Therapy

Sis LJP had perfect timing yesterday. My sis and her hubby is generously gifting us our honeymoon accommodations...crazy cool! Yesterday sucked for a million reasons, but mostly I was just stressed. That all changed when visions of this popped into my head:

Playa Grande Resort - Cabo San Lucas

NPZ and I have never been on a vacation alone together, so we immediately perked up at the thought that this was now our reality! I have the best sister ever. I better start thinking on birthday gifts now! I have already put in my request off in at work for my vacation time, but this time I just said 'It's already booked'. So there's not much they can really say. I'm feeling like I don't care if they said no at this point - I'd just go anyhow. (but I don't think they will do that since I am taking very little time off for the wedding)
SO SO SO Excited! What a great wedding gift!
-Liz

Blog Hiatus

Obviously, I am on a blog hiatus. I have lots to blog about. My brain is so full that it is hard for me to form complete sentences.

I have way too much to left to do, I am swamped at work, I have no appetite for anything besides chocolate (and I am embarrassed to say I have almost finished the entire box of Godiva's and Best Aunt D and AKN got me - I cant feel too bad about that though because it is the only solid food that has entered my mouth in like 3 days.)and too stressed to sleep at night.

I will blog once my brain can.

-Liz

Horrible Bosses

If you know me, you know that I have a horrible boss. Which is why I am SO excited for this movie to come out! I may treat my co-worker to this movie some night after work so we can develop some inside code jokes for the office.

I won't look directly at him because I think he is really the devil and I'm scared that my eyeballs will ignite in flames, but I have to say, it makes it so much easier having SPG in the office to help me cope with my bully of a boss.



Just another reason to be excited for the weekend and my 'early dismissal' today!

-Liz

M-O-A? What's that?

NPZ's Ma and Step-Dad took me out shopping last Saturday to find something to wear for their formal wedding in October. It was SO much fun! I previously had posted about our upcoming trip, so I thought I'd share the results.

Here's the dress:

NPZ's Step Dad is an excellent shopper and found these shoes to match:

He also surprised me with this super fancy handbag! I love it! And they said that I could wear it before the wedding since it has a 5 year warranty, so of course I have been!

I would call that a successful shopping trip. I even got the AZ crew down with some Minnesota lingo M-O-A = Mall of America, silly!

-Liz

The Bachelorette

I'm so excited for this weekend! It's a girls getaway up north.

NPZ's best Aunt D and cousin AKN have been scheming up something, I am very curious as to what is going to happen, but willing to leave it for a surprise. At this point, after planning planning planning every detail of 1 day, I could use a surprise unplanned weekend!

I'm excited to relax and not worry about anything.

I'm excited to get away from 'wedding central station' aka my house which now contains everything wedding.

I made this shirt last weekend for the slumber party and I got some pretty wild shorts to match!

Miss Molly was planning to tag along for girls weekend, so I thought she could use a manicure! Hot Pink! Her favorite. I'd love to give her a pedi as well, but she doesn't like me to mess with her toes in the back. We ended up getting a sitter, so she will be going to her Uncle R's tomorrow with some fantastic looking nails.

I'm nervous that my doggy won't behave for her Uncle R, but I hope she does. She's still learning things and I'm nervous that she might be trouble in a different environment. I'm also nervous she will dig up Uncle R's yard. The good thing is, she knows the word 'No!'.

I know it will be a fun weekend, so I totally have ants in my pants just waiting for it to be here!

-Liz

L-O-V-E

It's 3 weeks away from the wedding and I am finding everything SO exciting at this point. I'm loving that I have all my little things finished up so that I don't have to do anything.

I am loving that it's so close I can get FREE long range forecasts (I know they aren't accurate by any means, but it makes me feel good). I'm loving this one in particular because not only does it say it isn't going to rain, it's in my wedding colors! haha!

I'm also loving all the emotions that I am feeling right now. I previously posted about my anxiety of the shower last weekend. What I have learned is that regardless of any awkward and anxious moments, the feeling that people genuinely support and love me is the most overwhelming and amazing feeling that it overrides any qualms about the gift giving process. I'm feeling lucky to have NPZ's and my own amazing family and friends who support and love us. This wedding process has really shown us how much we are cared for.

This weekend will be our last totally free weekend before the wedding, so Im loving the options that we have. Tonight we are planning on going to the Twins game but the weather calls for this:

So if that happens we will head out to B-Town for some B-Town Days celebration! I LOVE Buffalo Days because everyone is there from High School and its so much drinking and fun having!

On Saturday, I am planning on going with NPZ's mom to the mall to pick out my bridesmaid dress for her wedding in October. I am really excited for her wedding because it will be held in the Windy City and since I have never been there. For the wedding, she is having all the girls wear a black dress so it shopping shouldn't be too difficult. I'm loving these ones:

Then Sunday is Father's Day. NPZ would like to celebrate his father on Saturday because the drive is quite long, especially on a Sunday (NPZ likes to tell people he doesn't leave the house on Sunday's) NPZ wanted to do something special for his dad this year because of everything that his dad has done for us this year. Not just with the wedding, but with the house too. NPZ is really lucky to have such a great dad and it makes me feel really good that he appreciates that.

