Things I Love, Part I.

So, Bree had this nifty little thing going on in her blog called “Things I Love Thursday”. Well, it’s not Thursday, but I don’t want to wait, so here are my 5 things I love, part I.

1. Justin! There is no one in this entire world who knows me better, who has seen me at my best and worst, and who could support me in every way the way Justin can. I still look at him and can’t believe how far we’ve come in the last three years, and I really don’t see how I got so lucky. I must have been a saint in a past life. He is my miracle and I cannot wait to call him my husband…in exactly two months from tomorrow!

2. Wedding planning! I’ll admit, it can be a major pain the the ass. The guest list more than doubled from what we had originally planned, the industry loves to nickel and dime you, and it feels like no matter how much you can manage to accomplish in a day there’s a bazillion other things than need to get done just as urgently. But after all that you have the excitement of planning the biggest party of your lives for your closest friends and family, you get to do some “research” at the local winery to decide what kinds you want to serve said friends and family, you get to make a kickass wish list in the form of a registry, you get a pretty dress, a great vacation, and after all is said and done, you get to marry your best friend in the whole world. I’ll take the stress in exchange for all that…and the sparkly rings

3. SUSHI! Omg, I love sushi. I suppose technically what I make for myself are called “California Rolls” but that works too, since I’m a California girl, Born there. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I could live off of sushi, and I’m seriously considering going on an all sushi and fruit diet until the wedding, it’s so good for you! All the delicious veggies wrapped in rice with toasted seaweed…oh man. I think I’ve made them about 5 times since I posted my how-to, and I’m still not sick of the stuff. I need to hit my grocery store tonight and buy more seaweed and avocado though. But yeah, love my sushi.

4. The mountains, especially the mountains in summertime. This picture was taken in early spring, which is amazing as well. The mountains, aside from being amazingly gorgeous, just hold a lot of crazy/wonderful/surreal memories. From first meeting my soon-to-be brother and sister in law, to trips where I couldn’t call Justin mine yet, riding through the woods and trails on our quads, all leading up to him proposing in a downpour on the most romantic and wonderful day of my life (for another two months or so!)

5. Our wedding venue! I can’t even begin to describe how in love I am with this place! When we decided to move our wedding date up we were so nervous that we would have to sacrifice some things that we really wanted as part of our wedding, such as it being outdoors, able to have the ceremony and reception in the same place, not outrageously expensive, allow us to bring our own alcohol in, etc. This place completely fell into our laps after some extensive googling. Not only that, but for some reason that can only be explained by fate, we got the very last day that they had available! Seriously, I cannot wait for that day to come!

Well, there you have it, five things that I love! I’ll add to the list some other day, haha. Now it’s time to compile my grocery, wahoo

 

66 Days.

We officially booked the honeymoon to Riviera Maya yesterday! We’re going from August 30th, (Sunday after the wedding) to September 4th. Justin officially submitted for his passport and I dug my poor neglected one out of storage the other day. Thank goodness mine’s good until 2015! I’ve been obsessively looking at pictures and reviews for where we’re staying and I’m pretty sure we’re going to have an amazing time. Bree thinks they’re going to think twice about the all-inclusive alcohol part once Justin and I get there (haha) but that’s one of the reasons we chose inclusive. We like to eat and we love to drink

The nice thing about the resort we picked is that there is so much to do! We can do the R&R thing by the beach one day, and then do this the next! Quads through the jungle, oh be still my heart! In that same package there’s also snorkeling, which is another thing I’ve always wanted to do. Is it weird that I have no qualms about swimming in over my head in the ocean but being in a lake freaks me out? I guess I’m more afraid of snakes in a lake than sharks in the ocean!

We started receiving our RSVP cards back yesterday, I have never been so excited to receive mail before! Honestly, it’s so cool to see all our friends and family take the time to respond I can’t believe that day is inching closer and closer.

 

Sushi!

