The Gown

This evening after work, Mommie, future MIL, and Myself are headed to the Bridal Salon. It is time to order my gown!

I've had the gown picked out with a deposit on it since January. The deposit means that should the company discontinue the style, the salon will contact me and I will order it prior to the discontinuation. (The salon usually has about 2 weeks warning).

My gown has not been discontinued, but it is time to order it as Mommie wants me to have formal Bridal portraits taken prior to the wedding. Did any you ladies do this? Plan to do this? It seems to be more of a Southern tradition than anywhere else...

I'm not sure if/when Fiance reads this so I may or may not post a picture of the gown...haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll post a few and let you guess!

My personal Bridal style has definately been influenced by: Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Tricia Nixon, and Jenna Bush.


Tricia and Richard Nixon


Jenna Bush

Absentee-ism

I've missed you wonderful readers...known and lurking! Many apologies for my absenteeism of late. Warning: it may not get much better for a few weeks, posting will be sporadic at best as I continue to adjust to my job and working weird hours.

I've spent nearly a month at my new job and i have a love/hate relationship. I precepted in the unit, with onehelluva nurse, and I'm back to the basics. Not that all basics are bad, but seriously, I KNOW how to turn on the monitor and attach the temperature probe without burning the baby!


Last Friday brought my first "Big-Girl" paycheck...that was painfully small. But it's the first real paycheck in the past 3 years while I've been in school. Yay money! (Can you believe that I haven't spent ANY of it yet?!?! I know....)


Wedding planning seems to have come to a stand-still for now. It seems that I have too many of my ducks in a row... All that is really left to do for a while is booking the band, and I have 2 demo tapes in the mail (though I've seen both live before).

The Bona Fide Preppy Bride did recently show me that I can't forget the small projects though. Still on my wedding to-do list:
-the Card "cake"
-finishing the Save the Dates
-finishing the invitations, inserts
-the programs
-the program basket
-ordering Engagement pictures
-making table runners
-picking up more candles
-Rehersal dinner headcount and reservations
-booking the Honeymoon

This stuff (except the Save the Dates) can all be done over time. I do have 8 months left... But it's nice to know that pretty much all the decisions have been made thus far! YAY!

Oh, and my Wedding Coordinator woes are WAY over. She's awesome now that her summer weddings are all over. HOORAY! Thanks for your support, all you advice givers!

Duty, Integrity, Obligation?

Fellow Medical Personnel,

Do you feel a duty to stop if you see a recent car accident? A moral obligation? Personal integrity?

Would you be compelled to stop if you are the first responder/if others have not yet stopped?

What if others had already stopped? Do you still feel compelled?



On my way home from work today, I got stopped on a small two-lane back road which services two major arterials. Once I rounded the corner, I saw the stop was due to a one-man motorcycle accident in the middle of the road.

3 or 4 cars were pulled off, and a few people were around. One woman was sitting in the road with the Rider's head in her lap. Another was on the phone to 9-1-1 and holding the Rider's hand. One man was directing traffic around the scene. Another had a fire extinguisher and was putting out the last of the flames on the motorcycle.

My heart started beating fast and I felt paralyzed. Then torn. Do I stop? Should I continue? He's not moving, no blood, the woman holding his head is crying. Is he dead? I hear sirens...

Still debating, I widely wove around the Rider on the shoulder just as the fire truck came into sight.

Relief...

...right?

No.

I began to cry as I drove around the next bend in the road. And am still shaky and my heart is still beating fast.

I've been a Nurse for 3 weeks. I do not feel equipped to respond in a situation like that. Seeing the fire truck did not allow me to feel comfortable with not stopping, even though I knew there was nothing I could do for him...and wondering if I had made the right decision...

My fear is that the next time I come upon an accident, I will be the first person upon it, and that I won't be equipped to handle the situation properly.

What do you think? Do you feel obligated to stop? Is it situational?

Coupon Craziness

Once again, One Red String has a post I feel the need to pass on.

