Marriage is work.
Posted:Monday, 07/19/2010 at 08:07am
I recently had a discussion with some girlfriends about marriage. I know I’ve only been married for 7 weeks now but our talk became spirited over the ease of marriage. I went into this marriage knowing that it is something I want to work at each and every day. I don’t think it is easy...of course, some days are going to be wonderful together but I also know there will be tough talks about money, babies, suburbs and much more. I like to plan things to keep us busy and make an effort for us to do things together. It doesn’t have to be anything spectacular, just something to let me husband know I am thinking of him and want to be with him. I leave notes and send “thinking of you” texts. Make coffee in the morning or pick up a movie I know he has been wanting to see. I really think you need to make an effort to let the other person know you care and are thinking of them. I think doing little things like this speak much more than throwing out an “I love you.” Actions speak louder than words. I had great role models. My parents have been married over 40 years. They still hold hands, my dad will bring fresh baked bread home for my mom because she loves it and they are just considerate of what the other wants. One of my friends said, “Why are you so worried and already planning things to keep your marriage fun?” I look at it as being proactive. I never want to get to the point where one of us is feeling unappreciated or unloved.

You may have heard or know about the site theknot.com. Once you get married they kick you over to their sister site thenest.com. I was reading this article 7 Relationship Mistakes Even the Smartest Couples Make. You may not agree with it, think it is fluff or that it is commonsense things but sometimes I think reading these things remind you that just because you are married, your life and relationship isn’t over and you still need to work at it.


The Honeymoon is Over.
Posted:Thursday, 07/08/2010 at 08:07am
Wait, not literally! The first month of married life has been just as busy as pre-wedding. Well, the honeymoon was the laziest week of my life but that’s what it is for, right?

Back to the real world set in pretty quickly. For all your brides-to-be, I have a suggestion if you are planning on changing your name. Invest $30 on MissNowMrs.com. You take a few minutes to plug in your information and it imputs all your information on every name change form you might need. It also gives you detailed instructions on what you need to bring to each facility. One thing I almost overlooked, change your social security card first! You need to have either your license or passport with your maiden name on it to do this. I had already changed my license and was about to mail in my passport to be changed when I notice that little nugget! Phew!

This wasn’t a huge deal for us but this next thing came up that I don’t think a lot of people are all that aware of or it wouldn’t happen. Obviously, I was planning on changing my name when I got around to it. When my husband went to deposit our wedding gifts at our bank, the teller would not let him deposit the ones that said “Mr. and Mrs. DeNicolo” because both the names had to be on the account and my last name was still Skolak. So, I had to run to change my driver license, run to the bank to close and combine our accounts to get this accomplished. I even had a few people ask prior to the wedding how I would prefer the checks made out because they encountered problems and I thought they were nuts. I have been guilty if writing “Mr. and Mrs.” for years because I thought this was soooo cute but the teller suggested that I start writing one name or us an “or.” Just a little something else I’ve learned post wedding,

The next thing is the one newlywed disagreement we’ve had so far. Thank you notes. I’ve done 85-90% of them and they have been mailed for weeks. I wrote all my co-workers, my family, my friends and most of the ones on Ron’s list. I have left a few for him...some of his co-workers and some of his distant relatives that I don’t know and not sure if I have ever even met. This has been met with some resistance as they still sit on his desk waiting to be completed. I have even already addressed them and placed a stamp on them. Now, I know some people think this is the “woman’s job” but come on!

It has been a pretty good first month. We are busy with our “Summer of Fun” and continue to add to our summer to-do list. Thanks for all the well wishes for a happy life together...I think we are well on our way!


Our "Perfect" Day
Posted:Monday, 06/14/2010 at 08:06am
You always hear no wedding day is perfect and our day was no exception!

In no particular order, here are some of the highlights of what went wrong:

My dress was way too big! I could literally fit my fist down the front of my dress. In pictures, it is about 2 inches from my chest. In certain pictures, my undergarments are showing! There was a random tear when I put it on that my lovely bridesmaids tried to hide from me and patch with some safety pins.

My priest kicked off the ceremony by calling me Cindy which is not my name. I actually rolled my eyes and giggled

Our photographer’s flash was not working at the church so we didn’t get as many pictures as we wanted.

Although our flowers were beautiful, they were not what I ordered.

At the end of the day, it still was our “perfect” day. Things will go wrong but we just had to take a step back and realize what was important on May 29th. We couldn’t have been happier with the day and that we are now married. So B-T-B...realize now that things are going to go wrong but it is true...no one will notice except you!


