Another Landmark

199 days to go!!!

What do you do when...?

So I know I said that my dress was perfect but after some considerations and some comparing of the picture of my dress with the sample on the website I started to have some doubts. Did I mention this was at 11:30 the other night? I tried to go to bed but that wasn't happening because I just kept working myself into a state of panic that my dress wasn't perfect.

I got up in the morning, immediately called mom and asked her to make the same comparison. Turns out I wasn't crazy and my dress just wasn't the same as the one I wanted. So at this point I was feeling pretty shitty. I spent the next few hours circling between crying my eyes out and just staring at the wall. Around 2pm Heather called and we talked and she really made me feel better and at that point I called the seamstress. She was very sweet and said she could see me later that evening. I figured out a way to get my dress from Kristy and then waited and waited for Ian to get home.

Ian walked in the door and he immediately could tell that something was up and part of me wanted more than anything to tell him exactly what was wrong. Yet there is still a very large part of me that wants the whole dress surprise thing. So I managed to tell him without actually telling him the specifics and he insisted on driving me to my appointment. After coming up with a plan to hide the dress with a really big blanket and a promise from Ian not to look off we went. We picked up the dress from Austen (Kristy's man) and zoomed off towards the seamstresses house.

I immediately felt at ease with my seamstress, she's lovely! She's retired "sort of" (her words not mine) and works out of her home. She also clearly knows a LOT about dresses. So I told her what the problem was and she said - lets get you into this dress. She I put it on and she immediately went to work with the pins fixing the problems and making sure that I would get the dress that I wanted.

We came up with a couple ideas and in the end I felt a lot better. She's hanging onto the dress to do the alterations and said that she would be in touch in the new year for fitting two. There is going to be a couple of phases of the alterations because of the number of things that need to be done. BUT that being said my dress will be perfect and it's all good thanks to the lovely Else!!!

I can finally relax!

I have been anxious about my dress since the day that I ordered it. I was convinced that they would order the wrong one, that it wouldn't fit and continually came up with a myriad of other problems that could go wrong with the dress. I'm pretty sure that my insentient phone calls to the store where I bought it from bordered on harassment.

Last Thursday I got the phone call that I have been anxiously awaiting, my dress was in and I could go pick it up whenever I wanted. My Mom and Dad had promised to make the trip over for my fitting so last night they caught the 5pm and it was just a matter of hours before I could go and get it.

The store opened today at 11:30am and the plan was to go pretty much the minute they opened. Last night I went to bed relatively early to make sure that I was fresh and looking nice for the 1st pictures of me in my wedding dress but sadly an early night was not in the cards. I felt like a 5 year old on Christmas Eve, every time I closed my eyes I could picture my dress, my veil.... everything! I gave up on sleep this morning around 8, and attempted to study until Mom and Dad came to pick me up.

Around 11, my phone rang and I sprang into action getting ready. I grabbed my camera and was out the door. We arrived at the Bridal shop which at this point was full of grads trying on dresses for their prom and I was escorted into a room and there it was. Perfect.

I slipped into my bustier and shoes and then my dress. The girl laced me up and then out I walked. Then the veil was added and it was perfect, just perfect. I felt so special, I knew I had made the right choice. A few pictures later I got was dragged out of the dress and got to take it home! Well actually it's currently hanging in my good friends Kristy's closet so a certain fiance isn't tempted to see it. There are a few little alterations needed but all in all it's pretty darn perfect! Anyone who would like an emailed copy of the pic please let me know!

mmmmm.... cake!

Food for our wedding has been a bit of stumbling point because of both of our diets and fairly restrictive. I can't eat wheat and Ian can't eat a plethora of things. We were very lucky to find a fantastic caterer but I still really wanted to have wedding cake. It's CAKE! Who doesn't love cake?

About a year ago Ian found this wonderful person on craigslist I believe... I could be wrong but Ian's not home to correct me. She creates recipes for people who can't eat food. Last year she created a couple bread recipes for Ian that have proved to be very useful so we thought that hopefully she could do something for us in the way of a cake.

This past Monday we went over to her place for our first tasting and I figured that we would have one choice and take it or leave it. Boy was I wrong. We had three different choices, two vanilla and one chocolate, all fantastic. Ian and I really regretted having such a big dinner before we went.

We hummed and hawed and sampled and decided on one of the vanilla cakes. Janice said that she wanted to tweak the recipe a bit and would let us know soon what the final verdict was. We also asked her to find an Ian friendly way of doing icing. It's tough when corn, dairy and most other things that go into icing are off limits.

It was very reassuring to find out that not only will we get cake, but it's going to be SO YUMMY!!!

Next step: someone to sign the papers so we can make this whole thing legal!

It's All About the Details

This past week was my reading week at school so I took advantage of my time off from school to work my large wedding to-do list.

Tuesday night I braved the over-run ferries and went back to the mainland. Apparently I wasn't the only student heading home for the week and judging by the number of large suitcases and black plastic bags I wasn't the only one with a large amount of laundry to do either.

I've been working on the invitations for quite some time now. I am glad that I started so early because they have proved to be a lot of work, but they are taking shape now and I am thrilled with they way they are turning out. There is still a lot of work to do but I have full confidence that they will be ready by the time they need to be mailed out.

I've moved onto the smaller details of the decor. Mom and I settled on a few things such as the flower girl basket and ring pillow I took pictures of to show Ian but... well you be the judge of how well that worked out...

I SWEAR it's not pink!!!!

We also settled on the design for the pew bows which will decorate and line the isle. I'm very happy with these because everything I've found up until now has been "best in show" type ribbons. Not cool.

Bad early 90's wedding anyone?


We did a trial run with the flower that I wanted to add and I was pleasently surprised to find the flower still looked great more than 24 hours later! Even though they will have to be put together at the last minute I have faith that they will get done because I've had so many offers of help. So many in fact that I've been feeling very overwhelmed at the generosity of my wonderful friends and family. You guys are awesome!!!!

Another box that can get ticket is the flower girl dress. A few weeks ago my mom found this fantastic store in Guildford Mall that has the cutest dresses!

Anastasia and I matched - it was really really cute!!!

We walked in an immediately I found 5 or 6 that I was thrilled with. The three of us quickly decided on our favourite and Anastasia agreed. 30 minutes later we walked out of the store with a perfect flower girl dress for a fraction of what it would have cost to buy one in a bridal salon! WOOOO. Here's a pic of my sweet little niece. The first is the one we chose and the others are just so cute I couldn't leave them out.

Something Old, Something New....

I like to think that I am not as traditional a bride as some but there is still a part of me that wants to follow in the foot steps of the brides that came before me.

