Ashley's Wedding (AKA The longest and most over due post EVER)

So as you know, I had the priviledge of attending my friend, Ashley's wedding, which was in November!! Time really does fly by when you neglect your blog! But I can't move on to Christmas until I do this, so hopefully I can stop being 3 months behind.

FRIDAY

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, 51 guests boarded the Carnival Fascination cruise and were immediately greeted by dozens of fruity drinks with umbrellas in it. It was so much fun to see everyone and meet Ashley's family! The energy was so charged with excitement of the impending wedding that it was impossible to not be having a good time!

As mentioned, we were greeted with drinks so we all got a prompt start to our weekend. Our waiter was kind enough to provide me with my fav, strawberry margaritas, and he made sure that by the time I had a 1/4 left of my drink, he brought over a new one! Gotta love excellent service!

Isn't this just classy with a k?? Red tongue and my magic blue drink card that allows me to get said unlimited margaritas and pay for them later is tucked into my bathingsuit....nice! We are only on Friday, folks, so keep up!

Friday night dinner was great, but I was fairly tame since I had an early morning wakeup call. All of the guests were seated in one area, so it was easy to mingle and enjoy everyone's company. This was the night we discoverd the melting chocolate cake desert that all of us ordered, without fail, each evening! Oh how I miss it, I wish I would have taken a picture to capture it in all its gooey glory! Here I am on the way to dinner, apparently thinking I look hot to trot judging by my pose:

Again, klassy right?

(Marcie, Ashley, Kemely, Chrissy, Me, Rachel and Emily)

SATURDAY

Saturday morning was an early one. I woke up and had breakfast with Chrissy and Jess before meeting the bride and her wedding party so the limo could pick us up at port and bring us to Compass Point, the ceremony location.

I knew that I would like Compass Point just fine, but I was not prepared to fall in love with it! It is so colorful and festive that you are automatically placed into a good mood! The views were beatiful and I could not stop gawking. If I had the magic ability to freeze time, I probably would have done it, but more importantly, there was a wedding to get ready for!

The ceremony site

The fabulous view from the bridal suite

Here is Ashley's gorgeous gown after an hour of ironing ;) Hopefully somewhere I will find a picture of the back so you can see the beutiful, mermaid-like train in the back!

For you wedding buffs, some of the accessories and little something extras for her big day. The lace is actually a part of the sleeve from her mother's wedding gown. The brooch is her grandmother's, if I remember correctly, and was placed onto her bouquet. And most touching, was the pink cancer awareness pin that she had to remember the spirit of her husband's mother who couldn't be with them on their wedding day.

My role throughout the day was to do Ashley's makeup. Unfortunately, her hair lady was a wee bit late so I only had 15 minutes to do a girl's makeup on the most important day of her life!! My hands were shaking up a storm! I was so incredibly nervous. I would have preferred to take my time and perfect as I went along, but I had to move quickly. It was hard to mess her up though since she is beautiful without a stitch of makeup on the first place! Once she had her hair and makeup done, it was time to get in the dress and, of course, the waterworks began all around the room! One of the most emotional things to see is a girl transformed into a bride and then, a wife! I felt so lucky to be a part of the process!

Courtesy of Art of Light Photography

The ceremony was held out on the pier overlooking the ocean. It was one of the most emotional ceremonies I have attended and I loved every second of it. Unfortunately, all my pictures from the ceremony came out really dark, so I refer you to Rachel's blog entry on this because it has better pictures. I doubt she would mind if I stole hers, but either way, she has many a funn entries, so go over there anyway.

Here is "THE KISS" that I have about 10 pictures of because it was the longest kiss ever! The happy couple are finally a Mr. and Mrs.

After the ceremony was the cocktail hour by the water. In my white dress, I steered clear of the incredibly red rum punch. Besides, I knew what was going to happen later.....

We then all convened back at the boat for dinner before going to the after party at Señor Frogs. THIS is why I didn't drink during the cocktail hour nor at dinner......
It all started out with a little Bud Light....

