The Ceremony

The Ceremony.

Getting married was the 3rd most defining moment of my life. (following birthing a child and the death of those closest to me)
I did not imagine that it would be as life altering as it was. First because there are so many divorces in our society that marriage seems to have lost it's meaning. Second, is that society (read: TV) makes a wedding to be all about the Bride and the party and the flowers and the blah, blah. Third, gonna be honest here: D and I have both been in failed marriages that meant nothing to either of us so we just didn't go into this with a great deal of faith in "happily ever after".
Funny thing?
It was the most perfect day of my life.
I still tear up thinking about the ceremony.
I was soooo nervous and for those of you that know me, I am never nervous on stage. I am nervous one-on-one...but never in front of crowd.
The ceremony was a handful of people, very small, but attended by those that love, trust, and care for the love between D and I (and yes, I am officially crying right now). I couldn't have asked for a better crowd of witnesses (unless, of course, Grammie got to watch her son walk her Granddaughter down the aisle on her birthday. She would have been so proud.)

This is my "I'm getting MARRIED TODAY!!!!!" face.
Pretty sure I said that about 600 million times.

The readings were simple and sincere.
The only hitch was that I was shaking so much that I think people were worried about my sanity.

My make-up artist, friend, fellow blogger, moral support, decorator, and all time best wedding day support system....and her WONDERFUL husband who was the silent, behind the scenes Monster controller....

Waiting for the "ok" to head down the aisle...

I have literally been dreaming of this moment since I was about 4yo.
I've never been a "daddy's girl" but I've always looked up to my Father and even as a child I knew that I would have this moment someday.
And I did.
It was everything I imagined.

My family is the most important part of my life.
without question.
(and that includes family that isn't actually family)

At the moment this picture was snapped all I could think about was "wow, I am happy and thank goodness Dad is here to hold me up because I think my toes are broken from these shoes".

Dad's are always there to hold up their daughters.

My relationship with my parents is interesting.
Mom is the stage manager.
She's the one I call, the one I run to, and the one I am closest to.
Dad is the guy in the rafters, quiet, but monitoring all that is going on around him.
He is the calm in the sea of my family.
Max is like him.

I remember this moment so clearly (unlike the whirl wind of the week and the reception). I remember thinking so very clearly that this single moment makes up for all the suffering I've ever experienced.

Unity Candle.
Grammie's table.
My almost husband.
My awesome brother.

My brother's reading.
I still cannot believe I didn't cry.

Rings.
'nough said.

"I do"

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

A picture is worth a thousand words.
If I try and explain how happy I was and how much my heels were killing me I'd be at a loss for words. This may be the moment when I whispered " I love you but you have to hold me up as my ankles are failing me and I think I no longer have toes".

Also,
I think my favorite part was the real flowers.
I'm not a typlical stereotype tree huggin hippie (I mean, come on, I drink more diet coke than is physically ok and I let my Monster eat massive amounts of chicken nuggets) but I am an underpaid social worker rather than a lawyer and I take my own bags to the grocery and I haven't been to a McDonalds in years. So, I thought using the leaves was super cute.

My papparazzi photo.

Guess what?
We're Just Married!!!!!

And for all of you that saw the first sign I made with the bad grammar....shush and never tell that I couldn't spell married.
I'll hunt you down and destroy you.

And they lived happily ever after...
THE END.

Wedding Part II Food and Decorations

The 5 days leading up to "the BIG day" had a fairly similar routine for my parental units and I.
One of us entertains the Monster. (Papa)
One of hot glues/ties bows/makes food/prints programs etc. (K8)
One of us runs errands and pays for everything. (Gaga)

By Thursday I was feeling pretty good.
The Gallery (reception site) looked like this:

We set up the guest book table.
I used a children's book about Dreams and asked people to write down their dreams.
(It seemed more interesting than writing you name and congrats. I mean, who wants to read that in 10 years?)
The winner goes to my cousin Laura...
"I dream of a world where it rains chocolate and artichoke dip is considered a currency. Intelligence and humour are valued over silicone people. I also dream of Jeannie."

Laura...
You rock socks.

I am fairly certain that every night after dinner I'd settle in with ribbons and glue, the Monster would cuddle up on the couch, and we'd watch Wall-e. Also fairly certain that the movie Wall-e will forever remind me of my wedding. Romantic wedding song? nope. Pixar movie? yep.

