charleston, hon.

Last weekend we took a trip to Charleston with our mothers to do some wedding planning and prep! We were all excited to take a trip south and enjoy some warmer weather. Boy, were we wrong. It was JUST as cold there. "Unseasonably cold" for Charleston. typical. There were 4 things on our agenda-

1.      A site visit! RC had never seen the venue prior to last weekend so I was beyond excited to finally show him in person as well as show his mom! I think they both loved it. I didn’t see any cartwheels but my mom did capture this reaction….

2.      A food tasting with our caterer for the wedding! I didn’t take any pictures of this, I was way too busy stuffing my face. Just know that the food is amazeballs- filled with all of your favorite comfort foods. Macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, sliders, ham, turkey, crab cakes, roasted veggies, fried green tomatoes, jalepenos, etc. I’m seriously salivating just thinking about it.

3.      (cup)Cake tasting! Again- no pictures of the actual cupcakes. I’m obsessed with these cupcakes and it was not a pretty site watching me eat these things. I normally am impartial to cupcake shop cupcakes and I usually find them to be wayyy too sweet. HOWEVER. These cupcakes. To. Die. For. I’ve literally been day dreaming about them since we were there. We’ll have about 4 different flavors, some brownies, cookies and strawberry champagne pops as dessert!!!! Hungry yet? If you’re coming to the wedding, check out Sugar Bakeshop when you’re in town. You won’t be sorry but your waist line may be.

4.      Find a rehearsal dinner venue. We saw about 20 places and I think we’re VERY close to choosing one! So many places were booked or too small and I think we all started to get a little discouraged. However, we had some free time on Sunday morning and I think we found something that will work!

 I think everyone finally had a little glimpse into what my life has been like planning this wedding. Tons of phone calls, tons of spreadsheets, tons of thinking, etc. It’s been exhausted but I know it’s going to be worth it. If not, I got these AWESOME glasses out of the deal..

wish lists

The best part of wedding planning so far has been daydreaming about things for our house. RC and I started our wedding registries and the entire time we kept saying “oh man that would be awesome to have now”.. not about typical registry stuff like flatware and pots and pans but more about stuff to finish our house- pillows, towels, curtains, etc.

I actually didn’t love registering as much as I thought. I found it extremely overwhelming and a HUGE commitment. Like, these are the forks we will be eating off of for the rest of our lives. I know I know, marriage it a commitment too but I got to date some other dudes before I found RC. I can’t take home some flatware, go to dinner with it and then never talk to it again and move on to the next set. That’s not the case here! What if the flatware we chose is terrible?! It’s not exactly inexpensive or easy to return once used.

 This big question when it comes to registries is- CHINA?! “Are you registering for China?” NO. For a few reason-

1.      I have nowhere to put it.

2.      It’s expensive and we NEED everyday stuff.

3.      When Kate decides to come over for dinner I will inevitably buy brand new stuff for that dinner, even if I have some sitting in my attic.

So we decided to register for nicer plates. Not every day plates.. nice ionlytakethemoutfordinnerparties plates, but not china. We have white plates we got as a house warming gift last year that are PERFECT for everyday use so these new plates will be for the dinner parties, thanksgiving, etc. Does that make sense? We found them at Pottery Barn, RC was pumped!

We also registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Crate & Barrel. We spent almost two hours at each place and at one point someone disappeared and I found him like this…

I took this as it was time to go. I then spent a few hours fixing the registries online.

make it rain..

Like I said last week, we haven’t done much to the house. However, the house has done something to us. Like.. start leaking. Let’s rewind to super storm Sandy in October. You remember that little thing- everything was close, it rained a ton, there was a lot of wind, etc. Well during that storm the vent/fan in our master bathroom started leaking. It was verrrryyyy minor but still a leak. We called the contractor and he came out and fixed any “holes” he saw on the roof and re-sealed around the vent. Fast forward a few weeks to another rain storm- fan/vent leaks again. However I noticed that it started after we took our morning showers and at that time I suggested that it could be something other than the rain/roof problem. RC ignored/laughed at me. So,back the contractor comes and seals everything again. Fast forward another week.. and you guessed it, another leak. They decided that this time it was something with the valve to the fan, wind blowing it open and water getting in. They thought it wasn't really a leak so the HVAC guy came out and “fixed  the valve to the vent on the roof. Meanwhile our bathroom looked like this…

It seemed to fix it. Then after the snow storm last weekend it started again. But just like every time before, it was so minor. It was almost like someone pulled the drain plug and a little amount of water would come out and then stop.  So the HVAC guy came back to our house and he opened up the ceiling to see what was going on and turns out the vent hose was shoved into the ceiling/insulation so it was kinked and the water vapor couldn’t escape, it would build up and then eventually break free and pour out. Does that make sense to you? It only kind of makes sense to me, I'm still not 100% convinced it's fixed. I'm just not.  The rain/snow thing still sort of seem suspicious.

