"is too poopy for you?" ...excuse me?

This past Saturday, I went with two of my bridesmaids to check out the wedding dress scene. I was a bit apprehensive about it all because it had yet to feel like I needed a dress yet. Of course, I know I need a dress... it just didn't... feel like it...? Ridiculous, I know.  Anyway, two of my girls and I went on the search for "the one". (I guess, it's really not "The One", seeing as that would be reserved for the fiancé, but I think it'll be fine if I just leave the capitals off.)

Back to the story - our first stop, after finding parking, was Booster Juice...we needed some breakfast and heck, a booster in our smoothies sure wouldn't hurt. After procuring our delicious, boosted fruity drinks, we headed off to Stella's Bridal Galleria. Alas, it was not open quite yet... so we waited. What else were we supposed to do. Doors opened, and we set our sights on the wedding dresses. It didn't take long for someone to approach us and sense our fear and confusion, we got our helper! I had ABSOLUTELY no clue what style, or shade of white (betcha didn't realize THAT was an option too), or cut, or how much lace or bling I wanted. After a few excellent questions from the staff, we had a rack with about 6 or 7 dresses on it. Hurrah, we were on our way, we were making progress. After trying on the first dress, it felt like I was waaay behind on the dress shopping. Second dress was brand-new to the shop. I was the FIRST to try it on. It felt so cool to be the first. The dress happened to be (if you're my fiance, avert your eyes... skip down to the next paragraph...or about 3 or 4 lines down) a knock-off of Kate Middleton's going away dress. Oh, it was gorgeous. I put it on, walked out and the general consensus was that it was AMAZING - and that it needed pockets. I agree... it needs pockets. It was simple, yet glamorous. The train - oh gosh, the train was amazing. There were buttons all the way down the back, to the bottom of the train (a plus - they were decorative, no one would have to button my WHOLE dress up). Gor-geous.

Next was a "Hollywood" style dress - as my friends dubbed it. It was strapless (all of them were), rouched diagonally to the right with a bit of bling on the side. The back laced up, with a bit of bling on each side of the laces. It was so pretty. Following that was one that's harder to describe... a bit of rouching on the bodice down to the hips, where it fell into layers of semi-rouched/pleated partial layers, creating a full-ish skirt. A bit of bling on that one too.

Moving on from Stella's - two styles marked down on my card, we went to Theresa's. It went SOO far down hill from Stella's. We walked in, and I wanted to walk right out. However, it's one of those places where you are descended upon as soon as they catch any sort of "I'm outta here" vibe from you. I had to describe the dress styles I had been trying on by pointing to them. I tried on two, because I felt like I HAD to...and they were both not good. The first one, laced up in the back, but made me feel like a cupcake. It was too poofy, and had to let the lady know. "It's too poofy for me, it's just too poofy" "Is too poopy for you?" Oh, I just about lost it completely. I shot a look at one of my bridesmaids who was also having the hardest time holding back her laughter as she was shaking her head and saying "no, no, I don't like it... it's too poofy". The second dress, is not memorable enough to be described. In the nicest way possible, we all but ran out of there.

The last store for the day was Labelle's. Oh boy, I was quite worried about the status of the dresses we would find in there, based upon my previous visit the year before. About this time last year, we went in to get a dress for my oldest sister, and we were - to put it nicely - quite put off. This time, the people, the dresses and the atmosphere were SO much better. I actually found two dresses I like there, as well as a possible bridesmaid dress that just might suit everyone! Shocking! I tried on probably about 10 dresses at this store, each one fairly different from the one before it. The theme that ran through all the ones I REALLY liked, was buttons down the back of the skirt, and a sweetheart neckline. Pockets, of course were always an added bonus. I would go into detail about these ones, but I can't really remember all the wonderful things about them, and getting at the pictures would take too much time.

I would post pictures - however, my fiance can get access to the blog, and that would take all the surprise out of the big day...and no one wants that. So, I have to go with the rest of my bridesmaids and my mom and sisters, but all in shifts because that is just FAAR too daunting, having 7 opinions, on top of my own and those of the staff. So, shifts of two and myself. We'll get this done eventually!

Ba dum da dum...

I hear bells!! They are in the somewhat near future - if you consider May 2012 near.

Let me back it up a bit, last night (Sunday the 20th) my boyfriend proposed! He set up a scavenger hunt, and the first letter of each clue spelled out "will u marry me". YES YES YES!!! Of course!

So, the ring is beautiful. Square cut, diamond, white gold band - everything I wanted. Luckily HE'S everything I want too! I freaked out a little - in the best way - and then had to calm down a little bit before I called my mom and freaked out a bit more.

More details to come - we're still chatting about what to do, where, when, how... all that jazz.

All I know is, I'm COMPLETELY thrilled, and INCREDIBLY happy :)

K-town. Kurtis. Kurty.

