SPANX!!!

Yes folks, I purchased my first pair ever just this morning.

How could one not LOVE purchasing a product called "Spanx"?

A product that nips and tucks without invasive surgery and all for the magical price of $38.00 plus shipping.

To be honest I can't say that I LOVED giving into the necessity of wearing this garment on the day of my wedding, which one can only assume with be hot and sweaty, being smack dab in the middle of August. Oops.

But I much prefer risking a little swamp ass, then risking unsightly panty lines and bulging love handles. Ok yes I know! I am NOT FAT! But I don't care how skinny you are, unless you are psychotic and in the gym 3 hours a day, 6 days a week, and look like a man, YOU HAVE LOVE HANDLES. EVERY woman past the age of 22 has them!

These puppies pictured above are known as the "In-Power Line Super Higher Power." What a mouth full eh? It is the upgrade to the "Higher Power," and gives a maximum level of "streamlining" power, or so said the absolutely delightful young woman I spoke to at customer service.

So I say bring it on SPANX! Do your magic. At least now I won't be passing out from sucking in all night after mouth fulls of delicious Dino BBQ.

Hmmm mmmm.

OH AND in other news. Michael finally ordered his wedding band this morning. Phew!! That's TWO things off our list in just a matter of hours. Go team Mesekiotis!!

At least I won't be barefoot . . .

Wow! Hi! Apparently it's been a little bit since I've updated this blog. The truth is that essentially it's because I tried my hardest to take a break from all this. And with all the major decisions out of the way, I decided it was going to be ok for me to release the tightly wound knot I had on my life for juuuuuust a little bit.

Don't worry I didn't untie that little stinker all the way. I was still busy buying mason jars for flower center pieces, wandering Williamsburg looking for an altar piece, and ordering chairs, dishware, silverware, napkins and tableclothes (which P.S. it turns out the tableclothes I thought were heavy duty paper, were actually plastic, which is just not gonna fly. So much for going the cheap route. Regular linen table clothes it is!). I also began work on the ever dreaded seating chart. Which is apparently just as hard as everyone says it is. I really can't even talk about that. It unfortunately brings out the anxiety ridden be-otch inside of me. And just to clarify, Michael hasn't actually said that to me out loud, but I can read the look on his face when I begin to raise my voice and exclaim to the world that there is NO WAY we can fit so and so at the table with so and so because the other so and so couldn't sit with this so and so!!! DUH!! . . . yeah sorry about that. :-/

Anyways there are a few distractions that found their way into my everyday in recent weeks. For starters Michael and I both suffered a really nasty stomach flu. It lasted 7 days for both of us. NOT FUN. And for even more important amazing seconders, not only did my friend Nicole get engaged a few weeks ago, my friend Jen also just got engaged this past weekend!!! I am so head over heals thrilled for them both and it was a pleasant distractor from the stresses of planning my own wedding. YAY!!

But to get to the real reason I brought you all here today . . .

A few weeks ago my friend heather and I took a Saturday afternoon and went to like every shoe store south of 14th street to look for my shoes for the wedding. We found nothing. NADA! Which gave way to the realization that I would probably have to find these puppies online. So I decided the best thing to do would be to order a bunch of stuff on Zappos, and find out what works and what doesn't, because they have the easiest and most convenient return policy, no questions asked. So I ended up finding a shoe that I really loved. It was a burnt orange color with a peep toe and 4 inch heel. Only problem was the 7.5 was too big, so I sent them back and ordered a 7. All set right? WRONG! The 7 was WAY too small. Ok, now I'm back at square one. I sent the second pair back and decided to just breath on the shoe thing for a bit.

And while Michael and I were out doing errands this weekend we stopped in one of my favorite stores that hadn't had anything for me a few weeks prior, hoping the inventory had changed. And it had!! So I got these puppies. I love green. And the heal is nice and thick so it won't get stuck in the grass. They are comfortable and not too high, so I know I won't be hurting 1o minutes into the ceremony. Best part is, Michael loved them!!

So . . .

Shoes: Check

Everything else: Oye Ve!!!

Cupcakes

Ok kids I need some serious input on this one.

Ever since going to our friends Ryan and Sara's wedding last August I knew I wanted Cupcakes instead of Cake for my wedding whenever that would happen.

