Scrappy!

I got tagged by Authentically U! for the Honest Scrap award! Thanks lady!

Ten random facts! I love facts and I love random so giddy up!!

1. I have had every hair colour(except for green) and I've had every length from shaved to paste my waist! It's currently just past my shoulders but recently I've been thinking I'll cut it short after the wedding.



2. I still cry because I miss my Nanny who died when I was 13. I can't even think about her without tearing up.



3. I have a low heart rate it's below 60, apparently 70 is normal. When I get a hit of adrenalin I go into shock and it sucks. I am basically unable to get really mad or scared without shaking like a leaf.



4. I like to make up imaginary back stories for people I see in public doing odd things.


5. I LOVE getting things in the mail old school styles.


6. If I could afford to get braces right now I would. I dislike my teeth although most people when I mention this fact say "what? your teeth aren't crooked!" they are.


7. I say "both" and "ambulance" wrong. I say "bolth" and "amblance" people often ask me where my accent is from except I totally don't have one..it's just a speech impediment.
8. I always say hi to animals I walk by.
9. The best marks I got in school were always on the papers I started and finished just hours before they were due.
10. I love horses but have never ridden one although I have groomed them and cleaned their stalls.

Again I'm not going to tag anyone...I know, I know, I'm totally going to have bad luck for 5 years or whatever. Consider yourself tagged if you read this and haven't been tagged...aren't I a sneaky snake!

I always wanted a tree house!

Nothing sucks more than receiving an information package from a venue and reading such wonderful things as...

"This two-story event tree house can accommodate up to 50 guests for full service dining on the lower deck. The fully heated and air-conditioned upper deck can accommodate up to 10 guests for seated dining."

Yes you read that right..a tree house! A tree house that holds 50 guests meaning if we went for a small wedding of 45 it would be perfect! This venue is so us for so many reasons! One of them being I used to love climbing trees and always dreamed of having a tree house! It would set the whole theme and give me direction! I want to get married in a tree house!

and

"We are happy NOT to charge you the following:
Cake Cutting Fee
Corkage Fee
Gratuities"

Then I scroll down and see things on the menu such as...
Mac and Cheese Popovers, Potato Skins stuffed with Cheese and Bacon,Mini Croque Monsieurs, Sliders: Mini Veggie or Beef Burgers AND a whole "Gastro Pub" list of Hors d’Oeuvres:

Roast Beef on Miniature Yorkshire Puddings
Bangers and Mash Hors d’Oeuvre – Sausage and Mash on a Potato Crisp
Miniature Bacon Sandwiches
Ploughman’s Lunch Skewer – Cheese, Pickle, Onion and Tomato
Cornish Pasties – Light Vegetarian Curry Filling
Chip Buddies – White Bread and Chips

Yes I realise the above Gastro Pub Hors d'Oeuvres probably don't sound too yummy to some (or very weddingy) but were both Anglophiles and practically everyone we know is as well. The Mister had actually just moved back from there when we met! It's also the only place we've been on vacation to over seas!

The person who responded even said that the chef would have a lot of fun incorporating our beer into the meal!

Of course it seems to be out of our price range. But it might work and I think when The Mister saw that they did mini versions of gastro pub foods AND that they would let us bring our own beers in he might have been a bit more sold on it!

Having a venue like this would be my dream. I could have my first dance, something that I would have to forfeit if we had a small city hall wedding with a restaurant dinner afterwards.
Really they had me at tree house!

Let's dance!

Ever since I can remember I have been a music snob. When I was five I had a baby sitter who would let me stay up until I either fell asleep on my own or my parents came home. She also let me watch tv, including a show that had music videos (yes, I remember the time before MTV!) I clearly remember seeing the Sex Pistols video for God Save The Queen and thinking "this is awesome!" I went to school and told everyone my favorite band was the Sex Pistols, ok so some of the love was because I knew saying their name was pretty bad ass!

The Mister has a large vinyl record collection and we have cases of cd's and full libraries on computer and ipods. We are music nerds.

I cannot imagine my wedding without music. It is "us".

I have spent the last several years keeping a mental list of first dance songs. Since I might not get a first dance which saddens me greatly because I imagine that we would somehow take some lessons and magically be able to do this... if that dress was white...swoon!




