Quick update: some wedding photos

I'm definitely going to put more of these on flickr, but I thought I'd share a few shots that we got from our semi-professional photographer, Alex Johnson. He's a friend and an awesome photographer, so it was great that he did our photos—and edited them, too. Woo!

Here are a few favorites (so far):

Eee, very excited about this...

So back when I discovered Myra Callan and her Twigs & Honey shop on Etsy, I knew I had to get a hair adornment of my own. Mine was so fun and inspiring that my cousin Maggie offered to be my flowergirl, but she wanted a hair flower of her own.

Today, Myra updated me with the news that the headband she made for little Meg was finished and ready to go. I'm going to surprise her with it once I get it in the mail. For now, since she's seven and doesn't use the internet, I think I'm safe posting it here. I love that Myra went the extra mile on this; she matched Meg's dress, and added the berries to match my hair flower. It's so cute, I just want to eat it up!

Update from the new homefront

It's been a while since I've updated, mainly due to the fact that we don't have internet access at our new place yet (Monday!), and I am lazy. It seems that every evening this week, I've been going over to my parents' house, picking up a few miscellaneous items, then going to pick up S from work. He's working evenings now, which means I see him far less than when he was working days. It's kind of sad, but I'm hoping he can find a different, more rewarding job that will see him through the fall semester at least. Last night I hung out with my sister, and we played Wii golf and went for a bike ride which was great. Tonight when she gets off work, I think we'll swim, since it's like a sauna outside.

It's kind of weird to be moved out of my parents' house, but it's also weirdly nice. Our apartment is lacking furniture, but I'm hoping to find acquire seating this weekend, and add some artwork to our very bare, very white walls. I don't yet have my summer routine down without class in session, so I feel somewhat lazy and bored, until I realize I have books to read and wedding things to do...

Wedding plans are down to just a few things; S needs to buy a suit, we need to call people and confirm that they are coming and what they want to eat, figure out a seating chart, and ask the restaurant how early we can set up the room with place cards and such. The week before the wedding, we'll have favors (chocolate truffles) to pick up and box, I'll have flowers to arrange and assemble, announcements and programs to print, and we'll have our rehearsal. Really, there's not too much left to do, or that I have to do, anyway. Now it's up to the kind people who are helping us out to do their part! Oh, and S's aunts are throwing me a bridal shower on Sunday, so that should be fun, and they are both awesome cooks, so it should be a yummy time as well.

Fingers crossed

Well, tonight at midnight is the deadline for my final project for this summer's course. There are a few assignments and a test left, but this is the major assignment:

The Final Website!

So, that's the link, and I feel like it really is some of my best work. I actually understand XHTML and CSS now, which is incredible and surprisingly fun. I really got a kick out of making things look how I wanted them to look using simple commands.

I really, really hope I get an "A" on this.

Customized!!

I realize this is fast becoming a total wedding blog, but hey, when I've got 2 months to go, I want to write about the fun things I'm doing!


We decided on some custom stamps for our invites/reply cards/thank you notes. One of the things that we're paying special attention to for the event is the invitations. I really think the invites give guests a cue about the event itself—its formality and level of personalization, etc. so the fact that we designed our own stationery and are having it printed (soon!) and are getting these photo stamps, etc. is kind of important to me. I also addressed most of the envelopes today, and only messed up one! I inadvertently wrote "MN" instead of "Minnesota"—so not a huge deal, but I re-wrote it nonetheless. Here's hoping the printing process goes well!

Excitement at the library

Today as I was checking in some items at work, the power went out. We waited in the dark, scrambling for flashlights, checking out by hand by writing down patron's barcodes, asking, "How much longer until they let us go?" It was about a half hour, and we got word that we could leave. I made it as far as a downtown coffee shop before getting the call that the power was restored and to come back. Oh, the excitement!

On an unrelated note, round one of engagement photos are on the web! Alex did a good job, kind of staying out of the way, and getting some great candid/photojournalistic shots of us just having fun. We had one more location in mind, so we're going to attempt to get some more shots in a day or so, namely a semi-lame one where we are both looking at the camera and smiling for the local paper announcement (our mothers are very keen on this).

An additional item I didn't need, but love anyway

I am loving this scarf, which I just bought after finding out about it via, where else? The Etsy Wedding Blog.

I do realize that my wedding is in August, one of the (statistically, anyway) hottest months of the year, but since we'll be indoors for much of the time, and air conditioning is not known to be the perfect temperature, I was a little concerned about my bare shoulders/neckline. And, it should be a good match with the red silk shoes!


Oh, you'd think I'd planned this really well, wouldn't you? It's really been the luck of the wedding gods. Love the details on both are silver, and that I'll be wearing white gold jewelry, etc. etc. It's these little details that get me excited for our wedding day all over again, everytime I look at them.

A plug: MyRegistry.com

This is just a brief plug for the site MyRegistry.com. S and I are using it to some extent for our wedding registry, because we like some things that aren't available at la Boutique Targét. There are awesome housewares available all over the web, from the likes of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and even Etsy! I recommend the site even if you aren't 'registering' for an event, but just want a place to store all the stuff you find online that you like and want to remember. I know life isn't about collecting piles of material objects, but hey, everyone needs bedding and towels, right? And why not a rice cooker, too?

