Wedding Dress Fever!

i have it. wedding. dress. fever.


i went up to duluth this past weekend and tried on three dresses with my mother. i thought it was really rather awkward - all the under garments - the weight of the dresses - wearing something that fancy! it was still fun though....


when i got back home i looked up a few local wedding shops and put them on a list to check out. tuesday night i found myself in one of them - alone - having a blast! i tried on a ton of dresses and put a few on my favorites list. then today i went to another shop and made a list of dresses i wanted to try on there and then made an appointment for tomorrow (they closed at six tonight and i didn't get there until quarter after 5).


so....tomorrow i'm having my bridesmaid kristin tag along with me to try on more dresses and have her give some feedback. oh - and on top of that i made an appointment with yet another shop for this saturday afternoon. unfortunately the friend i wanted to bring will be unavailable so it looks as though i'm going it alone.....but that's okay. i'll narrow down the selection and then when my mom comes down we can possibly pick the one!


one more thing - on the way back from the shop tonight i had to stop by the jewelry store and see how my ring was coming along. he showed me the stones and they looked beautiful! he said the ring should be ready by the end of next week! Eeeee!


the girl who once shunned fancy jewels and big weddings has now turned into the shiny sparkly princess....


i thought i was immune to wedding fever - turns out i was oh-so-wrong!




p.s. i would have included a few pictures of some dresses i like but i don't want chris to have any idea what i'll be wearing :) if you're curious just e-mail me and i'll send ya the pics :)

can we say BORED?

third post today? yes - i'm bored.


i was just dinking around on facebook and saw that you can add a wedding box application - something more to distract myself with from the things i should be doing :)


if you have facebook and read this let me know - if you don't you should. mindless fun shall be had by all! :)


and with that i'm done posting today. i think sleep is in order....

Story of the Ring (Part 1)

as you probably saw from my 'we're engaged!' post - this is the ring. my beautiful red plastic adjustable ring. i was thrilled to wear it - even if it did confuse people and prompt them to constantly ask me 'where's the diamond??'


even when the ring started leaving a ring of rust on my skin and chris started asking me if i wanted a 'real' ring - i was still in love with it. after a few weeks though i started to reconsider. i knew the plastic one probably wouldn't last the whole year - and while i had been against an engagement ring to start with it was fun having something on your finger to play with and show to people. but what kind of ring?


i knew from the get-go i couldn't go with a diamond. a girl in an anthropology course i took did a lecture on the diamond industry (years before the movie 'blood diamonds' came out) and how it was basically the mafia - i've been morally against them ever since. that and the fact that some people go into SO much debt over a rock...ay yi yi! now i don't mean to diss on those who have diamonds. i have many good friends that have them and respect their choices - i just knew it wasn't for me. so i started searching. i liked the idea of a pearl - very pretty but not something i could wear everyday. so then i started looking around online at antique rings. i didn't plan to buy one online (who knows what kinds of scams there are!) but just wanted to get some ideas....and i discovered white topaz!


same look as a diamond but practically dirt cheap in comparison! chris and i went to one of the big chain jewelry stores (even though their commercials make us throw up a bit in our mouths) just to see if they even had them. no they did not. end of story. i then went to a local jeweler and asked them if they carried any white topaz rings - they said no but immediately followed that with a 'but we would be happy to order the stone for you and customize it!' very nice!


i browsed around and saw a beautiful diamond ring that i (guiltily) loved. it was a round solitaire with little chippy diamonds all around it - all in a white gold setting with a very thin band. perfect! two days later i brought chris in to show him and we asked the jeweler if he could do that setting but with white topaz - he said that he could although he'd have to enlarge it a teensy bit since he couldn't cut the white topaz into such small chips. fine with me! so the ring i'll be getting will look like an almost $5,000 dollar ring but will have only cost an immensely tiny fraction! in fact - the main cost is the white gold and the custom order - the stone itself is very inexpensive. which will be nice if anything every happens to it - which it shouldn't. it's an 8 on the hardness scale and i'm not doing a ton of hard work with my hands (hello - i don't do any work, remember?)


this is an idea of what the ring will look like - although i'll definitely be posting pictures as soon as i get it (about 3 weeks)

so there ya have it - the story of the ring - part 1. i do feel slightly guilty after having gone on to chris about not wanting a ring and then getting one custom made. even more so i feel guilty about perpetuating the whole gotta have a diamond thing. even though i know it's not one people will think it is - i'll just have to advertise it as the great alternative!

