It's OFFICIAL!

I am a timely, mostly prompt person. I am held accountable to the second with my occupation. When Tad and I went to The Fulton County Probate Court to apply for our Marriage License, we were told by the lovely lady that we would have the official certificate within 4 weeks of our wedding.

I don't like being lied to. SO, after the 28th day with no official certificate in the mail, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Part of the reason I had taken so much time off from work in November was to tie up loose ends after the wedding. I would be in charge of most of the combining of the two homes, returning duplicate wedding gifts and of course, changing my name. 4 weeks. I can't accomplish the last task without the official wedding certificate. I begin by calling. After a bit of governmental run around, I get my grimy hands on the phone number to the probate clerk. She won't answer her phone. She doesn't return calls as promised on her voicemail. Her sheer will to ignore is impressive. She had no idea what was in store for her. I was on a mission. I had to get to the bottom of this as I couldn't bear to hear my hubby ask every day "Did anything from Fulton County come in the mail" with anticipation and disappointment growing each day.

On day 31, I hopped in the car and decided to get to the bottom of things at The Fulton County Probate Court. This is what I encountered:






The woman behind the desk was clearly not impressed with my mission. She spoke in a tongue that only an ewok could understand. She was so large that moving from the desk would be an undertaking in itself. She truly didn't give a darn that it had been 31 days and we still didn't have our official certificate. She suggested that I "call back". I asked if 404.730.4685 was the proper number to call. She looked mortified that I had it memorized. It was the correct number. I asked if Bonnie had an ability to call out i.e. return calls. She did. I was told they were "backed up". They would get to me when they got to me. Then she said it. "We didn't get no license in the mail." Oh, the dreaded double negative. Had I taken the time to explain grammatically what she had just said I knew we would never get our certificate. I went home and decided to wait it out.

I called our wedding coordinator from the church, who assured me that she mailed the signed certificate herself from the post office. She also assured me that Fulton County is notoriously slow and that she knew getting the certificate could take over 6 weeks. Ugh. The probate court lady told us no more than 4!

I am dropping it. Combining 2 homes isn't supposed to be this hard. It gets to be when Fulton County is sooooooo slow.

Then it happened. On the 42nd day, 6 weeks to the day after our wedding our Official Certificate arrived in the mail. We are officially recorded. Now I get to go speak with the lovely people at Social Security. I will have my ewok thesaurus in hand.

We'll Take That One!

Tad and I are both shoppers. We see what we like, we make a quick decision and we hope to not have regret when we get the item home. We decided that we would purchase our Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend as my time at home the month of December will be somewhat limited. I found a coupon on-line and we set off to a local tree farm to find the perfect fir.





It only took about 5 minutes of looking at about 4 trees and we saw the one that was destined to come home with us. A beautiful 8.5' Fraiser Fir that had perfect symmetry and was grown in Northern California. That was all I needed to hear. Sold. Can we have 2?




After sweet talking the tree lot guy (me, not Tad) we convinced him to put it in the stand for us. I could only imagine what it would have been like trying to do that ourselves. Tad has a keen eye for all things perfect and can spot a fleck of dust a mile away. Not having a straight tree in our home between our pillars was simply not an option. I thank the tree lot man (Jimbo) for keeping my marriage in tact.

Off To The 'Noo 'Noo

Tad is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. That is about an hour and a half from Atlanta, so this year we decided to go there for the weekend to spend Thanksgiving with his mom, sister and her family. Whenever we talk about that city, a great debate inspires. I call it "The 'Noo 'Noo". Tad calls it "ChattaVegas". Whatever you call it, we climbed in the car Thanksgiving morning and headed northwest.

We had a great time and began our weekend with Thanksgiving dinner at a great place his mom found right on the river.

Content with full bellies after dinner.

After a great Thanksgiving meal, we headed back to Judy's home for some stomach recovery before concentrating on what we were going to eat next. After a little coercion, we got Brock (13) and Emma (10) to bust out their Baritone Saxophone and Clarinet for a private concert in the family room.

Easily mistaken as The VonTrapps, they are The Steeles!

The day after Thanksgiving, Judy had arranged a nature tour of the Tennessee River. It was a great tour and very exciting for us all to be on a boat that traveled at speeds of up to 50mph!!

With my friend Sam (5), trying to stay warm!

