A "Weddinging" Day

Today I went with two of my bridesmaids a new good friend to David's Bridal. They both found beautiful dresses! One has pockets (totally cool) and the other has lots of sparkles!

And then we went to Williams Sonoma where I opened my first wedding registry! It was totally an exhilarating experience, although it did get overwhelming at times. So I signed up for the 'fun stuff" today- like baking equipment, towels, spatulas, pancake pens, and the "easy stuff", like dutch ovens, bread baskets, and platters I'd been eyeing. I purposefully stayed away from things like knifes and pots and pans because I want my fiance to have more of a say in those things. I also didn't register for things like a griddle, blender, ice cream maker or food processor because I think I want to register for those at places like Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. It was so much fun to pick out things!

5 Question Friday with Little Life!

1. If you could, would you go back to high school?

Hell to the No


2. If a genie appeared and granted you two wishes, what would they be? (And, no saying "more wishes".)
1. To have enough money to take care of all of my and my finaces needs and wants so that I can put my income to good use helping others.
2. to have access to anything I want to read

3. What kids show do you secretly like?
The Nanny



4. What is your beverage of choice?
Water, Wine, Rum, Rum with fruit juice, milkshakes


5. What is something that you would change about yourself (or are working to change in yourself)?
1. my inabillity to groove (I'm too stiff)....here's me learning the electric slide - I'm the one on the left(small steps to prepare for dancing at my wedding):
2. related-my flexiblity

Save the Dates

I won save the dates in a giveaway I mentioned earlier. I finally picked out my design, so they should be here soon. Since we're going with the travel theme I thought these above save the dates would convey that idea really well. Since I didn't need the 100 save the dates vista print let me pick out thank you notes as well. Here they are:

Aren't they cute? I'll probably post again once they get here. I'm so excited!

Save the Dates Question

How do you address STDS?

If I'm inviting the recepient and including "and guest" on their invitation...does the STD, get addressed to Person X and Guest as well? Or just to Person X?

Amazing Giveaway!

Fantabulously Frugal is giving away tons of Philosophy products! Check out the link below

http://fantabulouslyfrugal.com/2010/04/giveaway-gift-basket-filled-with-250-in-philosophy-products-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FantabulouslyFrugal+%28Fantabulously+Frugal%29

5 Question Friday with My Little Life

I've recently discoverd My Little Life's blog. She posts 5 questions every friday. I'm going to take a stab at this week's
1. What was the first car you owned?

I haven't-yet.

2. What song are you embarrassed to know the lyrics to?
Hmmm..well I can't think of the songs name...but I can sing it! Its that song "brush my teeth with a bottle of jack.....cause when i leave for the night i ain't comin' back". i hate that song.

3. Have you ever had stitches?
Kinda. In my mouth for wisdom teeth. I'm pretty sure they dissolved on their own.

4. What was your first job?

Scorekeeper and announcer at the baseball field. I loved it. I could watch a game, hang with my friends, flirt, and get paid, all at the same time. I occasionally took my homwork.

5. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?
 
I was never big into Sesame Street so I'll just go with Big Bird on this one.

A BIG THANK YOU!

To Shooting for a $3000 Wedding for her giveway with VISTAPRINT. I won 100 thank you's or save the dates from vistaprint. I'm so excited.

I couldn't afford to send save the dates, but I really wanted to because its a December wedding and now I can! Thanks again!!

Crazy Momma

My mother is crazy. She's driving me that way.

1. She's opposed to anything but a Christmas themed wedding in December.
2. She's opppsed to having the wedding anywhere but Hartsville because its too long of a drive. But she's okay with driving to the beach for a wedding.
3. She's opposed to having the reception in a better location because its 15 minutes down the road and its too far.
4. Her only alternate location she'd consider for the reception is the church fellowship hall. This is not a good idea because they don't allow alcohol. If I'm going to be around my mom for an entire weekend I'm going to need alcohol.
5. She thinks we shouldn't have music at the reception because "less is more".

Suggestions for parental control?

My Wedding Website!

Its still a work in progess, but heres what we've got so far:

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/RachelBeasley&mikerhodes

Totally added these to my wishlist this weekend

Aren't these liners adorable? And they come with decorating tips!

And the cookbook is broken into sections like quick after work recipes and recipes for entertaining

Making Progress

I'm still working on finding a sizable reception venue. But I do have : A WEDDING DRESS. I paid off my dress today- and tried it on and its so wonderfully beautiful!

I also have a bunch of stamps. Well not technically, but I bid on them on Ebay, so I will have them soon. Why stamps? Well, they're stamps from all over the world that I want to use as seals on my wedding invites or on my RSVP "tickets". What the heck?

I want to have a travel themed wedding. I want to decorate with globes (anybody have one I can borrow?)  and old suitcases and old maps. And place disposable cameras on tables for guests to take pictures during the wedding. For a guest book I want to have a large collection of postcards for people to write messages on and then slide into a postcard album (which means I'm going to be soliciting my friends for unmarked postcards from their towns/states/provinces/countries. I want to dance to the song "You belong to me". I want to make passport inspired invitations and "ticket" style RSVP cards.

If you have any travel theme suggestions please let me know. (Or if you want to send me some postcards!) Here is my inspiration:

http://prosttothehost.com/2010/04/05/mood-board-jet-set/
http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/05/29/travel-themed-weddings/

Scotland, In My Mind

Lately, I've been oddly reminiscent of my semester in Scotland. I think about it and picture the gardens and taste the steak bakes. I feel the grass in my feet as I walk through the Necropolis, I can hear the "sorry"s and "hen"s and "paper roll"s. I can feel the weight of the pounds in my pockets. I hear the bag pipe bands as we walk the streets on Saturday.  I hear the laughter of children, taste the apples that bloomed right in front of my kitchen window. I savor the Cornish ice cream tossed in with frozen berries and currants. I see myself watching Sarah try cornbread for the first time and offering us her Jaffa Cakes. I see the pink feathers glued to Caitlin's kitchen counter from our wing making escapade.

