brandynd

I may still have a bunch of zebra print accessories in a box somewhere from my Zeta days. Let me take a look and see what I can find. A lot of that stuff you can find at TJ Maxx and Marshalls for super inexpensive.

She ended up with pool because she got it and cornflower mixed up. She brought it over and was like "oops....oh god." But I think I will just tie them i together through jewelry. It should be fine.

Okay ladies! I will be staying in Moline for part of my time our in Illinois, but I will make the happy drive into Chicago to see you girls! Just give me a place (and address, as Brandy's are not great at navigation of the city) qand I will meet you there!

That's where my problem is. I can't add sashes to either on of their dresses. My computer doesn't want to let me add pictures tonight, so here's the link to both dresses. Tell me what you think! Haha....looks like they've both gone on sale since the girls bought them....I'll have to not divulge that information to them... this one's in pool. David's Bridal - Short Satin Yoryu Dress And this is in Horizon. David's Bridal - Strapless chiffon short dress with ruched bust and asymmetrical hem. Hopefully these links work....

Hopefully somebody on here is crafty ernough to come up with a solution to this problem for me....it's an uh oh. My bm's were told that they could get any style of dress they wanted...as long as it was either horizon blue or no more than one shade off (they got the dresses from davids bridal, and the dress colors coordinate really pretty when they are of altering shades.) And they had to be chiffon. Anyways, my MOH has a dress that's horizon, but my other BM came in with a dress that's pool blue.....way, way different. I can't tell her not to wear it, but they in no way go together. Does anybody have any idea on how to make these colors work together?|

Hey ladies! How is September 22 for everyone? I'll be up in Chicago from the 21-23 just visiting and hanging out. If anybody's up for it let me know!

Today I did Carmen Electra's fit to strip workout. I liked the ab workouts, but I'm not even going to lie, when it came to doing the lunges I wanted to hop through the screen and rip her hair out....wehen you tell me I have one set left and then proceed to have me do 4 more sets of 8 before calling it good, I have a tendency to yell inappropriate things at the television. I am heading to the gym at 11 to do my circuit training, and so hopefully that will make me feel better about my bad attitude during cardio earlier...

If you're reading this, then you've come across a little project that I've cooked up. I'm going to take the next 30 days of my life, and dedicate them to living my life in a more healthy manner. This means I will hit the gym several times a week, I will do my best to quit smoking the cigarettes I love so much, and I will give up my love affair with Runza. My challenge for the lovely ladies of BDW is to come up with your own little ways to challenge yourself to live a healthier lifestyle, and to take the next 30 days to make a habit out of it. Thought this would be an interesting way to keep track of the changes I'm making, and by all means if anyone would like to join me on my challenge for the next month, this would be a great way to keep each other on pace! I dare you...

Hey ladies. It's been a while since I've3 checkedc in with everyone. I was out all weekend celebrating my birthday with my family and getting into trouble ! I have good news to report....hopped on the scale and am 6 pounds down! Not much, but it is one heck of a start! I'm loving the cardiac diet, it's really kicking my metabolism back up, and I feel so much better on a daily basis ow than I did before. I also think that my newly found excercise regimen is actually helping me resist my urge to chainsmoke? Hmm....LOVE IT! Going to give the CYWT diet again....probably within the next week. Just want to stabilize my exercise habits before I throw another major change in lifestyle my way..we'll see how everything goes!

Have you checked with your local animal shelter? Sometimes they'll have lists of boarders that will take pit bulls! Good luck!

Woo ladies!! Day 2 of work outs and I feel great! Granted, I found some muscles that I had forgotten existed, but it's awesome! I'm sore as heck, but in a good way. I actually talked to one of my BM's (whose a dinky yoga instructor), and she's been really motivating. She absolutely killed me last night though (Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease.....discs 1-4...IN A ROW) but it was soo much fun! You girls have been so helpful to me lately, and I can't thank you enough for being a wonderful support system, and a sounding board (even when I am just posting my self pity whining)! But I better run, we're gonna put in a late night lifting session at 24 hour.

The doctor just advised me to cut out all the junk in my diet. I'm not much of an eater in the junk food department as it is, but I was always very active, so with the switch in jobs (I was at Hyatt for over a year working second shift at a desk), along with the fact that I haven't been as active as I was has caused the sudden weight gain. The cardiac diet is a 3 day diet that uses the chemical composition of foods to boost your metabolism. It's very controlled, and you have to follow the thing to a t in order to get results, but I've used it before (I had to lose my last 5 pounds to fit into a ball gown that was a size too small for sorority formal) and it's great. I'm posting the link below if anybody wants to join me in my 3 day stint. I'm starting it tomorrow morning....just got done shopping for everything that I'll need! Cardiac Diet Menu - See the actual daily schedule of meals. Just wanted to thank you ladies again for all your support! It's so hard to talk about these things when all of my friends are a size 2.

Wow, these are really great ideas! I think I might steal that pineapple centerpiece idea!

FI and I will have been together 3 years on our wedding day this January. So short compared to almost everyone else.

Hey Mesita! The bags came in fine! I'm all set to start buying things to get my OOT bags put together. Thanks again!

