And back to blaughhhhh. Oh and Cake Balls AGAIN.

Today started out great. I went to my first dress fitting, and we planned Mr Pug's fitting to be later today. We also got Sophie (our fawn puggie) all set on her shots - 1 down, 2 to go!

Then we were let down majorly, again, by family members. I won't go into it, I'm not going to bash or bitch or complain. I do enough of that. This process has shown Mr P and myself a lot about certain peoples' character. I'm hoping that the day will get better, we'll have apologies and reconciliations, and all will be well. Basically if you want to know more, you're probably following me on twitter or gchat me already, and I suggest you do just that.

Since we're on a negative note right now, I'm not in the mood to post about my dress and the tuxes. But I have a few negative-nancy-type things to discuss so now or never, right!?

First of all- my worst nightmare happened. And probably your worst nightmare too... invites not getting delivered. I got my sister M's back right away, and that was understandable since she had just moved into her Manhattan apartment. Fast forward, our RSVPs were "due" last Friday, and I started contacting friends last week to check if they were coming. One of my sorority sisters responded saying: "We received your adorable Save the Date but I wasn't sure if there was an invitation coming. I want to apologize if you have been waiting on us." What a kind and eloquent way to put it, I give her credit... HOW EMBARRASSING! The invite never got delivered to her and never came back to me. (I double checked my label documents, and there was one printed.)

Then yesterday, I got a "return to sender" from ANOTHER sorority sister! Sent January 12, returned February 26?

Postal WTF FAIL. Something to keep in mind when catching up on non-sent RSVPs.

Another thing that's been heavy on my mind: Mr Pug expressed last week that he's worried about people judging or talking badly about our wedding. I understand... all his friends are having and have had beautiful great weddings, and we aren't offering near as much to our beloved guests. Of course they all know the story of what happened, and aren't judging US. When Mr P shared this fear, I brought up a recent wedding of a friend, and asked him if he would have gone if they didn't have a reception. He said of course yes, and that he'd be happy for them. (Which I assume is how any normal person would feel.) I don't blame him for feeling pooped about the wedding. The whole process has been kind of a huge let down and disappointment, and it's hit Mr P especially hard. His bachelor party is this weekend and I hope it'll pump him up about how fun our wedding can and WILL be. It makes me mad that we have to feel these things because of other peoples' thoughtlessness.

I do have SOME good news to share... Mr P's co-best man, A, will turn 28 during the bachelor party next weekend. We decided to throw him a surprise party last night! He is obsessed with cake balls and is basically the reason I bring them around so often. So his girlfriend and the couple hosting the party helped me make them on Thursday night.

Mr P and I arrived early last night and made A a "cake ball cake!" I made those little flags in photoshop. This was just a Styrofoam cone, stuck on cardboard and covered with tin foil. The cake balls are stuck in with toothpicks.

I love it!

A's girlfriend and I shoved in some candles so we could sing and make it really "birthday cake"- like. I wish I had a picture with the candles lit.

It was a great party with wonderful company! A was absolutely shocked.

My last happy announcement is that I gave notice yesterday at my job. I am starting a new job in a week! March 8 will be my first day. It's a much more stable, national company - with benefits! I am excited to start my new job and get two weeks down before my honeymoon. They're very eager to get me started and are being really flexible about time off for my honeymoon. I'm really lucky to have such a great opportunity come through!

Mr Pug is on the phone dealing with more of said drama. :( Off back to crazyland and hopefully I'll have a happy post soon!

BDubs with STEPHANIE!!!!

Last night was amazing!! I drove from Indianapolis (A) to Columbus (B), about 50 minutes. Stephanie drove to Columbus (B) from Louisville (C), about an hour and 10 minute trip.

Don't you just adore my visual aides? I iz teachin you thangggz!

Apparently there's not much to do in Columbus because about HALF THE TOWN was at the restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings! (aka BW3's aka BDubs) It took our waiter a while to get to us, and then he made fun of us a bit (I ordered some wings but with honey mustard, and said "Yea I don't like creamy dressings" and Steph ordered her wings "naked" with a side of sauce... we got the skeezy dirty-minded waiter who twisted our words, great.)

