Flashback Friday

Look what we did 5 years ago!

MARRIED!!!!!

Want more pictures and all the feels? Click on the link above ⬆ and prepare to be amazed (I certainly was, but I admit I may have something of a bias).

Anyway, five years on one hand feels like a long time. And on the other hand five years doesn't seem long at all. Look at all we've done! Either way, Happy anniversary my love!

Barn Dance

Yesterday Mike and I went to a friend's wedding at the Alexander Homestead here in Charlotte. One of the biggest current trends in weddings (and almost everything) is rustic (and chevron. I fully blame pintrest), so a wedding at this place suits rustic but sill very pretty, look well.  

Anyway. Rustic is not my favorite look,* but whatever, to each their own. It was a lovely wedding and we wish them all the happiness in the world. But when dr soc and I were planning our wedding (ok, when I was planning our wedding, whatever), one of the first things we needed was the venue. We both didn't want to get married in a church, so we were going for a cool, different (inside**) venue. I ruled out a hotel ceremony, but the reception in a hotel ballroom wasn't out of question. But since we (ok, once again, me) was willing to spend a decent amount of money for a cool place, I wanted to spend as much time as possible there so it made sense to have the ceremony and reception at the same site.

So one of the venues on the docket was a vineyard. Wine is cool and vineyards are different! Yes! It was a little out of the way, which, given my husband's family's navigational skills this place already didn't bode well, but the pictures on the internets of the grounds were pretty, so it was at least worth a look. We're walking around on our own little self guided tour, and the inside space where events are held is a barn. You would think I would immediately say no way giving my rustic aversion, but since I had seen pictures of weddings there, with the right lights, flowers and  decorations, I could see it possibly working and was willing to think about it.

Dr Soc though, was not. While he agreed the vineyard was pretty and maybe one day we would check it out a little more, it was not going to be our wedding venue. When I asked him if there was any particular reason, he looked at me and said: "I don't want to get married in a barn. I'm not getting married next to a f*cking goat!"

Well ok then. No barn. The vineyard was officially ruled out, and we avoided rustic. Win win!  

*I mean seriously people, it's burlap. It's feed sack material, there's nothing f*cking fancy about it.
**Inside was a non-negotiable for me. I was not going to make a weather contingency plan or broil in the sun in late May and have sweat dripping down my cleavage. 

Memory Lane Monday

So there's this thing called Throwback Thursday/#tbt where you post old pictures of yourself on some social media site. I only recently started playing along (seriously, maybe a month ago) and posted a few old photos here and there on the facebooks on a Thursday in proper throwback form. 

So far I don't think I have anything exciting to throwback this Thursday (a class picture while I'm in class maybe? meh), and it's Monday so I've declared it Memory Lane Monday because I have something way better than any little kid picture to throw back to from 2 years ago:

 my favorite wedding picture

We said I do!
Happy year 2 honey!

Distraction

We currently have our 2 dogs and we don't want a 3rd dog. Seriously, no third dog. However, we do plan on getting another one after Bailey and Jules have left us. And Mike wants that future dog to be a puppy.

I do not want a puppy. Not now, not ever again after the wringer that is Bailey and I am adamant about that.
But! I do want a baby. And since everyone but me is having one (seriously), my baby fever has gone through the roof.  My husband is trying to tamp it down but he's pretty much failing miserably.

However, I have become somewhat addicted to pintrest (which I really should stop because some of that shit is bananas), and post bubble of tulle I have been looking at the animals page. And whenever I see a puppy picture too cute for words (so, you know, all of them), I squeal: "I want it! I want it! Let's get this one now!" Knowing full well that we are not going to get a puppy. Not ever, but especially not now.

Mike's reaction is always an emphatic: "NO."
So my reaction is always to fain disappointment with a sad: -sigh- Fine. But then I cheer up with a bright: "Oh! Let's have a baby then!"

I may be trying distract my husband from getting a puppy by convincing him to have a baby.
So far my plan is failing.

