The Dress!!!

So I went with my mom, sister, grandma, 3 of bridesmaids and their mom!! We brought champagne and picked out about 20 dresses to try on. The girl who helped us was Amanda and she adorable and funny and was actually the one who picked out the dress I ended up getting! Anyway-I had NO IDEA what kind of dress I wanted so everyone picked out one they liked and I started feeling increasingly anxious the more they grabbed. I still am reeling from just being engaged so it just felt weird to be trying on dresses...like I was pretending or something!

So...I tried the first one on and actually really liked it...discovered I LOVE lace :) My mom wasn't a huge fan though. First hiccup! Hard to please everyone eh ;) So i tried on the next one which I think I just laughed and didn't even come out in because it was sooo ridiculous and it kind of went like that for the next few except for one which was okay and my mom really liked. I tried on some ridiculous ball gown style dresses which I always figured I would love and wow-i looked like an oompa loompa on crack or something. not such a good look for me!! too damn short :) and ps the dress in the picture is not my dress. you probably already figured that, but my face in that picture was my "uh...i'm a bride?! wtf!"

here's a dress on crack: i look about 500 lbs.

Then the lovely amanda snuck one in and said she thought it might have all the pieces from each of the dresses I had tried on and liked and none of the aspects that I didn't like. Sidenote...as she helped me into each dress, which by the way is very hard. I almost fell over about five times. very fun topless with a complete stranger. anyway...as she pulled up each dress, she would ask me what i thought and for each one I didn't really have any thoughts. I just sort of said "umm...i'm not sure yet!" But as she pulled up the last one and asked me, I couldn't stop smiling and she kind of winked a knowing wink! As I walked out to where everyone was, I glanced in another mirror and had a little moment of "oh my gosh that's me?!" and as soon as I got situated on the podium thing whatever you call that and turned to the mirror and started giggling. then sobbing and everyone else was one step ahead of me and already crying and popping the champagne!!

then...i hung out in the dress for about an hour :) amanda told me there are always signs that's it the dress. first the keep on glancing in the mirror and smiling, then the swaying and admiring yourself, and finally petting the dress. which i was definitely doing! I swear, I have had nights where I thought, "hey...okay I don't look that bad" but with that dress on, I felt BEAUTIFUL :) it was so freaking fun!!!

so now it's on to bridesmaids and mothers and grooms!!! i'll post pics as I go-in case you all were really feeling the need to be intimately involved in this whole thing ;) really it's for my own enjoyment and my family's sanity so they don't have to do double duty of doing it all and reliving it all fifteen times as I obsess over it all :)

The Proposal

Being as I'm writing this primarily for my own entertainment (and to save my family from having to relive everything a million times over), I apologize in advance for a complete lack of attention to grammar, punctuation, and normal rules of english :) That being said...the proposal!

So I had already picked the wedding date, colors, bridesmaids, honeymoon, and planned the "surprise" engagement party etc before Paul actually proposed....poor guy. So, I knew Paul was taking me wine tasting because his work was redoing their wine list. I had this pathetic little inkling of hope that he might propose but I knew one of my bridesmaids was going to be out of town and my sister had accidentally slipped and said her boyfriend was coming to visit for the engagement party on the following friday. She actually really did slip up and meant that her boyfriend was coming for a bridal shower for our cousin...but I didn't believe her obviously.

So I had convinced myself nothing was happening and headed over to Paul's house on Thursday night around 11pm to say hello (the only time I see him these days because of his new job and the crazy hours he works). As I walked up to his house, I noticed his sister's car and then his nephew sitting on the couch through the front window...and was needless to say confused and a little intrigued. I called Paul, who was equally confused, and when he got there, we walked in to a big "surprise!" from his sister, brother in law, 3 nieces and nephews, and good friend (one of his groomsmen). They told us Matt (brother in law) had the week off work, so they had decided to surprise us with a visit. I bought it hook line and sinker because Paul was "really upset" because it changed the romantic wine tasting day we had planned and whatnot. Paul's family graciously said they would bow out of wine tasting with us and just meet up with us later in the afternoon for a walk in Armstrong woods.

So...the next morning I put on my long black cotton dress that I wear everyday (literally-I only take it off to wash it), washed my hair, and had no makeup on. Paul convinced me, with the help of my mom and sister, to put some makeup on, do my hair and change into the pretty new dress I had bought, saying we were going to meet his boss that day. We went to St. Clemente first and tasted wine and I had a highly entertaining bathroom experience. For the sake of the public, I'll not go into details, but let's just say the flush didn't do it. Then we went to Castello di Amorosa which OH MY GOODNESS is a castle complete with torture chamber and everything. We went on this tour and looked at freaking amazing views and did wine tasting which was really fun. Before we left, we laid outside on the lawn with the chickens running around and a cat sleeping in the tree above us and I thought for a second he might propose but kept on reminding myself that Maddy has accidentally told me it wasn't till the following week so I talked myself out of it!

Then we headed back into town and stopped at a place in Calistoga for drinks and I got a little bummed that we were ending our romantic day out early to go meet his family at Armstrong woods (no offense sis!!). Then of course we got stuck in traffic and had to wind our way back through all these neighborhoods and whatnot. And then...I, being the delicate thing that I am, decided that I HAD to use his bathroom before driving to the woods. And again, I'll leave out the details, but...45 minutes later, we made it back out the door.

So we finally got to the woods and his family, much to my surprise, was not there yet! So we decided to go for a walk to our favorite spot, where we had also scattered his dad's ashes last year. He had also forgotten that he had packed a picnic so we took that to have under his dad's tree. However...when we got there, I saw a little heart of rose petals, my favorite champagne, and chocolate dipped strawberries. At that point, I finally caught on :)

He gave me a hug and said something about how much he loved me and other things that I barely remember...I was in a fog of just "oh my goodness, it's happening" and missed most of what he said :) oops! But then he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring and asked me!!

At this point, I noticed the flashing lights coming from the trees and invited Amie and Maddy out from their hiding spot where apparently they had been talking to banana slugs for hours waiting for us :)

Traffic and an upset stomach didn't exactly keep us on schedule! After the proposal, we headed to my grandma's beautiful house for a "surprise" engagement party...the one that I had planned :) All of our closest friends and family were there and we had a HUGE dinner thanks to my mom, Christy, his mom's and lots more! We had toasting and way too much cake and such a good time. The backyard was all lit with twinkle lights and lanterns and flowers-so gorgeous!

I'm so stinking excited and decided I will try my best to be a good bride as opposed to a scary one...but I make no promises! I only get to do this once!! I already have a list of clothes I want...one in particular is a white sweat suit that says "It's all about me" in pink rhinestones :) Oh...and I already bought my bridesmaids and moms "Mother of the Bride/Groom", Bridesmaids, Flower Girl and Bride shirts to wear on outings!! Yay!!!