Dress Fitting #2 & New Hair Idea

I had my 2nd dress fitting today! The changes Janet said she'd make were made, and it's almost perfect! There are still a few things to change, so she's going to do those alterations, and I'll go back on May 19th - exactly one week before the wedding!

After the dress fitting, I headed to meet Amy, the hairstylist. Last night while talking to Patrick, I asked him again how he would prefer my hair, and his response was "either down or half-up-half-down" (but he did say I would look good no matter what). Since I was planning on having an updo, I decided to change my thinking and immediately called Mandy for details on her experience with hair extensions for her wedding.

I sent Amy an email asking for suggestions since I know practically nothing about extensions. I stopped at Sally Beauty Supply to ask for suggestions, and unfortunately, talking to that girl was like talking to a wall. I decided not to get anything right then.

Inspiration Hairstyle Picture

When I arrived at Amy's house, she said that she hadn't checked her email and said it would be a much better idea to wait until I have the extensions and I have my hair colored. She gave me some suggestions and we set up the trial for the same day as the dress fitting. She said that the extensions will help hold the curl; that was one of the reasons I didn't want to have my hair down. I felt better with that comment.

My inspiration picture for the style (not the color - I'll be MUCH blonder) is to the right, and I masked out the face so you can just focus on the hair. I'm thinking/hoping it'll turn out really well. Even though it wasn't my initial thought, I actually like this style better than any updo I've seen... Patrick's a pretty smart guy if I do say so myself, and I'm really glad he made the suggestion.

-Lisa

Patio Pictures

I took some 'after' pictures of the patio, and the before/after pictures together really show how the patio creates a look that's much cleaner and more finished.

Before #1

After #1

  

Before #2

After #2 - The dogs love it

Closeup of the texture/color

The grass is struggling a little bit right now, so we'll work on getting that going this week/weekend. To make it look as good as possible for the rehearsal dinner, it may need some additional reseeding, but hopefully just pumping up the water will do enough. It's coming together and looking soo good!

-Lisa

Videography Surprise

Since we started our wedding planning, Patrick & I had decided that we weren't going to hire a videographer. Even though I had gone back and forth multiple times about whether or not we should change our mind, the cost for videographers was so high, and we thought we'd be good without one. 

Well, that changed this weekend! While at the Vegas airport waiting for our flight, I got a voicemail from Trish, our florist. The short version of her voicemail is that her best friend's husband Todd is a videographer who has done many documentaries and is getting into the wedding industry in the Phoenix area. He wants to get onto Aldea's list of preferred vendors, but in order to do so, he has to film a wedding at Aldea to show Evelyn, the owner. Guess who Trish suggested he contact...!

Since Todd is just getting started in the industry, he doesn't have much on his website to show examples of other couples he's filmed, but here's the best part... His intro email to us included the line, "I wanted to confirm that I will be filming your wedding free of charge." HECK YESSSSSS. 

I admit that I was nervous for a second b/c of his limited wedding experience, but then I snapped back into reality: this is amazing! Banks did such a great job with our engagement pictures, and he just takes pictures for fun. No matter what, this will be much better than no video, and it'll be a great memento from the wedding day to keep forever. I am ALREADY looking forward to meeting him and seeing the finished product. We're going to meet up with him a couple weeks before the wedding (probably the weekend of Mothers Day) for an interview for "Our Love Story."

Part of Todd's bio from his website says, "After traveling extensively and living in Italy for awhile I moved to Los Angeles and obtained my film degree from Columbia College.  In addition to my own film projects and wedding love stories I have worked on developing television shows for networks including Food Network and Fine Living. I have also worked freelance for companies such as Guitar World on music based projects."

It's a different Columbia College than the one I attended, but that line made me smile. What an incredible surprise!

-Lisa

Tomorrow = Patio Day!

Before:

Since we're having the concrete patio put in tomorrow, I wanted to post a 'before' picture. When I left the house this morning, the dirt are did NOT look like it does in the picture, so technically it's a 'during' picture. They moved everything, leveled out the dirt and made the area ready for the concrete. They said they'll be matching the color of the firepit & the curbing, so hopefully the patio blends in well. There will be a small step down from the existing slab of concrete, and we're throwing around the idea of covering that area with tiles that match the tile in the kitchen. The new concrete is going to be lightly stamped and will show a texture that I think will be similar to the texture on the walls on the outside of the house. As compared to a flat patio, the texture should add a lot.

We got some larger pieces of lava rock for the fire pit. They make the fire really dance, and they create more heat from the firepit. I'm thinking that if we get 15 more pieces (to form a 2nd ring around the bigger pieces), it'll be perfect.

My day was made around 11am this morning. I got a  call from my high school's athletic director, and he let me know that Francis Howell North was creating an Athletic Hall of Fame. He went on to explain that they had a committee decide on the inaugural class, and I will be one of the eleven inductees.

That's amazing to me... Knowing that FHN is not a small school (it has about 2,400 students each year) and was founded in 1983, that's a whole bunch of other student athletes that had to have been considered. The induction ceremony is scheduled for January 18th, so I already have a trip to St. Louis on the calendar for 2013. Hopefully I can get through this Hall of Fame weekend without tearing an Achilles... You better believe I'll be passing on any alumni games if I'm invited to play ;).

Patrick gets back tonight. With his long week of training (and getting used to the 3-hour time difference), he's ready to get home. I'm excited to see him, and we're both excited to go to Vegas TOMORROW evening!

-Lisa

More House/Backyard Updates

We made the final payment on the honeymoon today! Jeeves, watch out... We'll see you in six weeks!

I've realized I've become a big wimp when it comes to anything wedding-related. I was watching 'My Fair Wedding with David Tutera,' and my eyes welled up with tears as the couple was exchanging vows. I think that's a bad sign for my wedding eye makeup... Don't worry though; I've been able to find a waterproof mascara AND eyeliner that have been tested to stay in place when hit by tears. I'd like to pretend that I won't cry at all on our wedding day, but come on: we all know better ;).

The concrete patio is the amazing gift from Patrick's parents, and that has started the wheels turning in our heads. We realized that we need to think about a table and chairs for eating outside. Well, I kind of did more than just think about it... I bought a set today!

The picture from the Craigslist ad

I found the set on Craigslist last night and sent Patrick the link. After work, I went to go look at it (with no intention of buying it on the spot b/c I didn't have a way to transport it), but the guy lived in the same neighborhood as Mal and Mandy. I really liked the set and even thought it started out a great deal, I was able to get him down on the price a little bit.

Since Mandy said I could put it in their backyard until we figure out transportation, I got it so we wouldn't miss out on the deal! The guy helped carry the table around the block with me (Google Maps said it was 0.3 miles), and Mandy used her SUV to help get the chairs to her house. Now, I'll hopefully be able to get a friend with a truck to help get it to the house.

I also am REALLY excited because my parents told us that they're giving us French doors (for the door going out to the backyard) for the wedding! I'm going to Lowe's tomorrow to hopefully see the doors in person and find out more information on how long it would take to get them ordered and installed. We're looking at the doors that have the blinds inside the panes of glass. That means we'll be able to get rid of the ugly, heavy (and half-broken) vertical blinds that are currently up on the back door (!), and this is going to really open up the house.

On that note, I'm ready for a happy night's sleep.

-Lisa

Phoenix Shower and Rings

I feel like I've missed out on a few big updates, so here goes...

Last weekend, Mandy held a bridal shower for me at her house. Most of the pictures were taken on Mandy's camera, but I have a few pictures of the decorations (including rose petals on the ground and balloons & paper lanterns in our wedding colors).

Mandy had put together some fun games, and it was a really good time with the girls in Phoenix.

Yesterday, we picked up our wedding bands! My ring was as sparkly as I remembered, and Patrick's ring looked great with its new finish. I'm not sure why, but that one little thing seemed like such a big step.

The thing that been standing out in my mind is that we can actually say, "We're getting married NEXT MONTH." It gives me butterflies to think about that, but the months of planning (and trying to stay ahead of schedule) has really paid off. There's a short list of things that are on the 'to do' list, and just about all of those things had to wait until the last month (after the guest list is finalized). Every once in a while, I feel like the nerves start to hit me, and being overtired - like I was last week - made it even worse. Overall though, I'm feeling really good and am getting more and more excited.

This Thursday, we're having concrete people come over to take a look at the patio area, and they'll be back on Friday morning to lay the concrete! With that patio, we're tying up the loose ends of the backyard, and it looks amazing.

Next weekend is our trip to Vegas, and with Patrick out of town, I have a week full of free evenings before that.

-Lisa

50 DAYS

HO-LY COW. We're down to 50 days?! That's unbelievable. It really seems like I just posted 300, then 250... 200... 150... and 100.

Latest RSVP update (with very round numbers!):

YES - 40% / NO - 20% / NO RESPONSE - 40%

- Lisa

Dancing Machines

We've done a total of three dance classes so far, and I have to say that we're getting better! We've been working on the rumba box step, the foxtrot and a few turns for each dance. Since I don't think I posted an update after our last lesson, here we go..!

I bought a Groupon for five 45-minute private dance classes, and we had our first lesson at the new studio last week. As compared to the little blonde Russian girl who taught our complimentary lesson, this instructor is dark-haired chick named Elie. She's probably very good at dancing herself, but she's not the best at communicating what we're supposed to do. Don't get me wrong; we're definitely learning, but I think more experience will make her a lot better down the line.

Patrick thought this studio had a much "colder" feeling than the first, but I didn't feel that as much. We did get a much quicker tour/intro of the studio and Elie didn't ask many questions about us, but for some reason I was ok with that. In our first lesson, we had only worked on the box step, and Elie decided that we were going to learn the foxtrot when we started working with her. Once she listened to our song, she realized it was an appropriate dance and decided to teach us both. Right.

I'm having fun learning the steps, but it does get overwhelming when I just can't seem to figure out a step. At both lessons, there have been around 5 other couples in the studio for lessons, too, and it's distracting when other songs come on (which is most of the time) and Elie is saying "quick, quick, slow," etc, AND I'm trying to focus on the steps we're supposed to be doing. Letting Patrick lead has been the biggest issue for me - I like to be in control, but I feel like it's slowly getting there.

With the weather being practically perfect lately, we've had a few evenings to sit outside. Patrick got the dogs an outside bed/tent, and they love that their feet don't have to touch the rocks/grass more than necessary (yes, they're spoiled). 


They don't like to walk in the grass, and they don't like to walk on the rocks, so they stick to the concrete curbing as much as possible. It's really funny to me to see them run around the curbing as quickly as possible.

Even with the crazy eyes, they're pretty darn cute, though.

 

- Lisa

3rd Annual Wiffleball Tournament

Each year, Banks & Hughes have a wiffleball tournament for their birthdays, and that tournament two years ago was the first time Patrick met my friends. Yesterday was the third (and two year anniversary) of that weekend. I thought it'd be fun to see three tournaments' worth of fun!

2010:

2011:

2012:

We're lucky to have such fun friends!

- Lisa

P.S. My team won this year! ;)