Dressing the rest. {Bridesmaid outfits}

I am absolutely convinced that selecting a bridesmaid dress is more difficult than a wedding dress. No. Doubt.

You see, when it comes to a wedding dress, you kind of know what you like, what looks best, and what look you are going for. Not that it is easy to pick the dress...but when you are physically trying on all of the dresses, it definitely helps.

So maybe it would be easy if you had all of your bridesmaids together and all of the dresses you were thinking about using, and they could try them all on it would be easier...but that is not my situation, and I venture to say it is not the situation of many brides.

Nope, I communicate with my girls on Facebook.

The second they all said yes, I created a Facebook page for easy communication....except for the 2 that don't use Facebook. I have posted picture upon picture and idea upon idea on this page in order for them to see what I am thinking and provide feedback (like on some of those Pinterest Fails).

First I had to decide what color of dress I wanted. Originally I had thought to put the girls in purple and the guys in green...but somewhere along the line we ended up buying purple accent pieces for the guys...and I knew I didn't want both sides in the same color...so that left green or brown for the girls.

When Shai and I first went shopping to look for the bridal party, we went in every store imaginable - BEBE, Arden B, BCBG, Express, AX, New York & Co, Urban Outfitters, H&M, etc. Note, we did not go into a "bridal store" because I really wanted to find dresses that were made to be worn elsewhere than a wedding -- not a dress made for a wedding that I could say "oh sure, you can totally wear this again somewhere" riiiiight. We actually found one dress (not telling where) that we both liked, but it was our first day looking and I wasn't sure if it was the color I wanted to go with...and so we kept on looking.

Fast forward almost 4 months of me looking online at dresses at even MORE stores and a lot of posts that looked like this

Just picture after picture of dresses. All sorts of different styles! I lost the vision (if I even had one to start) I was going for because all I could see were pretty dresses that I liked...but wasn't sure if I liked for a wedding. Those bridesmaids of mine were not much help either...they liked almost every dress! Granted, I eliminated a few because they confirmed what I already thought...but they didn't even seem to hate one of the options (clearly that means I have good taste, right? ;-) ) 

One day after work, I was busy looking at dresses online (I should have kept track of how many hours I spent doing this...) and I decided to check out the website of the store Shai and I had seen that very first dress at....and BAM. There it was...and 40% off no less!! I immediately took that as a sign that it was the dress and started my international texting, emailing and facebooking in order to get the correct sizes. While I was waiting (very impatiently from across the world I might add) I searched for online coupons and found one for $50 off every purchase over $150. Whaaaaat! I was able to buy the dresses in two separate orders and save a $100! Like I said, it was a sign.

Even though the wedding is still 7 months away, getting these dresses was the last "big" decision I needed to make and it was incredibly frustrating to have a loose end. After all, I found my dress the week I got engaged and within two days of looking. These took me almost 4 months of looking!!

Oh but that's not all! I needed the accessories to go with the dresses now. I really wanted an accent sash and a bold necklace to go with the understated dresses I chose. Oh yes, back to the drawing board it was, or more accurately the internet. I checked out Forever21, Express, Charming Charlies, and Zullily just to name a few -- looking for the perfect balance of style and price. Emphasis on price. I have never been comfortable buying things that weren't on sale and my wedding is no exception. The only piece of clothing for the entire bridal party that we have purchased to include Shai's outfit (since we purchased it all) that was not on sale has been my dress, but we did get a discount on my veil. I am very proud of those purchases. By checking websites every single day, I was able to find a fun necklace I think we'll love (remember, I haven't seen it in person yet) for 50% off.

The best part though, are the sashes.

Yup. He went sash shopping for me. I had been looking online for belts or sashes but I realized that the best option was going to be to order sashes from a bridal store. David's Bridal had a great online sale on sashes....but they were not in a color that would work. So I asked my wonderful fiancé if he would go shopping for me. We facetimed (like Skype for you non-iPhone/iPad users) the entire time he was in the store and I have to say, I really enjoyed it...it was pretty funny. I wish I could have seen what he looked like walking into a Bridal store alone, and as the only guy in there!

He showed me several sashes that were apparently in the "green family"

According to him and the women in the store I made him ask...those are all green. Not blue. Green. I'm sorry but the two in the middle (and the one sash) look like they have a lot of blue in them! He told me that he could see how it changed from "real life" image to "facetime" image...so I made him take a picture of them and send it as well.

That one on the right still looks like it has a lot of blue in it to me! At this point, regardless of whether it looks only green in person -- it looks blueish green in a picture...and that is what I will be looking at for much longer! So that one was opted out -- even after he asked several women which they liked better and had them confirm both were green lol.

We then found a color I loved...only to be told that they could only make dresses in it -- not sashes!! Back to the beginning. Somehow, even though we had been saying dark green from the beginning...there were still more and more color swatches popping out of the woodwork. I put a lot of faith in Shai and the lady helping him with the final selection I made (nope, it isn't any of the ones you see here). The lady told us that they will be ready in 3 months - just in time for me to get home! I am certainly glad he was able to help me out with that because if we had waited until I was home we may not have had enough time to get them made ... or worse ... have to pay extra for them to be rushed! He is such a great groom huh?

I am so excited to finally have everything for the girls done and put behind me, I am rarely an indecisive person and it just feels uncomfortable to have decisions left unmade. Now truthfully all I have left to do are the small details and DIY touches I want to do when I get home. If it wasn't for the fact that everything I bring out here I have to bring back, I swear I would have already turned my room out here into a craft factory.

xo!
Kali

Pre-deployment and Engagement

I found out I was deploying before we got engaged. It wasn't even so much finding out as it was agreeing to go. I actually had a choice, unlike many people, and for that I am grateful because it may not always be that way. I didn't make a big to-do about deploying, and I don't think many people outside of family and close friends even really knew until I mentioned it in a post and then the week leading up. In my squadron, there is a non-stop rotating door of people constantly leaving and returning and so it just didn't feel dramatic.

But I did have a lot of the same comments and questions, so I thought I would finally address them here!
We'll go in the typical order asked:

• Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, how long?

 I think this is people's immediate reaction. The "sorry". It's not a bad thing, I'm sure I have thrown it around or two in the past...but it really isn't something to be sorry about, after all, I could have said no. The next part is, just 4 months. This seems to let people relax, sometimes to the point where they don't even seem to register it as a deployment any more. True, 4 months is a good gig, especially when I know people who have been gone 6 months to a year from their significant others, but I don't think it makes my experience any less real...after all, it is the first time Shai and I have been separated for more than 4 days since we started dating! Four months goes back and forth in my mind between feeling like a short trip to being 33% of the entire year (which sounds like a lot to me!)

• What are you doing to prepare?

Honestly...we planned a wedding. That is what we did leading up to the deployment. We had two months between the proposal and me heading off to the other side of the world and we planned 95% of the whole thing...which is what my posts will be focused on after this one! We were literally addressing invitations up until 2am the morning I was leaving (we had to wake up at 7 to take me to the airport).

I swear, it doesn't look as hard as it was....

 I had a picture of this (the above picture is credit to Shai, he rocks), but then my iPhone died, and has since been returned to the States...

All those pictures.....

Since being here, I remembered my friend's post on her deployment experience and preparation but it was harder for me to relate. Hers is a beautiful post for military spouses, and although I am technically one (or going to be one in a few months) I am on the other side of this one. Between planning the wedding and all of my deployment training/appointments/paperwork...it almost felt like it wasn't really real. Sure, I did a Power of Attorney, my first Will, and bumped up my life insurance policy...but those things were all done so quickly that it barely registered. Completing a Power of Attorney...you know...that piece of paper that essentially gives someone else the power to make all of your decisions about everything on your behalf?...that took me about 10 minutes. 10 minutes. To essentially sign the power of my life away?! They should at least make it a little bit of a hassle...but nope, it was one of the easiest things I even did for the deployment. And the Will?? You just fill it out online, plop some names in there, and BOOM. Show up the next day and sign away. Granted, I don't have children, and we sold my house [ $-) ] so I didn't have to get too much into detail. I could have sat there and divvied up all of my worldly belongings but that would have taken way too much time. If something were to happen to me, I am trusting my family to not be assholes. Just saying.

Oh hey MOPP gear. Just some deployment training...nothing to see here.

• Are you ready?

Yes? No? I mean, this is a hard one to answer. No, I was not necessarily ready to leave...but I didn't really want to stay and have this lingering over us. I had all of my bags packed before our last weekend together - I didn't want to waste any of that time packing, and that was a really great decision looking back because all we did that last weekend was go out and do stuff, not sit home and mope and pack.


On the "High Roller" overlooking the Strip

We really spent the last two weekends having a great time with all of our friends, so it almost didn't even feel like, "well, guess I'm about to be on the other side of the world for the next 4 months and miss out on all the Vegas pool parties and exciting summer things"...ok, maybe it felt like that a little bit.



Cheers!

• How are you feeling?

This one was more common in those last couple days. I felt fine...like I said, we were so busy going out and finishing last minute wedding things, we hardly even talked about the fact that I was leaving in 48 hours or less. It was almost strange, but it was also normal because there wasn't anything left we felt we needed to say, we didn't feel the need to re-hash it out before I left so we just didn't. And that worked for us. I really kept it together too up until that last 30 minutes at the airport when we checked my bags (he came in with me) and I went through security. That part was a little rough, but goodbyes have never been my strong suit. I've never really been that great at crying, and if I really get into it, I'm a noisy crier, I pretty much sound like I'm suffocating...and I didn't particularly want people gaping at me making sure I wasn't dying. So I kept my sunglasses on throughout the airport and we hugged it out with my moderately quiet tears, and when I calmed down I figured I couldn't drag it out forever and so I went through security. After that, no more tears. I'm not saying I didn't feel like crying over the next day or so - deploying the first time when you are completely by yourself (ie. no crews or other people from your squadron...no familiar faces) is a pretty stressful experience. I was not a fan. But I'm not really able to cry unless there is someone there relevant to witness it (ie. Shai)...so I just didn't bother. And that was that.

This post would be a lot more amusing if Shai was the one gone and I was stuck at home. I could tell you how Merlin dug up the backyard when the sprinklers went off during the night and was a complete mud mess. I could tell you how that silly pup gets too excited every time I get home that he can't even hold his pee until he gets out...and sometimes wants a belly rub at the same time (yes, while he is peeing....) But I can't....because those things all happened to Shai the first week I was gone...poor guy. Handling two pups all by yourself can be quite the handful!!

Aww look at my little family =)

The loves and lies of Pinterest

I know I have been missing here for a minute but between getting ready for my deployment and deploying...you can't blame me too much can you?

The truth is, I already have a routine going here and I am having to make time to blog as opposed to having copious amounts of time as anticipated.
My priorities are more like, calls home, pool (ok, it may be questionable whether or not this is actually number 1..), gym, food, sleep, work, then misc activities such as reading or blogging. I really have filled up my days here!
I even had a list of topics on my iPhone before it went completely haywire out here and is no longer useable...and my list is no longer reachable...

The internet in my room is horrendous. For some reason I think it is better on my iPad than my laptop but blogging on an iPad is awful and a pain in the butt to add pictures. Also, as my phone is broken, the blogs for the next four months may be lacking in the picture department...but bear with me.

So, as you may imagine, I, like and self-respecting bride in todays world of weddings and wedding blogs, and photography blogs, and...you get the point...found my way onto Pinterest. I had done an incredible job of not falling down the rabbit hole of life's DIY projects on this magical site prior to the shiny bauble on my hand, but alas, I could turn away no more.

I quickly had 4 boards of wedding, engagement, and bridal shower ideas.

One of the pictures I immediately fell for first was of the smiling pup with an engagement ring perfectly balanced on its nose.



There are tons of pictures just like these on Pinterest...so how could it be, right?

...and you should see the bad ones...Lola wouldn't even sit still long enough to balance the ring on her head. I kept trying to hold a treat in front of her nose, with one hand, place the ring on her nose with the other hand, try and get her to sit still, and then take a picture. She was a pain in the butt. Merlin of course would sit still juuuuustt long enough for me to get a semi-blurry picture where he is of course, not smiling or looking like the adorable puppy that he is. Thanks guys....

Maybe I will re-try this again later, but my hopes are not high.

So, I moved on to flowers. I think the issue with these may have been a got a bit too zealous too fast. I went out and loaded up on craft supplies at Michaels

Yah...not sure what my vision was on this...but it did not turn out how I anticipated at all.  Needless to say, this creation will not be making it down the aisle.

But now more on the things I love...

I started working with beads instead, at the suggestion of Pinterest

These were the completed examples on Pinterest

The 50% solution -- I will finish these when I get back from this ol desert place

Shai helped me on these, painstakingly cutting the floral wire to the correct length. You wouldn't know it, but stringing and twisting beads on wire can be quite the arduous task! I'm pretty happy with the direction these are going, I just wish I could have finished them before I left. All the more projects for later.

Realistically, I am not sure that DIY bouquets and boutonnieres save a whole lot of money. I will have to really take a look at it all in the end. But regardless, I didn't want flowers and I love having my hands in making things, so I think the benefit outweighs the cost regardless!

But I didn't want to stop at just the girls, I had to help the guys out as well. I saw this

But of course, I am not using peacock feathers in our décor so I put my own spin on them

Yay! I'm pretty excited about these. Pinterest win. =)

Some of these things will look better in person than in pictures, I'm fully aware. And I also know how much better things tend to look with the artistic eyes of a well-selected photographer (future blog post?) Heck, even instagram filters can take something from shabby to "shabby-chic" in a matter of seconds. But this isn't a blog about the whole picture...its about putting all the pieces together!!

And finally...that Pinterest board of engagement pictures...sigh... I am pretty sure if I could take engagement pictures every day forever...I would. I just can't get enough of adorable couples doing adorable things in quirky and beautiful locations!!! But I have a particular vision for our engagement session and so I need to make some props for the shoot. The only ones I was able to complete before leaving were my floral crowns.

At first I looked on Etsy to buy one...but the really nice ones were $30-$50 dollars and I just could not justify that! So, I looked on Pinterest and Google for lots of "DIY floral crowns" and eventually found a combination of ways to make some myself. I ended up buying everything I needed at the Dollar Store! Once I made the first floral crown, above, I was so excited that I just wanted to make more!! I ran back to the store for more flowers....way too many flowers...and had enough time in my schedule to whip out one more. I still have a ton of flowers, but it seems silly to return $1 sets of flowers....I am sure I will make some more projects with them eventually! So all in all, the two flower crowns cost me about $12. Not bad huh? I cannot wait to pair these with my outfits for my engagement session! or really any outfit!!

All in all I have to say, I am really happy with the projects I have found and completed on Pinterest. Since all of the big decisions and planning for the wedding has been completed, the only thing I have left to do is focus on the small details and all the DIY projects my heart and budget can handle. I think that will be more than enough to make those last three months before the wedding when I get back just fly by!!

Hehe, I just couldn't resist. Pinterest has lots of ring/flower pictures too, I promise!