WEDDING SHOWER RECAP

Holy crap you guys.
I had every intention of recapping this shower earlier this week but zomg, life. I don't even know what happened Monday, but Tuesday was our RSVP deadline and I went kind of crazy because OMG I JUST NEED THIS PART TO BE OVER. So I hammered out who was missing. In case you were wondering we had SEVENTY (7-0) outstanding RSVPs. blaaahhhhhh. So, I assigned M's mom to track down her people, M's dad his, my dad a few of his, and I took care of the rest. As of today we only have 9 or so outstanding, most of whom I think I know are "no's" but still waiting to hear. Everybody else? You get written off. Show up at the wedding and wonder why you have no meal or seat? ain't my problem anymore.

Then, last night, I got this message:

 

OMG is right. So, there went any hope at productivity. 

M and I ate fast, and hauled ass to downtown St. Paul, where we spotted them leaving the park. Unsure if he'd done it already, I dove behind a truck and M spun around and pretended to look at his phone. After sitting outside for 10 minutes trying to figure out whether he had, so as not to ruin the surprise, we figured out we were okay, and headed over to the Bulldog where we celebrated the newly engaged couple! 

So here I am.
Today was my last day at work. I left at noon, had an eye appointment, and am now feeling the beginning stages of a cold coming on (could've been my over caffienation this morning and lack of water, which I'm trying to fix) but I can't afford that regardless- I have a BACHELORETTE party to attend to Saturday! Mine. So frickin' weird, guys. It really hasn't hit me, I feel like this week has been such a whirlwind. I haven't even gone shopping for a dress. O_O. Granted, I'm not sure what we're doing. Maybe I can squeeze that in tomorrow. I have tomorrow off, and am hoping to knock out some serious wedding tasks.

Anyway, finally, my bridal shower!
My aunts and grandma threw it, and it was beautiful and perfect and I was SO overwhelmed with the gifts. I mean, I registered... I knew we would be getting things in theory, but I never quite got to the "actually receiving things" part. Even from people who couldn't make it to the party, which I totally didn't expect. I forgot my camera (WOMP) but my aunt sent me all these, and I jacked some from my friends' IGs.

(They got adorable burlap printed napkins, to fit in with our wedding theme. LOVE THEM. Got to take some home. :) )

 

(cousin Cally) 

 

(aunt Pam and I- we stay with her & my uncle in FL)

 

(L-R, aunt marie [threw us the couples shower!], godmother Carrie, cousin Steph, her mom Tammy]

 

(Mom took a little nap. ;-))

 

(L-R: M's mom, M's sister, bridesmaid Dana, Bridesmaid Molly, me, PA Leah)

 

(my ridiculously stylish grandma, and aunt) 

(holding up our bowls, I'm obsessed with the dishes. seriously.)

So there's that! I'm going to finalize our program design and hopefully print those off tomorrow! After that, putting meal choices/tables on escort cards, and finalizing tables, I'm DONE. I think. I have to consult the list. :) 

Anyway, how have you guys been.. out there in the real world? 

Kelly

Half marathon, wedding shower, birthdays, and more

Oofta. Labor day is already over!? How is it already September? 

This weekend was random, but peppered with fun events! 

Friday night, I got home from work and found M on the back deck shaking his head. He holds up his hand and I see it's wrapped up. Immediately I ask him wtf he did, and I was shown this: 

 

That'd be a fishing hook. In his hand. After a trip to urgent care, in which they didn't have the proper tools and had to slice it out of his hand, he was home. Disgruntled, and okay, but home. 

Saturday morning M and I got up bright and early to meet some other friends of mine to cheer on my bridesmaid, Dana, in her first half marathon in St. Paul. It was a beautiful morning to watch, and a bit cooler than it had been earlier int he week, and she did phenomenal!

