Tutus and Trophies Pt. 2

A few days ago I started writing about my Thanksgiving extravaganza. Here's the rest of the story.

Remember how my parents were downsizing their home and came to Tennessee with many of my childhood "artifacts"? Well let's take a trip back to 1991, a time when my curly hair was so big that it didn't even fit into the frame of school pictures.

Back in 1991, I participated in a pageant. (Go ahead and gag.) Miss America's Favorite Pre-Teen, to be exact. For some reason I begged my parents to let me do this "scholarship pageant" even though I'm pretty sure I had no idea what that meant, and for some reason, they let me. From the minute my mom and I arrived we knew we were in way over our heads. Surrounding us were pageant queens who had done this a million times and it was pretty clear we had no idea what the hell was going on. I remember going to the "get to know each other" dinner the first night... we walked in to the room and all of the other little girls had on full makeup. I'm talking foundation, blue eyeshadow, REAL lipstick. I think I might have been sporting some Bonnie Bell Pink Lemonade chapstick. Maybe. Mom looked at me with a face that said "we can run now, it's not too late..." Oh, but we stayed. We stayed and we won lots and lots of trophies. Probably because the judges felt sorry for the little Lebanese girl with the big hair, who clearly did not belong with the painted faces and monster, neon dresses.

One of the categories had something to do with athletics, and if you know me, you know I'm strictly a ballerina. I never even played t-ball - I was too busy weary a tutu. Anyway, each girl had to dress up in some kind of sports uniform and pretend to play said sport while the announcer talked about their whopping 10 year old accomplishments. Right. I actually had to borrow a soccer uniform from a friend. I don't think I had ever kicked a soccer ball in my life, but I sure as hell tried to act like I had. And I'm also sure I looked like a big jackass. Hopefully a cute jackass. Somewhere my grandparents have all of this on home video and I hope it never, ever surfaces.

I was the youngest contestant, only 8, probably the only brunette, definitely the only curly-head, and for sure the only child with some sort of ethnic heritage that didn't travel across on the Mayflower. The whole experience was totally bizarre and at least we can get a good laugh out of it now.

So, back to Thanksgiving.

My parents and sister arrived, we hug, we laugh, we give the grand tour of our new home, unload their car and head inside. Coffee is brewed and we sit, relax, and catch up before the other 357 people arrive. And then I see one... top shelf, left corner.


There it is, in all of it's golden glory - State Finalist trophy. Awesome.


Conversation continues. And then I spy another. This time, it's in the kitchen - it's the Scholastic Achievement trophy *applause*


Oh but wait, there is one more.


Miss Photogenic. That's right, little Lebanese contestant with budding sideburns, bigass curls, rockin' headband, and Bonnie Bell lips was awarded Miss Photogenic. All the blonde girls with teased bangs were jealous.

Somehow my dad was super stealth and upon entering our newlywed home he placed these little gems all around. Hilarious! He said mom only let him bring 3, or else our home would be littered with these badboys. Sadly, my 2nd place trophy was too big to haul to Tennessee, and definitly too bit to sneak into our home. Oh, I didn't tell you? Yea, 2nd place. Ha!

I can't wait to see my super sneaky dad and the rest of my amazing family this Christmas!

Redo.

Update: I re-vamped my MyPublisher album... I was lucky enough to call and cancel the order before it was shipped, which means I wasn't charged (yey!) And I managed to upload the correct photo to the front of the album and also spread out a couple pages where Husband and his groomsmen serenaded me with their rendition of the Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way." Priceless. And sober. Seriously, they were all sober. So here is the new image in the cover window... We received the albums on Saturday and they look a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I'm quite glad that I went with the largest size (11"x15") because the details look amazing. I opened the box, removed the plastic, and cried. Mom and Dad are going to love this - thank you, MyPublisher! You can see the updated version of my album here.

Ah, experience...

