Winding into the Stress Season

There is so much to do in a short amount of time. I can't believe where the time has gone. We've had a long eleven month engagement which has helped to get a lot of the stuff done but still, we're less than six weeks away. I know that everything will work itself out, the celebrations will rock and we get to be in the company of all of our loved ones.

This weekend is the weekend where it all just sinks in with just how much still needs to be done. Here is just an idea of this weekend's itinerary and this is only for this weekend!

• Drive down to LA Thursday evening
• Check out LA Flower Market Friday morning by noon
• Head to courthouse to file for wedding license by two
• Head for dress fitting by six
-wind down time in the evening

• Wake up early for make-up trial by ten
• Meet with our husband-wife photographer team by one
• Bridal Shower - jewelry making theme for all the women by four
• Close friend's 30th Birthday celebration by eight
- wind down time in the evening

• Wake up early to meet with wedding venue by ten
• Meet with our DJ by one
• Drive back to Santa Clara

The weekend hasn't even started yet and I'm already tired. This is going to be a long and brutal weekend but we're coming into the home stretch so the excitement is starting to build.

Our eco-friendly invites have all been shipped and I am so happy with the final outcome of our invites. We found these invites that are 100% paper free and the exterior of the invites is made out of seeds so you get to plant our invite and watch it grow into flowers! We put together over 200 invites but it was a worthwhile task.

• the prep table •

We've also started putting together our Candy Bar and I never knew how expensive candy is! We're having a variety of Jelly Belly, Kisses, Starbursts, Skittles, M&M's, Red Vines and German Candy Eggs and you don't even want to know what that final cost was. For something that is so unhealthy and full of sugar, it sure is pricey! I even think that we might need to add a few more variety (e.g. lollipops) to make sure that we have enough for everyone. We now have to assemble our Chinese Take Out boxes and decorate them. Just another thing to do and this doesn't even include our Dessert Bar!

• the standard mess that lives upstairs •

It's funny because it doesn't seem like there is much more to do besides more DIY projects but as we get closer to each day, there is a little part inside of me that does a subtle freak out. It hasn't been external and to be honest, I have been nowhere close to be a crazy bride but it's just a lot of work for us to do. So I guess the whole working part time has actually been more of a blessing in disguise. It's helped give me a lot more time to put these little projects together while Marijn focuses more on his crazy work life.

Oh but I am looking forward to the relaxing part after! We're spending our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Six days doing absolutely nothing except sitting by the beach and swim up bar. Although knowing us, we're going to want to get away to do a little white water rafting and zip lining but knowing that we don't have to do anything makes me warm and fuzzy.

So instead of counting down to the "big day," I'm going to countdown to our adventure in the Caribbean instead!

• our hotel •

• the coast of the Dominican Republic •

It's that time for family and some stress...

I am not a fan of the big Thanksgiving. I love the gathering of the family and friends but was never a fan of the food. Turkey? Boo on that. Cranberries? No thanks. Sweet potato yams? Marshmallows destroying yams delicious flavors. Pumpkin pie? The only good thing. Oh, and fresh biscuits. Since this is the first year that I am hosting Thanksgiving, I am putting my foot down and changing up the menu.

Fresh vegetable lasagna with homemade pasta sauce. Roasted green beans with toasted almonds. Homemade garlic bread. Garlic cloves baked in the oven to accompany the appetizer of fresh Dutch cheese and bread. Fresh Italian salad. Finish everything off with desserts of homemade apple pie and cheesecake brownies. Yup, that's my menu for this Thanksgiving and I can't wait to start cooking everything early Thursday morning.

Hosting the first Thanksgiving is a little stressful. I'm not stressed for the cooking part. I'm more stressed on the...gulp...two families meeting each other! Marijn's parents is flying in from the Netherlands for ten days. My parents are driving up from Los Angeles. My grandparents are driving up from Arizona. And my lovely sister is staying in Los Angeles, she knew that it was smarter to let me enjoy this all on my own.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm really excited about seeing my family and my (future) in-laws but it's natural to also feel a little stressed. The two set of parents are meeting each other the first time which is great, except for the small detail of the language barrier. The (future) mother-in-law's English is limited. My mother can also be shy on her English and will speak Vietnamese. Of course, my Dutch is super limited and my Vietnamese is pretty Americanized. So these three languages in my home will be a little overwhelming. I'm thinking of only speaking Spanish during Thanksgiving so then there will really be four languages floating throughout our home!

All in all, I'm really excited about this Thanksgiving, it meant a lot to Marijn and I to have our families meet each other before the wedding. It takes a huge load off the stress parts of the wedding. Although I'm not even feeling any of the "stress" or "bridezillaness" that comes with wedding planning (yet), especially since we've successfully crossed off a lot from our daunting to-do list.

We've booked our wedding location, we've found a wonderful husband and wife photography team, I found my dress (heehee, there is no way I'm linking to my dress!), my super talented Aunt is hand making my jewelry, the wedding party has been assembled, our website is almost ready for launching, our friend has offered his graphic design services for our printing needs, we've picked out the invites and another friend is taking the challenge of marrying us off!

So all the big items are off the list and it's now down to the little itty-bitty parts of the wedding. Like taking an evening floral arranging class so I can see if I can do my own flowers and seeing if I can actually bake enough cupcakes so we can have that be homemade (still not sure about that challenge, that's a lot of work just before the wedding but it just might be possible).

Anyway, it's going to be a wild ride for the next couple of days (and months to come) but it's something that excites me but with a sprinkle of stress. So on that note, whatever your adventures are for this Thanksgiving, have a good one!