This is THE week!

Wedding week has FINALLY arrived!!! I've been super busy this week with lots of last minute details. Some of which have changed just within the past day.  The wedding planning process has definitely taught me to "roll with the punches" and let go of the reins a little bit.  Some things are just beyond my control.

On another note, I had my last Bar Method class on Wednesday morning.  I woke up bright and early (6am...eek!) to get my final studio workout in before the wedding.  It was a doozy but hurt so good.  I have seen awesome results since starting the bar method in January, which I plan on talking about in a later post.  I went for my final fitting last Sunday and the dress needed to be taken in a little bit :-) Happy about the lost inches, not so happy about having to spend extra money :-/ I brought one of the Bar Method DVD's with me and I plan on doing it tomorrow.  I'm excited to see how it differs from the actual class.  

Well I'm off to get some beauty rest and to enjoy the rest of week, leading up to the BIG day-which is this Sunday! Pics and wedding/Napa honeymoon posts to follow :-)

DIY Unity Candle

I never envisioned myself as being a DIY bride.  I'm creative but not crafty.  I lack the patience that it has to piddle around with tiny details, and when something doesn't go right I just get frusterated and will find somewhere where I can either buy it or someone who can do it for me.  

But sometimes, I surprise myself.  I've done a lot more for this wedding than I had orginally anticipated.  After pricing out stationary and realizing that I'd have be crazy to pay so much for paper, I decided to take on all of our paper projects.  So far, so good.  I've made our table names (we're doing landmarks in Chicago as opposed to table #'s), menus, created our Save the Dates (printed by vistaprint),and assembled our invitations.  The invitations were from a Brides' kit that I picked up from Michael's.  We've received a lot of compliments on them so far.  

My latest venture was completed this past Sunday.  I decided to make our unity candle.  I didn't want just a basic plain unity candle (we're not traditional people), and the ones listed on Etsy were more than I wanted to spend for something that we are only going to use once.  So I decided to take matters into my own hands.    



The project took very little time and the total cost for everything, including the 2 holders & the stand was under $25.  Not too shabby! 

I used a sheer ribbon, so I had to make sure each piece was cut the same length so that one shade of green wouldn't be darker than the other (because wedding planning makes you do crazy things).  To get the ribbon to stick to the candle, I started with clear, double-sided tape.  Then I just wrapped the ribbon around, very evenly and used gem glue to keep the end of the ribbon to the candle.  I liked this glue because it works very well and it dries clear.  I did this to the two tapers and then added little gems to "dazzle" it up.

For the actual candle itself, I got my monograms made from IdoOriginals.  I would definitely recommend this website to anyone looking for monograms.  They were very timely and everything was exactly how I wanted it to be.  I used vellum paper to print out what I wanted to put on the candle.  I cut the paper to size and attached it with special vellum glue.  Warning, it does not stick very well to candles.  I had a hard time getting it to stay, so what did I use? Double-sided scotch tape.  It's towards the back so you can't see it at all when looking at the candle.  And it's a lot clearer than regular tape, so if you have to go this route, use the doubled sided tape.  I added some more razzle & dazzle and Voila!!!     

          

This weekend I'm working on programs & place cards.  Two more weeks people :-)

When Real Life Happens

You dont' have time to blog for two weeks...Oops!  Well I'm back just in time for the first day of marathon training, which should be interesting because my ankle still hurts from time to time.  My PT friend said that I should still be icing it since it's still a little swollen (two months later).  I'm going to give it a go and just see what happens.  There's always next year... 

So what's been going on in my world the past two weeks? 

26 days until the wedding, so lots of waiting around for response cards at this point and tying up a few loose ends.  Waiting is the worst.  We still have about 25 response cards outstanding and they're supposed to RSVP by this Friday, so I'm just a little bit annoyed.  More so at the people who we know are coming (bridesmaids & groomsmen). We need to know what to feed you people!    

I completed my training for The Bar Method front desk job & last Friday morning was my first day.  The training definitely took a lot out of me.  The job itself isn't hard, it's the waking up at 4:30am that's the tough part.  Training was about 2 weeks long and it completely exhausted all last week.  Thankfully, the 5:30am part is one day a week and right before my weekend off.

