I'mabusygirl!

Only four days to go! Seriously! And no blogging for almost two months? After the wedding, I am totally going to blog about all the cool crafty things I made.

1. Our bouquets, boutonnieres, and hairpieces
2. Our escort cards and display
3. Invitations and thank yous
4. Favors!
5. Our cake toppers- yes, multiple- very cool! And the cake design, too!
6. Not something I made, but the shawl that my friend knitted for me (amazing!)
7. The bridal party gifts!

But for now, we are cleaning house and I've been crafting my way to organization! This is an apron rack that I made from a strip of fabric, and six ribbons (from holiday gift bags of which I replaced the ribbons)

You just tie the ribbon around the apron, and bam! Organized.

Secondly, I created a mini-cafe around our Keurig (which is so fun!. I just created a sign in Publisher and moved some pots and pans to re-purpose the rack for mugs.



Finallym, I cut a hot chocolate container in half and covered it in some great wrapping paper from a shower gift. I also used the paper to line the shelves of the cafe.



So that's where we are for now! I'll share our dining room table and its inspiration soon.

Ok, here I am wearing my prom dress (because it fits and i still love it!) and the amaaazing Lydia Bennett-style hat that Erica made for me.

Amy made me an awesome cake! It was beautiful and a delicious carrot, too!
/>


Thanks to everyone who came- you made my day!

I was sick for a week afterward, so thank goodness I wasn't sick that day!

I need to get pictures from my shower! It was so much fun!

Wedding and more!

My first shower is coming up this Sunday and I am wicked excited! I can't wait to see what they've all put together! A party for ME??? Not since I turned 20 do I remember a real PARTY that was just for me- with invitations and everything. I keep looking at these DIY sites and thinking that my DIY stuff is awesome and I need to share it. But I don't want to ruin the surprise, so it will be January before it all pops up on here!

We are FINALLY working on wedding stuff today! Jenn, Heather, and Kelly's dresses came in, my shower (the CT one) is next weekend- exciting!- and I had a dress fitting and I look lovely with my new short hair! Today we are filling out our paperwork, deciding on our rehearsal menu, and coming up with a table plan.

Things are moving quickly!

School!

So I got accepted to CCSU and filled out my FAFSA and all that and on October 22, I'm going to an advisory session for transfers. So I'll start two classes in January to begin a degree in Graphic Design!

no more hairs!

chopped my hair! love it!!!

Hair

I thought I could make it til January, but I'm afraid that all this hair must go. It's the time of year when I usually get it chopped, but having waited even longer to cut it than usual, my seasonal desire is magnified! I have begun to research short-hair wedding styles, which is not easy! I think every woman ever has grown her hair out for her wedding photos. Well, as the seasoned non-conformist, I'm afraid I may have to one-up our middle-of-the-winter-least-married-month-of-the-year-wearing-sneakers-because-I-can-what-else-can-I-do-different-than-everyone-else wedding by being a short-haired bride.

Well played, Mocko. Well played.

picked up our invites today! Someone may have to hide them or they might go out in the mail reeeeally early!

I have decided that I am sick of seeing "vintage" weddings and photos all over the internet! I'm sure it was cool and nice for a while, but now it's waaaaay overdone. We will not be having any vintage images, unless they are antique-y.

Birthday Day!

Today, I woke up to a delicious White Rose donut- my fave! Then had an awesome day in Cooperstown with Matty- driving in the Miata! Then home for a nap/Say Yes to the Dress marathon (one was me, one was Matt). And THEN off to dinner with Kylie and Art. It was a good day overall! Tomorrow we're going to walk around and shop in Little Falls. I have also decided that after 30 years of nail biting, I really don't like having long nails. Urgh.


BTW- We are watching Ghost Adventures and we've decided that guy is a total jackass.

Tasting!

We went to our wedding tasting this evening. We had a great time. It was hard to eat a lot despite tons of choices because they had four chicken, two beef, one pork, two fish, and one turkey. Oh, and ONE vegetarian dish. Good thing I eat fish or it would have been no fun at all! Oh, except the cake. We got to try six kinds of cake. Six. Mm..... it was good, if a bit too sweet. So the invites are ready to get printed and the mailed and then returned etc etc. :)

today i felt like this:

asleep! then, not asleep, but annoyed to be awake.

apple/peach crisp!

sleepy.

clean-y.

yarn. YARN. yarn. yarn. yarn.

harry potter!

and

AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


and now it's time for bed.

