Sorry I've Been Quasi MIA

But life has been nutty lately!  Seriously, I feel like I'm losing my mind - way too busy!  And, I didn't even get seriously started on my invitations last weekend so this weekend I have a date with a 4-pack of redbull, my cricut, and my printer!

But anyway, it looks like Weddzilla is finally getting back into the swing of things, and my post about my shoes went live today - you can find it here!

I also had my first fitting this past Monday, so I promise to be back soon with a post about that!  Don't hate me...life is just too busy right now!

So Much Wedding Excitement to Share!!!!

First of all, let me apologize for being MIA for the past week.  Going home for my bridal shower (more on that later) and then trying to get ready to start working on my invitations (eek) not to mention that stupid thing called my job, I've just been running around like a mad woman!

But, we shall start at the beginning...my flight home last week was delayed for 3 and a half hours!!!!  I hate airports.  In my mind airport = hell.  People are either in too much of a rush or they aren't moving fast enough, somehow it has gotten to the point where people think being in an airport gives them a right to look like they just rolled out of bed in public, and the chairs are always uncomfortable.  Needless to say, being delayed 3 and a half hours didn't really put me in the best mood.  But apparently, Jet Blue does a lot more than give you cookies and free TV on all of their flights!

First, they brought out all the snacks that are available on the planes (chips, cookies, soda, etc) and let us help ourselves.  Then they ordered pizza for us!  Yeah, they totally had 20 pizzas delivered to the airport for us to eat.  Then they started playing trivia and if you got a question right you got a $25 credit towards a future Jet Blue flight.  Then they said they were going to draw a winner out of all the people who had answered questions correctly for the "grand prize."

I totally won the grand prize.  I never win anything.  I was pumped.  It was Red Sox tickets for a game that I would no longer be in Massachusetts for but, do you know what this Sunday is?  Yeah, it's Father's Day.  Know who loves the Red Sox?  You guessed it, my Dad!  So I got to be the best daughter ever and give my Dad pretty awesome tickets to the Sox game this Saturday.  And that totally made up for the delay.

My Bridal Shower was on Saturday, and it was absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait to tell you allllll about it, but I forgot my camera at home.  My mom mailed it down and it should be here any day now, but I'm not even going to bother writing about the shower until I have pictures to share with you as well.

But, at some point during the shower someone decided to drown my phone.  They tried to clean it up (as in, they dried off the outside) but when it wouldn't turn on and I pulled the battery and a bunch of water came pouring out it was pretty obvious what had happened.  I minorly freaked out.  Being without a phone makes me feel naked.  Being without a phone when I was flying back to Pittsburgh the next day made me want to vomit.  I don't even know how to use a pay phone anymore.  So, BM Kim and I went to Verizon.

First, there was nothing they could do, I could have a replacement sometime next week.  Then I threatened to cancel my contract.  They asked if I wanted to talk to customer support, I said yes.  They dialed the number that brings you to the automated system.  I damn near exploded - but chose to continuously press 0 until a human came on.  As I'm on the phone the Verizon man magically found a phone he could give me as a loner.  I was livid.  If I hadn't said "yes, I want to speak to customer support" he wouldn't have even looked if there was a phone they could give me temporarily.

At this point, probably 45 minutes had passed.  Then we spent the next 2 and a half hours waiting for him to figure out how to set that phone up with my number.  TWO AND HALF HOURS!!!!  Did I mention we were still in our absolutely adorable bridal shower outfits?  But they just could not get it to work.  And they finally went and magically found a new Thunderbolt (the phone I have) to give me.  I was like "Seriously, I thought you didn't have any more thunderbolts???" (my phone is still under warranty).  And his asshole response was "we don't have any replacement thunderbolts, this is a new one."  Took him all of 5 minutes to get that sucker working.

My theory is that they couldn't set up the crap-adelic phone on my plan because I have a hardcore unlimited data plan and that sucker probably wasn't even T-9 capable.  They weren't going to downgrade my plan so their system wouldn't allow them to put that phone on my plan.  But whatever, I have a new phone now, it just took 3 and a half hours.

Then I went out with Kim that night, flew home the next morning, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing because I was exhausted!

Enough ranting and raving though...onto a much more important topic - wedding day accessories!

