Wedding Woes

Of all the problems that could possibly go on with a wedding, I was a little taken aback yesterday when a problem arose with my little trip.  This trip was to go try on my wedding dress.  It finally came in after 4 l o n g  months of waiting.  You think that the dress, once you find it anyway, will be fool-proof.  You spend hours trying on all these pretty dresses that aren't quite right, but then, you find it.  The dress.  After that, it should be simple.  You get measured and they find your size, you clarify your color, and viola! they order the dress and you wait.  How much more simple could it get after finding it?!

Well apparently it's not always so simple.

You see, when I went to try on my dress yesterday, the first thing I saw was a big, fat, ugly tag that screamed IVORY!  The problem is, I ordered Diamond White.  I loved the dress and it was a bit more than I had expected on spending, but it was from the limited line and blah, blah, blah, at that time, I readjusted some other items in the wedding to get this specific dress.  Well, apparently, little miss Maggie Sottero decided to move my dress from the limited collection, to their standard line.  Not that I really care, although in my head it was a nice thought that there probably weren't that many other girls that were going to have my dress.  Problem is, when they did this, Diamond White no longer exists.  This happened from the time I paid my monster deposit, to the time they got around to cutting out my dress?!  I was a little thrown yesterday and did not understand.  How does this happen?  Do they really not call when something like this happens?!  After the flustered sales lady tried to figure it out, she told me to go ahead and go and she would get a hold of someone and figure out this problem.  She called back pretty much right away and told me that when they discontinued a color, it was the actual ivory and that diamond white became ivory?  I'm not buying it.  So, I'm going back today so she can hold it up to the actual diamond white dress I tried on back in July, to see if there's a color difference.  If it's off at all, something is changing.  I don't want an ivory dress.  The sales lady was very nice about it and was slightly freaking out with me and I was very nice and calm back.  My mom on the other hand, I had to pull off the lady.  She's all sweet and nice usually, so it was a little entertaining in my head.  I guess if my nice way doesn't work, and then if necessary, playing hard ball doesn't work, I can alway have her handle them :)  To add insult though, when she was showing me the catalog on how they moved the dress to their standard line, I saw a price, but it didn't register until my drive home, but now they are selling the dress for significantly less than I paid.  I want my money back!  And a white dress!

I go back this afternoon so she can show me how "they're the same color and they just changed the name"...yea.  Hopefully that's the case, but it's doubtful in my normally optimistic head.  I'll keep you posted.

Miscellany Monday

1. A client of mine took John and I to the Magic/Heat game on Wednesday night, with fancy steak dinner on top :)  It was a fun night with R and his wife.  We had a great time and great seats!

2. Thanksgiving was awesome!  Started with the annual Turkey Trot, which I was pretty happy with my time since I had a late night the night before.  After the race, we started the preparation of all the food!  Lily was worn out at the thought of all that turkey!

Plus, my apple pie turned out looking pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

3.  I get to mark TWO more items off my 101 in 1001!!!  We put down new flooring this weekend...Friday, Saturday AND Sunday, but it was worth it.  We also painted the rest of the house!  We have a few minor touch ups to do, but the whole huge house can be marked off the list!  Yay!  So much for our relaxing holiday weekend we had planned!  Here's sneak peak at the new flooring.  It's plank porcelain tile, but looks like wood.  Pretty indestructible!  

It's now cleaner than pictured above and has furniture in the rooms.  I'll post more pictures when we have completed the trim, but we are very happy with the results.  All that hard work this weekend paid off!

The house was a complete mess all weekend because we had to shove all the furniture in the kitchen.  Lily was rather thrown off by this so I let her sit up with us during lunch on a stool.  She didn't know what to think!

4.  I'm taking advantage of Cyber Monday!  I have already purchased one rather large Christmas gift this morning and have gotten all of our client gifts ordered.  So far, I've saved almost $200!  Thank you discounts!  Is anyone else taking advantage of this shopping day?!  I hope to have most of my Christmas shopping done by the end of the day!

5.  My Insanity challenge starts today.  So far, I'm off to a pretty weak start.  I didn't get out of bed this morning...I blame it on the new floors and paint...and then, I forgot to bring my DVDs to work to do it during lunchtime.  I did however remember my clothes and shoes.  Pointless now.  So...after my little trip after work tonight...I'll be starting my workout after dinner time.  Boo.  Maybe they have a sneak peak online I could try?   Youtube...please help!

6.  Wedding Wednesday will return this week.  I haven't had much to say the past few weeks about it but a BIG item has arrived and that's what my little trip after work involves! So excited!

7. I have nothing to say about the Gators performance...or lack there of.  Thankfully, I was busy putting down tile during the game and was just listening mostly.  The coaches did not utilize the talent they had on the team all season and right now, we stink.  Let's get out of the Tebow era (although I adore him) and work with what we have NOW!  Every team has their good and bad years...this is our bad year.  Hopefully they can learn and at least look like they're trying next season, even if we don't win...let's not look SO pathetic. Urban, I admire you as a man, you're a great guy, but if you don't take the care of the coaching staff, things aren't going to look so hot for you...or the other coaches.  The end.

Happy Monday All!  Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving!!

Turkey Day!

The Bird: How it is prepared?

John usually fries up the turkey for his family's lunch with his brother.  He injects it with a lot of stuff, and then throws it in the fryer for a while.  It's always delicious.  Usually, my mom bakes the bird, but this year, my dad is having the turkey smoked.  Should be yummy!

