I'm a bad blogger, but great at trolling for BM dresses!

It has been a whole week since I have blogged and it makes me kinda sad! Work has been crazy the last week, but in a good way. We are amping up for the holiday season, so there are a lot of phone calls to make and hands to shake!

I have taken a bit of a mental break with the wedding planning, the only thing that I have thought about in the last week is the bridesmaid dresses. My philosophy has always been that I don't want anyone to have to go broke being in my wedding, nor would I want anyone to never wear the dress that they had to pay for again. I was set on asking a girl from College Station to make my dresses, but they were going to be yellow cotton. Plans have changed though, now that I have gotten my dress.

Without revealing too much, my dress calls for something a bit more formal than cotton and a bit less bright than yellow.

One of my bridesmaids had suggested J Crew, which makes nice dresses, but is a little pricey for what I wanted. However, they are having a sale on the fall line and I thought if I just chose a fabric(silk taffeta) and a color(champagne/papaya/lavender), then the girls can get whatever style they want. Some of the dresses are on sale now, so it would work out.

I went to J Crew today and found out that they actually launched their new line for Spring 2010 of BM dresses. Good news: beautiful colors that I really like Bad news: All of the styles are over $200. Boooooo.

So, I went trolling and found a few things online. Of course I want them to be nice, but affordable.

The first dress is from Alfred Angelo, which is decent, and they have multiple colors of it. Also, they don't list the exact price, but they do say it is under $150. The next two are from ModCloth and are both under $85. 

I figured if I got a dress that was solid and simple, I would add a waste band to them. I found these on Etsy and I lurve them!

Thoughts, questions, comments?

Crazy Family Weekend: Part 1

I have finally gotten a moment to breathe and document what will go down as one of the most memorable/crazy/fun weekends of my life!
It feels like weeks since I blogged, but that is because of all of the activity and lack of sleep that made up the last few days.

Thursday I picked up my mom, two aunts, and two bridesmaids from the airport. Along with 2 other girls from Chicago, we headed to Cleveland. Unfortunately, we hit traffic and with the time change it was around 1:15 am when we got to the store. Mairead, our MVP of the trip, volunteered to sit outside as soon as we got there. I slept for 2 hours and joined her, then from there the rest of the party came at different times. We were the fifth group in line, as the first group had started lining up at 3:30pm the day before!
Luckily, there was a photographer and multiple news stations on the scene, so this was well documented. my mom actually videotaped the experience, but it must be edited so that you can't see the dress I actually got before I put it on the internets.

They had a DJ out by 6:30am getting everyone amped up. Maris, Missy, and I even joined in on the fun, you can see the back of my tan jacket and Maris in the plaid.

Here we are before the doors open. Notice everyone's customized glitter crowns. Thanks for the help, Jonathan.

Our Clever shirts even made it on the photographer's website.

Running to the racks, notice my aunt Claudene, Maris, Tania, and me all on our crowns! Mairead taking what she can carry.

I was pointing to the girl that stripped down to her underwear. We think she just wanted an excuse to be naked in public.

This, of course, is not THE dress, but it was very pretty. Also, one of Maris' favorites. I will have to wait until after May to post the pictures of my dress, but I want to sooo badly.

There was also an interview I was a part of! Check it out:

Word of the day: Appreciation

I am currently in the middle of doing laundry/cleaning the house/baking a cake/switching from a car to a mini van/ trying to find a "bride" shirt that doesn't look God-awful/ about to go to a "special outing"(which i can only speak of later) and the only thing I can think of is how much I appreciate everyone that is currently in this crazy wedding planning/marion street cheese market working/ rock climbing whirlwind world of mine.
First off, we are having an engagement party that Missy initiated at a couple's house. This isn't just any house, it's beautiful and elegant and way too nice for us bums, but the Jones' are nice enough to take us in! Jonathan and I went over to their house last night to finalize plans for the party. As we were in discussion, Mr. Jones offers to pay for the wine. Mind you, he scoffs at paying for anything less than $10 a bottle. What a blessing! Not only have they taken initiative to host, purchase cups, plates, napkins, bake dessert, and provide coffee, but now they are helping us out with the wine! It is those types of people that I pursue to be.
Secondly, all of the people that are making their way here are not only so close to my heart, but it is just a sign of pure love to travel so far just to go on this crazy hunt with me on a 6 hour drive away from Chicago. The girls that have taken off work that live in Chicago have been ridiculously helpful, too. It blows my mind!
On another note, even though it has been a little crazy at work today, I left with having two of my managers helping me out in MAJOR ways. One got me a lead so that I can pass on my information and business card to 150 people, and the other took the time to cleverly find a way to track my sales through our tedious computer system. It makes my day to know that we are all looking out for one another!
Also, I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers at work, Yellow Roses of all things, and it turned out to be from my step-father, Richard! He apologized for not being able to travel here, but wished me luck on our search.
Lastly, Jonathan is always in need of thanks. He is definitely the 'giver' of this relationship, which in turn inspires me to be more giving. He cleans the house, brings me things at work when I leave them at home, loves on the cats (even though he has a disdain for animals that are not fully self-sustaining), and lastly, he carries me anywhere, anytime!

Well, I am planning on posting multiple blogs about this upcoming weekend, as there are many exciting things ahead!
Wish me luck!

My Trip to the Holy Temple (Vera Wang)

Saturday turned out to be one great day! Jonathan and I went on the hunt for terrarium bowls and ended up collecting 7 for $3-$4 a piece. Like I had stated in my last post, I had thought about making an appointment at a bridal salon, just to see what I liked. Well, I thought since it was just for fun, then why not go to the best place possible. So, I gave old Vera a call and booked an appointment.

Missy, a loyal bridesmaid of mine, agreed to go with and I started mentally preparing myself on polite ways to tell the saleswoman that there is no way in hell that I would EVER shell out $7k for a dress. I really thought I was safe b/c the only dress that I have ever seen that would even tempt me is from Fall 2008 collection.

Well, we arrive and it is everything a girl would want it to be. The staff was so nice and the dresses are even more beautiful and soft than in pictures. I have already mentally patted myself on the back because I knew that I was getting my dress next week for a much cheaper price.

All was going well until the woman asked, "Why Vera?" So, I told her "There was a dress I saw when my mother was getting married 2 years ago that I loved. It was asymmetrical at the top, mermaid style, with attached minimal ruffles at the bottom." Then she uttered THE WORDS, "Oh, I think we have that one in the back."

GASP, WHAT?!

She then proceeds to bring out THE dress, my kryptonite. It is even more beautiful than I thought it would be. It fits me perfectly and Missy even said, "Wow, that dress was made for you." Thanks Missy. My head is spinning at this point. What a curve ball! I also tried on this beauty, which looks even better up close, as well.

Needless to say, I was floating on a cloud out of the store. I talked to my mom shortly after and it quickly brought me back to the reality that I have 5 people traveling from Texas and New York this week to go help me find a dress.

It took me about 5 seconds to realize that even though I got to try on my $7k dream dress, nothing will be worth more than spending time with my family and friends in the crazy event of driving 6 hours to a store in order to join in on the frenzy of hunting for a dress!

So with this blog, I say, "Good bye dress, it was nice to try you on!"

Switching gears, this morning we went to cheer on the Chicago Marathoners! This is one of my favorite things to do. People don't normally consider running a spectator sport, but I guess knowing what it feels like to be the runner, it makes me cheer even harder. We sat at the 8 mile marker and saw every runner go by! We were there for about 2 hours holding a sign Jonathan cleverly thought of that said "AT LEAST IT'S NOT AN IRON MAN!"

Quite a few people pointed and cheered back at us for the sign, so I would consider it a success!