We talked weddings, bloggers, babies, Laura, family, everything. It was so great! I love having a blogger girlfriend semi-close... close enough for a dinner date on a weeknight is certainly lucky!

So as we left I told Steph "I'm going to ask someone random to take our picture, I hope you're not embarrassed." Luckily she said she had expected it, coming from me! Seriously I love this girl! We laughed so hard throughout dinner... I got there around 6:45 and we stayed til 9:00!

Oh look at the fun rando behind us in this one! (I call random people "randos," sadly it's not a typo.)

Thanks for the great girls night, Steph! It was the dose of sanity I needed!

Stresses Dwindling Slightly...

This is a boring, non picture post. I am sorry :( I try to never do that! I'm just rushing because I'm leaving in 10 minutes to go meet up with Stephanie from "I Do" at the Zoo and The Life of a Husband and Wife!

Long story short, my pal Steph is going to let me check out her fascinator and also try on her crinoline! I hope it fits, I hope it fits! Because...

I GOT AN APPOINTMENT FOR A FITTING!

I kept hearing about this AWESOME lady Sonia up near one of our malls. I called frantically, you know, "I-need-to-get-my-dress-fitted-my-wedding-is-March-20-I-know-it's-last-minute-but-it-doesn't-need-that-much-alterations-I'm-so-sorry-" and she was like "Shush. No need for panic. You have plenty time. We will fix dress." (In her SUPER AWESOME accent... I love vendors with accents) and I wanted to say "I love you." But I didn't. But I do.

I also worked out the suit/tux situation. Mr Pug got fed up and was just like, dudes... wear a black suit. We figured most of them would have black suits. They're like little black dresses, right?

None of them have black suits.

By the time one asked "would navy be ok?" I had had a small heart attack and called Men's Wearhouse. Again with the "Okay-our-wedding-is-March-20-but-we-need-tux-rentals-are-we-too-late-I'm-so-sorry-" and again the "No problem!!!" We could get them way cheaper than suits and they'll all match! Mr Pug was driving so I emailed them all about the change. So far, no news is good news! We'll be heading to MW on Saturday (after my fitting) so there will be LOTS to post that day!!!!

ONE MONTH & Some Goodies

Saturday (aka yesterday) was the ONE MONTH mark! Your supportive emails and comments have really helped, and I haven't thanked everyone enough. Especially thanks to Windi for the email and Stephanie for planning our trip for Wednesday.

Yesterday was too busy for a post- we started the day by visiting Mr Pug's grandma to give her a wedding invitation. She is in a nursing home-like facility (not sure what is the correct term) and has Alzheimer's. His Aunt P visits her daily and met up with us there. I made her a larger-print simple invitation with our picture, since I knew that the small print and tons of wording on our invite would be too much for her. She was very alert and excited!

We then went to our friend's birthday party, which was a Vegas murder mystery! We all got parts ahead of time and had objectives and secrets. It was amazing... everyone got in character and really dressed up! I was "Hot Slot Sally," who was a big winner on the slots and high rolling gambler. Mr P was Jim Beam, the bartender.

I wore the red lipstick from Halloween and kind of liked it! I might have to get this lipstick in a more wedding-appropriate color for the wedding, since I could barely tell it was there. It was Maybelline's Superstay Lipcolor, I think in red or cherry. What color would you pick for me for the wedding? I'm horrible at picking lipcolor!

