Showered with Love

As I mentioned here, not only did I have my hair and make-up trial this weekend, I also had a super-amazing-fantastically-fun bridal shower! My two Grandmas and MOH MD put it on for me and I was totally blown away. I mean these ladies know how to put on a party!

After I got all prettied up, Mama Aardvark and I had to make a blitz trip to the mall because both of the outfits she was thinking of wearing were too big! She has been on a pretty hard core fitness kick and is looking fab!

So, after scampering off to get her a dress (seriously it took like 5 minutes to find one) we headed down the the parish center.  We got there a touch early to find it BEAUTIFULLY decorated!

How cute are these tables?!

It was a pretty sweet spread. Each place setting had these super cute favors that my Grandma and her sister had painted by hand! How cool is that!? So cool. The answer is So.Cool.

And cake pops! Amazing beautiful cake pops! I was later told that my grandmothers had heard about my huge failed attempt at making cake pops (Seriously, they looked like turds, and not the good kind!) and wanted to make me feel better. Thus, the beautiful professional versions you see below!

As we waited for everyone to arrive, we snapped a few pictures, Here is Grandma A (funny story, the A is not only for Aardvark, she has gone by "Grandma A" my whole life!) she is my dad's mom.

And here we have "Grandma E" (I guess my family was into letter names for grandparents...), Mama Aardvark, and my Great Aunt. It's a good think I didn't inherit Mama Aardvark's tendency to ham it up for the camera....

It only took like five minutes to find that red dress!

Oh wait... Looks like I did! But it was a whole table full of pretties FOR MMEEEE! oh and I guess Mr. Aardvark too.

As people arrive and filled their plates with tasty food, I was summoned to the front by MOH MD. It was time for the first game! MOH MD had a series of question about Mr. Aardvark and for every one I got wrong, I had to put a piece of gum in my mouth. Apparently, Hubba Bubba makes the biggest pieces of gum in the world. I had only got a few questions wrong, but this was the look of horror as I was being handed another piece.

 Yuck! The was wayyy more gum than I ever want to chew again. As a side note, check out my cute bumble bee earrings! I wore them just for you!

The next game was a lot of fun. Everyone had to draw a picture of what they thought I would look like on my wedding day. Then I picked a winner. MOH MD almost won by writing "Pretend this is a mirror....and it's your wedding day"  However, her mom took the cake. While her artistic execution may have left something to be desired, it got the most laughs from the crowd and that made it a winner for me!

Boobs above the shoulder? Why not?

The last (second to last really) game was an all time favorite of mine. It was the only thing I requested of my shower and probably the most laugh-inducing part of the whole day, The Toilet Paper Bride Game!!! I was a little bummed that I did not get to actually play, but judging was a hoot! From left to right, the models are Bridesmaid Sis, FMIL, Step-Dad Aardvark's Mom, and MOH MD's Mom. The dresses ranged from amazing well constructed (FMIL) to backwards with fake toilette paper boobs (MOH MD's Mom). Bridesmaid Sis's dress includes part of the table centerpiece as a sash (cheating?), and Step-Grandma Aardvark's had a surprisingly elegant train. In the end I could not pick (But if I had, to it would be FMIL) and they all got prizes.

Then it was on to the part that everyone dreads, opening gifts in front of everyone. DUN Dun dun....
As someone who love to be the center of attention, I was surprised that I found this pretty awkward.The worst part was reading the cards (or trying to) and occasionally missing a name on a group gift or not being able to read the hand writing. MOH MD had the bright idea to give the guests BINGO cards which I think kept them from looking board and me from feeling even more awkward! I was not alone though. Three of my bridesmaids were in attendance (which is pretty good with five girls in five states!) and they sat with me. MOH MD dutifully kept notes on who got me what, Bridesmaid OT assembled my bow-quet, and Bridesmaid Sis was a gift fetcher.

Apparently I make funny faces while opening gifts....

After it was all said and done Bridesmaid OT Showed off her handy work! I may or may not have broken more ribbons than I care to admit...but I think some people were setting me up!
  

And right as we were wrapping up, Mr. Aardvark came in with a flower bouquet for me! Awww. I love that guy so much I just might marry him!


Awkward Holding too much stuff hug.

The shower was LOVELY. I am so thankful for all of the people who traveled from near and far to be there. It was so much fun! I was blown away by the love and generosity shown to me!

Coming up soon I will tell you all about the joys of registering!

What is your favorite shower game? Is there any way to un-awkwardly open gifts with a crowd looking on?

Practice for Pretty

Last weekend was a whirl wind! I had an amazing bridal shower in Michigan and my hair and makeup trial! I will tell you all about the shower soon (It was SO much fun!)  But first things first! I had to look good if people were going to watch me open gifts!

