Wedding Tidbits

So as promised, I will attempt to condense all wedding type updates into one. The past two weeks saw a few significant "checks", so here goes...

While I was on vacation I got a lot of little do-it-yourself project done, including our card box, our unity candle, and a little something for our out-of-towner welcome bags. I wasn't feeling as gung ho motivated as I thought I would, so I didn't get to any fabric stores to look for lace. That'll be on the back burner.

Wedding Rings

Last weekend we had 3 somewhat major things. First, we went to look at wedding rings. We both found ones we really like, but don't *love*. I liked this palladium band with simple leaf engraving (palladium wears the same as platinum, but is less expensive). Sean was really drawn to the Celtic knot bands, in particular a two toned band with the knot for "Serenity". I've been thinking more an more though about a plain band in platinum, no decoration. So we'll be making another trip to the jeweler in a couple months.

"Let the eat cake!"

We had our cake tasting on Saturday morning, and I love our cake vendor so much because not only do they have a delicious gluten-free chocolate cake, but they're throwing it into our cake package for free, and it's a cake that will feed 20 people! This is great, because the flavors I picked are not chocolate. The big cake will be four tiers, ivory buttercream frosting with champagne pearls and swag, and a pile of chocolate seashells on top. The bottom tier will be Strawberry Grand Marnier, with white cake, and white chocolate mousse filling with fresh cut strawberries. Yum. I should also add that all their cakes are tortes, so there are three layers of cake and two layers of mousse per tier. The second and third tier is tiramisu, and the top tier which I will eat on our anniversary is carrot cake.

I didn't think I would get so excited about cake, but I would say it was one of the most fun experiences in planning so far, other than trying on dresses. Number one, I got to eat cake, and a lot of it! Because of Sean's allergy, I was the only one who could taste the cakes, and they give you an entire slice of cake! From watching wedding shows, I was prepared for a little bite. Nope, I got 8 whole slices of cake folks. At 10 in the morning. I had a crazy sugar high, but I'm not complaining. It was comical though, because every other couple had brought their parents, or one of two people from the wedding party. But our table was just Sean with his chocolate cake, and me with my 8 pieces of cake piled in front of me.

Bridal Shower

Once we were done with the tasting, I dropped Sean off with my brother so they could have a man-day golfing, and went with my future mother-in-law to my bridal shower in the afternoon. It had not been a surprise, but I was still nervous. I consider myself an incredibly social person, but the idea of many people being gathered who don't necessarily know each other, but all know me, was well, overwhelming. I wanted to be a good hostess and tried to spend time with everyone there. It was absolutely lovely. Although it was hot out, my mom, "FMIL", and my favorite ladies worked very hard on putting together a beautiful shower, with lots of iced tea, finger foods, and a candy bar!

Everyone was incredibly generous with gifts. The day seemed like such a blur, but once we got home and I was writing thank yous this week, it really gave me a chance to reflect on the day and each person's thoughtfulness. I got very emotional! I know the state of the economy is making things hard for a lot of people right now, and I never expected to see such a party with so many wonderful women in attendance. I was humbled and felt so loved.

Here are some pictures of the details that went into the special day...

Cake made by one of the mom's from my brother's baseball team.













The Boston/seaside themed candy bar!
-Saltwater taffy
-Rock candy
-Boston baked beans
-Peppermint swirls
-Chocolate malt balls







Candy bags made by "FMIL" and a friend of the family












4 types of iced tea












Favors - Mugs with tea and honey sticks

Setting Up Shop

In an effort to expand my creative outlet and (hopefully) start making some extra money, I am setting up a shop with Etsy! I am very excited because I think it'll be a great way to put myself out there as an artist. At the same time, it's very scary, because making money is entirely dependent on someone seeing your work, liking it, and liking it enough to buy it. I have seen SO many things on Etsy that I would like to buy, but I have yet to actually take that step.

Anyways, I started this project at the beginning of the spring, including building a website to act as a portfolio/small business. Right now everything is very bare bones. So the next step is the "beefing up" step. I need to produce as many pieces as possibly in the next couple months, and I am marketing myself across a wide variety, from painting to photography prints to ink drawings to assisting with wedding stationary needs. Yeah, you can call me crazy now.

Another step I need to take, which I half-assed back in June, is draw up my goals; personal goals as an artist, and business goals as someone who is looking to run a business. The ultimate goal is to be self-sufficient enough to do this full time. I don't know if that will ever happen. But it's worth a try. And boy, I am ready to try, try again as many times as necessary.

