Shower Weekend!

This Saturday was the first of my two bridal showers, hosted by my future mother-in-law, Judy. It was a small gathering, about 15 people, at a nice restaurant out in the country (where Kevin in from). Three out of my six bridesmaids were able to make it, and I was very glad for their company. My mom came along as well.

This is me at the shower. Judy made that cake - there is a cluster of flowers on the top, and she got edible glitter stuff so the top looked like snow, for our winter wedding.

These are my bridesmaids, sitting at one of the tables at the restaurant. Hi girls!

Me, opening gifts. This was sort of awkward in general. I don't really enjoy being the center of attention, so everyone watching me while I opened their presents was sort of weird. This one is a Martha Stewart skillet - yay Martha! The standing bridesmaid is my bff Kara, who I have been friends with since we were 5. The seated one is Colleen, who I met at 10 when we moved to our new house.

Here we are, some more gifts. This one was from Kevin's cousin Jen, she gave us a game - Cranium - and a sign that says "Home is where our story begins". I can't wait to have some family games nights in the new apartment!

I have a ton of pictures, but quite honestly they are all of my opening gifts, which is boring, and also, when I am seating I feel like I look like a blueberry in that dress. Oh well.

My mother went out and got the invitations for the shower she is having - there will be about 55 women there. A lot more things to open, oh good heavens. But at least this will be my family (whose names I know because they don't all start with J) and friends. The invitations are super adorable.

These are the invites - you print them out on your own and then there is a little bow and piece of tulle that you stick on it. It is kind of hard to see in the pictures, but they are so sweet.

Also, Saturday night, a huge group of my friends went out and sang karaoke, which was a riot! We were all drunk and ridiculous but it was such a good time. I will definitely be going back there. They had our wedding song there too, which is not a song that is popular or on the radio...perhaps if Kevin was there, he would have been serenaded. Hahaha!

All in all, it was a lovely day and I had a great time. Now, on to the thank you cards...

Enjoy it!

Live every second

The sad fact of life is that sometimes it takes something horrible to make you appreciate just how good you have it.

Sunday morning, there was a 3 alarm fire in a small town about an hour away from where I live. Five people were in the house - mom, dad and 3 young children. The two youngest were trapped in the house and never made it out. The others are in critical condition in an area hospital. They aren't sure that the mother or child will make it. This is my friend Linda's family - her son, daughter-in-law and 3 grandchilren.

I can't even imagine the pain she and her family must be feeling. It makes me sick to my stomach to just think about it. Those poor children must have been so scared. I wish there was something to do, but how can you even comfort someone? What is there to say? I don't know.

Please keep Linda and her family in your prayers - they certainly could use your thoughts at this horrible time.

Sweet Sweet Victory

Apparently the "saving up my Wegmans checks" was all Kevin needed to know I was serious about the king bed situation. And that means...

Victory is MINE!

And it is sooo lovely to think about my glorious new mattress. I mean, it will probably be about another month+ before I can afford it with just Wegmans checks, but there seriously is no rush for the new bed so that is ok.

More backstory on the bed situation:
Up until Sept 1 when we (and by we, I mean Kevin) moved into the new apartment, if we were sharing a bed, it was a twin. And that is no small feat. Kevin is 6', 300+lbs, former offensive line football player. He is a BIG man. And I am not petite by any stretch of the imagination. Short and squat - yes, petite - no.
Now, we don't mind sleeping snuggled up. In fact, we love it. But quite frankly, that might not always be the case. Sometimes it is too hot, sometimes someone is sick, sometimes you are just not in the mood. And therefore - big bed.

So all that is left now is to actually go out shopping for mattresses. Upon the advice of my very wise Aunt Colleen, I have been instructed to wear comfy clothes, shoes that slide off easily, and a stack of post it notes. Her fool-proof system is to simply go around the store, lay down and try them all out. If you like it, stick a post it note. If not, skip it. Then you can go back and eliminate from the good ones. So we have a plan!



Also, last night I went out to dinner with my dear cousin Tyler and had some yummy yummy salmon and a tasty glass of wine. And taught her to knit. She did very well, and I was proud of her. Hopefully she will be able to continue it - she works as a caretaker for a small group home with 3 physically disabled people and would like to make them blankets for Christmas. Personally, it took me from August to December to finish one blanket for my future mother-in-law, but perhaps she will be able to stick with it better than I could. Good luck dear!


Tomorrow is my first bridal shower, given by my FMIL, and I am very excited about it. But also very nervous. Firstly, Kevin's family doesn't have get-togethers very often so I have only met these women approx twice. Secondly, I am awful with names, esp when 3/4 of them start with J. Thirdly, I don't really like all the attention to be on me, so I am glad to have my mother and friends there to help me out. It should be a lot of fun!

Enjoy it!!

Someone else's bed

This week, I have taken to sleeping in my sister's bed. She is spending this semester studying abroad in England (let's not even get into how jealous I am) and therefore, doens't need it. It's not really that it is more comfy - we both have new-ish pillowtops. Truthfully, its because her room is cleaner (as no one has been living there for the past few weeks). And also, I had to surrender my nice big tv to FI for the apartment, and I really miss watching my crappy movies when I go to bed (my personal favorite is Meet Me in St. Louis, with Judy Garland). Emily's computer has a DVD player, so I just pop something in there and fall right asleep. Lovely.

