to bee or not to bee

weddingbee that is.. or should I say "to blog or not to blog." It seems I can only do one or the other. I blame both of these (blogging and beeing) on one person and one person alone... MRS.GEBELY!!! :-) I say blame... but I really mean "thank" because these two things along keep me entirely entertained while "bored" at work. Ahhh yes and one more vice of mine to blame again on Mrs. Gebely... ETSY!! :-)


Many things have progressed since I last posted. I have found and fallen in love with the very opposite of a BM dress I had envisioned... then again I purchased the wedding dress opposite my vision. So it seems to be the method to my madness I guess. I would post a pic, buuuut I'll let everyone else suffer. MUAHAHAHHA... mother and the BM's have seen the pic of the dress, which I have ordered a "sample" of and by sample I mean, I ordered a dress for my own personal collection. haha! So its really a win win situation for me here... :-)


Yes, I have also ordered a TON of items.... which I will now list in no particular order...

-reception crocs (gauk if you must, I AM a croc kinda gal, $19.99 e-bay)
-save the dates!!! (magnets designed by michael and yours truly apx 30cents a peice, vistaprint)
-photosharing cards (freeeee, vistaprint)
-a free pen. (for the wedding tree, v.p.)
-return address labels (like $7 for 420 of them, v.p.)
-a possible BM dress (30dollars, some website)
-RSVP postcards (freeee v.p.)
-20 yards of tulle (50%off one item from jo-ann total $13. SCORE!) this will be used to tie reserved cards around chairs for the fam (ie Mother of bride, mother of groom, yada yada yaa) and who knows? I <3 tulle!!! Maybe some tulle roses? Yeah, love them too... tulle tulle tulle!
- A GARTER SET!! (from etsy of course) its PINK! (just for fun) and is adorned with, you guessed it! STARFISH! <3 ($20, I could've got a cheaper uglier one from ebay but since I saved so much money on the above items I figured I'd splurge, yes $20 is a splurge for this thrifty lady!)
-A ring shell... let me explain... its a shell that has a closure.. like a little make up compact but made out of a shell to hold our wedding rings! its adorable! and from the same seller as the garter so she offered to customize it a bit for me and refunded some shipping costs. <3 etsy! ($15 also a splurge, mike and i have all kinds of trinket boxes and such but this one was just too cute)
-YESS my something BLUE! You'll never guess what it is, I dare you... *insert guess here* ... wrong!! :-P But I'll tell you anyway... I got underwear (from etsy) that say "Mrs.Hartman" in blue!!! (I don't disclose my underwear prices. lol)
-Stuff to make a fascinator birdcage veil... I already had the netting... I just bought a rose and some baby's breath from a.c.moore. That is an in-progess project, the flower adorned with starfish is complete, with help from Ms. Malkemes. I just need to pick up a hair comb then I can make the veil part.




My newest obsession stems from an etsy/ebay/google search for "opal wedding bands".... Although I already purchased a wedding band from ebay I found an opal wedding band... *drool*

this could also be my something blue... unfortunately the only size available is an 8. Well, that's double my ring size... Yes, I'm a 4. Call me tiny-finger-tara... it is rediculously hard to find opal rings in a size 4. *sigh* This ring is $15... why oh why can't we all have tiny fingers like tara?!

Also, my "flower flavor of the week." Well, roses are a must for our wedding.. I LOVE roses... the accompanying flowers have yet to be determined. This week the flavor is Daisies!!!

this is my ultimate inspiration bouquet!!! I love the reds and pinks and the baby's breath!! <3 So in love with this.. I hope I can recreate it, I would swap the pink roses out for peach roses and add... yes yes I know its a little predictable at this point, starfish! Peach roses were my nana's favorite! and they also match the starfish :-) looove it

1 song.

There is one song and one song only that I love on the radio right now and its Matisyahu "one day"

Now let me give you some background on this awesome artist. He is an orth0dox, jewish, reggae-singer who beatboxes.

youtube him, please. He's amazing.

I've seen him 4 times in concert I believe... Twice at Bonnaroo, once with 311 and once somewhere else... Anyway... he's amazing and I think you should all fall in love with him too.

Mad props to Matisyahu, doin' his own thing and being amazing at it. I love him, his music, his lyrics... he's amazing!!!!!!!! ANND I'm so glad they interupt the Miley and Lady Gaga with his music, atleast like 3 times during my work day. It really does make things more bearable!!!

