the zesty baker: giveaway: monogrammed magnets

the zesty baker: giveaway: monogrammed magnets: "*Update: You have until tomorrow {Monday} at 5pm to enter!* So, the promised-post is here and comes with a special surprise... the zesty b..."

Confessions: Im addicted to spending money..eek

I have a problem. The problem with my problem: i've had this problem since I was a pre teen and I don't know if its curable. I love shopping and im not sure its an addiction I want to give up. At first it started with window shopping, then getting a little older and getting an allowance to get the small things I wanted, then getting a part time job in high school to be able to afford the pricier stuff I wanted, and now im a full fledged adult with a salary(scary). If it wasn't for the bills that I know have to be paid, I would spend my entire paycheck on fabulous trips, fine cuisine, and shoes and purses. Im addicted to shopping and im about to explode. Im not as bad as Rebecca Bloomwood in Confessions of a Shop A holic (great movie), but I do feel happy after some needed retail therapy. One thing that has helped me hold my urges is paying for my wedding. My fiance' and I have been saving money and sending out checks like crazy over the past few months to pay off vendors. I've avoided the mall totally, tj maxx, and only go to the food section of Target. I can't wait for the wedding to be over so that I can finally have my life back! I won't go crazy and go on out of control shopping sprees, but I will buy a few items i've wanted for a while. I know that if I went on the Suze Orman's "Can I afford it" segment she would turn me down on getting a new wadrobe. I really need some new clothes and shoes for work. Its about to be summer and I would really like some sun dresses, a new bathing suit, and some cute tank tops to wear. I would also love some new sandals. So here are a few items I would love to buy:

A black North Face denali. Why: because I don't have a black one. I love my brown and pink ones, but they don't go with everything! Black is a color I can wear with everything and even though its about to be warm, I still like carrying my North Face with me when I go to the movies.

A J. Crew sandalwood blazer ($128) Why: Because blazers go well with a pair of jeans or apart of a business suit. You can dress it up or dress it down and look good.

Lilly Pulitzer Mandy dress Why: Because its so cute and is bohemian chic. This dress is perfect for a weekend outing.

Tory Burch leopard ballet flats ($235). Why: Because they are cute! No other reason other than that.

Oh how I wish September would hurry up so I could buy some new cute clothes!!!

Going the extra mile

As a woman, I think its normal for us to have body image issues. We see girls on tv and in magazines and are told that we need to look that way. Not everyone is a size 0 and there are a lot of people who don't want to be. Getting married is a big step in my life. I have gone my whole life being average (not thin and not big), just average. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to look good on the one day of my life when hundreds of family and friends will be staring at me all day long in a form fitting wedding gown. I don't want to be super skinny, just fit.

Now that my wedding is six months away I am definitely taking this life changing plan into action. Getting fit isn't something short term for me, this is a permanent lifestyle change. I go to the gym every week, but I have been slacking lately and not going as often as I should. I am trying to tone a little and probably lose 30 pounds total (I've recently lost 10 pounds over the past 3 weeks!) I have kicked up my fitness goals into high gear and I have been going to the gym 5-6 times a week!! I don't have a problem going to the gym, but I do lose my motivation after a while and fall into tempation with sweets (I can't resist chips, cookies, and cake). Usually one of my coworkers brings in a treat and I can never say no. That has changed a lot for me. I started keeping a food journal on my phone (Myfitnesspal app on my iphone has been a great tool). I enter all my foods for the day with no exceptions and keep track of how many calories I have consumed. I go to the gym directly after work and usually do a fitness class or workout on my own. I try to switch up my routine every few weeks to prevent myself from falling off track.

I finally have my dress fitting 1 month before my wedding! I am super excited because I am hoping to be at my goal size by then. The one thing I am scared about is my dress not fitting at all to the point where I will have to get a new one. When I ordered my dress it was already two sizes too big. If I lose any more weight it may be too big. I figure I will cross that bridge when I get to it, but it crosses my mind frequently.