You take me the way I am...

Isn't Ingrid Michaelson a really cute girl? I heard "The Way I Am" on public radio a few weeks ago, and just loved the song and listened to it a million times on last.fm. S and I just bought tickets to see her on June 6, so that will be our first concert together. We've been to bars to see bands, but it wasn't deliberately to see an artist we both liked. How weird is it that we've been together for more than 2 and a 1/2 years, and this will be our first 'show-going experience'?

Anyway, today is my first class meeting for Internet Fundamentals and Design, and the rest of the course will be done online. I've already decided that I'm probably going to design a wedding webpage for me and S, because, what the heck, that's what I'm spending the majority of my time working on, aside from actual library work and the difficult job of enjoying the beautiful Minnesota spring weather.

Decisions, decisions, wedding related decisions

So I'm pretty sure I know why brides seem extraordinarily obsessed with their own weddings. There are so many little decisions to make, and going through the process of making those decisions leads you closer and closer to the goal of being married to your guy. Case in point: what should I do with my hair for the wedding?


Exhibit A is my curly hair with the hair adornment made by the lovely Myra. I want my hair to look kind of natural, how it normally does, but punched up a bit. My Colombian 'sister' Cata said she will help me, and I'm sure Andrea (my sister) will, too. I just really like an un-fussy look, but need something that will hold up through photos and being outside in August.



The back of my head, with curls (some enhanced with curling iron, but not much).



So, what to do? I still don't know, but it helps to write about it instead of keeping it in my crazy bridal brain.

Paper's here!

Our paper for our wedding invitations is here, and it's really lovely. These are the firecracker red pockets and we went with natural white cards. I think it's a beautiful color combination (I would, wouldn't I? Since I'm wearing the same colors...), and once S designs a motif and we decide on wording, we'll have them printed locally. I'm excited to see how great it looks! S says we can have this done by the end of the month. Woo! Yay for marrying an artistic guy.

Little Miss Maggie

IMG_0024,
originally uploaded by rubybeth.

On my birthday, my cousins visited for a while. Maggie was kind of monopolizing the conversation, so I tried to distract her for a bit with some books of centerpieces and bouquets, saying, "Tell me which of these you like," while I talked to Nick and Emily. Moments later, she found a page with, you guessed it: flower girl floral ideas.

"I could be your flower girl!" she said, "I even have a dress!" sounding completely delighted with the idea. I asked her mom (my godmother) about it, and she gave the go-ahead, so I stopped over yesterday to see the dress.

She went inside wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, and came back out in this. She's a pretty cute little ragamuffin, isn't she? She really wants a hair piece like the one I had made by Myra on Etsy, so we shall see about that (I'm thinking a headband, for the little girl who hates having her superfine hair in her eyes). So, there will still be no bridesmaids, but at least I've got my seven year old cousin in my 'bridal party.' Woohoo!

Homeworkin' it up

Oh my gosh, I am inundated with homework. I actually worked ahead last week in order to feel less pressured this week, but I still feel overwhelmed. I've got the following assignments to complete:

For readers advisory:
-Complete reading of books for booktalk on Wednesday (1.5 books to finish reading, writing booktalk blubs for)
-Complete 10 page paper on publishing/readers advisory significance of "A" is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

For services for children and young adults:
-Write grant proposal

Okay, so three assignments looks like piddly nothing, but the final projects are worth significant portions of my grades for both classes, and the booktalk thing is just becoming an afterthought, though I am excited about my chosen books and idea ("Books to try if you liked 'Eat, Pray, Love'—travel and self-discovery abroad"). Thank goodness I am done with my two projects due for class tomorrow (design a summer reading program with $1300 budget, and design a single teen program with $200 budget). I know these assignments are really preparing me well for working with young adults and with readers across genres, but it feels like a lot is on my plate before the end of the semester on Wednesday, April 23.

Thankfully, I have a couple weeks reprieve from April 23 until May 18. S and I have wedding-related work to do on my birthday weekend (April 27) and we are trying to check a few things off the to-do list before then. One nice thing I found out last weekend is that my Colombian sister Cata (exchange student who lived with us for a year) has enlisted her mother to find me some earrings/necklace (?) to wear from Colombia. We'll see how this pans out, but her mom has pretty fabulous taste, and knows I am wearing some red accents. As a backup, I may find something(s) from LuxeDeluxe on Etsy, because her stuff has a good style that I like. This is the fun part of wedding planning! This, and getting to eat tiramisu at the reception instead of cake. And, bugging S to design our invitations soon so we can get them printed and sent out in June.

I love Myra!

