Wedding on the brain...

Wedding, wedding, wedding.  That is definitely what I'm thinking about 75% of the time these days.  It makes me wonder what on earth I'm going to think about in November.  Oh, yeah....getting a job!  LOL!

Last week my staff, what's left of them, threw me a wedding shower at work.  It was super thoughtful!  They went with an island theme...super cute!  I received lots of moolah to spend on our honeymoon, a few other presents, and a VS gift card.  (Bom-chicka-wow-wow!)  The gift card was wrapped in a VS gift bag.  This made the only guy in the room, Greg, head straight for the door!  LOL!  Here's a few pics...

 Island punch (sans rum)...

Tropical cake

...and a very bad pic of me.  :)

This past weekend, mom came up to "visit", which is synonomous to "help Lisa stress shop for everything she hasn't bought yet".  Ha!  We managed to do some major shopping.  I ended up with different shoes, different jewelry, makeup and some stuff for the honeymoon!!!  Thanks, Mom!!!!

Now if I can just get the future groom to stay put, we'll be ready for this shindig!  Cheers to a good week everyone!

Oh Wedding Planner, where art thou?

I signed onto our wedding website this afternoon, and the first thing I see is 19 Days Until the Big Day.  Holy smokes!  It really is approaching fast!!  I can hardly believe it!  In addition to cleaning and working, I spent part of the afternoon getting wedding "things" in order.  The last time I spent a Sunday working on this activity, I realized that I hadn't booked an officiant for the wedding.  LOL (but I wasn't laughing at the time!)  That was in July, and we've taken care of it since.  Now today, we figured out that we never sent in the contract for the acoustic guitarist!  Seriously?!?!?!  We can laugh at this, hopefully, because I did send in the deposit in April, AND we are listed on his "Calendar of Events" on the website.  

All I can say is "I SHOULD HAVE HIRED WEDDING PLANNER!!!!!"  Why was I so cheap???? I thought since the wedding small, that I could get by without one...and I am.  But I should have realized that no matter how big or small a wedding is, it still has the same main components...and they're all in Florida.  All in all, though, we've been doing pretty good.  Thank goodness that Chad is a groom who likes to be involved!  We've split the vendors and each dealt with half.  It's worked well so far though.  I just hope that I'm not forgetting something!

So these days we're just tying up all of the wedding "loose ends"...jewelry, menus, place cards, welcome cards/itineraries, etc.  These are the things that I could have use a professionals help with.  We've found some great vendors on-line though.  It's been like Christmas around here with all the shipments we've been getting each day!  Fun!!!  This week we received jewelry, menus, placecards...and several shipments of clothes that, of course, I NEED for the wedding or honeymoon.  ;)

I also received my wedding dress back from the alteration lady...and it fits PERFECT.  She did such a great job!  I must thank my hair stylist, Sarah, for sending me to her!!!  It's difficult to find someone that you trust, especially in a new area, with a job that important.

Phew!  I need a beer after all of this!  Happy Sunday!  Cheers!!

Bach Party!

A couple of weeks ago my MOH, Judy, threw Chad and I a Bach Party.  This was our version of a Bachelor/Bachelorette party but much lower key.  No crazy strippers or phallic-shaped items...just good 'ol family, friends, food and fun!  We were super excited to go back "home" and see everyone!!!  

Sit back and relax.  Here comes the Bach Party in pictures...

Me and my MOH

Chad and Jude

Me and "Doc", Chad's advisor from SLU

Yes, that is a Schnucks name tag...found in one of the 6 packs of beer.  LOL!

My Mom and John

 Me and Mom

Gene and Rich

Cheryl and Mom

 

There were plenty of yard games...washers and bags...

 

...and also plenty of jello shots!  Thanks, Angie!

The jello shot maker...Angie!

There were also a few Mexican mascots!

What a fabulous time with had with everyone!  

We couldn't ask for better friends & family!

Thanks, Herigodt's, for hosting!!!!

Trying Times

It's been a bit since I last blogged.  Things have been quite trying at the office lately and will only get worse.  About 2 months ago, I found out that the plan I work for was not awarded the Kansas contract for 2013.  This means that we'll be closing our doors the end of the year...and everyone will be out of a job.  This was one of my biggest fears...one that is now a reality.  I have a whole new respect and understanding for the many Americans that are out of work and searching for new employment.  It's so scary to think about not having an income...and I'm still employed at the current time.

Many of my staff have begun securing jobs with our corporate office or other local health plans, which I am very happy about.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be quite so easy for someone at my level.  In addition to losing a contract at the plan level, we recently found out that Aetna is purchasing Coventry Health Care.  This may be a good thing for the future, but unfortunately will not come to fruition before my time here is done. So keep your fingers crossed for me as I search for my next endeavor!

Enough focus on the negative.  Thankfully, I've had the wedding to focus on also.  This has helped my slow days at work move forward and kept my spirits up during especially difficult times!  Things are coming together very nicely.  We've recently had a few hiccups with the invitations, but they finally went out the door today.  Yahoo!  

We're also excited about making a trip back home soon for a Bach Party, hosted by my fabulous MOH.  We are very much looking forward to spending that time with our family and friends!!!!  We hope to see you soon!

Beer Me!

