August Showers bring September Changes

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind.  I know I say this a lot lately and it makes me feel blessed for nights like the one I have.  I don't have to work, I don't have training, my girlfriends are all busy and Danny is at school.  Although I was ready to be social, it is actually really great to have a night to myself, watch bridal shows and clean my house.  I made a healthy meal, had a glass of yummy wine and feel really relaxed for the first time in a long time.

So much has happened in the past month.  In late August, I went home to Dayton for some ultimate wedding planning followed by a trip to Alabama the following weekend.  It was the official meeting of the families, which was a teeny bit stressful in the first place and our first bridal shower and official engagement party of the south.  More about that weekend in a moment but Danny also started school, started as Senior Deacon of the Freemasons, and has been working a lot.  I got a part time job at Paper Source, was elected to the Board of Governors for The Ohio State University Alumni Association of Washington DC and was promoted to event manager at CEB.  Needless to say, I had to give my two weeks at Paper Source after a short two weeks there but they were understanding and I bought out the store with my discount!!

Back to the weekend of the South!  We headed to Alabama and started our trip delayed but had a blast at the DCA airport bar.  Friday was spent getting ready for the shower, which was hosted by Jane and Karen, two lovely friends of my future mother in law, Judy.  Danny and I prepared for my parents' arrival and the first meal with the combined families!  My parents loved the food in Daphne, loved the southern hospitality and the families loved each other- who could ask for more!

The boys went to shoot guns in the morning while we ladies attended the brunch.  It was amazing even though I only really knew 5 people there!  The theme was lemons and limes (which match my color scheme) and Jane has an amazing touch with decor.  Karen made this amazing spiked frozen slushy punch and everyone I met that day was so generous and kind.  Although the Reeves don't have the massive size that my family does, they have an incredible and large group of friends that act in as aunts and uncles to Danny and Michael.  I re-met and met a lot of wonderful people at the shower and engagement party and feel really lucky to marry into this community.  Following the fab shower was a quick trip to the urgent care to take care of a bad reaction to allergies for my fiance and then to the co-ed engagement party.  Rich, my father-in-law to be made incredible fried fish and grilled shrimp and everyone had a blast.  Judy and Rich did a great job and I am so lucky to have my parents come down for that weekend.

Meyer Lemon Punch Bowl

Lemon themed gift bags!

My lovely family

Danny and two of the groomsmen

A very generous gift from Judy and Rich

Lovely Leslie and Lillian

Mimi gave me my getting ready outfit for the day of!

My lovely hostesses, Jane and Karen

My friend Nicole came all the way from NOLA!!!  Love you, girl!

Ladies of the shower

My new family!

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All together now!

Oh yeah, that is 2 huge bags of pecans...yum!

Groomsman Gary and lovely Larissa hung out all day!

  I don't know if it is all this talk of Alabama, my glass of wine or the four episodes of Say Yes To The Dress- Atlanta, but I'm feeling a little southern twang come on! Lovely last few weeks and looking forward to the crazy few months to come!

Xoxo Y'all!
Jacqueline 

Finally feel like a bride!

We have had a pretty long engagement, but then again, we dated for over five years before getting to that point... Even so, I haven't really felt like a bride yet- it hasn't really felt "real" quite yet. I have all, I mean all of the magazines, books, Pinterest boards, wedding notebooks, binders, etc and just this past weekend it started to sink in.

I went back to Ohio to cram in three months of wedding planning, a few visits to my sick grandparents and nine holes of golf into two days- not an easy task. Optimistically, I headed to the airport- timeline made down to the hour increments, google map directions printed, contact numbers listed- all organized in the order in which I would need them. I get to the airport and I am delayed...it's okay- I am delayed all the time- then I was delayed again- four times until I finally left three hours late- making me unavailable to check off the first thing on my list- visit Mimi in the hospital. Type B Jacqueline (she is in there- deep down) told myself to calm down, we could see Mimi and Poppy tomorrow. (she just had a hip replacement and he ran over himself with his own truck for the second time...a whole other story in itself).

I had dinner with my parents at an old Dayton haunt- old hickory BBQ and I was ready to start fresh in the morning.We woke up and I went for a quicky jog- starting my day right!  We then headed over to see Mimi at Kettering Hospital where she looked great and was staying in a nicer room than my apartment!  Then we continued on- starting with my hair trial at Square One (looks amazing btw) and headed to The Flower Factory to get some ribbon for the aisles and frame holders, on our way back to Oakwood we got my mom's mother of the bride dress- she looks seriously incredible- super beautiful!  We  ran back to get lunch for my dad and ran into a floral design shop to get some inspiration.  That was all between 7 AM and 1 PM.  Starting to feel tired, but good!

