Getting Ready

If you want to get caught up on my wedding posts, you can check out the rehearsal first.


Saturday morning I woke up and didn't know where I was. Then it hit me.

I was at my parents house.

and I was getting married today.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :p

Since my parents live in a caffeine-free world (I know-- insane right?), I headed out in search of a Dunkin Donuts. While I was out, I remembered that I never picked up sparklers for this AMAZING must have picture that I really really wanted. I called JEGs, wished my groom a happy wedding day, and promptly asked him where I could find sparklers (no point in beating around the bush, right? We are on limited time). I ran to two Targets and a Walmart in search of sparklers while JEGs searched a Party City and other stores. No luck. Until he made a call into his groomsman who just happened to have 10 boxes.

::cue me jumping and squealing:::

At 10 am I met up with my bridesmaids at the salon to get our hair done.

My cousins, Allie and Tara

The ladies hair




my fab hairdresser, Tara, and I

When we were finished getting beautified, we all dumped into my Jeep and drove up to the venue, where my make-up artist, Kim, was waiting. I immediately jumped in the seat and she did her magic.

For the rest of the afternoon the magic time was 4:50pm-- that's when the day of coordinator wanted us to line up for the ceremony. It felt like time was creeping by so slowly and I had an enormous amount of energy. I think I was driving everyone crazy with my constant motion.

When 2:30 rolled around, we decided it was time for me to get dressed. With the help of my bridesmaids, I slipped into my beautiful wedding dress

Three o'clock came and it was time to head over to the bridal suite. I knew JEGs was on the property, so I made my bridesmaids head in for a little "Groom Location" reconnaissance. As soon as I got the all-clear, we headed upstairs.

..is it 4:50 yet?

The bridal suite had a huge window overlooking the parking lot so I could stalk my guests as they arrived. I was also able to get a couple glimpses of my handsome hubs-to-be as he and his groomsman took some pre-ceremony shots.

...still waiting for 4:50.

Soon afterwards my mother and father joined me, as did my flower girl, Abigail. She wanted to meet the ring bearer, so we had his parents bring him up so the two could meet. Connie had made them little baskets of toys and candy, so they promptly sat on the floor together and hunted through their new treasures.

Because of the heat that day, the venue decided to gather everyone in the cocktail area beforehand, and then escort them to the ceremony site at 4:45. From my perch in the bridal suite, I could see everyone make the move to the next location. I knew it was almost time.

We gathered our things and headed downstairs. My father handed me my bouquet, took my arm and said "Are you ready to do this?"

I nodded enthusiastically, and asked him what time it was.

4:50 pm.

Let's do this.

Access Denied

Another title for the post could be "The Time I Almost Got Kicked Out of My Friend's Funeral Service."

Oh yeah. You're interest is peaked, isn't it?

This past weekend my friend Manny was killed in a car crash. He was easily one of the most fabulous people I have ever met- he was incredibly smart, self-trained, loved to label everything, and how to get into all the hot spots of Philly. He also had a big hand in helping me land the job I have now, and for that I will be eternally gratefully to him.

Today was his memorial service and I decided to pay my respects. I skuttled in just as the service started and sat in the back of the church while my friends and co-workers sat in the front. After the lovely and tear-inducing service, I went to meet up with my friend Connie in the lobby. Then I was approached by a girl I have never seen before in my life.

"Honey, what's your name?" she says to me. I give it to her and she continues, "mmm hmm.. and how did you know Manny?"

"We worked together for a number of years" I told her.

"Mmm hmm. and have you ever meet Shelly (his fiance)?"

"Yeah. I haven't seen her in a couple years, but we've met."

Now at this point, the girl kind starts to walk away, but not really. Connie and I are looking at each other like ' can we go? does she want to say more? should we offer our condolences? what??' Then she walks back towards me and whispers:

"I believe you were asked not to come."

What??? At this point I am searching for any indication of how I could have upset Shelly or his family enough for them to not want me there.

"But.... I...." is all I can stammer out.

"They don't want you here." she says matter-of-factly.

"But I just talked to Shelly last night... she called my office.... I... don't.. understand..."

My heart is racing and Connie is looking at me with wide eyes. I start apologizing and telling the girl that if they really want me to, I'll leave, but I didn't know what I could have possibly done to upset the family. The girl disappears for a second and retrieves one of Manny's sisters. She asks the sister "Is this the girl?"

The sister says, "What? No. No! That's not her."


The sister then apologizes to me saying something about them not wanting the press there, but I was only half listening. I had so many emotions running through me at this point, I just wanted out at this point.

I still don't know who they confused me with, but never in my life have I been asked to leave a funeral before.

I guess there is a first time for everything.

I should probably note that I was not angry when this happened- afterwards I found the situation humorous, and I know Manny would have as well. He loved to hear about the crazy situations I got myself into! I could see me sharing the story with him over a couple of drinks. He would let out that deep chuckle he had and say "Always have a story, don't you. Drama, drama, drama."

Always & Forever,
ME.

In Memory of Manny

1977- 2010

Rest in Peace my fabulous friend. I'll be looking for you in the clouds.

Rehearsing

The week of the wedding I worked until Thursday. I took the whole day off on Friday and spent the early part of the morning doing a couple last minute things, and at 11 am I met up with my bridesmaids for a little [much needed] mani and pedi.

My cousins Tara and Allie

Look! I'm Edward Paraffin-Hands!

After gettin' our nails did, we headed over to California Pizza Kitchen (my fav!) for lunch.

That is my purse behind my head... I don't actually have antennae.

Something we learned while at the CPK: if you order a half glass of wine, you will get a normal size glass. If your order a full size, you get a small bowl of wine.