Final days as a single lady!
Posted:Friday, 05/21/2010 at 08:05am
Our wedding is right around the corner...8 days to be exact. It is such a rollercoaster of emotions. I am beyond excited about spending my life with my love (you can make gagging noises!) but there is also so many other feelings I am experiencing at the moment. Sadness for people that can’t be at the wedding, excited to be someone’s wife, scared and curious about the future and maybe a bit numb that the day is finally here. The time is creeping by sooo slowly yet flying by so quickly!

Thankfully, we have stayed on track with our wedding to-do lists. This weekend we have to do our reception place cards and pack for the honeymoon! We are just going to rest up and relax before the craziness of next week hits.

I was talking to one of my besties yesterday and she said she is really worried about me. She’s worried that after the wedding I will have post-wedding blues. No more planning, no more parties, no more excitement. I think I’ll be just fine. I’m looking forward to settling in with my husband and seeing what life brings us. Ok, who are we kidding…I am going to have some post-wedding blues as I love celebrations of any kind, not just for me! Ron and I have named this summer our “Summer of Fun.” It is our time to have a kicka** summer for us. We have Ravinia tickets, bike rides and picnics, Lolla, wine to drink and a trip planned for the fall. This is our time for us.

This will probably be my last blog before the big day. Once again, I just want to say thank you to all my family and friends for all their support and time as I start this next chapter in my life. I hope I wasn’t too much of a bridezilla over the last 8 months (go for short engagements people!). Ron and I wouldn’t be at this point without your love and your advice, ears and kindness.


Crunch time!
Posted:Friday, 05/07/2010 at 08:05am
Our wedding is just three weeks away! I have been so busy with all these last minute details that need to be completed! The most exciting thing for me this week was my dress fitting. I have been one of those crazy brides that have been exercising more than ever trying to lose every ounce possible and have been feeling a little down about the results until this week! There was a chance that this would be my last dress fitting since the big days is so close. They wouldn’t have me come back if my progress in the weight loss department wasn’t continuing…well, they had to take it in and I scheduled another fitting in two weeks! I was so excited…I even did a little happy dance with my dress on in the dressing room but quickly realized that probably wasn’t the best idea!

My fiancé and I have designated this weekend wedding project weekend. We have to fill out a ceremony sheet with all our readings and what vows we have selected. We are not writing our own vows…I don’t think I could handle that. I am a bit of an emotional person and am just praying I will be able to repeat, “I, Cynthia, Take you, Ron….” Also, I had no idea there were so many options in what set of vows you could pick. We need to assemble our welcome bags for our hotel guests. Wrap presents for our bridal party and our parents. Put little bows on all the flip flops I bought for the reception for the guests so they can really dance! Ribbons on the bubbles for after the ceremony. We are working on our seating chart. Which I have always pretty quickly sent in my RSVP right away when I’ve received a wedding invitation but I will now send it in immediately so the bride and groom cannot stress! It is going to be a crazy weekend!

BUT in all of this, I am getting so excited to be someone’s wife. I’m so lucky that I have found my partner in crime and can’t wait to start our lives together as husband and wife. Even though we have so much to do this weekend, I’m really looking forward to it and am not feeling any stress. We’ve been so busy with meetings, exercising, details, bach parties, fittings, the list goes on and on leading up to our wedding that we have been like two passing ships in the night. I’m actually hoping we stay in Saturday night and watch SNL with Betty White! Wish us luck that we cross all this off our to-do list!


A Night Fit for a Princess Bride!
Posted:Monday, 04/19/2010 at 08:04am
Ron's "in-town" bachelor party was Saturday and I didn't want to be home when Tornado Ron roared home. Terri from The Four Season offered me the perfect solution!

Saturday night, five of us packed up for a luxury-filled stay at The Four Seasons. When we arrived at our 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom suite (yes, you read that correctly!), we were immediately overwhelmed by the room and the gorgeous view of the city and lake that greeted us! Once we settled down and stopped jumping on the king size beds, we noticed all the personal touches that were awaiting us. My wedding color is yellow and they had yellow cupcakes for us...I LOVE cupcakes! Plus, huge bottles of VOSS (water) with "The Four Seasons welcomes Ms. Cynthia Skolak" and everyone else had their own personal bottle too. We have yet to open the bottles. They even had magazines out just for us...Us Weekly, OK! and Life & Style. Perfect for me! The rooms have recently been redesigned and we all fell in love with this purple floral couch. We all want one in our homes!

