*Out Of Office*

Today is my final post as an Office Bride! In just a couple of days the Office Groom and I will share one of the biggest moments in our lives together and with our closest family and friends. This morning my entire department celebrated with me in my boss' office with some champagne and warm wishes. And later in the day some of my lady co-workers surprised me with some naughty gifts for OG and I! Side note - why are edible boxers not chocolate flavoured like the panties? Pina Colada? Gew.

I'd like to thank you all for being my extra eyes and "ears" throughout this whole process. What started as a means for me to get wedding talk out of my system became something so much more. Thank you for following my blog, for your kind responses and for sharing your own stories.

Still haven't decided yet whether I will continue this blog after the big day - I have a few new blog ideas I'd like to try, and hopefully a few of you will continue with on with me :) I"ll definitely do some recap though - I haven't revealed the dress yet after all!!

But either way... thanks for reading! And for those celebrating soon, best of luck!!!!

The Office Bride

Cramming in some Crafts

With just 4 days left until the big day (CRAZY!), I have been in Super Craft mode. The Office Groom and I have been collecting books for the last year and a half and I was finally able to put them to use. The photos don't do any of our arrangement justice, especially with all the crap behind them, but hopefully it will look awesome in the actual space with everything else.

GUEST / GIFT TABLE
A stack of books with a flower arrangement (the pink box is just a plce holder) on top. There are loose book sheets underneath. The gift box and guest book tie in our colours.



DESSERT TABLE
I'm all about recycling and reusing. So when I saw these pots at my bridal shower, I wanted to use them again. Luckily the ribbon around them mathces our colours (and OG kilt) perfectly! There will be cupcakes in the pots, and then rest of them will be scattered around the books.



DINNER TABLE
My personal fave. We picked up books with all of our guests in mind. Everything from music, comedy, video games, hockey, and travel. Hopefully most of them will notice the titles and realize the connection :) At the end of the night one lucky guest at each table will get to take the books home.



There were a lot more crafts done over the weekend with my BMs. More photos to come!

Getting Sick :(

I knew the last couple of weeks before the wedding were going to be hectic. Between last minute changes, finishing up details, and working ahead so that I've got all my work assignments done before the honeymoon, has left me one very tired and run down Office Bride. And now I think I'm getting sick! GAH!

Enter Oil of Oregano. A number of friends have suggested using this in the past, but for one reason or another I never tried it until now. I just picked up a small (expensive!) bottle at one of the health stores in the underground, and gave it a shot in the office washroom.

BLECH! This stuffs tastes AWFUL! But already I can tell it works! My throat burned after just a few drops, and I quickly chased it with some water. I'm going to be strict about taking it just as directed, and dear God, I hope this *thing* I've caught goes away immediately!!!

*Sniff*

I know there's going to be a lot of tears (hopefully happy ones) on the day of the wedding, so I wanted to be well prepared for myself and for the women around me. While I could have gone with a boring pack of tissues at the drug store for 49 cents each, I thought I would splurge a little and pick up some fun Sniff products. May as well cry in style, right? You've probably seen them at random stores, and there are hundreds of designs to choose from.

I picked these cuties up at Indigo, for my future SILs:


Source

And when I saw these "manly" tissues, I knew had to pick up a few for the dads!


Source

The moms are getting handkerchiefs I purchased in a Portugese store in Kensington Market. And I think I'll buy my MOH a box of kleenex - both because it's funny, and she will likely need that much anyway, lol.

Flowers - Done & Done!

Between meetings, post audio sessions, script revisions, and being assigned new projects, I somehow managed to sneak away during my lunch today and pay the balance for our flowers!

WooOOOoooOOO!

Seriously - it feels good to have one more big thing out of the way and taken care of. Nothing is worse than debt AFTER the wedding, you know? And the Office Groom and I are doing everything we can to minimize it. There's no fun is being welcomed home with a "You owe us" after our honeymoon, lol.

