Obsessions.

Let's face it, ladies. One of THE best things about weddings, whether you're a bridesmaid, an attendant, a guest, or the bride herself, is the excuse to buy fabulous new fancy dresses and beautiful new shiny shoes. It's almost like you owe it to the event itself to feel as good and as beautiful as possible, right? :) The things we say to justify retail therapy.

With all the showers, parties, dinners, and many more miscellaneous wedding events I've got in store that are suddenly just right around the corner, I've been doing my best to keep a running wish list of all the beautiful bride-sy outfits that would be perfect for each different occasion.

Here are just a few of my favorite obsessions... at least for this week:

[Drifting By Dress by Anthropologie, Xhilaration Juniors Sleeveless Lace Dress by Target, Babergh Dress by Anthropologie]

[Washed Crepe Jane Dress, and Crinkled Chiffon Surf Blossom Dress, both by J. Crew]




[Enzo Angiolini Mielee Pump via Nordstrom, Knotty pearl necklace by J. Crew, Stuart Weitzman Platswoon via Zappos, Floral hair piece by Twigs & Honey, Vera Wang Lavender Luna Flat via Nordstrom]

My Personal Wedding Color Palette (So Far)

Bride and Bridesmaid Dresses

So I decided to go slightly rogue with my J. Crew bridesmaid dress colors. (Ever so slightly, really. I wouldn't necessarily put "rogue" and "J. Crew" in the same sentence, but for this, I'll make an exception.)

While I'll be clad in the traditional ivory hue, my leading ladies will alternate between two different shades of gray - light pewter and violet stone - to create a sort of tone-on-tone look. Two bridesmaid colors? How daring am I!

Why this decision? When I sat down to pick dress colors, I just couldn't bring myself to choosing a bubblegum pink or cotton candy blue. "Traditional" bridesmaid dresses honestly tend to warm up my gag reflexes. And pick just one color? My ladies aren't clones. Or robots. (Or fem-bots, more accurately.)

I realize this still might sound a little strange, so here are a few pictures from which I drew inspiration, to give you a better idea of how it will look all together:

Now that's not so bad, is it? Actually, I have no idea how it will turn out, but I think it's worth a try. And I'm going with my gut! My bridesmaids (bless them) are also on board and have even started purchasing their dresses. Fingers crossed my idea's not lame.

But bleh!, you say. A gray wedding? How boring! But of course, it's all part of my master plan. (Mmmooo-haha.) What better, more neutral palette than stone gray from which to paint the most beautiful, vibrant colors? Which brings me to my thoughts on....

Flowers!

Deep reds and burgundies, lavenders and violets, punctuated by white and ivory accents... all these splashes of color against neutral, stone-gray backgrounds are what constitute the current mix to our wedding backdrop.

The spotlight will be on fall colors, which I absolutely love, and so I feel really good about my choices so far. I just can't wait to see my vision fall into place!

So there you have it. A sneak peek into my Wedding Wonderland of fabric and color. (Um, is the bridal (ec)centricity starting to show?) 142 days and counting!

Wedding Dress: Check!

Like whoa.*

*Note: I considered leaving this post at that, but then I decided to give you a few more details to chew on (though not too many!) - I mean, it is the wedding dress. A checklist item this big merits at least some explanation. For the record, though, this initial statement pretty much sums it up, and so you may stop now if you wish; no further reading necessary.

A few weeks ago, as mentioned in this blog post, I bought a dress in New York City. Bought. That's not the same as finding the dress I'm going to wear on October 30 (although, it might be). Any dress I buy or heavily consider is subject to a rigorous obstacle course of tests paneled by only the harshest and most scrutinizing of judges (i.e. Lauren, Sarah, Melissa, & Courtney).

Here are the 10 stages of wedding dress selection, according to, well, me:

1. Earmark catalogs, magazines, or books, and/or capture screen shots from online galleries and stores.

2. Select promising gowns off the rack. (If satisfied, skip to step #4; if still panicking, go to step #3.)

3. Enlist your friend, sister, mother, or sales associate to select a gown off the rack for you.

4. Try on selected dress. (Eek!).

5. Take pictures of selected dress and/or dress feature while you are wearing said dress. Important for when you get home and realize you've completely blacked out most of the dress-shopping experience.

