High Five for Friday

I was reading blogs this morning decided to jump on the bandwagon H54F after reading it on this blog.

Here is my H54F:

1. Kyle taking the girls cake balls on Monday after his meeting in OKC.

Jordyn was the only one home since the big girls were at school. She had changed her outfit 4 times that day so that's why she is in a nightgown at 2:30 in the afternoon. I'm jealous of her life. 

2. Cowboy football season starts tomorrow! Go Pokes!
3. Completing premarital counseling!
4. Having a few of these:

The Oaks has these and I love them so much. If you love champagne & haven't had these, you are missing out. 

5. Headed for Pittsburgh today after work for some wedding stuff and family time. And chasing this guy around.

Happy Friday! You can link your H54F post here.

Heading to the 'Burgh

Tomorrow Kyle and I fly to Pittsburgh. His mom's friends were kind enough to throw me a shower and while Labor Day may not have worked for everyone else, it was best for me because I can get an extra day there without having to take any time off from work. Bonus: Stacy and Henry and his Aunt Donna will all be there! Justin surprised Stacy with a plane ticket so she can come celebrate with us and Henry is just icing on the cake! They are already there and Kyle's dad was sending us pics last night of the wild man riding Kyle's old horsey. We fly in late Friday night and will jam pack tons of fun into Sat, Sun and Monday before we leave at 1. One of the most exciting parts of the trip for me is picking out our wedding bands!! I can't wait to see my ring with an additional band.

Kyle and his best man are going to pick out Kyle's suit for the wedding at Nordstrom. He won't tell me at all what he is wearing, he said if I get to keep my dress secret, he gets to keep his wedding day attire secret too.

As of today, we have 100 "yes" RSVPs for the wedding. I am still waiting on 59 more people (some are couples/families) to respond. Our final count could surpass the 150 I planned for/expected. But you know what, we want everyone there that can be there. We invited them for a reason.

I have a pretty long to do list going right now but I am marking things off every day. Probably my #1 frustration at this moment is not being able to get a hold of our DJ company. It took my 2 emails & 1 phone call to even schedule a meeting with them. After the meeting was over I realized I forgot to talk about something so I emailed and asked if I needed to come back in. They said they could just do it over email and would send me a couple of images to choose from and that was 2 weeks ago. And I have already followed up once. I am telling myself that they are also in the heart of wedding season and that since my wedding is 5 weeks out, I am just not in the #1 spot right now.

Highlight of today: eating Jason's Deli salad bar with my mom at noon. It's the small things in life.

Blog Sale

After repeatedly buying more hangers, I decided it was time to clean out the closet and do a blog sale. What doesn't sell here will go on Ebay.

1. Email heathcock_heather@yahoo.com if you want to purchase an item.
2. Shipping will either be $4.95 for a flat rate box, or if you send me your zip I will calculate shipping. I will choose whichever is cheapest.
3. A paypal invoice will be sent to your email address.
4. If you live in the Tulsa area, I will deliver.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Forever 21 Coral Dress, Medium- $5

Cute bubble hem

Pac Sun Purple Dress, Small- $10

Pockets! And cute back!

 Target Xhiliration Dress, Medium- $5

Accentuates the chesticles!

Target Xhiliration Dress, Small- $7

Really cute with tights & boots

Old Navy Dress (I promise to steam it before selling it to you!), Medium- $5

Cute ruffled top (again, I will steam it) and pockets

Gap Black Cotton (with a little stretch) skirt, Small- $3

Great basic black skirt

Gap light blue dress pants, Size 6- $7

Cute button detail on front

Black polo from Kohl's, Medium- $3

Little ruffle detail near the buttons

Forever 21 Vest, Medium- $3

I think I wore this one time. Racerback.

Target Xhiliration sequin tank, Small- $5

Also wore this one time. Fits loosely.

Old Navy black loose-fitting tank, Small- $3

Fits really loosely! And sheer

Express black skirt, Size 4- $5

Cute skirt! Hits just below the knee, and the skirt is really full

American Eagle gray knit skirt, Small- $3

The back isn't longer than the front, it is just how it is hanging.

If you see something you like but you think "man, $3 is more than I want to pay!" make me an offer.