deep down though i'm super excited to wear this ring - IT'S SHINY!

oh! i forgot - the first ring - i mentioned how we were pretty sure it wouldn't survive a whole year? well...it broke today! as i was gathering up my bags to leave work it snagged on something and popped right off! needless to say i was super bummed (it was the cherry on top of my already shit-tastic day)! but i found the red rose and plan on super gluing it back on. i'm always gonna keep it even if it's not always on my ring finger :)

a first (among many to come i'm sure...)

chris and i just got back from a little trip to Target (oh who am i kidding - no trip to Target is ever little) and it was there that i bought my first 3 bridal magazines. a martha stewart one, a knot one for minnesota and another minnesota bride one. i can't wait to look at them tomorrow - hopefully they'll keep my spirits up at work - and get some good ideas :)

and now for my inner squeal of delight.......


EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Ladies and Gents...Boys and Girls....

...i would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you my........

Fiance!!!!

(how do you do the little accent marks...)

that's right - we're ENGAGED!!! he actually proposed on April 21st (kelly's wedding anniversary) but we wanted to tell our parents and people we wanted to have in the wedding party in person...and well...this past weekend we accomplished that so now I can shout it out all i want! :)

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!

i'll post more details and pictures as the days pass but for now i'll stick with the proposal. in case you didn't know...i talked about getting married....a lot. i didn't mean to persay but once i started it just never stopped. i tried too - fearing that i would scare him away - but nope - just kept right on yacking....sigh....

i asked him many times if it bothered him that i talked about it so much and he always insisted that it did not. one of the things i made clear in all of my babbling was the fact that i did not want a diamond engagement ring - or any engagement ring for that matter. i did say that if we happened to find a cute little nonsense ring that struck our fancy it'd be fun to have that - but nothing fancy. so one day we were out putzing around and i saw this little plastic red rose ring - i loved it! i told him that i'd wear that as an engagement ring - he bought it! this of course excited me to no end as i now knew that a proposal had to be coming - and two days later it did!

we both knew that the proposal wouldn't be a huge suprise (me and my big mouth garaunteed that!) so we were just hanging out on the couch and he causally asks if i'd like to marry him. thinking that he was just teasing (cause it's happened before...) i said yes in a mocking sort of way. then he took my hands and looked me right in the eye and said 'no, i'm serious - will you marry me?' at this point i'm confused and wondering how far he'll take this cruel little tease. i then realize he's not kidding and start to cry. it took me awhile to actually say 'yes' as i kept asking him if he was sure..sure that all my babbling didn't pressure him. etc. etc. etc. he was sure :)

unfortunately none of the pictures we took that night really turned out. i was crying and ended up looking like ass - while he looked adorable as usual :) so the above are the most showable - the rest will remain on my computer for private viewing only :) below is a picture of the ring i took while out on a walk a week later - the same day we went to the Festival of Nations - which is where the first picture came from :)

WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!

to the aisle....

jason & sarah woolery
may 12th 2007

the happy couple

to the aisle!


this is the 2nd wedding i have attended in the past month (the first was kelly's - i have the pictures set to go and will post them tomorrow!). chris' brother jason was married this past saturday. it was the first time i had ever met jason and his bride sarah - they seem like very nice people and i look forward to actually being able to chat with them when everything has settled down :)

the festivities started this past friday with the arrival of chris' mom. we went shopping at macy's where the couple was registered and saw so many great kitchen appliances that we wanted to start our own registry! after the shopping we headed over to saint paul to meet up with reid, heather, chris' aunt fran, and chris' brother nathan. we had some wine first and then headed over to the barbary fig - a french/moroccan restaurant. it was actually quite good! i had my first experience with lavender seed - took me awhile but i think i might like it :)

the next day was the wedding! we headed over to the church and met up with the rest of chris' family :) it was a very small wedding - but very intimate. sarah's dress was gorgeous - white with a beautiful design of black bead work! after the ceremony we all headed outside for pictures and then down to the basement for the reception. for food it was indian and it was very good! there were actually a ton of leftovers and many of use left with some (i'm actually going to be having some of them for dinner tonight :)) we also left with an entire french silk pie - very yummy but not really something that chris and i need to have around....

for music there was a bluegrass band which i loved! jason is a musician himself and joined in the band playing the washboard. he also performed some of his own music which was wonderful as well (i wish i had better pictures of this but the camera starting acting crappy on us...). no on was really dancing until chris and i decided to go ahead and have a go - it was awesome! i never used to like dancing but these past two wedding's we've had a fantastic time! i loved it! :) i don't have any pictures of it but hopefully chris' dad can send me some that he took....