Mama Aardvark cleverly suggested the pre-shower trial and booked me in with Salon Hanna. Lisa has been doing my hair since I was in junior high and it was so much fun to go back in for this big event! Not to mention, she does amazing work!

You know what they say about pictures, so I will spare you the thousand words and get right into it!

I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted and had printed several pictures to bring with me. Sadly, I had saved all of my inspiration shots before I knew the joys of photo crediting, suffice to say they were very glamorous ladies with hair like that you are about to see.

I also had a large angry zit right above my eyebrow.... Nothing makes you feel pretty for a public event like unwanted polka-dots! (See how much I love you hive? A big scary no-makeup face! I did not ever re-touch the picture so you could get a clear before and after!)

It would have looked good half up to! but I was 100% sure I wanted it all the way up. That was never a question for me.



In the picture above, you can see the lovely comb Mama Aardvark got for me. Since I made my veil, she wanted to buy my hair piece. and I ADORE it! We cannot agree on where to place it in my hair though. Mama A is lobbying hard for off-to-the-side, while I like the classically centered look. It's such a small deal that I just decided I would make the final call on the day of.





Off to the side looks pretty good too! What do you think Hive? Also check out the earrings!

Then it was time for makeup! I knew I wanted something clean and fresh but still fancy and I FOR SURE wanted false eye lashed for the day of. Lisa was SO excited about that. She is a big fan of the look.



(To the mirror, "How you doin'?)

After thoroughly checking myself out, I decided that I wanted the foundation a bit lighter for the actual wedding, and black eye liner in stead of brown, but over all, I was really happy with the look!

Then in a fit of absolute giddy, I threw on my veil to see the whole look together!



I'm a Bride!

Have you had your hair or makeup trials? How did they go? Are you making any changes? Would you put the comb off to the side or centered? 

Forever Flowers

I have given very little thought to flowers, in fact, I don't have any flower inspiration pictures saved anywhere. I really like them, they are pretty and smell nice, but I just can't get excited enough to drop and kind of big money on them. For myself, the moms, and maybe the maids (still undecided on them), I am planning on going to the grocery store on Friday or Saturday morning and bunching up some flowers. I don't think that I can do what a florist could do, but I know I can do something that's good enough for me.

For the men-folk, I have had my mind made up on their floral decoration since wayyyy back in July when the lovely Ms. (now Mrs.) Ferris Wheel wrote this post. I was totally sold. I didn't give the 'bouts' another thought until a few weeks ago when I decided to tackle this project for myself.

One thing Mrs. Ferris Wheel didn't say, was how easy she made it look! While not hard, per se, it was rather tedious and I got blisters on my fingers from hot glue burns and wire twisting! But the end result, after only a few swears, was very much worth it!

Here are my "wonky" looking ribbon circles. One thing I messed up on was not cutting the ribbon long enough to begin with. Then when I gathered it it turned into more of a wad than a ruffly circle. Oh well. You live and learn.

Instead of tissue paper balls, I used buttons, beads, and sometimes little bunches of tulle for my flower middles. Once I got them all assembled I bunched them into a bouquet and pranced around the house. (I like to give Mr. Aardvark ample opportunity for eye rolling.) 

When I was done prancing, I made little piles based on the flower size and color and then sorted them into boutonnieres or pin on corsages. Being the special kind of crazy I am, I wanted to create categories. Mr. Aardvark got a special unique one just for him. The groomsmen all got one big green flower and a small grey one. The ushers all  got single large blue or green flowers.  The dads have more or less matching bouts and the corsages for the grandmas all coordinate. In theory, you could identify a person's roll in the wedding based on their corsage or boutonniere....(While this makes me very happy, it also makes me feel a little cray cray.)

Without further adue...The groom and groomsmen flowers!

I may yet do some slight tweaks. But I am very happy with how they came out!

As a side note, this is the first time I have seen all of the many wedding colors together. I was a bit worried at first when I went from "Navy and light green." to "navy, light green, bright pink, yellow, grey, light blue, maybe some brown a dash of white, silver, oh! and how about copper." You can see  how I got carried away with color, but I am so pleased with how happy and springy and fun they look! 

Are DIYing any flower substitutes? Has being a bride made you new kinds of crazy? How did you keep your color story in check? Or did you let it run wild?

One More Shoe Post

I know. I have already written about shoes a few times. I've talked about bridesmaid's shoes, I've talked about my non-wedding-bridal-shoes, and on several, different occasions, I have mentioned my own shoes. However, this post is not about my shoes or my moms' shoes or any other lady shoes at all.

