I miss- take 2

Maybe it's the steroid and cough medicine high that is causing me to be up posting this entry at 3:15am instead of sleeping but I really miss the old food pyramid.

vs.

I miss the days when I could tell my mom I wanted Lucky Charms for breakfast, popcorn as a snack, 2 PB&J sandwiches for luck, a Little Debbie Fudge Brownie for dessert, pasta for dinner, and cheesecake for dessert and say that I was doing my part in being a good American because this was how the government wanted me to eat. I also miss the days when I could eat Lucky Charms, popcorn, PB&J sandwiches, Little Debbie Fudge Brownies, pasta, and cheesecake all in the same day and not gain a single ounce of weight from it. Oh to be young again. Some days, what I wouldn't give to have 11 servings of complex carbohydrates in one day and be able to fit in my jeans. (And, you know, my wedding dress.)

Exhausted and Annoyed

Last Sunday, I started to get sick. Nothing major. Just some general under the weatherness. After prescribing myself some bed rest and fluids, I did not seem to get any better. Wednesday night, I developed major sinus pressure and pain and my head felt like it was going to explode. When I woke up on Thursday morning, I sounded like Kermit the Frog was going through puberty. Dead sexy. Ribbit. TLS called the Tricare nurse advice line and was told to take me to the ER. While it was the shortest ER visit of my life, it was also the worst. I was in and out in under an hour and a half. The doctor did not run any tests at all. When I told him that I have had sinus infections in the past, I have always been given antibiotics that have helped. He told me that it was it was a viral infection, and that antibiotics are only a placebo effect. He did give me painkillers that did nothing to cure me, but just bought me some painless time.

All weekend, I felt horrible and icky and have had no energy to do anything at all. I called our health insurance again and they tried to get me scheduled for a regular appointment. Now here is the kicker. Most of you know that I am still not command sponsored. Command sponsorship is required to receive medical care on base. The nurse told me that the system would not let her schedule me for an appointment and that my only choice was to go to the ER. That's right, I can't get a regular checkup, but an ER visit that costs the insurance company more money in the long run, is totally covered.

So off to the ER we went. Doctor #2 was surprised that doctor #1 did not run any blood tests on me. He ordered a full blood panel. The fun part came when the nice sergeant doing my bloodwork messed up with the syringe and I started gushing all over the floor, and worse, my clothes. That was fun. And did so much for my energy levels considering that I had not been able to eat all day. About two hours later, it was determined that I did in fact have a bacterial infection and needed antibiotics. In the four days between ER visits, the bacteria had a chance to be fruitful and multiply. I got a bag full of drugs and was discharged. I am back on the couch, exhausted and in massive amounts of pain. Not to mention annoyed at Tricare, doctor #1, and pretty much the whole system. Also, I would kill for a funfetti cake right now, but they don't sell funfetti cake mix or the frosting on base. Having a pity party with TLS, Snoopy, and the McKinley High Glee Club now.

soldier update

I received an overwhelming response to my earlier post this week from my friend GRS in Afghanistan. A lot of you asked where you could send him toilet paper and other supplies. While I know that he would appreciate it, for security reasons, I am not comfortable giving out my friend's name, rank, and current address/duty station to people that I have not met. Overseas, there is no cost to mail things between two bases (from one APO address to another) so TLS and I have sent him some cards and packages with more on the way. If anyone would like to send care packages/cards over to the company, please email me at whaleflipflops {@} gmail {.} com and I will give you our address to send it and we'll gladly forward stuff along. I would love to put together a package of just cards and notes for the company as a morale booster since not all of the guys receive as much mail as GRS does. If any of you would like to send cards, please once again email me and I willl also give you the company name to use in the card.

Regarding what to send:
In addition to the items in his email, in the past, he has asked for beef jerky, baby wipes (over there they don't get to shower as often as they'd like and they go through packs of baby wipes way too quickly), and those powdered drink mix packets (all that they have to drink over there is water and they tend to get tired of it rather quickly. Also books and dvds (even girl stuff). He said that on his last deployment he and his men got so bored that they managed to either read or watch every girl book or movie out there. The desert is the place they get in touch with their feminine sides.

