Dinner and a (Scary) Movie

As I've had a few days off from school, I've been getting back into cooking.  Two nights ago, I was in the mood for spaghetti bolognese.  I used this recipe by Emeril - and it was absolutely fantastic.  I would recommend if you're going to make it, cutting back on the cinnamon and nutmeg.  Otherwise, follow it to a T.

We also watched The Lovely Bones.  Before the movie even started, Ian said "why are we watching this?  you don't do well with scary movies."  I'm not really sure why I ever added it to our netflix queue - I think maybe because we had heard it was a good movie from someone.  Well - I hate having to admit this - but he was right.  I am SUCH a little girl when it comes to movies that have anything scary in them.  I closed my eyes through some of the parts.  The funny thing is - the movie isn't even that scary of a movie.  It just deals with a really creepy topic and character.  I was happy when it was over - wishing I had skipped seeing it all together, especially since I didn't even think it was that great of a movie.

We went to bed that night and when I woke up in the middle of the night to pee, I could not get out of bed.  I laid there, willing myself to get out of bed, to not be afraid.  Instead, I gently tapped Ian's shoulder, "honey - can you walk me to the bathroom? I'm scared from the movie."  Meanwhile, our bathroom is about 8 steps from our bed - but I have to pass the steps on the way because it's in the hallway.  Luckily, Ian just got out of bed and walked me there and waited and then walked me back.

I'm embarrassed to admit it...but I woke him again the following night to do the same thing.  I guess next time he'll make sure I don't watch scary movies so he doesn't have to get up with me in the middle of the night.  I'm surprised he wasn't more irritated at having to do this both nights in a row.  But I guess he knew what he was getting into when he married someone who is a weeny with scary movies.  But it's times like these that I think, I am one lucky lady.  Sorry honey!

Oh Monday, I Wasn't Quite Ready for You

We had an incredibly busy weekend in which I did not get much work done...oops.  But sometimes, you just need a break, right?  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Since it's Lent season, Ian and I have not been eating meat on Fridays.  Instead, I've been stopping by Whole Foods during the day to pick out some fresh fish and veggies, and we've been having Friday Fish nights.  I have to say, these meals are so freaking quick, easy, fresh, and absolutely delicious that we might have to continue this tradition after Lent is over.

We watched Kung Fu Panda and it was super cute.  There's something nice about watching kids movies - it's innocent and sweet and relaxing.  Saturday morning Ian got up early and did our grocery shopping while I stayed home, slept and did some stuff in the house.  I love that man for doing sweet things like leaving me home to relax. 

We met up with a couple friends and their adorable 1.5 year old daughter for brunch.  I've noticed that since we've been pregnant, it's not only me who is mesmerized by children around me.  Normally, if we are near a child in a restaurant, store, or church, I cannot pay attention to anything else.  Now, Ian's doing the same thing, and it makes me swoon to see his face light up just to try to make a little kid smile.  He is going to be an amazing dad.  The couple's daughter was hilarious and Ian and I could barely pay attention to the adult conversation - we were both so distracted by her cuteness.  We talked lots of baby talk especially now that we found out they are expecting baby #2.  It's so helpful to talk to people who have just been through this - they have such amazing information to share!

Afterwards, we came home and relaxed and soon got ready for dinner at The Dogwood.  The restaurant prides itself on being sustainable American cuisine - organic whenever possible, and local fresh ingredients as much as possible.  The atmosphere, although in a basement, is warm and inviting.  The restaurant is located in quaint Hampden.  And the food - it was delightful.  I shared the lobster ravioli, and then got the colossal caesar salad with roasted chicken on top.  The caesar salad uses a vegan dressing which is the only reason I could have it.  Ian had the rockfish for his main course and he loved it.  All of the food was delicious!  We definitely will be going back soon.

Sunday, we woke up early and went to church.  Then we made homemade buttermilk blueberry pancakes (my fave).  Afterwards, we did lots of baby products research.  Then, our day got ridiculously busy with errands: Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond, then back to Costco.  The mattress topper we (this is not the correct term, but I have no idea what it's called.  it goes in between the mattress cover and sheets!) have now was not providing any comfort and needed to be replaced.  We picked up the few things we needed at Costco and found a replacement there, but Ian was hesitant to get it.  For some reason, the second we step foot in Costco, Ian goes into panic mode about money.  It's not like we buy things outrageous there.  On our list yesterday was: toilet paper, paper towels, zyrtec, contact lens solution, chicken, pork tenderloin, lightbulbs, clorox wipes, laundry detergent, dish washer detergent.  Nothing too crazy on there.  We really do stick to our list when we got there - but it still ends up being at least a $200 trip. 

