kimmers for life

Wedding Bells and Summer Goals

I'm back, I'm married, and the wedding was every single thing we dreamed and more. It really was a fairy tale and I'm so, so glad we did it.

(Pics coming very, very soon.) (If you're my facebook friend, the professional "sneak peeks" are up!) (If we're not facebook friends... why is that?!)

I've also FINALLY staggered free of the Wedding Fog I've been in for the last, oh.... twenty months or so. For the first time in almost two years I actually have free time again! I get home from work and there is NO overwhelming Wedding To Do list facing me! I've been busy, but I haven't been under deadline, and I'm finding that this is a very important distinction.

Now that I have all this glorious free time, I'm looking forward completing the following goals this summer:

• Finally getting caught up on all of my scrapbooking, up to and including the honeymoon. This is a huge project because I am YEARS behind on my scrapbooking. It would feel so great to finally be current! I swear I take less pictures now because in the back of my mind I dread the bins and bins of pictures and materials piling up in my hall closet and silently judging me.
• Continuing to work toward my final weight loss goal. I made great progress before the wedding and managed to lose twelve pounds. Since the wedding and (16 day!) honeymoon, I'm back up four or five pounds. I want to get rid of those plus an additional ten, and I also want to continue to work on toning. In the two months before the wedding, Nick and I were at the gym for an hour or two nearly every day. This summer, we plan to walk outside with Dunkin every day after work, and make it to the gym for strength training three times per week.
• Really working on weeding out anything we don't truly need or at least use. We're hoping to buy a house in the spring, and I really want to move in with significantly less clutter than we currently have. We had a tag sale this weekend, and that was a great start, so we just need to keep up the momentum.
• Stick 100% to our newly created budget. (see above: house!)
• Going camping - Nick's mom has a campsite not far from here that we could use for free and somehow we just never make the time to actually go. This summer, I'd like to spend a weekend at the campsite with the pup and some friends.

Apart from all of that I really am so excited to have some downtime this summer to just relax and spend some quality time with my new husband(!!!) All this warm weather has me dying for a beach day!

What are some of your summer goals or plans?

And now... a few wedding pictures to tide you over!

Wedding Rehearsal:

 

The kiss!

 

Mickey makes an appearance at our reception!

 

Getting ready for our Fireworks Dessert Party with my bridesmaid Katrina:

 

Mr. & Mrs. Maule At the Fireworks Dessert Party :)

 

More to come soon!

To bang or not to bang?

I've realized I have a bit of an obsession. Every six months or so, I become completely fixated on the idea of cutting some sideswept bangs into my hair.

Inevitably, the bangs are an epic fail, for a multitude of reasons. First, my bang styling skills are nonexistant and my hair usually has pretty firm ideas about where it wants to part. The bangs look *GREAT* when I leave the salon, and progressively less great with every day that passes. Many days I am too lazy to style ANY of my hair and I just ponytail it. (Contributing to this laziness is the fact that Nick actually prefers my hair to be in a ponytail. I would need extra hands to count the number of times I have emerged from the bathroom with some style or other, only for him to chant, "Ponytail! Ponytail! Ponytail!" Yeah, I don't get it either.) Also, my hair grows freakishly fast and my average time between trims is about 4 months (because I trim when I color, and not before!). Obviously this leads pretty quickly to straggly, grown out, even harder to style bangs.

I've also spent several tortured, dedicated months growing out my hair in order to give myself plenty of style options for the wedding next May. I made a SOLEMN VOW to myself not to cut my hair (except for the occasional trim) until after the wedding. God knows I HATE growing out my hair, so do I really want to take a chance now on ruining all my painful progress? Also, do I really want to have bangs in my wedding pictures? If I don't, can they somehow be pinned back or concealed for the big day?

I also have this intense slight fear that cutting full bangs will suddenly make my forehead a total greasepit, and therefore Breakout City. (I do have sensitive skin but it's generally pretty clear about 25 days out of the month.)

Is it any wonder this bang thing never works out? It's basically doomed from the start.

Regardless, lately I've been feeling that old urge again, and a few recent movies featuring lovely ladies with bangs (I'm talking to you, When in Rome and The Backup Plan!) have only added fuel to this fire.

I'm thinking maybe if I went all out and got FULL bangs rather than attempting the side stuff, the styling would be easier and this would have a better chance of working out?

