I’d Like to Check You for Ticks

Not really.  But I do like that song by Brad Paisley.  It’s officially flea and tick season here at our house….well mainly ticks, and we seem to be finding them EVERYWHERE!!!  They give me the heebie jeebies.

A couple nights ago, Steve wanted me to come look a bug on our wood floors that he at first thought was a piece of dog food.  He told me to look at it from afar to see just how much it resembled dog food.  I agreed and decided to get a closer look.  That’s when I realized what it was.

An engorged TICK!!!!!

Isn’t that disgusting?!!!!  Eww, I’m getting the shivers just looking at it.  That’s a dog treat that Steve is holding it with.

Here’s the tick next to Steve’s finger so you can see the size of that monstrosity!

I just want to know where it came from.  It’s obviously full of someone’s blood who lives in our house, because I don’t think that a fully engorged tick would just mosey on in and plant itself in the middle of our wood floors for no good reason.  It had to have fallen off one of our animals, or worse……one of us!!!  I checked all the furbabies, and none of them had any fleas or ticks that I could see, but I doused them with flea and tick medicine so that hopefully this won’t happen again.

However, I can’t douse myself with flea and tick medicine….they just don’t make that stuff for humans, and when I came in from picking up dog poop so Steve could mow the lawn (I know, gross.  Sorry.), I found a TICK crawling on my hand!!!!!  Luckily it hadn’t implanted it’s head into my epidermis yet, and was in it’s small shrunken state, but nonetheless…..I was grossed out!  And the thing was, I couldn’t just brush it off me because then it would have landed on the carpet and who knows where it would of gone and to which host it would have attached itself.  So I coaxed it onto a piece of paper and threw it into the garbage can outside.  Hopefully that will deter it from coming back in our house.  I don’t think I can deal with any more ticks in my house.

Our Furry Babies

Yesterday I went a little camera happy with my Sigma lens and took several pictures of my furbabies.  There’s just something about this lens that I LOVE!  It takes such wonderful pictures, even though it doesn’t have a zoom on it, which can be a little inconvenient at times.  But it’s definitely a favorite lens for portraits.

It all started when I saw Lazarus laying inside this water bottle wrapping.  I thought to myself, “That would make a cute picture.”  And since I already had my camera in my hand from taking Steve’s picture yesterday, it made my decision very easy.

He’s such a cutie.

Then he saw Fancy hiding under the kitchen table and started stalking her behind Steve’s shoes.

And then……POUNCE!!!  He’s always doing that, but he’s so much slower than the other kitties that it’s pretty funny to watch.

When he couldn’t catch her, he came back and laid by the water bottle wrapper again and said, “What?  I wasn’t doing anything.  I was just laying here the whole time.”  Ok, he didn’t say that, but he is probably the easiest of our cats to tell what he is thinking.  He’s definitely a talker and complains a lot.

Then I saw pretty Lacey laying on the Sprite on top of the counter.  The light was hitting her in such a way that she just begged to have her picture taken.

Look at this gorgeous girl with her baby blue eyes!

Oh yah, that’s the spot!

Here’s a lovely shot of Fancy, who’s usually not very photogenic.  She can be looking at me completely fine, but the second I point a camera at her she turns away, so this shot was really exciting to get!  Such a pretty petite little thing.  Fance only weighs about 7 pounds on a good day.

Can’t forget about the doggies!  Here’s our sweet Kaylee.  Another non-photogenic baby.  She does not like having her picture taken and always refuses to look at the camera.

So if she ever does look at me, I have to have a very quick trigger finger and snap the photo with lightning speed!

“Don’t I have a pretty nose, Mommy?!  And how about those teeth?  I don’t know how to use my teeth to their full potential, but they sure do look pretty!”

And of course there’s Camelot, who recently made a trip to the groomers where he received his summer shave down.  I planned it so that he would be at the groomers during Elizabeth’s bridal shower.  Pretty sure everyone didn’t want to listen to Camelot bark during the entire shower.

Whenever I go outside with them, the dogs seem to get a sudden burst of energy and start playing chase.  Loving those ears, Camelot!  You can see his summer cut pretty good in this picture compared to Kaylee’s long coat.