One of the (only) benefits of dating unsuitable men for 24 years is that you have an incredible opportunity to figure out what qualities, quirks, and dealbreakers you do not want in your future husband. I could write for days on such a subject - I've got stories you wouldn't believe - but maybe I'll save one of those for another post. Anyway, before I met my most amazing Husband, I dated an extremely talented photographer. Talented? Yes. Driven and purposeful? No. (Dealbreaker. That was just one of them.) I helped him edit many photos, assisted on shoots and gave him my "girl opinion" when dealing with bridal-y matters. From this very fruitless relationship I did, however, gain some serious Photoshop-ing skill and a few tricks of the trade in the photog business. Take for example, my two favorite gems of former photog boyfriend wisdom:
MPix.com and MyPublisher.com.

Former Photog BF (FPBF) used mpix for his printing and everything always came to him flawless. I've been using their printing service since the demise of the "relationship" and couldn't be happier! If you are lucky enough to have been given a CD of your wedding photography as part of your package like I was, printing with them is easy and pretty darn cheap. They also have this AMAZING metallic photography paper, which sounds totally ridiculous, but it's bea-utiful in both B&W and color. I should be receiving my 4th order since the wedding very shortly... just in time to send off a billion Christmas presents.

FPBF also printed many beautiful albums for brides, and proceeded to charge an arm and a leg, but I guess that is how business works. Anyway, our wedding photographer created a charming album and emailed me a proof, and also told me the price. I almost passed out and vomited a little bit. And then I remembered FPBF's deep dark secret - www.mypublisher.com! So, my crafty self got to work late last night and put together a goregous album that pretty much blew my photographer's out of the water (and her price.) And get this: they are basically handing out Buy One, Get One Free coupons. My parents will have a glorious album waiting for them under the tree, oh and don't forget, Husband and I will have our own (free!) copy too. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a cheap project. For $176.00 I have two hardbound, 59-page wedding albums headed my way. Custom made with all of my favorite photos. Yippie!

I was reading on the MyPublisher boards about how lots of brides were creating their own page templates and doing crazy business with Photoshop and then uploading it to their albums... But I wasn't exactly into it. I really preferred the simple layouts - just with our images telling the story. The only thing I'm a wee-bit bummed about is that I just now realized that I placed the wrong photo on the cover - my Photoshop-ed version had some pretty text with our names and wedding date... My fault for not re-checking this detail... Regardless, my parents will love it, and I'm super excited to have more wedding paraphernalia hanging around our home! I'm sure I'll be creating another one in the future...

If you would like to check it out, click here and enter the book number S2045038 into the field, hit submit... and thennnnn.... enter the password when prompted: 2482027


I swear my life is more interesting than this. Usually.

Tutus and Trophies

My parents are feeling the itch to down-size from their too-big-for-2-people home. My sister will be leaving for college soon (yipes!) and I'm an old married lady now... so over the past few weeks, they have been going through the attic of my childhood home and sorting through 20 years of memories. I've had a couple hilarious phone calls from mom, and some with a little tear in her voice. She did come across my caboodle, still filled with my stage makeup, hair nets and bobby pins left over from my mini-ballerina days. (Gross? Kind of.)
Mine was way cooler than this photo: black and white with a hot pink clasp. Ohhh and it had a flip up mirror. Don't worry, it went in the trash. Also in the discovery was beloved Teddy Ruxpin, which I was completely terrified of. Apparently mom and dad sold him on eBay for a good chunk of change.

Mom also found some of my very first ballet cosutmes, circa 1986. She brought some of the costumes with her during Thanksgiving (along with several other items...). Husband's niece, Loren, is a just about to turn 3 and she is obsessed with all things ballerina and with the fact that I am a ballerina. (I try to instill the obsession at an early age.) In her eyes, I'm way up there with Cinderella and Snow White - totally a rockstar. Anyway, she's cute as a button and I pulled out one of my first costumes for her to put on and it was priceless. Here's my budding ballerina:



If she has been MIA for longer than 5 minutes, you can bet she is in my closet searching for the perfect pair of shoes. See? She even found some cute gold flats to go with her 'rina outfit!