 

 

Dana is a One Direction fan, so in a rare moment of creativity, I crafted up this (which made me laugh pretty hard): 

(above) law school ladies.
(below) Dana's parents flew up for the long weekend from Missouri

Dana's college friends, one of whom also ran the race: 

Saturday afternoon was traumatic, for me. I had went shopping to see if I couldn't find a last minute dress for our couples shower Saturday night. I came home empty handed, was walking out of the garage minding my own business, when BAM- it happened: I got stung by a F&#^@ BEE. I haven't been stung by a bee in probably 7-10 years, and I swear the older I get, the more of a baby I become for this type of pain. I screamed, and grabbed my right thigh, where it happened, and started to hobble/jog/whimper to the back door. M heard the commotion and met me in the kitchen, where I proceeded to lay down on the floor and SOB hysterically for about 30 minutes. We put some ice on it and Jess suggested I make a paste out of baking soda to help with pain, which I did, and which helped. But still, how freaking stupid. Who gets stung by a bee?!?! ugh. It's still sore today, since he got me right on the muscle. I hope that stupid little asshole died a slow and painful death afterwards.

Saturday night was our couples shower, which I was determined to bounce back from the bee sting and enjoy. There were 5 people who had said they'd come, and couldn't make it, so we had a slightly smaller turnout, but it was the perfect group. Everybody knew at least one other person it seemed like, so people could all mingle. My aunt and uncle just went over the top, per usual, and catered it in from Lunds & Byerly's. Their house is obscenely beautiful as well, and it was just a really fun night. 

FLOGGERS, and their husbands! I was so happy they could make it, and we definitely missed Lo. But she was at home with an almost-emergency with her puppy child, Apple. 

 
M and his best man, Brady.

Love these two. :)

 

My fabulous aunt and uncle. I can't thank them enough for hosting such a fabulous party! 

 

Sunday was Dana's birthday, so M and I headed over to her friend's apartment for tacos and drinks. We had planned to sit out by the pool, but the cooler weather kept us inside. 

D with her 1D birthday sash, naturally: 

Afterwards on Sunday, M and I went to help his sister set up her internet at her new apartment before she starts law school tomorrow.

Sunday night we were hanging out at the house, debating whether to play Guesstures with the cat (a game we were gifted Saturday night!) and killing time until Breaking Bad re-aired at 10:30 that night (we somehow spaced it was Sunday and new, so we missed it at 8:00) when my co-worker attorney/neighbor's wife facebooked us to ask if we were home, and invited us over for a bonfire! So, we happily grabbed some wine for the both of us, and made the quick walk down the alley to their house. We ended up sitting out back by the fire for 4 hours, chatting. It was an absolute blast!  So glad we did that instead of just sitting on our butts at home.

Monday so far has been super lazy. I got a frame from M's mom, and have plans to spray paint that in a bit.... but right now? I have a blanket on (DYING, I LOVE THIS) and there's a cool breeze coming in the window, and oh.. my favorite movie ever- the Negotiator, is on TV.

I have a few posts lined up this week about wedding stuffs, so stay tuned for that!  Hope you all had a fabulous long weekend!

Lake Shetek

This past weekend was a first for me- M and I headed to a cabin in Southwestern Minnesota. 

You see, most cabins are located north of the twin cities. 

But, when you're FROM Southwestern Minnesota, Lake Shetek is considered "north", if only by 40 minutes. 

M and I hit the road Friday for our 3 hour drive and met up with 3 other couples at the cabin. 

I have to make a confession- usually when we do 'cabin weekends' there are about 12-15 people, it's way more 'WOO-HOO, partayyyy!' and a lot more..rugged. We just spend more time outside (since the other cabin we typically go to is located a distance away from the water, but they also have a lot that adjoins the lake) and we just generally rough it a bit more. 

There were only 8 people here, we all split up meals to be in charge of, and it was less of a "party" weekend- although don't be mistaken, we certainly did our fair share of drinking.  It was definitely much more "my pace" and a good weekend away.

 

Friday night we played "Awkward Family Photos" the board game-which was hysterical. 

 

 Saturday M and I made breakfast for 8 people- which, when you only have 2 tiny pans for potatoes, don't really know your way around the kitchen, and have to make eggs in a pot, is a bit more high pressure... but we managed! 

After breakfast, we took the boat out for the remainder of the "nice" part of the day- the clouds rolled in so we headed back to shore for some yard games, plank-offs, people-benching, people-squatting.. you know, the usual.

