For those of you who don’t know, I’m originally from Southern Illinois – home of Charlie Birger and smack dab in the middle of the Shawnee National Forest. My hometown is about 3.5 hours from Nashville.

Although I never really dreamed about or imagined my wedding as a little girl, I’d always figured I would get married  at one of the hometown churches from my childhood. (I church-hopped a few times while I was growing up.) Of course, I never imagined I’d grow up and move away to Nashville either.

As Philip and I began planning for our wedding here in Franklin, we realized we’d need to plan for a few events at home in Harrisburg too. My beautiful bridesmaids are planning a bridal shower for us at my Aunt and Uncle’s home there and we’re also planning a post-wedding celebration in Harrisburg shortly after we return from the honeymoon.

To help my hometown friends and family and show our support for two of my favorite local businesses, we created wedding registries at two places unique to Harrisburg – Durham’s Hardware and Dream Baskets.

Durham’s Hardware has been around for as long as I can remember. If you’re looking for something for your home, kitchen, garden, etc., they will help you find it. That place is chock full of great stuff. I’m serious. If you ever need anything regarding home improvement, repair, cookware, lawn/garden care, and so forth, you call Janet at (618) 253-4817. If they don’t have it, they’ll lead you in the right direction. Such good people. Not to mention, their wedding registry setup is pretty darn cool. If you’re looking to purchase something from our registry, you head over to Durham’s and look for the display rack with our names on it. They have everything conveniently assembled and on display for you to browse through. Perfect.

Dream Baskets is a long-time favorite gift store of mine. They carry beautiful home items and accessories including lovely things from TAG. We selected several items from the TAG whiteware, dinnerware and entertaining lines. Whether you’re a bride-to-be or an expectant mother, I highly recommend registering with Dream Baskets. The staff is friendly and helpful and Julie, the owner, always keeps the store well-stocked with the latest and greatest gift ideas and home trends. If you’re in the area, go by and check out our registry OR stop in for a tasty selection from their lunch menu. Click here to visit their website or here to visit the blog. (And thanks for the shoutout to Becoming Mrs. Dial last week!)

I wish I could say I took photos during our Adventures in Wedding Registry Land, but I did not. I do, however, have some photos of the latest pieces of jewelry I’ve received for my vintage brooch bouquet! Stay tuned!

After high school, we were both offered scholarships to be on the Southeastern Illinois College speech team. During our time with SIC, we became even closer and our friendship grew even stronger. Here we are in a SIC team photo shortly after winning the Phi Rho Pi National Forensics Tournament. I’m on the front far left (all pink) and she is on the front far right (with those amazing white/gray/black heels):

The best part about true friendships is that time and location don’t matter. Although Stephanie is in Chicago and I’m in Nashville, we get together or talk on the phone and it’s like no time has passed. We’re both busy women who lead busy lives (who are both planning weddings!) and although we don’t get to catch up as often as we’d like, it never affects our friendship.

Stephanie, I’m so grateful for you. I hate that we’re miles apart, but I love that we’re still best friends. I’m incredibly happy we’re each a part of this exciting time in one another’s lives. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us and our fiances. You are the definition of a classy lady and one of the most beautiful souls I know. THANK YOU for your friendship and for taking time to select these amazing brooches for my bouquet.

Back on Valentine’s Day weekend, Philip and I devoted an entire day to registering for gifts. This was a piece of advice given to us by several of our recently married friends who said spreading it out over a week or two only made things more stressful…and we are ALL about keeping things as stress-free & simple as possible.

So yes…ONE WHOLE DAY devoted to registering & slowing down to talk about and plan for our future “nest” together. We made a leisurely day out of it, spending the first 3 hours of our day at Bed, Bath & Beyond. We had a blast. I’m pretty sure Philip’s favorite part was the scanner gun thing. Hehe. The folks at BB&B were great. Very helpful. NOT overbearing by any means. Plus, their return policy is great. Here are a few of the kajillion items we selected:

After scanning nearly everything we could ever imagine needing or wanting there, we decided to grab a delicious, quiet lunch at Royal Thai in Cool Springs. After enjoying a tasty meal, we headed to Green Hills to create a registry at Williams-Sonoma. Here are some of the lovelies we added to our registry there:

We rounded out the rest of our day by strolling through the Hill Center in Green Hills to window-shop and then grabbed all the ingredients we would need for our home-cooked Valentine’s Day meal from Whole Foods.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Adventures in Wedding Registry Land!