Holiday Card

In 2011, my 2012 Christmas card/gift plan was clearly wedding pictures. Really easy. Do you hear what I hear? Yeah, that's the holiday elves laughing at me.
And then 2012 actually happened. There were parties and trips and the wedding, starting grad school and two new jobs, hosting Thanksgiving for 7 people, grad school projects and readings, dog fights and dog training, a half marathon and 800+ professional wedding photos to go through. Needless to say, by the time December 2012 rolled around, I decided to scrap the holiday card in general becasue I had other things to do.
Except. That this is really the only year that I can send the wedding picture as a card. Next year using a wedding picture would not only be too late, it would be weird and attention whorey. Not to mention once the semester ended I had time to send cards though. And address lables already typed from the wedding guest list. So really I had no excuse for not sending Christmas cards except that I was tired and didn't want to sort through the 800+ wedding pictures.   
But, I got my act (sorta) together, ordered, ordered a 2nd batch, and between my husband's and mine several post office runs we got enough stamps, we sent out 91 of these things:

Somewhat on time even! (though the same can't be said about the timing of this blog post...) Most people got theirs right before Christmas too, so phew! It also helps that we live close to a Shutterfly printing place so we get our orders pretty quick. And now I can say I'm a grown up and we sent our Christmas cards!
So my 2012 plan for 2013 is to still send cards. But I'm not doing the picture again!*

*ok, at least no pictures until there are babies/children. After those come into the picture you, uh, send a picture.

Name Game

--scene: at my bridal shower--
priya: if sharktopus and dinocroc, and I should clarify I mean the creatures, not your future children, were to get in a fight, who do you think would win?
me: I'm glad you clarified the syfy creatures and not the kids, because that was totally going to be my next question. Ok, I think Sharktopus would win in a fight, because not only can it walk on land, hide in shallow water despite it being a ginormous creature, and swim in the deep sea, so it could drag Dinocroc back to the sea and take it out there.
priya: Who do you think mike said would win?
me: Sharktopus
priya: Yep. He said the tentacles give sharktopus a tactical advantage.
my (at the time future) mother in law: Wait, what are those names again?
me: Sharktopus and Dinocroc.
mil: And how did you come up with that?
me: It was actually Mike. When we were battling for the naming rights of Jeanne's son one of my suggestions was Sharktopus, and Mike loved that one so much that he said really hoped it wouldn't get picked* so that we could have it for ourselves. He was quite adamant in that.
mil: Oh dear.
me: Yep.

I don't know if she was afraid that her future grandkids would actually** be named that, or that she was happy that her son found someone just as dorky as him and indulges his sea creature obsession. Probably little from column a and a little from column b. 
*It didn't. Eventually Scipio Africanus won out. Or 'Skip,' for short. Like you do.
**We're completely serious about this. Don't be stealing our names now.

Here Comes the Bride (ME!!)

So, I haven't even blogged about the wedding! After blogging about the bubble of tulle for a year, I have yet to show and tell about the happiest day of my life.  This will be a pretty heavy picture post (which for me, means something like, 5 photos), but I don't think any of you will mind!

The whole whole weekend was perfect, everything went smoothly, the weather was great (hot, but no rain) and everyone had a great time it seemed. The beginning of the reception was a bit sloppy from the dj and a few communication blips with our venue, but the day was still just perfect.

The day started with a Thriller dance lesson: 

Seriously. Flash mobs don't just happen on their own

Then onto the salon where we were the weirdest bridal party ever to them

Fun fact: Jeanne's grandma made my veil. It was beautiful and perfect and I hope to pass it down to my children and/or grandchildren one day. That and it was super fun to dance with like a cape! 

We headed back to my parents' house for lunch and to get ready until the limo arrived to take us off to the theater

We got held up in some graduation traffic on the way, and I wondered if I needed to call mike to let him know I was on my way. Then someone pointed out that the entire bride's side not there yet would probably be enough of a clue .

Waited excitedly in the dressing rooms for a few minutes before I got ready to walk down the aisle

My heart was racing a thousand miles a minute but it was a good racing!

Walked down the aisle and met my groom

He was up there waiting for me while I tried my hardest to not sprint up there and squeal out loud!

Got married 

the first 'official' kiss
(without thinking, we had kissed hello the second we met at the alter!)

Took lots and lots of pictures

 lots and lots of happy

And then partied down! Which included: 

Dances with our parents: 

Too Marvelous for Words for me and my dad, and The Man That You've Become for Mike and his mom. The dj played a different version of the song my mother-in-law picked out. I think this picture is when they figure that out, but obviously every one's too happy to really care

The coolest groom's cake ever

Everyone LOVED the shark cake. And the wedding cake was beautiful too!

The aforementioned flash mob: 

Thriller! My wedding present from my high school crew. Nothing says happily ever after like zombies! 

