Bachelorette NYC Weekend {part 2}

We left off right before we left! We hopped in some cabs and head to Suze's place. She had some wine, beers, and snacks, along with crazy 80's music! Here I am with my FAB sisters M (left) and R (right).

Friends started to arrive! Here's BM L!

Two of my sorority sisters Dev and Kiki came... Dev from NJ and Kiki from NORTH CAROLINA!!!! We may or may not have chugged and sang a Sigma Kappa drinking song later, along with fellow SK Mel who arrived later.

A lot of my family members came. Here's Aunt Mo, me, and Aunt Sue.

One of the funniest arrivals was BM H (right) and her sister Tori. Wearing thong leotards. They had to pregame before getting on the subway to get there.

Here's my happy Family!!! R, Mom, me, and M!

Some of my BESTS were present. Including Em (wedding greeter, came down from Chicago), Riss (came up from Baltimore), me, BM L (came from Boston) and "G" who yes, goes by G in real life.

I made a deal with my sister M's boyfriend that he'd put on his 80's outfit at 9:00pm. At 9 on the dot I started to stare him down until he caved. Behold:

Yea he wasn't messing around. Check out BM H and Tori in the background above!

M and her boyfriend cracking up. I love them.

Seriously aren't they so cute? I convinced him he needs to come to the wedding. He's already booked his flight.

In case you wanted to check out H's butt or my DIY veil, here ya go!

We cabbed it up again to Brother Jimmy's and took over their basement. Here is a pic with ALL BRIDESMAIDS! Top: A, R, me, H, M, bottom: S, L.

This dude was all over my friend Linds but she wasn't having any of it. I tried to play matchmaker!

We all danced and had a great time, especially K-Buzz.

Things got a little crazy. There are a ton of pictures like this.

You've all seen this one...

They don't call me drunkeyes for nothin'. I was telling M we needed to take R home because she was a mess, R was telling M that they needed to take ME home because I was a mess. Needless to say we went home and passed out. Four people in a studio. It was lovely.

I woke up, got bagels with the fam, and then left! It was such an amazing weekend away and I loved loved loved seeing my friends and family. To all of you: Thanks for coming out for the party!!!!!!

So that's it for the recaps. A whopping two :) Hopefully things continue to come together for the wedding so I'll have MANY more recaps after March 20!

Bachelorette NYC Weekend {part 1}

Thursday I departed for the wonderful Indianapolis airport for my trip to NYC!!!! I found my fave popcorn place had a shop in my terminal... it's called "Just Pop In!" and I think I'll do something from them in the gift bags. This mix is the Indy Mix and it's caramel popcorn and cheesy popcorn mixed... sounds gross but is SO yum!

Oh and here's my ghetto broken suitcase.

I got to NYC around 8pm and met my sister outside her place. It takes moments like that, running towards her on the street and then having her pull out my broken suitcase handle - like straight out of the bag - and having us both laugh so hard we can't talk, that makes me realize how much I love her and miss her. She ordered me REAL AMAZING ITALIAN NYC/NJ FOOD... they forgot to add the bacon but it's fine, I'll take a penne vodka anyday.

We snuggled (since in her 5th floor walk-up studio the only other option was her foamiture) and she let me sleep in. I woke up to a note, which cracked me up.

The bottom says "PS- How much better are my notes than ma's... no chores!" which is making fun of the notes my mom would always leave us in the summer/on weekends, saying to "have a great day but make sure these chores are done before I get home," followed by at least 12 challenging chores. She's tough.

Here's the lovely view from her place:

And her studio! I love it! Part of me was a little sad/jealous that she's doing two things I never did but always thought I would: live in NYC, and live alone. Then I remember her rent is more than my mortgage and start to like my little house a bit more!

Here's the other half! It was a really nice layout for a studio!!!!

