I chose a Nautical theme for our rehearsal dinner.  I bought the invitation designs on Etsy from Greenbeansie, that actually came with some really great digital prints as well.

And just my luck, Michaels Crafts had a nautical line come out as I was shopping for wedding decor so I picked up some fun nautical napkins, stationary cards (for place settings), yellow vases and “AHOY” and “LOVE” photo signs for the table numbers.  The colors were navy blue, red and yellow, which also worked really well with Steinar and his parents’ Norwegian heritage.

Each table had a flag napkin, with a yellow vase full of fresh flowers, a table number on a little “AHOY” sign, and the nautical cards with guest names on them at each setting.  We also included several Norwegian “party poppers” which ended up being folded up crowns and little “fortunes” in Norwegian … that noone could read – but were fun!

We didn’t take ANY photos of the decor, which I’m super bummed about – but it was the LAST thing on my mind.  Luckily my maid of honor Amy got this shot of our centerpiece!

Another decor item I’m SUPER proud of finding was a Life Saver pillow from Land of Nod.  I was exchanging something at Crate & Barrel from our registry that had broken in the shipping, and walked past the Land of Nod store at the University Village shopping outdoor mall.  To my surprise I saw a little kids NAUTICAL THEME room in the window, and I thought my rehearsal dinner just wouldn’t be complete with this little baby … (which doubled as a wedding photo booth prop!)

Here’s Steinar and I at our table.

Here are some of our family and friends:  Best Man Nick and his wife Keri, my Maid of Honor Amy and I, Our name tags! (on Steinar’s knee), my sister Julie and my dad, my stepmom Cindy and niece Harper,  Steinar’s parents Marvell and Kjell, my mom and her bf Jack, and Jack with our pastor Terry (who is awesome and flew all the way from California to perform our wedding!).

The evening went smoothly and was so much fun with everyone.  Seriously, we could not have pulled off the wedding without our entire wedding party and our families … so it was really cool to be able to THANK everyone with a dinner and celebrate with them.

Here’s us giving our our thank you’s!

We had to capture the amazing sky and views outside, and what better way to do that then with friends!  Here’s us with our great friends Michelle and Luke.  Michelle and I met during our short go at crew in college and became roommates and lifelong friends.

My dress:  Banana Republic Outlet (its my wedding colors!), My shoes: Poetic License brand from Nordstrom

Steinar’s button up: Nordstrom brand from Nordstrom Rack, Steinar’s slacks: Gap brand

Our rehearsal was Saturday evening.  Here’s some fun photos that my stepmomma Cindy captured for us!

Here’s my dad and I.  These moments were so special to me.  My dad’s not the most emotional guy, so this whole event was filled with special memories.

My cute sisters showin’ off for the camera…  As usual!  Haha!

We did it!  For fakeys!

Here’s my Lovely Bridesmaids!!!  I love these ladies!

Steinar and I wanted a weekend away with our closest friends and family members to celebrate our wedding, so although our ceremony was on Sunday evening we had planned a weekend of fun for all the guests.  The men that had signed up, joined Steinar on the golf course Saturday morning for a round of golf in the sunshine.  This included my dad, two uncles, and some of the groomsmen.  Sadly, I don’t have any photos of this but I heard it was a really fun day.

… And some of the ladies joined me at the Bellingham Farmers Market!  Here’s me with Jamie, Steinar’s best friend’s wife, and three of my best friends Hillary, Dana and Amy.

I love all the fresh flowers and yummy baked goods that were being sold.  I just LOVE farmers markets and the idea of buying local.  And as the weather is getting rather chilly here in Seattle, looking at these photos of sunshine just makes me happy.

(middle: here I am with my best friends from high school Amy and Hillary)

We ended up grabbing lunch at the Community Food Coop deli.  This place is SO great – not only a wonderful grocery store for people who want to eat organic, local, or gluten-free or vegan -they have a great sulfite-free wine selection!

We got back to Semiahmoo Resort and met with more friends to go kayaking at Paddle & Peddle Adventures, next to the resort.
We were in a bit of a time crunch because we spent so much time in Bellingham, so I was worried if I went kayaking I wouldn’t get back in time to set up for the rehearsal dinner – but I went for a little while anyway.  And I’m SO GLAD that I did.  We ended up seeing seals that were hanging out in the marina and a bunch of seagulls.  We kayaked around the bay and it was JUST SO BEAUTIFUL – exactly what I needed.

