The plan today was that Howard and Andrew would run the 5k (Andrew very graciously and generously urged me to sleep in rather than to go cheer him on); Kathy would bring Jenn and Ade back to our studio to change clothes and get ready to go to AK once Andrew was back and dressed; and I was to sleep in (try to catch up on some sleep) until it was time to leave for my 10:00 pedicure appointment at SSR Spa with Rhonda.
I was up long before 8 and working on the placecard holders. They were gorgeous little paper chairs that we'd mostly assembled at home -- I "built" and taped them and embellished them (gotta have the bling!
),Andrew had filled them with Disney mints, and I packed them very carefully and brought them in my carry-on. All that was left was to tie the bows and attach the names to them (LOVE glue dots!!!) and package them alphabetized to be delivered to Franck's. But they were/are very delicate because of the pretty chair back and I was concerned about them getting smashed in the process.
By the time everyone arrived at the studio, I had the chairs done and was packing/organizing the boxes for Franck's. Howard created "bumpers" for around the chairs in the box and took over the organizing so I could get a shower, and then he drove me to SSR for a very relaxing hour with my dear friend and race partner, Rhonda.
HINT TO BRIDES: pack a back of supplies like bubble wrap, tape, glue sticks, glue dots, glue gun & glue sticks, scissors, pens, markers, extra pieces of all your ribbon, etc. -- you will not regret it!)
While at SSR I tried to schedule a facial for any of the spas, and was able to get an appointment at GF for 1pm. I've never had a facial before, but my skin was so dry it was actually flaking on my cheeks, so I decided to take the leap. After the pedicure, Rhonda and Michael (her DH) drove me back to BCV. I stopped at the front desk and they were able to get us into a 2 BR on the 4th floor (the studio was on the 3rd floor). Once again, everyone at the front desk was SOOOO nice and very eager to do whatever they could to help us get into our new villa so I could get wedding stuff organized.
Howard and I moved ALL of the stuff (except what was going to Franck's) from the 3rd floor to the 4th floor with no luggage cart and no help from the kids who we'd foolishly sent off to the parks. LOL!! It took Howard and me (no exaggerating) no less than 15 trips to move everything. Howard also made a number of trips to the van to put everything in it that had to go to Franck's. (That is one of the things we really, really enjoy about Beach Club Villas there is a parking lot very close to the villas and a door that leads right to the elevators, unlike GF or WL where we would stay later in the week and burn MANY calories going back and forth to the van parked in sometimes remote locations. While at GF, we used valet almost all of the time) It took us more than 90 minutes to relocate to the 2BR, and then it was time to head to the GF spa.
Side note: Youve heard me mention my notecards. This is where they came in really handy. When you are in a rush, it is easy to forget things it was so nice NOT to have to make a second trip to Francks since there was a card listing everything that had to go to Francks and how stuff was to be grouped (i.e., Ceremony: program vase tied with bow and filled with beads, programs, memorial candle (to be lit before ceremony); Floral (to be delivered to Laura Kidd) Jenns bouquet jewels; GF Bakery (Lenox cake topper castle); PreReception/Reception: Items for guestbook table (guest book, special markers, table tent asking guests to find their page and sign the guestbook, teddy bear), placecards, cake serving set, Precious Moments figurine, menus, table number holders & table numbers, etc. etc. Stuff was grouped with instructions taped to the top. I saw one DIS Bride that did a mock-up of her guestbook table and took a picture so that DFTW would know how it was to be set up I think that was so smart, but we didnt have a strong preference, so we left it to their discretion, and everything looked wonderful. My kids joke about Mom and her lists but everyone has accepted that that is just the way I am and it makes things run smoothly and makes me less
Anyway, everything ended up looking fabulous on the big day (heres a preview from friends pix to make up for my lack of other pix here. LOL!):
Howard drove me to GF spa, dropped off everything to Franck's, went to Gasparilla's for lunch (I'd still only had a leftover nutri-grain bar, a cup of coffee and some Mickey pretzels; Howard had about that much AND had run a 5k, so we were both hurting), and came back to pick me up. We were back at the resort by 2:30 and I grabbed a veggie wrap at the Marketplace. Howard carried Jenns gown, the tuxedos & shoes/accessories and all the stuff from the safe in the studio to the 2BR by himself (poor guy! Hed started his day at 4 a.m. and had already run a 5k with a half marathon and marathon ahead of him). Howard continued to organize the studio for his familys arrival (I wanted to be sure there was cold bottled water and microwave popcorn, plus their welcome bags, etc. and we swapped out the used towels from the studio with fresh ones from the 2BR), I got us unpacked and started making a pile by the front door of everything we needed for the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and the dessert party. (Thats another one of my quirks must have a launch pad where everything gets piled that has to go out the door with us when we are going somewhere. LOL)
Soon, it was time to head to the WISH meet at the POP Century Food Court. YAY!!!
We would be seeing so many of our friends there, some that we hadnt seen in a year and others that we hadnt seen since the Minnie Marathon in May, the Philly half-marathon in September, Marine Corps marathon in October, or the Philly marathon in November. I missed so many of our WISH teammates so much and couldnt wait to get to POP!!