I heart

It's Monday and I'm actually in a fairly good mood considering the fact that I'm sick, so I figured I would share some of the things that make me happy

I heart..... Sunshine! Today is the first day in what seems like a week where the sun is actually out and shining. I really feel like leaving work and going to spend the afternoon outside!

I heart..... Advil Cold and Sinus since it has given me back the ability to breathe and function!

I heart.... Days where I'm all alone and work and can blast my own music

I heart.... These two boys

Crappy cell quality

I heart...... Spending the weekend shopping and catching up with the bestest (and picking up NKOTBSB tickets)

From the Cottage last year

I heart..... My two new books. Thank you Chapters for buy three and get the fourth free, and to the bestest for splitting it with me.

I heart.... My wedding shoes (I swear this is the last time until I actually get them)

I heart..... That there is only 334 days left until I marry the love of my life

I heart..... This blogs as it is filling a writing void that I have developed since finishing school.

and finally

I heart.... That I'm going to watch this cutie at her dance recital tonight!

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week like I am!

Convocation

I posted yesterday about my amazing graduation present and I realized that I never actually talked about graduation.

It's Official! The lack of a diploma is due to the fact that York refuses to give you your diploma on stage. Instead they make you return the robe and then pick it up in some random room.

I will admit that I didn't want to go to convocation. I find them so long and tedious, especially in post secondary where there are a million people graduating. But Chris was insistent that it was important and that he really wanted me to go, so I sucked it up.


We had to get there two hours early and when I lined up to pick up my robes I found out that I was number 796, meaning that 795 people were graduating in front of me. At this point I pulled out my cell and promptly informed Chris that this day was going to be torture.

This being said, I will also admit that it actually wasn't that bad. They moved quickly and I would guess that it was all over within an hour and a half. I'm also glad Chris talked me into going. It was fun seeing everyone again, and celebrating the fact that we worked hard for four years and accomplished something.

Grandma and I

With the Parents. Note the Diploma (I returned the robe!) Also note the dress that I dragged the bestest out to find the DAY before convocation. What? I work better under pressure!

Beautiful Graduation flowers from Chris

Tweet Tweet

So I finally bit the bullet and joined Twitter.

I was against it for so long, until Chris joined and was on it constantly, meaning I had to join to find out what all of the hype was.

At first I wasn't impressed. I didn't really get the whole tweeting about my entire day thing, and wasn't Facebook enough?

Suddenly in the last couple of weeks it has become an addiction. I have no idea how this happened, but I'm finding that I'm on it all of the time. I have actually even started tweeting on a regular basis, something I said I would never do.

So who else is on it? Who should I be following?

Help me feed my new obsession!

Wedding Wednesday's: The Perfect Shoes

While researching and writing this post on my dream wedding shoes, I stumbled across these:

What can be said other than love at first sight?

Unfortunately I don't have unlimited funds, so I quietly scolded myself for being a tease and moved on.....kind of.

I will admit I showed them to everyone, including my fiance, and had slight plans that involved begging everyone for monetary gifts for every occasion from now until I had enough to own them. Like I said, it was love, and there is no stopping it.

Fortunately, because I have an amazing fiance, this wasn't necessary.

I was dealing with some major wedding drama last week. So Chris to let me in on my Graduation present, even though they are still on their way. What was it? MY SHOES! The exact shoes that I have been drooling over for three months now (did I really show them to him THAT much?!?!) I guess I can never claim that he doesn't listen.

I am SO excited and I cannot wait until they get here (expect another post with pictures from my camera).

Even with all of the drama, looking at my dress and these shoes makes me so excited because I know that in 340 days (just saying!) I will be wearing them and walking down the aisle to the man I have loved since I was 16.

That makes all of the planning, drama and aggravation worth it.

Glee!

While on a dinner and movie date with Andrea and John, one of our favourite couples, Andrea casually asks me what I have planned for June 11th because she bought me tickets to Glee as my graduation present.