Wine Night

Sammi's other half is out of town ( and by town, I mean the country) so she invited the ladies over for wine night. We had a wine night a long time ago at her apartment and everyone brought some type of food and we just chatted the night away. It was so much fun, so I am glad she planned another one. And it comes at the perfect time for this reason: I found a new wine that I am in like with. And it's only $9.99. Usually cheap wine tastes a little like acid but this one is deeee-lish.

Chateau Julien

They have a cabernet, merlot, chardonnay, royalty red, pinot grigio and moscato. I have only tried the pinot and loved it. I tried it at the new bar in downtown Tulsa called Valkyrie and then went and found it at the liquor store. I got the cabernet for Katie and Judy this past weekend and Judy said it was great! So I will be rolling up to Sammi's with some Chateau Julien.

And I plan to make dip. Because drinking wine calls for dip. I plan on making beer cheese dip. And maybe even this Snickers salad.

I went to Target on Wednesday after work. I went specifically to get those mint green cords I blogged about the other day. Of course they didn't have my size, but they did have my size in the pink ones. Here's what I picked up at Target:

Purple lace- sold out online

Pink cords- on sale for $20

Red dress- $19.99

I read online somewhere that you should always take a red dress on vacation because they look great in photos. I know things sell out pretty quickly at Target so I knew if I didn't buy these things right them, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten them.

If there is anything I love in the world more than buying new clothing, it's finding the perfect lipgloss. And Revlon was usually too expensive for my tastes but I went to Walgreens and took advantage of their buy one get one free sale and picked up two colors:

Colorburst in Bellini

Super Lustrous in Peach Petal

Now, some sad news to report. My shellac mani only lasted ONE WEEK. I was completely irritated when a few days after I got it, it was already starting to peel off at the top (near the cuticle). And then when I was in the dressing room at Target, the entire left side peeled off of my index finger. I have had 3 shellac mani's in my time. 2 have been crap, and 1 lasted for a little over 2 weeks. I can't decide if I should just go back to the lady that did a great job or just not waste my money at all. But I want my nails painted next weekend for my shower in Pittsburgh and I don't want to have to take nail polish to touch up any chips that inevitably will happen when chasing Kyle through the airport.

Bridal Shower

This past Saturday, Sammi and Elaina hosted my first bridal shower. It was Parisian themed (they know me so well!) and perfectly put together. Sammi and Clark just moved into their beautiful new home and the shower was the first event at the new house! There are still some things to be completed at the house, but even in the unfinished state it is in, the house still rocks my socks off. They have a neon yellow barn door as their bathroom door, need I say more? I wish I was that creative.

So first, let me thank Sammi (and Clark) for agreeing to host the shower at the house. I know you two have worked so hard over the past year to get the house ready and it makes me feel really special to be the guest of honor at the first ever shower held at your new home. I know there will be many more things to come in that house, but we will always remember that.

Second, a huge thank you to Sammi and Elaina for hosting. As the song says "that's what friends are for." They planned it exactly how I would want it: elegant, relaxed, inviting, pretty. It was just so pretty. The colors, and the food, and the fresh flowers. They worked hard on the details, and it showed. I didn't know what they were planning, and when I walked in and saw it I knew they planned it just for me.

The food was perfect. The kitchen/dining area is such a nice open space! The make your own mimosa bar was my favorite! That and the cranberry cinnamon goat cheese. But I think my most favorite touch were the dishes. Elaina brought her grandmother's pink china to use. It added so much character to the shower.

Everyone mingled and I felt like my head was spinning. But in a good way. Each time the door opened, someone that I wanted to see walked in. Have you ever been to a party where that happened? I haven't. Each person there was invited because I wanted them to be there. And I felt such gratitude that each person was there.

I ate a couple of bites of food and drank a small mimosa and then Elaina told me to sit and we were going to start the present opening and games. I have never really been a fan of games at showers but the ones planned were perfect. Each person got an index card and wrote their favorite memory of me or something that reminded them of me. Without writing their name on it, of course. They were handed to me and then I was to read them and decide who wrote it. I think I got most of them right! Then Katie said that she had called Kyle and asked him a few questions and I was to answer them and we would see how many I got correct. I honestly thought I would get all of them correct but I only got 6! WtheTF (as Mary Lou would say).