In fact this is a post about MAN shoes! Yep, with out so much as a pro/con list Mr. Aardvark selected and purchased his shoes for the wedding! Enough of my blabbering on, lets get to the pictures!

He ordered them from Zappos. We were sitting on the sofa one quiet afternoon and he said, "What do you think of these? For the wedding." I really liked them. They were cool, but not trendy. They were stylish, but not too much so. And the color was to die for.

That was all I heard about the shoes until, a few days later there was a package at the door. When Mr. Aardvark opened it, these beauties were inside.

"Do they fit? Do you like them? How do they feel? Can you dance in them?" I berated him with questions. "They're good." was the answer. "So...are they your wedding shoes?" "Of course they are! I wouldn't have bought them if they weren't!" Ahh men.

I informed him of Zappos 365 day return policy but he assured me that they were the shoes for him and his hunt was over. (A hunt that began about 15 minute before the "What do you think of these?" above.)

Has your partner wowed you with their quick decision making on things that you agonize over?

For the Kiddos: Gifties

Mr. Aardvark and I love kids. We are lucky enough to have a number of kids in our family who will be in our wedding. We are having three flower girls and a ring bearer. One thing I really wanted to do-up right was the thank you gifts for the children. They are all fairly young (between five and two) so I wanted to make sure their gifts were age appropriate, but I also wanted to make sure it was something they could have as a keepsake as they grew up. 

After a bit of brain-storming and memory searching, I came up with an idea that I thought was brilliant. When I was little (and now) I loved "treasure boxes" any wooden or plastic box totally captured my imagination. I would fill them with pretty rocks or fall leaves or earrings my mom had lost the match for. I still have a couple of these "treasure boxes" to this day and I use them as jewelry boxes. 

Mr. Aardvark and I decided treasure boxes (filled with candy treasure) would be fun enough to feel like a real gift to a little kid, but still something they could keep their whole life. 

Of course, just buying pretty boxes would be too easy. So I decided to paint my own!

Mr. Aardvark got in on the fun too. He has been a great help with my never-ending craft list.

After a few days of paint and dry, we were done. Each box had it's own "theme" more or less. I tried to base them off of each kid's personality.  

On the inside I painted each of the kids' names, and I was done!

Now all we need is some candy and we will be done with all our bridal party gifts. Now to figure out what to get the parents...

Are you having kids in your wedding party? What are you gifting them?

My Bridesmoms

No, that is not a typo. This is a story about how, my Mama Aardvark and Step-Mama Aardvark and I, all went dress shopping together and found their (S)MOB dresses.

Before we get to the pretty pictures, there is something you need to know. My family is pretty unique, in that, despite divorces and remarriages, everyone gets along. In fact, getting along is a bit of an understatement when it comes to Mama and Step-Mama Aardvark. One might even go so far as to say they are friends.

And, as sometimes happens with friends, they have very similar taste.  I cannot count the times they have shown up dressed identically (without planning) to an event. They purchased the same grill within weeks of each other (first off how often do you buy a grill, and second what are the odds they both got the same one!?). They have purchased the same glass wear (unknowingly). I even remember a time when I was I was in high school and we all three had the same pair of shoes in the same size and color!

Knowing this, we decided to all shop for dresses together so that they wouldn't accidentally end up in the same dress at my wedding! We met this weekend in Chicago and stayed downtown. It was a great time bonding/laughing/shopping with two of my most influential roll models. I am very grateful we had that time together "just the girls" before the wedding.

Enough yip yap on my part, time for pictures! (Also bad blogger marks for me. I forgot my camera... Thank God for cell phones or you would be looking at some pretty crappy doodles!)

They both made a strong start at Bloomingdales. Mama Aardvark found this BCBG dress that was a front runner right up to the end. It was stretchy and soft, sexy and lady-like, but just a smidge tight around her ribs.

Step-Mama A also found a contender at our first stop. It was a short gold number. It looked great from the front, but the back was boring. Below she is posing with Mama A. They were both making "prim and proper" faces but then started to laugh...hence the blur.

 This next number was Ahh-mazing on SMA (Step-Mama Aardvark). However the price and the jewels put it into the "maybe" camp for her.

You may be noticing that there are more pictures of SMA than MA. This is because Mama Aardvark was all but sold on the first pink dress. The next dress, from Nordstrom, was one that I adored. It was a little (ok a lot) costumey, and not at all age appropriate. But the color was to.die.for and the way the skirt moved when SMAwalked was so dreamy.

 Then, Mama Aardvark tried on a dress.The.Dress. It was a game changer. The pink dress had its first competition. In fact, she tied on the pink one again and decided it was not as comfortable. She was sold. Her search was over.

