The Wedding Week.

That's right ladies {and gents} it is time for wedding recaps! I hope you're excited because there's going to be a lot of them! 

The day was sheer amazingness, but sorry, I have to start from the beginning...and no, you don't get to see pics yet.
{cue suspenseful music}

The entire week of the wedding was incredible. We had so much planned and every day was a blast! I was so excited the whole week, I was literally a big ball of happiness.

So let's recap that final week of singledom, shall we?

Thursday, 10.27 {T minus 9 days}

The celebrating kicked off nine days before the big day. My mom and step-dad invited me and J and J's dad and step-mom over for dinner. It was just the six of us and it was great! My mom made a delicious Greek salad and a bolognese pasta that was beyond yummy! 

Both sets of parents gave us our wedding gifts which were so amazing and so generous! 

Then, we all drank champagne and toasted to the next nine days and the rest of our lives!!!

Friday, 10.28 {T minus 8 days}

With just a week + 1 day to go, J and I finished off our weeks at work and then headed over to my dad's house. He grilled us steak, we played Hearts and went over some final wedding details. It was a really fun and relaxing night.

as you can see I lost horribly in Hearts. J made sure to point out the fact that he won.

Saturday, 10.29 {T minus ONE WEEK!}
I could write an entire post about how amazing this day was, but I will try and keep it short. You all know what a HUGE Gopher fan I am, and they have been terrible this season. It's been so hard to watch, but I do what I can to stay positive and cheer for my team no matter what. One of the biggest rivalries we have is with Iowa....I seriously HATE that damn team {and their fans are the worst}. Anyways, my last game as a single gal was against Iowa. We tailgated as usual. Cheered on the team as usual. But, then something miraculous happened....WE BEAT IOWA! As soon as the clock ran out we rushed the field!

It was an amazing moment. If you recall, J proposed on the 50 yard line and one week before our wedding we were once again on the field where we were engaged!
After the game we went to grab food at Tony's Diner {which is where our Groom's Dinner was} and we ended up eating with Marqueis Gray! The Gopher's starting quarterback!

Seriously, such an amazing day and the most perfect way to kick the wedding off.
I still get excited just thinking about it!

Sunday, 10.30 {T minus 6 days!}

The Sunday before the wedding we met with our organist in the morning to finalize music details.
After that, it was pretty much a lazy day with my loves.

Monday, 10.31 {T minus 5 days!}
Monday I got to dip out of work early and get pampered! I treated myself to a face wax {brow, lip & chin}, a facial and a body polish. Let me tell you ladies, if you haven't gotten a body polish....schedule one NOW! I had never had one and I am already trying to find an excuse to get another. They literally rub every part of your body with oil, then an Asian herb exfoiliant, then a toner and finally a moisturizer. You leave and your skin is like BUT-TAH! And the best part....apparently the exfoiliant is a physical and chemical exfoiliant so it continues to work for days after the service. I didn't have to use lotion the whole week! Seriously!




Tuesday, 11.01 {T minus 4 days!}
Tuesday was just a regular old day at work, but I did get to drop all of our reception materials off at the site AND met my mom for lunch in the atrium where our reception was going to be held!

After work I met J at the Tux Shop to see him in his wedding day outfit! He looked so handsome and everything fit perfect! We had plans to clean the house that night, but after an invitation to meet my dad for dinner and drinks cleaning was pushed to the wayside.




Wednesday, 11.2 {T minus 3 days!}
Wednesday was my last day at work and it dragged on and on and on! And, I even left for an hour and a half lunch with my mom and personal attendant to go over all the final details and plans for the weekend. Major shout out to the Beeb, Katie, Steph, Erica and Jess for your constant gchatting and iMessaging that whole day! You have no idea what a help it was! After work I stopped by the jeweler to grab my engagement ring then went to get a little armpit and bikini action taken care of {TMI? sorry.} Then I got to spend the evening with two of my besties celebrating my friend Christina's birthday!

Thursday, 11.3 {T minus 2 days!}
Thursday was my get shiz done day. My Friday was completely booked up so everything I needed to accomplish needed to be accomplished this day. I was running all over town doing last minute drop offs, tanning, meeting my almost sis-in-law for her dress fitting {she lives in Florida, so we had to do a last minute appointment}. And then my darling BEEB met me for lunch and have me an adorable {belated} shower gift!

It's a Bumble Bee as blinds and under it, it says "Good Morning" so stinkin' cute!
After lunch I had a couple more errands to run, like dropping off our welcome bags at the hotel

and then it was officially time to relax and get married! I went to get my nails did:

{I did Plum and Done by Shellac and was obsessed! Sorry for the crappy phone pic}

Then it was time to shower and get ready and head to my mom's house! My Aunt and Uncle {from Arkansas} and my mom's bff {from Colorado} who is practically my Aunt because I've known her my whole life were already in town and we were all going out to dinner! We went to Manny's, which is an amazing steakhouse downtown Minneapolis.

It was so fun catching up with family I hadn't seen in years! It still hadn't sunk in, though, that they were all there for me and J.

Next up, the rehearsal dinner!

Super Excitement!

The week before my wedding one of my bestest friends {and bridesmaid}, Christina asked me to be in her wedding on September 22, 2012!!! Christina and I have been friends since middle-school and she is one of the most beautiful, kind and hilarious people I know and I could not be more excited for her! 

