Bionic Jump Cut

We did it. We’re 4 for 4 on dresses. Nobody pooped in the sink or got sick from Indian Food.

I must say I underestimated the complexity of finding dresses for my BM’s. Ok, so I knew I certainly wasn’t making things easy for myself. Less than 80 days until the wedding. One BM is in Baton Rouge, LA. Blah, blah, blah….oh, and I wanted each girl to have a different dress in a different color. 

Some inspiration:

I figured we could just find each girl a dress in a store at the mall. Not so much. We covered the entire mall looking for pretty dresses in soft solid colors - um, no. We found neon, bold prints, and satin. Gross. 

We also found that Nordstrom now offers a bridal service. Score. And we found that dresses are in stock and can arrive within 3 - 8 business days. Double score. We chose two styles and colors that we really liked. 2 down, 2 to go. 

We ventured to Alfred Angelo (holler, PROM) but it was a total bust. They had nothing we liked, and wouldn’t even rush the dresses if we didn’t order that day. Boo.

A quick Google search told us there was a David’s Bridal a few blocks away, so we made the venture. After some super serious puzzle work (no, serious) since they don’t make every dress style in every color in every size - we really had to game plan it out. Like, to the point of brain numbing exhaustion…thank baby Jesus I had 3 smarty-pants BM’s with me. 

We thought we locked two dresses at David’s Bridal - but we weren’t able to order one of them. No worries - the dress showed up as available in the system - we just needed to call and order it during East Coast Business hours the next day. 

The next day we find out the dress isn’t available and we needed to find one more dress. Back to Nordstroms for the final dress - ordered online and done! 

And that is the saga of the dresses. End scene. 

If you watch TLC you know what that acronym stands for. Say Yes to The Dress! I wasn’t super excited about dress shopping, I wasn’t giddy or even happy about it. Nope. I was dreading it. Wedding dress shopping combines three of my least favorite things: Shopping. Spending Money. Sales People. Not to mention that I may have been scarred by the horrors of shopping for a Prom dress to fit my 5’12” fame. No fun. 

I was also extremely nervous about the timeline. If you watch SYTTD you know that the Bridal Consultants have a heart attack anytime a bride says their wedding is less than 6 months away. Urban myth says it takes 6 months for the dress to arrive, then another several months of fittings and alterations. Blah. I don’t have 6 months. I have 80+ days. 

I’ve also learned that anytime you put the word “wedding” infront of another word it triples the cost of said items. WEDDING flowers, WEDDING cake and WEDDING dress. So. Dumb. 

I refused to spend a small fortune on my dress. It’s a special dress, but you wear it for one day. One very special day, but I can’t even spend $40 on a shirt - how am I going to drop $$$$ on a one time only wear item? No thank you. Not to mention I have plans for a “trash the dress” photo shoot someday ;) 

I had started doing research online. Looking for styles and dresses I liked. I knew I wanted it to have sleeves, my waterpolomanshoulders don’t look super cute in a strapless and I’m not a fan of hooking my thumbs in my dress all night to keep tugging it up. I also really liked the classic and simple look of a lace dress.

Here are a few I was using for inspiration:

None of these dresses were “the one” but they all contributed something to my final pick. Momma-son and I did one day of dress shopping solo. We went to a Bridal Salon in Upland. They have a whole room full of retired sample size dresses that you can purchase for $500 and under. Now we’re talking! 

None of the sample dresses were right, and they would have needed some serious alterations to work. We went back to the salon and I tried on some dresses the consultant pulled for me. I really liked one I tired on, it had everything I wanted…but it was $1,400. Yikes. 

The next day we had plans to meet my MOH (DeeAnna) and Bridesmaid (Haleyface) along with DeeAnna’s Mom and Momma-son at David’s Bridal. At first I wasn’t too hip on the idea of a dress from DB. I’m not a fan of cookie cutter styles. But, I realized that DB was a mass-produced, chain store located around the country. Which means, the dresses are readily available and affordable. It was worth a shot. 

The consultant was helpful and patient. The first dress I tried on became “the one.” I tried on several other dresses but they didn’t measure up to that first dress. It had everything I wanted. Did I cry when I realized it was the dress? Nope. You know me, clothes don’t make me weep. But, I was grinning ear to ear because I realized I didn’t have to try on any more dresses! Yay! 