So about 10:30pm I slipped into a horrible blackout... you know the kind, you don't realize how much you're drinking and BAM - all of a sudden I'm throwing a 2 year old tantrum at 11:30 because I want to go home. Great reminder to monitor my drinking for the wedding... I'm a drinker in general, be it water at a restaurant or work, or drinks at a party. I just need to always be DOING something! (The same goes with food... my poor thighs.) That led to a miserable Sunday morning for me. At noon, I met up with Aunt P though for some SHOPPING! I don't know if I have mentioned this, but for $50 we were able to use the church's gallery area for a small appetizer gathering after the service. I think it will be great so we can mingle with all guests, especially since not everyone will want to go to the after party. Aunt P has been instrumental in helping with this. It will be probably considered tacky but in reality, I don't care... all I care about is seeing our guests and thanking everyone for coming and CELEBRATING BEING MARRIED! Our ceremony will likely be over at 4:00, and we'll have this til around 5:00 (maybe running a little later but the wedding party and family will leave at 5:00 to get to dinner.)

We went to the Factory Card Outlet in town (basically a party store) and I freaked out... they have basic plates/cups/napkins in EVERY COLOR, but also some in those colors in a flourishy pattern! (I couldn't find the flourishy ones on the website but I guarantee they had them for all colors listed.) The green ones with the flourishes looked AMAZING but we decided to do green tablecloths. Instead, we got the black and white flourishy napkins and plates. We also got tons of trays for serving the food.

Check out our cart!

Here's a picture of the plates with the flourishes. They literally came in every color. If you are throwing a shower or party they'd be great. I will likely use them for our summer parties.

Most amazing part was that Aunt P refused to let me pay a cent. I couldn't believe her generosity. She cares so much about us and our happiness, and wants to help us make the most out of our special day. I strive to be like her... she's such a happy, generous, sweet person. I had a great time and she helped me forget my hangover :)

So a few things crossed off... we're getting there! Did you have a productive weekend? What people have helped you out along the way?

Let's Get Real

Ok I'm getting real with you. I am STRESSED OUT. Saturday is the one month mark. And I still haven't gotten my dress altered. (Insert Freak Out Here)

Why? Um because I didn't have shoes, a bra, or crinoline. I just purchased shoes and a bra this week, but I still don't have a crinoline. I have been looking for them used but no luck - I am trying not to shell out the money for a new one. Also, I am borderline plus size (top of normal sizes or bottom of plus-sizes) and that makes it hard. I could cry over this... but there's no getting my dress altered without it, since a crinoline can alter the length of your dress up a bit.

I am also freaking out about boarding our dogs and about finding a bolero... oh and about actually being able to make an appointment to pick out tuxes (we haven't) but that's another story.

And last but not least, I am freaking out about my reception dress. Since we don't have a formal reception I knew I'd change, but had no luck with short white dresses being under $100. I branched out to black and white, and found this one:

It's perfect, right? The only thing is, I'm not sure about the shape. I'm a very curvy girl and shifts don't tend to look awesome on me. Andddd it's not in any stores near me. (View the dress here, Macy's.)

Then I found this one, which looked grey but upon further inspection was a black and white print:

This wrap-like shape looks great on me. But it's more plain, more blah. It's also not in any stores near me. I would wear it more often after the wedding than the above one, but it just doesn't scream "statement" like the first. (View the dress here, Macy's.)

I really wish I had the money to order both, try them on, then return one. Darn it! What do you all think? Especially those of you who know my body shape.

I really wish I had girlfriends or my Mom here to calm me down.

Get Yer Programs Here!

Finally, I work on my programs. I was inspired by Miss Spaniel's programs on Weddingbee and decided to do a tiered program. I first ordered the thicker cardstock paper for the backing.

I ordered them from a site called Paper-Papers, which I stumbled upon with a google search.

I was really happy with the color and service from Paper-Papers. The shipping was like, 2 days (granted, they're located in Gary Indiana, which is just outside Chicago and only about 2 hours from here.) They sent a few paper samples as well, and the packaging was good. I expected to be disappointed - I hate buying sight-unseen - but even the color was perfect. I ordered 75 pieces which equals 150 programs. I'm expecting about 100 guests at the church, but it was so affordable I figured I was better safe than sorry.

