WILW and Oh How Pinteresting

Assuming the link-ups are actually up this week, I'll be linking up with Jamie and Michelle for...

And if the link ups aren't up, you'll just get to see what I'm loving and pinning anyway!

I'm loving that I think I found my wedding dress (I promise I'll stop talking about it soon). It's SO pretty. When I put it on and saw myself in it, it made me feel the way that I wanted to feel in a wedding dress.

I'm loving these girls:

They made dress shopping fun, and entertaining as all get out. I love that all of them got along and had a good time, too!

I'm loving that this Friday, MG and I are heading to PA for a family reunion, and then up to the lake with the rest of his family. So, if I drop off from blog land, you'll know why.

I'm loving the weather so far this week. I've been able to go to the pool two days in a row and not feel like I was going to melt through the pool chairs. Mid 80's and less than 50% humidity is my kind of weather. Being able to read my Kindle while enjoying it, is that much better!

I'm loving pad thai. I had been having a craving for it, and we had it on Monday night for dinner. SO good. Love it as leftovers, too. YUM!

I'm loving that after today, I have ONE more work day for this summer! That's it!!

And, as always, I'm loving Pinterest!

This week I've been pinning...

cute and casual summer outfit

been looking for ways to save money on wedding flower centerpieces...

Creamy Jalapeno Stuffed Mushrooms my mouth is watering!

I. Die.

Amen!

 Check out what other stuff I've been pinning! You know you want to....:)

Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips (w/ strawberries and chocolate) Recipe

(this isn't a recipe for the actual pita chips...I'm too lazy for all of that...just a recipe for the pic below) :)

Today marks two more days of work (after today) for this summer. Wrapping everything up basically right after it all started is kind of confusing. But, I'm glad that it's almost over and I'll have some time to be a total lazy butt for a few weeks before it's back to the regular grind.

In the meantime, while I'm frantically filling out paperwork, I thought I'd give you a super yummy, and super easy recipe for a party.

Remember yesterday when I showed you the yummy Cinnamon Pita Chips with strawberries, drizzled with chocolate?

Drooling yet??

Here's what you need:

-About 2 bags of Stacy's cinnamon sugar pita chips

-1/2 bag of chocolate chips (dark or milk chocolate work)

-1 carton of strawberries

-a little bit of sugar

-Optional: whipped cream (this is always an option for me:)

What You Do:

1. Rinse and cut up the strawberries into small pieces (I cut each strawberry in half, halved that again, and then sliced each half about 3 or 4 times so the pieces were small). Sprinkle them with a little sugar and let them sit for a bit.

2. Lay out the pita chips on a plate. Top with the strawberries.

3. Heat up the chocolate chips in 30 second increments in the microwave until melted. It only took 2 rounds of 30 seconds for me. You can add in a bit of oil to help make it easier to drizzle. It won't mess up the flavor or consistency.

4. Drizzle the chocolate over everything. 

5. Top with whipped cream

6. Enjoy devouring the whole thing. 

I wish I had taken pics of the aftermath of this dish at book club the other day. Just imagine that white plate with crumbs left haha.

Super easy, super delish!

Weekend Recap

This weekend feels like a blur.

A really insanely fun, ecstatic kind of blur!

Friday my best friend came into town around noon. We grabbed lunch at one of our favorite spots and then headed down to the wedding reception site so that she could see it. Luckily she really liked it (and also convinced me that the yellow chairs aren't bad--yay saving $$!)

We were supposed to go to the Nats game that night but MG had something come up at work, and we weren't sure when he would be done, so we headed out to grab a pizza dinner and then hang out at a local rooftop bar since the weather was SO nice. MG was able to meet up with us (too late to go to the game and see Katie, though...BOO!). We ended up making friends with some people who were by the bar with us, and were also teachers. MG hit it off with the one girls' husband and all of a sudden, the two guys were planning a date night for us haha

The next morning was wedding dress shopping!!! My best friend and I drove to my hometown and met up with my mom, and my two other friends, Trish and Crystal (who are also going to be bridesmaids). Let's just say that nothing felt real until I put on the first dress and saw myself in the mirror. I'm pretty sure I was shaking:

After almost 2 hours of dress shopping, we'd found some really funny dresses....

like this one, that looked like the dress had split and I had rhinestone underwear underneath:

I would like to know who actually bought this dress...I can't imagine sitting on rhinestones/beads all night!

And then we found some really lovely dresses....

These two dresses were my top picks from David's Bridal

I just had some small "issues" with both of these dresses around the top, and I wasn't sure that even the alterations people would be able to make it work the way I wanted.

Needless to say, the first stop was a hit. We grabbed some lunch together and then made our way to the second bridal shop. This place had a mix of new dresses and consignment dresses. We were all a little unsure of the place since they let us loose to find dresses ourselves at first. But the dresses I ended up trying on here, were really pretty. And.....

I think I found my dress!

I was in the dressing room trying on another dress and one of the sales people said my mom had seen this dress and wanted me to try it on. It had beads and lace and was really pretty. When I came out, I really liked what I saw. I was talking with my consultant about options on it and she had mentioned that it could come without beads. As I was asking what my girls thought, the woman dimmed the lights, and my dress SPARKLED! Decision made: beads stay on! And I'm pretty sure I fell absolutely in love with it at that moment. One of my bridesmaids said she felt a little choked up. My best friend said my face lit up. I felt a little happy lump in my throat as well. And everyone voted YES to that dress. (I really like that my mom was the one to spot it, and have me try it on, too :)

Unfortunately pictures weren't allowed to be taken at this salon, but my girls snuck some anyway....but none of them do the dress justice in the photos. 

My mom wants me to look at one more bridal shop, just to be sure, but I'm smitten with the dress. I didn't want to take it off, and kept looking at myself in all of the mirrors that I passed on my way back to the dressing room. It's perfect. In some ways, it's what I was looking for, and in others, it's not what I expected that I would want, but I love every part of it!

So, the rest of the night I was in a haze of happiness. I'd really be ok with going back to that bridal salon every day and trying it on :)

Sunday my bestie left, and MG went to go golfing with his friends. Bummer :( I had lots of time to clean the place and get ready for book club, which was a hit. My bridezilla nemesis and I basically avoided talking to one another the entire time. She left without saying anything to me, or thanking me for hosting, while everyone else did. But, at least no one's eyeballs were ripped out haha. I had quite a spread, but the hit of the day was my cinnamon sugar pita chips, strawberries, and chocolate drizzle:

We ended up going to the BBQ that bridezilla nemesis and her fiance were hosting after book club. It was really nice to hang out with everyone and catch up. No drama, just the way I like it :)

All in all, it was an awesome weekend! I'm SO excited that I found my dress and that my friends were there to help me find it. 
The only thing that was not so great was that I didn't get to meet up with Katie! (I'm SO sorry, Katie! Next time, like I told you, I promise we will make it happen!!)

Hope your weekend was fun-filled!

  

And the winner is.....

The winner of my Shabby Apple giveaway is....

Samantha G.! 

Samantha, you will be contacted by a rep from Shabby Apple so that you can redeem your prize!

Thanks again, everyone, for participating!

Fridayyyyyyyy!

I'm so excited that today is Friday. Not only does it mean it's the weekend (woohoo!), but, my best friend is coming in town this afternoon!

AND.....I'm trying on wedding dresses this weekend!!!!!!

Even though, we've been in the midst of planning things for a bit now, it still doesn't feel totally "real" yet. Kinda more like we're bleeding money planning a party or something. I've heard from others that this will make it feel real, and I can't wait! I'm SO glad that I'll have my mom and my friends/bridesmaids there with me!

Here are some of the dresses I've had pinned on my Pinterest board (many of them from well before I got engaged...shhh, don't tell). 

I love the look of this, but not sure it's me

Not only does going dress shopping with my girl friends and my mom make me amped for everything, but it makes me happy that THEY are so excited! I love being surrounded by   good people :)

On top of that fun plan, my bestie, the fiance and myself are probably going to the Nats game tonight and HOPEFULLY meeting up with Katie:

I love meeting my bloggie friends IRL! 

Sunday I'm hosting our book club. Wish me luck because my now "bridezilla nemesis" is going to be there, too (who conveniently planned a BBQ at her place an hour into our book club time).

So, if you couldn't tell, I'm SUPER excited that it's Friday and I'm SOOOOO ready for this weekend!! Bring on the friends, dresses, and FUN!!
Peace out, girlscouts!

JewelMint--Biggest Scam EVERRRRR!

I'm writing this post because I know several of you out there love cute jewelry (I know I do!) and especially when it's at a good price.

Which means, you may have stumbled across JewelMint.com (and if you haven't, this is your warning).

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I thought it was a cool site. You have to become a member to see what items they have. I think I originally linked to it from something that I saw on Pinterest. When I first got on there I saw a lot of things that I liked and I got suckered into their Buy 2 for $29.99.

I found a cool white and rose gold watch and a set of 3 bracelets, so I decided to go for it. Somehow it came to be about $45 instead of the $29.99 that was advertised but I was okay with it because the watch alone was worth that to me.

super cute, right?