When we got down to business they had my size in the dress style in the store, which was a prefect fit. The lady from alterations even confirmed I wouldn’t need any alterations done for sizing. Boom! Saving $$! 

We ordered the dress and it’ll arrive a month before the wedding (no extra charge for the rush, either!) and I’ll have plenty of time to get the dress pressed and the bustle added. 

Was dress shopping a magical experience, where there rainbows and unicorns? Not in my dressing room. The best word to describe the whole event - relief. Outside of the weather on the wedding day, almost everything else is in my control. Where we get the food, the flowers, how my make-up looks, the music we play - but the dress, that was totally out of my hands. 

I SYTTD and I’m happy to check that off my list! 

I’m a bad blogger. Life got exciting and I forgot to write it all down. I sorry. 

Let’s rewind to April 19, 2012. It was a Thursday. Exactly one week since this happened:

We moved into the house! We got a house, a yard, a driveway, a dog, and a washer and dryer! Can you guess what I was most excited about? If you guessed the washer and dryer you are correct! No more laundromat! Praise Baby Jesus. 

So, Thursday April 19, 2012. I awoke to a muffled “ow!” and discovered Manfriend in his PJ’s playing with some exposed wires in a light switch. Sweet. It was time to start the cleaning and housework. We spent the day completing small tasks around the house. Manfriend had requested the night before that we go to dinner at one of our favorite “date night” restaurants. So after a day of doing some very icky things, we cleaned up and headed to sushi. 

Over our favorite rolls (no seriously, they’re so amazing we have them in a list on Manfriend’s phone) we dreamed and made plans for our new home. We returned to the house, and Manfriend found a bottle of wine, asking if I had unpacked any candles. I rounded some up and we enjoyed our wine by candle light. We talked about nothing in particular, just enjoying some down time after a very busy day. 

Then, Manfriend told me he had something to ask me. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I went all girlie and started crying, between tears squeaking out a YES! He reached to get something out of his pocket, asking if I said yes - since he couldn’t hear me the first time :) I said yes, yes, yes!! And he slipped the ring onto my finger - a perfect fit.

After the initial shock set in, I realized it was so dark I didn’t see the ring. Manfriend realized this, and asked if I would like to see it. He brought over one of the candles and I got my first view at the most perfect ring. 

I had a million questions. How did he pull this off?! He’d had the ring for a month, carrying it around with him everywhere he went. He’d spent his mornings before a late call shopping for rings. He even found time to talk to my Dad.

I was a mushy mess at this point. Just deliriously mumbling ”we’re getting married” over and over with a giant grin on my face. 

I didn’t blog about it right away, but I will never forget the events of April 19th, 2012.

Now comes the fun.crazy.exciting.scary part - planning a wedding in 81 days! No - I’m not preggers! Which is the initial reaction I get when I tell people the wedding date - after they choke on their coffee when they realize I mean THIS July. 

I have so much to fill you in on…next up, the wedding dress! 

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Sorry. Life happened. Lots of life things. Let’s get caught up. 

Since we last chatted:

- Manfriend and I booked a trip to Hawaii in July. He’s never been and I can’t wait to show him Ohau. 

- I moved into a house. Yes, a real house. With a driveway and everything.

- I spent 3 hours cleaning the fridge in aforementioned house. So. Gross.  

- I remembered how to play Water Polo! Alumni games are the best. Seeing old friends and catching up is even better.

- Got sunburnt. Ouch. WTH is my brain? Since when do I  forget to put on sunscreen?

- Popped a breaker while trying to cook dinner in the new house. Oops. 

- Decided to run a half marathon AND do a Triathlon. Bring it.

There. All done.

Happy Tuesday. Tuesday’s make me want Tacos…Taco Tuesday. Mmmm. 

On Saturday I did my 3rd 5k in 3 weeks. Whoo! I can officially say I’m hooked and I’m looking for a new goal. I ran the Hollywood Half 5k on Saturday with friends. It was a really disorganized race, but it was their first, so I’m sure they’ll get lots of feed back and improve the race for next year. 

I ran without shades, and for the out and back course the first 1.5 miles were directly into the sun. After turning around I enjoyed the flat road back to the finish line. I improved my time from the Hot Chocolate 5k and ran a 31:57! 

I’ve been dreaming about signing up for more races, and some triathlons. I’m really proud of the running endurance I’ve built up so far, and I don’t want to lose it. I want to starting working on adding more miles to my runs. I’ve looked at a few training plans and I’ve decided I want to run a half marathon in the Fall. 