I designed the program pages in Photoshop Elements and made a mock up. I cut the cardstock in half so it was 4.25 x 11 inches. I then scored it 1 inch down, and measured for design purposes. Here's the cover I came up with:

I did one staple in the program to hold it together but it was a little noticeable. I then glued the green flap down. The glue stick didn't hold it well though (thus the binder clips.) Any glue suggestions, DIY people!?

First is a list of all wedding party members. There are my 5 (missing Bridesmaid S, unfortunately) and Mr Pug's 6. Then we have the 3 ushers, 2 greeters (my two friends who are coming besides the bridal party) and 2 readers (Mr Pug's sister and our mutual friend L.)

Then there is a family page. I have our family members listed (MOTB, MOTG, FOTG, Step-MOTGs, and Grandmothers OTG.) After that I simply wrote "With us in spirit" and listed those who cannot be with us, including my Dad, my uncle, all my grandparents, and Mr Pug's grandfathers. Last are the acknowledgments where we thank people who have been integral like Mr Pug's aunt, and my uncle (who is walking me down the aisle.)

After looking at the pages assembled, I thought that there was a bit too much green on the cover. I changed the file to have more black on the cover instead.

When I figure out how to glue the flap down better, I'll do two hole punches in the top and tie a black and white ribbon in a bow.

All I have left is to design the ceremony page. I don't have the exact itinerary for the ceremony down yet, but after I meet with our church's planner I can get it down on paper.

What style of program will you be using (or did you use) for your ceremony? Am I missing anything vital?

Hair and Makeup Trials!

I lucked out and was able to schedule my hair and makeup trials this afternoon! Good news is I loved the style! Bad news is that I was a naughty hair client and washed my hair 6 hours before. Whoops. I had flyaways galore. I thought with my crazy oily hair we'd be ok but as my hairdresser (hereby referred to as "The Russian") said "clean hair no good." She demonstrated by putting her hands inches from my head and watching all the little stringy static flyaways jump up towards them. My bad! I also was not so sure about my flower...

The flower lays flat on the comb, but for this style, it should really go more perpendicular to it. You can really see the whole bottom of the flower! We tried repositioning it a ton of times and all it did was mess up my poof more- we couldn't find a way that looked 100%.

I don't know what to do... should I just save it for one of my summer celebrations and wear it like I wore it when I got it? It laid flatter on my head with that style.

And if I don't use it for the wedding, what should I do? I want a little something but smaller. I am so torn because I am IN LOVE with this fascinatior! We just didn't feel like it worked with the style. Please send me suggestions if you have them!

I then went to meet with Crystal from Beauty by Crystal for my makeup trial! She was really nice and fun to work with. We didn't do them today but I'll be wearing false lashes on wedding day.

I had a REALLY hard time seeing myself in lipstick! I was like, "who is that!?" This is the girl who wears chapstick exclusively. We went for a brighter pink first, but then toned it down to something a little more natural. I love the color but need to get used to wearing something besides Burt's Bees on there. You all saw my one and only lipstick-wearing picture at Halloween, so maybe I can get used to it?

(Yes, scary lighting, but we had trouble getting a good one because my camera is ghetttto!)

I took a phone snap while walking the dogs much later. I love how I looked! Yes, I need color on my lips (I need to work on it!) but I love the definition on my eyes and how well-groomed my brows look. I think natural light is so much more flattering!

Were you lucky enough to have your hair and makeup trials on the same day? And are you as lipstick-phobic as I am?

Bacon & Zucchini? Yes Please!

Alright guys I'm breaking up the craziness - the drama-filled comments from my POB post, and the SHOCKED comments about how I sound (what did you all think I sounded like?! haha!) - with a recipe that is too good not to share.

I found this recipe on Blissfully Domestic (a great site everyone should read) and tried it out. It needed a lot of work to fit our tastes - we felt there was too much pasta and not enough zucchini. We also felt that adding bacon would really jazz it up. So without further adieu, here is our "Sweet & Salty" Zucchini Bacon Pasta!

