Fridays and Weddings!

This week has been exceptional. Busy, overwhelming, but exceptional.   1. I scored this adorable skirt and this awesome tripod for our new camera on Groopdealz.

 

 

2.

Jackson was able to sell his toolbox!! Mind you, the guy pretty much stole it from him, but hey, we needed it gone and he needed a toolbox. Now we can pay off two whole debts and focus only on his huge tool bill and school debt!! Yay for making grown up decisions!!

 

 

 3.

 My best friend from high school came over to our apartment on Monday night for dinner. She just graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and was home for Mother's Day weekend. I am so glad that we have stayed friends for almost ten years!

(2004//2014)

 

 4.

I found the perfect planner for our lives right now on Etsy. It's got seven sections so you can plan for you, hubs, kids, chores, outfits, dinners, etc. They have great student planners that break things down by class instead of by family member. There are also teacher planning books. Awesome shop, in my opinion.

 

 

 5.  Tonight, we're celebrating the marriage of my best friend, Brittney. She is getting married tomorrow, and tonight is her rehearsal. I'm so excited for she and Jared!!

     

GroopDealz and Jane.com

I have an obsession with GroopDealz and Jane.com lately.   Today, GroopDealz is on point. Let's look at the things I'd buy if I wasn't broke as a joke.   Modern Card & Picture Hanging Wire Kit

  Houndstooth 3/4 Sleeve Top

  Colorblocked Bow Ruffled Blouse - 3 Colors!

  Pop of Color Zebra Infinity Scarf - 4 Colors!

  Mini Personalized Self Inking Stamps - 20 Designs!

  Brooklyn Chevron Infinity Scarves - 4 Color Options!

  Decorative Personalized Pillow Case

        What are your favorite items? Have any great GroopDealz or Jane purchases?    

Wedding Wednesday: Bride-Guide to Bridesmaids

Happy Wedding Wednesday!   I come to you today with a bride-guide.   After I got engaged, so did my two best friends. They were my bridesmaids, and I am theirs (and MOH to one of them).  Before I got engaged, I was all wedding all the time. I wanted to be a wedding planner, open my own bridal salon, etc. After I got engaged, February 2, 2014 (the day after our wedding) could not come fast enough.   So today, I bring to you the things I learned as a bride that I wish I could tell all brides about bridesmaids.

1. Be smart about how much you're asking your bridesmaids to spend. My bridesmaid dresses were a little expensive ($140ish). We were in a time crunch because the ones I thought I loved I ended up hating, and they needed to have been ordered two weeks prior to my deciding on these. I offered to pay whatever needed to be paid for whoever needed it.  If you can't do that, think about other places you can cut costs. I told them to wear nude shoes they already had, didn't make them pay for hair or nails, makeup was free, I provided the jewelry. Because I knew they were spending so much, I was hesitant to ask them to pay any more. There's a fine line between having the wedding you want and making your bridesmaids stress. Odds are, they'll only remember what a financial burden your wedding was, not what a great time they had.
2. You're going to hurt feelings when picking your girls. I know, you don't want to, but you're going to. You can't possibly have twenty bridesmaids. Your best friend from elementary school probably still isn't interested in the pact you made years ago. Your cousins may feel like they're entitled to that position and get their feelings hurt when you don't ask. Sometimes it snowballs because you can't ask Jane and Jill without asking Judy, but if you ask Judy you'll have to ask JoAnn (and they're all Duggar sisters... just kidding). Your best friends from high school, the other roommates, the friends from church that you didn't ask may have hurt feelings. I had an old friend tweet and post passive facebook posts like "you never know what you mean to someone until you're not picked for bridesmaid." It's okay. Make your picks and don't be bullied.
3. Be mindful of body types. If you have bridesmaids of all sizes, don't pick a dress that will flatter only one body type. I'm in a wedding where most of the girls are tall and skinny, my co-MOH is petite and tiny, and I'm petite and "thicker" than they are. Some of the first dresses we tried on were only going to look good on the tall ones. The dresses we ended up with look great on everyone, but have to be hemmed because there wasn't a "petite" option. 
4. Not everyone is going to like everyone. I have two best friends. One can't stand the other, but it's because they're from two different worlds.  I met them in two different worlds, and our friendships are very different. I love them the same. After every party, shower, get together, etc. I would hear "gahh, I can't stand her!". Did I like it? No. Did I know I had to tolerate it through the end of my wedding? Yes, and that was okay.
5. Be gracious when you're making plans including your bridesmaids. This covers everything from what you're doing at your bachelorette party to what you're asking them to do the day of your wedding. If you have someone who you know has an issue with alcohol, it wouldn't be nice to demand they take part in drinking games. Know their comfort zones. If they're not comfortable doing a choreographed dance in front of everyone and their mamas, don't force it. They're already in dresses and shoes, all dolled up. Don't ask them to break it down while everyone stares at them.

