Over and out.

After lots of thinking, I've decided to stop the blog for now. My wedding is no longer "my" wedding or "our" wedding. It seems disingenuous to write about my planning and vision day in and day out when, in reality, I have very little control over it. I hope everyone else who is planning their special day gets the day that they truly want - I think that is the most that anyone can ask for, in this crazy world of wedding planning.

Hopefully, once we move and get settled in AZ, I'll have lots to write about with redecorating a house and getting used to life as a stepmom. So, more posts to come, just not right now.

Happy Friday: Slow down and enjoy life

Our dog Janie, basking in the simple pleasures of life. She enjoys getting out of the house.

Watching her ears flapping in the wind was amusing, but also made me think I need to take more time to appreciate the little things and not get too caught up in wedding shenanigans. So on that note, forget the little things that are bugging you, get out there and enjoy life and have a great weekend!

DIY: wedding website

[I meant to post this a few weeks ago and it got lost in the pile of planned posts...]

Pretty much everything I had read about wedding planning made some mention of having a wedding website. They're an easy way to get lots of information across to your guests and also keep you from having to do a ton of inserts in your actual invitation. Plus, you can update it as often as you want.

I'm a novice at this kind of thing. I wish I was more like my brother, who seemed to inherit all of the artistic talent in the family. But give me a template and some instructions, and I'm good to go. There are lots of free wedding website options out there, once you start looking (google "free wedding websites" to get started).

I ultimately decided on Project Wedding, because they had the prettiest templates and a cool map feature. Once you sign up for an account, they walk you through every step of the way. You can upload photos, change the order of pages, delete and add page templates and pretty much completely customize it to your needs.

I also linked our e-save the dates to the website, and although it didn't work out for me, it's a great idea in theory. Hopefully it will be a useful tool for our guests and we get closer to the wedding date, and also cut down on last minute email and phone calls asking for information.

I hate flowers...

But aren't these pretty? They are from my little sister's prom...her date's Mom made this bouquet and I think it's pretty fabulous looking. Surely I can whip something like this up for the wedding.

Right?

Healthy = happy

I feel better when I take excellent care of myself. Simplistic, but it's always harder than it sounds, right? In the next six weeks (eek) leading up the wedding, I am trying to be really conscious of the following:

1. Drinking lots of water (a no-brainer but also harder than it sounds. I keep a 32 oz water bottle on my desk at work and try to drink two full bottles each day.)

2. Drinking green tea. Yogi is my favorite brand ever - you can get it at Trader Joe's and a lot of regular grocery stores, too.

3. Taking my vitamins (I have a whole regime - fish oil capsules, calcium + vitamin D pills, antioxidants, multi-vitamin) - and I keep them in an egg carton to remind me to take them.)

4. Working out, mindfully (watching my form when I lift, not getting lazy or sloppy or working out just to get it over with.)

5. Lots of sleep - I like to get at least 9 hours a night (!)


There are also a few other things that I've added to my routine that are more about vanity than health, but still:

1. Twice weekly glycolic peels. My skin is usually pretty decent but I want it to be amazing for the wedding. And I'm really seeing a difference after only a month of doing the peels. I'm using L'Oreal Acne Intensive Peel, which I found at Big Lots for $4!

2. Teeth whitening strips. I usually do these for big occasions, and I guess my own wedding counts. I'll be ordering a box for myself and FH, who I'm hoping will wear them, despite the fact that the protests have already begun.

Bouts sans fleurs

I don't know if I frenchified that correctly. I thought this was pretty much the most awesome non-floral bout I had come across yet:

[find it at Until My Heart Stops]

So I sent the link over to FH via Google Chat.

me: how awesome is this?

FH: huh?

me: huh what?

FH: i don't get it.

me: its a bout. for your jacket?

FH: ok.

me: you are no fun

Sigh. Someone else who is getting married or going to prom or just generally in need of a bout, please buy it. It really is amazing. As always, my hat is off to people that are this insanely creative.

How about these?

If I could, I would just decorate my venue with giant, flower-covered rebar. You know, like the Getty Center. Cause this is how they roll:

[photo taken by moi, July 2007 at the Getty Center]

Now those are some flower arrangements!