Wedding Bells

Can you believe my wedding bells will be ringing in just over 14 weeks! I remember when it was 14 months away and I was thinking how long we still had to wait. And now it’s just around the next corner.

We’ve done a lot in the way of preparations:
- the wedding venue was booked and deposits paid in January (last year)
- my wedding dress was found and ordered in November
- my shoes were found and bought in January
- in one week I booked a trial for my hair and make-up, booked our minister, and ordered Gary’s ring
- decided on what the invitations will look like
- decided on what the wedding cake will be and what it will look like
- And the guestlist has been finalised
- I’ve also met with my boss in terms of what we’ll be doing for the decor in the chapel and reception room.

There’s still a lot to be done though… And I am worried that I won’t get it all done. But isn’t that what all brides think?!

Hugs & Kisses
Jessica Giggles

P.S. If there’s anything you think I’ve forgotten about or not thought of, please comment. It will help my over-worked brain!

How I Met Your Father

Continued from part 5…

A recap…
At the beginning of 2008, His Sexiness and I started dating. We had an unromantic first date but he thoroughly spoiled me on our first Valentine’s Day. We spent every possible moment together and when we weren’t together, we’d sms each other or he’d call to chat.

My 24th birthday arrived after we’d been dating for nine months. I don’t remember telling him that I LOVE and ADORE my birthday but I do remember the extent to which he made my special day even more special.

My birthday happened to fall on a Wednesday so I was at work when I received an email at 10h00 with the subject of “Listen” from His Sexiness.

Below the pic of us was a link to a website. It was clue #1 as to what my present was. A cryptic riddle was sent via sms later that day which formed clue #2. For the life of me I cannot remember what clue #3 was. What I eventually figured out was it had something to do with music (clue #1) and that it had something to do with the colour pink (clue #2). Now this got my imagination soaring! Could it be a pink teddy bear that played music? No, don’t think he’d pick something like that. Could it be pink cupcakes with music notes in the icing? Nope, didn’t think so either. I eagerly anticipated the end of the work day as I knew I’d be seeing His Sexiness and knew I’d finally be able to understand his gift.

But unfortunately that evening I was told that my gift hadn’t arrived yet. I was left in limbo – anticipating, waiting, wanting time to hurry up…

The next day (Thursday) I was at a venue supervising the setup of a huge fun day event that was taking place on the Friday. I was quite bored waiting for the stretch marquee/tent to be erected and for the various games to be installed. The next moment I get a call from His Sexiness. I complained about not having had lunch yet and being stuck at a setup. And he immediately offered to pop past with a quick bite to eat. So there I sat, waiting for his arrival with with my stomach grumbling and growling.

He arrived with the tell-tale paper bag of his favourite fastfood store and I immediately tucked in. After our lunch was done he told me that my gift had arrived and would I like it now. Of course I said yes because I just had to put my imagination at ease. Off he went to collect the small package from his car. He arrived back at our temporary lunch area and tells me that he hadn’t had time to wrap it properly because he’d just got his hands on it. And I think, “Great! Less time on unwrapping and more time on finally knowing what it is!” He hands it over, and I finally see that it’s a pink iPod (one of the new editions). I am in love! I protest a lot about how he shouldn’t spoil me so much but at the same time loving the fact that he wants to spoil me! The best part of all… He whipped out his Macbook, connected my new iPod and installed all his music on it so I could use my new gift right then and there while at the boring setup!

Continues in part 7 soon…

*Picture credit

Giddy Up Cowboy

Remember the post where I asked whether I should or shouldn’t attend a school friend’s bachelorette party?! Well I decided to RSVP yes! Firstly it was a great excuse for a party, but also because I knew it would be wonderful to celebrate this memorable event in her life.

The party took place this past Saturday and the invitation said to dress up with a cowboy hat and some cowboy accessories. Now usually I am so super organised that I would have had the gift and outfit selected a week or so before the party. This time, however I was not so organised… Wednesday I went to my nearest costume hire shop and found a black stetson and a gun and holster. And Saturday morning (the morning of the party) I scoured the entirety of Sandton in search of the perfect gift (which ended up being not so *perfect).

The afternoon arrived quickly and I wrapped her gift before getting ready. First it was the make-up and fixing my hair, then it was deciding on what to wear. Thankfully Gary came to my rescue and suggested this and that to ensure I was a “smokin cowgirl”!

