confession

i look at my wedding dress every day.

i do.

i’ve had it since last August (i think?)

and it still hasn’t made it to the closet for safe keeping

for some reason, i feel the need to check on it to make sure it’s coping alright;

that it hasn’t been exposed to the elements (mainly pollen around here)

and that it wasn’t cold or lonely during the night.

 

every morning…

ziiiiiiiiiiiip

peek

smile and fidget + happy jig

ziiiiiiiiiiiip

 

then on with the day!

sick, no?

some wedding plans… and a breakfast set-back

do you want to hear the success first? or the failure?

er… i’ll give you the failure first, just to get it out of the way.

   <— the culpret

the victim –>

  <—The hero

So I hate our toaster.

We’ve got beef (what does that even mean?! I’m not sure I used that correctly)

anywho…

Beef 1: the thing makes a ticking noise when it’s toasting… i guess so you don’t forget you are toasting something

HOWEVER, it ALSO makes that SAME ticking sound even when it isn’t plugged in… so you THINK your are gettin’ your toast on… in fact, your toast is still just bread because the toaster has been unplugged and isn’t getting hot… it’s just making the ticking sound.

SO. AN.NOY.ING

but that’s not what happened this morning.

Beef 2: the toaster does not STOP toasting… ever.

once you turn it on, it’s the energizer bunny… going, and going, and going.

SO. AN.NOY.ING

beef 2  is what occurred this morning… the thing just kept on toasting, and toasting, and toasting until my bread was a black brick of shame. (ooh, alliteration)

i remembered to plug the sucker in before turning it on… however, then I sat down on the couch, turned on my computer, and sat down to write an awesome blog about some wedding planning …

toaster of terror just kept at it, until flames were practically shooting out from it!

fortunately, one still-growing 19 year-old little brother/scavenger came to the rescue and gave the toast a proper burial…

in his belly.

I think I actually heard a “hm, not bad”

thanks baby bro!

 

Back to the original post!

the yard is coming along nicely for the wedding (thanks Mom and Daddy!)

Here is the image board I made in an attempt to wrangle all my ideas into some sort of organized thought

what do you think?

can you picture it?

 

here’s the program I used for the board

http://www.photovisi.com/

 

SO EASY! Give it a try!

Baby shower for Tiffany!

One of my BFFs Tiffany is getting very pregnant… probably too pregnant now to help me with scavenging shenanigans.

anywho…

She is also getting the perfect amount of pregnant for a baby shower.

I am helping a mutual friend and her sister with a shower later this month

(I’ll finally get to show you the present I’ve been working diligently on for a MONTH)

here’s a sneeky peeky:

that’s it, you’ll have to wait for her shower at the end of April to see the rest!

 

But I can show you some goodies from the work shower I also helped with:

It was a surprise shower… and let me tell you, it was SO hard to keep it that way!

Tiff and I are taking the same classes this semester, so we are together a lot.

While sitting in class about two weeks before the shower, I opened up an email from our boss…  it was an e-vite to the surprise shower…

opened up really big on my laptop…

with her sitting right there next to me!

 

EEK! I just started hitting buttons, trying to get it to go away before she saw it!

Fortunately, she was oblivious to my mid-lecture panic attack

She was very surprised!!!

(see? I CAN keep secrets!)

 

Tiff did almost ruin things by showing up early (who does that?!)… thanks Rachel for running outside to meet her and dragging her next door to distract her while we finished setting up!

 

Here’s the set-up:

 

 

the centerpieces were little metal pails I got from the dollar bin section at Target, filled with candy, and then a pinwheel in each bucket (3 for $1 and the Dollar Store).

Not baby-ish, but whimsical and fun.

 

Tiff got a lot of wonderful presents from our co-workers:

  

This was my present to Hunter… onesies with ties.

 

haha, it still makes me chuckle.

perfect for the office, Sunday church service, maybe a job interview…

i mean, whatever fashion needs your newborn has, a tie can certainly take care of them.

 

I got the idea from a fellow blogger

(I’m looking for your tutorial on how to make these but I cannot for the life of me remember who you are!!!! If you read this, please shoot me a comment so I can give you credit)

When I do remember who I snagged the idea from, I’ll link her post up here because hers are super cute and she deserves credit + oohs and aaahs.

 

cut out your fabric. I used a pattern I drew by hand but I bet you could get one online too.