Too cute for words!! More to come later.

Long time, no blog.

Ok, so once again, it's been a while.

Here's my excuse: We hosted 10 people and 2 dogs at our home for Thanksgiving. I am still recovering.

I'm happy to report that feeding 12 people for 5 days went very smoothly, and Thanksgiving dinner was especially fabulous. My dad did have to borrow/steal/later return 2 chairs from the hotel he and mom were staying at as we only had 10 seats. Having family around was, honestly, a zoo (add in 3 nutty dogs) - but it was really special to have everyone travel from so far to spend time at our new home.

My favorite get-ready-your-family-is-coming-to-town project was my Wedding Shrine. I had a few (ok, way more than a few) wedding photos printed and I splurged at Kohls (a store I hate with great passion, but their frames were buy 1 get one free...) However, I cannot take credit for my hanging technique which is seriously the best idea ever. EVER. I think it came from the Home Goods blog... but I was so excited about thier genius plan that I never bookmarked to noted where this came from. Forgive me. See genius below:

You will need a bunch of frames, photos of your fab self, a pencil, butcher paper or wrapping paper, hammer, nails, and possibly a level.

1. Lay butcher or wrapping paper on a table and arrange frames in your desired collage mish-mosh fashion.
2. Trace each frame onto the paper.
3. Measure the back of the frames and note where the hook-ie thing is... and let X mark the spot on the paper.
4. Tape paper to the wall, and hammer nails directly through the paper.
5. Tear down paper and hang your frames! Ta-Da!!
Please excuse the blurry photo - maybe including my beauty queen puppy, Lola, will make up for the bad photo.

Isn't that a hanging technique such a good idea?? I can't tell you how many times I've nailed 27 "whoops" nails into a wall while trying to achieve the perfect collage. Hope some of you can use this sometime too!

No more pink tights?

As of Saturday, I am no longer a ballerina. When I gave my 35-day notice, November 8th sounded so far away... and before I knew it I was saying goodbye to my "babies" (who actually are not babies but definitely teenagers, and I am very bonded with these girls.) But I will save the super-sappy post about my love of ballet, teaching, movement, choreographing blah blah blah for another day. The good news is that today is the first Monday since August that I do not have to drive an hour and 20 minutes to go to work! Hallelujah, praise my sweet Jesus! It is also the first time in about 22 years that I'm not putting on a pair of pink tights and pinning my hair into a bun - which is seriously weird and I will most likely have a breakdown.

Back to the good news: I'm going to make an actual dinner at a reasonable hour tonight, a weeknight! And I couldn't be more excited. I've accepted a pretty sweet opportunity at a huge-o fitness facility in our little town and Mr. Gym (boss man) asked me to come in and set up my office on Wednesday - and he's going to pay me for my time! Imagine that, a job that actually pays someone for their work... I will NOT miss working for a non-profit. Ever.

So today, on my glorious day off before I begin my new journey into the world of gym rats, I am drinking coffee, snuggled with my puppy on the couch, crushing on these adorable plates at Anthropologie. Not for food, my friends, but for my empty walls. Take my favorite collection: Lisa Congdon's wall o' plates in her SanFran apartment, as featured by my favorite Design*Sponge.


I love it. Husband does not. You can see more of Lisa's place here.

And so begins my new adventure into lots of pilates and lots more free time...!

"So when are you due?"

I've had an OBGYN appointment on the calendar today for quite some time - my doctor must be in high demand because it is nearly impossible to get an appointment with her. So I arrive at 9:45 for my 10 a.m. appointment, fill out new paperwork with my big-girl Mrs. name on it, and tell receptionist I've moved from Memphis to Jackson. I find a seat and diligently fill out the forms, trying to remember Husbands SSN (without luck). And then, it begins...