I've probably mentioned I've been working on applying crystals to my shoes during my lunch at work and last week I finished my first shoe!  Then I made a little flower to clip on the front the other night!  I have a post for Weddzilla all about it, but Weddzilla has been wonky for the past couple days, so I'm going to at least show you a picture:

Isn't she purty?  But, like I said, more to come on that once Weddzilla catches up with all the pending posts!

Then last night I decided to try out yet another idea for a boutonniere for the guys.  This time I was going to use pearls (like my beloved bouquet) and I came up with the idea to mount them on a gold leaf brooch.  BEST IDEA EVER!  And now I have even more of an excuse to troll ebay for vintage brooches...

And my absolute favorite picture:

Seriously, couldn't be happier!  I love when I come up with good ideas.  Not only does it look fabulous but it's a freakin' pin!  How much easier could that be for the guys?  And they'll be all different leaf brooches (you can see some that I've picked up already in a few of the pictures).
And, I officially finished making my pocketfolds last night.  Let me tell you, cutting, scoring, folding, assembling, and embellishing 85 freakin' pocketfolds kind of sucks.  But they ended up costing me pennies a piece, so I can't complain that much, not to mention I get the satisfaction of saying I made them all!  Blood, sweat, and tears baby - that is what is going into this whole wedding (minimal blood though)!

So this weekend begins the actual assembly of the invitations.  I'm kind of pumped, kind of dreading it.  The design isn't that complicated, but my Cricut is going to get quite the workout!  But none of you get to see them until I've mailed them out - sorry!

I think that's all for now.  Don't hold your breath for a fitness recap tomorrow since, ummm, I didn't work out at all this week!  Someone please blog-slap me, I totally deserve it.  And my first fitting is on Monday.  Who doesn't work out at all the week before their first fitting??????? Whatever, starting Saturday I am 100% back on the exercise bandwagon!

...And The Winner Is...

Sorry I completely forgot to post the results of my "happy 50th follower to me" give-away...

I had an incredibly scientific way of deciding the winner...I looked at how many comments I had and had Bryan pick a number (he picked 8) so the winner is Lyn, author of Tara Getting Married!

So, Lyn, if you could send me an email (through this link) really saying anything you want because all I need is your email address, lol (Starbucks is so fancy), I can get your prize to you!

Thanks again to everyone who reads my blog!

Help Me Decide on Pocketfolds!

I'm being indecisive about how to finish my DIY pocketfolds...and I hate being indecisive.

But since it is Weddzilla Wednesday, you can see what I've narrowed it down to here!

And, don't forget to enter yourself in my give-away (on this post)

In Love With New Hair Products!

So, I have really weird hair.  Really weird, and really thick.  Really weird, and thick, and really coarse.  It takes forever to dry.  I refuse to blow dry it when it is warm out because it takes so long and I end up sweating.  So, when it's warm out I depend on a turbi-twist to suck up as much water as possible, then I sleep on it, and it's almost dry the next morning.  In the winter I still shower at night because even though I don't mind blow drying it, doing so makes it ::poof:: so then I sleep on it and it become manageable enough for me to straighten with a flat iron.

I don't think I've ever found a hair product that I absolutely love for when I'm letting my hair air dry.  See, some pieces are really quite curly, some are dead straight, but the majority of it is just quasi-wavy ready to frizz out at the first sign of moisture in the air.  That is, until recently...

I got my hair cut and colored about a week and a half ago and my hair dresser said they had a product she thought would be great for my hair when I'm not straightening it.  I get my hair cut at Ulta, so anything I buy I have 60 days to return if I don't like it, so of course I bought it...

Personal Photo

They are Redken Curl Wise 14 Defining Cream and Redken Nature's Rescue Radiant Sea Spray.  I don't know how they're doing it, but it is gross as all hell out and my hair isn't a giant poof ball (or pulled back into a bun due to it becoming a giant poof ball).  I have, like, the perfect amount of "beachy" waves that it looks styled with an acceptable volume given that it isn't 1985 anymore!

And I came across these heavenly hair products just in time for hair-poofing season!  If anyone out there struggles with thick, coarse, kinda curly, kinda not, completely un-manageable hair, I totally recommend you try this stuff out!  I put the cream in when my hair is wet, and still wrap it on up in my turbi-twist.  Then I sleep on it and spray it with the "radiance" spray when I'm getting ready in the morning, give it a little scrunch, and I'm good to go!