  Looking back, these were things I was sure I did when it came to my bridesmaids.  I'm in weddings where not all of them are the case, and it makes life difficult.  These girls are your best girls and are standing by you in that video (and in your heart) forever.  

 

 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always an interesting day for me.

 

 

I love my mother, don't get me wrong, but sometimes (often) it is hard to like her. 

  

 

My mother has struggled with alcoholism since before I was born. She didn't drink when she was pregnant with me, but she did while she was pregnant with my sister. She is very hard headed and stubborn and really has never wanted help. When I was in eighth grade, she came to retrieve me from soccer practice and we were almost in a head on collision on the way home. She was charged with a DUI and was admitted to rehab the very next day. I remember crying my eyes out the day Dad told us she would be coming home because I knew she wouldn't change. I was right. She didn't change. She has never changed, except the brand of alcohol she consumes. When she's sober, she is a wonderful mother. She and I could really be friends if she would stay sober. But she doesn't want to.

 

 

Mother's Day is a day for me to put on a fake smile while I watch her unwrap a bracelet and cry tears because she knows she doesn't deserve it. On quite a few Mother's Days, I was questioned with a "that's it?" when she opened her gifts, or a "Go spend it with Ginger!" as I left for church. Often, the day before Mother's Day is a drunken-mother-to-angry-daughter fight about my Dad's mom, my Nana, and what a wonderful Grandmother she is as opposed to my Mom's mom who has never told me she loved me. It's not that she doesn't... she just can't say it.

 

(Nana, Dad and I on my wedding day)

This brings me to Ginger. What a blessing my Mother-In-Law is.

 

 



She has loved me since I was 16, and has prayed over my relationship with her son from the beginning. Sure, she's not my mother, but she cares for me as if I were her own. She is always an ear to listen, a scold when we have made stupid mistakes, and love when I feel discouraged. She will be a loving grandmother to my children, and I am so thankful for her.

 

For me, Mother's Day is mostly about celebrating women in my life who have set an example. Last year, and from here on out, I realize that includes my mom, too. Mind you, she wasn't a positive example, but an example nonetheless. She is an example of all of the things I don't want to be, and a kick in the pants to become the good things I want to be so I don't end up like her. 

 

I am so blessed to look back and have friends' mothers, women in church, etc. step in and provide the love, encouragement, guidance, and discipline I needed. I don't know who I'd be if they didn't invest in me. Mother's Day is about women like that.

 

It's a strange thought to me that someday I will be a mother and to think about my daughter blogging about me. I wonder what she'll say. My goal is to have her say, "My mom is my best friend. She guides me and prays for me, and she's always a listening ear. I hope to be just like her one day."

 

Bachelorette Party // Mother's Day Weekend

Hi friends.   Sorry I missed you all Friday. I was totally consumed with the stress of planning a bachelorette party, Mother's Day, etc. haha. :) The party went off without a hitch. Well, except for the awful cake plan falling through. It's okay... I improvised.    Enjoy the appropriate photos:

 

 Saturday, Jackson and I spent the day with our parents. He went to hang out with his dad, as did I.    Sunday was Mother's Day (also known as my least favorite holiday ever.. more on that later this week), so we spent the day hanging out with Jackson's mommy. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel, gave her her gift, and came home to nap the rest of the day away.

 

