Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Shoesday Chronicles - Part 2


I decided pink shoes were going to be my wedding day feets destiny. So, channelling my inner Carrie Bradshaw, I set out to find some pink shoe inspiration and fell in love with these:

Manalo Blahnik Raspberry D'orsay

My perfect shoes came with an imperfect price for my budget: $715. Ouch.

But I definitely had something to start looking for: I really like the d'orsay or a peep toe pump. Having a back to the shoe I feel is ideal for an all-day pair of heels. It provides an extra security for my feet so not to twist my ankle while walking. And the peep toe or d'orsay, I'm not a strappy evening shoe type of person, so the peep is the perfect alternate for a summer wedding shoe.

And the final necessity for my wedding day shoes: a medium heel. Ideally speaking 2 1/2 - 3 inches. That way, I'd be around 5'9" - not too tall but still feeling foxy in a pretty heel.

So with those boundaries, I started my search, all while trying to keep my credit card far enough away from my computer so that I accidentally didn't purchase the Manolos in a fit of wedding passion.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog...

I'm taking a time-out from wedding blogging to write about what a whole crap-ton of people have been speculating on since about October 2009.

Any guesses?

THE LOST FINALE!

One of the earliest KJ & Cara memories is from Summer of '06, which a good portion was spent in the cozy attic of 509 Elm (KJ's house) watching the first season of Lost on DVD. I wasn't really into Lost at first, but hanging out with Jessica, Eddy, Annie, Supple, et al changed that pretty quickly. It took about 8 episodes (which were watched over the course of one single weekend), but by the 9th hour, I was hooked.

After KJ moved out of the house to go back to school, we moved the Lost party across town (to my apartment) where we watched Season 2 on DVD. KJ was an hour away in Charleston finishing his degree, so Season 2 was watched into the early hours of non game weekends. (If there was a game, there was no time to watch Lost. 5am wake ups were rough enough by themselves). By the time Season 3 started, we were both caught up and didn't miss an episode.

It wasn't until Season 4 that we actually got to watch the episodes together, live, at their air time.

What's nice about agreeing that Lost is awesome, is that it trumps all other TV. There is no deciding who gets to watch what, because Lost is the ace up the sleeve, it beats out everything. I'm sure once Lost is gone, there is going to be some compromising on if the CUBS or 90210 is more important to watch, but I'm not concerned (mostly because 90210, even though pretty awful in its own right, has more action than the entire CUBS season does.

Ok, 6pm - time to watch the recap before the 8pm final episode titled "The End" - hmm, I guess the writers creativity was running low when they named that one. But, fasten your safety belt people... I'm sure we are going to get some type of awesome turbulence in the next few hours.

Friday, May 21, 2010

E-MAZING Pictures!

I've talked about our photographer, Steve Koo, before.

Today was the first time we got to see him sense our initial meeting. We took out engagement pictures this morning! It was a little nerve wracking because weather.com has been calling for rain and storms all week, and luckily, the rain held off until like 4 this afternoon (way after our 9am session). Cara: 1, Mother Nature: 0!

Even though we got through the morning with no rain, my hair did not like the humidity too much. I'm pretty sure the end of the difference between when we started and when we finished are going to look something along this lines of this:


Something I wish I could have gone back and fixed because I'm sure the hair disaster will be quiet apparent in the pictures. Nothing we can do about that now, I suppose!

We decided to take our e-pics mostly in Island Park in Geneva - appropriate since that's where we actually got engaged! We look pics along the river:



and by the train tracks:


and then celebrated the completion of our e-session at the awesome Grahams 318 with some frozen hot chocolate (nothing like sweets at 10am!):


I'm definitely anxious to see what our pictures turn out like. Steve is a great photographer, but I am NOT photogenic (in fact, I was just telling Sarah at work that I feel pictures of me always wind up looking like an awkward walrus) - it's a little scary because you don't want to be disappointed in the photos knowing he is a great photog. It will probably be a week or two before we see a teaser, and then a few more weeks till we get the actual images, but I'll be sure to post a link to them as soon as I can!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Shoesday Chronicles - Part I

Every month I've had a reoccurring item on my to do list:

Find Pink Shoes.

And every month, that item appears on my to do list again and again. Not because I haven't tried, but because I have searched up and down every department store, online store, retail facility in the greater Chicagoland area, and have not found exactly what I was looking for.

Why pink shoes?

Well one, because Pink is absolutely the most girlie, flirty, fun color known to the jumbo pack of 101 crayola crayons. Two, because I fell in love with absolutely amazing shoe shots very early on in my planning. And three, because it shows a brides personality while wearing white. Here are some colored shoes shots that have worked their charm on me:









Sunday, May 16, 2010

I blame Father of the Bride, The Wedding Planner, My Best Friends Wedding, and every other wedding movie that makes it look easy....