Here are Jeff and Beebe getting rough with eachother while we get vested up.

Jamie trying on her lifevest.  Cute but I don’t think that one’s going to work!

Here’s the whole gang ready to paddle it up!!!

I was so fortunate to be able to borrow a van from my church for the wedding weekend.  And so fortunate to have my lovely friend Hillary and my fiance pack up that van on Thursday with all of the plastic tubs filled with wedding decor, signs, ribbons, … and anything else imaginable we’d need for the BIG DAY. 

So Friday morning, Hillary and I took off from Seattle to Blaine!  Steinar took my car close behind, with our luggage and one of his groomsman Brian and his wife Jamie, who were in town from NYC.  

This is what the van looked like when we turned around …

 Hillary and I on the 2 hour drive …

Things Friday didn’t exactly work out according to plan, but at that point I didn’t really care!  I was in vacation mode and ready to relax!

Hillary and I arrived at Semiahmoo, checked in and had a glass of champagne in the sunshine on my room’s porch.  It was just fabulous at that point to enjoy the moment with one of my best friends (who was in town from Ireland and I never get to see) … and soak up the sunshine.   Meanwhile, everyone else that was coming in Friday night was fighting I-5 traffic, including Steinar and his friends Brian and Jamie, he was driving up, as well as my mom and her troops (Kris, Ron and Lynne).

We bagged the pre-dinner “cocktail hour” plans, and had to move our dinner reservations back due to the traffic hold up.  So around 7pm we met at CJ’s Beachhouse in Birch Bay.  It was an open invitation to everyone invited to the wedding, hoping people would share the entire weekend with us.

We were seated outside on their patio with a BEAUTIFUL view of the water of Birch Bay.  Aside from the SUPER long wait for food, the night was really enjoyable and food was super tastey.

Steinar and I didn’t get any good photos together Friday night- this is the only one, but I still think its kinda cute.

Feels like our wedding weekend was just yesterday – but it was actually just over a month ago!  Its amazing how time flies by after such a large life change.  Just because so many events happened, I’ll summarize and post some fun photos of the great memories we have now!

My best friend, whose been getting her PhD in Ireland for the past 4 years, flew in and stayed with me the week before the wedding.  This was so fabulous because not only was it wonderful to spend time together, but SO great to have a “live in” helper ready and willing to assist me with the last of my projects!  We spent many nights that last week working on things till midnight on my living floor.

My California aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents flew in the week prior to the wedding as well – and of course we had to celebrate.  My mom got everyone together at my cousins Jeff, Jayson and Jayson’s wife Bonnie’s, restaurant called Schafer’s for some family time and good food…  and of course, dancing!

So lucky to have my good friends Joel and Mandy (center photo) drop by for dinner too!

My grandpa loved the dancing!  Notice he’s barefoot and has the hands of two of his daughters – love this!  My mom is on the right of him.

What a fun night it was!

I originally wanted to get married under a chuppah.  Neither Steinar or I are Jewish – I just really love the way it looks – especially at an outdoor ceremony!

Then I thought an archway would be easier to design, and easier to see the beautiful water and scenery through… but I was using the potential base pots that I’d found for the “arches” I made for the dessert table & guest book table “backdrops” at the reception.

Then I came across a lovely little post with my colors, grey and yellow, that had a clean modern look and was really pretty.  So … I fell for this pedestal concept.

For someone who is not that handy, I had no idea how I could construct these clean, sleek looking pillars … or where to find them.  I looked at tradeshow pedestal websites like easypedestal.com.  The nice acrylic  or laminate ones cost $200-300 each, and the cheapest ones made of cardboard were $142 for two.

I was almost ready to move on, but decided that I’d check Goodwill and The RE STORE this week before I completely gave up.  No luck finding any pedestal/ column-ish type things several Goodwills or Michaels Crafts that I checked, so today I went to the amazing RE STORE in Ballard.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!  Its super dirty.  Its cluttered.  And you really have to hunt for things… but if you’re looking for tile, old doors, funky windows, an old mailbox, etc.  … its a great place to go!  The employees were really helpful and when I found a couple old columns in the back outdoor section, a really nice employee helped carry them up to the front and gave me a bargain price of $25 each for them.  Then he helped think of a way I could “restore” it – since the tops of them were not in the best shape – I’m using a white 10″ tile!  And each tile cost 50 cents!

