Married

Life is Good

Flew into the Central Wisconsin Airport last night on the smallest plane I have ever seen. It seemed that all of the large, heavy people were sitting on one side, and I felt like, as we flew, there was a slight tilt in that direction. Maybe not. My parents picked me up and we went to Applebee's for dinner, which is one of those places that I would never go to unless it was with my parents.

This morning, my cell phone rang and it was a job offer. During my job search, I applied, interviewed, and was rejected for a lot of jobs that I am very overqualified for. Every time the rejection came, I felt so bad about myself. The job that I accepted today is in the same industry that I worked in while we lived in Pittsburgh, and I loved my job there. For the first time in my life, I will be starting a new position with directly-applicable experience. The best part about it is this: they were not hiring. When I arrived in Charleston, I sent my resume, thinking that nothing would come of it, really. But they are creating a position for me. That's never happened for me before.

Up next, a WI fish fry, Labor Day, and a week of pre-wedding madness leading up to wedded bliss. Stay tuned.

Little Updates

Our wedding is in 15 days! Next Thursday, I'll be traveling to Wisconsin to do last-minute wedding things and staying there until mid-week after the wedding. I will be there for about two weeks; it will be the longest I have spent in my hometown since I first left, when I was 20 years old.

*****

I've been sick for the last four days with a horrific sore throat and an overall feeling like I was recently hit by a truck. Bad timing. We are due to have a house full of cyclists this weekend, as the infamous WVMBA Black Bear Race in Kanawha State Forest is on Sunday. Brad and several of his Pittsburgh friends are racing, so our house will be full of skinny guys with shaved legs, bike parts, lycra clothing, and chamois cream. I was planning on hiking to the top of the trail to watch people crash on the moss-covered cliffs, but if I don't start to feel better, I might have to sit this one out.

*****

Finally, I leave you with a photo of my dog on a mossy log.

WWJHD?

Our wedding is less than one month away, and I'm traveling to Wisconsin in three weeks. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. We have been engaged for three years, and I've spent most of that time saying, "Oh, I have so much time." Now it's almost here, and I feel like I'm forgetting something important!

I picked up my dress from the seamstress a couple of days ago, and I was pleased to see that it fits well. I've lost a couple of pounds since I last tried it on, so it is a little more comfortable, too. I mean, it's definitely not a comfortable dress by any means, but I love it and I think it is flattering to my figure. I'll be channeling Joan Holloway on my wedding day and trying to embrace my curves:



I went to Macy's and a wonderful little woman named Amber Rose at the Lancome counter sold me some beautiful eye make-up for the big day. She gave me a mini-makeover there in the store; I will go a little bit lighter-handed than she did, but I liked the techniques that she used.

I made a silk flower/pearl/feather fascinator for my hair, but I'm still trying to decide how exactly I want to wear it. My hair is naturally wavy, and I want to keep the wave but I don't want to have, like, ringlet curls or anything. I don't want "bride hair," and my hair is about chin-length, so it might be a challenge. I'm thinking something similar to this, only less triangular, and with the fascinator more on the back of my head:



I just want to look my absolute best on our wedding day! I want Brad to see me and think that he is the luckiest guy in the room, because I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have him.

Swear I Was Born Right in the Doorway

Our friend Matt will be playing this song on his guitar in 5.5 weeks, on a beautiful Saturday in September, as I walk down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams. This song sums up exactly how I feel about Brad; I don't care, I can go anywhere with him and I'll probably be happy.

Répondez, S'il Vous Plaît

We sent out 50 wedding invitations two weeks ago.

Guess how many responses we have received? Seven.

Of these seven responses, none of them are from immediate family members. Now, you may think it's obvious that our families will be attending, and it is. However, we have three dinner choices on the menu so we need their selections; we need to know if Brad's siblings are bringing dates and, if so, their names, etc. Is this common? Does everyone usually wait until the last minute? I mean, it's just a little card with a self-addressed, stamped envelope: chicken, beef or vegetarian?

Come on, families! Send those suckers back!

OK, I guess the stress of wedding planning while job searching has started to get to me. I have been on a bunch of interviews, with no calls back, no offers. I have nothing but time to think about all of the things that could go wrong, and my mother isn't helping with her incessant wedding talk and texts (I should never have sent her a text; it opened the flood gates). I don't recall the last time I had a conversation with her that wasn't about The Wedding! and wasn't also riddled with pity over The Job Search!