We headed back to our house and I called to confirm our appointment with the alteration lady and she had to cancel- not happy since the real purpose of this trip was to get that done.  It's okay- we are heading down to Cincinnati anyway and will have a great night.  I instead crammed in a stop at The Little Exchange to register, a quaint place in Oakwood where all the proceeds go to charity.

I planned on taking my parents down to Cincy to see Jim Gaffigan- a favorite comedian of mine and dinner at Nada- on our way out, I realized I lost the tickets!  After looking for fifteen minutes, already running late, we had to just go.  Traffic hindered us and we were 30 minutes late to dinner.  I quickly ordered, ran to the theater, reprinted my tickets and headed back to dinner with parents.  Just in time for my meal to come and to suck down two margaritas- YUM!  We headed over to see Jim Gaffigan- so fun and he is so funny- we had a great time. A really exhausting but great day.

At Jiim Gaffigan

 
No rest for the wicked, as Danny would say.  I woke up again to see Mimi and then caught a quick jog.  We grabbed some coffee and headed over to Prime Time to see some table settings.  After taking a few samples and observing, we were a little behind schedule.  My mom and I ran down to Oregon district to grab some lunch and my patience was running out and I was getting seriously low on energy.  We popped over to the florist to see Elizabeth, who we LOVE LOVE LOVE and she made us feel really good about our vision.  We stopped by the Crowne Plaza to check out the guest rooms and finally met Lisa at the Schuster Center to see a set up there and discuss our upcoming trip and tastings in November.

Options for linens

Bringing the garden inside

Floral options

Setting up another wedding at the Schuster

Can't wait to walk down those stairs

That night I was able to see my bestie, Maria, for a few hours- lots of champagne and catching up on the porch was a great way to end my busy day.

Sunday morning, I drove out to pick up my cousin and bridesmaid, Bridget and headed to Michael's.  Of course, i forgot the coupons and we had to run back to my parents house first- but it all worked out.  We got 300 dollars worth of merchandise for 175 dollars and thanks to an amazing gift card that my girlfriend, Elizabeth, gave me- it was freaking free!  Success!!  I dropped her back off to her hilarious hubby and his cousin- doing tequila shots and yard work to get over their hangover from the night before and drove back to throw on golf gear to catch 9 holes.

After having a good last few holes at CCN, we headed over for one last visit to see Mimi and Poppy (and my Aunt Tracy) and finally headed home.  My flight was again delayed, but I didn't mind- gave me a few more minutes to relax and eat dinner and head to the airport.

My dad

My dad coaching my mom

I'm there too!

Mom, Dad, and our caddy- Chris.

So THAT weekend made things sink in- yes, you planning a wedding.  It sank even more in when I came home, exhausted, and my handsome, amazing fiance told me I looked beautiful (even thought I had some serious bags under my eyes) told me he was proud of me and let me go to sleep.  I can't wait to have the wedding, but even more I can't wait to marry Danny.

Love you, boo boo!

xoxo
Jza Jza

An Intellectual Wedding

Once in a while I get the opportunity to be the onsite contact for the Waterview Conference Center.  A few weekends ago I also played the role of day-of coordinator.  I absolutely do not mind and it is always great practice for the three day of coordinations I have coming up in the next year.

This bride was very low key and very organized.  A previous event planner in my department, Meg was amazing to work with. She is now a teacher and the groom is a scientist, so their theme was kind of intellectual. I love how a simple centerpiece can look so elegant and professional!

Card table



Gift table and guest book



The centerpieces lined up and ready to go

Ninja photo of the ceremony

Simple yet elegant

Gluten-free cupcakes for the many dietary restrictions there!

Love the scale

They were so sweet and the dad gave me a hug at the end of the night.  She also sent us an edible arrangement to show her gratitude- deeeelicious! :)

Up next: Updates on our upcoming nuptials!

Xoxo,
Jza Jza

The Ole Miss Group Spreads Their Wings!

Danny has a small group of friends from Ole Miss here in DC.  Mainly made up of ladies, these friends have been together since freshman year in Oxford and stayed tight ever since.  They remind me very much of our group of freshman dorm friends- the "Barrett Bias and Boys", who are still my best of friends in the world.

The stories are similar- mostly in the same program freshman year, took similar classes, went through ebbs and flows of hanging out together and always came back to the basis of their friendship- shaping and starting out their lives as independent adults.  It was the first time we were not living at home and had to rely on ourselves for food, money, school, etc.  We helped each other through this transition in life and had a lot of fun (maybe too much fun) doing it. 