Did I ever mention how much I love reggae??? Probably not... but I do, I adore it it makes my heart beat, and my toes tingle and gives me that "just before happy tears" feeling. I want to listen to some marley, some peter tosh or something riiiight now. Thank you Ja for creating reggae. Also, thank you for creating sushi, peaches, carbonated beverages, oreo's, skittles, the ocean, ranch dressing, Michael, Pepito, Thor, Rocky (rest his soul), Gus, Princess, our house and everything in it.. and thank you for helping me find Michael... although the road was long and windy the journey was worth it and to the victor go to spoils or something... Life is good and I am thankful for everything... Especially the 43 degree weather that made me that much more sure winter doesn't last forever and matisyahu, always thank you for matisyahu. <3 oh, and water and sunshine and flowers :-)

very very sad news...

Something very sad and unexpected happened to my family today... A very good friend of my oldest brother and his wife passed away in her sleep. I hope she did not suffer... she was a very good person... loving and kind, without her I may not have my brother and sister-in-law the way they are today. Please pray for all her family and loved ones... the world will never be the same... we will never forget you. I hope your soul is at peace. The world has been a better place because of you.

rest in peace.

my first tutorial :-)

...and my first official DIY!

My birdcage veil ;-)

Total cost: about $5

Total labor: About 2 hours (in reality with playing with the dogs, cooking and 1 do-over)Total Actual labor: about 30 mins

Materials....

Needle and thread (already had it...)
Barrette/ hair comb or headband (already had it)
14 x 9 peice of russian netting (e-bay $4)
3 starfish (already had it)
2 pearls (super cheap, already had some though..)
little "mother of pearl" lookin' sea shells (e-bay 100 for $5, I used like 10)
Scissors (hah had them too)
Hot glue gun with glue of course (best $2 I ever spend like 9 years ago)
Gorilla glue (not pictured, $.99) there's glue in that pic. that didn't work. damn you billy mayes.

Instructions
First cut the netting, at first I had a 14 x 14 square... it was just too full for me so I then made it 9 X 14. I also cut the corners off... so the netting shape was like a house with the roof tip cut off.

Thread a need through it, going through each diamond in the netting.

Gather the netting. Hot glue to whatever you're using that's going to hold it in your hair. I'm only wearing mine for the ceremony so I figured whatever I could find in my bag o' tricks was good enough. I found one of these

I hot glued the gathered veil to the top. Tried it on to make sure it was the right length and volume for me..

Then I assembled the starfish, shells and pearls on a nail file... A popsicle stick or a tongue depressor would have been ideal, but we're snowed in... so I improvised.

Finally I hot glued the nail file to the barrette.

TADA!!!

escuse my lack of make-up and my poor poor attempt at an up-do. lol

Snow day!!!

Well, I'm pretty sure the snow is waist deep now... we went out at noon and I was up just past my knees... Pepito was completely sumberged in snow when he jumped off the porch... and even Thor was up to his chest!!

Weekend recap

Well, my prayer to Chuck Norris must have worked... because 9:30 am I got a phone call... I was really excited because I thought for sure it was a "don't come into work today call..." BUT I was wrong. It was a "Tara, I'm barfing my brains out please come to work early..." So, I got my little patootie out of bed and drug my tired ass to work. Now, the good part about this was I got out of work before the snow came!! HORRAY! That was my plan all along. So, I lost no hours of work and got to come home early! So Michael, Ryan and I went out to play at Cousins and had some draaaanks. It was a fun evening. The drive home was a big scary... but we made it!

Well, woke up on Saturday morning and had a SERIOUS craving for pizza!! So Mike and I went to the Westy for some grub, delicious, delicious grub. After we got home I hopped on the book of face and sent Channy a message. "Come to the Royals game with me!! One of the players gave me tickets!!!" Well gee, you guys know me I never turn down free tickets to a hockey game!!! So we went, they lost, but it was a good game. I had to explain some of the rules to Chantal lol but we had a lot of fun. Our inner cheerleader always comes out at sporting events, we can't help it! So it was really down to the wire... like 2 mins left in the 3rd and it was 3-2 elmira after the royals some how pulled off a shorthanded goal. They pull their goalie, and are shorthanded again and take like 46 shots on goal in a minute, I swear. STILL LOST.

Well, 3 blue moons to the wind, Chantal did donuts in the Works parking lot, then we met up with Evie and headed to Legends for some draaaaaanks and shots shots shots shots shots!!! What an eventful evening with the Royals it was! I literally have a stiff neck from looking up at these 6'5" guys. The list of drinks that were partying it up in my system included but are not limited to... dirty bong water, miller lite, snake bites, strawberry blonde, red headed sluts, something blue, something green, jager bombs and (this last one is beyond me) a bloody mary.