Father's Day has always been very bittersweet for me, but I think that it is still a great holiday because even though my dad was only with me for 12 years, the impact he's had on my life has been tremendous. I think it is a testimate to how important the role of being a good dad can be, and I am blessed to have had mine in my life, even if it was for only a short period of time.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

On Monday, my work week will resume as usual. Until the next weekend!

-Liz

Check!

NPZ and I have been talking a lot about all the happenings around our house this summer, one of the things we talked about was fixing up the front of our house.

The garden out front was neglected to say the least. There was a coral bell and 3 randomly placed hostas our there. The garden had no real boundaries so it was confusing as to where the garden ended and the lawn began. Fixing this up was something that I knew would make a big difference, but with everything going on, I really didn't think we would get around to it this year, or at least until late into the end of summer.

But on Saturday, NPZ and I decided to make a trip to Home Depot. We picked up the supplies and began the project around 10 am we were finished and off to a comedy club by 6pm! I think it is a pretty big improvement and I am excited to watch these little guys grow!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

-Liz

Nerves and The Garden Hose

I have my first traditional bridal shower this weekend, and while I am completely flattered at the gesture of everyone wanting to get together for a pre-wedding celebration, the idea of getting gifts for basically doing nothing makes me feel anxious. Probably wont be as uncomfortable as the 'Amelia Bedelia' showers I read about as a kid, but just out of my element I guess.

I'm the middle child, so I'm not used to a whole lot of attention...I am used to getting gifts on Christmas and Birthdays (I say Birthdays with an 's' because when I was little my G-Ma would always get me a gift on my big sister's birthday too since I was cursed with a b-day too close to Jesus' -  My G-Ma was cool that way) But I feel like getting a gift for finding the right guy seems weird. We have already started our life together, and though most of our 'stuff' is not the best we have everything we need to get by on a day to day basis. My Macy's registry consists of 4 items, one of which is discontinued.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for traditions and am very excited to spend the day with NPZ's family. I love all of them and they are always such a blast to hang out with. It's just the idea of being showered upon. Also, the act of sitting in front of everyone and opening gifts one by one. I don't like to have a lot of attention on me at one time, thankfully there is a new baby in the family- I am SUPER excited to meet her, I haven't held a brand new baby in SO long! I cant wait for that!

Does anyone else feel awkward at the concept of the bridal shower? Or is it just me?

Holy Matrimony.

Today is my sister's wedding anniversary. And while I am extremely happy for her and her hubby JJP, I can't help but reflect on my upcoming marriage, selfish, I know.

JJP & LJP have a great marriage and a great family. They are still very much in love and I get a lot of advice from them, not just what they tell me but also what I see them do. In a world of disfunctional relationships, it's a breath of fresh air to see a couple who compliments each other so well. The things that she struggles with he excels at, and vice versa. They are constantly teaching one another new ways to view situations. I sometimes get caught off guard by the amount of loyalty and devotion that the two have for one another. You rarely see that anymore. Regardless of the situation they always try their hardest to put themselves in the other's shoes. I think that is true love.

I am actually feeling a bit emotional thinking about marrying NPZ. In a lot of instances in my life, I have felt like nothing would ever work out or go right for me. But with NPZ, I feel like every other disappointment has been worth it to get the grand prize at the end. I know marriage is tough, and you have to work really hard at it, but I am willing to do that forever with NPZ.

I've also been wondering when I would stop caring about all the little stuff, all the big stuff- well all the wedding stuff in general. And......I think it's here.

The whole wedding planning process I have been aware that this stuff is really just that, stuff. But I still cared. I always care what people think and since I am a judgmental person, I think they will all judge me.

I think that is over now though. I am genuinely feeling like - this is our day, it's no one else's. They can think what they want about whatever, but it is what it is.

It's about us and about us getting married. I'm excited now, not because I have a lot of cool stuff to show people. But because I am going to marry a great guy that I love very much.

I'm sure that LJP & JJP would agree on their wedding anniversary that their marriage and the party they threw afterwards was only a kick-off to the many amazing moments to come.

Happy Anniversary to LJP & JJP! Thank you for all your insight over the years!

This is Gina...

She steals.

http://www.bloglovin.com/m/2352346/233025037/a/0/aHR0cCUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy5jcm9jaGV0Y2xvdWRzLmNvbSUyRjIwMTElMkYwNiUyRmxheS1kb3duLWluLWdyZWVuLWdyYXNzLmh0bWw=

Viva Las Vegas

My life is full of beautiful brides. Ms. RS wed Mr.DM in Las Vegas just last night!
Congratulations you two love birds!

Bummed that I was not able to attend, but RS was awesome about keeping me included in her planning. I was able to go with her to all of her dress fittings.

I'm excited to see her actual pictures, but I'm positive that she was a vision in this number!

-Liz