Day 3- Dear Parents

Dear Mom & Dad-

Hello! I just wanted to write and say thank you. There have been many hard times and many happy times-- and even though I was angry most of the time I see why you did what you did--- well for the most part-- there are still some odd ball events that took place that I still can't figure out. But all in all, I turned out pretty well, considering all of it. I don't think I'd be as fantastic as I am had it not been for your roles in my life--albeit they weren't always at the same time. You got me through my young years and I am still alive to tell the stories...muwhahahahaha :oP

I know in years gone by I may have been sort of hard on you and I want to say sorry for not always appreciating the wisdom and perspective you had all along. Now don't get confused-- I'm saying your guys are the BEST parents......on the contrary. But you were the best parents you could be given the circumstance we lived in. People in your past may hate either or both of you for any given reason-- but that doesn't matter. If they are angry with you for what you did or did not do for me (or my sisters) and they can't seem to let you be the person you are today- good, bad or indifferent-- then that is their loss. I love you both.

As individuals you did what you knew how to do and who can fault you for that. Although you didn't "stay together for the kids" I think we all faired better off for it.

It is true what they say-- that you learned to appreciate your parents better once you yourself become a parent. Thank you for putting up with me in good times and bad.

Love-

Daddy's Little Girl/ Mommy's Middle Hellion

Day 2- Dear Celebrity Crush

Dear Andrew Lee Potts,

I don't know much about you. I'm not really big into being a "fan" or celebrities. I just thought I would write and tell you how great you did on the SyFy project, "Alice". Your portrayal of Hatter was so well done that you got me hook, line and sinker.

You are a very handsome man with a very clever kind of personality. I love listening to you speak-- there's just something about an English accent that makes me feel at ease. I don't own a TV but I am thinking about getting into your show, "Primeval" via DVD's or the internet. I'd really like to see you do more projects and get more recognition as an actor here in the states.

thank you for helping me to fall in love with the character, "Hatter". Your talent was right on!

Sincerely,

Rebecca

Day 1- Dear Best friend:

Dear Best friend-

I suppose you don't really exist. Oh sure, you could be a number of people. But to name just one person the "best" at being a friend is just unrealistic. It's just absurd There really isn't anyone who is been there from the start-- or not one specific person who knows everything about me and grew up with me from grade school to now--why do you think I picked my two sisters as my "..of honor" attendants?

So "would be best friend" I write to you today to say that I wish you were real. I wish that I hadn't moved so much as a child and had the ability to go to grade school with you, share lunch, play on the playground, get into trouble for talking/ passing notes and stay after school to clean erasers with you. I wish we went to middle school and broke up because we started seeing other people/other clicks as adolescents sometimes do. Then get into a fight and realize that we are silly for fighting over something so trivial. I wish we were in the same high school and played on the same teams and went to prom together. It would have been nice to graduate with one another and then go off to college and be roommates and continue sharing memories while we are away from home.

As adults we could be the maid of honor in each others weddings and be there at the most important times in life- family funerals, weddings, births, first child, baptism, etc. Perhaps we would be neighbors on the same street! You know, where we would raise our kids together so that they too could be bff's :o)

Yours truly,

Rebecca

30 Day Letters

So-- my kid sister has a blog Chelsea's Blog on tumblr and she posted a 30 day letter writing challenge.

I too have decided that instead of posting boring wedding stuff, I'd take a crack at this side of blogging.

Here is the said challenge:

• Day 1 — Your Best Friend
• Day 2 — Your Crush (this will be changed to Celebrity crush)
• Day 3 — Your parents
• Day 4 — Your sibling (or closest relative)
• Day 5 — Your dreams
• Day 6 — A stranger
• Day 7 — Your Ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/love/crush
• Day 8 — Your favorite internet friend
• Day 9 — Someone you wish you could meet
• Day 10 — Someone you don’t talk to as much as you’d like to
• Day 11 — A Deceased person you wish you could talk to
• Day 12 — The person you hate most/caused you a lot of pain
• Day 13 — Someone you wish could forgive you
• Day 14 — Someone you’ve drifted away from
• Day 15 — The person you miss the most
• Day 16 — Someone that’s not in your state/country
• Day 17 — Someone from your childhood
• Day 18 — The person that you wish you could be
• Day 19 — Someone that pesters your mind—good or bad
• Day 20 — The one that broke your heart the hardest
• Day 21 — Someone you judged by their first impression
• Day 22 — Someone you want to give a second chance to
• Day 23 — The last person you kissed
• Day 24 — The person that gave you your favorite memory
• Day 25 — The person you know that is going through the worst of times
• Day 26 — The last person you made a pinky promise to
• Day 27 — The friendliest person you knew for only one day
• Day 28 — Someone that changed your life
• Day 29 — The person that you want tell everything to, but too afraid to
• Day 30 — Your reflection in the mirror