And well yes, duh, it's happening now. So bring on the Cupcakes!!

It seems to be a trend that's picking up quite a bit of speed these days in the world of weddings, so there are lots of old businesses now catering to it, and new businesses popping up that seem to be jumping right on the band wagon. Which is lucky for me because I thought I was going to have to ship cupcakes from NYC to Rochester the day of the wedding. I mean there are COUNTLESS bakeries here that just make you wanna scream for mercy. I mean cupcakes that cause your mouth so much pleasure you feel like nothing else on the planet could ever live up to it, EVER, for the rest of your life.

Ok anyways . . .

So when my mom and I were at the florist on Saturday, one of the guys there recommended this place in Rochester called "Sugar Mountain." I haven't tried them yet, but the website is incredible. There's like 60 different cupcakes to choose from or something, and they look beautiful. My mom and dad sampled some last night. There will be no orders made until I return to Roch and can sample some myself, because I'm a control freak. But I'd love for y'all to check out the website and put in your votes for the top 4 cupcake flavors I should have at the wedding.

go here: http://www.sugarmountainbakeshoppe.com/

XOXOXO

Trying to keep it together

I'm not gonna lie. Driving all the way to Rochester on Friday and driving all the way back to New York on Saturday, and meeting with the florist in between wasn't exactly my idea of a good time. Though the visit with the florist, Edward at Arena's, did go fabulously. He seemed to understand my vision, and I was super psyched to learn that Dahlias were in their prime in August. There were some GORGEOUS orange and purple ones in the store, that Edward said would be even more amazing at the time of my wedding. I completely trust that he's going to do some really great stuff. I'd also like to extend a special thank you to my mom, Lorelei, for (at my request) pretty much not saying anything, and letting me take the reigns. But more importantly I must thank her for ever so humbly whispering some very important points to me during the moments when Edward would leave the room to fetch an example of something. Thanks Mommy.

None the less I'm feeling more and more like my head is going to explode. Yesterday Michael and I put together a big poster board size chart of everything we still have left to do. Just the thought of the number of things we came up with makes me throw up in my mouth a little. So this in addition to my overall level of mental exhaustion hitting an all time high, was making me feel this morning like City Hall sounded really really good.

But no worries, I've had about 10 cups of green tea today, and I feel like it's flushing out the negative energies. I put myself back into the swing of things and started looking at shoes and hair pieces online. I've attached for your viewing pleasure some hair pieces I found on etsy.com. Please excuse the sort of looped out looking model and let me know what you think.

The Rings

Not sure if any of you saw my facebook status from last night (Wednesday, 5/12/10), but "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" was on TNT HD last night. And since Michael was very busy posting the web gallery for a casting he has been shooting this week, I had free rein over the TV! During this time of year the only thing that is on our television 90% of the time is Mets, Mets, or Mets. I love my mets, but this was a nice change. Any Lord of the Rings or Star Wars film will really bring out my inner geekism.

Anyways, all those close up of shots of that dang ring made me realize that I should take some nice shots of my newly purchased wedding band. We went into Doyle and Doyle on Sunday, the same store Michael purchased my engagement at, and took a look. Doyle and Doyle at www.doyledoyle.com specializes in vintage, antique, and estate jewelry resale. It is one of the classiest and most beautiful stores I've ever been in, and it manages to be that way without one bit of pretension. You will never be judged on how little or how much money you intend on spending. Nor will you be pushed to make any hasty decisions. So, anyhoo, I fell in love with this band the moment I saw it. I knew immediately it was exactly what I was looking for, and it was EXACTLY my size. Umm . . . FATE! It's platinum. Which is super cool, and it's tiny. Which I love, and the little leaf like engravings are just PERFECT. And really the coolest feature of the ring is that the wedding date of the original couple who owned it is engraved on the inside. "6 - 19 - '28", along with the couple's initials. So the ring is from 1928!!! How cool is that?!?!?!?!

