Videographer

After consulting my good friend google, I decided to meet with the videographer who seemed like the best deal. Because our wedding is on a sunday, he does them half off! so now my $1200 expense is now a $600 expense.

This guy wanted to meet at the Starbucks at Mockingbird station. It's kinda far for us to go coming from west plano, but for a good deal ill go just about anywhere lol.

I think this guy was trying too hard to seem artsy. putting aside he wanted to meet at a starbucks in a artsy part of town, he came dressed all in back with a painters type hat and tie. he seemed a little too eager to please but his work was good enough.

He brought some DVD cases with him that he was super proud of. they were 24$ each because he used a paper/fabric and put them all together himself. lol IF we decide to go with a videographer we will go with this guy. his work is good and he throws in a lot of "extras" for free. Autumn Video for all you using this blog to help you plan. but, with several unexpected things that are coming up, if i need to cut anything he will be the first to go.

HOW MUCH!?!?!?!

OMG! I cannot believe how much DJ's cost for weddings. I swear people hear the word wedding and they automatically jack up the price 300%. its just not fair to those of us who dont have unlimited funds. not to mention this was an expense I never budgeted for!

My good friend and bridesmaid was dating a DJ when I first started planning. He had told me to not worry about the entertainment, he'd be more than happy to DJ my wedding for me. Well, lets just say life has happened since I've started planning and hes not longer even answering my emails/facebook messages. I get that the situation has changed, but he did promise and the fact that his assistant (also a former friend) is pretty much lieing to me about still djing. you dont spend all that money on equipment and then just decide youre not doing it anymore esp for a friend whom you've already promised to help out. nevertheless it has left me searching for a DJ.

I thought they would be around a couple hundred dollars... man i was WAY off. Now I get that a DJ is super important to any real party. I NEED one and I want it to be a good one! There is going to be a lack of booze at the wedding so a good DJ/MC is even more important than normal. the CHEAPEST DJ I am finding is 750. that is WITH a whole bunch of discounts. most of the ones that seem really good online and in reviews are closer to 1200! FOR MUSIC! I have been asking all my friends if they have any DJ friends that will help me out and reduce their price for a friend or a friend. I pose this question to all my readers. help?

Some of you may suggest just hooking up my ipod and letting it DJ. and while this would be a cheap solution to my huge budget problem...there is NO sound system in my venue and we would still be left needing to rent the equipment. which.. runs about the same as a dj that comes with the works. oh jeeze... what to do?!

Have the cake and eat it too!

This has been my favorite part to date! I decided it was time to pick a cake! So i made appts at 3 top bakeries in the metroplex. Delicious Cakes, Frosted Art Bakery, and Romano's Bakery.

At the fist apt, at DC, Alison came with anthony and i to taste yummy treats. I thought it was strange that when i made the appts not a single bakery wanted to know what cakes we wanted to try. but i thought oh well and went with it. Well at this first shop, we got a list of all the flavors and were allowed to choose 8 flavors of cake to try. So we piked the best sounding 8 and the flavors we liked here boiled down to the double fudge chocolate for anthonys cake and the strawberry and white-white cake for my cake. Alison was surprised that I didnt rush to make the order and go ahead and sign the contract. well... i had two more appts lined up and i wanted to make sure i was getting the best cake for the best price. the lady that helped us was nice enough and at that time seemed to know what she was talking about so we left there feeling pretty good. only minor thing that bothered us was how much they were going to charge for anthonys scuplted cake. they didnt even want to sculpt most of it they wanted us to bring in the parts... its like why even bother!?

