Sunday, May 29, 2011

Pinterest Sunday

Time for my weekly Pinterest roundup! Every Sunday, I share with you a few of my favorite finds from the previous week.

First up, a dress. What's Pinterest Sunday without a dress?
Source: modcloth.com via Jenn on Pinterest


This dress looks like it would be super comfy with some capri leggings for the summer. I love the colors and the birds are cute. Too bad it's sold out!

Next, let's revisit my owl obsession.

I don't have any plans to get an owl tattoo, but I just love this one. The colors are great and it's some truly excellent artwork. The details are fantastic. It must have taken awhile to complete. I definitely don't have the tolerance for a tattoo this detailed.

Finally, a picture that made me smile.
Source: etsy.com via Jenn on Pinterest

I believe this picture was originally pinned for the adorable headband this cutie is sporting, but I had to pin it because she's one of the cutest kids I've ever seen. Just look at all that hair!



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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Vera Bradley Summer Sale

Remember when I gave you tips for the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale? Back then, I made some predictions about what colors I thought would be the next to retire. And today I found out that I was (mostly) right!

Vera Bradley announced today that 4 colors are now on sale for 25% off. Colors always go on "sale" when they are retired.

So, what are those colors? They are 3 out of the 5 colors I predicted to retire back in April.

Make Me Blush

Simply Violet

Call Me Coral
Versailles
I predicted the first 3, but did not pick Versailles. I thought they would retire the older Symphony in Hue. Versailles came out last September, so it certainly didn't last long. It must not be selling well. I also predicted they'd retire Night and Day, but it must be doing well, so it's still active.

Vera Bradley’s Summer Sale! 25% off everything in the following colors: Call Me Coral, Makes Me Blush, Simply Violet , and Versailles.

Of course, this means out with the old and in with the new! Fall 2011 will bring 4 new colors to Vera Bradley. I got curious and did some searching and look what I found!

Vera Bradley Fall 2011

It always hard to tell how the color look on computer screens, so I'll save my final judgment for when I actually see these patterns in person, but so far I think I like the Plum Petals the best. Safari Sunset might be pretty and Mocha Rouge might be interesting, but Happy Snails is looking a little too circus-y for my tastes. I can't wait to see them in person!

What do you think of the new colors?
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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Wedding Wednesday: Time to Get Ready!

It's time to start the official wedding recaps! I can't wait to share with you our awesome photos. Up first, it's time for the girls to get ready.

Since our wedding was at 1 P.M., we started the getting ready process fairly early in the morning. There was no sleeping in on this Saturday.

I picked up Bridesmaid R at my mother-in-law's house after 6:00 a.m. and we met the other bridesmaids at my mom's house. I actually told the others to be there earlier than they really needed to be just to ensure that everyone arrived by 7 a.m. which was when my hair stylist was scheduled to arrive. This worked well because people did end up running "late," but they were all really on time.  We started at 7 a.m. and the photographers started at 8 a.m., but they didn't miss much. Mostly us stuffing our faces & Bridesmaid T getting her hair done.


I loved getting ready at my mom's house. It was the house I grew up in and it seemed like the perfect place to get ready for my wedding. We did hair at the kitchen table since the bathrooms aren't very spacious. This allowed us to be together as we got ready and gave us the opportunity to tease Bridesmaid R as she got girlie.


By this time, I asked that the TV be turned from the news shows to some Saturday morning cartoons. I ended up watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while getting my hair done.



I did my own make-up. Mostly because I had no idea how to find a makeup artist in my area and I'm cheap. I only use Bare Minerals so I would have wanted someone who was familiar with and used those products as well. I did my own makeup for our engagement pictures and I thought it photographed well, so I was OK with doing my wedding makeup as well. I did get tips from a Bare Minerals message board and I practiced many times.

By this point, I was aware that we were getting close to being off schedule and it was time to hurry up and get dressed so we could take pictures before we left for the church.


I put on my wedding dress in my childhood bedroom. I wish we had gotten more pictures of this, but it was pretty straightforward, step in dress, zip dress.

All pictures by Amanda Fales Photography

Next time: Bridal pictures!
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Monday, May 23, 2011

My British Boyfriend

A few blogs I read have mentioned the subject of their "Freebie Five" over the past week. You know, the five celebrities, who if you were to meet, you could do anything with without repercussions from your significant other.

