Say Yes to the Dress: Preschool Edition

After watching a few episodes of Say Yes to the Dress with me this morning, Charlotte decided she wanted to put on her flower girl dresses and show them off in a little fashion show, SYTTD style.

I served as a bridesmaid, sharing my opinion of the pros and cons of each dress (and of course the photographer to document the whole experience). Katie was the sales associate that dressed the bride and described each dress's detailing along with the differences between each of the styles. Charlotte, naturally, was the bride.

Dress #1

This dress initially served as a dress for a rehearsal dinner about a year ago. There is a chiffon overlay with purple flowers embroidered all over the dress. The bride's favorite part of this dress was the purple flower detailing on the empire waisted ribbon. 

Dress #2 

This flower girl dress was a loose fitting more casual dress, but added extra detailing with the beading and ruching across the chest on the bright white fabric. The bride loved the length and comfort of this dress and said that she felt "extra fancy" because of the "pretty beading". 

Dress #3

This final dress was the fanciest of all three. The off white color contrasted well with the wide bright blue silk ribbon. The bottom was full, with beading and embroidered sewing detail. The big fancy bow was a highlight of the dress.

It boiled down to a decision between Dress #2 and #3, but when it came down to it, the beautiful bride went with...drumroll.....

Dress #2!

The bride wanted to put her choice of dresses back on to show off--especially since she declared that the wedding is tomorrow (as announced by Charlotte)! 

My First Muslim Wedding

I've talked about my "Big Brother" Shahrukh a few times on my blog before but this is an especially special post! My Big Brother got married this weekend! Well, it's a little confusing, but I'll try my best to explain what little I understand.

Shahrukh and Safia met in college and dated for a while--fast forward to this past September when Shahrukh told me and Bonnie that he was getting married! Muslims don't really have engagements so before Ramadan this past year, they had family and close family friends over for the religious ceremony of the wedding, but didn't have the actual public wedding until this weekend.

Friday night was the Mendhi when friends of the couple were invited for dances, dinner, and even henna tattoos! The invitation said 7, but Bonnie and I were running late and got there at 7:15. Turns out that 7:15 is super early by Muslim standards. Bonnie and I were both wearing sleeveless dresses and heels, which Safia approved, but when we saw what everyone else was wearing, we panicked and aborted because we felt like we were showing too much skin and worried about being disrespectful.

Since the wedding reception invitation said 7 for Saturday night, we double checked with Shahrukh what time we should really show up and he said 7:45 or 8! That definitely helped though since I had to work until 5 on Saturday and the reception was held at Gwinnett Center Arena. Thankfully, my mom did a little bit of research on what was acceptable/respectful outfit options for non-Muslims at a Muslim wedding. After a few wardrobe changes, we settled on a tea length dress with heels and a cardigan. I was so glad that Bonnie and Nick were coming with me so we could rely on the buddy system when we felt out of place!

We get there and are maybe 3 of the 30 white people out of around 700 guests. Again, thank goodness for the buddy system. We snacked on appetizers and waited for everything to get started! There was a reading from the Koran, a prayer, and then Safia and her bridesmaids (I'm sure they are referred to as something else...but I'll just stick with bridesmaids) came in. She looked gorgeous!

I was so glad when we made a friend...he came over and said "I take it this is your first Muslim wedding? You look like lost tourists." haha! But he was so great and explained what was going on, why they did what they did, and everything else we wanted to know! I was so so grateful that went out of his way to help us out and explain everything! After that, people left to pray. Once they returned, we had dinner and the rest of the night was spent waiting for the guests to have a chance to take a picture with the couple. Apparently that alone can go on until 12 or 1 AM, so we got up there asap so we wouldn't have to wait too long!

I am so glad that we got to be there for Shahrukh and Safia's special day! I am so excited for them to start the rest of their lives together and so glad that I got to experience such a neat event!

I have a job!

The timing for me getting this job at Anthropologie could not have been more perfect. I went to Anthro one day to pick up a bracelet that Kirby had put on hold that she didn't have time to pick up before she went to a wedding that night. Lo and behold, they had a "part time sales associates wanted" sign hanging up in the window. Fast forward through filling out a resume, getting an interview, and making it through a group interview to getting a phone call saying I got the job! (Even though I had to make FB wake up super early to come back a few weekends ago so I could make it to training on time! Thanks ladies!)

Right now, it's just part time for the summer, but I'm hopeful to keep the job into the fall! My job consists of different areas in the store, and I switch ever hour or so. I greet people (I don't think I could say "Hi ladies! Welcome to Anthropologie!" "How are y'all doing?" "Thanks for coming in!" "Have a great day!" anymore) and fold/straighten the clothes in the front. Or I run clothes from the fitting room to their rightful place (considering how big the store is, how many pieces we have, and how constantly our set up changes--this is a big task!). Or I man the fitting rooms by hanging clothes for customers, checking on sizes and colors they might want, and rehanging the clothes they didn't want.