Sam got his hands on a pair of binoculars and was captivated.

Emma and I look a little different than we did the month before!

After our river tour, we grabbed Emma and took her for a much deserved treat. Clumpies Ice Cream! Clumpies is a Chattanooga creamery that no one in this family can pass up. We so enjoyed our afternoon with Ms. Bean and Tad and I can't wait for our next ice cream date with her!

Though the debate of what to call the city we were visiting continued, Tad bought me a t-shirt that said "Chattaboogie" across the front. It appears we were both wrong. No matter, a great time was had by all.

Happy Birthday To ME!

I LOVE birthdays! Everybody's birthday. I think that is the one day per year you should be entitled to do what you want, say what you want and eat what you want without penalty! This year's birthday allowed me to do all of that and more! Being that it was the day before Thanksgiving, I got to kick the holidays off with a bang!

Tad woke me up early in the morning and made me a delightful breakfast of gluten free chocolate chip pancakes and perfectly cooked crispy bacon! Yumm! He then bestowed me with incredible gifts. He is SO very thoughtful and pays attention when I am generally convinced of just the opposite.




My dear friend Laura took the day off from work and she and I had a wonderful girls day. We both had been dying to try the restaurant at Le Cordon Bleu's Culinary Academy in Atlanta so she made lunch reservations and made sure that my food limitations were accommodated. We had an incredible 5 course lunch (splurge!) and lots of laughs along the way.

Creme Brule for lunch!

After eating a million calories, we decided we should probably do something to burn off the calories - what a better place to do that?! The mall. I had a couple of coupons that were burning holes in my pocket so we went to the mall to indulge a little more. It is not often that I can introduce Laura to something, so I got tremendous joy of showing her the valet at Lenox Mall. Something she had never done but will probably never pass up again, especially when knowing that she will be hauling serious loot!

It's not often that Tad makes it home from work before I am done doing all things girly. This day was an exception and as soon as I walked in the door he was ushering me out to our awaiting dinner reservations. He surprised me by taking me to BLT Steak, which is in our neighborhood and we have been looking for a special occasion to try. We had an incredible meal for what shaped up to be THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!!

Because I Am "Handy".....

Many years ago, when I moved into my very first apartment, my parents bought me a VERY cool tool kit. I seriously questioned this purchase as I could barely change a light bulb let alone figure out what to do with a level. As time went by, I educated myself. I got to the point where not only could I hang pictures, I could install wall anchors, grout, put together furniture and not have too many left over parts, install dimmers and change fixtures. Then, I got married. I have always been proud of my self-sufficiency. My husband prefers to hire help for all things repair worthy.

Combining two homes has been a challenge. Making his bachelor haven a home for me as well as added its own set of issues. Tad no longer enjoyed using the master bathroom shower, as he was afraid of getting one of my razors in his toosh when he sat on the integrated shower bench that had become home to my toiletries. I loathed the very small, tarnishing shower caddy that hung from the shower head. Time to shop for a replacement. We found a very cool shelf system in the Sky Mall catalogue that might solve all of our issues. It involved a floor to ceiling pole that houses baskets and sits in the corner of the shower. It had plenty of space for my belongings and Tad would no longer be afraid of the Gillettes laying on the bench.

Our super cool shower system arrived it the mail and I was so very excited to put it together. After opening the box, it appeared to be very simple and straight forward to assemble. As Tad watched in pure astonishment, I got to work and had it installed in about 5 minutes. He was very kind in donating his time to handing me parts and steering clear of the area in general. We both got very excited when it was erect and holding all of our shower goodies. He took the first shower with the new gadgetry installed and warned me not to use anything with a pump because the pressure caused the pole to slide. I experienced the same thing. As we were both in the bathroom later getting ready for a big event, we heard a horrific crash. Our new shower system had given way and was no longer standing. As I looked at what had happened with complete horror I quickly realized that I installed the system upside-down. Oops. Maybe I should have looked at the instructions. I instead decided to cite my Polish lineage and we had the greatest laugh over the whole thing.

Maybe there is something to be said for hiring a professional.........

With This Ring, I Give You USAA......