so the next week Anthony, MY DAD (yes he actually came to a cake tasting! as a matter of fact both of our dads have been to at least one part of the planning. its kinda cool) and I went to frosted art bakery. they are located in the design district so when we first got there we totally thought we were in the wrong place. But with the huge decorated van we found the right spot. it was a really small place, COVERED in cakes. there was one cake that had to be 10 feet tall! When we sat down with the cake planner she was actually really interested in both the cake designs we picked out and got really excited. This place was a lot more professional. They brought out 10 different cakes in bite sized pieces one plate per person instead of us all munching on the same pieces like we did at the first place. she then went on to tell us HOW to taste it to get the optimal flavor. I really like the Italian cake but since anthony doesnt like nuts that was out. so we picked two flaovrs for me and two chocolate flavors for him and they said they would sculpt the whole cake unlike what the other place had told us. now you could tell the difference in the cake places with the price. but id much rather have someone who really knows what they are doing, more professional and better tasting even if it costs a little more.

the last place we went to it was me anthony and my mom. this place was just so unprofessional and bordering on rude. they had lost their cheat sheet so they didnt know which cake was which on the plate... hello its your cake you should know! they also didnt want to sculpt the whole cake. and their unprofessionalism was bordering on just plain rudeness! Even though it was ok cake and the cheapest price, we will NOT be ordering from Romano's Bakery. I;m surprised they made it into Dweddings best cakes. Then to make things worse! the lady had the audacity to ask us to sign the contract right then and there.

So we will be going with Frosted Art Bakery. and Each tier will be a different flavor, even in the grooms cake. another awesome thing about this bakery is that they will completely replicate our top tier a year out so that we dont have to save the cake for our anniversary... this is complimentary.

so i really do get to have my cake and eat it to!

The best part of wedding planning!

Hello all.

With few comments and even less followers I had decided to abandon my attempts at blogging. Turns out a few of you actually missed my rantings and ravings so I've decided to pick back up where I left off. Maybe you can turn your enthusiasm into comments and we can make it a win win.

So we are currently just under 8 months away from our big day and last month we decided to get serious about what we are going to feed all of you lovely people who are going to share in our festivities. I started out, where I always do... googleing all the places that cater to the venue.

Here is where our list gets shortened, there is no kitchen in the old red and because of a lack of a sprinkler system you cant even bring the ovens in. So we were given a list of about 15 caterers that could still work under those conditions. I originally thought that i wanted a sit down dinner where everyone had their own plate and it was brought to them. but the first 3 caterers i talked to all wanted my entire wedding budget to do that. So I kept searching. I narrowed it down to 3 caterers based on their menu options. I have a lot of muslim family members coming in so finding options for them that are tasty can be a little tricky.

Two Sisters Catering was just way too expensive even after all the "discounts" that they were quoting me that I never even went for a tasting.

Ah yes, I said tasting! THAT is the best part of wedding planning. All the free food lol. So we went for tastings at the other two options I narrowed it down to.

Culinary Art Catering has an open house once a month so My mom, Alison and I went to one. but we werent really impressed with the food. there wasnt near enough flavor. the chicken was dry and the only thing that was really good were the mashed potato martinis. (mashed potato bar in a martini glass) But I decided to give them one more chance because with them I would still be able to do the plated meal within my budget, and I hadn't tried any of the fish options. So Anthony and I went back and found that while their fish dishes were WAY better than their chicken dishes, there was still flavor and umph missing. That, and since not everyone would eat fish, we'd be giving a so so meal to more than half our guests.

So we went for another tasting at Pappdeaux! OH YUM! their cajun food was just soo tasty and Anthony even liked the crab cakes, which never happens. This was hands down the better of the two foods. They even have the ok to put up grills in the back and make everything fresh on site! but it'd be buffet style.

