Introducing...the Bridesmaids!

Since I just introduced the Man and Maid of Honor, it's time for the Bridesmaids, who were all my roommates senior year of college! Together, the initials of our first names spell "BECKS"... so, in that order...

Beth

Beth lived on the same floor as me freshman year, but we were separated by a set of stairs. We didn't get to know each other very well until we lived together senior year with three other close friends of hers (coming right up). That year marked my best time at Northwestern and we enjoyed many a late night discussion, shared knitting projects and goofy stories. Here we are together:

Caitlin

I knew who Caitlin was freshman year of Northwestern. She was the girl with the big crazy blond hair! Since then I have gotten to know her much better, as one of her roommates senior year. We had a lot of amazing conversations, shared our experiences abroad in Europe and I watched and observed and discovered all kinds of things about weird French cheese, Polaroids and a hairstyle called the bouffant. Here, smiling big:

Kate

Kate and I spent quite a few evenings being complete goofballs freshman year, when I managed to sneak my way into the so-called "cave" in our dorm where she lived with 11 (or was it 13?) other women (and one shower). Living together senior year, we also shared a fair share of shenanigans, and when she visited me in Munich a couple of years ago, we found some hilarious men with giant moustaches at Oktoberfest. Here we are, with our giant beers...

Sara

Sara and I were next door neighbors freshman year of college. That means we saw a lot of each other – we even shared a strange single toilet surrounded by a shower curtain with three other women. We didn't become good friends until I begged to be allowed to live with her and her three other close friends (see above and below) senior year of college. That year we had a lot of adventures, from stealing Bush signs from people's yards to hosting crazy parties like our cold-war themed party and doing paint – by – number on our comfy leather sofa. Here we are on a boat in Amsterdam:

Introducing.. the Maid and Man of Honor!

To start out the bunch, I would like to introduce the so-called "ring leaders". Yes, there are two. I hear that in ancient Sparta, Rome and Crete, the Diarchy worked quite well. We have…

MAN OF HONOR – Mr. Mike

Mike is has position number one on this list for many reasons, not least of which being that he has known me since I was six months old!! That's a long time! He's put up with my silliness, my whimpiness, my ridiciulous sense of competetiveness for 26 YEARS. I spent the night at his house when my brother was born, we went to kindergarten together, played in the snow and rain and sun and mud together, and swam on the same swim team for years. Mike taught me about everything important in life because he always knew all the dirty details from his older siblings. And his house was where I got to watch all the PG-13 movies. We used to promise each other that we would get married some day. Since I'm the one breaking that promise first, I'll have to find a good way to make it up to him!

here we are:

MAID OF HONOR – Ms. Nicole

Nicole and I met while studying abroad in Italy, where we discovered our mutual love of simple travel: meeting people, walking around, eating and drinking. During that semester abroad, we spent many weekends zooming around European capital cities and sleeping in strange hostels or on uncomfortable trains and having a GREAT time. We also took our spring break together, making stops all over France and Germany, including Munich and Berlin, the cities which would later become our respective homes.

Here we are:

Next up: introducing the bridesmaids! How did you make your "choices" known to the world?

The Bridesmaid Letters

So, I can FINALLY introduce you to the (long) process of producing my bridesmaid's letters. Basically, I bought these amazing heart-shaped papers that fold up into cards - they are so neat, you just fold all the edges together and the tip of the heart becomes the envelope flap.

Then, I set to work on the text for the letters. Like many of you "modern" blog age people, writing comes faster and better to my when I type. It may be sad, but it's true. So I typed up the text for the letters, and set off with a ruler and a silver pen writing the text on the hearts! I had to be really careful, because it barely fit. I embelleshed the hearts with these adorable gold foil edelweiß thingies that i glued in random places, including the flap of the envelope.

I'll tell you, my hand is not used to writing that much! I got quite an ache and used up almost an entire silver gel pen. But they turned out (I think) really nicely.

I packaged them up and got appropriate stamps (i wanted flowers but I ended up with an african-themed painting for most of them, but it was pretty too) and sent them off! And happily, they all arrived at their destinations unharmed (or so I hear AND most importantly, I convinced all the recipients to say YES! Shortly, I'll introduce you to the "gang", one by one.

Days 8, 9, 10 - Gratitude Challenge

So, it's been awhile! I was quite busy this weekend and wasn't able to write - Mr. Schnitzel and I had a car (his parents') on Friday so we took time off from work to go shopping for our Halloween Party (all the heavy stuff!). It was fun, but totally exhausting. Saturday we had a birthday party, and I, erm, overindulged a bit, and spent Sunday recovering. So that's that!

At any rate, I wanted to update you on the progress of my Gratitude Challenge. Friday's assignment (day 8) was to "send out thank you notes to five people who deserve a little recognition". Luckily, I had just done this, in the form of my bridesmaid letters! I crafted personal "invitations" for each of my Bridesmaids and my MOH(s) (more on that to follow?). In each of these invitations, I thanked the person for their unique qualities. It was a lot of fun, and really confirmed my choices.

For day 9, I was instructed to "enjoy the people around me, and take a moment to appreciate their unique talents, abilities and personalities". I was at a friend's 30th birthday party on Saturday night, so I took that opportunity to look around at all the different people and observe them, noting their quirks as unique and special instead of (how it can sometimes seem) annoying or strange. It worked pretty well!

For day 10, I am to pick one of my five senses and focus on it, "taking note of how many gifts come to me via that single port of entry." Hmm. Well, I wasn't up to it on sunday, so I'll focus on this one today, shifting the challenge a day. The sense I am choosing is: my sense of hearing. I'll let you know later how that's going!

Asking the Bridal Party

Just a quick note (sorry for the total lack of photos lately! They will be coming soon, as soon as I can reveal them)? I am working on finishing my Bridesmaid and MOH letters! After meeting with Oliver, we decided on the bridal party and I set to work. Let's just say they involve a beautiful piece of stationary from one of Munich's many amazing stationary shops, as well as some handwritten loveliness (well, as lovely as my handwriting gets). As soon as they are out and in the hands of their happy recipients, I will post here (I want to surprise them!)

I asked Mr. Schnizel how he would be asking his Best Man/ Groomsmen and he said "I'll ask them over a beer". Well, I guess that is the male equivalent of purple stationary with silver writing?