Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

So my first question is – do people still do this?

I have no idea what I will do for any of it other than the new. Of course the dress, shoes, and whatever I decide to put in my hair will all be new – that’s the easy one! I've joked about getting blue contacts for the day but I am kind of partial to my green ones even if they are not quite normal.

I have a necklace that belonged to my great grandma Inez Harvey. The necklace was given to her by my great grandpa Warren on their 25^th wedding anniversary. They were married for 75 years before grandpa passed away. I am honored to have the heirloom. I have taken it to a jeweler who informed me that it was basically costume jewelry and therefore not worth much other than sentimental value. Which I am more than ok with.

I have not had the opportunity to try my dress on with the necklace myself but I am already contemplating if it is a suitable combination. I am contemplating having the necklace made into a bracelet. The up side being that I would wear it more the down side being I am not sure how I feel about altering the original piece.

I’ve been trying to think of some clever ways I can help my sister with her June wedding old, new, borrow, and blues. She has had a pair of shoes dyed blue to match her bridesmaid dresses, of course her dress is new but that leaves open the old and borrowed. I offered the necklace to Bre Anna for her wedding but she is not happy with the way it looks with her dress. She is contemplating a set of pearls from KD Rae Jewelry and even without seeing them I think they would look beautiful with her dress.

In other wedding news we have finalized the tux choices. We are getting the tuxes from Amundson’s and they will be brown. While there we purchased a pair of brown socks for everyone on the tux list (except for Carter because he is too small.) I have gotten a lot of flack for doing so but at least everyone will be well coordinated.

We have also pretty much secured wedding party gifts. The ladies will be getting hand crafted jewelry from KD Rae Jewelry and embroidered travel bags. The guys will be getting embroidered travel bags, socks, and possibly one other item that is still a work in progress.

We met with Elisa Pinter at Pinter’s Gardens and Pumpkins about the cake on Saturday morning. Guests will be enjoying lemon and chocolate cake. We opted for a three tier cake and 7 sheet cakes. We will serve the top layer of the cake to the head table rather than freezing it for a year for us and testing our memory a year from September! Oh, and we can also order the burlap I have been wanting from them too!

We are registered at the Perfect Edge. I love the work they do and I know I will want wedding pictures framed. We have other plans for registering as well but that is as far as we have gotten.

Save the date magnets have gone out and continue to go out. I had several typos on addresses and too many of you have moved around! And Chad comes home about every other night wondering if so and so was on the list. When the magnets are gone they are gone! I told him we should have just run an ad in the local papers.

I have added (or will soon add) a few boxes to the right: Wedding party and Registrations.

I welcome input on the old, new, borrow, blue stuff!

How I Met...

This is a blog about meetings.

First of all my dad and his wife Kwang met Chad’s parents last Friday night. We had a nice dinner at The Oak’s – the fish soup is amazing, you must try it! Those of you that follow me on facebook may have seen my post inquiring on dinner suggestions. Dad is new to facebook and when he saw my post he called and said that I had put his fate up for vote on facebook. Of course he was laughing, he finds facebook to be a little surreal at this point. He referred to last Friday night as “meeting the Fockers” though trust me there were no incidents and it was a nice night.

Now, as for the night that Chad and I met. Some of us were planning a night out for a local comedy night. I was the only “single” so I bought two tickets insisting that I was not going alone. The week of the event I was still dateless and not happy about it.

I met my mom and sister at Barney’s one night and while we are all chatting with Trisha I expressed my frustration. I was asked if I was willing to go on a blind date and thought what the heck. Trisha texted a friend and asked if he was available and willing to go on a blind date. She took my picture with her phone and sent it to him. His reaction was any relative of hers is good enough for him. And so I had a date.

When Friday approached I must admit I was a bit nervous. And I had a horrible headache all day and was taking aspirin every time the clock allowed me to. After work I went to Nikki’s – oops Thing One’s – house to get ready. You know how girls are! At some point Trisha informed me that I had to call Chad. So I worked up the nerve to call him and I was actually a bit relieved when I got his voicemail. (Knowing him now I would expect to get his voicemail!) A few minutes later he called me back and confirmed our plans for the night.

Nikki and Brandon and I went out for supper at Americana Grille before comedy night. As we were finishing up eating Trisha and Chad arrived. Chad was very handsome in a red plaid shirt and jeans. We shook hands and I remember feeling like now what? We found our seats at Club Pyramid and settled in for a fun night. We all had a few beers but they were not going down too smoothly for me. When the comedian was done I ended up going back to Calmar with Trisha and Chad. We went to Tanks and I felt like I was the new girl with the local yocals Trisha and Chad.

We were at a table chatting and I had a water – which I spilled all over the table. Chad jumped right to action and cleaned it up. Suddenly I leaned over to Trisha to tell her I did not think I was feeling very good. And I was right. I ran up to the bar to ask Tank where the bathroom was and made it there just in time.

Night over. Fun over. What a first impression! Trisha and Chad took me back to Decorah to my car and home I went. I have since learned that taking aspirin all day means I should not partake in alcohol that night.

Neither Chad nor I remember who called who after that first date. We met in Burr Oak right away Saturday night. It was crowded and I remember anxiously waiting for Chad to arrive.

Second meeting successful.

Turns out that Chad and I had enough mutual friend that we joke it was just a matter of time before we met. And as they say the rest was history. In just over five months I get to marry my best friend.

Decoration Detail

Mason has been busy working on some decorations for the wedding. He has done a great job too!

This sign will be put in a pail full of sand and wrapped with burlap.

Chad and I will hang on to these signs so we can pose for a picture for wedding thank yous.

We have more wood to work with so there are more projects in store!