10 hours of dresses

Ten more hours of dress shopping today and still no dress. I can't believe this is taking so long to find one! Ok, I can. I know I'm picky, but had no idea it'd be this bad! Goodness! Burnsville, Savage, West St. Paul, St. Paul. There are still plenty more wedding shops in the cities, but I was hoping it wouldn't resort to that. I guess it will.

We went to a really swanky place in Burnsville where they had couture dresses. It was awesome. Some of the dresses were really expensive ($4,000 and up), but the less expensive ones were equally beautiful. I found one there I really loved. We'll see how my mom and sister like it. This was the first shop where they had two of the same dresses in different sizes, so KK and I each put on the same dress and took a picture in it! The lady who helped us was super kind.

We went from couture heaven to a Bridal Outlet store where I didn't find even one dress I liked. They were so cheap and ugly. Note to self: stop hoping to find a clearance dress. Pay the money for the one you love.

Karishma definitely found her gown at The Wedding Shoppe after trying on a bunch of really great potentials! It was the same one we saw in Rochester, only $300 cheaper here. Mestad's is a rip...don't buy your dress there! Anyway, she set. Not me. I'm back at square one.

Dave's Day!

Today was Dave's Day at Famous Dave's all over the cities. Anyone named "Dave" got a free meal, and anyone with the middle name "Dave" got a half priced meal. Kevin and his dad were PUMPED! Lynda and I cashed in on their names! $36 worth of food for $6. Rip tips, corn on the cob, mac & cheese, pulled pork, chicken, cornbread, garlic mashed potatoes, fries. Delicious. We played some bocce ball in the afternoon, then headed over to Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie for a chance to worship together. On our way we saw this sweet sign and thought of my buddy Chet from Good Shepherd. He would reserve all the parking spots! He's muy importante! We miss you!!

We heard Leith Anderson give a great message about David. They did this really cool interactive piece to worship where if you had a question for Leith as he preached, you could text one in. On the screen was a photo of some feet on a stone path. I texted, "Are those your feet in the picture?" And they gave that question to him! It was awesome! Kevin's friend Kristina and her boyfriend Jason met us there, then invited us over for a delicious late night meal. Moral of the story, it pays to know someone named Dave. Where's the nearest Famous Amber's?

sesserd erom

Can anyone decode the title? 5 points if you can!

Ok, so last night I got a wild idea and decided it'd be fun to take a day and abide after all the approval essay writing. So, I called up Karishma to see if she'd be interested in meeting in Rochester for some dress shopping. There is a huge bridal shop down there called Mestad's. So, we both got up at the crack of dawn and met there at 10.

Mestad's was grand, but the service was not so grand. I don't consider myself hard to get along with, but I was sensing some tension between myself and the woman helping me. I told her, I didn't like a certain neckline and spaghetti straps, so what does she do? Brings a nasty while prom-dress-looking gown into my room. I said, "Not to be rude, but I can tell you right now I don't like it. I don't care for those straps or the satin" She replied, "Oh, just try it on anyway!" Um...no. I don't like it. Karishma had a nice older lady helping her. The dresses were nice, but very overpriced. I saw gowns in there for $4,500. Most of the gowns in there I had seen at other stores, and they were marked up $300-$500 more on each dress. I guess you can guess where I won't be doing business!

Anyway, KK and I got a fast lunch and then met up with Molly at another bridal shop. We each tried on a bunch. Almost all bridal shops right now have some clearance dresses. I love a bargain, so always look through those racks to see if there's anything in there I like. Well, I found a dress. It was $850 originally. Marked down to $298. It was pretty great. I just wasn't sure it was the one. So, I sat there a while thinking about it. The owner of the store could see I was on the fence about the whole thing so she came back and made matters worse. "I'll give you 20% off that price if you take it today!" Yeah, now we're down to $240 for an $850 dress. Crap. I ended up walking away, sending some picture home to Holly and my mom. They liked it too, but encouraged me not to settle. Especially my mom. She said, "Don't buy it because you like the price. It needs to be your dream dress!" Agreed. I passed on it. I hope I don't regret that decision.