and that was pretty much the day. i had a great time chatting with everyone and stuffing myself full :) it was also great to talk with megan (chris' sister). her son carter is SO adorable! i used to go back and forth about whether or not i wanted children but being around him has completely changed my mind (in that i want to have them!). and as much as me saying this may scare chris - he is absolutely amazing to watch with carter (the pictures are so adorable!) :) sigh....

okay....on to the pictures! enjoy!

chris and carter in the church

carter is evidently fascinated with skin :)

the woolery/peterson clan

nathan chatting with the bride and groom

jim (chris's stepdad) and reid (his dad) - they were twins!

chris and is papa - love it :)
(although i suppose using 'papa' takes away from the intended edge :))

extreme close-up (he'll love me for this one...)

chris and his grandma

chris and megan
(i took this photo 3 times! the first time she had her eyes
closed. the seond time he did. the third time i made sure
they had them open - hence megan's 'deer in headlights'
expression :))

chris and carter goofing around

carter running circles around his mom

chris and nathan

jason singing - too bad it's blurred....

and once again...
the happy couple!
:)

Happy Hours & Weddings!

Good Morning Paulucci Building

this machine can now be someone else's pain the arse - WOOHOO!

friday - march 16th 2007 - marked my last day as a receptionist with Michelina's. there were many things that annoyed the ever loving piss out of me but for the most part i didn't mind my job. i mean - half the time i got paid to read a book - what's to dislike? i will really miss some of the people i worked with (some of whom are shown below). i will not miss the postage machine. i will miss the fedex and ups guys. i will not miss the vaccuum nazi. i didn't think i would be sad on my last day but i found out i was. i even admit getting slightly teary eyed when sue came out to give me a hug goodbye (if you're reading this sue - i hope the chocolates are serving their purpose this week! :)) alright - before i start getting too sappy let's move on to the Happy Hour that occured after work. There were three of us leaving. Myself, Mike Bottila, and Carrie (hi!) who's last day Happy Hour got canceled by the snow storm.

carrie and chevra

chevra and steve

chevra, myself, and carrie

jen - i love this picture!

me and carrie (courtesy of carrie)

jen and i

the escapees! myself, mike and carrie

goodbye michelina's

......................................................................................................................................................


sherri & doug spillers

march 17th, 2007

sherri klassen became sherri spillers this past st. patty's day! (Congrats Mrs. Spillers!) the wedding was very nice and sherri looked absolutely beautiful! i still can't believe she's married! she and doug met only a few weeks after chris and i met! they knew they were meant to be however and i agree.

congrats sherri and doug! i wish you many many many years of love and happiness!

i love this picture! very sherri! :)

chevra and i

the happy couple

Takeout for Two

Been awhile since my last post....well...not that long but a lot has happened since!

I am not at my own computer however, and am not able to upload the pictures from this weekends festivities! So...tomorrow I promise an update (to the whole two people who actually read this :) Hi Carrie and Kari!) - when I have access to my own camera's pictures and not just my camera phone pictures!

As for now I'm just waiting for Chris to get back from his EMT class so we can eat our traditional weekend (well, I guess it's Monday) meal of salad rolls and Pad Thai :) (and wine of course - can't forget the wine!)

Hmmm....I'm kinda bored so I guess I'll just give a hint of what is to come - Happy Hour pics from my last day of work! Pictures from my friend Sherri's wedding!

Yesterday and today have been rather mellow. I tried to make dinner for Chris - a spicy tomato bisque soup - and it turned out like it was supposed to but I wasn't happy with it. I'm not a big tomato soup fan at all but we had a really really good bowl of it at Amazing Grace and I wanted to try and duplicate it - not successful.

Today we went for a walk and I wish I had taken some pictures - it was so nice out! Now I'm just sitting here waiting to eat. I went and got the dinner and then saw that there was an Old Navy close by. Now - I really don't have money to be spending but I thought I would look just to pass some time. And I left with two pairs of flip flops (you can never have too many pairs and at 2 for $5 - really...how could I pass them up?) I also took a chance and tried on two swimsuits. This has never been a good thing as I usually end up leaving in a huff about how bad they look on me. But tonight was different - they both looked good! I ended up choosing the black one and it's adjustable so that's good! :)

Okay...I think I'm going to go read for a bit. He should be home soon :)