Dress Shopping with Aimie and her Enterage

So, this weekend was the big McCarley Wedding Planning Weekend! It had been planned for months and I'd been looking forward to it ever since it was scheduled.

I drove up late Friday night, and Saturday we started by going dress shopping. Wesley, if you happen to be reading this... STOP RIGHT NOW!!!

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I have to admit, David's Bridal is one of my favorite places in the world!



Like a good bride, Aimie had her book with her!



Peekaboo Aimie! Are you overwhelmed by everything yet???



Aimie's daughter and Jr. Bridesmaid, Allie, trying to stay entertained while we all oohed and gooed over the dresses.



Stephanie, bridesmaid, and Harli, Jr. Bridesmaid, helped Aimie start picking out dresses to try on.



Then we picked out bridesmaid dresses and set up camp by the only dressing room they would open for us.







Steph was the first in the dressing room.


I know she looks like she's being tortured, but she's just not really a dress kind of girl. I think simply wearing a dress is her wedding gift to Aimie!

Then it was Harli's turn.






But this isn't the dress she ended up picking out.

Then Harli's mom, the Maid of Honor, Kathi was up. The dress she picked out was so beautiful and classic!



But with Aimie, there can't be too much seriousness at one time!





The it was the bride's turn!




I picked this one out for her to try on. But...




I think that is a, "No."



Here's another one that gives us the opportunity to pull in some color.



And the back.



She is going to be a beautiful bride!



Note to self: It's significantly easier to put the crinoline on BEFORE putting on the dress!



This one was considered as a contender.









Here is Steph practicing here bridesmaids duty of bustling the dress.



Or does she just have her hand up Aimie's dress?



The poor little ones were worn out!

So, after 5 hours we put one dress on a 24 hour hold and headed home. The main issue i have with David's Bridal is that all the consultants work on commission and therefore, they specialize in the hard sale. Personally, there is nothing that irritates me more than a hard sale salesperson. Not to mention, the dress she put on hold was beautiful, but I hadn't seen her face light up like I expected it to when she found the "one". I know that not every bride has that moment where they put the dress on and everything hits them and they cry and everyone else cries and you know that is the dress. But knowing Aimie like I do, I seriously suspected that she would have one of those moments, so I really worried about her paying $50 over her upper budget limit on a dress that was "the best so far".

But as soon as we got to Aimie's house we realized...



Yup, those are the clippys that we scrounged through the drawers at David's Bridal in order to pin up the bustle, and then accidentally took home. :-) Opps!


On the way home, Kathi mentioned that here wedding dress was still hanging in her wedding dress. She insisted that Aimie at least try it on, since it would save her a lot of money, if Aimie liked it.

So, Sunday, Kathi brought it over and after saying that she would try it on later, Aimie decided that she couldn't wait any longer! The moment she tried it on, I knew it was the "one". She got this beautiful glow about her, she welled up, and started to cry. I hurried to get my camera as she called Kathi to come back over.

So, without further ado... (WESLEY, I'M SERIOUS. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER)

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And the back. It will obviously need alterations.



And finally, my favorite picture! I can't wait till the wedding!



We got a lot of other things done during the weekend which I'll probably blog about as well. But getting the dress figured out was certainly the biggest thing and really took a load off her shoulders. I was so privileged to be a part of the journey!

I now know why old folks get arthritis!

My Granny Bumgarner rocking her awesome, GI Jane-Post-Chemo haircut proudly! I can tell you that my tenacity comes straight from her! I love you Granny!

You know they say, "50 is the new 30". I'm beginning to see the utter bull sh*t in that statement. In my life it feels more like "30 is the new 50!"

So, because I don't have enough to do in my life, and like Jay says, God forbid I do one thing at a time including JUST WATCH TV, I've taken up crocheting. Even though I've been on anti-anxiety meds for years, I still deal with this nervous energy that brews under the service all the time, and these incessent thoughts that I cannot seem to calm. Now, I'm sure that a little...um...street pharmisuticals would help, but I just have too much to lose to be engaging in any illegal activity. Now I'll be the first to recommend pot be legalized and if that were to happen, I might see what I thought, but as for now, I've got a good job, a wonderful husband, volunteer projects, and a lot more in my life and I just don't have time to go to jail. :-)

But anyway... I come from a long line of crocheters. My mom and her mom both crochet and have each taken their turn trying to teach me. Growing up around handmade crafts like that, though, one kind of loses the appreciation for it. We always had crocheted afghans my grandmother made, we always had hand made quilts from either grandmothers or great grandmothers. It was just "normal" and I assumed everyone's grandmother gave them enough afghans to keep an entire carrier battle group warm through the winter.

