Temptations

I'll admit it, I often find myself tempted. I spend a lot of time online. From catching up with the blogs in my reader (which lately include a barrage of wedding blogs that are annoyingly addicting), to other finds from friends sites to facebook, I really do always have something new to peruse.

Here is what has been catching my eye lately - (click at your own risk, spending temptations ahead!)

1. Daily Candy. I don't know why I didn't find this site earlier, although my pocketbook is probably grateful. Luckily there is no San Diego city listing yet, but the Online listings keep me busy enough. What is it? Basically a listing of the latest and greatest in style, fashion, food etc.

2. Mighty Goods. This is a tried and true favorite of mine, where internet maven Maggie Mason (mightygirl.net) posts her latest, favorite-ist shopping finds. She had me smiling widely with her jellyfish finds which were featured earlier this week. This is also where I first saw clocky, the alarm clock that you have to chase. Brilliant, right?

3. Outblush. Fun shopping blog with pretty interesting finds. Moustache key holder? Sold! (Almost)

4. Incredible Things. They really are! Moustache mugs! We could have used those for the stache bash. Maybe we should have a 2nd annual stache bash just to sport these. (or better yet, draw moustaches on paper cups for the party, instant TWAB post!)

5. Etsy Showcase. I love to check out the etsy showcase. It is usually a great mixing of what the site has to offer. This dress is amazing, and would make a great halloween costume.

Side note: in most of the wedding blogs I read, they end their posts with these annoying questions, related to their entries for the main purpose of enticing comments. "Have you dealt with any animal related mishaps in planning for your wedding? If so, what were they?" (Her cat peed on her mom's vintage dress she was going to wear). "Did you decide to change your last name? Were there any repurcussions?" (Her in-laws freaked when she convinced her fiance to hyphenate). "How many cakes did you taste before deciding on your perfect flavor?" (She went through 3 bakerys and about 7 tastings). And the problem with these is now I can't ever think of a way to end my entries. That being said...

What shopping sites do you love to get tempted by? How do you help from not spending?

Lately

Don't you wish? We have been house hunting (read: condo hunting) and seeing houses like this in our price range just a drive away out of town call to me. There is one foreclosure right across the street from Scott's sister and her family. It was fun to think how great it would be to live so close. . . and then we remember that it is hot up there, and it is an hour to two out of the way. Oh, and the small fact that I would rarely see Scott on weekdays because it would take him so long to get to work and back home. I am holding onto hope that the perfect condo is out there somewhere, just waiting for us.

note: the house across from Katie has a POOL. Aren't you just imagining me lounging day after day, with virgin pina coladas by my side? *sigh*

ANOTHER FAIL

While Brianne has mostly repossesed this blog to talk about other purposes, her most recent post inspired me to write here about my most recent FAIL and therefore purge some of my guilt through announcing my complete failure publicly.

I have this thing about wanting my house to smell nice. Not that it smells bad, but I want it to smell nice. I hate the idea of the possibility of having someone come to my house and thinking - their house had a funny smell. You know on Juno when they say "that girl smells like soup"?? I'm trying to avoid that.

In anycase, we can't have candles in our apartements. And all the little glade contraptions just don't seem to do it for me. I've tried a few diffussers. I've walked through Bath and Body Works like millions of time, ultimately leaving with nothing. However, more than a year and a half ago, I heard about a product called a Scentsy. A warmer that uses a lightbulb to melt wax and therefore release lovely smells into the home.

I wanted one then. However, you had to buy through a specific person, etc. etc. and in the end I decided it wasn't worth the cost. Having made that decision, I have thought about it frequently since then. A recent experience led me to looking up some information on their Website where I found that the products can now be ordered online. Hallelujah. So I ordered one and six scents to make my little house smell lovely. That's not bad, right? Waiting a year and a half for something?

