What do you mean I can't open my gifts?!?!

I have one more story to share about our registry.

Boys naturally care less about all of the little stuff than us ladies do. So when I was told by my mother that I shouldn't open any of the gifts without B present, I was naturally super upset! He doesn't care if he actually sees them, he knows what we registered for, he doesn't care about opening a box. So I basically asked/told B that I would be opening the gifts & that when he comes to visit, he could look at them, but there's no way I'd be able to receive a box in the mail & not open it...immediately!

When we decided to push the wedding back to March 2012, I got nervous that a lot of the items on the registry would be discontinued. Of course, it was my favorite items that were discontinued first. The cute sorbet cups, 1 set of silverware that we finally decided on & 2 parts of the luggage set that took us forever to find. So we found another set of silverware to register for, but as for the luggage, we're just going to wait it out to see if it's restocked. But...the sorbet cups...if you need a reminder of how cute they are, here they are:

(also available in blue, green & orange. & of course I registered for 2

of each)

On the Crate & Barrel registry, next to these cute cups, it said 'Limited Quantity'. Which, being that they're a seasonal item, means that they're going to be discontinued :( Since our wedding is so far off, I knew that nobody would buy them for us in time. So, I took matters into my own hands. We received a Crate & Barrel gift card as an engagement gift & we decided to use part of it to buy these cups! & I'm glad we did because a week after we bought them, they were no longer available online. So there! I am now the proud owner of these super cute sorbet cups!

Now, of course all I want to do is use them already, but I was also told, by several people, that I'm not allowed to use any of our gifts until we're married!! Granted, we're not living together until we get married, so I kind of understand, but still. I was so happy about my purchase, but I can't use them?!?! I have to wait 2 years to use them?!?! *sigh*

FYI, I'm headed to B's family NJ shore house for a long weekend, so I probably won't be able to post again until mid-next week. I'm sure I'll have stories to share when I get back :)

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Strawberry Jam, Cotton Candy & French Vanilla...oh my!

Since our wedding date is so far away, we have yet to make any official plans. No venue, no dress, no caterer, etc. At times it almost feels like we're not even engaged. However, I get my planning-fix through our engagement party, which is on August 1st. We are planning a backyard brunch at my parents house (I hope the weather is nice, otherwise it will be indoors & therefore not as aesthetically pleasing).

Things are all falling into place for the party. We have the caterer set...omelette station, crepe station, a customized cake & champagne. The invites were sent out a few weeks ago; some by post mail, some by evite (see previous post).We decided to have a candy table, finally made the final decision about that last week--it will be color-coordinated, all red, pink & white. The choice of color was determined by Jelly Belly flavors (yes, I am that crazy). So the flavors will be strawberry jam, strawberry daiquiri, cotton candy & french vanilla...yum! We'll go shopping in a few weeks for the rest of the candy, but I feel like red & pink allow yummy candy options, think red licorice, swedish fish, white chocolate covered pretzels, I could go on & on. Please, if you have any suggestions, I am all ears! We're thinking of a table like this, except with pink & red too...

(I stole this image from the Knot, it's too cute!)

I will continue to post about the planning process for the party as we still have tons of things to figure out, like centerpieces, guest book & favors :)

You like me?!?!?!

Wow! I received my first award today & I am so grateful. I am so new to blogging and it's so nice to feel appreciated and to know that people actually read my crazy ramblings. Thank you to all of my readers & for all of your support.

I received The Fabulous Sugar Baby Doll Award from JoJo . I'm new to this whole award thing, so bear with me & please tell me if I do something wrong. The rules of this award are to thank the person who gave you the award, share ten things about yourself, pass this award onto ten bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fantastic and finally contact the bloggers to let them know you've picked them for an award.

Whew, I think I can handle that. First of all, thank you so much JoJo! You're blog is inspirational. I love reading about your adventures as a newlywed. I hope when I am finally a newlywed that my adventures are as fabulous as yours! If you aren't reading her blog yet, go check her out!

Ok, ten things about myself. I'll try to keep them as interesting as possible.

1. I'm freakishly obsessed with vampire movies, books & tv shows. I watch 90% of them all :)

2. My favorite sandwich is pb & cheese, sometimes with bananas. Don't knock it til you try it.

3. I have a soft spot for free stuff, I sign up for everything & if I'm dissatisfied with a product, I contact the company & cross my fingers for freebies.

