2 DAYS!

I am currently at work and as cool as a cucumber with 2 days left to go. Everyone can't believe I am in today.

My dress is amazing and everything is all set :)

I am crossing my fingers that the weather will hold up enough to take some outdoor pictures. If it rains, it rains, I was intitially stressing but what is the point when I can't control it?

I am done working out for a week! I have lost 125lbs and I am so happy with myself. All of the hard work has definitely paid off. I feel fantastic, I know I look great and my gown will look stunning.

I am NOT going to let anyone rain on my parade that day! I know people will think that we have gone over the top, but the reality is, this is how I grew up, this is how my mother has taught me to do things and how she likes things being done, so get over it! No criticising, because that is jealousy at its worst!

With that being said, after work I am going to get my nails done. From there sports night tonight at the high school. I will not be participating just supporting my seniors.

Saturday, picking up crumbs cupcakes and dropping them off at Fox Hollow, then off to a Lunch that Joshua and I are hosting for our Wedding Party. Proceeding that I will be going with my mother to approve my bouqet!

Sunday, 9 am Hair, 9:30 photographer starting, 10:00 makeup, 12:00 getting dressed, 1:30 first look (josh will start pictures first).

One of my co-workers got married at Fox Hollow 2 weeks ago and set everything was picture perfect and the service was above and beyond any expectation that she has had. With that being said I am psyched! She gave me the best advice, take a few moments to look and enjoy because it will be over before I know it. So true, it will. With that being said, this may be my last post and it has been so wonderful planning. All the drama and craziness has been worth every minute :)

Can't wait to see all of you there!

Love,
Suzanne

2 WEEKS TO GO!

14 days left until I DO!

I am getting over another case of laryngitis!

I got my wraps put on my nails thanks to Josh's mom and they look fantastic! Very easy getting used to it. I do hope my appetite starts decreasing and that I curb it a bit! Tomorrow is my final gown fitting and I am thrilled! Also, Josh booked me for a massage, facial and reflexology for Thursday! Way to get pampered. This week we have a lot of places to pay but other then that the final details are done!

Love and Kisses!

Neglect, but keeping strong

So I stopped posting when I got sick with pharyngitis. Although I have not been perfect on my no chocolate, no junk food plan, I have stuck to not eating after 9pm. I have also cut back on certain foods severely and in return, I have dropped another 4 lbs in 2 weeks! 1 lb to go until I hit "wedding weight." In other news, we are less than a month to go, in fact Sunday was the day! We are now 28 days away. Responses are in, some disappointing, but what can you do besides live and learn who your true friends are. Either way I am getting super excited. We have a 2 hour wedding planning meeting on Wednesday! However, my grandfather is not doing well so please cross your fingers that he can have surgery 2/14 and that he has a speedy recovery to make it to my wedding. I know he will be devastated if he can't as he missed my bat mitzvah as we pulled him out of the hospital that day after they were virtually killing him...

it's an intense time and I am doing my best to embrace it.

Day 3 and 4

Day 3 was good... Day 4 CAVE but it was a Weight Watchers 2 point dark chocolate turtle bar. It was well worth it and my eating has been a lot better since I am going on my strict diet. I will stay strong against chocolate this week and I will also continue not to eat an unhealthy dessert and no eating after 9pm. I guess that means I better eat marino ices now! I have so many because apparently they are now made with soy protein and josh is allergic. I bought them for him since he has been sick all weekend (again). That is that. I bought so much fruit this week. I love bulk shopping at BJ's.

Hoping to get a lot of response cards tomorrow. I need some sunshine in this process because this whole weekend has been filled with disappointment!

However, next Sunday... 200 crumbs cupcakes coming up :) I'll explain next week!

Suzanne

Day 2

Well, Day 1 with my new diet was very difficult. I had to adjust a bit from my daily chocolate and desserts. As far as eating after 9, unfortuately I did. I had 2 rice cakes with peanut butter at 9:45 pm. Not ideal, but I was famished after a successful night program at school. Being on your feet in heels with a crowded gymnasium filled with eager incoming 9th graders bombarding you with questions can make you very very hungry! Tonight I know I will eat a late dinner, but I should be done before 9pm and if not, that will be it for the evening. We had a delayed opening and I did not calculate time well and ended up grabbing rice krispies and a banana with skim milk and 1/2 grapefruit for breakfast. Peanut butter is a lifesaver. I never thought I would say that.

Anyway, a disappointing 3 responses. I hope we get more today! I want minimum 5 today!

Love,
Suzanne

Day 1. Already a temptation

Seriously, a temptation at 8:13 am?! This is what happens when you work at a guidance office. A birthday today and there are bagels, cake, brownies, cookies, you name it. I had my 1/2 grapefruit, 1 egg, 1 egg white and peppers! I am glad I have a busy day to attempt to keep me on track!