I set out on an adventure. I get a lot of anxiety in NYC when I don't know where I'm going so she gave me great directions. I walked to Sephora to pick up a few items, then took a subway to Buttercup Bake Shop, an old favorite of mine from when I worked in NYC. I got a red velvet one and promptly diedddd.

I brought my sis and her coworker (the one with the pashminas) cupcakes to their work to thank them for all the pashmina work. I also got to meet my sister M's boyfriend!!!! I vastly approve. You'll see in part 2!!!!

After randomly running into an old friend (I was all sweaty from walking, ew, how embarrassing) I then went and met up with my Aunt C. It was her 50th birthday celebration weekend with friends! She shared a mimosa and we went to the Museum of Natural History for the butterfly exhibit. She had a blinking "50" pin that butterflies LOVED to land on!

My mom got into the city soon after and we walked around. She also wanted to go to Buttercup and they said "back again?" Seriously, so embarrassing. We stopped into some stores and leisurely enjoyed NYC. Check out the three dogs on a vespa/cart of some sort. I died a little again.

We met up with my sister M and her boyfriend for dinner and then Mom and I picked up sister R at the airport. It was so great to see her!!!! She's so hilarious, coming from South Carolina, and complaining about the cold. Meanwhile, we're all enjoying the amazing weather!!!!

We spent the night at my mom's new condo in Jersey. She moved farther south and R and I LOVEDDDD her new place! It's so much easier for her than our house was. We relaxed and watched Kardashians Saturday morning then headed back into the city. R and I picked up the cupcakes we ordered for the party (from, you guessed it, Buttercup) and then went to M's. My cheapo Wal-Mart "uggs" were so stinky from all the walking around that they found their spot outside...

My mom went over to her friend Suze's (the party host) to help set up and my sisters and I got to hang out. We decided who was which Kardashian (Kourtney = me, Kim = M, and Khloe = R) and watched The Hangover twice (I'm Stu, M's Alan, and R's Phil.) We laughed and reminisced. Luckily I convinced them (and M's boyfriend!) to come out to Indy for the Indianapolis 500 and the hog roast party we have the day before... I'm excited we'll have more sister time soon.

Then it was time to crimp & primp...

Oh yes, I went 100% crimped out.

I crimped M & R's hair a little (they didn't go all out) and we all did some crazy makeup. Here's R working on her neon eye makeup.

We were all 80's out and ready to party!!! And that's exactly what you'll hear about next!

Overwhelmed.

Ok guys. So I just started my new job yesterday - and I'm so busy learning and training, plus right in the view of everyone, so no internet funsies at work. So no wedding tasks or tweeting or blog reading during the day. Add that it's oh what 11 days til the wedding and I am endlessly stressed. I'm feeling VERY overwhelmed and feel like I am doing a lot, all on my own. I have too much to do. I have a feeling this weekend will be hell.

I am at that point where I'm so overwhelmed that I want to just do nothing. Last night I forced myself to do something. So I took the Uprinting stickers I won from Miss Mojito and cut them.

Here they are pre-cutting... the smallest stickers I could get from the giveaway were the 3 inch square ones, so I just did four per sticker.

They didn't all come out perfect. OH WELL. I am so over it at this point.

I probably cut 1/3 to 1/2 of the 250 stickers. Which will be more than enough to seal the bags for our favor cookies. I can also use them for out of town bags (ha. I haven't done anything for those...) and sealing thank you notes.

PS- bachelorette weekend was FABULOUS. I don't have the time or energy to recap just yet but pics are on facebook for my fbook buddies, and I will give you a teaser...

Yes, it was that good.

Stay tuned for more. PS supportive texts/emails are welcome... it's times like right now that I wish my family and friends were here :(

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?

Table for Miss Pug, Pity Party of One?

