Presidents' Day Hostess + 28 week Update

Last month, I was one of the hostesses for our monthly DAR meeting. Since it was the Saturday after Presidents' Day, we chose to use that as our theme. I think our table came out nicely!

We made sure to include a couple of cherry desserts to honor George Washington. Remember "Washington would not tell a lie when asked if he cut down the cherry tree." ;) Our desserts were mini cherry pies and chocolate covered cherries.  For my bumpdate, I took a bathroom pic before my meeting. ha!

**I think this is the week where my bump started to pop out for real**

how far along: 28 Weeks

size of baby: eggplant

gender: female

belly button in/out: out

weight gain: 14-15 lbs

maternity clothes: right now still trying to wear as many of my non-maternity tops as possible like this gap tee. however, they are starting to get too short as my bump is growing. thinking i need to get a few classic tops to hold me over til the baby comes. 

stretch marks: not yet *fingers crossed*

rings: on :)

nursery: bedding purchased. 

movement: feeling her kick a lot more. 

symptoms: heartburn and indigestion

sleep: still sleeping through the night. having to get up a few times but nothing major

best moment last week: still feeling her move is cool!

cravings: sour candy, sprite [try to not have it often], chocolate, salad

aversions: pb&j, bananas, grilled cheese

what I miss: coloring my hair, having anything BUT dry skin/scalp, gums that don't bleed, sleeping on my stomach

looking forward to: picking out pieces for the nursery, meeting our baby girl:)

DAR State Conference Page Recap

Any local ladies who are interested in joining the DAR, please feel free to email me. I absolutely love the ladies in my chapter and would love to get you more information about such a great organization! Fun Fact: a fellow blogger helped me get into the DAR:)

When I decided to page at the TNDAR State Conference, I googled around to see what other pages have worn. The dress code is all white which I thought would be easy, but it is NOT easy finding appropriate white dresses when it isn't Easter season:/ Nor was it easy finding a white formal that didn't break the bank either.

I couldn't find any blogs or really very many pictures about DAR Pages or about paging in general.

So, I decided to write this post in hopes there are some other girls looking out there for ideas on what to wear.

Can I just say that paging at state conference was seriously HANDS DOWN one of the best times I've ever had. I was very nervous, but luckily, every single page there was so friendly and helpful which made my nerves subside. Not to mention, quite a few of the girls were first year pages just like me!

I definitely plan on paging again next year:) If you're wondering what I mean by paging, this is the description on the TNDAR website which says it way better than I can:

"Pages are Junior Members who serve as hostesses, errand-runners, personal assistands, and flag-bearers at state events. Tennessee Junior Members learn that paging is a great way to get to know the inner workings of DAR on the state and national levels ... Tennessee Junior Members have developed lifelong friendships with other pages and they treasure the memories of their paging experiences. They have FUN serving the Society!"

I definitely way overthought what to wear. I was so worried about being "appropriate." And since I couldn't find many pics on the web for examples, I just went with if my Grandma would have like it, then I'm sure DAR will like it. ha! Also, I was trying to be as frugal as possible since we are still saving for IVF. 

Day 1: Friday afternoon

attended Page Meeting, met the wonderful woman I was assigned to be a personal page for

Dress: Lilly Pulizer scalloped dress [bought from blogger $45]

shoes: born [brand new--paid $18 on eBay] 

cardigan: NY&Co. 

Krista, me, and Aubrey

Blogging is such a small world! Two of my fellow pages were bloggers too! 

Day 1-Evening

Friday night, we had to wear a white formal gown. My chapter regent asked me to carry our chapter's banner in during Friday night's flag procession, and of course, I was more than happy to do so! I wasn't sure what all that entailed so I tried to find a white dress that had straps. The banner wasn't heavy, and honestly, I would have been fine in a strapless gown. This gown was a fleabay steal considering I only paid 60 bucks for this wedding dress. Luckily, it was for someone my height so it only needed to be taken in. 

dress: Alfred Angelo for JCPenney [paid 60 bucks eBay]

shoes: wore my Born flats again

gloves: Nordstrom [paid 10 bucks on ebay]

Day 2-afternoon

Woke up and hit the ground running. The day went by so fast from attending meetings, doing what ever the vice-president general needed me to do, and trying to not mess up. <----ha!

dress: Lilly Pulitzer Shauna lace dress [paid $75 BNWT on Re-Lilly]

shoes: same as above

Sadly, I did not get a picture of my Day 2 evening dress. It was another fleabay steal! I paid 40 bucks for it BNWT! It was satin with white beading up top and flowy chiffon from the waist down. Really I only wore it for about an hour while I helped out with the line for the state regent's banquet. After that, I went upstairs and changed into comfy clothes for our Page Party! We had pizza and just chatted and was a lot of fun. I was SO exhausted that night that I literally ate some pizza, chatted, went up to my room, and fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow. 