They make it look so easy!

One of my favorite first dance songs is "Time After Time" (the jazz standard not the Cyndi Lauper one!) so many wonderful singers so it, Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra all have versions. Perhaps my favorite though is the Dusty Springfield version the version we have on vinyl is a bit faster and has a wonderful orchestra backing it, she really sings out on the record version. This version is the only one I could find though so it will have to do. I'm not sure why I haven't heard it at any wedding or even seen it on a first dance list in a magazine. I think it is on the same level as "At Last".

Tagged again!

Brenn at Where Hippy Meets Preppy tagged me!



THE RULES:Step 1: respond and rework—answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.Step 2: tag—eight other un-tagged people will be tagged.



Make a list of things you can see without getting up: 4 pez dispensers, a plant, work desk, lint roller, hand sanitizer.

What were you like when you were five? I was the only kid in my kindergarten class who didn't cry on the first day, I ran away to the local park, I told all the kids my favorite group was the Sex Pistols because my babysitter let me listen to them and I could read incredibly well.

What are you wearing now?Jeans, burgundy cowl neck DKNY top with a DKNY cardigan..the whole outfit was on a mannequin at a department store. Made shopping easy!

What color is your bedroom? A horrible dusty rose that will soon be a greyish greeny blue colour.

What’s the last thing you read/are currently reading? Make Money Not Excuses and many garden catalogs that make me happy!

Do you nap a lot? Not as much as I'd like to.

Who was the last person you hugged? Other than The Mister..my coworker.

What is your favorite dessert? Creme Brule always..I try to get different things but always go back to the brules.

What was the last thing you said aloud? "No, I was talking to Jason"

What websites do you always visit when you go online? Hotmail, Facebook, blogs.

What was the last thing you bought? Coffee

What are you listening to right now? Co-workers talking.

What movie are (or were!) you most excited to show your kids? Princess Bride, All the Audrey Hepburn movies and MGM musicals.

If you could have any super power, what would it be? To be able to time travel..with out the butterfly effect taking place.

What was the last reality tv show you watched? I don't have cable tv, it's all downloaded so probably Britain's Next Top Model

What is your most challenging goal right now? Weight loss. Oh weight loss..

Say something to the person who tagged you: Brenn, thank you for tagging me! I love the new redesign and enjoy reading! (I'm horrid at saying things directly to people! even on the internet! Brenn..you rock!)

If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? French, English or Italian countryside

Favorite vacation spot? The only place I regularly vacation is Montreal so I guess that's it!

What is your favorite children’s book? Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee

Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Chips and dip.mmmm.

If you could meet anyone famous - dead or alive - who would it be? Audrey Hepburn

If you could have any job in the world , what would it be? Animal masseuse..that had a 6 figure salary!

I'm not going to tag anyone because basically all the blogs I read have already tagged each other! If you happen to read this and aren't tagged consider yourself tagged and say so in the comments!

Dream a Little Dream.

OK last call at the pity party! Last call!

The last few days have been hard. I'll admit right up front that I am not always the most...sane of people. Add some winter dreariness and I'm basically an elastic band ball of emotional turmoil. Admitting too much? Probably! Ashamed? Not really!


On with the show! Even if I don't know what exactly the acts of the show are!!! Gooooo team!

Like everyone else in the wedding blog world I too am smitten with the folks over Still Motion. It's funny because they are basically my neck of the wood's and until I read about them on an American based blog I had never heard of them! If they had a TV channel that showed just their cinematography I would happily curl up every night and tune in! I would do any thing they directed me to do! Hand stands? No problem! Jump off a cliff! You got it! Because I know the end result would be so worth it.

Alas their starting package price is basically our whole budget!(maybe even more!)

I'm a bit sad because as an artistic person one of the things I hold incredibly close to my heart is the images that will become memories. Photography and cinematography are also important to me because I have a really fickle memory. I can recall memories from my youth with incredible detail, what I said to someone minutes ago? Almost 98% of the time completely gone. I joke that my brain is like Swiss cheese, some moments are supported, others slip through the holes.

