downtown girl... gossip girl

another outfit post to bore you with ;)
this one features a dress i made from a 70's pattern... it's HUGE and perfect for fat days and/or a brunch where you fully expect your belly to need mucho room to hold all of the goodness you are about to consume. (that was me) i'm ready for the weekend. how about you?

and on a TOE.TALL.EEE different note: how disappointed are we in serena van der woodsen?! i mean, 1: he's MARRIED and 2: he's not even cute.

let's take a look, shall we?

trip and his "congressman style" don't excite me.... serena's cleavage... well, maybe.

nate and his bed head? yes, please.

and dan in this get-up - I PAUSED IT ON MY DVR TO LAUGH OUT LOUD!

what do you think? if you *had* to choose one which would it be?

quick like a band aid

i've decided that less is more... as in: the less i look around and try to search out all the possibilities of how to get hitched, the more sane i will be. 

in fact, i'm going to make a new nickname for myself concerning this whole shabang: the decider. 

maybe i'll even get an awesome wrestler mask! no, too scary... and hot. i'll just stick with the name.... ok, and maybe i'll make myself a name tag to wear when i need to step into "decisive bride-to-be mode"! kind of like beyonce has her sassy stage alter ego, "sasha fierce"!!!

anyway, i'm going to try to be as decisive and quick as i can because if i give it too much thought i'll get completely overwhelmed. 

so far i'm pretty set on:

• outdoors
• vintage/country/boho/hippie kind of vibes
• DIY as much as possible

and invites like these from hatch show print:

(click the link above and browse awesomeness)

i saw this image posted on the indiebride.com and i knew immediately this is the look i had been searching for. i also felt it was kismet because the date on this invite is may 24, 2008 and we got engaged on may 24, 2009 - i'm one of those hippies who believes in "signs" ;)

 

if we end up having a very intimate ceremony with just a very limited number of invites going out followed by a larger party with more invites going out i will probably splurge for the ceremony invites from hatch and then see if i can do the save the date cards, RSVP cards, directions, and then the "big party" invites myself. i've seen these martha stewart stamps at michaels and i think that they will blend nicely with the hatch print ones and give the same vibe. 

i just hope it doesn't turn out like most of my DIY efforts and end up costing more money and time than if i had just had them done professionally! i always want things to be so perfect that i end up overdoing it and missing the point....

i already have the clear stamp holder. so just getting the stamps and inks and paper is next. oh, and the hardest part: designing them. eeeks. 

tonight my BFF and i are going to get together to browse some wedding etiquette books (but NOT bridal magazines - i won't go near them) at the book store. i think we are going to try to make some very preliminary invite lists just so i can get an idea of how many people i'm really looking at. oh this is gonna be tough... but fun. 

now if only i can get p on board to start thinking about his invite list we'll really be on a roll :)

i thought we had a **PERFECT** location picked out last night but it's in a dry county (no alcohol allowed) and you can only do a champagne toast. p works in wine and we are drinkers so that nixed that locale! now we are exploring other ideas including the cheapest of all: my mom's new house with a few acres of land. it would just mean asking people to travel about an hour and a half. do you guys think that's too much?! **comments welcome**

begin at the beginning...

so, i have NO IDEA how i'm going to plan a wedding... or a party... or whatever it is that p and i decide to do but i do know that i have to start somewhere! i think a lovely place to start is in narrowing down things i *think* i want to be a part of this moment in our lives and things i know i do not.
sorry to be a negative nancy, but the truth is that the things i don't want are a lot easier for me to rattle off than the things i do - or think i do for right now anyway. 

i know i don't want to spend a lot of money... period. 

that pretty much acts as the guideline by which all other things much follow: renting an expensive place - no. buying an expensive gown - no. paying a ton for flowers or food - no. paying to transport people to a distant location -no. 

i think most of what i do want is achievable with some ingenuity and lots of hands on DIY time (which lucky for me is something i have and i love) and the things that are not are things i think are worth splurging on: the fun stuff! 

if i'm going to be honest (and i am to a fault sometimes) i would predict the things i will be most willing to dish the cash on will be:

1. photographs and.... dare i say it?...
2. hair. 
   

the first makes sense when you know that i graduated with a BFA in photography from the Art Institute of Chicago and i worked for a great wedding photographer even before that. in fact, it kills me that i can't shoot my own wedding because, like most things, i am 100% sure i could do it to my liking far better than anyone else. i'm super picky about this. 