Thanks so much ladies. I guess I should specify that I felt sick more in the figurative sense of the word...just looking at those photos did me in....I guess it didn't help that yellow isn't my most flattering color. I don't have any plans of making myself sick again, that was a really really scary point in my life, but I was shocked when I realized that the person in those photos was me. On a brighter note, I went in to the doctor this morning....I haven't gained as much weight as I thought, which is a relief, but I seem to be packing it on in my hips and thighs, which does explain the DRASTIC change in size of clothing for me. I'm waiting on my partner in crime to arrive at my house, and we're going to get our memberships at 24 hour renewed...my birthday gift to myself. The way that I'm choosing to look at this is that I have nothing to lose...the only thing that I can do now is to improve myself. I don't expect to be a size 2, but getting back to the point where I can be comfortable in my body again is the ultimate goal. I know that FI will love me no matter what the scale says, but to be honest with you all, I'm not comfortable with the way that I am now. My body doesn't feel like it belongs to me. That probably makes no sense whatsoever, but I don't feel like I'm me with the way that I am at this point. I have nobody to blame but myself, I allowed things to get out of control and sort of quit taking care of my body, so now I just have to suck it up and get back to work. I know I can do this. I've lost the weight once before, and successfully kept it off for nearly ten years before this little incident, and I can do it again. I'm just afraid of losing control of my body (my mother was morbidly obese until she had gastric bypass surgery about 5 years ago). To kickstart my weightloss I'll be doing a 2 week rotation of the cardiac diet. It works great (it's typically what they will put people on before they undergo gastric bypass), and it'll get my metabolism going again. I'll keep you ladies posted, because I WILL be losing 20lbs before Halloween....2.5lbs per week should be totally doable.

hey ladies....sitting here in tears, so I thought I'd write really quick and hopefully find some words of encouragement. FI and I went on a float trip last month with a bunch of friends. The pictures just got posted on facebook tonight and I wanted to PUKE. I don't even look like me anymore. I don't know where I lost track of watching my weight, but I've become a fricken balloon. Haven't stepped on the scale in months. I didn't even notice the weight gain until a couple of months ago when my own mother asked me if everything was okay with me. It's so weird, when I got engaged to FI a year and a half ago, I was a curvy size 11/12, and still getting away with the sorority lifestyle of partying all the time and drinking my calories.....today I'm sitting here in size 20 pants while I write this and bawl my eyes out. I HAVE to get this weight off. I'm almost as big as I was at my highest weight when I was a sophomore in HS, and that was the point where I developed an extreme case of bulimia. Feel like I'm at my wits end. I was going to try the cheat your way thin diet, but had to go out of town on day 3, so that kind of killed it. Sorry to just go off on here like this, but I think I'm about to lose it, and I had to get this written down and out of my head. I've never been a tiny girl by any means, but it's bad when I'm looking at myself and I don't recognize what I see. The camera doesn't lie. I'm going to get off of here though, and take a walk before bed.

I think we all hate Katie. Just on principle. I'm sorry to hear that you and DH are still not getting along! Maybe if you try to bring up the topic calmly and then see what he has to say in response, it could lead to some resolution. I hope that things get better for you soon.

Quote: Originally Posted by MC Hicks Thanks Joss. To clarify, the caterers will be able to cater our reception at the other villa we want. They are pretty much an "all around" business and also happened to have a villa they rent out for weddings. It was kind of an "added bonus" I guess. So, we still want to do business with them, just not the villa they provided. I just finished sending them an apologetic email explaining everything. In talking to my FI about it, he said, "hey if they are that mad and don't want to do any business with us, there are plenty of other people out there that do". He's right, and so are you when you said I can control the outcome of our day. Thanks for your imput! It helped a lot! I can't believe how I am suddenly stressing about things! Then again, only 5 months to go and we still don't have our venue pinned down, EEEK! I hope this all comes together soon. Thank you again Joss! I needed to hear that! Try not to get too freaked out about the time constraints! I'm sure that everything will work itselkf out and your wedding will be BEAUTIFUL! Your caterer should still be okay with doing your wedding. As long as you're upfront with them about the change of venue, but truly do express an interest in still having them cater your wedding they should be fine owith the change of plans! Good luck!

I don't think that you're being ripped off. What you have to remember is that the rates of travel do fluctuate on an almost daily basis, so it is very possible that your guests will have a different rate. If you're that uncomfortable, what I would recommend is calling around to a few area travel agents and double checking their rates to make sure that you're getting the best deal possible.

Hmm....I'm willing to bet that someone already posted my answer and I've just gone blind, but I'm going to ask anyway. Cocktail hour prices, anyone? I can't seem to find them. We were going to go with the Strawberry package, but with only 16 of us going now (bride and groom included) it doesn't seem to make sense to spend so much money on a reception down there, when we're having a huge one once we get back to Omaha. Suggestions, anyone?

Of course you can get on the list! Just give me a few minutes to go over who all I have on the list, and I'll get it posted for you ladies!

I confess that I'm hoping that one of my bridesmaids does something really terrible so I get out of paying for everyone's trip. It sounds so mean, but our wedding party has recently become colossal (FI has a ton of guy friends who are still poor college students, and once I start drinking I think EVERYONE should be in my wedding.) FML.

Quote: Originally Posted by Malisa I'm sorry you're going through this. My MIL was this way. Luckily my FIL had her on valuum the entire trip. She had a blast and was quite entertaining. hahaha....I'm sorry. I got quite a little giggle out of this comment. The idea of putting my mil on valium and watching her go just makes me smile a bit.

Jealousy is a perfectly natural instinct. I probably would have reacted the same way if it were me. I hope that everything goes well between you two, and that you talk this out to find some resolution. Take a deep breath, and try to get your point across without getting worked up! Good luck, I'm sure it will all be fine! Brandy