After all that shopping, Molly took us into Downtown Rochester to meet up with Korrie for burgers at Newt's. Named the best burger joint in Rochester for the last 6 years in a row. I had a juicy lucy (a hockey puck sized burger injected with a ton of steaming hot American cheese)...yum! I was delicious! We caught up on life, checked out the coolest Barnes & Noble I've ever seen, then went to Korrie's to see her new house. We were there until 12:00, then got in our cars and drove home. Note to self: stay overnight. I wasn't in bed until 2:00 a.m. and barely made it.

an A+ kinda day!

Wow...so many things to celebrate this afternoon!

First piece of good news: My approval essay is finished. Well, one more read through, a few minor edits and I'll be done! After three days of locked up writing in my room, it paid off! I am finished days early! Sorry for my absence in the meantime. Kevin has been kind enough to proof read it as I went. He said he'd approve me! :) That's all I need to know! It's the final essay of four during my seminary career. One more interview and I'll be a full-fledged pastor lady! How crazy is that?

Second piece of good news: I ordered my dream lens (A Canon 70-200 IS USM f/2.8 for those of you fellow photogs) on Saturday, and it arrived in 5 days! I was jumping with glee when the mail room guy greeted me with my package!

Third piece of good news: Kelly Luhmann sent me a facebook message today asking if it'd be ok for her and Amy to come visit in December! Uh...HECK YEAH! I am already planning our great Minnesota winter adventure. Mall of America, Skiing, ice skating, sledding, hot cocoa...ooh! I've been jumping up and down since the moment I read it. (I finally stopped dancing and screaming long enough to sit down and blog about it!) Amy and Linda were the only two I could get ahold of to celebrate. Kelly, beware, lots of excitement to come if you call me back! :)

Fourth piece of good news: After a 2 month hiatus from eating at Rascals, I finally broke down and drank the teriyaki sauce right out of the bottle. Just kidding. Kevin and I did whip up some white rice, chicken, and smothered it in sauce! It was worth the wait. Delicious! All the sugar must've gotten to us, because we eventually turned on pandora radio, channeled in a big band station, and did some swing dancing in my room.

Fifth piece of good news: All the HR's for the Luther Seminary buildings got together today with Dean Patricia Lull (dean of students) and Carole Kreiger (housing coordinator) and got to meet each other, and talk about the year. I'm actually really excited now about this year, and was glad to meet some new people who seem to be real people of peace already.

That's all the good news I can think of. Five things in one day. Much to be thankful for. Lucky me!

smile if you love me!

Kevin and I had another photo shoot today. I still have the lens I'm renting, so in an attempt to make the most of it, a photo shoot was called for. Out came my $3 dress from Opitz (I already mended the loose seam), and my $1.49 boots I bought last year at Goodwill. Pocahontas if you will. The lens is sweet in every way, and so is Kevin for taking some nice shots of me for my website and posing for others. Here are some of my favorite photos:

a CA kind of day!

Today was a great day for many reasons. We started our morning by meeting up with Carlos, Kristen, & Ethan from Torrance. They flew in for a family reunion, so we met them at the Mall of America and treated them to their first cup of Caribou Coffee. I have a feeling for the rest of my life, when I see people from my past there's going to be a constant statement, "you've gotten so big!" Ok, hopefully not for anyone other than children, but it was certainly true for Ethan as he has changed so much even in the last 2 months (exactly) since I've been home.

We had to zip over to St. Louis Park to have lunch with a friend of Kevin's. Chipotle. Yum. I wonder if we can cater that for our reception. Burritos for Everyone! It was really awesome to hear a young adult in the community affirm the work that Kevin has been doing in the community and neighborhood (or "neighborgood" as Kevin would say). A moment of true pride! Way to go love!