So I left the store, columns and tiles in tow, out only $51!  I’m so proud of my FIND.  I’m such a salvage savvy bride. hehe

I will add more photos SOON after I spray paint these suckers and glue on the tiles…

My best friends Amy and Dana planned my awesome Bachelorette Party last Saturday night!  The night was a total surprise to me.

It was a little too much fun!  First, three of my girls met me at Steinar’s house and we got ready together… then they decked me out in the traditional “Bachelorette” sash, mini-bottle necklace, condom bracelette, and a pink veil…   and we headed to dinner at La Isla in Ballard.

La Isla is so good … its Puerto Rican food and everything fried and delicious!

There were a couple ladies who couldn’t make it to our next stop, so we took some group photos!

I am friends with a lot of blondies!  These are the Flood women (minus my sister Katie and a couple other cousins’ wives, Joelle, Brooke and Crystal)… me with my sister Christy, my cousin Craig’s new wife Nicole, and my sister Julie.

Next stop … Balmar!  This is me with the party planners, Dana and Amy.

We opened gifts, had some drinks, and Amy brought a Bachelorette Check List for me to finish throughout the night.  I did get 7 out of 10 things completed by the end of the night… which I was pretty proud of.  This list included things like:

Write your name on a bathroom wall…

Use a cheesy pick up line on a guy…  ”Your dad must have been a baker… Cause you’ve got a nice set of buns.”   He was thoroughly impressed.

My sister Christy helped out with this one… she found the best pick up line on her phone- here’s her sharing one with us…

And our reactions…  (Dana really enjoyed it!)

Collect 10 business cards from guys…  (Amy with one of the first cards)

And take a photo sitting on a sports car… we thought a limo would do!

I got some really awesome gifts – really cute underwear, sexy little outfits, coconut oil (supposedly its a better lube to use, more natural, doesn’t cause any unwanted things that other lubes lead to … who’d have known?!)…

but the gift that wins the most points for creativity was from Julie and Christy!  First… a pink jump rope labeled “hump rope: a game for two”

Second … two serving spoons labeled “sextencils: get ready to toss his salad!”

Then … a cucumber and carrot…labelled with something like “For practice. Option #1 -Yeah!”  and “Option #2 – It will do”…

Other items included chip clips labelled “nipple clamps: bring on the pain”, 5 hour energy labelled ” keep going all night” and a meat tenderizer…

Perfect for back massages…

Anyway, it was an awesome night!  It couldn’t have gone any better!  I had so much fun and was incredibly blessed by the girls who came out and had fun with me.  Seriously… I have the best friends!!!

Long ago during this 11-ish month engagement, I was inspired by a few photos of backgrounds on blogs that I’ve perused.  These are several that I saved …

I was putting off making this dessert table backdrop simply because I was a little overwhelmed at how to do it.  I had the theory figured out, but to actually DO IT was another story.

I’m so glad I had my sister Katie help me quote out some necessary things from Home Depot.  So last week, Katie and I made our way to Home Depot with a list of what I needed to make 2 arches.  Note to self:  Next time you go to Home  Depot, don’t wear heels!  And bring work gloves!  I’m not that much of a girly girl, but I do have a thing about having clean hands… and everything I touched was really dirty.

Here are the things I purchased at Home Depot:

• 4 thin PVC pipes – cut down to 7 feet long
• 2 thin PVC pipes – cut down to 6 feet and 8 feet long (to match the length of the 6 feet & 8 feet tables they will be behind)
• 1 PVC pipe (one size thicker than the thinner PVC pipe) – cut 1 into four 2 feet pieces
• 4 corner pieces
• 1 bag of cement (60 lbs)
• Spray paint and primer

Before Home Depot, I bought some amazing YELLOW metal pots from Michael’s – that I knew would act as the perfect bases for my arches.  They were even HALF OFF!

