Spotted: Birthday girl looking buying her own registry gifts

Spotted: K turns 26 this week and buys her own registry wish list item(whopps?!)  In the midst of trying to figure out where and what to register for, I had people asking me what I wanted for my birthday (which was this week).  It made me ponder, there comes a time where all of a sudden your gifts switch from fabulous clothes or killer heels to fabulous blenders and practical things, but when does this happen?  Me, the girl who has 12+ differnt kind of hot pink shoes, excited about a new mixing bowl?  Have I gone unchic? Hope not, I think you can be fab in the kitchen too, and I'm on a mission to find items that prove this.  So with this being said, we are still stuck on the whole registry thing, but we plan to do that this weekend (after we organize the house, says CK).

This registry thing has been a topic in our household more seriously for about 2 weeks now.  I thought I approach the topic slowly since we all know my hubby-to-be isn't into this wedding business.  He told me he thought we should register at Home Depot and Sears and get all tools. Umm,what? I can just see it now, a weedwacker with a bow on it , thanks grandmom. No, hunny, sorry, unless we go with something like this. (source)

But for some reason I am thinking that's not what CK was talking about.  I will share later how the registry goes.  He picked some things in his head that he wants now, so all is well in groomland.

For my bday though, I did get some fabulous things (all personal photos). 

Wine glasses from CK's Aunt and Uncle from Pier One. I l-o-v-e this but total buz kill, they don't have a registry!

And one of my BM, P, has got the crafting bug with her wrap job, super cute.

Ok, and remember when I shared this Calender necklace that was awesome!?? Well I decided that's what I wanted from CK.  Only to find out after he researched it, that they can't specialize by year, so 10.9 is on a tuesday.  booo that wont work.  So I did some research, and how lucky am I, one of my favorite sites, ETSY, has a very similiar necklace.  I plan to get a pink stone on the 9th, of course.

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Then lastly,  I bought myself something that I just couldn't wait for off my registry-to-be.  My Aunt E has given me a few gift cards to Bed, Bath, and Beyond that I have been saving up to get some big ticket item.  I also recieved some money from my g-parents, CK's g-mom, and my parents.  So with my 20% of coupon (which never expire incase you missed that insider memo), I bought one of my big ticket items and you guessed it, its PINK!  The cool thing about this item is that it has sooo many attachments like a frozen yogurt maker and homemade pasta so I can add all of them to my registry instead!  Also, they were having special, so with my mail-in rebate, I am getting a free food slicer/shredder!!.  With my giftcards saved up and my coupon (my father would be so proud), it came to less than half of what it orginally was! yay...check out my beauty, even CK isn't really complaining because he knows it will make fabulous things :)

Do you ever have the desire to buy things off your wishlist because you just can't wait??

Now introducing our STDs...

Funny, I had a whole different start to this blog, but it seems funny and somewhat pointless now.  CK just looked over and instantly got mad at the title of this entry, questioning the said title.  I was confused after a long day at work and why he was trying to be complicated so I admit, I kind of ignored him.  He then got up and left the room and then came back and questioned me further, no longer smiling as he spoke.  Ohhh, it says STDs, that's his problem.  (his mind went elsewhere, haaa) So for those of you like CK that have never taken part in planning a wedding ,STD is not something negative that wellness counselors talk about in college lectures (like my Bridesmaid FB) but a postcard, greeting card, magnet, so on, a Save-The-Date. HA!  Remember when I said, I didn't blog for about week because mine were taking forever? well ta-daaa, here they are for you all to see. 

Since we have been together since we were 14, what better than a photo timeline for all our friends and family to see.  I got this concept from Minted.com (pretty cool).  I thought it would be great for our High School friends to see us how we used to be, plus our newer friends/co-workers to see what we used to be, and for our families who always loved to have "remember when" moments.

The front of the card looked like this (the pink is actually a bright hot-pink)....

Then you open it up to the inside (the timeline). "Only love could last this long", CK actually came up with that quote.  I made all the photos black and white, the dates hot pink, and the last photo with us and my ring with a hot pink border...

 Then, in the theme of "falling in love", I hand-punched (ridiculous) silver, white, gold, light pink, and hot pink leaves, so when you opened it up, they would "fall", some of the boys texted CK that they were absolutely thrilled by this....

For the envelope, I saw this really cool idea from the Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine.  I hand-cut, with an exacto-knife, a maple leaf where the date was.  I tried to use a large punch but it wasn't hitting in the right spot, man sometimes I wish I wasn't a perfectionist.  CK was very annoyed by the amount of time this took up, even though he wasn't doing any of it.  I then took my gold paint pen (that made me feel kinda high by the end) and hand addressed the cards with a big, fun, curlyish font.  Surprisingly, that didn't take long at all, because I am always dottling different fonts).  Turned out awesome, right?