Well, it got me thinking about who my Freebie Five would be and while I quickly thought of #1, I struggled to come up with the rest of my list.


While a few years ago, I would have gladly added Prince William to my list, now that I've watched his wedding and I adore his wife, I just couldn't do it.

David Tennant? Now a family man.

So, I decided that I'm pretty happy with my #1 pick. I call him my British Boyfriend (I have a thing for British guys, if you haven't noticed.)


Meet Benedict Cumberbatch. Isn't his name fun? And isn't he, well, dishy? I first met him when he looked like this...
And I have a thing for boys with curly hair.
Benedict plays Sherlock on the now BAFTA award winning show of the same name. It is my favorite show besides Doctor Who.

Here, have a look.


The first season of Sherlock is now available on DVD and Netflix Instant Watch.

And can I talk about that voice? I LOVE his voice. I once read an article that called it "molten chocolate" and I'd have to agree. I could probably listen to him talk about killing kittens and I'd still swoon.

Don't believe me? Listen to him read The Jabberwocky.


So, even though I know my chances of ever meeting Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch are slim, I think I'll keep him at my Freebie British Boyfriend.

Who's on your list of freebies?

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Sunday, May 22, 2011

Pinterest Sunday

pTime for my weekly Pinterest roundup! Every Sunday, I share with you a few of my favorite finds from the previous week.

This week, I was on a dress kick for some reason.

Source: modcloth.com via Jenn on Pinterest


This dress reminds of a sunny spring day. It's perfect for the warmer weather we've been having.

Love the color of this dress and the lace stripe.
Source: modcloth.com via Jenn on Pinterest


I pinned this one 3 days ago and it's already been repinned 25 times. I guess everybody loves this one!

And finally, a dress I don't have an occasion to wear, but I love it anyway.
Source: nymag.com via Jenn on Pinterest

I just love the color of this Monique Lhuillier gown.



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Friday, May 20, 2011

Five for Friday

1. You went flower shopping with me and picked out the best plants for me.

2.You went into work early because you knew they'd need the help.

3. You help at Mass whenever they need you.

4. You picked up my library book for me.

5. You water the plants because you know I always forget to do it.
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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Wedding Wednesday: You're Invited!

Before I can show you our wedding, I need to invite you to our wedding! It's important that you see our invitation first, because it's the first taste of our wedding that our guests received. Plus, I think it sets up our theme quite nicely!


Is that argyle? In fuchsia and navy blue? That's so perfect for our wedding that we must have paid a fortune to have them custom made, right?

Wrong!

I struggled at the beginning of wedding planning to find an invitation that fit our wedding. M and I LOVE argyle, so it was only natural that we wanted it to be our theme. At first, I thought I'd have to make them myself, which scared me, because I'm not very crafty and making over 100 invitations sounded less than fun. I did find a few ideas on Etsy & was prepared to have them custom made when my mom found these invitations. 

They are from Invitation Consultants and would you believe they were already in our wedding colors? It's like somebody read my mind and designed invitations that were perfect for my wedding!

Next week, we start the wedding recaps!

Did you find invitations that were perfect for your wedding or did you make your own?

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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Pinterest Sunday

Time for my weekly Pinterest roundup! Every Sunday, I share with you a few of my favorite finds from the previous week.

I haven't owned a bike in awhile, but now that the library and downtown is within biking distance, I think I might need one.
Source: target.com via Jenn on Pinterest

I saw this pink cruiser at Target and I just love it. It even comes with a basket perfect for books!

Today is National Chocolate Cookie Day and I think this recipe looks delicious!

Brownie chunks AND chocolate chips!


And finally, how cute is this dress for spring?

Now that the weather is warmer, I could actually wear it too!



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Friday, May 13, 2011

Five for Friday

1. You shared your frozen Coke with me.

2. You bandaged my boo-boo.

3. You fixed my computer and now it's even quieter!

4. You make up little songs about random things.

5. You made the pancakes all by yourself.


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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Wedding Wednesday: Let's Rehearse!

It was finally time for our rehearsal! You'll remember that I previously explained that our rehearsal had to take place on the Thursday before the wedding instead of Friday. To ensure that everybody was well aware of this break with tradition, I sent out invitations to our rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. This was one of the few DIY projects I did for our wedding.

