my visit to The Merry Sherwood.

May 26, 2010

Well it was finally the day to visit Merry Sherwood! I had my bridal planning book in hand, mom had her notepad and pencil to jot things down, and Alex was wearing clothes without any holes or stains. We were READY. As we drove up and around the driveway to park on the side of Merry Sherwood I was trying to imagine what my guests would think. I myself, who had already been there before, was once again impressed and reminded why this place was suggested to Alex and I in the first place.

We walked through the quaint little gardens, that had just been watered, and along the brick path and knocked on the front door. An attractive young spunky blonde woman welcomed us like she had known us for years. She let us in and told us a brief history of the Merry Sherwood. She told us that originally the house was built for a bride by the fiance to impress the brides family. I thought that was very cute in itself.

The caretaker gave us a tour of the entire house and showed us where the bridesmaids and I would get ready. Girls, this room is something to see. It is called the ballroom and it is quite beautiful. I have a feeling the photographer will want to take plenty of pictures of us primping in there. The guys would get dressed and ready in the library.

She also showed us a few locations where previous couples have gotten married but one spot really just screamed JAMIE. The actual spot for the ceremony would take place in this garden to the right of the house. It is surrounded by flower beds, enormous trees, and a few statues. i would make my grand entrance by coming out of the front door of the house around the wrap around porch and down the steps leading to the garden. It is a very dramatic entrance. I was trying to picture the entire bridal party and Alex standing up there and I was pretty certain this was the place where we should get married.

After the ceremony the guests would walk to the other side of the yard where a huge tent will be set up and where the reception can take place.

Well I hope I painted a lovely picture of what to expect for all of you that haven't seen it before. I hope you find it as beautiful as Alex, Mom and I did!

things i like

My blogs have been to serious and boring. I was reading a friends blog and she did a "things i like" blog so I think I will do the same!

-Tweezerman tweezers. I have literally owned the same pair of pink tweezers since I have been plucking my eyebrows. I bought them when pcity still had a Sally's beauty supply...

-Priscilla of Boston- look them up. Absolutely fabulous bridal and bridesmaid dresses

-Mac makeup- I could spend every dime on mac. I can go from drab and flaky to glowing and flawless. Mac had a hello kitty line of makeup at one point and the lipstick I bought even had hello kitty etched on the side of the lipstick. so cute

-Harney & Sons Tea- I had some of this one time at the Burke's house and I have been obsessed ever since. I really like the Jasmine flavored one in the purple package

-Sushi- I almost wish Alex had never introduced me to it.

-cowboy boots- I took a pair of Grayson's and now I wear them all the time. They don't even fit my foot right but they are so cute!

-buttery nipple shots- I am not even for sure what is in them but it tastes like butter and butterscotch deliciousness combined

-Sex & the City- Any Sex & the City fan knows why I am putting this....Second one comes out Thursday!

-ruby's. I am pretty obsessed with mine. I feel like I can leave the house looking like complete crap but somehow my vavavoom ruby makes me feel like a million bucks.

-fancy chickens

-you! thanks for reading :]

my weekend

For some reason this has been the most stressful week I have had in the whole year...which is crazy since this is my first week of summer vacation! I really just don't feel like getting into that but I will tell you what I did this weekend.

Yesterday I cut grass, sprayed roundup on the weeds, cleaned rabbit cage, vacuumed, and did laundry

Today I pulled a ton of weeds, cleaned the garage out, did more laundry, pulled all of my winter clothes out of the drawers and put them on the attic, and tonight Nicole came over and we had a rabbit play date.

Yea so that wasn't a very fun weekend but next weekend will be! I am going to visit Jess! We are probably going to our favorite store (forever 21), and ride horses, and go to a bar or club, and possibly get sushi knowing us. That is mostly just a guess of how the weekend will go but its a good chance we will do it all haha. I really am needing some best friend time :]

Well I am going to watch my new favorite show: Girl Meets Gown.

