Shopping for smaller sizes

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but last week, not much changed-- including my weight. That's right, I stayed the same. Fortunately, this week, it looks like I'm headed towards a 3-4 pound loss.



My pants and undies are getting ridiculously big so I decided to go shopping. I bought a pair of jeans... in a size smaller, WHICH may I say is the smallest I can ever remember buying. I'm so happy about it! I also bought a bunch of pairs of undies from Victoria Secret so I can finally get rid of the ones that are about 4 sizes too big! LOVE IT! Now, I'm on a mission to buy an outfit for my engagement photo shoot this Saturday in New Hope, PA. I'm in search of something that really "pops." I'll keep you posted :)

Sweet wedding deals

Lynn and I had a busy day of wedding shopping today. We started our day at AC Moore where I purchased six cube vases for centerpieces for more than 1/2 off. Then, we went to the Collingwood Flea Market where I got a one-of-a-kind red basket for FREE after Lynn told the woman it was for my budget-conscious wedding. Awesome! On our way home, we stopped at a few estate sales where I picked up red glass bowls/vases for the candy buffet for only a fraction of the price. All in all, a great day of bargain shopping!

Lesson of the day: Tell individual sellers (not stores) that it is your wedding. People are very generous and love to help you out and give you lots of well wishes. 

 

My FREE flower girl basket! What a find! I can't wait to deck it out with black satin ribbon and rhinestones. Like the bow I tied on there? It's to give me the idea... 

These are the many candy bowls I got for the candy buffet. They are going to hold things like gum, caramels, chocolates, and even cookies!

Finally, we now have 6 cube vases for the centerpieces (the other 5 are provided by the florist). These cubes will have cranberries with candles like the example below.

No more procrastinating!

Well, I decided to check out my wedding to-do list on theknot.com knowing full well that I am behind on a few things. Fortunately, I am aware of everything I am behind on: I haven't technically booked the photographer yet because I still haven't mailed him his contract and deposit because I had to figure out some details first (times and places); I don't want to cross-off booking the DJ until I receive written confirmation that we have officially booked him for our event; and I haven't reserved a block of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests because I think we won't have enough out-of-town guests to even bother (instead, I'm going to choose hotels in three different price-points to suggest to the few out-of-town guests). Luckily, I was able to cross-off some things, such as book ceremony musician, reserve rehearsal dinner space, finalize rehearsal dinner menu, etc. 

Aside from doing those few things I am behind on, I have started working on some new projects. I've talked with my mom about my card box. She is set on making me a beautiful card box large enough so that we can see if anyone dares to walk off with my gifts like they did at my parents' wedding. Jerks. Here are her two inspiration boxes:

Aside, from card boxes, I have started thinking about our parents' gifts. I'm sorry to say that I can't share any ideas on here for fear that our parents may see, but let's just say that I know for sure what I'm getting my dad :) I've also been working on my invitation wording. I didn't think it would be this difficult. There are traditional ways for everything! If your wedding is taking place in a house of worship, you are supposed to use the phrase "request the honour of your presence." Then, the wording also depends on who is hosting the reception. We, as a couple, are hosting the wedding so our parents' names will not appear on the invitation. Traditionally, all the dates and times are supposed to be spelled out, but I'm just trying to figure out how far I can deviate from traditional and still look classy. Here is a picture of our invites that Dan picked out:

Finally, in wedding news, I won a $25 gift certificate to this awesome bridal boutique in south jersey called A Beautiful Touch (http://www.abeautifultouch.com). I fell in love with their jewelry while at a bridal show. Then, I friended them on Facebook to sign up for their monthly gift card giveaway. Since I already bought my earrings, I'm not sure what I'll use the gift card towards yet, but I have tons of ideas. They have a wide variety of personalized clothes for the bride and her bridal party, awesome jewelry, lots of lingerie, etc. The trouble with buying clothes is that I'm not sure what size I will be by the wedding, and I have to use this gift certificate within a month. I'll be sure to keep you posted as to what I finally choose. 

