Aisle Trials

Out with the old....is sad

2011-07-31T18:38:00.000-04:00

I'm in the process of editing my life down since I'll be moving to DC pretty soon. I've been going through and getting rid of things as I pack. I'm trying to be heartless, but it's really hard. I'm a pack rat -- mostly because I'm sentimental. I'm finding the hard-won t-shirts to most difficult to part with. I'm trying to sort them into 3 categories: t-shirt quilt (which will probably not get made, but one can hope), good enough to wear to the gym but not quite a good enough shirt or memory to make the quilt, and needs to go. It's that last category that's the hardest. How do I tell these shirts that they're not good enough to make the cut? Most of them are from my high school days (a rough point in my life, as I'm sure it was for everyone). It's hard to say, but do I really need that CHS Debate Team t-shirt when I have 1000 other shirts that are relegated to the gym shirt category? Most of those gym shirts are the more recent ones from undergrad-- a lot of sorority shirts and random fraternity party shirts that one accumulates over four and a half years of attempting to fit in.

Then there are the bags and other paraphernalia with sorority letters on them. I want to bring them back to Tech and drop them off for new Phi Mus, but I know that the chances that I make it down there are sliiiiim. Can I really just throw out my Phi bag? Phi Mu was also a difficult time for me as I struggled to find my place. I was a person who likes to be in the middle relegated to the background and often forgotten about. In many ways, my high school and college experiences were very similar as I floundered in trying to find a somewhere I belonged. I didn't need to be the most popular, but I wanted to be liked and I wanted to have a place. I had one in Middle School (I know, a long time ago). Even though I have only the tenuous of Facebook relationships with those people anymore, I felt like I belonged. Belonging and fitting in was something that I craved and deep down still know that I need. So, it was hard to go through so many years where I didn't have a comfortable stride.

It wasn't until the very, very end that I found a few core friends both within and outside of Phi Mu that made things better for me and made law school easier -- knowing that they were and are a lifeline and whatever place I made in law school I had them. Perhaps this new found confidence allowed me to find a place faster in law school. It's hard to tell.

So, full circle. College years were just as rough, and that Phi bag doesn't necessarily represent the best of times, but at the same time, they were an important part of my life. In a terrible Mandy Moore movie, this old grandmother says, "you never really lose your first love." This is so true. While I would never trade Chris for anything (not even Johnny Depp), and I would never under any circumstances get back together with my first love, I still wonder about him. I keep up with him and make sure that he's doing okay because he was an important part of my life. Somehow by making sure that he is a good person, it validates that milestone. It was important and a good decision. That's the way I feel about that Phi bag. Somehow, by preserving this milestone, it validates that point in my life. I can't give up on it any more than I can give up on my first love, because it would be like rejecting a big part of my life.

So much of this stuff (and I know that's all it is) has followed me around since High School. Most of it I don't look at once it reaches it's new home. It's comforting to know that it's there, though, and it's great to go through things as I repack and enter a new phase of my life and relive what that shirt represents. But, at what point is it okay to say, "that was good; I have the memories I need, and I can move on?" How can I be ruthless with my life and my memories? How do I play Survivor and vote things off Lindsay Island, judging them as being more important than others? I know that I need to get rid of the old to make room for the new, but out with the old....is sad.

I'm a stoner

2011-07-23T10:32:00.002-04:00

So, I thought about keeping these secret, but I don't think I can. Plus, I'm procrastinating studying for the Bar. My brain is at. its. limit. Anyway, I strassed (bedazzled) these shoes last month when I was supposed to be studying. Louboutin and Gucci have their versions which cost around $3000. There are companies that will bedazzle a shoe if you send them yours, but they cost around $1000 and you still have to pay for the shoes! I figure I'm incredibly crafty and could do it myself. I think they turned out great! I'll give you 3 guesses as to how many rhinestones are on a single shoe. I'm trying to decide whether or not to wear them. I have another pair of more "bridal" faboosh shoes. I mean, I guess I can always have a wardrobe change, but the question which to wear when.

I also have these fabulous shoes which will definitely be making an appearance (probably when my feet start hurting). I bought them to boost my esteem for the Bar. They were $4!!! They're probably my favorite shoes of all time. I know you're jealous.

