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Monday, January 26, 2009

Which Way to the Wedding?

Even before Jason and I got engaged, I starred this blog post from an Excited Bride about a personalized sign she had ordered through Etsy for her wedding day. I absolutely fell in love with it and knew that this was a must-have for our wedding day.

Once our venue was squared away, I picked the perfect place for this sign to hang (I had to get the direction of the arrow right!). I ordered it just a couple of weeks ago and ta da...




The sign is custom made by SignsbyDiane who is amazing! She works with you to make sure you get exactly what you want. You get to choose the color of the sign, lettering, and even your font. Diane will also place different hooks on the back of the sign for you based on how you plan on hanging it. We went with mirror hooks because we are going to hang it with ribbon. Diane will also send you a picture of your custom sign before she ships it to ensure it's perfect!
Since I am in love with anything vintage-inspired, this sign is made for me. It also makes a nice keepsake for your home after the wedding.

Go check our SignsbyDiane on Etsy! Besides this wedding sign, she has a huge selection of other gorgeous signs for your home. I definitely see more of these signs in my future!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Open House


Today Jason and I are going to an open house at our wedding/reception venue! They are hosting an open house for couples who are getting married there and for prospective couples. They will have menu samples and lots of different vendors that regularly work there.

Our wedding coordinator at the location said this will be a great way to get inspiration for our wedding day look. I am hoping this will do just that!

I would love to walk away have these things done:

-Linens picked out
-Chair covers decided on
-DJ
-Florist and inspiration for what floral decorations will be needed

Another update: Jason and I have a ceremony musician and she is kind of a big deal...she plays for the Houston Symphony!!!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Wedding Diet - Weigh Day

I weigh myself everyday not to be obsessed, but for self-monitoring. It keeps me in check, but is also a great way to see results and stay motivated. I do my official weigh ins once per week with a counselor at Jenny Craig. I always get nervous-not that they are mean to you if you aren't losing weight, but I feel like I'm a bad student or something.

Today was my week 3 weigh-in and I lost 2 more pounds for a total of 5 pounds and counting!

Focus of the week: Drink more water. I start feeling nauseous if I drink too much plain water so add some lemon or lime to jazz it up!

Next weigh in is this Sunday. Good luck on your weeks everyone!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Great Wedding Band Debate

I have a huge decision to make and I keep going back and forth! I know I am being dramatic and this is really a fun thing to have to worry with. My engagement ring is so beautiful-I love it so much and it is perfectly unique for me. It does have a unique shape to it so a flat wedding band will not sit flush on it. It is very vintage-looking-my fave!!! When I first saw the ring where it was designed (after I absolutley fell in love with it), I thought-"oh no!" I love it, but what will I do for a wedding band??? These are my options:

a. No band-just wear the engagement ring because it is pretty enough to stand alone
b. Have a band custom made to fit against the ring by the jeweler who designed and made the engagement ring. If I choose this option, I have already spoken to the jeweler and he suggests a thin band with small channel-set round diamonds to match my ring.

c. Get a traditional wedding band, wear it on my right hand and then if I ever don't want to wear the full on engagement ring, I can just wear the band on my left hand.






I need your opinion! Is anyone out there that has faced this dilemma?

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Diet Update


I had my first weigh in this afternoon and I lost 3 pounds! Yay! My goal for this week is to be more active - take more steps and try to hit the gym at this once this week.

My celebrity body-role model this week is Kate Winslet. She looks amazing, but doesn't buy into the sick Hollywood standards of having to be a twig. She looks healthy and is drop dead gorgeous! As I am typing she just won a golden globe and is so precious. The pic above is from the globes tonight.

Good luck to everyone this week who is working on their own plans. Have a great week!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The Wedding Diet

It's time to tackle the oh-so personal issue that is so not fun, but a must a major must-do in my wedding planning...the wedding diet! Really it is not so much a wedding diet because that alludes that as soon as the wedding is over, the diet is done. It is more of a lifetime diet with May 23 being my main motivation at the moment.

A little background- I may be crazy for sharing with everyone my weight issues, but my hopes in doing so is that this helps other people who are in the same boat (plus it will hold me accountable). I read other blogs that talk about diet successes and those serve as a great inspiration for me. My weight goes up and goes down, goes back up and then back down. You should see my closest- I have so many different sizes, but I never want to throw out the sizes I am not currently wearing because my past experience show that I will end up changing sizes yet again.

