Goodbye to an old friend & welcome to a new one...

I posted a few months back that one of our kitties had gotten sick & barely pulled through. That was Smokie-- he was a sweetheart, always wanted to cuddle and be near someone. He passed away last Sunday.

(Mr. Smokie wrapped up like a baby a few months ago.)
Blackie was Smokie's brother & I never realized how much loss can affect an animal! Blackie was visibly sad the week after Smokie's death-- he wanted to be in our laps (which isn't normal for him) and he wanted a ton of affection.

Well, Mike thought it would be good to get another cat (not to replace Smokie, of course...but to give Blackie a companion. Introducing: Pinkie!

We adopted Pinkie from the Tulsa Animal Shelter- she'd been there her entire life & is 15 weeks old. She's a "dilute torti" (basically a watered down tortoiseshell) which means instead of black & gold fur, she has gray & pink!

At first Blackie wasn't so sure about her...but she was persistent!

The shelter said that it can take about a month for an existing cat & a new one to get along-- they only took a week! They nap together & play together- its adorable.

Here's Miss Pinkie engaged inher favorite activity--playing!!

And heres Blackie doing his favorite thing--relaxing!!

We <3 her!

WE NEED ELECTRICITY!!!

We were right in the middle of the lovely storm that rolled through mid-town at around 6 am Tuesday morning... the pics above show some of the damage. We actually had part of a tree fall on our roof! The houses around us are in far worse shape-- holes in roofs, cars crushed by falling trees etc. We're still without power...it sucks!!!

 

The Beginning of the "Birthday Week"!

Mike likes to make fun of my family for our love of birthdays. We don't just celebrate on the actual day...its kind of like Hannaukah--a week-long celebration. But, I think Mike is getting the hang of things-- he's booked a suite at the Cherokee Casino for this weekend! We're checking in Saturday afternoon, lounging by the pool all day, then eating dinner at McGill's (yummy steaks!) and then...gambling!!! I'm so excited, he's the best!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm a grown-up too!

I figured I'd show off my business card since Brooke was! Yay for Memorial Day weekend-- I'm excited! We have a bachelor/bacheloretter party and a wedding this weekend, plus a cleaning frenzy for Mike's mom & step-dads upcoming visit!

Hope everyone has a great long weekend!

Hanso Foundation?

LOST WAS AMAZING LAST NIGHT!!!!!

I can't say much b/c Brooke can't know details, but it was soooo good!!! WTF is going on? I have a million questions & theories... guess we'll have to wait for next season!

American Idol was also last night--

I know I'm probably the only dork who watches it (or admits to watching it!!) Taylor won & I was happy! My mom just bought tickets for us for the American Idol tour in September in Dallas. Its tradition for us to go together every year (and this year we got amazing seats!!)

Big Brother is starting soon, can't wait for that show!

Random Monday Post

Here are some random pics that I've had on my cell phone for a while:




















this is a giant shopping cart that we saw at the Drillers game last week-- Ihave no idea why it was there, but we found the need for photos!!








































Mike thought it would be humorous to have random pics of him drinking at restaurants... the first 2 are of his "end of the semester ginormous celebratory margarita". (ignore the 2nd straw, I didn't drink a drop of it!)






































Memories of Japan & sake!!







































looking forward to girly happy hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tulsa Knottie GTG

So I had the theory that if I actually met some of the girls I talk to on the knot, then I wouldn't be so crazy. We had a knottie get together at the Brook on Monday-- it was the most fun!!! It was almost 3 hours straight of wedding talk!!!! I was in heaven... here are a few pics:

(the girl next to me is our wedding coordinator!)

My Latest Obsession:

http://talk.theknot.com/BOARDS/User/Profile.aspx?UserID=52498



seriously, everyday I update it-- I need professional help!

Wise Guy

I have to brag for Mike, since he won't do it for himself. He found out yesterday that he made an "A" in his last Master's degree class, which means he'll graduate with a perfect 4.0 for his Grad school work!!To top it all off, he posted his resume on www.monster.com yesterday morning & within 4 hours he had a call from a recruiter about a kick-ass job in NYC!!! I'm proud of him!

Why?!?

