Eek!!

I cannot believe it's been a month since I've made a post. I am SO sorry ladies! The time has just gotten away from me. I am going to try my hardest to begin to post more often.

A few things you should know...

-We are coming up on our ONE YEAR anniversary and I simply can't get over how this first year of marriage has gone! What a blessing it has been for us. We are so excited to see what else the Lord has in store for us as we continue on in our journey!

-We won the vacation contest we were in!!! Thank you so very much to those of you who voted for us, we couldn't have done it without you! Because of this amazing contest, we will be able to spend our one year anniversary in Hilton Head Island, SC! This is such a blessing for us and we are so excited to get to go back to where we spent our first week as husband and wife!

-While I have been absent from posting I have been very busy here at home and of course with work as well. Here are a few of the things I've been working on lately....

Solar landscape lights my mother-in-law gave us. The left hand side are the before shots. The left are the after. They were spray painted with silver paint and then I put a clear coat on them for protection. Now they look new and they look great along the sidewalk to the front door!
My flower bed! I absolutely LOVE gardening!! And when Home Depot had a huge sale on their summer annuals I knew I had to get some. The large pink plant on the left is a candy stripe creeping phlox and it was planted last year and has more than tripled in size! Besides the Phlox, there are Petunias, Violas, a yellow Gerbera Daisy, Dianthus, Celosia, and two different varieties of Hosta.
Charles also picked out this beautiful Dwarf Rhododendron and he also picked out a Cherry Tomato plant so we are hoping that does well so we have them to snack on this summer!

I designed this mosaic stained glass table top, cut the pieces to fit, glued them down and then grouted it!

I've been enjoying spending time with my niece Daisy when I am able to...love her tons!!

And this beauty has adopted us and we are trying to find him/her a home as we cannot afford to have a pet right now. One of Charles's co-workers is considering taking "kitty" (my name for him/her).

So that's a quick look at what I've been up to lately and so much more! I'll restart the wedding recaps in a few days so stay tuned!

New Accessories for Little Ol' Me!

If you've been following my blog for a while now or have stalked the archives then I'm sure you've seen posts about my accessories for the big day. I blogged about the brooch for my bouquet, my earrings, my headpiece, and my clutch. I've made some changes to my accessories though.

There is only one wedding related purchase that I've regretted (thus far). I've been having major doubts about the earrings I purchased when I ordered my dress and veil. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love them but I don't think they're right for my dress. My dress is covered in very delicate lace and also has some beading and embroidery as well.* I had begun feeling like the earrings I purchased would look to "heavy" and "chunky" compared to the style of my dress. Not only that, but all my other accessories have rhinestone detail. While the earrings are crystal (and rhinestones are crystal too), I was still worried about this. See said earrings below:

(Source: yours truly)

While Charles were out shopping over the weekend I found some earrings I absolutely love! I think they will be absolutely perfect with my dress and other accessories! Just like the bracelets for the flower girls, I found the earrings at JcPenny's for 50% off! They were originally $22.00. They are Austrian Crystal Rhinestone earrings, here they are:

(Source: yours truly-click to enlarge)

The rhinestones look black because they are so clear that they picked up the black from my camera.

I also saw a stunning bracelet that I instantly fell in love with. I'd been contemplating a bracelet for a while since I won't be wearing a necklace and when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Charles saw me holding it and said something like "That would look so good on you!". So of course I bought it. The original price on it was also $22.00 and it was also 50% off. It is also made of Austrian Crystal Rhinestones, here it is:

(Source: yours truly-click to enlarge)

Again, the rhinestones look black because they are so clear that they picked up the black from my camera.

So now here are all of my accessories and what they look like together:

(all images source: yours truly-made using mosaic maker)

So what do you think, do the new earrings and the bracelet look better with everything else? I'm completely loving the look of everything together!

*I know you haven't been able to see pics of my dress and once it comes in (hopefully in the next few weeks) and I'm able to go try it on and get pictures I promise to somehow make it so you (but not the FI) can see them!

Pop of Purple

Oh how I wish I was a shoe girl. But sadly my feet just will not allow it. I have flat, skinny, long (size 9.5 to 10) and narrow feet and it is terrible to find shoes that are comfortable for me! On top of all that I have my grandmother's bad and problem ridden feet. I am constantly lusting over shoes that I wish I could wear. However I'd never be able to stand in them much less walk in them.

I started my shoe idea gathering/hunting early because I knew it would be especially hard for me to find shoes for the wedding. I really wanted to find some purple low (kitten) heels! I searched high and low with no luck. I found plenty of purple heels however they were what I like to call....."stripper heels". You know the ones I'm talking about, they have a heel that's 4" or taller and look something like these:

(Source)

My days long search of the internet left me with no options for purple heels with a low/kitten heel. I was so sad and had finally come to terms with the fact that I was going to have to settle for the traditional ivory shoes (my dress is ivory). Or go for a dyeable pair and take my chances with that. Do I risk paying $$$ for a pair of shoes and then more $$$ to have them dyed? What if the color isn't right? Then I'm stuck with a pair of shoes I can't even wear and out all that money!

I gave up on my quest for low/kitten purple heels. Then while browsing a blog on weddingbee.com (and forgive me that I don't remember whose it was) I came across a post about another soon to be brides search for purple heels. She had some stunning ideas but none that I would be able to pull off. While reading the comments on that post I came across a comment from yet another soon to be bride who had found her perfect purple heels. The picture had me speechless! The heels looked just like what I had been looking for! I quickly went to her blog and asked her where she found them. She got back to me soon after and informed me they were from Nordstrom and sent me a link!

Could it be? Could these maybe be the heels I'd been searching for!? Ohmygosh....YES! Well as close as I was ever going to get! So without keeping you hanging any longer, here they are (or one is anyways):

(Source)

Sexy no? The heel is taller than I originally wanted at 2.5" but I am DETERMINED to make them work because I love them! They aren't heavy looking, they're the right color purple, they have crystals on them, etc. I sure as heck hope they work and look ok with my dress now that I've spent over 90 bucks on them (including shipping). My dress won't be in until late June/early July so I still won't know for a while. But I had to go ahead and order them. I mean what if I waited till closer to when my dress will be in and then they weren't available. Then I'd be back at square one and kicking myself in the rear at the same time.

Are you going for a pop of color under your dress or sticking with the traditional white or ivory shoes?