A Change of Address...

I must apologize for the inconvenience, but I have decided to make some changes around here. A few of you have noticed and commented on the new banner, along with the new name. It wasn't just me being crazy, it's just my new blog.

http://www.abrideagain.blogspot.com/

Yes, I've stepped out of my shell a little bit and decided to blog as myself...under a new blog name...something that will have some continuity with some blogs that are already under construction for the future. I wanted to have the name recognition for those newer blogs and be able to connect all the blogs together, thus the change.

To my followers - I REALLY do apologize. I really hope to see all of you following my new blog, as that's where the new posts will be from now on.

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience, but you'll find me here now...along with all the histroy that was on this blog...don't worry - I'm taking it all with me!

Thanks for reading, and I'll keep my fingers crossed to see you at the new site soon!

Why I blog…

Someone asked me the other day why I choose to write about my experience as a bride. More importantly, why I feel the need to write about it all as a bride doing it all again. A first-time bride is understandable, since there is all this excitement and anticipation of the unknown coming at you. But for someone who’s already been there and done that…what’s the attraction? And why would people care?

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Well, it’s not a simple answer. There are several reasons why I blog. First and most importantly, I blog because I love it. I’ve always been somewhat creative and love having the outlet that blogging allows. It’s not necessarily that I think that what I have to say is so important, I’m confident and have LOADS of good self-esteem, but even I realize that my audience is small! But it doesn’t really matter to me if one person reads my blog or if 500 people read my blog. I don’t write for you guys, I write for me.

This keeps me sane. Yes, it’s a way for me to keep friends and family informed with what all is going on with the wedding planning process. This way I don’t have to make three phone calls to three Maids, plus one to Mama CC and one to FMIL…they can read the blog at their own pace and stay caught up with what’s in the works. I just love it when I talk to one of them and they bring up something that I wrote about…makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Yes, sometimes it gets confusing because I wait to talk about things until it’s posted on my blog, but that’s just me making things harder on myself!

Another reason that I do this is because I have really tried to connect with people in my same situation. Planning a second (or third) wedding is WAY different than planning your first wedding, and although there’s nothing wrong with first-time brides, there is often a different perspective that women doing this for a second time around have. And I look for that. I actively search for it. And I can tell you, it’s sort of hard to find. There’s just not that many of us out there being open and upfront about this whole process. It seems to be more “acceptable” to have a small, intimate second wedding, not to do the whole extravagant affair when it isn’t your first wedding. So if my posts can bring someone else some measure of comfort or a feeling of “I’m not alone in this!” to them, then I have accomplished what I set out to do.

And to be perfectly honest, it’s just not the same being a bride for the second time around. There are different issues that I face…things that I deal with that new brides don’t necessarily understand. Things like how your decisions affect people other than just you and your groom. Understanding that at times, there are just things that you cannot have in your wedding because it’s something that brings up painful memories. And being ok with your future spouse telling you that you can’t do this or that for that reason and not being all jealous-crazy-woman about it. Let’s face it, most “encore brides” are more mature, if not in age, then in experience. There are things that we’ve gone through and experienced that new brides haven’t.

We know what it’s like to have the one person that you thought that you could always count on let you down…and yes, it’s different than when a parent or friend lets you down. We know what it’s like to love someone with all your heart, but to understand in your head that it’s best to let them go. And we know when to admit that we made a mistake. With full knowledge of making the mistake at the time that we did it. And we still did it. So, we also know what it’s like to correct something like that, knowing that the other person doesn’t understand and probably never will. Living with that is sometimes hard.

So planning a wedding isn’t all happiness, hearts, flowers and butterflies all the time. It just isn’t. It can be, and there may be weeks in between each maudlin session that an “encore bride” might experience. For me, those moments are few and far between. I think that what makes the most difference is Mr. CC himself and how I am with him. I’m me, plain and simple. And he loves me. Doesn’t ask or expect me to be something/someone that I’m not. And that means the world to me.

Did you start a blog during an important event during your life? Was it helpful to you? Did you continue it even after the event was over? This is something that I’m starting to think about as my wedding day gets closer and closer…

Work Out Wagon Results – Week #8

Last Week’s Stats:
Weight – 147
Tummy – 32/36.75 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs – 23.25

Last Week’s Goals: (I’ve once again put my actual results in BOLD)
To actually follow the goals that I have set out to follow…I did do better on this one, no matter WHAT the numbers below say
Move to next step of Couch Potato to 5K running plan – run a minimum of three times during the week Ran Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday
Take only one day a week off of SOME form of exercise – days not running either do a P90X workout or swim Still didn’t do as good on this one…
NO SODAS during the week!!! Only cheated ONE time – YEA!

Current Stats:
Weight – 148
Tummy – 31.5/37 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs – 23.25

Here are my goals for this week:
Increase my running length of time and speed, following the Couch Potato to 5K running plan – running at least 3 times
Take only one day off of SOME form of exercise – do a P90X workout or swim on “off days”
Continue with no sodas during the week, and making good diet choices.
Work on smaller meals, more often.

I’m really proud of what I was able to get back on track with last week. I watched what I ate and made sure to exercise more. Yes, I should have done something for two of my three days off, but maybe I’m doing just fine with my baby steps to fitness…

I was disappointed in the numbers posting this week. Despite all of my good efforts, it seems like I fell short a bit. I’m counting on that being blamed for my monthly visitors who brings along water retention and bloating with her when she visits! Next week, I hope to continue to see my weight drop and my measurements decrease as well.

I’m almost 100 days out from the wedding right now, and to be perfectly honest, I’m feeling a bit of pressure about the “hump” that I seem to have hit. I cannot get past the position that I’m at with my weight or my measurements, it seems. So, in order to try to force myself to do better and be more accountable, I’m going back to the food journal and really watching those calories. I’m excited that my workouts are at the level now where I’m burning significant calories…I just want to make sure that I don’t undo all of my hard work with bad eating choices.

You might have noticed also that I added a new goal of eating smaller meals more often. This one is REALLY hard for me to do. Not only do I have to make good snack choices, which isn’t all that hard for me, but I have to eat at set times during the day. I noticed that when I did this when I was first starting out on my workout wagon, it really did seem to speed up my metabolism a bit. The past three weeks or so, I haven’t been doing very good with this aspect of when I eat, and I think that the numbers really reflect that.

Is anyone else out there struggling to get past a “road block” in their fitness program? I’m making progress, so I’m ok with this small set-back, but it’s frustrating all the same.

What are you doing to get over your “hump” in the road?

The "Guest Book" Revealed!

Well, since I wrote about the “dilemma” the other day (read - "a few weeks ago") with the signing spots on the “guest book” I wanted to go ahead and share some pics of my work on the actual quilt.

I bought several (five, I think) different patterned fabrics along with a solid black to make up the arcs of the rings. I had envisioned just using the colors black and cream to go along with my color scheme, but fell in LOVE with a fabric that I saw on sale at Hancock Fabrics. It was a cream background, and had black on it, but also included the color grey.

Bringing in one more color really opened up my mind a bit and I ended up with another grey and black material as well. I wasn’t sure how exactly it would all look together, and I KNOW that we’ve had THAT talk before! So I was REALLY anxious to finish cutting up the million zillion thousand pieces that it took to make all the arcs that I think that I’ll need and get to sewing some things together and seeing how the fabric looked.

Here’s the result: That’s just one side of the ring.

Here’s one more shot of the “ring”:
I apologize that it’s such a rough draft, but you get the picture. Just use your imagination and picture the cream muslin inserted to fill in the circles, and the arcs will all be finished off with squares cut out of the same black solid fabric that is the center piece of each arc.

What do you think? I REALLY like them! I can’t wait to see it more together, since it’s still a little hard for me to envision at this point. I know, I know. Imagine how frustrating it is for ME! Anyway, the plan of attack is for me to make as many of these arcs as I can BEFORE the actual wedding occurs…thus increasing the likelihood and ease of getting this project finished AFTER the wedding.

I was a little concerned about this type of quilting. The pattern is a piece-work foundation paper quilt pattern, which is something that I’ve never really done before. Essentially, you copy the pattern that’s given onto special foundation paper and then sew your quilt pieces to the actual paper, which at the same time sews them together. At the end of the project, you simply rip the paper out (in theory that happens easily since sewing the paper perforates it as you go). This gives you a firm foundation to work with and it would seem to me that it would help decrease the chance of error and help make all of your arcs exactly the same. Or at least closer to exactly the same than if you didn’t have it. So anyway, this is a new thing for me, so I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it, but I LOVE it!

