britlovesthis

I’ve been missing in action.  I know, I know.  I’m sorry, but we’ve been busy!  After the wedding we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon.  It was beautiful there.  We want to go back as soon as possible.  

We stayed on Oahu for a week at Wyndham’s Royal Garden in Waikiki.  Our hotel ended up costing us only around $300 because my other mother (best friend’s mom) let us use her timeshare!  We just had to pay the reservation transfer fee thingy.  Our trip would have cost probably over a thousand dollars more if we had to pay it all out of pocket.  It was an amazing gift.  Our room was beautiful — we had a huge bed, nice TV, mini kitchen and dining area, nice bathroom, and a balcony.  From our balcony we had a lovely view of the canal, and even a mini ocean view!  

It was beautiful.  The ocean was gorgeous — I had never seen such blue water before.  You could see the fish swimming in the water.  We don’t have that on the East Coast y’all.  It just doesn’t exist.  You can only see fish swimming if they’re in a fish tank here.  Our water is NOT the same (with that said I still love our beaches here, lol).

Anyways, we ate tons of yummy food while we were there.  We also drank lots of delicious drinks.  Mai tais were one of our favorite drinks to get.  Mmm!  Delish!  Our hotel was within walking distance to lots of shops, restaurants  and the beach so we ended up walking around a lot.  We did rent a jeep while we were there which was nice.  We ended up using the jeep to leave Waikiki and discover other sections of the island.  

We swam with dolphins.  We kissed dolphins.  Yes.  WE DID IT.  WE SMOOCHED DOLPHINS.  We may have bought every picture they took of it too…and um…a DVD was purchased as well.  I have no regrets.  Swimming with dolphins was one of my favorite activities   We also swam with rays and fishies in another area of Sea Life Park.  We fed fish lettuce.  Every thing about that day was outstanding.  I love Sea Life Park.  It was situated in such a beautiful section of the island.  We had the mountains on one side and endless ocean on the other.  No matter where you looked there was beauty.  I’m pretty sure my husband thought I was a nutter that day.  I was like a big kid.  I got excited about every thing.  Even the trash cans at the park were cute (they were shaped like dolphins), and, yes, I took photos of them.

We also went to a luau and the Polynesian culture center.  We met a bunch of nice Australian couples at the luau.  They took our pictures while we danced during the luau.  We basically got pulled up onto the stage because they asked who was on their honeymoon or anniversary trip….lol…then they brought us all up on stage.  Hopefully they send us those pictures when they return home to Australia.  They were vacationing all over the place.  

Anyways, we did a lot of wonderful things.  We went and saw Pearl Harbor which was one of my MUST do tours.  It was great, but sad and made me kind of emotional.  It was also HOTTER than the gates of hell that day and there wasn’t much shade available.  It was a very well done tour.  Our favorite thing we did though was just relax (well relax and swim with dolphins).

We literally would go out, eat, and then go back to the hotel and nap.  We were lazy.  Yes, we were surrounded by beauty and could have done more stuff but we were pretty darn content.  We were used to seeing each other basically on the weekends so it was amazing to have a full week together.  We loved it.  Our honeymoon lasted a week and then we came home and dived right into moving me in.  

We’re still kind of moving in but we’re getting settled.  We ordered a bean bag couch which should be coming today.  We’re making our little apartment homey.  We’ve looked for Christmas trees (and spotted two potential trees).  We enjoy watching HGTV lots and lots.  We’re dreaming about the future and enjoying the present.  

Hello y’all!  We now have 41 days until the wedding.  41 days until I marry my best friend!  Isn’t that amazing?!  I’m feeling so good right now.  This past weekend we found our wedding bands and they’ve been ordered.  We also booked our cake.  Both the rings and cake came from the same place groomy’s parent’s stuff came from.  I think we may even have the same flavor of cake.  Traditional pound cake — it’s super tasty and comes from our home state!  We’re both Maryland babies!  We’re pretty darn excited about everything coming together.

There’s still some things we need to figure out but most of the big things are done.  We also took the time to relax some this weekend.  We went to the beach the day before we picked out wedding bands and cake (Thursday).  Then we picked out rings/cake on Friday which was fun.  We also visited groomy’s Grandpa which was nice.  We brought him an apple turnover which he was quite pleased with.  Ummm, then Saturday was…….MY BRIDAL SHOWER.  