So anyways - he debates and debates whether we should get it.  It was on sale at costco for $140.  We decide to not buy it, and check out the options at Bed Bath and Beyond since we had to go there anyways.  At Bed Bath and Beyond, the same quality one was anywhere from $200-350.  That certainly wasn't happening.  So after we bought the few things we needed at BBB, we went back to Costco to pick up the mattress thingie.

All of this is to tell you that we slept on it last night, and it's so comfortable!  It is a memory foam thing and makes you melt into the bed.  I didn't sleep wonderfully last night - but I think it has more to do with it being new so my body just has to adjust to it.

I finished off the weekend by making homemade chicken curry.  I woke up this morning and our house still has the aromatic smell of indian spices.  Can't wait for leftovers today!

In baby news, she is moving a lot these days.  But no matter how often I feel her move, I still am surprised by it every time.  And I'm still in the habit of squealing and announcing to Ian that she's moving.  But as soon as he puts his hand on my belly, she stops.  Stubborn little girl - just like her mama.

300th Post

Wow!  Thanks to all of you readers for sticking around and reading my blog.  Can't believe this is my 300th post - I only wish it was going to be a super duper exciting one.  Going back to why I started this blog, it was to talk about planning my wedding.  Coming up in the next couple days, I will have a guest blogger who recently got married so she can share her wedding planning experience and advice.  This is happening because I still love talking/hearing about weddings, and I think its really useful for future brides out there.  Going back to the roots of this blog, if you will.  I will see how this whole guest blogging goes and may try to do this more often in the future.

Our weekend was pretty boring.  It rained and was cold and we spent the weekend huddled on the couch under a blanket.  We watched The Godfather (for the first time) and loved it.  We also watched The Proposal, which we didn't love quite as much.  It was cute, but nothing spectacular.

I slept a ton.  This coming off of that asthma medicine business is making me SLEEPY! 10 hours of sleep still isn't enough.  I'm hoping this is just a temporary symptom of coming off the medicine.

I also cooked a lot.  I love coming across new food blogs and trying out new recipes.  A law school friend forwarded me the blog, Always Order Dessert.  I tried out three recipes from her blog this weekend to see her style: Potato Parmentier (amazing), Buttermilk Pancakes (amazing), and Pecan Milk (this did not come out how I wanted it - it came out kind of watery and not blended well - not sure what to do with all of it now).  I will definitely be using more of her recipes.  And the best part is that we have leftovers for the week!

Do you have any favorite food blogs you'd like to share?

Signed

Saturday - we signed our new lease! It was a very exciting feeling to be picking a place of our own and feels more like our own place since it's brand new.

Sunday, we were busy furniture shopping. Our old couches were about 15 years old, a bit dirty, and just plain run down. We decided to head to Value City Furniture since they were having a big sale. It was a very successful shopping trip and we ended up with a new sofa, chair & 1/2 and a matching ottoman. Here's a picture of the three new pieces (actually I don't think this is exactly what we got but the color and shape are almost identical):

We then took a side trip to Ikea, where we purchased a couple new throws for the new couches, and Ian was desperate to get rid of the crappy old TV stand I had in college, and so we purchased this:

It looks black but is actually black/brown, and we bought 3 cute little baskets to go on the bottom shelf to hold stuff in - but got them home and realized we bought the wrong size - DOH! I hate when that happens. Oh well - looks like we'll have to go to Ikea again and get sucked into spending more money. Ikea has a way of doing that to me - part of it is I get a little confused as to where I am as a whole, and they have lots of cute things that I could always use. Do I need them - no. But I like them so inevitably we end up spending money on stupid stuff that we don't need.

I've been busy making lots of phone calls - calling the new gas and electric company to transfer the bill to our name as of the start of our lease, arranging an appointment time for them to come out to turn on the gas, booking the movers, and a whole other list of places to call before we move - Comcast to switch locations, alarm company to set up appointment to turn alarm system on, current electric company to close our bill on the last day we're in the apartment. Moving in one word: sucks!

We did find time to watch Fool's Gold - I don't recommend it. I loved Matthew and Kate in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (one of my fave movies), but their chemistry just wasn't there in this one. I think it mostly had to do with a poor storyline.

And I'm super delayed in finishing up our honeymoon recap! How was your weekend?