I am considering taking out a few of these topics and adding in my own-- to really make this my own blogging experience. Tomorrow is 31 days until we get hitched- so I figured what better way to pass the time than to write letters counting down those days. I feel like some of these letters may have the same "recipient"-- but we will see how it goes....starting tomorrow :o)

Family Traditions

Every family has em and for us it's no different.

'Tis the season for the Sterling Renaissance Festival!

It was a family tradition for O and his older sister long before I started dating him. His regular attire is "Renaissance Jester". His first visit was in '98 below is one of his earlier pictures:

I had no idea that this was such a part of his family life and was a bit scared to embrace this part of what would now become our family life. There are many themes during the summer time, at the festival. Wine Lover's weekend, Family Weekend--where there are things geared to kids and parents to do together, Romance/Lover's Weekend...the list goes on and on. Our favorite time to go is Pirate Weekend...yarrrrrgh!! It has since been a HUGE hit every year and we have extended the invite to other family members and some of our closest friends. Here is a shot of me and O on our first Renn. Fest trip together-

(Sterling, NY 2006)

Our first year that we went, without his older sister, we decided to bring my kid sister (my maid of honor) and we got her into the spirit as well!

(Sterling 2007)

The following year we passed the torch on to invite other family members, my cousin and her husband:

(Sterling 2008)

(Sterling 2008)

This was the year that I stopped buying corsets from Fredrick's and actually splurged a bit to buy an authentic brown and gold one from one of the artisans there at the Fest! It fits so much better than the wire ones I was wearing.

And still we had another year sharing our fun with our closest couple friends.

(Sterling 2009)

Another bit to this Renaissance Festival is a story worth telling. You can notice a silver medallion around my neck in a few pictures (it was around my wrist one year) with a butterfly on it. This medallion was given to me by O my very first year. On one side there is a butterfly (representing me) and on the other side there is a jester juggling (representing him). This is a piece of jewelry that I have never parted with and have warn on a chain everyday since I've received it (and on a strip of leather during the fest). When Little O gets older, I want to hand it down to her so she can wear it and think of her mommy and daddy. This year will be her first year, hopefully one of many- as she was born into this. I look forward to sharing this year's experience via my blog when it happens!

In closing I want to invite you to check out your local Renaissance Festival or Faire. Google search it and see if there are any in your area--- they are a lot more fun that you can ever imagine-- and it's like a getaway from real life for one day. If you should take my advice and attend let me give you some pointers:

- Dress up! Even if it's just a simple peasant skirt and a white blouse---

you'll be glad you did!

- Accessorize your outfit too--- bracelets, rings,

hats, boots (boots are a big deal), scarves...

you name it, add it-- like weddings--it's all in the details.

- Go sans kids your first time around so you can really enjoy all

that the experience has to offer- there are many beers to drink

and many things to drink them out of (horns, mugs, pints,etc.)

-Look at all the work on display- artisans, leather makers, glass blowers, etc.

The work your eyes will see is unbelievable!

-Try to see at least 3 shows, if your location offers them. Some of my

favorite shows are often put on near water and or with fire!

We've also seen a whip cracking show a few times.

- Take pictures and videos as often as you can. Like everything else,

these moments are GONE and should you never get the chance

to go again, capture it while you did. Again, you won't regret it!

Happy Summertime Traditions!

Care to share some of yours?

Mary Mary Quite Contrary.

I recently realized that aside from what I have already told you, I have not shared much about what our wedding style is.

We are going for Fall/Autumn Themed colors:

Maroon/Burnt Orange/Dark Brown.

Our girls are wearing "Latte" except for our flower girl, who is O's and my toddler, and her dress is sort of a cream-sicle with bright orange accents.

However although our colors are set, I am still allowing for other areas where our bridal party can express themselves with colors not of the theme.

For example, many of the gifts that I got for the girls are catered to the color they like.

