A Little Laudacious

How I Became a Mommy- Birth Story: Part 4

2011-12-09T10:08:00.001-05:00

With time to talk over our final concerns with each other, J and I decided to follow our gut. Our baby would be delivered via c-section. I knew deep down that no matter what I did to move around, change positions, etc. that this baby was not going to come out the traditional way. I did not want to risk putting baby's safety in jeopardy or cause it any more distress and then have to do an emergency c-section sometime in the middle of the night. I felt in my gut that I had played the waiting game long enough, and something was telling me that it was in God's plan to bring this baby into the world by c-section. When I told J my feelings on it, he agreed.

Moments later, Michelle came back into the room and I said "I think we're gonna do it." She smiled, asked if I was really sure and then said "okay! Let's get this baby out!" The next hour or so went by quickly. J went out to the waiting room to tell our parents and my sister that I would be having a c-section. Michelle prepped the area as best she could in my room, gave me a sexy blue hair cap and sent J to change into his scrubs. I remember laughing when he came out of the bathroom with pants, shoe covers, a cap and no top! She had handed him two pairs of pants! As promised, she got him ready for kangaroo care (skin-to-skin contact right after birth) with two gowns- the bottom layer opened in the front and the top layer opened in the back. She had him put the camera in his pocket and then we were all set!

J and I ready to go

We waited for the team to finish up another delivery in the OR before it was my turn. My parents and sister had one last chance to come back to my room to give us one last kiss and hug before the delivery team took over. I was wheeled down the hall and around the corner. I remember feeling such anticipation, and the "this is it!" feeling that I thought I'd feel at home when my water broke and it was time to go to the hospital. Turns out I could still have the excitement, just in a different form. Love how things work out that way sometimes.

I arrived in the OR and was blinded by the bright lights! I remember being amazed at all of the gear in that tiny room. There was a lot to look at- shelves of equipment everywhere, machines for which use I had not a clue, etc. I remember spotting the big clock on the wall and thinking "that's what they'll look at to tell me what time the baby is born!" J had to wait outside with our families for a while as they got me ready for surgery. I was moved onto the operating table and the anesthesiologists got to work. They upped the epidural and hung that annoying blue drape in front of me. I was surprised that the drape actually gets taped to your belly! The one lady kept poking my belly and then my arm asking if I could feel the poke on my belly. I felt a sensation, but not as much as the one on my arm. Guess that means the epi was turned up enough. She poked around my shoulder area, put my arms out to the side, propped my head on a pillow making sure I was comfortable, and put the oxygen tubes in my nose. At that point I just had to wait for the "man behind the curtain" to do his final preparations, so I laid there staring at the bright lights and listening to the LOUD country music station that they had on the radio. Then it was time to call J into the room.

Already looking puffy and rosy cheeked from the Pitocin and fluids. HOT.

J came in and I got very anxious (but in a good way) because the big moment was fast approaching. He sat at a chair by my left shoulder and rubbed my left arm and shoulders as we waited. He asked if I was okay and we talked for just a minute. I could hear the excitement in his voice when Michelle said "okay, Dad, do you have your camera ready?" I couldn't believe things were moving so fast! I heard the physician's assistant say "Oh, they don't know what it is?" and the excitement was building... They told me I might feel some tugging, but I felt nothing at all. Suddenly the P.A. exclaimed "IT'S A BOY!!!" and at 10:26 pm, just one hour and 34 minutes before my own birthday, the sweetest sound I've ever heard came into the OR canceling out all other sounds in that room. My son's first cry. A boy. Strong thoughts suddenly made me realize that I somehow knew it was a boy all along... I have a son, I thought. A baby boy. I couldn't see what was happening next, but they held the baby up and over the drape a little so I could see him. I saw this little hand, then an arm and the right side of his face. I'll never forget the site of that- his tiny face, that little hand, the crease in his chubby little wrists... They took him over to the warmer to clean him up. I laid there listening to everything going on around me and said out loud "Aww..." as I heard him crying. A wave of emotions came over me, and I started to cry. I was so happy that everything went smoothly, that he was healthy and here! His cries came quickly and loudly after he came out; the meconium didn't appear to be an issue at all! I listened to him cry, and could hear J saying to the nurses "he's so big! I can't believe how big he is!"

They asked J if he wanted to cut the cord and he said yes (he didn't think he'd want to before he saw him). I heard them giving him instructions, and J just kept saying "Hi buddy" and "I can't believe how big he is!" I started to wonder "geez, how big IS he?!" At one point J even said "it's like on TV how they deliver a newborn but it's like a 3 month old baby." haha

The nurses finished cleaning him up, and put him on the scale...

9 pounds 6.2 ounces! The nurses said "good decision on the c, Mom!" Doubt there was any way a 9 pound baby would have come out otherwise. Michelle took the camera from J, and handed him his son...

Our little guy snuggled up to his daddy, and mommy watched over them admiring her two boys...

My favorite picture ever...

The doctors worked to close me up, and had to ask J to leave the room as they were almost done. J went out to spread the good news, and I laid there listening to more country music. The lineup that night: "I Love You This Big" by Scotty McCreary at the moment of his birth, "Back to December" by Taylor Swift, "Don't Even Know His Last Name" by Carrie Underwood, and "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" by Kenny Chesney. Classic. Michelle put a diaper on our little boy who was yet to be unnamed. (I told J and the P.A. that kept asking that I wanted to hold him and get a good look at him before we officially chose his name). They laid him in the bassinet as they transferred me back to a hospital bed. This moment was hilarious to me. Due to the awesome epidural, I couldn't move at all when they asked me to scooch over. I said that I couldn't because I had no feeling in my legs. (In my head now I'm picturing that scene in Can't Hardly Wait. I can't feel my legs...I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!" Anyone?). So, in true transporting-a-sea-mammal style, three nurses lifted up the blanket I was laying on, and scooped me up and over to the bed.

Michelle said goodbye to me and wished us luck. I thanked her for everything she did for us, and then for the first time, they placed my baby boy in my arms and wheeled us off to the recovery room as I said "Hello. I'm your mommy and I love you..." J met us in the recovery room where we spent some quiet time together as a family trying to get baby to latch on (a story for another day...). We held him, started to fall in love with him, and decided to name him Julian Finlay (nickname Finn). J confessed to me "I wanted a boy. I didn't realize how much until he was born," and I knew that in my heart I knew it was meant to be for I wanted him too...

The End of our birth story. The beginning of many adventures to come. Thanks for reading.

In case you missed it:
How I Became a Mommy- Birth Story: Part 1
How I Became a Mommy- Birth Story: Part 2
How I Became a Mommy- Birth Story: Part 3

How I Became a Mommy- Birth Story: Part 3

2011-11-21T13:38:00.000-05:00

After what seemed like the longest hour of my life, the team of anesthesiologists finally arrived in my room to give me the epidural. I was so relieved to see them that I didn't have time to be nervous about getting the epidural at all. My threshold for pain was just about at it's maximum and I was having a hard time focusing. I read somewhere that to manage the pain during labor, you're mentally supposed to let each contraction be in the past after it is done, and just try to focus on one at a time. I did not have the mental clarity to think this way at the time, and just knew I needed relief. The contractions were too intense and coming too quickly to be able to clear my head in between them. So it was decided. Epi it was. No natural child birth for me and this baby.

Nurse Sarah helped me to the edge of the bed- no easy effort when you feel like a whale, are gushing amniotic fluid, and your uterus is cramping/contracting every 20 seconds. I could barely brace myself enough to maneuver into position. I dangled my legs off the side of the bed and Sarah handed me a pillow to put in my lap. She stood across from me and held my hands. She would speak to me to let me when a contraction was coming or almost done, and otherwise just stayed very quiet with me and let me squeeze the crap out of her hands. I remember thinking that it was taking the anesthesiologists FOREVER to set up, clean the site, etc. They were explaining each step to me and I really could not have cared less what they were doing as long as it was in and the pain was gone. The one guy was very chatty and was talking to his co-worker about his kid's softball team. This was the point that I wanted to scream out loud "SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!" It was hard enough to focus and this dude was just carrying on about all kinds of nonsense. At one point I remember him asking me if I had history of scoliosis. I was beyond irritated with him and couldn't muster up enough breath or energy, so I ignored him. I looked at Sarah and I'm sure she was able to read my expression so she said "she's in the middle of a contraction. Give her a minute." I finally just shook my head no and prayed that he would hurry up. He finally told me that I'd feel a little bee sting as the local anesthetic went in, and then some tugging as they inserted the catheter. I felt the sting but it was nothing compared to the pain of the contractions. Moments later he said "okay, it's in. You might feel one more contraction and then some relief." He was right. The last contraction passed and then the clouds parted, the sunlight streamed in and the angels sang "Hallelujah!" It was the sweetest relief ever, and I have ZERO regrets about asking for the epidural.

The team left my room and Sarah helped me get comfortable. J came back into the room to find a whole new wife. I felt great! I could see the contractions on the monitor but felt nothing. It was glorious! My parents and sister stopped in for a bit, followed by Jeff's sister and two nieces. I didn't feel like sleeping much so we just hung out for awhile. Sarah came back after awhile to do another exam. Again- felt nothing. I hadn't dilated any more so we just waited.

I think it was about three hours later when a nurse came in to check me again. I hadn't progressed since I got the epidural and the contractions were slowing down. The baby's heart rate was fine as it had been all day, but essentially my contractions had fallen off the labor curve. Not a good sign... Since they had turned off the Pitocin hours earlier, the nurse called my OB who recommended that they hook it back up again to try to move things along a bit to see what happened. I remember the nurse mentioning that the doctor had mentioned potentially needing to do a c-section if this didn't work. We talked through our options and decided to try it. The nurse turned on the drip and within about 20 minutes I was feeling VERY queasy. I threw up a couple of times and felt pretty sick, but still didn't feel contractions. I sent Jeff down to get some dinner because we knew it would probably be awhile before anything happened.

At some point around this time, 6 pm in the evening or so, there was a change in shifts and a new nurse named Michelle came on duty. She didn't really introduce herself like the others had, just sort of appeared. For some reason she made me a little nervous. She was in the room talking with me at one point and suddenly the baby's heart rate dropped a bit and some scary beeping sound was coming from the monitors. Michelle put the oxygen mask on me and I took some deep breaths. After the heart rate went back up, and things looked okay she left me alone in the room for a little while to let the Pitocin do it's work. I was pretty scared about the heart rate dropping and began to get pretty nervous. I had just reached for a cup and was vomiting when an OB that I had not yet met came into my room to introduce herself. She saw I was sick and said she'd come back. A little while later my parents stopped back in to see me and same thing- cup in hand, puking, dry heaving, something unpleasant. They walked back out to give me some privacy. The OB came back in, apologized for meeting me for the first time during such a moment, and examined me, and announced "it feels like you're about 4 cm. and the cervix is hardening a little."What? I thought it was supposed to be softening, not hardening. And a FOUR?! What happened to my almost 6? It had been hours! I've gone BACKWARDS? How can that happen? The doctor informed me that most likely the baby's head was bearing down against my cervix with every contraction, and that the head was probably too big to fit and was thus causing my cervix to swell and close. She told me that she recommended a c-section. And there it was... The exact statement I had been dreading...

The OB left the room, and I was alone with Nurse Michelle. She began to ask me questions and wanted to know what I was nervous about. I answered her a little hesitantly because I got the sense that I was being judged and written off as a pain in the ass. I started to open up to her about my concerns. They had seen some meconium staining. Will the baby be in more danger if it doesn't have a chance to go down the birth canal to squeeze the fluid out of it's chest and lungs? And breastfeeding?! If they can't put the baby directly on my chest when it's born, it won't have a chance to find it's way to the breast to eat and regulate it's blood sugar and all of the other good stuff that comes along with skin-to-skin contact directly after birth. Would I have to have all of my future children this way too? Did I really NEED a c-section or did this doctor just want to get things over with and go home for the night? We talked through a lot of this and I came to find out that Michelle had a baby just five months earlier via c-section after 50 some hours of labor. She said she wanted to hold out as long as she could and make sure she did everything she could before consenting to the c-section. She told me about her experience and said "Amy, this is your decision, not theirs. Do not let them pressure you into it. Make the decision on your own and do what you feel is right." It was then, that I realized she was on my side and that I was very, very lucky that she was on duty as my nurse. She really "got it."

Jeff came back from dinner and we gave him the recap of what the OB said and talked with Michelle for a long while about the pros and cons of having the c-section. Jeff wanted to know why Michelle personally had held out so long and what the risks were for me having it, and what they were if I didn't have it. As we talked, the Pitocin kept dripping away, and my contractions were still very weak. It wasn't working. The OB came in to check on us again, and the anesthesiologist came in to prep me for a c-section. Michelle quickly said "she hasn't decided if that's what she wants. We will let you know if we need you." She was like our own personal bouncer. Jeff and I ultimately came to the conclusion that if we agreed to do a c-section now, that we had to be at peace with the possibility that any future babies most likely would have to be delivered that way too. I know it is possible to do a VBAC, but feel that the chances are slim. I told Jeff that I just had a feeling that this baby was supposed to be born by c-section. We sat there quietly and discussed it for awhile (in between my dry heaves) and kept debating the pros and cons.

Michelle came back in the room soon, and we talked with her a bit more. She had been talking it over with some other nurses, and said my other option was to keep trying the Pitocin and just wait it out, changing positions very frequently, moving around as much as I could in that bed. She kept reminding me that it was my decision to make, and shared some more about the experience that she had just months before. She agreed to go find out what time my OB was back on the schedule, so that if we did decide to deliver via c-section that she was the one to do it. We waited for Michelle to come back, and it was while she was gone that we finally came to a decision...

In case you missed it:

How I Became a Mommy- Birth Story: Part 1

How I Became a Mommy- Birth Story: Part 2

2011-10-25T21:28:00.001-04:00

After a quick drive from the restaurant where I had my last pregnant lady meal, we arrived at the hospital in the rain. J and I grabbed the bags and walked into the main doors of the hospital. On our tour, they told us to come in the emergency entrance and pick up the "Stork Line" phone to call the birthing center and let them know we were there. We weren't sure what to do since it was a planned appointment for induction, so we just went in the emergency room doors and were greeted by a security guard. He showed us the phone and quickly offered me a wheelchair; I don't think he realized I wasn't actually in labor!

After announcing our arrival on the "Stork Line" and making our way through the hospital we arrived in the birthing center at about 5:30 pm. I was late for the 5:00 pm appointment, but figured it didn't really matter because the baby would come out one way or the other even if we were late. We waited for about 15 minutes before being escorted down the hall to Room 9. It was surreal walking in and seeing the little warmer in the corner thinking our little one would be born in this room! We got settled, I changed into my own pajamas to be as comfortable as possible that night, and then we waited for the nurse to come in for the initial exam. She checked me out and confirmed that I was still 0 cm. dilated. Sigh. It was going to be a long night...

The induction got started. I was strapped up to the he monitors and the nurse put the Cervidil in place. The monitors showed that I was having some contractions that I couldn't feel too much, and the nurse said they were about 3 minutes long. Because they were most likely due to mild dehydration, they gave me a bag of IV fluids. At this point there wasn't much to be done since the Cervidil had to stay in place for 12 hours unless active labor came during that timeframe. J hung out with me for awhile, and my parents stopped in for a visit. I ate my little bag of pretzels with peanut butter and sipped on some water. I did not want to have to get up to use the restroom since it meant unhooking the monitors and dragging the IV pole in there with me, so I stayed put and watched some tv before sending J home to get some rest. I'd like to say I slept well that night to save up some rest, but I was much too anxious. I kept listening to the baby's heartbeat on the monitor, the sounds in the corridors, and the thunderstorm outside. Worst of it all was that everytime I rolled over due to a leg or hip cramp, the monitor would move and the nurse would have to come in to readjust the straps. I must have slept about 1.5 hours total in between episodes of the Real Housewives of New Jersey. It all seems a blur now, but it was a very long, tiring night.

The sun came up and my nurse came in to say good morning. After an exam to see if the Cervidil had done it's job, she said "well, you're still at 0 cm." The good news is that I was having regular contractions on the monitor. I still couldn't really feel them but she could tell that something was going on so I was a little hopeful. She gave me exactly 30 minutes to shower, change into a gown and get back in bed before the Pitocin started. I got ready and snuck a granola bar for breakfast. I knew it would be a long day and I didn't think a liquid diet was a huge deal since I was still at 0 and would have plenty of time to digest it. What a rebel, huh? Nurse Lauren wished me luck and introduced Nurse Sarah who would be with me on the day shift, and hopefully for the birth of our baby!