Crazy, huh?

I’m planning to register for the lottery for the Women’s Nike Marathon (Half) on October, 14. It’s a pretty amazing race. And you get a TIFFANY necklace at the finish line. The trick is…it’s a lottery, so there’s no guarantee. 

Finger’s crossed and running shoes laced up, it’ll come together. 

Here’s to long runs in the summer. In the Valley. Yep, I’ve lost my mind. 

Saturday I ran a 3.9 mile Mud Run at Irvine Lake in Orange County with my bestie, her brother and his wife.

Where did I get my sweet outfit? The Thrift Store…for less than $3.00! Win!

We arrived early for our heat at 10:15am, but we started on time. Which was amazing considering how many people were there. The race started with individual runners at 8:00am, and we were in the 4 Group Teams that started at 10:00am. 

The weather was overcast and grey, but we didn’t mind. Yet. 

We hit the course and started chipping away at the obstacles. There were mud pits, water pits, hills, water slides, nets to crawl under, walls to crawl over, and poles to jump over. I enjoyed the muddy pits at the end of the race much better than the long stretches of running hills and switchbacks in the beginning. 

I was nervous about falling, and since the ground was very uneven and rocky I was super aware of where I was putting my feet. I took it slow down all the hills…it was creepy that the feeling of sliding down a hill felt so similar to when I fell and broke my bionic ankle. Wait, that’s because I slid down a hill when I broke my ankle! By the end of the course many people were sliding down into the mud pits on their bottoms, and I happily joined them. I prefer to be closer to the ground - I’m tall and I have a long way to fall! 

We finished the race in about 1:30. There was some major crowding at some of the obstacles, and some major getting stuck in the Jurassic Park Mud. 

At the end we looked like this:

Yum.

I couldn’t wait to get my mud and rock shoes off - they weighted 10lbs each! The race had fire hoses and showers to clean off, but they were powered by hose water. Chilly. 

The weather never warmed up so we were dying to be clean, dry and warm. It was sort of a bummer that the weather was chilly, and we were soaked because it would have been fun to enjoy the beer garden and food trucks at the race after party. 

I made it out with minimal injuries. Just some bruises and scrapes. 

Most of the race I was longing for some level paved ground to run on. I’ll get my wish at the Hollywood 5k on Saturday :) 

I watched a documentary today called Hungry for Change. I’m aways a sucker for a good documentary…Loose Change, Food, Inc., Iraq for Sale. 

I heard about Hungry for Change on one of the Healthy Living blogs I read. The documentary is screening for free online until Saturday so I thought I would give it a shot.

Most of the information presented isn’t anything new, but it’s always powerful to have stats and percentages thrown at you. Our bodies aren’t designed to be unhealthy and overweight. Their natural state is to be clean and lean. 

It’s amazing how much sugar, chemicals and processed by-products we consume daily. if you haven’t seen Food, Inc. I highly recommend that you watch. You think the PINK SLIME issue is something new to the food industry? Nope. It just finally hit the masses. 

God made our bodies to be efficient and productive. I only get one body, and one chance at this life. So I should make the best of it. Our bodies are amazing machines, they can heal, grow and reproduce. You remember biology class? It’s amazing what our bodies are capable of!

It’s unfair to be angry at our bodies for not being ENOUGH. Pretty. Skinny. We can’t blame our bodies for not preforming to perfection when we’re filling them with unnatural fuel. That’s our fault. We need to be healthy. 

Educate yourself. Go for a walk. Drink an extra glass of water. Eat a green veggie. 

I did it! I completed my first 5k! It was a crowded and hilly course, but I had so much fun and I can’t wait for my next race :)

It was even more fun since I was able to share the experience with my cousin, Heidi. She hosted me for the weekend in her adorable neighborhood of North Park, San Diego.

We started the weekend out by making our shirts for the race:

Hopefully it gave the people behind me something to smile about while we ran :)

We attended the packet pick up on Saturday:

Mmmm…chocolate. 

When we picked up our race jackets they even had us try them on to make sure we got the correct sizes. Smart move RAM Racing…otherwise there would have be lots of unhappy people with jackets two sizes too small.

We ate dinner at the amazing Ranchos Cocina and called it an early night since we had a 5:20am wake up Sunday. 

