For those who like to shop

Macys Friends and Family sale is going on now. Enter code: MACYSFF at check out to get 25% off and Free Shipping over $99.


Or if you want to shop in store you can print out this cuopon and use in store.

enjoy.

Where have I been?

Some of you may recall a previous post of mine about losing our guest list (which was done in excel) as well as SEVERAL other wedding related things I had been working on and stupidly saved to the hard drive. Last Tuesday was not a good day.

The computer froze on me and then windows would not reboot. I was annoyed. Especially since I had JUST reinstalled my new printer, all the drivers, and all the patches. Luckily I had printed out our wedding guest list.

I have been telling the Man all along that there has been something wrong with the computer since we got it (a little less than a year ago) and that he should bring it back to Best Buy (where he bought it) and have them look at it and fix the problem while it's still under waranty.

I kept saying it and saying it and really, I felt like a nag, but seriously, why wouldn't you have something fixed for free (while it's still under waranty)? After unsuccessfully trying to reinstall windows and having it load sometimes, and not others... the Man finally agreed that something was wrong with it and that it should be looked at.

By some miracle, he managed to find the receipt which showed the purchase dat of May 18, 2008. Yay, still under waranty! So right now our computer is being looked at by professionals, and we won't have it back for a few weeks.

Therefore, my blogging will be light for several weeks.

I also managed to contract a Virus on my work computer last week. My whole computer had to be reformatted to get rid of it. I finally got it back today (almost a whole week after the incident occured).

Here's to hoping for a better week!

The Make-up Counter

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What size did you say?

Some of my bridesmaids were hit hard by the failing economy. Because of that, we weren't able to place the order for the bridesmaids dresses as early as I wanted to.

As a reminder, this is the dress my fabulous 6 ladies will be rocking:
Since we were ordering to dresses from Davids Bridal, I didn't think placing a later order would be a problem.

WELL, I was right. The dresses have been coming in staggered. Some came in a few weeks ago, some last week, one came in this week, one hasn't come in yet.

The girls have been getting really excited to be getting their dresses.

I, however, have been feeling a bit more like this:




You see, 5 out of the 6 dresses have arrived. Bridesmaid Mini-me and MOH Cooper's dresses came in first. Mini-me's dress was too small and didn't fit. MOH Cooper's dress hasn't been tried on yet by her as I have been unable to drop it off at her house due to our differing schedules.

Next, College and Hot Maman's dresses came in. I was quite worried about their dresses. You see, they don't live anywhere close to a DB, so they had to call in their measurements. Davids used thier book to convert the measurements into the sizes and I knew right away the sizes they were told sounded too big. When their dresses came in, they were shipped to their homes. Sure enough, the dresses were massive and didn't fit.

Lastly, Partner in Crime's dress came in this week. She went to pick it up today and realized that it's too small also.

So right now, I'm 0/4 with 1 undecided and 1 that hasn't come in yet. Anyone who's good at math knows those are not good odds.

Luckily, DB has been really good about letting the girls exchange/return their dress for a new size. However, they have all had to reorder the new dresses and we have to wait for them to come in again. I'm hoping the 2nd round of dresses is truer to size and fit better than the first batch!

Have you had any bridesmaid dress blunders? how willing was your salon to fix the problem?

Bridal Accessories

I have gotten most of my bridal accessories thus far.

Veil, check.

Originally, I wasn't going to buy a veil. I think they are really expensive for what you get. I was thinking of asking my grandmother to make me one (she's quite the sewer), but then I had to go and fall in love with a fingertip veil from Davids Bridal that was adorned with Swarovski crystals. My mother offered to buy it for me, along with my dress and undergarments (bustier, crinoline),so I took her up on the offer. Thanks mom, you totally rock!

Tiara, Check.

Jewelry, check.

Shoes, Check! After about a million and one tries, I think I got the right ones. Love them.


However, there are a few accessories I have yet to purchase.

One being a garter. Which is a story for another day.

Today, today, I'm going to focus on the 2nd accessory I'm laking, a bridal clutch. I'm not hugely a clutch person, so I really don't want to spend a ton of money on one because I probably won't be using it often.

The criteria: Satin, cute and reusable, not expensive, not cheap looking.

I did a little google search and found these clutches to be really cute:

#1 there is just something about it that I love. It may be the pleats, it may be the roses made out of fabric...

#2 Loving the bow (seriously before wedding shopping I wasn't into bows, but now in the midst of shopping, I find them strangly appealing)

#3, okay I don't think this is satin, but it's cute!

