over the weekend-- it's a mouthful!!

We went to the Men's Wearhouse where Jimmy registered himself and the groom party, this past weekend, at westshore plaza near downtown Tampa.

Jimmy's tuxedo will be a black: a Calvin Klein 3-button classic tuxedo suit, the inner vest matching my dress, in champagne while the groom's party wearing a simple tux with a victorian lilac color vest, matching the bridesmaids dress color perfectly since they are connected to david's bridal and offer all their colors to match at the tuxedo shop.

All men in the groom party will be wearing ivory dress shirts underneath, rather than white. we've been told since my dress is champagne/ivory that to keep it from looking dingy, all clothing/main colors should be ivory rather than white which i already knew and would have never done myself but jimmy didn't know it so i'm glad the man emphasized they all had to wear ivory and should stay away from white since it would make my dress look dirty and diminish its beauty etc.

Anyway, so that's one thing we got done this past weekend, setting up the groom party with tux's and registering. This week we may concentrate on ordering the wedding invitations so we can start sending them soon and compiling addresses- we started to get addresses of his relatives this wkend when we stayed at his parents for the 4th of July.

We think we've found a good photographer/DJ pkg at Celebrations of Tampa Bay and want to either set up an appt this Friday or Saturday with my mom or get that rolling with her.

We have not found a florist and are having a hard time finding ones in the area tampa bay/clearwater area that are known and do weddings. Online the websites Ive found mostly suck and seem cheap, u cant tell how nice the flowers are at all. I'm just trying to brainstorm what florist we can go with and how to find a good one who knows how to do weddings!

I am also considering Etsy for its artsy cute creative reasonably priced handmade jewelry but dont know how reputable it is and see a million beautiful necklaces and earrings I want. Not sure what style I want in terms of jewelry other than I either want to go with silver and crystals or silver and rose quartz or silver and moonstone [some pastel color] but I dont know for certain yet. I should share some examples of styles I like on etsy.com just to give an idea of what look I want. Im going for vintage, antique, romantic, I think. Anyone know etsy.com, shop there, or know anyone who they'd recommend?? Just curious.

I spent hours and hours last nite and didnt go to bed til after seven am this morning because I got pulled into the whirlwind that is the net and sites that consume- like etsy.com LOL everyone i see, i virtually want to buy but am broke right now. that sucks.

Mostly I am worried about some of the quality of the jewelry which looks a little frail or like it might not be solid enough or good enough quality to withstand breaking. I'd hate to buy something that broke during my wedding day or even within a short period of time. Even if the prices are reasonable, if the material quality is poor and it breaks after one or a few mos, than I've wasted my money. I like my necklaces to last five years or more and my best ones do last that long but lately all jewelry seems flimsy and breakable and cheap, unless you are buying top of the line fine jewelry with platinum gold or white gold- which i cannot afford but wish i could.

Next week Jimmy is off on vacation so I've got like two dr appts [and they have made 2 or 3 other additional dr appts in the next month or two.] I hate this new dr. its like they assigned me six appts in two mos because they are so booked and everything is a hard long process. it is tampa general clinic and it is not near here, it is far away, not in a great area/neighborhood, and inconvenient with their hours open and to get there. I have in addition, another appt tomorrow, at the spirometry clinic in downtown tampa by davis island. it sucks. Its at 9am but since its far and theres a lot of traffic we have to leave by 8am. I am not a morning person. I often dont fall asleep til after six am. I wonder how I will pull this off. It sux but I'll get thru it somehow. :/

The tampa gen. clinic seems to cater mostly to homeless and welfare cases which is why it seems i have a million appts and crappy dr service. i cant wait to get married to get proper health ins. under jimmy. i can barely take this anymore. the psychiatrist i had FINALLY FOUND last month, just canceled two wks ago to say they no longer take medicaid. this after jimmy called 25-30 psychiatrist drs just to find this one who promised they took my disability. well now they dont and i am almost out of options.

I did ask the primary care dr at tampa gen. last week for a recommendation. they said they would send it to my mailbox. they did and it was a huge disappointment. they simply sent a xerox copy of what I already have and have used many times to no success--- my insurance 1-800 number to find a psychiatrist- that is the number ive called so many times ive lost count and they are the reason i havent found a dr. no one knows what they are doing. they tell me a dr is covered by my ins. then when i try to make an appt with a new dr, the new dr tells me they do not accept my insurance at all and cancel me. it sucks. Anyway, leaving off on a more positive note. ....sorry to complain!

We are going to Lido beach near Siesta Key Beach [in Sarasota] for a day and a half next wed/thurs. It is supposed to be one of Florida's most beautiful beach and cleanest. We will stay over nite at holiday inn, just the two of us. I've never been there and it will be nice as weve never done anything like this as a couple in our entire relationship. I hope for blossoming intimacy, connection and romance. I think sometimes you need to put aside time and do special things with your lover/partner if only to reconnect and further deepen the relationship. Yes, I am one of those people.

Then thurs when we return, early evening were going to a downtown tampa hotel to see a presentation on Sandals all inclusive honeymoon pkgs as weve decided to go with Sandals and St. Lucia was recommended by his parents friends this past weekend who both said they absolutely loved their stay there at the Halcyon and recounted how beautiful, nice, clean it was. so we are considering that island but will know more - as the presentation will cover all Sandals carribean Island Resorts -- after we go to that meeting next week. :)

That's about it on this end. I just thought to update on some of the recent stuff, some of it involving wedding plans. More later and more to share, I am sure...Coming soon!!!