J arrived for the day looking excited and nervous. I filled him in on the lack of activity overnight and we waited for the show to begin. After I got settled they started the Pitocin and explained that they would increase it slowly in increments of two to see how I would respond. We got started at about 7:15 AM, as I sat and waited to feel the contractions come on. Around 8:45 AM my OB arrived, and did another exam. She was excited by the progress on the monitors and said "I think you were ready to go. This baby just needed a little nudge." She told me that I had dilated to about 1.5 cm. and that she was going to break my water to speed things up. It surprised me when she said this and the gravity of the moment didn't really hit me until later. Once she broke my water there was no turning back. I'd be leaving this hospital with my baby in my arms! I remember the gush and looking at J after the doctor left the room. It all seemed so surreal... I got a little nervous because they saw some light meconium staining and at first weren't even sure if that's what it was. The OB said she wouldn't be surprised given that I was a week overdue, but it didn't seem bad. Some more contractions and fluid confirmed it, and I was told that they'd need to carefully suction out the baby's mouth when he/she was born in case of any ingestion. Sarah told me that some babies inhale before that first cry which can make things worse, and in some cases would need to be monitored in the NICU if anything got into the lungs. I hoped for the best and tried not to worry about this. My OB talked to me about pain management and told me to speak up when things got intene, because Pitocin is known to create some aggressive contractions. She left and told me she'd see me later.

Over the next two hours things really picked up. I started to feel the contractions getting stronger and stronger. I was talking with J and watching tv. J called my parents to tell them that the OB had broken my water and that I was having contractions now. I was able to manage them laying in bed for awhile, but was getting uncomfortable. Each contraction would cause another gush of fluid. I remember wondering how much could possibly be left in there and also wondering how some women say they didn't notice their water breaking. To me it is a completely different sensation than peeing your pants and there is no possible way to confuse the two! Soon the contractions became a lot more aggressive. J helped me get out of bed and unhook the monitors for a minute so I could walk around the room a bit dragging my IV pole behind me. The first contraction that hit after I got out of bed showed me that this wasn't going to be easy. I pretty much had to stay at bedside if I didn't want to leave a trail of amniotic fluid all over my hospital room. I made one last attempt at getting into the bathroom when I realized that my mucous plug had come out (ew!). I knew I was dilating even more and that things were working.

Sarah helped me onto the birthing ball after cleaning up the messy trails I was leaving around the room, and I spent the next hour or so rocking and swaying my hips through each contraction. The contractions were becoming stronger to the point that I didn't want to talk very much and just had to focus. J sat in the corner and waited for me to ask him for help. He busied himself by playing on his iPhone and taking pictures on my camera. I hooked up my iPod and started the hypnobabies track and just tried to focus on that instead of the pain. Hypnobabies was like magic; I was able to tune everything out for awhile and really manage the contractions for awhile. And then I felt a sensation I hadn't felt since the first trimester and yelled "hand me that cup!" Enter nausea...

On the birthing ball, puke cup in hand. Glamorous.

Sometime later, I was back in bed trying not to puke. Contractions were coming much stronger and closer now. I really didn't have much time to warm up to this whole labor thing like I pictured. I thought I'd be spending time at home managing the small contractions before it was time to go to the hospital. I had to face them head on in Room 9 at that hospital. It had only been about 2 hours and I went from no pain to very intense pain in that small window of time. My parents arrived and came back to the room to see how things were going. J and my mom were sitting on one side of the room hanging out, and my dad was in the armchair on the other side of the room. I think my dad was nervous and uncomfortable seeing me in pain, and kept asking questions about the monitors beeping, what the birthing ball was for, etc. I recall that as much as I wanted my parents to be there, I really just wanted everything to be totally quiet and not have to talk to anyone or be distracted. I couldn't really talk much at this point and was trying to get back into my Hypnobabies trance, but was in a lot of pain. I couldn't focus knowing that there were people in the room just staring at me even when I had my eyes closed. J could sense that I was uncomfortable, and was about to speak up when I was able to muster "Mom, I think you guys need to leave." They kissed me and left me to relax.

The nurse came in a little while later to check things out and asked if I had thrown up. I told her I almost did and that had I eaten something probably would have. She said "I'll bet your five. Most women start throwing up around five." They told me that they were going to check things out again, and I remember this exam being verrrrrry uncomfortable. My contractions were about 2 minutes long with maybe 30 seconds between them and I was in pain. She couldn't quite reach my cervix to tell, but thought I was about 5 and 1/2 to 6 cm. I'd gone from 0 to 5 1/2 in just about 3 hours. Because of the intensity of the contractions at that point, they turned off the Pitocin since I was progressing pretty well. She told me to try to relax, but the pain was intense. In my mind, I knew that a natural child birth was out of the question for me once that drip got started due to the instensity of the contractions it is known to cause. I made it a goal to get to 5-6 cm. before getting an epidural, so when I heard her say that I was only at 5 1/2 and not the 8 or 9 that I felt I should be given how strong and fast these contractions were I asked for the epidural. I didn't want to get it any sooner than 5 cm. for risk of stalling labor so to me "almost 6" was good enough. She asked if I was sure and I said yes. I knew without a doubt that there was no way I'd make it to ten cm. without one...

Nurse Sarah went off to order the epi and another nurse that was helping out on the busy floor that day told me they were finishing up one now and then had to do a c-section first, and would come to me as soon as they could.. The next hour or so was a blur of pain. Every second felt like minutes. J didn't know what to do since not much could comfort me, so we just waited there together quietly until the team of anesthesiologists wheeled in the big old epi cart and Sarah asked J to leave the room...

2011-10-12T17:04:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe that our little boy is already 8 weeks old. You hear everyone say "enjoy them while they're little. It goes by fast" and know they're right, but have no idea how much so until you see it before your very eyes. I am enjoying every day with our wee one and am loving this mommy thing! Before time gets away from me, I wanted to reflect on those last days of pregnancy and the adventures of bringing this baby into the world. Our birth story was not exactly what I pictured it would be like, but it is ours and perfect in it's own way. Here goes...

My due date was Monday, August 8th. I tried to work as long as I could up to the due date. I started to get the stares from co-workers and the comments like "you're STILL here?" when I would show up for work every morning, and it started to wear on me. I finally got the okay to work from home for week 39 of my pregnancy, but wasn't getting much done because I just could not focus. I had an OB appointment on the 2nd, and my doctor said I was slightly effaced, but not dilated a single bit. She did say that the baby's head was "right there" and that the late ultrasounds I had were probably right- this was going to be a big baby. Because of the size (they estimated baby was 8 lbs. 10 oz. at almost 39 weeks), she talked to me about the need to schedule an induction. This was a topic I really wanted to avoid, but due to some minor complications I had during pregnancy I knew that an induction would probably be likely. The doctor took a look at the calendar, her on call schedule, and went to her office to call the hospital. She came back in the room and announced "August 10th at 5:00 pm. Unless baby comes before that, we'll see you at the hospital at that time." She was hopeful that things would change over the course of the next few days and told me to stay at home and take it easy.

I went home and sent out a few final e-mails, activating the official "out of office" notice. I got busy nesting. I cleaned each nook and cranny of this house, and then cleaned them again. I finished up some projects that had been on my to do list for awhile, and even did some leftover wedding scrapbooking from our wedding almost 3 years ago! I was ready for the 8th and for this baby to come. I went for long walks every morning while the August temps weren't TOO bad, and caught up on the DVR. J and I went out for what we thought might be our last weekend dinner out as a twosome, and just enjoyed the quiet before the storm.

Monday, August 8th came and went. I woke up that morning and thought "well, baby will either be born on it's due date or officially late." I had been having some minor crampinng and tightening across my belly, but wondered if it was just Braxton-Hicks contractions and nothing to speak of. I waited for some new sensations to come over me, got excited with each trip to the potty that a sign of my mucous plug would indicate some dilation, etc. But as you may have guessed... nothing.

I started to really get nervous that week about the possibility of an induction. I heard lots of things about Pitocin making contractions unbearable, complicating breastfeeding, and leading to a higher chance of c-sections in the case of a failed induction. Each day that week I woke up in the morning feeling a little disappointed that nothing had happened overnight. I was getting more and more worried when baby wasn't showing any signs of showing up and that probably didn't help things. I felt as though scheduling an induction for 2 days after the due date wasn't giving Baby enough chance to come on his/her own, and felt that he/she would show up when it was "time." Aren't due dates just a best guess anyway?! I ended up calling the doctor and telling them that I would need to schedule another weekly appointment because I wanted to give the baby another week, and that I did not plan on showing up for the induction on the 10th. I was met with a bit of resistance from the nurse who answered the phone, but I didn't care. It's my body, my baby and my decision and something was telling me to wait.

I had an OB appointment the next morning and happily climbed up onto the table expecting my doctor to tell me that I was at least 1 cm. dilated. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. My doctor told me I was still at zero, and we talked about my wanting to hold off on the induction. What I learned that day was that she would have to induce me no later than the start of my 41 week mark. Because of the complications I was having, it was safer to induce me than to leave the baby in there- not to mention this baby was just going to keep growing. I really wanted to try for a normal delivery, and that probably wouldn't be possible if the baby got much bigger. So, I left the office with a new induction date, Sunday, 8/14, with my doctor and I hoping that baby would come well before that.

That is when the days started running together and my life started to feel a bit like "Groundhog Day." I continued my walks around the neighborhood, drank my red raspberry leaf tea, and watched a lot of crappy daytime tv. I'd go to bed hoping to feel something overnight, and wake up in the morning only to start the cycle over again. By Friday, I had it. I got in the shower that morning and cried my eyes out in frustration. I just had a feeling that the baby wasn't going to show up before Sunday, and that an induction (and likely a c-section) might be in the cards for me. I let that idea sink in a bit, and tried to make peace with the possibility deciding that maybe it was meant to be. I tried to let go of the disappointment I felt that I wouldn't be able to call my husband at work or wake him up to tell him "it's time." I wouldn't have to use those towels or extra pair of shorts I had put in the car on the 4th of July in case my water broke while I was out somewhere. There would be no calls to my parents telling them to hurry up and pack the car, and I wouldn't feel those twinges of pain across my belly realizing that I might actually be in labor. I figured if baby was to come on his/her own, than so it would be and if not I'd just pack my bag and show up on Sunday.

Saturday came and went...Nothing.

Sunday morning I woke up, got showered and dressed for the day, went to one last breakfast out at my favorite little creperie, and came home to pack up the car. Later that afternoon, my parents pulled in the driveway (a perk to scheduling an induction is that out of town relatives have plenty of time to get here), and we reviewed a few housekeeping items before heading out the door to grab one last bite to eat before it was time. After a quick bowl of soup at the restaurant, J and I got in the car and were on our way to Fairview Hospital. It was official - I would not go into labor on my own but the joy and anticipation that I would soon meet this little baby inside me was all I could feel...

The day our lives changed forever...

2011-09-14T11:36:00.000-04:00

Our little bundle of joy has arrived! Julian Finlay was born on Monday, 8/15 at 10:26 p.m. 19.5 inches long and 9 lbs. 6.2 oz.

We have survived the first month of parenthood and live to tell the tale. Now that our little one is starting to take better naps, I finally had a chance to post! More to come on the birth story, and our adventures so far...

We love him to pieces. This mommy stuff is amazing.

Respect the Bump

2011-08-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are at just 5 days until baby is due to arrive. I am officially on disability from work now and am relaxing at home - the calm before the storm. But a happy summer thunderstorm- the kind we like. I am using the time to catch up on some organizing and little projects that I probably won't have much time for after our wee one arrives, and just reflecting on my first pregnancy so far. I really can't complain, and think I have said before that I'm one of those women that enjoys being pregnant.

J and I got some photos taken in late June to commemorate the baby bump. Not sure we'd do this for all pregnancies, but we thought we should respect the bump and get some documentation of it's presence these past few months. :) The lovely Genevieve Nisly set up our gallery for us just yesterday. Here are our favorites from the shoot:

What do you think? It is hard to believe that my belly has gotten even bigger since then! Respect the bump, people.

We had the photoshoot at our home and in the historic area of our town too. Genevieve will be coming back in the wee bean's early days to do a newborn shoot. I think it will be fun to see some very similar shots but with baby on the outside of my belly and growing up through the years in some of these same spots.

I plan to spend the rest of my time in between walks around the neighborhood just chillin', eating eggplant, pineapple and thai food and drinking some red raspberry leaf tea. Come on, Baby! It won't be long... Wish us luck for a smooth delivery!

38

2011-07-25T21:26:00.001-04:00

My view of a belly at 38 weeks. Almost showtime!

Officially full term and only 2 weeks shy of The Due Date. Trying hard to be patient, and enjoy these last few weeks (days?!) of pregnancy and the anticipation of the adventures of parenthood to come. Yes, It's hot outside. Yes, my belly is big and it bumps into things. Yes, I get cramps in my hips and legs while sleeping and have to constantly rearrange myself and a pile of pillows too many times each night. Despite all of these things, I'm enjoying these moments in between. We cannot wait to meet our little one and while I'm feeling major ants in my pants and have the looming question of "WHEN?!" running through my mind, I'm in a good place. I know that baby will come on the day meant to be his/her Birth Day and that it's all part of a plan bigger than any of us. This post is just to say that I am thankful that I've made it through 38 weeks in good health and only a few issues that I've been able to manage pretty well. (And we could use a few more days to pick out your name, Little One, so no pressure to come out this week.). :)

Spoiled Already

2011-07-18T20:05:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, my parents threw our wee one a baby shower in Pittsburgh (my hometown). Because it is summer and we already had the frou frou bridal shower a few years ago, J and I just wanted to hang out with our friends and family and enjoy their company cookout style. We didn't want a big fuss- just a fun day for all of our friends (male and female, adult and child) to come hang out with us before the baby makes his/her debut.

My parents worked hard for WEEKS cleaning the house, tidying up the yard, and making preparations for their third grandchild's shower. They even had some work done on the house just in time for the shower- new floors, painted half of their first floor, got a new deck, etc. It wasn't all for the shower, but we'll tell baby it was. haha

My mom set up a cute little buffet. On the menu: yummy chicken, salad, cheesy potatoes, mini sandwiches, and even eggplant rollatini from our wedding venue. Very casual and delicious!

For dessert, brightly colored cupcakes and cookies and some of that awesome jello pretzel salad- have you ever tried it? Yum. Wish I had some right now.

Decor was minimal, but we did set out a photo matte with baby's first ultrasound photo for our guests to sign and surrounded it with baby photos of J and I.

After dinner, we opened up all of baby's gifts.

It was nice to have J up there to help me, as my lap seems to have gotten smaller over the past few months and I was having a hard time hanging on to the bigger boxes!

Baby is already spoiled and got so many great things from our generous friends and fam!

After we opened gifts, we just hung out and enjoyed the hot summer evening.

From left to right, my younger sister, mom, soon-to-be mommy Laudacious, and my sister-in-law

One of my lifelong friends with her husband, cutie pie baby girl and I

My besties from forever ago. Some of these girls I've known since elementary school

Of particular excitement was being able to introduce my baby bump to the baby bump of my dear friend from 3rd grade. She is expecting her third just a week before me! She is my favorite because I can call her up or e-mail her after experiencing a weird pregnancy symptom and ask "is this normal?" Everyone needs a friend like this during pregnancy. Love you, Kate!

My bump appears bigger and I think it's because she's got a good 6" of height on me and more room to spread out that belly!

Another friend from high school is about a trimester behind me. Her baby bump may not look so impressive from this shot...

so we were sure to capture it in all it's glory with an aeriel view! I am so short that my belly tucks right underneath theirs!

Baby L. did his/her best to provide entertainment and show off it's kicking skills. My nephew was checking out his soon to be cousin here...

and my niece wanted to feel "Baby Cousin" moving too.

Love these pictures and can't wait to show Baby L. someday.

Thanks to my parents, family and friends for making it a special day for us! So many people came from afar just to celebrate baby's upcoming debut, and it meant a lot to be surrounded by our loved ones as we get ready to become parents. We love them all and know that Baby L. will too!

A Nest for our Wee One

2011-07-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

Now that we have about 5 weeks to go until our wee one makes his/her appearance (eek!), I figured it was time to show you what we've been busy working on around the house. A room fit for our wee one!

If you recall from this post from the house tour just after we moved in, the soon-to-be nursery was a rather blank slate.

