My Clear Skin Regimen

Makeup does wonders, but it can only go so far. When I have a bad breakout, I have never been a fan of covering it up with loads of concealer. On me, it just makes it look worse. Which means clear skin is a priority for me.

 I have to say, my skin has never been all that terrible. However, I have my serious issues with it from time to time. I get those awful, what I like to call "underground", pimples that are very painful. Then it takes nearly a week and a half to clear up. I am incredibly nervous that my skin will not be clear come May.

A few months back I started to notice how perfectly clear my sister's skin is. My sister has dealt with skin issues and so it was very obvious how incredible her skin looked. I asked her what the heck she did to make it so clear. She said she started using the acne 3 step program from Clinique.

{Isn't she beautiful? And look how clear her skin is!}

Hold the phone...seriously? I have always used Clinique face makeup products for as long as I can remember. (Although my eyelids belong to MAC.) I think it is because my mom always used their face makeup products so in turn I did as well. They truly make a product that keeps skin in mind. I had seen the acne 3 step program before, so why did I never think to try it out?

I went ahead and ordered the acne 3 step program to get started. This is the skin that I started with. Don't laugh at me, I look a little rough after a long day and no make up. I have those painful "undergrounds" and smaller ones that aren't quite visible..but they are there, I swear!

{We are close to Halloween, so here is my attempt to scare ya a little.}


As soon as the products arrived I began using it as directed. 3 steps in the morning and 3 steps in the evening. I even bought the emergency gel lotion just in case.

Here is my skin after just 3 days of use.

I think I am in love. This product worked wonders for me. Not only did it clear up my skin, but it has also prevented future breakouts. If I use the product the way it is suppose to be used, I do not have any breakouts. Which means I can be confident that I will have clear skin from here on out and through the wedding. (I really hope I did not just jinx myself.)

Now as far as price goes, it is more expensive than store bought products such as Clean and Clear. I will say that it is less expensive than some of the other acne products on the market. You can by the kit which comes with slightly smaller bottles, but still a decent size, for $32.50. Or you can buy the big bottles separately which comes to about $50 total. You can even buy the bar soap instead of the foam pump which is made out of the same ingredients, but it is $4 cheaper and lasts much longer. I find that they last a little over 3 months before I need to order more. In my opinion, you absolutely get your money's worth.

Clinique has a clear skin guarantee where if your skin does not clear up and you are not satisfied, they will refund your money. As a consumer, this proves to me that they are confident in their product. No need to convince me though, because I am a Clinique lifer now.

I also promise I am not a spokesperson, just a very happy acne free customer.

(fake) Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

Soon after we were engaged I found the most perfect bracelet at Nordstrom. It is a crystal bracelet made by Nadri. It's understated simplicity is perfect to accent my dress. Unfortunately this bracelet was also $100, which I did not feel I needed to spend 17 months before the wedding. Every time I was at Nordstrom since then I would try the bracelet on and fall in love all over again. Yet, I still wasn't ready to fork out $100 on jewelry.

Then I was there for their semi-annual sale this past June. I noticed much of the Nadri jewelry line was on sale. I found my bracelet and lo and behold, it was 40% off. I asked the sales lady if they will go on sale again at a later point. I figured if it would be on sale again later this year then I would just come back and get it then. She told me that Nadri does not go on sale very often and the next time it might would be next June. As in 2012....as in a month after my wedding.

Well golly gee, guess I am just going to have to buy that bracelet. Twist my arm, why don't ya! I definitely got a sweet deal on a high quality piece of jewelry.

Just for you Hive, I did a photo session this morning with my bracelet. I never knew until today how tiresome hand modeling can be. I hope they get paid well.

Now I have my earrings and my bracelet, and that is it for my wedding jewelry. If you were wondering, I will not be wearing a necklace. So here it is, the final jewels that I will be wearing on the big day.



What kind of bling will you be wearing? Did you get a sweet deal like I did?



The Wishing Tree Is Complete!

Now that I have finished the wish tags, it is time that I construct myself a tree. I went on a search to try and find manzanita branches. I came across the website Blooms and Branches who had all kinds of different manzanita branch options. Although I really like the look of the natural manzanita branch, I was worried they might shed and make a mess. I decided to place an order for 2 of their 24" sandblasted manzanita branches. The sandblasting basically removes the outer layer of the branch to create a clean ivory branch.