One of the things that I am most excited about is my, Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue.

I've got most of them taken care of:

Something Old: My grandmothers ring that I've been wearing since I was 17, I inherited it from her when she passed away and it's part of who I am. My mom and I are also on the hunt for something that I can wear or tie into my bouquet from her mom too.

Something New: This was the easiest - my dress!!!! (Which I am SOOO freakin excited about, I look at the picture like 500 times a day)

Something Borrowed: This is something else I am really excited about, I will be wearing my sisters veil from her first wedding (which is SPECTACULAR) and if my new sis-in-law to be is still willing I am hoping to borrow the tiara from her wedding.

Something Blue: This is the one that I was contemplating.

I didn't want to do something that would be seen as my something blue because with red and white as my colours I didn't want to look like the American Flag. My solution was to have my something blue be the garter but Ian is determined not to do the garter toss. However, after some consideration I decided to not let this stop me from wearing one because - well they're fun. The only ones have found around here are either white or light baby blue and I wanted something that was spectacular. One afternoon I was flipping through one of the magazines that I got from my subscription (Thank You awesome Bridesmaids) and I saw a picture of a beautiful black and teal garter and got really excited. It directed me to: http://www.gartersbykristi.com/

I've narrowed it down to 2 and would love your opinions:

OR

Help me out people!!

Told you so mom!

This past week I applied to graduate from UVic (woooohooo!!) and it got me thinking to the last time that I wore a cap and gown. Then attending a wedding of one of my highschool friends pushed me into reminisce mode even more.

As I've mentioned before Ian and I met in highschool thanks to the lovely Heather in my grade 11 year. By the time the end of grade 12 rolled around Heather, Ian and I had become sort of a package deal, you wanted one of us, you tended to get all three. So when it came time for our grad it was given that Ian had to be there. At the time Heather was dating someone and I was single so it was a no-brainer that I would take Ian as my date. I waltzed up to him in the theater one afternoon and I grabbed him by the arm and said, "you get to be my date to grad, you need a tux and a ticket." Ian didn't even bat an eye. He said, "okie," in that fantastic Ian way and that was that.

I went home that afternoon and was standing in my kitchen yapping with my mom which is something that would become a ritual for us as I got older. I told her that I was bringing Ian to grad with me and she was quite thrilled. Especially since my choice of boys earlier in the year had been... well we won't go there...

She told me that she really liked Ian and she thought he was great and I replied by saying, "me too, you know what Mom? I'm going to marry that boy one day."

I love this part.... Told you so mom!!!

Holy Eventful!

This past weekend was my actual birthday and I had the privilege of spending it watching my very good friend get married, and it was such a wonderful wedding (not to mention a great way to see how things worked in practice!) A few pics *taken with my new camera* for your viewing pleasure.

GORGEOUS!!!

Nice Picture

Less nice picture...

"Blast from the Past" with the bride

Luckily for me the ceremony didn't begin until 3:30 in the afternoon so I was able to use the morning for a bit of running around. The next task on my seemingly endless to do list was the find a florist. Last week I did some googling around and booked appointments for a couple consultations.

I'm not the kind of person who has a lot of knowledge about flowers so I was relying on the florists to come up with ideas. My only stipulations were roses and "pretty". I figured that would be doable.

The first consultation was the the florist that did Kathy's wedding. We were very happy with the flowers they did and I decided to find out what they could do for me. I was very happy with my consultation there, the woman I spoke to was very nice and gave me a quote that was well within my budget.

After leaving Flowers and Co. mom and I had some time before our next one so we decided to make the most of it and venture into Michaels to see if we could get inspired on pew bows. For those who don't know Michaels has this nasty habit of sucking up time like a vacuum. Before we knew it, it had been an hour and I still wanted to make another stop. So we left the store with an idea, some ribbon and high hopes. Next we ventured into a fantastic store that my sister recommended, Forever Yours to find something for me to wear under my wedding dress. The sales lady was SUPER helpful and within 20 minutes she had me fitted and into a corset that fit beautifully, it feels like it was made for me! This was WAY easier than I had anticipated so if you are ever looking for very specific undergarments - this is the place to go!! http://foreveryourslingerie.ca/ The day got even better when my mom offered to pay for 1/2 of it. I love my mom!

Our next stop was a florist in south surrey (morgan creek for those in the know) who worked out of her home. I was very impressed with her online portfolio and had high hopes for the consultation. Mom and I walked in and I was really excited by her organizational skills! Yes I'm actually serious. She gave some great ideas and then came the quote. I was panicking a little because we hadn't talked budget (rookie mistake!).

She added it up and including the floral arrangements that my Mom has decided she wants (and has offered to pay for) it was about 1/2 my budget. WOH! After a quick conversation with my mom I decided to go with Didi's Flowers (http://www.didisflowers.com/) - lets just hope my email to her confirming the booking goes through before she gets booked!

After this I got home quickly changed and zoomed off to Swaneset in Pitt Meadows for Kaitlyn's wedding. WOW what a day!

Birthday Fun

This past weekend I was home to celebrate my birthday, even though it is a week early. We did it this weekend because as I've mentioned before next weekend (my actual birthday) I will be at a very good friend of mine's wedding. YAY!

The plan was to have a combo birthday/thanksgiving dinner with my family on Saturday and then brunch with Ian's family on Sunday before heading home. I've been excited about this weekend home for a while because I hadn't seen my family in nearly a month and I missed them a lot! Not to mention it was the weekend where birthday presents were being given and lets face it, presents are fun!

Now since finances are tight with Ian and I, I had given him a VERY modest budget for my birthday present. I was hoping he'd stick to it. He didn't. After I picked him up for Saturday's dinner he asked it if was ok if I got my present from him on Sunday. I was a little confused but not really fussed so I let it go.

After my sister and her family arrived I was playing with my super SUPER cute baby niece when Ian suggested we get a picture together. Expecting his usual GIANT lens I looked up and saw this cute little blue camera and wondered who it belonged to. He took the picture and said, "There, your first picture on your new camera!" What a sticker! But I was so touched that I didn't care that he was a big liar.

So after a YUMMY dinner of turkey and "jen friendly" (wheat free) stuffing and jen friendly tarts and cupcakes for desert it was time for the rest of my presents.

A lack of communication between Ian and my parents resulted in a second digital camera (whoops) but my wonderfully organized parents had a receipt so I was able to return one that hadn't already been used. I got a few books off my HUGE to be read list and a new game for Ian and I to concure on the Wii from my parents and brother. My very talented sister hand knitted me some fantastic dish clothes and to go with it... my very first gift off our wedding registry!!!!

