Bridesmaid Dresses = DONE

Pheeeeew!

I am breathing a sigh of relief.

After work today, my mom and I headed to a nearby bridal boutique to officially finalize the plans on the bridesmaid dresses for our upcoming wedding.

My six bridesmaids will be wearing a one-shoulder Jim Hjelm dress in cashmere/champagne color.

The dress…

The Dress!

Jim Hjelm Bridesmaid Dress

The color…

Cashmere Color

 (The color looks a bit lighter in this photo… It’s definitely a richer color in person.)

The beading and flowers on the dress in the picture of the black dress will not be featured on our bridesmaid dresses because I could not get the dress in the right color with those appliqués attached. I may try to find a whimsical flower or something pretty and romantic to attach in place of the absentee flowers, but I love the dress without it as well.

Now the girls just need to submit their measurements and order their dresses and we’re good to go!

Dinner

After the bridesmaid dress success, my mom and I headed home for dinner.

We went straight into the kitchen where I got to work on the sides. Ryan headed out back to make us burgers on the  grill, using lean ground beef that he seasoned with garlic salt.

While preparing dinner, I couldn’t help but snack on some Stacy’s extra cheese soy crisps.

Stacy's Soy Crisps

As a side, I prepared roasted broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini.

Veggies

Ryan’s burgers turned out great and we enjoyed them on honey wheat Pepperidge Farms deli flats.

Burger

My Plate

A simply delicious meal enjoyed with two simply fantastic people!

My mom brought a bag full of bridal magazines with her for us to flip through, so I’m off to curl up on the couch and fold over some pages! 😀

Two Dresses

Since we finished printing and compiling our save the dates last night, I’ve been in wedding-planning mode! I like the feeling of checking things off my to-do list. 😀

After work today I headed to Something Blue Bridal Boutique to meet with Lori to discuss the bridesmaid dress I fell in love with back in April.

I had a couple of concerns regarding the color and the design and wanted to make sure all of my issues were addressed before fully committing to the dress.

Lori isn’t sure if the dress I like is available in the cashmere color I want, and will be calling to check on Thursday.

While I was at the boutique, I browsed some of the other bridesmaid dresses and really liked a pretty, whimsical dress by Alvina Valenta.

Alvina Valenta Dress

Here is a ghetto photo-of-a-phone photo of me in the dress:

Photo of a Photo

I really love how romantic an flowy this dress feels.

If the one-shoulder Jim Hjelm dress is not available in the cashmere color I love, the above dress may be a contender.

To jog your memory, or if you are new to the blog, here’s a picture of the Jim Hjelm dress:

Jim Hjelm Dress

Which one do you like better?

I really love both dresses though they look completely different!

Dinner

Since I arrived home later than usual, I wanted to get dinner on the table fast.

Enter, frozen pizza.

CPK White Pizza

Ryan and I are huge fans of the California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas and the crispy thin crust white pizza is one of the best.

The pizza cooked up in 10 minutes, and we enjoyed several slices with roasted broccoli on the side.

White Pizza Slice

Roasted Broc

Dinner

Dinner was fast and tasty… Just the way I like it.

I’m off to read my book for a bit before hoppin’ into bed. See ya in the morning!

Meeting My Wedding Dress Designer

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Clifford Hjelm (also known as James Clifford or Jim Hjelm), the designer of my wedding dress.

Jim and Me

He was such a fun guy!

He was very complimentary of the dress I chose and even offered to send me a sketch of my gown! I thought that was really neat and I can’t wait to frame it. 🙂

While we were at the boutique, we took advantage of the loads of bridesmaid dresses on display and had my sister (who will be my maid of honor) model several of them.

We liked several different dresses but loved one.

Bridesmaid Dress Front-Runner

The Jim Hjelm one shoulder chiffon dress could be the bridesmaid dress, though would want to change a couple of things, such as remove the beading from the inside of the two flowers on the side and add a little more material to the center of the flowers to make them a little more feminine and whimsical. (I would also get the dresses in a champagne color.)

I’m waiting some pricing estimates from the tailor since I want some changes made. We’ll see!

Snacks and Shopping

After wedding fun, we headed to Peach Valley Cafe to pick up some apple fritters, which were highly recommended by Leslie.

Apple Fritters with Strawberry Yogurt

The fritters were fried and tossed in a bag of cinnamon and sugar. A cup of sweet strawberry yogurt was served on the side for dipping.

Leslie’s recommendation was spot-on. They were delicious!

With a little food in our bellies, we headed out to the nearby outlet mall for some shopping.

My sister and I did some damage at the Banana Republic and J.Crew outlets. With my birthday coming up, my mom is boxing up some of my goodies for a couple of weeks! 🙂 It’ll be fun to open up the goodies because I always forget about something I previously picked out.

Dinner

Shopping really made us all quite sleepy! We were in the mood for some serious comfort food at home.

When Ryan arrived home from his soccer game (they won!) we were ready to dig into taco meatloaf!

I made the meatloaf using a recipe I saw on Lisa’s blog.

