wedding

Getting back on track.

| cheriarmour

Since we got married on Saturday, I think there are a few days in there that I haven’t run or worked out.  Friday, before I drove down for the rehearsal and the night before the wedding, I managed to sneak in a short run, but Saturday, the day of, and Sunday, not only did I not run, I ate like I had never seen food before in my life.

Usually in my life, I try to be conscious of what I put into my mouth, without being obsessive.  I flip over labels, check to make sure that high fructose corn syrup isn’t the first ingredient, and I’m loving that they put calories on the menus now, so I’m far less liable to put something in my mouth that doesn’t belong there.

Friday night, I noshed on some delicious food at our rehearsal.  Don’t worry, I have some gorg pics on my camera, as soon as I figured out where that camera is.  Saturday morning, and Sunday morning, I ate biscuits from a little joint North Carolina has to offer called Biscuitville, with no shame or remorse.  I didn’t have my first run until Monday, and quite honestly, I’m feeling a little funny about it.  The run itself was a dream – it was my first run with my new husband, but I felt weird about the fact that I skipped out for a few days.

I can’t honestly remember the last time I’ve gone so many consecutive days without a good run, and consecutive days of eating crap.  I think sometimes, my fear is that if I go too long without working out, that I will start drinking cokes, and suddenly become disinterested in working out.  But it doesn’t typically work like that, does it?

But, I’m taking these next few days to get back on track.  Get back to my runs, my yoga, my cycling sessions.  It’s a feel-good thing, not even a weight thing – and I hate the sloppy, slow feeling you get after a few days of not treating yourself right.

Oh yea, also, I had to bathe my cats again – as the weather cools down and the fleas start to make their way back into the apartment, I have to wash/clip all my pets….on my honeymoon.

Wash Cat
Note the pile of wedding pressies behind the wet cat, who broke my blender and went for the money maker as he was escaping the sink…

How long is the longest you’ve gone without working out?  What did you do to get yourself back on track? 

 

Our wedding.

| cheriarmour

If you’ve ever gotten married, you understand why I’ve been disappeared for the last week or so.  The lead up was crazy – but I don’t even need to get into that right now.  You want to get into the good stuff right?  The stuff I’ve been talking about for the last year or so?

We got married on Saturday!

I will break down the whole thing a little more in detail in a few days, but I will give you guys a little taste of what we did this weekend.

Our wedding was gorgeous.  It was perfect.  It went off without a hitch.  And I am officially a Mrs!

  •  I heard from someone at the venue that our food was the best.  We did fried chicken (tofu for me), collards, mac and cheese, potatoes, and biscuits.  It was straight-up as southern as it gets.
  • My dress.  Ahhhhh that dress.  It was delicious, and I never ever wanted to take it off.  After we got back, I kinda flopped down on the bed in our suite for a good 20 minutes before I had to take it off.
  • I danced literally for 100 hours.  I had to shower after.
  • The day was perfect, and I love my family – my family family, and my new family – new husband especially!  Feels cool to finally call him husband!

A few photos to tide you over until I do the FULLLLLL recap?

photo 5
This was a quick screen grab that stopped me in my tracks. We actually got into a tobacco field for this one. Photo via Blest Studios.
photo 4
A drunken groomsman who charmed the pants off of all of our parents snapped this quickly at sunset.
photo 3
A guest snapped this as my father escorted me down the aisle. He’d been talking about wearing this tux for months and it TOTALLY came together. Love it!
photo 2
This was us, the HOT day of the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner.
photo 1
All lined up to practice walking down the aisle!

So, this is just a little taste, as I ease back into my life.

What I can say, however, is that I feel SO loved – by friends, by family, by my husband and I’m looking forward to years and years of celebrations like these.  I love you all, and thank you all for an amazing weekend.

That said…what did you do this weekend?

Stress Dreams

| cheriarmour

I’ve stressed dreamed since some point during high school.

In high school, I would dream that I’d get a report card and I would have all F’s and D’s on the report.  I would dream that I was being attacked by dogs during exams.

In college, even though report cards weren’t a thing and we’d just go online to check our grades and transcripts, I would dream that I’d failed classes.

When I first started teaching fitness, I’d dream that I was late to class (huge no-no) or that Yoga music would come on for a Zumba class.

I’ve stress dreamed (dreamt?!) that I’ve shown up late for races, another thing that could screw up a race day in a heart beat.

And now, I’m stress dreaming about the wedding.  The last few nights have been horrible.  Absolutely horrible.  And it’s not because I have a single doubt in my mind about this guy…

Knife…Pictured here holding a knife he just added to our Zombie Apocalypse bag.  (Seriously, and I have not seen him beam like this or talk about any object like this since the last fancy pocket knife I bought him.)…

But it’s more because I want everyone to have a good time.  I want to look pretty.  I want everyone to have enough food.  And I want for us to have good memories of the day we got married.