Frustrations

Let me tell you, people who know they are coming to the wedding no matter what, should stop procrastinating and put the damn response card in the mail! It is very frustrating! We invited so many people and although it is nice that we will have a smaller intimate affair, I am disappointed with a few people. I guess as the cliche goes, you live and learn who your true friends are. Quite disappointing to do it this way. Anyway, to push aside this frustration I am starting a new "thing" to keep myself on task and accountable. I have been chocolate crazzzzzy every day. I have to have my afternoon fix of chocolate and my nightly fix of dessert. Most of my desserts at night are mock desserts and relatively healthy, but I will have a few rules and will try to blog about this for the next 45 days. 45 days- no chocolate, no unhealthy desserts, no eating after 9pm. I am hoping to see more results! There are two exception dates to the rule: Valentine's Day, the chocolate holiday and February 16, national counselors week breakfast. But let me make it that far and then I will set rules for those days. I am very happy with my weight loss and my inches that I have dropped, (my wedding gown was very big on me) but I am struggling to get to "wedding weight" (my trainer would kill me for talking weight.... only inches suzanne) and I have put in so much effort and time in the gym, what is 45 days compared to a couple years? So here we go, as of tomorrow... 45 days until the wedding...

45 (or close to) days free of chocolate, eating after 9pm and fattening desserts! Wish me luck and I hope this will hold me accountable!

2 Months to Go!

Wow! Happy New Year!

Josh and I are pleased to announce that our wedding is THIS YEAR! In fact, we are now eligible to pick up our NY State marriage license! On the 28th we met with the caterer and picked out all of our food choices! The menu is phenomenal and I am so excited with our cocktail hour choices! Let's just say you will NOT LEAVE HUNGRY!!! Our invitations went out and I have become ever so neurotic about making sure everyone received them. It is frustrating as people take their time to respond, but then again they have until February 3! We have had an overwhelming amount of compliments about how elegant and classy our invitation is! I know we made the right decision. I am also happy we decided against SAVE THE DATES, as it was a waste of money, not a priority and the people who need to be at our wedding, will be at our wedding! My workout regime has been solid and I have been building a significant amount of muscle (not great for weight loss) which is ultimately helping me tone up nicely. I can't wait to see the results when I go for my first gown fitting on January 17! My bachelorette party is Saturday January 8-9 and I know Tara and my bridesmaids have something spectacular planned! Lets just hope the snow holds out! Following what is to be an EPIC bachelorette party, we have some exciting wedding planning this week! January 13, we are meeting with Virgil at Pedestals to see a mock up of our table arrangements, January 15 we have our cake testing with Francesco from Francesco's Bakery and of course as mentioned January 17 I will have my first gown fitting! These next two months will go by very quickly and I am so excited for what is in store! I am trying to enjoy every moment and not sweat the small things, although bride brain has definitely taken over a bit (ie. losing my cell phone ---but i found it later thanks to a nice kid, and leaving my bag at dunkin donuts--which i also found).

Happy 2011, and remember SEND YOUR RSVP's back! :)

3 MONTHS TO GO!

I cannot believe we are down to the last three months!
My surprise bridal shower was November 28, 2010 and boy was it amazing! I was truely surprised! It was absolutely fantastic. My mother, Tara and bridesmaids made sure it was exactly me and themed it with wine tasting--right up my alley! Thank you for making it the most amazing and successful shower. Mom and Tara, if you two want to quit your jobs, you definitely have another profession calling! We are so fortunate to have many supportive people in our lives and so many giving people! We are overflowing with love, gifts and excitement!

90 days to go...

100 to go!

100 days left until I DO and it is BLACK FRIDAY aka. sleep late, relax and let the sore muscles heal from all the hard work. I am content that my workout routine is back in tact after 2 weeks of being plagued with a fever, laryngitis, sore throat, and a nasty cough. Good thing it happened now! I am looking forward to my upcoming surprise bridal shower and my bachelorette party. I am also proud that after a huge thanksgiving dinner, I have not gained an once. I kept taking bites and passing to Joshua :) Perhaps it was my huge calorie burn at the gym. Anyway, I definitely have a bit of Bride Brain and I am thrilled about it! I AM ALLOWED :) Mom and I stuffed our invitations and stamped them and they will be going out soon (all depends if postage goes up). I am getting more and more excited by the day! What is even more exciting, our wedding excitement will last longer as Greece is in July! As you can see, I am all over the map (Bride Brain). Crunch Crunch Crunch time! Happy 100 days!

Love,

Suzanne

less then 5 months to go

I can't believe how fast the time is going!

My dress is beautiful, and too big, which means I have lost weight. Yes, I have lost about 12 more pounds since July! My veil is perfect and I found earrings to match!

Josh figured out all the tuxedos for the guys and they are fantastic!

Our cake is being made by my campers father. We still have to go for a cake testing and figure out how we want it to look! Turns out Fox Hollow is now using his bakery! Best part-- he will be making us a separate soy free cake :)

Lastly, we booked GREECE!!!! July 1-July 17, 2011! We are beyond thrilled for our honeymoon!