Just for a visual, I'll describe the ensemble that was seated next to me:

• Acid washed jean cut-offs... so terribly short she was nearly showing her no-no parts to everyone in the waiting area
  
• Black suede clogs paired with a smashing set of black socks, hiked up mid-calf
• Fleece zip up that looked strikingly similar to this:
• Oh, I almost forgot the red lace camisole underneath, which quite possibly doubles as lingerie

And because everyone wants to talk before their lovely appointment with their gyno, she struck up a convo. Let's call her Wolf Woman.

Wolf Woman: So you live in Jackson? (*be sure to use your best Red accent while reading*)
Me: Yep... (pretends to read magazine)
WW: Have you ever been to the fairgrounds?
Me: Nope, I have not.
WW: Well I'm going this weekend, can you tell me how to get to the fairgrounds?
Me: Sorry, just moved there... I don't know my way around very well.
WW: I'm going to the gun show this weekend. Are you and the Mr. going too?
Me: Most definitely not.
WW: It's the best one around! Ya'll should totally be there. Best deals in on rifles, shot guns, EVERYTHING!

SILENCE.

WW: So, when are you due?
Me: Excuse me?
WW: When are you poppin' that baby out?
Me: Uhhh I'm not pregnant.
WW: You sure?

SILENCE again.

Seriously? This lady was for real. FOR REAL. Let me just say that I am 5'4'' and on a bad day I weigh 128 pounds. I do not, in any way, look pregnant. Or so I thought.

Oh, but there is more.

WW: Well I've been a'waitin for my doctor lady for 2 hours. I've got some "things" on my "area" she said she's gonna fry off. I just hope this procedure ain't gonna hurt none.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a direct quote. And also when I nearly vomitted. She even used air quotes when "things" and "area" were said.

On a happier note, I have 2 more days of work left... and then I might be able to breathe.

On a not so happy note, I have one word: Election. But I will keep my comments to myself as I'm sure everyone is tired to hearing about it.

On a fat note, I'm going to drag my pusdo-pregnant belly to the gym ASAP.

Obsessed...

...with Design*Sponge sneak peeks. I seriously can't get enough - if only Husband would approve of my favorite rooms... it's going to take some convincing.

I'm planning on creating a wall, similar to below, in what we like to call our "nook" - technically it is a "dining area" but it makes zero sense when used as one - and currently we do not have any friends to actually dine with in said area... we're losers.


This shelf/cute B&Ws and white accessories are part of my potential plan for our weird bedroom situation...
p.s. last day countdown: 11 days

Freedom is coming.

Master not so masterful...

I love our home, but the master bedroom is driving me crazy. The problem? The lonely, single window located in the corner of the room. It is totally asymmetrical and is seriously throwing me off. I love asymmetry in almost everything else... but this is just a p-r-o-b-l-e-m. I personally think we should play-up the asymmetry... HGTV suggests creating a "fake window" to balance the other side of the room - but I think I'll pass on the faux window. Gross. Husband is clueless and trusting my judgement. Anyway, here is our Brown Beauty - she leaves a bit to be desired.


Because we seem to have a surplus of Ikea shelves, I thought maybe we could do something like this: (please excuse my less-than-stellar photoshopping)

Toss a couple accessories on the shelf and what do you think? (Yes, I did photoshoped in the painting I just purchased on eBay. Hope you approve!) We could also lose the shelf and just hang the painting... Any opinions? Does anyone even read this?? I'm also trying to distract from the fact that nearly everything in the room is from Ikea. (We added the hardware to the dressers and nightstands and it made a huge difference). I'm not crazy about the chocolate walls, but they came with Husband as-is. We've got plenty of other rooms in need of paint before we tackle this room.

