I’m always sick

So, I had these grand plans of recapping the shower and then giving you a run-down on the reception site, but those plans are currently in the toilet… with everything else I’ve eaten in the past week. Too graphic? I’m gross. Sorry. I have been seriously sick the past two days. I visited Dr. Google and apparently I have viral gastroenteritis. Some may call it the stomach flu, but I prefer the long name–doesn’t that long name sound more serious and deadly? It fits. I feel dead. Anyway, we were supposed to go to the reception site yesterday to check out the developments and do some space planning, but I couldn’t leave my house. I plan on doing a very mysterious three part series to make you wait and anticipate the final location. It’s going to be awesome, but I guess that’ll have to wait. Also, you’ll hear about the shower one day.

Now, I’m about to roll over and croak but with my last few living words I leave you my most recent Etsy favs…

MySweetPrints

Chloe & Maddie

Me and Matilda

Enjoy these. Until we meet again, au revoir.

Showering my ‘maids

My shower was wonderful. Everything about it was perfect. The food was great, the conversations even better. I was really worried about knowing all of my presents, but it turned out that I actually got quite a few surprises. The Boo-man and I are so excited to use all of our beautiful new things. It kills me to watch them sitting there unused. I may cheat a little. Shh, that’ll be our secret.

While I’d love to give you a whole rundown of the shower, I’m still waiting for the pictures from MOH K. When she sends them to me I’ll do a whole post on the glorious event. But, for now, something a little different…

The shower made me very grateful for my bridesmaids. I love them dearly, and I really want to find a special way to thank them for their help and support. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I could get them, and I’ve started a list inspired by tons of Googling. Seriously, the past two days have been a Googlefest. I’m probably the worlds worst decision maker, but I fell in love, and subsequently made my first gift purchase last night:

I ordered these bad boys for a very reasonable price from Vistaprint.com. With a 50% coupon from Couponcabin.com the completely personalized bags were only $7.99 each! I created the monograms in Photoshop, and uploaded them into the “design your own” portion of the Vistaprint website. I was able to make the monograms a little different for each girl. For example, the bag above is for my FSIL who is currently trying to make me a nephew, so I gave her bag a mommy and baby birdy. Cute, eh? I was so in love, I even ordered one for myself with my new initials.

The bags are just darling, but wait ’til you see what I’ve got planned to go inside. Let’s just say, their presents are going to be awesome. It’s okay to be a little jealous.

Curious George and the Big Fat Fail

I’m a peeker. Always have been. Always will be. Christmas is the same every year: I start out with the idealistic goal of absolutely no peeking, but never follow through. After all, I would really love to be surprised. I do really like surprises. I’m just curious. I have to know what’s inside, behind, underneath. It’s a shame, but I always know all of my Christmas presents every year. Basically Christmas morning is the time when I hone my acting skills, you know, in case this whole college things falls through. I’ve mastered the “Oh! Wow!” “Really? I can’t believe you got this!” and “It’s exactly what I wanted. What a surprise!” In other words, I’m a sneak and a liar. Sorry mama, you raised me better.

I blame my nature. I just can’t help it. OCD perhaps? It’s definitely not my fault. Nope, not taking credit.

Anyway, my registry has been no different. I constantly find myself perusing it just to see if Le Target’s added a new little “fulfilled” button. As I move the cursor over to view my registry, the little angel on my shoulder (I imagine she looks a little something like Audrey Hepburn) tells me to stop. Surprises are good! Wait it out! Then I side with the stupid little devil, and peek anyway.

Now imagine me tomorrow at my bridal shower, surrounded by beautiful women who love me who are excited to share what they’ve thoughtfully purchased just for me. They smile and stare as I open their sweetly wrapped gifts, all the while waiting to hear me joyfully gasp in surprise and wonder. Meanwhile, I know what is in each and every one of those gifts. I know about those knives and that toaster oven. I’ll smile and pretend I’m shocked and amazed, and pray fervently that they won’t notice my terrible lying face. I am a fun spoiler. I mean really, talk about a big fat fail.

Boo Janie.

