Currently Browsing: awesomeness
Aug 29, 2010
Posted on Aug 29, 2010 in awesomeness | 2 comments
Last weekend was our bridal shower, and it rained big buckets of lurrrve here in Los Angeles! It was torrential actually.
And totally amazing.
Remember when I wrote about my dress and how I’ve been overcome with gratitude while planning this wedding shindig of ours and blah blah blah? Well folks, during our shower the gratitude reached critical mass, and now my heart has swelled so big it just might burst right out of my chest! I’m not sure how I’m gonna make it through the next three (three!) weeks, and I certainly hope it doesn’t affect the fit of my dress. I’m just saying…
You need a few examples? No worries. I got examples.
My mom sat in the airport for almost 12 hours just to get a flight to Los Angeles. My mom was here you guys! I don’t even have words for this, but it made me SO happy. And I think she had fun too:
Bridesmaid J (and her bun) drove all the way down from San Francisco and turned our house into a delicious french wonderland.
Lil’ Stripe left her new puppy at home (I finally met the pup, and trust me, this must have been super hard) to organize and wrangle our friends into a fantastic party.
And our RAD friends and family showed up to celebrate our awesome (and imminent) wedding. The love, support, excitement and champagne pouring from our friends and family was truly amazing and something I wasn’t all together prepared for. And the smiles. There were lots of smiles:
And presents! We got to open presents! (Which to be honest is a little awkward when everyone is watching, but whatever, we got presents!)
And the pups got to have a little fun too:
And the flowers were gorgeous:
And the favors were yummy:
And we received my most favorite non-registry gift ever:
It’s a vintage statue/vase of two little girls. Gal pals, if you will. On one side is carved “I heart D” and on the other side “S heart’s D.” Pretty awesome right? A little lesbeean history in our living room, perhaps? I sure like to think so! And this little gem will definitely be making an appearance at the wedding- so big thanks D!!!
And then it was over. So. Damn. Quick.
We spent the two days afterwards talking about how much fun it was and what this person said, or how happy we were that person came, and then it hit us: The wedding is going to be just as amazing, just as fantastic and overflowing with love, and over just as quick. Gulp.
And so as we enter these last few weeks leading up to our wedding it’s sure to be crazy, but we’re gonna do our best to actually be present and squeeze every last bit of joy out of every single moment.
What about you guys? Were you crazy surprised at how fast it all was over? Any tips for staying present and enjoying the moments as they fly by?
Jun 23, 2010
Posted on Jun 23, 2010 in awesomeness | 9 comments
One year ago today we got engaged on our rooftop in downtown Los Angeles, and spent the day celebrating with champagne, sunshine, and friends.
Today I’m sitting at the DMV waiting to change my name, and thinking about our wedding day, which once seemed FOREVERandadayaway, but is really happening in just a few short months now. Yowza! Yippee! Yikes! Mostly yippee though!
It’s been a crazy year of living, thinking, and planning. A year of thoughtful transition and (sometimes) difficult conversation as we plan this wedding, and more importantly, as we plan our life together. A good, joyful, hard year.
We’ve lived and planned a wedding on one income, raised a special needs puppy, moved to a house with a (potential) veggie garden, started new jobs, quit said jobs when they failed to EVER pay for four months of work, nearly foiling our wedding plans (LA residents beware: Mendocino Farms doesn’t pay their employees) and somehow managed not to kill each other. Although we’ve come close a few times.
And that’s okay too.
Because I’ve learned that arguments aren’t about winning. Sometimes they are about our egos, our insecurities, or just our bad day. You can let them go, or even be the one to apologize without being the loser.
And I’ve learned to say yes. Yes to this relationship. Yes to things that are important to C, even when they aren’t initially important to me. Yes to making those things important to me too. And I want to move into our married life together saying yes to each other and making the things that matter to each of us a priority for us both. yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!
And I’ve realized that most of my favorite moments with C aren’t big or complicated. I truly hope that our wedding, our marriage, and our life together reflect that perfect simplicity.
Here’s a look at our last year as single(ish) ladies:
Engagement Day ‘09:
PRIDE ‘09:
AT HOME w/CAT TAIL:
HAPPY:
AND ALL GLAMMED UP (FOR OUR RIGHTS!):
source
And here’s to looking far far into the future. Like FOREVERandaday far.
I love you baby. I think you’re awesome. And I’m over being engaged. Let’s get married already, mkay?
Any other loooooong engagements out there? Are you savoring the moments or are you ready to move on to married life already too?
Apr 5, 2010
Posted on Apr 5, 2010 in Inspiration, awesomeness | 1 comment
What do ten awesome friends, one baby, two dogs, many bottles of wine and an afternoon in the sunshine add up to?