Back on New Year’s Day, I told you about how I was focusing on being a conscious bride and shared that I was reading a book aptly titled “The Conscious Bride” by Sheryl Paul. It was a quick read – around 220 pages in length.

In her book, Paul covers issues EVERY bride needs to think about as she nears the wedding.

Eloquently written with testimonials and first-hand perspectives from brides and wives peppered throughout the book, the wisdom and realism I gleaned were priceless.

Of the many, many nuggets of enlightenment I ascertained, here are two of my favorites:

“Perfection belongs to the gods: completeness and wholeness is the most a human can hope for.”  (page 89)

“The fairy tale of happiness ever after cannot be taken seriously; it belongs to the neverland of childhood, which is protected from the realities that will become terribly known soon enough.” (page 90)

These are some pretty strong messages, huh? They’re also remarkably opposite of how the media (and society in general) tend to view how the bride should feel/be/act throughout the entire engagement and wedding process.

I’ve seen so many brides (and mothers-of-the-brides) fret over the tiniest details of the big day. And I totally get it. Us girls are groomed, from a VERY young age, to desire perfection, transformation, completion, wholeness, etc. We’re given…dress up clothes. Pretend make-up kits. Bride-to-be Barbie dolls. Kitchen play sets. A plastic vacuum cleaner with small multi-colored balls that pop and light up when it’s moved. All things we will one day get to “enjoy” once we’re old enough and thrust into the real world. Then BAM! Here we are. Twenty years later. In the middle of our stacks of laundry, dreading the idea of stepping into the kitchen to whip up a meal and avoiding the vacuum cleaner as long as possible.

Perhaps things aren’t necessarily as complete or perfect as we thought they’d be at this point in life…with age and wisdom comes the realization that life isn’t perfect. As much as we TRY to plan and make our big day as perfect as we’ve imagined it throughout all these years…the most we can truly hope for is completeness and wholeness.

That being said, I urge any brides reading this to take a step back and think about things for a moment. Are you freaking out over centerpieces? Have you snapped at one of your bridesmaids lately? Are you kinda confused about things? Perhaps a little sad? Not sure about who you are these days, much less who you’ll become after the wedding?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, IT’S OKAY. There. I said it. It’s okay if things aren’t perfect. Something probably will go wrong that day. So just identify and accept that fact and move on. At the end of the day, all that truly matters is that a marriage takes place and you and your new husband get to celebrate with your closest friends and family.

Also realize that it’s okay to be confused or feel unlike yourself. Paul identifies the engagement and wedding as a rite of passage – a death to the old self and birth of a new self – of a new way of life. IT’S OKAY to slow down, look inward and grieve for this loss or relinquishment of old identity. Be denying this process, you’re simply prolonging the frustration and grief.

I’m VERY thankful that Mrs. Liza Hippler, bridal coach and owner of Maiden to Married, encouraged me to read this book. Whether you’re a bride, a friend, a wife, a mother or someone just looking for a great, insightful read, I highly recommend “The Conscious Bride”.

As I continue to march toward our wedding day, I’m slowly letting go of the childhood fairy tale fantasy of perfection and I’m striving toward being present and whole in every moment leading up to and beyond my vows with Philip.

“The Conscious Bride” – Amazon.com

Sheryl Paul’s Conscious Weddings

Big Spoon+Little Spoon (another Nashville bride/groom) also reviewed “The Conscious Bride”

If not, GO CHECK IT OUT NOW.

As I’ve shared with you previously, Ashley and her amazing blog have been a HUGE source of ideas and inspiration for the Nashville wedding Philip and I are planning. Heck, I was following along with Ashley and bookmarking posts MONTHS before he “put a ring on it”.

The new ABG site features:

1) A revamped layout that makes navigation much easier. (Which includes links to DIY projects, real weddings, luxury bridal, Nashville wedding events and all the hot spots where you’ll find Ashley chattin’ it up with local brides and folks in the local bridal biz.)

2) A FANTASTIC inspiration gallery. (This is one of the MANY reasons I love you, Ashley. You make life SOOO much easier. *sigh*)

3) A directory of wedding blogs and links that features cool bridal bloggers (like yours truly) and other Ashley-approved wedding-pros.