I'm happy with our new wedding "situation." Truly, I am. I still get to get married on 3/20, we still get to use our kickass photographer, I still get to wear my dress. And, really, we do still get to celebrate. Mr Pug is ready to move on, which you can read more about here on Weddzilla. That being said, Mr Pug expects me to be happy with what we have decided on, since we have decided on it and are moving forward. And let's be clear... I am happy. We're not going to be any more in debt than we already are (DIE ALREADY 2009! YOU NEED TO BE OVER, MONEY-SUCKING YEAR FROM HELL!) and we will be MARRIED! The most important thing!

Ok now that I've cleared that with you all... it's time for some sad, bratty, "why-me?" venting. Originally, my family dominated our wedding guest list and my side was going to be all fluffy and full and vibrant and Jersey and fun.

What is it like now? Well let's see. I went over my "family & family friends" list with my Mom a night or two ago. My family & family friends list was at 91. Remember, huge family, tons of cousins? Guess where we are for "definites" now?

I'm going to wait a second for effect.

Because it's that sad.

Nine.

Gratuitous sad picture here. Thanks for the sourpuss, Bugg.

Don't worry- it gets sadder. One of those 82 no-shows will be my Bridesmaid S. She was laid off and financially it won't work for her. And how can you NOT understand that? I am completely understanding about that situation- I was there! I missed a wedding I really wanted to go to because of my unemployment. But I'm still sad. She's the friend I've had the longest in my life and I'm sad she won't be there on this super-important-life-changing-day. Maybe I can make a life-size cardboard cut-out? (Maybe I can make them for ALL no-shows? And fill my side of the church? The side that was supposed to be overflowing and will now will be empty??? SCHEMES! I love them!)

To be fair, there are about 11 of the no-shows who my Mom said will be "not coming. I think." To which I said "OK THAT MEANS MAYBE!" But what it really means is my Mom is checking and they're "probably not" coming.

Of my twenty-five cousins? None. Maybe POSSIBLY one. She's on that elusive maybe list. They're the only true maybes- my aunt is trying to get 3 of her 5 airline tickets refunded so she and her daughter can come, but if she can't refund only 3 of the 5, they will all stay home.

From my friends, a few will still come, many didn't respond to my initial email, a bunch emailed me a "that's so sad we'll see you in the summer" type message basically saying they weren't coming, and a few were honest and candid about not being able to attend and were enthusiastic about the summer. This brings me to two issues: Mr Pug's friends & relatives, and our summer celebrations.

Regarding Mr Pugs' friends and family, they are mostly all here, in Indianapolis. Those who aren't here, were here previously, and have many family members and friends to stay with for free... unlike my friends and family. Which means, his side will be FULL. Not all will be able to come to our after-ceremony dinner, of course, but they'll be there at the church. They get to experience the wedding because they live here, or because they can easily get here. Life isn't fair, I know, yada yada, but it still makes me jealous and sad!

And the summer celebrations. Plural. Two. One for Indiana and one for New Jersey, which is pretty much one for Mr Pug's family and friends and one for mine. They won't all get to meet. None of my friends will fall madly in love with a Midwestern boy and live happily ever after growing corn on the Jersey shore.

Additionally... I'm not sure how seriously people will take them. They're backyard parties. I want people to be summer-dressy... sundresses and khakis, that sort of thing. I want people to put it on their calendar... not leave early for some other occasion. ZERO of my friends from New Jersey are engaged or married. I don't think it's a priority for some people at 24 years old... they don't get the same wedding excitement that I do. Which is totally fine. It might just be because I live far away, but the enthusiasm for my wedding hasn't much come out of the Garden State. Maybe if I lived there it would be different. And this could just be me playing the world's tiniest violin while crying inside and being a big baby. But I just feel like it will get the blow off from some people, which makes me sad. Hell, my Aunt did the same thing... the one Aunt who doesn't live in New Jersey, she lives in Arizona. Cool Aunt. And Cool Aunt got married in AZ, but had a backyard "reception" in New Jersey. I did not attend, since I had gotten a bad haircut that day.

I'm not even joking.

