Chicago, we love you!

and yet I start with pictures from a Madison drive that week...man it was fun!
{Bern in Madison, WI on the trip}


{Me in Madison at lunch on the trip}


Bernhardt and I visited Chicago last week for my spring break. We thought about going to see the Conservatory, but we didn't do it...I'm not sure if we felt sad or lazy...

It was wonderful to see friends, to visit old haunts, and to be together in the city where we fell in love.

Bridesmaids Claire, Malissa, and Jade threw us a party to celebrate the wedding, and it was nice to see old familiar faces. I thought I had it together, but when my friend Ezra walked in the door I started weeping. We have been lucky with our move - friends have come about fast and they are all so wonderful - but man...it all made me want to go back and stay with that sacred group forever. These are people we've grown with together...it felt as if we had never left...

We went to Rockford and saw Nani, Matt, Bobby, the girls, Bernhardt (senior), Mary, Max, Matthew, and Macey and it felt so warm. There's nothing like family.


It made me think about getting married and the relationships you make. I know not all these wonderful people will be able to make the wedding, and that's ok...the fact that we know and love them is everything - - - and when I think of marrying Bern, I realize that we are celebrating all of this.

100 push-up challenge

Check out the 100 push-up challenge!

I've decided to do this because I want to be stronger...and the arm tone will help my wedding vanity.

Jogging.

I am now a jogger.
Who would have thought?

Running used to make me feel...beh. I would get lazy as soon as my heart started pounding at a cardio level.

Last month I saw an article in Fitness Magazine that changed those feelings.

The best thing about the article is that it says "run/walk" - that made me feel like there was no pressure to be awesome right away - it's just about getting out there. So...I did.
And in 2 weeks I have lost 2 pounds. Slow...but it's going to stay off.

I'm already up to 3 miles and I'm about to go right now!

We finally got the ink to stick:

For people who are thinking of getting their wedding invitations from Target - we bought the "Always Ann" Wedding Invitations with supply cards and envelopes - 25 count.

What happened - the ink wouldn't stick - it just bubbled. Although the package said the invites would go through an Epson printer (and I have a really nice one at that), they just shifted and were crooked...

We ended up spending $95 on top of the $100 the invitations cost. We thought we were getting a real deal - adding the printing fees made it a slight deal. The printing company told us that the paper was too small to go through their printer, so we did a one time print/stamp deal - hence the expense.

The invitations are still really great - simple and beautiful - and getting them printed by someone else wasn't traumatic - I just wish that it had all been on the package - the exact ink needed, etc. I'm going to contact Target about the ink thing - just so their advertising of "ease" can be legit.

Centerpieces...

I'm an eclectic gal - I prefer books and candles to bright flowers...not that I'm opposed to them, but I like...writing rooms and Edgar Poe and dark mystery. Summer weddings don't really cater to those ideas...or DO THEY?

Combining the love of books, candles, natural florals, and chemistry sets, my florist and I may be onto the perfect eclectic wedding centerpiece!!!

the ink won't stick.

Man.
We thought we were being so savvy buying invitations from Target...
Bernhardt designed the invite and we were giddy...we bought new ink from Office Depot to celebrate PRINTING!
Tonight we laid the final touches, went to print...and Ooofff.
The ink won't stick.

So. Tomorrow Bern is going out to find a mom and pop print place to print ink that sticks for us. Our invite is on disc and I am silently weeping over the one lost invitation...
not REALLY weeping...
well...
pouting a little.

I am right proud of our invitations - a nice 4 pack from Target - we spent $80 on them. I hope printing isn't too bad...

Moms.

Even when you're nervous to get help, mom's really come through.

My mom came into town this weekend and was awesome. She helped me with the guest list, gave me advice, looked at STUFF with me, let me talk, and hashed out ideas.

And Bernhardt's mom has been calling and sending us sweet packages...I think she does something for us every day. Amazing.

How lucky we are to have these ladies in our lives!

Marcia and Stacy.


Vicky and Bernhardt.


Moms talk.

Cool registry help.

Today I went to theknot.com and did a quick run-through of the things we MIGHT need. It's been odd, thinking about registering...we have all the kitchen things we need...

but then I went through this list and realized that we might need some new sheets...

I think I'm going to clean out our crappy stuff, have a garage sale, and register for some things...but nothing too outlandish. I'm kind of sick of having a house of JUNK. Time to minimize and modernize?

It's GO time.

So.
We changed everything.
We changed the budge to a reasonable $5000.
We changed the state where we're getting hitched to SC.
We changed the colors a million times.
We got a florist.
We reconsidered invitations.
And now...we're working on our wedding website and reading articles about strange registries in order to get out the invitations for an event that went from 300 guests to 85.

Wow.

The list has been the hardest thing to do...but my Mema gave me great advice. She said, "Stacy - you make your list and you invite the people you want...just do what you need to do and it will all be alright".

Wow.

Even when it's hard for other people to understand your angle on planning and inviting...it's nice to know that my Mema is there supporting my ideas and dreams. And yesterday when I spoke with my mom and she said she'd drive into town to help me with invitations...it made me feel so happy! I think I've been defensive about getting everything done in a smart way ALONE that I've neglected the good "togetherness" stuff a wedding can bring!

This wedding stuff is actually pretty awesome.