After the bar we went over to some Royals' house. One of them still had their Christmas tree up... well me being inebriated couldn't stop making fun of the out of season Christmas decor... and I ended up angering some girl... but whatever "Hunny, its FEBRUARY!!!"

Oh yes, the quest for someone's keys... we'll call her "SDC" I won't tell you what it stands for... anyway... at some point in the evening drunk SDC gave her keys to drunk Chantal. We'll keep it at that for the time being. So SDC cannot find her keys. Chantal does not have them... and at this point is sleeping like a baby on the couch. We check her purse and her person... no keys in Chantal's possession. So SDC cannot get home to her kid, the only reason I mention this is because if I had to hear "I just want to see my daughter" one more time I thought my brain might have turned to liquid and drained out my ear, eyes, nose and mouth. So, Evie, probably the nicest girl in the world agrees to take SDC home to ALLENTOWN from Reading. Mind you Ev had already driven from Hamburg, to The Works, to Legends, to Sinking Spring, BACK to Legends and is now going to drive to Allentown and then Hamburg... what a trooper. So the whoooole ride home I had to hear SDC bad mouth Chantal, 2nd in command of my bridal party, over and over again. So I'm biting my lip the entire time trying not to SPAZZ out on this girl for talking shit on my bff. So she's going on and on and on about how Chantal's so irresponsible and "SHE LOST MY KEYS!!" and "I JUST WANT TO SEE MY DAUGHTER!" Here's the kicker.... we get this chick home... and where are her keys? HER BACK POCKET!!!!!!!!!! HER BACK FREAKING POCKET!!!!!! Well, atleast SDC gave Ev $20 for her trouble... but we were like... awe-struck... UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE!!!

So the saga's not over mind you.... I lost my phone in all this mess and Chantal lost her keys too. Now, we KNOW they are not in our pockets or in the car... So we have to venture back to Sinking Spring in the morning to retrieve our lost belongings and Chantal's car. Successfully, mind you. Keys and phone were in this kids apartment. Sooo us being the girls we are, being so close to the mall went on a little shopping trip. I'm very proud of myself, I only spent $32 at Victoria's Secret. That's a record for me, believe it or not... this is something hubby seriously undecided about, my addiction to under-things... lol

So, now for the ride home... again, the saga continues, lol. We're cruising along on Rt 61 in Lessport and BAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGGG CRASH RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE CLANKING CLUNKING PUTTER PUTTER *car turns off* Well, they say you learn something new everyday... transmission fluid is red?? red. Yes, very very red and you can especially tell that when it is POURING out of the bottom of someone's car onto the snow. Chantal's car looked like it had her montly visitor all over the shoulder of highway. Luckily, her aunt has a tow-thingy and we were in front of Raymour and Flannigan. So we browsed at the expensive furniture we can't afford... before some RUDE ass lady says "Um is your car blocking our entrance?!" I wanted to tell her to shove it... but we just said "no, its on the shoulder..." your prescious entrance is fine you dumb lady. GAH, thanks for caring about our unfortunate situation. PS. Get the stick out of your ass... I know how awesome it is to sell furniture all day, but don't take it out on us, we just want to sit on your overpriced couches instead of standing out in the cold. We ended up sitting in the vestibule for like an hour before they got there... then we had to PUSH THE CAR off the shoulder into the parking lot and get it on this tow-thingy... That took forever. Then we took the car to the garage, where the guy looked at it for a little bit.. apparently its a THOUSAND DOLLAR problem... freaking transmission, poor Channy.

So, then we went over to Foreman's to catch the last 3 quarters of the super bowl. Did I mention I hate football ever? Well, I didn't used to... but I recently developed a distaste for it. I was supposed to go out and visit my college friends in Allentown, but since I got home so late I wouldn't have made it out there til after like, halftime... So I stayed closer to home and enjoyed some famous Gray's buffalo chicken dip mmmmmmm.

So, ever since the snow I've been EXTREMELY cold. I cannot warm up... No matter how much clothing I have on. I took a 45 min scalding hot shower last night and that helped a lot.. but now I'm flipping freezing again. Please spring, hurry up, I hate doing so much laundry!