Ring Bearer and Flower Girl Threads

2011-06-12T10:52:00.000-04:00

So, today Chris and I are looking into what our ring bearer and flower girl will be wearing for the wedding. I guess the titles of "ring bearer" and "flower girl" are a little inappropriate because they're 10 and 9 years old -- a little older than traditional bearers and girls; they're probably best called junior groomsman and junior bridesmaid. Unfortunately, there's noone in either of our families that's old and/or young enough to qualify. No matter. Chris and I are not that picky. Chris wants them to wheel wagons with our bunnies down the aisle, but I have a feeling that's a terrible idea. Anything less than professional working animals are a recipe for disaster. So, animals at the wedding would probably be a bad idea unless this was our pet:

In deference to the fact that they are a bit older, I was thinking they could hold a banner together like this:

Unsure. Any suggestion out there about what to do with our questionable-status attendants?

We have decided on what they're wearing. For our flowergirl-junior bridesmaid-whatever:

With this cardigan (or something like it):

Both from J.Crew. I like this cardigan because the color is called "Georgia Peach"

For KC, we're going to get a traditional filipino barong made to match Trina's dress. Chris still has family in the Philippines, and he's been sending out detailed e-mails to describe what we want.

How cute is it with a little hat? I want to get a fedora.

Anyway, that's what's going on the wedding world today. Peace out.

stuff and nonsense

2011-06-03T16:56:00.000-04:00

This is so me:

In case anyone wants to get me this card for the wedding (or any of the other hilar ones), it can be found at Old Tom Foolery, which proudly proclaims that they offer "unsappy, uncrappy, greeting cards and more."

On that note, because I'm procrastinating studying for the bar, there may be more posts of late! There's a lot I want to share.

2011-04-19T16:52:00.001-04:00

I am currently taking up a collection

2011-02-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

I am now taking donations so that I can buy this fabulous Kate Spade dress:

Good news is it's *only* $445 with FREE GROUND SHIPPING. [Sigh] I love everything about it. I love the champagne color, the shape with the full pleated skirt, and the POLKA DOTS. I love polka dots. It's also 100% silk. I love silk.

I'm trying to tell myself that it would be absolutely worth it for the Rehearsal Dinner so I can expense it to the wedding. Can I really justify $445? I need a coupon. Does Kate Spade have coupons?

If I don't buy any clothes for awhile and save up all my paychecks, I could buy this in a month. Okay, world, let the saving begin.

Is this a bad idea?

2011-01-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

So I've been on the hunt for a cardigan or shrug or something to go over my dress as it gets later in the night and maybe colder (? I hardly ever get cold, so it may be a moot point). I came across this vintage (or probably better described "old") jacket/cardigan from 1950. Is this a bad idea? The measurements do fit me.

I do think it's cool and would probably wear it open. Thoughts?

Phew!

2011-01-08T21:57:00.001-05:00

Chris and I got SO much done over Christmas break. It's amazing how much you can get done when law school is not getting in the way. Sheesh, law school, I have a wedding to plan!

First thing's first. I'm going to put this at the beginning of the blog since I know most of you won't make it to the end. I have this crazy idea that I want to use mismatched vintage china as place settings for the wedding. Stick with me here, folks.

I know it's a little quirky, but I think it would fit with our Country/Rustic Chic vibe. I've been putting out feelers and quite a few other brides are doing the same thing. I'm going to hit the local thrift stores, goodwills, Salvos, etc. from now until the wedding in order to amass a collection of 150ish dinner plates, salad/cake/dessert plates, and maybe cups and saucers.

Here's where you come in. Does your mom/grandmother/aunt have vintage china coming out of their ears that they don't know what to do with? Do you yourself like to frequent garage sales, Goodwills, and antique/thrift stores? If so, you could totally help me out! I will buy all of that stuff off of you. Or if your meemaw would let me get some use out of her vintage china, I would love to borrow. I promise to make sure that everything gets back to her I'm looking to keep costs really low on this adventure -- no more than say $1 or $2 for each piece. After all, I think you can rent plates (the plain matching white ones used by caterers) for 50 cents or so. I don't want this to break the bank. I plan on selling most of the lot later. I'm going to use a few to make cake stands and random crafts, but I don't really need 150 plates for crafts.

If you want to go with me adventure hunting for plates, etc., let me know! I love a good antiquing buddy.

As far as colors are concerned -- I'd like to keep this somewhat unified. I want creams, greys, aquas and teals. I don't mind having bits of pinks and yellows mixed in, but I want there to be enough blues and greens and teals that they sort of look unified. If you find a random plate at a thrift store for 50 cetns and it's a gorgeous pink rose pattern with no blue at all on it -- get it for me! It's okay to have a little visual interest! But I want to keep them mostly muted colors. If you have questions, just snap a cell picture and send it on over to me and I'll let you know. As always, I will totally pay you for them. I don't want you out of pocket for my stupid ideas.

