My Bridal Shower!

What a wonderful day!

My sister (who is also my maid of honor) and my mom have been working for months to plan this special day for me. I’ve seen the two of them whispering and I’ve been shunned out of various rooms in my parents house the past few times I visited my family in St. Pete, so it was wonderful to see all of their hard work and planning come to fruition!

They planned my bridal shower at the Tuscawilla Country Club, located in Winter Springs.

Ryan’s mom and I headed over to the country club together just before 11 a.m.

After hugging my mom and sister hello, I immediately noticed these delicious lookin’ little beauties.

My mom made these devil’s food cupcakes with whipped pink frosting which were light and delicious!

My sister was quite crafty when planning the event and clearly spent a lot of time on the cute little details.

Her little table markers were oh-so-Martha Stewart! 😀

My mom and sister also handmade the favors for all of the shower attendees.

Not only were their cookies adorable, but they were also very tasty!

They even made a special bridal one for me which I absolutely loved.

Aside from my sister, Laurel was my only bridesmaid who was able to make it to the shower (everyone else lives in Chicago, Texas or Iowa) and she showed her true bridesmaid prowess when it came the the “How Well Do You Know the Bride” trivia game.

Laurel and I lived together our sophomore through senior year in college, so it was no shocker she had nearly every answer down pat!

The trivia game was one of four games my sister planned for the shower. We also had a great time with a purse scavenger hunt, name that famous duo challenge and a trivia game involving questions she asked Ryan ahead of time that I had to guess the answers to.

Of course a portion of the shower was dedicated to present opening.

If you can believe it, that was the gift table before my friends arrived! Clearly my mom, Ryan’s mom, Ryan’s grandma and my aunts took this shower seriously. 😀

I received some seriously amazing gifts (Hello, KitchenAid Mixer!!!). Everyone was so unbelievably thoughtful and kind to bring something for me and Ryan before our wedding and I felt very blessed.

We had quite a time loading everything into my car!

The funniest gift was saved for last…

What in the world???

Well, it’s Jezebel, of course!

Isn’t she awesome?

Jezebel was made completely of handy household and kitchen items including an ironing board, mop, spatulas, sponges, a colander, apron, dish towels and more!

In the midst of all the game-playing, chit-chatting and gift giving, we also enjoyed a delicious lunch.

I had a turkey and hummus wrap with fresh fruit which I inhaled! Apparently my morning run with Sadie sparked my appetite!

I also sipped on a mimosa before lunch which was fantastic.

Mimosas should be an evening staple if you ask me! They’re too good to only enjoy in the morning.

I was sad to say goodbye at the end of the brunch, but I was so thankful for the love I felt from my friends and family all afternoon.

(Thanks, Minda, for driving all the way from Jacksonville!)

Once everyone was gone, Ryan’s mom and I drove back to our apartment to say hello to Ryan and his mom’s boyfriend. I had to head out pretty quickly because my mom, sister and I had an appointment at the bridal boutique where I brought my dress to pick up my sister’s bridesmaid dress!

I absolutely love my bridesmaid dresses!

My sister tried hers on and it looks amazing. I don’t even think she’ll need any alterations made! Sch-weet!

I’m finally back at our apartment and it feels amazing to be chillin’ on the couch. I have a feeling that’s exactly what the rest of the night will entail. Present unpacking can wait… 😉

See ya bright ‘n’ early in the morning!

Half Marathon Playlist

I woke up this morning in the mood to run. Luckily Sadie is always in the mood to run, so I had an enthusiastic running buddy just waiting for me to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement.

While changing into my running clothes, I made a special selection when it came to my sports bra!

My Bride to Be sports bra! Perfect for the morning of my bridal shower, no?

I love this sports bra because it takes me back to running the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon at the tail end of my first bachelorette party. My girlfriends made it for me to wear during the race and it makes me smile just looking at it!

Since I was wearing my special half marathon sports bra, I decided to rock out to the playlist I created on my iPod for the big race during our morning run.

I know I am always on the lookout for quality music to run or workout to, so I figured some of you guys might be interested in checkin’ out the songs I selected for the big race last August.

Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon Playlist

• La Bouche – Where Do You Go
• La Roux – Bulletproof
• TLC – Waterfalls
• Carrie Underwood – Undo It
• Starship – Wild Again
• Mary Poppins – Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
• Shania Twain – Honey, I’m Home
• Hairspray – You Can’t Stop the Beat
• Sugarland – It Happens
• No Doubt – Spiderwebs
• The Chordials (Cornell University) – Use Somebody
• Amanda Marshall – Ride
• TuPac – Keep Ya Head Up
• Straight No Chaser – Fix You
• Basshunter – Now You’re Gone
• Zac Brown Band – Whatever It Is
• Jimmy Buffett – He Went to Paris
• Oceania – Kotahitanga
• Carrie Underwood – The More Boys I Meet

As you can see my music tastes are all of the board. This list includes hip hop, country and a cappella music and even songs from Disney movies and musicals. I love it all! 😀

My run with Sadie absolutely flew by this morning.

I had a lot on my mind and when the song “Fix You” by Straight No Chaser (originally by Coldplay) came on, I felt really emotional. I think it could actually be a great father/daughter dance song for our wedding because of these lyrics:

When you try your best but you don’t succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can’t replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

The part about lights guiding you home is 100 percent how I feel about my dad and our home. I feel that no matter how bad things get, I can always go home and feel the love of my family. He’ll always try to “fix” things and make everything better.

I was nearly in tears as this song was blasting on my iPod, but I think it actually made me run faster.

The burning feeling in my stomach had me bust out an 8 minute mile in the middle of my run! 🙂

 

My Garmin was being funky today though and the satellite didn’t start working until I was a good .6 miles into my run.  The above stats are not 100 percent accurate as I ended up covering closer to five miles since I did my usual 5-mile loop.

And now I am a sweaty beast and must hop in the showaaaa!

I gotta get pretty for my bridal shower! 😀