Mother's Day Festivities Part 1

Happy Mother's Day weekend!

Today started when I went shopping with my grandmother for her outfit for the wedding.  She ended up with a black and lace dress that I thought was so beautiful and perfect for her.  Almost exactly what she was looking for.  Short, but not too short...short sleeves with an option of a sheer jacket for more coverage...something flattering...check, check, check...we covered all of our bases.

After dress shopping we all headed out to watch Cassidy's softball game.  Right after the game I took my three younger sisters to run so errands then we went home to start getting ready for dinner!

We had all of us together (my parents, sisters, brother-in-law, Matt, and my grandparents).  It was a delicious cookout and a great way to spend a beautiful evening outside.  Plus, we surprised my mom with her Mother's Day gift and all went out as a family for dessert at the Melting Pot.  Yum!

I felt the need to celebrate Mother's day with my Mom and family mainly tonight because tomorrow I have wedding errands to run, dance lessons, and spending time with Matt's family before we hit the road for WV again.  I can't wait to wake up early with my sisters and make Mom breakfast in bed...it is a tradition that I can remember doing as far back as elementary school when I would go outside and pick a flower to put on my Mom's breakfast tray!  Can't wait to "surprise" her with breakfast in bed!

Something Borrowed

I have to do the shameless plug!

Today one of my favorite books came out in film form.  It was so cute!  I would definitely recommend it!

Something Borrowed

Wedding Craft

A few months ago my older sister said that she had these cute glass blocks at her work that I could personalize and use for reception decorations.  There are a lot of random ledges around our reception venue so I thought they would be cute little accents.

First you start out with a glass block (can find them at Michael's or Ben Franklin)
We are using the plain clear ones!

Source

Next to personalize it, I went to etsy.com and found cute vinyl clings in our colors.  

You can find the ones I used at Byrdie Graphics.

 

Next you peel off the backing and place the vinyl on the block.

Now there are a couple of options as to what you want to do with the blocks.  Most people put a strand of white Christmas Lights in them.  This is very pretty, but I was concerned that there would not be an outlet at every location that we wanted to place the blocks.  Plan B was to get lights that have a battery pack.  These are on green string and I think they look funny.  To camouflage the green string I bought shredded paper (can be found at Hobby Lobby) in our wedding colors.  the problem is that the lights don't shine through the paper.  Since the opening is so small the lights/paper idea just ends up being a nightmare.  I took the lights out and just liked them plain like this.

I also got clings that are our wedding colors and I was thinking about taking the stand of lights out of these blocks and leaving them empty.

They are pretty and I like them, but I am open to suggestions if you have any as to how to light them up!

Traveling

This morning started off with my stressful/anxiety-inducing oh so favorite 5 hour drive from WV to VA.

Seriously it is always something with this car ride.  First time the Saturn died...another time there was a snow storm and the roads had so much treated stuff on them that my windshield was covered in salt, but when I tried to clean it off the windshield wiper fluid was frozen because it was 15 degrees outside and I had to pull off on the shoulder on a mountain and clean off the windshield with a plastic top from my tanning bed goggles (yes, I have now invested in an ice scraper). 

Oh yeah, then there was that time where it was overcast and the fog was practically white-out conditions and I was going 25 MPH on 64 up and down mountains.  Oh wait...then there was also that time that I was riding with Matt and it started to snow (blizzard style) unexpectedly and the roads were covered and I had to go to the bathroom so bad and we had to find an exit that wasn't covered in snow. 

Great stories from the past year, you can see why I get so excited to make that trip.  The trip yesterday was pretty uneventful (I love when it is sunny and beautiful out for that drive)...but there was this one part where the signs said "LEFT LANE CLOSED" then all of the sudden it was like the got carried away and decided to put the cones in the right lane too.  I watched a huge 18-wheeler look ahead and see that the cones were in the right lane so he swerved and got off on the exit that he had almost passed because his truck wouldn't fit down 64...smoke and rocks went flying...it was a great thing for my nerves.

And since I was going a mere 15 MPH I thought it appropriate to whip out my phone and take a pic for all to see...

Wedding Wednesday is postponed until tomorrow!

Today included a little bit of everything.  I took my final final exam (hopefully for the rest of my life).  Did a little wedding stuff.  Worked on getting everything straight in the apartment, and most importantly I finished unpacking.

When Matt got home from work we made a delicious dinner together.  Zucchini Squash, asparagus, and pork chops over wild rice.  It was a great joint effort and so delicious!

After dinner we went to go buy a dresser for my clothes to complete our bedroom set!

Now we get to have a nice relaxing night watching The King's Speech (I've been wanting to see this forever), and eating some delicious ice cream!

Yet another day of compromises

I'm sensing a theme here.  When Matt moved to WV last year he really started from scratch.  While he asked my opinion on nearly everything he picked out for the apartment, I made a clear decision not to say if I did or did not like something, because this was his apartment for a full year and I wanted it to be everything that he liked.  From a basic standpoint of would this go in the living room/bedroom/kitchen I would say yes or no.

I feel like I have to preface this with the fact that Matt and I have two completely different tastes.  Most guys let their significant others decorate away and do whatever they want because heaven forbid them have an opinion on home decorating (how un-manly).  I'm lucky enough to be marrying someone that actually cares about what is put where and if that matches the rest of the room or not.  We have spent countless hours discussing pieces of furniture (when I find myself saying "make a decision already").  I think this stems back from furniture shopping with my mom (another long process).

Let me give you a little visual...

Matt's taste

Source

My taste

Now everyone would agree that both kitchens are beautiful, and I would never complain about having either one, but seriously...here it is easy to tell where our styles are slightly different.

Here is the bedroom set that Matt picked out for his apartment last year.  

We have the bed and long dresser with mirror.  In the next few days we will be getting the tall dresser so that I can unpack all of my clothes!!! 

This is the furniture that will be in our bedroom for probably a good portion of our future, and I'm so excited to start blending our styles!  (However hard it may be...and yes, that picture over the bed...Matt found almost the exact same one and hung it over his bed too).  

This could get interesting.  As we were updating our wedding registry last night we hit a snag in the bedding aisle.  Matt picked out all of the dark comforters and I was going for all of the lights and pastels.  We found a few that we could compromise on...because I realized that my light pastel comforters may look a little weird with all dark wood furniture.

So far I've gotten my way on the dishes (simple, classic, chic white corelle), Matt's gotten his way  on all of the furniture in the apartment...and now we'll have to compromise on the decorating.  Yikes!

Moving Day

Wish I could post a picture from this morning, but since Matt occasionally reads this blog, I'd rather not put up a picture of me in my wedding dress.  I had my final fitting and took some time to try on all of the jewelry that I have bought recently and make a decision on what exactly I will be wearing on the wedding day.

After quick visits with family and lunch with good friends, Matt and I headed off to WV to start moving me in!

I got through the car ride with a little help from two good friends...

It has been a long few hours of driving and moving, so now at almost midnight we've decided to relax, get ready for bed, and leave the rest for tomorrow.  Today I'm appreciating the small things in my life, like seeing Matt's clothes and my clothes in the same closet :)