Yes, that is blood on Keefe's leg. He cut himself trying to pick up giant boulders out of the lake for Pete's, whose cabin we were at, dad. #manstuff

After yard games, we whipped up a huge spread of appetizers. It started to sprinkle and we took things into the garage and played bags and chatted some more.

A full day of drinking, games, and eating wore us out, and we were all willfully retiring at 10:30 that night. Cool by me, I appreciate a solid 8 hours.

We hit the road early so I could hop back in the car and meet some law school friends in St. Cloud for lunch. It was a long day of driving but we were getting together so we could catch up with our friend Sammi who had just gotten engaged in Colorado a few days before!

And here we are, Tuesday. Oy.

Not much else to report. Well, I have some stuff in the pipeline but have no idea which way it'll fall. Mostly job stuff. I had an interview 5 and a half weeks ago and have heard nothing from them. I've followed up twice, and was told once that they were calling references soon and making a decision. Just called again 2 days ago and haven't heard back. So, despite the fact that it's my dream job I'm certainly not impressed.

Awkward sign off. Toodles.

weddings and birthdays: a weekend recap

This past weekend M and I had the wedding of my MOH's sister, Elizabeth. My family has known their whole family since before I was born, so it's always fun getting together and catching up, especially when their 6 kids are all back in the same spot- which is rare these days. This meant my MOH Tori was home for the first time in about 8 months, which I was also super jazzed about.

 

Friday night we headed over to their house after the rehearsal dinner for some post-party drinks. It was a lot of fun catching up with old neighbors, and meeting Tori's family. I was honestly surprised everybody was functioning Saturday when we saw them because holy cow were they going hard Friday night. There was moonshine being passed around, lots of beer and wine, and shots of tequila.

 

One person in particular who did not hold back, who maayyybeee should've, was the priest. This is of note because it's the same priest who is performing our ceremony. He had SUCH a good time, Tori's dad had to cut him off at 11:00 and walk him home. O_O. So, M and I decided since we're having a late rehearsal dinner anyway (7:30, while theirs ended at 7:30) we'll not be having an after party to make sure everyone is functioning. I'm not uptight about people getting hammered at the wedding, but I need everyone to MAKE it to the wedding, and look respectable.

 

Onto some photos!

 

The wedding was SO beautiful.
There were so many similarities to ours (their prelude song is the song I'm walking down the aisle too, our readings were IDENTICAL, and some other things) that I was a hot weepy mess. I nearly lost it during the PRELUDE music for gosh sake.

Elizabeth was also a DIY bride after my own heart.
Her sister Catherine made all the paper products (programs, escort cards, etc.), and their aunts made ALL the floral arrangements. They only spent about $400 at the farmer's market on Thursday and then pulled greenery from Elizabeth's parents' backyard (GENIUS) to fill them out some more. They also had these awesome foam ball holders that they built the bouquets around (that I was super impressed with, and purchased some of my own yesterday!).

Each table represented a city they visited together.
M and I could do something like this, but it'd be a smattering of random Minneapolis suburbs. Besides Naples, FL and Malta we haven't been a lot of noteworthy places together. We're working on it though :)

my dad and brother

my brother and Tori's brother, who have also been really good friends since birth

Father of the bride

co-MOH's and the bride, note the ridiculously huge and beautiful flowers.

My MOH and I :)
 

Sunday M and I had my cousin Mitch's 3rd birthday party. He wanted a garbage truck cake, so my ridiculously talented aunt obliged. (Those are crushed up blonde and normal Oreos, gummy worms and bottles, and jus ta few shreds of newspaper. Hilarious.)

 

I love this shot.. while Marie was getting ready to cut the cake, Mitch kept dipping one finger into the corner very sneakily.

Here he is being a true Minnesotan with his "cake on a stick."

This one is also hilarious, it was called the "too much ice cream, too cold, brain freeze" face. haha.

Help from his cousin's opening his gifts.

Overall it was a great weekend! I loved getting to talk to some old neighbors for quite a while at the wedding, loved getting to see my family, and got some VERY big wedding items taken care of this weekend.

Stay tuned tomorrow for that, as well as a rant on "cabins." #emoforeshadowing