registering to build a home.

it's a funny thing living together before you're married. you have to merge all your things, and pending how long you have been out of college, or lived on your own you sometimes realize "wow, this guy who i want to build a life with, well he has enough stuff for 6 apartments." my patrick - he's the bees knees. the salt of the earth. the best match/partner/mate i could have asked for. but he likes stuff. you name it and he probably had it. old receipts? he had thousands! pillows that his head has rested on since 2004?  yup! coasters? we could have lined the earth with the number of coasters this man had in his possession. it. was. crazy. i felt like i might be the first woman who "snapped" not because he cheated, but because he wouldn't throw away bowling shoes he had from a class he took his junior year of college.

and me? i am the opposite. i have been very slow to build a home with patrick, buying this here, and then that 6 months later. i have catholic guilt and parents who instilled the fear of credit card debt upon me and my brothers. as a result, our kitchen....well it's been woefully neglected in this rather slow process.

which is why i was so excited to register! we decided on two stores, macy's because it carried our china and crate and barrel because we both love it. i created a spreadsheet of every single item, item number, price, and quantity of what we wanted. it made me feel very type a but made for a flawless four hours and i highly recommend it to all you brides to be.

check it out here: http://patrickandannamaria.blogspot.com/p/registry.html

five months to go...

it's a process.

the cutest

i've shared a lot about planning our wedding. about my excitement to marry the love of my life, to finally be a wife, to add a fourth name to my current three.

but i've been frustrated. and wanted to elope. i've had outbursts. i haven't picked my battles. i've cried over choosing the wrong thing and sometimes about choosing the right thing. i've gotten sick to my stomach about the cost of things. and stressed out about everything from the possibility of a hurricane, to the possibility of me falling down as my dad gave me away, to the possibility of our venue burning down.

i have been worrying for as long as i can remember. and why i thought this would be any different is beyond me. 

but then i realized, i could just start saying "no." no to cake. no to a $500 comb in my hair that i didn't even like, but was convinced i "needed." no to high heels. no to everything that i had to think twice about.

and say yes to the little things. the things that might not be for everyone, but are right for us.

yes to taking everything one minute at a time.

 i enjoyed every single second of being pat's girlfriend. even that one time he pissed me off SO MUCH that i left the bar and ran away from him. literally. or the 45 minute el ride from chinatown to southport where we sat in silence, and at the last second i jumped off the train and got into another car. at the time my rage was like the fire of a thousand burning suns. but now, we laugh. it's a part of our story. the bad parts are just as precious to me as the good.

so gosh darn it, i am going to enjoy every single second of being his fiance. and hope that in 50 years, we will laugh over the fact that i seriously asked "can a wedding dress make you feel TOO much like a kennedy?" 

i'll never be gwyneth paltrow

well i'm not 6 feet tall and i don't weigh 100 pounds. i love europe, but i'll be damned if i ever fake a british accent.  and while i enjoy eating healthy, delicious food - i don't have the luxury of being able to spend $200 on every homemade meal.

gwyneth paltrow and i, well, we both love chris martin...and that's about it. BUT i read an article that she just did for iron man 3 (anyone going to see it? i love that tony stark) and she talks about her marriage and advice she received from her dad. she asked him, "how did you and mom stay married for 33 years?" he said, "well, we never wanted to get divorced at the same time." and that might be the most real thing i've ever heard her say.

i love you patrick. thanks for never letting me break up with you. even if it meant standing in front of my car, with a goose island 312 in your hand, refusing to let me drive away, in 0 degree weather. bees knees, you are.

thanks!

photo c/o my boo, mary. xo.

thank you, thank you, for all of the wonderful compliments about our save the dates.

we are so happy with how they turned out and hope the invitations are as well received as these little beauts were. 

less than 6 months! 

wedding website

having a wedding website was at the absolute bottom of my "to do list" but when i realized that people would need to access information about hotels and accommodations (especially those flying in) i put something together very quickly.

http://patrickandannamaria.blogspot.com/

i'll continue to use this corner of the world wide web to share all things wedding/life related.

the two are becoming synonyms at this point.