For tonight, I have hit my brick wall. However, I will set a goal right here, and I will start small.

This weekend:

• 3 inked drawings, finished and photographed
  
• Photograph my paintings and add to website portfolio
• Finish 2 graphics I have been putting off
• Make a generic version of our wedding stationary components, in 3 different color schemes and font families

Cheers!

Shazzie

Over-socialized Nation

Disclaimer: I use Facebook as the prime example here because it is so universally used and active. Twitter and other social networking devices are also relevant, but may not be the best example for my thoughts at this time.

This post stems from a conversation I had over the weekend with my future mother-in-law on the drive to my bridal shower. She is a very wise and thoughtful woman and I can always count on her for sound advice and food for thought. The discussion of Facebook came up, and how it has changed the nature of relationships forever. She said it used to be that people would come and go from your life. Like one of those thoughtful coffee mugs, some people are meant to be in your life for a short time, some people forever. When someone leaves your life, for whatever reason be it the move, a breakup or divorce, or just drifting apart, it's necessary to be able to separate yourself from that person in a way that allows you to move on with your life, and them with theirs.

I spent the past hour-commute home from work thinking about this, and I can't help but think she's exactly right. Relationships have changed, and life as we used to know it has changed, for better or for worse. We have adapted to a culture of over-socialization. Everything is instant these days. Since the rise of email and cell phones, it has been expected that you could be in touch with any given person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It has changed the workplace. I have witnessed my boss being called while he's on vacation to answer another coworker's question. I don't know of anyone who can say they have lost productivity for a day because they've been sucked into Facebook or a Youtube video. Or blogging. *smirk*

The Good

Facebook does have it's benefits. In just the past year, nearly my entire immediate and extended family have joined, allowing us to all be connected and keep in touch easier. When you have over 20 first cousins on your dad's side alone, this is important. Another benefit is the ability to quickly share news, raise awareness, and promote small business and personal meaningful projects. For example, while walking my all-night security patrol 2 weekends ago, I checked Facebook on my Blackberry at 2:00 am and saw that one of my close friend's aunt had died in an accident and she was flying to Florida at 6 am that morning. I quickly sent her a text telling her how sorry I was and that she and her family would be in my thoughts and prayers. I have seen many groups pop up that raise awareness or act as fundraisers for important causes, such as Breast Cancer, MS and Lymphoma walks, and a benefit concert for a local boy who died which will raise scholarship money for a graduate of the music program. I have seen numerous friends (and a couple family members) start up their own businesses recently, and Facebook is a great way to let people know you're out there, what you do, and hopefully take off in a very competitive, oversaturated business world.

The Bad

This mostly applies to the conversation mentioned above with "FMIL". While reconnecting with old friends can be fun, there are times when people should be less exposed to each other. People have nasty breakups or divorces, or a falling out occurs and friendships end, yet you can't get away from each other. You still have mutual friends, you see each other in pictures from your friends albums, and it's hard to process the feelings that are necessary to move on with your life. My uncle joked once that his "Friend Suggestion" box kept suggesting he befriend his ex-wife, with whom he had a very tough divorce. It may seem funny on the surface, but it must bring up some very painful feelings any time he sees her name or picture. Also think of the many people who are grown up, married, with families, and all of a sudden an old flame from high school or college re-enters their life. I would like to see a study on how many healthy marriages have strained or ended because these people have quickly and easily come back from the land of lost love. And friendships ended...this one touches my life personally, as I "unfriended" people I have tried to separate myself from, yet with so many mutual friends, I still see them in pictures, wall comments, and events. How are you expected to move on when everyday, reminders of tough times gone by pop up in the seemingly harmless News Feed of infinite updates?

The Ugly

Here's where it gets interesting. I will preface this by saying I am equally guilty of all these things, as a regular Facebook/Twitter user. We have quickly become a culture of oversharing. For whatever reason, we now feel it necessary to share the most minute, insignificant happenings with the world, in a self-centered act to hope that someone out there will care and perhaps even "Like" or comment on what we have to say. I find myself trying to phrase things in a way that is funny, poetic, or interesting in hopes that people will read it and think how clever I am. But there are many, many, MANY updates on Facebook, Twitter and blogs that are pointless and far too much information. Does anyone really care that baby A had explosive diarreah and you only got 2 hours of sleep? Or that your feeling emo? I'll use some of my very own updates as examples of how pointless they can get...

From this morning:

"Shazzie" had her first cup of coffee from the new Keurig this morning and her quality of life instantly improved.

In a nutshell, I had a cup of coffee. So what???

Tuesday at 8:29 am:

"Work work work work work work work...."

Duh. It's Tuesday at 8:30, of course I'm at work, along with millions and millions of other people.

Last Thursday afternoon:

"Shazzie" is chilling on the Post Road. saw a hippie playing the pan flute. sweet.

I couldn't just be content to sit and enjoy the scenery. I thought that someone out in the interwebosphere would think "Oh Shazzie, you're a goof. You always have such interesting, random things happen in your day."

So where do we stand? Are we truly self-centered, clinging to the idea that somewhere out there in the world, we need another person's approval of the ongoings of our own everyday lives to feel important? I will be the first to admit that half the time, I have nothing interesting to say on this blog (and I apologize for wasting your time in those cases). But I have been journaling and blogging since 1998 when I was a freshman in high school, and have documented many events in my life that are interesting and that I enjoy going back to and reading about. And there are times when I wish I could just delete large chunks of time and history from the online world.

Manners and Etiquette and Teh Internets

This all seems so poignant at this time in my life. I have been sitting down each night to write thank you cards for the shower, and feel guilty that I haven't popped on to Facebook to let someone know I received their package in the mail. Yet I have found it to be an enjoyable experience to write each note, think about the person and how much they mean to me, and feel genuinely thankful for their generosity and the time they took to come to the shower. It's taken me nearly all week to work on writing them because I have gotten very emotional at times, and I believe in the power of a thank you note, or even just anything written. This is why I wrote Sean letters in college, even when email and Facebook was at my fingertips. There are some things that should never, ever become outdated. Like invitations.

Facebook has done a number on manners and etiquette. In the past, you could have a quiet dinner party or movie night with a couple friends or family members, and have a wonderful time. Now you have to worry about making an event private or public, if Person A is invited, will Person B get upset (because you no longer really hang out with Person B, but they still see every detail of your life, so doesn't that mean you're still close?)? Sean keeps joking (I think) that we should just send an e-vite instead of formal invitations. I think it's part hilarious, part horrifying, that such a thing would be called into question. Call me old school, but people used to receive an invitation in the mail, call or write back their RSVP, and show up to the event. Now there are planning websites (guilty), websites for guest information (guilty), and more details shared than anyone could ever imagine or care about. I am designing invitations and worrying if anyone out there is offended that they're not invited because they can see my wedding countdown ticker on my profile page and through various status updates and blog posts know exactly when I am getting married, where, the flavors of the cake, and 90% of the guestlist.

Also along the lines of manners and etiquette, I have seen some appalling things posted on the internet in the way of emails, comments and responses. Petty namecalling, inappropriate language, and just plain distasteful oversharing. I fear for kids who are in school these days. You don't have to live a sheltered life, but literally anything can end up on the internet these days, whether you post it of yourself or someone else posts it of you. You don't need permission. You don't need to even know someone to post a picture of them. And once it's out there, it's out there. The damage is done. The concept of discretion was thrown out the window a long time ago, as far as I'm concerned. And this is coming from the girl who has around 30 pictures of her wearing a Boba Fett helmet drinking red wine at our Tacky Christmas Sweater party last year.

Like I said, I am guilty of all things posted above. I don't know many people who wouldn't identify with most of these situations. Are we a happier world because we know (or can know) everything about everyone? I am thinking no. I think it causes unnecessary stress, anxiety, and pain in a lot of cases. Or boredom. There's an old saying that "Knowledge is power." I'm not so sure anymore.

And because I think you'll find it interesting or funny:

Odds 'n Ends

Some quick thoughts...

I saw Sam Adam's Octoberfest on shelves in Trader Joe's yesterday. This made me incredibly happy because I know autumn is right around the corner. This morning's cool air further confirmed this...

There has been much construction going on in our little office building as they're renovating for new tenants upstairs. I'm sure it'll be lovely when they're done, but a lot of the hammering has gone on directly overhead and I'll be happy when it's complete...