So we had a little dilemma of better service over better food. and luckily for all of you fortunate enough to come to our wedding, we went with better food. NO i will not tell you the full menu, just cuz im blogging about experiences doesnt mean you get to know EVERYTHING before the big day! :-P

fitting into the dress

I have always been slightly unhappy with my body. i think everyone is to some degree. i've tried a couple times to shed the pounds with no real success. however with my pending nuptials it has motivated me into taking a real good crack at it.

its not that i dont fit into the dress. i do and it look amazing on me. theres just a few things i wish didnt show up lol. so im taking my motivation and running with it!

so then its like what do i do? work out...that lasted about a week before my workout buddy stopped coming by... *cough* zainab *cough*. weight watchers...kept being really over or really under my points. transitions...i dont get the whole low glycemic index thing. so i decided to give jenny craig a shot

they pretty much tell you exactly what to eat when and they have a weekly weigh in. so as i lose weight ill keep ya'll informed. lets say that right now my weight is x. goal weight is x-70. here i go... wish me luck

I'm not a prize to be won

I have joined this wedding forum where bride to be and newly wed brides come to discus all things wedding. It has made me realize how weird sales ladies at bridal shops can be. This post will detail every weird encounter I've had with a sales lady to date.

I am NOT wearing a veil at my wedding. I dont believe in what it stands for (submission to your husband or even farther back than that- hiding the bride so the hubby to be wouldnt run away) and I know thats not what people see it as these days but they still give me an inky feeling. Also, I dont want to feel like Anthony will be unwrapping me. I may be giving myself to him and thats the best present but he is also giving himself to me. So I told every shop lady at every dress store this when they suggest i try on a veil. Most just immediately go to tiaras. this one lady ... the conversation went like this

SL: "oh that dress is just beautiful on you! Now lets put it all together with a veil"

ME: oh no veil for me

SL: *stops mid step and gasps* WHAT?! no VEIL?

ME: yeah i dont really believe in them

SL: *spew* WHY NOT!?

ME: dont want to be unwrapped by FH

SL: *silence* Well why dont you just try it on anyway?!

..... some people just dont get it.

So as you all know, Im not a skinny girl. I have some curves on me. Which makes my size in a wedding dress rather on the higher end. I walked into Demitrios bridal with an appointment and they act like I dont have one. Then I say... well do you have samples in my size and they say... oh we can try them on for you... WHA? no way in hell! then i say show me the dresses in my size (after wandering around aimlessly for like 20 mins) and they show me one. they acted like bitches the whole time... hello wedding dresses arnt cheap. treat me like im about to spend several thousand in your store.

@ davids bridal i showed them dresses i like and they bring me similar ones that they have in my size i put one on...

ME:hmm idk if i like this skirt

SL: yeah its got pick ups

ME: yeah and this waist isnt working for me

SL: well its the same waist as this dresses you said you liked except it points up instead of down.

ME:....yeah so its not the same.

(anything for a sale)

for all you potential brides out there STAY AWAY FROM DEMITRIOS AND DAVIDS BRIDAL they dont care about you as a person just your money and they will lie to you to make the sale. I got my dress from Terry Costa. but the best customer service and beautiful dresses were at ALFRED ANGELO :)

The dress

So as I said in a previous post I have found my dress! I ordered it at the end of last month because they had a sale and when it comes to spending money...I always look for the best deal and this was it! When I ordered it (11 months before the wedding) they told me that it would take 5-6 months to get it. Now this is what I as told pretty much accross the board so I knew it'd be a long time before I saw my beautiful gown in all its glory. this would put it coming in around december or january (5-6 months before the wedding) and that was still a long time to hold on to it but not unreasonable. SO tell me why I get a call TWO WEEKS LATER saying my dress is in....WTF! what the HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH IT NOW!?

they called me like three of four times before i actually went in to pick it up. When I got there they pulled it out and laced me in. I felt SO beautiful. I pranced around like a princess for a while and tried on all the tiaras. then was like ok.... get me out of the dress. everyone who worked there thought I was out of the dress really fast. firstly they dont do alterations there...2nd... I HAVE 10 MONTHS so im NOT gonna use the lady you have buzzing around trying to make money off me. I will take as long or as short as I want thank you very much. Afterall I bought the dress. obviously it wasnt my first time in it...w/e anyway. now the dress in which I will go from miss to mrs is now hanging in my moms closet. and will continue to say there well into next year.

The wedding plans so far

apparently i've been busy/lacking focus. but i've been really busy on the wedding front in the last month. this post will give ya'll the quick rundown of where im at!