I think it’s funny that I caught Camelot’s ears in the “up” position in each of these photos. 🙂  This one of him makes me smile.  He just looks like he’s having such a good time, doesn’t he?

Bite that butt!

Aww, little big buddies.  Thanks for sharing my babies with me!

Just had to see this one of Fancy one more time. 🙂

The Smokey House Rehab (Part 4)

We’ve made some good progress on the Smokey House rehab.  For the past few days we’ve been concentrating on painting the ceilings and some of the trim.  Boy has that been a painful task!  Painting ceilings is super hard on the neck, shoulders, and arms.  But the transformation has been incredible!  See for yourself!

It’s a little hard to see in this picture, but Steve painted the ceiling on the left, which is above the living room, and the ceiling on the right (over the dining room) is unpainted.  You can tell that the ceiling on the right has more of a yellow tinge to it.

This might be a better picture to show you just how yellow the ceilings were.  See that area around the base of the ceiling fan that’s really brownish yellow?  That’s what the entire ceiling looked like!  It’s amazing what some paint can do.

Here’s what Steve’s face looked like after a day of painting ceilings. 🙂

And here’s what Steve looks like after a day of painting ceilings, while holding Lazarus, and without a shirt on. 🙂

He also painted this door.  You don’t realize just how yellow all the doors are until you paint one of them white.  Incredible.

Here I am painting the trim, which also had a yellow tinge.  Maybe I should have named this house the Yellow Tinge House instead of the Smokey House.

(Holy Cow!  After seeing this picture I can tell how badly my roots have grown out!  I need to make a hair appointment quick!)

Here’s a great before and after picture.  The door frame on the right has been painted, the one on the left…..obviously has not.

It’s just amazing that this is what smoking in your house does.  If that’s not a reason to quit smoking, or at least to smoke outside, I don’t know what is!

We discovered a leak in the laundry room.

It started out as just a tiny bit of water around the wall below the hot and cold water pipes that the washing machine connects to.  We didn’t think much of it because a little water had dripped out when we removed the washer, so we thought that was what it was from.

But when we returned a couple days later, it had gotten much worse.  Luckily we found a plumber at a VERY reasonable price that will be fixing a leaky toilet, sink, and this leak in the laundry room.

It’s been a very tiring and painful couple weeks….

But at least I have this handsome man to keep me company.

The Smokey House Rehab (Part 3)

This past weekend after all the bridal shower festivities Steve and I got back to work on the Smokey House rehab.  Luckily it’s starting to smell a lot better in there after we ripped out the carpet.  We’re enjoying doing the work ourselves, even though it can get really tiring.

This lovely lady gave us a stare down as we stopped to admire her on the way to Home Depot.  I hope we can have at least one cow someday!  They just look so cuddly!

Steve went CRAZY here!  We had a 10% off entire purchase coupon up to $2000, and Steve was determined to utilize it to it’s full potential!  We bought a table saw, circular saw, chop saw, saw blades, large level, rubber mallet, paint for ceiling and trim, paint brushes, paint rollers, air compressor with nail gun, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Steve justified all the new tools because we were not paying someone to do all the work, so we might as well use that money for new tools that we can use over and over again.  Men.

When we arrived, the tree clearing guys were almost done clearing the two gigantic cedar trees that took up almost the entire backyard.  Before, you couldn’t see anything beyond where that guy is standing.  Now you can tell how large the yard is!  It looks 100x better!  The forest behind that fence was starting to make it’s way into the yard, and these guys were able to clear all that too.

And the best part was…..they threw all the trees into a chipper and hauled it all away!

I had the fun job of removing the nasty vinyl from the kitchen and bathrooms.

The smell was so gross.  The heat gun would literally cook the disgusting stains and spills on the vinyl and I had to breathe it in.  After I was completely finished I talked to my dad about it and he said, “I hope you were wearing a mask.”  Duh……a mask.  Ya think that might have helped?  Sheesh, I can be a real blonde sometimes.

But I didn’t complain!  I was accomplishing something I had never done before all by myself!

Here’s a close up of me using the heat gun to remove the vinyl.

And here’s the finished product!  That large wood area in the middle was super easy to remove.  I didn’t even have to use the heat gun there.  He must have spilled something that somehow soaked into the vinyl and loosened the adhesive, because there was a large orange stain there.