So last night, I dreamt that the day was here, my shoes had not yet arrived in the mail, and that I had no one to help me the day of.

Eek!  I talked it over with a planner who happened to come into my office at work, and she eased my worries a little bit.

But what I need is to chill chill chill, have a tea, and hear about your stress dreams.

What do your stress dreams revolve around?

 

Blogging the Bach.

| cheriarmour

Pretty sure that’s what bloggers say when they’re talking about blogging about the Bachelorette, but I’m literally talking about my bachelorette celebrations that I had all weekend in Charlotte.

I made it clear from the beginning of planning this shindig, that I wasn’t really the type of lady to want to go to a Chippendale’s Show.  I really don’t like the idea of a Magic Mike type gentleman rubbing all over me.  It’s not that nudity in itself offends me, but being touched and swung around by a random guy baby oiled up just doesn’t do it for me.

So after this perk of my job…

Snake Turtle

(This reptile lady came to the Y on Friday for the kids, and showed them slithery crawly things).

And this one….

Sno Cone

(I went for a run after work, and sort of stumbled on the campers eating shaved ice and running around in bounce houses).

I trekked down to Charlotte in the pouring rain for my bachlorette, and we started Friday off by going to the Harris Teeter for some food for dinner and Saturday morning’s breakfast.  What was really really neat was that my friend and bridesmaid, Melanie, opened up her family home to us in Charlotte and allowed us to stay there, so we wouldn’t have to spend a million dollars on a hotel and eat out for every meal, which is like my worst nightmare.  Not because it’s super unhealthy, it doesn’t have to be, but because with my gastritis, I really can’t take eating out left and right without being really uncomfortable and ill the next day.

So we cooked dinner, drank some wine, and caught up on friend things on Friday night and planned to get sweaty on Saturday.

Lucky for us North Carolinians, we have the White Water Center available to us, and after waiting for the rain to let up, all of us caravaned over the the Center.  I’ve been once before to actually do some rafting, but this time, we went and spent time on an obstacle course, walking around, eating at the little restaurant they had on campus, and my fave, ziplining!  The second we got there, I almost regretted not rafting, so we started talking about how we will be back to raft.  I’ve never considered myself much of a naturey outdoorsy person, but something about being at a place that let’s you get physical and push yourself will really bring it out of you.

Panorama

After almost a full day at the center, we headed home to freshen up, and officially got the party started, in the best way that a few 20-somethings with full-times jobs can.  It’s funny – had we been doing this four or five years ago, we would have TURNT UP no question, but the turnt level was pretty mild.  We drank, we danced, and generally just really enjoyed each other’s company.  It just felt good to get all the people I care about (minus some really important ones that couldn’t make it) in the same spot, and getting them to know each other.  It was really cool to see the ease with which these folks were able to get along with each other, and it makes you feel confident in your friendships.

Bach

Finally, on Sunday morning, we woke up, grabbed showers, and met with Austin’s mom and my mom for a kinda bridal shower thingie.  It was SO nice, and once again, having all that love in the same place was really trying to make my head explode.

photo 5 (2)

18 days and counting….!!!!

How was your weekend?

Errr….Wedding Wednesday?

| cheriarmour

I know it’s not Wednesday.  But you know what, I think you guys can deal with it and forgive me right?  It’s been sort of a crazy week at work (and I promise that once it kind of gets smoothed over I will tell you about it) but rest assured, there is a ton of stuff going on, and I’m sorry if you feel neglected.

So let’s do some catching up.

Numero uno, have you met my favorite song yet?  I heard it like a week-and-a-half ago, and it’s currently climbing the charts, like number 8 on Billboard, and a little higher up on Spotify’s list.  The song is the perfect mix of blue-eyed soul, plus a really sweet reggae feel that I haven’t heard in a while.

Behold ‘Rude’ by Magic! The group releases the album July 1st, and once that happens, I will definitely be looking for their shows. Their lead singer, in particular, is so interesting to look at, and the way he moves is really unique. I just loved discovering new loves!

Wedding Updates + a legitimate dilemma. 

  • I called last week to check on my dress, and to be completely honest, the situation with my dress is cutting it really close, and I’m not comfortable with that, but I really can’t do much about it now.
  • My wedding bands came in yesterday.  I was tempted to go pick them up so I can put them on, but is that bad luck?  Did anyone else “test” their wedding bands and wear them before they actually got married?
  • I’m not sure what I’m going to do about my last name, and I’m actually lost.  Custom would dictate that I take his.  But I like my last name.  In fact, I love my last name.  I love my family, and I love my father, and part of me might mourn the loss of that.  Do I want to keep it completely?  I don’t know.  Do I want to have part of my new husband’s name?  Yes, because we’re a family now.  But I’m not sure how to make that happen.  Please let me know if you have any cool ideas.
  • The invites are sorta ready.  I have the .tif file for them, and I am exploring some printing options for them.  If you will recall, I wanted to have them sent out by now, but things don’t work out the way you want them when you’re getting married.  Learn that, and you will have a really easy time 🙂
  • Me and Austin may have a big (non-baby) announcement soon (calm down), but I can’t tell you yet.

Okay, what’s new with you?  What should I do about my last name? 

Wedding Wednesday: Almost 3 months away!

| cheriarmour

I say this every week, and I will continue to say this – I don’t know where the weeks are going.  I’m in love with the fact that the time is flying by, and that after the harsh winter from hell that we’re already having 90-degree days in Raleigh, but as far as wedding planning goes, this time rocketing by thing is a little scary.  Nevertheless, taking the time out to make a few lists and holding myself accountable by telling you guys about what I’ve been up to has been so helpful.

So first things first.

I had another stress dream last night, this one involving my wedding dress.

My dress has long been ordered, and it’s to die for.  It’s sexy, and still classy, and perfect for the barn bash we’re throwing in August.  But in my dream last night, it was anything but the things I just described.

When I looked in the mirror, the dress contained this like, pink piping around the shoulders.  “This isn’t what we ordered,” I said to myself, and I ripped the silky piping off, to reveal a wedding dress that looked like a golden suit of armor underneath.  Then I woke up sobbing late for work.

Stress dreams aside, things are great!  Save-the-dates are out, like I said last week, and there were only a few people who asked about theirs, one of whom gave me his address incorrectly (my sister did that too 😦 ).  We are meeting the DJ tonight, and I’ve pretty solidly nailed down the costs for him, and for the rehearsal dinner, which came in a hefty amount less than I thought it was going to be for about 20 folks!  I love saving money!

The crafting part has been really fun too.  Over the past few weeks, I have been trolling the Craiglist for mason jars + jelly jars for favors, and at first, I couldn’t find anything, and then the heavens exploded with jars.  I have a friend getting married this weekend, and she has over 50 jars.  I have so many jars that I’ve either purchased for cheap or gotten for free.  And now, it’s just a matter of painting/decorating them/filling them with pretty things.

photo 3

Alsoooooo, I finally got to see my younger sister in person, who’s also engaged too.  I’m getting married in 3 months, and she’s thinking a December wedding.

Bahhh this is so fun!

My brides, how are you hanging in there?

Wedding Wednesday!!!

| cheriarmour

In case you’ve missed it, every Wednesday since I started taking the fact that I’m getting married seriously, I’ve been kind of updating you all with a kind of running update on what I’ve been working on.

Before we get into it, one word of advice for all brides to be.  

Or two, really.

Okay, just two for now.

  • Even if it seems silly, do things early.  You will mark on your calendar that you want to have this thing done by this time, and then you want to have this done by then, and this by then.  And then NONE of it will happen on your schedule.  Some of it will be your fault.  Most of it will be Murphy’s Law.  Like because you wanted your save-the-dates out by this time, the only truck in the world transporting the paper that you were going to print on will have crashed and all your paper burned up.  That is how it works.  As long as you  know that, you’re doing better than a WHOLE lot of other people.
  • People are going to try you.  Relatives will ask if they can fax their office about your event.  Friends of your parents will invite their pastor whom you’ve never met.  Somebody who isn’t in the party will pre-emptively complain about the food.  My advice?  Do like I’m doing and make sure you work out every day and take your self-care very very seriously.  When you do this, you mostly don’t care what it is that people say and you will stick to your guns.  Which is exactly why when my mother basically told me I was an idiot to consider a brooch button bouquet, I didn’t dissolve into a fit of tears.  Because I really have no energy to care.

Okay, that’s all my advice for now.  But seriously brides-to-be, if you have questions or anything, let me know.

So wedding updates!!! Woop woop!

I promised you all a big reveal on my save-the-dates, but some folks haven’t gotten theirs yet, so please, hang in there with me another day or two.

But at a little more than 3 months away, things are coming together.  Emails have been sent, checks have been cut, and now, in a lot of cases, it’s literally a matter of me taking my hands, and putting things together.  I am delighting in putting things together, and in my little trips to Etsy Store and Michaelsare quickly, quickly becoming the highlight of my week.

photo 1 photo 2

 

So this week, three pounds of buttons came to the house (finally!) and an additional 5 pounds of exclusively white, beige, pink, and nude buttons are coming, hopefully by the end of this week.

The brooch lady, Laura, is almost done pricing all my brooches, and I should have a full box of brooches in my possession, signed, sealed, and delivered on Friday.  That means this weekend, I will be making stems.  All.  Weekend.  Long.  But it will be fun!

Annnd I’m waiting to hear back on invites, which I want sent out that first week in June.

Lots of stuff going on! Lots and lots!  Brides-to-be, how is your wedding planning process coming? 

Wedding Wednesday: Finanaces

| cheriarmour

So in like, 3 months and 24 days (which I didn’t know til I blogged about how much time it was gonna be until our Wedding Date), I get to marry this hunk.

photo

Now, I’ve talked openly and candidly about my finances here, but it was important to do that with my husband-to-be, and that meant being really open about my student loan debit and my spending patterns.

And I was really really embarrassed to sit down and talk with him about it.

Austin has a really, really good handle on his finances, and makes a ton more money than I do, and I can learn so much from him (and I have in our years together).  I make a social worker’s salary, and have a decent amount of debt from graduate school mostly, that I’m working on.  But we’ve gotten together every day for the last few days and created a budget, and gone over every single piece of paperwork involving my student loans, and for once, I don’t feel like I’m in a horrifying panic over the state of my loans.

Like I said last week, paying down more of my loans, and still having a little something left over to save, means some actual focus and work, but thankfully, I have a partner who knows what the heck it takes, and is helping me focus on the big picture.  And instead of being mortified and embarrassed, once we got down to the real work, I felt comforted that I was able to share my “burden” with someone else.

In other wedding news?

  • Save-the-dates are OUT!  I will do a big reveal next week, so I can make sure folks get theirs before I put all their business out there.
  • Wedding bands are purchased!  Just waiting for them to come out,
  • Invites?  The ball is rolling, but I have no clue what the wording on the invites is gonna say.
  • My mom screamed at me for not inviting one of her friends.  I am not a cold, heartless person, but she literally told me that she didn’t want to invite this person because they hadn’t been picking up her phone calls as of late.  Well she texted me last night to ask if I invited this person, and then yelled at me when I said no.  I WAS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS!  Ugh.
  • Catering is thisclose to being finalized.
  • We’d already booked the photogs a while back, but in the course of some emails we’d been sending back and forth, I kinda let them know I needed them for our (very late) engagement photos and bridal portraits for you guys to put gifts under when I get married.

To do in this week?

  • The biggie is the wedding website HAS to get some progress on it.  Maybe I’ll work on that this weekend.

I am SO happy that things are getting done.

How do you keep up with your monthly budget/big ticket expenses?

Wedding Wednesday! Ceptin’ it’s Friday, but whatevs!

| cheriarmour

Y’all know about my love affair with my husband-to-be right?  Cause he handsome and really amazing, and is really good at math things, which I am not 🙂 well, we did something really really cool that was wedding related and I honestly couldn’t wait until next Wednesday to tell you about it so you’re gonna have to deal.  #sorrynotsorry. So today, we hopped on over to Diamonds Direct Crabtree, who is hosting their spring Designer Showcase ALL OF THIS WEEKEND!  Go, cause that  means a ton of stuff is on sale, wedding bands, engagement jewelry, and a TON of other stuff.  Like, I already picked out my stuff for our first, fifth, and tenth anniversaries.  20 is gonna be a doozy, just sayin’.

To be 100% transparent with you guys, I loved the customer service that I received at Diamonds Direct  so much that we partnered up, and I am covering some of their events in the lead-up to my wedding in exchange for a discount on some wedding items.  But all opinions are strictly my own.

Hohkay, moving right along…

DSC_0415 DSC_0416 These cars out front kinda made me want to rent something fancy for our wedding.  NO!  Budget, Cheri! DSC_0418   Here’s some info on the showcase.  There’s free food tonight….just sayin’… DSC_0420 DSC_0421

Baby boy talks to a rep from a jewelry company that is being represented at the showcase….

DSC_0423

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting/working with the handsome fellow on the left, Barak, a few times, and he literally makes you feel like a celebrity in his store.

DSC_0429

Andddd here is the fun part!  I don’t care that I already have a beautiful beautiful engagement ring, sparkly rings are sparkly rings!

DSC_0430 DSC_0431The selection at the showcase was SO huge…we actually went to shop for Austin’s band a few weeks back, and decided to come back for the showcase, and they really delivered.  This isn’t the entire selection of Tungston Carbide rings either.

DSC_0433

An expert chatting it up with my man friend making his final decision!

So the full info on the Diamonds Direct Spring Designer Showcase?

Friday, April 25th – 10am-8pm <-Free Food that day, so come hungry and sober.

Saturday, April 26th, 10am-8pm

Sunday, April 27th 12pm-6pm

Click here for more info, but head over there for 20% off of a TON of jewelry.