Bridal Boot Camp Versus Math Boot Camp

To Sue and all my spoonin' ladies,

Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! How inconsiderate of all of you to be discussing sleeping positions just when I am having to learn to sleep alone for half the week when I'm up here at school. WAH!!! Boo. Hiss.

Ok, now that I got my whining out of the way, I will say that my non-solo sleeping time usually consists of cuddling before falling asleep, and then cuddling (usually spooning, but there are a few variations) again upon stirring in the morning before the alarm goes off. Which is so lovely. Sigh.

And now I'm sad again. Boo!

But I promise not to spend the next year of my life blogging about how tres trag it is to be apart from The Lawyer. Especially when every other aspect of grad school, thus far, is great! I am having a blast, even if all the schmoozing and boozing has been beyond exhausting.

What have I been up to, you might ask? Well, these first two weeks are basically like our orientation. There have been introductory sessions covering everything from using our new email addresses to library services to careers to the alumni network. Thrilling stuff, right? Yeah, maybe not to y'all.

But what has been thrilling is Math Boot Camp! Since I hadn't done math in about a decade and had never used Excel to do anything beyond tracking wedding expenses, I signed up for all the sessions. And let me tell you, they're a blast! I never knew Excel was such a genius of a program! Sums and formulas and functions and data and charts and...

Uy. Do I sound convinced yet? Because I am trying to convince myself that attending Math Boot Camp is just as cool as Bridal Boot Camp... and yet, alas, no. Because really? When will I ever need to use Excel to do anything but track our wedding budget? Sigh. What I would give to be getting my butt kicked by Colossus rather than creating a scatter graph from a data table.

I miss my Domestic Goddessness. Just hoping the Domestic Boddess doesn't start to fade away as well... MUST. BE. A. HOT. BRIDE!

Off to Math Boot Camp,
sigh,

Jen

DomestiGrad Student Jen Starts School

First things first. Gals, thank you for your feedback regarding my first day of school outfit!

The winning outfit is...

Look out Blair Waldorf, Queen J is in town!

Thanks to you, I will be feeling fierce and fabulous as I enter these doors... 

... of my new business school this morning.

(Yeah, don't even get me started on the wacko color scheme.)

Ack! I'm so nervous! But I know this will be a great step for me, even if it means adding "DomestiGrad Student" to my title. Sigh. Move on over, Domestic Goddess. There's a new nerd in town.

Now that I'm abandoning my Domestic Goddessness! Nope! I cherish my Dyson too much to consider myself anything less than a DomestiGrad-Goddess hybrid. But I will miss my leisurely days of Domestic Goddessness. They already feel very far away.

What will I miss most? Thank you for asking, ladies. Let me list the ways...

1. Rotating among my warm-ups, pjs, sweats, and workout clothes. While I am ready to dress a little more formally, I will sorely miss oozing fabulosity in my Lululemon ensembles all day long.

2. Twice-weekly workouts with Colossus. More on this soon (see my post-script below)... but I will now only be seeing Colossus once a week. My butt might be grateful, but the rest of me aches with sadness (and lack of soreness).

3. Leisurely, wine-filled lunches with my newly engaged fellow lady of leisure. These lunches were my biggest indulgence these past months... and were totally, completely fabulous. I will miss them dearly. Not that I won't be drinking in the middle of the day during my MBA. But it just won't be the same.

4. Awaiting The Lawyer's return from work every night. I know this is super-cheesy and rather un-feminist of me, but the best part of each Domestic Goddess day was the return of The Lawyer from work. After all this time, and all we've been through, the sound of his key in the door still gives me butterflies.

5. Keeping up with all my Gals in the blogosphere. Rest assured, ladies, I will continue to post here all the time. And I will keep up with your blogs as best I can. There are so many amazing writers out there, and blogs chock full of inspiration for my wedding and my life - I will miss checking in every day. But I will still be around! I promise!

Ok, off to school I go. Holy crap.

BIG BIG BIG love,

DomestiGrad Jen

P.S. As mentioned above I had an AMAZING last pre-MBA workout with Colossus the other day. Will be posting about it soon. Stay tuned... you do NOT want to miss this post, trust me!

