It felt so good to be back at the gym yesterday. When I stepped on that treadmill I could feel my muscles coming alive again after atrophying for 4 days. Usually I hate doing my 2-minute sprints but this time I did them with no problem. Then I went and did yoga and stretched it all out...ahhh. Working out rules.
We printed my wedding invitations yesterday on the office laser printer. They really do look good. I guess I could have ordered them from some fancy-shmancy paper store with the raised ink and all, but these look just as good. Where else are you going to get 250 invitations for $22? My coworker, Deann, has been just wonderful through this whole thing. She got married in San Antonio too, and she's given me lots of advice on restaurants and stuff. Plus she's going to sing "Ave Maria" at the wedding...AND she designed the invites. What a great girl. I think I'm going to get her a gift certificate to a spa as a thank-you.
My future father-in-law called last night asking about places for the after-rehearsal dinner. I told him that I really didn't know, but that didn't seem to penetrate his thinking. Apparently, since I live in Texas, I automatically know which restaurants are good and bad in every city in the state. But anyway...I just called the florist and put down $100 to reserve our wedding date. I ordered 3 boutonnieres, 1 church arrangement, 1 bridal bouquet and 2 single stems for the bridesmaids. We're not doing mom corsages because my mother thinks they're very old-lady. She's right. My bouquet is going to be 18 roses, 12 of them ivory and 6 of them very light pink, round and hand tied with a ribbon. So pretty. I've got a picture of what they should look like, but I haven't been able to post it yet. Here's a picture of approximately what I want. Just imagine roses of this color interspersed throughout.
I know I am getting sickeningly wedding-y these days, but I can't help it.
We may have to go to San Antonio again this weekend. Blah. More long car rides. This time it'll be to secure musicians and to check out some sites for the reception and rehearsal dinner. And I do need to call the hair guy and make an appointment to get it styled on The Big Day. I am so glad we haven't been planning this for months and months. It hangs over your head. It's the only thing you think about, all day long.
We're supposed to print my invites today and possibly send them out, but I don't see that happening as everyone is really busy, including me.
Today's the first day I'm returning to the gym after a 3 or 4-day hiatus. Quite frankly, I don't want to go. It's so easy to get out of the habit. But I'm starting out easy - 30 minutes on the treadmill then a 1-hour yoga class...not too strenuous. Also been pretty good today with the diet...went to an Indian buffet for lunch but controlled myself.
Well, I bookedthe hotel we'll be staying at on our wedding night. Actually, it's not a hotel, but a bed and breakfast. We're in room No. 4! I am so excited, I've NEVER stayed at a B&B before...
Tomorrow I have to get up and be at work at 7 for a hearing. Boo. But at least I got the paper bought for my invitations today. We're printing and mailing them tomorrow. Things are progressing fast...
I kinda screwed up on my diet today by going to a Mexican joint for lunch...but that's OK...I haven't eaten since then and I don't plan to eat much when I get around to it...just enough to keep me from being hungry tonight. Then it's off to grocery shop. Sweet dreams, all.
Grr. Don't know why my pic isn't showing up. Oh well, if you want to see it just comment here and leave your e-mail address, and I'll share my online photo album with you...it's got other pics too, like stuff from other people's weddings that I just happen to like.
Last night Mark and I began calling musicians and seeing about receptions...there's this really nice Mexican place that I like...but it's almost $15 a person...we were going to have everyone pay their own way, but I decided that was rude. It's kinda like, "OK, you can celebrate with us, but only if you put up $8.95 for an enchilada dinner." Thank God my father agreed to pay for it. I felt bad, but Mark pointed out that they're getting off much cheaper than other parents. It's been that way my whole life - I have saved my parents a ton of money. They didn't have to pay for my college because I got a full ride on scholarships. They didn't have to pay for my apartment in Tuscaloosa while I was a student because I worked three part-time jobs and ate ramen to pay for it. So I think $500 is pretty good. Mark's dad is paying for an after-rehearsal dinner too, so there will be mucho eating.
One person has bought us stuff from our registry on Target.com. One of our requests on the list was for a set of 2 insulated lunch bags. Someone bought us ONE of them. I hate to sound bitchy but I think that is so cheap. They're $8 each. Just go on and spend the $16 and get us both of them. That's what I would have done if I were the gift buyer. Plus I think I know who did it, and we just bought them a $19 fondue set off THEIR Target registry. Oh well, I hate to get like that, but I guess it's human nature. Whatever.
