Recommended reading.

A fascinating glimpse into the early years of children's literature and the power struggle that almost squashed Stuart Little.

How sweet it is

I swore I wasn't going to do this, especially given the fact that since the last post absolutely nothing has changed on the update front (thank you all for the kind comments--they were vastly reassuring!), but this is too cute not to post: I think I found my flower girl's dress, thanks to her pretty mom's Etsy resourcefulness.

Wedding March (to the wall).

The first question on everyone's lips is "Do you have a date?" followed by "Where's it going to be?" followed, oddly, by "Do you have your colors picked out?"

The short answers are no, maybe Virginia, and omgnopleasedon'tstressmeout.

My mom is doing the legwork and researching locales, which is so nice of her. She doesn't know it yet, but she might be planning the whole wedding, because every time I look at theknot.com (which is all of once) I have a heart attack. I'm fine with looking through wedding magazines because so many of the things I see I DON'T care for so it's easier for me to feel inspired by what I do like, but whenever I browse the Internet I come away feeling totally discouraged. This morning I spent twenty minutes on that blog Brooklyn Bride and there were SO MANY gorgeous, unique, stylish color combinations, invitation samples, bouquet ideas, etc that I feel like weeping. How will I ever decide? How in this plethora of fabulous options am I going to be able to choose something that both reflects Chris's and my personalities and won't leave me feeling like "But I could have also chosen that, or that, or that..."

I think the answer is going to have to be, no web browsing allowed. I want this wedding to be beautiful and fun, but I think by necessity it's going to have be eclectic and funky, because Chris and I are eclectic and funky, and because we don't want a cookie-cutter wedding--not just because that's not totally us, but also because if I tried to pick my favorite elegant combos out of the millions of options I'd wind up in a psych ward. We are blessed to be two creative people and to have families filled with creative people whom we plan to utilize (Shelby: invitation design! Liz: engagement photos! Mom: flower arrangements!). So here are my wedding priorities, and you can all help me remind myself of these over the next year or two (depending on when we find a location and can book it) whenever I'm spazzing out:

1. Have fun. This is going to be my only wedding and I want to enjoy the process, not become a basket case.
2. Don't turn into a bridezilla. Because I want it to be fun for my fiance and family, too.
3. Organize a wedding at which guests will have fun. Because it doesn't matter how exquisite are your tuberoses if everyone leaves early.
4. Have good food. Can frequently contribute to #3.
5. Have a setting and decor that leaves me feeling happy and satisfied, and that I come up with in a way that doesn't make me yearn for something I saw on design*sponge, and that doesn't break the bank.

This last, if I am to be realistic, should maybe move to the top. :)

Anyway, my point is, I'm taking this all with a huge grain of salt and a sense of humor! So please feel free to send me ideas, I won't be offended. As long as you come and dance the night away.

Souvenirs from Maine.

Our last night in Maine Chris's reunion with his childhood buddy Matt and Matt's bride Jen turned into a pub crawl that had its penultimate stop at an arcade where Chris's "Deal or No Deal" and hoops skills won him this sweet wristlet.

He also won a couple of mini Care Bears for me, but my real keepsake came the first evening of our vacation, at Mount Katahdin.

Impending...

I'm not procrastinating...I have a backlog of posts in my mind...but first I need Chris to give me the camera!!

Clown car!

Q: How many elephants can you fit into a Volkswagen Bug?
A: Four: two in the front, two in the back.

Q: How do you know if there's an elephant visiting your house?
A: There's a Volkswagen Bug parked out front with three elephants in it.

Fitting nine people into our one-bedroom for four nights was a challenge of nearly mathematic proportions, but we persevered, overcame, and had a fantastic time seeing New York City. Kathy, Erin, Traci, Alison, and their husbands/boyfriends (except for Kathy's) piled in for a fabulous fun-filled birthday weekend. We saw the Statue of Liberty, the Met, Central Park, a thunderstorm in Central Park (I would say this was "experienced" rather than "saw"), shopping in SoHo, what else?? I feel totally refreshed and invigorated from all the good girl-time.

And tonight I leave for eleven days in Maine, where I will have no Internet and not much cell reception. This delights me, as the deadlines at work have neared BIBLICAL proportions these past two weeks.

Clearly, I'm rocking the "proportions" references in this post.