Seriously - When Did It Become JULY!?!?!?

Ummm, yeah, this morning when I was writing my post about the big change in my life I seemed to completely forget that today is the first freaking day of July!!!!  Yeah, ummm, 2 months left of planning ::cue squeals of excitement mixed with shudders of nervousness::

Seeing as it is a new month, I can't forget to share with you my plans:

Oh yes, July will be a busy one...

On the non-wedding related front my last day at my current job is July 13, and I start my new job on July 18.  Then I have a hair appointment on the 30th.

Now, on the wedding related front:

• This weekend - finish my damn invitations
• July 7 - mail said invitations
• July 9 - Make candy buffet bags/tags
• July 10 - Turn the DIY string balls into DIY string ball curtains
• 14th-15th - Since I have two days off before I start my new job I plan on making sure to finish my shoes (so they'll be ready for my second fitting) and probably work on my topiary balls as well as my pearl bouquet
• July 17 - Bryan will be helping me make columns for our ceremony space
• July 18 - I'll have my second fitting!  (and I promise to try and get more pictures of my hoarder seamstress' house!)
• July 24 - finish the topiary ball thingies that will be used as cocktail hour centerpieces
• July 30 - make bar signage (what's available as well as signature drinks)
• July 31 - I'm hoping we'll have gotten some RSVPs back and we can start the seating chart!

Definitely going to be a busy month - but it doesn't even compare to what August is going to look like!

Are you going to be having as busy of a July as I am?

And don't forget you can always check out my calendars and timelines on my "Countdown to the Big Day" tab!!!

Weddzilla Monday - Late Again!

Yeah, yeah - we all know I suck at remembering to link to my Weddzilla posts on the days that they go live!  But this one is really cool (if I do say so myself), it's about the paper flower pomander topiaries (yeah, say that five times fast) I made over the weekend.  And it can be found here!

And look, even Gabby tried to help out...

Personal Photo - She only likes to have her "good side"
photographed, she won't look straight at the camera!

Why do I always forget to do this!?!

I forgot to link to my Weddzilla post yesterday, and it's a pretty awesome one...

It's about making stand-alone shepherd hooks to hang my lovely ribbon flower poms off of, and it can be found here!

100 Days...

This can be found on my "Countdown to the Big Day" Tab!

Ok, so technically it's 100 days and 22 hours, which a lot of people would count as 101 days, but boohoo to them!  This is my blog and I can count down to my wedding however I see fit!

It's slightly surreal, in all honesty.  I've been eating, sleeping, drinking wedding planning since last June, at which point the wedding seemed eons away, but now we're really getting quite close!

Not only have we hit the 100 day mark, but my first bridal shower is in a week and a half (another huge milestone).  And I can honestly say I think my "Whimsical Land of Circles" vision is actually coming together!  Check it out:

Look at all those circles!  Haha, and that's only the stuff I've already made! There are plenty of more whimsical circles to be created for the wedding!

So, what do you think?  Do my DIY efforts scream "Whimsical Land of Circles" to you, or have I missed the mark?

I never have to make another ribbon flower again...

And thank goodness for that!  Good golly was that a tedious task, but, I'm officially done making ribbon flowers and they have been transformed into pomanders!  Seeing that it's Monday, you can read all about it (and see my lovely creations) on Weddzilla...Happy Memorial Day!

Big Fat DIY Fail...

It has officially happened.  I 100% failed at making tissue paper pomanders.  Even my cat was ashamed of them.  But, while Charles the cat teased me about my massive DIY failure I came up with a new idea...and you can read all about it on Weddzilla!  Happy Monday all!

I've been at it again...

And by "at it" I mean being an overly-visual-borderline-crazy DIY bride-to-be...

And since it's Monday, you can read all about it on Weddzilla (but you already knew that, didn't you?)

DIY Wedding How-To Video!

Today I posted my first ever how-to video!  Since it's Monday, it's on Weddzilla, and you can find it here!

Please please please critique my vlogging abilities!  I was really nervous and would love to do more of these, but any advice you guys have would be much appreciated!

My Glowing Table Numbers!

Happy Monday!  Guess what...today my post is on Weddzilla!  You can read it here!

And if you leave me a comment over there I'll love you forever...the blogger with the most comments this week gets a Starbucks giftcard!  Plus, I appreciate all the comment-lovin' I get!

Weddzilla Wednesday...Just a little late...

Sorry y'all, I forgot to post the link to my Weddzilla post yesterday!  It can be found here!

Why Do I Ever Stop Working Out Consistently????

Seriously...I'm such a happier person when I'm working out regularly.  I feel better, I have more energy throughout the day, I'm far less stressed out.  Why on Earth do I ever stop working out?  Well the easy answer is because I get lazy, or busy, or whatever.  But next time I start a Fitness Recap Friday with "not too much to recap today" or if I skip it completely, will someone give me a virtual-blog-slap?  Just be like "woman, get off your ass - you like life a lot more when you workout regularly!"

That's really all I have to say for now.  It's Weddzilla Wednesday and once my post goes up I'll be sure to point you all in that direction.  Just so you have something to look forward to, it's about my sexy layouts for my whole wedding.  As we get closer to the big day, it's getting easier and easier to visualize what everything is going to look like...eeek!

Oh, and just because this is on my calendar and every time I see it I kind of chuckle (not sure why, I just find it hilarious) I'll share it with you...gotta love my Bad Dogs Calendar:

hahahahahaha - Picture from Bad Dogs Calendar

Such a Productive Weekend!

I love it when I can say that.  Bryan and I seriously had such a productive weekend.

Friday night I actually followed through on working out (woohoo), and then basically relaxed.

Saturday, I woke up, did some stretching, practiced painting candle holders in preparation of making my table numbers next weekend, went to my Weight Watchers meeting, went to Marshalls, got home and cleaned.  I cleaned like I have never cleaned before.  We have double pane windows that are a pain to clean.  I literally climbed out on the roof of our porch in order to properly clean all sides of the windows to our bedroom.  I scrubbed and sanitized every surface of our bathroom.  I think the chemicals may have burned the inside of my nose a bit, but I don't think our bathroom has ever been that clean before.  We even rented a carpet cleaner and Bryan did all the carpets.  It's an amazing feeling.

Then Saturday night we went to a Pirates game.  In Bryan's head, spring hasn't officially sprung until he's gone to a baseball game, so that was our kickoff to spring:

A little girl sitting next to us pulled out her tooth during the game, it was quite exciting, lol.  I enjoy baseball, but I didn't realize how cold it was going to get (it was warm during the day) and when my hands turned deathly white Bryan agreed we could leave, even though the game wasn't over yet.

Sunday, got up, worked on an Etsy order a little bit, got ready and we went and returned the carpet cleaner then headed to Ikea to start our registry!

Those of us in Pittsburgh are lucky in that the Ikea here even does registries.  But the computer you use to set it up is SO SLOW!  Apparently the Swedes can design some pretty nifty furniture, but their programming abilities kind of suck...

We were probably walking around/registering for about 2 hours.

And then we had to go to Costco to pick up some odds and ends and Walmart for random stuff and groceries.

Then when we got home I worked more on my Etsy order (it's almost done and has turned out even better then I thought it would), then I worked out, showered, ate, did a load of laundry, watched the Amazing Race and passed the eff out.

It was super busy.  It wasn't a restfull weekend at all.  But at least we accomplished a ton of stuff and had fun!

How was your weekend? (and yes, I realize it would have made much more sense for me to have posted this yesterday, but I'm still recovering from my busy weekend, lol)

Custom Aisle Runner!

This weekend I made my monogrammed aisle runner, and you can read all about it in my post on Weddzilla for today!

Random Weekend Accomplishments!

I accomplished a few things this weekend that weren't even on my timeline/calendar (yeah...go me!) and I just had to share them with you!

First, I fancied up a map to use in our invitation suite using MS Publisher and MS Vision:

Personal Creation

Then, I happened to find an awesome frame at Ross Dress for Less for $5, so I made the sign for my wish tree:

I absolutely love how it turned out!

And, today I finally got around to putting together a shadow box (that I had gotten at Marshall's ages ago) with some of our engagement pictures and the tag that Bryan proposed to me with:

The Shadowbox

My pictures

I obviously had to add decorative edges to the pictures...

My new favorite cardstock stack

Pretty, pretty paper

The set up

And again

Look how adorable!

and again...

That's my kitchen table

I had extra pictures so I put them in another empty fram I had laying around

Et voila!

What do you think of my super productive-ness?  Did you get anything extra done this weekend?

Wedding Wish Tags Are Finally Complete!

And you can read all about them (and see them) in my post for Weddzilla!

Happy Monday All!

DIY Cardbox!!!

So, I basically spent my entire day yesterday making the cardbox for our wedding.  Seeing as it is "Weddzilla Monday," you can read all about it here: March Project: DIY Cardbox...Check!

