1. Non-linear aisles.  Brides and Grooms are straying away from  straight aisles preferring to walk in from different angles and choosing to meet in a central spot.  Think circular or triangle aisles.

2.  Hollywood glam for the Grooms.  Old style looks for the men saying "I Do".

3.  Comfort foods for the reception.  Pizza, burgers, ribs with a twist.  For instance, mini Kobe burgers as an hor d'oeuvre. 

4.  Themed engagement photo shoots.  I like this idea.  I think if I were getting married I would bring whatever theme I used for my photo shoot into my wedding plans. 

5.  Tea length wedding gowns.  I love the tea length gowns!  They are elegant, retro, and very chic.
  

What do you BABs think about these trends?  What do you believe will be trends for 2010?

Now, let's meet this week's KNOW YOUR BAB Bride…

NIKA

(All Nika's photos are courtesy of photographer Christopher Moore)

Describe your day in 3 words.

"Beautiful, calm, and hot."

What were your wedding colors?

"Navy blue with apple green accents"

Your wedding date and location.

June 28, 2008, Snellville, GA

Paula:  Describe your “This Is the One” moment when you saw your wedding dress. 

Nika: After scouring David’s Bridal web site I had found my perfect dress.  Well that was until I actually tried it on.  What looked fabulous on the model made me look awful. My consultant suggested I try on a strapless gown.  I was really hesitant since I am top heavy.  I am glad I did.  After trying on a few gowns, I found the one.  It was a simple white strapless a line dress with ribbon accent.  It was perfect for my outdoor afternoon wedding.

Paula:  What was the funniest thing to happen on your wedding day? 

Nika:  DH is a police officer and a lot of his guests were his co-workers.  When we were pronounced husband and wife, my cousin yelled out “Officer Down!”  That got a laugh out of everyone in attendance.

Paula:  Describe your DH’s participation in the planning process? 

Nika:  He had minimal participation which was great with me.  I am really anal and like things done in a particular way.  He was in charge of the DJ, limo and tuxes.

Paula:  How did you meet your DH? 

Nika:  We met at Bell Bottoms which was a club that  only played old school music.

Paula:  Any issues with your wedding party? If so, how did you resolve them?

Nika:  My BF (MOH) experienced some health issues prior the wedding and was not cleared medically by her physician to travel.  I was upset she would not be there but was more concerned about her health.  I knew if she could be there she certainly would. 

Paula:  Where did you go on your honeymoon?

Nika:  Orlando, FL.  We went to both Disney and Universal Studios.  DH and I are both big kids at heart.

Paula:  Describe your wedding cake. 

Nika:  I did not want a traditional cake and fell in love with the cupcake tree once I saw it.  I ordered a cupcake tree and decorated it.  Our guests loved it.

Paula:  What was the one thing about your wedding day you wish you had planned differently?

Nika:  I would definitely change the time.  It was held in the middle of the afternoon on a HOT Georgia summer day.  It didn't affect me much since I was the last one to arrive but DH was sweating profusely  during the entire ceremony.  Our programs were fans and guests were provided with bottles of water.  Luckily the ceremony was short and quick and everyone was able to make it back inside to the AC.

Inspiration for Navy and Green Bride-to-Be's

(photos from www.projectwedding.com)

Well that's all for this week.  Until the next time…Keep It Beautiful BABs!

~Paula (the Know Your BAB Bride Blogger )

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Well BABs this week's Know Your BAB bride is sharing a boat load of gorgeous pictures with us.  I love peektures!!! 

AbramsWife

(All photos courtesy of Nicole Adams Photography)

Abramswife's day in three words:

Fun, Romantic, Elegant

Abramswife's  wedding colors and theme:

"My colors were pink and brown. I didn't really have a theme. I just wanted rose petals and candles everywhere."

Abramswife's wedding date and location:

July 18, 2009 in Michigan

Paula:  How did your DH ask you to marry him?

Abramswife:  We were at dinner, getting ready to go to the Maxwell concert. As dinner was ending he handed me a piece of paper and it was a resume. It had an objective, experience, education, skills, etc. The resume detailed why he would be perfect for the role as my husband. Then he handed me a letter telling me how much he loved me and how much he wanted to be with me. Then he just slid the ring box across the table, classic him. Once I opened it then he asked me if I would marry him. 

Paula:   How did you meet your DH?

Abramswife:  We met at a restaurant on my 21st birthday. I was there with my friends and boyfriend at the time. And he was sitting at another table with his friends. Me and my friend had got up to go to the bathroom and he was in the same hallway talking on the phone. I started flirting with him (yes my boyfriend at the time was still there), we were supposed to exchange numbers that night but it never happened. A few days later me and my friend were at the mall and she was like "isn't that the guy from Bennigans?". So I told him to come here and asked him for his number.

Paula:  What song did you choose for your walk down the aisle?  Why this song?

Abramswife:  Jennifer Hudson- Giving Myself. I listened to a lot of songs and they were just "ok", then once I heard this song it moved me, it gave me a feeling that none of the other songs gave me. So I knew this had to be the one.

Paula:   How would you describe the look on your DH’s face when he saw you coming down the aisle?

Abramswife:  He cried. I would've never thought that he would've cried but he did. He denies it to this day but I have pictures to prove it.

Paula:   How long were you in the planning process?

Abramswife:  I planned my wedding in 9 months.

Inspiration for you pink and brown brides-to-be

(photos from www.projectweddings.com)

Well that's all for this week.  Until the next time…Keep It Beautiful BABs!

~Your Know Your Bride Blogger

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Last week was one heck of a week on the job! Phew!! Talk about 12 to 14 hour days.  I mean EVERYDAY!!  The snow storm did a whopper with the timeline for my company's year end audit.  I barely ate last week trying to get everything done.  I so can't wait for this audit to be done!  At least the field work is wrapping up.  Now it's just waiting for the audit team to sign off on the 17 audits (yes 17!) and I can begin to breathe again.  LOL!

Enough of my whining.  On to the fun stuff…

It's time for this week's KNOW YOUR BAB BRIDE!!! 

LilBrownHottie

(All pictures used by permission of the bride)

LilBrownHottie's uses these three words (phrases) to describe her wedding: 

Classy

Old World

International

(Our wedding was in a very old stone church and we had family and guests attend from several countries as well as the U.S.)

Wedding Colors:

Lavender

White/Ivory

(LilBrownHottie says she is not sure if she had a theme or not – LOL!)

Wedding Date and Location:

May 17, 2009

Washington, DC

Paula:  How did your DH (Dear Husband) ask you to marry him?

LilBrownHottie:  My DH proposed to me on bended knee at the same restaurant and at the same table we had for one of our first dates .   I was so busy going "OMG! OMG!" at the ring and everything that I forgot to say "Yes" until he said "Umm… an answer would be nice?".

Paula:  What were your thoughts when the door opened for you to walk down the aisle?

LilBrownHottie:  When the door opened for me to walk down the aisle all I could think was "Lord! Please don't let me trip'!!". My shoes had five inch heels and certain relatives had been teasing me about laughing their butts off if I fell. 

Paula:  What was the funniest thing to happen on your wedding day?

LilBrownHottie:  The funniest thing that happened on my wedding day was the priest . After he had started the ceremony , he paused and said, "Now unless you are expecting a direct communication from God, please turn off all cell phones and pagers!".  I cracked up!

Paula:  Describe your wedding bouquet.

LilBrownHottie:  My wedding bouquet was special because it was all lavender roses wrapped in lavender ribbon (even though it was supposed to have been wrapped in purple ribbon to match my shoes).  This was special because the first roses my DH ever gave me were lavender. 

Paula:  What was the one thing about your wedding day you wish you had planned differently?

LilBrownHottie:  I wish we had scheduled more time for pictures.  Our photographer (Val) was great . As our wedding was in Washington, DC, we had TONS of places we could  have taken some amazing shots at. The ones of us standing in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave with the Capital building in the back were cool.

Here are some inspiration ideas for your lavender and white wedding:

(Photos from www.projectweddings.com)

Well that's all for this week.  Until the next time…Keep It Beautiful BABs!

~Paula (the Know Your BAB Bride Blogger )

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

And now it is 11:06 pm and I have been trying upload the MONDAY MOTIVATION ALLLL DAMN DAY!!  I didn't have time to type it up so I did I did a quick video on it this morning… Quick and dirty in and out just upload it to yourtube and get the day a crack-a-lacking… But alas… everything is hating on me… That or I should have planned better… but I will choose everything is hating on me and keep it pushing…. Don't you give me that damn side eye, TROLLOP! I'm trying…

Anyhoo… The video is approximately 50 % done uploading  and If I don't have a fit of narcolepsy from chasing these chillun all over the world today I will post it immediately! If not We just going to have to Call this weeks Monday Motivation a Try it again Tuesday!  LOL!

I hope ya'll like these… Cause I'm enjoying doing them!

UPDATE:11:56 pm… I think I finally got it together!!

Monday Motivation! from Brown And Bridal on Vimeo.

Stay fierce, fabulous, and  Convinced that Youtube is hating on me specifically,

FutureMrsBrown2011

Wedding date:  June 25, 2011

Wedding colors/theme: 

Navy and Lilac with Gold and Ivory accents. The theme is Romantic Elegance and Love.

What most does FutureMrsBrown2011 hope to get from BAB during your planning?

Advice and Recommendations.

(Let's hear from FutureMrsBrown2011 regarding her upcoming wedding…)

Paula:  How did your FH propose?

FutureMrsBrown2011:  He proposed on Christmas of 2009. We were in Alabama with my family. The ring was one of my wrapped gifts under the tree the whole time.  And, my entire family knew since he got it in October! I opened the gift and he asked to help me with it (the ring box was in a bigger box with candy on top of it). Once he got the box open, I just saw him going down on one knee. He told me that he loved me and that he wanted me to spend the rest of my life with him. It took me a little while but I finally said yes!  LOL! I was just so shocked!

Paula:  What has been the easiest part of your planning so far?

FutureMrsBrown2011:  Deciding the date of the wedding.

Paula:  What has been the hardest part of your planning so far?

FutureMrsBrown2011:  Choosing who to be in the wedding party.

Paula:  Are you using a planner and/or DOC (Day of Coordinator)?

FutureMrsBrown2011:  I am using a DOC.

Paula:  How long will you have been planning until your wedding date?

FutureMrsBrown2011:  2.5 years

If you would like to see FutureMrsBrown2011's engagement video click HERE.

Planning ideas for Navy weddings

(Photos from www.aisledash.com and www.tastefullyentertaining.com)

Well that's all for this week.  Until the next time…Keep It Beautiful BABs!

~Paula (the Know Your BAB Bride Blogger )

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

 ***

Well I have been having a great time with these blogs and love reading and seeing all about our BAB brides.  I hope everyone is liking the blog and please feel free to leave comments or contact me with any suggestions.  Also, if you would like to be featured, just PM me on www.brownandbridal.com.   My member name is PaulaJ.

This Week's Know Your BAB Bride is Bride-To-Be

miabridentampa

Wedding date: July 10, 2010

Wedding colors:  Turquoise, Lemon Yellow, and Chartreuse Accents

Wedding theme:  NYC loft meets South Beach Chic

How she hopes BAB will help her with her planning:  "I hope to get tips on what little things I may need to remember closer to the big day, that you don't usually think about.  Also I hope to get tips on ways on to properly incorporate great accents into my big day."

Paula:  After you said "Yes" to the proposal, what was the first thing that popped into your head about your big day?

miabridentampa:  What time of the year and exact date we will choose to jump to broom!!!

Paula:  What has been the easiest part of your planning so far?

miabridentampa:  The venue.  I knew before I even went there. But once we toured it and FI and my mom fell in love, I WAS sold.

Paula:  Are you using a planner and/or DOC?

miabridentampa:  Yes.  I have a Month of Planner. She takes over the month before my wedding, but she has been like a full planner at times.  I need that because I'm not in the city where my wedding is taking place.

Paula:  Have you chosen a honeymoon location?  If so, where?

miabridentampa:  La Concha Resort San Juan Puerto Rico.

Paula:  What are you planning to splurge on for your wedding?

miabridentampa:  Florals and decor.

Paula:  Is there any part of the planning process you wish you could avoid?

miabridentampa:  Making out checks.

(All pictures of miabridentampa and her FI are courtesy of www.studiobycarmen.com)

Planning a Lemon Wedding?  Here is some inspiration for you!

(All photos are from www.petalsgalore.com)

Well that's all for this week.  Until the next time…Keep It Beautiful BABs!

~Paula (the Know Your BAB Bride Blogger )

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hello lovelies!! I'm having some technical difficulties getting the links to work but I'll fix them and wirte a bit more when I get back from taking the babies to school!! So check back here!!! 

In the meantime Start the strecthes and endurance exercises! LOL!

I'll start and official thread over on the forum for us to discuss our daily progress… And special "plans"?

Speaking of work, I'm starting to get annoyed with a certain "friend." (We're FB friends, but not friend friends, got it?) You know, the type who complains about ev-ery-thing? The one who always has too much work to do and is overwhelmed by it? The kid who wants to throw fits when something doesn't go his (or her) way? You know anyone like that…?

You're lucky if you don't.

This girl is so unprofessional. Let me count the ways.

1. Blew up at a senior 3-4 times because of his "condescending" tone.  Keep in mind, I have worked with this same senior my entire career. Sure, I've wanted to tell him where to go a few times. However, not once have I raised my voice, nor did I tell him that what he was explaining to me was unnecessary because I am an accountant–"I went to school for that; you don't need to tell me." *Newsflash*Textbook work and real-life work are completely different.

2. Tell your supervisor that your workload is just too much and that someone else needs to do it. In the same breath, refuses to work any overtime or even a few minutes late. Hmmm.

3. Complains about other people's PAY. Because she has access and can see other's pay**, it's her right to see what counterparts are making. Then, proceeds to complain about her lack of pay. Some people in this country don't have jobs, yet she can bitch about not getting paid enough. [See 1 & 2 above for two of the reasons!]

**This pisses me off! In a conversation about someone else's payout/bonus, my "friend" proceeds to tell me how she looked up my pay. WTF!!  I was speechless. I thought I was hallucinating. Nope, she honestly told me she invaded my privacy. There is no excuse for that type of behavior.

4. Calls her mother, who works at another district, rather than talking to senior accountants about system issues. Yes, her mom is knowledgeable, but how does it look when you don't even ask questions to your immediate supervisor?

5. Loud, personal phone calls about family issues in the middle of the work day.

Needless to say, I am distancing myself from my FB friend. I wish I could give limited status to people in real-life situations.

soon2bmrsw

October 24, 2009; Macon, Georgia

Sentimental,  Pinnacle,  Festive

Black and Ivory with Fuchsia Accents

About her wedding…

Paula:  Describe your DH’s participation in the planning process?

soon2bmrsw: My dear hubby was highly involved in the planning process.  When asked, he will tell you that he wanted to help lighten the load of stress that I was carrying.  I believe that he was just as excited to be planning such a large party for our families as I was.  He helped with everything from DIY invitations/Save-the-Dates to helping to design and write Thank-You's.  He even took the lead on working with a number of vendors such as the DJ, Bartender and Videographer to name a couple.

Paula:  What song did you choose for your walk down the aisle? Why this song?

soon2bmrsw:  I chose Maurette Clark Brown's, "The One He Kept For Me" as my song to walk to my husband.  I couldn't think of a better way to express to D how I felt/feel about him.  Besides D being "The One He Kept For Me", these lyrics speak to my heart:

I'd pray and wait for you

So patiently

And now He's blessed our love

For eternity

The one I was praying for

The one He delayed me for

The one He kept for me

Until it was time

My husband is truly God's greatest gift to me.  I don't deserve him, but GOD saw fit to place him into my life.

Paula:  How would you describe the look on your DH’s face when he saw you coming down the aisle?

soon2bmrsw:  My hubby cried as I entered the sanctuary to come to him.  It was the absolute sweetest thing ever.

Paula:  What was the funniest thing to happen on your wedding day?

soon2bmrsw:  During the planning process, I often joked with the officiant about my ring(s).  I said that if I didn't get double diamond bands to compliment my engagement ring, I would give him the eye and the wedding was off – joking of course.  By the time the wedding day rolled around, I had of course forgotten all of this and was just taking everything in.  During our ring ceremony, the officiant tells my husband to place the ring on my finger.  After a second, he turns to D and asks, "Is that ALL you have for her?"  I was MORTIFIED!  It took a second, but then I realized that my groom had tricks up his sleeve as he pulled out my second diamond band (YAY!).  As the pièce de résistance, when asked, my hubby loudly declares, "With THESE rings, I thee wed…"  Priceless.

