Hair-dos and Waffles

It feels like something wedding related is happening or being accomplished every day lately.  (I guess that’s what should be happening when you’re 24 days out….)  The out of town bags arrived yesterday, we’ve selected our Kolache boxes and ordered labels for them, and I get a package almost every day at work (not presents, mostly this and that I’ve ordered from Etsy).  Whereas before, I felt really organized or at least I knew what I had shared here and what I hadn’t, I now can’t remember what I’ve showed you guys and what I haven’t.  I think because its mostly been all these little things.  For sanity sake (if there is any of that left) I’ll wait and fill you in once everything comes together on some of these little projects. 



believe it or not, this was my least awkward pic

For today, I’ll share two fun, slightly wedding related recent events.  The first, I treated myself to a haircut and conditioning treatment this Sunday in preparation for the level of beauty expected of me come October 13^th.   Nothing drastic for the cut, just a trim to ensure my locks were healthy for the big day.  And per my hair stylists suggestion, a conditioning treatment to help my hair be shiny and soft J  Sitting under the steamer while my treatment soaked in ended up being somewhat of a treat in itself.  I had forgotten my book (a rarity for me because I’m usually carrying at least one in my purse) so flipped through a magazine for a while.  I also just sat.  Just sat.  Had nothing I should (or could really) have been doing at the time and enjoyed the beat.  (When I wasn’t awkwardly trying to snag this picture so I could share this moment with you guys – its not normal to take pictures of oneself under the dryer at the beauty parlor….)

Banana walnut waffles via joythebaker.com
can you see that I was about to take my first bite
but then thought I should document them first

The second, is that Javier and I have been getting an influx of wedding presents these days J  We had been shoving hiding storing them in the closet, but as I mentioned last week, decided it was time to start finding homes for our new little belongings.  The sight of brand spanking new kitchen gadgets tucked neatly into place combined with the recovery of our closet improved my mood immensely.   To the extent that we are trying to find homes for our gifts as they arrive nowadays (skipping the closet step altogether).  In addition to my excitement at put-away presents, we’re also using all our fun new stuff.  (How do you feel about that readers?  Should Javs and I be waiting til post wedding to use our goods?)  Either way, we’re not waiting.  In fact, instead, I’m letting the new doodads totally dictate what we have for dinner.  Monday we used our new rice cooker to chow down on some delish stir fry.  And last night we enjoyed brinner through the hard work of our new waffle maker!  Thursday we’re having chicken enchilada soup because we got this unbelievable combination straining ladle that I’m pumped to try out.  More posts to come, you still need to see Isabel’s dress, the mysterious project Uncle Jim is tackling for us, the ‘table numbers’ I’ve been working on and maybe even a guest post from BM Jess who has been working on her own special project for the big day!

Bachelorlympics

Dave came prepared with all sorts
of appropriate attire

For those of you who don’t know, I love sports.  I love pretty much everything that has to do with sports.  And lucky for me, both Felipe and Scott know this about me.  Everyone got to experience the London Olympics, but just a select few athletes were able to enjoy the Ophelia Bachelorlympics.  That’s right – my guys pulled off an incredible 3 day set of festivities – complete with opening ceremony and multiple “sports” – to make me an Olympian.

The schedule of events for the weekend included a touch football game (not for a medal), individual and team cornhole, individual and team ladderball, individual and team kubb, individual beer pong, and BeerioKart.  Scott and Felipe coordinated the logistics of the weekend, as Scott was able to secure his family’s riverhouse as our Olympic Village for the weekend.  Scott (and eventually me because I love it) created brackets in advance of the weekend, and when all 10 guys arrived on Friday evening, we were ready to dive right the opening ceremony and BeerioKart.

Torch lighting

Felipe, in his incredible attention to the small things that make things much cooler, had everybody select an anthem to play as their song.  The songs ranged from Disney ballads to rock anthems, to clips from musicals to a moment of silence.  In a nod to Ando, we played the Australian national anthem as well as the US national anthem and the Olympics anthem.  And we even had our own lighting of the torch.  Everything about the first night was wonderful, particularly because we kicked off the festivities with an event that I love: BeerioKart.  It’s the only drinking and driving that any of us endorses.  As expected, Felipe (gold), Brian Allen (bronze) and I (silver) excelled (carryover from  our nerdy high school days or playing far too much MarioKart), and were the first to partake in a medal ceremony.

official brackets

On Saturday morning, we all had a wonderful breakfast treat: Bodo’s bagels from Charlottesville!  Scott had arranged the pickup of Charlottesville goodies the week prior, and to all of our delight, our days were off to a good start.  It was then time for our football game, and Dave Hartmann set the tone for the rest of the Olympics.  As I mentioned in my post about our ushers, Dave is one of my buddies from high school (but not a BeerioKart medalist).  Dave ran track in high school, and for some reason seemed to think he’d like to prove that he could still fit into his track suit.  For Dave’s sake – and for yours – I’ll forgo the picture, but his shameless style made everyone know that we were in for a good time, regardless of outcomes.