6. Bring home information about the preferred dress (stock number, price, size, etc), and "sleep on it." This step may be skipped altogether if you get either, a) overly excited and credit-card-happy, or b) overly nervous and credit-card-happy.

7. Purchase the dress. (Omg!).

8. Invite trustworthy friends and family over for mimosas. Get them tipsy. Try on the purchased dress in front of them, and make them tell you the truth.

9. Conduct the Mom Test. Try on the purchased dress in front of Mom, and cross your fingers she doesn't think it's too tight, low, sexy, modern, or any other common motherly clothing worry.

10. Do your happy dance on top of your living room couch while no one is looking. Voila! You have yourself a wedding dress!

Pre-New York, the furthest I'd gotten with any dress was step #6, with a few gowns not getting past #1, and several gowns dying after #4. Looking back, I was far from close. But I knew I'd find my perfect fit in due time.

Brutal, yes. Overboard, maybe. But do I feel amazing and confident and ecstatic with my purchase? Like whoa I do.

Just think, I haven't even picked out jewelry, shoes, hairstyle, makeup...

Hijacked! Secret trip to NYC

If you've ever considered being spontaneous with your sweetheart - planning a surprise, seizing the day, flying by the seat of your pants - then take it from me, don't miss the opportunity, just go for it! Not to be regretted, I promise.

The past couple months have been nothing but a rut of premeditation, calculation, and overplanning, and so I decided it was time to shake things up. Not plan something for once. Just act on an impulse, and go, and not think much about the consequences. Oh, and drag Clay with me but not tell him until the last possible minute. Mmm, yeah, that sounds pretty good to me.

So when concert tickets for Clay's favorite band went on sale, for a show in Brooklyn, NY, I jumped on the opportunity. Sold! To the bloggy woman and her handsome fiancee. As a result, Clay's weekend went a little like this:

Thursday night (me) We're going to the airport tomorrow! I've packed your bags! (Clay) Really? Cool!
Friday morning (JetBlue kiosk) Flight 1060, Austin to.... New York. (Clay) No way! (me) Surprise! It's our favorite city!
Friday evening (me, paraphrased via belated birthday card) Guess what we're really here for? To see Nada Surf perform. In Brooklyn. Tomorrow night. No, you're not dreaming! (Clay) Wha? Huh? No.... nah... nuh-uh... seriously?!

Oh, it was totally awesome. I love giving surprises (though I hate receiving them). And though it was pretty hard to keep it all in for the past 2 months, the fact that we'd be jet-setting to one of our favorite cities on earth was so worth it all the same.

Not to mention, we happened to have the most productive weekend ever. Where did that come from? Me and Clay, productive? I totally thought it would be all sleeping in late and lounging around the hotel (which is really my kind of vacation), but just look at what we accomplished:

• Rocked out to an awesome band
• Bought not 1 wedding dress, but 2! (same dress, 2 different sizes)
• Spent some much needed quality time with each other
  
• Did I mention I found a wedding dress?
  
• Narrowed down the honeymoon choice to 2 destinations
• Feasted on Italian, Chinese, and pub food all weekend long
  
• Got closer to choosing a rehearsal dinner venue
• Um... dress! Wedding dress! Hooray!
  

Now that's some serious business going on right there. Must've caught on to some of those "TCB" New York juices floating around.

Or maybe our uncharacteristic productivity is just an extension of our lives right now. Our lives being super chaotic, overwhelming, and full of uncertain changes. All of which would normally be pretty exciting, but it's just so much all at once... there's really not enough time to process or focus on one single thing.

When it rains, it pours.

Funny, because the band we saw this weekend has a lyric for that: "Cats and dogs are coming down." So true. Especially cats... I've got cats all over the place over here.

Another Wedding Dress Visit

[Warning: some content may be inappropriately girly for men.]

More wedding dress shopping! She's on fire! (Ok, so I've only been twice now, but hey, gimme a break! It still takes a lot of my courage to book these things. And yes, sometimes I speak in third person. Yeah. Get over it.)

