Monday, April 22, 2013

Five More Days!

Only five more days until the wedding!! This will probably be the last post I make before I go into total beast planning mode (Lists! Sticky notes! Planners!).

Last night, Russ and I had an awesome dinner with my family. Despite all chaos that leads up to the wedding day, we try to spend as much quality time as we can with the people we love. I really wanted a dinner with my family 'cause I know I'll miss them lots so Russell took them out to one of my favorite restaurants.

At The Balcony

Yum. We were all pretty stuffed afterwards. Nothing beats good food with good people.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Half Empty

Childhood memories.

I've slowly been packing up my room and every movement is an obstacle. Packing up my books, emptying my drawers, tearing out posters, stripping down my closetI feel like there's a breakdown waiting for me at every corner. It doesn't help that I only have a week left in this house. I hate count downs but I can't help it. I'm counting down the nights I have left in my bedroom, and with my family. To be honest, it sucks. I'm going to miss them so so much.

I know I'm still excited to move in with Russell after we get back from the honeymoon. I'm thrilled to see how it'll be like to live with my best friend/husband. Don't think I regret any of it. It's just...what I do regret is not appreciating my parents and family more when I could have. I wish I had never complained about curfew but instead saw it as a way to spend more time with my family. I wish I hadn't lost my patience with my parents as much as I did. I wish I had been smarter and wiser.

Cleaning up my room is catapulting me to nostalgia lane. Most of the furniture I have in my room I've had for more than a decade. I know I've outgrown many of the things (drawers that are breaking, hot pink chairs, etc.) but I kind of wish I didn't. I'm attached to them the way I'm attached to my childhood. Seeing my room now half empty makes me want to wake up my parents and crawl into their bed. A part of me3 year old me who cried whenever my older brother dropped me off at preschool because I hated the thought of not seeing him for hours; 11 year old me teaching my little brother how to write; teenager me learning how to drive from my dad; college me sitting on my parents' bed and having girl talk with my mom —will always miss this.

Now it's just a half empty room becoming emptier by the second. I'm going to miss these sky blue walls and when dad and mom went with me to Home Depot to pick out the exact shade of blue I wanted. I'm going to miss the Harry Potter collage I made in high school that my mom does not have the heart to take down. Man, I'm even going to miss mom hiding all my finished puzzles under the mattress and underneath the rugs. It's not fair. I wish I had known to appreciate all the moments when they were happening.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Sneak Peak

Sorry for the lack of updates. Can you believe that I will be getting married in about two weeks?! I am so excited. Russell and I have been putting finishing touches on all our decorations and plans. I have to say, I'm pretty stoked that we were able to actually pull everything together. Sometimes I step back and think, "Wow, we planned a wedding."

Anyways, we have been putting together song playlists. If you guys don't know yet, Russell has some pretty wack weird taste in music (haha, sorry Russ). This will lead to a very...interesting reception music playlist. I love a lot of the songs we have already but somehow I can't stop listening to You and I by Ingrid Michaelson. 


Oh let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance

It makes me want to dance and pick flowers. There you go! A little sneak peak into our wedding reception playlist ;)

Monday, April 1, 2013

Bridal Shower

I had the best bridal shower with the best people this past weekend. It was thrown by my two wonderful maids-of-honor and it was so much fun. The wedding is less than a month away (!!!), and everyday I am amazed by all the great people I am surrounded by.

The women invited to my bridal shower have all influenced and shaped me in some way. It's touching and yes, somewhat emotional to see all these great people in a room together. It fills my heart with so much gladness and I'm overcome by it. It's truly amazing.

Jessica and Bernadette even had a station where the girls had to write a memory they have had with me. Then, I had to read them aloud and guess whose they were. Many of them were funny, a couple were slightly embarrassing, and all were touching. It reminded me of all the adventures and laughs I've had the privilege to share with them. Gah, this wasn't meant to be sappy but I guess it is. But no matter, my heart is overflowing and I wanted to share.

I also had a box of advice that the guests wrote for me. One lady also gave an encouraging speech of her personal advice. People were hugging and stopping me throughout the party to offer advice or help with the wedding. Did I mention how awesome these people were? It's one thing to know cool people but another thing to be surrounded by so much love.

P.S. Here's a video my older brother made of some pictures from the bridal shower: Katrina's Bridal Shower