Sometimes you lose...

So today i went thrifting for the fun of it - not for the wedding... which was a relief! Lo and behold i came across this awesome shiny red gumball machine just as they were putting it out and i snatched it up - for only $5! I was feeling so spiffy and went straight to target to buy a bunch of gumballs. After spending $15 on the candy i brought it home and filled it up to give it a go. NO GO. it steals my money and gives me no gumball in exchange.... boo.

my new defective, money thievin' gumball machine

at least it looks super cool.

PS- that's how many $15 buys you at target - not much.

 

eh, it'll do!

so it's no great outfit or photo or revelation, but here is a little pic to break up the endless babble about houses and weddings and stress. this sweater/poncho thing was a recent thrift find. i threw it on over a tank top and jeans for a cookout in the courtyard of our apartments and got two interesting comments that night: 

1. (from p) you look like a 70's kindergarten art teacher. (he meant this as a compliment.)
2. (from my too-honest friend, josh) i'm diggin your look tonight. your outfit is, like, groovy but you've got your hair pulled back like a mormon housewife... but it works. (i'm not sure if this was a compliment.)

i was tempted to belt it at first, but it looked super silly when i did. i was tired and ready for a beer and relaxation so i didn't work too hard at it... maybe next time i'll put in a little effort! 

i'll be back with more insanity soon - we should deliver our "post inspection addendum" to the sellers today....

mush brain

i know i need to post some pics soon because the words are just getting to be too much! i need a good "outfit post" asap! 

til then, i will fill you in on the day's events:

• we had the inspection on the house today and i think that overall it was what one would expect. there are things that need to be addressed but overall no "deal breakers" - WHEW! we will present them with a short list and then wait and see what happens. who knows! maybe they'll be totally obliging and everything will roll smoothly... see what i did there? turned that mental frown upside down - booyah!
• i went to anthropologie for a little inspiration and visual treat after work. i wasn't intending to buy anything at all, i swear!... but then i spied a lace vest in the sale room that was $9.99! so, small treat for me to ease the stress :) outfit post to follow soon! 
  

thanks for the thoughts and prayers - keep 'em coming! still a bit undecided about the wedding stuff. i reserved the park spaces for september 18th but p has been working such insane hours and i've been so preoccupied with the house stress that we haven't really sat down and decided if we are going to go for it or not. it's my bet that we will, but right now i can't even think about it - my brain is mush. 

wanted: good thoughts

hi everybody,

tomorrow we go to get the inspection on the house and we are very nervous. we learned tonight that the sellers have a "backup offer" on the house and we are worried that this means they will be unwilling to "play ball" with us on any repairs. at this point, we are really just praying that nothing major is wrong with the house and that we can follow through with our contract and buy it as we intended... and dreamed. 

any and all good thoughts will be more than appreciated! 

xoxo-

meg

was that the "start gun" i just heard?

well, i called just a while ago and finally got in touch with minnie at parks and recreation and let me just say that she is not nearly as nice or as cheerful as amy poehler's  character on the show of that same name! 

she ONLY has friday, september 18th available. 

p's not keen on rushing it (or necessarily having it on a friday) and i feel really anxious when thinking about moving at the beginning of august and then having 6 weeks til the wedding. on the plus side, it would mean i could just get down to the nitty gritty and make some decisions and stop thinking about it so damn much....

after getting the ground back under me (cindy is the BEST) i called back to see what it would take to reserve that date but wouldn't ya know it... minnie is out of the office for the next hour and a half. so, i am thinking i will phone stalk minnie and reserve the date just in case and try to talk to p about it tonight. already i've had 3 folks say with assurance "we can do this" so i'm beginning to drink the kool-aid and think we can.... i don't know. i feel like i can hear the crazy in that sentence.... 

whatever happens, you know i'll keep you posted!

