Where in the world are Andy & Cara?

Vacation! We ventured south to California to check out a Mariners/Dodgers baseball game, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Venice Beach, Hollywood, Monterey, and San Francisco. We were joined for part of the trip by wedding posse member, Amy, and my step-brother, Ian. We ate at In-N-Out three times, Rae's two times, and visited Michael Jackson's star on the walk of fame (RIP MJ... you'll be missed!). All in all, we had a lovely break, got some muchly needed rest, and a little sun to boot. We're now back on the wedding planning track!

-The invitations went out today, so be on the lookout for yours.
-We're meeting with our band contact tomorrow evening.
-I've booked our hotel rooms in which the wedding posse will prep and be merry!
-I'll be picking up my dress on 7/13!
-The MotG, Amy, and special attendant Andrea have found and purchased their wedding attire!
-47 days!

A few photos for your viewing pleasure!

65.2: Registry locale

We're registered at Target, Macy's, and at Honeyfund.com.

Search for either Cara Kangas or Andrew Brown.

65 days

Feelings are sinking in, preparations are becoming a little more intense, and I need a nap!

-The bridal shower invitations are done (teaser to follow!), and will be on their way to the post office after work.
-Multiple cupcakes have been sampled by Official Cupcake Testers* (photos to follow!).
-We met with our officiate, Carroll Myers, who is very insightful, kind, and hasn't seen everything wedding-related, but has seen a lot!
-We're playing phone tag with the contact for a cover band we'd like to book.
-We met up with two of my wedding posse gals, as well as the flower girl, for chit chat and lunch.
-We registered for gifts!
-My dress fitting is tonight; I am very nervous!

*OCTs included myself, Andy, Cassie, and Hannah. No animals were harmed during official cupcake testing.

74 days

Something old - a vintage necklace, given to me by one of my bosses
Something new - the dress
Something borrowed - TBD
Something blue - my shoes

via yahoo, the internets, everywhere...

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe

Each item in this poem represents a good-luck token for the bride. If she carries all of them on her wedding day, her marriage will be happy. "Something old" symbolizes continuity with the bride's family and the past. "Something new" means optimism and hope for the bride's new life ahead. "Something borrowed" is usually an item from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. The borrowed item also reminds the bride that she can depend on her friends and family.

As for the colorful item, blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity has long dressed the Virgin Mary in blue, so purity was associated with the color. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns, as evidenced in proverbs like, "Marry in blue, lover be true."

And finally, a silver sixpence in the bride's shoe represents wealth and financial security. It may date back to a Scottish custom of a groom putting a silver coin under his foot for good luck. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted, and many companies sell keepsake sixpences for weddings.

76 days

Seventy Six trombones led the big parade
With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand...

This popped into my head when I looked at the calendar to check and see how many days are between now and the wedding. Granted, I've never seen The Music Man (Mom, don't frown!), but you tube was able to give me a snippet of the end of the film.

Anyway, on the wedding front:

-the invitations are almost complete, and now I get to figure out how to decorate the bridal shower invites.

-We've also changed our honeymoon destination from Germany to Hawaii - ALOHA! We had briefly chatted here and there about what to do in Germany (mainly visit Oktoberfest), and talked about airfare, and other things to do/see, but we never seemed all that excited about the journey. We both knew that running around for two weeks after 7 1/2 months of wedding planning probably wouldn't of been as ideal as originally planned. With Hawaii, we can relax, take in a few tourist attractions, golf, snorkel, eat, drink, and be married! We'll also be leaving two days after the big day, as before we would've been waiting a month to leave for Germany. Now, all we've been talking about in the last 5 day is lying on the beach, drinking mai tais and daiquiris, and enjoying the sunset. Plus, whenever I played Wheel of Fortune for the NES, I would always choose the fabulous trip to Hawaii as my prize!

-I have my dress fitting on June 18th, and we ordered the tuxes last weekend. I bought my something blue today - turquoise shoes! They're very cute and comfortable to boot.

-We're also still trying to decide on food (we'll be making everything), and need to set up an appointment over at Saint Cupcake.

-Another checklist item is booking a classic rock cover band. Maybe after dinner, we can listen to a few bands again on Gigmasters and decide... We've found a few decently priced options!

-REGISTER! We definitely need to find time this week to go to Macy's (plus another TBD store), as well as update our honeymoon registry. I suppose we should make a list of household items we need vs. what we want. This will help us avoid being too excessive.

-Reception set up. April is my go-to girl for this (yes, that's you!). We have a few ideas involving Nintendo themed tables, along with a smidgen of flowers and vintage books. I also want to create photo boards. Nobody needs to be brought to boredom with a slide show.

Andy is home! Time for dinner... I am starving! This post was long, as I'd been meaning to update for a few days, so hopefully as more things arise, you will know!