50 days!

Yesterday was our Happy 51-51 Day! Why 51-51 you ask? Well because yesterday marked the 51st month that Jim and I started dating. And yesterday also just so happened to be 51 days until we get married. :o)

So now with 50 days left, all our invitations are sent, I went for my final dress fitting today. I also got a haircut in preparation for my hair trial in two weeks! Bridal shower is also in two weeks and I cannot wait! I went to New York with my sisters and sister-in-law last week and it was a blast! We had a weekend filled with shopping and general sight seeing. We hit up one H&M store a day and nearly missed our flight after being detoured from the subway. We had lunch and dessert at Serendipity, walked around Central Park, had dinner outside Rockefeller Center. We fit in a Broadway show -- Rock of Ages, which is very cool if you like the 80s rock music like we do. We even got on a big screen in Times Square! Jim's bachelor party is in 27 days (he doesn't get back until 2 weeks before the wedding). He'll be flying back to Cincy to hang out with the boys. They rented a 5,000 sq ft cabin with a 106 inch projector for a weekend filled with poker, euchre, cornhole and roasting. Should be lots of fun. My goal is to be pretty much DONE with everything by the time he gets back so that we can just work on very LAST minute stuff.

Come explore our wedding website, http://www.schwallerly.com/! Jim has put a lot of time into creating it (NERD alert!) to make it unique and a little fun. You can RSVP, sign our virtual guestbook, request a song, find out general and detail information about the day. Oh, and don't forget to send us your Mii! We plan to use it in the wedding.

Until next time!

~The SchwallerMiis

2 months to go!

Okay... so it's been one month since I last wrote so I have to apologize to those who have checked since then to see if there was anything new. Things have been quite busy around here! Our good friend (and Jim's best man), Ryan, came out to visit as a birthday surprise to Jim a few weeks ago. It was so nice to have him out for a visit (and perhaps someday permanently!). We had the opportunity to take Ryan to the Shoreline Yacht Club to show him where we're getting married. Eric was also at his boat so we took a mini tour of where all the groomsmen will be getting ready. Using Ryan's creative eye, we were also able to firm up where we were going to take pictures (across the street at the park). And we even knocked out the tuxedo rentals and my dress alteration!

Only two months to go now and all the details are quickly coming along. Letters to be hung down the aisle are painted and just need ribbon. We ordered a cupcake stand, table card holders, and our favor boxes. We picked up vases for all the centerpieces and started on items we need to rent. Florist is also booked. An old high school friend Euri started a business, Fleuretica, and she is doing us a HUGE favor by ordering our centerpiece flowers and letting us use her fridge to store them once we have it arranged. She understood that Jim and I are on a tight budget and could not afford for her to do the centerpieces. We are so grateful that she offered to store and deliver them for us! We also got a NEW photographer assigned to us (long dramatic story about that). Most importantly, our invitations are sent! Jim will update our site (http://www.schwallerly.com/) so that our guests can start RSVPing and continue to sign our virtual guestbook and send us their Miis. Fabric for the bridesmaids dresses are all bought. My sister's mother in law is sewing those. And my Chinese dress for the tea ceremony is ordered!

Bridal shower date is also set and invitations are sent. I am going to New York for my bachelorette weekend with my sisters this Thursday! It's going to be very chill. More of a mini vacation than anything. Go see a Broadway show, have a nice dinner, do a little shopping, have some frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity and we'll be all set! Jim's bachelor party isn't until towards the end of June. A little late, yes, but he will also get to celebrate his friend Josh's birthday and Father's Day.

Told you it's been a busy month! Hopefully it won't be so long until the next update.

So excited!
Maria

Dress is in!

Yesterday marked our 3 month countdown until the big day and we have been diligently checking off our to-do lists. After buying 7 pairs of shoes, I am keeping a pair to go with my dress. Thank goodness for Zappos! And after about 4-5 attempts on making invitation draft styles, we've settled with one but are still having a difficult time finding the right color. Jim's ring came out perfect (custom-made octagon and circle) and we have that in possession so that's all taken care of. Last weekend, we worked on re-caulking our bathtub. It was horribly done and we've been meaning to re-do ever since we moved in. It looks 1,000 times better! My sister bought the fabric for the bridesmaids dresses and all the shoes for both the bridesmaids and nieces came in. The best thing of all -- my dress came in! I haven't picked it up yet but it came in about 3 weeks earlier than I thought. I'm so excited! Tuesday's the day I get to pick it up. :o)

Next up, we're working on trying to get a new photographer assigned to us by Bella Photography. The guy they initially assigned just didn't cut it so we're requesting a new one. We also need to knock down the rentals for the SYC. We've also got to keep looking for the perfect paper for our invites. (crossing my fingers in that one). This weekend, we're waking up way before dawn to meet Euri, our florist and my old high school friend, downtown at the Flower Mart. She's going to show me flowers that she's pairing up for our bouquets and boutonnieres. We're also going to buy the vases for the centerpieces. Then Jim is off to play in a beach volleyball tournament. (We played in one this past weekend for charity and won the 50-50 raffle!).