Sadly, it's been so long, I don't remember where I got the graphics or exactly which font I used. I do know that it's one of the fonts from Fonts For Peas. I printed them on some cardstock I had picked up at Hobby Lobby and mailed them in extra invitation envelopes.

So, on to the rehearsal. You'll remember that our priest did not want to discuss the ceremony prior to the rehearsal, so I was very anxious to have our rehearsal and figure everything out. I had never been to a Nuptial Mass before, so I had no idea what to expect.

Sadly, after our rehearsal, I still didn't really know what to expect! We practiced walking down the aisle and when to stand, sit, kneel etc. (which I already knew from regular Mass.) The readers got a chance to practice with the microphone and the gift bearers practiced their part. We ran through it a couple times, but we never actually discussed the ceremony.

I had typed up and printed very detailed programs since very few people attending our wedding were Catholic. I had no idea if the priest was even going to say the things I had written. I really hoped that he would or I was going to look pretty stupid when people tried to follow along during the ceremony. I got all of the wording from the book he gave us and the missilet we use during regular Masses.

After the rehearsal, the priest held a special confession time for us and anybody else who wanted to confess. I did appreciate that because I did want to confess before our wedding and it was nice not to have to make a trip to the regular confession on Friday night.

Then it was time for dinner! We held the rehearsal dinner at our favorite local pizza place. We went there pretty regularly while we were dating and if M had had his way, they would have catered our reception. The rehearsal dinner was limited just to those who were involved with the wedding and their spouses. This was due to the size of the private room the restaurant had and the fact that many people would not be arriving from out of town until the next day.

I don't have any pictures from the rehearsal or the dinner, but we had a great time. We had a nice dinner of delicious pizza and then M and I said a few words. We thanked everybody for attending and being part of our wedding. We then passed out gifts.

We gave our readers, M's sister and great aunt, gift cards to restaurants.

We gave our moms 1 year subscriptions to Netflix. We decided on this because M and I both had our own Netflix subscriptions when we lived with our moms and now that neither of us would be living with them, they no longer had access to Netflix. They both really loved this!
We gave our groomsmen and usher watches. And since he likes to be just like my brother, we gave our ring bearer a watch as well.

I found the perfect gift for our flower girl a few weeks before the wedding. I wanted to get her something wedding related, so I was excited when I found this.

 Our flower girl loved this!
Finally, it was time to give my bridesmaids their gifts.

They each got a Vera Bradley cosmetic bag. (Which I got at the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale, of course!)

And a pair of navy blue Old Navy flip flops to wear at the reception when their feet got tired.

I also bought them jewelry to wear for the wedding. They each received a necklace, bracelet and earrings made with Montana blue crystals.

But wait, we had one more gift for the guys!

It wouldn't be an argyle wedding without argyle socks would it? And lucky for them, I found the socks in our wedding colors. Who doesn't love getting a pair of bright pink argyle socks? They all groaned, but wait until you see our pictures!


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Sunday, May 8, 2011

Pinterest Sunday

Time for my weekly Pinterest roundup! Every Sunday, I share with you a few of my favorite finds from the previous week.

I love nail polish and buy too much of it, but how can I resist when I see things like this?
Source: google.com via Jenn on Pinterest

The Essie line of nail polish has recently become available at drug stores and the colors are all over Pinterest. This is their color "Turquoise and Caicos" which I bought at Meijer the other night because I just love it so much. I can't wait to paint my toes with it! I think I'll get a French manicure pen to add the polka dots.

Next, this recipe looks so delicious!

Restaurant Style Carne Asada Soft Tacos
She used tortilla bread for this and I am desperate to find it because it looks so good. So far, no luck with any of my local grocery stores.

Finally, this dress has been repinned a lot ever since I first pinned it.
Source: vintageous.com via Jenn on Pinterest

Isn't it gorgeous? I just love vintage dresses.



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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Wedding Wednesday: A Royal Wedding

Normally on Wednesday, I share with you a recap of my own wedding. This week, I was going to tell you about our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, but sadly my power source in my computer died and I must wait for a new one to arrive. The pictures I wanted to share are on that computer, so I must postpone that post. Hopefully, next week!

In honor of Wedding Wednesday, I'd like to share with you some pictures from the Royal Wedding of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge. I love these two so much and their wedding was so beautiful. I love looking at all the pictures and hearing new details of the day.







Source: flickr.com via Jenn on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Jenn on Pinterest

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