LAST paragraph, I promise. Mike and I went to see Blue Falls Grove today. <3 ittttt and <3 the lady who is in charge she's such a cute little old lady. And I loved her dogs too!!!! So yes, I did some napkin searching today... because yes, we can BUY napkins for 69 cents, instead of renting them for $1. Which also gives us the option of embroidering a monogram or something on them too! How cute!!!

Never ever ever a dull moment... I stick by that, I always will.

what a day

Well, I woke up with a horrific migraine at like 7am. Took some advil, didn't help, tried to sleep... took a shower, threw up a little... my mom brought me excedrine migraine... that helped a little. I'm feeling pretty good now. I actually got a lot done today, wedding stuff of course.

I drafted a copy of wedding invites... I guess I can share... :)

I also found my ceremony shoes!!!!! AHHHHH I'm really excited about this. I found them at Macy's for 45 then did some cyber shopping around and got them at BonTon for 23!!! (on my bonton charge... which is nice)

I was looking for ruffle-y shoes, since my dress has some ruffles, which I never thought I would like... ruffles seemed so tacky! Buuuut I'm in love with my dress and I'm in love with these shoes! Now I just have to find some nice red ruffley flats or sandals to wear for the reception. I literally have never been so excited about a shoe purchase in my life. I have a feeling I'm going to have to take these over to Momma's house when they arrive... or I'm surely going to wear them somewhere. <3>

I would like to formally thank Pepito and Thor for keeping me company all day while hubby was at class. What good pups we have... so loyal. :-)

I'm hoping and praying that by some miracle of god that I don't have to work tomorrow... not because I don't want to work... Buuuut because I don't like to drive in the snow. I would now like to take this time to say a prayer to Chuck Norris, please Mr. Norris use your awesome powers to cancel work tomorrow. I will be forever greatful. Thank you, your loyal fan, Tara.

really need to start editing my typos

So there are a few things on my mind... lol

#1 I always hit "publish," "comment," "send," what have you without proof reading first. I really need to stop that.

#2 Red shoes. Red red shoes. I'm searching high and low for my dream wedding shoes. Red shoes. Red shoes. Red shoes. And by high and low... I mean heels and flats! Ideally, I would like flats... but ideally, I'd be a few inches taller. What a predicament!

#3 Taking pictures of my e-ring! So apparently I didn't get the memo... haha people take a million pics of their rings. So I have a few ideas for mine, I plan on doing this tomorrow before work. Of course... starfish, tie dye, maybe on my crocs lol, with the dogs, on my fav jade plant... any other ideas??

#4 Personalized match boxes. I found an awesome tutorial on making "stickers" with coordinating colors and just cutting and adhering. PERFECT, cheap, and sooo cute. Mike and I talked about having a "cigar bar" which is really going to be a personalized bowl (from etsy of course) with cigars in it. Plus, there will be candles everywhere and some people like to blow them out and relight them when they get bored? I dunno, I'm trying to justify putting in the effort to make them... wait a sec... half my friend smoke cigarettes... perfect. Yes, I think matchbooks are a must. *smirk*

#5 My birdcage veil!! Hmmm do I buy a plain one off etsy and decorate it myself? Or do I just buy the netting off ebay and make my own?? Decisions decisions!! I would like english netting... which is hard to find even on e-bay... hmmm

#6 A basket full of flip flips for guests with achy feet. Hopefully I can find random sizes on super discount for like... a nickle. lol I found another tutorial... guess where?!? I dare you.. guess?!? Weddingbee of course... the bride used shelf paper to make the flip flops match her theme. How stinking cute!?

#7 Well, I just had the cutest idea earlier. I talked it out with Amanda... and what I mean when I say that is... I talked at Amanda and she looked at me confused-like. Then when I stopped babbling and clarified she agreed. Sometimes I just need to verbalize things... then they make sense. So, when the guests come into the reception hall... instead of unleashing 200+ people into the ocean of place cards (on wine bottle corks) I had a stroke of genius! Picture an empty wine bottle, with a cork in it, a-top the cork a number, on the label of the bottle the list of guests at that table! So people come in, find their name on a bottle, with a corresponding corked-number and then go find their table number and sit at their seat with the place card (on a wine cork). Yay or nay?

#8 I don't know who I'm asking questions to again... Well Andrea, of course! So Dear FSIL when you read this post, shoot me a comment or e-mail! haha

#9 I'm STARVING and I forgot to "pack a lunch" so either I have to resort to my emergency work rations... applesauce and macaroni and cheese... or do I dare venture out into the world outside ICO and search for something? *sigh* Anyone, anyone out there? Please bring me a salad, or a chicken Cesar wrap, or some sushi. Thank you.

