A Day In Sarasota

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After a great poolside day at my in-laws and evening at Carlouel Yacht Club, I had an incredibly deep and long night's sleep. Let's just say I woke up a little sweaty - that's how you know you were passed out!

I walked into the living room to see my husband and his father on the balcony, chatting away and watching the water. It was too cute to interrupt.

I had planned to do a Bodypump-style workout with my husband, so I decided to get a head start with some cardio. Yes, you can see the Gulf of Mexico from the treadmill. Add that to my gratitude list...

After about twenty minutes of light cardio, my husband joined me. We did a thirty minute mini Bodypump set. Basically, we put on music and did Bodypump-style movements with medium weights. My heartrate was sky high and my muscles were sore, so I am calling it a success.

We had plans to head into Sarasota for the majority of the day to visit with a friend, so we showered and then hit up a breakfast joint on our way out of town. We stopped at Wildflower Care in Clearwater at the suggestion of my in-laws, and the food was delicious. I went with an egg white omelet and a side of grits.

When we arrived in Sarasota, we went directly to our friend's place. As it turned out, three of my husband's childhood friends were in the area (one of them lives there, two were visiting), so it was like a miniature Holland reunion. 

Our friend who lives in Sarasota has his own beer brewing operation in his back room, so he gave us the tour, showed us how it all worked, and we got to business (read: drinking the beer).

After catching up, the boys decided they wanted to do some frisbee golfing, so we walked to a nearby frisbee golf course. It was like frisbee golfing in the jungle (okay, I am a city girl and don't get out much, but still!). 

It was only my second time ever Frisbee Golfing. I started out being decent, but then things quickly deteriorated and I ended up being pretty awful. Oh well. You win some, you lose some!

Afterward, we headed to the grocery store for some grilling supplies. I found the largest avocado I've ever seen, but refused to buy it. It was labeled organic, but I just don't understand how it got that big!

We ended up with some tenderloin (which was sub par), some swordfish (which was delicious), some grapes, and some apples. My husband grilled up the meat, and we had ourselves a delicious pool-side dinner.

As I was sitting poolside and watching my husband play around in the pool, something popped up on my phone... My brother-in-law's then girlfriend had texted me this picture:

How gorgeous is that ring!?

I promptly freaked out and started calling and texting her incessantly. Sorry I'm not sorry! I am beyond excited for these two and can't wait for the Goeman clan to officially get even bigger!

What About You?

• Have you been Frisbee Golfing? Are you any good at it?
• Do you get incredibly excited about engagements?

"Final" Dress Fitting

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Let's start at the beginning (a very good place to start) <--Sound of Music reference. Noticed it? Five points for you, Glen Coco.

I was going to share a picture of what I wore to work on Tuesday, but then I realized that I looked like a librarian. So... that killed that idea. Black Skirt, Ella Moss. White Blouse, No Idea. Sandals, Jack Rogers. Brown Cardigan, J. Crew. Imagine me as a non-Librarian. K thanks. :)

Basically, here was my Tuesday morning: Start to freak out about all the things on the to-do list for my wedding that are not done. Have a freak out and am late to work as a result. I finally go on a walk, pull up my Bible app and read Song of Solomon, and start to feel a lot better. A lot of positive thinking and Bible searching going on over here.

Feeling crappy? Insecure? Not lovely? Stressed?
No matter the trouble, this gets me every time.

We had an off-site meeting for work at the end of the day, and as we walked into the meeting, we were greeted with beer and wine. I'm not sure if this was exactly what I needed, or exactly what I didn't need, but either way, I took a glass.

You're a cheap date, baby, but I'll take it.

After work, I headed up to the burbs. I had to haul a few things via train, including a pair of heels, because I had not yet gotten properly fitted for the length of my dress. Apparently, I also accidentally brought my empty plastic wine cup. Silly.

I did not intentionally cover up the description on the shoe box, but now I'm kind of glad I did. :)

When I arrived, my brother picked me up at the station and stopped at Starbucks for some brew, then headed to my parents' house for a few hours of wedding crafts (paint this, rub that, pack this, cut that) and more than a sufficient amount of snacking.

I like to order an unsweet iced coffee and then add my own almond milk or whole milk.

Our appointment for my "Final" Dress fitting was at 8:30, so my mom and sister and I drove over after dinner (chicken and greek salad, way to go mom).

Don't get too excited... that's my robe, not my dress!

I slipped into the white robe and they brought my dress into the room! The hemline was actually fine and shouldn't need to be changed, but the BOOBS! Ah. They were not right. Basically, it looked like I had 70 year old librarian boobs (we've come full circle on the librarian thing, no?).

My sister helped me explain to the seamstress what the problem was, and she immediately understood us and found a solution. I am so grateful that she was the one helping us that day, because we have had less competent people in the past. Thanks, God.

Now there are a few more alterations needed... meaning my "Final" Dress Fitting was not final at all and I will have to go back this week. Perfection takes time, my friends.

What do you think?

• What kind of dress do you think I picked?
• If you're married, what did YOU choose? Or what WOULD you choose if you were getting married now?

My Engagement Party!

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My parents threw us an engagement party this weekend, and it was absolutely wonderful! I woke up on Saturday morning and had a nice run on the treadmill in my parents' basement (we had driven up to their house on Friday night). Naturally, there was some watching of Alias.



Afterward, I had a quick body shower and threw some makeup on.



Then, I went to a salon near my parents' home. I had an appointment for a blow out and a bit of curling.

My hair went from a nasty, post-run mess to va-va-voom in about 45 minutes. My stylist, Nicole, was super sweet and we chatted away about wedding planning the whole time. That topic is an easy bonding opportunity for most strangers. Thumbs up.



When I got back to my parents' home, I pitched in and helped put the finishing touches on the party decor. My aunt and uncle and their family had driven up to help, and my cousin Clara was also in town, so we had all hands on deck.





My sister spent a lot of time this past week buying decorations and props, and and my cousins put them all together. My cousin, Maggie, got fancy with the hot glue and it all came together.





I was thrilled with what my sister put together. I'm not having any wedding "colors," it's all a lot of neutral colors, so we kept things light. White flowers, white candles, and bird cages.

 

My sister picked a variety of white hydrangeas and roses, and my cousin distributed them into about 12 mason jars, which were scattered around the house. We also put out a lot of shiny photo-frames and spread the flowers all around the house.



My sister went all out and hand made these name tags. The girl has seriously wonderful handwriting.



Justin and I were initially name-tag-less, because we figured people knew who we were if they were coming to our engagement party. Then, after about the fifth person who asked me where my name tag was, my sister whipped up some tags for us so that we matched the rest of the guests.



Because my fiance's family is from Michigan, there were a lot of people who didn't know each other yet. So, a big reason behind throwing the Engagement party was to get people to come together and get to know each other. The name tags were part one. 

Part Two? Booze. Obviously. It's like human glue.

Can you tell we're related? #SISTERS

A few hours into the party, the food arrived. My parents catered Mediterranean food and it was delicious. People ate it up and raved with positive "reviews."
 

 

The rest of the night went by in a bit of a blur. It's hard to feel like you spent enough time with each guest when there are so many people you love around you. But, I think that, under the circumstances, we did a pretty good job.

 

Also, I just have to point out... You know how I take a ton of pictures? Well, so does my future MIL, and she's a pro. God bless my fiance, who grew up with a snap happy mom and is now marrying another snap-happy woman. Too. Funny.

And there you have it!

• Have you ever been to an Engagement Party? Did you or someone you know have one?

Dear Engagement Party,
Thank you for being the reason to get so many people I love all in one place. I felt showered with love just because of their presence. 
Love,
Carly