So while i was in pakistan i got to pick out and design my invitations!! my uncle is a print maker and so his gift to us is all of our invitations! they are gonna be very modern in our colors. i designed them and saw the mock up but i wont see the finished product until closer to the date! i cant wait to see em. dad should be bringing the save the dates with him. so that'll be exciting!

another little thing i picked up in pakistan are my reception shoes! they are cute sandals with little rhinestones on them and a super low heel. soooo pretty (Also a gift from my uncle-he rocks)

I won several things... bridal bootcamp (which is super killer, i've been twice and i have one more.) they are outside intense workout for and hour and i hurt so much afterward. i also won a mary kay pampering party that was kinda fun. nedra and her mom came with me and my mom it was fun. i also won lol 50% off certain packages... none that we will actually use but it was cool to get.

BIG NEWS!!! i BOUGHT MY DRESS! yep i found THE dress and ordered it! its supposed to be in by november! :) thats all youre getting out of me about that! i want it to be a killer surprise.

i also booked my honeymoon! yep! anthony and i will be running away to sandals st lucia! cant wait its gonna be so exciting.

we also had our first tasting. was not impressed so on ward and up ward.

in other news non wedding related... we moved! not very far mind you, we're right across the street from my old place. we really like this area but they were gonna up my rent over there and we needed more space and anthony wanted a place that was totally ours and not just mine. he said that he never really felt like my apt was home even though he lived there the better part of 3 months or more.

we prolly spent alittle more money than we should have getting new stuff for the new apt but our bathroom is totally pimpin! we have this awesome memory foam bath mat! and an awesome tension set shower caddy, brand new shower curtain...the worst part? we actually thought shopping for this stuff was fun! we're getting old and domesticated. haha anyway thats all i have for now. so until i have more interesting things to say my friends... adieu.

Grieving

I’d like to dedicate this post to my grandmother, Amia Bai. She passed away on July 3, 2010 in Karachi, Pakistan. I loved her very much but hadn’t seen her in about 3 years or even talked to her in over a month. My trip to Pakistan was to go see her. Spend some time with her. Unfortunately, my fun filled happy vacation has turned into a trip to burry my grandmother.

She practically raised me. My parents both worked full time so it was always her and my aunt that I came home to. They took great care of me. My grandmother painstakingly helped me get through the Qur’an. Fed me really great food, we always cooked together. She taught me to always be strong.

She never had an easy life. But she always kept going. I was her favorite grandchild, she always told me so. Her passing is particularly hard on me.

I was at work when my dad called and told me. I started, of course, sobbing uncontrollably. My coworker MADE ME STAY until a replacement showed up. I thought this was just incredibly rude of him. I had to wait on students for another 20 mins when I was in the deepest part of mourning.

That night I went over to my Mom’s and she made one of my grandmothers fave dishes and we had dinner in her honor. Started talking about all the good times we had with her. It was a good form of therapy.

Anthony also recently lost his grandmother and was a big comfort to have around. He bought be frozen yogurt and Lego Harry Potter so I could focus my energies elsewhere. He held me when I needed to be held, he let me cry when I needed to cry. Never tried to belittle my feelings. and now I will be without him for 2 whole weeks.

So now here I am, half way to Pakistan. Still completely depressed.

Trip

So as most of you know, I am going to Pakistan to visit my family who I haven't seen in about 7 years. I leave Sunday and I really am looking forward to it! you can read all about my trip on my travel blog at travelholic7.blogspot.com

Anthony won't be coming with me. It will be the first time we spend more than two nights apart since we met! It's gonna SUCK! :(

There are several reasons he wont be joining me. 1. we are not married so it wouldn't be culturally right for him to travel with me. 2. he will be in school. 3. he doesnt have a passport. (GET ONE NOW!)

