So long 2009!

Goodbye 2009. You were a good year. A very good year.

You were the year we set the date, planned a wedding, got married, and enjoyed the first three months of marriage.
You were the year I sweat the small stuff and forgot to look at the big picture.
You were the year of 7 weddings and I'm glad to share my anniversary year with so many dear friends.
You were the year I traveled to the Hill Country, Georgia, Georgia again, Florida, Missouri, Missouri again, Mexico, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island again, Massachusetts, North Carolina, California, Georgia again, Missouri again. And thanks to all that, I earned my very first free flight ever.
You were the year I lost 10 lbs and kept it off for the most part.
You were the year I began cooking with health in mind, not just convenience.
You were the year I joined The Knot, met some lovely ladies who convinced me to start a blog, and began blogging.
You were the year that Mr. H and I kept our jobs despite layoffs at both of our companies and the crumbling economy.
You were the year my mom came to visit us 5 times.

But most of all, 2009 was a year of joy. While we may not have noticed it among addressing save-the-dates, picking out flowers, darting back and forth to dress alterations and venue meetings, joy was always present.

May 2010 be even more joyful! Happy New Year blog world! Thanks for all the support this year.

I like bubbles

Well, for the 2^nd time in a week I’ve had a mimosa brunch. The first being Kelly’s oh-so-fun holiday brunch (as recapped by Jill and Kelly). The second being a new company tradition.

For several years, my company has had a White Elephant gift exchange during the lunch hour. Last year this gift exchange turned into a potluck and just so happened to fall the day after our company holiday party. And one brilliant employee decided to bring mimosa fixings for his contribution. And thus the “Hair of the Dog White Elephant Gift Exchange” was born.

You guessed it. Last night was our company holiday party and this morning was our hair of the dog party. While last night was reasonably tame (until the 6^th Street after party where trays of tequila shots were forced upon unsuspecting souls), this morning’s mimosa and breakfast taco brunch was still fairly entertaining. Oh, and did I mention the 4 (FOUR) mimosas I had over the course of the morning?  Please excuse any grammatical errors in this post. It’s just the bubbly working its magic.

So as I’m polishing off my to-go mimosa (to-go to my desk), the CEO comes around with a bottles of Malbec and Champagne. Now I love me some Malbec, but while drinking champagne, you must choose champagne. Plus, I’ll never buy myself a bottle of the bubbly (why? I don’t know. I should rethink that). And New Year’s is coming up and champagne is a staple for any self-respecting New Year’s Eve party. Though exclaiming, “I love champagne!!!” while drinking champagne directly from the bottle is a fast-track to making you that girl at your gathering. So I will not do that. No, I won’t. But I will say I really like the bubbles.

Like, really like them.

Cheers to you and yours, dear readers!

Photo by WLP

6 Lessons in Stocking Stuffing

I considered taking a cue from the witty and talented Vic to write a How To Tuesday segment, but it isn't Tuesday. It is Thursday. But you already knew that, didn't you? However, on Tuesday I would have benefited from some helpful tips on how to stuff a stocking without spending $60 at Target.

1. Target has mastered the art of suggestive selling. As I wandered down the candy aisle, I was bombarded by other gadgets that are perfect stocking size. LED light keychain? Yes please!

2. Candy that comes with a game beats candy without a game. So what if I bought nerds for my nerd? It came with a fun book! And who can resist that?

3. Themes are good, but due to #1 themes go out the window. Mr. H and I watched Elf on Monday night and I considered a stocking themed by the elves' 4 food groups: candy, candy cane, candy corn, and syrup. But where would the travel sized Scattegories fit into that?

4. Stockings are a good way to give your husband new stockings. Yep. He needs new socks. I'm embarrassed I put that thought out on the internets, but he does. And socks are big. Well, big enough to fill up a stocking without looking like a cheap-o.

5. If your husband asks if his Christmas present is a puppy, a pair of boxers with puppies will suffice. Again, why am I telling you people this?

6. Stockings are an excellent way to boost our economy by spending $60 at Target. Gee I could have used a gift card. Maybe one of the giveaway variety?

Alternate titles for this post:
How to Kiss Vic's Ass Without Even Trying
Why do I Write these things on the internet?
I Should be a Marketer for Target. Oh wait, I don't want to live in Minnesota.

