tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31947469807782290502024-02-20T22:55:38.287-08:00From one to twoIt's all about the wedding. I know so cheesy but it's all that's on my mind at the moment. This could get very interesting. I've planned a wedding before for my best friend, Heidi, on the beach in Mexico with 20 guests. We are at about 115 guests, local and for some crazy reason my future husband wants in on this party. Now my family and friends and keep up on my (hopefully!) funny and interesting stories as I try and plan this wedding.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-40838727686247543652008-10-27T19:27:00.000-07:002008-10-27T19:37:12.561-07:00Belly Pics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEOD94lhR0Yp04bkPrewfUqGsnpPuMPRkzib5Cyf73gZTN4gIU8Lk5ySj0K9y5AEIPB3aL9EoD64cOdFsUkMGfgEpstfJ4RY4K9k6786BeReBER9zQM1fdPlUjI7IqbSPTECfZ_1ozqZZC/s1600-h/Bellybump4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEOD94lhR0Yp04bkPrewfUqGsnpPuMPRkzib5Cyf73gZTN4gIU8Lk5ySj0K9y5AEIPB3aL9EoD64cOdFsUkMGfgEpstfJ4RY4K9k6786BeReBER9zQM1fdPlUjI7IqbSPTECfZ_1ozqZZC/s400/Bellybump4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262027904077356562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkLztPF3tpkJQJ04odBLHBjRw99m-vyAHklm7dcZ0UIkYPZP64pwi18BQksj7bkGhFEd6EAT9Tqw_kXA4gUycN-uN-cRXfGd7s0edsP88O28DelWJuk4Hthyphenhyphen-GX8lJwtGTLbWKcUqp_-a/s1600-h/Bellybump2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkLztPF3tpkJQJ04odBLHBjRw99m-vyAHklm7dcZ0UIkYPZP64pwi18BQksj7bkGhFEd6EAT9Tqw_kXA4gUycN-uN-cRXfGd7s0edsP88O28DelWJuk4Hthyphenhyphen-GX8lJwtGTLbWKcUqp_-a/s400/Bellybump2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262026266927976130" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRoI_t5O7lIrT58fQ93KkTmxPnng8ZtMLdNuo6EbGT4A7yusMw3rv3pcQsE-u6CyCEifpVq78EmGqqUpGm7AD0Cs2JGGPx47P_J1FzNUhDafLC2ZEZtbvtBy86A_BEky07v2IQrQz6j71/s1600-h/Bellybump3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRoI_t5O7lIrT58fQ93KkTmxPnng8ZtMLdNuo6EbGT4A7yusMw3rv3pcQsE-u6CyCEifpVq78EmGqqUpGm7AD0Cs2JGGPx47P_J1FzNUhDafLC2ZEZtbvtBy86A_BEky07v2IQrQz6j71/s400/Bellybump3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262027116949135682" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNo_Uu4hnG97obomTZM7LGbWpM29JIAEO9x0j0uOz1WfcXBT_gsPLq0I5fzYQZlKDop_UX4z7c-W_BYMWAoHrB9zJKs0cvxahfR2LnTY6D4Owjsakxsr62KjawDRsqfe4ivaj-cQFK9I-p/s1600-h/Bellybump1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNo_Uu4hnG97obomTZM7LGbWpM29JIAEO9x0j0uOz1WfcXBT_gsPLq0I5fzYQZlKDop_UX4z7c-W_BYMWAoHrB9zJKs0cvxahfR2LnTY6D4Owjsakxsr62KjawDRsqfe4ivaj-cQFK9I-p/s400/Bellybump1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262026690687520914" border="0" /></a>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-88104815859418490242008-07-11T11:36:00.000-07:002008-07-11T12:56:07.530-07:00RatsI work in a winery warehouse and for five years now I have to deal with all sorts of creatures. One of the first things I did for the company was set up with The Hitman pest control to come out once a month and spray down the building. We had every insect you could imagine coming in and making a home here. We are right on the river and there are many access areas that make it possible for them to crawl in. I still get some spiders, bees, moths, silverbugs and the occasional potato bug and I have to deal with it... only a few times I've had to call one of the guys over to take care of something really bad.<br /><br />I've almost stepped on a snake at the outside front door and I've known that I've had a few rats in here over the years. (and I still wear flip flops!) About 3 years ago I had a smaller rat, maybe a mouse? in here for a few weeks before it was caught... it left droppings on all the counter tops in the kitchen which made for a lovely job of disinfecting the kitchen everyday.<br /><br />Last week I noticed rat traps in our building next door... big rat traps...<br /><br />Last Saturday morning when I came in I saw that there were rat droppings all over the garbage bin... great they were getting in here again. I also noticed dirty scratches on the corner of the counter top where they were scrambling to get up and then foot prints all over the counter tops in the kitchen. I mentioned it to my boss the next time I saw him and he said that The Hitman would be putting rat traps all around the outside of the building to help prevent them from getting in here in the first place. It's been really hot here, in the 100's so they are coming in here to cool off and look for things to eat.<br /><br />When I came back to work on Wednesday, Cole and Guy were here working and I happened to be talking to Guy from upstairs in my office down to him in the tasting room, so I was looking over the edge of the office and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of a large brown rat running underneath our barrel racks in the back of the winery. I said "Oh, shit! there's the rat." so Guy walked around to look and we both saw it run for cover underneath the pallets in the corner.<br /><br />He told me that they would set up a trap for it. Cole confirmed later that he did put a trap in the back corner so not to go back there if I didn't want to see a dead rat. They had caught the one next door the day before.<br /><br />I came in yesterday and asked Cole if the rat was caught... he said no and sure enough I found the counter tops dirty again. Not really thinking much about the rat(s) when cleaning up last night I threw away the left over bread and olive oil into the garbage bin and left. This garbage can I bought for the tasting room was $160.00... and it was so worth it because it looked nice and the top kept shut really tight. Well Kevin, our handyman, accidentally broke it one day so the top stays ajar just a bit... just enough for a rat to climb into it.<br /><br />This morning I came in to see that the rat(s) got in the garbage and tore it all apart. The lining of the plastic bag was ripped to shreds and after poking the garbage can with my foot to make sure they still weren't in there I opened the top and found that ALL the bread was gone. They really got a nice treat because there was olive oil, high quality at that, poured over the bread. Those little fuckers ate a LOT! Which makes me think that there's more than one rat in here. I made my way around the tasting bar and around the corner and I stop short because half of the walls insulation on the back wall was ripped out. WTF?<br /><br />Seriously I'm stunned, how the hell did that happen? The insulation was hanging, part of it still attached to the wall, down all over the stairs to my office. I literally had to crawl up the stairs underneath the insulation into my office. I grabbed some scissors and cut away the attached part and thew everything up over the stairwell down to the ground. I then carefully dragged it all away from a air-conditioning fan on the floor into the back of the winery.<br /><br />So I'm thinking about what to do with it because I can't leave it there and have the rats nesting in it and then I think shit, that's probably how it all fell out, they were trying to next in it up in the wall. These rats must be huge! They are the giant rats in "The Princess Bride" that Westley had to wrestle with.<br /><br />Anyway I decided to call Guy even though I know he's up in Tahoe. His cell phone just rings and rings and then goes into voice mail... I leave a message. (And he still hasn't called me back and that was 2 hours ago! He better be bike riding or something) And Cole, who would have been here today, left for a weekend trip up north last night. I'm here all alone.<br /><br />It's to big to put in the garbage bins outside, I can't leave it all outside and I can't leave it in the building next door either. So I'm just sitting here thinking of a solution and I remember that our recycling dumpster was just emptied out yesterday. So I go down to the hardware store to get some heavy duty gloves.<br /><br />As I'm standing in the isle looking at all the gloves trying to figure out the best gloves for removing rat infested insulation I notice that there is not one pair of heavy duty gloves in women sizes. On the right side there are a few "dainty" gardening gloves for women but nothing else. Sexist!<br /><br />Anyway I found a pair that I thought could handle the job and I go pay for them. As I was leaving the guy who checked me out said "nice gloves". I just wonder what the fuck he thought I was going to do with these heavy duty man gloves.<br /><br />When I got back to the winery I got ready for the job, I put on the gloves and grabbed a broom. I used the broom to poke at the pieces before I picked them up to make sure there weren't any rats in there. Piece by piece I dragged it all out to the dumpster and threw it all in... I had to make 5 trips. Once that was done, still wearing my gloves, I took care of the inside garbage bin situation.<br /><br />So now I don't know what's next... I'll probably find them making babies up here in my office tomorrow.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-26678803502685310582008-05-15T11:17:00.000-07:002008-05-15T11:30:25.232-07:00"See you at the Wedding!"I just had my first, "Okay well I guess next time I'll see you it will be at the wedding!" that was from my boss... I can't believe how close it is!<br />He's going out of town and by the time he gets back, I'll be on vacation so we will not see each other till then.<br /><br />Last Monday I got my dress, it fit perfectly! And then Jason and I got our marriage license, it was really exciting! I just have to do two more things besides shopping for the honeymoon. Finish the favors (which might get done tonight!) and take the damn stickers off the vases. Otherwise we are done... we have everyone paid in full.<br /><br />So now on my days off I just get to play by the pool! Next Tuesday my mom and I are doing a wine tasting/<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">luncheon</span> trip to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Sonoma</span>, just the two of us so I'm really looking forward to that.<br />Anyone want to rent us a limo? Just let us know... ;)Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-54043789582992112972008-05-07T14:01:00.000-07:002008-05-09T13:19:11.153-07:00ShowerSo last Sunday was my bridal shower and it couldn't have been more fun!<br />I had a great group of 15 women there, including my soon to be Mother-in-law who traveled all the way from Southern California.