Deal of the Day

Don't get me wrong, I love a great deal. However, I would rather poke my eyes out than go shopping during Black Friday and the weekend following. I planned on having a weekend full of cleaning, laundry, etc and avoiding any and all retail stores at all costs. But, then came the circular for Michaels in the mail. They had 50% off frames all weekend plus and additional 20% off before noon today. My mom and I had talked about the guest book situation not too long ago and decided that even though they have been done to death, that the framed picture with the large mat for people to sign would be best. That way I can display it with one of our engagement pictures during the reception and then later put a wedding picture in it. I'd like to be able to see all the well wishes that are left for us rather than having to thumb through a book that just collects dust on a shelf. So, after all my discounts...it was only $12!! If you don't know what I'm talking about, it looks a little like this:

Guys are weird

I guess Clay is finally getting into the spirit of wedding planning. He was cruising through the movie channels a couple of nights ago and actually stopped on Bride Wars because it had just started. He watched the whole thing and made comments about the dresses, etc.!! I also had a BRIDE magazine laying out the other day and he looked through the whole thing and told me dress styles he likes, opinions on bridesmaid dresses, etc. If you don't know Clay, it was a funny sight. He's a 6'5" huge dude so its pretty humorous to hear him talk about ruffles on dresses...

Oh, if you havene't checked Style Me Pretty today, then you are missing out on some sick dresses. They are unbelievable! This latest round of dresses are so amazing with the organza work and beading. I can't imagine how heavy they must be.

Fun o Fun with the Registry Gun

Clay has been gone a lot lately, so when he's actually home, we have to knock out some of our wedding to do list items. One of those on the list, was for him to go with me to Bed, Bath, & Beyond so he could pick out some stuff and see what I had started. I usually am anti BB&B, but that was the only place we could find bedding that we really liked. Once we saw it in real life, it was even better. Clay was in charge of the registry gun. Um, that should say enough. He was a little trigger happy. Needless to say, I had to edit out a few items online when I got home. We got a great start and picked out a lot of things that will come in handy when we have lots of people over. We decided against china and just chose plain white everyday dinnerware. I know its boring, but we both have huge families, so its more about quantity. You can also dress up white dishes with chargers, pretty napkins, and tablecloths anyway, so those seemed to be the most sensible choice. After about an hour, Clay said he either had to go to Sports Authority or go home and watch football to regain some of his manhood after being in BB&B for so long. Such a guy!

Happy weekend

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm really going to try and make it to The Junior League of Austin's A Christmas Affair. Its a wonderful three day event at the Palmer Events Center. It is basically a huge market with all sorts of one of a kind handmade crafts that make for awesome Christmas gifts. Maybe I can find some bridesmaid jewelry. More info can be found at http://www.jlaustin.org/?nd=aca2009

My friend and coordinator, Paige, has a booth at the show for her other endeavor, Show Pony Designs. They have some freaking cute stuff! I don't how she juggles it all. She has pictures of some of the things they will have at the show on their Facebook page here

Its Been A Long Time

I can't believe I haven't written anything in almost a month! I guess its because we're at a place where we have things under control. I finally signed a contract with a caterer and am super excited about the menu. I found out that Central Market will do a three layer cake with filling and buttercream design for about $120. What a deal! I don't really plan on eating more than the "exchanged bite" at the ceremony anyway. I'm not much of a cake fan. However, Clay's groom's "cake" is going to be our challenge. I really wanted him to see that I've made a point to have something catered to him. So, we are doing a golf table (he would play everday if he could) for him. My mom and I are going to make cake balls (if you haven't seen them, they are the rage in Austin right now) that look like golf balls and then decorate the table in a golf theme. I wasn't going to show him my sketch of the table, but I wanted him to see it. He LOVED it! I just hope it works out. However, Clay is not a cake fan either, but his favorite dessert is blackberry cobbler. So, we are trying to figure out a way to make cobbler in a cake ball style. I got my Grandma Heckmann's cobbler recipe from my mom and put it in a smaller dish to bake so I would have more of cakey part than fruit. Then, I cooled the cobbler for about two hours, formed it into balls, and froze them for about four more hours. Then, I dipped them in almond bark and they are now cooling in the fridge in the garage. They aren't perfectly round, but that is going to be a challenge with cobbler since the cakey part gets crusty around the edges. Taste test will be tomorrow once they are good and set. So, here is what they look like in the fridge:

And yes, you are seeing that right. I put them in a jar of mixed nuts to set. I needed something for them to settle in so they didn't touch and that's all I could come up with. So, if this works, it will be great. Otherwise, I have much more trial and error ahead of me.

The months keep flying by. We are almost at the five month mark already. We start premarital counseling with the pastor next month and will see him once a month thereafter until the wedding. We have our "engagement" session with the photographer coming up. I hope we can find someone to come with us so we can have a couple of pictures with our little peanuts (aka Ruby and Bruiser). Speaking of them, they were right next to me in the kitchen during the cake ball trials (and followed me to the garage) just waiting for me to drop one:

Other than that, we are set for now. Clay will be traveling a lot from now until the wedding which will give me lots of time to knock out my DIY projects. Before I know it, Christmas/New Years will have come and gone and the big day will be right around the corner!