Paula:  Where did you go on your honeymoon?

soon2bmrsw:  We honeymooned for the first seven days of our marriage at the beautiful Gran Bahia Principe Ambar in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  The honeymoon, however, is still in progress…

**All Photos courtesy of Mango Pixels **

*CNM2010

*JaxBox

*MForbes20

Keep up the good work! I say that with good reason as we still have about seven weeks remaining in the challenge!

Not only are the ladies having fun losing weight, but with Gabbi's Trim & Tone Tuesday Quiz the participants have had a chance to win excellent prizes. Last week's question was correctly answered by Nika and she will be receiving an awesome Jillian Michael's workout DVD. The question was: How many calories should you burn off each day to lose one pound  week?

The answer and this week's tip:

One pound of body weight is equivalent to 3500 calories. So in order to lose one pound of weight, we need to create a calorie-deficit of 3500 calories.

We can do this by increasing our calorie expenditure, by reducing our calorie intake, or (best) by a combination of both.

Example

Suppose you need 2000 calories a day, in order to maintain your present weight.
To lose one pound a week, you need to cut your daily calorie intake to 1500 calories.
Over 7 days, this adds up to 3500 calories.
The same result can be achieved by increasing your exercise by 200 calories/day, and reducing your calorie-intake by 300 calories/day.
That said, a combination of calorie-reduction and increased exercise makes weight loss easier to sustain. [/font]
————-
Do you know how many calories you need to maintain your present weight? Better yet, do you know how many you're consuming each day???
Go here to find out: NutritionData BMI & Calories Burned Calculator so you can figure out what to cut out!
WARNING: It is never recommended to consume less than 1200 calories a day, unless you've consulted with a medical professional.

Have a great week ladies!

No matter what happens with those people around me, I try to maintain my sense of myself at all times. I'm not an angry, selfish, or inconsiderate person. So if somebody show those or any other foul behaviors to me, I'd instantly forgive them, forget that mess ever happened and continue to put their happiness at the forefront. You know me, No matter what… I keep it movin'!

Above any and all else, I have always attempted to be kind, respectful, and uber considerate of others. Really and truly before I make decisions,  I always take a moment  to think about how my choices may affect those around me.

How might this complicate the lives of those around me?

Is this somehting that is going to cause someone any kind of pain or discomfort?

If any of my wants or wishes seem to,possibly, sorta kinda, maybe cause any semblance of slight inconvience for anyone, I'd forego my hearts desires so as to not "put anyone out" or "make anyone have to make any changes" cause of me.  All the while bending over backwards, forwards, sideways AND BEHINDWAYS  to do EVERYTHING I can to make sure they can do WHATEVER they want…  I, mean, who am I to request anybody to do anything for me (sarcasm)…

So I've walked through everyday of my life  with the golden rule, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"  as my constant and solid creed for living. I've always thought every one else was  doing this,as well…  That may be laughable for some of you but I really do… LOL

Now, right behind  "do unto others", I've also lived my entire life with a steadfast policy of "Forgive and Forget."

My capacity for forgiveness know no bounds. I've always chosen to forgive those who have hurt me and forget about the anguish their choices may have caused me. Even when some of these people don't cop to the wrongdoings, don't ask for my forgiveness, and at times continue on with the same behaviors that  damaged me in the first place…

I have always forgiven those people and completely forgotten the indescrestions. Cause I've always understood that holding a grudge or hate for someone is more harmful to yourself than to them. Nothing is to be gained from hanging on to anger or anguish. And I'm a happy fierce, fabulous, kind of chick so there is not time for any of that nonsense.

BUT lately as I've been making changes and evaluating all aspects of my life,  I've come to the realization that in some cases, Forgive and Forget has been causing me more harm than good…

 So for me the monday motivation  for this week is….

I WILL ALWAYS FORGIVE BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET.

Now this comes with a Caveat… If you are the petty type, who still pissed off at that chick at the drive-thru who only gave you 2 ketchups instead of the four like you asked for… You keep it pushing and move away from this post…

But if you are like me: hyper-forgiving of folks who by no means deserve it.  Than this is for you…

You know, there are several times in my life where I've found myself in the same situations that I swore I would never allow myself to be put in to again. Sometimes I'd find myself there and have NO IDEA how the hell I got back there…

So, I've had to evaulate. I'm not absolving myself for any of the steps that I've taken to put myself in to these less than ideal situations: I'm grown. And some shit… I  should've just ,know better.

But setting my own mess ups aside, for the moment,  I am CLEARLY realizing, one of the reasons why I get back in the same situations:

I keep forgetting what I had to forgive some of these folks for in the first place. 

Some of these people I'm forgiving are putting me back into these fucked up situations again and again…. They haven't changed their behaviors in a manner that is worthy of my forgetfulness.

Some of them, do these really jacked up things to me and then have the unmitigated gall to tell me I need to ask them to forgive me for making them do these fucked up things…TO ME!  Huh?

You acted a fool with me, and now you want me to apologize for supposedly "making you" act a like fool? Sorry, homie…

Now why on earth will I continue to forget what they've done in the past and then allow them to  have any part of my future?

Now don't get me wrong…. I still plan to forgive everyone who wrongs me… But I will not forget what has happened AT ALL!

Cause in the never forgetting is me remembering me…

Remembering what MY final destination of joy is…

Remembering the greatest joy that  God wants for me, is for me!

And that some folks can't get to glory with me.

Remembering that unfortunately sometimes, everybody ain't on your side. Remembering that sometimes people, even those who are supposed to be, who purport themselves to be for you, are actually against you. ( I know I'm just as shocked as you are  

And that folks who set up roadblocks for you in every way aren't meant to be forgiven and welcomed back in to your lives completely every time… Some folks are the way they are for a reason ,which may mean, that they need to be kept at arms ( or several football fields)  lengths away.

Some folks need to be forgotten from your life completely forever… So forgive those folks and forget you ever knew their tails….

But for the folks who you have to deal with and be around at times… Forgive them for their mess… but never, ever forget….

Stay fierce, fabulous, and forgiving from,

I hope you enjoy reading about and seeing pictures of your beautiful BABs as they share with us their thoughts about their wedding day or their upcoming weddings. 

For those of you who do not know what KNOW YOUR BAB BRIDE is all about let me explain.  I provide questions both to the married and engaged BAB brides and ask them to pick five they want to answer.  If they choose more than five I am perfectly fine with that.  The more to share with us, right?  I also ask them to provide pictures they want to share.  I pull it all together and present them in this blog to share with all of you.  If you love weddings like I do and can never get enough of the beautiful pictures, then this blog is for you.  Also, newbie BABs particularly may find this blog useful as they get to know their fellow BABs. 

So without further ado, let us begin.

This week’s featured BAB is **Purr-Fection***. 

**Purr-Fection*** was married in Columbia, SC. 

Her colors were Aqua and White and she describes her wedding day using these three words:  Love, Celebration, and Fun. 

In her own words:

What was the one thing about your wedding day you wish you had planned differently?

The timing of day would be one thing I wish I planned differently. I had my ceremony outside at the end of May. Needless to say, it was entirely too hot! I planned the ceremony for 6:00pm, hoping it would cool down, but it did not! It was almost 90 degrees outside. Even though I did supply my guests with bottled water and fans, I still felt bad because it was so hot! My poor husband was dripping sweat by the time the ceremony was over!

Would you recommend having a planner and/or DOC (Day of Coordinator)? Why or why not?

I definitely recommend having a DOC if not anything else. A good DOC will help your day move freely and smoothly without having the bride go crazy. They should be able to take care of everything from dealing with vendors, to satisfying guests. Definitely a good investment if you want to be sane on your wedding day.

What was the funniest thing to happen on your wedding day?

We had two funny moments. The first was my veil coming off in the middle of the ceremony. All I could say was “Oh Lord, my veil…Somebody come fix my veil!”, in the MIDDLE of the pastor talking and all! Thankfully one of my hostesses was right there to help me out! LOL!

The second moment was when we were hugging the parents, and Kelvin grabbed Kayden (our daughter) to give her a kiss, and when he did she drooled all over his mouth. His reaction was priceless!

Did you experience the “ugly cry”?

Yes, I did, when Kelvin surprised me with the vows he wrote. They were so sweet and he was so nervous saying them. My heart melted.

How did you meet your DH?

Kelvin and I were high school sweethearts. We met during my freshman year in high school.

What song did you choose for your walk down the aisle? Why this song?

“Never Felt This Way” by Brian McKnight. I have always loved this song, and always wanted this to be the song I walked down the aisle to.

 Wedding Day Pictures

(all photos used by permission of bride)

Thank you **Purr-Fection*** for sharing your day with us!

EXTRA:  If you are planning a wedding in Aqua and White, here is some inspiration for you:

(Picture from www.glamourousgowns.co.uk)

Well that's all for this week.  Until the next time…Keep It Beautiful BABs!

~Your Know Your Bride Blogger

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself to all of you who don't already know me. 

I have been a BAB member since June 2008.  I love BAB!  I am the keeper of the BAB Brides list.  I love all things wedding. It is just such a happy occasion and is almost always an event filled with lots of laughter, fun, and good times!  Who wouldn't love that, right?  Anyway when our lovely Senam (aka "THEHDIC") asked if I wanted to do a blog, I jumped right on it!  I poured over many ideas (all wedding related) that I thought would be of most interest to the BAB members.  Those included posting tidbits and advice regarding wedding planning, engagement photo session ideas, honeymoon locations, etc.  (Do not ask me how but I know lots and lots about wedding planning and come across many things that brides find useful).  But, then I thought "what better source of ideas and advice could there be but from the BAB brides themselves, right?" So, viola!  The "Know Your BAB Bride" blog was born.  I still will post things I think will be of interest and of use to those planning their wedding from time to time because…  I simply can't help it! LOL!! 

Anyway, enough with the introduction….I am off to get ready to publish my first post for getting to "Know Your BAB Bride!"

***BUT BEFORE I GO, HERE ARE SOME TIDBITS ABOUT LITTLE OLD ME.***

My children:  One son (currently a Nittany Lion Sophomore)

My favorite dessert:  Cheesecake

My favorite beverage:  Slurpee!

I am a graduate of:    Howard University (Go Bisons!)

My Furbaby:    Eragon, the Rottweiler

I always seem to have a lot to say on a variety of things and blogging seems like a good outlet. I am pretty random, so I am liable to talk about life, love, school, work, politics, whatever and they might all end up in the same blog, lol. My life has changed so much in just one year, who would have ever thought. I guess I will begin my blogging career with some words of wisdom I received that helped carry me through the last crazy year. 

Accustomed as we are to change, or unaccustomed, we think of a change of heart, of clothes, of life, with some uncertainty.
—Josephine Miles

Being used to a situation, even a painful one, carries with it a level of comfort. Moving away from the pain, changing the situation, be it job, home, or marriage, takes courage and support from other persons. But even more it takes faith that the change will benefit us. For most of us, the pain will need to worsen.

In retrospect, we wonder why it took us so long. We forget, from one instance to the next, that a new door cannot open until we've closed one behind us. The more important fact is that a new one will always open without fail. The pain of the old experience is trying to push us to new challenges, new opportunities, and new growth. We can handle the change; we can handle the growth. We are never given more than we can handle, and we are always given just what we need.

Experience can't prepare us for the ramifications of a new change. But our trust in friends, and our faith in the spiritual process of life, can and will see us through whatever comes.

If a change of any kind is facing me today, I will know that I am not alone. Whatever I am facing is right for me and necessary to my well-being. Life is growth. The next stage of my life awaits me.

The credit for this gorgeous picture belongs to  Jeremy Cowart for his Voice of Haiti project. He desciribes his project as ""Visual Tweets" from the people of Haiti. Follow him on twitter:@JeremyCowart for more of these beautiful pictures.

As you all know, the disaster in Haiti has affected so many so deeply. Two of our very own Bab Bloggers : Rahael and Stephanie, are deeply connected to Haiti, as well. The tradgedy there is unimaginable… I can't watch the new coverage anymore cause I go from wailing sadness to shaking with anger as the images pass by. Help is still  so urgently needed. And in too many cases the help is not getting to those who need it in time. But what I realized when I saw the tweet of this picture, is exactly what is scrawled in Creole in the paper plate the young man is holding….our  Monday Motivation. The thought I'm hoping to pass on to all you for this week and for every moment of your lives… 

The plate simply says, "Love Conquers All", I added the rest so there would be absolutely no confusion about what I mean….

I want us all to really meditate and focus on this as we pass thru our days and battle thru our "troubles" cause in actuality if you really take a good look at what you are harping on as your troubles, problems, and worries… You might realize that you have none.

These are the tweets that @jeremycowart sent a few hours ago along with this picture:

@jeremycowart Here's the newly married couple I shot last night. The sign he's holding says "Love Conquers All." http://twitpic.com/10uysj #fb #Haiti

@jeremycowart This is their only wedding photo. Right after this, we drove them to their "Honeymoon" in a tent city among thousands.

This is a wedding website after all. A lot of you reading, have or are planning weddings. Some of you are upset cause you can't get the good flowers, the "dream dress", or that fab photojournalistic style wedding photographer for $10,000.  Some of you have been feeling really bad about not being able to have the perfect wedding, or baby room, or job, or house, or whatever… Some of us (me) have been spending a lot of time bitching about a lot of NOTHING.

Look at the picture… Think about what this couple's world must be like…Must look like… Must Feel Like…This is a couple whose entire world has just shaken and crumbled  to nothing all around them but in the midst of all that… Love.

So whatever troubles or concerns we have (or think we have) if we meet them from a place of love, with an intent to love ourselves and each other out of  our burdens, nothing is unbearable, nothing is Impossible cause after all is said and done, Love Conquers All…

Stay fierce, fabulous, and a conqueror from,

PS. If you haven't please take a moment to give a little something to the Haiti Relief Effort. There are many many reputable agencies that are doing amazing work there for the people of Haiti.  I've been especially pleased with UNICEF pledging to use ALL money donated to the efforts in HAITI for relief and absorb any and all administrative costs. Please give what you can.

Here are some other giving opportunites:

Other ways to help

Also accepting cash and in-kind donations are the following sites: Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, UNICEF (1-800-4UNICEF), Direct Relief, Yele Haiti, Partners in Health, Red Cross, World Food Program, Mercy Corps (1-888-256-1900), Save the Children, Lambi Fund, Doctors Without Borders, The International Rescue Committee, Care, William J. Clinton Foundation, Meds & Food For Kids, Feed the Children, Habitat for Humanity, Mayor's Fund for NYC, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (National VOAD), Interaction

The following organizations are accepting SMS donations in the US only:

• SMS text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts
• SMS text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts
• SMS text "GIVE10" to 20222 to donate $10 to Direct Relief

Hello Babbies!

It’s been a long time, and I’ve missed you all dearly, and I am so happy to be back and blogging about a slightly different topic: The Babbie Biggest Loser Challenge (Winter Season).

The Five Ws:

What: The Babbie Biggest Loser Contest is a contest to lose weight with awesome prizes like MONEY, FIT and FAB prizes (ex hydration tools, uh, I mean water bottles, gift certificates, and workout dvds), and a SMALLER dress size!

Why: It’s a good way for us Babbies to come together for a good cause (and a smaller waist size).

When: January 7^th-April 1 (12 weeks)

Where: On the Babbie Biggest Loser Forum. Since that is only open to participants, I’ll be updating progress here weekly!

Who:

The Gorgeous Participants:

Cam0150, MForbes20, TxDiva1, OfcourseIsaidyes, JaxBox, Nika, CNM2010, THEHDIC

The Mods:

Gabbic3, Sweetpy (me)

Current News: Last season, Babbie White2Brown took home the gold, and right now JaxBox is in the lead with several Babbies right on her tail. Congrats to JaxBox!! If you are interested in joining the fun next season, look out for a post under Healthy Hotties in March.

Take care and stay healthy!