Prepping for DIY Weekend!

So...it should be fitness recap Friday, but I didn't workout at all!!!!  I was too busy picking up my wedding dress and then being sick with some sort of stomach bug!  So instead, I'm going to talk about my DIY plans for this weekend!

You'll notice on my March Calendar, this weekend I plan on making my card box!  I already have the round boxes as well as the fabric I plan on covering them with, but I thought I would show off some of my inspiration pictures (that I found on Etsy)...

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So, obviously mine will be round (since everything at my wedding is going to be round), and I'll also be doing a 3 tier box, although the boxes aren't that big, so it won't be massive.  The fabric that I've purchased is purple an satin-y, and I might put a second fabric on the covers of the boxes that is sheer but with a sparkly, swirly design on it.

The first inspiration picture is a little too much for my taste, but it was purple and round so I liked it, haha.  I also want the opening for the cards to be on the top like it is on that one.

If the second picture was round I would adore it!  I like the small accent of flowers and the ribbon that makes it look more like a present than a cake.

The third one I really like that there are more than one color of flowers.  I really like the rhinestones as well, but I think that would be too much for what I plan on doing, especially if I use the second fabric.

And the third one is super simple, but I like the personalization that is on the top of it.

So basically, I'm going to incorporate all the elements of each one that I like!

A few weeks ago Leana, author of The Engineer + The Geek Tie the Knot, posted this amazing hair flower tutorial, and I might just have to make a few of these to put on my card box (and probably in my hair as well, haha).  Look how gorgeous this thing turned out:

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I think I'll only do one of those as a "focal point" and then a few simpler ones around it on the bottom tier (much like the second inspiration picture).  Maybe do that one in a gold color and the smaller ones in shades of purple, or that one in a pale purple and the others in gold...I don't know yet!  We'll have to see what kinds of fabric I can get my hands on between now and Sunday!

What do you think?  Is my card box going to end up having too much going on if I try to blend my inspirations together?

Glassware and Napkins and Flowers...Oh My!

Happy Hump Day everyone!  Nothing of epic proportions has happened lately, so I'll be posting about random wedding related stuff...woohoo!

First up, glassware!  Since I'm DIYing my flowers, I needed to get a whole bunch of cylinder vases in order to make my centerpiece vision come true.  Well I've been collecting all sorts of cylinder vases basically since we got engaged last June, and I'm almost done (I think).  I still need to get the shortest ones (for the hydrangeas) but those will be the cheapest, so I'm not that worried.  And I'm thinking I want to get short and fat ones for the hydrangeas since the orchid ones are tall and medium, and the calla ones are medium and skinny.  But whatever, enough talk, more photos, right?  Here's what I've got so far:

In case you couldn't tell, there are basically 4 different height variations.  And yes, I did order fake flowers just to get an idea of what these will look like.  I'm pretty pumped!  I got all of the big vases from Marshall's and TJ Maxx and all of the skinny ones off Craigslist.  Now I plan on getting the short fat ones from Michaels (with 40% off coupons) and probably Marshall's and TJ Maxx as well!

While we're discussing glassware, I should mention my candy buffet.  I've always wanted a candy buffet at my wedding, even before they were *trendy*.  I just love candy.  And it's even better because our mutual love for candy helped bring fi and I together.  See, we worked together, and I had a drawer that was full of an assortment of candy.  And he would use that as an excuse to come over and talk to me when we first met.  Obviously candy would be included in our wedding!

I'm up to 10 apothecary jars, and I don't think I need anymore.  Especially since it's a Pittsburgh tradition to have a cookie table at weddings (basically all the women in the family bake cookies and they're put out at the wedding).  If I get anymore candy buffet jars people might die of sugar overload.  I got all of these at Marshall's and TJ Maxx:

I can't wait until they're all filled with candy...I still haven't decided if we're going to get candy to match our colors or just get whatever kind of candy our hearts desire.  But, I don't have to make that decision yet!

Before we move on, can I just say it sucks trying to take decent pictures of glassware?  Okay, now that I got that off my chest...