Seven measly wedding cranes. Four crane fails. A bit of a hangover. And a wonderful reminder of just how easy it is to throw a great party when surrounded by people you love. Awesome food, beautiful flowers and free-flowing wine don’t hurt either! I’m just sayin…
So while Easter wasn’t exactly the the crane-making extravaganza I was (secretly) hoping for, it sure was a hell of a lot of fun! We had the opportunity to host our first dinner party in our new home and and I’m talking about a super fantastic with a dollop of awesome sauce fun-fest. We don’t mess around.
AND just wait ‘til you see all the top secret wedding details we managed to squeeze in and test drive on our unsuspecting guests! What can I say, I’m a theater kid at heart and I love me a good dress rehearsal!
** WARNING: This post is chock a block full of awesome photos kinda like a freshfromthefarmer’smarket heirloom tomato that just bursts in your mouth. Or pop rocks. Maybe pop rocks are a better example. Anyway get ready for the explosion.
AND the pretty people:
AND the pretty food:
AND yes, even the failed cranes are pretty:
So if the fun, friends, and flowers at our wedding turn out anything like Easter, well, it’s going to be amazing. EPIC even. Squeal. I really can’t wait.
Do moments spent with friends/family fuel your excitement for your wedding too? Or are we just freaks? It’s okay. We know! 
ps. all photos by moi, except for a few I snagged from my awesome friend Katie. Thanks lady!
Mar 29, 2010
Posted on Mar 29, 2010 in Decor, awesomeness | 3 comments
Behold my latest Target purchase! Duh. It’s a three foot tall wire Eiffel Tower. You don’t already have one? It was on drastically reduced clearance (only $11) so I couldn’t resist snapping it up, and now that it’s sitting in my backyard I’m left wondering, What in the hell am I gonna do with a three foot tall Eiffel Tower??
I could cover it with flowers or twinkle lights. I could spray paint it hot pink. I could have people hang wishes on it as is so popular on wedding blogs (minus the tower). I could fly a little welcome/bienvenue flag from its top and put it on a table with our guest book. I could use it as a very airy card box with a basket in the middle. I could return it to Target.
And yet it seems perfect for our froggy inspired soiree, non? So…
What would you do with a three foot tall Eiffel Tower??
Mar 26, 2010
Posted on Mar 26, 2010 in Planning Tools, awesomeness | 3 comments
I have a recurring nightmare where I’m crawling around on the ground in the dark, in my wedding dress, and picking up flower petals in an attempt to return our venue to its original state and ensure that we get our deposit back. Drunkenly crawling.
Well it’s not really a nightmare (yet) but I think about it. A lot. During the day. Along with the myriad other organizational tasks that have to be taken care to pull off this whole wedding shindig. It makes my head hurt and I’d prefer to think about bridal accessories, paper cranes and any task I can DIY now. Instant gratification, ya know?
I think when you’re a DIY bride* it is hard to let go of the fantasy (nightmare) that you can really do everything yourself.
There is knowing exactly what you want everything to look like and then there is the reality of actually setting up every table, steaming your linens and hanging every last light mere minutes before you walk down the aisle and spit out your vows. I know that I don’t want to be thinking about table settings, centerpieces, or if I was a bit heavy handed with the liquor in the lemonade as I walk down the aisle. Nope. I wanna be calm, happy and totally focused on marrying C and somehow blubbering through my vows.
So along with our magical STD’s which went frolicking off into the world this past weekend, we also sent one very important piece of mail. A piece of mail that will ensure our sanity, calm my neurotic fears that our tables won’t be set up properly, and perhaps even get us back our venue’s deposit so can we have a little extra moolah on our honeymoon! I told you it was a very important piece of mail! And just who did we send it to? Any guesses?
Me and my big mouth will just shout it from the roof tops already:
We’re having a Day of Coordinator! And she’s awesome!!
Big surprise huh? Bye bye nightmares and hello cocktails! I’m so over the dream that I can do it all myself and honestly, why would I want to when I can having the amazing Wendy Ramos do it for me?
I first heard of Wendy through a contest over at The Broke Ass Bride (thanks Dana!) for free Day of Coordination. I entered, crossed my fingers, and waited. AND…
I did not win.
Still a few days later I received a really nice email from Wendy offering us a runner-up consolation prize in the form of a 25% discount on her services. I do love a deal, I kind of already loved Wendy from her blog/website and I’m just too damn lazy/busy to spend too much time researching DOC’s honestly. I took the email as a sign and we set up a date to meet with Wendy. Fun fact: The wine bar/coffee house that we met at was also the site of our very first date! Good juju all around!
Anyhoo… Wendy was lovely, competent and perhaps most important to me, she seems super laid back. I know I definitely do not want some high strung neurotic mess with a clip board bossing my friends and family around all day, schedule or no schedule to keep.
So that’s that. We sent off the contract/deposit this past weekend and now I can rest assured that I won’t be crawling around on the ground and tearing my hair out over stray petals.
And don’t worry Wendy- you won’t either because we’re not having any petal flinging madness to date!
Did you ladies/gents jump on the DOC bandwagon too? If so, which task are you most excited about relinquishing to a qualified professional?
*I’m still not a big fan of titles.