But I switched to Tequila and started dancing....Keep your shirt on Marcie, I am almost done! (PS, while I am getting down, I think Em is getting "jiggy" with it as best as I can tell).

Thankfully, I had the foresight to switch to water.

What, you thought my day was over? No, no, no, my friends! That is simply not how I roll.

This is us at the after party's after party at "Club Diamond" -- yep, you heard me correctly. This was the only "club" open and I think it was for the tweens on the ship. It was great fun and provided us with an Epcot-esque laser light show (who doesn't adore a laser light show when you are feeling tipsy). Rachel is in her PJs and I love it! We were soooo past "caring" at that point, we just didn't want the night to end.

SUNDAY

So finally Saturday has ended, Mr. and Mrs. W are Mr. and Mrs. and it is now Sunday morning.

Needless to say I am hungover. Not only am I hungover, but I am hungover in rocking box!!! The cheapskate that I am opted to save a whopping $50 and take an inside cabin with no window. So there is no window and my box is going back and forth, back and forth, BACK AND FRIGGIN' FORTH.

Clearly, I was dying, so I threw on the suit and ran to the highest level of the ship to get a bloody mary and some air. I think we all pull off "the morning after" quite well.

By dinner, I was feeling fancy free again. Here are some of the girls in the wee hours of the evening after all the men had ditched us for their beds.

It was such a great weekend!! Thanks girls for keeping an eye on me and obeying by the "10 feet" rule at all times (special thanks to Chrissy, Rachel and Jack for that one).

I had so much fun and here's a belated CHEERS to the newlyweds! Congratulations!!

Sale at Neimans

There is a sale at Neiman Marcus!! Holla! (Just kidding - I just felt like being a "baller" for a minute).

So there has been a sale at NM for a while now and I have just been clicking through each and every page for days upon days. I know the merchandise by heart. I was just itching to buy something, you know? Once I get in one of those moods, it is best to quench the thirst before I make a hasty decision and do something drastic. I just need to work on having these moods less often.

Enter my new purchase. I had been eyeing these shoes for a while and even though I am typically against logo items, these appealed to me. The only issue is that they are over 4" heels and typically, I like to keep it under 4".

They get here Wednsday, so as of right now, they are on loan from NM. I have a feeling they will be too tall for me and make me look like an Amazon. So there is a 50/50 chance of going back. But then again, I need a Valentine's Day Gift so I think my husband would make a contribution to the Gucci too high heel fund!

My friend Jay, alerted me to a 2 day free shipping code from NM: NMLOVE.

Now GO! SHOP.

My Spring Obsession

Since I bought a fall/winter bag, I told myself in no uncertain terms that I would NOT be participating in the purchase of a spring bag this year. But that was before I set my eyes on this!

This is from the notorious Mr. Jacobs' Mercer collection. The color is called Marshmellow, which makes me love it even more. I stare at this bag for at least 30 minutes a day (very conservative number) and the only thing that is competing with it for Spring in my mind is a few of Prada's new totes. Prada has some beautiful and impractical teal colored tote and also a beautiful ivory color also. The main one competing is this tote because they are similar in color:

But then there is this little hottie throwing me off my game! Try and tell me she doesn't turn your head too!

Needless to say, I am frantically paying down my Neiman Marcus card so that one of these pretty girls can be mine. It is snowing buckets right now, so it is hard for me to focus on these bags, but the second I see some sunshine, hopefully the finances will be going strong so that I can take one of these pretty ladies home!

"Mini" Vent

Dear Ms. Malandrino, Mr. Jacobs, BCBG, Ms. Lepore, Milly, Ms. von Furstenberg, Mr, Meister, Ms. Miller, Shoshanna, and any other fashion house designer out there:

I understand that the "mini dress" is in.

I further understand that the hemline seemingly rises and falls with the state of the economy, hence the mini (However if we keep heading in this direction, I fear for next season).

But YOU need to understand that the mini is not appropriate for all situations. There are many exceptions to this where one cannot take the liberty of being "in."

