Luvin' my Braces!

Just a quick note to let everyone know I have my first tightening on Sept 10th and I can not wait to go in and get my teeth tightened...that means I will be closer to a corrected jaw and a perfect smile! I didn't think I'd look forward to this appointment, but I'm excited/nervous to see what my ortho has to say. I'm hoping that he tells me my grill has been doing an amazing job and that I will get my braces off sooner! I know I'm optimistic but you never know :) It's amazing how fast my teeth have moved! My teeth are noticeably much straighter and look better. The downside is that I have gaps in between my teeth that I didn't have before! I'm guessing this is normal if it's not let me know pls! I'm thinking that the 'powerchain' everyone talks about is meant to pull teeth together and close the gaps?! Any comments would be appreciated! :) It will be two months at the end of next week...time flies! 2 months closer! So excited! I'm sure time will fly by.

Question to my followers:
Does the pressure on your teeth ever go away? My guess is no because I have felt pressure since day numero uno! I know it means my teeth are moving but will my teeth ever feel normal?

VEGAS!!!!

This weekend I went to Sin City Las Vegas to celebrate Lil' M's last night out on the town as a single lady :( Tear!!! But we celebrated with a BANG! (My grill included) We (BFFV, Salma, and M) had the most AMAZING room! we were blessed and lucky enough to have a suite an the MGM Grand Hotel and it was to die for! I've been to Vegas 7 times before and this time was by far the best room! We had an amazing balcony over looking the strip which just put the cherry on top of everything else!

I'm going to keep this post short since "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" and I am living up to that saying! shhhhhh!! Let's just say all my DG's and I had a fabulous time filled with memories we will never ever forget!

xoxoxoxo to all of my DG's out there! I heart ya girls!

Smile :D

Birthday Week!!!

I know I've been a bad bad blogger lately! Sorry fellow followers! I've been so busy this summer it's really quite amazing I'm still here! My birthday was by far one of the best best best birthday's I've ever had! It's really hard to imagine I would have the best birthday thus far considering my braces. It really goes to show that the thrill of my grill is empowering me day by day. Last year I could say was one of the worse birthdays for various reasons...and if someone would have asked about this year I would have imagined it be the same or worse with the new grill...needless to say the grill didn't stop my from having a fab fab time!

I'm calling this blog my birthday 'week' blog because I spent my birthday in Seattle celebrating Thursday, Friday, Sat (my actual bday day), Sunday, and Monday!!! I know! I didn't think my grill and I had it in us! Thursday I did work part of the day and later that night I drove to BFF's house in Seattle with a buddy. That night we celebrated with a little shopping and din din at the Cheesecake factory! Yummers! The next day we celebrated by going to the Mariners game! Go Mariners! (even though they lost that day :/) We had awesome seats sitting 18 rows up from the third baseline! I just wish I remembered more of it!!! I had one too many beers for the M's and I paid for it the next day :/!




The next day was my real real birthday day! LOL I pulled myself together polished my bedazzeled grill and BFF Vanessa and I went out for a night on the town...RAWR! We went to dinner and later met up with some friends to go dancing! So much fun...and my grill and I got a good workout! I though I would feel self conscious about going out with my grill but the more I expose my self the less and less worried I am about it...especially after a few drinks! Oh yeah and later that night as I was waiting in line to get a Seattle hotdog my shoe decided it was tired and gave out on me! :( I literally fell right on my ankel as I was STANDING!!! No I was NOT drunk I swear because I ran down town Seattle with my heels and nothing happened...but don't let me stand because I will fall! OMG so embarrassing! but I survived...a bloody ankle and a bruised ego...but still survived!



Sunday was spent relaxing and shopping with BFF and Monday night was concert time!!! WhooHooo! We had 4th row seats to Motley Crue and GodSmack! So awesome! We got our rock on and had a fabulous time!!! I have to say I'm usually not a rock type of gal...but once there I rocked on! Needless to say I had a fabulous birthday with the best people in the world and my braces made it that much better! So to all my fellow bracers embrace your braces and ROCK ON!!!!

All My Fellow Bracers!

Hey All!

This weekend was fabulous! Filled with many mini brace moments! (try saying that fast 3 times) I took my grill to its first concert, and it had tons of fun :o) As I walked into the place I noticed that the girl who stamped my hand and let us in was wearing braces...but she did the complete opposite of what I'm trying to do, she was trying to hide her wonderful grill! She kept her lips over her teeth as she talked...she looked silly. I almost wanted to tell her, but we all have to learn to accept ourselves sooner or later and she'll realize it eventually. During the concert a security guard passed right by us and smiled...and guess what? He had a bedazzled grill! He was much older than I and he was rockin' it! So to all my fellow bracers...Let's ROCK ON!