4. I used to know almost every line from Pirates of the Caribbean 1.

5. Related to the last one, I'm pretty much obsessed with all things Johnny Depp.

6. My worst shopping addiction is music...although I've gotten better in recent years, limiting myself to one new album per month. (sometimes 2 if I've been good that months).

7. I hate when my friends call me a hippie; you don't know what a true hippie is til you've been to VT.

8. I secretly wish to be a MILF when I have kids.

9. I can watch America's Funniest Videos for hours, even though I know exactly what will happen, every time.

10. & finally, I have a terrible addiction to Facebook. I absolutely hate it & everything it stands for & yet I'm on it at least 10 times per day.

Now, since I'm new to blogging, pretty much every blog I read is a recent discovery, so I gladly hand this award off to...

JessRaquel from JessRaquel "Mo Shiorghra", also an engaged woman blogging about wedding planning. Check her out!

Sarah from I want Wedding Champagne, wedding planning & trying to stick to a budget. Something I've found very difficult so far...

Chelsea from If It Makes You Happy. Her blog shares lines from the book, "14,000 things to be happy about" by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Her blog always puts a smile on my face.

Kate from The Book Buff. I love reading your book reviews, such great opinions!

Sarah Elizabeth, from Nashville, TN, also planning a wedding with great style taste!

Jennifer from Nifer Musings, from Boston, blogging about life in a fabulous way.

Unfortunately, I'm so new to blogging that I don't have enough blogs that I read on a regular basis to hand this award out. Please don't hate me for cheating. I will read more blogs & I'm sure I will find more blogs that I love!

The exclusive club

It would seem obvious to say that ever since we got engaged, I've been feeling kind of special....almost as if I've been accepted into an exclusive club. Most clubs have some sort of entry requirements--this one requires a shiny ring! Being engaged gives you an automatic connection to anyone who's engaged or married. For instance, I started a new job last month and immediately connected with one of the managers during the first interview because we are both engaged. Now, every time we work the same shift, we always find some wedding topic to chat about--instant connection.

Of course, before we got engaged, I could always connect with girls when complaining about boys, but what girl can't complain about that? Being engaged opens up a whole new world of connections. Meeting a fellow engaged girl allows endless conversation starters: when's the wedding? how long have you been engaged? how did he propose? how long have you been dating? and of course, let me see the ring!

I'm thoroughly enjoying being a member of this exclusive club & will certainly milk it for the next year & a half. I was even able to reconnect with an old friend from elementary school when I ran into her last week mostly because we're both engaged now--another instant connection! Making new friends & reconnecting with old friends makes me happy :)

Registries & free stuff!

I'm going to take a trip down memory lane again back to the day we decided to register. We registered about a month after we got engaged. Originally we wanted to wait until we had more final details about the wedding, but that didn't go over very well with the family. Apparently, almost immediately after our engagement was announced, people had started asking my mom where we were registered so they could buy us gifts. I was a little taken aback by this...people wanted to buy me stuff? Awesome!

So finally, after practically weekly reminders from my mom that people were asking her about our registries, we decided to register. It was a spontaneous decision; we had no other plans for the day, and it was between registering, or shopping for new clothes. It was a win-win situation for me and a lose-lose situation for B. Registering seemed like the lesser of two evils to him, little did he know the day we had before us would turn into a crazy frustrating and yet thrilling experience.

We started our registering adventure at Crate & Barrel. I love this store--it definitely screams my style. Upon walking in, we found a woman to help us, and the fun began! I gave B the gun and we started to shop. If any of you have ever registered before, you know the thrill of scanning things, envisioning your future home, setting the perfect table and hosting fabulous parties. Things were going great, we had picked out dishes, silverware, wine glasses, pitchers, candles, all fun things, including these uber cute sorbet cups in 4 different colors.

We probably spent about an hour & a half in Crate & Barrel, when we decided to leave so as not to wear ourselves out. We still had a few more stores to hit up before our registry would be somewhat complete. C&B, being the awesome store that they are, gives new registrants free gifts when you begin your registry. We received a glass heart dish, just for registering! I love being engaged! B handed the gun over and we were on our way......across the street to Bed Bath & Beyond.