6 MONTHS TO GO!

6 months to go until our wedding. Now it seems very really especially since we were at a wedding last night-- it is all coming together. However, yesterday I found out my hairstylist for the wedding got fired from the place I am getting my hair done. Many people suggested that I find her and use her separately, but there are 2 problems I have with that. 1. i have a lot of people coming to the salon that day 2. she didn't show up for a bride on saturday and that in my books is unacceptable. I am sad because she sculpts hair like there is no tomorrow, but I am glad that I ran into this drama now and not the day of my wedding. The owner of the salon is being very accommodating and I will be able to have a free trial with another stylist. Happy Labor Day and for those of you working in schools, happy first day tomorrow!

1 Year Engagement!

Once again I have neglected this blog. I am ashamed of myself! However we have a lot of exciting news. August we hit our 7 month mark to the wedding, meaning next Monday, Labor day we are at the 6 month mark! Time is flying. This past Saturday August 28th we celebrated our 1 year engagement by going out to Smokin' Al's BBQ and Crumbs. Don't worry I am still on my wedding diet. I have 10 more lbs to go and I am hoping they will fly off! We recently found an apartment and are very excited to move in together! We move on September 15th so it has been very busy trying to find furniture! We have also started researching our Summer 2011 honeymoon to Greece which has been confusing but fun learning about the different locations. I am glad I have many Greek students who have given me advice as to where to go!

Well that is all for now, I hope to keep up with it more!

8 MONTHS TO GO!

You would think that my summer would be simple and relaxing considering I am a guidance counselor during the year... WRONG! Busy Busy Busy. Between retirement parties, the end of the school year, camp orientations, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, camp starting and of course weddings galore, I have not had much time to update this blog or get myself into wedding shape. I am disappointed that I am not motivated to get "wedding skinny." Part of my lack of motivation-- my dress fits like a glove! The only alteration that is needed---a hem. So why should I lose weight? Sigh. Well, today marks 8 months until the big day and I will do my BEST or at least try my BEST to get wedding skinny. I know I have 3 more big events left this month-- 2 weddings and a wine tour-- besides those it should be semi-easy. I just need to get killer workouts in. I will try to keep you posted on my wedding weight loss -- or inch loss (that is what my trainer tells me I should focus on).

Shifting topics a bit... I mentioned my gown came in!!! It is more stunning then I even remembered on me! I ordered my veil, I got a head piece, and found shoes for $25 (YAY FOR A SALE-- although the shoes will be OFF after I walk down the aisle)! I also had a hair and makeup trial for my cousins wedding and could not be happier! I bought some lovely hair extensions and welll I AM READY TO GO!!! I just have to get through the fall-- college admissions hell and recommendation letter writing and I am wedding bound!

Please please stay connected as I will do my best to post! Clearly this is my blog (suzanne) as joshua neglects it much worse then I do!

Love.

Flowers

went florist shopping this weekend. seriously amazing and exciting. we didn't look at too many, only 2 because i narrowed down to these 2 after search a few months ago with josh and visiting a bridal showcase at fox hollow. well we are 99% sure that we are using _______. I will announce our florist once we officially put down the deposit.

Can't remember if I mentioned that Josh and I have 2 wedding planners for the day of our wedding. They will make sure everything will run smoothly and that I will not become bridezilla!

Oh and we are less than 10 months away wow!

Planning

The time is flying and we are having a ball planning everything. We picked out our invitations (just waiting a bit to order them), I have picked out my bridesmaid dresses (also waiting to order), and we went for a cake testing at one place. We can't wait for another cake testing to really nail down what we want. Josh and I also met with our Rabbi to learn about the REFORMED jewish ceremony! It was very informative and we have some nice decisions to make. I know we have neglected this blog, but I am really hoping to write more as we get closer and closer to our wedding!!

Right now I am focusing on Cheryl and Seth's Wedding as well as Jen and Matt's Wedding!!! :)

neglect!

We have neglected this blog, however things have been very hectic-- in good and bad ways.

Anyway, our planning is going well and we are very excited for everything in store. We looked at some flowers, some invitations, save the dates, a unique way to use seating cards, and even signed up to have two wedding day coordinators help us out. No bridezilla for me!

But there is a lot of little things to do and I am trying to enjoy each step of the way!

Suzanne

1 YEAR!!!!

Today marks the day-- 1 year until our wedding. We are very excited and will be starting to plan more! Tonight we are going to celebrate in NYC! Specifically going in to celebrate one of Josh's groomsmen's 30th birthday, but still, we will be celebrating 1 year to go! Hopefully next March 6th will be as gorgeous and warm as it is today!!

13 months!

until IDO!

under 400!

According to my facebook countdown, we are under 400 days until the wedding. Josh finally got to see our band and he is extremely excited about them! I am glad that he enjoyed them because he would have had no choice since the contract was signed! Anyway, we are ready to rock and roll at our party with some fabulous music! Other then that, Josh and I are busy working working working! We are going on a cruise in February for presidents week (the beauty of working in a school) and I know I am THRILLED to get out of the cold for a week!

Sorry we do not have any more exciting news to keep you entertained... hopefully more will be on the way!