What Color Should I Be?

I am really struggling with what colors I want to have for my wedding. Me being the practical person that I am really want my bridesmaids to have a dress that they will actually be able to wear again for some other occasion. It feels strange even talking about bridesmaid dresses at all. When this whole concept of planning a wedding started I was only planning on having my two sisters in it and was just going to have them buy dresses on their own in a certain color or basic black or even wear something they already had in their closet if it was appropriate. Then, as the wedding machine rolled along I started to feel like I really wanted my oldest friends to be a part of it also. The number of bridesmaids has grown to 3-5 depending on availability. I didn't want to make a big to do about everything but now it just makes more sense to coordinate.

I love pink. It is absolutely my favorite color. But how will Mj's groomsmen feel about wearing pink accents on their tux's? I already know Mj doesn't want to wear any pink but that's OK because he can be in black and white. The pink bridesmaid dresses look funny online on the David's Bridal website. Almost garish. Making me think it might be better to go with black and maybe do a pink sash to compliment the dresses. Should my color just be pink or pink and black? Black and white is always so classic and so beautiful but I feel like I want that splash of color in there too. I thought about jade green at first because I know the drapes in the reception room are going to be that color and thought about putting brown with it but brown just seems so drab. Other then the bridesmaid dresses I am not sure how else I can coordinate my "color" into the wedding anyhow. Our wedding package includes white or off white linens for the table and one choice of colored napkin. The chairs are gold ballroom style which I have decided not to cover in order to cut costs considering that they are decent chairs although white would be a better color. I still haven't decided on centerpieces yet. Flowers are so expensive that I am trying to come up with some other alternative that might incorporate whatever color I choose.

I need to see and try on the bridesmaid dresses myself. If I don't think the color and the dress is cute and re wearable then I don't want to put my bridesmaids in it. It will also make it easier for me to decide on invitations once I get the colors nailed down.

Guess I better get my butt over to David's Bridal after all and get on with the whole wedding dress shopping thing while they are still having their sale. I was trying to put it off for financial reasons but I don't know when their next sale will be and I don't want to find myself pushing it too close. It will also help me nail down my colors which will help me make decisions about everything else.

Who ever thought deciding on a simple color could be so complicated? That's wedding planning for ya.

Cuddle Time Interrupted

I was almost late for work Friday morning. I am generally not all that thrilled about getting out of bed at 6:25 am no matter how much sleep I got but what made it so difficult that morning was Mj. As soon as my alarm went off and I turned to the right to hit snooze his arms encircled me and he rested his cheek on my back in such a cozy way that I smiled to myself and sighed as I snuggled back under the covers.

There it goes again. That darn alarm. Why won't it leave us alone? I hit snooze again for the second time which is normal. When it went off again this is normally the point where no matter how good it feels to be cuddled up I force myself to get out of bed because although I should get out of bed at 2 snoozes I haven't been able to get out of bed any sooner then 3 for a long time and that is REALLY pushing it. For some reason I ignored the voice of reason that told me if I didn't get out of bed RIGHT THIS MINUTE I was going to be late.

I enjoyed every last extra minute I got to stay in bed with Mj's warm arms around me. He is the best cuddler. I was just so comfortable and it felt so perfect to be right there in that moment that I didn't want to move. After that 4th snooze I finally disentangled myself from those amazing arms and threw my reluctant legs over the side of the bed to start my morning routine. I was rushing which I hate and just barely made it to work in time but it was worth it.

I hear so many women complain that their husband doesn't show them affection. He won't hold their hand and doesn't like to cuddle or hug. I am so glad I don't have that problem. I crave that physical affirmation of love and Mj has no problem with giving it to me.

That's just one more reason why I love the weekends. Not only do I NOT have to be forced out of bed by some annoying alarm clock but I get to cuddle as much as I want.

Are Photos On Wedding Invites Lame?

Is it lame to put a couple picture on your wedding invitation? I am searching the Internet for low cost wedding invitations and come across a few websites that give you the option of uploading a picture. I googled "low cost wedding invitations" and Vista Print came up near the top. You can order everything in increments of 10 which is nice and customize your order online. I only saw one fold over design. The envelopes are not included but they are so inexpensive that even after you add on a matching envelope you can still get 100 for as low as $80 with the sale they have going. I don't know how long the sale is going to last or if they are always that low. I also heard about Double Trouble Designs from another blogger. Their lowest price is: $150 for 100 plus a $40 design fee. Their designs are really cute and modern. 1st Class Wedding Invitations offers quality outer and inner envelopes and have a wide range of prices from $.86 cents to $4.50 each (based on a 100 order) with some great designs that can be ordered in increments of 25. The less you order the higher the price-gets which in some cases makes it not such a good deal. In all cases the RSVP portion is an additional cost.