LC and I found a tenant for our condo in Milwaukee.  HOORAY! My sister's been living there for the past three years and has been an exceptional tenant.  It's been nice having her there because we knew there would be no problems and it was always nice having a place to stay when I went to visit.  I don't think the new tenant would appreciate me crashing on her couch for the weekend...My sister is going to Texas for some training and will be gone through November.  I will miss her dearly :-(  So for the first time, we are now officially "real" landlords.  Definitely not by choice, but the condo market is what it is right now.

I celebrated my last single night out with all of my ladies this past Saturday.  I had a blast & my sister definitely went above and beyond yet again :-) 



My wonderful bridal party & I

We started out in the community room in my apartment building.  We sipped on some cocktails, played some games & ate some Chicago style pizza :-) Perfect pre-drinking food.  After that, the trolley picked us up at around 9:30, we drove around the city, took some more pictures, went to Kit Kat Lounge & hopped back into the trolley.  Drove around some more & ended up at The Hange Uppe.  It was my version of a perfect bachelorette party. 

As far as marathon training day #2 goes, I'm supposed to run 3 miles today BUT with a heat index of 100 degrees, I maybe running it on the treadmill or going to Bar Method tonight.  For sure, waking up super early to run tomorrow.  Also, getting back on track with week with healthy cooking! We've been so busy that the past two weeks have been quick, packaged meals :-( I can't wait to cook something this week that does come from a frozen bag!!!  Good news is, I'm about 8lbs away from my 1st goal weight/wedding goal weight. I know that I won't lose that in 3 1/2 weeks but hopefully I'll come close. 

Say It, Do It {Wedding Countdown Edition}

48.  The number of days until THE BIG DAY!

source

 I started this blog as a way for me to write about working out & eating healthy, partly in preparation for the wedding and mostly because I was just tired of the way I looked and felt.  Since February, I haven't lost as much weight as I would've liked to by now {majorly discouraging}, but I've lost inches and my clothes are fitting more comfortably {So I must be doing something right}.  Final count will be revealed a few days before the wedding.  I blame this little weight-loss set back on my ankle injury & lack of calorie counting.  The fact is that I love to eat.  And sometimes I would prefer a cheeseburger and fries over a salad.  And some days, catching up with my DRV'd shows (you know, the ones I missed because I was busy working out) takes priority over exercising. Those are just the facts of my life.

In order to make the most of these last 48 days I've made some adjustments to my diet/habits.

*I will drink at least 2 nalgene bottles full of water during the workday.  I need more water in my life. 
*Eat more veggies & fruit and less carbs. 
*I will NOT go to sugarbliss between now & wedding.  Best cupcakes in the loop; I usually end up getting two. One being their special flavor.  Two being a red velvet {you know, just in case I end up not liking the special flavor}. I normally eat both :-/ This a rare occaision, but something that really needs to stop.
*Limit myself to one night of adult beverages.  If I could, I would drink wine every night of the week.  I absolutely love it.  BUT more than one glass leaves me feeling sluggish and tired the next morning, therefore canceling my AM workouts. 
* I will attend Bar Method 4-5 times per week.  I pay a pretty penny for unlimited classes, I need to go more.  The first month, I saw a big change in my body just by going 3 times a week, that has come to a standstill so it's time to up the BM workouts.
*I will run/do other forms of cardio 4 per week.  I've been pretty good about this since being able to run again.
*I will count calories using myfitnesspal.

Hopefully these little changes will help give me the results that I'm looking for.  I think the hardest one for me will   

Now for this week's Say, Do it! {AM workouts might change according to the weather}
Monday- Rest; I just had a long weekend of early morning drills mixed in with Bachelorette party fun. Rest is much needed today.
Tuesday- Morning cardio/Bar Method level 2
Wednesday- Bridal bootcamp/Bar Method Whoopsies! Slept in; no bridal bootcamp today.
Thursday- Run /Bar Method; Did the elliptical instead-the sky looked sketchy this AM
Friday- Morning cardio/Bar Method
Saturday- Bar Method/Self's workout in the Park
Sunday- Fitnessista's Spring Ab workout/Bridal shower #2! (Chicago Edition)  

Showered with Love...and gifts! (warning:pic overload)

This past Sunday, my sister & mom threw me the best wedding shower I could have ever hoped for.  It was held at Maxie's Southern Comfort in Milwaukee.  We had the whole upstairs to ourselves and they brought in brunch from their sister restaurant, Blue's Egg.  We munched on strawberry/blueberry french toast, a tasty egg bake & pastries.  I also sipped on a spicy bloody mary & a few mimosas.

