Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Bagged, Borrowed, and Stolen

A few weeks before the wedding, Mama Peep told me an entire story about her unsuccessful adventure to find the perfect bracelet for her wedding day outfit.

I listened attentively and realized that the bracelet she was describing was exactly the same bracelet that my ridiculously talented friendor had made me for the wedding. It was a clear and brown crystal bracelet that dangled just so.

I also told Mama Peep that I was afraid that my yellow earrings, brown bracelet and pink shoes might just be too much random color. So, I offered to let her wear the bracelet on the big day, and I'd look for something that coordinated better.

At this point, I was also still looking for a perfect clutch and pair of earrings to go with my rehearsal dinner dress.

Enter: Bagged, Borrowed or Steal.

Or as I like to say, Bagged, Borrowed, or Stolen My Heart!! Seriously, have you checked out this site.

If you haven't seen Sex in the City, here's the premise: You pay a nominal fee and they let you 'borrow' an item for as long you like (or can afford). And if you really love something, you can steal it, aka Buy It from the Company.

The items listed are usually pretty great quality and some are VERY high end.

For awhile, I envisioned wearing this ridiculously gorgeous $11,000 bracelet on the day of the wedding:


But with the $237 a week price tag to borrow it, it was way out of my price tag.

But I did borrow three items.

I was unsure about this bracelet, but all of the other bracelets that I wanted to borrow had a wait list. And at $20 bucks a week, Mama Peep said it was worth the risk.

Ironically enough, the bracelet didn't go with my wedding dress, but it did go with Mama Peep's rehearsal dinner outfit. Are you noticing a trend??

The next two things I borrowed were perfect.

These earrings added the perfect amount of color to my green rehearsal dinner dress, and they only cost me $17 (yet retail for over $300):

And this purse, well, let's just say it was love. It was my splurge at $43 for the week, but I used it for both the Rehearsal Dinner and the Wedding. And if I could have scrounged up the $700 to steal it, I would have. Ahh, c'est la vie.

At least it was mine for a whole week.

In the end, I would totally recommend BB&S. I was able to outfit my champagne tastes on a bud light budget. In total it cost me just under $100 and I would it again in a heart beat.

If you are thinking of doing the same, here are a few tips:

1. Use the Live Help. If something you heart is wait listed, you can chat with someone to find out how many people are on the wait list. I loved one bracelet, but then I found out that someone had been borrowing it for over 6 months, so I quickly realized that it would not be returned in time for me to borrow it.

2. It takes awhile to get something delivered. For our May 30th wedding, I ordered the items on May 19th, so the items would be delivered on Tuesday, May 26th. I just wanted to borrow the items for one week, so I had to make sure that I returned them (with the return labels provided) by the Tuesday following the wedding.

3. Become a member. For me, the one month $9.99 membership fee was worth it because I saved about $40 by becoming a member for the month. Just don't forget to cancel the membership.

4. The items change. Don't get your heart set on a certain item. I coveted a certain bracelet and the day I went to borrow it, it was no longer available. So be flexible or be willing to borrow it a week early.

Has anyone else taken a chance and used BB&S??

Monday, July 20, 2009

Pre-Wedding Frenzy: The Favors and the Perfect Quote

Alright, Hive, the Monday before our wedding was a holiday and a big old frenzy at the Peep household. And I haven't had a chance to post about any of it.

First up, the Favors.

Something that I've never shared with you- my old roommate works for an amazing organic chocolate company in San Francisco. Which means we got the most perfect chocolate favors. On top of that- we did a lovely exchange of wine for chocolate... So basically, we got the perfect organic chocolate flavors for free!!

Just to get your mouth watering, everyone got a Fleur de sel:

source.

And either a Peanut Butter Puck

source.

or

A Chocolate S'more .


Of course, I wanted to spiff up the favors as any good DIY Bee, and I find this picture perfectly inspiring.

Source.

In case you can't read it, the quote is: Life is unpredictable. Eat Dessert First. Yet, I wanted find out who said/wrote the quote; so a few google clicks later, I found out the exact quote is:
"Life is short, eat dessert first." by Ernestine Ulmer.

Humm, I don't know about you, but the real quote made me think of dying, so I didn't really want to use it.

That put me on the hunt for something better. Again, a few clicks later, I found it. THE perfect quote.

Before I tell you about the quote- remember when I posted about how we Carbon Offset the impacts of the wedding. But I never did tell you how we were going to let our guests know about our carbon offsets- honestly, because I didn't know until I found the quote.

At this point, I think pictures do the chocolates more justice.
Here's the final package of what people found at their table:


In case you can't read the quote it says, "Save the Earth. It's the only planet with chocolate."

Luckily, I had an extra packet of Paper Source's Eco Paper Escort Cards. So the quote went on the outside, and the inside said:

Reduce what you can.
Offset what you can't.*
In honor of our time together,
we have offset the weekend
through a donation to carbonfund.org.

We punched a whole in the corner of the card and tied a lovely bow using ribbon from Mama Peep.

And that's how we created the VERY perfect organic favors.

They were so popular at the wedding that one of my best guy friends traded his away for one of my best girlfriend's phone number. Maybe we'll be attending their wedding in a few years?? Wink, wink.

Are you doing a traditional favor?

*which is Carbonfund's tag line.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Chopity, Chop, Chop, Chop

Last weekend was a big weekend for this Bee. To get the weekend started off right, I went straight to the hair salon. Yep, that's right, I finally got a post wedding chop.

Here I am on Thursday at work (don't I look all serious like and business-y in my glasses- ha ha, what a lie):


And here I am this morning:


Can you tell how excited I am to have chopped it all off!?


