If you are like me and love J.CREW; then you have probably had the issue of seeing that the one item you were just dying to buy was sold out when you went to buy it online.  You are happily strolling along navigating your way through their website to that dress or blouse you saw in this month’s catalog, credit card in hand, a bright smile plastered on your face, and B-A-M! your hit with the dreaded “We wish we’d made more of this style.  It SOLD OUT much faster than expected” message.  Your hopes and dreams of ever owning this item are crushed into a million little pieces.  I know exactly how you feel.

Even before I got engaged I knew that I was going to have a J.CREW styled wedding.  I had the dress I wanted all picked out and everything.  I had my eye on the Genevieve Silk Radzimir Gown.

“Pure magic in a very rare fabric usually reserved for royal weddings and haute couture—so rare, we could make only a few of these beautiful dresses. Luxurious midweight Italian silk radzimir with delicate spaghetti straps. Fitted bodice, full skirt with inverted box pleats and shirring for volume. Hidden on-seam pockets. Back zip hidden with self-covered buttons. Fully lined. Falls to floor. Part of the J.Crew Collection. Import. Dry clean. Specially packaged in a custom-made box to ensure your gown is always as beautiful as the first day you wore it.” – J.CREW

I know, right?

So the day came, and Derek proposed.  A few days later we hopped online to purchase the dress, and of course it was SOLD OUT.  SOLD OUT!!!  Derek, being the sweetie that he is, picked up the phone and called J.CREW.  Come to find out they will put you on a wish list if an item you are looking for is sold out.  So we said…sign us up!

At this point they put you on a list, sometimes behind many other hopeful ladies (or men) and tell you that if one comes in (typically due to a return) and you are next on the list, they will charge your card, ship the dress to you, and send you an email (or phone call) to tell that the item is on it’s way to you.

Well, they finally made it to my name on the list, but by this time the slump of the economy was is full effect. Just like the description reads, this gown came in a custom-made box along with a precious padded hanger.  And to top it off, the box was tied up in a cute satin ribbon.  Ahhhhh.

Although we would have been able to afford it, I decided to shop for a less expensive gown.  If I was unable to find one that would help lessen the cost of the wedding, then I would stay with my J.CREW gown.  As luck would have it I found a suitable replacement.  I hated to see my dream J.CREW gown leave my little hands, but it was the right thing to do.  It saved me around $1000.00.

I did however have the rest of the wedding party dressed to the 9′s in J.CREW, and boy did they look stunning.

So remember, if there is something that you are dying to have and it’s sold out….don’t worry.  Simply call customer service and see what kind of magic they can work for you.  Oh,  I almost forgot.  I did the same thing with my sister’s bride’s maid/maid of honor dress too.  See!

I just love looking through old family photos.  My dad recently scanned some of the photos from my parent’s wedding album.  It’s so strange seeing my parents at such a young age.  They were married on September 5, 1975.  My mother, of course, looked gorgeous…

…and my dad so handsome.

Just look at those fancy ruffled cuffs.  N-I-C-E!!!

Here are a few of my favorites…

My parents with my father’s parents

My parents with my mother’s parents

My parent’s 1st dance

If my dad had any choice in the matter, their 1st dance would have been to  ”Shake Your Booty”.  He’s a crazy one.

Can you see the platforms on my dad’s shoes.  Yup I’m related to that guy.  Lucky me!

My mom and her poodle Gina.

You know it’s a good suit when it’s made out of 100% polyester.   And a sun hat at night?  Really mom?  Didn’t think that one all the way through did ya?

They are still just as much in love, if not more, than the day they were married.  Today it can be a rare thing for your parents to still be together, and I thank God everyday for that blessing in my life.

Sunday was our 1^st wedding anniversary.  I couldn’t have asked for a better first year with my sweet, sweet husband.  Derek and I got close quick, but not in the way you would imagine.  You see, Derek and I began dating back in November of 2005, and in February 2006 just three short months later Derek broke his leg, and I had just quit my job (worst job/boss ever…that’s another story) and was able to stay with Derek and help him with his recovery.  This way his parents didn’t have to take off work to help him recover.

Derek broke his leg clean in half and had a titanium rod inserted into his bone.  Yea…ouch is right.  With this surgery, they don’t put on a cast, the rod is your cast.  For two weeks I had to help this poor kid get to the bathroom, I had to wash his hair, cook for him, clean “around” him, and make sure he was keeping up with his medicine and blood clot prevention treatments.  I’m sure for most this would have ended the relationship, but it only brought us closer.  We learned a lot about each other in those few short weeks.

Back to our 1^st Wedding Anniversary story….

We decided to start the weekend off with going to the local Haunted Corn Maze and then out to dinner on Saturday night.  The corn maze was a bust.  We w-a-y underestimated the amount of rain that fell the past few days and were not prepared to sacrifice our shoes to the Murky Mud Maze.  We decided to forgo the muddy maze and come back later in the week, but it hasn’t stopped raining since Saturday.  Maybe next year.