After the football game, we all took a quick break (we’re not as athletically gifted in our mid-to-late-twenties as we thought . . .) and then got the lawn games and medal events going.  Cornhole and ladderball took forever (I want to forget about ladderball . . . Felipe skunked me 12-0), but eventually we worked through the group stages and into the finals.  Classick frustrated BMar in both championships taking two gold medals, while Scott took a bronze in ladderball and I brought home a bronze medal in cornhole.

Just like the Bodo’s goodies for breakfast, Scott had orchestrated Take It Away for lunch, and we all wolfed down house dressing with pleasure.

The highlight of the Bachelorlympics might have been the newly-discovered lawn game kubb.  I won’t attempt to explain it, but an alternate name for it is “Viking chess” and you can find out how to play here.  It looks super lame in the video, but it was awesome to play.  It, along with a couple of other lawn games, will make an appearance in 26 short days at Ash Lawn!

On Saturday night, after a full day of lawn games and day drinking, we all retired to the living room at the river house to enjoy some AC and relaxation.  Scott had spent some time compiling a SWEET trivia game (I love trivia just about as much as I love sports), and we all had fun ensuring we had a sound mind to go with our sound bodies.

The Olympics themed bachelor party complete with trivia, great food from Charlottesville, and some of my best buds in the world was the best one I could have asked for.  I know some people love painting the town red, but getting to relax in a gorgeous river house and play lawn games was exactly what I wanted to do, and I’m so thankful to Felipe, Scott and the rest of the guys for having organized it all.  It was an awesome weekend with the guys, and one that I hope indicates just how fun a time we’ll have when we’re all back together – this time with our dates – in Charlottesville.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, here are the full medal results:

BMar                1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze

Classick            3 gold, 2 bronze

Javier               1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze

Scott                1 gold, 2 silver

Dave                2 silver, 1 bronze

Felipe               2 gold

Vinh                  1 gold, 1 bronze

Brian                 1 silver, 1 bronze

Andy                Medal-less

Rhett                Medal-less

Girls' Night Out ;)

We’re 30 days out people.  That’s right, every date from here on out will be my last as a betrothed lady.  The next 14^th I see….I’ll be an old married woman ;) OH MY GOODNESS!!! 

I’m feeling much better today (maybe it was waking up to a ‘One month!’ text from my Matron of Honor)!  Or that Javier and I spent hours sometime last night cleaning out some cabinets, making decisions on what stuff we want to get rid of (to make way for new wedding gifts!) and put away the closet full of presents we’ve accumulated so far.  I have definitely grown into one of those people that cannot relax amid a mess (yeah, college friends…I know I wasn’t always like this….).  Javier laughs because I usually spend the first 15-20 mins I’m home from work putting clothes away, fluffing cushions and wiping down coffee tables cause I can’t just sit until I feel good about our home.  SO!  With a brand new batch of stuff finally in its place, I felt a sense of relief yesterday that I hope keeps me sane (at least for a little bit).

Now, I debated sharing with you some of the projects I finally have started working on, but since nothing is completely done (and it was such a fun time) I thought it better to share my perfect bachelorette to celebrate our 30 day mark!  A wise person once said that a picture was worth 1,000 words so I’ll try to let the amazing pictures do the talking (i.e. picture heavy post ahead!)  I will say that everything was a complete surprise to me (something I’m usually not game for) and could not have turned out better!

We started at Michelle, Randa and Sandy’s house for brunch J  (Since I didn’t know where I was going, as we crossed into Rosslyn I definitely said to Jess, ‘well I guess this spot is convenient for Michelle, Randa and Sandy!’….yes VERY convenient!)  We had delicious ham biscuits (a Staples’ family staple), bagels, mimosas, fresh fruit smoothies and a quiche (recipe by JoytheBaker – one of my fav food bloggers)

brunching it up 

Since I didn’t know where we were going (or what we were doing) Kels and Jess had to help me with outfit selection.  When they suggested I wear ‘what I’d wear to softball practice’ I cringed a bit.  You mean sweatpants from high school with permanent clay stains?  Or my soffe shorts that are covered in paint? Which pair of soffe shorts covered in paint you ask, well my red, blue and black pair were all ‘clean’  so I had options ;)  (This bachelorette taught me I need to buy some new workout attire….)  Needless to say I was relieved to show up and receive this brand spanking new t-shirt for our Saturday morning adventure J

After brunch, we piled into cars and headed...north (I still didn’t know where we were going!).  But I was SO excited when we pulled into GO APE!   What is GO APE? (from their website...)

