Wedding Ceremony?

After my post this morning about guilt, I had my first "test" on my quest to say "no" more, and feel guilty less. I won't get into detail, but I passed with flying colors. I am not saying that I am trying to stop doing anything for anyone but myself, just that I want to do things out of joy and care for others and not because I feel guilty if I don't. I think this may be my New Years Resolution...a little early.

On another note, Eric and I started to discuss our wedding ceremony plans tonight at dinner. We are having a friend of Eric's (a responsible one, we promise) marry us so we want to have the ceremony written far in advance so he can start practicing. However, what do Eric and I know about writing ceremonies? Nothing at all.

I decided to start looking at readings first, but THEY ARE SO CORNY. So I gave up. Then I decided to look at "sample" ceremonies online but THEY ARE SO CORNY. So I gave up again. Now, here I am...does anyone know anything about writing a ceremony? Or have any recommendations for awesome readings that are not so corny you want to throw up while reading them?

A few months ago I actually found the vows that Eric and I are going to use. They are so perfect for us it is like we wrote them ourselves. I would post them but I have friends and family who read the blog who don't want to know, but I promise to post them after the wedding (wow, don't you just hate bloggers who tease like that? cuz I do!). Basically my point is I know there is stuff out there that is just honest, truthful and not ridiculously corny and I just have to find it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Time to go get organized for the weekend (Tiff's wedding). I'll try to post tomorrow afternoon when I need a break for the million hour process that is straightening my hair. And the best part? It's going to pour all Saturday anyway...sweet!

Timna's Wedding!

Last night was Timna's wedding and it went beautifully. I told Eric that since my uncles wedding when I was 13 I have not yet been to a wedding where I knew the bride without the groom (or even the groom without the bride). This was my first one! I remember very clearly when Timna met Matt. I have this image of seeing her on Columbus Day and her telling me about her new boyfriend Matt. Apparently that was SEVEN years ago! Time flies, huh? This was Eric and my first Jewish ceremony and it was SO much fun. There was a small glitch, only in that I did not understand that Eric was supposed to actually wear a yamaka. In my defense, in the Catholic religion if you haven't received your first communion, you are not supposed to go up and get communion, so I thought it was like that. Oops. I'll be ready for Sarah's wedding, I swear! Anyway, I got a pretty good picture of Timna walking down the aisle with her parents. I love when people walk with both parents...I know crazy feminist again.

Look how beautiful this is! I was in the very back row and I still got this awesome picture, yay for great lighting! The ceremony was really fun. There was a lot of talking in Hebrew, but Timna speaks Hebrew at home with her family so it was just kind of like being in their house. I told Eric I would always laugh when Timna would ask her mom to hang out with me because it would be like blah blah blah Kelly blah blah blah to me haha. I had a friend who spoke Spanish at home, and when she talked to her mom I got a word here and there- definitely not with Hebrew! Timna's dad made a joke during his speech because Timna's now husband just learned Hebrew and he said "now we don't have a secret language we can talk about him in" haha.

For some reason my camera really does not enjoy when people are moving too close to me, so this one is a little blurry but you can still tell how happy they are right?

After the ceremony, we had a cocktail hour with the most amazing sweet potato fries I have ever tasted. Unfortunately I did not get a picture, but it wouldn't have done them justice anyways. I did, however, get a sweet picture of Timna and Matt up on the chairs!

Then, just as we are all back at our table starting to eat our salads etc. Matt comes up to the microphone wearing only a T shirt. I can see Eric is already plotting in his mind that if Matt is wearing a T shirt 10 minutes into the reception, he can too! All of a sudden, a hip hop song breaks out and Timna comes out and they start doing a dance together. This was NOT their first dance, but it was way cooler than their first dance haha. They were totally in sync and awesome at it. Timna has been dancing since she was walking, but I was impressed that Matt picked up some good moves haha. This is a picture of them doing the dance below- and yes, Timna was out of her wedding dress at this point but she did change BACK into it (and yes, this would be a terrible decision with most wedding dresses, but Timna in true Timna fashion had a low maintenance dress).

The food was delicious too. I always have trouble eating at weddings since I can't eat steak, but at this wedding we got a choice between steak, chicken, fish or vegetarian. I got the fish:

Eric rocked the pink tie that I love haha...

And I got one picture of me and the bride...
I also got one of their cake cutting, even though I don't think anyone but me and the photographers were paying attention to it happening.
Okay SO...before I end this wedding recap, I must tell you a very funny story about the wedding last night. It's a bit long but trust me that it really is an example of how small our world is, and how little things in life can make big impacts...

Let’s see if I can tell this story properly. It all begins senior year of high school when I am going out with this guy named David (hi again- you are getting more air time on this blog than the average person right now haha). He has a friend from middle school who lives about 20-30 minutes away. One night he tells me that he wants us to go up and hang out with this guy and his girlfriend. So we do. He and his girlfriend are great and all is well. Fast forward a few months, we end up going to their prom with them just for fun. I pretend to be the guy’s (Matt’s- not to be confused with the groom, also named Matt) date, David pretends to be the girl’s date so we can get in.