I had my yearly performance review. It went well, and I'll be training in the next 6 weeks for some added responsibilities in marketing and sales. This is an interesting new avenue for me, and it will keep me very busy in coming months. Oh, and I get to move my office in October to right across from the kitchen. You know what this means....closer proximity to the coffee maker. Hello, caffeine addiction!

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Big Papi blast a game winning homerun last night against the Chi-town White Sox. Keep it up, Pap. We love you.

I was sad to hear first thing yesterday morning that Ted Kennedy lost his battle to brain cancer. Of 4 brothers, he was the only one to die of natural causes. He was a great senator, an iconic family patriarch of our time, and he will be greatly missed. His funeral will be Saturday and I'm sure it will be an emotional day for many. May he rest in peace, and may his loved ones find comfort in this time of grief.

This is a reminder to myself that I have some blogging to do tonight or tomorrow about the remainder of my vacation (where I seemed to drop off the face of the interwebs for 4 days) and my first round of mocking up wedding invitations (disaster!). Also, I am going to try to condense all wedding blogging into one weekly wedding update so those who do not wish to sift through boring details every other day are not forced to do so.

The Importance of Flow Charts

Every now and then I see something pass through the interwebs that does not blow my mind, but just makes me smile. Here, it's as if the universe was reaching out to me. To aid you in understanding the complex song-structure of one of my favorite 80s delights, I present to you, the Total Eclipse of the Heart Flow Chart:

And bonus points for a "literal version" of the music video:

Just for fun!

I promise I won't allow every entry to be wedding related, but here's one that has nothing to do with me, and has everything to do with tacky weddings. In planning, you see some pretty wild stuff, including brides wanting to charge a cover fee for people to come into the reception, frightening cakes, dresses that belong in the 80s on MTV, and "you may kiss the bride" kisses that might make Ron Jeremy blush. Here are some of my favorites.

If any of these pictures happen to be yours, please don't hurt me. I just found them on Google under "tacky weddings"...Blame Google!

Let's kick it off with bridal party. You pick your very best friends and/or relatives to stand up with you on the biggest day of your life. Sure, every bride has her moments when she thinks "Gosh, I hope none of the girls look prettier or sexier than me on my big day!" But most brides are still nice enough to pick a dress that will look nice on her favorite ladies. Surely, this bride was not that nice.

Just look at that little girl, posing like she's a hot mama. Dear, dear...

Next...No wedding day would be complete without The Dress. Every girl grows up dreaming of the day, the groom, and sometimes above all things, the dress. Many brides say that "the one" they end up with is not nearly what they pictured themselves in. So I have to ask...what did this bride picture herself in at age 9?

I am certain that when whatever bridal salon told her "If you've got it, flaunt it!" that this was not what they meant.

And just as a bonus, because it made me laugh out loud...note the bridesmaid grabbing the bride's bewbie. Wicked classy.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is the wedding cake tasting, which happens to be this coming weekend. I have hemmed and hawed...butter-cream roses? Ribbon around the base of each layer? What style piping and do I want something more classic or more daring and modern?

I have heard of brides having the cake decorator use details of her dress, such as lace or distinct beading detail, to mimic on the cake. Never in my days did I think a bride would say "You know, I want a cake that's really me. No, literally, I want the cake to be me. In my dress. Kthxbye."

The funniest part about this is if you Google it, there's a picture of the groom cutting into the cake. He looks terrified.

Look for another installment of "Tacky Weddings" soon!

It's that time in our lives...

...when it seems people are getting engaged and married at a much higher frequency. It makes sense, of course. We are in our mid-20s. College sweethearts are perhaps deciding if they will spend the rest of their lives together or part ways. We're (maybe) beyond the random weekly hookup stage in our lives (or maybe not, to each their own). And it seems that recently the pendulum has swung back from the "I will establish my career and then worry about a family" to wanting to get married younger and atart a family younger. I am not naive, I know this is not true for everyone by a long shot, but I think the current state of the world is forcing people to take a closer look at what they really want in life and what will make them happy. I can think of at least 5 friends off the top of my head getting married in the next year or so. Some friends are already married, and a couple have even started families. It's all a little overwhelming, but mostly exciting, to have reached this time in my life.

As an engaged person, I feel very blessed to have found the man of my dreams, and all cheesiness aside, my soulmate. I do believe in soulmates. I also believe that even when you find your soulmate, it's not all happiness, ponies and rainbows. You still have to work at any relationship. I have found this week while on a "staycation" (stay-at-home vacation) that Sean and I are very used to having our own space during the day, working such different schedules. If I ever decided to work at home, I would absolutely have to have a separate office as my own little world. Especially on 90+ degree days when we feel lazy and miserable.

