Wednesday, December 24, 2008
My boss closed the office early, so I left the office at 2pm.
YAY!!!! Freedom!
I decided to stop by the grocery store to pick up some last minute things...BIG mistake!
It took FOREVER.
When Al got home, we wrapped gifts and then headed over to his parent's house for dinner.
We had a lovely evening of good food, wine and company. We had initially planned to go to midnight mass, but the unexpected monsoon-like rains and my general tiredness thwarted our attempt. Ah well......
With the weather being so schizophrenic, it didn't feel much like Christmas anyway.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Our engagement SLIDESHOW!!!!
OH MY GOSH!!!!!
I'm so excited, Shari just posted our engagement slideshow (we'll change the music soon) and I'm so excited. I usually prefer to be behind the camera instead of in front of it, but there were actually some photos that I really loved of us.
Check it out!!!!!!!!
http://www.sharizellers.com/al2/
I'm so excited, Shari just posted our engagement slideshow (we'll change the music soon) and I'm so excited. I usually prefer to be behind the camera instead of in front of it, but there were actually some photos that I really loved of us.
Check it out!!!!!!!!
http://www.sharizellers.com/al2/
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Finalizing the Tuxes
We made the final choice on the tuxes and decided to definitely go with Savvi.
Al will keep his Ralph Lauren Whitney pinstripe tux and we will put the Groomsmen and Dads in the classic black tux that matches the style of the pin stripe. Both are two button tuxes with thin structured lapels. We decided to go this route to take into account everyone's financial decisions and to help cut costs for our friends and family who will be involved in the wedding. We were able to do this without compromising on style, so I'm excited to see all the gentleman dressed to the nines.
Another check off the checklist....
:)
Al has also finalized his groomsmen decisions and in the next few weeks will be asking his friends to stand beside him.
Exciting!
Al will keep his Ralph Lauren Whitney pinstripe tux and we will put the Groomsmen and Dads in the classic black tux that matches the style of the pin stripe. Both are two button tuxes with thin structured lapels. We decided to go this route to take into account everyone's financial decisions and to help cut costs for our friends and family who will be involved in the wedding. We were able to do this without compromising on style, so I'm excited to see all the gentleman dressed to the nines.
Another check off the checklist....
:)
Al has also finalized his groomsmen decisions and in the next few weeks will be asking his friends to stand beside him.
Exciting!
One wedding band down, one to go...
I found my WEDDING BAND!!!!
I can't believe it!!!
It's absolutely perfect, and passes pretty much every criteria we had set.
My band compliments my engagement ring perfectly in shape, diamonds and size.
It's a "dome shaped" triple row of pave diamonds that's about 4 mm in width and sits almost flush to my ring because of it's unique shape.
It's perfect as a stand alone ring and looks amazing with my engagement ring.
I'm so excited.
The picture is the only one that I could find online that resembles my ring. I'll post a new one when I take a picture of it on my hand.
YAY!!!
Another check off my list!
Woo!
My Office X-mas Party
Thursday, October 18, 2008
Well, tonight's my office Christmas Party and we're shutting down the office early and reconverging at the Capital City Club downtown.
So, we met at the Club and started off down in the lobby with drinks and appetizers. I've started to just kind of be ambivalent about get togethers. *sigh*
We then went upstairs to the third floor for what I was told to be "an AMAZING" buffet dinner. Yeah, not so much. It left little to be desired. I kept thinking, wow, for all the excessiveness this requires, what you take from it is not that great. I'm definitely not in my comfort zone. Thank God Al was there.
The entertainment for the evening was a Trumpet Player who was pretty decent. It was all Jazz style Christmas music, so to be honest, I was bored out of my mind.
Following the trumpet player was a jazz vocalist.
It was a good evening, but as soon as the vocalist finished, I was ready to jet.
Oh well....
Well, tonight's my office Christmas Party and we're shutting down the office early and reconverging at the Capital City Club downtown.
