wedding updates

Oh Gosh.  Looks like I just found a new way to waste time.  As if blogs/facebook/perezhilton weren't enough, I have now discovered Pinterest and it is heaven.

In wedding related news, we are sending out our invitations this week!  More on this later. 

Also, we are having engagement photos done in a couple of weeks so last night we went dress shopping.  Originally I wanted to wear a cute casual sun dress (because it is still 100 degrees in Las Vegas....God help us...) but I ran into trouble finding something appropriate.  I bought an adorable flower printed strapless dress that I later found out would not be the greatest idea from a photography standpoint.  Who knew you should stay away from prints for photos?  Not this girl.  So last night I stumbled upon this dress and was worried it was too formal for our engagement photos (as we are taking pictures outside in a park) but J loved it and talked me into purchasing it. 

So AFTER purchasing the dress J says "oh wait, I thought that was for the rehearsal dinner.  It's kind of formal"  Um.  Apparently we had a misunderstanding.  For the hour that I was pondering if it was too formal for the engagement photos and he kept assuring me it was fine, he must have not truly been listening.  Imagine that!  Oh men....

I'm still deciding what to do about this.  The dress is adorable, but maybe not 100% what I was going for. 

Evolution of the Centerpieces

Along this whole wedding planning process I've been blazing my own trail and completing tasks at my own pace. I find that I am getting a lot of things done way ahead of schedule and other things (that are seemingly less interesting and/or more stressful) are being put off and forgotten about. One thing that I'm really excited about it making my own centerpieces. So while I still have not booked a florist, scheduled our cake tasting or found a seamstress to fit my dress (holy crap these things NEED TO BE DONE), I have been busy playing around with centerpiece ideas.

Our wedding is in January and I wanted it to feel like a winter wedding. In looking around online I found several pictures of centerpieces using bare branches instead of flowers, which I loved. Here are a few pictures that have inspired me:

I also had bought a crap ton of white birch candles that I wanted to somehow work into the mix.  Our linens are black and formal-looking, so I am still figuring out how to mix in the branches and wood while making everything appear formal and not "too rustic" or out of place. 

So here is just a sample of the crap I've been buying (and returning and buying again....this wedding is making me crazy)

And this is where the centrepieces started:

So I wasn't thrilled about them, and then I found white birch-ish looking branches at Michaels yesterday (on sale!)  So I returned the darker branches and now our centerpieces are looking more like this:

They still aren't done, but what I think I am going to do is find crystals (either clear or aqua) to hang on the branches.  I am also going to use these babies somehow (because I bought 904809843 of them and just think they are so darn adorable)

Part of me hates all of the planning that is going into this wedding and part of me thinks I'll miss it when it's all over. 

the girl who fell off the face of the earth...

Wow.  Just when I thought my blogging career was over, I decided today may be the day to jump back on the bandwagon.  I enjoy reading blogs so much, and feel like I need a creative outlet.  I am still unconvinced that blogging is for me, however I'm not willing to give it up quite yet.
So what has happened in the past couple of months? 

* I flew to South Carolina and spent a few days in Myrtle Beach with my family (and got stung by a string ray!!)

View from the pool at our hotel:

My stung-rayed cankle!

Cool kids wearing beach hats (how darling are my niece and nephew?!)

* My future SIL and her friend visited me and we gallivanted all over Vegas like crazy tourists

(note the clear stripper heels.  Mine literally had poker chips and dice in them.  So vegas chic.)

* I finally received my degree!  I waited (impatiently) since completing my program in March and it finally arrived.  I feel so legit now.  And smarter (note the glasses....that I only wear when trying to appear intellectual)

The biggest thing certainly, is that J came home!!  This was truly the beginning of me falling off the face of the earth.  I literally have been spending every waking non-working moment with him and it has been so great.  We have hit the ground running with the wedding planning since he's been back and are in the process of getting our invitations sent out and planning the rehearsal dinner (I will post about these things at a later date...)

Also, I have started a second job where I am actually using my Masters degree and getting compensated for it (what a novel idea!)  I am now part time faculty at a local college and teaching a course in the nursing program.  This is really exciting and scary for me and I find that I really want to be great at this which is adding a little stress to my already stressful life.  It's certainly challenging.  On the one hand I feel really proud of myself to have accomplished this goal by the ripe old age of 26, yet sometimes I feel unprepared and in over my head.  It is actually my second semester teaching but I still feel so new at this.  Hoping I can improve upon my teaching skills and gain more experience this semester. 

So here's to a new (and more successful) blog beginning.  Let's hope I stay inspired :)