Weddings Posts

15Feb
0

Wedding Updates

I’ll try not to make this too boring of a post. I’m really only posting it for my one bridesmaid that put out a request ;)

*Vendors: I think we’ve booked all of our vendors. Everything from venue to DJ to pictures, flowers and decorations is set. Of course I have a binder that is seriously full of contracts (Hi, I’m Monica from Friends lol). We really hit the ground running on this category, which is nice cuz now we can kind of just ease through the rest.

*The rest: We’ve been busy doing things like picking songs, looking into dance lessons, deciding on menu options, etc. This is really the FUN part! My dad also offered up his services. He’s retired so he’s been searching the internet for various things we “need” – starfish decorations, candles, a ketubah, etc. He’s been a big help!

*Bridal party attire: Half of my girls are outfitted. The other half will be soon. J is a groomsman in his Best Man’s upcoming wedding, so while we picked up his outfit for that affair, we started perusing attire for our own. Yeah…we selected basically everything. I’m just waiting on a swatch of the bridesmaid material to arrive so we can finalize vest colors. Yes, I realize we’re like 2-3 months early on this task, but it’s better to be early than late! I’ve also been chomping at the bit to pick out a dress for my flower girl, but given that she’s still growing (related: she’s turning FIVE in a couple of weeks!?!) I can’t commit to anything yet. Who knows if she’ll still be a 5T or up to a child’s small? I already know what I generally want though, I’ll just have to wait a couple of months to find it :)

*Registries: We have 3. They are all works in progress, but OMG they have been so much fun to put together! One of the registries is basically a website with wishes for our honeymoon. J has been doing a GREAT job of picking out fun activities for us and making entertaining captions for our guests. The other two are at stores, and each one has had some sort of registry event for us to attend. I have to say, if you’re gonna register somewhere, do it at one of these events. While setting up these registries, we were served a range of treats from mimosas to waffles, samples of coffee from various coffee and espresso machines, dinner foods, and on and on. Plus they have TONS of people on hand to answer any questions. It’s the best way to go!

*Honeymoon: Aka the best part! My one complaint though: WHY are plane tickets so expensive?? We’ve settled on a tropical island location and J has enough hotel points for us to stay affordably. We just have to get there. Now we are in the midst of playing plane ticket roulette. We have 2 options here: Buy tickets now at a whopping $1400ish each, or keep waiting for a “deal” to come around (we’ve been waiting 3 months already and the only thing that’s happened is that the every day fare has gone up about $50. The longer we wait, the more the fare will creep up). It’s kind of fun/exciting, but dude, I’m not down to get ripped off on a plane ticket right now. I think we should set a threshold price (aka find something for $1250 and pounce) and a threshold date (aka if we don’t have a “deal” by May 1, just buy whatever). What would you do?

*The wedding website: While I’m a true slacker on this blog, I actually do update the wedding site religiously. Like anytime there is a change lol. New block of hotel rooms? On it! We booked a shuttle to take guests around? Information is there! Maid of Honor changed jobs? Bio updated (at her request lol). If you’re privy to the URL, you should check it out :)

That’s really all I’ve got right now.

Posted by Caro in Family, Life, News, Travel, Weddings
15Feb
0

Miscellaneous Updates

As per usual, it’s been a while. Life never stops being hectic I suppose. Here’s a few updates:

*My wedding dress arrived. 2 months early no less. I freaked out, so I started really getting my ass in gear. Gym, better food choices, more water – the whole 9 yards. I finally tried it on a couple of weeks ago and it doesn’t fit. I don’t know what in the hell happened, because I ordered it based on my measurements the day it was ordered. Apparently I gained weight between ordering the dress in September, and picking it up in January. And by gained weight, I mean in excess of the 5 lbs I lost in January. HOW did that happen?

*In related news, I started Jenny Craig, and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m halfway to my goal!! Hopefully by the time I reach this goal I will fit into the dress….

*I also signed up for a spin class. I don’t know if I’ve previously mentioned this or not, but it’s going pretty well. I’ve lost a little momentum due to being ill, but I’m getting better at this class. Have you ever taken a spin class? It’s hard. It looks grueling for a reason: it is. My legs are so strong though, and surprisingly my tummy is getting flatter. It doesn’t seem like a total body workout, but it kind of is. I might sign up for this again. I say might because did I mention how hard it is? Lol

*I’m officially going back to school! I applied to a couple of local programs as a supplement to the education I’ve already completed, and so far one of them likes me. I have an interview at another (albeit expensive) school next week. Really, it’s only a consideration if they’re gonna throw lots of $$ my way. Let’s face it – I’m on a budget and student loans SUCK. It’s really down to the school that has accepted me and a third school that won’t decide for a couple of months. I really hate waiting!

