What a weekend...

I had the wonderful honor of co-hosting a bridal shower/ladies night out for my friend Brianne this weekend! Since the actual "shower" was at my house...there was A TON of cleaning to be done. DUST EVERYWHERE. Geoff was awesome, and really did a ton of the cleaning (i am allergic to dust). Of course this all had to be done the night before and the day of the shower since the guys are still working on the upstairs bathroom.

The theme of the night was black and white. All the guests were to wear black and white and I tried to decorate with Brianne's wedding theme (black and white damask). I managed to find a couple vendors online that had damask paper plates/napkins and votive candle holders.

The guest of honor

Me, Brianne and Ava, the co-host if the evening

(notice the Flirtini's? Geoff pre-made them for us! He even sugared the rims so all we had to do was pour the champagne, and garnish with a raspberry. They were yummy and a hit!)

Why is our bride to be drinking red bull and vodka? Well, everytime she missed a "How well do you know your groom question" she had to take a shot. She took 8 :)

Why is Sara holding a tampon in the middle of a party? She was showing us giving us evidence for the "what's in your purse game". Sara won the prize! And we all realized that if we ever need anything go to Sara. That was our invite! I heart Kate Spade!

And now to the second part of the night... We started the night off at a martini bar...fun times! We also didn't know it was Gay Pride weekend downtown. It was a crowded! Hey, at least we didn't have to worry about being hit on :)

At Saya...

This is when we knew we had to call it a night....

I'm a little over 1/2 way there...

I'm a little disappointed....can't lie. I had my weigh in today and I only went down 8 pounds. Now, I know that it's better than gaining anything...and I am retaining water like crazy if you catch my drift....but still. The doctor was very positive. My goal next month 10 pounds (my "personal don't wanna tell the doctor" goal is 12..haha)

Exercise here I come!

So all in all....total weight off 33 since I started with the dr. in 3 months. 36 since my highest weight.

Only 32 (or less depending on what I feel like...I have a 10 pound range the dr. gave me and that's the lowest weight) pounds to go.

Good news: my BMI went down again. I am 1% from being "normal"!!!!

My water weight% went up....no shock there :(

My 1/2 way there gift to myself. All from Blackmarket/ White House (over 60% off for the dress). I can bring the dress in, and the shrug was in a size Medium (a little "snug" but definitely will be able to fit better when I get to my goal weight)....and the purse. One size fits all!

I am a glutton for punishment...

(Warning: Bad lighting + cell phone camera = crappy pictures)

That my friends is 1/2 of "the smallest master bathroom in the world" (seriously why does a 3,400 square foot home have a master bath the size of a closet?!!). Why is it stripped down to the studs? Cause it wouldn't be a fun remodel any other way!

If I have learned anything in the world of home remodeling...nothing ever goes as planned. All the plumbing had to be switched around (as does the electrical). We had to take out one small closet and one small linen closet to get enough space for a small claw foot slipper tub.

Oh and since we're moving the fan in there, yesterday was the first day I could actually see from my attic, through the second floor....down to the KITCHEN. Oh! Did I fail to mention there was a HUGE whole in the newly remodeled kitchen celeiling? Poor contractor slipped and fell, putting this foot right through the ceiling. They had to put this temporary bandaid on it so that a nosy little dog named Jake, would not fall.

And the best part of this remodel...is the dust! How could I EVER forget how much dust gets EVERYWHERE in the house. I don't even want to clean since I know it's going to be everywhere for another couple weeks. And guess who is throwing a bridal shower this Saturday??? (I say this as I bang my head on the wall...I am an idiot.) Why in the world did I think this time the dust would not touch the rest of the house?

At least this time I found a contractor that is dependable (and his workers don't scare the crap out of me), FAST, and cleans as he goes!

Hopefully in less than 2 weeks my little bathroom will look relaxing!! Here's some of what is going in it:

Vanity, lighting, tub and shower converter all from Restoration Harwardware.

The room will have white marble floors (shown below) and white beadboard on the wall with Sherwin Williams "Silvermist" as the paint color (the color swatch does not do it justice...it's very "spa" like).

(And the ONLY way I could afford all this is by the 1.) Awesome sale they have going on and 2.) This code RPO9802 for an extra 20% on most non sale items....but for some reason some of my BIG sale items worked with this code!!! (and I had some gift cards from the wedding I just found!!!)

A lost art...

I almost feel as giddy as a schoolgirl in love (boy, do I sound like my grandmother or what?)!!

Today I picked up one of my most favorite things....STATIONARY!

I LOVE STATIONARY/NOTE CARDS!!

Before this whole computer thing became popular...I was raised to write meaningful thank you notes after every good gesture, thought, gift. No questions, no arguments.

I carried this "ritual" with me into adulthood. A few days after our wedding, I had all my thank you cards ready to mail out (and this was no "Thank for the gift Love___ " stuff, this was the real " I am going to put the gravy boat next to my casserole dish when I cook dinner next Sunday" deal. I really wanted everyone to know how much I appreciated every gift.

Another favorite part of the whole "ritual" is the search...I love to find a set of note cards that shows my personality at the moment! I can spend hours in a paper/card store looking for a special card. I have been know to buy a birthday card months before a big day. Why? When you see the perfect card you have to get it! Christmas cards make me go into a tailspin...already ordered mine today....and they are fun...very non-traditional :)

Having said all this, I love to get that unexpected card/note in the mail for no reason at all. For me, it shows me that you really made an effort little effort. It makes me smile :) I am that crazy person that sends funny cards out for every holiday knowing the person that receives it will get our "inside" joke.