Speaking of beds, I am trying to convince Kevin that we should get a king size bed. Currently, every piece of furniture we have is a hand-me-down, including our mattress. It's not comfy and it hurts my back, so we have been thinking about updating that anyhow. We do not have a bed frame yet (we are so WT) and so I say - Go big or go home! Normally an attitude that Kevin appreciates. But he is a bit worried about the $$ factor. A queen to a king mattress is quite a jump, and clearly (as we have all hand-me-down furniture and a craptastic apt) we are not rolling in it. My thinking here is, if we have to get a new mattress and think we may want a king down the line, we should just get it now. Once we already have a frame and appropriate bedding and all those things, it will be more expensive to switch, should we decide to. So before we have any bed things whatsoever (save the pair of sheets his mom sent him with, and a fuzzy blanket), things we would have to replace, I say - lets get it! So today I decided I am saving my Wegman's checks to go towards that. I pulled up my WebBanking and retroactively saved the last 3 weeks into a different account, plus the one I just got today. As of next week, we will be half way there! Fingers crossed!!

Enjoy it!

One Glorious Hour...

Last night, in between jobs, I squeezed in a little me-time for some pampering. A spa in the area had $10 off pedicures and I made myself an appt. It was SO worth it. I seriously need to do that more often. I haven't had a pedicure since I was going to prom, so it was a long time coming.

When I got there, I sat in the lovely massage chair, and soaked my feet in warm water, with the jets (seriously, I have a goofy grin on my face just thinking about how nice it was). The girl exfoliated, wrapped my feet and legs in warm towels, fixed my toes up nice, one leg at a time. Then there was yummy strawberry lotion, and a little foot massage. And then she painted my toes a lovely champagne color and set me off to dry. It was ah-mazing. Thank you Marissa, you are the best!!

After that I just got to hang out at home for a while, made a yummy quesadilla for dinner, and watched some TLC until I had to go back to work. It was a nice evening.


One a craptastic note, one of my bridesmaids just informed me that she will not be attending my shower in October. She lives out of town, so I knew this would be a possibility - a 5 hour drive is a lot. However, that is not why I am upset. I am upset because of her reason for missing. She is going to Texas to visit another friend instead. Plans she made after knowing when my shower was. So I'm being blown off. Which kind of sucks. I'm trying to be understanding, because she doesn't see this friend often, but when your own bridesmaids are blowing you off (and when your biggest fear about the wedding is that no one will show up), it kind of hurts. Oh well. I am not going to pitch a fit about it or anything, just needed to get it off my chest.

I <3 weekends

I was busy ranting yesterday so I forgot to do my little weekend recap. I did some wedding-related things, so that was good.

Friday - work work work

Saturday - appt with Wegmans florist, which went GREAT. They were so nice, and I really liked the things we saw. We are going to one more place but I'm pretty sure we will stick with Wegmans. The only drawback is that they are so far away. Delivery cost isnt completely unreasonable, but it would be a definite possibility to pick them up if it was closer. We'll see how things go. Then I went out shopping and hung out at home, baked cookies, and had Tracy over to watch a movie - "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" - which we both loved, and which makes up for the craptastic movies we have been picking of late (ie - In Bruges, La Vie en Rose)

Sunday - my mom and I went to a Bridal Show in the area and booked a limo (yay!) I absolutely HATE bridal shows. People go and get all excited about it and I just think they are hot, crowded, loud and I don't like being bombarded by people asking do I have this, that and the next thing. It just stresses me out. So I was glad we were able to get a deal on something, but of course my mom just wanted to hang out and check everything out. OH the other good thing was we stopped at the booth for my photographer, and discussed sites to take pictures. He had some good things to say, so I was glad we were able to stop there (and I was glad we decided to use them - they are a bit pricey, in comparison to pretty much everything else in the wedding, but the pictures are the thing that is most important to me).

Enjoy it!

Confessions of a Grocery Store Check-out Girl

While I have a big kid job, I find myself needing some extra cash these days (weddings and car payments and loan payments and life in general will do this to you). And so for the past 6 months or so, I have been working at a local grocery store. And I have discovered new things (read - pet peeves) about myself since working there...

1.) Do not come through with your basket brimming, set the basket on the belt and then wait for me to unload it. That is not my job. It is yours. I merely check you out. You make my job more difficult and time consuming, and on top of that, Wegmans is the biggest big brother of them all and they TIME YOU for everything. You make me look bad at my job and then I have to have mini sessions with a supervisor about the appropriate way to cash things out.

2.) Never ever EVER ask for double paper. You are just being a jerk and the people who cash you out talk about you after you leave.

3.) Get an appropriate cart for the size of your order. Even if you only planned on buying some bread, you know that isn't all you are getting. Don't come up with your cart piled up like you are a character in a Dr. Suess book and then expect it all to fit back in there once it is bagged. It won't.

4.) Know what you are buying. There are approx. 12 different kinds of tomatoes, or apples or lettuce or whatever it is you need. I have to look them up by a code (since you were too lazy to make the label yourself). When I ask, "Are these the homegrown tomatoes?" the appropriate response is NOT "I dunno, they're $1.49/lb." That does not help me.

5.) Have your ID. If you want beer here, I need ID. I don't care if you look like you died 7 years ago and someone forgot to tell you, we have a 100% proof policy and that means you too. And yes, I am serious about that.

6.) Don't treat your cashier like they are a moron. I don't work at a grocery store because its the best job I can get. I have a college degree and a big kid job. I do this for the extra money, not your attitude. It's groceries, not rocket science.