My Best Friend, the Mrs.

Today's the day! My best friend, Jen (you've met her on the blog before) is marrying the man of her dreams (Jim- you've met him, too!). So instead of a regular post, I'm sharing a few little hints about what's to come. None of these dresses are hers or ours, but you'll definitely see some similar hues popping up when I share Jen and Jim's big day with you!

Happy wedding day, best friend! Can't wait to welcome you to the old married lady club!

Project Self: They Got Married

... and I slacked off.

If you've been reading all week, you know I've been sharing each day of my brother-in-law's (and new sister-in-law's) wedding! Obviously, we ended up at a wedding at the end of the three day celebration and THIS is what we wore:

(excuse the quality- we did a quickie photo shoot with our car trunk as the tripod between the ceremony and reception!)

on me: dress - Light in the Box, shoes: Cabrizi

on him: Everything's rented from Men's Wearhouse

on Little S.: dress - Cinderella collection (from Burlington), socks: Target, shoes: Stride Rite, bow: local artist

If the bride hadn't stolen the show with her gorgeous dress and pink high top Chucks, this little one would have taken the cake! (The groom had blue high top Chucks to match!)

basket: A.C. Moore

And as Husband climbed in the car to rush over to the reception site, I basically threw the camera at him and begged for this shot! I originally hated this dress (because it didn't fit) and after some alterations, matching it up with the hairstyle (which I tweaked a bit on my own), and finding white shoes that I could live with, I think the whole look turned out very classy. Please ignore the beads of sweat all over my face. It was only 100 degrees.

And it's Project Self time! I swear I haven't given up on my journey! I'm still at the very beginning! But coming home from a week of busy chaos eating pretty much whatever I want, I've had a difficult time getting back on my regular 5-6 small meals a day + regular workouts. Zoe wants to kick my ass, I swear. She's like, "Hey, mom... I'm bored. Take me running. Now." And I'm like, "Oh my GAAAHHH, it's a million degrees outside. YUCK!" So, instead of going running and suffocating, I decided to buy Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30 DVD. Best idea of my life. And by best idea, I totally mean that I can't feel my arms, my legs are cramped, and although I only finished the first workout last night and second this morning, I don't know how I could possibly make it to day 3, much less WEEK 3 (there are four weeks). But the quote from Jillian, "I have one job and that's to make you look crazy, ridiculous, sick, insane, amazing," totally sold me.

So, here's the news of the week....

191.0

0.8 up

70.6 to go.

The gain was well deserved, although it's hindering to see the scale to up, even when I didn't work hard to make it go down. So, my friends, HOW do YOU get back on track after vacation?

If your secret is to never get off track, you are superperson and I cannot follow your ways.

Are you taking great care of yourself? Exercise? Healthy eating? Well-being? Share it with us! Project Self is a BLOG HOP!

READY. SET. LINK!

Wedding Day: The Hair Appointment

Yesterday, I mentioned that I HAD to go to Forever 21 in the mall. The real reasoning behind that shopping trip was that I completely neglected to bring something to wear for our hair appointment on Saturday morning. Sure, I could have worn pretty much anything I had in my suitcase, but the truth of the matter is that I needed something that unbuttoned or that I could take off down my body, without messing up my hair. Enter: my first maxi dress (other than the one I made a while back). Also enter: I didn't carry my sewing machine on my trip... silly me. Therefore, I had to pick up the most INSANELY high heels of all creation (think Megan). Unfortunately, I forgot to take OOTD pictures amidst the mad chaos that was Saturday morning and luckily, the MOH had these gems on her facebook page. I guess I'll just have to recreate the outfit for you and photograph the shoes, too!

Warning: These photos are rated PG-13 for mad cleavage. The ladies are crazy. I can't help it.

dress, shoes (not pictured), necklace: Forever 21

clutch: Target

I wanted to live in this dress for the entirety of the weekend, but I had to change into my bridesmaid dress around 2 p.m. So... I wore it, again, on Sunday. New group of people. They were never the wiser. Until now...

For those of you who are following my Project Self posts, I've DEFINITELY hit a road block this week. Coming back from semi-vacay has been so difficult for me. Jumping back on the bandwagon as far as a regular workout schedule and planned meals just hasn't happened, yet. Stay tuned for this Friday when I ask YOU for tips on how to get back in the swing. Included in tomorrow's post will be the culmination of the wedding weekend outfit posts, including the best man (ie: Hubs), the flower girl (ie: Little S.) and a bridesmaid (ie: me). 

27 Dresses

... or maybe a few less.
I really did love getting gussied up for days in a row while in northern VA for my brother (and new sister!)-in-laws' wedding. We started the celebration on Thursday afternoon with a quiet evening at the bride's parents' home. Homemade sangria and homemade pizza filled our tummies and we had lots of fun chatting about Kathleen's (hey, sister!) and Brent's relationship. I also got to meet her closest friends and spend time with her mom and sister, which was really nice! Little S. did a great job fitting in with the ladies, ate some pizza, drank the virgin sangria, and watched Yo Gabba Gabba! on our new iPad.

dress and sandals: Target

watch: New York & Company (it stopped, though. sad face.)

shiny skin: c/o 110 degree temps + 100% humidity

Apologies for quality, but I jacked this from the MOH's facebook. I look good making salad, right?

YES, I made that face on purpose. Or maybe I just look like that in the kitchen.

I'll be posting more outfits from last week + Little S. in her flower girl garb throughout the week! I hope you all have been enjoying your summer. I sure have! I go back to work for the first time in THREE WEEKS tomorrow... 

Also, if you donated an item in my 400 Follower Giveaway, definitely check out the winner's (Tara!) post about the prize package. She was so sweet to individually thank each and every person who sent something! 

Bridal Shower Flowers

Just in case you didn't know, I'm kind of a master bridesmaid. Let's see... I've been a bridesmaid 6 or 7 times and a maid of honor (okay, matron...) one of those times. I think I've mastered some of the skills you need to become a master bridesmaid and one of them is creating a tail kicking bow bouquet. At the bridal shower, one of the bridesmaids uses a paper plate and all of the gift bows to create a bouquet that the bride will use as her stand-in on the night of the wedding rehearsal. Have you seen a better one?

Hey, Jen, please don't kill me for putting you on the blog. I love you! You're the most beautiful bride and I'm sooooo excited to watch you become a Mrs. in less than 2 months!

Jen has been one of my best friends since we were 13! Or maybe it was 14, but I'm pretty sure it was 13. Okay, 8th grade. That makes it a hell of a lot easier. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding (almost five years ago!) and I'm so happy she asked me to stand beside her while she marries the man of her dreams in September! Most of you know that I traveled up to Virginia to visit my parents last week. The main reason of the trip was to get to Jen's shower! I elongated the vacay, of course, to spend time with family! Bridal showers are tricky business when you don't know the crowd, so I had to choose pretty safe attire. I kept it classic and comfortable, but tossed in some color so I could express myself a bit!

dress: Simply Vera*Vera Wang via Kohl's

belt: New York & Company

shoes: Bandolino via Ross, gifted by Rochelle

This little photo shoot was courtesy of my little brother and took place on my parents' deck. I asked him to take interesting pictures and look around for good background opportunities. His idea? Blow Little S' bubbles. Done.

To keep everyone safe and private, I won't name names! But here's Jen (oops, hey name dropper) and some of her bridesmaids (and that amazing bow bouquet).

What are some wedding traditions you love?