Dress Hunt

The last two weeks I have been on the hunt for a dress. Not just any old dress but “the dress.” The one that you dream about from the day you learned what a dress was. You dream of what it will look like, how it will fit and how you will feel wearing it.

I have heard over and over from multiple people that “I will just know” when I put on the right dress. After 6 shops and probably 25-30 dresses later you begin to wonder. I just wasn’t having any luck. Sure I was finding gorgeous dresses, sure I was finding dresses that fit but I hadn’t found the dress that had it all.

While on this journey I came across some very interesting bridal shop rules as I like to refer to them. Each shop has surprisingly done things a little differently than the last. A few of these rules were just too out there and weird that I had to write about them.

I encountered probably one of the most control freak bridal shop assistants EVER. I knew I was in for it when she was guiding my every move from the moment I walked in. She did so by saying things such as “Why don’t you come right over HERE and look at THESE (specifying a specific rack) dresses. Once I had picked out about 5 she said “Ok why don’t we get started on these and see where we get.” [This annoys me. I want to do one task and then move on to the next. I want to look, then try. Not look, try, look, try. That is annoying. Let me have my process people!]

It got even more comical when we went to try them on. She gave me strict instructions on what to put on and then informed me that she would help me from there. My mom was there, of course, and so she just started helping me. I think the lady heard the unzipping and the rustling of dresses and started freaking out. There was only a curtain between us and she kept asking “Can I come in!? Can I come in!?” I thought she was going to rip down the curtain. We were promptly informed that they have “certain” ways of putting on the dresses and that they prefer to have a bridal assistant help to put on the dresses. My mom was then banished from the room and I had to awkwardly change from dress to dress with a complete stranger [Not a fan. Although I became somewhat immune to it by after a few shops]

At another shop I knew I was in for it the moment I walked in and a 70 year old women greeted us. I just prayed to myself that I could put the dresses on myself. But of course that was not the case. What would be the fun in that!? So I proceeded to have a 70 year old woman help me try on dresses [at times I thought the dress was going to be too heavy for her little arms to hold up]. The kicker at this place was that you had to wear white gloves. Yeah…gloves. The old lady wasn’t wearing any. Riddle me that Batman.

Other places consisted of me having to take my shoes, going through a magazine rather than being able to look through the rack, writing down the name of the dress and having an assistant bring it to me. Some of these rules made sense and some didn’t (Gloves?) but I guess each place has the right to run their business how they choose.

• If I were to create my own shop I would let the girl look through the rack herself (looking at a picture in a magazine and looking at the actual dress are two totally different things and you don’t want someone who has no idea what you like looking for pick out dresses for you. That is absurd).


• She could have her own room with a large mirror in case she didn’t want to come out in the open and put on a show for the bazillion other brides in the shop.
  
• I would avoid making brides have an appt if possible. People have crazy schedules and sometimes you just have to go look when you have a spare minute.


• If there needs to be special care taken when trying on the dress I would instruct the mom, friend or whomever on how to do it so they don’t have to feel all uncomfortable with some random stranger in their dressing room. If they’re alone I will provide a long slip so that they can at least be covered and decrease embarrassment.


• Last but not least, I would give the bride some space. When she tries on the dress and she looks as though she is trying to decide if she likes it and she just wants to have a word with her mom in privacy to get her opinion without the SALES person standing right there to combat every complaint or worry she might have I would give them some space. Also, this space would give them the opportunity to look at the price tag without feeling like they have to sneak a peek while I am not looking. [Price matters and if something is completely out of your price range then it is better you not fall in love with the dress].

That is just how I would do it if it were me.

The happy ending to this whole process…I found it, THE DRESS!

Car trouble...

Story to come on this one. I have to wait until the story has an ending though. Nothing more frustrating then car trouble. Grrr. This is me except it is 7:00 at night in FREEZING cold weather. Not sure if I had that expression...I think I had more anger on my face. Yeah I think that would be accurate.

Humbled

I was asked to work on a project that required me to go through about 200 pieces of coverage (news articles). Of course my initial reaction was not exactly "Yippee!" but I found some determination and went to work. I worked from about 8:30 to 1:00 and then finished up the rest after lunch and ended around 3:00. I actually made pretty good time and felt good about my accomplishment.