*People keep dying. I think the tally so far is 3. While I wish I could say it’s 3 in my lifetime (laughable!) I really mean three in the last several months. Yes, since creating our wedding guest list, 3 of the people on it are no longer living. At this rate, we will have no one left to share our special day with. Well that’s a lie. At each funeral we think of more people to invite. The take away message here is that I’d be stoked if I didn’t have anyone else close to me or my fiance die for a while. Thank you.

*Related to this, the Fiance decided he has “non-proposal regret” LOL. In his words, “If I had proposed last year all these people could have come.” While my first instinct is to say “I TOLD YOU SO JERK”, that’s just not appropriate. We’re in a better place this year, and we ended up planning our dream wedding. I can’t say that would have happened last year. And who’s to say these people who are missing out aren’t there in spirit? I’ll go with that :)

That’s all I can think of in terms of updates for now. Maybe I’ll post my “Wedding Planning Updates”. Maybe. That could be a seriously boring post LOL

Posted by Caro in Life, News, Random, School, Weddings
02Dec
0

I’m Back!

My last post was about a running hiatus. Apparently it was also the start of a blogging hiatus. OOPS! Has it really been almost four months?!?!

What have I been doing all this time? That’s a good question, cuz time has certainly flown by. Here’s the synopsis:

*I went to Italy. I’ll blog more about that later tonight, but I will tell you it was PHENOMENAL. We spent 6 days in Rome and did just about everything, including catching pink eye. Yep, medical issues follow me everywhere I go! We headed north for 4 days to Florence. Gorgeous city, and a lot cooler and less humid. It’s nice sightseeing in weather under 105 degrees. We also did a side trip to Pisa/Lucca and another to Cinque Terre on my birthday. BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER. Finally, we headed down to Naples for 2 days. Naples is a dump, that’s for sure, but Pompeii was so worth it. Sorrento was glorious. More details on all of this to come!

*I quit 2 of my jobs. Hallelujah!! I increased my hours at the other one so I can still afford to pay my bills, and I took a different unpaid internship job. I’m now working in a school and am finally realizing my calling in life. Good thing it only took me 20-some-odd years to find it! It was a crazy month of transitioning, and at one point I was working 4 jobs for a week, but I made it through, sanity in tact. Whew!

*I’ve been planning my wedding. Duh!! For those of you who don’t know me well, I’m organized and plan ahead to the point that it’s pathological. Taking the idea from my friend (and bridesmaid!) Jess, I have started a wedding binder. My colors are eggplant, turquoise and silver, so the binder and its pages are those colors. I’ve been clipping things I like from magazines and putting them in their appropriate category. It’s fun – like scrapbooking! The binder is almost full though, fortunately with contracts! Yes, I am ahead of the game and have tons of vendors already selected, deposits paid.

*Last but not least I’ve been helping my extended family clean out my great aunt and uncle’s house and prepare it for sale. It’s kind of sad, but there’s so many of us doing it and we’re bonding over it. We found so many old pictures of relatives that lived and died before our time – it’s really neat! We also found a lot of … um… educational materials. Materials including, but not limited to, 30 years worth of Playboy magazine. The house is almost ready to go on the market.

Posted by Caro in Blogging, Family, Life, Travel, Weddings, Work and tagged with
09Aug
0

I Suck @ This Right Now

Sorry for the epic neglect folks. Life is BUSY at the moment. Here’s a quick status update on a lot of miscellaneous fronts. And read all of them, cuz some are kind of exciting :)

1. Work: Same shit, different day. I’m still working 3 jobs. I still hate working 3 jobs. A major source of my blog neglect lately has come from one job in particular, wiping me out so I have NO energy to blog when I get home. I mean 4 grants + coordinating a scientific conference? I’m one person, and I work there 20 hours a week. Whew!

2. Marla: She hurts. I saw a neurologist and got an EMG and NCV on Friday. SO STRANGE. They put things on my foot then shocked me with a cattle-prod-thing. Get the results on Wednesday.

3. Italy: Um….I have done NOTHING Italy-related in a month. I’m starting to feel bad. But I have other things on my mind…..

4. Love Life: Well, I’m 7 years into my current relationship. We live together. AND WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

J took me on a weekend adventure, and wouldn’t tell me anything. I had a feeling, but then again, I’ve been waiting for a while for this and thought maybe I’d have to keep waiting (boys are kinda dense). But then he took me to Sea World, where we did a behind the scenes penguin encounter. Apparently everyone else on the tour knew but me. I have tons of pics and a video of me/us petting penguins. Then we went into the back of the exhibit, and magic happened :)

Basically you can go right up to the barrier that separates the staff and the penguins, but you can’t go onto the snow (oh yeah, it’s about 20 degrees in here!). J and I walked up to this barrier, and as luck would have it, a penguin was intrigued and waddled right over to us. The little guy came all the way to the barrier and stuck his beak through it. SO AWESOME. I think I squealed in delight, and then said (to the penguin) “I love you!”. J thought I was talking to him, so he said, “I love you too, (pulled out a ring) will you marry me?”

And so we’re engaged. And we’re 100% ecstatic about it. I feel lucky to have found the love of my life, who is also my best friend, and to know I will spend the rest of my life with him. I mean, he proposed with penguins. This is clearly the guy for me! And that brings me to #5…

5. Wedding Planning: I’ve been engaged for 9 days, and I think I have a venue set. We’ve come up with our first two choices for dates (2011) and are waiting to hear back from the event coordinator. I went out to dinner with some of my friends 2 days after the proposal and they had made a bet as to how many spreadsheets I had already created (2). A week later, I have 5 total. Although the big day is over a year away, I’m not wasting a minute. Planning a wedding is kind of fun (remind me I said that if I start getting stressed 10 months from now). J is totally wonderful too. He is totally interested in this, at least so far, and while I’m the lead on the wedding planning, he’s taking the reins on the honeymoon.

So yeah. I’ve been a busy bee. I really don’t want my blog to turn into a wedding planning frenzy, so I’ll do my best to keep variety. I’ll also do my best to keep up, rather than go for weeks with no posts. And on that note, I’m going to bed. Good night world! :)

Posted by Caro in Blogging, Health, Life, News, Things to do, Travel, Weddings, Work
04May
0

Vegas Party

This past weekend was spent in Vegas for Jess and Scott’s Bachelor/ette party. We all know that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, or at the very minimum shouldn’t get posted on the internet, so I’m just going to give a summary of an awesome weekend and rate various places and services using a point system. Get ready!

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Posted by Caro in Life, Rants and raves, Travel, Weddings and tagged with
29Apr
1

The Wiser Wedding

OK I’m going to start out by saying that I know this is long overdue and I know I should include photos, but I don’t have any with me. Also, I didn’t take many. I guess I’ll just add those later when the photographer gets it together and sends out the pics to the bride and groom ;)

Anyway, wedding. This was my very first experience being a bridesmaid. There’s quite a lot of work that goes into this title, and being one of only two made it an even bigger job. Can I just add that I packed a checked-luggage sized suitcase for the weekend? And that it was primarily filled with toiletries? LOL

So Friday was the rehearsal and dinner. It was the first I had seen of the venue, which was gorgeous. Although not in bloom yet, I’m sure the pictures turned out amazing! Rather than do a traditional rehearsal dinner, the bride and groom decided to book some lanes at a bowling alley so we could have some fun. I liked the idea, but let’s be honest – bowling = broken nails. That’s a bad situation. Also, since I’m crazy and work 3 jobs, I would have had to get my nails done on Monday and pray that they didn’t get messed up during the week. I wasn’t about to take my chances with that, so I got my nails done during the bowling and missed most of it. Oh well.

The groom’s parents got an amazing suite at a nearby hotel and stocked the kitchen with food and drink. While we worked on the last few things for the next day, we got to enjoy some delicious treats and a little champagne :) I’m definitely taking notes for my own wedding (which won’t happen for decades I’m sure), and this is getting added to the list: a suite with 2 bedrooms. When all is said and done let’s be honest: we all need space to get ready and a regular room isn’t enough. This had a total of 3 full bathrooms. Brilliant!

