Throwback Prom!

Well... a day to remember for sure.  Let me walk you through it, starting with the theme:

Lover's Luau!

So dorky, I know!  But, I always say that everyone needs a little extra dorky in their life...

My prom day started as glamorous as every other summer day: cleaning the toilets.  It's true, a woman's dream come true! After that though, started my day of fun.  A trip to Dollar Tree to create the prom of our dreams and the theme just jumped out at me!  Literally.  It was the entire front of the store!  So, $13 later (ok, ok, I admit, $12 for decorations, the other dollar was for the Diet Coke), here is our Lover's Luau living room...

(What's a prom without a coconut bra wearing blow up monkey!?)

I managed to not pass out even after blowing up the 25 balloons, the palm tree, and the monkey.  Major props deserved for that!

It does not look very impressive in this pictures (sigh...) but it truly is a sight to see! I added some white Christmas lights and we're now talking major wow factor.  Maybe not the good kinda wow, but wow none-the-less.  The daylight is not helping the photos any so you'll just have to trust me that in the dark, it was the most gorgeously tacky fake prom ever!

So, decorating was done, on to the dress... went through my closet of old prom dresses and came across this beauty...

Glam, huh?  :)  Well,  it was glam 15 years ago!  The real drama is trying to fit into the dress.  Did I mention 15 years ago?!  I wasn't so much worried about the bottom of the dress as I haven't grown since literally 7th grade, more so this area...

That is what they call the boobs and the hips.  My mom assures me that someday I will be thanking God for my "child bearing hips", but child bearing does not equal fitting into an old prom dress! With the help of some "fat girl underwear" and a good friend to finagle the zipper, I was in.  No guarantees I would be able to sit, but in I was...

Got my hair done (thanks so much Amanda and Ellison!) and my husband surprised me for the first time of the night:

You might just say I'm the luckiest girl around...

Stay tuned for the remainder of our night of fun!  I have to go get ready...

Dates in a Jar

It's been almost a year.  CRAZY.  Life as a Loeding is good. We're blissfully happy while daily learning humility and self-sacrifice and all the other joys of learning to live with a spouse after "30 years" of being independent (which, as I saw on some tv show the other night, is a nice way of saying selfish!).  

We've been conquering bills and debt while working around Jeremy's nightmarish work schedule (2AM-10AM, including holidays and weekends) which hasn't left many opportunities for romance.  Shocking, I know, but trust me, it not only takes money to go on dates but it also actually requires being able to see one another for more than an hour at a time!  As a very unexpected blessing from his employer,  we were notified a couple weeks ago that Jeremy now has Saturday and Sunday nights off!  Thank you Prairie Meadows! (Never thought I would utter that sentence!)  And ta-da!  We were given a gift... 

DATE NIGHT!

So, we created Dates in a Jar (thank you pinterest!).  It's adorable, I know!

Here's how it works (in case we're not the only married couple that seems to be stuck in a "dating rut"): we bought a jar, some tissue paper, and popsicle sticks.  Put an adorable photo of us on the jar, added a pretty polka dot (of course) ribbon, and viola! Dates in a jar!  We each took 10-15 of the sticks and wrote a date night idea on each stick.  Most are free options, a couple are your normal "date night cost", and one each was an amount that we typically wouldn't spend on just one date.  We also each put on ideas that we would love to do and our partner typically wouldn't choose into.  (As if I would EVER choose "strategy board game night"!) Lastly, we each included some "for our married eyes only" options. Oh come on, you knew those would be in there!!

There's only one rule: whatever we draw, WE HAVE TO DO!  This brings me to our adventure for tonight.... 

Throwback prom night!  Complete with old prom dresses (good thing I've been dieting so I can actually fit in one!) and suits, prom hair and nails (thanks honey!), some of our favorite old school music, and a will be very embarrassing dinner out at a fancy restaurant here in town.  (There better be a tacky corsage too!)  So, I'm off.  I have to get pretty but first, I have to turn our living room into a cheesy prom theme... any suggestions?  I'm stuck on "under the sea" and struggling with creative decoration ideas...  

Will keep you posted on how the evening goes... at least, the earlier part of the evening... ;)  We all know how prom nights end in the movies...