still on hold but hangin' on

so, i know you guys liked the farm, but it was feeling like a stretch making everything happen from such a distance... i mean, there's not even a grocery store within about 30mins of there if you ran out of ice and decided you needed a bag or two more at the last minute, you know?! we both agreed from the get-go that our wedding wouldn't be about the particulars but it really was just a time to celebrate with our family and friends... and we were worried that people wouldn't stick around or have as much fun if they knew a long drive would await them at the end of the day. plus, we love our city and really wanted to have our wedding here. 

so yesterday a client of mine said "why don't you just get married in the park" and i said that we'd thought about it tons but that it really would be nice to have someplace to shelter the food and have better access to restrooms and such. and he informed me that the park we'd been thinking about but haven't used much (that is *right* by our new - knock on wood- house) actually has the outdoor pavillions and ampitheatre AND a "villa" higher up on the back side of the hill accessed by a side street that he'd been to and that it was WONDERFUL! 

so last night after dinner with ellie and brad to celebrate our being under contract on the house, we all drove up there to check it out... and it IS wonderful! 

today i called to get the info and found out that while it's not as dirt cheap as my client claimed, it's still a STEAL in comparison to other wedding venues. it will provide us with indoor and outdoor areas to eat and boogie. and we can have alcohol as long as we hire a city cop to keep watch. and it has everything we need as far as bathrooms and such go. and it has a fireplace! 

the only hang-up is that the lady who books the place, minnie,  is out of the office until monday... and the lady who i spoke with on the phone told me she thought minnie had mentioned that it was booked every weekend til december - boooooo! i'm hoping this lady doesn't know about a secret empty weekend that is just waiting for us to book it ;)

we have already decided that we'll do a friday afternoon/evening wedding if we can't get a saturday... but i know i'd really rather not do a sunday. like at all. 

we had saturday, october 10th as our date mentally, but i just browsed online and found out that the birmingham folk festival will be there on sunday, october 11th and i bet they'll be setting up tents and trash cans and such around the park the day before and we really don't want all of that going on in the background of our outdoor ceremony so we will have to be open to alternate dates. no biggie. 

for now, i will share with you the templates i've made for our invites. keep in mind that i am NOT a graphic designer and that i don't have fancy programs on my computer to design these with - not even photoshop! these are just ideas to give to our graphic designer friend so that he can then make them *magic* in ways i cannot! i've designed two: one for our fun friends and another for "grown ups" and i'm hoping that he will be able to add borders and color and more interest to both so that they look more professional even though we plan to just print them out on our inkjet printer at home :)

my mom is constantly worried about me putting up my info online so please DO NOT stalk us or our wedding - THANKS!

i've been reading up on making your wedding more environmentally friendly and i think that we might pass up the save the date cards and as much mailing and envelopes as we can in order to "do our part". i don't know how it will turn out but i am thinking i will roll these up and tie them with a piece of twine and have a little tag hanging off that is personally "addressed" (to: so and so, with love from meg and patrick) with driving directions and our website on the backside so they can find more info without wasting more paper. and we are going to hand deliver every one that we can - not driving around like fools, mind you... but organically as we see people- because our guest list is mainly the folks who are in our everyday lives. i'll cave and mail the ones i have to obviously. 

and in house news, we have our inspection scheduled for this coming tuesday - so if you think about it, send us some really lucky good vibes that they don't find anything crazy and that we can proceed with ease from here! 

i guess this means that i should take the weekend of from mental planning until i know more info about the wedding venue when i call minnie on monday and have our inspection on tuesday huh?..... i'll work on that.... we'll see! 

Can't believe it!

It's not over til it's over but we officially have the house "under contract" with a closing date set for July 15th!!!! I never thought when I started this blog it would happen this quickly!


