Kick Your Heels Up

Thinking about going dancing tonight with my darling fiance, and I got to thinking about dancing at the wedding.
So, obviously, I started shopping online for brand new cowboy boots in which to do some kick-ass stomping.

WANT:

For the record, I already have these.

AND:

BUT WAIT:

OMG:

ALSO:

The only "problem" is the price tag on these.

Especially the last two, which I LOVELOVELOVE.  And would look SO cute with what I plan to change into for dancing.

A couple of these have more reasonable price tags, particularly considering that they're cowboy boots and totally cute....but I really want the last pair, which, of course, are the most expensive.  Super-crazy adorable, right?

Even with the excuse of the wedding, though, I have a hard time justifying the cost investment.

But I would wear them LOTS!  Like until they fell apart.  And they're well-made and would probably last for years.  And I probably won't spend much on the shoes I'll wear for the ceremony, since I don't wear fancy heels NEARLY as much as I wear boots.

And these are amazing.

BUT.

$410.

On sale.

LUST.

HELP!

Siete!

Exactly seven months from today, Chris and I will be married.

The thought alone is thrilling.

The song that, early in our relationship, Chris learned the lyrics to just so that he could sing it to me while we danced:



That is all.

Oh, I Like The Way He Looks

We decided long ago that Chris would be wearing a nice suit for the wedding rather than a tuxedo.  It's less taboo now to do so, especially because our wedding is going to be on the less formal side.  Plus, why rent a tux when we can just buy a suit that he gets to keep and will be able to wear again and again.

So when we noticed that Men's Wearhouse was having a huge Columbus Day sale, we jumped on it....Chris somewhat more reluctantly than than I.  Let me tell you, the experience was not what I expected, but it was definitely good.

Now, I've never been suit shopping - you nearly fell out of your seat with shock, didn't you? - and Chris had only ever been once. Just a few minutes after walking in, we were helped by one of the very talkative salespeople.  Thankfully, he was able to tell us a lot about what we should look for fit-wise, and helped us select everything Chris needed.

The only other time I have shopped with someone helping like that is when I went wedding dress shopping, which was still an entirely different experience.

This guy just kept bringing out different things for Chris to try without us asking for them, sharing too much about his own personal life, and giving us his preferences and opinions on things.

In all, the experience was really nice.
We left having purchased more than we expected, but a prudent amount of clothing.

The most important piece of the purchase was Chris' wedding suit - including the shirt, shoes, belt, socks, tie, and pocket square for him to wear.
He.
Looked.
GOOD.
Even though we didn't put the whole look together at once, I know it will look even better then.

I can't wait to see it all together and see him standing, 7 months from now, waiting at the end of a pathway among our family and friends.

Love.

I Love to Eat, Eat, Eat

First, I want to contextualize the title of this post.  I was pondering the upcoming (now passed) catering tasting a couple of days ago and I started hearing this song - which hearkens back to my childhood - in my head:

I like to eat, eat, eat

Apples and bananas.

I like to eat, eat, eat

Apples and bananas.

I like to oat, oat, oat

Oh-pples and banonos.

I like to oat, oat, oat

Oh-pples and banonos.

I like to ite, ite, ite

I-pples and banainais.

I like to ite, ite, ite

I-pples and banainais.

I couldn't get it out of my head, so now it's my post title.  I also want to add that it bugs me that, in the first verse, the pronunciation of 'apples' and 'bananas' is normal, despite the fact this defies the rule of vowel-matching necessary for the remaining verses.

Aaaaaaaaaaaanyways.

I had the tasting with the caterer!!

And my dad, and his wife, and my mom, and her husband.  Oh yeah, and Chris.  (That guy again.  Ugh.)

And it was....anticlimactic...even for what it is.  I ended up being frustrated by two things: (1) The person we have been working with - and the person in charge - was not there, despite having confirmed the event (but not specifically his presence) by email only hours before, and (2) we were only served the appetizers, which were from the standard catering menu...and that was all - none of our custom dishes were made for us, which was kind of the point.

*Deep, vociferous sigh*

On the good side, we picked our appetizers and there is one in particular that is super-perfect for our menu and super delicious.
Also, my family were very supportive and upbeat about the missteps.

It's also important for us to remember that, in this case, with this vendor, we've seen the final product and have a history with the company that is all positive....the only unfortunate things are what has been happening with our catering meetings.  Which sucks, because that's not fun, but doesn't make me worry in the way I would in most other circumstances.

