70% chance of stress

It's 2 days before the engagement party. Let's see what still needs to be done...

-Scan about 40 pictures

-Bake cookies

-Dispense candy into assorted bowls

...It really doesn't seem like that much, and yet my stress level has gone through the roof. Mostly because the weather forecast says 70% rain showers, which means we need to move the location indoors, which means a massive house cleanup. This summer has been so hot & dry, of course it would rain on the one day that it actually matters :(

On a happier note, I found shoes today :) I always try to look at the glass half full...

It's crunch time, baby!

Well, today I logged into my blog to find a message saying:

I cannot express how long it took me to decide on the background I have...and now I need to find a new one??? Lovely. So sometime this week, amongst all of the last minute planning for the engagement party (which is 1 week away!), I will do a complete redesign for my blog.

In other news, it's crunch time. I've had pretty vague ideas for the engagement party so far and now it's time to make them a reality. Me, B & my MOH tried to go candy shopping today only to find the store closed :( So that has been put off until Tuesday. I still have no idea what to do with all of the baby pictures I have of me & B. My mom suggested a collage, what do you all think?

I went to A.C. Moore (a crafts store) earlier this week to buy various bowls for the candy table. So that's one item I can check off my to-do list. Here's what I have so far:

The display is tbd.

Look for more updates throughout the week!

Success at last!!

After several failed dress shopping attempts, I finally decided that it was time to get serious. No more joking around. So I grabbed one of my friends and headed to a HUGE outdoor outlet center about 35 minutes from my house (Woodbury Commons, anyone been there? It's pretty much heaven for any shopaholic).

(source)

The day started out looking as bleak as the other shopping attempts. But this was my last shot, if I didn't find a dress here, I wasn't going to find one anywhere. We went to Max Studio, D&G, Guess, BCBG, Calvin Klein, J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, Nine West, Lucky Brand, Kensie Girl, DKNY, Esprit, and finally...Banana Republic. I was so focused on finding a dress that I only bought 1 unnecessary, but utterly adorable skirt!

3 hours & 1 major downpour later, I found it. Well, technically, I had already found it a few weeks ago. See, when I was in Atlantic City, I had gone to a few of the outlet stores there with B's sisters & found a dress I really liked from Banana Republic, but they didn't have it in my size, so I forgot about it. I was shocked to find it again and even though they didn't have my size here, they had 1 size bigger, so I decided to buy it anyway. I dropped it off at the tailor today so she can take it in :)

So the long, arduous process of finding THE dress is over. For the life of me, I cannot find a picture of it online so I will post pix as soon as possible. All I need to do now is find shoes to match & my outfit will be complete!

Remaining to-do list for the party:

1. Go candy shopping

2. Find various vases to put candy in

3. Scan baby pictures

4. Figure out what to put the baby pictures on

5. Bake cookies

Jam Bands & Lemon Drops

Yesterday was my birthday...23! Birthdays are getting more & more depressing each year. I was ok last year, still pretty happy the whole day. But this year I was pretty sad all day because I still think of myself as a young & free teenager. One of my friends mentioned to me that I should be happy about 23 because it's in numerical order...this actually made me really happy. (I don't like odd numbers, I always dread when I turn an odd numbered age, yes I'm really that weird).

I started out the day waking up at 7:30 to wait for the dishwasher repairman who finally arrived at 8:45 only to find out that all I had to do was reset the circuit breaker. That was fun. Then I went to see Despicable Me with a friend. It was cute, nothing amazing, just cute. Then we got some food & headed to a bar. We drank, listened to live music (randomly awesome jam band) & played some pool. Overall, it was a nice relaxing birthday....oh, and today I bought myself the Droid X for my birthday :) My very first Android & loving it!!!!

This is me with my Lemon Drop (my fav shot!)

Last year I started a bucket list, around the time of my 22nd birthday when I first started feeling old. I knew that if I wrote down the things that I want to do in life, that I have a higher chance of actually doing it than if I don't see it written down.

Originally I was supposed to be married by 23, that's moved to 24. No biggie, I'm in no rush. I've since added several items to the list and have yet to cross off any. Here we go:

1. Skydive

2. Learn to wakeboard successfully

3. Learn to surf successfully

4. Bungee Jump

5. Have kids/Adopt

6. Rescue an animal from a shelter

7. Spend an extended period of time in a foreign country (min. 1 month)

8. Visit Australia/New Zealand

9. Volunteer Abroad

10. Hike/Camp Yellowstone

11. Ride the big ride at Steel Pier (on the boardwalk in Atlantic City)

12. Take a bartending class

13. Take dance classes

It's a work in progress...here's my "5-year plan":

1. Be happily married

2. Have 1 kid/trying to have a kid/seriously considering having a kid

3. Have at least 1 rescued pet

4. Have a job that makes a difference

Whew, that's a lot of things to accomplish, I hope I can do it. So far I've accomplished nothing on my bucket list, but it's not completely done yet anyway. I guess I should add number 14. Finish Bucket List.

