Lent - See ya in 40!

Hi loves!

I just wanted to let you know that I am giving up social media (Facebook, Twitter and blogs) for lent. I feel like I will be able to recommit and refocus on the important things - my family, my fiance, my friends and most importantly - my faith.(Like that alliteration? #englishnerd)  I WILL be back after the 40 days - I have a wedding to plan/write about so I can remember it and I do plan on maintaining my friendships :). Email me! I would love to keep a dialogue running with you and know about things going on in your lives!

Oh- Happy Valentine's Day, President's Day, Spring Break (for you lucky ducks) and St. Patrick's Day!

I'll see ya on Easter :)

Freezing

Happy Tuesday friends!

It is most certainly a happy Tuesday here because, despite the post title, it is NOT freezing outside. In fact, the sun is SHINING and it is SIXTY DEGREES OUTSIDE!

I have on cropped pants. So my white ankles are out. But at least I shaved them (and the rest of my legs) :). 

For February - I am on a SPENDING freeze. Seriously. Like I have only a few things I can spend money on:
1. My rent - uhhhh, duh. I need a place to live.
2. Bills - another must.
3. Stuart's Valentine's Day gift - he already knows I bought us tickets to the Tech/UVa bball game the Tuesday before Vday, but I have one or two other small things I want to buy/make for him.
4. Eating out - once a week. With this wedding "lifestyle" I have goin on in order to rock my wedding dress (and my bridesmaid dress for Nicole!!!), I need that sweet, sweet break of some Mexican food once a week. And that being Mexican food I do not have to cook. Ahhhh. And I LOVE to eat out, so this will be a HUGE one.
5. I can buy some clothes from the LOFT if get the itch. Because I have boocoo amounts of gift cards.
6. Gas. I need to get from here to Cville and back several times a week. I am not giving up my quality S time!

So: no new clothes (except from the LOFT if I want to), no online shopping splurges, none of that business! We are looking into buying/building a house and I will get my tax money back so I want a good portion to go into our savings for a down payment! AHHHHH!

Thank goodness February is the shortest month ;).

Only 3 days til the weekend!!!!

The One Where I Am Snowed In On a Friday Night

Hello party people...

Or people like me who are home on a Friday night. It is cold as balls y'all. And icy. And dangerous.

PTL S lives across the street from the mall. Friday night win:

The delicious unopened box S's roommate had of Cinnamon Toast Crunch...Friday night (and wedding diet) LOSE.

Remember when my blog did more than just a half-assed attempt at Wedding Wednesday. Me too. I suck.

So here are some non-wedding (ish) related updates:

• My shower is/was broken. I don't know that the plumber actually fixed it. Which means I went from Sunday night to Thursday morning with dirty hair (I did wash my body in everyday). Now, I am a believer in dry shampoo. But, lawd. I needed a good root scrubbin. This was day three:

NAAAASSSTAYTAY (also, I need a part for that fivehead. LAWDY).

• I have been on the WW wagon. Except the last three days. I have GOT to get my shiz back in line. My pants were loving me so hard until Wednesday. Thanks Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
• I wish it would snow enough so the college I work for might actually let us come in late, send us home early, or go all out and give us the day off. I could use a day in my pjs!
• If I don't Instagram it, it didn't happen. Usually I instagram pictures of my Diet Coke. And then send obnoxious pictures of myself via SnapChat to my BFF. Thank goodness those delete after 10 seconds. Example:

• I will NEVER understand video games. S's roommate is merely obsessed and I just don't get it. At all. Give me Words With Friends or some Doodle Jump.
• We are house browsing. Meaning, we are driving around looking at houses we might be able to afford. It's like window shopping from the car. Except you have to rely on pictures from the internet because knocking on the door would be creepy. 

I am going to bed. It is 11pm. I will call this a win because it is later than 10pm. WIN!

Wedding...Thursday: THE DATE!

So I am not on the ball. Like at all. Buuuuutttt, I have been on the ball about this wedding stuff. Except for the fact I CANNOT FIND MY ERIN CONDREN WEDDING PLANNER. Seriously, I actually have stuff to put in it now. And I know it is in my apartment... or at Stuarts... or at my parents. Nuts.

But, we do have a wedding date! And a church! And a reception venue! And a photographer! And a wedding start time!

SO MUCH WEDDING WINNING!!!!

We are getting married...

NOVEMBER 2nd 2013!!!!!!!!

Yep, we are getting married the weekend after Halloween. Fortunately my sister (who is a college junior) is okay with me ruining the biggest party weekend of the year Halloween weekend because I am letting her drink booze on Mama and Daddy's dime. Which means she will get a Mich Ultra instead of Natty Light. You're welcome, sista. 

I have always, always, always dreamed of a Fall wedding. Spring makes me sneeze. Summer makes me sweat. Winter includes my birthday and has Christmas already. Fall has always been my favorite season. Hello, football! And I might be a little swayed by the fact that the commonwealth has THE PRETTIEST FALL every year.

So, when we first started talking about getting engaged, I begged Stuart to propose in the fall so I would have a full year to plan. Fortunately, that worked for him too :).

Oh, and the coolest thing about this date? Both of us are "2nd" babies. His birthday is September 2nd and mine is December 2nd. So, double win. Plus, we are only the same age for 3 months out of the year (I am such a cougar), so we will be the same age when we get married.

It is perfect. And no, the football schedule isn't out yet, but we kinda had to jump on a venue that I liked that would hold our large-ish wedding. So fingers crossed, no home games for Tech (or UVA) that Saturday! Fortunately, Tech's home football schedule is abysmal this year so we may be okay.

We are getting married at my parent's church back home and the church I attend when I am home, and having the reception at a local museum. We had originally planned on our Country Club, but we outgrew it! And our photographer is a kid I played in the ball pit with at Chuckie Cheese. He is an amazing photographer, and I was lucky enough to see it from the bridesmaid view a few years ago.

Things are coming together!!

Wedding Wednesday: Bridesmaid Dresses

The biggest and most stressful decision (thus far!) has been made! I have FINALLY picked my bridesmaid dresses. 

I know all of you are thinking... its January and you aren't getting married for another 10+ months. Buuuttt I'm a planner. And my beloved J.Crew decided to get rid of the silk taffeta line that I have loved for years and years. And J.Crew is the only place with the color I need. It's not too purple or too red - it is spiced wine perfection!

The other issue is, the dress I fell in love with years ago, is out of stock in the sizes my girls need (and won't be replaced) by J.Crew since the line is discontinued. Therein lies the problem.

I looked at several different styles and loved a few (all via J.Crew)

The Sara

The Blakeley

The Selma

And the Bow Monde

I narrowed it down to two before Christmas and thinking about it was just overwhelming me. I knew I needed to pick one and go with it before they weren't even an option anymore. Fortunately, they can be found on eBay and are cheaper there than they would be from J.Crew directly - but I was nervous about that option as well. 

The girl I worked with at the J.Crew store in Atlanta was a-m-a-z-i-n-g and was really honest with me about my options at this point.

I finally decided to go with the dress I have always loved (no reveal yet!) and have the girls order them from eBay. Most of the options there have a 14 day return policy, and I sent the girls the J.Crew size guide as well.

I would have preferred to have them ordered from the J.Crew store, but this option seems to be working out best for my girls. One of them named her price already and got the dress for $50! I don't know if any other brides have gone this route before - if you have, let me know! 

Happy Wednesday!

Linking up with A Happy Wife in New Orleans!

Tuesday Ticks

I thought I'd share a few things with you that TICK me off. You know, for the alliteration in terms of Tuesday:

• Honey is spelled H-O-N-E-Y. Not H-U-N-N-Y. Drives me CRAZY!

• Lose is what happens when you misplace things, like the pounds I'd like to misplace on someone that needs them so my wedding dress looks damn good on me. Loose is what happens to kids teeth that causes them to pull them out for the tooth fairy. (Side note: Does anyone else remember the Disney movie Toothless. Kirstie Alley at her best - other than It Takes Two of course!) Someecards, obvi.

• The CFNCG and The Bachelor being on at the same time. Seriously tv people? First of all, ESPN is owned by Disney. So is ABC. Therefore, they are SPLITTING THEIR RATINGS. Well.... at least for my football-lovin, trash-tv-watchin' girls like me. Also, it is confusing on Twitter right now.

• Why do people spell their children's names all kinds of crazy. Like Phantagia. Which is pronounced Fantasia. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!? 

• Kim Kardashian. Like we need some Kanye spawn? There are people that are praying so hard for children and would be good parents and the two of them are going to be parents. GOODNESS GRACIOUS!

You'd think SomeECards is paying me... they aren't. But I love that they have a card for every rant, God Bless 'Em.

Happy Tuesday!

Monday Mahnday

This weekend consisted of a lot of running up and down interstate 64 - for some good things, and some not so good things.

I went to the visitation for my boss's son on Friday night with some of the girls from my office. Marg and I ended up riding together, and because of an accident on 250, and a backup on 64, she flewwww through some of the backroads (that I still have no idea about) and we finally arrived. They played some of her son's favorite music, so we stood in line listening to the Beatles for a while. She was so strong - such a woman of great faith!

When I arrived back at my apartment, Stuart had dinner cooked and even calculated the WW points for me - win! We spent a lot of the weekend we weren't running around watching football, which is what we did Friday night.

Saturday we went to the funeral, and it was one of the most beautiful funerals I have ever been to. You truly felt God there - and he was definitely needed. 

I convinced Stuart to take me to Plaza, my fav, for the early bird special that night before we headed on to Charlottesville for the night.

We went to a new church (one of my New Year's goals, is for us to find a church now that football season is over and we are home most weekends), and both of us seemed to like it. It is a Methodist church that is across the street from his apartment and we had never been there before! We ended up going to the traditional service because it was earlier and we had plans to go to a bridal show that afternoon. I think we will try the contemporary service next week!

After church, we headed to Richmond to meet my Matron of Honor (I'm her Maid of Honor), her momma, my sister (my MOH) and my momma! Stuart had plans to meet up with a buddy of his, but Sean ended up getting stuck in DC, so he had to trek around the show with us. Fortunately, he had his phone for football scores, and there was free cake. He didn't seem to be too bad off.

The brides with our mommas!

We stopped at one of my favorite places for dinner on the way home, Maggiano's. We don't have one in Cville and Stuart had never been. They give you your meal, and a take home meal! Needless to say, after my leftover fajitas on Saturday night, my left over meal that I couldn't finish and the take home meals from last night - we are stocked on dinner for the week!

Tonight, we are going to check out a treadmill (AHHHHH, I hope it works) for my apartment and watching the National Championship game! Who are you rooting for? I think I'll be saying 'roll tide' this time. 

Happy Monday!

Thankful Thursday

Linking up with sweet momma-to-be Ryan today for Thankful Thursday!

Thankful for a fiance who enjoys college football as much as I do... and SUPER thankful for a Hokie win last week. Is it August yet y'all?

Thankful for Pandora and Diet Coke... the only things getting me through today. At least it is THURSDAY! Amen for three day work weeks.

Thankful for my sweet boss and praying for her and her family this week. They lost their 29 year old son unexpectedly and are completely heartbroken.  I don't know about y'all, but I have been getting far too many reminders that life is short lately.

Thankful for the Easter Bunny who bought me some Lilly goodies today :). Easter come early say whaaaa? 

Thankful for Gchat for letting me talk to my friends and fiance while I work all day! Amen? Amen!

Happy Thursday!

We Came, We Christmased, We Celebrated, We Champagned, We Conquered

First of all, MERRY HAPPY! 

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years with your family and friends. :)

I am currently sitting curled up in the chair, watching bowl games and relaxing after an exciting and exhausting few weeks. I may or may not be rooting against SEC teams... ;).

Like most of you, we

Christmased:

Christmas Eve at my grandmother's

 Michael Kors knot ring from S!

Christmas Eve hot tubbin with my bestie and her BF

Sister and Daddy during the F family Christmas at our house

More F fam fun

Celebrated:

Saying goodbye to No Shave November and Decembeard

Sister's 21st!!

Sista friends and bridesmaids!!!

Champagned:

Friends came for a little NYE soiree!

Joe, S's college roommate, makes me giggle when photo taking

Girlfrandz being goofy

Our last unmarried NYE kiss!

And now, we are conquered - cozy on the couch and ready for life to get back to normal. Here's to 2013!!!

Wedding Wednesday: The Dress!

I alluded in an earlier post that I have found THE DRESS!

No, we won't be getting married for another 10 months, but I could not walk away from the dress.

I began looking at dresses at the end of October when I was at Tyson's Corner for a work trip. My momma drove up with one of her bff's to begin the hunt. We looked at Nicole Miller first, and I was LOVING her 20's themed dresses. 

This was the first dress I tried on, and one of my ABSOLUTE favorites. It was so simple, and I loved the lace neck line.The cap sleeves were hard for me though (anyone else think they make your arms look "meaty"?)

This one was totally different and made me look tall and thin, a plus in my book! I could definitely see it for a New Years wedding or something like that... not going to work for my fall theme though.

I also loved this one from the Spring 2012 collection... much more traditional than the other two.

We also went to look at the Brides by Demetrios at Macy's, as well as a small shop in the area called White Swan Bridal.

I found one that I thought was going to be THE ONE when I was at White Swan, but they didn't carry it in ivory. Believe me, it looks much more gorgeous on than in pictures :). But... this one still wasn't the one for me. I love the lace, and the fact that it is so different! It is Moonlight  for anyone interested :).

I came home for a weekend and ended up going to David's Bridal, just to look and see if they might have something I liked. Our consultant was really distracted, and as expected, nothing really caught my eye. But, I did get to have one of my bridesmaids come dress shopping with me!

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was a big one in terms of wedding errands. We went to see our reception venue (fingers crossed!) and my mom made an appointment at a small bridal consignment shop in the area. We had both heard WONDERFUL things about Blush and it ended up being the best bridal experience I had. The owner basically gives you her attention for an hour - no one else is in the shop but you! 

My mom, sister and aunt happened to be there with me and they were the three I had always pictured being there. My sister is a junior in college and she hadn't been able to be at any of my other appointments.

The owner lets you look through the store in your size (and bigger ones if you want to get dresses altered) and pick out dresses that you might like. I picked a few, and then I saw a dress that had the neckline I had been looking for all along. My sister turned up her nose at it, but I knew I wanted to try it on.

It ended up being the first dress I put on, and it fit PERFECTLY! I had been looking everywhere for "this dress" and I hadn't found anything like it. I knew I didn't want anything big, poofy or itchy, and the dress made all the requirements in my book. 

Without giving too much away, I ended up finding an accessory that made it into THE DRESS! I absolutely love it :). My mom, aunt and sister all told me that it was the one when I walked out of the dressing room. It just looks like "me". Ahhhhh!

And... its already at my parent's house - so I may or may not go look at it every time I am home. :)

Only a million more details to go! Linking up with A Happy Wife in New Orleans!