Tip of the week: Cutting back on calories has been proven to be a far more effective way of losing weight than cutting carbohydrates (The New England Journal of Medicine). It’s also easier too. Starting is simple, grab a journal, Word doc, or Excel spreadsheet and start logging what you eat and how much of it. Try to note the calories as you go, but if you must come back at the end of the day, then do so. Twice a week take a look at what you are eating and see where you can cut back. If you don’t know what the calorie content is of what you are eating, try these two sites: http://www.calorieking.com/foods/ and http://www.fitday.com/.

:blank stare:

Should I tell him my power to change his mind, has nothing to do with any kind of finagling, or devious trickey… That power is nothing but the everlasting power of my booty toot….

:Leaves post singing: "even white boys got to shout… BABY GOT BACK"…

Stay fierce, fabulous, and tootin' ya booty,

P.S. To anyone who might take this the wrong way…don't be uptight about this… its a joke… Booty Tootin' is not a real tactic…
 :toots booty as she walks out of P.S:

But first in order to best explain what I've been doing I give the mike to the Mini-HDIC aka Solstice to tell you about some new and exciting developments over at our house!

Wait… Ummm What did she say?… Where is she going?

That's right homie… She said she was going to SSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

This correct ladies and gentlmenses… My babies are in school… After 4 years of being a full time stay-at-home mom…. I'm sending my babies to school and counting it all joy… I absolutely loved being a stay at home mommy, and would love to return to it someday. But right now I have a lot of plans, dreams, and goals that were clashing with the daily grind of stay at home momdom… I've been talking about putting the babies in daycare for EVER but would just get discouraged with  my choices, how much its costs, and the concerns of leaving my greatest gifts in someone else's care… But I knew that I was making excuses to not live my best life… I knew that I was scared to step out on faith and make my dreams come true so I was using the kids a crutch to hobble my way to mediocrity…

Now THE HDIC is a whole lot of thangs… but mediocre is not one of them…

So inspired by this weeks,  Monday Motivation, I knocked off the bullshit and I did what I had to do… I stopped talking and I started doing….  The past few weeks have been an obstacle course of daycare visits, forms, financial planning, and  all kinds of madness… But this morning I packed up my babies and took them to their new school… Praying the whole way that God would keep them safe and make our transition into this easy, obstacle free, and peaceful…

And YA'lllllllllll God showed up and showed out… Them babies payed me NOOO mind… Clay went straight to the teacher and gave her a hug and Cassius went right to the music and started dancing and playing with another one of the kids…

I really thought my heart was going to burst… I was so nervous and worried… but they were FABULOUS Ya'll!!! Solstice almost knocked me over trying to snatch off her coat and go play with the other kids… As I was leaving I went to go check on her and she told me… " I'm going to be a good girl mommy and then you can buy me a present when I get back from school…" LOL! It was… AMAZING…. DO YOU HEAR ME!! AMAZING…

Like God,the universe, and everything in the world were like we see you, Senam… We know this wasn't an easy decision for you to make, Or an easy taske for you to pull off, but you did it… and we are here, and your babies are fine… and now its your time to shine… And then it was like I could hear them chanting this weeks monday motivation…..

This morning my husband went off to his new job as Vice President of his union… Eight years ago, on our very first date together, the day after Thanksgiving, over day old  dry turkey and limp asparagus, he told me he wanted to change his union for the better. He told me he wanted to be one of the people who could make decisions that would improve the lives of the people that he worked with… Today he is…

He didn't spend years telling me about how he really should put himself out there and try to be elected…. He just stuck his neck out, worked hard, fought hard, and WON… So its an amazing day for my family… My husband is in his new job, my babies are in their new school and I…  well, I am going tooo…. stop talking about what I am going to do… I'm not going to talk about it… I'm going to BE about it... And believe me when I say… You and I BOTH will be amazed and what I am about to do….. But first… What are you going to be about?

Stay Fierce, Fabulous, and bout it, bout it…

I really like this picture of Jay-z… He looks was less Camel-y (LOL). I'm just kidding. But I do like this picture a lot cause I like the look in his eyes…. He looks Focused on his goal… Like that he is look straight ahead to his desired future. Like he is looking toward the space and place where he is destined to be…

He's not looking at any distractions or road blocks that may be off to the side or in his way. He's got his eyes on the prize.  And  so do I. So I'm doing a monday motivation based on that. Something to start our week of right and send us of and focused on the prize regardless of what roadblocks and nonsense that may attempt to get in our way… No matter what we Fab BAB's are going to get where we are going, Where we WANT to be, No matter where that is…

So MONDAY MOTIVATION#1….

Lately this has really been on my mind…  Lately , I've been envisioning what my life would be like if I lived it with this thought at the forefront of my mind… What if I lived everyday trying my hardest to make Senam happy… like for real happy…

Like If  I lived my life in full effect EVERY SINGLE DAY with the explicit goal of doing all the thing big and small that would please me… If I stopped worrying about what everybody else thought and started concerning myself most with getting my greatest level of joy….

What would that look like?

What would that feel like?

What could possibly come of that?

I don't know… But from where I sit right now it looks really good… And at the very least it looks like it something worth trying for….  I'm 30 years old… And I can look back on my life and point to huge major life decisions that I've made that went in direct opposition with what would have truly made me happy… Usually I realize eventually and change the situation in a way that best suits me.

But why did I waste time going through the extra to make other people, places, and things happy? What about ME?

I want to be real about what I want . And work soooo hard at accomplishing that because the people in my life who matter the most will be most happy when I am doing the things that make ME happy as well…So I'm FOCUSED on pleasing me…  cause you can't please everyone so you've got to please your self…

Stay Fierce, fabulous, and FOCUSED MAN!!!!

P.S.  I'm a real nerd… but this quote is from a song that I LOOOOVVVEEEEE … Its a old ass country song by Ricky Nelson that is an official Jamnation….or not… But either way I've loved this song for ever and had to share it!

I love music and I think the musical choices people make for the different moments on their wedding day says a whole lot about them.

Now, I’m not going to judge your tail. But if you pick “Halle Berrrryyyyyyyyy” for your Mama and ‘nem to walk down the aisle to… I’m going to feel some type a way about your tail… I won’t be mad at ya… I won’t dog ya… But I will feel some type of way about your tail…LOL

Now this is not to say I’m all about traditional choices for wedding music… NO SIR! Not me…For God’s sake, I walked down the aisle to this…

I know Jill Scott “Lyzel in E-Flat”  is not one of the traditional bride walking down the aisle songs but there are no words that better describe the way that man loves me…

You love me especially different every time
You keep me on my feet happily excited
By your cologne, your hands, your smile, your intelligence
You woo me, you court me, you tease me, you please me
You school me, give me some things to think about
Ignite me, you invite me, you co-write me, you love me, you like me
You incite me to chorus, ooh
Ooh…

That fool incites me to chorus…

And for the Flower girl Song I chose was  Nina Simone, “Here Comes the Sun”. Honestly could be one of the most beautiful songs ever written… Very simple,yet very powerful… Nina Simone’s version is OUTLANDISH… I mean, it is… NINA. SIMONE! What else would you expect!

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it’s all right

That damn George Harrison did his thing when he wrote that song…And it was very lovely watching my nieces and our kids walk down the aisle to this song… Such a sweet moment. I, also, think it would also make a lovely Bride walking down the aisle song!

So one of the things, I remember the most about our wedding ceremony is the rush of joy I felt, when my cousin, Vayram, pronounced us Ball & Cha- I mean husband and wife… We kissed, everybody screamed, and clapped.  And  at that very moment, the DJ blasted this…

BEST.

MOMENT.

EVER.

When the day that lies ahead of me seems impossible to face
And someone else instead of me always seems to know the way
Then I look at you and the world’s alright with me
Just one look at you and I know it’s gonna be -
A lovely day – lovely day

Just talking about right now is making me cry… It was FUCKING AWESOME. Now you know I don’t curse  on here but honestly… there are no other words to describe it… That ish was exquisite.  He played just as the chorus of  “Lovely Day” is coming in and everybody rushed & hugged us! Everyone was singing and dancing and just FABULOUS! It was the perfect song to send us off to and into our life together. It was the best way to sum up what Michael and I wanted our wedding to be… A lovely day…

People still come up and talk to me about our wedding. And one of the things, I hear a lot  is, “the music was AWESOME!” Before the event some folks gave me some push back on not going with the typical wedding music but as I have told ya’ll countless times… TRUST YOUR HEART and do what YOU want to do on YOUR WEDDING DAY!

My wedding choice were all different… And may be unlike any other music than I’d heard at other weddings… But TheHDIC and the Bab’s don’t have regular weddings… We keep it Unique… We keep it personal… And YOU KNOW we keep it FAB!

I’ll be back in a few with some more fabulous wedding songs next week!

Stay fierce, fabulous, and playing your own songs,

]]> http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/unique-wedding-ceremony-songs-do-something-fabulous/280/feed/ 0 http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/how-old-are-you/284/ http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/how-old-are-you/284/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:52:28 +0000 thehdic http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/?p=284 I have 8,000,000 things to accomplish…And I have done nothing… Sigh… I don’t know whats up with me… Just having focus issues today. I’m going to bribe these children into an extra long nap and take a 20 min nap in the hopes I can get my concematrations on!  But if I don’t get no work done today…I’m giving my self an f-minus for fabulousness ….

Cassius and Clay are WALKING! I have video but I cant get the to upload right… Figuring that out is on my list of things to do…  If you ask Clay how old he is… He will hold up one finger up in the air triumphantly! IT IS HILARIOUS!!! He will be minding his business, trying to sit on Cassius or steal food from Solstice and If you roll up on him and say, Clay, how old are you? He will Whipp that little finger out and then clap for himself in two seconds FLAT! The clapping for himself is HILARIOUS…He so proud of himself… Look like, I’m that DUDE!!!

I keep trying to get a picture together but I’m all fail all the time… LOL!

Cassius is the climber it seems! I walked into the living room yesterday and he was standing up on Solstice’s  Dora table CRACKING THE F**K UP!  He was screaming laughing…  I , on the other hand, was not amused.. I was like I’m glad you think possibly busting your head is funny… But get your little ass DOWN! He also  has an insane amount of teeth… I have no idea why but for some reason he has like 8,000 more teeth than Clay… That’s an exaggeration but them 2 extra teeth seem like a lot when you only have five.

Do you all know that Michael is fluent in spanish? AY PAPI!

LOL Any way… Solstice is “learning” Spanish from him it seems… Either that or she is learning all the bad words and how to order Elotes from the Corn lady on the corner…

If she drops something she’ll yell Chinga Su. Thankfully she doesn’t remember to add Madre after the Chinga Su. Michael told her that was a bad word and she can’t say it anymore. So she stopped saying it but now when he speaks Spanish Solstice asks, “Are those bad words daddy? Don teach me no bad words, daddy! Mommy will be mad!”

Whenever we pass by the corn lady, Solstice announces that she and Daddy speak Spanish to the  E-lott-tay lady and then the E-lott-tay ladies gives them corn and hot chips… I’m suspcious that “hot chips “is some kind of code word for “Mama. that trollop is flirting with my Daddy” but since the corn lady is 85 and only has 2 teeeth… I’m going to let that ish slide… For NOW..

I’m just kidding, but I’m ashamed to admit that hot chips means Flaming Hot Cheetos and my all organic hand mashed all breast milk fed baby girl LOVES THEM. She is totally obbsessed with Flaming Hots… She threw an actual fit in the store one time when I refused to buy them. All those hours of pumping breastmilk to give her the best…. All those  trips to Whole Paycheck! 7.99 pinapples be damned this little foolywang has the refined palate of a fat truck driver named Pookie. Sigh.  (No offense Pookie!) I love that chick though!!!

Tonight will be a lovely night! The littlest divas and I are having a girls trip!  We are going to go see Princess and the Frog and to dinner! I’m excited even though I have some reservations about the film… Its the first time Solstice has ever said ANYTHING about wanting to see any movie for real so I’m going to take her… We will be wearing Tiaras and carrying magic Wands. She doesn’t know we are going just knows we are taking a Girls trip today! If I told her little tail she would INSIST on wearing her princess dress up costume.  Even though its as thin as toilet paper and its currently negative 73 degrees out side! HA! I’m tempted to put the costume in the trunk and let her put it on when we get to the theater… After all I am the worlds most awesome mama…

What’s going on with ya’ll? What’s good… What’s bad… Whats just alright?

“Ohhh the weather outside is frightful…” OK so maybe I cant really sing, but I can cook. I also can take a recipe and change it to reflect exactly what my family enjoys.

A few years ago I found a recipe for Lasagna soup in one of those recipe books that you find starring at you, right there on the check-out aisle. Of course I purchased the book, took it home and made the recipe the same night. My family thought it was “good”. Since that time, Ive changed a few things to bring it into my own, and now they find it to be “Great”. I recently made it for my family again on a cold night and they enjoyed it dearly. I hope you give it a try and make it a part of your family collection.

I serve this soup with grilled cheese sandwiches filled with Wisconsin Extra Sharp cheddar on Thick sliced white bread.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground sweet Italian sausage or turkey Italian sausage

1 small onion, chopped

1/2  clove or fresh garlic chopped

1 (heaping) Tbsp of Dry Italian Seasoning

3  cans of Beef Broth

1 can (14 .5 ounces) diced tomatoes (I use the italian seasoned )

1 1/2 cups Campanella pasta ( or corkscrew )

1/2 cup sliced pepperoni

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese or Italian Blend Shredded Cheese

Directions

• Cook the sausage , onion, and garlic in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until it’s well browned, stirring often to break up the meat. Pour off any fat.
• Boil pasta. (Do not fully cook, leave slightly undone as it will soften later)
• Stir the broth, tomatoes, pepperoni and Italian seasoning in the saucepan with the meat mixture and heat to a boil.
• Stir the pasta in the saucepan. Reduce the heat to low-medium and cook for 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender.

I then scoop each serving into its own bowl, and top with a hearty amount of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Yankee Doodle Candy Cocktail

Champagne Flute
1 package pop rocks
1 ounce mango juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce grenadine
2 ounces Sprarkling alcohol free Spumante (There are several different brands of alcohol free sparkling wines: Sutter Home, Fre’, Ariel…and many others)

Rub the rim of a champagne flute with a lime, then dip the rim onto a small plate sprinkled with pop rocks, set aside.  Pour juices into an ice-filled cocktail shaker, shake vigorously, then gently strain into the champagne flute.  Slowly add the grenadine and the Spumante.

Complete FOOLYWANGERY! BUT….. In Ghana, there is a saying that goes, “Sometimes it hurts so bad, all you can do is laugh” I admire these folks for being able laugh through such a terrible thing…

Ladies and gentlemen… I give you divorce cakes!

HELL NAW!

These are OUTLANDISH! But there are even more to look at! HERE and HERE!

Stay fierce, fabulous, and NEVER EVER in need a divorce cake,

Per request  , I am updating you guys on “the break up.” Man, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but it really has. A couple of weeks after my last post, we decided it wasn’t working and that we should stop talking altogether. I am pretty sure he went along with it, but wasn’t happy about it. I told him I appreciated the changes he was trying to make, but I felt like I was a distraction to him. I never wanted him to use me as an excuse for changes he knew he should have been making. He said I was the reason he got back into school…that I encouraged him. That’s true, but not because I wanted him in school–he wanted it. I had to draw the line at becoming an excuse. He wanted to make changes before we even met. His “motivation” was me, rather than bettering himself. I found that rather strange, but maybe that’s just me being a jerk. IDK.

I spoke with him for about ten minutes this weekend.  It was kinda weird talking to him for the first time since parting ways. He is doing well. School and work are keeping him busy. I did ask him if he was angry at me. He said, at first, he was, but not so much anymore.  I mean, I still care about him, but at this point in our lives, it will not work. Believe me, we’ve tried. :Kanye shrug:

And the twins… Are TWINS! Identical twins.

I don’t even need to tell you the kind of bond and relationship they will have… I mean they have the same face for God’s sake.. I have a hunch they probably are going to like each other A LOT!

But right smack dab in the middle is my baby girl.

I know I say this about everything… But I really do love her like an obese child loves fluffy pastries… My heart has no limits for that little girl. She’s  a skinny,funny, gorgeous, smart, chock full of personality little ball of FABULOUSNESS … Basically she’s me with a Jewfro.

LOL I kid, I kid.

I’m not skinny. But funny, smart, gorgeous, and chock full of fabulous personality… Honey who you fooling? That is all me, DARRRRLING! Tee hee!