Ingredients:
-4 zucchinis of average size (can be altered to taste)
-1 head of garlic
-Olive oil
-5-6 ounces (weighed uncooked) of angel hair pasta, preferably wheat or wheat blend
-4-6 strips bacon, cooked
-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (minimum - add more to taste)

It is important to prep your ingredients early because this recipe is hands-on. Have the bacon ready before you start cooking. Also grating the Parmesan earlier will make you happier later. Oh and put that water to boil early!

Start by coarsely grating the zucchini. I used the biggest side of my grater, as you can see.

Oh zucchini you will be so tasty!

You also start by smooshing the garlic. You know. Mincing is probably the word. But that's a LOT of garlic so I used the garlic-smoosher-press-thing from Pampered Chef. This picture is from early in the process, there was a lot more garlic when I was done.

Make sure you have your bacon done.

Saute the garlic in a little bit of olive oil. After a few minutes add the zucchini. The pan will need to be a saute pan- it won't fit in a frying pan. I had them on a good medium heat. You will need to stir it near constantly until it is done, 10-15 minutes.

You've already grated your Parmesan cheese right? I wish I had a better grater for the cheese! I got tired of doing it which is why there are two sizes. I need to get a good Parmesan grater.

If you put your water on early enough, you can multi-task efficiently. As your zucchini cooks down, watch your timer. Note the time the pasta will take to cook. Subtract one minute and put the pasta in when you have that much time left. For example, my pasta took 7 minutes so I put it in the water when there were 6 minutes left on the zucchini. That way, I took the zucchini off the heat, and had a minute to test the pasta and what-not, and then took it off as well.

You will need to have your bacon crumbled. I mixed it with the cheese to make them easier to add.

Return the pasta to the pot after draining. Add the zucchini garlic mixture.

Dump in the cheese and bacon mixture, and stir well. Because there isn't a thick sauce, everything doesn't stick super well to the pasta. It is better on a plate so that the good bits don't fall to the bottom of a bowl.

If you are not lazy, garnish with some Parmesan and some bacon. Or just pile it on and eat it! It makes 2 huge servings or 4 smaller one. You can easily alter this recipe to suit your likes and dislikes.

Please let me know if you try this recipe! I would love to hear how it went for you.

Pissed Off Bride!

I have some pretty cool news to announce!

Super-awesome blogger Stacy (she's from You Can't Take It With You) and I have started a site that all you brides will love!

It's called Letters from a Pissed Off Bride. The site speaks for itself, but basically, it's a place for brides (engaged or married- just someone who's gone through it) to write a "letter," venting at the person, company, vendor, or anything that they wanted to go all Bridezilla on. As you can imagine I have a few I could write :) I already wrote one... see if you can guess which one up there is mine!

Stacy and I hope you'll check out the site, blog about it, share it with your friends, follow Pissed Off Bride on twitter (@PissedOffBride), comment on the letters that are up, and submit a letter or two! We can't wait to read them!

Name Change Giveaway Winner!

Well last night ended my week-long Name Change Express giveaway to celebrate 100 followers! I am so glad to have "met" a few new bloggers and tweeters. AND I'm super pumped that there were 90 entries!

I entered the min and max into the random.org random number generator, and got #75.

#75 is....

Mandy Sue!

Mandy said, "I'm changing my name because I feel like we will be able to become one family...and people ALWAYS pronounce/misspell my name and it's annoying! :)" Congrats Mandy on your win! Please leave a comment with your email address within 48 hours (I'll delete the comment right after grabbing your email) so I can pass it along to the Name Change Express people.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I really recommend you all try out Name Change Express even if you don't win- it's affordable and there are a few price options to choose from, including free! It's better than realizing you forgot to change something, or not knowing where to start. Good luck to everyone in changing their name!

Finally- My Celeb Cheesiness Debut!

"Celeb cheesiness debut" would be what my pal Miss Mojito referred to my Shane Co. commercial as via twitter. (You need to follow me if you don't already!) Well guess what... they just sent me the mp3! And guess what... my awesome friend Mallory was able to make it into a video for me so I could post it!