I'll take your fat pants

I really want to start a website called "I'll take your fat pants!" LOL! I'm serious. The idea is to create a website, like freecycle, where people can post their clothes for donation. The idea comes from the fact that when I lose weight, I find myself donating tons of nice clothing that no longer fit. Sometimes, I am really attached to certain pieces of my wardrobe, and I'm sad to see it go. Dan complains when I just give away some pricey pieces, like a velvet blazer I wore each Christmas or a winter pea-coat. Then, as my body shrinks, I have to buy new clothes to fit it. The worst part is that I know I'm just going wear those clothes for a few months before those are too big too! I find myself wasting money on bras, jeans, work clothes, etc. while I lose weight. To avoid wasting money I wear clothes that are too big (and it looks like I have a load in my pants). LOL. POINT IS-- I want to start a website where people losing weight (dieters or maternity weight) can donate their "fat clothes." Someone's success is another person's success, meaning- someone celebrating moving from a size 16 to a 14 gives their pants to someone who is celebrating finally fitting into a 16. Make sense? I know I sure could use some jeans, work pants, a bathing suit, sweat pants, etc. I've had the same sweats from before I lost weight... that's right, I'm wearing pants that are meant for someone about 4 sizes larger. Imagine how flatter they look... 

While I'm on the topic of clothes being too big, I'm going to rant about underwear shopping. I don't know if anyone can relate to me or not, but I HATE buying underwear. It's such a guessing game! I've wasted so much money buying underwear that don't fit! I understand why you can't try them on before making a purchase, but it makes finding the right size such a guessing game. I have a dresser drawer FULL of panties that are either too big or too small. Apparently, I can't find the right size... My current panties used to fit me when I was about 20+ pounds heavier, but now they're just unwearable! Now, I'm dreading shopping for new ones because I can never get it right. BUT, since I always get the sizing wrong, I figure the pairs I bought months ago that were too small might actually fit now. We'll see. I won't be home for another month or so. But how many do I buy knowing that I will soon be too thin for those? It's a vicious cycle. 

Another Pound Bites the Dust

After a weekend with Dan in South Jersey with daily WW point totals of as much as 50, I stepped on the scale preparing for my ill fate. I don't know how, but I lost one pound this week. I have the feeling that the weekend of excessive calories will catch up to me eventually. In the mean time, I'm back on track already. The thing is, I never felt like I was really off track-- granted I should not have ate cake or mozzarella en carozza, but even when I indulged, I only indulged a little (but a little of everything...).

My mother updated me that she has officially dropped more than 35 pounds! She is celebrating the fact that she had to go jean shopping because her pants are too big. When shopping, she discovered that she has dropped about two jean sizes! I'm so proud of her. She keeps me going :) Way to go, Mom! Keep it up! The weight loss makes us both more excited for the wedding.

Speaking of the wedding, Lynn keeps asking me when I want to try my dress on again. I'm dreading it because I know that it still won't fit. I feel like I want to see a more drastic change before I put it on again. Is that wrong? I know I can be avoidant, and this is a perfect example. How about if I set Saturday, April 10 as the next time I will try on my dress?That's the 6 month mark. Maybe I'll even invite a few people over if they would like to see it. Hopefully,I will have my veil  by then to put on as well. Then, I can send a picture to my mom so she can see it, blah blah blah. Maybe that's what I will do. :sigh: 

This weekend, we finalized the menu for the rehearsal dinner at Buca- very exciting! On Sunday, Dan and I went to church and met with Pastor Lynne afterwards. We nailed down more details, and got a survey of relationship questions for each of us to answer privately. The survey will help the pastor detect any potential "red flags" in our marriage. I noticed a few, but if she makes a big deal of things, I'm not sure how I will handle it. I'm sure it won't be pretty. LOL!

