C is for Cookie, so Y is for Yoga
It’s a cruel twist of fate. A girl finds her true love who professes his (or her) unconditional attraction to her in sickness and in health, whether she wears a size 4 or 24. This kicks off the planning of a celebration that often culminates in a bride donning the most important and expensive dress she will ever model whilst snapped at every angle for what I might assume is the priciest photo package a parent will ever purchase. Along the way are cake tastings, luncheons with quiche and scones, showers full of cupcakes and petit fours, cake re-tastings, post-bachelorette party pancake brunches and the grand pre-dress finale: a heaping rehearsal dinner. And did I mention I’m a stress eater? Where are all of these celebratory calories supposed to rest? Hopefully not on my hips, since I just payed off the honeymoon of a lifetime that features ample pool time and bikini wearing. It’s time to call in the heavy artillery.
A girl as unathletic as myself is not going to get the big results by strapping up her tennies and taking a stroll about the neighborhood. Bridal beauty takes a village. Yes, it takes the Village People! Or what I mean to say is, it takes a village like the one the Village People so passionately tell us about. It takes a little place called the YMCA.
I love the Y. It has all the great cardio and weight machines, classes and personal training programs as swanky as the LA transplants next door but with added neighborhood charm. Question: who valets their car to go to the gym like what I see at our “boutique fitness centers”? I hope NO ONE. If you do, you might be missing the point of the active lifestyle your inflated gym membership fees are supposed to be enabling. Plus I think you are a butthead. I digress…
I love the Y for budget brides. So many of us hunker down on specific fitness goals after we find the dress. Maybe arms and back are what you’ll focus on to enhance your strapless Vera Wang look-alike, or you really want to enhance your glutes for a mermaid gown and to fill out those bikini bottoms you’ll be sporting on the honeymoon. The Fitlinxx program at the Y is a free, computerized personal trainer that records your goals and tracks your progress, tailoring workouts to your body type and abilities. There’s also different assignments each time you log in! So P90X…
My favorite Y features though, are the specialty classes that are free with your monthly membership. There’s a flow yoga class everyday as well as Zumba, bodypump, BOSU flex, and pilates with props, to name a few. I love the camaraderie I have with so many fellow members in my classes who know when my wedding date is and encourage me to stay a full class, even if my head is swimming with invitations to address. Every instructor brings something different to the table. Zumba Brandi pops, locks and drops it ’til so many endorphins are running through my body that I start dreaming I’m in an overheated Havana night club. Julie in Friday power yoga is soft and nurturing, helping to adjust poses as needed. Then there’s the more colorful power yoga on Mondays at the Park Cities Y with Jeff, who once threw a girl out of his class for trying to sneak in a granola bar. Jeff makes me want to punch him in the face on Mondays and I love him for it.
And while my treks to the Y make a difference to my figure, those benefits pale in comparison to how a neighborhood Y can shape a local community. Local YMCAs are watering holes that nourish the mind, spirit and body of members of all ages. From after school programs to active older adult activities, the Y enriches lives through more than just elliptical machines. YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas has even partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas to allow free access to all Bigs and Littles wishing to spend creative and constructive time together at YMCA facilities.
Looks like the Y is a win-win situation for me and the community. As long as I can get myself to go, right? ;o)
See you soon,
Lilly
Blooms that Benefit
Visiting Apples to Zinnias for my floral consultation was like having someone read my face. Moments after hearing my venue and color choices, wedding specialist Juan Gomar had created the dream floral pieces for my dream wedding. Before I could say, “my favorite flowers are hydrengeas,” hydrengeas were the center focus of the two day, three event affair. Before I could casually mention how I love soft pinks with my navy color choice (and brag to yet another vendor that there will be a cotton candy machine at the reception), soft tones of true pinks were being interwoven into bridesmaid bouquets and family dinner centerpieces. “You love to vary the height of center arrangements? How did you know I love to vary the height of center arrangements?!” I had to continuously remind myself throughout the meeting that I was here because I was with my perfect partner, because the more and more Juan spoke I was sure he was the man of my dreams.
So was this a coincidence that I’d found a Dallas floral designer with my exact taste? It didn’t seem to be the case when I browsed Apples to Zinnias’ extensive wedding portfolio. Each bouquet and pew marker was so different, as unique as the bride who had ordered them for her ceremony and reception. This wasn’t about me having the same taste as a flower shop, this was about a florist knowing people, being able to read clients and creating the perfect wedding they might not even know they wanted. Just as the ghost whisperer is the voice of the dead, Apples to Zinnia’s wedding whisperer is the voice of our innermost “I do” desires. Perfect for the bride like me who has a vision and an eye for detail but is new to the science and art of floral design.
