Thursday, July 29, 2010

spa day and rehearsal dinner

I am so glad you all liked the before and after pictures of our place! FH worked so hard to get it done and I am so grateful he did!

When I last left you, my two besties were just about to arrive for dinner. Before they came, I did a little wedding watching on my laptop.


just excited!!!

a little father of the bride action :)
Then I got right to work on our dinner!When it comes to food and fitness, my besties and I could not be any more opposite. They are both pretty picky eaters, so I wasn't sure how they would react to this big pan of roasted veggies...

verdict: okay - they did not like the sweet potatoes, and one bestie would not eat the beans... MORE FOR ME!!!!

dinner for 3!
When we sat down to eat, it was so weird. It totally reminded me of when we lived together in college and we would make dinners to eat together.

I made tofu for myself:


And the girls had chicken!

This morning, my stomach was all kinds of weird. I'm not nervous about getting married, but I am getting anxious so I had a weird feeling in my stomach all morning. It didnt keep me from eathing this!

overnight oats with cherries, bloobs, coconut, and pb

and mucho caffeine
As my bachelorette "party" I requested a spa day on the day of the rehearsal dinner. Since I really don't drink and am not into the party scene, a typical bachelorette party would not have suited me at all.

They suprised me with an awesome spa day at my aunt's house! They hired a massage therapist and two nail techicians - it was AWESOME!

They also got me this goodie bag:


We wore hats:


got pampered....


wined and dined!


Aren't they the greatest?


bestie made some coffee cake - it looked delish!


My aunt even opened up her spa so we could relax!



I went straight form there to the country club to put together centerpieces. On my way there, I ate a Larabar and also stopped at Starbuck's for an extra caffeine jolt!


aren't my nails pretty?
John's aunt, my mom, cousin, and bestie were all so great. They showed up 2 hours before the rehearsal started to help me get the centerpieces done. If it wasn't for them, I really don't think i could have done it!

obviously not the centerpiece, but gerber daisies are involved
Once everyone arrived, we headed out to the gazebo where we are getting married!


(left to right): FH's brother (also the pastor), FH and Me!

bridesmaids

taking charge

groomsmen





putting me back in my place! :)



flower girls








It was actually a very quick and painless rehearsal! Sometimes they are long and drawn out and we were in an out in exactly an hour! Go us!

Afterwards, we headed to Mimi's Cafe for some much needed grub.

FH's mom did such a great job planning this! The restaurant even made us our own "menu"!




flower girls' gifts - they LOVED them!


soon to be mr. and mrs.!

besties!
It has been such a long day, but I really am not tired. I'm feeling a little anxious, but I'm not really worried about how tomorrow is going to go. Whatever happens, happens at this point! I am so excited to finally be getting married to the man of my dreams!


It's time for me to put on a face mask, catch up with your blogs, and stick my overnight oats into the fridge for the morning. Wish me luck!

Question: What is your favorite part of weddings (either as a guest OR a participant)? Is it the food, the dancing, or something completely different?

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

BEFORE AND AFTER!!

Thank you all for all your kind words and extra support. I knew I could count on you all to make me feel better! You all are the reason why I love to blog - I love having friends everywhere!

We all make promises we can't keep sometimes. For me, it was promising you all before and after pictures a long long time ago - what was it, Saturday? Well, low and behold, they are here! You don't get to see the office or guest room yet - they're just not done! :)

Before we get to that, I want to share with you all the wonderful creation that is food.

Breakfast consisted of a beautiful overnight oats parfait. You can't really see it, but there is a layer of oats, a layer of peaches, another layer of oats, and a layer of blueberries. I know.. take it all in.

breakfast is best accompanied by a computer reading blogs

overnight oats just wouldn't be complete without cinnamon, cocnut, and peanut butter

can you see the peaches?
 I left pretty early this morning because I had to go get adjusted at the chiropractor. He knows FH very well, and was very excited about our wedding on Friday! When I got to the parent's house, I was famished - it was only 9:30!

So I pulled out all the stops with a classic pre-run fueling session: raisins and almonds.


Just before I was about ready to run, my dad told me a package had come for me and he had put it in the basement. The flowers for my centerpieces had arrived! We ordered them online from Costo, of all places! I had to cut all the stems and put them in a bucket until tomorrow.

has anyone ever seen the netting they put over flowers? i wasn't sure whether to take it off or keep it on until tomorrow. at least they're protected!
 I went for a quick 3 miler after I got that squared away. I actually felt really good running today - a lot quicker than I normally feel. Perhaps it's because I wans't wearing my watch so I had no clue how fast I was actually going?

When I got back to my house, it was lunch time, and I was once again, hungry! I purposefully made extra stuffed tomatoes from the other night for just this reason! I had half of an avocado and some crackers and hummus as well.


i'm not kidding - you need to make this.


after i cut out a sliver
 I won't lie - after I ate that, I got more quinoa out of the fridge and topped it with more hummus. I don't know what's with me today! Whatever, if I'm hungry, I might as well eat, right? All of this was eaten chilled. It was really good after the flavors had a chance to marinate for the past couple of days.

After lunch, I did something I haven't done in a long time.


No, it's not "eating an apple" - good guess though! I sat down on my couch, and watched TV. Actually, I watched the new episode of Teen Mom to be exact. I cannot tell you how long it's been since I've had an afternoon to myself to just relax. After that, I may or may not have fallen asleep, face down, in my bed for a whole 25 minutes. It felt good.

Now, I wanted to post these pictures because I know you've been waiting and I may not have a chance to blog again until tomorrow night. My bestie is on her way up here, and my other bestie is coming when she gets off of work! I'm cooking dinner for everyone - this is totally a flashback to two years ago when we all lived together for 2 years! I'm super pumped, and they're going to like me taking pictures of every minute to document! :)

Living Room before:

sorry, I really don't have a good shot of it :)
 Living Room after:

it's still kind of barren in here - we need rugs, different pillows, window treatments.. the whole works
Kitchen before:

scraping this wallpaper was NOT a party
Kitchen after:


Kitchen before:


Kitchen after:

eventually we're going to put a range microwave in and use the place where the microwave is right now as a decorative space
I looove how the green on the walls totally toned down the color of these cabinets. They look awesome now!

Hallway before:


Hallway after:


Bathroom before:



Bathroom after:





Done and done, my friends! I am off to have a fabulous time with my friends!