What not to send:
Any pork products (stuff such as fried pork rinds are a no go), any alcohol products, any "adult" stuff (no Maxim magazine or anything worse than that). Also, they are not allowed to accept opened or homemade food from people that they do not know. (If I mail GRS cookies and he shares them with his squadron it's ok because he knows who I am and can vouch for me, but if a third party does that, they will unfortunately have to be thrown out as a security measure.)

Etsy Love

I have a love/hate relationship with Etsy. I love so many things on there, but 1) I hate having to sift through pages and pages of things I do not like to find the gems, and 2) my wallet hates that I love it all. Since moving to Germany, my Etsy obsession has only increased exponentially since most sellers ship via USPS Priority Mail which means that shipping to APO addresses is never an issue!

Here are my most recent purchases:
Ophelia Ivory Chiffon Flowers from Amie Noel Designs.

I tried on an almost identical pair at Kleinfeld the day I bought my dress to see a completed look. However, they were $350 (not including sales tax) and while I am ok with paying around $800 for my wedding shoes or several thousand for my dress, I am not ok with paying a couple hundred dollars for chiffon flowers. Since that day, I have been searching for a similar hair accessory with a dissimilar price tag. When I found this one, I knew it was the one! It came a few days ago and looks absolutely wonderful in person. At $45 shipped, it also does not break the bank!

Snoopy Notecard Set- $5.50 from DebraTA Crafts

Snoopy + stationery= perfect!

Merci Beaucoup Letterpress Cards $14 from SmockPaper.

I ordered these on a day when I realized that I had run out of thank you cards. The picture does not do these cards justice. They are stunning.

And now, my ever growing wish list:
Wedding Monogram Handkerchief- $17 from jfybride

Sweet and Simple Bow Earrings- $18 from LittleMandCo

Pink and Brown Grosgrain Bow Headband- $8.00 from A&J Accessories

Monogrammed Pink Toile Bucket- $26.00 from The Butterbean Tent

My bathroom is white, pink, and green and I want to keep this in my bathroom to add some more color to it and to keep all the little things that keep a bathroom looking untidy and disorganized out of plain sight.

Small Pebble Bowl with Blue Interior- $18 from kimwestad

Perfect to use in the living room or hallway as a catchall for keys, loose change, and other odds and ends.

Dupioni Silk Card Box- $55 from SheaChicDesigns

While I realize that my wedding is a bit far off for me to be worrying about what the card box will look like, I cannot stand the craft store looking card boxes that seem to be so prevalent at so many of the elegant weddings I've been invited to. The other option seems to be something super expensive. This box strikes a happy medium and in my opinion is just gorgeous. I would get this box in navy instead of the brown, keeping the white and pink bands the same. After the wedding it would be used to store stationery and cards that I receive.

A Day in the Life

Once in a while, you get a letter or email that really changes your view of things. I received this letter from a close friend who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. It touched TLS and myself and after editing it a bit for OPSEC (operational security) purposes, I wanted to share it with all of you.

It's been a while since my last update, so I'll try to cram as much in
as I can.  I made the trip from Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan on July 23rd,
flying a jam-packed C-130 (large prop cargo plane) and landed at
Kandahar Air Field (called "KAF") at night.  Pitch black outside and
inside the plane, we waited patiently for our palletized bags and
equipment to be offloaded by a forklift and then filed out off the
plane, legs asleep, dust in the air, and no idea where we were going.
Our liaison guided us into a hardened building with sandbagged windows,
and the first thing I noticed was the missing plaster on the ceiling and
the cracks running up the stone walls--mortar damage.  Yep, definitely
in a warzone.  Since I had had the same awakening when I flew into
Baghdad in 2008 the feeling wasn't new, but boy was it intense.  Our
welcome brief consisted of instructions on what to do during a rocket
attack and how to check the bottled water for contamination before
drinking it.  Great.  We grabbed our 100-lb bags, wearing all our body
armor and carrying weapons, and loaded onto buses headed to our
temporary home.