For example, one cannot wear your "oh so chic" mini into a church for a wedding. So should you just cast aside all church/wedding goers? I don't think you should as I assume that such events contribute greatly to your sales. You cannot cast aside this sect of your faithful followers.

What is one in this situation to do? Unfortunately I am not willing rank fashion above religion and I assume I am not the only one. I do not want to pull a Britney and have anyone see my "bits and pieces," nor am I interested in looking like a 17 year old.

In short, please address this problem in a timely manner or else by the time I am ready to make my purchases for the Spring/Summer wedding season, I will be forced to head over to Nordstrom and give my hard earned pennies to Ms. Maggie London. Trust me, I do NOT want this to happen even more than you do, but alas, you leave me little choice.

Your Friend,

Stacy

Happy Birthday Kelli with an "I" Dawn!!

Today is my Maid of Honor's birthday!! She came to me from Kentucky a confused little girl with a tongue ring on a big college campus. I couldn't understand her for quite a few months since I had never encountered a southern accent quite like hers. After a while, I got used to it a little bit more and actually was able to translate for others. She would come into a room and utter a few sentences and leave and the other girls would be like, "What the hell did she just say?" And I would tell them that she was just looking for some fried food -- or whatever she was saying at the time. After some more time, she lost her accent just enough to still sound Tucky-ish, but all the world could finally "get her."

When I look back through my pictures of college memories, there are an unreasonable amount of pictures of Kel and I. Which makes me think that once upon a time, we were quite full of ourselves ;). I am not going to share them all, b/c it would take too long, but I will share a few.

Happy Birthday Kel! I miss you to pieces!

For a long period of time, Kel and I would go to Outback for the large amounts of free wine we could consume. Here are two pictures from those nights:

During a tragic rollerskating accident, Kelli broke her tibial plateau and had to wear pants and a boot to our sorority formal. Here I am keeping her gimp @$$ company:

Sometimes we like to play dress up :) These are my old dance costumes! Look mom they still fit!

Here are some photos from my bachelorette party in NYC:

At Hotel Gansevoort Kelli allegedly unknowingly stole some coats from the coat check girl. In her defense, the girl did not look at our tickets and in Kelli's defense, she was 2-3 bottles of Cristal to the wind. If anyone left the Gansevoort on or about March 3, 2007, sans white furry jacket -- she apologizes. She is aware that it was very cold out and she can't be more sorry. But we believe she did you a favor as the jacket was FUG and if you can afford drinks at Gansevoort, you should pack it in for a few evenings and afford a nicer coat. Anyway here is the thief in the cab ride home once she realized she was holding coats that did not belong to her:

And lastly, here she is by my side on the most important day of my life!

HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY KEL! THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD TIMES!

Ready for Summer?

One would think that it is very strange that I recently purchased myself a new pair of sandals for summer, but in this mess of a season they call Winter here in Michigan, it is what gets me through. That little light at the end of this grey and gloomy tunnel.

I have a pair of gold banana republic flat thong sandals that have lasted me years. For whatever reason, they are some of the only open flats that I will wear. Actually, scratch that. I know the reason. It is because they have the most subtle rise in the back (wedge-like, but not that high to actually be considered a heel). I can't stand to be perfectly flat.

This past season, they were finally to the point of embarassment. There are teensy rips in the "leather" and the gold has definitely lost its luster.

I haven't thrown them out. Can't do it and will probably still wear them, but I was on the look outr for a suitable replacement for some time and after at least 2 summers of looking, I finally found these:

Kalista from Kate Spade

Mine are actually a lighter tan, and not this dark brown color which lends itself to things I would typically wear with gold a bit better than the ones shown do and then there is the gold ring detail in the center.

I don't think I love them as much as the old faithful BR floppers, but I think they will do almost as nicely!

I can't wait to get a pedicure and be out and about in shorts and a cute top soaking up what Michigan also amusingly calls Summer sun.

My Massive Birthday Surprise

Well, it was kind of a surprise, but I don't feel like getting all into that. My husband knew that I wanted one, but who in the world would suspect he would get one for me!

