I'm bad and I've neglected you!

I've been patiently waiting for photos from the wedding to post and after some technical difficulties I have a few to share, of my kiddos of course! I can't get over how handsome my little guy looked in his mini tux! ENJOY!

OMG

The wedding is SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!


Do I really need to say anything else?

2 Weeks to GO!!!

We are only two weeks away from the wedding and I can't believe we're here already!

My dress finally made it in to the alterations lady this afternoon and I got exactly what I was thinking... Rebuilding a dress from the inside out can be kinda costly :) But, I was planning for the cost and more than willing to do anything and everything to make my dress look lovely and this wedding go off perfectly. So, in the end my dress needs to have the existing darts on the bust line ripped out and re-done (as the maker of the dress was so kind to put them on the outsides on my boobs so they look like they are running away from each other!), The sash removed, shortened and re-attached, a good chunk of the width removed as the A-line right now makes we look like I'm wearing a Hefty bag, the train removed, and the dress length shortened. Once I was all pinned in to it, it looked AMAZING.


I can't wait to wear it and see all of the girls lined up looking fabulous! The countdown has begun.... Are you ready??

Being a girl is hard work!

I swear, in the past month I've spent more time waxing, tanning, smoothing, exfoliating and bleaching then I ever thought possible.

I've never been one of those women who dedicate a large amount of time to my appearance, until lately. I mastered the art of the 10 minute makeup application after Luke was born, and have worn my hair scrunched with gel and still wet from the shower to work more times than I can count. Not that I don't CARE about how I look, I just value my sleep more than manicured nails and a perfect blowout.

In preparation for my sister's wedding I re-opened my tanning membership 3 months ago (from when we went to Mexico 2 years ago)and got right down to the task of not looking sickly and pale by D Day. This task is probably pretty easy for most people but thanks to my mom's french skin, low and slow has been the name of the game. I've learned through horrible experience that attempting to rush a tan on my skin can result in purple-toned sunburns followed by weeks of itching and peeling, followed again by sickly pale skin.

I know it's not very good for my skin but I'm really enjoying the little kick in my self-esteem's ass that it has given me. Riding the self-esteem high, I then began bleaching my teeth about a week ago and have a shopping trip planned for my lunch on Friday to go pick up a new pair of Spanx. What, you don't know what SPANX are? Where have you been? My Spanx and I are BFFs. I actually bought my Spanx right before I returned to work after Miss B to give me a teeny bit of extra confidence in my pre-baby work clothes. Boy do they rock!!!! Off to buy a brand new one for the wedding!!!

LUVS!

March of Dimes March for Babies Re-Cap

The walk went awesome, the weather was amazing and the crowd was immense like last year which always makes it feel so motivating. Our team managed to raise nearly $8000 and bested our record from last year.... I put my sister on picture duty as she is madly in love with my digital Canon (if I had the funds sis, it would be your wedding present!!), and she took some great shots of our fellow walkers and the kiddos as they were pushed about in their double stroller. I promise I'll post them as soon as I get a free moment... My time right now seems to be inordinately preoccupied with primping, something I'm not readily used to spending a ton of time on.... More on this later...

LUVS!

Here they are!

The much anticipated photos from the bridal shower are here!!! We had so much fun and I'm so thrilled that it was just what Mel wanted...

This free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Best Party Throwers in the West!

Mom, you rock. I try to tell you that as often as I can, but you REALLY rock! The house was crazy clean, the food was amazing, and everyone had a blast.... Kisses!

Mel's Bridal Shower: The Prep

Have I mentioned how amazing my family is? Not only did my parents cook/prep the majority of the food for my sister's bridal shower, but they also came to my house Friday afternoon and helped me de-kid my house and empty out ALL of my furniture! Then I dragged my exhausted mother to Ross and Walmart to try and find decorations for my bathroom and living room, had her drop me back off at my house and then she had to feed/entertain my aunts and my cousin Summer who flew in for the weekend from LA around 10:45pm that night. My mom later told me that they stayed up until almost 2am slicing bread, mixing fillings and assembling tea sandwiches.