Oh that reminds me I am thinking of doing a blog of wedding dresses I like :] maybe I will work on that now

walkinn on sunshinnne

Seriously, I need to stop doing this to myself. Everyday I work myself to the bone. Today I got up crack of dawn, drug Alex to the Farmers Market and bought 4 herbs for the garden in Pocomoke, and 2 plants for the pots in the backyard. After I planted that stuff I cleaned out the garage until 6 trashcans were full. Then I finished organizing the shed. After that I went crazy and started pulling vines off of stuff. The whole yard is eaten up by these beautiful vines that just have to go. I got rid of about half of the grape vine, it had chocked out bushes and was starting to choke out a tree. By that point it was about 11 and I had pulled a muscle in my back and couldn't even walk hardly. Alex and I went home, showered, and then he took me out to Amigo's. Then I went to work the Third Friday Downtown at Parker Place and I just got home and did Internship Homework.

I AM EXHAUSTED!!! I feel like when I go to work at Parker Place I need to be on top of the world and have huge amounts of enthusiasm to match up to Anne! That woman has so much energy and it is exhausting to keep up with her...but I try haha. So anyhow I hope when I am in my 40's that I can have the zest that she does.

On Wednesday Mom, Alex and I are going to look at the Merry Sherwood. I can't wait! I officially get to start being the bride-to-be and I really really can't wait till we get married. What a change from when we first got engaged. We were like "yea we will be engaged for 2 or 3 years, no rush" now we are like "the hell with this lets elope" haha. We are like two peas in a pod and I have never felt more right about any decision I have ever made! I think this ruby ring sent from God was our sign :]

have an awesome weekend my lovely readers.

ps. final grades:

textiles II- A
historic costumes- A
pre-internship- A
Consumer motivation- B
Supervisory Mgmt- B
Sociology of food shelter and clothing- ? (they haven't posted yet but i think its an A)

porn

Day one of summer vacation consisted of shopping with mom and watching 3 hours of True Life on MTV. True Life episode one talked about people who were addicted to video games, next episode was people who were addicted to prescription drugs, and the final episode was people who were addicted to pornography.

All of the stories on their were very extreme but one that really hit me was this guy who was in his twenties who watched 5 to 10 hours of porn a day and when he wasn't watching it he was at the strip club getting lap dances!!! um pathetic. Let me describe this fetching young man. Short, goatee, crew cut, fitted hat worn to the side, big gold chain, humps over funny (probably due to sitting in front of computer for 5 to 10 hours at a time), tattoos of naked women on his body and wears slim little glasses OH and a pimp daddy fedora hat. He lives with his grandmother and drives a 85 Caddy. His free time consists of spending time at Spanky's (local porn shop), spending time at the strip club, and of course the rest of his day is spent in his computer chair.

Isn't that sad? Poor guy.

old journal entry

Tonight I was reading my journal and it always cracks me up to read this stuff I wrote 3 years ago. What a drama QUEEN!!! I mean it was only 3 years ago and I feel like I am a completely different person. I guess that is what happens when you grow up. My idea was to post a diary entry on here every once in a while! Just promise not to judge me because I was freaking nuts apparently haha. Oh and I am changing the names on here (except Alex & Jesse) just because I can see this somehow coming back and slapping me in the face. I am posting from the summer of 2007 which was officially the WILDEST summer of my life and I attribute that to the fact that Alex broke my heart in the beginning of it and I was doing anything I could to forget him.

Ok this entry is just flat out funny. I sound really full of myself and I was haha. I think this is why God made me gain weight. I can't even believe I am talking about 3 guys in this entry!

July 8, 2007
Ok Alex still hasn't gotten up with me. But hes old news...speaking of old news I gave Jesse a ride to peaches house tonight..and he was ignorant about it. Honestly, I only did it so he could see how hot I am haha. Yea and Isaac, I like him. Even though I keep hearing all this dramatic bullshit about him...I wish girls would just leave us alone and stop gossiping. Im going to Betsys now! Ciao

(I am actually proud of this next blog. I think I was starting to get a clue!)

August 5, 2007
The first step to getting rid of Jesse is to realize that I am co-dependent on him. I always use the excuse "I picked the phone up because we have always been there for each other" but you know what, he has NEVER been there for me. A part of him wears away at me and I need to figure out what it is about myself that keeps getting worn away by him. 30 years down the road he will probably be alone and sadly enough could be in this same position and I have no doubt that if I don't change he will keep doing this to me. Its not enough to vow to myself that I won't talk to him. I need to really work at it and want it. And I do want it. Co-dependent people thrive on co-dependent people. So I am getting rid of all my boy toys except Alex. There is no need to be seeing twenty guys. I need to learn to love myself enough to not need a guy to make me happy...except Alex. i really like him. haha. So thats my thoughts.

