to my sister on her wedding day

this past weekend was quite an event, as my little and only sister married the one for her.  it has been an up and down all around, and i figured since i gave a "toast" twice, i may as well put in to writing to forever immortalize the words i had to say to her on her big day.
clearly, a little rewritten to make more sense in blog format and not spoken word.
(i've also linked in particular pop culture references, as to make sense of them.  since the internet allows me to do so)
i don't know if there was any recordings of it, so here goes:

i'd like to start by quoting what we all think is probably on ben's mind right now
come on aileen
oh i swear what he means
at this moment, you mean everything
aileen and ben are married?  ew
leading up to today, i had plans to write an epic toast wrap that would hit levels of youtube gold.
well, since aileen asked me to do this on monday, I am sadly not able to give you the performance of a lifetime.  also, if you were hoping for a heartwarming sister of the bride toast, you may be at the wrong wedding.
aileen came in to my life in 1996 ruined it all at the same time.  I was perfectly fine being the only sister and she blew it.  She started off early, just a few days old, causing me to pass out cold on the hospital floor.  after that, everywhere I went, aileen shortly followed after.
she and i, believe it or not, never really got along for many years.  I challenged her young self with sarcasm and wit, which as she got older she took as part of her own personality.  so everyone, you're welcome.
aileen had many talents, questionable ones at that.  music, ventriloquism, dance and not sports were her forte.  she took all the AP classes I never bothered with, and as the years went by she quickly blossomed in to the nerdy young woman she is today.  as she grew, we finally began to find more things in common, such as tv shows and we finally liked each other's clothes and could actually borrow some of them from each other.  just as we were getting to know each other, ben happened.
i remember the day we all met ben.  aileen brought him home from a date, and my parents were in the living room and i was in the kitchen.  we heard the door to the garage close and two sets of feet come towards us.  aileen, with a boy following her, entered the room and turned to him and said "and this is my cat, mushu."  clearly, we know where the priorities are.
as aileen and ben grew together, then apart, and then back together, aileen really became her own individual person.
while i'm not 100% on being "bro" and "sis" with ben just yet, i do have some advice for him to work with aileen's habits.
1. if she's grumpy, feed her chocolate.
2. if she's tired, feed her chocolate.
3. if she starts talking sciency to you, do what i do.  stare at her, nod, and then just say "ok."
4. when in doubt, chocolate.  or even potatoes really.
while i don't understand how a former child ventriloquist and a man who enjoys magic tricks fell in love, it seems like a match that is meant to be.  and ben, if our only shared interests are an appreciation tim allen tv shows and ruining aileen's yawns with a poke in the tounge, i'd say we're off to a solid start.
and aileen.  if i can offer you any advice, it would be this:
don't forget to treat yo self in big ways and in small.  i hope your love for each other continues like 5,000 candles in the wind.  and always remember what is important in life:  friends, waffles, and work.  or waffles, friends, work.  doesn't matter, but work is third.  and don't only love ben, but be sure to like him too.
p.s. i don't excpect to be an aunt ANY time soon.
a few things i didn't get to say to my sister on her wedding day.
basically the mildly mushy stuff
6 1/2 months or so led up to this, and i am so incredibly proud of you.  while it was hard for me the day you got engaged, knowing i wouldn't be able to be there the actual moment you got married, i know this was the wedding of your dreams with ben.  somehow balancing your school load miles and miles away from home while having a wedding planned and somehow on your wedding day you were totally chill and we managed to pull it all off.  you've come a long way since being the 4 year old eating goldfish at my middle school basketball games, and have so much further to go from here.  i wish you the best, with your freshly 20 self and continuing to grow every day leaps and bounds.  the journey is just beginning for you.
i'm happy to have a sister like you.
well, not just like you, but one that is you.
you're more fun to make fun of now.  i mean...
now have a husband i can make fun of (because it is ben, and its really easy)  that takes some of the pressure off you.
also, thanks for not getting bitten by a rabid dog.  or having any crazy injury stories for me to share.
that's apparently my job in this family.
wedding day photography: www.photogbyem.com

in the past month(ish)...

