You're Such A Tool, But Yet I Love You

I have two major tools in my life. One is my super sexy wedding binder from russel+hazel.

The other is our wedding website.

I don't know what I would do without these two tools. I love them wholeheartedly.

I carried my wedding binder around with me everywhere I went. Somewhere between coming to terms with our old wedding venue and some bridesmaid-dress related stress, I stopped carrying it.

It sat by the door, ready to be carried along every time I left the house. Instead, I would glower at it as I walked past. It just sat there in it's adorable carrying bag I bought at Staples.

I paid more attention to the website. But I really focused my attention on the part people would see (such as the screen shot above). Well, that and the guest list.

The guest list caused me no small amount of grief. Getting the list whittled down, tracking down addresses, and getting them all into the website was a very involved project.

But then the clouds parted. I saw on the website a very easy format to put the guest list info into that would make it very easy to upload into the computer. I'm a hgue fan of putting in a lot of work on the front in to never have to do it again.

Once that happened, things got better. Suddenly, my fiance Easy and his mother were able to track down their addresses. My parents became a big help in getting our Save-the-Dates out.

And then the best thing ever happened: we changed our wedding venue back to the place I'd been secretly pining for since we first saw it.

This actually looks a lot like a Justin Alexander ad with my exact dress on weddingwire. I couldn't get the ad to come up of course, so no screenshot. Sorry.

Oh, but I did go to the Justin Alexander website and I found it. I'm hesitant to post it because Easy still hasn't seen my dress. If he promises not to look, I'll post it. You promise not to peek, Easy? Okay, everyone else scroll down and you'll see it.












I knew you'd look! That's why I didn't put up the ad. Perhaps eventually I will show it, cause I really love the ad and I'm going to save it as an inspirational picture for my photographer for the day of the wedding.

Moving on. Being the reasonable person I try to pretend I am from time to time, I never outright said I wanted that venue and no others. But when it finally happened, I felt a weight lifted. I didn't even know that weight was there, but I sure as hell noticed when it was gone.

Monday, on my way out the door, I stopped and picked up my wedding binder and bag. I took it with me to work. I even cracked it open at work and began filling in the stuff I'd neglected for 2 months. I took out stuff I didn't need anymore.

Besides all the work I do at work, I felt very productive wedding-wise. It's amazing to come out of doldrums you didn't even know you were in. I knew I felt some kind of way about my wedding binder, but I didn't know just how bad it was until I didn't feel that way anymore.

And now I love all my wedding tools again. Checklists, guest lists, and menus, oh my!

Can You Wear Your Birthday Suit To Your Engagement Party?

There is something that is gravely important One should wear clothes to their own engagement party. I'm serious, it's truly important.

No matter how much you want to bury your head in the sand and try and forget about the million and one details of wedding planning, you must take time and find actual clothes to wear. Not doing that is against the law.

Shopping for an e-party dress should be fun. It's a cocktail party after all and I love shopping. What could be better?

Well, I think I put too much pressure on myself. I don't really have the time or money to shop the way I'd like. And I had the silly notion I should wear our wedding colors. There's only one problem with that. Regency isn't really in right now.


left to right: regency, black, tan, ivory, gold

Color fail.
 So I branched out. I found a great dress at Delia's that I bought. I know you want to see it.



Dress from Delia's

 Because I am so very short, it stops right at my knees, making it perfect cocktail length. And it's a great color for summer. But it's just... plain. I'd have to jazz it up. I and don't really do jazzy.

I don't have a blingy belt or jewelry or anything else like that. Sexy high heeled shoes is about all I have. So this dress would require waaay more shopping to get it perfect.

So I am now searching for either another dress or some killer accessories. Of course, I'm starting with Macy's because that store never lets me down. They had tons to choose from. I wanted something cute and sexy, but not too sexy. I wanted it simple, but not too plain. I hope I can come up with more focus for my other pre-wedding outfits.

Here are some of my favorites.


Ralph Lauren One Shoulder Dress

 Sexy and simple. But is it too simple? And should I really be wearing black to a party in the middle of August? I don't know.



Ellen Tracy Sleeveless Floral Print Dress

 Girly and sweet, but is it sexy? On me, it will go below my knee and it looks like something I'd wear to church or work maybe...