Embarrassing Photo for an Embarrassing Post

Photo by Whitney Lee

Identity Crisis

Mr. H can’t even remember my new name. Yes, my new last name that is also his last name. 

I ordered some wedding photos to include in Christmas presents. Being the efficient engineer that he is, he decided he’d pick up the prints from Walgreen’s since he was going straight home after work and wanted to get a head start on packaging the presents.

Here’s the scene from Walgreen’s in the closest approximation of Mr. H’s storytelling abilities that I can muster.

Mr. H: I’m picking up prints for Emily S****

Photo lady: (looks through all S orders) I’m sorry, we don’t have an order under that name. What is the phone number?

Mr. H: (may or may not have looked in his phone for this) xxx-xxx-xxxx

PL: Could it be under H****?

Mr. H: Uh, yeah. I guess it could be under my name. (looks at package) Oh, that’s her name too…

All this after we’d emailed back and forth and he explicitly asked, “Are the photos under your name?” I responded that yes they were and thought about saying my new full legal name, but I figured if anyone in this world knows who I am now, it would be my husband. Not so, not so dear readers.

Speaking of new names, can anyone else not sign their married name to save their life? I’m blaming the increase in the number of letters. Any other excuses I can use? How was it so much easier to append celebrity crushes’ names to my own when I was a middle schooler?

Mmmm. That's good cake.

photo by Whitney Lee

Time to Celebrate!

The Christmas season is upon us and, well, has been for 13 days now. There is just something about this time of year - twinkling lights on the Christmas tree, stories and songs of love and joy on the radio, shopping for loved ones, and of course the parties. Last week we had one each night.

Monday: Crafting for Friday's party. Turned into more of cooking a delicious strata, eating dinner at 9:30, watching love actually, and painting a Christmas tree on a T-shirt.

Tuesday: My department Christmas party. Last year's was insane - we started at Manuel's, then hit 6th Street hard until about 2 a.m. This year's was tame - happy hour at J. Black's after work followed by dinner at Polvo's.

Wednesday: Yoga party. Long ago I mentioned that I take yoga after work at my office. Our teacher is awesome and invited the class over for delicious treats after class this week.

Thursday: Christmas Pops Sing Along at the Alamo Drafthouse. My favorite Austin Christmas tradition. If you haven't ever gone you are missing out. Plus, there is renegade caroling down 6th Street. This year we circled bike cops and sang "Dick in a Box." Last year we got kicked out of the Omni for making a joyful noise.

Friday: Gaudy Christmas party. I was silly and forgot my camera. Thankfully the hosts had mandatory photos by the tree.

Saturday: We were supposed to go to Mr. H's department party, but it was cancelled. So instead we got to celebrate our 3 month anniversary with dinner at Asti and cupcakes from Quack's.

Adios Evitas!

Last night, Mr. H and I had our farewell dinner at Evita's Botanitas in far South Austin. This restaurant has been around forever, but we didn't discover it until 2 weeks ago. As I was chowing down on my delicious enchiladas mole and lamenting the close of our new favorite neighborhood joint, I asked Mr. H, "Is it better to love and lose than to never love at all?"

About enchiladas.

Yes, they are that good.

Dramatic much?

I'll let you answer that age old question yourself. They close on Dec. 23.

Love Actually Is All Around

Survey time! Thanks Jill for starting this. I watched Love Actually last night which is why the title of this post has nothing to do with the post itself.

What are your middle names?
Me: Now my maiden name, Hubs: Wilson

How long have you been together?
4 years on Jan. 21

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
3 weeks

How old are each of you?
me: 24, hubs: 25

Did you go to the same school?
only during the three months we were on study abroad, but that wasn’t really “school”

Are you from the same hometown?
Not even the same state

Who is the smartest?
equally smart in different ways. I’m the writer and creative one, he’s the math/science/engineering one.

Who majored in what?
me: public relations, minor in sociology, hubs: industrial engineering

Who is the most sensitive?
definitely me.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
this is tough, but probably Trudy’s

Where have you traveled together as a couple?
New Zealand, Australia, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, DC, New York, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Vegas, Mexico, Texas

Who has the worst temper?
neither of us really has a temper

How many children do you want?
two, but not until I’m 30 at the earliest.

