Something Old, Something New....

I like to think that I am not as traditional a bride as some but there is still a part of me that wants to follow in the foot steps of the brides that came before me.

One of the things that I am most excited about is my, Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue.

I've got most of them taken care of:

Something Old: My grandmothers ring that I've been wearing since I was 17, I inherited it from her when she passed away and it's part of who I am. My mom and I are also on the hunt for something that I can wear or tie into my bouquet from her mom too.

Something New: This was the easiest - my dress!!!! (Which I am SOOO freakin excited about, I look at the picture like 500 times a day)

Something Borrowed: This is something else I am really excited about, I will be wearing my sisters veil from her first wedding (which is SPECTACULAR) and if my new sis-in-law to be is still willing I am hoping to borrow the tiara from her wedding.

Something Blue: This is the one that I was contemplating.

I didn't want to do something that would be seen as my something blue because with red and white as my colours I didn't want to look like the American Flag. My solution was to have my something blue be the garter but Ian is determined not to do the garter toss. However, after some consideration I decided to not let this stop me from wearing one because - well they're fun. The only ones have found around here are either white or light baby blue and I wanted something that was spectacular. One afternoon I was flipping through one of the magazines that I got from my subscription (Thank You awesome Bridesmaids) and I saw a picture of a beautiful black and teal garter and got really excited. It directed me to: http://www.gartersbykristi.com/

I've narrowed it down to 2 and would love your opinions:

OR

Help me out people!!

Told you so mom!

This past week I applied to graduate from UVic (woooohooo!!) and it got me thinking to the last time that I wore a cap and gown. Then attending a wedding of one of my highschool friends pushed me into reminisce mode even more.

As I've mentioned before Ian and I met in highschool thanks to the lovely Heather in my grade 11 year. By the time the end of grade 12 rolled around Heather, Ian and I had become sort of a package deal, you wanted one of us, you tended to get all three. So when it came time for our grad it was given that Ian had to be there. At the time Heather was dating someone and I was single so it was a no-brainer that I would take Ian as my date. I waltzed up to him in the theater one afternoon and I grabbed him by the arm and said, "you get to be my date to grad, you need a tux and a ticket." Ian didn't even bat an eye. He said, "okie," in that fantastic Ian way and that was that.

I went home that afternoon and was standing in my kitchen yapping with my mom which is something that would become a ritual for us as I got older. I told her that I was bringing Ian to grad with me and she was quite thrilled. Especially since my choice of boys earlier in the year had been... well we won't go there...

She told me that she really liked Ian and she thought he was great and I replied by saying, "me too, you know what Mom? I'm going to marry that boy one day."

I love this part.... Told you so mom!!!

Holy Eventful!

This past weekend was my actual birthday and I had the privilege of spending it watching my very good friend get married, and it was such a wonderful wedding (not to mention a great way to see how things worked in practice!) A few pics *taken with my new camera* for your viewing pleasure.

GORGEOUS!!!

Nice Picture

Less nice picture...

"Blast from the Past" with the bride

Luckily for me the ceremony didn't begin until 3:30 in the afternoon so I was able to use the morning for a bit of running around. The next task on my seemingly endless to do list was the find a florist. Last week I did some googling around and booked appointments for a couple consultations.

I'm not the kind of person who has a lot of knowledge about flowers so I was relying on the florists to come up with ideas. My only stipulations were roses and "pretty". I figured that would be doable.

The first consultation was the the florist that did Kathy's wedding. We were very happy with the flowers they did and I decided to find out what they could do for me. I was very happy with my consultation there, the woman I spoke to was very nice and gave me a quote that was well within my budget.

After leaving Flowers and Co. mom and I had some time before our next one so we decided to make the most of it and venture into Michaels to see if we could get inspired on pew bows. For those who don't know Michaels has this nasty habit of sucking up time like a vacuum. Before we knew it, it had been an hour and I still wanted to make another stop. So we left the store with an idea, some ribbon and high hopes. Next we ventured into a fantastic store that my sister recommended, Forever Yours to find something for me to wear under my wedding dress. The sales lady was SUPER helpful and within 20 minutes she had me fitted and into a corset that fit beautifully, it feels like it was made for me! This was WAY easier than I had anticipated so if you are ever looking for very specific undergarments - this is the place to go!! http://foreveryourslingerie.ca/ The day got even better when my mom offered to pay for 1/2 of it. I love my mom!

Our next stop was a florist in south surrey (morgan creek for those in the know) who worked out of her home. I was very impressed with her online portfolio and had high hopes for the consultation. Mom and I walked in and I was really excited by her organizational skills! Yes I'm actually serious. She gave some great ideas and then came the quote. I was panicking a little because we hadn't talked budget (rookie mistake!).

She added it up and including the floral arrangements that my Mom has decided she wants (and has offered to pay for) it was about 1/2 my budget. WOH! After a quick conversation with my mom I decided to go with Didi's Flowers (http://www.didisflowers.com/) - lets just hope my email to her confirming the booking goes through before she gets booked!

After this I got home quickly changed and zoomed off to Swaneset in Pitt Meadows for Kaitlyn's wedding. WOW what a day!

Birthday Fun

This past weekend I was home to celebrate my birthday, even though it is a week early. We did it this weekend because as I've mentioned before next weekend (my actual birthday) I will be at a very good friend of mine's wedding. YAY!

The plan was to have a combo birthday/thanksgiving dinner with my family on Saturday and then brunch with Ian's family on Sunday before heading home. I've been excited about this weekend home for a while because I hadn't seen my family in nearly a month and I missed them a lot! Not to mention it was the weekend where birthday presents were being given and lets face it, presents are fun!

Now since finances are tight with Ian and I, I had given him a VERY modest budget for my birthday present. I was hoping he'd stick to it. He didn't. After I picked him up for Saturday's dinner he asked it if was ok if I got my present from him on Sunday. I was a little confused but not really fussed so I let it go.

After my sister and her family arrived I was playing with my super SUPER cute baby niece when Ian suggested we get a picture together. Expecting his usual GIANT lens I looked up and saw this cute little blue camera and wondered who it belonged to. He took the picture and said, "There, your first picture on your new camera!" What a sticker! But I was so touched that I didn't care that he was a big liar.

So after a YUMMY dinner of turkey and "jen friendly" (wheat free) stuffing and jen friendly tarts and cupcakes for desert it was time for the rest of my presents.

A lack of communication between Ian and my parents resulted in a second digital camera (whoops) but my wonderfully organized parents had a receipt so I was able to return one that hadn't already been used. I got a few books off my HUGE to be read list and a new game for Ian and I to concure on the Wii from my parents and brother. My very talented sister hand knitted me some fantastic dish clothes and to go with it... my very first gift off our wedding registry!!!!

I'm so excited to cook wonderful roasts and maybe the odd turkey dinner in my new roasting pan! (thank's big sis and family!)

The next day I was greeted with a fantastic venison stew at Ian's parents house for brunch, with Jen and Ian friendly brownies for desert. Added cool thing: the candles for my birthday had coloured flames to match the colours on the candles - VERY cool!

The next thing I know there is a big purple box in front of me with a birthday card on top of it. I've got the best in-laws to be. After a failed attempt to open the present without ripping the paper (it was so pretty), I saw a Mikasa box. Completely forgetting what I had wanted from Mikasa I opened to box to find my first place setting from my china pattern!!! It's so exciting that I'm starting to collect these things!!! We opened up the box and ooh'd and ahhh'd over how nice the dishes were and I was excited that I loved the pattern just as much as when I'd registered for it. (PS: I don't remember if I've said this or not but I changed my mind yet again with the china pattern - I'm onto, and now I'm happily committed to, Cocoa Blossom by Mikasa)

2nd of the 5

In highschool I had a small group of friends that got dubbed "the five" after we spent a summer hopping from house to house so that we didn't have to be apart. Back then we always used to ponder (as most teenage girls do) who would get married first, who our husbands would be and what our lives would be like. I was dubbed to be the first married and the soccer mom. I'm also pretty sure that I envisioned myself married to David Boreanaz (then: Angel on"Buffy the Vampire Slayer", now: that guys that's on "Bones") and although my tastes have matured since the age of 14, I must say, he's still pretty easy on the eyes.

Anyway the point of this story is that in a couple of weeks the 2nd of "the five" is getting married (on my birthday, which I think is pretty cool). This made me think back to the days of highschool and day dreaming and marvel at how different life is from what we expected.

The first of "the five" to get married, tied the knot a couple of years ago and is now that proud mommy of a sweet little boy who is due to turn one in a month. Now the thing about this is she was the member of our group that always marched to the beat of her own drummer. Her first words were "new shoes" and she was always proud of the fact that she had green hair at the age of 5. She was also known for having the best legs of the group from her years of playing ice hockey. (note to self - go ice skating... good for thighs) She swore that she would get married three times and for the 2nd wedding she would wear this amazing red gown that hung in her mother's closet. It now seems that he first marriage might stick... so I guess that plan isn't going to pan out. I have to say that part of me was surprised that she has chose such a "normal" life. But at the same time she still has that wonderful streak that made her who she was.

It actually turns out that I will be the 4th one of "the five" to get married and I would say that I am far from being a "soccer mom" - though I would give it ten years before making the final judgement on that one.

I would happily post a picture of the five on this posting but our scanner crapped out on us as we were trying to scan my transcripts last week (that was fun), so.... sorry! I guess you'll just have to do with a picture of my 14 year old self's future husband.

Yup - still easy on the eyes.