I'm so excited to cook wonderful roasts and maybe the odd turkey dinner in my new roasting pan! (thank's big sis and family!)

The next day I was greeted with a fantastic venison stew at Ian's parents house for brunch, with Jen and Ian friendly brownies for desert. Added cool thing: the candles for my birthday had coloured flames to match the colours on the candles - VERY cool!

The next thing I know there is a big purple box in front of me with a birthday card on top of it. I've got the best in-laws to be. After a failed attempt to open the present without ripping the paper (it was so pretty), I saw a Mikasa box. Completely forgetting what I had wanted from Mikasa I opened to box to find my first place setting from my china pattern!!! It's so exciting that I'm starting to collect these things!!! We opened up the box and ooh'd and ahhh'd over how nice the dishes were and I was excited that I loved the pattern just as much as when I'd registered for it. (PS: I don't remember if I've said this or not but I changed my mind yet again with the china pattern - I'm onto, and now I'm happily committed to, Cocoa Blossom by Mikasa)

2nd of the 5

In highschool I had a small group of friends that got dubbed "the five" after we spent a summer hopping from house to house so that we didn't have to be apart. Back then we always used to ponder (as most teenage girls do) who would get married first, who our husbands would be and what our lives would be like. I was dubbed to be the first married and the soccer mom. I'm also pretty sure that I envisioned myself married to David Boreanaz (then: Angel on"Buffy the Vampire Slayer", now: that guys that's on "Bones") and although my tastes have matured since the age of 14, I must say, he's still pretty easy on the eyes.

Anyway the point of this story is that in a couple of weeks the 2nd of "the five" is getting married (on my birthday, which I think is pretty cool). This made me think back to the days of highschool and day dreaming and marvel at how different life is from what we expected.

The first of "the five" to get married, tied the knot a couple of years ago and is now that proud mommy of a sweet little boy who is due to turn one in a month. Now the thing about this is she was the member of our group that always marched to the beat of her own drummer. Her first words were "new shoes" and she was always proud of the fact that she had green hair at the age of 5. She was also known for having the best legs of the group from her years of playing ice hockey. (note to self - go ice skating... good for thighs) She swore that she would get married three times and for the 2nd wedding she would wear this amazing red gown that hung in her mother's closet. It now seems that he first marriage might stick... so I guess that plan isn't going to pan out. I have to say that part of me was surprised that she has chose such a "normal" life. But at the same time she still has that wonderful streak that made her who she was.

It actually turns out that I will be the 4th one of "the five" to get married and I would say that I am far from being a "soccer mom" - though I would give it ten years before making the final judgement on that one.

I would happily post a picture of the five on this posting but our scanner crapped out on us as we were trying to scan my transcripts last week (that was fun), so.... sorry! I guess you'll just have to do with a picture of my 14 year old self's future husband.

Yup - still easy on the eyes.

Yay my girls won't be naked!

I guess you can figure out that I've chosen a bridesmaid dress. This means that my girls will have something to wear on the wedding day, which is good because I feel that 4 gorgeous naked women will pull focus from the main event.

I know you are all chomping at the bit to find out what I chose... and don't worry I am more than happy to post a picture of this dress - it's a funky colour but I'm sure you can use your imagination.

I tried to get a bigger pic but the website is a bit odd, you get the idea though. Aren't my girls going to look GREAT in this?!?

Also, on a side note I'm back in school now so wedding plans are on the back burner so that I can not fail at my 4th year at University.

SUCCESS!

This past weekend was venturing BACK into bridal shops to shop for bridesmaid dresses. The first stop was Everything but the Groom in Langley. After choosing a large supply of dresses I got to take a seat with the note pad while my girls tried on dress after dress after dress.

I've decided that watching people try on dresses is very amusing, especially when the person you are watching is the tiny Sydney who is trying on dresses that are a size 12. That was comical. After much swatch looking and humming and debating we narrowed the field to two which everyone liked equally.

I had planned on using Bryan's Bridal as a backup in case we didn't find anything we liked. Everyone was looking at me to see if we were actually going out there considering how successful the first stop was. I felt very guilty but wanted to make sure we had the right dress so I asked if we didn't mind a trip to Burnaby. Being the wonderful friends and family my crew is they all said no problem and we were on our way.

One map book and a traffic jam later.... we arrived at Brentwood mall.

The girl looking bored at the desk at Bryan's Bridal said they were short staffed and we would be looking after ourselves. I was actually kind of pleased because the bored looking girl appeared to be a bit surly. We tried on a few more and it still came down to two - one that we'd seen at Everything but the Groom and a new one. Again both sides seemed equally pleased with both dresses.

I said I would ponder and get back - I am leaning towards one at the moment but haven't made my final decision. I will post a picture of the dress when I have made it. I promise!

6 1/2 Women.... 1 Dress

Tomorrow I will be venturing back into Bridal stores armed with my mom and brides maids (and Anastasia - hence the 1/2 of a woman...) to find a bridesmaid dress for my girls. I'll let you know how it goes.

Are you serious? We have a photographer?!?

Ian was very persistent about finding just the right photographer, for what I think are obvious reasons. I was also feeling very strongly about finding just the right photographer, I didn't want someone who was too "arty" or took too many of the same style shot or any of the other cheesey wedding photo things that make me want to vomit.

Here is the thing about the wedding photographers that meet the above description... they cost: an arm, a leg and your first born child. Ian and I decided that we wanted to keep our first born so we wanted someone a little more affordable. We looked and looked and looked. I looked at so many websites for photographers that I actually got tired of looking at other peoples wedding photos. Shocker! I know.

It was getting to the point where we thought that we would either have to give up our first born or we would have some horrible cheesy wedding pictures. Then one night, Ian and I went on a blitz through flickr. We went so many photos our heads began to spin and then a glimmer of hope. Some photographs that were pretty, well composed and not cheesey. Ian hunts out a website and suddenly after a look at the investment section we realize that this woman might actually work.

http://www.elainegebert.ca/

The contract has arrived and as soon as we get new toner I'll have it signed and sent back with a deposit.

An added bonus - there is a complimentary engagement session = more great pics of Ian and I. Something that we are seriously lacking even though we've been together for almost 7 years.

Progress!

So in the past week and a bit Ian and I have made great amounts of progress on wedding things, and this makes me VERY happy.

First: Ian made HUGE headway with the caterer! He managed to negotiate so that we could get the guy we wanted, the food we wanted for the price we wanted. I knew there was a reason I was marrying this guy! So the cheque is in the mail for a deposit and it appears that we might actually be able to feed our guests at our wedding. I like to think that's a good thing.