I hope that beautiful images that help me recall the details of our first day as husband and wife are not beyond the minuscule budget. I'm not even going to budget for cinematography I know that anything I would really fall in love with is far, far beyond my budget. So I'm left trying to find a photographer who captures those moments, the ones that I'll forget moments after, the ones that I'll be able to remember for the rest of my life.

Even if my original plan has been chopped down swiftly and yes, incredibly painfully, I still am determined to have a day of magic all of my own.

Time keeps ticking, ticking, ticking into the future.

This is my back deck this morning, about half the snow has melted. There would have been even more snow but during an earlier snow fall I had gone out and shovelled it into the yard. We built those chairs and stained them what we thought would be a reddish colour but it turned out to be really orange. I'm hoping that they will take on a vintage weathered look by being left out this winter. I think I'll paint them white come spring. One of the things I made sure we got when we bought a house was a large yard. Gardening is one of the things I'm really good at and really proud of being knowledgeable in.

I don't recall if I have mentioned it by The Mister is 6 years older than me. Most of our friends in the city are a bit younger than him but in our circle I am the youngest at 31. All of our friends are married, some are even divorced, we all own houses and we currently have one baby in the group(other than me!) and friends just announced yesterday that we are expecting a second this summer. I've attended all of their weddings.

Being an "older" bride -and lets face it I am older than the average bride it seems, even though all my friends married around the same age as me.- and having an even older groom brings up some things that I don't think a younger bride really has to think about.

Like if we have a bigger wedding it will have to be next year, meaning that we probably wouldn't have a baby until 2011. The Mister will be 40. I'll be 33-34. I want to have at least two children, this means that after that unless we had twins first time round that the second child would either have to be in the oven within a year of the first or I'd be in that land of chance called THIRTY FIVE. I know lots of women have children after 35 but with various health issues I don't think I'd be one of them. Time is not on my side.

Of course if we have a very small gathering. Maybe go to city hall then have a backyard shindig with really awesome food and lots of fun we could do it late this summer or early fall, after all the backyard and the house need a ton of work before I would entertain this option!

Then start trying for baby numero uno.

I know it sounds incredibly selfish and it should be an easy choice right? I know it sounds even borderline Bridezillaish which is not what I want to be and I know I'm not. I know in the grand scheme of things children are so much more important to me than a beautiful dress I wear for one day. It's just harder than I expected to let go of the dream.

Is it spring yet?

Is it just me or has this January been the worlds longest? I cannot believe there is still a whole week left! I'm exhausted by it. Exhausted by the thought of a couple of more months of dreary weather and snow and sweaters and ohhhhhhh. I'm beginning to think that all those animals that hibernate really got it right. Eat a bunch of food and then go to sleep for the winter and then wake up when it's nice out and your really skinny! Sounds perfect!

One of the magazines I love is Better Homes and Gardens. Just the title alone is pleasing! Yes it might seem like a magazine aimed at an older demographic but honestly a lot of the ideas in there just really tickle my fancy and who doesn't like having their fancy tickled?

I haven't picked up the most recent issue but I have flipped through it and one of the articles was about forcing branches to bud and bloom for some spring colour in the dead of winter. Now they don't have the same article on their web page but they have a similar article. Although the arrangements in the current issue are even more yummy!

32 by 32?

I mentioned here that I plan on not trying on dresses until I was down a few lbs. I also mention the things I was planning on doing in the new year..well it's just about a month into '09 and I've been to the gym exactly..oh wait that's right I haven't! The only exercise I have been getting is shovelling the mountains of snow that seem to never stop falling from the sky and shivering non-stop. Over the holidays I gained 2lbs which isn't so bad...except I haven't lost those two pounds yet.

Blargh.