Doesn't make it any better though. We have been running around trying to make sure that we've got everything on our lists that i need. yesterday we went to best buy. I bought him a lap top for his birthday and then a laptop for my dad in pakistan. Too bad they dont work on commission there, they would have made a lot off my sale. :-P

Today we will try to find some appropriate clothing for me.. sigh ah cultural difference :/

MEGA DATE NIGHT

Anthony and I have made a promise to do date night once a week no matter what. Being near the end of the month we get strapped on cash. But then I had a brilliant idea! MEGA DATE NIGHT!

So there is a Dollar Theater near us. We still call it this even though there is only one showing a day that is $1, most of the time is $1.50, on weekends $2. But on Tuesdays its only 75 cents!

So Anthony and I took this opportunity to go see THREE movies back to back that we wanted to see for a while now.

We saw the
1. Backup Plan (cute and slightly funny)
2. Kick Ass (a lot funnier than i predicted and a LOT more gory)
3. Date Night (my fave of three really funny and a must see.)

all for a whopping $4.50

then we added a soda that was refilable for $4.75 (yes the coke cost more than THREE movies for TWO people)

Stopped at a cvs before hand and spend $3.50 on snacks

Our mega date night cost us $12.75. lets see you beat that! :)

Some may call us cheap, I call it being economical.

Gardetto's

THEN NOW

So I'm sitting here munching on my bag of Gardetto's Garlic Rye chips thinking how it's funny how much our tastes change over time. I mean there was a time when I'd buy Gardetto's and eat everything BUT the rye chips. They were brown, and hard and I thought they tasted funny. But now they are my favorite part of this high sodium highly addicting snack. So much so in fact that I buy bags of just the rye chips and nothing else.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to reminisce about other things that I used to despise but now can't get enough of.

2. (since Gardetto's is obviously number 1) SUSHI!

I'm really of the opinion, now, that if you don't like sushi you just haven't tried it yet. Admittedly, the thought of putting raw fish into your mouth doesn't sound very appealing. I was of the same mind set when I was younger, "what do you mean the fish isn't cooked...gross." But then I actually tried it! And from that day on I was hooked. Now it's my go to get together suggestion. Lucky for me, Anthony likes it just as much. We actually even went sushi bar hopping for new year's. We have tried so many places but have settled with Ra located a mere 5mins walking distance from us. They have happy hour sushi till 7 every day of the week where the sushi is half off!

3. reading

Now probably just like every grade schooler I HATED reading. This is due to the simple fact that we were FORCED to read CRAPPY books that no one cared about. Yes I get that The Great Escape is a book every is supposed to read but not everyone cares to. Surprisingly it was a required book that changed my mind about reading. Enders Game my sophomore year made me love reading again. Now I even have a nook and I can take an infinite number of books with me wherever I go. Im never without a book and I can't imagine it being any other way.

4. technology

In third grade, my school was selected to be a pilot group for a typing program. We were one of the first schools to actually have a computer lab. Again I think it was just because it was forced on me, I didnt like it. I didnt see why I had to learn how to type, why couldn't I just use my pretty colored pens? Then digital cameras, what was the point in taking a picture if you couldn't have a hard copy?! No I wanted none of it. But here I am 21 and wont go anywhere without my iphone, a video camera that fits in my purse (i have a flip its awesome), my nook and my macbook isnt far from me at all times. I also couldnt live without DVR! I am a techno-freak. I need the newest thing right now! anything to make my life easier.:)

5.the color green

I dont know if it was UNT or I got hit upside the head but I love everything Green! and no not all colors of green so dont think that I go around sporting anything puke green. Its more kelly or spring green. bed spread, ipod case, 1/2 the clothes in my closet (ok that prolly is UNT yay for free shirts) green green green. :)

6. nerdy boys

In high school I wanted nothing to do with nerdy boys. They weren't manly enough for me. No, I wanted a military guy. And I had my fair share too. From Army, to Navy, to Air Force, I had like a little collection lol. But as I grew older and wiser, realized that I myself am more of a nerd then I let on to be. And that a nerd boy was just what I needed. Look at Anthony, he is pure nerd. From his glasses to his goofy hair and his xbox addiction. but our personalities match spot on. He is definitely the Rye Chips to my Gardetto's bag. I just can't seem to get enough.

