It's Official!

I finally went to the Social Security office and changed to my married name. It was pretty painless and faster than I had expected. Now I just have to go to the DMV. Hopefully that goes well too.

Yay! It's Friday!

Finally, a weekend with no birthdays, no wedding stuff, nothing to do but spend quality time with the kids and my hubby. We've been promising the girls we would take them bowling so, I think that's what we'll do on Saturday. I also plan on shopping for all of my Thanksgiving groceries this weekend. Like everyone else! So, I'm sure the supermarket will be busy.
Things I plan to make: Green Bean Casserole and Pumpkin Bars. I've made the casserole a few times so, it's pretty simple. I wanted to try to make a different type of dessert this year so, I looked around on the Food Network site for ideas. I wanted something that was Thanksgiving-ish (can't think of a better way to describe it). I decided on a Pumpkin Bar recipe. I hope they taste as good as they look in the picture:

Yum!

More Wedding Pictures!

All of the wedding pictures taken by friends and family are finally trickling in. Here are just a few of my faves: (I could be here all night)  :)

We did it!!

Our first dance.

Working the dance floor. I thought it was funny how I'm

the only one looking at the camera. 

I can't wait for the pro pics!

I rocked the vote!

I went to vote yesterday before I picked up the girls from school. I was pleased when I saw that there were no lines and I breezed right through. Did my part, got my "I Voted" sticker and walked right out. It felt awesome. I have to say, this is the first time I've ever felt so empowered by my vote. As I watched Obama's acceptance speech last night, I felt like this is really the time for change and hope for better times ahead. I was so overcome by the excitement of it all it made me tear up. (I know, what a cheeseball).

Married Bliss

It's been a while since my last blog. I'm now officially married! yay! The wedding was awesome, we are all settled in our new place and enjoying married life. The past few weeks have been so busy, so much to share. Picture post comming soon! This is a picture sent to me by some of my girlfriends. It was such a blast!

Yummy Treats Are Back!

This was the highlight of my day when I saw this at lunch:

The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is back!! mmm this is my comfort drink during the holidays. I know, it's the simple things that make me happy sometimes. :]

I can't believe the holiday season is already upon us.

Stressful Times

*Wedding is almost 4 weeks away!... 4.. cuatro! I'm excited but, at the same time I'm nervous that I don't have everything ready or that I might be forgetting something. I wish I had a wedding coordinator to help. I thought I would be ok without it. I'm trying not to panic.
*We are looking for a place to move into. I'm waiting to hear back from a place we applied for this past weekend and it's stressing me out!
*Work is so busy right now. It's the busiest time of the year for us. I'm starting to answer my cell phone the same way I answer it in the office. ughzzzz :[
*I have my next fitting for my dress this Saturday, I hope it fits!
*We booked our honeymoon flight to Maui. yay! but, I haven't officially been given my vacation time at work. Technically it's been approved but, the lady that tells me exactly how much time I have is totally lagging! I swear everything in this place takes forever to process. I requested it about two weeks ago. It's really starting to get to me. I hope by the end of this week things will be finalized. If not, I guess I'm still going to Maui either way. See ya!
*I have to get a hold of people that haven't sent their RSVP yet. Yes or No people, I even put a stamp on it for you!
*My friends have planned a girls night out for me at the end of this month. I feel so bad because I've been so busy with work, wedding stuff and trying to get a new place. I haven't had much time to call any of them.
My head hurts. At least it's a short week.

Engagement Pictures

Yay! We finally get to see our pictures!


Our pictures were taken by the very talented Christine Farah. When I saw her work I knew I wanted to book her for our wedding. I even contacted her over a year in advance! I knew that if I didn't make my move I would lose the chance of booking her for our date. We finally got to meet on the day of our engagement shoot. I think we were both nervous since we hadn't ever done a 'photo shoot' type of thing (I'm no supermodel) and we hadn't met Crissy yet. But, once we saw her and got started it was a lot of fun. She is so easy going and we just took her lead. I know she only posted a few pictures of that day so, I can't wait to see the rest! Here is one of my favorites:

You can see the rest here. The one of us crossing the street cracks me up. What is up with my hair??! lol I can't wait until the day of the wedding! Thank You Crissy!!

The night we sent out our invitations...

This is us just being funny. It was late and there was no one at the post office. We were happy to finally get the invites out!

Now, we're just waiting for all of the responses to come in.

Target is Love

So, I was reading through the wonderful blog of NannersP and I came accross this gem in her blogroll: Inside My Target Cart. A whole blog devoted to stuff you buy at Target! I love going to Target myself. I can never go there for just one thing either. Even if I'm going for something like hairspray, I need to go by the dollar section up front, all-the-way-around by the clothes, shoes, kid clothes, garden stuff, seasonal/holiday stuff, until I finally get to the hair product aisle. :) By the time I get to the register I end up with more than what I needed of course. I've been trying to cut back on my Tar-jay trips lately to save money for the wedding. I only go if I absolutely have to. *sigh* I will have to live vicariously through Inside My Target Cart. :)

Semi-DIY

Ok, so the plan with my invites didn't turn out exactly as I had planned. I got the look I wanted but, ended up just having them made professionally.Here's what we ended up with:

(I apologize for the crappy pictures)

Stardream paper with pink dotted border, chocolate brown font.

I was still able to add a belly band like I wanted. I purchased the ribbon and paper from Paper Source. I created the monogram in photoshop. I think it came out quite nice.

I also made a directions card with a map. I really like how it turned out:

The pictures really don't do them any justice. I was really happy with the way they turned out. Simple, yet elegant. I think I just tried to take on more than I could handle. I did use most of my supplies that I had purchased from Paper Source so, I don't feel like I made any extra expenses. I felt a lot better once I saw the finished product. It was a relief to have them all done! I have some fun pictures of the night we mailed them all out. I'll have to post them later from my laptop.

OK.. invitations... CHECK!

double digits!

oh lord. I've reached 93 days and counting!! I can't believe the wedding is almost here. I feel like I'm forgetting to do something. Although wedding planning can be fun, lately I've been avoiding anything wedding related. I wish I could be like those brides on Platinum Weddings and just delegate everything to a wedding planner. There would be an unlimited budget and we would have an unlimited guest list. But, that is not the case. I'm in the middle of creating wedding invitations and trying to figure out how I'm going to get them done in time to mail out by my July 31st deadline. Wedding is 2nd weekend of October so, I figured I need to send them out by the beginning of August? At first I wanted to just have someone make them but I wanted to 'joy'of DIYing them myself. I wanted to be able to say I put in some hard work to create them. I'm attempting to create a mock-up and take it to a local print shop tomorrow to get a quote. I'll have to post a pic when I'm done. I need to just focus and do this!
ok. vent over.

(back to work, and sipping on in-n-out strawberry shake... yum)

Blogs

I love to read blogs. I read them practically on a daily basis. (mostly during my lunch hour) Blogs can be pretty helpful. Blogs have helped me plan my wedding. I've found some great places to eat at or would like to eat at. I've learned a lot about places I've never been to and I've learned that there are some people out there who think just like me. So, a few months ago I decided I would give it a try. Well, I haven't been so great at it. :[ I always think of what to write about in my head throughout my day but, I just can't seem to make time. Anyway, I'm mostly a lurker and occasionally I will comment. I don't think anyone has ever read my blog (not much here to read lately anyway) but, maybe at some point I won't be just a lurker anymore.
Til next time!