In other news, my maid of honour, Robin, made us a wedding website! It's AWESOME! www.weddinwire.com/lindsaychris. Clearly Bank of America doesn't have her doing much. Actually, she just got a promotion (YAY!!!). I think she did an awesome job! I didn't even need to ask her -- she just told me that she wanted to make a wedding website for Chris and I! She's the bestest.

So what did Chris and do over Christmas vacation? We decided to have the ceremony on the grounds. I know this is old news, but now it's official. I told my dad that it was his job to break it to my mom that we weren't getting married in a church. It was just way to much logistically and financially to get married in a church, particularly when we had this beautiful reception space already booked. Wedding Planner Mel talked to Boone Hall, and they're letting us use the back garden for the ceremony and will give free tours of the house for the cocktail hour (while Chris and I are doing last minute pictures). Yay Mel!

We also booked out hotel blocks. You can check those out on Robin's website. Ask for that week off now, folks and get your hotel room!

We're like 75% booked on our 80s band! Our awesome wedding planner extraordinaire sent us the names of 2 bands. This was in the middle of finals and clearly very distracting. I put Robin on the task of choosing which one she liked better. When I had the chance to look over it briefly, I totally agree. Soulfish plays all the good stuff and the song playing in the background of their website is my fave 80s song. I think it's a sign!

Meanwhile, my other friend Christian is in this badass Bluegrass band out of Nashville, the Farewell Drifters. He's the cute one playing the fiddle. I've been friends with Christian for a looooooong time, and I told him as my wedding gift I would love it if he came and played the cocktail hour. He agreed and is stoked! So brush up on your lyrics, kids. I fully believe that if you tap the talents of friends, you can have an awesome wedding at a fraction of the cost.

Speaking of tapping talents, I put Chris on the task of making 200 mason jar lanterns. He's so good to me. I told him what I wanted and he said that yes, that was doable. Then he asked me how many I wanted. When I told him, I could tell he was about ready to say "WHAT?!" But the boy has learned to pick his battles and decided it was better just to give in to my crazy schemes. His new tactic is to calculate how much money and space in the house my newest idea/purchase will involve. If both are small, then he gives in. He's a quick study.

So we love our venue, but one of the big problems is lighting. I saw pictures of mason jar lanterns on some random blog and fell in love. Pottery Barn sells mason jar lanterns, but they're a whopping $7.50 EACH!

I showed the picture to Chris, and he assured me that we could definitely make them. I priced out mason jars from all over the interwebs, but it turns out that good old Walmart is the cheapest by far. Chris and I tagteamed (he did all the hard work with the collar around the lip of the jar and I just make the handles) and each lantern probably cost us about 60-75 cents each. We have all sorts of different sizes and shapes and they turned out great. I'm going to frost/etch some of them so that they'll be more transluscent. I'll post a picture of some of the completed ones when I get a chance. They look awesome! We're planning on using battery operated tea lights for the ones that will be outside and mostly unattended and real votive candles inside. I think we're goign to hang some of them from the chairs down the aisle and put flowers in them.

I want to use glitter to sink the candles in, because let's face it -- everything's better with glitter. I'm not sure if glitter is flammable or not. I'm sure they make non-flammable glitter out there. I'm on a hunt to find it. On another note, did you know that you can buy GLITTER BY THE POUND?! It's like heaven.

We're planning on letting people take them home as favors or whatever. I mean seriously, what am I going to do with 200 mason jar lanterns? We're going to keep some as well. The rest, we're going to sell on etsy. People are selling them for like $3 a pop, so that sounds good to me. I told Chris about this and he started thinking that we should just make them and sell them on etsy in general. Right, Chris... In my spare time. I also think that our florist may consider buying some of them from us. Mason jars lanterns are seriously huge right now and it's very southern wedding chic. I'm sure she could use them. My friend Sarah (shout out!) said that her friend is also having a wedding in Charleston either the week before or the week after ours and wants mason jar lanterns. We will totally sell them to her if she wants them!

So, what else? Chris and I registered. That was fun but a chore all at the same time. I told Chris he could hold the gun and he got really excited. I went online later and looked and there were random random things on the registry. Like 53 brandy glasses. He must have been scanning behind my back. What's great is that you can manage your registry and add and subtract thigns online. Thank god. I did loads of research on the best of everything to buy, particularly for the kitchen. If you want this list for yourself for whn you register, let me know. It's all yours.

Chris and I also bought a cool antique/country China hutch for our breakfast. It's rad. I'm really excited.