Foxy right!? I loved the color and how it was sassy and classy at the same time. It did not look too matronly at all. It was perfect.

Well, since the day was still young, Step Mama Aardvark decided to have some fun. She tried on a few cocktail dresses that were cute... for going to a club... when you are 18...She tried on a prom dress and mullet dress and we all had some laughs. And then out of curiosity, she tried on Mama Aardvark's dress.....

You see where this is going don't you? Mama Aardvark also put her dress back on. Then they had what can only be described as "a moment". I could see the wheels turning in their heads, "Could we? Should we? Would it be too weird? Just weird enough?"  As the idea grew the smirks erupted into laughs until we were all three cracking up.

We decided to call my dad to make sure he wouldn't be too weirded out by his wife and ex-wife in the same dress. He said he would not. They both asked each other (and  me) about a million times if it was ok. I agreed as long as they accessorised differently! If nothing else it will be a great introduction for Mr. Aardvark's family to the dynamic of mine.

So that's how, in a wedding where not even the bridesmaids match, the Bridesmoms ended up in the same dress after all.

Do you have more than one mom to shop for? Do you have a mom that's harder than two to shop for? How did you go about picking and co-ordinating dresses?

Today in History...

Four years ago today I was a single college student in South Dakota. I had just joined a cycling team. I had been riding a bike my whole life, but had never competed. I relieved/nervous that the first event of the season was an indoor "race" the team participated in for a local charity.

I was relieved, because it was on stationary bikes so I knew I wouldn't get dropped. I was also relieved because it was Singles Awareness Day (aka Valentine's Day). I was glad to be doing something besides sitting alone and feeling sorry for myself. (Leslie Knope had not yet invented "Galentine's Day".)     I was nervous because I had never met any of these people in my life and I didn't know if I would be fast enough to "keep up"


If I had know I was about to meet my future husband, you can bet I would have been a lot more nervous! While neither of us claim love at first sight, for me it was at least interest at first sight. After each of us had ridden our "leg" of the race we all went to Pizza Ranch for lunch. (If you have never been to or seen a Pizza Ranch it is an ideal location for calorie replacement and people watching.) 


The chit chat was light and fun. I remember laughing a lot. Maybe a lot of it was nervous laughter, after all I wanted to make a good impression with my new teammates! Over the years we logs a lot more miles on our bikes and many more (more than we should have!) meals at "The Ranch".  I formed some great  friendships with those people, and one of them, I even fell in love with.


From where we stand now, with sixty days until the wedding and four years of love and friendship under our belt, I can't wait to see what the rest of our lives hold!

That first race was the start of many adventures. Like the one pictured above!

How did you meet the love of your life? Did you know there was something there right away?

"You Have a Wedding Dress to Fit Into!"

Hive, forgive me, this may be a bit of a rant. Really it is more of an open letter to people who may witness  a bride to be eating. I know that weight, and weight loss are very personal subjects, and I acknowledge that others may enjoy a bit of outside motivation. However this is my experience and I feel I need to share it with you.

I thought that an upcoming wedding would be a big motivator to be in the best shape ever, but honestly it has had the opposite effect. And really that makes sense, because when I was in my best shape ever, I was spending 20-30 hours a week training, and was laser focused on competition. These days, not so much. However, all my clothes still fit and I don't feel horrible so I have had a hard time seeing a "problem".

Well, I must have missed the memo that all brides are fitness-crazed, calorie counting, and worried about the fit of their dresses. Lucky for me a few months into my engagement this was pointed out to me. The kicker? It was pointed out by an acquaintance! Someone I knew, kinda, but in any other situation would be totally inappropriate for her to comment on my weight or size. We were talking about getting ice cream (or was it doughnuts?) with a group and she looked at me and said,

 "But you have a wedding dress to fit into!".

Que jaw dropping. Ok, first I did not yet have a dress so if this ice cream outing somehow expanded my girth noticeably, I could buy a dress to accommodate. Secondly, the idea that an ice cream cone 7 months out will have any effect on my size in April is insane! And lastly, is it any of your business!?

Of course at the time I just laughed and made some comment about not having to worry yet...

I thought this would be a one off thing, but it's not, my family members have said it, friends have said it, I've heard it so many times I am starting to believe it!

But then I look at my other clothes. I look at my skinny jeans and there is still no muffin top, I look at my tailored clothes, they all still fit and lay just as nicely as they did. I have not expanded at all, I am still more or less the same shape, that shape is just softer than it used to be. And honestly, there is no way for the outside observer to know that without squeezing my biceps or something, and I am pretty sure no one has done that recently.