It's definitely going to be a busy next couple of months but it's sure going to fly by! Can't wait!

100 days!

There are officially 100 more days until we tie the knot! Jim is finally home from India and after settling in for a day or two while he gets over the jet lag, we'll be picking up his ring from the jeweler!

I feel as if there's still so much left do but it's mostly all the details. My sister Jodie (hopefully) picked up fabric for the brides/groomsmaids dresses today with her mother-in-law. I have 6 pairs of shoes sitting on the floor from which I have to choose the lucky pair that I'll be wearing on the BIG DAY! I've already made a few samples of the wedding invitations and have to choose which one we like the most. By the way, if you haven't done so already, please create and post a Mii on our wedding website! We're collecting them from our guests for the wedding. :o)

Did I mention that it's very nice to have Jim home again?

Adventures in Downtown L.A.

Saturday morning... My friend Elizabeth and I braved the streets of Downtown L.A. in attempt to find several items -- a veil, fabric to cover up a mirror in the dining room, and bridesmaids dresses. Boy was it crowded! Prom season was full in effect. It made me feel so old! I haven't been Downtown on a weekend for so long -- I forgot why I usually take a weekday off work when I need to run errands there. Nevertheless, Elizabeth and I were on a mission! And yes, I found a veil and fabric! I won't post a picture of the veil of course.... You'll just have to wait and see it after the wedding!

As for bridesmaids dresses -- that was a different story. Who knew that royal blue dresses were so hard to find?! I swear I saw royal blue dresses just about everywhere and now when it comes time to physically look for one, the only royal blue dresses we managed to find were ones with a whole lot of sparkle added to it! We already have plans to have all the bridesmaids dresses made by my sister's mother-in-law, but since she won't be starting them just yet, I thought we could look for some and if we find any we like, then we'll just buy them. I guess we might be sticking to that plan after all! After many hours of searching, we finally folded and ended our day on a good note that we found a veil for me.

In other good news, my fiance finally comes home this week! It's always a bit creepy being home alone. I grew up in a small house with 5 older brothers and sisters so I never like an empty house. The few weeks that Jim's been gone, however, I have been really busy with wedding stuff so it's helped passed the time. Just a few more days to go! :o)

Happy (Belated) 4 Year Anniversary!

So this past Sunday was our 4 year anniversary. So far, we've only spent half our anniversaries together. Last year, I was out of the country for my MBA.PM Globe trip to Korea/China and this year, Jim is in India. We've never really been HUGE on celebrating -- just as long as we celebrated somehow, it's okay with us. So how did I spend our anniversary on Sunday? I got up around 9:30am, treated myself to a Super Onion bagel from Noah's up in PV, went to the Farmer's Market, then to Fresh and Easy (love that store!), and spent the afternoon hanging out with my friend (and fellow bridesmaid) Elizabeth. We attempted to go to Downtown but it was too late. So we went on a quest to find some fabric but ended up buying storage boxes for all my wedding knick knacks. Since Jim's been gone, I've been making decisions to buy things so we have them in our possession. (Shhh!) This way, we don't forget anything. Overall a good day. The weather was great! Just wished a particular someone was home to soak in the sun and enjoy it with me. Just another week left and he will be home! :o)

India Trip so far

Its been hard to be away from Maria for so long, as it always is.  The trip however has been wonderful so far.  I had a great tour of Singapore on my way into Bangalore.  Singapore was extremely hot.  The country is so clean and very inviting.  I was only disappointed to miss out on the famous Tian Tian Chicken from the Maxwell Hawker Market.  We arrived at noon only to find out they had already sold out for the whole day.  An old lady yelled at me, "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!"  All-in-all, it was a great part of the trip.

My first day in India, Murali, took King and I to our first cricket match.  I have a been a fan ever since.  It was amazing to see everyone get so excited and cheer for their team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB! RCB RCB!).  I've been watching matches on TV ever since.  I'm certainly a Challengers fan now and am thrilled they are currently in first place in the IPL twenty20.

The last week has been a lot of work including a midnight marathon last Friday thanks to a very strange database problem.  Whether its fighting through issues or dreaming up our next toy, every minute here reminds me how lucky I am to have such a great team.  They work hard, have a lot of passion, are a proud group, and manage to have a lot of fun along the way.

...but I still miss Maria.