We had the builder paint a soft gray on the walls, but in new construction we didn't have a chance to test swatches and the color came out a bit more blue than I pictured for the nursery. I gathered up some swatches of Olympic's no-VOC paint from Lowe's and chose a different shade. J painted the room, and I put up some decals after it dried. Soon after, furniture was delivered and things started falling into place. We wanted something that was gender neutral (obviously), but still bright and happy. I tend to have more modern taste and wanted furniture that would flow with the rest of the house. I daresay that all furniture (minus the crib of course) is usable in another room later on. I am not really into the typical "theme" room, so we did just did some colorful art and some cheery accents here and there. Here is how it turned out:

The view from the doorway

A closer shot of the glider, side table, curtains and pendant lamp

Baby's crib and the brightly colored pomanders

Baby's Aunt Erin told me to take down the pink pom if a nephew arrives. haha.

Next, a close up of the crib with Dwell crib skirt and sheet and the breathable bumpers. You can hardly see the light gray dots and squares printed on the bed skirt and sheet, but they are there. One of these days I'll upgrade to a better camera- still relying on the old point and shoot.

My mom and dad hosted a lovely shower for us in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago (post to come on that), and in lieu of cards they asked guests to bring a book. Baby's bookcase was filled in no time with some great stories that we can't wait to share!

We had framed some baby photos of J and I for our shower so I decorated with those for now. On the left you'll see baby's own color changing iPod dock which we can't wait to use, and I LOVE the Stinkerpants Alphabet print hanging above the shelf. I couldn't get a great shot of it, but J's favorite letter is the S for "Super Seahorse" and mine is H for "High up Hippo" (a little hippo in a tree). So cute!

On the wall to the right as you walk in, we set up the dresser which we're using as a changing table too. We added the Wish Tree print (love me some Stinkerpants), and some little shelves for books and misc. decor, toys, etc.

And last, the little art collection on the back wall of the room. I ordered two prints online, and had some fun with Microsoft Word and some free fonts for the others.

From top to bottom and left to right:

-Little Feet, Little Hands, Little Baby (baby will know that mommy LOVES her some Dave Matthews Band soon enough!)

-You are My Sunshine

- L O V E

- Every little thing is gonna be alright (a shout out to some reggae from Jamaica where we honeymooned)

- Just some cute little birds

- Somewhere over the rainbow/What a Wonderful World medley lyrics

Gotta love some free art!

We had a maternity photo shoot a few weeks ago with the ever talented Genevieve Nisly who will come back to take some photos of baby after his/her arrival. We plan to add to the photo collection then and hopefully post some better pics of the nursery with baby in it!

So, what do you think? Will baby love it? Mommy and Daddy certainly do.

Sweet Escape

2011-06-09T06:33:00.001-04:00

Just before the start of my third trimester, J and I escaped to the beach for our "babymoon." Since we had only been to the Caribbean one time before for our honeymoon in Jamaica, we thought we'd try it again. The flights aren't too long, we knew what to expect as far as my comfort level was concerned, etc. So, off to Antigua and Barbuda we went!

After a relatively uneventful plane ride with one connection, we arrived on the island of Antigua and made our way to the resort, Sandals Grande Antigua. We were greeted with beverages (champagne for J and water for the mama-to-be) and taken to our room. We didn't wait long before heading to the beach to see the white sands and blue waters.

Our view of the Dickenson Bay beach

This resort felt twice as big as the Sandals where we stayed at our honeymoon. Lush gardens, more restaurants, bigger pools, etc.

Open air restaurants and beach side bar

Beautiful courtyards

Local critters- they were EVERYWHERE!

J on the porch of our little cottage

Since we only had about five days to enjoy the island, we booked a "Best of Antigua" tour. Even though the resorts are beautiful, we are the kind of travelers that want to really get a feel for the island and spend some time off resort too. The tour was great for this. Antigua is a very tiny island- only about 10-12 miles across. It ended up being just the two of us with our tour guide. He drove us around the perimeter of the island starting at the resort up north, and we headed down south stopping along the way to check out a lot of beaches, pineapple farms, and cricket stadiums.

The ride down there was BUMPY and I started to get a little nervous for the wee bean bouncing around in my belly. Since the island is only about 10 miles by 12 miles wide, it didn't take us long to get to the historic Nelson's Dockyard near the English Harbour area. The dockyard was used by the Royal Navy during the 18th/19th centuries, and is home to some quaint old buildings- officer's quarters, tiny cottages, etc.

Check out my hair- it was HUMID!

Ruins from a lookout fortress

We took a ride up the hill to Shirley Heights for some AMAZING views. It was national sailing week the week we were there, and we saw tons of boaters out on the water. This is a little inlet area not far from where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Beautiful beach and island topography

Look closely under the yellow blooms on the left for the little hummingbird

J found some funky looking cactus-type plant. It was kinda gross looking.

Other than our tour of the island, we spent most of our time here:

I couldn't get just one photo of the pool because it was HUGE. Since the beach got HOT by lunchtime and was a little too uncomfortable for me, we were better suited at the main pool. Every day we camped out on some lounge chairs in the shade, and enjoyed some fruity drinks - virgin for me of course but still delicious!

On our last full day, we took a 10 minute ride into the capital, St. John's. If you've ever gone on a cruise to Antigua, this is where you would've stopped. We walked around town for a bit and checked out the town. St. John's Cathedral was gorgeous, but is in the process of a $12 million restoration project that will take YEARS. We walked around the grounds, but no visitors could get inside.

St. John's Cathedral

Colorful buildings on narrow little streets

Other than laying by the pool and sightseeing a bit, we just relaxed in our cottage, enjoyed some island sun and sand, watched some cricket on tv, ate some yummy meals and I got to try out all of my summer maternity clothes for the first time.

Getting ready for the beach party at sunset

Belly doesn't look too big from this angle

Here is the belly! Almost 27 weeks here

Don't mind the sunburn and chub that is taking up residence on my upper arms. I think it's boob spillage from these pregnancy hormones- oy...

We got up early on the last morning and spent some time on the beach while it was still cool. I took one last swim in the blue waters and packed up to head home. It was a quick trip, and more low key in general when compared to the vibe in Jamaica on our honeymoon, but but just what we needed. I am thankful for my husband taking us on a getaway and to have added one more to the list of "countries visited" this year before baby makes his/her entrance into the world. Goodbye, Antigua! Babymoon complete.

Where things start getting real

2011-06-05T07:37:00.000-04:00

I am 30 weeks pregnant.

(Just wanted to let that sit there for a minute).

J and I went to our all day birthing class yesterday, and I came home and thought a lot about this whole pregnancy thing. In the early months it was more about getting used to the idea that we, in fact, are going to become parents. We started registering for gifts, toying around with name ideas, collecting things for the nursery, looking at doctors, hospitals and courses available, etc. I remember thinking that we still had 9 long months to get used to all of this and we'd think more about the labor process after we went to birthing class.

Fast forward 7.5 months and here we are. Things are getting REAL. I'm starting to transition some of my work duties to the people that will be handling them for me while I'm on leave, doctor's appointments are picking up frequency, and I'm feeling PREGNANT. Even on cue this week, the wee bean's movements have started feeling a lot more like big rollovers and crowded maneuvers when compared to those early "popcorn kicks" and tiny jabs. I used to see one little spot on my belly moving as baby kicked in it's favorite spot, and now I'm feeling 4 body parts move at once from my pelvis to my ribs- seeing whole sections of my belly move and become positively lopsided looking. It is such an adventure!

I've gotten to the last few chapters of all of my pregnancy books, and am starting to read a lot more on the process in which this baby actually makes it's exit from the womb and entrance into the world. All of the information I've been reading and from birthing class yesterday is swimming around in my head, and I'm starting to realize that it's just about time to pack the hospital bag and get ready for the big show. I'm getting so anxious and excited to meet our little one, but am starting to get pretty nervous about the labor. My goal is natural child birth which I'd expect is what a lot of first time mom's want. You always hear about people wanting to avoid the epidural because of the associated risks on your body and the effects it has on the baby. After class yesterday, I realized that even more importantly your options for staying comfortable and getting into positions to get through contractions are so much more limited after that epidural - you get stuck on your back like a turtle and sometimes labor progression can even slow down as a result. Top this all off with some complications my doctor discovered this past week, and it makes me nervous that natural birth won't be an option. I'm hearing a lot about the potential to need a c-section in cases like mine, and am trying to come to terms with that reality. I know that they've come a long way with delivering via c-section in recent years and that the end result is always getting to meet your baby, but it is just not what I pictured when I think of having a baby for the first time. I want to be able to have that baby put on my chest right away, and don't want to be strapped to a hospital bed being stitched up for 45 minutes while my baby is off in the corner or in someone else's hands. I know some people don't agree with me and that the birth experience is no less thrilling via c-section (me and my two siblings were all c-sections, so I have my mom's personal account of this after all) but my goal and dream is to get through this without needing one. While I know I have no idea of the pain that labor has me in for, I am praying every day that I find the strength in myself and it is God's will to let labor happen naturally for us. Still, I'm working each day to get used to the idea that a c-section might be necessary so it's not a shock or disappointment if the time comes for it. Only 10 more weeks, and we'll find out, won't we?

On a lighter note, our baby showers are coming up the next couple of weekends and the nursery is just about done! I plan to make one last trip to Ikea when I head to my hometown next weekend to look for a bookshelf and some other small accessories (and hope that a friendly salesperson will help the pregnant lady load it into her car!). I'll do the final reveal once we get all the gear in place. It's looking so cute! It is my favorite room in the house, and I already like to go in and just sit there looking at everything and imagining a little baby in the crib.

Any of you moms out there have similar "reality checks" about labor at this point or am I late in the game?

April showers bring May... Showers

2011-05-25T08:00:00.017-04:00

It's nearly the end of May and that means time is FLYING by. We've been in the new house for about 2 and a half months already, and it's keeping us busy. We are finding time to have some non-house related fun too. What we've been up to the last two months:

1. Getting fat- well, me at least, not J. I'm 29 weeks now and this pregnancy is going so quickly! I can now identify little body parts work their way across my belly as I watch the movements from the outside. It is so fun! I've been feeling pretty good- baby is being good to me so far. Now that trimester three is here, the sleepies are catching up to me and I'm a little more achy but I really can't complain. I think I am one of those women who enjoy being pregnant. Just 11 weeks or so until we meet our little one! Here is the current state of my baby bump:

Yes, definitely growing. I've been slathering on the Mamma Mio like it's my job.

2. Nesting-We've been working on the wee bean's nursery a lot and it's come a long way. I'll do a big reveal as we finish things up - not too much more we have to do before our shower when we get to wash and unpack everything.

We also got the tile backsplash installed in our kitchen and have been decorating a bit more as funds allow. In case you forget what the "before" looked like, you can see that here. Check out the "after":

We love it. Just what I pictured. I would love to say that we were brave enough to DIY the tile job, but we didn't. We still get builder pricing at a flooring and tile business here, and with glass tile I didn't trust us enough to do the cutting. Glass tile is pricey and I didn't want to waste a bit on trial and error!

On my wish list, I have some gorgeous stainless steel pendant lights for above the sink and island to replace the builder issued standard lights but there are more important things to save for first so we'll have to stick with this for awhile. The deep gray glass tile we chose really breaks up the white in the room. At some point we may paint, but we have to choose one color for the kitchen and family room since they share a couple of walls. I figure we'll live in it for awhile and work on the other rooms and eventually something will inspire me.

3. Babymooning- J and I took a relaxing vacation to Antigua and Barbuda the week after Easter for some couple time and fun in the sun while I was still able to fly. It was just what we needed. I'll be posting on that as soon as I get a minute to organize my photos. The wee bean is sucking the energy out of me the past few weeks. By the time I get home from work, cook dinner, clean up, etc., I find little time to sit at the computer. Soon though, now that the baby's room is almost done. A preview:

4. Waiting for the rain to go away. Seriously- I now know why Noah built the ark. MAN, has it been rainy here in Ohio! Our yard is still mud. We signed a contract to have our lawn put in back in January and the landscaper is waiting for the yard to dry up enough to rock hound and seed. We have a huge pile of dirt in our front yard begging to be turned into beds, but there it sits. Just when the ground gets dry, another shower comes our way. April showers haven't brought any May flowers our way- just more rain!

5) Reading- I have SO MANY books to read. Both hard copy and on my Kindle. I know I won't have much time after baby arrives, so I'm reading up on fun stuff like breastfeeding and birthing and also trying to squeeze in some non-baby related reading material too. I started the "Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" on our vacation and am going back and forth between that and Stephenie Meyer's new Twilight guide- team Edward!

So, that's what I've been up to. Stick around for some more fun as the official countdown to parenthood starts the "less than 10 weeks to go" countdown.

It's Showtime!

2011-03-26T07:57:00.000-04:00

This is it, folks. The one where the house becomes a home. Because I think most of you would much rather see rooms with furniture in them then the blank canvas that we started with on move in day, I've decided it's time to show you House with Furniture. I took these photos about one week after we moved in, so you'll have to excuse some of the boxes still lurking about.

Up first, our family room:

This room is begging for an area rug and that mantel is feeling rather naked. We'll work on that- don't worry. I'll show you the other wall once our nice tv stand arrives- you don't want to see the temporary solution we have there in the meantime.

Let's walk down the hallway to the living room, shall we?

Here we are! This is the room where our cute little chairs now live. I think I'll be getting rid of those book cases ala Craig's list in the future, but a good fix in the meantime.

Now for the dining room- a somewhat sad state of affairs:

Note puny builder issued chandelier and hand me down dining room table. I can't wait to get my hands (and wallet) on this room. It's begging for attention. My dream is to get some of it done before August when the wee bean arrives, but we'll see what time and money allows.

Quick look at the powder room with mirror and one last peek downstairs at the laundry room now that we have appliances and some shelves:

You are probably not very excited by this room, but I am. Did you know that I've never owned a washer and dryer?! I've been part of the laundromat scene (or taking it to mom and dads when I go there into my 30's) until now. What you see here, friends, is my joy. We got the fridge, washer and dryer at a great discount from GE thanks to the fact that I have a supplier discount from my day job. Nice!

We'll skip the kitchen since there isn't much else to look at but a few utensils, coffee pot and toaster. I'll catch you up on that after our backsplash gets installed. Heading upstairs the first thing you see is the main bathroom.

In all bathrooms, we decided to take a credit from the company that supplied our mirrors and closet shelving. In lieu of the big plate glass mirror that they'd normally install, I upgraded our closet shelving and furnished our own mirrors. I think the framed mirrors make the bathrooms look so much more finished.

Heading down the hallway to the guest bedroom...

and then our Master bedroom:

The bed and dresser were from our rental and part of a set that my husband bought. This room dwarfs them compared to the master in our rental. I got some cute little white nightstands to break up all of the dark wood. I can't wait to find some art for this room, and get some furniture for the sitting area in the opposite corner. Someday...

In the photo above, you'll see the hallway with our closets that leads to the master bath (the walk-in is to the right but you can't see it here).

The bathroom closeup:

I am really glad we didn't do the big plate glass mirror in here, because these give the room so much more character!

Finally, I will show you the one room that's left and the first one that we'll be working on feverishly through the next few months...

The soon to be nursery!!! You may only get one more peek at this room until the big reveal closer to my due date, so keep this picture in your mind of how it all started.

Ta-daaaaaa! This concludes the grand tour. Thanks for joining me on the journey of dirt-pile-becomes-home. More to come as we decorate and make it more "us." Hope you liked it!

They're hee-ere...

2011-03-24T18:36:00.001-04:00

O.J. and Mr. Lime are back in their new skin! You recall this post in which we said goodbye to two of my husband's grandmother's armchairs. They used to spend time on our back sunporch and weren't fit to be sat upon. Here's O.J. ready for his close up:

Now here they are in our living room. There are so many rooms in our house that could use this lovely pair, but we'll leave them here for now and see where the years take them. Ready?

Oooh...

Ahhh...

Check out those legs...

I heart them!

If you can tell from the first picture of O.J., they used be skirted. We opted to have the skirting removed and repainted those legs with some glossy black paint before sending the chairs off for their makeover. I think it updates them and gives them a more contemporary look.

So, there you have the finished product. If you're in the Cleveland area and need a piece redone, check out Select Upholstery. They'll completely repair and restore your pieces too - even the guts of these chairs got a much needed facelift.

What do you think?

(And if you caught the Poltergeist reference in the title, 10 points to you).

The Finished Product (Part 1)

2011-03-23T15:14:00.000-04:00

After almost 6 months to the day that we bought a piece of land and started the process of building a home, we arrive here- late February and the day of our final walkthrough. Care to join me for a tour? Let's start with the first floor, shall we?

When you walk in the front door, you find yourself in our foyer. I love all of the light from the sidelights and the windows in the living room (to your left) and the dining room (to your right).