Is anyone out there? Help!

j.crew love

A little nugget of joy appeared in my mailbox the other day... the new J.Crew catalog! It is safe to say that I'm totally obsessed. And if I didn't have to talk about my wedding in the past tense, I would totally be ordering these dresses for my fine bridesmaids:



Can't go wrong with a wrap dress - and the ruffle is too cute. I'm in love.

Anyway, my current projects consist of trying to get our home to look like and Etsy-ish version of Pottery Barn, but on an Ikea budget. So far I'm having some mild success. Lucky for me, Husband already had purchased his home before we met and it's adorable. It wasn't the worst bachelor pad ever - no posters hanging up or anything - but he does seem to have a love affair with these damn Ikea shelves:

They are everywhere. On every wall. In every room. And I really and truly do not have anything left to put on them. I'm gently trying to coax him into the idea that we don't need a shelf on every empty wall... They might slowly disappear while he is away at work over the next few weeks...

I've been reading Making it Lovely and Decor8 for serious help as to what to do with our empty walls (and shelves.) Decor8 has been a huge tool in finding new Etsy sellers - I could spend hours (not that I have...) on Etsy looking for, well, anything, but seeing these featured artists has been really wonderful.

I'll post pictures of my latest "Design Challenge" in our home later - check back soon! (I need all the help I can get with this one...)

In about 15 minutes I'm going to give my 30-day notice to my boss and I'm thinking that I could really use a Xanax right about now. I'm anticipating some strong words and quite possibly fire shooting out of her nostrils. However, I did buy myself a You're Finally Quitting Your Job present... a super cute new bag!

On a much less stressful note, as of November 8th I will actually be able to spend time with Husband, finish knitting project from last winter, decorate our home, and maybe even take my new sewing machine out of the box! Speaking of decorating, classic bride posted this adorable fall decor pic that I am totally loving:


Ok... guess I really have to do this now. No more procrastination. Wish me luck.

It's been a while...

Once I started to go a little loopy while managing the many hats I wear at Ballet Memphis, my long-distance fiance, and planning a long-distance wedding, my sad little blog was clearly neglected. Not that anyone was reading this thing anyway. But here I am, back at it again - with many new developments and wedding pictures to post! We have been married for 2 months at the end of this week and he's still my Prince Charming. Best, most beautiful day of my life, minus what is now referred to as "The Incident." More on that later.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures to hold ya'll over. (If there is anyone left reading this...)

Colors...

Just an FYI, the pink and green color scheme has been scratched due to the fact that I think it's totally over-done and I really don't want my wedding to look like a 5-year old's bedroom.

Wedding reception: champagne, pale blush pink and ivory with about a million (*300) pillar candles... no flowers... just candles. Let's hope the "wow" factor works.

The picture from my visit to Sitting Pretty Linens below may look lame now, but imagine it with 15 pillars glowing in the center of the table... (please note the pewter-ish charger plate... love it.)


Kind of like this... minus the rose petals because I'm just not so into that...

The Great Earring Debate

I made a rash decision to spend a *little* too much cash on a pair of earrings from Tejani because I was "convinced" I wouldn't find anything else I liked ... And I was a goober and didn't pay attention to my time frame and now I have realized that I really just don't love them, it's way past the 2 week return policy. The lovely owner said she would exchange them for me... but the problem is, I'm not crazy about anything else. She emailed me pictures of another pair I was interested in and I personally think they look a little odd on the model... Something just isn't right. Too long? Too pointy? Too something.


Just a couple days ago I discovered Regina B, which has caused serious disappointment in the fact that I'm $200 poor-er because of a pair of huge earrings that I'll never wear. I absolutely LOVE their earrings. I'm thinking that my Tejani's are going to find a nice home to someone on eBay *crosses fingers* and then I won't feel quite as guilty for buying a Regina B pair. Plus, the Regina B earrings are about $70 cheaper than the Pink Monsters. (Can you tell I'm trying to justify this??) So, here are the top 2 choices from Regina, my new BFF.

