Me, the beautiful bride and Dave, the handsome Groom!

To say I am getting excited is an understatement. Our wedding is right around the corner and it wasn't until this week that I started to get super excited. It's all coming together. The fantastic dress, the most perfectly, perfect Erin shoes, the incredible necklace I bought today. The only thing that made it even better was going to the courthouse today and filing for our marriage license. It's real. Dave and I stood there, raised our right hands and said, "yes!" enthusiastically. It's almost here...

I have to admit that I love weddings...no matter the wedding, they always make me teary. A marriage scene that I loved as a kid, still resonates with me today...Miss Piggy and Kermit getting married in "Muppets Take Manhattan." Call me what you will, the Muppets are awesome and last weekend I woke up in the morning with the following song stuck in my brain and I can't stop humming it.

"Somebody's Getting Married"

(Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are finally married in front of an audience of both "Muppet Show" and "Sesame Street" performers)

Bear: Extra! Extra! Somebody's getting married!

Bear 2: Somebody's getting married? HEY, somebody's getting married!

Bear 3: Whoa, somebody's getting married!

Pops: Somebody's getting married???

Lew Zealand: Somebody's getting marrrrieeeed!

Group: Somebody's getting married! Somebody's getting married! Somebody's getting somebody's getting somebody's getting somebody somebody somebody somebody...! [etc.]

Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, Scooter:

Somebody get some flowers!

Somebody get a ring!

Somebody get a chapel and a choir to sing!

Kermit: Somebody get an organ to play!

Singing Tuxedos: Cause somebody's getting married today!

Miss Piggy, Janice, Camilla:

Somebody get a preacher!

Somebody bake a cake!

Somebody get some shoes and rice and presents to take!

Miss Piggy:

Somebody get a sweet negilee!

Singing Veils: Cause somebody's getting married today!

Swedish Chef: Veddeeng! Veddeeng! Peeg und fruggeee veddeeng!

Men:

Somebody get champagne!

Somebody rent a room!

Girls:

Somebody get the lovely bride!

And somebody get the-

Men:

Somebody get the-

[Kermit nervously stumbles offstage here since the rhyming word is "groom" (of course)...]

Both: Somebody somebody somebody somebody somebody--!

Female Voices: Somebody get this wedding underway!

Swedish Chef: Coose-a sumebudy's getteeng merreeed tudey!

Bear Family: Somebody's getting married....today!

So, the girl who said "I don't want ANY type of bridal shower!" was a moron! Complete and utter moron! Why? Well, my family threw me a bridal shower last weekend and my friends threw me one this weekend and I had a BLAST at both! Really, truly. Who doesn't like food, cocktails and presents???

My family party was a French themed affair that consisted of a fabulous lunch prepared by Memes, a French treasure trove in the form of a hatbox FULL of presents, mini wedding cakes, a pedicure at Lavande (French decor no less), shopping and dinner at La Fondue (which my sister said wasn't French, but the name sounded French and they have enough cheese there to seem like France). It was tres chic, tres incredible and tres my family! They did a great job and it was just a really nice day!

My friends threw a French Lingerie shower for me! They too went above and beyond my wildest expectations and made the evening so fun! We started at Martuni's in SF, sampling hors d'oeuvres, the "McGeetini" signature martini that was champagne, vodka and pomegranate juice (mostly booze really...Jeez! One and I was leveled!) in our private room! So pretty, so French, so me! I opened presents and again I made a haul and couldn't believe the effort, expense and creativity that went into the gifts. My friends proved just how well they know me and how lucky I am to have them. They really went all out! From there we went to Absinthe for dinner. Yummy! French dining finery, wine and good company made for a fantastic evening. R.A., D.G. and I had a room at the Hotel Adagio, so we headed there, made a quick little stop in the bar, killed a bottle of wine and...it was off to bed!

Finally, you can see some of my knitting. I am not great about posting all that I have done, but this one in particular I couldn't post about because it was A. my Knitting Olympics project that I sadly didn't finish by the closing ceremonies and B. was for my "Man of Honor," B. I gave it to him last night and he LOVED it! Here we are, in all of our glory!

I teased R.A. relentlessly about listening to knitting podcasts, stating they were "geeky" and "lame." Big talk from a girl who didn't know what a podcast was. Well, after Dugh came and fixed our home network I found myself playing with all of the techno gadgets I had at my fingertips....one of which being podcasts on iTunes. I am hooked! Argh! I want one! Of course if I updated my blog more often I could probably warrant the addition of yet another thing I need to update. Unfortunately, I haven't even gotten myself on a blog update schedule, so in my mind I really shouldn't take on a podcast.

If anyone has podcast recommendations, I am all for it. And they don't have to be just about knitting!

In blogging news I have found that the blog world can be a scary place. Too much personal information placed on a website is not always a good thing. I feel that overall I have been pretty vague about life's many details. I initially thought that the people reading my blog would be just friends or family, but it's out there for the whole world to read. The last few months have taught me to be a bit more cautious. I am just going to leave it at that.