Nine West Beaded One Shoulder Dress

 Let's be honest, one shoulder dresses are not my thing. I only own one and it was forced upon me through participation in a wedding. And perhaps it's too sexy? And I will clash with all the golden decorations, won't I?



Jessica Howard Asymmetrical Cocktail Dress

 This one is actually called a cocktail dress. And it's exactly my style. But is it too sweet? Is it too blue? And might it be too hot for an August party at which I'll already be nervous?


BCBGMAXAZRIA One Shoulder Mini Cocktail Dress

 Everything this man makes looks great on me. It's sexy and a soft tone, so I wouldn't be overdoing it. But I have a small frame. Perhaps it's just one detail too many. That's a lot o' ruffles. And I have a small frame, but not small hips. Le sigh.



Ellen Tracy Sleeveless Sheath

 This one kept catching my eye, but when I look at it, all I can think is my grandmother telling me I need more color and pizazz in my wardrobe. This dress is just my style though. But perhaps it's not enough.

I think a trip to an actual store is due. I will have fun trying on dresses. Whenever I find a sales associate to bond with, I always buy a dress. So here's hoping there's someone there who can be wowed by my ability to look good in any dress (except ones with too many ruffles. those are not my friends).

"Looking For Corny In My Life"

The Holiday is one of my favorite movies. It combines Christmas and romantic comedies and it has an ensemble cast and a couple of the characters break into song for no reason at all plus a sexy man with an accent is one of the leads? That's a special kind of movie heaven for me. Watch the clip. Around 8:55 is the part of the scene that inspired the title to this post.



I have my moments where corny things are what I actually prefer. I'd like to blame my fiance for making this even worse. I usually try to avoid embracing my mushy side. But Easy keeps making it seem like this is good behavior, so I keep indulging here and there.

I posted back in June about what I got my Dad for Father's Day. One of his gifts was a hat that said "Father of the Bride".

Well.... I bought myself one too. I bought a hat that says "Future Mrs. McBride". I truly did. It's the pinnacle of corniness. And I bought a hat that I'll only be able to wear for another 6.5 months. But I did it.

When we get around having wedding events, you'll probably see me with my Future Mrs. McBride baseball cap and Bridezilla sash. I'm starting to hoard some serious pre-wedding swag. Throw that in with the wine glass my mother got me that says "Bride" and my pre-wedding gear is almost complete.

The question is what to get next. Should I get a cute Bride-to-Be Tank Top?


Image via Zazzle

Or maybe a cute tiara?



Image via FunSlurp

 Already having a shopping habit makes me even more prone to this, the corniest of indulgences. Have you ever gone overboard with themed swag?

Put On Some Pants!

One of my favorite moments in The Hangover inspired the title of this post. It makes me think of Easy because he's morally opposed to wearing pants when he doesn't have to. Our wedding is such an occasion for which he must wear pants.

Watch the clip here. Around 2:43 is when the pants funniness begins.

Needing to have pants for our wedding, Easy went with his best man to find tuxes for the males in our wedding party. There are a lot of males in our wedding party. I think my next post will talk about just how many people we are including.

We have the groom, Easy. Both Easy and I have a best man. He has 8 groomsman and I have 2 male bridal attendants. We have 2 ring bearers. We have 2 teenage ushers. We have two officiants. And also there is my father. That's 20!

Argh!

Okay, I'm calm.

Easy and his best man did a good job of narrowing down what the guys would wear. I told them they had to get dove gray, charcoal gray, or black suits or tuxes. They needed to look at tie options along with vest, cummerbund or suspender options. They had to come in all our wedding colors.



left to right: regency, black, tan, ivory, gold

And they tried on some stuff (I assume...) and narrowed it down. The males will all be wearing black tuxes, not the kind with tails. Easy prefers vests over cummerbund's, so they will be wearing vests.

I made a big push for cummerbunds and my father told me if I wanted cummerbunds so badly, I should wear one. I quickly replied (like the smart aleck everyone keeps telling me I am) that I am, in fact, wearing one. The way my dress is made has that detail at the waistline.

But it looks like I'll be the only one. Sigh.

The guys will be wearing vests, and we're still undecided on ties though I believe Easy is leaning toward regular ties (no skinny ties!).

We aren't going to have our officiants wearing the same matching tuxes. My father will be in a black vest/tie. The groomsmen will be in regency along with our best men. Easy will wear ivory possibly. The ushers and ring bearers will be wearing tan.