My first day at KAF was nothing special, except for the first time I
heard F-18s fly over the base.  You see, most military aircraft sound
like all other planes, just louder, but for some reason an F-18 turning
overhead sounds exactly like the first thing you hear when a rocket is
about to hit near you.  I'm intimately familiar with the sound of
rockets (and the booms afterward) from my last deployment.  At FOB
Rustamiyah in Baghdad last deployment we endured two to three rocket or
mortar attacks everyday for three months.  Add it up...that's over 200
rocket/mortar attacks, and each attack was several rounds making several
explosions...in a base smaller than a Manhattan city block.  So, anyhow,
I heard that an hit the dirt.  And got laughed at.  My pride's intact
because those jokers obviously don't know what it's like to be rocketed
several times daily and would cry if they knew.

The soldiers and contractors at KAF make a big deal about the rockets.
It's no sweat--once a week, 1-2 rockets max, hitting an area the size of
Central Park.  Sissies.  The worst threat at KAF was the smell.  My
temporary building was located precisely downwind of the largest sewage
lake I've ever seen.  I don't exaggerate when I say the signs saying
"biohazard" were placed every four feet around its perimeter.  I'm not
sure why the lake exists in the middle of our base or what actual
function it serves, but it sure smells bad.  General impression:
different location, same bad deployment smells.

In early August I got the "Go" word to fly out to FOB *****.  ***** is
in a region known as the Arghandab River Valley, also known as hell.
The fighting here is constant and sometimes intense.  We flew out on
Chinooks with double armed escort and the helicopters sure wasted no
time in dumping us off at the ***** helicopter landing zone (a flattened
area with large gravel covering it).  After hefting my bags and
equipment to my tent, I stopped by the headquarters to see what was up.
Oh, nothing much, just another dead soldier and two wounded across the
river.  Damn.

The unit we're replacing hasn't sustained this many casualties since
World War II.  They've had a rough time, though, because when they came
in here nothing American existed.  They built everything from scratch.
We're hoping to take their momentum and hit much better statistics.  The
people here aren't conniving and dishonest like many of the Iraqi
civilians were; one actually feels a sense of brotherhood with everybody
here.  So, there's hope, and not just hope but realistic expectations.
The only problem is we have to fight our way to those goals, and that's
what we're doing now.

So far we're doing pretty well.  Only one serious injury in the
battalion.  Things are going to pick up drastically in about a week, but
that's normal and we've made preparations for it.  The roads here are
horrible.  By "roads" I really mean cleared pathways of dirt that accept
trucks.  We've rolled over four or five of our armored trucks already.
We've also hit several IEDs, but we've found lots more (that's a good
thing).  Our soldiers are probably the closest people I know to heroes.
It takes guts, pride, and a ton of determination to do what they do on a
daily basis.  That's because they're Infantry soldiers, like me, and
their job is the toughest in the Army: go out on foot or in trucks,
through heavily mined fields and jungle-like vegetation, try to outsmart
the enemy, and when you finally do make contact fight in a coordinated,
disciplined manner for your dear lives.

So, I glamorize it, but you can take away the connotation of my wording
and the job description will still be 100% accurate.  You can't get paid
enough to do this work; there's some other motivation.

So, a little about my experience here.  Day one was boring because I had
no work to do.  I pretty much sweat it out (did I mention it's always
about 110 here by 8:00 am?) and drank water to stay hydrated.  Day two
was an introduction to all my counterparts in the outgoing unit and what
additional tasks I'd be responsible for.  That night I came down with a
severe stomach disorder and wound up vomiting all the water I'd drunk
the previous days and becoming incontinent.  Embarrassingly, I stumbled
to the aid station and requested an IV to replenish the fluids in my
body.  They gave me some medication that made me very light-headed, and
sure enough, our FOB came under rocket attack.  This FOB is about the
size of a large Walmart, so we take these attacks very seriously.  I
wound up inside a bunker, IV stuck in my arm, with a blanket over my
head.  What a start.  So day three I slept.  Day four was the beginning
of work, and every day since then has been a repeat.  The Groundhog Day
effect (reference to the movie with Bill Murray) is horrible here.
Doesn't matter what day of the week it is; same old, same old.