11 Days and Counting

Between work keeping me busy and wedding stuff - I haven't had time to blog! So here's what's been going on.

• Met with Russell from Freed to discuss all the details and timeline of the big day. We went over the names and relationships of the bridal party and families.
• My last fitting last week was cancelled because of the terrible storms. Boo!
• Had a 1/2 day on Friday and met Erin at The Westin for a complete walk-through of the event. Went through the timeline, made corrections and updates.
• Saw Sex and the City on Friday night with a few girls. LOVED it. It had me crying and laughing all in one. I didn't want it to end!
• I finally picked out a wedding present for Ian - I wish I could post about it but can't since he's a snoop and will look.
• Went to pick up our rings after they were engraved - they are engraved a bit wrong so I have to make another trip this week to pick them up.
• I missed Maggie's son's 8th grade graduation to do wedding stuff - oh joy.
• I missed Annie and Brad's engagement party to do wedding stuff.
• Finished the table layout.
• Assigned the table numbers.
• Finished the seating chart.
• Made the place cards. These were a labor of love. It took me between 5-6 hours to finish these. Printing them was a PITA (pain-in-the-ass) - the printer kept printing them crooked, or off center. I had to print each place card individually. I was supposed to have about 35 place cards leftover, however, after needing to reprint so many, I ended up with 3 leftover. Erghhh! Once they were all printed, I headed to Staples to get the colored dot stickers to identify everyone's meal selections on the back of each place card. I finally finished these at around 12:00am on Saturday night. About 1 table away from being finished with the printing, I was informed that I had done the place cards incorrectly according to etiquette. For example, I gave married couple separate place cards, when apparently they're supposed to both me on one place card. Additionally, I did not put the title before each name (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., etc.). Instead, I just did formal names: i.e., instead of Jimmy Smith I did James Smith. Oh well - it's not enough of a problem to warrant redoing them!
• I was boyless all day Saturday into Sunday. I am going to hold off on talking about his bachelor party because I'm trying to persuade him to guest blog about it.
• When Ian got home on Sunday, we headed to Costco to pick up memory cards for our cameras for all the upcoming festivities, snacks and gum/mints for the out-of-town bags and some various other items.
• Ian put together all of the out-of-town bags and filled them with bottled water, snacks, gum/mints and metro maps. We'll add a piece of fruit to each bag closer to the big day.
• Worked on the Out-of-Town Booklet for each bag. We need to finish designing this and then print it and add it to the bags.

The only big thing I have left to do that is time consuming are the programs. I cannot finalize those until Friday when I meet with the music director. So until then, I am just working on designing them so that they are ready for printing after I get the go-ahead on them on Friday.

How was your weekend?

Pictures Post!

We really enjoyed our 3 day weekend!

We had a fabulous dinner with Alina on Thursday. Alina - I hope I get to meet Andrew at our wedding!

Friday

I had a half day so used it to my advantage - dropped of our final payment for the ceremony and musicians, went to the bank then went browsing for Ian's wedding present. We had dinner with Julie and her hubby around the corner and then finished watching Schindler's List - which by the way, is a sad but very good movie.

Saturday

Errands, errands and more errands. As one of the errands - Ian dropped our rings off to be engraved. They'll be ready for pick-up in 1 week!

Sunday

Marked Sunday as my no wedding, errands or chores day. I made a home on our couch and spent much of the day there - including taking two naps. We watched Charlotte's Web (the new one) and it was quite cute. Loved it. Makes me somewhat excited for all of our wedding craziness to be over to have more lay around the house days.

Monday

Cleaning, cleaning and did I mention - cleaning? I also cleaned out lots of bags of clothes to give away. I figure I'll get a head start on clearing stuff out so when it comes time to moving (if we're moving), we will be much more organized. We also ordered supplies for the OOT bags.

Here are some pictures from Chris and Chrissy's wedding from last weekend:

C&C saying their I-Dos:

Ian and Chris busting some moves:

Me sneaking up on James (Ian's best man):

Was there any alcohol involved - maybe - just a tad.

The Countdown Begins

As of today - 1 month and 1 week.


We managed to watch two movies this past weekend:

1. 27 Dresses - LOVED this movie. I probably helped that it got a lot of hype, so therefore I went into thinking that the hype was going to be overrated. But seriously, thought this movie had a lot of humor and a couple twists.


2. P.S. I Love You - Kind of the opposite happened with this. Even though it was rated badly, I thought I was going to love this. Well, after 1.5 hours of sobbing my eyes out, Ian decided it was time to turn the movie off. We finished it the next day, where I proceeded to sob my eyes out. I wasn't sobbing because I felt some connection with this couple (although, I found their relationship somewhat odd), but instead was sobbing thinking of how I would react if Ian were to check out earlier than at least 75 years old. I just couldn't stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes and making my face and eyes all red and puffy. Not really sure I recommend this one unless you feel like sobbing your eyes out. Honestly - not sure if I have tears left for the wedding (which may be a good thing - me no likey mascara down my face). On second thought, maybe I should watch this before the wedding as a way to prevent me from getting teary eyed. Hmm - now that's a thought!

Last night we met with our priest and everything went as planned. We went through the order for procession, recession, the mass and any details we wanted incorporated. He then asked us each several questions: hobbies? favorite music? favorite band or artist? how did you meet?

We left out the details of how we met and just stated the basics - at a bar in Baltimore on St. Patty's Day. I don't think our priest needs more details than that!

I've been going through knottie bios recently and came across BensBride08. She had a lovely wedding but what impressed me above all were all of her DIY projects! She made freaking color books for the kids at the wedding - seriously, a little crazy, but amazing job! Check it out - I wish ours came out as well as hers - but I'm sorry to say that ours aren't half as nice as ours!

Calmer

The owner of the store was fantastic. She apologized and was very proactive. She had already called the manufacturer to figure our a solution. The solution was for the manufacter to rush order the section that needed to be replaced. Problem - it wouldn't be here for 4 weeks and then all the alterations would have to be made then. I went by the store after work to decide what is best. After trying on my dress, I decided not to risk the timing and move forward with it as is. It's still beautiful without the changes and maybe it all happened for a reason anyway! Overall, the owner recovered well and I still like where I got my dress!

Oh - and I can wear my pink shoes for the wedding day. The dress is long enough for them!

I'm excited that we've received many responses already! Although considering that we're supposed to receive them all by May 17 - I think they're coming in a little slowly. We haven't received many "no" responses which is exciting.

Here is the most recent list I made of things I need to get finished soon:

• Ceremony - finish choosing music
• Donate $ to Washington Animal Rescue League
• Get Ian's ring engraved
• Get present for Ian
• Create a gift box
• Wrap bridesmaids presents (good reminder Kim!)
• Present for junior bridesmaid and flower girl - any good ideas for these??
• Write out ceremony readings and intentions for priest
• Check with hotel on a vegan meal option
• Get hair accessories
• Cancel previous makeup person

Tonight, Ian is heading out with some friends for drinks so I have another "me" night - yay! I think I will work on some of these to-do items while watching a movie!

Speaking of movies, we watched Rendition last night (Reese and Jake) and thought it was another good movie! It wasn't rated that well, but it was good I thought - rated it a 3/5 on Netflix.

Mission Shoes

Saturday we woke up bright and early to head to Baltimore for the March for Babies. We had a great time chit-chatting while walking those 4 miles. (Stacy - send me the pics from the event so that I can post them!!)

It also inspired Ian to realize that he wants to run a marathon. Now, sometimes Ian gets this ideas in his head that are great in theory, but in practice he has trouble keeping the motivation, or finds that this idea wasn't so great after all. But Saturday night, I found him researching marathons and getting training schedules. Depending on where we end up in a few months, he is going to run on October 11 in Baltimore. He starts training this week. He seems incredibly motivated and found a cause he'd like to support - National Association for Children of Alcoholics. I'm sure I'll be blogging about this topic quite a bit in the next few months since I'll be on the sidelines supporting him through his training. Super excited for him though! I think anyone who sets out to run a marathon is remarkable and even more remarkable to go through with it!

We went to see our soloist sing at her parish on Saturday. Our chapel arranges all of our musicians for us. While she has a lovely voice - truly beautiful voice, it's just not my style. I prefer a soloist that doesn't have as much vibrato. Unfortunately, I believe our music coordinator has already booked this woman which means he's going to have to go back to her and tell her we're going with someone else. Wish I had heard her before he had officially booked her. I'm contacting our music coordinator today to see if we can go listen to some other options. Eek - not much time to figure this out!

I went shopping yesterday for hair accessories and ceremony shoes. I found shoes:

They don't look very pretty in the picture - and I find the bow a tad bit annoying, but they are comfy and hot pink and don't have a huge heel. I'm taking them to my first fitting tonight to see if they are low enough. If not - I'm probably just going to wear the white flats I already purchased because white low heels that are somewhat cute have proven to be impossible to find. Although, I'm fairly determined to find some type of heel that is comfy and cute and low. I'm on a mission - Mission Shoes!

