Easter for Agnostics

Easter weekend is not usually one I consider to be all that exciting, as far as the holidays go. We don't go to church any more, haven't for years; I'm now realizing J.C. never even appeared in our conversations. Ah, the loss of faith. Alas, since there are also no presents to buy, it's really only about the food for us. I'm happy as long as I get at least one Cadbury egg. This year Easter weekend happened to be one full of nice surprises, however, including...

Free Tickets to Tigers Opening Day: E has never been one for surprises or having exceptional luck, but things are looking up for him in both categories. Not only did he score us Cubs tickets for Jessica's visit to Chicago (more on that at a later date!), but he also nabbed tickets to opening day at Comerica Park. Now, as you all now, we are not Tigers fans, but we never say no to a ball game. A ball game on Good Friday that marks the start of the season? Even better. We plunged headfirst into the dirty D with some friends after several mimosas and were met by riotous drunkenness and snaking lines. Sweet. We ended up at the Fillmore, if only because it had the shortest line. The placed was mobbed and the crowd control was so frightening that the security guards closed the restrooms. Apparently they thought forcing drunk people to hold their pee would make them go party elsewhere. It worked for us. Note to Self - next year, arrive before 9:00 AM if you wish to get into a decent bar without bribery, personal injury or criminal behavior. Overall, I figure being psyched for Opening Day in Detroit only really makes sense if you like Detroit.

Then there was WhirlyBall: Two of our friends had birthdays this past week, and they celebrated after the game with a party marked by sake bombs, confetti cupcakes, and yes, drunken WhirlyBall. Having never even heard of this before, E and I weren't quite sure what we were in for. It's basically like lacrosse and basketball blended and played in bumper cars in a venue that allows alcohol and smells like a bowling alley. Oh, how I love a bowling alley! If you're going to play here in Ann Arbor, get ready for awesome 80's era neon carpet, classic video game machines, a diesel jukebox and some painful hip bruising. It reminded me of our curling expedition, in that we were clueless and left with a mark. It certainly takes a little practice if you want to get good at it, but otherwise, twirling around in a bumper car after many beers is just as entertaining if you aren't all that competitive.

Last but not least comes food: My parents decided to make the drive out to A2 for Easter, so it was really nice that we didn't have to spend the holiday alone! It was our typical affair, which means the food was slammin', the guys fell asleep, and the dogs were under everyone's feet. Not all that exciting on the blog-front, but the new recipes are certainly worth sharing. Dessert was an experiment inspired by one from a Martha recipe. It turned out so well I may have to make it every year. The Ricotta Rice Pie is sort of a mix of rice pudding and Italian cheese pie and worth every fattening calorie. We also bought an eight pound leg of lamb since that was the smallest the butcher had, and most of it was marinated and grilled a la Tyler Florence. The enormous bone and the remaining meat became a lamb stock and stew, and we'll be eating it all for weeks. Check it out in the event that you happen to have some giant bones lying around and a few hours to kill. I'm off to spend my week of vacation with my Wii Fit and some Bravo marathons. Nice.

When the luck runs out...

as it surely will, some patience and tact are required. Neither of those make my "Top Ten List" of personal charms. However, I think my mother would be proud of the fact that I have taken the high road in light of several disappointing and also frustrating recent events.

I read lots of blogs: food blogs, fashion blogs, craft blogs, random slices of everyday people's lives blogs, whatever. One thing I have noticed is that some bloggers like to be very revealing. While I enjoy some personal details, going too far is the first way to get me (and I'm sure others) to never read a blogger's posts again. I'm talking about "trashing your boss and mother-in-law while criticizing your sister's parenting skills, fat thighs, and fashion sense" too far. I wonder if these people don't find themselves soon out of a job, or at least in family therapy. Griping to the world about your anger, while it may make you feel temporarily unburdened, will also come back and bite you in the ass. It's reminiscent of that classic video that everyone and their mother emailed around a few years ago. I feel saddened by these posts, and often wonder if the bloggers have no sense of professionalism or really just have no other outlet for their feelings. I, on the other hand, have chosen to deal with my lack of luck as of late with healthier, while not very exciting, alternatives.

Thrift Therapy - I have always been a huge believer in retail therapy. Nothing could lift my spirits better than a trip to Nordstom and a new pair of strappy sandals. However, thanks to my recent loss of real income, my old mantra (Beat the blues! Buy more shoes!) has lost its ring. Now, it's off to Value World with my 50% off coupon. I never knew thrift stores had coupons, but now that I'm broke I'm catching on. Last week, for a grand total of 25 dollars, I bought three scarves, a cardigan, a skirt, a dress, a sweater set, and two slips with the tags still on. All name brands, all in fabulous condition, and all a big surprise to me. While I'm not entirely new to the world of thrifting, I had heard that Ann Arbor was not a great place for it. Too many hip college kids scoring all of the loot before we old people could get to it, that kind of thing. Happily, this was incorrect. I left the store with stuffed bags and a lifted spirit.

Boredom Baking - While baking is something I do often anyway, baking to avoid boredom is one of my favorite things. This is when I try new recipes, play with old ones, or make up my own. It is also the time when I usually create the things that become the stuff of legend, at least in my own mind. Ask anyone at Eric's work about the Irish Car Bomb Brownies and you'll see my point. Today was a pretty simple recipe day, as far as creativity goes, but I'm still pleased with the results. I adapted a Quaker Oats scone recipe to make Cranberry Orange Scones first. They are buttery, flaky, and melt in your mouth, which is really all I want from a scone. I ate two for breakfast, so I have a date with the Wii Fit later. It's also cold and cloudy today, making it a perfect soup day, thus inspiring the Mushroom Barley Soup I made for lunch. I've yet to decide what is on the menu for dinner, but I'm thinking Cuban sandwiches. This has kept me busy for most of the day, so I've had little time for thoughts of murder.

If neither of these strategies appeals to you, you can go out for a run, do some yoga, paint a room, do a pub crawl all afternoon (just make sure you call a cab!) or whatever it takes to keep you from getting so depressed you feel the need to ditch your smarts and vent online. Unless you want to lose your chances of maintaining gainful employment and a happy relationship, bitching in your blog won't get you anywhere. :)

Holiday Goodness: Part Deux

I love never-ending holiday celebrations! Due to our hectic holiday travel schedules, we didn't get to celebrate Christmas with Aimee and Sky until last night. We had made plans for the week before Christmas, but Aimee had a sudden death in the family and had to fly to Florida. We left for Rhode Island when she returned to Michigan. When we were finally in the same state last weekend, a blizzard got in the way of our plans again. It's been ages and their yummy gifts have been waiting patiently in our refrigerator for over a month now. Finally the snow held off long enough for dinner, although it was cold enough here for school's to be closed (25 below zero windchill!).