I think the colors will work very well with the ladies in the wedding. Our flower girls and hostesses will also be in tan. The bridesmaids will be in regency. And the gold color will only be accents, think earrings and cuff links.

I wish I had asked the guys to take pictures of what they tried on. But perhaps I can tag along when they get measured and get some pictures then.

What do you think of our color palette? Does it seem to far out there? I will put up pictures when I get them and it will all make sense, I promise.

But to get an idea of what we're envisioning, here's a picture from my inspiration board on Weddingwire.

How My Wedding Dress Is Like My Future Husband

Oh, how I wish I could share with you my wedding dress, but my fiance Easy reads this blog (stalker!), and so I cannot. Although he knows a bit about the dress, such as the unique color, he hasn't seen it.

But it's really beautiful. Chances are if you are immersed in the bride world (and have enough regular brain vs bride brain left), you have probably seen it. It's a pretty popular dress.

It's such a special dress. It's made for women who are either very short or very tall. Seriously, if you're 5'4"-5'8", I can't even imagine how you'd pull this off unless you have some unconventional torso-leg proportions.

I've loved this dress since the moment we put down the first down payment. Even though almost every dress I tried on looked good, this one was exceptional.

When I went for my dress fitting, I was dying to try on the sample for my dress again. There were two other brides there. They were both trying on dresses. Again. Perhaps it's the indecisive person in me, but I'd never put down money on a wedding dress that I wasn't sure about.

If I were anything less than completely sure, I'd be guaranteed to be like them. I'd be back in the shop, trying on another 20 dresses. To me it's like finding a husband. You don't stop trying on dresses until you've found THE ONE. And then once you've found it, you're done. You don't do this:

Even if you come across others dresses you could possibly love, they end up not being enough. You don't even want to try them on. If you don't feel like this about a dress, keep looking. Of course, if you wait too long to find a dress or have an extra short engagement, the rules change.

But just like I knew almost right away my fiance was the one, I knew the same thing about this dress. And unlike a living breathing person, my dress is just waiting for me to take it home (or will be in December), it doesn't hem and haw with indecision. Dresses want to be loved, not loved and left people!

Okay, moment of drama over. Did I mention I love my wedding dress? It is unconventional, but it makes me feel like a bride like nothing else I tried on. Kind of like how Easy makes me feel like a wife like no guy I've ever dated.

I I will try not to compare Easy to every decision I make in the wedding. But no promises.

Finding Time For Non-Wedding Things, Well Not Really

Having only 7 months left to plan a wedding for more than 300 people (did I mention that's a slight source of stress for me?) doesn't leave a lot of time for other things. But boy, do I try.

Picnics with my girls (also my bridesmaids, but we're not talking about that today) is something we've been talking about for months. It finally happened Saturday afternoon.

One of the biggest parks in the city is one block away from my new apartment. Washington Park is no place you want to be caught after dark. But around 1pm on Saturday, it's the perfect place for a picnic.

Even though I wanted this event to be completely un-related to the wedding, it was chock full of bridesmaids, so there was some wedding stuff. For instance, I had to wear my C-Ride/Bridezilla sash. I've really got to get a better picture of that thing so you all can see how great it is that they made it by hand.

Seriously, my bridesmaids are awesome. Okay, and now I'm officially talking about wedding stuff again. I realized that while talking about the dress shopping, I neglected to show the magical dress that managed to look good on every single one of my bridesmaids.

They have seriously different body types.

But there is a dress type that works well on literally everyone. It's the A-line of course. But the floor length was really the ticket, even though they all have great legs. The surprise to me was the empire waist. I figured a natural waist would be more universally flattering. I don't care about being wrong because this dress is just fabulous.

So without further ado. Bill Levkoff dress styl 537:


this dress is all over weddingbee, much like my wedding dress.

I don't care much about how many times this dress shows up in weddings. It's a great freaking dress. And it's super flattering no matter how big or small the bust, waist, or hips.
 Now the key is to find it for the best price. I know we can find a better price. And with 8 women and 2 pre-teens buying a version of that dress, we should be able to get a darn good discount.

Party Til You Puke (For An Extra Charge) Part One

I promise I have a good reason for that title, which I'll explain later. But really, it's Google and Wikipedia's fault.