We've gotten the first set of response cards on Friday and Saturday!! Very excited about running home everyday to check the mail for those:)

Will post tomorrow about my experience at my first fitting!

We watched Michael Clayton this weekend - it was a pretty good movie. A little hard to follow when you're sleepy, but overall was quite fascinating.

Major Progress!!

Recap of our weekend:

• Saw Baby Mama on Friday night - it was witty and cute. A very good date night movie - light and fun. We had a great italian dinner and Ian was psyched to go to the movies.
• Saturday, we drove all over the place. We picked up Tessa's medicine from the vet, drove out to the middle of nowhere to pick up my Hanky Pankies from the Fedex holding warehouse (which by the way, makes you feel like you're in the Matrix - a long hallway with all closed doors), went to Target to pick up our table number frames.
• Wore my Hanky Pankies (the non-wedding pair) on Saturday night and fell in love with them.
• Finished our table numbers and boxed them up so they're ready to go.
• Took a break from wedding related stuff to go support Sarah at Catholic's first Relay for Life, which she organized!
• Designed, completed and boxed up our menu cards.
• Designed, completed and boxed up our favor cards.
• Picked up our invitations from our invitation lady's house.
• Put invitations together.

All in all - it was a super busy, but super successful weekend! WAHOO!

Today, I am heading to the post office to find out how much postage I need to put on the invitations (this is more complicated because of some of the invitations going to Europe). Also, postage rates go up again on May 12 (to .42) which means we need to put the higher rate on the return envelopes. Tonight, after we meet with our priest to sign off on some paper work, we will be stamping the invitations and tomorrow they go out. Even though it's a rainy Monday here, I am in a great mood because of how much we accomplished this weekend:)

Miscellaneous

• I redesigned our wedding website - check it out and sign the guest book!
• I finished designing the menus and I think we are ready to print them - one more thing to cross off the list once we finish those.
• We watched Juno on Sunday night and thought it was very witty and cute. Certainly worth seeing I think.
• I just added a couple things to my list of to-dos - buying a unity candle and making bows for the reserved pews. Where did you get your unity candle (if you had one!)?
• We are meeting with our priest tonight - very excited to wrap up some loose ends with him and for him to get to know us better.
• I emailed our invitation person to find out where exactly our invitations are. I need to get them soon so that we can get them out!!

I have to give a shoutout to Lolly who ran in the Boston Marathon yesterday - I don't know how she did it but it's truly amazing (and a little crazy)!

Slackers

We were two lazy slackers this weekend in terms of getting anything wedding related done. What did we do instead?

I napped until 8:30pm on Friday night and woke up to a candle lit kitchen table all set and Ian gone picking up indian carryout food.

Saturday, we lounged around the house, took an hour walk with Tessa and then went to dinner to test out our rehearsal dinner site.

Yesterday, we got into a major spring cleaning mood: we threw out about 4 giant bags full of trash, rearranged our living area, reorganized cabinets, cleaned the front porch and did several loads of laundry. We also FINALLY finished watching American Gangster. We really enjoyed that movie. Highly recommend it.

I am also happy that we finally picked out our first dance song! It was a song that I had always loved and it always reminded me of our relationship, but Ian was on the fence about it. Saturday, while getting ready for dinner, we put on a mix of our itunes music and it happened to come on. He came into the area where I was putting on makeup and said - yep, I think this should be our song. It just sounds and feels right. Instead of searching and searching for a song that may or may not mean something to us, this one does and it was under our noses the whole time. We practiced dancing to it last night and I realize that I'm going to be giggling the entire time as Ian finds it appropriate to sing the song to me in a funny voice.

What song is you ask - not quite sure we're going to share the secret.

Favors

We originally were going to be giving out something little to guests as a favor. However, I've really been thinking about donating to a cause that is dear to our hearts - Washington Animal Rescue League is where we adopted our child:

That is her the day we brought her home. She is originally from New Orleans - her momma was pregnant with her during Hurricane Katrina. She kind of fell into our lives and we fell in love with her. She has certainly given us tons of challenges - she battled a non contagious form of mange when she was young, came home to us with kennel cough and worms, and still to this day has a serious case of separation anxiety (which she is medicated for). She has had some behavioral problems that have required us to seek the help of an amazing personal dog trainer.