<br /><br />Heidi and my mom planned everything and it turned out so wonderful. Here are some pictures:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqeoxpmS8R7GCitVgGIOmDtnJgah4VMvJG9A2xGaVR-dDTsAafDtGOVWMNR79e5vjylHi09hR8r8WvXMNfXzw42kdep3FTmPUwddVm96KYwJlj0j1ZubC46czTsNXwaI8ni_hkGoNzh_d/s1600-h/2008-5-4-laura's+shower+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqeoxpmS8R7GCitVgGIOmDtnJgah4VMvJG9A2xGaVR-dDTsAafDtGOVWMNR79e5vjylHi09hR8r8WvXMNfXzw42kdep3FTmPUwddVm96KYwJlj0j1ZubC46czTsNXwaI8ni_hkGoNzh_d/s400/2008-5-4-laura's+shower+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198456487150464306" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqT_0Z3ZnByGM16jRbdzT_RUzTm_DQsC41ipzO40AVw7iuFhu6-gD48SMPlGgZMdFLLJuxvO3OcYgjtByhqfWXXxLuT0dVqaVBSuDya06e0VcdtCjJy9B0WecEZah9fe_lQ7zzY8bW_2k/s1600-h/2008-5-4-laura's+shower+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqT_0Z3ZnByGM16jRbdzT_RUzTm_DQsC41ipzO40AVw7iuFhu6-gD48SMPlGgZMdFLLJuxvO3OcYgjtByhqfWXXxLuT0dVqaVBSuDya06e0VcdtCjJy9B0WecEZah9fe_lQ7zzY8bW_2k/s400/2008-5-4-laura's+shower+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198456070538636562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkXGaKiYTObZ0ud578uJKRrm0ukHb5t4QEJDXVvEOXwAAqKnvexUCCdS2Vje3asXqoavSdxesCs7aMq2tNQYB8HySffptoDpyXuvh2IBusgyfbTPFMGae9D53aStERx3wVKeJ1i_-thbh/s1600-h/Laura's+Bridal+Shower_019-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkXGaKiYTObZ0ud578uJKRrm0ukHb5t4QEJDXVvEOXwAAqKnvexUCCdS2Vje3asXqoavSdxesCs7aMq2tNQYB8HySffptoDpyXuvh2IBusgyfbTPFMGae9D53aStERx3wVKeJ1i_-thbh/s400/Laura's+Bridal+Shower_019-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198452845018197250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQMYvdGvnZYg-gH5nzEQJcRCmeiUUFJcCxFsxNe8AdQV2zJbG1zhOmIPEmKDbEezq4T-lxcUwwla2y2bbRPDw_Nhb1ff_P-DwQ9EWVuDxFNPYBkEvCwIDC75Tg19ozbcpahfUp8vbH4hy/s1600-h/Laura's+Bridal+Shower_156.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQMYvdGvnZYg-gH5nzEQJcRCmeiUUFJcCxFsxNe8AdQV2zJbG1zhOmIPEmKDbEezq4T-lxcUwwla2y2bbRPDw_Nhb1ff_P-DwQ9EWVuDxFNPYBkEvCwIDC75Tg19ozbcpahfUp8vbH4hy/s400/Laura's+Bridal+Shower_156.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198450993887292658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhDr1sg0fl8MNaF45KcSzr6ePC1mX78TJjG2is8lvMbuKdzsoozSTZxrTxP8ogSxCk7ghIFaz99g9or0qMz8RGx9NcRLFGmnYEnQck4RCMrMElHSBp8rKQ0KMuAbtj8bV916afRu35RhZ/s1600-h/Laura's+Bridal+Shower_050.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhDr1sg0fl8MNaF45KcSzr6ePC1mX78TJjG2is8lvMbuKdzsoozSTZxrTxP8ogSxCk7ghIFaz99g9or0qMz8RGx9NcRLFGmnYEnQck4RCMrMElHSBp8rKQ0KMuAbtj8bV916afRu35RhZ/s400/Laura's+Bridal+Shower_050.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198456671834058050" border="0" /></a><br />So that just flew by! I can't believe it's already almost another Sunday again... Jason makes the countdown by Sundays so he would say 4 more Sundays! I just say now a few more weeks!<br /><br />Last night while I was cooking dinner Jason made me laugh so hard. It probably won't be as funny here but he said, "Can you believe the wedding is coming so soon? Do you have a dress?" But it was also the way he said it. Anyway I'm still laughing today.<br /><br />Last night I also finished the ceremony in its entirety! I've been working on that for a few weeks now it's done! We just have to finish our vows. :)<br /><br />This morning I made the final payments to the caterer, photographer and florist!<br /><br />All that's really left is the D.J. and the Cake, which I'm sure we'll take care of next week. It's so nice to know that that's out of the way, plus Jason will have to quit staring at the savings account every night asking me what the final payments are. (Seriously every night... it got to the point where it was ridiculous, I would just laugh at him)<br /><br />I have my dress fitting this Monday at 10am and then we are meeting with the D.J. at 11am and then off to get our marriage license.<br /><br />I just have two more projects to finish, the favors (which I'm almost done) and the vases, argh, I have 45 small clear vases for floating candles and rose petals but they all came with the little stickers attached to the bottom and are such a PAIN-IN-THE-ASS to remove. (Why the hell do these companies do this?!?) I bought Goof-off so hopefully that will help.<br /><br />I know my blogs aren't so clever these days but I have lots to do!!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-72314860356620947762008-04-30T10:26:00.000-07:002008-04-30T11:11:24.233-07:00One month to go!<p class="MsoNormal">Wow I can't believe how fast time has gone by... we are really down to just a few more weeks and all of it is going to be so much fun! It's funny because just in the last few weeks as I have been finishing up on all the details I haven't had a single anxiety dream. I'm so relaxed and ready to have fun. I'm glad that I was on top of getting everything done in time for us both to relax and enjoy this last month.<br /><br />I'm pretty much finished with all the planning... we tied up a lot of loose ends last week before Jason went to his BACHLOR party! He and 8 other guys rented a house up in Tahoe and had the best time, he now feels he's part of the club and is very ready to get married.<br /><br />I have my bridal shower this coming Sunday and I can't wait! Heidi and my mom have been working very hard on making it a very special day for me and all the guests and it's all been a surprise so far... which I love. Because of all the planning I've been doing it's really refreshing to have someone else plan something for me.<br /><br />Also Marsha and Ed are coming into town so Marsha can come to the shower too... I can't wait to see them both! And so Jason and Marc will get to spend some time alone with their dad too, which is nice cause usually us girls are always around!<br /><br />Then we have Mother's day weekend, my bachlorette weekend, the start of our vacation weekend and then the wedding weekend!<br /><br />When I was breaking it down for Jason at lunch the other day he was like "wait, what?" not realizing how close it really is. lol<br /><br />So all we really need to do is finalize some vendor payments, get our marriage license and work on our vows. There's probably more stuff... but little so I'm not worried about it. I've been using The Knot's website (lots of great stuff for brides) to keep track of my check list and I'm now down to 38 things to do... that was from 189 things to do so I think I'm doing good. :) <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-21689691687825645122008-04-02T10:47:00.001-07:002008-04-02T12:55:37.634-07:002 months to go!So we had a great weekend of fun, plus we accomplished lots of key things for the wedding. First off I finally found flower girl dresses that would work, Jackie ordered them and they arrived at her house last week. I talked to her last night and she said that they looked great but she hasn't had the girls try them on yet... but I have a feeling they will be perfect! :)<br /><br />This last weekend was Jason's "Birthday weekend", his actual birthday was yesterday the 1st but we pretty much celebrated throughout the last 4 days. On Saturday night I cooked him a delicious meal of fresh halibut and salad. Then on Sunday he called me here at work and wanted to see if I wanted to go out to dinner, and of course I did, so he suggested Sushi! I'm a huge sushi fan, but he's wary of raw fish so I'm slowly getting him to try different things. I was so excited that he wanted to have sushi... I normally have to drag him there every once in a while. We went to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ume</span> in Windsor, my second favorite sushi restaurant, but now its my first favorite. We had a roll that they used soy bean paper instead of seaweed and it's the best thing I've ever eaten. We loved everything we had! Jason even had sake and ate everything I ordered. Still no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">sashimi</span> but I'll get him there one day. :)<br /><br />We then stopped at John Ash on the way home for a drink. I know the bartender there and the bar is really cool so it's one of our favorite places to grab a drink on the way home. We then rented No Country for Old Men and when we got home I made home made chocolate chip cookies for Jason and we watched the film. It was very good and interesting.<br /><br />Monday we had planned a very busy day. First I got up early and went to the gym, I then stopped at the store to get cleaning supplies. I was going to scrub down the whole house while Jason watched the first Yankee's game of the year. But Jason called while I was at the store and told me that the game had been rained out so he wanted us to run our "wedding" errands first and then come back and clean the house. So I came home, showered and we were off to Earthworks to pick up my wedding ring and look for one for him.<br /><br />My wedding ring turned out so beautiful, the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">jeweler</span> did such and amazing job!!! I didn't want to take it off... but I had to. We looked at rings there for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Jas</span> and there was one there that he did like... but for the price I thought it was a little to boring and dull. We both knew that he didn't want anything flashy or fancy but this to me wasn't good enough. So I talked him into looking at other places when we went to the other mall to shop for his suit.<br /><br />We went to Macy's and he tried on a bunch of different suits... it took FOREVER... he is very particular to how the suits were looking and how they were fitting and wanted the sales man's opinion, etc. So it was exhausting for me because I knew what I thought looked great but it was getting him to the point where he agreed with me. It was the last suit he tried on that we were both "wow" it was perfect. Plus the size was perfect too... all he has to have done is the hemming on the pants. We then picked out the shirt, belt, socks, shoes and we were ready to go! Because he has a Macy's account and it was his birthday month, we saved over 50% on the whole outfit, putting us under budget by about $400.00, which made him very happy!<br /><br />We were both starving at this point and wanted to get going, we were going to be going to Freedman's to get planting supplies, but we stopped at the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">jewelry</span> counter at Macy's for a quick to look at rings and we found the perfect ring! It was great because of the savings there too it was also under budget. He was so happy and excited that everything worked out and he can't wait to be wearing everything on the big day!<br /><br />He said to me that he's starting to feel like it's really happening. I have been doing so much in the last 8 months that I already felt that but for him this was the first time that he was seeing the whole picture of the wedding and that made him so excited.<br /><br />We decided to blow off going to Freedman's because it was getting late in the afternoon and so we went home. I still had to go out and get him a birthday present! I quickly ate lunch and went out... I knew what I had in mind so it was just a matter of finding it. The first place I went to had it... I was getting him a piano bench. He's been sitting on a chair with books, which I know is not good for his back so I wanted to get him something much more comfortable since he's sits there and plays for hours every night.<br /><br />When I got home he had already started on the windows and blinds. So sweet, I told him he didn't have to help me. This is the biggest job in our house since we have windows so high up, you have to get the ladder out and it's so time consuming. While he worked on that I started with the upstairs. We worked and worked and hours later we were done and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">exhausted</span>. I just wanted the house so clean for his birthday and since we both had the day off I wanted all the chores to be done so we could both relax.<br /><br />So since the house was so clean we <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">decided</span> to go out to dinner. We went to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Rosso's</span> and it was perfect. We got a booth right away and had wine, pizza and salad. It was nice to know that we would be coming home to a clean house and had no plans for the next day, well except <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">celebrating</span> his birthday of course.<br /><br />We stayed up till midnight to cheers to a happy birthday and quickly went to bed because we were so tired.<br /><br />The next morning I woke up early, such a habit of me lately especially on my days off, the days I work I want to sleep in until 9, but my days off I wake up around 7:30 wanted to do stuff. So I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">layed</span> there waiting for him to wake up because I was so excited to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">celebrate</span> his 37<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">th</span>! Once he woke up I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and then went to the store.<br />When I came back I made us coffee and he opened his card and present from me. He had no clue of what I was getting him since it was something that he has never asked for. He loved it and was so surprised!<br /><br />We had french toast, bacon and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">yogurt</span>. Our plans for the day was that I was taking him out for lunch so I told him that we could do whatever he wanted that morning. He decided that he wanted to go to Freedman Brother's and get all the planting stuff done. I picked out all the flowers for one of the barrels in the backyard (yellow and orange!) and the flowers for the front yard barrel, we picked out 3 different tomato plants, and the rest of the herbs we need for the summer. We came back and did some planting, showered up and went to lunch.<br /><br />He wanted to go to Sea Thai Bistro, which is one of our new favorite restaurants. They have the best <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Thai</span> food I've ever had! So fresh and clean! We loved every single thing we ordered. Then we went over to mom and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Daws'</span> house for some cake and wine! We had a lot of fun and got home around 5:00. I played on the piano for a bit while he was on the phone with his cousin. It's so much more fun now to play with the new bench.<br /><br />So our weekend of fun is over :( and we are tired today and back at work, but it was so worth it! We have so many events coming up in the next two months that it'll be nice to have a little relaxation this week. :)<br /><br />Next Monday I'm going in for my second to last dress fitting... and I'm bringing my Mom and Heidi. Heidi needs to be there to learn how to bustle my dress, I'll have 8 bustles!! She's going to color <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">coordinate</span> the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">ribbons</span> so Heidi will know which way it goes. I'm so excited to have them see me in the dress that fits <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">correctly</span>. It was so wonderful when she pinned me all up the last time and I was able to walk in it without holding it up! We are then going to go to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Corte</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Madera</span> to (hopefully) find a dress for both Heidi and my mom.<br /><br />Time is flying by but we are pretty much finished <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">except</span> for a few minor details.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-46433225809749937842008-03-20T11:35:00.000-07:002008-03-20T12:10:31.368-07:00RSVP's are coming!My favorite thing right now is getting the mail because all the RSVP's are coming in. I asked Jason (because he gets the mail first) if he wouldn't mind waiting for me to open them up and he said of course not. I know it's a little silly but I love opening them and most of them have cute comments so it just gets me all excited.<br /><br />The feedback on the invitations has been so overwhelmingly great and I'm so glad that I did it, it was totally worth it.<br /><br />Last night when Jason got home he called up to me saying that we had brought home a wedding present for us. Wow! Already? It was from two couples who live back in New York and when they were out here on vacation about 6 months ago they had met Jason at the Bottle Barn and he set up a private tasting with me at my winery for them. Anyway they loved how we took care of them, etc and so because they knew we were getting married this year they brought us back a present. They told Jason that they had to fight it through security because it was wrapped but they got it here. We opened it up and it's a beautiful crystal frame, we are going to wait and put a wedding photo in it. It was so sweet of them to do that.<br /><br />I'm going in for my first dress fitting on Monday!<br /><br />My mom and Heidi got together yesterday to work on my secret bridal shower... I'm not sure what's so secret about it though... I did hear rumors of a clown covered in balloons, riding a pony and eating BBQ chicken wings with his bare hands! No... I'm sure it'll all be so lovely! :) They are the best for doing it all. It's so nice to have something being planned for you and you don't have to do any of the work.<br /><br />There's not much else going on... 72 days till the wedding!<br /><br />Oh, and I get a three day weekend, we are closed on Easter so that means mimosa's at the parents on Sunday!<br /><br />I'll leave you with a picture of Captin who has found a new place to hang out in when he's out in the back yard. He's not going to be happy when we plant our tomatoes in a couple of weeks. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNlud0ckHEyVeLctHR2C43jYr51AGK3RqDt1F_6AQNb0RrIGYtCnU3JuZIfTL8Gu41PPLUH_xZnrRpg9jB62Kgz9fLynkOn6pbKvHtHqD73M-js5Rqs39NfLbN8aU8XojYWu94BIM6alP/s1600-h/DSC00843.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNlud0ckHEyVeLctHR2C43jYr51AGK3RqDt1F_6AQNb0RrIGYtCnU3JuZIfTL8Gu41PPLUH_xZnrRpg9jB62Kgz9fLynkOn6pbKvHtHqD73M-js5Rqs39NfLbN8aU8XojYWu94BIM6alP/s400/DSC00843.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179903131254671618" border="0" /></a>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-15390533971570585302008-03-13T09:54:00.000-07:002008-03-13T10:25:19.811-07:00Guess what's in the mail?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGGRwRovDNmQJUz5QAeErVkbWL_bOAK3ekGbWLTjDDjQWV2irBR7V_E2Dgfz_O5up_o63h2_BRIPQodAUuucPQ0sODjYJUR3UsILHIM8A4r91rdXovAwNqzd6E_R2p-v6mcBgkFCe0ORc/s1600-h/Inv.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGGRwRovDNmQJUz5QAeErVkbWL_bOAK3ekGbWLTjDDjQWV2irBR7V_E2Dgfz_O5up_o63h2_BRIPQodAUuucPQ0sODjYJUR3UsILHIM8A4r91rdXovAwNqzd6E_R2p-v6mcBgkFCe0ORc/s400/Inv.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177272986911501586" border="0" /></a>That's a (small) sneak preview... anyway they are done!! I have to say that the post office loves me. I first went to the post office here in Healdsburg to get an invitation weighed so see what stamp I needed to use and the postman praised me for coming in first before just buying stamps and sending them off. Most of the time the invitations are heavier or a different size then regular envelopes. It weighed out at 58 cents. But they didn't have any "pretty" 58 cent stamps there so I had to go down to Windsor's post office, which I did first thing this morning. So again I first took an invitation in with me to make sure that they agreed that it was 58 cents, which it was, and that postman went on and on about how he loved the fact that I knew what I was doing. I probably stopped one of them from going postal!! Okay I know bad joke, I'm just giddy.<br /><br />It was a great praise to hear after all the hard work (and money) I put into these invitations. Now it's done!! Except I did count the number of RSVP envelopes and stamps and I'm one short... so I think someone might get a RSVP envelope with no stamp. :( Sorry!! Oh and Yvette... if you are reading this, I didn't realize that you have to use your own Australia stamps for return postage so I had to tear off your stamps I had put down on the RSVP envelope so it looks a little messy. Just don't look at it!! ;)<br /><br />I've made an appointment to get my dress altered later this month and last night I bought a bag to hang my dress in. I hated seeing it in the box it came in. Now it's all wrapped up and waiting.<br /><br />So my next on going problem are the flower girl dresses. Who knew it would be so difficult? I have never seen more ugly horrible dresses for little girls in my life! And of course the ones I like the best are the most expensive. Last night I went into a bridal store to look at some because so far all I have only been looking online, and my God! they are heavy, thick, scratchy... way worse than bridesmaids dresses. So between Jackie, Marsha and I all emailling and phoning I hope to get this resolved sooner than later. It's hard too because Jackie and the twins live all the way over on the east coast. But I'm sure we'll find them something perfect!