Diet Stuff: No exercise again last night. This cold is kicking my ass, and I think it might even be the flu. Mark was sick last night too from his antibiotics. We were going to get groceries last night but as we got in the car and prepared to go, I just felt too bad. So we might go tonight, even though there's been no significant improvement in my condition. I'm making sure to eat light while the exercise is on hold, to prevent any gains. I'd love to get back on that treadmill, but I can barely walk up the stairs right now.
Anyone who says that planning a wedding takes time is simply lazy. Seriously. Today is the two-week anniversary of the day I told my fiance, "Hey, how about we quit languishing here in this haven't-set-a-date-but-we're-engaged-stupor and just get married?" And so far we have: a photographer, a church, a priest, some attendants, my dress, his tuxedo, our rings and a place to get flowers. All we need now is a musician and a reception site. And we're doing it all for under $5,000.
How cool are we?
I didn't work out yesterday. I am still battling a cold and I just didn't feel like it. It's not good to be running and breathing hard when neither of your nostrils is functioning. But I did eat very obediently yesterday. Here's the diet:
2 granola/yogurt bars, about 240 cals
1 chicken fajita w/cheese and flour tortilla, about 500 cals
a handful of baked croutons for a snack...200 cals
two tiny graham cracker squares for a snack...250 cals
baked flounder and baked/seasoned potato chunks made w/no oil, about 600 cals
Total: 1790. Whoa. I guess it wasn't all that great then. Those snacks can sneak up on you really easily. Oh yeah, and last night we went to register at Foley's. We normally wouldn't have, because we don't need Noritake china or any of that crap (in an apartment, we can't afford to let non-usable place settings take up space), but I am going to get a $25 gift card for registering. So we registered for a couple of things. That makes three registries - we have lists at Amazon and Target too.
Sorry for the rambling but I'm jotting things down as I remember them...Tonight I am thinking about going back to the gym, if only to walk fast for about 30 minutes. With this wedding coming up I don't need to be gaining. When I go for my fitting on the 17th I'd like the dress to actually be too big.
OK, and I did say that I would post a pic of me in my wedding gown. So here it is. And please excuse the goofy look on my face. No, I don't know who those people are back there.
Kick ass news.The church that we want is available. Our wedding will be at 1 p.m. March 8. Everyone's invited, though I can't promise that you'll be able to come to the reception - $$$, you know...and we still have to work that out. But the photog we want is available too...this is all working out too well. It's creepy how quickly we've put together a wedding.
I am still exhausted for our weekend in San Antonio. Well, not a weekend exactly; more like a weekend's worth of errands done in the space of one day. We went to go see a florist, three mission churches, a photographer and a priest. Whew. And we didn't get one detail solidified, which is freaking me out. We found the church we want to get married in. Only problem is, it's very popular and we may not get our date. But I'm going to call soon and find out for sure. So we may move the date to a weekend where our photographer (who is fabulous) and the church are available. If that happens we won't have our honeymoon right away; we'll go away in late May, when Mark gets out of school.
And you would not believe the demands people are making on us with this wedding. My mom: "If you could wait until May that would be great. Katherine (my sister) has a big play, and she's graduating, and I have tests to give..." Mark's best man: "Anytime in late April would be good for me." That kind of crap. So we just decided that no date was going to suit everyone, and we're going to pick something that works for us. If our parents can't come, so be it. Screw everyone else. We're paying for the damn thing, we should be calling the shots.
Dietwise, the weekend wasn't so great. We were going to go to the Olive Garden while in San Antonio, but we couldn't find it, so we ended up eating Pizza Hut in the hotel room. Then we had it for breakfast, and then we had Subway (which wasn't too bad) for lunch. Then we drove back to Austin and did go to the Olive Garden where I got some pasta. I'm not sure what kind of sauce it was, but it was oily. So I felt obligated to work extra-hard at the gym last night. But tonight shouldn't be bad foodwise. We're having baked fish and potatoes...which is fortunate since I have a bad cold and can't exercise today.
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