The only downside that I found was that shipping costs nearly as much as the branches. I understand though, I mean...they are shipping a fragile object that could easily break.

{Who else when seeing a FRAGILE label quotes the leg lamp scene from A Christmas Story?

FRA-GEE-LEE. I'm not the only one, am I?}

I then took what might be my 1 millionth trip to Michaels and bought some extra supplies. I of course brought a 40% off coupon from their weekly ad to use towards my purchase. I ended up buying a tall vase, ribbon and colorfill beads. If you have never heard of colorfill, that's okay I hadn't either. It is a small bead that resembles crystals. Although when you put them in a vase, it hides everything in it. That way you won't see the bottom part of the branches. If you were to put a light at the bottom of the vase though, it would shine through as if the beads are clear. Pretty snazzy stuff.

It was pretty easy after I had all of my supplies. Assemble the branches in the vase, fill vase with colorfill, tie a bow around the vase and voila, tree is complete! This is how the tree will look when my guests arrive at the wedding.

Once everyone starts filling out the tags and hanging them on the tree...it should look something like this.

I have to say that I am pretty happy with how this project turned out. It was also very affordable compared to some of the guestbooks I had been looking at. I am still toying with the idea of placing a LED battery operated light at the bottom of the vase. It might add some jazz to have the vase light up.

What does everyone think? Should I add a light to the vase?

If you constructed a wishing tree, how did yours turn out?

My Hair Has Issues

If you haven't noticed by now, my hair is of the curly variety. I am incredibly worried about my hair on my wedding day. For good reason too. Let me give you some background information so you can fully understand my concern. Today I present to you the trials and tribulations of this Doe's hair. Or in other words, my fur.

Might I add that this was difficult posting a few of these photos. They are by no means flattering photos of me. However, I have learned to laugh at myself. Therefore in the name of blogging, I proudly and humbly present to you the story of my hair, hang on tight.

1. The adorable years started when I was just a little fawn. I had what some considered to be hair reminiscent of Shirley Temple. (Who I love, by the way.)

   

2. It slowly transitioned into the poofy years. We were never quite sure how to handle my hair, so we kept it at a modest shoulder length that formed somewhat of a triangle. (I say we, because my mom was my hair stylist.)



3. My hair always had great versatility. It came in handy with Halloween costumes, I never needed to wear a wig! Sister Doe obviously had to wear wigs. She did rock that Pocahontas look though. Also, how cute does Brother Doe look?

{If you didn't guess, I am the witch. Next to me is Sis Doe and Bro Doe}

4. The awkward years came and lasted a little too long in my opinion. It's the years of the bangs and excessive amounts of mousse.



5. The real battle started to occur soon after I met Mr. Buck. I lost the bangs, but not the mousse. I was convinced that my hair needed to air dry to achieve maximum curliness with a minimum amount of frizz. This turned into a daily battle for me. One that I was determined to win. I would wake up every day to get ready for school at 4:30 am to let my hair properly dry. It obviously did not work. Exhibit A: my drivers license photo. I honestly have no excuse for this photo. I think my hair plotted against me this day. I mean seriously, WHAT IS THAT?!



6. About halfway through high school, I discovered the flat iron. This was probably the worst thing that I have ever done to my hair. I straightened it every single day. At first it was long and looked nice, but then slowly my hair started to die and was fried. It became shorter and shorter...but I hadn't cut my hair. It basically just started to fall out. I think what bothers me most looking back on pictures of me with straight hair is that I just don't look like myself.

 

7. I entered the hippie years right after high school. I stopped straightening my hair and just let it grow out. I think I went two years before I got a hair cut and actually evened out my hair color.

{Sis Doe and I}

8. Being that my mom is a past hair dresser, she advised me to cut my hair and get a few high lights. That was definitely some good advice from mom (advice? demand?) because this is how I think my hair looks best. I also keep regular appointments with my hair dresser to keep my mass of hair in check.

{Mom Doe and I}

I love my hair shorter, but that is not going to work for how I want my hair for the wedding. I started growing my hair out soon after we became engaged. It is starting to get pretty long.

