I'm alive and well!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Okay let's just cut straight to the updates.


MY WEDDING DRESS CAME IN AND THANK THE LORD ALMIGHTY IT FITS! I went with a dress like.... 4 sizes smaller than what the seamstress recommended and I'm glad I did because it fits and might even be a touch too big in certain areas. TAKE THAT TURKISH SEAMSTRESS! I think I'm only allowed room for ten more pounds of weight loss -- any more than that and I think I'll have to make major alterations. But the important thing is, the dress fits. And I love it!!!!




As of March 26th, I am officially a REGISTERED NURSE! Check it out y'all!

Thank you Delaware.

Gina, R.N. Ready for duty!

An oldie. But goodie. Nurse Gina -- in action!

Okay, this is obviously me giving CPR -- in style. :P

So yes, one hurdle down, two more to go! (GREs and the Canadian Boards!)


Back to wedding updates:
Invitations have gone out and RSVPs have been flooding in! Now I know that I can't expect EVERYONE to remember to RSVP on time so I'm going to wait until the beginning of May before I start stalking all those non-replyers. Le sigh. Not looking forward to it.

My bridal shower is set for APRIL 14th! My bridesmaids have been scheming away behind my back and I cannot WAIT to see what they've hatched up for me! I already got my invitation in the mail and it was everything I dreamed of and more! I believe the theme for the shower is French Boudoir. So. Freaking. Me. My girls know me so well. :P

The bachelorette party will take place July 14th, in Atlantic City, New Jersey and I am SOOOO looking forward to a spa/beach day and then partying the night away with my ladies! It'll be good to come back and see everybody before the wedding!

SO I OFFICIALLY SHIP OUT IN LIKE THREE WEEKS!!! AGHHH!!!!! It's been such a whirlwind year so far and I can't believe I'm so close to leaving the east coast! I'm ready for it though. The current tentative plan of action is to DRIVE ACROSS THE COUNTRY with my girls, Grace and Shirin. Quarter-life crisis roadtrip! Hollerrrr!!! We're thinking about taking 10 days to hit up Chicago, random cities in the middle that no one ever thinks about going to, Yellowstone, Portland, and then shimmy our way up to Seattle where we will part ways. I'm super stoked and I know that there will be TONS of planning required but I'm ready to take on the challenge and hope that everything works out for the best! I'll keep you all posted on the deets!

Brian and Mama Gregg are coming out to spend Easter on the east side! They'll be flying in on Saturday and then the plans for the next week include a trip to Amish town in Pennsylvania, NYC for a couple of days, Baltimore, and then DC. I know. It's gonna be a crazy ass week.

Meanwhile, Brian and I are still looking into the music details of our wedding. We're probably going to go with some basic party DJ who can't possibly f-up playing a list of songs over the speaker but we're also trying to incorporate some live music into the mix.... possibly during dinner time and for the first dances? I've been seriously loving this particular group Side One. Check them out and let me know what you think!

Okay I think I've covered all the important, major news/updates. Now that I've passed the boards and have only one job (I had to quit my hospital job at Christiana because you can't extern there once you pass the boards), I'm going to strive to blog more! I have tons more to write about!


Love you all!

Legit Grace

I love this picture.

Grace Kelly



Too gorgeous for words.

My newest toy and FIVE more dresses!

Dude. I am totally converted.

I am obsessed with my new french press thermos (Thank you fabulous future sister-in-law).

So. Pretty.



Essential for my mornings at the hospital.

 Definite recommend.

So yes, I am back to my busy bee little self. I had an orientation this morning at a veterans' hospital for the psychiatric ward there and then I had the rare occasion of having the afternoon off so Anneliese and I decided to hit up a bridal boutique for some more dress try-ons! Yayyyy!

For your viewing pleasure:

I forgot the name of this brand but the company not in business anymore anyways.

A very popular Maggie Sottero dress.

Don't remember the brand but it was my first taffeta dress!

Such lovely details!

An older Maggie. Twas vintage-pretty.



Honestly. Mags has the BEST destination gowns!

 I think this brings my dress count total to.... around 80ish? I've tried on a CRAPLOAD of dresses! HOLY MOLEY. I am still feeling like I haven't found "THE ONE" but just like the whole venue searching fiasco, I'm sure I'll cave at some point and pick a dress that I'm content with and slowly fall in love with it more and more as we get closer to the wedding date (I'm ECSTATIC about our Vancouver Art Gallery venue now!). All I have to do in the meantime is start saving up for my gown down payment!


Other exciting wedding news: The first wave of invitation samples are being sent to my house on Wednesday! SOOOOOOOOO looking forward to picking out the PERFECT invite and getting them out to my guests. Brian is working on the catering options and we've pretty much narrowed down our choices to two caterers (Culinary Capers and Savoury Chef). I'm leaving it up to Brian and Mama Gregg to do the tasting honors and determine which is better! Hopefully the menu will be setttled upon within the month and I will be able to get the invites out no later than November!!! We are well on our way! :)

Tomorrow will be GRUELING. I work the morning 7a to 3:30p shift at the hospital and then have to trudge on over to CIGNA for a few more hours. It's pretty much gonna be a minimum 12 hour work day. Whelps. Gotta start makin' that dough in order to supplement my painfully fabulous tastes!  Cheers to makin' that PAYPURR. Let it rain! :)

Victorian weekend and Wedding Dress Shopping with the In-Laws!

First and foremost: RIP Winehouse. You were so talented, no doubt about it. But my dear, you should've gone to rehab.


