Mike and Olivia - By: Blogger Bride Olivia

Welcome World!!!! You have just entered the made-for-TV-movie that is our engagement and upcoming wedding. I’m Olivia and my fiancé’s name is Michael. We are both native South Louisianans and we love all things SOUTH! Our wedding is planned for November 2012, which seems like it’s a lifetime away!

My fiancé is an amazing man and let me say up front that I am blessed to have him in my life. We met at church but if you know us you know it was not at all that simple. HE STALKED ME!!!! Although we were at the same church I did not know him. He requested me as a friend on Facebook, and I accepted because he was a member of the church. My thought was “oh one of my church members”. I also knew he was related to my pastor so I wasn’t worried about him being a psycho! Well one weekend I went to visit one of my sorority sisters in Dallas. She and I had just come in from a fun night out and I decided to check my emails. I had an email from Mike and although I was hesitant to respond I did. Many emails and phone calls later and here we are...Boring story? Don't worry if you ask Mike his version, it will contain flying monkeys and unicorns!

The Proposal: After a very long and stressful week we decided to go do what we do best....EAT. We met with his sister and brother-in-law under the guise of planning a surprise event for his parents. During the evening of food and fun, Mike slipped a little black box onto the table. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the box and immediately freaked...and I guess as they say the rest was history.
Our plan is that our wedding will be a weekend of fun, family, and fellowship. It will be classy and elegant, while maintaining our southern sense of style with food and music. We can’t wait!! And we can’t wait to share our planning with everyone.

Talk to you soon,
Bride Olivia

Beauty Ain’t This Painful: Waxing By: Bride Namibia

I first shaved my legs when I was 25, and got my first wax at 31. There are many reasons why I didn't shave, but one of them was not because I was not hairy. Honey child, my legs are like comedienne/actress, Mo'Nique, beyond fuzzy to down right bush baby. You see my mom frowned on shaving, so I had to do what the old schoolers did, slather the follicles down with lotion. Then when I got older, I was au naturel for a minute, and bucked the man for an unshaven calf, but silently craved to tame the beast on my legs. However, I have some serious horror stories with shaving my pits and bikini line from razors, to depilatories, to an outrageously painful waxing that occurred back-in-the-day. Unfortunately, I have an ugly scar on my calf from a shaving experience with a straight-edge eyebrow razor. Long story, but I strongly recommend to never shave when you are pissed off at a boyfriend.

Later on I gave waxing another try when I moved to Atlanta some years ago. Shayna of "Spa on the Go" gave me a pretty low-pain experience. Actually, there was very little pain at all. My legs were fairly painless, my thighs were more sensitive, but it was a cool experience as we talked and laughed for about an hour. I was so relieved I thought my previous waxing experience when I was a high-schooler was fantasized---until I tried it on my own again. Yup, I was wrong. That shit hurt like ouch. But since waxing was out of my grad school budget at the time, I go through torture. About twice a year, I do the rip-and-yelp dance for about 3 hours and end up with smooth spots, sticky skin and small patches of blood with some fuzz. I so admire Mo'Nique, honestly I do. However, I too look at her legs and am not feeling it. Such a contradiction for my hairy self; and a person who realizes that European art emphasizes hairless women to disempower their presence, I know that much of social chagrin is rooted in Western culture.

Nevertheless I want smooth and shiny gams for my wedding and I know I gotta start now. The last thing I will do on my wedding day is walk like a bowlegged cowboy because my runway got ripped the day before.
To get my body on a consistent hairless regimen, I gave myself a full leg and bikini wax last week. Shit, it was painful. But I was adhering to the advice of my girlfriend who told me she gets it all taken off regularly. According to her, it really stops hurting. I dropped my mouth in amazement. I mean a sister of color getting a wax is more of a challenge due to our coarse hair. Blood in the pubic area is standard, but my friend swears that experience childbirth pains three times immunized her from a lot of things she thought were unbearable before.

Nonetheless, I am still asking, "Why is beauty so painful?"

love and balance http://oldnewdarkerthanblue.blogspot.com/

darker than blue