A Fond Farewell

May 21, 2011 was a very special day for us. It was on this day, four years ago, that FH and I went on our very first date. I still lived in Boston and had come home for the weekend.

The day started off with brunch at our favorite local diner (Don and Paul’s Coffee Shop). This was a fabulous find on urbanspoon if I do say so myself! Although small, this diner offers amazing coffee and delicious diner fare at 1970s prices! The best part? The back room, where old men go to shoot pool and talk sports. I could fully see FH making this his second home when we’re old and grey…if we were going to stay here.

After breakfast, we went on to the mall, to watch the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, in IMAX 3D no less! It was amazing, from start to finish. The movie was chock full of action and adventure, enough to keep me in my seat (when in fact the entire time I had to go to the bathroom!)

I also bought these cute new sandals:



We ended the day going to an absolutely amazing restaurant: Café Italia. On the way there, we were greeted by this lovely scene:



If you are ever in the Albany area (and have an extra $200+ to blow on dinner), I highly recommend checking out Café Italia! You will definitely need to make reservations, as the entire place only seats about 20 people all together (if that). But the atmosphere, the warm and friendly waitstaff, and the AMAZING food definitely make up for the tight quarters. I had the lobster ravioli, which was obviously homemade pasta, and came with plenty of extra lobster meat in the sauce! FH ordered the zuppa di pesce – and was greeted by a tray big enough to feed a family of four! I really hope we can make a second trip here before we leave Albany. Maybe next May 21st, as a married couple.

As for Three Mile Point in Cooperstown, where we have faithfully gone to celebrate our anniversary with a picnic each year, fear not dear reader, we made it there the following weekend for Memorial Day! We did indeed have our picnic with sharp cheddar cheese, a baguette, sun chips, apples, and beer. It was a lazy afternoon for us filled with hours of laying the sun by the water. A perfect summer day.

Congrats from Disney!!

Well readers, our first RSVP has come back! Kind-of. They may not have sent the card back, and of course we know they will not be attending, but they DID send us an official congratulatory notification! That's right, we are the proud owners of a certificate signed by Cinderella and Prince Charming themselves, wishing us a happy marriage!!

Royal Wedding Fever

Well, it's finally here and gone. The alarm woke my own future husband and myself up at 5:50am on Friday so that we too could witness the Royal Wedding live. And what a wedding it was!



Don't you just adore Kate's dress? I wonder how many brides will choose a gown like this one for their 2012 weddings? And who else noticed the trees inside the church in place of flowers?? How many brides called their churches that morning to ask about their indoor tree policy??

But the best part came an hour after the wedding, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace - the first royal kiss! Because after all, you're not married until you kiss!



What a fairytale wedding it was!

To You Sweetheart, Aloha!

It's finally here! I opened our mailbox today to the above envelope, glistening in all its promises of wedding yumminess. An envelope from my brother and his fiance.

Upon closer inspection (aka, feverishly ripping apart the envelope), this is what greeted us:



Now it's official.

What makes a wedding "real" for you?

Shredding for the Wedding!

Can you believe it's already May?? Have we really been engaged almost an entire year??

As you can see from the photo, my weight-loss efforts continue. Do you see all those pink x's? Each of those represent a day I followed the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. And ladies, if you want to lose weight FAST, this is for you!! I won't be posting photos until the end of the program (just in time for our last dating anniversary!), but I am halfway through and have already lost multiple inches! I know this because the day I began the DVD is the same day the bridesmaid dress arrived for my brother's wedding (which did not zip up). It now zips up a full 2 inches more than it did just a few weeks ago!!

Now THAT'S motivation!!

What have you been doing to get your body "wedding ready"?

Taking on the Kusudama

Weddingbee strikes again! Ladies, if you EVER need ANY wedding inspiration, I highly recommend surfing on over to www.weddingbee.com for all your DIY needs!

Just last week I saw these lovely images:




(photos courtesy of google images)

And thought to myself, how cute would these be? I absolutely adore the look of these in the ceremony photo, but even if they don't make it to the ceremony, there's still a Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party to decorate!

I found these easy-to-follow instructions online at:

http://www.cute-factor.com/blogs/munkii-girl/166-kusudama-flower-tutorial.html

and set to work. Here is my very first Kusudama flower:


(personal photo)

And how cute would these be as a rehearsal bouquet??? Looks like it's off to Hobby Lobby to pick up more origami paper! (Side note: I made the above flower with post it notes!)

What last-minute decor items do you just HAVE to have?

Return to Sender

Picking out the invitations. A fun and exciting time, right? Full of colors, ribbons, and belly bands. You spend tedious hours picking out just the right font for each line of text. Then, one day, your invites arrive in the mail, and before you know it, it's time to mail your little babies and let the post office take over (which, if you're a wedding-control-freak like me is a little bit of a hard concept to grasp).

But first you must jump over one last hurdle: taking an invite to your local post office to have it weighed. And in some cases, depending on how many people you've invited, it's a high hurdle to jump. Postage is expensive!

Having been unemployed through the majority of this wedding planning experience, I have meticulously plotted out each expense, so as to not need to spend too much all at once. And purchasing wedding postage was no exception. Back in December I began to purchase the 61c wedding cake stamps, one sheet per month. And just two weeks ago I put our first invite together, brought it to the post office, and was shocked to learn that it was only going to cost one of these stamps per invite to mail!

What's this, you say? A little bit of wedding luck coming our way?? Well, yes, and no. Postage on 2-ounce packages (like our wedding invites) is going up by 3c! That's right, after I purchased 4 sheets of 61c stamps. *sigh*

But what did you say, Mr. Post Master? There are 3c stamps available for purchase that will take care of this little predicament? Wonderful! Which one works the best for a wedding? "Well, none of them, ma'am" Wonderful.

And so, after carefully considering each 3c stamp, I reveal to you: our wedding stamp suite!





We chose the chair stamp, simply due to its vintage look. The animal rescue stamps were chosen in honour of our two babies, our pug Tasha and our kitty Maximus, each of whom were rescued by us. I know no one will pay as close attention to our stamp choice aside from myself, but wedding fever knows no bounds!

Did you have any special reasons for your stamp choice, or was it simply a matter of convenience?