The stress of wedding dress shopping...

Oh my! I didn't realize how stressful it is shopping for wedding dresses!! As I mentioned a few days ago, we went to Town and Country Bridal last week. It so far has my favorite dress. It was nice because there was only one other bride there trying on dreses. The lady I worked with was really helpful. She used the clips to try to make the dress fit as best she could so we could see how it looked.

On Saturday, we went to Clarice's. I know a lot of people absolutely love this store. My sister and I did not like it at all and won't go back. The store was insanely crowded when we got there. There was basically nowhere to stand. My appointment started about 15 minutes late. The girl that was helping me was not helpful at all. She only found 2 dresses for me to try on. In general, she didn't seem really thrilled to be helping us. She didn't try to clip the dress at all so we could see how it would really look. I had to hold the strapless dresses up so they wouldn't fall down (since they wouldn't zip up all the way). Not a good experience at all. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

We went to Galleria next to look at bridesmaid dresses at Ann Taylor. We found a dress we both liked.

Very cute! It will be in black. It ties in the back with a cute bow. We're thinking of getting open-toed heels to wear with it. I wanted to find a dress she could wear again. This dress could be worn on a cruise, to a nice dinner, etc.

We were leaving Galleria, and I saw Demetrios. It was open late on Saturday, so we just decided to stop by. Their dresses are beautiful, but quite embellished. The salon was gorgeous, though. Very different than Clarice's - bright, big, not crowded, etc. The gal helping me (Nicole, I believe), was very nice. Unfortunately, they didn't have any simple dresses I liked.

This Thursday, my sister and I are going to Bridal Connections in Florissant. We know a few girls who got their dresses there. Saturday, February 9th is the big "wedding dress shopping extravaganza" (as I now refer to it). I won't go to any more shops after this, except maybe 2 to make a final decision. We are going to: Amore, Maiden Voyage, Enchanted Bride, and Berrybridge. It's going to be an exhausting day!!

Wedding dresses!

Thursday was my first time looking at wedding dresses. I went to Town & Country Bridal with my mom and my sister. My mom brought along her veil, which had been sealed up since my aunt Nancy's wedding about 20 some years ago. The veil is great! It just needs to be pressed. The veil is Beligum lace - my mom actually bought it in Belgium. It is a cathedral length veil with some flowers down the back. Since the veil is do intricate, I'm looking for a very simple dress.

Here is my favorite dress so far: http://yolandacouture.com/classic_designs/?id=30

Hopefully the link works. I tried to get the link to the picture so I could post it in here, but it wouldn't let me. It is a gorgeous simple dress with 2 little ribbons around the waist and buttons all down the back. The front has a few pleats and is in a gorgeous silk. I will be getting it in white. The store had it in ivory (I think that's what it was) and the color did nothing for my skin tone. I definitely need a bright white.

Today we're (my sister and I) are going to Clarice's to check it out. Then, we're going to Bridal Connections in Florissant next Thursday. I'm hoping I will find "the dress" at one of these places!

G&C

G&C Nights (Glazed and Confused) are so much fun! I love chatting with the ladies. It's nice to have a girls' night once a month! I'd go more often if I could think of enough things to paint! I picked up the reindeer ornament and house ornament I made last time. The house is my favorite! We're going to put a small wedding picture in the middle - so cute!

This weekend

I am so exicted about this weekend! I have nothing planned, which is what I love. This is one of the very few weekends of the year where I don't have weddings to play, places I have to go, etc. I am really looking forward to lounging around and running a few errands. I hope to catch up on a bit of cleaning. Plus - because it is MLK Day on Monday, I'm off school. Yeah! :-)

I know they say we're supposed to get a tiny bit of snow tonight or tomorrow (can't remember which right now). It would so great, though, if we could get enough to have a snow day. A 4 day weekend would be even better! Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to happen.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I know I won't be posting tomorrow night. I'll be playing Bunco with some other teachers. My turn to host Bunco isn't until May, which is good because I need time to get my house ready.

Cat show

The cat show was quite funny! We saw some UGLY cats - hairless ones. There were some really cute cats. There were also a few kittens that my sister and I wanted to steal! :-) They were adorable. They actually have "rings" where they judge the cats. Unfortunately, they do not walk them around on leashes. We thought this would be hilarious. However, the cats are in cages. The judges just get them out one by one. They look at them, see if they like to play, etc.

They have a division for household cats. We think it would be funny to enter our cats next year, especially my sister's cat, Kevin Federline (who is a girl).

Stress!!

I'm really stressed out right now! My FI's parents are now interested in having a Chinese reception for us the weekend after our wedding. The problem is - I'm booked to play at a wedding. So, we have to find a time that will work. The problem with going during the week is that he will have to ask for time off. Right now, he needs to save all the vacation days he can, because we are hoping to take a long (2 weeks) honeymoon next March. We're going to work on it this weekend and see what we can figure out.

Also, there are virtually NO trunk shows in January or February. It seems like they're all late February/early March or even later. That's too late for me to order my dress for October 4. Dang it!

On to something funny. My sister and I are going to a cat show tomorrow. Somehow she found it online. So, we figured we'd see what it is like. Here's the website: www.acadiacoons.com/luckytom

Randomness

This weekend was the bridal show at the America's Center. Since I had a booth, it took up pretty much my whole weekend. Unfortunately, I have some blisters on my fingers, and they're hurting quite a bit.

I haven't really done much wedding-related lately. I need to get going on a few things! Hair and make-up is at the top of the list right now. I also need to make some appointments to start looking at dresses.

I guess I haven't done anything interesting lately, because I can't think of anything to write about!

Cali

I left on the 26th to head out to California (near San Francisco) where FI's family lives. The flights were awful. I ended up having about a 2 hour and 45 minutes layover in Denver. My connecting flight was cancelled, so we had to reschedule for a flight that left about 30 minutes later. Then, the crew was late from wherever they were coming from. We also had the same problem with the crew on the way home.


California was fun! The thing I think I enjoyed the most was horsebackriding in the mountains. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, we were only able to go at a slow walk; no trotting allowed. I plan on looking into taking some lessons again. When I was in middle school, my sister and I took riding lessons for a few years. We rode English style, which I prefer.

We also went to the Winchester Mystery House. It was a very interesting tour! Sarah Winchester built an enormous house. She was a little bit nutty. It's definitely worth looking into if you're in the San Francisco area.













We visited the De Young (hope I spelled it right) Museum, which is a modern art museum in Golden Gate Park.








In Golden Gate Park, we also went to the flower conservatory. They had some very beautiful flowers.




We saw the house below driving around San Francisco. I thought it was a bit overkill on the Christmas decorations and had to take a picture.








In Union Square (I think that's the name), Macy's has some really cute window displays. They had 3 displays with cats to raise money for the ASPCA. A guy was standing outside collecting money for them. The cutest was the display with 2 kittens. The kept chasing each other and running around. Unfortunately, the window reflected a lot, so my pictures aren't very good.




We did a lot of other things, too, but I don't want this post to be too long! Overall, it was a good trip!