Kevin brought me to Opitz (a discount store in SLP) and nothing in the store was over $3!!! All the dresses, shoes, shirts, etc. you could get your hands on were $3. They were all name brand, but had flaws. I know I just posted about my obsessive clothing collection and how horrible it all is, but to pass on a $277 dress that they only wanted $3 for because it's missing a strap that I can fix seemed a crime to me. So, I bought 4 dresses and a pair of shoes. I even found a pair of Chuck Taylor's for Kevin at the store next door for $15. A STEAL!

We spent the afternoon watching some of the ELCA Church Wide assembly live online. Pastor Bob from Torrance is in town as a voting member, so we were looking forward to supper with him afterward. It was a monumental day (a day of mourning for some) in the ELCA as a vote was passed to allow congregations to call openly gay clergy to be pastors in churches. I can only imagine the excitement for the majority as the results were read drowning out the moans of those who opposed it. Some churches are thinking of yanking themselves out of the ELCA and joining another denomination. I'm not sure that's the answer to all of this. Please be praying for the future of the ELCA.

We picked Bob up and took him to Rudolph's BBQ (a Minneapolis staple). Since the moment we got engaged, it's been a constant conversation about who would marry us given the fact that we know so many clergy who could do an outstanding job. No matter which name we threw into the hopper, Bob's always rose to the top, and we've known for a long time we wanted to ask him to officiate our wedding. Most pastors don't enjoy weddings all that much (Bob included), so we knew we'd have to get creative in asking him to make sure he knew this wouldn't be any ordinary wedding. So we wrote him a letter. We printed an envelope which stated: Urgent! with Bob's contact information on the front. After we got to the restaurant, I pretended to go to the restroom and pulled our waiter aside. I handed him the envelope and asked him if he'd wait a few minutes and urgently deliver it to our table. He agreed. I went back to my seat and was about shaking until the letter was finally pulled from our waiter's black order folder. He said, "Are one of you Bob?" Bob said, "Yes." He explained that the letter had just been dropped off and the letter was handed to him. He immediately looked at us and said, is this from you? We tried to play it cool as much as we could, but it was hard. He opened the letter and immediately looked to the signature to see who it was from! Who does that?? Finally, I scolded him and told him to read it from the beginning. After analyzing the header and signatures some more, he finally read it. The letter was a little lengthy, because we could only sit there nervously waiting his answer for the next minute. Finally he reached the bottom and said he would be honored to!! I am attaching a photo of the letter so you can see just how long it was and exactly what we wrote. Given the context of the Church Wide Assembly, we thought it was a good fit. So, there's one more thing checked off our list. So happy to have Bob participating in our big day!

i'm a snob

My goodness, what a weekend! Wedding Friday. Wedding Saturday (got down poured on) but got kick butt photos with the lens. I went to St. Matthew's this morning for the first time in over a year. It was a great Sunday to be there as Pastor Thomas Braun was installed as the new Administrative Pastor. He seems to have a great sense of humor, a talented wife, and family in the congregation. I'm anxious to see how God uses him and his family in Worthington!

The whopping $25 I paid to rent the lens this weekend (which is nothing considering the lens is worth $1,400) was well worth it. I shot a little boy named Dalton this afternoon out at his acreage, and then persuaded Presley to go on an adventure to an abandoned farm place to shoot some of her there. She was a champ and let me carry her into a field of weeds, she stood there (even though she hates when grass touches her ankles), and posed like a model. We had her in 5 outfits in 45 minutes. Way to go Holly & Presley! I definitely got a lot of use out of the lens this weekend!

Tonight I got to drive to Mankato to celebrate Karishma & Aaron's engagement at a party in their honor. A whole crew of folks showed up to offer their well wishes and share in a time of eating, picture taking, and getting measured! AHH! Yes, I got measured for my Indian apparel that I will wear in the wedding. I even had my wrists measured for bangles. I had no idea my wrists were considered fat. Harsh! :)

Poor Kevin has been abandoned by me since I got back from California. I've been down in Worthington and everywhere else but by him. So, it was a sweet reunion tonight when I arrived back in St. Paul. We celebrated our 2 year 3 month anniversary today. I'm glad he said something or I may have forgotten. After we walked my load of stuff up to my room, here's the dialogue that followed:

Kevin: Do you want your anniversary present?
Me: Sure!
Kevin: Well, I didn't get a chance to wrap it, so I just put it in a Target bag.
Me: That's ok.
Kevin: (Hands me the Target bag)
Me: (I reach inside the Target bag and my eyes light up and I pull out a blue Tiffany gift bag. Only, he has put some stuffing on the top of the bag, and I know they don't do that at the store) Is this some kind of joke? Because, this would be a really really mean joke Kevin.
Kevin: (sitting on the couch smirking)
Me: Is this for real? Because if this is a joke...it'd be cruel. Is this a joke?
Kevin: I don't know.
Me: (I pull out the stuffing and see an actual Tiffany box inside. I pull it out. The bow is tied perfectly. How did he find my bag, box, and bow and redo them perfectly?) Is this real? Because if so, I should be taking a picture of this. Should I take a picture of this box Kevin?
Kevin: You can take a picture if you want to.
Me: Ok, I'm going to take a picture, but if this is a joke, it's not a funny one. (Obviously, it's funny...I'm not seriously upset at this point.) Well, you better let me take your picture with the box then. Because if this is for real, I'm gonna want your picture with it. (I take his picture holding the box. See photo for proof, and see smirk for evidence of sneakiness).
Kevin: Well, I better take your picture with it too.
Me: Should you?
Kevin: (He takes my picture holding the box).
Me: (I untie the ribbon, open the box...the bag inside is not one I own...it's REAL! Inside the blue box is the matching bracelet to my necklace. Ahh!! What a guy!)
Dang, he's good! It's so super pretty. Makes my necklace look filthy, but it's awesome. A trip to Tiffany in Edina. Two Tiffany gifts. I'm officially turning into a Tiffany snob, and it's not my fault! :)

wild-n-windy-wedding

I found out from Laura (the woman taking our wedding photos) that you can rent lenses from West Photo in Minneapolis. So, after driving all the way down to Worthington, I decided I wanted to rent one for Ashley & JT's wedding, so my very very very sweet fiance picked it up for me and met me in Mankato for a 30 second exchange. I had to race back to Worthington to see my brother as the best man in his friend BJ's wedding. I made it back and saw the last 3 minutes of the ceremony. That was plenty of time to practice a few shots with the lens...and HOLY CRAPOLA! It's amazing. Check out my latest facebook album to see all the shots! I can't wait to take more tomorrow at a wedding I'm shooting! The air conditioner in my car still isn't working, so I looked like a complete loser in our family photo. The dress came later. With 3 minutes...there was no time to change. And the outdoor wedding was right next to the lake. The strong wind gusts kept all our hair wild, and the unity candle extinguished. It was fun hanging with the fam at the reception. I stayed through Eric's speech, then took off. Time to get ready for the wedding tomorrow. Let's see if the rain holds off.

27 dresses? I wish!

You know that movie "27 dresses?" I wish it were only that many. I have probably tried on close to 100 dresses at this point. Some of them are so similar, they're boring, but others are so unique and original, I start to love the weirdness of them! My problem is that I've seen so dang many weddings, I am determined to be different than the brides whose weddings I've shot. It if means polka-dots, I'll do it to be different!

Mom, Holly, Presley, and I trucked over to Sioux Falls to spend another day hunting for the dress. 5 shops total. One place had $99 dresses and I just about bought one that fit perfectly just for a "trash the dress" session. It was actually adorable! We had Lunch and supper at Wendy's. Presley got Subway both times. When we pulled up for supper she said, "Should I go in and say I want what I had earlier?" We laughed hysterically about that one. Too cute!

Today I found two of the three dresses from the Wedding Shoppe that I love, and the place where we found them allowed us to take pictures of them! Thank goodness. After reviewing them on camera, there is definitely one taking the cake. Literally, I could be a cake topper with it on! Now...if I could just find the third one and get a photo of it! No bridezilla...no bridezilla. We'll find it! What I did find though was an adorable pair of wedding shoes. My sister had them on her feet first and about fell over walking on the plush carpet, but when I saw them, I fell in love. They're wedges (which I hate), but the tops are so amazing. Presley eventually had them on too, so I took her picture so I could remember them! Thoughts?

