June Goals

I’ve seen many people make monthly to do lists or set some goals for the month. I’m generally not a person to do this but because I still have SO much I have to do to get my house into a condition where I feel comfortable inviting people over. I hope to have a house warming party sometime this summer.

In order to do that I think I have to give myself a list of goals to accomplish by the end of June.  I get back from Argentina on June 2^nd, so it will be the perfect time to start. My flight gets in early in the morning so I hope I’m not too jet-lagged and I can start working on it!

O N E – Make sure that ALL clothing is put away into closets and dressers. This includes clothes that are on the ground. My ultimate goal is for Thomas to put his clothes in the hamper when he takes them off but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get him to do that. Work in progress on that front.

T W O – Make sure all trash/boxes are discarded. I think this one will be easy as most of this has already been thrown out, but there is still some trash that should be gone.

T H R E E – Organize kitchen! While everything in the kitchen has a place, those places are not organized. I need to figure out how I want to handle the pantry we have. It’s a tall cabinet with deep shelves and I need to figure out where I want to keep what.

F O U R – Boxes! This is the HUGE project for June. Most of my things (and I have a crap load of things) moved over from my parents place to the condo in office boxes. I need to clear them out in June. Many of them hold decorations which I need to decide where to put.  There are probably a dozen boxes that have to be emptied/re-organized.

F I V E – Desk! We now have desks but they are messily set up in the 2^nd office because of the aforementioned boxes. In order to do this I will need to move the boxes since they are blocking much of the room. The plan will probably be to put the boxes in the closet and take one out at a time and decide what to do with what’s in there. A lot of the stuff might end up staying in boxes.

S I X – Also in this office room I need to clear out the top of the built in cabinets because it is full of crap at the moment – including computer keyboards and a monitor, clothing, picture frames (empty ones), and I think hard drives. They all need to find a home so I can set up the TV and put in curtains (which I still have to buy).

S E V E N -  DECORATE! Okay, this might be pushing it. This will be a summer goal. I want to try to get picture frames up around the house and maybe do a wall that is for family pictures. Unfortunately we don’t really have a hallway that allows for this so we’ll have to come up with something.

E I G H T – Balcony – I bought a jasmine vine plant but I killed it pretty quickly – mostly because of the wedding and that I didn’t get a chance to water it. Luckily Lowe’s has a 1 year guarantee so I’ll be exchanging it in June and hopefully I’ll be able to keep it alive. I’d like it, ideally to grow across the bars of the balcony so that the sweet smell can enter the house. I LOVE jasmine!

N I N E – This is mostly done, but I need to clear off the bar and make sure all it has visible are nice bar type things (AKA alcohol!).

The previous items are all organizing type things, the following will be things that need to be fixed.

T E N – The light coverings in the bathroom need to exchanged – I have the material, it just needs to be installed.

E L E V E N – We need to call a plumber to get the sinks fixed as well as the bathtub drainage and shower. I also need to buy a shower head for our bathroom.

T W E L V E – There is a drawer in the bar that is broken and needs to be fixed.

T H I R T E E N – I want to put up a rod above the washer and dryer so that I can put curtains up and hide all the ugliness above the machines (most other units in this complex have done this). I have the curtains (donated by my mom) but I need to figure out the rod to put up.

F O U R T E E N – Our windows will be installed in June! That will be awesome! However it means we have to take down the blinds on the sliding glass door – which I think will suck big time.

F I F T E E N – Vacuum & wash the kitchen and bathroom floors. The floors are pretty nasty as this point. The carpet is okay but it should get a nice vacuuming once most of the other items are taken care of.

I think that’s about it. Quite a few things to tackle, right? Should I push some of these to July or just make it a June/July goal list? What do you think?

Transitions

You could say that I just made a very huge transition in my life.

I got married and moved out (I guess they mostly go hand in hand).

I’m a mommy’s girl (as you can tell by my mother’s day post) and knew that living away from her would be difficult for me. Luckily for me the condo we bought is a 5 minute walk from my parents townhouse so I still get to see my mom on just about a daily basis.

However, the day after my wedding I freaked out. I held it in for my wedding, I didn’t worry about just about anything. But the next day? I had a really hard time.

