127. The Day Before....

friday the 8th of may 2009......


the day before the wedding. rehearsal day. an exciting day. a lot more friends and family were arriving. there was a lot to get done. and what would the day before the wedding be without the bride having a minor panic attack?


first thing that morning i had a doctor's appointment. i specifically made it in duluth becuase none of the doctor's back in the cities seemed to be listening to me in regards to my headaches. the last one i had talked to gave me a pain med that was the equivalent of two ibprofin when i told her that i had been taking up to four of these at a time with no results. it was like talking to a brick wall. i just wanted a pain med that worked. one that i didn't have to take before i had the pain (i'm not psychic) and on that didn't require me to lay down for hours and hours. i just wanted a pain med that took away my pain. i was terrified that i was going to get a headache on my wedding or on the honeymoon. luckily my old doctor listened to me. he gave me two different kinds of meds along with his phone number in case i needed him at all over the weekend. i was so thankful!


chris picked me up afterwards so we could run some errands. it was then that i had my minor panic attack. just started crying for no reason. poor chris was at a loss as to what to do and i was of no help as i didn't even know why i was crying. the more i tried to explain the more confusing it got. a mess in short. by the time we got to the mall i was in no shape to actually go in and make my purchase. luckily i have the best (then fiance now husband) in the world. he marched right into Victoria Secrets and asked them for exactly what i'd requested - granny panties that wouldn't ride up my butt'. evidently the sales staff thought he was pretty cute :) seriously though - do i have a great guy or what?


after that we made our way home. my sister, her husband and little boys had arrived by this time so we watched them try on a few different suits for the wedding - so cute! i swear she has the cutest little boys i've ever seen! chris went and got lunch. i showered. his mom arrived. we ate. then we headed down to meet my mom and grandma at greysolon to start setting up for the wedding!

(did i mention that i have the greatest guy in the world? while i was running about all frazzled he remembered to take pictures of everything! i'm so thankful he did - i would have been super bummed at having forgot.)

when we arrived the tables were already set thanks to the great staff that works there. the room looked fantastic! i was so pleased! and really happy that i'd picked gold to go along with the brown and ivory for the color scheme and not pink as it just fit the room perfectly! it was gorgeous! i just walked around admiring everything - in awe that chris and i would be getting married there at that time the very next day!

the room itself has this beautiful wooden bar - i love it! my mom and chris's mom were there getting the centerpieces ready. since my mom never drinks it was funny to see her at the bar working it like she knew her way around. the centerpieces were borrowed from my matron of honor - carrie - who'd used them at her own wedding. fitting that'd we'd be using them since that's where chris and i met :) my mom picked out the bead work and candles that went into the vases - it was perfect! she did a fantastic job!

she also made the wise decision to get little boxes for the candy table - something i hadn't even thought of. grandma was busy getting those all set up for us. our mom's were also responsible for putting together a quiz (3 different versions) about chirs and i. mom printed them out on ivory parchment paper and tied them with brown ribbons - one for every guest. along with an answer sheet for each table. it was super cute!

did i mention how beautiful the location was? i don't think i mentioned that the site itself used to be the grand hotel in duluth. it's now mainly apartments for seniors but there is still a ballroom and the moorish room which is where we were to be. the actual wedding took place in the lobby area shown above. it was perfect. as you walked in the guests were seated around the fountain and the actual ceremony took place on the steps leading up to the moorish room. i know i'm probably biased but it was just perfect :)

the actual rehearsal was set to begin at 4pm. i think it really started sometime after that as the person in charge of showing us where we were supposed to actually walk down (there was no clear traditional aisle) was running a bit late. we were also having problems with the dj but that's a different story and one that i don't really want to dwell on since it takes away from all the good that happened :) (what's this - michelle is actually making an attempt at being positive and not jumping on the chance to complain....hmmm....). anyhow. rabbi amy (shown above with my mom) showed up right on que and was fantastic. she was able to take charge and get everyone in their proper places. she also helped us to figure out where the aisle would be and from there the rehearsal began!

we got everyone lined up on the upper level and tried to get it timed right to come down the stairs and into position. this was no easy task with two four year old ring bearers, a five year old flower girl and a two year old flower boy. in reality it wasn't that hard - just amusing. the flower boy threw his basket over the balcony :) the dj did not have the song we wanted to walk down the aisle to (argh!) so instead we rehearsed to ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' - with everyone dancing down the stairs it went pretty quickly - not the slow processional we'd hoped for but it was fun :) and did i mention hot? dear god -the place was like a boiler room! luckily we found out that the moorish room would be air conditioned the day of the wedding - otherwise i think people would have started to pass out....

the rehearsal was great. everyone was so easy going and willing to do anything to help. chris and i really blessed to have such fantastic friends and family! since we live far apart from most of our friends it was so great having them all in the same room and helping us out. i don't know if we'll ever be able to thank them enough!

oh - after the rehearsal itself aj (the lady in charge) showed up and took us to the bridal suite where the bridal party was going to be getting ready the next day. it was perfect! tables and mirrors for everyone to use. beautiful big windows full of natural lighting. a really nice dressing mirror that mark (kari's boyfriend) was kind enough to pose in front of for us :)

after all was said and done we headed down to the blackwater lounge (located right off the lobby inside greysolon) and had a much needed drink :) again - it was great to have all of our friends gathered around a big table getting to know one another :) i had a june in january or a january in june or something like that - can't remember - martini. it was super yummy! and it bubbled so it was fun to boot (they put a little pellet of dry ice into the bottom of the glass). in face it was so good and made me feel so good that i put don in charge of bringing in some vodka and pinapple juice the next day in case i needed it before the wedding :)

after a quick drink and stop at home for a change of clothes we headed up to hartley nature center for the grooms dinner. in order to try and save some money we went with something pretty low-key. subway, chips and soda. nice. comfortable. it was fun. everyone got a chance to relax and chatter.

we were also able to give out the gifts we had bought for the wedding party here. well...chris was able to give out his gifts to the groomsmen. i on the other hand - being so organized - did not have mine on hand and ended up passing them out as we were getting ready the next day. i really liked the gifts chris picked out though. personalized cufflinks for everyone. don got some great KISS ones. bryan had ski ones. nathan had some bike ones and dave had some airplane control panel ones. (if i haven't mentioned it before - etsy is a fantastic site to get customized orders!) i liked them so much that i ordered scrabble ones for my dad. one 'L' and one 'R' :)

uhhh..yeah....i did mention that it was pretty low-key, right? :) (nice chris!)

after dinner i made the very wise decision to go out and have some more drinks at blackwaters. my intent was to just have one. then i was going to go home. take advantage of my parents lovely bathtub and have a soak in those wonderful smelling chai tea bath leaves that vija got me for my bachelorette gift. then i was going to get a good nights sleep.......yeah......

instead i stayed out till 12:30. i had three martini's and some chocolate fondue. while i had a great time i would end up regretting my decision later on. i had to include the picture above. it's chris's brother nathan and below is nathan and his wife mandy (who just happen to make up a fantastic band that you should check out here). nathan never really ever drinks and it turns out that this was the first alcholic beverage he'd ever ordered - in honor of our wedding! evidently we were all trying to attain a hangover for the big day..... :)

halfway through the evening the guys in the group decided to head off and play pool. it worked out perfectly becuase right then my sister and her husband showed up and our little table area was more than packed! and like i said - we stayed there till around 12:30 then headed back home. i know that the bride and groom are traditionally not supposed to stay in the same place the night before but since we didn't have a lot of options chris ended up sleeping on the couch in the basement of my parents house and i stayed on the third floor. for reasons that i'll mention later i was incredibly grateful that he was so close.....

and with that this massively long post has come to an end!

125. It Begins.....

thursday. the 7th of may 2009.


this was the first day of my two week and two day vacation. it also meant i had a lot to get done. and as usual i set out to do a ton and ended up accomplishing little. i wasn't stressed about the wedding persay - i knew everything would be fine. it was things like having the spare room cleaned before we left so we wouldn't have to return to a mess that were freaking me out. i literally felt like all of my nerve endings were just fried and crackling.....

by 11 that morning i was basically running back and forth between rooms and forgetting why i had run to the room to begin with. at this point we decided to we needed to take a break. we met up with chris's dad, his wife heather and aunt fran at the wedding shoppe to pick up tux's.


after we picked up tux's we went and had lunch at cafe latte on grand. i love that place! i was starving though which meant that my eyes were about three hundred times bigger than my belly and i ended up ordering too much food - sooo yummy though! after that we made plans to meet up with his family later that night for dinner at my parents (an event at which i forgot to take any pictures...).

once home again we finally managed to get everything packed. we double checked everything and thought we were good to go! got the car packed up to the brim and headed out only to realize that we had forgotten to pick up my dad's tux! luckily we realized this before getting too far away so we just popped back by the wedding shoppe and got it. then we were on our way to duluth! oh wait - right as we hit forest lake chris's sunglasses decided to break - so we had to stop and fix those....

it took a bit of fancy working but chris finally got them fixed and then we were off....again...for the second time that day! yay!

i made chris listen to one of the cd's we'd made for wedding favors on the way up. i'm sure he's going to be pretty sick of them soon - me on the other hand can't get enough. in fact - i'm listening to them as i type this out - making it a bit hard to concentrate but i can't bring myself to turn it off.....

okay. typing may become difficult. 'waterloo' is playing and it makes me want to dance and sing. it also makes me giggle and think of chris but i'll mention that in a later post. we finally made it up to duluth. and for some reason i turned into a tourist taking about ten pictures of the city as we drove in. we had to drive down superior street to meet his family so they could follow us up to my parents house so of course i had to take pictures of greysolon as we passed :)

and now 'you're my best friend' by queen is playing. luckily i'm home alone and singing to my hearts content - hopefully the neighbors don't mind! once we reached duluth we got his family up to my parents where we grilled some hamburgers and just spent then evening chatting. i've never seen my parents house so full of people! my grandma had flown in from kentucky along with my cousin and her boyfriend. chris's dad and heather were there. my brother (who had just graduated from college the previous sunday) and a few hours after we showed up kari and her boyfriend mark showed up!

later on that night we (chris and i, my brother david, arielle and josh, kari and mark) all went out for a drink. i had had my heart set on going to blackwaters - a new lounge in the greysolon plaza but i realized that my cousin wasn't yet old enough to drink so we headed down to luce instead. i know for the most part we were all pretty tired but we still had a good time.

i'd never been out drinking with my brother before. i'd seen him drinking before - an incident that happened years ago. he was playing edward forty hands with some friends. if you haven't heard of this it's where you duct tape a forty in each hand and then can't do anything until you've finished them. i was brought down to help them tape up their hands. a while later i stopped back down to loud chatter and then my brother saying 'dude! dude! that is my sister!' (i suppose you had to be there...)

this time around we just ordered a few drinks including a blow job for kari and i. we were unsuccessful in our attempts to down them in the proper fashion to which my brother could not believe. so i had ordered him one and he demonstrated - with a little too much skill i might add - how it was done. rather funny :) ah - and the phrases ' when david and....' i'll stop there. i need to write all this down in my journal before it leaves my overcrowded brain.....

oh yes. i ordered kari a red headed slut shot. (she has red hair) she loved me for this of course :)

after that it was time for bed with a busy busy day ahead of us..........

121. Single Digits

we're down to the single digits. 9 days.

so we're making our own favors for the wedding. mix cd's. i bought a variety of cute cd packaging kits. they look great. one problem. one of the songs had been bought from itunes. in this instance itunes will only let you burn 7 copies. so i had to get that song from another source - one that chris had signed up for. download the song ('all i want is you' by barry louis palisar/juno soundtrack). great. burnt about 100 cd's.

the other night chris and i were working on something and listening to the playlist and that song came on. guess we should have listened to the whole song. at the end the singer (at least i think it's him) comes on in some twangy (more twangy than his normal voice) and starts singing another version of the song. one that includes one person being the cow and the other person being the udders. uhhhhh....yeah.....

if you're coming to the wedding. i apologize. i can't fix it. well i could but i don't have the funds to buy more cds and more packaging kits - especially now that over 100 have been made. hopefully people will just laugh. hopefully they won't think there is something wrong with chris and i.....

119. Most is Good

today is tuesday

i'm so smart, right?

last night i got home and decided it was time to do a weigh-in along with measurements. the last time i did this was on february 19th. i lost a total of 4.8 pounds (although i prefer the total of 6 that the Wii fit gave me...). i also lost a total of 7.5 inches. one of those inches was from my lower arm and another half inch from my upper arm! i was shocked! granted i've been working my arms like crazy but even when i lost all that weight a few years ago i didn't lose a thing from the arms. so - i was very happy. i just wish i could actually see the difference......

after writing that post yesterday and getting carrie's response i did up a master list last night. and it turns out it wasn't as bad as i thought it was. i'm only in need of 4 addresses! i had all of the other ones - on bits of paper - luckily they were all in one place. so i unnecessarily freaked out. it happens, right?

found out i have to tweak the seating chart. had a few add-ons. shoudln't be a problem. and like i said - no one is going to be chained to their chairs. i don't think i sat any mortal enemies next to one another so there should be no battles.

still working on the groomsmans gifts. but they should be done and in the mail tomorrow. again - hopefully.

everything is set for the ceremony. vows are done. wine ceremony supplies are ready to go. my sister is doing a reading. my brother-in-law is going to be singing. the only problem is we haven't been able to touch base with the officiate. but she's a good family friend and i know she's been busy lately - so i'm not worried. regardless - chris and i will be married when all is said and done.

and not that this has anything to do with anything but the wedding liscense for the county we live in is butt ugly. and now you have to have four witnesses! crazy. plus - i was always under the impression that we would sign our liscense but no - our names our just typed on there. we don't sign anything. that just seems stupid to me.....

i'm eating a banana right now.

oh - been getting some good music selections so thanks :) one i forgot about but am so glad it was brought to my attention is 'celebrate' by kool and the gang. i love that song :)

is it normal for brides who have otherwise been find and calm enter a brief freak-out phase. one that might involve tears and contemplation of why they just didn't elope like a sane person? i'm sure it is. that happened to me the other night. and the thing that set it off was so small - so meaningless. hmph. all is good now. :)

i'm rambling. so i'm going to just go ahead and stop. 11 DAYS!

115. No Hokey Pokey Please!

THE WEDDING IS 17 DAYS AWAY!


i need help with the music selection.....


we've picked out the songs we're walking down the aisle to and such. we've also picked out the music to play for the cocktail hour. and i've also picked out most of the music for the reception but i just want some ideas.....

i've picked a lot of 50's and 60's. i love love love that music and felt it was something that everyone would enjoy - not something obscure like all bjork music or something. i also included some songs from ABBA. a B52's song. some 'girls just wanna have fun'. some madonna. i even threw in a NKOTB song for me and kelly :) and possibly an N'SYNC song (it's 'bye bye bye' and yes - there is a reason for it)

i like all kinds of music but the 50's and 60's era is my favorite so i've just been kinda stuck there. so if anyone has any suggestions on fun dance songs - let me know! if you also have any suggestions from the 50's and 60's era - let me know them too! :)

we do have a dj and i do trust him but music is huge for me and i just want to make sure a bunch of crap isn't played. i requested no chicken dance or hokey pokey. i also requested no prince. not that i don't like the man but i couldn't take the chance 'pussy control' might get played...(shudder)...i can't stand that song.....

so...HELP!


what else?

we got our marriage liscense! yay! although i have to admit i'm more than irked. it cost $110. that didn't bother me so much as the fact that if we had taken some religious pre-marriage class we would have got $70 knocked off that $110! that's bull. you can get married in a court house with no mention of god and it's a marriage. a legal contract. so why does having a blessing from god constitute some massive discount. what a load of crap.

i still feel like i have a lot to get done. i have to finish making the favors. i have to create the seating chart. i have to get the place cards written out. and chris and i set a goal to lose 6 pounds each by the wedding. so we've got 17 days!

i'm hungry - is it lunchtime yet?

113. Fake

i'm back. let's see how long my attention span will last tonight.....


observation: typing with fake nails on a laptop sucks balls.

my mom has a wonderful lady that does massages and nails - she's even going to be doing the flowers for my wedding! she gave my mother something called a fiber wrap on her nails to help them grow faster and stronger. i wanted to get something like this. i'm a nail biter and i have no problem with this - but it means i don't have the prettiest nails. not that cared very much but i thought i'd be nice to have them looking halfway decent for the wedding. i decided to get a fiber wrap too.

now granted - i was a dumbass. i didn't do the proper research. i walked into one of the many nail salons this town has to offer and asked if they did fiber wraps - okay - i forgot it was called a fiber wrap and i asked for a nail wrap. regardless - the lady inside said they could do this service. never having had anything done to my nails - ever - i had no idea what to expect.

so i sat there. i sat there while this lady did a bunch of crap to my nails. while she spoke in a language i didn't recognize to her other co-worker. while she spoke on her cell phone to her friends. so awkward. it was one of those things where i knew i should have said something or just left but i thought i was getting what i asked for. and having no one speak english to me for more than few sentences kinda threw me off my guard. and in the end i ended up with fake gel nails. and while they're not long long - they're long to me and driving me nuts. plus i woke up at 1am from my fingers being in so much pain!

all morning at work i searched for a place to remove them. out of about 18 nail salons in the area only one spoke english and actually understood what i was asking when i called. unfortunately they didn't provide gel nail removal. and all the while i'm hearing/reading stories about how incredibly painful the removal process is and how bad these gel (powder gel) nails are. how awful my nails are going to look when i get them removed. how they aren't going to be healed in time. how i'm going to be in severe pain. good god. finally a co-worker suggested i call the beauty school in town. i do and low and behold they speak english! the lady in charge of the nail department explained the process to me - that they don't soak and pop off the nail - they file it down. and that the only way it would be painful is if someone filed too deep. but she promised that they would leave a very thin layer of the gel on (not enough to notice) but enough not to hurt my actual nail.

i have an appointment tomorrow right after work. i cannot wait! i can't stand having this shit on my nails. i woke up this morning and scratched an itch in my nose - gave myself a freaking nose bleed. once these things are off i'll attempt to be kind to my nails and perhaps get a little manicure before the big day but after that - bring on the nail biting. there are far worse habits i could have.....


now that that is off my chest....


the wedding is right around the corner! i can't believe it! not too much left to do....

friday kristin is coming over to help me burn cd's for the favors. i ordered a bunch of cd packaging kits that should be really cute so i'm excited. now if i could actually make the playlist for those cd's.....

i had another dress fitting this past saturday. the dress still fits. i could stand to lose a bit of back fat - more on that in a minute. as i was standing there looking at my dress i couldn't help but notice those annoying bits of chub right next the arm-pit. it's like a mini-boob. yuck. i asked the lady helping me out there was anyone out there who did not have those. she said even the really skinny girls have them becuase the corset bra pushes everything up up up. then she looked at me and said 'you know - i don't think you need that corset bra!'. so she took it off and wow! the dress looked so much better! those bits of chub went from being the size of a small plum to being the size of a little walnut :) what a relief! and it saved me $80 on that damned bra :) yay!

i only have one more appointment before the wedding! luckily kelly will be at this one - she's going to learn how to do the bustle on the dress. thanks kelly!! :)

back to fat - back fat that is. (i'm lame - i know this) after seeing the back of me i made a pledge. i do the treadmill about 3 times a day for 20 minutes a shot. i usually get up each morning and do one of these bouts. only now i do 3 sets of 20 push-ups before the treadmill and 3 sets of 20 after. i started on sunday night and have stuck to it :) and you know - i thought it would be arms and shoulders where i'd feel it - but nope - it's my abs! nice to know i'm working more than i thought i was :)


alright. i'm gonna go get ready for bed. i can't take anymore of this fake nail typing. hopefully tomorrow goes well!

101. Chick-A-Boom!

i have that song stuck in my head and have no idea why.....


some things.....


a) our wedding is in 44 days. 44 DAYS!

b) it was two years ago today that i moved down to the twin cities. that day saw a record temp - 81! today it was 28 when i got to work.

c) it's been continually grey since sunday. grey wet cold slop. it makes me want to sleep/eat all the time.

d) i need to exercise. eat better. the chipotle we had for dinner last night does not factor into that.

e) the cake topper i ordered should be arriving today or tomorrow!

f) i got an RSVP with no name. but these people would like to eat tangerine glazed chicken.


more later. birthday cards await!

85. Double Agony

it is monday morning.


i have a headache the size of texas. i've had it for 10 hours so far.




on a brighter note. or scary one. today is march 9th. then comes april 9th. the comes may 9th - my wedding day! ah! :)

76. 80

80.


80 days.


making progress. my mom came down last night and my future sister-in-law mandy came over to help with the wedding invitations. together we printed out 120 invitations. tied 120 ribbons. printed out 120 response cards. a successful evening.


now i just have to find shoes for the bridesmaid dresses. figure out what i want to do with my hair. create a playlist for the dj. decide if we're going to do a candy table and if so then order candy. determine whether or not we could afford to do london for a few days instead of our dream greek honeymoon. pick out outfits for the ring bearers. get the suits in order for the guys. buy stamps.


hmm. when i type it all out it seems like a lot more than when it was just in my mind floating about.


how about we list the things i have done and perhaps that list will be longer :)


i've booked and paid for the venue. found someone to marry us. bought a dress. taken care of the bridesmaids dresses. decided on the menu and alcohol selection. chosen what music to be played during the ceremony and for our first dance. bought and printed invitations. registered for gifts. finalized the guest list. ummm...i know there is more....


whatever. it'll get done and if not then we'll still be married at the end of the day which is what counts, right?

60. Oh Lord.....

today i went and saw kelly (hi!) who i haven't seen in forever and a year it feels like! we played with the baby and talked about the wedding. i knew i still had a lot to do but wasn't prepared for everything she was asking me - but at the same time extremely thankful becuase i would have been clueless. she made me a to-do list and wants me to make progress on it weekly. hopefully i'll do it!
i did manage to get all the bridal party information sent out to everyone today which has been on my list for months! so very very very very slowly but surely.....


here is my list....


Working On:
Bridesmaid Dresses
favors - CDs
bridal party gifts
music playlist
slide show
thank you cards
registering
groom’s dinner
candy table
To Do:
Alterations
girdle/bra/slip
shoes
Chris – suit
groomsmen suits
menu
seating chart
invitations
wording of invitations
cake
jewelry
hair jewelry
Michelle’s wedding band
ceremony program
table #’s
Father/daughter song
centerpieces
mother of the bride dress
ring bearer pillows
flower girl dress??
card box
vows
wedding party song
announcement info
marriage license
garter
toast
ceremony specifics – readings?
guest book
ceremony wine
last name?
monogram
CD holder

20. In Other News....

Holy Crap! Our Wedding is in less than 300 days!


i'll post more about wedding related things at a later date - but in the meantime - i need suggestions about wedding websites. i'm not happy with the one i'm currently using (ewedding). i'm finding it annoying to navigate and so are some other people i've talked to.


so - send me your suggestions! thanks :)

5. The Countdown Begins....

i just got the phone call. it's official!


chris and i are going to be married on Saturday May 9, 2009!!


320 Days until the Wedding!