When I left off on our pattern picking story, I had told you all about how the plates we loved were actually very difficult to find.

This weekend, we returned back to the store where we first found these plates. We took some time to find a store clerk (which was WAY more difficult that it should have been), and asked about the items in question.

And we got our sad answer: the pattern has been discontinued. (So that's why I was only able to find bits and pieces of the patter on line and at other stores!)

Goodbye Dinnerware named after my favorite of the natural disasters:
tronda, the pattern name, means Tornado in Spanish

So, I think we've made a decision to not register for dinnerware. This is actually pretty disheartening news to me for a few reasons, (1) because I've been using hand-me-down plates for what could be considered close to a decade now and (2) I probably need a good lesson in caring for kitchen items. (Like, don't use the fork to mix rice in a stainless steel pan) I feel like having my own items would help me learn this lesson a little more thoroughly. Also (3) in all the wedding movies you see the happy couple in some fabulous department store, scanner or planner in-tow, picking out the beautiful plates their kitchen will revolve around.

Maybe I'm being over dramatic, but planning my wedding has been NOTHING like what they show in the movies. Wedding movies lead your to believe there is a lot of glamour in wedding planning, when really, there isn't. They also make you believe it's easy. I'm going to try not to let this get me down too much, I don't want to look like this on my wedding day:

...I think I'm going to work on getting an idea for our centerpieces tonight to take my mind off the lack of dinnerware :)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

miniMoon bracket gets serious... final four announced!

That's right folks, from 32 to 4! We are getting closer and closer to picking where we will be vacationing after the I Do's!

It's taken us a few weeks to mull over the 8 and get it narrowed down to 4 - and it just happens to be a quirky coincidence that all the remaining destinations have double consonants in them! With no further ado, I give you the two remaining brackets:




KJ made the pretty picture, but I prefer to tie this into our wedding, so I'll call my brackets the PINK and BLUE bracket!



Bracket Pink:


Charlotte, North Carolina

vs

Niagara Falls, New York/Canada



Bracket Blue:


Savannah, Georgia

vs

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin


If you've been playing along - you'll notice that something doesn't seem right in these brackets - and that's true! KJ and I made a decision about Nashville/Michigan bracket that was in the Elite 8. When we started our bracket, we had always knew Nashville would wind up in the final four, if not the winner of the entire trip. It's close enough, there are a lot of options, and it's Music City for heaven's sake... perfect for us. But due to the recent flooding and deviation in Nashville, we kind of changed our minds. I want to see Nashville, but I don't want to be disappointed, and it seems like it may be better to let Nashville recover before visiting on a high expectation vacation. (Say that 10 times fast) That being said, Michigan just didn't appeal to us, so we open that bracket up for discussion.


I'm pretty excited about the final four! I have to say, I actually don't know where we are going to wind up going. They are all very different areas and have a lot to offer. Now that Nashville is out, it really is anybody's game!


Where do you think we should go? What was the best mini vacation you've gone on?

Monday, May 10, 2010

May's To Do List

I just realized I never posted this! Here is what's gettin' done in May:

Contact Organist
Schedule/Take E-Pics
Put down deposit for florist
Purchase BM gifts
Plan Rehearsal Dinner
Design Invites
Print Invites
Send Invites
Purchase Shoes
Finalize Reception Decor with outside vendor
Set up additional decor with hotel
Find centerpiece vases
Finalize Timeline
Finish registry
Pick Minimoon Winner
Have KJ look at tuxes
Purchase Wedding Bands

Friday, May 7, 2010

Blog Hijacked!!! Exclamation Points Gone Wild!

Mwhahahahaha.



MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.


Tis I, KJ, and I have taken over Cara's blog.

I really wish I had something more to say, but it's pretty late and I'm tired.

So I will just say that I have the most wonderful person in my life. I met her four years ago next month and I haven't stopped smiling since.

Taking the next step with Cara and symbolizing our love with all our friends and family to witness is going to be such a wonderful time.

I know she is going to be the most amazing bride. I like to day-dream about our wedding and how her dress will compliment her stunning beauty perfectly.

It has been an amazing four (almost) years together and I am so lucky to have her in my life, to help me be a better person and to love each other more every day.

I can't wait to have her put on my ring so that I can always feel her love on me.

I love my almost bride!

You may now resume regular blog practices.

-KJ

One Rainy Friday

The forecast everyday this week has said it was supposed to rain, and everyday, it hasn't. Except today - I wonder what I did to piss karma off that its beautiful all week and then rains on the weekend? Rain normally doesn't do anything for me, however, earth shattering thunder/lightening storms - now THOSE rock my world.

So much so, that my bucket list contains one very unpredictable item: to see a tornado in real life.

So how AWESOME would it be to spend our honeymoon as Faux Storm Chasers!

You can hit the open road for a week and chase major storms with real storm chasers. OMG, SO COOL.

