Wedding chatter

Ok, it's been a while since I've done any wedding chatter, so today is all about that! Brian and I submitted all of our paperwork to the Domincan Republic Embassy and have received all of the legalized and translated documentation back.

Brian scanned the documents and emailed me a PDF (thank you Brian) and I sent that to our wedding planner, Melanie, at the resort. She said that it all is in order and we are now legally ready to marry in the Dominican Republic. What a relief that is. the process to get all of the paperwork was actually quite easy and painless, thanks to Isabel Gonzales of WeDo.com.

Today Melanie confirmed our reception in the Marlin restaurant, which is upstairs and is open air (though it does have a roof) and has a gorgeous ocean view. We had other options and other menu choices, but Brian and I liked this one the best. You can view the menu by clicking here.

I just have to gush a little about working with Melanie. She's been super responsive to all of my emails and questions (which actually weren't that many - but promptness counts), and she even waived the fee for our reception because of the large number of people attending. That's a nice bit of savings that we can apply to our wedding photographer or something.

I said at the beginning of all this that I will consider my wedding planning venture a success if the only tears I shed are tears of joy during the ceremony. So far this has held true!

I am a Zen bride :-)

Facial update

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and concern regarding my traumatic dermatologist visit. I thought I'd give you all a little update since people keep asking how it's doing. The last few days I've kind of felt like wearing a bag over my head and keeping an emergency supply of *etiquette bags on hand in case my head-bag fell off.
I have always had pretty clear skin so I'm not used to wearing a lot of make up, and because my face is covered in red blotches I've actually had to wear foundation! ACK! it looked ok from a distance because it disguised the red blotches, but from about 3 feet away you could see the peeling skin. I am definately going to complain when I go in for my next microderm treatment next week. They should have prepared me for this. I would have either said no, or at least chosen a different date to do it.
GAH!

*etiquette bag: home made sick bag taken along on car/bus rides. Usually comprised of an opaque paper bag, lined with a plastic grocery bag ;-)

Bad facial

I'm going to reveal a secret. I've been having a series of microdermabrasion done to help remove some of the sun damage (dark spots and freckles) from my face, and to remove these little white heads that seemed to have appeared on my cheekbones and around my eyes. It's been going really well, aside from the fact that the extractions of those little white dots are a bit painful because they have to prick them with a needle, and then use an extractor tool to kinda push them out. The next day and for several days after, I have little red bumps that kinda look like zits in the areas where they extracted. I can live with a little bit of ugliness in the short-term if the long-term affects are beautiful and youthful skin.
However....
Yesterday I had a new aesthetician do my facial. She cranked up the pressure on the microdermabrasion machine and it stung a little more than usual, which is fine. I can handle a little pain if it means I'll have a beautiful and youthful complexion. And the extractions went well. This is where it gets a little hairy... she then put a "light peel" on my face without preparing me for a) how it would feel, and b) what I'd look like afterwards or the next day.
So here's how it went:
"Oh MY GOD! it's stinging! OOOOWWW! it hurts. Why is it burning? it feels like a million fire ants on my face! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP! OOOOOWWWWW!"
So she finally puts something on my face to neutralize the burning sensation and then moisturizes me and sends me on my way. And for the rest of the evening I'm RED and splotchy and extremely self-concious. AND to make things worse, I had dinner plans for Tiff's birthday and had to go and show my face in public! ACK!
Today I woke up and almost died when I looked in the mirror and saw Auntie Winnie. Those of you who have met her know what I mean when I say it's not a good thing. Those who haven't seen Auntie Winnie, just consider yourself lucky that the image isn't forever burned into your mind's eye. Anyway, my skin was all crusty and dry and WRINKLY from sleeping on my face. It was AWFUL. I got in the shower and I guess the heat and steam must have loosened the dry skin and it all started peeling.
Now I look like I have some weird peeling disease. And it hurts to smile.

I'm a little pissed off that they didn't prepare me for how this would feel and how it would look for the next few days. I'm feeling very ugly at the moment, and embarassed by my peeling face, and of course completely self conscious!

This had better be worth it!

oh, and if it's not bad enough that they made me look like a burn victim, the BOTOX issue came up again. Yea. Botox at my age? WTF? WHY would I purposefully inject my face with BOTULISM? WHY?
Don't get me started.