Fast forward AGAIN, I end up going to college with the girlfriend and we become friends. Not just like oh see each other occasionally friends- really good friends and we live in the same suite for the next 3 years. In fact, Gerry and I each brought our individual friends together into one suite and we all became great friends. We joke that only useful thing about high school boyfriends is that they brought us together (j/k guys J). Oh and other weird coincidence, I was out for Gerry’s 21^st birthday when I met Eric. SO…if I never knew Gerry, I’d never know Eric…

Fast forward AGAIN (this time 5 or 6 years) and it turns out Gerry’s high school boyfriend is NOW (well I shouldn’t say now…it’s been almost 2 years haha) dating a girl who went to my high school, who happens to also be great friends with Timna and SO…Matt is at the wedding last night! YAY. Good story huh? Oh… and I almost wore my dress from Matt’s original high school prom last night to the wedding but I could not find it anywhere! That would’ve been funny though. Here we are...

I really enjoy how in life, one night out with some random people can shape your college friends, and one snow storm (the night we were SUPPOSED to go out for Gerry's 21st birthday) can lead to your future husband...and all sorts of crazyness. It makes you feel like no matter what happens in your life, it's all for a reason and everything is going to work out exactly the way it is supposed to. It definitely did for this bride and groom. I love you guys :)

Wedding Pet Peeves

This week in kindergarten we learned what the word “opinion” means. Since I began planning a wedding I’ve noticed a lot of people have very strong OPINIONS about weddings. There is a lot of traditional etiquette that some people love to follow, and others love to hate.

We all have those things about weddings that drive us crazy. Mine are:

1. I hate when people do not put both names on the invitation. Obviously there are times when “and guest” should be used, like when you literally have no idea who the person will bring. However, if someone has been dating someone a while, ask what their name is! And in the days of facebook, friend them and you will have their name forever! If you have met them before, know their name and still choose not to put it...well that is just ridiculous. I promise if by some stroke of luck they break up with your friend before the wedding, they are not going to show up!

2. This is going to be controversial but here I go: I don’t like when people are against honeymoon registries. I have put a HUGE amount of effort into understanding this point of view and I do get it better now, but I still disagree. I’d rather pay to help someone go on a cool trip than to upgrade their already perfectly good kitchen appliances. In the end, I want to give the couple what they most want, not what “tradition” says they should want.

3. I personally think it’s really rude when people attend only the reception of a wedding. SO rude. Obviously there are certain circumstances (particularly Friday night weddings) where there is no other option. But people who are like, “oh sorry there is a gap in between and I don’t want to wait, so I just won’t attend the ceremony” are obnoxious. Yes, we all enjoy the reception better. But you should not get to participate in the party if you don’t watch the true “marriage” of the couple. I say this as someone who is going to have a 10-15 minute ceremony, the reception is definitely the priority to me. This is not true for everyone and as a guest I don’t think I get to decide. I attend every aspect of the wedding that I can, even if I have to wait in between.

4. It annoys me when people say it’s rude for the mom and sister to throw the bride a shower. That’s who really wants the shower so they can pay for it! Who cares who is asking for gifts? I still have to buy one either way…haha.

Those are my wedding pet peeves, what are yours?

Engagement Party, Part 1

Back when Eric and I first got engaged, my mom and I decided that bridal showers were really not my thing (all girls? eh. open presents in front of everyone? ah!!). I have since come to enjoy throwing them for others, but we decided an engagement party would be more Kelly and Eric. Yes, we did get engaged 9 months ago, and some people plan their wedding in less than 9 months but not us :)

I am not going to post all the pictures right now because I only have pictures from my camera and I know my sister and others have some great pictures but I'll start anyways. First of all, the "details" that I hate to plan but love to admire. Luckily my mom and sister are detail people so they took control.

The amazing picture on the cake was taken by our fabulous wedding photographer, Kelly Hike, during our engagement session.

All these weddings have really made me into flowers, and I am actually starting to learn what some flowers are called. These came out awesome, thanks Mom!

If you remember my birthday/engagement party that Katie threw me, I developed an obsession with candy with our names on them when Gerry gave us pink and green m + ms that said Kelly and Eric. So awesome. My resourceful sister found these online and ordered them. She rocks.

Before the actual party, we took some pictures outside. We had the party at a golf club that has a lot of family memories for me. My grandfather was a member so a few of my aunts and uncles got married there, as well as I had a big 7th grade birthday party there. Not to mention the summers of golf, tennis and swim team there. And just for the record, I really was not a fan of golf even then- I don't just dislike golf just to annoy Eric :) At some point I will have to scan in a picture of my 7th grade birthday in my sparkly purple dress. Hopefully I can find one of me and Tiff since she was there then and last night!

My brother Jake just started college in Connecticut 3 weeks ago, but he took the long train ride to be back for the party (and gave up a night of serious partying I'm sure), thanks Jake!

I thought that would be the last I saw of Eric for the night because normally we are TERRIBLE at staying together during our own parties (too many people to talk to) but actually we didn't do too horrible last night. Still might need to glue ourselves together for the wedding...

Me, Eric, Caroline and Chris. Chris = Caroline's boyfriend, aka my second brother, aka my current landscaper, aka amazing DJ. He wears many hats what can I say? Last night Caroline and Chris were in charge of the music/dancing portion and I must say they were way better than any DJ I know! Caroline has been working on this playlist for weeks and I don't just mean she added some songs to playlist. She add some songs, then reevaluated, then reevaluated again, then started running to the music to see if it was good dance music, then reevaluated again- etc etc. It ended up being awesome and we had a ton of fun dancing too it.

