...it's all in the details :)

Hi, Bloggies-- Happy Wednesday!

I am snuggled up in my bathrobe (bathrobes are amazing things when you live in the northeast US. I live in mine from approximately October through April...) drinking a glass of wine and enjoying a square of Ghiradelli "Twilight Delight" chocolate. Mmmmmmm... Heaven :)

Anyway... what makes it even more heavenly is that (as I type this), my 512 be.a.utiful. wedding photos are downloading to my computer (haha... geez. I just had to pause for a 5 minute convo with J. about upload vs. download... I'm going to blame the wine...) ...and I'm getting to spend some quality time blogging-- which also makes me happy.

I guess (since I've only made you wait about... oh, 24 hours...) I'll start with list-y goodness:

Good List

1. J. (Argh. Who just right on cue fell asleep in the middle of our conversation... Sigh-- I guess maybe I am old and boring now?!)
2. Pictures (Surprised these made the list?) They say pictures are worth a thousand words, and, in the case of my wedding, the pictures captured a thousand thoughts and moments that I will treasure forever.
3. Homemade applesauce. So good!
4. Snuggling with Gracie under the covers. This is something new she's been doing every morning at about 5:15 am. Love, love, LOVE it :)
5. Slippers **
6. Sunday was the kick-off of POTM 2009! yAy for a great start to a fun challenge!
7. DOWN COMFORTER. enough said.
8. "The Soup" with Joel McHale-- why oh why did it take me so long to find this show? Definitely laugh-out-loud funny :)
9. Fuzzy gloves and scarves
10. Girls' nights!

Amy's Top 8 (still saving 10's for the Good List!) Favorite Foods:

(... alternatively titled: "And this is why I could never be a food blogger...")

• Apples (and pretty much everything that can be made with apples: apple pie, apple crisp, apple crumble which is different from apple crisp! I'm not totally sure how, but it's awesome... maybe I'll google the recipe and post my findings!, apple sauce, apple dumplings... I could go on and on...)
• Pizza. Love, love LOVE. The more veggies the better :)
• BBQ. Wow.... I could probably eat this stuff every day for the rest of my (short if this is all I'm eating!) life... That's the country girl in me, I guess.
• Sugar cookies!! (Although sue me-- I'm not a huge fan of the store bought ones....I can easily pass them up, although they are always so pretty. Give me a homemade sugar cookie, though, and I'll eat at least! one!)
• Bread.
• Pasta. (I'm a runner who religiously carbo-loads before all long runs and races:)
• Dairy Queen Blizzards. OMG, love, Love, LOVE. MY absolute favorite is the pumpkin pie blizzard, followed closely by an oreo blizzard with peanut butter mixed in. Mmmm...Come to think of it-- I haven't gotten a pumpkin pie blizzard this year! Ahh! Tragic! (Does anyone know if they're still in season?!) ...It's a good thing they close at 9... otherwise I would have to wake J up and get one...
• Macaroni and Cheese. I don't think I've ever had a kind that I didn't like. J.Alexander's is particularly delectable, though (thank you Gary and Sachiko for introducing me to this treat!)

*Drools* Anyway... Moving right along to this gem of a story (read: This is, in all honesty, a totally pathetic story... but funny. Even I can respect the humor, even if I do have to take it with a sigh and an eye roll.) You may have noticed that "Good List" item #5 was slippers**-- with two stars. While it is true that I happen to think very highly of my slippers, and tend to live in them when I'm hanging out at home, the stars did not indicate my enthusiasm... but rather a story: Tonight my slippers are especially wonderful and comforting because.... I think I broke my little toe. Aaaagh. I wish I was kidding :(

It happened like this: Lately, dear little Gracie has been all about closets. Obviously, since the doors are closed most of the day, Mama and Daddy must be keeping something really great in there... (Yeah, a great mess, kitty....) But so any time a closet door is opened, no matter where she is, she will race into the room at warp-kitten speed, and dive into the closet.

Which has been cute... Until today at approximately 7am.

I had my work clothes and shoe in my hands, and was on the lookout for Gracie as I was stepping out of the closet-- when she magically appeared right.under.my.foot. Now, if it had been Baron, I probably would have just yelled and done my best not to step too hard... because really, he is old enough to know better, and he's a big sturdy cat-- he would have been mad, but fine. --Little Gracie weighs all of 2 lbs, and so (and here was the fatal mistake) I did everything I possibly could to move my body out of the way and not step on her-- which meant slamming my foot into the closet door frame (with, I swear to goodness, every single pound of my body weight's force behind it.) Holy Moly. From there, I found myself on the floor, uttering words that no 3 month old (kitty) should have to hear-- trying not to cry. Not fun, folks, not fun at all.

What was even less fun was tottering around all day at work (it would have been a little better for me if I would have done this in the summer-- I could have at least worn sandals. I don't care how comfortable your work shoes are-- if you have a broken toe, everything hurts it.)

So anyway... this development should make the POTM challenge exciting... at least for the next day or so until the swelling goes down. Booo... Black toes from running high mileage is hard core, but this is just lame. (I hope maybe it made you giggle, just the same :) Like I said... it hurts, but I learning to laugh at myself... especially when it is absurdly funny like this is. Also, you can breathe a sigh of relief that I will NOT being showing you a picture of my foot. The story is funny, but the toe itself is decidedly not...

I know this is turning into a marathon post, but I did promise you some wedding pictures, and I like to deliver on my promises...

Pictures and Wedding Talk: it's all in the details

I know that this expression is over used, especially when it comes to talking about weddings, but honestly, that's because it's true: "...it's all in the details..." Yes, I did do a lot of little, behind the scenes detail work for my wedding. Yes, I did get stressed out about it a couple times (just ask J or Laurie!) But was it worth it: YES. And do I remember it ...NOT QUITE. About this point you are probably scratching your head-- so, let me explain:

I never wanted a huge elaborate wedding. In fact (and I don't know if I've mentioned it on here before): J and I didn't even do dinner and dancing. However-- which I didn't want big and elaborate, I wanted warm, friendly and family oriented-- simple and elegant was my ultimate prerogative. Above all, I wanted the wedding to be a celebration of our lives-- of who we were and the promise of who we will become together.

But with that said, of course I still wanted it to be uniquely mine. Everything we did was very Amy+J. From the dress to the programs, I truly felt that everything was perfect. I could not have asked for more for my special day. My goal was to be completely present-- once we reached the morning of September 19, everything was out of my hands and I was just along for the ride. I did my best to soak up every.single.moment so that I can treasure each memory in my heart forever. Even so, there is much that I have forgotten-- a wedding day is just incredibly intense: so many sights, sounds, people, emotions.

And this is why I absolutely adore my wedding pictures (and my photographer, Kelly Heasley. If you haven't all ready, visit her site: kellyheasleyphotography.com She comes with the highest recommendations from me.) Kelly (and Emily, her helper) were able to immortalize for me all the beautiful wonderful details: both the physical and emotional ones. Below is just a small sample. I am so looking forward to filling our home with such happy memories!