Today!

So Heather, Kelly, and I went to Brides to Be to get my dress fitted. Because of my football player arms, I have to have the sleeves let waaay out and then a corset back put in. If only I could have lost 20 pounds over the last year. Ah, well! that's what seamstresses are for. so they can stress about seams, not me ;) I have to go back in a month to try it again for the length, etc.

Also went for an awesome trail ride today, then had Chinese with H, K, Harry, and Matt. AND H and K got a leeeeetle tipsy and we had a good time laughing about stupid things- always fun!

This Week

I have a wedding dress fitting coming up and I am really excited about that :)

And the escort cards have come to life!

A Challenge:

I intend to walk 100 miles before my wedding! If I walk 26 miles before the end of September, I will be rewarded with a comfy new pair of riding pants. This may seem like nothing to you marathon-ers, but since I never do anything but ride once a week, this is a big thing for me. AND I'm kind of excited about it, which is an even bigger thing! I started off with 1.7 miles today. Then Matt had to come get me because it was gross, rainy, and my foot hurt. But I did not know I had gone so far, so good for me!

I needed some happy thoughts after kicked-in-the-face kind of day, so: HONEYMOON! Yes, I planned it, and no, they don't take reservations this far in advance. :) We will not go in January, but in May. That will be the perfect season in Prince Edward Island! I am so excited I would leave tomorrow and stay there until then (if it didn't mean missing the wedding)

This is the itinerary:

May 22:
Drive to Blair House Inn in St. Stephen, NB

May 23:
Drive up the Bay of Fundy, hike, etc.
Stay in Summerside, PEI Silver Fox Inn

May 24-27:
Go to Cavendish, PEI Kindred Spirits (Mom and I stayed here during our 2005 trip and it was sooo lovely!)

May 27-30
Hermanville, PEI: Johnson Shore Inn (check this place out!!)


May 30
Moncton, NB


May 31
Bar Harbor, ME- Cromwell Harbor (Mom and Dad went to a very rainy Bar Harbor for their honeymoon in 1974)

I must say I am really looking forward to a week in PEI. It is so incredibly relaxing and rural and there aren't any people there. I loooove a nice, silent, country place. Why am I in CT? Just waitin' for my farm, that's all!

125 days to go!

Heather and I worked on making bouquets this weekend. I may post pictures! Jenn and Erica are carrying burgundy and Kelly and Heather are carrying grey- opposite of their dresses. (spell check does not like "grey". that would be because Noah Webster made it "gray" here in the states. it also does not like "theatre" but too bad, Noah and spell check. that's how I spell it. So deal.) Anyway, the bouquets are looking lovely. They are based on these:

from Project Wedding. Beautiful!

Ahhhh... wedding... only 125 days to go! Eep! Is it really that soon?? Yay!

i am making these today. right now they are white, but soon i will dye them bright red!

what goes on in my head...

wedding. wedding wedding wedding. wedding? wedding wedding wedding wedding. crochet! crochet! wedding wedding wedding wedding... seating plan... invitations... dress. wedding. bouquets. flowers. wedding wedding wedding wedding. crochet. what?? oh, yeah.... wedding.

uuhhh... crochet and wedding?

I think that's all I think about now! And it's cool and windy and rainy today and I love it! We finished our ceremony and are going to see Dave tonight to go over the details. Exciting!

We're also done with our invitations which also look great. Our tasting is on September 20, and I am looking forward to trying the butternut squash ravioli and seeing how to set up the reception room and all and more and such! It's so insanely exciting. I am having waaaayyyy too much fun planning this wedding. I should be a wedding planner- but people have to do what I tell them. ;)

This is the shawl I am making, but mine is purple with brown/tan flecks- very pretty. I already made a poncho from a gorgeous alpaca. Love it!