In this world of wedding madness, I just had to laugh when I clicked on my link to idosugar.com and saw this:

Big News! Archie Proposes to Veronica!

Did you ever read these comics? My great-grandpa had a stack of them at his farmhouse in Maine, and my siblings and I used to lie on the floor at night when visiting and read through them. I can't say I remember back enough to say I have an opinion as to whether Archie should have chosen Betty or Veronica (maybe my 7 year old self would have), but this just made me step back and laugh. Seriously - anyone can get married these days! It took Archie and Veronica nearly 60 years (and the blogpost warns that there will be a 6-issue special edition covering the wedding in which anything could happen (note: Betty sobbing in the background). *cue suspenseful music*

Now my train of thought derailed and I am contemplating all the famous fiction marriages that have occurred through a series of books, tv, comic books...What are some of your favorites? Or the most memorable ones that stand out in your mind?

Here are some of mine...

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy (The Muppets Take Manhattan 1984)




Luke & Laura (General Hospital 1981)
I was not alive (don't hate me) but my mom was all about this one...

























Ron & Hermione (Harry Potter)

What others? Throw them out there!

Never Trust a GPS

I'll be the first to admit, a GPS can be a fantastic device to assist you in getting from point A to point B. There are times, however, when it can be, well, a big ol' pain in the butt.

I need to prelude this story with the days leading up to this adventure, because it was quite a week! Sean was going on his great adventure to climb Mt. Washington, so I decided to take a couple days up in New Hampshire with family and friends in various places. I probably put about 1K miles on my car in 4 days, and I am now exhausted. I started off Friday morning, drove up to Massachusetts to meet my mom for lunch. I had to stop at Ikea to pick up the card box (which was $1.99 instead of $9.99 - yay!) and hit major Cape traffic in Braintree. So I hopped off the highway, plugged the pizza shop's address into the GPS and away I went. It took me all sorts of interesting back roads, but got me where I needed to be in much shorter time than it would've taken on the highway. Oh, I should also add that Sean has the GPS programmed to Homer Simpson's voice, which I can't stand.

After a lovely lunch I went to meet a girl in Somerville for coffee before heading up to Lake Winnipesaukee. I thought it would be a quick stop and to my dismay, did not have any quarters for the parking meter. So 20 minutes later when I returned to my car, I had a nice orange-colored parking violation on my windshield. But it was a delightful $30 cup of coffee.

It took me no less than 4 hours to drive from Somerville to Concord New Hampshire, which should have been 1.5 hours tops. I did not reach the speed limit for more than a mile at a time, and I reached ***camp at 8:05, just in time for Mass. I got to see my little niece, who is now pulling herself up and standing, and it was fantastic to see so many old friends. The reason for my being there was to act as security patrol, so I strapped on my sneakers and prepared to walk camp from 11 pm to 7 am. Duringt his partol, I experienced no less than 9 skunk sightings, heard something that sounded like a wild cat fight, and a bat flew into my face at dawn as I was walking down to the beach to see the sunrise over the lake.

Here's the sunrise...taken on my camera phone.



After pulling an all-nighter, I decided to stay awake the rest of the day and join my brother, sister-in-law and niece with some friends up in Waterville Valley instead of attempting to drive to my parents' house. We stayed at the Black Bear Lodge in this adorable tourist village and I texted Sean to call me so we could meet up Sunday morning at the base of Mt. Washington. We drank beer and wine (and margaritas, oh my!) and hung out in the hot tub until I felt my eyelids drooping. I slept like a rock, had a yummy breakfast, and Sean called me to assure me that he was alive and inform me that they had gotten to the base and were now in North Conway. I told him I'd meet him at the Yankee Smokehouse in West Ossipee for lunch. Here's where the adventure begins...