<br /><br />It's supposed to rain the next couple of days... but then get nice and warm by next week. I'm going to start going to the gym up here in Healdsburg so I can layout by the pool and tan... with sunscreen... I do need a little bit of color, especially before going to Hawaii.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-27281936274800188822008-03-06T13:56:00.000-08:002008-03-06T14:01:09.503-08:00I got my dress!Well... about a week ago but I've been too too busy to post! I'm actually sneaking this one in right now. It came last Saturday and right after work I rushed over to my mom's to see it and try it on again. It was perfect! Well... a little to big so I have to get it altered but perfect for what I wanted as a dress. It had been too long since I had last tried it on so I wasn't sure how it was going to fit and look. I actually didn't want to take it off! My mom made me though. :)<br /><br />I scheduled an appointment to go get it altered at the end of the month.<br /><br />So that "thing" I wasn't going to mention until after it was finished is ALMOST finished at the printers... maybe tonight! They'll definitely be out in the mail next week if I don't die from working too hard this weekend. ;)<br /><br />3 more days of Barrel Tasting Hell!!<br />Wish me luck!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-39795742284288052972008-02-24T11:35:00.001-08:002008-02-24T12:15:54.443-08:00Captin's ToysLast night Jason and I went to the Dry Creek Kitchen and it was awesome. We had a great table with the whole view of the dining room, a wonderful server and excellent food. The ambiance was so relaxing with the dim lights and candles and we could see the rain through the windows. We tried to spend as much as possible to use up our Gift Certificate but it was hard since the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sommelier</span> knew both Jason and I (through our jobs) and bought us desert and the waitress also bought us another desert and my espresso... and they didn't charge us corkage on our Oregon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Pinot</span> we brought in. Jason and I think that we've never paid for a desert at a restaurant ever... being in the industry we always seem to know someone and they are always so nice to comp us a cocktail or desert.<br /><br />So after we came home we went to our separate TVs, mine upstairs in my office and his downstairs. The cats, although they love Jason very much, always follow me wherever I go... I call them my little entourage. So I'm watching <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">TV</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Captin</span> is sitting near the basket I keep all their toys in. He's just looking at it sadly, and I realize that he wants the toys at the bottom underneath my 16 bridal magazines. Poor guy... I've been throwing all my magazines in the basket and I didn't even think about how his toys were getting <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">buried</span> underneath. He has a few here and there throughout the house but he really wanted those ones. So I lug out all the magazines and pull out all his toys. Both him and Cajun were in kitty heaven, not knowing what to play with first. Cajun just <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">layed</span> down in the middle of the pile and stayed there while <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Captin</span> found a few of his "mice" to play with. So here are some pictures of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Captin</span> with his toys... and then as the excitement wore off he ended up falling asleep in the pile of toys.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVuOBP-2darmpiCslorUBo1dRIOfEh7yETHxMAgH_MyzcMWrDlPK7Zwis6LaKsOUXZBU1Yy42uEajkKV73DWdnh-SJD8oc8OYPEdPIkh4In6ADJBXNJAKV_DIcZ3eRK8MeJjpdXtIWMkh/s1600-h/DSC00825.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVuOBP-2darmpiCslorUBo1dRIOfEh7yETHxMAgH_MyzcMWrDlPK7Zwis6LaKsOUXZBU1Yy42uEajkKV73DWdnh-SJD8oc8OYPEdPIkh4In6ADJBXNJAKV_DIcZ3eRK8MeJjpdXtIWMkh/s400/DSC00825.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170641269320599538" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcXH5rAWcsmZWF-c0y5LSuvXFRFMv6F3siJeVLa0V6Ql0wwKkaNBkNK4onWTddAbT9h1DWaTo3FFcRtikJhsldY9qTVWI8T5rJkQ_8hbl6QYm-7oIKSNNggyg06qWw6Lldiq87IgqqzMz/s1600-h/DSC00826.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcXH5rAWcsmZWF-c0y5LSuvXFRFMv6F3siJeVLa0V6Ql0wwKkaNBkNK4onWTddAbT9h1DWaTo3FFcRtikJhsldY9qTVWI8T5rJkQ_8hbl6QYm-7oIKSNNggyg06qWw6Lldiq87IgqqzMz/s400/DSC00826.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170641917860661250" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimswXeubdgl_33tMLfRVxDkP8H0_8Y9os859l75oTRmA7tJzHB1NdDVE3qY_cWG7DIfIT7VzYy0Tzar19QScTqwn9ppWq8pVjz9l4BqBBfHLB0TvdwuS4mH5s5-9vI0xz91NgPorUfveEb/s1600-h/DSC00827.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimswXeubdgl_33tMLfRVxDkP8H0_8Y9os859l75oTRmA7tJzHB1NdDVE3qY_cWG7DIfIT7VzYy0Tzar19QScTqwn9ppWq8pVjz9l4BqBBfHLB0TvdwuS4mH5s5-9vI0xz91NgPorUfveEb/s400/DSC00827.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170642085364385810" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCctL-6mQ3pX5nxxeWAH5vYB4Skqwocy-H-aqqu0MM_DqlAL7Pw6ja263rqRPMYFf9YuLiIEpaXqfxrGoqbzSY_SDgGsbCBZ3nKOGILuR5FiIPjgQYEm7l2xbu-JlAFq8HF97_wEe0ELPo/s1600-h/DSC00828.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCctL-6mQ3pX5nxxeWAH5vYB4Skqwocy-H-aqqu0MM_DqlAL7Pw6ja263rqRPMYFf9YuLiIEpaXqfxrGoqbzSY_SDgGsbCBZ3nKOGILuR5FiIPjgQYEm7l2xbu-JlAFq8HF97_wEe0ELPo/s400/DSC00828.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170642214213404706" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0i53iB8Vy37b59UnYcygIHXgJ6t1nnsHXC2yobkDT97eixx2G7Veq2fjhg5kiWkK5Gks8DiEofn9NWU-AO9HxGVtkmhTg1XL59Yc1SuK_yzgYQklRiKUNBQUlUQMVgATsBpa_oeu550O/s1600-h/DSC00823.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0i53iB8Vy37b59UnYcygIHXgJ6t1nnsHXC2yobkDT97eixx2G7Veq2fjhg5kiWkK5Gks8DiEofn9NWU-AO9HxGVtkmhTg1XL59Yc1SuK_yzgYQklRiKUNBQUlUQMVgATsBpa_oeu550O/s400/DSC00823.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170642364537260082" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeKWVkGIY2U5PL1Bip2J1YeHYBgCQx28-pZe4B3pZEHIn0FBd5h1wBVkCRVJGqGJv2YNROYb6qnNgOXk0LDX5Pd3xR1sd4NiYr35F5wnvtO4CNEJfYNdyN0pgedNeXWMr7q8NnHpTp93v/s1600-h/DSC00824.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeKWVkGIY2U5PL1Bip2J1YeHYBgCQx28-pZe4B3pZEHIn0FBd5h1wBVkCRVJGqGJv2YNROYb6qnNgOXk0LDX5Pd3xR1sd4NiYr35F5wnvtO4CNEJfYNdyN0pgedNeXWMr7q8NnHpTp93v/s400/DSC00824.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170642549220853826" border="0" /></a>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-2900897221540633412008-02-22T12:35:00.000-08:002008-02-22T13:02:26.119-08:00100 Days to go!!Wheee!!! Okay so I'm back to my normal self again. I lost that imaginary weight I gained and I look pretty again. So... I'm not going to talk about the invitations again until they are in the mail. (But I'm pretty happy with what I've decided) <br /><br />I keep checking in on my dress and I'm getting anxious to know when it will arrive. I'm having it shipped to my mom's since she works from home and the second it arrives I'm heading over there. I know that it will be too big when I try it on but I can't wait to feel and see it again!! Plus once I have it I'll be able to go get the rest of my accessories. <br /><br />I'm getting my hair done on Tuesday... Heidi and I were just talking on the phone and we figured that the last time I got my hair cut was in November of 2006... soooo... it's been a while. I'm going to probably get about 5-6 inches chopped off. It's really too long right now. Unfortunately Heidi has a lunch shift that day but my mom and I will just have to go to Stark's afterward to show her and have a drink! Life is so hard. ;)<br /><br />The guys are really getting it together too! Ed already bought his suit and had it fitted. Jason and I are going to go find his suit the first week of April. Marsha and I were talking last night about how easy it is for the guys to get their suits but so hard for the girls, she can't find anything respectable. Heidi is having the same problem with finding a dress. Ru brought some dresses, just in from the spring line, from her store for Heidi to try and Heidi said that she looked like a "Ho-Bag" and a "Hoochie" so... Heids and I are going to have to make a trip to the city (a serious trip, not like last time, the infamous 4 hour lunch at the Slanted Door)and do some shopping to find her dress. I need to do some shopping for myself too, I have lots of showers and parties to attend! <br /><br />We are done with having house guests! It's really too much, all the entertaining we have been doing lately. I told Jason no more until after the wedding. We had a friend stay with us all last weekend and then had Mel and Andy stay with us last night. It's fun but exhausting. I pretty much do all the shopping, cooking and cleaning. Jason is great with helping me when he can, but because I get off work almost 2 hours before him it just makes sense for me to do it all. Plus I love to cook!<br /><br />I can't wait to go home and relax at our home tonight, just the two of us. Tomorrow night we are going to the Dry Creek Kitchen for dinner. We wouldn't normally go to this restaurant because its way overpriced for the food, its a swanky place so you are paying for the ambiance too, but we got a gift certificate from one of Jason's reps at work. It'll be so nice to be waited on for a change.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-11517583406656101192008-02-20T13:29:00.000-08:002008-02-20T13:33:57.087-08:00I'm this close to breaking downSo I decided to check my messages because I'm at work and I don't have cell service here. As it turns out the accent color I <span style="font-style:italic;">finally</span> decided on is on back order and won't be available for another 2 months!<br />Of course that would have to happen right?!! I'm going to try and leave early so I can get home to my swatch book to choose another color. Seriously can these invitations be anymore difficult for me? :(<br />Oh, yeah and I'm fat and ugly today too.