Welcome!

This little blog started on our wedding website, which kept family and friends up to date on the planning and details. Of course this is where we will provide all of the recaps of the wedding and everything after. We look forward to keeping family and friends up to date on our lives here in Texas and all of the adventures we share as newlyweds!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Happy Halloween!

I really can not help it, since we are yet to have a dog yes I dress up poor Nala the kitty for Halloween and Christmas every year, or rather for the 10 seconds before she freaks out.

As you can tell from the photo she is not a fan of her little rooster hat.

Better yet is when she attacks the rooster hat...

NALA VS. ROOSTER HAT--Halloween 2009

Veil Travel Tips?

As we start to pack and organize everything to either mail or take with us on the flight I have come across a road block.

How in the world do you travel with the veil? And not only one veil but TWO!--I still can not pick which to wear for the wedding! **Hint Hint** Note to Maids of Honor You need to help me pick!!

So here I am with less than a week now before the flight thinking do I pack them? Do I carry on with the dress?? What do I do now?

My Options:
1. Pack them both with the dress--but with one having beading and the other not will they snag on each other? or the dress?
2. Place in my suite case in a bag/box? Will they wrinkle too much?
3. Pack along with Dress #2 and the fiance's suite for the wedding? Possibly....

Check back to see what I finally decide....if of course we find the time to pack everything!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Another Something BLUE!


How could I have forgotten to mention this fun item until now?!?

Mom of course has been watching wedding shows on the TV since the ring went on my finger...then she came across this little idea...a colored carillon aka petticoat.

What color do you make the underside of a wedding dress? White of course, right? NO! Since the wedding colors were blue and yellow we decided on the bright royal blue...not only did it fit to the wedding colors but it became a 2nd something blue to my shoes.

Unfortunately Mom did the dying of the carillon at home in Pennsylvania much to Dad's concern in the bathtub with Rit Dye, so I don't have the pictures of the process but I do have the final result. And much to Dad's amazement the bathtub is not bright blue after the fact....

Isn't it great?!


Such a fun addition to the dress and the wedding and something to make it very much our own -- and sure to make some great photos!

Thanks Mom...and Dad for letting her dye it in the bathtub!

Guest Rooms Finally!

Its down to the wire and finally Disney Cruise Line posted the rest of the "Guaranteed" room numbers to our guest list. Thankfully since the rooms are linked all those guests are in one central location on the ship which will make delivery of "special gifts" so much easier.

I of course had to make sure that I knew where everyone was so I made a little map for myself.




Thankfully all of us are only on 3 different decks, 2,5 and 6 not spread all over the 12 decks!

Last minute "To Do's"

After today I officially have 9 days til the cruise! That means 10 til the BIG DAY!

Wow! And here I was thinking back about how great it was to be out of the 100's in the countdown and finally hit the "double digits".

So what's left?!


My "To do" list has been marked up with lots of colors, most of it is because I was checking things off and of course the additions that I kept on adding-even up to this week!

I have 1 project that I am trying to finish up which is a feathered hair fascinator to wear with my dress #2! As my lovely fiance says I so very "Carrie Bradshaw of me" (yes, he had to sit through SATC the Movie with me!).

Here's what I have done so far...

it just needs a little something else though. I'm just not sure what yet.

I also decided that since we aren't going to get a "Just Married" car that I would try to make some magnets for the rental cars saying "We Are Getting Married" (for when we first get to Orlando) and "Just Married" (for after the cruise).



I am not sure if they will hold up for the car, I will have to do a little test run first here in Dallas. If they don't they are going to serve as my "backups" to the door magnets we made for the cruise in case the Styrofoam letters don't make it.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

One Week Left....of work


It has been so hard to try to concentrate on anything today at work...why you might ask?? It may be the post-it not sitting beside me...think something like this...what is "5" though?

5 is the number of days that I have left of work! Thursday and Friday of this week and then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next. Then appointments for hair, nails and everything start on Thursday. Hopefully everything will be packed too!