So, we met at the Club and started off down in the lobby with drinks and appetizers. I've started to just kind of be ambivalent about get togethers. *sigh*
We then went upstairs to the third floor for what I was told to be "an AMAZING" buffet dinner. Yeah, not so much. It left little to be desired. I kept thinking, wow, for all the excessiveness this requires, what you take from it is not that great. I'm definitely not in my comfort zone. Thank God Al was there.
The entertainment for the evening was a Trumpet Player who was pretty decent. It was all Jazz style Christmas music, so to be honest, I was bored out of my mind.
Following the trumpet player was a jazz vocalist.
It was a good evening, but as soon as the vocalist finished, I was ready to jet.
Oh well....
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Al's Office Christmas Party
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Late to work again....I think that's going to be a New Year's resolution.
CRAZY busy day, but I'm looking forward to Al's office Christmas party tonight.
It's being held at the Metropolitan club again, so I kinda know what to expect.
Secretly, we're both looking forward to the Chocolate fountain. That's some GOOD stuff right there.
The party turned out pretty decent. They had the standard reception like "food stations", but the food was just ok. They had pretty decent wine and your normal cash bar.
The DJ was definitely better than last year, but still WAY too cheesy. I'm starting to think that's a requirement for guys who do corporate parties. Eh....
I had fun and it's always interesting to people watch at these functions as well as meet the people that Al spends the majority of his days with. I have to say though, it was a bit of an Al love fest....which was so CUTE. I mean.....cool.....it was just nice to see Al get some serious validation for the great job that he does everyday and I know he loves that.
:)
Late to work again....I think that's going to be a New Year's resolution.
CRAZY busy day, but I'm looking forward to Al's office Christmas party tonight.
It's being held at the Metropolitan club again, so I kinda know what to expect.
Secretly, we're both looking forward to the Chocolate fountain. That's some GOOD stuff right there.
The party turned out pretty decent. They had the standard reception like "food stations", but the food was just ok. They had pretty decent wine and your normal cash bar.
The DJ was definitely better than last year, but still WAY too cheesy. I'm starting to think that's a requirement for guys who do corporate parties. Eh....
I had fun and it's always interesting to people watch at these functions as well as meet the people that Al spends the majority of his days with. I have to say though, it was a bit of an Al love fest....which was so CUTE. I mean.....cool.....it was just nice to see Al get some serious validation for the great job that he does everyday and I know he loves that.
:)
Al meets Uncle Woody
Sunday, December 14, 2008
So the last major member of my family that Al has yet to meet is my Uncle Woody. Uncle Woody is my mom's younger brother and my favorite uncle. Uncle Woody and Aunt Jean happened to be in town this weekend for Aunt Jean's cousin's play, so we arranged to meet them at the wedding reception venue so they could check the place out. They were able to meet up with us for a few hours and it was so awesome to see them and catch up.
We took them on a tour of the property and it was a chance for us to see all the changes as well. The property is currently undergoing MAJOR construction with the addition of the new wing and they are updating the lounge and dining areas. They've also put the pool area under construction and blocked off one of the entrances to the Pavilion. We were assured that construction would be done by March and our guests would have new accommodations, use of a new pool and a brand new bowling alley in the new wing!
SCORE!!!!
Being there just re-confirmed that we ABSOLUTELY made the right choice.
After the tour we sat in front of the great hearth, chatted and told family stories. It was a really great afternoon.
I can't wait to see them again in a few short months.
So the last major member of my family that Al has yet to meet is my Uncle Woody. Uncle Woody is my mom's younger brother and my favorite uncle. Uncle Woody and Aunt Jean happened to be in town this weekend for Aunt Jean's cousin's play, so we arranged to meet them at the wedding reception venue so they could check the place out. They were able to meet up with us for a few hours and it was so awesome to see them and catch up.
We took them on a tour of the property and it was a chance for us to see all the changes as well. The property is currently undergoing MAJOR construction with the addition of the new wing and they are updating the lounge and dining areas. They've also put the pool area under construction and blocked off one of the entrances to the Pavilion. We were assured that construction would be done by March and our guests would have new accommodations, use of a new pool and a brand new bowling alley in the new wing!
