beautiful blooms

Love this bouquet that I saw on Style Me Pretty last week:

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our venue is famous!

Well sort of. I received an email the other day from Epting Events, inviting me to a special showing of Not Since You, one of the only movies filmed in Athens, GA. The movie is about a group of friends who graduated from NYU and are reuniting in Georgia for a friend's wedding. Well guess where the wedding was held?? That's right - The Hill!! It's playing in one of our local theaters until April 15. You better believe I'll be going to see it. Here are some clips for your viewing pleasure:

guess the dress

Work has been pretty slow today. Usually when this is the case I catch up on my blogs and check to see if any of my vendors have updated their websites/blogs. Imagine my surprise when I found that my dress is now up on the Anne Barge website! As a personal choice, I am keeping it a secret until the day of the wedding. My mom is the only one who has seen it in person, and my dad has seen a picture. Feel free to take a look at the website and let me know what your guess is!

Did you show your dress to anyone and everyone? Just a few? Or none at all?

confessions of a short haired bride

I am getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of inspiration for short haired brides. My hair is about chin length. It has never, ever grown any longer than shoulder length. Once it starts creeping past my chin, it starts driving me crazy. Since being engaged, many people have asked me whether I plan on growing my hair out for the wedding. Why should I? I am a short haired girl. Do I really need to grow my hair out for one day? I'm afraid that if I even tried, I'd end up pulling a Britany Spears:

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So back to the point. Where's all the hairstyle inspiration for people with short hair? Most photos just show regular, everyday hair with a headband or flower. I want to look at least a little bit special. It is my wedding day, you know. Maybe half up? After scouring the web for hours, here's what I found (of course none of these are half up):

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I like this one because it's more on the casual side, but still elegant and romantic. Pretty sure I'd need more hair though as I can barely make a ponytail.

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I love the volume and texture of this one. My hair is stick straight, so I'm not sure if waves would hold. Also, headbands give me serious headaches.

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I like the side view of this one. The back is okay - I don't really like the spiky look since I'm going for something softer and more romantic.

Finally, here's what I'd choose as my inspiration if I were deciding to grow my hair out:

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I've had this photo in my wedding binder since the very beginning of planning. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure I ripped it out of a copy of the knot that I purchased way before I even started dating the future mister. It's got a bit of volume, some texture, not too structured and very romantic. Now I just have to find a stylist who can work some magic with my fine, straight, short hair and lack of inspiration.

How are you wearing your hair? Did you have any difficulties finding inspiration?

clean eating

I have always considered myself a pretty healthy eater. I don't have much of a sweet tooth and love fruits and vegetables, except for a select few (sorry brussel sprouts).

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Toward the end of college I started to enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes. I even took a vegan-based nutrition course my last semester. Lately, though, I've been in sort of a cooking funk. I come home at the end of the day and just don't feel like making anything. Nothing sounds appealing, and of course I feel that whatever I do make, I've made a million times before. I have a subscription to Rachel Ray, but the few times I've tried her recipes, they haven't been too successful.

Well last week one of my co-workers came to my rescue when she introduced me to Clean Eating magazine. I only browsed through her copy, but ended up purchasing my own because it looked quite promising.


The website describes clean eating as "consuming food in its most natural state...It's not a diet; it's a lifestyle approach to food and its preparation, leading to health, well-being, and a lean look." The section I tried out first was their 5 day meal plan for less than $50. The magazine offers 5 recipes and a grocery list. I took that list with me on Sunday and it really did add up to less than $50. I've tried 4 recipes so far, and only one was a complete failure. But that was, in part, my fault because the grocery store didn't have an ingredient I needed, so I tried to substitute something else. Overall, these meals tasted good, used healthy, fresh ingredients and only took about 30-45 minutes to make. I'm excited to test out some more recipes. And I'm sure my body will start appreciating the decrease in fast food and frozen convenience meals.

I'd love to hear if you have any healthy eating tips or recipes to share!

bridal glow no more

Remember this post on my bridal glow? Well a severe problem has just come to light. My Equate (walmart) version of Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer for sensitive skin ran out just last week. So I went to Target and picked up their store brand version. I noticed that it was a bit thinner and less moisturizing than the walmart brand, so while I was at the grocery store this weekend I purchased some Olay. Before I even put it on my face, I noticed the difference - for the first time (in the 10+ years I have been using it) it smelled like sunscreen. But I put it on anyway. Well there truly was an unmistakable difference. Thick, greasy, gritty, smelly AND after two days of use my usually clear skin now has tiny breakouts on my nose, cheeks, chin and forehead. I thought maybe I was crazy, so I did some research and found this. Over 6(!) pages of negative reviews dating back to July 2009. That must have been when they released the new formula and I was spared, at least for a little while, since I had stockpiled the walmart version. The good news is, however, that they plan on relaunching the old formula this April as the "Classic Gentle Formula." Guess I'll be heading to walmart to see if their version can hold me over until then.

Have any of you experienced a tried and true product changing for the worse?

spring break & wedding registries

TGIF! It's been spring break all week and since I work at a university, no students=no work. Although it has been an enjoyable reprieve, having no work makes for a very loooong week. So needless to say, I am ready for the weekend!

Anywho, since I didn't want to be completely unproductive with my time this week, I started our wedding registry. Initially, I was planning on waiting until the future mister was out of school for the summer so we could go to the store and look at everything. But then I got some great words of advice from my FSIL. She said to do most of the registry online first. Then, make a list of the items we want to see in person and take that list to the store. We'll be more prepared that way and spend less time. And since guys typically have short(er) attention spans, it will be less painful for the future mister as well. Definitely good to know, since I want to try and make this as easy (and as fun!) for us as I possibly can. So, earlier this week, I set up registries at the following stores:

www.macys.com

www.potterybarn.com

So far it's been pretty overwhelming. All those checklists make my head spin. But I'm slowly working my way through everything. I'm considering also setting up a registry at either Lowe's or Home Depot. Do you think this would be a good idea/worth it?

Where are you registering? Please feel free to share any thoughts/tips you have.