Leap Day (Again)

I noticed that I did a blog post on leap day 2008 so I wanted to keep up the tradition. I now know not one but two people with birthdays on leap day so happy birthday to them! I don't really have anything else to discuss in relation to this date except that the wedding is now one month away.

Next I'm going to discuss graphic novels. Our collection has increased a great deal thanks to my efforts. Some are duds and some are wonderful. I'm running out of shelf space so I may need to weed because there are still so many great titles out there that would be perfect for the collection. I really hope Nancy Butler does one for Persuasion. She's already published versions of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma so hopefully Persuasion is on the drawing board. Out of all the ones I've read (other than classics I already love; Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Dracula) the Locke & Key series by Joe Hill is my favorite. The art work is pretty terrific and the story line is very unique, dark, mysterious, and intriguing. I can't really describe the plot very well because there is a lot happening but I can't wait for book 5 to come out. I may even pre-order it on Amazon. There is rumor of a TV series. I watched the pilot on YouTube but no networks have picked it up yet. At least a few days a week I'm scouring websites and reviews for more graphic novel titles to add. Our students that love them really love them so that's encouraging.

I'm also working on a wedding registry for me and Jeff. Well, it's actually a honeymoon registry for Sandals. However, Sandals charges a fee to do so. I'm looking into ways to let everyone know the kinds of activities we want to try on St. Lucia without the potential 10% mark-up for using the Sandals registry feature. Would a PowerPoint Presentation be too much?

Wedding Projects

On this long weekend of off and on nice weather I worked on some wedding projects. I purchased a cupcake stand on eBay a couple months back. It is made of Styrofoam. The price was right and the look was right (from far away). Up close you can tell it's cheap material so I decided to cover it with pretty wrapping paper.I didn't take an "after" picture. The end result is better but I'm not entirely happy with the result. I may keep my eye open for better options or I may just say screw it and move on. I've also been purchasing other wedding dishes over the past year. I decided to get everything out and see what I have and what we still need.The "still need" list is very small so that's a relief. I also tried to put labels on certain dishes so I would remember what food goes with which dish. I wrote it all down on a piece of paper too (which I'll probably turn into a spreadsheet). Also, using one or several of my Pinterest inspirations, I decided to get to work on a banner. There is space under the porch that will be cleared. If it rains the eating tables will go there. If it doesn't we'll use the space for our guestbook station and maybe set some chairs up. I wanted to decorate a little. Mom and I ran some errands in Macon on Saturday and we stopped by Joann's so I could get some scrap fabric. This is what I did with the fabric. I bought 2 different sized doilies at Walmart. I ended up not using the larger ones--more money wasted. Another item on my wedding to-do list was sand and paint my Adirondack chair set. I got a great price on the set and when it arrived I spent the day applying a light stain. It didn't seem to work because over time this yellow stuff started to happen and then black spots showed up too. They stay covered when not in use so I don't know what happened. I bought a really nice patio furniture set from Lowe's last fall so I wanted to spray paint the Adirondack chairs to match. I did a light sanding, brushed off the dust, wiped them down with a damp cloth and got to work spraying. Five cans of spray paint and many hours later this is the result. They need to fully dry and there are a couple things I need to touch up (and I still have to do the small side table) and they'll be done.Yippee!! Oh, and here are more cute pictures of our doggies.

House Beautiful?

I subscribe to the lovely design magazine House Beautiful. I get so excited when it arrives each month (with a request to hurry and renew even though I have 3 more months left). The March issue arrived yesterday and I brought it to work to enjoy during lunch. This issue is all about decorating with the color green. I love green and the wedding colors are green (many shades of) and white. I'm flipping through and I stumble upon these dining chairs from roomservicestore.com. Um...goodness these are tacky. That's the funny thing with design. I'll browse through gorgeous design books and magazines and then I'll find something like this and I just wonder what kind of person thinks this is beautiful or classy. Who puts a giant picture of a female skeleton above their fireplace? Sure, whimsical items are fun but this is just inappropriate for dining. They're called "the perfect bum chair" and they are $495 each. Each! Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Oh, and happy VD everyone. I hope you have a romantical and chocolate indulgent day!

To-Do List

The wedding is about seven or so weeks away and Jeff and I are elbow deep in things to do for the wedding. We've recruited a lot of help from family and friends but it's all so overwhelming. I feel like we've done nothing but waste time this past year. However, the big stuff is done: Venue (the house), the tables, chairs, tablecloths, porta-potty (ugh!) rental (local vendor), Photographer (Cissy), Officiant (our friend), menu, honeymoon (St. Lucia), plane tickets, passports (sort of). It's the little things toward the end that are piling up. We're a little stressed but I'm hoping my to-do list will help us stay on track.I have done some decor stuff like painting all those terra-cotta pots white and Jeff's mom has already sewed the overlay tablecloths. I kind of think it's the little touches and details that make a wedding personal but we'll get everything done. If we don't I doubt anyone will notice or be upset. As long as Jeff and I are married at the end of the day and our guests are fed it will be a success.

