potential flowers?

I really love these flowers....

found here

wedding shoes round two....

I didn't go to work the Friday after President's Day since I worked on the holiday itself, so naturally I went shopping - and found THE MOST PERFECT WEDDING SHOES (again). They were yellow. They were Cole Haan (whom I have had a longstanding and unabashed love affair with for years). They were flat. Unfortunately, they were a size too small, and they only had one pair on the rack (clearance obviously).
I contemplated torturing my feet for just one day, after all they were perfect, for maybe 10 minutes and in the end decided against it after what happened with the last 'perfect shoes'.

I had found two other pairs of shoes I was getting so I made my way up to the counter; I waited in line; I asked - just out of curiosity if they had any shoes out back. They said, typically clearance shoes are all out on the racks, but volunteered to check anyways. I waited in suspense. The cashier said the women checking would probably just call if she didn't have any left.....no call came. I saw her, she had two boxes of shoes in her hands. I got excited, my stomach got all fluttery.....they were MY size!!!! Never been on the floor; never been tried on by anyone's feet but mine, perfect patent leather lemon yellow Cole Haan Piper Ballet flats in a 9.

To the Dear Ladies @ Saks,


Thank you for finding my shoes. Thank you for not looking at me with crazy eyes when I almost hugged you when you brought them. You really made my day - especially, when you rang them up and they were priced $20 less than marked, before the 50% off discount.

xoxo,
Miss Gloss

Without further ado - my wedding shoes!!!

And for those of you who stuck around - I got these bad boys for a whopping $14.98. Hence the extreme level of excitedness!!! (I don't think that is a word, but it is entirely accurate).

ALSO - I have always read that you should break-in your wedding shoes by wearing them around the house before the big day. This always confused me, how do I walk around without getting scuff marks on the bottom? None of the super cute shoe shots I've seen have any signs of wear. Do I buy a second pair just for pictures? I read somewhere the other day that you put socks OVER the shoes when you are breaking them in, so they stay pristine. Why did I not think of this before? I am the only one that had no idea how this was done?

my new crack...

i got a new blackberry.
i debated between the iphone and a new blackberry for a while.
i couldn't do the touch screen; no matter how much i wanted some of those cool apps.
i got the blackberry BOLD. it's redic.
let me explain : HD screen; 3G network; powerpoint/word/excel for all those budgeting, timeline quandries on the T; soduku; it's synched with my google reader for important wedding blog updates at any moment and my google calendar; also the camera is fabulous.
love it.

if you can upgrade and have AT&T get on it - its a little bit big - but oh so delightful.

a second opinion...

I got a second opinion on my alterations quote.
The second seamstress quoted me $50 - she works out of her house, which was a crazy mess - I could barely get in the door through all the bolts of fabric, but has multiple good reviews from people on the knot. So we'll see - she has my dress and is mocking up a more appropriately sized top. Then we'll meet again and if all goes well....she'll cut my dress!
I hope it works out!! I'm a little nervous -

$DRESS/2=$ALTERATION

Ok, so I just got back from getting a quote for alterations.
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$350....

Is this normal?
$100 to cut off my cute little train since I'm getting married outside and she said it would just get dirty and tulle doesn't look that great bustled.
$250 to make a new top - granted this will be custom fitted/muslin template/etc., but still, thats like 1/2 of what I paid for the entire dress and doesn't include any alterations for potential weight loss in the waist area.
she suggested to keep the halter -

she has really great reviews.
What say ye?

i heart food...

Things are coming together!!
We have a caterer - she is willing to make whatever we want.....which is good, and bad - since it means we have more decisions to make! Any menu suggestions?
I'm thinking some sort of chicken, some sort of beef, and some sort of vegetarian dish. Some salads...some roasted vegetables.....?

Also, my mom has a GINORMOUS garden and spends all summer tending to her plants. Meaning, all our vegetables and herbs will be organic, and *free*, and our caterer is more than happy to use them.
I'm most excited for cherry tomatoes and a hunk of mozzarella with a basil leaf on a stick, drizzled with balsamic as appetizers. If only we had some cows to make the mozzarella - JK!
Can't wait!!

1st Alteration Apt...

First dress fitting today -
Wish me luck. It's a little early for alterations, but since I need a more concealing solution for the top of the dress I thought it would be wise to bring her in early. I'll let you guys know how it goes - I'm thinking I'm going to eliminate the halterness of it, (which only seems to squeeze the ladies together and create further emphasize their presence), and take the straps straight down to the back, more like this:

FRONT

BACK

Except instead of a solid panel on the back I would use the tulle that is found throughout the rest of the dress.....somewhat similar to this:

What do you guys think? remember THIS is what we are working with -

First two pics from here
Last pic from here

accessories...

What do you wear for jewelery when you are wearing a navy dress and yellow shoes?
I have been contemplating what to get my ladies to wear for jewelry as a fun complement to their outfits.
We could always do pearls -
But it might be fun to do something like amber.....

What do you guys think? I'm thinking something smaller (less costumey) than this one, but I like the color.


I'm thinking this (below) would be perfect - with bracelet and earrings too of course.

working on getting a fab, flab-free body...

I've been working out more, a lot more, than normal and I'm actually not totally hating it.
I convinced the boy to join my gym and he forces me to go when I just don't want to and pushes me when I want to quit. (It can be VERY frustrating at the same time though - he lost 15lbs. in 3 weeks and I wanted to punch his face in). Overall, definitely more helpful and encouraging for a gym-hater and pro-procrastinator like myself.

I've been doing the Couch to 5K plan and am on almost through week 5, although we go roughly 5 times a week rather than the 3 the plan suggests. Breaking up the running into manageable pieces (1/4 mile, 1/2 mile intervals) has REALLY helped. Today is 2 miles non-stop......wish me luck!
I've lost about 8 lbs. so far -

amazing DIY details...

can we discuss how cute these signs are?

a fabulous bit of DIY found here.

the food favors...

Glossy Mom volunteered to make homemade jam as favors! I'm super excited - I've always thought it would be a great idea but I felt terrible asking someone to make allllll that jam (not just the making, but the picking as well). She picks all her berries wild - thereby making the BEST JAM EVER. She suggested it and I obviously jumped at the opportunity.

Obviously they have some sort of super cute label -

And then be tied with a swatch of fabric on top with a bit of twine -

One of the Glossy family friends also makes maple syrup. He has volunteered to boil some sap down for us to have as favors as well - I don't want to overwhelm guests (or confuse them) with too many things, so I think we'll just use the syrup for the OOT bags.
Ah, the joys of outsourcing.....

b.maid selections...

I presented the Glossy ladies with their dress options and although they haven't tried any of them on yet; they all preliminarily selected the same dress. Go figure.

My fabulous ladies will by rocking the "Lyndsey" in 'Classic Navy' via JCrew.
They loved the deep V in the back.


And they were all VERY excited about getting to wear yellow shoes.....