It was really easy to pick up the hang of it, after the first one – since you KNOW that one took a little longer to get the hang of it! All in all, I finished the other three arcs in no time flat. I would say less than 10 minutes per arc, but I’m just guessing. So hopefully, by starting early my grand master plan will work out and help me to finish this up after we collect all the signatures.

Did you have a wedding project that you started ahead of time like that, even knowing that you couldn’t finish it until AFTER the wedding was over? How did working on it early work out for you? I’d love to hear about it!

Joining the YMCA...

So I’ve been writing a lot about our workouts. Something that has been happening recently has really affected our workouts. Texas has been in an early heat wave. Yes, I realize that I live in Texas, and that it’s hot here a lot of the time. I get that. I really do. But it’s been unseasonably hot…in late June we’ve been hitting triple-digits on the temperature front each and every day. A cool day (read cold front) for us is high 90’s.

How has this affected us, you’re asking right about now? Well, we run outside. We don’t own a treadmill and we’re not members of any gym. So this means avoiding heat exhaustion is the most important thing for us. When we first started running, we could run right after work (between 5:30 – 6:30 at night) and have no problems. That quickly changed as May became June. We changed our routine to run about an hour after we ate in the evenings. This might mean a little discomfort while running if we ate too heavy a meal, or didn’t wait the full hour, but it was worth it to run during a cooler period during the day.

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Last week, we had to start waiting until after 9pm to run. It’s been THAT hot. And that’s just not acceptable for us working folks. Mr. CC works quite a ways away from our house, having to go right through downtown Austin to get there. Which puts him going through some heavy traffic, except that he goes so early in the mornings, that he misses it all. (So for those of you familiar with Austin and it’s traffic, you get that that is VERY early!)

So running that late at night forces us to go to bed later and later. And it’s just going to keep getting hotter and hotter. We needed a better solution. This is starting to affect our desire to work out at all, and staying on track with our goals is important to us. Especially since it's not just ME that is worried about looking her best on her wedding day...this is something that Mr. CC worries about constantly.

So what did we do? We joined the YMCA. I don’t know about the area that you’re in, but in Austin, the YMCA has some top-notch facilities for member use. Nice gyms, workout classes, summer programs for kids, and swimming facilities. An extra score for us, since we “lost” our summertime pool when little CC and I moved out of our apartment in Austin and moved in with Mr. CC. Without access to a pool, the summers in Austin can be L-O-N-G…

So just for your information, joining the Y was a simple choice for us. They offer a family membership, allowing all four of us access to all of the Austin area YMCA facilities, for a mere $75/month. There was no activation fee since we signed up the same day that we took a tour, and there is no contract to sign. It’s month-to-month on bank/credit card draft with just a 30-day cancellation policy to follow. Right now, the kids are young enough where they get in under our cards, and they must be supervised at all times. But the Y does provide on-site child care for ages 6 mos and up. Within a year or so, Mr. CC’s son will be able to roam about as he pleases when we’re there, but little CC will have to continue to go to “Hang Time” until she reaches 13.

Lucky for us, we’re pretty flexible and one of us doesn’t mind sitting watching little CC swim while the other works out and then taking turns. It’s a win-win situation for us. We get to run on treadmills (better for our joints on shock absorption) in the A/C (MUY importante in Tejas!) as well as full access to the rest of the amenities that the YMCA offers.

We’re thrilled with our choice, and just to be certain that I did a good thing financially, I did a break-down on the cost. I figured out that if we go to the Y three days a week (which is how often we’re SUPPOSED to be running each week) the cost is a mere $3.13 per visit. I will GLADLY pay $3 to run in the A/C any day of the week!

Check out the new YMCA that just opened last year, and is the closest one to our house:

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What new expenses did you incur to meet your fitness goals for your wedding? Was it worth the money that you spent?

Birthday Celebration

So I mentioned the other day that part of my “downfall” on the work out wagon last week was the birthday celebrations that I partook in. Is partook an actual word? I’m not sure, but you know what I’m talking about. Anyway, the reason for this is because it turned into a three-day long celebration.

Here’s how it all went down. Mr. CC had been being secretive about my birthday surprise for the last few weeks. Since I love surprises (NOT!) I was on pins and needles trying to wait patiently for the big day. Yeah, I don’t do that well either, and since Mr. CC is HORRIBLE at keeping secrets, I kinda knew what was happening beforehand. But since I wasn’t 100% sure what it was, I wouldn’t confess what I thought it was to Mr. CC when he asked.

So, the big day rolls around. It’s an odd year for me, 33. I can’t think of too many people that celebrate 33 really big. But in my family, growing up your birthday was YOUR day. It was the one day a year that was solely about YOU – and lucky for me, Mr. CC was raised the same way so we celebrate our birthdays in BIG ways.

5 minutes before midnight the night before my birthday I got my first “happy birthday.”

Then I got a sweet “happy birthday” good-bye kiss as he made his way off to work while I was still snoozing away.

He had already told me that his goal was to actually tell me “Happy Birthday” 33 times throughout the day. It was fun to count and keep track of it all! Little did I know that his actual intent was to say it 33 times over the course of the celebrations. Dinner was my choice that night, and after a stressful week at work, moving offices all the previous two days, I was pooped. Mr. CC’s parents called to see if they could take us to lunch. I begged off, being too tired and just wanting to sit and do nothing. We ended up eating leftovers and watching a movie of my choice. I think that it was “. I’m really a homebody, and was really looking forward to our birthday celebration the next day.

I was only told that I would need an overnight bag and be prepared to make lots of decisions on what I wanted to eat, what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to go. Are you noticing a pattern here? It was all about ME, which was SO cool!

So we slept late. I got up way before Mr. CC, which is the way that it works sometimes, and I worked on our guestbook rings. I LOVE sewing and having a project to work on, but since I have to sit at our dining room table to do it, I try to just work on things in stages when Mr. CC isn’t around. Him sleeping late was the perfect excuse for me to get some sewing time in.

But once he was up and about, we got all packed up and headed out. We stopped for a quick brunch and then the shopping commenced. We went to several stores, and once it started to get really hot outside we headed for the mall. Mr. CC had gotten a good chuckle the night before when I asked if the weekend was all about me, if that included him taking me to get my brows done…

The mall was nice and all in all, I scored a new pair of shoes, a new pair of earrings, a new dress, a pair of pants and unlimited shopping at VS! Plus the eyebrow wax. Sweet! About this time I got all pooped out. It was time for the big reveal. Where we were going to stay.

A long time ago, when Mr. CC and I first dated, we were strolling through an eclectic part of Austin, South Congress district, aka SoCo. I pointed out this quaint little hotel that I had admired and fell in love with upon first sight when I moved to Austin several years earlier. Mr. CC, being the romantic that he is, remembered this conversation and booked us a night’s stay at the hotel. May I present to you the Hotel San Jose…

Isn’t it gorgeous!?!?!

Check out those gardens?!?!

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I loved every minute of it. We checked in and settled our bags and looked around for a few minutes. Then we headed up the street to Guerro’s Taco Bar for some tasty margaritas. A few of those later and I was ready to get ready for dinner. Mr. CC took me to a favorite of ours, the Macaroni Grill. I know, it’s just a big chain restaurant, but we never go there to eat and it’s SO yummy! Since pasta isn’t really on our diets, I knew that this would be a treat worthy of a birthday celebration.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and dropped off our truck, called a cab and headed down to 6th street. We have a favorite bar/pub on 6th street in Austin, a little place called B.D. Riley’s. It’s a good bar for some live jazz/blues type of music, and we’re never disappointed when we go there. We hung out there for a few hours and were then ready to call it quits. We took a cab back to our hotel and settled in for a long sleep. It was really nice.

The rest of the weekend followed those same basic guidelines. Whatever I wanted to do, we did. Wherever I wanted to go, we went. Whatever show/movie I wanted to watch, we watched. I was flattered and touched. More importantly to me, the fact that Mr. CC went to SO much trouble to make my day special just warmed my heart all to pieces. Yeah, I know, it’s gushy and mushy and kinda yucky…but I’m the luckiest girl that I know! He’s a great guy, and I can’t say “THANK YOU” enough.

He was even sweet enough to get the key from the hotel for my scrapbook. The key was an actual key (unheard of these days with electronic locks!) and it had a cool keychain. Apparently at the front desk, you could buy a replica key chain…so he bought one and then switched the key chains so that we kept the beat-up looking one that we were given. SO sweet and thoughtful…

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

A Bride…Again

When I first started making plans for this wedding…WAY before there was an engagement ring or anything, I noticed that I really worried what other people would think. Not so much the type of thing like “I can’t believe she picked the color eggplant!” but more along the lines of “I can’t believe SHE’S having an actual wedding…again!”