I spent Sunday morning feeling sick. My body was beyond the limit and it couldn’t handle it without any rest. I didn’t sleep well Saturday night and my body told me I needed to rest. Still, I ignored it and continued to move things from my parents’ house to the condo. Shivering and sweating at the same time I kept pushing myself. I finally tried to rest at my mom’s house. Thomas had fallen asleep on our bed at the condo but I couldn’t bring myself to lay next to him right then.

My sister in the hospital, my dad with her and no one else at my parents’ house but my mom I felt bad to leave her alone. That’s what I told myself anyway, but it was probably more selfish than that. I didn’t want to accept that I was leaving, yet. My room was mostly bare, even the sheets had been stripped from the bed – but that was still home. How could I go somewhere else?

Eventually I made it back to the condo after Thomas had woken up and laid down next to him. I told him that I wasn’t feeling well and he told me to just lay down and sleep, stop worrying about the condo and unpacking and sleep. It wasn’t coming easily to me. Tears had been threatening to come all day. I finally texted my MOH and asked her if it was okay? Was it normal to cry the day after your wedding? Did it mean I didn’t love Thomas? That I wasn’t ready?  Why were these tears threatening to spill over? 

Lauren told me to go ahead and cry. I had been through a lot of changes and had barely shown any stress on my wedding day so it was all finally sinking in. I felt like if I cried I had to explain it, Thomas would think I was sorry I got married – which I wasn’t. Lauren assured me that I didn’t, I just need to cry and let it out and I’d feel better. She was right.

I cried in bed with Thomas by my side playing on his phone. I finally fell asleep and I rested for an hour or two. When I got up I felt refreshed and like everything would be alright.

And it is!

Although I do miss living even closer to my mom, I’m not getting emotional about it.  I just give her a call and talk or go over and say hello. Things are crazy right now and life is all mixed up between the wedding, moving, and my sister being in the hospital so things have been a bit surreal. I wonder what I will feel once things settle down and get to a normal place.

As you read this I am on my honeymoon in Argentina enjoying the hell out of delicious food and views as well as visiting the family I only see every many years (I’ve gone 9 years, 3 years, and now 6 years between seeing them). When I get home on June 1^st my life will consist of a lot of laundry and organizing. I didn’t leave the condo completely unpacked. Actually I basically just unpacked clothing and kitchen supplies. We have furniture but the office is still full of boxes that need to be taken care of.  I didn’t have it in me to do it before the trip so I decided to leave it for June.

Will I continue feeling good about all the changes without any emotional breakdowns? I hope so!

Goodbye Gabriela

I've spoken much about my sister here over the past month or two. 

For anyone just coming to my blog, let me give a quick history. 

My sister had had 3 kidney transplants in her 42 years of life. She got sick as a baby (9 months) and her life has been a nearly constant struggle since then. Her body has gone through dozens of surgeries (transplants, organ removal, hip replacement, etc) and she had to take dozens of medications over the course of her life to keep herself alive. 

Unfortunately those same medical miracles that kept her alive for the past 4 decades also destroyed her. 

On March 28 she went into the hospital due to an obstructed bowel. She got to go home on her 42nd birthday on April 1st, but returned to the hospital on 7th. 

She has now left Cedars Sinai Medical Center, but unfortunately it wasn't to come home - at least not the physical home she shared with my parents (and myself until my recent marriage). 

My sister passed away on May 21st, 2014 at 7:10pm (PST). She had been sedated due to the trauma her body had been going through and the anxiety that being intubated caused. She did not know she was going to die. She thought this was just another surgery she had to overcome. 

She was a strong person and fought her entire life. When she was 9 months old the doctors told my parents she had 10 hours to live. Thanks to her will to live and my parents dedication to her she lived well beyond that.

I'm writing this from an airport in Argentina during my honeymoon. Before we left for Argentina (where my entire extended family lives) I went to the hospital for a meeting with the doctor's. There they told us what we already knew... she would die. The surgeon told us that there was nothing she could do anymore. 

After the meeting I went to my sister's room. Her eyes were open but she wasn't there. I spoke to her and I cried and I told her I loved her (even though we haven't gotten along in the past decade). She took care of me growing up (she is was 12 years older than me). I said my goodbye's knowing I would not likely see her again. Although I left the US knowing she would die, I was not expecting it to be so quick. 