I did have plans that involved my sisters dance recital but there was NO way I was missing Glee. Thankfully it worked out that the recital was in the afternoon and the concert was in the evening, making for a very long but doable day.

Before I give my review of the Glee concert, we need to keep in mind that I did see NKOTBSB just two days before, and that concert literally blew me away. I say again - A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

To start, Glee wasn't horrible (that sounds really bad). They did all of their big songs (Don't Stop Believing, Loser Like Me, Somebody to Love) but I think after NKOTBSB it just didn't hold up as strongly for me. First of all the show was JUST over an hour. I go to a lot of concerts, and I haven't been to one in at least five years that was less then two hours....until now. This was a big problem for me. The tickets were $90.00 and there are at least 10 prominent people involved with the tour! I paid $65.00 for NKOTBSB and I got an extra hour!

I have basically decided that seeing NKOTBSB first left me open to be biased for Glee, causing me to compare it to a show that was just not in the same league. My overall opinion is that I would go and see NKOTBSB again (obviously considering the fact that I already have tickets for August) whereas I'm happy that I got the experience to go to Glee, but I would not pay money to go again.

This being said I did take a million pictures, which I of course have to share. Enjoy!

Wedding Wednesday: Photographer!

Finding the photographer was the hardest part of my wedding planning process so far.

I feel like, next to the church and my dress, this is the most important part. The photo's that my photographer takes on that day are the only keepsakes that I am going to have to help me remember it, so I obviously I wanted someone trustworthy.

We searched through SO many photographers and none of them fit. I liked the idea of going with an independent company just because I felt it would be a more intimate relationship and we would be working with someone who actually knew us, rather than just being a part of a mass of people. This being said, I was finding that all of these nice, small, independent photographers were either not offering what I was looking for, or were for a good $2000.00 over my pretty strict budget.

So we took our search to bigger companies, where I was worried about becoming lost in a crowd, and still wasn't finding a photographer that offered exactly what I was looking for, for the right price.

Then Chris randomly stumbled across Piper Studios.

I will admit that I was not one hundred percent sure about them at first but as we saw more and more photographers and got more and more discouraged, I became more and more open minded. Then I met with them at the wedding show, and saw the "wedding show package" which offered everything I was looking for at the perfect price.

We set up a meeting where I got to see their beautiful work and I was hooked. Chris managed to get us the show price without booking the required videography, got them to absorb the tax and throw in additional prints. Can you say happy bride?

The next step is to organize our engagement shoot where we will meet with our photographer. I cannot wait to see what they do!

So relieved to have this major detail checked off of my list!

NKOTBSB

For Christmas every year my family and I do a secret santa to help ease the cost of an expensive time. This year, right around the time gifts were beginning to be bought I found out the New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys were going on tour. Together.

My sister was a huge New Kids fan, and I was a huge Backstreet Boy fan, so naturally this had to happen. Unfortunately I didn't have her name, but with some covert op recruitment I found out who did (my brother), hit him up for the money and got the tickets for the two of us to go with three of my best friends (and bridesmaids) from highschool.

It took some hefty planning as I needed to make sure none of my friends announced that we were going to the concert and kept it quiet (this included not putting it on Facebook) until we gave the tickets to my sister on Christmas day. I also had to enlist some heavy acting skills and pretend that I had zero interest in the concert and that the tickets were much to expensive to consider it even if I was.

The point of this background story? The concert was last Wednesday night and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I had so much fun hanging out with my sister and my friends, something we don't get to do often anymore because of crazy schedules. On top of this, the concert was probably one of the best I have seen (and seeing as I have seen The Backstreet Boys something like 7 or 8 times, one of which we had front row seats..that's saying something.)

All I'm going to say is that these boys may be old but they still one hundred percent have it. They were jumping and running around the stage like they were still in their twenties and put on a high energy show that lasted about 2 hours. Amazing. Seriously, if you have a chance to get tickets to this tour, DO IT. It is worth every penny. We even came home and bought tickets to go see a second show in a town close by in August. It's that good. Trust me.

That being said, I will leave you with pictures.