girls! girls! girls!

every once in a while i completely and totally miss living with girls! not that i don't love and adore my incredible, HOT, hardworking and worshipful husband, i just don't like borrowing his clothes. but i am wearing a pair of his workout shorts right now because i am getting into that pregnant phase where i don't want anything touching my stomach. anyway, i digress...
i think what sparked this brief episode of girl missing is the wonderful, warm weather we are enjoying and that the pool is open at our local YMCA. and then i reminisced about hanging out at the DT pool with my friends and playing uno and speed and reading juvenile fiction and trivial pursuit cards. and of course playing a rousing game of who would you rather kiss. good times. great game. in order to remedy this longning for all things girly, i went exploring through photo albums for pictures of my roomate days. sadly, i couldn't find any pictures of us at the DT pool. but i did find some others. interspersed between pictures are memories and anecdotes and reasons why living with girls was so much fun.

paulalluyah, me and natbrat at olive garden.

1. when you live with girls, you don't just get dressed from your closet. you go to everyone's closet. the first question asked when you had a date was, "what are you going to wear? let's plan! fashion show!"

2. girls/roomates fall asleep talking about really important issues like should we color our hair? do we want to go to ward prayer tomorrow? do we have any food in the house?

some of the girls that attended my sealing.

3. girls re-enact every encounter/conversation/longing glance they ever had with a boy to help us decipher what he "meant" and does he really like us back. no sentence or smile or wink goes unanalyzed.

4. it is always easier to finish off a cake or tray of brownies or tub of ice cream while talking with a roomate.

me and em at macaroni grill? (i think) for her birthday. or somebody's birthday. or nobody's birthday.

5. one memory that i treasure is that of laying on the floor of our un-airconditioned house in our underwear, hiding from brian emerson. another memory, "hey jessica, do you want to go out on a date with me sometime?" response, "sure brian, you set it up and let me know." who didn't use that line with brian???

em, me and jessica in the crown 5 kitchen, the night after my first date with my eternal companion, hence the gigantic corsage.

6. trivial pursuit was often played on sundays and the sound of music was often watched. one summer we played uno in almost tournament-like fashion at christina's davis' house.

a mass of unwashed girls eating lunch one saturday at guadalahonky's in draper. the worst mexican food ever. i recall that their billboard said something to the effect of "i get gas at guads", for a long time i thought it was a gas station.

7. fast and the furious week complete with watching the movie at movies 8, going to DI and buying t-shirts, cutting them up and ironing nicknames on the back of them. to top of the week we wore the shirts to club omni on 16+ night. nothing like dancing with highschoolers to make you feel cool.

8. sometimes living with girls means that your only sustenance for the week is a jumbo box of 400 otter pops, eaten in succession on your front porch.

9. meeting for lunch in the cougareat and talking each other out of attending their next class to just keep hanging out.

i don't think i have an explanation for this one.

10. princess buns(updos, not cinnamon rolls). i really wish i had a picture of that!

11. watching hours and hours of pointless TV and then watching really important things like miss usa and miss america.

"studying" my freshman year. not much gets done with you study with friends.

11. the girls and i would often meet in the newsroom to do homework and use their printing paper. sometimes i would pretend to be an actual reporter and think ill of tiffany and her weird husband, whatever his name was. the BEST times were when we watched who wants to be a millionaire and played trivial pursuit and boggle.

12. girls are the BEST when talking through a breakup/relationship issues. or just making fun of your ex-boyfriend/crush/whatever. like that time emily made a hanging for our door about neil the nerdy TA and joseph the lumberjew, both booty callin' dweebs! i wish i still had that important scrap of paper!

my abfab favorite girl roomate, my wonderful sister heather. she is eating a banana and i am pretending to be a mom. oh, wait...
my best girls.
funny story, once when we were younger, my sister asked my mom what happens if a tampon gets dislodged and gets lost in your body. my mom replied "it travels through your system and stabs you in the heart." we laugh about that one until this day.