7. even numbers

Oh wait, I still don't like even numbers. and therefore couldn't end it at 6. So here is number 7. My lucky number. :) (mom and dad were each one of 7, was born at 7777 forest ln at around 7 am) so there you go. thanks for reading.

Game Night

Now that I'm half a couple, happily I might add, it's harder to justify just going out and having a good time. Not that Anthony won't let me. Or that I have to ask permission. But it's more like I don't wanna go out and have a good time without him lol. but it's hard to hang out with single girls cuz they always wondering why youre dragging along your other half.

so we have been on the search for couple friends.

Recently one of my old friends got engaged. so i thought it'd be kinda cool to do things with them. kinda start to build a relationship with another couple that all sitcoms show you is common.

so we went to a movie last week and this week we went over to their place for game night.

couple bottles of wine, six pack of beer and games. yes sounds so grown up. lol but We really arnt into the whole bar and/or club scene.

We played Pictionary and Cranium. and WE WHOOPED their asses. TWICE. now Brandon and I have had a little competition between us for a couple years now. and we've played several games against eachother and he still cant admit to defeat! last night I did get him to say out loud that i was better than him but this time he wont stand for it. but we all know that anthony and i can kick their asses any day.

They kept saying how in tune we were and how we'd grow out of it. but i just dont see that happening. Anthony and i have a way of keeping close together because we're such good friends. and we wont let the romance die.

So thats just one more affirmation of how great Anthony and I are together.

Plano Plano...EAST EAST

Commencement, definition: the beginning.

Up until today, I always thought it was funny that graduation was called the beginning. When you're graduating you are just glad its over. 13 long years of school and you're done with high school. The fact that it's the beginning is kinda draining to think about.

But sitting there today with two graduations under my belt, the proud sister in me couldn't help but think how fitting commencement really was. My little brother has no idea how much he life is just beginning.

I am so very proud of him. I wish him the best of luck next year at UTD. Make us proud. :)

Anthony unfortunately had to go to school and couldn't make the graduation. Which was ok because Javed could only find 8 tickets and needed 9 if Anthony was going to go. Sacha, mom's bf, was going to forfeit his ticket but since Anthony's prof wouldn't let him go we had the pleasure of listening to Sacha complain about how long the ceremony was.

There were over 1300 graduates. But it was an important occasion and I just wish for once we could go out without hearing him complain.

Not to mention Dad was just about late because of a call he had to take for work then spent the first 3 letters on the phone. Oh well I suppose at least he was there and he saw his son cross the stage phone free.

My uncle flew into town from Atlanta just for the occasion.

so yay for Javed. you can say goodbye forever to plano plano.... east east.

The Batmobile

So in an effort to get our lives on track and be able to start a family, my fiance has started to go back to school. Yes, at 28 Anthony is a freshman.

Today was his first very loong day back at school.

After we were done doing the very boring, mundane life duties for the day we headed over to my dad's house for his birthday dinner.

He's 51 today.

The only real request made by Anthony so far is that the getaway car be the Batmobile. now i dont know if he asked that of me because he knows its impossible, or as a joke, but i took it seriously. I mean how cool would it be to drive away in the friggin Batmobile.

So I start a google search to see how much it would cost to rent a mock up for a day....

While there are an abundance of Batmobiles to rent in England and even a couple in California. There is only one batmobile in Dallas. Its owned by Russ Martin. good luck trying to rent that. but in an effort to make him happy i actually emailed the guy. no response as of yet. all of ya'll should email him and try to convince him :)

So as an alternative, we considered renting an Astin Martin and go out Bond style. There are a couple of places in Dallas and Plano that will let you rent luxury cars. What they dont tell you on the billboards is that they are 1500 for a couple of hours!

for a car

that you'll drive for a couple of mins.

No thanks.

