Mrs. Jason Thomas

Last weekend Jason and I got married in Vegas, and it was amazing!  We planned the weekend with our closest family and friends, and then had our ceremony at the top of the Stratosphere at sunset. It was truly gorgeous.  In true Vegas style, we slept little, partied a lot, and walked A TON.  My feet still hurt.

My Everything

I blog when I have a lot on my mind. OR, maybe not a lot on my mind so much as one thing driving me nuts. So good news, I’ve had nothing to report on in the last few weeks! =)

Well, nothing I can tell the world about without getting in trouble, anyways….

On a happy note, I’m getting married in 12 days and I cannot wait!!  Captain Awesome amazes me every single day. There’s not a person in the world that can be a better friend, lover, partner, and just all-around amazing person. He makes me so happy! We truly do have that FOREVER kind of love.

Need to Start Practicing Our Choreography

The Anderson-Benson Wedding

Congrats Kara & Rodney!

From what I can remember, we had a wonderful time at the wedding!  It was the perfect setting and put together with tons of character and charm.  Maybe Jason & I should have hired Kara’s mom to coordinate our wedding!

The Just Married Car

Mr. and Mrs.

After the Ceremony

Update on the Dress Situation

Whew! We have the dress situation under control! I decided the Superstore didn’t deserve another dime of my money, so I forfeited my deposit and used the remaining money for an awesome dress @ My Enchanted Wedding Shop in Greenfield.

BRIDES: Check out all the small bridal shops in towns outside of Indy — they have custom dresses for more than 1/2 the price of David’s Bridal and the Superstore!  Seriously, I was AMAZED!

So I bought the perfect “Vegas” dress, after falling in love with about 6 others.  There were 2 that I really liked more than the Vegas dress, but they were both “church” dresses.  Much too big for traveling to Vegas.  One was all lace (listen for my mother’s shocked gasp!) and I love love love love it…. but it’s much more appropriate for a big church wedding, which is not at all what we’re having!

My dress is now off for alterations at The Perfect Stitch in Wanamker, another place where I found a wonderful dress on consignment… but again, it was too poofy for the plane ride to Vegas.

All in all, I’m quite pleased with my decision. I’m sad that I don’t get to have my original dress, but I found so many others that are BETTER and CHEAPER that it was hardly a difficult choice.

Don’t EVER buy a dress from the Bridal Superstore in Castleton

I’d ordered my bridal gown from the Bridal Superstore in Castleton (Indianapolis, IN). The initial ordering went well – they were helpful and helped me find the “perfect” fit for my disproportionate body.

Here’s where it all goes wrong:

My dress came in, so I went to the Bridal Superstore to try on my dress yesterday, and when the lady put me in it, it was way to small. I couldn’t even breathe. It’s a size 8 and was almost 3 full inches too short, which they blamed on it being too tight and pulling it up. The lady said “have you been having fun” which was her condescending way of saying “you’ve been eating and drinking, haven’t you!”. So she took my measurements again and said that I’d gained 2 inches around my bust, which was making the dress tight and short.  Another lady measured me and said I’d only gained 1 inch… which is more reasonable, since I think I’ve put on around 6 lbs since I ordered it.  My sales lady then got my paperwork out and said I’d ordered the wrong size to begin with! She said my original measurements were for a size 10 and that even with the weight gain I’d fall into the 10 category, if only I’d ordered the right size to begin with.

I went BALLISTIC on her. I told her she measured me and told me I was 3 different sizes: an 8 in the bust, 10 in the waist, and almost a 12 in the hips. B/c of that she recommended paying extra to have it specially made for my size.    Well, she argued with me and brought the manager into it, saying that she’d recommended a size 10 to me and that I explicitly wanted to be in an 8. She tried to make it sound like I was some girl obsessed with size, which I’m totally not (I rarely weigh myself and have clothing in all different sizes — whatever fits the best is what I wear!).  That was a complete attack on my character and I did not take it well.