Second: Cake - Ian has been in touch with our recipe creator, ya we have one of those. She is getting to work on what will be the top tier of our wedding cake. This is cake that is Ian and Jen friendly. The best part? There will be a tasting soon! I like tastings.

Side Note: I still can't choose a design for our cake... it seems all the ones I've seen pictures of are ugly. Anyone got any pics of not ugly cakes?

Third: I ordered our favours! They will require some assembly when they arrive... but they are on their way. Maybe I can coax some bridesmaids into a night of favour making with a bottle of wine? Or two? How about wine and cheese?

Fourth: Invitations are coming together nicely, the rest of the materials have been shipped and should arrive within the next couple of days. Added Bonus - I'm actually on budget!

Fifth: (I'm shocked there is a fifth thing too!) Ian and I have come to some sort of agreement on the timeline for the day which means he can start negotiating with a photographer (we even have one in mind that we both like!!!!).

So my hopes of getting the wedding mostly planned by the time I go back to school is not actually that far off. I know I still have a long way to go but.... so far so good! Added Bonus #2: we still actually want to marry each other!

Shoes!!!

Over a month ago I was shopping with my mom and sis for... well I can't actually remember the reason we were shopping but we were.

Nearing the end of our trip I noticed a particularly fantastic shoe store and asked if they wouldn't mind taking a peek.

Rewind a few weeks... well more like months... well more like years... ok when did I start wearing shoes? The point is I have been thinking about what shoes I would get married in for as long as I have loved shoes. More recently (ie the past couple of years) I've known that they would be any colour other then white because white shoes are generally boring. Since Ian and I have decided on Red as a theme colour I thought Red would be suiting. My ideal colour would be blue (for my "something blue") but I didn't want to look like the American Flag walking down the isle.

Back to the shoe store on the shopping trip with mom and sis. They had a display of wedding shoes but they were all white and none of them were particularly spectacular, more kind of dull. So I started looking around the store and then I saw them. They were red (and a nice red at that), feminine, classy with just a little bit of flirty thrown in. I tried them on and wow, they were even comfortable. My mom reasoned that even if they didn't go with whatever dress I chose, (I hadn't chosen a dress at this point) they were a great pair of shoes. I knew there was a reason I loved shopping with mom! So I bought them.

Now the reason I have waited so long to post this is Ian said that he didn't want to know anything about my attire... however, in cleaning our apartment for a showing he came across them. It was actually quite funny. He pulled them out and yelled, "WHAT ARE THESE?" thinking I had bought them for fun and tried to hide them from him. Anyway, long story short, the cat's out of the bag with my shoes so I might as well post a pic of them.

For your viewing pleasure:

EEEE SO PRETTY!!!

Life Changes

This past week there have been a few changes with Ian and I.

First - as of August 1st Ian and I have been living together for 1 year and are officially Common Law... Sorry Ian, you're hooked! haha

Second - saving for the wedding and honeymoon has put a bit of stress on the fiances so Ian and I have been trying to find ways to cut and slash the budget. One of the ideas that got put forward was moving into a smaller (and thus cheaper) apartment. One such apartment happened to be available in our building so we made an appointment today to go and look at it. We decided that it was going to be way too small for us, we have a lot of junk. Our building manager asked if we wanted to see the 2 bedroom on the 4th floor that was open. Of course out of sheer curiosity we said yes. Ian really liked it and even though I wasn't sure, a good ol' pro/con list convinced me that a move to the 4th floor was a good idea. A quick phone call later I was filling out paperwork as Ian was taking measurements of our new place.

A few perks that we will get in the new place:
1. A balcony that we can actually use
2. Security and privacy that comes along with NOT being on the ground floor
3. The ability to leave our bedroom windows open at night
4. $20.00/month cheaper rent
5. A walk in closet in the bedroom

So now I'm tackling, wedding plans (latest things are a timeline for the day, registry organization, flowers, invitations, photography...), a move, and showing the apartment... oh boy! Maybe it's good thing that my temp agency has been MIA.

Mainland Adventures

I went to the mainland for my softball provincials a week ago which were a big fat flop. We lost four straight games... oh well. But that meant that Sunday wasn't going to be spent sweating it out on the ball field.

Since I wasn't going to be playing I decided to spend the time on wedding stuff.

Ian and I have been fighting over the center pieces since we got engaged and by fighting I don't really mean fighting but disagreeing. I wanted bird cages and he wanted Chihuly style blown glass. We compromised by not doing either! It wasn't that I was against the blown glass but I was fairly certain that it was beyond our budget.

So Mom and I ventured out to Ikea to look at alternatives that we could both agree on. We also were looking for a few other things and I wanted to venture into Bed Bath and Beyond to secure the registry stuff.

Ikea was very very successful, we picked up some options for center pieces (don't worry it won't be a bookcase). And then to Bed Bath and Beyond where Mom and I ran around scanning like mad to get things sorted for the registry.

The following day I went to a dollar store and picked up the last few elements to put together my sample center pieces. I really like them and now it's just a matter of selling Ian on the idea. Wish me luck!

Oh and by the way... I changed my mind a third time on the china pattern. It's now (and will be forever) Mikasa's Cocoa Blossom.

Sudden Apprehension

Today I ordered my 2nd dress today and as I walked out of the store I felt a moment of panic. What if this one gets discontinued, what if I can't have it? On the bus on the way home I was convinced that the bridal shop I ordered it from was a bunch of crooks who were going to disappear now that they have my money.

I know... psychotic right!?

I'll just be happy when it's hanging safely in my parents closet...

Flower Girl Fun

From the moment I asked Anastasia to be my flower girl she has been extremely excited to shop for her dress. This past Saturday she finally got what she wanted and was able to try on some Flower Girl dresses at Champagne and Lace in Abbotsford. It was fairly easy to cut down the list as some where nice and some where not so nice.

Here is one that we short listed: (it would have a red bow not pink)



There was another one as well... but I can't find the picture of it online. Sorry.

After we got home I went online with mom to see what I could find on the various website and here are the three that we really like:

Could it be Fate for Cate?

From the moment that I heard Robynn's voice on my answering machine I knew that the dress that I had chosen was not going to be the dress I married Ian in.

This past weekend was the final trip to Champagne and Lace to see "Alfie" (the dress that was similar to my original dress). I tried "him" on and "he" was amazing. I felt stunning... oh boy. Alfie was everything I wanted in a bridal gown... well at least everything I thought I wanted.

We spent the remainder of the appointment letting Anastasia try on flower girl dresses, I'll post more about that later.