It's really funny that I notice peoples teeth now more than ever. I never would have paid attention and remembered anyone random with braces...but now I remember all of my fellow bracers I cross paths with. It's really fun too :) And I'm hoping to capture it all on my blog...anyone I run into that has braces will hopefully end up on my blog!

Mid concert, I heard it...One of my fav songs! And I sang my little heart out! Then I noticed the people standing in front of me seemed a little wierded out...I ignored them, stopping only once to catch my breath and take a sip of my vodka-tonic. Then it came to mind that I may be spraying spit as I sang! I tried not to spit as I sang...but I couldn't help it! I felt like I was drooling! So I took it as a lesson learned and I will just lip sing next time!

When BFF and I walked up to the bar to get a drink (and a couple of shots) of course V pulls out her camera and wants to take pics...lots of pics! and close up pics! Ugh! I'm still trying to get used to seeing myself in pictures with my shiny grill....But getting better by the day. I think it's easier for me not to hide them becuase I know that eventually I will not have them, but pictures are harder for me because they will last forever! Here's a long life pic memory:

This picture will last forever as well as the memories...truly one of the best performers ever!!!

The next morning was filled with shopping, shopping, and more shopping! LOL...One of the girls who helped at one of the many stores was wearing braces...she was about my age but her brackets were white, where mine are clear. I think they were more noticeable since nobody really has perfect white teeth. She noticed my grill I noticed her grill and we shinned our grills to each other...LOL sounds nasty!

Later that night we met up with some long-lost friends! It's always fun to meet up with friends you haven't seen in years! So I walked up to a long lost buddy David and he quickly asked how long I'd had braces on for. I explained my story, offered to share my blog address, etc. (I swear I'm just going to give out cards with my blog address on them so they can just read about it...I've had to explain my story over a million times!) So he went on to tell me he worked for an orthodontist office and then he pulled down his lip and showed me his clear bottom grill! I was ecstatic! We shared a few braceology moments and had a few laughs...It was great!

Overall this weekend was great! I ran into sooo many people with braces in such a short amount of time! I love it...

Don't forget to proudly smile :D

KISSES!

I've officially reached week 3!

Bugsy my son...

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I got braces! Time flies and it's really getting a whole lot better...even last week I didn't think I would be able to put up with a year of braces! Don't get me wrong sometimes I just want to rip the damn grill right off my teeth! It's a foreign object in my mouth and I want it out! Like yesterday please!

I get so frustrated at times...it's frustrating not to eat things that could stain my clear brackets on top of other things all my other fellow bracers can't eat. The number one thing I miss is definitely coffee! :( I've been getting bad headaches lately and I'm not sure if it's the pressure from my braces, work stress, or the coffee withdrawals I'm going through. I think it's a combination of all three! I've had to cheat at times...I have a cup of coffee once a week, I especially need my java when I'm sitting in early am meetings! I'm not a morning person and to be expected to function without my daily juice is torture! I've resorted to sugar free Redbull to get my fix, but I love the taste of coffee and it hasn't been the same. My heart is broken and this girl needs coffee! (along with many other things LOL)

Grrr.....


Here's Bugsy showing me his own grill!


Last weekend I went to a wedding where I saw a lot of my family members. It was the first time with them since I got the new pimped out gear. Many even said they couldn't really tell they were braces so that made me feel better. I even danced a few songs with my wires and it felt great! Getting prepped for M's big day!

The other thing I've been dealing with is massive chapped lips! I hate it! I use lotsa chapstick but nothing has been working really! Grr! I hate it...It looks gross and it hurts too! I also haven't had to use my wax much, but today one of my brackets started bothering the inside of my bottom lip. I can't figure out why it would all of a sudden start poking into my lip? It must be because my teeth are moving..IDK but I have wax on right now and it makes it feel soo much better! I love my wax! xoxo! The down side is that I really can't use wax when I'm in public because it's extremely visible since it's on my front rack.