I have a deep love for sushi. I am also pretty much the only person I know who does. That being the case, I really don’t get the opportunity to go out for sushi like I would like, so I am left to my own devices to satisfy my craving for it. Any real sushi chef would probably faint at my “technique”, but it’s quick, easy, and basically that’s how I like things to be
Here’s the break down. After reading the intense steps I found on the inets on how to make sushi rice I basically threw it all out the window. I used minute rice here that you can basically microwave and be done with. The only change I made was instead of the cup of water to a cup or rice mixture I used about 3/4 cups water and 1/4 cups rice vinegar. This makes the rice stickier so it doesn’t all fall apart on you. I microwaved the rice as per the directions on the box, and then adjusted it as I saw fit with more rice/rice vinegar. The seaweed I used I bought at walmart in the Asian section. basically you need just the half sheets of toasted seaweed. The package I bought was for a “sushi party”, haha. After the rice is cooked I spread it on the seaweed while it’s still warm/hot. I think it’s easier to roll this way. The filling I used for this batch was carrot, artificial crab meat (more on that later), avocado, and cucumber. I just sliced everything very very thin. It was also my first expierience with avocado! I used artificial crab meat because, even though I love the raw fish, I’m afraid I’d do something wrong and give myself food poisoning, haha.
Anyway. It’s all really easy from here on out. I just load the veggies and crab meat on the front half of the seaweed and roll it up. the heat from the rice keeps the seaweed sticky, so I let the roll cool a little, which hardens the seaweed a bit before I cut it.
As you can see, I kind of went to town making them. Not to mention the plate you see here is missing ohh….ten or so that I ate during the process. Seriously, I love sushi. I’m pretty sure this is going to be a dietary staple for me, which is nice because sushi is actually good for you and basically fate free! I think the cool thing with sushi is you can experiment to your heart’s content. Next time I will probably make these with tuna, again probably canned until I can get a little more in depth with the raw department.
Anyway, the moral of the story is: I love sushi. TGIF everyone!

 

71 Days.

Wow, I cannot believe it has been nine months since Justin and I decided to move up our wedding date. Since then so much has happened, I am surprised we’ve been able to keep up.

Yesterday we mailed out our invitations. I think besides maybe…4 or 5 we’ve sent them all out. Done. No more. Never have to look at the invitations again! It’s a big relief, but then it comes with its own set of worries. I keep having dreams that everyone gets lost, due to the place we’re having the ceremony and reception at. The place itself doesn’t really have its own address, so we put a general area address on the invitations. Now my project for the night is to make the step-by-step directions to get there, ick.

All the big things have long since been taken care of. Wedding cake, venue, photographer, etc. Now it’s the million little things than seem to want to attack me like angry little fire ants. We have two groomsmen who still need fitted, I need to get the programs done, we need to meet with the pastor again, gotta get Justin a passport, book our flight/hotel stay for the honeymoon…annoying little things. Not to mention the venue lady likes to randomly ignore my emails. I told Justin last night that we’re going to need to keep a steady supply of booze in the fridge for the next couple months if I’m even going to try to get any sleep. And horse tranquilizers, I think those might come in handy too!

This Saturday I’m going shopping with my mom, our flower girl, and her mom for our flower girl dress. One more thing to cross off! I still need to email all my bridesmaids the link for their shoes and finalize the ceremony readings before the nest pastor visit. The bouquets are almost done, and I love them! I think I’m going to try and pound out a lot more this weekend.

On a much more fun note, we decided on Mexico for the honeymoon! We’re going to an all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya. I’m not sure if I’m more excited for the wedding or the honeymoon! After all the wedding craziness it’s going to be so wonderful to escape to a gorgeous place to relax and drink all the booze we can, haha. I really want to go para sailing, out of anything to do there, para sailing is my number one thing. Another is snorkeling, I’d love to see some fishies up close and personal!

I’m excited to go somewhere exotic for our honeymoon. I never got to go anywhere wild and crazy for spring break during college, so this is like the treat I’ve been waiting for. It doesn’t hurt I’ll be able to share it with my best friend and husband!

 

To do list woes

So. Wedding is in two months and two weeks. I just sat down to figure out what all needs done and for being so on top of things I feel so behind! I know I’m really not, I know things really are falling into place better than I could have ever dreamed, but it still feels like so much needs to get done! I’m going to try to accomplish a few things tonight, a lot more tomorrow when I get a day off, and then hopefully I can take a deep breath and relaaaaax.

 

I Cry at Weddings, Part II

Another week, another wedding! And would you look at that? It’s freaking June already!

Brian and Brittany got married this past Saturday. If I didn’t get the full-blown wedding bug from Bree’s wedding, I sure do have it now! It was a very sentimental ceremony and went off without anyone passing out, which the pastor seemed to be concerned about for some reason. I nearly cried at this one, the tears were not quite free flowing as they were at Bree’s, but I think it’s because all the mimosas had me feeling pretty good throughout the morning. I need to remember that for our wedding. Alcohol = no sobbing mess of a bride. Got it. Anywho.

That’s Brittany and myself, right before the ceremony. I was kind of surprised how cool and collected she was. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, since Bree was pretty much the same way. I guess I’m used to seeing the Bridezilla show and watching perfectly nice girls go major freak out right before the big moment.