Not only does Apples to Zinnias cater to the brides who flock to their Preston Center storefront, but the work they do for local non-profits is just as tailored and phenomenal. I was referred to Apples to Zinnias by a friend who saw their pieces at a dinner for Dallas’ Wilkinson Center and was wowed by the exquisite detail of the work. When I visited the shop on a Wednesday afternoon, the team was busy designing cookie-box themed centerpieces for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas and a Spiderman made completely out of flowers for the Medical Center of McKinney. Finding a florist that will hand off a few stems to charity now and then is one thing, but knowing a floral designer that treats their in-kind donations with the utmost attention says something more about Apples to Zinnias, and makes me want a floral Spiderman at my wedding. Kind of…
Polish Up On Your Non-profit
PeaceKeeper Nail Polish in Perfect Wedding Shades
Confession: there is not one bottle of nail polish in my cabinet. I’d also be hard pressed to find one tube of lip gloss in any one of my many drawers or handbags. While this has always been acceptable in the real world, this is apparently a major offense in what I like to refer to as Bride World. Bride World is a magical place where things that were minor details in your former life, such as what dresses your best girlfriends wear to your party, are catapulted into life-altering choices that could apparently affect the happiness of your marriage. In the real world, I might look at my hands twice in a day. In Bride World, my hands and the fingernails on them are shaking the hands of all of my guests as well being all kinds of crazy photographed for those artsy ring shots I’ve been told I’ll cherish forever. Predicament: how do I prepare my nails to sky-rocket to such levels of sudden fame while keeping them level-headed?
Thankfully I’ve found PeaceKeeper Cause-metics, a line from New York that not only boasts fair-trade and natural nail polishes, mineral makeups and lip glosses, but also donates 100% of its after-tax, distributable profits to women’s health advocacy and human rights issues. Since I’m a nail-polish newbie as well as a bit of a klutz, it’s the smartest idea to invest in the bottle of polish shade I plan to sport on the big day for sudden touch-ups (Peacekeeper’s Paint Me Tranquil looks very tempting). Now instead of grimacing at the fact that I’m dropping dough on another item I’ll only use on my wedding day, I can be happy knowing that I’ll have beautiful nails that also help to make the world a beautiful place to live. With the all-natural and even vegan-friendly formulas available, I might just use this experience as an opportunity to become a nail polish gal in the real world as well!
Don’t think I’ll be the only one sporting PeaceKeeper at the wedding. I fully plan on gifting my gal pals with lots of Cause-metics at showers, luncheons and spa days. Remember, in Bride World, we don’t just pick your dresses, we call your nail color, too!
Gifts that Give
I find wedding registries to be a tough pill to swallow, a necessary evil. Who am I to tell people what I think they should give me as a wedding gift? At the same time, how the heck would I figure out how to return 42 different toasters if there was no master list telling my guests that someone’s already bought me one? With so many people making an effort to get my fiance and me the perfect wedding gift, I want to make sure that homes besides my own will benefit from these purchases.
After browsing some of my local department stores, I knew I wanted to go with a registry at Macy’s to utilize their great spread that includes both high-end items as well as more affordable, everyday pieces. I especially love that the store carries some of KitchenAid’s Cook for the Cure pieces, a line that donates 10% of the purchase price of your new, perky pink blender, standing mixer or food processor to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Bed, Bath & Beyond also has some of the pieces from Cook for the Cure which Macy’s lacks, so I added few items from their store to our registry as well. I’m a huge fan of Cook for the Cure; the KitchenAid standing mixer is to the new bride as the Walther PPK is to a classic James Bond, and now we have an excuse to buy it in bubblegum pink! It might not be the groom’s shade of choice, but anything for a good cause, right?
Getting my kitchen electrics cookin’ for a cure revs my motor, but what really gets me excited is finding a way for all of my gift selections (even the flour sifter!) to help contribute to charity. How did I pull it off? Both registries are listed under our names at WeddingChannel.com. Not only does combining the two registries on one master webpage make it easy for our guests to view selections from both registries in one place, but WeddingChannel.com is partnered with the I Do Foundation. That means 3% of the total price of our wedding gifts purchased by our guests through the WeddingChannel.com webpage is donated to a charity chosen by Markus and me. I love that our guests pay no extra cost, Markus and I get the same gifts we would have registered for and people are benefitting through the wedding gift purchases. If that’s the case, I’ll take the toaster and the toaster oven!
Until next time (flower appointment this Wednesday!)
Miss Lilly
Let Them Eat Cake
After admitting that the honeymoon was a tough task to tackle, I wanted my next pre-marital preparation to deal with something I knew about extensively. Looks like “reception munchies” was the next to be checked off the list! Keeping with my theme of giving to vendors that give back to the community, I set out to find guilty pleasures for my wedding guests that would leave me feeling good about my purchase. Luckily I heard of Society Bakery when they donated cupcake towers (yes, towers!) to my employer, Dallas Contemporary’s, Legends Ball last September. Nine months later, my mouth still waters from the memory of biting into my first Society Bakery cupcake. After being voted one of “America’s Top 10 Cupcakes” by The Ellen Degeneres show, we all know a proper Dallas wedding is not complete with out one of their delicious cakes complemented by an eye-boggling cupcake tower, and who am I if not a proper Dallas girl?!