Wife & Mother out to save the world!

Since high school, I've committed myself as an environmentally-conscious person. I always knew that I wanted a career in the environmental field, although I've changed exactly what I want to do, it's always remained within this category. I've wanted to be a meteorologist, marine biologist, environmental educator, green event planner, and currently I'm focused on environmental policy.

I want a career. I don't think I could ever be a full-time stay-at-home mom. Don't get me wrong, I highly respect all moms who can do it, but I think I would get seriously bored & end up resenting my kids for it, especially because the industry that I'm in has serious world-impact potential.

(Recent trip to DC...)

(...for the Earth Day Climate Rally)

Last week when I was at the shore with B, we were talking about the notion of being a stay-at-home mom. My mom is a teacher and worked for the first few years of her marriage until she had her second baby (me!). She went back to work a few years ago, after I was already in college. Theoretically, this sounds like the life. Stay at home, play with the kids all day, take care of the home, cook food. Sure, I can do that, no problem, but knowing myself, I would certainly get bored. So, B & I came up with the solution that I could be a part-time stay-at-home mom. I could never leave my kids to be raised by someone else full-time. I want to be there for all of the big events in their lives---I mean really, who wouldn't? So I'm thinking we can find someone, maybe a family member, to watch the kids while I go save the world...for a few hours a week.

Summertime...and the livin's easy

I hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend. As I mentioned, I was with B's family at their shore house in Brigantine Beach (right outside Atlantic City).

Some of the family playing paddleball on the beach

Even though I'm currently only hostessing at a restaurant part-time, it was still really nice to get away for a few days. I'm so accustomed to relaxing during the summers--getting a lot of beach and pool days--and so far this summer I've done very little of that. So it was fantastic to relax for a few days.

I don't get the chance to see all of B's family very often. He lives 2 hours away from me and when I visit, we usually plan activities and only sometimes spend quality time with his family. He has 2 older sisters, both married, 1 with 2 kids. But only 1 of them lives close to B, so I get to see them fairly often, but hardly ever get to see the other. B, on the other hand, spends a lot of time with my family. He tends to come visit me more than I visit him and my family tends to get together often for lunch and dinner. So he gets to see my brother & grandparents pretty often. (Both of us currently live with our parents, so we get to see each others parents every time we visit). Anyhoo, the point of mentioning all of this was to get across the point that I had such a great weekend in the sun & spending quality time with my future in-laws :)

Today, I endured some serious dress shopping for the engagement party with my friend AL. She's not afraid to speak her mind & therefore makes a great shopping buddy. Needless to say, about 4 hours later, I came out with 2 bras, 1 bathing suit & 4 shirts...but no dress :( The search continues...

In other news, today I received the Versatile Blogger award!!!!

The rules for this award are: Thank the person who gave you the award; Share 7 things about you; Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs; and Let your nominees know about the award.

So here it goes. Firstly, thank you so much Nicole from That's Life! Go check her out! She's also engaged & posts about wedding planning...she also posts awesome recipes!

7 things about myself:

1. When I was a kid, I watched Grease literally every night, if you don't believe me, just ask my parents.

2. Ever since I watch an episode of What Not To Wear during which I learned that horizontal stripes make you look wider, I have never tried on a horizontal-striped article of clothing.

Wow, this is harder than I thought...

3. Since high school, I drink soda only a handful times per year. I only drink water, no powder flavor added in.

4. I sincerely enjoy washing dishes, I find it soothing & it eases my stress.

5. I always wanted to be a marine biologist & move to Hawaii...until I reach mid-high school & almost failed biology.

6. I absolutely despise Crocs, I'm sorry if I've offended any of you.

7. I wear flowers in my hair & I'm proud of it :)

Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs:

1. Rachel from Pura Vida! She rambles about her travels all over the world.

2. Irresistible♥Icing...blogging about bridal things.

3. Nicole from An East Coast Wedding, blogging about her fabulous married life

4. A Bride in Boots who had a winter wedding & will serve as some inspiration for me ;)

5. Beer Budget Bride's Musings...love reading about your wedding planning.

6. A Wedding Story, a very cute blog with fantastic style.

7. Jacin from She Said Yes...also planning a wedding!

8. Life of Leetid...because I love her hotties of the month!

9. Untypically Jia from Color Me Untypical cuz my inner child really could use another Pepsi.

10. A Beautiful Mess: Project Alicia...fabulous recipes!

11. Alycia from Crowley Party...such an adorable blog.

12. Sarah from Eat Well. Love Much. Laugh Often, who blogs about her fabulous life. Oh, and there are some pretty awesome recipes on here too.

13. Gwen from Gwen in Love, blogging about love, marriage & sex.

14. Melissa from Love, Marriage, and (Someday) a Baby Carriage!, life after the wedding, something to look forward to :)

15. Natalie from Wanderlove (and roses), blogging about her fabulous life.

Let your nominees know about the award:

DONE!