Easter Fun with Photos!

Easter this year was pretty stinking fun!

I got to hop around Arnaud's and dye Easter eggs. You can't ask for much more than that... Enjoy the photos!

Dying Easter Eggs the night before:

Notice Doug's completely inappropriate shirt....Yeah. That was a gift from my parents.


And now I can eat the Bread Pudding from The Pelican Club....who's in?

Cinco Cinco Cinco de Mayo!

It's a funny thing that happens when you get engaged. No matter how recently you got engaged, the first question that comes from nearly everyone is "so when's the date?" Being quite practiced at dodging the "so when are you getting married" question, I found it a simple transition to start saying things like, "well, the dating period took 3.5 years, so the engagement should probably be about twice as long." This is a very effective tool for deflecting the question away from me. Unfortunately for Lizzie, that means she gets questions from her friends and family, as well as my own.

Behold, friends and family, for we have now chosen a date. I still don't fully understand how everything aligned on this one (nor will I ever) -- but Cinco de Mayo 2012 we'll be tying the knot. I've been singing my own rendition of a Cinco de Mayo song since I suggested the date -- and have even cut off discussions of other dates by singing said song. I looked for something similar to link for you here, but instead, I decided to post this cat with a lime helmet. It's essentially the same thing.

Lizzie has been asking if we have to serve margaritas and sangria at the reception now. I think the answer is a resounding "SI!" I also think we should do a Mexican hat dance and give out serapes and sombreros as party favors. We should probably hire a mariachi band and get Felipe's to cater the whole thing. I think my boutonnière is going to be a chili pepper. And the entire ceremony can be in Spanish! Soy amante de asta idea!

Feeling the Love...

I would like to state for the record that I have some amazing friends and family.

We have received an outpouring of love and support through phone calls, facebook, text messages, and gifts mentioned in the last post. Most of this shared love has been for Doug and I as a couple, but lately I have been getting some special Lizzie love from some special people.

First of all, the night Doug proposed my mom made me an awesome white tulle wreath. It has

wine charms on it that says "bride" and "groom". This wreath is still hanging on my door today. I will probably not take it down until Sarah makes me... :)

My mom is really handy and I think she will be making all kinds of things for the wedding.. LOVE

YOU MOM!

A few days later a box arrived. Now to set the stage,I want to let the readers know that I get many boxes each day. Sometimes FedEx and UPS have so many boxes for me that it blocks my door. It is all always work related and I stack them up to be opened when I get moment. It just so happened this said box arrived on a Thursday and it got stacked with my other boxes until Monday the following week. As I began to open it, I realized this was not a work related item. I had just received my first gift package. Jaime MM had sent me a gift I had just shopped online for. It is a beautiful ring holder.

Then I get a sweet card from my Aball. As she flies around the country she still finds time to buy me a card and send it. I am seriously feeling the love now...

Not to go all sentimental on you, but I guess I can because it is my blog... I am so glad to have this particular friendship back in my life. Great people come into your life for a reason and stay there. I think this friendship is a keeper. Hugs to you Aball.

THEN.....FLOWERS ARRIVE!! Yesterday, lilies

and tulips arrive on my doorstep from DJ and Steve (Doug's Mom and rockin' hubby). I displayed them in two different vases in two different rooms as I LOVE flowers. THEN today I get another batch of them...Evidently there was some delivery error and the way they fixed the error was to ship me more flowers!

Clearly, I win!

So...just to be clear. I have amazing friends and family. Thank you all so much for your love and support. I appreciate all you do for us. We love you all. :) HUGS

(in review, this is a really sappy post....I guess I will leave

the clever to DB and the sappy to me... LOVE, Lizzie)

The winning-est couple

This weekend marks a first in couple-dom. Lizzie and I both made playoffs in the 3rd ever Official Hula Ball Championship Tournament. Hosted at Hanby-the-Younger house, the Hula Ball tournament attracts competitors from all over the Gulf Coast region. We had a good turnout this season, and with 2 courts running full time during the round robin pool play, more Hula Ball was packed into a single day than ever before.

Some of you may not know what Hula Ball is. For that, I am sorry. Perhaps an intro video would serve you well here. Alas, one does not exist. I'll write a letter to the commissioner(s). For now, this explanation will have to suffice. Think about a bean bag toss at your 6th birthday party. You take the handheld bean bag, throw it at a piece of plywood with a clown painted on it and holes cut in his eyes and mouth, and the object is to get the bean bag in the hole. Now, replace the bean bags with a football. Set the clown face on fire. Put a hula hoop on the smoldering ashes. Put another one 25 feet away. Get a friend and a drink. That's Hula Ball.

It's significantly more sophisticated than that, but I don't know that I could explain it without some form of visual diagram. And it's too late for me to open Visio or Powerpoint for this post.

Suffice to say, Lizzie and I both made the playoffs. This is a first not only for the female gender, but also for a couple to enter the playoffs is unheard of. I'm proud of you, Lizzie. (Nevermind that she beat me last season and was much closer to being in playoffs than I was -- these are but mere details)

Thanks go to Jeff and Erin for hosting the event. Also for surprising us with these awesome engagement cupcakes! They were white chocolate macadamia and chocolate deluxe. We thoroughly enjoyed them and everyone's company at the tournament. Sadly, I lost in the final round, but at least I could drown my sorrows in sugary goodness.

Switching gears (but in a similar vein), we'd like to throw out some more public gratitude. Special thanks go to both Ashley and Andrew for their very thoughtful engagement card. Apparently, Ashley had planned to give us the card together, but she got too excited and gave it to Lizzie. Lizzie somehow managed to wait to open it together with me. Ashley has told us that Andrew is excited because this engagement marks one step closer to Andrew and I becoming brothers. I couldn't agree more.