OR if I wanted to go sans white and match my shoes #4

#5 or this little cutie

Then I found this one on etsy,

It's satin and hot pink, and check out the ..................

bow.

Does the bow not totally match my shoes? Go ahead, scroll back up and check it out. Too bad the fabric is Ivory and not White! Although If I really wanted it, I bet I could message the seller and have her make me a white one. However, at $60, it is more than I want to pay and I'm not completely sure if I want to write off an all white one just yet.

This isn't a contendor for the wedding, but it sure is cute (and half off right now)! Rehersal Dinner anyone? Makes me wish I was a clutch kind of girl or willing to part with $78.

The problem I'm having right now is that ALL of the clutches I have found that I like are significantly more than I'm willing to spend on a clutch for the wedding. The cheapest one was the etsy one, and at $60, I still found that to be more than I wanted to spend. Am I being cheap here or do the prices of clutches seem to be a little exorbitant?

Are you adding a splash of color into you wedding with your clutch?

For the Crafty-Girls

I find myself spending more and more time at our local craft store as the wedding draws closer.

This week AC Moore is offering a coupon for 25% off your entire order (sale items included). I saw the add last week in the paper and I've been waiting for what seems like forever to use it. Trying to hold off any craft purchases until this week as been tough. I'd like to say I succeeded, but I stopped by on Saturday and bought a few things so I could do a mock up of a project I now plan on creating.

Happy crafting ladies.

We're Registered!

The man wanted nothing to do with registering for gifts, which was disappointing, because lets face it, the gift registry is for items for our future and I really didn't want to chose those things alone. However, I do like shopping and picking out new things so I figured it would be a lot of fun to actually register for gifts. I have been wanting to go for months.

Since the Man didn't want to go register with me (well actually we tried to go together once and he got very overwhelmed and annoyed), I decided to start our registry online so that I wasn't too overwhelmed/distracted with all the choices.

We had decided to register at Bed, Bath and Beyond(BBB) and Target (well, I decided Target). I began our registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond online a few weeks ago. I added things here and there when I had time to log in and do it. It was really nice being able to log on whenever I wanted and add an item here, take an item off there, or just to change a color. I was really loving it. I added a LOT of small kitchen things that everyone needs and hates buying for themselves. The Man and I have a lot of acquired items for the kitchen. Not all of them are nice. I do have a pretty kick a** set of pots and pans my parents bought us for Christmas, and some nice silverware. Other than that, we could use a lot of updated things for the kitchen. Picking these small things out online was really more optimal than picking them out in store.

I decided there were certain items I needed to see in person before registering for them. Bath towels were at the top of the list. Highly needed, but I wanted to make sure they were of good quality.

I had been planning on heading up to BBB this weekend to finish off the registry there, and then heading over to Target to add some fun items. I just happened to be talking to MOH Cooper and she, like a great friend, asked me if I'd like some help. Of course, I said I would. We met up at Target tonight after work and went to town with the scanner and scanning in items for the registry.

Scanning items in at Target was super easy and oh so fun. So easy in fact, I may have gotten a little carried away. Of course Cooper was there encouraging me to register for as much as I could. I enjoyed registering at Target a lot, but I am a little annoyed that not everything is in the store that I registered for. There were a couple items I looked up when I got home and added and they are "online only" items. And one item that was on sale in the store is showing up as "unavailable" eventhough I scanned it in the store. Nonethe less I found a bunch of stuff I really liked at Target. Coming in at the top of my list is a set of casual dinnerware. I actually had scanned in another item in store, but was looking online later and came across these pretties(they were not in the store):
They are Corelle and theyare fabulous. I L-O-V-E the practicality of Corelle. We use Corelle on an everyday basis now. I'm tired of the set I have, i've had them for a VERY long time. Plus I LOVE that this set comes with Soup bowls.

I currently have a set of stoneware that I was hoping to update with a new set of stoneware, but I didn't find any I really liked. They were all a little boring to me. After scanning away at Target, Cooper and I headed over to Bed, Bath and Beyond across the way. I found some super towels and some other pretties...


I had also decided awhile ago that we would have no use for China.... but when I was in BBB I saw some georgeous sets and *kind of* changed my mind. (While I didn't see THIS Mikasa set in the store, there were some other pretty ones. If this Mikasa set wasn't out of stock, I may have registered for it because it is simply devine).


Although it would be nice to own a set of fabulous Fancy China, then Man and I are not fancy shmancy and neither are ANY of our friends. Therfore, fancy shmancy China wouldn't get any use and would just collect dust. *sigh* So pretty though.

But wait a minute, what is this? China that is fancy enough to serve our guests on, but not to fancy to make us look pretentous.... it's dishwasher safe, microwave and oven safe, and comes in some fabulous designs.