I really struggled with this topic of conversation, and spent countless hours stressing myself out about it. And let me be clear here, I was really the ONLY person worried about it. Mr. CC is so calm, cool and collected about things – his take on it was that if we wanted a wedding and were willing to pay for it, then who cares what everyone else thinks. Oh, to be so free. To be so open and uncaring. Most of the time, I can admit to being that carefree about things, but this is one thing that I was unsure of.

It took several months of planning, dreaming and talking about what we would do, how we would do things, and what was important to us for me to become comfortable with the idea of a big wedding. (Not that 150 guests is all THAT big, but it’s nothing to scoff at!) Maybe it’s just easier for guys than for girls…they’re tough and hardy and girls are supposed to be sensitive and caring. I didn’t want people to look down on me or us for planning a wedding when it was not our first wedding.

I’m proud to say that in the end, after several agonizing weeks and LOTS of conversations with the Mister, I came to terms with it. This is what I want. This is what we want. I don’t really care if you (stranger) think that it’s presumptuous of me to have a wedding when it isn’t my first. That’s more your own problem, than mine to deal with. I have enough on my plate…DIY projects, meeting my budget, not going crazy doing this while working full-time.

As I started reading wedding blogs and searching for ideas and inspiration (every bride’s favorite pastime activity) I realized that there truly is a shortage of brides out there coming right out in the open about second or third or fourth marriages and actual weddings. Yes, people re-marry. But many people (it seems) don’t talk openly about it. It’s somewhat taboo. I applaud sites like weddingbee.com that actually dedicates a section of their boards to what they term “encore brides.” This encourages me that there are others out there like me. And weddingbee also features a bride (or two I found out today!) that IS an actual encore bride who spotlights her second time around. This gives me hope that I’m not totally against the grain here.

But when it comes down to it, who cares if I am totally against the grain? I don’t. Like I said earlier, this is what I want, this is what Mr. CC wants, and we’re SO excited to be planning our wedding. Who cares if we’ve been down this road before? We don’t. Luckily for us, things are different this time around or else we wouldn’t be where we are. And maybe having this unique perspective on things allows us to focus on what we know is really important this time around. Yes, I want a gorgeous wedding…but without the love that we share beneath it all, it’s just a big party.

With all of that being said, there are still moments that I look up and wonder what the H*%K I’m thinking. Like when my dad called to talk one night and I mentioned something about him walking me down the aisle. He didn’t mean anything by his response…but he literally said “Again?!?” Yes, Dad. Again. Please. It would mean a great deal to me. Even though I’ve made my peace with my decision, there are still moments that I question it all. Luckily for me, I’ve got a GREAT groom who picks up my spirits, turns my frown upside-down and makes me remember why all of this is SO important to me.

Are there other “encore brides” out there who struggle with these issues too? Are you doing something like writing about your experience on a blog? Comment below if you are, I’d LOVE to chat! And I would LOVE to follow another brides’ blog about her wedding experience.

Calling ALL Crafters!

Hey guys and gals! I don't know about you, but I LOVE me some coupons!

I get emails from Hancock's Fabrics regularly and though they are always running great sales, sometimes their emails provide EXTRA coupons.

So I thought that all of you brides (or just crafty ladies) might want access to the great coupons too. Click below and print off the coupons:

CURRENT HANCOCK COUPONS

Be really careful about the dates - just a little word of warning. I've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for another 40-50% off of fabric purchases for what seems like AGES now and have to wait until July 19th again! Oh well, just knowing that I have the coupon in my possession helps.

Happy Crafting!

We HAVE a Caterer!!!

Yep, it’s official folks. We. Have. A. Caterer. YEA!

I don’t really remember if I posted about this before or not, so forgive me if I’m repeating an earlier post, please. We had initially looked at the recommended caterer for our venue, Texas Old Town. We had taken a recommendation from a co-worker and contacted Chisholm Trail Bar-B-Que out of Lockhart, Texas – the BBQ capital of Texas. When Mr. CC (since he was in charge of this particular project) called to reserve the date and get pricing and more information, he was sort of given the run around. Not that they wouldn’t commit to doing our wedding reception, but the gentleman that he talked with that day told Mr. CC that there was no need to reserve the date, just to call back a few weeks before the wedding and book it at that time.

Ok, slow down there. NO NEED to reserve the date for OUR wedding?!?! Are you picking up on my shock, here?

But knowing that these smaller BBQ places can be a little more lax on this side of their business, we held our tongues and waited. Now, when I say that we were patient, I don’t mean that we intended to wait until three weeks before the wedding and call to reserve like the guy told us to. No way am I chancing that they’ll get booked, or the prices will change, or something else equally as bad will happen between February (when we first called) and late October. But I was patient and waited until July to call back. I mean, come on, I gave them 5 months…and then I urged Mr. CC to call back again.

Like the good groom that he is, he did so right away. I was on IM with him, so I not-so-patiently waited on the other “side” of the phone call. When he didn’t respond for a minute, I assumed that all was going well. Then he IMed me that the guy that takes care of those things was on the other line booking a wedding and Mr. CC would have to call back later.

Gulp.

Lucky for us, when Mr. CC called back and talked with Danny, the caterer manager over at Chisholm Trail, he actually OFFICIALLY booked us down for that Saturday night in October and had a LOT more details than the previous person did. In fact, Danny laughed and knew exactly who we had talked with when we called before and he said not to worry, that was the owner that we had talked with and he was WAY more relaxed about things than most brides and grooms. Understanding that other people might need a little more reassurance than the owner is willing to give, Danny had sort of taken over this aspect of their business, and was able to give us exactly what we were looking for.

He still didn’t want a deposit…I guess that’s good for us. But we ordered the three-meat meal. Chisholm Trail will show up at TOT at 6pm and start setting up the spread while we’re finishing up family pictures and our other guests are mingling. The food will be ready to serve at 6:30pm. We’ll do it all buffet-style, but they will provide the servers at each station so that all the guests have to do is point and take. Chisholm Trail is providing brisket, chicken and sausage for the meats, along with beans, potato salad, and cole slaw as the sides. (I’m a little disappointed that there’s no mac ‘n cheese, but what can a girl do?) They also provide tea to drink, including all the lemons and sweeteners for that. Good deal. And they’re doing it all for WELL under 10 dollars per person. (The price actually went up .25 from when they quoted us before, but I’m not going to bicker over a quarter – pick your battles, right?)

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I’m relieved (except about the mac ‘n cheese) that we now have a caterer. Someone that I KNOW will be there, and I can take this off of my list of things to do. Truthfully it was already off of my actual to do list, since I knew that they were going to do it, but it’s more official now.

Were you lucky enough to find a caterer that was this easy to work with too? Have you ever heard of a vendor NOT wanting a deposit for their services? This makes TWO vendors like this for us…

A Dilemma?

Ok. Here’s the deal…I’m faced with a problem. That might not actually BE a problem. But I need some input.

I posted here last week about my non-traditional “guest book” that I’m working on. (I promise that a post showing off the fabrics that I’ve selected to make the rings is coming soon!) I went out and bought the material and started cutting the pieces that comprise the quilt right away, as there are about 100 million zillion of the little buggers…

Anyway. Back on track, Miss CC! As I’m cutting up my muslin for the signing squares, I realize something. There are only 20 of the big center circles in a wedding ring quilt. Wait a minute. Let me “say” that again…there are only 20 center pieces.

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You see the big open area in the “middle” of each ring? That’s where I had envisioned having my guests “sign in” for our wedding. But if there are only twenty of them…

Do you see the problem here? There will (hopefully!) be more than 20 people/couples in attendance at our wedding. Hmm…my dilemma grows in size…

So what should I do? I can see two options:
1.) Add another row/column to the quilt
2.) Have people “sign in” somewhere else on the quilt

Option #1 is limiting to me. For one thing, adding too many more columns and/or rows just creates more work for me. With only 20 circles, there are 98 arcs to make to construct the rings that form the pattern. Gulp. 98 is already a lot of sewing and piece work to do…granted, this is a project that can definitely take the “back burner” as we get closer to the wedding and projects that will actually be USED at the wedding take precedence. But still. Adding more rows/columns just increases the likelihood of this project extending into the future as long as the eye can see. Not to mention the fact that I would have to add on an additional 20 rows/columns to make this a semi-feasible idea!

