Bridezilla?

***WARNING!!!!***

*I'm sour grapes so just take this blog entry with a grain of salt...This entry is more of a blog rant..lol!*

Week two of wedding planning didn't quite go as smoothly as the first week. I have to admit, after week one I kinda had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder thinking to myself "planning a wedding is a piece of cake". I mean everything just seemed to fall into place...venue booked, dress bought...I just checked one thing after another off my list. Hmmm, isn't it funny how God always knows when we need to be brought down a notch?! I've been brought down a few this past week for sure. It included lots of headaches and more then a few tears but I'm still planning away, anxiously awaiting March 19th!!

I'll begin with the wedding dreams...yikes! A bride-to-be can't even get any peace in her sleep! Every night it's some new fiasco...sometimes multiple times a night! They've gone from Patrick seeing me on our wedding day before I walk down the aisle (bad luck!) to me losing my ring while jetskiing in Conneaut Lake (gulp!!). The crazy thing is they are never good, something bad ALWAYS happens! Why can't I have a dream that everything works out perfectly and I'm happy as can be?! Those kinds of dreams would make for much more peaceful sleep!

On top of my sleep deprivation the search for the perfect Bridesmaids dress is on. I have 8 girls with 8 completely different bodies...not the easiest thing to deal with! I want each girl to feel comfortable and love the dress but man, is it difficult to find! I will say this, they have all been troopers. We went dress shopping this week and each girl modeled different styles for me. Dresses were either too low cut, in an unforgiving material or just downright unflattering. When we finally did find what could be "the dress" it didn't come in my color! This happened twice...ugh!

I went out on my own on Friday after work and tried on dresses myself. From seeing my girls I know what we need to find and HOPEFULLY I found "the dress"! Fingers crossed!!! They will try it on sometime this next week...I'm half temped to post a picture of the dress but at the same time I don't want to give everything away...what do you guys think? Do you want to see it???!!!

I won't even get into Flower Girl dresses...lol...just know I didn't get off on the best foot there unfortunately. I'm sure it will all work out though and fortunately on this one I still have a bit of time.

Then the guest list...oui! It keeps growing and we are totally way above capacity for our room! We HAVE to make cuts and it absolutely breaks our hearts to have to do so. Right now we are 50 over...lol!!! I guess we'll figure it out, I mean we kinda have to - lol! It's just beyond frustrating because we have so many family members and friends that we want to be there to take part in our day and not everyone is going to be able to be there...sad.

Next big obstacle...transportation! We have 24 people in our wedding party...do you know how hard it is to find a vehicle big enough for us?! About the only thing that would work is a trolley which seats 32 people. Sadly the main trolley rental store, Molly's Trolly's, is booked on March 19th. Total bummer! I'm trying to find an alternative...

As I said before, this was a challenging week. I didn't figure out too much or book anything else. I did do my share of searching though and I have some prospects. I think I have my DJ selected...I'll know after a quick meeting next week. I also think I have the place picked out where Patrick and I will spend our first night together ;-) I'll dish more on these topics once they're both officially booked.

Now that I'm finished with my rant I will go onto what I promised in the last blog...info on my travels to New York and Tennessee :-)

Last Friday, September 17th, Patrick's cousin Kaity got married to her now husband, Nate :-) What a great wedding! First off, I'm so envious she got to have her wedding in the fall. I LOVE FALL! But when you marry a football player things like fall-themed weddings go right out the window. I'm okay with this, I wouldn't trade my situation for the world (even though it isn't always ideal -- especially now that Patrick is in Tennessee...more on this later) Anyhow, Kaity and Nate had a beautiful wedding. There was so much thought put into every little detail and I got a little jealous (I won't lie!) because I know there is absolutely no way I'm going to have enough time to be able to put that much thought into my wedding. Everything was just so perfect at her wedding and I feel like mines going to end up some hodgepodge - lol. Okay, okay enough about me more about the Drollette's :-)

Kaity looked stunning in her white Maggie Sottero gown :-) I loved the back!

How cool was Kaity and Nate's transportation????!!! There is no topping this one!

The entire night screamed Fall...their reception venue was even in a barn-like building :-)

The centerpieces (each named after something special in the bride and grooms life) had apples in them which came in handy for the Bailey family juggling contest...I hope I'm still welcomed into the family even though I can't juggle!!

BEST PICTURE EVER! I may not be capable of juggling but I sure can take a perfect picture :-)

The following day Kaity and Nate hosted a reception picnic at a local park. I snapped this picture of the cute couple in their adorable matching t-shirts :-)

Patrick's parents, his brother Aaron and I left the picnic early and headed toward Nashville, Tennessee for the Titans/Steelers game! It took us 11 hours, but we finally got there at 3:30 A.M. After a few hours of shuteye it was time to awake and get ready for the game. When we got to LP Field I outfitted myself in my first Tennessee Titans t-shirt.

I'm not gonna lie, I was a little sad not being able to wear the black and gold. I found myself a little moody because of it. But that all went away when the Steelers returned the first kickoff for a touchdown...that was not how I wanted to see my fiance's new team start off the game! Especially since it was Special Teams...I mean that's essentially Patrick's team, and I never want to see that happen to the team Patrick is on! After that I found it kinda easy to cheer for the Titans - lol. I wouldn't call myself a full-blown traitor...I still caught myself cheering for the Steelers at times even though I technically wasn't supposed to - haha! I tell you, it was a hard game to go to!!

I noticed there are a lot of differences between a game at Heinz Field and a game at LP Field. First off, the Titans hook it up in regards to tickets! Our tickets were in the 6th row! At Heinz Field the Steeler family members were always placed in one of the last three rows of the bottom section, so essentially like thirty rows back from the field, which aren't bad by any means! It was just really nice to be so close to the field.

Tennessee has cheerleaders which obviously is a big difference from Pittsburgh. I was in awe of how they stayed so fresh-looking while I sat in the stands sweating my butt off. It was HOT! Ugh! And It had been cold in Pittsburgh so I had packed jeans...not smart! Heinz Field has it all over LP Field in terms of video production. Some of the stuff the Titans have to "pump up" the crowd are pretty comical.

It had to be so odd for Patrick to play against the guys he was teammates with two short weeks prior. I know he was excited to see his old friends and given the amount that came over to say hello to him I'd say they we're pretty excited to see him too :-) Even this guy who broke my heart when he released my man...insert "aww" now - haha!

Overall though, I really enjoyed Tennessee. It seems like a great place and I'm really looking forward to having the chance to explore it more as time goes on! My wonderful fiancee booked me a flight to visit him there at the end of October...that will be the next time I get to see him.

It's not easy being away from him. If there is one thing in this world that can make me feel  better at any time it's cuddle time with my man. I no longer have that. It's also tough to make all the wedding plans without him. I so wish he could be here with me making the decisions, but he's not, he can't be, and I have to be okay with that. I know it could be so much worse and I try to always tell myself that to keep it all in perspective. I need to just be thankful to be having this experience, even if he can't be here to help in it. It's so easy to forget that and I need to do a better job at remembering it!

When I got home from Tennessee I found my living room, dining room and hallways with fresh coats of new paint. A big thank you goes out to my Dad who spent his entire weekend doing it :-) I love it! I'll post before and after pics once everything is all finished...can't wait! Currently I'm getting carpeting quotes. Once it's down then we can move Patrick's furniture over and this house will be one step closer to becoming our home :-)

I'm going to call it a night here. Stay tuned for next week...hopefully it's a more peaceful one for me :-)