I'm 5'4'' and have a pear shaped body. Small arms, chest, and waist, but large hips, booty and thighs! Currently I weight 146 and wear a 8/10. My junior and senior year of high school was when I was at my smallest-100 pounds. I will never ever be that size again-let's be realistic, but I constantly look back on those days for inspiration on what I was doing. I ran and I ran and I ran. I was in the best shape ever. It also helped that I worked at the YMCA so was constantly surrounded by health and wellness, but really, high school, what stresses do you have then? I lived on subway and smoothies, plus I had a 16 year old's metabolism.
Like many, I started packing on the pounds in college. Cafeteria food, college lifestyle, and major stress-eating while I studied. Oh, and did I mention that I waited tables and bartended at Chili's? I lived on "soup shots", chips and queso and everything else on that menu. By the time I graduated, I was around a size 8, 135 pounds. When I moved to Houston and got a real job, I started Jenny Craig and dropped about 15 pounds. Over the next year I gained the weight back while going through a very difficult time in my life. About 6 months later, I got back on Jenny for a short stint, lost about 12 pounds, looked great, felt confident and then met the love of my life, Jason. A few months after meeting Jason, I got lazy because I was blissfully happy and ended up getting off of Jenny.

Now, 2 years later, I have gained all of the weight back and then some! I am the heaviest I have ever been and am not happy about the way I look and feel. I am working full-time and going to graduate school for an MBA so I have quit the gym and started the whole stress-study eating habit again. Plus, I am now in the habit of eating the exact same things and amounts that my fiance eats. My body just can't handle that! One thing that I want to emphasize is that I am not doing this for any other reason than for me! No one has told me I need to lose weight and my amazing fiance always assures me that I look great. I just don't feel pretty anymore. I also don't feel very healthy. I want to feel and look great on our wedding day and be proud to show off our pictures for the rest of our lives. I don't want to look back and cringe thinking, wow, I look bad!
So that is where my head is at! I have an amazing support system in place- Jason, my mom, and my amazing friend, Page!

I decided to go back to Jenny Craig. I really do believe in this program because it has worked so well for me in the past, when I stuck with it of course! I have been on the program for one week now. My plan is to post about once per week to give an update on how things are going, what has worked for me, what hasn't and what I have learned. I hope this can help other readers as other blogs have helped me!

Bad pic, but shows my skinnier face in college, btw, that is not a boyfriend, it is a waiter from a cruise I went on:



After college when I moved back to Houston:




When I first met Jason, I had a much skinnier face than I do now:



Jason and I in May '08- much rounder face and body. In this pic, I was about the same weight as I am now:



December 08:



I can't wait to show you progress as it comes!!! Wish me luck-I'm gonna need it!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

I Love Peacocks!



I love when peacocks are incorporated into weddings. I haven't decided how to incorporate this into my own wedding yet besides having actual peacocks roaming around of course!

Here's the inspiration:



This one isn't wedding related, but I just learned that Vera Bradley now has rugs...is it any surprise that my favorite is the peacock pattern! This would look great in my kitchen:

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

How To Ask Your MOH

I asked my friend and future sister-in-law to be my maid of honor over the Christmas holiday. I knew I wanted to present her with something special as a surprise as my way of asking her. I waited until all of us had opened all of our presents and then I said, "Oh wait, we forgot one....here Jeanna this is for you!"

This is what I presented her with:



It had a yellowbird (her fave Vera Bradley pattern) Clipboard, a yellowbird organizer, The Bridesmaid's Handbook, and the "Made of Honor" DVD. She had no idea what was going on until she opened the card:



And then came the tears...






It was really fun for all of us to watch her open everything. I am so happy she said yes! What have other people done to ask their wedding party?

Monday, January 5, 2009

We're Making Progress Folks

The Save the Dates are in the mail, we booked a photographer, all dresses have been ordered, Jason's band is on it's way, invitations are ordered, and we registered at both Macy's and Crate and Barrel! We were very productive on our vacation. I have even started a wedding diet...really it's just a feel better about myself diet, but the wedding is great motivation. Post on that coming later in the week!

Also, our wedding website is up and ready!


Next on the to-do list:
-Florist
-Cakes
-Musician for ceremony
-DJ for reception


Now, a great picture from the Blue-Eyed Bride. Jason and I will have our engagement session soon so we need to think about what we like and more importantly, how we can incorporate Tucker into all of this!
 

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