I got my items and was happy....until about 2 months later I got an email saying that I had $59.98 in my account online at their site. And when I noticed that, I saw a weird charge pending on my credit card for $29.99 from JewelMint. A charge that I hadn't authorized!

When you look at their email when you purchase something, and you read their SUPER fine print, it says that as soon as you sign up you get charged a monthly membership fee of $29.99. Sneaky!

After I called to try and get a refund (at the very least for the charge that was pending on my credit card), they refused and said that I had the "credits" for up to a year and could use it to purchase other items. Which would be fine except I didn't want anything else.

So, I sucked it up and looked on the website to try and use up my credits. I found two sets of earrings for $24.99 each so I bought them. And after that my credits were STILL on the site, and a new charge had been added to my credit card. NOW I find out that I can only use those credits (MY credits, that I PAID for on MY credit card) on things that are exactly $29.99. Otherwise, it's an additional charge to my card.

Getting fed up with them, and their lack of willingness to work with me and even cancel the last charge, I called my credit card company and disputed the last charge.

That was in June sometime and that one month was resolved. 

Cut to last Thursday and I get an email from JewelMint about some things that they think I'd like. I click on it (because, what the hell, I still have $59.98 in "credits"). I try and log in and it tells me that my account has been cancelled. 

Did they give me a refund of the "credits" that they had charged? No.

Did they TELL me that they were canceling my account? No.

And, if my account was cancelled, how were you still able to send me an email? Interesting.

I wrote them and requested a refund since I still had money in my account and had never been notified of it being canceled. I was written back and told that they cancelled my account because I had complained to my credit card company and that they were refunding me $29.99.

So, what I wanted in the first place was all of my money back from them, and they wouldn't do it, until I disputed my charge with my credit card company. (So, if you're stuck in this situation like I was, follow those steps and you WILL get your money back....eventually).

Basically, the moral of this story is....DON'T buy from JewelMint, ShoeMint or any other of the Mint sites that are associated with this company. They will screw you over any which way they can. If you look up the reviews for the site, ALL that's out there are complaints. 

Don't fall for the same trap that I did!

WILW and Oh How Pinteresting

It's hump day and you know what that means....

I'm loving that my bestie is coming into town this Friday!!!!

I'm loving that this Saturday I'm going to try on wedding dresses with my mom and my 3 friends/bridesmaids (MG's sisters and mom couldn't make it down, unfortunately.) I feel like this will finally make it feel totally "real"!!!

I'm loving that MG is supportive--we've been dealing with more nonsense from his 'friends' about the wedding recently and I'm glad that he's realistic about the situation, and that we're on the same page.

I'm loving caring less. That might sound strange, but I'm learning how to let go of things and people that aren't worth my time, and it feels good!

I'm loving this shirt, (and would love to have it) so I could wear it around certain people:

{via}

I'm loving that it's not so crazy hot this week--it's still hot, yes, but I'm not having to drive around with my AC cranked all the way up and the temp down to 65 anymore. THAT is an improvement.

I'm loving that I only have 7 more days of summer school after today. And only one more "session" with the kid who grabbed my arm, slapped me on the face and pulled my hair on Monday. (Whoever said teachers get paid enough, is sorely mistaken)

And, as always, I'm loving Pinterest. This week I've been pinning...

Love this dress: the color, the belt, the length. Everything!

Wet bar, coffee bar and microwave all in one small area.
Love!

Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Spinach and Blackened Chicken
Yes, please!

A-dor-a-ble!

And would mean I'd spend even MORE money at Target,
as if that was even possible!

 Check out what other cool, yummy, fun things I've been pinning!

Don't forget to enter my $50 giveaway to Shabby Apple. Entries end this Friday, so go enter, and tell a friend to enter!

Recipe: Summer Squash and Pesto Shrimp Pasta

I dunno about you, but I love a good pasta dish. But, sometimes in the summer it's a bit too hot to chow down on a big bowl of pasta. Until now!

I saw this recipe on Pinterest (of course) and tweaked it a bit.

What You Need:

-2 medium zucchini
-2 medium yellow squash
-1 lb. shrimp, thawed
-1 jar of pesto
-1 tsp minced garlic
-1/2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
-3/4 box of Cellentani pasta (or Cavatappi)
-olive oil
-salt/pepper

What You Do:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions in a large pot. When it's done, drain it and return to the pot. 

(left pic) 2. While the pasta is cooking, slice up your zucchini and squash. Cut into fourths (kind of like triangles). Chop up the dill. Add these to a large skillet along with some salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Saute until the veggies become soft. Set aside.

3. Using the same skillet, add about 1-2 tsp minced garlic, along with some olive oil. Add in your shrimp and cook. -->

4. In the pot with your pasta, add in the veggies, and the shrimp. Mix it together. Then add in about 4 Tbsp olive oil and as much pesto as you'd like. I used almost the entire jar of pesto (about 6-7 Tbsp).

5. Stir it all together...

6. Plate it up. I had mine with a bit of Parmesan cheese on top and it made the dish!

You can have this warm or cold. I preferred warm, but cold wasn't bad either! :)

The dish isn't too heavy, so it's perfect for a summer time pasta fix!

P.S. don't forget to enter my $50 giveaway to Shabby Apple. Entries end this Friday, so go enter, and tell a friend to enter!

Weekend Update

This weekend was a bit of a blur, but in a totally good way!

Friday MG got back into town from his work trip and I stealthily suggested that we go to my favorite sushi place for dinner. Lucky for me, he bit!
(We also discovered that MG's road bike was stolen sometime during the week that he was gone. Since I never knew/paid attention to where he chained it up, I didn't notice until he got back into town and noticed it himself. Total bummer since he loves to bike, and that bike was over $1500. It was even chained up, too, inside of our building, so someone had to have come in, with cutters, and taken it. Total suckage)

That night my friend Kelly came over for wine and a hangout sesh while MG and his friends went out for the night. The night was full of rehashing the recent wedding drama, watching Say Yes to the Dress on tv, along with some other reality tv shows and more gossiping! :)

Saturday morning, after MG made me a super yum breakfast, I saw that the site I wanted to order our wedding invitations on was having a 25% off sale, so I took the bull by the horns, and spent a good majority of the morning inputing all of our information and making modifications to everything. And then....we hit order!

So, now our wedding invitations, RSVP cards and enclosure cards are all being processed and should be arriving in the next 2-3 weeks! We also saved about $200 something by ordering during the 25% off, which makes our wallets happy (well...happier). It felt kinda strange to order them before our Save the Dates, buuuut, so be it!

Here's a preview from the website:

{via} Love that it fits our purple/silver theme

After that fun purchase (and checking that item off of my to-do list) I got ready for P!nky's bridal shower!

It was tons of fun--her sisters and her mom did a great job. My favorite part was the Chubby Bunny question game haha. I wish I had pics of that, but I'm sure P!nky's glad that I don't! (check our her blog tho, cuz there ARE pics there! hahah). Everyone got their own wine/minosa cup with their initials on it--and I thought it was SUPER sweet and cute of the ladies to put my soon-to-be new last name initial on mine (admittedly, it looked SO weird to me tho, since I'm not the one getting married in less than 50 days haha). 
The food, the games, and the people were a blast--A+ on the bridal shower, ladies! :)
I did steal a pic from P!nky's post today since I was too busy having fun at her shower to actually take pictures:

me and the beautiful bride-to-be

That night MG and I went to dinner in the little village area by our condo and had a delicious dinner followed by a "dessert" of a key lime martini. YUM!

Sunday our complex was having a BBQ at the pool, so we got our suits on, grabbed some food and headed over to bake in the sun. It's been so hot around here for the past week that the water wasn't shockingly cold when you got in, so being in the pool felt SO good. Kindle time, hanging with my dude, and a little bit of pool and sun was the perfect Sunday afternoon activity.

And then we continued to watch Season 2 of Scandal.....perhaps after a stop at Chipotle (Lord help me this week, get back on track with eating right haha). We only have 6 episodes left and NOW I see why everyone says this show is so good. I'm finally on that bandwagon!

And now it's back to another week of summer school. Luckily only 9 more days and then I can REALLY enjoy my summer!

Before you leave, don't forget to enter my $50 giveaway to Shabby Apple. Entries end this Friday, so go enter, and tell a friend to enter!

Not too "Shabby" giveaway!

I promised you a giveaway, and a giveaway I shall give!

And it's not too "shabby" either!

{via}

The peeps over at ShabbyApple are letting me give YOU $50 to shop their clothes! (You know I love me some clothes, so I couldn't let you guys pass up the opportunity for free money and closet goodies!)

Shabby Apple is an online dress boutique that specializes in vintage and retro dresses.  Click Here: vintage dresses to see their selection!

I've already found at least 10 dresses that I want for myself! 

The giveaway will go for the next week (until Friday the 26th). I'll pick a winner and announce it on that following Monday!

You have lots of chances to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck! And happy shopping!