Does your hair start a rebellion when the humidity rises?  Do you have a favorite hair product to tame your mane?

And don't forget to go enter yourself in my give-away!

in case you missed it...GIVE-AWAY!

Considering only 1 person has commented in the past days, I figured I'd re-post about it.

I'm doing a give-away, but you have to go and comment on this post to entered!

There are 2 days left to "enter" the contest!

Happy 50th Follower to Me!

To some, it may seem like a really silly milestone, but to me it actually means a lot.  Wedding planning is stressful and time consuming and exhausting - and I love having a place to go and talk about all that, or to celebrate when something goes really well.  Whether it is a DIY Project, a Fitness Goal, or an awesome vendor, I know that there are people out there who don't even know me, but will be equally excited that something is going well.  And when things kind of suck, there's a bunch of impartial outsiders to give their opinion.  And I want you all to know I appreciate that you follow along on my wedding planning journey, and I love getting your comments and feedback along the way!

So, as a little celebration, I'm going to do a little giveaway!!!

If you leave a comment on this post in the next 3 days (say how you found my blog, link back to your blog if you have one, and tell me what your favorite kind of post of mine is {DIY, fitness, Weight Watchers, ranting about nothingness, anything that you like} and in 3 days I'll randomly choose one of the people who left a comment for a Starbucks gift card - because whether you're planning a wedding or not, we all need a little pick me up now and again!

Again, thank you - for putting up with my craziness and making wedding planning a little less stress full!

...Yes, that really is me...I really am as crazy in Real Life as I am on my blog, hahaha!

Blogger ABCs - MandaMack Edition!

I'm jumping on the bandwagon...hehe...

A. Age: 23

B. Bed size: King – anything smaller just wouldn’t cut it with 3 large dogs who like to snuggle!

C. Chore you hate: All of them?  The worst is washing dishes because it ruins your nails.  And no, I won’t wear rubber gloves, they make my hands smell and feel disgusting.

D. Dogs: aka my babies? Gabby, Dudley, and Tyson! 

 E. Essential start to your day: The first thing I do when I wake up is check my emails (on my phone).  I know, it’s pathetic.  But you never know when there’s gonna be a killer groupon, and if anyone left comments on my blog while I was sleeping it is a very happy start to my day (hint hint)!

F. Favorite color: Purple.

G. Gold or silver: Can I say white gold?

H. Height: 5'8”

I. Instruments: In elementary school I played the flute.  I stopped because I was doing too many extracurricular activities and my band instructor flipped out.

J. Job title: Associate Business System Analyst

K. Kids: Only furbabies for now…other than the dogs, gotta give a shout out to the cats, Charles and Louie

L. Live: Pittsburgh

M. Mom’s name: Kathleen – good Irish name!

N. Nicknames: My family members call me Mandy (this is not an invitation for anyone outside of my family to call me that) and my father calls me Midgie (short for midget, because although I’m the tallest now, being the youngest sibling at one point I was the smallest).  And Bryan calls me Babs because I call him Bunny!

O. Overnight hospital stays: Once – different story for a different day.

P. Pet peeve: I have so many if I listed them all I would sound like the biggest bitch in the world.  But a good one for today is people that are in business/business casual attire and wear sneakers for their commute.  There are plenty of comfortable flats out there people!  Your bright white sketcher shape ups look ridiculous with that suit!

Q. Quote from a movie: “Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life.  You don’t have to live forever, you just have to live.”  That’s from Tuck Everlasting (movie/book) and I love it.

R. Right or left handed: Right – lefties are evil.

S. Siblings: Two older sisters, Rachael and Katelyn

Thats us mocking my mom for a face she makes in pictures to
make her cheek bones look more defined

 T. Time you wake up: Around 6 basically every day.  On a rare occasion the dogs will let me sleep until 7 on the weekends, but those days are few and far between.

U. Underwear: VICTORIA SECRET!  I used to think buying expensive panties was a waste until I bought them and realized how worth it they are!

