Superstition shmuperstition

Right now, I have 5 tattoos. My third was this simplistic beaut on my left wrist.

An infinity sign, you say? Well, yes. But look a bit closer (hi kitty!).. it's really two S's intertwined. I'll give you a hint: both Mr. Foxy's name and mine also start with S's. Not exactly a coincidence.

I knew I wanted a tattoo that pertained to myself and Foxy in some way without having his name written in big letters across my stomach, thug life style.

Hah. How mad at me are you right now for posting this?!

Image via Family Rights

So I tried to come up with clever ways of intertwining two (or more) S's, since Foxy wanted to get one as well, as long as it was something he liked.

I, personally, eventually went with the most basic. And I love it. I think it wore on Foxy, because a few months later, he got the same thing, just bigger and on his arm instead of wrist.

So there you have it. We have matching tattoos that represent one another. Hopefully you don't think I jinxed our relationship by this, but if you do? I think that I am going to prove you wrong. Ink is permanent and I am 110% aware of that. I think this was the most "rational" tattoo I've gotten, and I love it :)

Anyone else with matchy matchy love tattoos? Or one to represent your SO?

Oh hey.

Remember me? I used to blog here.

Well, I still do. Or I will. Or something.

See, if you follow my other blog, you'll know that I recently left my sit-at-a-desk-all-day job for a a full time job as a massage therapist.. which obviously takes place away from a computer. My time has gotten limited, so I haven't had much free time to post to two blogs. Plus, wedding planning is kind of at a stand still right now - we have so much done, and still have so much time to go. But I promise that I will try my darndest(?) to post here more often!!

And.. that's all for now (lame), but I want to leave you with these two little birdies that I found on Etsy the other day.. the only thing they have to do with our wedding is that they are in our colors. I want them just to put in our apartment and spruce things up.

Brought to you by sweetiecaketopper

The best part is that 20% of the cost of these pretties goes towards the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Relief Fund. Double whammy. Oh, and they are actually salt and pepper shakers. Which makes them totally justifiable, right??

I'll let you know what Scot says ;)

Glamming it up

This past weekend I made a trip to Philly to visit some friends, one of them being my wedding twin (and brideslady) M. I say wedding twin because: 1. her and I are sistas from another mista (yes I went there), 2. our engagement rings are basically the same, coincidentally enough, 3. we're in each other's weddings, and 4. we're getting married about three weeks apart - Mr. Foxy and I actually kind of chose our date based on when they are getting married, truth be told.

We originally picked a date one week after M's wedding, but she was planning to still be on her honeymoon at that point. I was more than happy to find a different weekend because I totally love M and need her in our wedding. Done And done.

Anyway, this past weekend was dedicated to M's wedding - we were looking for bridesmaid dresses as well as a wedding gown for her.

The funny thing is, as similar as we are, our wedding "styles" could not be more different. Most notable is how Mr. Foxy and I are going for a more laid back, fun, summery, rustic feeling and M and her fiancé are going for a more glamorous, red carpet, swanky feeling. I totally love it.

We went to a total of 3 dress shops on Saturday. At the first one, we tried on a lot of "typical" bridesmaid dresses. Chiffon, long, flowy... all things that I really love and M seemed to as well, at least initially. However, going through her wedding binder later (Mindy Weiss.. so jealous), I saw what she was really going for with the bridesmaids dresses.

Glam to the max!

Image via Wedding Style Magazine

Um.. definitely not chiffon and flowy. As luck would have it, that Lazaro up there? JUST arrived at the last shop we went to the previous week. Excited doesn't even begin to describe M's feelings about this - she wants us to look h.o.t. Which is the definition of this dress. The purpose is to have us wear something that we seriously won't ever wear again.

Unless we decide to go to the State Dinner a la the Salahi's. Which could totally happen.

However, since that dress is SO formfitting, we also tried on some backups.

This exact dress and color

This dress, but in the raspberry color above

All serious contenders. I have to admit, I'm kind of excited to get all glammed up!!

Have you ever gotten super red-carpet glammed up for a wedding (or any other event, for that matter)?

#OperationLayla

I am amazed every day by the connections I've been able to make online, namely through blogging and through Twitter. One of the wonderful people I met this way is Layla.

Pic from Layla's Facebook - no stealing!

Even though we live several states away and only talk online, I had the fortune of meeting her this past November when we both happened to be in Las Vegas at the same time. She's even awesomer in person than she is online.

Which is why her current situation is so heartbreaking, and I'm asking you to take a minute, read her story below, and donate to the cause.