Once we gossiped about the wedding, celebrity gossip and how incredible the room was, we needed to get ready and head down to the spa. After we dressed in our robes, we arrived to the relaxation room to find champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. A perfect way to start out at the spa. We all kicked back and sipped our champagne until our various appointments. I had the most relaxing massage that I hated to see end! I always hate when they tell you to roll over because you know your massage is more than halfway done. I can only describe that hour as "beyond perfect." I can totally see why they’ve just voted one of the top 10 spas in the United States by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler. After our treatments were over, we met back up in the relaxation room to find another bottle of champagne waiting for us! Popped the cork, poured the champagne and the giggling continued along with some funny picture taking!

Anyone that knows me knows I love a good martini. After our spa appointments, The Martini Man rolled in. The Martini Man has a traveling martini cart that he takes to the guest's room for your own private in-room cocktail hour. After he rolled in his cart and set up, he told us he had a special "Blushing Bride Martini" especially for us but before he could make them he also had a little treat for us...tator tots in these adorable little, brown paper bags. You see this is another favorite thing on mine and I was in heaven. The "Blushing Bride Martini" was a yummy strawberry martini that we all enjoyed! He then followed that with my favorite a dirty martini...I’ve really never had a better dirty in my life! I was trying to get him to tell me his secret but no such luck!

Check-out time was noon and we milked every minute we could at The Four Seasons. I literally checked out at 11:59 am. Back to reality and back to planning our wedding! Only 40 days to go!!!

PS I posted a few pics on Facebook of the fun.

A hodgepodge of wedding details.
Posted:Thursday, 04/15/2010 at 06:04am
The countdown is on and it has been a busy couple of weeks! I’m getting married NEXT MONTH!

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been receiving our RSVP’s. Every day I run to the mailbox to see if there are any of the tiny, beautiful envelopes. Ron and I have a system. I open them, discard the envelope and leave them on the dining room table in a neat little row. Ron gets home and enters them into our “wedding spreadsheet” by reply and food choice. We need to start working on our seating arrangements and would love any suggestions on how to make that task easier!

I had my second dress fitting yesterday and picked up my bridesmaids dresses. I didn’t know the bridesmaids dresses were in. I walked into the store and saw all buttercup dresses hanging there. There are so pretty! I can’t wait for my girls to see them! I’m definitely pretty relaxed when it comes to the bridesmaids. They can wear their hair however they want, where whatever shoes they want and don’t care if their nails are painted. It should be easy on them, right? As far as my dress fittings go, I have one maybe two more to go. It was surreal yesterday. They have started to cut the fabric and it is becoming more and more my dress with every visit. I had no idea how hard it would be to find a beautiful bustier for a wedding dress! I finally did last weekend which my seamstress wanted me to have about a month ago! One last thing done and checked off my list.

Tuxes are picked out and everyone has started the process of getting measured. We both agreed on a tux and vests for the wedding party but I want cream for Ron and he wants black. The salesperson told him cream will wash him out so we are currently debating which one to go with.

Picking out wedding party gifts has been a bit challenging. Well, girls are pretty easy but guys are difficult! We want something unique and something that they will actually use and like. And what do you get an 8 yr old ring bearer and 4 junior groomsmen?

Ron’s in-town bachelor party is this weekend. He is heading to The Cubs game Saturday and then out for some “entertainment.” My dad, brother and brother-in-law are all going but I’ve imposed a 6 pm curfew when they must leave the party. How weird to have them there as the boys continue on into the night! The Four Seasons offered to help me escape the craziness of the party and I’m staying there in one of their newly redesigned suites…I’m sure I’ll have some stories from my experience there!

Tonight’s task is to figure out our readings for our ceremony and research marriage license requirements and figure out when we are going next week to get it! We figure it is something we can get out of the way (they are valid for 60 days) and one less thing to stress about closer to the day.

It might sound weird but I think it is just really starting to hit me that I’M GETTING MARRIED! I’ve spent 32 years as a technically single girl and I’m going to be someone’s wife soon. I know I’ve been planning our wedding for about 7 months now too but it never felt real...like I was always planning someone else’s day but I am getting soooo excited for our day!


Napa Fun
Posted:Tuesday, 03/30/2010 at 09:03am
I love to celebrate just about anything and have a good time with my girlfriends; that’s not a secret! Napa did not disappoint. Seven of my girlfriends headed to Yountville with me for 4 days of fun. Many, many stories I can’t share with you. ; )

I have always wanted to go to Napa. This trip exceeded my expectations of the area. We had the best meals I’ve ever experienced, awesome spa treatments, amazing wine tastings and just a great time spending some quality girl time away. I could go on and on but I will just give you some of the highlights.

When we arrived to our room there was a vase of yellow flowers and a card with my name on them. Ron sent flowers in our wedding colors! I texted one of my besties that couldn’t make the trip and asked, “Did you put him up to this?” She assured me she didn’t and I loved them even more!