Unfortunately, on Monday the 19th when the doctors went in to wash her abdomen they found that she had several hemorrhages and that her liver had given out (due to being fed via IV since she could not be fed directly to her stomach). They gave her a week to live. On Tuesday they gave her a few hours. Finally, on Wednesday, they removed her ventilator. She lived for an hour past that. 

She is done suffering and she lived far past the lifespan she was given as an infant. I am sad, my family is sad, and we are suffering. But I believe she is with us as all our relatives and loved ones are. 

Rest in peace, Gabriela. We love you.

Peaches In England

Hi everyone! I'm off enjoying the amazingness of South America so today I'm sharing with you this post from the lovely Amanda Nicole from Peaches in Missouri! Enjoy a short trip through Europe with her! 

Hello! Since Kathy is on her honeymoon in Argentina, I thought I’d tell you all about my trip to England in December of 2008.

I had never really traveled anywhere outside the few states that surround Georgia, so this was huge for me. I spent weeks planning things to do and figuring out what to pack. It was my first flight EVER, but I was not nervous. I was excited! I should have slept on the flight over, but I just couldn’t get comfortable enough, so I read, watched the in flight movies, or just stared out the window at the land/sea and sky. I saw the sunrise from 30,000 feet in the air; it was magical. I ended up having horrible jet lag; I should have slept on the plane. Next time I’m taking sleeping pills!

It was Christmas time, and seeing all the wonderful decorations and experiencing British traditions was a treat. I was able to explore several different areas while I was there, and the first one was the JFK Memorial on a plot of land that was given to the US in honor of his memory.

I was able to visit a few sites where the Harry Potter movies were filmed! Virginia Waters is where some of the lake scenes were filmed and Trinity Church in Oxford is where some of the school scenes were filmed.

I have a crazy fascination with British history and was super excited to venture out to Surrey to see Hampton Court. King Henry VIII, a few of his wives, and Cardinal Woolsey lived here for a while. This was, by far, my favorite part of the trip. The castle and gardens are so beautiful and so much history in every stone.

Windsor Castle was up next that day. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures inside the castle so I don’t really have many, but I did catch a small change of the guard in the courtyard!

For four days I explored the city of London: King’s Cross Station, Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, The Globe Theater, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and I even rode the London Eye.

That sorta ended up being a bit of a photo dump… my bad. But, I had an amazing time and I want to go back one day and visit all the places I wasn’t able to see.  

Have you travelled overseas? What was your favorite vacation?

What I Learned From Wedding Planning

I learned some things from the whole wedding planning business over the past 5 months and wanted to share it with you all since I know that there are several people who are either just engaged or about to be.  Every wedding is different and every couple is as well, but this is what I personally learned, take it as it is relevant to you:

• It’s about you! I had several people who wanted to give their opinions about what your wedding should be like. But guess what? It’s not their wedding, it’s YOURS! If you want the flowers to be blue and not pink, then make them blue! No one (but, I guess your spouse) has to have a say in it. This isn’t being a bridezilla as some like to say it, it’s about making it about you. You only get one wedding so make it yours and make it fit YOUR style, not someone else’s. Of course, if you are the type of person who wants to get input from everyone, go for it. Just be sure that you are comfortable saying no to them if their opinions and suggestions don’t match your vision.

• That being said let people help you when you need it. I didn’t do much of this until it was forced out of my hands. My reception was in my in-law’s backyard. I’m not a Pinterest-y type person and doing crafts or decorating is not my forte. My plan was to not decorate, to allow the flowers and normal decorations that my in laws have to serve as the wedding decorations. Thomas’ aunt really wanted to help out with the wedding and she loves decorating. I had a really hard time handing over the reins. Though, because I didn’t know what it was going to look like and it freaked me out. On the day before the wedding when they started decorating and I saw that the color of the decorations were NOT my color (Malibu Blue) I freaked out. I vetoed one of the decorations (a paper lantern that was not very nice looking) but decided to ignore the others. They were pretty, they just weren’t the color I had spent so much time matching with things. And you know what? They looked great at the wedding. There were lots of compliments – which I referred back to his aunt, she did that. (Pictures will be posted once I get my wedding pictures back). Moral: Sometimes it’ll work out even though you don’t see the final product.