I also made our Save the Dates, ordered them from vistaprint, and am now in the process of letterpressing the backs of them. I found a vintage postcard of Charleston from a random antique store, scanned it in, and used it for the front of the postcards. You'll be seeing those in the mail soon. I ordered them from vistaprint and after loads of online coupons, I ended up getting about 250 of them for like $40. 250 is way more than we need, but there wasn't really a way to order the amount we really do need. $40! I'm so stoked! It was going to cost that much just to print them on my own, and this way vistaprint did it all for me. Save the dates through a company would have cost about $100 for 150, so I'm thinking I'm doing well on my budget!

Once these Save the Dates are addressed and finished, I'll take some pix and post. I've contracted myt Maid of Honor, Robin for a weekend to help me craft away to finish these up. She has no idea what she's getting into!

While I'm at it, if you haven't sent me your updated address, you need to otherwise you're not invited to the wedding. Seriously. i need an address from many of you.

It's the Final Countdown!

2010-11-05T16:31:00.001-04:00

Guess what, folks? We are officiallly 1 year (365 days because it's not a leap year) away from the wedding of the millenium!!! FINALLY! I can't tell you how stoked I am. Tons of things to get accomplished, but I feel like now I can say when my wedding is and people won't say, "wow, that's a long ass time from now."

I'm in Charleston this weekend visiting the groom, and I have to say that the weather is freaking me out. While it's sunny here, I definitely drove through hail on the way down. And it's only 55 degrees. So much for weather.com averages. Fortunately, Boone Hall ha a big fireplace, but I'm terrified that people will be freezing. Everyone needs to do a weather dance and sacrifice some goats so that we have perfect weather. Start now.... we need all the help we can get.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2010-10-18T14:04:00.000-04:00

I know, I know. I haven't posted in forever. A lot of things have been going on over here. I may just make one giant post later on. I've picked out my bridesmaids dresses, and they're faboosh. More on that later on.

I just won an online contest from Sienna Stationary -- I am now the proud holder of a $75 gift certificate. WOO. Stationary is super expensive. I was going to make my own invites, you all know that, and I'm pretty sure I'm still going to. I'm not sure if the invites they have available are my style, and I think they're a little too girly for Christopher.

Now I'm tossing around the idea of them making the rest of the paper goods, or maybe my thank you notes. I love these from the bride/from the groom thank you notes -- aren't they so me?

The company that made these lovelies is no longer around, so it may be possible to get a version of this created. I have an idea of how I'd like it changed slightly.

Sienna Press does have a 50% off special if you order the complete suite from them, so I would be getting double the benefit. It really just depends on if they can create something a little more in line with what I want. I may have to send them some pictures of what I like. If I'm limited to what they've got already designed, I probably won't get invites from them.

What do you guys think?

Bridesmaids Gifts?

2010-09-02T19:49:00.000-04:00

H ow ridiculously fierce are these feather clutches?

They're £25.00, or about $42.00 from ASOS. They could be awesome bridesmaid's gifts. I love feathers.

Amaze-balls

2010-08-24T18:10:00.000-04:00

How hot are these shoes?

The blue version of this shoe was created specifically for Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie for the Sex in the City movie (Manolo named it "Something Blue") and it seriously is THE shoe for wedding. I see it all the time in blogs. I think in part because it is blue and because Carrie wore it. They are hot, and they are being knocked off all over the place. They are almost $1000, though. I'm not sure if I can pay more for my shoes than for my dress. Although, maybe I should spend more on my shoes because I'll wear them more than once?? Wouldn't that be awesome??

I love this color, though. The colors for the wedding are sorta in flux right now as Chris and I hash out the details. Maybe I could find a way of including Tiffany blue! I think Chris at one point mentioned Tiffany blue, so maybe it won't be as hard of a sell.

Hat tip: Thanks to Ali, who knows me all too well.

Dyeables be Damned!

2010-08-10T21:14:00.000-04:00

How killer are these?

And at $47.39 a pair, they're pretty reasonable. Plus, they go down in price the more you order. That peach and yellow go with the new color scheme. Kinda cute!

Changes in Colors

2010-08-08T00:11:00.000-04:00

So, I think I may be changing my color palette. I was swayed by a picture in Martha Stewart's magazine. I'm pretty sure that this may be met with a lot of nay-sayers since it's a little unexpected, but that's why I like it.

I love the shades of taupes, creams, and linens, and then the contrast of the lancaster blue, with the pops of peaches and yellows. The shades of linen-y colors would also be great at my venue. It's super Charleston-y.

I think this is still something I'll like in my pictures 30 years from now, and part of me thinks the lavender, blue and fuchsia is borrrrinnnng. Bridesmaids will still be in the navy (albiet a slightly different navy).