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-32493857261861165712008-02-20T11:14:00.001-08:002008-02-20T11:59:41.274-08:00I hate the invitation partI really really really hate this whole invitation thing. It's the stupidest part of the wedding. Etiquette this Etiquette that... I'm so tired of doing my research on what I'm supposed to do. And for the most part I don't care about the etiquette but then I think about the presentation of the whole "package" of the invitation and since I've already gone so far with what I'm doing I don't want to skimp out on anything. <br /><br />I already changed my mind about the color of some of the paper and the reply envelopes... I had to order different paper stock yesterday, which means I'm out money on the paper stock I originally purchased. And I still don't think I really <span style="font-style:italic;">love</span> what I'm going with now... but it's really too late to turn back now. <br /><br />I'm so sick of thinking about these stupid invitations! But I can't stop because I'm an obsessed bride. <br /><br />One good thing is that we finalized the menu and the set up with the caterer. So I don't have to think about that anymore. But I wasn't really worried about it to begin with since our caterer is so professional. <br /><br />I actually haven't been worried about anything so far EXCEPT for the invitations. <br /><br />And there's no need to comment on how the invitations will look fine, and everything will turn out beautiful etc... I'm not looking for reassurance I'm just ranting. :)Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-84243786664308351972008-02-15T11:27:00.000-08:002008-02-15T12:44:45.134-08:00Elopement for some...<p class="MsoNormal">We have some friends that are eloping to Vegas this weekend and again they got engaged after we did. We now have 4 couples who have done this. Doesn't anyone have long engagements? This past 10 months of being engaged have been the best months of my life, I love the anticipation, planning and dreaming about our wedding. I'm excited for this couple though... it's the perfect thing for them.<br />So I thought it would be such a nice surprise to send them up a bottle of <st1:state><st1:place>Champagne</st1:place></st1:State> to their room in Vegas. We found out where they were staying and I called the Concierge this morning and set it all up. They will bring a Chandon Blanc up to their room tomorrow night at 8pm for a mere $56.59 (valued at any store here = $16) but it's all worth it for the sentiment. :) I think it's a pretty cool thing to do.<br /><br />So last night Jason and I had a very romantic Valentine's dinner at home. Since we always go out to restaurants we always stay in on Valentine's. It's probably like the opposite for some couples. ;)<br />I was going to cook our meal and had already done all the shopping the night before so I came straight home from work. When I walked in the house Jason had flowers, chocolates and a card on the coffee table. He set it all up when he came home for lunch. The flowers where yellow and orange (our wedding colors!) and he had set them in a vase. I opened the card and I did a double take... it was the EXACT same card he gave me the year before! So funny... of course what he wrote on the inside was different. I called him (he was still at work) to thank him and give him a hard time about the card and he was shocked that he picked the same card. I guess he really likes that one card! I got out the older card and put it on the table for him to see when he got home... so funny. And he only buys me 2 cards a year! You'd think he'd remember... but men are different that way I guess.<br /><br />By the time he came home I had dressed up in a nice skirt and top (usually I'm in sweats the second I walk in the house), had all the candles in the house lit, cheese and crackers out and a bottle of <st1:personname>wine</st1:PersonName> open.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-ppvVHzn6_PyDPUVmVrPM7TtezzMhMyToTCca0tVhQ3NlZJi4Aib8s9R2synEA37mcYPE2DBlnTey8mxqyUz-en2PVpxC-O8GYN3jnrydj6BiRRJIDtYWeuFZy8zfsFPUs8HvXCNjOqJ/s1600-h/before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-ppvVHzn6_PyDPUVmVrPM7TtezzMhMyToTCca0tVhQ3NlZJi4Aib8s9R2synEA37mcYPE2DBlnTey8mxqyUz-en2PVpxC-O8GYN3jnrydj6BiRRJIDtYWeuFZy8zfsFPUs8HvXCNjOqJ/s400/before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167309693253863346" /></a><br />I had just started on the home-made Gnocchi too (which I'll never do again, I'll explain later). He opened his card and we sat and chatted for a bit, and then as a slave to the gnocchi I was called back to the kitchen. He went upstairs to shower and I went on to the umpteenth step in making the gnocchi and opened a bottle of <st1:state><st1:place>Champagne</st1:place></st1:State>. We're not the biggest champagne drinkers but someone left a bottle over New Year's so we thought it would be fun to have it.<br /><br />When he came back downstairs he had dressed up in slacks and a buttoned shirt for me because I was dressed up, so sweet. We toasted with the champagne to our love and he stayed and helped me with the gnocchi. I swear I've never made anything harder than this dish. It's not even hard to make but so many many steps go into it and so many many pots and dishes. It was fun though, we were dancing and drinking and talking. He ended up finishing the gnocchi so I could clean the mess that was forming around the sink. I then made a salad and once the gnocchi was finished we sat down to eat. We had polished off the bottle of champagne and so Jason opened a nice bottle of white to go with our meal. The salad was red leaf lettuce, red onion and chopped up oranges in a olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing and the gnocchi had a meyer lemon sauce so everything was very citrusy! The gnocchi didn't taste like gnocchi, it tasted just like potatoes... but it was good, just not what I was expecting. The salad however, as simple as it was, was fabulous! Both recipes we got from our food and <st1:personname>wine</st1:PersonName> magazines we get in the mail. I'll never make gnocchi again! It's too hard. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3edvOoMmlQJnOmScLuP5cOZPYMzV93mRct3Trh4QqDeGnxOeZdUPD-Ds9Z6CJKo1tZQY5oolxf7fxW89FqiTI8JUDf1nFea4vXojegmUdPMAxYLW0WzCWb5yp1nwUjVxi8dNII4ImVkT/s1600-h/DSC00814.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3edvOoMmlQJnOmScLuP5cOZPYMzV93mRct3Trh4QqDeGnxOeZdUPD-Ds9Z6CJKo1tZQY5oolxf7fxW89FqiTI8JUDf1nFea4vXojegmUdPMAxYLW0WzCWb5yp1nwUjVxi8dNII4ImVkT/s400/DSC00814.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167310169995233218" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br />I cleaned the kitchen, we both changed into our sweats, decanted a bottle of Pinot and then I brought out a heart shaped chocolate piece of cake as a surprise. It was delicious!<br /><br />One of my favorite things to do with Jason is to listen to him play the guitar, so he brought it out and all our favorite music and he played and we sang together for the rest of the night. It was a perfect evening!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcsrVSaIUfyQU_KdhgyU0GmkVB2TkBgaUb3GipPLAmrtFpEdjqB2LdGJXhuJVn_kG2R5iSDqh-W3FKQdfpxxl7sGd51VMx_7vk0VMYUfxBT3GGuxoytx_K7EIFrFYc_sYF25c0K2QlGZ_/s1600-h/DSC00815.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcsrVSaIUfyQU_KdhgyU0GmkVB2TkBgaUb3GipPLAmrtFpEdjqB2LdGJXhuJVn_kG2R5iSDqh-W3FKQdfpxxl7sGd51VMx_7vk0VMYUfxBT3GGuxoytx_K7EIFrFYc_sYF25c0K2QlGZ_/s400/DSC00815.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167310492117780434" /></a><br /><br />Oh, and the only bottle we finished was the Champagne... we opened a few bottles but only had a couple of glasses out of them, I just wanted to say that so no one would think we had all 4 bottles of <st1:personname>wine</st1:PersonName>!<br /><br />Tonight we have a friend coming in from out of town and he'll be staying with us through to Monday. It'll be fun because we'll be entertaining all weekend, going out, BBQ'ing, etc.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Whew! And so our week is practically already over again! Time really flies fast these days! :) Before we know it we'll be married, just like everyone else we know. ;)</p><p class="MsoNormal">Oh, and how cute are our cats? They love each other so much!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOtxlG0GuRcXNmRauwAMT54SUHDihQJI_CQ6RYPt6vfUZGIn1yI6qEqwCrFFtGbeR9ijuWnv721rgHf0YnvsWsC4Pno4R3a8WMRxEJ5pPjPLJkssX8y0srQT32ePjKKh5fFL4fARZSpKQ/s1600-h/cute+kitties.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOtxlG0GuRcXNmRauwAMT54SUHDihQJI_CQ6RYPt6vfUZGIn1yI6qEqwCrFFtGbeR9ijuWnv721rgHf0YnvsWsC4Pno4R3a8WMRxEJ5pPjPLJkssX8y0srQT32ePjKKh5fFL4fARZSpKQ/s400/cute+kitties.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167309250872231842" /></a>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-41706503980514337342008-02-13T11:18:00.000-08:002008-02-13T11:44:40.811-08:00Invitations<p class="MsoNormal">My goal is to have the wedding invitations done by next week and the assembly done the week after and the invitations in the mail the first week of March! I can't believe it's already here. Once I drop off the invitations at the post office it will be the most exciting part of the wedding. Not only because it's a big step closer to the day but I won't have to stress about them anymore! I bought all the (<i>expensive</i>) materials for the invitations but I think I changed my mind on some colors so... I might have to go buy more. When I told Jason this last night he rolled his eyes... but since I paid for it all with my own money I can do (waste?) what I want. :)<br /><br />So the wedding site is paid in full as of 5 minutes ago. I signed and sent a deposit to the photographer today. My dress should be here in about 2 weeks. I have my hair appointment on Feb 26th.<br /><br />Jason and I really need to focus now on the songs for the reception... we've started our lists and got lists from our parents but we need to narrow down some specifics. I'm also looking into live music for the ceremony, which Jason doesn't know yet. I have to ease him into it slowly.<br /><br />We met with the caterer to finalize the menu on Monday, Jason says now that he's more confused than ever about what we are doing but I think it's all perfect. I think from here on out he should know as little as possible about the details so he won't have to stress out. :)<br /><br />I just have one more big event coming up here at work and then things will be smooth sailing through to the fall. Barrel Tasting Weekend: Friday through Sunday for the first 2 weekends of March. We will see thousands of people a day here at our little winery. It's very tiring especially on the second weekend. So wish me luck!<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-22937911111055562162008-01-30T09:35:00.000-08:002008-01-30T10:39:23.803-08:004 months to go...We are just moving right along... but it's really a lot of waiting right now for stuff to be done.<br /><br />The main project right now is the invitations. I want to have them finished and sent out by March 1st. I ordered the paper supplies yesterday and they should arrive sometime next week. I'll then have my graphic designer finish the inserts and then have them printed and cut. The only thing I'll be doing is the assembly and the addresses so I'll have about 2 weeks to do that. I figure if I do about 10 a day I should be fine. They are going to look so awesome!! I came up with the colors and design myself. :)<br /><br />I had to drop off my engagement ring to the jeweler designer yesterday. :( He'll have it for about 1 week. I'm having my wedding ring made to match my engagement ring so he has to have it to build the mold for the wedding ring. I'm having my Nana's (great-grandmother) diamonds from her wedding ring put into my wedding ring. It should take about 8 weeks for that to be finished.<br /><br />I've worn my ring everyday, 24 hours a day, since Jason gave it to me about 9 months ago, so it's really strange. I keep feeling for it and it's not there, so for a second I think I've lost it.<br /><br />My dress should arrive by the end of February and I can't wait to try it on and get it altered. I know it's going to be too big. I've lost a solid (no water weight) 5 pounds this month! My dress is really tight fitting so after I get it altered I don't want to lose anymore weight... I won't have time to re-alter it. I'll have to really regulate my diet of eating more or less everyday... lol<br /><br />I literally just got off the phone with the photographer. I just hired him to do the wedding... I really now have a sense of relief, he'll be there all day to take all the photos and we don't have to worry about one of our friends or family doing it like Jason originally wanted.<br /><br />I decided that I'm paying for certain wedding things out of my own pocket (like the photographer!). It's worked out so great! We already budgeted everything a while ago and Jason knows what we've paid and still owe etc. That never changes... so when I want more things I just buy it myself and I don't have to hear him complain about it. Genius... yeah I haven't been able to do much clothes shopping lately but I'm okay with that for a few more months.<br /><br />My mom and Heidi are starting to work on the Bridal shower, that's only 3 months away! I can't wait! Heidi and I are also planning my bachelorette party too... lots of parties. :)<br /><br />Jason knows someone who owns a house up in Tahoe and he's letting him and about 10 of his friends go up there for the weekend for his bachelor party at the end of April.<br /><br />That's about it for now... just lots of waiting and meetings in the next month. Finalizing a few details, etc.<br /><br />On my days off I really let loose, frequent restaurants/bars, etc... here I am at Stark's Steakhouse (after a few drinks). It was a request by all 3 patrons in the bar for me to play piano... I'm just hitting the keys... I don't know what I'm doing. ;)<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx8CY0TI48iYrsiOcPRF9DYRh8UeQKI_mcu8Dk-f0FDAwxd5otwSpD80MbVL_OVu2YwwqQgoLuSJRixU03XXA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-46878971137615944212008-01-08T21:51:00.000-08:002008-01-08T22:00:02.759-08:00Booked!!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">KAUAI!!!</span></span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6LOubd1n-r8_gBqh2aVESAg8xB4DNzsI7YjDTDR1TBvhMiloUUBsjCe43Z6mXOFb73zwPppyDzlBE9Mv8OgIVABY1EC1yLTGif5TvlyM_EV31ydaee1bJ1RL856YCdtsxWzSvkNxeFFO/s1600-h/ph370wbr_hka_aerial.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6LOubd1n-r8_gBqh2aVESAg8xB4DNzsI7YjDTDR1TBvhMiloUUBsjCe43Z6mXOFb73zwPppyDzlBE9Mv8OgIVABY1EC1yLTGif5TvlyM_EV31ydaee1bJ1RL856YCdtsxWzSvkNxeFFO/s400/ph370wbr_hka_aerial.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153352008166589202" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCqpuxEglJUpylpt0FcfExyi3Q0brsC7rsk36WJNO0aS3bMlI7MPHyIgKPMafCnQQWsDu8gybfNsabpTe1Xyh1-FloZWtXZucx6dGgbOiNsY2O0_3cfHAmZpVXVO_GyB7x0qgEQGzsx9T/s1600-h/ph370wbr_hka_poolslide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCqpuxEglJUpylpt0FcfExyi3Q0brsC7rsk36WJNO0aS3bMlI7MPHyIgKPMafCnQQWsDu8gybfNsabpTe1Xyh1-FloZWtXZucx6dGgbOiNsY2O0_3cfHAmZpVXVO_GyB7x0qgEQGzsx9T/s400/ph370wbr_hka_poolslide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153352119835738978" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3W3zsWQx6F1LmMDyJC9heCfoTTCQf2qeldqMk061VdNmExfAdOIYlZ3JeHOVqi7cbFj0aQGqQ2s990VZ7SH_lX2yfhIWrahwKn5Hxg-viE5JKYtC6Slqlbb9NH5YMadZxINHVy1tkG_DJ/s1600-h/ph370wbr_hka_bed.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3W3zsWQx6F1LmMDyJC9heCfoTTCQf2qeldqMk061VdNmExfAdOIYlZ3JeHOVqi7cbFj0aQGqQ2s990VZ7SH_lX2yfhIWrahwKn5Hxg-viE5JKYtC6Slqlbb9NH5YMadZxINHVy1tkG_DJ/s400/ph370wbr_hka_bed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153352012461556514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOHeadj1dB1OBu_seeGydO4qG1DOt-3WJ1B47PGy0HN6kw3WhyphenhyphenztSv1Qsb-ndQARcLGbth5jhqGQc1H4Ap4Unzn7NBtWTg7kKohm5VKb-kfmppZXKPV1zRtK4PUGc3ZrwlULRQRI48YeWG/s1600-h/ph370wbr_hka_kitchen1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOHeadj1dB1OBu_seeGydO4qG1DOt-3WJ1B47PGy0HN6kw3WhyphenhyphenztSv1Qsb-ndQARcLGbth5jhqGQc1H4Ap4Unzn7NBtWTg7kKohm5VKb-kfmppZXKPV1zRtK4PUGc3ZrwlULRQRI48YeWG/s400/ph370wbr_hka_kitchen1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153352012461556530" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBK18_nKZfRFwBYhcAGw3-re2SI_e6S9AeHS5OVdLgFkzMsyec3epstcFOGZE_PmjVBbTQgyW2AoalGFc6sotjVPZSNWX5dKkSzOt1PFaPMAFA4KYY9DUia9iKx5fsNdWgJCWIrsEPljvf/s1600-h/ph370wbr_hka_parlor.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBK18_nKZfRFwBYhcAGw3-re2SI_e6S9AeHS5OVdLgFkzMsyec3epstcFOGZE_PmjVBbTQgyW2AoalGFc6sotjVPZSNWX5dKkSzOt1PFaPMAFA4KYY9DUia9iKx5fsNdWgJCWIrsEPljvf/s400/ph370wbr_hka_parlor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153352012461556546" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhh8qGouQJdoQ5CuRaGvMOhrTpkvodzh3b6JB7OYaWPlGu4OtAtFxa1CdSssEZGWNO6ZWeeUV6aK__Mpe5UA4LxbzdyBECR-tD6G-GJTzNcHnSni_lNCx4-P1VOjP8CkwVs3JhXUtSU1u/s1600-h/ph370wbr_hka_pooloceanview_a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhh8qGouQJdoQ5CuRaGvMOhrTpkvodzh3b6JB7OYaWPlGu4OtAtFxa1CdSssEZGWNO6ZWeeUV6aK__Mpe5UA4LxbzdyBECR-tD6G-GJTzNcHnSni_lNCx4-P1VOjP8CkwVs3JhXUtSU1u/s400/ph370wbr_hka_pooloceanview_a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153352016756523858" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ALOHA!</span></span><br /></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-30263516756473316402008-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:002008-01-08T11:11:58.890-08:00All Wedding, All the timeSo... we've really gotten down to business this last week. Now that the holiday's are over Jason is full on with this wedding.<br />He asked me not to talk about it until after the holidays. December is the worst time of the year for his job and he gets very stressed so he didn't want to have to think about anything else. I totally understood so I stayed away from that subject as much as I could.<br /><br />So here's a list of what we've accomplished and are in the middle of accomplishing!<br /><br />(I did get my dress a few months ago and it should arrive by the end of next month)<br /><br />We figured out what Jason and all the boys are wearing! Jason and I were grocery shopping and while at the checkout I turned and saw a bridal magazine with the perfect outfit for him! The girl on the cover was wearing the exact same color white as my dress and together they looked amazing!<br /><br />Heidi was at Macy's the other day and found the exact same tie for his suit so she bought it... now we just need to get him the suit. But that's the easy part since we know exactly what we want. We are going to match up the groomsmen and the Dad's to the same colors.<br /><br />I also found the flower girl dresses, they will also tie in with all of us. It's funny how 6 months ago I couldn't imagine the color scheme, attire, etc. Now it's all a perfect picture in my head... I love how it's all coming together.<br /><br />We asked my brother to be an usher and we are also asking one of Jason's closest friends too... they will also wear matching suits. We wanted both of them to be apart of the wedding and this worked out perfectly. We figure with so many people coming to the wedding it would be nice to have ushers to help seat and organize the group of people so no one would be confused. We aren't having split sides to the seating so we want everyone to mix on both sides but we will have some reserve seating, etc.<br /><br />We met with the baker yesterday and ordered our cake! I still have to go back and finalize the outer decor but the deposit is in and the flavors are picked.<br /><br />Marsha wrote a wonderful letter for all the guests about all the pre-wedding activities and the wedding itself. She's sending those out this week.<br /><br />We are meeting with the caterer next week to finalize the menu and rentals.<br /><br />I started on the invitations... I have some of the wording down and I think we know kind of how we want it to look. A friend who is going to help design them, is temperately out of commission... so I'm just on hold with that for now. I'm not sure if she'll still be able to help us or if we have to use someone else.<br /><br />And we've finally started working on the music list. Jason worked for a few hours yesterday, downloading some songs we're pretty sure the DJ doesn't have. We know the very last song of the night! But we have much much more to do... we still haven't picked out "our" song yet... it's so hard!<br /><br />I'm getting my trial hairdo done next month... it's so great that my hairdresser is also my mom and Heidi's hairdresser so she'll be able to come out to the site and do all our hair and then of course stay for the wedding! She's friends with a lot of us so it really worked out perfectly.<br /><br />We just need to decide on a photographer, and if we want a videographer, and the invitations... that's about it!<br /><br />Phew! So much work but it's so fun!<br /><br />Here's a few pics from New Year's Eve... we had a few people over for appetizers and drinks... it ended up being a great night!