Miss Pug is giving away a Name Change kit! Seriously, go enter to win this. It will make changing your name SO much easier. So go enter!!
In other news, I probably have tons of stuff to blog about, but I just have to organize my thoughts about all of it right now. Not an easy task. Hopefully regular posting will resume within the next day or so!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Didya hear??
Laura over at Lucky in Love is hosting a giveaway! You could win a $25 gift card from MyWeddingFavors.com. So head on over to her blog and ch-ch-check it out!
Let's face it
We're taking a break from invitation-mania for a bit. We have a few designs that we're trying to choose between and hopefully I'll have the final design chosen by this week!! But for now...
Girlfriends, let's talk face. Miss Rainbow is doing a series of posts on Weddingbee right now about skin care and make up (her latest is on contouring). Head on over there for some FAB tutorials.
I want to talk about the products that I'm currently using (with great success!) to help me stay grease and blemish-free, especially in these months leading up to the wedding. It's taken me a lot of trial and error, but I finally feel like I've found items that really work for me.
Let me preface this by saying I have pretty normal skin. It's not super dry, it's not super oily (although my T-zone does get oily at times) and I only experience occasional breakouts (a pimple here and there). I cannot say what these products will do for other skin types, but since I've started using them religiously, I haven't had any major break outs.
Body Wash: Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash
I am literally OB.SESSED. with this stuff. It has completely changed my skin. If I run out of it and can't get to the store for a few days to pick up more and use any old body wash I might have, I can almost immediately tell a difference. I have a tendency to get a bit...bumpy on my chest, back, and the back of my arms. This clears it all up! I really can't say enough good things. It's a little pricey, and I go through a bottle fairly quickly, but for me it's totally worth the investment.
Cleanser: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Cleanser
I LOVE this. I don't just use it on my face, but also my chest and the back of my arms. This product is an absolute staple in my shower. I don't use it every time I shower, but probably ever other day-ish.
Girlfriends, let's talk face. Miss Rainbow is doing a series of posts on Weddingbee right now about skin care and make up (her latest is on contouring). Head on over there for some FAB tutorials.
I want to talk about the products that I'm currently using (with great success!) to help me stay grease and blemish-free, especially in these months leading up to the wedding. It's taken me a lot of trial and error, but I finally feel like I've found items that really work for me.
Let me preface this by saying I have pretty normal skin. It's not super dry, it's not super oily (although my T-zone does get oily at times) and I only experience occasional breakouts (a pimple here and there). I cannot say what these products will do for other skin types, but since I've started using them religiously, I haven't had any major break outs.
Body Wash: Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash
I am literally OB.SESSED. with this stuff. It has completely changed my skin. If I run out of it and can't get to the store for a few days to pick up more and use any old body wash I might have, I can almost immediately tell a difference. I have a tendency to get a bit...bumpy on my chest, back, and the back of my arms. This clears it all up! I really can't say enough good things. It's a little pricey, and I go through a bottle fairly quickly, but for me it's totally worth the investment.
Cleanser: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Cleanser
It doesn't get super foamy, but it does the trick. It also doesn't dry out my skin, thankfully.
Exfoliator: St. Ives Naturally Clear Blemish and Blackhead Control Apricot Scrub
I LOVE this. I don't just use it on my face, but also my chest and the back of my arms. This product is an absolute staple in my shower. I don't use it every time I shower, but probably ever other day-ish.
Make up remover: Neutrogena Make-up Remover Cleansing Towelettes
Do not walk, RUN to your nearest CVS/Rite Aid/Wherever and buy these. I'll wait. Back? Great. These will change your life. I'm not kidding. Don't feel like washing your face after a long night out? No worries, just swipe this over your face and you're good to go. Honestly, I should buy stock in this product because I love it so much. I've tried so many other "cleansing towelettes" and none of them compare. These are the only ones that do not irritate my eyes. I've vigorously rubbed them on my eyes and they are just so gentle. But they remove make up like a dream. Josh even put them in my stocking for Christmas one year. That's when I knew he was The One. Please, go buy them.