When Tad asked me to marry him, I had one stipulation to my agreement. He had to dump State Farm, his insurance provider of 20 years and head for greener pastures at USAA. I am one of the few, I consider myself fortunate. I have what many are envious over. I have what I believe is the BEST insurance carrier in the world, USAA. I qualify for this insurance as my dad is a retired Army Officer. The rates are wonderful, the customer service is unprecedented and best of all, they give huge rebates on your premiums every December. Just in time for Christmas shopping.

We have been married almost a month. We are getting settled. We have been combining the contents of 2 homes. We have returned all duplicate and triplicate gifts. We are patiently waiting for our marriage license to arrive in the mail so that I can change my name and we can get everything else that needs combining combined.

Last night, I made the call to USAA to see if we had to wait for the licence to proceed. They told me that my word was all they needed. SCORE! Bye, bye State Farm! We began the process of making Tad a member of the USAA family. It took them 6 tries to get our proof of insurance cards correct. I am still not sure where the trip up was, but eventually they got it right and we went along our merry way. Then it happened, Tad called today to move over his home-owners and apparently it took 4 hours.

J: WHAT?! From the company that handed me a check Tuesday after being robbed Saturday?!


T: YES, correct. 4 hours. Oh, and the price doubled!


J: Say what?! Double! That's it, I'm calling.


T: Don't call - we will figure it out later......


When I called USAA, I got Michelle. I had no need to introduce myself, as she had all my personal information on the screen in front of her from my touch-tone information.


M: Good afternoon, Mrs. Hutcheson!

J: Actually, this is Ms. PETRICK. Let's talk about the 4 hour quote and doubling in price.....


And so it began. I think Kelly Martin has long disappeared and been replaced with Ms. PETRICK. She certainly isn't going to stand idly by and wait for any situation to solve itself. After a mere 14 minutes, the situation was taken care of. Welcome to USAA, Tad.

Honey, Is That The Moon?

While I was obsessing over - I mean planning for - our wedding, Tad's most important task was planning the honeymoon. I kept telling him I didn't care where we went. He and I vacation differently. This we both realize. He is content rolling out of bed late in the morning, finding a beach chair, cracking a book and smoking cigars. I like to get up early and explore. I am so afraid of missing something. SO, when he decided the location of our honeymoon, he clearly thought he had gotten one over me. I will never forget the conversation. It went something like this:

T: "I booked our honeymoon!"

J: "No way! Where are we going?!"

T: "Peter Island!"

J: "Who is Peter Island?"

T: "Not WHO, where. Peter Island. Virgin Islands."

J: "French, British or US?"

T: "British - kind of. The entire island is the resort. Owned by an American. Who lives in Georgia. It's near Tortola. We get to take a boat there!"

J: " Um, okay. Peter Island. Do you want the groomsmen to wear white, black or purple pocket squares?"

Silence.........

So, we left the day after our wedding. We were both exhausted but we made our flight, which was the most important part. Peter Island was AMAZING. Though Tad was convinced there was nothing to do on the island, once we arrived and I got to exploring, we quickly found that NOT to be the case. I did give him Monday to rest. After that, we had to see all that Peter Island had to offer.

We snorkeled, I learned to sail (Tad came along for boat rides where we hunted giant turtles), we rented a private beach dubbed HONEY MOON BEACH for a morning, we went on a tour of the island, had a day at the spa (the most beautiful place I have ever seen), indulged in a 5 course wine dinner, did a sunset tour with a bottle of champagne and the night before we left had a private dinner on the beach. We had an AMAZING vacation and that guy Peter sure knows how to treat his guests!

Looking down at the spa.

Looking down the beach from the place we generally plopped.

Pre-dinner glass of wine on the balcony.

On the island tour.

Tad finishing his 3rd book at Honeymoon Beach.

Captain Janin at the helm with Tad along for ballast.

Tad Hutcheson, Master Sommelier.

Sunset. Breath taking.

Wine dinner. Tad dared me to drink his 5 courses, too. It wasn't for lack of trying that I couldn't do it.

Our last dinner on the beach.

The Rip Heard 'Round The World

I had dreams about my wedding. I think every bride does. I imagined everything being perfectly in place. Perfect dress, perfect hair, perfect, perfect, PERFECT!! I hear that lots of things happen that aren't so perfect on your wedding day. I stayed up late most nights to ensure that this wouldn't happen to me.