I LOVE this "every day" china set by Lennox



(If you haven't notice my butterfly addiction yet, you haven't been paying close enough attention.) Don't you just Love?

Did you end up registering for something you absolutely thought you wouldn't have on the registry?

I'm a browse-aholic

I'm a cheap shopper... normally.

I hunt down bargains and get great deals by using discount codes, free shipping codes, cupons...you name it- I've probably used it to save money.

Somehow, while wedding shopping, I seem to have thrown all my knowledge for "deals" out the window. Instead of hunting down the best bargain prices and deals, I find myself swooning and drooling over things that are much more extravagant, and out of my budget. I will admit that I've ALWAYS been drawn to things that are expensive, but usually I find a good deal on it, or I will find something similar for a better price.

These days I can't help but browse online at all the pretty summer dresses. I keep trying to justify purchasing these lovelies with thoughts of "I can wear that to a wedding related event and then I'll wear that again" or "i can use that all the time" or my favorite, "i'll need new dress up clothes for the honeymoon," when the reality of the matter is, I would like to think i'd have an occasion to wear these pretties to again, but I'm not the dress-up-all-the-time kind of girl, so i'm not sure if I would get the milage out of them. So for now, I'll just lust after them.

this is such a pretty turquoise! It would bring a nice splash of color to the rehersal dinner.

and I also think this would make a more elegant and cute rehersal dress

it's on sale now, but still a little more than I want to pay for a dress


Oh Betsy, what you do to me....seriously

would these not be fun to wear out to your Bachelorette party?




wow, can you tell I like pink?

If this came in my size and was about $300 cheaper, it would make such a cute shower dress...

*sigh*

Have you lusted over wedding attire that was just plain out of the budget?

My Personal Trainer

If you want a killer work out, get some 5lb weights and a personal trainer. If you can't afford a personal trainer like me, get the next best thing,

a killer work out dvd. And I mean kill-her, as in Jillian makes me want to kill her with her "squat jacks" and "lunging curls," but I know it's for the best, so I comply in hopes of making my body look jacked someday like hers.

She's worked miracles on "the biggest loser" so when I heard about this DVD on some of the wedding boards, I ran out to walmart and spent my money happily. Then I found out it was a good workout AND only 20 minutes. I think I can spare 20 minutes. I didn't buy this DVD thinking I was going to lose 20 lbs in 30 days, I knew THAT wouldn't happen. I was just looking for a killer workout, and like promised, Jillian delivered.

The DVD consists of 3 levels. When I first started doing "the shred," as I call it, I was aiming to complete level 1 every other day. I began "shredding" last fall and I wasn't noticing a drop in weight, but I will not say I didn't notice a difference. The first thing I noticed was how Strong I felt after I completed the work out. I don't know what it was about Jillian, but she made me feel buff, even if I wasn't *quite* there yet. I noticed inches coming off and toning occuring. I liked the results I was getting even though it wasn't showing on the scale. I just *felt* like I was getting ripped. I think If I had continued shredding that I would be in a lot better shape right now, but alas, I did not. The Man started getting out of work earlier, and so I gave up my Jillian workouts at night because he was always there, and to be honest, I don't want anyone seeing me jump around that much.

We ended up getting a new dvd player recently and have since put our old one down in the basement with an old tv which makes for the perfect spot to "Shred." I just began shredding again this week.

I'm not going to lie, the first work-out with Jillian is tough. Really tough. Last fall the first time I tried level 1 I made it halfway through and I couldn't walk normally for 3 days. 3 days from 10 minutes of working out! Now, last year when I started, I had been working out everyday on my elliptical for an hour at a resistance of 8, so I thought this little workout dvd would be a piece of cake. I was wrong. But, I got back into it on the 3rd day, and I made it through the workout that time, and doing the moves again actually made my legs feel better. Each time I completed the work out I got a little better at the moves and eventually worked up to being able to complete the "advanced moves." It felt good.

I started at level 2 this time, knowing it was going to be harder than level 1. I had been afraid to move up to level 2 before because I heard it was a lot tougher... but this time I was ready for the challenge. On Monday, the first day I completed level 2, I felt like I was going to throw up afterwards. I made it through the whole work out at level 2 which was great, but I worked out so hard I felt sick. I did it again on Tuesday and made it through just fine.