Cupcakes were provided by Ashley Weber at Miss Cupcake in Milwaukee.  She's also making the cupcakes for our wedding, so I was really happy that my mom chose her to do the shower cupcakes.  This way, I get to taste a few new flavors before deciding what we're going to do for the wedding.  The pink cupcakes are Pink Lemonade (winner!) and the ones below that were called Hummingbird (also a runner up).  The Hummingbird cupcakes were banana flavored cake, with bits of pineapple, chocolate chips and nuts topped with cream cheese frosting.  The cupcakes were a hit and we were left with hardly any to take home.  

After we stuffed our faces ate, my sister led the party with a little trivia game.  I'm not big on wedding shower games, so instead we played Royal Wedding Trivia :-) It was a big hit!  My stepsister (Jamie) won, but she helped write half the questions, so my sister gave the prize to the next runner up.

There were a lot of nice touches, like this board my sister made for us.  It was made up mostly of just pictures of LC& I from over the years, along with some of our family.  Thanks Facebook!

   

...And lots of gifts to give away!  The guests got a lot of nice things. Bottles of wine, jewelry, and make-up.  My sister definitely outdid herself in preparing for this shower.  

Me & my lovely mom.

my mom, grandma, me & my sister :-)

After Royal Wedding Trivia, it was time for gifts!  We got so many nice things, both on and off our registry.  My guests were awesome. 

 *Kate Spade champagne Flutes from my grandma...one of my favorite things on our registry. One says "Mr" the other says "Mrs" <3

The gift that never seemed to end from Crate & Barrel from my girlfriends. They got us all of our bar glasses, a rapid beverage chiller (no more ice in my white wine!!!) a table runner, a pack of Guiness for LC & Skinnygirl Margarita mix for me. They know us well.

My slow cooker & slow cooker cookbook from my sister :-) Definitely sisters with the identical facial expressions.

This one definitely came as a surprise.  LC put it on our registry and I told him he was insane if he thought someone was going to buy that for us. But I left it on there for him (the kegerator, however, wasn't so lucky).

We got our Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville, along with a big bottle of margarita mix and salt! (Thanks a million Brad & Krista!)  This gift is actually very perfect for us, as we are known for making tropical drinks & hosting pool parties.  Neither of us can wait to use this machine. It will be delivered to our apartment in a few weeks.   

After I opened all of our wonderful presents, I got to spend some more time socializing with my guests & taking a million pictures with my girlfriends.  I've known these girls since forever and 3 others in this picture are getting married this year between May & October, so it's going to be a very busy summer for us!! 

LC & I are very lucky to not only have one wedding shower, but TWO!  In a few weeks, LC's parents are throwing us a couple's shower in Chicago, for the people who couldn't make it to Milwaukee. We are looking forward to it.

Happy Happy Friday!!!!

1/2 day of work. Haircut. Mani-pedi. Family time. Attending my 1st bridal shower hosted by my sister & mom. Pics to follow. It's going to be a fantastic weekend.

Take Me out to the Ball Game!

Tonight, LC & I are attending our first baseball game of the season at Wrigley Field.  I'm usually pretty excited for our first game because it means that summer isn't too far off.  But as I look out the window, I'm not really thrilled about going to a baseball game on a rainy day.  Last year we went to a game around this time & it was freezing cold. At least the temperature is decent today.

Here's a few of my favorite "Mar & LC's baseball adventures" pics :-)

Busch Stadium April 2007

Wrigley Field (I'm thinking of going short again after the wedding. I'm dying to chop my hair!)

typical behavior...

Our first game of the season 2010

When it comes to baseball, I could honestly take it or leave it.  I love going to the games to drink, socialize & eat.  I don't even know who the Cubs are playing tonight :-/  BUT when the Brewers & The Cubs play each other, you will always find me in Brewers gear.  I have to support my home team after all.  Other than that, LC always buys me Cubs' shirts to wear to games.  Football on the other hand...you will never catch me dead in anything Bears related. ICK! I'm a Packer girl at heart.

Tonight's game eats will be a little different.  I'm trying to lay off of the carbs this week since my first offical dress fitting is Friday, I want to actually feel good and not bloated.  So no bread & no beer :-(  Just some salad and bacardi & diet...I don't know how good of a plan that is either.

Last week, I did a posting called Say it, Do it.  It really helped me stay accountable for all of my workouts.  I did everything I posted & then some!  I didn't post anything on Monday and guess what?? I canceled bar method yesterday.  Major fail. So here's my workout plan for this week.