One month after her 30th birthday, Layla was diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer (1A Adenocarcinoma). She was extraordinarily lucky that it was caught early and had a simple surgery to remove the cancerous cells.

Three years later, Layla was in horrible pain that affected nearly every aspect of her life. Temporarily uninsured due to a job change, she paid out of pocket last October to go to the doctor and make sure the cancer had not returned. Thankfully, it had not. However, her doctor believes that she has pelvic adhesions and Endometriosis due to the previous surgery, but it can’t be diagnosed until an additional surgery (laparoscopy) is performed. The doctor also found out Layla has cervical stenosis, which basically means her cervix has completely shut down due to the scar tissue from the previous surgery. These issues make her miserable most of the time, making simple things like going to the bathroom and menstruation horribly painful, and sexual intercourse impossible. He stated that if she wanted to have children one day, even sperm could not pass through her cervix, and she would have to have intrauterine insemination.

The doctor wanted to schedule surgery as soon as the insurance at her new job went into effect. Her company fired her the day her insurance became valid, ten days before Christmas, plainly stating that it was because of her health issues.

Fortunately, she got on her husband’s insurance, which went into effect February 1st. As soon as she could, Layla scheduled surgery for March 22nd. Then her insurance company dropped a bomb: because she went to the doctor (even as a self-pay patient) within a three month period prior to her enrollment date, they were considering her health issues to be a pre-existing condition, and would not insure any doctor visits, medication, or surgery for 388 days.

When you are in near constant pain and can’t work, 388 days is a long time to wait. The sooner Layla can have this surgery, the sooner she can return to work (hopefully with a nicer company!) and start living her life again. Her doctor has been nice enough to work out a deal with her if she can pay as a cash patient: he decreased the amount of her surgery to $4,000, and the cost of the anesthesia to $500, with additional fees for biopsies of removed tissue to be determined.

The problem is, Layla is unemployed due to this, has used her savings to pay for living expenses and medical bills, and has been denied loans for the surgery because of her unemployment status. She does not have close family, so she can’t ask them for help.Surgery is scheduled for March 22nd, and Layla and her husband are still trying to secure a loan through several banks.

______________________________________________________________________

Some amazing ladies that I have the pleasure of knowing via social media have organized a website for the #OperationLayla fund to help her pay for the surgery. If you'd like to help (which would be AMAZING), please go here and see what you can do!!

It makes me sad in a happy way

Mr. Foxy scored major awesome points in my book last Friday night.

See.. I find ideas for wedding music daily. I have a whole playlist on iTunes called "Wedding Possibilities" that is full of songs that I dream of using for our processional, recessional, first dance, whatever. Too many songs, honestly. I need more "moments" so I can have more songs.

Anyway. My teenage heart and I big puffy heart love Dashboard Confessional - always have, always will. One of my favorite lovey-dovey songs for the longest time has be Stolen.

Listen.. now.

Ughh, I swoon. Love. Him.

It was my ringtone for Foxy for awhile, too.

Well, awesome fiancé always laughs at my one true love, Chris Carrabba (I think he's jealous). When I first mentioned that Stolen would be perfect to play at some point during the wedding, he scoffed.

So I mentioned Even Now.. which has currently become my number one first dance song pick.

I mean.. come on.

One listen and I have tears in my eyes.

So Foxy and I go out to dinner on Friday, come home after a couple drinks, and I start fiddling with iTunes while he's playing Call of Duty.

He randomly says "Put on that Dashboard song."

So I ask which one, to which he replies, "The one you really like. Cause it makes me sad a happy way."

I thought it was my new favorite, Even Now, but finally deduced that he meant Stolen.

So I play it, he looks at me, and says "This should be our first dance song."

Wiggity what?! He likes it now??! Apparently.

Now I'm not promising anything, but this is a huge development. It's very rare for him to have unsolicited opinions about wedding-related things this far out. I'm putting it in the "win" column. Especially because it involves Dashboard. Huzzah!

Anyone else have a fiancé with a musical change of heart?

Etsy love

I might end up having about 58 posts with the same title by the time this whole wedding shebang actually comes into fruition.

I was perusing Etsy at work yesterday, per usual, and found even more amazing things that I would love to incorporate into our wedding. You could call it inspiration, but I'm pretty certain that I will figure out how to have most of these elements involved somehow!

1. Cute animal cake topper

Image via Etsy shop Kikuike

I believe they call these little guys Love Angels from Kikuike's store. They have cake toppers in any animal you could possibly imagine, and most you can get in any color combination you can dream up. I don't know if these animal cake toppers are a "trend" in the wedding world right now, but I just can't get enough of them! When I came across these penguins, I fell in love instantly. First off, they just happen to be displayed in our colors (!!) and second, I love me some penguins. I think it's the whole mating for life thing.