I was in middle school, so yea, I've matured a tad bit, but had it been a "real" wedding reception that evening, at a reception venue, would I have gotten out of it because of a bad haircut? Something to think about.

Ok that's enough whining for one day. Seacrest, OUT.

Christmas Cards & Bobbi Brown

Anyone who is getting married next year, take note... we got THE cutest Christmas card today from our friends... you know, the wedding I can't stop talking about? That was so effortlessly breezy and simply elegant? Le sigh. Check out their Christmas card:

Of course you could see their faces but I edited out for privacy. I think the "Married Christmas" is a cute idea!

Speaking of Christmas, my Mom let me know that she's going to a Bobbi Brown 20% off sale on the 25th. I don't know if this is a nationwide thing, or just the Montclair NJ store. You see, we used to live in Upper Montclair, and so did Bobbi Brown. Her kids, Dylan Duke and Dakota, all went to my elementary school (but were much younger than me) where my mom happened to teach kindergarten. Dylan and later Duke were in my Mom's kindergarten class and she also babysat Bobbi's boys occasionally. I met Bobbi a handful of times over these years... once was when she had a few people at her house while she was pregnant with Dakota. No makeup, jelly sandals, looking GORGEOUS and RADIANT. She even gave us her floor tickets to a NJ Nets basketball game once. Christmas and teacher appreciation gifts from Bobbi were clearly amazing- lots of products!

Ever since then, my Mom has used Bobbi Brown products, and when I can afford them, I have too. It's been a long time since I've purchased anything from her line! My Mom wants to get us some Christmas gifts when it's 20% off, and I'm looking for suggestions! These are the items that caught my eye:

I have been needing some better mascara... I need mascara that is both lengthening and volumizing, so this one seemed like a good option.

I have very oily skin, so I was interested in some foundation as well.

I might have to pop by a Bobbi Brown shop in the mall to test colors.

I must also add that I am SO BORING when it comes to eye shadow. I wear the same thing every day. I will always be a fan of a slight shimmer, but I go for the same boring tan color every. single. day. I think wearing a color though would look very 80's. I have blueish-grey eyes... any color suggestions in this shimmer wash shadow?

Hopefully I'll be able to take full advantage of this wonderful gift! I have gotten a few autographed books from Bobbi before... my Mom doesn't think she'll be there on the 25th, but if she is, I instructed my Mom to drop a hint or two about me getting married... and that I love her makeup... hint hint! She told me to get a life and that no, she would do no such thing. LOL!

What cute Christmas cards have been sent to you (or Hanukkah cards?) this season? And have you used Bobbi Brown makeup before- what were your favorite products?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changesssss...

This is such a hard entry for me to write!

Thanksgiving was, well, a bust. I won't even go into the family drama but there were fights- about everything and anything, between the whole family and between just one or two people. Mr Pug was angered and made comments about how frustrating being around his family was, and that he wished we were just going to Vegas instead of having a big wedding that they would attend. FMIL pushed the issue, as if that was a good idea. Long story short, she told us she was not going to be giving us the monetary gift towards the wedding that she and her partner had promised. (I wrote about it on Weddingbee here since I wanted to vent but couldn't blog until I notified guests... just have to shout out for the support I got from the girls on there.)

Why the "take-back?" It's not clear. It's not that she doesn't "want to," but it seems to be about finances and personal issues. It's not right that she waited until 112 days before the wedding to tell us, after the STD's went out, and after some people had booked flights. Some things were said that made me upset but ultimately, Mr Pug and I had to and have to deal with this. Without the money we were promised, we knew we'd be unable to make ends meet for our wedding.

On his end, there was a lot of anger, frustration. Partly with his family and partly with the stress brought on by the wedding. On my end, there were lots of tears. And a lot of this:

I frantically searched for other options, VFW halls, Lions clubs, anything. I used my master spreadsheet for our reception venue to cut things. Even cutting the decorations and open bar wouldn't make it affordable. Part of it was frustrating though, because of that. Why should we have to pay the 20% and then sales tax on a meal? It makes sense I guess, but in our situation, it doesn't. Finally Mr Pug had an idea, that led to an idea, that led to an idea, and within a half an hour we had it figured out.