Saturday morning was a whirlwind of assembling centerpieces, greeting the caterer, arranging and prepping food, setting up the "registration area" with name badges and everyone's wine glass for the wine tasting, and then rushing to get ourselves ready in time for the party. After a nervous glass of wine for my mother and a beer for me, we smacked a high five and headed off to the crowd to conquer the party!

Pictures of the day to follow

Final Countdown

T-minus 2 days and counting until the bridal shower! My crazy list-making mother sent me the official itinerary/shopping/to-do list yesterday and in true list maniac fashion it was 4 pages; and not even just 4 pages, it was 4 pages, 3 columns per page! We laugh and joke about our manic addiction to list-making, but it really is a rough one! I have pre-designed grocery lists, packing lists, gift buying lists, you name it, I've got it. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I even have a notebook full of my unibomberesque lists tucked away in my purse at all times. I don't function without my lists.... I know, I have a problem :)

Anyway, we are well on our way... Caterer is ready and cooking, house is ALMOST clean, plans are set on how to hide the massive explosion of toys that has overtaken my house, and I think I may have actually found something to wear! My mom is a ROCK STAR and has this thing planned to the minute and I know it's going to go off without a hitch and be everything my sister ever wanted....

Wish us luck!!!!

Wedding / Bachelorette Maddness

I know I've been a bad blogger, but this wedding stuff can keep a girl pretty damn busy! My little sister is getting married in May and time is flying as we get closer and closer to the big day.

So, as Matron of Honor, it's my responsibility to plan and execute a killer bachelorette party and through hell and high water I plan on making that happen. Through wishy-washy RSVP's, and various other issues, I've actually planned 2 entirely different Bachelorette parties in the past 3 months. It was originally supposed to be one wild night in San Francisco: Dinner and stage show at the world famous AsiaSF, followed by bar hopping until we were partied out, but we couldn't get enough girls to confirm and we had to back out of our reservations. I've heard so much about AsiaSF and always wanted to go and am bummed we won't be able to make it...

After much back and forth, my sis finally decided to bring the party back to Sac so we could get better attendance and hopefully bring the cost down a little. We decided on a lovely newish restraunt called Ella that I adore and I booked the hotel room today. (HUGE SIGH...) For now, I'm done and I can actually look forward to partying with the sis and the friends and not have to stress out about planning.

Now if only I could manage to find a dress and a pair of heels to wear to this little shindig...

Fam Love

My awesome aunts and cousin from LA are going to be here tonight!!!!!! I'm so excited I just might do a little jig... Well, maybe not... Wouldn't want to scare the guys at work with my killer dancin' skills! Anyway, we don't really get to see them as much as I wished we could, and I can barely sit still knowing that they are going to be here in 12 hrs... And, it's the first time that they get to meet Miss Fancy Pants! I bet they are going to melt when they see her laugh like a munchkin crazy person!

On another note, I want to gush about my sis for a second. This girl has endured double shifts, all-nighters cramming for tests, and some much medical jargon memorization that I'm sure my head would have exploded trying to keep track of it all, and now she's done. My baby sister, the little chatty Kathy that used to get notes sent home with her from school for talking to much, is graduating nursing school tomorrow. I'm so proud of you Mel. You have done what I knew I never could. You endured all of the hours of hell to reach your goal and I am swelling with pride. You decided that you wanted to help people for a living, something that most people could never handle, set your feet on your path, and never gave up. You are going to be a great nurse because you are truly a great person. I'm so very proud of you that I can barely find the words... And as I write this with tears in my eyes, I just want you to know how grateful I am to have such an amazing sister. Oh, and I hope I don't embarrass the hell out of you tomorrow by sobbing through the entire graduation ceremony. I love you Melanie...

In the great words of my brilliant little boy, "Aunt Melanie, you're a ROCK STAR!!!!"