A few weeks ago, I was reading the Etsy Wedding Blog and read about Myra Callan who makes custom designed hair ornaments for special occasions. Man, are these things beautiful, I thought. I wrote her a message on Etsy and she replied promptly with a price quote and ideas for the design. When she had the piece completed and I felt it was maybe a bit too large (I have a small head, okay?), she re-made it for me a little bit smaller. She is incredibly understanding and will do pretty much anything to make you happy, and I highly recommend her pieces for special events, or even just something fun to wear for a night out. I keep trying on my piece and wearing it around, forgetting it's even there because it's so light. I'm so excited to wear it on my wedding day, and even after that!

The things you have to decide

In my wildest imagination, I never once thought of having to plan a wedding and think about the kind of things I have to think about now that we're about 4 and a half months from our wedding date. The latest thing I'm focusing on: flowers. I want to have a nice bouquet but I don't want to spend a lot, and I also don't want the huge bridal bouquet. I want a smaller, lighter bouquet, since I have gimpy wrists that get tired quite easily. Plus, my dress is fairly simple (see previous post) so I want my bouquet to be in line with that style.

So, I found fiftyflowers.com and growersbox.com and I think I want to create something like these:




Also, I found some bouquets that feature a pretty little flower, hypericum, and I really like them. This is one that I really like, just not in those colors. Since my dress is ivory and my shoes are red, I think I could go with mostly ivory flowers (the calla lilies and the roses) and then a few red hypericum berries thrown in for some color. Oh, decisions, decisions. With the Grower's Box flowers and the Fifty Flowers sites, I could have plenty of flowers to work with for both my bouquet, a boutonniere for S, and centerpieces for our restaurant reception.

Woohoo

Obviously in the midst of schoolwork, my job, and planning a bunch of stuff in order to merge lives with S, the blog is taking a backburner. Bummer! I have a lot of things going on about which I could blog, but by the time I think about it, it's time for some sleep.

I haven't been feeling extremely well that past few days. Kind of generally icky, a bit of a sore throat, tired, weird appetite, etc. so I have been laying low and just doing homework and things that absolutely have to get done. I did two presentations in class on Sunday (Services for Children and Young Adults) which I think both went okay. I also got my first two written assignments back, and got perfect scores on both. Woohoo! Now I'm just hoping that my mad storytelling skills and inexperience but exuberance about manga/anime will net me even more points.

Other things am contemplating: how soon to start planning a honeymoon (the best part of getting married, in my opinion), what do with with my last name, where we're going to live, where S will do student teaching in the spring, and if I should try to get a full-time job and just graduate later. It's a lot, really, to ponder.

I feel really good about my decision to never, never, ever look at the checklist of things to do on my theknot.com account. According to that website, I am overdue on doing about 50-some odd things, and have 175 or so to go. Oh heck no! I made my own checklist, which fits on one page of a Word document, thank you very much, and I feel very good about it. I can even add eight more things to the list and still have it on one page. Some things are just things we have to do closer to the date (confirm hairstyle), and others are more pressing (choose a reception venue!?! ack!). I definitely understand why people elope, except that we've broken it down to the very minimum of things to do, and some of the things you skip when eloping (invitations, reception menu) are the things I'm looking forward to doing. I am also glad we're pretty set on our very tiny guestlist, which at this point is right around 50 attendees. Can I get a woohoo for small weddings?

"Emotionally Engaged" and other stuff

I posted some more photos of me and S at the Mardi Gras fundraiser on my flickr account and of course, more pictures of my ring. Whiteflash was so great for us. I got exactly what I wanted, and my does she sparkle!

I started reading "Emotionally Engaged" by Allison Moir-Smith, and have started journaling all my feelings during this time. I'm very excited to be marrying S, but less so about all the planning, except for... the shoes! I originally wanted the rouge of this style (Caparros Val) but Zappos.com was out of my size, so I ordered the vintage pink. Then, suddenly, one pair of the rouge was available, so I jumped. Obviously the red are the more fabulous color, what what with my fascination with Judy Garland, the Wizard of Oz, my red slipper fetish since high school, and my general love of all things red, they make the most sense. Plus, talk about being able to wear them again! But the vintage pink is so lovely, too. Lucky for me, Zappos has a great return policy (365 days from purchase, and they can still be returned for FREE) so I can decide the day before our wedding, or I could wear the pink for the church and the red for the reception...

One thing down, and I don't even want to think about the rest

So, I'm pretty sure that this dress is the dress I'm going to wear to marry S. It's the J.Crew Goddess Long dress, and it's currently on final sale. Yipee for a wedding dress on the cheap! It fits me quite well, and S's aunt is an incredible seamstress, so she can help me tweak it (omg, I need a bustle?).

The only bummer is how weird my sister is acting since I got engaged. I guess I expected some strangeness, but not this much, you know? I was showing her the dress tonight, and she asked, "Is it a wedding dress? I know you're going to get married in it, but is it a wedding dress?" I just said, "Yeah, it is, it's got a train..." and she flipped and said she was just asking, because some people get married in dresses that aren't labeled as such, and blah blah. I just wanted to say, dude, it's fine, drop the drama. I think she just wants to roll her eyes at me constantly, but what are you going to do with more than six years of age between us.

I guess weddings bring out the best and worst in people, so wish me luck!