Cake cutting

We're both thinking: how do even cut the shark cake?!

And cake eating

They were both quite tasty in addition to being beautiful

More dancing: 

I just love this picture of my sister

And the happiest couple in the world: 

Best. Day. Ever!!!!!

Chapstick

So, my bridal party was probably one of the weirdest bridal parties the salon had ever had.

• reason 1: I didn't want any glitter anywhere on my face, near me, or my posse. My bridal portraits/trial makeup run, the makeup artist used a glitter eyeshadow at first, which was just not me. And you don't want glitter/shiny makeup that day anyway because it can photograph weird.  And my face was just too "done" for the portraits. (in fairness to my makeup artist, I didn't have a good idea of what I wanted, and it's not her fault she couldn't create something in my head that I couldn't even explain) So wedding day, I brought my own makeup (with no sparkles), and (honestly) loved the results.
• reason 2: I was not a picky bride in the slightest. With the exception of the dress color and skirt length, I didn't dictate what anyone's look should be in general. When it came to hair and makeup, I didn't care what anyone did or didn't do, as long as they were happy with the result.  If they wanted an updo, they could have an updo. If they wanted down, that was cool with me.  I guess they are used to brides who want everyone to look the same so that the bride stands out more, but I figured my big white dress and overall giddiness would be enough for people to know who I was. 
• reason 3: We had to convince my mom to get her makeup done in the first place. So when she was done with her hairstylist and came into the makeup area, my sister and I both squealed with surprise and delight that she had an updo. (as far as I remember, my mom has never had an updo. I don't think I've ever even seen her with a ponytail)  She was so cute!  But she was thinking that she would do her makeup at home. I love my mom very much, but she doesn't do her own makeup well. (a good place to start would be if bought makeup that worked with her skin tone, and didn't just use whatever random stuff my sister and I have left behind) And this was a big event for her too (mother of the bride and all that business), and she had every right to go a little fancier than normal.  So after my sister and I told her to "just get a little something done," and the makeup artist said with fancy hair you need fancy makeup, she got her makeup done. Of course, having to convince her to get her makeup done in the first place, means she understated what she wanted makeup wise.  
• reason 4: We all super understated what we wanted. I warned my posse about trial makeup, so we were all a little wary of how heavy they put makeup on. We all know that you can always add, but taking away/toning down is much much harder.  Plus Priya and Jeanne had a male makeup artist who had a full face of makeup on himself.  And, while his makeup was beautiful, gay man logic implies our idea of full face of makeup was about 14 levels below of what his idea of full face makeup was.  You could tell all the makeup artist were reigning themselves in and tampering their own version of done, but the end result is that everyone liked what they had.    
• reason 5: LB doesn't wear lipstick.  She doesn't wear a lot of makeup in general, and when it came time to put the lipstick, the makeup artist was at a slight loss. 
• makeup artist: what do you wear on your lips?
• lb: chapsick.
• makeup artist: seriously?
• lb: yes
• makeup artist: Wow, that's a new one. We've heard 'clear,' or 'gloss' and even 'tinted lip balm'. But chapstick is a new one. That's going on our facebook page.

So yeah, we were a very odd bridal party to them I bet. But the end result was that everyone looked great, everyone was happy with what they got done, and the day was fabulous!

See? We all look so pretty!
And I think I stand out pretty well if I do say so for myself

16 candles

scene: after the rehearsal dinner
me: I'm going to head back home now. I'll see you all at the salon at 11:30.
everyone: Good night!
me: Thanks!
jeanne: Think you'll be able to sleep?
me: Yeah, I think so. I didn't sleep well last night so I'm fairly tired.
lb: Do you want something* to help with that just in case?
me: Hmm...no, I think I'll be ok. But thanks for the offer. Plus, I haven't taken anything of your caliber* ever, so tonight of all nights is probably not the best night to try that out.
lb: Good point. And we've all seen that movie.

*LB's our resident pharmasist.
**and this is why LB has the best dream recaps.

Protect Me

I was getting a pedicure at Aveda before the wedding and the girl doing my nails was chatting like you do.  When she asked if the pedicure was for a special occasion, I (of course) said I'm getting married that Saturday.

Now, when you say the magic W word to a (very young) 20 something year old girl, they typically start pressing you for any details and gushing over them.  And if they've been with their boyfriend for a year or two more, they will also, quite typically, tell you that they have discussed marriage with their boyfriend and that he is the one.* I know at her age, I was the same way,** so I didn't scoff. (no really, I didn't) And besides the girl was sweet and I didn't mind chatting about the wedding with her.

