Addresses

Today I started the oh-so-tedious task of collecting and collating addresses and finalizing formal names for the Save the Dates. Holy crap is it annoying!! I'm a detail-oriented person and all, but I really have not enjoyed this aspect of the planning. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I want to get the salutations correct, and I'm handwriting all of the Save the Date envelopes. My hand feels like it's about to fall off - and I only did like 30! Erik so kindly helped put the return address labels on the envelopes, which I know is cheating but I'm sure it's forgivable on StheDs since they are less formal.

Also, another big issue for me has been addressing things to married couples as "Mr. and Mrs. Husband's first and last name." As an independent, modern woman, it's just offensive to me. We no longer have to live in such a patriarchal society. It makes me want to revolt and keep my maiden name! But I won't do that because I want to have the same name as my kids. So, Erik's mom and I reached a compromise — the younger generation of guests will get StheDs addressed to "Jane and Joe Smith" and the older generation will get StheDs addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Joe Smith." It makes a little part of me cringe, but I understand that it's the traditional way to do things. I feel like maybe I'm crazy. Perhaps I should do a survey about this. . . I'll consider that when it comes time to address things again in a more formal setting — like the invitations!

Here are some pictures of E and I slaving away on the Eve of Christmas Eve. (Of course, I have to photograph everything now that I didn't photograph the sweatshop work of my b-maids last week).

Holidays

This past Thanksgiving (2 days after our 7 year annivesary), Erik and I spent it with his family. It wasn't until a week later when talking about the holiday with his mom that we realized that it was my first Thanksgiving with his family! It took some time to pin down where I was the last 7 Thanksgivings and why I wasn't with his family (I've spent several Christmases with them). Some of the Turkey Days Erik has spent with me either in Nashville, in Sacramento, or in Atlanta. Or I've gone home and he's stayed in Atlanta (during college). So, this really was the first Thanksgiving with his family.

This makes me feel better though because I'd like Thanksgiving to be my family's holiday. As many of you know, picking which family to go to is a symptom of a long term relationship. I love Christmas with his family — it's boisterous, chaotic with great food and wine and kids running around. However, I miss holidays with my family — Beth and her sons. This year, I wasn't able to make it to Atlanta, and I'm really missing it. I now realize that I need it to decompress. Beth's house feels like my home and is a place of refuge for me. So, hopefully, Beth agrees with my diagnosis and I'll be spending Thanksgiving in the ATL next year!

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving: :)

Me & my future Mother-in-Law
(We match!)

Erik & Stacy

Stacy, Dawn, & Me
(Purple is the new black!)

Fitting # 4

This morning, my local bridesmaids and I braved the remnants of an ice storm to have breakfast and go to my 4th fitting. We met at Le Peep and hung out there until just before my fitting at 11am. It was nice to relax and share some good conversation now that the semester is over. The funny thing is that none of us were actually done yet - we had lingering papers to deal with.

At the fitting, I finally got to see my fabric!! It was very exciting and felt so wonderful. It's getting more and more real as the days go on. See below for me inspecting the silk taffeta. It's amazing that Tina is going to take this bolt of fabric and make it into a wedding gown. I wouldn't even know where to begin. If you look at the bottom of the photo you can see Tina's helper, Molly. She's the sweetest cat ever (well, except for mine!) and really enjoys wedding dress making.

This is me making sure my wedding shoes match the fabric. It's not like I would change anything if they didn't, but it was nice to see that they did match! After all, I bought the shoes first. . .

I bought my wedding jewelry at Thanksgiving at my favorite jewelry website and wore it to my fitting to get an idea of how it worked with the neckline. I'm beginning to notice a trend of buying accessories first and then worrying about whether the dress will match. . . This may not be the most recommended way to do things! My necklace and earrings are aquamarine and blue topaz respectively. Since my dress is going to be simple and I won't be wearing a veil, I thought that a little color would be nice and would match the hydrangeas. Plus, I'm not that traditional and the thought of wearing a pearl/crystal combo was not pleasant. I would consider wearing diamonds, but we don't have the money for that!

Anyway, here's the latest picture of the dress, or at least the top part:

It's still a work in progress. I'm 1 fitting away from draping the fabric!! Tina has to put the boning in the above top and have me try it on again before we can do that. I CANNOT WAIT! My next fitting is in little over a month because we are all going our separate ways for the break (yay for being halfway done with law school). This means that I have to be at my wedding weight by NEXT MONTH! The interviewing and stress of school have not helped matters (neither have the aforementioned BWW Sundays). So, with the permission of my physical therapist, I will be hitting the gym daily!

Also, during the fitting, my local bridesmaids worked "sweatshop" style on stuffing the Save the Dates. I figured that the most efficient use of their time during the fitting (they are so nice to come to all of them with me) would be to stuff the Save the Dates — that way we wouldn't have to meet later to do it. They worked it assembly line style and got them all done! My only regret is that I didn't get a picture of my helpers!

Family

Despite it being a truly stressful time, some things happened over the past weekend that helped me put it all in perspective. I reconnected with my half brothers (well, 2 out of the 3) that live in California!!! I guess it's a mixture of the holidays and getting married that make you think about family more. I've been thinking about contacting them for a very long time but didn't know how to because my relationship with our mother is "strained," which is putting it nicely. But thanks to the Internet I found a way - myspace.com. Yes, I googled them and then gently stalked them online a little before contacting them.

I'm really excited about being a part of their lives again and them being a part of mine! I booked a flight out to California for January, and I just can't wait. They've already requested some activities for us to do — going ice skating and going to Sky High. All I can say is - it's a good thing I've been working out!

So, of course, because I'm obsessed with the wedding, my second thought is how to get them out to Illinois in August. Erik and I are going to have to continue to discuss the finances of such an operation but I really want them to be there. They're my brothers! And without parents in my life, they are my only immediate blood family. I've already started thinking about them being ushers and the like. . . I try to tell myself "one day at a time" but that's hard to do in practice when you are so excited about something.

Anyway, thought that all of you would like the update! My finals are over as of yesterday, but I can't quite relax yet because I have one paper in between me and being half way done with law school. So, back to work!

8 Months!

Yes, I am going to post every month on the 15th with a countdown. I can't believe it's only 8 months away. The time has just flown by! To think it's been over 5 months since Erik proposed!

Things are going pretty well as far as the wedding planning is going. We are still trying to finalize the guest list, which is proving much more difficult than anticipated. We are limited by our venue as far as how many total guests we can invite. That being said, we'll have it finalized by Christmas.

The Save the Dates came in the mail last week (they look perfect!!), and I'll be sending them out between Christmas and New Years. My bridesmaids are going to help me assemble them and put return addresses on them, but I'll be hand addressing all of them. . . Maybe. With about 100 being sent out, I'm not sure my hand can hold up that long and still be legible, but we'll see. I'm going to consult Emily Post for the etiquette on that one.

• Our honeymoon is booked and insured now, which is a relief. I can't wait to buy travel guides and think up cool things that E and I could do!
• Our officiate had surgery in October, and I haven't heard anything about how that went. I hope that he is okay. I'll probably touch base with him after the holidays.
• The taste test for the appetizers, entrees, sides, wine and cake is scheduled for January. After finals, Erik and I are going to have to make some decisions as fair as entrees are concerned. Maybe I'll post a survey. :)
• Flowers are decided and the centerpiece vases are picked (as of Thanksgiving). I'm not sure if I need to do anything with that now.
• I'll have another fitting for my dress on Friday. I have to talk to Tina to see if we could do the final fitting before I leave for New York this summer. I'm going to be flying back, but it would be easier to have that done. That would accelerate the timeline by about 2 months, so it may not work out.
• The big thing that's left to do is stationery. This is a big one and I've been avoiding it. I really want there to be the same theme throughout - with the invitations, response cards, programs, and seating cards. But picking a theme is SO HARD. My goal is to have that taken care of before I go back to school. In fact, my goal is to get all the remaining things finalized before I come back to school, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.
• Hair/ makeup appointments and primping the day of the wedding are another big one that is weighing on me a little bit. I'm not sure where my bridesmaids and I are going to get ready and chill the day of the wedding. I want us all to get ready together and get our hair done together, but I'm not very familiar with the area so logistically I'm a little worried. I think I'll break out a map and start plotting things over break as well.

Anyway, that's the update. Back to studying for Complex Litigation!

Football & Various Athletics

Now that football season is over, I decided to write about going to football games at Illinois. I'm not a huge sports person and truth be told without the announcers on the TV and instant replays I have no clue what is going on. That being said going to the football games this year was a welcome break from studying. I had a great time tailgating (see below for my first time tailgating and playing bags). Erik's Best Man's girlfriend was able to come to a game too, which was really fun because we don't get to hang out with them together all the time.

Also, Erik and I watched the Bears play every Sunday and got Buffalo Wild Wings, which is probably why I'm busting my butt to work out now that I've gain a few extra pounds! The dress fittings are very strong motivation to not let it get out of control.

Erik and I are both in physical therapy with the same woman now, which is hilarious. Some of our appointments have overlapped, and it's just funny because we've both been so busy that we don't see each other very often. So it's weird to see each other in there. The appointments are going well for both of us. He's going for his shoulder and I'm going for my shin problems. My PT person says I should be running again very soon - so excited!

Finals & Wedding Planning

Do not mix! In fact, finals and having a relationship do not mix well either. Or having family or places to go or cleaning the apartment or going grocery shopping. I did manage to work out today, which is a vast improvement over the past, oh, 3 months! And I shouldn't blame it all on finals. I should blame it on law school in general.

We just had Thanksgiving "break." I spent most of the time preparing for my finals (like I should have been doing all semester). Erik and I went to visit his family for Thanksgiving and were out of town from Wednesday-Saturday. I only worked half-days during this time. Wednesday night consisted of driving the 3 hours to his mom's and then discussing wedding plans (which, of course, was not hard to do!). Thursday (Thanksgiving!) morning I outlined up until the point I had to get ready and then we spent it with family. Friday consisted of me being slightly hung over and feeling guilty for not studying more. And Saturday we drove back and I took the night off!

I made up for it Sunday by studying all day. I actually asked Erik to go out drinking with his buddies on the night of the 12th (as in, "Dear, do you mind not coming home until 2am?") because I have a take-home final that night. He grudgingly acquiesced. Our apartment is a mess and I'm a ball of stress! My dressmaker, Tina, emailed me to let me know the fabric was back ordered and I had mixed reactions — one part "bummer," the other part "thank god I don't have to deal with this until after finals."

Also, I have to call The Country Squire because Erik has a huge family and we want to be able to invite more people, which is contingent on the other side of the ballroom not being booked.

On a lighter note, outlining is mostly done and our honeymoon is booked. I'll write about that in another post later.