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Posted by Caro in Food, fun, Life, Travel, Weddings
22Apr
1

A Quick Update

Life comes at you so fast and can take you in so many directions all at once. The past two weeks certainly have been no exception. I feel that all of these things deserve their own post, but I just wanted to give a quick update. My blogging will either speed up or fall off for a while. The last item on this update should provide a pretty good explanation. Anyway, these are the latest headlines:

  • Andrew and Rhianna got married. It was a beautiful ceremony and a super fun reception. It was also my first run at being a bridesmaid and it was a completely different experience than I had imagined.
  • My cousin got engaged. I’m totally stoked for him.
  • I went to the doctor (again) for my foot. After 2 MRIs and 2 appointments within 4 days, I finally have a clearer picture of what’s going on with Marla. There are 3 issues total in my one foot (ffffuuuu). It IS a tumor, but it’s not cancerous. Hopefully the painful cortisone shot I got will make this issue go away once and for all.
  • I took a small (but very eventful!) road trip last weekend with some wonderful ladies to attend Jess’s bridal shower. It was a lovely event. I won a prize too ;)
  • My great uncle went to the ER yesterday morning. He died today. It never really occurred to me prior to yesterday that when you say “great uncle” people kind of brush you off assuming this is a distant relative and it’s not a big deal. On the contrary, I was incredibly close to this man. My mom lost her father when she was 23. Angelo stepped in and became a second father to her, even walking her down the aisle at her wedding. I’m absolutely devastated.

There’s not really much else to say. It’s 4:45am and I can’t sleep. I can say this: I have the most amazing family and an incredible boyfriend. I know that while I’m crumbling into pieces I am loved and supported. We are a close knit group and this loss has brought us closer. For that I am grateful.

And now back to Boy Meets World. Because that seems to be the only thing on at this hour.

Posted by Caro in Family, Fears, Health, Life, Things to do, TV, Weddings
04Apr
3

Disaster

It’s official. I’m flipping out.

I ordered my bridesmaid dress about 2 months ago. I hadn’t lost all the weight I had wanted to, but I was pretty OK with how things were looking. I got measured and prepared myself for the size they would tell me to buy. After all, bridal runs super small so you feel like a heffer when they order your dress.

They told me I matched with the 12. Fine. Order it. It’s just a number. It arrived 3 weeks ago, and wouldn’t you know it, this shit is too big. Strapless + I should have ordered a 10 = wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. The dress didn’t even stay up.

I brought it to a tailor to get it taken in 10 days ago. It was supposed to be ready a week later. I drove all the way up there, and wouldn’t you know it, that shit isn’t ready. I couldn’t get back up there Friday, so I went yesterday. I tried on the dress at my parents, and my mom and her friend liked it.

I don’t.

The seamstress took it in on the sides, and took it in at the top of the back. I made her take it in tight. Strapless freaks me out. I don’t want to be pulling the dress up all night, so seriously sew it up! The thing I didn’t realize at the time, was that she didn’t take anything out from the middle of the back/bottom of the zipper area. So basically the dress is more or less a size smaller in all areas EXCEPT the back. It sticks out, kinda flares out to the back. It does that in the front too, cuz it’s supposed to I think? Either way, I look as wide back-to-front as I do side-to-side. I can’t handle this.

I tried it on just now to show J and get his opinion. So yesterday the top fit well. Today my fat ass skin hangs over the top of the dress. The way that skin inevitibly does over a strapless top unless you’re a pre-pubescent girl. I definitely gained a couple of pounds in the last 10 days, and now I’m apparently too fat for my dress. Oh and the parts that do fit? Yeah that makes me look and additional 20 pounds heavier. AWESOME.

I’m flipping out. There is NO way I can be seen in public as this currently stands. I’m driving up to the tailor at 7am and making her take more off the back. I’m limiting my food to I don’t even know what. Fruits, veggies, yogurt and water? Maybe nonfat salami or milk for protein. Count on me to be in the gym at least once daily between now and Saturday. 5 pounds need to GO. I’d settle for 3. Today has NOT been a happy day in the life of Caro.

Posted by Caro in Fears, Life, Things to do, Weddings
30Mar
1

Butter

Yeah, that’s exactly how my skin feels at the moment!! Talk about glory, especially when my skin had previously been having some alligator-like dryness issues.

A friend of mine is getting married in less than two weeks, and I have the honor of being a bridesmaid. The story of how I came to be the one responsible for throwing a bachelorette party is not relevant at this time (although it was stressful!), but I’m quite satisfied with the outcome.

My friend decided she wanted a spa day…. at Burke Williams (she had a gift card). Quite expensive to say the least, but in the end it was so worth it. While the other girls decided they all wanted massages, I decided to do something different. After all, J gave me a membership to a different spa for Chrismakkah, and I still have 2 massages left on that! I ended up going with the Parafango Treatment, mostly because the first sentence describes it as “The ultimate moisturizing experience.” Yes please!

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Posted by Caro in Discoveries, Health, Life, Shopping, Things to do, Weddings
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