I spent my day off roasting lemon rosemary chicken and baking cupcakes. I really wanted to test out these silicone cupcake liners that Eric gave me for Christmas. They were in my stocking with a mini frying pan that fries only one egg. Last year my stocking included E6000. You know you are a crafty nerd when Santa brings utility strength adhesives and baking tools. I was really excited about these liners, though, because you don't even need a muffin tin! They can withstand heat up to 500 degrees and are machine washable, so no more wasting paper liners. Sadly, the first test did not go as well as I had hoped. The instructions call for lightly greasing the cups before filling, but I think heavy greasing is probably better. The cake got so stuck that we had to scrape the middle out with our fingers, while Eric flipped his inside out and used his teeth. It could also be a cake issue, since I used the old Betty Crocker Silver White cake recipe from 1950. It's my favorite white cake recipe (so fluffy and light thanks to egg whites!), but it may be too soft of a cake for these liners. I do think these will have lots of fun other uses, though. Giant Jell-o Shots, anyone?
After we stuffed ourselves like gluttons, we moved on to the next and most important part of holidays: getting presents. Aimee and Sky gave what is now officially my favorite gift of the season (Don't tell Eric. We went to Ruth's Chris for our gift this year, so it doesn't really count :P). Anyway, I got lots of Lush! I adore good bath products, but all-natural, socially conscious bath products? Can it get any better than that? These gals know me too well. There was more than what is pictured above, but the Massage Bar is already in my shower. It is heavenly, by the way. The Charity Box (now sadly out of stock) is a gift set of fabulous fair trade, natural products wrapped in 100% recycled or recyclable packaging, and 100% of the cost goes to charity. My gift helped out Odd Squad Productions, check 'em out! The packaging even goes so far as to tell you who made your products, along with a happy Lush employee mug. So Thank You, Nic and Susan, thank you (and thanks again to Aimee and Sky!). Your smiling cartoon faces will make me happy every time I shower. I feel nice and soft and I smell much better now. My husband will appreciate your efforts.

Lucky New Year

Happily, I get to start the new year off with a bit of a good news blog. The month of January has kicked itself off on a bright note, which is lovely and also unexpected. I have a history of crappy luck. Besides, the holidays can get crazy when you live away from home, turning what should be an enjoyable visit into a nightmare of buying, eating, driving, cooking, screaming mayhem. Thankfully, Eric and I got to spend two whole weeks back in R.I., so we were able to be lazy and casual about the whole thing. We also spent a good amount of time on D's new Wii Fit. This allowed us to begin the new year feeling optimistic about our selves, our new health goals, and our soon-to-be-renewed, svelte girlish figures.

We returned home to the first lucky gift. Free things! We all know I love free stuff, and it has nothing to do with our crumbling economy. Eric calls me the klepto, due to my habit of walking off with soap and showercaps. He will tell you that I will pocket anything that isn't nailed down, but that is only true if the "anything" is sample sized. So anyway, somehow I won a cookbook, and since cookbooks in all forms make me fabulously happy, I was thrilled. It is Hello, Cupcake!, quite possibly the cutest cookbook ever printed. I spent at least an hour reading it, pouring over the adorable creations I could whip up on a whim, and then realized that any such whipping would destroy our svelte-ness. I quickly hid the book between copies of The South Beach Diet and Biba's Italian Kitchen.

Then I got an email from Babette of Bakespace, letting me know that I won a holiday contest, for which I will receive a bunch of crap from some Christmas movie starring Debra Messing and John Leguizamo. The appearance of the latter means I will probably never sit through that movie. That voice is almost as painful to my ears as Owen Wilson's. Shiver.

The next bit of luck is only half lucky, since I don't yet know how it will pan out. I have been working as a long-term substitute since the beginning of the school year, and the full-time position finally opened up. I've been groveling around the community looking for support and any tiny edge I can get. I don't have much, since I don't know anyone in this town, but lo and behold... I called the mother of one of my students to ask if she would write a recommendation for me. She said, "You called the right woman!" Two school board members go to her church, the Superintendent is her neighbor, and another board member goes to her gym. Sweet. Now I just need to cross my fingers, since the job posting closes today. If the luck holds out, I'll score the job, and we all know what that means... Baby fund! But if my husband asks, it's for the big screen TV.

The Holiday Spiritus

Being a Christmas Eve baby makes holiday spirit almost like a genetic trait for me. I am usually the person making holiday cards in October, and gathering cookie recipes and listening to Christmas carols by mid-November. This year has, sadly, been a bit different. Thanks in part to Eric's hectic business travels and my crazy school life, the holiday spirits have been running a bit, well, low. I didn't pull out my "Christmas with the Rat Pack" CD until a week ago! For shame! We did however, get in a bit of fun, including an Ugly Christmas Sweater party that helped us practice for our annual rowdy game of Catch Phrase at Jessica's. Watch out guys, because Eric is comin' for ya.

I have also found time to make a few batches of cards and some sweets, even if I am not eating any of them myself until Christmas. They are both very easy and quick projects that anyone can do, including kidlets. I also went through a bunch of my cookbooks hunting for new cookie recipes. My aunt basically told me that I have to make the Mascarpone cookies I made last year, but man were they a pain in the ass! Gorgeous and delicious, yes, but soo time consuming! I may have to do them again anyway, but I'm thinking these recipes look very promising:
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies, reminiscent of the ones Lyndsay makes. She still won't give me her recipe, so this new one will have to do! Cold Tea Gingerbread with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting which basically sounds like heaven to me, and Holey Moley Dark Mexican Chocolate Dulce de Leche Brownies. In the words of the ridiculous and infamous Zoe, "I die."

Crafty and not so crafty giveaways!

I love giveaways, because free is for me. I enter contests constantly, and never win anything. Well, that is not entirely true, because I accidentally entered and won a book contest a few months ago. I got a copy of a Christian book called Daily Worships in the Name of Christ Our Lord and Savior To Keep You From Burning in Hell. If you know me, you can probably figure out what I did with it. Some of the best giveaways are on crafty blogs and mommy blogs, because I guess, mom's and crafty people like and need free things. I've heard that babies are expensive with all of those diapers and rash creams and such.

