Why Having an Artsy Friend Rocks!

Hive, I'm here to tell you that while I may pretend to be crafty and creative, most of the time I fail miserably. Want to see my latest failed attempt?

These are supposed to be my bridesmaids, each in their chosen color dress, for use on my programs. Luckily for me I showed these monstrosities to my friend Audrey (who happens to be the love of my dog's lives and my brother's girlfriend). Hi Audrey!! Anyhoo, Audrey recognized that I desperately needed help, and ever so graciously offered to redesign my ladies. Her effort proved way more than successful:

I mean, she seriously put my attempt to shame! She went in and personalized each individual dress so it would not only match my bridesmaids' color choices, but also each design they chose! And while I'm not quite done with my programs yet, and therefore won't be showing you those at the moment, I did find another use for Audrey's awesome work.

You see, she also created the most fantastic, cute, ridiculously adorable version of me and Mr Elk for the programs.

Do you see the detail? Hair in side ponytail! Bow headband! Even the dress has a texture to make it look lacy! I didn't want to waste this on just a program alone! And then it hit me- this would make the most adorable thank you cards ever! So I got to work, and with the help of a free downloadable watercolor pattern I found on August Empress (which a friend had previously shown me), and a little more help from Audrey(she made the banner and made the words curve along it!), I created this:

Within an hour I had placed an order on Vistaprint.com for 150 of these bad boys (thanks to an awesome 50% off coupon I found, they aren't even costing me a whole lot!). I cannot wait to see them! And even more, I can't wait to use them (which is definitely saying something, because there is pretty much nothing worse than writing 100 thank you cards!).

Are you artistic? If not, are you lucky enough to have a friend who is?

PS- thank you so much Audrey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weight Issues

Disclaimer: I understand that weight issues can be touchy. This is my own personal struggle with my weight.

A few months ago, I told you that my wedding dress just barely fit. I was upset with myself for a number of reasons; for one, I knew I had ordered a size that would be a close fit, and yet I continued to eat garbage and refused to exercise. More importantly, though, I had been promising myself for years that I would get my act together and live a healthier life, and I was clearly failing at it. My wedding dress just barely fitting was my wake up call that I was making poor decisions, and I was heading down a dangerous path. Sure, I was still technically at a healthy weight, but I was dangling mighty close to the edge and I was tipping in the wrong direction.

My weight issues stem back to high school. In 10th grade I joined weight watchers for the first time and went from 134 pounds to 124 pounds. I quickly gained the weight back, and spent the majority of my young adult life in the low 130's....until college. I found myself at 145 pounds and miserable. I went back on weight watchers and got back down to my typical 133-135. I wasn't thrilled, but had resigned myself to the fact that my body just wasn't built to weigh in the 120's.

And in the mid 130's I stayed, until last year. Working long hours in a hospital and being too lazy to prepare food or exercise didn't do me any favors. I found myself creeping back up, until finally, after Thanksgiving I was back in the 140's- at 141.5. And that is precisely when I found myself in a bridal salon, with a consultant heaving and hawing trying to zip up my beautiful dress.

And so, I decided to make a change. I took a step back and analyzed my typical food consumption, and realized that my downfall was always overeating. I wasn't making horrible decisions, but I didn't seem to be controlling my portions. My addiction to carbs didn't help- once I started eating bread, chips, or anything of the likes, it seemed my ability to stop when full was completely lost. I started poking around the weddingbee fitness board, and realized the perfect tool for me was free to use and waiting for me to join!

Myfitnesspal.com has become my savior. (if you are on, and want a friend, I'm Misselk there too!) Tracking my food has made me 100% accountable for the decisions I make. I have come to see calories as currency. Are french fries worth eating less during the day or exercising more to make up for them? The answer is sometimes, but on the whole, no. And if you are curious to know what I'm eating on a typical day, I took some pictures for you!

Breakfast: 3 egg white omelet with 1 tablespoon low fat cheese, 2 slices turkey bacon and a banana

Lunch: caprese salad (2 ounces reduced fat mozz cheese with 1 plum tomato over a bed of arugula), 2-3 tablespoons of hummus with rice cakes, and a cup of strawberries

Dinner: Panko crusted tilapia, broccoli and jasmine rice (cooked with 2 tablespoons olive oil)

Dessert- I always give myself something for dessert, but it changes very frequently. Currently I'm on a 2 cups of frozen blueberries kick. They are yummy!

