It's the final countdown....!

T-minus one month!

Woke up this morning and thought to myself, "Ah yes, it's Wednesday. I've got my running group tonight." But then after breakfast I took a gander at our dry-erase-board calendar and saw something in bright yellow ink:

"One Month Till Our Big Day!"

Holy crap! How could I have forgotten?? 'Tis the 21st of July and we are just four weeks shy of our wedding day. Let me just say that once more so it really sinks in:

WE ARE JUST FOUR WEEKS AWAY FROM THE DAY IN WHICH WE SHALL BE MARRIED.

It's kinda surreal, really. Am I excited? Absolutely! But stopping to realize that I'll be ridding my title of "Miss Ashley" and moving to "Mrs. Fraser" is just craziness. Getting married is BIG DOINS! It's like nothing I have ever felt or experienced. So really, the best way to describe how I'm feeling is "surreal."

I wasn't your "typical" little girl who dreamed about her wedding, wrapped in white bed sheets with flowers in hand. The *ONLY* things I have been certain of all these years is a) having my dad walk me down the aisle b) dancing my father-daughter dance to a Jimmy Buffet song  c) no roses. I've always known I've wanted to be married, but despite my brief obsession with Jonathan Taylor Thomas ( J.T.T. had *much* nicer hair than this Justin Bieber kid....), there was no guy I could really picture myself marrying. Truth be told, I wasn't too sure I was "the marrying type." I began to believe I would never meet my ideal guy, and so I devised my after-college-graduation plan: Buy a VolkswagonVanagon with camper pop-top; buy a dog as a trusty co-pilot companion; drive around the United States, visiting and camping in all the National Parks and figuring out which of the 48 continental states I ought to move to.  (!)

Thankfully, Mr. Adam Fraser---former internet pen-pal and long-distance amigo of three years PRIOR to our romantic connection---turned into a most excellent significant other, and now future husband!!!! Sometimes I yearn for the VW and dog and the traveling....but at least I know now that I'll have a life-partner with whom to share those experiences with, and I couldn't be more thrilled, grateful, and filled with exorbitant amounts of glee!  :o) Thinking about our wedding day makes me smile, simple as that---it's gonna be fun, memorable, and not a happy ending but rather a happy BEGINNING.

SO! Just four weeks to go and so much to do:
Get all the D.I.Y. projects done (and there are many a'D.I.Y. project to be had).....
Pick up my altered dress.....
Pick up our rings.....
Write our vows....
Finalize our ceremony lay-out with "Reverend Jon Welch"....
Finish our first dance choreography...
Make our final song list(s)....
Pay deposits (with what money!?!?)....
Purchase our marriage license at the New Hampshire city clerk's office....
Pray to the sun gods for fabulous weather for the duration of our Wedding Weekend.....  ;o)
etc.....

On the upside:
*We've received all of our RSVP's and can start working on the seating arrangements----w00t!
*My dad is in town visiting and building our natural arbor and other fun goodies for the wedding
*Adam is a super-essited groom-to-be, and that makes me so proud and happy and giddy---tee hee!

There's a lot to be done in the next four weeks, there's no denying that....but I'm not stressed out like your typical bride-to-be. Sorry, no Bridezilla here---I'm too busy with directing / choreographing children's musical theater productions and job-hunting to be preoccupied with minute wedding details. The weeks are flying by, but I'd much rather be EXCITED for our big day o' nuptials instead of stressed beyond belief, because what good is it gonna do being a moody stressball? I may not be a religious individual, but I have faith that our wedding day will be most excellent...and I can't wait to be married to my friend, my Fiend, my confidante, my teammate, my partner, my love..... <3

"Hey hobo-man, hey dapper-Dan...."

<-- Dapper indeed!

The search is finally over---we found the perfect vest and suit pant combo for Adam to don on our wedding day, and we couldn't be any more stoked about it.

{"stoked" adj.- to be "stoked;" to be completely and intensely enthusiastic, exhilirated, or excited about something.}

So, I must admit--I was a bit discouraged after our fruitless trip to all the hoity-toity men's clothing stores at Northshore Mall and wondered how / when on earth we would find something we both liked and could afford. I still couldn't believe that my dress-hunt was next to effortless and we were struggling to find gray vests and matching suit pants.

But I wasn't about to admit defeat. No-sirree! So I scoured the world wide web, knowing that most stores don't stock all that their websites have to offer and hoping for the men's suits gods to smile down on me as I searched for all the required requisites: perfect shade of gray;  a vest that fell on the middle of the vest spectrum (which is orange life vest on one end and super-gay mesh vest with zippers on the other) and I came across this fabulous combo on Express.com. Hallelujah! I showed Adam, he gave the nod of approval, and I yelped a celebratory "Yay!"

