Long time!

So much has changed since I last blogged. I have been a bad blogger...
The wedding came and went, and now I have a beautiful 9 month old daughter!
Which leads me into the reason for this post...
I want to win some free stuff, and you might too if you are a mama.
Go here to enter in the baby gizmo giveaway and see what you can win!

Dresses!

Hey all!

I know it has been a while...working 60 hours a week makes me very tired and all I do is sleep!

Anyway, I thought since this wedding is going to be as non-traditional as possible, I would go that route for procuring my dress. There are a lot of dresses out there, ones already worn in a wedding, ones that future brides decided against wearing and the ones (gasp!) that were never worn and will never be because the wedding was cancelled (these frighten me...). So I went on www.PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com to see if I could find any. None of them were around me and I wanted to try on the gown first, or I wasn't going to buy it...only makes sense. I also did contact a couple people but they never got back to me. Then I thought about craigslist. I went on there and there are hundreds of wedding dresses in my area, waiting to be bought! I'm in contact with six people about purchasing their dress.

I went to see one last night but I didn't really like it. The girl bought the dress and then decided she wanted a different style so she is now selling it on craigslist so she can buy a new one. We forgot to take a picture though. It didn't really fit and she didn't feel comfortable zipping it all the way up...lol

Then I just tried one on, which I was able to get a picture or two of. The woman selling it was so nice. I guess she just decided she didn't want to be married. Or at least that is what she said. So she put it on craigslist and has been trying to sell it for 5 months. It is a beautiful dress and she was so sweet. She had a custom made veil that she brought for me to try on too, it was gorgeous. She had also bought all the bridesmaid dresses and everything and they are all sitting in her closet. Very sad. Onto a better note, here are some pictures of me in the dress!!!

Here is just the dress (don't mind my messy living room)

And here is the dress and the veil (the veil goes all the way to the floor)

What do you think?

I'm going to try on another dress this evening, I'll be sure to tell you guys all about my experience dress shopping on craigslist!

11^3

Weddings Galore!

2 of my cousins got married this last weekend, therefore I went to 2 weddings this last weekend. It really got me back on track with the whole planning process! I'm becoming a bit more motivated to do some things. I spent all day reading magazines and looking online for table linen deals...lol

Things I learned from the two weddings I went to this past weekend.

1. I don't want a wedding like either of them, but a mixture of the two. One of them was somewhat formal with a sit down dinner and a DJ and favors clearly purchased from the knot. The other was a very casual backyard bbq where there were fun games and lots of cute children running around, playing ping-pong and badminton. They also had very cute pint glasses as favors that were customized! I'll be looking into this for my wedding!

2. Planning a wedding can be very stresful, and it can be not so bad. It just depends on how you go about it. One of my cousins pulled me aside and said NEVER to plan a wedding because it was FAR too stressful and whatever I did, make sure it wasn't like hers...plus her mom (my aunt) also said the same thing. I'm going to make sure I don't let perfection get in the way of just planning a really fun event that everyone will enjoy rather than an event that is stressful and will give me a hernia.

3. I want to have other things to do than just get drunk and dance. I haven't been drinking since FI and I have been trying for a baby (!!!) so I couldn't partake and then I didn't necessarily feel comfortable to dance. Don't get me wrong, I did dance a bit but I got bored with it quickly and then just sat and got eaten by mosquitos. On the other hand, my other cousin had so many games and fun things to do all day that I was never bored. I said before I wanted to have some fun things to do like an air hockey table (I asked the venue coordinator and she said that it was fine as long as I knew we would have to lose a table and I would have to carry it in and out).

I guess that is what I've learned from now...I hope my wedding planning isn't too stressful. As of yet, it is very fun!

Also, if anyone is in the market for table linens, they are having a sale over at linentablecloth.com and you get 30% off white, black and ivory tablecloths and if you use the coupon code fbaug10 you get an additional 10% off any purchase! (expires 8/31/2010)

Until next time

11^3

Oh My Blog Award!!!

Hey All,

Sorry it has been a minute since I last wrote...but some exciting news!

Lauren over at The Journey to "We" had awarded me with the Oh My Blog award!!! YAY this is my first award, thanks so much Lauren!

A) Get very excited that you got the coolest award EVER!


B) To accept the OMB Award, choose ONE of the following options:

1.Get very drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight. (or for as long as you can focus)

2.Write a "Soundtrack of your childhood" post.

3.Make your next blog post a video blog. (talk to the camera about anything)

4.Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc) and post it.

5.Write about your most embarrassing moment.

I'll pick #4...because I hardly ever wear makeup anyway. I had just woken up from a nap when this was taken (I'm working very early shifts so I take lots of naps!)

My hair is a bit frazzled...but otherwise not too embarrassing.

C) Pass the award on to at least three other awesome bloggers.

1. Ten Eleven Ten - Your wedding is fast approaching yet you always find the time to blog. I like your writing style and your creativity is amazing! I have gotten much inspiration and tips from your blog.

2. Happily After All- Your blog inspired the creation of my blog, for which I must award you. I know you are already married, but you continue to inspire and create.

3. I actually can't think of a third (I would give it to Lauren who gave it to me, or Ms. Teacher, who gave it to her...but that would be pretty lame!)

Until next time!

Update*

Sorry for my lengthy absence. I got a job! I now work at the famous Zingerman's! It is such an amazing place to work and I am just going crazy about it...they pay you to learn all about the business and even for personal learning, they created this wonderful community of incredibly kind, supportive people and make you want to go into work and work hard!

OK, enough gushing about my new, amazing job....back to wedding planning.

Wedding planning has been on the back burner lately, obviously because of my job, but also because I am just so far ahead of schedule. I don't know what to do! Anyone hit a bump like this? I don't want to pick my BMs yet because I want to pick people who I'm sure I will be friends with in over a year. The engagement party is in october. My photographer friend is out of town right now and we are planning for a fall e-pic shoot. I've made a couple of DIY projects but even though I've enjoyed making them and I think they look good, I don't have proper storage to keep them looking good for over a year.

I guess there is one thing that I haven't mentioned about my planning that will take a while and I can probably start. While I was originally planing on buying a bunch of yard sale plates and putting them at the tables for a crafty, mismatched look, I found out my cousin who is having a wedding this August is doing the EXACT same thing. So my father thought of this kind of amazing idea: my mother is a potter and we should make all the plates and drinking cups. We could also customize them give them as favors. I'd have to have someone washing all the dishes before people take them home but it is a pretty cool idea! What do you think?

I'm a graphic designer, so I could get started designing things, especially now that I have my theme and colors. Probably should, but I'm not sure I won't change my mind and it isn't like it should take that long.

Ug. I just want to get married now.