Had an AMAZINGGGGG time in Victoria! The weather in combination with the scenery was.... nothing short of breathtaking!!! Mucho sympathies go out to my loved ones on the east coast that have been hit with the heat wave. You survived the weekend and now you're experiencing more pleasant 80 degree weather.  Don't forget the sunscreen my friends!

Glorious view of the mountains en route to Victoria

So far, the mumsie and I have been blessed with an abundance of beautiful weather and I'm hoping that it will continue during me and Brian's (Brian and my? Mines and Brian's?) camping trip down the west coast next week.

So I was SLIGHTLY nervous about the meet-the-parents weekend but it couldn't have gone any better (Not that I really had anything to worry about in the first place)! Brian's parents were gracious as always and my mother was delighted by the beauty of the town.

While in Victoria, Brian's mother and sister joined us for brunch and a little girls' outing to the local bridal boutique. Although nothing was bought, it was fun to try on the dresses with the in-law input.

For your viewing pleasure, some snippets:

At Blush Bridal Boutique!

Mom being a ham

Waiting for me to pick out dresses

Heather and I oooing and aaahing over the gowns.

Mom's little sneaky attempt at snappin' some photos. This dress was ha-YUGE.

In the end I was extremely sweaty and my left nip was severely chafed from having to pull scratchy dresses on and off. OUCHHHH. So I was much obliged when the last dress was off. All the dresses I tried on were beautiful and it's getting more and more difficult to pin down a dress since I've tried on about 70 now. WHEW! They all start looking the same at this point but I'm hoping that once we narrow down a venue (Which is a whole 'nother post) I'll be able to narrow down my selection. It was starting to get crowded in the shop anyways so we moved on to bigger and better things... like getting ready for DINNER AT PAGLIACCI'S! :)

After dinner, we did a small tour of downtown Victoria inner harbor just so the breadsticks would settle and they were having a lovely busking festival and street market going on. It was a perfect night for a walk around town.

Pre-dinner walk

Post-dinner walk.

The Parliament Building

The ladies.

Mom and her statue fetish.

The monument that may or may not have always been there.

Blurry view of the Empress Hotel

More statues

Brian reppin' the awesome balloon I found.

On Sunday, we all went to church and had communion and while my mother had a little bit of difficulty keeping up with the readings and singing out of three books, she had a wonderful time (It was her first Anglican experience). She got a bit teary-eyed during communion because she was so moved and overwhelmed by the service (Our communions aren't quite so elaborate) and she thanked Miss Carol (Brian's mother) for inviting her to the service.

After church, Brian's dad made yummy yummy waffles and then we all packed up the car and said our goodbyes. Waffles are always a great ending to an amazing weekend.

We're back in Vancouver now and the mother is gettin' ready to leave for the airport. I'll miss her company but I have a Holistic Nursing final on Wednesday and I know NOTHING. If there are any hypnotherapy, reiki, or acupuncture experts out there, I am totally willing to pay for Skype lecture sessions!

I will probably spend the next few days studying and finishing this Stephen King short stories collection (Which is ehhh.... entertaining enough) and then early Saturday is when Brian and I will be embarking on the great outdoors! I'm excited and nervous and slightly scared. I just read an article on CNN on how four teens got mauled (While in WILDERNESS SURVIVAL CAMP) by a mother bear and her cub. Eek! Gotta brush up on my playing dead technique.

Of course pics will be amply provided for those who wait. :)


Viva la summer!

Elie Saab. Just kill me.

Too beautiful to even be fair. Sighhhh.....

If I had the balls....

I'd totally have a colored wedding dress.... But I'm too traditional for that and my mother would die.


But if but if but iffff...... Here's a few that I'd consider.



Zac Posen




Reem Acra



Oscar de la Renta

Marchesa

Romona Keveza

Back view

Gorgeous, aren't they? Perhaps when we renew our vows in ten years... perhaps. :)

Dresses that didn't make the cut

Here are just a few snippets of dresses that found themselves in the "reject" pile":

Alfred Angelo "Belle"

"Belle"

"Belle"

Alfred Angelo "Cinderella"

"Cinderella"

"Cinderella"

Vera Wang's "White Collection" at David's Bridal

Vera Wang's "White Collection" at David's Bridal

Pronovias

Pronovias - too small

Sottero & Midgley

Sottero & Midgley

I tried on some other Maggie Sottero dresses and found that I really like her line a lot! I think that Brian is getting closer to making a venue decision and then I can finally make some REAL progress on my dress search -- I've only tried on like 60 dresses! Haha!

Recent Wedding Obsessions

Obsession Number 1: Grace Ormonde's Wedding Blog 

I picked up one of her magazines on our way to Bermuda and fell. in. love. Quite possibly my favorite wedding magazine EVER!



Obsession Number 2: Bridal Gowns with Sexy Backs

Example: Check out Cymbeline's sexy number.

Example: My first love - Pnina

Drool.

Obsession Number 3: Jetsetter Website

It's not REALLY a wedding website but if we do resort to a destination wedding option, this is where I would book the place! This website lists availabilities from the most beautiful rentals in the world. And the best part? They provide discount prices for their members! :)


Obsession Number 4: Chicken Salad Anything

This is random. I have been on an insane chicken salad kick. Not grilled chicken salad or fried chicken salad. I'm talking about the gushy yummy mayo-infused stuff. I've been scarfing five of these a week!

You. In my belly. Now.

Obsession Number 5: Cat Eye Glasses

Takin' it back to the 1950's secretaries era!

Lookin' good Edna.



Trendy.



Marilyn dug it.

Prada's new cat eye sunglassses. These will be mine.