Here is what my wonderfully fabulous husband got me for my birthday!! To say that this is the most amazing thing I have ever owned (next to my wedding rings) is an understatement and I do not deserve it.

I was trying to get a glorious picture of all its dazzle, but it just isn't working right now so these will have to do and you will just have to know that these photos don't do it justice.

THANKS SWEETIE!

Birthday Goods!

Since my birthday is on Christmas, it is easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of it all and just sweep my birthday aside. My wonderful family, however, really makes an effort to not do this. The main way they do this is open all Christmas presents in the morning. After Christmas dinner, it is officially "my birthday" and that is when the party switches. It is really sweet that they try to change the atmosphere a bit with birthday cake as opposed to holiday cake, etc.

I also especially love my birthday because all the practical gifts are given to me for Christmas, but the fun gifts in small boxes usually come to me for my birthday!! This year was a bit different since my parents didn't get me jewelry, but I agree that I probably don't need anything else. Instead, they graciously ripped up a check for a lump of money I owed them (thank you, thank you!), and gave me money in addition to that! It was seriously such a big help for the month of December when the holiday bills are breathing down your neck!

I thought for sure that was going to be it, and I was completely satisfied with that, but then they gave me these 2 hot little numbers ;)

A new straightener:

And these wonderful Gucci shades!! (These actually were given to me on an IOU, and we picked them out the following day at Saks! My parents were extra thrilled that they were on a super sale!) I vow to treat these sunglasses better than the loyal glasses that have gone before them! After leaving my face, they will go directly back into their case. It is part of my New Years resolution to treat sunglasses better and guard them against scratches ;)

It was a wonderfully fabulous birthday!!

*** You are still dying to know what the hubster got me aren't you? It had a photo shoot last night, but it apparently prefers not to have it's picture taken as they all did not do it justice. So I will just have to send you the web image and not the photo taken of it on my arm. Stand by!!

Christmas Goods!

Whatdya get??

I had a wonderful Christmas this year! As I get older, Christmases should get more dull, but this year, whether it was the mood I am in or the amount of shopping I did, everything just seems more fabulous than ever!!

For whatever reason, Christmas in my household was a lot less stressed this year, which was key to my overall wonderful mood.

My parents got me my wonderful new BlackBerry Curve which is quickly changing my life! No longer am I chained to my computer desk wondering if my friends wrote me back yet. I can check my 2 email accounts from this puppy and it brings up the Neiman Marcus website beautifully!! It also does great with downloading and sending photo attachments.

Also, the game Brick Breaker on here is absolutely addicting and may cause the demise of my marriage!! I have gotten in trouble countless times already for not paying attention to what my husband is saying because I am too busy trying to beat my high score on this game!

Even though we are all adults now, my mother makes us all open Christmas Eve presents which always have our Christmas pajamas in there. That way when we wake up, we don't have to change for opening presents and if any pictures are taken, we are all looking somewhat put together. I think this is the smartest idea ever by my mother! That way when we were young, she had 3 cute kids in her Christmas morning pictures as opposed to 3 disheveled messes! In with my Christmas Eve gift this year were these furry friends!

They are so unbelievably cozy! This is my second pair of Ugg slippers ever and both get 4 stars from me! During the winter months, these help keep me warm especially since we switched to hard wood floors in our frigid house!!

My brother got me a wonderful gift basket from Bath and Body Works all scented in Eucalyptus Spearmint. It doesn't sound that great, but it smells fantastic! This isn't the exact basket, but it is very similar and includes a pillow mist to de-stress you! Can't wait to test that out!

Unfortunately all our loot is being shipped to us by my mother since we couldn't fit it all in our bags, so I will have to wait a bit to get to sample this, but I think this will be my new favorite scent!

I got a slew of other items, but I don't have pictures of everything. A few other items given to me by my parents are:

This top from Banana Republic in both black and red.

These cami's from BR in red, green, black and cream. They are really wonderful to layer under those work INappropriate shirts that dip down too low. Just throw this on underneath and you are doubling your wardrobe into work AND evening wear (depending on the top). It is hard to see the lace detail in this photo because of the black color, but it is really nice and dresses things up just a bit.