I may or may not have wanted to collect real leaves from my Parents yard to throw (instead of the boring bubble, rice, birdseed, sparkler stuff) when I noticed Dad raking all the leaves up.
I may or may not have then started crying and hyperventilating.
Mom may or may not have then reminded me that "We aren't in Texas anymore. There are actually plenty of leaves in mid-October Southern Indiana".
I may or may not have then felt like Bridezilla.

Fresh leaves...
In a basket...

Prep work begun!
At this point I was either:
1) freaking out
2) engaging in crazy kitchen dancing
3) calling someone to go pick up that one thing that's next to the other thing over there

The Monster managed to keep his shoes on for about 5.4 seconds.
That's a record.

I spray painted apples, cut little slits in them, and used them as place cared holders.
I also turned boring white cups into fall fun with a stamp of a leaf.
(I love sounding REALLY dorky).

Big, beautiful mums from my mum (hehehehe) and my super-duper amazing friend Jas (who was also very pregnant) arranged the lovely bouquets of wildflowers which she brought from Bloomington (my old college town).

My Pops picked out a selection of his work that he felt fit the feel of the ceremony and hung them. He also cleaned and put together the tables.
Vintage table clothes, pumpkin bowls filled with candy corn and peanuts, and bell jar vases add the finishing touch.

Dried flowers in a vintage vase?
Don't mind if I do.

Turned my WONDERFUL handmade wedding lantern from the Meltons into part of the display along with the candles from my new sister in-law...

This is the simple, yet much needed Mother-of-the Bride, Cooks, Decorators, Bride, Organizer, and drink-a-glass-for-me-because-i'm-pregnant- friend table hidden in the back kitchen.
Vital at any wedding.
We don't like to share our wine.

How could a K8 wedding happen without my Momma dancing, looking beautiful, and organizing everything all rolled into one perfect expression?

"She is smizing and thinking "told ya I'd pull this off"!

The infamous H pumpkin.
D's contribution to the decorations.
It looks great!
Please let it be noted that on the other side of the pumpkin you can see the horrid looking H that I was about to cut.
Give me a break, I was still a Mullen at that point, not a Hazelwood.
The whole H thing was still a foreign concept.

The GREAT PUMPKIN CAKE!
(can you tell I like pumpkins?)

I was so busy organizing food and setting up the reception site that I COMPLETELY (almost) forgot about the actual ceremony. Luckily, my Mom was on that and my bestest friend Casondra showed up to give her some style tips and a hand. Amazingly enough, they didn't throw out a back lifting pumpkins nor did either of them have any dirt or glitter on them.

And lastly, there is the Monster keeping us entertained and unglue-ing everything that he could get his chocolate covered fingers on.

How to be a "pwincess"...Part 1

Welcome to the Wedding Blog (part 1)



Whoever said getting married was fun lied. I mean straight up lied in your face.
Think about it.
Take a full time mommy, job, life, dishes, and general er, life and add and entire other job that involves coordinating with about 200 people...see?
Unless you are rich or reallllly lucky I do not see this as fun.
Don't get me wrong, I loved flashing my bling around and the dress and ya'll know I love to cook and event plan and party with my friends and family.

So after months of organizing, gluing, baking, freezing, buying, crying, fittings, meltdowns and make-ups and er, one parking ticket.... I am married and it was THE. BEST. DAY. EVER.

I could get married every stinking day and be perfectly happy.
For those of you that know D you will understand the magnitude of this next statement.
He forgot to say "i love you", nor did he compliment me or er, think 0 words.
That's just D and I didn't even notice.
A week later, all settled back into our 3 Fork Ranch routine, he says to me "no one can deny that your were glowing the entire day".
And that pretty much sums up the entire day.
It was perfect.
k8 perfect.

Did I chop veggies while drinking wine with my friends?
yes.
Did I decorate, lay table clothes, move tables?
yes.
Did I do my own nails?
yes.
Did I do the catering?
yes.
Did I marry the man of my dreams?
duh!

But...
the bigger question is...
Did I do this alone?
nope.