Each of their crystal necklaces are a nod to the colors they like.

I went out the other day on a wedding related excursion and scoped out some hair materials- and what I found was good! I had already ordered hair/dress flowers from an Etsy seller, but haven't received them yet, so I decided to go out and see what was out in the malls. I came across lots of goodies:

(pictured here is Little O's hair flower)

I also found a flower that I wanted to keep because of it's flare, but since

I am a fiery Ginger myself, I assumed it would clash with my locks. I still

swiped it up and plan to give it to my Maid of Honor/kid sister.

The one on the right is my hair flower for the reception, in place of

my future mother in law's veil (which I am wearing as my "something old").

I originally didn't want to wear a veil, but she offered and I felt so honored. I guess that

means that she is more than accepting of me marrying her little boy.

I had also come across some flowers for our Jr. Bridesmaid.

She is wearing a brown dress with pick-ups from David's Bridal. I am hoping she

will wear these- I am not sure how she feels about flowers in her hair.

And what is a shopping trip without perusing into the dress section of Macy's, JC Penny

and Sear's? I found a great sale on a rehearsal dinner dress, that was originally marked as

$39.99 and when I got to the register, it rang up for 11 bucks! There was no way I was

going to walk away from that kind of sale. I also found a brown bolero that

looked good with it:

I am keeping my hair in a low sleek pony tail that night before I get it all curled up and pinned like crazy the next day and really wanted to keep the flower theme going. Problem is

I found two that I really liked--- but I am unsure of which one to use. Can I get some input

on this semi-difficult decision?

For My Girls

I cannot believe my calendar is already filling up on the weekends. We don't have a single weekend "open" to relax until the first weekend in September. However, I'm almost positive that it won't stay that way for long. Something is bound to come up and get thrown on the calendar the first two weeks of September.

A couple things I am looking forward to are the family events that I have planned. One is a Black & White Luncheon, which is more or less a semi-formal, immediate family mash up lunch here at our place. I've got a few things up my sleeve and I will probably blog about those ideas another time. Another thing I am excited for is right around the corner.

Wait, wait, wait. I think I have to stop and go backwards before I go forwards. Let me clarify our bridal party. My fiance` (who after this time we'll call "O") has two sisters, both older than he is. I also have two sisters but I am the middle child. My sisters are my "...of Honor" attendants- my older sister is my Matron and my kid sister is my maid.

So, around the corner is a Saturday afternoon with our sisters (our Bridal Party ladies) and they have the task of bringing their dresses that day so I can see how they look in them together. The only "rule" I had with their dresses was that they needed to be a dark/chocolate brown and preferably a dress they'd be able to wear again. What I found out is that each pair of sisters chose one certain style of dress. His sisters chose a short sleeved brown dress made of lycra material that is cut to their calves in length. My sisters chose this dress from David's Bridal:

I haven't yet seen how the two style dresses look between the four of them, so I am very anxious to see how this plays out.

I am also excited to give them their gifts that I have concocted. I made each of them a canvas bag and ironed on their names with a small butterfly.

Additionally I had already made a "Day of Zip-up" Sweater with my new last name on it and our monogram:

I decided I wanted to add a few special touches to it and I took the corresponding butterflies that I had ironed onto the bags and ironed them on to the back of my sweater!

As part of their gift I gave them each a Sworavski Crystal necklace in varying colors (yellow is shown here):

I wanted to also give them something that they could wear apart from the wedding.

My newest love has been with this online company called Tee-Fury. They sell t-shirts for 9 bucks a piece and the shirts are only on sale for a full twenty-four hours. When a shirt is done being on the market, it's gone "forever"....or until you sign up for a grab bag in which the t-shirts are 5 bucks a piece and you get random shirts from their back stock. So, I took advantage of this and got them each a Tee Fury shirt from the grab bag:

The first shirt is for my big sister/ Matron of Honor- it says "say cheese".
The second is for my kid sister/Maid of Honor, it's a twist on Cathulu.
The third is a special one to me.... O and actually bought it when it was on sale-- it's a Lost tee and this one is for his older sister.
The fourth, and final one, is a mash up of The Shining and ET for his eldest sister.
You can check out Tee Fury yourself, www.teefury.com and possibly get hooked as I did.
I want to put in some treats to fill up their bags, but am not sure with what. Any good ideas out there??