This top, but it comes in a vibrant peacock blue that is not to be found on their website for some reason.



This BCBC in this super fun color.

A BCBG item that is very similar to this shirt, only with a few more interesting details, like a tie around the back and then the collar is a bit different.

A refill on my wedding day scent by Bill Blass which, if you remember, was included on my "All I Want for Christmas" list.

And some always appreciated make up from my favorite counter, Laura Mercier, including some other goodies/refills on my current makeup choices that are not pictured. I have to say that this color palette is VERY practical with all the neutral colors and I have already gotten a ton of use out of it.

As far as what my husband got me, that will be a secret for now because it is too fabulous to lump together with all of this stuff! It was a Birthday AND Christmas present combined and you know that whenever that happens, it means that it is good!

As far as how the others made out.....

My husband got lots and lots of clothes and lots and lots of FSU paraphernalia, a PSP which now needs to be surgically removed from his hands, new UGG work boots, a fancy Brookstone alarm clock and "stuff" (because I don't actually know what it is) for his aquarium, and Maui Jim sunglasses which I am pretty proud of myself for picking out ones that he actually likes. I am definitely forgetting some stuff here.

My parents got lots of "parent" type items that they really seemed to enjoy but that isn't interesting enough to tell you about here. One of the items I was particularly happy to give them and even happier to see how happy it made them to receive it was a copy of our wedding photo album which I did through My Publisher. They had been asking for one for months and I didn't want to ruin the surprise so I had been blowing them off about it forever.

My 18 year old nieces got clothes from Abercrombie which is their favorite. My 2 year old nephew got toys, upon toys, upon toys. I learned this Christmas that there is really no point in spoiling a child that young. He had so many toys that he lost interest in opening presents!! But I have some great pictures that I will share with you in another post. I wanted to keep this one more shopping oriented. And for my brother, I put together a My Publisher album for him of his children. He is not organized whatsoever so they don't have albums and stuff like that, more like pictures shoved into boxes, so this was a wonderful surprise for them and they really seemed to appreciate it! For people that have never seen MP albums before, they really WOW people! It was touching to watch them looking at the pictures as if they had never seen them before, etc.

That is all I have for now!! I think I semi-made up for my shoddy efforts as of late with this one. Let's see how long it lasts ;)

Happy 2008!

Happy New Year, everyone!!

It has been pointed out by many that I have not been updating my blog as often as I should and I whole-heartedly agree! I bet there are thousands of bloggers out there that have vowed to update their blogs more often in 2008 and I suppose I should throw my hat into that ring!

To update you on my where abouts, my husband and I went to Florida to visit my parents for Christmas and MY BIRTHDAY on the 21st of December. We spent one full week in Florida (and with painfully limited internet access) and came back on the 29th. We got to spend one night in our own beds before driving three hours north to my husband's grandparent's home. They were watching our 4 beloved dogs and we needed to collect them (it is amazing how much their annoying little mugs were missed). We spent two days there, including New Years and got back home yesterday.

Today I am back in the office with a cold :( I am not thrilled to be back at work, but I am thrilled to be back in the normal swing of things.

I have a TON of things to do to get completely back to normal including a load of work on my desk, a ton of bills to get paid and a house to organize.

Keep your eyes out for the following blog entries:

1) Happy Birthday to me post (might take some time on this one);

2) Christmas presents;

3) Birthday presents;

4) Ashley's Wedding (embarrassingly overdue. I have it all written. I just need to choose which out of all the wonderful pictures there are to include to give you the best little peek into the trip); and last, but not least,

5) Choo of the Week is coming back!

As far as resolutions, I don't really have any. I know myself too well and I just will not stick to them. The one thing I will say is just overall organization. That seems to be at the root of all my issues, so if I work on that as a whole (you would be surprised how many things that go wrong bring you back to the fact that you just don't have your crap together), I think the rest of my life will follow accordingly.

What are yours?