Meanwhile, I have spent the last three years putting off our wedding plans, only to find myself with less than two months to go and a rising panic over what I haven't thought of, things I haven't yet done. Favors? No idea. Place cards? Only thoughts, no real actions. Gifts for the bridesmaids and groomsmen and our musician friend and parents and officiant? Nada. Wedding rings? Nope. Shit, I have to buy Brad a gift, too?

Sigh. Deep breaths, deep breaths.

Little Updates, Quiet Riot

During my second trip to Sun Kiss Tan, the super tan girl decided that, since I didn't burn the first time, I was OK to go in the more powerful bed. I was not. The entire back side of my body, from neck to ankles, got burned in only 10 minutes! Once the burn goes away, I'll be back (because I have paid for 10 sessions) but I will demand the first bed that I used, not the torture chamber.

*****

The city of Charleston has still not picked up our recyclables. Brad suggested that perhaps they only collect them every other week, so we'll try again on Wednesday.

*****

I had a mild freak out when I realized that we are getting married in less than three months. I have so much to do. The first thing on my list? Find and make an appointment with a good seamstress. The second? Join a gym and start working out with a vengeance. I plan to do both this week.

*****

Somewhere, in the hills of West Virginia, Quiet Riot is playing very loudly.

Tanning

I spend most of the summer in T-shirts, sometimes wife beater-esque tank tops, and I spend a decent amount of time outside (well, maybe not lately). Therefore, I tend to have a rockin' farmer's tan by July. Brad gets the worst farmer tan in the world from his lycra cycling clothes; mine isn't that bad but bad enough.

Since we are getting married in September and I am not wearing a T-shirt to the wedding, I desperately need to even out my tan. I was debating what to do: should I lay outside in our yard everyday? Use self-tanner? Get an airbrush tan?

In the end, I decided to go the sorority girl route and hit the tanning salon. I know how bad this is for me, and I am not the kind of girl who plays fast and loose with, you know, cancer. I will avoid UV rays for the rest of my life after the wedding, but I need my skin to match for this one special day!

I went to Sun Kiss Tan for my first session yesterday. The girl at the front desk was one of the tannest people I have ever seen, natch. She sold me a package of ten sessions, and escorted me into the room. I was really nervous, as I tend to be when I am doing something for the first time.

First, let me say that there are special goggles. And if you don't wear them? You'll go blind. I stripped down to my bra (with straps tucked in) and underwear, slathered myself in a "Diva" lotion sample, clamped my eyebrows down on those goggles, and hopped into the bed. I was prepared for it to feel like a coffin, and it kind of did, but it was surprisingly relaxing. It was warm and there was a fan blowing and music playing. I stayed in the bed for ten minutes and when it shut itself off, I got out, got dressed, and came home.

Not scary at all. And the payoff will be that I won't look ridiculous in my wedding dress! Now if there was only a way to keep my skin from freckling in the process. . .

Barrel of Fun

Brad and I went to Huntington yesterday to do a little exploring and ended up at the Huntington Mall. Somewhere, we had procured a gift card for Cracker Barrel, a place that neither of us had ever been to before, and since it was lunch time and there was a CB near the mall we decided to give it a try.

Turns out Cracker Barrel is an odd, wood-paneled "Country Store" in the front, with an odd, wood-paneled restaurant in the back. We put our name in for a table and milled around the store, where it appears they sell only rocking chairs and candy. After a few moments, our name was called and we were escorted to a huge, round table. This thing could have easily seated six, but we had the whole table to ourselves. We decided that, since we were the only patrons under the age of 65, that they had put us at the kids' table. We both ordered a fish fry, which is a staple of Wisconsin dining and is something that is not readily available in this part of the country. It was OK, but really only managed to whet my appetite for a real WI fish fry.

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In other news, we received our wedding invitations in the mail yesterday! I ordered them from an unfortunately-named website called Wedding Paper Divas, and they were relatively inexpensive so I didn't know how the quality would be. I was pleasantly surprised, they are beautiful and unique and exactly what I wanted. I can't wait to send them out!

Next, I need to find a good seamstress and have my dress altered. Luckily, it fits me pretty well, so I really only need it to be shortened, and I think I will have them cut the train off. I'm not really a train kind of girl. I also need to figure out what I'll be wearing on my head. Decisions, decisions. . .