NO FEATHERS!

*Photo heavy post ahead!*

I wanted to share some cuteness and laughs from aforementioned niece-to-be. About a month and a half ago, I gave her a stack of wedding magazines to go through since she has been super excited about mine and Scot's upcoming wedding; seriously.. I think her excitement rivals my own (is that even possible?!). The instant one was put in front of her, she started flipping through pages and writing on every. single. item. about what she did and did not like (she eventually switched to post-its, but not that it mattered much to me!). They were returned a few weeks later by the future in-laws, chock full of tips and ideas and major fashion faux-pas'. I took pics of some of the cutest since all of them would take up, oh I don't know, a month worth of posting. If her plans for being President don't work out, she has MAJOR potential to be at least VP or... a wedding planner!

So here you go.. I've rewritten the captions bigger below the photo so they are easier to read.

Tips on wedding dresses:

"Just to let you know, about 30 pages into the book, I stopped writing 

NO FEATHERS! 'cause there were so many cases of feathers it was

too much. So, anytime you see feathers, IT'S A NO!"

((I'm a little sad about this because I like feather hair pieces!))

"Woah! Um, excuse me, where's the girl down there? But I

LOVE the top, the makeup, and the hair!"

((I agree, no poofiness down below!))

"I like the embellishments! The hair piece is very nice, and so are you!

So consider this one."

((Aw, I'm nice! And highly impressed with her vocab.))

Tips on ceremony and decor:

"This looks like an interesting thing to try, sleep on it, will ya?

But it might be too sappy."

((Sappy and super trendy, yes, but I love it just the same!))

"This is a nice outdoor setting, but I think it'll cost too much

on every table."

((I love that she realizes that things can be expensive - I don't know if I had that kind of wisdom at her age.))

"Ooh! Bamboo! That's interesting! If you're a massage therapist, 

it kinda fits you."

((And I am! And we were actually totally thinking of bamboo centerpieces and favors!))

"And we've reached eco-freakatopia!"

((Ok, so I'm guessing that's a no-go, heh.))

"I like this, too. And it'd be cool if it was a baiobab tree, or something

living. You could ask people to put shout-outs and keep it forever."

((I don't even know what a baiobab tree is, but it sounds AMAZING.))

"If you were to do this, make it a color matching your invitation, which you

place next to it. For time and day, put here and now! It'd be cute."

((I love this idea, especially the "Here and now!" part.))

Tips on favors:

"These are cool holders. Make sure they're big enough to hold his

guiness or guiny or whatever."

((She sure knows her uncle Scot and his love of Guinness!))

"Are you techy? Try these."

((I like to think so ;) ))

"OMG I LOVE DUCKS! Gimme gimme gimme."

"If you can get them cheap, make these favors, too."

((Note to self: Buy Syd some ducks!))

"Too cheesy, too beesy!"

((Oh no! You think we can make her like bees before she gets married?!))

Tips on parties and honeymoons:

(For a bachelor/bachelorette party)

"I would just do a simple pool day or mani-pedi's at my aunt's place:

Angelic Nail and Skin Care. For the guys, a simple night at the bar..

or the movies."

((Already promoting! See what I mean about an excellent planner?))

"I'm not sure you should go there.. it may seem fun but what happens

if you spend too much after the wedding..."

((So incredibly true! Again, with the wisdom!))

And.. some of my favorite.. tips on cake toppers:

"Like I said, Uncle Scot would so do that so think about it."

((Yes, yes he would. I love this one!))

"These are too cute.. are you a shopper? Or are you a tweeter?

That is the question."

((I am SO A TWEETER!))

"He's tall, you're slender, and you have red hair. Think about his hair color, though."

((I'm loving the flattery here!))

"He's only partially Irish.. I don't think Uncle Scot's even Scottish! IDTS."

((Heh, love the joke! Sorry babe, no kilt for you.))

((Oh, and she clarified for me that IDTS means I don't think so. Just FYI ;) ))

And there you have it. My 10yr old future wedding planner!!

Rain, rain, go away.

Have I mentioned my obsession with WeddingBee yet?