Well, maybe cool for me. KJ on the other hand is the first in the basement when a bad storm hits, and he usually drags me down there with him killing my adrenaline rush that comes in hand with the storm. He's not a storm-lover at all. I guess its good for him that we are getting married in August and the Storm Chasing season ends in May - because this could be a REAL honeymoon contender.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

the BIG 100

Alright all you August 14 brides playing along at home:

Hope planning is going well for everyone!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

100 (and one)

Tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow, the countdown to August 14 begins: 100 days until our wedding.

To be truthful, I've actually been fearful of the big 100 day mark - mostly because I feel like the countdown really starts there. From 100 days until 1 day, I imagine projects and to do lists will just grow and grow, snowballing and ruling my life. Up until this point I've been getting vendors booked and ideas put together at a pretty leisurely pace, but tomorrow I feel like my deadline gets a whole lot closer. The time for thinking and planning is over, the time for doing and executing is now.

In preparing for this planning shift, I'm allowing myself to freak out a little and feel overwhelmed (if needed). But on 99 days, back to work. I have yet to feel like everything is coming together for the big day, and I cannot afford to
freak out for more than one day.

Any advice on how to get through feeling overwhelmed?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Quickly squashed victory...

Before I disappeared for 2 weeks I was telling you about our plate pattern picking pickle, and how it was difficult for us to find plates that met his traditional and practical expectations with my modern and quirky preferances.

We spent much time in the past few weeks visiting every department store known to Chicagoland in search of something that we could compromise on. Kohls, Target, Macys, and others were no help at all. We spent close to two hours discussing plate options at Bed, Bath and Beyond and had narrowed it down to two potential winners:

Lenox Vibe (from the first post) which quotes its self as being a "bold and modern porcelain dinnerware will be a striking addition to your table, with its crisp white foundation and whimsical swirling lines. A perfect accompaniment to any casual or formal gathering"

...and Misto Linen, described as "Cool and casual, the subtle neutral tones of this ceramic dinnerware is just the thing your table needs for everyday dining needs."



KJ prefered the Misto Linen and I liked Lenox Vibe. I actually like Misto Linen too, I felt like it was a nice place to start and could be paired with lots of different kitchen items, but I had never heard of the brand. After a little google research, I found it chipped easily and broke even easier... not a good thing for this self-proclaimed butter fingers.

This was Saturday. Sunday, I had proposed going to another BBB to see if they had any other options on display, but KJ convinced me to go someplace we hadn't been yet. So off to Kohls and Carsons we went.

At Carson's we spent another hour discussing what we absolutly had to have in plates. One thing I can't go without... a decently sized coffee cup. We had narrowed our Carson's finds from a field of many, to four contenders, and then down to two.

#1 - Noritake Colorwave


#2 - Dansk Tronada Creama

It wasn't too hard for us to make the decision that Dansks Tronada was our perfect pattern! I mean, it means "tornado" in Spanish for heavens sake. How could I, who LOVES storms, storm chasers, and everything doing with tornados, not fall in love?? Plus, it blends what KJ and I both want perfectly.

Of course, it couldn't be that easy. There was a jinky SALE sign next to the pattern (you'd think the Sale sign would be good news, right?), and nothing that actually identified the plates as part of a set. I flipped the dish over and found out the name and brand and left compleatly satisfied. Surely, we could just add it to our existing Macy's registry and not have to create another registry just for plates. Upon going home and logging into Macys I found that the only "Tronada" items Macys website offered was a three piece serving set and some glasses.

I remembered our Registry Assistant, Judith (who buy the way is AWESOME if you need to register at the Aurora Macys), said that often the online offerings varied from what the store carried. So I called Judith and asked her to look up the name to find if we could added it to our list....

But we couldn't. Macys, although carrying the brand, does not have the pattern available.

And everyplace that does offer it, says its out of stock.

So, I'm guessing our perfect pattern, is everyone elses perfect pattern too.

I feel its of no use to register for something that would be increadibly difficult for people to find, so we are back to square one, with no possible plates in site.

Who would have thought that the most time consuming task and most difficult compromise KJ and I would have to make was on what dishes we would register for? I guess I should be thankful that everything else has been rather easy. For those of you married or getting married, what has been your hardest planning task?

Monday, May 3, 2010

Bon Voyage, April!

Oh, Hello there.
No, don't be scared, its just me. I'm so sorry to have been gone the last few weeks, I've been crazy busy at work and have no free time to dedicate to my blog. But I do have lots to update on, so I'll start with how April wrapped up and I'll have a few stories for you in the next couple of days!
Now, as for how I did in the month of April:

find/book florist still have to put down the budget, but they are all set!
continue to scour the Internet/department stores/shoe boutique for shoes
register
schedule e-pics
plan out rehearsal dinner
set day of timeline
contact organist
hair/make up
first dress fitting
purchase my accessories