Let me tell you some facts about me. I was thin my whole life, my mother (who I have yet to mention because the emotional baggage there is waaay over the weight limit for this airline) used to play me and my best friends off each other basically telling one that they would never be as skinny as the other because of whatever reason. I ate whatever I wanted when I wanted, half a cake at 3am? Why the heckballs not? I gained some weight at some point but apparently gained it all the the bust region. I didn't mind the new curves. Then at some point for whatever reason I started packing on the pounds. I knew I'd gained some weight but really didn't have a clue how much until we got back some photos from a party and I saw myself for the first time in a candid shot and burst into tears. Even though I was dressed head to toe in what I thought was a slimming black outfit I looked about 185lbs. I changed my eating habits a bit and just went on my merry way. But it's hard to change your eating habits when you live with a man who seems to lose 20lbs while eating a pizza! Every cupboard hides temptations of the delish variety! A couple of months later I was weighed at my doctors office and the scale was in the 170's, last year it was 159 and then this year it was 171. So that's where I started this time around 171lbs around November 5th. As of this morning I'm 162.8 according to my high tech scale. I'm just about 5'7" and I'm considered small boned. My ideal weight would be around 130lb.

I'm so close to the 150's right now. I know that all I have to do is hit the gym a couple of times a week and not be tempted by the ever present confections and junk food that seem to taunt me everywhere I go! In the last year I've been dealing with some health issues, nothing serious but perhaps being a healthier weight would ease them just bit.

So to recap...

Start weight. 171lbs (nov.5.08)
Current weight. 162.8lbs (Jan.22.09)
Goal. 130lbs.

32.8lbs to go! Wonder if I can get there by my 32nd birthday this June?!

The very first thing!!

This morning I did my first real wedding related thing! I emailed a venue! One of the message boards I like to read is Chowhound and recently someone asked about wedding venues here in the city. Most of the replies were places I'd already heard of except for one, The Children's Peace Theatre. No one I know has ever heard of the place but it's home is the Massey Gould Estate which is a short drive from my house. The website is pretty basic on the information front but their rental page does say a few magic words to me....

• Charming historic house and grounds
• Convenient location
• Number of meeting places within the building
• Reasonably priced
• Fully equipped kitchen
• Open to any catering company
• List of caterers available
• No corkage fee
• Free parking

Just that list makes it sound absolutely perfect. I keep checking my email over and over again to see if they have replied yet! Hooray!

Oui s'il vous plait!!

(source)

The above photo raises my low heart rate just a bit. Swoon!

Oddly enough I found it while in the pile of outdated magazines while I was waiting to get an MRI last night. I was tempted to tear the page out but since I was already wearing a lovely hospital gown I had no where to hide it! I contemplated stuffing it in my shoe but realised the the magazine website probably had it as well and looky here they did! I could easily be swayed to the garden wedding if my garden looked (and photographed!) like this one!

I really find a lot of inspiration in the oddest of places.

Just imagine.

Tonight's lottery is 33 million dollars. I don't play the lottery that often, only when it's a really big one like tonight. They say money doesn't buy happiness, which personally I think is a crock of potatoes because honestly I think if I had 33 million dollars I would probably have a bit of a smile on my face all of the time, even when I was sleeping! I'd spend the first 48 hours just staring at my bank statement and laughing like a maniac. Then I'd go shopping.

I cannot even fathom having that much money. Heck a million dollars would baffle me for a little bit! I was at Holt Renfrew(which is like Nordstroms or Neiman Marcus) last weekend and they were having their annual "Now or Never" sale and stuff was up to 70% off! Even with deep discounts shoes I liked were still in the hundreds of dollars! A 5 grand dress at 70% off might be a steal to some but it still makes me reach for the smelling salts! I didn't buy anything but my 3 girlfriends all scored great deals. I live vicariously through them!

Needless to say the budget for our wedding would go up just a wee bit! Heck I could fly all the guests to a French chateau and have a week long fete! I could wear an Oscar de la Renta Dress...every day! I could buy all my bridesmaids diamond earrings and whole new wardrobes! I could hire my favorite bands to play! I could have an edible gold cake covered in real pearls! But I wouldn't because I have a strict rule about how things on food should always be edible! I could give cruises as favors! The endless redonkulous possibilities would be insane.

Funnily enough I'd face the same dilemma with a million dollar budget as I would with a minuscule budget...my head would be spinning with possibilities.

I guess either way I'm only limited by my imagination!

I got tagged!

Ohh my first tag! Wow both Katie over at The Indecisive Bride and Jane over at In The Waiting Line have tagged me! I like being tagged because it reminds me of note passing! AND I'm one of the only people I know who likes answering surveys! Hooray!