Those are me and my beautiful bridesmaids, minus Ash- who has made lots of appearances on this blog in the past but lives in Chicago and had to work this weekend (boo med school) so I missed her! From left, Shannon, Courtney (both cousins- who I asked to be in the wedding last night, I'll post more about that later), Katie, me, Caroline (sister) and Tiff.

Me + my fam

Eric + his fam

The blog is starting to freak out a bit about all of the photos I am adding, so I am going to leave with you some dancing and singing...I promise to post more later :)

Check and CHECK.

I had a SERIOUSLY productive day today, and it was fun- which makes it the best possible kind of day. I woke up bright and early because I had blood drawn. Apparently my liver function test was off last time so I had to have it redone. I was supposed to abstain from alcohol for the past 4 weeks, but frankly I had two weddings so that did not quite happen. However, I rarely drink as it is so I am pretty sure my liver is not having problems because of my massive drinking habit. Hopefully this one will come back more normal.

After a quick snack I headed to spinning class. This class is shorter than the one I went to on Monday and SO much easier. It was nice in a way to have a break but I have to try to get to that Monday night one more often, it is so intense. I'm feeling a little bad that I brought my friend from work to that one for her first time since that was by far the hardest one I have been to. Oops. I just got Self, Fitness and Body and Soul October in the past two days so I am going to have to do some work outs that can involve magazine reading. I have a rule that magazines can only be read if I am walking on the treadmill or the elliptical or in some way exercising. Eric's school had a magazine fundraiser last year and teachers got a huge discount so we went a little crazy :)

Post work out I decided to clean the house. This summer I have been very lucky that Eric has done most of the housework but with him at football til all hours, I think this fall the housework is going to fall back into my hands so I wanted to get a head start. As much as I do not enjoy cleaning, there is definitely a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when it's done.

However the most exciting part of the day comes NEXT :) I BOUGHT MY DRESSSSSSSSS!!! wooooooooo! I decided to go with Dress #2 (Eric don't even think about clicking on that link, I'm serious!) which I had a more immediate love for. It was on sale today and it was already cheaper than Dress 1, so that was happy. Plus I just really felt more comfortable in it and it was more what I pictured for myself on my wedding day. I also found a beautiful veil to go with it and everything is ordered and done. I also love that Priscilla uses NORMAL sizes, so it's not like those gowns or bridesmaid dresses that I have to order twice my size. I know size is not a reflection of anything but it just annoys me anyway and I feel like its a bad marketing scheme because girls always want to feel good about themselves, duh! I also went to check on my bridesmaid dress situation. I forgot if I told you guys this, but when I looked at my bridesmaid dresses online they did not have the pink color, NOOOO. Anyway I went in today and it turns out the lady in the store mixed up luminescent chiffon and iridescent chiffon. So my dress is LUMINESCENT, not iridescent but fortunately there is still a very similar pink color so all is right in the world.

For dinner I decided to get some serious nutrients in my body. This summer I feel like I have not been getting enough veggies or meat, so tonight I decided to remedy this with some rice and beans (okay not at all meat I know). I mixed rice, black beans, carrots and peach (aka my temporary obsession right now). I have a picture but blogger is not letting me post it, what's up with that?

Time to go hang out with Eric while he is actually home. I think I already hate football season.

DRESS SUCCESS.

Today has been an extremely long day. I was at school this morning at 6:15 am because I wanted to be fully prepared for my 9 am open house where the kiddos can come meet me and see the classroom for the first time. You'd think I'd be used to it by now but ever year I am SHOCKED by how little the kids are. Not only do all K kids get bigger by the end of the year, but then in the summer I usually work with 2nd and 3rd graders, so the jump is huge. My kids seemed good so far, except for one who was literally OBSESSED with the fact that I didn't have computers for the kids in the room. However, I will say that one of the most awesome kids last year cried hysterically through open house- so I don't make any judgments too soon.

But the most fantastic news of the day is that I found my bridesmaid dresses today! Me, my mom, my sis and Tiff went into Boston for some more searching. First I tried on my favorite dress (for me) at a place I went to a couple of weeks ago. Then we went to a new place where I found what is now being called Dress #2. I am now debating between Dress 1 and Dress 2 for myself, which still feels successful because I know ONE of them is going to be MY dress. I made an appointment at the second place for Thursday because they are having a sale beginning on Thurs and I can get 10 % off. That means I have to decide by then which I like because I won't debate about it for weeks (which I do tend to do!). After finding Dress 1 and Dress 2 for myself, we looked at some dresses for my girls and found NO good colors. Finally we went back to a place we went to a couple of weeks ago because they have Watters dresses, and Watters dresses have a BEAUTIFUL fushia color that I (being a pink freak) love. I randomly pulled this dress off the shelf and Caroline tried it on and LOVED IT. And bam, that was the dress. It's not 110 percent yet because I'd like my other girls to try it, but here it is if you want to check it out. You'll have to picture it in bright bright pink haha. YAY.

I think this post was like 1 long sentence of total excitement but I am so happy to be moving in a forward direction with these dresses!

