Once again...

I am working on my flipping invitations. I seriously hate hate hate with the fire of one thousand suns hate invitations. The ones I liked that I could get already made were too expensive, and the ones I could afford were too plain or didn't come in my color or I just didn't like.

So I was being a brat and decided I would make my own. I don't have time to do laundry...you know, the clean clothes i need to wear every day to work so I am not the creepy smelly coworker...I don't have time for that. So I don't know when I thought I was going to have the time to make these invitations.

But I bought the pocketfolds, I designed the inserts, I figured everything out, I called in to work one day and went to have everything copied. I spent a whole weekend cutting them up into the appropriate sizes. I spent another weekend pasting the invitation part into the pocket fold.

And then it hit me....

RSVPs need to go in an envelope. Envelopes come in 3 5/8 x 5 1/8....my RSVPs were 3 3/4 x 5 1/2....half an inch too tall and quarter inch too wide. And all the other inserts were sized to fall in line with these.

Back to the drawing board.

So last night, I tried to salvage what I had, but since it just wasn't happening, I resized everything, finalized the directions inserts and headed back out to Office Max to have everything re-copied.

Regularly the copies are $.99/1 color copy on cardstock. However, the last time I did them, this VERY nice woman was there and only charged me $.59/piece. This time, the SAME woman was there! Thank you thank you thank you! She only charged me $.59/piece and I needed 242 copies and she only charged for 162. She just left 80 off. For no reason.

And so:

Dear very kind hearted woman at Office Max:

Thank you so so so much for helping me out with the copies. I really appreciate you giving me a discount on the copying, because I really couldn't afford to spend the almost $240 in re-printing everything. I really hope you have a wonderful holiday and get lots of happy things from Santa. You are officially my invitation angel. Thanks again!

-A very desperate bride-to-be


Last night, I began recutting everything. It's very tedious, but I hope to have it done by this weekend. I also apparently need to order 10 more pocketfolds, 10 more envelopes, and 10 more RSVP envelopes, and print 10 more invitations out. Because my mother keeps adding to the list.

I cannot wait for Feb 22, so I can begin my glorious week in Antigua. Le sigh.

On a side note, I am up to 7lbs lost. Hopefully my butt will fit in my dress and lay flat. Finger crossed that I make it by the wedding!

Enjoy it!!

Prayers for Max

**I don't know these people. This is just a blog I happened to see one time or another and I was just captivated by their story. Their faith through their pain is remarkable.**

I just want to remind everyone to pray for Baby Max and his family. Max was born Friday December 5 at 7:32am. He spent his precious time surrounded by his family, completely loved and cherished. He died around 10:20am.

Please pray for Max and his family during this time of loss. Although Max was diagnosed with T18 and deemed "incompatable with life" by doctors, his parents chose to continue with the pregnancy and were able to surround him with the love and comfort they thought he deserved.

Lazy weekends

I had a lovely, relaxing weekend with Kevin at the apartment. I picked up our Christmas tree (fake) from my grandma's house. She graciously gave us her old tree, because she has downsized to a table top tree. So, I loaded it in my mom's Saturn Vue and drove up to the apartment. Kevin helped me carry it in, and since I took it there mostly assembled and with the lights already on it, it was a pretty quick set up.

We ran out to Target to get some ornaments and a topper for our little tree. We ended up with red and silver ornaments. I've never been one for making a coordinating tree like that, but until I get all my ornaments from my house, this is it. ALSO we chose the shatterproof ones, because we correctly guessed that the kitties would like to play there. We also stopped at Wegmans and grabbed some groceries. I made a delicious chicken sandwich (a la The Pioneer Woman) and also some homemade tomato sauce.

By 7:30, I was done for the night. I went and snoozed in bed, and Kevin watched the hockey game with me. The kitties came in and snuggled up with us, and slept all over me. I stayed in bed until 9:30 the next morning. I love lazy weekends. They are SO wonderful. I got up and made some pancakes for breakfast and also assembled the lasagne that Kevin asked me to make.

Then we just relaxed all morning. The kittens have apparently adopted me as their new pillow because they pinned me down for hours, sleeping and playing on my lap.

All in all, it was just a nice weekend.

Oh, also I gave Kevin the tungsten band I got him. He didn't remember that it was one year since he proposed (although he did remember that is was Pearl Harbor Day....). But he really loved the ring, and was very surprised that I had gotten him 2 rings. I am sneaky ;) .