Since we were not all muddied up we headed to Huey’s a local burger joint, and one of our favorite places to just kick back and eat.  I had planned to take pictures while walking through the corn maze, but I had to settle for a picture of us outside of Huey’s.  We exchanged presents at midnight.

Here is what I gave Derek, passes for “Charlie Work,” a new iPhone radio alarm clock, dog washing passes, foot rub passes, and head, neck, and shoulder massage passes.  He loved them.  His gift to me was perfect, but I just don’t know how to write about it.  Especially if I don’t want to burst into tears.  I might fry the keyboard with all the water flowing from my face.

If you watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia you will know what Charlie Work is.

Sunday, we started the day off with heading to church, we got Pumpkin Spice Lattes and a Morning Bun (my new fave)  from Starbucks after service, then we headed to the Pottery Barn Outlet.  Unfortunately, we didn’t buy anything on this trip, but it makes me happy just to walk around that store.  We stopped by my parents’ house to enjoy the top layer of our wedding cake.  Still as yummy as I remembered.

Then we ended the day by taking in a movie.  We saw Couple’s Retreat. This was a pretty hilarious movie.  I am a huge Vince Vaughn fan, and have been since he made the movie Swingers.  We decided not to go out of town for this anniversary, because (as I mentioned here) we are saving to take an amazing ski trip to Whistler, Canada in December 2010.  Can’t wait…sooo excited!  I think we will count the ski trip as a second anniversary trip.  December is kind of close to October.  Kind of…

… I was single.

One year ago today I was a Theuns.

One year ago today I had a fiancee.

One year ago today I was wearing a beautiful white gown.

One year ago today all my family was in town to see me.

One year ago today I held back the tears as I read a sweet letter from my future husband.

One year ago today I was daddy’s girl.

One year ago today…

…was P E R F E C T!

Today, I’m the luckiest girl in the world….Derek’s wife.  Today is the 1 year anniversary of the day I married my best friend.

Okay so I can’t stop thinking about how in 5 days Derek and I celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary.  Aside from celebrating the whole marriage thingy I am super stoked about getting to eat the top of my super delicious wedding cake.  I don’t normally use this term, but….O-M-G!  That thing was to die for.  No, seriously.  Too die for.  I got my wedding cake from bakery in Southaven, MS called Brown Baguette.  The website doesn’t do their work justice.  You have to go in and see some of their work yourself.

My wedding cake, excuse me, our wedding cake was a four tiered fondant covered masterpiece.  It was simple classy, and unbelievably delicious.  I am a huge Red Velvet Cake fan.  I mean…like HUGE!  Wanting to make sure I wasn’t too selfish of a bride, and understanding that not everyone has the same likes as little ‘ole me when it comes to food, I decided to have 3 different flavors in my cake.  That’s right I said 3 flavors, but 4 layers…I snuck in an extra layer of red velvet!  I don’t remember the order of the flavors, but we had vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet as the bottom 3 layers, and the top…you guessed it RED VELVET!  My mouth is watering just thinking about this glorious thing.  The cake was iced with European buttercream frosting and had an outer covering of fondant.

Maybe it’s the Dutch in me (my dad immigrated here from Holland…cool huh?!), but I am not a big fan of super sweet icing on cakes.  Derek likes to describe my taste for foods as bland.  I just like to think that I enjoy the natural flavors the foods I eat.  Anyway, European buttercream isn’t quite as sweet as traditional buttercream, so that’s what we went with.  THE END.

Like most present day brides-to-be I searched the web for inspiration, and fell in love with a cake I saw on The Bride’s Cafe blog.  Now that I think about it, this cake may have been what lead me to the main colors of my wedding…green & white.  Something about this cake was fun, but also classy.  I don’t like a lot of fuss, so this cake was perfect for me.  I brought the green grosgrain ribbon to my baker and she took it from there.  At first my mom was at a loss for words when I told her I wanted a green cake, but she said that once she saw it she fell in love with it too.

Can you tell getting to taste the cake was one of my favorite parts of the day.  I mean just look at that face I’m making.  I’m doing the Yummy Yummy Cake Dance.

Oh yeah, one of my other favorite keepsakes from my wedding…the cake topper.  My grandmother (my mom’s mom) passed away before I was born and to remember her we always put a white dove in the tree during Christmas.  My grandma Shirley, or Grandmother Dear is what my mom said she wanted to be called, came to mind the second I saw these porcelain  doves.  The doves link together at the neck as if they were in a loving embrace, and the dove itself was a symbol of my grandmother being present at my wedding.

So needless to say I am super excited that I get to eat cake on Sunday.

My favorite person in the world, with one of his…

.: My Memphis :.

If I remember correctly my talented and devilishly handsome husband, Derek, took this picture.  This is such a beautifully bold doorway that is down a small side street in downtown Memphis.  The reds and the greens just seem to jump out at you.

This picture was taken a few years back, and the doorway has been spruced up a bit since then.  Since the face lift, the doorway has become quite the popular location for engagement/couples photos, bridal sessions, and senior portraits.  All this writing about this charming little doorway makes me want my picture taken here.