-posted with help from my robot

Gratitude

I'm stealing a friend's idea & posting gratitudes to keep my chin up & remind me what's really important.
1- spending time with Ellie going to lunch, the antique store, the farmers market, and grilling out!
2- her silly jokes to cheer me up & a hankerchief when I cried.
3- work. yoga saves me time after time after time. I am eternally grateful to my teachers and my students.
4- kind words from friends on facebook & this blog- some from people I don't even really know (elena-lu)- make my day so much better!
5- a moment with my client's daughter, hanging out in their backyard looking at fish in the pond & dangling our feet in the pool!
6- the beautiful picture she colored for me!
7- hugs from P even when I'm anxious & therefore an angry monster.
8- frosties!
9- clean sheets on the bed
10- a chance to be better tomorrow

** we are about to accept the counter-counter-counter-offer on the house!!! still holding my breath until all of the inspections & such are done but it's pretty tremendous we are this close so soon! we only first looked at it Friday :) I think I may need constant reminders to breathe until the day we close on this house- it's all so new & exciting but foreign and stress-inducing! Ack!!!**

-posted with help from my robot

Freaking out... Again!

We put on offer on the house and they counter-offered and we countered back and now we are waiting....
It's only been since about 6pm yesterday but time is warping and I feel so anxious. I'm terrified that their agent is working overtime to get another offer in above ours and that's why we haven't heard back.
I spend all day everyday telling other people to breathe and to find their peace but right now the only place I'm finding mine is in crying on Ellie's couch while she plays me calming music and attempts to make me laugh... to my surprise, she is able. I feel like six months ago I didn't really want a wedding OR a house and then all of a sudden I'm clawing my way towards both just as tirelessly and unceasingly as any one person ever could. We've only been engaged 2 weeks and it feels like centuries. I keep saying aloud that I'm putting the wedding stuff on hold until the house stuff is settled and then I try desperately to pretend I am in fact doing that but inside my mind is still in constant motion... until eventually I can't contain it anymore and it all starts spilling from me and I'm embarrassed by my lack of restraint again.
Keep us in your thoughts. Pray I don't annoy everyone around me to the point that I don't have to worry about a wedding because everyone will disown me by then.



-posted with help from my robot

in the blackbelt

today we travelled down to the blackbelt of alabama to check out the farm that we are hoping to use for our wedding. it was a GORGEOUS day in the south and the drive was so nice. first we went to the chapel - built in 1859. 





i'm a total weirdo with an affinity for cemeteries so i just had to go over to check it out. the oldest grave we found was from the very early 1800's - i meant to remember the date but there was so much going on in my brain today i've now forgotten it. anyway, here it is:



inside the chapel. it had that "old" smell but it was very authentic feeling and the history is so rich i didn't mind at all.

next we went to the "white house" to check it out as a spot to hold our reception. we are thinking of throwing the front doors open and having tons of candles all over and putting up a tent with seating outside. 



you can't really see it here, but we could use the back porch and the porch area of this little shed to set up the buffet and bar areas. and in between the main house and the shed is a little fire pit that would be great for s'mores :)

selfishly, i'd have to admit my favorite part of the day was stopping by the roadside to pick a wildflower bouquet! pretty, pretty!





and in other crazy exciting news...

we put an offer on the house and should know something by 6pm tomorrow. 

any form of prayer, well wishes, or happy/lucky vibes sent our way will be greatly appreciated! wish us well - we really want this!

list of wishful thinking

things i will look forward to when we have a house:

• being able to let the dogs run around in the backyard as opposed to having to walk them around the park on leashes
• a laundry room!!! i will cry the first time i can wash and dry in my own home again!
• (hopefully) a dishwasher - i don't hate washing dishes but that's probably only because we never cook and thus don't have many dishes to wash. but once we have a house we'll be eating in all the time so i hope we have one.
• a place for my vespa... that isn't my living room. i'm serious. there is currently a huge scooter in my living room. 
• painting, decorating and hanging light fixtures! i want light fixtures!
• having people over - right now we don't because there's not room and we are embarrassed by how far we've let our place go since we have a mental exit date - it's pathetic.
• (hopefully) a guest room. i have NO idea where my friend clare is going to sleep when she comes to visit because as it stands right now, we have no guest room and such a tiny living room that we don't even have a full size sofa for her to sleep on... and she's really tall!
• starting a garden! this is a must!