NAPKINS!  So, I knew I wanted to have personalized cocktail napkins.  What I didn't realize is that when you order "personalized" cocktail napkins you can't really put whatever you want on them, and I wanted our monogram that I designed.  So, I decided to emboss my own.  It actually is a lot less time consuming then you would imagine.  I have like 200 done, and that was just from 2 sittings.  I want to do at least 500, I might end up going for 1000 though.  And here's what they look like:

I got the stamp of our monogram made by Chip, who I found on Etsy.  He's awesome.  I call him my "stamp guy."  Super high quality stamps and they aren't expensive at all.  Then you just stamp the napkin (I recommend 3 ply napkins to prevent bleeding) with clear ink, sprinkle it with embossing powder, tap off the excess powder, and heat that sucker up with a heat embossing tool.  Next time I'm working on them I'll take a bunch of "how-to" photos for you, promise!

And final topic for this lovely Wednesday...Flowers!  But not real flowers, and not really fake flowers either...Ribbon Flowers!  Yes, I'm making a whole slew of flowers out of ribbon to then make pomanders with for ceremony decor.  This is pretty time consuming, I'm not going to lie.  It takes about 15 minutes from start to finish to make one flower, and I'm going to need a lot of flowers.  But here's what they end up looking like:

Each of them look a little different, because they're handmade obviously.  And I'm going to make them in a bunch of different shades of purple ribbon.  I already have a bag full of them, and I need to make a ton more.  Sometimes making them is somewhat therapeutic; other times it's straight up frustrating.  At least I started early though!  I found the instructions for them here.  I don't put felt on the back though since I'm just going to be hot gluing them to a Styrofoam ball, not using them as clips of any sort.

So there you have it, a whole bunch of wedding randomness!  Have you been working on any fun DIYs lately?

*All Personal Photos*

Color Obsession!!!!

Before I get into the nitty gritty of this post I'd like to give you a little background.  Originally my color scheme was not purple and red (with hints of gold) it was shades of purple with hints of gold.  I wanted my wedding to be an explosion of purple.  And fi was cool with that because the fraternity that he had joined in college colors where purple and gold!  It was perfect...we were meant for each other.

Then I started the venue search.  As you already know, the walls at the Children's Museum are cherry red.  When I initially looked at pictures online I said no because of those red walls.  My wedding was going to be purple, not purple and ::blank::  Before we decided on a venue, however, we decided to meet with a potential caterer, Rania Harris, since she was a preferred caterer at all of the venues we were considering.  Well we instantly fell in love with her (she's perky and you can tell she loves what she does) and her food (yummmmmmm) so we booked her.  And it was actually her that recommended the Children's Museum based off of what we said we wanted our wedding to feel like (whimsical, fun, yet sort of modern).  I brought up my concerns with the red and she started pulling color swatches out of nowhere (this woman has more energy than MOH Sam and I combined, which is basically saying her head could explode at any minute - which I love) to show me how awesome purple and red look together.  I was sold.  It really is such a passionate and rich combination.  And we scheduled a tour of the museum the next day.

From that day forward I have not questioned our decision to get married there and the most amazing color scheme ever.  And a few days ago the lovely Miss Tattoo, author of Tattoos and Lace, wrote a post about her color scheme and introduced me to the most amazing website ever...The Perfect Palette.

So I basically had a field day searching through all of the palettes that included purple and red.  So, if you have ever questioned whether purple and red look amazing together, here is a million reasons why they do (all photos shamelessly stolen from The Perfect Palette and then updated by yours truly in paint):

There isn't anything in particular I'm drawn to in this first one, but seriously, look how good those colors look together!

This one kind of makes me wish I could add gray to my color scheme, but that wouldn't work at all.  But I am obsessed with the flowers in the upper left hand corner.

Ummm...hello beautiful wish tree amongst gorgeous shades of red and gold ::swoon::  And I just like the purple against the gold in the upper left.

This one makes me want to add anemones to my "floral scheme".  And I just think those shoes are cute.  I still want my bridal party to wear gold shoes, but I like those, haha.

I might have to make a red signature cocktail, because those are beautiful.  There are just really good examples of how great purple and red look in this one.  And that bottom right picture makes me want purple hair accessories and red lipstick, although I'm not sure I can pull off red lipstick...

This is by far my favorite.  I just love it.  The colors are amazing.  The guys will be in a "lapis" color and the picture of the dresses makes me want to put my 'maids in a lighter purple, but sister R would kick my butt (apparently light purples are bad and dark purples are good).  I want to print out this picture and blow it up and put it in my basement just to make me happy while working on wedding stuff, haha.

So there you have it, red and purple (with hints of gold) is by far the best color scheme ever.  Hopefully I get to be the one that introduced you to the best website ever and now you can go spend hours on The Perfect Palette lusting over color schemes!