There was not an ounce of superficial love at this ceremony.
Every person that TRULY loves me and was there to watch me marry the man I adore chipped in and that, in my mind, makes it all so much more meaningful.
I'll get to my thank you's in part 3.

Let us start with the hell that would ensue before I even made it to Indiana.
For starters, Mom was in Miami at a conference and Dad in St. Louis so Little O and I left Austin around 7am on Friday morning.
We snacked on snacks, listened to Veggie Tales, looked at BIIIG trucks and choo-choo trains for about 5 hours.
Just about to Little Rock my right eye starts aching and my hands start shaking.
This is NOT a good thing.
This says K8's brain is about to have a migraine and this CANNOT happen while along the most abandoned stretch of the drive.
So, I pull over to the side of the road and raid the cooler.
I am thinking that if I a) stay calm b) eat ice chips c) hydrate/hydrate I can fend this off.

(background: I have extremely violent migraines that have ended up with me in the ER).

15 minutes down the road as I am crunching on ice I know that I am going to go into a full on intense migraine. I stop at the first trashy hotel I see, talk to the lady in what was most likely gibberish, turn on cartoons , and lay on the bed sobbing.

It is hard for me to describe what happens to me but let me try:
violent leg and arm shaking
I jump at every loud sound which is somehow amplified
I throw up
I'm hot then freezing then hot then freezing
I'm clammy and soak through sheets
I can't stand light
I shake and shake and shake
The right side of my face throbs.
My right inner elbow sometimes loses it's ability to function
I am in so much pain that I can't talk
My eyes throb and I can't make them focus together

It peaked at about 2-6am and I seriously considered calling 911.

I was alone in a really trashy hotel room with my 3yo son, 6 hours from my fiance and a hell of a long way from either parent, my body is convulsing uncontollably and I'm throwing up water. Oh, and did I mention that I'm getting married in a week?

I haven't slept all night and I am scared to drive the next 10 hours to Indiana.
pre-parent K8 wouldn't have thought twice but I have a Monster with me.
post-parent K8 knows that she a)may not make it to Indiana b) cannot stay in the hotel alone with the Monster all day if she wants him to live.

I decide to try and drive.
At this point thinking that even if I can make it 3 or 4 more hours and then get a 2nd hotel room at least we are making some distance (and thanks to Mom for offering to pay the hotel room if need be...in case you aren't aware...getting married is freaking expensive).

Several schemes were invented:
D come get me from Austin.
I make to St. Louis and Dad drive me.
I check into a hospital and die (just kidding).
I chug through.

Guess what folks? Ole k8 chugged through. I have no idea how I did it.
At one point the shaking was so bad that I was singing the Veggie Tales song on repeat out loud to try and calm myself.
I have also now thrown up in at least 4 states and 10 rest stops.
I didn't eat for over 3 days other than 2 fig newtons (which I think I left in Illinois).
Sorry Illinois.

If my Doctor is reading this: I DO NOT have panic attacks. I. HAVE. MIGRAINES! I TOLD YOU THAT IN JULY AND YOU SAID I JUST GET NERVOUS DRIVING. WHY ARE YOU A MORON?

ok, I'm better now...just had to be mad for a minute.

So the first night at M&D's was eventful.
I, again, didn't sleep.
I thought I kept hearing people in the house, I was clammy, sick to my stomach, and there was ocasionally a small Monster foot in my face. Finally at about 4:30 I said, "screw this", and I put in a movie and began to clean, clean, clean.

*side note*
should you ever decide to clean a ceiling fan that is 12ft up don't stand on your tippy toes on an unstable table you will both rish possible death and eat a lot of dust.

The next day is a blur (the days following a migraine usually are). Mom and Dad got home late in the evening and I met a friend for drinks and dinner.
that event is it's own dreadful story.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Call Me a Dork

Call me a dork and see if I care.
(I don't).

Our FIRST wedding gift arrived.

It has wedding wrapping paper and wedding ribbon and a wedding card.
It looks wedding-ish!
I think I made D a tad humiliated with the amount of squealing and jumping up and down I did.
I then insisted on taking a picture of it.
also very dorky.
again, see if I care.

I. AM. GETTING. MARRIED!!!!
For REAL.
In a dress.
To D.
With my family.
AND I got a GIFT!

After the day/week/year I've had I'm not gonna lie...
This wonderful gift made my entire day.