Here are a few pictures of our little babies from the weekend:

See, they are as big as the remote!

Kevin was very amused by how we were sleeping

Vivienne, hanging out in the tree

Snuggly in a blanket

See, they're buddies!

Aww

Yay for Vivienne and Oscar!

Here's to lazy weekends, snuggly kitties and yummy food!

Enjoy it!!

There are babies in the water...

I started a new job within my company back in May. Since I have started here, 7 people have had babies. 7 months, 7 babies. I'm totally, 100% serious.

On Wednesday, one of the new moms stopped by with her little guy, 10 week old Sean. He was such a snuggle bug. I was holding him and there was not one peep. And the "Grandma Brigade" (as the grandmas in our office named themselves) kept coming over and commenting on "what a natural" I was with a baby.

I mentioned this to Kevin and he said "I hope you aren't drinking the water at that place. Don't be getting any ideas."

Later that night, I had a dream we had a baby. And it always surprises me how real it seems, and how somehow I miss this someone in my dreams who was never real at all.

I know I shouldn't have held the baby. We don't have any babies that are close in my family (we're in NY and my goddaughter, Hayden, is in Florida) so I don't get to hold and snuggle and love on babies often anymore. I think if we did, then I wouldn't want one so badly when I actually do get to hold one.

I know I don't want a baby right now. If I could, I would just borrow someone else's and get my fill. I have always loved having little ones around, and now that everyone is getting so big, I really miss it. But it's tough getting back into that mindset after the little love session I had the other day.

I can't wait to get up to the apartment tomorrow and get to enjoy my kitties...they're my babies for now. Someday, a real baby, but not yet.

*SIDE NOTE* Please keep Baby Max and his family in your prayers. Max is a T18 baby and his family will be meeting him today.

Big news. Big. HUGE

So, the dress is in. The shop called last night (and stupid me, I ignored the phone call because I no longer answer numbers I don't recognize...I have been getting calls for a pizzeria for a while and its quite annoying). I owe the balance in the next 30 days and it would be awesome if I could call them to schedule my first fitting.

This is her...Maggie Sottero "Nadine"...isn't she beautiful? Of course I am not so willowy, but its still lovely

Which on one hand, YAY! THE DRESS IS IN! I am so happy about that. Honestly, I ordered right down to the wire to be able to get it in time. SO I was really worrying about it getting here.

But on the other hand, the dress is here :/ and that means fittings and I know my shelf ass is not going to fit. And I need to figure out what undergarments I am getting. I have some Real Women dollars to use at Lane Bryant, so I am thinking new bra and panties and a pair of Spanx, and I know I still have almost 3 months, but I am so worried about fitting into the dress and every other wedding thing, which is not good, because I am stress eater.

Time to try and kick it in gear. I need to drop about 20 lbs. I know I can do it, I just don't really feel like putting forth the effort. The wedding planning stuff has ended up to be a lot more work and stress than I anticipated and it really makes me feel apathetic towards the whole thing.

But now its crunch time, time to start caring!! Let's go me!

Enjoy it!!

My new babies!

Well, since my camera has refused to turn on for a while (and more because I was too busy watching and laughing and playing with the kittens to actually take pictures of them), Kevin has sent me a few fuzzy pics of them curled up on one of our many ugly furniture items.

See, Viv (the grey one) has a little peach to her...she even has a little peach spot on her forehead...like a bindi haha. They are too cute really. I have melted into a cat person basically overnight. They are all tiny and adorable and I cannot wait until I get to see them every day (well, Kevin too, but the kittens!!).

I spent a LOT of time with them, trying to get them to warm up this weekend. It was really important because one of my fears with getting them before Kevin and I are living together is that they will only like him. Although, this could work to my advantage, because he will also be the one taking them to the vet's and they will definitely hate him for that move.

Hopefully I will be able to put some better pictures up soon, but being kittens means they are WAY too busy to pose for me.

Enjoy it!!

Oldies, but goodies

So, since I was pushing my classic Christmas movie on you yesterday, I think today I am going to do my top fave classic movies. You know, from back when movies were movies, with plots and stories and great characters and costumes and glamour (this was a conversation that was actually held at my grandmother's house yesterday).

It has been fairly easy for my to gain exposure to these movies...my grandfather's favorite piece of technology was a VCR. He taped and taped and taped the movies off TCM and made himself a virtual library. He even typed labels for each tape, numbered them and made 2 binders, movies in alphabetical order, so you can find the tape at a whim.