Our New Plan:

We are still having our ceremony as planned. Dresses, makeup, flower bouquets, PHOTOGRAPHY, organ playing, wedding party (hopefully!), and the works. After that... nothing.

Now, technically, we are planning to take our family and friends to dinner. But it won't be fancy and it has to be SMALL. We're not really openly sharing this news about the dinner with everyone. Our closest family and friends who can afford to will come to the ceremony, and then after RSVP's come in we'll invite the people closest to us to come out to dinner. It will be somewhat intimate and fun. Best of all, after that, we are inviting EVERYONE to hit the bars with us.

We're also letting people know that we'll have two casual, backyard celebrations this summer: one in Indianapolis, and one in New Jersey. That way, everyone can be involved this summer, and we can still celebrate with our guests. And... I get to plan two fun casual summer parties!

We had this idea on Monday, and then sat on it for a little while. I talked it over with my Mom (aka Wonder Woman, aka my ROCK) and she drafted an email to send family to let them know the change ASAP. I then worked off that and emailed my friends a similar message. Mr Pug will notify his family and friends soon as well, though they are much less affected (effected? whatever) by it as most of them live here or within driving distance. At least then they'll know that most of them won't be attending any sort of meal after the ceremony with us, and maybe some of them can make plans to go out to dinner together or to congregate at someone's house to continue the celebration before the after-party.

It was hard to email my friends... I feel horrible. It feels NASTY to say "oh we're having an intimate dinner after with pretty much just close family and the wedding party" (which I feel like could read as "we're doing something and NOT inviting YOU!") I also feel badly for those who booked flights and now may want to reconsider attending the ceremony, and would prefer to attend one of the summer celebrations. But I guess I can't let myself worry. If people want to come, and people can afford to come, they will. To something. And it will be because they care - which is what matters.

So is this still Miss Pug's "pawfect" wedding? Yes and no. It's not what I dreamed of as a little girl. In fact I haven't read wedding blogs since Saturday, it's too upsetting. A post about "which toasting flutes should we pick!?" made me want to throw the computer in jealousy. But we refuse to go into debt over an event, and we don't want to start our marriage out in debt. We already have student loans! We made a decision, and I'm trying to look on the bright side of things (like, perhaps, a casually Tuscan backyard celebration in NJ with limonata and lemoncello? Oh this is getting good! More planning!)

Up next? My super-wonderful crazy amazing invitation & STD designer Laurel whipped up a new "invitation" for me in like, hours. I can't wait to show you all!

Number (and State) Crunching

Hello, my name is Miss Pug and I have an excel problem.

Truth be told, I nearly failed all my math classes after Algebra 2, and actually minored in art. But when it comes to this wedding, it has been numbers that comfort me, that make me excited!

I'm working on the mail merge to make labels for our Save the Dates, and realized we have people coming from a ton of different states. So, I decided to mess around and make a pie graph. I went off of guesses as to their dates, so this is an estimate for sure, but pretty neat!

Even though Indiana is where we live, where Mr Pug's family is, and where most of our mutual friends are, New Jersey (aka the Homeland) still out-guests Indiana! Massachussetts was the one that I think surprised me the most... I did not expect it to come in as #5! Our most far-away guests are (hopefully) coming from California, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.

PS- remember the whole 194 invites, on the low end? We were right! We added 3 last minute people, thus 197. Glad to see I was on target, though!

Where will the majority of your guests be coming from? Who will travel the farthest?

Get Our Par-tay On!

The church-pickin' has left us at a screeching halt with wedding planning- but that doesn't mean we can't move forward with planning our bachelor and bachelorette parties!

One of Mr Pug's best men is trying to get a Vegas trip going, but either way he'll probably do something here in Indianapolis or nearby in Louisville as well.