Not that picking a "da wetter C" out of my Monsters nose wasn't equally as awesome.

k8's latest wedding rant

This blog comes with a warning : I might really piss ya off.
Correction: I will piss ya off.

I am annoyed or frustrated or tired or some version of all three.
Yes, I have been married before but I didn't do the whole wedding stuffs.
I am still not really doing it but I have been immersed in it and I find is truly an embarrassment to brides and to the sanctity of marriage.
This is not to say that I don't want to be walked down the aisle in a beautiful dress and say "I do".
I want the Barbie wedding that 10yo Kate imagined over and over again.

But. And there is a big but. (hehehe)

The stupidity of it all is unbelievable and truly truly just wrong. So, I have narrowed the list of wedding issues down to a TOP 5 Most Insane.

1) Wedding Video set to cheesy music (think: Tim McGraw/Faith Hill duets and 80's love Ballads).

I mean what in the hell? How can you honestly watch those montages and not laugh hysterically at your own stupidity? Especially considering the price. I mean it is honestly like people lose all sense of what reasonable pricing means and just scream "hey, I'm getting married come rape me with high prices because I like to kid myself that this day is more special than any other day that I spend in love with my soon to be ex husband" (thank you run on sentence and sarcasm). I can't decide what annoys me more the pricing for a corny video that a pimply 14yo could put together, the stupid songs and scanning photos, or the fact that people truly believe that this day is that important. Maybe that is a better image of the vast amount of divorce. Kate up on her high horse says, yes I understand the importance of a wedding but to me it has nothing to do with a video montage.

2) Strapless dresses.

I told ya'll I'd offend ya.
I think they are SO trashy and just so offense inside a church. I would be ashamed to stand in front of a Priest in some of the dresses that I've been presented with. My husband can see slutty me after the wedding. hehehe. Sultry wedding photos? um, NO. Sultry wedding dress? um, NO.
If there is ever a time to be classy, elegant, respectful, and reserved I'd say your wedding day is a good time.
I saw a wedding picture the other day of the couple pressed together and his hands on her bum.
This disturbs me greatly and makes me a little weirded out.

The odd thing is that I am an incredibly liberal person and please understand that I am NOT judging anyone Else's wedding decisions. I am simply ranting about my personal taste and my odd wedding quirks.

3) Wind Beneath My Wings

This song should never be played in any of the following ceremonies:
a)your wedding
b) a funeral
c) your birthday party

It is appropriate:
a)when you are alone in the shower gettin your sing on
b) you are folding laundry and extremely bored
c) it pops on the radio randomly and you are driving alone. I repeat: alone.

Do not subject your fiance to any of the above.
You might become single.

4) engagement/wedding photos that are:

a) shot on your College campus
b) are edited to look all fadey and on an angle
c) of your rings

I am sorry but corny, lame, and make me giggle. I am not opposed to cool pictures but the above are in no way cool or unique. They have been done by every sequin wearing bride since 1970. Simple and Crisp.
that's what I want.

5) Matching bridesmaids dresses.

People still do this? For Real? I repeat... FOR REAL? Let's make my best friends dress up in cheaply made gowns that don't flatter 95% of them, in god awful colors, that they'll never wear again and then take corny fadey pictures on an angle at my old college.
Hahahahaha!
I am such a bitch today, aren't I?

Okay, I just had to add in one more because it is really annoying me....

6) The Mexican Honeymoon.

There are about 4953464867389765 places to see in the world and Americans go to a resort in Mexico where 20 minutes away there are starving, dying people.
That's the best you can come up?
REALLY?
I applaud those that actually take time to see the world.
Whether that be a town away for the weekend or Thailand.
But, STOP with the all inclusive silly Mexican resorts.
Not only is it embarrassing uninteresting it is literally helping to destroy the Mexican way of life and the shore line there.

So, in conclusion and after my HUGE, angry rant...
I do apologize to those that want the above things in their wedding.
I do not judge.
I just get frustrated that people feel I should do all those things even after making it clear that they nauseate me.

Things my friends have done that I love at their weddings:

wore orange high heels (Tara)
went to San Antonio for their honeymoon ( Laura)
didn't do a stupid curly up-do (Jen)
traditional and classy (Elsa)
simple and elegant (Casondra)
eloped (McKenzie)

But the one who trumps them all....
Alison.
I heart you.
and I heart your wedding.