But see, that isn't the FAIL. I got a catalog for scents in the mail about a week ago and today my Scentsy arrived. (It's already open and on...). In my excitement for the product and the good scents, I just couldn't help going online and ordering 6 more scents. Good grief. Totally unnecessary. A TOTAL FAIL. At least the guilt can be soothed by the "Welcome Home" scent currently emanating through my house!

FAIL

Scott had his 10 year high school reunion a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted to get something cute and new to really be impressive. Really trying to avoid the Lance Dyer 1999 reaction "She's HUGE!!"

Soooo anyways, I planned on buying a new dress and found a really cute lacy one that worked perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. The only problem I really had was it had no sleeves, just spaghetti straps. But that's doable. I could wear a shirt under it (still cute) or a black cardigan over. Then the only problem was I didn't have either of those things with me, and I wouldn't be getting back to my house before it was time to go that evening. But we were at the mall! I was bound to find something.

Enter Express and a black cardigan. I didn't even look at the price tag. $50 later at the register, Scott walked over and said "HOW much?" Whoops... Major "Things We Almost Bought" FAIL.

Fast forward to last night we were talking about how I had seen a couple of cute flower girl dresses online that had our wedding colors involved, but they were like $50! Considering the bridesmaids dresses were less than $40, it seemed like more than I wanted to spend. Scott mentions "$50! Its not like you would ever spend that much on a cardigan..."

Venue?! I hardly know you!

So this may seem like a no-brainer to many of you. "Just have it at the church building!" Well that's exactly what we are going to do. Luckily we have the coolest church building on the planet, and it has a very cute courtyard in the middle where we plan on having our reception.

But it wasn't always this easy for me to default to the church. I dreamed of intimate gatherings by the sea, or in quiet restaurants. But with fees starting at $4000 there was no way it could be justified, but I could dream, right?

Here are a couple of my dream locations:

powerhouse park, del mar

la estancia, la jolla

So yes, they are beautiful, but I don't feel like I am settling by having our wedding reception at the chapel. After all, it has an ocean view, beautiful courtyard and best of all the price tag of free! Plus, I am taking it as a challenge. If anyone can make a reception at the church beautiful, memorable, and fun, it's me (or really its the combination of my super talented family and friends).

lunch boxin' it

Starting today, I am going to stop buying my lunch. So for today I didn't buy this:

or this:

or this:

Today I brought a sandwich and baby carrots. Let's see how long this lasts...

Its tricky being tall

A list of Reasons:

1. You spend your whole adolescence thinking that you have to find a handsome man taller than you. This proves a waste of time.
2. You have to spend extra money and effort making sure pants are long enough for your stems. This proves a waste of money.
3. You spend lots of time feeling huge and uncomfortable because you tower over the masses. This proves a waste of energy.
   

See? Tricky. Really though, everything is more expensive when you are tall. Taller clothes, bigger sizes and more legroom all cost more. A wedding dress specifically for a tall bride? There is a lot of money and time required for that. A lot of the standard less expensive options (buying a used dress or finding a dress at a sample sale) are out because, lets face it, the chances of finding something like that in our size* that's long enough are slim. (Don't even get me started on the chances of finding an inexpensive modest wedding dress for a tall girl).

But it's not all bad news, because I have found a loophole for my sister bridal Amazons out there. Bridesmaids dresses! You may think I'm strange, but if you want a simpler dress anyways, most bridesmaids dresses are available in white, ivory or other versions therein and are a fraction of the price of a regular wedding dress. Most bridesmaids dresses are made to order as well, so you can still get the length you need. If you are open to a shorter dress, even better!

Here is a quick example from on of my favorite modest wedding dress shops, Latter Day Bride. An average price of their modest wedding dresses? Around $850. This wouldn't include extra for additional inches at the bottom of a full length gown. An average price for their bridesmaids dresses (most of which come in white)? Around $250. With many of them for less than $200! And if you are willing to go short, no extra fabric would be needed for length, so you are good to go.

*this is open to interpretation anyways. a size 0-2 on the street would be a size 8 in the bridal salon. you do the math. ugh.