K-Fed is ruining her!

heres the story

Sick of Tulsa

this is a post to feel sorry for myself. if you don't want to join me for a pity party, you might want to skip this one. i'm so tired of living in tulsa!!! all of my close friends live elsewhere, i'm ready for a change!! take my bridesmaids for example-- only 2 of the 5 live here. it sucks. okay, vent over. tomorrow i'll be in a better mood, i promise.

Let them eat cake!!

we met with our cake baker yesterday & decided these are our cakes! We'll probably do the first cake without the flowers, I'm still deciding.

Groom's Cake: ours will be like this except square. Instead of doing chocolate shavings on it, our baker is going to do crumbled reese's peanut butter cups- our favorite!! We have to decide if we want chocolate covered strawberries on it or hand made chocolate truffles...decisions, decisions!

yum!!!

never leaving the house again!

so its sunday afternoon...we had just eaten at marie callenders for their fabulous brunch buffet & decided to drop by best buy to walk off the food...and we left with these!! Mike & I had our eyes on the tv for a while now- its a 42 inch Sony LCD HDTV-- its amazing!! its crazy big & the picture is soooo good. we also got a really cute tv stand, which we managed to put together in an hour! so, like i said- we're never leaving the house again. we have netflix & our lovely tv. if you guys don't hear from us for a while, come check on us!

Rock School

ROCK SCHOOL welcomes viewers to the hallowed halls of The Paul Green School of Rock Music, an after-school institution in Philadelphia. Here, kids ages 9 to 17 learn the how-to's of rock under the tutelage of Paul Green, a self-proclaimed "uberlord" of the genre. A far cry from your typical after-school tutor, Green rants, harangues, begs and pleads - anything to get through to his students. Green left home at age 16 and put himself through an Ivy League university before founding the country's most unique school for rock 'n' roll.

ROCK SCHOOL follows a semester of Paul working with his students - some amazingly talented, some lacking discipline - and chronicles his unorthodox methods of teaching. But is Paul a genuine rock legend in the making, or is he an overgrown Peter Pan? Part Spellbound and part Jack Black's School of Rock, ROCK SCHOOL follows Green as he leads his ragtag group of kids through individual instruction, group lessons and endless hours of practice to a final "kick-ass" concert. The drama builds as Paul's honor roll kids head to Germany to perform in the 2003 Zappanale festival dedicated to famed rocker Frank Zappa. Will they bring the audience to their feet or - in Paul's worst nightmare - be dismissed as a bunch of cute kids who tried?

Has anybody watched this? Its on A&E- I think its only going to play a few times. Makes me think of Paul! I wanna see it!

The stork came

and left two new mice!! Since the untimely death of Mr. Rick James, Mike & I have been wanting to get new mice. We went yesterday & adopted Mary-Kate & Ashley. They're adorable-- pics tomorrow!!

i need a muse

i haven't posted in a long time- mainly because i have nothing to say (at least nothing you guys would find interesting). All I have to talk about is wedding details, which are boring to anyone but me! I promise I'll try to find some inspiration soon!!

Heres a basic rundown on what Mike & I have been up to:
drillers game on friday night=fun!! cheap beer + hotdogs!!
saturday was a lazy day at the house
sunday we had a cookout w/ my family ( and kicked my parents ass at Trivial Pursuit-Pop Culture edition! so.muchfun.

This is the Easter Bunny!

German rabbit breeder Karl Szmolinsky presents his giant male breeding rabbit 'Robert' in Eberswalde, eastern Germany, February 2006. In a tale reminiscent of the last Wallace and Gromit movie, furious villagers in northeast England have hired armed guards to protect their beloved communal vegetable gardens from a suspected monster rabbit.

(AFP/File/Michael Urban)

I <3 The Amazing Race!

last night was spent in front of our television. we had the amazing race, american idol results show & Lost. I won't talk about Lost since I know Brooke reads this (but I will say I LOVED last nights episode!!). This is my favorite season of the amazing race ever!! I love the hippies & i was really sad to see the nerd couple leave- they were so cute. other than our television viewing, we've been pretty boring lately. oh, we did decide that we're going to North Carolina for Easter- that should be fun!

manic monday

today has been crazy busy so far--- why do all my csustomers need help at once?? Good news is that I get to go meet with my florist today! She's a good family friend (and is doing all of our flowers at cost!) and she does amazing work...i'm excited to see what my options are for fall flowers.