Not this dress, but this color.

Their bouquets would be those apricots and yellows, and then some neutral strappy sandals.

I know Katherine hates wedges, but this is just an idea. And then the shoe can either go casual or I can do a metallic shoe if I wanted to be dressier. Not as fancy as fuschia pumps, but could still be cute. I could wear these. They're still a neutral, right?

Big news on the home front

2010-08-04T15:05:00.001-04:00

Hello Bloggy Fans! Two things to update on:

1. Had my first wedding nightmare. It involved Professor Callahan from Legally Blonde, reading a legal treatise in one night, and my wedding dress.

I'm not sure if that means it's a wedding-related nightmare or a law school nightmare. Either way, it definitely demonstrates problems with my mental health. I need vodka and a cupcake, STAT!

2. I'm likely moving to D.C. next year. This is my official bloggy announcement. Yesterday, I got an offer from an Atlanta-based firm for a position in their D.C. office. I have to fly up there to meet with everyone and do a pseudo interview sometime in the next few weeks. If things go relatively well, I'll be in D.C. by the beginning of 2012, but probably sooner. The word on the street is that the start date is October 2011, which sucks because it's a month before the wedding. I was really hoping for a January 2012 start date like it's been in the past. Who knows what it really is, though. I'm a little freaked out, because I wasn't expecting this at all. Make that whiskey and two cupcakes, STAT!

Other things I clearly need

2010-07-28T22:22:00.000-04:00

to add to my list of things I need for my registry:

StanleyCupCakes!!! Anyone know where I can get mini Stanley Cups? I totally need, particularly since Robin and I are going to the Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow. YAY!

As a future lawyer (hopefully), I need to warn my party guests

2010-07-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

An "Anti-Hooting" law was just passed in Charleston. No lie. Well, a suburb of Charleston called Sullivan's Island. Not too far from Mount Pleasant, so please keep the hooting to a minimum. It is now officially illegal to hoot, yell, shout, whistle and/or sing at any time "so as to annoy or disturb the comfort or repose of persons" on Sullivan's Island.

Not if you want a $500 fine.

Read about it here.

Need

2010-07-22T22:21:00.000-04:00

TEACUPCAKES ($17.95/set of 4 at heliotrope)

Preferably to go with these:

This is what happens when your friends know you too well

2010-07-21T23:35:00.002-04:00

and know you're up for anything for your wedding...

You get sent text messages of rubber ducky bride and grooms and seriously consider making it your cake topper. I've always been known for having loads of class.

Hat tip: Sarah McClellan

90+ degree weather = lots of wedding stuff gets done

2010-07-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

Today was way too hot to do much of anything, so I basked in the air conditioning and got some things done. Two days in a row of wedding-related work!

First, I sent Mel the Wedding Planner off on a hunt to locate hotels for all you friendly folks :) Mount Pleasant, where the reception is located, is way less expensive than downtown Charleston. It's also only about a 5-15 minute drive depending on where you are. A lot of my family are coming in from Canada, and I'm sure some of you are flying in from who knows where. I figured the sooner you could book up, the better. I'm not sure if you can book this far in advance, but better earlier rather than later.

She's finding two to three good hotels and then also looking up group rates at the Cottages on Charleston Harbor. A few months ago Southern Living magazine did this whole thing on Charleston. Clearly I bought that magazine. In the back in a tiny little paragraph, it talked about these cool cottages:

I asked Mel about them and she said they were "AWESOME!" According to her, they're about 10-15 minutes away from the venue and about 5 minutes across the bridge into downtown Charleston. According to Southern Living magazine, they start at $229/night. Kinda steep, but maybe groups could organize staying together and split the cost. I'm sure that 4 people splitting the cost would be less than individual rooms.

I'm having Mel figure out if group rates are an option, particularly since November is the off-season in Charleston. Anyone interested? Maybe I'll get one for the bridesmaids. Chris can use his house for the groomsmen (who cares about them anyway), and the girls can wake up to this in the morning:

Robin is putting together our wedding website, so I'll have her post it on there as I find out what's going on.

My mother is also being super annoying, as usual. For all of you getting married in the somewhat foreseeable future, I will talk you down from a ledge after dealing with your mother. While we've only been planning this wedding for 7 months, I have become ridiculously good at (1) ignoring my mother, and (2) placating my mother. This week's topic is getting married in a church. When I told her that we were thinking of having the ceremony at the garden behind the house at Boone Hall, she clearly found something to be negative about. Mothers have a good habit about finding something negative about everything. She was like, "You mean you're not getting married in a church?" [insert disdainful tone here]. I spun some story about getting married outside in the glory of God. She was unimpressed. I told her that getting married in a church costs money. We've already paid for this venue, which, by the way she thought was too much even though the price I told her was 1/3 of what it actually was. Basically, my mother wants this whole wedding to be free or something.