As for an exercise plan, I've found that Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and Ripped In 30 are magical. Less than 30 minute workouts with intervals, where you aren't doing a single move for more than 1 minute at a time. It is perfect for someone like me who is not only busy, but gets bored easily during exercise!

Since I made a change 4 months ago, I have lost a total of 12 pounds. Sure its been a slow process, but I feel like the change is more real the slower I go at it. My current weight is 129.5, a place I never ever thought I would see again. More importantly, I've lost 3.5 inches off my bust, 4 inches off my waist, and 2 inches off my hips.

I can't wait to try on my dress now! I know that I can be proud of myself for making changes towards a healthier life!

Has your approaching wedding had an effect on your lifestyle decisions?

A Gift For Me!

A while ago I showed you my awesome gift to Mr Elk for the wedding (remember those Indiana Jones cuff links?!). Anyway, since Mr Elk knows about his gift I decided to ask him what he was thinking of getting me for our wedding day. His response? Blank stare into space, followed by a mumbled "I didn't realize I had to get you something."

Since he had no clue what to get me, I figured I could just decide for myself what I actually wanted. At first, I was thinking jewelry all the way. I still haven't decided what jewels will help to make up my bridal look, so I thought bridal earrings would make the perfect gift from Mr Elk!

I've been sort of obsessed with Kendra Scott earrings for a while now, and these have been high on my list of possible wedding day jewelry:

Jeanine Dangle Earrings in Lily by Kendra Scott

Even though I've been eying them for a while, I'm still a little hesitant. I'm definitely more of a white gold/silver sort of girl, and while I really like the gold in these earrings I'm not sure they suite me.

Unable to make a decision regarding my wedding day jewelry, I started to think of other things that Mr Elk could get me as a wedding day present. And then it hit me:

Via The Apple Store

What I have been dying to get my greedy paws on for the longest time is a smart phone! And not just any smart phone, but a beautiful white iphone! I told Mr Elk my desires and he seemed to think that would make a great wedding gift.

And then, just a week after we decided on my wedding gift, my current phone decided to die on me. Being phoneless for a day was a bit like losing contact with the outside world! I was actually nervous driving without a working phone, just in case something happened! And so, 2 months out from the wedding I got an early wedding gift! It means that I won't actually receive a gift from Mr Elk on our wedding day, but I don't care! My phone is AWESOME!

Would you prefer something traditional, like jewelry, as a wedding day gift from your better half? Or would you pick something a little more unusual like I did?

Wedding Bandalicious

67 days left till the wedding, and our to do list seems to grow instead of shrink by the day! AHHH. We tried to take this past weekend to cross a few things off our list, and its seems that it was the weekend of Mr Elk, who got his tux (which we will talk about shortly) and his wedding band (to be discussed now!).

Now I should preface this entire discussion by letting you all know that Mr Elk may choose to never wear his wedding band, and I am 100% OK with that. Both my dad and Mr Elk's dad have never worn wedding bands, and Mr Elk doesn't wear any jewelery at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he just doesn't like the way it feels on his finger. Mr Elk seems to think he'll have a difficult time picking up the chicks at his frequent bar outings with a ring on which is his biggest reason for not wanting to wear it (this was a very sarcastic comment. Mr Elk is a bit of a homebody, and is very shy- I'm amazed we found each other!)

Anyway, despite my suspicion that he won't actually wear it, I figured he should probably at least have the option of wearing it, which would require actually owning a ring. Well it only took about 20 minutes at a local jewelery store and we were walking out with a receipt in hand (we had to order the ring in his size!). I'm pretty sure Mr Elk just wanted the whole process to be over with, but I think he is happy with his decision- a very simple, cobalt band, and for only 250 dollars I can't complain! Want to see? (note- this is not the actual band he bought, but it looks pretty darn similar)

via Amazon.com

I can honestly say I know absolutely nothing about Cobalt for jewelry, but we get yearly "spa treatments" for the ring for life (though I'm sure Mr Elk will never actually do this), and we were assured there isn't really any upkeep required. Overall, I'm just happy Mr Elk found something he liked, and maybe there is some hope that he will actually wear it!

