Home Decorating & Ice Cream Sundaes

I don't have much to report on. Fiance and I painted his place (soon to be our place) on Saturday. My sweet mom came and helped us out. Once there were three of us, it moved quickly. The room is kind of a great room and we painted it a butter yellow. Its so pretty. The trim is a bright white and the contrast is amazing. I think our color scheme is going to be blue and green with some yellow. Mom and I found some great fabric for one of our couches in those colors.

We haven't finalized our wedding reception menu yet . . . so I am blogging about the rehearsal dinner. As I have shared before, our theme is a "Night at the Ballpark." We are having traditional ballpark fare and then an ice cream sundae bar for dessert!!! I am excited about this. We'll have lots of different toppings for people to choose from. What is your favorite topping on ice cream? My favorite are those rainbow colored jimmies posted below.

I got tagged by Miss Downtown Southern. If you haven't checked out her blog, you need to! She is also planning her wedding and her ideas are fab!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:50 - I like my sleep

2. Diamonds or Pearls? I like both, but right now I can't afford diamonds, so pearls it is!

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Sex and the City

4. What is your favorite TV show? the Office, Lost, Wife Swap (its really funny), Super Nanny

5. What did you eat for breakfast? coffee, yogurt, cantaloupe

6. What foods do you dislike? I don't like lamb. I like bananas but I don't like imitation banana flavored things - like banana popsicles or banana slurpees. I'm not really a picky eater, so thats all I can think of right now.

7. Your favorite potato chip? I like Ruffles ridged potato chips

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I don't really have a fave right now, but I agree with Downtown Southern on MJ's greatest hits - its an awesome cd even though he is weird. I also love Madonna's greatest hits.

9. What kind of car do you drive? Acura Integra

10. Favorite sandwich? smoked turkey on french bread with house dressing - my sister will know where this is from.

11. What characteristics do you despise? hypocrisy, narrow-minded people, lying, inconsiderate people . . . I could go on, but I'll stop

12. What are your favorite clothes? I love wearing sundresses in the summer. In the winter, I wear a lot of cable knit sweaters and jeans.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Italy or Paris

14. What color is your bathroom? Black and white tiled floor and white walls

15. Favorite brand of clothing? J.Crew

16. Favorite time of day? I like the 7:00 p.m. hour - I'm usually home from the gym and relaxing at home.

17. Where would you want to retire to? wherever Fiance is (hopefully its near the water)

18. Favorite sports to watch? Basketball and VT football

19. Coke or Pepsi? definitely coke

20. Are you a morning person or night owl? definitely a night owl

21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? we're painting this weekend! its not very exciting but I thought I would share :)

22. What did you want to be when you were little? A lawyer

23. What is your best childhood memory? I loved staying with my grandparents - both sets. I always felt grown up when I was there by myself. We also had a lot of great vacations - like Disney World, NYC, Lake George.

24. Nicknames? My family calls me Sissy

25. Piercings? Ears

26. Eye Color? Hazel

27. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

28. Favorite restaurant? I love me some PF Chang's

29. Favorite ice cream? depends what kind of mood I am in - I love Bruster's Birthday Cake Ice Cream - its pure sugar

30. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? probably a Super Target, to be practical, but most likely J.Crew

31. Bedtime? 10:30 - 11:00

32. What are you listening to right now? the hum of the air conditioning in my office and my typing

33. How many tattoos do you have? none! thank goodness

34. Next film you'll see? I'm a dork but I want to see the movie Kit - the American Girl - haha - I love those movies!

Food for thought

I feel like I have found such a great community among my blogger friends . . . including the brides to be. This idea came to me as I was reading other wedding blogs. All of you other brides out there have great ideas, you have great taste, and you appear to be very organized. So many of you would make great wedding coordinators.

Here is my thought . . . what if brides starting bartering for “day of” coordinating services? At my sister’s wedding, my mom had an acquaintance come and coordinate the ceremony start. Then my mom did the same for her daughter. It was nice because they weren’t good enough friends to come to the wedding, but they trusted each other for this small task.

This post is not at all meant to offend any wedding coordinator. I link to several wedding coordinator blogs and they are really fabulous. I realize they provide a valuable service to a lot of couples. That being said, I don’t know how everyone else feels, but it shocks me to find out how much some wedding coordinators are charging.

If you all are anything like me, you have devoured every wedding magazine you’ve come across since you became engaged. I have read every wedding blog I could find. I have heard all of the horror stories and all of the “behind the scenes” stuff and what should be in your "emergency" bag. I feel like I am prepared to handle emergency situations, should they arise. So, I thought – some of my fellow bloggers must feel the same way.

What do you all think? Trading with another bride in your area, to be her day of coordinator and then she would do the same for you? I feel like this idea is so much better than asking a friend or a family member to be the coordinator. Because, this would be a person who is detached from the situation and all of your guests can enjoy themselves. The other added bonus is, who better understands than another bride? They know the small details mean something to you.

Obviously the two brides would have to talk about what their expectations would be, but I think it could work. It may mean giving up a Saturday during your wedding planning, but it might be worth it. What do you think?

Love the One Your With - Emily Giffin

Okay girls, I’m not gonna lie to ya. I wasn’t that impressed with Emily Giffin’s latest novel. I loved Something Borrowed & Something Blue. I also liked Baby Proof, but it wasn’t nearly as good as Something Borrowed & Something Blue.

This novel was worse than Baby Proof. I was so bored when I was reading it. I would try to read a chapter a night, but sometimes, I couldn’t even get through that. Well I finally finished it last week. I have to admit, the last two chapters were good. However, I was disappointed with the book. Call me old-fashioned, but why can’t she just write about someone actually loving the one they are with? Why is it, in her books, that the main characters always have to venture out of their relationships to decide whether or not they really do - love the one they are with?

I think it makes for an interesting plot once in a while, but for every novel? No thanks. Anyways, I would not recommend this book. Maybe her next book will be better. Feel free to share your opinions!

Thank you

I just wanted to thank you all for your birthday wishes. It meant a lot.

Paying to be a bridesmaid?

Not sure how many of you have seen this. Do some people really want a big wedding . . . that bad? I guess so. To each his own . . .

More Wedding Business

Before our reception, we are having a cocktail hour. The cocktail hour is scheduled to take place in an outdoor garden. Our reception site won't let our guests in until a certain time, so we need to have a cocktail hour. (Hopefully it won't rain). Here are some pictures of the garden:

I don't really want to do a whole lot in the garden. However, I have always loved the look of white lights. What do you all think about white lights on the trees? Or do you have any other suggestions (that might be less time consuming :-)?