Pictures...Pictures...Pictures

Cute little Lauren Conrad dress I (Brian) found at Kohls. I’m not usually a fan of the style or print, but after trying it on, it doesn’t look too bad. I’m going to wear it one night on the cruise ~ just not sure which night! :)

A fellow soon to be DW Bride shared this cute little bracelet from American Eagle! My daughter works at AE, so I asked her to order these for me. (She receives a generous associate discount, plus free shipping ~ SWEET) I believe I am going to give these as a gift to our officiant who is also a very close friend of Brian’s and I, and one to Brian’s niece who is playing her flute during our ceremony!

This dress is the dress I bought for Elyssa (my 13 year old) to wear for the Captain’s dinner on the cruise. It’s a cute dress and age appropriate.

My friend Renae and I doing a shot of Patron last night at “ $1.50 Margarita Night “………..

Oh, and again…my shoes I purchased at the infamous Target! Did I tell you all how much I ♥ Target? And not just because Brian and I met there… or that I used to work there… or that Brian still works there… but just because they are awesome!

Have an AMAZING Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Date Day Thursdays..............

Are always a blast for me! Brian and I had another wonderful day!! We actually got a lot accomplished ~ more than I thought we would, but the BEST thing about today is that I figured out how to hem my dress!!! For those of you who aren't familiar with my delima, here's the scoop.

See the bottom of my dress:

Well, I've had problems trying to get someone to hem it for me at first.... then after taking it to several seamstresses, I was given quotes right around the $300 range. Are they smoking crack and not sharing?!?! So, Brian tells me that he thinks I can do it myself. I agree, I could, but would I want to? I mean come on... it's my WEDDING dress. So, after weeks of trying to figure out whether or not I would attempt this task, I decided to take a stab at it. I brave it out and I start with the lining..... no problemo. I marked and pinned the front panel of the lining two inches and then start tapering the panels on either side of the front panel to make it flush with the rest of the dress so I don't mess with the length of the train. Easy enough! Whew. But then, when I attempt to do this with the outer layer, it's totally not doable because of the three rows of ribbon going around the entire dress. No way to taper that! So, after stewing about it and trying to come up with a way in which this can be done, I still come up blank. I can't just cut it off and hem it at the two inch mark because I'd have to do it ALL THE WAY AROUND the circumference of the dress and the lining would be sticking out from under that.

Today, while out on our date day, we take my dress to an alteration shop in nearby Modesto. The guy tells me that there's no other way to do it other than to either just do it the exact same way as I did the lining ~ um duh...can't do it idiot, there's three rows of ribbon and you can't just taper it without it being totally noticable; or just cut both the lining and the tulle layer two inches around entirely ~ sorry, not an option because first of all, I don't want to lose the length of the train, and secondly, there's buttons down the entire back of my dress. We thank the gentlmen and we leave.

Brian decides to stop back in to David's Bridal to talk to one of the alterations gals to see if maybe he can talk them down little. A different lady somes out to talk to us, and I show her the dress. I show her where I've pinned the liner and how it tapers down to the length of the dress smoothly. She then proceeds to tell me that she can do the outer layer, no problem. It would cost $120. YAY!! I start to get all giddy with excitement knowing that my dress will FINALLY be hemmed, and hemmed properly! Woot Woot. And then the lady says..... BUT....this is something you can do yourself. It's really easy. I do a double take and look at her..... "Say what?" And she says, "If you pinned this (referring to the liner) then you must know what you're doing because you pinned it correctly." Then she proceeds to show me a little 'trick' to pulling up the tulle from the existing top layers of the ribbons going around the dress and tells me how I can do it myself. SWEET!!! I look up at Brian and say..... "Why didn't I think of that?!?!?". The nice lady says "I shouldn't be telling or showing you this, but it is a very easy thing to do yourself if you're a sewer". She then throws in the fact that she'd be more than happy to do it but wouldn't want to see us waste $120 on something very simple.

So....... after leaving David's Bridal with excitement that I can potentially have my dress all nice and hemmed by tomorrow, I'm soooo ready for $1.50 Margarita Night! :)

Now that I've had time to absorb it all in, I'm starting to freak out a little.... but... worse case scenerio is that I get the lining done (which is a total cinch) but then end up having problems with the outer tulle layer and have to take it back to David's to have the nice lady finish the rest! :)

So, wish me luck people!!! I'm going to attempt to hem my own wedding dress and do it properly. Funny thing is.... if it were someone else's dress, I'd have no problems doing it, and doing it right....however, since it's MY dress... I'm second guessing myself.

