never enough time!

"Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions... to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends... and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit. These are little guideposts on the footpath to peace." --Henry van Dyke

I am so glad of life right now... everything seems to be coming together quite perfectly personally, academically, and otherwise :) . As usual, I have an exam on Monday so I don't really have time to give you a full update, but for now, let me say that Sara and I went to Macy's Herald Square a few weeks ago to work on my registry and that's nearly complete. While we were there we decided to try on a few dresses, like this one:


I like the color and design, but I still have no idea what my girls will be wearing. Hopefully I'll post an update in the near future regarding the bridal party, more dress options, invitation ideas, new apartment stuff, registry info... so much to blog about!

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns!'" -- 1 Chronicles 16:31

feels like real life...

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” –- Joseph Campbell

A wedding entry is long overdue, but life has been extremely busy lately! In my last post I mentioned that Al is starting a new job in DC during the next few weeks. Since then, I've been a good future wifey by trying to find us a new apartment and some furniture, in the midst of studying for my exam (which was yesterday and went quite well, I think). But I am happy to say that everything seems to be in place for his move, and I'm ridiculously excited.

In more wedding related news, I stumbled upon these dresses by Jenny Yoo on the stylemepretty blog and I love them all! What do you think? Before I was leaning towards all my girls wearing matching dresses, but after seeing these, I think I might be able to give them a few choices and have them pick the one they like best. I even like the purple, although we are still planning on using yellow. I have so much to blog about but so little time! Hopefully I'll be able to blog again some time during the next week, but I'm not making any promises. :)

Also, a few new blogs for you to check out: my brother's, my sister's, my sister-from-another-mister's, and my med school buddy's.

"Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" -- Philippians 4:1

a new white chapter.

"White ... is not a mere absence of color; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black.... God paints in many colors; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white." -- Gilbert Keith Chesterton

So today was my white coat ceremony at school, which marks the start of a new chapter of my life: being a humanist/physician. It seems quite appropriate that this event took place today since the last time someone helped me get dressed in a different really important white garment was when my sister helped me try on wedding gowns at the "running of the brides" in Manhattan back in February, marking the start of an equally important chapter in my life. As coincidence would have it, the "running of the brides" here in DC (home of the White House and my new home for the next 4+ years, also another new chapter in my life) was this morning. So cheers to crisp white clothes, and all the love, responsibility, and hope that they bring with them.


"Mordecai left the king's presence wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration." -- Esther 8:15

the dress hunt continues [3]

"There is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us and not we them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they would mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking." -- Virginia Woolf

So it's been a while since I mentioned the bridesmaid dress search. Weeks later, nothing much has been resolved, but here goes... I think all the bridesmaids will wear matching yellow dresses and my MoH will wear a similar yellow dress with blue accents (or possibly an all blue dress). Here are a few more dresses that I'm liking lately (click on the photo to see individual dress links). Let me know which dresses (if any) you like!

And stay tuned for groomsmen-wear in the near future (at least the start)!

"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." -- Isaiah 61:10

the dress hunt continues [2] ...

"Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire." -- Charles Dickens

So even though I'm debating whether or not to let my bridesmaids choose their own dresses, it doesn't hurt to let them (and you) know what I like ;) . As promised weeks ago, here are a few dresses I like from Anthropologie and FashionJunkee. These might be a little too casual for bridesmaid dresses, but still very cute. I've been reading about how the whole bridesmaid industry is such a commercial rip-off (aka way over-priced dresses just because they have "bridesmaid" in the description), so I've been looking through other sites, such as bloomingdales and Nordstrom, to try to alternative sources for potential dresses. Stay tuned for even more dresses and other planning details (including post-party updates) . And happy early Fourth of July!

And to close, one of my favorite verses that I just stumbled upon again yesterday:

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold." -- Job 23:10

match-maker, match-maker...

