Ear Piercing

When I was a child, I had my ears pierced. My mother likely had them pierced when I was a baby, I know this because I had the scars where they were once done. I can't remember the last time I had earrings in my ears. Growing up, I was never the "girly-girl", so I laughed at the idea of earrings. So, obviously, the holes in my ears closed up. As more girly things started to interest me, earrings weren't big of a deal, because with my long hair, you could barely see my ears anyway.

However, the first of the year, I chopped off all my long hair in favor of a very short hairstyle. For the first time in a while, my ears are visible. Now, I wanted the one thing I bawked at for the majority of my life: earrings.

I got my ears pierced. I got them done with a piercing gun, at a kiosk in the mall. They were done over the scars from my previous piercing, so you can't see them, which is what I wanted.

I wasn't fond of any of the "piercing earrings" they had for free ear piercing, so I went with the cheapest one.They are boring and small, but I intend to switch them out as soon as I can. I feel like a big baby with them because two days later, they are still sore. I forget I have them sometimes, like when I wrap my head with a towel after my shower, and squish my ears. Which quickly reminds me I have them.

Because I love my JCPenney so much, I quickly checked out the jewelry before I clocked on to work. And those of you who read my blog recently know that - I love clearance sales. I found a few earrings which were rather cheap,and I had to grab them up.

Yeah, clearance! Finding things at a good price makes me happy! only $1.97 for the Liz Claiborne flower ones, and $2.97 for the other two. I don't plan on changing the earrings out for a while, because apparently they need to heal for 4 weeks, but when I'm ready to switch them, I have a few options to chose from. Now, I just need to find some kind of clever way to store my new earrings.

Wedding Dress Arrival

So it is not technically a "wedding dress", but it is going to be my wedding dress! It arrived early this afternoon, and after ripping off the packaging, I had to snap a few photos!

It's awesome. I love the color, the style. I think I might have to get a small strapless bra or something to hold my girls in place though, because it fits a little looser than what I remember. Spanx is still in order, considering my flab is not going to hide itself. But, the dress is just as gorgeous as I remember, and the color is just as beautiful.

David's Bridal did also offer to steam the wrinkles out, so I will have to take it back in to them to get the wrinkles fixed. Now that I'll probably be having photographs taken, I'll be needing to look as good as I can get myself.

Bonus was that it came with detachable straps! I have never worn a strapless dress before, so now I have the option to wear straps with it or not. Strapless makes me a little nervous, especially with how loose it fits, but I may try it.

This just means that I am one step closer to the wedding!

Wedding Rings

The rings for the wedding came on Saturday, and I've finally got a photo of them. Rings with me are tricky, because I'm allergic to some metals, and others.. my skin will eat right through them. So, finding jewelry is hard for me.

I'm also very nervous about losing things, so I did not want to spend a fortune on something that I fear I will lose. My engagement ring is titanium, which was allergy-free, and rather inexpensive. Added bonus was that it was simple, and not too fancy for this simple girl.

So, I decided to go a step beyond titanium and get a matching set of cobalt rings. From my research, cobalt is supposed to be strong, less prone to breakage, is more like a lighter color (as opposed to titanium, being grey-ish), and is relatively lightweight. They came, and I don't think I could be happier.

 

Please excuse my pride in that photo, I'm trying to learn how to use the Nikon D3200 that I got for Christmas, and this is probably the most awesome photo I have taken with it. Anyway, the rings are beautiful, I think. I purchased them on Etsy, and they were under the label of "Homemade" but... I'm not entirely sure they were.

Not sure that I care at this point, because I think they look nice. I guess a part of me wanted something "special" to us a couple. I tried to go the made to order route, but oh well. The prices of cobalt rings were expensive, so I was happy to get the pair at a cost that I would have paid for only one.

As you have probably guessed already, I love working at JCPenney for the awesome clearance things that I see come through. Once I got off work last night, I went shopping for a little bit before I came home, and found some cute little underwear for only $1.97. Plus the promotion that was going on - an extra 25% off clearance. Awesome!

I picked up 7 pairs of cute little underwear. After the extra 25% for clearance, these were such a good deal to pass up. I have honestly never owned underwear from JCPenney before, so I'm wondering if they are going to fit as well as my Lane Bryant panties - but am willing to try.

Can't beat that price, at all! So happy to have been able to get the panties I wanted when I got off. Usually clearance items are rather picked over by the time I get to them, so these made me happy.

Tomorrow, my wedding dress comes! So excited!

Clearances and Sales

Just like most people, I love getting a good deal. Obviously. Working at JCPenney, I see a lot of clearance items lately. It seems to be the season where a lot of items are going on really cheap clearance, and of course, it does not help my New Year's resolution to get out of debt. I am perfectly happy leaving the "sales" and more expensive clearance items alone... but when it comes to $5.97, $2.97 or even .97 cent clearance... I'm a sucker for them.