back on track...

oh yeah, this blog was supposed to be about buying our first house.... about that:

we really want/need to buy a house before we get married. 

i know that sounds backwards from how most people would do it but we have a very good reason: if we spend a lot of money on the wedding (which we aren't planning to, but i'm finding it's a slippery slope) then our financial outlook won't look as nice to lenders. plus, on the super practical side it's nice to take care of the needs in life before you take care of the wants... and as big of a "want" as it is, a wedding isn't really as important as a home of our own. i think it will be a good thing if we can buy a house first because once that money is shelled out and we are officially homeowners, i think it will really make me count my pennies on the wedding front. i won't get to indulge or find myself going off budget because i simply won't be able to - ah, restraint without willpower required! 

here is the house we are seeing this afternoon:

i looooove a good rancher and i have a pretty nice collection of mid-century modern home decor that would be perfect in a house like this! i'm trying not to get my hopes up though because i've learned that you can't really tell jack about a house until you are standing physically inside of it. photos lie. it looks great online and i've driven by it (about 5 times in less than 24 hours... slowly.) and the location is a dream for us. it's on the outskirts of a nice part of town so we get the cool address but a cheaper price. but best of all it's practically across the street from the elementary school and just down the street from the library and park! score! 

i'll report back asap and let you know what we think after we see it this afternoon. p's ready to buy the thing today so i'm going to have to keep a lid on us both ;)

freaking out, part one (of a million more to come)

so the madness has begun and i've started looking at other dresses and now my head is all turned around because there are a million different ways to go... country, mod, boho, hippie, classic, ethereal... who knows?! 

the real kicker is that the dress i want most at this moment is this one from fleur wood: 

and it's sold out. 

so this morning i bought this dress from etsy (click to enlarge):

now if only i were a tall gorgeous dark skinned woman with an amazing fro....

 i really wanted this one from shripton couture because it's daisy-like but dressier... but, wouldn't ya know it, it too is sold out:

(this one has amazing details so if you have time click the link to see the other pics of it)

i am thinking that i could do a bit more of a yellow color scheme and that the daisy dress can be both country AND mod if done right.... i'm thinking of super cute pics on my vespa and standing outside a barn...  and if i don't wear it for the big day i know i'll wear it sometime cause it's just so damn cute! TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the first i know, but that's because i can be any kind of gal on any given day so i like all of these styles. how will i ever choose?!

i've been obessed with a mountain bride and snipet and ink these days. amazing sources of inspiration! it's like amazing stylish women did all the legwork for me and found all the best stuff on the internet :)

in good news:

last night p and i went to his mom's to begin making our invite list and it is not as bad as i originally thought. it looks like maybe we can invite everyone we really wanted to without going coo-coo-crazy. she was great about everything. 

AND.... 

one of my clients has a farm about an hour and a half south of us that she has offered for us to use for free for the big day!!!! AND... it has a chapel built in 1890 on the property!!!! we are going to drive down there to check it out this saturday so cross your fingers that it is just what we are looking for so we can get the locale nailed down. once we do, it will then determine a lot more about the # of invites, the theme/feel of the day and even the food and decorating decisions. oh gee, i hope it's what i'm imagining... or at least workable! 

and lastly, i have gone berzerk at the thrift.

this is just the very tip of a very large iceberg.

i stocked up on jars a plenty to make lanterns out of.

and glass canisters to serve vintage style candies in.

and an old school desk so i can totally rip off this idea:

and vintage sheets to use as the backdrops for photos or for tablecloths!

my sweet ellie was kind enough to soak all of the jars, peel off all the thrift store stickers, AND wash them all by hand!

she is a gift from the heavens i tell ya! :) THANKS E! YOU RULE BY MAKING MY LIFE SO MUCH EASIER!