the second makes sense when you know me. and my hair. and our torrid love affair that borders on masochism. i have colored my hair practically every conceivable color and had it a ba-zillion different styles and i'm not done yet. my latest vision is very long, very boho, and very very much what i do not currently have and will not have before expected wedding time. 

i'm just gonna take a deep breath and type this (to no one's surprise i'm sure).... i'm seriously considering splurging on expensive professional extensions for the big day. it's totally silly, i know. but so am i. this is what i'm thinking:

(click to enlarge any of the above - photos taken from bohememusings.blogspot.com - thanks isabell! you are beautiful!)

unfortunately for me, my hair is only chin length at the very longest strand right now and we probably won't wait a year to "make it official" so there's no way it's going to grow as long as i'd like it in time. bummer. but my worry is that if i splurge on extensions and i don't like them or they don't feel like "me" then i will forever regret getting them for such an important occasion. (but, again, if i'm really honest, i will bet big money that if i were to get them my someday kids would look back on the pictures from that day and tell stories about how their crazy mom was always doing something wacky with her hair and it would totally become part of my life story... just sayin.)

at any rate, here is a daydream list of things i would love to incorporate into the big day:

mid-summer's night circus:

mosquito tents w/ blankets & pillows on "floor"

orange & white stripped tent

lanterns EVERYWHERE

bowls of fruit for centerpieces (cherries, green apples)

lemonade (spiked?) - koolaid

blueberry pie instead of cake

barefoot

circus flags of old linens

fireflies

pinata

magician/clown/balloon animals/caricature artist

wood cut out of bride & groom for photos

pony rides

popcorn stand

bottled cokes

beer in tin tubs

everyone bring a flower to comprise bouquet

picnic style ceremony

COLORS: orange, limon, yellow, aqua, kelly green,fuschia

hammocks

lawn games: badminton, croquet, frisbee

DIY photo booth

sparklers!!!

clearly, you can tell i'm thinking warm weather and outside as two main factors! p took the thought right out of my brain when he said something about a housewarming/wedding/celebration. i would love it if we bought a house with a backyard that would accommodate this idea... we are still looking!

so, with the starting points of not spending a lot of money, kind of going for something a little on the hippie side and definitely casual side, and tentatively planning for something outdoors in warm weather (which here in the deep south can sometimes mean as late as october or even- believe it or not- november) i bought this dress for $80 today:

please keep in mind this is a shoddy pic taken with my phone 

and i just came from teaching a yoga class so i have on a sports bra under this and no real makeup on. 

i like it because it is flowy without overwhelming my petite stature. it's comfy as all get out. it's not white but can be seen as falling into the typical wedding dress color scheme. and it's long but not so long that i couldn't wear it barefoot or with flats seeing as how i'll likely be standing in grass! don't you think it would look perfect with a wildflower bouquet on a warm summer(ish) afternoon?! i think it pretty much meets all of my requirements... and if i change my mind in a month and want to go with something fancier or in a different vein then i still love this one and can get lots of wear out of it. plus, it would feel good to have a real starting point to plan everything else around and it would feel *amazing* to have such a big piece of the puzzle already figured out... and for so little money :)

now here's my next question: do i show p?! or keep it a secret?!

WOOT!

*much* to my surprise we met with the mortgage broker today and things went swimmingly! nothing is set in stone, but it looks like (fingers crossed) we may indeed be approved for a loan that is larger than our expected budget!!!!

WHOOOO - HOOO!

now, that doesn't mean we are going to run out and buy something at the top of our budget... or maybe buy anything at all just yet... but it does mean that I can exhale knowing I am not an utter failure who will never be "grown up" enough to own my own home.... not that people who don't own their homes are failures or not grown up! geez, that sounded BAD. forgive!

Now a whole new kind of anxiety is washing over me:

- is the house we were originally interested in the right one for us?

- will it get sold out from under us?

- how in the heck do I deal with things like inspections, appraisals, closing costs, etc, etc?

and the biggest questions of all:

- how important is it (financially, emotionally, legally, even socially) that we be married before we take this HUGE step together? 

- am I okay with buying a house together without marriage? what if we choose to never get married? will buying the house make him feel like we have to get married?

all i know, is that it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders just by taking the first step and seeing the broker. 

afterall, KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE: