Stuffing

I've never been someone who really watches what she eats. That might sound really... something, but it's not meant that way.

But over the past two years or so, I've gained weight. Like, 20 pounds worth of weight. Not cool.

I attribute it to beginning to drink soda for the first time ever during those two years, and continuing to drink it.

I knew I didn't want to be one of those brides who, for the four months or four weeks or four days leading up to her wedding, doesn't eat normally. Or doesn't eat at all.

The sample dress of the gown I chose was pretty close to my size. If I'd chosen to get it altered, I would have saved probably $100. But it was a leeeetle too tight. Like, I couldn't wait to get it off tight but I could probably manage for a day because I love to save money.

The clentcher? That I knew I'd have to watch what I eat as we got closer to the date since my weight is so constantly in flux. And since I looove my donuts so much (after all, I eat a package of those six donuts every day for breakfast!), I just didn't want to risk it.

My mom (who's paying for half of my gown) and I agreed that (my) our peace of mind was worth that extra $100.

After the first fitting, I'm pretty happy with our choice. And as I sit here and write this, craving something salty, I'm even happier.

To comfort on your wedding day - and all the days before!

Tulle Lovely

I am in love with these capelets by ThreadRare:

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One of these would be perfect if I had gobs of money and a "departure" outfit for the wedding. I'm thinking something 50's styled, just a scotch above the knee, in ivory with one of these bad boys on top. That'd be hot.

And at first I thought I liked the silk one better, but now I'm heavily leaning toward the tulle. What about you?

Ah, to dream.

BMaids

I've placed the order for the bridesmaids dresses, which will be produced by etsian Louise of sohomode in April.

I decided to go with these beautes:

{sohomode, image by lydiajane.com}

And here are the fabric choices of my three lovely ladies:

Seriously, the bridesmaids dresses are one of the aspects of the wedding planning process so far that I have been most excited about! I think these will turn out so pretty! And if we ham them up a bit with some cowboy boots, as in the professional photograph, I think it'll balance the matronly vibe from the dresses. I wish I could afford one for myself!

Some people have asked what our color(s) will be, and I've had a hard time explaining our vision. We want our "colors" to be "floral" - particularly springy yellows, oranges, greens, and blues. If you've ever eaten Sixlets* (one of my favorite candies), you'll know what we're going for.

I think the floral vibe makes everything feel a bit more casual while still pretty and feminine. I love that DIY, vintage, I-threw-this-party-together-from-my-sewing-table vibe. I'm going for an earthy, frilly feel, and I think these fabrics kick it off in the right direction!

*Holler at the possible wedding favor, if we decide to go for them!

Bridesmaid Pretties

If my emotions had an ass (asses?), it would have been kicked pretty badly by now.

Immediate family drama has made my past week and a half extremely unpleasant. To remind myself that I should be in blissful newly-engaged-land, I am going to temporarily distract myself with some bridesmaid pretties.

I am in love love love with this dress design by Louise, etsian shop owner of sohomode.

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Everything about it, I love. And I love the fact that the seller has a link to her blog, where you can check out her latest vintage fabric options for your custom dress. This one, in particular, though is pretty perky. The pretty pinks with a bit of blue make me happy. So feminine yet so... covered up. What a nice balance.

She even has a listing for bridesmaids in particular. Don't you just love the styling in this picture? Makes me want to ask my girls to wear cowboy boots. And how lovely would it be if each lady got to pick her own fabric?

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I checked out the photographer credited (lydiajane.com), and she's local! Too bad she's out of our budget!

At $130 a dress ($120 for the "ready to ship" dresses such as the first in this post), it's not a terrible price for a bridesmaid dress. But then I quickly - and easily - remind myself that I never wanted to say anything like "for a bridesmaid dress". What a WICked thing to think. I (or my ladies) shouldn't have to pay more because it's a bridesmaid dress. So ridiculous.

So while I love these by Louise, I may have to forgo them for a much more affordable style (or styles) by ModCloth. Even if I don't go with Louise's dresses, I still like the idea of picking a few different floral dresses in different styles, and I definitely think I could pull that off shopping there.

And who knows? Maybe I could splurge on a custom made dress from Louise for our rehearsal dinner?

Ahh, that was nice. Dresses always make me happy!

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In a Bra La La update, I called late last week and requested the manager to see if we could work something out so that I could get some of my money back for my purchase and return. Turns out the NICE LADY was the manager! I guess niceness doesn't do much for common sense. You'd think she would have mentioned their return policy to me as she checked me out. Oh well. At least I got $95 back.

Bra-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la

There are some "becoming a woman" things I always associated with getting married. Getting professionally fitted for a bra was one of them.

So when bff Y asked last week if D and I wanted to get fitted at a local bra boutique, I thought, Perfect. I get to spend time with my ladies and check something off my not-yet-totally-formed-and-(probably)-"cute"-to-others-more-into-their-planning list.

We all arrived with the same expectation - that we've all been wearing the wrong size forever. And that we'd have to invest crazy amounts of money to rebuild our bra collection. This is not entirely true for me, the one who shops at Forever 21's accessory store for her bras and scoffs at Victoria's Secret prices - even during the semi-annual sales. But for my friends, D and Y,who frequent Victoria's Secret like it's going out of style, they'd be losing some serious moolah in their bra drawer if their sizes were wrong.

With two sales women and three of us, we divided among the changing rooms. I had the mean lady who measured me and told me that I'm the exact size I've been wearing for years. I was surprised, but not terribly. My breasts aren't big, and there's really not much room for error.

I told Mean Lady that that was the size I already wore, and she left to help my friend. She never told me she'd get me some bras to try on (which were located in the back of the store), so I redressed and went to the front of the store.