Here are some fun ones for you to waste a day off work entering:
Tropical Tree Frog Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!
Free books!
Visit Mommy Bits for free baby stuff and Christmas gifts perhaps?
Free boots at An Island Life
And you can get the same ones here!

After you have filled out all of these entries, get off your lazy behind and GO VOTE!

Hangin' mit zee Germans

So fine, I am a crappy blogger... It's just that occasionally, this thing that I have called a life actually gets hectic and requires my full attention. It's the new job really, which is thrilling since I was so terribly afraid I'd have to return to the old one in September! Honestly, almost any job would have been an improvement over Nameless Academy of Insanity, but the new one is even better than that! No more unprofessional staff, fraudulent business people, or bus drivers who sit you down in meetings to demand that silent reading be stricken from their children's language arts class. I love my new job!

That said, I am incredibly busy with it, but there has still been a wee bit of time for fun times. Eric and I hosted our first tailgate a few weeks ago, when U of M took on Michigan State. We did it right. Eric was up at the golf course setting up at 9 AM, with our backyard grill, an immense pot of chili, and a stuffed car. There was so much food it was a little ridiculous. At least 30 people showed up, and we still had leftovers. The chili was a bit hit by the way, so you should check out the recipe for your next football party! And p.s., that game we simply call "bean bags" back home? Yeah well, they call it "cornhole" in Michigan. Cornhole. For real. Didn't anyone out here watch Beavis and Butthead?

And of course, since I am crazy about dressing up for Halloween, here is another gratuitous costume shot. Eric's lederhosen were actually our wedding gift from his friend Gunther. They arrived months ago, after a lot of emailing, hinting, and confusion. We thought we were getting a case of wine, then the pants showed up on our doorstep. Somehow, they fit Eric like a glove. I suspect late night drinking and secret measuring may have occurred. I knew right away they'd have to make a public appearance, and our Halloween costumes were born: Dieter und Katja Julia Stefi von Dukenstein. His name was chosen because he bought me a stein with "Dieter" painted on it as a joke one year, and he could use it to accessorize. My name comes from the fact that 90% of the German girls we know are named Katja, Julia, or Stefi. Eric bought me the dyrndl when he was on a business trip last month, so we were 100& authentic. This is the first costume I have ever worn that didn't require any crafting at all, but I'm ok with it since it was not pre-fab and in a plastic sleeve! Eric's hat came from Target and his scarf is mine, but the rest is all bought in Germany, even the mini stein he has on his belt. We planned on using them for shots of Jager, but then we remembered I don't do shots of Jager. We still partied hard enough to make our namesakes proud, arriving home at 3 AM with Eric's favorite thing besides bacon, free Taco Bell. Mmm...

Finally!

Just a quickie update to note that our photos from the professional photographer are finally here! I was praying they'd come in so that I could have our album finished before the new school year began, but alas. You can check my favorites out here if you are so inclined. I'm very happy with them, but wondering what happened to some of the photos I know were taken. What about the shots on my Grandmother's steps and pinning on her corsage? And all of the photos of our friends on the balcony lighting sparklers? Hmm... I may have to make a phone call. In the meantime I will just laugh at these:

Meet the Mrs.

Yep. It's official. I am now a Mrs. Of course that had noting to do with the ring exchange, vow renewal, or the big party, but the fact that my dear friend Jessica (far right) was finally there to witness it. You see, she swore my marriage was a fraud until she could see it with her own eyes. Happy now, Jess?

All jokes aside, I can't actually believe it! All of the work and planning that went into the party was so worth it! Everyone had a fantastic time, and we got so many compliments on the little things. Of course, those are the things I worked hardest on, so I was thrilled that they were actually appreciated by our guests. Here are some of our favorite things that made the evening really special for everyone:

Frozen Del's Lemonade. We served virgin and alcoholic versions as our signature drinks with a little slice of lemon. They were a huge hit! Of course these are a R.I. tradition, but no one serves it at a wedding because we drink it all of the time at home. Being far away made me crave it, though! Plus they fit the color scheme, and matched the cake flavor, 'cause we're good like that.

Mini African Violets. The favors were another favorite! Did you know violets are Rhode Island's state flower? I had actually forgotten that trivia bit until I was hunting unsuccessfully for a supplier online. It made them even more fitting for our party, and they played double duty as centerpieces. I just hope some of them survived!

The Sweets. Monica at Ferns and Flowers is the best. I handed her a photo of a monstrosity of a cake from a magazine, and she made me a smaller, more homemade version for a fantastic price. It was beautiful and everyone devoured it. So often wedding cake looks lovely, but is dry and tasteless, but not hers! It was amazing, and I recommend F&F highly! The cookies my mother and I made were also worth all of the extra time. They pretty much disappeared!

The music. I sent emails to most of the people on our guest list asking for their Top 5 Must Have Wedding Songs. As was to be expected, I got tons of responses asking for every lame line dance known to man. Those were rapidly deleted. Sorry people! What we did get was a great mix of some fun ideas, and we sent them all on to my friend Peter, who offered to be our DJ for a steal. We also chose a huge mix of songs for the cocktail/dinner hour that reflected a summery feel, everything from Jack Johnson to Seals and Croft to Stevie Wonder. We were announced to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" which seemed apropos considering we've been married a year and a half. For anyone looking for wedding songs that are not disgustingly cliche, feel free to borrow ours:

Matron of Honor Processional : "Here Comes the Sun" Instrumental by Fred Benedetti and Peter Pupping
Bride's Processional: "And I Love Her" The Beatles
Recessional: "You're My Best Friend" Queen
First Dance: "The Way I Am" Ingrid Michaelson
Cake Cutting: "Icecream" Sarah McLachlan

Let it be known that I did cave after several drinks and allow the Cha Cha Slide to be stricken from the No Play List. However, it was a tremendous disaster, as only three or four people knew it. The rest of us staggered around the dance floor like idiots while complaining loudly that the dance was moronic and too confusing. Actually, that may have just been me.

All in all, I'm sad it's over! I can't wait to get the photos back, all of which I will be linking here. Right now there are only a few teaser photos, stolen mostly from Jessica and Libby! Afterwards, E and I spent an amazing week at a little beach house at Sand Hill Cove, complete with visits from friends and family and perfect beach weather, got to Fenway to watch the Sox kick some butt, and basically relaxed. It was the best vacation ever. I just don't know what I'll do with all of my free time now! Anyone want help planning a wedding?