People keep asking me what my colors are and as I started looking at invitations I started to feel like I should know my colors before I select the invites so that they can match. On the other hand, "Who really cares?" It is such a minor detail that it probably won't matter too much one way or another although I know that some brides will go to great lengths to coordinate every single little detail.

Just last week we received a beautifully embossed wedding invitation that opened up into 3 different panels that were artfully closed together by a pretty satin ribbon. "There will be no ribbons on our invitations." I immediately thought. Namely because those ribbons probably aren't cheap. On the other hand I don't want my invitations to be tacky. It should not look like I went to Cheap Invitations R Us. It doesn't need to be formal but I still want it to convey the elegance of our event.

I really want to get the wording on the RSVP just right too. I want it to be clear without sounding rude that the invite is extended to invited guests only. If your name is not on the invitation then you were not invited and you can't bring so and so if the plus one we have named on the invitation can't come. This means I should probably get an inner envelope aside from the outer one that will be addressed, mailed and probably thrown away, so that I can write the guest name on the outside of something they might hang onto. I also want names indicated on the RSVP so that not only do I know numbers but I will also have the name of each attending guest to write on name cards for the reception.

I can't believe that people pay into the $400's for 100 invitations. OK, I take that back. I can believe it but it's not something I plan on doing. Invitation Consultants has some really pretty invitations and some designs are as low as $104 for $100 that include outer envelopes only but most of them are way too pricey for me. What I did find useful is their nice selection of unique and classic wording idea's for invitations and RSVP's.

I'll keep searching for now and hopefully come up with something soon. I did not do save the dates because I have only started planning 6 months in advance. I am just going to spread the word right now by word of mouth and e mail.

According to About.com

Question: How far in advance should I address and send wedding invitations?

Answer: You should probably start to address your wedding invitations three months before the wedding. (If you have a calligrapher, check with them four months before the wedding as to when they need your guest list and invitations.) Ideally, wedding invitations are sent 8 weeks before the wedding – allowing guests several weeks to make travel arrangements and arrange time off from work if necessary, before sending them back to you.

Remember, you'll need to get them back in advance so you can start labeling place cards, make final head counts, etc. Ask for an RSVP date 3 weeks before your wedding, if you sent them on time. At a minimum, send them out six weeks in advance, and set an RSVP date of 2 weeks before the wedding.

My wedding date is July 10. I absolutely do not have a calligrapher!! People do that?!? Since I didn't do save the dates and a lot of guests will have to travel in order to come I am going to send the invitations out March 1st and request RSVP by June 1st to try to accommodate the inevitable stragglers that won't reply by the date I've asked.

I've got some time to make a final decision. If I decide to go with Vista Print I HOPE that they still have those low prices when I am ready to order. If they don't this frugal bride is gonna be mad.

Cooking For Dummies

Since Mj has been home he's been cooking up quite a storm in the kitchen. Everything he makes tastes good and I am pretty much the assistant. I did make beef stew in the crock pot alone but not really because he told me everything I was supposed to do. I want to get into the kitchen and make dinner for him on my own so that's exactly what I did last night. I can't come up with meals off the top of my head like Mj. I don't know what Bay Leaves are or how to season food and put it together but that's what cookbooks are for right?

Mj puts me to shame in the kitchen and probably always will, but as his wife I still want to make my contribution to the cooking. I also think it's important to share and enjoy meals together. I think he will appreciate my effort and it makes me feel good to do something for him. My unwillingness to and lack of desire to do so in my previous marriage was a mistake that I don't plan to repeat. Food used to be my mortal enemy. It was always seen as something for me to resist so why would I want to bring more into my house and cook it? Especially when I could get by on canned soup, a sandwich, or nothing at all. Not only that but it was the LAST thing I wanted to do after getting home from work. That was the old me; things are different now.

Mj picked up the ingredients I needed while I was at work. I rushed home and into the kitchen to make the easy and totally not fancy Broccoli & Pasta Bianco. It's basically pasta, broccoli and cheese. I found the recipe online at Campbell's Kitchen. The site is full of simple and quick to prepare low fat recipes mostly centered around their canned soups. It fits right into my post holiday eating recovery plan and something a beginner like me should be able to handle. I needed something quick because I don't get home until 5:30pm or so.