Jen's First Day: Pick Her Outfit! Please!

Ok ladies. I am sending my DomestiGal beacon out into the sky (I imagine this to be like Batman's bat signal, only in the shape of a huge diamond engagement ring. Obv.).

I need your help!

I started packing for school yesterday (SAD! I KNOW! ACK!) and I am at a total loss. I cannot figure out what to wear for my first day. THE most important day. I will be meeting all my new classmates and professors, and we are having our class portrait taken (which I really think is cruel to do on the very first day, but I digress). So last night The Lawyer and I had a photo session with the four finalist outfits, and I present them here.

Please please please help me choose! Based on your votes, I will let you know the winning outfit on Monday!

Without further ado, here they are (and yes, this is really me, standing in our "Grecian Spa"-colored bedroom, with my new uni's coat of arms hanging on my closet door - I feel so exposed! But I am also thrilled with how adept I am becoming with Microsoft Paint.):

OUTFIT #1: The black pinstripe power suit with red lining (a good Feng Shui color, Sue!). 

I know it's hard to see due to my ailing 5-year-old camera, but please note the patent leather heels. They may get me to wear a suit for the first time in 8 months, but I shall not abandon the fabulous!

OUTFIT #2: The understated but cute brown suit with dark purple shell.

Again, hard to see here and not quite as fab as the suit above but comfy and reliable. And it fits me way better since I've been working out with Colossus!

OUTFIT #3: The simple black dress with my Blair Waldorf jacket.

Seriously, doesn't that jacket look like something Blair would wear? It's preptastic! Also note the pointy-toe power pumps.

OUTFIT #4: The pseudo-wrap brown dress.

This dress has been a professional go-to for a few years. I'd spruce it up with accessories. Obv.

Ok, ladies! Leave your votes in the comments section!

And thank you for your fabulous guidance.

Big love,

DomestiGal Jen

Spin the Wheel: Wedding Color Palettes

Dear Minister Sue,

FYI, the Lawyer and I will not be writing our own vows or anything like that. I'm hoping we find some nice readings to personalize things, and otherwise I'll just be relying on YOU to provide us with the Ceremony of Dreams. No pressure though.

Now, can we get back to the more material side of weddings? Thanks.

I am trying to cram as much planning into the next week or so until I start school and thus am no longer a lady of leisure, but a mere lifeless graduate student.

First and foremost, I am trying to nail down our color scheme. Yes, without ever seeing our venue in person (and yes, before you ask yet again, I am still ringless). I have seen photos of our Location of Dreams, though, and wept through the DVD photo montage they gave us - multiple times - so I think I can take a pretty good gander at colors.

Plus, look what I have to help me! It's a color wheel from Brides.com to help figure out the perfect palette.

I am a little embarrassed to admit how many hours I have spent spinning this thing. It is totally addictive and basically made me want to have like 20 weddings so I can use all the combos I love.

Really, if anything, the wheel made me more undecided about the colors I should pick. And while I know I have great taste, I am no designer. So I'm hoping you and our gals can help me. Any ideas? What colors work best for a simple, elegant fall Wedding of Dreams?

I will say that my favorite color is orange. In fact I kind of have a minor obsession with it.

Discuss.

Love,

Your Favorite Design-Challenged Domestic Goddess

P.S. On a more serious note, as New Yorkers (both current and former), we just want to say that our thoughts are with all those families and other individuals for whom this is a very, very sad day.

A Michael Moment

Sigh. Just - sigh...

Fabulous cover shot courtesy of Sports Illustrated and - in poster size! - Fine Art Limited

Ah yes, now that's what I'm talkin' about!

Sue, please do not bring poor, sweet, innocent, Alltime Olympian Michael Phelps into your discussions about sex toys. Until they make one in his likeness, that is.

Also, is it me or is he not wearing pants in this photo? AMAZING. Maybe I should order one of these posters for my dorm room?

(Yes, you heard me correctly: dorm room. But that's fodder for another post... especially since I'm still in denial about the fact that I will be sharing a kitchen with my fellow nerdy grad students in less than a month! Ack!)

Love,

Jen