Thanks is also due to Brooke for what arrived in my mailbox on Saturday. For the last 2 years, I've run the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge at Disney. Both times, Lizzie couldn't make it with me due to scheduling conflicts, and both times, Brooke managed to take some time to come out and show some support (thanks, Brooke!). I do like that the artist renditions of height proportions are ridiculously accurate. I'm also tempted to wear the buttons to work one day if only to get reactions out of coworkers. Incidentally, my boss is going to be leaving for Disney this week. Well played, Brooke!

Doug pops the question!...April Fools!!.... or not??

Family and Friends,

It has been a few weeks. I will give you all the details here...

Some back story you should know:

1. Two years ago Doug played a cruel and terrible April Fools joke on his parents. During the day, he sent an email to them saying he had proposed and I had accepted. This is the email he sent:

"I've got some big news for everybody! I popped the question to Lizzie last night and she said yes! I thought about it for a long time, I think she's the one for me. Pop, I know you haven't gotten to meet her yet, but I'm sure you'll like her.

At any rate, we'll be getting married at St. Louis Cathedral within the next 2 years or so. There's a long waiting list, and to even get a tentative date on the waiting list, you have to go through a bunch of tests and such. I'll let you know when we get a date.If you want to come down, I think we're having an engagement party / crawfish boil on the 13th of April. There will be a bunch of people there, it should be a good time.

Just wanted to let you know, I'll call you all later!

Love, doug"

So, with this email everyone was very excited. Grandparents were even notified. So when he called to tell them it was a joke, they were quite upset. They told him no one would believe him when he finally did do it. So....he thought as it would be funny, he really should propose on April Fools...

2. I had a giftcard for Arnaud's to be used.

3. I used to work at Arnaud's and it holds a special place in my heart. I still know many of the people who work there.

4. Doug is a smart man.

Now that you have the back story, here goes:

On Friday, April 1, 2011, we left for dinner at Arnaud's. We had planned to go here to use the gift card.

before dinner

Once we arrived, no one seemed excited that we were there. No hints or extra smiles. Charles walked by us a few times with out noticing us. Everyone looked genuinely surprised to see me. We had a delicious dinner, but I barely ate my food as I was nervous to what he was going to do. I knew he was going to do something, but I was unsure of what. (As you read, he loves pranking people on April Fools....)

at dinner

When we were done with our food, Lisa (my old boss) stopped by to chat. She put on a great show pretending she did not remember Doug and had no idea I was going to be at dinner that night. She asked how everything was going and chatted for a few minutes. She then tells me about how they changed the Edison park upstairs and says that if I have time I should go check it out. Doug took care of the bill (with the help of the lovely gift card) and we headed up to the Edison Park.

We walked in to an empty room…well almost empty. The room really was different and I was looking around at the changes. After a few moments I notice the table in the back of the room. On the table was a silver tray of chocolate covered strawberries with an open ring box in the middle. I froze and Doug said I stopped breathing, but was making strangled noises.

He took my had and led me to the table. All I saw was a ring and knew he was about to propose. I started hugging him and being all cuddly and he pulled me away from him determined…He said “No, no, we are going to do this right..” I said "OK".

He grabbed the ring box and got down on one knee.

not the actual proposal, but in the same spot

He said “Lizzie Peyroux, Will you marry me?” I grabbed his face and said “Yes, of course!”

I do remember asking him if this was an april fools joke and if he was serious. I made him promise the proposal was real.

After I said yes, Danny came in with champagne and we celebrated!

engaged!

We got to my house and my whole wonderful family (including Andrew) were there! They were all dressed up and ready for the celebration. They had decorated outside and inside with candles and toule. It was so fantastic. We had champagne and Dad toasted us. We ate strawberries and I told them all how he proposed. We toasted in the champagne flutes we will use at the wedding!

the family!

The night was a success on all fronts! Doug did a wonderful job surprising me and planning the whole thing. I could not be happier!!!

On a side note: Doug asked for my hand in marriage a month ago. He asked my dad (with Andrew in the room) and Ashley's new house. My favorite part is my dad's answer, "Permission Granted!"

I am going to be Mrs. Douglas George Brown!

The New Blog...

Ok, so I have a few notes to make:

1. When Doug signed up for lizzieanddoug.com I wondered why he did not request dougandlizzie.com instead? I would assume he wanted his name first... So we started to do some research and I found about 4 couples in the US with our names! So wild....one couple even has pictures of their cats posted. Oddly, they have 2 and one looks exactly like Kit/Hootrat.

All of the Lizzie and Doug's look pretty cool! Here they are for your enjoyment:

http://dougandlizzie.blogspot.com/

http://dougandlizziejaffa.blogspot.com/

http://dougandlizzy.blogspot.com/

http://dougliz.blogspot.com/

So we are the 5th Doug and Lizzie on the internet....and here we though we were original... :)

2. Here is our old travel pod if you are bored one day:

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/lizziep/1/tpod.html

3. I will post the proposal story for those not on Facebook...eventually....

4. No date is set. Maybe 2012..? I will keep you updated...

Those are all the official updates. I will also make a wedding website later once we actually pick a date.

Love and hugs to all!

Lizzie

Invitation Draft Night

In an effort to make planning more entertaining, Lizzie and I held an invitation draft night on Wednesday night. We both took turns drafting people to invite to the wedding. The agreed-upon metric? Who can assemble the team that will return the RSVP cards the quickest.

We took care of the first 100 invitations on Wednesday -- 50 people for each team so far. Lizzie did significantly more scouting before the draft to figure out the best picks, but I can say I am quite happy with how my team turned out.

We've received lists from both of our parents, and I think the free agent round will start shortly, so all invited guests will be drafted to a team.

Go Team Groom!