On a totally different note I went to spinning last night with one of my friends from work. It kicked my butt! Has anyone noticed that guy instructors tend to be way more intense than female instructors? I was actually a little sore today from spinning. While I always feel like it is a good workout, I'm never actually SORE!

Rehearsal Dinner Spot

Eric and I are very close to narrowing down our rehearsal dinner spot. We are completely sold on the beautiful ocean view and the delicious food. We just have to get someone to actually call us back to discuss how they do private parties (they do not have a private room) and what the costs involved will be. Somehow I have managed to go there twice and still not remember to take a picture of the view. But basically, one entire wall of the restaurant is windows and ALL you can see is ocean from one side to the other. It's pretty amazing. The only thing better than the view is the delicious food and presentation of the food. Check out the bread:

Those cracker type things sticking up are SO crunchy and delicious. The french bread is great too. It is served with a bean paste and chili sauce that you can kind of see in my picture in the lower right hand corner. Last weekend I split the lobster with my mom, all I can say is mouth watering.

This week I still wanted the lobster but I didn't have my mom to split with me so I went for one of the "smaller" plates, lobster and asparagus pizza...

Normally I don't eat pizza at restaurants because cheese tends to bother my stomach. However, my stomach has been hurting this week even when I eat stuff I am normally fine with so I figured, if my stomach was going to hurt anyways- might as well eat something delicious! After all that, my tummy was fine after dinner. Go figure! (I did only have 3 small pieces, so it was probably just happy I didn't stuff it full!)

Eric also went for pizza this weekend with the chicken and goat cheese...

One thing is for sure, even if we don't use this place for our rehearsal dinner- I will be back. Yum.

Can't Help It If I'm Lucky...

Bonus points if you can name that 90s song that has "can't help it if I'm lucky" in the song lyrics haha.
The title refers to the fact that I went to the gym today to join permanently, and for some reason my summer membership had been extended to next July. I don't know how or why, but I am feeling very lucky :)
Today at the gym I did 1000 yards in the pool and I decided swimming IS really growing on me. While I was swimming I thought about how swimming compares to running.

Similarities Swimming & Running:
1. After 30 minutes of both swimming and running I am tired and feel like I got a GREAT work out.
2. Both have the same monotony that allow me to zone out, or be alone with my thoughts.
3. Both sports can make me out of breath.
4. Swimming and running have a proper "form"- which I could probably improve in both sports.

Differences Swimming and Running:
1. Swimming is easier on my body
2. Running is easier on my time. Even though I can only swim for 30 minutes and be happy- I still have to get to the pool.
3. Running does not involve me smelling like chlorine even after a shower.
4. Swimming is working my arms.

That's all I came up with, but comparing the two sports did entertain me for about 20 of the laps I did today. Then I was thinking about how I used to come in last during every swim meet when I was on a swim team when I was little. I was thinking maybe I should take a stroke improvement class before I jump into joining a team. I may look into that.

After I did my work this morning at school and tutoring the kiddos, I went on a little dress shopping adventure. Hmm...does that make it sound like I enjoy these adventures? This time I brought Tiff, who was FAR more excited than me. I did find a bridal gown that I really liked a lot, which I can't post because I forgot the style number, but when I figure it out I'll show everyone. We also look at bridesmaid dresses and found a few relatively promising ones. I just have the hardest time picturing how a dress is going to look in a different color and actually fitting the person. Did anyone else have this problem planning a wedding? I am not good at imagining...

WEDDING!

Before I get into the wedding I just want to say I received a beautiful blog make over from Leslie and I love my new look :) Leslie is a teacher also, and uses the money she makes from blog designing for her classroom. I know how much money teachers spend on their own classroom, so I can tell you you'll be giving to a good cause! Go here if you would like her to design your blog to check out her packages.

so....WEDDING TIME. This wedding was a couple of day extravaganza for me including a bridal luncheon, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, all day getting ready party and the wedding itself. Of course I like the wedding itself part the best. On Thursday after the rehearsal dinner I stayed over at Katie's house because my job was to make her sleep. All I can say is I did make her sleep, but only for maybe 4 hours because of course we were chatting and too excited to sleep. Oops.

Friday was spent getting hair and make up done with all the bridesmaids. I haven't gotten my hair done since prom and I hate full updos (on me, particularly in pictures where it looks like I have no hair at all) and I've really never had my make up done so I was a little nervous. I gave the hair stylist this picture:

And this is what she did to me-

Pretty good huh? Haha. So anyway, we get to the church and my first nerve racking job was to walk down the aisle by myself. Everyone else walked down with a groomsman (and Katie with her Dad) but the Best Man was up with the groom, so therefore I walked by myself. For some odd reason this ended up being the scariest thing I had to do all night- not sure why. I think if I had to do it again it would not be as scary. Plus when you think about it, it's a pretty important honor. Katie looked beautiful coming down the aisle...

Even if she was crying :) Once she got down the aisle I was the boss of her dress. I am not a detail person, so basically unless your dress is sticking into your underwear, I probably won't notice. But I didn't want anyone out in the pews, particularly my mom, to be thinking oh my god her dress is so messed up so I tried to take the job seriously. Maybe a little too seriously. But hopefully when the professional pics come back it will be a perfect dress from the back haha. Katie, Adam, the best man and me were the only ones up on the alter- but the priest was good about whispering or using hand cues to tell us what to do. Everything went perfect during the ceremony.