27 Dresses

Do you remember that Katherine Heigl movie? It's a cute chick flick and I've seen at least a dozen times.
And, no I don't have 27 bridesmaids dresses in my closet. I do, however, have 3 wedding dresses as of right now. Last January I ordered the perfect dress (or so I thought) from a bridal shop. It's actually a bridesmaid's dress but could work either way. The one I tried on was in black. It was very slimming and flattering (one in the same). I ordered it in ivory. Well, when the dress arrived about 6 weeks later you'll imagine my surprise when the dress I picked up was...yellow. Mom said it's called candlelight ivory. Looks yellow to me. And with the the ruching effect, which now just looks like layers of ruffle pillows, I look like the Michelin Man.
No joke. So, it's staying in it's bag until I can sell it on Craigslist or in a consignment shop. Then I was shopping with my friend Barbara in Snellville and we ran into a TJ Maxx. I saw the cutest little white linen summer dress and tried it on. It seemed simple and perfect so it became my new wedding dress. Then I was on Pinterest (imagine that!) and I found a dress that I simply must have. It's the Lauren Conrad white lace dress. I hate posting a picture of it because it won't look like that on me.I emailed Jeff's mom and asked her if she would be interested in making my wedding dress (fingers and toes crossed). She said yes! She is already working on it and even found a pattern for the same thing. Mine will come to my knees, no mid-thigh dress for me please. I'm really excited for the end result (especially after I lose weight, fingers and toes crossed again!).

Speaking of Katherine Heigl movies I'm super excited to see One for the Money this weekend. I've read all the books (except the latest, number 18 I think) and they are all so fun. I hope the movie lives up to the fun of the book.

Copycat Strikes Again

Jeff's birthday was a couple weeks ago. I won't tell you his age because he'd probably rather I didn't. I'm usually on top of things with presents but I fell behind at Christmas and for Jeff's birthday. I did take him to Bass Pro Shop to get some outdoor stuff. And, I stole another idea from Young House Love. Sherry made a super sweet and funny gift for her husband John with Boy Scout Merit Badges. I did something very similar (okay, exactly the same) for Jeff. Sorry for the glare on the close up of the explanation. It was a surprise to him so at least that's something. It did take some time but it was really fun putting it together and coming up with funny reasons why I feel he deserves that particular badge. Jeff actually was a Boy Scout so I was worried it would be old news to him but he seems to like it. He even let me hang it up by his side of the bed!

In other news of new stuff...2011 was a big year for new things for me. My folks got me a Dyson Digital Slim for Christmas. It's so awesome. I've already used to clean the house and my car. It's pretty powerful and very easy to use. Jeff's mom got me a Keurig for Christmas. It makes coffee in like 60 seconds. I love it, I feel like I have a little cafe in my kitchen. I love my new mug too! Everyone already knows about my iPad already but since you can add new things to it all the time it feels new every day. I was obsessed with this game Phantasmat for over a week. I solved it and have yet to recover from the loss. Jeff got me a Garmin for Christmas and I've already experienced the joy and ease of using it. I have such confidence while driving to unfamiliar destinations now. And after Christmas I got myself a new car. A new CR-V to be exact. I've wanted one for about 5 years now. It feels like I've been driving it forever and when I see another white CR-V while driving I want to wave at the other driver. Dorky, I know. I did not include a photo of my laptop but you get the idea. Despite all the goodies, 2011 will probably go down as one of my least favorite years ever. Here's hoping 2012 is filled with laughter and happy memories.

Two Out of Three

This week has been the most expensive week of my life. The honeymoon balance was paid and we booked our flight tickets this morning. So, two of the major three honeymoon tasks have been taken care of. The final task is getting our passports. I know, I know, that perhaps should have been done first. But, we already have passports, they just expired last summer. Applying for your first passport, if you lost your previous passport, or it expired over 15 years ago can all be big delays. The passport situation will be taken care of either this week or next so don't fret. Most of you already know, probably because I haven't shut up about it, but we're going to St. Lucia (Sandals resort) for the honeymoon.
We reserved a beachfront room many, many months ago.

It's an all inclusive package including dining and several activities. There are extra activities (that cost extra, of course) we'd like to try such as the deep sea sport fishing, climbing the Pitons, the rainforest canopy adventure, and the volcano tour. I'm getting more and more excited as the days pass.

Gallery Update

I made a few changes to the gallery wall. Here's the run-down: The dark cherry blossom picture got swapped for a drawing of a kayak.Jeff and I enjoy kayaking on occasion and I like the blueprint-esque design of the drawing. The green polka dots became a sketch of a moose.
I love Alaska and Jeff and I would love to travel there some day and what says Alaska more than a moose? The green faux alligator paper is now an image of a cover of an old issue of Yates Garden Guide. My family name is Yates and Jeff loves to garden so I thought it was a perfect addition to the wall, and it adds a little yellow. The shadowbox with the river rocks paper now has four of Jeff's points.
This one was really fun to create. I glued a small piece of cork board to the rock paper, covered that with white craft paper, and then hot glued the points to the paper. And here they are all together. The Google drawing of the Royal Wedding got a new background in yellow as well. Adding pops of yellow here and there were my attempt to tie in the daybed colors with the gallery wall colors. And here's a picture of the whole section of the room that I've altered with the aforementioned IKEA chair.
Everything looks really busy in this picture but it's nice in the room. Sandi and Remy really like the new chair and pillows.

Books?

It occurred to me that it's been a while since I've posted anything to do with books. I am a librarian for Pete's sake so I should have something to say about a book now and then. Over the break I read Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. A co-worker suggested I read it and I'm glad I did. I know I'm not a mom but there is humor to be enjoyed by all in the is book. It's a series of short chapters about the joys and truth of pregnancy and early motherhood. I'm now reading her follow-up Naptime is the New Happy Hour. Other books along the "same short stories that are laugh out loud (that's right people, I spell it out) funny" include anything by Celia Rivenbark and Jen Lancaster. I've read all of Rivenbark's books and most of Lancaster's. It's actually been a long time since I've read anything that wasn't a memoir, biography, short story, or a graphic novel. I read several graphic novels over the break and we just got in another shipment of books last week. It's a wonderful thing to spend other people's money for books.