I arrived at the party and after greeting everyone, was dragged into the kitchen by one of my good friends to look at the cake. How innovative and funny?!

The rest of the afternoon was spent sipping champagne, chatting with friends, and indulging my sweet tooth (though unfortunately my corset prevented me from eating a lot which was obviously an oversight in wardrobe choice). Then it was time for the bride-to-be to open her pressies, but with a catch… Her fiancé was asked a range of questions by one of the bridesmaids, and the bride-to-be needed to answer two of these correctly in order to open a pressie.

The excitement began when she was sent off to get dressed for the evening’s activities. We all traipsed up the stairs to see the final product – black tights, super short denim shorts (she’s quite conservative so this was out of her comfort zone), boots, a black top with a checked top over tied at the waist, a pink feather boa, a pink fluffy stetson, and a two-gun holster. She looked wonderful – cute without the sleaze.

And then it was off to Sunninghill for some pole dancing lessons!

Now although I may have a dirty mind and a naughty sense of humour, I am quite reserved. So pole dancing was waaaay out of my comfort zone! Luckily I was tipsy on champagne and full of dutch courage, so I let myself go and enjoyed the moment. We were taught a short routine in manageable bits and luckily my co-ordination (sometimes lack thereof) didn’t embarrass me. I’m sure Gary is a bit irritated that we don’t have a pole in the bedroom so I could show him all the moves I learnt…

I was given a couple vouchers for a free lesson, and even though I have muscles hurting that I didn’t know I had, I’m hoping to use them soon. Anyone want to go with me?

Hugs & Kisses
Jessica Giggles

*The lingerie set I searched high and low for and finally settled on, was bought by one of the other guests, and her present was opened before mine. *sob*

How I Met Your Father

Continued from part 4…

A recap…
At the end of January of 2008 we had our first date. It was neither romantic nor sexy but it was truly memorable as His Sexiness showed his gentlemanly side.

The Monday after our first date was the day His Sexiness and I officially started dating. He arrived with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and stated the obvious in asking if we could be exclusive. I was thrilled!

A couple weeks later the international day of love arrived. I had been planning my present to him for days. I didn’t want to be too over-the-top and mushy considering we’d just started dating, and I also didn’t want to look like I didn’t put any thought into it. I decided to go with home-made vouchers with little gifts to go with them – a candle-lit home-cooked meal for two was attached to a couple of candles. I thought it was perfect and I couldn’t wait for him to open the goodie bag!

If I thought my present was thoughtful and wonderful, his present way outshone mine…

I was sent a very formal sms during the international day of love requesting my presence at his place that evening. I arrived on time but was told that I had to stay in my car in the parking lot as he wasn’t ready for me. I must have waited about five minutes but my nerves and excitement made those few minutes drag by!

When the time eventually came, I was told to drive around to the garden gate entrance to his flatlet where I was greeted by His Sexiness looking dashing in a suit, waistcoat and tie. I was led through the gate and into his small garden and that’s when I saw why he’d taken so long…

He had completely transformed his little covered patio! There were hundreds of lit tea-light candles on the edges of the walkway as well as surrounding the edges of the patio. There were two bean bags with a blanket spread in front of them and a bottle of wine was chilling in an ice bucket on the side. And hiding in the dim light, on top of a bean bag, were 14 long-stemmed red roses. I was poured a glass of wine and told to make myself comfortable while I waited for the next surprise. A few moments later I was served take-away dinner from my favourite restaurant (where we’d tried to remake as our first date). He made it even more special by ordering in the dishes we’d had that night. It was an amazing night and such an unforgettable present!

Continues in part 6 soon…

*Picture credit

3 Month review

I had my 3 month review on Friday (I know! Can you believe I’m already into my fourth month at my new job!), and although I knew the general gist of the conversation that would take place, I was still just a teeny tiny bit nervous. Of course there was absolutely no need for the nerves because I was blown away by the million compliments that were thrown my way! I was told how I had done so many positive things in the last 3 months that it felt as if I’d been here forever. I was told how my standard of work is so high that no future employee could ever come close. I was told how I’m a pleasure to work with and how I’ve made the Boss’ life easier because I’m so organised. I was told how clients and suppliers are raving about me. And there I sat…almost speechless…the only words that could escape my mouth were “I am glad”.

And I am glad! I’m glad that someone is seeing/noticing the hard work I’m putting in. I’m glad that I can make the Boss’ life easier and in so doing allow him to stress less and give me more responsibility.