I wasn't given all the articles however. A portion of them were given to someone else. I wasn't told who they were given to but all I knew was that I wasn't going to be able to do it all myself. When it was all said and done I was somewhat curious as to who did the rest of the articles thinking that we could commiserate together a little.

Today I returned some of the hard copy articles to the partner that had asked for my help. When I handed him the stack he made the comment that this was only a small part of the rest of the stack. I took this as my opportunity to find out who he had gotten to go through the rest of the articles.

His response..."I did and also another one of our partners went through a few too."

At that moment I felt about two inches tall. Here I was feeling all picked on and one of the "big wigs," the "top dogs," the "head honchos" had done the SAME work that I had done. I walked out of that office so grateful to be working for a company who employs individuals, including those at the top, that work hard everyday.

I made a commitment to have a better attitude when a not so glamorous project comes my way. A little hard work never hurt anyone.

Wedding Planning

I want to blog an update about the wedding plans because I have actually made some progress to blog about. First of all I have chosen a reception center. The place of choice is Eldrege Manor.

I really like this place. I like the style. I won't have to do much to make it look nice. It has a lighter warmer feel. I have the option to do it either inside or outside (weather depending). It is equip for dancing, bouquet toss, cake cutting the works! I have a meeting with the owner on Saturday where we will work out all the details.

Second decision made is the photographer. We have decided to go with Swensen Photography.

This picture isn't really my favorite but it was the only one that I could copy and paste from the Web site. Go check out the rest of their pictures. I am a big fan of their style. Let's just hope that my pictures turn out as good as their gallery photos. I am still trying to decide if we are going to have someone else do our engagements or not simply for the fact that we can have all the negatives. We can't have the copyright unless we pay for them with Swensen (yeah I know total downside, except most of the quality photographers require you pay extra for copyright anyway) I have a lot of things I would like to use our engagement photos for so it would be nice to have unlimited use of them.

I have a videographer that I would like to hire (just waiting for the go ahead from the madre). His name is Nathan Pickett and he also has a blog where he posts more videos. You can check it out here. I talked with him on the phone and he was very personable, I liked his personality, and he seemed very workable. Not to mention he has the best deal out of all the videographers that I have looked into. I think we can get everything that we want for a good price.

Last but not least for updates I think I have found the dress that I want. All that it comes down to is money. I think out of the two that I like I of course like the more expensive one! Obviously. Mom is coming down to Provo tomorrow to check it out and we will see how it goes.

That is where I am at. *sigh* I have a lot more to go. this wedding planning is keeping me insanely busy. I hope that as I get these big things out of the way I can breathe a little and not feel like I need to be doing wedding stuff EVERY day! It is fun however and it is exciting to start seeing things come together and really get a picture of how I want it to be and look like.

Next steps...
1. Colors (I know I should already have this figured out but I don't!)
2. Invitations
3. Shoes! (I am so excited for this one! I am going to find some FABULOUS shoes!)

Now I would like to introduce my very first guest blogger...fiance!

Boy, this wedding planning is exhausting work! For Marisa, that is. This is Fiance, and I just wanted to clarify that all this planning comes from Marisa. Just kidding. No, but seriously, Marisa has done everything. I just nod my head from side to side or up and down. I'm thankful for a fiance (Marisa) who works hard to make things nice. I sure love her!

Fiance has been wonderful through this whole process. He has been patient, helped when asked and simply held me when I wanted to quit. He has been fantastic and I love him so! I think I will marry him!

Student Driver

Today I saw a semi trailer labeled Student Driver. My first reaction was “I do not want to be near this guy.” “He isn’t trained!” Any smart person knows you do not want to be around a beginner driver who happens to be controlling a 50 foot steal box.

I had no idea that semi drivers participated in any kind of driving training. Then I realized why I have never known that. The reason: many of the semi drivers on the road don’t drive like they have had any training!

I guess it is somewhat comforting to know that they have received a least a little bit of training. I wouldn’t want to see how they drove if they didn’t. There would probably be daily occurrences of semi’s taking out cars and buildings because they turned to sharp.

I wonder if the driving instructor has a brake pedal on his side of the student semi …

you don't always burn dinner...

One of my favorite parts about having fiance in Provo is that we can enjoy Sunday evenings together. We can have Sunday dinner together and either read our own book or read one together. This Sunday we decided to read together a great book called "First Comes Love."