This leads me to believe, the only thing prompting these "You have a wedding dress to fit into!" comments is the fact that I am getting married. I am (or was) very comfortable with my body. I feel good, I look good,(most of the time, if I put in effort) and I do not see a pressing need to change my body for a one day (non-athletic) event. If I were training for an Iron Man or something that would be different, but I am not.

I am comfortable in my own skin Mr. Aardvark likes how I look, I like (most of) how I look, and I have even enjoyed the boobs that not training all the time has granted me! I am healthy, I eat pretty well, I exercise a few times a week, but I am not as hard-core as I once was. Maybe when the madness of wedding planning dies down that will change, but for now, it works.

So please, when I reach for that cupcake, cookie, or extra scoop of baked macaroni, I do not need to be reminded of my up-coming nuptials. I am aware that I am getting married.  I know that I have a dress, and the last time I tried it on (even after eating) it looked amazing.

Have you heard these comments? How do you deal with them?

Tick Tock

So, currently we have less than 70 days to go until "the big show" and I and starting to feel the time crunch. After hearing over and over again not to put off projects until the last minute, I am starting to take that a bit too seriously because I can see the "last minutes" coming closer and closer.

This weekend for example, Mr. Aardvark went out on a bike ride (outside in Wisconsin!) because it was so nice out! I could have joined him, but instead I finished the flower girl/ring bearer gifts. Chances are I would have gotten them done if I had ridden, but I REALLY wanted to check them off of my ever-growing craft list. (Post on those to come).

On Sunday, as we were getting ready to watch a Packer-less Super Bowl (AKA a few hours of great ads), I was working on boutonnieres, but what I really wanted to do was make soft pretzels. Why? Because I have convinced myself that if I don't do it NOW, it won't happen.

Maybe, it can be argued, that my lack of exercise was just balancing out me not making a salty treat, all while getting crafts cranked out like a one woman (and about 1/2 a Mr. Aardvark) sweat shop. But I think this behavior is a bit neurotic. I know that I should not put things off too much, but their is something to be said for finding a little bit of life balance.

Maybe tonight I should step away from the glue gun, put the glitter away, and not even thing about ribbon. Maybe tonight will be different. That being said, it would be nice to cross a few things off the to-do list....

Have you gotten to the now-or-never phase of planning? How to you strike a balance? Is there a balance to be struck or does sanity only return after the nuptials?

Pretty Maids All in a Row: Wear?

If you recall, waaaaay back in October, my five best ladies all got together to go dress shopping. I had it in my head that, since each girl got to pick her own dress, it would be easy peasy. The only request I made was that the dresses be Navy and somewhere between floor length and "whore" length (a.k.a anything from tea to knee).

I imagined, before this trip, that everyone would find their dress and we would take a group shot. Well, only one and a half dresses were found (an no, no one found just a skirt). Bridesmaid OT found her dress and Bridesmaid Sis tried on a dress that we ended up ordering from House of Brides. Everyone else left empty handed. No group shot for me.

However, as the weeks went by, one by one I would get a cell phone picture of one of my bridesmaids in a dress she had found. Until last week, I got the last one, my sister's dress had finally (it was not actually late as they told me it would ship in January but still...) arrived!

It was off to Photoshop to create that group picture I had been dreaming of!



From Left to Right: MOH MD, Red, Sis, OT, and Flossy*


It was every bit as cute as I had been hoping. By some act of fate, they all chose different necklines. I was a little concerned that if some were the same and others were different, things could get awkward in photos. However each girl now had a dress that is totally her, and totally adorable! In fact I keep looking at it and smiling a bit. I cannot wait to see the "real life" group shot of all the lovely ladies in these very same dresses!

To top it all off (or bottom it all off?), because they are all in different dresses, I wanted them to tie their look together with matching statement shoes. After extensive time on zappos, and lots of "what do yall think of this?" e-mails, they settled on these bad boys:

They are "Notice Me" by Poetic Licence in poppy. They as SO sassy and fun and have an itty bitty heal so they will be comfy for everyone and age appropriate for my sister. The front part is felt (I thought they were suede) and the back is a faux snake skin-ish (in a classy way) with the cutest little beaded flowers on the toe-bows. I think my girls are going to look amazing!On top of that, they will be comfortable!

Are you doing mismatched dresses? Did you see them all together before the big day?

*You may notice that Bridesmaid Flossy looks a bit...odd...in the picture above. She sent a picture of her dress hanging on the wall. I thought about leaving it as is, but that looked a bit off in the "group shot". I thought about asking her for another picture, but decided to try my (very much beginner) hand at photo shop instead. I actually think the finished product is hilarius/wonderful.