-Love the Future Mrs. Hartman. ;-*

p.s. I proof read this time.

"The One"

Ah yes, reference to Andrea's blog here (thegebelys.blogspot.com) on Saturday a failed attempt to bridal shopped due to my awful work schedule ended with the entertainment of me trying on Andrea's dresses. Dress 1: The Crusher! lol definately couldn't breath or move my arms in this dress but it was gorgeous and made me look like I had the tiniest little waist ever!!! Dress 2: Andrea's dress! Loved it, but I didn't feel like "mine" well cause, it wasn't lol. Very gorgeous and I love everything about it except that it just didn't... feel right? Now I know no one reads this damn blog... so its pointless to ask questions to myself... but Know what I mean??

So I wake up Sunday apx 1:30pm... call up mom "hey what ya doing wanna go to lunch?" "lets go to David's bridal call and see how late their open.." Call David's "can you be here by 3?" "sure?" "Mom, we have an appt at 3." "Maybe dad will take us" well yes, daddy played taxi driver for us and I'm glad he did.

Dress #1 very similar to my maggie sottero hampton I adore(d) so much... Love(d) it. lol
Dress #2 love(d) it now its between 1 and 2
Dress #3 love(d) but still ike 1 and 2 better
Dress #4 ehhhh not so much
Dress #5, 6, 7 ehhh not as much as I love(d) #1!
Dress #8 we have a contender!!!
Dress #9 doesnt even compare to 1 or 8

Try them on again...
#1 still love it... but ehhh
#8 this time in a 2 (not a 4) with a birdcage veil and pearls. Holy crap. I love this dress. But its nothing like anything I pictured...

Soo... when thinking of my "dream dress" 3 things came to mind... pick up skirt, lace up back, sweet heart neckline.... which lead me to think that "maggie sottero- hampton or andrea" were the right dress for me. Now, I'm more than a "hippie at heart" I'm a straight up tie-dye, croc wearing, composting, gardening, enviro-science, roll in the dirt, barefoot, rock-climbing fool. So, here I am trying on dresses and I'm trying on pick up skirts with intricate beading and trumpet dresses, ones with broaches and lace and yada yada yaaaa.... Well, they were all gorgeous and they all looked gorgeous on but I felt like a Barbie... and last time I checked Matel hasn't come out with dirt-worshipper Barbie! So I try on all these dresses and loved them all but they just weren't for me. Then, a light came shining down from the heavens *aaahhhhhhh* and God's finger pointed to this Galina halter on the sale rack (dress #8). Well thats not really what happened... but it was in the mix of dresses madre and I had picked up to try on at first. So I tried it on, while my mom was in the bathroom... oddly enough I didn't need any help with this one... So I step out of the dressing room... take a look and think "wtf? this dress is nothing like anything I wanted... but I freaking love it!" I kept that dress on for a while... everyone around me agreed it looked great. I had a 4 at first... then switched to a 2 (which still needs to be taken in.) The girls surrounding me seems irrirated to say the least... I heard the one say something under her breath about my "measurements." Considering I'm a D cup and a size 2, I don't blame her lol. Plus, I liked every dress I tried on... the 3 girls surrounding me hated everything they put on. Anyway! I loved it, but wasn't so sure about buying it immediately... so then I asked for a birdcage veil and instantly fell. in. love. Again with the lights shining down from heaven... ahhhhhhhhhh! Then, I asked the seemstress to show me how it would look bustled, and I fell in love even more. Then of course, the final touch a string of pearls! *ahhHhhhh* I felt gorgeous, and I felt like myself! So I called FSIL and txted her a picture for reassurance. Also, since my dad was playing "taxi driver" and took mom and I there I summoned him and made him come look at the dress. At this point, mom, dad and the lady who was helping us were crying. I'll admit I teared up when I saw dad reach for the tissue. So we bought the dress! With 17 months to go. Fiance gave me a blank check (what a lovely future husband) since he knew I wouldn't spend a penny over our budget, I'm just good like that. Now that's trust... give your fiance a blank check to go wedding dress shopping? What a perfect future husband. I can't wait for everyone to see ittttttt.....

Its a the parent's house so I don't put it on and walk around in it. LoL I know I would have that problem... just like I did with the wedding band. So yay! bought a dress, that I love and wasn't too expensive. I'm a happy bride :-)

and now.... we wait. *sigh*