arrived 2 months ago and I haven't gone to the bridal store to see it yet!!!  Part of me was nervous to go and try it on, like it wouldn't fit or I wouldn't have that same feeling!!  Don't get me wrong I love my dress, but it just makes me nervous!!  Is that weird, anyone felt that way when they're dress arrived?
     So to settle my nerves, some of my closest girlfriends came along ( I'm so thankful for them, thanks ladies)!  After our arrival to the bridal shop, the girls relaxed and chit chatted while I went into the dressing room and prepared to play bride!  When the consultant pulled the dress out of the bag, my breath was taken away (AGAIN)!  It was the same dress I fell in love with when I tried on the sample, except this one is all mine!!
     Its hard to get into a wedding dress, let me tell you!  Trying not to get makep on it or rip a seam, its hard work.  So after much twisting and tugging into my dress, I put the veil in place while the consultant fluffed the dress.  I couldn't get over how I looked...GORGEOUS!!  After I was done admiring myself (really I'm not vain) and having my moment, I was ready to share.  The curtains open, and my friends, cameras in hand, were in awe!!  They were full of compliments and flashes were going off everywhere (another paparrazi moment).  It was such a wonderful moment and I was so happy they were there to share it with me!   

     After 30 mintues of admiring and picture taking, it was time to take off the dress (*insert sad face here*).  But  I will revisit "her" in March when its time for alterations. Though the dress fit like a glove, the only alteration I'll need is a bustle placement.  Now it was time to spend the rest of the afternoon in good company and good food! 

to Weddingbee to become a bee!!  As all my friends know I'm addicted to this blog.  Wedding Bee is a great place for advice, creative ideas, and just to vent about planning drama.  It seriously is a positive place for brides to come together and I love being a part of that kind of community. 
     So this morning, I filled out the application (which took an hour to do) and sent it in.  Minutes later, I got a confirmation saying they received my application!  Now this is where the nervousness begins!  The anticipation of waiting for an "acceptance" or "reject" letter is grueling.  The confirmation email said it would take couple weeks to hear a response, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!   
     I never had intentions of starting a blog, ever!  I only got into blogging when I started wedding planning.  With so many other brides emailing me questions about our wedding venue or tutorials on wedding projects, I decided why not start a blog!  I also did it hoping I could reciprocate the help other brides have given me!  And let me tell you, it has been so much fun, I love finishing a project then being able to show it off and talk about it.  Honestly, knowing that I'll blog about the project is what keeps me motivated.  I take pride in the projects that I've done and I get a sense of satisfaction when people like my work!
     Are you so passionate about something that you started a blog too?  Right now, this is where my heart is, so I'll continue to do it even after the wedding probably.  I have so many more ideas and projects to work on, so stay tuned!  But I hope one day soon, I'll be able to blog on a well known bridal blog for all to see!  We'll just have to wait and see! 
                    **KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED**

     So our house has been a wreck ever since we've been planning our wedding and not to mention the BFF's wedding.  With all the projects going on, the deliveries coming to the house, and hiding the BFF's attire in our closet, the house seriously looks like we've been hit by a tornado.  I try to keep the house neat and tidy, but some new project always comes along. 
   

This is the top of my desk in our office...

...and the corner of the office.  This is practically taking up a fourth of the room!

And this is the corner of our dining room!  So as you can see, there's wedding paraphernalia every corner you turn!
Seriously, like a tornado.

     The BFF jokes and says I should start charging her rent for for storing her wedding stuff in our house!  With all the stuff here I should charge her plus interest!  Haha, what do you think!?!  Nah, I couldn't do that to her! 

     I was so worried about today's event...our engagement shoot!  For some reason I was nervous, even though the fiance and I always take pictures together, this just seemed for real.  I was afraid I wouldn't know what to do or how to act, how to smile, or how I'd look.  I was mostly afraid that our pictures wouldn't look as great as the other shoots our photographers have done.  And let me just tell you, they do WONDERFUL work!  So when you get a chance, check out is blog:  http://www.scotthayneblog.com/ 
     I was a bunch of nerves last night and most of this afternoon.  It started last night when I went over to a friend's house to get my hair done.  I even slept in pin curls face done so my hair wouldn't get messed up.  Then I woke up with a broken nail (on my RING hand) on my newly manicured hands!  That's how I figured the day was gonna go...GREAT (can you hear the sarcasm?)!
     So to get ready for this event, I got my hair done, then I had a makeup appt with a friend at MAC, went home to quickly change, and then finally went over to meet with the photographers (almost late, but made it in time)!  The photographers made it so easy and fun!  They really put me at ease and were great people just to be around!  We took so many different shots in downtown Norfolk on a cloudy day, but it still worked out, minus the sprinkles!  We had 2 different wardrobe changes in the 2 hours we had and used many different locations, from a parking lot to a parking garage, from a campus garden to light poles, then alley ways to park benches! 
     People advised me to drink a glass of wine to calm me down, but then in the end I didn't need it!  After all the craziness, it was a great day with great people!  Now I'm just anxious to see the photos!!  I need to learn that patience is a virtue!    

