Yes!

Napkins

After learning that Hurricane Ike ruined our napkins, I gave myself a few nights to sleep on it before deciding that I absolutely couldn't live without customized cocktail napkins. They're something that Martha Stewart ingrained in my mental wedding many, many years ago.

I used PrintGlobe as recommended by my virtual gal pal Robyn back in April. I can't say enough good things about PrintGlobe. The wrong artwork was attached to my order and I was able to intercept it immediately and work with a customer service rep via e-mail to get the correct artwork added to the account and add a second design to the order. The napkins arrived last week and they're just perfect! My only slight complaints are 1) the ivory color of the napkins is a tinge yellow. 2) the hand towels are ROUGH. I mean, REALLY scratchy. But, high-maintenance-ness aside, I give PrintGlobe an A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ as a vendor.

Ladies Who Lunch

I'm already going through project withdrawal, so I made some invitations to send my girlfriends, our sisters, and moms inviting them to join me for an afternoon of lunch and manicures and pedicures.

My new favorite thing is lining envelopes with magazines. My friend Piehole gave me the idea when we were at the Paper Source Girls Night Out back in July and this is the second project that I've used it for.

Have I Mentioned That I Am Not Very Good At Relaxing?

Remember my plan to unplug and cold chill on my birthday? Well, that didn't happen. My coworkers weren't having my protest, so here was my "Birthday Unplugged:"

• 1-MARRIAGE LICENSE!
  
  
• 7-Birthday Cards
  
  
• 2-Lottery Tickets (Hopefully winning ones)
  
  
• 1-Dt. Sunkist
  
  
• 1-Birthday Cake
  
  
• 1-200-calorie FF Yogurt Parfait (with a candle!)
  
  
• 2-HUGE Fruit Trays  (also with a candle!)
  I had been protesting a cake the day before, so my two girlfriends in the office -- unbeknownst to each other -- planned low-cal treats for me.
  
  
• 1-Surprise E-mail from Andy containing an Elizabeth Arden Gift Certificate>
  
  
• 1-Macy's Gift Card
  
  
• 1-SQUARE PLATTER FROM TIFFANY'S! -- My coworker gave me this to celebrate my "last single birthday." When she was walking over with my gift, I thought that it was cute that she was reusing her Tiffany's bag from a recent purchase. Then she handed it to me and there was a blue box inside!
  
  
  
  
  Image: Tiffany & Co
  
  
  1-Flower Delivery: This picture is two days after the fact and doesn't do them justice.

• 1-After Work Drink at the Holiday Inn
  
  
  
  
  
  Image: Mart Plaza
• 1-Possibly-Someday Phone Call
  
  
• 1-Phone Call Notifying Me that a Mother-of-the-Bride Dress Has Been Purchased
  

And that was just at work! I had to laugh because it felt like I had a new surprise arrive every 15 minutes. After that, I was too overstimulated to be quiet and pensive, so I e-mailed my girls LP and VP and made a sushi date for the evening. For all of my protesting, I ended up having a very, very fun day. I guess that I'll relax on 10/18!

My Wedding Shoes are Boring.

My Shoes - BLAH!

Image: J. Crew

Photo Shoot-Worthy Shoes - HOORAY!

Images: In This Instance

Images: Style Me Pretty

What to do? What to do? What to do? What to do? I am running out of time to decide. Today is my birthday and my gift to myself is unplugging. I've turned off the Morning Joe that Andy leaves on every morning. I've asked coworkers not to tempt me with cake. I've cancelled my usual birthday plans with my girlfriends. It's just me, myself, and I in my last birthday before I have to start checking two new boxes on surveys (Married and, next year, 35+). Maybe I will relish the silence of my day in the comforts of the Nordstrom's, J. Crew, and Bloomingdale's shoes departments on the way home from work tonight.

So, What Else Do You Got For Me?

Obstacles:

• 8/15: Received notification that the hotel will not be opened.
• Status: Resolved; All guests notified via 9/2 mailer; Cost some cash, but resolved the issue without jeopardizing the design of the invitations.
• 9/3: Notified that hair stylist will be in Puerto Rico on wedding date.
• Status: Resolved; My hairstylist located an alternative stylist for me and I've booked my hair trial and wedding appointments.
• 9/9: Found out that the previous hotel has gone into receivorship and will not be providing trolley service.
• 9/22: Found out that 43 guests will be staying at the hotel!
• Status: Resolved on 9/23; Hit parents up for a loan and booked large bus for day-of-transportation

(Insert a huge sigh of relief here...or not) What's that, maid of honor/dearest little sister? What? You instructed the tailor to cut your tea length dress above the knee? (Insert image of me banging my head against the wall here.)

Sigh. At least she's got hot legs.

Ewww. I'm Tiiiired.

Here was the To Do List that I made for myself on the way to work on Friday:

• Friday Night:
1. Finish Laying Out Guest Book
2. Make Lantern Decision for Aisles
   
• Saturday Night:
1. Print Signage (4 reserved tables, 2 guest books, cake table)
2. Finish (Surprise for Some People)
3. Make Plain Popcorn Labels
4. Order Plastic Bags for OOT Bag Snacks
5. Cut Paper for Guest Book Numbers
• Sunday:
1. Buy water for OOT bags
2. Select Harvest Swap Gift
3. Order Candle Holders from CB2

Here's what I actually did:

• Friday Night:
1. Opened Blurb BookSmart Application.
2. Fell asleep with my laptop on my lap.
• Saturday Night:
1. Designed Lunch Invitations for 10/16
2. Fell Asleep
• Sunday:
1. Walked to Kinko's to make photocopies of Lunch Invitations for gocco printing
2. Vegged out and watched the Martha blog episode
3. Printed the 10/16 invitations and lined and addressed the envelopes
4. Finished and Ordered the Guest Book*

And now it's time for bed again. I think that my cold has morphed into mono, because I can't get enough R&R.

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Completely unrelated to anything in this post, I love this photo from the New York Times:

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*Our guest book is from Blurb. I am so excited to finally try Blurb. I've had an album from my Italy trip sitting 95% finished on my desktop since January. Also, I googled "Blurb.com Coupon Codes" and found one for 20%. I saved $15.99. The code thankyou08 is good through September 30, 2008 if anyone's interested.