And I'm Back...

The past three weeks have been such a whirlwind.

It was so wonderful being able to spend so much time with my parents since the beginning of the month. The trip to St. Louis was fast, but great. The shower that I had there was so beautiful and it was such a treat to spend time with some of the women who have seen me grow up. I was also entrusted with the care of a beautiful fur stole belonging to the grandmother of my gracious shower host. I am planning on wearing it over my dress when the weather gets a bit chilly during the wedding. So excited!

Saturday, I was lucky enough to have another shower in Baltimore. Many of our friends and some of JP's family were able to join us, yes JP made an appearance at the shower as well. The shower was so beautiful, and the stories that were shared about JP and myself were thoughtful and a nice reminder of the times that we have shared with some of the most influential people in our lives.

There are not many times in ones life when friends and family are all able to gather and celebrate together. It has been so meaningful to have friends who care enough about us to create and organize events that made some of these times possible. We can not express how appreciative we are.

One of the highlights of last week was having my parents in town to go with me to my dress fitting. It was completely unexpected, but really fun. Even though we forgot to bring a camera, we did get some good mother daughter shots in with the cell phone.

We are just over a month away from the wedding at this point and are jam packed every weekend until we leave. My best friend from high school was at the shower on Saturday and wanted to get together for lunch some weekend before the wedding. I said that we would love to, but then started going through my schedule with her and realized that realistically the next time we will be able to have lunch with them before the wedding will be in Telluride. I have my checklist made and it seems that for everything that I check off I have about two more things to add, oh well, I love making lists!

One of the items on my list is wedding jewelry. With the exception of my dress and vail, I have been trying fairly hard to ensure that everything else wedding related can be used again, and not for something as fancy as a wedding. The jewelry has been a challenge. I did not want to spend a whole lot of money, and I did not want crazy wedding jewelry. For a while I was planning on doing some kind of pearl situation, I thought that I might make something, but after trying on a few pieces decided against it. I found a great necklace and I love it, so I bought it, but did so at a place that if I do not end of using it I can return it. So now I need earrings, but I think that I have a pair that will suit just fine already in the jewelry collection. But I am still on the lookout for a great pair of earrings that I could wear if I choose to wear my hair up and forgo the necklace. Trivial I know, but I like options.

Oh, I almost forgot that I picked up the bridesmaid dresses on Friday and Melissa was able to try hers on after the shower on Saturday and she looked stunning. I highly suggest TwoBirds to any bride. If makes it so easy and the look ends up being individual, sophisticated and effortless. Three things that I think most women try to achieve. I can't wait to see Lexi in hers next weekend.

So that is an overview of what has been going on. But stay tuned because I really do have some new blogs planned for the upcoming days.

On the Wedding Front

As we have been taking to friends about the wedding and letting them know about airline deals and where to fly into we have had such an amazing response from people. My mom has been saying all along to expect more people to come than not because people love a chance to take a vacation and a wedding is such a good reason, and that seems to be what is happening. There has been such an outpouring of people who are so excited to come and cannot wait and we would not be happier.

photo from TwoBirdsbridesmaid.com

Also, last week I put in the order for the bridesmaids dresses. I had found them back in November and thought that I had a lot of time to get going on that front. Then to my horror, when I was flying to Telluride I splurged and purchase In Style Weddings, and the dresses were mentioned in the magazine. I knew at that point that I needed to place my order and get on with it. Fortunately, the line, Two Birds, just starting to be carried by a bridesmaid store in Baltimore and I was able to go, see the dress and try it on, and I loved it. While I was there the owner mentioned that the woman who owns the dress company was going to be on Martha Stewart in the beginning of February. At any rate I am really excited about them and think that they are such a good solution to the horror of bridesmaid dresses.