Pre Cana

We had our first pre-cana meeting this morning with a priest from St. Mary's Cathedral here in Austin. for the wedding that is like 50 days away.
Poor D.
He has been through so much in his effort to give me a Catholic wedding. I know he is doing all of this our of love for Little O and myself but I've been with him long enough to see the tension in his jaw line.
He was miserable.
And not because he doesn't have faith....he does. He just doesn't understand or believe in all the tradition and paperwork that goes along with being Catholic.
I respect that.
I also respect that he respects and appreciated my faith and belief in the tradition.
So, thank you D for today. I know it was laughable to you.

The funniest part of this morning (remember that this is all happening before normal people are awake) is when the Priest started to discuss natural family planning/co-habitation. I found this especially hysterical considering the following:

a) We have a small 3yo Monster, a house (read: stupid mortgage), pets, and possibly a white picket fence and a huge lawn to mow.

b) D and I have both been married and divorced.

c) We own a home (keyword: together. read: we already sleep together. )

d) We are both over the age of 18 (read: we've had sex. duh. Did ya miss the 3yo Monster???)

e) If we were not committed to each other we wouldn't be doing all this in the first place.

f) This is just a funny for me: I haven't had female time since I had a miscarriage last year so er, there is no family planning, natural or or not, going on here. Secretly, I wanted to make the poor Priest even more nervous than he already was. But I am nice and didn't go there.

g) As we left the only comment D made was that the Church is still stuck in the 50's. This made me "inside giggle" considering that that I had a long conversation with the secretary about how I look like a girl right out of the 50's and it is sad that more women aren't more conservative and classy in their style of dress. hehehe. silly D...you're fiance is stuck in the 50's too!

h) I saved the best for last. He spoke to each of us individually and held my hand to inform me that if I need help in getting Oliver's biological father to give me money he can help. I nearly died from trying not to laugh. Little O's dad is D and he has paid (in more ways than monetary). It has been 3 years and NOW someone wants to help me afford the Monster??? Lastly, if I wanted money from his bio dad don't ya think I would have taken him to court by now???
Seriously folks?
I may looks like I need taken care of but I am tougher than I look.

The moral of today's visit:

1) D may or may not want the ring back.
2) I had a good laugh at watching D squirm over discussion of our sex life.
3) I still have no stinking cell phone (should be here tomorrow).
4) We are probably going to hell for being different and marrying outside of the faith.

Dreams

I have entered the home stretch for Operation: "Gettin Married Indiana Style" (minus the shot gun aspect). There will be no baby bumps (other than Jas's and Elsa's) at my wedding.
Thank you Jesus (text message)
(inside work joke)

Ok, so the point of the above rambling statement is that I am having some stupendously odd dreams.
Like for real. They are so intense that I often wake thinking that I am in jail cause I got pulled over for speeding while driving to Indiana and missed my wedding.
I even got up one evening after falling asleep to "cinderwella" (we're working on our L's and W's...correction the Monster is working on his L's and W's...mine seem fine.) at 7:30pm, thought I was late for a dress fitting (which was the next morning at 7:30am) and took a shower. I then realized that I actually needed to make dinner, fold some damn laundry, and I'd now showered twice in one day.
I've called my Mom nearly 576548967 times regarding tables/making hummus/buying flowers/hotel rooms/why-the hell-am-I-not-eloping-to-an awesome-beach-in-Spain???

The dreams are getting progressivley odd.
Last night my Aunt spent the entire wedding ceremony sewing beads onto a dress.
The night before I kept licking down my brothers cowlick.

Can you say... "K8 has lost it???"

I need my own reality TV show. For reals.

Ok, so the hair isn't right (as it is currently jet black and nearly to my waist) but there is NO better picture to describe the bridezilla that is blossoming within the depths of k8.
Remind me smile and not kill people on my actual wedding day.
That is only if I am not drinking a margarita, alone, on a beach in Bora Bora.

