Awesome day!

Yesterday (Saturday) Brian went biking with our friend Steve. Due to a slight whiplash injury I couldn't go so instead I met Barbie for Breakfast at Denny's. After breakfast we went in to the mall and shopped for a swimsuit for Barbie, and I bought a new handbag and wallet. I got home right around the same time that Brian did, and we spent some time just cleaning up the house.
Later, we met Mike and Tara and went shopping for a plasma TV. Brian and I are looking at buying a 50" plasma TV in the next couple of weeks. We found an awesome price on one at the Home Theatre Store, but need to do a little more research online before we make a decision.
After TV shopping, we stopped at Costco to pick up some things for dinner and then picked up the boat. We launched the boat at City Park and motored over to The Pier where Bob Schneider way playing. We had dinner on the boat, which consisted of salad, pizza, and wine, then we sat back and relaxed under the stars and listened to the music from The Pier.

This morning I picked up some Mineral Spirits from Lowes to clean our wood floors. I've been trying tons of floor cleaners but nothing seems to make them shine and they all leave a dulling residue. The Mineral Spirits did the trick, though. Now the floors are super shiny and clean.
Today we are going over to Best Buy to check out a Panasonic Plasma TV, then we're going mountain biking in Georgetown.

Fun day off

Brian and I got Friday off. A management designated holiday for our entire team in recognition of all the hard work we've done. We got up early and went wakeboarding on Lake Austin. I practiced my new trick, and Mike and I encouraged Brian to try it. He did it on his first attempt. I was so proud. I'm learning to cut across the wake with my board backwards now. I've found the more comfortable I get doing it backwards, the more confident I feel when I ride normally.

We got off the water around 1:30 and headed to Chipotle for lunch. It started raining really hard as we got there and we had to make a mad dash in the rain into the restaurant. It was entertaining, though, and I love the rain so I didn't mind too much. We had planned to take the rest of the afternoon and go to Rocky Hill Ranch out in Bastrop, but the storms were surrounding the area so we decided to go hang out at home instead, then meet freinds for Happy Hour at Shirlocks.

After Shirlock's we went to Mike and Tara's to grill burgers, drink, and hang out. All in all it was a great day off.

Today I got up with whiplash in my neck though from one of the crashes I took when we were wakeboarding. I felt it happen. It was about my third to last run and I hit the water face down and it snapped my head back. I remember thinking "that's gonna hurt tomorrow". I was right. I can barely move today.

Steaming good time

I bought a garment steamer at Bed Bath and Beyond today. It was around $50. I had read reviews about this one by Conair that said it was as good as a commercial one. So I tried it out on my dress, and it worked SO well I couldn't believe it.
When I went to the seamstress last week, she told me that I'd need to pay to get my dress steamed twice. Once before the alterations to make sure the fabric hangs properly while they guage the alterations, then once more afterwards to prep it for the day. Each time it was $45. It worked so well that I might never iron anything ever again!
Barbie came over this evening to strap me into my dress. This one is PERFECT. The corset back looked a lot more like the picture using the smaller size, and if I happen to lose a few lbs it shouldn't be a problem.

Update on Travel, etc...

We've added two extra days onto our vacation! YAY! so now we arrive on Monday and leave the next Wednesday! Brian and I decided to postpone our honeymoon to a later date because (this is really cute) Brian didn't want to be away from the cats longer than 10 days at a time. (awh.) Ok, it wasn't just him... But anyway, we are still going to Hawaii later next year.

We've also chosen a different flight, which goes through Houston. It gets us in to Punta Cana at 2:54, which is 2 hours earlier than our previous arrangements. That might allow for us to meet up with my UK family and share the bus to the resort.

My replacement dress arrived last night. I wasn't able to try it on properly because I need Barbie to help me, and she's going to come over this evening and help me. But I was able to put it on and lace the top two loops to see if it at least fit, and it looks like it's perfect! Now I just need to find another tailor to get a comparison price quote on alterations. It's about a foot too long at the moment.

Uh-oh.... potential bad news

I just heard from my travel agent. American Airlines has rescheduled a flight causing us to miss our connection for our flight to the Dominican Republic. She's going to try to find us a different flight, or we can spend a night in Dallas, at our own expense on the way back. Not good. We'll get it sorted, though. I think I saw a flight on Continental that goes through Houston.