Here’s another view of the kitchen, and Steve taking out the trash.

Here’s the living room.  Steve removed all the baseboards to get ready to paint and put the laminate floors in.  The floors will probably be the last thing we do.

Here’s the front entryway.  Steve did an amazing job removing the wood floors that were there.  They were glued down over every square inch, and it was really difficult to remove, but he did it!

Bedroom #1 is ready to be painted!

So is Bedroom #2!

The Master Bedroom is ready for paint too!  See that small square of tan paint on the left under the window?  That’s the color all the walls will be, except for the kitchen and possibly bathrooms, which will be white.

Here’s the master bathroom without the vinyl floors.

Ever since we started this rehab project, this little nest with 5 baby birds has been sitting here next to the front walkway.  They must have just hatched right before we started because they were TINY a couple weeks ago.

Look at that little guy!  They’re definitely a lot bigger now.  I don’t know how 5 of them can fit in there!

Mama and Papa bird are very diligent parents.  Every time someone walks by the nest, or even opens the front door, they sit on the roof watching to make sure their babies don’t get harmed.

Don’t worry guys, we won’t hurt your babies!  We made sure to tell the tree clearing crew to be careful around the nest and not to knock it down while they were clearing some of the trees and bushes in the front yard.  I can’t wait to see when they’ll fly away!

Bridal Shower Sugar Cookies

I was a little naughty last week.  My Aunt Sally sent our wedding gift a couple months ago, and I’ve had it sitting in my sewing room unopened, because after all, it’s bad etiquette to open wedding presents early!  However, a few days ago I was updating my bridal registry and noticed that one item had been purchased.  And when I saw what it was my heart started to pitter patter.

I brought the box downstairs and set it on our kitchen counter.  To open or not to open…..that was the question.

Surely taking it out of it’s cardboard prison would be acceptable.  And to leave it in there would be an injustice!

Oh man!  I know I need what’s in this  box desperately!  It would make the next few days so much less stressful, and make my baking for the bridal shower so much faster!  Have you guessed what it is yet?

I’m seeing some pink!

Oh my goodness!  I’m starting to get excited!

It’s my pink Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer!!!!!!!!  I’m very sorry for opening your generous gift early, Aunt Sally.  I thought if you knew how much I needed it this past week you’d understand.  At least my wedding is less than 3 months away! 🙂

And I LOVE IT!!!!  Mixing is a breeze!  If you don’t have a stand mixer, I HIGHLY recommend getting one!  Now, onto the cookies.

Start by putting 2 sticks of cold butter and 1 cup of sugar into your mixing bowl.

Cream together using the paddle attachment.

Next add an egg, 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp of almond extract to the butter and sugar.

Mix until combined.

Next, add 3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour and 2 tsp of baking powder.  You might not want to add all the flour at once.  Try adding it a cup at a time, and start mixing on a low speed, or else you’ll have flour all over your face and your kitchen.

Mix until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.  I didn’t take pictures while rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes.  For one, I had flour all over my hands, and the main reason is……I forgot.

So just know that you need to roll out your dough on a floured, flat surface with a floured rolling pin.  Dip your cookie cutters in some flour before you press them into the dough.

Place your cut out cookie dough on some parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

Next it’s time to make the royal icing.  Clean your mixing bowl and add 4 Tbsp of meringue powder and 1 scant cup of water.

A scant cup means not quite 1 cup.

Beat meringue powder and water until nice and foamy.

Add 1 lb. (about 4 cups) of sifted powdered sugar to the bowl.  Beat on low until combined.

Add 1/2 – 1 tsp of light corn syrup.   Try not to notice my lovely chipping nail polish.  Oh man, I just directed your attention to it, didn’t I?

Beat the icing on medium-high for about 5 minutes, or until a stiff peak forms.  This is not quite stiff enough.

This is perfect!  The peak should stand straight up even if you wiggle it around.

Transfer icing to bowls where you’ll add the coloring, and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic is touching the icing.  Royal icing dries really quickly so you need to make sure no air comes in contact with the icing if you’re not working with it right away.

Add some coloring with a toothpick or knife.  There are several different gel colorings out there.  I use Wilton brand since it’s what I have on hand.

Mix all the colors you’ll need and cover the ones you’re not using with plastic wrap.