Rules of the tag:List 5 Obsessions/Addictions that you have, and tag back to the person(s) that gave you the award. Post the rules and tag and additional 5 people.

ONE) Beauty products. When I was very little my mother had a book by a famous makeup artist named Way Bandy, I was obsessed with it. When I was 16 I bought my first Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lipstick, a brick red colour that cost me over 30 dollars once tax was added on. THIRTY DOLLARS!!! I loved it though and still have the tube and even though it's long past it's prime I still take it out to look at and smell every now and then. It makes me incredibly happy. I didn't stop there though. Now I have a small suitcase and several makeup bags full of makeup. I have a bathroom full of creams, scrubs, peels, toners and removers. I'm always on the look out for something new and amazing. I have been known to spend nights in by myself just doing my makeup in a new way. I host makeover parties with friends still and have done all my recently married friend makeup for their big day. I still don't know if I'll do my own makeup though since I like being fussed over.

TWO) Coffee. I love coffee. I have loved it since my very first sip at age 13, of course back then I drank it with full cream and about a half cup of sugar! Now I drink it with just a splash of skim milk. My favorite coffee is Kicking Horse Coffee the beans smell amazing and are oily and wonderfully roasted. I actually don't really like Starbucks coffee at all and find it really acidic and bitter.

THREE) Magazines. I love magazines. Love them. L-O-V-E. Unfortunately they aren't so good for the pocket book and I've had to cut back on them after I realised that I had spent almost 50 dollars in one month on them! I have been addicted to them since I can remember. I used to spend any free time in the public library looking through issues of Teen and Mademoiselle waaay back when such things existed. I still remember the day I saw and bought the very first issue of Sassy magazine, which dates me terribly but oh well!! People often poo-poo magazines but really I've gained a wealth of knowledge(ok sometimes it's useless!) through them and that knowledge comes in handy on occasion!

FOUR) Smelling Good. I guess this could fall into the same category at number one but this is and obsession spurred by a weird and unnecessary phobia of smelling bad. When I was young I was a big OCD about having showers, sometimes I'd have up to 4 a day. Not because I smelled bad but because I always wanted to smell good. I have actually never thought I smelled bad and no one has told me I have I just am obsessed with smelling good. It's probably because I have a super sensitive nose. You know when they tell you about the different notes in perfumes? I can smell all of them. I have a super nose. My first perfume ever was actually a men's cologne called Fahrenheit I was in grade 7 and everyone around me was doused in one of the Calvin Klein perfumes or even worse one of those drugstore perfumes like Flirt or Exc!aimtion or Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth(all of which smelled the same to me!) I would spend any time at the mall drifting through the department store makeup and perfume counters sniffing bottles. I now have about 4 "serious" perfumes in rotation and about 20 less serious one note perfumes that I wear whenever the mood strikes.

FIVE) Farms. I was born in the city and raised for most of my life in the suburbs surrounding it. I couldn't wait until I could move back to the city on my own! Then I met a friend who grew up in the country on a small hobby farm and spent several weekends at his parents house and fell completely in love with everything. If I could pack up everything right now and move to a farm I would. My dream is to have goats and make artisan goat cheese and grow organic veggies and flowers. The Mister could start his own mirco-brewery. I spend a lot of time looking online for the perfect farm with the perfect farm house, just in case.

Hmm ok who to tag....

1. Carly at A Disney Wedding who just got married 13 days ago!

2. Natalie at Nick and Nat's Wedding she's getting married in 31 days! Whoa!

3.Hannah Noel at That Engaged Girl who still has 4 months and 2 days!

4. Girl on the Park who is already married but has an awesome blog about random thangs like buskers and crazy people in her 'hood.

5.Caroline at Tea Length Tulle who I just started reading....she loves tulle and so do I!

Carte Blanche!

I don't think I've mentioned yet how The Mister has given me carte blanche in regards to our wedding. What I decide though seems to have some affect on other aspects of our lives though.
It's hard for me to decide on what I want without wondering how that choice is going to affect the other things. It's doubly hard when I know that I would be happy with a small backyard wedding just as much as I would be happy with a big dinner and dancing wedding.

I do know a few things for sure though which instantly limit the options.