 

using iron-on sheets (is that what they’re called?), iron the sheet to the back of your tie, then peel off the paper and iron the tie to your shirt.

Technically, iron-on stuff is supposed to be washing-machine safe, but since I knew it would be around a baby and possibly yucked all over, I stitched around the tie

(plus it made the finished product looked nice and finished).

 

super easy, super cute.

bada bing bada boom, we’re in business!

I was running super late that day of the shower though and I forgot to get a good close-up pic of the finished project….

we’ll just have to display it on Hunter when he gets here.

 

ps: I can’t lie… I got the onesies from the thrift store because I knew Tiff wouldn’t care. A brand new Carter’s onesie is a brand new Carter’s onesie…. whether you pay $6 for it or only 50 cents.

i’m just sayin’

feeling kinda distant

I feel like I’ve been going non-stop for the past 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the buh-jillion things on my to-do list aren’t really interesting enough to share on the bloggy.

I promise some wedding goodies coming up though…

I’ve almost finished the save-the-dates. 

woop woop.

grrr...

bear with me... I'm undergoing some blog renovations!

yes, I'm a speech therapist, and yes, I had to look up which bear/bare to use:
please don't bare with me... i don't want to see you nekked.
instead, bear with me while my site's a mess!

grrr.. english

i'm just sayin'

Captivating Curls

I thought I would share some of my favorite hair tips with

some of you fellow curly-Q ladies.

Step 1:

Shower; every day.

Step 2:

Shampoo your hair; but not with shampoo, and not every day.

let me explain: yes, you should shower every day (um…i shouldn’t have to tell you that), but most (pretty much all) shampoos on the market today have sulfates in them.

Sulfates strip your hair of some natural oils, and if you have curly hair then you know…

we aint got none to spare!

nobody wants to have scarecrow hair

EEK!

The solution?

No-poos

haha, i just love saying that. no-poos.

Now, I haven’t gone completely “no poo”, there are some actual home remedies ( baking soda and apple cider vinegar) that you could use,

i’m not ready to head that direction just yet…

but I DO use “shampoo” that is natural and has no sulfates – Hair One.

You can get it at any Sally Beauty store for about $10.

I know that’s more expensive than your average run-of-the-mill Pert Plus…

but I’ve been using the same bottle for 6 weeks and still haven’t run out

(and I use about 20 pumps each time I shampoo since my hair is so long)!

*Just a word of warning: No-poos don’t foam up or lather… they sort of disappear on your head, so it may take a little bit to figure out the right amount to use on your hair.

* Also, they don’t leave a “silky” feeling to your hair when you’re in the shower, like other shampoos would… this threw me for a loop the first time I used Hair One and I ALMOST used my regular shampoo right after it because I didn’t like not having the “slippery/silky” hair feeling after shampooing… don’t be alarmed.

at least give it a try!

What I love about Hair One is that your hair is silky and soft when it dries, which is more important than how it feels right after shampooing.

Step 3 - After showering:

DO NOT us a towel on your curls…

For the love of PETE, just don’t do it!!

terrycloth towels, even the high end ones, have a rough texture with lots of little ‘grabbies’ all over…

if you use one to dry your hair, it will create more frizzies and actually separate the curls.

Instead, I use an old t-shirt or a paper towel to squeeze the water out (squeeze, not ring)

Paper towels actually work the best, and if I do use those, they last me about 3 weeks since all i use them for is blotting

(not scrubbing or twisting, right? right?? I had better not see you twisting!)

Step 4 - the arsenal…

after getting most of the water out I put in my favorite products.

 actually, I really just use this one:

it’s magical. it delivers smooth curls without disgusting “crunchy” side effects.

the other bottles are just remnants of failed attempts to achieve the perfect curls.

I don’t know why I don’t just throw them away!

Step 5 - Blow 'em dry!
After applying product and combing it through (with my fingers… PUT DOWN THE BRUSH!), I use my blow dryer with the diffuser attachment; it looks like this:

Just remember, the less you touch your hair, the fewer frizzies you’ll have and the more awesomely bouncy curls you’ll have.

*Disclaimer:

i am not a hair expert.

i do not have perfect hair.

i was not paid in any form for promoting these products.

i am not at fault for any hair mishaps you may have.

use these tips at your own risk.

i’m just sayin’