Transfer the icing to piping bags filled about half way.  Place the bags in a cup with a wet paper towel at the bottom.  This will ensure that your icing doesn’t dry up at the tip when you’re not using it.  Place plastic wrap over the remaining icing in your bowls.

Start outlining your cookies using a #2 tip.  You’ll want to outline them in the same colors that you’ll be filling them in with.

When you’re done piping, take your remaining icing in the bowls and add water 1 tbsp at a time until it has the consistency of syrup.  Place a wet paper towel over the bowls and let sit for 10 minutes to allow the air bubbles to come to the surface.

Stir the icing gently with a spatula or knife to pop all the bubbles.

Pour into a squeeze bottle.

Now you have both piping and flooding consistency icing.

After letting the piping dry for about an hour, flood the cookies with the thinned icing.  You can use a toothpick to spread the icing into all the corners.

Let the cookies dry overnight, and then you can pipe on the decorative details.  If you’re in a hurry, you can let the cookies dry for a couple hours and then decorate them, but since I had applied the flooding icing pretty late at night I decided to let them dry overnight.

Use the piping icing you had in your bags from before (just put the whole cup with the piping bags in the fridge until you’re ready to use them).

Above all, remember to use your creativity and have fun!  This cookie and royal icing recipe can be found on Bake at 350.

Elizabeth’s Bridal Shower

So the reason I have neglected my beloved blog this past week is because I’ve been super busy preparing for Elizabeth’s bridal shower.  This was the first shower I had ever hosted, and I wanted it to be perfect!  I spent 3 days making and decorating sugar cookies, cleaning, and baking cakes and cake pops.  And let me tell you, cleaning up after 2 Saint Bernards and 3 cats is no easy task.  The cats are actually pretty easy to clean up after.  They just leave cat hair that can easily be wiped or vacuumed up.  The dogs, however, manage to fling their drool all over the house, including the walls, ceiling, floor, couch, doors, windows, counter, bed…..I think you get the point.  But let me tell you, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are AMAZING!!!  I don’t know how they do it, but they get even the toughest drool spots clean.  I think I’m going to need to buy them in bulk.

I set up the tables and chairs in our living room, which fortunately, after almost a year of living here, we still haven’t put any furniture in.  So set up was easy since I didn’t have to move any furniture out to make room for the tables.

We had exactly enough chairs for everyone, which was incredible since I only got a few RSVPs.  Having enough places for people to sit was one of my main stresses before the shower.

Here’s the food table.  Fortunately the other 2 bridesmaids were wonderful enough to bring the food dishes, and I only had to worry about the dessert.  That took so much stress off me.  So thank you Jen and Krista!

Elizabeth and I went to Kroger about an hour before the shower was supposed to start and bought some flowers to put on the tables.  And instead of buying perfectly fresh roses for $20, I found some that were a couple days old on sale for $4.99 and $7.99.  I also bought some candles and put them in gift bags for each lady to take home with them.

Here everyone is hanging out in the kitchen before we ate lunch.

Elizabeth sneaking a cookie before lunch. 🙂

Here’s the view from our cat walk above the living room.

Wedding themed sugar cookies that I made.

The dessert section!  Strawberry cake, cake pops, and sugar cookies.

Here’s what the inside of the cake looked like.  I added a white cake layer in between the 2 strawberry layers just to make things interesting.

Such a pretty lady.  She’s going to make a beautiful bride!

We started by eating the lovely lunch that Jen and Krista (seated) provided.

Elizabeth is telling a story, that I can’t remember…..

But I remember that it was funny, because Jenni and Cheryl are laughing.

Then we played a game where I asked questions about Elizabeth and Rustin and whoever got the most answers right got a prize.

Then we played a game where each team wrapped a girl (Elizabeth and Rustin’s little sister, Sam) in toilet paper.  And whoever looked the most like a bride won a prize.

It was a close one, but Sam ended up winning.

Elizabeth enjoyed the cake pops. 🙂

Present time!!!

This bag had a TON of tissue paper in it, so luckily when she tossed it in the air I had my camera pointed right at her and captured the moment. 🙂

This was a hilarious moment!  This gift was from Lindsey, who apparently didn’t have many greeting cards at home….

So she gave Elizabeth a “thank you” card…..