This song is seriously ridiculous. Do NOT click play on this video if you're at work, or around small children, or generally don't like your computer yelling at you.




But anyway... We finally have a location for our engagement party!!!

I think my mother and I made it more difficult on ourselves than we had too. We went through several idea before we settled on one that worked.

Plan: Sit-Down Dinner At a Restaurant; like Maggiano's in Chicago
Why It Seemed Great: Imagine that picture except for an engagement party instead of a wedding reception. All of our family gathered for the type of food Chicagoans constantly drool over.
Why It Didn't Work: The cost is ridiculous for just the appetizer of our wedding events. And the environment is a bit too... stuffy... for the type of party we wanted to have ultimately. We envisioned our people having a great time hanging out, not being forced to stay in their seats for a plated dinner.

Plan: Art Gallery or Outdoor Venue
Why It Seemed Great: Easy loves places that look "industrial", like the G.R. N'Namdi Gallery in Chicago. Plus we could use our own caterer and decorations and music...
Why It Didn't Work: and liquor license... and linens... and tables... and chairs... and the costs began too add up a bit too much. It seemed that we at least needed a place that already had a liquor license as well as tables and chairs to accommodate what is turning out to be a wedding full of intimate parties for 100-300 people. Sigh.

Plan: Jazz or Blues Club, like Andy's Jazz Club in Chicago
Why It Seemed Great: Easy is a jazz musician. My mother and I were dying to incorporate that into the wedding somehow. These places have tables and chairs and are setup for live music, which is perfect for what we were once envisioning.
Why It Didn't Work: The cost for these places had to cover them losing business for that day. And we weren't prepared to cover costs for that much money. We'd have to have the party on Wednesday afternoon to afford it.

So we finally ended up with.... drum roll please... I'll just explain in the next post, lol.

Stop! Put Down The Laptop And Back Away Slowly

I informed my girl Top of my decline ascendance into being a person who can't stop talking about her next purchase of an Apple product. I have plans to get a Macbook soon.

The question was how soon I'd be able to afford it (I didn't want to finance it) and if I'd be able to use Easy's educator discount. Turns out he can, but if we both want laptops this summer, we can't both use the discount. Fail.

But, Top had a great idea. She suggested that even if I could purchase the laptop this month, I should wait until at least August.

Why August? I'd be dealing with all those back-to-schoolers and have to fight for personalized attention.




I'd want this...



...but would surely get this in August.

Apparently, that's what I want. I didn't know it at first, but Top now has me convinced.

At the behest of her roommate, she waited until August-September-ish and got a great deal. They had a back-to-school promotion going with something like a $100 rebate. Also, she got her iPod Touch for free with her laptop. Winning!

I immediately decided to put money aside from the next three checks to cover the whole cost and start searching around the internet for when such a deal would begin.

And in hopefully 5-6 short weeks, I'll be the, gulp, proud new owner of a MacBook Pro, and maybe a new iPod Touch. Sigh. Boy how times have changed.

I Can't Shop, But If I Could

I have this new job and that should mean lots of new money to spend on myself in ways lovely and numerous.

But that is not my reality. I just got engaged and my fiance Easy and I decided it would be a good idea to move right into a new apartment. So I have no disposable income and I won't for at least a couple months.

I do feel like it's worth it though. Starting a new life has startup costs. And new clothes and yoga class will just have to wait.

But, oh, if I could shop.... Here are some things I would pick up.


1. Delia's Floral Print Dress 2. CB2 Chaise Couch 3. Time at my favorite spa in Chicago



Do you ever dream shop? What would you get if you could, but can't (I feel your pain!)?

Father's Day, Playing Catch, And Growing A Second Head

Saturday wasn't a particularly eventful day, but three interesting things happened that I wanted to share with the blogosphere.

The first thing was my family celebrating Father's Day a day early. My family is all about holidays. All about them, okay? And my father spends the time the holidays focus on him saying things like, "you really really shouldn't have gotten me anything," the rest of us still enjoy celebrating in his honor.

We all gave him our gifts Saturday and had a great meal of jerk chicken, beans and rice, and cabbage. Then I had to rush off to work. Why did we do this a day early? My father leaves for Reno at 10:00 am to go to a bowling tournament.