And while she’s fabulous, I worry about her. Its just her in the middle!

I was lonely a lot during my childhood so I’m hypersensitve to it but I don’t want her to go thru that cause of the funky birth order postion she is in. So I’ve been trying to pay attention to her and try to let her have special times with me and her daddy. Its hard so sometimes we have to bend the rules…

I did just that on Monday.

I took my baby to the grocery store with me for an AFTER bedtime Shopping trip…IN. HER. PAJAMAS. AND IN MINE!!!

PAJAMAS IN PUBLIC?? Who Does that?

Yup… We took a dip in Lake MinaTACKY!

We went to Trader Joes after 8:30pm, AND HAD A DAMN GOOD TIME!!!

First off, SHE LOVES TRADER JOE’s! Strictly because of this:

I don’t know if you can tell from the picture but that my friends is a teeny tiny shopping cart that is the perfect size for little 3 year old SICKENING CUTENESS!

Its identical to the grown up cart and she is BESIDE herself everytime we go!!! When we go to other stores that don’t have the carts she is offended.  She has asked cashiers at Jewel and Dominicks if they can buy her a kids shopping cart and leave it there so she can use it next time.

So the other thing about Trader Joe’s they give samples all day long!

Did you know this?

I had no idea! I had no CLUE that when me and the little diva rolled in there at 8:45 they would be up in there cooking up some sample fabulousness but yes lawd they were…

This time they had Cranberry Juice, that was DIVINE! (I let her have 2 samples of that…. SHHHHH)

And they had these which are me and the girl’s current  one true obsession!

Yup! Teeny tiny little orbs of creamy, buttery,potato-y deliciousness. These are OUT STANDING! The dud mad ethem with some butter, salt, pepper, and ham!!! DE-FRICKING-LISH! I made it last night but I used Bacon… And lord I ate a whole bowl myself!

At the store on Monday, Solstice was straight BESIDE herself! LOL She was like mommy OH MY GOD!! look at the teeny potatoes!!  We can give them to the babies!!!

She promptly put a bag in her cart!

And then there was even DESSERT!! A pumpkin spice cake.

Now I don’t do pumpkin! But once again that damn Trader Joe’s makes a liar out of me…

That mess was GOOOOODDDD! It was up to high for her to reach so she asked the Trader Joe’s manm

“Excuse me, Can I Please have one of those chocolate cake things? My mommy said its Delicious”

Yup the cake was so good she thought it was a Chocolate cake and yes me the man and the random customers all around us Cracked up!

And yes at 9pm at night me and my daughter ate all of that while wearing our pajama’s in PUBLIC!

It was worth it! She was the hit of the store! Some folks gave me the shouldn’t be in bed look, but she’s cute,polite and didn’t act a fool! So it went well!

At the end of the night, when we got home and I was taking her out of her carseat… She gave me a kiss and said “Mommy, I Loooveee going to the store with you! You make my heart feel super happy”

And then I did this…

Yup, I cried the ugly cry while she hugged me like what is your problem lady?

I loves that chick….

Stay fierce, fabulous, and  In ya pajamas,

That is Vanessa Caldwell and Cole Parker. And this lovely couple are doing what all of us Bab’s have done or plan to do: planning a wedding. And like a lot of us they found themselves in a bit of a financial crunch as the wedding planning began… As wedding couples learn quickly… Weddings are expensive!

You know what I say, what exactly are they putting in wedding cakes that makes them cost 20 bucks a slice? For that much moola, I need some platinum-plated Fondant and Diamond encrusted Buttercream or this….

but I digress… Also please note… Even the bride is giving the cake a mean ass side eye… Cause let’s be honest that cake is a FAIL! Ya’ll know I don’t judge… but LAWD that cake is a mess o’ hotness!

Alright back to Vanessa and Cole: So Vanessa and Cole have apparently just started a business and are putting all their money into building their business. Then the reccesion non-fabulousness that we all know about hit and the wedding planning budget got tighter and tighter! So they got, ummm, creative in coming up with a way to finance the wedding they wanted. According to their website, Dollar for a wedding,:

Many people attend weddings but do not get a chance to contribute to the blessing of the marriage…. Cole and Vanessa have created this site to allow you to invest in the celebration and become part of the wedding plans.

So they set up that site to let their wedding guests foot the bill for the wedding. The site accepts paypal donations from $1.00 to $100.00.

They’ve been getting some press about the plan and some backlash as well…

In the ABC News  article I read, the bride said “We don’t need pots and pans or a registry, we need a wedding,” she also said, “I’ve been married before, so I have the $1,000 china and whatnot; I didn’t want our guests to feel the need to buy that kind of stuff”

As of the last tally I could find the couple had recieved about $750. But  according to their website and blog they had also recieved a bunch of corporate sponorships for the big day also.  They’ve gotten sponsorships for photography, a venue for the wedding( but they have to have the wedding on a Wednesday at 2pm), personal training, DJ’s, wedding dress, boquet, a Public Relations firm ( ??? ), event design, coordination, candy buffet design,  and more!

According to the site,”They are still in need of a photographer, attire for Cole and ring bearers, dress for flower girl, linen, liquor sponsor, programs and limousine. ”

Vanessa said, that since it is the second marriage for them both they wanted to go the the Justice of the Peace but their friends and families wanted to share in the day with them and their families were the ones who came up with the idea.  But some folks got a lot to say about their idea! (Aren’t the comments to the posts the best part now a days? )

The wedding is set for November 11, 2009 for approximately 75 of their friends and family, sponsors will have advertising signage at the wedding and have signage placed into a giveaway bag that will be given to all the guests.

Vanessa said that  she is sure that with the sponsorships and cash contributions she will be able to have a perfect and inexpensive wedding.

So what do ya’ll think? Is this something you would do to help offset costs in the wedding.  Keep it real! I want to hear what the Bab’s have to say… I wonder if Vanessa is a BAB? If she is I’d love to speak to her and find out her thought on this process and have her share its ups and downs with the women of Brownandbridal.com .

Stay fierce, fabulous, and fiscally responsible,

Anyway around here for birthdays we have a dinner as a family and the birthday girl or boy can choose ANY Restaurant they want… Thankfully fore our wallets, these folks haven’t figured out what fine dining is… Typically the kids choices are Chuckie Cheese, Old Country Buffet, Rainforest Cafe, and stuff like that… Although when her older brother had his dinner last month, he chose Chili’s. Because as he said, Now that he’s a preteen and all he needs to expand his tastes… So we classed it up with 2 for $20 Big Mouth Burgers all around!

While my stepdaughter is all about the classy, but she’s no fool! She chose a chinese buffet all you can eat Orange Chicken & Jello is all she needs! Well that & the Jonas Brothers! LOL

Anyway we had a fun night out as the whole family. It was FREEZING, RAINY, AND NASTY out but we still manage to look damn good… We still all look like and ad for the United Colors of Beneton when we go out…

Its always funny to watch the people trying to figure out how we all fit as a family…. I don’t mind it though. Cause we figured out we fit just fine a long time ago….

But I really should have taken a pic cause we all had on various shades of grey and all matched a bit. We looked damn good. Michael and the boys all had on sweater vests… Yup the twins wore the cutest little sweater vests with white dress shirts and jeans… When we took them out of their car seats like 4 tables of people, Awwwwwwww’ed out loud… It was hilarious and very cute.

The food was shockingly bad.

I love grease and sweet, which is typically where a Chinese Buffet shines brightest, but this mess was GROSS. And the waitress was shockingly weird. I asked her for kid waters for the babies and she came back with freaking big gulp size cups filled to THE TOP with water and ice and then proceeded to place each glass DIRECTLY in front of each of them… They were BESIDE themselves! Clay literally CLAPPED! LOL!  They just knew they were going to be giving the tables ice water baths! Luckily Michael and I snatched them glasses up quick before the babies could have created the Nile river all over the tables and our dinners!

Anyway on the way home Michael and I had a convo about how terrible the food was! He was like the Ice Cream sucked. So that lead us to a convo about the ice creams that we have at home… So I don’t know if I’ve told ya’ll this before but Michael is the greatest Ice Cream lover ANYWHERE… I mean I could tell you a zillion stories about this dude and his Ice Cream Obsession…

But let me just say… when we first started dating we took that obligatory first grocery store trip together. I now know how HUGE that is cause my baby HATES shopping and we have probably been in a grocery store together 2 since that in the almost 8 years we’ve been together.  He will go but he will much rather starve and just wait for me to.  LOL Anyway….

So its our first shopping trip together, and there were three fabulous/hilarious things that stood out about that trip:

1. He’s a food snob but realllyyy Cheap. I grabbed 2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix and he was like ” Tsk, Tsk, I thought you were a real chef !?! You don’t make your cornbread from scratch?” ( After he tasted my delicious version of Senam’s Smack Yo Mama Cornbread Delight his story changed)

2. He bought Crest toothpaste cause I had mentioned that I hated the AquaFresh that he had at his house. Like seriously, it was just an off handed comment. But I thought it was fantastically sweet when he reached for the Crest and asked me, “Is this the one you like, Baby?”

3. HE BOUGHT SIX DIFFERENT KINDS OF ICE CREAM! You read that right… SIX! Pure FOOLYWANGERY!
And not the little Ben and Jerry’s small ones… Nope… the big Honking half a gallon ones…

He eats Ice cream every night before bed.  And is still stick skinny. I get fat from just moving the ice cream container over in the freezer to get ice for my water… NONSENSE! And he’s all about the variety… He needs to rotate them boys… Me on the other hand all I need is Chocolate Fudge Brownie and I’m a happy woman!
Anyway so he was talking about how the Chinese Buffet had committed the Cardinal Sin o’ Caref and served bad ice cream. So then I said, “Hey, what up with the Ice Cream choices we have at home.” I was out of town last week and they ran out of ice cream so he was FORCED to take the kids to the grocery store by himself! ( HA!)  Anyway they bought some new flavors that are nasty :Fish and Grits Ice Cream, Ass Crack and Cream? I kid but you get the point. So we giggled about the flavor combos and then I said well you know me, I’m a one ice cream kinda gal.

So we get home and we are unloading all 50-11 of these kids we got and taking up bags and crap. So after everything is upstairs Michael  grabs his raincoat and runs downstairs again.  I assume that he is getting something he forgot out the car. So I get changed, give Solstice a bath and start getting the twins ready for bed too… And when I’m done with all this I realize that Michael is nowhere to be found. Its been almost 20 mins by now… Where is he? So just as I’m about to call 911. In walks my husband, SOAKED thru and thru carrying a target bag with what in it….

Yup… This dude walked in the RAIN to Target to go get me the flavor of Ice Cream I like…. No other reason… Trust me I asked! I was like… Ummm why did you go to Target.. He said, To get you ice cream! All Nonchalant and shit… Like that wasn’t the biggest pimp move since I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT!  He did it just so I could when the spirit moved me have the flavor I liked….

So then I proceeded to do this….

SWOON! GASP! FAINT!

Yea, Its official…. My husband is ALL KINDS OF AWESOME!!!  So I will now be coming home with a bag with nothing but this in it…

tee hee.

]]> http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/all-kinds-of-awesome/270/feed/ 8 http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/im-back/268/ http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/im-back/268/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:10:46 +0000 Apearl http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/?p=268 I was not sure if I wanted to update you all on my dating life and the relationship I discussed here over the last year. I planned to stop writing this singles blog all together. At times I felt like I opened myself up too much. I was not sure I wanted witnesses to the mistakes and heartbreak I was going through.

I’ve decided to share with you all again. One reason is because it’s therapy to me. I went back and read older blogs while going through issues in the relationship with L and it really opened my eyes to some things I was not fully seeing.  Another is, you keep asking! I apologize for disappearing on you all! I will do better, I promise!

Update on L and I. We stopped dating in April, after I caught him in some lies. After several weeks we agreed to be friends because of a common association we have. The animosity between us was very noticeable at on of the associations functions. We agreed to try to be friends and not enemies. The friendship went fine for a month or so, then he began crossing the lines of our friendship. Calling and texting me too much. Asking could we date again. I told him I felt the communication was too often and why we could not date. Which only shut him up for about a week. Long story short, we are no longer friends. I found out he was still lying and deceiving when were only friends. I shared something information with another party involved in all this and washed my hands of him.

Update on my dating life, I am still dating, no one exclusively. A friend of mine told me to date and have fun, that is exactly what I have been doing. While having fun I am getting to know a few gentlemen. I even have a crush on a fellow! Overall, I am not rushing into anything and looking forward to what the future holds for my love life!

I’ve told people about the break up only because they’ve asked, “how is Donovan?” and I don’t feel right lying to people.  When I do, here comes the 0.02. A “well if it’s meant to be…” is fine, but leave it at that, please. Don’t try to tell me to go ahead and see what else is out there. Don’t tell me that I’m over-reacting. Blah blah blah. It’s like I am not entitled to my own feelings.

Some times I can appreciate those on the outside of a situation giving input…this is not one of those times. Someone even tried to suggest that I sign up for another dating site. I don’t get it. I’m not shutting the door on a new man coming into my life, but dang. It’s only been TWO weeks. Was I supposed to go out the next day in my freak’um dress? People these days…

So, yes, “Wedding Stuff” is the short way of saying “I’ve been keeping busy DIY-ing just about everything!” Well, at least in my lingo it is!

After I finished one, I went ahead and did my entire box of blue mason jars (totals 9, remember 1 broke?).

Can I reveal to y’all that this was my most rewarding DIY project thus far? It was also the easiest. I had so much raffia left over, I’m thinking about what else I can use it for!

Yesterday, I broke up with Dono. I really don’t feel any kind of way about. One of my friends thinks this is because I have been over it for a longer period. I felt relief when the words came out. I was waiting for him to ask questions, but he was silent. So, we got off the phone. It was a five minute convo. It felt weird hanging up without him asking anything.

I went about my day… This morning he sent me a text, asking me to call him before I went to work. I did. The questions started. I have been overwhelmed with his excuses of why he can’t do certain things and why he obliges his family’s BS. He doesn’t get it. We have had countless conversations about the specific issues–none of which he sees as a problem.

He believes it’s the distance and I should be able to think back on the “good times” until he can move to TX. I strongly disagree. If I feel this way now, I doubt moving here would be a solution. Plus, he wants to move here so he can be more independent. That’s all well and good, but he uses me as the reason as well. To me, he should get it together before any type of move. I am the only person he would know here. I can just see his dependence on his family changing to a reliance on me.

I’ve told him I feel detached from him, which (again) he believes it’s the distance. Well, many times when we are on the phone, he is distracted by whatever is in front of him–TV, schoolwork, etc. There is no time for us. He chooses to do those things while we are on the phone, so really how else could I feel? It’s like he wants me there only when he has time to fit me into his schedule. So I feel, he doesn’t need me to be around.  I’m sure we’ll talk again…I’ll keep updating this.

Pardon Sophie, she likes to get her glamour shot on from time to time! Oh, BTW, I finally bought a DVD player(mine broke about a year ago-see it in the back?!) I rock.

I think white ribbon would be perfect against their damask flower girl dresses, right? I purchased my baskets from JoAnne’s for $2.00 (total!) and the turquoise liner fabric from JoAnne’s.

While I was at it, I decided to get rhinestone crazy (again) with my hotfix tool & rhinestones and attempt to make some “Mrs.” undies. I completely free-styled and the results were okay. I’ll wear them, just maybe not as the official Mrs. undies.

Now that I’ve had some experience, I think I’m settled on bedazzling some bridal party stuff and leaving the rhinestone undies to the pros. Ebay anyone?

I’m at a small diner that has free wifi & 3 outlets for all of us to work on… there are like 5 of us in the whole place! LOL So usually its never an issue…

So, I am working at the one that only has one outlet. About 15 mins after I arrive. This chick shows up and sees that I am using the outlet for my laptizzy.  She sits at the table about 3 booths away and says I’m going to use this outlet with you… I was like, “ummm Okay??”

She is holding a cord in her hand… My first thought is are they going to let you loop a cord all across the restaurant like that? She is LITERALLY pulling the cord across a walkway with a step but I don’t say that cause hey maybe she knows something I don’t!

