Wedding Recap (as requested)

Okay, so here is a little wedding recap as requested.  I didn't take any pictures that day, so these are ones I got from other people mostly through text or facebook.  I will post some nice ones whenever I get them back from the photographer.

Ryan bought me some really lovely presents for our wedding day.  He bought me this really pretty box to keep my rings in.  It is engraved with a little message, our names and the date.

 

He bought also bought me a beautiful necklace engraved with a message from him.  This picture really doesn't do it justice at all. I considered wearing it to the wedding, but decided to wear the beautiful pearls he got me for Christmas.

 

He also bought me a face mask from Lush my favorite store.  It was a lovely surprise.   I had my hair and make-up done at Lords and Ladies in Pottstown.  They did a fabulous job.  The make-up was a little more dramatic than I probably would have opted for (I don't generally reach for navy blue eyeshadow) but I thought it looked really pretty in person.  They also put in the veil (thank goodness, because I had no idea how to put it in).  It was the veil my sister wore in her wedding.  I just wore my hair half up and in long loose curls.  I was so impressed with the girl who did my hair, because my hair is so fine and never holds a curl. Even with the icky rainy misty weather my hair stayed curled until the next day, which is nothing short of a miracle.  She also didn't use pins, she used this stuff thread stuff and literally sewed my hair up in place with a special plastic needle.    This is the only picture I took all day:

The weather has been miserable and rainy earlier that morning, but when we got there, it had let up quite a bit.  It stayed misty, but we did manage to get pictures outdoors. 

When we got there we did a quick rehearsal run through. My poor aunt went to pick up my flowers and her rental car broke down at the florists picking up my bouquet.  We had the same pastor that married Ryan's brother and sister in law marry us.  We liked their ceremony so much that we asked him to do ours.  We took some family photos before the guests arrived.  I will share those as soon as I get them.  Our photographer was Erin Bertoni and she is so sweet!

Oh, here's a shot of one of my pairs of shoes.  I wore these for the ceremony and the pictures.  I feel in love with them at Nine West.  They were adorable, but terribly uncomfortable.  I also had a pair of really cute retro looking bright yellow wedges, which were heavenly to slip into once the pictures were officially over.  The were from Joan and David and I actually found them via an ad in my sidebar on facebook.  My dress was from a random website that I put my measurements into.  The dress came from China a few weeks later.

Soon we were done with family pictures and guests were arriving.  It was a very tiny wedding, and I didn't have bridesmaids or anything.  My family entered and sat to an acoustic version of Lady Antebellum's "Just a Kiss".  I walked in to an instrumental version of Counting Crow's Colorblind (because OF COURSE I had to think of some way to include my favorite band of all time in my wedding). 

a little blurry, but a cute shot of me and my dad via Nicole's cell phone

The ceremony was lovely. We were able to include both of our sister's in the ceremony.   My sister sang Push by Sarah McLachlan and she sounded amazing.  My photographer (who is getting married herself shortly) even asked my sister if she was a wedding singer.  Ryan's sister Katherine did a reading about love.  It was a lovely ceremony. 

We walked out to "Crazy for You" by Madonna.  Everyone else enjoyed some appetizers while we were off for more pictures.  I only got to try one meatball, but I heard the appetizers were yummy. 

This is me and my freshman year roommate Nicole.  I was so glad she and her husband Jon were able to come down from New York City for the wedding.  Besides my siblings, she was the only one I knew for sure would recognize Colorblind. 

 

Anyways, there were some minor issues with placecards and seating that were worked out quickly.  We had a sweetheart table up front for Ryan and I, but Isaac decided he wanted to join us, rather than sit with my parents, and we accommodated him.  The waitress came and asked what he would he having for dinner, and I answered "We ordered him the chicken fingers" which was the children's meal.  He turned to me, totally offended and said "Well I would rather have steak!".  Our waitress obliged. 

 

Isaac with Ryan's parents

 

The salmon and steak were excellent, although we heard from our vegetarian friends that the polenta was a bit of a letdown. 

This is a little collage of pictures my sister in law Deb took.   

 

While everyone enjoyed cake and icecream, we played The Shoe Game which was a total Pinterest find.  Ryan's mother agreed to put the questions together and she did a great job.  We didn't know any of the questions she was going to ask, which made it a riot. 

 Afterward the shoe game, we took a group shot with everyone at the wedding (see, told you it was a small wedding, we all fit in one picture) and then we headed moved the party up the street to the Limerick Bowling Alley. 