Now, I'm finding myself feeling frustrating the more I write and wanting to erase the memory of the irritating parts of the tasting and just focus on the fact that now we'll be going back again for more free food and free drinks (yes, they served us -- ALL of us - complimentary beverages throughout the tasting, and even while we were waiting).

Let's keep our fingers crossed that it gets better in this vein.

Free Wedding Graphics and Templates

Last night, I was having difficulty sleeping; I was ruminating heavily on the wedding and its details.
Naturally, I jumped onto my computer and began working on wedding stuff.
In the process, I came across a wedding website that I haven't perused before: www.theweddingchicks.com
Among their items, they had some free, customizable, downloadable graphics for the wedding.

Here's some of what I made:

Their templates can be customized by color and by some words.   You fill in what you want and they email you the product in .png format.  The templates can be found directly here.

Hella cute, right?

Love Is A Beautiful Thing

I though, in the interest of laziness, I would post another set of lyrics from a song I absolutely love and will 100% be incorporating into the wedding somehow....as of yet I'm not sure on that front, so I'm open to ideas!!!

Every time I hear this song, I get choked up.  It's lovely and sweet and still full of life and joy.

"Love Is A Beautiful Thing" by Phil Vassar

Video.

Lyrics:

Looks like everybody’s here
Had to put some foldin’ chairs in the vestibule
Yeah, it’s gettin’ full
Even old Aunt Ruby came
Her first time on an airplane
It’s her sister’s girl
She wouldn’t miss it for the world

And all them kids jumpin’ in the pews
And Mr. Charlie in his lime-green suit
‘Is a handsome man’
Remarks Widow Callahan
Uncle Joe and Uncle Jake
Haven’t spoken since ’98
Just said, ‘Hello’
It’s a good day to let it go

Chorus
So let the angels gather
Let the music play
Let the preacher get to preachin’ all the “do you take”‘s
Love is a beautiful thing
Throw the rice in the air
Let the church bells ring
Tie the cans to the back of that limousine
Love is a beautiful thing

Daddy’s waitin’ with the bride
Yeah, she helps him with his tie
She sees a tear
He says, ‘Man, it’s hot in here’ hhmm
He hugs his little girl and asks,
‘How did you grow up so fast?
God, I wish your Momma could be here for this’

And everybody stands and smiles
As she goes walkin’ down the aisle
In her Mamma’s gown
And Daddy breaks on down
Gran and Gramps in the second row
Stood right there fifty years ago
And said their vows
Yeah, I guess it’s workin’ out

Chorus

A little table full’a gifts
Catering’s covered dish
And the wedding band
Well, that’s on her hand
And Tommy’s teasin’ Lorelei
He pushed her down and made her cry
And neither one knows
A day will come

When the angels gather
And the music plays
And the preacher gets to preachin’ all the do you takes
Love is a beautiful thing
Throw the rice in the air
Let the church bells ring
Tie the cans to the back of that limousine
Love
Two people in love is a beautiful thing

Stamp!

I'm definitely late on posting about this, since it happened several weeks ago, but that's what happens when I'm consumed by dissertation work and working on my application for internships for next year.

As you know if you've read my other post, I had Chris create a custom logo for us/our wedding soon after we got engaged.  And then, I found Rubber Stamp Champ.com -- among other things they will make a custom stamp for you from an image you send them.  So I, of course, ordered a custom stamp of our logo for use in ostensibly many different ways!  

When, a few weeks after I placed the $15 order (yeah, way less expensive than I thought it would be!!), the stamp arrived in the mail.  Obviously, I went directly to Michael's to get ink pads, other stamps, and blank notecards to test out my pretty new custom stamp. 

Pics:

The custom stamp in many different colors.  It's  little bit difficult to see the silver and white ink on these colors, but I'm super happy with how it turned out!

The assortment of items that I simply had to purchase at Michael's.  The blank ink will apparently stay on any surface once you let it dry.  Might be a good choice for some slippery surfaces.

A sample stamped Thank You card - some of which we sent out after the engagement party.  I'm not sure that I'm in love with the design, and next time we'll get smaller cards because the stamps are rather dwarfed by the size here.

Another view of the cards: front and interior.

We also recently got bags in that we'll use for the candy buffet (more about that another time, I'm sure), and we'll definitely be stamping those!!

I'm certainly not the craftiest person in the world, but this is the kind of thing that I really enjoy.  I feel like things like this are what will make our wedding personal and a reflection of us.  Also, the crafting supplies can be used for more than just the wedding.