c'mon REFS!

the ref (left) whose neck i wanted to break

last night's football game may have been the most frustrating few hours of my life. for someone who excuses herself from the room whenever a game gets down to the last few seconds (big thanks to shaun suishman for that) i thought i was going to explode with anxiety/rage/mostly rage. 

here are a few gems that were said out loud.

"seriously seahawks, just kill yourself."

"i wanna take that white ref and break his effing neck."

"browner you are nothing but a thug"

"these motherf***s"

"what kind of world do we live in?"

"get these scab refs OUTTA HERE!"

"i hope clay matthews rips someone's head off"

"is this the superbowl? why is pete carroll running around like this is the super bowl? does he have a lazy eye?"

"i don't know whether to laugh or cry. or punch that ref in the face"

"mcnabb should return to the nfl now that interceptions count for touchdowns"

"PETE CARROLL GET YOUR LAZY EYE OFF MY TV!"

....praiza lord i can't get fined.

snapshots take two

in the past 10 days we have:

spent a weekend in chicago

picked bridesmaid dresses (!!!!!!)

attended our first pre-cana class

driven to virginia (with polly per my momma's request)

driven back to florida

& only taken one day off from work

it has been so wonderful to see both sides of our family in such a short amount of time and so soon after the engagement. 

to our parents and brothers (and sister in laws!): we appreciate all the love and support. you're the best! 

teeny tiny beers at piece

aml&b

my love in our windy city

polly catching z's somewhere on I-95 south

ps - go pack, go!

 ps again - happy belated birthdays to 40% of k&co. love you ricey & manny.

you've got email

i have sent what feels like one million emails in the last month. i have gone back and forth with the church in fredericksburg, the church in winter park, photographers, videographers, caterers, the venue. i have sent more emails that have asked the question, "does that bridesmaid dress have pockets?" than i am going to admit to. it's been a lot.

but somehow i had enough foresight to realize that if i gave out my personal email address, i would be obsessively checking to see who got back to me with what. and i don't know if this bride stands alone but after this wedding, i'm not going to want to continue corresponding with the knot (no offense). so i created a gmail address for the lewis heckel wedding, that i can check when i get home at night and everything is in one place. i don't have to comb through k&co email chains, or dinner requests from patrick, or order confirmations from anthropologie. it might be the second most brilliant thing i've done thus far in the wedding process.

the first was saying "of course" to this guy

my work husband

patrick and i met through city year. when we started dating, we worked separately, and then about two years into our relationship, we once again became coworkers. and while we barely survived the lions, and tigers, and bears, and hyenas; we survived. patrick has continued his career with an organization that means a great deal to us while i have found a new passion for my (still relatively) new role at united way.

but we miss each other. we miss grabbing lunch together, or chatting throughout the day. we miss being able to commute to/from work together. so when our work does overlap, which it does because this world is so small, i really enjoy it. especially when i get work emails that are addressed to me like this: 

ps - shout out to my REAL work husband, rayshaun! love you boo. 

please attend our wedding as mike tyson.

to do or don't: engagement photos

patricio and i have taken approximately two dozen couple pictures over the last three and a half years. i don't think we purposefully avoid taking them but they have a tendency to remind me of high school, when you framed pictures of you and your love because you were like clearly the best couple ever! and because my decorating aesthetic will never be framing one thousand pictures of us, i kind of thought engagement photos were pointless because if you don't have them on display, why have them at all? do i ever, in a million years want a picture of patricio holding a chinese umbrella as we awkwardly look into each others eyes? no. to be totally honest, i'd much rather have a picture of polly holding a chinese umbrella.

but after discussing my hesitations with our photographer, katelyn made a valid point that we need to be comfortable in front of the camera with each other, and with her, on our big day. now the question is, where to take these photos and WHAT TO WEAR?!?!?!

here are a few favorites that currently live on facebook or instagram - i'll have to add "buy frames" to my extremely long to do list.....

o'brien/fitzpatrick wedding - october 2010

mangano/bishop wedding - june 2012

chicago - september 2012