I've been reading other fellow brace blogger's blog and some have the clear grill on the top like I do. I notice that many of them have had trouble with their grill staining. I've had mine on for three weeks and my brackets and bands are still clear and they are not Turing yellow like other bloggers. To all you bracers out there who are struggling with this I recommend using a toothpaste with fluoride as the primary ingredient. I also rinse once a day (night time) with fluoride mouthwash. I never knew how many different types of mouthwash's there are out in the world! OMG! There's like a whole wall of them...different colors, uses, flavors! It's really quite overwhelming. I went to Target to buy some flouride mouthwash thinking I would be in and out...Yeah right! Wrong! I was flabbergasted while looking at all of the different types! Who'da Thunk! 15 mins later I finally had narrowed it down to two different types of brands. I couldn't chose so I just did the inny-minny-miny-moe thing and picked one and left the isle...running! Anyway, I recommend using a fluoride mouthwash every night it helps keep the brackets and bands clean and clear and under control! LOL (wait that's the Neutrogena saying!)

I'm going out of town this weekend and I will be riding in my car, jamming to my music...just me and my grill!

I'm attaching a few pics for your enjoyment purposes! Just my braces, my doggy Bugsy, and me...chillin like a villan.

xoxo,
C

Even In Cartoons...

		The Simpsons		In episode "Last Exit to Springfield" Lisa gets a full set of braces plus a large headgear, at the end she receives clear ones
		Toy Story		1995. Sid, the neighbor kid, has a mouth full of braces
		Donald Duck		Appears with a kind of headgear in Quack Pack
		Butthead		Even MTV's infamous comic character has used brackets

http://personal5.iddeo.es/mmoreira/crcing/famous_people.htm

Em"Bracing" My new Smile

Hi All,
Today is my 13th day with braces...amazing how fast time is going by and already I'm seeing my teeth move! It will be hard to forget the day I got my braces since it was the day Michael Jackson sadly passed away :( As I layed on my couch watching E! I couldn't believe what I was seeing...definitely a sad day. My teeth were a bit more sore today than normal, but I've gotten to the point where I can chew without massive pain. I was thinking I would lose weight considering my diet was very minimal…but oh NO! I actually gained a 1 ½ lbs! I think I’ve just been loading up on carbs which include potatoes, rice, pasta, yogurt, yams, etc! So disappointing considering I thought I would actually lose lbs not gain them! I try to tell myself that the metal in my mouth must weigh exactly 1 ½lbs I SWEAR!

Yesterday, the feeling of gaining weight only increased when I started playing Wii Fit and my Wii Fit Fitness Instructor totally got me in trouble! When I stepped on the scale it showed I’d gain 2lbs! So needless to say he worked my butt off…literally I hope! So today I decided it was time to show my new be-dazzled grill to my gym buddies, since I was avoiding the gym since I'd gotten braces. As I walked into the gym and checked in I saw this hottie! I’ve actually run into him a few times and we just briefly look at eachother and smile. We did our normal smile but this time I proudly showed off my grill. As I walked away I felt good…my confidence is increasing and progressively growing. And frankly I've gotten to the point where I don't care what people think about a 25 year old with braces as long as I'm good with myself, that's all I care about.

Tuesdays are usually my busiest day out of the week, usually filled with business meetings and a lunch on the go. I was a little nervous to go into a meeting where I knew I’d be surrounded by some of the top people from my organization. I didn’t let that stop me, I continued as if nothing was different. I’m sure people noticed, but they didn’t point, laugh, or make fun of me. (at least not in front of me) LOL! I got that out of the way and I know it will only get better from here on out.

At the beginning I felt like my lips were not big enough to accommodate my new gear. I don’t know if my lips are getting bigger (Angelina Jolie Style) or if my mouth is just getting used to it, but I don’t feel that way anymore. My speech is improving and I’m no longer having trouble with my S’s. I must admit I practiced talking in the mirror and singing to Taylor Swift’s Love Story song! I must have replayed that about 3 times until I got it right!

I go in for a tightening on September 10th, which is 10 weeks out. I'm not sure if that's the standard because I've heard of people having their appointments 6 weeks out but not 10? Maybe my teeth don't require much moving, I don't know but plan to ask my ortho at that time. Anyway, at that time I have to option to switch my lower level gear to clear-gear if I want to. I'm still debating if I want to endure the pain of having to switch my lower silver colored brackets into clear brackets. Not only that, it's hard trying to keep the clear brackets clear, and they are actually bigger and bulkier than the regular silver looking ones. Plus you really can't see my lower silver colored ones unless I open my mouth for the world to see...which doesn't happen very often unless I've had a few drinks!

There's is a lot to look forward to before I get my first tightening. I will be celebrating my birthday out of town, going to Vegas for a bachlorette party, and then will be attending my BFF's wedding. I'm sure I will have plenty of fun braceology moments to share with you all!

Smile :D