This girl though, seemed to have a fairly decent head on her shoulders, and wasn't rushing to take the marriage plunge or pressuring her boyfriend either. She admitted that there were a few things that made her unsure.  Nothing deal breaking, but just a few things to hold off on marriage for a little bit. The biggest thing was that she wasn't sure if he could protect her.  And the only reason she thought that, was because he doesn't know how to shoot!

Ok, I admit I laughed at that one. That was sole deciding factor? That he just can't shoot a gun? But oh well, if that's the reason she wants to hold off on marriage, then more power to her! 

* I don't really believe in "the one" or any other of those 'when you know you know' one true love mantras.  Yeah it's nice for fairy tales, but real life happens. 
**I really was. At 20 I totally knew my boyfriend at the time was the one, I would have an engagement ring from Tiffany's at my final crit, and we were going to get married the fall after we graduated. And he did end up proposing right after graduation, to the girl he broke up with me for by the time we were 21.  No, I'm not bitter***
*** Of course I was bitter!  I was something like 22 at the time. But thank god my life didn't work out as I planned it would when I was 20.  I mean, it's been almost 10 years since we dated, they're still together and as far as I know happy, (we didn't keep in touch for obvious reasons) and I have dr soc who I love more than anything in the world. I'd say it worked out well for everyone.

Princess

Mike forwarded a coworker who couldn't make it to the wedding the slide show our photographer put together. (BTW, my photographer ROCKS. She not only did she have the slide show of photos edited, she also had all our proofs up in less than a week!).  The coworker had her 3 year old daughter with her that day and when she (the 3 year old) saw the pictures, she called me a "pretty princess."

Which is awesome. Because princess, especially from a 3-year-old, is pretty much the highest praise you can get!

Reasons

The morning after the wedding dr soc and I made our marriage facebook official by changing our relationship status and I changed my last name.  'Cause you know, the vows, the judge, 120 witnesses and party afterwards was nice and all, but it's not official until you put it on facebook.

Anyway, we both got beaucoup amounts of likes and well wishes, from lots of people, including some people who were not invited or able to come to the wedding.

Except for one comment (tacked onto a plea for rsvps, a month after the fact) which I deleted.  And it was:

I didn't rsvp because I wasn't invited

^^That?^^ Is why you weren't invited.

Best Day Ever!

Our wedding day was absolutley perfect!
Maybe one day I'll post more pictures of the day, that is if I ever tag, save, and post them from facebook, of course.
But for now here's a picture of the happiest day of my life and the people who made it possible

pictured: a WHOLE lot of happy!

Thank you everyone!

I do

We're married!!!!!

Ready

The wedding's tomorrow! The wedding's tomorrow!!!!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!
After planning this thing for a little over a year (and a half, but shh, don't tell Mike), I can't believe that this day is almost here.  Obviously, I'm excited. And I'm nervous too, but not nervous to get married. Nervous that everything will go right.  But I'm not worried too much, because I know that at the end of the day we're still married. I'm just ready.
I'm ready to be Mike's wife. I'm ready to stand up there in front of our family and friends and say our vows, telling the world with a ring we will spend the rest of our lives together (if he dies on me first I will kill him).
I'm so incredibly lucky. It's a pretty wonderful place to be!

Weather Ballon

My friend LB can control the weather. We'll not the whole wide world's weather, but she can target key areas for certain things.  Like perfect weather for our friend Jeanne's wedding.  Or diverting some storms to other areas of the coast so my sister's groom could make their wedding. (oh yeah, Amy, if you didn't know that already, I totally asked Lb to help out your wedding. You're welcome.)

Knowing my friend had this super power, I planned on calling in her services for my wedding day, whenever that would be.  But like all powers, one must use them with caution.  Fortunately, I don't really need her power in 3 days. According to the forecast, my wedding day has 0% chance of rain, but it will be 93 degrees. But we're getting married indoors anyway, so rain and heat don't worry me too much.

And besides, I already used her power. Twice actually. The first was my sister's wedding I already mentioned.  The other time was for my graduation. Lexington was having freakishly cold days and we had, get this, snow that stuck. Snow that stuck finals week and delayed/rescheduled some peoples' finals.  I was lucky that all my finals escaped the rescheduling, but I had one more final looming, and I was completely terrified that not only would UK would postpone that final, they would cancel the graduation.   