Everything was really laid back the whole day, even the picture taking. Here’s a classic shot of the bride looking on at her husband’s favorite past time, flanked by a couple groomsmen. Justin is in the back looking on, along with Greeny. The look on Brittany’s face is pretty priceless, if you ask me. She knows what she’s getting in to, in any case

 

I Cry at Weddings.

No seriously. I have discovered I am a wedding crier.
Bree got married on Saturday! The weather couldn’t have been more cooperative either, it was a gorgeous warm day and the sun shined the whole time. I know they say rain on your wedding day is good luck, but eff that, I like sunshine.
Anyway, Bree looked gorgeous, her dress (which was the last one in that style in the entire country because they discontinued it right before she bought it) was stunning. Oh, and all her bridesmaids were pretty good looking too
I have discovered that I do, in fact, cry at weddings. Or maybe just the weddings of my best friends when I’m thinking about myself being in their shoes in three months, whatever. I was a bit choked up while the preacher talked about love. I think it’s even more intense for Bree, because her husband (wow! husband!) was her high school sweetheart too. You don’t see too many love stories like that anymore. How freaking lucky is she to get it right on the first try? Seriously! That is the epitome of a classic love story, and I am so happy for her!
I wasn’t quite so lucky to get it right on the first try…or the second…or third…or 10th…but eventually I got it right after kissing a couple frogs and stepping on a couple toes. In 94 days I’m going to marry the man that still takes my breath away and keeps me smiling for no reason. The wedding and reception certainly renewed our romantic sides, we were pretty much inseparable the whole night and danced all night to cheesy romantic songs that make everyone else roll their eyes unless they’re feeling the same thing too.
Two years later and I still have to question if this is some amazing dream or what the hell a guy like Justin sees in me, but then he throws the same question back at me and all I can do is smile and thank my lucky stars that everything that happened happened to bring us together.
One of the funniest moments of the night was the bouquet and garter toss. They had all the single girls out to the floor. I stayed put because, well, I’m not single. Apparently Bree had other plans. She dragged me out to the floor and I stood with the other girls. She turned around like she was going to toss it over her shoulder and I prepared to step out of the way…then she turned back around and lobbed it to me softball-style. Obviously I caught it. After that Justin was pretty much forced into going out to the floor too and Vince did the same to him. Obviously this little wedding reception tradition wasn’t rigged at all. Yeah. Right. It was funny though, as you can see from the look on my face I really couldn’t help myself. I mean, the whole tradition is based around predicting who’s getting married next. No prediction needed in this case, unless someone else in the room was planning on eloping soon we will be the next couple down the isle. Yay

This Saturday is Brian and Brittany’s wedding, then we’re in the clear until ours. We ordered our favors yesterday, personalized shot glasses from DiscountMugs.com. We collect them wherever we go, so it seemed appropriate. I’m really excited about them, and I hope they turn out okay! I also ordered personalized cocktail napkins for the desert table and cake, as well as personalized matches from TheKnot.com. The napkins say “Eat, Drink, and be Married” on them with our names and date. The match books are what I’m really excited about. They have a picture of a flame on them with our names and date, along with the phrase “come on baby light my fire“. Justin is a huge, huge, huge Doors fan, so this was so perfect I almost squeaked out loud when I stumbled onto them! I bought some old fasihoned hard candy in watermellon flavor from ACandyStore.com. We’re going to fill the shot glasses with the candy and tie them up with cellophane. I thought the candy would be nice with the old fashioned type venue, and nothing says summer more than anything watermelon flavored
Tomorrow is our Friday, Justin will get the rest of the week off, but I work on Thursday before being off for Brian and Brittany’s wedding. I’m completely re-obsessed with wedding stuff and will be taking a crazy amount of pictures when the stuff we ordered arrives!

 

Here’s to the happy man: All the world loves a lover.

Happy Thursday! It’s actually Friday for me, since tomorrow we begin getting ready to get Bree hitched, haha. Yesterday I had a nice random day off, so Justin and I set up an appointment to meet with the venue lady for where we’re having the ceremony and reception.

Since we decided on our venue, they went to town adding some additions to the place and remodeling. The first picture is the huge addition of an enclosed balcony they added, which is completely gorgeous.
I can’t believe how amazing all the remodeling turned out! Justin and I went past the place a couple times during the winter to just check things out, and really there are no words for how happy we are with the remodeling. We were happy with it in the first place, they just blew us away with everything now!

