Living Room

Living Room by dangerouslypink featuring a lattice pattern rug

Silver floor lamp
urbanoutfitters.com

Lattice pattern rug
abchome.com

Antiqued mirror
laylagrayce.com

Maison de Vacances throw pillow
calypsostbarth.com

Donna Karan peacock throw pillow
donnakaranhome.com

Textured throw pillow
amazon.com

Charcoal grey couch
contemporaryfurniturewarehouse.com

Pink furniture
target.com

Shelving furniture
ikea.com

Hello Super Fruits!

So if you don't know you know now, I am a Mark. Representative and I am looooving it. I love the products and for my budget, my skin and my July goal. I think it could work and do wonders. Now for the most part I have always had good skin, meaning not to many break outs,glistening glowing skin.

As of the past year my skin has just been ugh, yucky need I say more. So As a new Mark Rep I received this fantastic samples of their skin care line that has all wonderful things natural including super fruits which contain antioxidants. So my skin feels fantastic.

Here's what I am trying so far! Peep it out try and let me know what you think. Better yet try it at my mark store Mark Store

Weight Loss!

So I am back and ready to hit the boards running. So remember me talking about the Diva Fit Health Fair I attended. Well I was more then disappointed when I realized how much weight I had honestly gained. I mean I think I knew it but didn't honestly want to face it.

Since then I have really changed my eating habits. I rarely eat fast food now and do a lot of cooking, I mean a lot! I still work long stupid hours but I have found a way that I think works for me and my husband. We currently eat a lot of chicken, which was something I was never a big fan of. But now after researching it, I have found a ton of recipes on sites such as Kraft Foods and Martha Stewart. I also bring my lunch to work just about 3-4 days a week and I eat breakfast. A breakfast which consists of oatmeal, or some raisin bran cereal. Fruit, or something to give me a kick start. I also now take a vitamin regularly and a cranberry pill 2 times a day.

This week, which is just about 4 weeks after the health fair, maybe even a little less, I finally starting going back to the gym. I am back to car pooling again with my husband for work, and I just decided why not, instead of sitting in the office hours before everyone else gets there, why not be productive. That productivity lead to 3 days in the gym. Running a mile or more on the eliptical trainer and also hitting the machines for abs and arms! I was so excited about the new routine, it carried over to having all of this extra energy at work.

Better yet, the last day I decided well it's been a minute since I have gotten on the scale, once for the health fair and then at my folks place (to dis lodge the dreaded number which had actually went up at their house). I decided to take the plunge! I lightly stepped on the scale and tried to smile and look away as the cleaning crew was buzzing around me. Finally when I peaked, I realized the number was lower then before! Hoorah! I have lost 8 pounds! I have 43 more to go to hit my goal of 50 by July!

The final weigh in for the Diva Fit competition will be in June for the "Big Event" which I am stoked for but also auditions for the Baltimore Blast Cheerleaders and hopefully back to dance this Spring and Summer!

What in the hell is pre-poo

So on this fun hair journey, I have had to learn a lot of things, and of course do tons of research. I recently ordered some great products from Yonnea's Natural Beauty. I ordered her Honey and Hibiscus Leave in Conditioner and her GPS oil. First let me tell you one thing by far this has been the best stuff I have used ever! Her website is

So I have been using this stuff every day since I received it and my hair honest to goodness is soft, managable and conditioned. Of course the next step is styling and washing properly. I have actually decided to pre-poo. Pre Poo is the process of a pre wash. So today I made a mixture of honey and extra virgin olive oil. These can be warmed (if you warm it remember not to warm) I let the mixture sit for a half an hour and then then washed with my regular conditioner which is Suave Tea Tree Nourishing Conditioner plus I use Pantene's Relax and Natural Deep conditioner.

Last week I attempted a 2 strand twist out. Once again I am attempting another 2 strand twist.

In case you are interested in all things natural hair, check out Afrobella's Blog also check out Product Junkie Diva's blog for her Pre Poo Process

Excitment

Oddly enough I have been overcome with this feeling of excitement. Why? I have no idea what so ever, I am not even sure what I am excited about to be perfectly honest. Ever since I started eating better, including vegetables and drinking a ton of water, I just have a lot of energy and a ton of additional motivation, which I truly need! This week, I amped up my water intake tremendously. I am drinking 3-4 bottles of water not just a regular water bottle (because that's not eco-friendly) but a 20Oz-600ml eco friendly re-usable water bottle. Which equals to be about 8 glasses of water a day if I continue to drink 3-4 bottles.