            It’s not in the dictionary, but if it was, Go Ape would be described as a ‘treetop adventure’.

We take one lush, green forest and a healthy dose of breathtaking scenery; blend with a smattering of treetop high wires, tricky crossings (using ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood, rope and super-strong wire) and wind-in-your-face zip lines; finished off with a mega dose of people in search of their inner Tarzan.

While a few were feeling some nerves early on, we all found our inner Tarzan! (…well…Jane!)

this is us being apes

look at us in the trees

those ladder crossings were a bit scary

just escaped the rain - group shot

After a few butt landings on the zip lines, we were all in desperate need of showers.  We piled back into cars (as the down pour started) and went to our hotel to freshen up.  While we were all getting beautified, the girls put out some cheese and crackers to snack on and a CHAMPAGNE TASTING.  We all tried our hand at blindly testing 5 champagnes and selecting the most expensive.  Shockingly, we failed.  In fact, I think no one picked the most expensive as their favorite.  Oh well, we’re cheap dates, but we’re fun!

For dinner we headed to Mussel Bar.  I love me some mussels and was super stoked when I learned our dinner destination.  The Bar didn’t disappoint and even delivered all our mussels in unison; releasing lids and billowing steam all at the same time!  I ate ever single mussel and ended up tipping my pan to scoop out as much broth as possible.  (not my most ladylike moment, but so worth it!)

this was my 'Wall of Temptation'
look at that hotty Colin Firth
I'm puckering up for ;)

After dinner we headed back to the hotel so they could dress me up, bachelorette style.  They got me gussied up and a minor dance party broke out (particularly when New Kids on the Block came one!)  (okay, that was mostly just me and Kels, but I think everyone enjoyed it!)  Then we headed out to bars.  We must have struck some bachelorette luck, because the bar where we landed totally embraced our group.  The bartenders, patrons and even some regulars seemed excited to see a new crowd at the bar and eagerly ensured our girls' night out was one to remember!

how lovely are these ladies

this is our dance party
(we're getting into it)

this was Matt (or Mark?) who took good care of us at the bar :)

:) all smiles :)

HUGE thank you to my bridesmaids for planning such an awesome weekend!  And to all the ladies that traveled near and far, joined in when they could – it was SO awesome to celebrate with you.  LOVE YOU LOTS!

...and it opened up my eyes! I saw the sign.

Confession: I am very good at thinking negatively.  I know.  What a talent.  But it’s true.  When Javier is more than 10 minutes late getting home from soccer I’m all but convinced that he is lying in a ditch somewhere.  It’s not just that I worry, but that I have a knack for feeling certain that all that can go wrong, will.  Which is funny, cause (I think, at least) if you asked my friends, they’d say I’m generally a pretty positive person.  I like to have a good time when we’re together and (let’s face it) I’m often the loud, boisterous one standing in the circle mid-story.  I certainly don’t have the stereotypical demeanor of a Debbie Downer.   

One of the questionnaires at Pre-Cana had Javier and I assess our temperaments.  We had to respond to several statements with ‘Always’ ‘Most of the Time’ ‘Some of the Time’ ‘Rarely’ or ‘Never.’  Two of the statements were:

1)      I am optimistic.

2)      I am pessimistic. 

Javier answered the first with ‘Always’ (shocker) and the second with ‘Rarely’ (at least I think…hey, that was a few weeks ago).

I answered the same for both: ‘Some of the Time.’  And I think it’s true, it depends when you catch me and what I’m thinking about.  Unfortunately, my pessimism has a tendency to spread. And quickly.  Particularly when it wonders to the wedding portion of my brain (which may be growing to a size that will over take some of those 1990s lyrics I still have stored up there, just in case of an impromptu middle school reunion - bummer).  It starts with a worry about table assignments and drifts to the programs I’ve been meaning to start.  Then it meanders over to Javier’s vest that came in, but that we’re not sure we like.  By the time it hits the Thank you notes I still haven’t written and the bridal party gifts we’ve yet to choose, I’m down pretty far.  Then it starts to rain.  On my wedding day that is, and I’m in a hole that’s hard to hop out of.

I’m trying to be better at pulling myself out of the hole.  The truth is I have so many ridiculously wonderful things to be happy about, I think its almost hard for anyone (especially Javier) to understand why I’m down about anything.  Because of this, I think its sometimes hard for him to help me up from my down.  But I don’t want to be down.  We are going to have the most amazing wedding in October!  And there is plenty of good to outweigh the dread I get when I remember we still haven’t confirmed with the band how we’ll play music during their breaks:  Javier and I are starting to be bombarded with exciting and thoughtful wedding gifts J  I had my first dress fitting last week so it is on its way to ‘ready to be worn!’  Part of my BM gifts came in yesterday and I LOVE them.  Mom found the perfect container for our Kolache favors (and has started making official ‘wedding’ batches).  I had the best bachelorette party on Saturday (that deserves its own post).  It was the most thoughtful and enjoyable time – and proves I have the most amazing bridesmaids and friends in the entire world.  And last night, Javier and I got to check on a special project that my Uncle Jim has generously volunteered to undertake (another fun post to come - sneak peak below)!