(It really is cheesy... you've been warned.)

(Also... that's the real Tom Shane. MUCH YOUNGER than I thought he'd be. I pictured the guy from the Men's Wearhouse commercials.)

It will start airing on Monday or Tuesday on the following stations: WIBC, WFMS, WRZX, WNDE, WTTS, WLHK, WZPL, WFBQ, WNOU, & WJJK. I'm pretty sure it's just airing in Indiana. I also realize it does give my full name, but I figured that my last name will be changed in less than two months. So no big deal.

A huge amazing mega thank you to my pal Mallory! I couldn't have done it without you. You can check out Mallory on her tumblr, she's really creative and always posts awesome stuff.

So... what do you think? My friend in Oklahoma says I sound "northern." To which I said, "half the country is "northern" to you." Regardless of any accent I think I sound amazingly cheesetastic. Booyah, baby!

PS- today is the LAST DAY to enter my Name Change Kit giveaway! Have you entered?

Pashminaaaaas! (Happy Dance)

Well everyone, I can rest easy and cross one more thing off my to-do list! My wonderful sister who lives and works in NYC (aka MOH M) has been on the search for sketchy street vendors selling apple-green pashminas.

These will be given to my bridal party. I was worried I'd have to get them black ones or settle, since finding that apple-y green has been hard. I see a lot that are too "clover/Kelly green," too "olive," or too "lime." MOH M took the search seriously. Here one is, modeled by her coworker.

MOH M and her coworker have been looking (working hard or hardly working, M?) and today shopped around until they found the right color. They got them in the Grand Central area in Midtown. I'm so jazzed! I had her get six, just in case BM S hits the lottery or something crazy and is able to come, or in case there's a spill/rip/pashmina loss. Worst case, I get a new pashmina for me!

And in all seriousness, I'm so happy and blessed to have such a caring sister.

Did you get your bridesmaids pashminas (like everyone else?) Oh, and anyone else want to strangle the color green and all her crazy variants?

Sad Day to be a Colts Fan

So, my Colts did not win the Superbowl. Big change from the first half to the second. It wasn't a fun end to the game but we had great company. We did one of those bets that's a grid and goes by score each quarter (sorry, that's the best I can describe it) and I did win $40 for the final quarter. Didn't make the loss any sweeter, though. I'd gladly give the $40 for a win!

However we did have great friends around us. We put on Colts temporary tattoos, ate delicious food (mmmm meatballlls), and got our drink on. In fact I brought a dessert with me... football shaped cake balls!

They're a little banged up from the ride over, and I don't have professional tools for piping the white chocolate. Some look like footballs, others look like... turds with stitches. BUT people got the idea and they were yummy. Hey I don't claim to be Bakerella, ok? (Look at the football Oreo truffles she made, midway through this post. It makes me sick. She is an ARTIST.)

How did you celebrate the Superbowl? Is your fiance/hubby a football fan? Any other Colts fans?!?!

An AWESOME Save the Date

I had a really great mail day yesterday! First day with no wedding RSVPs (to distract me from the 53 yes/71 no split,) a Vera Bradley catalog, Pottery Barn catalog, and an AMAZING save the date!

Check out the wrap-around label! I think the bigger label on the smaller envelope looked amazing.

The return address going vertically instead of horizontally also looked great.

ohmigosh. A save the date that has a bellyband. And is not a magnet or postcard. I freaked. I see why people do magnets and postcards (I obviously did that) but seeing a really nice STD like this was so exciting! A VELLUM BELLYBAND! I mean, come on.

I love how the fonts and colors were consistent throughout. These have so many elements to them! Mr Pug knows W, they went to IU together. K&W met at IU, and are getting married there, thus the "the journey continues where it all began."

The right side had a picture of them from their engagement pictures. It was really classy and nice... I was super impressed. I have only gotten like, two, maybe three save the dates in my life before this one. Seeing one that's so well thought out, "branded," and fun was really exciting. It almost makes me want to go back and do ours again!

