Dress shopping

After digging out from last weekend's foot of snow, it looks like we're gearing up for another foot in the next few days. This just furthers my excitement to spend a day trying on wedding dresses with my best friend. I'm foregoing the alternative dress-shopping route for a (hopefully) more pleasant experience at Nordstrom in Mall of America. I have a 10 a.m. appointment with a personal shopper who will have a dressing room full of dresses waiting for me when I arrive.

Mom and Megan (sis) are making the trip next weekend for the more traditional dress shopping trip, which I'm equally excited about. We have a Thursday afternoon appointment at the Wedding Shoppe, which I've heard is comparable to a cattle call -- they give you a buzzer and you wait in line to try on dresses with everyone else and their mother ... literally. I'm hoping we'll beat the crowd by not going on the weekend. The main reason I chose the Wedding Shoppe was for their vast selection of destination/informal gowns.

True love is homemade

Happy Day After Valentine's Day! Hope everyone's day was filled with lots of love. Tyler and I celebrated at home with the dogs. We exchanged gifts, then Tyler cooked dinner: three-cheese ravioli with a vodka creme sauce. It was delicious! We took the dogs for a bitterly cold walk, then shared a piece of Bailey's Irish Creme cheesecake and watched an episode of Sopranos.

Here's a Washington Post article on foregoing the standard store-bought Valentine's Day cards for a more special, homemade one. Love doesn't mean you have to show it by buying something.

Note: You may have to sign up for free registration to read the article.

Little reminders

Tyler and I are wishing we were back in Jamaica. With temperatures in Minneapolis barely making it above zero, it's just too cold. Or maybe it's the babysitting job we took on for the past ten days that's got me wishing I were somewhere else. We had the pleasure of watching 13-month old Fiji, an 80-pound, doberman german shepard-mix, while her mommy and daddy took their honeymoon. We did score a 1-pound bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee upon their return, however. Thanks Newlyweds Todd and Anna!

Aside from daydreaming about wedding stuff, lately Tyler and I have been keeping pretty busy. Between finishing up his last few classes before graduation, running his own Town Car transportation business and band practices, I hardly see Tyler. I'm keeping busy with work as usual, which recently got busier when I agreed to take on a freelancing assignment for a Miami-based travel magazine that's distributed to time share holders.

We've managed, however, to find something to do together that gets us away from our usual activites wach week. We recently got accepted to the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. We met "Gideon" a few weeks ago. He's 8 and likes YuGiOh, pyramids, dinosaurs, cartoons, inventions and fossils. On Sunday we have a date with Gideon to the Minnesota Timberwolves game. So far, it's been a great experience -- we've already learned so much and Gideon has already won our heart.

Seeing Tyler with Gideon, along with my beautiful niece, is just a little reminder that I'm marrying the man who is perfect for me.

I think I found it!

I think I found my dress on Nordstrom's website. I will still have to get to the store to see it in person and try it on. I'm a little reluctant to post a picture of it though. I kind of want to keep it a surprise for the big day, even though I'm TERRIBLE with surprises. I know Mom is probably going to want to see it -- and I know she'd want to be here when I go try it on, but maybe that's one of the sacrifices that needs to be made when planning a wedding from afar. A few of my girlfriends have also expressed interest in coming along. I definitely think it's a good idea to bring someone who can be a second set of eyes -- the voice of reason -- in case I think I look really babe-a-lic-ious in something that would actually land me on a worst dressed list somewhere. Plus, having the company of your girlfriends is just nice. I can holler a different size from the dressing room for them to fetch for me. Like a personal shopper!

If I decide to, how do I organize a wedding dress shopping trip? Do I give friends advance notice of the day that I want to hit the stores? Then maybe Mom and sis could make it, too? I'm held up on the notion that most brides will buy their dress in a bridal salon, which caters to a bride and her posse. But something tells me I'm better off going to places like Macy's and Nordstrom. I almost tried on a dress I saw at JC Penny's prom section the other day. Or, what if I find something I love online and skip that whole dress shopping experience, that, in my head, is bisected with a fabulous lunch at the 112 eatery?

So two questions: Keep the dress a surprise? If so, from who? (Obviously from Tyler)
And lastly, do I wrangle my ladies for the expedition, too?

And yet again ... more dresses

I need your help. What do you honestly think about these two dresses? I really love the simplicity and shape of them both. Just not sure about the black lace on the first one and the creme color of the second one. It looks a little pink, doesn't it? I found them online -- both are around $200. What do you think about ordering a dress online anyway? I could always send it back and I'd be out the $7.95 shipping fee I suppose.

Here's another thought? What about having someone make my dress? I'm guessing it would probably be near to impossible to buy fabric alone for $300, but I really don't know.

Another question: Is there a good time of year to shop for wedding dresses when they go on sale? You'd think it would be in the summer after most brides already have their dresses.