I went to a Mary Kay Party

I am not one of those lady's who spends ample amounts of time applying make up. I have many flaws, but I am comfortable with them. However, for the fanciest of occasions, even the likes of me have to look as flawless as humanly possible.

And so, there are those small sacrifices we all have to make when wedding season rolls around regardless of whether we are those kind of girls. It's called the Mary Kay party.

Caroline and Mama Long attended a bridal show in January, where there were a number of door prizes for brides-to-be to win. Caroline won the Mary Kay party, or rather she won the privilege to host the party, and the more people she got to come to her shin-dig, the more free stuff she got.

And so, being the good little MOH that I am, I drove out to Midway to learn how to make myself look the best I can look, or at least to try.

Grandma, Amy, Mama Long, and Aunt Jean were also there. Our party thrower's name was Christine, a mom of two who decided to start bringing in some income into her household by way of taking on the life of a saleswoman. She was perfectly groomed: straight hair, not a stray to be seen; manicured PINK nails; just enough make-up on to look like she didn't try hard to look fabulous, but she still did. She was the perfect MaryKay lady.

We had lip balm and hand balm. We went through face cleanser, moisturizes, sun protection, and night cream. We applied foundation, bronzer, eye shadow, mascara, and lip gloss. By the end of the lesson, I was ready for a night on the town.

It was a fun night, although I was exhausted by the end of it. I ended up buying a face mask and some mascara (because, apparently, my eyes are my best feature). Christine talked to each party-goer one by one, so after Caroline and I were finished, we migrated to the kitchen for some much needed caffeine.

By the end of the night, I had my face and my products. Caroline had free stuff and the idea that this might be a good side job. So if anyone is interested in hosting a Mary Kay party for whatever reason, let me know.... Caroline is on it!

Caroline is excited about her first Mary Kay party.




Amy and Grandma



Aunt Jean and Mama Long

My fellow bridesmaids

The lovely ladies Caroline has chosen to be her bridesmaids:

*Jackie Harman* (Jared's older sister)

*Emily Nenninger* (Jared's little sister)

*Ashley Pope* ("Lil' RaRa" from high school)

*Jessica Reaves* (high school)

*Blaire Goodale* (work friend)

*Katie Powlas* (work friend)

*Amy Gardin* (cousin)

This is C-line's list, thus how I know their names. I have not had the privilege to meet everyone yet.

S'WONDERFUL NEWS

Jared's DEPLOYMENT got canceled. Wedding is on for October again!



That is all :)

My first planning session

One lazy Sunday afternoon, I headed over to pick Caroline up from her parents' house. It is a long standing Long tradition to have a family lunch after church on Sundays. So, in order to get our first planning session underway, Caroline invited me to join, and I was excited because I hadn't seen her parents, her aunt and uncle, or her cousin in years.

When we got to her Aunt Jean's house, the counter was full of goodies, and the table full of dessert.

And may I say: there are just some things that are fan-flippin'-tastic about living in the South-- like the cuisine.

Some background on the reason for this get-together: the day before, Caroline called me all sad and melancholy sounding. Her wedding date had been set for October 2 (and who could blame her, fall weddings are beautiful), but Jared had been scheduled to deploy to the middle east unexpectedly. So, Carline had two choices-- wait until he got back, or move the wedding up. She decided to move the wedding up, all the while hoping the deployment would be canceled.
The wedding was moved up to JULY 10 (insert hyperventilating bride and maid of honor here), so we had some planning to do.

While sitting at the dinner table after piling our plates, wedding talk commenced (Caroline told me this had become a weekly tradition since her engagement).
Napkins, invitations, bridal events coming up. Mrs. Long went rifling in the computer room for coupons to Michael's. At one point, Caroline pulled out her handy-dandy wedding binder to show Daddy Long what she wanted for the landscape of her wedding. Caroline has decided to get married outside--- more specifically, at her grandmother's house. Her grandmother owns a farm and a LOT of land, and Caroline has always dreamed of getting married there. (I picture a five-year-old wrapped in toilet paper playing dress-up when someone tells me they have a "dream wedding.")
Caroline wants sunflowers (which will go beautifully with the gold motif) and green fields. Not a lot to ask for, right? But if any one can do it, Daddy Long can--- he's got a knack for making things GROW.

After dinner, Caroline and I headed up to her grandma's house so I could try to share her vision. Kinda hard to do in the dead of winter, but with a little imagination, I saw her dream, looking out on the rolling field and standing under what will be shady trees in just a few months.