I also found this great article on Yahoo about the 5 foods you should eat everyday. Those 5 foods included:

Yogurt for the Good Bacteria it produces, it should be Low Fat Yogurt

Nuts: Almonds, Pecans and etc... were considered good for your heart

Strawberries,blackberries, blue berries good for your digestive track

All things green!

Bran=Fiber

These were the most important things to me, because of these were all things I was not consuming on a daily basis.After reading this exciting article it amped me up even more to get green leafy things, vegetables, and fruit.

This past week I have had either Raisin Bran or Oatmeal, plus Yogurt, and water. Plus spinach as been my leafy green for the week on Tuna to be exact and it has been delish. A tuna sandwich with spinach and cheese on wheat bread with light mayo has been a dream lunch every day with juice or better yet water!

All ready after changing my eating habits for 2 weeks, I feel like my jeans are feeling a tad bit looser!

Beauty and the Beast

So for those who might not know, besides doing the whole weight thing, I am also taking this journey much farther then I could even imagine, that next step or continuing step is my hair. My hair journey is a whole nother story! A long time ago I had what I thought was healthy hair, I would set my self up once a month for a creamy crack appointment, hours and hours out of my day on a Saturday morning, for smooth super straight hair.

I have looked back at old pictures and just have been amazed at really how long my hair was getting, which was almost shoulder length, not quite but close. I got one trim and it was all down hill from there. Since then it has been hell on earth to get it back to that state. So finally this year after reading blog after blog after blog I decided to make the jump. I started transitioning in April 09, I learned how to do twists and braid outs for the summer which was super cute. Finally when most of the relax ends had left me, I finally BC'ed(Big Chopped) in December 09. A huge change for me, into a short mini flordia evans as I called it. Now end of February almost March. I had a short/medium size fro and I LOVE IT! I love how I can pull pieces here and there and they are wicked curly! I am still learning what my hair likes and dislikes, I think which is the hardest part. Soon I am going to go into some protective styles like braids until it grows out a little more.

Food Journal

As you hopefully have been reading I am in this competition thang, so you will see periodically some food diary posts from me. I will try to put everything in a weekly package yes, yes :)

Monday 2/22
Eggo 7am
Raisin Bran Cereal Skim Milk 9:30am
Yoguart Low Fat 11am

1bowl of salad with grilled chicken 1pm
handfull of pretzels 2pm
4 glasses of water
2 cranberry pill
Fish,Corn and Broccoli dinner

Repeat for Monday and Tuesday

Wednesday 2/24

Yogart 7am
Raisin Bran Cereal Skim Milk 9:30am
Granola Bar 11am
2 Cranberry Pill
Chicken Tuscan Sandwich with pesto 1pm
1 lemonade packet

Chicken with corn and kale 6pm

4 glasses of water

Repeat for Thursday

You can also follow me along on the 50millionpoundchallenge.com

Health Fair

I had a great time this past weekend at the health fair sponsored by Lisa Fleet, Photographer and Diva Fit Creator. The health fair had soo many great booths to visit and get a wealth of information.

My first stop (I apologize a head of time for not having my camera, which I damn near sleep with) was the Dr. to see what my stats where. Well the weight portion is what really took me for a loop, remember I said I hadn't been on a scale in a minute, well, umm slightly embarassed, I really had no idea what I weighed.

Current weight 219. I am almost the same weight of my husband who is 6'4 in a half and super skinny. So talk about an eye opening experience! After leaving there I checked out ladies with some HAWT purses! J&C Accessories you will be hearing from me, ASAP for a purse party!

Next was they had free testing for HIV, STD's and a few other things. I thought why not, although I am married you can never be to sure, right! So off to testing we went. After getting a clean bill of health, I was on to wandering around the health fair checking things out here and there and I was excited to really get down to it the nitty gritty.

I mentioned before I have a few goals, one goal is audition for a new professional dance team. I am going to audition for the Baltimore Blast Cheerleaders in July (once I make my goal) Although Hip Hop is my specialty I do miss Jazz a little bit here and there.