• Don’t forget your petticoat or bra! When it was time for me to put on my dress at the chapel I realized that I had COMPLETELY forgotten to bring my petticoat and bra. I started to have a slight panic attack. My house was a 20 minute drive each way from the chapel and we only had 30 minutes until it was time to walk down the aisle. I slipped into the dress –which did have wiring in the bust, and it fit. No one could tell the difference, but I could feel it. The dress ended up doing a lot of slipping down and bunch under my breasts. Not to mention that I felt like everyone could see my big stomach since I didn’t have the bar that held it in. Also – it sucks because they cost a lot of money to just have sitting around my house. Their destination will now be craigslist!

• What really helped me in planning and organizing the wedding was keeping a binder and notebook. I kept my receipts and contracts in it which helped in referring back to it. I also kept a notebook (one of those cute ones they sell at Ross) with the costs of everything as well as my To-Do lists. I had one for me, one for Thomas and me and one for him. I became a big fan of to-do lists. I hand made them with little boxes so I could check them off and feel that satisfaction. Whatever way you do it, you should have some sort of management for your notes/papers/receipts/etc. Make to-do lists and try to keep yourself as organized as possible. I didn’t think I was an organized person until I began planning the wedding, if I can do it – YOU can do it, too!

• Keeping in the organized theme, make sure everything is written down. As I mentioned previously the only problems we had were with our Taco Guy/Rentals person. He was late delivering the rentals as well as the day of the wedding. He also did not provide the amount of food that we ordered. In hindsight we should have had it written that he was to arrive at 10am on Friday to deliver the items and some sort of deal that if he was more than “X” amount of time late that there would be reduction in cost or something of the sort. While I didn’t have problems with any of the other vendors, they were more professional and had contracts that explained what would happen in such situations.

• Pick a great maid of honor. My MOH was amazing! It was her first time being a MOH and she did such a great job. She kept me calm, she made sure things got done. She took my to-do lists ( I made separate to-do lists for the days leading up to and including the wedding) and made sure those things were accomplished as well as added to them as we realized we had other things to do. I’m not sure what I would have done without her. Make sure, when picking your MOH it is someone who will realize the day is about YOU and not her. That while she will be standing next to you the day of, you are the star and she is a supporting role. My MOH will be getting married next year, and while I don’t expect to be her MOH, I hope she gets someone as amazing as she was for me!

Teenage (White) Lies

Hello Him & Me readers, my name is Sarah Christine, and although I normally fill the pages of SarahChristineStyle with my ramblings, I am here today to help Kathy out with a guest post while she is enjoying her honeymoon. Recently Kathy guest posted for me and shared a story from her younger years, so I thought I would share a story from those years of my life as well. I am warning you right now I was a very overly dramatic teenager, I have figured out since then what is and isn't important in life and how to control my emotions a little better. This story is from when I was a sophomore in high school though so I hadn't quite figured those things out yet.

I was dating this guy at the time, let's call him Bob. Now Bob was living up in Canada going to school, hockey prodigy and stuff, anyways it was a long distance relationship, which looking back doesn't make a ton of sense for high schoolers, but whatever not the point.

So one day Bob was coming home from Canada and he told me that he would call me when he got home (his parents lived near me, not in Canada) and that it would probably be around 9pm. Well I was home alone that night and as 9pm came and went I started to get antsy, and antsy teenage Sarah isn't super level headed, especially when she has no one around to set her straight. As the time continued to pass by I found it more and more difficult to keep myself from checking my phone every two seconds. Eventually I started calling and texting my mom because I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to call his parents house at 10pm or not (btw it's not, it never is, it is however appropriate to go to bed and call in the morning).

At some point around 11pm when I had received no phone call and was becoming increasingly emotionally unstable, like I was pretty sure this was how I was going to be dumped, because that is the only logical thing to think. I decided that maybe if I threw my phone at the carpeted floor it would start ringing (so logical!), so that's what I did. I chucked my poor little phone as hard as my skinny little arms would allow straight (well mostly straight) down at the carpeted ground below me. And do you know what that phone did? It didn't just hit the nice carpet beneath my feet like it was supposed to, no it decided to bounce off the carpet (did not know that could happen) and launch itself about 5 yards across the room right into the side of a desk that had no business being in the way of my phone and shatter into a couple of pieces.