hey there, blog land.
yeah, it's been awhile.  yes, i'm still alive.
i haven't really been crafty (sad face) since school kind of took over my life for awhile.
so here's a little update from october through now.
(some photos swiped from friends...  thanks friends!)
sarah & raymond got married
i've known these two since high school, and it was so much fun to celebrate their wedding day with them and some of my favorite peeps.  they were married in sarah's parent's backyard, and then a reception at a local winery in loomis.  there was some crazy dancing, delicious food, and all around good time.  table 13 was a pretty groovy collection of people.
and then there was also this fine musical piece...

halloween 2014
on halloween i ended up working 3 of my 4 regularly scheduled dance classes, and then headed off to melissa's halloween murder mystery party.  i wore my minnie mouse costume on thursday to the pre-k party, and cat ears to the dance classes, and so i was finally able to bust out my halloween costume (that was intended for two years ago) and attempt to not die (in the game). yep. i totally went as big bird.
this year's party was a much smaller collection than last year, but still fun in the same.  after trying to get someone killed off - which ended up being me in the last round - we played cards against humanity.  oh, and since jenny showed up late, she followed me around like she was navi... hey.  listen!
i headed home around 12:45, and it was POURING. so crazy to finally see so much rain.  and then it all be gone the next day.  boo.  and that brings us on to our third and final section....
birthday!
yep.  this past wednesday i turned 26.  and since it was on a weekday, i partied hard the saturday before with some of my favorite peeps.  erika, jenny, melissa, jared, chris, myself and the boyfriend went for dinner at lorenzo's in town.  after dinner, we had a quick stop at wal mart & starbucks before heading to rocklin lanes for some good ol' bowling.  it took awhile for the glow bowling to kick in, but we still had some fun.
on my actual birthday, i worked at the pre-k in the morning, and then taught my dance class kiddos that night.  two of them brought in a whole bunch of cupcakes, and my boss also brought me more cookies... they were pretty much set for life.  usually, i would have been going to class afterwards, but my professor had a speaking engagement at NAEYC in texas, so class was cancelled that night.  instead, i went to hang out with my dance class peeps that i haven't been with on a wednesday since before i went to colorado.  i'm a little bummed that my next semester's schedule messes with that as well... ugh!  i'm hoping to make things work somehow, especially with the 30th anniversary recital happening and all...  well, here are my party people from wednesday!
and here's to hoping i can better update in the next few weeks.
i have my quilt block swap done, as well as a quilt or two that i still haven't posted.... oy.
about a month until the semester is over... so close... yet so far away...

wedding favors & garter - amy's wedding crafts

before i can get to the big shaBAM post, i gotta show off these little guys.  one i can take credit for, but the other was all amy.  and they turned out so cute, i have to share the photo of it and all the diy-ness that went in to it.
back on the nurse apron post, i mentioned that we had a favor making hooplah that didn't go quite as planned thanks to the printer issues.  well, that day we got ONE favor finished... and this was that one favor.  amy's plan was to make hugs & kiss bundles for her wedding favors. (which did happen.  just on the bachelorette party weekend)  sarah designed the little logo (which has a tree on it, amy & luke and the 3.9.2014 date on the bottom) and was eventually turned in to stickers.  after creating an army of hugs & kisses on the table, i cut squares of tulle that jenny counted out.  on the bachelorette weekend, amy & jenny cut the ribbon, sarah & melissa made the bundles and amy & i tied them up.  jenny & i curled the ribbon ends, and wham bam, they were all complete.  clearly they were a hit at the wedding, because some people were very bummed theirs was taken before they could pick it up.  good idea, amy!
for amy's bridal shower, she received a camo & lace garter to wear for her wedding day.  alas, the garter didn't come with one to toss.  madness!  so after my garter creating experience for erika's wedding (as in it was super easy) i busted out this little number for amy.  the hardest part was finding a little something to fancy it up a bit.  i looked for deer... no luck.  i looked for ducks... nope.  i even looked for a simple little paw print.  nothing.  i found this little tree button at beverley's which reminded me of the tree on the favors.  when i saw it, i knew it had to be.  i stitched up this little garter (the ribbons on it are in her wedding colors) and it was good to go.  turns out, amy decided to keep this one instead of the other one.  winner!