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzFjTDkYw5Ta-iZ_ED3Jp9LoIix_tkMCrtJLHRSb2ZsdS5ZU5XGKxFI1vw0TS5D_BNF6-lPimhrfP9IYY1XSO6RQly6prjL0ivAmzPYV_4oOzqRvofeFiSmJN1hr6bO56QCMoFvEJcGRW/s1600-h/Newyears.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzFjTDkYw5Ta-iZ_ED3Jp9LoIix_tkMCrtJLHRSb2ZsdS5ZU5XGKxFI1vw0TS5D_BNF6-lPimhrfP9IYY1XSO6RQly6prjL0ivAmzPYV_4oOzqRvofeFiSmJN1hr6bO56QCMoFvEJcGRW/s400/Newyears.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153185230291518194" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoq7EsEa8q-fZa_yzgaBZ7OJwNQu3GLmqqJg28jeBWLd6mPjUCFpkHiHKNlAEIbIyvgKUGgNSkqXdZqjXqaWR4Fg85XXzJZJQxhWA40Vhg-D7TUwAzaNVzhDtxI4mlfCLrY5iDQbP3_i2/s1600-h/JasNY.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoq7EsEa8q-fZa_yzgaBZ7OJwNQu3GLmqqJg28jeBWLd6mPjUCFpkHiHKNlAEIbIyvgKUGgNSkqXdZqjXqaWR4Fg85XXzJZJQxhWA40Vhg-D7TUwAzaNVzhDtxI4mlfCLrY5iDQbP3_i2/s400/JasNY.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153185397795242754" border="0" /></a>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-20654547649400981272007-12-28T10:30:00.000-08:002007-12-28T10:53:39.993-08:00All Right, All RightYeah I haven't posted in a while because I'm lazy... :) But from the overwhelming requests to read more new posts I've come back to catch you all up... all three of you who will still read this.<br /><br />5 months to go!! I'm starting to feel the pressure even though I've already gotten most of the big stuff done. It's the figuring out Jason's outfit, his best men's outfits, Jason's ring and the music selection. So basically all the stuff Jason needs to decide on. I'm going to make that be my goal for next month.<br /><br />I'm also getting the invitations designed next month along with my wedding ring, which I've already designed with the jeweler. Once my wedding ring is done by the end of January we will pick out Jason's ring too.<br /><br />We will also go and sample cakes and write the ceremony next month. I told Jason and Heidi last night, "Just be prepared for many many "wedding" meetings in the upcoming months." They just rolled their eyes at me.<br /><br />So lots of little stuff to do but I think I have everything pretty organized. Jason's parents were in town over the holiday and we were able to decide on some more things for the rehearsal BBQ and we also decided to go with seating arrangements at the wedding which we weren't originally going to have but since there will be so many people we thought it would be best to have it a little more organized so people don't have to decided where to sit on their own and feel awkward.<br /><br />I want to be done with all of this by the end of February which I think is possible... we'll see! I'll try and make more posts as I get things done, mostly for myself so I can come back after all of this and laugh at my silly antics. :)Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-63860961746704181022007-10-20T10:22:00.000-07:002007-10-20T10:58:44.970-07:00Date nightLast night Jason and I went out to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">celebrate</span> our 2 year 1st date <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">anniversary</span>... (I told him last year of these silly dates until we get married) Once we are married we'll just have our anniversary of when we became boyfriend/girlfriend and our wedding anniversary.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We first played Racquetball and then went out to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Rosso's</span> for dinner. The place was packed and so we had to wait about 20 minutes but it was worth it because we got a great booth. We had a glass of wine while we waited and talked about the wedding. We finally now have all our contracts. I just got back the revised estimated contract from the caterer and I was so excited to see that they got the price down within our budget. There's not much more we need to do for the rest of the year which is nice because we will both be really wrapped up in our jobs because of the holidays.<br /></div><br />Dinner was fabulous as always and afterwards we decided to go to a new bar in downtown Santa Rosa for an after drink. Toad in the Hole is right down the street from The Last Day Salon and our friend Doug is an owner. We get there and this really good Irish band is playing, just our luck. We love seeing live music. So we get a drink and sit at a table and enjoy the music for a bit and we see our friends John and KC outside. So funny because Jason said later that he had a feeling that we would run into them. They come in and have a drink with us and then the waitress comes around and tells us that someone had bought a round drinks for everyone in the bar. There must of been about 40 people in there. That was cool, we've never had that happen to us.<br /><br />It ended up being the perfect night for us. We have a busy next few weeks... and I feel like I'll hardly see Jason. I'm going dress shopping on Monday so us girls will be gone all day. Then Tuesday afternoon Jason is going down to the city for Whiskey Fest (he'll be staying the night down there at our friend Andy's house). Then he's going back to the city again on Friday night for the weekend at Andy's but I'm going down to meet him on Saturday night because we are going to this really cool concert at the Shoreline on Sunday. The concert is all <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">acoustic</span> and some of the headliners are: Neil Young, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Metalica</span>, Tom Waits (Jason's favorite) and John Meyer. Can't wait!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-82680968180871391022007-10-05T09:59:00.000-07:002007-10-05T10:13:28.493-07:00Moving right along...Things on the wedding front are moving along very smoothly... my friend and Heidi's cousin, Monica, scheduled all the appointments at four boutiques in Sacramento for the wedding dress shopping extravaganza. I'm so excited I can't wait!! And I can't believe its only in a few weeks!<br /><br />Jason and I are going to check out a local band tonight at the Ace in the Hole Brewery. We've both never been to this brewery and it's only 10 minutes from our house in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Graton</span>. This band is playing during their happy hour 4:30 - 6:30 and it's perfect timing for Jason because today is the only day he gets off work early. He's going to go straight from work and I'm going to meet him there after I get off work. Plus he can watch the playoffs (GO YANKEE'S!!) Something is blocking our dish and we can't get some of our channels. We've had them out to fix it but it's not fixable.... so.... we might have to get cable/digital whatever just not a dish. Something to look into... I don't like a cranky fiance' when he can't watch his baseball, or the history channel, or the food network. :)<br /><br />So I hope that we love this band because they would only be $700.00 and then this way we can also hire a DJ and we wouldn't be going over budget.<br /><br />Now I just need someone... hint hint... someone who reads this... to send out the save the date information. :)Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-66344873316554973812007-10-03T13:20:00.001-07:002007-10-03T14:02:49.212-07:00Forever!<p class="MsoNormal">I know it's been forever since I last posted... it's like going to the gym, if I don't keep up with it then I slack off and get lazy. I figured since I've been going to the gym more I'm going to blog more!<br /><br />Anyway its so funny how the brain works, I could probably bet I'm the least stressed about this wedding but my subconscious thinks otherwise. I had another anxiety dream last night about the wedding and it was too funny.<br /><br />Here's the dream:<br /><br />First I realize that our wedding is TOMORROW and we are so not prepared. I ask Jason if he hired a band/D.J. etc and he said no (it's his job to decide on the music... I'll get to that later). So we are calling around and no one can do it, we can't even rent speakers and mics so we are SOL. The day of the wedding comes and we are at this hotel getting set up and the caterers aren't there. I call and she tells me that she forgot about the wedding and all she could do at this point is supply milk. There is a party next to us and a pizza company is supplying their food and drinks... they say they can help us out but only give us a few bottles of water and soda. I notice at this point all the guests got into the <st1:state><st1:place>Champagne</st1:place></st1:state> and drank it all and bottles are strewn everywhere and some of the guests are drunk.<br /><br />Heidi and Charlie couldn't make it because the wedding was on Halloween and they had another party to go to so I don't have anyone helping me get ready. For some reason I walk down the isle evaluating the situation and realize everyone has seen me (I'm not in my wedding dress yet) so I hurry and walk back up to my room and I'm limping because I'm only wearing one shoe so I look ridiculous. I see Jason and tell him I'm excited about getting married and he ignores me... lol... so I go up to my room to get ready and I don't have anyone to do my hair and make up and I'm already late... so I find this girl (who I went to high school with, random because I don't talk to her) and she does my hair but puts it all up in these huge pins that are not very flattering... but it doesn't matter because my hair fell out of the pins and was crazy frizzy looking. I realize I don't have time to do my make up so I get dressed and look in the mirror and my dress is this orange wrap ugly ass thing. I'm thinking in my head that I know things will go wrong at weddings, and not the way you exactly planned but this was ridiculous. I know everyone was waiting for me to walk down the aisle and I'm trying to have this girl fix my hair when I see that she has a baby so I thought how cute... I pick up the baby and it spits up all over me and my dress... at that point the only other person there was a 5 year old girl so I ask her to go and get me a glass of champagne and I started thinking this is wrong... I shouldn't ask a child to get me a drink! Oh and Jason and I forgot to write our ceremony/vows so we weren’t sure what we were going to say...<br /><br />I woke up laughing... I think it's so funny how I trip out about this when first of all the wedding is far away (well 8 months) and second of all everything has been running so smoothly there is nothing to stress about!!