I hate..

root canals :/ My face hurts so bad!

$7 in my personal bank account..

but every bill is paid and my credit card statement reads $0. NIIIIIICE. We worked our asses off to pay off that card. Being out of work for 2 months brought it up pretty high, but its all paid off now <3

It's been awhile

TONS of wedding stuff is done.. just deciding on a caterer (probably going to use Sonny's), and order our plates and silverware. Time to work on DIY shit, but I've been LAZYYYY. Ugh.

FurFather's Day!

So Mother's Day is coming up, and FI has apparently gotten me a gift (since I'm a new furmomma). So I ordered his FurDaddy's Day gift last night :]

I'm pretty stoked! It was only $4 + $4 shipping. Hope to get it soooooon.

Check!

This is my reception dress! It's so freaking cute. I'm surprising my mom and I'm super excited. She'll be thrilled that I'm changing into a white dress later in the reception. I'm removing the black belt and adding a black sash to it :] STOKED!

My bundle of joy :]

Meet Pugsley Addams S________.

He is 3yrs old and sweet as can be. He's a little OCD just like his momma and daddy :] He's going to the vet on Saturday to make sure everything is perfect with him. I'll update after that!

Easter with the family :]

A few pictures from Easter weekend. The one of the four generations is my favorite. My grandma, my mom, me and my baby sister (10years younger than me, but a full 2 inches taller!)

I felt green, so eye makeup is: Gesso mixed with Aquavert (to make a REALLY pale green), Bitter, Humid, and a bit of Black Tied. The highlight is Blanc Type.

Hope everyone had a 

great weekend!

Makeup Trial.

I figured since I was wearing a purple sweater that night over my outfit, I'd do a quicky makeup trial.

The flash makes it look a lot lighter than it was. Next time I'm going to use more Black Tied to darken it and probably pick up some more Nocturnelle, maybe add a cat eye.. IDK. The inner corner and highlight are Gesso. The lighter purple on the lid/crease is creme de violet. The outer corner is CDV, HIP Flamboyant (the purple side) and mixed with Black Tied. All shadows were applied with #217 and #224. Highlight and brows done with a Sonia Kashuk small brow brush. The liner is a generic black automatic smudge liner, set with Black Tied. Mascara is Maybelline The Colossal Volum Express (Yellow Bottle - my new fave). Eyebrows are filled with Jane "Brownie Points" Eyeshadow. At the time pictures were taken, the rest of my face was bare. I didn't do much though, just foundation and powder. Next time I'm going to add a little bronzer and some blush. I'll probably do a lip gloss too instead of just chap stick (I was on my way to Hooters so I knew I'd be grubbin and couldn't wear lip gloss!)

Apparently I'm clumsy..

Well, I knew that. FI surprised me with an OtterBox for my Curve. LMAO. It is now indestructible!

Awwww!

My baby sister (MOH) had her first kiss today! So excited!

I love these invites!

Why are they $1400 for 50 of them :/

TOM?!

Where have you been!??!?!?!!!

I got a job!

I started last Friday and haven't really had a sec to post. It's an adorable little coffee shop on the beachside of town. It's not much $, but it helps. The tips I get supplement the crappy wage. I work on shifts alone, so all those tips are mine!!! I'm full time, so it helps Mike pay the bills. That's all I was really worried about, covering my own bills so he didn't have to. I'll be making enough to pay my own bills AND help pay off our credit cards. I make about $15-20 in tips daily, so that goes straight into savings. That's an extra ~$400 a month into the wedding fund, and we have 8 months left so $1200 by wedding day :) That's about the price of catering. I'm so stoked.

TTC

One more year. Ugh.

We just discussed this tonight. I have fertility issues and I really don't want to "miss my window". I know, I'm young and have time but I can feel my sand running out :( We're going to start TTC January '10 to see if we can gitter done the old fashion way.

One more long year, and hopefully not to long after that.

Easy BBQ Pulled Pork.

