Yesterday was my bridal shower. To give you some perspective on this, I insisted I did not want a bridal shower. I kicked, I screamed like a little toddler. It didn't work. lol.

So yesterday was the day. I was pacing around the house, I probably walked a couple of miles around that townhouse, and I was talking way too fast and high pitched to be understood.

Kelly, her mother, and Aimee arrived at my house to get me looking prettiful. I'd never really had my makeup done before, but Aimee did a great job. Kelly curled my hair to perfection, and I was left looking like a supermodel. Well, I felt like a supermodel. lol.

I picked my mama up (she looked adorable). And headed to Teavolve to the party. Despite my fear and anxiety, I had a really fun time. I got such sweet presents. I was amazed to realize how many people care about me and wish me well in my marriage to Joe. It was touching! (I got all teary eyed).

So all in all it was actually pretty awesome & I stayed up late last night to work on the thank yous!

(Photos to come)

So, I was blogstalking and a came across this blog entry from a photographer on etsy that I love. It features photos taken off the supersampler lomography camera. Ok, so I've been wanting a lomography camera for a while. A holga. A diana. Really, I'm not that picky. Now I've added a another to my wish list, the SuperSampler. Oh baby.

So I found a yellow version on ebay. Now I just gotta hope I win it!!! Then I can take some fun photos! Next stop, my holga starter set.

::sigh::

This weekend is Joe's Bachelor Party. He's in Atlantic City partying with some of his friends, so I decided that instead of sitting in the house feeling sorry for myself, that I would go out with Kelly last night into today.

Last night I finally saw Harry Potter. It was really good. (Okay, so I'm biased)

This morning, we wanted to play with our cameras, and go take some photography so we headed over to Dupont Circle. Unfortunately, with the combination of the rain and me not feeling well for the first half of the day, we didn't get many pictures. We still had a blast anyways. I also picked up this really cute teapot/matching napkins on clearance at TableTop. Ok so I really didn't need another teapot, but I couldn't resist it.

I finally arrived home at about 10:30 PM to an empty house. It's so weird. Ok, so I'm kinda freaked out. I'm a scaredy cat, I admit it. So scared, that I can't seem to fall asleep, and instead I'm blogging (in a blog that only 2 people visit) at 1:37 in the morning. Getting up for church tomorrow will be fun!!!

So as for the photos, I'll leave you with my two favorites, I think! Comments?

Today I am a barrel of emotions. I am sad, I am mopey, I am weak/sick, and I am grateful.

I am upset because the state of my grandfather whose been in and out of the hospital. It's hard to think of such a strong and funny man unable to take care of himself. I'm praying for him.

As for mopey, I just realized that all of my close college friends are/have moved away. I'm going to be all alone soon!! Japan, Italy, Texas, Mississippi, Marines, Philly : I am so jealous of you!!! I better make some friends soon, otherwise I will be very lonely!

I am feeling sick. My stomach has hurt for days, and before that, I had headaches.l It's putting a another damper on my mood. I think it's stress-related

Lastly I am grateful. I went to my parents yesterday, saying how stressed I was about the rehearsal dinner/wedding after party. I feel like I have to do it all myself and that I have to fix everyone's problems. My dad called me and told me to just let him take it off my shoulders. That he would plan both parties, and not to worry. That everything would be ok. I was really touched that they really thought of how they could help me and the just did it. It's kind of daunting to plan this all alone. That's why I'm glad they are helping. Maybe I can breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe.

I finally got home from work. Traffic was horrible. Now Joe is making dinner while I sit grumpily watching the thunder outside.

This Sunday, I got to go to an O's game (vs. the Angels). Budweiser gave my dad tickets and passes to the pregame party in the Budweiser warehouse bar. We had a blast. We drank some beer, ate crabcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and hotdogs, and then managed to steal some peanuts and soda for the game. Working in a liquor store definitely has it's perks.

So today, I got our engagement photos back, and there's a couple that I absolutely love. The first was taken by our wedding photographer, and the latter two were were taken by a good friend & talented photographer Kelly Shuggars from Obscure Details.

This weekend Joe & I went on an engagement retreat. If you want to be married in the Catholic Church, you have to complete a bunch of these type of things. We meet with the priest about every other week, attend Natural Family Planning classes, and lastly, we had to attend this retreat. At first I was annoyed. Why do I have to spend an entire weekend there. I'm planning a wedding. I need that time! I HAVE A LIFE! I fumed all week and this obvious insensitivity for me time.

I must say the weekend made me eat my words. One we were at this monastary/spiritual center, I decided to embrace the spirit of the weekend. to harness this openness and this uninterrupted time to grow as a couple. Joe was put on the second floor, with the boys, and I was placed on the 3rd, with all of the girls. We were barraged with questions, some we had talked about, some that we had. Some were emotional, and some were not. We had to write each other love letters.....

We got up extra early to enjoy peaceful walks during the sunrise. It was a great weekend. I might post some of the entries that I wrote when we headed our seperate ways at night, if I can get motivated.

Hello all,

It is currently 11:25 and way past my bed time, but I have mountains of laundry to do. So to occupy my mind, I will post a couple of edited photos. Let me know what you think!

This weekend was meant for errands. Sending wedding invitations, getting flowers, doing laundry, weeding the garden, etc. I will not lie to you, none of that got done. But I did have a blast.

Saturday Joe & I joined our friend Christina in Dupont Circle. We chatted, shopped and got excellent food: Thai at DC Noodles, Cupcakes at Cake Love, and dinner and drinks at Scion. I think the highlight of our experience was the cupcakes. We talked to the owner/baker, and he recommended the best of the cupcakes: Peanut Butter. I suggest that to everyone....best cupcake I've ever had. Before dinner at Scion, which was also delicious, we went to a second hand book store called Second Story Books. I loved it. It had so many books I've never seen before. I couldn't leave without buying 2 dorky math books. (I whole-heartedly embrace my geeky side). I can't wait to dive into them.

As for today, Sunday, it started out bad, but progressed into a great day. We woke up and left Tina's at 6ish, and emarked on a mission to get our engagement shots done with Sarah & Kelly. Problem one came quickly, we couldn't get a train to take us back to our car in Shady Grove (which had Joe's clothes). They were all going to Medical Center. So finally after waiting a ridiculous amount of time, we decided we couldn't wait any longer, we had to go to Georgetown. Though it was only 5 stops away, it took over an hour.

As soon as we slowly ascended the escalator, the clouds opened up and released the rain. We were soaked to the core. I had my make-up done in Starbucks and then we changed our outfit (or what we could) and snapped some pictures around Georgetown's canal. After lunch, the stores finally opened and wwe were able to buy Joe a nice shirt for the photos. By then, we were sweating our butts off. I can only hope that we don't look like we just ran a marathon iin the photos. For now, I just can't wait to see the vision that Kelly & Sarah had.

I guess I'll just wait and see. : ) I'll post them when I get them!