Long story short, I'm having Mel look into beautiful Episcopalian churches nearby the venue. My only stipulation was that it had to be pretty at least from the inside. If my mother is willing to fork over the cash in order to have the ceremony there (plus all the necessary acoutrements like extra flowers and transportation costs), then I will concede to having it at a church. As long as I'm married at the end of the day, I really couldn't care less. If she doesn't want to pay for it, then at the plantation it is! This way, she can't say anything either way. I feel like this is a great solution! Chris and I are paying for everything ourselves precisely to avoid my Momzilla's opinions.

I know this will add onto the timeline of the day, but you guys can just show up to the par-tay if you want. I don't mind :) Either that, or come to the ceremony, and provide an extra body shield between me and my mother.

Last, I FINISHED THE RSVPs! As you know, I'm designing all of the paper goods myself. The invites are super-secret and almost finished. The RSVPs are done and could essentially be printed now if I wanted. They are interactive and suh-weet. My aunt, like my mother, has an opinion about everything, and I bet both of them won't like it too much. But I don't really care. Just remember, folks, when you recieve these invites remember how much effort and creative juices went into them. I expect the same amount of effort and creative juices when you reply back.

What have I been doing all day?

2010-07-19T15:59:00.000-04:00

This:

I have just spent the last 3 hours cutting 3 yards of felt in to 3 inch sqaures and then turning those into thousands of circles.

I did it while watching loads of My Fair Wedding with David Tutera to get me into a sufficiently wedding mood.

All finished!

Thank god for my Sizzix Machine. Do you know how long that would have taken otherwise? Forever. Why did I waste 3 hours of my last summer vacation ever (ACK!)? I'm using these circles to make a wreath or two. Something like this, but maybe with a rad twist.

So now it's up to you, internet friends, to make some other decisions. I will put it up to a super-secret vote via Survey Monkey.

1. Should the wreath be a circle, a square, or a quatrefoil? This is a quatrefoil. I assume you know what a circle and square are.

2. Should I keep the wreath white or dye the circles lavender (one of my colors) so that it looks water-colory and ombre like this:

White may show up better, but the ombre may look pretty cool if all of the circles aren't dyed consistently one shade. I'm not sure if the polyester felt will accept dye, so by default the wreath may be white.

Click here to take survey

WOOOOOO!

2010-07-11T16:26:00.000-04:00

This is a destination post. I'm currently blogging from a beach chair at Virginia Beach. Chris had 4 days off, so I drove (9 hours. ugh.) up to see him. We took a 2 day trip out to Washington D.C. to see the sights and for me to get my wedding dress. Just one word:

Love.

Bought it on the spot. The matching jewelry is enh. Probably won't be wearing that. The veil matches, but I may replace that as well. We'll see. It's ridiculously long on me and will need massive alterations, but that was to be expected. I'll use the money I saved to make this dress perfect.

Random trivia: it was originally bought at the bridal salon where I tried on the dress in the first place in Peachtree City. This dress has been getting around, but ultimately returned back here at a fraction of the cost. It's in the back of my car right now and will be temporarily stored at Katherine's place until I make it back to Athens. My mother doesn't know I bought a dress, so there is a necessary ruse going on. We'll see how that one plays out.

Ring: check. Venue: check. Dress: check. Rad 80s Cover Band: on deck.

Name our rabbits!

2010-06-30T18:20:00.000-04:00

Chris and I got two new rabbits. We are arguing over the names. They are jersey woolys

We have gone through:

King and Kong

King Kong and Godzilla

Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket (Slappy and Chum for short)

Flip and Flop

Dee and Dum

Michael and Tito (too soon?)

Votes? Do you have names we think we should call them? This is of great importance. They're both boys.

Omigod You Guys

2010-06-26T20:32:00.002-04:00

This post shall be a musical post, comparing my experience with wedding dress shopping with Elle's experience engagement dress shopping. There will be heavy lyric quoting. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with:

Get it? Got it? Good. Let's continue.

So, after Katherine and my dress adventure last weekend, I about had a heart attack when I saw the price tags on these dresses. I mean, I KNEW that it was going to be ridonculous, but even I (who has never been known to be frugal) was having a bit of sticker shock. But not just any dress will do, either. In the words of Elle Woods, the musical edition:

This dress needs to seal the deal,

make a grown man kneel,

but it can't come right out and say "bride."