My 2nd goal, if you read through my re-caps and wedding planning, I posted some gorgeous pictures of my bridesmaid, I plan on ordering their bridesmaid dress for me in black, because that dress is an amazing cocktail address and I hope to wear that dress for the reveal in June. Or this beauty check it, is it not HAWT!

Diva Fit Competition

So if you haven't heard about the Diva Fit Club you need to join ASAP, STAT on Facebook, just type in Diva Fit. Your's truly is a contestant in the Diva Fit Fitness Competition. For 12 weeks, I will try to transform my blubber (literally) into pure tone,muscle and all around sexiness. That's right I am bringing it back in 2010. Now the true nature of the beast is what I eat! Now I love a good work out, hell I am a dancer was is trying to get back into it after a yr of rest but honestly it's about what I digest.

Last summer, I was severely ill, ill to the point where I dropped about 20 pounds or more. Now my body and general health just did a whammy and finally my body said no more. Once I felt better, I was just siked that I was thin. I didn't try to maintain it, I didn't try to even savor it, it was there for a minute.

In 2003, I worked really hard to lose weight and because I was motivated, I made it work. I was tired of looking the way I did, I was tired of just being. So I set out to make a change in which I did I went from wearing a size 14-16 to wearing a 6-8. It took me a little less then a year but I made it happen. Matter of fact I didn't even realize that I had lost the weight.

Now in 2010, I am one of 15 contestants in the Diva Fit Competition. Pretty similar to a Celebrity Fit Club/Biggest Loser. I am excited to go on this journey, and most of all I am excited to learn how to eat better, how to be more healthy inside and out! So I am excited to share this journey with you. As the weeks and months go on, I will share my daily food diary and my struggles and tribulations along the way as well as some photos and measurements (yikes!) Look for a full list of measurements and photos for tomorrow's post!

Also if you are in the DMV area, DIVA Fit is sponsoring a health fair on Saturday, February 27th from 12noon-4pm. Please see the DIVA Fit Club group on Facebook for more details.

Back to basics

So finally towards the end of February I have a ton of ideas of what to post and I am excited to say I have a rack of ideas, so excuse the brain dump it has been building up for about a month now.

I am sure at this point you are curious as to what has been going on in the world of me. Well one, My neighborhood, if you haven't had the chance to check out my neighborhood, visit or tour it, then you will shortly hear all about it in many up and coming posts, but that neighborhood is Patterson Park,(hello I love thy!) We are currently renting in the neighborhood, but we are hoping to buy (fingers crossed) in with in this year!

2nd, I am a contestant in a fitness competition, no not your normal just lose weight competition, but a semi celebrity fit, biggest loser competition. So I am excited to share that will be my follow up post in a bit.

3rd, my journey, not just my fitness journey, but my inner and outer search for peace, beauty and happiness. So let's get it in!

Blog Changes

So I am in the process of trying to decide in what direction I want this blog to go forward in. Now that my wedding is over, what am I up to. What things are coming up and what things am I excited about. So bare with me as I make some minor adjustments to this blog and take it in a new direction with fun posts and updates.

Stay tuned!

Recaps Over

Ok so now that my recaps are just about done. To sum everything up I spent a little under a $1000 for everything. I did a ton of DIY crafts and would be happy to share them with you all just let me know if you are looking for something specific. I don't regret anything but I an super happy it's over.

I wish it could have been bigger and we had more family there but it is what it is. I wish I had a bridal shower or a Girls night out shindig but there's no point in crying over spilled milk. I wish I could have worn my original dress but hey I loved my last dress! And lastly I wish the photographer took more pictures of us, or our friends and family having fun but we will hopefully get pictures from friends.

But it's a done deal and I am looking forward to starting our new life and finally getting things done in 2k10 or twenty ten as I have started. So I am looking forward to what's ahead good or bad for me and my new family.

Happy New Year!

Vendors!

I am actually going to keep this post short (hopefully) as I get close to finishing my wedding recaps. But vendors be wise! Be the over so bride on a budget I had to really hunt and research vendors. I was able to either really good deals or negotiate for what was affordable for us.

Some vendors I found through good ole trusty craigslist, but be warned some folks are crazy and some folks are gems in disguise!

