I just found out that my best friend, Garrett, is flying home to Alabama again for Easter next month. This makes me very mad. Here he is telling me that he doesn't have the money to come see my wedding, yet he had the money to fly to Alabama for Mardi Gras last month...and now here he is going BACK to Alabama less than two months later. Grr. I don't think I am going to ever call him again.
Okay, breathing easier now...I got a lot of stuff done last night. I'm almost done with the guest favors, and I decorated my pew bows. However, I have decided to add flowers to the bows and to have more bows while I'm at it. So I need to go to Michaels tonight and get stuff to dress up the bows. I also need to put elastic on the bows, but i'm not going to do that until the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night because I need to know exactly how much elastic to put on there...sigh. It never ends. I also have to go and buy more pillow mints because I ran out at 24 favors and I need 36.
Also still need to find out the last names of 3 more people for place cards. My aunt said she thought their last name was Nino but I'm sure as hell not about to write that on their cards and then have their last names be Sanchez or something. What else? Mark has not made any progress on making maps from the church to the reception (calling him right now to bitch at him).
My coworkers are taking me to lunch in a little less than an hour so I better get out of here...more later...and yes, I do plan to post pictures of the wedding.
Exercise? Ha. I'm lucky if I get to sit down this week. Last night I went home at 5 p.m. and then headed back out to get some stuff done. I went to Michaels and got the pew bows (kinda plain, but I'm dressing 'em up tonight), then went to Target and bought a cake server and candy for the guest favors (after dinner mints), then went to the fabric store and bought elastic to attach to the back of the bows. Having your wedding in a 300-year-old church is nice, but it's also a pain. We're not allowed to tape the bows onto the pews, so we have to attach them with stretchy stuff. Bleh.
I also bought placecards at Michaels, and I wrote almost all of them out last night. There's still a few people whose last names I don't know. Isn't that crazy? People are coming to my wedding and I don't know their full names...I am reminded of My Big Fat Greek Wedding - how the girl envisioned just a small, very private affair at first, and it turned into a circus. Last night I also tried to work out a tentative seating arrangement, which is going to be tough because it's 6 tables of 6 and we've got parties of 3 and 4 people...I have to keep people with their spouses and families yet keep the same number of people at each table. I put 7 people at one table and 5 people at another, banking on the premise that at least one person won't come...if it's crowded then they can work it out.
I also printed out the rehearsal-dinner menus at Kinkos on some nice parchment paper. Mark wanted to laminate them, but I told him there was really no reason to.
And I hate to sound like Bridezilla here...but our registry still has plenty of items on it and we've got a whole hell of a lot of people coming. That's what we have the registry for, right? Hate to say it, but I'm dreading getting gifts that weren't on there...a fake-crystal frame or candlesticks from Wal-Mart, or some other equally awful wedding gift. I know, I know, guests aren't obligated to get us anything...but it's not like the stuff on our registry is really expensive or anything. Come on, we've got a $3 set of dish towels listed! But a lot of people have been very generous, and I'm trying to write as many thank-you cards as I can before the wedding.
Sorry there's not more fitness-related stuff in this entry...I'll talk a little about my eating strategy for the coming days. Tonight we're having a grilled chicken salad, which is fine with me, but Thursday my coworkers are taking me out to lunch at The Brick Oven, which is this really good Italian place that serves lots of creamy pasta and fatty pizza...I'm going to enjoy myself, because after all it IS my wedding, but I'm not going to go overboard. I'll bring half of it home and either let Mark eat it or eat it for dinner...hopefully. Then comes Thursday, and my aunt is hosting everyone over there for dinner - my parents, sisters, niece, Mark, Mark's best man, and myself. Don't know what she's serving, but she always has salad, so I'm going to concentrate on that. Then Friday is the biggie - the rehearsal dinner at Old San Francisco Steakhouse. The menu does include stuff like grilled chicken and broiled fish, but I love steak and I never get to eat it, so I'm having a ribeye - the 8-ouncer, though, and I probably won't finish. I think the amount that you eat is just as important as what you eat. Then Saturday is the wedding and reception, which is being held at an upscale Mexican place. I'll probably be too busy socializing with everyone to spend much time on my dinner.
