Wedding Day: Part 3

After the ceremony, we had to wait for cocktail hour and for people to take their seats. The original plan was for Mike and I and the wedding party to head outside to the Municipal Center's gardens. They have a beautiful creek area and some lovely greenery. But the heat was just too much and I did not want to get sweaty again. (which I regret now) So we took a ton of family and wedding party pictures in front of the alter, and then Mike and I took some solo portraits up on the terrace.

Tomorrow - the reception! =)

Also, I realize I haven't posted a photo of the venue. So here. A photo of the venue:

The arrow indicates the 4th floor Palmetto Terrace where the reception took place.

Dirty Laundry

Breaking from the wedding recaps.

Before I bought a domain for this blog, my URL was AnnaHatesLaundry...and that is a literal take on the way I feel about laundry. I hate it.  And I'll put off doing it for as long as possible. Thank goodness the amount of panties in my drawer is embarrassingly high. And Mike wears a uniform that he has multiples of. Anyway - the laundry room at our house got out of hand, not only because the laundry was piling up, but because it was out of order and just in complete disarray. There were things that needed to be taken out to the shed, trash, random tools, I didn't even want to go in there because of the way it looked.

Now, I am not the type of blogger that has a perfectly designed home, an eye for interior decor, or the endless budget to post regularly about the fabulous clothes I wear (also, the dress code at my office is ridiculously casual and I don't have to look cute. Ever.)

But every once in a while I figure out how to redecorate a room in a way that leaves me feeling like I've accomplished something. And that's what happened this weekend.

To give you an idea of what I was working with, here are some before pictures:

I know, right? And no, I'm not ashamed to post these.  Nobody is perfect. Not even in the blog world. And if half of the blogs I followed were a little bit more realistic, maybe I wouldn't be so bitter after browsing Pinterest for an hour.

Here is the after (2 days of work):

Here's what I did:

After we remodeled the kitchen (THANKS MOM AND DAD), we saved two of the cabinets. I repainted them with some leftover paint so that we could add storage above the washer and dryer. Yes, I did this all by myself (the painting part)! I ventured to my beloved Hobby Lobby, and whattya know, 50% off ALL KNOBS, so I scooped up some adorable fixtures for said cabinets. I wanted something to hide the water heater, so I went to Habitat for Humanity and found a folding closet door. To hide the ugly storage shelf, I bought a pattern curtain and hemmed it to the correct length. With the left over, I made a little panel curtain to put in the empty space under the shorter cabinet.


Cabinets and Paint - $0
New knobs for cabinets - $8
Habitat door - $12
Curtains for under cabinet and shelf - $24
Total - $44

Wedding Day: Part 2

**Side Note - look at how far we've come since a little over a year ago!**

After we arrived at the venue, I found a cool place to sit down and the waiting began. We got periodic updates from the wedding planners, including a butterfly inducing countdown. At the five minute mark, I started a little bit of an internal freak out. I didn't want to trip down the stairs or pass out or something.

I was oddly calm during the entire process - everyone kept asking me if I was nervous and I really wasn't.

Riding up the elevator with my loves.

Wedding Day: Part 1

I spent the majority of my wedding day dousing myself in perfume and searching out the air conditioning vents at our venue, simultaneously cursing the 90-degree March air and unheard of springtime heat index. My temperature sensitivity, despite countless pleadings from this bride's inner diva, decided not to take a leave of absence on the most important day of my life. My maid of honor followed me around when she could, fanning my under arms with a god-sent shoebox lid, and dabbing my forehead when and where sweat beads developed. Mother nature didn't seem to care that my dress weighed more than a chocolate addicted sumo wrestler after a year of binge eating, and layer upon layer of tulle and lace created an environment for the lower half of my body that I would not wish for my greatest enemy to endure. Should I ever feel the desire to be an inventor, wedding dresses with built-in skirt fans will be the first thing I patent.  Nobody steal my idea.

At around 9:00 Saturday morning, my bridal party and I woke up and ventured down to the dining room of the Inn. My parents booked all 6 rooms for us, and the owners didn't seem to mind turning their property into a sorority house for the weekend. Of course we had rules to follow, like when and how to properly lock the front door, not to leave flat irons on for extended periods of time (apparently 19^th century bed and breakfasts are exceptionally susceptible to fire), and things of that nature. 

We had appointments downtown for our hair and makeup after breakfast. My carb radar smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen, and the lady of the house ended up bringing a tray full of croissants and warm butter out as a starter. I debated eating them all on my own, but opted to share in an effort to fit into my gown later that afternoon. The croissants were followed by an egg casserole and fruit salad, along with some thick sliced bacon and hash browns. We ate like birds, and in hindsight might have offended her. But when 6 sorority girls are in the same room, they tend to spend more time talking about eating than actually indulging in the act.

We'd gotten our nails done the day before.

The photographers arrived around 2:00 and documented the remaining preparations. My bridesmaids has already gotten dressed, so pretty much all that was left to do was zip me up. As soon as the dress was on, I started sweating and immediately wished I'd chosen to get married in the dead of winter. If there is one thing I absolutely do not tolerate, it is sweating for no reason. If I'm working out, that's one thing. But simply standing outside in the shade in MARCH and sweating infuriates me. I started complaining and any hope of capturing the dream photos I'd found on Pinterest went out the window. All I wanted to do was escape the B&B (because the innkeepers didn't believe in AC apparently...) and get to the venue where I knew it would be cooler. Obviously I regret this now.

 Suiting up

 I had two garters - my FSU garter was the one I tossed. The blue garter was also my mom's on her wedding day and doubled as my something blue.

The boys got ready at a B&B across the street -

And then we headed to the venue! Stay tuned...although I guess you already know how this story ends...

Thank You

"Our nation has paid a high price to preserve freedom, and our servicemembers and military families have paid the highest price of all. No tribute to these sacrifices is more enduring than a grateful nation determined to live out the promise of liberty. So let us all do our part this Memorial Day - whether it's standing in silence, whispering a prayer, or simply saying 'thank you' - to honor those who did their duty. Thank God for our heroes. May a piece of each of them live on in all of us."

Happy Memorial Day. And thank you to all who serve or have served, especially my Daddy.