After we left I was in the car and was still torn between Alfie and Cate. Cate is the name I've given to the first dress I tried on. "She" was at Ivory Bridal and it had been quite as while since I had tried "her" on. For those of you who don't remember Cate is the dress that I nixed for being too expensive but was thrown back in the mix when I found her for 1/2 price here on the island.

So I asked my posse, who consisted of Mom, Kathy, Anastasia and Annalyse, if they minded stopping at Ivory Bridal on the way home to have one more "quick" look at Cate. They responded with a "sure", "no problem", "yay" and "goo" respectively. So off we went.

We walked in the door and the lovely girl at the desk told me that I was in luck as they had no appointments at that moment and was more then welcome to not only look at the dress, but try it on. So off I went to put on Cate for the 4th time.

I tried "her" on and felt every bit as special as I did the first time around. We hummed and hawed and saw it with a veil. I told the girl that I needed to go away and sleep on it before I made my final choice. As we walked away from the store my mom turned to me and said,

"Order that dress"

She told me that she had yet to see me react to any dress the way I did to Cate and that I glowed when I put "her" on.

So on Wednesday I will be making a trip to Grad Central to order Cate (for 1/2 the price that I would have paid at Ivory... Score!).

I choose to believe that it was fate that made the manufacturer discontinue my dress, especially since I was told that once a dress gets confirmed with a manufacturer it NEVER gets discontinued. I think that I had made the wrong decision and the gods on wedding dresses were telling me to choose Cate, the very first wedding dress I tried on. Lets just hope I get "her" ordered before "she" gets discontinued too!

Aren't I allowed to change my mind?

My lovely bridesmaids bought me a subscription to BRIDES magazine as a "yay you are a bride" present. Which was such a nice surprise! So for the past few months, every month a new magazine full of fun new ideas has popped into my mailbox. Also within that magazine was obviously endless advertisements for wedding dress, shoes and registry items.

I kept seeing a China pattern that was available called, Platinum Wave by Noritake. Every time I looked at it, I fell more and more in love with it. During my lunch one day I ventured over to the Bay to have a look... well it turns out I liked it even more in person.

I begged Ian to have a look at it with me. So last Thursday on the same night as the ring expedition we also went to The Bay and had a look at Platinum Wave. He wasn't sold right away but like the wonderful husband to-be that he is, he soon conceded and let me choose that one as our china pattern. He also said that if we found something at Bed Bath and Beyond that I liked just as much and he liked better then we would go with that over the Platinum Wave. I agreed.

Here is a pic:

ONE YEAR!!!!!

One year from today Ian and I are getting married.

I had to post it.

Sorry.

Ring a ding ding

I love jewelery.

Who doesn't?

So within days of being engaged I wanted to start looking for my wedding band. Initially I tried on a couple but they simply looked "gorky" with my engagement ring. Mostly because the shape of my engagement ring - Ian said, "that's how they get ya," but I then reminded him that he was the one who designed my ring.

So it was painfully obvious from day one that my wedding band would need to be custom. A "quick" (aka 2-3 hour) trip to see Roberta later and we were in business.

Ian's ring... that was a different story. He is very picky. He is also used to the variety of shopping online and doesn't understand that in a store, unless you want something custom made (which will cost ya) you have to choose from what you see. We've run into this problem with everything from china patterns and cutlery to venues. The ring was no different.

Initially during our visit with Roberta, Ian had tried a number of rings on but ring after ring Ian didn't see anything that made him say, "that is my ring!" So it was decided that he would go custom too. Roberta told Ian to go look online and see what struck his fancy and get back to her and she'll figure something out. So off we went and I fully expected Ian to "do his homework".

He didn't.

So a couple of months passed and we went back to see Roberta about my ring and she asked if Ian had found anything that he thought was interesting. He looked like a dear in headlights and said... no? We left and he swore up and down that she was going to do the looking and I told him... no you were going to.

So again I wait for Ian to do his homework.

He doesn't.

So finally I said enough is enough. I told him that he needed to pick a ring because the price of gold was going up and the longer he waited the higher the cost of his ring would be. That finally got him going. He said he needed to try them on because pictures were not cutting it.
This leads us to last night when we went to Mayfair mall which has many MANY jewelery stores and we started trying.

The first store, Michael Hill - the sales lady was a little too... greasy car salesman-ish. She was "playing with numbers on the computer" to get the price down for us. I felt like rolling my eyes. We left there and I asked Ian if his top pick was the ring... he said no. Moving on!

The next was Anne Louise. The lady there was much less pushy but a little uninvolved. It felt like she didn't really care. The one there Ian like more then the first so we were making progress. If nothing else we were getting a sense of what he liked v/s what he didn't.

Last stop as it was getting late and Ian was wearing thin, was Lugaro's. We walked in and Ian said there was one ring that really caught his eye. He tried it on and really really liked it. HAZAA!! He seemed happy with his choice except for one small detail so I suggested maybe trying on some of the really cool looking tungsten rings. His reaction was, "sure why not". He put on one that was far too harsh and then put on one that was perfect. It was comfort fit (which he wanted) and just "popped" on him.

He waffled between the two rings for a while and wanted to see what they would look like with a really nice watch... he claims that one day he will actually wear a really nice watch every day... ya we'll see.

They both looked great with the watch (which he not so subtly hinted at wanting) and the sales person, who was wonderful, said - Sleep on it. That impressed me the most. So we went away and as we were walking away Ian said, lets get it! However at this point the mall was closing and I really wanted Ian to sleep on his decision before committing.

So we did go home and talk about it some more and he has decided that this is going to be his ring... only now he wants to figure out a way to bargain down the price... oh boy!

Anyway for those who are curious this is a pic of his ring

Are you tired of reading about my dress yet?

This past week my Mom and Dad were in vic for a small vacation and it was wonderful to have them here. I managed to see them almost every night after work and spent almost the whole weekend either shopping with them or hanging out at their brand new trailer.

While they were here Mom and I hit a few bridal shops. Here is what was found.

The first shop we hit was "Shades of White" just up from where I am working. The consultant was lovely and very helpful and we shortlisted quite a few gowns. However, after leaving I was feeling a little conflicted and wasn't really excited about any of the gowns. So we decided to keep looking.

The next step was Blush bridal... and WOW!!! I was very impressed... but not in a good way. The dresses were exceptionally expensive while not being very nice, the staff was not terribly helpful and I have never felt fatter then when I tried to get into a drop waist dress and it wouldn't get over my hips. Who orders a drop waist sample dress in a size 6??? Idiots.