Moisturizer: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Face Lotion, SPF 15
Before I get to this product, I should explain that I have pretty sensitive eyes when it comes to putting stuff on or around them. I don't use this on my eyes because it gets in them and burns. I also have some dry skin on one of my eyes (it's very strange) so I use a really creamy, super moisturizing lotion for my eyes. Basically whatever I have on hand that I would put on the rest of my body. Ok, now that we have that out of the way, I can tell you that I have a love/hate relationship with this moisturizer. I love it because it does the trick and keeps my skin clear, but sometimes it freakin' burns! I'm pretty sure that means it's working, so I don't worry about it too much.
That's it! It seems like a lot, but it's so worth it. Vanity runs in my blood, you see, so it's important for me to look my very best. Also, notice that everything I use can be found at the grocery store or drug store. You don't need fancy-shmancy department store stuff. Actually, I may just be saying that because I can't afford fancy-shmancy.
What are your favorite skin care products? Share them in the comments!
That's it! It seems like a lot, but it's so worth it. Vanity runs in my blood, you see, so it's important for me to look my very best. Also, notice that everything I use can be found at the grocery store or drug store. You don't need fancy-shmancy department store stuff. Actually, I may just be saying that because I can't afford fancy-shmancy.
What are your favorite skin care products? Share them in the comments!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Invitations: Words...lot's of them
Apparently I really care about invitation wording. Initially I didn't think I would have much of an opinion about it. I figured our wording would look something like this:
With joyful hearts
Bride's Dad and Bride's Mom
together with
Groom's Parents
invite you to the marriage ceremony uniting
Bride
and
Groom
Saturday, May twenty-second, two thousand ten
at half past 4 in the afternoon
Cocktails, dinner and dancing to follow
It's nice, and please feel free to steal it if you love it, but I was looking for something with a bit more...*something.* Something with a bit of literary interest but still fairly formal. I don't want any guests showing up in jeans!
So I did what any psycho, type-A bride with too much time on her hands would do. I spent a conservative ridiculous amount of time Googling and Weddingbee-ing to find the "perfect" invitation wording. My journey brought me to the Kvetch section of Indie Bride and this epic thread. If you click the link and scroll to the bottom you'll notice there are 16 (sixteen!) pages. I'd love to tell you that I found exactly what I was looking for by page 2, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I cannot. It was not until page 12 (twelve!?) that I finally found wording that made me sit up in my seat and put butterflies in my tummy.
Wanna see? Here is the original wording* (with some modification to suit our needs):
Wanna see? Here is the original wording* (with some modification to suit our needs):
In the city of San Fracisco
where the ocean meets the bay
Bride and Groom
will pledge their commitment to each other
before the people who have filled their lives
with happiness, love, and laughter
Bride's Dad and Bride's Mom
together with
Groom's parents
invite you to witness this ceremony
in the City View Room of Windows on the River
at half past four, the twenty-second of May
A celebration with dinner, drinks, and dancing
will follow immediately!
together with
Groom's parents
invite you to witness this ceremony
in the City View Room of Windows on the River
at half past four, the twenty-second of May
A celebration with dinner, drinks, and dancing
will follow immediately!
Now, I know it's nothing earth-shattering, but I really really love it. When I first read it I immediately knew I had to modify it to our wedding and use it. However, there is a bit of a problem. We're not getting married in San Francisco. We're getting married in Cleveland, Ohio. We can't use the fancy "ocean meets the bay" wording because uh...we have neither an ocean nor a bay within a few hundred miles. BUT! We do have a river. A once-burning river, in fact. The river that gave this blog it's name, actually. And our ceremony/reception site is on the banks of this river. Take a look:
I know you can't really tell from that picture, but believe me, it's there. So I tried and tried and hemmed and hawed and agonized over how to make this wording fit our event. And I just couldn't do it. I couldn't think of anything I liked. *Humph*
BUT! I knew I could, nay, WOULD somehow make it work. And I did. So it is with a happy heart that I present to you our invitation wording!