Yea, almost. I'm already dreading our programs. But post-wedding I'm sure I'll be interested again!

What's the best save the date you've ever received?

Giveaways Giveaways EVERYWHERE!

Have you entered my giveaway for a Name Change Kit yet? If not, get on that!

I also have to tell you ladies about four giveaways that my buddy Miss Mojito has on her blog! We have become really close through blogging and I am so lucky to consider her such a good friend.

The first is a Wine Night set that consists of stuff for a wine and cheese party. You can enter here.

The second is a Housewife Kit that has stuff for organizing your kitchen stuff like coupons and recipe cards. You can enter here.

The third is a Vistaprint giveaway for 100 save the dates or thank you cards! You can enter here.

The fourth is a gift certificate for $25 to MyWeddingFavors.com! You can enter here.

Whew! Since I recently won 250 stickers from a giveaway she hosted, I am hoping lady luck stays with me! Love that Miss Mojito! Go share the love and enter!

100 Followers Giveaway!

This Giveaway Is Now Closed!

Can you believe it, I reached 100 followers! And that means it's time for a giveaway!

I won a Name Change Kit from Name Change Express and will be giving one away to one you guys as well!

First of all I must say that I'm aware not everyone changes their name. Personally, there was never a question in my mind that it is the choice for me. But that's not true for everyone. So to all of you followers not changing your name, I'm sorry it's not an exciting giveaway for you :( but I hope you still think I'm awesome.

There are four ways to enter. Each entry method you do must be left in a separate comment!

1. Comment about why you are changing your name.

2. Follow my blog and leave a comment saying so (either on blogger or RSS or whatever.)

3. Comment after you request to follow me on Twitter and tweet "I entered to win a @Name_Change kit from @kjpugs! Enter here: http://tinyurl.com/yfq7flk" (ps you should also totally follow @Name_Change, they rock.)

4. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link the comments.

See, nice and easy! So go forth and conquer!

EDIT: I was so excited that I forgot to say when the giveaway will be over! I'll be taking entries until the end of the day Wednesday, February 10th (midnight eastern time) and will announce the winner at some point on Thursday. Silly me!

A New Ring!

Look all- I got a new ring!

Round stone, six channel-set side diamonds...

Oh and it's completely fake.

Let me explain. Last night Mr Pug and I got together with our photographer, Erin Hession-Wooton, and her husband John. We went through the wedding day plan, start to finish. She came up with some great questions for me and was so helpful! She also let us borrow an easel (to use for our picture we are having people sign for our guestbook) and the above "stand-in" ring. That way, when I get my rings soldered I will have a ring to wear. It's weird to wear a ring that's such a vastly different style than mine! It also, in it's CZ glory, looked much shinier and sparklier than my ring. A mix of lotion, hairspray, and, let's face it, queso, had dulled it over the past few weeks. (Hey, we were at a Mexican restaurant!) I gave it a good cleaning when I got home and felt much better.

The meeting made me feel a little calmer about my massive to-do list. I checked a few things off my list! 1. Find/book a makeup artist. (Found and booked, just need to send the check.) 2. Finalize photography schedule. 3. Figure out WHERE we're taking pictures. (Discussed both of these with Erin.) 4. Buy Mr Pug's ring and get it engraved. (We bought it! Just have to get it engraved.) 5. Get stand-in cheap ring for few days before while mine is being soldered. (Erin lent me the one above.) 6. Find out about easel for pug print - rent/borrow if necessary. (Erin lent me one too!) 7. Cake cutting - will Buca provide or do we need a set? (Buca will provide everything since we are not using their desserts.)

Look at me, getting things done! I still need a LOT but baby steps are still steps... right?

Also... giveaway alert!

To celebrate when I get my 100th follower, I will be hosting a giveaway! My very FIRST! If you follow me on Twitter then you already know what it is. If not, you'll have to wait until I get one more follower! Stay tuned!