1. We have a small budget. A budget that is about half of what the city average is. I plan on using my skills as a crafty mofo to keep certain things on budget and put our personal touch to the whole shindig.
2. We want a venue where we can bring our own booze in. We are admitted beer snobs, we have a beer cellar..yep beer cellar. We have use a beer broker to get imported beers that are not available in the liquor store. I'm also getting more into wine these days and adding some of those to the cellar.

We live in a major city. A city where the average cost per person is 200-300 dollars per person according to the interwebs. Lucky for us the most we would invite would be 75 people and that is including people that might just "have" to be invited to save face and most likely wouldn't show. Which brings a problem with finding a venue that can host a small gathering. Some places that I thought were perfect require a minimum number of guests usually around 100. There are several heritage sites that are absolutely beautiful but then you read the fine print and see that their approved caterers which you have to use charge you an extra 15% heritage tax on top of everything. These things add up fast.

I'll talk about being a beer snob in another post. It's actually funny being a girl who knows more about beer than most people. I've always been a bit of a food and drink snob though so obviously that's an aspect of finding a venue that I need to look at.

I am feeling generally overwhelmed by the task at hand. Other than budget I have no direction to go on which leaves me with many options and I think using my usual method of decision making IE: Ennie Meenie just wouldn't work that well!

3 minute photos!

So after nine years how does someone propose? I mean it's not really going to be a surprise is it? Not long after we moved in together (just 7 months after meeting!) we started talking about getting married. Now at the time I was obsessed with opals and was convinced that I wanted an opal engagement ring. If The Mister was smart he would have hightailed it into the nearest jewellery store and bought me a nice big opal, because once I actually entered a jewellery store and looked at all the pretty sparkly things and the sales assistant let me try on the biggest diamond in the store I was instantly converted to diamonds. I suddenly got what all the fuss was about! So how did we end up not getting engaged for nine years? Well you'd have to ask The Mister about that! More importantly though how did it happen?

A bit of back story....The Mister used to dj at a popular club every Saturday night, so for 4 or so years of our relationship I was a Saturday night widow. Meaning that I attended most friend group gathering solo for a long time. So when he finally stopped djing one of the things I was happiest about was finally having a date for friend get togethers. So when an invite went out for a fall BBQ gathering I was excited to go because the friends hosting also just happen to have an adorable 5 month old baby boy. The day of The Mister told me he wasn't going as he had some errands to run. I was miffed to say the least. I got to our friends house and told them The Mister was running errands and might join us later. It was a good, fun shin dig full of good friends and yummy food and good drink. Around 8:45pm he called me and said he was downtown meeting another friend of ours and that I should go meet him. WHAT? I was having a perfectly good time at the party and why didn't he just come there? I told him just that and said I'd talk to him later.
He called back at 9pm and asked me again to come meet him this time at a bar we both like, fine I figured I could meet him there and then we could go home. I told him I'd meet him at 9:30.
At 9:45 he called me again and I shushed my friends and pretended I was in a cab on my way! As soon as I got off the phone I called a cab and complained about him not coming to the party and how I had to go meet him. A friend joked that he was going to propose and I laughed. Honestly though I knew.
The whole cab ride I thought "Hows he going to do it?" he'd told me many times that he's known how he was going to propose for years. I was meeting him at Toronto Union Station and we would walk over to the bar we liked after a game of pinball.
I walked into the station and he said "We should go get new photo booth photos for our frame"
Oookay.
He wanted to go first and he got in and I fiddled with the curtain and he snapped "don't touch the curtain!" that was when I knew. As he took photos in the photo booth I took photos of myself with my cellphone.
He came out and we waited for the photos. He seemed really nervous and asked how long the photos took, should they take this long? Finally they popped out and I carefully took them out and looked at them.

There in each frame was my man looking very serious holding a sign up...
Will
You
Marry
Me?

I looked up and he was on one knee with a ring box. He repeated his offer out loud and I kept saying "really?" I think I said it about 85 times even after the ring was on my finger! I couldn't believe it! Then our loan witness, a security guard, gave us a round of applause and we both started laughing.
We ran and caught the train home and the whole way I kept staring at my finger and trying not to shout "OH MY GOD I'M ENGAGED!" at a train full of strangers! My ring is a cushion cut diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds in a setting that is sort of a modern art deco design. A friend our ours who is a jeweller made it. I knew The Mister would do good but I didn't realise just how good!