At this point I tried my very best to come up with some explanation for why my phone was shattered and I needed to get a new one that didn't involve the phrases "I threw it" or "because he wasn't calling me", which basically meant I had to lie, and between not being very good at lying and having shattered my phone while I was home alone with no real good scapegoat around I'm pretty sure no one believed my story anyways. Oh in case you were wondering, there was a lot of traffic and a back up at the border crossing, and then by the time he got home Bob decided to just call me in the morning because he was tired from the long day and I was probably asleep anyways. 

And there you have it, the story of how I "accidentally" broke my phone. Feel free to judge myteenage self and call her any sort of mean name in the book, I do all the time, what's the point of growing up if you don't get to make fun of your younger self?

I hope you enjoyed reading Sarah Christine's post! Don't forget to visit her blog and comment! Thank's for guest blogging today!

Unsolicited Honeymoon Advice

I want to thank Jesi for guest posting for me today! I thought this was a great way to start my first full week on my honeymoon! Don't forget to visit her over at her blog, Jumping JE - she is awesome and awesome SnapChatter!


Thomas and Katherine (but mostly Katherine) see what I did there asked me to guest post today while they whisk off to their honeymoon. I couldn't be more honored! It's almost like being a bridesmaid but for the honeymoon. That means that the dress is more maxi-style than wedding-style and that I'm not tagging along to witness their newly married shenanigans in Argentina.

Since I'm announcing myself as the "blogger bridesmaid" for their honeymoon - I thought I'd give a toast to the lovely couple with my five best tips for a happy and memorable vacation together as newlyweds. 

For those of you who don't know me, I'm quite single and have no experience in planning honeymoons... so this should be fun! 

1. Enjoy the moment

Do your very best to live in the moment and try to leave your worries back home. I know there's a lot going on in your mind about your sister in the hospital and what that means for your family - but she would want you to enjoy your honeymoon carefree and the way that you would have if everything else was fine.

This also means no job talk, no house talk, no moving talk, no talk other than where you're going to eat dinner next, how lucky you both are to have each other and where you're going to get your next sangria!

2. Take Photos

Mainly so that we can see all of the amazing things that you soaked up on your first big married vacation together (I say first because there should be many!) and also so that you have some fun photos to frame and put into albums as keepsakes of this exciting time in your lives. You could even create a hashtag? #TKHoneymoon (??)

3. Be Shameless Newlyweds

Tell everyone and anyone that you are newlyweds. Shamelessly show off your rings, be affectionate in public and be a (tastefully) obnoxious newlywed couple. You will love saying "We just got married!!" over and over again to all of the strangers you meet and everyone loves young people in love. You may even get special treatment because of it!

4. No Counting Calories!

This one comes from Katherine's own goals that I've read in a few of her posts recently and I really mean it - don't count! You're young, you're in love - you have the rest of your life to "worry" about what you're eating (even though you shouldn't ever worry!).

Explore and be adventurous in love and in food choices. 

5. Plan Your Next Adventure

I said up there in "Take Photos", this is not the only big vacation you'll ever go on. Like Ellie and Carl in the movie "Up", start creating your own Paradise Falls and begin brainstorming your next big adventure together. It's helpful to do this while you're on vacation mode because you're not going to be worried about how much it costs, how you'll get the time off from work and whether you'll be with or without children by that point. You'll just be planning the follow-up to the greatest vacation of your lives together (so far!).

<3 Wishing you happiness and love

Your honeymoon blogger bridesmaid, 

Jessi

Honeymoon Time; Argentina

(INSERT FACEBOOK FAMILY PICTURES)

I consider myself Argentinean. I wasn’t born or raised there, but it’s running through my blood. My parents were born and raised in Argentina and came to the US a few years before I was born.

My mom took me to Argentina for the first time when I was 7. I met my entire family on that trip. Aunts. Uncles, cousins, and my grandma (okay, I had met my grandma before, but I was only a couple of months old, so it doesn’t count!). I knew how to speak Castellano (don’t tell an Argentinean they speak Spanish!) because my mom didn’t (and still doesn’t) speak English) so it wasn’t weird or awkward to be around these strangers. They immediately welcomed me into their midst and have been close to me since then.

