Today we picked up Rob’s suit, as well as some fancy schmancy shiny black shoes for him. We finally booked our other hotels for the honeymoon (except for the first night hotel in Seattle, in which we’ll be going the Motel 6 route). We’re staying at Hotel Modera in Portland and a Comfort Suites in Seattle. We were going to try to find a boutique hotel in Seattle, but that is one expensive city!

In other news, we managed to snag free press passes to the Conor Oberst/Jenny Lewis show in Seattle on the first night of our honeymoon, which is awesome. We’re currently collecting reviews of restaurants and attractions to further plan our trip. There’s so much to do, I’m sure we’ll miss something.

The gifts I ordered for my brideswomen came this week and they look awesome. I can’t wait to give them their gifts.

We’re planning to order the candy for our centerpieces either tonight or tomorrow. Tomorrow Rob’s getting his final haircut before the wedding.

Our to-do list is getting smaller and smaller!

This week I hope to schedule time to talk with the YWCA about set up and stuff, and I’m going to order the gifs for my ladies as well.

The invitations have been assembled and mailed and we’ve even got a couple of RSVP cards back in the mail.

Thursday night (which coincidentally, was my 27th birthday), Rob and I went to the Polaris Fashion Place mall to do some window shopping. We were inside J.C. Penney’s, looking at dresses and such, when I did a double take and saw the most beautiful green clutch hanging off the arm of a mannequin.

I have been looking for a green clutch for months. The only ones I’ve seen have been designer ones that cost upwards of $200. I was slowly resigning myself to the idea of going with a white clutch when that mannequin called out to me.

“Kiesha, isn’t this the purse you were looking for?”

I ripped it off the mannequin’s arm for an inspection. Everything seemed perfect. It had a long silver chain that can be used as a shoulder strap, or tucked inside for a clutch look. It was about fourteen inches long and maybe five inches tall, with a nice wide interior and three pockets!

And the price was right. $32.50.

I did notice the teeniest, tiniest flaw on the purse near the clasp, where it seemed like the stiff material used may have had a bump, which was then covered in the green fabric. When you hold the clutch, your hand covers the flaw.

Nevertheless, I smelled discount, so I took it up to the register and asked if they had any other purses. She said they had two, but when she tried to find the other, she came up empty-handed. So I asked if I could get a discount because of the flaw.

I got 10% knocked off. And, as it turned out, the purse was already on sale. I took it home for $21.

Here she is:

And with my beautiful green shoes!:

The light doesn’t do them justice; they are almost EXACTLY the same color. I think it’s because they’re made of two different fabrics and catch the light differently.

And in other news, today I did my practice run for the wedding hair and makeup!

There is an insane amount of hairspray in my hair right now. I took the pins out because they were starting to hurt my head and I thought I would just comb it out a little. Yeah, right. I couldn’t even get the comb through my hair. Guess I’ll be sporting a curly ponytail the morning after the wedding on that 9 a.m. flight out to Seattle, because there’s no way I’m getting up at 4 a.m. to wash out my hair and redo it.

First order of business: Groomsmen.

Lo, those many months ago when Rob and I got engaged, we asked Rob’s dear friend Rich to be the Best Man, knowing that he was moving to Korea a few months before the wedding. Rich thought he’d be able to make it back for the wedding, but unfortunately he will not. So Rob asked another friend, Peko, to join the wedding party. Steve will now be the Best Man.

Second order of business: The Menu.

He had our tasting with the caterer and everything went great. Vegetarians will be taken care of with a veggie-loaded lasagna and the meat eaters will get Sicillian Chicken.

Third order of business: Invitations!

Our friend Clint Reno screenprinted our invitations and RSVP cards the other night. They look beautiful! And we will have them in the mail by the first weekend of September. We just have to cut them out and assemble them first.

Some photos:

Our paper and envelopes. Chocolate brown and mint green!

The first screen (the one with the leaves).

Clint checks the paper size.

The white ink goes down.

Clint does the first pull while I ably assist.

The first color is done!

Chocolate brown ink goes down!

We’re going to keep the final product a secret until they go out in the mail. They’re pretty awesome!

Things left to do this month:

• Purchase attendants’ gifts
• Get Rob’s suit and shoes
• Get covered in ink while helping to screenprint the invitations

Things left to do in general:

• Find a handbag
• Decide if I should get a shawl or wrap
• Look into alcohol purchases
• Figure out the flavors for our ice cream cart!

We also bought vases for our centerpieces at IKEA in New Jersey for $1.50 a vase. Budget Gourmet Wedding continues!

Here are some photos taken by Megan.

Here we are. Note the green and brown balloons in the background!

Megan got us Mickey and Minnie bride and groom ears, which I loved.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to send this one to the newspaper with our wedding announcement.

The wishing well.

Rob and his boys. From left: Dave, Rob, Peter, Peko, Steve (groomsman) and Rich (Best Man), crouching.

Rob’s dad, Rob, me and Megan.

Ohio shower is coming up in about a month!

I love them.