Things to Do with the People you Love

A few weekends ago Ryan was in town and we had a really fun date night! First we went out to dinner, and then we went to our favorite non-smoky bowling alley and rented a lane for an hour. It's only $15 for an hour's rental, and we got in 3 games.

First we bowled like normal people.

I actually broke 50!

Then we had a game of "crazy bowl." Every frame one of us would pick a ridiculous way to bowl.

You can't really kick it, it's more of a push with the foot.

Don't you think he's kinda doing the John Travolta Saturday Night Fever move? We had to bowl sideways between our legs on this one.

We had such a good time! Date night is great.

Do you have a regular date night? What do you like to do with your significant other?

The Magic of J Crew: Part 2

Curious as to what's up? Check out The Magic of J Crew: Part 1 right here.

The next dress I tried on was the silk tricotine Sophia.


Here is the J Crew model in the dress:

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And here is me in the Sophia:

From the back:

This gown shows every bump, bulge, wrinkle, and dimple you've got. It is crazy see-through, too. I know that some heavy duty undergarments would fix this issue, but I didn't feel that the fabric was at all forgiving. This also looked kind of nightgowny to me. I think if I were getting married on the beach, I would go for it. This dress did come in petite, and it fit perfectly. The hem just grazed the floor, so heels are not an option unless you don't mind them peeking out.

This is a dress I would buy if I was a month out from the wedding and couldn't find anything else, but it was too simple for me.

Part 3 is coming up, and it's a good one!

The Magic of J Crew: Part One

So, I tried on some J Crew wedding dresses this weekend, and oh was it fun!

My mom, me, Ryan, and Ryan's mom met at the Galleria mall where we had our J Crew appointment.

The wedding consultant, Claire, is amazing. She brought all of these dresses in for me to try on, found a suit jacket in Ryan's size for him to try on, and came in on her day off. She was wonderful, as was everyone in the store.

First up, we have the cotton cady Alexa.

This is the Alexa on the model:

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And this is the Alexa on me:

This dress does not come in petites, and by the time it fit on the shoulders, the fabric had been pulled up so far that it looked...matronly. I wasn't a huge fan of the fabric. The cotton cady fabric was super thick and stiff, and gauzy. The skirt of this dress was lovely, and I loved the pockets!

PS: I did decide to let Ryan see the dresses. I think the tradition behind waiting to see the dress is kind of silly (it has to do with arranged marriages and ensuring that the groom didn't bolt from a heinous bride....not romantic!). I am focusing on not doing things for tradition's sake, and doing what works for Ryan and I, and I wanted him to see it. He's a great help when shopping--he is very honest and he has a great eye, and I know that on our wedding day we are still going to have an amazing moment when we have our first look.

I digress. The Alexa just wasn't for me, but I think the petite would have made a world of difference. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the fabric, and I would worry about wrinkles.

Up next: The Magic of J Crew Part 2!

The Morning of the Milk Glass

A few Saturday mornings ago, Ryan and I made it big.

We went garage sale shopping on Saturday morning for milk glass vases to use in our centerpieces. We weren't finding anything at the garage sales after about 2 frustrating hours, so Ryan suggested going to a flea market across the river. Southeast Missouri/Illinois brides, e-mail me and I'll fill you in on where it is. Anyway, we did so much better than I could have dreamed! I expected to find maybe 3-4 vases, at that, and I was not planning on spending over $2 per vase. This seems ridiculously low, but we need about 40 of these, and they just aren't something I wanted to spend a lot on.

Did we cash in or did we cash in!

A sampling of the vases, washed and drying on my counter.

Here are a few of my favorites. I am especially partial to the one on the right.

I already had 2, and we found 19 vases at the flea market. Seriously! And for the 21 vases we've found, we have spent a grand total of $21.50. Can you believe it? I am so thrilled that our vision is working out at such a fabulous price. I am super pumped about these, now I just need to do a mock-up with a branch in one of these guys.

What do you think?

To See or not to See

I am torn!

I'm trying on those J Crew dresses on Saturday....should I let Ryan see them or not?

I don't want to ruin the "first look," but I really think that seeing him on our wedding day, with my hair done and all that jazz, is going to be such an amazing moment regardless of if he's seen the dress before or not.

This article on Lovely Morning reinforces this, I think.

Curse my indesciveness! Maybe he shouldn't see anything until the wedding day....ugh, I don't know.

Ladies, advice please!

Exciting J Crew News!

So Saturday I was shopping with Ryan, and we stopped in J Crew. I always ask if someone's returned a wedding dress to the store...I heard from someone who used to work at J Crew that they usually have a handful in the back, waiting to be shipped, and they'll let you try them on.

They had one dress there, but it was someone's who just hadn't picked it up yet. They brought out their wedding consultant who said I could just pick out whatever dresses, they'd have them shipped to the store, and I could come in a try them on.

!!!!!!!

I have been ogling these dresses online for ages...I thought I'd have to buy them just to try them on, so I am way pumped. These are the dresses I will be trying on next Saturday:

The cotton cady Alexa

The cotton cady Erica

The metallic rose Madison

The metallic rose Madison is the one they had in the store....and it looks 1000x better in real life than it does in this picture. The silk was a creamy rich ivory with not a lot of silver.

I will fill you all in--Ryan's hopefully trying a suit on while we're at, and my mom and his mom will also be there. I am sooo excited, this will keep me going this week! I've been missing Ryan pretty bad lately, and this will give me something else to think about. We will open a J Crew card to buy Ryan's suit/my dress (if it works out), and that will save us at least 10%, if not 20%.

I just want to add that the wedding coordinator we worked with was lovely. For you St. Louis brides, her name is Claire and she works at the Galleria J Crew. E-mail me if you'd like her phone number at the store. Also, she said that J Crew is getting a wedding consultant on staff for each store, so head to your local J Crew and see what happens!

P.S. All images are courtesy of J Crew.

I just finished reading....

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This was good! It's about a high school sex ed teacher who is forced to teach an abstinence-only program at the insistence of a conservative Christian church in town. The book dealt with some really great faith issues, namely that of an evangelical Christian whose faith is changing. It was a really fast read, I got in done in a day or 2 and I didn't have a ton of time to devote to it. I definitely recommend it. I read it on the elliptical yesterday and today (I think I have a hairline fracture in my big toe, so I can't run!) and definitely enjoyed it.

What are you reading right now?