So I begged LB to control the weather long enough so I could take my 8 am final and then walk at 7 pm at the graduation ceremony.  I didn't care what happened the next day, and I don't know if I screwed over someone else weather wise, but if I ever needed her super power, it was then. Graduation was a little more important to me than using her power for a wedding I even close to at the time. LB put her power to work, and the evening before my final, I got an email saying that not only would all finals operate on a regular schedule, graduation was on track.  I was so relived I almost cried. 

Though I'm pretty sure that if I did need her super power this weekend, she could pull a few strings and help out. She's good like that!

I'm sure

last night as we're leaving work
coworker: So, 6 days!
me: NO, 5 days.
coworker: Oh. Are you sure?
me: YES.

Now it's 4 days. And yes, I'm sure about that too.

Trendy

About a year ago Mike and I were ring shopping, so I figured why not tell this story now.
.
jeweler: which one do you want to see?
me: Can I try that oval one? With the halo?
me (to mike): I really like the halo....
jeweler: Of course. (like he would tell me no) 
The jewler points out a few other rings similar in style as well as a few different styles.
jeweler: what do you think of this one?
me: It's pretty, but I don't care for the 3 stone rings myself, it seems a bit...dated... for me.
jeweler: That's ok. They were popular about 10-15 years ago but not so much anymore.  You can bet that most women with a 3 stone ring got engaged then. They're somewhat time defining.
me: Yeah, I noticed that trend.  (Here Mike gets a look of holy crap she notices engagment ring trends? There are engagment ring trends?) Out of curiousity, what's popular now?
jeweler: the halo...
me: -snort-  Good thing I like it then!

Cuts

Some other couple had a speedy wedding at my venue last weekend.  Which means I'm not the first wedding there anymore.  And surpisingly, I'm a little hurt by this.

By being the first wedding, I was a forgiving and knew that there was a learning curve with the venue.  Communication wasn't great at first and Mike wanted to forgo the deposit and find anyother venue he was so fed up. (We didn't since I was wasn't going to start weddin gplanning all over again. And our save the dates were already sent out). 

I didn't know I liked being the first wedding there so much. Now that it won't be mine.  I feel like I did all the legwork and was the learning curve.  Like I was practice, and this couple just swooped in and took a cut in line.

The bright side is that hopefully things will run a little smoother for us since the venue will have a better idea of what to do wedding day.  Not as many first time jitters for them.  And I know my wedding will still be special and wonderful no matter what, because it's my wedding.  No matter if I'm the 1st or 1000th bride there. It's still my wedding. And there's nothing I can do to change this so I'll have to get over it.  But I'm still pouting just a little. 

adults only

To all the couples that do want an adults only reception, know that it's ok to want that.*  It is your day and you can celebrate how you want to. But be forewarned that everyone will have an opinion one way or another and you will probably ruffle some feathers in doing so. It's a common thread on the knot: My cousin/friend/mom's friend's daughter's old college roommate** wants to bring their kid and we're doing an adults only reception. My cousin/friend/mom's friend's daughter's old college roommate is super pissed we're not inviting jr and threatening to not come/is going to bring them anyway no matter what I want. Help!

Right now I side with the bride's side and tell her to stick to her guns. Don't kowtow to those people who become offended you didn't invite their precious children. And I know I don't have kids yet so I can't say how I'll feel about leaving them at home to these events in the future.***

But I have a little tidbit for all the brides who want an adults only reception.  You don't want kids there? Invite them.
That's how it seemed to work for us at least. Mike and I invited about 20 kids (all under the age of 14), and a grand total of 5 of them are coming.  Of course, we didn't intended to have an adults only reception anyway and our invitations were genuine.  It's just most of the guests with kids:
A) Can't make it anyway. And/or
B) Have opted to leave the kids at home for their own adult night.

Which was a choice we were fine with either way.  And I'm not saying what we did was a right or wrong way to do things, it was the best way for us.  I just think it's a little funny.

*Just don't be an asshole about it. Getting married is not a excuse to make ridiculous demands and then pitching a hissy fit because you didn't get every single ridiculous thing you demanded.
**honestly, if you're extending the invite this far out, you may as well invite kids.
***though if I do become one of those moms that thinks her children should be included in everything, do me a favor and please refer me back to this post.