I’ll admit I was slightly nervous about being the center of attention.  I like to think of myself as an outgoing person but sometimes I can get quite shy too.  That didn’t happen at the bridal shower though because well….I was in front of family and friends.  And yaknow what?  I feel less anxious about being in front of everyone (even though that’s what I wanted, lol…I’m a nut) at the wedding now.  I’m sure I’ll be nervous that I’ll cry in front of everyone but honestly……I pretty much know that’s going to happen anyways so I think I’ll be okay.  Once I see Brendan standing up there waiting for me I’ll feel much calmer.

Anyways, we got a ton of amazing stuff on Saturday.  We got a bunch of bath towels, kitchen towels, dish cloths, wash clothes, hand towels, kitchen utensils, oh jeez so much stuff O_O.  I think I will blog w/some photos from the shower once I get them from my future sister in law.  

I’m pretty excited to use everything!  My cousin Mollie got us a movie night basket with popcorn, old fashioned coca-colas (she knows me well…coca-cola kicks pepsi’s booty), candies, and cracker jack.  We’re looking forward to using that when we get settled into our place.  My other cousin Ashley got us a little icecream sundae basket with icecream packets to make homemade icecream, candys, a waffle cone maker (AHHHHHHHHH O_O SO COOL), sundae bowls, and peanuts.  Totally awesome.  All of our gifts were really nice.  

Reba, my friend and bridesmaid, made us a really awesome kitchen towel cake w/kitchen tools, an apron, bundt cake pan, etc.  It was awesome and I totally had to give her props for making it.  Ah, pinterest inspiration — it looked awesome.  I’ll post a picture of that later too.

The bridal shower was awesome — I had a great time with friends and family.  I played a lot of ball with my flower girls.  My little baby sister (2 years old) met a little boyfriend, lol!  It was good times and I want to thank everyone for coming.  Well, I’m out now!

which means it’s back to stalking the mailbox for more RSVPs.  I’m fine tuning my ninja-like skills by doing so.  I mean, it’s a win win.  Okay, okay maybe not for the mailman/woman who is probably hella freaked out by me creeping out the window when I hear the mailbox open.  But, it’s a win win for me?  

Anywho, I think Ashley’s RSVP may come today and I’m excited about that.  We should, at least, get one today.  Now that I’ve said this watch hers come tomorrow.

Fudge monkies.

This morning I dropped Brendan off at the airport. He’s going to be back in 17 days. I know this because I set up a countdown. I hope his flights and trip, in general, go smoothly.

I miss him already. Can’t wait for him to come home. The next 17 days I’m gonna plan to stay as busy as possible.

Things to do:
Address invitations
Work on place card trial run
Work on table numbers
Work on other DIY projects
Visit with friends/family
Organize bridal magazines better
Buy bins to organize wedding things
Etc.

Going to try and sleep…*holds heart pillow closely*

Tomorrow we will have exactly three months till the wedding.  I’m incredibly excited.

Things I did today:

• Priced pillar candles 
• Priced tea light candles & holders out of curiosity
• Sent garter measurements to etsy seller

Things that need to be done this month:

• Book honeymoon flight
• Address invitations (aiming to mail them out the last week of July)
• Talk to the florist and book them
• Find a wedding cake
• Find & order wedding bands
• Finalize menu w/the venue
• Finish DIY projects (translation: print pictures essentially)
• Check on wedding dress (they still haven’t called me….blaming the storm that knocked everyone’s power out at the moment)
• Schedule first, second, and final fittings for wedding dress
• Figure out wedding shoes (doesn’t necessarily have to be this month)

I’m sure there’s more.  I’m pretty stressed out but making the list is helpful.  I honestly have no idea how much of the list will get done.  In a perfect world the honeymoon flight, wedding bands, cake, and setting up alteration appointments would happen.  I feel like our menu being finalized could possibly wait?  I dunno, I guess I’ll have to check w/our venue.  It’s scheduled for July 22nd currently, but there’s a good chance my fiance will be out of the country for work now.  Ack!  I dunno, lol.  

Remember, breathe in, breathe out….it’s impossible to schedule life.  It just happens…

My maid of honor Ashley came to visit this past weekend, and we had a great time.  We went to Checkers and got yummy food with my little sister (bridesmaid) and my honorary little sister Gabby!  It was not “fast” food but it was yummy in my tummy.  Then, of course, I had to show Ashley all of the stuff we’ve acquired for the wedding thus far.  She hadn’t seen any of the stuff that I’ve showed off a billion times already so I was happy to show her it all.  I love looking at our ‘I do, Me Too’ wedding forks by jessicaNdesigns on etsy. I also showed her our cake cutting set, peachy/light pink gems for the centerpieces, wedding invitation samples, save the date samples, and all of our stuff we have for the house thus far which amounts to very little, LOL!  But it’s something!!!  