{Me with Bro Doe and Sis Doe)

My hair dresser still wants me to grow it out at least two more inches before the wedding. It.is.driving.me.CRAZY. I can't handle this long hair thing. It is constantly all up in my business and driving me bonkers. I am a stanch supporter of the post wedding chop and I can't wait to hack it off.

My thoughts are constantly consumed by wedding hair nightmares. With my past hair history, I am so worried my hair will not cooperate on my wedding day. I am totally freaked out that I am going to have one big frizzy mess gracing my head on that day.

Are you growing your hair out for your wedding?
Are you worried your hair will plot against you on your wedding day?

How Rude!

I thought I would update you all on that appointment we had to meet with a potential videographer. The one that I was super excited about because he did not require my first born child and/or my life savings in order to book him?

Yeah, total fail. That meeting did not go as I had hoped. First he emailed me about an hour before our appointment to ask if we could push back the appointment by 30 minutes. Okay, no big deal. Thank goodness I checked my email before leaving. I consider this to be sign numero uno.

Things started off fairly well while he was explaining the different pricing options. Again, he was the most affordable videographer that I could fine. Things took a slight turn when he continued to call Mr. Buck by the wrong name of James. Not just once, but approximately five times. After every time he would correct himself, so he did know his correct name. Okay, the first time is an honest mistake. Second time, he is still trying to figure this out. Third, fourth, fifth time? I'm starting to think Mr. Buck's real name is James....ridiculous.

He showed us two videos and they seemed nice. Nothing special, but again he is affordable and I kept telling myself this. To top it all off at the very end he said "I don't really choose to do weddings anymore because they take up my weekends, I only do them when people find me." Wow, thanks. Because we aren't going to be paying you a crap load of money or anything. (Yes he is affordable, but it still costs money.) I was not really interested in paying someone for a service who does not actually want to be there. As Stephanie Tanner would say:

{Image via Forever Geek}

 

This was all very frustrating to say the least. I felt like I was back to square one and considering once again to not have a videographer. That is until I got home and found a message from my photographer. He knew I was going to meet with a videographer, and he had a referral for me if this one did not work out. Apparently one of his best friends does video and they work really well together. I got his contact information and emailed him right away. I am hoping to meet with him soon and hopefully this one will work out a little better.

At the very least, maybe he will remember Mr. Buck's name. That would be a start.

Keeping The Eye On The Prize

I recently had a phone date with my one of my really good friends who I grew up with. She now lives in Washington so we don't see each other often, which means we try to keep our phone dates fairly regular. Over the past year our conversations have turned to wedding discussions because we are both getting married one month apart.

{I know you are wondering if we finished that sundae....heck yes we did!}


We started the conversation with the normal exciting wedding jibber jabber. The vendors we had booked, the registry, dress and so on. The conversation took a slight turn when things started to get real. Basically we had fun talking about all the pretty fun stuff but then we started to dig deep into the side most people don't talk about as far as weddings go. The stuff that is not exactly fun to talk about with the general population because they just don't understand. However, I feel many brides go through this and it is something we all can relate to.

The amount of pressure that is placed on us is huge. The pressure to pick the right dress, vendors, food, invitations and so on. God forbid someone disagrees with you on a decision you made. There are just so many (too many) options out there for everything in the wedding industry. It all can be a little daunting at times.

She was discussing her frustrations with immigration (she is marrying a Canadian) and irritations with registries. I was ranting about videographers and rehearsal dinner plans. We both caught ourselves and realized hey, none of that matters.

Because you know what? At the end of the day, your dress is just material. Your flowers are just plants. The catering is just food. Your venue is just a place to hold the wedding.

When all is said and done, none of that will change whether or not you are married. They are all material things and we place too much importance on them sometimes. Yes, it is all fun stuff but it should not become the bane of our existence. So when the craziness hits and we can't see the forest for the trees, just sit back and remember the reason for having a wedding. The number one most important thing is that I am marrying my best friend and the wedding is the start of eternity for us.

I know Mr. Buck would marry me barefoot in the middle of nowhere.

Hive, I bet your fiance would do the same. Just something to remember when you start to feel overwhelmed.

{Image via Hello World!}

{Unless otherwise noted, all photos are personal}

You're KILLIN' Me Smalls!

Early in our engagement I made the bold proclamation that videography was not necessary. I did not see the point...I figured nobody actually watches their video, do they?