Page Party

Day 3-Sunday Morning

I was so exhausted even when I woke up, and you can definitely see it in this pic. This morning we helped out with more meetings and assisted with whatever needed to be done. 

Dress: Lilly Pulitzer Kiera [bought from blogger $45]

shoes: same as above

I was an assistand to this wonderful lady, our TN Vice President General. She was so kind and taught me a lot. She didn't get mad when I messed up, and she was so great! I hope if I'm a personal page again next year that I can page for her or someone like her. She rocked!  :))))

Hope this helps any of you first year pages who are googling around for ideas on what to wear. Also, my advice is to shop for white Easter dresses while they're out now! Another thing, some of the girls wore the same dress two days in a row. In all reality, I could have saved $$$ by doing that. So, keep that in mind! 

Ways to be frugal [I included prices in my post so you could see!]: scour eBay, check out facebook pages, local consignment shops, blog sales, etc. Luckily, two of my day dresses I bought from Maryland Pink and Green [blogger] and one on Re-Lilly [facebook page], and the two formals were $100 total on ebay. 

Seriously, I had SO much fun learning more about the DAR and the wonderful things we do! If you'd like to know more or would like to join, just drop me a line! Would love to help ya:)

China Dress

Have you ever noticed I have the lamest blog post titles. I swear I'm totally terrible in coming up with clever ones like other bloggers.

I'm going to the DAR state convention the first weekend in April.in Nashville. I decided to do this because I'd like to see some behind the scenes of the organization I joined this summer, and also, I'd like to do something fun for myself before we start the IVF process which should be mid-April.

I have to have all white dresses: 2 Sunday church type dresses and 2 formal dresses. I've been lucky as another blogger sold me two dresses at an amazing price ($90 for both!), and I also have a backup. However, I have been dreading looking for the formal ones. The problem is I keep finding them with other colors and not just white and/or they look like a wedding dress. Grrrrrr!

Then, the other day I had the grand idea to look on fleabay. Well, I found a one, and it was ONLY 33 dollars! However, the catch is that it's coming straight from China. I really hope that 1) it fits and 2) it actually looks like the picture. I figure if it doesn't work, I can always donate it to the JL thrift store. But IF it does work, 33 dollars is a lot better than say 100.

I thought it was pretty. Here's a pic:

Joining the DAR...

During the summer months, I joined the DAR. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it on here. Well, I know I would have since I worked on the freaking information for like a year to do so. So, I KNOW I did. Anyway, I joined through a chapter in Maryland. Since Maryland isn't even close to me, I asked to be transferred to a local chapter.

I'm actually going to my first meeting next month. One of the members is hosting a Christmas luncheon at her home. I'm super nervous because 1)I've never met these women before and 2) I feel like a luncheon is kind of intimate for the "first date" ya know. Kinda wish I was meeting them at happy hour. LOL:) I hope they like me!

I've already become active in the DAR, and I can tell that I am really going to enjoy it. While JL is fun and really does amazing things, I find there are more things I'm interested in with the DAR. For example, genealogy. I'm a genealogy freak. I hope to be a genealogist in another life... I actually am volunteering with a local library soon in their genealogy department. They had asked my chapter for help, and I was happy to oblige. I'm sure I'll enjoy that one Sunday a month more than they know:)

And, I've also joined a committee. It doesn't even require me to leave the comforts of this dog hair free couch i lied. hubs came home late and in between time the pug and i snuggled on the couch. shhhhhhh! i'll never tell! The committee I joined is the Genealogical Preservation committee. I am helping to catalog records into categories. Not to brag or anything, but over the past couple of years, I have become pretty knowledgeable about documents. I find it relaxing. Zzzzzzzz

And to be quite honest, I find staying on overload kind of therapeutic. I like to consider myself an #emotionalworker I like to stay ridiculously busy with some sort of "work" to keep my thoughts at bay, or you can just call me cray cray. I'm okay with that. I kinda feel cray cray sometimes.

DAR official:)

It's official! I got my certificate, national number, and my welcome packet from the DAR a few days ago. I am very excited to transfer to the chapter closest to my house (i joined through a chapter in MD) and get involved. I'm curious to see how this year pans out doing both Junior League and DAR. I guess if I can handle both, I'll keep both. If not, I'll go with which I like best.

 The wonderful lady who helped me join sent me a little gift, the DAR mug and DAR pin. I thought that was so sweet of her:) You CAN meet wonderful people through blogging!