wedding dress blues

those of you that know me, know i despise my wedding dress. it is a fine dress. i have received many compliments on it. i just hate it and i want to kick the bag that it is in whenever i see it. i was one of those types that was constantly mentally planning her wedding. every flower arrangment, cake type, wedding announcement had to be meticulously studied to see if was to my liking. going to BYU really fed my habit. talk about wedding central. so, when i finally got engaged and went wedding dress shopping, you would have thought that i would have spent more time and energy into finding THE DRESS. i made several mistakes. one, was that i went by myself. most bridal magazines will tell you that you need to go by yourself to make the best decision. i disagree. i needed someone there to tell me that i needed to think and sleep on it before making a decision. two, was that the lady that owned the store, sweetheart bridal across from provo high school, was not wearing a bra. why did i buy a wedding dress from a lady not wearing a bra? third mistake, not trying on a bazillion dresses. i think i tried on 3. sometimes i am dumber than a box of hammers. fourth, i didn't even try on the dress i eventually bought. here is the story on that. after trying on all 3 dresses i made a decision. this dress here was the one i deemed the one. i can't tell you why i picked it, there is nothing about it that is ugly; it is a very lovely dress. just not me.

so, i make my deposit on my dress and as i am walking out of the store i see and ad for this dress here:

and i asked the bra-less owner if i can switch my deposit to this dress instead. all i had seen was the picture. again, there was nothing wrong with this dress. fine and lovely, but not me. i think my brain was trying to tell me to not be so hasty about my dress purchase, but of course i interpreted it to mean, just buy that one. so that is the dress i ended up with. bleah. i still get annoyed when i think about it. every once in a while i will have a dream(or nightmare) that i am planning my wedding all over again and i get to pick out a new dress. then i wake up and there is that dumb ol' dress hanging in my closet and i am all upset all over again. in order to cope psychologically with the knowledge that i HATE my wedding dress, i have collected many pictures over the last 5 years of possible new wedding dresses that i will someday purchase. for a while i had a collage on the back of my closet door. i figure by our 10 year anniversary i should get a new dress. just for fun. come to my house, we'll have a party.
you may be wondering what brought all this up again. it all goes back to blogstalking. we all do it. we peep at other people's friends blogs and wonder who they are. i was doing that a week ago when i happened upon this picture. i LOVE AND ADORE this girls dress. i have no idea who you are cute girl, but i want your dress. perhaps she will let me borrow it and i can retake some wedding photos in it. after the baby comes, of course. what kind of shotgun wedding would i be promoting? and my kids would be so confused.

great dress whoever you are! she would probably be very embarassed to know that a perfect stranger has her picture on a random blog. let's keep it our secret.

here are some more pictures of dresses i lovelovelove. or GOWNS(pronounced gahwns, darling).
so chic!!!

figure loving and hugging!

i don't like the top of this one, too boxy. but i love the fishtail hem over the pleated tulle.

gorgeous!!! sleek and simple.

this one was the top dress in my closet collage for about 2 years. then i saw it on a real person and it took my breath away.

fun little design.



part ballerina, part part flapper, all glamour girl.

thanks for humoring me.
note-miss universe pageant monday, may 28th 8pm CST. mark your calendars!!!

how do you wear them?

HERE'S HOW!
i despise always having to wear layers to make some of the new trendy dresses work. but what can we do? buying only from the modesy minded websites would leave us all looking the same and broke. until there are more people that care enough to launch fashion lines for women of "taste" like us, then we will have to do some improvising. however, i would encourage us to patronize(if we can afford it) some of the LDS fashion sites so that they can make a profit and eventually lower their prices. it is hard to compete with old navy prices.

if you can't tell, i love forever21 !!! great prices. cheaply made, but who cares? at these prices you can afford to replenish your wardrobe each summer.

weightless tank $6.80- the description said that it is supposed to feel like almost nothing. perfect for those of us suffering through humid summers! scoopy neck enough to show off collar bone and still cover up your goods.

linen jacket-$24.80- normally i shy away from linen(satan's fabric) because it is so hard to keep pressed, but this little jacket would look so adorable with a swingy dress underneath. and it's not like forever 21 is using top quality-high wrinkling linen anyway.