Christina and her fiance, Aaron, were engaged in September in PARIS. Yup, homeboy popped the question on top of the Eiffel Tower! They left town on a Wednesday came back on Sunday and told NO ONE {except Christina's mom} that they were leaving. She literally had to tell me 20 times how he proposed because I didn't believe her! 

I absolutely adore Aaron and think he is the perfect compliment to Christina! I know without a doubt they will have a lifetime filled with happiness! And hopefully more great times with me and J! 

Christina-

Thank you so much for everything you did for me during my engagement and wedding {and really throughout our whole friendship}. I am so  excited to return the favor and am honored to be a part of your day! 

You will undoubtedly be the most beautiful bride to ever walk down the aisle. 

LOVE YOU! 

So Thankful

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! It's one of my favorite holidays because you get to spend the day eating with the ones you love...what could be better than that? But, also, I love that it really makes you stop and appreciate your blessings. I have so much to be thankful for and I am grateful for a day where I get to reflect on the things that I may sometimes take for granted. 

I am thankful for...

My husband {still not used to calling him that}. I'm not sure how I got so lucky to be able to spend my life with such an amazing person. He is so smart, and hilarious, and loyal, and cute, and he loves me unconditionally {which can't be easy} and he makes me a better person, which more than anything I am so thankful for, because we all need someone to keep us on track and challenge us. 

We've only been married a couple of weeks, but it's been the best couple of weeks of my life. 

The great eight. Yes, sometimes it's hard having eight parents, but mostly it is incredible. We have eight amazing people supporting us, loving us, helping us and showing us the way. I am so thankful that we have eight healthy parents who we are so close to and get to spend time with on a regular basis. 

My baby. You haven't known unconditional love until you have a fur baby. She {in my very biased opinion} is the cutest, sweetest, smartest, cutest, funniest, silliest, cutest little creature to ever be created and I don't know what I would do without her. 

"hi mom."

iMessage + Blog Friends. I love my blog and am so thankful to have a creative outlet but the thing I love most about it is the amazing friends I have made. Never in a million years would I have thought that starting this blog would introduce me to so many incredible women all over the country. AND, I especially wouldn't have expected them to entertain me day in and day out via iMessage.  Katie, Steph, Erica and Jess....you guys make every day more hilarious, more entertaining and a lot of times more disgusting and I LOVE you all for it! 

My job. It's been a tough year, with the closing of Coffee Buzz, but now more than ever I believe that everything happens for a reason. It is incredible that within a week of closing my business I had a new job that I not only love but that pays me more than what I was making. It has been a transition and I still miss my shop every day but I absolutely don't take my good fortune for granted. 

My friends. I am very lucky to have an amazing group of people around me to lift me up when I'm down, celebrate with me when I'm happy and make me laugh until I pee my pants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a lot to be thankful for and are shoving your faces with your families....I know we are!

The Honeymoon {Day 6}

Friday night J and I had made plans to meet Bill & Jackie at our pool at 10am the next day. After the night's escapades it was an absolutely miracle that all four of us were there. 

We spent the day like the rest of the pool days, laying in the sun and swimming up to the bar for drinks. However, the real entertainment for the day started when a lady at our pool said there was a crab in the pool. There were little rivers than ran through the casitas so you could essentially swim to each of the different pool. So...of course, we headed down the path to check out the crab.

After some poking and prodding the boys determined that the poor crab was in fact dead. In an attempt to play a prank on the other patrons of our pool, the boys grabbed the crab and brought him to the pool via a towel.

Everyone, meet Senor Crab.

We decided Senor needed a smoke....

which quickly evolved in to Senor Crab needing a shot

and finally...we decided he needed to tip Juan.

"Hola! Done esta tequila! Necessito mas tequila!"

If you remember, I bought an underwater camera during the beginning of the trip. With about 14 pictures left I took it out....

Billy eating a sandwich underwater

After a few hours at the pool, the four of us paid a visit to the health bar for lunch.

This is Angel, the tiniest little guy at the resort. Jackie and I loved him so much we wanted to pack him in our suitcases. 

 and then we all walked along the beach. 

{swimming in the salt water pool}

{hubby posing}

{swimming in the ocean...which, if you know me, is a HUGE deal}

Seriously, these two were instant besties and it just got more ridiculous as the trip went on:

{so cute}

{i hate no idea what is going on here, but I love this picture}

After our last day of fun, it was time to have our last dinner.

we don't want this trip to end!

Our last night {and our one week anniversary} we had a romantic candlelit dinner for two on the beach.

After our delicious and romantic dinner on the beach we went to Juan's Bar for one last night of fun with our new friends. 

It was so fun to meet such amazing couples. J and I got to spend a lot of quality time together but what really made our trip special was the friendships we made and the amazing, hilarious and ridiculous memories we made with these awesome couples. 

After we all said our good-bye's we all went our separate ways and J and I ordered our last order of room service...our favorites from the week: Nachos, Quesadillas and French Fries.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling incredibly sick and incredibly depressed, I spent my last hour at the El Dorado Royale sitting on our balcony feeling the heat and listening to the ocean. 

Our honeymoon was without a doubt the most incredible week of my life. Our resort completely exceeded our expectations, the food was incredible, we made fabulous new friends and most importantly I had a blast and made lifelong memories with my new husband.

I really could not have dreamt of a better way to spend my first week as a married lady.