Option #2 might have more promise. I know that not everyone will want to have a large space to “sign in” as they might not want to offer words of love or advice to us on our day. A signature alone can be done on a smaller piece of muslin. Like maybe on these smaller pieces where the rings “overlap”?

Do you think that would work? If so, how do I regulate who signs which piece? Or do I even try to regulate it? Maybe I should just leave all the pieces out and let each person/couple decide which size they would like to utilize. An idea that I’ve been toying with is pre-deciding who gets the larger pieces of muslin to sign – like bridal party, family members and close friends. Everyone else could just sign in on a smaller piece. The pattern calls for 49 of these smaller muslin pieces.

Another choice for option #2 would be to have no one sign the larger pieces and everyone just sign their names on the smaller pieces. I could quilt a design of sorts on the larger open areas (as shown in the above pics) to fill in the space and just have the signatures on the smaller overlap pieces of the quilt.

What should I do? I love this idea TOO much to not figure out how to make this work…not to mention the fact that I JUST finished cutting all the pieces out!

Can you help me out? I’ve posted another voting poll to the side (like I did when I was messing with those damn eggplant tablecloths…sorry MOH!) where you can vote on what you think that I should do. Side note: if you choose Other as your vote, be sure to post a comment telling me exactly what your Other idea is!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Work Out Wagon Results – Week #7

Last Week’s Stats: Weight – 146
Tummy – 32/37 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs – 23.25

Last Week’s Goals: (I’ve once again put my actual results in BOLD) Continue to Couch Potato to 5K running plan – moving on to the next week’s workout – run three times during the week Ran Sunday, Monday and Saturday – LONG break in between runs – more on that down below
One additional ab workout during the week Yeah, I’m a stinker - NONE
NO sodas during the week! I broke down and had a soda several days this week – BOO!

Current Stats:
Weight – 147
Tummy – 32/36.75 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs – 23.25

Here are my goals for this week:
To actually follow the goals that I set out to follow…
Move to next step of Couch Potato to 5K running plan – run a minimum of three times during the week
Take only one day a week off of SOME form of exercise – days not running either do a P90X workout or swim
NO SODAS during the week!!!

I feel really badly about my progress, or lack there of, for last week. I don’t really have an excuse, except maybe lack of willpower. You see, my birthday fell during the week last week…and although typically a birthday only covers ONE DAY…I feel like I celebrated all week long. Maybe you didn’t catch that…let me say it again. I celebrated all week long. All. Week. Long.

Yeah. So I was a bad little bride-to-be…and I GAINED weight this past week. I started off the week right…running the first two days of my week (since I count Sunday as the start of the week)…and then I’m not really sure what happened. A break on Tuesday since I had run Sunday and Monday turned into a four-day long break. Not really sure what all happened. I know that on Wednesday it was Mr. CC's last baseball game of the "season" and I didn't want to miss it. The weather probably also attributed to my lack of wanting to run - it's been in the triple digits everyday here in Texas. It's even still hot at 9 o'clock at night...and we're running later and later each night just to avoid death from heat stroke...

Oh well. It’s done. It’s over and there’s not much I can do to change what happened.

The good news? I had a GREAT birthday – ate cake for breakfast…followed by a cupcake after lunch…and another half after dinner. Yeah. Maybe I can understand why there was weight gain! LOL. The surprising thing is that my “true tummy” measurement finally changed, which was shocking considering that my total weight measurement went UP…but I’ll take what good news I can get.

I feel like I need to hit the program really hard this week. Rededicate myself to it all. You’ll notice that my first goal this week was actually to FOLLOW the goals that I lay out for myself. To be perfectly honest, I feel like I’ve let you all down with my lack of dedication last week. I know, I know, it’s not that big of a deal…but still. Being open and honest with my good days and bad days here on this blog holds me accountable. Not just with myself, but with you all.

Is it easier for you to stay on track with your goals if you tell someone else about them? Does that help you stay accountable?

A New Spin on an Old Toss?

I saw the cutest thing the other night while reading my daily wedding blog, weddingbee. For current brides, if you don’t already subscribe to this, you need to! Visit their site at http://www.weddingbee.com/ – it’s one of the BEST resources for creative ideas that I’ve found.
So what do you think? Isn’t that just the cutest packaging idea ever for birdseed/rice? The bride that posted about this will actually have lavender tossed at her since rice and birdseed tend to be a little bit hard on the landing…but the whole thing got me thinking about our toss and the logistics of it all.

Traditionally, the toss is done as the bride and groom make their “escape.” While this is fine, if you’re just having a cake and punch reception, doing the toss at the end of the night after a dinner reception has its hiccups. Mainly that these days, all guests don’t wait for the bride and groom to leave before making their own exit. I know, Miss Manners says that a wedding guest should NEVER leave before the bride and groom, but I don’t happen to agree. Especially for couples that brought their children along and older couples, making an early exit can be the smartest thing as the evening wears on longer and later.

But this causes a problem for the toss…it could be that SO many of your guests leave before you choose to make your own exit that the classic photo that you’re hoping to catch with the bubbles blowing in the wind won’t happen simply because there are not enough guests left at the end of the night to pull it off.

In order to try to avoid this, I’ve been thinking about doing out toss between the ceremony and the reception. At our venue (Texas Old Town) the ceremony site is in a wooded glen across the road from our reception hall. I think that it would be a simple enough matter to have a small table or even just a barstool set out at the edge of the road with a sign instructing guests to grab a bag of whatever and form the line along the walkway to the reception hall. The photographer could then stand at the doorway to the reception hall and snap the much-sought-after picture of the toss and everyone is happy. I’m happy because I got my picture. The guests are happy because they don’t have to feel guilty about leaving early should they choose to do so since the toss has already happened.

What do you think? Do you think that my venue setup allows for this to happen in this way? Do you think that this is a good compromise? Is it ok to “buck” tradition and do the toss before we’re actually planning to leave?

And Now for the Veil…

I was a terrible tease two weeks ago and mentioned very briefly that some decisions had been reached regarding my hair and veil. Then I went on and on for several days about other DIY projects and decisions that I’ve been making…just leaving you hanging for more about my hair and veil.

I could try to lie and tell you that I did that on accident…but I’m a horrible liar, as people tell me all the time. Ok, that’s mainly coming from Mr. CC, but I think that it’s a GOOD thing that I’m a bad liar. Seriously.

Anyway, when I last talked about my hair/veil dilemma here, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do about either. My big plan was that while shopping in Dallas with my Maids, I could work with my hair and the veils that they have at Alfred Angelo and play around with what options looked best on me. Because let’s face it…just because you love a hairstyle or veil on one bride does NOT mean that it will flatter you!

Mr. CC – this is your cue to exit and STOP READING this post. Sorry, honey!

Ok, now that he’s gone, let’s get down to it. First up? Hair down with veil. I’d already decided that I will not be sporting the blusher on my veil on my big day. Mainly because I’m worried just a bit about how it will look in pictures. That, and Mr. CC expressed a wish to be able to see me completely as I make my way down the aisle.

Here’s a picture of me with hair down…
And from the back…
Hey notice how well my Work Out Wagon results are showing? This dress that the store had was actually a size smaller than mine, which is why the V doesn't meet at the top...but my back view is improving!

I was really concerned about the length of my hair covering up the back of my dress…even if it might provide some camouflage for any “back cleavage” that hasn’t disappeared by then. The length did cover a bit of the back of the dress, but not so much to be concerned with, but it will grow a bit between now and the wedding. This style is doable, but it wasn’t anything great.

Next, I pulled my hair up into a twist of sorts. Please excuse the ugly twist. I was just trying to get the hair on top of my head (which I accomplished) and wasn’t really concerned about how well it was placed there!
I have to admit that I like the look of having my hair up. A little more formal, and dressy…maybe even more princessy. Yes, that’s a word. There are a few options when your hair is up on where to place the veil. Above is pictured placing the veil over the updo.

Here’s one of the veil being placed under the updo…
Our helper, Brandi, placing the veil beneath my updo as an option. Here’s a view of that same style from the back…
Once again, excuse the updo…and I don’t know WHAT I was doing with my hands…I kinda like this look. Other than it might tend to leave the front looking a little bare…which can always be fixed with the addition of something sparkly. Other than that one fact, I think that I REALLY like this option! Something that I hadn’t even considered.

What do you think? Hair up or down? Veil above the updo or under the updo? Did you start out with one vision that you wanted, just to find out that it wasn’t as flattering as you pictured in your mind?