Geoff makes fun of me and says I'd probably send a "Thank you for your thank you card" if Hallmark made it. Ya know what....I probably would! I love to let people know how much I appreciate their thoughtfulness :)

Spoiled

I might have been an "only child" in the sense I never lived in a house with any of my step and 1/2 siblings (all from my dad and I don't know them very well...plus we all range in ages from 40 to 12)

I always heard those "only children" were spoiled...never really thought much of it. Yes, I never had to compete for attention, usually got what I wanted on my Christmas list, went on fun trips, went to private school...but spoiled....hmmm.....we were definitely not rolling in dough by any means.... how about "well taken care of"? :)

Then last night I realized I was spoiled.

Why, might you ask?

We in the process of remodeling the smallest master bathroom in the world. (That's why I haven't blogged in forever...way to much stuff to move around and fixtures to pick out) Since there will be alot of dust, we are staying in the guest bedroom.

A guest bedroom with a queen bed. The first thing Geoff and I bought when we moved here was a king Tempur-Pedic bed. We love it...and there are WAY less fights about waking each other up (I am the lightest sleeper in the world, Geoff is a sheet hog and bed hog too).

I barley slept last night in that queen bed (umm we slept in a queen for 4 years, it shouldn't be hard right)

WRONG!

I want my king bed...I miss it. And if that makes me spoiled....well I guess I am!!!!

I love 1990...errr...I mean 2008!

This Tuesday I found myself in a very strange place. I was sitting on the couch at 8:00pm watching 90210 and while flipping over to E, I see a interview with New Kids on the Block regarding their new album release. That's right folks...for those who loved the 90's as much as I did....this week was spewing nostalgia!! 1990 for me was the introduction of 90210. The house were they filmed the "Walshes" house was a few miles from me and we would go and check it out to see if we could see any stars. This would also be the year I put my Barbie dream house into storage and in it's place put posters of the 90210 cast, New Kids on the Block and Mark Paul Gossler in it's place. Now, this is not to say I was in any way ready to put those Barbies away. I only did this since "all the other girls" were doing it. My mom saw the tears in my eyes when I took that house down. But peer pressure got the best of me. Side Note: After my mom saw one episode of 90210 I was banned from seeing it ever again. Later, when my mother needed a favor I would bribe her by saying I would do whatever she wanted if she would record an episode for me :) I also loved New Kids on the Block. And in 1990 is when I got my "boom box". The minute the new NKOTB tape (yeah tape) came out I played that tape over and over until my mom would come yelling at the door. Tuesday brought me back to 1990. Good times....good times. I leave you with some fond memories... And back in the day...I could do those sweet moves..

Labor Day weekend recap and "Why I have been a bad blogger..."

Yup...this California girl has been so darned worried about Hanna that she couldn't think straight.

That was until this afternoon....when the projected landfall looks to be going to SC or NC (and while I love my NC peeps and wish them no harm...so glad it's going away from Savannah). The last time Savannah was hit by a major hurricane was 1893. That was one of the reasons I was OK living near the coast. You couldn't pay me enough money to have moved to Florida or NC Outer Banks (visit, yes...live there ...no way!)

Now why would I be such a wreck? I mean come on, I live in a brick house and have hurricane proof windows (up to category 5). Well, I'm a California girl. Give me an earthquake anytime...I hate the waiting, and the possible landfall predictions of a hurricane. I also think about the worst possible case scenario. A tree falls on my roof, blows open the second floor, and all albums and memories fly out the window.

I am very clingy to my "memories" boxes with what I have left from my childhood/highschool days. There was a fire my freshman year of college and most of my pictures and documents were destroyed. So I cling to the couple boxes I have.

Geoff gets hubby bonus points for shopping with me yesterday to get all the "worst case scenario" supplies. We have a back up generator, food/water, candles, propane tanks, batteries....you name it! I also am scanning all documents and uploading them to the web, on a disk and in a safe (call me crazy, but my mom lost my original birth certificate and social security card...I obsess over keep originals in a safe place). We have taken pictures of every angle of the house for insurance and made sure we had flood insurance in place.

We will see what happens in the coming days...I don't trust the weather people! Everyone has a different scenario of where landfall might take place. And the whole "it's still too soon to tell" and "this is a hard area to predict" is making me nutty! Whewwwww...

To make matters worse...I was so stressed my shoulder was hurting like CRAZY ...so I went back to the acupuncture lady downtown and got another treatment. She works WONDERS and my lower back and shoulder felt great for the whole time I was in Tenn. last week!!! Seriously, if you ever feel in so much pain...I would definitely give acupuncture a shot! Works wonders! And for all who know me...I am a wimp with needles. It doesn't even hurt (the only time I felt pain was when we were "chasing" a sore spot and it was back pain, not needle pain).

Opps ...almost forgot about Tennessee!

We left Thursday afternoon to see the in laws in good old Tennessee. Nothing too exciting...just a lazy weekend. We did get to see The Smoky Mountains (driven through it how many times in the 5 years with Geoff and never actually gone in the state park.)

Meet Bambi...I tried to get better pictures...but those darn things like to hide! The old mill that still makes flour (over 110 years old!) Jake's father...he think :) Most stangers that meet Jake ,(when they first see him) call him a little fox. We thought it was funny. He couldn't be part fox! Come to find out, that dogs do mate with foxes!!! The offspring is called a "Dox". See that tail?? And Jake, when you let his fur grow long, has that weird strip down his back too!! I think we need to call the Maury show and have a DNA test! We then went to Gatlinburg. It was cute...but the people visiting there....hmmm ...very interesting!

And finally...right before I lefty for Tennessee...I made these collars from scratch (meaning I sewed the collars and embroidered the names) for Laura's dog, Badger, and for my in laws dog Zoe.

My reluctant model Zoe

And my handsome model Badger