DIY = my new addiction

So far these past few days have been great for wedding-related stuff :)

I have my dress, slip and shoes back in Oviedo for my first fitting in mid-July--yay! I went DIY crazy :) I started a cute idea for our programs, and finished another project (our card box).

The original one I bought was just a small, dark blue basket with wooden handles. Kinda bland. When I saw a wooden file box and some chipboard letters at Michaels last week, I couldn't resist. (I already had the spraypaint for the inside & outside).

Here's the *new* finished product--



So...one more DIY project down, and only 2 more to finish! Can't work on the programs or finishing the placecards 'til August, but I'm really happy with the box! :)

Reality stinks sometimes

Will and I watched the most recent episode of Jon & Kate Plus Eight tonight. We used to watch it all the time, but we'd always point out the times when one of them seemed to dominate the other. Then it got weird, so we quit watching. And THEN all the divorce rumors started flying after the tabloid pics surfaced.

I wasn't surprised at tonight's ending, with that little outcome card on it. I WAS surprised it actually turned into a train wreck of sorts, since some but neither Will nor I think the show can go on much longer, though. Is it gonna be like "Jon Minus Kate (Plus Eight)" when he has 'em, and vice versa?

We're not planning to watch next week. I feel sorry for the kids, because it's hard for anyone to say how this will really affect them. Sometimes reality shows about families are cute, but I'm starting to think they're mostly strange.

Our rings! Yay!

I posted pics in my bio already...but I'm so darn excited about them I have to share again :)

We went to Kay Jewelers in Seminole Towne Center (a friend of mine asked her brother to help us out, since he works there). I'll post details with vendor reviews after the wedding. In the meantime, here are the pics!

My "set":

Wedding band:


Revamped e-ring:


The e-ring looks different, and there's a story behind it. I brought my original ring to be cleaned when we first visited Kay's to look around. I fell in love with the wedding band in the photo, but my e-ring didn't match. I never said anything to Will, but I kept thinking it took an awfully long time for my e-ring to come back from cleaning (over a week).

Little did I know, he had the setting changed, and the original diamond from my e-ring was recut to become multiple ones. He even added smaller diamonds on both sides, so my rings match :)

I've always said he spoils me, and sometimes I'm a embarrassed by it. This time I'm just blown away that he would do that! He chose a simple, brushed titanium ring for himself:



It just seems to fit him (no pun intended) and it's classy, in an understated way. We had a pretty great experience, and I'm really pleased with our choices :)

They're squooshed

I'm halfway done with my reception menus. I hope to finish them this week, but the cosmos (or at least the Postal Service!) doesn't seem to be on my side. I bought a pack of CD labels to work on the records at Mom's last weekend, but I didn't have time, and then forgot to bring them back with me.

No problem, right? Mom found the package and mailed it to me. (Yay!!) Got it today, though, and the whole mailing envelope was folded in half and stuffed in my mailbox. Not so yay.

Hopefully I can salvage the labels. They weren't completely folded in half, so a night under some heavy books should straighten them out. Word to the wise, though. When you're mailing something remotely pliable, even in a padded envelope, slide something hard in there too. And then write DO NOT BEND in large letters on the mailing envelope. Polack that I am, I gotta remember that for next time!

Marme

Feels like I'm being blog-prolific tonight, but I had to share this bit 'o..something. When I first met Will's mom two years ago, I wasn't sure what to call her. I'm pretty sure I just called her Mrs. B., but I don't really remember.

As I went to more family stuff and Will and I got more serious, I started thinking of nicknames. First one was Mama Anne. I think that one was because Will calls her Mama sometimes...and it's cute. I called her "Will's mom" or "Anne" when I spoke about her to my parents. It stayed that way for a long time, actually. But recently I started noticing that Jessica calls her Marme. I figured it was a mother-daughter thing, so backed off from that, because I thought it would sound weird coming from me.