I inputed Yankee Smokehouse into the GPS, and Homer informed me that it was 26 miles away and the trip would take an hour. Interesting. I took a right out of the resort, which is surrounded by glorious White Mountains, and drove about a mile down the road, where it instructed me to take a left onto Sandwich Notch Road. A little wooden sign told me that Sandwich Notch Road was established in 1801. I should have known, not even 1/4 miles into the road, that something was up. The road quickly turned to dirt, chock full of potholes, and before I knew it, I was in Backcountry USA. The road kept climbing through the woods, barely a single lane, with potholes the size of my bathtub. I'm pretty sure that this road has not been maintained since 1802. The GPS said I would be on this road for 5.5 miles. Ok, I could handle that. But no, after 5.5 miles, it intersected with another dirt road (probably also established in 1801) and I now had another 5 miles to go. Just for fun, here's a map of where I drove, terrain-view:


View Larger Map

As you can see, I drove through 3 mountains. By myself. It got to a point where Homer would direct me and I would just laugh and start talking to myself. I might have heard dueling banjos in the distance...Never again will I trust a GPS.

I made it to the smokehouse around noon and Sean and friends arrived shortly after. We had a feast and then Sean joined me en route to my parents' house for the evening. We got there and became completely useless humans piled on the couch soaking up air conditioning. We didn't even have the energy to get into the pool, which might have helped us at that point. And this morning we got on the road at 10:30, made a few stops, and got home to Connecticut around 5.

It was a fun weekend, but very exhausting. I am so grateful to be on vacation this week so I can hopefully get to the beach and do some serious relaxing. I hope you're all somewhere air conditioned, or Northern Canada, because this week will be a roaster!

Cheers!

Photos: Sleeping Giant Hike

On Sunday morning, Sean and I got up and went for a 5 mile hike with three of our friends (his fellow Mt. Washington journeymen). It was a cloudy morning with a chance of scattered thunderstorms, but we were determined and prepared for whatever the day brought us. It only took about 3 hours to complete the trail, and I was pleased that the first leg of the hike, which involved heavy duty climbing and scrambling up an old rock quarry, did not leave me completely red-faced and breathless as it did when we did this trail in May (we only did about 1.5 miles in May).

Here are some of my favorites from the day...

The view from halfway up the quarry, looking North.

About halfway along the trail at one of the "peaks" there is an old tower with a picnic table, and this is just a portion of the table. It should be noted that this park/trail is located across the street from a university, so as you can imagine, this is a well-visited table.

Looking out from the tower to the woods.

The mountain men, pointing North towards their NH destination.

My personal favorite picture from the day! They're so pumped for their trip, I know it'll be a great adventure for them. And in case you had any doubt, Sean's the goober making a face second from the right. Love him.

PSA: Cards and Pockets

I get excited over little things, especially if those little things mean me saving money.

I have kept a watchful eye on cardsandpockets.com for the past few months, and my vigilance has paid off. Envelopes are on sale! So if you are making your own invitations or for some reason need lots of envelopes, go now! A7 square flap envelopes as low as $0.13 each and RSVP envelopes as low as $0.11. That's down from $0.25 and $0.20. You could save as much as $20 before shipping for 100 of each!

I am at the point where I am all for saving money over something looking rich and fabulous, so on a related note, Ikea has magazine boxes, the perfect size for a card box, for $9.99. So I am ditching my lobster trap idea, dressing it up with a little champagne ribbon, and calling it a day.

T-Minus 4 Days

As of Thursday at 5, I will be on vacation through Sunday the 23rd, and I cannot wait! I don't know how it happens, but I get so into work that I forget to take vacation. Or there's never a "convenient" time for me to be out of the office (my honeymoon, for instance, will be during one of my busiest weeks of the year). I do not lie - I did not take a full week's vacation for 2 1/2 years on this job. I took nearly 2 weeks last Christmas, and it saved my sanity big time. I swore to never again let more than a year pass without taking vacation.

So here it is, the near end of summer, and I am more than ready for a week of lounging, going to the beach, doing some of my own artwork, and getting some wedding details ironed out. I am heading to New Hampshire and then my parents' house this weekend, and back to my parents' house the following weekend. The week in between will be spent with Sean when he's not at work. I have plenty of things I can do to keep me busy and books I want to read at the beach. I hesitate to "schedule" anything because that would defeat the purpose of having a vacation and the delight of a spontaneous excursion or visit.

I have no doubt that the next four days will drag and seem excruciating, but then I am free for a full 10 days to frolick, relax, and enjoy.

Cheers!