Never, do I remember the rain or the wind. Or the days I just wanted to take a taxi back to my room and hide because the wind was blowing slicing rain at me in three different directions, rendering my umbrella utterly useless. Never, do I remember the frustration at not having things done "on time", at having to brush up on my expected knowledge of Celtic History or at having to scrub the kitchen down before I could make dinner.

Instead, I remember the Scotland of my memory. The Scotland that stands for freedom, beauty, good drinks with good friends, adventure, dreams and the right to stare at kilt clad men in all of their sexy glory.

Because these are things we  will remember way past our 80th birthdays. We will tell them to our children, and grandchildren  in stories about the days of our youth, or show them  in the habits and words we picked up. They are the memories that will last past our last sunset.

Hard Time Adjusting

I'm having a hard time mentally adjusting to the Hartsville wedding. I keep thinking of how pretty the Alumnae House would bedecorated for Christmas. Not to mention how much bigger it is than the pavillion and the fact that it had a really sweet set up and wrap around porch. It also had fireplaces with mantles that I'd already mentlally decorated.

Dont get me wrong the pavillion is nice but its just not what I had in mine. I want people to be able to eat and move and dance and mingle and I feel like the pavillion is too cramped. It also doesnt have many decoration possiblites.

I'm trying to come to terms, but it makes me sad to think about all of the plans I had, and how amazing it would've been. I guess I need to quit thinking about it though because they'res not really anything I can do about it now.

Trip to the Drive-In

Saturday I went to the drivein movie with two of my Wofford friends.

Before the movie we stopped for dinner at VZ's Big Easy, a cajun/creole restaurant in Aiken, where we ate on the front porch. This place was incredible. The food was amazing. We spilt stuffed mushrooms. And we all ordered the gumbo. It was amazing and with it we were served rolls and salad. My meal cost roughly $10 and was worth several dollars more. To top it all off, the service was incredible. My drink never ran low, our server came back several times and when I ventured inside the restaurant to find the restroom I was immediately greeted with a "Yes Ma'am?". Definitely worth a stop if you're ever around Aiken.

This was my second time going to the drive in and I absolutely love it. I wish there was one closer to me so I could more often. For $7 you get to see two new movies. Such a deal. This time we only stayed for the first movie, because we all had a early morning.

We saw How to Train Your Dragon. It was such a cute movie, and I think the first I've seen about Vikings. I'm not sure I liked that the Vikings had noticeably Scottish accents although I did enjoy listening to Craig Ferguson throughout the movie. (I think somethings telling me I miss Scotland)

Wedding Plans Starting to Come Together!

We've nixed the idea of getting married in the Grand Canyon (Although, it still sounds pretty romantic), in favor of a celebration where our families and friends can be present. We think thats a pretty important part of a wedding. So we've picked the date- DECEMBER 18TH.

I booked the church (Kellytown Baptist Church) and the reception (Lawton Park Pavillion) today! My cakes been designed- just has to be ordered. My dress gets picked up this week. I need shoes, earrings and a strapless bra. I need to find invites, flowers, music and all of the finishing touches.

Theres been talk of an engagement cookout in Septermber when Mr. Groom and I come home from S. Korea.

I'm excited!!!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Beach Help Beat the Homework Blues

Tuesday I made some banana chocolate chip cookies for my trip to the beach.  I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I didn't see the point in buying whole wheat flour that would just take up shelf space after I used the half a cup or the point in making chocolate chips into shreds. Oh and I left out the walnuts, well because I dont like walnuts and I was going to sub them with pecans, then I realized I was out of pecans.

So here's the recipe:

• 1 cup(s) all-purpose flour


• 1/2 cup(s) whole-wheat flour

• 1 teaspoon(s) coarse salt

• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda

• 3/4 cup(s) (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup(s) packed light-brown sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup(s) (about 1 large) mashed ripe banana

• 1 cup(s) old-fashioned rolled oats

• 8 ounce(s) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks
1/2 cup(s) (about 2 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
 
Preheat to 375. Combine the flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add mashed banana. Mix in flour mixture. Add in chocolate chips. Put on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for about 11 minutes.
 
My way: sub the whole wheat flour for regular, forget the walnuts, leave the chocolate alone.
 
My sister who doesnt like bananas loved these! My friend, Chris, who went to the beach with me ate a lot, though I'm not sure if he was just being nice. Next time I think I want to add in the pecans and whole wheat flour.
 
Now, about the beach. Chris went for the weekend, and I went just for the day to hangout. It was not hot, but not cold. And it was virtually empty. Very nice. Lots of little kids and humorous high school drama. Apparently Briggs is gay/sexy/stupid. Silly kids.
 
I went to the beach with my girlfriends, and we flirted with the boys, but I don't remember us being that soap operaish about it. Or being so flighty.  Being at the beach made me miss those days a bit. Where I had the whole week to spend laying out, swimming and flirting- all on someone elses tab. Ahhh.
 
Back to the present. Chris and I hung out and talked. I made him read me parts of my homework. We both got horribly burnt and he had to explain to me that Billy the Kid was not a pirate.
 
Here are some pics:
 
(from the parking garage)

 
(homework didnt last long!)

 

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