Waiting for August 2nd!

Oh, if I could be crazy and have a fancy dress to wear for the last bit of my wedding and to go out in afterward I would pick this Oscar de la Renta dress. I'll tell myself though that I can't get this because we are leaving early on Sunday morning so it would be crazy to go out after the wedding!

And William Yeoward, why do you have to be so mean and make this Grace cup so expensive? I want this for no real reason other than I think it is beautiful but I do think it is just to insanely expensive! And sorry for the horrible picture! I looked for a good one on the internet and I gues a tiny picture is what I get!

So I've been thinking seriously about making my own programs for the wedding cerimony. I think I have decided that I will do it for sure since I will have June and July off and why shouldn't I put in the time to make something of my own?! I want to use these Crane do it yourself programs but instead of printing so that you read them with the ribbon to the side the ribbon would be on the top and you'd open it up!
While my parents were away recently I fed the wonderful cat Tipper and one day I showed up and found a few things on the front doorstep (I have to have things sent there because FedEx and UPS apparently can't get into my gate)! I found a book that I pre ordered a few months ago on Amazon, I love Amazon! I found a jean jacket I ordered from Old Navy to replace the one I had for almost 10 years that I loved and lost recently!! AND I found a wedding present, which is always fun! I found our Cuisinart 11 cup food processor which is so exciting because now I can make RAR's apple pie just like she makes it!
And to end it all. I spent part of this weekend cleaning out my closet and my guest closet to make room for all of PW's things that will be coming here in June! This is a picture of clothes that I will be taking to Good Will that will hopefully be put to good use and not just sit in my closet gathering dust any more! I found clothes that I got circa 1998! Oh and some shoes that I am kind of embarassed that I ever owned. Thank goodness that trends change! Apparently super chunky shoes were very popular around 2001. It is appropriate on my guest room bed with my college sheets though!

I also spent a while vacuuming today and realized that my cordless vacuum cleaner just isn't good enough. I need to find a cleaner that is not insanely expensive but does a good job on wood floors as well as carpet!

PS-Notice all of the black shoes. I really didn't own any brown shoes or clothes that would go with brown shoes till I was a senior in college or older!

PPS-Only 7 1/2 days till the kids are on summer vacation and I am alone in my classroom to organize and pack up for the summer!

Thank you J Crew!

A few weeks ago I heard that J Crew is now giving a 15% discount to all teachers. While it sounded too good to be true I had to go in and find out for myself! So after my first dress fitting yesterday I made RAR and RHRB go to J Crew with me. I was SO pleased to find out that it is very true! So as a little early present to myself (next week is Teacher Appreciation week) I bought some things that I will be able to enjoy in Maui!
I haven't bought a bathing suit in about two years and have been searching for good ones knowing I will want something cute for Hawaii. I forgot how miserable trying on bathing suits was. I think it is even worse than trying on jeans which I really dislike!
I ended up getting two new bikinis! The first one is a pink searsucker halter binkini that is very cute. RHRB did not like it as much as the other one because she is not used to seeing me in pink as I am generally in blue! The top looks kind of funny in this picture and I didn't know how it would look once I had it on but it ended up looking very nice on and it is very comforatble.

The second one is a multi colored string bikini that is so cute and has little ruffles along the edges! And yes, I look just like that J Crew model in it! Ha!
And then because I knew I would be enjoying the food and the Pina Coladas I got a little skirt to cover up when I feel the need to be covered up!
Thank you J Crew! Thank you for helping teachers look a little cuter each day by giving us a 15% discount! So next time you go into J Crew and you are a teacher make sure you have your school ID with you because all you need is your ID and an email address to get the 15% off!!

My first dress fitting went very well! I REALLY wish I could talk about my dress to everyone I talk to or run in to, most of all Philip. It is SO hard not telling him what it looks like or showing him pictures. He said he had the same problem when he bought my engagement ring, but he didn't have to wait months and months till I could see it! It is so pretty and so perfect and I can't wait till I get to wear it for real!

100 days!

It is officially 100 days until PW and I get married! And only 101 days till we are here:

That means only 100 days to finish all of the planning for the wedding. Only 100 days days left of being a Miss. Less than 100 days till PW and I live in the same city! Only 100 days till I get wedding cake! And many more things that will happen in only 100 days!

And while we are counting down . . . after today only 23 days until summer break!