How To: Bachelorette Party

I am one of two Matron(s)-of-Honor in Taylor's wedding in June. First, I'd like to say how much more amazing it has been not having it all on me. Having just gotten married, I had no idea how I'd balance the budget of being someone's MOH.   So, here are my tips to planning the best bachelorette party with a small budget.   1. Know the bride. Obviously if you're her MOH, you know her fairly well. Know her likes, her dislikes, the taboo topics, the do's and don'ts. For mine, it didn't matter what I said because I ended up with a penis cake, panty shaped cookies, and alcohol. Its the one thing I would re-do about my wedding planning.   2. Find a theme. Our theme was dictated by the decor we found and loved.  We found these streamers and fell in love. So our color scheme was pink and black. We did the plates, cups, silverware, etc. around that color scheme.  I added chinese paper lanterns to match the colors.   3. Use your resources. Because the baker of aforementioned cake is invited to this party, I knew she'd be good with baking another cake for Taylor's bachelorette party.  She's a phenomenal baker, so I knew she'd love to do it.    4. Shop around. Oh, you don't want to pay $15 for that "Bride to Be" sash? You don't want to go into a store to buy phalic shaped items? Amazon has you covered. Really. That way, it comes in a box, no embarassing visits to Spencer's.    5. Don't be afraid to embarass the bride. I don't mean dressing her up like a hooch and strutting her around downtown (if that's your cup of tea, I apologize.). I mean don't be afraid to play games that are going to put her in the hot seat. This game is so much fun! I'm not saying be malicious, but have nice fun at her expense (that's a thing, right?). It's her night!!    6. Have precautionary measures in place. If you know there will be alcohol and people under 21 are attending, keep a watchful eye.  You definitely don't want that on your head.  Be the DD, offer a place to sleep, etc. if you think excessive alcohol consumption (for those old enough) will be an issue.    7. Feed the attendees.  It's probably smart to include dinner in the plan that way everyone can pay for their own food. However, I also think it's wise to include dessert.  :) For Taylor's I'm having friend mentioned in 1. and 3. to bake aforementioned cake, we're doing cookies, ice cream, etc.   8. Provide a fun guest book. My favorite, and the one we did at my party, was a photo mat for a 5x7 frame (4x6 picture) with lipstick provided. Each attendant kisses and signs the photo mat, and if you're feeling generous, you can frame it for her at the end of the night!! :)   9. Be prepared to take lots of pictures. There are tons of fun props you can find to take pictures with. I plan on doing a chalkboard on which the attendants will write one word that describes the bride. I'll then make her a little photo book with all of the pictures!   10. Don't stress. she loves you, and that is why she made you her MOH. It will all fall into place. Have fun and enjoy the party you put together!! :) She will love you for all of your hard work!!      

Our Wedding: The Honeymoon

We had planned to spend our wedding night in our own apartment, for the first time as husband and wife. We didn't live together before marriage, so it was going to be special for us. Little did I know, my best friend and her fiance had bigger plans for us. They booked us a room at the Opryland Hotel. The place we had our first date. The place Jackson first asked me to be his girlfriend. The place we took our prom pictures as Nashville flooded in 2010. The place he asked me for forever.   Our room was beautiful. It overlooked the Cascades, and you could hear the waterfall from our room. They had gone in before us and sprinkled rose petals on our bed in an "H".   After we got settled and.. well.. you know... we realized we were starving. We hadn't gotten a bite to eat at our wedding. We had a to-go box of wedding cake, and so we decided to order room-service chicken tenders. There we were, I in lingerie and he in his wedding boxers, stuffing our faces with chicken and wedding cake. #notsorry We slept like rocks that night.   The next morning, we gathered our belongings, checked out of our hotel, and headed to his parents house to give them the key to our apartment. They were going to deliver our gifts, watch over it, etc. while we were gone.  On the way to our apartment to finish packing and gather our belongings, I realized I left my adorable veil panties and my actual veil in the bathroom of our hotel room!! So, the wonderful husband he was, he took me back to the hotel and ran back up to get them. We were finally on our way to our home to grab our bags and start the trek to Savannah, GA.    11:30am, we set out on an 8 hour (plus potty breaks) drive. The drive was beautiful.

  Our first night was booked in the Fairfield Marriott in middle of nowhere, Savannah. We got there and went to check in.  Well, they couldn't find our reservation. When they did, it was all my fault for not booking it correctly.  When we got to our room, the door was jammed, the curtain wouldn't close, the lamp didn't work, and there was a walmart dehumidifier in our room. WHAT!!? I was livid. We ate at Five Guys, sat outside (in February!!) and watched the fog roll in from the river.   The next day, we went to check in to our B&B, The East Bay Inn. Oh. My. Goodness. Our room was beautiful. The ceilings were forever high, it was bright, and old.

 We threw our stuff in our room and ran to play in the city. Right across from us was River Street, so we went for lunch at Dockside. Jackson had Shrimp and Grits and I had the best Ruben Sandwich of my life.  

   Then we did some shopping. We strolled up and down River Street, wandering in and out of shops and boutiques, art museums and vendor stands. We wandered into this place called Christmas on the River. We bought our very first Christmas tree ornament together:  

(sorry about the awful quality webcam picture)   The rest, day by day, is a blur, so enjoy the photodump that documents our sweet honeymoon in Savannah, Georgia.