Back with the 'almost-married-for-a-month' recaps!

As you all know...WE GOT MARRIED!! Next Tuesday will mark exactly one month since we got married...where does the time go? I swear we were just heading to the rehearsal dinner and all of a sudden we were packing up to come home from the DR...and now we've fallen into our married couple routine, and before you know it we'll be old and gray, holding onto each others walkers as we inch down the hallway of our retirement home to have our 4:00pm dinner with the Schwass' and the Cutler's talking about what a damn good 50 years it's been!



Anyway, let me begin this blog update by announcing to the world (or the 10 people that read my blog) that July 25th, 2009 will forever be the greatest day of my life (at least until I have a baby...which I've made reference to before). But until that time, let it be known that my wedding day was the very best day of my entire 26 and 3/4 years on this earth! The entire day was absolutely perfect and beautiful and beyond my wildest dreams of what I would have imagined the day would be like. Truly the wedding of my dreams -- which I owe partially to my new in-laws and awesome friends/bridal party, largely to my new adorable husband, and mostly to my incredibly amazing parents.

hugging mom :)

hugging dad :)

SO...who's ready for a re-cap?! Here we go....

When we left off, I was heading off for my almost 2 weeks of vacation. I started my vacation that Tuesday evening with a little wine celebration/truly last night of being a single gal with Stef. We stayed up late gossiping, laughing, crying, watching stupid reality TV, drinking too much wine, and trying to wrap our heads around the idea that just 4 days later I would become a wife.

That Wednesday I woke up and had a couple of Red Door Spa appointments (Bless you, Elizabeth Arden for your zen-like relaxation techniques) and took my mom to get a massage (she was tense and stressed about the wedding...I just wanted a massage) at Massage Envy (totally recommend it!)

Thursday mom and I went to lunch with Gramma and Aunt Lauri, and then Aunt Lauri and I spent the afternoon together taking Whinnie to "camp" (aka: boarding at the vet), running last minute errands, and picking up parent gifts. That night Aunt Lauri, Mom and I gathered in the guest room for a "mini-bachelorette" party where Aunt Lauri gave me some adorable gifts, including a beautiful white negligee (that means nightgown...look it up) and a gorgeous Mikimoto Pearl bracelet to wear on my wedding day -- which perfectly matched my Gramma's pearls that I borrowed to wear as well!

Friday we were up super early and all the girls gathered at Mom's house to head to the nail salon! We all got the royal treatment (spa pedicures and manicures) and I made the drastic decision to get acrylic nails (which I actually can't stand, but looked a million times better than my own nails...but have since been removed as I was having a hell of a time trying to remove my contacts with those claws) and in the end mom ended up paying for ALL of the girls mani/pedis -- was that nice of her, or what?! After nails we headed to the hotel for a quaint little bridal luncheon, which was a great spread that, in the midst of their running around like crazy & getting everything ready for the wedding, my parents put together perfectly with sandwiches, salad, shrimp cocktail and lots of prosecco! -- I should mention that while all the girls were being pampered and fed, the boys were all out golfing in Todd's "Shankapotamus Invitational" golf tournament at the Regency. And bless his heart, Todd went hatless (in the scorching sun) all day, per my suggestion, so he didn't have his typical white forehead/red cheeks & chin tan lines :). -- After our bridal luncheon we all headed to the hotel rooms to relax for a short while (about 10 minutes) before getting dressed and ready to head to rehearsal. We anticipated horrendous Friday afternoon traffic on 66, but ended up making it to the Regency in about 15 minutes and were there an hour before the boys started arriving.

Rehearsal started at 4, and it was H-O-T HOT HOT HOT outside. Everyone was dripping sweat...although I'm pretty sure my dad wasn't sweating, just crying (poor guy...it's gotta be tough giving away your little girl) :(. But the rehearsal went really well and we were back out into our cars by 5:00pm and headed to dinner. Rehearsal dinner was at Red Rock Canyon in Chantilly. They put together an awesome menu of salads and entrees for us and everyone's dinner was delicious. Minus the fact that my poor groom, whom I've never seen give up on a meal, ate approximately 2 bites of his crab cake sandwich before declaring himself full. Jay finished Todd's meal for him, and we all chalked it up to pre-wedding butterflies in his stomach ;). After dinner came the speeches and gifts.

(I would like to personally apologize to anyone who attended the dinner because I was so flustered I have no idea what I really said to each person, so most of it came out as "known you long time....love you like family....thanks for being a friend....traveled down the road and back again...." it was totally Golden Girls-esque, but from my heart none-the-less.) Todd and I gave the following gifts:

Ushers -- silver engraved pocket knives

Groomsmen -- silver engraved pocket knives and engraved cuff links

Best Men -- silver engraved pocket knives and personalized pub signs (they were way cool)

Bridesmaids -- Beach buckets with embroidered beach towels, jewelry to wear to the wedding, a few other cutesy inserts. The wineflop! (ask any of my girls...probably best part of the gifts).

