Bouquets made by me!

As many of you know I made my own bouquet for my wedding last month. I was inspired by Princess Lasertron who makes custom vintage button bouquets and while I was obsessing over them she happened to come out with a make your own bouquet kit. I immediately contacted her picked out my colors and had a kit arrive at the house. I was a little intense during my creation period (I'm not very artistic and I was obsessed. Ask Garren), but it turned out pretty well.

I sent some pictures of my final product to Princess Lasertron to thank her and give her an example of what her kits were producing. In case she was interested.....So she posted some of my pictures (as well as some other brides creations) recently on her website.

I got a kick out of it and thought you might all as well.

Misc Things

A post about my first days at work will be coming I promise. Yesterday was a bit overwhelming for both Garren and me so an evening relaxing and drinking was called for. By the time that was done I was so exhausted I had to go to bed. Now it's morning and I'm about to start my second day and Garren is going to look at more apartments. Potential one we will rent.

In other news, Garren's parents had a wedding announcement posted in the local Redding paper. Those who wish to see it can go here: http://engagementsandweddings.redding.com/wed_display_sh.cfm?recordID=1917

Makes me weirdly feel all grown up. I mean an announcement posting in the paper. About us. Strange, but cool.

Second, Garren's wonderful brother Andrew started a blog, Sexual Chocolate. Follow him. He's a funny boy.

Until tout a l'heure (I know, I know, I'm missing accents and stuff. Deal. I'm in a rush.)

For your viewing pleasure

Our photographer has posted our photos online. Come one, come all, go and see them here.

Password is rosegarden

There are some really great photos people. Not just of me and Garren. You all look fabulous.

Kisses!

N

Married? Check.

Well we're married. No more rambling rants on the blog about how I'm freaking out about a dress or the details...or well really it was only the dress. From now on only freaking out about moving to Morocco!

I am currently on hold waiting to make sure that paper bills are sent from PG&E instead of electronic so my sister and Erik can pay their electric bill. I've managed to cancel comcast, figure out how to make paper payments for the car, email the movers and email about baggage storage in Paris. I still have many things to do and my phone died, but I feel like I've made some progress.

As you can tell it's back to reality. No gushing about the wedding here, but really it was a beautiful day. Garren and I were insanely happy and overwhelmed and felt so loved by everyone. It was as wonderful if not more so than we imagined and exactly what we wanted. I did have a minor freak out the night before the wedding. I think it was more a freak out about what happens after the wedding (ahem moving across the globe) rather than marrying Garren. I woke poor Garren up and he sleepily calmed me down. But the day of the wedding I felt relaxed, had a great time getting ready and was insanely happy the rest of the day running throughout the rest of the week. So having a husband pretty great so far, although really I don't feel that much different from before. He's still my boy and I'm still his girl just on paper now too.

A few shout outs are in order.

1. Mitchell at the rest of the Bouchon staff. They were amazing and gracious as always. The patio was romantic and the food spectacular. The fact that we blew most of our budget on the food and wine totally worth it and completely us.

2. Brian of BB Photography. I cannot wait to see the photos. He handled all our crazy friends and family with humor and put up with Garren and I and our lack of comfort in front of the camera. We are so lucky to have had him take our photos.

3. Princess Lasertron for my vintage button bouquet. I may have put it together but she provided the materials and the inspiration. People were dubious when I first mentioned what I was doing for flowers but they were a huge hit at the wedding. If you think my crappy version of a bouquet was nice you should see her custom orders. Spectacular!

4. My ladies in SB. Kelly and Andrea at Mishay Salon and Por Vida Skin Care. They made me look fantabulous and it was wonderful to see them again after having moved away. I wouldn't have looked so wonderful in the photos without them.

5. To the best gag gift ever. John, Josh and Emily the snuggies were pure genius. We promise to take a picture the first time we use them. So excited. Also Mr. Kool-Aid has already threatened to kill me if I use his snuggy by mistake.

6. To my girls (at the wedding or not) who all put up with my freak outs and wedding stress out moments and who were all so excited for me. You mean the world to me and I'm so lucky to have you all in my life.


7. To Jade, Toby and Alex who pitched in and brought champagne, coolers, glasses and helped organize photo taking. You took the little things off my mind which helped me relax. Thank you again.