As I've gotten older though, I've realized that this is infact not the case. There are plenty of families devoid of family heirlooms and craft projects. I've come to realize how lucky I am to have so many things that my grandmother had made for me over the years, things that I can pass on to keep my children and their families warm. And there's nothing like feeling like you have the arms of your family warpped around you when you are alone and feeling insecure.

So, I've decided that it's my turn to start learning so that I can carry on this tradition as well. I guess this clarity has come about because of my grandmother's illness. She has cancer of something (I think it's the lining of the diaphram or something equally obscure like that). She's a fighter and stubbern as hell. She's 85, has cancer and still mows her lawn. I'm begging to think that she's too stubborn to ever die. But then again, I know that isn't true. But I've realized that she's going to take a lot of stuff to the grave with her if we don't get it out of her head and recorded somehow.

But anyway... back to the crocheting. I have realized why old people get arthritis! It's because they do this tiny, detail orinted, neddle work crap! I'm freaking 29 years old and my hands and elbows were aching last night from holding the yarn and the crochet hook! But then again, I have an obsessent personality and I don't crochet for an hour or so. I think I crocheted for over 4 hours last night! Hopefully, my hands and arms will get used to it, because I greatly enjoy it. It really helps to focus my nervous energy into something constructive instead of just running old conversations with my dad in my head and wishing I'd said this or that or the other. So, I guess a little soreness in my arms and hands is a small price to pay for some mental sanity.

So what traditons from your family are you trying to continue? And what tricks have you found to help focus any norvous energy into something creative and constructive?

The Gifts that Keep on Giving

I've been promising you pictures of the things I've been doing with my Christmas presents (the Cricut and heat embosser). Last week was a little crazy, but without further ado I present... the first batch of projects using my new toys.



I figured that the first thing I would start doing would be making thank you cards for the people who pitched in to buy me my cricut machine.

These first two use awesome paper from Paper Source and the more conventional "positive" image from the Cricut.





This one takes advantage of the awesome "tag" shape that comes with the standard Cricut cartridge and then this awesome thank you stamp I got from paper source a while ago.



This one uses the "negative" that the Cricut produces. It's awesome to be able to use both the negative and the positive. It doubles the possibilities.



And this one uses the "tag" shape from one cartridge and the font from another cartridge I bought. Love the possibilities that this machine creates.



Next we have the amazing and fabulous heat embosser. So, far I've only gotten the clear stamp pad and the clear embossing powder, which creates the illusion of a water mark embossing. Soon, I'll be getting a couple of colors, but you have to be really careful with them because things can get realy tacky really fast if one is not careful! But, so far, I am simply in love with the embossing I've been able to do and also with this beautiful stamp I purchased with some of my holiday money.





Needless to say I am pleased as punch with my holiday gifts and plan to get lots, and lots of use out of them! Unfortunately the cartridges for the Cricut run about $45 a piece on sale, so I can't just run out and grab one whenever I want one. But I'll be added to my collection as soon as I can!

So, what gifts did you receive that have continued to give?

The Holiday Season is Officially Over

Unforately it is true! The holiday season is officially over. There will be no more Lords a Leeping or Geese a Laying for almost another year. No more wonderful decorating ideas involving beautiful rustic slay bells or fragrant pine sprigs. No more cookie swap parties or beatifully wrapped gifts.

So, what is next on the list? Valentines Day? Ick! How cheesy! If I decide to decorate for Valentines Day it will really be a challenge to come up with something stylish and elegant and hopefully does not involve a single heart shaped doily!



And then we're off to St. Patrick's Day and our Anniversary!

But before, we get to all of that. I would like to take just one more moment to enjoy the winter holiday season. Right before we took our tree down, I realized that Jay and I did not have any pictures of ourselves infront of our tree. So, before we took it down, I made him pose with me.

So, as we look forward to the rest of the coming year, I leave you with...

Jay and Bonnie's Official 2008 In-Front-Of-The-Tree Picture



Isn't he handsome!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone, and may your new year be merry and bright!

More Fun With Shot Glasses

Yes sir-y! Shot glasses are not just for Jell-o shooting frat parties anymore. It is in fact quite amazing what you can do with a nice set of double shot glasses. The decorating ideas are truly endless.

So, last time we saw my wonderful and amazingly flexable double shot glass set (given to us by our wonderful friends, Dan and Shannon, as a wedding gift), they were holding sprigs of pine and cinnamon sticks (pics are in the archives) and alternating green and red penut m&m's.

Well, since the solstice is over and it's time to start looking forward to the spring (and because they were on sale at Harris Teeter), we have some lovely, bright pink, cheery tulips.




I simply spaced them out to act as a runner down the middle of the table.



I've learned lately that successful flower arranging, is all about having the right container! You can have a beautiful bouquet of flowers, but if they are put in a container that is too big or too small or that simply does not complement their shape and size, it will simply ruin them. This is why I was always dissapointed in how my flowers looked when I was younger. They would look so beautiful in the bouquet, and then I would take them out, snip off the ends and dump them haphazardly in whatever vase I had, and then wonder why they didn't look as good as they had in the box or bouquet.

The amazingly wonderful thing about using shot glasses as vases, is that you can make a little go a looooong way! This bouquet of tulips was on sale at Harris Teeter for $3.33. And out of that I got an entire center piece!

So, if you are looking to do a lot with a little, or like me, trying to Thrive with less then consider pulling out those old shot glasses from college, or buying a nice new set and letting your imagination run wild.



So what are your favorite tips for making a little go a long way? We'd love to hear!

Blog It Forward for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Masterpiece Weddings, an event coordination agency founded by Melissa Margarita-DiStefano, is working really hard to put on an amazing fundraiser in February called Let’s Eat Cake! - which will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital - an incredible organization that’s dedicated to treating children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

Let’s Eat Cake! is a wedding cake competition, featuring Wedding Cake confections from all over the United States. Bakers will feature their cakes to be judged by Local and National Culinary Celebrities. In addition bakers will be asked to make enough cake to feed the general public, so that they may judge the cakes as well!

Our Goal is to raise $50,000 for this extremely worthy cause, we know times are tough for everyone out there. But that doesn't mean that doesn't mean that kids still aren't getting sick. Please help spread the word about our goal, and our mission. If you can help financially, that'd be great, if you blogging about this right now.... your spreading the word - and that's all we can ask for!

Thank you!

* Image curtesy of Hostess with the Mostess, one of my favorite entertaining blogs of all!

** Text curtesy of Let's Eat Cake!

Hi everyone! This is a great cause! And for every blog that reposts it and links to Let's Eat Cake! Melissa will donate $1 to the fundraiser! (Go to the Let's Eat Cake website or the Hostess with the Mostess blog and leave a comment with your blog address so they can verify.) Come on you guys! I know we can make this go far!

A New Year: Looking Forward, Looking Back

The time is upon us again. It's time to end one year and begin anew. Truthfully, the new year has always been kind of like birthdays to me. It's something you look forward to, you celebrate, but then the next day, you don't feel any different. Just like you don't feel any different the day before your birthday as you do the day after, I've never felt any different on New Years Eve, then I do on New Years Day. But, one thing that studying the Celtic Calendar and holidays has taught me is that the beginning of a new year is a time to evaluate... what progress have you made over the last year or few years and you want to continue improving on, and what hasn't been working well and need to be changed.

Our house was kind of a crazy place around Saimhain (Halloween) the celtic new year, so I wasn't able to really do this. So, I figure that the western new year is a great time to make it up.

So, here are my thoughts...

Things I'm proud of:

1) I've really started working on my tendency to get defensive when confronted with my short comings, and I feel I have made and continue to make great strides in this area. I've realized that I'm human, we all make mistakes, and that doesn't make me less of a competent person. I've also learned that when you admit upfront to a mistake and then go about figuring out how to fix it, any other people in the situation are left with nothing to say but to help you figure out how to go forward. It's when I get defensive and try to make excuses for the mistake that the other person is invited to harp on the mistake in an effort to get me to admit to it. If I just admit to it up front, they have no place to go but forward.

2) I've fulfilled one of my long time goals of maintaining a consistently updated blog. Yes, what you are reading is a direct fulfillment of one of my goals. When I was little, I absolutely hated to write. The sight of a black piece of paper or blog window would terrify me to my very core. What if I couldn't come up with anything good? What if I couldn't come up with anything at all? My mom was a math person and not a writer. Therefore the one thing our homeschool lacked was English instruction. In the days before homeschool co-ops and networking between families, she did the best she could. It wasn't until I got to college that I was really challenged in this area. But the amazing things was that I realized that looking at a blank piece of paper or a blank blog window was actual a thrill and not a terrifying experience. It was my opportunity to express myself - my feelings, my thoughts, my opinions. And that brings me to the next thing I'm proud of.

3) I've become more and more comfortable with having and creating opinions. In my household there was one opinion, my dad's. If you didn't agree with it you were SOL. And there was no "agreeing to disagree". Either you agreed with him or... you agreed with him, and the discussion could not end until you admitted that you agreed. This training has taken me many, many years to over come. I'm still learning to trust my gut, but it's gotten so much better. I now can sit with a person with whom I disagree and have a civilized discussion without getting defensive (see point #1). I've learned to stand up for what I believe in even if it is not the popular opinion. I've also learned that in some situations, when social injustice or abuse of other people are not at stake, that it's ok to just smile and nod, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with an other in order to create harmony within a group. I do not need to be that battle harden feminist who most correct all wrongs, alienating those around her even when it's not going to make a lick of difference.