Here's the problem though, 140+ addresses later, I am finding out that some didnt get to their destination...BUMMERRRR!

How will you tell your guest to save. the. date?

OMG new wedding crush....

Ok found a new wedding crush...It's a lot like my last one with the hollywood glam but it has PINK (which is exaclty what I am creating)!!!! Thanks Style me Pretty. 


So her dress is very similiar, plus I kinda love the grey tux with the hot pink- which CK was already thinking about when we discussed, and the bottom right pic has the bridemaid in my dream heel, the sparkly Loui...

and the bride's necklace is that chunky style I am going for, from the other wedding crush, that I am going to make, lovvvve it!

And they have the crystals and "falling" element that I am going to be doing....

Aren't they just supppper cute?

PINK, GOLD, SILVER (still loving this color scheme) :)



Where do you find your inspiration?

Happy Draft Day :)

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Well readers, Happy Draft day :) Incase you are unaware Today is the first day ever that the NFL draft is on a Thursday night, getttt excited :) I always remember when the draft is because its around my birthday week and eagles fans always look a little more hopeful than usual.  Yes, in my household as a child, and now as an adult, football runs the show.  Meals and birthdays revolve around the games, which don't happen until the draft. But yes, sadly, the Eagles are not so fabulous at drafting, and tend to disappoint like rain on your wedding day...

 Soo why am I writing about this? Well, my sister, N, is in a wedding this summer that is Steelers themed.  Just think bright yellow and black, with a cake-topper of a groom dressed in a Steelers uniform (ugh, my inner eagle fan voice just wants to yell GAG ME!) Petty rival comments aside, a football themed wedding could be very creative (but don't let CK know I said that, otherwise I can see all this planning changing quickly).  So, in the spirit of the NFL draft, I share with you some football themed weddings, like the one N will be in this year.

This first one is a navy blue and white colored football wedding.  Which kinda reminds me of CK's other favorite team, the lovely PENN STATE (which is actally where we will be going in Aug for his cousin J's wedding-super psyched for it too!!)....

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And this next wedding collage reminds me of the only other college team I heart, the Texas Longhorns, and check out the cake topper, super cute...

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And then there are the weddings that are actually at the field. hmm, at least you know there will be enough parking spaces, right?....

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And this football themed wedding, had a pretty non-traditional cake...

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And lastly, I just looove this creative photo from this bridal shoot, and actually may steal it for my wedding (remember when CK was referring to our BM and GMs as "our teams"?)...

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Ever think of planning your day around *his* favorite sports team?

ER contact part 3...the second surgery...

OK, I know, I am really a blogger slacker.  We have been super busy, dealing with the save the dates (will show you in the next couple days) and CK's latest with his arm.  On Monday, CK had his second operation on his arm to get the many pins taken out.  I talked to the doctor when the surgery was over and he said everything went great (or basically as great as it could go).  Nothing fell apart when he pulled the pins out sooo that's a plus in my book.  He goes back next week to get the stitches out and then we "just have to see how time heals him".   The bride in me had this nagging voice in my head screaming  to ask the doc "will he be in a cast or splint in Octtttober??? WHHat about these expensive photos I am paying for!!!!" 

(personal photo)

Of course, I didnt ask because I was too busy asking more obviously important questions like Do we expect complications again and what level of pain should I expect? I mean, CK, has the best doc, the cheif of Orthopedics at a really good hospital in Philly, so he clearly didnt have the time to be dealing with superficial questions.  But it lead me on a search to see how other brides may have handled this.

In this wedding party, you can see the the groom and his friends are a little silly (hmmm...poor bride) and looks like the groom picked to have a black cast, how formal of him...

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And in this wedding the bride is the one with the broken arm and she changed the color of her dresses so her cast would match, who knew there would be so many color options in plaster (hmm, a pink cast for CK is sounding preeeetty awesome, If you ask me)...

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and lastly this Groom put his broken arm in a splint kinda-thing, which may actually be our situation, but maybe time and CK's great immune system, will be on our side..

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Are you faced with any challenges for your photographs?

The book for the guests...