Jewels of Hope

Do you love my shower dress as much as I do? I’m so excited to twirl around in it with all of my favorite ladies. As you could tell, it was not one of the options I originally picked out. I did have the opportunity to try this one on, but it just wasn’t speaking to me. Plus, I really wanted to get a dress to go with a bracelet I got recently:

Beautiful, no? As much as I love the bracelet, I love the story behind it even more. You see, this bracelet is from a line called Jewels of Hope. It is a program where volunteers from the company go into destitute orphanages in South Africa and teach the children how to make some of the fun and beautiful jewelery. The children have little to no toys, and never have the opportunity to do crafts. This jewelery gives those children the opportunity to flex their creative muscles, while giving them something fun to fill their time. The volunteers from Jewels of Hope, then sell the jewelery all over the world (predominately in America), and send all of the proceeds back to the respective orphanages. Isn’t it wonderful? Some beautiful little gem made my bracelet halfway around the world. I’m so proud of it. I now have four different pieces from Jewels of Hope, and they are by far my favorite pieces of jewelery.

Plus, let’s talk about how perfect that beauty is going to look with my dress. Le sigh. I’m thrilled.

PS: I know this is a legit, constructive, and positive company, as my parents go to Africa every summer and work in these very orphanages. My parents and best friend work extensively with Jewels of Hope, and it really is doing wonderful things for these orphanages. If you’re at all interested in purchasing some jewelery, let me know at olamblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

And the winner is…

Dear Target, You’re so sensible and dependable. You never disappoint. Oh, I think I love you. xoxo, Janie

From Etsy with love

While I’m waiting for Mama to whisk me away to Le Target, let’s continue on with my obsession with Etsy…

I want to introduce you two of my favorite Etsyians:

Parsimony

This is Miss Robie the creative mind behind Parsimony (along with her beautiful friends). Her shop is full of the cutest, most perfect little dresses. I kind of want them all. She makes everything to measurements, and in any color or pattern you can imagine. You probably picked up on this, but she’s creating my girls’ dresses. She actually combined two styles of dresses in her shop to creat a custom, totally adorable dress. We combined the Oh So Cute Tuxedo Dress and the Tea Time Tuxedo Dress:

They’ll be the a-line shape of the Tea Time Tuxedo (#2), but with the smaller bib/tuxedo portion of the Oh So Cute Tuxedo. She’s making them in a lovely plummy purple, and I’ll be adding my own little DIY touch to them. That, though, I’ll save for another day.

AQT Purse Cover

This sexy litte apron was custom created by AQT.ISsn’t it darling? It’s only $25! I’m thinking I need one for our first dinner in our first home together (and lots of dinners after that). AQT’s shop contains mostly purse covers (hence the title), but she does all kind of custom stuff too, as she’s a wonderful semstress. I found her via Alchemy, and she will be creating the men’s vests. She has been incredible to work with. She’s ordered, returned, and reordered several different fabrics in order to find the right look for me. She’s sweet and patient, and I couldn’t recommend her enough. With her help, this is the kind of look we’re going for for the men (except brown vest/khaki pants):

I’ll be adding a sweet little DIY to the vests as well. You’ll see that soon enough. I think you’re going to like it.

Want to know the best part? The girls dresses are $65, and the guys vests are $25. You seriously can’t beat that.

Etsy is my bff. Do you have any shops you’d like to share?

Target is my homeboy

Unfortunately, Mama was sick today, so we didn’t get the chance to go to Le Target to check out the dresses. We’re hoping tomorrow will hold better luck for us. Send your prayers and healthy thoughts her way!

While I don’t have any dress news, I do, however, have another little Le Target treat I want to share with you. I had a short list of what I wanted for the tables at the reception, which included candles, wildflowers, and books. Other than these rather vague descriptions, I didn’t have any particular details in mind. I was waiting to be inspired. Then one magical day while moseying around Le Target something shiny caught my eye. There they were, the perfectly adorable little bronze lanterns. I scooped up all eight, and then me and Mama danced joyfully in the aisle. First piece of table decor down, holla holla! We then proceeded to drive all around town collecting my beloved Le Target lanterns. Behold:

We got 15 of lanterns for less than $40 ($2.50 each!), and I absolutely love them. Now I just need to figure out how to make them work with the books and flowers. My dad inherited some great, old books from my grandfather that I would really love to incorporate into the wedding decor. I think I’ll be stacking the books, then placing a lantern on top, just like in the picture (except there will be a candle in the lantern, of course). I’m still lacking a lot when it comes to decor, but I’m really liking the way it looks so far.

Thanks, Le Target! You’re my fav.

So, any ideas on how to include the wildflowers?

