Going With YOUR Gut

Happy Friday everyone!! I am ready for the weekend after a super busy week at school. I am especially excited for this weekend because tomorrow is my future brother-in-law, Cody's "God Bless Cody" Party! He joined the Army and is leaving next month. It is definitely bittersweet because we all know how extremely passionate he is about going and he is fulfilling a life-long dream to join the Army and eventually be a Green Baret. BUT, I know that everyone is very sad to see him go:( He is sooo funny and always a joy to be around. Clint's mom says it best with "He is everyone's favorite person". It is so true, I don't think Cody has one enemy because everyone who meets him just loves him. I am the official photographer at the party tomorrow so I know I will get some great pictures.

On a wedding note.......I picked my dress........again.

A couple of months ago I thought I found "the one". I put it on and everyone burst into tears and I will never forget that moment. It is what every bride dreams of right? Putting on a wedding dress and your mom and friends eyes fill with water and they all can't get over how gorgeous you are. Yes, I loved that feeling and having my mom and best friends Allie and Ashley cry was very special. Heck, even I burst into tears after seeing them all crying. But, in the back of my mind I was thinking "wait a minute...I don't even really like this one.."

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH...what!?
You don't like the wedding dress that is EVERYONE's favorite including your mom, Clint's mom, all your friends and your aunt?!

Nope:) .."Don't hate me because I'm beautiful;)"

Even after telling everyone that this "Oh La La" dress was my dress and getting my mom all excited about ordering it I just knew it just wasn't right. I can't explain it but something just wasn't sitting right inside of me.

Also, and poor Clint can back me up on this, I have been having weird emotional outbursts about wedding dresses. I keep telling him how this is the most stressful thing I have ever done and why am I not overjoyed and happy like everyone else!? After A LOT of thinking and soul searching I knew what I had to do.

I sat my mom down and told her that this dress just wasn't for me. Yes, it is gorgeous and different and very couture-like. And I can see myself wearing it but just not on my wedding day.

I told her how my favorite dress I've tried on was the "Casablanca". Yes, we nickname all of the dresses.

The day I tried on this dress was not ideal, I had my mom, Hillary and her mom with me and Hillary's mom's car had died, Hillary was sick and my mom was really tired. Let's just say no one was enthusiastic about seeing me try on dresses haha. We went to a place in Austin called Belle Saison and when I came out in the "Casablanca" everything just felt RIGHT. It had a little bit of everything I wanted, I knew Clint would love it and most importantly I thought I looked great in it!

I have never seen the movie "Casablanca" but I know it is from the 1940's and just exudes class and style.

My wedding's theme is "Romantic French Candlelit Night"-or something like that. And I really just think this dress fits so well and is just plain perfect. My mom says she loves this one too (I know Oh La La is still her fav) but I just had to go with what I wanted. After all, it is MY day right? I know I'm not going to be able to please everyone but if Clint and I are happy then what else is there?

Oh and I also decided my "something blue" will be my shoes:) I needed some fun and flity-ness and my dress and shoes match my personality perfectly. On one side I am a classy, black-and-white movie lovin, hopeless romantic and on the other side I am a young, vibrant, fun-loving gal!

I want a blue peep toe heel kind of like this but a MUCH lighter blue..almost a baby blue maybe? I don't know but don't worry...it is going to be fabulous!

Dress Coma

Wow it is so hot outside today! Gotta love that Texas heat. Clint and I decided it would be the perfect day to lay out by the pool. As he was getting ready I noticed that Bo and Belle were looking especially precious this morning. I grabbed my camera and attempted to use them as models for a "photo shoot" of some sort. I tried to get on their level by laying on the ground but I think they just thought that I wanted to play with them because they would just attack my face with kisses. I did manage to get some cute ones so here are Bo and Belle's modeling debut on my blog:

"Are you looking at me?"

Hard to Get

"This is my Derek Zoolander face"

Big ears are all the rage this season

"Hi"

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Haha ok now on to something actually productive. I am currently stressing out to the max about my wedding dress! Two days ago my mom recieved a phone call from our consultant at Alfred Angelo, Pickles (yes that is her name) and she informed us that their particular store was relocating so all of the dress are 50% off. We jumped on the opportunity and I drove to Houston to go and try on the dress I had in my mind that I wanted. The only catch was you have to buy it off the rack as is. However, the dress I wanted was in great condition and was my size and would only little minimal altering. It sounded perfect!

But...

I put on the dress and decided it wasn't "THE" dress anymore. EEEEK! Back to the drawing board! My mom, Allie, Clint's mom and Laura, my future sister-in-law were all there with me and I had to start from scratch trying on new dresses. I almost went into full-on panic mode. I was ready for this huge stress to be lifted but now it was back!

However, the best part is I enjoy trying on dresses so its fun for me. I am just ready to know which one will be my dress! My mom and everyone laugh at me because all of my favorite dresses are complete opposites. They literally have nothing in common. One is very couture, one is classic and elegant and one if fun and flirty. I really don't have a preference, I just want it to look great!

So after 3 hours of trying on dresses my head was spinning. We decided to call it a night and head home. Ever since then my mom has been emailing me countless dresses to look at. I probably have about 30 saved on my computer! I am definitley in a dress coma. Oh and guess what!? My mom is driving in from Houston as we speak so we can go try on some more! This time we are expanding our horizons and tackling David's Bridal!

Wish me luck that I will have a dress soon!