I love Martha...

One of the first things that was decided in my wedding planning was the color scheme. I've always loved the color Red and its fellow warm compadres Pink and Orange, so it only made sense to use those colors to adorn my wedding.

So Small Town Mama, Sista, and I got started gathering our ideas in these colors. We found gorgeous strawberry colored silk for the Bridesmaid Dresses, Red table runners, Paper flowers in Reds, Pinks and Oranges and our vision began to take shape.

Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the Aqua & Poppy color scheme and brought up the idea of introducing Aqua into our color scheme. I was quickly vetoed, the consensus being that the aqua would just not fit. So, I settled for having Aqua & Poppy as the colors for my new kitchen.

***Fast Forward a Few Months***

Monday, 4:00 PM

*Ring, Ring*

Mom: Hi, Sweetie, you need to go buy the new Martha Weddings, NOW!

Me: Hmmm, there's a new one, I'll have to drag Derrick to B&N tonight so I can flip through it for free (I read magazines at B&N all the time, I'm not ashamed...)

Mom: No, you need to buy this one.

Me: Okay, Okay, I'll go now!

Mom: Good, because there is a wedding in there you will LOVE, its your colors but with a splash of Aqua thrown in, I just love it!

Me: Wait a second, that was my idea and you hated it, but now Martha features it and you like it...


So, I bought the magazine and the bride is a girl after my own heart!!!

I am LOVING these Red Balls... the Bride spraypainted Styrofoam Balls and strung them on fishing line! Mom checked out Styrofoam Balls to use for our Cake Backdrop, but I think we have another idea...

Super CUTE Goody Bags!! We'll be giving the kiddos at our wedding goody bags, I'll post on those later!

And the piece de resistance... The GORGEOUS bouquet!! I am loving this entire bouquet and this is definitely what I was envisioning for myself to carry! My mom went right out and bought Aqua ribbon!

So, we've added "touches of aqua" to the wedding: Groomsmen ties, a few Table runners, Ribbons on bouquets.

Any other suggestions on how to subtly add Aqua without having overkill?

A dollar to dream...

So, this isn't a wedding post, but I've been sitting at my client daydreaming all afternoon...

This morning, I was depressed, I was frustrated, I was thoroughly DONE with Dallas. I was ready to pack up everything CityBoy and I own and toss it into a U-Haul and get the heck outta Dodge... In my momentary dispair, I shot an email to my sister and CityBoy telling her them were moving to Chicago or California, effectively immediately.

My sister's response--Chicago - it snows, California - plane tickets are expensive.

And I plummeted back down to reality.

CityBoy's texted response was a little more optimistic--"Need to win the Lotto for Cali"

...

So, at lunch I stopped in at the nearest gas station and along with my Coke Zero, I purchased 1 ticket for Saturdays drawing and 3 Weekly Grand scratch offs.



The scratch offs are sitting my purse gazing up at me with their purple shimmer (on a side note...when did Weekly Grands change color again, they were Silver for years, then Neon Green, now Purple??) begging me to scratch them, but I think I'll dream a little longer.

If I were to win the lottery, I would:

• Pay off our Credit Cards
• Pay off our Car Loans
• Pay off our Pesky Student Loans
• Pay for everything for my wedding

Now that the boring Paying Off of things is done, I would:

• Buy a Charming Older House that we could fix up
• Buy CityBoy a couple of his dream Cars
• Buy the lot next to our cute charming house to build a garage for CityBoy's cars (whoops!)
• Buy some land near my parents
• Build a "weekend house" on said land

I guess after all that, I'd put the rest into a savings account and keep living our lives like we do now...budget and all! I guess if I buy CityBoy a Ferrari, people would realize we'd happened across some extra cash, but other that that and a new house, I'd want everything to be the same and nobody to know we had won... Money changes people.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Back from a Hiatus...

So, its been about 2 1/2 months... and I haven't really taken a planning hiatus, but I have taken a blogging hiatus. I survived my first busy season in Dallas and I'm down to the 2 1/2 month mark before the wedding.

Since I left you last, a TON of planning has been done!!

We've nailed down the reception hall layout, all of our design elements and tabletop decorations, a final design on the custom bridesmaid dresses, the cake, the "grooms cake", the menu...the list goes on and on!!

So be expecting posts on each of these things in the next couple weeks!

You're Invited...

A few months ago my mom, my sister and I were sitting on my mom's bed (our favorite place to congregate at my parents' house) discussing invitations. We pulled out my parents' wedding invitation and numerous samples from various magazines to come up with the perfect wording.

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty picky about wording. I'm not really a "wordy" person, I like simplicity. I'm not a fan of "oclocks" and "two thousand nines," gimme 4:30 PM and 2009 and I'm happy. I guess its a product of being an accountant, I like things simple and numeric!

We thought we had it down to the PERFECT wording, but there a couple of small changes that could be made.

Option 1:

Small Town Dad & Small Town Mom
welcome you to join us at the marriage celebration of

Small Town Bride &
City Boy

Saturday, September 5, 2009
at 4:00 PM
Small Town Church
Small Town, Texas

Cocktails, Dinner & Dancing to follow
Small Hall
Small City, Texas


Option 2:

Small Town Dad & Small Town Mom
welcome you to join us at the marriage celebration
of our daughter

Small Town Bride to
City Boy

Saturday, September 5, 2009
at 4:00 PM
Small Town Church
Small Town, Texas

Cocktails, Dinner & Dancing to follow
Small Hall
Small City, Texas

Happy Anniversary...