Then it was time for presents. Oh, so many presents. Jordyn said that was her favorite part. The house was kind of hot despite Sammi's attempts to turn the air down. There were just so many ladies and I think the oven had heated up the house. I started to sweat (my life story) and they brought out a tower fan and it saved my life. I opened all my presents and then people started leaving. I wasn't ready for that! I felt like it had just begun. I had never been the bride at a shower and I wanted it to last longer. Although I am sure Sammi and Elaina were ready to sit down and relax. My wonderful sister-in-law Erin started loading my presents in the rain, and I lingered. I wasn't ready to leave. When I wasn't paying attention, my whole family went to the car, so now I had to leave. I gave hugs and said thank you and then awkwardly left. I wanted to stay and chat some more. It was just such a wonderful time that I didn't want to end. Read Elaina's blog about the shower.

I took my crew (Mom, Sheri, Katie, Kristin, Judy, Erin and the girls) to TCC to show them around. I think they were thoroughly impressed with the location! In just 6 weeks (from Saturday), I will marry Kyle. Better get your party panties on, we're in for a wild ride :)

Mimosa bar

Paris

Flower girls

Reading all the sweet words people had written

Starting to fan myself

Getting some tower fan on my face

With my mom and Lauren

My ORU girls

Some of my favorite ladies

My matron of honor

My friend Emily for 22 years!

I love my mom. Doesn't she look cute in her Pretty Woman dress?!

Best auntie

My grandma Judy came all the way from Florida

Family. Love.

First Day of School

Lauren and Allison start back to school today. Lauren is in 3rd grade and Allison is in 1st. How did this happen?! I remember when Lauren started school. And then when Allison started. I sent each one of them a package in the mail before their big first day. Next year, I will get to send Jordy a school package.

These girls make my heart happy.

Tomorrow I get to celebrate my bridal shower with my family and friends. I feel so loved. And emotional.

I was on the treadmill at the gym on Wednesday and I was watching Kitchen Cousins (those fellas are so cute) and one of them proposed to his girlfriend on the show. I teared up. At the gym while running. I couldn't help but laugh at myself!

The Average Cost of a Wedding

Money. The root of all evil. Kyle and I have been blessed with a generous budget by our parents. I have an idea of how our budget compares to some others. And I know a wedding in New York is going to cost way more than a wedding in Tulsa, OK. But I can tell you one thing: Once you get engaged, figure out your budget pronto. It will help you make decisions. You will know what you are working with.

I am the one keeping track of all the wedding spending. Kyle asked me where we were budget wise the other night. I didn't have my wedding zip drive that is home to all my wedding documents so I emailed him the budget spreadsheet the next morning with a cost breakdown & what money we had left to spend. He was very impressed at 1) my ability to know exactly how much we have spent/what we have left and 2) to have it in a format that is easily updated. I think Kyle appreciates my organization skills now more than ever.

I saw this infographic last week on how much a wedding costs:

I found it interesting that Kyle and I are almost the exact age of the "average" bride and groom age. Cause here in OK, I was approaching old maid status compared to the 23 years olds tying the knot.
Also, our engagement is half of the average time.

Maybe after the wedding I will go back over this and compare each item on this graph to what mine cost.

I can tell you one thing: we will not be spending $12,000 on a honeymoon like I so often read about. Don't get me wrong, I would love a luxury 3 week honeymoon to Europe but that just ain't gonna happen.

Things I Want

First off, I tried to change my blog template to this really cute one with polka dots, and I completely jacked everything up. Then I tried to change it back, and all of my blogs on the right side were deleted. So I tried another template and it worked. I know the "love birds" with True Love written above them is kinda cheesy. But I don't care.

Since I moved in with Kyle I haven't paid rent. And I am not gonna lie, it has been magical. Magical in the sense that I went a little buck wild online shopping. I haven't purchased anything expensive but still we are getting packages a few times a week. I tried to blame it on wedding stuff but that didn't always work. And I realized I have more clothes than I could possibly ever wear, so I stopped shopping for a bit. But my eyes are beginning to wander again and I have a few things calling my name:

Lulu's: $23

Topshop Satchel: $68

Target Cords: $22.99

These are just a few of the items I would love to have in my closet. But I need to do some closet cleaning first. Sophie peed in the closet the other night and now it stinks. And I cannot for the life of me get the stink out. Does anyone have any suggestions? If I can't manage to rid the stink, Kyle might let her run away. But she is really loyal and probably wouldn't even be successful at running away.