The Many Ways to Re-Use a Lobster Trap

This image is credited to http://www.trapworks.com/

About two weeks ago, I was brainstorming different ways to incorporate where Sean and I are from into the wedding in a way that is tasteful and thoughtful. In my wedding idea browsing, I have seen many innovative ideas that brides come up with, along with some incredibly...well, there's no nice way to put it, incredibly tacky ideas. There's a very fine line in the wedding world between doing something that makes guest go "Ooooh!" and something that makes people go "Ugh!". Note: tulle. I hate tulle. Tulle belongs in ballerina skirts and that's it!

So where Sean and I are from is the South Shore of Massachusetts. His town is very much a fisherman's town (my family owned a fishing store there for 18 years), and my town is historically know for shipbuilding. Coastal, beachy, nautical. How do you incorporate these things for a romantic January wedding?

For starters, the paper. Not the newspaper. The many forms of paper that are involved in the wedding day. Invitations, programs, placecards, menus, table numbers. I have designed all of these things myself incorporating either a scallop shell illustration or a lighthouse illustration I created as an accent.

This image is credited to http://konditormeister.com

For a while I contemplated incorporating chocolate seashells as the accents for our cake, because I personally despise buttercream flowers and I don't really picture fresh flowers on our cake. This will be pending how much of an additional cost it would be from our bakery, since a custom design cake is already included in our reception package. This picture is not what our cake will look like, but the style of shells, arranged in little clusters on different layers of the cake, is what I would envision.

My final detail of incorporating the seaside is pictured above, in the form of a lobster trap card box. I actually ordered a wooden, old-fashioned lobster trap from a store in Maine off eBay, but it was about 3/4 oz the size I thought it would be. I couldn't imagine a card fitting in it. So I am still on the lookout, and I will look into this trapworks.com, since they are local to Massachusetts, to see how much their "card box" traps are. I was amazed by this person's website and how many different uses they have for a lobster trap. From a wine rack to a coffee table to a chair...I'm a nautical whore, I'll admit it. The coffee table kind of had me drooling.

All these little details that are coming into play are very fun! The past few months have been tame in that there hasn't been much to do, so I'm excited to get going with all the do-it-yourself projects. I have to get going though, because I know the next 5 months are going to fly by!

Cheers!

10-Day Challenge: Day 2 & 3

Yesterday and today were very challenging for me, but I guess that's why they call it a challenge! I find myself desiring nothing but burgers and beer and cake and everything that is at the opposite end of the spectrum of health. I don't know how I will do this for the next 7 days, and I swear, if I don't lose a pound, I am going to drink a freaking huge margarita.

Yesterday I had a get together after work so I didn't get home until about 8. I knew I wouldn't want to cook, so I stopped by Trader Joe's and picked up a chicken and veggie burrito (pack of 2). I ate one for dinner last night, since Sean was working, and had one tonight, since Sean's going to a midnight showing of GI Joe and then starts his work shift at 4:30 am. Yes, life is interesting this week!

I'm finding that I'm not really hungry, I am doing surprisingly well in the way of portions and not snacking, but I just want to eat something that's wickedly BAD for me! We were talking about restaurants today at lunch, and desserts, and I remembered this fried banana and ice cream burrito I got from our favorite hole in the wall...the day after I started Weight Watchers.

I have to try to focus better. I am not going to beat myself up if I slip, but the point is to try to eat clean foods and incorporate activity into your daily routine, which I feel like I am doing successfully. I have been drinking water like it's made of gold, and despite the soreness and aches and cramps and desires to eat something with 20g of fat per serving, I am feeling pretty good. I have a day hike on the menu for Sunday, and hopefully a run around the lake tomorrow if it's not too humid out.

And here's a gem straight from my mouth today at lunch, discussing how this challenge has made me a grump: "I'd rather be fat and happy than skinny and miserable."

Ha! I'll have to come back to that one.

Beachbody 10-Day Challenge: Day 1

My coworker/girlfriend told me yesterday that she was doing this 10 day challenge, starting tomorrow (today). Me, being the self-torturing type, decided to join her.

Today marked day 1. I actually took the time this morning to make an egg white omelette with broccoli. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person who eats anything that she can't grab on the way out the door and eat in the car. For lunch I made a salad at the grocery store salad bar with lots of lettuce, spinach, onions, sprouts, chopped egg white and tuna fish. Not the tastiest thing I ever ate, but it was filling. I snacked on cottage cheese mid-afternoon, did a 40 minute cardio blast, and came home and made salmon with brown rice and mixed veggies.