 

the only shot of me I have found from the bowling alley.  My mom made me and Ryan "Bride" and "Groom" t-shirts.

 

I was trying to think of something fun to do besides dancing at our wedding.  I love dancing but I thought it might be awkward with such a small group of people.  Then it occurred to me that Limerick Bowling Alley, where Ryan and I had our first date was almost right across the street.  We have taken our kids there for family dates many times since, so it seemed like a natural choice.  My dad arranged for us to have some lanes to ourselves for a few hours.  Some people stayed in their wedding clothes and some people changed.  A few people bowed out, but we had a pretty good group that made it over to the bowling alley.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was a great way to break up the formalness of the wedding and really get people to mix and mingle and have fun with each other.  Almost everyone stayed the whole two hours that we rented out the lanes for, even my very pregnant friend Becca, who was a total trooper.

 

stolen from Selena's facebook -- isn't she adorable?

It was SO MUCH FUN!  Thanks Mom and Dad for everything you did to make everything that day so special!  And also to my sister Jennifer and brother in law Drew, Aunt Kathy, my grandmother and others who travelled a great distance to be there with us. 

 

We broke the "no cell phones" rule for this quick pic.

 

 We are saving our honeymoon for a cruise this summer when we are both able to take more time off of work, but we did schedule ourselves a little spa day.  We enjoyed sauna time, a Givenchy shower and a couples massage. Ryan was so relaxed, partway through the massage I heard him snoring! 

 

Hope you enjoyed.  =)  Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Source: someecards.com via Lisa on Pinterest

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Ten on a Tuesday - Bad Cat Edition

1.  I typed this whole thing out and then accidently deleted it.  Gah!

2. I own a very bad cat as seen below.

 

3. He is really tempermental and moody and pretty much only likes me.  Even I don't really pick him up.  His name is Cody Pablo but my dad calls him Cody Diablo.  No one else likes him.  At all.

 

4. Last Wednesday at about 7:20 before work I am in my kitchen making lunches when the doorbell rings.  I peek out the window and there is a random chick I have never seen before.  I was tempted to just ignore her but I decided to see what she wanted.  I opened the door and she explained that she is my next door neighbor's sister (sidenote-- we wave to the next door neighbor when we come and go and occasionally make small talk with him, but don't know him that well).  She says that my orange cat is trapped upstairs in her brother's master bedroom closet.

 

5.  I followed her in disbelief over to the townhouse next door (that I had never previously set foot it).  She walks me up to the third floor, opens the bedroom closet and sure enough, there is my cat hissing and spitting.  I manage to piece together that the previous night when we were bringing groceries in, he must have slipped unnoticed out the front door.  Over night the weather became cold and rainy, so when my neighbor left for work at 5:30 in the morning, Cody bolted in his house.  They tried to catch him but couldn't, so they just chased him to the closet.   This left me crouched in a pile of my neighbor's dirty laundry trying to coax a furious and terrified cat towards me making "Pssssss psss" noises and saying "Hey Beebs" in a high pitched baby voice.  (Sidenote: It worksto get him to come at home, but it just made me look certifiably insane in this setting).  He  did finally approach me tenatively but wouldn't let me pick him up and I wasn't about to choke hold him and wrestle him down two flights of stairs in short sleeves in front of a stranger. The sister finally just left me alone to figure it out for myself.

 

6.  Thank God Ryan hadn't left for work yet.  He was in the shower when the doorbell rang and when he recieved my multiple near hysterical nervous phone calls from the master bedroom closet he got the carrier and brought it over.  Cody hates the carrier and it was full on war with claws out,  howling, hangers and clothes everywhere and poor Ryan rolling around on the floor in his suit and tie but he managed to stuff the cat in the cage and close the door.  Have I mentioned this guy is my hero?

 

 

 

7.  The cat fiasco ate up about 30 minutes of my morning I hadn't budgeted for.  I barely got Isaac to school on time, and I rolled up to my school a few minutes late.  I parked by the playground with my plan being to slink in through the back door undetected.  Except as I am getting out of the car with my lunch bag, purse, computer bag and two fly swatters (don't ask), a huge crowd of kids rushes at me saying "Thank goodness you are here!  We were waiting for you before we can start walking club!" So I rounded out the morning tromping through the neighborhood with a group of kids in my wedge heels.  Not how I would recommend starting off a Thursday.

 

8.  Isaac had a full on snow day yesterday (Monday).  Sadly, he had to spend it watching movies at the YMCA cause I had school as usual.  Not even a delay for me.  Booooooo.