Style 1032...
Or Style 1157...
I'd definitely go with the pearls on both pairs and I have the option of having them made in the silver color (rhodium) or in an antique bronze... they are supposed to send me a picture of the bronze so I can get a better idea of what it will look like. Although I want to wear a gold-tone on the Big Day, I really do like these in the rhodium plating.

Help!! Opinions are appreciated.

Pens pens pens....

I recently purchased 3 different calligraphy pens from Hobby Lobby to begin much-needed practice for addressing 200 invites.

And I totally suck. Not pretty... at all. And I do have nice hand writing, but a slanted pen - or worse, one with an ink cartridge - brings me much shame.

Wish me luck... envelopes should be here in about 1 week!

Flower girls!

Has anyone else noticed that flower girl dresses are just - if not more - expensive than bridesmaids dresses? I don't know what the heck is up with that, considering the dresses are about 1/5 the size of an adult dress. Anyway, I have been on the hunt for a good deal on 3 adorable dresses and I hit the jackpot. I found the perfect dress for the perfect price ($33.00!) from Dillard's. They tracked down the other 2 sizes I needed and had them shipped right to my door. Perfect.

This past weekend, fiance and I went to Nashville to visit his sister, her hubby and their adorable little one, and they are all part of our wedding party! Little Loren tried on her dress and it was priceless. Here she is, a total ham and our mini-supermodel. Is she not the cutest??

She's crafty.

I totally ripped this idea off my fabulous friend Katie's wedding (p.s. her whole sha-bang was to die for). I think they look pretty good!

The inspiration...

Before...
After!I am sure that I will have floral foam all over my house for at least 3 more months - but a steak knife really cuts that stuff well! Who knew. I think I spent $45 on flowers (clearance hydrangeas, carnations and some other random pink/white flower that resembled a rose), foam, ribbon and floral picks. Not bad considering that my florist was going charge waaaaaaaay too much. I do have a million flowers left over and I never, ever thought I would be caught dead purchasing fake carnations.

A little bit of everything.

It's been nearly a month since my last post... So for anyone who actually reads this, I apologize! Once I came back to Memphis from the whir-wind wedding week/spring break in Ohio, I was forced to focus on work. Not exactly what I wanted to be doing.... but I will admit that it probably kept me sane. I definitely needed to detox from so much planning in so little time. But here I am, a month later... with a gigantic "to-do" list. Really all that is left at this point (besides invitations) are the little things. Little things that I'm totally stressing over. Little things that will - of course - cost much more than I could ever imagine. Little things that I can DIY and and go totally OCD with. The next 108 days are going to be interesting.

p.s. The ballet school semester is officially over in a little over 2 weeks. Once May 3rd passes, I can be much more wedding focused - which is probably hazardous to my health.

Here is a run-through of what we have accomplised since the last post: (don't get too excited... it's not a lot.)

I got my shoes (aka - they dyables) and they were stinking huge. And wide. And I have the feet of a platypus. Lucky for me, Nordstroms had the shoes (in gold) that I originally wanted in my size! I ordered them and they are perfect.

I ordered earrings from Tejani! I love the pair I ordered... but they are a little large and ridiculously heavy. So heavy, in fact, that I had them on for about 15 minutes and my earlobe started bleeding. I've been obsessing over the website trying to see what I could exchange them for... The designer/owner, Urvi, has been so amazing. She asked to see pictures of the dress and of me wearing the earrings and has been making suggestions as to what we could change about the current pair/new options to try. Here is a picture of the pair I have now:


I really love the shape of the earrings in the center... it is really the dangles at the bottom that give them too much width and a wee bit too much length. I'm thinking about taking them to our jewler to see if he can alter them and nix the dangles? But then again, here are pics of the pairs I might exchange them for:

The pair above would be made with the topaz stones, not CZs, similar to this possible option below:

So what do you think? Either way, there's no chance I'll be able to wear the pair I have now because they are waaaaaay too heavy. I'd love some opinions!!