8. Last but not least to Lindsay for helping us to create our ceremony and marrying us. It would not have been the same with anyone else there in front of us.
And now I'm done. No more gushing. No more sappy love stuff. Need to charge the phone, go run some errands, make some more calls, and pick up our new computer!!

Party

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for our Engagement Party. We had a great time and it was so wonderful to see you all.

In particular much thanks goes to Bob and Eydie opening up their home and hosting the party for us. Michele for the AMAZING cake. I mean seriously so beautiful and so delicious I still cannot believe you made it. To Kristen for letting me borrow your parents, your childhood home, and helping to plan the whole thing. And to everyone who came from far away, we have never felt so special. Thanks for making the trip.

Garren and I are going to miss you all more than you could possibly know. I was looking at pictures today thinking, "Why are we leaving? What the hell are we thinking?! How can we leave these people?". We were thinking adventure, so hopefully those of you who are able to come visit can join in on our adventure and we'll make do in the meantime without you nearby, although I think it will prove harder than we realize.

Kisses!

N

Pictures from Michele's camera can be found here. Hopefully pictures from other cameras will be forthcoming.

Feelings of Eh

So yesterday marked exactly 14 days until the wedding. Today marks 13. Yesterday just thinking of that caused my hear to speed up. Why? I don't know. I am very secure in the fact that I want to marry Garren. There is no doubt in my mind that I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but at the same time as the wedding creeps closer I am feeling an increased level of anxiety.

I think that anxiety has more to do with the details and planning of the wedding than the act of becoming a married person. I think I am also over analyzing things in terms of some of the decisions we made. I am feeling a little guilty that we decided to make the wedding such a small affair. While I think it is the right decision for us, especially with the quick nature of our nuptials, I can't help but feel guilty and worried that I may have inadvertently offended extended family members and friends. And I can't help but be sad that I wasn't able to take more time with our wedding plans, save more and invite those people who I really truly love in my life, but cannot invite with our current circumstances (i.e. moving to morocco with a limited budget)

I'm sure with my family and friends this concern is unwarranted. But you never know. Weddings are strange things. With other peoples weddings I am so hands off. I refuse to be offended if I am not included or invited because I know how much pressure can be put on a couple planning their wedding. But not everyone is like that. I have heard others talk of weddings and those they had to invite due to family obligations or because they would throw a fit if not included. It's such an insane thought to me but it does happen. Is someone I know secretly throwing one of these fits?

I hope not. My worst fear is hurting someone who I care about. It's the last thing I want to do with a day that is supposed to be so special for me and Garren.

Like I said I'm over thinking this. It is what I do and Garren is probably rolling his eyes at this post, but there it is.

Anti Bride

I'm a little frustrated with wedding stuff today. I know that Garren and everyone in my circle of friends is sick of hearing about it but I'm just not gaga over any of my dress choices. The fact is I'm annoying myself with my lack of decision making abilities.

I dunno. Maybe I'm placing too much importance on it, but when I pictured my wedding I always imagined that I would have the most unbelievable dress or at least feel unbelievable in it. But I never had a clear picture of the style or options I wanted. Maybe because it's changed over the years. Either way it has caused problems as it's hard to find your perfect dress if you don't have a clear picture of it.

I think the other factor is the limited time. From start to finish I will have had about 6 weeks total to plan this wedding. And while for the most part it is exactly what I want even if we had more time the truth is that if I had a year I feel like I could have paid a bit more attention to the details. I probably would have found a dress before I picked flower colors and I would have had a lot more time to be picky about the dress without worrying about a time crunch and alterations and accessory buying factors. I would have had more time to think about decorations, flower arrangements, gifts, etc. As it is most of that stuff has been thrown out the window for us. And while that's ok I regret not having some more time, because if I did I could have saved a bit more for the dress so I wasn't as limited in the price range.

Right now I feel like I can't consider certain options because it's out of my price range or there is not enough time. Or maybe it doesn't fit with the casual wedding we're having. And with us paying for the wedding on our own (with some help from the parents) I don't know if I can justify paying over $400 for a dress I'll only wear once. My frugal side is telling me it's ridiculous.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. Do I settle? Do I keep looking? Do I consider options a little bit out of the price range and say to hell with it? Do I say f*%ck it and just wear a sheet?

I'm giving myself the weekend. And then if I can't find an option I am gaga over I'm going with the back up dress and I'm going to embrace it whole heartedly without any reservations. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it. I'm also going to shut up about it after this post. I hate feeling like a bridezilla. blah.

Good News

As a side note Garren and I have found a photographer. We originally were hoping to book Susan Dean, but she is bi-coastal this summer and for her to come to come out for our little wedding would not be cost efficient. Thankfully Susan is awesome and recommended some friends of hers who would be willing to work within our budget and had the date free. You can check out their work here. 

We're very excited that another piece of the puzzle has been put into place for the wedding. Even with all this other work drama going on. So yea wedding stuff! Boo moving stuff!

When I Grow Up

I feel like a grown up today. Garren and I got a marriage license. Weird! Who thought I would ever do that? Or I mean I thought one day eventually but to actually do it and have it now. Well it feels like something a grown up should be doing. Not me.

And all of work now knows that I'm moving to Morocco. Lots of Congratulations and a little bit of sadness going around. But lots and lots of well wishes so it's really nice. I'm going to miss my life here, but like everyone has been saying, it's a great opportunity, you only live once and I'm young so I should do it now.

So hell yea.

Official

Well. We're moving to Morocco. They agreed to a later start date and I've signed and sent off the contract. Good God!

Now we just have to get organzied and get married. Simple really. Yea uh-huh. I'm already stressed at finding a dress. I don't want anything fancy. Just something simple, but with stores seeming to carry nothing these days I've exhausted my online options (although I have 4 dresses at home which are possible and being kept as back up in case I find nothing else I like) and I keep looking at the same things online over and over. sigh. I think I have a few more options I can order and try on at home. But after that.....Bridal boutiques scare me. Both for the intimidation factor and money factor.

And then I have to find shoes, and maybe jewlery. This is all just exhausting and this is just a teeny tiny portion of this whole process. Thank god we are having a small hurried wedding. Anything else and I might pull out my hair. I am so not a girl.

And then there is moving logistics. I don't even know where to start there so I'm just waiting for the HR department to contact me. I need direction people!

And this morning it entered into my head that I'm going to have to say goodbye to my cats. When I drop them off at the vet for boarding as everyone who would usually watch them will be in SB with us. So it will be stressful for them and I will be super sad. Mom will of course take great care of them, but I don't know when I'll see them again. I'm a pathetic pathetic cat lady.

And there are a million more "and thens" that are swirling around in my head. So if I act like a basket case for the next month or so, please forgive me. This is all a little overwhelming.

Thank you to everyone for all your support and love. Garren and I are amazed at the outpouring of offers of help that we have received since calling you all and letting you know that this whole crazy plan is a go. We truly have the best friends and family.

I'm going to go back to obsessing over my list (planner!) and trying to do work now. Although really who can focus on work....

Santa Barbara Connections

About a week ago Garren and I went to Wood Tavern. Suprise, Suprise. As they came over with Garren's beer (before ordering it) we told them all that we were engaged. They were all happy for us and it was a great booze filled evening.

The best part is that we found out that our favorite bartender (Tony) was one of the owners of the Doghouse (Hot dog stand) that we LOVED in Santa Barbara. When it closed Garren and I were so disappointed. They later opened a place on State Street called Lettuce B Frank but it wasn't the same. Still good but a little bit different. While we were reminiscing with Tony we discovered that he does catering from time to time. Can you imagine? Our BBQ reception that we were thinking of having up at Tilden Park with mini-corn dogs, sliders and gourmet hot dogs. And I'm sure other things that are very bad for my waistline. It is so me and Garren. And so something we would love to do. No classy shin dig for us. More a picnic BBQ with games, fatty foods and sunbathing.

It probably won't happen what with the time crunch that is imminent with this whole move thing, but that's ok. It was a great thought. Either way it was fun discussing SB and the restaurant scene with Tony. Although sad that the Doghouse closed due to outside circumstances. But I may get a Doghouse tshirt as a memento! Silver lining people. Silver lining.