Wedding Planning and a Pub Crawl

Last weekend my parents came to visit!  We always know it is going to be a fun time but this time we needed to finalize some important business!  I took time prior to my parents coming to prepare for our family meeting and while I had the four of us in the same room, I wanted to tackle and finalize some of the wedding details.  I had print outs and a plan... cuff them to the chairs and fill them full of booze until everything is completed!!

Mom and Joe got to the city about 9pm, we quickly poured our drinks and got down to business.  The first topic was guest list.  I would have to say the guest list has been the most stressful part of the wedding planning thus far.  Our venue (and budget) allows for a wedding that is on the smaller side.  This is not an easy task when you are combining families and friends of two very social people.  I must say my step dad was the cutest man ever during this process.  He had his little glasses on the end of his nose and took notes of everything!  I just loved it!!  After tackling that daunting task, we moved onto the alcohol list - this was much more fun!  Then, I brought up all the little projects I need help with.  My plan was to give the tasks early giving plenty of time for completion - it worked :-)  We now have lots and lots of projects over the next few months.  When all was said and done, I even got a "thanks babe I really felt like I had a say in our wedding planning" from Bart - SUCCESS ALL AROUND!

With that out of the way, Saturday we decided to make into a pub crawl!  We made it through 5 bars and about 10 hours.  First we stopped at Half Acre Brewery and checked out their tap room.

Next, we stopped for some nachos at MacNamaras in Iriving Park and then headed to the High Dive - the place Bart & I got engaged.  All four of us did cram into the photo booth - ask us to see those pictures some day... they're freaking HILARIOUS!!!! 

A trip to the Beetle to sit by the fireplace and then onto Archies before making it home.  It was a really fun day with lots of laughs!  Sunday, Joe went home to work (poor guy) and Mom, Bart and I laid on the couch and relaxed for the majority of the day.  Monday we dropped Mom off at the Trump towers for a meeting.

Its always soooooo great to have Mom and Joe around and its always sooooo hard to say goodbye and sad when we all leave each other!  I'm really looking forward to this year and all the things we have planned... hopefully a trip to Springfield, Iowa engagement party, Iowa City for a Hawkeye game, the wedding and hopefully much much more!!

Its.... A NEW CAR

Bart and I made our first big purchase... A NEW CAR!  Since we work together and live together we rarley ever used one of our cars... so we made the BIG decision to trade in BOTH and only get ONE!!!  Bart did so much research before making any decisions, I now know what it feels like to be Bart listening about the wedding!  I will say that I've missed having an SUV and when we make trips to Wisconsin or Iowa (especially around the holidays) it will be nice to have the extra room!  Welcome to the family Betty the Black Beauty :-)