(See minute 3:30 above).

Actually though, it does need to come right out and say "bride," and bride doesn't need to be implied. This is a wedding, after all. But there was no way I am going to spend that much on a dress.

And I had that awful experience at Bridals by Lori, who, like the sales ladies in Elle's dress shop, were just trying to make a sweet commission off of me:

[Brides] make commission SO easy.

Excuse me, miss. Have you seen this?

It just came in.

It's perfect for a [bride].

Um. Lady. Look and listen. How many times do I need to tell you that my budget is not $50,000 and I don't need a dress that makes me look like a wedding cake topper. Thanks:

It may be perfect for a [bride],

But I'm not that [bride].

I may be in love,

But I'm not stupid, lady. I've got eyes.

Amen, sister! Sing it! This is basically how I felt all weekend. I just can't imagine all common sense going out the window just because you stick me in white silk satin. No ma'am. Not this kid.

As you may remember, I really liked two dresses. I will not show those dresses here. I want there to be some surprises. Here's a picture of a puppy instead:

I seriously contemplated getting a dress made, but hadn't really looked into that option much. Even if Elle does say:

So, [Katherine,] help me dress for my fairy tale,

Can't wear something I bought on sale.
Love is , like, forever.

This is no time to economize
omigod, you guys

I would actually be more than thrilled to buy something on sale. And while love is forever, I'd rather if my debt were not. I have no qualms for not spending the equivalent of a Lexus on a dress I will be wearing for 8 hours. And then, enter from stage left: fate. I got this random e-mail from a website that I had looked at ages ago as an option-- http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/. Basically, this website is like ebay for preowned dresses. Some are brides trying to sell their dresses that are gently worn. Some are brand new because they bought a dress and didn't like it or the wedding fell through or something. Others are sample dresses from salons which are trying to get rid of their inventory. Either way, you can get Vera Wangs for 90%. Seriously. If you are looking at getting a dress, I recommend going to this site.

You can even search by region in case you want to find a dress near you so that you can try it on. I was lucky because I had already tried my dresses on in a store. So, I did a search for the two dresses that I really liked. One of the dresses is a pretty old design, but I thought it may be possible. Guess what, BOTH dresses were on there and BOTH were in sizes bigger than me. This is good news, because it's easier to take a dress in than out.

They were both at the top end of my budget, but still within range. One of the dresses, was up there for awhile. You can sort by how recent the dress was listed and this one was pretty far down the list. I hoped that this meant that my bridal counterpart would be willing to negotiate in order to get rid of the dress. I asked, and she said she was absolutely flexible on the price. I decided to shoot low. I was thinking she would never give me my asking price, because it was sooooo much lower than her list price. GUESS WHAT? SHE SAID SURE!!!!!!!

What did this mean? I am getting my dress for 80% off. That's right, folks. It's not a fake, it's a designer dress, it's never been worn, and I am about the same as I would have at David's Bridal. She may even throw in a free veil if I'm lucky. Even with the amount I will doubtless have to spend on alterations (adding straps, taking it in and up, etc.), I think I will still be on budget. I had no idea that I would have a dress right now. I was in browse mode. But I am absolutely positive that this is My Dress. It's in Washington, DC, but I'm going up to Norfolk in a month. I'll have nothing to do during the day while Chris is at work, so I'm thinking about just driving over and picking it up, even if it is a 3 hour drive.

Omigod! Omigod you guys!

This one's perfect, and it's just my size!

See dreams really do come true you never have to comprimise.

Omigod!

Just for you guys

2010-06-21T08:57:00.000-04:00

I came in early today so I could blog before I got weighed down by work. I wanted to update you on the dress shopping. Most important thing I learned this weekend -- THOSE DRESSES ARE HOT UNDER THERE! I seriously need like a fan sewn into the bustle or something.

Katherine and I started off our day going to J. Andrews Bridal in Peachtree City. After being ridiculously late picking her up, made even later by an essential stop for gas, we drove all the way to PTC. We were actually right on time, so that's good. When we got there, Katherine and I looked at each other. The place was really small and was not very impressive from the outside. However, when we walked in, it was awesome! The staff was incredibly friendly and our lady (can't remember her name. Susan maybe?) was great. She said that she knew that it was basically my first time out, except for that one study break Sarah and I had 1L year. She also said not to feel pressured to buy anything, it was really difficult on day 1 to do that, but we'd have a good time figuring out what I liked and what looked best on me. Seriously? YAY! Katherine and I had this whole system we worked out in the car ride. I wasn't going to say which dress I liked, but I would play with my bracelet or something if I really liked one dress. That all went out the window. How quickly I forget. There was also another bride there with her mother, sister and aunt, and they were hilarious. Their bride and I were looking at completely different styles of dresses, but we were gushing and giving each other advice. It was really fun.