Here's a side view:


Before I chopped it off I told Mr. Peep that I would probably never have long hair again- and he said go for it!! He loves the new do so much he couldn't stop talking about it all weekend. Aww shucks- I knew there was a reason I married him!!!

Anyone else growing your hair out for the last time?? Or are you long hair for life?

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Thank you- to wait or not?

Hive, I need your opinion. It's been 6 weeks since our wedding and I have yet to send a single thank you note!!! And as each day passes (and the wedding becomes more and more of a distant memory*) the pressure to send them out is flying out the window.

I know I need to send them, but I feel like I am going through an internal struggle about what Thank Yous to send.

Here's the conversations that I have been having with myself (yes, I am part crazy lady, with multiple personalities):

Responsible, rational Peep: You need to start writing and sending Thank You notes STAT.

Crafty, lazy Peep: But wouldn't they be so much better if they were crafty like Mrs. Corn's:


Or had an uber cute wedding photo on them like Mrs. Daffodil's:


Responsible, Rational Peep: Yes, but you already own a bunch of Thank Yous that would do the job just fine. Remember those fabulous note cards that you bought from On a Limb Paper back in November?:


Crafty, lazy Peep:
Ok, I'll start to work on them.

Responsible, Rational Peep: Good. Can't wait to get home and tackle them tonight!!

Crafty, lazy Peep: Wait, we're moving, wouldn't it be better if we waited to send out thank yous in a few weeks with our new address information??

Responsible, Rational Peep: Humm, maybe you are right??

Crafty, lazy Peep: And look at these super cute moving cards you could send from Etsy:


source.

Or these oh so hive appropriate ones??

source.

So Hive, what's a Bee to do. Do we wait until we have a new address and send thank you/we've moved cards? Or do I start getting crackin on these puppies before I forget about them entirely??

I can't decide.

*Without all our photos it still seems surreal!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Finding my Bridal Glow, Part 3

Last I left you, I had one month left to find my bridal glow. I had been working on my Plan of Action for four months. I was doing pretty well, I hadn't lost that much weight, but I felt strong and lean. And more importantly than weight, my pants were failing off me. Literally. I could pull most my pants off without unbuttoning them. WHOO HOO!

Yet with 30 days to go- my search for my bridal glow changed dramatically.

First, after my second fitting I was told not to lose or gain an ounce of weight. Ok- not really what a bride trying to lose weight wants to hear, but from that moment on- in order for my dress to look good- I had to maintain, maintain, maintain. Which in my mind also meant tone, tone, tone.

Second, I took a good look in the mirror- and let me tell ya, I was looking shabby. Not shabby chic, but the rough around the edges shabby.

While I never really had acne, I have been prone to 'women related' breakouts my entire adult life. Basically one to two craters a month that last about 2 weeks. I thought I was taking care of my skin, but honestly the only time in my life I was ever on a skin care regime was when I was 14, and that was when Mama Peep bought be the Clinique Skin Care Line with my first introduction to real makeup!! Since then, I have been washing my face once a day with some sort of acne skin wash with salicylic acid. I have really dry skin and washing my face always dried my skin out so much that my skin could never handle any more than that.

Yet after reading about what all the other bees were doing to get their bridal glow on, I decided that there had to be something better out there.

So on May 1, I ran into Origins, explained my problem, and begged for help. I guess I really could have ran into any Skin Care store, but I like that Origins uses natural products and it's the closest skin care store to my office.

I listened and watched the women wash my hand with a whole suite of skin care products. And like a kid drinking kool aid, I bought all of it.

This was my first big bridal splurge on myself, and man was it worth it. I followed the regime religiously morning and night. And by week two, Mr. Peep started commenting on how much better my skin looked. Which sort of surprised me because I never really thought I looked that bad, oh well, lesson learned.

Here's the awesome regime:

Twice a week start with a dry face and scrub on Modern Friction: 'Natures gentle dermabrasion.'

Dry your face and gently scrub on Clean Energy.

Dry your face one last time and use their toner. You'd think with all this washing and drying- my face would be dry as a bone- but surprisingly it was clean, fresh, and oh so soft.

In the morning, I'd apply a SPF Face Moisturizer and their Youthtopia Eye Cream.

Two months later, I've barely put a dent in the Modern Friction, Clean Energy or the Youthtopia products and my face looks so much better, so I feel like it was money VERY well spent.

With my face clearing up, I started noticing a tinge to my teeth. Damn coffee and tea addiction!! After reading the boards on teeth whitening and a little on-line research, I went and bought Mr. Peep and I each a pack of Crest Premium White Strips. They were kinda pricey at $35 each, but once you start drinking the bridal kool aid it's hard to stop.

The claims are right, you do start seeing results after three days. So much so, that Mr. Peep and I split one pack of these babies and by the end of the week- our teeth were the pearly white we were looking for.

With one week to go before the wedding, my glow was peaking through. Yet I noticed it was getting lost with all the extra hair that was here:

Here
:

And oh my, here:

So, the Monday before the wedding, the Mr. and I went for a little waxing. Yep, Mr. Peep came with and had some of his own help here and here. (But don't tell him I told you! he he).

After all that, I was starting to feel a bit pampered. Oh, and did I mention my big bridal opps- the last month, due to stress and possibly some minor (strike that) major toning work outs. I lost another 5 pounds. With days to go, I had reached my goal weight without even realizing it.

Even with a five month POA, I was still waiting to feel Bridal. But that didn't happen until the Thursday before the wedding. I'll let you know what sparked the glow next time.

What bridal kool aid have you been drinking to find your bridal glow???