Re-Visiting My Floral Budget

Oh, what a girl will pay to get what she wants…

Yep, I’m looking at our budget. I’m constantly working on ways to save a little here and there without compromising the overall feel that we want to encompass for our wedding. I also don’t want to skimp on quality too much, either. I may be a “budget friendly” bride, but I’m not a cheap bride! This coming from the girl who spent countless hours making flowers out of TISSUE PAPER…LOL!

In the interest of our budget, I’ve been looking at our floral budget quite a bit. Our wedding budget calculator tells me that my floral expense should be $1500. At first, this seemed like a lot to me, to be perfectly honest. Then I started shopping for flowers online and seeing what my options are. And since I’m one of those stubborn brides who wants what she wants no matter what time of year I’m actually getting married…yeah, that just complicates things.

I mean, if I was getting married right now (let’s just pretend) then I would be able to go down to HEB (my local grocery store) and pick up a dozen nice looking roses for about $10, including tax. I actually think that they’re on sale this week for $7.99 plus tax. CHEAP! And those Stargazer lilies that I have to have at the wedding are selling for $4/stem right now, with 3-4 buds on each stem. NICE. Buying locally would save me a LOT on my floral budget.

But here’s the thing. I’m not getting married right now. I’m getting married towards the end of October. Hmmm…so will these flowers still be available then? I don’t know. So I’ve been researching other options - mainly ordering my flowers in bulk online.

There are several resources that I’ve found for this type of service. Apparently it’s a hit thing to do now (DIY-ing your own flowers) and there are several websites that cater to the bride that chooses this option. The flowers come from all over the world, allowing these vendors to sell their goods year-round. This means (and I checked carefully!) that I can get fresh roses and lilies at any time during the year. I might be limited on some color selection as far as the roses go, but that should be it.

This color limitation brings in another option – artificial flowers – since I have to also have lavender flowers. I know that I’ve posted in the past about this seller that I’ve found that offers some pretty amazing fake flowers. Some of them aren’t so great, but that’s why you buy just one stem of each ahead of time and then you can pick and choose what works best. Incorporating some artificial flowers into my décor will allow me to have some of the colors that I want or out-of-season flowers at a fraction of the cost that I would pay to get them there fresh. Because I’m sure that peonies in October would cost an arm and a leg, IF you could even get them.

So yesterday, I’m crunching numbers on doing a mix of fake and real flowers, trying to see where I stand on my budget. The good news? Even if I paid top price for everything, and ordered WAY more than I think I’ll actually need, I can get all the flowers for around $800. So, as long as I can get the moss, floral foam and various other floral supplies that I need for around $200 that would bring my total to about $1,000 – which is $500 LESS than what the budget calculator tells me to allow for.

This is GREAT! I share the news with Mr. CC the other night in my excitement, and he thinks that spending $1,000 on flowers is a little steep. I explain that it’s actually only 2/3 of the budget that I’m supposed to be spending and he gets a little more on board with my excitement. I guess that not sharing the hours and hours of research on this that I’ve done online does have its drawbacks…

But I get his point too. Since I had to go to HEB that night anyway, picking up stuff for dinner I went through their floral shop looking for the specific flowers that I’ve come closer to deciding that I want in my wedding. Here’s the breakdown:

Online HEB
Roses (125 – 16”) $172.05 $10/doz=$110
Stargazer Lilies (40 stems) $172.05 $4/stem=$160

That’s not as bad as I was thinking the difference would be. I was actually expecting a LOT more – of course I haven’t factored in shipping either. The only other “fresh” flower that I’m buying online will be the rose petals that I want to line the aisle with. I’m still working out exactly how many of those that I need…but they should be less than $300 at the MOST.

But the thing that I just realized? I don’t NEED 40 stems of lilies….I only need 10 stems to give me the buds that I need for my centerpieces, which would also leave me with extras. But 40 stems is the least amount that I can buy through the place that I liked best online.

I guess the search goes on…surely someone out there can sell me only 10 stems of lilies?!?!? In the meantime, I think that I’ll stop and talk with the florist next time I’m at HEB. I mean, who knows, maybe they can get me stargazer lilies in October…as Mama CC always told me growing up – you never know until you ask!

Work Out Wagon Results – Week #6

Here we are at the beginning of Week #7, and that means that it's time to report how I did for Week #6...I am really struggling to get over my standstill on my measurements lately...

Last Week’s Stats: Weight – 148
Tummy – 32.5/37 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs – 23.5

Last Week’s Goals: (I’ve once again put my actual results in BOLD) Concentrate on my running – run three times each week completing week #5 on Couch Potato to 5K training plan Ran on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday – YEA me for getting one extra workout in!
One additional ab workout during the week None – BOO to me
Continue to make good food choices I think that I did ok…splurged a lot compared to the last few weeks – with two cokes during the week (not just on weekend)

Current Stats:
Weight - 146
Tummy – 32/37 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs - 23.25

Here are my goals for this week:
Continue to Couch Potato to 5K running plan – moving on to the next week’s workout – run three times during the week
One additional ab workout during the week
NO sodas during the week!

So, even though I fell behind (AGAIN!) on the ab workout…I made some progress this week. I was really worried about stepping on my scale this week and running the tape measure around myself…I felt like I ate really poorly this past week. But the numbers don’t lie, and I guess that just goes to show that the workouts (running) are burning off the extra calories that I’m taking in.

This was the first week in SIX WEEKS that I haven’t kept a food journal. It’s not really a journal, just a post-it note on my desk each day, detailing what I eat during the day while I’m at work. (I noticed that I tended to snack the most at my desk while at work, not as much while at home.) So I just detailed what I would eat during working hours and total those calories. Knowing what I needed to consume for the whole day, I would leave work knowing that I had just dinner to worry about if I stayed within a certain range during the day.

It was a way for me to hold myself accountable and keep myself on track. It also helped me keep on track with eating smaller portions more often during the day. Everywhere you look on fitness and weight loss websites, all of the trainers preach and preach about eating less more often during the day, and that trick being a key to speeding up your metabolism. I find this really hard to do during the weekends while I’m at home, but during the work week it’s easy to eat every other hour, or every hour, whatever works best for you. So, not keeping that “food journal” this past week was a struggle for me. I wanted to write down my intake…and total up the calories.

But part of changing my lifestyle, not dieting, is forming better habits. After watching my snacks so closely for 5 weeks, it was easy to take a step back and still retain what I had learned in the past weeks. I’m proud that I still made progress.

This past week was also the first week that I haven’t used meal replacements. I ate full meals, and small snacks all week long. I cheated and had two cokes during the week, instead of just on the weekend. I also went to a party and had sweets. But at no point did I feel too badly about any of it, because I know that I’m running my little tootsies off every other few nights, paying for those sweets. I might still choose to have a meal replacement for breakfast for ease of scrounging up breakfast, but I see now that I can do it without meal replacements too.

I’m SO proud – when going back and checking my official starting point, that makes a grand total of 8 POUNDS DOWN!!! Can I give myself a WOOT?!? Yeah? I can? WOOT!! And if you’ll remember way back when back in February when Mr. CC and I officially started this working out journey, I was actually an additional 4 pounds heavier than my latest “starting point” so that actually brings the total to 12 pounds…YEA ME!

I was really worried about being stuck on a “hump” with my measurements not changing in SO long…how did you handle getting over that in your own workout? I’m ALWAYS looking for new inspiration!

A Non-Traditional Guest Book…

So if you haven’t picked up on it yet, I’m not really a traditional sort of girl. Don’t get me wrong, I like to be girly-girly and I like to follow tradition just like anyone else. But more often than not, I also like to march to my own beat. I have always been very self-confident and knew what I wanted, what I liked and didn’t like, and it never really mattered to me whether you thought I was cool or not. I thought I was cool, and I knew that was most important.

With that in mind, why would a traditional guest book work for my wedding? You’re right, it won’t. I want something a little more than just a book that everyone signs to say that they’re here to share this special day with us. They’re nice and all, and please don’t hear that I’m knocking traditional guest books, because I’m not. It’s just not what I want for my guest book.

I’ve known this for a few months, and started keeping my eyes open for some inspiration on what I could do differently for this aspect of our wedding. I wanted something out of the ordinary, something that truly reflected us and who we were, and definitely something more than a book that I’d probably never look at again.

I’ve seen several things that I like. I LOVE the big poster board type of thing that everyone can sign. Using an engagement picture and making it big enough to frame in your “new” house. Cute.

