Christmas 2009 Recap!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas (or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus!) When you see what Mr Pug got me, you'll realize why I have been MIA in the blogosphere :)

I took off Monday and Tuesday from work and STILL barely put a dent in my reader. We had a wonderful holiday! We went to Mr P's mom's for Christmas Eve. Her partner's uncle died that day, which was both sad and a blessing, as he had been suffering for far too long. Everyone was able to bring holiday cheer though, and turn the day around. Remember how crap-tastical the last holiday at her house was? It was nothing like that. We had a huge falling out with his brother A at Thanksgiving, and I previously had some issues with FSIL. I am happy to report that all issues are behind us and everyone got along! It was so great to eat delicious food (chicken parm, courtesy of FBIL S, with tons of sides,) drink a few beers, and play Beatles Rock Band! His moms got me a watch and got Mr P satellite radio for his car! The kids all pitched in to get FMIL's partner satellite radio as well, and Mr P and I got his mom an address book and new perfume.

The next day we went to Mr P's aunt's house. We were overjoyed to see that his grandma was healthy enough to attend! Mr P, his siblings and I all gave his dad and step-mom a gift certificate for a couple's massage. Mr P and I also made his aunt chocolate covered potato chips. She said a while ago that if they existed, she'd probably like them. Well guess what- she did! They got us wonderful wines and beer to enjoy.

Oh and how could I forget... before going to Mr P's aunt's house, I was lucky enough to wish my sisters, mom, and mom's boyfriend a Merry Christmas! We all have Macs (although mine still has the screen damage from it's tumble) and video chatted so I could see them open their presents. Here I "am" with sister M and sister R. Sister M might kill me for this...

I sent them stuff from NY&Co- purses and scarves for my sisters, and a scarves and a shawl for my mom. I also sent my sisters the gifts I FORGOT to send them last year. Whoops. Their gifts are still in the mail to me... possible payback for last year? I wouldn't blame 'em!

Mr P and I knew what we got each other long before Christmas, because we cannot keep our mouths shut. (This is a lifelong struggle for me - I once told my mom I got her a present, couldn't tell her what it was ... but they go on your ears.) We were good and waited until Christmas to open them. We just get so excited when we find gifts for one another that we ruin the surprise. Next year we have instituted no talking in December for that reason. (Well... maybe.) Mr P's big gift was a Blu-Ray player. I will vouch that it was worth it's weight in gold as far as DVD quality goes. If you buy one, make sure you buy a new HDMI cord or it won't work. We couldn't get one on Christmas but used the one we use for the Xbox and were wowed by the quality of The Hangover, even though it wasn't a Blu-Ray disc. Definitely a Blu-Ray fan now!

He also received a grill pan / panini maker from me. I take issue with that name because panini is PLURAL. Like, I had so many paninis for lunch. One "panini" would be a panino or panina depending. But I digress.

It was wonderful how our big gifts went together. Mr Pug got me something that stirs the Jersey inside of me.... a box set of ALL the Sopranos seasons on DVD!!!!!!!!!!

That, dear friends, is where I have been for the four days post Christmas. We are already through season 2. Each season has 4 discs. That's SICK. I wasn't allowed to watch the Sopranos growing up (we didn't have HBO and I wasn't even allowed to watch VH1 or MTV) but I did frequently see them filming in my town. Our house even had an agent growing up but we never got work (once we were ALMOST the site of an Eggo commercial, but it wasn't meant to be.) Seeing the DVDs now, it's cool to sometimes know exactly where they're filming, or hear them mention a place I know. "We can go to the Friendly's down on Bloomfield Ave!" BOOM. I frequented there in Middle School after dances. It's pretty awesome, seasons 1 & 2 have been like a time capsule back to Jersey when I was in middle or high school. I'm shamelessly addicted. And I might start a blog about how much I love the Sopranos because let's face it I'm obsessed. Whoever has seen seasons 1 & 2 and wants to chat about them let me know. I'M AVAILABLE.

I really need to cut to the chase with these stupid long paragraphs, don't I!?

Ok well Mr Pug was a crafty sneaky man and got me another big gift for his other gift. Of course he told me about it the day he bought it, but he was sneaky to be so spendy. This beautiful pearl pendant necklace is now mine:

Yea you can't really see it. It's a real pearl (MY FIRST!) in a hand-made IN NEPAL silver setting. I am in love. So classic, but different and a tiny bit funky. He did a really good job. I am modeling it in bad lighting thus the pukey-lime-ness of my actually more subdued-green sweater. Also note the great scarf my Secret Santa (FBIL S) got me!

Well that's enough Christmas news to last a year! I have some exciting non-holiday things to post about that are developing, so stay tuned. They include:

1. I may or may not be on a radio commercial? And paid to do it? Yea I'm not kidding. I will share more details when I get them!

2. I had a... well... an "experience" with my invites. Anyone who follows me on twitter knows about it. I might have had an embarrassing twitter meltdown. They've been redesigned (by me this time- again, long story) and reordered. I will share this whole story when I have a bottle of wine and a few hours.

Also... who knows anyone who got engaged over the holiday? I know of two but they're not people I'm even close enough with to congratulate on facebook. So really, none :( BUT if you have a close friend who got engaged, check out my picks on Weddzilla for the Top 3 Best Gifts to give them this year! (Basically, things I want or have, duh.)

Chuck Norris Fan Club?

Want to know the real story about how Mr Pug and I met? And how it involved this dude?

source

Check out the details in my post for the Weddzilla blog here!

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.

Great News... WEDDZILLA!

I am so thrilled and excited to announce that I am the newest featured bride blogger for Weddzilla!

My gal pal Laura from With This Ring, I Thee Blog is a featured blogger on the site as well! (What can I say, we are obviously alike, even in our Weddzilla blog stalking love!) You can read my first post here! It just went live today!

Sticking with the whole "bright side" biz, it will be even more exciting to be a featured blogger after our whole debacle, since I will get to plan two parties after the wedding now with our budgetary changes!

I'll be doing some great back-story info (some of which I've never even mentioned here, like how Mr Pug and I met!) on Weddzilla. It'll be a great read if you are a newer reader to my blog! Catch up on the Pug household action, and also read some great stuff by other bloggers, like Laura!

Stayed tuned here too because later I will be featuring the new "invite/announcement" and asking YOU for your RSVP card ideas.