The Day of Play

Wednesday was perfect! The highlight of my week. Oh wait. ALMOST perfect. ;-)

7:30am ~ my alarm went off. I got up shortly after and took a shower before the sun had reached that peak to blind me through the bathroom windows. I checked on my package on UPS to see if had arrived ~ it came in 9 minutes after my alarm had gone off! Looking at traffic on google maps, it seemed the longer I waited, the better the traffic would be...and the great thing is that I would be taking the 405, headed north, which I never take, and NO ONE ever takes!!! Thus equaling NO TRAFFIC! Woohoo!!! Would not be the same headed back home, though...so, of course, I stuck to surface streets on the way back... and ended up following a weird, older man, in an open convertible who refused to keep a constant speed, or actually GO when the light turned green...

But rewinding back to my trip to UPS in Van Nuys...I couldn't have asked for a more pleasant experience! Absolutely no line, a sweet man greeted me and helped me out; and also gave me the tip on how to address my label next time I hold my package for pick-up. Fantastic! Oh, and in case anyone was wondering *which* package was handed to me...it *was* the one that I had ordered next-day delivery. The other one had gone out for delivery around 8am (again, not arriving till the evening, of course). The dress was great, and everyone who saw it, loved it!

Once I got back to Studio City, Andrew met me at the car wash at our Ralph's shopping center. We dropped off my MINI Cooper, as he was going to be a part of our photo shoot later that day! I grabbed a Jamba Juice, and Andrew drove me back to my apartment, so I could get ready for my hair and makeup artists from B.L.U.S.H.

Brenda, the hair stylist, arrived first, and what a doll she is! We had a fabulous chat about our love for New Kids on the Block. Unbelievably, she was also at the last Vegas show in July! An hour and a half later, Leona, the makeup artist, joined our little party. Not only was she also sweet (and an NK fan, as well), but a fabu makeup artist to boot! And I loooved what Brenda did with my hair. We started with a style that I didn't quite have in mind, but I thought was great! Then Leona suggested a variation to go along with my Disney princess idea. Yes, yes, yes! That was totally it!!! and I'm not going to give it away...let's keep it surprise for Andrew; not to mention, for our guests. If you happen to be on the same message boards as I am, be on the look out for posted pics! Anyway, after playing with my hair and makeup for the wedding... we had to play with my hair and makeup for our "Nod to Mod" engagement photo shoot! The pic to the right was the result.

By 3:45pm, we were on our way to Malibu for the shoot. We arrived to our friends home shortly after 5pm, unpacked my car, and set up in one of the guest rooms to change. Our photographer, Jill, came in about 10 minutes later. We showed her around, then talked about what shots we would be doing, and she gave her input on the clothes we could wear for each shot.

So, as I was getting ready, I peeked over at the mirror to check on my makeup, only to find that my curls had fallen!!! It was so hot in the house, and the sun was beating in on the guest room...it's no wonder. :( Fortunately, I was able to steal our friend's curling iron...but I had to curl my hair every time I changed! So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my hair looks decent in our photos.

We did a whole lot in the almost 3 hours that we had with Jill, starting with some shots of me singing and Andrew playing the piano (mod style), shuffling around in our friends' ultra-modern home to snap pics by the marble encased fireplace, lounging around the sofa... then we went outside to take a few around the pool, and finally, it was off to the beach to catch the sunset! And boy, was it windy!!! Talk about my hair being IMPOSSIBLE! Keeping my fingers crossed... :-[] The most I got to see was this polaroid snapshot (and okay, one shot on her camera). To wrap up, we took shots on the putting green at the house and around the fire pit.

I can't wait to see the proofs, which I think should be coming in in the next week ~ it will be sneak peek...then, in the following week (I think), all 200 photos will be sent to us. From there, we get to pick 50 pics that we want to add to our photo album/guest book, which will have Jill's artistic touch.

Now that that's over, and I had a day to rest, ...and our customized stamps just came in over an hour ago, we'll back on the invitations this weekend!!! Can't wait to send them out!