Last Saturday I dragged my sister Sarah with me to strip down to my nude undergarments and try on more puffy ivory-colored dresses, this time at a cute little centrally-located boutique called Blush Bridal Lounge.

I had a pretty good experience there, I have to say! My consultant Amanda was very professional and helpful in suggesting gowns for me to try on. This time I was up front with my budget from the minute we walked through the door, which obviously limited my selection a bit but was probably better in the long run for my little heart. Nothing worse than trying on a gown you love and then glancing at the price tag only to find that you could feed a small country for the amount they are charging. Oy vey.

After selecting a few stylish + budget-friendly gowns, Sarah and I were led through the charming old house, lined with hardwood floors and filled with antique-looking couches, into a sun-filled private back dressing room. The whole process was very one-on-one, which I actually ended up liking! (Sometimes I shy away from too much attention.) I know there were other customers in the shop, but they were in their own private rooms too, and so I never saw any of them: 100% attention was focused on me. Made it feel like special treatment, and I loved every minute.

Though we didn't walk away with the gown (again), we actually made out pretty well, Sarah and I. Much to my embarrassment, my sister snapped a bajillion photos of me in the different gowns, and somehow I still manage to look really awkward in a wedding dress. I ended up adoring the last dress I tried on, though, which was a major achievement considering it's the first one I've gotten all giddy over. There may be hope for me yet!

Too bad $1000 (the price of said dress) is still too expensive for my budget. Bubble burst, effectively. Maybe I can find a similar knock-off at half price? And so the dress quest continues...

Wedding Worry of the Week: Dress

It's good to address your fears every now and then. Face them head on. Throw yourself to the wolves, and let go of everything holding you back.

These were the mantras running through my head this past weekend when I faced one of my biggest wedding fears: the fear of the wedding dress. You may think I'm trying to be funny or cute, but for real, that thing scares me. Especially the veil. Oh, and the train. And definitely the weird bra I'm going to have to buy to hold the whole thing together. See what I mean: scary!

But, I got over it. I faced my fear. At least for an hour last Saturday when my mom and I ventured over to a cute little South Austin shop called Unbridaled.

At first I was truly skeptical of this place, thinking they'd probably be too funky or modern or alternative for my taste; I'm much more of a classic, simple girl. But I reasoned it would be a good fun start to the whole wedding dress hunt and less stifling than a fancier bridal store, so why not? I put on my big girl pants and bravely booked a 4pm appointment.

And you know what? It really wasn't so bad. (Shocker.) Granted, I started sweating profusely the minute we walked in the door I was so nervous, and I'm pretty sure the sales girl thought my mom and I were freaks after Mom liked all the dresses I hated and vice versa, but really, it was totally normal. Familiar, even. Like I was in junior high again, trying on clothes from the Gap in front of my mom because, a) she was paying for them, and b) she had the wheels to take me to the mall. Yes, suddenly I was 14 again, except without the weird hormonal changes or self-confidence issues or inherent teenage angst. (Though come to think of it, that description isn't too far off from a bride-to-be: hormones, self-confidence, angst. Hmmm.)

But anyway. Back to the dress experience. Even though we came out empty-handed, and though I'm still not certain which style dress I'm going to end up with, I'm really not so intimidated anymore. In fact, I think I'm ready to book my next appointment at another bridal shop. Hey, look at me! That's right, I own you, wedding dress fear.

What I learned from this is something I keep have to relearning; it's one of those lessons that just doesn't stick with me. The lesson being, holding on to a certain fear and being afraid of something is a basic human instinct. Fear is what reminds us that we're really still alive. Which is exactly why letting go of your fears makes for such a big thrill.

One of these days, the lesson will stick. Until then, I'll just have to keep on fear-fighting. Starting with the big white dress.

Inspiration: Style. Dress. Happiness. Color.

[via Bride's Head Blog]

[via Home/ Away From Home Blog]

A few of my favorite things: Audrey Hepburn. The movie Funny Face. The color red. Two out of three of which I hope to incorporate somehow in my wedding (Audrey-style & red; I'll try and leave my funny face at home). Can you blame me? I mean, how stunning is the woman in these photos! I want to be her for a day.