The Day: It Fast Approaches

Brad and I sat down last night with the unsurpassed Kelly Rivera, who is basically running the show at the Val Air for us (including a tasty cheese course to occupy our guests while we get our pictures taken). I’m am so thankful for Kelly and all she’s willing to do for us. Plus, our meeting forced me to get a lot of stuff down on paper that has been floating in my head.

We also finalized all our cake flavors this week. There will be 22 (count ‘em) layer cakes and one fabulous groom’s cake. And, yes, we are saving a piece of each flavor for us to eat over the honeymoon, thankyouverymuch.

With May starting tomorrow, I’m beginning to make lists of tasks to be accomplished by day (only 16 left!). On today’s list:

• Call the surprisingly few people who haven’t RSVP’d yet.
• Go to another dress fitting.
• Call Paul (our officiant) to see when we need to meet with him to finalize all the deets.
• Write some guest book instructions (it looks great, by the way!).
• Start writing the labels for the cheeses with a little bit of history and interesting bits of tid.
• Call my aunts and grandmas to thank them for all the surprise shower gifts!
• Make more lists including what snacks to buy/bring to the church for the day of, what I need to make sure I remember to bring (phone, lip gloss, program/invite for photographers to shoot, dropcloth, crochet hook–don’t ask).

One thing that’s not going so well: my sleep. If anyone thinks of it, I would really love some prayer that I can shut down the wedding-planning part of my brain at bedtime. I can’t run much longer on 5 hours of sleep a night! Also, Brad’s fighting some type of illness (not swine flu, I promise) that is sapping all his energy, so any prayer for his immediate recovery would be awesome.

image courtesy of redstamp.com

Five Non-Wedding Things I’m Thinking About

5. SO excited for the opening day of the Des Moines Farmer’s Market. I try to go every Saturday and now that Brad and I are even more obsessed with eating local, fresh, organic vegetables (and meats and dairy, but that’s more work), we’ll be there all summer long. Thank you, Marion Nestle. Also, thank you to the vendor that makes those great breakfast burritos–totally good for us, I’m sure.

4. There are sites that help you change your name. Like this one. And this one. I think I’ll just do it the old-fashioned way and schlep my way down to the Social Security office and driver’s license station. And then change it on every piece of mail that comes my way. Woohoo.

3. I’m getting a lot of spiritual food by reading Elisabeth Elliot’s daily devotionals. Thanks to Catherine for leading me her way.

2. I want to buy this to put at the end of our bed.

1. Newest blogs I’m into: The Pioneer Woman (I know, an oldie but a goodie), Creature Comforts, Break The Earth (always!), and Caffeinated Thoughts (with special thanks to Amanda Shuey for the introduction).

image courtesy of our glorious farmer’s market.

Found It: Shoes and Clutch

After much long searching and way  more time spent in Des Moines-area retailers than I would like, I think I’ve finally found my shoes and my clutch for the wedding. (And not a moment too soon–one of my last fittings is this Thursday!)

These are not my shoes. These are similar to my Nine West shoes. Mine have the same heel, but not as high. They’re more yellow than these, although they’re leather like these. And mine are peep-toes. Here’s hoping they’re not too high for my dress. If they are, I give up and I’m just wearing some gold shoes I already have. Verdict: I’m not a shopper.

My clutch was on sale at Banana Republic. It’s white leather and pretty classic, so I think it will go well with my dress.

image courtesy of Nine West

The Many Trails of My Mind

So many things to talk about this week (buckle up, kids, this is gonna be a long one).

First, congratulations to Jessie and Jonathan, who got engaged last Thursday! I’m so excited for them. Jonathan is a fantastic guy and I’m not just saying that because he likes to read as much as I do. He’s perfect for Jessie, always watching over her, caring for her, and being as willing to start an adventure as she is. And he’s totally getting a good thing, too. Maybe I’ll have to turn this blog into “the bride and her sister” after our wedding?

My amazing sister, Jill, and my mom hosted a bridal shower for me at my church last week. It was a blast. Jill and my friend Heidi sang “Going to the Chapel” for me and it made me cry. I love those girls, our memories, and all the fun things we’ll do in the future. But here’s the thing: Someone sent us a green teapot in the mail following the shower but it doesn’t have a name on it…eeek! Anyone want to claim it so I can send a thank you note?