Maid of Honor -- Beach bucket above and a Vera Bradley accessory

Mom's -- Engraved silver picture frames

Dad's -- Engraved Beer Mugs (or engraved scotch decanter for Todd's Dad Charlie...he's not a beer guy)

Then the girls presented me with a beautiful scrap book with tons of pictures from my life and they each made their own page of memories...I cried looking through it!

The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were perfect and Todd and I sealed the evening with one last single people's kiss and headed our separate ways for the evening.

Todd and some of his buddies went out for a few drinks and the girls all came back with me to the hotel where we stayed up for a little bit, drinking the leftover prosecco and listening to fabulous 80's music and gossiping until it was time to [attempt] sleep...

Which brings us to...WEDDING DAY!! A blog worthy of it's own post :) ....stay tuned.

Licensed to wed!

Last night Todd taught me to dance. We pushed the coffee table out of the living room and he led me around our hardwood floors waltzing, sky walking, spinning and dipping. I was a mixture of emotions (think verge of happy tears mixed with uncontrollable laughter mixed with holding my breath mixed with stepping on Todd's toes) and it definitely took the title of my favorite experience of wedding planning to date. We had so much fun practicing our moves...thank God Todd spent all those years of his childhood doing junior cotillion and pushing young girls around the dance floor. He's a pro! And seeing as I'm a truly gifted klutz, I need all the help I can get. I can't wait to see if I can remember the "moves" on Saturday...but I know it will be fun regardless...as long as Todd can remember what I asked him: "Pretend to be singing our song to me, but really be counting steps. And push really hard on my back when you're leading so I don't get confused". Totally romantic.

Anyway, this morning we woke up bright and early and ventured out to the Fairfax County Circuit Court and got our official marriage license! Todd and I drove separately because I was heading in to work after the courthouse and he was heading to get his official wedding day hair cut.* (hilarious story about that to come) Anyway, as we pulled into the courthouse parking garage, I looked in my rear view mirror just in time to see Todd turning the opposite direction of me to go find a parking spot. So of course I loudly announced (to myself) "why didn't he just follow me?? Now I have to walk around the garage looking for him!" So I parked and made a beeline for the stairs and out of nowhere Todd popped up beside me with a huge grin on his face. I (still slightly annoyed) said "where did you go? Why didn't you just follow me??" and he (still grinning) said "I was looking for the exit...this being my last chance and all. Lucky for you, I couldn't find one." I busted up laughing, punched him in the shoulder, grabbed his hand, and we headed for the courthouse. No turning back now!

*side note - hilarious story about Todd's haircut. As we were walking into the courthouse I noticed Todd wasn't wearing a hat. Totally out of character for Todd to be hat-less on his day off from work, and me thinking he was just being classy and polished for our courthouse appearance, I slyly asked "oh, how come you're not wearing a hat today?" Expecting him to say "because we're doing official business at the courthouse", instead he said "because I'm going to get a haircut after this, and Scott doesn't like me to have hat hair." then after a brief pause, he said "wow. that sounded gay." more laughter ensued.

It was a great start to the morning :)

Less than 4 more hours of work and I'm a free (and almost married!) woman until August 4th!

My upcoming timeline consists of sleepover with Stef tonight, a Red Door spa appointment tomorrow morning, followed by massages with mom in the afternoon. Lunch with my mom, Aunt and Gramma on Thursday, dropping Whinnie off at "camp" (aka: the vet/kennel), picking up and wrapping our parent presents, finishing up my bridesmaid gifts, and somehow figuring out how to calm my mothers nerves. Let's hope that massage helps!!

PS - can't wait to have all my girls together on Friday!!! The excitement begins tonight!!!!!!

Time Flies...when you're planning a wedding!

It seems like just yesterday Todd was nervously getting down on one knee on a foggy, dark, humid, beach and asking me to spend the rest of my life with him.

Now we're one week away from starting that life together.

At this time next week, I will officially be Melissa Kalinosky (well as official as I can be without having yet gone to the Social Security office).

At this time next week, we'll be pulling up to our wedding night hotel, gushing about the entire night, and attempting to figure out how we'll be able to sleep in anticipation of heading off to our honeymoon paradise the next morning.

At this time next week, the whole year of planning -- all the time, effort, blood, sweat, and PLENTY of tears that my mom and I put into this wedding will all be worth it. Everything will have finally materialized from small little details, into one perfect ceremony and reception, and it will be over in the blink of an eye.

Every person I meet has the same advice "enjoy it. it'll be over before you know it."

My response is yes, you're right. The wedding will come and go just as fast as this entire year of being engaged has. But when the wedding is over, our marriage is just beginning. We have a whole lifetime to look forward to. Only now, we get to do it together.

I can't wait to marry Todd. Every day I think about how lucky I am to have had a second chance to meet him. I'm so grateful for everything God mapped out for my life...most specifically, Todd.

I can't believe we're in the "home stretch". This week is going to go so fast. I'm hoping I can relish in everything as it all happens. But I know that when the wedding is over, I will have Todd. I will be married to my best friend, and the love of my life.

For as long as we both shall live.

And I thank God for that.