As you may know, B3 is pretty much a staple when it comes to registering for weddings. Everyone registers at B3. So there was no doubt in my mind that we would end up there. B3 is filled with mostly generic items, nothing really unique, but all necessary items. So we filled out the paperwork, B got his scanner gun, and we started our search for the essentials. The store clerk told us about a registry incentive program--basically, if you register for certain items, the company of that item will send you a free gift, just for registering for their item! More free stuff! Now, being raised the way that I was, I obviously registered for all of those items. Some of the free stuff has come already, including free knives, serving utensils, and much more.We finished B3 in almost 2 hours and we were on our way to Target.

During this car ride, I decided to call my parents to let them know that we started registering. This is where the fun really began...

"What did you register for?" asked my dad.

"Dishes, silverware, other fun stuff" I replied.

"Ok, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told your brother. You don't register for that cheap crap. You register for fine china that will last you the rest of your lives"

"Ok, so basically everything we just spent hours making decisions about was all for nothing?" I replied, dreading the reaction from the other side of the car.

"Well, not everything. You can keep everything on there, except for the dishes and knives, and probably the silverware."

These were the major items that we spent most of the time debating in the stores. I knew the moment I told B he would freak out. So, as we sat in traffic, we argued about what we should do next. Listen to my dads advice and take the items off? Or just leave them so as to avoid more countless hours debating dishes and silverware. We finally decided to take them off, so we headed back to B3 to remove the items from the registry.

We were exhausted from the days events, but felt somewhat accomplished. The engagement started to really sink in at this point. Of course the registry was far from being complete, but B stayed away from future registering trips. I finished the registries in the following weeks and now I just watch the boxes in my basement fill up with gifts :)

Poke...Poke...Poke...

This post is not wedding-related, but I thought I'd use this blog to vent about other issues as well. A few weeks ago I went to the doctor because my back was hurting me again. I was told to get an MRI, but of course my insurance declined it and we've been in a battle with the insurance company ever since.

Anyway, my doctor also wanted me to get blood work done for vitamins and thyroid. I finally got around to it this week. Now, if any of you know me, you might know that I have the smallest veins in the world. B likes to try and check my pulse on my wrist & is fascinated every time because he can never find it. The only place to really get my pulse is on my neck. I dread getting blood work done as it usually involves lots of poking & pain. I always warn the nurse before they begin; somehow it makes me think that this time will be different & I'll have an expert on small veins. Of course, this is never the case.

I finally gathered up enough courage today to get the blood work done. I warned the nurse as usual, and she asked me if I had a preference of which arm to use. I told her it really didn't matter and that she would have trouble on both sides. So we started with the left...make a fist and straighten your arm, ah I think I found a vein. Poke...poke...poke...stab...OW! As I'm cringing in pain she says I know you must be in a bit of pain right now. A bit? It feels like somebody just stabbed me in the arm! The next thing I hear is Darn, I thought this vein would work. Great. So she takes the needle out, gives me a band-aid, and starts on the right arm. This time he's more cautious. She taps around my arm trying to get a vein. Now she says she needs to get another nurse to try. So I wait until the next nurse arrives. This nurse taps around and also can't find a vein, so she calls in another nurse. I'm assuming that there is some sort of hierarchy of nurses in this office. So the next nurse arrives and she thinks that she can find a vein on the right arm. She asks me do you want me to try to find the vein on the right arm? well, this is what I came here for, so sure, why not? make a fist and straighten your arm, here we go. Poke...poke...poke...stab...this one didn't hurt as much because she didn't put the needle in very far when she realized that it wasn't going to work. So she too gave up and told me that I'd need to go to a lab to get the blood drawn. Boy, this is my lucky day.

So I head over to the lab. I recognized the building and quickly remember that I've been here before. I must have had blood work done here before. I have better memories of this place and I'm immediately calmed. So I walked in, got helped right away and start telling the nurse about my ordeal at the doctor's office. The look on her face was priceless. So she asks me which arm I prefer, I say it doesn't matter, she asks if I'm a lefty or a righty...right arm it is. A few seconds after looking at the arm, she turns to the left arm. make a fist and straighten your arm. Poke...Poke...stab..OW...but, SUCCESS!!! The blood is finally coming out! My long ordeal is finally over. I asked her if there was anything I could do to make my future blood work drawing better and all she said was for me to tell the nurse to use the left arm & make the tourniquet really tight. Well, if I'd only known that for the 22 years I've been alive maybe my blood work trips wouldn't be nearly as dreadful....of course, that doesn't alleviate the slight fear of needles, oh well, can't have it all I guess.