The season of giving

I want to take some time to remind everyone that Christmas isn't the same for everyone.  There are sick, poor, and hungry.  I know a lot of workplaces sponsor families and that is great, please participate.  I like to give all year but at Christmas it is especially important because this is the time when people feel the hurt most.  Please don't forget about those in need when buying gifts for your friends and family; when cooking big meals; when staying warm in your house; and when spending time with healthy friends and family.  The wedding industry is crazy expensive and I try to keep people less fortunate in mind when planning this as well.  Some charities I love: 

National MS Society 

Ronald McDonald House 

Cystic Fibrosis 

Local Food Banks 

Snowed in...

We have been getting a lot of snow up here in NE Ohio.  I hate driving in the snow so I have been spending more time at home.  This weekend we made some Root Beer for the holidays :)  Today I painted some frames to use at the wedding.  I think they came out pretty good.  I have a few more to do still but I was waiting for these to dry.  it was pretty easy.  I did a coat of brown, coat of white, coat of crackle paint then the top color.  The orange one I had to sand a bit too.

Bridal Party Spotlight {Mike Marignoni}

Mike is a friend of Dave's.  He currently lives in Hilton Head SC.  We miss him very much!  I always enjoy talking wine and eating with him.  He is a good cook, but we never had much time to cook together before he moved.  Dave and Mike have many fun stories that probably aren't appropriate for this blog!

Updates

Nothing major happening on the wedding front.  Been busy with plenty of other things!  We have been finalizing the guest list so we can send out save-the-dates.  Getting all the bridesmaids measured for their dresses has been a little chore.  I scheduled a tasting at the Barrington, can't wait for that!  While we were in Myrtle for Thanksgiving I got lots of great vintage family wedding pics.  I am excited and am trying to find the perfect frames for those.  We also picked up some sand from the beach and will be having a sand ceremony.  Now I need to find the perfect jars to hold it in!  I printed some of our engagement pics and even blew one up to hang on the wall.  I am looking for an old vintage typewriter.  I would love to put one near the guest book.  Does anyone have one we can use?? 

Bridal Party Spotlight {Joey Case}

Acting like we are using the phone booth in England

Going to our cousin's wedding in SC

Joey is my brother! :)  We are pretty close for being almost 5 years apart.  He is currently going to school at OSU for Civil Engineering and is also in Naval ROTC.  He loves it and is very patriotic.  Our family travels a lot so we have been to many fun places together such as Italy, Greece, England, the Bahamas, etc.  We enjoy celebrating our Italian heritage and eating Italian food!  (and wine, and sambucca!!)  He can be very protective, I thought he was going to go to jail in Greece for killing a guy that said something to me in Greek. (the guy looked creepy, but we have NO idea what he said!)  But, he loves Dave!  Sometimes they are like the same person, haha. We all went to the Dominican Republic together in the spring and it was a blast.

Relaxing in the Bahamas

Bridal Party Spotlight {Addam Chipps}

Addam is Dave's brother (my soon to be brother-in-law!!) and the best man. He is a marine and works at Quantico.  We love to go visit him and Tara in VA.  They have a beautiful home in an awesome town.  We always check out the wineries and breweries nearby.  Dave and Addam like to play golf together and beat each other at fantasy football.  They also love to drink Jamison and can go through a whole bottle in a matter of hours.  We always love visiting with Addam and Tara and can't wait until they have kids we can spoil!! :)