I've decided to take a break from drooling over pieces I want or things I want to create to share a story with you.
It's about the man I'm going to marry.
This story is quite humorous to me, and I hope that you find it enjoyable as well.

My man recently got a job with an insurance company.
Not his ideal situation since he has an associate's degree in Sports Management and a BS in business management, but he's content.
Well, he's been in training for his job for the past three weeks, and today his department is celebrating Thanksgiving.
Everyone was asked to bring in a food item or donate money for the main portion of the meal.

My beau decided to bring monkey bread.

If you don't know what it is, essentially, it's biscuits covered in cinnamon, sugar, and butter.
[definitely "low carb"]

And, let me preface the rest of the story by saying two things.
One, my man does not fair well in the kitchen; he's much better microwaving things, of which he often informs me.
Two, I now know why men are not allowed in kitchens and understand why women typically do all the cooking.

Ahem.
Here we go.

Last night, he was prepping the biscuits and the oven started beeping to let him know it was preheated and ready.
My mother and I were in another room watching BONES when we heard him say in a whiny voice to the stove -
"All ready? But I'm not even ready!"
My mother and I looked at each other and began to snicker.
Silly boys.

After BONES was over, I took pity and went to help my failing man.
He was going super slow, but I totally rocked it.
I got those puppies in and out in no time!

After making two monkey breads, I helped clean up by putting the supplies away while he washed dishes.
Then, I went to bed.

I came downstairs this morning to find...
the oven still on
and
the bundt pan soaking in the sink.

Oh yes.
He left the oven on.
So, not only did he possibly rust the bundt pan because he left it soaking in water,
but he possibly could have burnt the house down.

And that is a great way to end a week...
with a little laugh.

Photo : The Prepared Pantry

This past weekend, while sick at home, I browsed for items to both give and receive for Christmas. I stumbled upon a lovely designer on Etsy - Lulu Splendor. She is based out of Australia too.

This is the wonder that I found:

Isn't it absolutely divine? I want it...desperately. And, that is why I put on my Christmas list. It also has matching accessories!

I think this would look great with a cardi set or a turtleneck...especially during the holidays. And, it would look great with the bridal gown I have now picked out but not tried on. Can you tell that I'm obsessed with both?

Please, Mr. Santa {i.e. my fiance}, will you please get this for me for Christmas????

(Photo credit: Etsy)

Most of my wedding guests will be coming from out of town - specifically New York. And, I really don't want a traditional guest book with their names in it. I'm sure {knowing myself and Mr. GrapeJuice} it'll get lost in our massive piles of crap.  Who really wants to take out a book and look at names? Not this girl!

I want something different. Something unique. ...like a poster! I'd entered a giveaway at Lasso'd Moon Designs for a guest book poster but didn't win. No big, but it inspired me. A poster would be quite convenient and cute.  Then, over the weekend, I saw a tweet from brides.com about a city poster. That got the wheels in my head turning.

A cityscape poster for the guest book.



It could be signed with a silver Sharpie, and after the wedding, framed and placed in our place of residence. This would then be a constant reminder of the love that surrounded us on our big day while we were all in one place!

Photo : AllPosters.com

Recently, I've fallen head over heels for the color gray.
Don't ask me why because I have abslutely no idea!
[maybe it's all the gloomy days we've been having?]
I'm even slightly tempted to change my colors up a bit.
Nothing drastic of course!
Just nix the silver and go with pewter or something darker for a more dramatic feel.

Here are some images that have been teasing me lately:

Board : Tastefully Entertaining

Board : Elizabeth Anne Designs

If my beau would let me, I'd like to have him in a black tux and his men in a darker gray color. I think that would look really nice.

I mean, the bride gets to look different from her maids!
Why can't the groom look different from his men too?

I have found the ONE!

...

No.

I'm not talking about my future husband.

You ladies know what I mean.

I have quite possibly found THE DRESS!

Oh yes.

It's out there!

It is currently calling my name.

...over and over and over and over again...

Have I tried her on yet?

Nope.

Is the price right?

Nope.

Do I really care?

Not in the least!!!

All Images : Sophia Tolli

On Sundays, my sister and her hubby come over for dinner. This Sunday she came alone though because her hubby was at the TN Titans game for his birthday. {They actually won too!!!!!}

My sister and I began looking at wedding things online. {I don't even know how it started either.} After looking at several things, she suggested that we change our date, which - may I remind you - isn't even set in stone yet. Oh yes. She wants us to move it up...to next year. I about nearly passed out. I'd have to start making serious decisions soon - like pick a Church. {which is a hugh a set of drama in and of itself anyway!} I quickly decided that moving up the date would NOT be a good idea.

Apparently, my subconcious didn't like my decision. How do I know this? Because, Sunday night, I dreamt about getting married. I dreamt up my entire rehearsal. Luckily, everyone paid attention and was cooperative in my dream. {hopefully that'll really happen on the big day too} But, as I walked down the aisle at the rehearsal, I was panicking. Not the "I don't want to do this anymore" panic, but the "I can't believe this is happening; is everything going smoothly?" type of panic.

Please, wedding gods, don't let this actually happen to me. I want to enjoy my day. I don't want to be a panicked mess!

Photo : Life123

Everyone's talking about candy bars, sundae bars, popcorn bars, spice bars, etc.

While I don't necessarily want to have one of those, I do want some candy at my wedding.

And, what's better than rock candy?

Photo : Hoosier Historic Enterprises

And, this would be a great DIY project/science experiment!!

My little brother {he's 8} loves to do science experiments.

So, I think this would be an awesome Saturday activity.

Maybe we'll try it out soon to get all the details down; so by the time the wedding rolls around, we'll know what to do!

While I have not bought a wedding dress yet, I do know the kind of veil that I am looking for!!

I want a cathedral length wedding veil.

To me, they just ooze class and seem to be timeless.

{But don't worry. I won't be wearing it to the reception! I'm going to take the veil off and replace it with a floral/feather fascinator.}

The reason I want a long-ish veil is because I definitely want pictures like the ones below. They melt my heat and make me sigh with happiness.

Photo : Watson-Studios

Photo : Jayson and Jo Anne

Photo : Eric Lundgren

Photo : Ashley Riddle Photography

Photo : Raw Photo Design

:)

.:le sigh:.

Did you ever have a reaction like that to a wedding item?

I have seen some killer monograms while browsing/stalking the blog-o-sphere, and I desperately want one!

This weekend, however, I got a little bored while my mister was watching a baseball game. {go figure}

At any rate, I started playing around with paintNET {because that's what I do when I'm not drooling over other weddings}. And, I created a little something that I'm actually quite proud of!

This is the second monogram I've made though so it'll probably change a thousand more times before the wedding day finally rolls around!

First, I would like to start out by saying...have you seen the new Get Married site? I LOVE the new layout!!!!!

And now, my colors. They are hard to describe. When I tell people what they are, they just kind of look at me funny. {maybe you guys will get it}

My colors are pool, honeydew, canary, and silver.

And, I'm sure you just saw the following images...

Photo : Free Foto

Photo : Cool Health Tips

Photo : That Bird Blog

Photo : Monograms for All Occasions

Seeing those images isn't bad, but it's hard to see them as wedding colors. They're all summery, which is good because that's the season of our wedding, but I guess it's just hard to picture.

But then, this morning - after washing dishes, I opened my Google Reader and what should appear? An image that basically puts all my colors together, and makes it so much easier to understand our thinking. So, thank you to Darci at With This Ring Weddings!