I took 3 more trips to Argentina with my mom in the ‘90’s. Then, in 1998, my grandma passed away and my mom just didn’t want to return. In 2005 my cousin, who recently had gotten internet, asked me when I was coming to visit again so out of curiosity I checked plane prices and was surprised to find that a roundtrip to Argentina was only $613! I was 20 at the time and thought it would be perfect for me to go a couple of months later. That was my first (and so far only) solo trip. I went again in 2008 with my dad and now… I’m going with my husband!

(Husband? Really? I’m married?)

SO if you are reading this.. I’m on a plane with my hubby heading down south to my home country!

I am BEYOND excited about this!

I LOVE to travel. Rather, I love the excitement of going to an airport and getting on an airplane. I know most people HATE this, but I love the whole flying thing, even if it’s in a small seat. I did make sure that my planes for this trip are the wide 777’s! So big! Except for one leg from Los Angeles to Dallas, all the flights have me next to the window and Thomas on the aisle, just the way we both like it. I did have to pay an extra $70/each for one leg, but it was a 10 hour leg, so it was worth it.

I get giddy just thinking about it!

Of course the fact that when we get there I’ll get to see my family again (after 6 long years!) is great. Although I did not grow up with my cousins, and only saw them every few years, we are close and I talk to several of them several times a week. When I go there it is as though I’m at a home away from home. They are always so welcoming of me and go out of their way to make me feel special and included. It’s great.

This trip will be interesting since Thomas does not speak Spanish (and does not understand it) and most of my family members do not speak English. I do have a couple who are pretty fluent, though, so I’m sure he’ll tend to hang out with them.

We will be having a reception for my family on the 24^th which I am also excited for. One of the things I found really difficult about the wedding was not being able to share it with my family. I almost resented that Thomas got to have his entire family there and I didn’t. Not even my sister could come. So this party will definitely help with that.

In between seeing family we will be traveling to Las Cataratas de Iguazu (The Iguazu Falls) which are considered one of the current 7 wonders of the world. They are taller and wider than Niagara falls and edge 3 different countries. Both my brother and sister got to visit them in past trips, but this will be my first. Unlike Niagara, at Iguazu you can take a boat to the bottom of the falls, basically being right underneath them (I hope I packed well!). I’ve seen videos and pictures of this area and it is magnificent.

We will also be heading to Bariloche, a different of night and day with Iguazu. While Iguazu, to the north of the country, is a warm tropical climate, in Bariloche it should be much cooler. It is located in the foothills of the Andes mountains and is a big tourist attraction, especially for skiers and mountaineer’s.  I visited Bariloche in 1991 with my mom and brother. Although I was 7 at the time I remember it well. We went during summertime but I remember it was still cool and we had to wear jackets. It was my first time in a ski-lift and having lunch on a mountain. Bariloche is also Argentina’s chocolate capital. Ohhh the chocolate en rama that I ate there as a little girl. The memories are amazing. This, too, I am looking forward to.

Not to mention the dulce de leche ice cream (the real stuff, not the fake kind they make in the States), the facturas and masas finas. Sandwiches the miga finitos… so many things. Asados! Real beef!

Okay, I’ll leave all those thoughts in your head and will show you all the pictures of the deliciousness later.

The Mahoney Wedding - Part Two

This is the 2^nd part of my 4 part series about… my wedding! To read part one click here!

FRIDAY APRIL 25^th 2014 / /

On Friday morning I had an early appointment to get my hair worked on. The idea was that she would be able to start it on Friday and then finish it off on Saturday. When I had a practice run in January the hair do she gave me lasted a couple of days – this time it barely made it through the night. But I did have nice hair for the rehearsal dinner that night!

After getting my hair done and our hair stylist looking at the girls hair so she knew what she would have to deal with on Saturday, we headed out to buy extra jello supplies. We also needed to pick up some vases to replace the ones that broke the night before – at the Dollar Tree.  We were rushing slightly because the Taco Guy (who was bringing the tables/linens/chairs) was supposed to be at Thomas’ parents’ home (the reception site) at 10am to drop off all the tables and things. We got there after 10am to find out that our Taco guy had not yet arrived. For the next 6 hours Thomas attempted to get a hold of him and get a time of arrival.