It's Crunch Time!

Or How to Not Have a Breakdown When Your Wedding Day is Rapidly Approaching

Wow, I can't even believe that we have almost two weeks left until the big day! Luckily for me, yesterday was the last day of school, so I have lots of free time on my hands. It's a good thing, too, since I still have quite a few things to get done! Most of it will need to wait until the week before when I arrive in RI (can't wait!) since I can't exactly ship ten handmade cupcake stands. Being busy should keep me from getting too stressed out. Plus, we're already married, so it's not like we can get cold feet!

Instead of worrying about the people who have yet to RSVP, the random family dramas, or the possibility of thunderstorms, I've been:

Whipping up test cookies. My mother and I are making four kinds of cookies to serve as dessert along with the cake, so I've been trying out new recipes. In addition to a family favorite, we'll be making:
White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread



Outrageous Chocolate Cookies



Coconut Macaroons


Making the boutonnières. Actually, these were very simple, and didn't take me longer than an hour once I settled on a design. I've posted a tutorial here if you want to try your own! Plus, most of the materials were in my stash. The only new things I had to buy were the florals, and they only cost me a few dollars. I love cute and cheap!

Finishing the dress! Actually the first dress has been finished for a while now. And no, I'm not going to show it to you. I did however have to wait for the second dress to come in, which finally happened this past week. Second dress, you say? Since my gown is long and doesn't bustle, I'm terrified that someone is going to step on my train and tear it off. The dress means a little too much to me for me to allow its destruction! This is where the second dress, or the "dancing all night/going away" dress comes in. I bought something short, but equally amazing (yes Ralphy, it's amazing!) for the evening. And no I'm not going to show it to you.

Making playlists, photo lists, lists of lists. I'm a list maker. Lists make me happy. You won't be surprised to know that I have sent a list of songs to the DJ, a list of must have photos to the photographer, made my cookie shopping list, crafts-still-to-do list, stuff-still-to-buy list, stuff-to-pack list, and so on. I don't want to forget anything!

I think the best thing to do to avoid pre-wedding breakdowns is to be organized and to be ready for curveballs. Considering our luck, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a drunk cousin falls into the cake, or if the gazebo gets hit by lightening. I'll just have to breathe and tell myself it will make for some awesome photos. And breathe some more. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

Random Photo Fun

As I'm a tad hungover and Eric is still sleeping, I need to pass my time this early AM with mindless flickr fun. I found this on Girl Land's blog and thought it would be fun to try out, so here we go!

The Questions

1. What is your first name? Joanna
2. What is your favorite food? Mom's spaghetti and meatballs
3. What high school did you go to? Pilgrim
4. What is your favorite color? Turquoise
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Jude Law
6. Favorite drink? Frozen lemonade
7. Dream vacation? Fiji
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate Cake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? An astronaut
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One word to describe you. Excited!
12. Your flickr name. jmgallo

The Concept

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

Here's what I ended up with:


This is interesting because the top left photo (my only result from the "jmgallo" search) is a photo of my friend Sarah in a dress she made which I now own and adore. My search for "turquoise" turned up a photo by Judy Scott, an artist whom I quietly worship, and the "chocolate cake" search found a photo from Christine who is in the same recipe share group as moi. Hmm. So try it, it's kind of fun.

The Windy City

Shop (and walk) 'til you drop or What to do in Chicago in the summer

Ok, ok, so I've been laaaazy lately! Somehow in the craziness of spring, I've neglected to post for two entire months! It's been so busy here with traveling home for my best friend's wedding, working on wedding planning, and finishing up the school year that I've been completely distracted. Jenny's wedding was gorgeous (how could it not be when you are on the beach in Newport?), and the most fun I've had in a long time! It was so fantastic to be home spending time with my friends! Just one more wedding to go... Luckily, things are really coming together in that department and I only have one more week of school!


In the meantime, I'll post some photos of our long weekend in the Chicago area, visiting my parents. Chicago is just about my favorite place to visit in the United States, so here are some of my highlights for Chi-town in the summer:

- Visit all of the usual Chicago landmarks: The Bean, the Botanical Gardens, Millennium Park(especially the amphitheater and the Crown Fountain), the John Hancock, and the Skydeck. Oh, and the Magnificant Mile (or anywhere really!) for some shopping. You can't visit this city without doing at least a little shopping, even if the sun is shining down on you. Take a break from your walking tour and retire to the AC at Nordstrom, you'll feel recharged :)

- Check out the Navy Pier. Just don't plan on spending lots of time there. It's very commercial and plastered with corporate logos, but it's classic. Spend the six bucks to ride the ferris wheel because the view is beautiful, grab a beer, walk the length of the boardwalk for people watching, and you'll be done with it. Or at least we were!

- Food. Period. Every time we visit Chicago we eat like kings. This time we went for lunch at my parents' favorite pizza place Pizano's and later went for French at Brasserie JO. I recommend both highly! If you want dessert after dinner, just skip the Godiva next store. Although the ice cream is delicious, it is not worth the 45 minute wait (yes, 45 minutes for a cone!) and the service is embarrassingly bad. I think they hand out free chocolate at the door so your mouth is too full to complain. Have pastries at the restaurant instead!

- Festivities Galore! If you plan accordingly, you can hit any of the huge summer events. We happened upon symphony practice for the Memorial Day concert at the ampitheater, but had to catch a train before the real event! I'm also bummed that we won't be able to get out there for the Taste of Chicago, which is supposed to be fab, but you know, I'm getting married that weekend.

What's this all aboot?

Let's go curling!
or What to do in Windsor, Ontario year round

This week Eric got a phone call one of the few people we actually know out here in snowy-even-in-springtime Michigan, inviting us out for the weekend. Ana is one of Eric's friends from college who just happens to be living out here, about an hour away. Usually when we get together, it is your standard dinner and drinks fare, but she had something else in mind. Curling. Yeah, I said curling.

It turns out that there is some radical underground curling movement going on that I have been sadly left out of. Ana's company sponsors a group of young professionals and they host little outings; this week's outing was to Roseland Golf and Curling Club, for a rousing bout of bocci on ice. Well, not quite bocci, but that's the best comparison I can come up with. You know by now that I am not exactly an athlete, nor is my darling husband, but the beer was free so we were all about it. We got a quick lesson from the most limber kid I've ever seen, and then we curled for almost two hours. Here are a few things I learned, for those of you who want to try:

- Curling isn't only for retired people. While the elders were there in force, there was also a big group of young people hanging out and getting hammered, which I'm not sure is a great idea when you are sliding around on ice.