But then we were off-- to do our to-do list.
First order of business was to order my dress. Oy-- David's Bridal was PACKED. 'Tis the season for satin and taffeta.

I had originally picked a dress from the catalog, but when I tried it on, of course, I looked like a sack of potatoes with arms and legs. No good. So, I tried on another, which, thankfully, fit me perfectly and had STRAPS so I won't be falling out of my dress on my way down the aisle.

I would show you a picture, but David's fails and does not have it on their Web site.
While there, Caroline got her garter belt ;) Ooo lala. It's an army garter belt.

At some point that afternoon, we discussed boutonnières and bouquets. The bridesmaids will carry yellow Calli lilies. Caroline will have a mix of yellow and mango, and I will also have a mix, because I'm SPECIAL. Her bouquet will look something like this:

Image courtesy of www.bride.net

From David's, I chauffeured Miss Bride-to-be to Michael's, where we looked at invitations for the wedding and the bridal shower, and party favors for the BaChElOrEtTe party. I gotta say, party favor shopping is going to be fun (I think a trip to Spencer's will be in order). We went to Marshall's after that to look for shoes, and then to A.C. Moore's for more goodies. My lesson for the day: weddings can be EXPENSIVE.

After our gallivanting was done, I took Caroline back home to Midway, and I got a sneak-peak of her BEAUTIFUL dress (again, Jared-- be jealous... but I promise, it'll be worth the wait!).

So far, even with the bump-up, everything is looking good... now I just have to start figuring out how to host a BRIDAL SHOWER.

Kerley's BBQ

Image courtesy of www.zazzle.com

Caroline and I decided to go to dinner one night in January at Kerley's BBQ in Welcome, North Carolina. (YUM)

It was the first time I saw her since the big P, so I was excited to hear the story and gawk at the shiny thing on her hand. We sat there for 2 hours catching me up on the news, and then she asked me... to essentially be her slave (MoH), and I said YES (again-- no surprise-- I'm happy to be a slave haha). I proceeded to bounce up and down in the booth like an ecstatic five-year-old on a sugar high. Caroline laughed-- I'm sure I was entertaining to watch.

I suppose she expected I would say yes, because she just so happened to conveniently have the dress catalog with her. She is going to have 8 bridesmaids, including me, and each of us will be wearing a different style of a knee length dress (the wedding is going to be in July in North Carolina--- God bless Caroline for thinking of short dresses).

The dress color is persimmon-- a pretty orange-pink-red color. Jared will be wearing his dress blues, so Caroline wanted the ladies' dresses to accent the gold in his uniform.

And of course, there is Caroline's dress. She had already found and bought it, the shoes, and the veil before dinner that night. I've SEEN it since then (go ahead and be jealous, Jared), and it is possibly one of the prettiest things I have ever laid my eyes on. (I promise to post pictures of her in her dress AFTER the wedding) We are going to be one *swish* wedding party.

I think Caroline is digging this whole planning a partay in her honor... as she should. I think her family is digging it even more-- which is awesome.

The Big P

Caroline went to Texas with Jared for New Year's. Jared is from Texas, and his family still lives there. On New Year's Eve, Jared's sisters took Caroline to get manis and pedis (manicures and pedicures). That night, the family and their friends had a barbeque to bring in the new year. Jared, Caroline noticed, seemed on edge. The closer to midnight it got... the more nervous he got.
As the ball dropped...

Image courtesy of Art.sonorika.com

Jared got down on one knee... and popped the question.

And, obviously, she said yes. (Jared-- why were you worried?)

Caroline conveniently had nicely manicured hands to show off her bling. (good going, sisters)

NOTE--- This is Caroline's side of the story :)

Made of Honor. (ha)*

I have been chosen. I will be the girl at the alter holding two bouquets... immediately to the left of the one in the white dress (excitement and panic ensue). My dearest dixie girl, Caroline (see my post on Midway), is getting hitched (that's her with her sweetie above), and I am her maid of honor.

As a way of keeping record of the plans, I'm going to start using this blog as sort of a laundry list of things to do and things to avoid. And hopefully, I'll have some insight on how to do these things with grace, poise, and honor (bahaha!)

Tales of the bridal shower, the bachelorette party(s), the day before and the day of the wedding, and everything else that involves the blushing bride will be posted here as well.

So wish me luck and stay tuned.