Quick trip to Dallas

Last weekend I headed up to Dallas to have my first shower up there! RAR joined me on Saturday so that she could make it to the shower but I headed up on Friday night! I flew in on my usual 5:30 Southwest flight and actually got in on time for a change! Philip and I headed to our very favorite restaurant Tillman's Roadhouse which is in the Bishop Arts District. We originally discovered Tillman's on a double date last Spring and instantly fell in love with it. This restaurant has the most interesting decor of any I've ever seen. It is very rustic with wooden animal heads on the wall and then very elegant with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

The food is down home comfort food that is to die for! After visiting Tillman's too many times where we left moaning and groaning from overeating, Philip and I decided to split our favorite the BBQ Ribs served over macaroni and cheese.

After our delicious dinner we decided to go for dessert, something we haven't done since the first time we ate there. We decided to get the peanut butter cookie sundae! It was SO good. The bottom layer was a huge peanut butter cookie stuck to the plate with peanutbutter. On top of that was banana ice cream and on top of that was two smaller chocolate chip cookies. This was all topped off with chocolate sauce. And if that wasn't enough they provided a side of extra chocolate sauce served in a creamer. Philip and I love peanut butter! It was SO good!

Saturday was the big shower! Here is a picture of my future mother in law, myself, and the mother of the bride before the guests arrived.

This is me begining to open my wonderful gifts!

We received so many wonderful gifts. If I wanted to post about all of the wonderful ones I would have to post about all of them! The shower was a recipe shower so I received a recipe with each gift which was fun. My aunt gave me this wonderful Apilco duck terrine which I LOVE!

I had many people give me the blue ruffled Amile Henry bakers that I was registered for!
RAR gave me the turkey platter that goes with our Spode! This means that I can be in charge of Thanksgiving now!
Philip's mom gave us a cooking class for two at Sur la Table which I know Philip and I are going to really enjoy!

After the shower we went and bought Philip's wedding band. Isn't it pretty? Just kidding. I couldn't find a picture of what we picked for him but I did find this crazy ring! Can you imagine wearing all of that weight on you hand? It looks like something that Mr. T might own!

RAR and I flew back on Saturday afternoon so that we could go to an engagement party for a girl who I have known since I was 3 years old! On Sunday we went to meet with my friend's mom to talk about flower girl dresses. We finally picked a dress that I am so excited about. It looks like the dress below but we are going to have it made sleeveless. Houston in August is no place to make little girls wear something with sleeves! Oh my gosh! And they had strands of little pearl necklaces and bracelets for your flower girls that I of course love! It's never too early to get started on pearls!

It was a very fun and productive weekend! I only wish RHRB was there to share it with us. Luckily she will be flying down to Austin on Friday to meet me and my friends for my Bachelorette party this weekend! And after that we will get an entire week of her in Houston!

Oh and some very exciting news is that my dress is here finally and I get to go to my first fitting on Tuesday! Yay!

ML Good Job!

Ugh! I should be grading away right now. I really should, but I feel like I am in a coma after our meeting with the florist today. So instead I am going to gear up to grade by posting these three pictures. Monique Lhuillier's Spring 2009 collection of wedding dresses is now up on brides.com and I have to say that there are some great ones. In fact I think that there are better dresses than what she has had the past few seasons. Here are my top three dresses in order:

This first one is amazing! I would like to try this on even though I am totally in love with the dress I have bought!

This second one is beautiful! I don't think this would look wonderful on me but I do think it is very dainty and pretty!

I love this third one. I really can't imagine myself in this one but there is something I love about the ruffle on the bottom!

Ok, the Office is over and I need to go downstairs and grade. Yuck! Yuck, yuck, yuck!

On a fun note, I have a wedding shower on Saturday and I can post pictures of some of my gifts for my one reader who will not be at the shower! And I guess with that said, someone (RHRB or RAR) needs to post something soon or this is going to become my wedding blog!!

Shoes, shoes, shoes!!!

My big idea for my wedding was to have my something blue be my shoes! Blue is my favorite color and it only seems fitting that I add that as my something blue. I found these amazing dream shoes on the Barneys New York web site but have given in to the fact that they are unrealistic! They are pretty though!


So these Kate Spade shoes were a pair that I saw online and decided that they were perfect. The name of these shoes is "Lovely" which is great to begin with. The color is perfect with my dress and they are good for an August wedding.


Then I went to Nordstroms and found these. Ok, the big crystal on the toe is cheesy and I'm completely aware of this. However, it appears to be easily removable AND it looks like we could add a piece of lace from my mom's (RAR) dress OR some sort of added detail on the toe using some blue ribbon I bought because it is my favorite color of blue! So not only would I get pretty wedding shoes but I could have the little bit of blue I was wishing for! They look very white here but the ones that we bought are more of an ivory color which is perfect with my dress!