SCORE!!!!
Being there just re-confirmed that we ABSOLUTELY made the right choice.
After the tour we sat in front of the great hearth, chatted and told family stories. It was a really great afternoon.
I can't wait to see them again in a few short months.
A SATURDAY WITH NOTHING TO DO?!?!?!?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
This is the first time in almost a year, that we have a free Saturday with nothing planned, nothing to do and whole day of down time.
First stop.....sleep in till it hurts.
Then we had a late lunch at Moe's and went on a leisurely trip to the grocery store.
Boring grown up stuff.....woo!
We spent the rest of the day/evening doing random house chores and I finally sat down and organized all of my wedding magazine clippings. Sounds pretty insignificant....but it was a HUGE project.
I had hundreds of magazine pages torn out that needed to be sorted into ideas and groups. I know, I know, I'm obsessed.
But Lisa had given me this AWESOME organizer, so I wanted to utilize it and actually get super organized. It's a huge time vacuum, so I can just kind of idly do this while hanging out and watching tv.
While we're going through the situation with our wedding planner, wedding planning has in fact taken a back seat. The good thing is that most of the big stuff has been taken care of by my super researcher and mad negotiating skillz. The only thing really left is the logistics/timing of the day. Thankfully my photographer is helping me map out a timeline of the day and my new wedding planner will be able to make sure that everything flows. It is time to move on....
This is the first time in almost a year, that we have a free Saturday with nothing planned, nothing to do and whole day of down time.
First stop.....sleep in till it hurts.
Then we had a late lunch at Moe's and went on a leisurely trip to the grocery store.
Boring grown up stuff.....woo!
We spent the rest of the day/evening doing random house chores and I finally sat down and organized all of my wedding magazine clippings. Sounds pretty insignificant....but it was a HUGE project.
I had hundreds of magazine pages torn out that needed to be sorted into ideas and groups. I know, I know, I'm obsessed.
But Lisa had given me this AWESOME organizer, so I wanted to utilize it and actually get super organized. It's a huge time vacuum, so I can just kind of idly do this while hanging out and watching tv.
While we're going through the situation with our wedding planner, wedding planning has in fact taken a back seat. The good thing is that most of the big stuff has been taken care of by my super researcher and mad negotiating skillz. The only thing really left is the logistics/timing of the day. Thankfully my photographer is helping me map out a timeline of the day and my new wedding planner will be able to make sure that everything flows. It is time to move on....
Sunday, December 7, 2008
A productive Sunday
Sunday, December 7, 2008
After waking up with what is turning out to be a head cold, I decided to stay home, dye my hair and finish some house "stuff". I then met up with Al for lunch at American Roadhouse.
*sidenote* while waiting for a table at American Roadhouse, I ran across the street to check out LaRaine's Boutique. I had never been there before and was really impressed with the selection they had. I'm hoping to make an appointment there in the relatively near future, to check out some dresses and accessories. I'm still looking for a bolero to wear for the ceremony.
From there we went to Worthmore Jewelers.
http://www.worthmorejewelers.com/index.php
We were referred to them by Erin who purchased her wedding band at their store. We walked in and I was immediately excited to check out their selection. They had all these designers and amazing unique pieces. We found a few rings that Al liked, but again, nothing that was "the one".
I found two options for me. One was a 14k white gold ring with channel set round cut diamonds that wrapped around 3/4. The other was a replica of the ring I found on bluenile.com that is white gold with pave set diamonds on three sides that wrapped around 3/4. Our experience there was quite awesome (100 million times better than any visit to Rubin bros.) and we really enjoyed their entire collection of different and unique jewelry. While we were there, we also purchased Al's promise ring. He had randomly found a claddagh that he really liked that I also REALLY liked. It's a stainless steel spinner with a claddagh "etching". I bought it for him for him to wear as his promise ring/engagement ring.