Who does the cooking?
I do, but he cleans.

Who is more social?
definitely me. He calls me his social planner.

Who is the neat-freak?
He is neater than I am, but I would never describe him as a neat freak.

Who is the most stubborn?
I am. I’m a Taurus, so it’s not my fault.

Who wakes up earlier?
During the week, he wakes up 15 minutes before I do and pretty much has to pull me out of bed. On the weekends it’s rare if I sleep later than he does.

Where was your first date?
We never had one. We met and fell in love while studying abroad so we planned activities together and each paid our own way for everything. I didn’t even know his phone number until we’d been together 3 months and were the flight home from Australia.

Who has the bigger family?
definitely me.

Do you get flowers often?
Only when they are on special at Central Market.

How long did it take to get serious?
Maybe 2 months. It was fast.

Who eats more?
He probably eats twice as much as I do. And I like to think I have a healthy appetite for a 5'1 woman.

What do you do for a living?
me: marketing/public relations/event planning, hubs: industrial engineer

Who does the laundry?
mostly hubs. He runs out of socks before I run out of anything, so that must be why.

Who’s better with the computer?
He is. See answer to “Who is smarter?”

Who drives when you are together?
Always him. I hate driving.

What is "your" song?
Our first dance was to The Beatles’ “I Will,” but we also like Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers,” Cat Stevens’ “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out,” and oldie “Oh How Happy You Have Made Me.”

Do you ever argue?
Argue? No. Bicker? Rarely. We’re a pretty easy going couple.

Watching the Dandelions Grow

Several weeks ago, a friend was trying to put together a social sports team. Wiffleball, to be exact. Now I played wiffleball for two seasons when I first moved to Austin 2.5 years ago. Probably because I wanted to get to know my coworkers better and maybe meet a few people from other teams. Those seasons proved 3 things.

1. I hate baseball and everything related to it. Yes this is a tense subject in my house as Mr. H loves baseball and I rejoice when the World Series is FINALLY over. (I mean really, what sport plays an 162 game season anyway?)

2. I hate playing team sports. As a child, I played tennis, swam, danced, and cheered. If there is a ball larger than my palm, I don't want to be involved. (umm... that's what she said?) I even took Individual and Dual Sports for my P.E. credit in high school.

3. Wiffleball is not played with a big red bat, but rather a skinny yellow bat that might weigh a half pound soaking wet.

So then, why did I tell Mr. H that said friend was organizing another wiffleball team? Perhaps love. Perhaps a weak moment in thinking that drinking in a garage that has been converted to a basketball court, er wiffleball field, might not be so bad even if your beverage cannot be in an open cup, koozie, covered waterball or anything that resembles an alcoholic beverage drink container. So we compromised. He signs up to play, I sign up to drink, warm the bench, and be team cheerleader.

Fast forward to last night. The season opener. The season opener double header that friend and hubs conveniently forgot to tell me about. The season opener double header where only two women were present when the game began and you need three to play...and team cheerleader is asked to sub... and wear another teammate's T-shirt... that is a Youth Large...and Emily didn't wear a sports bra or tennis shoes because she didn't think she'd have to play... and Emily has ginormous boobs...and I'll only play right field because nothing ever happens there.

But ya know what? It was fun. I made an amazing catch (with a look of fear in my eyes) to get the third out of the first inning. I didn't realize I had made this incredible feat, so I threw to second to make a play, but whatevs. I did it. I got on base twice. Made it to third once. Scored no runs, but I actually hit the freaking ball with the itty bitty lightweight yellow bat. Go me.

I'll leave you with some Peter, Paul and Mary lyrics to my new Thursday night anthem:

Off in the distance, the game's dragging on,

There's strikes on the batter, some runners are on.

I don't know the inning, I've forgotten the score.

The whole team is yelling and I don't know what for.

Then suddenly everyone's looking at me

My mind has been wandering; what could it be?

They point at the sky and I look up above

And a baseball falls into my glove!

Here in right field, it's important you know.

You gotta know how to catch, you gotta know how to throw,

That's why I'm here in right field, just watching the dandelions grow!

Twins?