 

Want to see what I got him as gifts? They're great gifts, if I do say so myself. What makes it even better is that I paid for these gifts with money I earned from work, without input or help from anyone (except payroll, bahaha).


Great Gift Idea: The Knot Wedding Shop



Lennox Tuscany Decanter at Macy's



 I do love my Daddy so much. I was glad that my first gift purchases with my all-grown-up-and-working money went to him.

After I left for work, my second interesting thing happened. I found out that all my co-workers are just as incredibly silly as I am.

It started because one of my co-workers threw a ball of paper at another one. It quickly devolved into us throwing swag from previous employee meetings around the office.  It was like this:

Well, except in an office not a pool. And with those little hackeysack balls, not water balloons. But it certainly felt that festive. We had fun and then the phone range and we got back to work. It felt like some flash mob that breaks into dance and then resumes life as if it hadn't just happened. Or any musical ever. It was awesome.

The third thing is actually two moments that feel like they are exactly indicative of my life right now in this point in time. Easy brought his stuff back from St. Louis (that means he's officially moved back!!!!) and put it into my storage unit. Nothing says all grown up and standing on your own like sharing a storage locker with your fiance.

The other thing is I got some snacks from Wal-Mart before work. I finally pulled out an apple to eat it because I was hungry for something sweet. That's when I noticed it was the hugest apple ever! I mean, genetically altered, gonna-grow-a-second-head-if-you-eat-that-growth-hormone-pumped-fruit, big as a baby's head apple. And of course I ate it. It was either that or a Snicker's bar.



imagine this but like three times the size



In conclusion, my Daddy's Father's Day was early (and awesome!), my co-workers are buckets of fun in downtime, and I'm quite the adult in this genetically altered 2011 summer!

Did anyone else have an interesting day?

Applying To Be A Weddingbee And Other Related Wedding TidBits

Tonight I finally submitted my application to my favorite wedding blog to join up. I mentioned this waaay back in March. You can read the post here.

From what I hear, I won't know for a couple of weeks whether or not I'll get accepted. Until that time, you all will be forced to hear all about the planning details of my wedding.

Our wedding guest list is still still still not done. My family and Easy's family all sat down on Sunday afternoon. We managed to get the list down to 291 from 425. But that's not even close to where it needs to be.

I've long since given up on the hope of my small wedding. People keep telling me I shouldn't be surprised since our wedding party is so large. Kind of like this.



Image of Scottish wedding



But I think that's unfair. If it were up to me, it'd be that many people standing up with us and that many sitting in the audience. But now I've tried to be realistic and accept 250. I'd prefer 200 because I'm thinking of my parents' budget.

But there is good news from the weekend. I. Got. A. Wedding. Dress. And I love it! I will not be showing my dress here since my fiance Easy reads this blog all the time and he's not allowed to see the dress. But here were some major candidates.

These dresses are Anjolique, DaVinci Bridals, and Allure Bridals respectively. You can find them by just going to the websites of the three wedding dress designers.

Searching for a wedding dress taught me a lot about perceptions. I went in feeling more convinced of my pre-conceived notions about my dress should look, but my mother was convinced I was all wrong.

I didn't get a sweetheart neckline, but it was definitely the most flattering on me. I didn't want a white dress, and though I fell in love with one, I ultimately chose a taupe dress. A line was the most bridal-feeling to me even though mermaid was damn sexy. And I was, and still am, completely opposed to any type of train, no matter how beautiful.

Next, I'll be figuring out how to make time to do a DIY project for our engagement photo shoot that is now only 6 days away. Yikes!

The Story About My Ring

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I had to have my ring replaced less than a week after receiving it. To clarify, I just had to have the stone replaced. It's just a crazy crazy story.

So, I came home from work Saturday morning and both my parents are awake. They have to head over to our church for Bible Institute soon. My mother asks me to run to Dunkin Donuts to get coffee and donuts for the meeting before I go to sleep (this is what I mean by my fam/friends not helping me get rest).

I told her I would go and off I went. I get the coffee and the donuts and head back to the church. There are several meetings going on at once, and one of the church members is walking out while I'm trying to get my stuff together to go in. She sees me, tells me she's heard the good news of my engagement and asks to see my ring.