The night before our wedding, I caught about 5 hours of shut-eye. I rarely remember the dreams that I have while sleeping, but those that night were vivid. 1) I stepped on the front of my dress and the whole thing ripped off. Awful. What was worse was realizing that I elected to ditch the girdle. Bad move. Wouldn't do that in reality. 2) I forgot how to do THE CHICKEN DANCE. EMERGENCY!!!!! Everyone who knows me knows that I won't go to a wedding if there is not a chicken dance. My dad and I had the ultimate surprise in store (he loves THE CHICKEN DANCE, too). We would dance about 1/2 of a nice song then have the DJ scratch into the chicken dance. Perfect. Not if you can't remember how to do it.

I made it down the aisle and through the entire ceremony without stepping on my dress. Tad managed to not step on it, either. My dad steered clear while he was escorting me. The bodice and train were crusted in real crystal. We made it through, unscathed. One dream averted. Then, it happened. The rip heard 'round the world. As we were about to begin the receiving line, one of the coordinators from the church accidentally stepped on my train as I was walking forward. I heard the most horrific rip, turned and saw that there was a significant tear in the back of my gown. EMERGENCY! My mom grabbed me, and said she had a satin needle and thread. She would fix it. Crisis averted. She fixed it.

Not out of the clear yet. I would FREAK if dream #2 came to reality. Fortunately, Dad and I both remembered how to do the chicken dance and pulled it off like it was a true surprise to even us.

More pictures of "The Big Gig" will be coming soon. Since we didn't have our own camera's handy, I am patiently waiting photos from friends. It will be some time before our photographer sends hers as she has STRICT instructions not to send them until she has zapped 30 pounds from my frame. Oh, and Erika - if you are reading this, my mom has requested to be photo-shopped. ;)

THE BIG GIG!!!!!

The day of the "Big Gig" proved to be like all others that week. After a brief nap in the middle of the night, everyone got into motion to "get 'er done". All the girls headed to the salon. There was hair to be done and makeup to be applied. Dad and JM ran errands between dry cleaners and dress makers. Then, they were off to the salon, too. Not for mani-pedi's (though we suggested), but for more important things, like dropping off my veil. While having a brief respite from the chaos that was Carter Barnes, I managed to slip into Nordstrom to buy a new bathing suit and cover up for our honeymoon. It is amazing how flexing the VISA makes just about everything better. Before I knew it, everyone was transformed and more beautiful than I could have imagined.

We had a little time before the ceremony, so Mom, Karen and I decided that we would check me into the Ritz Carlton Buckhead (where Tad and I spent the first night as husband and wife). We had the MOST AMAZING suite you could imagine. We then summoned the boys. Well, not Tad because I didn't want to see him until the church. Dad and JM came up, we rocked out to The Beatles. Danced. Laughed. Tried not to cry (on account of my false eye-lashes). Took pictures. Had a glass of champagne to celebrate. Played pool. Took more pictures and laughed a lot more.

Karen, myself and Mumsie

Mumsie, The Bride (the sash says it all but the tiara gives it away) and Dad.

Just like 1975. Only taller.

Mom and Dad used to force us into a Christmas picture like this every year as kids. I forced him into this by playing the bride card. My big brother rules.

Karen, JM and I.

Time to head to the church.

Exhaustion Leads to Excitement

Pre-Rehearsal champagne with Dad.

Wow. That was fast. And exhausting. Everyone warned me. I was certain I had it under control. I was proved wrong. Fortunately, I had LOTS of help the week before the wedding. Had it not been for my parents, Tad's mother and at the last minute, my brother and sister-in-law, we might not have had lots of little cool things like programs or favors for our guests. We stayed up LATE every night. I learned that I could function on about 4 hours of sleep. Not very well, but at least stay vertical. My mom operated on far less sleep each night. We had everything pulled together by Thursday night - mostly. By Friday, I was EXHAUSTED. Then, it happened. While pulling into the valet station at the Ritz Carlton downtown, I saw Travis Wood and Tom Nordgren checking in as well. Game on. Exhausted no more. The party was about to start. As I entered the hotel, my eyes quickly came to rest on my college roommate, Jen Marshall. Tad's sister, Lane and her family were there as well. WOOOOOHOOOO! I am not even sure I put my car in Park. No matter. It was time to GO! All plans for an afternoon nap were out the window. It truly is amazing what happens when the adrenaline kicks in. The rehearsal was a blast. After the churchin' part was over, we headed to Paschal's for a fine Southern meal of fried chicken and collard greens. My parents then treated us to more cocktails at the Ritz Carlton (thanks, Mumsie and Big John!!!). The "Big Gig" officially had begun.