Well, JCPenney was doing an extra 25% off clearance as well. So... I had to buy some items. First, I knew I needed a coat, and had my eyes set on one particular coat for months now.

 

It was normally $200. When it went on clearance for $59.99, I was still holding out for a lower price. The extra 25% clearance sale helped a lot, and I couldn't hold out any longer. I bought it. And I love it just as much as I loved it on the rack. Once I came to Iowa, I noticed a lot of faux-fur hood lined coats, and I loved the look, so now I finally have one of my own. Am I officially fitting into Iowa now?

This is not something I'd buy for myself... normally. But at $5.97? I totally bought it. Honestly, if I'd have seen this for that price before I had ordered my city hall wedding dress from David's Bridal, I probably would have made this work. For now, I have no clue what purpose I would need a floor length gown for, but for that price.. I'll find something. It's not exactly shape forgiving with the material it's made out of, but I plan on picking up some spanx, anyway.

The JCPenney that I work at is attached to a mall, as well. So, from customers to co-workers, I hear about sales and promotions from other mall stores. That said, I was informed me that Victoria's Secret was having a rather good sale. Victoria's Secret doesn't really interest me that much, considering I can't fit into the majority of their things. But, I guess fragrance mist was one of the items on sale! I was like, What?!

It was rather picked over when I went, but I managed to grab two fragrance mists - Deep berry, and Forbidden Vanilla. Only for $1.99 each! Win! (I also figure that one of these fragrances, I should use for the wedding, so I have something "special and unique" for it). I also had a free trial size 3oz coupon for Bath and Body Works, a preview for their new spring fragrance that I found as a facebook offer. So I had to pick that one up. They are so perfect for stuffing in a purse or bag!

In wedding news, our rings have came in the mail today, I'm going to try and snap a photo of them tomorrow morning so I can blog about them. And, I got an email the other day from David's Bridal, telling me my dress has shipped, so it should be here on Wednesday! So nervous!

Wedding Preparations

As my few blog readers might know, I got engaged a while ago. There as been really no rush in getting married. I have been perfectly happy waiting for getting married as long as I can... until now. Due to health care issues on Tyler's check, there has been a huge hurry to our marriage. He had listed me as a domestic partner on his benefits from his work, and because of that, he had over $400 taken out because of taxes and everything for benefits. We were only expecting a little over $200. This was a huge blow to his paycheck, one that we couldn't afford. Especially when we are trying to have a baby, and move to a nicer apartment, at the same time.

We had two options: one was that he could go down to 30 hours a week for 4 weeks, and not accrue any paid vacation or time off for the next 6 months, and lose all that extra income that we need to live... or... get married. On our way home one day, we stopped off at the courthouse to see what kind of cost it will be and how to proceed. We found out that to get married, it would cost $35, and 4 days for the license to be valid. (And of course, ceremony, which is performed in the courthouse for free on business days).

So guess what? We are getting married... and soon! I've kind of wanted a courthouse marriage, because I don't like to be center of attention, and I honestly don't have anyone to invite. I have no bridal party, and my mother is in California. So this works out fine for me, Tyler was the one who wanted a big church wedding, and reception. I was so not into the big-wedding thing, that I was even going to purchase a bridal gown online. I searched on David's Bridal website for a dress.

I had two requirements: It has to be able to be worn again (like for a fancy dinner at Luciano's), and I need it to be low-cost, because this wedding is simple and in a courthouse in a few weeks. I couldn't find any actual bridal gowns that fit my requirements, but one look at this particular bridesmaid dress... I was in love.

I made an appointment last night to my local David's Bridal, and went in when they opened early this morning. They had the dress for me to try on, but didn't have either colors I was looking at in stock. I had fallen for the dress, but was a little undecided on the color they had. Tyler liked a red swatch they had, but once I tried on a different dress in the red color, I decided it wasn't for me. The other color I thought I liked on the website, I tried on in yet a different dress, and loved the color. Once I tried on a dress in the Malibu, I couldn't imagine any other color I would wear. I ordered the dress in Malibu color.

After I purchased my dress online with them (to be shipped to my house next week), they handed me a booklet of coupons, one of which was one to Helzberg Diamonds, for a free pair of earrings. Of course I went across the street to grab them!

While I'm not sure if I would use them, they are definitely pretty. Freshwater pearl earrings, and free. The guy who I gave the coupon to wasn't the friendliest, but hey, earrings! I wanted to go to JCPenney to find another piece of jewelry for my dress. Maybe a necklace that matches the earrings?

Checked out some pearls, but for some reason I couldn't decide on one that I would like with my blue dress. But I came across these bracelets. They would go absolutely perfect with the color of dress I chose! I am not the biggest fan of the gold of course, I prefer silver, but how often can you find a bracelet this perfect to the dress? The best part: these also had a clearance sticker on them for $6.97. JCPenney was also doing some kind of extra percent off clearance, and after my associate discount... I ended up paying $4.13 for the set. Can't beat that!

Dress is expected to be here next week, so be on the look out for photos of the dress!