I love my ring and I think it is amazingly breathtakingly beautiful, so I held out my hand for her to see it in it's full glory sparkling in the sunshine. I promise I'll put up a picture of it the next time I'm blogging on a computer I can load photos onto. But as I hold my hand up for her to see, I notice a big gaping hole where the pink sapphire was.

All the diamond that encircle the sapphire were there, just no pink sapphire! I was freaking out only for a split second because my response was to come up with a solution rather than cry about it. I took the coffee and donuts inside, showed my mother the ring, informed her I was off to fix it and left.

Easy purchased the ring in St. Louis, but it was from Jared, so they are all over. I called the Orland Park store to make they were open. I told them I had a ring in need of repair and I was en route to the store. I was assured they could help me with a ring purchased in a different city.

I called Easy to tell him what happened and make sure he had gotten "the good insurance." He had because he's a very smart and wonderful man. I get to the store, they look up the ring info in the computer. And because we had the good insurance, they said they would replace the stone and I should come back in a few hours to pick it up.

I had to sleep before work, so I wanted to see if Easy could pick up the ring for me. When I called the store back to check, they informed me that only I or a designated person-- designated before I left the store-- could pick up the ring. I told them my fiance had purchased the ring and surely he would be able to pick it up for me since I had to be at work.

She said, "you'd be surprised how many people use repairs and cleanings as an excuse to take a ring back. For security purposes, only you can pick up the ring. I understand that he purchased it, but you'd really be surprised how often it happens that someone tries to take the ring back,"

I just cracked up laughing and told them my fiance wasn't going to do that, but I would just wait until the next day and pick it up. Easy and I went to the store the next day, picked up the ring. I dare say, it's even more brilliant. Pink sapphires come in many shades of pink, and I think I like this even better. It could just be my bias for things that are sparkly. I always think what's right in front of me is the best.

They said the stone should stay in this time. I don't even know how it fell out. I sit at a desk 12 hours a day and sleep in between. Literally, the most strenuous thing I'd done since receiving the ring was carrying a Dunkin Donut Box O Joe. But hopefully that was the only time such a thing would happen.

Another Long Day/Night, But I Think I'm Getting Used To It

When I got home from work, my mother was still home. Her stomach pain was still there and her doctor had instructed her to come into the office at 3 pm. Going into the doctor's office certainly beats getting put to the back of the line in the emergency room. The back of the line is exactly where you go when you walk in with stomach pain unless you start coughing up blood or re-enact the dress-shopping scene from Bridesmaids.

Before I got a chance to go to sleep, my mother asked me to go to Walgreens and pick up some pharmacy stuff for her. Still no prescription, just ibuprofen. Apparently not only is the doctor's office closed on Wednesday, they also treat it like a sabbath at that place. But I was happy to go because it was a very reasonable request. Plus, my brother was still sleep, so it's not like he could go.

When I got back, I set my sights on my bed. My cat Belle was already snuggled up under the covers as if she knew it was sleepy time. But I could go to sleep yet. My girl Camille is about to fly to Barcelona for a class tomorrow and I promised her I would have her Snuggie embroidered by then. In case you don't read the blog in which I discuss my friends' love lives and this is news to you, I really did just type Snuggie and embroidered together. I embroidered a Snuggie.

Well, I start a while ago, but I hadn't finished. So I stayed up to finish it because I wanted to keep my word. I hid my cell phone so I had no idea how much sleep I actually got. I seriously don't know. And I know that it might be my new trick for sleeping between work shifts. I'm not tired like I should be considering I didn't get even close to 8 hours of sleep. My brain is fully unaware of how much sleep I got, and that works for me.

I finished the Snuggie, curled up with Belle, who woke up only long enough to give me a look that said, "finally, now you can stop moving and we can both get some good sleep," and took a nice restful sleep. And now that I'm back at work (on break, yay!), I'm thinking about this weekend.

What are your weekend plans? Mine involve a birthday party, spending time with Easy, hopefully some Memorial Day barbeque, and of course, the most important... seeing Hangover 2!

I love movies, especially comedies. I love movies with sexy men in them. I love sequels. I love American movies shot in foreign countries. There are so many reasons to be super excited about this movie. It's one I've been looking forward to for sooo long. It's been a couple years since I was excited about several movie line ups for a whole summer movie season. It was back when Hancock, Iron Man, Dark Knight, etc. all came out. Good times.