Guess which one I got ;)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention is the t-shirt that Connie/her boyfriend Joey made for me.

Connie handled the iron on rhinestones. Then, since she has the handwriting of a serial killer, she made Joey write JEGs in puffy paint.

Yup, I wore a puffy-painted t-shirt. Are you jealous? Thought so.

After lunch we headed back to Falconhead to get ready for the rehearsal. We chatted, changed our clothes, I realized I hadn't even begun to pack for vacation, etc etc. When JEGs got home from work, we headed out to the venue.

My friend Erin came up from Georgia to be one of our readers!

Me and Doodlebug.. and her baby.

Go 'head girl. Work that thang.

Bridal party all lined up

We got this on lock down.

When the rehearsal was finished, my ladies and I quickly moved our dresses and accessories to the hotel room so we wouldn't have to worry about them the next morning. I took one last look at my beautiful white dress and said "See you tomorrow, beautiful".

Momma and Poppa G hosted a dinner at a local pub called P.J. Whelihan's

We had our own private room with a buffet of amazing food. Seriously, their meatballs and wings were so stinkin' good. We may or may not have taken home doggy bags.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing while our friends and family mingled




The best man and his fiance, Lauren, couldn't wait till the next day to give us their gift. It was a framed version of our invitation! Lauren's mother matted it at painted on the matte to compliment the design on the invite. It was so beautiful!

After everyone enjoyed their meals, JEGs and I took a moment to thank everyone for their love, support, and monies. Yes, especially the monies ;)

As people began to clear out, JEGs and I said our good-byes to each other. He slept at our apartment that night, and I stayed the night at my parents house.

When I arrive at my parents house, I immediately changed into my pajamas. My mother and I enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine, and excitedly talked about the next day- wondering will the weather hold out, running through our check lists one last time, and hoping everything would run as planned.

I spent a couple minutes catching up with my brother from LA, and then headed up to bed. I thought I might have trouble sleeping, but I quietly drifted off to sleep and began to dream about my big day...

A Cozy Guestroom Makeover

This post has double duty attention whore written all over it. One for me, and one for my girl, Shannon.

So remember once-upon-a- time when I went dumpster driving and saved an adorable little side table from certain death? Well my pal Shannon was interested in it so I sold it to her, and hadn't heard about it since.

Well the other day I was peruesing her blog (like I do on the daily), when lo and behold, the little table popped up in her adorable guestroom makeover . Seriously, this room came out so wonderful, I have to share it with you all

Before

After

Before




After

Before

After

Isn't the place so super cozy and inviting? Give her major props too because the girl did it while she was 8 month preggers.

...and, to top it all off, she was featured in a Reader Redesign at Young House Love

Holy shennanigans (pun intended)!! Now, for those not in the know, The Youngerster at YHL are like the Oprah of interior design blogs. If they like it, then you are doing something right.

So Shan, JEGs and I will totally come over and watch the bambino (Charlie or Charlene ;)-- as long as you cook for us and let us stay in this awesome guest room.

Always & Forever,

ME

Fabulous July

July was kind of a big deal. There is no doubt about that. So let's take a second and check out the other 30 days in the month--

Air Conditioning-
We are on our 7th heat wave of the summer in the City of Brotherly Love. It has been god awful hot. Without good ole AC, I don't think I would have made it.

I've said multiple times- if I wasn't a taken woman, I would marry AC (not Slater) I love it so much.

Blogging-
Lately I have been getting A LOT of e-mails about my DIY Hydrangea Pomanders. So for kicks and giggles, I decided to Google the words "diy hydrangea pomander" and look what the first listing is:

Holy crap, I am the very first listing! I don't even show up as the first listing when I Google my full name!


Also, this month I made it to 50 followers! I know a lot of blogs out there have 13,442,823 but I pride myself on quality, not quantity. And you my followers friends, are quality ;)

Weddings-

Well, I wasn't going to completely ignore the fact that I GOT MARRIED this month

Apparently I'm an Asian tourist..???

But not only did I tie the knot, but so did my good friend Justin, and I am still so happy for them

Paid in Full-

See that hunk of steel?

Her name is Sasha. She is a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport with 135,000 miles. She gets 17 miles to the gallon, has a fresh pair of brake rotors and as of 1:39 pm EST yesterday, she is all mine. That's right, I paid off my car this month! I am so excited about this. JEGs and I had a little surplus this month, so he made the suggestion of putting it towards my car payment. That means every month we get to put an extra $181.73 into our savings- and getting us a little closer to that 15% down payment I wanted!

Finally, I have to say my handsome husband is pretty fabulous. Not only is he the most loving and caring person I know, but he's pretty handy! While on vacation, we noticed that my Jeep needed new brake pads (and eventually rotors too). While we were down the shore, that 6'4 hunk of man swapped out Sasha's brakes with a jack, a piece of wood and whatever tools he could scrounge up in 100+ degree weather-- and didn't complain once. I gots me a keeper. Yes I did.

Well July, the next time we see you, JEGs and I will be whipping out that chunk of cake from the freezer and celebrating our first anniversary-- you can bring the champagne.

Always & Forever,

ME

I Couldn't Resist

I promised myself I wouldn't blog during my vacation, but I couldn't resist posting these pictures from the wedding.

First, I have to say it was the most perfect day of my life. Everything ran so smoothly, and I promise to give the full details when I get back.

Without further ado, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. JEGs...

The flower girl picking bugs off my dress during the ceremony

my niece Abby, and his nephew, Wyatt

first dance

...he'll pay for that.

Again, I'll have a full report (and vendor reviews!) when we get back from vaca.

Love you all!!

Always&Forever,

Mrs. JEGs.