I was really worried about the potential rain, and very cold conditions on Sunday…but, the weather played nice and my warm layers kept me happy while waiting for the race to start. We were in Corral C by 6:20am and waiting for the start. Heidi’s Madre joined us just in time for the start and we were off! 

The first mile was tough, it was really crowded and there were lots of people walking so I had to do a lot of zig-zagging to get a clear path and find my groove. Oh, and we started on a hill. Started. We climbed on an incline for the first mile and a half. Then, we got a short down hill break. Then we hit a huge hill. It was long and steep. Most people were walking so it was impossible to run up. I also made a mistake and grabbed a Gatorade (thinking it was water) and one sip was enough to anger my happy tummy. Heading up that hill I was faced with a choice: fight to run around people and potentially upchuck, or walk. I chose to keep pre-race banana where it belonged. 

The downhill was fun, but I’m not too confident on RUNNING down a hill. Remember how once I WALKED down a hill and got a bionic ankle? Yea…

We ran under a freeway overpass and all the volunteers were yelling at the runners to stay to the right…I was confused. People were telling me to leave the course and pointing…Then I turned and saw the pacing bike for the 15k on my right shoulder passing me and leading their runners off the course to the split. Nope! I’m running the 5k! Those 15k runners had many more hills to climb. 

A few turns and blocks later I finished in 35:45!

After the race we got this as our reward:

I seriously didn’t think I’d want anything to do with chocolate after the race, but I really liked the fruit so I was happy. See:

The race was really fun, well organized and the weather was beautiful. Such a great first 5k experience. 

For our celebration brunch we went to The Mission and I ordered this amazingness:

It’s called the Mission Rosemarry. Order it. 

After a shower, and a quick coffee meet with my BFF from high school (who was between water polo games) I hit the road north. I knew it was pouring down rain at home and the drive would be rough…and it was. 

ICEE and I were white knuckled a few times, and spent a good deal of the drive in bumper to bumper traffic. 3.5 hours later I was so happy to get home and stretch my tight muscles. 

My Mud Run is this Saturday…here’s to a messy race! 

Nooo. Not Delta Gamma…Domestic Goddess. In a follow up to yesterday’s “P” word post I’m advancing to the next level of DG. I am becoming my Grandmother - I made Quiche for dinner. Send help.

In my defense I had a carton of eggs I need to use. It was either French toast, Giant Omelet, or “Ladies Who Lunch” Food. I had most of the remaining ingredients on hand, and when I saw this Quiche Joy the Baker Posted, I was sold. 

I modified it to my standards…pre-made pie crust, and I added some mushrooms. I needed to use those up too. 

Assembly

Egg Goodness

Into the toaster over you go! Please, a moment of respect for my kitchen, I don’t have a “real” oven. 

She’s baking away right now.

Send your Grandmothers over. Maybe we’ll play Gin and watch the news. It’ll be a grand ‘ol time. 

For those of you who’s minds went south of the waist, and straight to the gutter - shame! For, shame! I’m a lady. And, I was talking about this “P” word that all the other ladies are obsessing over:

If you know me, you know the following:

- I don’t like brushing my hair or wearing matching socks.

- I prefer beers and football to martini’s and shopping.

- I’m crafty in the sense that I like to tie-dye things.

- I don’t like recipes that require more than 30 min to prep, and more than 5 ingredients. 

What would a girl like me find so amazing about Pinterest?

Um, everything! 

I’ve learned how to clean a ceiling fan with a pillow case, how to make cookie dough truffles bites (with Jessey!) and hundreds of way to recycle, repurpose and reinvent all kinds of things!

I was hanging out with Momma-son on Sunday since we had a girl’s afternoon. She’s an avid seamstress, and has been for as long as I can remember. I spent many evenings sitting on the floor of her sewing room watching her feed material through the machine. I have similar fond memories from visiting my great-grandmother. 

I took up sewing in my early teens, and I can run a straight stitch with the best of ‘em. Fun fact: Manfriend can also sew! He can also iron and braid ponytails. I love him. 

Pinterest has renewed my interest in sewing and I found myself longing to have access to a machine, fabric and a pattern. Momma-son loaned me an antique Singer for my current hobby. 

Besides “pinning” sewing ideas and crafts, I’m craving a trip to the fabric store to pick out some material for an apron I want to make :) 

Who would have thought…me? 

Pinterest: breeding the domestic goddesses of tomorrow.