Stay tuned for the outcome!!!!!!!!

Loving Date Day Thursdays!!

Date Day Thursdays ~

Panera Bread

As most of you know, Thursdays are Brian and I’s “Date Day”. We more often than not start out at Panera Bread for a late breakfast / early lunch and just relax for about an hour or two. I always try to get the table next to the fireplace because it is very cozy, not to mention warm!!!

It’s so awesome when we’re standing in line and everyone greets us with a smile and a “Good Morning”. What’s even more amazing is when it’s our turn to order and the gal asks “Having your usual guys?” Then proceeds to get Brian’s Bagels, slice and toasts them, rings us up and gives us our little pager for my order. LOVE IT. Here’s what I get 99.9% of the time:



It’s the “You Pick Two” combination that they offer. Love me some Asian Chicken Salad with a Roast Beef and Asiago Cheese sandwich and a side of Chips. :)

Yesterday, while enjoying our meal, Brian and I had the opportunity to really discuss some of the more important issues regarding the upcoming Wedding Cruise. And boy did we get a lot accomplished!!! Isn’t it funny though, I mean we live together but never really get the time to actually DISCUSS things of this nature at home! We’re always too busy with normal life stuff that it takes a little “date time” to discuss like this!

Wedding Dress Alteration Issue

So, after Panera, we took my wedding dress to yet another seamstress to see if she would be willing to hem my dress for me. You see, I don’t need any other alterations other than the hem (because I’m sooooo short). After showing the dress to the nice lady, she asked if I could try it on so she can get the right look. Of course, I couldn’t because I didn’t have the shoes I’m going to wear with us, (maybe because I haven’t purchased it yet?????) however, since we’re going to be getting married on a beach, I told her that I didn’t think I’d be wearing anything with a heel on it at all. Nonetheless, I didn’t try it on, and just by showing her a picture of me in the dress and her visualizing the length, she estimated that the cost would be $325. WHAT? $325 to hem the outer layer and the lining?!? I have friends who are getting married right around the same time as I am and they’re having a TON MORE extensive alterations done, like adding material, switching out the zipper for a lace up corset back, etc., and they’re not paying that amount of money! Aye carrumba!!



So people, at this point and time, I’m not too sure what I’m going to do. I mean, we were fortunate enough to get my dress at an incredibly awesome price (read about it here) And to pay triple the costs, just doesn’t seem right. I guess if I love the dress that much, I suppose I could go ahead and pay it, but……. we’ll see.

$1.50 Margarita Night

We always cap off our Date Day with Margarita Night at a local Mexican Restaurant / Bar where they have $1.50 Margaritas! We meet up with friends there and have enjoy the ending of our day. I, personally, didn’t have ONE alcoholic beverage last night! You see, I think it’s the age thing. Now that I’m older, I can’t seem to just drink like I did before. Like last week….. here’s my drink after about an hour of being there…..



As you can see, not only is it just half consumed, but it’s melted down quite considerably. I, for some reason, can’t consume alcoholic drinks like I used to. Now on the other hand, I can definitely do shots! No problem whatsoever there!



Brian on the other hand, you will HARDLY EVER see him do a shot EVER. It takes a really, really, good reason for him to even contemplate doing one, let alone doing it period! The above shot of him and I doing one together was taken several weeks ago with the Minnesota Vikings lost to the New Orlean Saints (which by the way was a very bogus game). Yeah, that was one of those MUST DO A SHOT evening for him.

Here’s a picture of one of our friends who joins us for Margarita Thursdays, her name is Renae.



And here’s a picture of Renae and our favorite Bar Tender / Manager ever! His name in Ben.



Ahhh….. good times!

T - Minus Two Months and Twenty Two Days

Just a quick little blog post sharing with all of my bloggosphere family and friends that I am seriously starting to freak out. Just a tad.

I have SO MANY wedding related tasks that I need to do, and it seems like TIME is my arch nemisis every.single.day. My first and number one priority SHOULD BE working out everyday.