We also decided to go out for a fancy dinner here in Dallas before we become Mr and Mrs. So we will be dining at Tre Amici it is one of the many highly rated steak houses in Dallas and I can't wait to try it! So excited!!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Time Flies By!

I could not explain it better than with this picture! The time is flying by faster than expected. I am sure that has to do with the late hours that the boy is working and having a million and one things to do but here we are 2 weeks out from getting on the cruise, 15 days til the "I Dos" and only 12 days til the flights to Orlando!

Of course there still seems like lots to do--mainly the stuff like hair, nails, ect but that's all the day before things. My main concern now is packing! The goal: each of us having 1 suitcase with clothes for the entire trip (cruise and Florida) then the garment bag with my veils, the suit for wedding, and my 2nd dress, and one suitcase with undergarments, shoes, and bathroom stuff...the idea of having to pay an additional $100 for a fifth checked bag just is out of the question especially since with the 4 we are looking at $80 already!

Add to that the 4 carry one items 2 of which are THE DRESS and my flowers...we really have no room for playing around with "extras" here's hoping that we can get everything into the allotted baggage.


What else can you do if you live in Texas and are getting married in Florida--maxing out the luggage allowances I guess are just a given...

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Such a Cute Idea

I couldn't help sharing from Sandy's blog From Blushing Bride to Domestic Diva she shared such a cute idea for Halloween treats! Howl at the Moon Pies




Check them out super easy to make too!

Need an Idea for Tonight's Dinner?

Since my wonderful fiance has been working late during his "busy season" needless to say dinners have been me eating alone most of the week since he has not been home before 10pm every night...

I combed through a couple of different recipes and decided to make my paella from a mix of one found on TheStoneSoup and also Food Network.

I will say I did use a couple of *cheats* in terms of some things to make it a bit cheaper (ie. pre-packaged saffron yellow rice instead of saffron threads and white rice, and also I used a pre-cooked mussel rather than fresh raw).

So I decided to get brave and do a first attempt at authentic Spanish paella! Everything I have ever read said that you needed Spanish Paprika to make it "authentic"...so I made a stop at Central Market (much like Whole Foods but apparently it's a Texas thing). Low and behold there in the bulk salts and seasonings of the world section I found Spanish Paprika. So I gathered up the rest of the essential ingrediants and decided it was now or never!



What you will need:
Protein option of your choice (chicken,pork --or you can skip this completely)
Shellfish of choice (I used shrimp and mussels)
Chorizo (spicy sausage)
1/2t cayenne pepper
4T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4t Spanish smoky paprika (hot or sweet --your choice)
1 large red onion
3 medium tomatoes
2 Fresh Jalapenos
1T minced garlic in olive oil
1 large red peper
300g package of yellow rice with saffron seasoning
1/2 C dry white wine
4C low sodium chicken broth
1/4 lb of small salad shrimp
1lb pre-cooked frozen mussels
Lemon (garnish)


Now the fun starts. If you choose to use chicken start with browning it in a bit of EVOO and a dash of cayenne pepper and 1/4t of paprika. If not you can start off by adding 1T of EVOO into a large pot and adding the crumbled chorizo to the hot oil. cook for 5-8 minutes or until cooked through.


While cooking add the chicken broth to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Keep warm on the burner.

Take the shrimp and add 2T EVOO and 2t of paprika in a bowl and mix. Once coated add the shrimp to the pot with the chorizo and mix. Allow to cook another 5-8 minutes while working on cutting vegetables.

Cut up the red onion, tomatoes, and red paper. I found that it works best to coarsely chop the tomatoes, dice the onion, and cut the red pepper into thin strips.

Now that the proteins are cooked remove with a slotted spoon and place aside.

Add the onion to the pot and cook 5 minutes until they start to soften. Once soft, add peppers, tomatoes, and the garlic. Add in the remaining cayenne pepper, EVOO, and Spanish Paprika. Cook together for a couple of minutes until the vegetable mixture begins to soften.


