I’m a guest blogger again!

Cherrye at My Bella Vita is still stateside, so I’m guest blogging again.  Come visit me over here.

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Slowly but surely

I have acknowledged on occasion that I am a bit of a pack rat sentimental. I don’t know what it is, but in my mind, I fast forward and think “someday I might need/want this.” I am getting better and in the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a little weeding out of the stuff. I’ve decided that I don’t need to keep bunches of old t-shirts with the idea of turning them into a quilt (or 2 or 3). So I’ve pared down. I went through these stacks…

and kept the ones that have the most meaning to me (that I could still possibly make into a quilt someday), and ditched the ones that don’t. I’m tossing more than 50 shirts in this first go round. But I couldn’t resist taking some pictures…for the memories.

This one is from when I was on a league swim team between my 7th and 8th grade year.

This next one is from my orthodontist. Thanks mom and dad for paying for the beautifully straight teeth I have today.

A greek week shirt from college.

And a souvenir from the trip I took after I graduated from college.

Anyone have tips on cleaning out and organizing memories? Is there anything you’ve thrown out that you wish you had back?

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Bridal Show Tips

As promised!

1. Bring at least 2 people with you. The Houston Bridal Extravaganza Show is apparently the largest in the US and had around 600 companies and 900 booths. You’ll need the extra hands for holding stuff and the extra moral support. It was a 3 person job, one to check out the booths and talk to people(me!), one to be in charge of the labels and door prize entry tickets (sis, see #2), and one to hold the literature (mom).

2. Address labels. Make your own at home and include both the bride and groom’s name, address, phone number, email address and wedding date. At the end of the very first row they had someone selling labels. If you tried to hand write all the requests for information and the giveaway entries, your hand would probably, literally fall off.

3. Set up a new email address. For all the responses and/or junk you might receive. Or you could just use one of the fiancé’s least used, fantasy football email addresses.

4. Be wary. It sounds like a great deal when (Insert name of Large Budget Bridal Wear Store here!) wants to give you a $100 gift card…yeah, for signing up for X number of bridesmaid dresses and putting a deposit down, and scheduling a fitting THAT DAY!

5. And be ready to say “no thank you.” Just remember, there are thousands of other people who will be talking to them throughout the day, so they won’t remember you or take it personally if you aren’t interested in what they are offering.

6. Don’t get too overwhelmed. You could book yourself a $100,000 wedding in no time between the table linens, invitations, DJ, venues, bride & groom tshirts, honeymoons, ice sculptures and especially photography. A lot of things will seem SOOOO GREAT, and a $5,000 photography package will begin to seem reasonable, but don’t let it get to you.

7. Bring a stapler. It sounds dorky, but will come in handy when you realize every place gives you at least a business card and a flyer. Keep everything organized by stapling it together. (This is where the extra person would come in handy!) Or if you don’t want to bring the stapler to the show, staple everything right when you get home.

8. Make notes of things you like on the flyers or brochures. It will help you later when you are trying to sort through the mess (remember we came home with 16.5 pounds of wedding related literature!)

9. Wear comfortable shoes. This one sounds obvious, but we were there for 4 hours and walked 18 aisles. Your feet WILL start to hurt by the end regardless of what shoes you wear, but your feet will thank you if you start out in something comfortable.

10. Have fun! Don’t be afraid to try get in the photo booth or try out air brush makeup.

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Bridal Extravaganza

Extravaganza is an understatement.  Bridal MONSTROSITY might be a better word, but I think that might intimidate people.  Extravaganza sounds awesome, monstrosity not so much.  I could tell you about the beautiful wedding facilities, or the delicious cake, or even all the drawings I entered.  But that wouldn’t be as much fun as sharing some of the more fun pictures.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin carriage.  Probably not.  This is also the “before” picture.

The front of the shirt said “COUGAR” in rhinestones.  So wrong in so many ways.

Yes, the GUY in the background is wearing a girdle-like undergarment OVER his clothes.

Mom and …

Sis and me after 4 hours, 16.5 pounds of wedding literature, more than 900 display showcases, and tens of thousands of other brides-to-be.  This is going to be a long process.  And I still have to sort through all the literature.  Coming tomorrow…tips for attending monstrous bridal shows!

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Just Plain Nasty

The pictures I am about to show you speak for themselves, but I can’t help but providing you with commentary.

This was so terrible, when I saw it I just had to buy it to blog about. It only put me back 99 cents.

It looks SOOO unappetizing. People can’t actually be buying these to eat.

Do you see the moldy looking spot? It’s actually a faux sesame seed. Thankfully (ha) it is fat free, cholesterol free and low sodium.

And it only has 343 calories per serving. Which, in case you were wondering, is 43 calories MORE than a regular McDonald’s cheeseburger.

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Summer is Here

And it is hot as hades here in Texas. My car said it was up to 106 on Sunday but i only got a shot of when it said 103.

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