Why is Everyone So Loud Today?

My head will not stop pounding. I forgot I can't drink as much wine as I am use to, since I am not eating as much as I use to. So I have to stay home tonight. I prey when I wake up tomorrow it's gone. After all, I have a Superbowl party tomorrow, and obviously need to practice this drinking and eating less thing so I can get it right.

Usually when I wake up hungover that means a day of staying in my pajamas, parking myself on the couch, and watching hours of TV. But today I had an early waxing appointment. Which was perfect, because having your hair yanked out is just what a very hungover girl needs.

There is a silver lining in every cloud.

I am walking out and my esthetician says "Do you shop at Ulta?"

"Sure"

"Would you want a 40% today only discount"

"UUMMM...OK"

Turns out they were having a family and friends sale. 40% of just about everything in the store. All I had to do was give the name and 4 digit number of my Ulta friend.

Ulta is really growing on me. Every time I go it looks more and more like Sephora. I spent over an hour browsing all the isles and stocking up on everything I use. Even my headache seems to temporarily go away...guess the natural high I was getting saving so much money made it feel better.

With the 40% off, plus a coupon the check-out person scanned, plus the clearance items I spent $88 and got a make-up bag, 5 bare essential eye shadows, 2 lip glosses, 1 mascara, 2 hair accessories, and a bottle of Chanel perfume. I saved $60.

So glad I left the house today!

No Longer Accepting Applications

Eric came home from work the other day and said

"Turns out that new guy I am working with is pretty cool...I thought maybe we should..."

"No...we are not going out with them or having them over. Stop making new friends or contacting old ones on Facebook".

Seriously, this is what my life has come to. We have too many friends, and way too much family. Our small, intimate affair wedding guest list is up to 45...our larger guest list is up to 189...if we cut non-adults we are maybe at 151.

"Oh, all your family from the northeast won't come"

No, they will. My brother got married in Maine and thought the same thing about the NJ guests. But they all came, every last one of them. They complained how far it was, how expensive the hotels were, and how terrible it was that the young children weren't invited. But, none of these grievances stopped them from coming.

I love my crazy Italian-Polish family to death, and we are so fortunate to have a large group of close friends, but the madness has got to stop.

Ring Insurance. Check.

Finally after 1 month and 10 days of getting the bling, I got my ring insured. I guess I can count this as my first official wedding “check”.

It was pretty tough too. Email our insurance agent. Drive 3 miles to jeweler to pick up certificate of insurance. Drive home. Fax document to insurance company.

I was shocked at how little it cost. The total per year is a tiny bit less than 1% of the diamond’s value.

What does it cover?

“It would cover theft anywhere in the world, a stone falls out, you drop it down the sink, you misplace it, lose it in the ocean on your honeymoon, etc. – basically anything that would happen to it.”

Those are the exact words from my agent.

Now I have the freedom to visit high crime areas, bang my hand on concrete until the ring breaks, forget where I last took it off (this has happened already…eehh) and swim in the ocean without worry.

Side Note for North Carolina readers - We love our insurance agents. They were a referral from our real estate agent, and noone can beat their rates. All of our friends use them. If you would like their information just email me.

Postpartum Wedding Depression

Let's rewind about 2 years ago....

I was at a bridal shower planning meeting for my now sister-in-law. The bridal party was getting together to discuss date, location, food, decor...and so on.

Walking in late, saying my hellos to everyone, I ask my SIL "Where is {insert bridesmaid name here}?"

"She's not coming, she can't "handle" (there was air quotes) it".

"Can't handle what?" I asked, wondering if she had some type of allergy to all things girly....oh wait, was she just trying to get out of the pain-in-the-ass these things can turn into?

No and no.

My SIL went on to explain that said bridesmaid was having difficulty seeing my SIL in the wedding planning bliss. She was married about 3 months earlier, and since "all her fun was over" that it was too heartbreaking to experience it from the sidelines.

I blurted out something like "Is she f-ing kidding me?" What a bitch.

And fast forward back to present time.....

Ok I get it. I still think it was wrong of her to not suck it up and support her friend. But I get it.

I am not even in the stressful planning stages and yet I dedicate 1 - 2 hours each day doing wedding related activities - writing my blog, reading other's blogs, browsing wedding sites, watching wedding tv shows...or just find myself day dreaming at work about it.

It must be strange, when its all over, all of the free time you have. That is why it is so important to (1) don't let the planning take over your life, (2) focus on the purpose - to marry the person you want to share your life with, and (3) don't get married just to have a wedding - or you'll be pretty disappointed when the honeymoon is over.

Oh, and no matter how depressed you are, smile and pretend to enjoy your friend's wedding bliss. You can bitch about it when you get home, that's what your husband is there to do - listen and support you.

For Richer or Poorer

You can not turn on the TV or flip through the newspaper without hearing about the depressing state of this economy. Phrases like "Economic Tsunami" aren't just business buzz words that we make fun of. Grim, crisis, recession, depression, uncertainty, unhealthy....try watching the News for 5 minutes and NOT hear any of those words.

And yet, the wedding industry moves on. Couples look to save money where they can. More brides are taking on DIY projects. Less people are taking extravagant honeymoons.

After a long stare at my Q4 401(k) statement that came in the mail this week I had a sort of Oprah ah-ha moment. I don't have to know where/when/how we are going to get married right now. We don't have a date. We knew it wouldn't be until 2010. So why not just wait?

Just wait and see what happens. Maybe things will improve. But in case they don't, we have our money in our hands, and not sitting in the bank account of a vendor.

If the economy starts to improve we can reevaluate. The most important thing is that we get married. The two of us can do that for the small cost of the marriage license and it would be just as fabulous.

With all of that said, I am still going to move forward with collecting ideas of how I want the wedding to be...after all, I am not the girl that dreamt about her wedding since she was a little girl...so I will use the next few months to be that girl.

Earlier this week I blogged about not having a clue what colors our wedding would be...every thought in my head was just the colors of a room in my house. But thanks to The Indecisive Bride blog...I have a ton of inspiration.

She blogged about this fab site snippet & ink. They must have hundreds of inspiration boards. I probably spent 2 hours scanning the pages...stopping at ones that popped out at me.

Here were my finalists. I was shocked how much I liked all of the bright color combinations - its usually not my thing.

If You Need a Good Cry...

Totally off the wedding topic...but after crying for the last 10 minutes I thought I would share this article. It is written by Bill Simmons, a writer for ESPN. If you have never read his stuff, and you like sports the slightest, I highly recommend him. He is a huge TV fan and makes lots of great references while talking about sports...like comparing team rivalries to that of LC and Kristen in the Laguna Beach days.

Last year he wrote about creating a bucket list for his dog that was diagnosed with Lymphoma. And last Friday he passed away.

If you are not a dog lover you may not understand or shed a tear. In fact you may not have interest at all.

The article is just a reminder how much a dog, or any animal, can fill our hearts.

Our little boy, Taylor.