I have also applied at CCSU for graphic design, and am looking at Tunxis Community College, too. So hopefully soon my mad skills will get madder and I will be able to make more money than I do in the non-profit world! Even if it's just part time outside of the museum type world.

Off to discuss the ceremony!

I have a fitting for my dress in September 11. I'm doing it early to get it over with and make sure that that we can get it done in a multi-sized kind of way. Who knows if I can keep up with eating healthy for four months and actually lose 15 lbs to make the dang thing fit? I am in serious doubt.

Turns out the boots aren't even for riding! Why call them riding boots if they aren't? I went to Smith-Worthington in Hartford and got some on sale for $30. What a steal! Today I did an awesome job cantering. Except D.C. kept stopping for no real reason except that he was being lazy. :)

Matt and I have been discussing wedding-ness again lately and are meeting with our brother/officiant on Monday to discuss the ceremony. FYI, it's going to be a good one, and not at all boring. We have some really beautiful readings and the music is going to be exceptional. We have a guitar/mandolin duo which will be lovely.

several items

Boots came in! Love 'em!

silly me is watching "Say Yes to the Dress" and wishes that my dress fit me! I don't mind having it altered, I'm just afraid it still won't fit! But I LOVE MY DRESS! and I LOVE MY MATT. And that is all that matters. :)

Very little...

Getting new riding boots- hopefully the UPS man will be her right quick! And Kelly and Harry should be here soon for pizza tonight. Mmmm... pizza.....

Sorry. Yeah, so anyway. Crochet is back in the Stigermock house- I am making a new shirt, and already made a poncho this weekend,and finished up a shawl that had been waiting for about three years. It was tough yarn to use.

Last week, Kelly and I met Heather at Webs, and hence the welcome-back to crochet! I bought some yarn (not a LOT, thank you very much, and never enough!) to make a sweater with and it's about 400 yards short for a sweater. We shall see what to make one of these days. I may get a contrasting yarn and do a stripey number. Well, off I go to crochet the night away (at least til Kelly and Harry get here for pizza!)

Nails

Today, I trimmed my nails with nail clippers. I do not remember ever having done this. It was weird. But I was thisclosetobitingmynails and they had to go.

Aren't you proud of me?

Random Updates

I am getting so excited for our wedding! We talked to Dave some about the ceremony, which is going to be fabulous. Kelly picked up her dress today, and it is beautiful. I'm glad she got to pick a dress that she loves so very much! There is a good reason to let your bridesmaids pick their own dresses. Mom and Dad are visiting tomorrow and I saw a really beautiful dress for her to wear to the wedding. Exciting! Did I say I picked the music for the processional? I did- and it's one thing I am not telling!

In other news, horseback riding is going great. I've gotten much better with trotting and control, and I even got Friendly to canter last week after only a couple of tries instead of the usual dozen or so. Can't wait til my lesson on Tuesday! I finally saved up enough from tutoring to buy new boots, but there are no western retailers anywhere nearby. I'm hesitant to buy online since I can't try them on first. Very frustrating. Oh well!

Favors

We finally finished almost all the favors last night. Now we wait for replies so we can personalize them. We've been trying to slim a bit to fit into our wedding clothes, but no luck so far. I guess it's time to try harder!

Margarita helped me with some wedding things yesterday, which was fun. Her mom gave us a lighted archway to use for the ceremon, which will look REALLY nice once I gussy it up with some fabric and flowers in our colors (maroon, silver, and pewter. That's all for now- hopefully there will be more excitement soon.

I LOVE MATTY MATT!

That's all for today.

Sneakin' up the aisle

These are my adorable wedding sneakers.

Shoes and Rides

My new shoes have arrived. Yes, wedding shoes. I'd show you but it would ruin the surprise. Yester, Mom let for slovakia- i am so jealous! I hope she has an awesome time!
In other news, Friendly and I took my first jump last Monday. It was most exciting. Some day I will have pictures of me riding. Friendly is awesome. You can see him here:
http://hillsidestable.net/HorsesLease.htm
I wish I could lease him- he's an awesome dude. Some day soon, I hope!

Honeymoon Plans!