After leaving there feeling very disheartened I mentioned that the store where I found the 1st dress for 1/2 price was just around the corner and Mom suggested we stick our noses in there.

I was very impressed again, only this time it was for the right reasons. We just dropped in on the shop keeper and she was kind, helpful and exceptionally fun. Mom and I found 2 dresses that were amazing and very reasonably priced. We left that store feeling excited and couldn't stop talking about dresses the whole way home.

We decided that I need to hit Champagne and Lace one more time to see if they can produce anything else that makes me go "WOW" and then choose a dress. I have a lean at this point but I do want to wait and visit Champagne and Lace one more time. You never know!

Or maybe I should just stop 2nd guessing myself and order the dress that I am leaning towards... well actually if I am being honest - I've pretty much decided on.

On a slightly related note, during a shopping trip with my mom at the mall we were very pleasently surprised when we found an outfit that would be perfect for her on sale for less then $100.00. Not to mention that she looks radiant in it!!!

The Plot Thickens

So in doing a little bit of googling (a bride's best friend) I came across a store here in Vic that caries the same line of dresses that I found at Ivory Bridal. Also known as the first dress I tried on. While they didn't have the particular gown I had found they were able to quote me a price on how much it would be to order in.

I nearly fell over when she quoted me a price that was 1/2 of what Ivory Bridal was charging for the exact same dress.

hmmm... it would appear that dress #1 is back in the mix.

Tomorrow night, Mom and I are scouting some dresses that are similar to my original dress (the one I had chosen) here in Vic. Stay tuned for our findings.

Dress Drama

So today after a very unusual week I got a phone call when I arrived home from work,

"Hi Jennifer, this is Robyn from Champagne and Lace calling, please call me back as soon as you can"...

this can't be good.

Luckily I got home before Robyn left for the day and was able to speak to her. She told me that the designer who designed my dress was discontinuing they style and I was able to get the dress in "Diamond" (ie off white) but not in the white that I wanted. She sounded very relieved when I didn't freak out, I mean yes it is my wedding dress but in the grand scheme of things it's just a dress. So she told me to take my time and think it over and call her back when I had made up my mind.

I immediately called my mom and we talked it over and decided to let the original dress go and pick another one. I mean is it really so bad that I have to try on more wedding dresses?

In other wedding news, I am 90% sure on an invitation design, since I want that to be a bit of a surprise I won't be posting pics. Sorry.

Emotional Roller-coasters and Thankful-ness

So the past couple of days have been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my temp agency asking if I wanted to work the Jazz festival doing a job that a monkey could do. Those are my words not theirs. Since work has been spotty and I enjoy having the ability to buy I food I jumped at the chance.

Fast forward to Saturday, I am outfitted in the TD logo (I think I was donning 6 different logos...) and I was instructed to walk with my partner (Jordan) and hand out the free sunscreen/hand sanitizer that filled my backpack. TD had made it very clear that we were representing them and we were to look professional at all times, thus leave our personal belongings in the volunteer tent.

19,000 steps later my feet hurt and I had a burnt nose. I came home and put my feet up kicking myself for taking this placement, $14.00/hr was not enough for that work. The next day we went back to the meeting place, suited up and headed out. 23,000 steps later my feet were sore and I had a blister. Since I had 1.5 hours to go yet I wanted a decent band-aid (the ones from the first-aid tent SUCKED). So I went to grab my wallet to buy band-aids and... POOF my wallet and Ipod were both missing from my bag.

After a little of investigative work the team realized that more then my things were missing. The supposedly "secure" volunteer tent was not so secure and some weirdo had made off with our things. Needless to say, I was pissed. I felt violated and a shift that was making me less then $100.00 was going to cost me over $500.00 in replacement costs.

I immediately got on the phone with Visa and the Police and Equifax (fun fact - if your wallet is stolen/lost call Equifax because they can put a fraud alert on your account to avoid identity theft) and got the ball rolling on protecting myself.

I got home and made a list of everything that went missing and what it was going to cost to replace it because I was not paying to replace my things. Someone else needed to pay, I was simply doing what I was told.

That night feeling really low I watched "endless" hours of wedding SOS and Rich Bride Poor Bride, two of my new favourite shows. While watching these I became very thankful not only for my own fantastic family but the wonderful family I'm marrying into. The most offensive thing I saw was a Mother-in-law-to-be tried on a brides wedding dress. Are you KIDDING ME?!?! Can I just say, "THANK YOU" to the Paterson clan for being so supportive and welcoming and... normal!!!

So today, I was at work (a placement with BC Ambulance Services) and feeling kind of low, I had no identity (ie, no ID) and it felt very strange. At lunch I ran around getting my bank account back and phoning people to get replacement cards. And after lunch as I was learning a new task I hear my phone buzzing. I thought it was a text so I ignored it at first but after it buzzed one to many times to be a text I went to answer it. I missed the call but was very pleased to hear a message from a Victoria Police Officer that told me the arrested a man with a wallet that had my name in it. I am still missing my Ipod but I have my wallet back which is SUCH a huge relief. Not only was the wallet still in-tact, most of the contents were still in it including my drivers license and the $50.00 worth of gift cards to The Bay.

So I learned my lesson, NEVER trust anybody with your personal belongings and I consider myself lucky that I got to learn the lesson with very few repercussions.

Venus, Caterers and Dates

Ian and I originally wanted to get married on July 9, 2011. There were a number of reasons for this - we wanted to do it post graduation for me, but didn't want to wait until the fall of 2011. Ian might go to school or we may take off and travel. So the summer of 2011 seemed to fit the bill nicely. We understood that prices would be higher but... oh well.

The other thing we had to take into account is softball season. I knew that there would be a couple of very important tournaments at the end of July so being me, I didn't want to miss those (yes even for my wedding). So we thought July 9 would be perfect.

So as I have mentioned before we have had a very difficult time finding just the right venue. But recently we found the Serbian Cultural Center (thanks to my wonderful friend Fi... Thanks Fi!!!!) and fell in love with it's beauty and open airy feel. We did a bit of fudging and eyelash batting at those funding our wedding and sorted out a way that we could make it work. Cue the next hiccup - they were booked on the 9th. This was the moment that Ian and I were very glad that nothing else was booked because it was very easy to say - no problem the 16th works great.

So this past weekend I went to the Serbian to sign the contract and hand over the cheque. It was slightly nerve racking to pay that much money at once but also very exciting to have something booked! So for those keeping track - July 16 will be the wedding day!