Then when the reception has been going on for a while and I am ready for a break I can slip into my new "babies"! Last time I was in Dallas I had a great lunch with PW at Mi Cocina and then we walked over to the Tory Burch store to check out the Reva flats and I picked these up as they are perfect with a dress I am wearing to a shower in June! So, if my feet are killing me at the wedding, and it doesn't kill RAR, perhaps I will slip into these!

I am thinking about . . .

I am having the hardest time thinking about anything but these things today:

NINFA'S

Mmmmm! I love Ninfa's! I wish that was for dinner tonight. And while I'm busy wishing I wish that there were no calories in the food or the Ninfaritas! For those of you wondering, if I went there for dinner tonight I would order a chicken Taco a la Ninfa and a margarita (or two!).

THE WEDDING

No this isn't my wedding dress but before I found "the one" I thought this could be it! I would say that I am at the point where the wedding is on my mind the majority of the time. Can it please just come? I'm ready!

FLOWERS FOR THE WEDDING
We haven't decided on flowers for the wedding yet and I feel like all I've done for the past few weeks is look at flowers on the internet and in books and magazines to get ideas! By the way, I love this bouquet!

PHILIP

Yep, I think I'm pretty ready for him to move down here! This is a picture from Cinco de Mayo last year at our friends' party! Notice the margarita in my hand? I wish it was there now!

SLEEP

I am SO tired! School has been very draining this year. I love my class to death but there are other things that have just made it a loooong year! And by the way these are the linens that we registered for at Restoration Hardware!

Monkey Cupcakes

For all of our two or three blog readers (who by the way already know this) here is where the name Monkey Cupcake comes from!

Part from my love of monkeys! We have Mayme and Sissy to thank for the start of the monkey obsession. Christmas Eve 1999 they presented us with stuffed monkeys that were so cute and it all started from there. I now have people give me stuffed monkeys, monkey posters, monkey erasers, monkey stationary, and many more fun monkey items!

The other part "cupcakes" comes from the excellence of a good cupcake. The particular ones in the picture were banana cupackes with chocolate buttercreme frosting. The cupcake part wasn't my favorite but I still make the buttercreme frosting if I make cupcakes!

Ask anyone (especially my neighbors in the Tri Delt house junior year of college) "I like monkeys!!!"

WOW..someone wiped my blog entry off the face of the internet!

Good going ye who seek to stop the TRUTH about a washing machine!

However the TRUTH IS THE TRUTH. I'm amazed this blog that barely anyone reads except its writers has been stopped from showing up on a google search about Whirlpool washing machine problems.

AMAZING!

DO NOT BUY WHIRLPOOL DUET ... DO NOT BUY WHIRLPOOL DUET

Hopefully some people have found my post about the NIGHTMARE I have been through with my WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE.
I didn't give all of the incredibly frustrating details in my attempt to have my machine fixed. Just know that I used one of the WHIRLPOOL RECOMMENDED REPAIR COMPANIES in Houston to fix it. THEY COULD NOT FIX IT, so their response after taking hundreds of my dollars was to say that there was nothing wrong with it. Despite that statement, THIS

WHIRLPOOL DUET washer WILL NOT RINSE THE SUDS FROM THE CLOTHES.
If it's NOT RINSING THE SUDS......THEN.......IT'S NOT RINSING THE SOIL from the clothes.


Therefore, The CLOTHES REMAIN FULL of SUDS......and DIRTY WATER.



WHIRLPOOL WILL DO NOTHING FOR ME.....................except set me up with

ANOTHER "RECOMMENDED" repair company.........who would then, and I'm only

guessing.......take more of my money and declare the machine - fine....................



WOULD YOU BELIEVE..............the recommended repair company sent me a SATISFACTION CARD in the mail today???

sample questions on survey:

Did we repair your appliance in a timely manner? Let's see ........... four months, and you didn't fix anything........ANSWER ..... NO

Was your appliance repaired to your satisfaction? Ummmmmmmmm.....NO.
You DID NOT FIX my Whirlpool Duet machine. YOU SAID IT WASN'T BROKEN, after hundreds of dollars of "repairs" that changed nothing about its operation, and after THREE MONTHS of working on it, appointments spread out over weeks, because that's when you could "get here". And of course the last extra month that you ignored me after you said you would call me back and talk about WHIRLPOOL and what you could do with warranties in such a situation. I HAD TO CALL YOU BACK ....... AFTER YOU SAID YOU WOULD GET BACK TO ME ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28TH, and that the boss, who was away, would get back to me the following Monday when he returned.