Here’s what we did to make these bad boys:

• Wiped down the PVC pipes with a wet rag
• Primed & spray painted the PVC pipes

• Mixed the cement!  We happened to leave the bottom of the bag in the bucket!  You don’t have to make this mistake if you cut the bag and dump it in the bucket!  But this is difficult since its 60 lbs.  We actually ended up getting the bag out as we kept mixing in the water and using the cement on the top.

• We then filled the pots equally with cement.
• We put each of the 2 ft poles completely vertical, all the way down in the bottom of a pot.  We taped the pole straight up and down with painter’s tape, so it would stay this way while the cement dried.
• Then I wrapped the pots in big plastic bags.  The cement dried for several days outside.
• I cut A LOT of grey, white & yellow ribbon to 7 ish feet in length.

• I then laid out the 8 feet PVC pipe (that will go above the dessert table) and laid out the ribbon in patterns underneath it.

• I hot glued the ribbon to the pole, then glued one long ribbon across the whole pole to cover all the ends.

• I added 5 tissue paper garlands to the pole, centered in the middle.
• I placed 2 of the grey 7 ft poles into the base pots, and attached this 8 ft “top” pole to the “corner pieces”.

TA DAAA!

You’ll see a more professional photo of it IN ACTION at the wedding IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!

Last Saturday, June 25th, I ran the Seattle Rock’n'Roll half marathon!

This was my very first half marathon and it gave me a HUGE respect for those who run full marathons.  I started jogging regularly at the beginning of this year, but for the past two months did not train like I had originally wanted to.  However, I felt very confident that I could make it and decided that it was worth still giving it a shot!
My goal: FINISH!  And I made it!  The first 4 miles I was running just under 10 minute miles, in order to jog with my good friends Luke and Michelle, and their friend Mike.

I’m glad that we got to run a portion of the race together, especially the beginning when there’s a lot of excitement and momentum!  But that was hardly the pace that I’d been training at so I needed to cool it for the rest of the race.  The rest of the run, I turned up my mix of Lady Gaga and worship music (mostly Brooke Fraser) and took it at my own pace!

This is the start line – there were SO MANY people!
We were so fortunate with the weather – cool, but no rain.

It was so beautiful to jog along the southwestern shore of Lake Washington up to I-90, then we passed through the tunnel and came out on the breath-taking view of downtown Seattle.  It was so cool to see the huge building right there in front of you, at eye-level, while you’re coming over the overpass.  Then we jogged a little through downtown, over to Hwy 99 south, then were spit out in front of Qwest field and looped around to the north parking lot, where we finished!

I finished 13.1 miles in almost exactly 2.5 hours, so about 11 mins 27 seconds/mile.

They had so many snacks available afterwards, like bagels, water, sports drinks, crackers, and bananas!  Lots of bananas!  It was funny to see so many, I had to capture it on camera.

Overall, it was an awesome experience!  One that I definitely want to do again.  Next time, I’ll set a goal a little better than “finishing”!  hehe

Here’s Steinar with me after the race …

He was our awesome chauffeur to the start line (Tukwila) and then met us downtown at the finish line (CenturyLink/Qwest Field).

One of my most “dangerous” crafts was making these cute, little ruffled pomanders for our aisle decorations at the ceremony…

As cute as they look, I learned that I definitely had to be careful with the glue gun!  After three burns all over my fingers (where skin was literally removed or huge bubbly blisters ensued … I know, really sexy huh!), I realized it probably wasn’t a good idea to multi-task while watching a movie – and strictly focus on the craft at hand!  Do not worry, I won’t include any of the grotesque photos of my blisters (yes!  I took several!).  Thank the Lord my fingers have fully healed.

Here’s how I made these pretty little pomanders …

• I bought 8 Styrofoam balls, 1.5 inch ribbon and fabric in my wedding colors at Joanne’s Fabrics (1 yd of fabric/ball).
• I used a pint glass and drew circles all over the fabric.
  
• I cut barely inside the penned circles with fabric sheers.
  
• These little babies are what I got.
  
• I then folded each circle in half and then in half again, and hot glued the point to the styrofoam ball.  I folded back the ruffles, as they got pretty thick.
• I pinned a long piece of ribbon into the ball, so the ends are free to tie around our aisle way chairs.

I LOVE the finished product and can’t wait to see how they look down our aisle on the BIG DAY!