So the search continues. If you find a batmobile let me know. until then...

Im batman!

Graduation Party

So I have one full blood brother, Javed. He, regardless of what his face hairs lead you to believe, is 3.5 years younger than me. He is finally done with high school and walks across the stage this Tuesday.

Man do I feel old.

Until recently, he has been my baby brother (my father remarried about 2 years ago and now I am the oldest of 5 the youngest one being 2 months old). It's just so strange to think about him as a grown up high school grad.

Today was his graduation party. My parents thought that he should have a party and be celebrated because its a big deal graduating from high school.

So of course I drag Anthony along under the pretense of free food.

Maggianos has this big banquet rooms so Mom rented one of those out and invited 50 of their close personal friends that my brother may only have met a handful of times. Ah show off parties.

Parents are allowed to gloat I suppose.

The party was complete with embarassing pics of Javed growing up. Unfortunately that meant there were a lot of embarassing pics of me growing up as well. So many people were astonished to find out that I was older...lol Hope it stays that way. I think eventually I'd love to be the younger sister of the 40 year old fart.

My dad made sure that Anthony met all his friends and paraded us around. Now i love showing off my ring just as much as the next girl, but it seems like the moment you get engaged thats all you do. I hope my new engagement didn't encroach on Javed's big day too much.

Even if it did, at the end of the day he leaves with close to $500 bucks, so Im sure he doesnt mind.

Cat-tastophy

So when you move in with someone... you end up having to fight for the things you really want to keep. We kept his lazy boys and got rid of my antique 70's chairs, kept my bright red kitchen stuff and left his pots for his old roomates to use.

You know you love someone when you go through your closet and get rid of HALF of all you clothes and SHOES just to make room for them ( dont worry I'll buy replacement shoes :-P)

there are some things however that are just non negotiable. ie, his x-box, which i secretly love having (closet gamer...shh dont tell anyone) my large display bookshelf and of course our pets.

now here comes the big issue. I have a cat Hershey (aww isnt she cute) and he has a hamster, Tali (named after a video game character *rolls eyes*)

yes, one of the pets falls under the others food chain... but i'm certain it can work. It has been , with a few minor incidents when Hershey knocked over the cage. It has now been moved to a secure location where theres no room to push it over.

having a cat has proved to be interesting. Since Anthony has moved in, there have been times where she just goes off on the carpet. chewing scratching ripping it up...there goes my deposit. but he just cant take any more of the nails coming out and destroying everything ... ok i get it we want nice things. but heres the thing i am absolutely positively 100% AGAINST de-clawing.

will not do it.

so we went out today and got silicone caps to put over her nails. when i fist heard of these i just imagined that they would be clear or black and not noticable.. boy was i wrong. they only come in the brightest colors imaginable... at least over at petsmart. so we opted for pink... see pic above.

now getting them on was a feat. first you have to clip the nails. and i dont know if any of you have cats...but they REALLY hate getting their claws trimmed. so Anthonys got a death grip on her trying to keep her from thrashing about long enough for me to cut all her claws down. THEN you have to put the nails on one at a time adding glue carefully to each one and then putting them on one by one..

Then... keep the cat still for 5 mins... REALLY are you kidding me with this?

and the entire time Hershey is kicking and screaming and moaning like we are murdering her or something.

this takes over half and hour. and at the end of it Anthony is covered in cat hair and scratches and Hershey has pink nails that she cant remove lol. we feed her a tasty treat to keep her occupied while they finish drying.

anyway long story short... battle won. we keep the cat and she keeps her claws.

Details up to now

As i mentioned before, We got engaged back in April. I just had an urge to start a blog now.
but if you think i just sat around doing nothin for the past two months... you are VERY mistaken.

I may not be much of a girly girl. i hang out with guys dont really care about doing my hair, chick flicks are NOT a must see. I used to hate it when my cousins would force me into playing.."what will my life be like" but one thing that I have always been SUPER girly on other than shoe shopping (my name is sara and im a shoe-a-holic) has been planning my wedding. I have had my wedding pretty much planned since I was 5.

