Partying together

Little Spoon and I have been preparing for a party for my work for three days now, and now that it's finished, I can safely say I would have made a mess of of it by myself. She helped substantially with cleaning up the house, and she had several excellent ideas regarding drinks (e.g., getting a couple of tubs at Big Lots to contain ice and beverages, putting the bottles and cans into the tubs before pouring the ice in them) that saved me. I took charge of picking up the living room, vacuuming the house, hosing off our outdoor tables and chairs, and arranging the tables and chairs for maximum viewing pleasure and traffic flow.

However, we would have both been run into the ground had we not gotten the event catered. Fortunately, I was given permission to hire someone to provide the food, and I chose Down South Delights for the job based on our successful tasting for our wedding reception. I called Rita on Wednesday morning; after learning that she didn't have any events planned for this weekend, we planned out the party on the phone. She guided me through the process with aplomb, calming my nerves and making loads of helpful suggestions to make a nice, informal party. We started with our wedding reception menu, keeping the finger sandwiches, chicken salad croissants, and fruit and cheese platter. We replaced three heavy reception hors d'oeuvres with buffalo wings, spinach dip and cheese, and flatbread pizzas. The food was a big hit, and many people complimented us on the plentiful spread.

It was great to have this catering to take the load off us both, and I appreciated Little Spoon's help in assembling a party for over 30 people. It's the first time I've ever hosted something that large, and with her help, I'm sure we'll be able to do so again easily.

Weight Loss Wednesday

It's that time again ... to report progress or lack thereof. I've actually been doing pretty good this year. I can't say that I've dropped any weight based on how I weighed in at the doctor this afternoon, but overall,  I'm starting to tell a difference. My legs and arms are stronger and I'm losing inches on my tummy. Yay!

Wish this was a faster process ...

I did in fact "quit" the 3N1 program mid-way through phase two. It just isn't customized enough for my individual needs. I have a friend who is a professional MMA fighter and a brilliant fiance - both of whom instructed me to stop lifting all the weights the Y had me on. So, I've adjusted my schedule to look like this:

M - 30 minutes of cardio & upper body weights plus abs
T - 30 minutes of cardio
W - 30 minutes of cardio & lower body weights plus abs
Th - 30 minutes of cardio
F - 30 minutes of cardio & next appropriate weight lifting

I've been enjoying this routine MUCH more as I feel like I'm getting a full workout without the muscle soreness (delayed onset is fine, hurting while you're working is a sign that you are damaging muscle).  I also don't have to spend 2 hours at the gym like the 3N1 program would have me do!

However, I'm still sick. I went to the doctor today and I still have a sinus infection. Boo. So, I missed yesterday's workout and today's. I'm hoping to be feeling better by the weekend when the antibiotics kick in and be back at the gym on Monday.

Bargain Shopping & New Toys

I've made a couple of big purchases in the past week. I've been scouring the local sales ads like a crazy person and found fourteen 120" round white table linens with thirteen ivory runners and an ivory overlay for super cheap. I am beyond thrilled with this purchase.

I will only be short banquet linens for the food and beverage tables. I am no longer short on the banquet table linens for food/bev as I found LinenTableCloth.com tonight! They had 90" x 120" white linens on sale. I found their Twitter page, became a follower and obtained this code (twitter50082010) for 20% my purchase. An additional 10% was added automatically for their Valentine's Day special as well as free shipping! This is so much better than renting because we have the option of selling them after the wedding.

I had originally planned on black for the food tables, but it bothered the crap out of me for them to be a different color than the tables. I'm weird, I know. So, white it is. Shades of white, ivory, cream, champagne, tans and of course, black.

 

{image from the knot.com}

Over the weekend, I started working on our invitation designs. I'm too critical for my own good, but I feel like we are making progress toward compromise. Anyway, my printer crapped out on me. I've had my HP for something like 6 years. I printed almost my entire Sr. Thesis on that thing!

I wanted another HP and did a little digging on the net to come across this AWESOME offer at Staples. For a limited time, you can trade in your old printer for a $50 credit toward any printer that is regularly priced at $199.00 or above. Luckily, the printer I wanted was not only $199 reg price, but $75.00 off! Cha-ching!


If you go to the Hermitage Staples, be warned that not all of their associates realize that you qualify for both the sale and the credit. One of the associates told me that I couldn't get the $50 credit because it was on sale. Big Spoon (he's so smart) told me to go find a sales ad. It's plain as day on the front of the ad!
I walked out of there with a $200 printer for $80! I also recycled two print cartridges toward my Staples Rewards balance.

Yay for bargain shopping!

Music Monday

It's time to give some shout outs to Nashville artists! Today's Music Monday is "On A Night Like This" by Dave Barnes. Very talented sing/songwriter. If you like this, also check out "I Have and I Always Will" by Mr. Barnes. Also quite lovely and wedding appropriate.