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” -- Joseph Campbell

So I've been putting a lot of thought in to what my bridesmaids will be wearing... and I've had a lot of fun so far. The thoughtful bride-to-be that I am, I've been trying to consider dresses that seem like they'd flatter any of my bridesmaids (and that would be wallet-friendly, too). With all that in mind, I also wanted all of my bridesmaids to match, thinking it might be more formal/unified/coordinated/aesthetically pleasing/etc. But alas, I've been reading a lot about how it's becoming increasingly popular to just pick a color and dress length (and/or fabric), and let the bridesmaids each pick their own dresses, that way they'll pick one that best suits them (in style and price) and they'll be more likely to wear it again (click here or here for more info). So now the dilemma is to match or not to match... Any thoughts?

Photos courtesy of theknot.com

"He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old." -- Luke 5:36

the dress hunt continues [1] ...

"A happy bridesmaid makes a happy bride" -- Alfred Tennyson

I thought finding bridesmaids dresses would be pretty easy since I don't consider myself a very picky person, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. At this point I've gone through (too) many websites, and literally hundreds of dresses, and sadly, so far this is pretty much all I've come away liking. It turns out, I am pickier than I first thought, and I don't really have any idea what I'm doing. This sampling is from collections by BCBG, Ann Taylor, Jim Hjelm, and Bari Jay:

click to enlarge:

A few things I've liked so far:

• sweetheart and v-neck -- these necklines seem to be comfortable and flattering on most people; I'm also leaning away from strapless, since my gown is strapless (and supposedly the bridesmaids shouldn't match the bride too much)
• chiffon and organza -- these fabrics seem pretty soft and flowy
• empire waist and A-line silhouettes -- again, these styles seem pretty flattering
  

Let me know which dresses you like (aka HELP!) Also, I forgot to mention it earlier, but Alphonse and I saw Sex and the City a few weekends ago. To protect Al's manhood, I think I'm required to say that I "forced" him to go and that he "hated it" (both false). But anyways, we both learned a little about wedding planning, like (surprise!) the bride-to-be should consider her fiance's opinion on major decisions, like party size. Anyways, stay tuned for more dresses from Betsey Johnson, Nicole Miller, Maggy London, and Anthropologie!

"As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." -- Isaiah 62:5

what to wear?!

"The most beautiful clothes that can dress a woman are the arms of the man she loves" -- Yves Saint Laurent

When I first started wedding planning, one of the earliest things that I decided (in my head) was that I wanted my bridesmaids' dresses to be light, flowy, and slightly Greek goddess-like. This idea worked perfectly when I was thinking of having all my bridesmaids wear long evening gowns, but when we decided on shorter afternoon dresses, I thought that maybe I would have to pass on my original idea-- the words "short" and "Greek goddess-esque" didn't seem like a good match. That was until I stumbled upon this dress in a window in Annapolis. Looked like an appropriately flowy and simple dress, and best of all it was cocktail length! So with newfound hope, my search for bridesmaids dresses pressed on.





Below are a few of my most recent favorites. And while this selection lacks any real consistency as far as dress length, or silhouette, or possibly even overall feel, I can say this much for sure: the dresses are going to be cute (and probably empire waisted). And almost definitely yellow, tea length, and flowy as well.

click to enlarge

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ... See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." -- Matthew 6:25-33

sim city.

"One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art." -- Oscar Wilde

Congrats to Maris and Ryan on their recent engagement! And belated congratulations to my room mate Faaiza and her fiance Zack, who recently got engaged as well. It makes me ridiculously happy to see my friends getting engaged. Seriously.

To further lighten up this dreary Wednesday, I thought I'd mention my new favorite thing: the very sims-like "dress your wedding" feature by David's Bridal (log-in using alphonse.katrina@gmail.com, password = guest). While some of the options for accessories and facial/body features are limited (definitely not up to Nintendo mii standards), it is definitely a fun way to waste a few minutes (or more). Viola:


And while I plan to have my bridesmaids in cocktail length dresses (summery, right?), I haven't decided much beyond that, so don't necessarily expect a real-life version of this. As for the guys, let it be known that Al did their dressing. Fashion designing at its finest.

And speaking of new favorite things... this website I stumbled upon, style me pretty, happens to be one of them.

"My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest" -- Isaiah 32:18