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"We need a book for our guests to sign?" Oh my lovely future-to-be has no clue when it comes to wedding stuff sometimes.  When discussing the guestbook, he checked this off as "one of the things that makes no sense to have and a waste of money".  Hmm, though I kind of agree, I had to explain that this is a way to remember who attended and help with thank-you notes and stuff.  CK claims he will remember everyone who is there, which is very sweet, but c'mon a 200+ guestlist, I'm not so sure he will, especially since his only request was to have his favorite beer waiting for him. Ok, but seriously, the guestbook, ehhh, I wasn't so into it (surprise, surprise).  But after thinking, actually, the onlllly detail I knew I wanted in my wedding before I knew there would ever be a wedding, was my idea for the guestbook :) So, let's discuss.  The above photo is a pretty elegant traditional book.  Everyone will place their names and addresses in it and it would probably end up in some box somewhere never to be looked at again.

Next option, which I have seen a lot of lately, is the photo mat.  You can put a photo in and have everyone sign around it in pretty colored pens or just black.  Cute, and you could hang it in your house for memories...

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Then going off that idea, the latest, is having a polariod camera, and having each guest take their photo and then write a caption with it.  This could be cool to see what everyone looked like and then create a scrapbook type idea with it. However, the photos could turn out a little risque with some of our guests.

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And taking the idea of signing something like a photo mat or plate (which I've seen look awesome too) this couple was so creative with their outside wedding idea of signing a tree/bench...

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That idea lead me to a search of trees, because we are doing the falling in love , leaf idea...Check out this one, each guest signed a leaf and at the end they had a great tree...

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Ck would probably complain that we dont need a tree in our house though, so I kept on the search.  Some of you readers out there might have seen this idea.  "leaf your mark on our tree".  Each guest would place a finger in a green ink pad and then create a Guest tree.  Supppper cute and fits the theme! However, I can see green fingers trying to eat at the cocktail hour going not so well, maybe?

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So lastly, I show you this. Which is pretty much what I had thought of years ago, but didnt want to tell anyone in fear that someone like my mother would be upset that I was non-traditional.  A guestbook painting :)  We just moved into the house and what better way to add color to our walls then a painting that everyone we love has contributed too.  Then when people come over they can say "oh I did that part".  Plus I am an artist so it would not be a surprise to most that I would do something like this because it totally fits me :)

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Now, most brides who did this idea, (which I thought was original but apparently others think like me), did a grid-like concept.  I am planning on not doing that.  I am going to get a large canvas and draw on two figures (bride and groom possibly) and then create shapes/pieces like a Van Gogh for those art people out there.  Then number them and attached a number to each paintbrush so that it will be a "paint by number" concept for those people who arent artsy.  I did this because otherwise I can seem some guests painting inappropriate body parts or something (I'm sure you can use your imagination of who's friends that may be).  I am thinking about having the paintbrush numbers coniside with the table numbes (that was CK's idea actually) and somehow connect with the placecards.  Different but so me, right?  Even my mom, who's tradtional, thinks it's cool.  I'm going to pick like 3 or 4 colors and let the guest chose their color.  Probably colors that coordinate with the wedding or one of the rooms in our house. Some the groom figure, could end up all pink shades, if I'm lucky :)  I figure if it turns out really weird, I can always fix it a little.

How will your guests leave their mark??

The colors, well maybe :)

I have talked to a lot of brides and it seems that I am not the only one who has changed their mind on colors like 50 million times.  It's hard!!  I know, and you all now know, how much I love pink (its no secret).  In fact, although I am not discriminating towards any shades of pink, my heart swoons for hot pink.  Remember, I'm the girl with the pink ring after all.  I found this new site which has awesome decorating ideas because I have a new house that CK complains I am neglecting, whopps.  Look at this awesome room :)

Yea, yea, obviously not gonna happen in my house (which is turning out to have a lot of blue-boo).  However, in my wedding, maaaybe.  ha!  I love the look of the first row that pale pink with the third row, the obiviously KWAK-color HOT PINK.  Here's my problem though, CK hates pink.  Isn't that irnoic that I am marrying someone who hates pink when I am notorious for the color, that even my keyboard at work is pink.  Hmmm, what's a pink loving bride-to-be to do? Well, CK loves that Sinatra type vibe so, because he doesnt do much with the planning, we took that idea and ran with it.  So the wedding is going to be this like old-school glamous vibe.  Remember I share the pic of my wedding crush-the bridesmaids with the cool hair and necklaces? Well, going with the glam idea we will be using lots of silvers and golds with the hot and pale pinks.  It's fall too, so I can't really do extreme bright colors and it look right.  Plus, I've alllllways love sparkles and diamonds (only because they are my birthstone of course).  So, I share with you the second color inspiration board for my glam fall wedding.  Of course we aren't sure what my girls are going to wear yet, but I the latest is we are leaning towards the nudeish-gold color with hot pink flowers and those big chunky pearl necklaces with hot pink ribbon ties the back.  Remember this all can change though, they may end up in pink dresses afterall. haha. So check below, awesome for fall and glam right?