Showered with love

Hey y’all, this weekend is my first bridal shower! I am so excited. I get excited easily, so it’s no surprise that I’ve been dancing around the house all day singing “Celebration.” Feel free to dance with me. Cue the music:

Okay, now that we’re all pumped up, I think it’s shoppin’ time. You see, I don’t have a dress yet. I’ve been scouring the internet like a crazy trying to find something budget friendly/super cute/slimming/absolutely perfect. I haven’t had much luck, but here are my top three contenders (all from the glorious Le Target)…

Contender #1:

Isn’t she just so cute and flirty? The a-line is figure-flattering, and I have a thing for bright colors. I’d probably replace the little fabric belt on there with a belt in a coordinating color, as I don’t want to look too smurfy on such a special occasion.

Contender #2:

Adorable. I have this one in green,  and it’s so much cuter in person. Because I already own this style I know I love the fit. Plus, the fabric feels much more expensive than it is. Again, I would remove the funky cloth belt, and add a cute coordinating belt. I bought a thick brown belt to go with the green dress, and I get tons of compliments, so I know it’s a winning combo. This is the no fail plan. Oh, but I’m a risk taker (at least when choosing bridal shower dresses).

Contender #3:

Oh! I love her. I really, really do. The pattern, the pockets, the neckline. I wish love was enough, but sometime reality gives you a a cold, hard slap in the face. You see, I’m chubby. There’s no other way to say it. I have a belly that this little shift dress would expose rather unattractively. I could go the Spanx route, but then I would be so uncomfortable. Is pain for beauty really worth it? I just don’t know.

Tomorrow I’m heading up to Le Target with Le Mama to check out my contenders in person. Of course I will update you after the visit. Wish my luck!

In the meantime, help me out… what’s your favorite?

“Let’s get some shoes”

Don’t get the reference? Check it out for yourself below. Be warned, it is scary.

For some reason me and my roommates watched this video on the regular during our freshman year of college. Seriously, what were we thinking?

Now that we all have shoes on the brain, let me just show you these little darlins:

Perfect, no?

Let’s go over why I’m absolutely dying over these shoes:
1. They’re flat. The Boo-man is only an inch taller than me, so flats are a must.
2. They’re purple. They are the most beautiful plummy purple that matches my BM’s perfectly.
3. They’re covered in flowers. My bottom of my dress is made from a similarly patterned flower eyelet. Twinsies.
4. They’re sandals. I’m a beach bum at heart. I wear flip flops/sandals 10 months out of the year, so it’s only natural that I wear them to my wedding. Plus, comfort is king–especially since I’m going to be dancing all night.
5. They’re just plain cute!

At $90 they’re significantly more than I would spend on shoes (hello, Old Navy $2 flip flops), but they’re my wedding shoes! I’m being a budget nazi about everything else, so I deserve a nice little splurge, right? Right.

I can’t wait to get them on my little fat feet. I’m giddy.

Inspiration board fail

I just can’t do it. Google images just couldn’t do it for me. I searched and searched for pictures that would give you an idea of what’s going on in my crazy little brain. In my search to find a few pictures that would adequately relay to you the feeling I hope to evoke on my wedding day, the same image kept appearing in my mind: Spectre. You see, I love Ewan McGregor. I’d pick him every time. While I love most* of his movies, Big Fish is by far my favorite of his films. It’s beautiful. If you haven’t seen it, rent it today. Seriously. But, I digress, Spectre is a town from the movie–the most perfect little town, to be exact. It is full of happiness and comfort, smiles and warmness. I want my wedding to be like a cut and paste of this scene:

…bare feet, smiles, friends, glowing lights and faces. Sure, there will be yummy food, table decor, and maybe a trendy wedding cliche here or there, but that’s not what I really care about. When I think back on my wedding I want to remember the feeling, laughter, and joy. I could show you sixteen pictures of centerpieces and dresses in my color scheme, but they would just be pictures of other people’s weddings. I’m on a quest to find things that will be uniquely ours. Centerpieces, flowers, clothes that will make us happy, that will add to that euphoric, Spectre wedding day feeling.

I hope this post makes sense to you. I’m not cynical about the wedding world. I love a beautiful wedding as much as the next gal. I love a sweet centerpiece. I just want my planning to be authentic and fresh. I want us to choose things for our wedding because we love them, because they’ll make our day that much better… not because they’re popular.

*I say most because I don’t want you to think that I actually like The Island. Um, what was he thinking?