I feel like we're living a little bit outside our means at the moment because of all the wedding spending that's going on, but I think we're fine. Spending will be curbed drastically once the wedding and honeymoon are over, so I might as well enjoy it while I can :) And then we can start saving up for a house and retirement and all that grown-up stuff. Anyway, here's an entry about fun and unnecessary things I've spent money on recently.

I had a splurgey kind of day today. First I went to Juut and had my hair trimmed (can't cut it for real until after the wedding), my brows tidied up, and my lashes tinted. I wasn't sure about the lash tinting for a while, because it seemed unnecessary (well, it is unnecessary, no doubt about that), and I wasn't sure if it would be worthwhile. But then the woman doing my wedding makeup recommended that I do it because I have thick, light lashes and I rarely wear makeup. The aesthetician at Juut had said the same thing, and I figured there was no way they could be in cahoots, so it might actually be a useful thing to have done. I'm really pleased with the results. It's like I'm wearing mascara, but I don't have to worry about smudging it or anything. It's supposed to last 4-6 weeks. Assuming nothing calamitous happens (like all my eyelashes falling out), I think I'll do it again in a few months. It seems like an easy way to look nice without any effort.

I of course had the hairdresser style my hair straight after the trim because that's the best part about going to the salon. I wish I had the motivation and arm strength to do it myself sometimes, but my hair probably wouldn't appreciate all that blow drying. It's probably best to let it be curly most of the time.

After the salon visit, I went to our local Anthropologie. I'd ordered a few things from them online so I'd have a nice outfit to wear on our honeymoon, but the stuff I ordered didn't end up fitting well. So I went to the actual store to return it and had a grand old time trying on clothes there. It's too bad their clothes are so expensive; I love so much of what they sell!

I ended up finding an even better and more flattering honeymoon outfit for the same price as the clothes I was returning, plus I got a great poofy white skirt that will be ideal for spinning around in circles in and wearing while having picnics in meadows. It was on sale too! Here's a blurry picture of my new outfit (with the white skirt hanging up in the background), taken while in the dressing room at Anthropologie:

The sweater has ruffles, but they're hard to see in the picture. The skirt is corduroy and has a really good weight to it. I enjoy wearing it. And here's a picture of my straight hair and tinted lashes (you probably can't see any difference in the picture, but I can definitely see a difference in person) and the necklace (that I got from Hovey Lee a few months ago) that I will wear with my new outfit:

Also, I just got some well-made and cute shoes (Naot Tranquil) that will be great for (a) walking around Italy in and (b) wearing with skirts and capri pants in lab (I believe my quest for attractive, close-toed, and comfortable shoes is finally at an end). They cost more than I'd normally pay for shoes, but I think they'll last for a long time and will be good slightly dressy everyday shoes. Yay!

And I ordered this last item a few months back, but it took a while to get here because it was handmade by the wonderful people at Queen Bee Creations. It's my cute new purse! (There are better pictures of their purses on their website; mine doesn't do it justice)

I debated with myself for a long time whether I needed a new purse, since the boring utilitarian black one I bought in college was still doing fine. But in the end I bought it, and I love it. It makes me smile :) Its only shortcoming is that it only has one pocket, but I'm willing to overlook that flaw. I still don't know quite when I became a woman who carries a purse everywhere. I guess it happened when I got a real job.

Oh, and I picked up my wedding dress from Elaine's yesterday. She ended up just hemming it; the rest of it fit fine. I think she did a great job. I'm not sure how hard it is to hem the mystery fabric that I can't mention because Patrick is reading this. Anyway, if I need more clothing alterations done, I think I'd go back to her. I'm not sure if her rates are reasonable, since this was my first time getting clothes tailored.

I'm happy to have my wedding dress all taken care of and ready to wear. The wedding is in 6 weeks--wow! I'm excited to be married to Patrick, but a little nervous about the wedding day itself. I'm just glad it's such a small wedding. I'd be way more nervous if there were going to be more people there.