I just finished reading....

Q&A by Vikas Swarup, and it's now being published as Slumdog Millionaire.

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It was quite a bit different from the movie that was based on it, but it had the same general storyline. It was a super fast read, I did it in about 3 days and I didn't have a ton of time to sit down and read it. I actually think I liked the movie better, for once! Worth reading and a great story, but don't expect many similarities to the movie.

On a side note, if I were to do a "rock the reception" kind of a deal, I would totally do it to the end credits of Slumdog Millionaire. I can't figure out how to upload the video, but here's a link.

What have you read lately?

My Goal is to Try on as Many Dresses as Humanly Possible

First off, a huge shout out to the best Maid of Honor in all of the land...Allison. When asked by the bridal shop lady how many dresses I had tried on, she replied, "A lot!" And Alli was there for pretty much every single one of them, so I owe her big time. Thanks a million Alli!



Now initially, I was going to this store to try on bridesmaid's dresses that could be ordered in ivor (that was yesterdays' post). The bridal consultants noticed what I liked about the bridesmaid's dresses and picked out wedding dresses they thought would work. Normally, this would cause warning bells to go off in my head, but they pulled some stunning gowns and really listened to what I liked. I didn't have to lift a finger, and they pulled some great dresses. First up, the bubble hem:


I hate bubble hems. Alli thought the all-the-way-down rouching made me look taller, and I agree. They did say it would be easy to lose the bubble hem, but this dress was missing something...or maybe I just can't get past the bubble hem. This was an Allure gown (I'm sorry, I was so good about the style numbers for the bridesmaid's dresses, but I failed miserably and didn't get any of these! If you need to know, just e-mail me and I'll call the shop and find out, or give you the shop's info).

Here is a private collection Allure gown, retailing at $798. Doesn't this dress look way more expensive than that? The satin was lustrous and wonderful, and when I was trying this dress on, I felt that it was "too much" or too dramatic for me. I'm a small person, and this is a lotta dress! It's really growing on me, I'm liking it more and more.

Here's the back of the same dress......looovveee the back! Can I just say that this dress was so tiny I could hardly breathe? I was smooshed into this one hardcore! I do love the things it's doing to my butt. Why thank you rouching, you make me look like I have curves! You should hear my mom's commentary on this one, it's hysterical: "What the? It looks like they took the fabric and just wadded it up and stuck it on there and said look, it's a wedding dress!" My mom cracks me up.

This next one was my initial favorite, and I still love it, but I also love strapless. I'm concerned that there is too much volume at the bottom, and Alli thinks that this certainly doesn't make me look any taller, which I agree with 100%. This dress was priced at $650 (!!!!), and the material was a pearlized taffeta. I liked the satin so much more, but they said they could actually get this dress made for me in satin with an upcharge of about $300, since the satin costs more. How amazing is that?

Here it is again, with a droopy sash! I don't know how I feel about the 4 tucks at the bottom of the dress. They look weird to me in the pictures.


And the back...I love the back, I am such a sucker for a pretty back of a dress!


I do love the off the shoulder straps, but I think I love strapless more. The bottom of this dress also looked kinda messy to me, but a lot of that is how much extra fabric they had to tuck under.

These were definitely the best dresses I've tried on so far. I don't have a lot of shape, and these dresses gave me curves and made me feel so sexy. I love the vintage elements, with the buttons down the back. And I really loved the price-all of these dresses were really affordable and very high quality.

The shop that I found these at (if you're interested, I highly recommend it, drop me a line and I'll fill you in) is actually the same shop where I got my prom dress....this is when I tanned. My prom date turned out to be one of my fiance's runners that he coached...weird, huh?


So ladies (and gentlemen), what do you think? I'll be trying them on again this weekend, because I am a psychotic bride who can't make up her d*mn mind! You are all the most objective people I've got, so fire away!

Bridesmaids Dresses....for Me!

I was on a mission to find a simple wedding dress, and my next step was to try on the Watters or the WToo bridesmaids dresses that conveniently come in ivory. I found a store about 30 minutes from my hometown that carried them (the same place I got my prom dress!), so one day after work my bad*ss MOH and I headed out to give it our best shot.

Up first, the WToo 585. The fabric was a decent quality, but it was just too plain. Aren't I awful, I want a simple dress but then I say these are too plain! There was nothing special about it, I think.


Here we have the Watters 5710. The fabric was a light taffeta with a bit of texture to it, and it felt kind of wintry to me. Once again, nothing special.


This was my favorite out of all the bridesmaids dresses. It had a pretty wrapped sweetheart neckline, and I love a sash. It is the Watters 8382.

Still, it left a lot to be desired!


This was a Forever Yours 272, and the material was much softer. Pretty, but that's about it-no wow factor whatsoever.


It is so hard when they size is off! I have such a difficult time picturing what it would look like on me in the right size.

Anyway, these were not right at all. Luckily, the ladies at the shop were wonderful and pulled wedding dresses for me to try on, based on what I liked and disliked about these dresses. I'm glad I gave the bridesmaid's dresses a shot though!

