You Might Think I'm Crazy...

Apparently I've used this title before, as when I started to type it, it magically appeared for me to select. Not a good sign, friends!

I decided to create this post because this week, I have been told, literally, that I am crazy. I think I'll give you a glimpse.

Reason 1 Abbie might be crazy-- Last week, I emailed someone totally randomly from their blog and asked for their address. Granted, I had a good reason-- she mentioned the company I work for, so I wanted to send her some goodies. But, after I sent the stalkerish email (not from my work email, like a weirdo), even I thought I was a loon. Cynthia- If you're reading this, thank you for (eventually) believing I wasn't some nutjob trying to hunt you down. ;)

If that's not reason enough... here are several more.

Reason 2 Abbie might be crazy-- I called a hair salon and tried to schedule my wedding hair appointment for July. The girl thought I was a nut case. My reasoning for calling her so far in advance (which I made sure to tell her)... I've heard of 6 girls that have gotten engaged in the past month, and I want first dibs! Again... the girl thought I was a nut case.

Reason 3 Abbie might be crazy-- I sent my mom a link to yet another dress for the wedding... link number 346, if I'm not mistaken. I have changed my mind about a million times and have now decided that this is the dress she needs to wear. See for yourself... and weigh in. (From Davids Bridal, believe it or not. It's silver brocade, not white.)

Reason 4 Abbie might be crazy-- I told my mom to stop complaining about her weight or do something about it. You see, my friends, anyone that would say such a thing to their mother must be crazy... especially to my mother.

Reason 5 Abbie might be crazy-- I booked a flight home to Arkansas for next week on a whim-- and plan on dragging my mother to try on said dress.

Reason 6 Abbie might be crazy-- I booked the trip for a whole entire week. (For the record, I plan to drive to MO to visit my grandparents that probably won't make it to the wedding.)

Reason 7 Abbie might be crazy-- I ate almost an entire pizza last night. I was so uncomfortable that I had to change into my pajamas immediately upon getting home... and we had guests!!

Reason 8 Abbie might be crazy-- I brought a can of chicken gumbo soup for lunch and proceeded to throw away every chunk of chicken before heating it up. Actual conversation with coworker:
Coworker-- What are you doing?
Abbie-- Throwing away the chicken.
Coworker-- Why?
Abbie-- Because I don't eat meat that is in canned soup.
Coworker-- Then why did you buy chicken gumbo soup?
Abbie-- Because I like the taste of it.
Coworker-- You're crazy.

Thank you, folks! From the mouths of babes, Abbie is crazy. (Honestly, I had a few others that I could have posted, but just as the show states-- Eight is enough.)

Wedding Wednesday: More Eye Candy

Although I'm no longer living in the south, I'm still a southern girl at heart. I've been reading the Southern Weddings blog for ages now and am super excited to pick up a copy of their premiere magazine issue. I won't be seeing it on the shelves here in Colorado, but I'm heading home to Arkansas (surprise!) next week and will definitely grab one then!

Don't see the magazine where you are? You can order it online! While you're visiting their blog, you might just happen to see a wedding featured this week that I posted about a while back. I'm still drooling over it!

Wedding Wednesday: Free Gown?

If you're looking to save a bit of dough in your wedding budget, run over to PreownedWeddingDresses to win $1500 towards a gown on their site! Who couldn't use $1500?!

Go! Now!

Weight Watchers Wednesday

About 20 minutes before I had to leave for my weekly Weight Watchers meeting, J called to tell me that we were going to have some guests for the night. While I really wanted to just skip the meeting, I did not. Aren't you proud of me? I have actually only missed a meeting if I've been out of town and couldn't get to another meeting. So, I didn't want to break my streak now... especially when breaking the streak might cause me to go into a downward spiral of denial. ;)

So, I went to the meeting and weighed in. Surprisingly, I was down .8. Who would have guessed? I have to be honest... I abandoned counting points more than a month ago, as well as the gym. I missed a couple of days and the spiral began, hence my not wanting to miss a meeting, too-- that would only make the situation worse. Despite all of this, I have actually managed to still be down almost all of the total weight that I had lost to date. I'm telling you-- it's the change in my lifestyle and mindset! I'm just flat-out eating better and smaller portions. I still have cheese dip every now and again, but that's okay! I'm not going to live the rest of my life without eating food I love every once in a while. That, my friends, would be a diet.

I did manage to grab the weekly pamphlet on my way out the door. (I weighed in but skipped the actual meeting to go clean house for our unexpected guests.) This week's theme: Eat Out and On the Run. The gist:
-Before you go, Prepare:

• Plan ahead about what you'll eat
• Prepare your mind for success

-When you get there, Be Smart:

• Practice portion control
  
• Fit in splurges with extra Points values

So... without further ado, a recipe from Hungry Girl.

HG's Make-Mine-Mint Cookie-rific Ice Cream Freeze

PER SERVING (entire shake): 159 calories, 3.25g fat, 164mg sodium, 26.5g carbs, 1.5g fiber, 12g sugars, 6g protein -- POINTS® value 3

Ingredients:
5 ounces (1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp.) light vanilla soymilk
1/4 cup fat-free vanilla ice cream
1/2 pack 100 Calorie Packs Oreo Thin Crisps or 3/4 sheet (3 crackers) chocolate graham crackers
1 tsp. Coffee-mate Sugar Free French Vanilla powdered creamer, dissolved in 2 tbsp. warm water
2 no-calorie sweetener packets (like Splenda)
5 to 8 ice cubes or 1 cup crushed ice
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring
Optional Toppings: Fat Free Reddi-wip and additional cookie (or graham cracker) crumbs

Directions:
Lightly crush cookies or graham crackers and set aside. Place all OTHER ingredients (except for the optional toppings) in a blender. Blend on high for 45 to 60 s econds, until mixed thoroughly. Pour into a tall glass and stir in the crushed cookies or graham crackers. If you like, top it all off with some Reddi-wip and chocolate cookie/cracker crumbs. Mmmmmm!

