4/30/08

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!

4/24/08

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!

4/23/08

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!

4/17/08

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!!

4/10/08

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:


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!

4/8/08

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!!!"