And so....the list:

*NOTE*

You must understand the appeal of a musical before you can appreciate this list. My best example and illustration of this is Yentl. Kind of a lame movie, if you ask me. It's not Bab's best. She plays a young Jewish girl who wants to study Torah, so when her father dies, she runs away, disguised as a boy and joins a school. She finds a study partner who she falls in love with, but who is engaged to another woman. When the woman's family forbids the study partner to marry him (his brother committed suicide, and that is no bueno for marriage), the study partner convinces Yentl to marry the woman. She manages to get around the whole "consummating the marriage" and she and the study partner go on a trip to another city. Here she reveals her secret - she is a WOMAN and she LOVES him. He runs around the room, shouting about how she is an abomination, a sin against God, against people and esp against his wife! WHY did he do this? WHY?! And Yentl's reply is, "Because I wanted to be near you. Because I love you." and they fall into each other's arms.

Um seriously, where else besides a musical could a confession of love change something around so quickly? Where else will you find someone break into song and have the crowd join in in harmony? Or know all the steps? I wish my life was a musical.... *sigh*

"Meet Me in St. Louis" - My absolute favorite. I watch this movie almost every night as I am falling asleep. I am confident I could watch this movie every day until I die and still love love love it. If you stick with the musicals, you can gloss over the addict years of Judy and you will always have a lovely picture of her. The Andy Hardy movies, Wizard of Oz, In the Good Old Summertime (a "You've Got Mail"-esque movie, also based on "The Shop Around the Corner")... she performs. But this is the best. She met her husband and was her happiest making this movie, and it shows - her performance in glowing.

"Gone with the Wind" - Vivian Leigh is to die for. Seriously, you will think Margaret Mitchell wrote the book just to honor her. Its a long one, over 3.5 hours, but totally worth it. Even if you only watch it once, even if you have to watch it in two sittings, DO IT. Better yet, read the book. It is a complete masterpiece. The woman spent 10 YEARS of her life writing this, her sole work.

"Singin' in the Rain" - Gene Kelly. Rain. Dancing. 'Nuff said. But seriously, this movie it a riot! And a musical. Which only adds to the enjoyment. The sidekick friend provides some great comic relief and it's just a very light-hearted movie. (For more Gene Kelly, try "Summer Stock", which also has the always wonderful Judy Garland)

"My Fair Lady" - While watching this movie, you also get to speak in a Cockney accent. We had to watch this in an World History class - clearly my teacher was trying to waste time, but she ended up hooking 120 girls on Audrey Hepburn and a large portion of us would SHOUT the songs from ski lifts that winter. You will never enjoy skiing as much again, knowing that you *could* be being serenaded with "I Could Have Danced All Night" by 16 yr old girls. (I also love Ms. Hepburn in "Sabrina" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's")

"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" - Ah yes, those seven "slummocky" backwoodsmen trying to court seven of the girls in town... Honestly, who isn't going to choose the big, rugged man?

"Hit the Deck" - Featuring Jane Powell (see movie above). A movie about sailors, singing, dancing and as always with musicals, falling in love fast!

"Good News" - Set in the 1920s, when men were "sheiks" and wore their pants up to their pecs. I love June Allyson. The men in old movies are great, but the women steal the show. This is no exception. You will love June too. I promise. June Allyson and Peter Lawford are also paired up in "Little Women" playing Jo and Laurie, in case you love their chemistry.

"Random Harvest" - One of the non-musicals on my list, this is an old black and white. I know some people don't enjoy those, but this one is worth it. It starts out with a man, injured in World War I escaping the hospital. He suffers from amnesia and people come looking for him, but a young woman takes him in and helps him out. They fall in love and... well, they come across some problems, but I don't want to give it away.

"Imitation of Life" - There are two versions of this one, but I like the Lana Turner/Sandra Dee version personally. It begins with two single mothers, one white and one black, both struggling to make ends meet. When Laura (Lana Turner) realizes the other family is homeless, she offers their small flat up for the night. Annie ends up staying on as the housekeeper while Laura pursues her career as an actor. You will cry your eyes out by the end of this. For a while, the Annie-Sarah Jane (her daughter) story line takes a back seat to Laura's glamorous lifestyle and assorted lovers, but the end is heartbreaking. We just watching this at my grandmother's recently, and we had three generations bawling at the kitchen table.

So, now that you know exactly how lame I am....go rent a movie!

Enjoy it!!