     My veil and bridesmaids' dresses have been waiting in the closet to be taken out of the bags!  I've been waiting for an opportune time to get together with the BFF to try it all out.  Well it happened last night!  Earlier in the week, the BFF and I got excited because her bridesmaids dresses and veil came in Monday when she arrived home from work!  (Don't you love it when packages are waiting for you at the door...it's like Christmas!)  Anyhow, in our excitement we planned our own little dress up party after work yesterday!
    The BFF and her sister (her MoH) came over and we opened packages, tried on veils, and each others BM dresses.  It was a lot of fun and I'm glad Jodi (BFF's sister) was there to share the memories, not to mention being there to document it!
     It's funny that we have been BFFs for nearly 17 yrs, yet we have totally different taste! 

     So while we tried on our veil, we discussed different hairstyles to wear with it, played with different ways of positioning the veil, and just stared in the mirror admiring the beauty!  "In a way the veils are so "us"," says the BFF.   We were having a moment!

     After playing with the veils, we moved on to trying on the bridesmaid dresses.  If I didn't mention this earlier, we are in each others wedding (obviously), but as bridesmaids.  Our sisters are playing the part of MoH (or HMO as I like to call Jodi)!  Here we are in the dress, my dress was too small for me and BFF's was too big for her!  But after alterations, we know it'll be perfect!

     Moments like this, just make me feel really blessed to be sharing this experience with the Best Friend!  She truly is a wonderful friend and I can't imagine not making many more memories with this chic! 
     Anyone else going through the wedding process with a friend and having a great time or is it the total opposite? 

     This week was pretty productive!  I got several wedding projects done, for my BFF and myself.  It started off this past Tuesday night, a couple of girlfriends and I get together for a scrapbook night at our Creative Memories consultant's home.  Lately, instead of working on scrapbook pages, I've been working on wedding projects.  Check out the tissue packets I made in my DIY projects using my Cricut and CM punches.   

     This week I also assembled the boxes I'll be using for my BFF's card box.  Trying to save money, I just gathered the boxes from work, I eventually gathered the right sizes that I'd need for this project.  I still need to go to the fabric store to get BFF's wedding colors (wine and champagne) to cover the box.  Pictures after the project is done will definitely be posted as soon as it's done.
 

     Today, while the fiance was watching the NY Giants get their butt beat by the NO Saints, I was sitting on the couch making watches for my BFF's primary sponsors (Catholic Godparents).  They turned out pretty well and it was another thing I marked off my to-do-list.  
     You may wonder why I'm doing this all for my BFF, but the answer is already stated...because she's my BFF!!  She knows that I'm pretty crafty and that I'd save her a lot of money.  I told her that I was ready for any task she gave me and would happily do anything for her!
     It feels great once things can be marked off the to-do-list!  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED-at least for this week!

So from the apples that the fiance and I gathered from Sunday, I decided to surprise him last night by making a homemade apple pie!!  Let me just say that I NEVER bake, so I was a little skeptical.  I found a recipe on Allrecipes that had great reviews, so I attempted it!
Well, I surprised myself and did it with ease!  Jeff came home to the house smelling like sweet apple pie!  I truly felt like I was playing the wife role (kinda like Donna Reed, but without the apron)!  We enjoyed the delicious pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream while watching our favorite show!  I was so proud of the outcome I had to post about it on Weddingbee! 

It all started Saturday afternoon when my BFF came over to the house for a wedding arts & crafts day! We were thankful that the fiances were stuck at work on a Saturday otherwise we wouldn't have gotten anything done!  While she worked on her hand stamped thank you cards for her wedding shower, I worked on her wedding pomanders.  Not only was it a time to work, but it was quality time spent together- gossiping, eating, and even trying on veils! Another reason why planning a wedding with my best friend is such a blessing!

Sunday was fun-filled as well!!  The fiance and I went to Charlottesville, Va (1 hr away) to go to the apple festival!  It was a gorgeous day for it.  When we arrived to the orchard we enjoyed the view with a hot cup of apple cider and DELICIOUS apple donuts...yummy!  We headed to the orchards to pick some golden delicious and york apples.  It was so much fun and a little dangerous at times (steep hills, high trees, and tons of bees!)  After an hour of apple picking, we decided to visit some local wineries (another fav thing of ours to do)!  We visited Prince Michel,  Sugar Leaf , & First Colony wineries.  We wine tasted and of course didn't leave emptied handed!

During this whole wedding planning journey, I have done so much research using books, magazines, word of mouth, and especially the INTERNET!!!  I have been so amazed by all the ideas and concepts people come up with and share on blogs and forums.  But I have to give much LOVE to my fav sites that have helped me tremendously in creating my vision for the big day!  I am so happy that I found Weddingbee and Etsy.  They give me all the inspiration and help I need to get me through this process. 
Weddingbee is such a positive place for brides to discuss anything from etiquette on who to invite to honeymoon suggestions to even off topic discussions like favorite books.  Not to mention all the picture galleries or DIY projects with tutorials!  I can't say enough great things about about this site!  I visit the "hive" daily because I never know when I'm going to come across another brilliant idea!
As for Etsy, it's a creative girl's heaven!  I always browse through the website looking for ideas that I can make myself.  The sellers on etsy are truly talented and creative.  Though I haven't purchased anything from the site, it has inspired me to make my bridal necklace, watches for a friend's wedding, my flower fascinator, and the list goes on and on. 
I am so thankful I came across both these sites, they are truly my new LOVES!  Do you have a site that you can't live without during your planning process?