Holly tried on a few dresses in the morning, and then a TON of them after lunch. There are so many pretty colors and styles. It's going to be really hard to choose one! A color I've really fallen in love with is sangria off the David's Bridal website. I refuse to buy my dress from there (because everyone will be wearing it then), but bridesmaids might just come from there. We stopped by so Holly could try some on. One perk about David's Bridal: they have TONS of sizes, so whether you're a size 2 or 200, there's a dress there that will fit you. I'm excited about a potential color. YAY! Here's a picture of Holly sporting a sangria dress!

Presley likes to give her opinion on the dresses too. When I asked her what she thought of one of them, she made the most disgusted face I've ever seen! It was hilarious. So, that's a no! Then again, she has said on more than on occasion, "That's the one Auntie!" I think that's her way of trying to speed up the process and get us out the door sooner. We made sure she got to try on dresses too wherever we went. She had on some adorable ones, complete with tiaras and veils. And she goes for every color and fabric under the sun. She had on a lime green one with a pink sash, pink, this maroon one with pick-ups (might have been her favorite). She's such a girly girl, I love it!

By the end of the day we had seen enough. Mom and I were completely exhausted, as were Holly and Presley. It's time to pick one and move on to other decisions!

two tidbits

Two things:

1. Kevin picked up a sweet 50mm fixed lens for me today. I wanted to give it a try to see if I'd like it. Here's a picture of my finished (no more orange) henna so you can see what an incredible job it does with foreground and background blur. And it's so great with detail work. If you look close on the left side of my band, you can see the stripes of Madison's bedroom walls on it.

2. We went down to Gustavus to talk to the catering service lady. She knows the Lieser's, loves them, and loves the idea of working with us too! We're pumped. Oh, and she secretly gave us permission to take down the Gustavus banners and said she wouldn't charge us the $300 to take them down as long as we put them back up when we were done. Awesome lady! We love the space in Alumni Hall, hardwood floors, high ceiling, baby grand piano. From the looks of it, campus is going to be in full colorful bloom next August. We're so thrilled!

holy henna

Ever since going dress shopping at the Wedding Shoppe, I can't stop thinking about dresses. So, I made an appointment to go there again tonight, and was thrilled to have both Andrea and Molly come and be part of it. I probably tried on 15 more dresses, and it still came down to the same three as last time. I even tried on jewelry this time. Now...do I want to be vintage, sexy, or traditional? Those are the three types of dresses we're dealing with! Andrea was a champ and tried on probably close to 30 different bridesmaid dresses, and we definitely found a few awesome ones to choose from. Their dress selection there is massive!! Now I have to decide on mine so we can proceed with bridesmaid dresses.

Oh, and the vote for being crafty won. I drew my henna on today. I just doodled all over. Not sure if certain shapes have different meanings, but I just channeled my inner wanna-be henna artist and went to town. It started black like mud, then I washed it off and it looks orange right now, but hopefully it'll darken overnight. I'm glowing for all the wrong reasons!

11 miles

Kevin and I ran 11 miles. Well we walked some of it. Let's just say the training for the Twin Cities Marathon is killing me. Mark my words: this will be my first and last marathon. Unless I don't finish...then I'll have to try again to redeem myself. Let's hope it doesn't come down to that.

We were dead after we got back from the run, but that didn't stop us from tromping over to the Minneapolis Uptown Art Fair. One of the largest in the nation. Walking and more walking. How about we get off our feet for a few minutes? :) Even if we were tired, it was worth the exhaustion to see it. There were so many awesome artists. Jewelry, wood, drawing, painting, photography, sculpture. They award winners in each category, and I'd say the judges did a good job. All that art makes me want to do something crafty. Then, we stopped in this little shop that was open and I bought a henna kit. I've always wanted to draw henna on myself, so that's my mission for tomorrow. Oh yeah, and to work on my approval essay. We'll see which one actually happens! I vote for the crafty one!

too many shoes

I woke up this morning in a state of glee at the sound of rain slapping the roof of Stub and against my window. My first thought, "I get to wear my rain boots!" Mind you, it's been over a year since I've had them on my feet! Let there be joy!