Here are some of my inspiration pictures:

So pretty, right?

I'm also loving how they look with an updo, and parted slightly to both sides. Cute! Good to know they still look nice if shoved to the sides a bit. Sometimes I have major Hair In My Face, Omg! issues.

This one gives me hope because it's probably a more realistic idea of what *I* would look like with bangs, as my hair is compeltely and utterly stick straight. I think this looks great.

I like the face framing layers here, and the fact that the bangs get a little longer at the sides. Also, Kristen has fine hair like mine, so this might be similar to how mine would look. (I have A TON of hair, but it's super fine and easily weighed down.)

Important: the bangs look good with a ponytail here! See further proof below.

Oh, the cuteness. I can't stand it. I <3 bangs today.

I have to wonder if I can really commit to full bangs though, when so many of my inspiration pictures featured the sideswept bang. See below:

Lovely. Although I do not have an ounce of curl (much to my dismay) which is a big part of the loveliness here.

 
This one is great all around. Love the bangs, love the layers, love the bounce at the ends.

I'm starting to think I might have a slight girl crush on Ms. Bell. Ahem.

I think the bangs are a *little* too sparse at the front here, but I'm loving the side view!

Ok now I need some help! Should I do this thing, or should I back slowly away from the scissors?!?!

And if you think I SHOULD make the big cut, do you have any advice for me?

 
 
 
 

You can basically sum up this post by saying I'm paranoid about MONEY

What are you paranoid about?

1. Falling back into debt and bad financial habits again in the future, after working so hard to get back on track.

2. Buying the wrong house. Paying too much and being forever stressed about making the payment. Paying too little and being forced to upgrade sooner than I want to. Buying too soon, before we can really afford it. Waiting too long and not getting as good a deal as we would now.

3. Spending too much on our wedding and regretting it 24 hours later. Letting the expense of the wedding push back when we can afford to buy a house.

4. Spending too little on our wedding and always regretting that.

5. Not selling my car quickly. Not selling it for enough to pay off the loan. Not selling it at all.

6. Making the wrong decision about the great debate with Dunkin's ears - To Crop or Not to Crop. Regretting it later either way.

7. Losing my job just as I'm turning things around financially. Ditto on Nick. In this economy you just never know.

8. Not getting the baby urge until it's too late and suddenly I'm either an old mom or no mom at all.

9. Never writing that book, because I don't have the time or it seems too overwhelming or I don't know where to start or I just plain don't believe in myself enough. Waking up one day and realizing I've lost any writing talent I ever had because I so rarely use that muscle where I used to flex it constantly.

What are you paranoid about? Head on over to Mama Kat's and link up! 

ETA: I'm overdramatizing somewhat here for the sake of the assignment... I assure you, there is plenty that I'm NOT paranoid about!

So send me a present, beeyotch!

An email conversation between my (formerly engaged) friend Jen and I.

Just in case Nick or Ray read this, I promise Jen and I almost never talk about things like engagement cards. Or rings. Or bridesmaids dresses. Or flowers. Mostly we talk about... shoes. And um, clothes. Totally.

***

Jen: Oh by the way, did you know that “we” got engagement cards after we got engaged? Because I never saw them!!!!

Me: Omg. What are engagement cards??? Are they like, cards you send out to friends and family to let them know you got engaged?! Because that is awesome. I love how it subtly says, "so send me a present, beeyotch!"

Jen: Haha no. They were “congratulations on your engagement” cards. I never saw them! I never knew they existed! And he sends me a text the other day “I just found our engagement cards” wtf????

Me: Hahahaha... oh I like the other kind sooooo much better but hey that's still good! Although I think it's slightly insane that you didn't even know you'd gotten any! 

Jen: I like your idea. I’m going to file that away and use that in the future! J hehe

Me: Seriously how perfect is that! It's like those cards you send out when you've changed your address. Like on the front it'd say "Just an FYI..." and then on the inside "WE'RE ENGAGED!!!" and in smallish letters under that would be your address. You know, just in case they need it. TO SEND A GIFT.

And then you'd officially be up to THREE gifts per friend/family member... engagement, shower, wedding. WIN. 

Jen: Hey you don't have to convince me, I wanted to have an engagement party right after we got engaged and then have another one down the road hoping that people forgot about the first one!

Me: This is so why we're friends. And I'm totally throwing you an engagement party when you get engaged.

Jen: Can it be black tie?