One of the BEST Michaels coupons known to woman-kind. Good now through Saturday 9/20.



Shop on!

Engagement pictures

Fiance and I have our engagement pictures tomorrow. We each have a casual outfit and a dressy outfit (I have 2 dressy). Fiance really wanted green for some reason, so I went with it.



Polyvore seems to currently be having massive issues with pixelization, as you can see by the representation of Fiance's shirt (it actually is white with green stripes). So, here is my dress and our casual outfits.


My dress, over which I will wear the green Ann Taylor Loft Cardigan as seen above.


My Casual outfit



His casual outfit.

As you can see, we are pretty laid back, so our "dressy" is what most would consider casual, and our "casual" is what most would consider beach clothes. But, such is our personality.

Thoughts?

Mom's Dress

Mom has been stressing about her MOB dress. We didn't find one she liked this spring, and she's afraid she won't find one in time for the wedding next spring. Plus, she's very much into tailoring, quality fabrics and construction.

So, we just ordered this dress from JCPenney.



blogger won't let me link to it, but it's in Penney's special occasion category if you're interestes.

Table mockup

Sailboats: $1 each
Picture frames: $1 each
Candles: $0.79 each
Flower ball: $6 each
Glass sundae "vase": $0.79 each
Ribbon & fabric: < $3
Price per centerpiece: $16

Total effect: Priceless!

I love my centerpieces, and am so excited to see the real ones!









What do you think?

BridesMEN?

Fiance and I are conflicted on our wedding party. We want it small. No more than 4 total. 2 'maids, 2 'men...right? WRONG!

I have 2 brothers. He has one brother and a really close cousin. We have zero sisters. What's a couple to do? BRIDESMEN! ...we think




Groomsmaids courtesy Sean at McLellan Studios


Bridesmen courtesy Sean at McLellan Studios


Wedding party via the Knot


Groomsmaids (and more photos) via Wedding Bells

What do you think about non-traditional wedding parties?

Do you have any pictures of bridesmen? (they are very hard to find!)

Shop Savvy

Michael's weekly 40%-off-one-item coupon is good at Joann's.

And Joann's weekly coupon is good at Michael's.




Let the savvy, saving shopping commence!

Thank you!

Thank you to all for your sweet comments!

Your encouragement means a LOT to me. It's so nice to know that there are wonderful people all around the country praying for and rooting for me to be my best self. Thank you!

I also want to thank Pink is my Signature Color for a very special gift:



I now have the honor of passing this award along to blogs that I enjoy reading. Who to choose!?!?! I enjoy reading so many of you!

First up is That Bride. I admire her persistance and perseverance as her GORGEOUS wedding gown is not quite perfect. Check out her AMAZING engagement pictures as well.

On the topic of pictures Jessica Lynn at tying the knot totally deserves this award for filling Blog-ville with Beauty on a daily basis!

Silly Little Mischief makes me laugh often, poses thoughtful questions, and is a fan of life.

Dana at Jumping the Broom is one of the most thoughtful and creative brides out there. Her blog inspires me with my own wedding planning.

I feel like I have known postcards from portland for a while just by the way she writes about her experiences. "Poignant" never meant so much.

Off The Beaten Path...... is new to blogging. Let's welcome her. And have a great belly laugh at her letters to dog owners!

Last but certainly not least is Southern Prep whose wedding planning blog was the inspiration for me to start blogging. Thank you!


So, those are my seven. Thanks again Pink is my Signature Color for brightening my day and for the opportunity to highlight some of my favorite bloggers!

I PASSED!

ERICA, RN, BSN! WAHOO!


I took the NCLEX on Wednesday. My license was issued on Friday. However, I didn't find out until yesterday.

I started crying. My weekend up until this point was miserable as the stress and anxiety over my results kept me up at night and made me nauseaous.

Fiance told me he was so proud of me, and then took me out for a milkshake! YUMMY!


Tonight, we're going out with my family to Celebrate!

I start my new job in the NICU tomorrow!