Monday: Free weights & ab work
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 30 minutes of cardio/Bar Method
Thursday: 45 minutes Elliptical/Bar Method
Friday: 30 minutes cardio/Bar Method
Saturday: Go for a walk if it's nice (I'll be in WI ask still can't do workout videos b/c of my ankle injury)
Saturday: free weights & ab work and....Attend my first bridal shower!!!  

I need a Nap-a!

With the wedding getting closer, all the small details are finally starting to consume my life.  This weekend, my mom, sister, and I worked on the invitations...

Assembled the menus...

And LC & I finalized our honeymoon plans...

photo c/o 

While we were figuring out our wedding budget, and figuring out where we wanted to spend our money, we decided that stationary is where we wanted to cut back.  I didn't want to spend a ton of money on something that's only going to get thrown away.  Let's be real, the only person that will probably save our wedding invites are our parents and grandparents.  So we ended up with 4 boxes from Michael's.  Each box contains 30 invite sets for about $40.  Add in your Michael's coupons, and save almost 50%.  The last box I bought cost me $16.  Not too shabby.  They were pretty simple to do too.  Just load up the template, insert your text and print away.

The menus on the other hand were a total (and my first) DIY project and were kind of a pain to figure out the measurements, but once I did, it was smooth sailing.  The monogram was from I Do originals.  I bought 3 monograms for $9.  I used regular construction paper for the background from Broadway Paper.  Cardstock in these colors were over a buck a piece, so I bought over 200 pieces of construction paper for about $80 and I'll be able to use them for the programs as well.  The vellum paper I bought at Office Depot.  It was easy to print on (the ink didn't smear) but the paper had a tendancy to move while I was trying to cut it, so I had to be extra careful to make sure things didn't turn out crooked.  The menu cutting was done over a long period of wine nights :-) 

And finally, LC and booked our honeymoon :-)  We originally wanted to go to St. Lucia for our honeymoon.  It just looked so peaceful, romantic, and like I imagine heaven would like.  But after looking at plane ticket prices and realizing that our summers in the US are short, we decided to keep it local and revisit the St. Lucia idea during the winter months when it's freezing cold here.  So Cali, here we come!  LC and I have never been here and Napa has always been our one of my places to visit.  We both love wine & we both love food, so I can't think of a better place for us to spend our honeymoon.  We'll be lodging at The Cottages of Napa Valley which came recommended from Kate at Elefantitas Elegres.  Thanks Kate! 

We're both really excited and can't wait for the day to finally be here.  In other news, I'm back to doing Bar Method!! Yippee!  

The Stripper Debate

Happy Friday! Thanks for all of the well wishes on the ankle.  It's coming along.  On Wednesday, I thought for sure I'd be able to go to Bar Method today.  But I did too much too fast and I think set myself back a day. The swelling has gone down, but it's still bruised up pretty badly.  So this week I've just been resting, icing, and lifting some free weights.  I've also been eating as healthy as possible, with the exception of Lou Malnatti's last night. Oh well! 

This morning I got back on track with a really great smoothie.  Probably the best one I've ever made to date.  A chocolate, peanut butter and banana smootie :-)  YUUUMMMMMM!     

Recipe for deliciousness:

1 heaping scoop of whey protein

1 cup of chocolate almond milk

1 medium banana

2 T peanut butter

1 T flaxseed

A few ice cubes

*Blend & enoy!

I'm thrilled that today is finally FRIDAY! I'd be even happier if it actually felt like spring here in Chicago.  LC has his bachelor party this weekend in Wisconsin Dells.  He and a bunch of his guys are renting a party cabin for the weekend.  Should be an absolute disaster :-)  He also informed me that there would be strippers at this cabin, which I already figured there would be.  I honestly could care less because I know him & I trust him and I'm very secure in our relationship.  And I know his friends; the strippers are more for their entertainment than his own.  I have friends who are getting married and they don't understand why their fiancés go to strip clubs or why they have to get strippers for the bachelor party.  I guess the same reason some girls carry around penis paraphenalia?  Because it's all part of the fun of your last "crazy" night out.  I know some of you are getting married soon, so what are your thoughts on strippers/strip clubs for the bachelor party? 

I, on the other hand, could not be spending my weekend anymore opposite of him.  Tomorrow, I will be attending a 1 year old's birthday party and on Sunday I will be going to a baby shower...