I’ve also seen the ever-popular photo booths and one bride who required all guests to be snapped in the photo booth and given a card to sign. She then arranged all the strips of photo booth pictures with the notes that were handwritten into a type of coffee table book. She gets points for originality in my book...and with my love of scrapbooking, this was an early front runner for me. Which also led me to consider the idea of actual scrapbook pages set out for guests to sign that I could incorporate into a photo book of our wedding. Also a good idea, and now that I’m getting more familiar with Photoshop, this could work for me.

But that didn’t really stand out for me. Until I came across the idea of signing fabric. (I SO wish that I could remember where I got this idea! But I can’t credit the originator since I can’t remember…but this is NOT my original idea.) With another of my hobbies being sewing…this one sparked my curiosity. What if I laid out pieces of fabric for my guests to sign and then later worked those “scraps” of “paper” into a quilt. I’ve made several blankets and quilts and am now working on a bedspread for my room…

Hmmm…the idea takes hold…and continues to grow.

I’ve been looking into the thought a little more, and so far, most fabric professionals (read ladies who work at JoAnn’s) have told me that muslin would work the best for signing. And my little sister assures me that a sharpie pen would work for ink that won’t run. And I’ve found the pattern that I would want to use…what is more fitting than the wedding ring pattern? Here’s a picture so that you can visualize along with me…

source

Picture this quilt pattern made with scraps of black and cream fabrics forming the rings…and in the middle of each ring is the swatch of cloth that our wedding guests signed. They can just sign their names, they can write words of advice, and they can even draw me a picture (keep it clean, folks!). These scraps can be worked into a quilt later at my convenience, which I like since this is one wedding project that won’t be totally finished BEFORE the wedding.

Here's a close-up of each circle - you can clearly see the area in the middle where guests could "sign in"

source

I LOVE this idea! (I think that I’ve written that A LOT these past few posts!)

I think that I’ll go ahead and find all the patterned material and try to make up one ring that can be displayed at the wedding to give everyone an idea of what I’m trying to accomplish. Building a quilt that each guest signed a piece of just resonates deep inside me as something that is meant for me and just “right” for our wedding somehow. This would be an ongoing symbol of the love that others feel for us; that they cared enough to come to our wedding day and share in our joy. I love it, love it, love it.

I even came up with a little poem that I could display on the table where you would “sign in” the other night as I was trying (unsuccessfully) to drift off to sleep. Stinks for me that I was then successful in falling asleep and I’ve since forgotten the poem. It was perfect…Maid Britney assures me that I’ll remember it again. Let’s cross our fingers!

I’ve borrowed my mom’s pinking shears to cut the washed muslin into the “scraps” for our guests to sign…they’re special because they come from my step-dad’s mother. What a nice touch to be able to use a family heirloom in making one of my wedding projects – my own personal hot glue gun that I’ve had for years doesn’t really qualify!

Do you think that doing something this untraditional just puts “our mark” on our wedding that much more? Is this a great way to incorporate something that I love to do into our wedding?

A Perfect Tie In...

I think that I’ve come up with a way to bring all of my reception colors into the ceremony. Tell me what you think about this…

Just in case you need a refresher, here’s a picture of my bouquet:


I’ve actually ordered another bouquet to help make it more the size that I’m looking for in my bridal bouquet and will “fluff” the bouquet with some of these lovelies…

…and then add in fresh cream roses to complete the bouquet and add some real scent to it.

That totally goes along with my color scheme…from the cream tissue paper pomanders, to the lavender poms hanging from the shepherd’s hook, while also including the mixture of eggplant, lavender and cream rose petals lining the aisle. And now you know that it also brings in the eggplant on my shoes (which won’t be visible during the ceremony but I will know that they’re there!).

Having picked such a fun and funky shoes really opened the door to the creativity block that I was suffering from in regards to my Maids’ bouquets. But those shoes solved everything…actually those little hot pink dots solved it all.

I think that I will have my Maids carry a bouquet in the colors of hot pink, light pink and cream flowers. That will tie in perfectly with the rest of my planning, don’t you think?!?! It’s perfect!

Here’s what I’ve found so far…

A hot pink and cream hydrangea…

Light pink roses…

Eva cream and pink berries (to add a different texture to the bouquet-which mimics my own green berries!)…

And then supplement the bouquet with fresh cream roses (like will be in my own bouquet) and possibly a stargazer lily or two thrown in for that splash of big color…

What do you think? Do you agree with me that it’s perfect for what I’m trying to accomplish? I think that if all bouquets are wrapped in black satin ribbon, held with either rhinestone or pearl pins, it will tie everything together SO nicely.

That would leave me being original with the purple hues all being in my bouquet, and the pinks all being in their bouquets.

I need to see them together to make my final decision – I’m SURE that we’ve discussed in detail before how difficult it is for me to picture things in my head sometimes. I've ordered samples of all of the pink hued flowers shown above so that I can see the quality before I settle on this idea. There’s a lot of green to my bouquet, but I’m hoping that adding the cream and lavender roses to my bouquet will tone that down quite a bit. Do you agree?

Can you picture this better than I can? I think that it’s a perfect compliment to our shoes…and I LOVE how the eggplant and hot pink work together on those shoes!

One More Decision Down...

Mr. CC and I made a big decision the other day regarding our ceremony site. It’s something that I’ve been pondering about in the back of my mind for a few months now, but hadn’t really talked with Mr. CC about it at all. Imagine my surprise when he hears the options, that he just makes my decision SO easy! (That’s just one reason why I love him.)

Here’s the dilemma. I can’t exactly remember everything that the manager of Texas Old Town mentioned regarding our venue selection on the day that he met with us. I know, it’s shocking. But seriously. We looked at all three halls that TOT has to rent and they’re all a little bit different, all with different ceremony sits. So when I wonder about something, I usually check the TOT website and consult with their FAQ page, which is a GREAT idea for any venue to have!
Unfortunately, what I was wondering about didn’t get answered there. While on the site, I was perusing through some pictures and came across something that really made me wonder about my original question.

You see, I know that the reception site is all wood. Wood walls, wood floors, wood ceiling, wood trestles…and more importantly wooden chairs. What I can’t remember clearly is the ceremony site. Yes, I know that the arbor there is wooden. But are the chairs?
The picture that I clearly recall shows metal folding chairs. Plain, ugly, metal folding chairs. Probably NOT that big of a deal, but in the long run…not something that I really want to see when I look back at wedding pictures from our ceremony. I would much prefer wooden chairs. They look much prettier. I can’t remember if Danny (the manager) told me that the wooden ones were or weren’t available, or if they’re only available for certain halls…I just can’t remember. So when MOH and I were looking over their website to see something else, I came across a picture that shows what I think is my ceremony site with wooden chairs. Not pretty white or black ones, but a nice, natural wood. WAY better than metal folding chairs!
Since I can find nothing in my notes (probably because I didn’t write anything down that day!) and nothing on the website to answer my question of what type of chair our ceremony site come with, I quickly shoot off an email to Danny asking him about it. I needed to check with him on a few details anyway, so this was the perfect opportunity to do it all at the same time. His reply the next day confirmed my worst fear…the ceremony sites all come with metal chairs.

So…now I’m in a dilemma. My first thought is chair covers. Something like this perhaps?
But they’re somewhat pricey. You can find them from around $2 a piece, but that doesn't include the pretty sash. The sash can be an additional $2-4 each... depending on material and style and such. I wouldn't HAVE to have the sash, but most of them are kinda plain and need a sash...this is getting expensive.

My other option turns out to be more affordable. Renting chairs. It seems silly to rent chairs when the venue provides some free of charge, but hey – they’re ugly. And I don’t want ugly wedding pictures. Because by this point, I’m positive that the ugly metal chairs will be the focus of the wedding…irrational, I know. Bear with me.
I find chairs to rent in a nice folding white or black from anywhere between $2-$4 a piece. Which is a little cheaper than the cover route. I decide that this is something that I HAVE to have, and I figure out the best way to approach Mr. CC about it. I try to figure out a way to “pitch” the sale to him in a way that he’ll say yes. (The one pictured above is actually $3.50 at the most expensive place in Austin that offers rentals.)

It’s obvious that I read WAY too many wedding blogs, because Mr. CC is nothing like some grooms out there. He wants a nice wedding too, and more than that, he wants me to have the wedding that I want. I drop all pretense of a “pitch” and just tell him that I found out that the ceremony chairs will be metal folding chairs. I figure that straight up is the best policy here. Lucky for me, I’ve got a classy groom, and the look of horror that crossed his face when he pictured the metal chairs was priceless!

“But won’t that look a little…” Mr. CC commented, struggling to find the right words.

“Yes. It will.”

Then I tell him that I would like to rent them and how much it would be in total and he calmly tells me to go ahead and find them to rent. Yea me! See, brides, this is a lesson for you all out there – be forthcoming and upfront about the problems that you foresee with your upcoming wedding, and the groom deals A LOT better with the information.

Or maybe that’s just MY groom…I do tell myself how lucky I am over and over!

So there you have it. Now, take a look at this picture. You can’t tell me that these wooden chairs don’t look a LOT better than the previous ceremony site picture that I posted! Be honest…

A Home Run Idea?!?!

After all of the re-caps from last week’s shopping trip, I feel like I’ve just been a brainstorming machine over here lately! That’s not actually true, some things have been “stewing” on my “cooktop” but have needed to think about them a little more.

So now, after making some decisions regarding the bridal party attire – WooHoo to us! – I can move forward with some other things that I’ve been thinking of. One of the main topics of focus for me right now is those darn centerpieces. And now that I have these fabulous shoes decking out the entire girl-side of the wedding party, I have my hot pink thrown back into my color mix. Which makes bringing those Stargazer Lilies that Mr. CC loves so much back into the mix a LOT easier.

I know that I posted here about an idea to use a plant seated into the vase with little flowers inserted into the plant. This would bring the cost down on my floral budget, while also allowing me to DIY a lot of the project. But finding what I had pictured in my mind turned out to be harder than I thought. I think that was partly because I wasn’t totally sold on the idea.

Back to square one. Where should you start looking when you’re fresh out of ideas? Well, an obvious choice would be the internet. But I took the road less traveled and pulled out my bridal book. What’s that? Oh, my BRIDAL book, that large three-ring binder that I’ve been lugging around with me, storing snippets of information in each time I see something that I like. Yeah, that book. You mean to tell me that it can be used for things other than just storage? No way.

Apparently so. I took a break from a massive job-role mapping project that I was working on at work the other day, and pulled out my trusty bridal book and started perusing the pictures again. A lot of the pictures that I tore out will not work for my venue, but I kept them to use as inspiration. Because if I decided to go the route of using an actual florist, then I would need some inspiration pictures to provide to him/her so that he/she could get the overall “feel” that I was going for. I thought that it might do me some good to flip back through the pictures looking for fresh ideas and inspiration.

And since I’m posting about it, you’ve got to know that I found something. Actually, I found three somethings. I found three separate pictures that I’m going to try to combine into one finished centerpiece idea. I was going to pull in the pictures here, but as they were all three out of magazines that I collected god only knows when...you get that it was impossible to find them. Although I did look for them online, but no luck.

And here is my centerpiece (donated by the lovely Maid Britney!):
What I am envisioning happening here is this: the centerpiece is filled with water and maybe some green rocks/filler stuff on the bottom to pull in some color (maybe a light lime green, Mama CC?) with one single Stargazer lily floating on top. The candles are all lit and reflecting off the water beautifully. Around the bottom of the centerpiece, I’ve arranged a bed of moss and lovingly inserted a mixture of fresh and artificial flowers into the moss in shades of cream, lavender and light pink…all nestled on top of those GLORIOUS eggplant tablecloths.

To put it simply…I LOVE IT!

It’s perfect. Simple. Elegant. Goes with the theme and overall feel of our wedding. And would be simple enough for me to do on my own, which is important to this cost-conscious bride! And of course, I have the help of my talented Maids and Mama CC and FMIL CC that would also love to help out. Hint, hint ladies!

It incorporates all of my colors, and MOST importantly the ONE SINGLE thing that Mr. CC has requested of me – the Stargazer lily. I was worried about how the hot pink would look against the eggplant, but since it’s off of the table and floating in the vase, I think that it’s perfect. And seriously, after seeing the great shoes that we’re all sporting, how could I still be worried about the combination of eggplant and hot pink?!?!

Can you picture it all too? It’s a little hard, I know. But try.

It was hard for me to picture too, so i did a mock-up at home with some lilies that I bought at HEB. I mean, I didn't even know if lilies actually float!

From here, you can see the bottom of the vases needs something
Here's a close-up on the flower...although the lily doesn't float, the petals hold it up...even when water gets in the center of the flower.

This is a view that you would walk up to it on a table and see...looking down...it's stunning!

What do you think?

It might be a little bit of work to make the ring around the bottom that I'm envisioning, but well worth it, I think. And can anyone tell me where I can buy moss? I would love to have real moss, along with real roses and of course real lilies. The rest of the flowers would be artificial, to get the colors that I want during the time period that I want them.

I found some artificial moss at http://www.save-on-crafts.com/ but I can’t help thinking that real moss would be THAT much prettier…any ideas on where I can get that? And on a budget?

Work Out Wagon Results - Week #5

Are you ready for last week’s recap? Me too! Let’s get right to it…

Last Week’s Stats: Weight – 149
Tummy – 32.75/37.25 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs – 23.5
Last Week’s Goals: (I’ve once again put my actual results in BOLD) One P90X workout – chest/back or arms/shoulders along with ab workout NONE! I’m a stinker!
One additional ab workout during the week Did one Ab workout
Run three times – moving to the next week on the Couch Potato to 5K program Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday – WOOHOO an extra one!
Continue my good food choices I did ok. No cokes except on the weekend, and I actually started eating “normally” again now that I’m running more each week. The theory being that if I’m burning more calories, then I don’t have to be as “strict” with my diet.

Current Stats:
Weight – 148
Tummy – 32.5/37 (true waist / “tummy”)
Thighs – 23.5

Here are my goals for this week:
Concentrate on my running – run three times each week completing week #5 on Couch Potato to 5K training plan
One additional ab workout during the week
Continue to make good food choices.

So…here’s where I stand. I’m a total of 6 pounds down after 6 weeks. In that six week period, I’ve made several changes. One of the largest changes has been in the amount of exercise that I’m doing. But I’ve also been watching those calories like a hawk, in addition to the exercise.

Now that I’m six weeks into working out again, and I’m over the initial soreness that goes along with starting any new workout program, I’m to that point where I look forward to doing the exercise. I know, there are some out there that might find that fact hard to believe. But believe it or not, I feel better when I run. I don’t know if it’s just a little boost of confidence that I’m doing something that I know is good for me, or of achieving a goal that I’ve set for myself. Either way, I just feel better.

And this past week was a real test for me. I was coming off a hard weekend of eating whatever I wanted and no exercise, and feeling a little pressure since the scale went the wrong direction when I stepped on it last Monday. But knowing that I was increasing my running program again, I was curious to see how I would do if I didn’t follow the strict eating plan that I’ve been on the first few weeks. So I actually ate lunch out, and ate normal foods. I even had a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake one day. Another day, I had a piece of cake when those "mean ladies" at my office brought in another delectable treat. But you know what? I passed the test. I still lost weight. It was only one pound, but that’s nice and healthy. If I keep that up, I’ll have the rest of the weight that I plan to lose before the wedding gone within the next month or so…

Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m back to eating whatever I want by any means. But it does mean that I can treat myself a little more often, and not feel as guilty about “cheating” when it does happen. I’m going to continue the eating pattern that I’ve worked hard to establish the past six weeks – eating smaller, consistent portions throughout the work day. It’s easy when I’m stuck at a desk all day long to eat every hour or hour and a half. It’s harder on the weekends.

So that’s where I am right now. I’m trying to still eat sensible and make good choices, but I’m going to try not keeping my food diary this week. (It’s actually just a post-it note with all that I ate during the day and the calories associated tallied up, but I can call it a food diary if I want!) This may not work for me, it might not be enough accountability. We’ll see. I can always go back to keeping that log if I need to.

Keep the encouragement coming ladies! It’s a BIG help to me…

Shoes Fit for a Queen!

The last big accomplishment that my Maids and I pulled off on our weekend of shopping came about last. I had on my to-do list for the weekend that I wanted to find some wedding shoes. But it was totally a minor item on the list – first and foremost were the dresses.

Since we took care of the dresses so “quickly” (I know that the Maids probably don’t think that it happened all that quickly!) we had plenty of time to scour the mall for shoes. Except that isn’t really how we stumbled upon our shoes. Here’s what happened…

Like I mentioned before, Maid Britney was happy with her dress, but not sure that she fit in enough with the other girls. So, even though we went ahead and bought her dress along with the others at Penney’s, we continued down through the mall looking for a better dress. I mean, what girl hasn’t bought something and found EXACLTY what she had originally been searching for earlier immediately after buying the one that she settled on? Good thing that returns are so easy!