The grooms parents got a trolley to take the bridal party and our dates to take pictures and then to the reception.

The trolley was a fun touch, especially for the Cape- but the whole idea that I just paid a million dollars to get my hair done was not making me excited about my hair blowing in the wind. We went to the beach to take some pictures of the bridal party...

Then we took a few more at the reception site. My next big job came when it was time to bustle Katie's dress. Luckily the seamstress understood that I think on a kindergarten level, so she color coded everything I had to tie making my job easy, yes! After that we all got introduced and it was time for the speeches. As Katie's dad said his welcome I went to my seat to grab my speech and take a drink of water. As I am drinking the water I realized I am spilling half the glass RIGHT on my dress, and I have to get up and give a speech in less than a minute. It was one of those moments where you realize you have too choices- panic and then cry, OR laugh and then make a massive joke of how you peed your pants as soon as you get up so that everyone is aware of the situation right away. I went for Choice #2. Eric was proud haha. Look closely at the bottom of this picture to laugh at my "pee" stain.

Overall I think the speech went well. I felt more comfortable giving it than I did walking down the aisle, and I even got a few laughs. One of the laughs I got was NOT when I was actually trying to be funny, oops! I was trying to explain that I had never known Katie without Adam and I said that when I met Katie she had already been dreaming ahead to today. I didn't think this would be funny but everyone thought it was hilarious because indeed Katie has been planning her wedding since before I met her haha. I didn't realize every person there knew that!

After the speech was over I was able to enjoy the night more and hang out with some of my favorite people in the world that I don't see nearly enough.

This is my BC Crew. The hand on the side is the other BC grads trying to jump in.

Which we eventually let them do...

Both my Dad and Katie's dad went to BC too. It's definitely one of those schools where multiple generations tend to go there. Here are just my BC girls- minus my favorite roommate in the world Ash :(

Cristina is making us all look pale with her spray tan. There was also a lot of dancing, which is my favorite part about weddings.

So now I am completely exhausted and not ready to leave my vacation behind at all. It's back to some serious work on Monday. Do not even think about saying "At least you have summers off..." because I had one, count them, ONE week off this summer and yet everyone still says that to me. Grr. Although on a positive note, it will be good to be back in a routine, my stomach has been bothering me so much because God only knows what I've been eating and exercise has been off, sleep schedule etc etc. There is definitely something to be said for routine.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Too Much Dress Shopping

I would just like to start by saying my hatred of invitations has dropped dramatically because my amazing sister and Maid of Honor volunteered to enter all the addresses into the labels for me, so I can simply print them out. Thanks Caroline :)

So I have not blogged in a couple of days because I've been insanely busy DRESS SHOPPING. On Tuesday I headed into Boston with my mom, Eric's mom and Caroline (my sis) for Operation: Buy a wedding dress AND bridesmaid dresses. It's no secret that shopping for a dress is not one of my favorite parts about wedding planning so I picked a place I knew had a lot of great stuff and was SET on buying a dress (or at least finding one I was set on buying, maybe not making the purchasing so quickly). While the trip was more successful than the others I have done so far- it still was not what I would call a success. I found one dress that my mom and Eric's mom really liked on me, but I was just not quite feeling it. I definitely liked it, but I wasn't SURE it was "the one" (I'm not really sure if I'm going to be a "the one" person anyway, but I'd like to be a little more sure). I came home and looked it up on the website and I'm not a huge fan of the model in the dress which is not adding to my love for it. If you are curious, the dress can be found here, and it's number 19 of 25. Hopefully Eric will not go through the hassle of looking at that, haha. My major problems with the dress are the straps are sort of wide on my shoulders, they fall on the outside more than in a normal spot. Also, as Caroline pointed out, the beading is a little strange, instead of normal circular beads, they are more the long rectangle shape that I'm not sure I like as much. Shockingly, the mermaid aspect does not bother me in this dress- normally I avoid it at all costs.

On the bridesmaid dress front, I did find a company (Watters) that makes the exact color fushia I want- bright and beautiful. I also found a dress that looked nice on Caroline but I'm not sure how large of a fan of it she is, and I don't know how great it would look on others. However, I am definitely going to continue to look at stores that sell Watters dresses so I can hopefully order in that exact color. It seems as though finding that color is definitely half the battle! So overall, I did not find a bridal gown or a bridesmaid dress. Which stinks, a lot. Plus, I had to go to the MALL on Tuesday night to find a dress for a wedding I am going to on Saturday. So basically I hated shopping by the end of the night on Tuesday.

In between all this ridiculousness, I did manage to squeeze in a bike ride with Caileen, my newest biking buddy! If you have been reading for awhile you know how bored and unmotivated I am biking alone. Ash is a wonderful biking buddy, but she lives in Chicago and Caroline is also a great biking buddy but will soon be back at school and not quite close enough to meet. My new biking buddy is Caileen! Caileen and I met in high school on the bus (haha, remember the bus?) and we became friends while playing hockey together. We lived down the street from each other, so I broke that ridiculous 6 month rule (can't drive friends around for 6 months after you get your license) about 300 times driving her to school and hockey practice. We blew tons of money on daily Starbucks runs, skipped hockey practice for Chilis and had way more fun before 6 am than most people do during the day. I have not seen Caileen in awhile so I was very excited to catch up over our new shared hobby. Caileen is one of those people who just gets me, she'll say something and I'm like YES I totally know what you mean. Plus she cracks me up. Here is a picture of us when I came to her house to watch her take pictures before her senior prom. This was 5 years ago....