So now that I am this fitness journey along with planning my wedding I would definitely like to keep you all updated on my progress. I am not changing the wedding theme of my blog, but I am adding parts of my everyday life to it. I will be posting delicious healthy recipes, talking about my goals of going back to grad school, and exciting things that will occur before and after the wedding. I want to make this more personal and real so adding the trials and tribulations of an average 20 year old girl seems appropriate. I hope you guys stick around because I have lots of cool stuff coming soon!

Shoes..OMG..Shoes!

My dear fiance' is not the tallest guy in the world, nor is he the shortest, but it has been so hard to find shoes that don't make me feel like im a giant standing next to him. I found some shoes at DSW that I absolutely love, but they were too tall.

I returned the shoes above and ordered some shoes that I thought would be just right. Cute right?

But alas, when they finally arrived I hated them. I returned them and felt defeated. Im super picky about shoes and thought I would never find anything. I thought about wearing flats, which I may still do, but I haven't found any that I am too fond of. So...I started searching and searching for shoes that were cute, comfortable, not too tall, and me. Hard task for sure. Then I stumbled across the Converse website and saw that you could design custom made chuck taylors!! I was super excited and got to work on my wonderful design. I designed these shoes based on my wedding colors and even put my new last name on the back, awesome right? I'll be ordering these in the next week and I could not be happier. I love heels but being as clumsy as I am I barely wear them. I thought this was a perfect alternative and everyone I've shown them too loves them.

Hello there!!!

So I have been MIA for a while now!! I apologize to my loyal readers and my poor blog for abandoning since January, but i've had so much going on. I can finally share with you all the awesome things that have occured.

So I finished my invites!! They are being printed this weekend!! I am super excited. I have wanted to share the final product with you guys for a while and now I can. Sorry for the camera quality (taken with my iphone).

I got my rehearsal dinner dress from ModCloth and I absolutely love it!

Madlibs!! I absolutely love Madlibs and found this great idea to put them on the back of our menu card. Here is a draft of ours:

New Year Resolution- Getting fit for my dress (blah)

So my goal is to get totally toned and lose some weight by early April. I have to get my dress altered and while it is 2 sizes too big, I want to be really fit and in shape before I go for my first fitting. My goal is to work out at least 5 days a week! I have been doing well so far-i've went 3 times this week so far!! Two more days to go! Im dreading going back to Bodypump, but I did get in great shape and lost the most weight with that class. Its just so hard lifting weights for an entire hour!!! At least they have good music! :)

So I found this wonderful graphic designer to design my invitations...but I found the perfect invites by an etsy seller (inkedpaper), and they are a lot less than ones by the graphic designer. I feel bad telling her we no longer will be getting our invites by her, but when I saw these (below) I loved everything about them and they are going to look totally awesome in pink and navy!!

Happy New Year!!!

Today is the official start to a new year and I could not be happier. 2010 was a year of triumphs and defeats, but I am looking forward to what's ahead. Speaking of what's ahead: Im getting married this year!! FINALLY!! When we first started this process, we had 24 months to plan our wedding (that's 2 years)!!! Now I have less than 9 months til the big day! So, from now on I will take you all on my journey to the alter. I have a lot of DIY projects to work on, so you will see all my attempts at creating fabulous designs for my big day. From now on I will let you know what I plan on accomplishing each month, and what actually gets done. Work has slowed down for now, so I will be able to work a regular 40 hour week!! Im so looking forward to 2011!!



January to do list:

• Get Brandon's passport for the honeymoon


• Design our customized invitation
• Find wedding undergarments


• Call Olga to schedule my dress alterations


• Attend the Carolina Inn Bridal Fair


• Find my mom a birthday present

I have some real DIY stuff I probably will try to work on, but no rush..I have 8 months 2 weeks and 3 days!! LOL

Happy New Year!!