Ian never had a dog growing up. I grew up with many dogs but had never adopted any of them. They were from breeders normally. Since adopting Tessa, Ian and I have vowed to try our best to adopt from shelters from now on.

Tessa has come so far from where she was when we adopted her. We've seen her blossom into a confident dog, extremely loyal, loving, and incredibly smart. She loves training and responds well to us.

WARL is a no-kill shelter. They take in animals from all over the country who they see can make improvements, be treated and eventually be placed into homes. Their facitilities are amazing. Tessa shared a cubby with another dog - not a crate, it's like a little private room with blankets and fresh water from a little fountain. The 2 times we visited her there before picking her up, we walked around the facility and noticed how clean it was.

I think this weekend we will decide to possibly donate to WARL instead of giving out a little something that most people will probably throw away. Maybe a little visit to the shelter will help make our decision!

And since I'm obsessed with our baby, here's a recent picture of her, all grown up and passed out:

The wrinkles kill me. And the following picture is the day after Ian proposed - reenacting the scene from the night before (see the ring around Tessa's neck?):

Movie Review:

Atonement: I know a lot of people were disappointed with this film. I liked all of it. I found it very intriguing!

Peliculas

I'm brushing up on my espanol for our trip to Miami - ha! Ian and I both studied abroad in Spain and although we both were spanish majors, we've lost a lot of our ability to speak the language. If we move to Miami, we both need to brush up on our Spanish - he'll need to for his job and I'll need to in order to get internships and whatnot.

Anyways - Movies (Peliculas):

• I am Legend: Totally disappointed with this movie. I'm a big weenie when it comes to these types of movies - I actually had nightmares about the monsters in this movie. I was impressed with Will Smith's acting, saddened by a few parts in the movie and disappointed with the story line and ending. I'd be interested to read the book to see how the movie was changed.
  
• Enchanted: It was also kind of blah. It was just over the top cheesy which normally I would be okay with, but it was just a little too sugary sweet for me.

We're expecting to receive American Gangster and Michael Clayton today, just in time to take on our road trip! Not sure if we'll really have time to be watching movies but we'll take them anyways. I think we'll be too busy sitting in the sun here:

Wedding related news: I finished putting together the guest list for my shower and am sending that to my matron of honor today. I sent the directions for the card in our invitations to our invitation lady last night - just need to send her the final guest list and then we're ready to go. Nothing that exciting going on related to the wedding at the moment. Oh well - in due time there will be!

Movies

We watched two movies last night:

• Say Anything: This 80's movie was great. I loved the cheesiness and it certainly made me laugh. It was unexpected, cheesy and romantic all in one.


• Like Water for Chocolate: Lots of hilarious moments (that maybe aren't meant to be) in this one. Also lots of unattractive yet very funny nudity. The story is a bit out there, but for a foreign spanish film, I liked it!

Additionally - I have never gotten feedback on the new colors? Yes, no? I also have been adding some sites/blogs to my favorite sites list. One that I am particularly addicted to at the moment is Boobs Injuries and Dr. Pepper. Krystal is very real and her writing is hilarious.

Movie Review

I forgot to discuss the new color scheme I have going on. Not really sure if I'm liking it, but I needed a change so it will suffice for the time being.

Gone Baby Gone: This movie made me realize that I really like Casey Affleck as an actor. We liked the movie quite a bit and it was not predictable which was a nice change.

Lady and the Tramp: I have been on a kids movie kick recently. I don't even really remember these movies. Do you? Well I don't so I'm going back to watch them. We recently watched Bambi and it was not how I remembered it at all! Loved it! Lady and the Tramp was adorable. I think I might start collecting these types of movies to have for when we have kiddies.

Bullets

I'm all over the place today. I have to bullet it up to make this mish-mosh have some sense.

Movie Review:

• Simpsons movie: Prior to watching this movie, I had never watched an entire Simpsons episode. I know, something must be wrong with me, I was deprived, whatever. Because of this, I really wanted to watch the entire movie so I could understand what it's all about. Well, I fell asleep about 15 minute before the movie was over and when I woke up the next morning, Ian had already sealed the movie back up to ship it. Jerk! I couldn't believe it. He just assumed I didn't want to see the rest since I had fallen asleep. Actually, it's because we're wedding planning and I'm running around like a crazy woman getting everything done - I'm tired, I can't help but fall asleep sometimes. Anyways, from the part I did see, I liked it.
• The Talented Mr. Ripley: I have always heard that this is a great movie. Well it was! It was disturbing, intriguing and entertaining all in one. Certainly worthwhile to see. And Jude is a hottie in this movie!

