Close-- but no cigar

Well, I'm back from the bridal salon, and it felt a bit like Judgment Day. LOL! I picked up my veil. I loved it with my dress even more. It made swallowing the price a bit easier. The end result-- the dress still doesn't fit.If you look closely enough, you'll see it's just a 1 inch by 2 inch section in my middle that doesn't fit. I'm not super disappointed because I didn't think it would fit yet. I'm probably the most upset that this dress is marked one size and it no where close to the size it says... apparently! I've dropped about 15 pounds since I tried the dress on last and maybe 25 pounds since I first bought it. I think I need to lose at least another 10-15. Hell, when I've lost 55 pounds already, 15 doesn't sound so bad :) I can do it! The lady at the bridal salon didn't sound like she had faith in me, but I could care less. 

Before (August 2009)

Today (April 2010)

I can hear the clock ticking

Seriously?! I must be hitting "that age." I swear with each new announcement that I can hear my biological clock ticking. Someone hit the snooze button! lmao! I'm sure that scares the socks off of Dan! To be honest, it scares me. Due to my future career as an attorney, I plan on waiting to have children for a few years. We've talked about it, and I'd like to wait until I'm about 28 before we start "trying." Still, with my maternal instinct, I can't help but to be excited for and jealous of the ladies announcing their pregnancy. There must have been at least 5 new baby announcements amongst my Facebook friends THIS WEEK. There must be something in the water... lol. Congratulations again to all the ladies! Since I can't be in their shoes for a few more years, I just hope I can get some playtime in with the new babies :)

On to diet news! Today was weigh-in... and I LOST 3 POUNDS! YAY! That makes up for my one pound gain last week. The weight loss came at a perfect time. Tonight, Lynn and I are going to the bridal salon to pick up my custom ordered veil. While we're there, I'm going to try on my wedding gown to see what kind of progress I have made getting into this thing. I'm really nervous. I'm afraid that, while I have made noticeable progress, the dress still won't fit. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll be sure to update regarding the fit.

We're now less than 6 months away from the wedding. It's crunch time. I bought a headpiece (comb) at A Beautiful Touch bridal salon in Haddon Township using the jewelry gift certificate I won from their Facebook page. For a moment, I was afraid I was going to be leaving empty handed. If I heard another person "remind" me that "I'm the bride therefore I should want big flashy things," I might have killed someone. LOL! I had to put my foot down and keep repeating that I don't want many things the "typical" bride would. :sigh: Then, I spent many hours and visited numerous department stores in search of a flower girl dress for Kaelynn. Surprisingly, although many stores like JC Penny and Sears list communion dresses and flower dresses online, they do not carry them in the store. Instead, we found the best selection at Burlington Coat Factory, but didn't love any particular dress. Fortunately, we were able to find a great black and white polka dotted dress at Kohls that fit the bill (after a few minor alterations). So, I picked up a sash and flower to complete the look and I can't wait to see how the finished product turns out. I'll post pictures of the finished product as soon as the flower girl's mother sends them.

What I'll miss about NJ...

Next week, I will be leaving NJ to return "home" to NH. For going on 14 weeks, I have been completing a full-time externship at the Essex County Prosecutor's Office in Newark, NJ for law school credits. I have been fortunate enough to stay with Lynn all these weeks in Sea Bright, NJ (right on the Jersey Shore). Now that I'll be heading back to NH to finish my last year of law school, I can't help but think about all the things about NJ I'm going to miss, so I made a list (in no particular order:

• Greek diners (real diners-- open 24 hrs & serving breakfast all day)
• 24 hour ANYTHING
• gourmet grocery stores (like Wegman's or Whole Foods)
• Dunkin Donuts in Sea Bright (always speedy, friendly, and with correct orders)
• Wawa (and even Quick-Chek)
• full service gas stations
• Authentic ethnic food
• close proximity to everything-- mountains, beach, city, amusement parks, farm country, shopping, etc.
• sleepovers (and frequent visits) with friends and family
• permanent farmer's markets

Don't be misled; there are plenty of things about NJ that I will not miss, but I'm sure those are more obvious.

Yummy food makes me feel gross

Last weekend, I ate a pork roll and cheese sandwich from Wawa (not the best, but it sufficed since they were no longer serving breakfast). After I ate my cholesterol-laden sandwich, I felt sick-- not sick as if I felt I was going to vomit. It felt as though I had eaten lead and it was sitting there, weighing heavily in my stomach. It weighed me down and made me feel greasy. Granted, some of these feelings could be psychological, but I swear to you I wasn't just psyching myself out. Then, today, I had two slices of cheese pizza at the office. Afterwards, I immediately  felt greasy and my stomach felt as though I swallowed lead again; it made me feel weighed down. In general, it made me feel gross. I'm not saying it didn't taste good when I ate it, but I hated how it made me feel. Is this normal or am I crazy? Now that I think about it, a few weeks ago, when I went to Columbus Farmer's Market with Dani and Wayne, I felt instantly sick after eating my favorite pizza ever. I don't think my stomach likes eating too much fat in one sitting. Maybe that's what it is. Now, I just wonder if these feelings will be enough to prevent me from eating such dishes again next time...