Random Shoppin'

The Office Groom and I live near a Shopper's Drug Mart, one of my all-time favourite stores which I'm convinced is either a gift from God or a temptuous treat from Satan. We were about to watch a movie last Thursday night and made the mistake of popping over to pick up some snacks beforehand.

This is what we came home with:



Um yup... 2 magazines (the Archie one was for me LOL), shaving cream, milk, soap, toothpaste (3 because they were on sale!), crayons (to add the the Ring Bearer's gift), a gluestick, 2 for $10 movies (notice our differences in taste?), oh, yeah, and some chips for the movie.

Sigh... Damn you Shoppers.

Gift Card Box for $2...Not Too Shabby!

This weekend, I went a little crazy at the Dollorama, and picked up a whole bunch of wedding related items like gift bags and ribbon. The latter plays a big part in the decor at our reception, so I needed to find good enough ribbon in our colours, at a reasonable price.

One of my crafty assignments over the weekend was to bedazzle our card box. Last week I posted about the challenge in finding a nice card box that wasn't too pricey. Luckily for me, my co-wokrer lent me hers - a Martha Stewart Eyelit Gift Card box purchased at Walmart. I just checked out Walmart's site however, so that I could pass on the info to you all, and unfortunately, it's no longer available. Le booooo. I'm guessing that it would have cost something between $25-35 since one of the comments on the site said:

This is very nice product. The box is sturdy and pretty. Great if you do not want to spend the $50+ on a gift box or cage that you will only be using once. There is not a lock but a bow to tie around to keep it somewhat secure. I would recommend this item.

The box itself is all white, and I wanted to jazz it up with some ribboon and doodads to tie in our colours a bit more - no pun intended. So with some $2 navy blue ribbon, and an old pin I found in my jewellry box, I came up with this!





Not bad for a total of $2, huh? Hopefully the contents in the box will be worth more ;)

Wine Tours in Tuscany

Source

With the big day fast approaching, and nervous/anxious vibes coming at me from all directions, I decided that I would focus on the honeymoon a.k.a. Reward-For-A-Year-And-A-Half-Of-Planning, to calm myself down. I've been checking site after site about wine tours and cooking lessons, and man, I wish we were there now!

If you're planning your honeymoon or just a regular trip to this area, here are just a few of my favourite so far:

Lucca Wine and Oil Tours Cooking in Amazing Tuscany. The tours take place in Lucca and Montecarlo, where you will taste wine made from a mix of Italian and French grapes. You can also taste the extra virgin oil made in the area. They have one guided tour for just 12 Euros!

Experience Florence offers a wide range of tours that made me drool at my desk just reading the descriptions. Feast your eyes on this:

Tour Code: MT-TUSC-WINE-4
Duration: Full Day
Cost: 275.00€ p/p based on 2
Brunello di Montalcino has become one of the handful of DOC wines hunted by wine collectors, because its depth of flafor and tongue-curling tannins give it the potential to age for decade. The lighter-styled Rosso di Montalcino, sort of a younger, "declassified" Brunello, was created so people could drink a more immediately accessible Montalcino to age; DOCG law requires a minimum of four years before Brunello can go on the market.
Itinerary :
09.30 a.m. Departure from Florence or your villa or hotel in another areas.
11.30 a.m. Arrival at Montalcino and visit to the winery Fattoria de Barbi. Where you can visit the cellar, finally wine tasting. 01.00 p.m. Light lunch at the local restaurant( if is required) or in a winery.
02.45 p.m. Driving along the hills where you can see the different typ of vineyard.
03.30 p.m. Visit to the winery Tenute Silvio Nardi where you can meet the wine grower who will show you the techniques of viticulture.
04.30 p.m. Return to Florence arriving arround 6:00 pm

WANT.TO.GO.NOW!

I'm so busy today...

...that it was only at around 3:30 pm that I realized I never had a lunch. Between adding new assignment at work, to replying to 7 wedding related e-mail, I haven't had much time to relax.

Sigh...