It seems like I only ever update this to talk about my weekends. No exception today. It's late Sunday night. We've spent the weekend with friends, running errands, and doing chores. Friday night was spent having dinner then drinks with Mike, Tara, Erin, & Tiff at Little Woodrows. It was St. Patrick's day. What's funny about St. Patrick's day here in America is that everyone seems to celebrate it. Yet you can go into a pub in Ireland on St. Paddy's and it's the same as any other day.
On Saturday I took Jenn downtown to retrieve her car. An excellent decision to leave it there after a few too many drinks. I will help any of my friends who need a sober ride home or a ride to retrieve a car the next day if it means they don't drive drunk.
When I got back Brian and I did a little shopping for a bridal shower gift for our friends who are getting married on April Fools day. Brian had a soccer game in the afternoon in the rain, and I headed to the gym to get a head start on burning all the calories I would consume at Salt Lick later on. The bridal shower was wonderful! we met so many great new people, and got to hang out with Amy, who I hadn't seen in forever, and meet her man. We didn't gorge ourselves like we usually do at Salt Lick, though, and we left with an unusual pleansantly satisfied feeling in our bellies, which is not our usual state when leaving there. We stopped for ice cream on the way home.
Today we headed to Cosco for our normal staples and headed home for some house cleaning, followed by movies and cuddling, dinner, and more movies and cuddling. We did make an attempt to contact the lady we're hoping will be our maid, but with no luck. I'll try again tomorrow. I keep putting it off but honestly, the time I spend cleaning the house is much better spent in pursuit of fun or the perfect pair of sandals. Life's too short to spend it cleaning.
There's a band of storms coming through the area as I write. Tornado watches in effect until 4am. I love a good storm, so long as it doesn't damage my house or hurt anybody.

Busy weekend again

We just try to cram so much into our weekends. I find myself living for the weekends. This weekend is no exception. On Friday night we went to Red Robin to celebrate Brian's birthday. We had a great group for dinner and the burgers were really good. We had the patio pretty much to ourselves. After dinner we headed to Graham Central Station where several more of our friends were waiting for us. No trip to GCS is complete without some Kareoke. Though my voice is completely fried from this stupid bronchitis. I sang Aretha Franklin's "Chain of fools". Tiff showed her pole dancing skills in the Coyote Ugly-knock-off bar and the crowd was pretty impressed. Someone gave her a tip.

On Saturday morning Brian played soccer and I went to the Texas Rodeo to see Ethan run his very first race. It was a hot day and a great turnout for the kids' 1K run. Jenn ran with Ethan while I stood by with the stroller and both cameras at the ready. Ethan finished the race on his own two feet, which is more than I observed of most of the other kids in his age group who were carried over the line by parents or in thier strollers. Not my Ethan. Jenn said he did throw a bit of a fit though because he wanted me to run too. Awh! he loves his auntie.

Afterwards Brian and I went to a little coffee shop bakery where our friend Stephen works as a pastry chef. We had lunch and spent some time chatting with Stephen before returning home to do some chores. I cleaned house while Brian weeded the lawn which was much needed since ours looks like the crappiest lawn on the block.

Around 5:30 we headed downtown to meet our friends for sushi at Kyoto, then we went to Fado for a round of Irish Car Bombs which are awesome! They're a pint of Guness and a shot of Baileys and Jaimeson Whiskey. You drop the shot into the guiness and drink it fast. It kinda tasted like chocolate milk. Afterwards we headed to Stubbs for the Matisyahu concert. It was a great concert. Brian and I had only heard one of his songs and assumed he was jamaican, however, he was completely NOT jamaican and was in fact an ascetic jew!! we were not expecting that. It worked, though. He was awesome. We also saw Brian's friend Tracey at the concert. She went up to the front to get a few pics with her new camera. They came out really well! My feet were killing me by the end of the night because we stood at the concert for hours! Brian had to drive home because my feet hurt so bad.

Sunday was another eventful day. We ran errands and Brian took care of the lawn. He overhauled the lawnmower by changing the oil and putting in a new blade, then he fertilized the lawn and watered it, then took care of the seals on the top of his car. Meanwhile I put the finisheing touches on my wedding dress, which was to finish sewing the bustle loop on it and reinforce the halter straps. The bustle loop came out better than I'd imagined. It's virtually invisible when down and looks beautiful when up.

I had a little freak out moment yesterday too. Mostly about weight gain. I'm not eating excessively, and I"m working out consistently and employing all the techniques my friend Jason told me to do. But I still have this little fat roll around my waist that will not go away! I'm going to monitor my diet for the next month or so with a spreadsheet and see where I'm going wrong. Of course, my freak out included a 2 hour trip to the gym to try and get a head start on getting rid of it.

We rounded off the weekend with a thin crust pizza from costco (only 720 cals for whole pizza) and watched a movie.

Oh HAPPY DAY!

Ruby Sue came back from the body shop yesterday. She looks better than new and drives like a dream. Of course, I've been driving a shitty rental for a month so the comparison I have to go with is quite low-end, but MAN! that baby drives like a dream! Tight steering, solid suspension, responsive gas peddle, and of course, it looks good! I sure did miss my Ruby.