Then my bridal shower came along last weekend, and hers was the first gift I opened. My mom kind of announced it to the group that the first gift I was opening was from my mother-in-law. So then Will's mom got up and said, "No, it's not from her mother-in-law...it's from her Marme!"

She made this whole little speech, saying that she wants to be called Marme because it's more familiar. And she actually explained that, yes, it's just like Marmee in Little Women. She spells it differently (only one 'e') but it's the same idea. (Will's not a reader, so he has no idea about Little Women or any of the characters.)

That little explanation made me feel like I really AM part of the family. Sappy, yes, but it cleared up some things too. I know how to refer to her, and I won't take the "Mom" title from my mother. So everybody's happy.

Yay!

Congrats are in order

...since my (almost) sister-in-law got accepted into nursing school! Yay, Jess! She's been waiting a long time :) Apparently it's a family thing, since my mother-in-law was an OR nurse for years and years.

I hear Jess is getting "her very own stethescope" soon. Love ya, ma'am! I'm proud of you, and I know you'll be great :D

iTunes

I got a $15 gift card at my bridal shower...and I confess I've already spent most of it! I have about $6 left. And that brings me to this: iTunes charging $1.29 for their popular stuff.

I understand the need to make more money, but I think higher prices may eventually entice music-buying folks elsewhere. On the other hand, it's made me dig a little deeper to find those 99-cent gems. I listen to non-mainstream as much as the "in" songs...and there are some great ones out there whose prices haven't been raised yet!

iTunes is kinda like a treasure hunt now :) And an interesting one at that.

Favorites

My mom, aunt and Jessica threw me a bridal shower this past weekend :) It wasn't a surprise, since I had to know my aunt was flying in from Michigan, and Jess and FMIL were coming in from Auburn.

Mom set up a luncheon at Carabba's near her house in Brooksville. Thought I'd share some of my favorite pics :)


Jessica got me and FMIL in a hug!

Robyn and Christina showed up and totes charmed everyone :) I love you girlies!


And this one...left to right: my good friend Laura, me and Jess at my mom's house afterwards:

The Mystery Box

We got our first gift delivered to the apartment today! Once Will knew where it was from, he immediately told me I can't open it until Saturday ;)

When I called Mom to tell her, she asked who sent it...and I had to say, I have no idea! I don't even know if it's gift-wrapped, so I'm afraid to take whatever-it-is outta the cardboard. I've only scraped the UPS tags off the side. Haha! All I know is, it's light/easy to carry.

I have done some registry stalking...but I don't know who bought what. Still, I had to take a pic. Here's a shot of the Mystery Box:

Good as new!

Will woke up this morning and said he doesn't feel sick anymore :) He thinks it was what he drank last night. We bought the Sam Adams summer pack, and he had a blackberry brew that was in there. He didn't finish it, but I guess whatever he had was enough to throw him for a loop. Maybe fruity flavors don't agree with him!

Anyway, he's back to his old self, watching E3 stuff on the Playstation. On another note, my evening meeting actually turned into an afternoon one. So I'm off to UCF at 3 to see what's what.

Send some vibes, please

Will isn't feeling so hot...or so he said after dinner tonight. We made burgers and cheesy fries, and pretty soon after that he gulped some Pepto and zonked out on the couch. I hope it's just that he ate too much greasy food (i.e. the fries). The hamburg meat came from Publix, and all he did was cook it up, and top it with some deli cheese. All fresh.

I sat with him while he slept for a good 3.5 hours, and just now he said he's feeling a little better. He's going to snooze on the couch tonight, but he waved me off when I offered to stay out there too. So I'm taking a computer break while he's still sleeping. I hope he's got something that'll run its course quickly, especially since I have to attend a meeting in Poinciana tomorrow night. I'm gonna hate being out if he's still not himself.

I guess maybe there was a deeper reason for buying that ginger ale in the fridge and those Club crackers in the pantry... crossing my kitty paws that he's better soon!