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Anyone else struggle with picking their colors?

6 months to go today and we GOT THE DRESS!!!

So I had a mini panic attack when I realized that today is exactly 6 months until my wedding! (yikes) Today was a big day, in addition to that though.  We went to the  trunk show to see the dress at this fabulous salon in Philly.  My coordinator, Jen, was fabulous and really helped me with this big decision.  If you are shopping in Philly, check out their website because they were awesome and see if you can see Jen too :)  I had talked it over a little with CK, so he understood what I was thinking I was going to spend.  Ck and I decided to pay for the dress so he needed to know otherwise I wouldnt have bothered involving him on this big check.  Luckily, he agree with the range I was looking at because he knew I would need some extravagant.

Oh unrealistic expectations, how I remember thee.  Soo remember when I was talking about 3013 and how I couldn't find it anywhere and was waiting weeks for this trunk show?? Well, we got there and the dress was not as fabulous as the photos in my opinion.  There was no sparkle and when you tried to walk, the dress was too heavy to really move.  Noone was very thrilled actually.  "its a pretty dress for photos but not realistic".  It was A-line which I love, but the skirt part came up almost right below ur chest which made you have no torso. bummmmmmmmmer! Then I tried on the one that I had tried at the other salon and really liked.  Everyone loved it.  It still had the fun bottom but had a ton of sparkle!  This was the dress that the old consultant said everyone looked at but didnt have the guts to try on. Yea, I guess I'm that girl because I tried it and bought it :) yay, I have a dress!! Remember when they say you have your mind set on something and then you end up getting a dress that's totally diferent? Yea, thats me.  I went from A-line to almost mermaid-trumpet like.  Hope it looks awesome in the white since they only have it in ivory at the shops.  Nothing like cutting it close, looks like it should come in end of Aug. early September.  And I turn to none other than my idol, Barbie, for an inspiration.

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How many wedding dresses did you try on before you had the one?

The tasting...Part 1-The Cake

OK, so I know its been awhile.  I've been slaving away at the save the dates (pics soon to come).  However, we did have the tasting last nite and I have to share.  This was also the first time CK was actually going to see where we are getting married.  I felt my stomach churning a little as we turned the corner into the parking lot, anticipating what rediculous comment he would make, though I wasn't expecting "ohhh it's a Gnome's home" (in reference to the building that I thought looked like a perfect castle-like).  Ughh! He immediately whipped out his cell phone to text his best man this too, because he thought this was just hysterical.  He got over this quickly.

So as for the tasting, I will split this up into two posts because I have to get back to the save the dates project.  So let's start with the dessert because, hey, why not.  I'm just not a good bride.  Remember when I said, I wasn't a huge fan of flowers. Well, brace yourself, I strongly dislike cake as well.  I know, I'm lame, but I've just never really been a fan.  I'll eat the icing sometimes, but that gets sickening after awhile too.  What do I do for my birthday? (which is at the end of this month) Well, I always get ice cream cake! Now clearly, this is not an option, thouch CK asked if it was.  Oh yea, CK hates cake too.  So, the cake tasting part was kind of funny, if you can imagine.  My mom loves chocolate so of course she was drawn to that.  My Dad didn't really have a strong option and CK and I could have cared less.  Then my mom was referring to each piece as stale, which well, didnt help me pick considering none really Wowwed me.  However, I checked out the book of designs for the cake while they ate and that was the exciting part for me.  I saw one that had cascading dots, which kind of looked like they were falling.  That's the one. CK hated the dots, surprise surprise.  My mom and I had to tell him that it goes with our theme of "falling in love" which he acted like was a surprise, though I know he knows about all this.  (don't let him trick ya). 

We're going to have two other desserts on the table for those like me and CK who aren't all about this cake business.  We're thinking we are going to do cannolis (italian tradition) and then edible flowers (like the fruit kind) on each table.  Different, but not too sweet since we aren't huge candy fans either.  We are still trying to decide if it makes sense to have the bakery do the cannolis or family...but I think it may not be worth the stress of having family do it.

Lastly, I leave you with this picture of a bride who was quite the opposite of me and apparently the cake was the most important thing of her wedding.  I know, there are a lot of people out there that think the cake is what makes the wedding.  (I hope if these type of people come to my wedding, they will realize that's not my, or CK's, style ) Yes, that is her wedding dress, which is also her wedding cake!

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Is the cake really what makes the wedding??