MAKES 1 SERVING

Wedding Wednesday: Adding Details

Ages ago, I bought a bunch of white restaurant quality cloth napkins on eBay. I thought it might be nice to decorate them in some way to make them not as plain. At first, I thought it would be fun to add a little ruffle of vintage fabric here and there. Then, I thought I could leave some plain to resell after the wedding... and every third napkin or so, I could add a fun monogram. I'm not sure if it will work, but I found some iron-on transfer paper to use in the inkjet printer... so the idea just might work. So far, I love the Darling Monograms font. I used it on the wedding website insert for the save-the-dates and used three different styles.
What do you think? We could reuse 25-30 napkins, but I wouldn't monogram any more than that. How did you personalize, or do you plan to personalize, your reception?

Are You a Registry Stalker?

Last month, J and I decided (or maybe it was just me) we should register. My mother works for the corporate offices of a major department store, so registering at that store was a must. We registered at another major department store, mainly because I loved the kitchy colors they offered by Martha. Because we live over three hours from Denver, we went the online route.

When we thought we would only have 85 guests, we decided to keep the registry smaller because we don't really need anything after over 6 years of being together. The things we do need/want just aren't registry friendly (i.e. high dollar)... like dressers, nightstands, a bigger television for the living room (with the accompanied entertainment console, of course), and MONEY!

I know that there are some family members that will always want to buy off a registry, so I started clicking away. J was half-heartedly paying attention, while also watching a Bond movie. Every once in a while, he would look over and say, "We don't need that. We already have something like that." The first time, it was new baking sheets, then casserole dishes, then placesettings. Ugh. Yes, we already have baking sheets... really old, scratched ones that I bought 10 years ago. Yes, we already have ONE casserole dish. Yes, we already have plates, bowls, silverware, etc. I bought them all 10 years ago... they're scratched; pieces have been broken over time; we don't have as much silverware as we have plates; we don't have actual steak knives, etc. I could go on forever! Honestly, the handle fell off one of the knives I was using the other day. If no one gets us any of these things, we'll be okay... but wouldn't it be nice to have a brand new matching set? Apparently, I'm alone in thinking this. The thing is... I know that if we don't register for a least a few things, people won't necessarily give us money (which is what J thinks would happen)... we could end up with non-returnable items that people wasted their money on because we won't be using them.

So, when we added another 109 people to the guest list, I decided we needed to register for more than the 20 or so items we'd already picked. One thing J has always wanted was a duvet cover. Funny, huh? We had one ages ago, but it got ripped by one of the dogs' nails. I am so dang picky about my bedding that I've never bought a new one to cover our down comforter. Instead, the comforter went into the linen closet, and quilts became the staple. J begs for the return on the down comforter. After searching both of our registries for a duvet cover, I realized I wasn't in love with anything they had to offer. So... I started a Pottery Barn registry, too. We still don't have a ton of items on the three registries, but at least our guests have a few options.

After sending out the save-the0dates, I remembered that I hadn't checked our website to make sure the links worked. After clicking on one of the links and scrolling down, I realized three items had been purchased! So, I've now become an accidental registry stalker. Now, I'm just hoping someone didn't buy off our registry on accident. ;)

How many registries did you have, and what ratio did you have of guests to items? I'm curious to know!

Yowza!

Not loving this...

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I was planning to go skiing yesterday after I stopped in for a couple of hours at work... and then, I came to my senses when I realized it was in the negative temps. NEGATIVE! I'm not talking windchill-- I'm talking actual temps. Here is my actual car thermometer.

So, now is time to admit what I actually did. For the most part, I sat. I watched a bunch of crappy television. I did actually get the holiday decor put away in the bins.

The most exciting part of the weekend-- I got the last half of the save-the-dates lined, stuff, addressed and off to the post office! The first half was mailed last Wednesday. We have had many people sign the wedding website guestbook... and then turn around and ask me where they should stay. Um... it's on the website! The whole reason behind creating a wedding website was to give every guest the info without having to personally tell everyone one by one. I spent a good four hours on this site and was gobsmacked that the first three people to sign the guestbook all asked the same question. Argh. Has anyone else run into this issue?

(Isn't it amazing how I turned a weather post into a wedding post? Totally an accident.)

Fabulous Shoe Friday

This week's edition of Fabulous Shoe Friday features shoes that are all under $125... with many as low as $40! Check them out.

Check out Lori's Shoes. They're having big sales.

A New Year and a New Look

This blog was started nearly five months ago. Everything about the blog screams standard. I have lamented daily about how lame the blog looks and how it doesn't really scream ME. So, after seeing Nina's blog transformation, I just had to do it. I immediately contacted Penny Lane Designs. In a few weeks, you will be looking at a new and much improved blog layout! I was going to surprise you, but I thought it would be fun to share my news on the first day of the new year. Stay tuned for my thoughts for 2009!