The Old Hair/Veil Debate.

Here's the dilemma:

My hair is at a medium-length with plenty of layers and sideswept bangs. It's not exactly what you would call "bridal hair." It's a proven fact: my hair usually looks better down than up. Why? I'm not really sure. Fact: I refuse to wear my hair down for the wedding. Fact: I also refuse to wear my veil (if I wear one) on the crown of my head. I will only wear it at the nape of my neck, or not at all.

So how are we going to make this work? I'm not sure. I'll be scheduling an appt. with my normal hair stylist and hopefully she can figure out the puzzle. Below are pictures of how I'd LOVE my hair to be:

Ideally, of course.

The Sparkle is Starting to Fade...

This week, I did the unimaginable.

I deleted almost ALL of the wedding blogs I read daily from my Google Reader.

Why? I don't know. I guess you could say that I'm over them. I've found myself scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, and not really stopping to look at any of the pictures or read the stories. The 2 blogs I have continued to subscribe to are my always wonderful A Practical Wedding and the fabulously funny blog, I Hate Planning My Wedding. Unfortunately, her wedding was back in February, and there are no updates, so I'll probably delete that one soon, too.

I've really begun feeling very "Meh" about the planning and the details. I feel that I have everything under control, and actually get slightly annoyed when people ask if I'm stressed out. All of our big decisions feel great, and we don't regret a single one. I still feel very confident in all of our vendors to deliver what we've agreed upon, and deliver it well. I know that if any issues arise the day of, they all have the experience and practicality to fix it how they see best. Because of this feeling of implicit trust, my stress has really been at a minimum. The most stressful part for both Tom and I was the guest list, and that really has nothing to do with any of our vendors.

It's not that I'm not excited for the wedding, because let me tell you, I am SUPER excited, it's just that I'm not dwelling on all the different facets of it anymore. It's a pretty great feeling, knowing that I can now devote my time and energy into other arenas of my life (including my insane craft list!). As Tom and I begin the preparations to move, and he moves into yet another season of track, we've realized that the whole point to this wedding is beginning life the day after.

We've been doing some serious thinking and discussing this week about all the possibilities in the future for us. A lot of our conversations center around money, as many couples' do. With Tom planning on becoming a professional athlete once he graduates, our future priorities are a bit different than other people. For example, every important (and sometimes not-so-important) decision we make centers around our big potential move in a year. Tom has an opportunity to be coached by an Olympian, and that's certainly not something we'd ever give up. But, it does change where we'd thought we'd be in five years.

When I start thinking about all that we discuss, and how well we know each other, I am always amazed at how similar we think. Before it was even said aloud, we were both on the same page concerning Tom's Olympic dream. I knew I'd do anything to make it happen, he knew that he wouldn't let me give up everything to make it happen. We've come to such a great place of calmness and trust within our relationship, I can't imagine it being any other way.

So I guess the sparkle of wedding planning isn't really gone, it's just transferred to another place in our relationship. And I think I like it a lot better...

Shopping Dilemma: Do I Buy?

So I've been on a miniature, self-imposed unnecessary spending ban lately. I've been doing pretty good, actually. :-)

I've actually been trying to be proactive with my spending. As an example, after Christmas, I went forth and conquered all the 70% off sales and bought $300 worth of holiday decorations and miscellany for less than $75, including a Christmas tree!

So, when I ran across this $100 coat on sale at New York & Company, I started drooling over it. I kept thinking to myself, "Okay, you haven't bought a new coat since your freshman year of college. This is totally worth it."

Marked down to $50, is it worth it?
(It's fully lined, 100% wool, the works.)



Now I ask you, if I told you I had a coupon that brought this coat down to $35, is it worth it?

I'm obviously leaning towards worth it here, considering the price and the fact that my coat really is 4 years old. (And please, no comments about will you still want it next year. I can say "Yes" emphatically, as my current coat is a pea coat. I love the style, just not the pattern/color).

Talk to me, goose. Yes or No?