This diet does not allow for coffee, soda, juice, or alcohol. I am going to be one cranky lady for the next 9 days. But- I got through Day 1. Tune in tomorrow when I regale you of tales of not being able to bend my legs or turn my neck.

Little Checks

Every once in a while I am granted with a weekend day where I have absolutely nothing planned. These are the very best days. I wake up, with the whole day ahead of me, able to come and go as I please, and do whatever I want, eat whatever I want, and wear whatever I want.

Today is one of those days.

Sean set out early this morning for Hartford for ConnectiCon, a small comic convention, so I was able to peacefully sleep until 10:30. I pondered what I could do today, and vowed to not slave the day away cleaning and doing housework, which I all too often do.

I showered and got dressed, had some Koala Krispies for breakfast (the gluten-free version of cocoa crispies), and started my day. After showering and throwing all the dirty laundry from our bedroom floor into the washer (I swear, the only housework I did today), I stepped outside. Hot and muggy. A good beach day, perhaps. Definitely not a day for mowing the lawn or going for a walk around the lake. While I suppose it would be nice to just sit at the beach all day, I am planning plenty of that for my vacation in a couple weeks, so I decided to try to be mildly productive. I decided to do what any good, American girl should do on a hot day. Go to the air conditioned mall and try on pretty dresses!

Why would I need to try on pretty dresses? Well, as much as the angel on my shoulder tells me I could find perfectly nice ensembles that already exist in my wardrobe, life events just tug at that little devil on the other shoulder saying "When will you ever again have a bridal shower? Wear something new and cute!" or "That wedding next month is on a cruise around Manhattan, surely you need something jewel-toned and fabulous to wear!". So off I went, to Target and Ann Taylor, to try on some pretty dresses and see if anything struck my fancy. First up was Target.

Any 20-something girl on a budget knows you can find something perfectly respectable to wear at Target, if you're a savvy shopper. Discussing with my friend Mollie last week, she told me she only buys tank tops from Target, because they're cheap and she beats the heck out of them all summer. Why pay over $10 for something you're going to wear to the beach and get sweaty, sandy and wet, or to a party or baseball game where beer could get spilled on it or an impromptu wrestling match could occur (yes, that happened last weekend).

I wasn't all too impressed with the latest styles they had, but I decided to check out the clearance section (as any 20-something on a budget should always do) and found 2 dresses that I deemed worthy of trying on. One was an ivory sleeveless dress, knee-length, the top lace coming down to just below the bust and the skirt is khaki material, pencil skirt shaped. Very sleek and cute while still summer. On sale for $22. I tried it on, it fit like a glove AND made me look slim (not an easy feat as a size 12 in ivory). Sold. Dress 2 is a long, light cotton in the style that many summer dresses are in, minus the tiered, cupcake look. The pattern is subtle is light tones, very sophisticated, very casual. Perfect for say, throwing over your bathing suit to go to lunch on the beach for your honeymoon? The only thing is it's about 4 inches too long. However, for the sale price of $14, I can hem it. Sold.

So I bought my bridal shower dress and my very first honeymoon outfit. I was on a roll. Why not look at thank you notes? Knowing the shower is coming up, I wanted to be prepared to send my gratitude to anyone who is coming. I hemmed and hawed over getting the simple, boring 50-pack for $7.99 (white card, thin navy blue line for trim, very plain, boring font on front that says "Thank You") versus spending a wee bit more for something nicer. I found a box of 24 cards for $5.99, with a nice ivory metallic on ivory matte damask design that says "Many Thanks" in silver script across the top. Perfect. I bought 2 packs for $12 total.

I went on to try on a few dresses at Ann Taylor and thankfully confirmed that I did not like or really look all that great in the dresses I spotted online earlier this week. My frugality is winning this weekend, so I decided to hold off for another month to go dress shopping for the wedding in September. And when I do go shopping, it will probably be to Marshalls.

On The Knot message boards, whenever a girl accomplishes something, she posts her "Checks". Not all too exciting, but it's great to encourage each other and get excited over the little thing, because not everyone else in the world gets excited over finding your thank you notes! So feeling accomplished with my "little checks", I have the rest of the day ahead of me. The "plan" is to do some Photoshop design for myself that I've been wanting to do, do a little painting, make myself a burger and a skinny girl margarita for dinner, and watch some True Blood till Sean gets home. Not a bad "plan" if I say so myself.

Enjoy your weekend, loves!