Second Place Dress

This morning I took a little extra time to make myself a weekend breakfast on a weekday!

Certain meals I typically save for weekends because they take longer to prepare, but today I was craving my ricotta stuffed French toast from Saturday morning and had to give my body what it wanted.

I dunked a whole wheat sandwich thin into two egg whites mixed with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and placed the two bread slices on the griddle to cook.

Spices

Sadie devoured the egg yolks and was a happy camper.

Toasty

While the French toast was cooking, I stirred cinnamon into ricotta cheese and spread the mixture on one half of the sandwich thin when it was done cooking.

Cinnamon Ricotta Filling

I then placed the other sandwich thin on top of the ricotta mixture and doused the stuffed French toast in syrup.

Smothered in Syrup

Sliced Up

This breakfast was oh-so-good! Sometimes the extra effort is sooo worth it!

Workout

My workout today was nothin’ special, but still good. I took my typical 5:45 a.m. BodyPump class and followed it up with 25 minutes on the elliptical with the lastest issue of Fitness magazine.

The issue featured two different half marathon training plans, one for beginners and one for intermediate/advanced athletes. I flagged these plans to reference when I begin training for the Chicago half marathon in June. I really like the simplicity of these plans… That’s also what I liked best about the Hal Higdon training plan I followed when I ran my first half. It’s like a “Running a Half Marathon for Dummies” plan. 😀

Bridesmaid Dresses

Thank you to all of you for your comments on my post about the three bridesmaid dresses I like. So far, my bridesmaids seem to like the third one the best, with the exception of my sister (who will also be my maid of honor) who really likes the first one (that one is actually my favorite, too). I may look into having my sister wear the first one and the other girls in the third one if I like the way they look in person. We’ll see!

I loved all the different points you guys brought up to consider as well:

• Spaghetti straps are often not flattering on certain body types
• Printed patterns may look strange in pictures (My dresses will be all one color: champagne)
• Everyone in the same dress is less distracting in pictures
• Choosing multiples dress styles in the same color allows bridesmaids to feel more confident in the dress they select

It’ll be a fun decision!

Second Place Dress

When I previously went dress shopping, I told you guys that I was between two wedding dresses: one simple, classic dress, and one dress with more of a “WOW” factor. Well, I went with the romantic and classic dress, so I figured I could share pictures of the BIG dress with you now.

This is not the dress I selected, but I absolutely love it. I didn’t like the color though and would have ordered it in ivory, not the coffee color it’s pictured in below. This dress is a Justin Alexander gown which I would have ordered in this color.

The dress I actually picked is pretty much the exact opposite of this dress. It’s so weird how my top two dresses were so different!

Second Place Dress

The Back (Clamped In!)

Justin Alexander Dress

Bodice

Do you like simple wedding dresses or dresses with a big WOW-factor?

I honestly love both types of dresses! I think I am more of a simple person though and ultimately felt more comfortable in a more simple dress. 🙂

Increasingly Clear

It’s becoming increasingly clear that I have found my wedding dress. I am in looooove!

After work yesterday, I met my mom at Something Blue, a bridal boutique in Orlando to try on two very different dresses. (Ryan, do not click  any of the upcoming links, just in case!)

The front runner is a James Clifford dress. It’s wonderfully romantic with lace and a classic feel. (Sorry, no pictures or links directly to this one because I really think it is the one and I can’t risk Ryan seeing it! Also, when I asked him if he would be too tempted to look at the dress if I put a link up, he said, “Yeah, bad idea,” and added, “That’s not fair anyway! They should have to wait to see it just like I have to wait!” 😀 Feel free to get mad at him… but not too mad. 😉 )

Also, for those of you “in the know” about wedding dress designers… did you know James Clifford and Jim Hjelm are the same person? It’s a fact!  

The other dress is a Justin Alexander gown. It’s a much “bigger” dress with more of a princess look. Though you can’t see the detail in the picture I linked to, the bodice has beautiful lace all over it.

Here’s the way I described the two gowns to my friends: The James Clifford dress is me. The Justin Alexander dress is who I want to be. 🙂 I know it’s silly, but I’ve always been a more “classic” dresser… nothing too showy or funky. The James Clifford dress is pretty, simple, soft, classic and will still be gorgeous in 50 years. I guess it’s pretty apparent which one I like more, huh?

Now I just need a man’s opinion! My dad will see me in the dress over the first weekend in March, and with his thumbs up, the dress will officially be the one! AHHHH! I’m so excited. I’ve visited a bunch of bridal boutiques without much luck and it feels good to finally feel excited about such gorgeous dress.

Dinner

After wedding dress fun, my mom and I drove to the Hilton Bonnet Creek hotel to meet up with my dad for dinner at La Luce.

In Front of La Luce

Our waitress brought out a bread bowl filled with doughy bread. I ate a couple slices of the olive loaf, which was delicious.

For my main course, I ordered the marinara pizza. Hey, sometimes lamb chops or sea bass just won’t do! 🙂

Pizza, Pizza

The pizza was very tasty and the crust was my favorite part. Yum.

My dad’s dish was the “pick of the night” though. His seared citrus salmon was amazing!

For dessert we split warm berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. When I say we “split” it, I mean my mom and I dominated this dessert.

Dessert

Watch out for a woman with a sweet tooth! 🙂

I’m off to hop in the shower… see ya in a bit for breakfast!