UM YAY goo Jamie. Maybe I wasn't entirely crazy. I can honestly say this is the last entry I ever wrote about Jesse.

Well more to come of this in further blogs. I think I can chalk these up as learning experiences!

ahh sweet freedom...or not.

I really didn't mean for my last blog to sound so evil...I think Alex is smart and is going to make the right decision.

So, I just took my last exam of my last spring semester EVER. What a weird feeling. I feel like I have no obligations, nothing to do, no homework to keep up with, I DONT EVEN HAVE NEED FOR MY LILY PULITZER PLANNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! um this is fabulous. I could live like this forever. Free from all of my responsibilities and able to just kick back and live for me. Although I am already starting to feel anxious from the fact I have nothing to do. Maybe I will vacuum my car. Maybe I will write a list of what to pack for my trip to Jessica's house in 2 weeks, maybe I will cook dinner, do laundry, pull weeds, wash the windows, paint the shutters, vacuum the house, go to the mall, go to church, read a book, pick flowers, pluck my eyebrows...

I can't wait for school to start.

chirp

Can everybody pray that Alex wakes up and smells the coffee...and money?! haha I feel like since he has been working at Seacrets I have been encouraging him to go to school, or work at Nasa, or do anything else besides work at Seacrets.

When he proposed I automatically assumed this was his way of saying he was ready to grow up, get a career, buy house, work on house, get married, 10 years later have kids. NONE of this other stuff is happening until he quits Seacrets. Thats my final say. I feel like the next 10 years are about enjoying being married, working on our "nest" and one day putting some birds in our nest and I am not nesting with any bird who stays out all night, who doesn't have benefits, and who doesn't even have a secure career. So maybe my bird will get the point and peck his way out of Seacrets and into something more stable.

pictureees

suddenly my newsfeed on facebook is scattered with "engagement" pictures. So of course that makes me wonder if I am behind or something haha. It didn't really occur to me this was necessary but I would like to put a picture in the paper. I was thinking I would just wait for an actual marriage announcement. Idk...I've never been married before so I am confused on this topic. Oh that reminds me...I was talking to my old boss and this is what she said to me "Well, for your first wedding it is definitely nice to have a large wedding but for your second you would want something small". Is that sad or what?! I couldn't help but laugh and she said well hopefully that won't be the case!

So today Alex cut the grass at 510 and I pulled weeds, de-vined the porch, planted some flowers that Anne gave me, and collected stuff from the yard. It actually looks like somebody lives there! I feel better about buying the house now that it is cleaned out and looks cute again. We work ourselves to death lately. He gets off work, I get off work or school, and we both go over there and work on that house till we can hardly stand anymore. No wonder I am so sore all the time!


TATA fo now :]

Parker Place Day 2

Well, Anne was having a terrible pest issue in her bathroom the last time I went to Parker Place. So this morning I woke up at 5 am or so and it hit me that she needs to set off a bug bomb. So I told her my idea when I got there this morning and we went to Ace and she got some. After that we took a little buying trip to Salvation Army and this store called Habitat for Humanity. I had never been there and it was full of sinks, tubs, cabinets, furniture, basically anything you would need if you were restoring or building a house. So that was a helpful place to know about since Alex and I are doing just that here shortly. Anne also showed me the location of her first store before she moved downtown.

Then for the rest of the afternoon I gave some organization to her fabric rack, re-arranged the area I did the other day (because stuff sold!!), and also began a new project that I didn't get to finish today. I also priced stuff because there was alot of things missing a tag. So that was my fun day. It flew by. I think I could volunteer doing this forever haha.

internship day 1

I completely forgot to tell you all how my first day at Parker Place went! Well I started on a Saturday, I got there at 11 (thats when they open so I get to sleep in!). My first task was to give some organization, theme, and basically re-arrange this area that lacked focus. If you haven't been in the store before it is broken down in little sections...almost like rooms. The "rooms" are arranged by color, textures, patterns, themes (nautical, garden). Anyhow every part has some kind of theme and the "room" I was doing lacked it completely.