Now I am officially down the Cape for my "vacation", which I put in quotes because today Eric and I are off to look at hotels for the wedding. But I'm looking on the bright side, at least I don't have to go to work. Yesterday when I was tutoring and one of my kids absolutely flipped out because he was winning a game and the game told him to go back 3 spaces (at which point he'd still be beating me by at least 15 spaces)- not working for over a week was definitely good enough for me!

And one more thing, my AWESOME wedding photographer is in the running for the Cape Cod A-List. If you guys liked my engagement pictures, please vote for her for best photographer. You need to follow this link and then vote for "Hike Photography." Just to remind you, she is responsible for THIS awesome pic:

It's Very Simple

I would like weddings better if...

1. It was appropriate to send out evites to a wedding...I'm serious. I hate invitations. Just after finishing invitations to 2 of my best friend's showers I have now started on my engagement invitations. I immediately regret doing an engagement party instead of a shower- if I did a shower, someone would have to do this for me, haha.

2. No one else offered their opinions unless asked and even then, only said what I want to hear.

3. People did not move, change their last name or anything else that changes my very time consuming to deal with guest/address list.

4. I had no job and had time to dedicate my entire life to dealing with this party that will be over in 5 hours. Wait on second thought, I would hate being that large of a waste of life...moving on to #6...

5. If I had a personal assistant who would do all wedding related work for me, including bring me beautiful dresses that I love to my house to try on.

Is that really too much to ask?

On a positive note, I had a great weekend and succeeded in getting a small tan with NO tan lines by wearing my only strapless shirt I own. I am literally the queen of tan lines and uneven tanning, but I am trying to change my ways so I do not look ridiculous in my friend's wedding next week ( NEXT WEEK? AHH!) Speaking of that dress I am wearing, I picked it up last Thursday after having it altered A LOT. The lady was a serious miracle worker. It looks 300 times better. It amazes me that someone can alter the size of a dress so much. Anyway, I need to get to bed because I have an early appointment with an orthopedist about my knee (yay...or maybe yay!). I'll let you know how that goes. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

The Good Side of Weddings

So I'll be honest. I've been TRULY hating weddings lately. Mainly my own because I hate planning it. It's just not my thing, and yet it takes over my time. I enjoy doing things for other people's weddings more because I know I am helping them/making them happy. But even then...I'd rather do something else for them haha.

However, I went to a beautiful wedding this weekend that (probably temporarily) restored my love for weddings. My friend from work got married and she was officially the first of MY friends to get married (we have been to Eric's buds and family weddings, but none of my friends). However, with 4 of my best friends getting married in the next year, I better get ready! Here is a picture of me with other work friends and the bride :)
Since I share a classroom door with Melanie (the bride) I can tell you that during her 2 year engagement, there have been a lot of complaints about how much she hated wedding planning. But I could tell on Saturday night that she was thinking it was all worth it because she was that happy. So, hopefully that will be me too. Plus I love her husband (now). They were high school sweethearts and according to the speeches at the wedding, basically crushing on each other since fifth grade...haha. They are the type of people who seem really different, but somehow just work together really well. I've thought this about them many times before, but when I was taking the shuttle home from the wedding on Saturday night the guy behind us (probably 60 or so) said, and I quote, "I have never met two people more perfect for each other than them." I thought that was pretty impressive, considering that this guy must have met a LOT of couples in his life!!!

So maybe, I won't complain about weddings for a few days (complete and total lie, I have complained since then haha). Also, I acquired a beautiful new centerpiece for my kitchen table. Eric and I won the "been married the longest at our table" award and got take home the flowers. And yes, we are aware we are not married but everyone else at the table was not even engaged, so we won. I love these flowers so much.
You will definitely see those beautiful fushia flowers reappearing in my centerpieces. Plus, this wedding of two seemingly opposite high school sweethearts reminded me of the excitement for my best friend's wedding in 2 weeks in 2 days (did I scare you a little their Katie?). I have been working hard on my Maid of Honor speech and I actually like where it is going right now. I also realized on Saturday that all of the guests stand up during the maid of honor and best man's speech so I better keep it short haha. I know Katie's wedding (and the wedding we have the weekend before) will continue to keep me optimistic and happy about weddings, and if not...there is always my new favorite drink:
And how did the Cosmo become my new favorite drink? I'm waiting in line at the bar and the girl in front of us orders a Cosmo. I turn to Eric and say, "that's one thing that can't suck me in even though it's pink, a Cosmo." As soon as the words are out of my mouth I wonder why a Cosmo can't suck me in and then before I have barely put a period on the end of my sentence I say, "you know what? I think I'll get one!" These irrational pink driven statements and decisions by me do not shock Eric any more. When it comes to me, there is really nothing pink that I will not enjoy. It's kind of weird, I admit it.

Do you like weddings? What is your favorite part? Least favorite?

Official Triathlon Results

Today we got our official results with overall time and specific times for each leg.