The Fixin's: What's your favorite?

Hmm...that's tough.  I guess it's probably green bean casserole, followed by potatoes, crescent rolls, and stuffing :)

Desserts: What can you not resist?

Any apple dessert.  And probably any of the banana/pumpkin/apple bread.  They are all so yummy.  I really don't care too much for pumpkin pie.  It's a texture thing.

Travel: Do you go out of town for Thanksgiving?

No, we're in town.  Most of both sides of our family live in the same area.

And Counting: How many stops do you make?

Usually just two stops.

Traditions: What are yours?

Usually Thanksgiving morning we run the local Turkey Trot, then we go to John's parents to get ready & watch the Macy's parade.  We eat and hang out for a bit and then are onto our next stop at my parents.  By the end of the day, we're full and tired.  Nice...tryptophan comas...

What do you do for Thanksgiving??

Happy Thanksgiving my bloggy friends!!!

Thanksgiving Pies...Oh My!

I'm so excited about Thanksgiving coming so soon!  I think in some ways these holidays are more fun when you get older because you end up being more involved in the preparation.  This year, I'm making pies!  I love to bake, but haven't tried many pies.  This will be my first attempt at pumpkin pie and I'm also making an apple pie...that's my favorite and I've done it before, but it gets tricky because sometimes they are too liquidy...and that all depends on the apples.  Not sure what to do about it...so if anyone has suggestions, please share :)

First off, I'm going to use Libby's Pumpkin Pie recipe.

They're the ones who make the pumpkin for the filling, so I figure it's a good place to start!  I can tweak it next year if I like.  This is what it should look like...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Now, for the actual recipe

For the apple pie, I like to go simple:

• 6 cups thinly sliced apples
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Prepare your pastry for a two crust pie.  Wipe, quarter, core, peel, and slice apples; measure to cups.

2. Combine sugar and cinnamon.  The amount of sugar depends on how tart your apples are.

3. Arrange apples in layers in pastry lined pie plate.  Sprinkle each layer with sugar and cinnamon.  Dot top layer with margarine.  Cover with top crust.

4. Place on lowest rack in oven preheated to 450 degrees F.  Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 30-35 minutes longer.  Serve warm or cold.

I'm looking forward to baking.  These upcoming holidays are just a good excuse!  

What are your favorite pies??

Insanity Workout Challenge

I'm sure most of you have heard of P90X and other workouts along those lines.  One morning, I turned on the TV and there was an infomercial on Insanity. 

The same company, Team Beachbody makes these two workout DVD packages, plus many  more.  It sounded like something I'd like to try, so I bought my first item ever off TV.  I started doing the workouts after marathon training last year, but decided to stop so I could focus on triathlon training this past spring and summer and then I once again was training for a 1/2 marathon, so I've decided next Monday, I am starting my 60 day Insanity Challenge.

These workouts are hard.  It seriously made marathon training feel like a break in some ways.  Crazy.  Each workout for the first month is 30-45 minutes and then the second month they are around 60 minutes.  So Monday, I begin the challenge from start to finish.  I am also going to be training for another 1/2 marathon I think John and I are going to do in February, so it should get interesting.  This program is all cardio and plyometrics.  It's hard, but effective.  I saw results in a couple weeks!  It should be exciting.  I will finish up at the end of January.  I'll be keeping tabs with you on my progress!  It's also one of my 101 in 1001, so I'm looking forward to checking something else off my list!

Happy Monday!  I'm happy it's a short week AND Thanksgiving!!

Back to our regularly scheduled blogging...

I apologize for my little whine last week.  I just needed some rest.  I did get some much needed rest the next couple days following that, so I was a much happier girl!

I left for my work trip Thursday and it was cold.  I'm not a fan of their kind of cold.  Yuck!  I much prefer Florida "cold".  When John drove me to the airport Saturday morning at 5:15am, it was 18 degrees in November.  Ugh. I couldn't live up north like that.  I had a layover in Minneapolis and they had snow everywhere.  It was pretty, but it was November!  No thanks.  I'll suck up the ridiculously hot summers, just so I don't have to deal with frigid winters.  I guess it's all what you're used to...people probably think I'm nuts for living through the miserable Florida summers, but I'll stay with what I know :)

We had our mini girls weekend for the 1/2 marathon!

We went to see

then ate

then

to get ready for

The day was a great success!  Christy, Ashley, and Christy's mom finished their first 1/2 marathon and they all did awesome!  Every one of them met or exceeded their goals for finishing!  I'm so excited for all of them!  Plus, it was a great time to spend with my lady friends :)

A picture after we had all finished!  It was really sunny!

Congrats Ladies!

Now, Lily and I are snuggled up on the couch waiting for John!  Oh how I've missed my little fur-ball!  

Today, I'm a mess...

Exhaustion from the past couple weeks has reared it's ugly head and I'm a mess today.  John's a good man for putting up with me sometimes.  Today, I really do feel bad for him.  It is one of those days when you're so tired, you feel ridiculously sensitive and emotional and don't understand why...that is...until it's very kindly pointed out to you that you've been running yourself ragged, haven't slept much and need to stop and take a break.  That's where I'm at.  Ugh.  I leave for my work trip tomorrow and fly home Saturday in time for our 1/2 marathon.  Hopefully I will take care of this mess in a hurry...I have things to do!  Hope everyone has a good rest of the week/weekend!  Updates will be coming soon on the 1st annual ladies 1/2 marathon.  Stay tuned!


Until then...