We got different replies: “I thought it was between 2 and 3! I’ll be there by 12pm.”

At 2:30 we get a text: “I’m loading up right now, I’ll be there at 3pm!”

He finally showed up at 4:30pm. He saw that I was in tears at that point. Things were not going the way I wanted them to go, we didn’t have enough tables and the decorations weren’t matching. He came over to me to apologize and told me that had a job in the morning. I didn’t say anything to him but my brain said “are you doing us a favor? Because we’re paying you over $1,000 for all of this!”. At that point we also discovered he didn’t bring any of the linens, he planned to bring those in the morning. I told him that I wanted them NOW, not tomorrow. I wouldn’t trust him to be on time in the morning for us to be able to set everything up. He also hadn’t brought the tents we had ordered to block the sun, and now the rain.

He said he would go home and bring back the linens and that the tents would be there at 10pm because the tent person was at another event at the time. I left with Lauren and my nieces to go get ready for the rehearsal and dinner. It was about 5 at this point and we had to leave by 5:30 to get to the chapel.

We got back to my condo in time for us all to change and to finish some cleaning up the condo. My master bedroom had been in painting mode for the previous week and my brother had finished painting that morning, so I had to remove all the blue tape and plastic that was covering the bed and carpet. Between Lauren and I we were able to pull everything up and put it in a ball in the balcony so it would be out of the way for the pictures the next day.

We hurried out of the condo, picked up my nieces, and headed to the church – however by that time we were running late and didn’t arrive until a few minutes after 6pm. The rehearsal was fun and light hearted with Thomas joking around as usual. We were able to walk through all the steps a couple of times. I don’t think anyone took any pictures of the rehearsal.

We finished going through everything at 7pm and as I walked out toward my car I slammed my right foot into my left heel peeling my toenail back, While it didn’t hurt, it definitely would be visible. I asked a few people if they had any super glue (I mean, come on – someone had to carry it). With no luck Lauren, the girls and I stopped at a drug store down the block to pick some up. This is when hilarity ensued:

As Lauren put the glue under the nail I pushed it down. Not a very bright thing to do.

Did you guys know that super glue, is, like… super sticky? My finger on my left hand got glued to the big toe on my right foot. I sat there, my leg up on the car seat, my arm across unable to move, much less drive. I tell them “I can’t drive like this!” I might have been panicking a little bit because when I tried to move my finger away it felt like I was ripping the skin off, and all my maid of honor could say was “hold on! Let me get a picture!”. She’s not even a blogger!

I was finally able to, slowly, peel my toe and thumb apart and my toe looked (from a distance) like normal. It didn’t worry me too much since my dress would cover my feet anyway.

The rehearsal dinner was held at Angel City Café, the same location that Thomas’ twin sister’s rehearsal was held last August. They sectioned out part of the restaurant for us (probably about 40 people). We had set appetizers (both were fish based and I don’t eat fish), two different salads, and then each person could pick an entrée and dessert. I enjoyed some tri-tip, which although the BBQ sauce was gross… the meat itself was smoked and delicious!

The restaurant’s owner/manager (not sure who) had a catering job that morning and was able to use the flowers from then to decorate our tables, which was a nice touch.

It was a nice evening with my family and his (mostly his!). (Although the only pictures I have are the following two...)

Not too long after dinner started my maid of honor pulled me toward the front door of the restaurant. Through the week we had heard that it was going to rain on Friday night. It was only a 40% chance of showers and usually that means no rain for us. I mean, we live in Los Angeles land of permanent draught.  But, alas, it was raining. Not hard, and not a lot, but still it was raining. My reception was in a backyard and we had no tent. So my MOH made me take pictures in the rain:

I wanted to be in bed by 11pm, but we didn’t leave the restaurant until 10pm so there was no way that was going to happen. We had to pick up a cooler so that we could transport the jello shots the next day from Thomas’ parents’ home, so we headed there after dinner. Thankfully the rents had arrived and were being set up – but it was raining and the grass was already wet.

When we got back to the condo we went over what we had to take care of the next day, the girls showered, and we got to bed around 11:30pm. I would have a LONG day ahead of me!