But I folded and I told.

My co-workers are the best! Yesterday afternoon there was a meeting set up for 4pm, and my boss opened her office door to THIS:

EEEEEEEEEE! WHAT?! I was SO surprised! They did everything up in purple, from purple jellybeans to the ribbons. Plus, they got me those lovely champagne flutes that say "toast" or "cheers" in different languages.

There was cheese and crackers - and CAKE! My lovely co-worker Sarah is leaving our team on Friday, and so it was a co-party of bridal shower and congratulation themes!

We're getting married in ten days. WOAH.

I know it's been a while -

But if you're curious...

My Bridal Shower(s) Album!

And the end of the night sure looked different!
My Bachelorette Party Album!

Thanks so much to Jiscilla for taking these phenomenal photos!

Tell it when you talk.

Another great weekend for the books!

On Friday night, Jesse and I met up with Jaime and Andrew to see the Mets vs. Reds game. I'm not a huge fan of either team, but as I live in New York, and the fact that I absolutely hate the Yankees, the Mets are my go-to team. Plus, I really like Citi Field. Anyway, to my surprise, ex-Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo was pitching for the Reds! That was pretty cool, but it was sad to see no Mets make it to second base. [I'm pulling at my collar and making the "eeellll" noise if you catch my drift - but. I know you probably don't.] Anyway, Arroyo pitched all nine innings and it was a 3-0 shut out against the Mets. Ah well. Going to baseball games are in my top five activities, so no matter what happens or who's playing, it's always fun - and we saw three homeruns!

Andrew & Jaime!
OH ALSO: we're in the record books. The whole stadium opened a bag of chips and ate them at the same time, in the middle of the second inning, and apparently we were the largest crowd to do that EVER and some crowd rep' was handed a Guiness Book of World Records plaque. Go us.

On Saturday I headed to Rhode Island because my Tia Kim and family wanted to throw another bridal shower for me since they couldn't make it to the one last month! It was so lovely and nice and the best part was seeing all my family! Plus, my bestest friend from first grade, Colleen, was in attendance and I haven't seen her in five years. What's funny is that after spending the first three grades of elementary school together, and then me moving all over the country with sporadic visits, we've ended up in similar places in life, with both of us engaged and planning a wedding and, as we found out, similar thoughts on the whole deal. Great fun!

The whole gang!

My Tia Kim! The organizer!

Katie & Sammi!

My Tia Kim really pulled off a great event full of pomegranate mimosas and delicious food! Plus, a cake whipped up by Mrs. Louise Martone (my Tia Kim's mother-in-law, which, I don't know what that makes her to me, but I consider her family!) that I devoured with a side of ice cream. I also got a few things off our registry, which Jesse was excited about, and probably the best present was a pitcher that used to belong to my grandmother before she passed away. I was very touched by all the gifts and it just got me all revved up for the wedding again!

It can be real easy to get overwhelmed and stressed out by the planning, which hasn't occurred in full-out rage, but there are times where I make my checklists and think "ughhhh no time for fun!" - but that's a lie - as I think we all know, because I have tons of fun every week and sometimes wedding planning can be just that, too. Sometimes.

Anyway, it was great fun to see everyone including my kinda-cousins (like, cousins in law twice removed or something? My Uncle-by-marriage's neices) Sammi, Sarah, and Katie, and my Aunts-in-law Linda and Cheryl and my mom's neighbor Zoe, and also my actual Uncle Arthur and actual cousin James who picked me up at the train station. Saturday reminded me what a great family I have!

The rest of the weekend I spent hanging out with my family in Massachusetts, and taking in the great weather. We went out to dinner and watched the Red Sox games, and did some wedding planning. A lot of my family from Panama is coming in a couple of weeks, so there's a lot of housing preparations my parents are doing! They're coming in for the wedding, which, believe it or not is less than a month away (?!(@$)(G)W(#R*) and I'm so excited to see my Panamanian relatives, who I last saw in January of last year!

Anyway, this week will continue to be a blend of work, wedding planning (aka work), and some fun hangs. How was your weekend?!

The bridal shower!