So we trotted over to Nordstrom’s. Struck out. Their LBD selection was very disappointing, and their shoe sale didn’t have anything that caught my eye. On over to Dillard’s we went. On our way to the escalator to get to the dress section, we saw the shoe event. They were also having a big shoe sale. Like any other normal woman, we headed on over just to check it out.

As we each split up and look through our sizes, Maid Britney comes across a few shoes that she likes. I didn’t really see anything in my size that catches my eye, and I go to take advantage of the chairs located right there (I guess maybe the dresses didn’t happen quite a quickly as I had thought!). Britney tries on a shoe that is a dark brown, but has some accent spots in turquoise peeking through. As Maid Momma is telling Britney how much she likes them, one of them sees another pair of shoes in the same style and picks it up to look closer.

You’re not going to believe this next part.

This shoe is the same style…except that the colors are eggplant with hot pink dots.

I’m not lying.

OMG! They are PERFECT for my wedding shoes. Maid Momma makes a comment about this could be the shoe that we all wear to match since our dresses don’t match, and I pop off a comment back to her. Something to the effect that those shoes are on clearance and what are the odds that we’ll find four pairs, let alone four pairs in the sizes that we need.

How do you like them? Aren't they funky?

What do you think that we found?

Yep, you guessed right. Four pairs. In our sizes.

The best part? The shoes are on the CLEARANCE rack for a whopping $26.70 a pair. That’s under $30 even including the tax!

Seriously. It’s like a sign from God that it was meant to be. And Maid Momma sure did enjoy making me eat my words!

Here's a close-up on the dots - sorry for the blurry picture!

I’m a little stubborn though, and I insist that I need to see the shoes on with the black dresses, because although I’m certain that these are MY wedding shoes (they meet all of my criteria – heel, pop of color, fun and funky), I’m not certain how they’ll look with the LBDs that the Maids have bought. We all go ahead and purchase our pair of shoes, and continue on to the dress section to make sure that we’ve got the best dress for Maid Britney.

We find only one contender for a better dress for Britney and we all file into the fitting room to wait while she tries it on. Lucky for us, this dressing room was empty (or so we thought!) with a large area for waiting. Britney tries on the dress, and although it’s nice on her and looks great, it’s just not the same to me as the other dress that she had. I ask her to pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top try on the dress that she’s already bought from Penney’s one last time. Just so that I can be sure about it and honestly tell her that I KNOW that she’s got the BEST dress for her that she can possibly have.

You see, I know that she’s already bought the right dress. But she still doesn’t feel it yet. See how crafty I am?

When she comes out, the difference is amazing. She is SMOKING hot, and finally it looks like she knows it. I bug her into slipping the shoes on with the dress and the effect is breath-taking. At least to me. Maybe not to anyone else, but it’s perfect. The whole outfit is perfect. As she turns around to go back and change into her regular clothes, we make some cat calls and convince her to “strut her stuff” a little bit. Here’s a picture so that you have the visual…

You can't even tell from back this far that the shoes are eggplant with hot pink dots...

Right then, while her back is turned to the other dressing rooms and she’s hamming it up for us, a little, older Oriental lady comes out of one of the back dressing rooms and gets an eyeful of Britney doing her “thing.” We all die laughing, and I honestly nearing peed my pants at the surprise that Britney got when she turned around that direction doing her walk. The lady left the dressing room, without making a single comment, and we all exploded in laughter again. It was a great ending to a great day. I was actually still chuckling about it right before I feel asleep that night. It was THAT funny!

So there you have it. We made a few more stops along the way home trying to see if we ran across jewelry or hair accessories for me, but didn’t have any luck. Even though we didn’t find anything for me, I did manage to pick up two hair options for little CC for her to choose from. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more for me to pick from, but all in all, I can’t complain about the outcome of the weekend.

We got dresses and shoes. For all the Maids and the bride. We came to a consensus on what to do with my hair (I’ll post those pics soon!), and we had a BLAST. More than anything, the day spent with my Maids solidified in my mind that I couldn’t have asked for better bridesmaids. They are a great group of gals…and I’m the girl lucky enough to call them friend. And having Mama CC there along with us meant so much to me as well! I was glad to have her meet my Maids and like them and share in this special time with me – it meant more thani can say. Just looking around at the support group of great women who love me and will be there for me no matter what just touched my heart.

Hopefully the fun times that we have together this past weekend will continue on during these last few months of wedding planning and the actual wedding day. I know that I feel blessed to have them there with me each step of the way!

Thanks, girls!

Maids Dresses...Part II

We’ve had a good morning. We’ve eaten some yummy lunch…and we’re laughing at my “chicken dance.” A day with the girls couldn’t be going better!

As we hit the mall in Frisco, we decide to concentrate on the major department stores, thinking that they’ll have a better selection. The only other store that I can think of to try is White House/Black Market, but knowing how expensive that chain is, I’m hesitant to go there. But we’ll see what we can find.

We start at Macy’s, as that’s where MOH and I had glanced through the racks a few weekends before and found several LBD contenders. The Maids were good sports and tried on a slew of LBDs…but nothing jumped out and grabbed us. On to the next store. The mall had a Nordstrom’s, Dillard’s and JC Penney also in the mall, so we had lots of options.

MOH had just been shopping in Penney’s the day before and encouraged us to look there next. Imagine our surprise when their dress selection is even better than the selection that we found at Macy’s. To our utter delight, they were also running a LBD sale – all little black dresses were marked and additional 50% off of the price marked on the dress! SCORE!

Pretty quickly, MOH finds a dress that she LOVES. (I had thought that it might work this way, find one dress that one of them loves in one store and have to keep looking through other stores to find the other ones…)

Right behind her, Maid Momma slips on a black number that flatters her VERY well, and she’s ecstatic about her find.

Maid Britney? She wasn’t feeling it so much. Poor Maid Britney. She was trying to be SO pleasing. I think that she really wanted me to tell her which dress that I wanted her to wear. And here I am, trying to be so open and honest and tell them to pick a dress that THEY love. What conflicting emotions us women suffer through!

MOH admits that she’s buying her LBD whether it’s what I select for them to wear or not. The price is too good to pass up, and she’ll find somewhere to wear it. And I have to be honest, I loved the dress that she was salivating over…she looked dead sexy!

We convince Britney to try on a different black dress, that’s out of her “style” of preference. Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking. I told them to find a dress that they liked and would wear again, but at this point, I’ve got two of them in agreement and one that just wants to make me happy. So we convince her to try on a different style dress, and the effect is amazing. Now I’ve got three HOT bridesmaids that just might steal the show!

Maid Britney was a little unsure about her dress still, but being the good sport that she is, she went ahead and bought it. She was a little concerned because the material that her dress is made out of isn’t as “flowy” as the material that the other maids dresses are made out of. But really, I think that she was just relieved to have me tell her that this dress was the one that I wanted her to wear! J

But we’ll let you guys be the judge, because I think that the picture speaks for itself…

Left to right: Maid "Britney", Maid Momma and MOH

Aren't the beautiful?!? And sexy all at the same time?!?!

I LOVE the look that they’re pulling off here. The dresses are different, and the same all at the same time. And in the picture you can’t even tell that the material is different, Britney!

Here’s what I like. They’re all different. Each dress really compliments each Maids’ body type and even their attitudes to some extent (which I know you can’t know through a picture, but trust me they do!). I like that each dress has something in common with another dress. Yet they’re still all different. MOH’s and Britney’s dress have a similar style to the top, while Maid Momma stands out with hers being different. Britney and Maid Momma’s dress both have horizontal layers going all down the dress, while MOH just has a layer at the very bottom. Maid Momma and MOH’s dress both have some sparkly accents or beading while Britney’s dress is simple and unadorned. And of course, the obvious, they’re ALL black. I just LOVE them!

I couldn’t have picked them better myself. And with matching jewelry and shoes to possibly tie them all back around and make them more similar, they’re just perfect! Even better, MOH bought them all with her Penney’s card and got an extra $15 off the total purchase price. My Maids paid a whopping $45 each after taxes and all. Isn’t that amazing for a bridesmaids dress? I couldn’t believe the deal that we got. I thought we could find something cheaper at the mall, but wasn’t really sure, so I was thrilled to accomplish my goal.

Looks like my vision is coming together. I want the girls to all wear their hair differently (tying back to the different dresses again) but with the same shoes (which we found later that night – more on that later) and jewelry (I’m on the hunt for that now!) they are all semi-similar.

Did what you have envisioned in your head for your bridesmaids dresses work out? Or did you end up going with something that you didn’t think that you wanted?

Yeah, I didn’t forget about you Maid Britney…your story will come about in the shoe post…stay tuned!