…and wrote “Thank you for getting married and inviting me to your shower.”  She said the only other card she had was a sympathy card.  We were cracking up so much we needed lotion.  Bahaha!!!  I know, I should have been a comedian.

She loved her new Keurig coffee maker!  It’s great!  I have one!

Cheryl, our Sunday School teacher’s wife and the leader of our weekly Bible study gave a wonderful devotional on how to be a godly wife.

Afterward, she gave Elizabeth this beautiful painting she did titled “The Art of Marriage” listing all her talking points from the devotional.  What a wonderful gift!

Bride and maid of honor!

We had pins with our titles on them.  When she hosts my bridal shower in a couple months, we’ll switch pins.  🙂

Here’s the whole gang!  We had a great time, and now I can go back to relaxing!

Dad’s 70th Birthday!

Martin (Butch) Pentland is the best man I know, and last Thursday (April 21) he turned 70!  My dad was born in 1941, the year that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese.  He was a teenager during the 1950s, and to this day, one of his favorite cars is the ’57 Chevy Bel Air.  He actually had a black one up until a few years ago.  He used to drive it in my high school parade on homecoming day.

Here we are together on Easter Sunday 1992.  I was 6 years old in this photo.  And I’m loving my big bow!

Here we are a few years later getting ready to leave for the Father/Daughter Banquet my school held every year.  And as you can see, another big bow.  Thanks, Mom!

This was before the Father/Daughter Banquet when I was in 6th grade (1997).  My dad battled colorectal cancer this year and couldn’t take me to the banquet, so my good friend’s dad, Jeff Brown, took me with them.  That was a scary year for us.  My dad was in the hospital for several weeks, and I had to stay with different friends for months at a time.  But thank the Lord, he pulled through, and his cancer has been in remission for 14 years.

And he was there to take me to the banquet the next year. 🙂

My dad became a contractor at the age of 16, and I don’t think there is anything about construction that he doesn’t know.  He has been very helpful whenever Steve and I have questions about our rental rehab.  He built the house that I grew up in, and still does some jobs for friends.  Construction is what he knows and what he loves, and I’ve never met someone that was better at it than him.

Here he is with my mom, wearing the sweatshirts I bought them when I visited last year.

My dad had helped build a beach house for some friends, and we went to see it that day, but it was SUPER windy, and sand was blowing everywhere.  I braved the elements for this picture but most of the time we all looked like my dad.

See?

I love you, Daddy!  And I hope you had a wonderful birthday!  You’re an amazing man, and I’m so proud to have you as a father.  I can’t wait to have you walk me down the aisle in less than 3 months!

Love your daughter,

Joanna   XOXO

Steve’s 5 Minutes as a Politician

Steve and I went to a sub-committee hearing for the Tennessee Agriculture Committee in downtown Nashville today regarding the sale of electronic cigarettes.  Since we are the owners of an electronic cigarette company, of course we wanted to be in attendance.  The bill was originally written to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes, but fortunately the committee amended the bill so that it would only ban the sale of e-cigs to minors.

This was great news for us, since if the bill went through without that amendment, we would have been out of business.  Steve had spoken several times with the assistant to Rep. Dale Ford, the chairman of the committee, prior to this hearing, and was allowed to speak a few words regarding electronic cigarettes.

Here’s the link to the video:

http://tnga.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=112&clip_id=4110

To skip right to our bill, click on Bill #HB1729 on the left under the video.  Rep. Armstrong speaks first for a few minutes, then Mr. Hill for another minute or so, and then finally Steve is allowed to speak.

If only this was on CSPAN!  He’d be famous!  Haha.

Here’s the Chairman, Rep. Dale Ford.  He looks grumpy, but I know he’s probably a teddy bear at heart. 🙂  His assistant Michelle, whom Steve spoke with several times, was very friendly.

I was so proud of him for speaking in front of all those men in suits.  My little public speaker!  My heart was pounding for him the whole time.  It was as if I was the one speaking in front of everyone!

After Steve finished speaking and sat down, Rep. Armstrong came back up but couldn’t answer a question one of the committee members asked, so Steve came back up to the podium to answer.  What a good helper.