People who have lead themselves down the spiral will know.  You understand the gravity that comes with these quick and negative connections you make when you’re feeling down.  If you don’t know…you don’t know.  You’ve probably never felt this way and don’t understand it at all.  You may even think I’m crazy.  But whether you get it or understand doesn’t really matter.  I think its more important that I’m understanding how I feel and learning what I can do about how I feel more and more.  I’m thinking a lot on my runs and they’ve provided a lot of clarity for different wedding tribulations.  They’re helping me reflect and have been equally (if not more) beneficial to my mental healthy as my physical.  I’m continuing to understand who I am and how that will affect my relationship and marriage with Javier.  While I’m being honest, it’s probably and particularly that I’m stubborn.  Which means: I’m not to ready to get over my down until I’m ready.  You know?  And no matter what Javier or any other positive person says or does, I have to do my part too.  I have to be ready.  So here’s to my part.  To growing.  To hopping out of the hole. To the wedding J and to our marriage.  There is lots of good stuff (and posts) to come J

Labor Day Weekend - Labor of Love!

We had a super fun and super productive weekend!  It started on Friday with celebrations for Javier turning the age that he will be when we get married J  After work, he and I took off to National Harbor for a fun date night at a dueling piano bar.  It. was. awesome.  All the pianist (there were four that kind of rotated) were super entertaining and almost exclusively played audience requests (including our very own Africa!).  Then we woke up early for a breakfast picnic at ____ park to watch the planes at Reagan Airport take off.  Man was it LOUD (particularly after such a fun night at the piano bar….) but super cool!

We scheduled birthday events early because we had a wedding later in the day on Saturday J (the last one we’ll attend before our wedding!)  It was such a gorgeous and FUN wedding!  I had to steal borrow this picture (already on her photographers website) to show you just how beautiful (and happy!) both bride and groom looked.  Cocktails on the rooftop and amazing food at Old Ebbitt Grill were a great way to finish up Javs’ bday and celebrate the amazing couple!  I particularly enjoyed the wedding because I work closely with the bride.  We’ve been discussing wedding details for months so it was so fun to see all of them come to fruition.

this is not my picture, it came from Sam Hurd Photography
http://www.samhurdphotography.com/2012/wedding/alexa-wedding-andrew-downtown-dc-wedding

Sunday brought our trip to Cville, equipped with an ambitious list of to-dos.  We started at Jefferson Vineyards.  We thought it would be a fun nod to our alma mater to serve Jefferson’s wine at the wedding.  So Mom, Dad, Javs and I tasted the available wines to make some selections to order for the wedding.  We did some debating regarding the whites (none of us are huge white drinkers) but ended up with the Viognier (French grape that grows well in VA!) and the red Meritage.  In the end, we went with what we liked best (cause if its left over, Mom and Dad will keep it!) and figured if folks didn’t love our options, they could drink beer or liquor!

Next appointment was with our photographers.  We have somewhat of a complicated schedule planned for Saturday and wanted to ensure it lined up with the hours we had booked with them.  Hashing it out over a coffee made me feel a lot better and it was nice that Mom and Dad got to meet Andrea and Brian before the big day!  We made a quick stop at Dad’s office to exchange/view all of the items we’ve bought for the wedding since our last visit.  Mom tried on some outfits for rehearsal dinner, etc – boy is she gonna look good!  And I showed her the shoes I finally picked for the big day J  Then we headed to the Dinsmoore House (where our families, BMs and GMs will be staying for the weekend).  We really liked the idea of using the bed and breakfast as a sort of ‘home base’ for the weekend.  After talking with Gail on Sunday, we think that is going to work out really well!

Then we finished up our day with a split:  Mom and I headed to Nikki’s house for my hair and makeup trial (I finally booked!) and Dad and Javs headed to Starr Hill to try some brewskies to order for the wedding.  My trial went great.  It was wonderful to meet Nikki and Lauren in person.  They made Mom and I feel right at home (had cheese and grapes out for us to snack on – Yum!).  I was worried about looking too makeupy on the day, but Nikki was great about listening to me and adjusting until I felt comfortable.  It was so wonderful having mom there too!  Its sometimes hard to tell how things really look in mirrors (weird lighting and distance, etc) so I was relieved to have another body there to give the OK!  Hair went well too (although it didn’t last as long – so it’ll probably need to be touched up in the afternoon of the day).  The boys joined us (with a variety 6 pack from Starr Hill for me to try J) and we headed home, feeling really good about all that we had accomplished!