We had a couple of visitors last night. Jay came over to drop off a paper cutter that Julia has loaned to me. He had a list of "Honey do's" to get done. Brian thought that was really funny until I informed him that his day was approaching ;-)
Erin came over for a haircut. Erin has the most gorgous curly hair you've ever seen and I always have to touch it when I see her, purely because it's the exact opposite of my own stick straight hair. I gave her long layers and it was absolutely stunning! I hope she likes it too. It was fun to hang out with her. Hair cutting is another creative outlet for me, kinda like my art. Only it's on someone's head. So of course, I did warn her that every time I see her now I'm gonna be checking it out to see how I can do it differently next time, and don't be surprised if I show up with a pair of scissors saying "let me just get that one piece". I imagine picasso was a perfectionist, too :-)

Poor Brian had a horrible night again. Coughing uncontrolably, and it sounded painful. Hopefully it will pass soon.
Today marks the next to last day our good friend Eric will be working for IBM. He is opening his own bike store and we're so excited for him! we're going to Sherlock's with Eric this evening to celebrate for happy hour.
And tomorrow, Brian will be 25!!! Happy Birthday (early) Gummy Bear!

Ouiji!

Saturday was another awesome day/night. Barbie and I worked out at the gym together in the early afternoon, then took a quick tour through Walgreens where Barbie entertained fellow shoppers with her musical talents ;-) I cleaned out the pantry, fridge, and junk drawer, met Barbie to help her shop for something to wear, then got ready for an evening out with the girls.

We headed down to Frank and Angies Pizza on 6th. Jenn, Barbie, Tara, Tania, and me, and Tania's husband Jason, whose band was playing at Momo's ate dinner there. After dinner we headed over to Momo's. The band was awesome, and we all got a CD of their new single. Also, there was a camera crew there from Taste of Texas TV show. Jenn did an interview with them about Momo's and katz's. After Ouiji finished playing, we all headed to Donn's Depot to round off our evening with some Murphy's Inlaws. I love that when I go to Donn's everyone makes a huge fuss of me, gives me tons of hugs. Michael and Craig were amazing as always, and when I requested Led Zeplin's "Whole Lotta Love" for the final song they obliged me, and even Donn was rocking out! God damn they're great musicians! You shouldn't just take my word for it, though. Go see them for yourself at Donns on a Thursday night. I saw Winker, who I hadn't seen in forever, and got to dance with a nice young man from Arkansas.

Another very late night. I made it to bed finally around 3am. Today I was dragging quite a bit and woke up with an extremely sore throat and weird cough. I spent most of the day taking it easy on the couch with the cats. While I like to spend time by myself, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my weekend, I sure do miss Brian.

Night on the town

Oh My! we had a fun night last night. Andi, Tara, and I headed down to Donns Depot to hang with Barbie while she worked and I needed to talk to Donn about his web site. After Donn's we headed downtown to "The Dirty Dog" where a friend of Andi's was playing with his band. It's actually a snowboarder/wakeboarder type bar. The music was pretty good. Brian would have loved it judging by the songs on his MP3 player ;-). We also scored the sweetest parking spot ever! Right at the corner of 5th and Neches, only 200 yards from where we were going.

The bar tender hooked us up with Jello shots and Tara did her first jello shot ever! I know Brian will be most upset that he wasn't there for that. We met another of Andi's friends at the bar and played some pool, Tara and Me against Andi and Roger. Around 1:30 we headed out of the bar to go to Coyote Ugly, and bumped into Travis on the way out! We did a round of shots, and Tara did her first shot ever! hehe, Brian and Mike missed out! Note to self: Red Bull and Bacardi O = REALLY GREAT DRINK!

We finally made it to Coyote Ugly around 1:45 and practically got mobbed by a bunch of horny mexicans wanting to dance with us. After disentangling them from us and issuing a few warnings that I in NO WAY welcome a man grinding his testicles onto my ass, we fled back out to the street where we realized it was 2am and time for all the drunkards to get on the road.

On the way home we got a craving for French Fries and headed to the Whataburger near the house where we each ate a large portion of fries! We finally rolled in to the driveway at 3:15. An awesome night! and we came home with the same amount of money we left with! ;-) It's good to be girls.

Torn

This weekend a very dear friend is having her bachelorette party in Las Vegas. I had to make the decision to not go. I waited till the very last minute to make my decision becauseI was just in denial, or hoping that I'd find a way to justify it. I'm extremely torn about the decision. I feel like I am not being very supportive of my friend by my absence, though I know she completely understands. At the same time I feel left out. It's just a very weird place to be.

I do hope they have an absolute blast, though, and I sincerely hope that what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas in this case, and finds its way to my ears by way of great stories, and my eyes by way of many, many pictures.

I'll be there in spirit! Viva Las Vegas, Ladies!!

I do plan to have a full weekend, though. Brian's heading to Houston to help his dad with the yard work, and to go to the Rodeo. That's one thing you will not find me going to. A rodeo. I find the roping and humiliating of animals for entertainment to be quite appaling. The one time I did see a rodeo I spent my time peeking through my fingers, sobbing because the animals looked so frightened, and furiously hoping that those mean and stupid men would get trampled or gored!
Right in the testicles. Serves them right. Bastards. Not that I feel strongly about this at all ;-)

While Bri's away I am going to spend some quality time with the girls, and by myself.