<br /><br />Now on to the real stuff:<br /><br />We picked our caterer and she was the first one we went and did the tasting with. We really like the way they want to work with us to design the menu and are very flexible and open to our suggestions. The other caterers were more firm about what they want and how they want to present their food... also the caterer we chose said that she will stick to our budget no matter what and so we know we won't be paying anything extra and there are no hidden fees.<br /><br />Like I mentioned above, Jason is in charge of the music... but I have to do all the research for him... lol We found a DJ that we would like to use that is if we don't get a live band and right now we are (I am) doing research on bands. I contacted Anders Osborne's manager (musician from <st1:city><st1:place>New Orleans</st1:place></st1:city>) and they quoted me at 8k plus expenses! Who does he think he is!! ;) So that's a little pricey for us... so sad because both Jas and I love love him! So then I looked into booking James Hunter, he just did a show in <st1:city><st1:place>Petaluma</st1:place></st1:city> and Jason went and saw him and said he was fantastic in person and everyone was dancing. So I contacted his manager and he's 20k plus expenses. Now Anders doesn't look so bad. :)<br /><br />Now I'm contacting more local bands that play around here and if I can find someone good and not too expensive we can hire them for a 1 1-2 hour show and have a DJ do the rest (ceremony, first dance, end of the night dance music, etc.) This will be the last of the contracts if we can get the ball rolling!<br /><br />Oh, and I meet with our florist last Monday. She was recommended to me by her mom who I ran into while doing a tasting a while ago. I love love love this florist! She was so professional and loved all my ideas I had and I looked through her portfolio and she really does an amazing job. We went through every last detail of what I envision and it's going to be so beautiful! Plus the best news is she's right in our budget! The first time I was excited about seeing a contract!<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br />Dress shopping in just a few weeks!! I can't wait it's going to be the best time... I've been looking through magazines and I still haven't a clue of what style I want. I need to narrow it down before I go so I'm not overwhelmed. I'll be working on that in the next few weeks.<br /><br />One more thing is that I'm finally getting this minor cosmetic surgery done that I've wanted to do for about 6 years now. The technology is advanced enough now that this procedure which I'll have to go back 4 more times for is quick and painless. I went in for my first visit yesterday and it went so well... I was nervous but now I'm excited because it's so much easier than I thought.<o:p></o:p></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-34066906823013298952007-09-05T14:19:00.000-07:002007-09-08T10:16:23.871-07:00My first anxiety dream about the wedding!!I totally had an anxiety dream about the wedding last night. I dreamt that our wedding was 4 weeks from now, right after my brother's wedding. I didn't realize until someone at work told me and I started breaking down because I hadn't found my dress, ordered the invitations, got the flowers, etc. I was running through a dress shop but I couldn't find any wedding dresses... lol I actually woke up and was laughing about it because it was the first time I really dreamt anything wedding wise.<br /><br />I'm sure it's probably because Jason's parents are in town for the weekend scouting out accommodations for their family and friends and we are planning on meeting up with my parents to catch up and talk about the wedding.<br /><br />Every little step further we take the more I know that the wedding is getting closer and it's going by faster than I thought. (Stop all of you who say to enjoy every moment!!) I am enjoying ever moment and with this blog I can look back and remember all the processes we took into getting there.<br /><br />And it might be too that Ryan and Kela's wedding is coming up in a few weeks and Kela and I write back and forth about what's left on their to-do list. I can feel the pressure and angst that they must have.<br /><br />Well, we have one more appointment with a caterer on Monday and then we'll look over all the contracts and discuss who we'll be going with. That will be a weight lifter for sure... not that I'm worried about it but it'll be something huge to cross off my list.<br /><br />The next step is going to be the most fun: Wedding Dress Shopping<br /><br />I plan on going up to Sacramento with Heidi, my mom and (hopefully if she can make it) Marsha, my future Mother-in-law. I know it's a long haul for her to come up for a shopping trip so I told her it's up to her if she wants to do it. I'm going to try to set a date to do that in Mid October.<br /><br />I've also been in contact with a florist and once her "wedding" season is done I'm going to meet with her for a consultation.<br /><br />So we are pretty much on schedule... nothing like my dream was all about. :)Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-3937265105896707672007-08-30T15:59:00.001-07:002007-08-30T16:19:27.053-07:00Healdsburg is Hot!Back at work and it's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">friggin</span>' hot out! Especially up here in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Healdsburg</span>... well it's supposed to cool down in the next few days so I hope! No more 3-day weekends for me... I really can't handle being away that long from work during this time of year... winter on the other hand... I could be off for weeks at a time!<br /><br />So Heidi and I checked out that restaurant (I still don't know the name of it) and well it's nice if your a hungry guy who's just finished golfing and need something warm and quick. We decided not to eat there once we saw the menu it's more of a cafeteria style restaurant. But Sheri did buy us a few glasses of wine and we sat at the bar which was nice.<br /><br />We were starving so we went back to our favorite new restaurant <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Rosso</span></span>! I especially love this restaurant because they never close during lunch and dinner so you know you can come at anytime during the day and get served. It was almost 2:30 and we both <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">hadn't</span> eaten a single thing! We ordered the grilled artichoke, fried calamari and veggies and split a salad. Oh, and had a couple glasses of wine of course! We stayed there for a few hours and then went back to her house and hung out with her husband for a bit before I headed back home.<br /><br />Jason's youngest brother, Gregg, decided to come into town (he needs to check out the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Humboldt</span> area 4 hours north of us) and will be here late tomorrow night. He'll stay with us through Sunday morning and then head off north with their other brother, Marc. It'll be fun to visit with him since we last saw him a few months ago on our road trip. He and his wife, Lindsay, live in Flagstaff, AZ. So we'll have a pretty busy weekend/week... <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">every night</span> but tonight.<br /><br />Tomorrow we are going to meet with Joel and Audra at the Starlight Wine Bar in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Sebastopol</span>. I've mentioned that they are getting married on September 15<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">th</span>... they got engaged about one week after me and Jason. I'm dying to know how the wedding is coming along! I don't know how they are doing it! We are now down to 9 months and we have so so so much to do/decide.<br /><br />Then Gregg will be in town and I'm sure we'll BBQ at our house Saturday night. Then my parent's Labor Day party is on Sunday night, and then our friends (John and Casey) are having a catered <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">luncheon</span> on Monday.<br /><br />And then just a few days to unwind before my future in-laws come into town! They will be here the 8-10 of September. I don't want to go any further than that... I'm too scared to look at the calendar. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">lol</span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194746980778229050.post-39437976323756894862007-08-29T11:06:00.000-07:002007-08-29T11:24:55.180-07:00Pilot Light<p class="MsoNormal">Yesterday our house decided to fall apart... well it has been for some time but yesterday it really got to me. First Jason told me that he didn't get much warm water when he took a shower so I didn't think too much of it at first but after I came home from the gym and had to take and ice cold shower I knew something was up.<br /><br />Then when I came back home from the grocery store I couldn't get into the front door. I think from the house settling it's leaning to the side where the front door is. I was kicking and yelling at the door in frustration... like that's going to get me anywhere... lol I was finally able to get in after about 5 minutes!<br /><br />When Jason came home he looked at the water heater and saw that the pilot light was out. He had to turn off the water the other day to fix the piping in the shower (which he did so well!) and so that automatically turned off the pilot light which we weren't aware of. We both had never lit the pilot light before and we were scared. He had to go back to work so I tried to get some guy (Charlie/Ryan/Daws) over here to light it for us. Everyone I talked to said "Oh, it's so easy, just make sure that there's no gas coming out when you light it." Yeah! so you don't blow up! Everyone was busy (my brother was just lazy) to come by so Jason said that he would do it when he got off work. I told him that I'd help him and if he was going to get blown up I would to with him. ;)<br /><br />Jason came home and I helped him with the flash light and we lit it!!! I really was so easy... I could do it now without being scared. I'm glad we did it ourselves because now we know! :)<br /><br />So next is getting the door fixed, it's so bad that we could leave it unlocked and people still couldn't break in.<br /><br />But for now I'm going to meet Heidi and we are going to go check out yet another new restaurant for lunch. I don't even know the name of it but it's in the Bennett Valley Golf Course and our friend Sheri runs it. </p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13141818848711677898noreply@blogger.com2