I'm writing about a lot of the negative aspects of this deployment, but
I'm doing so with good humor.  I'm not complaining, but there's really
nothing else to write about.  It's the nature of this deployment that
life will be difficult for a year, and it actually fills me with great
pride knowing that I'm able to positively affect the outcome and produce
tangible results.  We don't live in sadness over the losses we have and
will sustain, but sometimes it gets to us.  Already, a soldier in one of
my infantry companies stepped on a mine placed on top of a large IED and
lost his foot in the blast.  That's very sad, because we all knew him
and liked him, and we all shed some tears shortly afterward, but his
sacrifice wasn't for nothing, and that's what we keep working for.  We
repeatedly see medical evacuation helicopters landing across the river
to evacuate wounded or dead soldiers, and while it's sad, there's no
point spending time dwelling on it when we can spend that limited time
making better plans and improving our tactics to prevent such things in
the future.  I guess what I'm saying is we're going to be alright in the
midst of this battle, because if we weren't the enemy would achieve his
goal, and by nature or nurture we have the tenacity to stick through it
and beat the enemy.  (Obviously typing this out is a way I'm dealing
with it.)

And, besides, we're winning our battles.  It can be hard sometimes to
define overall victory in this fight.  When they attack us we almost
always win, even if we take a loss.  But for the overall objective of
stability and peace, sometimes you just don't know how to gauge how well
you're doing.  It will definitely take time, but it's achievable.  By
comparison, last deployment we saw little progress for months, but by
month nine my small 40-soldier Infantry platoon's success was more than
evident.  There were tangible effects that we could use to gauge our
progress, and we sure had made a ton of progress.  Here, the only
tangible effects we're likely to notice for several months is the number
of Taliban we kill or capture...and by the nature of the fighting we
aren't able to capture many.  The kill ratio is meaningless in the large
scale, though, and we know that.  Still, it doesn't hurt to know that in
two weeks we've killed a large number of Taliban through active
firefights alone.  They'll keep coming, but they'll be less well trained
and much more afraid of us, which is our ticket to isolating them from
the civilians here.

Okay, enough morbid talk.  Let's talk about what I don't have that would
be useful if you send something.  Of primary use would be Gold Bond body
powder (the yellow bottle) which is used to avoid rubbing and blisters
on feet and legs.  Also useful is Charmin Ultra Strong toilet paper
because the stuff out here doesn't cut it, and when nature calls there's
often no place to wash your hands afterward.  I have enough books to get
me by and my simple life here requires few other distractions.  But I
like reading cards sent to me, not because they bring me home (for right
now this is home) but because they remind me that people back home
actually care about my unit and my soldiers.  Anything with nicotine or
caffeine in it would be outstanding since we're in a really rugged
environment with nothing but mountains, valleys, and desert around us
(certainly no stores we can go to).  Don't worry about phone cards; we
have no phones they can be used on.  Also related to the cards are
photos.  Photos of you all can form that tangible connection between us
here and the people who care back home, so send photos with cards if you
have them.  I'll put them up, starting with my desk space and moving to
a board I put up in the headquarters if I get enough.  Seriously...it
sounds silly, but it means a ton to the soldiers here.  This time around
I'm going to prepare a list of all my soldiers so if you have a charity
organization that sends Christmas or holiday cards to soldiers that
organization can send to my soldiers.

Not going to lie...this is a bad deployment, and we're going to get
rocked hard.  Thinking about my soldiers who don't get mail because they
have no one back home has gotten me a little down.  Letters of support
and pictures are probably the two most important things to send.  Send
them all to me regardless of who they are for, but if it's a letter for
my soldiers or the unit as a whole please use something like "To all the
Soldiers of ****** Company" in the card or letter.  It'll be a boost for
them.

Taking the Day Off

The crazy German weather has finally caught up to me (it's hot, then it's cold, it's sunny, then it's a torrential downpour- all in the span of 30 minutes) and I am officially under it. I am taking the day off from blogging, cooking, and even yes, baking (gasp!) to lay on the couch, hydrate like I've never hydrated before, and watch season 4 of Army Wives. I shall hopefully return tomorrow and will post a "real" blog post and comment on all of your blogs.

