Happy Birthday Sam!

Today is the soon-to-be hubby's birthday. He turned a quarter of a century old today! (For people who are bad at math that = 25)

So every year I always have a hard time figuring out what to get Sam. Being that this is the 9th birthday I've celebrated with him, finding the right gift seems to get harder with each passing year. So I went with old saying "The way to a guy's heart is through him stomach".

So I went to the store and picked up some of Sam's favorite goodies. This spread included...

• Caramel Apple Pops
• Redvines
• 4 pack of Bodington's Pub Ale
• 2 boxes of Gusher's 
• 6 VitaminWater's
•  a can of Whole Cashews (lightly salted)
• a box of Honey Bunches of Oats
• a Jimmy John's sandwich
• and card with 3 scratch off lotto tickets (all losers... oh well)

Anytime I ever went to get a card for someone, Sam would make fun of all the women who would read every card on the shelf before picking one. (So I'm glad he wasn't there today when I picked out his b-day card... I was one of those women). I wanted to pick something light, funny, and simple; so this is the card I went with.

I'm really not sure if "brew" and "too" rhyme but close enough. Plus I thought this card would mix in well with all the other gifts I got him.

Happy Birthday Sam!
I can't wait to be your wife! (Only 125 days left to go!)

Question: What types of gifts are good for guys? I need some ideas for next year.

Wedding Shoes

Have you ever noticed that when you need to find an item, you can never find what you want? But if you have no plans on buy anything, that's the day you'll find something perfect you need/want. For example my wedding shoes I bought today.

I went to the mall today with two of my bridesmaids, Alison and Anna. I drove with Alison to mall and on the way I said, "Oh I'm not worried about finding my shoes for the wedding; I have few months to look around." Go figure, the first store we go into a saw these beauties. 

I already have my "something blue", so I figured I would want to find ivory shoe that will go with my dress. To my surprise, there were two pairs of ivory shoes there that I liked. However, once I tried these ones on I knew they were going home with me.

 
With a $39.99 price tag, I felt like was getting a pretty good deal. (Total with taxes: $43.69) May I add, I think I'm falling in love with JC Penny's because I'm finding all these great items for my wedding. Not only did I get these shoes there, you may also remember my post when I got my wedding shower dress there as well.

Plus, I also bought the flower girl dress at JCP's too. Who knows what the next JC Penny's find will be; but I have to say, I feel good about this roll I'm on.

Question: Do you have a store that you always have good luck finding the things you need/ want?

My First Farmers' Market

Even though I talk mostly about wedding stuff on my blog, I really enjoy reading food blogs. I think it's because the soon-to-be hubby is Italian and he seems to be able to just smell different foods/ spices and knows if they'll taste good together; and that's not me. So I'm hoping by reading food blogs that I'll pick up some good tips and recipes which will allow me to cook as well as Sam.

I read a lot a food blogs that talk about going to farmers markets to buy the fruits and veggies, but I never gone to one till today (which happen by accident, may I add).

I had I go to the town hall today to buy a sticker for my car which allows me to park on the streets. (I think it is dumb I have to pay $30 every two years so I can park my car outside my house, but I digress.) When I was there, they had the weekly Farmers' Market going on, so I figure I'd check it out.

I was surprised by how many stands were there that didn't sell food. There were bunch of different things for sell there. It ranged from crafts, jewelry, cleaning products, and of course fruits and veggies.

 
When I read all these food blogs, it makes me want to eat healthier and try new foods. However, I caved to my old ways and bought one of my summertime favorites...

I love me some kettle corn! I used to live in Bloomington-Normal IL, and every year they have "Corn Fest". At the festival, I always bought biggest bag of kettle corn I could get. The bag I would get at "Corn Fest" would put this little guy to shame. However, I knew I needed to buy the biggest bag, because this happens..

This little guy never stood a chance. If you never try real hand popped kettle corn, you need to add it to your bucket list because you don't know what you're missing out on. I've tried the microwave kind before, and it's was junk. I'll only ever buy the really stuff because there is nothing better that a handful of the this sweet and salty snack.

Question: What's one of your favorite summer time snacks?

Well Hello Again

I know I've been slacking on blogging these last few weeks, but things haven't been very exciting.