V. Vegetables you dislike: Raw carrots.  Raw red peppers.  Apart from that, I actually really like vegetables!

W. What makes you run late: The dogs/cats being adorable and snuggly so I don’t want to get out of bed.  Realizing I have to iron my clothes (I have a new criteria for a good work shirt – if it is cute and doesn’t have to be ironed, it is mine).  My hair being crazy and me trying to tame it until I give up and just pull it back into a bun.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth at the dentist, my spine (I have degenerative subluxation of my lower lumbar spine – aka I my spine looks like a ? from the side instead of an S), my hips after I got hit by a car.

Y. Yummy food you make: 95% of the stuff I make is yummy (what can I say, I’m a good cook).  Topping my list would have to be raspberry cheese cake with a chocolate crust and my mom’s recipe for a Boston Crème Ring…yummmmm.

So that one cracked...it was still delicious!

Z. Zoo- favorite animal: To wear…zebra.  Although I would never wear real zebra skin, I just really like zebra print.  Favorite animal to just look at would be an elephant!  They’re just so majestic looking.  I’m actually wearing an elephant necklace right now (they’re supposed to be good luck).

You can get one too from the Etsy seller Leslie 23

Update on last weeks poll!

So the results are in for the poll that was very awkwardly placed at the top of my blog for the past week...

You all are apparently most interested in learning about the DIYs that I've already started, followed by the story of "us", our engagement pictures, picking out tuxes, and finally my decision to DIY flowers.  So, next time I don't know what to blog about, I'll recap/display/how-to-ize (which is totally a word) the DIYs I've already started.  But don't hold your breath, because that day is not today...

More to come later!  Happy Wednesday...and although my surroundings remind me more of the North Pole than anything else, I can pretend I'm not stranded in a hotel in the middle of a blizzard with this cute little picture:

Source

Stylish Blog Award (and of course 7 random facts about me!)

I got tagged by Miss Tattoo author of Tattoos and Lace.
And now onto the ever exciting 7 random facts about moi...

1.  I started tap dancing when I was 3 years old (I'm not sure if what we did really counts as tap dancing, but they said it was) and didn't stop until I graduated high school.  Even throughout college I would take the occasional "adult class" at a local University that offered dance classes to the public.  And if I had the time I would definitely still do it.

2.  I went to the same summer camp for 7 years and then worked there for 2 as a counselor.  Some of my best memories from growing up are there, and I met some of the most important people in my life there.  I can honestly say, I don't think I'd be who I am today if it weren't for that camp.

Source

3.  Doughnuts are my biggest weakness.  Seriously.  I love them more then any other sweet or dessert out there.  I've had to avoid them like the plague in order to be successful dieting.

Source

4.  I have 5 tattoos.  They are all completely covered when I wear a suit (aka work clothes) which I like.  When I want to be "professional" people would never even guess that I had any tattoos never mind 5 (never mind an orchid that goes from my mid thigh to my armpit)!  I actually got my first when I was 16 on a school trip to Canada...yeah, that's a fun story...

5.  My dream is to someday open a doggy daycare.  I would do daycare during the day, have obedience classes at night, and also run a rescue that saved litters of puppies from high kill shelters throughout the south (and then foster them until I could find them forever homes).  I hope that someday I can actually do it - probably not until all my school loans are paid off though.

6.  I have some pretty hardcore road rage when I drive.  Things that top the list of actions that will make me scream while I'm driving include (but are not limited to): people who don't use their turn signals, people who gridlock, people who STOP on an on-ramp because they're afraid of the moving traffic on the highway (you're actually making things much worse for yourself stupid), people who ride my a** on the highway (or any street for that matter), people who drive below the speed limit in the passing lane, people who can't drive in inclement weather but try to anyway...the list goes on and on.

Source

7.  I don't have a gallbladder; it was removed when I was 20 due to severe gallstones (yeah, in case you are wondering, that is not normal for a healthy 20 year old).  The only other surgery I've had was when I was 5 and had my umbilical hernia repaired.  I hope to never have surgery again that requires me to go under, because general anesthesia makes me incredibly ill...for days...it's horrible.

Now I am tagging:

Leanna author of Engineer + Geek Tie the Knot
Mallory author of That's What She Said is Gettin' Hitched
And Natalie (aka Miss. Biscuit on Weddingbee) author of Semi-Homemade Wedding