In other news, Mike is in lockdown until Wednesday (he's studying for a test, working on a project etc). We had fun last night looking at houses/apartments in the cities we might be moving to after the wedding (i'm praying for Boston!!).

flower pics:

My bouquet-- but with more hydrangeas

the boutonnieres are fresh herbs- i love them!

8 Lives Left...

its been a rough 2 days at the russell-solano household. i went out Wednesday morning to feed one of our cats (smoke, Blackie's brother) & found him lying on the ground, not moving & with one of his eyes dialated. Mike & I rushed him to the emergency animal clinic-- --- we were freaking out!

The vet started giving him B12 injections & started an IV-- I asked if whatever he had was life threatening & they advised us to spend some time with him before we left the office. They thought he might've had a stroke or some kind of head trauma.

Wednesday night we went to visit him at the hospital & they said he was in stable condition-- still wasn't moving & his eyes were still dialated. The vet called yesterday morning & told us Smokie was up moving around & doing much better. We got to bring him home late yesterday afternoon.!! He is still a little out of it & kinda weak-- but its a miracle that he survived at all!

here's a pic of smokie from a few months ago--- i had him wrapped up in a blanket & he was pissed!!

228 days

until our wedding. which means 229 days till the honeymoon!! We've been talking about all the places we could go-- and we've found a place we're both excited about: hawaii! specifically, a hawaiian cruise. we've looked into norwegian cruise lines- swimming with dolphins, looking at volcanos(sp?), laying on the beach etc...we're still in the planning stage, but i think this is where we wanna go...

Please be my friend...

To those of you whom i haven't been formally introduced to: my name is Blackie- i have a myspace profile and i'd like to be your friend. if you do add me as a friend, please don't send mean emails (like brooke did, threatening to have her dog eat me!!).

www.myspace.com/blackiesolano

Too much time on our hands...

okay so let me introduce you to mr. rabbit-- he's sitting in our office, on the couch where customers usually sit and i love him! the bunny has been in the family since i was a baby- and my grandma had the crazy idea to bring him to our office for Easter. So we put an insurance shirt on him (notice he's holding an insurance trade journal) andi think he looks fabulous!

mr. rabbit, chillin' on the couch...

oh & one more, just for fun-- mr. rabbit wearing my veil:

Fun!!!

what a good weekend!! friday night mike & i went to see "Failure to Launch"- its a cute chick flick kinda movie-- and since I miss Sex and the City so much- it was cool to see Sarah Jessica Parker in something!

We had a blast at Jenny's housewarming/St. P Day party-- i loved getting to see everyone all at once, in one location! (and, Jenny's house is adorable!!

Finally, Panera on Sunday was fun too!

I was sneaky & took a pic when no one was looking...

and, here's a cute posed one!

Sunday evening, Mike & I went to Hideaway for some yummy pizza!!

I am endlessly amused by his little thumb trick! haha, lame, I know!

Life is good...

We've been slightly anti-social lately just due to all the crap we've been dealing with: Mike submitting a paper to the premier conference on Artificial Intelligence (I'm proud of him!), Me being sick, our house being a horrid dirty mess & wedding planning!! But it looks like things are finally calming down. Sunday Mike took me to lunch at P.F. Chang's, I had the best asian pear mojito EVER & then we took Miss Ellie with us to Woodward Park. Here are a few pics:

I had to include this one. Blackie had gotten some dead leaves caught on his whiskers & was freaking out! (hence the wide-eyed crazy look!)

Blahhhhh

i have been the worst blogger ever. my mom comes back in town tomorrow (yay, no more working by myself!!) and i'm FINALLY starting to feel better. i got to talk to one of my favorite people tonight---stacy (one of my awesome bridesmaids) so that put me in a better mood :)

Coldplay...

We went to Fiona Apple/Coldplay on Monday & it was AMAZING!!! Here are a few pics:

















Its late, I'm going to bed...I'll write more tomorrow!