- You must wear good shoes. Since I'm not about to spring for a pair of professional curling shoes, and neither are you, you need to wear a pair of shoes with super sticky rubber soles. You need one foot to grip the ice, the other gets wrapped in packing tape to create a glider. If you can't grip, you're going to fall on your face.

- You are going to fall on your face. Unless you have perfect balance or luck, which I apparently have, since I miraculously didn't fall once. So proud! I saw many people fall, however, including Eric at least 3 times. The winner of the evening was this poor kid Tim, who literally scissor kicked both legs up into the air before landing sprawled out his belly. I'm sure it left a mark.

- You are going to suck. For at least a while anyway. You'd think a sport that is played by old folks would be easy, but it is way harder than it looks. We sucked something awful for at least an hour. Then we started to get the hang of it. Don't get me wrong, we still sucked, but at least we were getting it.

In the end our team won by a slim margin, and I only bruised my right knee a little. It was a pretty good thigh workout, and lo-and-behold, it was pretty damn fun. We're thinking of getting some other friends together to go again, and maybe we'll improve our skills a bit. At least it's an alternative to bowling!

Loco for Gocco!

I'm officially an addict. I ordered my PG-5 months ago, with plans to print our wedding invitations, but got sidetracked by work, moving, and life in general. This past week I had February break, and of course Eric had to be in the Fatherland the whole time on a business trip! It was his birthday Tuesday, too, so he had to celebrate it alone. Actually he was stuck with a few colleagues, so he may as well have been alone. Pobrecito! Since I was also to be alone for the week, I took off for my mom's house with my gocco in tow, and within two days, we were running like a well-oiled machine. All of the invites and one side of the RSVP cards are finished, and we had too much fun printing them!

It was so easy, my nephews could have done it. It took a bit of playing around with pressure and inking to get the effect I wanted, but once we had the hang of it we flew through it. For anyone interested in the process, there is a simple tutorial here with step by step photos to help you out! The lovely Bonnie did the graphic design work for me, don't you just love it? All of the paper was ordered from Paper Source in butter, because their selection and pricing rocks. The Riso inks are Japanese purple and pastel pearl purple, in case anyone is dorky enough to care.

Not only did we work on invites, but we bought the fabric for my gown and put together the mock-up pattern. Well, my mom did that part! I just had to stand there like a dummy while she draped muslin over me. Now I know how those models on Project Runway feel! I'm in love with the pattern and fabric we are using, and the modifications will make it even better. I'm was nervous at first about the whole gown thing, but now I am so thrilled that I'll have something so personal. Nothing like a little mother-daughter bonding over stick pins and tape measures. (I won't even get into the horror of being measured everywhere! I'm not 20 anymore!) Two major things ticked off the to-do list, sweet! Next thing to do, find musicians for our mini-ceremony. I'm thinking two or three people, maybe guitarists. Or someone who plays jazz flute?

I got a job!

Hoo-frickin-yay! I must tell you, I hate not working. That is not a lie. Don't get me wrong, I do love time for myself, time to cook and craft and hang out, I do! But when that is all there is, and all that time spent in school is wasted and your brain is rotting, you get a bit pathetic. I've been living in the land of pathetic for a while now.

Thank God for Monday! I went in for an interview at 11:00 and was working by 2. I started teaching another class the next day and had a full schedule the next with no rosters, no curriculum, nothing. A bit off, yes, but all good! It's a tiny multicultural charter school, so basically it is as far from Scituate as you can be! These kids have been without a full time English teacher for months, so they have basically wasted a whole school year so far. We have lots of catching up to do. It's wild and unstructured and nothing like I'm used to, but I'm digging it so far. And the kids are so cool. They all have these beautiful names that I struggle to pronounce, like Nadjeama and Ahma'a. Plus I get to work with little ones for the first time! I have one-on-one reading with first graders a few hours a day, and they are so cute I just want to take them home with me. Don't worry though, I won't! A few at once is great, but a whole room of them I couldn't handle.

Now I'm full speed ahead creating my own curriculum with very few materials, trying to figure out new state standards and get these kids ready for state testing in a few weeks, learning how to pronounce African and Arabic names, sorting out a whole bunch of new personalities, figuring out who can't read at grade level or speak fluent English yet, and still get home to cook dinner. Phew. Should be an adventure.

Bring on the weekend!

Oh, how I love accomplishing things! This week, we are ticking things off our big to-do list of life with a vengeance. Sunday we registered for wedding gifts, and in way under three hours, hooray! Not to rub it in to Jenny and Tim, who spent five, count 'em five! hours in Bed Bath and Beyond doing their registry. I still don't know how exactly that happened. Eric should be proud of me, because I'm so ridiculously organized that I had most things picked out before we entered the store, and we wasted no time shooing the bridal consultant out of our way. Eric was ready to go in an hour, and holding the little scanner did nothing to excite him, despite the consultant's assurance that it would be thrilling. The girl even wrapped me in a bath sheet at one point, swearing that EVERYONE just HAD to experience the plush, cuddly joy of an insanely over sized blanket after a shower. We didn't register for those.

Monday we picked up our new car. Our first new car, actually. It is Eric's car of course, since he didn't have one at all, and I actually like my RAV4, even though he calls it a lawnmower. He got a Mazda 3, the same car my brother in law and his best friend both have, and in the same color, too. If you ask him, he will tell you that it is not the same car at all, because it has four doors and theirs have five. True, yes, but still. I actually love it, and the color. It's a really cute car, but don't tell him that.

I also applied for several new jobs and scored an interview on Friday. Sadly, a massive snowstorm is scheduled to hit us late tonight, with snow continuing into Friday evening. Great. Instead of cute interview outfit and heels, I'll be donning layers, a snotty nose, and snow boots. I'm sure to get the job.

Eric leaves for a five day business trip to Germany on Saturday, which means he misses the Superbowl festivities yet again. Luckily our informants told us that for the first time ever, the game will be broadcast on German TV for free! The hotel is setting up a projector and screen for their group to watch the game together. It will be around 3 in the morning there, and I'm sure they will all be hammered. I'm going to amuse myself by imagining Eric trying to teach a bunch of drunk Germans all about American football: the fouls, the plays, the padding. It's really funny if you know my husband and his utter lack of sports knowledge. Think of Mr. Rogers doing the commentary for a WWF wrestling match and you get the idea.