Other things on my mind

With wedding plans coming to a close and the celebration about to begin, my mind has become clouded with thoughts of picking out the appropriate ceremony music, figuring out time lines for hair, make-up, limos, etc., and buying the best possible gifts for our families. Which in turn = my mind has NOT been properly focused at work.

On Monday I forgot to tell the driver the correct location to pick up my boss. Driver was waiting outside our office, boss was at his house. Me = fail.

On Tuesday I forgot that my boss was supposed to attend a second meeting in NY. I had him scheduled to take a plane that was scheduled to leave in the middle of that meeting. Me = fail.

On Wednesday my boss called me out on not paying attention to detail. I couldn't argue -- my mind hasn't been focused. Me = fail.

But the clincher came yesterday: Thursday. I went on my lunch break, and upon my return, Kate (friend, co-worker, sorority sister, fashion guru, etc.) informed me that the boss would be in the office in a about an hour. I quickly changed from my flip-flops to the heels under my desk (as we always do in anticipation of his arrival) and went about getting some work done before he got in.

At 3:30pm - 15 minutes past the time he was supposed to arrive - I walked from my desk to our storage room to grab some supplies, then stopped in front of Kate's desk and said "hmm, we haven't heard from the boss...wonder when he's going to get here?" Kate replied "I know...I already put on my high heels and everything!" At which point I looked down at my feet to say "me too" and instead burst into uncontrollable laughter. I had on two completely. different. shoes. One grey, suede, closed toe, pump. And one black, leather, open toe, wedge. Me = BIG FAIL.

At least Kate and I got a good laugh out of it. And I managed to change to the correct matching set of heels just in time for the boss's arrival, AND a successful afternoon scheduling meeting. At which, Kate and I did NOT fail. :)

He always knows how to make my day

So the big debate in wedding land today has been whether we should depart the reception in a stretch limo or a town car. We are having the best driver in the state of VA (www.americanflaglimousine.com) take us from the reception to our wedding night hotel (sorry friends, it's not the same hotel the guests are staying at...we're staying out near the airport to be in place for our early morning flight). American Flag Limo has great hourly rates...unfortunately, just like every other car company in the market, they charge a 4 hour minimum for their stretch limos. Town cars do not have a minimum.

I was slightly bummed about all of this seeing as I'd always envisioned running out of my wedding reception, holding hands with my new hubby, smiles wider than our faces, through a tunnel of guests holding glowing sparklers, sending us off with their best of wishes, and hopping into a stretch limo to embark on the first of our new adventures as husband and wife.

But this darn poor-economy thing has thrown a wrench in my plan. Paying for a limo for 4 hours, when we're only going down the road a bit, really just doesn't make financial sense. So when I expressed my sadness to Todd via email this afternoon, this was his response:

It'll be alright honey. Besides, We don't need one both ways. because we're going 20 miles and will be so happy and excited that I won't even pay attention to what we are riding in.

And it is much easier to navigate the Arby's drive thru in a town car than a limo :)

Gotta love him...he always knows how to make me smile!

Seating Charts

The seating chart has been a headache all day. Poor mom. I can just picture her sitting at the kitchen island, laptop to her left, names spread out on little post-it notes, sticking them under table numbers and wondering where to place "random cousin #1" and "dateless friend #6". She has emailed me the chart approximately 13 times now, and we finally think we've got it sorted. Sort of.

I feel like after this I should send my mom a sympathy card. Just so she knows I'm feeling her pain. The pain of grouping complete strangers together and hoping that they enjoy each other's company as much as they enjoy their chicken and beef dinners and doing the cupid shuffle and electric slide on a 12' x 12' dance floor while some chicks hair no doubt whips them in the face as another dude stomps on their feet in his wing-tipped loafers.

Ahhh weddings. So much fun with so many strangers.

Cake Topper

Very few of you may know that I have a small affinity for Willow Tree figurines. I've had this affinity since my brother bought me the "Angel of Friendship" figure the Christmas after I got Whinnie. Totally melted my heart.

My affinity grew stronger the first time we visited Jay and Larissa in Scranton and I saw their gorgeous "Together" statue, which they eventually bought for us to have in our own home as well.

Then, this past Christmas, I was browsing for presents and came across the "Promise" cake topper and fell in love. I didn't buy it, as I wasn't sure at the time what our cake was going to look like and if it would go with the theme. We eventually picked out our cake and it was apparent that the cake topper would be too much on top of the cake design. So I sort of cast my desire for the "Promise" topper aside and forgot about it. Until recently.

The other day on my lunch break, I stopped into Hallmark and couldn't help browsing the Willow Tree section. They had the "Promise" cake topper in stock and without even thinking, I grabbed one, made a beeline for the check-out, bought it, and happily skipped out of the store. My mom and I decided we would put the figurine on the cake table, next to (not on top of) the cake. I'm so in love with this figurine that I don't even care if it doesn't go with the wedding colors or theme at all...but I have a feeling it will be a perfect representation of the day...the "Promise" that we are making to each other. And I know this piece will look beautiful in my (still small) collection of Willow Tree figures for years to come, and when I look at it, I'll always remember my Wedding Day and the promise that Todd and I share.