I told her I’d come to a bridal store with the intention of receiving assistance from an expert, who would measure me and tell me what size I needed.  She showed me the original order form and there were “CR”s next to the size 8, which at the time of the order she explained meant “custom request” for them to make it 3 different sizes for me. NOW she’s saying it means “customer request”, meaning I wanted a different size than what she measured me for. I argued that for almost 40 mintues, to no avail. They totally held to the “you wanted a smaller size and then gained weight” strategy.

She had the alterations chick check me out, and she claims she can release the waist by 2 inches and then it will fit perfect all over. I”ll admit, when she showed me what she meant, the dress did fall into the right position and was the right length. However, before I can even have the lady start working on it, I have to pay the balance of the dress in full PLUS the alterations price up front. That’s a total of $450. Although I really want that dress, I really don’t think they deserve another dime of my money.

There’s a big risk, too: I could pay the rest of the balance and then she may find there’s not enough material to get another 2 inches out of it… and they won’t refund the money. I’d be out almost $800, and would have no dress.

What do you think I should do? I have to decide before Saturday morning — that’s when my alterations appt is.

Also, I told all the other brides in there what had happened and warned them about the tricks.

I Hate the Skin

Today I had a Mountain Dew for the first time in over 3 weeks. At first, it was like liquid gold on my tongue; but now, 3 sips later, I’m feeling really disappointed, bloated, and disgusting.  Jason and I have been “dieting” (ie: eating smaller, smarter meals) for the past 3 weeks. He’s done a great job of sticking to the diet (except for weekends…), while I’ve made my own diet up as I go.  I’ve essentially cut out all pop (until today), have been eating low cal – low sugar cereal in the AM, only eat 1/2 chicken breast for dinner, I chow down on lots of veggies, and occasionally throw in a salad with 2 Tbsp of vinagrette dressing.   Snacking is my biggest problem, but I’ve been opting for low-fat/low-cal/low-sugar snacks, and feel pretty good afterwards.  Over all, it’s been really easy.  I simply take smaller portions that I had been previously… and eat anything that’s green except mold and apples.  I hate the skin.

Speaking of skin, since starting the diet I have noticed my skin is “smoother”, although I haven’t lost more than a couple pounds. A big part of my problem is lack of exercise. In addition to apple skins, I also loathe sweat. Especially my own. This makes for a difficult chore of getting rid of excess fat.  I keep exercise clothes and tennis shoes in my desk drawer, in hopes that maybe I’ll make a habit of using our office fitness room.  One week I was really into it and went 3 times that week.  That was 3 weeks ago and since then I’ve only got my heart rate up when mowing, vacuuming, and having sex.   Guess which chore is my favorite.

So anyway, we are 46 days away from the wedding and I’m about 10 pounds away from my Vegas bikini.  I really dread putting on a small 2 peice in front of all kinds of gorgeous women in sexy suits (HEATHER!).  My office job hasn’t been kind on my second ass, so I’m a little sensitive about showing that area to anyone.  I’m also worried that my wedding dress measurments may be a little off since ordering it 4 months ago. Look out Crash Diet, Kristin’s comin’ thru!

Happy Birthday, Little Sister!

The wedding is getting closer, and I’m getting so excited!!!  And a bit nervous. Jason and I are like two peas in a pod, and we know basically everything about each other, but we still have a lot to learn. A lot of my baggage is coming out bit by bit… I’m not sure if it’s suprising to him or not.  Or upseting, alarming, or just “nice to know”.  But I’m glad we’re getting down into the nitty gritty of our lives and figuring each other’s kinks out before the big day.

I found a bunch of super cute “vegas” dresses at H&M Castleton yesterday for only $10 and $15 each.  I just modeled them for Jason and he said it looks like that style of dress was made for my body (tight stretchy bottom that is snug on the thighs, loose around the waist).  I can’t wait to weart all my cute outfits! The only things I really need are some short spanx-type shorts to wear under these dresses (I’m not trying to pull a LiLo with the Picachu), a pair of jean shorts, sexy black heels, and a cute small purse.  And maybe some hair extensions, depending on how much mine grows out.  I’ve been taking Biotin to make my hair and nails grow, and it works famously as long as I take it every day.  I can definitely tell/see/feel a difference on the days I forget.