The Ole Miss group had to go through a little more than we did.  They lost one of their own, Rose, in college to cancer.  I never had the opportunity to meet Rose, but I feel like I personally know her from the stories they tell.  Every year this group of friends get together and celebrate her birthday.  Some have tattoos in memory of her.  Every time we are together, they toast to Rose.  It is amazing how someone they knew for only a few years still makes such an impact on their lives.  It teaches me that friendships should not be taken for granted.  Like both of our groups of friends, we may or may not call every week or see each other on a regular basis- but we are there for each other when it matters.

Rose may have passed away, but her presence is still very much here in DC with this group of friends.  She is clearly with each person and watches over them from wherever you go after you leave this earth.  Never underestimate how much you mean to your friends or how much your friends mean to you.

In the past few months, the Ole Miss group started to leave the oh-so transient city of Washington, DC.  Holly is moving to China for work for two years for an incredible opportunity.  Rachel moved to New Jersey with her cute Greek boyfriend and works in NYC.  Emily is travelling all over the world for her job and may as well be leaving DC.  Danny may not be leaving but he is definitely in transition- we are getting married in May, he began a new career at Boeing this year and is starting business school next week.  Even though the band is breaking up, they will never stop being friends.  Rose will continue to watch over them and they will have their memories of her and each other for the rest of their lives as some of the best. 

So farewell, Rachel and Holly.  We wish you nothing but the best and you always have a place to stay in DC (well for the next 3-4 years at least).  Hotty Toddy from your Buckeye fan.

xoxo
Jza Jza

Put-In-Bay girls weekend

This post has taken me so long to write because I am still hung over from this trip... seriously.

So my girlfriends from college do girls weekends a time or two each year and I finally got to attend one this year.  Thanks to Danny for buying my flight to Cleveland for my birthday present, I got to spend a full weekend with some of my favorite ladies from the OH. 

As one of the few that moved away from Ohio, I can't help but feel a little left out.  It is truly hard to find great friends after a certain age.  Although I love my girlfriends here in DC (shout out to Ray Ray, Elizabeth and Leah), it is great to get together with those that know your past and pretend like no time has changed.  That is what this weekend was about...oh and drinking.

Yes, it was a three day drinking-dancing-"swimming" bender. I actually gave up drinking for over a month after this trip- no joke....okay, I had a glass of Veuve this weekend- but really, that is like mother's milk.

I love these 5 girls so much and continually learn and grow from each of them.  They never cease to impress me, but I was able to take away a few amazing things this weekend because of them.  So this blog is an homage to my girls- I love you all!

Stevie- Not only will I always admire Stevie for her anti-sun skin care regimen, I always love how kind and self-less she is.  Stevie is a beautiful woman that sees the best in everyone, even when she may not like you very much :)  She is a person that will give you the truth, but in the nicest possible way.  I had so much fun with her this weekend and admire that she is constantly interested in those around her and making each person feel important and loved.

Emily-  This beautiful lady (she was voted hottest body this weekend) is the most positive person alive.  Emily is just straight up hilarious and sweet.  Like Stevie, she sees the best in any situation and brings light wherever she goes. She is so silly and fun and can make friends with the most random of people.  People are just drawn to her and I certainly can't get enough.

Maria-  Oh man, where do I begin.  One of my best friends forever, Maria is not nice like her sister, Emily.  I have heard multiple times that Maria is the meanest hottest girl people have met.  Maria is not necessarily mean, but a strong, independent woman who speaks her mind- but is so damn adorable when she says it that you can't not like her. Being that confident with my beliefs is something I can learn from Maria.  When we get together, something just clicks- she gives me the confidence I need to feel great and have a great time.  I can talk to Maria about the serious things and then 5 seconds later have the silliest discussion of our lives.  My abs seriously hurt so much from laughing with Maria this weekend and I cherish every second I get to spend with her. 

Anna- This girl has her shiz together.  Even if she doesn't, you would never know because she is so put together.  Beautiful, smart, funny and interesting- Anna is the full package.  If I have a major dilemma, I can go to Anna to talk through it and get a completely objective point of view answer.  We have always had similar interests, opinions and views in life- it is great to have someone to talk through things with and rely on like Anna. She is a special special lady.

Katie-  I learned the most from Katie this weekend.  She is so fun and funny and has the most confidence of anyone I have ever met.  Not only is she not embarrassed to do the things she loves (friendship bracelets at the pool?) she is so confident with her entire self.  I strive to be as happy with myself as Katie is and truly admire her outlook on life and living in the moment.  I am happy to have her among my other girls as great role models in my life.

Now onto the evidence...

They had the same outfit on...minus that dude's huge sweaty stomach...

Molly came to visit! xoxo

We should have had these shirts...

Northern most point?

This makes me laugh every time... haha

2 time champion...

this guy is super creepy.

I love you, girls.  Thank you for an amazing weekend.  I am still smiling!

xoxo,
Jza Jza