The second picture is a particular favorite addition of mine, the outside bar Justin is particularly fond of of the Kegorator that holds 6 half-barrels. Haha. I’m just loving the fact that we’re telling people we’re getting married in a barn, but when they show up they’re going to wonder where the “barn” is! It doesn’t look anything like a barn anymore, or maybe it just looks like a glorified barn. It’s gorgeous.

This is the gazebo we’re getting married in. We’ve kind of gone back and forth about doing the actual ceremony in here, since it only seats 30 and we’ll have about 120ish, but the outside of the gazebo would be set up with chairs and plenty of space for people. That and the ceremony will only be about 20 minutes, 30 at the absolute most. The other option would be outside in the field by a big oak tree, which is also beautiful. If we decide to go that route we’ll do a wedding arch, but the gazebo is so gorgeous already, I just of want to attack it with a little tulle and some flowers and just go with it. If you want to see the whole set, check out my Flickr.
Tomorrow and Saturday are going to be crazy busy. Up tomorrow hopefully by 9, do half my grocery shopping, then getting my nails done. After that I will finish the second half of my shopping and then go tanning. Hopefully I have enough time to stop at our local winery real quick, then it’s time to get ready for Bree’s rehearsal dinner. Saturday is showtime! Lots of pictures and lots of fun! I can’t wait, and I’ll be sure to blow up my flickr account on Monday!

 

My Latest Craft!

My latest creation! Don’t mind the green foam peeking through, I basically just wanted a rough idea of what it would look like, and if it would be worth the trouble. I think it will be worth it! I’m thinking of using them to decorate the chairs for the ceremony, I’m going to need to make like…50. yikes! haha. I guess it will depend on the final guest count and exactly how many chairs will get one. I’m definetly not thinking every single chair, but maybe every other or every three…we will see!

I have a lot of little projects I’m excited to start working on, escort cards, finish the invitations, do these pomanders, programs, finish the flowers! So much more! I figure this will be the only time I can really go all out on my love of crafts, and I plan on taking full advantage of that!

We’re about to go meet with the venue lady where we’re having our ceremony and reception, I’ll be sharing those pictures tomorrow probably. I cannot wait to see everything all done up for a wedding!! I work again tomorrow, then I’m off for Bree’s rehearsal and wedding Friday and Saturday, I really can’t believe it’s here… but I’m sure she’s totally ready

 

Time You Enjoy Wasting is Not Wasted

So today is basically my Wednesday. I traded my weekends off to have Wednesday and Thursday off with Justin. Lets just say it’s very, very disorienting. I literally spent most of Wednesday morning thinking it was Saturday, only to be corrected because the shows I usually watch Saturday morning were no where to be seen. THEN I did the SAME thing on Thursday. I was entirely convinced it was Sunday.

The nice thing about having our “weekend” in the middle of the week is that when we went out to dinner on Wednesday at the brewery we got right in. Saturdays when we usually go it is packed to capacity and we usually have to wait about 20 minutes or so. Win!

In other exciting news, someone made the first purchase off one of our registries yesterday! I was ridiculously excited, because it just means all this is really happening. We’re getting married! I can’t wait to find out who made the purchase just so i can kiss them and tell them thanks for making my day, because it really did! I am now one step closer to my Italian/wine themed kitchen =)

The registry is really a lot of fun. I mean, when else can you make a huge wish list and have a chance of getting some things? The nice thing for us is that we have everything we need to live comfortably, we’ve had a home set up going on two years now, so we basically just get to either upgrade our cheaper/abused/second hand stuff to new stuff that reflects our tastes and register for “fun” stuff, like a panini maker, basically stuff we want but probably wouldn’t buy. Justin complained about me dragging him to do the registries, but he was like a little kid in a toy store zapping everything in sight with the little scan gun. It was fun though, and through it we kind of get a better idea about each others tastes in different things. Happily we do share the same taste in many things, so that made the whole process very easy.

Bree’s getting married on Saturday. I am going to lose it so hardcore when I see that happen, just because 1) they’re great together, and 2) she’s one of my oldest friends, and seeing her getting married is going to sucker punch the realization to me that I am too. I mean, it’s one thing to hear about someone you know getting engaged, married, whatever, but to have a childhood friend get married…I think it’s like a whole other level of realization.

Justin said to me the other day that I am getting married young, which struck me as funny. Granted, he’s 26, I’m 22, so there is a little gap, but it’s not something I really think about. Justin and I are on the same level with what we want in life right now, so age really isn’t an issue. It’s just weird to think of myself as getting married young. I don’t think I’ve been “young” in a long time. I’m an old soul, and I’m glad I found another one.