Taco Meatloaf

Cheesy Loaf

We enjoyed the taco meatloaf with corn bread and roasted zucchini and squash.

My Plate

For dessert we had freshly baked cinnamon oatmeal cookies.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Nom, Nom, Nom

My mom is spending the night in Orlando again (yay!), but my sister is getting ready to head back to Gainesville. 😦

We’ve had such a fun-filled girly weekend… I’m gonna miss her!

My Lovely Sista

Goodbye Hugs

I hope you’ve enjoyed a fun and relaxing weekend! Thanks for poppin’ in!

Taco Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 pound raw extra-lean ground turkey (I used chicken)
2 slices of fat-free cheddar cheese (I used reduced-fat cheddar)
1/2 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese (I used reduced-fat cheddar)
1/2 cup canned sweet corn kernels
1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup salsa

1/2 packet of taco seasoning mix, dry (I used the whole packet)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook peppers and onions for three minutes over medium heat in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, combine onions and peppers with turkey, corn and seasoning mix. Spread half of the mixture evenly into the bottom of the loaf pan (about 9″x5″) sprayed with nonstick spray.

Layer the two slices of fat-free cheese on top of the mixture (try to keep slices away from the pan’s edges). Evenly top with the remaining meat mixture.

Pour the salsa over the top of the loaf. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Top loaf with shredded cheese. Return loaf to the oven and cook for another 15 minutes.

I Bought THE Dress!

I did it!!! I officially placed a down payment on my wedding dress. 😀 I am beyond excited!!!

Today at Something Blue Bridal‘s veil and headpiece trunk show, I saw my dress in person for the fourth time. It is so beautiful and finally, after four separate appointments to see and try on this dress, I feel 100 percent positive that I found my perfect dress. (Can you tell I am a very thorough person? 😉 )

The women at the boutique said the designer of my dress, Jim Hjelm, will be in town in April and I will get to meet him in person. My dress is actually designed by James Clifford, but he is  Jim Hjelm, so I cannot wait to meet the man behind the masterpiece in couple of months.

Though the trunk show for my dress’s designer isn’t until April, the women still offered me the trunk show discount on my dress, which saved me around $160. For a frugal gal like me, this made my day!

Since I cannot post pictures of my dress since I don’t want my hubby-to-be to see ’em, I hope you’ll enjoy these pictures of me trying on veils today. I want my veil to be a combination of these two veils… long, but with lace trimming that starts around my fingertips and goes to the floor. I love the cathedral veils!

Long Veil

Short Veil with Lace Trimming

Does anyone out there have any tips as to where to look for a less expensive veil?

Any advice is appreciated!

Errands and Eats

Oookay, let’s back up a bit. (I got a little too excited to share my wedding dress news with you!)

After breakfast, Ryan and I headed to Home Depot to pick up a new air filter before stopping by IKEA to check out furniture and brainstorm decorating ideas for our new apartment.

Ryan ❤ Home Depot

We forgot what size air filter we needed so we bought two, figuring one would work. Turns out neither were right! Such is life. 🙂

Ryan and I had a good time in IKEA and found several pieces of furniture (a chair, dresser and bed frame) that we definitely think would make a wonderful addition to our new home. We wrote down all the details and are planning on stopping by again sometime soon.

IKEA

Lunch

We came home and immediately wanted lunch. I made two hummus sandwiches… mine with zucchini and Ryan’s with turkey. I used roasted red pepper hummus and it was so tasty! I think I had several servings while I was making the sandwiches…

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Zucchini

Lunch

I also enjoyed a cool and very crisp Jazz apple.

Apple

After lunch, Sadie needed some lovin’, so we took her to the dog park.

Sadie Girl

The weather was gorgeous today! Ryan and I both commented on how wonderful it felt to feel the sun on our skin again.

After the park, it was time for me to head out to the bridal trunk show, so I made a quick quesadilla to snack on in the car. Sadie was very intrigued…

"Gimme the 'Dilla"

After the trunk show and officially placing the down payment on my dress (YAY!), I stopped by Fresh Market to browse for a bit.

That store is gorgeous! I was most impressed with the bakery and the large selection of desserts. YUM. I bought a piece of peanut butter Ghirardelli chocolate and some honey roasted nuts to munch on while I drove home.

Peanut Butter Chocolate

I think I ate more nuts than I should have because I wasn’t all that hungry by the time I got home.

Ryan was ready for dinner and talked me into swinging by Chipotle for some grub. I kept my dinner relatively light with a burrito bowl, topped with lots of guacamole.

Chipotle Burrito Bowl

Stirred Up

Guacamole makes great salad dressing!

Ryan and I both also shared a bag of chips and more guacamole. Olé!

When we came home, we took Sadie on a short walk to the grocery store where I bought mix for Jello Oreo pudding. We’re currently waiting for the pudding to set before digging into our dessert. 🙂

Ryan and I are taking it easy and staying in tonight. Today was a go-go-go kinda day and Ryan has a soccer game early tomorrow morning, so an evening of relaxin’, move watching and flipping through our never-ending stack of magazines sounds perfect.

See ya in the morning! 😀