But then I see the ratty ass extension cord she is attempting to hook both mine and her laptop too… Not a surge protector, just a regular ass extension cord…

So I ask to look at the little tag hanging from and it says 125V 10W…. I just had to buy a new adapter for my computer so I tell her my computer alone is 125V… I love my laptizzy like an “Obese youngster loves fluffy pastries”

so ummm  this aint going to work…

I think we may power surge BOTH of our computers if we both hook up to the same outlet with your cord. I tell her I don’t think I’m comfortable with using her extension cord. I tell her I would hate for both of us to have computer damage… I then offer to move from the outlet as soon as my computer has recieved a full charge from the wall outlet… About 30-45 mins… I apologize and explain that my computer is my life and I can’t risk the damage.

So then she proceeds to tell me she does this all the time. why am I giving her problems… Nobody ever has a problem sharing… then she walks off  cussin me out in another language (greek).. And goes holler to the lady that ” I’m not being fair and will not share with her”

My first reaction was to let my neck veins get to poping like Lil’ mama’s “Lip Gloss” and start hollering Like HeShe by Sheree, “WHO GON’ CHECK ME BOO?”

BUT Jumping hard at silly tricks is not my style at all I’m too classy for that. Cause as Oran Juice Jones so eloquently said in his number one hit, I saw you and him walking in the rain,

“Silly rabbit,Tricks are for kids”

‘So like Oran Juice instead of acting on “my first impulse was to run up on you And do a Rambo about to jam, slam blast both of you”  but I took his advice “And I Chilled….”

But seriously… I’m wondering how you ladies would have handled this? Should I have just worked it out with her?

She’s still pissed! My concern is if we did have a power surge and f-up my computer she would have just been like oops my bad… And I would have had to take it to the Westside of Africa on that ass… And nobody want’s that…

So I was going to show you how to make my most delish fish tacos with avocado cream sauce, adobo rice, and honey butter roasted sweet corn…

Honestly that meal was orgasmically delicious

But that was a little ambitious for my first posting so I went with something basic delicious and very,very easy to make. And its good enough to make for other folks and have them sweating you for the recipe. For the love of God and all things holy don’t give it to them… Just smile and politely tell them its and ancient family secret that you would be happy to make for them for the low low price of 19.95.

Well that’s just ridiculous. Tell your friends.. Share the love and the GUAC! That’s right folks its a delunkcious guacamole recipe that is fast and gooooodd!

Ladies and gentleman! I give you “the GUAC”!!

The players:

The players: Ripe Avocado, Salt, Real Sour Cream,Fresh Salsa, Chopped Garlic, Nectar of the Gods, I mean ORIGINAL LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE, Garlic salt or powder, Limes, Potato smasher thingy, spoon, and WALTER!!!!

Who is Walter?

But all jokes aside I loooove my good knife. I only got the one. And all the hacks, I mean reputable chefs on the food network will tell you:
GOOD EQUIPMENT is the key to GOOD COOKING!

Speaking of cooking lets get it on! First, introudce Walter to Mr. Avocado….

Walter: Hey Dawg what’s up? Name’s Walter! You new around here?
Avocado: What’s up dude, My name’s Avi. That chick just picked me up from Food 4 Less two days ago..
WALTER: Where do you stay at?
AVI: Oh I’m in the fridge. Bottom Drawer to the left underneath the old ass lettuce and next to the too soft tomatoes. Dude do they ever clean that thing out?
WALTER: Don’t worry dude, you don’t have to ever go back there.
AVI: Really dude… Are you sure? Hey, Walter, what are you doing? Walter WALTER GET OFF ME! AHHHHHHHH!

Moment of silence for Avi.
He was a wonderful avocado. Nice and Ripe. Very Green… But we’ve got guacamole to make and he took one for the team.Thank you,Avi!

Now take your spoon and scoop all that delunkcious green flesh! Most times I use a Gladware container to make it in. That’s cuz I’m lazy and just want to be able to put the top on the bowl and take it to the couch with my Family size bag of Doritos and do the damn thang!

But I digress… Get to scooping homie…

And please, avacado ain’t cheap. Scoop like there’s no tomorrow!

If your avacado shells don’t look like this you got way more scooping to do!
If they are well and scooped…. Grab that lime you got and introduce that bad boy to Walter.
If you have trouble getting alot of juice from your lime, zap it in the microwave for like 10 seconds. That always seems to get the juice flowing for me… So Squeeze about 1 medium lime into the bowl with the scooped out q flesh!

At this point I realized that I was going to be the featured member of the week on www.damnyourskinisashy.com
“Lotion? Whatchu talking about Willis?”
So I went to get some Ash-A-Way and to check on the LDD. She was happily unrolling all the toilet paper off of the roll. My silly butt didn’t take a picture but I did get a picture of her eating her favorite snack of dry cereal served on the excess toilet paper!

Alright, so now that the ASH-A-WAY(vaseline is your friend) has been heavily applied and the child was happily eating her empty carbs its back to the guac we go!

Grab that sour cream baby! Please buy the orginal sour cream FatFree or Low Fat Sour Cream is for pussies people who don’t read this blog.

I know this picture sucks but I wanted to make sure you noted my fabulously ash-free hands!

Look at that creamy deliciousness! Next grab the garlic salt and get to shaking… My very snobby foodie pallete will only allow me to enjoy the dollar store variety.

What can I say… I’m a food snob. I just eye ball it.. I say maybe two or three good shakes is enough! Here is an illustrated photo of the shake:

If you squint your eyes just right and cock your head at at 72 degree angle you can see the actual grains of salt blessing the sour cream and avocadoes… Yup I’m a real photog. I’m available for wedding and bat mitzvahs.

Ok fine the picture sucks… back to the guac.

Wow! This picture sucks even more than the last! Its a skill what can I tell you!

You know, I really don’t like big hunks of raw garlic in the guacamole but I like the garlicky flavor. So I just pour about a tablespoon of the juice from this little jar into the mix… Very effective and veerrryyy delicious!

Now on to finely julienneing the onions, peeling then, unifomly dicing the tomatoes, carefully plucking each leaf from the cillantro stem and lovingly mashing all of these items to the perfect consistency…

YEAH RIGHT!!! I’m lazy….

Get a lovely container of salsa from your local Pigly Wiggly and call it a damn day.. I prefer the ones that are in the refrigerator section. They look more home made…. hee hee. But when people ask you for the recipe discuss the proper way to finely julienne a tomato for about an hour first. And then look all food snobbie at them when they say they’ve never done it… Suckas!!!

]]> http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/guacamole-recipe/259/feed/ 1 http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/fab-bab-school-daze/258/ http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/fab-bab-school-daze/258/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:04:28 +0000 Stephanie http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/?p=258 Two weeks ago, my family and I sent my little sister off to college. Not financially. That would be credit given solely to my parents. But, we drove her out there.
She’s attending PSU (Penn State University) this fall and we’re all very proud of her.

We made it into a little road trip and though it was very bittersweet, it was great day. She will be missed! The pictures below capture her last day home in NY and first day away at school.
The one to the right is her after my cousin and I treated her to dinner. A few weeks before, we asked her where did she want to go for dinner. Her answer? Red Lobster. Such a teen!
The one to the left is a picture of her luxuriating on her bed after all the hard work we all put in to helping her with setting up her new dorm room. Good times.

So, little sis is the inspiration for today’s post. School is officially in session! Whether it be for those BABBIES with young adults — or if you’re heading back yourself. What do you wear to your first college class?
Yes. I’ve been away to school before, and I know that students — well most students — don’t really take the time to get all fancy for classes. But, I think it’s a good idea during your first few weeks in a new setting, to set a good impression. You don’t have to dress up like you’re going to the Kentucky Derby but something laid back and versatile works.

Here is the look I put together:

Effortless and stylish is the theme. I added the scarf for a punch of extra color and for that moment in the day when the AC is on full blast & the classroom gets a little chilly. The bag is trendy with enough space to hold books and fit comfortably around the body if that’s the way one prefers to wear it.

So here’s to Valerie. My baby sister who grew up way too fast, but will always be my favorite girl.

I saw these simple, yet chic, centerpieces and fell ::over, through and in:: love!

Cute, right?

Well, strangely enough, a few days BEFORE I saw these pictures, I was strolling in Michael’s and saw a gallon Mason jar on sale. Thoughts swirled in mind “What could I do with it?” so I picked it up along with some teal marbles and floating candles and hoped for the best.

Here’s what I got on my (VERY ROUGH) first trial.

Excuse the crappy pictures, it’s the Blackberry’s fault. I swear.

We’re also having damask table runners and white tablecloths, so I think this matches our desired look, too.

Remember we’re also having these beautiful aqua mason jars lining the aisles. Totally within our “Southern Chic/Comfort” theme.

So my question is, which centerpiece idea do you think goes best with our theme?

1.) Gallon Mason jars filled with rocks and floating candles

When I first started looking at wedding hair-do’s, a friend of mine said
“How about a side ponytail?”

The very first image that popped into my head?

Deb from Napoleon Dynamite.

Yes, all I could imagine was walking down the aisle with the ponytail sticking out of the middle of my head, with a poofy veil and an elegant gown.

Hideous.

I must have looked at my friend for about a minute before speaking. I was basking in the horror of my daydream.

But my friend quickly took me on a field trip to Google and pointed out the hairstyle she actually meant. Feast your eyes on a few examples of the appropriate side-swept ponytail.

This is ::hands down::my ideal wedding-day hair!

My first hair trial is set for the second weekend in October (yikes!) so hopefully I’ll come out looking less like Deb and more like the ::drool:: worthy hair I love!

CIAO

Ebonee Monique

I’m off to go get my excellence on… How bout you?

SO I tried to figure out what are my great time sucks: things that I spend to much time doing or things that if I planned better for would be easier and quicker to do..

I have a whole list of stuff but the first thing on the list.

1. Cooking & Meal Planning

I loveee cooking and am a BEAST in the kitchen but I spend way too much time during the day trying to figure out what I”m going to cook and if I have all the dang ingredients for it! So I’ve decided to start weekly menu planning… At first I was like, “wahhhh, but this will take the fun out of just whipping up stuff” and then I got over myself…

What fun is it running around like a maniac at 4:00 trying to throw together a meal with one baby on my hip, one at my feet and a 3 year-old whining, “mommy, what are we going to eat…”
And its not like I can’t deviate when I have time! So I decided to suck it on up and go for it! I made a weekly meal planner template.. And you know I had to pretty it up a bit.. LOL, You know how I DO!
So I came up with this!!!

A simple basic meal planner with a dash of BAB fabulousness! I heart pink and brown!

Anyhoo you can get a copy of this for your own BAB Meal Planning Fabulous for yourself by clicking this fabulous little lank-a-link!

SO I’m ready for some ideas to fill up my pretty little menu planner! What ya got diva’s?

P.S. I’m going to be making a grocery list to match this one soon. But I’m in the middle of dinner so I don’t have time right now! But I found this one that is fabulous!

Happy shopping and happy planning, Divas!

]]> http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/weekly-menu-planning-2/253/feed/ 3 http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/reception-dressings/251/ http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/reception-dressings/251/#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:10:46 +0000 eboneemonique http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/?p=251

What do you think?

CIAO

Ebonee Monique

Yay! I FINALLY purchased the flower girl dresses! I’ve been meaning to and it had compeltely fallen off the radar. Because neither of my little beauties live near me, I’ve worked with their ::fab:: mothers to guesstimate the size. I’m pretty confident everything will go good with that.

Of course I HAD to order from ETSY and got a wonderful deal on both of these dresses (yes, well under $100 for both) that included free monogramming in our teal/turq. color.

Yay for checks!

LMAO!! Ohhhh he tried SOOO hard! He had just dumped out the diaper bag so I just happened to have the camera and he just happened to do this… HILARIOUS!

Maybe tommorow when I put them down for a nap he will just go with the flow like his twin!!
LOL

So I took a visit to Joann’s yesterday and picked up everything I needed. The letters above are 24 inches. Just for starters, I decided to go with 12 inches and see how that turned out.

I got Mister Mr. to spray paint the letters black (don’t really know why).

And I gathered my tools!

If you’re planning on trying this, you’ll need:

• Paper Mache letters
• Modge Podge
• Paint brush
• A container to mix the Modge Podge & water
• Fabric/Scrapbook paper/wall paper
• Newspaper to cover your work area
• Scissors
• Marker (optional)

The inspiration photo (from Nana) was created with scrapbook paper. I got a great deal on the damask fabric at Joann’s (50% off plus an additional 30%) so I went that route. You can really do it with whatever you choose.

First, I took the “M” and I covered it with the fabric. I traced around the letter lightly with a marker and then cut it out. I made sure to include fabric for the sides of my letter. After I made sure it lined up, I mixed 1 part water with 1 part modge podge. I mixed it together with my paint brush and applied a layer to the “M”; then I put my fabric over the letter. It was kind of tricky, cutting off the sides that were a little frayed, but it was bearable. Mister Mr. did the “E”, the exact same way (except his was darn near perfect :/). When I was finished making sure all the layers were glued down, I went over the fabric with another light layer of Modge Podge (just to make sure it was glued down good) and then a spray from some waterproof sealant.

Here’s what I got:

I have NO idea why the ribbon looks so baby blue!

Sorry it’s so bright. I was tired and, well, got lazy!

But that is counterproductive to this stay out of jail vow I made for myself…

So I have been working at getting Solstice’s room to some kind of organization. I’ve been trying to figure out some kind of storage solution that will allow her to be able to do most of the organizing and picking up herself without excuses or where does this go. Money is REALLLY TIGHT around here so I was looking for something that was also very reasonable. It didn’t have to last forever so I was willing to comprise and get what I could to serve the purpose till I was in a financial place to purchase something that would last us…

So I came up with this…

Very cute! I was on the hunt for some of these with a reasonable price… So one day while perusing Target  or my beloved TarJay  I found a set of white cubes that are supposed to go for 79.99 marked down to 25.99… The original plastic wrapping was jacked up so it got marked down! I was soooo excited! I also got some fabric drawers to use with it. This way each cube could be for whatever item and have a correct place…

I brought them home but they were to heavy to carry upstairs so I asked Michael to help me carry them upstairs… So he was pissed because according to him I spent money on “unnecessary stuff”! And was giving me lip about the cubes so I told him it was cool he didn’t have to bring them up and I put them in the garage and planned to bring them up myself this weekend. I mean its 26 dollars it is not breaking the bank! And I’m tired of being the only one who tries to bring some order to Solstice’s room… He just lets her run wild in there and then the mess is mine! So this was a perfect solution to organize it up.

Cut to this afternoon… Michael is going to return a pair of shoes I bought for him and some stuff I bought to target… They are all on the same receipt as the cubes….. So this fool saw the cubes on the receipt and took the cubes back without telling me….

I.AM. LIVID.

Now for me I’m just going to go back to the store and buy them at full price and let him be EXTRA pissed about triple the cost… But the point is he doesn’t get it, I feel very disrespected and I’m not sure how to get my point across so that this mess does NOT happen again…

Sigh… I know its a this too shall pass kind of moment but I AM PISSED!

What should I do? The only thing I can come up with is to ask him what did the Five Fingers say to the face?

Very sweet! Very Surprising and Very Fun… Even surronded by random, total strangers love is beautiful and unites us all! All the best to Raff and Frank!

Last Sunday, I sat down to design our photo guestbook. I knew we didn’t want the traditional store-bought guestbook; instead, I wanted our guests to be able to see our e-pics and to also have a little more fun signing the book! So, initially, I started creating my book with MyPublisher. I’d heard great things about them and they were offering a buy 1, get 1 free sale.

Well, before I purchased the book I’d designed, I started doing some more research. I wanted to be sure I was in love with the book. MyPublisher was great- don’t get me wrong- but there were a few design limitations that I didn’t really like. So I searched a few wedding message boards for feedback on other photo book companies. That’s when I found Blurb. I was astonished at how many brides had used and LOVED Blurb; so I gave it a try. Ladies, designing with Blurb was S-I-M-P-L-E!!

After designing my dream photo guestbook, I searched online for any Blurb coupon codes (always finding deals that way) and came across one for free shipping and a percentage off. I ended up paying just over $25.00 for my entire book. This is amazing!! I ordered the book on Sunday, July 19th and received it today, July 27th. 8 DAYS!!!!!

Anyway, on to our photo guestbook! Yay!

That was just a few of the fab. pages!