Does anyone else think Ryan on this season of SYTYCD looks like a real life version of Mr. Incredible?

source

source

Blogger tips

I'm new to this bloggy world. Ok, 75 posts in 7 months probably isn't considered "new," but I haven't put a whole lotta time into figuring out this thing since I launched the blog that Mr. H still doesn't know about.

Can someone please tell me how to quickly and easily post multiple pictures in a post? My lack of pics on this blog are mostly from laziness, but I gotta believe you all know something I don't. I mean, my "thankful post" took over an hour and that wasn't because of my excellent craftsmanship of the written word. I almost added an additional line item... "I am thankful for the person who tells me how I can put 4 pictures in a post without it taking 45 minutes."

I'm withholding wedding recaps until someone tells me how to do this! Thanks ladies!

Also while we're at it-- footnotes. Those are frequently my favorite parts of posts and I'd like to pack as many witticisms in as I can.

You can call me Mrs. H

Yep, that’s right. I finally did it. I am no longer stuck between my two last names. I’m officially Mrs. H. Now you may ask, “Umm, haven’t you been married 2.5 months? What the heck has taken you so long?” TSA. That’s why. As mentioned previously, I was traveling nearly constantly for most the last 2 months. Well, consistently enough that there was no way I’d have a new license between trips (see also: rant on TX DMV for not having license printers in house like every other state I’ve lived in has) and there was no way I was going to hand a TSA agent a piece of rumpled paper as my (temporary) ID. Would it have worked? Well, technically yes… maybe. But arguing with authority isn’t a hobby I’d like to pursue.

Other little victories:

• · Thank you notes are finally done. Again, no judging.
• · E-pics are up on WLP blog. Will our wedding pics follow?
• · Christmas tree is up, now it’s time to trim it!
• · Successful maiden voyage of my new immersion blender. Broccoli cheese soup – yes please!

I am Thankful

Am I jumping on the "I'm thankful for..." bandwagon? Yes, ok. I am. But it's Thanksgiving and I'm no Scrooge. What? Wrong holiday? Oh. Forgive me. I'm thankful for that.

#1 - My hubs

This doesn't need explanation because, well, he's my hubs and I am obviously thankful for him if I married him. But I'm also thankful for his antics. Not just the ones that result in hand washing dishes, mowing the lawn, and taking out the trash. But the ones where he forgets how old he is when buying beer at HEB on a Saturday night and the judgy cashier lady looks up at Mr. Baby Face and asks, "How old are you?" and he responds "Uhhh (looks at me) twennntttyyy.... fiiive?" Yes dear. You are 25. Please sound more confident the next time your baby face is being carded, which by my calculations will be sometime tomorrow night. This clearly isn't even in the top 500 reasons why I love him, but it a) isn't gag-worthy because I'm saving that for wedding recaps. Get excited. and b) is my lame attempt at making up for the fact that I thought about blogging that story weeks ago, but didn't get around to it.

#2 - My parents

They truly are amazing people. I mean, my dad called me today and asked me to think about bread, naan, and tortillas. And my mom has already been hounding me for my Christmas list for 2 months AND has every meal planned for Christmas week. Good people, I tell you. But they also raised adorable little me and gave me and hubs the wedding of our dreams. For that, we are ever so grateful.

#3 - My friends

These are the people that make me laugh, encourage me, and embrace me for the cheesy person I am. They are also the ones that provided some really ridiculous candids from our wedding. Trust me, you'll be thankful for them too on wedding recap week.

I'm also thankful for the new blog friends that are becoming real life friends.

#4 - My paycheck

2009 was obviously a rough year for many. I am ever so grateful that Mr. H and I survived each of our companies' layoffs and still have jobs and the paychecks associated with them. I try to remember when work gets stressful that I am fortunate to have that kind of stress in my life rather than the stress associated with unemployment.

#5 - My DVR

Seriously. I don't watch TV anymore. I watch my DVR. How else can you have Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl, SYTYCD, ANTM, the entire NBC Thursday night line up, Grey's Anatomy, Georgia football games that I forgot(?) about because I was having so much fun at JHJ party, Top Chef, and Project Runway all in one place? (see #1 for things I'm thankful for. How on earth has he let me hijack the DVR the way I have)

#6 - Whitney Lee Photography

For capturing all the beautiful moments seen here and on future posts. And for mailing my image DVD just in time for this post.

Oh Happy Day!