BUT! I knew I could, nay, WOULD somehow make it work. And I did. So it is with a happy heart that I present to you our invitation wording!
In the city of Cleveland
before the people who have filled their loves
with happiness, love and laughter
Emily MyLastName
and
Joshua HisLastName
will pledge their commitment to each other.
MyMom and MyDad
together with
HisParents
invite you to witness this ceremony
in the City View Room of Windows on the River
Saturday, May 22, 2010
at 4:30 in the afternoon
A celebration with dinner, drinks and dancing will follow immediately
Evening attire requested.
Weeeee!!! I love it. I love it SO MUCH. I basically just rearranged the first few lines (a stroke of pure genius, in my opinion). My mom thought I should put something about the attire and I didn't really want to battle her on it. We're not asking for Black Tie, but we also don't want anyone to think this is a casual affair. I think this is a nice was of suggesting people dress up.
So what do you think? Actually, if you hate it please don't tell me. Did you give yourself an ulcer trying to figure out what to write on your invitations?
*This is the part where I try to give credit to the original author. I know nothing about her, but her user-name on Indie Bride is ladyluck. So, ladyluck, if you ever happen to come across this blog post, thank you SO much for sharing your lovely wording with the Internet. I hope you don't mind that I'm completely stealing it. You rock!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Invitations: Inspiration and a sneaky peaky!
Ok, on to happier things...
Yesterday my dear friend Sophie came over to talk about invitations! She's an amazing artist and I was thrilled when she agreed to design our invitations. (She just started a blog, too. Go give her some lovin'!) I knew I wanted have a hand in designing them because then I would get *exactly* what I wanted. I'm...picky, to say the least. Maybe "particular" is a better word. Any way you say it, I have very strong ideas of what I like and what I don't like.
At the same time, I like A LOT of different styles. Let's take a quick browse through a few of the pictures in my "Wedding Inspiration" folder. Please note that a lot of these images were saved a long time ago. I'll do my best to credit the appropriate source.
Flourishes!
Yesterday my dear friend Sophie came over to talk about invitations! She's an amazing artist and I was thrilled when she agreed to design our invitations. (She just started a blog, too. Go give her some lovin'!) I knew I wanted have a hand in designing them because then I would get *exactly* what I wanted. I'm...picky, to say the least. Maybe "particular" is a better word. Any way you say it, I have very strong ideas of what I like and what I don't like.
At the same time, I like A LOT of different styles. Let's take a quick browse through a few of the pictures in my "Wedding Inspiration" folder. Please note that a lot of these images were saved a long time ago. I'll do my best to credit the appropriate source.
Flourishes!
(From Etsy seller arippke)
Large, scripty writing!
(Source...no idea)
Damask-type stamping things!
(Unknown source)
Pocket folds (and monograms)!
(Again, I got nothin')
Sort of all over the place, right? Well, I finally settled on the idea of flourishes. I know they're all over the place right now, yet I can't help but love them.
Here is a sneaky peaky of what we worked on last night.
There are not at all final, but it will give you an idea of where things are headed. I'm SO EXICITED! Oh, and I can't wait to tell ya'll about my quest for the perfect invitation wording.
Did you know exactly what you wanted for invitations or were you all over the place?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Gimme a break
*I've had this post half-written since Monday but I just haven't been able to post it. I finally feel like I can.
I really wanted to log in to Blogger today and write a post about how awesome our tasting went. And it did go awesomely. Great food, lots of laughs (and lots of wine.) But there is something else on my mind that I have to talk about instead.
Why is it that brides are not allowed to make mistakes?
Growing up we're told that it's OK to make mistakes. That it's a part of life that should be embraced because mistakes teach you lessons. But once you have that ring on your finger and are declared "Bride", God forbid you do something wrong.
For most of us, this is our first time doing this (raises hand.) Some of us have probably only been to a handful of weddings (raises arm and hand.) I'd even be willing to bet that a good number of us have never been a bridesmaid (raises both arms and hands.) Yet we're expected to get everything right. And when we don't (notice I said "when" not "if" because inevitably we *will* get something wrong) we're called out and made to feel like shit.