Thanks to several reminders from my loving fiance about the appointment (that’s funny, he was not this anxious before our meetings with the priest or venue coordinator…), we arrived at Society Bakery’s Greenville Avenue storefront promptly at 1:30 on a sunny, Thursday afternoon. The tasting seemed as whipped-up from scratch as their delicious icings, just a huge box of cupcakes showcasing the flavors available at the store that day. This meeting was just about securing the day and discussing the number of cupcakes we’ll need. After all, who can rush into deciding things like cupcake flavors? We nibbled while working on the specs of our wedding day desserts and still had enough samples to bring home and share with family members. Much more enjoyable than chowing-down in the middle of a bakery filled with jealous onlookers! We’ve worked through our first baker’s dozen and have our list ready of the next ones we wish to try (pink champagne, anyone??).
More extensive than Society Bakery’s long list of batter and icing flavors is the directory of non-profits in Dallas that the confectionery contributes to. The bakery even gifts their favorite local charities with free publicity by linking to lucky donation recipients’ webpages via societybakery.com. I knew we were a match made in Heaven when I first bit into the chocolate with chocolate cupcake, but I had to no idea how meant to be we were until I heard Society Bakery’s tagline: “Be good to your tastebuds, be good to society.” Yes, Society Bakery! I, Lilly Watson, do take you! From this day forward and forever more!
Until next time (where I’ll talk about finding blooms that benefit with local florists),
Miss Lilly
A Wonderful World
So maybe I like to work backwards. It is true that I am a magazine fanatic and cannot read a single issue without starting at the back cover and working my way to the front page. When I started planning our wedding I focused on the grand finale first – the honeymoon! After all, what’s better motivation than knowing that after the hard work I’ll be going on a first-class vacation with my best friend and drumroll, please… husband?
The hardest part about planning the honeymoon was deciding where to go. I love all kinds of travel so picture any destination and I’d love to be there. Markus is just as easy going, eliminating any swing vote! So in today’s times I asked myself, “Where do I want this honeymoon money going?” After meditating on this idea for a few moments I knew what I was looking for: an exciting/relaxing vacation combo for my husband and I that would help stimulate the American economy and maybe even, in turn, help out a less fortunate individual.
When I imagine Disney World, I see heart-stopping rides, knee-slapping musical revues and lovable characters around every corner. Some of the unexpected perks of being Disney guests, though, come through the resort’s unseen but impeccable customer service. Did you know that when staying at a Disney resort your transportation to and from the airport is included? So is your skyhop service! Disney’s Magical Express takes care of all your checked bags so there is no waiting at the baggage claim before kick-starting your Disney adventure. It’s little things like this that makes a Disney experience stand out from the rest.
The biggest impact Disney makes though, is on the local community. According to Wikipedia, Walt Disney World Resort “employs more than 66,000, spending more than $1.2 billion on payroll and $474 million on benefits each year. The largest single-site employer in the United States, Walt Disney World Resort has more than 3,700 job classifications.” That’s a lot of paychecks for a lot of people! Knowing that my vacation money is helping to keep fellow Americans in work makes me feel good about spending a little extra on my vacation.
You don’t have to be a Disney “castmember” to benefit from corporation’s local influence. In Fall 2008 alone Disney donated money and services to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Great Oaks Village and Sunnyside Group Home and Tree People. There were also the Hispanic Heritage Fund of Metro Orlando scholarships funded by the Walt Disney World Minority Business Development, which totaled $100,000. To read more about these Disney do-gooding adventures, take a look at the November 2008 edition of Mouse Mail.
I can’t wait to explore every inch of Disney World’s resorts and parks before jumping on the Disney Wonder cruise ship for a four-day jaunt to the Bahamas. Learning how my Dinsey dollars stretch far into the local area makes me feel like it’s a Small World, and I’m helping to make it a better place.
With honeymoon plans tucked away, it’s on to the second most important detail: CAKE! Tasting’s tomorrow, talk to you then!
- Miss Lilly
Introducing the future Mrs. Neubauer!
Hello family, friends and cyber universe,
My name is Lilly (Miss Lilly to my Dallas-area art students), and I’m here to share my journey down the aisle with you! Being engaged for the past year has taught me so many wonderful new things. New things about myself, my partner, Markus, what it takes to be in a loving and successful marriage…and what it takes to plan a loving and successful wedding! Hopefully this blog will act as a catharsis for me while keeping Markus and I’s loved ones informed about how I’m making the bridal decisions they’ll see in culmination at our September wedding. Maybe there’s even a bride-to-be out there that will benefit from reading about how I picked the vendors that I felt were right for the special day!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since opening my first bridal magazine last February, it’s that no two weddings are alike. With so many options out there, especially in an event-happy city like Dallas, it can be hard to choose what vendor best fits with your idea of love. Love to me is a group effort. I know Markus and I would not be where we are without our wonderful friends, family members and community outlets in Dallas. That is why it is so important to me to provide this group forum for our wedding plans and choose vendors that have a reputation for giving back to the community.
So there it is in a nutshell! I hope you’ll stay with me to learn more about the people I bring onboard to make this wedding a community affair filled with love before, during and happily ever after the day itself.
Until next time (pssst- it’s a cake tasting tomorrow!),
Miss Lilly