 

Beautiful Weekend-- Beautiful Pictures-- Beautiful Memories

Yeah, yeah, yeah-- I never updated with my weight loss progress this week... that's because I GAINED a pound! Happy?! LOL. Honestly, I'm not that upset about it, mostly because I know there are factors that exaggerated my weight this week, but it's not important. It was another weekend with Dan and weight gain is to be expected. I ate things I haven't had in awhile, like pork roll and french fries. 

Last week, I went shopping with a friend from work for clothes for my engagement photo shoot. For the first time ever, I tried on clothes at standard women's clothing stores-- not just stores for plus-sized women. I am in love with White House Black Market, but cannot afford to buy their clothes. I was dying to finally shop at Express, but although they carry XL online, I could only find select pieces in a large (most things were XS or S). As it turned out, I really only needed a large. Unfortunately, the tight stretch look is in and despite my size, spandex is NOT flattering on my flab. After spending hours visiting every store in the Willowbrook Mall, with Elise's persistence and encouragement, I left with a ruffle flyaway cardigan from Express.

I had the opportunity to do some really fun things with Dan this past weekend while he visited. We went to Six Flags: Great Adventure and rode our favorite roller coasters (thanks to a $20 off coupon at Wawa). I felt so much more confident standing in line without a doubt in my mind that I would fit comfortably on the ride. It sounds silly, but it used to be a big concern (no pun intended). There used to be a few rides where I was cutting it so close that it was uncomfortable. This time we went, I was able to walk with Dan through the park at a faster pace and ride the coasters without stressing. It was nice. Then, for lunch we went to the car for a picnic out of the new picnic backpack I bought Dan . It was delightful! Not your typical sandwich picnic :) 

Our engagement photo shoot with Richard Press of Photokin (http://photokin.com) went amazingly well. It was a beautiful day in New Hope, which means the streets were PACKED. We took pictures along the tow path that borders the canal, outside Tuscany (Italian restaurant), and at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve.  I'm usually a ham for the camera, but I felt like I had to tone it down so I didn't outshine the purpose of the pictures-- our love. I wish I let my personality out a little more, but even without that, the pictures came out great. It's hard to narrow it down to just a few favorites! Dan and I really like Richard and his son, Mike. We owe them a big thanks for not only providing great pictures, but a romantic day for the two of us. I didn't feel like I had to pose in order for our love to show in the photos. We really had a nice time. We look  forward to working with them on our big day. See pictures here.

Wedding Rules

Today, on Weddingbook, a Facebook application/community I belong to, I came across a post on the message boards asking brides to post their wedding rules. The common trend was anti-fake flowers, balloons, drama, and tacky dance music (i.e. chicken dance). I had to put some thought into it, but here are my wedding rules:

Guests

• NO family drama- all guilty parties will be removed. No joke. I don't care if you're a close relative... we're serious.
• NO excessive drunkenness- especially for the bridal party.
• NO haters-- If you're there to judge, go home. If you have snide comments, keep them to yourself. If you think we're cheap, we would appreciate donations for the improvements YOU would like. 
• NO wedding crashers-- It's a small guest list so I WILL notice if we didn't invite you, and you WILL be removed.
• NO children under 16. Sorry. (We have limited space and the menu/environment does not appeal to younger guests).

Music

• NO group dances (electric slide, chicken dance, hokey pokey, etc.) 
• NO ghetto, country, or hippy music unless discussed previously.
• There MUST be a dance party.
• NO mic time for impromptu speeches or serenades. I don't want Dan playing karaoke, drunken speeches, or people proposing at our wedding. People really do that! The nerve... get your own day.

Attire

• NO camouflage or sleeveless men's shirts-- it's bad enough people will likely show up in jeans, but try to leave the inner redneck home for the day.
• Cocktail attire is encouraged-- think classy people. I'm not asking you to go out and buy something.
• NO white... for real. As one bride on the wedding board said, "If you are disrespectful enough to wear white, or a variation thereof, you may end up wearing a nice glass of Cabernet." LOL!

Misc.

• NO tulle, crepe paper, balloons, or other "foofy" decorations.
• If I didn't know it happened, it didn't happen. Don't tell me things that are just going to stress me out. I have a bridal party and family for that.
• The entire day is about US, and I want it to feel very personalized. I want people to look at something and say, "Oh, that's hilarious! ..but that's just like them."
• NO cake smashing. It took too much time and money to look that good; I don't want to mess it up with frosting in my hair, up my nose, on my dress, etc.
• Stay within or as close to budget as possible.
• HAVE A GREAT TIME! Never forget what this day is really about. 

So, what did I leave out? Is there something else you would have added?