Next step is the caterer. I found a guy that came recommended for those who are food intolerant like Ian and I are. The first quote that came back was... 2x our budget. Oh dear... this isn't looking good. So Ian and sent back with a few changes and the one that came back again was still over our budget... hmmm. So we've done a bit of finagling and Ian plans on doing some negotiating (which he is fantastic at) and hopefully we can fit the food budget into the main budget. We'll keep you updated, think affordable thoughts for us!!!

First Wedding Gone Wrong Dream

So last night was another first. My first dream that the wedding was a disaster. Well I wouldn't go as far as to say disaster but... it wasn't great. I can't remember all the details but what I can recall is that I was missing 1/2 my accessories (i.e. no veil or tiara, no something old, new, borrowed or blue...) and absolutely none of the DIY stuff was ready. I am going to take a stab in the dark and say this is a not what is to come but lets just say when I woke up I was glad that I still about a year to get my wedding organized.

Invites

Ian and I were and still are adamant that we are not going to have tacky cookie cutter invitations. We also thought with my experience creating stationary for other people that I might be able to do the invitations myself.

A few months ago I ordered a few free invitation catalogues and started looking through them for ideas. Very quickly Ian and I realized that our taste in invitations was not cheap, surprise surprise! Ian and I's taste is never cheap.

One of the catalogues offered free samples so I ordered one and a few weeks later it arrived. A trip to Michaels later, armed with craft supplies I attempted to re-create it. Attempted and failed. My "re-creation" was so ugly I still don't want to think about it. I quickly gave up on the idea of DIY.

Fast-forward a month-ish and Ian returns home with an invite that my fantastic sister in-law to be found.

Pretty hey?

Since this was pretty perfect I asked where she found it. It was one that sent to her Aunt, and was printed by a printer in Vancouver and cost... yup you guessed it, "a pretty penny", hmmmm.

Fast-forward another month to today, during a trip to Michaels I decided to try again on the DIY. I bought a few supplies and went to work attempting to construct a copy. This time it is my opinion that I succeeded but I"ll let you be the judge.

Jen's Version

Not to "toot my own horn" but I think I did a pretty good job.

Officiants

I thought finding an officiant who would be willing to work with Ian and I on our wedding would be difficult, given that we are wanting Heather to marry us.

So yesterday during a particularly boring placement I started doing some googling and came across a website for marriage commissioners in the Vancouver area.

I sent a blanket email to about 7 of them in the surrey area outlining what I wanted and within an hour I already had one response. So far I have short listed 2 that have responded which makes me very happy because I thought it would be battle to find someone who would be willing to marry us without actually marrying us.

Now if the rest of the planning is this seamless I will be a VERY happy bride. (What do you think the odd are on that one???)

The Search is Over!!! Almost...

This past weekend was very successful for Ian and I. I found my dress as well as a bridesmaid dress that I love, (I'll post a pic as soon as I can figure out how...). My big sister turned 30!!! My mouth has healed nicely, well it's getting there. AND Ian and I have found the elusive venue!

We went to the Scottish Cultural Center and while the staff there was exceptionally accommodating Ian told me that there is no way we could make it work. As we left there and I was feeling exceptionally disheartened. We saw another venue which was ugly and NOT good at all. After that I was ready to call off the big wedding and do it at city hall.

Ian asked if I wanted to drive by the Serbian Cultural Center, it was on the way home. I knew it was a bad idea because I would inevitably fall in love with it.

As we passed I saw the bell tower and the gorgeous lobby and burst into tears. I looked at Ian and said, "it's perfect isn't it?" He said no, but wasn't very convincing. So we went home and had another look at the budget to see if there was ANY way to make it work. There wasn't. We needed an extra... well we needed extra.

Ian and I hummed and hawed and we figured it we split the extra needed with those involved, and cut back on a few other things we MIGHT be able to make it work. At that point Ian put in an email to the guy at the Serbian and had made an appointment for Sunday night at 8:45pm for me to see it and fall in love again.

I did.

We didn't book anything because we wanted to check the date with those involved (especially important people coming from Montreal), but hopefully by the weekend hopefully we will have a contract signed and a deposit paid for a venue!!! Ian is just checking into some insurance stuff before sending off the "send the contract" email.

On a totally unrelated note - tonight Storm beat the top team in the league, it was freakin fantastic!

*Insert Girly Squeal Here

It's official.

I have chosen my dress!!!! It came down to 2 yesterday and I hummed and hawed and collected as many opinions as possible. This morning as I was sorting through my mom's rather large collection of pictures, it hit me. So I called my mom and told her, then immediately called the salon to order it.

I am so happy with my choice and now that I have made it I know I made the right one.

I already have pics of me in the dress if you would like to see please feel free to drop me an email. The only person I will deny a look at the dress is my lovely groom Ian.

Updates

I apologize for the lack of postings in the past few weeks but there hasn't been much to post on.

Update on "Operation Not Fat Bride"

I am actually doing not bad with this. I have lost over 1 1/2 inches off my hips which makes me happy. However it has been put on hold for a couple reasons. Last weekend I was playing in ball Nanaimo and it was going great. We were winning, I was pitching well, hitting badly but that's not really here nor there. In the last game on Saturday we were playing a team called Ralphie's Raiders. It was the 7th and I was digging out a tie for the team. I was in determined mode, I even scared my fearless third baseman. Then with 2 out a line drive comes straight off the bat, misses my shin guards and pounds me straight in the knee. At first I thought it had hit the guard and tried the make the play. Then I went down, hard. The damn runner got to first too, that pissed me off more than anything. Suddenly I was surrounded by my team who was telling me to breathe. Somehow (I think it was mostly adrenaline, that stuff is wonderful) I got up and finished the game. We got the third out the next play and secured the tie, but my knee was pretty banged up. So, while I was able to pitch I didn't think that running on a treadmill would be such a good idea.

So, the only thing I did this week was play a couple of lack-luster games.

Then yesterday, I got my wisdom teeth pulled. Ian was wonderful - he took me in, held my hand while they put the IV in (after some begging and boasting about his emr training to the hesitant nurses), bought me ice cream and other gooey foods for me to eat and made sure I had the right drugs at all the right times. Since then he has literally been at my beck and call. However, when one needs a man to wait on them hand and foot they probably aren't going to the gym. So hopefully next week by body will have healed and I can resume operation not fat bride.

Update: Venue

This coming week Ian and I are going to have a look at the Scottish Cultural Center to see if it may work as a venue for the wedding. Mom and I went a couple weeks ago and were very impressed by the service we received and the flexibility of the space. So hopefully Ian will be able to take the space and turn it into the vision he has in his head. Otherwise the search may continue.