We relaxed at this spa which was more like a little community. We tried a mudslide treatment. It actually turned into a bonding experience. We had no choice but to let our guard down and let go of our insecurities and just enjoy the treatment. We continued the day by lounging by the pool and gossiping.

I learned how to open a bottle of champagne with a machete. Yes, you read that correctly. I was scared out of my mind! As my friend and I were discussing it, we both were laughing because we don’t even like to open cans of biscuits because that popping noise scares us. Google it...you take a machete and pop the cork by never touching the cork. Glass breaks. Champagne fizzes out.

We had some of the best meals of my life in Yountville. So good we were eating four meals a day! The best by far was Bottega. You may have caught Bottega’s head chef Michael Chiarello on Top Chef Masters. We bumped into him outside the restaurant and the night just got better from there. We walked in and when they escorted us to our table we began to realize we were not being seated at just any old table but their VIP table! We had a whole room to ourselves in their wine cellar. IT WAS AMAZING! Chef Chiarello was also gracious enough to come back and chat with us and take pictures. He even gave me a kiss and wished me a life time of happiness. Great guy.

We all got along perfectly! My one girlfriend from high school even made the comment how easy of a trip it turned out to be. We all know a group of 8 girls could want to go in 8 different directions but we never had so much as the littlest disagreement. Thanks to my friends for making it a weekend I will never forget and memories I will always treasure. XOXO


Eye Twitches
Posted:Tuesday, 03/16/2010 at 07:03am
This is what happens when I am super stressed. Some people get zits, some can't sleep or can't eat. My eye twitches which let me tell you is very becoming...especially when you are having a conversation with your boss. So my level of stress with wedding planning is definitely at a high with the "Big Day" just a little over 10 weeks away. I now understand why people hire wedding planners! I really thought I had everything under control with my little wedding checklist but things just keep popping up. This morning I realized we didn't print cards with our hotel information for our invitations; the invitations we were supposed to mail out this weekend. And so the eye twitching returns.

I always thought I would be one of the girls that wouldn't stress about everything and that it would be a piece of cake. I've had visions of what my wedding day would look like since I was a little girl. I've had the color yellow picked out for my wedding. Everything is pretty simple and elegant so why are there so many decisions still to be made?

I feel bad for my fiancé at the moment. He has had to deal with my crankiness and head spinning for a few weeks and I'm sure the stress is going to continue to build. I know he is looking forward to our wedding but I also know he can't wait to start out "Summer of Fun" we have started planning when all this wedding planning is complete and we relax!

I am off to Napa for my out-of-town bachelorette party next week and I couldn't be happier to take a step away from planning and enjoy some spa time, wine and yummy food with friends.

Wish me luck that this eye twitching gets under control!


Cynturday!
Posted:Monday, 03/01/2010 at 08:03am
My friend Sharri nicknamed Saturday “Cynturday” and it lived up to its name.

The day started with my bridal shower. It was so overwhelming to have all my family and friends take time out of their busy schedules to come together when everyone has so much going on in their lives. I hardly was able to eat anything because I was just cracking up with all my friends during the lunch and walking around talking to everyone. When it was time to open presents, Ron showed up to help me open them and brought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. Awwww….I love him. It turned out to be a great party, lots of great food and enough Crate and Barrel boxes that I will be putting things away for months! Plus, I only cried three times which is pretty good for the emotional girl that I am! Thank you to everyone.

Bachelorette party fun! Our group was about 30 give or take at different parts of the night. We started out with dinner at Quartino’s and it was awesome! My friends Hillary and Jessy had a pink glitter “BACHELORETTE” tiara, pink boa and bachelorette sash for me to wear plus my cousin Stacey brought me a hot pink tiara and bride-to-be sash so I was totally decked out in pink. I loved it. We continued on to Pops. We had a private room in the back which perfect for us but probably really where everyone started to go downhill! I mean we went over our champagne quote by 3 or 4 bottles! I had brought these little shot glass engagement rings and we were pouring everything in there. Champagne out of shot glasses is much more dangerous than one would think! When we left Pops at about 1:00 am, there were only about 8 left standing. The “Final Four” made it another few hours. If you have watched “The Hangover,” my day yesterday was spent looking through the camera at hilarious pictures that we don’t quite remember…lots of closed eyes, a shoeless friend and lots of “rock out” signs. A would say a good time was had by all and I’ll keep the obnoxious, tawdry behavior a secret between me and my friends.

I adore all my friends and family who made it the best “Cynturday” ever and one I will never forget. XOXOXO to all my friends, family and my wonderful fiancé!


 
 
 
 
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