The scene was perfect. Fiance sitting in the corner of the couch and me nestled into him with my feet up. So nice. I was the designated reader and was reading the chapter on Communication. There was a particular part that was talking about how some spouses confide more in their friends then they do their spouses. At this point I made my own commentary and said...

Me: I promise that I will never do that.

Fiance: [chuckles]

Me: Why are you laughing?

Fiance: You don't always burn dinner.

Me: WHAT?? What are you talking about?

Fiance: [Trying to say something but I can't hear him because I am too busy accusing]

Me: You fell asleep! You weren't even listening! I was reading to myself. Here I am making a promise to you and you are sleeping. [Note: I am not really angry just pretending I am. I like to mess with him occasionally]

Fiance: No! I wasn't I promise. I just didn't hear what you said.

Me: Sure. Well go back to sleep so that I don't have to read out loud anymore...

Fiance: No! I am listening! Go ahead.

Me: [under my breath] Incredible. [Continue reading]

Can I just point out how incredibly ironic it was that we were reading about communication. Our communication failed miserably WHILE reading about good communication. To fiance's credit I really do believe that he wasn't sleeping. He was in that half awake and half asleep stage. When you are in that stage things sound weird. When your fiance is demanding why you are laughing and you are thinking it makes complete sense to be laughing you tend to panic and say things that you probably wouldn't have in the first place. I thought that this was probably one of the funniest things because fiance doesn't EVER do this. He is usually very attentive. It was fun to catch him not completely paying attention.

Oh and don't even get me started on the fact that his chosen words were "You don't ALWAYS burn dinner." Too funny. I love that boy so much!

Donuts

The other day we decided to go on a donut run at the office. [I love when we make donuts runs. Not only is it great to get out and get some fresh air but you return with something sweet, fattening, and delicious!]

As I was standing trying to decide what donut I wanted I realized that every donut I wanted was ginormous! I will have you know that the reason I wanted the donut wasn't because it was ginormous [although you may think that] but I wanted it because the ginormous ones were the best tasting. Unless you want a boring glazed donut you have to get the donut the the size of you face. [Note: You do not go on a donut run and get a glazed donut you just don't]

I turned to my co-worker and asked "why are all the good donuts so big? I wish that they came in half orders." The truth of the matter is that I always end up getting the donut the size of my face because obviously it is the one that tastes the best. In the end I can't eat it all because it makes me sick oh about HALF way through [hence why I need a half order].

Wouldn't the world be such a better place if the good tasting donuts came in half orders? Then I could get the best of both worlds. Perfect size with the perfect taste.

Camouflaged Bathroom

I went to the BYU library tonight. Fiance and I decided to mix up our evening meeting a bit and have a change of scenery. Instead of him coming to my apartment (like he has done every night for the past two weeks. what a sweetheart he is) I met him at the library where he could study and I could work on my talk that I have been asked to give this Sunday.

It was nice to be somewhere different for a change. As for accomplishing much, I did ok. I think I have slight tendency for ADD when I am in a new place. I mean there are people to watch, surroundings to admire, and to watch electronic book shelves move! Yeah I know all you BYU people are thinking "what's the big deal?" but in Rexburg our book shelves don't move.

Anywho...After an hour or so I asked fiance if there were any bathrooms around. He said that there were some just out the doors and down the hallway a little bit. It sounded easy enough so off I went to find the bathrooms. I walked just where fiance told me to... and kept walking...and then walked a little more...and finally got that "I have missed something" feeling.

Luckily there was a sign with directions as to where different things were in the building. Yeah again we don't have the "You are here" signs at BYU-Idaho either. [Pretty much we didn't have a lot of what BYU has but I wouldn't give up my education at good ole BYU-Idaho for any moving book shelf or "You are here" sign.] After reading the sign telling me that the bathrooms were back in the same direction that I had just come I was thoroughly confused. I definitely hadn't seen any bathrooms.

With no other option I headed back the way I came and there they were...the bathrooms whose doors completely blended in with the wall! I am not kidding you it was barely recognizable that there was two doors there. It also didn't help that the only thing identifying that it was a bathroom was a sign the size of a piece of paper displaying which was the boy's and which was the girls.