HONEYMOON ITINERARY:

May 22:
Drive to Blair House Inn in St. Stephen

May 23:
Drive up the Bay of Fundy, hike, etc.
Stay in Summerside, Silver Fox Inn

May 24-27:
Go to Cavendish
Kindred Spirits Inn

May 27-30
Hermanville
Johnson Shore Inn

May 30
Moncton


May 31
Bar Harbor- Cromwell Harbor

Ahhh... all that rest and relaxation! I am quite excited to go there again and read, walk the beaches, see the museums... horseback ride... :)

So lovely!

Last night, we finished writing the ceremony. It's gonna be a good one!

Bridesmaid Weekend

Erica, Heather, Jenn, and I went to David's today to pick out dresses. I found it hilarious that I let them pick ANY style in silver, pewter, or wine, and Erica and Heather got the same dress and Jenn got the same one only sleeveless. Fascinating! Waiting to see what Kelly picks.

Then we went to drinks and dinner at The Elbow Room roof, which was awesome.

In other news, I tried on my dress and there is now a three inch gap in the back instead of one and a half! So we did a two mile walk. :) Now it's time for some real hard work to make this dress fit. Motivate me!

Weekend Excitement!

I went home to Little Falls and made the decorative board for the escort cards. It came out really well! And this coming weekend, Erica, Heather, and Jenn are coming over to go dress shopping- fun! Too bad Kelly is in Indiana! Apparently I'm breaking all sorts of unspoken "rules" by having too many bridesmaids for the number of guests or something? I dunno, I'd make everyone stand up there with me just to make myself less nervous!

We also keep updating our registries. You get so sucked into it when you're in the store. Then you realize later, dang! That's expensive! What are we going to do with $450 worth of salad bowls? (i don't even like salad). But it was fun looking, nonetheless. Hopefully after this weekend, I'll have pictures to post of bridesmaid dresses.

To become a fan and post comments, you have to have a google account and be signed in :)

A new picture

This picture makes me laugh because of the utter disdain on Matt's face. Yes, I plunked the flowers on his head and nabbed a picture before he really knew what I was doing. And now it's here for all to see. (insert evil laugh here. because that's just about standards.)

More wedding!!!!

Today Matty added a movie to our website- too cool! Good ol' Matty! And here is the official (current) roster of (insert drum roll) WEDDING ATTENDANTS!

Maid of Honor: Erica Sterzinar
Matron of Honor: Kelly Hall
Bridesmaid: Jennifer Matos
Bridesmaid: Heather Tetrault

Best Man: Brandon Lovelace
Groomsman: Ryan Mocko

And our official Bridesmaid Weekend is coming up in two weeks, too, so watch for updates. :)

Crepes!

So I'm totally obsessed with crepes. I bought myself this great new crepe maker/griddle and I am in love with it! It even came with one of those T shaped spreaders. There are a few black raspberry bushes down the road and every summer I look forward to grabbing a few. Today I made crepes and had them with black raspberries and vanilla bean ice cream. Oh, so very yummy! Definitely a keeper.

Janus!

I have decided that though it may seem strange, Janus is the perfect topper for our cake. Matt loves that song "The origins of love" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It made me think of the Roman god Janus, who btw, is the namesake of January, the month in which we sill get married. So, I've asked my friend Kelly (matron of honor!) to sculpt us a Janus figure for the cake.

Oh, it's different, all right, but all kinds of symbolic!

Mirror!

I bought this mirror for $2 at the Noah Webster House tag sale. I spent $7 to get plaster and some paint. Now I have this awesome gold mirror! I should have taken a before picture. It was missing a huge chunk of plaster and was terribly faded. Very cool!

First Day

Today I found this awesome idea for messages from our wedding guests. Mom is making a guest book quilt, which I can't wait to see, but this idea is amazing, too! Maybe we'll do both. The invites are all designed, which is one thing down- I can't wait to invite people so I can make a seating chart. Yes, I'm a dork, but an organizing, party-planning dork. I would be a wedding planner if people wouldn't tell me what to do. :)

The invites aren't very exciting, but I designed them myself out of one piece of cardstock per invite. Very cool. And Matt made the website: www.stigermock.us , which is also a lot of fun!

I already made my bouquet out of these amazing fabric flowers. Love it!