Adventures in Parenthood: Nursery Inspiration

Photo from Babies R Us

In preparation for Baby Plattner, Mr. Plattner and I have been working very hard to turn the former computer room/home office into the baby's room! (YAY! It is so fun to say that!) But before we can truly transform the room, we needed a plan... a decorating plan! So today I am going to share with your our Nursery Inspiration!

After looking through tons and tons of baby websites and stores, there was only one baby nursery set that I really liked. And, wouldn't you know it, it's Disney. (No surprises there, am I right?) Babies 'R Us features a new Monsters Inc. bedding set for nurseries, and I absolutely love it.

This set was our springboard. But going hard-core Monsters was just too easy -- there were a lot of pieces of the set I loved, and some I thought were a little over the top. So over the course of the last few weeks, I have been gathering a few items for an overall nursery inspiration, with Monsters Inc. undertones!

Mike Wazowski Slippers, Circo Sleepers, Monsters Inc Blanket, Sulley Stuffy, Grey Polka Dot Blanket

Adventures in Gettin' Married: Beautiful Bridesmaids

Did you know that in early Roman times, bridesmaids formed a human shield around the bride as they escorted the bride to her groom? The similarly-dressed bridesmaids' sole purpose was to protect the bride from bandits, thieves, and their ilk who might try and steal the bride away, or her dowry! 

Hundreds of years later, bridesmaids were used as bridal decoys to outsmart "evil spirits" thought to attend and ruin marriage ceremonies. Bridesmaids and groomsmen dressed in identical clothing to the marital couple in hopes to outsmart the spirits, leading them astray from the true bride and groom. 


Evil spirits or not, I have never really been into the whole matchy-matchy bridal party thing. When it came time to pick outfits for the ladies, I knew I didn't necessarily want them all in the same exact outfit, or the same color for that matter. I wanted them to choose. I wanted my girls to express who they were. They are my most loved ladies because of their individuality and charisma. I didn't want that to get lost in a sea of taffeta, organza or silk. 


For a unified look, I decided to choose a few colors. (Check out my Color Me Happy post for the color scheme!) Then I let the ladies decide from there. They could choose short, long, formal, informal... I left it entirely up to them. I even got the awesome chance to go dress shopping with all of them at David's Bridal. They were troopers, trying on dress after dress until they found the one that called to them. I think they did a marvelous job. Here is a sneak peak at what they have chosen. It's going to be beautiful! 

From left to right: Matron of Honor, Bridesmaid, Bridesmaid, Junior Bridesmaid

Adventures in Gettin' Married: Good Lookin' Groomsmen

Now that I had my dress, it was time to find something for Aaron to wear! ♥

When it came time to decide on the groomsmen's attire, we kinda/sorta went the easy route. Having purchased my dress through David's Bridal, it was easy enough to utilize their fraternal business, the Men's Wearhouse. Not only was it locally convenient for us to determine what we liked, but it would also be convenient for all of our groomsmen to get fitted all over the country, and Aaron needed to buy a new suit anyway... so in we went.

We found the people to be outstandingly helpful. I loved working with our sales-lady. She was saucy, and honest while being polite and fun. She was awesome! Not only did she help Aaron pick out not one, but two brand new handsome suits, she also helped us to design the attire aesthetic for our groomsmen. (Thank you, Buy-One-Get-One-Free Sale!) 

I was going to somehow photoshop Aaron's
head onto this body, but alas I am both
lazy and not particularly skilled
with Adobe® Photoshop®.

Wanting to stick with my color scheme (David's Bridal colors Capri, Cornflower and Horizon), our sales-lady immediately hooked us up with the coordinating groomsman gear. After looking through the look-book of hot model-dudes okay-looking guys in penguin suits, we realized that we had many choices.

Ultimately we decided on a classic black Calvin Klein (Concord) Two-button Tuxedo with a satin framed edge lapel for some pizazz.

Not wanting to go with cheesy pre-tied bow ties, we opted for the Bella Luna Euro Tie and Vest combination. We decided that the groomsmen would wear vests and ties in horizon blue. The dads would be featured in a lovely silvery, platinum vest. And finally, Aaron would highlight the handsome league of gentlemen in white.


This is going to be one good-lookin' group of guys. Hands off ladies -- the stud in white is mine! ♥

Adventures in Gettin' Married: Dress to Impress

Most girls dream of getting married. Each dream is a little different. But most dreams begin as we find Prince Charming and end as he matrimonially twirls us around, and dips us into a sweet and loving kiss, thus providing a perfect beginning to our new lives together as Prince & Princess Charming, or the Future Mr. and Mrs. Plattner, or {place you and your preferred partner here}. Each dream has a different setting and a different cast of characters. But in every dream, there is one thing that remains the same. THE DRESS.  


Just as any giddy, overly-excited, newly-engaged girl does -- I began searching for gowns immediately upon receipt of the ring. I mean, next to the ring, the dress is the most important thing, right? (Okay, fine, the groom is kind of important, too. Just kidding, Mr. Plattner. Seriously, I would get married in an orange burlap sack, if I had to, in order to marry you. Yes, burlap, which I imagine to be quite itchy. And you know how much I love orange. And being itchy.) 


As I searched for inspiration, I realized that my tastes had changed over the years. In the past, I wanted to be Belle as she walked down the stair-well to meet the Beast. I used to want the big, puffy princess gown. But I found I was not drawn to the bigger, more regal dresses. As I looked in magazines and online, I was intrigued by unadorned elegance. I found beauty in simplicity. 


I knew that in searching for my gown, I didn't want a lot of people there. I didn't want the parade of people some brides bring with them like you might see on television. I didn't need a posse of women to ooh and aah. I needed one or two sane and honest voices. I asked my mom and my matron of honor for assistance. On our first excursion, I didn't know what to expect. I knew that I needed to try on a variety of silhouettes. I knew that even though it wasn't my favorite on the hanger, things always look different draped on a woman's curves. 


With that said.... I tried on A LOT of dresses. Some things I put on and would take right off, not walking out of the dressing room... I just knew they were not for me. I giggled profusely at the sight of me standing there in a few of the dresses. There were a few gowns I really loved for one reason or another: I loved the bodice of one dress; I loved the train on another; I loved the silhouette of yet another. I even tried on a "Belle" dress. As soon as I put it on, I knew that it wasn't for me. And interestingly enough, I wasn't disappointed or saddened, I was excited to keep looking. 


On the same day we went to a second bridal boutique. I brought a printed copy of my 'Inspiration Page' and the ladies quickly got to work bringing me a variety of styles and dresses. One of our bridal assistants told us that a bride typically chooses the first dress or the last dress. I really, really liked the first gown. But... For me, it was the last dress. It was kind of funny because just prior to the last dress I tried on a gown I really liked. It was fashionable, it looked awesome, and it was down-right cheap. The assistant turned to me and said, "so I don't need to bring out the last one?" To which I replied that she should because it couldn't hurt to look at one more dress. That one additional dress turned out to be THE DRESS. This gown had everything I loved about the other dresses, beautifully combined in one gown. I was nervous. Here I was, yet again, taking the plunge on what seemed like a last-minute choice. I had only been trying on dresses for a few hours! I had only been to two stores! But, just as I had known with our venue, I knew that this was it. This was my dress. THE DRESS. 


Can you guess which dress it is? ♥