My problem? making sure I make all the planning last until next June lol.

The biggest thing for me was the place. I always wanted a grand wedding. Complete with all the bells and whistles. So we checked out some really nice places around here in the Dallas area. We looked at the gardens at Lee Park but they wanted my entire budget just for the catering, this really nice hotel in turtle creek...that completely destroyed my color scheme.. and the old red museum in downtown dallas that looks like a castle. we both fell in love with it (yes Anthony is actually taking an active roll in the planning of our wedding. :) )

What ended up being the cheapest place was the most beautiful. Anthony claims that hes a pretty pretty princess and that i'm not. but has agreed for our wedding day I get to be a pretty pretty princess. If I only get one day you better bet your money that im gonna do it right and go all out. and what better for a princess than a castle for her wedding. http://oldreg.org

I've also found an amazing photographer. See I view photography as an art. I dont want just anyone who can point and shoot. This is the one point Anthony and I just dont see eye to eye on. I want...and finally got, an artist. and to get an artist it costs more...but its an expendature i'm willing to pay. http://lynnmichelleblog.com/

All of the wedding infromation can be found on our website. anthonyandsara.ourwedding.com

So much has already been done, so much more is left to do. but i cant wait. im loving every single min of it. and i can't wait to finally be mrs sara metz. .....ah life will be so much easier when i have an EASY last name lol

The Proposal

April 15, 2010...which just so happens to be my mom's birthday, Anthony takes me to our frozen yogurt place called Berrilious that's in McKinney(healthier for you then ice cream and sooo yummmy!...ps if you know a good place near the shops at legacy let us know!)

we go inside, get yogurt Chocolate for Anthony swirl with the works for me. As we are leaving Anthony "drops" his keys. I turn and look at him and he is down on one knee just like in the movies and asks me to marry him.

he knows i'll say yes

so i make him wait...like 30 secs lol before i yell "YES!"

I picked out the ring before hand. lol I knew he'd ask me. But the timing still surprised me.

He asked my dad for my hand before he asked me. Isn't that cute? Of course my dad says that he didn't need his permission lol but of course he did. Especially with a dad like mine tradtions and respect needs to be showed. So props to Anthony for following through with that outdated archaic ritual. It made me feel good :).

My parents love him. They think he's so great for me. Which is a HUGE plus. and besides the fact that his parents wished I was Christian and can't understand how someone can live without a religion in their life, have taken to me very well. They are really nice people and I dont' mind at all that in a little over a year I will be able to call them family.

Overall... life is good :)

Meeting Mr Right:)

SO! yay for weddings and marriage. The man of my dreams came crashing down from nowhere and swept me off my feet.

Anthony and I met online of all places. I alway told myself that I'd NEVER do online dating that it was just for desparate old people who didn't know anything about dating. Lo and Behold after my 6 year long relationship with someone who was completly wrong for me I timidly decided to put up a profile on a FREE website (no I'm not going to pay for people to like me) and thought what the heck...worked for my parents (who divorced after 20 years of marriage) maybe it'll work for me.

Well first I went on bad date after bad date with retards who didn't know anything. I told myself I was right... online dating? not for me. After coming home from what I'd resolved to be the LAST date with someone I'd met online, EVER, Anthony messaged me. I started talking to him and that very night I ended up going to his house for beer and rockband. I figured at the very least free beer and one of my fave video games would make it bearable.

By the time I left his place that night we had both agreed that we weren't eachothers type and that since we were so awesome, we'd just be friends. But we started hanging out doing like nothing every day.

EVERY DAY!

And we weren't sick of eachother. We sort of fell into this whole dating thing. And somehow after 7 months of easy romance ... we were engaged. Fast? maybe. With the full knowledge that I'm about to sound cheesy I cant help but quote when harry met sally "when you know you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your lifet to start as soon as possible"

So there you have it. How i met my future hubby in a nutshell.