from miss to mrs - amy's wedding day

so the big day was here.  the one we had all been waiting for.  and then in the blink of an eye, the night was over and we were all on our way.  let me rewind a bit, just to give you the whole story.
between pedicures and leaving for the rehearsal dinner, amy & dori went to check in to the hotel so we wouldn't have to do it later.  the rehearsal dinner came and went, we went back to amy's to get our dresses, load up all of what we need and head on to the hotel.  we got there, trucked everything to our 7th floor room and then when we got to the room were in for a little bit of a shock.  what was supposed to be two queen beds was one king.  and a very small room around it.  called down to the desk, and that was the only room we could have at all.  on top of that, they claimed a cot wouldn't fit in there...  so amy, sarah & i  squished in to the bed, while jenny, lisa & rachel each slept on one side and the foot of the bed.  if there was an emergency, somebody was going to be in trouble.
the morning came early, amy & lisa disappeared at one point to go help with set up, and the rest of us woke up around 8 or 9... i can't even remember.  i did a lot of up and down the elevator to let dori, alissa & dana in (mom of the bride, plus the hair & make up ladies) and amy brought us back food.  the day hit the ground running, yet so many of us were ready to stay in bed...  myself included.  amy crawled back in to bed, waiting for her bubble bath necessities to arrive, and so sarah brewed her a nice cup of tea... using water from the bathroom.  we lovingly named it "tub tea".
we headed to the ceremony/reception site, and had to hide away in what is basically the table & chair closet. classy! i got amy in to her dress, sash & garter in place... and then we waited for our turn to go take pictures. so i took pictures.
and BOOM. they got married. but i don't have any pictures of that. still working on my maid of honor spy camera proto type. we headed outdoors for bridal party photos... and froze while doing so. all in good fun, of course. we also learned that apparently family portraits are a spectator sport for strangers.
then it was time to get the party started! this is the point where phone pictures start to mix in with camera photos, but it's all in good fun.
jack speach-ed, i speach-ed. he gave luke a tailpipe from his groomsman's wreck at the bachelor party. i tried to give amy an appendix that wasn't mine to give. all in the name of love, people. all in the name of love. rue had the final say, and then it was time for the party to get started. some delicious cake, followed by the dances.
and then there came the money dance, in which none of us had cash and were tempted to ask luke & amy if they took visa. luckily, melissa's mom came to our rescue and gave us each a dollar. yay! followed by the garter & bouquet toss (which i caught, by the way... like a boss)
favorite photo from the night. right here, my friends.
after all was said and done, the party was cleaned up and the sand swept away, we all headed our separate ways. jenny and i went back to the hotel room, washed the hairspray galore out of our hair, and then went down a few floors to melissa's room to oogle her photo with chris hemsworth from that morning, as well as chow down on her organic potato chips (organic makes it better... right?) have some girl talk and watch movies on mute.  crawled back up a few floors to go to bed, and then called it a night.  dropped a few forgotten things off at amy's the next morning, and then we were on the way back to california.  such a blast to be there every step of the way for amy's wedding.  from finding the dress to seeing her down the aisle, it's been quite the adventure.  now it's onward to many more!

t'was the night before wedding... - amy's rehearsal dinner

t'was the night before wedding
and all through the house
three whippets were running,
three labs, but no mouse.
seriously... the house was craaaazy.
we got to reno about 10am saturday morning and met up with sarah (and rue) at amy's neighbor's house for some moral support of sash adding to rachel's dress.  from there we headed to our nail appointment at la belle nails.  met up with rachel, amy & dori to get our mani/pedi on.  rachel went onward to do homework, amy & dori went to check in to the hotel, and then the rest of the three of us went to pick up a few things at wal mart.  grabbed some subway and headed back to the house for some relaxation and helped amy pack for the weekend.  before we knew it, it was off to baldini's for dinner & some wedding ceremony prep.  so many random photos from the night, it needed its own post.  and gives me that much longer to put together the wedding day photos ;)
insert time for random "hey we're just standing up here" photos
after all the formalities were done, it was back to partying. and a collection of group photos.
jenny blocked my face, so she got punished.
and if anyone ended the party early... it was rue.
walking down the aisle with a small child is hard work!
i couldn't leave this post without these video clips.
the sister of the ring bearer claimed she could run like a horse because when she was born she loved horses.  there was a whole story that went along with it, including her dad mentioning that they literally thought she was never going to walk upright because of how she moved like a horse.  the movements were so insanely accurate.  well, of course we had to get amy, who had had a few to drink at this point, to give it a go... and she did.  the first clip is fantastic, because amy fearlessly goes for the jump.  the second clip you see the girl literally run & drift across the room.  insane!