As you know my cake was made by Amber (www.1bakemeacake.blogspot.com)in Cecil County, MD. Amber was fantastic and her prices were amazing! So my advice look for your up and coming "stars" but know your research. Have an idea of flavors,styles,designs and cake stand choices.

Location, Location, Location! I hunted for months for a location and either the cost was a factor or possbilities of moving our date and yada yada, in the long run, we have to amazing locations. One The Patterson Park Baptist Church in Patterson Park, Which A is amazing! It is this gorgeous Spanish style church, that def, went with our theme of a Tiffany Vintage wedding. Because we are very active in the community, the Pastor was kind enough to host everything for FREE! Which was amazing I might add.

Our Reception Venue, also amazing, was a church hall. This church hall is in a Historic Part of Baltimore and it too is also a Historic Church. I used to be a Community Organizer and actually used the church for many many activities. So I contacted them in hopes of an inexpensive venue and low and behold they allowed me to use the space including their chairs, tables, staff person help and it was all under $100, you say what!!! Saint Johns in the Village was just stunning and of course it helped with the budget!

*So Advice for those on a budget really consider your neighborhood,your friends, family etc... put the pedal to the medal and really do leg work on who can help you.


Last bit of advice on vendors, as I mentioned a few times, do the leg work and the research in getting the best price especially if you are on a budget. I bet you are wondering what my total budget spent was huh ? :)


So here are a few photos to enjoy!

and they ate cake

My husband and I are both fairly picky eaters, well to be exact I am picky and he picks everything else off my plate. When it came time to decide on a cake I knew this time around exactly what I wanted.



Design wise, something simple and elgant, not a whole lot of fuss, but something that looks good on a white vintage cake stand. Flavor wise, no Fondant, I wanted the cake to not just look good but to taste delish! Now we both looove carrot cake and chocolate cake and lemon cake, but we wanted to also be considerate to what our guest might enjoy.


So KISS (keep it simple stupid) We went with a 2 tier cake, top layer vanilla and bottom tier chocolate with no filling, with buttercream and by far it was the best tasting wedding cake ever. I even took pieces to work after the fact and people loooved it. We did decide to freeze a slice and save it for our anniversary next year.

Cake table decorations, I made I Do Letters in our colors and went back and forth on Cake Servers. I had actually purchased two sets, one set was a cheap set cause I really couldn't find what I wanted. The last set was purchased the year before at a yard sale and low in behold after some last minute research and they ended up being an expensive set like crazy expensive.

Oh the baker I forgot to mention was fab, she was local, well local to her area and about an hour from us. To save us on cost we, meaning I, picked up the cake, she even planned my drive and how I drive in making sure, she Prepped the cake for me. She built a lip in the box so that even if the cake slid it wouldn't mess it up. So the delivery (me driving at 90 to make it home in time) the cake was safe and not destroyed!

I loved our cake and because we had so much left over we are still currently eating a slice or two!

Sugar Doll Award

I have been granted the Sugar Doll Award for my posting on Blogger Brides, so here are the instructions,Post the award on your site, write 10 interesting things about yourself, and then pass it on to 10 other bloggers.

1. I love to Dance! I have a background in Hip Hop and have danced semi professional with a local team

2.I am currently training to audition for a local cheer and dance team

3. I got a new car this year and hello I loooove it! ( its obsessive)
4. I have three dogs and am itching for another one or a kitten will do as well
5. I work for a non profit and really want to run for city council but I am running for a neighborhood association position
6. I love crafts and arts
7. Makeup, I am addicted to makeup all makeup
8. I am an eco nut, recycle please!
9. I sing in my car loudly!
10. Oh and I love Glee!

I regift this award to: Atlanta Bride, Sony, Heather N Will, Road to the Aisle,Emily,Bicoastal bride, Nick and Nat and there is so many.

Time Lines and Schedules, say what!

Yes in the beginning I had a beautiful completed schedule but due to my crazy family, friends and everyone in between, I was only able to get twos off prior to the wedding, hello crazy, yes, I know. But with last minute changes and additions, my day surely did not go as planned.