Make-up

Today as I was sitting at work applying my awesome new ruby red lipstick (yes, I am THAT girl) I realized... "AH! I'm getting married in like the smallest town in Indiana. There are no malls or make-up studios"!!!!! So, after many scenarios and brain things in my noggin (meaning plans that involved hours of driving, sleeping in make-up, plastic spoons, and the wizard of oz) I decided to ask the world of FB for advice. Needless to say several friends came through for me... I mean what is FB for other than finding a make-up artist at the last moment??? So Miss Jen whom you should follow because a) she's awesome and b) she's down right hysterical found this link for me. We both agreed that a little less on the eyebrows is needed. I am sure that 99.99999% of my friends in the world are saying the following right now " what? NO! K8 wear Audrey Hepburn-esq make-up??? That could NEVER happen". I say to you friends... "shush, you knew it would happen.
Remember prom?.
End of story.

So, red lips, smokey, dark eyes, auburn hair with big ringlets, bird cage veil, the perfume I always wear (thank you Tomas and Uncle Max for always getting me some when you go to Germany/come to the US of A from Germany).

Miss Jen and I are going to test run it on Friday before the rehearsal. If it is an epic fail I will look hysterically creepy for the rehearsal dinner. On a side note, calling her Miss Jen makes her sound like a teacher...note to self: come up with a cooler nickname. Although everytime the Monster sees a pic of her he calls her "mermaid mommy" (as in the Little Mermaid). Not sure why (red hair??) as I am sure Jen doesn't wear sea shell bras on a regular basis and last time I talked to her she didn't have a flipper. If she does doing my make-up could get interesting.

Well, I slightly digressed there.

In other news on 3 Forks Ranch we have no air conditioning so Little O is going to Nanny's home for now (during the day...duh) and D is sitting outside on Little O's mini chair with a head lamp, my lap top and about 9 million tools that I have no clue of their purpose...in the back yard mind you. Yes, we are perfectly normal. I made mushroom stroganoff and managed to raise the temp in all of the greater Manor area by about another 15 million degrees. The Monster is currently naked and singing to "Under da Sea" and makes me "fix da oc-ta-pus singing" every 3 minutes (read: we've been listening to THE SAME SONG FOR 3 HOURS).

On that note, I leave you to either die from:
a) heat stroke
b) a heart attack due to the amount of cream in the stroganoff
c) death by insanity thanks to Disney.

Early AM Poll and Post

For some stupid, stupid reason I got up RIGHT at the sound of my first alarm ( I have 4...just in case). I've never even remotely needed all 4 and honestly, rarely need one. (as in usually the morning Chocowit mwilk requiring Monster has long since made his first apperance with da swuper hewro. Anyway, I decided I'd invite ya'll to poll on the "Mother of the Bride Dress".

My mom loves it and would look stunning in it but is concerned that red isn't the best color to compliment my colors of ivory and emerald. I reminded her that with as laid back as this wedding is she could wear a paper bag if she wanted to (although, I did my best to discourage this idea).

So here it is.

Poll it my peeps.

One CRAZY Week of Wedding Planning

Wedding planning has hit critical level.
There are baskets, boxes, ribbons, hot glue guns, edging scissors, and massive amounts of wedding invites strewn all across the back bedroom.

I am scared to even let anyone see this room.
It would cause you to out me in time-out for being so messy.

But progress is being made so "yay"!

The final appetizers have been selected and I am planning a "test run" of the mini crab cakes this weekend. Yummy! It is the only appetizer recipe that I am going to try simply because the secret to the perfect crab cake is a fine tuned art and balance of flavor. Also, because D loves crab cakes and I love him. That and he listens to me yack about wedding all evening.

The veil is also now completed. I think the colors will look pretty with my red hair.
I also had my Wedding dress fitting and we added the emerald petticoat and the emerald sash.
I think it will look even better once we add the second petticoat.
(Next time I'll take my camera so I can show off my wonderful dress).

Next up I spent about 2 hours punching out confetti for the tables.
I clearly did this AFTER the Monster went to sleep and then I hid them so they can never be found. This also means I won't remember what i did with them.
I have vintage fall table clothes (mismatched obviously) so the confetti will add some color.
The corners of the wedding programs will also have the leaf punch to tie it all together.
I can tell that at this point you are so entralled and just simply can't stop reading.
So, I'll show you some more projects...