Thank goodness for my friend Meghann, who introduced me to the site the day after I got engaged. Nowhere else I have looked has the kind of resources and support system that the Bee offers, and I seriously would not know most of what to do in regards to planning and our future wedding.

That being said, Miss Glasses mentioned in her latest post a fantastic feature that Weather.com has - a weather planning tool for your wedding. You can look at a more general view of your wedding month and day, with average highs, lows, sunrise, sunset, and precipitation.. and as we all know, this last factor is key. After all the storms the DC region has been so blessed with lately, I decided to go ahead and plug in all of my info. And I am now quite possibly a bit nervous.

June 16th for the past three years has generally been cloudy with a bit of rain throughout the day (less than .5 inches); NOT the biggest worry right now but definitely a mood dampener... literally. I'm thinking back to my Sweet 16 party that was held outdoors, and it was rainy and gross in the morning but got nice and sunny by the time my party started; perhaps this will be the same? I am not going to stress for the next 673 days, but it is crucial that the weather be nice... please?!

Of course there is a rain contingency plan, but with the style of reception we are planning, space and seating will be super tight if it ends up raining. I'm wondering if we should change our idea of an hors d'oeuvres style reception to a buffet, just to be sure there is enough seating. Scot and I kinda hate buffets and sit down dinners (just personal preferences!), so we don't want to do something we dislike. We still have tons of time before the menu has to be decided though, so that is always a plus and I should stop whining.

Ohhhh, the things I find to fret about with my free time.

We are fam-i-ly (chachacha)

Aside from being super excited to be married to Scot in the near future, I am also extremely excited to become an aunt!! See, I am an only child and obviously my only hopes of being an aunt lie in the family of who I marry, and fortunately, my man has a brother and a sister! His sister (and my future sister-in-law ((FSIL)).. how cool is that?!) has two kids, a 10 year old girl Syd and 14 year old boy Ty. I'm going to have a niece AND a nephew!!

I met Ty several times over the past three years and we got along pretty well, but Syd was a different story. This girl is smart and sassy and I think she wasn't quite sure about me at first, always a sweetheart but I never knew how to 'relate' to her. I like to think I'm good with kids, but honestly? I get awkward sometimes. And I really want both Syd and Ty to like me. I like to think I'm hip with the times, and yes I fully admit that I own a Nintendo DS and still watch Disney Channel and Nickelodeon from time to time. But how do I talk to them about that stuff without sounding like a complete idiot?? "Oh yes, I love Hannah Montana, especially the episode where she pretended to be Selena Gomez."

Ughh. I kind of can't believe I just admitted that, but oh well. Don't think I'm a freak, k?

Anyway, Syd and Ty have always referred to me as "Miss Steph", which I think is adorable. Then Scot and I got engaged, and FSIL fully warned me that the switch to "Aunt Steph" may not ever take place, since the Miss was so imbedded into the kids' heads. Which I was ok with, but still secretly hoped it would switch over eventually!

And THEN. We went to upstate NY to visit Scot's parents, and his sister, bro-in-law, and the kids were there simultaneously for about 12 hours. And in those 12 hours, I made the miraculous transformation from Miss Steph to Aunt Steph.. success! Not only that, but we all hung out and watched The Princess Bride together and Syd made me a super cute birthday card:

My heart melts.

Has anyone else been so freaking excited to gain new family members?? Mine, in total, will probably triple itself! Amazing.

My little black pink book

After Scot and I made our preliminary guest list, I realized that I might need some addresses to go with those names. I have a handful of people's addy's but they are dispersed between multiple address books, pieces of paper and text messages. I knew I was going to have to consolidate them all into one organized and easy to access place, so I promptly bought this little gem at Barnes & Noble:

I very much enjoy any excuse I have to buy things,

especially when they are wedding related.

Minor detail: The wedding is 22 months away, and half of the guest list will be moving before we even send the STD's out (Save the Dates, you dirty folks). So needless to say, this will be a fun little work in progress, whereby I track down people until they give me the info I need. I am determined to have the invites done and addressed well before they need to be shipped out. Don't laugh.. it's good have goals, regardless of how unrealistic they may be ;)