I swear I look just like this, only with a Lilly Pulitzer mug and some bunny slippers instead of mouse ones.

Lilly Sale Love

Like many of you, I too was frustrated by the website crash during the Lilly sale. It did not help matters any that because I'm overseas, when the website came back up in the U.S., it was still down for me. Naturally, a lot of items did sell out of my cart. Before you cry for me and my poor Lilly-less closet (haha) rest assured that I was able to snag some great items. (You can all breathe easy now.)

Halle Cable Sweater

 Chrissy Sweater

Sadly, fall has pretty much already started here in Germany, so I had to get some cute sweaters for the chilly/rainy weather we're having!

Chic Polo Embroidered

I haven't even been here that long, and already my whole spouses' association knows of my love of pink and green.

Murfee Scarf in Daiquiri Pink Grandscale Access

I love the Murfee scarves and have been wanting this one for a while, but I could never justify the price tag since I got so many great scarves for so little in Turkey, but the price on this made it difficult to say no to.

I really really really wanted the Originals Tote in Stuffed Shells and I regretted not buying it in the store. I was over the moon excited when I saw that it was on the sale site.

Naturally, Murphy's Law fell into play here, and the bag sold out of my cart. Sniff. I went with my second choice instead- the Originals Tote in Frisky Business.

Very cute and very me but I am still sad over my lack of a Stuffed Shells tote. If anyone reading this bought the Stuffed Shells tote and regrets it, please let me know, I will gladly buy it off you!

Spaghetti Strap McKim in Silver

My Newest Obsession

It is no secret that I have a huge sweet tooth. I love sweets of just about any kind, but have always had a strong soft spot in my heart (mouth?) for caramels. When TLS and I were in Strasbourg, France over the 4th of July, we saw a brightly colored sweets shop that spoke to me. The shop in question is called La Cure Gourmande.

There are a few shops around Europe (I am ashamed to say that I did not see/go into any of them when I was in Paris) and they are easily discernible by their bright, mustard yellow doors/facades. The inside is even more colorful and gorgeous!

Just look at all of those mouth-watering biscuits!

La Cure Gourmande's best- known product- chocolate "olives."

La Cure Gourmande is known for its delicious chocolate covered almonds called "olives" but I am partial to its caramels which come in giant squares and are plain, with sea salt, nuts, dried fruits, or even a strip of nougat in the middle!

I am also a sucker for anything in gorgeous packaging or tins, and this store does not disappoint! Most of their items come ready for gift giving!

Our first trip to La Cure Gourmande was in Strasbourg where we loaded up on sucking candies in darling pink tins, nougat, caramels, and lollipops. The obsession grew exponentially and by the end, I was counting down to our trip to Brussels because it meant another stop at La Cure Gourmande. My last trip there I picked up a few chocolates that got eaten on the spot, more caramels, some caramels as thank you/care package gifts for a few bloggers, lollipops for the two of us, and a gorgeous lilac tin filled with raspberry biscuits that had preserves in the middle. Delicious. TLS has to remind me that there is a store an hour away from our house (in France) so that we (I) wouldn't go overboard in our (my) caramel pursuits.

Brussels Flower Carpet!

I have to print a retraction to my previous entry. I had written that the carpet has been going on since 1976, and I later found out that it has been held since at least 1970.

I had an amazing weekend with TLS finally seeing the carpet. TLS who hates crowds and driving in traffic greatly appreciated my desire to drive in traffic to a crowd, but even he had fun! The carpet was absolutely magnificent and I am so glad that I was lucky enough to finally see it. Each year's carpet has a theme. Previous themes have included Belgian lace, the Middle Ages, and the anniversary of Belgium's independence. This year's carpet celebrated Belgium's presidency of the European Union.

Here are some of my pictures of the carpet:

TLS did say that he was a bit disappointed because of the amount of grass that was used, he felt that it was sort of cheating. If you look at previous years' carpets, there definitely is a lot less grass in them. The artist who designed this was only 23 years old so my guess is this was his first attempt. Grass or not, I had a fantastic time, and we are already planning to go back in 2012 and 2014!