As a former Editor-in-Chief of a school yearbook, I know a thing or two about page/paper quality. Blurb is definitely in the top tier of quality photo guestbook companies- at least in my opinion! We received a nice dust cover, and the picture quality is remarkable! Even Mister was astonished at how perfect the book is! Our photo guestbook is 22 pages of absolute deliciousness.

If you are considering a photo guestbook, I definitely would recommend Blurb over & over!

Visit their site at www.Blurb.com

What do you think? Are you having a photo guestbook?

CIAO

Ebonee Monique

After printing the labels out, I cut them down to size.

After I cut them down, I trimmed off the extra white space!

Commenter #2!

And who praytell is that?

Why its lovely Preggo Tia H!!! YAY!!!!

Shoot me an email! Let talk about your free design !

Congrats!! I’ll be doing this again soon so keep your eye out ladies!

Senam!

Work is driving me crazy because it’s getting closer and closer to our fiscal year end. I swear these people wait until the last quarter to do all the major work. Why? I don’t really understand it. I want to laugh at them, but then I can’t do that, can I?

School is better now that it is almost over! This professor has been the worst at communication, but thankfully my grade has not suffered because of it. I don’t even care about an ‘A’ right now…just give me the ‘B.’

Next week BF is coming!!!! YAY! He and his mom are flying to San Antonio, so our parents can meet. I am looking forward to it (now). I was dreading it before because his mom is totally different than my parents. Then I realized that it doesn’t matter. BF and I are the ones that matter!

Life is not really exciting right now, so I will end on that note.

But I went a looking and a searching and I was able to find another one true love….

Meet my new baby….

Do not ask me why their is some rand geisha girl all over my screen… Ya’ll know I’m mad multicultural with mine…One Love…One Love

ANy hoo… DO you peep that pivoting screen… Act like ya know… Its a tablet PC.. Perfect for design and everything that needs to be done on this here website… And who knows… now that I have this fly new laptizzy I may be dusting off My Design Diva !

I can’t even imagine the kind of flyness I can make with this thing…

As a matter of fact…. hmmmm I’m  going to be giving away some My Design Diva flyness. Yup just like that I’m hosting a giveaway… So to whomever is reading outthere….

Comment  and let me know what you are wanting… I’m going to do a monogram maybe like these…

or a one sided save the date!

.. All you have to do is comment with what you would like from My Design Diva!!!!

I also can design you one that is inspired by a monogram or save the date that you have seen elsewhere but you need to be specific in your comment about what you want and provide me a link or a picture of the design you are interested in… I’ll read the comments and pick a winner by 12 pm. Thursday July 23, 2009! If you need to email me the pictures you can email them to me brownandbridal@gmail.com but you MUST also comment here about what it is you want.

Oh and since there are so many preggos I can also do a baby announcement or baby shower invite…

This is cayute!

YAY!! So everybody wins!! I’m off to play with my toy!!! Uhhh, I mean, Laptop that is for my going back to school …. :EVIL LAUGH:

Stay fierce, fabulous, and giving stuff away!!!

Senam AKA THEHDIC!!

We have tickets to go see India.Arie… Who is so beautiful, soo talented, and has such a good sprirt that at time I think she might make me bi-curious….

And the headliner tonight who just makes me…. CURIOUS… Cause he sexy as hell to me…

That’s right… John Legend!! Hate the PLAYA, NOT THE GAME!! HOOOTTTIIIEEE HOOOO!!!!!

I’m soo excited! I got my cute shit on and everything… I wonder if Michael knows I might be throwing my draws up on stage… I’m just saying…. I’m not responsible for what happens when he sings, “Oridinary People”… I won’t know which way to go… LMAO

I love ya’ll and I’ll be back with pics tommorrow…

Anywho, I plan to try it again, but next time using pieces and also possibly grilling the chicken instead of baking it.
1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup finely minced ginger
1/2 cup minced garlic
1 cut up chicken

Heat honey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger in small saucepan on medium heat for five minutes.
Place chicken, skin side down, in appropriately sized casserole.
Pour marinade over chicken and refrigerate overnight or for at LEAST 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350
Cook chicken, covered, for 30 minutes.
Uncover, turn chicken pieces over, increase heat to 375, and cook for 30-40 minutes longer, basting occasionally.

So I have this perfectionist thing where if every single dingle thing isn’t perfectly the way I want it about something…  I won’t do it…I’ll work myself up with anxiety and then I’ll procrastinate, and delay till its all a even farther away from perfect than it would have been if I would have let that one thing go and just done it as I intended in the first place….

Which sort of goes against the whole perfectionist thing now doesn’t it… FAIL!

And having the twinnations and general life hecticness of  5 children (6 if you include the biggest baby of the bunch… HUSBAND) does nothing but exacerbate this issue for me…

Clearly, I need to do better…

But admitting you have problem is the first step right? Well let me procrastinate and worry about it for about a month or two and then I’ll let ya’ll know…

tee hee!!

So why am I telling you all this… Because I completely had this perfect pick the winner plan for THE SOAP SEDUCTION GIVEAWAY

See I was going to print all of your comments and mount them to pretty craft paper with your comment & its number on them! I was going to personalize each one with your picture and little thing about you from the forum…

I was of course going to take pictures and do a little tutorial on paper crafting for you all…

And then I was going to video ape Solstice and the twins picking the winner of the giveaway out of a special Brownandbridal.com bag I was going to  hand make and  hand embroider…

:blankstare:

Umm yea… I’m also afflicted with a doing too much gene… Once again I’m trying to do better…

So in my desire to try to get all that mess done and photographed and embroidered and glitterfied and all that mess… I just never got it done… First I was procrastinating, then life got in the way, Michael went out of town, I got sick, the twins got sick, Solstice is three and basically it all just got away from me…

WHOMP! So today I just said F it and have picked a winner using the wonderful random number genarator over at random.org…. Soooo the winner is Commenter #23

And who exactly is Commenter #23? Why its our beloved GABBI!!!

YAY GABBI!!!  So procrastination aside everybody wins… I’ve learned a lesson: chill on all that extra and just get ‘er done and Gabbi Gets $25 dollars work of smell good fabulousness from THE SOAP SEDUCTION!

^^^a little more fancy-schmancy than I’m imagining, but look at the darling mason jars filled with meat rub!

So all day I’ve been seeing tweets running rampant with this Statistic that 70% of Black women are single… From the best of my research this comes from a radio program ( that I’ve yet to identify) and they got it from this Oprah clip

Okay so
#1 Shame on Oprah for not attributing where the statistic came from.
#2. Statstics can be swayed in either directions.
#3 WHAT THE F**K???

So a lot of the tweets that I’ve been reading have been saying its because black women have a hard time finding brother of there economic and social class, Cause all the brothers are marrying white girls, cause black women are too picky, and all kind of blah, blah, blah, But can these reasons really be the reason for 70% rate of single black women?

I, also, want to say that I think that the 70% statistic must be inflated but I do know that whatever the statistic is there are way too many sistas out here who are struggling to find the one…

What do ya’ll think?

Driving into the venue (love the scenery)

I love the steps. I can picture socializing and fun times here!

I adore the wrap around porch. This is where the bridal party will begin their walk down the aisle.

More porch love!

The walk down the aisle. So country chic!

I’m thinking my walk down the aisle will start at the center of the wrap-around porch and me and pops will walk around 1/2 of the porch and then down the same path that the bridal party did. I want to take in every moment!

We’ll be married underneath this gorgeous gazebo-type thing!

Can’t you imagine some fun pictures here?

How cool is it that they have a secret entrance for the Bride, which leads directly to the bridal dressing room?

 

 

CIAO

Ebonee Monique

Hola. Bonjour. Al Salaam a’alaykum. Namaste. Szia. Labas. Ni Hao. Goddag. Jamba. Mique. Bore da. Or how about just plain hello?

Thanks to the wonderfulness that is Senam, I have the privilege of sharing our plans here.  This is an exciting time in that we are just under four months out.  Things are beginning to come together, but there is still sooo much to do.

Please believe that most of the Babbies that came before me will recognize elements from their weddings in my planning.  Remember that imitation is the highest form of flattery   I also hope that I may inspire someone else in my planning.

So. Let’s get to it.

Most recently, we have lost a photographer, DJ, and now possibly a caterer.  Just this week, I have had a minor venue crisis (later averted), but possibly found a bartender.  The good news, however, is I have yet to lose my groom.

Speaking of my groom, I don’t often get the opportunity to say how wonderful of a man he is.  I am convinced that he was put here on Earth to be the head of my home.  He is strong in places that I am weak.  He is the MOST patient person I have had the pleasure of meeting.  He is hard-working, but never too tired to take care of me.  He is definitely the answer to a prayer of mine…

So, do please visit often and I LOVE feedback.  If you see an alternative way to do something, please don’t hesitate to comment.  I love comments, concerns, complaints, criticism and even mindless jibber.

That’s not Okay…

That is DEFINITELY. NOT. OKAY.

And this… Well, THAT is enough for me to have never spoken to your tail again!

When choosing bridesmaid dresses you want your girls to be comfortable, beautiful, and unique! That’s why I’m really feeling some of the new trends in bridesmaid dresses…

I love the wrap dresses cause then each bridesmaid could tailor her dress to fit her body type and desired look while keep in the same vein of dress!

I love how David’s Bridal is doing a great job of dealing with different figure types, with their bridesmaid dresses also!

I love the idea of a wedding party looking like that one… They all look like they go together but have their own flair, fashion sensibilities, and fit!

Stay Fierce, Fabulous, and Fierce-ing your friends!

At our wedding we were announced as husband and wife as Billie Jean played in the background… We had the hats, gloves and everything… The crowd went wild!

After our first dance, the DJ put on the bridge from Wanna Be Starting something and everyBODY rushed the dance floor. At my wedding there was a full blown Michael Jackson Dance off…

When I was a little girl Every SINGLE. Christmas. I would dance under the tree to the Jackson 5 version of ” I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” To this day It’s not Christmas till I dance to that song at least once. As the little black girl in the new neighborhood of little white kids, I made friends by dancing to Thriller on Halloween. As I danced in my fake Thriller outfit I felt like MIchael was dancing with me.

On my first day in my new surburban school,Little “urban” me made my first friend easily…. because she looked at the Billie Jean button secured firmly to my acid washed Jean jacket and said, “COOL”! From that moment on little African me and little white girl her were as thick as thieves.

I always knew that one day I would sit in a packed auditorium screaming my lungs off as Michael killed it on the stage… Today that dream has died.

Martin Lawerence once said, ” you know you bad when you can say you rocking in Bucharest” And its true. There will NEVER EVER be a superstar like Michael Jackson again. Michael Jackson was worldwide. Rednecks in Alabama, B-Boys in Brooklyn, Tree huggers in Cali, Little old yenta grandmas in Ft. Lauterdale and little nine-year-old me… We all loved him.. He brought us together…

Sadly, as he got older the love from all of us tried to tear him apart. Hopefully, on his trip to meet Jesus, Buddah, Allah or whoever it is that greets angels when they leave the earth, he will finally be granted some of the peace he seemed to so desperately seek.

May he rest in peace and may the music last forever….

Please share your greatest MJ memories below….

(I stacked the boxes, for the picture, but they are separate and ORIGINALLY the top one had black ribbon too!)

ONE News Hollywood correspondent Dominic Bowden says reports emerged overnight about 72-year-old Morgan Freeman’s affair with his 27-year-old step-granddaughter.

Reportedly the affair has been going on since she was a teenager, but it was kept very quiet until Freeman split with his wife at the beginning of last year.

Freeman took the step-granddaughter to the premiere of the Dark Knight, where Bowden says there were reports the two were remarkably close, possibly even too close, as they spent the night holding hands, cuddling and giggling.

Bowden says everyone in Hollywood is hoping the rumours are not true as although Freeman is a very respected and well-known actor, he may not be able to emerge from this scandal unscathed.

I. DO. NOT. WANT.

Really boo, Your Step-Grandaughter… I vote Hell NO!

Stay fierce , fabulous, and burning your copy of Shawshank Redemption,

TheHDIC

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865. Celebrated on June 19, the term is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, and is recognized as a state holiday in 31 of the United States

From Wikipedia.. Now go holler “Happy Freedom Day” to a Brown Person today! How are ya’ll going to celebrate today?

Stay Fierce, Fabulous, and FREE!

TheHDIC

REAL BAB WEDDINGS!! We will be featuring all the fabulous ladies of bab who have had fabulous weddings and when I say FABULOUS… I mean FAB- YOU- LOUS!!! Take a look at a sneeak peek from this week’s Real BAB wedding!!!

OOOOOohhhh weee! Its about to be sooo Severe up in here!!This is just ONE of the many ways this bab personalized and fabulized her wedding!

Check back for the full fabulousness as we showcase the first of many REAL FAB BAB WEDDINGS!!!

Stay fierce,fabulous and so severe!

thehdic

So In an effort to spice up our “erratic-should-be-scheduled-regularly-but-don’t- nobody-want-to-babysit-twins-every-week” date night.We  are going to be coming up with 5 things for us to do on our date night that we have never done before that we each think would be fun! Short simple easy dates that are different from the regular, dinner movie, sex in the back of the minivan dates we usually do.  They should be things that you all have never done together before!

I’m still adjusting my list but here is what I got:

1. Go to a gym and take a fun class together or use their rock climbing wall!

Most gyms have a free trial or a discounted price for a simple one day/class visit. Google the gyms in your area find a cool class and sign you and the hubster up!  I found a class by us that is called: BOLLYWOD AEROBICS!  According to the description: The movements in Bollywood style are fun, athletic and a fusion of styles from classical Indian dance to modern jazz and hip-hop. My husband doing Indian Dance, Modern Dance,& Hip Hop…. Hilarity will ENSUE!

2.  A photo shoot!

I like my husband. I think he’s a real cutie. And he also claims to think I’m pretty cute too!  I like his back and he thinks my fingers are cute.. So I think it would be fun to get our cute stuff together and go to some cute local location and take pics of each other… I think Michael will hate this one BTW but its my date night! I can pick what I want! But I’m sure he may come to enjoy himself when he sees one of the AHEM special outfits I might pick for the photoshoot! tee hee

3. Go to a local high school football or basketball game!

I know we don’t have any high school aged children but I was thinking this would be a cheap fun way to do something we’ve never done before… We can marvel at how young all the kids are, tell stories about our high school experiences and maybe just being around all those young folks will make us feel like high schoolers again… Who knows… Maybe, I’ll let him kiss me behind the bleachers…

I told Michael my idea about coming up with dates and he gave me that goofy guy smirk, and said I got all five of mine already… So then I had to tell hime that all five of them couldn’t be solely revolving around sex… So now he has none. LOL! You may have to give your husband the same rule… Dang shame… LOL

ANyhoo at the beginning of the week for the next ten weeks place all of your ideas in a hat for each other. DO NOT LET THE OTHER PERSON PEEK AT YOUR IDEAS… Draw a slip of paper and whoever’s date it is has the week to plan it and should give the other person a cryptic idea of how to dress, what to bring, time, date, etc. Then go on your date and have an awesome time doing what was randomly chosen… I like this one cause there is an element of surprise, a chance to experience something new together, and an oppurtunity to spend time doing something fun with your spouse. Also having a week of suspense trying to figure out what the other persons date is, is always fun!

SO what are you ladies gonna do?  Come join us over on the forum where we will be discussing our dates in detail!

Stay fierce fabulous and dating ya man,

TheHDIC

I am a very private person. (Probably couldn’t tell from this blog though huh?) There are things that I just don’t like to talk about even to people I feel I could share anything with.  Then there are things that I believe should stay within a relationship. For instance, Dono’s on and off best friend has been married for about three years. They are having problems. Any time BF calls Dono, Dono tells me what the issue is. I don’t want to know! To me, that should be between BF and Dono. Even some of things BF tells Dono, I think he should talk to his wife about, but that’s just me.

When this happens, I have started to shut him down. I have to tell him, I don’t want to know because it’s their business. He thinks that some of their issues we can learn from (which is partially true). At the same time, we could (potentially) never have the problems that they are having, so why do we need to talk about them? I also feel like, I know their business. Awkward. Then, if BF shares his thoughts with Dono, I am certain Dono does the same. I don’t want him knowing stuff! LOL! So I have come up with a compromise with myself, don’t think about what could possibly be told to BF then it’s like it never happened. We’ll see if it works.