On the job hunt front... well, it's still going. I keep telling my soon-to-be in-laws, "It's like a no hitter, you just don't talk about it". When it comes to job searching there are so many highs and lows you go through; so I would rather just not talk about it However, like I said before, I believe everything will work out the way it's supposed to.

On the wedding front... there has been some things that are happening. Last week we pick out the tuxes for the guys, worked on our wedding registry, and meet with a travel agent to talk about our honeymoon. But I'll talk more about those things on upcoming posts.

Things planned in the next week or so...

We want to pick out which cruises we'll be going on for our "friends" honeymoon.  Sam and I went on a cruise last year with family and it was fun; but it would have been more fun if we had friends with us... so we are inviting a large group of our friends to join us on our honeymoon.

Flowers... I really have no clue about what type of flowers I want for my weddings, so I think I'll go meet some florists and see what ideas they have (and how much it's going to cost me).

That's about it.

I'm sorry I've been slacking; but if anything become news worthy I'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

Night!

Wedding Shower Centerpieces

I love to save money and I like making crafts, so this wedding has given me the chance to do both.

I was given some silk flowers from a cousin's wedding last summer. I've never been a big fan of silk flowers, but they were free, so I wanted to find some way to use them. Also, I've seen silk flower done well in centerpieces, but they normally have to be in water for me to like them... so I came you with this centerpiece that I'm thinking about using for my wedding shower.

This centerpiece cost a $2.00 plus tax.

Vase- $1 (Dollar Tree)
Floating candle- $1 (Hobby Lobby at 50% off)
Silk flowers- free
Fishing line- free (had it laying around the house)

Now that's a pretty good deal if you ask me!

How I made this...

1. I hot glued three of silks flowers to fishing line, and have the spaced about an inch a part.
2. I made a loop (about the size of a dime) of at the end of the fishing line which will attached to the bottom of the floating candle. This will give the fishing line a stronger base when attaching it to the candle.
3. I melted candle wax (I used a taper candle) and poured it over the fishing line loop. Let dry. You could also just melt the bottom of the float candle and place the fishing line loop into the melted wax. I tried both ways- I like using a second candle the best.
4. Fill vase with water. Place flowers and candle into the water.
5. Take picture and post it on your blog (but you can skip that part if you want!)

The only issue I have with this centerpiece is that the color from the silk flowers did start to bleed into the water when it was first placed into the water. According to my mom, if I soak the silk flowers in cold salt water it should stop the dye from bleeding into the water the next time I put them together. I'll have to give it a try and see how well it works.

Question: What do you think about using these centerpieces for my shower which is in August? Or would these be good for the wedding which is in October?  Should I / could I use them for both events?

I would love to hear you thoughts...

4:00 am Drive

Yesterday my phone alarm was set for a very early 4:00am. You know you love your friends when you are willing (and happily willing) to wake up at 4:00am so I can drive home to get to work.

One of my best friend's father is sick and so she came home to visit him. She didn't have her car with her, so I drove her back to her apartment/ home which is 3 hours away. So to make it to work at 8:00am, I had to get up at 4am.

I made great time leaving her apartment in the morning because I was in my car ready to hit the road by 4:10. (It took me the minute to figure out I needed to turn off the flash).

I have to say, yesterday was a prefect day to be up to see the sunrise. This was taken about 30 minutes into my trip.

Please ignore the bug guts on the window. That will happen drive through central Illinois in spring.

What think I like most about driving long trips by myself is that it gives me time to think.

To think about... the wedding... my job searching... how life maybe different once I find a new job... moving myself and Sam to a new city... my friends... my family...etc. I really do enjoy the down time that long car drives give you, even if it's really early in the morning.

Also, this drive once again made me thankful for all the things I have in my life. I have great friends, family, and fiance. I have my health, employment (even if it's only part-time), and a bed to sleep in at night. I'm grateful to have all these blessing in my life, which includes being able to wake up the morning see the sunrise.

I was in such a good mood that I need the documentation to prove it (not only to myself because I'm not a morning person, but for those people who know I'm not a morning person).

I probably shouldn't take pictures of myself while driving, but trust me, I had that highway to myself .
 
I'm happy to say I made it back to my mom's house with a little time to spare, so I try (I'm not I really sure that I fell a sleep) to get a quick 25 minute nap in before I had to hit the road again to get to work.

Question: What do you like to do on long car rides/ drives?