a shout from the rooftop

Last weekend, my parents hosted an engagement party for Blake and me. It sure was a fabulous way to kick off the events that will happen between now and the wedding. The turnout was great, just family and close friends. The setting was an evening to night spent on a rooftop on Cherry Street (or 15th Street). The night was filled with great (homemade) appetizers, desserts and drinks. I couldn't have asked for anything better. So hats off to you mom and dad and thank you for a wonderful party. You were superb hosts. Let's do this more often! Oh and I'd like to give a special thanks to Ashley, Luke, Morgan, Evan and Brooke for coming out of town to join us for this special and fun evening.

 





There are more pictures, but I can't add them all here...that's just overwhelming! Point being...we had a FABULOUS time! And you can check out the Tulsa World engagement announcement (it landed in the paper Sunday after the party--July10, 2011)!

One Woman and One Man

I never thought the weekend would come. I last posted about a couples shower Brooke, Amber and I hosted for our best friend, Ashley and her fiance Luke. This particular weekend was full of wedding activities for the big day...October 2, 2010.

I took a vacation day on Friday to spend time with the bridal party. We started the day off with a manicure and pedicure. The entire wedding party wasn't in attendance and it still took us about 3 hours to get all fixed up.

Cindy, Brooke and Ashley

Van making Ashley perfect for her special day!

After our beauty fix, we decided to eat lunch at Nibbles, a local cafe with delectible food. For the afternoon, we split up to get last minute errands run. We gathered at the church for rehearsal at 6:00 p.m. Ashley was calm and organized. Rehearsal lasted about an hour and it was off to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner.

(While downtown one day, I had mentioned to Blake how we should go there to eat because it was very delicious and I hadn't been there since I was in middle school. So I was estatic when I received the rehearsal dinner inviation.)

Dinner was wonderful. I filled my belly with garlic butter, bread, salad, chicken, and a bite or two of Blake's 15-layer lasanga. It was just like I remembered. Great Italian food! Dinner and dessert was consumed, bridal party and groomsman gifts were handed out after. All the groomsmen and ushers received Magellan shirts in an array of colors. All the bridesmaids received these gorgeous boxes and inside them was a pair of earrings we were to wear to the ceremony. All the house party ladies received different necklaces.

Later that evening, we gathered at Ashley's parents house to spend the night with Ashley Stone one last time. We had to make a trip to Wal-Mart to help with some last minute honeymoon packing items - shampoo and conditioner, kleenex, etc. We stayed up until about 2 a.m., but we quickly realized we needed our beauty sleep. First appointment on Saturday was bridal brunch at 9 a.m. Lights out!

The Hunt is Over!

Back in February, my best friend, Ashley Stone, got engaged to the man of her dreams, Luke Emert! He took her to Colorado and proposed after an early morning hike in The Garden of the Gods. I remember hearing the news and shedding a couple tears of joy. Immediately, I started firing questions-“did he ask your parents?”, “how did he do it?”, “can you send a picture of your ring?”, “do you have photos of the engagement?, “have you set a date?”…more tears of pure joy! It was about 2 weeks later and we finally got together for Blake’s birthday (aka St. Patrick’s Day). I planned a dinner at In The Raw on the Hill. Blake and I pulled up just on time along with Ashley and Luke. I was ecstatic to she her in person for the first time since her engagement. That night, she asked me to be her bridesmaid! I started crying again. I’m guessing the emotions of a bride transferred to one of her bridesmaid. I’m a sucker, I guess. (Note: Regarding Ashley’s engagement/wedding, I have only cried two more times since the above mentioned times!)

Immediately, I start thinking of “what does a bridesmaid do besides stand next to her on her special day?” Other bridesmaids and I start talking about a shower for Ashley! Somehow we landed on throwing her a Wedding Storm, otherwise known as a Couples Shower. I started to call around for a reasonably priced venue (yes, the hosting bridesmaids have jobs, but we are still young and on a “college budget”). We couldn’t find anything to fit our party budget. We landed on a house. My house. Backyard.

Rewind: when I bought my house, the yard and garden areas were filled with silk flowers and a shabby looking detached garage. Let the backyard makeover begin. A garage before, during and after (I also got a new garage door, but didn’t take a picture):

Much work was done to the landscaping as well, including many beds weeded, new flowers planted, deck power washed and lawn manicured to perfection. The work wasn’t done just to look good for Ashley and Luke’s shower, but it did give me a deadline to complete the housework I had wanted to do since I bought the house in October 2009. So in a sense, thank you to Ashley and Luke for getting engaged and to Brooke and Amber letting me throw a party at my house. Another special thanks to Lucia, Tim and Blake for helping with the makeover.

The party was scheduled for August 28th from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The other two bridesmaids throwing and helping with this shindig were Brooke Lunsford and Amber Webster. They had thrown a shower recently for another friend and even though they were out of town, they were the best help. Communication happened mostly over e-mail and the end result was fantastic! I really couldn’t have done this without Brooke and Amber. You two are truly amazing and so very helpful. I think we done good! Because I was busy hosting, I don’t have as many pictures as I would like, but what I do have is shared below (for those of you who couldn’t make it. I know you regret it)!

The party was filled with family, friends, food, drinks, and games involving personal questions and Ashley’s feeling 5 men’s legs and guessing which was Luke. Oh and by the way…she guessed wrong! I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our best friends engagement, wedding and life with the man she loves! Cheers to Ashley and Luke. I couldn’t be happier for you two and I now look forward to October 2, 2010!

 

Oh and the night before the shower, we visited the Caravan for a night of two-steppin’ and pool.