Jillian makes muscles hurt that I didn't even know I had. Call me what you want, but I like that pain. While it's annoying that it hurts to lift my arm, I know that the pain I'm feeling is because I'm building muscle. Building muscle and shredding fat is the goal, so it's nice to actually "feel" it working. That being said, I'm no fool. I took a break yesterday from Jillian because it hurt to lift my arm, so there was no way I would have made it through lifting weights. Tonight I plan on having Jillian torture me again for 20 minutes. I'm actually looking forward to it, I felt guilty taking the day off yesterday, but I know your muscles need time to heal too.

There is one point in the video, towards the end, when Jillian says, "I want you to feel like you're going to die," and I'm not going to lie, I did feel like that the first day but I also felt a sense of accomplishment.

Anyone else out there shredding on a daily basis? Have you noticed it making a difference?

The letdown

Exactly 4 months from today's date we will be getting married. 4 months is not a long time. We have succeeded in getting many of the wedding projects completed and are currently working on some craft projects which will be completed soon. I feel like I have accomplished a lot in the 8 months we have been planning our wedding.

We've accomplished a lot, however, there is one area that I have not accomplished my goals in. Not even close.

I would love my body to look like this for the wedding and honeymoon.....

I realize if I worked out everyday for 8hrs a day for the next 4 months, I might accomplish that. BUT, who has 8 hrs a day to work out? Not me. Not when I'm working 9hr days. *sigh*

My confession: I have never been skinny or thin. Ever. Well, maybe once, when I was a baby, but not since then.

I was at my "personal thinnest" right before the Man and I began dating. I know the weight I was at isn't considered "skinny" for my height, but having struggled with weight my whole life I couldn't remember a time when I was that thin before, and quite frankly I was feeling great. I was eating right, not drinking alcohol, working out a lot and *it* showed. Not only did it show, but I felt strong and healthy.

I'll admit it, I have gained quite a bit of weight since the man and I started dating 3 years ago. I'm lucky he's in love with me, and not my size. Going out to dinner on dates, eating red meat more often(the man's fave), drinking on the weekends with him, not working out as much and the eventual not working out at all- had a toll on my body and all added up to a chubby girl once again. In the midst of everything I also switched careers and my new job was a more passive one- one where I sit at a desk all day long- not something I was used to.

It happened gradually, and I really didn't realize it at first. I was happy and it had been a long time since I had been happy. It started as a couple pounds here and a couple pounds there. Since I no longer worked out in my free time, not only had I gained weight, but all the muscle I once had from working out, was now gone as well. And then one day, I realized those couple pounds here and there had all added up. Actually, it didn't happen like that. It wasn't a magical moment where I just realized that I'd put on some weight. I had seen a recent picture of myself from a friend's birthday party and then I saw a not-so-recent picture of myself from several years ago, and it made me realize how much I had gained. The camera doesn't lie.

I hated how I was looking and feeling (tired, sluggish, unmotivated). I decided it was time to lose the weight I had gained over the last three years.

I began my weight loss journey last January.

I decided we needed to start eating healthier which meant less red meat. Even though the Man complains about leaner meats, I think it is important to our health for us to eat more lean meats than red meats. I also introduced the Man to ground turkey instead of ground beef. He actually likes it! I stopped drinking beer on the weekends with the Man which wasn't hard because I don't really like beer. We got one of these:

and I began working out. Every day. At first I didn't see a huge difference in weight being lost, but I was losing inches. Although I knew I was losing inches, it was always nicer when the number on the scale dropped. The weight wasn't dropping very fast (which is good because you aren't supposed to drop it fast), but I was getting quite discouraged. I began working out longer and harder and that is when I saw the difference. I began dropping weight faster, well, faster than I was.

I ended up losing 15lbs between January and June. Not a HUGE feat, but 15lbs none the less. Then I hit the dreaded plateau. I was stuck at that plateau for a LONG time. I got annoyed because I just couldn't seem to get over the plateau.

Summer had come and we were out on the lake all the time, and not eating as healthy as we were/I was. Cookouts, lots of pasta salads and carbs, and lots of red meat and parties with our friends. I managed to maintain my loss for the rest of the year, although I didn't lose anymore. Maintaining is just as hard for me, if not harder, than losing, So I was quite proud of that.

This year my focus isn't on just LOSING weight but on becoming a healthier person. It's more of a lifestyle change for me now. I know my vises and I'm trying to eat those in moderation or not at all. My problem isn't so much in snacking as it is in portion control and carbohydrates and especially portion control with carbohydrates. I bought a food scale so I could portion out my food, and I know EXACTLY how many calories I'm eating

Since I can't do it on my own, about halfway through last month I began tracking my food on Livestrong , previously known as the daily plate. I believe that it helps keep me honest about what I'm eating, and it also helps me realize when I'm eating too much. When I don't count calories it's like a free for all.

