Wedding Wednesday - Bridesmaid Dresses

Now that my defense is over, I can finally start focusing a little more on wedding planning. So the next 4 weeks is major crunch time for the big day. My mom was here over the weekend and we finally decided what line we are going to go with for our wedding dresses....Bill Levkoff. I completely love their dresses in European Satin and the Euro Eggplant color.

I am letting my ladies decide what dress they want, so that it will best fit their bodies. Here are the dresses they can decide from and my personal preferences:

I love this dress and I totally do not think it looks like a bridesmaid dress. I am thinking I am going to have my little sister wear this one...she doesn't really get a choice in this decision :)

I could kind of see my cousin in this dress.


I could see my MOH in this dress.

Another good choice for my cousin.

Loving this dress for my former roommate.

All of the dresses will be hemmed so they hit right at the knee...this way they are uniform in length.

Can't wait to see what they decide!

Wedding Wednesday

Ever since Alex and I got engaged in April, my parents have been busy planning our wedding. Or maybe I should say my mom has been busy planning the wedding and my dad likes to think of crazy ideas for our wedding. Typically, they will come up with these new ideas late at night when they have maybe had a few too many drinks and they are with some of the favorite cattle industry friends at the ND Stockmen’s Convention, Louisville, or a wedding.

Here are some of the most recent ideas:
· Instead of having the ring bearer carry our rings down on a pillow….he will carry a head of a horned Hereford bull and the rings will be on each horn. Or as a friend from NE suggested they could donate a roping steer head.

No pretty pillow from TheBloomingSouth

· For our wedding favors instead of having koozies, candy, or matchboxes….we will give away straws of semen that have “Alex and Rebecca - September 3, 2011” inscribed on the side.

No koozies which the boys would love, but I think are tacky anyway.

Instead you can get semen straws!

· And the lasts idea that came up this weekend is that instead of auctioning off a garter…we will auction of straws of semen from the newest bull we have that went into a stud.

Check out Tokach Update 9009 available through Genex.

I have a feeling that if my dad could plan this wedding it would be a crazy, redneck, backwoods affair…thankfully God has blessed me with my mother who knows that all of this is absolutely not going to happen…EVER!

Why would someone want a wedding like this?!?!?

Black Friday

On Friday, we woke up a bit early…2 a.m. to be exact to check out the Black Friday Sales. I had never been out that early on Black Friday and I really wanted to give it a try, so I convinced Alex to join me and we ventured out in to the great open wild of Black Friday. We arrived at Kohl’s at 3:15 a.m. (15 min) after the store opened and there was already a line forming with over 100 people in it. We promptly left the store and headed to JcPenny to wait until they opened at 4 a.m. We I had a lot more success at JcPenny. A few things I picked up include:

Except mine is red.

Another pea coat in black and white

tights, tights, and tights

watch

new pillows

By then I was all tired out and wanted to go back home and sleep. We spend the rest of the morning sleeping and did some online shopping in the afternoon. Ann Taylor was having a 40% off sale, so of course I hit that up. A few things I purchased include:

Skinny Jeans

Gold Belt

Sooo..my thoughts on the early morning Black Friday shopping experience….anyone who can do that every year…KUDOS to you! It is not for me, but hey maybe if a store had a good enough deal I would think about it again… J

Thanksgiving 2010

This is the second year that I wasn’t able to go back to ND to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. L Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays with the great food, family, and all of the things that we can be thankful for. Since I was unable to leave TX this year, Alex made the trip down here to celebrate with me. A.K.A Our FIRST Thanksgiving Alone Together…EEEK!

He ended up leaving Wednesday after work, so he didn’t arrive until about 10 a.m. on Thursday morning. When he got here we took a quick nap and then I started in on preparing our Thanksgiving feast.

Even though there were only two of us, I wanted to prepare all of our favorite foods. The list included:
· Crescent wrapped brie
· Ham – I don’t do poultry
· Pioneer Woman’s Mashed Potatoes

· Brown Gravy
· Rolls
· PW’s Green Beans
· PW’s Corn Casserole
· PW’s cranberry sauce
· Olives – When you were a kid did you put the black olives on your fingers, too? Alex still does this.
· Blueberry Cobbler
I think we may have a thing for recipes from Pioneer woman!