Overall Time: 1:15:56

Overall Rank: 391/598

Swim: 7:59

Rank: 206

Bike: 36:56

Rank: 370

Run: 31:00

Rank: 452

Overall I am really happy with my times, especially since my main goal was to FINISH!

My Thoughts on Swimming: Well I can't believe I'm saying this but apparently swimming was my strength. This is pretty amazing considering I was most worried about this from the beginning and I don't have any kind of history of being good at swimming. I was on a really wimpy swim team when I was younger and I don't think I came in anything other than last. Not that a rank of 206 is winning haha, but the fact that it is my strength at all is impressive to me. Now I don't feel too bad about those years that I taught swimming, maybe I really did know what I was talking about (Kelly starts to get cocky).

My Thoughts on Biking: Biking was my favorite part of this race. I love my bike and I saw this as sort of my rest time, time to drink water etc. I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with biking throughout this training, but during the race I loved biking. I also was thanking my giant hill that I have to climb on my way home every day because those hills during the race didn't seem so bad :) I think I could've gone faster in the biking section (perhaps I shouldn't view it as rest time anymore?), so that can be a goal for next time. One of my biggest problems with biking is the fact that I knew I had to run after, so I didn't want to push it TOO bad. Hopefully when I am better trained for the running section I'll be less nervous to push it on biking.

My Thoughts on Running: Obviously running was my weakness, but considering that I had not trained for this part at ALL I'm not too sad about 31 minutes. That's only a little over 2 minutes longer than my 5k when I WAS trained AND I had not biked and swam right before. Although I'll love to improve on my time in a future triathlon, more importantly I'd like to improve on how I feel during the running part because on Sunday I was really dying. I'll like to HAPPILY make it through a running section next time. That might be asking a lot, but a girl can hope.

It would be fun to improve my overall rank too since 391 is not that impressive, especially to my little kiddos at work who asked me if I "won" the race haha. I didn't know how to explain to them that for me the accomplishment was in making it across the finish line haha. It's fun to compete but the real success is in knowing that I can do something I didn't know if I could do before. Plus, I was at the doctor today for a physical and I had never met this doctor before. When we were discussing how I eat, how often I work out etc she said that I look like someone who loves to work out. I'll take that as a compliment :) I don't know if 5 am Kelly would agree with that statement but I'll take what I can get.

I'd love to write more but unfortunately I have to go meet with a wedding videographer tonight. If you are not already planning a wedding now, but might think about it in the future- I highly recommend eloping! Planning a wedding is so much work and there is really not a lot about it that I actually enjoy. My second piece of advice is to space your wedding out far away from your friends. Being it other people's weddings is time consuming too- I am pretty sure I am on a first name basis with wedding paper divas an invitation company, who I actually recommend if you ignore my previous advice and decide to plan a wedding or bridal shower for someone. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Tomorrow!!!

I've officially made it to the Cape and I am relaxation pre-triathlon mode! I am definitely concerned about my physical preparation for this race, which of course affects my mental preparation but I am just counting on adrenaline to push me through :) Tonight my sister and I are driving to Falmouth to pick up our race materials and check out the course a little bit. Then we are eating a yummy dinner and heading to bed early. I still have a few more errands to run today but mostly I am just going to relax. I was wishing this triathlon was on Saturday so I could get it over with but it's rainy and the water is rough so I'm glad it's tomorrow now!

Yesterday on the way down I stopped to check out my wedding site in the summer. When we booked it, it was the winter and it looked a lot different. They were setting up for a wedding and all the flowers make it look even more beautiful. Here are some pics:

I really hope I have this beautiful of a day for my wedding next July because if I do, it will be really gorgeous!

Last night, I went out with the fam to an amazing Japanese restaurant called Inaho. If you are ever in Cape Cod, I highly recommend trying it. It's in Yarmouthport on 6A. You do need reservations but you can get them earlier that day if you are willing to go early :) Here are some beautiful pictures of the sushi.

I had shrimp dumplings and chicken teriyaki which did not look as fun, but did taste delicious. Actually the shrimp dumplings would probably make a good picture but I wanted to eat them, next time I promise one :)

I hope everyone has a great start to the weekend! I'll try to do a Pre-Race report tonight and definitely update you on how it goes tomorrow.

Beautiful View, Yummy Breakfast

Good morning all! It's rainy again here but I am in a great mood because I only have to make it through 2 days of school this week and then I have my very short summer vacation until my job starts next Monday. I made it through the bridal shower yesterday and it was a lot better than I expected. It was in a gorgeous location in Mattapoisett.
That's the view from the porch where the shower was held. Gorgeous. It was quite a hike to get down there, but it was also interesting because I went through a lot of towns that I had heard of, but never knew where they were. Not as interesting on the way home but that's why I called Jen and she entertained me for that part of the trip :) The bridal party did a beautiful job with the shower as well, and they did serve alcohol- yes!!! Also, I had thought I was only going to know the bride and one of the bridesmaids (who I figured would be busy with her duties) but when I got there I remembered that she invited a girl who worked with her a few years ago, and I knew a little bit when she still worked at our school. We sat together and chatted the whole shower so that was really good. Also, Mel did an AWESOME job speeding through presents. It was not a long process at all, even though there were a ton of people there. And finally, Mel's best friend from work who is one of her bridesmaids (Erin) made an adorable video of Melanie's students giving her "advice" for being married. HILARIOUS. One of the little girls who I had in my poetry class said "When you get married, you should tell each other everything you have done before you met each other" haha- WHERE would a kindergartner get that idea?!? So funny. One of the other kids said, "Love is when you kiss on the lips...EWWW" and then burst into giggles. That was definitely hilarious. So, here are a few more pictures- me and the future bride, aka my classroom neighbor :)
And Erin's beautiful centerpieces. I really may have to hire her to do my wedding.