Good news or bad news first?

Good news: We found our photographer today!! Well, we didn't want to seem over eager and sign the contract with her on the spot, but it's a done deal in our minds! Laura Ivanova Photography is going to be shooting our wedding, engagement, and day after photos! We met with Laura this morning at Caribou. I was nervous about the whole thing. Some photographers will just kind of ignore the fact that I care a lot about pictures, cameras, and am a fellow photographer, so it always makes me a little anxious to see how someone will treat me if they know that I do it too. Of course I'm no where near her skill level but not once did she make me feel that way. We talked about tons of details, our unique engagement session ideas (you'll have to wait to see the pictures...top secret!), and she and I even talked cameras and equipment for a while. She's convinced me that I need to upgrade a few pieces of my equipment. I already have 7 weddings lined up for NEXT summer, so it would be worth it to invest in a few new lenses and an even better camera body! Anyway, Laura is great. We spent two hours with her, but it felt like 30 minutes! Great personality, a total perfectionist "J" like me (LOVE IT!), and a fantastic photographer! She'll have a second shooter with her that day so we'll have a buttload of images to choose from! We're so glad to have this really big decision made! YAY for Laura!

Bad news: I almost threw up today. We've moved probably close to 30 boxes worth of stuff into this place of mine and even with three closets to hang stuff in, they're jam packed. I can't get over the shoes. For years I had been keeping all my stuff at 3 different places so I had no idea how many pairs of shoes, dresses, jackets, and pairs of jeans I had. Here's the tally, and I'm not proud of this:

102 pairs of shoes

66 dresses

26 coats

17 pairs of jeans

I'm annoyed with me! Is this really necessary? I confessed to Kevin, "You're marrying a pack rat!" Where did all this stuff come from? The good news is that 80% of it is from Goodwill so it's not like I paid full price for any of it, but the sheer ridiculousness of quantity is embarrassing. (So it that sentence, but you get my point!) I already have two boxes full of Goodwill donations. But why is it so hard to get rid of it? Am I really going to wear that pink leather jacket with rhinestones on it that I got for $1.49 on blue tag day at GW? But it's from Wilson's leather, it says DIVA across the front. I have to keep it. Wow do I have a problem! The good thing about moving is that it forces you to get rid of a few things. I need to get rid of a few more than a few. Wish me luck!

5 years of Presley

Goodness gracious, sakes alive, our little Presley is already five!

I got a card that said this same phrase when I turned 5. It was black with an orange flower. Not sure why I remember odd things like that. Anyway...

We celebrated Presley's 5th birthday today. She kept reminding me, "Auntie, it's MY day today. It was your day when you tried on dresses, but today is MY day." Got it! :)

Our celebration began with Holly cooking waffles and bacon for breakfast. We took a trip to the Lakefield Pool. Presley started going down the white slide without fear. It was fun to watch. Madison is pretty brave when it comes to the water. She grabbed Jason by the hand at one point and said, "Watch!" and jumped into the deep end. Thank goodness he was holding onto her. I'm reminded of Theresa's policy: throw a lifejacket on them so they can jump in and not be afraid of the water. When I go with the girls in the future, that's what I'm going to do! I need a trip to the Lomita, CA pool soon! :)

Okoboji, IA was our next stop. Presley loves Arnold's Park, so she rode rides, we all went in the house of mirrors, the tippy house and rode the train. I even got her hooked on ski-ball. 30,000 points is all it takes to win a small prize, and I did it. A pink fish for the birthday girl!

Madison was a little fearless rider on the rides. Other kids who were older than her cried and had trouble staying seated, but she held on tight and put those other babies to shame! Mini donuts, icecream, and cotton candy. The supper of champions. Just kidding. We had hot dogs, fries, and malts too! :)