Weekend Highlights:

• Went to the eye doctor for a screening for glaucoma (my grandma had it which makes me a suspect) and my eyes are perfectly fine.
• Selected our readings for the ceremony and selected our music for the bridesmaids entrance, my entrance, and our exit.
• My future hubby showed his support of my health kick by ordering me these new running shoes!! I love shoes - even running shoes. They make me happy.

• Celebrated Lisa's 25th birthday in Baltimore. Here's a picture of a few of us with the birthday girl - today is her big day so Happy Birthday Lis! We have plenty of stories behind our night out, including a stripper (who you'd never in a million years suspect to be) was in line in front of us pulling her pants down to show everyone her new tattoo on her cheek that says "Made in Korea", or the girl in line that asked a girl in our group to unbutton her jacket so she could see her boobs, ahhhh the class of power plant bars. A guy actually asked his girlfriend to marry him on stage at Howl at the Moon. It was quite a night!

• Ian bought his groomsmen their gifts and I have to say the idea is quite fun.
• I bought my bridesmaids part of their gifts. I still have one more thing to get each of them.

Speaking of ceremony music, I'm having issues figuring out the regular music for the ceremony. If you are Catholic and know of songs or have had to do this, recommend some for different parts of the ceremony! We already have my entrance song, our exit song, and some songs for the bridesmaids entrance and prior to the ceremony music (for when people are just walking in). It's a Catholic mass but somehow when it came time to picking out music, I can't even remember all the different parts of the mass where I'll need music. And are there guidelines to the music I pick?

And in order to not jinx myself, I will not name the videographer that I just sent a check to. I don't want to hear that we've been dropped again so I'll just wait to tell you about it once we receive confirmation.

I'm crossing more and more off our list which means I'm starting the week off as one happy lady.

The Groomsmen

We watched The Groomsmen on Friday night after sushi. It was not rated that well but sounded somewhat interesting to me. I gave it a 3-stars on Netflix. Meet Paulie (played by Ed Burns) who is about to be married to his pregnant girlfriend (played by Brittany Murphy who I normally cannot stand). Paulie has cold feet and the movie focuses on his friendships with his groomsmen. Each of the men is going through something in their lives. Paulie is able to realize what matters most to him and work his way through things. Overall - Ed Burns was good in this.

PS - Ian and I have this thing we refer to as our "top-5" - meaning I have a list of my top-5 male celebrities that I find good looking, and I also have a list of top-5 female celebrities I find attractive in some way. Same goes for Ian - 5 guys and 5 ladies. He mentioned that Ed Burns might make his top-5 men. Really?? Anyone else agree. And do you have something like this with your bf/gf/significant other where you have top lists?

Do we really need this piece of paper?

We watched two movies this week:

• Once: I didn't think I was going to like this movie based on the short plot written about it on Netflix. But we both really liked it! They really need to update the review on it because the review sounds very odd compared to the movie. I was slightly upset with the end of the movie, but otherwise thought it was totally worth-while to see!
• Murderball: We both loved this documentary. It is less about the sport than it is about living as a paraplegic. These guys in it are inspirational. It answered a ton of misconceptions people might have about paraplegics and showed that although these people have faced tragedy, that their lives go on as long as they have the will to make it that way. They are normal people. And it also the answers the common question of whether paraplegics can be sexually active. I admit that I have thought about the answer to that question a few times. It's one of those questions nobody wants to admit that they wonder about - but you know you have as well! You'll have to watch it to see the answer.

Yesterday, I had to go to the county courthouse to get a document authenticated for work. But since it was in the same room as where you apply for marriage licenses, I killed two birds with one stone. As I was waiting for my number to be called, I was amazed at how many 18 year old couples came in and picked up the information on marriage licenses. I counted 3 while I waited for 5 minutes! On top of that, there was a middle-aged couple there filling out forms and then they sat and waited for their names to be called. The guy ended up sharing that they were getting married then - at 3pm on a Thursday afternoon at the courthouse.

I've always known that people get married at the courthouse. But seeing it just made me so curious. Why do people choose to be married there over somewhere else? Don't they have ANYONE that they want to witness their union? Nobody was even there with them. The guy said to me "Let me ask you a question. Don't you think it's stupid, after being together for 10 years, to need a piece of paper?"