You know when you shouldn't be doing something and then you immediately find out why? Kids, that's called "karma". Today karma bit me on the ass, big time. I stopped past DSW to look at potential wedding shoes. I was there for about an hour and a half. This is a great store! I walked around and around browsing shoes....and not just wedding shoes. I pondered new trainers, cute sparkly flats, wedges, work shoes and super-de-duper high heels. I wandered all over the damn place and could feel the guilt setting in as I put one pair of potential wedding shoes, a pair of Clarks work shoes and a pair of wedges on the counter for the guy to ring. $150...not the worst damage for 3 pairs of shoes, but I felt guilty nonetheless because of the 3 pairs, the wedding shoes are my least favorite. I justified it by saying, well, if I have to wear flat, lame wedding shoes than I deserve something pretty! Right? Doesn't this seem logical? Well, as I signed the receipt, thinking about the look Dave is going to give me when he sees the shoe collection has bred in the night and multiplied like rabbits, I thought something is going to happen and I am going to need this $150 and I won't have it. Sure as sh**, I walked out the door, reached in my purse and my favorite Ralph Lauren-perfectly catlike-tortoise shell-have had them for ages-bought them on a trip to San Diego-go with everything while making me feel like Jackie O.-sunglasses...broken in half. Not just a little, but snapped right in half. My sunglasses are GONE! GONE! I have three pairs of shoes, one of which (the wedges with green canvas straps and a tie that goes up my legs) would have gone perfect with these sunglasses are now pointless and seem like a stupid frivolous purchase. I wanted to march back in there and return the shoes, but I didn't. It is Valentine's Day afterall....hmmm, how late is Kate Spade open?

I saw that Kate had posted this Johari Window thing on her blog and thought it was kind of neat. I would love it if you would answer to mine.

Erin's Johari Window

...again, another batch of crap left unsaid since last time I blogged. I know, I know...get off my back! I'm tryin'!

1. We have a new kitty! 2 weeks ago we adopted a kitten named Gracie (SHE CAME WITH THE NAME!!! Now that, my friends, is called serendipity!) from my friend Paula. Gracie is now another kid in our growing brood. She looks VERY similar to Hannah, although she has gold eyes and a straight tail! She is a terror and has not bonded with the other children, although I think that is more their problem than hers. As with Hannah Jane and Scout Roo, Gracie earned a middle name...Lu. Her proper name is Gracie Lu of the land of Who. What can I say, I'm "creative."

2. My second gift from my Secret Pal arrived today! Oh my gosh! This person has me nailed. I made a haul again: 6 beaded stitch markers (handmade, I am guessin', and so frickin' cute); a bag of Nestle Milk Chocolate Hearts; a Vintage CD Mix with the likes of Louis Prima, Ella, Billie and Frank on it, which I immediately popped in my car, downloaded onto my ipod and made a mental note of the songs I could use for our wedding reception; and drumroll please.....NECCO Valentine conversation hearts. That's right, somehow by pure virtue of guessing, my Secret Pal nailed my favorite holiday treat! The Necco hearts are SO much better than the other brands (Brach's...blech! They taste like chalk!)! Every year I get excited for Valentine's Day only because of the Necco hearts. As Dugh can attest, many a trip were made to the Walgreen's in our Sunset days for the Necco hearts. Secret Pal...will you be my Valentine??? You are the best!

3. We are joining the gym. So, my weight (135 on a good day), a constant source of scrutiny by me (and only me) is fine for my 5'10" height. My fat percentage is 22%...normal by all accounts. However, I feel like crapola. I am tired. I don't sleep and frankly, I feel like a tub (I know, shut up! I am only complaining to myself, not trying to inflict my skewed vision on others). After meeting with "Matt-all-of-26-McTrainer" today I came to the conclusion that I feel old, tired, fat and bitter. I got pinched, weighed, and assessed by Matt McTrainer and shocker, I am out of shape. Seeing as I haven't worked out consistently for oh...like my entire existence, I could see how this might be true. Even Scout is fat. When the dog puts on weight, you know you aren't gettin' enough exercise. So, I have a "fitness plan", a "goal" and a "buddy." I'll keep you posted.

So, last night I got home late from work, deflated from an emotional week and to a 9pm dinner of canned soup, "when what to my wondering eyes should appear"??? It was a package from my Secret Pal!!! Yee haw! Let the games begin! So, this is what I know....

1. She (or he, I suppose) is from New Jersey.

2. The person read my blog questionnaire in detail and used a lot of blue (incidentally, my favorite color) in the packaging and the gifts.

3. This person has beautiful penmanship.

4. They have great taste in yarn and are a Target shopper...ummm, yeah, loving you right now! Target is one of my favorite stores!

5. Finally, this person is a very gift-minded, like me, in that they carefully wrapped everything in tissue and tied beautiful blue ribbons on the gifts.

Are you just dying to know what I got??? Well, lemme tell ya...2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in navy blue...a bag of Good N' Plenty's...some cute magnets with flowers on them...and an exceptionally cute card!

Thanks Secret Pal! You rock!

We went to South Lake Tahoe for a well deserved long weekend. Dave and I had wanted to go before Christmas, but it wasn't in the cards, so I made sure we went sooner rather than later. We stay at a place that is dog friendly, Spruce Grove which has great little cabins and everyone brings a dog! We (and when I say we, I mean "I") don't ski, so we take Scout with us in an effort to "expose her to snow." She LOVES it. In fact, other than k-i-b-b-l-e and c-o-o-k-i-e-s, I don't think there is anything else that could take snows' place in Scout's heart. She rolls in it, pounces on snow-b-a-l-l-s, bites at it, and slides around on it. Snow is keen to a dog who rarely sees anything, but dirt and grass. I absolutely love watching Scout play in the snow and the pure bliss she has in her eyes. This is doggy nirvana!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH, snow!!!

In other unrelated news, Kari O. introduced me to the coolest website MONTHS ago and I now have the occasion to use it and reap the benefits of unloading crap I don't need! FreeCycle has a list of local Yahoo groups you can join and post stuff on them that you are trying to unload for free. Lemme tell you, tonight I posted 2 computer monitors that we have left from Dave's computer's (both CPU's have gone south and Dave finally came to his senses and went Mac) and within minutes I had emails from interested people. A guy came by tonight and picked a monitor up! Woo hoo! Everybody loves free shit! I am hoping to unload my storage unit soon and I have to say this was SO easy!!!