The Mister told me he looks so serious in the photos because he was so nervous that he wouldn't get the signs in the photo that he forgot to smile! How cute it that!


ps..I have my first follower! Hi Katie!

I hate winter but it sure is pretty.

Frozen Lake Ladylike by somethingweddings


Right now according to the Weather Network it feels like -23C outside(5F for anyone who doesn't do the Metric system.) I can honestly say I am not a big fan of winter. Nope not one bit. I hate being cold and because I'm anemic it seems to take me longer than the average bear to get warm again. My nose instantly runs the second I step outside and no matter how hard I try I cannot keep my scarf in a place that doesn't create a weird micro climate on my face. Blah. I do however appreciate the beauty of winter, piles of snow, clear inky Sky and the way the light seems to be filtered and soft. I like winter beauty best when snuggled up in a duvet by a far dressed head to toe in thermal wear!

I have heard though that winter months are the months for discounts in the world of weddings. I'm not sure how true this is but it makes sense that a wedding in January right after the holiday rush would be a way to work some sweet deals. If I got married next winter I'd have to hunt down a venue with a fireplace or a view of a frozen lake. I'd want comfort food, a warm soup, butternut risotto come to mind. I'd serve hot drinking chocolate and tell people to bring their ice skates (and have extras on hand) to have a group skate while roasting marshmallow on a bonfire. I would base the colours on the frozen lake I remember from when I was a child. Dark Navy, with frosty white, gray and silver with a bit of pink in there as a surprise. Because everyone likes seeing a bit of colour in the winter months.

I'm married to my money.

I have a secret. I'm not good with money. Never have been. My parents weren't either so I really had no one to learn from since my dad is often heard saying that his financial plan is "If you got it spend it." not that I'm blaming my parents for my current financial woes, I blame them for so many other of my flaws that adding that one just seems silly. I'm not in the cess pool of debt that other people my age seem to be but I am in enough that it makes me anxious when I get a bill. So this year I have decided is they year I cut my debt in half. It wasn't exactly a New Years resolution more of a conscious decision to own up to what I owe.

So I decided to make a budget. Something I've done in the past but have not really taken seriously. I have been known to justify things by thinking "Well I'm just going to end up buying it later anyways." or "If I don't buy it now it might not be here later." I also use my debit card for most things and then suddenly I take a gander at my bank balance and go "where did it all go?"
I wrote down all the things I HAD to buy each month and then gave myself a rather generous allowance for other things and then tallied it all up and found that I should have quite a nice little chunk of change left over. A chunk of change that could very well be used to pay down some of my debt on top of what I already am paying. A chunk of change that I've been previously spending on things like Starbucks, magazines, random thing I don't even remember that's how much I needed them and couldn't live without them! I could save a chip of that chunk and put it to the side for ohhh I don't know a wedding or something like that!

So I made some rules based on various financial advice that I've read and been told over the years.

The Rulz:

1) Cash only for everything.
2) Cash comes from what it was allotted in the budget for IE: No dipping into grocery money to top up the clothing allowance.
3) Take 90% of left over money and put it towards debt.
4) Anything not spent at end of the month from budget add to savings.
5) Keep all receipts and log all purchases so I can see where every penny is going.

Simple right? Honestly I think #2 will be the hardest for me. I think I'm going to have to really start thinking hard about how badly I need things now compared to how badly I want things in the future. Saving money now will make a difference in the future and that is what I need to focus on ultimately the bigger picture is what is more important. BUT I also have to remind myself that getting out of debt and saving up some extra is not punishment, I still can go out with friends because I have budgeted for it but if I blow the whole entertainment budget in one night then that's my fault and I can at least say I had one really terrific night right?
I'm going to treat my money like I'm in a relationship with it and that relationship needs to work for both of us and build us stronger over time right?

Cast your vote!