 

9. So true....

 

 

10.  Is it spring break yet?!

Happy Tuesday!

 

Winterize it!

Happy Thursday!

 

 

Hello-- today I am linking up with Bri for the Third Thursday Threads.  

 

 

Her challenge this month was to winterize a summer piece.  I loved the idea of this challenge, because I feel like I have been wearing the same black and gray trousers and buttondowns to work every day, so it was exciting to reach for something on the summer side of my closet.  This butterfly sundress from Target didn't feel too summery.  So I paired it some Target leggings, some boots from Amazon, and a black cardigan from Old Navy.  The bracelet was a gift from my sister and the scarf was a gift from my grandmother. 

 

When I walked out of the house this morning, I felt vaguely maternity-esque with the babydoll waistline of the dress combined with the leggings.  Evidently I wasn't the only one who thought this look read "maternity" because the cleaning lady at school commented that I was really starting to "pop".  I must have looked confused and then I had to clarify that, no, I am not actually expecting, I am just chubby.   Two whomps. This was followed up by me walking to my car parked on the street and getting cornered by a huge SUV driven by one of my student's parents who basically wanted an impromptu conference about their child's progress on the street corner.  Just when you think you've seen it all. 

 

In other news, I have added two books onto my 101 in 1001.  Sybil Exposed was sitting in the clearance bin at Barnes and Noble.  It caught my eye, so I sat down in a comfy chair in a patch of sunlight and thirty pages later I decided I wasn't leaving without it.  I'm a psychology nerd, what can I say?  I also discovered randomly at the library one day that there was a Jennifer Weiner book I had somehow overlooked.  Then Came You was an easy read that I enjoyed.  I have been choosing my reading material from the large print section of the library to avoid the waiting list.  I grow closer to being a full blown senior citizen every passing day.

 

Have a great day!

so....

I bought some great new shoes for my brother's upcoming wedding.  I will be wearing a fabulous navy and coral color blocked dress.  Since I'm *not* a bridesmaid, I wanted to go all out for shoes with something cute as well as comfortable.  I have a closet full of stilettos that I can't even bring myself to wear anymore, so I was on the search for some wedges.  These little darlings fit the bill. 

(please excuse the messy floor)

 

You can always count on Charlotte Rousse for fabulous shoes.  They were having a buy one pair of shoes, get another for 12.50, so I got a nice pair of grey flats for work too.  And they are perfect for Marion Berry's lace link up this month. 

 

Happy Wednesday!

Baltimore or bust

Last Saturday after we officially bought the new van, we couldn't wait to take her out for a real spin. We had debated a Smithsonian trip but since we got a later start than expected, we switched our plan to Baltimore.

It was an unseasonably warm day, sunny and beautiful and the Inner Harbor was filled with folks who were out enjoying the sunshine and scenery.

We squeezed in a quick trip to the aquarium.

And followed it up with dinner at the Hard Rock. It was a fun day trip and got our new van all broke in for our upcoming road trip to Disney. Woot woot!

Random Thursday: Pet Peeves

Better late than never, right?

1.  Blogging from the iPad.  I need to find the cord to the laptop.  This is tedious and annoying.  I have so many things to blog about but I can't bring myself to do it yet.

2.  Parents who want YOU to punish their kid for them.  I have one every year: a parent who sends in a note wanting their kid to lose recess or field day for behavior that happened on THEIR watch.  No thanks.

3. Texting during the movies.  Sooooooo distracting!  Also, people who bring young kids to r rated or adult content movies.  Come on!

4.  People who use the word gay to mean "lame" or "stupid".

5. People who write checks at the grocery store.  Why????  It's 2013 people.  

6.  People who let their big dogs jump and bark all over you and then laugh and go "He wouldn't hurt a fly."  OK great but I still don't want him on me and will probably kick him viciously to reclaim my personal bubble of animal free space.  Just being honest.

7.  When people use the term "feminazi".  Women deserve to be empowered and have equal rights to their male counterparts.  That does not have anything to do with a group that perpetuated genocide.  It's a term designed to shut up a woman who has probably just told told a man he is being sexist.  Plus the term was popularized by Rush Limbaugh and he is just the worst.  So let's retire that word, PLEASE.  

8.  Katy Perry.  Just everything about her.  

Hang in there!! It's almost Friday!!!

Ten on Tuesday: Chocolate Cravings Edition

1. Isaac came home from school missing his other front tooth yesterday.  It has been hanging on by a thread for a while.

 And how weird is it that the gap in his teeth looks like the Batman symbol?  My friend Joe pointed that out.