Tomorrow Afternoon, I will be Here

Every even-numbered year since 1976, for one weekend the city of Brussels sets up a carpet made entirely out of flowers in the Grande Place. No two carpets are ever the same. They use over 750,000 flowers and pack them so tightly that no soil is used at all! I have been wanting to go see this since 2002 and it was on my list of things to do in Europe when we moved here. I thought that we missed the 2010 carpet, but when we were in Brussels last month, we saw fliers about it, saying that it would be this weekend! As soon as we learned that, we knew we had to go! Brussels is only about 3 hours door to door from our house, so we booked a hotel room for Saturday night and are leaving early tomorrow morning. I cannot wait to see this! I promise to report back with pictures from this year's carpet.

Fall for Lilly!

Like many of you, I have fall head over heels in love with Lilly Pulitzer's fall collection and have a wishlist a mile long. A fact that makes TLS just sooooooooooo happy. Here are the pieces that I just cannot stop drooling over. (You will notice it is mainly dresses. I am not a skirt person at all and currently have two skirts- one Lilly and one Vineyard Vines hanging in my closet. I will take a cute, great-fitting dress any day.)

Adalie Dress Printed, $148

In my opinion, few things are more flattering or versatile than wrap dresses. I love them and am constantly buying more. Currently, I have 2 Lilly and about 4 or 5 Diane Von Furstenberg ones. I love them so much. You really can wear a wrap just about anywhere.

Jonah Dress, $168

This was hands-down my favorite dress from last fall's collection and I am so glad that Lilly decided to bring it back. I don't think I can even count the number of occasions I've worn my Jonah to. It is insanely stylish and comfortable. I will be getting it in both patterns.

Sadie Dress Printed, $148

Blayney Dress Ruffle, $278

I love the ruffles on this one and the fact that if can be dressed up or down. Considering that I am still unemployed and it costs $278, this one will not be coming home with me, but it was too cute to not include.

Sabine Shirt Dress Printed, $168

The Sabine is another one of my wardrobe staples. I just ordered a third one from Rue La La. It is so incredibly versatile and I have worn mine everywhere. The colors of this dress are so similar to one of last year's Sabines, that it makes me a little unsure, but it is such a great dress nonetheless that I may end up buying it.

Vivi Top Printed, $128

Much like the above-mentioned Sabine, I already have this top in a very similar print which, at this point, makes it a maybe. But it is just so cute and comfortable...

Alcott Argyle Cardigan, $148

Navy. Pink. White. Argyle. 'Nuff said.

Wedding Wednesday

Thank you to everyone who voted for our save the dates. The New York City one was the clear winner. That was the one that TLS picked out, so he's mighty pleased with himself. Last week, I received a wonderful care package of wedding magazines from my dear friend LNG and for the past week or so, I have done nothing but have wedding brain. I have decided to jump on the Wedding Wednesday bandwagon and share some of what I've been obsessing over this week with all of you.

Anyone who knows me, knows that shoes are super important to me and to my well being. I spend roughly the GDP of a small country on shoes. My wedding shoes are no exception. I have been oohing and aahing over these babies and want them to be a part of my big day.

Manolo Blahnik Rhinestone Buckle D'Orsay Pumps, $715 at Neiman Marcus.
Yes I realize that these are not at all cheap but I love them. And my dress was way below budget. Plus I figure if I get them in the gold metallic instead of a satin, I can definitely wear them again to a party or a military ball.
The Cole Haan Ceci Air Low Sling and Ceci Air Ruched Sandal ($200 and $250, respectively) are my more budget conscious choices.

As far as favors go, my belief is that wedding favors should always be edible. No matter how great or cutesy of a wedding favor you find, there will always be more than a handful of guests who do not like or want theirs and will inevitably leave them on the table. If you get edibles, someone will not mind taking an extra favor so you're not left with 20 useless silver-plated things. Plus if the favors are truly delicious, there will be no favors left behind!
Right now, these are my top contestants for favors:
1) Ordering Chinese Takeout Containers in our colors ($0.85 at Beaucoup) and setting up a candy station in fancy glass jars.