I loved having her here!!  We went to my bridal boutique and the girls tried on bridesmaid dresses.  I wanted every girl in a dress they liked versus me sticking them all in the same dress.  But, it turned out that they liked the same two dresses (one short and one long).  Alas, I was not happy with the price but we’re keeping them in mind because the girls looked FANTASTIC.  I mean, really fantastic.  I just have a hard time being okay with spending $176 per dress (and yes that’s the discounted price for the bridesmaid dress y’all).  Eh, not okay with that in the slightest.  I think that’s too much money for a bridesmaid dress.  That’s not including shoes or anything else — no way I’m making everyone pay that.  Hell to the no.

I was excited because they had my wedding dress sample in the store so I got to try it on again.  My little sister had never seen it and neither had Ashley.  They both saw it on in pictures but never in person.  Also my other sister’s boyfriend had not seen it yet either in person.  I tried it on again with a veil I liked before and asked for a little something extra….bam.  Bridal look complete.  Bought the finishing pieces to my bridal look and kept it moving.  

It was sweet thought because I didn’t wanna buy the veil due to cost (why the hell do they cost so friggen much?!?!!?).  My little sister helped me out of the dress and she started crying saying “you look so beautiful and you have to have it all.”  This made me start crying also lol…and alas I left with a veil and sparkly headband.  LOL

My maid of honor actually found a very awesome and reasonably priced convertible dress online that everyone loved.  It’s a one size fits all kind of dress and it’s super awesome.  I ordered fabric swatch samples in two colors — more than likely this will be THE bridesmaid dress.  I just have a feeling…..  =]  The dress is awesome and could def be worn again which I love.  It can be made into a skirt and all sorts of amazing dress styles.  This, of course, will give me the mismatched look I was longing for so please be wonderful fabric.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!!!!

Later that night Michaela, Ashley, and I went to Michaels and got stuff to decorate flower girl baskets which turned out SO beautiful.  Love them to pieces.  It still kills me that people want you to pay at least $20 for a flower girl basket that has like no personality.  I think not — especially since I needed 3 baskets.  No ring bearer in our wedding so I went flower girl crazy.  I had to have the cuties!!!  My little sister who will be a little over 2 at the time of the wedding is one of my girls and my two little cousins are the other two.  Love it!

We also went out to the mall with C.J. and shopped around.  We grabbed taco bell and chilled.  It was me, my sister Kayla, Ashley, and C.J. walking around the mall.  Later we met up with my groomy and my future sister-in-law and we all had cheesecake factory for dinner.  Noms!  It was a lot of fun — my allergies were a hot damn mess the entire weekend and they’re not much better today lol.  But it was good times.

Good weekend =) 

Can it please be Wednesday?  My love gets home from his business trip Wednesday night.  I cannot wait to see him!  His birthday is Thursday and I’m glad he’ll be back home for it.  

I also cannot wait for it to be Friday — my maid of honor is coming to town, yay!  

There are 194 days until our wedding.  AHHH!  It feels good to be under 200 now.  It will feel even better when we hit the double digits.  Then single.  I cannot wait to marry him.  

So, I’ve been up for the past hour texting my running buddy.  He’s not answering — I’m hoping he will be waking up soon so we can get our run in.  I stayed over at Brendan’s on Sunday (usual morning run day) so we’re making up for the missed run today.  We were going to do it Monday but C.J. had to be up at the crack of dawn….and get to work which essentially means we’d be running at like…night.  Nope, wasn’t gonna happen.  

I’m ready to go but I’m not looking forward to how cold it’s going to be outside.  My friend posted a picture of the temp from her car not too long ago….it was less than 40 degrees.  So, um…where did my spring weather go?  Oi.

It’s almost midnight here and I am pretty tired.  I have not crawled into bed yet because I have the bedtime blues.  For the past two nights I have slept in my fiance’s bed, but tonight I am at home.  I am kind of bummed out because it is lonely. I like being able to cuddle up (he thinks I hog the bed) next to him and fall asleep.  I like waking up next to him.  Bah, I guess I have to go to bed obviously but this stinks.  I’ve drove over there the past two nights to stay over.  =(  I miss my man.