When getting married and combining your lives, some things are easy…

“Umm honey, let’s not go with your artwork.”

And some thing, well, not so easy…

“You want me to give you MY on-line banking password?!?!”

Figuring out how you will handle your finances once you say I do may end up being just as hard if not harder than picking  your wedding colors, or what kind of flowers you’ll have, but it’s probably one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Money merging and future maintance is the one thing you cannot avoid discussing before getting married. Take a guess, what’s the number one reason why married couples divorce? Yep, it’s all about the Benjamins baby!

Here are a few tips to get the dialogue going.

• Come to the table with a copy of your credit report from the three credit agencies, (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) make a list of your combined debt and note where there are trouble spots so there are no surprises going forward. Remember, once you say I do, you are responsible for his debts as he is for yours.

• Make a budget of your future expenses (if you don’t live together) and figure out who will pay what? Every couple is different. Some split it down the middle 50/50, some have one pay all of the bills and the other save their check. Find what works for you and commit to a budget and paying system.

• Talk about where your income will go. Will you keep your own accounts, merge everything into one, or just add each other’s name to all accounts. Many couples on this forum have separate checking and savings accounts. We tried that for a few months and found that it really was easier for us to merge our finances (that whole two become one theory works-lol). We use one primary shared checking account for our expenses, and have shared savings/retirement/insurance accounts.

• Set goals for your financial future. Agree on a set of short term and long term goals that you both want to meet. Short term goals may include money to celebrate an anniversary or upgrade a vehicle. Long term goals may include money for a down payment on a home, and money for retirement.

• Figure out spending allowances per month for personal purchaces. Maybe, it’s $250 a month, or maybe it’s an undefined amount with a discussion with your partner on what will be purchased.

Yay! I FINALLY purchased the flower girl dresses! I’ve been meaning to and it had compeltely fallen off the radar. Because neither of my little beauties live near me, I’ve worked with their ::fab:: mothers to guesstimate the size. I’m pretty confident everything will go good with that.

Of course I HAD to order from ETSY and got a wonderful deal on both of these dresses (yes, well under $100 for both) that included free monogramming in our teal/turq. color.

Yay for checks!

I’d been looking for something that would practically allow me to place a table number AND a menu all in the same place and kept drawing a blank! In my eyes, it’s not very cost-effective to place menus at EVERY place setting. It may fit someone else’ budget…but, honey, not mine! So I set out to find something…anything that would give me the look (and the cost) I was looking for.

And, ladies, this was (as the bride put it) the ‘easiest’ DIY project she did. Wowzer. Yes, I’m doing this!

Here are her words of how she accomplished this beautiful project!

• I laid out an 11×17 (tabloid) sized sheet in Adobe Illustrator.
  I wanted to get 2-3 out of each sheet of paper but still have each table tent a decent size. I ended up with 2 per 11×17, landscape oriented sheet. Each table tent, flat, measured 17? wide x 4.5? high. Since the printer I was planning on using doesn’t print full bleed, the artwork took up about 16? wide by 4.5? high each. The extra, blank half inch became a tab to which I affixed double stick tape to hold the thing folded together.
• The one at work broke a few days before I finished designing the layouts, of course,
  and my company decided not to replace it until we move (a month after the wedding). And yes, I had my boss’ permission since it was only 10 pages total (20 tables, 2 numbers per sheet).
• My wonderful former roommate printed them out for me on her Epson inkjet printer that can print up to 11×17 size.

• CIAO

  Ebonee Monique

• A friend and I cut each one out, to get the full bleed look.
• Said friend and I scored each into thirds, plus a little score line at the end for the 1/2? tab.
• I folded each, used double stick tape on the tab, which was stuck onto the back of the other end. Voila!
• Bonus tip #1 – Find a larger format inkjet printer if you can, over a color laser. The color lasers at Staples and Kinko’s just don’t cut it when you’re trying to print photos. I did some test plots there before bugging my old roomie, but the photos came out horribly. Photo printers (I know, still technically inkjet) work even better, but it’s hard to get a hold of one that can print up to 11? x17?.
• Bonus tip #2 – If you don’t have access to
  anything that can print pages this large, you can also do tall, skinny table tents made of an 8.5? x 11? sheet of paper folded in thirds.
• Bonus tip #3 – If you’re as cheap as me, buy a ream of 11? x 17? and have Kelly Paper cut some of it down to 8.5? x 11? for you. They’ll usually do it for free as it’s just cutting it in half. You get double the number of sheets, if you cut the whole ream in half, for less than the price of buying two reams of 8.5? x 11?.

Do you smell that? I mean, I know we only know each other through the internets and all but I smell so, SO good, I BET if you put your pretty little nose up against the screen you could smell my Chocococanutta deliciousness all up and through your computer screen…

Ummmm hmmm what’d I tell you… I smell MAHVELOUS DAHLING!!!

I’ve officially conquered my life long wish to smell like a big ole bag of chocolate and coconut fantastic-ness…

What’s that you say?

You too want to smell like a big ole bag of delicious…

Soooooo…. What you want me to do about that?

You betta get to mixing up some hustle man scents, pine sol, and bergamot oil or something…. Make it do what it do at the crib…

A diva like myself just can’t be expected to divulge alllll her divaosity secerets… Don’t be jealous boo, boo… hate the playa not the game….

What did you just call me? :clutches pearls:

Well, dag! I had no idea you Babbies were going to get gansta with me like that… Put the shanks down. Black on Black Violence is never the way….

But since ya’ll insist on all the e-thuggery… I will share my seceret….

THE SOAP SEDUCTION….

Girlfriends!!! Let’s talk about it… My husband loves for me to smell good… Like literally he sniffs me all day long… FREAK… But Lately I have been stagnanting on my scents… I needed something new and exciting to mix it up over heah!

So I used my daily etsy stalking effectively and started seeking out some new body delights to surprise my hubby!

And wouldn’t you know! I found all the answers to my smell issues with a sistapreneur named, Patrice!!! Now I’m all about equality and all that fabulousness but it does my heart sooo good to find another sista doing the dang thang… Don’t you agree?

Patrice is the owner and Supreme Soap Seductress at The Soap Seduction On Etsy. She crafts soaps, candles, and all sorts of bath & body fantabulousness!

Case in point:

This fabulousness:

And this Fabulousness:

And this Fabulousness:

ooohhh and this fabulousness:

I know what you thinking, Dang Senam, you always Hungry….:side eye:  Everybody’s a comedian!

But Babbies, these items are not food! They are apart or her Soap Seduction Shop on Etsy!

Can you imagine how cute little baskets of these soaps and body scrubs would be as gifts for your bridesmaids, hostesses, and attendants ! After all that bridezilla-ing you doing over there they deserve something more than that dollar store gift pack you putting together….

She even has Lip Lushes, this one is MANGO PEACH

And these cute Sugar Bubble Jars, this one is the Snickerdoodle!

And the best part is Patrice’s products are wonderfully priced, good for the skin, and fun fun fun!

I bought this one,

Chocolatacoconuta Soap

For only $4 bucks!!!  It smelled great and felt great!  You could really feel the moisture just when I touched the bar of soap. According to Patrice that is totally intentional! She said that she,

came to make soap as a result of my ashy-prone skin being dried out even more by the commercial detergent bars. Even the so-called “moisture” bars did nothing for me. I also wanted a soap in the scents that I like. I’m very partial to food-based fragrances as I know a lot of people are, and I just couldn’t find that commercially. Everything was floral or fruity-floral, and the ingredients had more syllables than I could count! So I set off to make a product that was fun, affordable, and good for the skin. It’s been two years of trial and error, but I’m learning something new almost every day, and I know I’ve done a great job when I get that repeat buyer!

Well Sista Patrice, You got me hooked! And now…. I’m about to hook my lovely ladies of bab UP!!! ALL THE WAY UP!!!

First, Every lovely diva of BAB mentions they heard about her products here on Brown and Bridal.com is automatically eligible for 15% off your ENTIRE PURCHASE!  That right boo, Its SHOPPING TIME!!! You get a discount, You get a discount, EVERY BABBIE GETS A DICOUNT!

:does praise dance:

Oh but wait… Just when you thought your HDIC could do no better…. I HAVE A GIVEAWAY!!!!

YUP Every single babbie that comments on this blog is automatically eligible to win a $25 dollar gift certificate to The Soap Seduction!

FREE! FREE! FREEE!!!!!

:catches the Holy Ghost and begins to speak in tongues:

EEEEEEEEEEEE RRRRRABBB TAMAA SAMLALMA

Yup, I’m a fool…

But anyway!! Can you imagine all the fabulousness you can hook up with your gift certificate for $25 smackerroos! YOUR GOING TO GET IT DIVA!!!!

So go head post a comment on this blog post… Saying what you want to buy with the gift certificate & your username on the BAB Forum! You can register for the forum HERE. It takes 2 seconds and is a great community of women!

The winner will be chosen at random on thursday evening! Check back for the results!!! If I do not hear back for the chosen winner in 48 hours a new winner will be chosen!

Pssst…. want extra entries?

Follow me on twitter @brownandbridal and tweet the link to this post and you will get an extra entry!

Also Blog about BAB and/or this post and you get an extra entry!

Stay fierce, fabulous, and seductive from,

]]> http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/etsy-ectasy-soap-seduction-giveaway/198/feed/ 25 http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/std-decision/201/ http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/std-decision/201/#comments Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:47:49 +0000 eboneemonique http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/?p=201

Post-card style STD’s Post-card style, while practical and inexpensive, are easy to be tossed out/overlooked and mixed up with unimportant mail. I’d hate for our guests to get the save the date but NOT get them due to being bundled up with the mail.

Invitation style STD’s are a little more traditional (not in design, but concept) and, like post-card style STDs, are pretty inexpensive and easy to come across. I’ve heard of brides who’ve paid MORE for invitation style STDs (due to postage, and additional inserts) for this style also. I’d be concerned with them being overlooked as well.

Magnet-Style STDs

The magnet STD is a growing trend that brides and guests alike are starting to love! The magnets are def. practical and inexpensive, while allowing a little bit of creativity to shine out too. The only con I’d see with this is, like the others, getting mixed up in the shuffle of the mail. The only difference with the magnet is, it’s a little thicker and will (hopefully) prompt someone into thinking it’s a present or something! Lol!

Right now, I’m leaning more towards magnets. I’d love for my guests to look at the magnet as a daily reminder of the big day, but the reality is regardless which style I choose there will be someone who will overlook something.

What style are you going with?

CIAO

I won’t give away everything we have to do in Phase 1 (because I want you to support the book), but I will say that it’s the detox phase and, according to most people, the hardest phase to complete. We don’t have any breads, meat or sugar (among other things) during this phase. For me, the hardest thing to give up was bread. I love- – no, seriously LOVE bread. But after the 2nd day, it was smooth sailing. I’m currently on day 6 of 9 and feeling great. I can tell my clothes are fitting a little looser and I have had a lot more energy.

Mister Mr. and I are doing this together and can I tell you we BOTH wanted to cry when we looked at our starting pictures (BTW, I’m not posting them as they’re in our bathing suits- – ugh!). When I feel a bread crave coming on I just look at that picture and (vomit in my mouth a little) keep it moving!

So…no pictures, but at least you have my word that I’ve been on it and I’m sticking to it. Thursday we’re allowed to start SLOWLY incorporating things back in our diet and, honestly, I’m in no rush. I’ve found other things (who knew Tofu could be soooo delish?) that satisfy me and you won’t believe the $$ I’ve saved by NOT eating out (or buying wine! lmao!).

So…I’ll try to update on Thursday with my results from the first 9 days. Whew!

CIAO

Ebonee Monique

This is Gerogette.

Georgette got married last weekend.

On her way leaving the church, RIGHT AFTER the wedding, Georgette noticed a house on fire.

Georgette yelled for the people to get out of the house.

Georgette saw someone but realized they were not coming out of the burning house

Georgette, STILL IN HER WEDDING DRESS, went into aforementioned house on fire to rescue a family that was trapped inside….

Georgete pulled the family and their PETS to safety.

Georgette. IS. IT.

SHE BETTA GET IT!

FOR SERIOUS? You mean folk are out here getting their BACKDRAFT on in FULL & COMPLETE BRIDE REGALIA… What the motherfeezy… PLEASE OH PLEASE ACT LIKE YOU KNOW….

And its a sista TOO….

EAD:

Yup, so all you Babbies, who complaining about ya hair might sweat out if you dance to hard at the wedding, or are complaining about chipped pedicures…  Get like our new fearless BAB OF THE CENTURY Georgette Fogarty-Clemons, AND I QUOTE….

“It’s been an eventful day… My shoes got messed up, but what are you going to do?” Clemons said later. “At least the people are OK.”

Dear Georgette… Please tell me that you are one of our lurking BAB’s??? Please oh please somebody find this chick… I’d like to buy her dinner! Congrats on the marriage but even more.. Congrats on keeping it DIVA while saving lives! You go Girl!

Stay fierce, fabulous, and Doing the damn thang even in your wedding dress from,

Its your wedding, DO YOU and it will come out FABULOUS….

Do something fabulous, wild, unexpected and complete indicative of who you and your FI are… I promise you will not regret it….

This video is complete and total proof… Myshell Curry and Hannibal Tabu…. Ya’ll betta do WORK…All i can say is SNAPS for the KIDS…..

Please prepare yourself… Its about to be SEVERE UP IN HERE!

:does the roger rabbit:

Anyhoo I am always looking for fantastic ways to fab your wedding without spending up all ya money… And this idea I just found is FABULOUS…

Babbies and gentlemen, I give you the Tabloo photocube….

The Tabloo Studio is a really cool tool by HP for your to print this fabulous item AT HOME with your regular printer FOR FREE….

oing my best Oprah imitation:

YOU GET A CUBE.

YOU GET A CUBE.

EVERYBODY.  GETS.  A.  CUBE!!!!!

And get this divas… NO tape, glue, staples. NOTHING just some scissors, a little folding and your cube is done….

All you do is sign up for an account, upload five pics into the Tabloo Editor, and then print the PDF they make for you.  I suggest you print it on some nice heavy card stock for sturdiness!

So, I know what you are thinking that’s cute & all, HDIC, but how can I use it for my wedding?  Girl, now you know I GOT YOU!

Well, first, this is a great way to showcase pictures of you and your fiance’ throughout the years or even highlight your engagement photos, bridal photo shoot, or any kind of picture fabulousness that you’d like to share with your guests… These would be sooo cute piled up or spread out all over your guest book table or by your escort cards!

OR…

You could spread them at the actual dinner tables. You could even make on of the sides of the cube a table number and use this as table numbers…. Great conversation starter and it will get guests moving and interacting, to see all the pictures at the different tables!

OR…

You could use these as your escort cards…Damn, I’m good! Probably a wee bit time consuming but how cute would it be to find your seat at a wedding by getting one these photocubes with pics of the couple? FAB.YOU.LOUS.

OR…

You could use them as Favor boxes… How cute would that be.. Forget the tulle. Fill these photo cubes up with some M&M’s in your wedding colors, some Hershey’s kisses or whatever and you’ve got something way cuter than expected!

I could go on and on… But you get the point! this is a really cool way to added a wedding photo fab element to your wedding for little more than the cost of some cocktails for your girls at the  Wedding Photo Cube cutting party!LOL!

This is just too cute… Totally free and really really easy to make… I found these really detailed instructions to help you along. Easy PEASY!!!

I’m going to be making some for a party I’m throwing for Solstice… I’ll show you my results when I’m done!

What do the Bab’s think of this?

Stay fierce, fabulous, and FREEEEEEEEE from,

For the rest of you let’s continue…

I apologize but when I saw the Monkey-Doodle-lania I had to comment….

What the MOTHER FEEZY? How is this the hotness? Who was in the edit room and saw this and was like, YES, ladies and gentlemen, we have our cover! And the who were the foolywangs who sat around, agreeing. Like yea, dawg, that’s mad hot…. HAYLE NAW!!!

This is the new cover of Rolling Stone Magazine featuring Lady Gaga.

Tragically, I was psychically unable to keep my PA-PA-PA-PA- PA-POKERFACE when I saw this travesty… I was forced to once again do the ugly face…

AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY!

I VOTE HAAAAAAAAYYYLLLEEEEEEE NAW!

Stay Fierce, fabulous, and NOT ON the Rolling Stone Editorial  board from,

Why hello double chin!