I could buy pink, green, and blue candy in bulk from Economy Candy in the Lower East Side, and guests could pick out exactly what they wanted. This would be fun, colorful, and would insure that everyone got exactly what they wanted.
2) Mini tea tins ($3.08 each total from Beaucoup).

How cute are these little tins? They come in your choice of green or jasmine tea, and it is no secret that TLS and I are big tea drinkers!
3) Cookies from Ruby et Violette

This is one of my favorite New York City bakeries. (Some readers may remember when I wrote about them in this post.) They are absolutely amazing and one of my go-to gifts. (I sent TLS some as a "welcome to Germany gift" and recently to my dear friend JPS as a comfort food care package when her mother passed away.) I would package them in glassine envelopes from the Knot with a cute ribbon or personalized sticker with our new monogram and date.

This one will require more assembly, so that's where the bridal party comes in! (KMH, be prepared to hang out in my hotel room assembling these if we decide to go with this. Yes, we will order extras so we can nosh while putting favors together.)
4) Macarons from Bouchon Bakery

TLS and I both love macarons and I think there would be nothing sweeter and more darling than pink and green macarons at every place setting. (If any guests do not take theirs, I will be more than happy to eat them myself!)

I will leave you all with a question- what were your favorite and least favorite wedding favors that you have received?

I miss

*The Shake Shack
*Cupcakes
*Wedding magazines
*Reality TV (I am going through Say Yes to the Dress withdrawal and every time I see tweets/facebook updates about RHoNJ it makes me choke up a little still)
*Trader Joe's
*Being able to get my mail in a timely manner (I still have not received several of my birthday gifts)
*Being able to text my friends all day (I have the cellphone from hell that cost a small mountain of money but won't actually let me do anything with it)
*Shopping- I want to be able to walk into a store and see the things I like and not have it turn into a whole big thing of calling the company, asking if they ship to APO addresses, ordering, hoping it fits, getting it 2 weeks later, etc. It's one thing to do it for things like clothes, but when buying thank you cards turns into a two day ordeal, it really just sucks.
*Target- (I am obsessed with their xhilaration brand socks, they are the short kind that I like, only cost $1, and come in really cute, preppy patterns. I have a lot of argyles and polka dots, and it was my thing to always buy socks when I went in there. It sounds random, but those made me happy a little, and they don't sell them online.)
*Lilly Pulitzer
*Not feeling like such a misfit- I am pretty much the only girl on base without a baby or a tattoo, and it shows. I stick out. I don't think I'll ever truly fit in here.

Please Save the Date

We have narrowed it down to two choices for our save the date magnets. Which would you pick?

 I was unable to save the edited image for the second one, but we edited it to have dark and light navy stripes with all of the writing and swirls in navy.

Ooh La La, Lilly Sale!

Last week, I blogged about the incredible Rue La La. Things are about to get a whole lot better, because this week, on Wednesday, August 4th, there will be a Lilly Pulitzer sale on Rue La La. For me, this gets even better. When the Kaya dress came out, I instantly fell in love with it and knew that I just simply had to have it. Everything about this dress is so classy and perfect for me. I love the cut, the neckline, the print, and the beading at the top.

I have always thought that this would be the perfect dress to wear to a bridal shower or rehearsal dinner. Unfortunately, I jumped on the ball a little too late on this one. When I finally went to go buy it at Bloomingdale's, I discovered that the size I thought I was was actually about 1-2 sizes too big on me, and the store did not have it in sizes that would work for me. So imagine my excitement when I saw the preview for the Rue La La Lilly sale and discovered that it looks like this very dress will be at the sale. My fingers are crossed that they have it in a size 4 or 6, and I am poised and ready to go for 5pm German time on Wednesday. I'm hoping that I really can wear it to my bridal shower in March!

For this week still, you can get a $10 credit to use on anything at Rue La La simply for signing up to be a member. If you are not a member yet, click here to join.