I threw everything together and ended up with a lot of extra pasta that Mj will undoubtedly find something tasty to make with. It only took 25 minutes to bake and looked and smelled pretty good coming out of the oven. We had some dinner rolls with it and were able to eat by 7:15pm.

The verdict? It turned out OK. It could have had more flavor but it tasted good. I felt kind of bad because everything Mj makes is so delicious and mine was just so so. Chef Mj suggested that real garlic and pepper would have probably given it more flavor. The recipe called for some ground pepper and I added some Garlic salt but I guess that just didn't cut it.

I will never be on Top Chef but I was really hoping that I wouldn't end up on Worst Cook's In America either. We watched that show on Monday and the best that some of them could do is make canned soup or boil a chicken. I am not that bad off, but I am a long way from being good.

Post Holiday Eating

I did pretty good over the holidays in terms of not over indulging just because there was food and chocolate everywhere I turned. I tend to have pretty decent willpower when it comes to eating in moderation but it kind of went downhill for me on Christmas Eve. Mj and I stopped and got breakfast sandwiches from McDonald's on the way to my mom's. Once I got there I couldn't seem to stop eating, drinking, and snacking on everything in sight. That led right into our trip the day after Christmas. The only thing worse then holiday eating is vacation eating and I did plenty of it. We didn't eat out every single day but I found myself eating way more then I normally do and feeling just a bit like a stuffed pig. I have what is probably a bad habit of stepping on the scale every day and I hated it that I had no idea how much damage I was doing while I was away.

Granted, I have what Mj refers to as a "complex" when it comes to weight and food. I admit it. I tell him how fat I feel and he laughs and rolls his eyes telling me that I am not even close. I don't dare tell my friends I feel fat because it will probably just piss them off. I am not fishing for compliments or trying to be that annoying skinny girl who always complains about being fat. I really mean it. I appear slim on the outside to others even though I feel big on the inside so they are never all that sympathetic. I can't say that I blame them. On more then one occasion I was told by one of Mj's relatives that I was "so skinny," but I don't see that when I look in the mirror. I probably still ate less on the trip then what a lot of people do but it was WAY more then usual putting me outside my "comfort zone" and triggering my weight anxiety. Realistically, I know this but there is this thing inside my head telling me that because I gained 2.5 lbs over Christmas break that I am huge.

Anyhow, since I've been back I have fortunately not gone on a starvation diet as I might have done in the past. Aside from our New Years Eve steak dinner plus tons of bread and dessert [oh my] I have been on what I guess I will call a modified sandwich diet. I was just so sick of food and eating. I need to eat light right now just to unclog my system.

I am getting back into my "normal" eating routine and starting to feel better inside my skin which is good. I just have to keep it up.

Spilt Milk

Laugh at myself story for the day:

It is not uncommon for there to be a cup of water just sitting in the fridge. Often times I will get some water to drink, not drink it all and just stick it back in the fridge. If I am thirsty again later I'll just reach into the fridge and grab it.

Well, yesterday I reached into the fridge and grabbed the water cup but when I took a swallow I was met with a very unfortunate surprise. Instead of water it was spoiled and rancid milk that had been sitting in the fridge the whole time we were out of town. It only took a few seconds for my taste buds to to tell my brain "Crap, It's not water!!!!" before I was running towards the sink to spit it out.

I'm the type of person who has never vomited outside of a toilet no matter how much alcohol consumed. I go through 5 napkins during one meal because I have to wipe my fingers after every time I pick up a piece of finger food and can't stand to see crumbs on the kitchen counter, but I could not hold in this rancid milk long enough to make it the entire 3 steps from my fridge to my sink. I almost did, so there wasn't too much spillage but the taste was so disgusting that I hardly even cared. I just kept spitting and moaning and rinsing my mouth out with water. Mj came rushing into the kitchen thinking I'd fallen or something! Ok, maybe I am dramatic but it was pretty traumatic at first. It was disgusting and funny at the same time.

"Mj bring me my toothbrush." I couldn't even bear to stop spitting, sputtering, and rinsing long enough to go to the bathroom and get it myself. As the shock wore off we both started laughing because it is quite hilarious when you really think about it.

I proceeded to cleanse my mouth of that horrible taste. Has anyone ever had curdled chunky sour milk? Well, I don't suggest that you do.

Mj says "that's why you should always look before you drink." Lesson learned.