We are going through a serious heat wave right now.

Yesterday I ran a race in the morning that I’ll recap later (waiting for official times) and then we went to the St Louis Cardinals Game.

Luckily our seats were in the shade, but STILL it was super hot.  Over 90 degrees with humidity.  The Cardinals won (yay!) and the walk back to the car felt like we were walking through the gates of hell.  I felt as if I had been sweating constantly for hours (I had been, actually) and my clothing was soaked through…so gross!

We had dinner last night with my folks and then this morning they headed off to Boulder, Colorado to visit my sister Leslie.  Chris and I were planning to do our engagement photo session this evening with our photographer, Sarah Crowder, but we decided to postpone since it is supposed to be even hotter today and we just don’t look that great dripping in sweat.  I’m disappointed because I was really excited about getting pictures done, but today would just be too miserable.  We’ll rebook for mid-August.

How’s your week going so far?  Are you staying cool?  I am so thankful for my air conditioning!

Okay, I think FINALLY people have all gotten their save the date cards with the exception of a couple we were/are still tracking down addresses for.  That means…I can finally share them with you all! 

*disclaimer, if you are only reading this on my blog, do NOT save the date, though presents are of course still welcome*

*other disclaimer, I am not going to post a link to the wonderful artist who made these for us because I don’t want to spoil the invitation plan.  I’ll tell you all about her later!*

I love them!  I was so excited when I got them :)  What do you think?  Awesome, right? 

I have two appointments tomorrow for wedding dress shopping.  I’m sure it will be grand! 

Last night we went to the Cardinals game.  Joe and Michelle got the tickets. 

Incredibly flattering photographs of me!  Anyway, those were our seats—it was in a section of the stadium I’d never sat in, called the "left field porch" or I guess more appropriately the "left field party porch." 

The game started poorly (the Reds were up 8-0 at one point) but the Cards came back and eventually tied the game.  It went into extra innings, and we actually had to leave (work night for some people), but caught the end of the game at home.  The Cardinals unfortunately lost, but at least it wasn’t super embarrassing. 

I was good and didn’t eat any of that junk.  I just photographed it for blackmail purposes.

Anyway, we had a great time—the chairs even had cushions on them!

Today I had a workout with Mike, met with another florist, and (gasp) taught a few students.  Tomorrow my parents are coming to visit.  They are actually driving up from SC right now.  They’ll be here over the weekend, and it’s the first time they’ve come to visit, so there should be lots to do.  If I don’t blog over the next couple of days, that’s why! 

Wish me luck tomorrow!  Ideally I’ll find my dress.

Obviously I didn’t buy any of these or I wouldn’t be posting here…

I didn’t find anything I really liked yesterday.  Some of them were okay, and I definitely got a better idea of what I am looking for.  It may just be that I felt a bit ridiculous in a gigantic white (ish) dress and the whole thing is crazy.  Or alternately that I wanted MORE ridiculous attention from the saleslady and she was being more hands off.  Looking at the pictures we took I like some of them more than I did in the store, and vice versa.  Either way, don’t they say that when you find your dress you just know?

I’ve got more dress appointments on Friday, so I’ll have more chances.  We’ll see what happens!

Also the other day was cake tasting again.

And we have chosen our cake.  It’s just a matter of going and booking it now. 

Chris looks really tan here. 

Ever had milk the day after the day? Scares the hell outta you, doesn’t it? The spoon is trembling as it comes out of the bowl, it’s after the day, I’m taking a big chance! I smelled it, you smell it, what is it supposed to smell like ?! It smelled like milk to me!. I don’t know how they are so definite though! Maybe the cows tip them off when they’re milking them…

“July 3rd”.

http://youtu.be/FzhypkGmdBA

That’s today!  It’s July 3rd.  And you have to say it like a cow would, if cows could talk.

Wasn’t Seinfeld the greatest? 

I’m debating whether to go to the gym today.  I don’t want to run because I have a 10k tomorrow, but I feel like some cardio is in order. 

I also have shopping to do for the BBQ tomorrow.  Or cookout, as we would say in the South.  I am going to make some potatoe salad.  Fascinating stuff, I know!  You can’t make this stuff up.  This is actually how exciting my life is!  😉

Okay, I’m off to put on brightly coloured workout gear and pretend I’m going to the gym.  We’ll see what happens next.  Happy "July 3rd"!

Until I started planning my own wedding, I had no idea what was involved.  Just absolutely no idea.  The amount of time you have to put into this thing is ridiculous!

I’m in the wedding business myself (I have a string quartet that plays music for weddings) but I am learning so much.

Things I’ve learned so far:

1) We brides get very impatient.  Grooms too.  Chris once got annoyed that a vendor hadn’t responded to him after a day.  Over the weekend.  In May.  I convinced him to calm down, because I figured the vendor was busy with actually doing a wedding that day and would likely respond early the following week.  Heaven forbid anybody get a day off.

2)  Everything costs more than you think.  Food.  Venues.  Photographers.  And things on your registry.  At one time there was a $109 gravy boat on my registry.  And I thought I could have a wedding for $10,000. (Yet people are still hesitant to spend $150 on a violinist…)

3)  It’s hard to think about anything other than my wedding.  Which is still six months away.  Almost every conversation I have with somebody ends up being about my wedding.  I used to find this incredibly annoying when other people did it…so I must assume everybody now finds ME incredibly annoying.  Sorry friends!  🙁

The good part is that I have a full time job!  Granted, it doesn’t provide a salary, but it does keep me busy, and there is free cake involved (later today in fact.) 

What we’ve done this week:

Finished the wedding website

Sent out save the dates

Started on our invitations

Met with a florist

Made other appointments with florists

Made cake appointments

Finished our wedding registry

Made appointments to shop for my dress

Made appointment to check out the hotel suite again

Signed deal with hotel for guest rates

That’s a lot, I think!  Not to mention I also got a haircut and discussed hair and makeup options and timelines with my hairdresser.  And did some planning with Leslie too.

See what I’ve done?  I’ve made a whole blog post about my wedding.  The thing is that Chris is going to a festival soon and we need to get as much done together as possible before he leaves.  He is very involved in the planning (equally with me) which surprises vendors, but it’s just the way we are doing things.