This morning I woke up, did not feel like swimming at all, so I decided to make myself a really yummy different breakfast. I got the idea from Nutritious is Delicious and changed the recipe a bit so that I could eat all the ingredients without hurting my yummy (and what I happened to have in the house). I used:
1/4 cup of flour
2 tablespoons of oatmeal
1/4 cup of soy milk
1 egg white
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
*Mix all together, put in a pan (I sprayed the pan with Pam first). Place pan on stove. Cook one side, then add some sliced bananas. Turn over to brown the other side. Then I spread some almond butter across the top.
It came out delicious. It was fun to have something besides oatmeal for breakfast (even though I do love my oatmeal!). You can also see I was lucky enough to get to keep one of the centerpieces from the shower yesterday and it is now the centerpiece on my dining room table :) I usually eat in the living room but with such beautiful flowers on the table I decided I would actually eat there!

Today is going to be a busy day. It's my best friend's birthday, but I don't get to see her but I will be calling her AND next weekend is her bachelorette party, yay! It's also Father's Day obviously, so I have to finish up my gift to my Dad (and it also works as my mom's birthday present which is in 2 days). I made them a DVD picture slideshow of our family trips to Ireland and San Francisco. Eric and I are going to run some errands today and buy more presents for people (something about June I feel like all I have been doing is buying presents!). I still need to get presents for my classroom aide, my 2 room parents and we need to get Eric's dad a B-day and Father's Day present. Then, we are going to go visit his Dad and go eat dinner at my parents house. It feels good to know that everything is basically done for work though so I can focus on seeing people I want to today :) I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Run for Ice Cream

On Friday, my boss sent out an e-mail reminding us to tell our class about the significance of Memorial Day before our Memorial Day assembly. Okay, I thought...
1. the OFFICIAL start of summer
2. cookouts!
3. the start of the Cape season (even though the Cape season for Eric and I is clearly year round).
Maybe not what she had in mind?
My Memorial Day weekend began on Thursday night (even though I clearly had work on Friday) at the Red Sox Game!!! It was my first of the season. Usually at my first game I am wearing 18 layers and freezing, not at this game. You can tell by the pictures I am sweating in the 90 degree weather!!!

And slightly more disgusting in this one...Oh well, maybe not the best photos but an amazing time :)

This morning I was in total wedding planning mode. I met with a great photographer, so now I have multiple that I like. I love the younger fun women, but I also have a slightly ridiculous, but slightly justified paranoia that whoever I choose will get pregnant and not be able to attend my wedding because she will be having the baby (okay, mostly psycho since that would be really bad luck that anyone would happen to be having a baby THAT particular day/week!).

After that I went on my FIRST dress shopping trip, woo! Here are some pictures of me in dresses. I can post them because I am positive I am not going to purchase either one. The first one makes my hips look HUGE (and this is not a problem I usually have because I have a pretty large waist). The second is more flattering but I don't like the lace very much.

Caroline and Tiff also joined the fun so we tried some bridesmaid dresses as well. This one is a contender:
It would be in pink though, not that peachy color. However, I'm not nearly as big of a fan of it in pictures so...probably not. Good first trip though.

And finally, in case you have not had enough pictures for the night. We went to a delicious restaurant in Hyannis Center tonight called Colombo's. Here is my delicious salmon dinner:
It had this delicious soy sauce vinegarette on the side. It was amazing. The only thing that was not amazing was that I waited all winter for the ice cream place next door to this restaurant to open because they have unbelievable soy soft serve that both my taste buds and my stomach LOVES. I was so excited about this that throughout my over 4 mile run today I kept saying to myself, "Run for ice cream! Run for ice cream!" and yet...they don't have the soy anymore :( They said not enough people were lactose intolerant. In fact, this is not true, tons of people are lactose intolerant but stupid lactate has allowed people to eat regular ice cream. BOO! Why is there no lactate for IBS? (just kidding I really don't want people who are lactose intolerant to suffer!). Anyway, I just ended up eating regular soft serve, so I feel kind of icky now but it's not the end of the world since everyone who reads this blog knows I clearly eat regular ice cream all of the time! Usually I feel kind of blah after but no excessive bloating so I figure it's worth it for my favorite food. But let me tell you, I used to feel perfect after that soy soft serve and I am very bummed about it being discontinued.

Quick Training Update: Did a 4.23 mile run today. Everything felt amazing except for my darling knee which hurt and hurts even more now that I am not running. I am going to call for physical therapy this week. I wasn't going to go but I think the pain is getting worse so I might as well see what they can do. I still find it so unbelievable that in March I could barely run for more then 3 minutes at a time and now I can do over 4 miles! I love that Couch to 5k Plan :)

Alright, early to bed for me tonight. I am exhausted!