I'm a vegetarian, but my FI is a meatatarian. I usually cook 50/50 vegetarian meals and meat meals during the week. When I cook meals with meat, I make a veg dish and cook the meat in another pan and add it to Mike's plate while serving. THIS is his favorite of my recipes. He could seriously eat it everyday for a week. I love making it for him because its CHEAP and easy. When I make this for him, I usually just throw a veggie burger in the microwave and put it on a bun for myself. I hadn't made it in a while because we haven't had room in our freezer for a pork roast.

Prep Time: 5 mins before cooked, 5 mins after cooked

Cook Time: 8 hours

Price: About $10

Pork Roast: $7

BBQ Sauce: $1

Rootbeer: $0.67

Buns: $1

BBQ Pulled Pork

Feeds.. a lot. LOL.

Ingredients:

• Approx 5lb Pork Roast (I use the picnic roast because it's boneless and comes in halves)
  
• 1/2-1 liter of Rootbeer (I just use Walmart brand, it's cheap and gets the job done)
  
• Brown Sugar
  
• EVOO
• BBQ sauce
  
• Burger buns
  

Directions:

• Picnic roast usually comes wrapped in a net, remove from net. If it is not already cut into two pieces, slice roast down the middle to form two halves.
• Rinse pork under cold water to wet surface.
• Rub on a little EVOO and enough Brown Sugar to cover.
• Place roast halves side by side in crockpot
• Cover with Rootbeer. You can use as must as you'd like. I prefer to cover the roast completely.

COOK ON HIGH FOR 8-9 HOURS

• Once roast is done, turn Crockpot OFF.
• Remove pot (using oven mits!) and drain excess Rootbeer. You can either dump it, or drain into another container to use with BBQ sauce.
• Place pot back in Crockpot and turn onto "Warm"
• Shred pork with a fork. It will be tender enough to fall right apart with little effort.
• Mix in your BBQ sauce

I usually serve this on buns w/ garlic spread for easy handling, but you can serve it on it's own, as a side dish, however you'd like.

M.A.C. Haul

So since I lost all my brushes (yeah, still can't find them). I decided to do a pretend MAC haul and see what the damage would be. It's BAD. I'm so lucky that it's dark right now and I can't find my purse because my credit card would be abused. Without any shadows, pigments, paint pots, or anything extraordinary, including pro discount it comes to :drum roll: $370. Hmph. I need a job. SOON.

Makeup Remover

Wipes

Brush Cleaner

#217

#224

#239

#187

#168

#190

Eye Kohl

Penultimate Liner

Plush Lash

Brow Set and Pencil

Studio Fix

Studio Sculpt

HK Beauty Powder

=

$370 :/

I'm sad. Anyone want to sponsor my haul ;) ;)

What Not To Wear..

Carmindy drives me nuts. She is a shittastic makeup artist. I could do her job 100% better than her. She makes her clients look like 2 cent hookers. It's horrible. It's like a 13 year old trying to put on Mommy's makeup. Really, awful. How can people like her make it, but I can't?! Ughh.

AW: Shoes

My free ceremony shoes just came in the mail. I wanted shimmery purple flats with some gems, and found some on Amazon for $7 from Target. I had an Amazon giftcard and boom! Please excuse chubby feet, shoe's are not broken in yet ;)

I WANT!

Giant Hostess Cupcake!

WELCOME TO MOE'S!

YES! We're pretty sure we're using Moe's as a caterer! It'll end up being around $10pp. It's 'our' place, and I'm soooo excited! We're thinking about having a Taco Bar, Fajita Bar, Mini Burritos, and Chips/Queso/Salsa/Guac, maybe some cookies :D WOO!