It was sort of a big task to take on in my first hour there but I did it pretty lickity split with the help of Annes daughter who is 11 or 10 I believe. At first I tried to do a kitchen theme but there is this large purple chair in their and before I knew it I was using the lavender chair as my inspiration and putting things in the section that matched purple. I got to pull things from the basement and around the store (as long as I replaced them with something!) When I first started the task I thought it would take me almost the whole day but of course after I had inspiration I was done in an hour.

Then Anne got us Pizza and I didn't do too much for the rest of the day. Sat out in the garden center for a while, re-arranged a few things around the store. It was really fun. I think this experience is only going to re-confirm that I want to be my own boss and do what I want. In the past few jobs I have had there has been so many rules, regulations, and policies that I feel like I have no creative freedom and it drives me nuts! When I worked at Cato it was my job to dress the 4 manicons. I pretty much got to dress them in whatever I wanted and I really loved doing it. Then when I worked at Aeropostatle, every manican had to wear exactly what the company told you to put on it. It was the most daunting task and I hated doing it!

I really wish I remembered to bring my camera so when I go in tomorrow I will take a picture of my "room:" to post on here :D

the unfamiliar

Lately I feel as though I have been faced with a lot of prejudice and misconception.

People are scared of things they are unfamiliar with.

A few months ago I told my friend I was going to become Catholic and they said "You know that Catholics pray to Mary right? Its like a cult"

That is something I thought long and hard about and I realized yes Catholics pray to Mary; but she doesn't realize WHY they pray to Mary! Alex and I read together at night and we are reading this book that Stephanie gave me about Catholics and how they entered Catholicism. I am so glad that I am reading it with Alex because he fills in the blanks of areas that I don't understand. I didn't know what a protestant was! (and I was one for years! haha) The more I read this book the more being Catholic makes sense.

Jess is going to laugh at this, but my favorite topic in all the world might be prejudice. Give me a drink and I will go on for 20 minutes about how I don't understand prejudice. People are scared of things they are unfamiliar with. Again I say this because I think this is true to so many topics. When I first began UMES I wouldn't say that I was prejudice in a mean way but I was prejudice in certain senses. I wouldn't even say it was my fault that I was prejudice because it is just how I was brought up. My parent's don't have friends of other races and in highschool I really didn't either (except Amanda).

So there I was a freshman at a historically black college that I just went to because I was an underachiever and didn't really figure on graduating anyway. I think the first three years felt like day and night to me. "Those students were black therefore they had worse grades than myself, funky hair, and a different fashion sense." Now five years later I can honestly say God planted me at this HBU (historically black university) to show me that everybody is different (in a good way), everyone is valuable (in every sense), and everybody has a different personality and something different to bring to the table. Thank the Lord for diversity. If I learned nothing else at college let it be known that I have a true appreciation for other people and what is in their heart and who they are, not what color their skin is.

up to my ears!

I am up to my ears in marital bliss. Next week I have a wedding. Then I have a bachelorette party. Then i am in Gabis wedding in August which is in nearly West Virginia, It is a 5 hour drive. Which means a bachelorette party and a bridal shower sometime before that. Then I am going to North Carolina for Ben and Carrie's wedding! Is this an overwhelming summer or what?! I keep making all these plans with people but the truth of it is financially I am not going to be doing ANYTHING. Wedding presents cost alot and 2 of the weddings are destination weddings.

I guess this is just that time of life. I guess its better than babies and cribs and stuff. haha

dear sleep

Dear Sleep,
You were once my best friend; in fact you are still MY best friend but YOU do not love me anywhere. You never grace me with your presence. Please come back from your long long vacation and come home to me! I really need you. Tonight, tomorrow night, the next night. My eyes hang droopy with dark circles, my skin looks dry, I look all around tired...and it is all your fault! Please return, your presence would be greatly appreciated. Love -Jamie

Seriously this is how I feel. I haven't been sleeping at all. I cant fall asleep. I cant stay asleep. I wake up early. It is greatly effecting my social life. I don't like it one bit! What really pisses me off is when Alex comes over and goes right to sleep. Makes me so mad that I wake him up! If Jamie can't sleep he isn't either!!!