So, we're still looking, but I'm hoping we'll find something soon.
After waking up with what is turning out to be a head cold, I decided to stay home, dye my hair and finish some house "stuff". I then met up with Al for lunch at American Roadhouse.
*sidenote* while waiting for a table at American Roadhouse, I ran across the street to check out LaRaine's Boutique. I had never been there before and was really impressed with the selection they had. I'm hoping to make an appointment there in the relatively near future, to check out some dresses and accessories. I'm still looking for a bolero to wear for the ceremony.
From there we went to Worthmore Jewelers.
http://www.worthmorejewelers.com/index.php
We were referred to them by Erin who purchased her wedding band at their store. We walked in and I was immediately excited to check out their selection. They had all these designers and amazing unique pieces. We found a few rings that Al liked, but again, nothing that was "the one".
I found two options for me. One was a 14k white gold ring with channel set round cut diamonds that wrapped around 3/4. The other was a replica of the ring I found on bluenile.com that is white gold with pave set diamonds on three sides that wrapped around 3/4. Our experience there was quite awesome (100 million times better than any visit to Rubin bros.) and we really enjoyed their entire collection of different and unique jewelry. While we were there, we also purchased Al's promise ring. He had randomly found a claddagh that he really liked that I also REALLY liked. It's a stainless steel spinner with a claddagh "etching". I bought it for him for him to wear as his promise ring/engagement ring.
So, we're still looking, but I'm hoping we'll find something soon.
Floral Dreams
Saturday, December 6, 20008
Al left early to drive to Chattanooga for the Trash tournament and I headed down to my parent's house for the day. We packed up my mom and went to visit Tammy. Tammy worked with my mom WAY back in the day at Roderick's and she's always been part of that crowd from my childhood. She is currently a florist in McDonough and offered to arrange my Bridesmaids bouquet, centerpieces and other various floral pieces. I'm excited to see what she'll come up with and so thankful that we have resources to use to make up for the situation that our wedding planner left us in. After visiting with Tammy we went to have lunch and just hung out for the rest of the day. I enjoyed a relaxing evening of house chores and cleaning out the Tivo. I also spent some time organizing all of my bridal clippings and checking some items off of my wedding checklist. Woo!
Al left early to drive to Chattanooga for the Trash tournament and I headed down to my parent's house for the day. We packed up my mom and went to visit Tammy. Tammy worked with my mom WAY back in the day at Roderick's and she's always been part of that crowd from my childhood. She is currently a florist in McDonough and offered to arrange my Bridesmaids bouquet, centerpieces and other various floral pieces. I'm excited to see what she'll come up with and so thankful that we have resources to use to make up for the situation that our wedding planner left us in. After visiting with Tammy we went to have lunch and just hung out for the rest of the day. I enjoyed a relaxing evening of house chores and cleaning out the Tivo. I also spent some time organizing all of my bridal clippings and checking some items off of my wedding checklist. Woo!
PUG Christmas Party
Friday, December 5, 2008
After a horrendously boring and normal work week, I was so excited to attend the PUG Christmas party. The guest speaker was Mike Larsen from California. He spoke specifically on leadership and growing your business and was quite the inspiration. I felt like his speech was tailored to my situation with Shari and definitely made me feel like making this decision to switch careers is the right thing to do. After enjoying wine and cheese and networking with some local photographers, I felt like doing something with my life that is creative and allows me to connect with people instead of taking their house away. Anyway, it was an interesting evening to say the least.
After a horrendously boring and normal work week, I was so excited to attend the PUG Christmas party. The guest speaker was Mike Larsen from California. He spoke specifically on leadership and growing your business and was quite the inspiration. I felt like his speech was tailored to my situation with Shari and definitely made me feel like making this decision to switch careers is the right thing to do. After enjoying wine and cheese and networking with some local photographers, I felt like doing something with my life that is creative and allows me to connect with people instead of taking their house away. Anyway, it was an interesting evening to say the least.
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