They say THEY VALUE ME AS A CUSTOMER, and they LOOK FORWARD TO SERVING ME AGAIN.

I can only assume that they run their business with the same lack of detail (none) that they use in sending out these surveys to people whom they KNOW ARE NOT SATISFIED. Gee, isn't there a file on me yet that says "WE WERE UNABLE TO REPAIR her WHIRLPOOL DUET"?......IF SHE CALLS....DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE.


The OTHER BIG QUESTION I have is - WHY DO the LOCAL REPAIRMEN HAVE TO CALL

THE WHIRLPOOL HOTLINE to get someone who can tell them what might be WRONG

with the WHIRLPOOL DUET when IT DOESN'T WORK? They are a REPAIR COMPANY! Is

this WHIRLPOOP (oops, typo....but not a bad name) DUET such a complicated mess that no

one but some geniuses on a hotline can possibly be taught how to repair it, and then not even, as

in my case? I have NEVER had a washing machine repairman, in the 30 years of owning

washing machines up until this WHIRLPOOP (uh oh, I did it again....totally not on purpose)

DUET who HAD TO CALL a "HOTLINE" to know what was wrong with a machine. NOT

ONCE......NEVER.


SO:


BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE


DO NOT BUY the WHIRLPOOL DUET

WARNING DO NOT BUY Whirlpool Duet washing machine

If this helps just one person to NOT BUY this machine...THE WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE....then it would be good. I wish I could make a site that would make it to everyone who would consider buying a WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE, so I could WARN them NOT TO BUY this machine.
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE DO NOT BUY
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE DO NOT BUY
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE DO NOT BUY
WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE

DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE

REPEAT DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE, THE WHIRLPOOL DUET

The house I bought under construction was built for this machine to fit under a counter in the laundry. Oh how I WISH I had CHECKED the INTERNET before purchasing it. OH THE PROBLEMS that the WHIRLPOOL DUET does have.
PROBLEMS PROBLEMS PROBLEMS
The repair company recommended in the WHIRLPOOL DUET manufacturer's guide (via a phone number) CANNOT FIX it.
The WHIRLPOOL HOTLINE DOES NOT GIVE ME ACCESS to their TECHNICIANS to ask them questions.
They say they will set up an appointment for me for another repair company, the ONE THEY REALLY RECOMMEND. I wish they would have really recommended them before I chose the one on the list recommended by the store that actually sold me the machine. Yes, I have tried so hard to do all the right things with this machine, that I wanted to use a company that was not only on the whirlpool list, but that had a good reputation with the store selling the machine. So I went to the store and they didn't hesitate to recommend Royal Appliance.
It's funny, but they didn't even have the WHIRLPOOL DUET on the selling floor anymore.
TOO MANY PROBLEMS, possibly?
This week I went back to the appliance store to ask about the machine, and told them of my problem with the repair company (whose name I did not mention) not being able to fix it,and they didn't hesitate to ask,"oh, was it A and E?"........mental note to self......."never use A and E"
They said WHIRLPOOL SHOULD REPLACE THE MACHINE IF THEIR RECOMMENDED REPAIR COMPANY COULD NOT FIX IT.
Well, their recommended repair company says there is nothing wrong with the machine. Isn't that convenient? Do you think they could be working together?
WHIRLPOOL makers of the WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE TO THEIR RECOMMENDED REPAIR COMPANIES, "Uhhhhh, if you can't fix a machine, just say it's not broken....yeah, that's good. Then we're all off the hook!!!!!!!! You, the repair company can rack up hundreds of dollars of repair fees, while not even fixing the machine, and neither you nor we - WHIRLPOOL are responsible. GENIOUS!!
And when the customer calls to say the WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE doesn't work, despite over $500 worth of repairs, WE WILL ACTUALLY OFFER TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH ANOTHER REPAIR COMPANY ON OUR LIST, so they, too, can rack up hundreds of dollars more worth of useless repairs. And we will tell the customer that this second repair company is the one that should have been called IN THE FIRST PLACE, because it's our number one recommended repair company, despite the fact that we do not dIstinguish them as such via our phone information. It's funny how their number one recommended repair company has a bad reputation with Factory Builders in Houston, the store of purchase of the WHIRLPOOL DUET.
I really wonder if they would make me go through all five of their recommended repair companies if they systematically could not fix the WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE.
I will never know.......it's tempting......because this is SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ....spending so much money to get the thing and $ 500 more to try to get it repaired, not to mention the inconvenience of the entire situation.
Oh how I long for my Sears Kenmore out in the garage, where I had to battle all the wildlife Houston has to offer (except for the coyote, thank goodness). I had to fight rain and cold and heat, but at least I could soak things, or add an item to the machine more than five minutes after starting, and I could tell if the machine was really getting the temperature water it was supposed to, AND my clothes were always clean. Not so with the WHIRLPOOL DUET.

DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE, THE WHIRLPOOL DUET WASHING MACHINE

The internet is full of problems that people have with this machine. My husband thinks any positive reviews were placed there by Whirlpool.

Our PROBLEM IT WILL NOT RINSE SUDS OUT OF THE CLOTHES

HENCE, OUR CLOTHES DO NOT EVER GET CLEAN!

REPEAT DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING THIS MACHINE!

THE WHIRLPOOL DUET = NIGHTMARE

And the most important thing about today is . . .

It's Mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday mom! We love you!

Go Coogs!

Yesterday we found out that PW got into the University of Houston for his MBA!!! And since I fully support U of H after going there to get my masters I thought I would give them a little tribute! GO COOGS!

If you had told me in high school or even the begining of college that I would have gone to the University of Houston for grad school I wouldn't have believed you. I really didn't know a lot obout it. However, I loved grad school and wouldn't mind going back (is it time for a PHD? You can call me Dr.!). I loved the friends I made there and I loved a majority of my professors, especially the one who was able to get me into a great school to do the student teaching portion of my degree. We don't know for sure if PW will end up there but I think it is a really good starting point! GO COOGS!

Wedding Inspiration!

As of today there are 144 days till the wedding! Yes, I have a day by day count down going on, I am that excited! My new favorite past time that seems to be sucking away pretty much every spare second I have is looking at other people's blogs to find some good inspiration. It is amazing all that there is out there. I tend to stick to the wedding blogs that somehow involve the words Southern or Preppy! It is amazing to see all of the wonderful ideas that people have!

One of my absolute favorite blogs to look at is Snippet and Ink! I love looking at the way all of the different elements are put together to create unique weddings.

I recently found these two pictures that have some elements that go along with what I have discussed with our florist. I absolutely love this cake! I like that the swags are similar to the ones on our china! I have already picked out my bride's cake and love it but I am unsure of my grooms cake. I am wondering if the cute greenery swags would look good on a square shaped, two tier, chocolate cake?

We had also discussed putting floral arrangements in urns instead of glass or silver vases. We have also discussed including topiaries. I found this cute picture that shows both!

This is the table fabric we will hopefully use on the tables and I love it! It is not what I ever thought I would want seeing that I am obsessed with the color blue but I get excited every time I see the swatch!

Our florist is going for an "English Country Garden" look. I could have and would have never come up with that idea for our wedding but I love everything we have talked about and I can't wait to go back and talk to her more!

And in my search for wedding inspiration on the internet I came across this funny blog, called The Groom's Truth, that is about wedding planning but from the groom's perspective. I forwarded it to PW and he claims that he thinks it is very funny!

Things that I am loving!

I recently have been on a dress buying binge! I love dresses because they are so comfortable and they generally fit me so much better than pants do. I recently bought two dresses from J. Crew that I LOVE! I bought this dress first in blue and then I saw it in the black with white polka dots and knew I needed to have it! I just need to figure out where to get some cute red strappy heels now! I don't think I can wear the blue one till it is Spring time but I think I can wear the black and white one if the temperatre gets warm again (even if I don't have cute red strappy heels)!


J. Crew is one of my favorite places to shop but for the past year or so I have not been excited about what they have had. Luckily for me (but not my credit card) they are back in action with the cuteness! Look how wonderful this blue dress is! If you can't see you must go to the website and look so that you can see the wonderful little dots all over the fabric. I want to wear it to my linen shower in June but I'm not sure I will be able to since there is a good chance I will have already worn it a million times by then! If it is warm enough, I will definitely wear it to church on Easter!
Lately I've also been having a furniture bug! It is ridiculous because I might not even be in my home in 6 months but I keep wanting to get things to finish decorating it. I am in love with this classic break front from Cottage Home but I think I would want it in a different color, probably a wood stain! I think it would be perfect to house all of the pretty things I (we, sorry PW) could possibly get for the wedding! I am pretty obsessed with the Cottage Home web site right now and look at it every once in a while and imagine where I could put things!


On one last happy note it is almost Spring Break when I get to go visit my wonderful sister RHRB and her husband AMB in NYC with PW. That is a lot of initials! Only 17 1/2 more days of school and I will have a whole week and two days off!