Everything turned out great, but there was a quick mix up in the kitchen. I was setting out all of the food and was telling Alex it was time to eat and as we started to dish up our food I realized I totally FORGOT to make the mashed potatos…so we took a 30 minute break while I quickly whipped some up.

After we ate, we spent the afternoon watching Grownups and Toy Story 3.







Grownup was completely hilarious. I would definitely recommend it if you want a good laugh. Toy Story 3 was very cute and a great ending to the series…trust me you will want to check it out.

Thanksgiving day was a total success and I can’t wait to see where we spend it next year…hopefully with our families.

Relief

RELIEF....Is exactly what I felt at 10:39 a.m. today when I turned in my thesis to my major professor! I won't lie I haven't been able to stop smiling all day. Yes, I still have a million things to do like:
* Prepare for my defense
* Read more papers
* Pack
* Get more my lab notebooks in order, so that future students know what I did
* Make corrections to my thesis
* Finish doing my orthogonal contrasts
* Have I mentioned starting to pack?
* Finish my experimental design test

But when I came back to my desk this morning all I could think about is WOW! I have nothing to do. The last 6 months have been crazy as I have been trying to finish up and the last month has not been fun. Too many 15 hour workdays at school before heading home to work on the comfort of my couch, but for right now it is done.

So, what am I going to do with my free time??? I am going to actually try to start blogging again. Maybe if I get in the habit of it now, I will keep it up when things start to get crazy as I begin my PhD next spring. Plus, I need a way to document my final 30 days in Texas...wait make that 29 days! Can't even believe I am saying that either...it seems like just yesterday I was moving here and didn't know how I was going to last more than two days living this far south. Now I am actually starting to feel a little emotional...ha!

Have a great day. And Go State!

Wedding Wednesday - Wedding Colors

This is my first official post about the wedding.....YAY! Things have started to come together over the last two weeks and hopefully by next Wednesday we will have the church, priest, and reception location booked.

For this week's post, I thought I would do the wedding colors that I am currently considering:

Plum - I have wanted this to be my wedding color since I was a little girl. At first, I thought I would have purple be the color of the bridesmaid dresses and everything, but now I think it will be a main accent color with navy.Navy - I love how classic colors like navy and black look. They never go out of style and I think it is the perfect color to use for the bridesmaid dresses to make their purple flowers pop. I will also use navy in other things throughout the wedding.
Chocolate Brown - Accent color that I am not quite sure how it will be incorporated.

Ivory - such a beautiful color that will hopefully be the color of my wedding dress and then an accent color.

Latte - Great accent color if I want to add more depth!


I actually found this color scheme on The Perfect Palette which puts together great color schemes for weddings. I was super excited when I found it because I knew I wanted to use navy and purple, but was unsure what other colors to use with it.

Here are a few pictures that show these wedding colors in use:

Bouquet - I think I will use at least a few white flowers in mine, but I love the purple and hues that are seen here.

Navy bridesmaid dresses. I plan on keeping mine short as well. These ones are super cute, I just wish I knew who designed them.


Amazing purple centerpieces!

Simple but classy way to use only a touch of purple in the reception decorations.


Purple and blue tinted lighting...I think it would be amazing to do this for my wedding! It could really transform a ballroom. However, I am sure this is super expensive and I doubt there are even people in ND that do this...but maybe.

Let me know your thoughts on any of these ideas!

Wishful Wednesday....SATC 2 Character

Oh, how I love Sex and the City. As if you couldn't tell from my last few blog posts! I love all the silly comments and I LOVE the fashion. This weeks "Wishful Wednesday" topic from Kelsey is:

"I wish I could be the one and only _______ in SATC!"

I think every woman on the show is amazing and has their own great and unique personalities. However, when it comes to the character I would most want to be Charlotte is my easy winner.

She is the most down to earth character on the show, who isn't afraid to fall in love with her whole heart. I love how she is a very loyal friend to everyone and I think she is the only one that actually thinks with her head on the show. In addition, I think she provides some great fashion tips for women:

1. Even crazy, stressed out mothers can find the time to still look classy.

2. Every woman needs a great set of pearls.


3. It is important to have a great go to dress...whether it is white, navy, or black.

4. Women can never wear too much pink...as long as the outfit is tasteful.

5. A good drink with friends can make any day better. And women always look more beautiful with a big smile or laugh on their face.