GOODNIGHT and sweet dreams to all of you that sleep at night.

asiago chicken sandwich

Tomorrow is my first day at Parker Place! I am very excited. I think I am excited because I am not getting paid...so if I screw something up or am late or something I won't feel like I am costing Anne money. I already know I will give 150% because thats how I am but it takes the pressure off! Anne is also a fun person to be around and it never hurts to have fun people in your life. I feel there is lots of things I can learn from her so thats what this experience is about for me...Oh yea and I get a grade at the end of the summer for it haha.

Today my sister, niece, and nephew drove home for Mother's Day weekend. Alex and I showed them 510. Mom and Dad came as well. It is kind of funny because I see a whole world of potential and all they can see is stress and work. I by no means am a dreamer but suddenly I am thinking I am. I have always been very realistic and I don't think that fixing this house up is that unrealistic!

OH I meant to say that I made an appointment to go have a tour of the Merry Sherwood. I think mom and Alex are coming. Alex didn't want to come but I informed him that its his wedding too! MEN. I really wanted to decide where the wedding was going to be by the end of the summer. Some of these places book way in advance. I know when Gabi and I went to pick out dresses we couldn't go with this one company because it took over 12 weeks to order the dresses...I mean thats 3 months. To me 3 months is ample time to order a bridesmaid dress. So needless to say I want important things done in plenty of time and nothing is more important than LOCATION.

In other news....This is what I have left of school:
2 presentations
3 exams
finishing 1 powerpoint

YESSS. :] I know the title of this post has nothing to do with anything but thats how I am haha.

venues smenues

Today I called two venues. Merry Sherwood...no answer. I will continue to pester them haha. And Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond. I was pleasantly surprised at their reasonable rates. Looks like there I can book a place for the ceremony, reception, rehearsal dinner with catering, place to get pictures taken pre wedding, and of course wouldn't have to buy flowers for all under 4,000. That seems like a killer deal. That knocks out all the big things. There is also about 5 places to actually get married there because it is so huge and they all have different rates. Plus Lewis Ginter was rated one of 2009 ten best places to get married...because its freakin GORGEOUS!! I almost think that place is too good to get married at haha.

Regardless, I think I still want to book a tour of Merry Sherwood. The simplicity of getting married there I really like. Wouldn't have to get a hotel room for the bridesmaids or groomsmen, being that its 30 minutes away. And its very beautiful there. Plus it has an old timey feel that I like and it would go great with my milkglass flower arrangements :] Plus the reception and the wedding can both be at the same place. I hate having to go to a wedding then drive somewhere else to the reception. I think thats a good way to lose guests.

tata!!!

Teen Mom & school

I feel like I blog about this show alot...Teen Mom. Potentially the best show on MTV EVER. haha Ok so Farrah went to the doctor to get birth control and she didn't want to tell her parents because she thought they would freak out. If my daughter got pregnant at 16 and had a baby I would be THRILLED she decided to go on birth control!!!

I can practically SMELL summer vacation. Today I finished my last 10 page paper of the semester. The only thing I have left to do is do the fabric count of my garment and finish the powerpoint presentation and I am DONNNE. This has been such an overwhelming semester and I am praying next semester is easier on me.

Tomorrow I am giving a presentation on my fake business. I am really excited because I made up a dog grooming business so there is pictures of Ruby in the powerpoint :] haha.

have a great day faithful readers!!!!

week 2

All sorts of updates. Ok Alex and I thought we had set the date for October 1, 2011 which is a saturday. Then today it hit me that September 24th is actually the first time he told me he loved me so it seems fitting to get married that day four years later! So September 24, 2011 it is!!! It just so happend that was a saturday as well so its perfect. We both love that time of year cause its still warm being that its the end of summer but it is not miserably hot being that it is the beginning of fall, and since we fell in love during that time it is very fitting.

Secondly, I think I made my first actual decision that may begin the theme of the wedding (which I have been soo unsure about). I think I want all of the flower arrangements to be completely different with one uniting theme...milk glass vases. I love the simplicity of milk glass but they have that vintage retro feel that I really like. Plus after the wedding I can use them in our house and they will remind me of that day.

Jess brought something to my attention about a destination wedding...the dogs can't come :[ I really wanted them to be in the wedding because they are a big part of our lives. :[