I took these pictures with Michael's camera this morning and my handy 50mm macro lens. The backdrop is our window sill. The ring sits on about 8 layers of white paint that are very quickly eroding away because it's Lena's favorite place to hang out and catch some rays, hence all the little doggie scratch marks. All well, it's where the best light in the apartment is. Hope you all like it. :)

**Remember you can click on the images below and a larger image will appear**

Tulips No More

So my mom just called me. She just went to the absolutely fabulous florist in Rochester. http://www.arenasflorist.com/. And they explained to her that August is a really bad time for Tulips. They are a spring and fall flower. My entire every for this wedding was revolving around my desire to have purple and orange tulips. Hence the colors on the invitation. BUMMER!!!!!

BUT tomorrow is another day . . . I also LOVE sun flowers, and the florist said that they come in a variety of colors these days. So hopefully we'll be able to work something out there. Problem is the florist says I've really gotta meet with her in person to figure this stuff out. So trip to roch must happen sooner then I had thought.

Some of you have already sent me some flower inspirations. But think sunflowers and purples and oranges. Send me anything you find. I love you guys, thank you!!! This collection is below combines a bunch of stuff that Lex Ames sent me. So think along these lines.

In other news . . .

I BOUGHT THE DRESS LAST NIGHT!!!!

The dress that was not . . .

So as most of you know, I was really really loving J.Crew's wedding collection. They are opening a new Bridal/Wedding only boutique on Madison Ave. here in NYC on May 27th. So I made an appointment for the 12th of June. After making the appointment I spoke with my dress consultant, Pam, and she informed that many of the dresses I liked were on very low inventory in my size at this time, including the one I was really loving the most. And if this dress was going to be THE ONE I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers cause I couldn't go in for an appointment for another month and a half. So I ordered this lovely little thing online asap. She came in the mail last Friday. And sadly . . . it was NOT good . . .

The dress fit just fine, but it's a $425 dress, and feels like a $425 dress. Know what I'm sayin'? I just didn't like the way it fell on me, and the chiffon was A LOT creamier colored than it appears in the photo below. So the next morning off I went to the J.Crew on 5th Ave to return it. Which by the way, was the easiest return experience of my entire life. I really felt like this dress was perfectly me. So I'm pretty bummed that it didn't work out, but life goes on.

Although I was supposed to now wait until June 12th for my Mom and sister to make the trip to New York to do the whole dress finding thing with me, my curiosity and pure impatience got the best of me and I ended up checking out this little boutique in the Lower East Side, Saja. www.sajainc.com. Michael and I (YES both me and my Hubby to be went into a bridal store together) went in there on Sunday just to peak. The owner, Thea, was super sweet and informative and let me try on a few dresses even though I didn't have an appointment since she didn't have anyone coming in at that time. I tried on 4 different dresses. The first one was a definite no go. The next two I actually liked a lot, but something was missing. And when I tired on the 4th, something just felt different. For all of the first 3 dresses Michael's comments were, "yeah it's nice" or "sure, I like it". And for this last one his response was, "I like it, NO I love it. I love this one. You look amazing." And let me tell you I felt pretty amazing. I hadn't pictured myself in a mermaid dress, but it turns out something like this is better for my figure. AND it makes me look like I have a butt!!! The more I think about the dress and imagine it in my mind the more I love it and want it to be mine.

Anyways, Thea explained that we are sort of at the end of dress buying season here. She said that right now the women buying dress are buying them for September and later weddings. And that an August wedding at this point is pushing it for getting a dress in time. If I had come in a month from now she would have had to put an order in for the dress to her manufacturer, and those orders can take up to 8 weeks or more. OUCH! I guess that's why women buy their weddings dresses so early on in the wedding planning process. Who knew? Not me! Hence, I am going back there today to try on the dress in my size. I only tried the sample size on Sunday, which was a tad too big. And the best part is, my sister Diana is in town dealing her car that broke down the last time she was here, so she is coming to look with me!! Sad that our Mom can't be there, but she'll be there in spirit. And I'm sorry lady friends of mine, the only appointment she could give me this week was today at 5, and I know most of you can't make something that early. But don't worry I still wanna have a dress revealing party like we talked about. Anyhoo, wish me luck!! This is it here:

And here you have it

Hello all the lovely lady friends and family of mine. I realized it can get a little crazy doing all this emailing of ideas and thoughts etc. So I'm gonna start blogging about it. I hope . . . I could do this for like a week and get tired of it. But this way everyone can look in one place and you will be welcome to send me feedback. And maybe I'll even post your feedback or ideas here on the blog. Yay!