Having trouble..

finding a fabric that I love :/ I can't wrap the cupcake tower until I find a nice one. I went to Joann's and couldn't find ANYTHING! I did however find netting in order to make my veil :)

Exes and Ohs

Ever wonder why exes randomly pop back into your lives, and then tell you that YOU are a bad person for not wanting to speak to them again.. Riiiiiight. HE is texting me and telling me how he misses the nights we had, blah blah blah.. and when I tell him that this isn't a conversation I'd like to have, and that he should go back to living life without interacting with me, I'M THE BAD GUY?! Idiot.

Not to judge, but he is now engaged to a girl he's known for about a month. She is 19, still a virgin, they don't kiss or anything (Uhm, is she a Duggar?!) Apparently she thinks that he is pure. Sorry to break it to ya honey, but he's definitely not.

Oh man. What a night.

DIY Cupcake Tower = Death of me.

Total cost: $35, compared to renting one for $200.

Ok so this was fun, but tiring. My back was killing me at the end of the night. Its definitely a few hours of work.. and if you're a perfectionist like me, about a day of work. I couldn't find larger foamboard, so I had to buy 20"x30" and cut and glue some pieces together to get the right size. I will put the steps on building the tower in this entry, and then the wrapping technique in the next. Good luck! Hopefully you have a great FI like mine who was willing to help me when things were out of reach (I'm 4'11" aka have short arms)

STEP BY STEP:

Supplies:

• 8-10 sheets of 20"x30" foamboard (if you can find the 32"x40" stuff, you can get 4-6 sheets)
• Exacto Knife (I love my retractable CutterBee because I'm clumsy)
• Hot glue gun and lots o' glue sticks
• Yardstick (You're working with pieces 30"+, so you'll need something larger than a regular ruler)
• Clear packing tape (used as a shortcut to hold the pieces in place while you glue)

Directions:

Please note:

Foamboard is quite thick, and it will take more than one try to cut through it. Please be safe and take it slow while cutting. Coming from a former architecture major, exacto blades slice through skin like butta!

Will hold approx. 100 cupcakes, depending on cupcake size.

Feel free to expand the size of the foamcore for more cupcakes, or minimize it for less.

• On your foamboard, measure one each of the following:
  30"x30" base, 22"x22" base, 14"x14" base, 6"x6" base
  If you can't find 32"x40" foamboard, and have to settle for 20"x30" like I did, you are going to have to cut additional pieces from another piece of board and glue it on to supplement the size.
• Measure FOUR EACH of the following:
  30"x5" side pieces, 22"x5" side pieces, 14"x5" side pieces, 6"x5" side pieces.
  I used a 5" height, because not many cupcakes are taller than 5" and you can cut a 20" board into 4, 5" pieces perfectly.

If you have a large table and would prefer working there, feel free. I'm a floor worker.

• Lay out your 30"x30" base and grab one of your 30"x5" side pieces.
  
• Tape side piece along one end of the board, it will form a perfect right angle. Tape as much as you wish in order to hold it in place.
• Run a line of hot glue along the interior of the side piece where it meets the base. Hot glue dries very quickly, so no need to wait and let dry before continuing.
• For the second piece, tape the short side to the already glued piece, and the long side to the base board (just like you did with piece one)
• This time, run a line of hot glue where it meets the base AND the short side where it meets the other piece.
• This piece will hang off the edge of the base a little bit (due to the thickness of the foamboard in the first piece). Position the box so the longer piece is flat on the table/floor. Using your ruler and knife, trim off the excess.
• Attach third piece exactly as the second piece, including the trimming of the excess.
• The fourth and final piece of the box is a little tricker. You are going to have to hold up the piece to the gap and mark off where you will have to trim before gluing it on. Once you have to size right and the piece in the space, tape the sides and bottom to the rest of the box. Glue to the base AND BOTH previously glued side pieces.
• You can sand any rough edges with a nail file.

Do the same with all pieces, and stack. DO NOT GLUE THE BOXES TOGETHER. You will need them to stay separate in order to wrap.

Wrapping instructions coming soon!

STD's sent out!

I just dropped my STD's in the outbox :) No turning back now!

