Wedding Dress Fun Times!

Last Tuesday:

WEDDING DRESSES!!!!!!

What girl DOESN'T like to shop for wedding dresses?

My mom and I started the search for a bridal gown to go with my beach wedding last week.  We hit up David's Bridal (of course - we do live in Chattanooga), Prado, La Dean Shop and Cooley's.  I had a loose idea of what I wanted:  light and airy (NOT thick and heavy), flowy (NOT stiff), and figure flattering.  Empire waist dresses were MADE for the beach.  However, if you've got a belly pooch (like I do), they can make you look pregnant and can be pretty unflattering.  So I'm pretty certain the standard beachy empire waist dress is out.

I would not look like this model in that dress.

I have found two dresses that I LOVE so far, and neither of them are what I thought I was looking for!!  The first one is at David's Bridal, and the second one is at La Dean Shop (which is in Rossville).  The one at David's Bridal is currently WAY too poofy and long, but with the removal of the crinoline underneath and altering the length to significantly shorten the train, I think it would be perfect.  The second one would also need the train shortened for it to make more sense for the beach, but I think its "poofiness" is probably fine.  I didn't expect to go with anything even remotely poofy, but I just haven't cared much for any of the other dresses I've tried on. 

My mom and I still need to hit up Monica's Bridal to check out their inventory.  With the wedding being only two months away, I have to buy a dress off the rack, as there isn't any time to order anything.  And I know I could drive to Atlanta and really get my wedding dress shopping on, but I really shouldn't waste any more time and since I've found dresses here I like, why not go with one of those?  Also, since whatever I buy will need to be altered, I should probably get that on lockdown in the near future.

That reminds me......I need to look into cupcake bakeries in the Destin area and decide if I want to go with some cupcakes for the big day dinner.  :)


Today, a week and a half later:

I HAVE A WEDDING DRESS!!!

Last week, Mom and I did indeed hit up Monica's Bridal.  It went well, and they have a lot of pretty dresses and some really good prices on the discontinued ones.  The bridal consultant told me I was definitely a "Watters Girl", as she said that every dress I pulled to try on was by designer Watters.  Apparently I'm not into bling but I love chiffon and lace and delicate flowers and ruffles and such.  I tried on several pretty dresses at Monica's, and narrowed it down to a favorite.  Which meant that I had three favorites to choose from: one from David's, one from La Dean and one from Monica's.  After looking at myself in pictures of the last two dresses, I picked the one from La Dean.  But I didn't have a picture of the first dress from David's, so I decided to go try it on again and get some pictures so that I could make my final decision.

Dresses by Watters.

P.S.  All three dresses were EXACTLY the same price, so saving money wasn't a factor.

That same afternoon (Wednesday, I think?), I left the kids with my mom while I ran down to David's to try on Dress #1 again and get some pics.  While I was there, I went ahead and pulled two other dresses that I didn't remember trying on before.  When the consultant saw the dress that I was there to try on (and I did and I still loved it), she said, "I have a dress that I want you to try on."  She came back with a dress that I had seen hanging on the rack, but passed up because it didn't look like it would be very flattering, and I didn't think I would like the bottom half.

Well, I was wrong, and she was right.  I LOVED IT!!   And not only did I love it, but it was almost half the price of the other two as well, so super bonus.  So I went back up to my mom's house, grabbed her and the kids, and we bought ourselves a wedding dress that day - one that wasn't even a contender until that afternoon.  I still really love the other two dresses that I didn't pick, but this one is just perfect for both me and the beach location.

Too bad I don't have a reason to own all three.  :)

I really want to post a picture of it, but of course that's not going to happen.  Soon, friends.  Soon.  :)

Love.

2 Months, Consignment and Car Seats

So about a week and a half ago I mentioned that Lucy had graduated from her newborn covers and into her big girl panties.  Well, that became partially true.  She definitely moved into the size smalls, but her thighs were still a little too skinny for the cloth inserts, so after a couple of days (and pretty consistent pee leaks) I went back to the disposable inserts.  They take up less space in the diaper cover and make it easier for little thighs to get a better seal at the leg hole.  But she's been chunking up lately, so we'll probably give cloth a go again here in another week!

2 months old already!

Lucy on the left, her brother Delano (16 months ago) on the right.

At the beginning of February I started tagging items for the Sweet Wee Peets consignment sale, which happened in mid-February.  I knew tagging my stuff would take some time, but GOOD GRIEF it took FOREVER.  Granted, I had a TON of clothes to put into the sale (about 250 baby items/sets, plus a bunch of maternity stuff), which meant a lot of tags.  But I did walk away with $222!  And I actually brought home a lot of stuff that didn't sell.  Consignment sales are great because a ton of people shop through your stuff over typically an entire week, and you don't have to do anything besides tag your items (unless you choose to volunteer).  What stinks about consignment is that you usually only bring home 70% of your sales.  70% sounds like a lot, but that (along with the $8 entry fee) was almost $100 of my sales.  So I actually sold $329 worth of stuff, but only brought home $222.  For that reason, I debated just trying to sell everything on the Chattanooga Area Moms Resell Page on Facebook.  But I ultimately decided that, with as much stuff as I had, that it would have potentially turned into a long, drawn out nightmare.  Maybe once Lucy gets bigger and I start purging through the bigger items, I'll list them on the resell page.

I'm going to put the rest of my stuff into the Chattanooga Area Mothers of Multiples consignment sale, which happens March 14th and 15th.  The entry fee is higher ($15) but you bring home 80% of your sales, so you still bring home more overall.  If I sold everything I have left at full price, I'd make $240 - $15 x 80%........so $180.  I'm certain I won't make $180, but one can hope!!

Are those toys about to riot?

Months ago, during Black Friday weekend, I bought a Chicco Nextfit convertible car seat for Lucas's car.  I got it for a STEAL ($139) during an apparent (and brief) Amazon pricing glitch.  We put it into Lucas's car because I already had the Graco MySize 70 installed in the van, plus the Nextfit takes up a little less space from front to back, which is better for his car.  Lucas doesn't have any issues with the seat itself, BUT since his car is a 2-door, and since the Nextfit has a deep bucket seat with really high sides, he said it's a real pain in the butt to lift Delano in and out of it.  He said Delano can't help to get himself in and out of the seat, and that since he's only going to get heavier, it's only going to get more difficult.  So we've decided to get a different convertible seat for Lucas's car, and to save the Nextfit for Lucy in the van.

It's like a baby cocoon.

After doing a little research and reviewing the list of recommended car seats by some passionate and knowledgeable car seat technicians, I have decided that a Diono Radian R100 will be the next seat I'll buy for Lucas's car.  It has a high rear-facing limit and is low profile, which means it has low sides so no extreme lifting in and out of a bucket seat (and Delano should be able to help get in and out of it himself).  It's a tall seat, but with an angle adjuster (only $10 extra) it makes it fit better in smaller cars.

Diono Radian R100

Diono Radian RXT with and without an angle adjuster.

The Diono Radian RXT has headwings for more head support.  It also comes with a higher price tag than the R100 - about a $60 difference on average.  I thought about going for the RXT, but since the kids are in Lucas's car so very little, I think the R100 with an angle adjuster will work out just fine.  But we'll see.  Depends on what kind of sales I come across over the next couple of months!

Well it looks like my laptop battery has "11 minutes left", so I guess I'll wrap this up.  Everybody's asleep except for me, so I will soon join the pack!  Got a busy week ahead with an appointment on the calendar every single day, along with wedding dress shopping!  I'll talk about my wedding dress finds in my next blog.
Goodnight!  :)

Wink wink!