Later that day, we visited Dan's father to talk about his participation in the wedding. Let's just say that his initial reaction was surprising, but after a few hours, we were all on the same page. It's not easy when divorced families cannot get along. I am just glad the children were older when the divorce took place. Everyone needs to grow up and set their differences aside, if only for the few occasions surrounding the wedding, and be civil for us and the uniting of two families. I stand by my promise that I will forgive NO ONE that makes a scene at the wedding over this drama. We don't want to hear any ill words about it, so everyone needs to keep it to themselves-- no looks, excessive sobbing, grumbling, or gossiping. No one will ruin our day. The day is stressful enough, poor Dan can't stand to be put in the middle that day too. That's his father (and his wife)-- he wants them there-- deal with it. LOL. I sound like my mother. It's a story for Jerry Springer, I swear.

Dress me up in your love...

On Sunday, I went with my 4 of the 6 of my bridesmaids (my two sisters went at the same time in TN) to go bridesmaid dress shopping. After 2.75 hours, we left David's Bridal with dresses on order! I'm not going to lie, it was not easy to fit such an array of sizes. There was no way each girl could wear the same dress and still look good. Fortunately, my youngest sister picked a simple black dress with a belt, and I loved it. I had other girls put it on. Then, the "bigger" girls put on the halter version and everything seemed to fall into place.  Suddenly, we hit a problem. My middle sister couldn't wear either dress due to her... bust. LOL. Sooo, my MOH agreed to wear the "pocket" dress that I loved on her and that my sister loved. They'll be the only ones without the ivory belts.   We even got lucky because all of the dresses were on sale for $99 (plus the $20 belts). The NJ girls' dresses should be in before I leave for NH in mid April. I'm excited!  Unfortunately, my mom wasn't as excited about my decision, and she kind of put a damper on things. She told me she thought I picked too many dresses and  cared too much about everyone's opinion. Regardless, I'm very happy with my decision-- it's exactly what I was going for. The day was drama-free, and we even had a great lunch full of laughs.   

NOTE: That is NOT my dress! I didn't get it at David's-- plus I don't want Dan to see it. The top is cut the same, but my dress is ivory with a slight pickup bottom and heavy beading on the top.

Today is Tuesday aka Weigh-in Day! I'm down another 3 pounds. I feel like my weight loss is slow, but I think I should be grateful that I'm losing.  If I keep losing 2 to 3 pounds a week, I can definitely meet my short term goal before the wedding. For my height and small frame, I'm supposed to get down to about 120 pounds. That leaves me with a lot to lose still. LOL! I wonder if I'll ever get there. I've been overweight my entire life. But now, I know that I have made minor lifestyle changes-- I've become more aware of my eating habits. I think I've made a permanent change, so maybe, just maybe, I'll get there one day... or at least get close. 

After last week, I lost a WW point from my daily point allowance, and I'm surprised by how much that point seemed to matter. All in all, I've done well with staying in my daily allowance and only using the extra points on social occasions. I can't say it enough, I truly don't feel like I'm depriving myself of anything. I was able to go to Friendly's and even get ice cream after my meal! I just make minor changes-- instead of peanut butter cup ice cream with caramel and oreos, I have fat-free yogurt with sugar free fudge sauce and walnuts. I eat a wrap with grilled chicken with a salad rather than fries instead of eating the cheeseburger club. Simple changes, but I don't feel deprived.