I ordered them from vistaprint and paid mayyyybe $10 for 100 of them (upload fee and shipping)

Hope and cupcakes.

I went to yet another interview today.. It actually went really well! I was one of 6 chosen out of 400 for the position! I've also been the first he's given the next step to (background check and drug test). It's retail, but its also working with animals :) I'd probably be making around $10-12/hour, but really that's better than sitting at home! I can start to whittle down the credit card bills and maybe we can actually afford our wedding LOL. Well.. I just took the drug test (nothing to worry about there) and I have to wait until Friday to hear the final decision. SEVEN DAYS. Ugh.. Well, he also said that if I don't get THIS particular position that he will input me as a Sales Associate (prob $8-9/hr) which again is better than nothing!

I'll be off to Michael's in about an hour to grab some supplies to make my cupcake tower! I'm so excited for this project. Once this is done, I can figure out if I'll be able to just make my own cupcakes. I know its a big feat to take on, but I make cupcakes twice a week for our apartment building.. and I made 55 for my e-party last weekend in about 30mins! I think I'll be fine making 100 of them, as long as I have the tower to put them on. I went to two cake tastings last week and I was not impressed. One was very affordable, but dry and the other was moist and great, but 2.5X's the price! Mike said he likes my cupcakes more than either of the places anyway and I can make them for a fraction of the price. Thank jeebus my ceremony isn't until 6:30pm! I'll be up all night the day before getting these cupcakes done, and then up early to ice them at the venue. I think it'll turn out fine. I'm confident in my skills :) Well, I'll post pictures of the tower once its done. Wish me luck!!!

DIY Letters

I finished my "I Do", "Mr. and Mrs." and "Last name" letters last week! I've been so busy with caterer and cake tastings that I haven't had a second to update! Well.. here they are!

I bought the letters at Michael's for about $1.99 a piece (Hello coupons!).

Laid out newspaper and letters. Painted all sides of the letters with a black acrylic paint and let dry. Once the paint was dry, I filled a baking tin with wax paper and poured "crystal" colored glitter in it. I shifted the glitter in order to cover the entire surface area of the pan. I then used a sponge brush to paint Elmer's glue onto the letters and dipped them into the glitter pan. Let dry and you're done! You can do the other side of the letters, I just decided not to because the glitter would pull on the table overlays.

..one of the many DIY projects to come. Coming this weekend - cardbox, toss bouquet and cupcake tower!

Still searching..

Still on the hunt for a job :/ At this point I don't even care if I'm working retail at $8/hr! FI is paying my half of the shared bills, so all I have to worry about are my personal bills (car payment, insurance, phone). It makes it easier on me, and I know we have bills paid off until March.. but it's still nerve wrecking!

In my down time, I've started fixing up the apartment and some DIY projects. I got all of our letters painted, glittered and wrapped up yesterday. I'll post some pictures in a few. I have a bridal show on Sunday, so I'm hoping to find a DJ and maybe a caterer. We also have an appointment for a tasting on the 25th. Once these two vendors are booked, I'll feel accomplished. We've been slacking on the wedding planning lately and I was afraid we were going to have to push the date back because of the unemployed situation :(

FI's boss' boss is working on getting him a $2 raise, which would be flippin sweet! We are going car shopping in the next two weeks to see if we can down-grade his car. It is 2 years older than mine, has a shit ton of miles and he pays $50 more a month than I do on my '07 that I bought brand new! If we can trade his car in for something worth around $5-6k, his car payments would go down immensely.

I hope a job opportunity comes soon.. I might have to resort to selling myself ;)

New blog, New city, New life!

I'm a 22, almost 23 year old woman in a little girl's body. The love of my life and I are getting married this Halloween :) I recently (and by recently, I mean LAST WEEK) moved to Melbourne, FL from Ft. Lauderdale and it's a HUGE change. I'm a bride on a tight budget, and on the hunt for a job! I promise to keep up on this blog, and document my job hunt experience and wedding planning on a budget! Lots of DIY projects to come!