Anyway, I found 2-3 dresses that I loved. I really surprised myself, because one of my fave dresses wasn't AT ALL what I was looking for. I'm trying to decide whether or not to post pictures of the dresses I like. Katherine took pictures with her camera phone (suprisingly, they let us!!! We were shocked). I think we're going to put those on facebook and block Chris from the album. Sorry, honey. I could cut and paste pictures of the 5'10 size 0 models in them. What do you guys think? Want to see them?

After eating at Chick fil-A (mmmmmmmm), we went to Bridals by Lori. They were having a Lazaro trunk show, and Lazaro was there! Haha. Katherine and I didn't know it was him and I mistakenly thought he was a random employee and asked him what to do. He was like, "I don't know" and just stared me down. WHOOPS! Oh well.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I actually did not at all enjoy my experience there. Incredibly disappointed. They have thousands of dresses. It's just like Kleinfeld's in NYC. So clearly I don't have time to go through all their dresses and I don't know what they have. I told our consultant, Marta, what I was looking for and picked out a few dresses myself. I had originally gotten swayed by this trumpet gown with loads of ruffles and pleats at the bottom. It was really pretty. I had it on, and the consultant was like, I have a better one! and she did, in fact, give me a better one. I told her, though, that I really wanted to try on lace trumpet dresses. I liked the ruffles, but it wasn't really what I was looking for. SHE JUST WOULDN'T LISTEN TO ME! It was really frustrating. She kept bringing me back to the ruffle dress, and I kept telling her that I liked it, but I wanted to see other dresses. UGH! and I also kept telling her NO STRAPLESS. This store had like 6 total non-strapless dresses. I know that straps can be added, but I really wanted to see non-strapless. And she kept telling me that I looked much better in strapless. At that point, I knew that she was lying because I definitely do not look good in strapless. Katherine gave me this funny look and rolled her eyes. Please, woman. I work in retail. I know how to sell people shit that looks terrible on them, and I refuse to do it. Don't play your stupid games with me.

Katherine and I wondered if maybe brides out there are not that bright? Or maybe when you get an engagement ring on your IQ drops 30 points? It's entirely possible. I just don't understand how smart women suddenly become crazy when someone sticks a white dress on them. No, Bridals by Lori, I will NOT plunk down $4000 on a dress after 30 minutes. No, Bridals by Lori, I will not be swayed by the promise of a 12.5% discount that will end tomorrow if I don't buy. No, Bridals by Lori, I will not be pushed into a dress that I don't like because you say that it looks good on me when I know that it is completely unflattering to my figure. The bridal industry is a racket and it begins and ends at the bridal salon.

Katherine is hilarious and she was trying to take pictures here too, and we got told that we couldn't unless we bought the gown. So Katherine kept sending Marta off on these bizarre missions ("Can you find a piece of fabric we can use to get an idea what straps might look like?" "Hmm.... I need to see it with a belt.') so that she could serruptitiously snap some photographs. I kept worrying that Marta would come back, but we got left alone so much that it was probably fine. I don't know what she was doing, but sometimes it would take her forever. Almost like those movies where the guy has two dates going on at one time and has to change in the bathroom. Or was that the Hannah Montana movie?

I have decided to do some serious research into having a gown made. The problem with these dresses is that I'm also really really short. Alterations will cost a fortune. Bringing up a gown is not the same as hemming a pant because there are so many things going on down there at the hem. Also, I'm really short waisted, so the middle part of those dresses are never cut for me. You know when you get a funny crease along your waist? That's because the torso of the dress is cut too long for you. So that's an expensive alteration. These dresses don't come in petite to alleviate that problem. Yet another scam from the wedding dress industry.

OH! and you know what else?! Okay, I know I'm not a size 2. But I'm not THAT fat! I feel like I'm more or less average, especially in light of the current obesity epidemic. None of those sample dresses fit me. It was ridiculous. Some of the Lazaro dresses they were having me cram into were bridal size 4s. That's like a street size 0. For real? How do you expect to sell a wedding dress if people can't try it on?? I could literally not even get into them. I'm sure more of these dresses would have peaked my interest if I could actually slide them down my big butt. You know what we had to do? Hold it up to my body. This is ridiculous. Isn't it much better to get a big size and then clip me into it? UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

So anyway, that wraps up my Saturday. Kind of a boring post. Please forgive.