Was finding your mister's wedding band difficult? Or did he surprise you by making a quick decision?

Sh*t Just Got Real

Our invites arrived!! I can't believe how real the wedding feels now that we have our names, the time and date etched into 125 pieces of paper! AHHHHHH!

So I know it is customary in the weddingbee world to keep invitations a surprise until they are actually sent out and guests have seen them, but I'm just so gosh darn (trying to make up for the expletive I used in the title) excited I want to at least show you a bit of a sneak peak!!!!!

I <3 them!

Did your wedding get more real when you saw your names printed on the invites?

Vows Shmows

It seems that everyone is writing their own vows these days. With weddings less traditional than ever, there is so much wiggle room to personalize and make things feel like your own. And with a nontraditional ceremony officiated by a friend, I thought our wedding would follow suit with the trend.....until I actually talked to Mr Elk.

Turns out, he is NOT fond of the idea at all. In fact, he has basically begged me not to make him do it. Why, you may ask does he not want to share his love for me on our big day? It all comes down to nerves. Mr Elk is a nervous person, and private at that. The thought of opening his heart and soul in front of 150 guests, 90% of whom he doesn't really know, scares the begeeses out of him! Moreover, he is petrified he will get emotional and cry. Now I think there is nothing more adorable than a groom crying on his wedding day (happy tears of course!), and I'd love it if Mr Elk shed a tear or two, but he seems to think that would be mortifying.

And so, with my dreams of sweet personal vows crushed, I moved on to find more traditional vows that would fit the bill. Again, weddingbee came through for me! I found these on the boards under a discussion of secular vows, and really loved how they incorporated a lot of the things very important to me, including family.

_____ take _____ 's right hand and repeat after me.

_____, I choose you to be my wife.
I promise freely from this day forward
To be worthy of your trust and deserving of your confidence;
To be generous with my time, my energy and my love;
To be patient with you and with myself,
To return love, tolerance, and generosity to your family.
To trust you;
To be devoted to you and our life together.
These things I pledge before you, myself, our friends, and our family.

_____ take _____ 's right hand and repeat after me.

_____, I choose you to be my husband.
I promise freely from this day forward
To be worthy of your trust and deserving of your confidence;
To be generous with my time, my energy and my love;
To be patient with you and with myself,
To return love, tolerance, and generosity to your family.
To trust you;
To be devoted to you and our life together.
These things I pledge before you, myself, our friends, and our family.

And with that, we had vows! But I wasn't going to let Mr Elk off that easily! I decided that even though we wouldn't speak personally written vows to each other during the ceremony, that doesn't mean we can't write our own and read them privately before the ceremony. And so Mr Elk has agreed that we will each write our own vows and take a few minutes before the ceremony to read each others thoughts. I really hope that we can enjoy a personal moment of reflection on our relationship and everything we hope for the future during this time, even if our guests aren't privy to it.

Are you writing your own vows, or are you going the more traditional route?

Ode To Ikea

Today I want to discuss the amazingness that is Ikea. Of course, I can't talk about Ikea on a wedding site without mentioning probably the most famous of their potentially-wedding-related-products: the Tolsby Frame.

Image by Ruffled Blog

But alas, it is not the Toslby frame that has me singing Ikea's praises at the moment. Instead, it is another frame that has my heart melting:

Image via Style Me Pretty/ Photo by Orange Girl Photographers

The UNG DRILL frame. Le Sigh! I don't know when I first noticed this frame popping up quite literally EVERYWHERE, but I know I couldn't stop drooling. And it didn't just pop up in black. No, it was white, gold, blue, red, and every amazingly delicious color in between.

Since I first discovered the beauty of Ms Ung, I knew I had to have her somewhere at my wedding! And it wasn't long before photos of her and other frames like her started popping up as a unique way to display escort cards.

Photo via Elizabeth Ann Designs/Photo by Harrison Studio

~Drool~ It didn't take me long to run out and buy one for myself. I'm so excited that I am now the proud owner of a newly painted white Ms Ung:

I know she won't let me down paired with my mismatched floral escort cards!

Have you found love at Ikea? What is it you had to have?

PS: if you are a nerd, you may enjoy this song by Jonathon Coultan about Ikea