First Wedding Anniversary

Today is our first wedding anniversary!

D and I have been in Bar Harbor, Maine this weekend, celebrating, which is why there wasn't a Flash Sale Friday post this week, but I promise that I'll be back with that next week.

Last year at this time, I was standing behind our venue getting ready to walk down the aisle, nervous and anxious about just getting the ceremony started and over with. I just wanted to be married already!

Now, here we are a year later, and time has gone by so quickly.  While I'm still not used to calling D my husband, I have a new name that, strangely enough, feels right and that I am used to using.

We already have a lot planned for this year, and I can't wait to share it all with you!

Here's to a happy and adventurous next year of marriage!



If you're interested in reading more about our wedding, check out the Wedding tab at the top that has a bunch of our favorite posts, about both planning and our recaps!

Photos courtesy of Matt Ferrara Photography.

One Year Down, Twenty-Nine to Go

Today marks the one-year anniversary of being a homeowner!

One year ago today, exactly 100 days after we came to an agreement with the seller on a purchase price, D and I FINALLY stepped into our real-estate lawyer's office to sign our names about thirty times and get the keys to our first home.

Our journey wasn't an easy one, and I never really got into it much here on the blog.  You'll notice that from the day we came to an agreement with the seller on a purchase price to the day we closed, we waited a total of 100 days. That's more than double the average closing period.  That's not to say it's what was originally scheduled for us - our original close date was July 31st.  We ended up with four other close dates before finally receiving our keys on September 10, 2012.

Our process was not enjoyable and caused a lot of headaches, stress, and weight gain, which was not the best thing to be dealing with just months before our wedding.  But, we overcame all of the turmoil, and ended up with a house that not only works for us, but one that we absolutely love.

We've made a ton of changes already to the house, and in the next few months, we have plans to change a lot more - specifically the interior paint colors.  We cannot wait to get more of our personalities to show in this house. And I can't wait to show it all to you!

Before and After: Roof Replacement and Exterior Painting, Front Door Included

Before and After: Tree Removal

One year down, and twenty-nine to go - that is until it's all paid off.  Makes me wonder how long we'll actually be here...

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our sixth dating anniversary!  FI was working all day, and I took the day off to spend it with my mom since she came into town yesterday afternoon. We had dinner with my mom and FI's parents tonight, so it wasn't all that special, but we never really celebrate much more than a nice dinner anyway. It was still great though, AND it was the last dating anniversary we will have before we get married! That's crazy to think.

Anyway, today was a very productive day. Since my mom is in town this weekend, we have decided to do more dress shopping.  So, today, just she and I went to a few dress shops to see what we could find, and we found a lot.  The store that we went to had so many different dresses, and the nice thing about it was that you could look on your own through all the racks, and the consultant was there only if you wanted help.

We ended up pulling about twelve dresses, and some were immediate no's, so those didn't get pictures. The rest got pictures though. And I know what you're thinking...more dress pictures? I've tried on so many, and because of that, I've wanted to make sure I could get pictures of all the ones I thought looked good.  And I thought that I could share them, because, you know, what else am I going to use the pictures for?

So, let's get to the dresses.

First I tried on a beautiful ball gown that had gorgeous flowers all over the skirt, and a great pleated/ruched bodice with a sweetheart neckline.

 Allure 8866 / Personal Picture *Sorry about the timestamps - Mom forgot to turn that setting off on her new camera

The dress had some beading on the left hip that I wasn't really liking, so I tried it on with a belt and my hand covering it and it looked much better in my opinion.

Allure 8866 with unknown belt / Personal Picture

After deciding we liked this one better with the belt, we moved on to the other dresses.  This next dress looked really nice on the hanger, but really did not look nice on me.  It was an immediate no, as you can see I didn't even make it to the pedestal.  

Rina Di Montella 406 / Personal Picture *Sorry about the TERRIBLE face. I had no idea the picture was being taken

The next dress I tried on had the ruched bodice, a sweetheart neckline and a simple skirt, with some little beading under the bust line. It was very light, but the material seemed to be very thin and there wasn't enough oomph in the skirt for me, and it had a corset back, which again, I am not really a huge fan of.

Mori Lee 6725 / Personal Picture

Mori Lee 6725 / Personal Picture

This next one was my mom's favorite from the day, and while it had a lot of components that I wanted, the primary one that acted against it was the fabric - satin. I loved the shape of the dress and the ruching and sweetheart neckline, but the fabric choice was a big deal breaker for me.  I also didn't really care for the big bow on the back, but that could have been removed.

Allure 8919 / Personal Picture

Next, I tried on a dress that was waaaay too small for me, but I will post the somewhat embarrassing picture anyway.  This dress was a no mainly because of the shape, but also because it was a little too plain.  The skirt shape was somewhere between a column dress and an a-line, but it just didn't open enough at the bottom to look right.  

Venus Bridals 6705 / Personal Picture

We're going to call this next dress the booty dress. It was a liiiitttle too tight, but man, it made my booty look pretty nice.  I originally liked it because of the one shoulder and the little details on the strap, but, like the last dress, the skirt just didn't open up enough at the bottom.

Venus Bridals 6673 / Personal Picture

Venus Bridals 6673 / Personal Picture *Check out that booty! Yikes!

The last dress I tried on today was another mixed column/a-line not-enough-opening dress, and it was just ok. I didn't really care for the shape, as you know from the other dresses I tried on, but this one in particular had pleats in random places throughout the length of the dress, and I felt like they just seemed like mistakes and that the dress hadn't been pressed correctly. It also had a corset back, which I'm not going to show you, because the panel was missing, and so it's really open. In the end, that dress was removed from the list.

Alfred Angelo 2034 / Personal Picture *Sorry for the blinking

So, that concludes today's shopping trip. It was pretty successful, but I can't say for sure how I feel about the Allure 8866 until after tomorrow's appointment.  I'm happy that my mom and I decided to go look at some dresses at the last minute, but I am even more excited about tomorrow's appointment and what it could bring to the table.

In One Year

Today is October 6, 2011.  One year from today will be our wedding day.

FI,

I cannot wait to stand up in front of our guests and proclaim my love to you. These last almost six years have been a beautiful journey, and I cannot wait to make it even more special by becoming your wife.

I love you!


On a less mushy and serious note, HOLY COW! One year from today, I will be getting married!  That means that the countdown on my phone (What, you DON'T have one? Yeah, right!) will finally read under 365 days!

But, that also means that I really have to get cracking on all these DIY projects I have planned.  Yikes!