Next add in the wine and mix to glaze the pot and pull in all of the seasoning. Rain in the saffron rice and stir.

Return the chorizo and shrimp to the mixture. Add in 3C of the hot chicken broth and stir. Allow to come to a boil and then lower heat and allow to simmer briskly for about 10 minutes. Shake the pot occasionally while cooking but do not stir.

Lower the heat and continue to simmer slowly for 20 minutes.

As the rice starts to cook and soften add additional chicken broth as needed to avoid the mixture drying out.

At this point I used the pre-cooked and frozen mussels which required 6 minutes of cooking in the steamer bag in the microwave.

Once done I added them onto the top of the cooking mixture added a couple of dashes of cayenne pepper an additional 1/4C of chicken broth over the top of the mussels and continued to cook 10 additional minutes.

Total cooking and prep time for this is about 1 hour and makes about 6 generous servings.

Spoon into a bowl and garnish with a couple slices of lemon...Delish!


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Rain, Rain PLEASE GO AWAY!



This is what I got to wake up to yet again today! While I love the way that the skyline here in Dallas looks, I mean really?! I think over the past 2 months at least half of the days were filled with rain.

I am ready for a much needed vacation to somewhere tropical and sunny ASAP!

Thankfully the wedding is now only 19 days away! Which means the flights to sunny Florida are in T-minus 17 days! Sunshine here I come!!

Cutest Shoes!

Well I have to admit, I am a bit a shoe lover! Though I have tried to contain myself over the past couple of years saving for the wedding and the 2 moves that we have made I LOVE SHOES!



And I have found the cutest pairs recently on www.shopheylady.com
Hey Ladies shoes markets themselves as the actually danceable wedding shoe! I love the At Tiffany's style!(pictured) Check out their blog www.shopheylady.com/blog.php

Wedding Traditions



Well to say the very least Rene and I defiantly did not go with the traditional wedding. But are looking forward to the 4 days “event” with family and friends.

Of course there are the little traditions which every bride needs though right? And I have all the bases covered. As the little bridal poem goes “Something Old (check!), Something New (check!), Something Barrowed (check!), Something Blue (check!)” but what most people forget is the last part “A six pence in her shoe!”. Hm…..

Now I must admit I did not remember this part of the poem, but I did know that it was good luck for the bride to have a penny in her shoe – or rather I remembered hearing that.

Thus the “six-pence” has become a “penny” and in our case I have decided that what would be better than a Disney Penny? You know, the kind that you pay 50 cents for and the penny gets squished with a logo on it?






That is how I plan to put our little 'Disney Spin' on the six-pence in her shoe tradition.

Engagement Session in Downtown Dallas


Rene and I had not put a lot of time and thought into getting engagement photos done. I would have loved to have them, but since we got engaged shortly before the move to Texas time didn’t allow for it in Virginia…then in Texas we were just really busy-thus no E-Pics.



That was until a couple of month ago while I was playing on the trusty Weddingbee website that I came across the Dallas/Fort Worth Local Boards. I started reading and found a new photographer named Jade who was looking to have couples in the area help her build per portfolio by allowing her to do their engagement photos for the exchange of the photos, and rights to reproduce!



I emailed Jade and we set up an appointment for the first weekend of October. We found a great urban looking around in downtown Dalla “Deep Ellum” which is the arts/music type area.

We spent about 2 hours with Jade until the rain started coming down! She just sent a couple pictures she has already finished editing so of course I wanted to share!

All photos by Jade Vo uvodesigns@gmail.com




Time to Update!

Since for the past couple of months I have been blogging about the wedding planning and details on our wedding website : www.mywedding.com/reneandmegan

I decided that I would expand! I will be updating "75206" with the majority of the wedding blogs and then will be adding additional posts.

Why 75206? Its the zip code we live in! This blog will have lots of things going on in our life for friends and family to follow along with as well as just some tid bits of information and fun finds!

Enjoy!