I did some research to try and convince myself that maybe videography is important. I came across a website that details a few reasons why you should hire a videographer. Here is the general outline:

1. You forget things over the years, video helps you to remember.
2. Video gives you the opportunity to see things you missed.
3. You spend lots of money on a wedding, video gives you the chance to capture all that magic.
4. Photography is important, but video captures movement and sound. Which is nice to have for things like toasts and the first dance.
5. Remember when Aunt Bethany video taped your family reunion? Then you go back to try and watch the video but instead you get motion sickness? Yeah, a professional videographer helps avoid that.
6. Video gives the opportunity for your kids and grand kids to experience what your wedding was like. They will probably make fun of you, but isn't that worth it?
7. Should we decide we want to sit down and watch the video, we would at least have that option.

What.Was.I.THINKING! Of course video is important if I can squeeze it into the budget. Yup, I talked myself into it.

I started contacting videographers in the area and was astounded by some of the prices. I understand that maybe we can't afford the best videographer out there, but someone decent would be nice. Every vendor I contacted would respond back with an outrageous price. Then when I would tell them my actual budget, they would tell me they could accommodate that by excluding editing and only taping the ceremony. What is the point in that?! This was how I wanted to respond to every videographer I came across:

{Image via Crossfit Vallejo/Edits by Doe}

I even attempted trying to find someone on Craigslist...but that only led me to a bunch of creepers. After repeatedly pounding my head against a wall, I finally came across a local videographer and contacted him for pricing information. I was expecting and preparing myself for an outrageous price tag.

Instead he emailed me a brochure with prices that were actually affordable. Not only that, but he included very important elements that I wanted, even in the cheapest packages. Things such as having more than 1 camera, editing, and recording the entire wedding: ceremony AND reception. Everything is completely flexible, like the ability to add on extra hours for a reasonable cost.

I am so excited that we just might actually have a videographer at the wedding. I never planned on this and it was not something I thought of until recently. We will be meeting with this potential videographer very soon and if all goes well, we will hopefully be booking him

What is your take on videography? Important or not important?

A Cupcake For A Bridesmaid

I know what you all are thinking by now...Uh, Doe, don't you have any friends or anything? What about a bridal party? Yes I do, and they are AWESOME. Let me introduce you to these very important ladies.

Sister Doe is my Maid of Honor.

Yup, we look nothing alike. But at the same time, we are so alike. Our mannerisms and everything that we love in life are basically the same. We are goofballs together and she understands my quirks better than anyone. This girl is a hippie at heart and a lover of all things Disney. She is the middle child and my best friend.

Up next is Bridesmaid C. We have known each other since we were toddlers and lived down the street from each other. We were in swim lessons, girl scouts, school, band and many other activities together. We both both share a love of San Francisco, '90s boy bands, and Saved By The Bell. She is hilarious and you can always find us together laughing about something.

Meet Bridesmaid K. We were born 2 weeks a part, and so we have known  each other our entire lives.
We also share the same first and middle name (wasn't done on purpose, of course.) We both did many years of girl scouts together, and were cheerleaders in high school. We are lifelong friends, and she is one of the sweetest people in the world.

This next photo is too funny not to share. Here I am at my 5th birthday party with both Bridesmaid C and K at my side. Why they look so unhappy, I have no idea. They are probably super worried I wouldn't give them any of my Little Mermaid cake. I do get a little bit feisty when it comes to cake. Especially frosting.

They look much happier now. Probably due to the vino.



Last but not least is bridesmaid A who is my future sister in law. She was 7 years old when her brother and I met. Needless to say I have been around to watch her grow up. This girly is spunky and all around just a fabulous person. I look forward to being her sister, she needs one with 3 brothers!

Looking back, I wish I had done more when asking them to be in my bridal party. Like craft some fun and sneaky plan that would induce loads of screams and laughter. Alas, the excitement over took me and all I had up my sleeve were cupcakes. I had our local bakery make one for each of them asking if they would be my Maid of Honor/Bridesmaid.

All of these girls hold a very special place in my heart and I am so lucky to have them in my life. I am looking forward to all of the shenanigans that will be taking place with them over the next 8 months before the wedding.

How did you ask your bridal party members to be in your wedding?

{All photos are personal}