How do I respond to that??? I am there to get my own license -I then begin wondering - what is it about this piece of paper? Well, it's not really the piece of paper that makes all the difference in the world. It's making that committment because you realize that you don't want to be without this person through your daily life, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the amazing times. The piece of paper just comes along with making that committment. I want that piece of paper! His lady responded "Fine if you don't want to do this then we'll just go home." Their interaction reminded me of a bicker a couple might have over waiting in line to be seated at a restaurant - not to be married! He turned and asked - "are you married?" - well, I'm about to be! He just laughed.

So after getting our marriage license (because I am someone that wants that piece of paper), I met up with Annie and Lisa for happy hour at McCormick & Schmicks in Bethesda. If you haven't been there for happy hour - you should totally go. You can get their regular 1/2 lb cheeseburger with fries for $1.95. $1.95 - can you believe that?! I got the seared tuna and cucumber salad appetizer - for $3.95. Seriously they have the best deals. Annie called it the best little secret in Bethesda - and it's truly that! We had a fantastic time gossiping about friends, family, wedding drama and boyfriends. It was fabulous!

I am also happy to report that we have decided to book Well Spun Weddings as our videographer. We decided on this company because we like their style and they were less expensive than our other option. I also signed us up for pre-cana classes in March. We have to go to a center from 9-6, two Saturdays in a row. Oh joy! It actually should be interesting. Ian is a bit more worried about it than I am (as he isn't Catholic, and also wasn't really raised practicing).

As for this weekend, I am having a date night with the boy tonight. Then, tomorrow I am heading to UVA to visit Lewis! I'm sure I'll come back with pictures and some stories of adventures!

Italian food makes me happy

Weekend Recap:

Friday night I went to Fiore for a consult. What I liked: how b-e-a-utiful the flowers were. I went through pictures of bouquets and found a bouquet I absolutely love! I'm even making an exception because this bouquest has calla lillies in it and I was really hoping to not use any calla lillies. But I like the bouquet so much that I'm willing to have them in it. Here's the picture:

My one negative about this florist was that the woman didn't seem very knowledgeable. My mom used to work in a florist shop so she knows her flowers, and after we went through the vision we have for the wedding and showed pictures of certain things I like and dislike, the woman was having trouble naming off flowers she could use - it was more like my mom was suggesting them and the woman was agreeing. Once the flowers were named off, then she was great in showing me samples of each type. She was so sweet but just seemed like she was a new worker there who might not have had a ton of consults before. We'll have to see what her proposal comes in at and then make a decision.

After the florist, I raced home to meet the boy and his best man, James to go to Men's Warehouse to pick the tuxes, have the boy try on the tuxes, get James measured and get everything ordered. Here is the tux:

It's a three-button tux but his will be without a vest, only with a tie and black suspenders! He will be wearing a light silver tie and the groomsmen will be wearing black ties.

We basically ate Italian food the entire weekend. I think the cold makes me crave some hearty italian food, especially pasta. After picking tuxes, we went to Olazzo for dinner. It was quite yummy!

Saturday, we had dinner with my future in-laws at Cesco Trattoria in Bethesda (they don't have a website) and I had a fantastic entree - whole grilled turbo in sea salt. I wish I had a picture of it - it was amazing. Here's a couple pictures of us at dinner:

Yesterday, we spent the day at the Bridal Showcase at the Dulles Expo Center. And I mean "we" as in my mom, me and the boy! Once he heard that there would be food and cake samples he was all about joining us. But let me tell you, it was INSANE! I don't do well in malls because of getting quite claustrophobic, hot, overwhelmed by the people (and thinking about the germs), and it was like 100 times worse there. But I sucked it up and hurried through and tried to enjoy the fun things like trying cakes! I walked away with what I think I will be ordering for my invitations, and a cake that the boy, my mom and I all LOVED! I have to look up the name to post it and find the invitation picture to post it. I was exhausted by the end of the show but was thrilled to have possibly found these two vendors and be able to cross these things off my list! The boy did very well until about the last 1/2 hour. We were there for a total of 3 hours so I think he did quite well. The last 45 minutes his eyes were glazed over and when I'd turn and look for him and call his name, he'd kind of look at me slowly and then walk over to me in a daze. It was good husband-training for him I think - he even carried the bag of goodies we collected along the way and my purse after awhile!

Last night we watched Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. I am a huge Harry Potter fan (more so of the books) but have to admit that this movie was not as good as the other ones. How did you feel about it?

I am sad to say it's Monday and I'm back at work, already looking forward to the next weekend!