going to say and vice versa

7. His goofiness

8. The fact that he is pursuing Christianity with me. He is diligent and keeps his promises, he does it for himself not just for me.

9. He loves his parents and is loyal to them

10. His spontaneity, his caring personality, just him all around.