Good morning! I've just had one of the best weekends of my entire life so far. I know it'll be hard for me to describe just how amazing it was - but I'm sure Jiscilla's pictures will help out! Yesterday as she loaded the pictures in from Saturday's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party, I believe the count was 683 pictures. Yes. Six-hundred and eighty-three. I'll eventually post them as albums, but here's a small selection and details about the Bridal Shower! The only one I've ever been to so far!

My mom arrived Friday afternoon, and we picked up her best friend Milagros on Saturday morning. The apartment was in a state of bustling excitement as all the decorations were going up and being set. I came back to find my best friends Christy, who had flown in from Texas, and Amber, who had flown in from Michigan! I hadn't seen either of them in such a long time!! Along with Jiscilla, Kelly, and Erica, the whole gang was back together.

I got into my dress (oh it's so lovely to have excuses to buy new things!) and Jiscilla did my hair & make-up as our resident beauty expert. Then the rest of the guests, Gaby, Katie, and Perry arrived and the festivities began!

My Maids of Honor (yes, I have TWO) Erica and Kelly organized the whole thing and made it quite the classy affair, with a spread such as this. They should probably start some sort of party planning business.

The party started off with some wine and just general catching up. The picture pretty much demonstrates why we're friends. I don't know why we were doing this, but we did. That's me on the left, along with Christy, Kelly, and Erica. And robot hands.

And here's Amber! I hadn't seen Amber in over a year, since she spent most of last year working in Italy. She's one of my bridesmaids, with Christy and Jiscilla. That rounds out my wedding party.

The ladies started off the party by giving me a purple crown to wear the whole day and night and then we played a game - which Jesse had a part in. They had asked Jesse to answer 32 questions via video about himself, and I would be asked the same questions and see how many we could get right together - whichever of our lovely guests guessed the correct amount of right answers got a prize.

I answered many questions assuredly and with confidence.

However, sometimes I would be wrong. Um, I really had no idea Jesse' favourite actor was Johnny Depp. I went with Daniel Day Lewis. In the end, I got 19 out of the 32 questions correct! And Katie took home a prize.

I had to get a picture in of my lovely mother! Seriously, walking around with her in the city, many people remarked that we looked like twins. At least I have her genes, right? And she made the best empanadas EVER for the spread.

The group of us continued drinking our wine and then we got down to the cake-cutting. Kelly apparently knew of an amazing cake-baker in New York, and it did not disappoint.

YUM!

After the cake, we opened presents. It seems that bridal showers have "themes" these days, and after careful consideration, Erica and Kelly threw out many a theme they'd found online (like "sandals" ???) and tailored something to my own personality: BOOKS! I got many, MANY books as gifts and I couldn't be a happier lady! I definitely have enough unread books on my shelves now to fill out the rest of my 52 Book year! My friends are so lovely and creative - they picked out a great range of books that I either wanted or didn't even know I did but now am so excited to read! I was so surprised!

I really couldn't have asked for a better theme, and I was certainly mesmerized by the mountain of books that I had laying there at the end of it! I also got a great bunch of cookbooks, which I can't wait to try out. Cooking has never really been a hobby of mine, but I will attempt it, I will!

Afterwards, we played our favourite party game ever: Celebrities! Seriously, playing this game leads to some of the most hilarious clues and answers ever. Like, I may or may not have said "Neil Mandela" instead of "Nelson Mandela." Other examples?

Jiscilla: HOOOOOOOOOOOCH!
Answer: "Tom Hanks"

Jessica: Probably the greatest actress in America right now, was in Devil Wears Prada...
Amber: Anne Hathaway!
Answer: Meryl Streep

Perry: The most charitable person...
Jiscilla: Angelina Jolie!
Answer: Mother Theresa

Classic celebrities.

That wrapped up the Bridal Shower, but twas not the end of the festivities. We all had direct orders to be ready to go by 10pm for the Bachelorette. Let me just say the shower was more than I could have ever hoped for thanks to my ladies - they know me so well as to include all the fun of the tradition, without adding in any corniness or antiquity usually associated with such a party. They continued in that mold for the Bachelorette, too. I'm so grateful!

So, we rested up by watching 13 Going on 30 (how great?!) and getting dolled up. There was a bit of color coordination, as you'll see below...you can also probably guess as to what color I've chosen for the wedding, ha. We had a champagne toast to kick off the rest of the night...and more on that debauchery later!