now people KNOW we're getting married

We sent our invitations out on Friday and they started arriving yesterday. We've already received a couple responses and a lot of compliments. :) I am so happy with how they turned out. This is the invitation, minus details and contact information (for obvious reasons). When Alyssa showed me the original sketch I laughed for like 5 minutes. Of course, we printed like a million too many and they are going to be sitting in a box until we recycle them or something but I suppose it's better to have more than not enough.

The last time I was writing a post on here I was talking about shoes. I decided to get different ones WHILE writing the post. I returned the other shoes yesterday. Here are the new ones. The heel is really thin and it is going to take some getting used to for me to wear them (i'm used to wearing heels, just really thick, sturdy heels) but otherwise I LOVE THEM. They don't hurt my feet at all and they look great. I am currently working with lillyella on etsy for my necklace and earrings which she is making. Chris bought me a necklace from her shop for Christmas and I loved it, her packaging and the fact that she's from Cleveland so much that I wanted to work with her for wedding jewelry, too. I'll say it for the rest of my life: I LOVE etsy!

I went to NYC for a couple of days and when I came back I was looking for a hair clip that I left on our table. It was wrapped in tissue paper and it was the very first thing I bought for our wedding. I wore it on Valentine's day and was all "I am going to wear this in our wedding!!" Well... it's gone. I'm pretty sure Chris threw it away when he was cleaning up, thinking the tissue paper was from his Men's Wearhouse bag instead of something I actually wanted. Yes, I shouldn't have left it on the table but we never use the table and I was afraid I'd lose it if I moved it. I guess I was wrong. When I realized it was gone I was wandering around the apartment like a lost dog. It's not like it was expensive but it WAS one of a kind and since it was the very first thing I bought I kind of had a sentimental attachment to it. Sigh... so.. that was a bummer. On the plus side, now I can look for another hair thing without feeling guilty.

Chris picked up his suit on Monday and I also made him a GUITAR BOUTONNIERE! It is so awesome. It was also so easy. I will post pictures of it soon and you will say, "Wow, Alisa, maybe you should start your own etsy shop and only make guitar boutonnieres and people will buy them if they don't think they're stupid." I will say, "Yes... yes I should." I stole the idea from an issue of Modern Bride. I would be so much cooler if I thought of it myself.

a lot happens in a month

We got our candy, napkins and cameras in the other day. They are sitting in a box or in the freezer! The cameras were really plain (no surprise, since they were $1.50) but luckily I found these awesome stickers on Etsy (60 for $12) which just arrived yesterday. This was the mock-up she did for us after I placed the order... I didn't just happen to find some randomly that already said "Alisa & Chris." That would have been crazy.

So, I ordered both those bouquets. The fabric one was great, no problems whatsoever, but when I got the paper one I was really disappointed. First of all, I could see the glue. Second, the paper wasn't entirely covering everything it was supposed to. It was also smaller than I thought it would be and the smaller flowers were kind of popping off the bouquet. So, I sent it back and the seller girl was awesome and not only gave me a refund, but also a shipping refund and a couple extra dollars to cover fees (which I gave back). I am, at least, keeping the first one I bought. The same seller who made that one has a couple other ones that I like so if I decide to get my sister one, I'll start with her shop. (Seriously, etsy rules.)

Chris bought his suit. It was only $99! It also has... ugh... pleats. I thought he would have noticed something like this but apparently he didn't know until I said two days later, "Are you sad that the suit has pleats?" "WHAT?????" he replied. Apparently he doesn't notice stuff like that, which is weird because they're so obvious. I don't know. Anyway, so now he's kind of sad. He liked it a lot when he bought it, even with the pleats. Or, at least, he liked it enough. Pleat removal is not an easy alteration (from what we hear). If only there were suits on etsy!

The shoes I bought came and I like them a LOT except that the strap kind of hurts the back of my heel. I think that's easily fixed, though. They look good with both dresses, though, and that's really the most important thing. Jenny is nearing completion of the alterations/building of the dresses. They are both exactly the same length (just above the knee). I don't know why I don't like long dresses. I don't like my calves so you'd think I would like them. I think it's hard to move in them. Good thing I'm not getting one.

Our invitations are finished and printed and they are GREAT. Now all we have to do is figure out how to print on the envelopes or just give up and write them out ourselves and send them away!!

I am on a music quest!! We need songs that Chris and I can play easily on the guitar at our pre-(wedding) reception on Saturday and other stuff to just play on an ipod. I don't want anything stupid and I don't want anything EPIC (like "My Heart Will Go On"). If you have any suggestions for non-stupid, non-epic songs, pass them my way!

Also, Ben is now an officially licensed minister. His credentials came the other day. We laughed a lot. It looks like a diploma. That's a lot of power to give to someone. He could marry a cat to a dog, now.