Chad and I took the afternoon off from work this past Friday and headed to the Boulevard Brewery for their monthly Brewmaster Luncheon.  This was our first time at the brewery.  We had wanted to take a tour of the brewery a few times, but it requires reservations and they are always booked months in advance.  So we opted for the Brewmaster Luncheon instead...a monthly event hosted by one of their brewmasters, who gives you a mini-tour.  The brewery brings in a local restaurant who creates a beer-paired lunch.  The tour starts off with a brew or two in their tasting room.  Here's a couple pics of the mini-tour...

The brewmaster...

A few more tour pics...

The lunch created by National Golf Club north of Kansas City was superb!  Here's a few pics of the menu and food.  Each course was paired with Boulevard beers...one of them being a special collaboration beer brewed with Pretty Little Things gypsy brewers in Massachusettes.  

Afterwards you can hang around for another brew on their patio outside.  Even though it was sweltering on Friday afternoon, we chose to take in the view of the city!

We enjoyed ourselves so much!  We'll definitely be heading back there for another luncheon soon...maybe in the Fall when we can enjoy the patio a bit more!

Wedding Planning Vacay

Last week Chad and I jetted off to Clearwater Beach for a little mini-vacay and wedding planning!  I didn't take as many pics as I had originally hoped too...but also wanted some parts of our wedding to be a surprise for those attending.

When we arrived Wednesday afternoon, we jumped in our rental car and headed directly over to Chantilly Cakes for our cake tasting!  Yahoo!  I heart wedding cake!!  This vendor comes highly recommended by our resort & florist, so I'm sure everything will be fabulous!  We decided on a 3-tier cake with a variety of flavors.  We were very pleased that we were able to wrap everything up at that appointment. 
* Tier 1 - Almond and chocolate cakes with chocolate mousse filling
* Tier 2 - Amaretto liqueur and raspberry swirl cakes with vanilla mousse filling
* Tier 3 - Red velvet cake with cream cheese filling

We then headed to The Sandpearl.  We were so excited to be actually staying where we will be married in a few short months!  It gave us a better chance to explore the resort and get to know the staff.  One of my favorite things about the resort is that all guests are offered champagne or mimosas on arrival!  (You know I LOVE champagne!!)

We had a great view from our room onto the pool and beach areas. It was a rainy, cloudy day when we arrived but everything still looked beautiful!

Here's a few pics of our room.  I completely love the in-room Keurig and sanitized remote (which they do every day in addition to their twice-a-day room service)!

Soon after we arrived we had a lovely surprise from our resort wedding coordinator, Michelle...champagne & cheese!  We could not have been more please with our arrival!!

After devouring the cheese plate and exploring the resort a bit, we decided to take a walk on the beach in hopes of catching a good sunset.  Unfortunately, it was a bit too cloudy for a pretty sunset but we still had a nice stroll.

Thursday morning we headed next door to the Clear Sky Beach Cafe.  We found this place when we were down here in March and love it.  It's open for breakfast, lunch & dinner.  For Sunday brunch they even have a bloody Mary bar.  This cafe has good food and is reasonably priced...a great alternative to the higher-priced Caretta on the Gulf restaurant in the hotel.  Here's a pic of the patio...

The remainder of Thursday afternoon we spent at the pool taking in the sun...and some drinks brought over by the pool waiters!  LOVE!!  Our food tasting was scheduled later that afternoon...and let's just say that guests attending our reception will not leave hungry!  After the tasting I felt like I couldn't eat again until October!!  Everything was fabulous!  Here's what we tasted...and had choose from:


Hors d'oeuvres
* Bleu cheese & toasted walnut on cornbread crisp with honey drizzle
* Bacon-wrapped scallops
* Miniature crap cake
* Chorizo-stuffed mushroom with Parmesan

First Course
* Artichoke ravioli with chardonnay butter fondue & tomato basil jus
* Grilled lemon lobster on a porcini grit cake with saffron cream

Salad Course
* Arugula, spinach, bacon & pears with sherry maple vinaigrette & goat cheese souffle
* Heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fennel salad, extra-virgin olive oil & creamy balsamic

Entree Course
* New York Strip with Cabernet demi
* Cocoa-encrusted filet
* Herb-seared grouper with lemon-beurre blanc

Such difficult choices!  Luckily we get to have all of the hor d'oeuvres...and add a sushi station!  Yahoo!  We picked one from each of the first course & salad course...keeping it a secret.  We also switched up the entree course to allow the guests an option between chicken, beef (NY strip) and seafood (Chilean sea bass).  So excited for this meal...as you know we appreciate yummy food!!! 


Friday morning we stopped at Starbucks in the hotel and then headed to our appointment with the florist, The Bride's Bouquet.  This appointment also went fabulously.  I can't wait to see the flowers, which we get to do the day before the wedding in case we want to change anything.  After that we headed straight to the Sandpearl pool making a pit stop at Tate Grill (also on the resort) for a quick lunch.  This beach grill is next to the pool/beach area and serves up some yummy eats!  We'll be eating food from Tate's for dinner after the rehearsal the night before the wedding.  Here's a couple of pics...

Friday night we headed to one of our other favorite beach grills that we found when we were here in March, The Palm Pavilion.  It's a great place to watch the sunset.  I failed to take pics of the place but managed a couple of us.

What a fabulous trip!  We headed home Saturday evening after spending the morning at the pool!  Thank goodness we were completely relaxed given we were delayed in Tampa for over an hour due to a storm, and received thoroughly soaked baggage upon our return to KC.  Now it's back to reality and finalizing all those minute details that come along with a wedding. We cannot wait to share our special day with everyone!!!