In other news… this weekend is the Fish Fry at the Southport Masonic Lodge. Kara, Jason and I are heading over there soon to hang out with my dad. Dad’s been doing this Freemason thing for I dunno how long… almost 10 years maybe?  And somehow I’ve never gotten roped into working the fish fry, but mom, Nana and Kraig always do. I think Kara has done it some in the past, but now that we’re both “grown up” we totally get out of it.  It’s always yummy, so if you like fish, head over to the fry @ 31/Epler today!

After the fry, Kara and some fam/friends are coming over to our neighborhood pool to celebrate her 22nd bday, which is today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, little sister!!!

Can’t believe how old we are all getting!  I hardly believe I’m older than 22, let alone to think my baby sister is now 22! Yikes!! Kraig will be 18 in September, and that just totally blows my mind. He can’t possibly be an adult yet, can he?!  I have a lot of work to do before I’m ready to let him out into the real world.

I’m planning on Kraig’s senior year being a “Taste of the Real World”.  My goal is to take him to various cities and college campuses to teach him how to:

1. keep a checkbook and budget
2. plan an itinerary on a budget
3. book a hotel room
4. hail a cab/pay a cabie
5. buy train tix/take a train/know where to get off the train
6. drive around a city
7. find cheap public parking
8. walk around a city
9. ASK QUESTIONS
10. find restaurants/edible food
11. etc

Sounds like quite a lot of fun!  I’m thinking that I’ll pick a weekend this fall for Kraig & I to go up to Chicago, and I’ll make him take care of the whole trip (except $$, kid doesn’t have a job!) in terms of planning and getting us around, seeing all the museums/ect, and going home with money in our pockets.  If anyone reading this from Chicago would like to give us a free place to sleep AND would like to pretend to be a real hotel so Kraig can practice booking a room, please let me know!

Starting June Off Right

Oh dear!  It’s been quite some time since I’ve blogged!  I’m sorry for being such a slacker.  Life hasn’t really been all that busy… just low-key.  Nothing really to complain about, talk about, brag about, think about.

Work has been busy: I’m authoring a sales certification class, getting approval to implement a learning management system, updating the DT Spoon site, and working on a internal communications program.  It’s hard to keep it all straight sometimes. I’m really struggling with focus and proper time management.  Maybe I need to teach myself a class..

Home life has been good:  I finally moved all of my stuff into Jason’s house last week. I now have a daunting pile in the garage that I’m slowly but surly working on. Most of it is junk I wanna sell, but stuff isn’t selling on Half.com or eBay.  Charlie gets bigger everyday, still. He’s just over 5 months old and has the attitude of a teenager. Most of the time he’s cute; some days he’s downright ornrey. Captain Awesome is pretty much awesome all the time… except when he insists on sleeping on the couch. I need to let it go, but it totally bothers the crap outta me.

We have 75 days to go until the wedding! =)  Just the other day it was 100… so pretty soon it’ll be 50.. then 25… then we’ll be flying out… landing… get the license… takin’ the elevator up to the top of the tower… and saying “I do”!  AAAAAHHHHH!!!! =)  Scary, but super perfect at the same time.

OK — that’s all I got for now. Gotta get some work done.

A Beautiful Saturday

Today is Melanie’s wedding. It’s been a hott minute since I’ve seen her or any of the Fab 5, so I am super pumped to see everyone today!! =)  I’m excited for Melanie. I think we’ve both found really awesome guys that make OUR and THEIR lives better… instead of guys who need us to make themselves “better”.

I’m coloring my hair right now. I think the color is called Toasted Caramel? Toasted Almond?  I dunno… Close to my natural color but with blonde highlights.

The weather is so beautiful, I can hardly stand being inside. The only reason I’m inside right now is to do my hair before the wedding. Charlie and I laid out for about an hour this morning. It was so so so nice. He was super cute, too. He’d play with his bone for a little bit, and then flop down next to me and lay in the sun with me until he got too hot.

Time to go rinse. I’ll have a full report & pix from the wedding tomorrow. Also, tomorrow is the Walk!  Love you, Baby Jayden!! I’ll have the latest news and pix from the walk, too!!

LOVE!