The weather is beautiful lately! I can't wait to get outside and get moving. Even better, I can't wait to see Dan this weekend. Then, we can enjoy the Spring weather together. I only get to see him for about a day and a half so we're still deciding how to spend our time. We may go to New Hope, PA (our favorite), or the Camden Aquarium, or NYC. Who knows! I just can't wait to see him :) 

Save the drama fo' yo' mama

Recently, you would have thought I had returned to high school (or for me, it felt like middle school). There was lots of gossiping and talking behind people's backs. I had a bridesmaid that doubled as a "spy" for "the other side." It was unnecessary drama all stemming from Dan's family. Here's the background in a nutshell:

• We get engaged March 2008 and set the wedding date for 10/10/10
• Dan's cousin gets engaged 5/09 and sets a wedding date for 12/18/10 (sent by STD more than 1.5 yrs in advance)
• Cousin and I discuss our wedding plans, and I feel criticized for taking so long with my planning. She feels the need to call Dan to make sure we didn't get the same invitations. Why would I buy snowflake invitations? You just want to know what I bought. Cousin de-friends me on FB without warning.
• Cousin and Dan's family tease about moving wedding up after hearing we're upset by the joke
• We receive a second STD from Cousin with new wedding date 7/24/10 (Dan's birthday). 
• Dan and I are hurt by the change for many reasons & decide that due to feelings/scheduling/budgeting we won't be able to attend. Unfortunately, Dan's sister is a bridesmaid for both weddings and tries to be a mediator, which fails miserably after Dan realizes she has told Cousin everything we've said about the situation. I'm asking for loyalty to both weddings, but Dan and I feel like her (an her family's) "alliances" are obvious. lol.

As it stands now, I hope I've made my point clear that I don't want to speak about or even hear anything about the wedding that is suddenly stealing our spotlight. "Oh, I forgot there was more than one bride..." says a cousin at a recent family party. And I mean it, I don't want to hear anything about her or her day, and I don't want her to hear anything about us and our day. I wish others didn't view it as so much to ask, but I bet you even my comments here will raise controversy. I'm so over it. For real. I'm concentrating on our day. And speaking of which...

Dan spoke to his mom about our rehearsal dinner. He finally decided he'd like to have it at Buca di Beppo in Cherry Hill. I left the decisions for the dinner basically up to him and his mom because honestly, I'm making enough decisions for the wedding. Plus, he likes food, so it shouldn't be so hard. We haven't booked the room yet because we can't decide which themed room we'd prefer. I feel the Wedding Room is only appropriate while he favors the Wine Room.

In other wedding news, we've been talking about our honeymoon. As I've mentioned here before, we have a very small wedding budget for a NJ wedding; it's almost impractical. When we first started planning, we made a list of priorities, and a honeymoon was amongst my top three. I want to travel so bad. I want to see the world. Most of all, I want to see Italy. But with me working unpaid jobs for experience and planning this wedding, a honeymoon doesn't see possible. Begrudgingly, I've set my dream to travel on hold for the more practical option of buying a house. I guess we'll see Europe when I have an attorney's salary. While we could pinch penny's in hopes of a cheap Caribbean vacation (like Jamaica), we're not the tropical type. I don't want to feel like a beached whale in a bathing suit, and Dan hates the beach. So, after discussing a lot of ideas, we came up with.... road tripping the country! I know it's not everyone's idea of a romantic honeymoon, but it's very US. We love getting in a car and driving hours to explore places we've never been before. The time in the car is great bonding time and all the points along the way can be fabulous. We road tripped New England the summer before we moved up there, and I can honestly say that those are some of my best memories with Dan. Driving across the country with numerous stops along the way will take awhile so I'm going to estimate two weeks. Unfortunately, law school occupies my entire life until I take the Bar Exam SO we'll likely take our "extended honeymoon" on July 30th (just two days after I take the Bar). Dan and I are making a list now of the places we want to see so we can have a better idea of our route. I'm excited for the trip and experiencing things like camping at the Grand Canyon, wandering through Redwood National Forest, indulging in Napa Valley, etc. We might do Chicago or Vegas, perhaps visit my family out in Louisville, eat at In-N-Out Burger & Jack in the Box, visit Cedar Point or Busch Gardens, stop in Niagara. Who knows! Point is, we've decided what we're doing, when, AND we can vacation and still save for a home. Can't wait!