4) I've really made great strides in my crafting skills. I can now cut curves with just my Xacto knife, without a curve cutting tool, only a guideline. I've designed invitations from scratch for a friend's wedding that she actually liked! And in the year to come, I look forward to putting the finishing touches on those invitations and sending them out for her. I've acquired some amazing tools! Some allow me to do things I couldn't do before, some just make things I could already do easier. I've become proud of my self given status of Paper Crafter (and in case you were going to ask, "you mean like scrap booking?" NO! It's not at all like scrap booking!) I've also realized that crafting and being creative are the ways I de-stress and re-energize and therefore, I should see that time as important, and the money spent as worth wild.

5) I've become much more confident in my ability to organize and make an event happen. I was given the wonderful opportunity of being the DOC (Day of Coordinator) for my best friend's wedding last year. It was a serious challenge and definitely stretched my comfort zone, but I was very proud of the job I did and the peace I was able to give the bride by taking on so many task the day of the wedding. I also saw all the planning and organizing that I had done for my own wedding come together and pay off. I saw my friends and family having fun in a stress free environment as they set up the site, even though I had asked them to do more and carry more responsibility then they had probably even been ask of for a wedding. I also learned from the "mistakes" that I made and hope that when I have the opportunity to be the DOC for my friends (whose invite I'm doing), that it will be an even better experience both for me and for the bride and those involved.

Things I'm looking forward to seeing change...

1) My weight! I've put on about 40 lbs since I left California and I'm almost back up to my heaviest. I'm not comfortable with the way I look or the way I feel. I love food, and I love sitting on the couch in the evenings, but I want to lose weight more! Jay and I have already started changing the way we eat, and being more aware of that. And we're looking at joining the YMCA or a gym of some sort. I'm a dancer at heart and want to get back to feeling like one!

2) My wedding planning business ideas! I've been toying with the idea of trying to make a go at wedding planning. I know the industry is very competitive, but like an old professor once told me, the best will always rise to the top. My first goal with this is to get my website up. That won't cost me anything, and will be the first thing I need. Then I'll get a nice photo book and start putting pictures of Jess' and my weddings in it to show as a portfolio. After that, I'll see what I can do about finding other people who are willing to let me plan their weddings for free or a very minimal charge so that I can keep building my portfolio.

3) Smoking. :-[ This is something that I've known since I started, I wouldn't do all my life. And although I LOVE the ritual associated with smoking, I really don't like the way it makes me feel afterwards. And don't ask me what the ritual of smoking is like. If you've never smoked you won't understand, and if you've ever smoked then you know exactly what I'm talking about and don't have to ask. This is also an important step in getting to my next goal.

4) Getting pregnant! This is a fun, exciting, scary, and frustrating goal, mostly because there isn't much I can do to make it happen any faster. In order for us to have a child, Jay has to have a job that will support us. Now, we are already looking down the road at elminiating some of our monthly bills (by paying credit cards off etc.), but no matter what, we can't do it on the salary he makes right now. I know what you're thinking, "The man being the sole breadwinner?!?! How 1950's of you? Are you really the hard core feminist that we've all known and loved?!?!" The answer my friends is, "yes!". And probably deserves an entire blog to itself, but the short version is that I WANT to spend my entire day truly raising and guiding my child. I don't feel like it's my duty or what I'm "supposed" to do, it's what I truly WANT to do and I can only imagine the frustration and resentment I would have for the day care worker or nanny with whom I had to drop my child off with and who got to be with my child all day while I went off to work like a chump! In addition, when a hard, tough look is taken at the cost of childcare, it would eat up much of my salary, and therefore, the loss of my salary would happen either way. So, here I stand, dutifully taking my birth control and trying not to push Jay in his quest to find a position that A) he likes and B) pays him what he's worth, while I resent every pregnant woman I see and can feel my eggs getting older by the second.

5) Get a new tattoo. I've been wanting to start on a half sleeve for a long time. The only thing that's held me back is finances and the lack of a clear idea for the design. Well, the finances are still an issue, but I'm making real progress on the design. I've made some decision on what I like and don't like, for instance, I don't want the traditional sleeve that ends with a straight, defined line. I want it to be varried and end more natually. I want it to encorporate both thistles and shamrocks to represent both the scottish and irish ancestory. I want it to have some celtic knotwork, some vine work and some quotes. I'm thinking about making the spine of the vines out of letters instead of lines. Anyway, between me, Shannon and Jay, I think we can get a descent design going and I can start getting it inked. Woohoo!

I have a million other goals for my life as well (everything from make a real cheese cake using my spring form pan, to working with my therapist on how to include my dad in my life in a more healthy way), but I think these are the big ones. I'll try and keep you all updated on the progress of these goals.

So what are your goals for the year? We'd love to hear about them!