4) A multitude of brand new, bright, hip badges you can add to your blog or wedding site. I’ve picked out my badge…have you?

Whether you’re a Nashville bride or not, you will fall in love with AshleysBrideGuide. Go see her new site pronto! (And don’t forget to check out the wedding blogs page where you’ll find the badge I created with my mad Photoshop skillz. Not really. Well, I did create the badge all by myself…not bad for someone whose messed around in Photoshop once or twice, huh?)

More vintage brooch bouquet updates coming soon! The brooches are still coming in. I love it!

This little jewel of a brooch below was given to me by my delightfully curly-haired compadre, Sarah S.  She ordered it from an Etsy shop. I LOVE the opal in the center of this piece and the blue stones really set it off. Such a unique piece of art! (Kudos to you for braving Etsy! I get on there and get overwhelmed with all the beautiful things!)

Thank you Jessica and Sarah! You are both rays of sunshine and I’m so blessed to know you.

And folks, there’s more coming soon! I received a package last night from one of my bridesmaids. She says there’s another package in the mail! Wow! I’m so amazed by the outpouring of love from you all.

Stay tuned for more!

Two weekends ago I represented Rodan+Fields at the Southern Women’s Show in Savannah, GA. When I returned from that trip, I had all kinds of brooches and lovelies for my vintage jewelry bouquet! The first two photos are packages I received while was out of town. The beautiful pieces in the first photo are from Dawn, one of Philip’s twin sisters. I love the colors! Especially the black pin with the purple stones. Very unique!

This second photo showcases some stunning pieces from my cousin Leah who lives in Central Illinois. The necklace and dragonfly were her mother’s. The small gold brooch with pearls and the pink/white flowered circle pin was her grandmother’s and the blue set was her mother-in-law’s. The other three pieces belonged to Leah. Absolutely gorgeous! And so special that these pieces have so much love and history behind them.

The week before I left for Savannah, I received the following pieces from my co-worker Ambrosha. I especially love that blue flower. The smaller pieces are going to look so neat attached to the larger ones. I can’t wait to see how Amanda weaves all of these together!

I’m so blessed to be surrounded by such loving and caring people…even though some are many miles away! Thank you Dawn, Leah and Ambrosha for contributing these fantabulous pieces of jewelry for my vintage jewelry bouquet. I wouldn’t be able to do this without incredible people like you.

I have EVEN MORE brooches to share with you. I’ve received 4 more in the past week! Stay tuned!

Married 60 Years – Betty & Louis Chernoff | Real Simple.

We registered yesterday! Can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Look at these brooches! They’re even MORE fantastic in person! Thank you SOOO much to my bridesmaid Lisa for mailing these to me! I was PUMPED when these came in the mail today. Seriously…it was like Christmas. I’m so blessed to have beautiful people in my life like you. Thank you for taking time to find these stunning pieces of jewelry and then giving them to me. I love you and I hate we’re hours away from each other. Thank you for all you are.

#3 – He’s helping me toilet train my cats. Yes. You read that right. We are toilet training my cats. Not litter training. They’ve got that one down pat. Toilet training. Yes. As in, I’m sharing my bathroom with two felines.

This is Ozzy.

This is Ella.

Before you call me crazy, however, consider some of the benefits:

No more poop scooping.
I’ll save money since I won’t have to buy litter anymore.
No litterbox = removal of a smelly eyesore = more space.
Less litter mess = less vacuuming.

We’re in our 4th week of toilet training with the CitiKitty system.

Week by week, as indicated in the instructions, we remove one ring from the CitiKitty, which progressively makes the hole larger until it reaches the normal size of the toilet seat. Once we get to this stage, the cats should technically be toilet trained.

Unfortunately Ozzy has had a few accidents this past week…meaning we’ve got to stay at the current stage for another week or so. Apparently one of his furry little paws slipped in the hole and it scared him. Poor little guy. Thankfully I’ve been able to keep an eye on him over the past day or two (due to the 4 inches of icy snow outside) and he’s given it another whirl. Hopefully within the next month they’ll be completely trained! *fingers crossed*

I’ll keep you posted. I have many more wedding details coming soon! Have a warm, safe weekend!