We went to Express in the Fox Run Mall yesterday on our way up to Chocorua (where we were scheduled to crash a Jewish-Catholic wedding in order to observe how awesome our venue looks when "in action" and also taste the fabulous dishes that will be served for dinner at our reception), in order to see how well the men's suit pants fit my fiancé's skinny arse. ;o) He popped out of the dressing room wearing the gray striped pants and a white button up shirt (of course, the store didn't have the vests in stock), and I said aloud with the dressing room attendant standing there, "Ooh, Fiend! Those pants look good on you! I'D do ya...."  ;o) Ha!

So Express it is---yay! Placed the online order for the "Striped Corded Cotton Producer Suit Pant" and the "Striped 5-button Corded Cotton Suit Vest" and got a sweet $30.00 discount, thanks to an online coupon promo code. Lookin' forward to getting Adam's handsome garb in the mail in 5 - 7 days and getting a private fashion show.... hehe ;o)

Dude'ish Attire

Finding a simple gray ensemble for Adam & his groomsmen has proven to be more difficult than anticipated....

Shame on us for thinking it would be a cinch finding the groom and groomsmen attire---sheesh!! Who woulda thunk it?! I found my dress just one week after getting engaged (totally unplanned, I swear)---it turned out to be maybe the 7th or 8th dress I tried on, and I was afraid that maybe I was breaking some sort of rule, because isn't it supposed to be a ridiculously laborious task for the bride-to-be to find that "perfect" dress??? Yet, my wedding day attire has been hanging in a garment bag at Adam's parent's house since November....and here we are, just 88 days away from The Big Day, without *any* idea what the dudes are wearing!

Many moons ago, Adam and I agreed that he and his wedding-party lads would look quite dapper in light gray pants with matching vest, coupled with a white shirt (with rolled up sleeves, of course), a  fun tie (orange, yellow, or green), and  a cheerful gerber daisy boutonnière. With male vests proving to be trendy and accessible, (*mental image of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "500 Days of Summer"---mmm-hmm!), Adam and I assumed that Men's Warehouse would offer a large array of vest-and-pant combinations to choose from...and if not Men's Warehouse, then certainly places like Macy's or Nordstroms...........right????

Wrong-o. All of the aforementioned had such slim pickins, it was almost comical. Sure, Men's Warehouse has a store especially devoted to tuxes, but their vest selection was shiny and ugly and looked cheaply made. That, and they didn't have a shade of gray to offer. Gee, neat. "You're gonna like the way you look---I guarantee it."  <---not so much. Hmph.

So off we trotted to Macy's, Nordstroms, and Zara...only to be disappointed AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN! Zara had some really nice vests (more than the whoppin' THREE that Nordy's had on the rack, or the ONE that Macy's had in a sand'like hue), but they were really dark shades of gray and didn't match any of the friggin' pants. *Le siiiiiiiiigh* The guy at Zara was super helpful in bringing out every vest they had in the back, and tried so hard to match it with all the European-cut pants (which fit Adam's skinny rear rather nicely....!)....but alas, no avail. And so he told us to check back at the end of June for their big sale (as if a matching gray pants-and vest combo would miraculously appear then???), and check online for their incoming Fall collection. (FALL COLLECTION??? In June?!?!? Friggin' fashion industry, you never cease to amaze me....and piss me off)

So, the hunt still continues for the perfect groom attire, as well as groomsmen get-ups. I'm so glad that Adam and  I are in agreement with what he would look good in, and we are still optimistic about coming across a pair of suit pants and a vest that are both affordable and wicked-hot. ;o)  A recent thought that popped into our heads: what if just Adam wore the vest---assuming we find one, seeing as how it's become such a struggle---and have the groomsmen don gray pants, white shirt (with rolled sleeves---don't forget!!!), and suspenders!?! That would be five less vests to find and buy, and who doesn't find a guy in suspenders totally irresistible??? It's not set in stone, but it's definitely a viable option....and it this point it may be best to have a Plan B, C, and D in case the gray vest with matching pants is just never found.

Overall "vibe" for the wedding party dudes:
* relaxed and comfortable; not too friggin' hot to wear in the August heat
* anti-tux! no black, no coat, no way.
* semi-indie / unique / untraditional
* handsome and fun 

Wish us luck as we continue our search for the perfect groom-garb!