I’ve been reading A Severe Mercy lately and read the chapter last night where his wife dies. (I’m not spoiling the story–it’s the premise of the book.) I wept and wept in my bed. The writing is so beautiful and honest and right now, as I’m about to make a public and sacred commitment to the man I love, it was wrenching. I told Brad last night that the one and only bad thing about getting married is that as our love grows stronger each day, the inevitable pain of losing one another also grows stronger. Brad, in his infinite wisdom and chill-edness, said God is good and He’s given us our whole lives together. I, in my infinite melodrama, had to stop myself from crying. But I read 2 Corinthians 4:7 yesterday (But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;) and have been thinking today about how any sorrow, any brokenness is from the Lord and it is a good thing. It is good because we, as earthen vessels, are weak and our weakness is shown. Only then can God’s full strength, power, and comfort take precedence the way it should. We are weak for God’s glory. I’d like to say I’m mature enough in my faith that that statement is enough for me. It’s not yet, but I prayed last night that it would be. And I’m so thankful to go on this and every other journey with a man who is my rock in the Lord. Brad’s quiet faith and strength astounds, impacts, and leads me every day.

I was in Chicago for three days last week. I stayed here. I ate dinner here. I made a mosaic frame here. I was there for this. I had my first taxi ride and I missed Brad most excruciatingly.

Less than three weeks!

Officially Almost Official: The Marriage License

This was fun.

image courtesy of Nate Becker, our best man, and Matt Strelecki, our enthusiastic tag-along.

Something Old, Something New…

For all the curious (hi, Mom!), here’s how I’ll be fulfilling the tradition.

Something Old: I’m sort of cheating on this one, because my purity ring from my parents is going to be my “something old” and my “something blue.” It’s meaningful enough to count twice.

Something New: My wedding dress!

Something Borrowed: Bestie Kaelin’s veil, which you can see here.

Something Blue: My sapphire purity ring.

And in case anyone else is wondering: No garter and absolutely no garter toss. Ew.

(Almost) One Month Out

I can’t believe how fast the last few weeks have gone. We have 33 days left until the wedding and I’m so excited I can hardly sit down to go over some details. But first, some updates. Bestie Kaelin is in Arizona right now. She’ll be bringing back her veil for me to wear. I’m so excited about that!

Last night, angel Kelly brought over some fabric, risers, and lots of cake plates to show me what our cake table could look like. Divine! I need to go buy some fabric in our colors for this.

I’m still looking for shoes and a clutch to complete my ensemble. I guess that means yet another trip to DSW tonight!

On Brad’s list: design wedding programs and other paper paraphernalia, come up with gifts for his groomsmen, help me make the card box (I’m not excited about using a box cutter on my own), be awesome.

image courtesy of Flickr user cokeisit7

Wedding Day Clutch

Here’s the one I want. It’s lambskin. It’s pleated. It has a gold detail. It’s super-sized so I can fit a mini emergency kit in it. And it’s also $126.75 (on sale!). Oh, the inhumanity!

You can start looking for me at Target and Kohl’s trying to drum up a look-alike.

In other news, I had my first dress fitting this last week. Bestie Rachel went along and contrived a magical, unconventional bustle. I love! Also (close your ears, Dad), slightly bigger boobs would be nice.

I want to point out all the people who have offered to help with the wedding (Aunt Chris, Aunt Lynn, Kelly, and Margie were this week’s volunteers). Thanks to all of you! I have to start making up stuff for all these volunteers to do…not a bad position to be in. And our biggest thanks goes to Kelly Rivera who will be our woman on the ground at the reception and is researching an amazing cheese course for our cocktail hour. LOVE HER. I’m so thankful for these people who are happy to take tasks that I consider a burden and just run with them.

image courtesy of dillard’s

Even More Shoes

Before I show you a few other shoes I found, I have one thing to say: I’m cheap. I’m cheap and I can’t believe the technology in strapless bras really makes them worth $42. That’s all.

Ok, I found some other non-yellow shoe options on this discounted shoe site, 6PM (thanks, Emily). And I used my totally mediocre Photoshop skills to combine the images so as to avoid the wonkiness of the last post.

1. These are my running favorites right now. I really like the leaf-type cut-outs and the color. It’s subtle, but still a little gold. Plus, these look pretty soft and comfortable and will also great with jeans. Because I’m totally buying wedding shoes I can wear every day. Buy: Caley by Report in off white. $37.44

2. That elastic back is a sign that these would be comfy. The semi-pointy toe, on the other hand, means my feet will be squished. As I discussed yesterday, I don’t choose pointy toed shoes for comfort.I do like the twisted detail on the front and the color. Buy: Candy by Steve Madden in gold leather. $37.44

3. I kind of love the scallop edge on these and they’re Clark’s, so I know they’d be comfortable. Except for that back edge. That looks hard and the last thing I want on my honeymoon (other than any number of intestinal issues or rashes) is a blistered Achilles tendon. Buy: Beverly by Clark’s in gold leather. $47.39

images courtesy of 6PM.com