Here is my original schedule:

9am Awake,Shower,Wash Hair
10am Do Hair and Nails
11am Pick up flowers
12Noon Brunch with groom and groomsmen
1pm Relax Organize Bridal Accessories
2pm Bridesmaids arrive
3pm Decorate Hall
4pm Back home (yes I planned on it only taking an hour to decorate)
5pm Get dress
6pm At the Church
6:30 MARRIED!

Well needless to say that was far from how my day went.My day actually went like this:

6am Awake,Shower,Wash Hair
7am Do Hair
8am Pick Up Flowers
9am Attempt to wake groom and groomsmen(they apparently had a long party night)
10am Another attempt and last attempt before I make threats (watch out now!)
11am Breakfast with Groom and groomsmen
12Noon pick up additional ties for Best Man who had a change in clothes and one who had no shirt)
1pm Pick up sound system because the halls system broke! (Say What!)
2pm On the road to pick up cake, which ended up being almost an hour away
3pm Pick up cake
4pm Back home, haul tail to go decorate
5pm Finally back home, rush to get dress
6pm Still haven't left
6:30pm finally at the church
7pm MARRIED!

So lesson here ladies allow for craziness to happen and ask for help or demand help when you have no help

The Boys

Now that I mentioned what I wore, what about the guys, the dudes, the gents. Well being the budget savvy bride and lady that I am, My husband actually already had a great suit, (he's an electrician so he never wears a suit) we added a new shirt, new shoes, vest and tie.

Once we picked out a great tie for the hubby, which had to have some pattern and match the guys and have similar colors to the girls dresses. We were able to pick out solid tiffany blue ties (which also doubled as a gift for all of the guys) for all of the gents with matching white shirts. They each also wore there own suits as well.

They also received a white rose boutinere. Easy and in-expensive way of dressing the guys. I think they look pretty daper right :) Well except the one in the red shirt, long story!

Let the Recaps begin!

Hi Folks, So I am back after a much needed and hopefully deserved break/mini vacation. I finally got some pictures back so starting today and the next blogs to come I will re-caping the big day.

SO one area I can def. re-cap would be the gown, if you are following my blog on here or on my personal blog you will know I was having major gown issues even up and til the day before (Yikes, is all I can) My lovely gown originally purchased a yr ago for our first wedding no longer fit about a month prior to the wedding, with quick and novice fingers, I went to the web looking for inexpensive, but still wow worthy gown to wear to replace it.

Well I was in luck and came across Craigslist you know where all of us brides on a severe budget go to look for vendors and up and coming folks to help us out. Well I came across a gorgeous back up dress, took one look at it, and the price and said oh I must have. Well with my luck it didn't fit, this dress was way tooo big and there was not enough time in the world to have it altered.


So leading up to the Friday before (yes the day before the wedding) my first day off from work ( oddly enough I couldn't get any days off really, lovely folks aren't they, but I'll touch on that later) rushed off to a last minute store I knew of called Shingar. Which is this great Indian Store, that happened to have prom dresses and WEDDING DRESSES. I looked through many and finally came across the dress. Not as fussy as my first dress but still simple, gorgeous, elegant and just oh I was ready to wear it. Now if I had thought to go there first, this would have been a huge savings in my wedding budget.

My dress originally was worth over $500 but with my quick and nible fingers I found on Ebay for $150 less. The new gown purchased was purchased for under $200 now you can't beat that and it was quality made, no pushing sales ladies and it will keep for years!

ReCaps

Recaps are on their way I promise. As of right now I am in the process of editing a few photos as well as hopefully getting some thank you cards out. But I promise I will be back to blog and give you the recap that you deserve~

Till then

Smooches!

Items for Sale

A ton of after wedding items for sale. All items can either be picked up locally or shipped for shipping costs.

Oleg Cassini Wedding Gown Size 14 $150 plus shipping
White Bird Cage $25
Oleg Cassini Wedding Gown Size 18W
Wishing Well $10
Steel Blue Card Stock over 100 sheets $20
I Do Letters $5.00
15 Bottles of Wine $45
36 Mini Sparklers $15
1 Spool of Blue Tulle $1
1 spool of white tulle $1
1 Tiffany Blue Men's Tie $10
Corsage Pins$3
Silk Flowers used for centerpieces $10
2 Brown and White Silk Flower Bouquets $15 for both

More items will be posted!

Email me at dmitchell08@yahoo.com