Update: Dress

I have it down to 4 that I am in love with. This next weekend I play on returning to the stores and re-trying the dresses to see if they give me that same "sparkly" feeling when I put them on. Hopefully by the end of June I will have my dress booked. EEEEEEE!!!!!! (Sorry, the silly girl inside escaped for a moment).

Dress Update

The past could of days have been dedicated to finding the perfect dress. I went to Ruby's in Surrey and was not terribly impressed with the consultant that was there.

We walked in and she was busy with another customer but instead of saying, "I'll be right with you," she completely ignored us. When she finally acknowledged our presence, she pushed her opinions on me a bit too much. The good news is that the two dresses I found there I can easily get somewhere else.

I'm now down to 4 dresses that I am in love with and it's a matter of choosing JUST the right one. My mom says that there is no "wrong" choice and that if I choose any one of them it would be perfect. I am inclined to agree with her because I felt like a bride in all 4 of the dresses and they are all incredible.

I found one dress that I loved, but it had one flaw. Box pleats, which I discovered are not a girls best friend. However, I was pleased to find out that the designer who created the dress also created many others that were very similar which did not have the nasty box pleats.

The past couple of days have been dedicated to finding a sample of these dresses to try on, I refuse to buy a dress sight unseen.

Yesterday I was accompanied by Kristy to Luz Bridal in Victoria and while they were lovely the dresses they had in stock were not quite as spectacular as I want. There were 2 that I really liked but thinking back, I liked the ones on the mainland more. I also failed at finding the similar dress that I was after. Today I will be calling Sapphire Bridal to see if they stock the dress that I am after, if they do not then I will have to expand my search to the mainland where I will be calling Champagne and Lace.

Other then that, this past weekend my mom and I visited the Scottish Cultural Center and were pleasantly surprised. The caretaker was very helpful and it ticked a lot of boxes. I want to wait until Ian sees it but I am feeling cautiously optimistic. We may be able to pull off the wedding we want after all.

China Patterns

Since I got engaged (and even before) I knew that I wanted to register for china and crystal to start building a collection so that when the time comes where it would be appropriate to use it (ie when I brave cooking my first Christmas/Thanksgiving Turkey) I have something beautiful to eat it on. Without having to buy an entire set at one time.

As mentioned before it took a bit of convincing to get Ian to agree with my way of thinking but he has come around.

Yesterday we descended on The Bay (downtown Victoria) to attempt to pick china and crystal. After our 3rd "why registering is great!" speech we were set loose with our scanner.

We started with crystal. I had seen a pattern in the catalogue that I liked (Waterford Siren) and wanted to see, touch, feel etc. but sadly they didn't have it in stock. Below is a pick for your viewing pleasure (sorry it's so small).

To add insult to injury nothing they had in stock really leaped out at us as "we want to look at this for the rest of our lives".

Feeling discouraged we moved onto china. Ian and I had seen a Kate Spade pattern at the Wedding and Honeymoon Fair in Vancouver that we liked and they had the same pattern in stock. However... it was way out of our price range (I guess you pay for the name). So we moved on to slightly more inexpensive (but equally as pretty) patterns.

Some we liked but were still too expensive. Others that Ian liked I thought were boring. Ones that I liked Ian thought were either too frilly, girly or ugly.

We settled (after a lot of debate) on this pattern, my favourite and Ian said, "it's okay":

It's called Renwick Platinum by Noritake.

After leaving the store with little more than the china on the registry we decided to pow-wow about our "next move".

Ian was feeling a little restricted by the lack of selection that we have been seeing, I didn't think it was that bad but Ian being the internet guy is used to endless selection. We decided that the Sears registry was out because they seem to be only good for the small appliances which we really don't need. We still like Home Outfitters because so far they have had the best selection and we are sticking with The Bay for now as they have been the only ones that offer the fine china.

Ian also mentioned that he really wants a REALLY good set of knives and REALLY good pots and pans. Which I think is a great idea but so far we have seen very limited selection, especially on the knife front. So I did a bit of googling around and found that Bed Bath and Beyond has a great selection of... well everything. They even do fine china.

So I told Ian that I was impressed by their website and that he should have a look. Judging by the email that I just got saying that Ian had opened a registry I am guessing that he was equally impressed.

We need to get into a store to see for sure but I'm thinking we might stick with them. There is the small problem of the only two stores are on the mainland. However, we are over there almost every weekend so I don't think that will be a major problem.

SO - on to registry #4... Oi

Hair Progress Report

It has now been a couple of months since Ian and I got engaged. I'm not noticing a difference in my hair but then again, I look at me every day so the minute differences are hard to notice.

That being said when I look back at the pics, it's amazing how much growth has occurred. Here are a few pics to show you.

Freshly Cut in November (ish) - note the dorky smile... I'm not sure what was up with my face that day.

Engagement Length, (March 6) i.e. Jen needing a cut but putting it off praying that Ian would propose

Yesterday (May 16)

NOTE: Ian... I know it's a crappy picture but for the first time in months I was having a good hair day, I wanted to document it.

Sears

Yesterday was Sears. I was supposed to be joined by Ian, but he got called into work and couldn't turn down the shift because it was a very lucrative opportunity.

At the appointed time I walked into Sears and was greeted by Jennie. She walked me through getting the registry started (more more briefly than the lady at Home Outfitters which I was thankful for) and then I started with the little scanner thingy.

This time wasn't nearly as fun because Ian wasn't there. It was also frustrating because I was trying to predict what Ian would like and even after 6 years I'm still not great at that (he has very specific tastes). So I kept the scanning short and only scanned things that I was fairly sure Ian would like and that we might need. A couple sets of sheets, a soap dish and a matching toothbrush holder, THE kitchen aid mixer that we have been drooling over for years, and a set of square plates that match our current set. Ian had mentioned he wanted some square plates to add to our collection.

I told Jennie that I wanted to keep it brief because of Ian's lack of presence so she was not totally shocked when I had barely scanned a page of stuff. I told her that Ian and I would be back when he was not working. She sent me on my way with a bag full of information, a cute little hand towel and a gift card for $25.00. Since the gift card was due to expire in a few days I thought it best to use it right then and there. So I hummed and hawed over the kitchen section for a while and decided on some mixing/prep bowls by pyrex that come with lids. There was even the added bonus of getting them 20% off!

So, for those who are keeping track the list of free stuff we have accumulated is:

2 Champagne Flutes

1 Hand Towel

4 Mixing Bowls with lids

1 $25.00 gift card yet to be spent at Home Outfitters

It is my opinion that if someone is needing things for the home to simply go and register with as many stores as possible, you'd be surprised what they send you home with. Anyone can say that they are getting married, the baby registry may be a little harder to fake.