:does evil laugh:

ITS MINE, ALL MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hootie HOO!!!

Excuse me, I’m off to go get BUCCKIIDD NAKED, Drink Juice right out of the container and eat up all the kids Fruit snacks….

Blissful peace? Is that you? I think I just had a momgasm…

So Ladies, What has your husband, Fiance, Boyfriend, Boo, Random dud laying next to you done lately that confirms his kick-ass-ery?

Comment and let me know!

Ahem, Have you seen this Flyness…

Nope, I didn’t just whip that sucka up in photoshop! That is the new United States Post Office Love Stamp 2009! Its part of United States Postal Service’s perennial favorite Love Series.

What the Fierceness! Can you imagine this little patch of fabulous on your Wedding Invitation Envelopes! I mean really… TOO TOUGH!

These lovely little stamps were designed by Jeanne Greco of Cafe Greco Designs!

When Michael and I got married we wer able to get the 2007 cute little Hershey Kisses love stamps for our envelopes..

These were cute and all and we had to use them cause, I mean, he is a mailman after all.

But this is too TOO much….

Jeanne Greco Petioned to be able to create a two part design for the stamps because “After all, love takes two!”

According to her,“With each having their own stamp, the King and Queen have equal importance,” noted Greco. “Together they depict a relationship and a more mature, compassionate love and devotion usually not shown on the love stamps. Seeing people we know in a new setting makes you stop and think—to go beyond the face value to see the hidden meaning…a little like love.”

When you pick up the stamps they come 20 stamps to a set with 10  sets of Kings and Queens the two characters were designed “to meet, repeat and transcend the perforations.”

What a gorgeous thought… I mean that is what a marriage should be. Two completely beautiful and seperately solid individuals who come together to fit all the places where the other person needs mending…

SWOON! Yup, all that from a little tiny 44 cent stamp! LOL!

So you babbie bride to be’s have GOT to use these. Use one for your outer envelope and one for your reply card or ir your like me and have 30 lbs invites use the set of two on the outside of each… HOW CUTE!

The King and Queen of Hearts stamps are available at all U.S. post offices and at www.USPS.com.

Source: United States Postal Service

Here’s our final proof of our Save the Date cards.

Oh. My. Goodness. It is love.

Honestly, when I started thinking about this and researching other Save the Date cards, I knew I wanted something to set the tone (fun, unique and simply us) as well as something that kept with the theme. Well, my loyal readers, I’ve found just that!

My new e-bff, Chris, over at On Your Time (@ Etsy) is the designer and is, without a doubt, the BEST thing that’s happened to my design in a while. This was $15.00 I did NOT mind spending. She’s affordable, extremely easy to work with and so very friendly. If you aren’t sure what to do (or if you’re a budget bride trying to save $$ like me) with your save the dates, invitations or thank you cards, then head on over and check her out. She also does custom designs for $30.00! Be sure to tell her that you read about it on my blog!

I will print the Save the Date cards on VISTA PRINT and continue to save a lot of money.

Get this; Chris liked my design so much that she’s going to add it to her shop. Oh yeah!

What do you think?!

So I’ve decided I’m trying to get like….

Look at her… just a smiling… No not Oprah… GAYLEEEE!!! I’m trying to get like Gayle… I’m trying to be the bestest of some mega mogul… I’m not selfish.. I don’t have to be the one with all the change… I’m willing to just reap the many may benefits of having a bestie who is P-IZ-AID!!!!

Benefit one: Phat houses

Benefit two: Free Bentleys

I’m  also trying to get like New York

I’d love to have no talent, no personality, no class and still get paid $10,000 per episode to do nothing….
Tragically, I’m chockful of talent, got a great personality, and have been know to class it up a bit so I lose… I’m also very humble…

Okay  I’m tripping… But realistically.. There are 100’s of sistas I’m trying to get like…

I’m trying to get like…. Queen Latifah

She is great in all aspects, Music, movies, Talk show, tv, stage, Makeup deals… this chick is making that dough hand over foot and doing the damn thang…. I really dont care if she’s gay, straight, or floating in between this is my girl!

Also she is making it RAIN on these chicks in this dress…

[

I’m trying to get like Cathey Hughes…

She is the founder of Radio One and TV One… This chick owns over 70 radio stations across the country… AND she is the first African American woman to head a firm publicly traded on a stock exchange in the United States. I just got TV one for the first time but so far I’m really loving iit… NOt a bunch of coonery hymns and booty shakin like the Blaxpoitation Channel

I’m trying to get like Oprah…

Because come on… who isn’t… She ain’t perfect but I love every SAAAAANGLE thing about that chick…  Fat Oprah, Skinny Oprah, You get a car Oprah, I’m so rich I recommend Private Jets to broke college students Oprah…

I. LOVE. THEM. ALL.

I’m a complete and total stan for her…I’m cool with that… Everybody got somebody who they love unconditionally… Wait shouldn’t that be my husband?… LOL!

So Brown and Bridal Divas, Who are you trying to get like?

Stay fierce, fabulous, and striving for the top from

Wonderful words always make me feel so good…

Newlyweds become oldyweds, and oldyweds are the reasons that families work.  ~Author Unknown

Picture by  Color me Katie…

Okay. Let me hype myself up about this fantabulous introduction.

::blasts Kriss Kross “I missed the bus”::

That’s better. For some reason, I always feel hype after listening to Kriss Kross.

Hey everyone. My name is Ebonee Monique and I am one of the newest BABBIE bloggers. For those that don’t know me, here’s a picture of my mug!

And here’s yet another when I thought I was giving the photographer the sessay face. Yeah, it turned out to be the constipation face.

I was so extremely excited when Senam reached out to me to blog; of course I couldn’t say “yes” quick enough! So here I am, blogging about my upcoming wedding on March 5, 2010 (don’t burst my bubble, I know it’s not upcoming, exactly).

A little bit about me: I’m 27 (ugh…that’s hard to type as my birthday was Sunday 5/24), I’m a published author (pick up “Suicide Diaries” TODAY!) and I’m pretty much the definition of awesomeness. Well, maybe not the definition…but I’d like to think I rank within the top 10 of awesome people. I’ve always worked a full-time gig to support my writing habit and up until May 8, I was working advertising/marketing for a tourism agency. Yeah, you guessed it…I got the dreaded pink slip. I wish I could’ve been more devastated…but the truth is I know God has all of this planned out and I’m not questioning anything that’s in his plans.

My fiance, Marvin, and I have been together for 3 years. We were strictly friends (didn’t even think about dating each other) for a year and a half before we realized we were what each of us needed in a mate.

Here we are 3 months into dating!

(by the way, only true players go to Bonefish Grill!)

And a few more pictures of us!

We are planning a laid-back, family-oriented, wedding that will definitely not break the bank. Now, don’t get it twisted, just ’cause it’s not breaking the bank doesn’t mean it won’t break trends, boundaries and any myths that budget weddings aren’t as classy, fun or nice as bank-breaking weddings. Shout out if you’ve got $50K+ to devote to a wedding, but since I didn’t grow up dreaming about a wedding, Marvin and I refuse to spend crazy $$ on one day (even though it’s the biggest day) and be in debt later on because of it. I’m claiming now that the wedding won’t go over $12,000 and I guarantee it’ll be nice!

Our ceremony will be outdoors and the reception at the same venue, but inside. Here are a few pictures of our venue.

For a while, we were struggling with our theme and how we could tie it in to who we are as a couple. I love how our venue feels reminiscent of North Florida (where we live) and also the southern states we both grew up in. Because of that, we decided to tie all of that in together and go with a SOUTHERN COMFORT theme.  Here’s the inspiration board for our theme!

As you can see, our colors are teal/aqua and black and white damask.

Something new pops in our heads everyday and I can’t wait to share the ride with y’all.

As a warning: I have indecisive days so don’t shoot me, m’kay?

CIAO

Ebonee Monique

I mean its just what I do…

That along with being a shining example of humility and using way too many ellipses… Tee hee…

Anyway, In order to step up my divaosity game, I love seeking out items that offer fabulous flair in unexpected ways… From rings, to hats, to clothes, to party invitations…Etsy is the place for that!

So in honor of all that fabness, I’m launching a new feature called  Etsy Ecstasy because some stuff I’ve found on that site give me the FEVAH!!!

No matter what you are looking for there is somebody SERVING it up fierce kitty style… So I STAY stalking Etsy. I’m never disappointed in the products and services I find. The feedback system is great and the community of talent is unrivaled in the handmade world…

So I was doing my daily Etsy stalking, minding my own Head Diva business and suddenly, I was assaulted by flyness… No for real I felt like if you saw me at the moment of attack you would have seen one of those Batman tv shows  KAPOW’s or BLAM-O’s… The fierceness knocked me down… FOR serious!!!

What on earth is this fierceness I speak of? Prepares yourself divas… Its about to get soooo severe up in here…

THE SHRUG!!! GASP!!! JESUS COME TAKE ME NOW!! It is too fierce to speak of….

Honestly, I’m thinking of ways to divorce my husband, so we can get married again so I can wear that shrug in RED on our re-wedding day… Babbies, I would hurt somebody’s FEELINGS in that dress… FAB – YOU- LOUS! So fabulous it make folks do the ugly face when they see me coming…

Yup, Its just THAT serious…

I reached out to the fabulous creator, Christine, with a totally fawning falling over myself email entitled: Girrrrllll You are Just tooo MUCH ( because really she is!) I’m certain she thought I was a complete fool but she was kind enough to tell me a bit about her inspiration and send me some more pics of the other fabulousness available in her shop modernromancepdx.etsy.com/ !

“I first made this wrap for a friend who wanted something to make her plain dress a bit more special. “

“ Wedding dresses are WAY too expensive(WORD!) and this is a way to jazz up a simple, classic gown or make an ornate gown even splashier!”

“My business started with that first wrap and has been growing by word of my mouth and my Etsy site.  There is so much mass produced crap out there in the wedding world…”

“and I wanted to create accessories (and dresses soon!) that were crafted with care and soul.  My style is modern with a bit of girly thrown in.”

Bravo, girl, Bravo! So I need to see some of this fabulous on of you Bab divas at your weddings… I must live vicariously through ya’lls  fierceness…

So that’s your Etsy Ecstasy for this week! If you find an Etsy Ecstasy that you’d like to share let a sista know! Email me at brownandbridal@gmail.com!

Stay fierce, fabulous, and making the ugly face from,

]]> http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/the-etsy-ectasy-1/176/feed/ 4 http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/youre-fired/175/ http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/youre-fired/175/#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 06:22:19 +0000 sweetpy http://blogs.brownandbridal.com/?p=175

So maybe it wasn’t as dramatic as what Donald would do on reality TV. But maybe you’ve have been recently laid off or even have had your job eliminated. Don’t fret, there is much that can be done to make sure that your bills stay paid.

Take stock of what you have to put yourself in the best financial position:

-Vacation/PTO time.

-Get all of the details on any severance package that is offered (if applicable).

-Find out when your medical benefits run out and file for COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). Currently the federal government will pay 65% of COBRA premiums for employees who are laid off from Sept. 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2009. The subsidy will extend for nine months. However, individuals with an annual adjusted gross income of more than $125,000 and couples with an adjusted gross income of more than $250,000 will not be eligible for the subsidy.

-File for unemployment. Each state has differentrequirements for unemployment insurance. If you’ve become unemployed through no fault of your own (such as being laid off/fired) and you meet your state requirements for wages earned or time worked during the defined period, you will qualify for unemployment benefits.

-If you have stock options or other time sensitive benefits, speak to HR about execution rules.

- Make list of your liquid assets including stocks, bonds, 401K, IRA’s, credit lines, and savings (see my last entry on how to plan to save for emergencies).

Cut back on your expenses:

-This means cable, going out, your gym membership and other extra luxuries.

Once you have all of your financial matters in order, it’s time to seek out new employment. Stay tuned for my next entry !

Anyhoo, I was reading an article on Time’s web site about Michelle Obama.

It touched on the opinions the nation has collectively had of Mrs. Obama. She was “anti-American” at first, but now she has “soften[ed] it up.” In this softening up, the media continually has placed her fashion sense ahead of Michelle as an individual. Whether it’s those Lanvin sneakers or that darn black and red dress, people are talking. I guess it’s amazing to America as a whole to see a First Lady to which a skirt or pant suit is not the staple.

If an article is not written about her clothing, it’s about her domestic abilities–how she prepares Malia and Sasha for school, takes the dog on walks, etc. Sure, that’s interesting (not really). Basically, I am talking about The Momification of Michelle Obama by Rebecca Traister.

Both the Time’s article and Traister got me thinking about my own life. No, I’m not pregnant nor am I even engaged, but I am in a serious relationship that’s in the marriage trajectory. We have had numerous discussions about children, but not really about the new roles we will be facing when that time comes. I don’t believe in the traditional gender roles. He can cook, so he should (as will I). I can do some manly things…LOL! In my opinion, this is something that needs to be discussed before we take the next step. [Note to self: talk to Donovan about this.]

The thing I am most worried about after marriage is having children. Everywhere I turn, people are asking me when I am getting married or having children. I have thought about it and just do not see it in my immediate future. This is partly because I am selfish and want time to live my life as well as I do not think I am ready. I know, I know–I’ll never really be ready–but dang…I haven’t even finished school and people want me knocked up. I hear, “oh you need to have at least one.” Why? I get the response “because your mother needs grandchildren” blah blah blah.

Obviously speaking from the outside looking in, once the children come into play, complacency can squeeze in there. While we all should be content with our lives, I feel (right now) that if I were to marry and immediately have children, I would never accomplish delay my goals. I am certain I can place a child’s well-being before my own, I am not sure I want to any time soon. Basically my selfishness again. Is that a normal feeling?

This whole topic kind of reminds of that Sex and the City episode, “The Baby Shower.” All the mom’s are basically so involved with their children, they have no time for themselves. Clearly, that’s fiction, but there must be some truth to it. Similar to the girls/women who lose themselves in their new boyfriend. How do you stop it from happening?

In keeping with the theme of switching it up in the most fantastic way possible.. I was on youtube last night and found the flyest, most innovative, purely hilarious Save the Date ever…. Totally not for every wedding but if what you are going for is fun and  fesitive. This would be a save the date that your guests would never ever forget!

Video STD……. FABULOUS!!!!

Crazy Announcer Man hyping your wedding up for your guests like its a WWF WRESTLING MATCH…. HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!

Realizing that all though weddings are a serious and solemn event, they are meant to be fun,too!….
WORTHY OF THE BAB WEDNESDAY WEDDING WOW!!!!!!!!!

I would have KILLED to have gotten an invite to this wedding. Can you imagine the raucousgood time these folks had? I am pleading with one you fab Bab’s to hook something like this up for ya wedding!

Honestly, the Save the Date couldn’t have been any better… Well maybe if they had used the music from Rocky, you know, “Eye of the Tiger” and if the bride and groom had been Michael and I…LOL!

:runs off to  begin planning MICHAEL AND SENAM THE RENEWAL 2025:

Stay fierce, fabulous, and wowing up your weddings from,

One of my favorite beverages is a smoothie. Going to the local smoothie shop can be very expensive. So in order to feed my addiction daily, Ive started making my own. 

Here are a couple of my favorite low fat, tasty treats.

Introducing the Peachberry and Mangonilla Smoothies

Peachberry Ingredients:

 4 Scoops of Low-fat no sugar added Frozen Vanilla Yogurt

1/2 cup fresh strawberries

1/2 cup fresh or canned peaches (if using fruit from the can, drain before adding to smoothie)

1/4 cup apple juice

Blend till smooth

Mangonilla Ingredients

4 scoops of Low-fat, no sugar added Frozen Yogurt

1/2 tsp Pure vanilla Extract

1 Mango peeled and chopped

1/4 cup 100% mango juice 

Blend till smooth

RECORD SCRATCH……You might catch a side eye like no other

BUT…
See. First of all, I know these so called Divas wouldn’t tell you this but Imma be real and say what’s on my heart…

Best.

Proposal.

Ever.

Stop Fronting! You  know that was, is, and forever will be THE JAM!

If you still sleep that is from the BAB Tuesday Throwback, Jagged Edge’s wedding reception classic,  “Let’s Get Married – THE REMIX”  Why were the 90’s remixes always eleventeen times more dope than the original???

Even the Videos were better: