Beauty by Crystal!

My review of my make up artist, Crystal of Beauty by Crystal, made it onto Weddingbee! You can see the post here.

I would recommend her up and down to anyone and everyone! Go check out her site and my review!

Thank You! Thank You! Etc.

I know, I suck for not updating.

Anybody switch from Blogger to Wordpress? Holy shit. Photo uploading on Wordpress makes me want to never use Blogger again. Screw that five-at-a-time bullshit. Le sigh. Anyway, I've been really busy finishing my name change (DONE! Well... ish) and writing Thank You notes (also mostly done and sent) and updating my new blog. I'm trying to make it something everyone can enjoy, and since Wordpress posting is so much easier, Ordinary in Indiana usually wins.

I promise to get back with posting recaps (there are soooo many more, please don't stop following me and forget all about the Puggy Wedding!) really, really soon. In the meantime though, I have a public service announcement...

Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 25) is BLOG BUDDY APPRECIATION DAY!

I wrote about it here on the kjpugs blog. I hope you guys will participate. Comment on my entry (posting tomorrow morning on the kjpugs blog, ohhh around 8:30am Eastern time) if you post for BBAD. I would love to see some of my awesome wedding blog friends participate!

Pissed Off Bride!

I have some pretty cool news to announce!

Super-awesome blogger Stacy (she's from You Can't Take It With You) and I have started a site that all you brides will love!

It's called Letters from a Pissed Off Bride. The site speaks for itself, but basically, it's a place for brides (engaged or married- just someone who's gone through it) to write a "letter," venting at the person, company, vendor, or anything that they wanted to go all Bridezilla on. As you can imagine I have a few I could write :) I already wrote one... see if you can guess which one up there is mine!

Stacy and I hope you'll check out the site, blog about it, share it with your friends, follow Pissed Off Bride on twitter (@PissedOffBride), comment on the letters that are up, and submit a letter or two! We can't wait to read them!

Fill in the Blanks & Name Change!

I was very excited to win something this morning! Name Change Express is doing giveaways (one Name Change Kit given away for every 300 followers they get!) and I signed onto twitter this AM to see this:

WHICH IS GREAT! Except that... they don't follow me. So I can't DM them. (Direct Message, for you non-tweeters.) THUS began my quest to hit them at every social media outlet. I tweeted that I couldn't DM them, I commented on their Facebook, and sent them a message via their website. HOPEFULLY... I will be getting my Name Change Kit! Keep those fingers crossed, guys.

I also read this great fill-in-the-blank thing on Cole's blog, Love and Happiness. Check it out here, and here's mine!

1. If I weren't a glorified secretary I'd love to be a dog photographer, event planner, or cupcake baker. Or maybe a teacher.

2. When I'm super upset I cannot think about anything else, and cry, cry, cry my eyes out.

3. My favorite thing about myself is my humor. When it works, it's great. When I make myself laugh, I'm ecstatic. When I make others laugh, I succeed.

4. If I found a $100 in the pocket of last winter's coat I'd spend it on wedding stuff, of course! But after the wedding, it would be spent on crafty stuff or a dinner/night out with Mr Pug.

5. Even though some people might consider this a flaw, I love that I am from Jersey, loud and proud. I am much more shy after years in Indiana, but I will never apologize for my out-of-control, quirky, certifiable excitability. And loudness.

6. I love the way I feel when Mr Pug tells me how beautiful I look, or how proud of me he is.

7. I love my hair most when it's shorter and THICK THICK THICK!

Grab that fill-in-the-blanks if you want it! And hope that I get the Name Change Kit and won't be stuck with my manly last name forever!

2 Month FREAKOUT

Today is huge. Today, I enter absolute freak-out mode. Today... is the two month mark.

source

Wasn't I blogging about six months just yesterday? Le sigh. I wish that was truly a peace sign and not a sick twisted countdown.

We've gotten in some RSVP cards, probably about 10. The first few were Indy people who know Mr Pug, so they were yes's. However I got a bunch of NO's from people near and dear to me yesterday. I have a feeling this part is going to suck a bit. However I'll just have to look forward MAJORLY to our summer celebrations.

Since it is always on my mind, I made a list of things I have left to do for the wedding. Thanks to Ashley at Bride on a Budget and Em at Burning River Bride for sharing their to-do lists, they were super helpful! I'm going to list my to-do list here, and yea... normally, I HATE that. If they are long (which mine is) sometimes I'll just skim. But if you are a reader, and know me, and want to help, could you please read it and tell me what I might be missing? I feel like I'm forgetting something...

Ok, here goes! (Oh and before you read, I should tell you that one of my dear dear friends will be making our cake (YAY!) and one of Mr Pug's friends offered to host an after party at his house if the guest list isn't too big. I haven't talked about those yet, so I wanted to mention them briefly to avoid confusion.)

To-Do List

-Pick out shoes (must do before fitting!)
-Pick out clutch
-After-party dress (NO idea what color/style/where)
-Bolero jacket (buy one if WB reader's doesn't fit)
-Get appropriate dress undergarments!
-Get my dress fitted... yikesssssss!
-Hair trial
-Find/book a makeup artist
-Tuxes for the boys (find a place, get B measured)
-Gifts for groomsmen/ushers
-Buy the nail polish for BM gifts
-FIND/buy the pashminas for BM gifts
-Look into hoodies for BMs for getting ready
-Assemble BM gifts in bags
-Gift for my mom? Maybe a fun patterned pashmina to go with her dress?
-Finalize photography schedule
-Figure out WHERE we're taking pictures
-Determine who is coming and talk to them about splitting a small party bus/van thing
-If above doesn't work, figure out how everyone is getting everywhere (many ppl can't rent cars and I need to have recommendations)
-BOARDING FOR PUGS (Sweet $$)
-Finalize cake plans with Laura (who is making it for us)
-Send final #'s to Buca
-Make programs (I just had a panic attack realizing I have to do that)
-Determine what's going in the OOT gift bags, and how many (Indy popcorn, maybe chocolates from South Bend Choc Co)
-Put together OOT bags and deliver to hotel
-Finalize church decor
-Finalize the service (readings, order, script)
-Confirm organist & music choices
-Buy B's ring & get engraved
-Get rings dipped and soldered together
-Get stand-in cheap ring for few days before while mine is being soldered
-Determine guest count and give to MH & RS to figure out if we can have our after-party at their house
-Notify guests where the after party will be
-Send invitations to guests who will be invited to Buca (immediate family & wedding party)
-Frame the pug print with matte for signing (& get pen)
-Find out about easel for pug print - rent/borrow if necessary
-Find holders for the programs and photo cards
-Schedule nail appointment for that day
-Highlight appointment for hair week of wedding
-Birdhouse for gift cards for the church
-Teeth whitening
-B haircut weekend before wedding
-Notify Wedding Party about rehearsal time & dinner situation after (that we aren't paying but we're going to Cancun and anyone is welcome to join us)
-Cake cutting - will Buca provide or do we need a set?
-Music playlist for getting ready - see if Omni has a iPod plug in?
-Make sure documents are ready (passports!) in a safe spot for HM
-Book haircut appointment for day after wedding (PWC)
-Make or buy pug caketoppers

Basically, a lot depends on finding my dress for the after party. I'm about a 16 in dresses right now, which is hard, because it's either the biggest size in a store, or the smallest in plus size stores, and sometimes isn't carried. I would LOVE it to be white but black & white or a green would be fine. Also, I hate tight dresses. Any recommendations would be great. Once I have that, I can pick my shoes and bag, and once I have shoes, I can get my dress fitted... all hinges on this stupid dress. GAH!

Thanks for not calling me psycho, guys!

Also, I added a really cool little bot to the right. It's my formspring site, you know, that thing everyone has where you can ask anonymous questions? I've gotten a bunch via twitter (FOLLOW ME!), but feel free to ask away or just view my answered questions. Like for example, if you wondered if I was like those people on the Jersey Shore show back when I was in Jersey and went to the shore?

That tan is 100% all natural, baby. And I'm loving my pink eyeshadow. Circa 2004 in a house we rented in Seaside right next to the water park. Sweet goodness I am showing a lot of skin! My friends' faces have been masked to protect the innocent!

2010 Plans (NOT Resolutions)

I don't make resolutions. I just try to make the best of each year, whatever it gives me. I can't necessarily hold my head high, knowing that I didn't react spectacularly to the hand 2009 dealt me. But I can try in 2010, right?

Anywho, my bridesmaid A's older sister, Laney has a wonderful tumblr blog (Hey Laney) about fashion, food, friends, and other fabulous things in her fabulous NYC life. She posted this a few days ago and I thought it was a wonderful way to make plans (not resolutions) for the coming year. (Fun fact- she used to babysit me. By FAR coolest babysitter ever.)

2010

One thing I will learn:

How to manage money better. And if I get so lucky as to own a DSLR, I change that to "how to properly work and make the best of my camera and how to edit the photos like a pro." (Because clearly if I can afford a DSLR money isn't a problem.

One place I will go:

North Carolina.

One physical habit I will break:

Shampooing my hair every day. My stylist told me that shampooing it daily is making it MORE oily (my hair rivals that of John Stamos) so I have been trying ever-other-day shampoos. She says it will get better. I am praying.

One physical habit I will cultivate:

Being active. Most notably- longer walks with the pugs. We (pugs & pug mom) need it.

One mental habit I will break:

Letting everything hurt me. I need to be mentally stronger and more mentally confident.

One mental habit I will cultivate:

Trying to see the positive in everything instead of letting something less-positive break me apart.

One relationship I’ll repair:

I'd like to have a better relationship in 2010 with Mr Pug's family. When the wedding is done, things will be less fogged with all that drama and I hope to have a cultivate and grow those relationships. They aren't currently broken, per se, but... yea it wasn't a good year.

One work habit I will change:

Not caring. I want to be a stellar employee but sometimes low pay and crazy expectations make me not care. In fact I sort of don't care about working on this... bad Miss Pug!

One thing I’ll throw out:

Clothes that are "SOOOO 2007."

A second thing I’ll throw out:

Clothes that are "SOOOO 20 pounds ago."

One thing I’ll eat more often:

New foods. I am DETERMINED to try more foods (healthy ones, especially) in 2010.

One thing I’ll eat less:

Pizza. This will be hard.

One thing I’ll drink more:

Water. I have to! I hate feeling dehydrated.

One thing I’ll drink less:

Soda. It's so bad for me but so delicious.

One overdue e-mail I’ll send, or overdue phone call I’ll make:

I've promised a few people I'd do things and haven't. I have to do that!

One resentment I’ll get over:

The way some friends have reacted to our changes in plans. Everyone has been nice to my face but some people have said very rude things behind my back. I have to get over it. I bitch and moan all the time, other people have the right to as well.

One person I’ll treat more respectfully:

Mr Pug. He works hard and deserves a lot, and sometimes when I'm in a craptastical mood I let that seep into our lives, and he deserves more. He deserves my best all the time! I'm trying to remember that in 2010.

One thing I’ll spend less money on:

Food. It's so easy to order pizza when we don't feel like cooking. $20 (at least) down the drain. And it goes straight to my thighs...

One other change I’ll make in my finances:

Start making goals. Putting aside money for things we want instead of wanting to blow money on them. You know... be adults.

One thing I’ll spend less time doing:

Worrying about how I look (instead I will try to just have fun!)

And a thing I’ll spend more time doing:

Being physical. Working out, walking the pugs, being outdoors. So much more worth it than sitting in front of the TV for hours. As hard as it is to say that in this weather...

Go ahead and fill this out if you want, fellow bloggers... maybe by 2011 we can compare notes as to what we achieved and what new goals we have!

Macarons?

This is a huge trend. I don't get it. Well, sort of. I pretty much don't get it because I've never had one. A Macaron. NOT "macaroon" but macaron, aka it's French. And fancy. And... COLORFUL.

source

I would like to eat these immediately. I love pistachio-flavored things so the green ones speak to me.

My pal Cher has an obsession with macarons and is trying to get me to try them. She described their taste to me, and I think this diagram helps:

source

Ok, sign me up! I am currently on the search for a place that makes them in Indianapolis, and have determined I might as well be in Antarctica. None being sold. Some Starbucks are carrying them for a hot second right now, but that'll be my only hope. Cher has a blog called Shoe-a-Day that is mostly about fabulous shoes but sometimes, she digresses. And recently she digressed to blog about buying the Starbucks macarons. And today, she is giving away a book on how to MAKE THEM! You can read about it and enter here. All you need to do is tell her your favorite color macaron.... and with that picture I posted, it shouldn't be too hard. You have until 11 on Christmas! GO!

3 Months & Wedding Dog!

I hope you all checked out my last post... I was tres uber nervous about sharing that info, so hopefully everyone got a little chuckle out of it!

We had a great weekend- Saturday we went to an ugly Christmas sweater party and hung out with good friends. Sunday (yesterday) we celebrated our 3-months-till-wedding-aversary and enjoyed the kid's Christmas pageant at our church (which I tweeted about as the "padgent" and decided someone should just have me killed for that spelling error.) This whole weekend I dealt with some horrible icky migraines, seemingly brought on by my glasses, so that explains my lack of active blogging. I have TONS to show you-hopefully starting tonight- but right now I need to tell you about the coolest thing EVER!

The Wedding Dog is a website I adore, which will be coming out as a magazine in February 2010. They have a lot of vendors, ideas, and stories having to do with dogs in weddings. They just launched their new website yesterday and I'm really excited about it. Partly because, well, it's awesome, and partly because... well, LOOK! Yep, the pug family made it to the site! My photographer aka the photo God aka Erin Hession-Wooton is a featured vendor on their site and thus, my relationship with The Wedding Dog was born. (ps, this isn't a sponsored post or anything, I'm just really excited about this website!) I am hoping post-wedding I'll have some great stories to share and pictures to let them use. Also, I think it's cool that 30% of The Wedding Dog's proceeds go directly to the Animal Miracle Network to save the lives of homeless and abused animals in the U.S. and beyond. How can you not love that? You can add their logo icon to your site by using one of the images here.

So, the moral of today's post is, if you want your dog(s) involved in your wedding in any capacity, check out The Wedding Dog!

The Christmas Side of Miss Pug!

Born to be Mrs. Beever posted a great Christmas blogger questionnaire. So of course I had to do it! I'll start you out with our Christmas stocking for the puggies, which my best friend aka bridesmaid H got for us last year.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I love ripping it off and I LOVE wrapping presents.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I love real trees, but ours is artificial now since we have a tiny house and budget!

3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as Mr Pug will let me! Which is not early enough.

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime between Christmas and New Years. My mom put our tree at the curb on Christmas Day once. She's not so much a fan of holidays.