I really love the girls I work with, the atmosphere, and time really does go pretty fast--granted, I'm only working 4-5 hours at a time for the time being. But it's great because once classes start in the summer come June, I'll be able to go to campus on Mondays and Wednesdays and work any other day of the week, and planning on having enough time to do school work, work out, and see friends! I can hope at least...

PS-In case you're wondering: No, I do not have to wear all Anthro clothes to work every time I go in (I would go broke really fast if that was the case!). But I am encouraged to match the "aesthetics" of the store and anthro style. I feel like I'm trying to trick people that I'm super trendy every time I pick out my outfits for work! Haha!

FB in the Mountains

This past Friday, Bonnie, Mary, Alexa, and myself loaded up Mary's car without enough (warm) clothing and with way too much food for a two day trip. FB#2 had this trip planned for a few weeks so we were exciting to finally be getting away for a girly weekend in the mountains. Bonnie's parents have a house in Highlands, NC and let me tell you--it is adorable! The house, the town, everything.

We got to the house after a few detours in time to pour a glass or two of wine and slip into the more lukewarm than hot tub for a few hours. It was so great for us to chat uninterrupted without things to do, texts to answer, or any other list of distractions. 

After a chill night and a good night's sleep, we headed into town and grabbed some coffee at Buck's and planned on doing some hiking, but sadly it started drizzling. 

Fear not though, we still got to enjoy the adorable shops in the main part of Highlands before driving to see some of the sights outside of town in the more mountainy parts. 

Our first stop was this awesome little structure...I'm not even sure what it is or how it's made, but either way, it was legit and the perfect photo op--even in with our unshowered getup. 

After driving under a little waterfall (pictures failed), we headed back to the house to rest up and shower. It was great to take an afternoon nap and just be lazy with friends. Something I can never get enough of and moments that I hope I never take for granted. 

We got all dolled up (side note: I totally should have packed jeans...shorts were not sufficient for the chillier than expected weather!) and headed back to town for a yummy dinner at the Ugly Dog. 

After dinner, we watched a Lifetime movie (bound to happen when Bonnie has the remote) and headed to bed since we had to wake up super early all so I could make it to orientation at Anthro.

A great FB weekend that we all loved and was definitely needed for all of us both personally and for our friendships.

Back in the Saddle

Okay y'all, so it's been almost a WHOLE month away from el bloggo and I'm ready to jump back in the saddle. I've wanted to get back in the swing of it for a week or two now, but it's just been a matter of sorting through my thoughts so I could do a non-rambly, cohesive recap of everything that's been going on!!

Since Kathleen's Bachelorette shower, I have: 

Finished my first semester of grad school with STRAIGHT A's! Go me!

Celebrated Kathleen and Avery with a beautiful wedding shower (and really yummy brunch!)

Been spending lots of time with this cutie

and this one too since I don't have school work to distract me from them!

Went to the Georgia/Georgia Tech Baseball game at Turner Field--which means it's really summer time!

I even got to (finally) go to Chattanooga to see friends!!

Spent a weekend in the mountains with FB (more of that for the next post!) 

AND I got a job at Anthropologie (which I just started today!)

Whew! Okay, so I think that's it! Needless to say, it has been a super busy month and I have been taking full advantage of my month off for "summer". My work schedule will add a nice change of pace I'm hoping, but won't conflict too much with spending time with friends and family!

Bachelorette Bash

I've come out of blog break for an update of this past weekend! But don't be upset if this is it for another week or two...Just being honest!

This past weekend, I got to celebrate Kathleen and her very soon wedding with a lingerie shower and Bachelorette party! Most B parties I've been to have been more on the tame side, and though there were no male strippers (thank goodness!) or anything too crazy, this one was the most typical "what you would expect" kind of Bachelorette party and I loved it! It was so fun to get dressed up with friends from the sorority and other friends and family that mean so much to Kackles and just have fun! Only a few of the pictures have been deemed internet worthy though...so here's a snapshot of the night :)

It was such a fun night out and I cannot wait for more wedding festivities for Kathleen and Avery!

Also, can I just say how impressed I am with Kathleen for embracing the "bride to be" get up? I loved it! But hey, I mean, you only get to do it once so go big or go home! Props to my roomie :)

Sorry I'm Not Sorry

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately...and your know what? I'm not sorry! I have been busy with school, spending quality time with family and lots of friends, and getting healthy (aka trying to run/walk more). We've had beautiful weather lately and I'm not going sit in front of a computer more than necessary, which is already a decent amount for school....

The semester is ending (seriously, I only have 4 classes total left to attend before turning in my final papers and projects are due!) and I will have the whole month of May off from school! Woohoo!!

Okay, well...that's as much of a blog post as you'll get for now, but just know that I'm living my life and I'll get around to a real post one of these days!