The coat closet and powder room are the doors on the right. Don't mind the lack of light fixture in the foyer- it was on backorder and came in just a few days later.

This is our vacant living/sitting room. Lots of potential in this room down the road- just have to brainstorm some decor ideas first...

Looking through the foyer, you get a peek at our dining room. I LOVE how the paint color turned out in here. The top photo is a more true representation of the actual color. It looks closer to navy in dim lighting and a dark royal blue when the sun shines (but not quite the peacock color it looks here on my little point and shoot).

Oh, and did I mention the hardwood floors? Love those too. :) We went for a natural red oak floor- barely a stain on it at all.

If I walked straight down the hallway from the main foyer, I would be standing in my breakfast area of the kitchen. Since our table doesn't get delivered for a few more weeks, I'll save those shots for later. I will give you a look at the kitchen though. I'll have to post pics of the kitchen from our rental so you can just imagine my excitement...

See that window in the top photo? It overlooks the backyard and a pasture of horses that live on a rescue farm right behind us. I dig all of the storage and counter space! The counters are very dark gray- nearly black. If you ask me, that island is begging for some barstools which will arrive with the kitchen table in just a few weeks. We plan to add our backsplash and upgrade the lighting fixtures with some better pendants too. These are okay for now, but not "the vision."

Turning around now, you get the view of the family room or den as some folks call it. We love how the fireplace turned out! We had to pay a bit extra to upgrade the tile to a smaller 2" size in an offset pattern and it turned out handsomely. Nice and neutral- a blank slate for the decorating adventures to come!

Some less than exciting shots of the laundry room.

And the powder room that can't WAIT to be painted or wallpapered with something fun and funky:

A view from the hallway looking at the pedestal- the other view is the, um, royal throne. And we've all seen one of those, right?

That concludes the first floor tour. Be back next time with the second floor and FINALLY the house with furniture in it. YAY!

Take a Walk on the Trim Side

2011-03-20T09:07:00.000-04:00

Hello! First celebratory post from New House! We've been in for just about two weeks now and are finally feeling settled. Everything has been moved, keys turned in at the old place, utilities (mostly) taken care of, and not too many boxes left to be unpacked.

A little more catch up before the big "we live here" reveal, and as for my post title - there aren't many puns for what was called our "Trim walk," but I did my best. Our trim walk as the builder calls it is the opportunity for us to see the house with all drywall and trim in place before the final finish. This includes all woodwork, cabinetry and doors. The stuff that fancied up what was most recently a bare drywall only structure for some time.

The first thing we saw when we visited this day was that the primer and stain were finished. If you look in the top corners, you'll see the color we chose for the foyer, "North Star" by Sherwin Williams. We had to pick paint colors out of a swatch book without being able to test them in the actual house, so I held my breath and hoped for the best.

In our family room, the trim carpenter had installed our mantel and hearth. The white area inside and the little gaps beneath the mantel's "legs" as they call them would soon be filled with tile. Normally, when this particular builder does a tile surround there would not be much of a hearth - just a rectangular tiled area set into the carpet. We liked the idea of having a raised hearth so you could chill on the floor and lean against some pillows, so we designed something simple with the carpenter. Also, see the yellow wire sticking out the top of the mantel? That's going to be a hidden outlet so I can plug in some festive Christmas lights or whatever at some point in time. Wee!

The most exciting part of this walk through was by far the cabinets! The layout of the kitchen on paper became a reality. No countertops yet, but you'll get to see those soon. We chose a maple cabinetry. While I LOVE white, I thought I'd be happier with these long term to hide any potential dirt and wear and tear. The hole is where the dishwasher goes. You can see the island sticking out on the left a bit too.

The lighting was a little dim in the corner from where I took that shot. Here's a better view of the color and another angle - this is where the fridge, range and over-range microwave will be. LOVE the cabinet space- we literally had four cabinets in our rental and that included one that was used as a pantry.

Right next to the kitchen is the laundry room and entry area from the garage. We're using a darker gray color in here- this is just primer for now.

Moving upstairs, we saw the little railings at the top landing. Our master and the linen closet are right behind it. The stain color is a pretty close match to our hardwood floors.

J checking out the primer in the master bedroom. His closet and the little hallway to the master bathroom are in that back corner.

And the master bath takes shape! They installed trim around the soaking tub, and obviously the cabinets. We picked a deep color called "ebony" in oak for the bathrooms. It's very dark brown- nearly black (and still have lots of dust on them from the install in this pic.). You can also see they're getting ready to install flooring in here.

The main bath was just starting to be primed- same cabinets as the master bath but the vanity in here will be 6 feet instead of 8.

And last but not least, we have SHUTTERS! I was much happier with the darker gray stone when I saw the black shutters. They kind of tie it all in. The front door will be painted black as well, but we have to wait until Mother Nature brings us some warmer temps before finishing up the exterior paint.

A closer look at that second story center window to show you the soldiering work that they did with the stone. If you recall, this wasn't done with the original stone installation and they had to come back to reset it. I'm happy with it and think it adds a nice touch.

That's all for the "trim walk." More goodies to come this week from the final finish work that was done before the final reveal. Can't wait to show you all!

The (Somewhat) Drywalls

2011-03-02T20:02:00.000-05:00

I last left off with some photos of the final framing and the addition of our roof and windows. As promised, I'm skipping over the month or so that was spent on not so blogworthy but necessary steps in the build - the installation of our plumbing lines, electrical systems and the many inspections and meetings we had with contractors like the "low voltage guy." So, onto the fun stuff- drywall! The rooms finally take their final shape...

J peeking at the fireplace in the family room.

Here's a view of the family room if I were standing by the fireplace looking into the kitchen. Those boxes are right about where the island will be. The door on the left is the laundry which leads to the garage. On the right you have the pantry, entry to dining room, basement door and hallway. I love the 9 foot ceilings and all of the light in this room!

Here is the foyer and the coat closet and powder room on the right wall.

Now I'm in the dining room. Kitchen doorway is to my right.

Upstairs in the main bath we spotted some lovely lavender colored drywall. The field superintendent told us it's special mildew resistant stuff- not just for looks.

Recognize this view? The bonus room with drywall! Won't it be cozy?!

Same room, different view. Straight ahead is the linen closet which is just outside the master bedroom.

And to spare you any more pictures of drywall, the grand finale- we have an exterior!

The siding came first and the stone just a few days later. I was a little upset when I saw the stonework. First, you have to take a chance on color. We ordered based on pictures we saw in a sample catalog and they can never guarantee color when it comes to stone. The grout looked weird (still wet) and the stone color looked a little off to me. I think it's the white snow on the dark gray/almost black room, and how the siding looks a little bland with no shutters. We chose black shutters to tie in some of the darker tones and grout color there. The main thing was that we spotted the first oops in the build process - they forgot to do some detail work around that center window up top (soldiering if anyone is stone-savvy). After a call to the builder, they assured us it was something that could easily be fixed- sigh of relief.

And after this point, things slowed down a bit... It was so frigid here in Ohio in the December months that the drywall took FOREVER to dry. It caused about a two week delay, because the painters were scheduled next. Wet drywall + paint don't mix. I was getting more and more antsy in the early weeks of January but here we are... we get our keys at 9:00 AM this Friday! With just 2 days until we move into our new home, there is so much packing to do that I won't be able to do the final reveal until after the move. Don't worry - it'll be worth it! ! We are SO excited! Even Baby L. is excited and has been making his/her presence known with little somersaults and nudges this last week or two.

Stay tuned!

Tear the Roof off the Sucker...

2011-02-23T18:11:00.000-05:00

Or rather, put on one.

See the room over the garage? I was relieved that they remembered to add it. I kept waiting for something to go wrong.

Full framing was soon complete and in no time the shingles and windows followed. (One was broken when it was shipped thus the big hole upstairs).

Seeing the house take it's final shape was exciting, but when I went inside the front door I was even more excited because these were in too...

With the stairs in, we had our first chance to check out the upstairs to see how the framing and room sizes shaped up. We were surprised to see that they had already installed the shower/bath combo in the main hall bathroom as well as the shower and soaking tub (that I insisted upon) for the master bathroom. I had assumed they'd be put in much later in the build. I dig the transom window above the bath here. It's the room right at the top of the steps and even though we had to pay a tad extra, I think the light it brings in will be well worth it.

I can picture my first bubble bath already. I haven't lived in a house with a suitable bubble-bath-worthy tub since before my college days! (I'm weird about taking baths in our rentals when I don't know who else has lived here. Anyone else?!)

The other excitement upstairs was how the bonus room turned out. I was standing in the corner of it looking out into the hallway where J is standing. I like the sloped ceiling as it adds a bit of character. Not sure what we'll use this for (5th bedroom, playroom for our little one on the way, etc.).

See that black thing in the closet area? It's a sweatshirt! In "Where's Waldo?" fashion J and I would look for it everytime we were in the house. It was always in a different spot and, while a little nasty, it was our own little game to play. haha

And last but not least the master bedroom. This is the view from the corner. The door to the hallway is out of view in the left corner, and I'm standing near the entrance to the master bath. See where that little bit of wall sticks out between the two windows? That was actually supposed to be where the master room ended. We had them close in what would have been a 2 story foyer. While those are gorgeous and airy, I'd rather use the space in our bedroom. Another thing I loved about being able to design our own floor plan!

So, the next time you see pictures of our house-to-be there will be walls! (I'll spare you the month or so where the only excitement was HVAC and electrical as I'm sure most of you don't really care about wired and vents).

My goal is to get the posts up so you see the final reveal the day we're moving! Until next time...

#99

2011-02-22T17:40:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a recap of where I am in my 101 in 1,001 list in awhile, and some new developments have taken place. Specifically, I will be able check # 99 off of the list this August when I BECOME A MOMMY! So excited to announce that J and I are expecting a baby! :) :) :)

SO, with the move in 9 DAYS (OMG!) and a baby on the way, it is safe to say that I'm not going to achieve all that is on here by November. I'm okay with it because such happy things are on the horizon! I will hold myself to # which is putting money in savings for each item that I don't complete. I may even cut the list off early and make a master to do list of things we need to get done before the little lentil bean arrives- a brain dump if you will.

We couldn't be more excited for the blessings on the way! See- I told you things were about to get more interesting 'round here.

The Packers

2011-02-20T08:00:00.001-05:00

And no, I don't mean the Green Bay variety. We won't talk about that certain football game in which they beat a certain team... I mean J and I. The Packers.

We've been spending all of our spare time cleaning, sorting, and packing up all of our belongings. Our place is an absolute trainwreck right now. I'll start a packing project and then poop out halfway through it. Boxes...everywhere! You don't realize how much crap you accumulate until you have to move it. Since our wedding in November, 2008, we have only unpacked about 5 wedding gifts (kitchen utensils that I didn't own and a dustbuster). We were in search of a new house and I didn't want to unpack it all just to move it a short time later. That short time ended up being over 2 years! Everything else is still piled in the closets and corners waiting for the new house- I am so excited to unpack it all b/c I probably forgot what is in all of those boxes! I really hope there is not a fire or power outage in the middle of the night, because we do not have safe exit paths established at this time. :)

To make the packing more exciting, I channeled my college days by making a mix tape playlist for the special occasion. (Am I the only one that made mix tapes just for random occasions in college?). The theme: we're moving, we're getting our own house and good riddance to the apartment and crap landlord playlist for my iPod. Highlights include:

Movin' Out- Billy Joel

Bust a Move- Young MC

Bye Bye Bye- 'N Sync

Movin' on Up- The Jeffersons theme song

Old Apartment- Bare Naked Ladies

Our House- Crosby, Stills and Nash

Hangin' Around- Counting Crows

We Gotta Get out of this Place- The Animals

Coming Home- Cinderella

I Like the Way you Move- etc.

Quite the mix and oh so fun to dance around to. I enjoy playing certain songs loudly so as to alert my upstairs landlord of our current state of emotions. Anyone have any songs we should add?!

Until next time...

Makeover

2011-02-18T09:00:00.005-05:00

My husband has lived in our current rental for about 6.5 years now. From the day he moved in this chair and it's lime green companion have been sitting out in the 3 season room (which is really only a 1 season room and/or storage closet here in Ohio).

Pretty dreadful... It was his grandmother's chair and the mismatched pair of them lived at J's mom's house for years. They were going to get rid of them right around the time that J moved into this place and he couldn't bear to part with them. He is a sentimental guy when it comes to hanging onto stuff, so I couldn't blame him for wanting to keep something around to remind him of his grandparents.

Still- and call me crazy- I couldn't quite see the orange and lime green duo fitting into the color scheme at our new house. I have had an itch to do something with these things for years now, and after being inspired by some great furniture makeovers I've seen out on the blogosphere I had high hopes to reupholster these things. When J and I started making a list of the things we'd need for the new house, we quickly realized that we were seriously lacking some seating options. Because we have a living room which is the first room you see when you walk in the front door, we needed something cute. I'm also a believer that you should fill your house with things that tell a story about who you are, and after a little persuasion J agreed that O.J. and Mr. Lime (as I've come to call them) needed a facelift. After getting some estimates (too afraid to DIY these!) and scouring the web up and down, I finally settled on this fabric.

Waverly Cross Section in Charcoal

We are debating on whether to have them reskirted or to "show a little leg" and maybe paint the legs black (or another fun color, even!). What do you think? Any suggestions for pillows to go with? I'm thinking a bright, solid color.

In a few days, O.J. and Mr. Lime will be packed on a truck and sent in for surgery. They'll leave our rental and will be coming home to a brand new house. Bonus- two less pieces of furniture for us to move since they'll be at the shop for a month or so. I can't wait to see the outcome!

The Framing Begins...

2011-02-16T21:08:00.000-05:00

We left off in my last post when a big ole' pile of dirt starting looking a little more like the future foundation of our house. In just one week's time, we started seeing the blueprints turn into something a little more real.

The foundation walls were poured and we started to see the "guts" of our home take shape. Funny how the little things excited us at this stage. See that little black hole in the wall below? That's the other end of our garage drain and it thrilled us! We're easy to please.

We left town for a weekend and didn't get the chance to drive by, so when we returned you can imagine our surprise when we saw this:

Whoa! We have a second floor! And a garage! And a chimney and window holes! It wasn't exactly safe walking around the lot at this point, but we did manage to get a few shots of the framing that was happening inside. If you walked into our garage and through the laundry room, you'd arrive in this area below. I was standing in the kitchen area looking to the opposite wall where our fireplace would soon be. That big hole on the back wall is for the sliding doors that will eventually lead out to our patio.

And here is the view from the sliding door area. Dining room to the left, basement steps straight ahead and hallway to the right. Aren't those ceiling beams sexy?

And one more angle from the dining room. The front door/foyer area is to the left. Our future living room/someday maybe office is on the far left wall and you can see the family room area in the back right corner. Our builders put up some protective boards around the huge hole in the floor where the steps would eventually be.

And last but not least. Baby's got back!

See the sliding door area and three windows in the family room area? To the left of that we have a kitchen sink window and another for the laundry room. Upstairs from left to right- bedroom 4, the transom that goes above the main bath shower and the two on the far right are bedroom 3 and our master bath. WEEE!!! Looking good! I must admit that I got a little worried when I came home and checked out the photos from this angle. See that big blank spot on the second floor to the left? We worked very hard with our builder to draw up plans that really maximized the square footage we had available. I wanted to add a "FROG" (Finished Room Over Garage) or bonus room over the garage/laundry area which could serve as a fifth bedroom. future playroom or even my own she-cave (I agreed to let J claim the basement as the future man cave. We've gotta have SOMEWHERE to hide all of those mini football helmets and old Star Wars collectibles, right?!).

Hope you're enjoying the progress of our build! I promise we'll get into more fun stuff like decor and lighting fixtures and all of that soon. More to come!

Can you dig it?

2011-01-31T19:31:00.000-05:00

Sneaks in and pretends it hasn't (again) been weeks since she last posted...

So, back in August my husband and I bought a little piece of land that was once a field full of daisies. The daisies were cut down, and some random bits of building material started to appear in their place.

A day later, most signs of green were gone and the field became a big old pile of dirt and gravel.

A peek inside the big hole where all of that dirt used to be, and you find the area that will soon become our basement.

Footers were all in place and our little front porch staked it's claim in the former daisy field.

Not to be outdone, the garage area also marked it's territory and proudly displayed it's original earth (which was left in tact to better support the two cars that will someday sit upon it.

J inspected the plans carefully and made sure all of dirt was where it was supposed to be.