Saturday marked 2 years since CityBoy and I had our first date and I realized I never posted about how CityBoy and I became an US. So, I'm going to combine our story with our e-pictures by the fabulous Jenna Cole.

Doodly Doodly do.... Spring 2007...

I was a cute, young intern at an Accounting Firm in Lubbock, Texas, working long hours, travelling all over Texas, New Mexico & Arizona... CityBoy was a Junior Associate in the Audit Department, working long hours, travelling all over...

I can't really recall our first meeting, but CityBoy remembers it perfectly. On the second week of my internship, we all went out to lunch, and apparently I talked about my roommate's illegal pet being caught in our apartment and us being fined, but that's beyond the point. MY first memory of CityBoy was in the Bullpen when he was introduced to me as "the guy that plays crazy music in the afternoons to lighten everybody up." His favorite -- "Its Raining Men."

My internship was a quick blur. Every week I was in a new town (nowhere exciting...unless you think Willcox, Arizona and Bandera, Texas are exciting), and in every now town, me and the other members of my audit team found a new bar. Over the course of my internship, I became fast friends with my fellow interns (one is a bridesmaid!) and the junior and seniors at the firm. We played poker, we had Happy Hours on Fridays when we all managed to trickle back into town--CityBoy puts it best when he says it was like we had all been to war together.

Somewhere between the out-of-town jobs and the Happy Hours, CityBoy and I started talking to each other with increasing frequency. We talked about our problems and things that were going on in our lives and ultimately, we decided to try things out together late one night while I was in Flagstaff, Arizona.

We made plans to get together on April 4th, 2007, the night I got back from Flagstaff, and the rest is history. CityBoy came over to my house while I unpacked from the trip and we've pretty much been inseparable since then. We both instantly felt the connection we had and the very next night, CityBoy came over to the house to hang out again, this time while I packed to go to my parents' house for Easter, and we stayed up all night talking.

We still stay up all night talking sometimes, and I'm always reminded of our first days together. Everyone always told me that the person I will spend the rest of my life with should be someone I'm never bored with. That's certainly true of CityBoy and I'm so glad we decided to take things to the next level. He has most definitely been the best thing to ever happen to me.

STW: The Food

Okay, so I inadvertantly abandoned my plans of describing the charm of a Small Town Texas Wedding, but fret not, ITS BACK with my favorite part of a Small Town, FOOD!

For most people, finding a caterer & tasting food for the reception is a big part of planning a wedding. For us, we knew right away what food we would be serving. Weddings in my area are fondly referred to as "Beer & BBQ weddings" because they serve just that--cold beer & tasty barbeque! Lately, more weddings in the area have been straying from the traditional "eats" and serving Chicken Fried Steaks or Mexican Food, but the meal is still served buffet style.

Barbeque is such an amazing part of where I live...just down the street is Texas Monthly's #1 BBQ in the state of Texas, Snow's BBQ and another local made the top 50!



The grub at our reception consists of:
Barbeque Beef, Pork (& maybe Sausage)
Noodles **see below
Green Beans
Hot Potatoes
Plus the requisite fixins': Bread, Pickles, Onions, Peaches (its a Texas thing)

My mom personally didn't want to do noodles & potatoes together, but when she mentioned dropping noodles from the menu, CityBoy demanded to have noodles!!!



Noodles in my neck of the woods are phenomenal and are a very tasty part of my heritage.
doodly doodly do do doodly dodo doodly (going back in time)...

In 1854, a ship docked in Galveston, Texas holding 500 immigrants from Lusatia, an area in Germany comprising parts of Saxony and Prussia... The Wends. Now, I'm sure 99.99% of you think I'm making up a group of people, but they existed. The Wendish Language is now considered a dead language but in those days was a trigger of persecution. The Prussians insisted the Wends speak and use the German language, going so far as to Germanize many Wendish names. The Wends were also required to join the Evangelical Reform and abandon their pure Lutheran faith. Rather than abandon their language and faith, they made plans to immigrate to America.
The Wends settled in Lee County and built a church in Serbin, Texas (just outside my hometown). This church is one of the oldest churches in America in continual use since its construction. PS--its gorgeous. My great-grandparents are buried at the cemetary there.

Fast forward to today. One of the most present aspects of Wendish culture through our community is Noodles. Although the Wends most certainly did not enjoy their Noodles with BBQ, I've grown up eating the Noodles of my ancestors with some of the FANTASTIC Texas BBQ in our area! In fact, my hometown is the home of the State of Texas Noodle Cook-Off!!

Here's a recipe for Noodles from the Texas Wendish Heritage Society:

Wendish Noodles

One egg
One half egg shell of water (about 3 tablespoons)
One and one-half to two cups of flour

Beat egg and water together. Add a sprinkle of salt and enough flour to form a stiff dough. Roll out thin on a pastry cloth. Let stand to dry, turning over occasionally. Cut into thin strips when dry but still pliable. Cook in a rich chicken broth until tender. Chopped parsley, chopped green onion tops, and a dash of nutmeg may be added for flavor, if desired.

PS-- The Wends are also known for making these Gems...

Just a Quick Post

My Personal Favorite.... I love this kid.