I don't know what BYU is trying to pull having camouflaged bathrooms but it isn't cool. You can't do that when a girl is used to huge flashing pointing arrows that say RESTROOMS this way! I could have very well completely missed those doors and then what would I have done? I don't think anyone wants think about that so let's not make finding the bathrooms like an Where's Waldo book.

(Where's the door???)

AWARD!

You all know how much I love Holly's blog, and how I dream about being just like her, and how whenever she mentions MY blog on HER blog I pretty much freak out? Well, then you will understand why I am super excited about the fact that if i were really skinny gave me and award!

That's right I have received a blog award from my idol blogger. This is like getting to meet Justin Timberlake from NSYNC when I was 13 years old! Even better the award is for having a great blog attitude which I think is pretty cool. I guess I better keep it upbeat over here at my blog or else I could lose my title.

The order of the list of people who received the award probably doesn't mean anything (Nathan) (I am sure that it does because whatever order she put them in were obviously the ones that came to mind first) but in case you were wondering I am totally #2 on the list! (unfortunately I came after Talkaholics Anonymous but I am over it because I love that blog too plus I gotta keep a good attitude because that was the award I was given!)

So my weekend was made before it even began. Thanks Holly! Be sure to go check out the award giving here and don't be afraid to read a few other posts. She is hilarious and I highly recommend you check out this post and this one.

Totally Justified

Tonight at institute my teacher pretty much said that blogging counts as a journal.

The most exciting part about this news is that I am totally justified in my blogging obsession.

I don't have to feel guilty anymore because this blog is going to bless my posterity just like a journal would except it is 20th century style.

Laugh it's funny

I just wanted to make a quick comment about the comments that were made on my last posting. (Which I love all the comments by the way! I recently got some new followers and I love that they are commenter's! That's a shout out to you Amy, Natalie, and Danielle).

Apparently I really tugged on the heart strings of a few people with my story yesterday and believe me it was done UNintentionally. My goal was actually to give everyone a chance to laugh a little. I mean come on people you have to admit it was kind of funny. (Thanks Natalie for thinking it was funny. It made me feel like my story wasn't a complete failure)

Maybe it's true that I am the only one who thinks my jokes/stories are funny. Anywho don't feel bad about my getting slushed, laugh because it was funny. I even thought so. Right after it happened I thought "Wow that was funny" and my next immediate thought was "This is going to make for a great blog post!"

I guess all I am trying to say is MOST of the time my postings are meant to make you laugh. Whether they do or not is another issue. But believe me you will know when I am out to get sympathy.

As a final thought I would like to say that getting slushed wasn't nearly as bad as having jeans soaked up to my knees with a lovely white line to accent. This is what people look like that tromp around in Rexburg. Thankfully I am spending my winter in a place that believes in plowing. Thanks Amy for reminding me of another thing to be grateful for.

Slushed

It is official the holiday break is over, I am back at work, back to my regular scheduled programming. I know that not everyone else fell off the face of the planet like I did (hence the large amount of catch up blog reading I have to do) but I am back and really loving having my normal schedule back so that my days can include blogging!

For my first real post I want to share a little story. Today I called my doctor on my lunch break because I had a few questions for her. She wasn't available and they said that she would call me back later. Well of course she called while I was at work. My questions were important enough that I wanted to step out of the office in order to call her back and get things resolved.

I walked to the back of the office to the back door and opened it to find a foot of snow built up right next to the door. I stood there contemplating if I could step out and just stay in one spot and not get totally drenched. Just as I was about to step out I noticed a van approaching so I decided to wait until it passed before I went out.

I am standing there minding my own business and then all the sudden I had one of those moments where everything turns into slow motion.

I am standing there thinking...
"Man it is really slushy outside."
"That van is going pretty fast for how slushy it is outside."
"I am standing pretty close to all that slushy stuff."
Then BAM I had been slushed.

I couldn't believe it. I had seen it in movies. I had seen it happen to other people but I had never experienced getting nasty brown wet slush splattered all over me. Needless to say I changed my mind real quickly about going outside. I stepped back in and wiped the huge slush spots off my pants and coat the best I could and walked back to my desk.

The End.

This is me, except picture it being snow and not going over my head.

New obsession

This is my new song obsession. Check it out here.