And that, my friends, is how our lot began it's journey toward becoming a home. With a few set backs due to the cooooold temperatures we've been having here, the drywall took a little longer to set than our builder planned. We will be in the house the first week of March. I am going stir crazy trying not to scratch the itch that is wanting to pack up every last bit NOW. I figured it was a good time to show you some photos on the progress. Promise that the pictures will get more fun as the house takes shape and the decorating begins. Stay tuned!

A Belated Big Apple Post

2010-12-30T15:10:00.000-05:00

Why, hello there! I hope you all had a great holiday and are gearing up for New Year's Eve! I am personally looking forward to the many good things that 2011 will bring!

I am off work this week to enjoy some family time in Pittsburgh with my side of the family and to get some things organized for the upcoming move in a few weeks. When going through some photos, I realized that I never posted about the fall getaway that J and I took to NYC for our second anniversary! This marked our second road trip to the Big Apple in our 2 years of marriage (see the first one here), but we love the city and are always planning our next trip back there.

We were extremely lucky weather-wise. It was in the 50's and 60's for most of the trip- rare in mid-November! We stayed in the northern Times Square area and found it was a great location for us this time.

Crap iPhone pic but you get the idea.

Our first night in the city, we set out on foot to explore and take in all of the madness that is Times Square before checking out "In the Heights." It was part West Side Story and part Rent (less heavy), and we loved it! Jordin Sparks from American Idol was the female lead, and it was fun to see her perform in person.

We set out early the next day to explore the Upper West Side. In all of the trips I've taken to New York, I hadn't been able to explore this neighborhood much and I really enjoyed it! We started off the morning with brunch at Cafe Lalo (those of you that have seen "You've Got Mail" will remember it as the place where Kathleen waits with the book and the rose for her internet friend to arrive, only to be greeted by mean Joe Fox). It was the cutest little place to spend a Sunday morning and drink a yummy mocha.

Picture Tom Hanks hanging on the fence- "She has to be!!!"

DEE-LISH!

After brunch we took our time walking through the neighborhoods and came across a Crumbs bakery. I had it on my list to try Magnolia, but after hearing so much about Crumbs we had to give it a try. I could not believe my eyes when we saw those huge cupcakes in the case! We each got one to enjoy a little later.

My selection- a coffee toffee concoction!

We hoofed it over to Central Park West, checked out the Dakota and the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon.

The gorgeous weather invited us to take our time in the Park. We walked around for a few hours and ended up in Sheep's Meadow. GORGEOUS Fall day and some great photo opps...

And my favorite shot of the day:

On the way back to our hotel we went to check out West Elm for some goodies for the new house, and accidentally stumbled onto the set of a movie they were filming called "Tower Heist," an action/comedy about some Madoff-type scandal. Ben Stiller was on set filming- it was fun to watch for a few minutes! Here is the only shot I could get:

After a full day we headed back to the hotel to refresh before heading out to see another show. This time we saw Mary Poppins and it was delightful. We got half price tickets at the TKTS booth in Times Square, and it was well worth it. We both liked it much more than we expected! The best part about this night was the phone call I got on the way into the theater letting me know that we had scored two of these tickets for the next day:

YAY! I'm a fan of the show (although I pathetically fall asleep before it's on anymore) and it was such a fun way to spend our actual anniversary! Turns out it was Sweeps Week, so they did a lot to prep the audience to be energetic. We got to see Dave interview Emma Watson (Hermione!), Scott Caan and Rascal Flatts. A great lineup!

We spent the rest of our day shopping on Fifth and wandering around the Upper East Side. I made J take me to the Alice in Wonderland statue so my butt could be in the same spot as R-Patz's butt. See?

Photo found here.

I heart you, Edward! : )

For our anniversary dinner, we booked a reservation at Nougatine at the recommendation of this lovely lady from her trip to NYC and it was fantastic. If I hadn't neglected to bring my camera and appear like a total tourist, I would have photographed our meal to share with you. The best part was the candle-lit molten chocolate cake that the chef brought out for us in honor of our anniversary- a nice touch! I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a great and reasonably priced meal in the city.

We ended the night with a walk down to Rockefeller Center to see the tree. Just a few weeks later and we'd have seen it in all it's glory, but it was still fun to see the work in progress.

So much to do there in so little time. We had to leave the next morning with lots that we didn't have time to do, but can't wait to get back! If you have any tips for our next trip to NYC, please share them with me!

730 ago

2010-11-15T09:15:00.006-05:00

"I don't get many things right the first time

In fact, I am told that a lot

Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls

Brought me here

And where was I before the day

That I first saw your lovely face?

Now I see it everyday

And I know

That I am

I am

The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you

In a house on a street where you lived?

Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike

Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes

I see one pair that I recognize

And I know

That I am

I am

The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties

And one day passed away in his sleep

And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days

And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong

That I know

That I am

I am

The luckiest"

- Ben Folds

Happy Anniversary, Sweet Husband! Our second year of marriage has been amazing, and I know the years to come will bring even more blessings. love, laughter, and much happiness. I truly am the luckiest.

XOXO,
Amy

"You get better, Pumpkin."

2010-11-04T17:46:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite Fall photos. I took it at a pumpkin patch near Chicago last year.

Ahhh, Fall. Don’t you just love it? The beautiful foliage, hot apple cider, snuggly sweaters and the start of boot season, crunching through the leaves, Halloween and Thanksgiving and those Charlie Brown TV specials about them… I could go on and on. In this part of the country the weather has turned cooler, and I am enjoying every bit of it. Today after a particularly rough morning at Job #1, I was feeling down, frazzled and needed to step away from the desk if you know what I mean. I went to lunch to take a breather and get something warm and yummy to eat. I decided on the old standby- a little place called Zoup! Fresh Soup Company. Do you have these where you live? Each day there are about 12 different kinds of soup on special, and they encourage you to sample as many as you’d like before ordering. I usually get one of the same 2 or 3 different flavors, but something else caught my eye today. Pumpkin pie bisque. Ate the first spoonful of my sample and I nearly died from pure taste bud bliss. The actual bowl of it even had little sprinklings of pie crust on top! It had me at hello. Bonus that it wasn’t all that bad for me either (it was marked low points for those of you familiar with Weight Watchers). I was a little hesitant to try it because sometimes I think I like the idea of pumpkin more than the actual taste. Pumpkin cookies- like. Pumpkin pie- maybe a little bite. Pumpkin pecan cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory- yes, please. Pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks- just “meh” (too sweet and fake pumpkin-tasting for me). Pumpkin pie bisque though- L-O-V-E, love, I tell you! It was just enough, and I’m not ashamed to say that it made my day. It made me excited for Thanksgiving. We’ll be spending it with the in-laws this year. If anyone has any good pumpkin recipes that I can impress them with, please share!

Bonus points to anyone that knows which movie gave me the quote in this post's title. If you know me at all, you know that I can't help myself from quoting movies!

Happy Fall!

The most money I've ever spent.

2010-11-03T15:30:00.023-04:00

See that? It is a nice little slice of land that my husband and I can call our own. Handing over the down payment for this piece of earth and the house to be built upon it was both sickening and exhilarating all at the same time! While I was away these last few months, the daisies have gone away and the beginnings of our first house have popped up in their place. I present to you, the largest purchase I've ever made. Ta da!

We searched real estate listings and toured many, many existing homes for the better part of our first year as newlyweds, and just couldn't find "the one." While we have the interest, we have little time to do any major renovations. When it came down to it, we were able to build a new house with most of the features that we liked for less than it would have cost to purchase an existing home that needed renovations done. Kitchens and bathrooms are expensive, and J isn't much of a handy man (he's had limited opportunities as a renter to be fair). I'd rather spend the money on furniture and other things to make the house more "us" a lot sooner. After years of renting, we are worn out of the hand me downs and mismatched hodge-podge of stuff that we have carried with us from apartment to apartment. In a little under three months, this house will become our home! I'll be posting more as the house gets more fun to look at and will want you all to weigh in on some decor choices and suggestions!

If you have any favorite decor blogs, furniture/decor shopping links, etc. please post them below or shoot me an e-mail. I am soaking up all the inspiration I can handle.

Is it really November?

2010-11-02T19:58:00.000-04:00

Why, hello there!

Last post- June 2nd, eh? Safe to say I've essentially lost any readership that I had here on this little ole' blog of mine. I was surprised I even knew my password to login/create a new post! I do have some (lame) excuses as to why I've been away so long. Here they are: started a new job, got my new car hit by a driver named Michael Jackson on my way home on the first day at that job, spent the summer traveling for new job to very non-glamorous locations, got busy with job #2, closed on a lot to build our first house, picked out a lot of stuff for said house (including sexy features like attic fans, outlet covers, and back up sump pumps), worked some more at job #2, got hit in my car AGAIN after a guy ran a red light, ate too much Halloween candy after losing 5 lbs. and here we are. November. Truth told, a new job in a cubicle is not the same as having an old job in a private office. I use to do some blogging at lunchtime, and now find myself with little leisure time for reading blogs much less writing one. And sadly, I found my creative juices a bit zapped. Job #2 and picking out every last detail for our house took a lot out of me. I have missed my little blog, though and popped in to say hello. So, if you're still out there, I'll have some updates for you soon. Have been working my way through some of the 101 in 1001 list and have made some serious efforts to to turn Job #2 into Solo job.

Hope this finds you all well.

The Climb

2010-06-02T13:47:00.001-04:00

No, this post is not about that Miley Cyrus song. Don't like her much, although she is far, far more bearable than that other freaky teeny bopper that won't go away. Can't bear to type his name on my blog, so I'll just say his initials are J.B.

I digress.

The climb out of the rut I've been in is what I'm talking about. Times of change are here, my friends. I was FINALLY able to accomplish #31 on my 101 in 1,001 list last Friday, and had my last day at the job I've worked for the last four years. Might seem like something small as people change jobs all the time, but to me it's huge. Some great things happened in the last four years- this big event in my life, for one- but for the most part I have felt like I was in a rut (hence the reason for my lack of creativity and blog posts for the past few months). My biggest problem was that my job really, really bored me. The culture of the company was very unhappy, negative, and discouraging. I encountered a lot of people that were miserable, and wanted others to be as well. There were few people around that I could actually respect as professionals. And all job duties aside, everyone likes to have a friend at work and I didn't feel like I had that either. When I started at this company, I was new to the city and didn't know many people. I really hoped to make some friends at this place. As an extrovert, I tend to feel my best when I'm interacting with others and am able to talk, joke and have fun while doing my job. When I feel fulfilled socially, I work harder. People energize me, and that's just how I am. It was an older company with slim pickings in my age group, and while I frequently talked to the people that were my age and could eat lunch with them or vent to them about something, I just didn't *click* with any of them. Since I don't know many people in the city not having grown up here I was counting on meeting some friends here, building my own network of friends apart from my husband's, and unfortunately that wasn't the case. Made the job a lot less bearable without some cool peeps around. Anyway, I was insanely bored and mostly isolated all day and just went through the motions. I got lazy, was tired all the time, my health wasn't as great as before, and I knew that the job wasn't allowing me to be the best "me" possible. (Thank God for Google Reader. Even though my subscription list has grown larger than I can manage to keep up with, I could at least enjoy my lunch hour enjoying blogs!) I made the decision to seek happiness, and get the heck outta there. I started job searching just after our wedding, and then the economy went south. I kept my eyes out for better opportunities, and networked like crazy to try to find something, anything, else. Finally, the something else came along, and I left that place without looking back.

While my ultimate goal is to start my own business doing something entirely different, I have to be realistic about the financial aspects of owning a business. Since J and I want to buy a home and have children soon (I'm no spring chicken), it is a dream that I'll have to put off a while longer. I'm taking baby steps towards that goal by doing part time work in the field, saving my pennies, and getting things in order. In the meantime, I will start a new position in the same industry as my last position this Monday. The team I'll be a part of isn't large, but the people seem very excited about what they do and I think it'll be a breath of fresh air. While it's not my dream job, it is more responsibility, different work than I had been doing, and a refreshingly welcome change. I welcome this change and am using it as an excuse to clear out the mental dust, refresh, rejuvenate and move on. I hope to start some new habits & get rid of the bad ones, make some new friends, climb on outta my rut and just feel ALIVE again!

I have off this entire week. Husband and I might go on a last minute road trip, but for now I am getting things done and enjoying the time off. Week's highlights so far: cleaned the house, caught up to Jersey Shore reruns, Real Housewives, Oprah and other miscellaneous shows on DVR, making some new healthy recipes for lunch, started the Couch to 5K program, cleaned some more, shopping spree at the good mall in town, massage & pedi at the spa and catching up to my Google Reader. Yay!

Thanks for hanging in there through the quiet months. Hoping this summer brings some more excitement 'round here. And if you're using this summer to make some much needed changes in your life, gimme a shout out below. I'm right there with ya!

That is what I'm talkin' about.

2010-03-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

Espn.com's leading story is that of THE upset of the tourney so far. My Bobcats showing the Hoyas what's up. In case you didn't see it, allow me:

Sorry if they screwed up your bracket. Mine is still in tact, and I'm proud to be a Bobcat!

Take me there.

2010-03-18T11:50:00.000-04:00

Image from Rob Lee found here

Somewhere on the interwebs, in the midst of cleaning out my Google reader (don't ask how many blogs I follow- I think I'd be ashamed to admit it), I came across this post: http://blog.krisatomic.com/?p=692.

I now have a severe case of Wanderlust, and am feeling lame for living in Ohio. Santorini is calling to me, but I also love the Crystal River Mill in Colorado (above). I like to think that Edward Cullen and I could have a little home there together. ;)

Go check it out. Come back and tell me where you'd most want to visit.

My Shamrock Shake Brings the Boys to the Yard.

2010-03-17T13:23:00.001-04:00

Photo from here.

May you always have

Walls for the winds,

A roof for the rain,

Tea beside the fire,

Laughter to cheer you,

Those you love near you,

And all your heart might desire!

Happy St. Patty's Day! Anyone doing anything fun to celebrate (whether or not you're actually Irish)?

Because I need to spend more time online

2010-03-04T10:08:00.000-05:00

After seeing many tweets about Formspring, I have decided to set up an account of my own. In case you have no idea what I am talking about (I was clueless up until a week ago and thought Formspring might be a mattress company), I’ll explain. You simply ask me any question that your heart desires, and I will answer. Within reason, of course. Wink, wink. So ask away!

Are you already on Formspring? If so, let me know and I'll follow you!

It's Amore!

2010-02-12T14:15:00.000-05:00

Love is in the air- it's Valentine's Day weekend! Valentine's Day was always so much fun as a kid. I loved decorating a shoe box with sequins, felt, doilies, glitter and whatever else we had laying around the house for our party at school, and going to grandma's to get a big heart shaped box of chocolates from my Grampy. It's still fun thinking back to those days!

Last year was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, and we wanted to make it fun! With our first "married couple" Valentine's Day falling on a Saturday, I got to cross something off my bucket list when the mister came home from work and surprised me with a spur of the moment trip to New York City for the weekend.

Here is a little hint:

Sleepless in Seattle! For almost 17 years (already?!), I've wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. While I'll admit that I originally got the idea from "Sleepless in Seattle," it was this movie that made me really want to do it.

If you've never seen "An Affair to Remember" go rent it/Netflix queue it now! It's such a classic.

Anyway, early afternoon we got on the elevator and rode our way all the way to the top. I was so, so happy! Here's our pic. from the screen when we were waiting in line to ride up:

We spent about a half hour with hundreds of other tourists checking out Manhattan in the freezing cold, but it was amazing! Now I can say that I've done it on Valentine's Day. We spent the rest of the day walking around the city just taking it all in. We stopped by J's alma mater and the little pub in the Village where we met on our first real date.

We tried to go to Serendipity just to add to the romantic movie goodness, but there was a loooong wait, so we went shopping at Bloomingdale's instead. Fair trade, if you ask me. It was such a perfect weekend!

This year will be a little more low key, but fun. I'll, of course, be watching "Sleepless in Seattle," "An Affair to Remember," and maybe sneak in a Sunday matinee of the new flick "Valentine's Day" too. Other than that the weekend will include some of this, a little of this, and a whole lotta this because we love it! Looking forward to it all! Hope you all have something fun to do this weekend. Any special plans or traditions you'd like to share? Give me a shout out below!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Glitter in the Air

2010-02-11T08:30:00.001-05:00

Last night, I spotted the 3D glasses that were on my coffee table from last Saturday when we saw this movie. I was watching TV and cleaning up some of the shows in our DVR at the time, and remembered that the performance of Michael Jackson's "Earth Song" on the Grammy's was in 3D! Sweet! I put on my cool Risky Business-esque 3D shades (they sadly didn't come with the cool red/blue lenses) and attempted to enjoy the show only to find that my tv is not capable of allowing me 3D viewing pleasure. I had to scratch that idea. I did watch this performance again by Pink, and I must say that it is still amazing! If you haven't already watched it, do it now! Pink has an awesome set of pipes, and does not struggle over the vocals even for a minute while being spun around in the air, dipped in water, or hung upside down. Talented performer, she is.

"I see you."

2010-02-09T08:30:00.001-05:00

Image via Avatarmovie.com

And you should see Avatar. J and I saw it last weekend in 3D, and it was just amazing. I didn't have much interest in it when it first hit theaters in December, but wanted to see what all of the hype was about. I was amazed at the level of detail in every scene. Although it has some weaknesses in the plot, I am sure it will get it's due recognition come March 7th. Visual effects? Not even a contest. I thought Zoe Saldana was great, and I cannot get over the imagination and creativity of James Cameron. Go see it if you haven't already, and you'll see just what I mean.

Super Bowl Monday

2010-02-08T09:25:00.006-05:00

The day after the Super Bowl. The Monday when I know that everyone is just as tired as I am. Up late watching the game, and feeling the need to detox and eat light for a week. What a game it turned out to be! I am very happy for the Saints, and their fans. I have a soft spot in my heart for N'awlins. It is hard to visit that city without taking a piece of it home with you forever. I can only imagine the scene in the French Quarter this week! I've witnessed the Mardi Gras festivities in person, and can only imagine it now that they have a huge victory to celebrate! I was rooting for the Saints to win and was never nervous that they wouldn't. As a Steelers fan, I know that the black and gold always pull ahead in the end!

So, let's talk commercials. A few good ones, but in general I wasn't as impressed this year. I loved the McDonald's commercial with, LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Larry Bird- reminded me of the commercial that ran when I was a kid. J and I laughed out loud at this Dodge Charger commercial because it is so true, particularly the comment at 0:36 since J spent the morning heckling me about my Twilight obsession (Hi Edward! Love you! Call me!):

The Snickers commercial with Betty White got a laugh out of me. The Doritos commercial with the funeral was a little outrageous. Monster.com's fiddling beaver was a little too silly for me, and I like some of the other E*Trade commercials from years past a little better: this and this. "Frank it was on the cart path. Why don't you try reading the rules Shankopotamus." The Budweiser Clydesdale commercial was great as usual; I always love those. The donkey version from a few years ago was so cute! The one that I really loved was Google's ad here:

So clever and I love the sap, of course. Did I miss any good ads? What were your favorite and "not so much" ads?

Oh, and let's not overlook the fact that "Jersey Shore" was on all day yesterday too. Recognize.

Instant Gratification

2010-02-04T16:00:00.003-05:00

Remember this lovely that I posted about some time ago? One of my favorite blogs, Creature Comforts, posted a giveaway for this very mini cam! I am entered to win one of these, and would be THRILLED to have one of these babies. I am hoping to cross off some of the 101 in 1001 list this year, and hope to do a lot of things before J and I think about starting a family. The two big things on my list are buying a home, and traveling. I think it would be awesome to do a little "mini"-series of photos of our travels and the process of buying and decorating our first house. Crossing my fingers! You can enter the giveaway yourself here. But if you win and I don't, please don't brag. :)

So long, Tai Shan!

2010-02-04T09:18:00.012-05:00

Last summer, J and I took a last minute road trip to soak up some sun in Bethany Beach, DE, and enjoy a few days in cities in Maryland that we've often passed through but not spent much time. We drove from Bethany to Annapolis where we spent just a few hours. I've always wanted to stop there to pay a visit to my namesake establishment, Riordan's (my maiden name). Sadly, as we found our way down the street I realized that I was too late, for Riordan's was no more. It had closed some time ago, and all that was left was the tattered old sign. I couldn't even get a t-shirt! Sniff, sniff.

We left Annapolis after a great meal at a cute little tavern next door, and headed to D.C. We've been to D.C. about three times over the past couple of years. We really love it there, and find that it is always worth a visit. So much to do! On this particular trip, we decided to hit up the National Museum of American History (which I quickly added to my 101 in 1001) and the National Zoo. It was HOT that day, and very crowded but we saw some pretty cool exhibits. This guy was trying to hide from me, but I found him.

J and I wanted to make a point to visit this (prepare thyself for a really crappy photo): And the other one outside with J.
Although the pandas were feeling a bit lazy when we were there, they were still quite the sight to see.

This morning while skimming the headlines I came across this story. Turns out that after almost 40 years, the Smithsonian will close down the panda exhibit. The time has come for the pandas to go back to China. If you read the story, you'll learn that the trainers have been teaching the pandas some sign language to ease their transition from English to Chinese. Isn't that cool?! Just something you don't think about every day. Reminded me of Rosie in "Water for Elephants." Anyway, it is sad to these the pandas go, but I am thankful to have seen them while they were here.

How about you? Did anyone else get a chance to see the pandas while they were here?

My New Favorite

2010-01-28T14:15:00.001-05:00

Can't. Stop. Listening.

That is all.

Gimme a Head with Hair, Long Beautiful Hair

2010-01-20T11:24:00.006-05:00

This past weekend I had an appointment at my favorite salon to get my hair color back to it's natural state. After getting some highlights put in here and there in the months leading up to our wedding, I was getting a little too blonde. I'm rather pale (the Irish side of me) and can't pull off the light haired look too well. Here is a pic of my friend Lindsay and I from my bachelorette party just before the wedding (I'm on the right- don't mind the red eyes).

The color was nice here, but I got my roots touched up a few time and ended up a little too light for me. I walked into the salon with some pictures in hand and was ready for my transformation. I wanted to go a little darker than natural, but nothing too drastic. My stylist was hesitant to dye my hair darker, because she's gotten use to the lighthaired me. She was intent on giving me something a little lighter. About an hour later, I came out like this:

Image from Good Housekeeping

Um, wow! Hello, Red! The auburn look is gorgeous on Juliann Moore, but I was in shock! I think she must see more red in my hair than I feel I actually have. I tried to keep calm and even told her she didn't have to style my hair because I just wanted to leave, go home and cry my eyes out. She wanted to straighten my naturally curly hair so I could really see the color, and it was a bit torturous to have to look in the mirror. I was going for something a little more like these two. Rachel's a little too red here but you get the idea (not sure where I found her pic).
My hair is really a brown color with some faint hints of red when the sun shines on it. A little more like this.

Image from Good Housekeeping

To a stranger it doesn't look so bad, and no offense to my red headed family members or readers, but I don't think it suits me. To me the dye looks pinkish where the highlighted strands used to be. I had prepared myself for the Elizabeth Hurley-esque shade and came out ginger-haired. Red dyes fade quickly so I tried my best with some hot olive oil treatments and multiple applications of good ole' classic Prell shampoo, but no dice. I've been wearing my hair back all week, because I get upset when I see it in the mirror. I've even had to rethink some wardrobe choices because I thought the red hair looked kinda funny with some of the colored tops I have.

Now I have to do the walk of shame into the salon tomorrow to have it fixed because I don't think I can stand it. I always feel so bad having to tell a stylist that a cut or color didn't turn out how I'd hoped. Anyone else ever feel that way?

Sigh. The battle for great hair- will it ever end? I know there are more important things in the world to worry about and that this is totally a trivial problem to have, (my thoughts are on the people of Haiti!) but it's on my mind and so I am writing about it.

Have any of you had any salon blunders?

Blog Love

2010-01-11T09:42:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year to you all! I am looking forward for all that is to come in 2010. How about you?

As I was catching up on the 1000+ posts in my google reader, I came across this lovely little blog, Missed Connections. Sophie Blackall searches the Missed Connections page on NYC's Craig's List, and creates illustrations of the posts (like the one above). She's also got an etsy shop where you can pick up some of the illustrations in print. I would love to hang a few of these around the house! They are right up my alley. This one in particular which posted on May 25, '09. (Did I ever tell you about my bird phobia?)

Go check it out. Then come back and tell me which one is your fave.

Laudacious Wedding Recaps:Details-Pt. 2

2009-12-22T15:30:00.001-05:00

Ah, the reception. So, so many details at the reception. Long post a comin'. Are you ready for it? I must warn you that only a few of these shots are from our amazing photographer, Bryan Reid (as labeled below each picture). I had my wedding coordinator take a lot of these photos. With a tight timeline in between the ceremony and reception and some logistical issues with our venue, we couldn't do a room reveal. I really wanted some photos of all of the untouched details, so my coordinator took some for me with her point and shoot. Regardless, you'll get the idea.

Early in our engagement we had some loose ideas floating around in our heads about what we wanted the feel of our reception to be. An awesome party with a great meal and good friends was a given. I knew that I wanted guests to be wowed as soon as they walked into Twelve Oaks Mansion, and wanted to incorporate some fab decor and personal touches. When we booked our reception here, the building had just been finished. Over the course of a few months, they hung drapes, added some art and a few pieces of vintage furniture, but it was still a pretty raw space (with gorgeous views off the back porch I might add). Here are the pics. I took the day we went to see the venue for the first time:

So, we had the task of decorating a space that was a rather blank slate. I knew I had to add some character to transform the place so the tone would be set right away as guests walked in. I wanted it to feel cozy and romantic since it was fall, but did not want to do the typical red/orange/yellow pumpkintastic fall wedding. I wanted to use a basic color scheme of black, champagne/light gold and ivory. At some point in time, I decided to go with a loose Vintage European theme. We rented some vintage style globe street lamps to warm things up a bit. I wanted one of those in the main foyer just behind the escort cards so guests would see it right away.

To play up the vintage Euro theme, I named the tables after various places in France and Italy (two of the most romantic places in the world, in my opinion). The head table was Paris (of course), and others included Paris Opera House, Arc de Triomph, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. From Italy we had Tuscany, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Verona, etc. So depending on which table you were seated, your escort card said "Monsieur & Madame Smith" if it was a French table name or "Signore & Signora Jones" for the Italian tables. Get it? Just a little swank to make things fun. I made some DIY escort cards on card stock that folded up into a little envelope- guest name on the outside, table name on the inside- and sealed them up with a custom wax seal of our monogram. Our coordinator laid these out on some strips of light champagne satin ribbon, and added some of our mini programs to enhance the look.

Photo by Bryan Reid

Opposite the escort table was our guest book table. We included an engagement photo as well as wedding photos from our parents and grandparents. The florist added some rose petals, candles and bud vases, and my mom made some more of those sweet damask letters. Guests signed little champagne cards that would later be put into our guest book (pictured in the back right corner).

Photo by Bryan Reid

Our guests were greeted by a strolling musician playing the accordion. The set list included some romantic instrumentals like "La Vie en Rose," "Fiore d'Abruzzo", "Flight of the Angels," and he was under strict orders to play NO POLKA! When they say that not everything will go as planned at a wedding, they were right. We booked a Grammy nominated musician to play at our reception, and somehow ended up with a random dude that probably plays in some local musical group. The switcheroo was made last minute by our wedding coordinator, and I wasn't aware of it until I saw the musician on our wedding video! Thankfully, he played the right stuff and the guests (and J and I) were none the wiser that day. Regardless, the cocktail hour in "The Library" consisted of signature martinis and some French/Italian tunes. We added a couple globe street lamps on the side of each action food station, to add to the theme. Several high top tables were decorated with lanterns and rose petals, and the florist added candles wherever she could.

The Library had three huge big screen TVs. I decided to put those to use as well, and made a DVD slideshow of images from France and Italy. Easy way to enhance the decor and put those to use.

Photo by Bryan Reid

On to the main ballroom! I really feel that linens can transform the look of a room, and luckily a dear family friend graciously gave us at a HUGE discount at L'Nique in Ohio. We had to transport them to Pittsburgh ourselves, but it was worth it! The head table was oval shaped and was draped with a black satin tablecloth, several beaded ivory and champagne table runners, and accented with champagne satin napkins. We chose black satin chair covers with champagne sashes as well.

Photo by Bryan Reid

The guest tables had some light gold/champagne damask linens with the same chairs. Here you can see one of our Italian table names, and one of three centerpieces used. This centerpiece complemented the bridesmaid bouquets and were made of roses and pepperberry. The vase was tied with a black satin ribbon.
In this shot (which is a little fuzzy-sorry!) you can see the menu cards tucked into black napkins. On the bread plates you can see the favor. I made some DIY CD covers (with our monogram of course) and included a CD with a mix of songs from our big day, as well as some French/Italian themed music. I still listen to it all the time!

Here is a fuzzy close up of the DIY menu cards (simple ivory cardstock matted on a champagne background) tucked into the napkin. Depending on your table name, you either got a "Bon Appetit!" or a "Mangia!" at the top. Fun!

Other centerpieces were lanterns with candles and rose petals (similar to the high tops) and vases filled with curly willow. My grandmother had three gorgeous curly willow trees in her yard and my florist let us use the branches from those. I loved having something from my grandma incorporated into our wedding day. Here is the before:

And here is the after:

Our florist sprayed the branches light gold, and strung Swarovski crystals, orchids and rose petals into the branches. She added some hydrangea at the base to make it a little more lush. Because we were able to supply the bulk of the materials here, we saved a lot on our centerpieces.

One other detail I haven't included in the other recap posts was the DIY card box. You'll see the three tiered damask/fleur de lis beauty in the middle of this table here. I bought some handmade paper from Romantic Ribbons, and covered some old hat boxes with it. We cut a slit in the top, trimmed it with some ribbon, wooden letters that read "Cards" and voila!

A close up that I took at home.
And now for the piece de resistance, the popcorn bar! I LOVE me some popcorn, and decided about a day after getting engaged that we would have a popcorn bar at our wedding. My family has vacationed at Bethany Beach, Delaware since I was three. Every year we make it a point to get a big ole' tub of Buntings Popcorn Station popcorn on the boardwalk. Buntings has since moved out of Bethany into Rehoboth Beach just miles up the road, so they were still my go-to source for gourmet popcorn. Because we are longtime customers, the owner very graciously sent us samples of every single flavor they had- over 30 flavors. On a road trip to Chicago, we had a taste test and decided on some very yummy flavors- my favorites being Brandy's Double Cheddar, Vanilla and good old fashioned Caramel. My mom also handmade batches of some other flavors- Key Lime, Rocky Road, Hot and Spicy, Sour Cream and Chives. DEE-LISH!

We put all that popcorn into various sized glass apothecary type jars and I made some quick DIY labels for each flavor. Guests got to fill up a bag (or five!) and took some of my favorite snack home as a bonus favor. We accented the bar itself with some linens, monogrammed tin tie bags tucked into a black and white damask box, a photo of J and I at Bethany Beach (with a note on why we chose to have Buntings as our popcorn of choice) and some Goccoed napkins. What wedding is complete without something from the Gocco after all?

Photo by Bryan Reid

And that, my dear readers, is a Laudacious Wedding! We've come to the end of the recaps (just 13 months after the grand event), and I hope you've enjoyed! I documented many of the DIY projects that I did over the course of our engagement, and would be glad to share the details with you all if there are any requests. Otherwise, I will work on finding my niche with this wee blog experiment and will post about other things Laudacious in the future. I leave you with this, a moment between J and I at the end of the night.

If you missed a wedding post, and want to start from the beginning, here are the links:

Related Posts:
G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS
Glam - Part 2
Dress Me Up!
Pre-ceremony pics
Moments before the ceremony
Saying "I Do"
Reception- Part 1
Reception-Part 2
The Toss
Dancin' the night away

Details- Part 1

Laudacious Wedding Recaps:Details- Pt. 1

2009-12-22T08:30:00.002-05:00

While planning our wedding, I spent a lot of time obsessing over the little details. I put a lot of thought into oodles of wedding minutia, and wanted to incorporate some personal touches wherever I could while sticking to our budget. Some details were meant to make the day a little more "us" while others were there for our guests to enjoy.

To start with, I wanted to share some of the details that our guests probably didn't notice, but made me happy nonetheless.

I had a custom dress tag made and sewn into my gown for a little pop of "something blue." I once read that it is a nice touch to have something showing the date of your wedding in a photo somewhere, and I thought this was a quick and inexpensive way to do it.

Some other accessories that I personalized where my garters. I bought an heirloom garter from GarterLady on Etsy, and had a custom toss garter made (also from Etsy here) to surprise my groom. One thing we'll never agree on is our taste in NFL teams, but I decided to marry the two rivals just for the occasion. (Go Steelers!)
I had a hard time settling on shoes to wear, because my taste is more expensive than my wallet could justify. I really wanted a hot pair of Jimmy Choos, Manolos, Louboutins (you get the idea) but with all of the other expenses I had, I decided it wasn't a necessary expense for one day. I found a cute, simple pair of Kate Spade pumps (Gwen, I believe?) for a steep discount and added some bling in the form of vintage shoe clips (also an eBay find!). A little close up of the heirloom garter, as well as my shoes.
These shoes were very comfy and my feet didn't hurt for a minute the entire day! Aaaand they're dyeable! If I ever want to dye them black to wear more often, I can! I wanted a little more of the something blue, so I added some blue rhinestones to my shoes in our first initials. And now for the bracelet. The coveted Haute Bride bracelet. This baby made me so happy. So many guests complimented me on this, and it really sparkled in church under the lights and stained glass. I bought it from another bride that wore this on her big day, and think it was worth every penny. My sister begged me not to sell it afterwards, because she wants it to be her "something borrowed" someday. I couldn't bear to part with it anyway.

Next a close up of our bouquets to remind you what they look like. Mine was a huge lush, white bouquet filled with ranunculus, lisianthus, eskimo roses, hydrangea, and freesia. The bridesmaid carried black magic, black beauty and american beauty roses with some red orchids and little accents of pepperberry. I saw a bouquet in Martha Stewart weddings book that was handed down to me by one of my bridesmaids, and knew I wanted the ladies to carry something very similar.
I surprised each bridesmaid with their first initial on the wrap. Skipping ahead to the ceremony...

We got married at a church in the parish where I went to grade school. It has very high ceilings and a 150 foot aisle. On our budget, we couldn't do much with the decor here because you really need a lot of decor to make an impact in a space this big. For the church doors, which you would see just before I walked down the aisle, I went with simple white carnation wreaths adorned with a light champagne ribbon (also some Martha inspiration).

My mother actually made these for me out of faux carnations. We bought up the entire supply at various Michael's stores and now I have these to hang in my home someday. I think they turned out great, and we were able to save some money by going faux! My mom also strung up some wooden letters, stenciled a damask pattern on them, and voila! Instant door decorations for the church's exterior doors.This next detail, our aisle runner was a labor of love. I really wanted a personalized aisle runner if nothing else to decorate the church. The custom versions I found online were droolworthy, but the price was too steep for a 150 foot aisle runner that would essentially end up in the trash after being trampled on all day. I found a runner online and decided to hand paint it myself. I think it turned out quite nicely if I can toot my own horn for a minute. (Coincidentally, I have had some requests to make these for other brides. If you want one, or know of a bride that does, you can check out my link here).

See that monogram? I had a graphic designer make it for us, and am so glad that I did. I got a lot of mileage out of it! If you were a guest at our wedding, you saw it on everything. I put it on programs, favors, napkins, popcorn bags, on the dance floor, water bottles to go in our guest bags, etc. I liked having this monogram as a common thread to weave throughout the decor.

Here are the mini program booklets that I made with the monogram on the cover. They're quarter page sized, and were also a labor of love. Sad to say that I don't have any pro pics of the inside, but I added little "tears of joy" packets on the inside cover. They were a hit!

Last but not least, our DIY unity candle. Some vellum, a little fun in Microsoft Word, an inkjet printer, black ribbon, and a Xyron machine resulted in this:

This was one of my first DIY projects with the Xyron- I became obsessed soon thereafter. Just ask my bridesmaids that helped me assemble the oodles of paper goodies used at the wedding.

Hope you like what you saw! One last post of reception details to come and the recaps will be done!

Moments before the ceremony

Dancin' the night away

Really Cleveland?

2009-12-21T13:34:00.004-05:00

An inch and a half of snow is all you can give me for the Christmas season? Surely, ye jest. We live about 15 houses from the Lake Erie snow machine, but on the west side of town. Normally, we get dumped on. This is last winter outside our screen door.

I am having a hard time getting in to the Christmas spirit this year, and I think it is because of the weather. I love to see the lights twinkling in the snow. Christmas movies aren't the same unless I am curled up under a blanket knowing there is snow on the ground outside. I know I shouldn't be complaining when lots of people up and down the east coast are stranded from the weather this past weekend, but can't there be a happy medium? I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!

I've been bitten.

2009-12-07T10:08:00.005-05:00

Image link here.

It's rather serious, I'm afraid. You see, I started reading this book last weekend and it's official. I've been bitten by the Twilight bug. I'm obsessed. My sister lent me "Twilight" and "New Moon" over Thanksgiving weekend, and once I picked up the first book this past Friday in the waiting room at a doctor's office it was all over. Ironic that I should start reading a vampire book while getting my bloodwork done. Ha! I am already counting down the hours until I can go home to read more. Don't you love when a good book grabs you like that?

Anyway, my sister will now take full credit for my crush on Edward Cullen. She was the one that got me to read the Harry Potter series back in the day, so she knows my taste in wizards and vampires I guess.

I plan on buying the DVD because I know I'll love it and will want to watch it again. I haven't yet seen the movies, but am already picturing Edward as Robert Pattinson (who I thought would always be Cedric Diggory to me). Hopefully I can catch up in time to see New Moon while it's still in theaters.

Anyone else a fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series?

Cause ya gotta have Faith!

2009-12-04T13:26:00.005-05:00

When I was a kid, I really liked listening to music. I didn't have too many of my own records or even tapes as I got a little older, so I would get my fix at my grandma's house. My aunt who lives with my grandma had an awesome collection of 80's/90's music- Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, George Michael, etc. I vividly recall being in my aunt's room, putting some tapes into the boombox, and singing and dancing my heart out to "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go." Happy times.

My husband's best friend, the best man from our wedding is a HUGE George Michael fan. Seriously. Member of the GM Fan club and everything. He called to tell us about a special one time George Michael: Live in London theater event that was playing across the country last night. The show last night was footage from the last stop on GM's 25 Live tour in London. We got to see it on the big screen at a tiny little theater just minutes from our house that was recently restored. Here is the trailer.

All I have to say is, George has still got it! It was a great show in the theater, and reminded me of how great he was in person. J and I went with best man and his wife to see George in Philly when his 25 Live tour came to the states. It was off the hook- seriously one of the top 5 concerts I have been to in my life. George Michael has some very loyal fans and the crowd was great. There were moments when it felt like a gay dance club in that arena and I loved every minute it! Everyone danced their asses off and it was such a happy crowd with tons of energy! He did lots of old favorites and some newer stuff too. "Faith," "Father Figure," "Amazing," etc. I was on such a concert high for days after that show, and it all came back to me last night. Even though it wasn't an actual live concert, people danced in their seats, sang at the top of their lungs, clapped, etc. It was so much fun! I realized after we got home that the last two movies I saw were concert-type movies- GM's "Live in London" and Michael Jackson's "This is It." I felt the urge to sing and dance during "This is It" but held myself back- last night we made up for it. Good times. I heart you George. The DVD release of this show comes out Tuesday and is GM's first live footage to ever be released on video. I highly recommend you check it out if you're even a little bit of a fan- so much fun!

Cause you gotta have faith-a, faith-a, FAITH-A! Baby!...

What about you? Any music from childhood that still really gets you going?

To My Husband

2009-11-15T16:00:00.003-05:00

One year ago today...

I put on a white dress, walked down the aisle, and we said "I Do."

What a day it was... This year has been so wonderful, and I am blessed to be able to call you my husband.

Here's to us on our very first wedding anniversary, and a toast to many more happy years together. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

Thank you for everything you are, and everything you do for me and for us.

I love you, I love you, I love you!

Laudacious Wedding Recaps- Dancin' the Night Away

2009-11-13T16:00:00.008-05:00

My family isn't very shy when it comes to dancing, but we wanted to pack the dance floor at our reception. We carefully chose our "must play" list for the D.J. I think we did a retty good job of finding music to please everyone and makke guests of all ages get on up on the dance flo'. See for yourselves... Aunt and nephew shake it to some Love Shack.
Godmother and Great Aunt dance to some Sinatra...Flower girl and her younger sister take a twirl or two to the Spice Girls. (In all honesty I have no idea what song they were dancing to, but I like to imagine a little Wannabe, no?)

Things got a little crazy when my MOH and some guests decided to turn the reception into Animal House and bust out the 'gator. I had no idea this even happened- this is why you hire photographers for weddings. Worth every penny for these money shots, am I right?

A little worm action...

Took a minute to post with my besties from high school. You're all fabulous!

Oh, and of course we had a little Livin' on a Prayer. Can't you tell?
We carefully chose the last song of the night based on votes cast on our wedding website. Don't Stop Believing by Journey was the winner. J was all about it.

Our guests didn't want to go home though and we all cheered for "one more song! one more song!" and D.J. Dale obliged. Here we are gettin' low for some Blister in the Sun. Why not?

And that, my friends, is all she wrote. I will be finishing up the wedding recaps next week with a grand finale and some miscellaneous details from the wedding day- reception decor, DIY projects, etc. If you're lucky, I'll include some shots from our honeymoon to Negril too. It's almost our first anniversary, and I made a promise to myself that the wedding recaps would be done by this time! Until then...

Laudacious Wedding Recaps- The Toss

2009-11-13T10:27:00.010-05:00

We debated oer having a bouquet/garter toss at our wedding. Many of our friends are married and we only had a handful of single guys and gals there for the big day, but as a two time bouquet catcher myself (thank you very much) who am I to deny another their moment?

We began with a little theme music a la Sex and the City theme which faded into "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado. You know the one:

Everybody look at me, me
I walk in the door you start screaming
Come on everybody what you here for?
Move your body around like a nympho
Everybody get your necks to crack around
All you crazy people come on jump around
I want to see you all on your knees, knees
You either want to be with me, or be me!

Maneater, make you work hard
Make you spend hard
Make you want all, of her love...

I turned around to scan the crowd and see if my girls were ready and to call out any chickens hiding in their seats.

Everyone present? Check. Bridesmaids rowdy? Check. Being the smart a-- that I am, I figured my friends would expect a fakeout on the first countdown, so I decided to do some reverse psychology and toss that thing into the air on the first try.

One-two-three! And away it goes...

The rowdiest bridesmaid of them all caught it. It was the first bouquet she ever caught, and I was happy that it was mine!

Next up. Time for my groom to remove the garter. A little 007 theme music comes on (he is a HUGE James Bond fan), and he worked his way under all that tulle to reveal the surprise I had for him... Minds out of the gutter people- this was a classy affair! I'm talking about the garter. One thing J and I will never agree on is our our taste in football. He was born and raised in Cleveland and is a die hard Browns fan, while I hail from the city of the 6 time Superbowl champs. Go Stillers! I decided to marry the longstanding rivals this day and had a little Browns/Steelers toss garter made. Here it is along with my keepsake garter.

Time for the guys to line up. Not quite as many but just enough. J is an old country soul at heart, so he chose "I've Got Spurs That Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" for the garter toss. Might seem like an odd choice, but the lyrics are actually rather appropriate:

I've got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle
As I go riding merrily along
And they sing, oh, ain't you glad you're single?
And that song ain't so very far from wrong

J gave it a quick toss over his shoulder to his cousin, Matt. Rowdy bridesmaid, Matt, J and I posed for a quick picture and that was it! We opted not to do the whole every-inch-up-the-leg-is-another-year-of-good-luck bit because I've seen that go horribly wrong at other weddings. Enough said.

Up next- Dancin' the night away.

Related Posts:
G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS
Glam - Part 2
Dress Me Up!
Pre-ceremony pics
Moments before the ceremony
Saying "I Do"
Reception- Part 1
Reception-Part 2

Everybody look at me cause I'm sailin' on a boat!

2009-11-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I told you all that I got the surprise of a lifetime when I learned that I had won the Bud Light Port Paradise Cruise Sweepstakes featuring a private concert with Dave Matthew Band. J and I packed our bags up and sailed away to the Bahamas last weekend to experience the trip of a lifetime.

After a free non-stop flight to Orlando, we hopped on a charter bus and were greeted with full coolers of ice cold Bud Light. I looked at J and he gave me a look that said "It's on!" There was such a fun vibe already and we hadn't even boarded yet. "Get your towels ready, it's about to go down!"

After going through security we hopped aboard the Monarch of the Seas where tables and tables of free Bud Light were up for grabs. I knew we were in for a wild weekend. "Take a

picture, trick! I'm on a boat, b!tch!"

We found our stateroom, explored the ship and headed up to the pool. Off the hook, I tell you. Everywhere we went, you'd hear "I'm on a boat!" which quickly became the Port Paradise cruise anthem. The crowd went wild when the DJ played it as we set sail for Nassau. (Click play on the video below to set the mood).

J and I downed some free beer and headed to the casino to wait for the lights to turn on once we were far enough off of the coast. Fast forward about an hour and the most God-awful-Dramamine-wasn't-working-whatsoever seasickness set in. Oh, was it horrid. Thought it was just me but J felt it too. It is not an experience I'd ever like to have again. I said some quick prayers that the sickness wouldn't last for I was on this boat for 4 days like it or not. We thought other people were feeling a little green too but after lots of free beer for all on board who could tell. As one guy (who nearly fell down the steps) put it best "Boat or Bud Light? I don't know?!" Unfortunately, J & I were down for the count, barely touched our dinners and couldn't enjoy the on board Halloween party. Lame, but necessary for as sick as we were. BLAH! The only highlight of the meal was when I discovered our table #. You true DMB fans will know how excited I was about this.

Saturday we watched the ship pull into Nassau and I saw the blue waters and got SO excited! After a pure hour of chaos trying to disembark 2,000 people we finally got off the boat and practically kissed the ground (no more seasickness for the next 7 hours!). We checked out some of the straw markets and went to a Fodor's recommended restaurant, Cafe Matisse. It was off the beaten path a little in Parliament Square. Great meal, gorgeous courtyard and perfect drinks.

After lunch we hopped a ferry to Paradise Island to check out Atlantis and the sprawling grounds. That place is unbelievable and still growing. I'd like to get back there someday when we had more time, but am glad I got to see it once.

Back on board that night, we ate dinner in the main dining room, played a little blackjack and 3 card poker, drank some mo' Bud Light and enjoyed the sail over to Cococay where we docked early Sunday A.M. Cococay is so remote that they had to tender us over, so hopped out of a hole in the side of our cruise liner and onto a little boat that took us ashore.We pulled up and I saw it. The stage.

Oh. Em. Gee. Dave Matthews is going to be playing on this stage and I am here to see it. And didn't pay anything to be here. Somebody pinch me for I must be dreaming. We enjoyed some time in the sun and the true fans quickly staked out their spots on the beach with the free Bud Light towels we were given.

J went to find me some lunch (a banana!) and just after he came back to our spot a yacht pulls up and DMB walks up the beach to head to the stage area. I freaked out, grabbed the camera and I'm nearly certain that I levitated over to where they were to get some pictures.

Unbelievable, people. Just unbelievable.

At noon all the Bud Light on the island was free. It was 90+ degrees. You can imagine what happened to people in that one hour before the band took the stage. Pandemonium. When DMB came out on stage, the quaint little coconut island quickly turned into the set of Girls Gone Wild and it was pretty much a wild show from that point on.

I will let the next few pics tell you how close we were and how awesome the show was:

For you DMB fans, the set list included some new, some old and all kinds of awesome:

Don't Drink the Water
Funny the Way It Is
Seven
Satellite
So Damn LuckyWhy I Am
Spaceman
Cornbread
Shake Me Like A Monkey
Burning Down the House
Tripping Billies
Crash Into Me
Jimi Thing
Grey Street
You and Me
Stay

Encore
Everyday
Ants Marching
And there you have it. The last night was great, but all else paled in comparison to the show that day. Still can't believe I was there to see DMB in the Bahamas and that the trip was free. We were able to relax and take a mental break in the Caribbean sun. The trip fell just three weeks before our first wedding anniversary- what timing! It was a quick trip but a lifelong memory for us. We are truly blessed. Hope you enjoyed!

Laudacious Wedding Recaps: The Reception- Part 2

2009-10-13T10:29:00.014-04:00

After our Maid of Honor, Best Man, and my father made their toasts to J and I, we made a point to eat some dinner. We took some time to carefully choose a menu featuring chef action stations, and I really wanted to make a point to not only see how the stations looked but to taste it all too. Here is what made it onto my plate: Sautéed Sea Scallops with Blood Orange, Garlic and Basil; Cajun Style Sauteed Shrimp; Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Reduction Sauce, Roasted Pork Tenderloin Filled with Sage Sausage, Boursin, Cheese and Sautéed Spinach. (Are you drooling now?)