I also quit drinking diet soda. I weaned myself off it slowly. It had been a main portion of my liquid consumption everyday. I cut myself back to 1 a day which was hard to do, and then eventually about 3 weeks ago, I cut the diet pepsi out of my life too. I still like it. Nothing beats a cold diet pepsi in a can on a hot day, but I'm trying to make water beat it. I've began drinking a lot more water during the day and at night I have a Diet Arizona Green Tea (which is so good The Man drinks it on me and he's not an iced tea kinda guy).
I also have to bring working out back into my life. It's hard for me to get motivated to work out, but once I do and I get in the zone, it's hard for me to NOT work out every day. I began adding the work outs into my routine again in the beginning of March. I began walking during my half hour lunch break and can get 2 miles in if I push myself, and I was trying to work out on the elliptical at night. My toe problem had me out of commission for a few weeks so now it's time to really step it up a notch.

I, of course, like every bride, want to look great on my wedding day and I have truly ment to lose weight along the way. It didn't happen. I was carelessly putting it off until the next month, over and over again... telling myself I have "plenty of time" to drop some pounds and tone my arms. As the wedding draws closer and closer I get more nervous about not fitting into my dress.

You see, I got my dress back in October. It came in in early February. I tried it on, it fit, but was snug. Really snug. I told myself I would lose at least 10lbs before the wedding and it would fit perfectly.

I have not lost 10lbs since February. I have gained 7lbs since January. 7lbs since I gave up my nicotine addiction for good.

I know quitting smoking was something that will benefit me in the long run, but I can't help but get annoyed at the weight gain that occurred since then. I have not eaten any more than I used to. I am not consuming more calories per day than I used to, it just is what it is. And it is not making me happy in the least bit. Sometimes I feel like it's a never-ending battle of the bulge and the bulge is winning.

I know I am not going to meet my weight loss goals that I had wanted to meet. But I DO still have 4 months to change a little. I originally had wanted to lose 30lbs before the wedding- over the course of the year.... and obviously that didn't happen. It took me 5 months last year to lose 15 lbs, and I only have 4 months left to go so now I struggle with the added pressure of losing at least the 7lbs I gained and hopefully a few more so my dress can fit a little looser.

Anyone else realizing maybe they aren't going to meet their fitness goals before the wedding? Did you revise your plan so it is a little more attainable?

Egg-cellent Choice

For those of you Catholics out there, you all know Easter is coming up on Sunday. The other day I can across an excellent tutorial on dying Easter eggs. Now, it's not your typical "Pals dye in a cup" job, these eggs are super cool and sound quite easy to make(I haven't actually made these yet myself).

I can't help thinking that they would make for a unique and amazing centerpiece for anyone having an Easter wedding who is embracing the holiday into their decor or for anyone who is planning on using eggs in thier decorations. The end product depends on the silk you choose to use when dying, so the results are all in your hands. Play around with different silks until you create the colors and design you want.

So go ahead, head on over to the tutorial and enjoy creating some masterpieces of your own, you can thank me later.

Check out these pretties:




all photos taken from ourbestbites.com

It's Toe-riffic!

About 2 weeks ago, give or take a few days, I blogged about waking up with a "stiff toe," for lack of a better term. My toe just plain felt funny. It hurt, I couldn't bend it, and every now and then it would tingle, and oh how it hurt to walk on it. I originally thought it was from smashing the foot pedal on the drums for "rockband" too hard, but have since changed my mind. I vaguely remember doing it. I smashed my foot right into the stairs. I remember it hurting like it had never hurt before.... and then I went to bed and woke up the next day with the toe problem.


On Saturday I was convinced it was broken, as I was walking around a lot that day and in a lot of pain. However when i googled broken toe images, mine didn't look like those. It also wasn't bruised which is a sign of a broken toe. I decided it wasn't broken but that something was def. wrong with it and I had better take it easy for the week.

I have been being lazy and not working out at night because my toe hurts to walk on it so I definately can't run on my elliptical.

What this means is that instead of working out after work like I've been trying so hard to do, I have been playing around with wedding crafts. Table numbers in particular. I know it's a long way off, but I'm trying to get the small details out of the way now so when spring finally comes around I won't be stuck in the house.

At first I was thinking of making Table number illuminaries, but since I couldn't find the right cylindar vases and they were more $$ than I wanted to spend when i did find them, that I would try something else and see how that came out.
I was trying to have table numbers that were different than the normal paper number.
Here is a prototype table number that I made:

yay or nay?

Are you working on your little details yet? Have you stumbled across some good ideas for table numbers?