Yo Mama's Dress Fitting

That is how I feel about my dress fitting today. I went in and laid the smack down on these bitches and I think hear the wrath of a bride on a mission. After much discussion with my friends I realized I needed to start speaking up for myself. At my last fitting I was not happy with the way the dress was fitting at all. I thought it looked really young and not me at all. I was pissed but I did not know what to say about it. So this time I spoke up and I think it paid off.

The dress is going to be taken in all over. I have to add another fee to my alterations total which is annoying but I had to get this crap taken care of. It was baggy all over and all in all looked like a 19 year old's sorority formal dress only white. I am hoping with the changes I will feel a bit more sexy.

The one thing that went VERY well was the veil. I bought my veil on sale for $43 bucks and I have got to say it was the perfect investment. Worth. Every. Penny. I tell ya! I love it and for the first time got a bit emotional about this whole getting married thing. It kinda just hit me while I was all alone in the dressing room.

I am super excited about the dress now and I am hoping it will all come together!

Baking: FAIL

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In preparation for a fabulous night out with girlfriends on Friday for the Sex and the city 2 movie I tried a new baking recipe. I had decided I wanted to bring French Macaroons to the party and color to match the hostess' party decor PINK. Well I knew it was going to be a challenge but man did I underestimate how much of one.

I found my recipe from epicurean.com, they have raspberry chocolate filling and are super cute because they are pink! I thought well I know it will be a challenge but let's do it. So I started with my fabulous new food processor and pulsed together the almonds and confectioner's sugar. I then whipped the egg whites and salt. This is where the issue began. The egg whites never quite got there in terms of fluffiness. No matter how much or how fast I whipped they were not fluffy enough. I then added sugar and they did not get any better just thicker. I thought maybe I was being weird about this so I added the almond mixture and folded it in anyway. Well then it just became a paste that kind of looked like pink glue. SUCKED. So in a moment of panic I just threw it in the pastry bag and went to town trying to get the perfect little circles on my prepped parchment that the recipe said I should make as it kind of oozed out the bag uncontrollably.

Let me paint you a picture as I did not have a camera to document this situation. I have four bowls out, several pastry bags, two racks of cookie sheets and pink frosting all over my face as I tried to make this work. It never got there and the "circles" turned into blobs of paste and ran together all over the parchment. NOT GOOD.

I threw it all out and called it a night at 11:30. I guess the road to becoming a master baker will be filled will situations like this but I did not enjoy it.  I am going to beat these effing cookies if it kills me. Tonight I am going to make cupcakes - I hope I don't eff these up too. DAMN YOU EGG WHITES!!!

Weekend Recap

Friday - Movie night with the future hubs. We had our pei wei and watched Invictus. Such a good movie, I really liked Matt Damon in the movie and could not get over how great his accent was. It was like he was a different person. I highly recommend it!

Saturday - We got up and went to the gym. Then headed home to watch TV and hang out for the afternoon. We wanted to go out for dinner and finally decided on Gloria's at the Domain. SOOOO yummy. I have been there for happy hour before but never dinner. It was fairly priced and the food was amazing. We sat outside and drank for a few hours. It was so nice to relax with him and just reflect about the last year. It was the perfect night.

Sunday - We got up and went to church for the first time together. We were then supposed to have our second session of pre-marital counseling. The minister did not show up so that was a bit annoying. We then headed home and hosted a LOST finally party at our house. The event was decorated with Dharma labels on everything and even had a pineapple centerpiece. It was so much fun to have great friends in our home.

The finally was good, but I did feel a bit "lost" at the end. I think the only answered about 5% of the story lines and could have really showed us a bit more. Oh well. I liked it and it was worth it all the way to the end!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

One Year Ago

WF and I got engaged one year ago this weekend. I can not get over how fast went by! In one year we got engaged, moved in together, planned most of our wedding, got him a new job, became an aunt and uncle for the second time and overall just had a blast!

I recently read a post on Survival Guide For The Young and Fabulous Newlywed  and it made me think of how I feel about WF. She said something along the lines of her husband being like her favorite pair of sweatpants. Comfortable, relaxed and the first thing I reach for when I walk in the door from a long day at work. I could not agree with her more. WF is my rock and is always there for me. He makes me feel at home and relaxed and always knows just what to say to make me feel better. I can't express how much he means to me.

Here is to a year of being an engaged couple! Here is to the next three and a half months left of being engaged! And here is too being Mr. and Mrs. "A" for the rest of our lives!

I don't want to look like a science experiment gone wrong

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I am considering trying out airbrush tanning for my wedding. I have been working out really hard and have noticed that my arms have begun to tone up a bit. BUT in pictures and such I never see any difference. It is like my arms look like twins of the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters (an American classic BTW).

Months ago I was told I should try airbrush tanning because it will help make me look better (skinner, cus I am vain) on the day of the wedding. I am nervous about this because I don't want to turn out blending in while standing next to WF when he wears hit favorite UT burnt orange t-shirt! All these places assure me that this is perfectly safe for fair skinned people and that they will customize a color that works best for me. I am very skeptical of this. Who is "they" really? Some chick who did not graduate from college is going to customize the perfect tan for me while carving out abs on my stomach with a paint brush? REALLY?

I don't know. I want to try it because I am super desperate to look hot on the wedding day, and for the honeymoon but I just don't know if I can trust it. I am willing to try it out in the next few weeks when no one will be seeing me. Any recommendations? Janet, Amelia and Kelly I am looking at you!

Northern Girl vs. Texas Charmer

Recently in a conversation with my friend Kate, I realized that I have now lived in Austin longer than I lived in Philadelphia. It is strange but true. I am in this weird place where I am starting to identify myself more as a Texan and less and less as a true Philly girl. Honestly it is a bit sad to me that I no longer know all the new hip bars in Philly, or the places to be seen at. That I can't remember all the street names of give people directions to the best cheese steak in town. 

I have two great girlfriends back in Philadelphia and they always make me feel right at home when I come see them. But now I feel more like I am going to visit them than I am going home, you know? I know Austin now and I love Austin. I feel relaxed and at home here if it were up to me we would never move from here. I love wearing cowgirl boots, listening to country music, while saying the occasional y'all and sipping on titos tea. I still love the history and the feel of Philly but I feel like a poser when I say I am from Philadelphia now. Will I ever truly be a Texan? Will I ever really loose my Philadelphia, "I am from Philly and will cut your ass" attitude that I am so famous for? I don't know. 

The other day I was talking to my friend who lives in DC now. She was born and raised a Texan and when she first moved there I knew she what she was going through and gave her some insight. I told her the people on the east coast are harsh and have very tough exteriors but once you get to know them, once you "melt their shell" so to speak you find they are some of the kindest most loyal people ever. I think that she has discovered this and she is so happy now that she has found some friends and made a home for herself there. It immediately made me so homesick. It was like I needed a hit of some rude homeless people, I wanted to walk to work in the fog and rain, or sit on some gum on the subway. (Ahhh how I miss you Philly) 

I feel so torn between both places and know I could be totally happy anywhere I live. I guess I will always have a special place in my heart for Philadelphia, or any other place I lived. I once heard a saying, "Don't let the past dictate who you are, but let it be a part of who you become". I hope that I can always remember my tough girl attitude, and to never let anyone walk all over me while becoming the Texan wife, with fabulous longhorn game day outfits, mother with kids who get the float the river in the summers and friend that knows all the best places to buy great boots I know I want to be. 

Weekend Recap

This weekend I was a mess. It went by so quick and before I knew it Monday was over! I love weekends at home but this weekend I felt like I never was home.

Friday - I went over to Kelly's for dinner with Janet and our friend Kristen. The night started off perfect. Appetizers, dinner, wine and conversation. Somewhere along the line I think it was the blue saphire martini Kelly fixed me, I ended up passed out on Kelly's bed after trying on their bridesmaids dresses for my own wedding. I then proceeded to have WF pick my drunk butt up. I yelled at him for laughing at me for yelling at my clothing in my own closet. (I don't remember any of this by the way) I somehow got myself to bed after brushing my teeth and washing my face. (I found toothpaste all over my sink the next morning)

Saturday - I wanted to die most of the day. I could not move and just sat on the sofa most of the day. What a waste of life I was. We eventually got my ass off the couch and went grocery shopping. That was a mistake  wanted to kill all the screaming kids in the store for making my head hurt. I then took a nap and felt better. So we headed to dinner with Amelia and friends at Max's wine dive. It was so yummy and actually so great to see everyone. I was able to power through and really had a wonderful night out with all of them.

Sunday - We had out first pre-marital counseling session with out minister. That was wonderful and had a really great time talking with him. I am so glad we invested in the sessions. Then we met up with Amelia and friends at Union Park for Sunday funday. We had a great time chatting and hanging out, then headed home to finally pass out!

Now I realized I said I was never home this weekend and I guess I was, maybe it was my drunken rage that made me feel like that. I hope you all had a great weekend!