Let the record state- I was right. It wasn’t a leak in the roof and it had to do with us taking hot showers- I was right. RC was wrong. Somehow we both still lose since we have been dealing with this for 4 months and have to live with this for a week or so..

i told you

I told you to save the date. I told you that “early” in the wedding planning process so if someone else tried to invite you to a wedding on the same day you can politely decline because you knew about ours first. It sounds like a fool proof plan but we were fooled. Two of RC’s 8 groomsmen have another wedding on the same day. Yes. that’s right. The same day as OUR wedding. It kind of really sucks. Like reallyyyyyy does.

Most people that I tell, that were/are brides quickly jump to “UNEVEN BRIDAL PARTIES!!!” which is like a huge wedding faux pa and oddly enough is the last thing I’m concerned with. I’m just sad RC won’t have his best friends at our wedding! The guys haven’t decided what they’re going to do yet- they’re thinking of splitting the day and each go to one. It really is a no win situation for everyone involved. I feel bad for the guys and for the other bride.. maybe I can call and cancel the wedding for her? That would fix it!

RC was already down 1 groomsmen and now he’ll be down another.. possibly two more. Things are going to be lop sided- I’ll have 8 beauties next to me and he’ll have 6ish. It’s really not the end of the world .. right? Tell me it’s not.

3 of his groomsmen!

save the date!

Friends! I’m back.. don’t worry I haven’t been in London since the last time we talked. I have made a few trips- 2 trips to Mexico and a trip to Boston but I did make it home from the UK. Apologies for the lack of updates but I have really been THAT busy.

brothers and sister

mexico with RC!

 Things have been moving at a speedy pace and somehow the house still looks the same. We’re in full wedding planning mode and only now do I completely understand how girls go bat shit crazy over weddings. I totally, 100% understand. I don’t think I’m crazy yet** but I had a glimpse of it a few weeks ago and it had to do with the save the dates.. or commonly referred to as STDs on wedding blogs. Gross. Wrong. Not okay. Etc.

Anyway, I’ve had the save the dates designed since November and I was waiting on final guests list and a good sale on the website I used to design them. Then, every single time I logged on to facebook, instagram or any other social media site someone was announcing that they were engaged. So.. come along with me on this thought that only brides would have… in theory it would totally be feasible for these newly engaged Bs (ß bride/b*tch you choose) to plan a wedding in 10ish months so I thought to myself I NEED to get these STDs out STAT so all of these Bs know to stay away from September 21, 2013. Amiright or what!? Okay, so right now you’re thinking “oh you are crazy!” but hold on, I’m about to get crazier...

We got the save the dates printed and they were delivered within 5 days of submitting my order- we used Minted.com and it was soo easy and quick! We decided on postcards for a few reasons- mostly because I think they’re adorbs and secondly because they are cheaper to print and mail (in theory)!

 I addressed all of the postcards the night I received them and decided to go to the post office during lunch the next day.  If anyone has been to the post office around the holidays (this story takes place in the beginning of January) you know that the lines are usually very long and nobody is in a rush, except for me. There I was waiting in line for 25 minutes at the post office in Federal Hill and when I finally get up to talk to the 1 worker and he informs me that he only has 1 type of postcard stamp..

Aloha. Not exactly what I’m looking for. When I asked if he had any wedding type stamps he said “no, we have black history month stamps or the forever bells”.. I seriously can’t make this up. Because let's all be real here, nothing says WEDDING! like a MLK stamp

 I jump in my car and decided to run over to the post office in fells point, totally pushing my lunch break (hi mark!) but this was important and post offices have the DUMBEST hours. I wait in line again and get up to the counter where I'm told they also only have Aloha postcard stamps, no wedding stamps (the real ones.. not just postcard) but they have 40 LOVE stamps and that’s it. So I took them, I felt like I need to get SOMETHING. I was still 80 short but had to get back to work.

I decided that I needed to have pretty stamps for our save the dates so I went to a 3^rd post office after work. Again, looong line and at this point I was just super annoyed at the entire situation. I was standing there thinking about what I would do if this post office didn’t have pretty stamps and I started to get upset and stressed. Yes. stressed. About stamps. Stamps for the save the dates. Yes. really. That’s when I had an outer body experience and looked at myself and hated myself. COME ON, E! Wake up. It’s a stupid stamp. A STAMP! Nobody is even going to notice and hopefully when people put it on the fridge they will put the stamp side to the back. So at that point I decided that if this 3^rd post office didn’t have pretty stamps I would just get the American flag forever stamps and get on with my life.. Which is exactly what happened. American Flag stamps, I moved on with my life and I would bet nobody noticed the flag stamp. Especially this guy... since his address was wrong!

See- told you. it was a glimpse of crazy. Ya know, I watched my friends plan their weddings and when my one friend would get stressed about something I would always ask her one questions “will not having it ruin your wedding?” ex- “will not having letter pressed invitations ruin your wedding?” and that’s something I need to adopt into my own life. “will having American flag or aloha stamps ruin my wedding?” .. probably not.