With my God Parents, Su and Tad Hemp. Or Tad #1 and Tad #2 as they have self dubbed.

Janin and Tami Wellhausen

Janin with Mom and Dad. Yes, it is a spray tan.

Time to switch to water.

Janin and Valeri Yee! All the way from SAN JOSE!!!

The Petrick's as 5.

Get 'Er Done!!!

Everyone warned me. I paid attention, mostly. They said that the week before our wedding, there would be piles of stuff for me to do. I would be busy, morning, noon and night. I acted like I believed them. In the back of my mind, I thought everything would be peaceful. I could spend the week at the spa. I would get a massage every day. I would hang out with friends. My parents could come and relax. Then, 7 days before the "big gig", it happened. I got slapped in the face with a whole lot of "must do's". Wow. I am not treading new water. I feel large waves from those who have been here before.

Fortunately, my parents showed up just in time. The night they arrived, they suggested getting a head start on one of the projects. I obliged. We hunkered down and made progress. We had tickets to the Falcons/Bears game. Great seats. We had planned to go to the game. Then, we decided to stay in, watch it on tv and tackle the mounting lists. Ugh.

Judy arrived Monday night to provide an extra set of hands.

Tad squished his cigar to pitch in.

We have tackled A LOT. Welcome bags. seating chart (I am proud to say that I had NOTHING to do with this, as it upset me too much), favors, other favors, welcome bags, hair cut and color (if I couldn't lose 30lbs before this thing, I am going super blonde to look like I did). All complete. Everyone has had a vital role. Truly a team effort. It will be a beautiful event.

The bride may look tired. She is running on empty. Up late (because she has to do important stuff like blog) awake early.

She is now going to hit the sack, because she is the bride. At the same time, she can't thank her parents and future mother in law for being instrumental in getting everything done that we have this week.

3 days and counting.

Why I Love My Job

I get to fly big jets. That is pretty cool. But nothing is as cool as catching up with old girlfriends from high school over burgers in cities far, far away from San Jose. I haven't been working much lately so I can prepare for the "big gig" but this week I was able to score a rare 20 hour layover. What does a girl do with all that time? Obsess over seating charts? Playlists for the DJ? Program verbiage? Nah, with 20 hours you call a girlfriend who you haven't seen in years and catch up over a much needed (because I am wearing white in 9 days) bacon cheese burger and fries.

Enter Tiffany Kurtz (Foulk). She is a dear friend from San Jose who now lives in Texas! We have stayed in touch loosely all these years and she came to entertain me with her son, DJ. - Don Junior, who is Donald Lester, so I am still trying to wrap my noggin over the "J" in D.J. It was SO great to see her and I had a ball playing with her 15 month old son who has just discovered the pure joy of putting his entire hand in your glass of water.

D.J. and Tiffy

After some power shopping where DJ demonstrated his love for fine fabric, the little guy was a bit worn out. Not generally a baby who sleeps in the car I am told, he is pretty close to "resting his eyes" here. Sure enough, a quick power nap in the car and he bounced back and was ready to go.

DJ contemplates - "Nap or No?"

DJ, Tiffy and Me

I had an amazing time with Tiffy and family and hope that we can do it again soon. Maybe next time they can come to Atlanta! We live right next to the best place for DJ to dunk his hand in some serious water, the Georgia Aquarium!

Thank you, TIFF! xoxoxo

Licensed To Wed

Just like it began - we got caught in the rain!

I have had a LOT of time off of work lately, which has left me plenty of time to obsess over (I mean get ready for) "The Big Gig". Tad has entertained most ideas and thoughts with full sentence responses which I greatly appreciate. We realized that we needed a Marriage License, so I penciled myself in on his calendar and off we went to the Fulton County Court House. It turned out to be a rather comical morning as we first delivered a load of my belongings to Tad's home then went over in one car, his. As we were leaving his garage it started to rain heavily and we then realized that there was not a single umbrella to be found in his car -- but there were plenty in mine. Oh well, there was no turning back. We parked in a garage and took off on foot in torrential down pour into the court house. As soon as we got through security, we were turned away because we were in the wrong building. The building that we needed to be in was 2 blocks away. Not to be deterred, we took off on foot again. As we were sprinting, I got a vivid image of about 18 months ago, when we got caught in the rain at the Inman Park Festival and we hid under a tree until it passed. At that point, I didn't realize we were even dating but standing under the tree I realized that I REALLY enjoyed being around Tad and was having a blast. It also gave me a moment to pause over the last year and a half or so and the lives of Tad and me as we become one. A few highlights have included:

- 2 Beastly Feasts

- Eagles Concert

- Finding out Tad had Mono (great story behind this one)

- Neil Diamond Concert

- Introducing Tad to Double Double, Animal Style

- New Years under a falling peach

- A Valentine's Day that puts all others to shame

- Christmas in California and Christmas in Georgia

- The Big Yellow SLIDE!

- Tad meeting "Jenin" and of course, grandma

- Super Bowl

- fishing with new equipment off the 21st floor

- hiking to see fall colors after a big rain

- a VERY special 1st anniversary

- an amazing trip to Saint Martin and locking ourselves out on our balcony

-U2

- 6 months that has gone by so quickly we are about to count down in single digits...

So, once we finally found the correct office we stood in line and contemplated which license to apply for. The options wereFIREARMS or MARRIAGE. We chose the latter and tomorrow we go into single digit countdown mode......

Does This Make My Finger Look Fat?

This weekend is the last weekend Tad and I have together before all the wedding festivities begin. We had lengthy discussions about what we should do to occupy our time. Candler Park Fest? Get the rest of the move done? How about have NO plans. Just hang out. That is something we haven't been able to do since this whole mess - I mean wedding - came about. Friday night, I made a nice dinner and we sat outside and played Scrabble. Saturday morning, I walked a 5K with a couple of girlfriends. No plans. Then we got the call we had been waiting for: Our wedding bands had arrived.

While contemplating when to go get them, we decided this was worthy of putting on our agenda so off we went to see Nuni. When we got engaged, Tad's mother, Judy gave us diamonds to use for my wedding bands. We took them to Tiffany to have them set and chose Tad's wedding band at the same time. His is truly beautiful. It is thick platinum with an etched band at the top and bottom. Mine were to be two bands with diamonds just along the top (not all the way around because of weight gaining and losing issues and re-sizing). They were finally here. We walked in and were greeted with hugs from Nuni, which has become customary and invited to sit in the private viewing room while we waited for her to finish with another customer. When she was done, she emerged with Tad's wedding band and both of mine. I cried (shocker). Tad slipped his on and we put our hands together. I don't think either one of us had grasped the fact that "the big gig" is just 14 days away until we saw our hands marked as the others. I cried some more. As if I didn't realize the 1000 reasons I was ready to spend the rest of my life with Tad, he asked me one of the most wonderful questions ever "does it look like my finger is poured into this ring?". What does a girl say to this?! The only appropriate thing that can be said "no, just your wallet"........14 days and counting.

So That Is Where The Bug Spray Lives!!

Combining two households is a challenge at best. Adding wonderful gifts sent from our registry's has complicated things further. We have been through several rounds of purging. We had a yard sale and made $154! We have piles of boxes and loot in various locations.

Tad has been out of town for the last couple of days and since I have the week off, I thought I would start organizing. I have often marveled at the SPEED in which Tad puts things away - walks in house, starts putting things away in a fury and heads off to do something much more interesting. I found evidence of this last night. While deciding where to place our fondue pots (thank you Ann, Teresita and Randi!) I started to clear the cabinets above the refrigerator to make way for our new small appliances. It was FULL of light bulbs. And empty light bulb boxes. And bug spray. Off. Cutter. Skintastic. THAT'S WHERE THE BUG SPRAY LIVES! Not any more. The bug spray has been moved to a more logical (for me anyway) and reachable location (again for me). We still have lots of light bulbs which now share their home with our fondue pots. Come on over, we will fondue it up under really bright light!

Just When I Didn't Think It Could Get Any Better......