surplice eyelet jacket- $22.80 show of that trim waist CAROLINE!!! you've been working so hard, flaunt it!
cropped eyelet jacket- $24.80 think of the maternity possibilities...cute tummy poking out!
red swingy jacket-$32 love red. especially with white! or yellow! definitely yellow!
long, lightweight jersey tank-$7


modcloth
lightweight sweatshirt jacket-$50 i love this! if i still lived in utah and experienced wonderful utah summer evenings, this would be a must have. definitely unbuttoned over a full skirted dress and flip flops!

super T
long tissue weight tee- $10 great for layering and if you aren't in love with your upper arms! but then who is? juniors t-front jacket-$17 so sweet, so cute. lightweight. picture it over a strapless dress!

downeastbasics
wonder tee- $10 my friend nicole has this particular style and she wears it with everything! zero bulk. tiny cap sleeves. long length. looks particularly smashing under smocked top dresses.


oldnavy
plunging V tee- $10 i don't know, just be daring. perhaps over a halter tie neck dress? show off those straps without showing off everything else?

long layering camis-$8 i love these. i wear them year round under everything. they make low necked dresses quite appropriate. just throw the lightweight cardigan pictured below on top of the dress and you are set. isn't every chapel freezing anyway?
scoop cardigan-$24 love it! yellow is my color this year! sweet pockets and scoopy enough to show off your tan. very ladylike.


jcp

white eyelet jacket-$40 very grown up. and you won't melt.

long solid tank- 2 for $8 each. love these. own bunches. so long i still wear them when prego!

so get out there and wear some dresses!
i really have a lot of cleaning and packing to do to prepare for baby #2. but i still would rather spend my free time blogging. consider yourselves that special!

don't skirt the issue, dress your best!

the fashion world has proclaimed that this summer is the season of the dress and i couldn't be happier! i am completely tickled pink whenever i check the sunday ads and they are chock full of vivacious and flirty dresses!!! dresses are GREAT! they keep you cool in summer while you still look hot! few things are more youthful than a sundress, a ponytail and dangly earrings! naturally, the next thing for me to do is to proclaim this week, the week of the dress(or skirt)! sometime this week, please make a special effort to wear a dress or a skirt! take the plunge and shave your legs too! it will make your day! i promise! and if you are feeling especially daring in your fabulous frock, take a picture and send it to me! let's share our summertime beauty! i'll post it and we'll all oooh and aaaah!
i perused the internets today and i found some delicious and affordable dresses for your viewing pleasure!

francesca's
forever21
forever21

forever21

super T

super T i bought this one last week! it can even work as a maternity dress! only $21.99

victoria's secret
victoria's secret

vickie's selection wasn't as inexpensive as the others, but they sure are fun!!!

the not hot list

ray-ban wayfarers. i had a pair in light blue when i was 10 years old. i was hottt stuff. effortless and utterly cool, but only if you aren't trying too hard. and if a hollywood "girl" is wearing them, then they aren't cool and they are trying too hard. when i think of wayfarers i want to think of bob dylan, tom cruise, madonna early 80s, not mischa, fergie or nicole. don't ruin a good thing girls.
and fergie here brings me to another point, or two.
a-coco chanel said once that before you go out the door, remove one accessory. not a bad idea. too many accessories clutter an outfit. too bad there was no hope for this outfit in the first place.
b-high-waisted pants should be reserved ONLY for movies being made about the 1940s, the 1970s or if you are on That 70s Show. that is all. sad to say i must give fergie minor props; at least her pants fit her. mischa looks like she is hiding two fighting mice in her pants. and has she ever listened to fleetwood mac? can she name anyone in the band besides stevie nicks?
finally. the only time when you can get away with wearing high waisted pants other than the aforementioned times, is when you are being held hostage by strippers or street walkers and they give you two choices, high-waisted pants or these bikini pants. i will send anyone a prize if they can email me a picture of someone wearing these pants out in public. hopefully you won't know the person.