We Cordially Invite You...

Mike and I just returned from an extra exciting trip to a random and slightly ghetto post office :)  We just sent off all of our beautiful wedding invitations, and they are on their way to you!  It was kind of scary popping them into the mail box.  I am not sure if this scared feeling stems from my general distrust of the postal system (however unfounded) or if it was just an undiagnosed rush of excitement.  I'm putting my money on it being a combination of the two.

My friends, as discussed in a previous post, really helped me put all of the pieces together, and so shooting them off today was really rewarding, and extra exciting.  So, when you get them, mark that date and shoot that card back in the mail!  It's stamped and addressed already, all you have to do is check yes or no and seal it and send it on its way!  I can't wait to start opening the mail box to see those little envelopes...(actually I will have to wait until Mike gets home because he has the mail key....I lost mine.  Go figure.)

In other news, we received our FIRST wedding/shower gift yesterday on our porch, and we opened it!  It was a beautiful pitcher from my wonderful Japan-bound family, Dave and Meg.  Mike saw it and said, "That would be perfect for mimosas."  (In case you were wondering why I am marrying this man...)

My shower is coming up in three short weeks and I can  hardly wait.  Some of the people coming I have not seen in 5-10 years, and I am sooooo looking forward to visiting with them.  There is something really comforting about being back home and being in the company of your mom, and your friends' moms and all the moms who were around when you were growing up.  I can't WAIT!!  I still have to find a cute dress, so hopefully I can manage a shopping trip before then!

Showered with Love!

The wedding is approaching more and more quickly!  We are 82 days away from marital bliss!!  As things are getting closer, all of the festivities are starting to get lined up.  My mom sent out invitations for one of my showers last week, and they are sooooo cute!
We are having an afternoon shower at her house in Cool next month. I am really looking forward to seeing many of her friend whom I have not seen in a really long time!!  It should be a really good time.  This one is kitchen themed, and I have been compulsively checking our Crate and Barrel registry - it tells you how many items you have left, so I have stopped looking at what people actually bought us.  (Which, for those who know how LITTLE self control I have know,  is an amazing feat...)
Emily is throwing one in San Jose, but I don't know anything about that one - I want to be surprised!  I feel very showered by love and appreciate my friends from all over making the effort to come and celebrate with me.  I cannot wait for everything to get going!  Now, to find the perfect outfits for all of these events...

I now pronounce you....

The great thing about breaks and wedding planning, is that you can get a lot of things done!  Lots of checks off of the list!  So, I am about 80% done with addressing the invitations at this point, which is awesome.  I will be sending them out at the end of the month - Emily told me that if you mail them out too early, people might put off responding for a long time.  So, I don't want that!  They are already addressed and stamped, so just pop 'em in the mail, people!

Our officiant - Brian (center)

Last night we also started working on writing or outlining our wedding ceremony.  Because it is a non-religious ceremony, and because we want this wedding to be unique to us, we knew that we wanted a friend to marry us and that we wanted to write the ceremony ourselves.  I think that we will mostly put together a strong outline, so that our officiant (and wonderful friend Brian) can fill in the blanks.  We don't want to be too intimately familiar with the words that will be said, otherwise they won't seem as special!  Here are some words that are serving as inspiration so far...



Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.


Oh! The Places You’ll Go!


You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. 
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. 


Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. 
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.


You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. 
You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. 
So be sure when you step. 
Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. 
And never mix up your right foot with your left.


And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)


Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Grujii's Workshop

Mike and I spent a good part of the day working on our invitations.  I had a great group of friends over a few weeks ago, and so we were just continuing on their good start!

We found this beautiful Japanese hand crafted paper, and we are putting together a little reminder of our website.  So, we had to spend time measuring them (Well, Mike did that), and cutting them (okay, Mike did that too)!  But I put the tape on!  We also did some embossing - all around a very productive day!

We also started addressing them, which is really exciting!  I can't wait for our special day to be here!  Here are some pictures from our hard work!

Embossing tools!

Embossing stamp!

Mine was the most important job, if you ask me :)

Had to be exact-o...

The finished product!

Taiko helped too!!

Dressed to Impress!

Yahoo! That is all I have to say after my 2nd dress fitting yesterday. I didn't blog about my first fitting, because, to be honest, it was a bit anticlimactic.

When I first tried on my dress, I of course, tried on the sample. It was definitely too snug, but they took my measurements, and I left feeling like we were good to go. Until my dress came. It was clearly meant for an amazon woman. It was really, really long, too big EVERYWHERE, and the top was about 6 inches out from my chest. I felt like I was swimming in it. I couldn't even get excited, because I seriously couldn't envision what it was supposed to look like. I mean, I knew it was my dress. I wasn't like one of those brides on "Say Yes to the Dress" who is convinced that the wrong dress was shipped to them. I knew it was mine, I just also knew that it was for a WNBA star.

So, this second fitting I decided to not have anybody else there besides my mom and sister. I didn't want anybody to see it until it was right. I don't know why - it doesn't really make a ton of sense to me at this moment. But I just knew that I would be putting pressure on myself if my wonderful friends were there.

I was really, really anxious going there because of my experience the last time. I knew that it was going to fit differently, but I just didn't know how. I was so anxious and on edge from a rough day of school that I hadn't eaten all day! This fitting was at the seamstress' shop, and so the atmosphere was a bit different - more business, less fou fou. She brought my dress out of the back, and after some "brasierre" discussions, we were off. I put the dress on, and zipped it up. It seemed to be quite a bit more snug. But in a good way! The seamstress put some boning in the top, so that the top went towards and not away like it was doing before. She had taken it in and up about 6 inches. It looked soooo much better!

We played a bit with the bustle, and she ended up taking a bit more from the front, because it was still a bit too long, and I don't want to be tripping on the way down the aisle! Plus, I had my newly purchased hair piece in also, so I got the full effect!!

This week I am on spring break, so I am going to get to addressing my invitations! My mom is doing my shower invitations soon, and I am super excited to see those (and to not have the responsibility of addressing them :) )

Another Cute Website

Okay, it's no secret that I love love LOVE cupcakes! Here is a fun cupcakes only blog!! Yummmmm!

Click Here for Cupcake Cuteness!