Moving on - WE ORDERED GLASSWARE FOR THE CANDLES!!!! Hallelujah, we found the deal of a lifetime. Kind of. But who cares - its DONE! There are 36 cases of glassware in 6", 8", an 10" sitting in my parent's garage. HJK Imports was a goldmine (glassmine?) and I'm so excited. The tables are going to be covered in pillar candles! Whoohoo!

And the best thing we have to check off the "to-do" list? THE HONEYMOON! It's official, we're going to be in the Dominican Republic for 7 nights and I couldn't be happier. I found the resort months ago and figured it was way out of our range... turns out, it's really not! I scoured the internet for the best deal and it was nearly $700 less to fly out of the Canton/Akron airport rather than the Cleveland. (Clearly, that's the choice we made.) We read countless amazing reviews from people who have stayed there and every loved this place. The best part? Adults only! No kids!! YES! Don't get me wrong, I love kids. We just don't want children frolicking with us in the pool. Or screaming at dinner. Or throwing sand on me while I fry in the Caribbean sun. You get the idea. So here is our much anticipated honeymoon spot! We can't wait!

I have plenty more that I could write but it's too late to even touch on the rest of the "to-do's"... it's going to be a busy weekend with my family in town and a the Junior Company performance. Let's hope I survive.

Brain dead.

Wednesday was remarkably successful for the Schneider-Wenzel wedding. We were able to cross a ton of things off of our Pending column, which feels so great! I called around to a few bridal salons to see if any of them had a sample of my dress - I had yet to purchase a veil and definitely needed to have the dress on to do so. Matina's in Beachwood ($$$$$$$$) had the sample, so off we went. Matina's is uber-expensive and they carry all of the dresses that I've oogled over for the pst 24 years (including my own). I was so excited to see my dress on again, and we purchased a veil! (Which is super long - about 6 inches past my train, but is very simple.) After we handled the veil I had to look around at the gowns... just for fun. Amsale. Vera Wang. Monique Lhuillier. It was pretty exhilarating to browse $6000 white dresses.

Naturally we started obsessing over a MOB dress. Have any of you noticed that all MOB gowns are totally hideous? Beaded moomoos. Beaded jackets to match the beaded moomoos. Although, our online favorite was this amazing find:

I did tell my mom that she is only allowed to buy this smashing ensemble if she posed like the model while lighting the unity candle. Anyway, keeping the peacock/leopard monstrosity as a back up, MOB tried on nearly everything in the store that wasn't white. Because Matina's was pretty pricey, we were reluctant to make a purchase. Until one of the sales ladies (who had her wedding last August at the Ritz. She made sure to tell us...) brought out a sample MOB gown that was on clearance. (Translation: still really expensive at 50% off.) It was the most beautiful gown she tried on! This sample Amsale was a size 10 and Mom is a size 2 on a fat day, so we will have it altered big time. Seriously, this dress is amazing - non-matronly, the most flattering lines, and a fabulous color. I'm so excited about her dress, hopefully she is too!

We had 2 very yummy cake tastings with Flour Girl and West Side Bakery - WSB knocked it out of the park. Their cakes were amazingly yummy and incredibly beautiful. And there wasn't a single fountian or nasty bridge connecting cakes. Flour Girl's cakes were great too but we felt really comfortable with WSB and their very professional set up. So, here's the cake that Fiance and I will not be shoving in each others face:I love it! I actually found this cake in an InStyle weddings from 2001... and I've been saving it for my wedding day! Anyway, I've loved this cake for so long and the bakery has this exact cake in their repertoire which was amazing. They are also going to take care of Fiance's Texas Longhorn grooms cake - wahoo! I'll admit that I was tempted to have them create the following masterpiece:

It's a little on the phallic side, but how can you go wrong a castle, 2 fountains and that AMAZING veil? It doesn't get much better.