5. Do you like eggnog? Sick, no.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I can't think of a specific one... I was always so happy with all my gifts. Lame answer, I know.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My MOM!

8. Easiest person to buy for? Mr Pug for sure. I have a rolling list of things I could get him.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Not yet but I hope to get one when we have a mantle over a fireplace at one point.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I usually mail, but this year has been too scattered and we dropped the ball!

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? HAHA the crushed velvet gloves my quirky aunt got me once.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! I wish my Dad had been alive to see Elf, I bet he would have loved it- he introduced us to Christmas Vacation.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can think of.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I used to love getting the Italian bakery leaf cookies that would always be at my Dad's coworker's party (and at many NJ events throughout the year.) My last few years in NJ after my Dad died we went to our old neighbor's house and I learned that I LOVED Yorkshire pudding. Right now, I think I need a new tradition!

16. Lights on the tree? WHITE. I DESPISE colored lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Anything by Trans Siberian Orchestra.

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? It's weird now that I live here in IN with Mr Pug and my family is in New Jersey. Usually we go visit one of his relatives and then spend time at home too. I hope in the future to host Christmas or visit my family.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher and Dancer and Donny and Blitzen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Vixen? I think I'm off. Is there a Prancer in there? And Rudolph of course.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I love stars... they're so classic.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I like Christmas morning but I've gotten one gift on Christmas Eve from Mr Pug the last two years- my promise ring in 07 and my engagement ring in 08!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Missing my family.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I loved my family's tree with SO many ornaments... mine now is boring with our gold and red. I need to get an eclectic collection!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I'll have to say Yorkshire pudding again.. it was so good!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? HAHA my unrealistic list- a key necklace from Tiffany's, an amazing DSLR, a new Mac... ha. Really I'd love some pajama pants and slippers!

26. Have you ever been caroling? No, but I was in church choir so I've done my fair share of carol singing!

Wonderful Surprises on this COLD Thursday!

I'm probably should post a Twitter thing on my sidebar... I'm all over it, and know a few of you follow me (and likewise) on the big T. Anywho, sorry for annoying you with 3 posts in the past 24 hours, hopefully they're just enjoyable fluff. So getting to the point... while on Twitter, I saw a favorite restaurant of mine tweeted a challenge:

brewhouse: I will send someone a $25 gift card if they TwitPic a picture of your tongue on a flagpole today. Seriously.

Sidenote, this guy tweeting is the ACTUAL Scott Wise, owner of said restaurant, Scotty's Brewhouse. He has locations in college towns here in Indiana (including Mr Pug's alma mater, IU Bloomington) and two in Indianapolis. Before finding this job, I worked at the downtown location. And nommed majorly. The food is amazing and they have a jaw-on-the-floor huge selection of beers on tap. Here is Scotty:

source

(Also- April 2 shoutout since his twins were born on my birthday this year!) Anyways, he tweets the challenge. I wait until my bosses go into a meeting... run downstairs (with my jacket and a scarf, since it's like 10 degrees today,) run to a lightpole, lick it and take a cell phone pic, and then run back inside.

Ok so my chin's doing things that remind me of Sloth from The Goonies. Wind was like 100mph and it was too cold for a re-take. Yes, I tweeted the picture, and received an email from THE Scotty... I am getting a $25 gift card! That will be a nice dinner for me and future hubs. They have this thing there, called Mofo Musard... it's their Mofo hot sauce and honey mustard... seriously, I could bathe in it. The things I'll do for food.

(I should also mention that I work across from a huge hotel downtown and there were multiple cars and probably 23984738 people saw me and will wonder for the next 90 years why they saw a girl photograph herself licking a lightpole.)

Also, I had a LOVELY surprise today! Friends have been so supportive in response to my email to them about our change in plans. Two wonderful sorority sisters sent me these today, with a caring and supportive note:

We just wanted to let you know that we were thinking about you and love you! (Signed with their names, of course)

These two mean the world to me... see, my dad passed away during sorority rush, and though I went home, I still was allowed to be accepted by the sororities if they wanted me. In essence, I went through rush still, just without being there. I got into Sigma Kappa, and when I got back, the chapter president had volunteered to be my "heart sister" (a buddy you have when you first are a new member.) She took me out with the seniors to dinners at a great Mexican place, invited me to her Valentine's Day party, introduced me to everyone and anyone... and most of all, made me feel welcome. Her roomie was the other girl who sent these with her, and they both have remained dear friends of mine for the past six years, surprising me at my graduation party in Jersey, to driving to dinners in Pennsylvania... they are always close to my heart.

It's so amazing what a nice gesture like this can do for a girl's day! Plus... the flowers included chocolates. Oh yea... definitely what I needed to cleanse my palate after that pole-licking!

One Lucky Gal!

I got an award!

Thanks to the New Mexican Bride and Jill at Once Upon a Dream for sharing the blog love and listing their 10 things that make them happy. They passed it on to me, so here are my 10... with pictures. Yep, that's right!

Ten things that make me happy!

1. Pugs. My wonderful smoochie faced pugs who know exactly what face to make (head tilted, just a hint of tongue) when I need a lift!

(personal photo)

2. Mr Pug. He's been at home for a week (had to use up vacation!) and cleaned the house up to a sparkling shine. He is so motivating!

(personal photo)

3. My friends near and far, who always make me laugh and smile.

(all personal photos)

4. My amazing blogging friends who have been so supportive and wonderful! You truly cannot believe the joy you all bring me.

(screenshot from my blog)

5. Meatballs. Sorry I just love them now! (NEW FOOD YAY!)

source

6. My Mom. She is my rock and my world and I love that our relationship improves so much every year. She is so cute and I cherish her!

(from Facebook... she hates having her pictures all over the place so take what you can get!)

7. My sisters... they mean the world to me and I miss them all the time!

(photo courtesy of my sister's Mac)

8. Christmas Music. We are going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra right before Christmas... LOOKOUT!

source

9. Having our health and our lives. Reading Nie Nie's blog and how grateful she is for her life after she was in a horrible plane crash. Read and be inspired!

source

10. God! He is so good and through everything, He brings all the above 9 to me to make me happy even when I truly do not deserve it.

source

I apologize if any of you have gotten this already, but I pass the award on to:

Gator Bride

Born to be Mrs. Beever

Miss Mojito

Stacy @ You Can't Take It With You

A Chocolate Lover's Confessions

LauraLou @ Lucky in Love

Not Miss Pug

I just wanted to congratulate the new Miss Pug on Weddingbee. And let all the readers know it isn't me! I feel so awkward having the name on my blog "Miss Pug" and have talked to her about it. She is understanding and wonderful (and honestly, if I couldn't be Miss Pug, she's the first person I'd pick - a creative, funny girl AND pug owner) but I want to make sure you readers know.

As stupid as this is, and as much as I knew it would happen, it still stings a bit. So, I've taken an extended break from visiting the Weddingbee site. I'll be relying on you readers for planning advice now more than ever... so don't stop reading!!!! :-D

Also note that I will try to sign blogs as KJ Pugs or kjpugs now, instead of Miss Pug, out of respect. If you ever get a blog signed by Pug(s) & Bugg, that's me as well! (It's the name of my pug blog!) If you click on the profile for Pug(s) & Bugg it will show all the blogs I write for, including this one, so you can still get back to this wedding blog from there.

Thanks for being so understanding and great friends, readers!

Great News... WEDDZILLA!

I am so thrilled and excited to announce that I am the newest featured bride blogger for Weddzilla!

My gal pal Laura from With This Ring, I Thee Blog is a featured blogger on the site as well! (What can I say, we are obviously alike, even in our Weddzilla blog stalking love!) You can read my first post here! It just went live today!

Sticking with the whole "bright side" biz, it will be even more exciting to be a featured blogger after our whole debacle, since I will get to plan two parties after the wedding now with our budgetary changes!

I'll be doing some great back-story info (some of which I've never even mentioned here, like how Mr Pug and I met!) on Weddzilla. It'll be a great read if you are a newer reader to my blog! Catch up on the Pug household action, and also read some great stuff by other bloggers, like Laura!

Stayed tuned here too because later I will be featuring the new "invite/announcement" and asking YOU for your RSVP card ideas.

Save The Date Update and a COUPON!!!!!

Remember my Save the Dates? You know, that I had to order 250 of since I needed just over the other offered quantity of 100? Yea, we have coasters for a year.

Well I do not believe I've properly bragged about the lovely etsy seller who designed them! Laurel from Go Against The Grain. Andddddd she is amazing!

She does monograms for those who tried on their own and failed (COUGH*me*COUGH). Maybe someday I'll show you my failures. Here is one of my FAVORITE successes of hers. Yes, for the cost of a small latte at Starbucks (shoot, I mean a TALL) you can get a gorgeous monogram.

Find the above Monogram here, $3

She also does invitations, which you can have her print for you or, like me, purchase just the file and print yourself. This RSVP was what pushed me over the edge for Go Against The Grain... how whimsical is that phrasing!?

Find the above Invitation Suite here, $25

She also does extras like maps, seating cards, menus, etc. Which is what I really wanted to show you all, since many people have been talking about doing maps. Look how cute this map is... she not only makes it useful but CUTE to match your colors and theme! CUTE OVERLOAD!

Find the above 1-Sided Map here, $25

Laurel also has not-necessarily-wedding items like cupcake flags and holiday cards. And she was gracious enough to let me share a coupon with you all! I got it in the mail recently after a purchase...

And yes, you can use it too! Go Against The Grain is offering 15% off your purchase! Just put FF15 in the message to sender section upon checkout, and you will be refunded the 15%. This is valid until the 31st of December 2009. (Discount not valid on rush orders.) Go visit Go Against The Grain and happy shopping!

My Lucky Day!