Last weekend proved to be busy as ever in preparation for the "big gig". My Mom came into town again to help organize and spoil me along the way, too! We had such a great visit and though I *promised* not to "run her as hard" as I typically have in past visits, I found that I was simply exhausted at the end of each day. We had LOTS on the agenda. First and foremost, her MOB (Mother of the Bride) dress had arrived after much, much, much involvement with the designer, a boutique in Connecticut and a very kind woman we have never met. She tried it on and it was PERFECT. Beautiful. Great. Now, on to more important things, like shopping. We covered Atlanta like a cheap suit on her first day. After all, the next day we had my bridal shower to attend! Mom decided that we needed to do a dry run of our make up for the wedding day, so we were up bright and early to go see if Kiev at Carter Barnes could work a little magic. Lo and Behold - she even gave me false eyelashes as I discovered that along with not having inherited my mother's alabaster skin, dark hair or strong nails, I also did not get her insanely long eyelashes.

Mom and I before the magic is worked

After !

We then stopped for a few errands before heading to my dear friend Laura's home where she was hosting my bridal shower. It was an amazing afternoon and I was blown away by how much work Laura put into the day. Not only did she open her home to my friends and family, she cooked all the food for an incredible luncheon, and decorated with attention paid to every detail! She had decided on an airplane theme and had all kinds of cute airplanes as decoration all around, which she had hand painted in our wedding colors - lapis and apple - or, in Tad speak "purple and red". She ordered ribbon with our names on it and had an airplane shaped cake that was titled "TaJan Air". The "N Number" was N10/24 - our wedding date! She also had favors for everyone - a cookbook which she had compiled of everyone's favorite recipes, which is something I know I will get great use of and I hope everyone else will, too.

Janin and Laura, the host who wears Lapis!

TAJAN AIR! Edible Airline!

I was so fortunate that so many people were able to come to my shower. As I already mentioned, my Mom came into town as did Tad's Mother, Judy. Tad's sister, Lane (who is a brides maid) and her daughter, Emma (also a bridesmaid) came in from Knoxville. Emma is just the sweetest girl and was kind enough to sit with me and keep notes on all the gifts. I would have been lost without her keeping tabs! She is invaluable and I look forward to being her aunt.

It was a wonderful visit with Mom, including the moment that I had forgotten to pick up my dry cleaning. Small problem. Fortunately, Macy's had navy pants that were a suitable substitute and I had a couple of spare shirts in my closet. I may end up eating these words, but I am hoping that after the "big gig" I will be back to my normal, organized Type A self who has everything together long before I have to be anywhere.

Emma and I

I think it is safe to say that a good time was had by all. I am forever grateful to Laura for not making anyone play shower games and for all the work that she put into the shower. I sure am glad that this only happens once because nothing could top all that I have been experienced to date.

Here, Fishy Fishy Is NOT a Song

What a weekend! Amanda, my maid of honor had been VERY busy planning "the most important part of my wedding" - THE BATCHELORETTE PARTY! She rented a house on Lake Hartwell, gathered the girls and had huge plans for us all to have a wonderful time. I am very lucky to have such an amazing friend in her and the others who were able to make the weekend such an incredible one. We loaded up 2 SUV's and headed north for a weekend of boating, fishing, swimming, karaoke and a little bit of wine.

After collecting the boat on Saturday morning, Amanda and I spent more than 2 hours LOST on the lake looking for our rental home. No GPS, no cell signal and no food. We were rationing a tin of small Altoids Amanda had stashed in per purse figuring that if worse came to worse, we were going to have to wait for the other to perish and take matters into our own hands. We DID have a fish finder but did NOT have gear. After playing Gillian for what seemed like an eternity, Holly and Laura got on the peddle boat, came to the middle of the lake and found us. We were pontooning our hearts out but eventually gathered them into the boat and headed for our dock.

Myself, Karen, Holly, Amanda and Stephanie

Laura, Amanda and Holly - Lake Hartwell Mermaids

Ebony, have you met Ivory? She's the one in the pink boa....

Laura and Holly flex the muscle that got them to the middle of the lake to save us.

Rule #1 -No Boys. Well, except BUB (Blow Up Boyfriend)

We didn't catch any fish, we didn't have a lot of sleep, we didn't have gluten free beer, salsa, bottled water or diet coke after the cooler mishap but we DID have a great time. My cheeks are still sore from laughing so hard for 3 days. I can't thank Amanda enough for putting together such an incredible weekend and Karen, Laura, Stephanie and Holly for coming and making it so special. I am one lucky girl to have such amazing friends.