The wedding dresses I also tried on that day are up next, and they are the best yet!

Did you try on wedding dress alternatives, and how did it work out for you?

The Great Dress-Tastrophy

Hehehe, I couldn't figure out how to spell "dresscapade" (doesn't that look wrong to you? It does to me. Maybe because it isn't a real word...), so I went with that post title. By the way, there are going to be a ton of dress posts coming up, because I tried these on last weekend and I tried more on yesterday!

Anyway! I went dress shopping this weekend in St. Louis by myself. I hadn't been by myself before, and it wasn't bad because I tried on nothing that was remotely intriguing to me. I'm going to apologize in advance, because I didn't think to write down a single style number. Here is the website of the shop I visited though. They don't take appointments and everything was priced less than $1200. Their selection wasn't huge, and it was a no frills kind of place.

Number 1 was the pick of my bridal consultant, Libby.

To be brutally honest, the only things I liked about this dress was the fact that it was ivory and that it was strapless. I feel that these big dresses, even A-line ones, overwhelm me.



Gah, I am sorry for the sh*t-tastic pictures! What's hard to see is how thick and bulky the bodice and sleeves were on this dress. I think I loved the way the material flared out from the 3 crystals right above my knees. Still, I just couldn't get past the bodice.

This dress was made of a white mesh with laced and beading accents. The mesh felt scratchy and kind of cheap to me. The material was not a good quality and had lots of little tears in it.

This dress was super simple. I loved the bodice of it, but the rest was just too plain for me.


I'm starting to think that the traditional bridal salon route is not for me. By the time you rule out the dresses that aren't sheaths or trumpets, you've got about 5 dresses to choose from, if that.

Is that a Midwest thing, or is that a low-budget thing? Are you having any luck dress shopping?

Late Night Snack, Anyone?

I love the late night snack trend I've seen in some weddings lately.

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This is exactly what I had in mind-milk and cookies! The only thing holding me back from doing this was my total inability to make cookies come out right. I just don't have the right touch with them, I guess. A weekend or so ago, I made a batch of peanut butter cookies and a batch of chocolate chip cookies that actually turned out, even in my iffy-at-best oven. I'm thinking, start baking every weekend in April and freeze the cookies, and by July 24th, I'll have plenty for the late night snack! I'm not sure how difficult the milk would be to procure. I found the recipes for the cookies over at Allrecipes. You'll find the chocolate chip recipe here and the peanut butter recipe here.

This is a DIY project I am confident about! I'll have plenty of time, so if something goes wrong all is well, and I can work ahead, which is huge. I had kind of ix-nayed the late night snack idea because I figured it would be too expensive, but this wouldn't be a big investment at all.

Are you doing a late night snack, or are you baking anything for you wedding?

Lovely Ladies

Here's what I'm thinking for the bridesmaid's.

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This is the J Crew silk chiffon Juliet dress in tropical aqua. Just an FYI, all of the dresses are from J Crew and they are all in tropical aqua.

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My MOH is praying that this dress comes out in tropical aqua. Right now it's only available in Spiced Wine or Deep Rose. I think the tie on the shoulder would set her apart a bit, no? She would look amazing in this (really anything, to be honest, she's got the perfect body).

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This is the silk chiffon Sophia dress.

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I love this silk taffeta Lorelei dress. I actually saw the tropical aqua taffeta in person, and it was lighter than this and absolutely gorgeous. I know I just showed lots of silk chiffon, but I'm open to any fabric except for the jersey, which I think it too casual.

The J Crew wedding consultant, Claire, said that this color is really popular and would most likely return next spring. I just can't ask people to order dresses 11 months before the wedding, I think it's way too early. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that tropical aqua returns in the spring! I plan on having the bridesmaids pick whatever dress they'd like in the tropical aqua as long as it isn't jersey.

I went back and forth on getting bridesmaids dresses from J Crew, because they are so expensive. The David's Bridal ones I liked were all $135, and if you get a J Crew card to get 10%, the J Crew dresses are maybe $30 more expensive. This made it much more reasonable to me...plus, who wouldn't want to wear these dresses again? They're gorgeous! When I saw the aqua taffeta in person, I definitely considered ditching the wedding dress and rocking the aqua with red satin heels.

What are you having your lovely ladies wear?

I just finished reading...

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East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. It's always been my favorite Steinbeck book, but I hadn't read it in years, so I picked it up again. Its not a book I read quickly, I read it in little sips. I read a chapter or so every couple days, and I read it when cross training on the elliptical. I am a nerd for Biblical scholarship, so the Cain and Abel parallel makes my heart sing. I'm a simpleton when it comes to literature, so the philospohical bits at the beginning of some of the chapters were kinda boring, but the storyline of this book is SO good. I love a good story.

I've been reading so much less since starting my new job! I need to hit the library up for some new books tomorrow.

What have you read lately?