Here we have the tags which will be attached to ribbon which will then be attached to the party favors which will then be in a fall "apple pickin" basket next to a funky journal I found to use as a guest book.
Sheesh that was one heck of a run-on sentence.
The popcorn is going to be from "Pop Around the Clock".
Just thought I'd give them a little plug.
If you're in Vincennes and have a hankering for popcorn check them out.
dewishus (in the words of Little O).

My fingers are missing some skin after I spent the evening on these "vases" for centerpieces.
They will be filled with wildflowers eventually.
I was talking to Little O and not paying attention, felt some pain, looked down to find that I have glued my finger to the jar rather than the ribbon.
Hey, I never claimed to be brilliant.

This project seriously destroyed my fingers.
I thought fall colored paint chips would make cute napkin rings but the paper is pretty thick.
I thought I'd staple them but too tacky.
Rubber cement?
Too flimsy.
Hot glue gun?
peels apart in two days.
Super Duper Super Glue?
SUCCESS!
and PAINFUL!
but SUCCESS!

All evening I have been running back and forth to the kitchen making the bowls that will go into the hotel rooms of my guests (ya know, snacks, goody bag, water, etc, etc)...
After several mess-ups and one small fire...
I have these...
I also feel a tad loopy from the chemicals.
Ok, more than a tad loopy.

I think they are kinda cute.
And my Monster just informed that he "go to da moon".
I replied "send me postcard".
The response was "I love you too and Buzz".

Wedding Bells

Literally.
Wedding Bells.

I can't decide if I like what I am doing with them or not.

Please give me your opinion and advice.
Do they look ok?
Any other ideas on how to string them?

The bells are strung with dark yellow thread, attached to a button, and then attached to the amber/burnt orange string.

I worked on them while dying in my very/painful/really cute/emerald heels.
And pictures of the veil are coming soon.
It's almost done!

Wedding/3rd Birthday

O Turns 3 in like 5 months.
No, I'm not over-protective.
I swear.


For starters, oh. my.god. My sweet wonderful child is going to be 3.
THREE
3!
THREE!
I said I wasn't protective.

It just so happens that birthday parties at Gaga and Papa's are a lot more fun.
and it just so happens that D and I are getting married only 2 weeks after Little O's 3rd birthday.
In Indiana.

So the birthday party will happen while we're in Indiana.
I mean why not throw in one more party???
We won't be busy or anything.

So, I've been trying to start thinking about his party.
I know that 5 months in advance is a bit insane but I wanted to have that done and planned out so I could focus on the wedding.

Here are the two themes I've thought up...

Let's all go to the lobby; 
Let's all go to the lobby; 
Let's all go to the lobby 
To get ourselves a treat.

My Aunt would appreciate that.
Inside joke, folks.

and this view...
Although, it shall say Little O.
Not Jordan.
Obviously.

And all the treats/food would be movie based.
Kiddos could watch a movie while adults do adultish things.
Like take a nap.
and NOT use any of the following words:

diaper.
potty time.
time out.
toys.
blankie.
poo.
Pooh.
and the worst of all parent words... Elmo.

The other thing Little O loves are animals.
We talk about doggies, sheep, piggies, ewlephants, kitties, mwonkeys, buggies, fishies, lwobsters, snaskes, zebras, monsters, tigers-a-roooooar, kangawooo, bwutterfly, bwirdies, bunnies, and bwears ALL THE TIME.
But the favorite is the Ewlephant.

So maybe this...

A Safari Birthday!

I thought that might be fun because I could recreate a couple of the dishes I learned to make in Kenya.
And the options are endless for the kiddos.

Not sure why I am even asking...Whatever Gaga picks takes the cake.
Get it?
Takes. the. cake.
Oh, I crack myself up.

Wedding

Wedding Shoes

Shoes to go with my dress is now the biggest issue.
Yes, I am that shallow.
Shoes are uber important.

Especially since:
a) I LOVE heels
b) My dress is t-length so they can be seen.

My necklace and earrings are malakite (emerald/ green-ish) from Kenya.

So, I wanted to accent that with green shoes.

My friend, Elsa, found these online.
I want them but am borderline on the price.
It's half the price of the dress.

Advice is needed before purchase.

Go to THIS link to see the shoes up for debate.

Remember...

cream dress
fifties pattern
fall wedding
t-length dress

informal ceremony

Ready.
Set.
Go.