2. I know I blogged about it last week (and, let's be honest, I will continue to obsess and perseverate on it until Memorial Day) but I am getting sooooo excited for our family getaway to Orlando this year. Disney World, here I come!!  Personal days away from school, here I come!!!

3. I lost Ryan's laptop cord and my work laptop is being serviced (don't ask) so that leaves me to blog from work or my phone. Both options kind of suck and are putting a damper on my bloggy enthusiasm. I wish I didn't destroy all technology that I touch.

4. Isaac's church teacher made him this adorable candy lei in honor of his baptism. How cute is this?!

5. So if you have been keeping up on my recent posts you know I have been rolling in my new minivan. It has been quite an adjustment getting used to driving a bigger and wider car and just a new car in general. This morning I was running late for work and it was raining cats and dogs and I hit a button on my key fob and raced inside. Turns out I actually hit the button to throw open the back hatch and I left it wide open with rain pouring in. Fortunately a coworker spotted it and closed it before random homeless people took shelter in my car. I am ridiculous.

6. I am OBSESSED with the game Ruzzle. It helps me be even more antisocial in the lunchroom at work. Look me up if you play: midwaydancer.

7. So what did we think of the all ASL episode of Switched at Birth? I liked it, although with all of the subtitles I couldn't multitask (read: play Ruzzle obsessively) like I usually do. I feel bad for Bey though, as hard as she is fighting for Carlton, she will never be accepted there. Also, I know it is so wrong but it cracked me up when she had to be like "The cops are here".

8. I have been craving chocolate like crazy lately. I may or may not have foraged through cabinets and the pantry last night until I unearthed a bag of chocolate chips that I promptly scarfed down.

9. Ryan found one of the cats in the dryer the other day. With the door closed. Thank Goodness it wasn't running! Only at our house...

10. Pretty much...

Happy Tuesday!!!

New car

I said good-bye to a good and faithful friend on Saturday.  My beloved Alero.  My first major purchase.  The car I drove to my first real job.  The car I snapped an infant car seat into.  The car I drove countless times to and from the Jersey shore.  Alas, with nearly 200,000 miles and a backseat that can barely squeeze three, it just wasn't practical to keep her around anymore. 

So we traded her in for this bad boy...

I guess there is no denying that I am in full blown middle aged soccer mom mode now.

Oh well.

Happy Monday everyone!

P.S. Some of you asked for a wedding post.   I was going to wait until I had some pictures back from the photographer, but I will try to do a little recap with some pictures I have cobbled together from friends. Stay tuned.



Ten on Tuesday

1. This is an oldie but goodie that I haven't put up on the blog yet..

2. I have been trying to get back into card making again.  Here's a few cards I made recently (within the past few weeks)

3.  I test drove a Chrysler Town and Country last night.  The price is right, so I will probably buy it.  I did have a little mini breakdown afterwards when we were leaving the dealership.  I really love my Alero and it has been the car of my 20s.  It will be so sad to give it up and start driving a mini-van....

 

4.  This also means I have to clear out the Alero.  I keep my LIFE in there, so it will be quite an undertaking.  Blankets, jackets, chairs, random water bottles, and of course a ton of other junk.

 

5. We celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday Friday at school.  These are my coteachers in third grade.  I was lucky that Ryan happens to have a "thing three" shirt.

6.  Seeing that picture reminds me to blog that I got a major haircut.  Here is a quick selfie...

Now that the wedding is over, I was ready to chop off all my dead tangly ends.  It is a teeny bit shorter than I thought it would be (the girl assured me that I would be able to put it up in a ponytail, but there is NO WAY that can happen), but I was happy to donate my hair to Locks of Love.

7.  I am making this soup for dinner.  So ridiculously easy and so yummy. 

 

8. Anyone watching The Biggest Loser?  I am not feeling this season.  First of all, the episodes are two hours long now, which seems like an eternity.  Second of all, all of the characters are whiny babies.  Yesterday was makeover week and Ryan and I realized we still don't know some of the contestants names, even this late in the season.   Not feeling it.

 

9. We are getting amped up for our Disney trip in May.  Ryan's sister is going to be an internship down there so we are excited to visit her (and the fact that she is hooking us up with some Disney tickets doesn't hurt either!).

 

10.  Snow is in the forecast for tonight.  I am crossing my fingers for a two hour delay.  It would be so lovely! 

 

Have a great Tuesday!