After she helped a friend, she found me in the front and said, "Oh, you didn't want me to get you any bras to try on?" and I said, "Oh, no..." as I hadn't realized that's how the store worked. I thought maybe I chose my merchandise and then tried it on. So then she says, accusatorily, "So you mean you don't want to try on any bras?" To which I responded, "Uh, no."

Within a few minutes I figured out that I was supposed to stay in my dressing room, as my friends began to try on bras that were brought to them. I even heard D and Y call out to each other - both were off by TWO cup sizes. Ouch.

Luckily the nice lady rescued me, and I went back to my dressing room for a few tries.

But man oh man I didn't realize bras could be so expensive! The first she brought was $82. The second, $62. The third (and my favorite), a whopping $90. Ridiculous!

Because of the enormous pressure I felt from Mean Lady, I caved and chose the $90 bra with matching $38 "panties"*. For a total of $135, I had one lame-ass honeymoon getup. Do you know how many things I could buy from Victoria's Secret for the same amount?

The more I've thought about it, the more pissed I've become that I let pressure get me. So today, after work, I took my neatly wrapped package back to the store to return. The woman - luckily neither Mean Lady or Nice Lady - first asked if there was a problem with my purchase. I tell her no, that honestly it's just the expense that's the problem. Then she reviews my receipt and goes, "Oh, did you buy 'panties'? Those are non-refundable, even with the tags." Okay, fine, I can understand that. Though I doubt many women who are purchasing $38 underwear are then the type to return them after a wear or two.

So then I asked if I could just return the bra. She begins to go through the motions of returning it and then asks, "Did the salesperson before mention that bras may only be returned for store credit?" Uhhhhh, no! I tell her this. She gives me a sad look and says, "Well, I'm sorry, but..." And I'm thinking, HELLO. If I told you that the expense of two pieces of cloth is the "problem" with my purchase, what makes you think I want your damn store credit?

So then I think, fine, I'll just get the store credit and use it later. But then I realize I'm stuck with some $38 leopard print underwear with no matching bra. Might as well have the whole set, right?

So I say, forget it! I'll keep it!, snatch up my bag (okay actually I was quite nice - it wasn't her fault), and leave.

But then as I drove home I thought I should really call the manager. It's ridiculous. I was never told that I would not be able to return the purchase for real money. I bet the company's owned by a man.

Totally did not go as planned. It is pretty, though, isn't it?

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*That word makes me skeeve.

I'm a Heel

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This was me this morning. As I rushed across the ginormous parking lot at an off-site client meeting. I was filling in for a coworker, got super lost because of my stupid GPS and its aversion to new buildings (and no, I'm not paying $50 for the map upgrades!), and was at least ten minutes late.

Then as I booked it across the parking lot, the heel of my favorite shoes snapped. Not cool at all. They go something like this:

And they are heaven. Perfect for work. Perfect for elegant play. A low enough heel and not too sharp of a point to look too abrasive. From DSW, too.

I'll probably try to get them fixed as opposed to buying new ones. I realize I bought them for probably only $40 or so, but they're my favorites and they're already worn in. Don't you ever feel sentimental toward your shoes? I remember I bought these for the job interview I had when I was finishing my Masters. It was the job I had for my first year after school. Granted, they're only a year and a half old. But, gotta hold on to them.

Just searching for those shoes forced me to visit DSW's site, which I've been trying to avoid due to all of my fun funds going toward the house. Oh, the torture of being forced to look at beautiful shoes only to turn away.

Thrifting

Whew. Something about this job makes the week really draaaaaaag by. And the house makes the weekends fly. Anyone else feel like they're wishing for their life to speed up by living only for the weekends? So depressing.

But what's not depressing is that I went to my favorite thrift store yesterday after work (Thursdays = 25% off day, sweet) and hit the dress jackpot.

Okay, seriously, I could live in dresses. Like everyday, always. I'm trying to build up my dress stock so that this idea of living-in-dresses could be a possibility. Winter is the hard season, though. Yes, you can wear tights and yes, you can wear boots, but there's something about most boots that makes me think "not appropriate for work". Is that just me?

But back to the thrift store. I always start with the dress racks because they are closest to where I come in. Usually I find maybe one, and it's usually made of polyester or some other not-natural material, but I'll admit, I buy it if it's suitable for work - especially because usually they're wrap dresses, and wrap dresses are the best. Thank you, DVF.

But yesterday, I found THREE Banana Republic dresses, two with tags, all in my size. (I also saw a designer dress for like $270 marked down from $700 something. It was 25% off day but even I couldn't swing that thrift store deal.)

Off to the dressing room I went. One with the tag was gorgeously feminine, perfect for a cocktail party. Not that I go to many of those, but if I'm invited I'll be prepared. With 25%, it was $15. It seemed a bit steep, but I could hear my mother's voice in my ear so I bought it. I tried to find a picture of it but it must be too dated.

The other one with tags was a military shirt dress with a belt. Knee length. A bit above the elbows. Tons of buttons. Heavy fabric. Literally perfect. But for some reason I couldn't convince myself to buy it. At $15 also, I just couldn't do it. Even now I'm thinking I'm a bit lame for not just going for it.

And the third one, without tags, was a simple black wrap in a jersey material with cute poofed sleeves and shoulders. A bit like this but slightly more interesting:

image from here

I also got an H&M cardigan for $2.25, a very not-me-but-so-pretty pink tea length dress, and a sundress from Target. I'd say overall it was a very good excursion. And I only spent $35. Pre-tty good.

Now I need to reel in the spending and start looking at more housewares to jazz the place up.

Happy weekend!