As for me, I'll be hanging out with my few MI friends and trying to convert them all into Patriots fandom, since their Lions suck. I'll also be feeding them healthy food, without them knowing it, to cancel out all of the crap beer they drink. I hate that Superbowl falls a month after the holidays, when lots of people have lost some of that holiday weight, only to dive right back into those five pounds thanks to a platter of pigs in a blanket and the big sandwich. So I leave you with a few of my football party favorites, lightened up. Trust me, no one will know, but your belt will thank me.


Reduced Fat Spinach Dip
Easy Guacamole
Cha-Ching Chili

And no I will not apologize for the gratuitious Brady shot. Go Pats!

All I need is food and creative love...

I realized that I haven't posted anything craft related in a while, so it's about time to share what I have been making lately. Especially since I was really excited to learn that a scrapbook I made as a gift for my mother was chosen as one of the Craftster Best of 2007! There are literally thousands of projects posted there over the course of a year, so it was really nice. Anywho, being temporarily unemployed and in a new town has given me lots of free time! Of course, I should be working earnestly on the wedding to do list, but more on that later. In the meantime I have had Valentine's Day on the brain. I know it is a bit early for some of you, but go look in the stores and you will see I am not the only one!

The Little Chapel of Love you see above was inspired by a tiny bronze bird and the Paper Crafts Sheet Music Challenge over at Craftster. I made this up as a Valentine for Eric, but not to worry, he never reads my blog, so I am fairly certain it is safe to post it! It is constructed of corrugated cardboard and lots of embellishing, with a removable roof. Through the window you can see a photo of us, with lots of little romantic notes inside (for reading in the future when we get all cranky with each other :P). I've entered it in the challenge and voting opened today, so make sure you pop on over and vote for me!

I also made a ton of Happy Hearts, inspired by the lovely Sarah. We'll be swapping a bunch and making pretty little garlands to display them. You can download her template and make some of your own. I used mostly vintage ephemera and ribbon for mine, but you can do anything. It makes a great project for kiddies, too!

I've also designed a bunch of new valentines which you can check out on my flickr account, but they will have to sit in a box until next year. Why? Because my invite design is finished, and I have got to start printing! The amazing Bonnie helped me by doing all of the Illustrator work, so I have my own custom made designs for my invites now. I've ordered my ink and paper, so hopefully I can get gocco-ing in the next week or so. My little print press has been waiting patiently in the box for months, because I didn't want to waste any screens until my designs were ready. Yeah, I'm a cheapskate! I can't wait to break it out, and I'll certainly be posting my results asap!

On the Road Again...

...for what I dearly hope is the last time for a long time! This weekend Eric and I made the long trek back out to Michigan from Rhode Island with a 17 foot Uhaul, towing my car on a trailer. He did all of the driving, while I tried desperately to find anything other than country music and Christian ranting on the radio. We made excellent time, found 32 of 50 state license plates, and arrived at the condo before noon on Friday. I was really excited, as we have been gypsies for over about a year and a half now. Finally, our own furniture, our own bed, and my whole wardrobe back at my disposal! Sadly, the buzzkill was pretty immediate. The condo was filthy. The previous tenants hadn't even cleaned the bathrooms when they moved out, so you can imagine my distaste. Two of the three bathroom sinks were rusted, and there were other minor damages. The real estate agent brushed the whole thing off, as is her job, I'd guess! After the movers left, I spent 6 hours scrubbing the place down before we started unpacking. Then my parents arrived Saturday afternoon and we did a massive overhaul. We did some bargain hunting (4 lamps for 13 bucks!) and worked a little decorating magic. By the time they left on Sunday afternoon, the place was clean and livable, cozy even. I spoke with the owners (who live overseas) and they were really apologetic. They gave us a credit on the rent for the mess, and are sending a plumber over tomorrow to replace the sinks and fix the rest of the issues. I love cooperative people! Plus we are in a great location, a very short distance from downtown and the football stadium. It took a few days, but the place has grown on us already, and should feel like home pretty soon. Eric started work today, so now my job hunt is on and we'll soon be off to explore Ann Arbor. That and to learn about Big Ten football, spread the Patriots love, and make our friends eat hot wieners.

Bowlerama

Darling D turns twelve this week, and as I am home for her birthday this year, that means party planning was all me. I love party planning, so I usually get really excited about this. Until D informed me that this year, she wanted to have a bowling party. Now if you know me, you know that there are two pastimes that I just can't handle. Two things that I hate, and sometimes make me want to hurl. Rollerskating is one, but luckily I haven't been forced to do that since the junior high nights at Shole's. Bowling is the other. Something about the combined odors of Lysol disinfectant, old smoke, and week old hotdogs just doesn't do it for me. In fact, it brings on the same subtle rage that develops when I hear anything by Nickleback. So you can imagine how I felt upon hearing D's birthday wish. But of course, this isn't about me, so I moved on to planning mode and grabbed the phonebook.

Sunday morning all was well. Party Favors? Check. Balloons? Check. Bowling Ball Birthday cake? Check. Then we pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley and my stomach dropped. I mumbled, "What a fucking dump!" Luckily D was in another car with her dad, so she didn't get to hear that one. Crumbling pavement? Check. Tall weeds? Check. Peeling paint? Check. A certifiable shit hole. Inside was no better. It reeked of stale smoke from the days before I was born, the carpet was filthy, and the patron was a grumpy, middle aged social retard. I was not going to let that ruin anything though, so we set up shop and once the kids arrived, everything was great. They had a blast, even if they were all terrible bowlers, and we were lucky no one was injured. They ate cake and crappy bowling alley pizza, gossiped and shrieked for two hours, and went home exhausted. I didn't have to entertain, clean, or worry, and on the way home, D said it was an awesome party. I could say I've learned my lesson. Fun can be had anywhere no matter what, but I would still rather have it somewhere that doesn't make me crave a shower.

Another International Thanksgiving...

After our long week in Cagliari, I was actually glad to get back to Friedrichshafen! Yes, I have now committed that blasphemous statement to print. Now let's move on. I spent the early week reading, knitting, and eating while watching two seasons worth of Family Guy, as Eric had to work, but Thursday was a full on Thanksgiving explosion. We invited four of Eric's colleagues for dinner, three Germans and a Brazilian this time, so I spent the day making the infamous party potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin soup, and a turkey. This year we actually found a whole one! It was the first time I have ever cooked a whole turkey, and the first time Eric had to carve one, so it was a learnin' experience. I felt a bit lame about not baking, but with limited cookware, I had no choice but to buy dessert. The boys brought a case of wiessbier, and 7 bottles of wine. It was fun, and I like making Germans eat American food, especially if it's even vaguely healthy, since our friends think we eat only McDonald's. They also think we are all fat heiffers, so I wore my skinniest jeans.