So who which member of the crew would you like to be?

Top Two Tuesday....The Bachelorette

Okay, so I only go to see the second half of The Bachelorette last night since I misunderstood what time it was on. I hate that when you look shows up online they say 8 p.m. However that is 8 p.m. Eastern time, not Central! Oh well, sometimes I am a little too ditzy for my own good.

Anyways, I was totally excited for this season of The Bachelorette until I watched the season premiere...I love Ali...okay really I just love the clothes she wears and her style...the main reason why I watch a kind of pointless show. But on the season premiere she wore an awful dress and I was worried that her style had been thrown out the window. However, she recovered last night.

Anyways, the point of this post is supposed to be the top two picks from The Bachelorette, so without further adiue mine are:

Roberto - He is such a doll! He taught Ali how to dance the first night and last night he played ball with her. He would make the perfect father and someone to spend the rest of your life with.

Jesse - How could you not love this boy. His comment about a "Perculiar" man on the season premiere won me over...plus he is a midwestern boy...oh la la!

Okay, now hop on over to The Undomestic Momma and play for yourself!

Thank You to Those Who Have Served

This image was submitted as a part of a photography contest on the Pioneer Woman website. I encourage you to hop on over and check out the rest of the pictures. The pictures definately make you think about and appreciate all of the people who have donated their time and lives to allow us to celebrate Memorial Day in the United States they way we do!

Thank you for all that you do! Words can never express how much our country owes you for your sacrifices!

Happy Memorial Day!

Fashion Friday

Well in honor of Sex and the City, I thought I would do my Fashion Friday post on what the girls wore to the premiere in NYC on Monday. I can't believe how stunning they all look. They each choose an outfit that fits both them and their character perfectly. Even though they all look amazing Sarah Jessica Parker looks outstanding in this bright yellow dress. It screams glamorous and her lighter hair color compliments her skin tone and the dress perfectly.

Oh Kristen Davis...how similar our styles are...I love the way Charlotte dresses in Sex and the City. It is the type of style that I love and try to have...simple, classic, timeless but with just enough pop to make it trendy. The dress Kristen Davis wore on Monday is exactly that!

And now for a fashion NO........

What in the world is Kesha wearing in this picture?!?!? It is absolutely hideous. I do not appreciate her wearing the American flag as shorts. Either her stylist has gone off the wire or she doesn't have one....UGH!

Well that is all....Have a great weekend!

It is Almost Time

In less than 26 hours, I will be sitting in my chair awaiting the preview of the new Sex and the City movie. I cannot wait! It is hard to believe that it has been two years since the first time I ever saw Sex and the City...yes, I didn't see it until the first movie came out. Never watched it on t.v....nothing! However, I feel in love at first sight. The clothes, the shoes, the boys, the drama, and most importantly the friendship.

I am a little worried that rotten tomatoes hasn't rated the movie very well, but I am sure I and the rest of the true SATC fans will love it. Bring on Friday at 9:10 p.m.!!!

RUN....Don't Walk!!

Run, fly, skip...I don't care how you do it, but move quickly as today is the start of Nordstrom's half - yearly sale. Typically, I just longingly gaze at items on their website, since their prices are a little higher than what a graduate student can afford. But this morning I checked out some of their new sale stuff and the prices are just right. Here are a few items I found:

Let's start with coats:

I love the look of this red trench coat...simple, yet stunnning. Only $69.90

I am in need of a simple fleece after my K-State one got stole this fall. And this price is hard to pass up! $59.90

Dresses:

I really want a simple black sheath to wear with a cardigan for conferences and meetings, this looks just perfect.

This red color is perfect year round to add a pop of color to your work day.

This color is called "rose", but it looks coral to me and I think that is the best color for summer. Plus this flowy design screams hot summer nights!

Tops:

Now, the main reason I am looking at tops is for engagement pictures. I love the white top and this blue top below. Yes, I realize they are the same top just in different colors.

Shoes:

I have been searching for months trying to find the perfect pair of nude pumps. These look very classic and for $58 a girl can't complain.

Not sure how I feel about this pair, I like it but think it is not as versatile as the pumps above.

Well, what are you doing still reading my blog...run to your nearest mall and check out this sale. Or if you are like me and the nearest store is over six hours away get online ASAP.