Recently I went out to look for a new winter jacket. I couldn't decide between two(a gray one and a shorter red one.) so I had my friend take a photo of each to show the Mister. Then I thought to myself "I'm just going to put them on my Facebook and let my friends vote" Now I thought maybe of my Facebook friends would see the "Vote On A Coat" album and comment. Turns out people love voting! By the end of the day I had about 20 or so votes. Almost all of them for the gray one!
Although I have to admit that I'm in love with both of them and the more I think about it the more I want them both for different reasons. In fact I have already envisioned all the cute outfits I could wear with them!

It got me thinking about how I'm so bad at decision making that I am known to regularly use the ennie meenie method to choose! Yes I know it's childish but sometimes I want two things equally so random choice is the best method AND if what I land in makes me feel sad then I go with the other one. Yes I'm secretly 6 years old.

Then I thought about how there are so many wedding things that I adore. So many things that don't mesh together well..how does one pick?! As much as I love total control over things, I also love letting others do all the hard thinking. Would I let strangers pick my wedding details? I'm not sure but if I couldn't decide between two things I might use the public voting system again.
It's only slightly more(hmm or less?) embarrassing then chanting and pointing frantically while I do an ennie meenie in public!

Gosh my lips are chapped!

For some bizarre reason my lips are incredibly chapped right now. In fact they are not even chapped and flaky, they almost feel burned...perhaps wind burned? They are really weirdly smooth but also incredibly painful. I've been applying industrial strength blistex and some medicated lip balm for "extremely dry lips" which smells strangely like Vicks vapour rub. Which reminds me of a funny story from when the Mister and I had just started dating and he was down for the weekend and I was sick and when I get really ill I bundle myself up in multiple layers, hide under blankets drinking copious amounts of "Hot Lemon Drink" which is the store brand of Neo Citron that I always get because I like saying I'm having a "Hot Lemon Drink"...so I'm in bed wearing thermal underwear, a turtle neck, a wool sweater, a pair of flannel pants, two pairs of wool socks, fingerless winter mittens and a hat (I'm a firm believer in "sweating it out") and the Mister is arrives and hugs me and says "I really like the perfume your wearing" and I'm all "really? are you joking?" and he says "No..what is it? It reminds me of something...from when I was little." and I started laughing and told him it was Vicks! Who would have thought! I guess it probably triggers a memory of being taken care of when ill!

I'm cursing myself because I know that on my desk at work is my Smiths Rosebud Salve. Just the word "salve" makes my lips feel better! It treats minor burns! AND diaper rash! It's pretty much just some old school salve for whatever ails you! I'm kind of big on beauty products. My bathroom is an explosion of jars and tubes for various things. Right now off the top of my head I can tell you that I have 5 different facial cleansers in there. I have one that's a facial milk that I use as soon as I get home to get rid of makeup and "surface impurities" it's thick like a cream and you smooth it on and wipe it off with tissues. Sort of like cold cream. I have a cleanser for when my face is incredibly dry and one for when it's oily and freaking out from hormones that leave me with acne that makes me look like I'm 14 again. My skin has never really figured out that I have made it out of high school it goes from alabaster to pizza pie seemingly over night. I have never found one thing that seems to be able to make it stay one way..preferably the alabaster since I really have had enough of the pimples!

Like a borrowed sweater.

Fall in love. by somethingweddings

Autumn hands down is my favorite season. It's also the season that the Mister asked me to be his girlfriend and 9 years later his wife. But I favored it far before then. Fall was when school started and for me that meant new clothes! Every year I thought "This year I am going to wear the outfit that changes my life" I knew the power of a good look at a very young age.

My sisters favorite colour growing up was always purple, which is funny because I don't recall her having too many purple things. I think she just liked the way the word sounded! I could never settle on just one favorite.
Chocolate brown came into rotation sometime in my late teens, it's sort of stuck around since then. Orange, brown and purple to me are the perfect fall colours. Autumn broken down to it's simpliest palette.

The feeling would be warm and cozy. I'd probably have something hand knit, cozys for whatever is holding the centerpieces or even if I was ambitious and really productive table runners or a little shall for every lady! Oh the way my mind wanders when given unlimited amounts of cash and time! I'd want everyone to feel like they entered a magical space where something extraordinary was bound to happen.