Ah, Kurtis. The current subject of my blog. A friend like no other. The giver of a good ass-smacking. And the dealer of opinions on all things fashion.

Kurtis Wright. What is there to say about him, other than the fact that he's a diva.
Don't get me wrong, he's a diva in the best sense of the word. Look it up.
*ahem*
di·va  noun \ˈdē-və\
plural divas or di·ve\-(ˌ)vā\
Definition of DIVA
1  a : prima donna 1 b : prima donna 2 (a vain or undisciplined person who finds it difficult to work under direction or as part of a team)
2: a usually glamorous and successful female performer or personality <a fashion diva>; especially : a popular female singer <pop divas>

Mind you, Kurtis is not a female... but the first bit, the "prima donna" bit - that one is good.
Ok - that doesn't sound like a good thing... but let me explain. He is a teeny bit vain (adj: having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements) - and again that comes off as awful - but, to quote the subject himself "More people should be vain, we would have a more confident world."

So - explanations, compliments and definitions aside, Kurtis is great. He's that friend you go shopping with if you want a brutally honest opinion about whether or not those jeans make your butt look fat, or if that shirt suits you at all. It's good. It's brash. It's useful. It's ever so fabulous. It's Kurtis.

Kurtis moved away to Calgary a couple years ago, but keeps in touch through BBM. He checked in often when my dad was sick, that made me pretty stoked to have him as a friend. He's hundreds of kilometres away and still cares, still checks in, still wants to know what's going on here in my life and the life of my family. He's awesome like that.

Everyone needs a Kurtis in their life. I've got mine :)

Traffic, parking and road rage... oh %@^$!

So, like many Winnipeggers, I have the unfortunate ability to drive. I say unfortunate because if you've ever been stuck behind that person driving 25 clicks in a 60 zone and are unable to pass due to oncoming traffic, or you're forced to swerve into said oncoming traffic because the person in front of your slams on their brakes and starts sliding on a patch of ice, you know - like most of the drivers out there (if not all of them) - that something unfortunate is bound to happen. You'll end up late for work, school or an appointment, or - if you happen to find that amazingly sneaky patch of ice, you'll end up injured, or extremely frustrated and possibly end up shelling out a pretty penny or two (million) on repairs to your poor, sad vehicle.

This morning, for example, I was driving to work and had the opportunity to travel in a 50 zone, behind someone clipping along at a miraculous 25. That's right folks, twenty-freakin-five. Not only is that far below the speed limit (or suggested minimum as a certain relative of mine would say) but that's HALF of the speed limit, and quite dangerous. Don't get me wrong, it's not quite as dangerous as going double the limit, but still, you force people behind you to take drastic measures (occasionally) to make it to work on time. Do the limit - MAYBE 5 or 10 under/over - and we'll all get along fine. If you can't manage that, maybe you should be re-tested... just saying.

Another transportation peeve of mine - and I know many of you out there have experienced one of these critters - the people who don't know how to park. Be it parallel parking on a street, or parking in a lot (diagonally or otherwise). A little gem I found the other day, was at Safeway on Henderson and Kimberly. A brilliant motorist decided to park HALF in the parking space, and HALF in the driving lane, leaving little more than 3/4 of a car's width for navigating through the zoo that is that lot. On this particular occasion, I was with my cousin who, upon noticing this lovely parking job, pointed out to me that she had encountered a worse parking lot experience. She had started off her day on not only the wrong foot, but the wrong side of everything. That particular day was going downhill fast, like a runaway train. She had gone to almost every hardware/handy-person's store possible, and could not find what she was looking for. Her last stop was Safeway, hoping that they might - on the off chance - have lock-de-icer. When she left the store, she found that not only was she blocked in from ALL sides (yes, front, back and side to side) but there was no one in the vehicle. In to Safeway she went, hoping to page this bright young lad out to his vehicle. Alas, no such luck. As she was leaving, again, she found that he was just pulling away. She ran up to him, and said "you blocked me in, I've been waiting for you for half an hour, and had your licence plate paged through the store". Now, is it asking too much to expect an apology, or at the very least a sympathetic - even half-assed - "sorry"? Apparently. This fella, just said "bummer" and drove off.

Yikes. Parking lots = hazards and should be left to skilled drivers only. Especially only those that know how to park. I'm not saying I'm excellent at it, I know I've had my share of bad parking jobs. I'm just saying we should leave this to the professionals people.

Parallel parking on residential streets... wow. That's another beast entirely. Why, oh why, would you park in a space that is large enough for two trucks - not in the middle, which is bad enough - but with 3/4 of a cars length in front of you, and the remaining 1/4 behind you? Pull up all the way, or tuck yourself in properly so that someone else can use that lovely space, please!

That's enough from me on that... for now.

You know you've got bad road rage when it presents itself on a blog post, or in conversations not even remotely related to anything transportation at all. I need to chill out and get a chauffeur. Jeeze.