At least that's my experience.
And if I can get real for a hot second, let me just say I think it's bullshit.
So from now on I'm pledging to stop feeling guilty when I make a mistake while planning my wedding. Own up to it? Yes. Apologize? Yes, when necessary. But I'm not going to feel bad. Because guess what? I really don't know what the hell I'm doing. I can read all the blogs I want, I can ask the advice of any number of brides who've gone before me, but I'm navigating unknown territory, here. Go give me, give US, a damn break.
Anyone else feel like this? Please tell me I'm not alone.
I really wanted to log in to Blogger today and write a post about how awesome our tasting went. And it did go awesomely. Great food, lots of laughs (and lots of wine.) But there is something else on my mind that I have to talk about instead.
Why is it that brides are not allowed to make mistakes?
Growing up we're told that it's OK to make mistakes. That it's a part of life that should be embraced because mistakes teach you lessons. But once you have that ring on your finger and are declared "Bride", God forbid you do something wrong.
For most of us, this is our first time doing this (raises hand.) Some of us have probably only been to a handful of weddings (raises arm and hand.) I'd even be willing to bet that a good number of us have never been a bridesmaid (raises both arms and hands.) Yet we're expected to get everything right. And when we don't (notice I said "when" not "if" because inevitably we *will* get something wrong) we're called out and made to feel like shit.
At least that's my experience.
And if I can get real for a hot second, let me just say I think it's bullshit.
So from now on I'm pledging to stop feeling guilty when I make a mistake while planning my wedding. Own up to it? Yes. Apologize? Yes, when necessary. But I'm not going to feel bad. Because guess what? I really don't know what the hell I'm doing. I can read all the blogs I want, I can ask the advice of any number of brides who've gone before me, but I'm navigating unknown territory, here. Go give me, give US, a damn break.
Anyone else feel like this? Please tell me I'm not alone.
Friday, January 22, 2010
It just got real
I'm getting married in 4 months. From today. FOUR MONTHS! And I think it *just* hit me. Like...right now. Because I definitely just had a moment. A moment during which I cried and couldn't stop. A moment I think could be repeated at the drop of a hat.
I'm not even sure how I feel right now, but if I had to guess I'd say I'm pretty damn excited. We've been engaged for almost 19 months. That is a long damn time. So to finally be in the "home stretch", so to speak, is really exciting. I'm not nervous or worried or anxious (ask me at the 2 or 1 month mark, though, and I might have a different answer), I'm just so incredibly happy. These are happy tears that are streaming down my face :)
We're having our tasting tomorrow night at Windows on the River. All of our parents will be in attendance and I'm actually doing pretty well. (If you're new to my blog, click here to get an idea of what I'm talking about.) I'm excited to taste and decide the food we'll serve our guests. I've heard nothing but great things about the food at our venue and that makes me very happy. Do you think if I take pictures of the food I'll blow my cover? (Only my mom knows I blog.)
Well, this post certainly has been a bit all over the place. I was going to write a progress report of sorts or something, but I think I'm going to leave that for another day.
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend :) Any fun plans, wedding related or not?
I'm not even sure how I feel right now, but if I had to guess I'd say I'm pretty damn excited. We've been engaged for almost 19 months. That is a long damn time. So to finally be in the "home stretch", so to speak, is really exciting. I'm not nervous or worried or anxious (ask me at the 2 or 1 month mark, though, and I might have a different answer), I'm just so incredibly happy. These are happy tears that are streaming down my face :)
We're having our tasting tomorrow night at Windows on the River. All of our parents will be in attendance and I'm actually doing pretty well. (If you're new to my blog, click here to get an idea of what I'm talking about.) I'm excited to taste and decide the food we'll serve our guests. I've heard nothing but great things about the food at our venue and that makes me very happy. Do you think if I take pictures of the food I'll blow my cover? (Only my mom knows I blog.)
Well, this post certainly has been a bit all over the place. I was going to write a progress report of sorts or something, but I think I'm going to leave that for another day.
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend :) Any fun plans, wedding related or not?
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