Just after we ate dinner while some guests were still eating, I surprised J with a little slide show that I made for us. You can view it here if you'd like- use password "laudacious" if it prompts you for one.

Here we are watching it:

Just after the slideshow while we had our guests attention, our DJ played us a song that was part smooth, a little sassy, and definitely old school. To set the mood, click here and let it play in the background.
Our cake was inspired by one I had seen on the Knot awhile back and the oh-so-glam Martha damask cake. We tracked down those stencils and the on-site baker said he'd try his best. Turned out pretty well I think. I had a cake topper custom made. Aren't these little guys so cute? Bottom tier was white chiffon cake with vanilla bean and fresh strawberries. Other than the one bite that J served me, I'll have to let you know how it tastes after we nosh on the top tier next month for our first anniversary. (We'll be sampling the white chiffon with coffee and hazelnut filling).
We took the classy route and served each other a sweet little bite- we're not the smashing-of-wedding-cake-in-the-face type.
Next it was time for a spin around the dance floor. Choosing the song for our first dance was the one decision we found toughest to make together. We have a lot of songs that are special to us, but none that we labeled "our song." It was hard for each of us to narrow it down, but we both found that one song fit "us" and it was "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds. We did take some dance lessons but this song didn't lend itself to the moves we learned so we did the ole' junior high sway. Still I was lost in the moment...
My dad and I danced to "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw. We sang to each other the whole time (even though my dad didn't know all of the words which made me laugh).
J and his mom danced to Elvis's version of "Always on My Mind."

He got a little teared up in the end- so sweet.

More reception and lots of details to come!

Next up: Bouquet and Garter Toss.

Related Posts:
G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS Glam - Part 2 Dress Me Up! Pre-ceremony pics Moments before the ceremony Saying "I Do" The Reception- Part 1

It's the little things in life...

2009-10-12T15:51:00.006-04:00

Yesterday there were lots of little things that made me happy. Among them:

1. Husband suggesting that we get crepes for breakfast here. I got the simplette with eggs, spinach and brie. "That must be Nigel with the brie!" (Anyone?) J got nutella and bananas in his. Pumpkin steamers to drink. YUM. Usually I have to beg him for weeks to go out to breakfast, but not yesterday. All his idea.

2. Finished a great book. A little late in the game reading it, but it was a good nonetheless.

3. Getting all of my laundry done and clean towels that smell like this.

4. Looking through the weekly Target ad and seeing this little fella among the kiddie Halloween costumes. Cracks me up. Tell me that he does not make you smile? Come on now.

Image via Tar-jay

5. Mad Men. How hot is this man?

Please note that as a result of googling this image I came across this gem. I now know how I will be spending the last hour of my work day. (Image from here).

Zig-a-zig-ahhhhhh.

You Tube N'At

2009-10-05T14:45:00.002-04:00

My brother sent this to me, and as a tribute to my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA and any readers that are from the 'burgh I share it with you. Happy Monday n'at.

The Love Boat

2009-09-24T16:09:00.015-04:00

See this boat? I LOVE it. Let me explain. First, it is important that you understand that my all time favorite band is the Dave Matthews Band. No contest. I have been a fan for many, many years and have seen them at least fifty times in concert. If my wallet and vacation time would allow that number would be higher. Over a month ago, I saw a notice in some e-mail from the band about a contest they were having. This one:

About 30 lucky DMB fans would win round trip airfare and a four day cruise to the Bahamas. The cruise ship will dock at an island where Dave Matthews Band will perform an ultra-private show for the winners of the contest. As you can imagine, I played some "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" style fast finger and clicked on the contest entry link saying a quick prayer that I would get picked as a winner.

Fast forward to yesterday. I open up my inbox to see the most glorious e-mail I've ever received. Here is the first line:

"Congratulations! You have been selected as the winner of the Big Warehouse DMB Cruise Giveaway Sweepstakes! "

Is there anything more to say than "I die?" Me:DMB cruise as Charlie Bucket:Golden ticket. I am Bahamas bound, my friends. Life is good. Check back early November for full details- praying that I finally get to meet the man behind the mic. What a dream come true...

Lately...

2009-09-18T14:48:00.005-04:00

Has it really been a MONTH since I last posted here? Time is flying. Fall is upon us, the weather is perfect, and I've been a busy woman. What have I been doing? Let's see:

- I took on a leadership position for a local young professional's organization and have been busy getting our committee's activities off to a good start.

- I have been working on my list, mostly in the professional and crafty areas. I am working on a professional project that I really can't talk much about just yet, but it's going well. Getting some solid experience and taking lots of baby steps toward the ultimate goal.

Something exciting for you all from the home front- our new couch! Check it! Doesn't it look cute with the pillows and art? I found some cute paper at Smock and framed some of it in Ribba frames from Ikea. Cute. Easy. Cheap. Love. We also got a jute area rug from World Market (not pictured), and hope to get a new coffee table, some end tables, etc. but we're waiting until we find what we like for the right price. Husband is slowly getting over the fact that household remnants of his bachelor days past are slowly disappearing. Ha! We're slowly saving our pennies to buy a new house, but little changes like this make us feel more at home in the meantime.

I'm not a photographer. Sorry for the quality.

- Last, I've been working on narrowing down the hundreds of images that we had from our wedding for our album. I sent those off to our photographer this week, and am hoping we have an album in hand for our first anniversary which is just two months away. Better get moving on a gift for J! I might put some recaps up early next week to try to finish those up two for anyone that's been following those.

That's all for now blogworld. Enjoy the weekend!

Another year...

2009-08-17T15:19:00.005-04:00

And boy did it go by in a flash. Yesterday was my birthday. It was a great day and a fun filled weekend. I took the day off work on Friday to await the arrival of our new couch (pictures to come) and spoiled myself with a trip to the spa for a facial and much needed massage. The masseuse told me I should be coming in more often- my back was so stiff! I think it knew it was turning a year older- haha.

My sister and mom traveled up the turnpike to visit for the day on Saturday. We had some lunch at one of my favorite local pizza joints, Danny Boys. After stuffing ourselves silly we braved the beach and spent some time at Huntington Beach on Lake Erie. It was SO HOT that day and very crowded, but still lots of fun.

I started off the day yesterday (my actual birthday) as I do every year- an 8:00 AM "Celebration of Me" dance party. This year's playlist featured "What Would You Say" by DMB, Captain Zoom's Birthday song, and "In Da Club." Go shorty, it's your birthday, we gon' party like it's your birthday... The dance party woke up my husband who was trying his hardest to sleep in (despite me jumping on the bed). He resisted for a little while, but I finally got up in time to treat me to breakfast at my favorite little creperie. We ran some boring adult-like errands, sat around for awhile, and later went to see "The Time Traveler's Wife." Figured I better get him to go on my b-day when he couldn't say no to me-ha! We finished off the day with dinner at Salmon Dave's and came home to relax. He also got me some great gifts- a new rug for the family room, some cute clothes that I picked out the day before, and a gorgeous new watch (I lost my old one). I felt spoiled- and I loved every bit of it. The celebration continues at dinner tonight with the in-laws. Then I will officially be eating salad for a month to recover from this weekend- ha!

I woke up today when the alarm sounded, and realized that I can no longer live in denial that I'm in my thirties. Really, it's not so bad. Here's to another year!

A new way to spend my Sundays...

2009-08-10T14:30:00.007-04:00

On my new couch! I am beyond excited to report that J and I went out and bought a real grown up couch yesterday! "What's the big deal? It's just a couch" you may be asking yourself? Well, to give you a bit of background, I moved in w/ J while we were engaged. He lived in the bottom floor unit of a home built in the 1920s. The place has lots of charm- built in bookcases, hardwood floors, etc. but was lacking the decor department. Because we were busy saving for and planning our wedding, I quickly moved everything from my apartment into his bachelor bad and we ended up with a mismatch mess of coffee tables, side tables, random chairs and couches, old art, etc. Worst of all was the GIGANTIC black pleather sectional circa 1985 that my dear husband got for free when he started law school. The monster (as I affectionately call it) is complete with awkward angles, sinking cushions and cracked scratchy material on two of the five cushions. HATE. IT. and refuse to sit on it. Ick.

Anyway, our initial plan was to buy a house after we got married and figured we'd hold off on buying furniture until we saved enough for a new home. Enter sucky economy. Lack of job security due to layoffs at both of our companies left us in our rental for awhile longer. We just don't want to take the leap and become homeowners until we're certain that we're going to stay put for awhile. We're somewhat okay about this decision, but we were itching to make our rental more homelike in the meantime.

So, fast forward to yesterday when we took a trip to the Arhaus clearance center and walked out 30 minutes later with a receipt for this bad boy in our hands.

Image from Arhaus

It is the Filmore Mushroom collection fitted sofa (we got it in a misty light gray/taupe color), and we scored an awesome deal on it. Because it's a clearance center, you have to act fast. This baby was in mint condition, was so comfy and I loved the neutral color that I can punch up with some colorful pillows, accent furniture, etc. Love it!

I, of course, was so excited about the new addition to our home that I scoured etsy.com for hours in search of some cute pillows.

Image source (clockwise from top): 1. Etsy seller eleen 2. Etsy seller milkandcookiesCanada 3. Etsy seller pipdesigns 4. Etsy seller milkandcookiesCanada

Four pillows later and we're on our way to some prettified family room decor! Some are just slipcovers, but you get the idea. Aren't they cute?!

Eventually we'll get a new coffee table, accent chair, etc. We're scheduled for delivery on Thursday or Friday. Can't wait! I'll post some befores and afters so you get the full effect.

For all of you married readers, what was the first big purchase that you made together?

Evan or Moxon?

2009-08-06T09:34:00.005-04:00

I am a big fan of "So You Think You Can Dance" and was so excited to see Jeanine take the crown this year! At some point over the past few weeks, I was looking at Evan and an image of James Van Der Beek from "Varsity Blues" popped into my head. For the finale, Wade choreographed a piece for the final 4 to Lady Gaga's "Boys, Boys, Boys" and did a little football/cheerleading theme. Cute, but not really finale material IMO. The highlight though? Further confirmation that = Jonny Moxon. See for yourself... Anyone else see it?

Oh, and I couldn't let the season pass without posting this piece by Mia Michaels. Loved it!

Video from YouTube.

Can't wait for Season 6 in a few weeks!

Laudacious Wedding Recaps: The Reception- Part 1

2009-08-04T16:25:00.009-04:00

I'm back with some more Laudacious Wedding Recaps! Seeing as how I've been away from the blog for a few weeks, and I know you're all waiting on the edge of your seats for the real fun to begin, I'm just going to skip over those fun family formal shots from the church and skip to the par-tay, okay? Here we go.

After the priest kicked us out of the church- that's right- kicked us out, we made a dash for the trolley. Folks were arriving at 5:30 for a 6 o'clock mass, and we weren't allowed to stay a minute longer to get pictures at the altar. So my groom and I got one post-ceremony shot at church and there are ZERO pictures of me by myself. But I'm not bitter with the priest or anything... Anyway, here we are running to the trolley. My bridesmaids were so cute in their Nimli wraps* helping me run in the rain.

* Some advice if you plan on ordering these. I had a really hard time getting the right color and had to exchange three times. Their color samples online are pretty off, but they will help you select the right shade if you mail in a swatch.

We made it to the reception and made another quick dash into Twelve Oaks. My wedding coordinator got me an umbrella as a gift and it definitely came in handy. Oh, if only I'd dyed my crinoline for this photo opp.

We spent a few minutes in a private room while I got fussed over as every bride should on their wedding day, right?! MOH touched up my makeup, and all the BMs helped look for those tiny little bustle loops. My gown had two layers that had to be bustled individually so all hands were on deck for that task.

In the meantime, the men relaxed with some Miller Lites in the other corner. Don't they have it easy?!

It was finally time to line up for our grand entrance. "Two Step" by Dave Matthew Band cued up and we made our way through the crowd to our head table.

After a few photos, we started off the toasts. Our best man, Tony, gave a great toast about his friendship w/ J and made us all laugh.

Then my sister gave a very memorable and touching toast that got the tears flowing. I, being the big sister that I am, was more worried about her nerves than crying so I made it through without having to touch up the eye makeup- narrow escape. haha.

My dad was up next. I am glad that we had a videographer there that day to record these toasts. Everything goes by so quickly, and I want to remember my dad's words for a long time to come...

Some final laughs...

A kiss...

and cheers to us!

Next up: Cutting the cake and our first dance.

Saying "I Do"

Another YouTube Gem

2009-07-25T12:14:00.002-04:00

The church where we married would have never allowed it, but kudos to this bride and groom for pulling this off! What a fun couple and a memorable walk down the aisle.

Road trip!

2009-07-19T13:19:00.004-04:00

Hubby and I are setting off for a road trip to the beach today. Be back next weekend and will post some more recaps! Hoping to cross some of the 101 off the list! Have a great week!

Laudacious Wedding Recaps: Saying "I Do"

2009-07-10T15:40:00.025-04:00

So there we were, the late day November sun peeking through the church's stained glass windows. My pretty 'maids were all in a row waiting for their cue. The string trio began "Canon in D" and one by one all eight made their way up the aisle (only one BM, and my MOH/sister are pictured here-the rest of 'em blinked!).

The flower girl and banner bearer were next looking cute as ever. I loved the idea of a "Here Comes the Bride" sign rather than having him carry rings. I would be too nervous to give him our actual rings, and thought it a little silly to give him fake ones. Something different, too.

The doors closed just behind the children to give a moment's pause before the walk. down. the. aisle... My dad and I got in place, while the wedding coordinator straightened my train, and gave me a few last second touch ups. Poor dad- he was more nervous and emotional than I can ever recall seeing him, but I squeezed his hand and made some jokes to ease the happy tension in those last few moments. I remember my coordinator giving me a huge smile and saying "you are so calm!" and you know? I really was. I had waited for this day, for this very moment, for a long time and had only a heart full of joy. I felt a surge of adrenaline and squeezed my dad's arm as the organ and trumpet sounded out "Prince of Denmark's March." And then the doors opened.

I am glad the photographer caught a shot of my handsome groom's reaction. The aisle was 150 feet long, and while I couldn't see him well enough I didn't want to miss the expression on his face. We walked slowly down the aisle and were able to take our time a bit before walking past guests thanks to the huge church. Hey- I only get to do it once and I wanted to enjoy it!

The faces of our guests faded away and all I saw was my groom waiting there for me. My dad placed my arm in J's just as we rehearsed, and we made our way to the altar.

Quick shot of our fab DIY aisle runner on our way...

Our groomsmen looked on as our friend, John, read from the Old Testament.

My dear friend, Lindsay read from the New Testament moments later.

And our priest read the Gospel and gave a Homily. J and I elbowed each other a few times during this as the priest said some things that made us giggle. I loved those private little moments during our ceremony.

We said our vows to each other and exchanged rings...

And then it was time to light our unity candle.

Father Bill did a nice blessing called "The Hands Prayer." The expression on J's face makes me laugh. The blessing called for me to place my hands in J's, and then vice versa. During rehearsal, I took the opportunity to play a quick game of slap hand at this moment, so here you can see J bracing himself should I happen to do it again on the big day. I didn't, but it was fun to make him nervous. HA!

While we chose not to do a full Catholic mass, there is a tradition in some ceremonies where the bride pays tribute to the Virgin Mother. I chose to lay a white rose at the foot of her statue and say a private prayer.

We then come to the end! A final blessing to us and our guests before the priest had us seal our vows with a kiss!

We turned to face our guests as we were presented as Mr. and Mrs. and suddenly out comes the bagpiper! I had totally forgotten that he was going to be there, and the first few notes startled me!

We wanted to incorporate J's Scottish heritage into our ceremony and chose "Caber Feidh" as our recessional.

I was so happy and excited in this moment as we walked down the aisle. I wanted to do a little dance and just couldn't stop smiling at my new husband. I have no memory of what he was saying to me- it was all a blur.

We snuck into a little room and spent a few quiet minutes together as we heard the church bells ring.

We made our way to the door as the guests lined up and lit their sparklers. It wasn't quite dark out, but the sparklers looked great at twilight...

And away we went! We hopped onto our trolley and rode around for a few minutes together while the guests departed for the reception and the bridal party and family prepared for a few formal shots at the church.

We did it!

Next up: Formal photos

G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS

Glam - Part 2

Dress Me Up!
Pre-ceremony pics

Moments before the ceremony

So, so cute...

2009-07-09T19:01:00.002-04:00

This might just be the cutest proposal ever. I teared up.

Found via Petunia Face

Also, I'm a slacker. Promise to resume the wedding recaps soon!

Laudacious. Out.