We got up somewhat early today and went wake boarding on Lake Austin, it was just me, B and M. When we first got out there, the water was like glass. Of course, as it got later more and more boats showed up. We all had a pretty good run in the good water, though. M taught me to do fakies today. That's when you flip the board around so you're riding with your other foot forward. I crashed a few times in the beginning, and it feels really weird. Almost like learning to wakeboard all over again. But I got the hang of it and in no time was flipping fakies like it was no big deal. The flip isn't a problem once you get it, but cutting in and out of the wake is difficult. I didn't get the hang of that, but this gives me something to improve on over the remainder of the summer. I think if I just get more comfortable with my board, I'll be able to pull some pretty cool jumps in no time.
After wake boarding we went to a boat party on "The Arc". it was a lot of fun. A good combo of people were there and I enjoyed hanging out in the water, sunning myself on the rocks of the island like a gecko, and of course jumping off the top deck of the boat.
Next stop, Outback steak house with a bunch of friends. T's boyfriend works there so we're gonna go see if we can sit in his section. A good end to a fun weekend. It looks like a storm is coming. That would just be the icing on the cake right now!

Waiting for kylie

My new dress (the smaller size) was shipped 2 days ago. I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival. Every time I see the UPS truck, I wait at the window like a dog waiting for its owner to come home... sadly, it's always for the neighbour next door but one. He has an Ebay business that he runs out of his garage.
Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow and then I can take it to another tailor to see if they give me a lower estimate than the first lady. Another option could be for me to alter it myself. I'm not sure if I should be let loose on chiffon. It's very delicate.
Anyway, I can't wait for it to arrive!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that Brian also found his wedding outfit. We weren't really looking for it, but it just kinda jumped out at him. He got some navy blue, very lightweight trousers from Gap, and a white, short-sleeved shirt from Banana Republic. It's really cool because it has two lines of embroidery down the front on either side, and the embroidery kinda looks like the beading on my dress. He put the outfit on the other night and it was absolutely perfect. I wanted to marry him right then!

MOH

Well, I wasn't going to have a Maid of Honour, mostly because I have so many great friends that qualify for the job. Marie told me one major thing that has changed my mind, though. She said that one of the best things about her wedding day was being able to look over and see me smiling back at her, and she'd know, then, that everything would be ok. How sweet!

After that conversation, I realized that all of my friends will understand that I can only pick one, and that the one person I pick should be the person I can really rely on to support me and keep me sane both before, during, and after. So.....

I asked Barbie if she would be my Maid of Honour, and she said yes!

SWEET!

Wedding dress assessment

My wedding dress came with what seemed like lightening speed. What's weird is that local bridal stores claimed it takes 4 months or more for my dress to come in. This place shipped it within 5 days. They were extremely helpful. I sent them my measurements, which happened to span three different sizes, and they recommended the middle of the sizes. The dress is beautiful.
Barbie came over and helped me try it on. Because the top is a corset, you can adjust it to fit just perfectly. When I tried it on, Barbie laced it up and pulled it tight and it looked beautiful. However, if I lost even a few lbs. it would be too big. And given that I'll be running a marathon a few months before, I suspect I might drop a few lbs.

I took the dress to a seamstress to get her assessment. She recommended a smaller size. So I shipped it back yesterday in exchange for a smaller size. The seamstress I went to came highly recommended from several people on some austin wedding web site, however, she is pretty pricy. Wanted $250 to do the hem. Granted it's 4 layers of fabric, two of which are chiffon, but that seems a little high. When my new dress comes in, I will take it to another seamstress and see if they can give me a lower price. It's been my experience that you get what you pay for, and I'm really not looking for perfection since I'll be dragging the thing across nasty floors and sandy beaches anyway.

Check!

Hotel reservations - Check!
Flight - Check!
Wedding scheduled - Check!
Judge confirmed - Check!
Reception booked - Check!
UK family booked - Check!
Dress on it's way - Check!
Paperwork copied and ready - Check!

Left to do:
Find a tailor to shorten dress
Buy ring for B
Find beach wedding outfit for B
Finalize US family travel plans
Send paperwork to Dominican Embassy to be translated
Sit back and relax and look forward to my dream wedding.

My dress arrives tomorrow. Barbie is making me wait for her to come over to try it on. Our US family is working with the travel agent that a friend recommended. (THANKS! - she's awesome)

B and I are super excited now that it's all come together so perfectly.

For all of our friends who don't make it to the wedding, we plan to throw an informal reception after we get back.