The rest of the week was spent hanging out, shopping, having dinner with friends, and other banalities that allowed finally for some relaxation. Then I had to head out on Sunday. I have since vented enough about the hell I experienced traveling home that weekend, so I will not recount the tale in its entirety here, so as to prevent myself reliving it. Suffice to say I got stranded overnight in Frankfurt, arrived home a full 24 hours later than I should have, and have been given 300 dollars back for my troubles.

Oh and p.s. Next time you travel, check to contents of your hand lotion. Glycerin sets of bomb sensors. :)

Gracie!

Eric and I were soo excited when we landed in Cagliari, Sardegna for our week long vacation. I had read several articles online, and in the newspaper about how beautiful and interesting this city is in the off season. "Skip the maddening crowd of summer tourists, the waiting in long lines, the trumped up hotel prices, and enjoy historic Cagliari at your leisure in November!" Sounds like heaven, right? Hmm, not quite. It appears we were misinformed.

We arrived at our hotel and were excited to find that it was beautiful, very modern and stylish, with a lovely bar, and personable staff. Our room was nice as well, although the view left a bit to be desired. We were of course, a bit outside of the city center, so we expected that. We had dinner in the four star restaurant and welcomed our first disappointment. Good wine, boring food. I thought this was Italy? Oh well.

Next day, we headed out to the downtown area for sightseeing. Cagliari is full of small cobbled streets, shops, churches, and cafes to see, as well as a bunch of cool historic landmarks. Saldy, most of it was under construction. Pitfall of visiting in the offseason. It's cool though, because the people watching is great. Everyone was gorgeous, and bundled up like it's the Arctic although it was 60 degrees. After walking through half of the city in an hour, we realized that this whole sightseeing thing could be completed in about a day, and we had six to fill. Then we got hungry. Little did we know, the entire city closes down from 1 in the afternoon, until 8 at night. You can't eat, drink, or shop much. Back to the hotel.

We spent our next few days trying desperately to find things to do, but it wasn't easy. Despite the promises of our in-room brochure, the staff actually had no information at all about goings on in the city. Not even restaurant suggestions. Luckily we are resourceful. If you get stuck in this predicament you should:

- Visit Iglesias, a nearby town with the most amazing cemetary I have ever seen. Sounds macabre, but it was awesome and I'll share photos as soon as I get them back from Eric! Just make sure you go early because they close the cemetary gates from noon until 3, and the walls are topped with shards of broken glass to deter burglars or overzealous tourists.

- Try to go the week of the European Jazz Expo. It's a huge event, but make sure you plan your transportation thoroughly. The bus stations don't post schedules, so you need to take your chances or talk to the drivers, and they don't speak English. Taxis are expensive, and if you don't speak Italian you'll get ripped off, so watch it! We saw a bunch of cool performances, even if we aren't huge jazz fans, and it was probably the most fun night we had.

- Visit the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. We did a night at the symphony which was beautiful, and you can get cheap tickets.

- Eat dinner at the restaurant at the base of the Bation San Remy. I've forgotten the name, but you will walk past it at least ten times as you tour the city, and you can't miss the green awnings. Amazing food, by far the best meal we had, and the servers were very accomodating. Lots of sign language since our Italian is nonexistant, and they made great recommendations.

All in all, we did have a good trip, but mainly just because we were together and we can amuse ourselves wih very little (Italian talk shows and a bunch of beer! Yay!). This city requires better weather, a short stay, or some really thorough planning, for it to be a relaxing, romantic get away. I think we'll take a second honeymoon.

Holiday Mayhem

The past few weeks have been full of madness due to several holidays, and I'm in the midst of prepping for another big one, so I'm ready for a break. There was of course the Red Sox winning the World Series, which amounted to one big holiday of beer, cooking bar food, and staying up too late. Yes, I was thrilled, but I admit I wish it had been more if a challenge (feel free to boo and hiss). Then came Halloween, with it's usual hustle and bustle of getting costumes together for at least five people, all of whom tend to ask for my help at the last minute, thinking I am Martha Stewart. Sadly, I do not have her staff, so I had to work from scratch to transform a toddler into a parrot, a boy into a pirate, a girl into a birthday present, and myself into Miss Rhode Island 1985. Luckily I had Vanna White's dress to work with. Several parties and a night of trick or treating later, I had eaten enough chocolate to choke a horse.

Now I am headed off to Germany for two weeks, with a stop in Cagliari for the honeymoon. Honeymoon, you say? I know it is out of order, but Eric has to use up his vacation time before the end of the year, so we are taking full advantage now! This holiday will be a bit of a challenge, since I can only pack one bag for 16 days and nights in two very different climates. It will be a busy vacation including not 2, but 10 flight changes, so I'm making sure to be extra prepared (ie. I've stocked up on Tylenol PM). I also have to do another German Thanksgiving dinner with what I am sure will be limited supplies, but I'm hopeful for a repeat of last year's success. The goal is to get some serious sight seeing and holiday shopping done, with a good mix of relaxation tossed in. Oh, and I haven't seen my husband since September, so there ya go.

Progress not Perfection

I think that will be my new mantra. It's an AA saying actually. Not that I need AA or anything, although I think that being pretty much unemployed, having a wedding to plan, a husband across the ocean, and a shop to get off the ground would drive any girl to drink. Luckily I'm saved from my own potential alcoholism by living in the home of someone who has been successfully in recovery for 22 years. Just don't tell him about the case of Sam Adams in my bedroom.

I've been repeating this phrase to myself all day, because I didn't get called to sub, and I am trying to be productive. My day so far has broken down into hours of sitting on the computer trying to accomplish the following:

Find a wedding photographer - I sent out at least 10 more emails, and got 1 back. The guy looks very promising, and is within the budget, so this goal may very well be achieved within the week.

Get working on invites - I've decided that I am definitely printing them myself, via Gocco. I've become obsessed with owning this little gadget and convinced Eric that it should be part of the wedding budget. Not only will it still be cheaper than ordering custom invites from someone else, but it is an investment towards the future home of my handmade goods (More on that at a later date!). So today I got lucky and found one for an amazing price from feltcafe, an etsy seller. That makes my day times three, because I love supporting etsy sellers, I will finally have my machine, and it should be here in a week! Woo!

