It doesn’t get much cuter than this, does it?

I realize Huey has nothing to do with running or wedding planning, but the picture was way too cute to NOT post!

Back on track – I am half-way through week two of marathon training. Last week was rough. I was unprepared for the combination of extreme humidity, paired with the horrid reality of what a month of laziness did to my running. I can’t even run three miles without walking, gasping for air, and stopping to soak my head in water fountains (this really happens).

Luckily yesterday was a nice cool 75 degrees, and I headed into my run hopeful for some progress. I’ve been blaming the weather, not willing to accept the fact that I just plain suck at running. Yesterday’s test proved a success, as I was able to finish my 3 mile loop in 28:40. We are trying to improve on our ten minute mile pace, and our goal is a 4 hour marathon. This slightly faster pace was a good sign of things to come. I can only imagine that as the miles get longer, we’ll get stronger and more able to handle running through the summer, hopefully at a faster speed. Although once the temps get back to 90 degrees I really am going to have to consider running in the early morning, which I hate.

I read an article in Runner’s World over the weekend about two ladies training for the Nike Women’s Marathon. As a motivator, one of the ladies paid herself $1 for every mile she ran. The rule was that she couldn’t spend any of the money until after the race, and when she did, it had to be guilt-free and ALL for herself. At the end of the marathon, she had over $700 to spend in San Fran! I could definitely get rid of that pretty quickly in Chicago. What do you think of this motivator? Sadly, I probably can’t afford some of my Saturday runs. Maybe my running money can go into the wedding dress fund?

Next week I am off to SEATTLE! Casey is being sent there for a work trip and I am tagging along. Neither one of us has been there before, so we are both really excited. He has training 8-4 each day, which leaves me on my own for exploring the city, shopping, and whatever else people do in Seattle. His company is putting us up in a really nice hotel that is based around a wine theme. Various perks listed on the website are: free wine tastings in the lobby every night, animal print bathrobes, Aveda bath products, and free wi-fi (I can blog from Seattle!). If you’ve been there before, I’d love suggestions for restaurants, activities, etc.! I already found a few running trails around the lakes downtown that I am excited to try out.

Today’s run is 5 miles – lets hope the heat holds off.

(me and Casey in the garden where our reception will be!)

A lot of wedding progress was made this week. Obviously a huge piece (for me) was selecting the bridesmaids dresses, and I couldn’t be happier with them. I picked up three in Indianapolis Saturday morning, and two more are on their way from Myrtle Beach! I assume Mary Ann has already worn hers at least once down in Jacksonville:)

Saturday afternoon Casey and I met with Jeff Thomas, the owner and food expert responsible for Jeff Thomas Catering. I have worked with Jeff for several work events and know that his food and service is unparallelled in Cincinnati. He met us at the Taft Museum so we could walk around the site and talk about potential setups, menus, etc. Since Casey is so into food and cooking we really want the food to be a fun reflection of that. We came up with a lot of really good, different ideas for the food, so hopefully when we get the proposal sometime this week it doesn’t cost a million dollars.

It was so nice to walk around the Taft gardens on a beautiful sunny day. Here are pictures from our visit, to give you a feel for the garden and the space.

My mom and I have been talking a lot about various decorations, colors, etc. I came up with an idea for table decorations that I really like, so we got started looking for pieces and parts this weekend. Sunday morning at 8am, Lindsey, mom, and I headed south to Burlington, Kentucky for the antique show. We were looking for vintage glass milk bottles, and ended up finding quite a few of the type that we were looking for, so we’re off to a good start! We made a mock-up of the centerpieces with the glasses we bought and they looked great. Casey really likes them too, which is obviously important!

So check, check, check – and on to the next few tasks!

Hurrah! I finally found bridesmaid dresses! I am totally in love with them.

Long story short, Lindsey and I took a harmless shopping trip to Anthropologie yesterday after work, and ended up finding the perfect dress. There was only one and it was in my size, and after trying it on, we both agreed it was the one! You might remember that my original inspiration was the grey floral garden dress (pictured at left). The “Charcoal Drawing Dress” from Anthro is the next best thing (and not $9,000)!

See the final bridesmaid dress selection at right! Even though I thought I wanted grey, I ended up really liking the black instead, with the grey coming in through the flowers. Plus I think they will look nice with the boys’ black suits. We’re going to switch out the scarf for either grey or pale pink, but the girls will all still have the green sashes to for re-wearing. And obviously this dress is totally re-wearable, since it is off the racks! I think it is also very reasonably priced at $148 – hopefully everyone agrees!

Getting it has been a challange though, to say the least! I think this first test proved I am a pretty determined bride-to-be. The store in Cincinnati had only one dress, and I was horrified to discover when I got home that it was sold out online! As soon as I got to work this morning I jumped into action. First things first, a psycho panicked email to all my bridesmaids asking for dress approval and sizes! They all loved it, so I proceeded on with my rampage. Anthropologie stores across the country opened at 10:00am. By 10:22 I had successfully located and placed on hold all six sizes I needed in four different stores across the country! I am picking up three of them tomorrow night in Indianapolis, since luckily we were already planning on going up for dinner with Casey’s parents. Mary Ann’s size was available at her home store in Jacksonville, FL and I’m ordering two more from Nashville, TN!

On a cheesy side note, every employee I talked to at the various Anthro stores told me they thought it was a perfect bridesmaid dress, and that they would love to wear it in a wedding! Sometimes it is nice to get approval from an unbiased stranger.

So I finally made a decision on something! I guess it’s the first of many, and it feels good to have something decided and planned. My friend Leah picked her bridesmaid dresses this week too, so we can celebrate that first decision together:)

Thanks to my fabulous bridesmaids for dealing with my insanity this morning, and for trusting me on a dress no one has seen or tried on! I promise you will all look faaaaabulous.