I have this little "pooch" in my tummy that I want to get rid of before going to have my dress fitted/altered. My days are numbered so I need to find the motivation to do what I need to do to get rid of said "pooch" and feel comfortable enough. I suppose the first step (clearly you would think this is a no brainer) is to make an appointment to get fitted. That way I have a goal... a date in which I need to work toward. So, today is the day I do just that! I'm going to find an alterations shop and make an appointment with a seamstress. Quite honestly, the only thing that really needs to be 'altered' per se is the hem of my dress. 100% because of the fact that I'm short. However, if it were that easy, I'd do it myself. Unfortunately, the hem of my dress is beautiful! Here's a picture of the bottom of my dress:

And, to refresh your memory, here's a full shot photo of me and my dress when I tried it on at David's Bridal:

Yes, yes, yes... I know that I have football, linebacker shoulder and arms, but there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about that. :) I can, of course, work on losing that gut.

So on that note, I'm going to head out for a fun Saturday of shopping at Michaels. More DIY supplies are needed for several of my DIY projects!

Happy Saturday friends!! It's the last Saturday of January, 2010!!

Let's talk Clearance Shopping!!!

We all know how much I absolutely ♥ Target correct? Well, I absolutely ♥ Target's clearance!

For example ~ take a looksie at the photo above. A screen tent. (It's 'formal' name is a Screen Pavillion) It was regularly priced at $92.99. We noticed that it was marked down at 15% off....then a couple of weeks later it went 30% off....several more weeks later, 50% off ~ $46.49. I kept thinking, hmmmm maybe we should buy it....there's only one left on the shelf! Brian on the other hand said..... "eh...let's see if it goes 75%". So, after a few days, I resigned myself to kiss that screen tent pavillion goodbye! It was too good of a deal for anyone to pass up, should they run into it.

However.....guess what my lovely honey brought home with him from work today?!? You guessed it! The Screen Pavillion! And guess what else?! Are you ready for this?!? It actually went 75% off! Yes siree Bob!! Guess how much it was marked down to?!?

$23.24

Yes, $23.24! And, don't forget..... Mr. Lovely's Team Member Discount on top of that! Woo Hoo!! Score!!! Let me take a moment here to do a:

♪♫♪ haPpY dAncE ♪♫♪

So, with that being said, can I just tell you that not this past summer, but the summer before, we bought over $300 worth of camping equipment all clearanced at least 50% off, so we actually spent right around $150. However, did we go camping that year? Nope. Did we go camping this past summer?!? Nope. So, this year in between our Wedding Cruise in April, the California Reception in May, the Minnesota Reception in June and two weddings in July (which I'm coordinating), we are definitely getting some camping time in there FOR SURE.

Target + Clearance = Awesomeness!!

Definitely walk the perimeter of the store and you'll be sure to find some great clearance items! Despite the fact that Brian spends over 40 hours a week in his SuperTarget, he doesn't always get the chance to check out everything ~ so it's nice that we can pop into our local Target (which, by the way is located about 2 minutes from our place) and we walk the perimeter of the entire store! The good clearance stuff is usually on end caps, but depending on which department you're in, they sometimes have them in the aisles as well.

Besides Target

I was very fortunate enough to get my Wedding Dress on clearance as well. Everyone knows that David's Bridal almost always has a $99 dress sale. The dresses are usually those that are no longer in production ~ usually 'last seasons' styles.

Well, when Brian and I went looking together (yes, he came with) we found a dress that I was totally in love with - mind you it was after I tried on about 4 other dresses! So after debating on several different dresses, we decided to go with THEE one. The price wasn't too bad either ~ the tag said $799. Pretty reasonable, so my Sales Associate that was helping me said she'd write everything up for me while I was getting dressed. As we were at the counter getting ready to pay for my dress, she says, "Um..wow... this dress is on clearanced for $99."

SAY WHAT?

I was very, very, very excited, but then she says... "Let me put enter the numbers in the computer one more time just to be sure." UGH... can she burst my happy little bubble or what?!? Well, turns out that the dress was indeed on sale for $499, ($300 off) but just that very morning apparently it was supposed to have been clearanced! Yay me! So, in the end, I got THEE dress for a whopping $99.00. S.W.E.E.T.!!!!

So, can I just say that CLEARANCE shopping is the BOMB!

Happy Friday!!