But.. then I found these.

Image via Etsy shop Kikuike

Have you ever??! It would a perfect way to have the hive with me on the big day!

So while I know that I have tons of time until I actually need to legitimately start thinking about a cake topper, I am SO tempted to buy one of these little guys right now. I will definitely need to save a bit for them, though. And no, I'm not DIY'ing that shiz.


2. Paper Heart Garland

Images via Etsy shop Pickled Parlour

Seriously, how cute is this garland from Pickled Parlour's shop? She uses a variety of sheet music and double sided card stock to make the hearts.. and I totally dig it! I can see this being draped on the gazebo by which we'll be getting married, or even on the venue's porch somewhere during cocktail hour. The best part is, my super awesome friend peachplum09 sent me fabulous DIY instructions so I can likely make 'em myself!

3. Blue mason jars

Image via Etsy shop mattlaurajones

I found these from mattlaurajones's shop, and yes, I know these are all the rage right now, but there's just something so rustic chic about them. I'm thinking as mini-centerpieces on cocktail tables with various wildflowers or baby's breath in each one.. sigh. The color is the perfect shade of turquoise, too!

Image via Style Me Pretty

4. "Just Married" banner

Image via Etsy shop Victorian Station

I know you're thinking I'm going to have decor and garland/banner overload, but I really just want this cute burlap banner from Victorian Station's shop so we can get the same picture. So freaking cute. And I'm 99% sure I can DIY this one, too!

Oh Etsy, stop getting me in trouble. Because we just went from inspiration to I-must-have-that-or-else-I'm-going-to-die. Thanks.

What are your current Etsy lusts?

Obsessed.

You guys.

You MUST go over to the lovely Miss Jacin's blog, lovely little details, and look at today's featured wedding.

All I can say is oh. my. god. I'm obsessed. It's pretty much everything I want in our wedding. Just replace the green for orange and we're golden. Her dress is even the illusive Demetrios 3137 that I was in love with for the longest time (confession: still am!).

Need convincing??

Here's one of my favorite photos.. this is my exact idea of what to do with those puff balls I mentioned a while back!

What are you still doing here? Go, go, go!!!

Rings and things

Catchy, no?

Today, we're talking about rings.

See, I have this fab engagement ring that I picked out. Scot gave the obligatory "if your happy, I'm happy" head nod to it, so it was mine, in it's sparkly, halo-y goodness.

More gratuitous ring photos ahead!

Boom.

Here's the issue: that halo? Is a bitch to match with a wedding band.

I have literally been searching for one since the week after we got engaged, when I realized, "Oh hey, maybe a halo isn't quite as super fabulous as I thought". (Who am I kidding? I love it!)

I know this is a common problem, especially now that halo rings are so in style. Y'all told me so here, here and here. And here. And many other pages as well.

It's comforting to know I'm not alone, but still annoying to have to try and find a solution.

Possible options:

1. Suck it up and get a contoured band.

Image via Jared Jewelers

Image via alishadhs4 on the boards (hiii!)

My issue with this is that I really want to be able to wear the wedding ring on it's own, if I so prefer. And I personally am not a fan of the curvey/square cutout thing a contoured band does, although I'm more open to it now than I was a while ago.

2. Just get a regular band and have a bit of a gap between the e-ring and wedding ring.

Image via magbride6351 on the boards (hiiii!)

I think hers looks seriously great together, but every band I've tried with my e-ring just didn't look as good - I'd just like it to "match" a little more, I think.

3. Be a a two-hand-ring gal. E-ring on one ring finger, wedding band on the other. However, I don't really like that idea because I have my Elsa Peretti open heart ring that I love to wear on my right hand and would prefer to not have to stop wearing it.

I guess you could say I don't really need an official "wedding band". And I would disagree with you. I want and need a wedding band.

Besides, I think I may have found a solution.

4. Get a criss-cross/crossover/infinity band.

It is next to impossible to find pictures showing exactly what I mean by this. Miss Pain au Chocolat had the closest example I could find:

Now that is A LOT of bling. But see how the criss-cross design kind of "frames" the halo ring? I also think it flatters the split shank band really well, too.

Some examples:

Image via Littman Jewelers | Image via Kwiat

The only real trick would be to make sure the angle of the V that the bands make is deep/shallow enough to flatter my e-ring. Fortunately, I have a little secret that should ensure a perfect fit, should I choose this route!

Anyone else with a halo e-ring? What are your thoughts a (non)matching band??