Dreams, Dads, and Obama

I just woke up from a very strange dream! I haven't had many wedding related dreams yet, but now I'm sure there will be more to follow. This dream wasn't about the wedding itself, but instead about the dress search. LiKe I posted before, my family and a few friends are going with me next weekend to find a dress, however, besides the random dress I tried on for fun at Bergdorfs in New York last year, this will be the first time I will try on wedding dresses.

Many people I have spoken with have asked me if I will go sooner and try a few on, just to see what I like. I have been considering doing that this weekend, hence the dream:

First off, I was with my dad at David's Bridal. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want to offend anyone who has chosen a gown from there. I have never even gone into the store, but my dream told me that they have some awful dresses. If you know my dad, his patience is short, to put it lightly.

I love this picture of my dad, he has his cynical face on!

So anyways, I was just looking at David's Bridal so that I could get an idea of what I wanted, but everything was either short, pink, or too ruffly. Also, the saleswoman didn't know what a dropped-waist style was. It was horrifying! We finally gave up and went to the Galleria (my dream was in Houston for some reason).

I am sure I will go somewhere this weekend and love everything I try on, I know enough about my dreams that they just like to freak me out.

In way more important news, Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize this morning! They criticism are raking in from all over the world, but I for one am on board with this decision. MSNBC news has said that this decision is "designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism."

It speaks volumes that such a prestigious committee would choose to honor our President and see the potential in what he has intended to do. I don't even care that it is given out of potential rather than completed action, if it encourages him to keep moving forward, it was a prize well recieved.

Looking at some views on the facebook front this morning, one person I know stated that "my own hope is that he will magnanimously decline the award, which can only redound to his own benefit both internationally and in America." I would agree with that only if it would not seem like a slap in the face to the Norwegian committee.

Well, gotta go to work!

Meet the Mister

This post is inspired by Jonathan's recent blog post, which I was so flattered to read!

He is the most generous, kind, intelligent, funny, and handsome man in the world! I have tricked him into thinking the same about me, but hopefully we will get past May 1st before he figures it out! He is a physics grad student for Texas A&M, but is completing his research in elementary particle physics at Fermilab National Accelerator just outside of Chicago. I can barely spell physics and he will be (fingers crossed*) getting his PhD within the year.

Did I mention that he is very handsome?

So, for the sake of his sanity and mine, I bought him this book that I came across. Jonathan will be the first one to tell you he couldn't care less about formalities, but it is important to him to be a part of this wedding planning process, too.

One of my favorite sections of this book is describing the two women he is dealing with:

"his future wife- the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, the woman you see as a great mother, with all the patience and love in the world."

"his fiance-the woman planning your wedding. Be wary of her stressed out attitude and her endless discussion of centerpieces."

Very funny, but helpful things in this book and a strong recommendation on my part.

To invite, or not to invite...that is the question!

So, one of the initial steps of this whole planning process is to send out save the dates, then the invites. I didn't believe that STD's were very necessary until I started planning a wedding where NO family of ours lives.
I knew I didn't want to go too traditional with the cards, because we aren't traditional. So, I have been trolling the internets to find what would fit us best:

It would be great to incorporate something with bikes, since both Jonathan and I love our bikes (especially Jonathan)!

Also, I really liked these:

Notice the use of the cat on the last one! What a better way to represent us than to have Lady and Boo in the pictures, too? Now if I could just think of a way to incorporate bikes, cats, Jonathan, and me...

By the way, I found these on Etsy (my FAVORITE site, next to Facebook) and here  is the link to the DIY photobooth invites.

Before we send any of these out though, The List has to be made. Initially, Jonathan was like "let's invite everyone." I took a moment to breathe a few long breaths, than tried to delicately explain that, while that would be nice if we could throw a party for everyone we know, there are soooo many things wrong with that statement. For one, I, as a bride, don't want anyone dropping in on such a special day because they heard our cake was going to be "awesome." Nor do we have the budget to do that.

So, today, we are making the list! Wish us luck!