Monday, March 07, 2011

Fun Monday - Worth it or not?

The Georgia Girls are hosting Fun Monday for the month of March.  Their challenge this week...

Mar 7: List 5 things you are willing to spend your hard-earned cash on and 5 things you would rather steal (hypothetically of course) than waste your money on. (we already know doctors, insurance, and taxes are down right painful.)


 
What would I splurge on?
Real dark chocolate. Good English tea. Comfortable mattress. Reliable car. Well-fitting shoes.



What would I be reluctant to spend money on?
Name brand clothing (no swooshes for me). Fancy, ineffective hair care products. National brand when store brand is actually better (groceries). Cable TV. Perfume.

Saturday, March 05, 2011

You'll have to wait...

TODAY IS WEDDING DAY!!!  Things have been so crazy for the last couple of days, I haven't really had time to sit and write anything.  However, once it's all done, you will get a lovely recap with pictures!  I just hope it doesn't rain today...

 Here's a couple of shots from the rehearsal dinner.  On the left is Matt and his new mother-in-law and Dawon's bridesmaid.  On the right is Dawon's aunt.  That'll have to hold you until later!!!!

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Fashion is NOT my Forte

Everyone has one in their life.  That person who's flair for fashion makes you feel frumpy even on your best days.  Lucky me... I have TWO of them!

I admit it...  when it comes to clothes and makeup and such, I'm definitely challenged.  Always have been.  I'm not exactly a girly-girl.  I prefer sneakers or bare feet to heels.  Jeans to slacks.  T-shirts to just about anything that has to be ironed.  I don't color my hair or wear makeup on a regular basis.


But sometimes, it's necessary to clean up your act a bit.  Weddings qualify.  Looking in my closet though, I realized I was in trouble.  I had nothing even remotely appropriate.  Sweatpants and a tank wouldn't cut it.  So I turned to my two favorite fashionistas.

These two women are as different as can be, but they both share an attitude about looking good.  And they DO.  They carry themselves with great confidence, pay attention to details and it works.  Both look fantastic 99% of the time.

Jennifer took me shopping.  I jokingly call her Ninja Shopper...  she marches into a store, looks around for a quick moment and if nothing catches her eye - she leaves.  We were on our third store when she pulled this bizarre dress off the rack.  It looks like a designer on acid came up with the fabric.  But I tried it on and you know what?  It looked pretty good.  Not great, but pretty good.  Jennifer disppeared amongst the racks for a moment and came back with a giant bra (they didn't have anything close to my size).  Put it on, she tells me.  It won't be exact, but you'll get the idea.  So I do, and damned if she wasn't right.  With a little help for the girls, that dress looked great!  So I bought it.

Then we went back across to one of the previous stores to find a bra that actually fit.  I got three in my size (which is apparently an odd one as there may have only been three in my size there).

The first one had what I call "perky packs", which is some gel thing that fits in the bottom of the cup to give you a little extra lift.  Honestly, it felt like I was being smothered by my own breasts.  Nope.  The second one ws just uncomfortable.  The underwire dug into the skin underneath and actually hurt.  But the third was fairly comfortable (even if it did have an underwire in it).  I thought I could handle that for a few hours at a time for special occasions.  We bought it.
Mission accomplished - or so I thought.  Enter Jannie - my other fashionista friend.  This woman always looks good.  Recently, she's been going through her closets and getting rid of things - some of which she's given to me.  It's beautiful stuff and I look pretty good in it.  I think she might just want to see me in something other than jeans and tevas.

Anyway, the morning after the shopping expedition with Jennifer, Jannie shows up with not one but two dresses approprite for attending a wedding.  The first one is made of similar material to the dress Jen and I picke out.  It's dark with a floral pattern and is quite pretty.  It has sleeves to cover my scarred up arms and is of a modest length.

The second dress is a bit more conservative, but I like that one too.  It has a brownish over jacket with short sleeves and the dress is navy and a mellow golden yellow.  It comes with a neckace attached.  Not only does it have sleeves, but it is also long - mid shin,  I really like that.  My legs are also scarred up and I wasn't looking forward to panty hose.

And so my dilemma.  I went from having no choices at all to having three of them - all appealing.  I'll try them all on tomorrow and see if I can figure it out.

Now,  about my shoes....

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

T- 4 Days to Wedding

My mother is having a blast.  All you have to do is look at her face to see it. 

She was nervous, you see.  House guests for three weeks.  One with good english, one with rusty english and one with almost no english.  She was worried about having to entertain them and make them comfortable.  Of course she didnt' need to worry.  Dawon, her new daughter-in-law fell into the routine of the house effortlessly, having been a guest here before (testing the waters before Matt asked her to marry him?).  And Dawon was such a joy to have around...  her family is much the same.  The language barrier is interesting, but doesn't really matter in the long run.  Some languages are universal.  Love and Family. 

This is my mom's best friend, Dorothy.  She's been a part of our lives since Andy was a new baby and is truly a part of our family.  Tuesday, she hosted a luncheon for us ladies!   

 It was simple and elegant and totally Dorothy.  The menu was a wonderful chicken salad on a bed of lettuce with a large square of cranberry and orange mold.  Lovely and very satisfying without weighing us down.  For dessert, chocolate dipped strawberries, piroulles and coffee.  Unbelieveably, there were left over strawberries, which I took home for Darling Man and ZBoy.

In attendance were my mother, Dawon, her friend Meiyoun (one day I'll get the spelling and pronounciation right!!!), her mother HangSoon and her aunt, HwaSoon, and me.  After an initial awkwardness, everyone relaxed and the combination of Korean accents and very Southern accents made communication interesting and fun.  We laughed a lot. 

After lunch, there was a bit more chatting and wandering around looking at Dorothy's house.  Having been to Korea and seeing how they decorate their homes, it must have been very interesting to them to come here and see what we do to our surroundings.  Pictures figure prominently around here.  Not quite so much in Korea.

Afterwards, we went our separate ways.  Dorothy had an appointment.  I needed to go buy plates/napkins/cups etc. for the wedding, then get back to work. 

Mom took everyone else off to Goodwill to look at dresses.  They have some beautiful wedding dresses there!  And when I called to tell Mom of my success getting stuff for the reception, Dorothy joined them at Goodwill.  I know they had a great time!!!