Audacious hope.

When they called Pennsylvania for Obama, I finally stopped knocking on wood, allowing myself for the first time all month, despite the blazingly favorable polls of late, to feel confident.

When they called Ohio for Obama (ironically, our remote control had alighted on Fox just as they made that declaration), in my head, I realized that McCain simply couldn't win.

But I was so fixated on Virginia--wondering what was taking so long, analyzing the county breakdowns, waiting for my home county of Fairfax to finish tallying and turn the state blue--that at 11 p.m., when Charlie Gibson counted down the seconds and then called the election for Obama so calmly that the three of us watching did a double take before choking up and slapping hands, I was astonished and taken by surprise.

What an incredible, historic night. To see the people of America energized and uncynical and HOPEFUL is a moment I will remember as long as I live.

John McCain's concession speech was so gracious and heartfelt that it reminded me just why he has been so admired for most of his career, and why my grandmother insisted to me in September that "he is a good man." I believe he is, now. A truly moving and inspiring speech.

(Not so inspiring were the sour reactions of his supporters, who booed like frat boys when they should have been applauding the pro-American sentiments of unity their candidate was espousing.)

And Obama's speech, of course, was an oration that put tears in the eyes of people AROUND THE WORLD.

I am so proud of my sister, voting absentee in Virginia; of my brother, standing in line to vote in Florida; of my friend Sarah, mailing in her Iowa ballot from the other side of the world. I am so proud of Chris, who has been getting out the message for months, unafraid of political conversation. And I'm proud of myself, for reclaiming my passionate interest in the country I'm proud to call home, an interest that had been in bruised retreat following the betrayals of the past eight years.

I'm so excited to get involved and to make a difference in shaping the next four!

It's Election Day!

Can you concentrate? I certainly can't! I'll tell you what, I've never been so cheerful to stand in line at 7:00 in the morning.

Barista? Waitress? Receptionist?

Sorry for the lack of posting. I'm hitting a real lowpoint at my job. I know, at least I still have a job, right?

I can't think of anything better to say about it and I've been sitting here for five minutes.

Embellishment.

I tend to agree with going against the homemade route (thanks commenters! You cheered me up) BUT I gotta say I was floored by these photos of a $68 dress from Target and a very talented bride:




Via the $10,000 Wedding.

Me too.

"I'll be watching the election returns clutching a Bible in one hand and a bottle of scotch in the other."--work person

Stupid economy making bargainhunters out of other brides...

Bummer--there was the most beautiful wedding dress on eBay, by my favorite wedding dress designer, at an amazing price, and I went in at the last minute to bid and I bid up and I bid up and whoever else wanted it wanted it, I guess, more.

I have a friend who designs dresses and I'm open to the idea of a custom dress, but it also makes me hugely nervous. What if I don't like it and it ruins the friendship? What if I'm not brave enough to tell her I don't like it and I wind up wearing something I don't love? Does one offer to pay someone for doing something like that, and if so, how much? What if it winds up LOOKING handmade, my worst fear of all? There are so many unknowns; it makes me very nervous.

I can't afford the dresses I really like, heh. And I'm too snobby to be happy with something that's not truly special. So I guess I'll keep looking, and comfort myself by reminding myself that the dress on eBay was a few sizes too big. I know things can get altered down, but with the many kinds of delicate fabric involved in this particular dress, I was worried about the alterations. And I still have almost a year to find the dress. Wah, you can tell I'm sad, but I'll get over it :)* My presentation went exceedingly well this afternoon, and in the grand scheme of things, that's more important (since an author's, you know, career depends upon it).

*In case you're wondering, I DID try the traditional "go to a bridal boutique with your mom" route, and it was one of the more disheartening experiences of my life. It's really awesome to be lectured sternly on the price of lace and basically shaken out the door with the rug after forty minutes. Trying on wedding dresses was supposed to make you cry in a good way, I thought, not a sad way.

In actual earthshattering news, the election is only seven days away. Discuss.

Daddy dearest.

I've been meandering my way up to writing a post about the economy, saving money, planning a wedding in this economic climate, visitors, etc, but then I saw THIS and it jarred me out of my lazy blogging torpor:

"A new father has named his baby girl Sarah McCain Palin as an endorsement for Republican ticket...and without his wife's consent. Mark Ciptak of Tennessee says he picked the name to "get the word out" for McCain-Palin because he can't give a lot of money to the campaign. "I took one for the cause," he said. He wrote the name on the documents for his daughter's birth certificate, ignoring the name his wife picked, Ava Grace. “I don’t think she believes me yet,” said Ciptak. “It’s going to take some more convincing.” Yeah, it'll probably sink in when she sees the name written in the divorce documents." [The Knox News]--via Jezebel

WHAT an ASSHOLE. Even if he named the kid Michelle Barack Obama, I don't care. SHE DID ALL THE WORK! Holy crap, someone should punch that guy in the face.