Hugs & Kisses (from an ego-stroked, deliriously happy)
Jessica Giggles

*Picture credit

An inheritance of sorts

Quite a few weeks ago I was given the heartbreaking news that my grandfather had passed away. The news came to me on my second day at my new job and luckily I was super busy at the office otherwise it’d have been difficult to keep my emotions in check.

My family organised to go to my grandfather’s cottage one Wednesday evening so we could go through his things and see if there was anything we’d like. It was wonderful going through things and remembering… I picked up a set of hard placemats and immediately remembered dinners at my grandparents’ flat where I only used to sit at a place where I thought the placemat was beautiful enough. (I put these in ‘my’ pile to take…) I picked up a particular small glass with a yellow and orange design and immediately remembered that being ‘my’ glass. The special glass that only I was allowed to drink out of. (I would have taken this too but it was badly damaged – chipped and cracked…) And then I found things that I can’t remember making – Christmas and birthday cards with the cute hand-writing of a little one learning to write. (I have these safely hidden to ensure no-one gets their hands on them, so no blackmail there… wink wink) Of all the things I looked through and put one side for me to take home, the most awesome thing I got to take was my grandparents’ dining room suite. (It helps being the youngest with the least amount of furniture…)

We were finally able to pick up the dining room suite this weekend after a few weekends of failed attempts. I was super excited when Saturday morning arrived and it was time to collect my company’s delivery vehicle (I asked to borrow it for the move), go to my aunt’s house to collect the furniture (my grandfather’s cottage was built on her property when my gran passed away), and go home to put everything in place. It was a bit of a rush getting everything done and we ended up only putting everything in place after coming home from the rugby, but I was super excited that everything was safe in my home.

The dining room table with the six chairs:

The sideboard:

Now all that’s missing are some fake flowers in all the vases, because anyone who knows me knows that I can’t keep plants alive for long…

Hugs & Kisses
Jessica Giggles

P.S. The greatest, happiest part of having ‘inherited’ this furniture is that every time I see part of the set I think of my grandparents… Love and miss you Granny and Grandad…

How I Met Your Father

Continued from part 1…

So, first a recap…

An amazing night of partying was had in the December of 2007 but I left feeling disappointed that I’d not been approached by His Sexiness for my number. I was left thinking that I’d blown any chance of getting to know him further because I was too flirty-flirty with my friend J.

A couple weeks after that wonderous night in December 2007, N and I packed our bags and headed to the Natal South coast for a couple weeks holiday of rest, relaxation and sun-tanning! The weeks flew by and before I knew it, we were back in Johannesburg and enjoying the last few days of holiday before having to go back to work.

N and I decided to go partying at Billies once more on the weekend marking the end to my holiday. We spread the word to our friends hoping for another night to remember. The night arrived and we dolled ourselves up as normal and headed out. And that night I bumped into His Sexiness again! I was thrilled…excited beyond belief! And I was hoping and wishing and keeping fingers crossed that he would make a move! And boy did he make a move to remember!

N and I were standing at the bar ordering another round of drinks, and without me knowing, His Sexiness came to stand behind me. He planted a soft and sensual kiss on my shoulder and I melted! Shivers were sent down my spine and my knees went weak! Right then and there I knew I had to get to know him!

The rest of the evening we danced and flirted, but alas, the end of the evening came and still he had not asked for my number!

So I began work that Monday with a heavy heart. The office was without internet and emails and I found it quite difficult to keep myself busy and keep myself from thinking of him. Until Tuesday came… Until the internet was back up and running…

I happened to log onto facebook that fateful and wonderful Tuesday and I saw a circled ’1′ showing that I had a new message in my inbox. I clicked on it without knowing how my life was about to change. There, dated the night after we met for the second time, was an unread message from His Sexiness requesting my number! I was beyond thrilled! I immediately responded in a flirty sexy manner with my number. (Not quite sure how sexy I came across seeing as I was just giving him my number, but anyhoodle…)

I can’t remember the first sms His Sexiness sent or when it was, but I’m sure it was funny and charming as we continued to sms each other…a lot!

Thursday arrived marking my departure on a Manager’s Conference to George. I was super excited to have been invited considering I was still a newbie at the company. But bleak that I’d miss out on getting to know His Sexiness more. So away I flew for 4 days of conferencing and no cellphones allowed… Well, no cellphones allowed during conference times! And thank goodness for that, because my phone was on at all available times so I could chat with His Sexiness. I found out that his birthday was that Saturday and that I was missing out on a wonderful night out. But I promised him that he’d get a kiss when I got back – 1. to apologise for not being there and 2. to act as my special birthday present. My trip home could not come sooner…

Continues in part 3 soon…

365

Wow! It’s already 365 days away…

365 days until the big celebration…
365 days until I marry the man of my dreams…
365 days until my surname changes…
365 days until the start of the rest of my life…

I’d better get cracking on the wedding planning considering I only have 364 days left…

*Picture credit

How I Met Your Father

Dear future kidlets, I want you to take a seat while I tell you the story of how I met your father…

Back in the December of 2007… I had spent my first year working as an event manager and trying to put the things I’d learnt at university into practice. I hadn’t had much time to party during the year what with all the events and trips, so when December rolled around I was ready for a good party! My party partner in crime was a good gal-pal from varsity, N, who stayed just around the corner from me. This was really advantageous as it meant we could always go in one car, and when it came to home time, home was just a minute away from dropping one of us off.

So…one night, N and I went to our favourite party place – Billy the Bums in Fourways. We dressed up to the nines! #SexyShoes for me, a gorgeous pair of jeans, and a strategically made top to show off my make-the-boys-go-crazy décolletage.

We arrived and strutted our stuff into Billies and straight to the bar. A vodka, lime and lemonade was the order of my day. And once the music started, we headed to the dancefloor to shake our hips to the beat and sing along to the songs. But first we needed to find ourselves the perfect dance spot. It needed to be close enough to the bathrooms and bar so we didn’t need to push past other partyers to get a new drink or to visit the bathroom, but also close enough to the outside area so we could breathe in some fresh air every now and then.

So we’d found the perfect spot – positioned closely to the DJ booth so we could request songs, close enough to the doors for fresh air, and close enough to the bar and bathroom – when we spotted a mutual guy friend from varsity, J. And J had brought a few friends with him… *Cue giggle and happy look*

N and I beckoned J and his friends over to join us and that’s where the real party started. Now J was always known for his flirtatiousness, so it goes without saying that N and I would each dance with him. And apparently I gave off the ‘he’s not my boyfriend but I’m so into him’ vibe from the way we danced together. N and I giggled and whispered talked loudly to each other so we could hear but not too loudly to be heard over the music by our little group. I told her I had my eye on one of J’s friends and she told me that she thought he was into me too. I spent the rest of the night glancing his way, trying to dance next to him so I could chat every now and then, and trying to figure out if he was indeed into me.

N and I left later that night after a fantastic party with some fantastic people. I left disappointed that the guy I was keen for had not asked for my number nor shown much interest in me. I left thinking that I’d blown things by being so flirty-flirty with my friend J…

Continues in part two soon…

Beautiful Blogger Award

Yipeeeee! This is so exciting! My very first blogger award! I’d like to thank my mom and my dad and my fiancé and my doglets and…and…and… Actually I’d like to thank MamaMeeA who awarded this to me!

The rules say I have to share 7 random facts about me before nominating 7 bloggers I consider to be beautiful.

1. My absolute favourite song of all time is “Ice ice baby” by Vanilla Ice. I even know all the words!
2. My hair is naturally curly but I straighten it with my GHD to within an inch of it’s life every day. Oh the joy and time I’d save if I’d been born with straight hair!
3. I have such a sweet tooth that I recently ate an entire carrot cake on my own! Ok, so it took a week to eat it but only because I only had slices in the evenings after work. (I did think about taking it to work to share it, but in this case, sharing isn’t caring!)
4. I watched City of Angels for the first time last weekend. Apparently I was supposed to ball my eyes out, but I think all the fore-warning from my Twitter friends dried my tear ducts.
5. I own two gorgeous pairs of pink knee-high socks. One pair is made up of puzzle pieces in baby pink and bright pink.
6. I am addicted to my TV series. So much so, that I don’t know what I’d do without my PVR. Sad, but true…
7. I wear contacts because my eyesight is so bad. I’m actually so blind that when I don’t wear my contacts or glasses, I can barely see a fly on my nose. Ok, so maybe it’s not that bad, but I’m still quite blind!

And now to the nominations…
Alice, Ann, Cazpi, TwistyGirl, BananaRamaGirl, Hayley, and CamillaCams.

Hugs & Kisses
Jessica Giggles