Today must be my lucky day! Not only is it 11/11 (11 is my lucky number) but I have gotten three awards! Thanks first to Kristin at Unspecified Thoughts and Stacy from You Can't Take It With You for the "Your Blog is Fabulous!" Award! Now, if only that cute grey pooch was a pug! :)

I am supposed to list five things I am obsessed with, and then pass it on to five other bloggers. I'll leave you pugs and weddings since, well, YOU GET IT.

1. Stuffing... I can make and eat whole bagfuls. (Pepperidge Farm brand, whole wheat blend.)

2. Egyptian everything. Art, history, culture, traditions. I love it!

3. Miniature versions of things.

4. New Jersey and defending it's honor.

5. NCIS... it's my new favorite show!

I will be passing this on to...

1. New Mexican Bride

2. Fresh Brioche aka LavenderPug aka MANHATTAN PUG :)

3. Miss Ferret

4. Amanda from Life, Love and Disney

5. Keepin' it Real... Organized

The next award was the "Your Blog is Over the Top!" award, from BlueButterfly10, whose dogs are ahhhhh-dorableeee by the way! (She and Amanda from Life, Love and Disney also gave me the "Sugar Doll" award. I am too lucky!)

For this award, I need to answer the following questions with one-word answers, and then pass the award on to six other deserving bloggers. Here goes:

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk.
2. Your hair? Flat.
3. Your mother? Adorable.
4. Your father? Missed.
5. Your favorite food? Stufffffinnnnn'!
6. Your dream last night? None.
7. Your favorite drink? Diet.
8. Your dream/goal? Pho-dog-rapher.
9. What room are you in? Office.
10. Your hobby? Blogging.
11. Your fear? Loneliness.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mansion :)
13. Where were you last night? Computer.
14. Something you aren’t? Overpaid.
15. Muffins? Pumpkin.
16. Wish list item? Cash.
17. Where did you grow up? Jersey.
18. Last thing you did? Talk.
19. What are you wearing? Sweater.
20. Your TV? HD.
21. Your pets? Pugs.
22. Your friends? Far.
23. Your life? Interesting.
24. Your mood? Hungry.
25. Missing someone? Jerseyans.
26. Vehicle? Bruce.
27. Something you’re not wearing? Socks.
28. Your favorite store? Michaels.
29. Your favorite color? Green.
30. When was the last time you laughed? Minutes.
31. Last time you cried? Thursday.
32. Your best friend? H.
33. One place that I go over and over? Walgreens.
34. One person who emails me regularly? Vistaprint.
35. Favorite place to eat? Mexican!

Whew! For someone who is a gal of many words, that was hard!!!!!

Here are my six...

1. LauraLou from Lucky in Love

2. Sarah from How Engaging...

3. Cross Country Wed

4. BarBride

5. august15bride
6. Stephanie from "I Do" at the Zoo

And yet another award!!! The "Your Blog is Super Cute" award (although it's in Portugese, I think?) from Jill of Once Upon A Dream!

All I have to do with this one is pass it on! So I will pass it on to...

1. Gator Bride

2. Darin & Nicole

3. Ashley at Bride on a Budget

4. Katie from Random Reflections of a Perfectionist

5. Miss Mojito from With this ring, I thee blog
6. Stacy from You Can't Take It With You

Thank you all! I am in the middle of trying to finish my invites so I will definitely have more updates for you soon!

Survey-Thingie!

I'm mostly distracted today because of work and worries over the Bugg, but thought I'd distract myself from my distractions by doing the survey-thingie that everyone and their mom seem to have done already.

Since it's almost Thankgiving, here's a gratuitious photo of us on Thanksgiving-Eve two years ago. Mr Pug's first post-bar NJ diner experience. Unfortunately for him, I was so drunk that I could barely take a picture.

Yes, I am putting back a basket of curly fries. And why yes, I slept on the couch and... puked on the couch that night. Don't worry mom, we flipped the cushion after cleaning it. Yummy. Thanksgiving Eve is never kind to me. Never.

Onward to the survey!

1. What are your middle names? His is Christopher. Mine is Jeanne (pronounced JEAN) and my confirmation name is Bridget.

2. How long have you been together? Almost three years.

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? We were going on dates for about half a month before we were "boyfriend/girlfriend" (you know, on Facebook.)

4. Who asked who out? I'm not sure, we just sort of agreed to "meet up."

5. How old are each of you? I'm 24, he's 27. He'll turn 28 the week of our wedding and I turn 25 the week we get back from Jamaica.

6. Did you go to the same school? No, he went to IU, which is south of us in Bloomington, I went to Elon in North Carolina. Go... Phoenix? (I have no school spirit.)

7. Are you from the same home town? No where near it... Mr Pug grew up in Indianapolis with a brief stint in Maryland. I grew up in the land of bagels and pizza (New Jersey) just outside of New York City.

8. Who is the smartest? He is a better businessman and knows much more about history, politics, etc than I do... and has much more common sense. BUT I scored higher on the SAT's! (1440. From back when it was out of 1600. I hold onto that dearly as my greatest accomplishment/history's biggest fluke and spend far too much time trying to find out ways to slip it into conversations. Like this.)

9. Who majored in what? He majored in Finance and I majored in Corporate Communications and Art. One might argue he also majored in Partying. Then again, I was freaking T-Shirt chair for my sorority... do we really want to go there?

10. Who is the most sensitive? DEFINITELY me. I cry and cry and cry over mostly nothing, far too often.

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Las Vegas! We weren't fans of that flight, it was insanely bumpy. We've also been to Clearwater Florida, and various car trips around the Midwest and to the Dirty Jerz.

12. Who has the worst temper? Mr Pugs. He is more quick to get angry and then let go, while I'm sensitive, let stuff build up, and then let it bother me for, oh... ever.

13. How many children do you want? We want 2 or 4. No odd numbers if we can help it!

14. Who does the cooking? Mr Pug is a better cook but we try to split it. I am great at baking though! Usually we each have our specific dishes that we cook (like Mr Pug's buffalo chicken dip, chicken parm, or anything grilled; or my English Muffin pizzas... hey I said he was better.)

15. Who is more social? I'm more social in a "I talk to strangers" sort of way. When we're in our element (with close friends) I'd say I'm more social/outgoing by a smidge, but since we live in his hometown, we're around his friends more, and I seem a lot more quiet than I am.

16. Who is the neat freak? Neither of us are "freaks" about it but he is neater for sure.

17. Who is the most stubborn? This is pretty even... I call it a tie!

18. Who wakes up earlier? When the alarm goes off, I get up and take out the pugs while he gets their food ready and makes coffee. Then I shower while he eats breakfast. He goes to work earlier though.

19. Where was your first date? OPT's aka Old Pro's Table, a bar in Broad Ripple. We drank Blue Moons and stared longingly into one another's eyes. We then went to Red Room where I embarrassed him by forcefully making out (classy).

20. Who has the bigger family? HA. Me, no contest. He has his mom's sister (single) and brothers (single, he never sees them) and then his dad's sister (married without kids) and brother (married with 3 sons- two of whom are married with baby girls!) So that's like, 14. My Momma Pugs is the oldest of 10, my Dad had two families... we've already discussed my 25 cousins. I love my huge amazing family!

21. Do you get flowers often? Not recently! :( But alas, we are poor.

22. How do you spend the holidays? The last two years we have done Thanksgiving in NJ and Christmas here. It's worked out well and we'll probably continue that, but this year we couldn't afford to travel. Which is fine- I'll see everyone in March! Eventually if we move out of Indianapolis I'd like to alternate and try and get people to come to US... I would love to hostess and not have to board pugs.

23. Who is more jealous? HAHA we both have our moments. I've stink-eyed the girls Mr Pug was "seeing" before he met me. (Stupid biotches!) And he likes to know who a guy is if he writes on my Facebook wall or something like that. Healthy amounts of jealousy, more like curiosity... nothing huge.

24. How long did it take to get serious? We moved super fast. Dated a few weeks before it was official per Facebook, then moved in together literally four or five months later. We bought our house almost exactly eight months after we started dating.

25. Who eats more? I'm mildly competitive and make sure we always split things 50/50 so sometimes we eat... um... the same amount? YIKES!

26. What do you do for a living? I'm basically a glorified secretary. He's a sales/account manager for a parking construction company but is looking to get back into finance and maybe into the health aspect of it.

27. Who does the laundry? We do our own... we are far too particular about our clothes and how to wash them. Seriously, I challenge you to dry Mr Pug's work clothes on high heat.

28. Who's better with the computer? Definitely me, but he's not bad by any means. I just know Macs AND PC's and I know a lot of design programs. Oh and I have a major love for Excel as you probably know.

29. Who drives when you are together? 95% of the time, Mr Pugs. His car accommodates him better (no one over 6 foot likes to slump down into the Brucemobile, aka my Corolla) and he likes to drive. However he drives all day for his job, so once in a while he's so sick of it he asks me to drive. I try to drive when we're in NJ though... you know us crazy Jersey drivers!

30. What is your song? We don't really have one... I like Michael Buble's "Everything" but it's not really his type of music. This will have to be saved for another post!

Ok now everyone else do this- I've really enjoyed reading them!

Two Awards, One Pug

I had a super lucky award day today! My gal pal Bustie McGoo gave me the Kreativ Blogger award!

This is my second Kreativ Blogger award... I guess that means I've got a creative gene! Or I'm freakishly annoying and in your face. Either/or!

I also got this great award from Stacy from You Can't Take it With You.

The directions are to post the award on your site, write 10 interesting things about yourself, and then pass it on to 10 other bloggers. Like Stacy, I asked my fiance Mr Pug to pick the ten things! He may have gone a little TMI, but... enjoy!

Miss Pug...

1. Purses her lips when looking in the mirror
2. Is afraid to try steak, but loves hot dogs?
3. OBSESSED with anything tiny (especially if its pug related)
4. Loves cheese
5. Nicknames everything she owns (Bernie, Bruce, Eddie)
6. Loves photography
7. Enjoys putting away the dishes but not doing them
8. Has a permanent pug bodyguard (Harles)
9. Sighs with satisfaction after a fart
10. Loves to make parodies for pop songs (pug related is a common theme)

HAHA! Yep, all true. I actually didn't notice the fart thing until he called me out on it. The tiny things? Mini wine bottles, mini candy bars, PICCOLINI FARFALLE!?! YES! And the names- Bernie is my Mac, Bruce is my car, and Eddie is just a normal stuffed animal.

Now I've gotta pick 10 fabulous ladies!

1. Stephanie from I Do at the Zoo since she rocks my socks!
2. Morgan from Handcrafted Hitching Post because I love her hair and her SWANNNN reference!
3. Busty McGoo because she's an award-giving machine and also a pumpkin-lover :)
4. Danielle at Small Town Bride because she had some GORG engagement pictures!
5. LauraLou from Lucky in Love since I am in AWE of her photo editing skills... come visit and teach me, thanks!
6. Miss Mojito... I mean do I really have to explain how fabulous she is?
7. Crystal at My Carmel Wedding because I too am a Jim Hjelm obsessed bride!
8. Jill from Once Upon a Dream because of her amazing pumpkin carving skilllllz (yes, with a z!)
9. Jen from A Girl in Pearls & a Boy with Toys since due to a recent post I think I'm not alone in losing out to the video games sometimes :)
10. Ali aka Miss Frenchie from His Birdie's Nest because she may have inspired me to try spaghetti squash!!!

I apologize if you guys were also nominated by someone else... consider yourself EXTRA lucky then. Thanks for being such amazing blog friends!

Be a Princess... No, REALLY.

Growing up, I worshiped a group of strong, beautiful women. Pre-SATC. They were the original Disney princesses.

Source

Don't even try to give me Pocahontas or Mulan. These six: Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, and Jasmine are THE Disney Princesses.

I had a massive obsession with mermaids growing up, so Ariel was always my favorite. Besides that though, I didn't go all out with the princesses past a certain point. (Ha... replaced that with pugs I guess!) But I know lots of gals who held onto that obsession (including one of my wonderful college roommates!) So for those who can't get enough... designer Kirstie Kelly brings these:

Yep, rings inspired by each princess!

Thoughts? First, I think they honestly fit each princess perfectly. I also realized... I don't rank the princesses and the rings similarly. I'd probably rank the princesses Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Jasmine. But I'd rank the rings Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Ariel! First and last are reversed. Definitely not anticipated.

TresSugar writes up more information about the rings, and asks "love it" or "leave it" - I voted LOVE IT! I don't think it's cheesy or anything, since they're not too "obvious" (like a fish for Ariel, etc.) How perfect would it be if you were obsessed with a specific princess and found out right after saying "YES" that it was "her" ring? Too cute!

What do you guys think? And which is your favorite?

note- the TresSugar article says Kristie Kelly but it is actually Kirstie. I corrected and thought I'd let you all know.

Mandy Leonards Photography

Ok so you all know my crazy obsession with photography. I want to be a dog photographer, I stalk multiple photogs via RSS, etc. Well guess who's lucky day is today? MISS PUG'S! First, a little background.

I moved to Indianapolis in January 2007 and knew, well, no one. I got myself a random roommate, and while it didn't work out for us as roomies, she introduced me to a lot of great people along the way. One of those people was Mandy. She and her husband had a beautiful baby a year ago- Isabella Rose- and Bella awoke the photography genius in Mandy! She started with photos of Bella but now has done shoots of other babies, families, and (my fave...) WEDDINGS! Check out the teasers from her shoot in French Lick, Indiana last weekend:

This bride sure can smile! I love Mandy's talent of really capturing the emotion in a person's face. You can't teach that!

The below picture reminds me of Cinderella... the pumpkins and the discarded "slippers," LOL!

This veil picture makes me HARDCORE WISH I was having a veil. Le sigh.

The wedding party:

And yea, because I nearly died of cuteness overload when I saw this, I have to include it- Mandy did a husband and wife shoot which included the couple's pug, Charli. SWOON!

Clearly, she can do it all. I have never seen so much talent from a newer photographer and am so glad to know her! Mandy is up for anything and that is always a great attribute in a photographer. Please go visit her site, Mandy Leonards Photography, to see all her pictures. The babies nearly put me into full-on baby fever mode, I'm serious. And- if you are in the area, or even if you just have to have her, please contact her! If I don't sell my dress, I might have to set up a Trash The Dress session with her next summer.

ps- You can also fan her on Facebook!

Internet Inspiration Blog of the Week!!!!!

I am beyond tickled and super excited to announce that Miss Mojito selected me as her Internet Inspiration Blog of the Week!!!

I love reading Miss M's wonderful blog, she is so bubbly and full of great ideas. Anyone who has her as a reader also knows that her comments will make you smile all day! She is my west coast blog buddy and I am so glad I discovered her blog!

You can start enjoying your Mojito here or start directly with my interview here! Go show her some love, who knows, you might be next week's Internet Inspiration!

hmmm... I could use a mojito right about now actually... haha!