OK, this is getting boring so I'm going to sign off...later...
Okay, now for a real entry. I am absolutely freaking out over this wedding. I was strangely calm all day Monday, until a marathon 2-hour phone conversation with my mom. Then I freaked out. At 12:30 at night. In the middle of the bedroom, with my hair wet and wearing a bathrobe. I freaked. There is so much that still has to be done, including (not limited to):
Picking up the bridesmaid gifts and my engagement ring
Copying rehearsal dinner menus
Buying more favor bags and Jordan almonds to go in them
Making table number cards
Making table assignments for the guests
Buying a little purse to hold lipstick, etc.
Buying honeymoon clothes
Making maps from the church to the reception (I farmed this out to Mark)
Buying a cake cutter
Buying pew bows
Getting my car washed
Doing pew cards for parents
Buying a chair decoration for the bridal table
Buying plates, etc. for cake
But anyhow...I think this week will pretty much be a no-exercise week for me. I did kick ass last night...did 33 minutes of cardio followed by an intense 1-hour yoga session. I am really proud of myself, but it looks like that's going to be it until after the wedding.
Gotta go do some of that stuff on my list. Cross your fingers that I don't have a nervous breakdown.
Argh, the guest list has risen to 34 so I called back my baker and asked if there was any way she could make the cake bigger...the woman who answered didn't sound hopeful that it could be done but she is going to ask my contact there to call me back...Jesus, I hope it can be done. We've got a cake that feeds 30 and 34 people coming, not counting 2 babies. If it can't I guess I'll just contact Central Market down there and ask if they can do a groom's cake in chocolate...that way we'll at least end up with enough cake to go around.
I cannot believe how rude some people are. And we're not talking a little faux pas. We're talking BIG, horribly rude actions. I am speaking, of course, about my wedding, since these types of events seem to bring out the worst in people. No less than five people have either invited themselves or been invited by other invited guests. Yeah, you read right. My grandmother, who I love dearly, took it upon herself to invite her sister and her sister's son and her sister's son's girlfriend. Then I called my aunt last night, who told me she was bringing her sister-in-law, her son and her daughter-in-law. I don't even know any of these people, nor do I want to. This wedding is becoming less of a celebration of our marriage and more like an excuse for the family to get together...it makes me feel like crying. If any engaged people are reading this, just know now: Go to Vegas. It'll be easier. I sure wish we had.
But anyway...I didn't work out this entire weekend except Friday...on Saturday we went to San Antonio and then on Sunday I decided to go shopping because this would be the only "me" time I would have until after the wedding. I went to a place called Neiman Marcus Last Call, which is like a closeout place for Neiman Marcus stuff. They've got designer stuff there (we're talking Michael Kors, Miu Miu, etc.) for half the price. Which isn't a really good deal if you like clothes at rock-bottom prices, but I think $100 for a pair of real designer pants isn't a bad deal. I would have bought something, but I had to run to the mall and meet my aunt. I did end up buying some stuff at Foley's (they were having a great sale), and I plan to go back today and do some shopping for honeymoon clothes.
Haven't stepped on the scale yet, but not because I'm afraid to. Well, maybe a little. Mark and I got an early start on Saturday driving to SA...so we didn't have time to eat breakfast and ended up getting bacon egg & cheese biscuits and hash browns from the good old Golden Arches...but I was good at lunch, only had a grilled chicken sandwich (no fries) from Chick-Fil-A.
Boy this uninvited guest thing is really getting to me...I know I'm beating a dead horse but I can't help it. It bugs me. What makes these people think they can just invite people to the wedding? I think it's because most of them are assuming it's going to be a cake and punch reception in the parish hall...but this is going to be a sit-down dinner with a per-plate price...people can't just show up like it's a frat kegger. Argh.
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
