Calling all GAMERS

I need your help!!!

(I am only slightly as desperate as that sounded)

At our wedding, after the ceremony (before the reception) we're going to have a cocktail hour while Isaac and I take our pictures, so to spare our poor guests from boredom, Tara and I came up with the brilliant idea of having LAWN GAMES for people to partake in. YAY!! So much fun!!

....But this would have been a more brilliant idea if we actually owned any LAWN GAMES...

So then I looked into purchasing some, but was not aware at this would set me back a pretty penny... and call me crazy but I don't feel like spending an arm and a leg on lawn games.

I hope this doesn't come off weird or crazy (maybe I am at this point in my wedding planning) but I was hoping that a few people in this great unknown that own of any of these little games would allow us to borrow them for a day? :-)

You'll get them back- scouts honor. Tara's pretty much the most organized person I've ever met.

Or if anyone has a tip on where to purchase these games for cheap- anything would be soo soo greatly appreciated!

Pennants

Isaac and I decided to opt out of a head table (considering we have over 20 in our bridal party) and just have a table for just us two. I liked the idea of putting pennants around our little table but wasn't a fan of the cheesy "Mr. and Mrs" or "Happily Ever After". After talking to Tara, she said to do what feels comfortable for you two because it's no one else's wedding but your own. Sage words. They hit me, and I felt that I was tip toeing around these small details thinking that people were going to think they were stupid. So silly, because these small details are what make our wedding OUR WEDDING. So, after running a few ideas past Isaac, we decided that we wanted our pennants to say BFF'S. It's very "us" and quite honestly I don't care if anyone else likes them because we LOVE them :-) But they're so cute, I think you might like them too!

Puppy Print PJ's, Cheese Day, and a Whole Lotta Other Stuff

Well it's about that time again. Time for our annual 'Cheese Day'. What's a Cheese Day, you ask? Well there's something I may need to explain first...

Isaac and I aren't your normal everyday couple.

We don't like doing the same routine, mundane things that most couples do. We like to make up new fun things to do. One night, many years ago, we had a conversation about how much we like cheese. I'm not sure why we decided to talk about such things but I'm glad we did because this is what came of it: We decided that it would be fun to have a meal that was cheese EVERYTHING - cheesy foods, cheesy romantic music, cheese colored plates and napkins- you name it, we had it. The first year that we did it, we had so much fun eating all our cheesiness that we decided to do it every year.
This year, we were so preoccupied with the wedding that we forgot all about our cheese day and decided it was better late than never. So here is the Mac and Cheese Carbonara that I prepared. It was pretty yummy but I couldn't stop thinking about the $30 we spent JUST ON CHEESE (thanks Bobby Flay). Here's the recipe if you're interested. I also made cheesy garlic bread and lava cakes for dessert but they aren't pictured here.

Isaac- so excited about Cheese Day

The day after Cheese Day just happened to be exactly one year since the day we got engaged, so what did we do? We reinacted our engagement. We drove to Peoria, had a yummy (but expensive) dinner at Johnnie's Italian Steakhouse, and rented a movie (instead of go to one like we did last year). Isaac even pretended to re-propose. I can't believe it's been a year already. Is it just me or did it feel like that year went at lightning speed?

Oh yeah! And after alllll that, Valentine's Day rolled around the corner two days later. Since our whole weekend had been taken up with Cheese and Anniversaries, we decided to down play our Valentine's Day. Afterall, we have a wedding to save for.

Being with Isaac for 5.5 years, I've realized, the way to this skinny man's heart is through his little belly... who woulda thought? So I decided to test my baking skills with this Williams-Sonoma cake. Isaac loves yellow cake with chocolate frosting- so I decided to give it a go. Little did I know, this is the most labor intensive cake I've ever attempted to make in my life! For example, in between each layer, you have to brush on a rum, sugar syrup mixture, before you even add the chocolate buttercream... and don't even get me started on the chocolate buttercream (it took me about 40 minutes just to make the buttercream alone!) HEAVY SIGH.

ANYWAYS... It's no Cake Boss, but it's the best I could do. Isaac loved it, and it actually tasted pretty yummy too. So it was worth the trouble.

(In case you're wondering, Tains is a nickname. It's a long story)

Isaac, bless his little heart, bought me puppy print pj pants, and some very delicious smelling lotion for Valentine's day, and was planning to come meet me at work to surprise me with my gifts, but ended up getting a flat tire in the mall parking lot and just happened to have left his phone at home. Poor thing. After calling me from a strangers phone, I swung by after work and picked up my thoughtful, stranded little guy.

An eventful weekend it was. Glad I could spend it with my other half; the man who loves to do strange things just as much as I do :-)

Hey! Its me ... Isaac.. Its been a while since I have blogged because I find joy in reading Whitney's posts. So why should I... :)

I can't believe this day is already here Feb. 7th. 3 months till we get married! I asked her to marry me last February!! Wow. Soon I will be a married man and will get to spend every moment with the love of my life.. I honestly can't wait!



Stay tuned to a creative post by Whitney...

Giraffes and Decor

This is how my brain is working these days.... I had a meeting to get my wedding dress altered and brought along my shoes and my under garments but completely forgot my dress. I planned to meet with my cousin to talk about invites and completely forgot to bring my invitations, so I had to drive all the way back to my house to pick them up. I had set up a meeting with someone but was so consumed with stamping and stuffing my invitations that I didn't remember I had a meeting until they text me and asked me where I was.

I think I'm going crazy.

And my subconscious is telling me the same thing. The other night I had a dream about my wedding. The first dream I've had in a long time about my wedding but it was terrifying and ridiculous. It was the day of my wedding and of course nothing was going right. I was all dressed and ready to go and we were supposed to be taking pictures but we realized all too late that we had forgotten to decorate the reception! I panicked. How could this have happened???? Tara volunteered to go get the decorations but an hour after she left, she came back with our Christmas decorations instead of my wedding decorations by accident BUT WAS TRYING TO MAKE THEM WORK! She was putting garland and ornaments on the tables, making lemonade out of lemons, and I was getting more and more infuriated that my Spring wedding was starting to look like Christmas Eve!! So I took matters into my own hands, and hopped onto the giraffe that just so happened to be standing next to me (which seemed like the only logical thing to do at that time since all the cars were taken) and rode through the forest, in my wedding dress, back to the house.

Somehow I made it back with the loads of wedding decorations, giraffe in tow, but was FUMING at Tara because my dress had gotten dirty on my giraffe ride and everything was ruined.

I'm not sure what's more crazy; doubting Tara's party planning competence or giraffe riding back to my house in my wedding dress.

Either way, I took this as a sign to chillax a bit. If you're reading this, pray for my brain. I def need it!