All in all, it was kinda a scary but fun experience.  We got to listen to a couple bills before our bill was heard, and one of them was just retarded.  It called for owners of aggressive dogs to be required to purchase liability insurance for their dogs in case they bit anyone.  Umm, lame!  We do not need any more government control!  But that’s all I’ll say about that.

Spread the word about electronic cigarettes!  They’re GRRRRREAT!!

P.P.S. CLICK HERE to watch a video The Wall Street Journal did on our company.

My First Time Decorating Sugar Cookies

I’ve been enjoying looking at several baking blogs lately, and many of them display beautifully decorated sugar cookies.  I’m planning on incorporating pretty sugar cookies into my wedding design, so I thought I’d practice on my Dad and my friend, Katie.  Their birthdays are this month, and what better way to celebrate than by eating cookies made by yours truly?!

Sugar cookies are not my favorite cookie.  I’m a chocolate chip girl all the way; and I also appreciate a good peanut butter cookie now and then, but since sugar cookies are the traditional cookies for decorating, I decided to go with them.

I didn’t document the process since it was my first time making these from scratch, and I didn’t want you all to follow my instructions in case they didn’t turn out that good.  The batter was VERY crumbly, and I had to knead it together as I scooped it out of the bowl.  I had a hard time keeping it together as I was rolling it out.  Next time I think I’ll add a little more liquid.

I went to a bakery supply store and Joann’s and picked up some cookie cutters, squeeze bottles, and a few other supplies.

Here are the cookies I made my dad.  Since it was my first time making them, I wasn’t very organized with the frosting, and so I wasn’t able to do as many colors or details as I wanted, so I finished decorating with an edible marker.

He is turning 70 this year.  70!!!  I can’t believe it!  He’ll always be young to me.  When I look at him, and I look at other 70 year olds, he still looks WAY younger!  Maybe it’s because he still has brown hair, and doesn’t even color it!

These hammers are my favorite.  He has been a contractor since he was about 16, so a hammer seemed pretty fitting for him. 🙂  I know hammers don’t usually have white handles, but I didn’t have any brown….so you’ll just have to deal with it.

The butterflies I made for Katie turned out pretty good.  Although, when the icing dried, it left a couple craters.  Hopefully she won’t notice. 🙂

I know I’ll get better with practice, so if anyone would like me to practice on them, feel free to let me know!  I certainly can’t eat a bunch of cookies, especially before my wedding!

Here are the rest of the butterfly cookies.  I made several different sizes so she won’t feel too guilty if she wants to eat more than one at a time.  I hope they don’t break during shipping!  Thanks for sharing my first sugar cookie decorating adventure with me!

Got Weddings on the Brain

It’s wedding season, and I’m getting married in 3 months!  I’m also hosting a bridal shower for my best friend Elizabeth next weekend, which has me completely stressed out!  Last night i had a dream nightmare that I had somehow forgotten about the bridal shower and everyone started showing up to my house and I had nothing prepared, and my house was a mess because of our many animals.  Talk about a stressful dream!  I woke up abruptly in the middle of it and then couldn’t go back to sleep because I was thinking about everything I had to do for the shower.

So, to de-stress myself, I browsed through the wedding section on Etsy, and boy oh boy did I find some gems!  Literally!

Like this gorgeous crystal bridal bouquet wrap.  I wonder if there’s an easy way to make this myself?  The price tag on this thing is a whopping $339!  That’s more than my dress cost.  No thank you!

I also found this beautiful hair comb.  I definitely want something like this.  I originally though I wanted a tiara, but I’ll just have to see which looks better with my hair style.

And what about these cuties!?  The only problem with these hangers is that they’ll only be used 1 day, and I want to get my bridesmaids something they can use all the time.  I mean, I guess they can use them after the wedding, but they’ll only be cute for one day, and then they’ll just get mixed up with all the other hangers in their closets.  It’s a cute idea though!

I’m still on the hunt for the perfect earrings and necklace.  I want something pretty and simple…..

…like this.  Wow, I just noticed that there’s a little piece of hair or lint on that earring.  Haha!  I wonder if the Etsy shop owner knows that.  That’s kinda grody.  But nevertheless, this is kinda the style I want as far as earrings go (minus the hair).

I still need to take my dress to a seamstress to have a bustle put in, but other than that, my dress fits perfectly!  What a relief!!  Now back to stressing over Elizabeth’s shower.