Find our wedding rings - Yeah, that's just not going to happen today. Although pictures are sure pretty, we need to go try some on. This goal will just have to wait until after Christmas!

Other than that I've been up to the usual craftiness with the kids, Halloween style. If you have some free time and children (if not borrow someone else's like I do) these are fun projects for cheap (if not free) and they totally got me into the Halloween mood. D and I made a cheesecloth ghost, Nic and I made a wreath out of garbage bags, and we made candied apples last night with Lea. D had to slice hers and eat it with a fork because of her braces. I got my back molars stuck together. It was awesome.

Let's Go Apple Picking

or Things to do in Rhode Island in the fall, Part 2

Last weekend I was appalled to find out that in her eleven years on this planet, D had never once been apple picking. For someone who lives in an area full of farms and orchards, I found that unforgiveable! So we packed up and headed out to Narrow Lane Farm for the afternoon. A few hours later we had walked up and down almost every row of trees, sampled each of the 10 varieties, picked four pecks of apples, and learned to juggle (courtesy of her dad). I learned that, just like me, D has a fondness for tiny things, so we gathered a bunch of the cutest apples, even if they will be a bitch to peel and slice later! We grabbed some pumpkins on our way home, too, so some carving is in store for next weekend.

I spent most of today peeling, cooking, baking, and canning the apples we brought home. I made apple pie filling (just pour into the crust and bake!), apple butter, and some baked apple tarts. Now I just need to find someone to give all of these jars too, before fall is over and the cute wrappings are out of season. Any takers? Send me an email and I'll drop some off for you!

As today was such a beautiful fall day (finally!) D and a friend decided to host a bake sale and take advantage of all of the Yard Sale traffic in the neighborhood. Being the crafty control freak that I am, I decorated their table for them. Mini Halloween pennants in potted mums, brownies packaged in brown paper bags with ribbon and creepy labels, and jars of apples. They made four dollars in four hours, but they had a blast running around all day and made a new friend. A new girl moved in across the street this spring, and today we got to meet her. She's adorable, and just D's age, so I hope they'll become friends! Once Eric and I are back in Michigan, things will get very quiet around here :(

RISD Student/Alumni Art Sal

Things to do in Rhode Island in the fall, Part 1

Yesterday was the first of this year's student/alumni art sales at RISD, one of my favorite places to go spend lots of money for no apparent reason in the fall. I love that everything at this art sale is created either by current students, or by alumni who travel from all over to come back to RI. They sell everything from clothing, accessories, and bags, to fine art, sculpture, and pottery. For a relatively small art fair, the variety and range of styles and prices certainly accomodate everyone's tastes and budget. As usual, I found myself coveting lots of things, trying on things I can't afford, and then feeling sullen because I'm not Richie Rich. I also met some very cool people, discovered a bunch of great new artists, and made one very selective purchase. I chatted with Chika Eustace, the girl behind Chikabird, while poring over her stuff for a very long time. I finally chose a clutch like the one here, but with blue and green leaves. She was really sweet, considering I kept touching everything, and she has an etsy, yay! I also met Teresa Levy of Sewing Stars, whose blog I have been reading for a while now. Her apple head dolls are even cuter in person, which I hardly thought was possible. Keep an eye on her shop for new arrivals, including kits to make your own stuffies, which I am ordering ASAP.

Since I could go on and on about the other artists I loved, I will instead give you a quickie list if links so you can check them out yourself...
- John Hung Ha Multimedia decoupage paintings of Koi and elephants, so vibrant and textured that they look alive. Plus, I love artists that are cool and down to earth, and he was definitely that. Even if Swizz Beatz digs his work.
- Jenine Bressner Fireworks - amazing glass beads and pendants, handmade by this kickass chick who my mother would call "a hot ticket"
- Milisa M. Galazzi - books, watercolor, and assemblage with adorable sewing motifs
- Amie Louise Plante - gorgeous fine art jewelry that looks like it was made by nature
- Nam Kim - very cool bags in great fabrics and unusual shapes made by Chika's friend

Red Sox Clinch!

Last night was insane. Winning the Division for the first time since 1995 was worth staying up way too late to watch the Orioles creep up behind the Yankees! I just wish I had been in Boston! Sorry Ralph, Stephen, Aimee, and Chris for your loss. Wah.

Wedding Planning Procrastination...

So, I'm supposed to be planning a wedding reception. Those of you who have done this before know how much time and effort can be involved. Take one look at a bridal magazine and you'll get so overwhelmed you'll be ready to book the next flight to Vegas. I mean really, look at the hair on that girl, even if she is wearing a sweet dress! Add to this the fact that Eric and I are attempting to do our reception in the least expensive, most DIY manner possible, and you have a to-do list a mile long. Therefore, you can't blame me for letting things slip a tiny bit. I'm justifying my lax approach to wedding planning this month because:

- I have a giant, color coded binder full of ideas for everything from cake to invites. Thank you OCD.
- The reception location is booked.
- The DJ is booked.
- Makeup girl is booked. Thank you Lynds!
- UPDATE 11/3: Photographer is booked!
- UPDATE 11/4: My gocco press arrived, so invites are coming soon!
- I don't have a final dress design yet.

The last thing on this list holds up everything else I need to do, because I can't pick colors until I have a dress design. And I can't do anything until I have colors. Since my mother and I are designing the dress and she will be making it from scratch, we really need to get on this. Suzy says that as long as she can start cutting in January, we're all good. So she's enabling my procrastination at this point, but don't tell her that!

Now, I am a list maker, so here's what is left to do as of now (I'm sure this list will change often!):

- Dress
- Decide on ceremony details
- Decide on ceremony music
- Finalize the menu
- Finalize the guest list
- Decide about a videographer
- Make Invitations, Place cards and Thank You cards
- Flowers for me, my matron of honor, mother, and grandmother
- Boutonnieres for Eric, best man, and the three dads
- Gifts for parents, matron of honor, and best man
- Favors
- Centerpieces
- Cake

Holy crap. That's a long list. Especially when you add in the fact that I am considering felting all of the flowers myself, making the cake with my mom, handmaking gifts, centerpieces, and favors, and designing and creating invites from scratch. Anyone who wants to offer advice or assistance, feel free! Any tips from experienced wedding planners is very welcome!