Since I am from New Jersey (less than 20 miles outside of NYC) my bridesmaids are all nearby- my sisters both live at home (well, when R's not at college in South Carolina), L just moved to Boston, H is in Delaware, S is in NYC, and A in Hoboken, NJ. That gives us 3 great options for going out- in my hometown area of New Jersey (the cheaper option), Hoboken (aka mini-NYC), or New York City (a favorite!). Bridesmaid A made an amazing suggestion to theme the party. What is it that we're going with?

Awesome 80's!

I figure we'll start off the night with some 80's tunes. A little Tiffany, anyone?

Naturally, we'll want to be dressed up. Luckily the 80's are back so clothes won't be so hard. We could jazz it up color-wise with some snazzy gloves. (And of course, get some fluorescent manicures!)

A MUST HAVE will be sunglasses. I'll be singin' Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night" with these babies on... there are so many styles to choose from!

A wig that I wore at a party spawned 'maid A's 80's idea, so why not get wigs on the brave ones? I would totally rock the first one!

What fun theme ideas will you incorporate into your bachelorette party? I hope we'll get to spend some low-key hang time together before this as well- what non-partying plans do you have for your party? Will it be more of a bachelorette weekend, like mine? And most importantly... how AWESOME are the 80's!?

(A reminder- you can find tons of great costume ideas online- don't go from store to store! I found the stuff above on these two websites.)

September 11, 2001

9/11 is a day I can personally never forget. I wrote about it here today, so feel free to visit (it's on my pug blog) and share your story in the comments. I hope that this is on everyone's mind today to remember the innocent people who lost their lives and the brave men and women of the FDNY &NYPD (and many other FD's and PD's) who fought to save them, sacrificing themselves as well.

Bridesmaid L

I've already discussed my sisters (M & R, the MOH's) but of course wanted to show off the four other wonderful bridesmaids in our wedding party. I figured I'd do it whenever the mood struck. Today I got the urge to write about 'maid L.

I talk to L almost every day and can tell her anything. Today we were g-chatting and had this convo:

L: so what's new on the wedding planning front?
me: nada
L: boo
L: ur like done.
me: no far from it
me: just currently out of cashola
L: aww, what else do u have to do
me: i have to do all printed materials
me: finalize the menu
me: get some last-minute decor
me: make the ceremony decorations
me: get things to hold the desserts
me: finish buying all your gifts
me: make mr pug buy groomsman gifts
me: set hair/makeup appointments
me: do the trials
me: find shoes
me: dress fittings
me: buy jewelry
me: out of town bags
me: rehearsal dinner reservations
L: omg so many things i forgot about haha
L: omg
me: yea NOT almost done
me: but good try
L: haha i was like "oh she has the place, the flowers, the cupcakes, the photog and the dj! " done and done
me: LOL. can I post this convo on my blog pretty please?
L: haha sure

I love L's attitude about everything- she makes me smile. Even just her comments about Britney Spears can change my attitude.

We've been friends since 7th Grade... picture proof from a very special middle school Halloween... I thought this was from '99 but when I did the math it would have been more like '97... yikes. L was a baby, I was a secret agent.

We've done the whole Jersey summer thing every year (until I moved) and that included many concert tailgates! This one was from Guster... where we actually met them! Two of the guys came out since they couldn't believe people were tailgating their concert, LOL!

We also went to Acapulco together with two other friends.

A bunch of my gals came to visit me in Indy not long after I moved out here... this pic is from the South Bend Chocolate Company on the circle downtown- delicious!

And what trip to Indy with my bests would be complete without some bars and karaoke?

I don't get to see L (or ANY of my bridesmaids, for that matter) as much as I'd like, but I am still so lucky to have such great friends. I'm especially lucky because L and Mr Pug get along really great! Look at this creeper...

Thanks for being a great friend and Bridesmaid, L!! Love ya Hooch!