My company won a top industry award this afternoon. Go marketing team! I mean, hooray company for doing good stuff.

I went to yoga in the gallery as part of the Blanton’s 3^rd Thursday.

Wedding pictures are up!

All this to counteract the sad news that Uga VII died of a heart attack.

A Bulldog and her bee

I've mentioned before that Mr. H and I went to "rival" universities. I quote rival because hubs' GT loathes my UGA, but we could really care less about them. :)

So last Saturday, Mr. H convinces me to spend the afternoon at The Tavern to watch GT take on Wake. Turns out it was an official watch party and the guy in charge got all nerdy pissy and threw a full cup of water on another spectator he called "you f-ing asshole." Pretty sure if Mr. Nerd-in-Charge could have made steam shoot out of his years, he would have. Instead he grabbed his box of pom poms and ran away. True story.

So following the nerd drama, everyone settles down and watches the game (that I could care less about, but am an excellent and supportive wife so I politely clapped at the appropriate times). So GT wins in overtime, the rest of the crowd goes wild and sings their fight song. Ya know, the one where they brag about being "ramblin' wrecks" and "helluva engineers"? This is also the song where they shout "to hell with Georgia" no matter WHO they are playing. I mean really, you can't fill in the blank with your actual opponent? You just shout about a "rival" that only thinks about you the Saturday after Thanksgiving? Ok. Got it. So they shout "To hell with Georgia" and I promptly raise my right hand and middle finger into the air.

On the way home, I tell Mr. H that I hope he didn't mind my bird during the fight song.
His response: No babe. I thought it was classy. You did what you had to do.

That's right. My husband thinks I'm one classy lady.

Cheers,
One Classy Bulldog

The Comforts of Home

As I mentioned in my last post (2 weeks ago... please forgive me), I've been on the road a lot. Let's take a look at my calendar from the past couple months.

Sept. 12: Wedding Day
Sept. 14-20: Honeymoon in Zihuatanejo
Sept. 29-Oct. 2: Work Trip to Providence
Oct. 26-30: Work trip to Northeast (4 cities in 5 days)
Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Family wedding in North Carolina
Nov. 2-3: Work in North Carolina
Nov. 8-11: Work in San Francisco

As I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday with my Google Reader, DVR, and favorite quilt (handmade by my mommy), I'm reminded of the importance of the comforts of home. While I was gone I felt a bit unsettled. Don't get me wrong - I love to travel. But work travel is hardly travel. It's eating out 3 meals a day, sleeping in hotel rooms, adjusting to cities' hard or soft water, blocking out the street noise below, living out of a suitcase, missing your hubs, and working 14 hour days. Geez. At least I got to do some fun stuff in San Francisco (love that city, will be returning with hubs soon).

Today is the first Sunday I've had a home in weeks. I'm being lazy (ignoring the last 15 wedding thank you notes I need to write and two suitcases that need to be unpacked. don't judge). At some point I hope to drag myself off the couch and into DSW because this lady needs some new pumps, walking shoes, and running shoes.

Up this week: home cooked meals, cozy nights in with hubby, exercise (for the first time in 3 weeks save for one hour of yoga)... it's going to be fabulous.

Did you miss me?

Wow. I have not blogged since Sept. 9. That was three days before I became Mrs. H. And what a magical day that was. I won't go into the details now because I just know I'll be getting my pro pics back very soon and I'll want to whore them out as much as possible.

So, what have I been up to?

* getting married
* honeymooning
* procrastinating on writing thank you notes
* writing thank you notes
* watching speechlessly as my company had to lay-off several dear co-workers (and thanking my lucky stars I still have job)
* traveling for work
* attending other people's weddings
* catching a stomach bug that led me to Urgent care at 10:30 on a Friday night
* getting two bags of IV fluid (or whatever the technical term is) pumped into my system at said urgent care site
* sitting in the 6th hotel room in 8 days, bored as can be, missing my Mr. H...

which is probably why I decided to finally jump back on the blog bandwagon. And the fact that I just spent the last hour catching up on the last two weeks of posts in my google reader. And how I remembered how much I enjoy reading about the adventures of people I've never met (or have only met briefly). And how I always seem to be out of town or busy for those bloggy happy hours...

So yeah. I don't know if you missed me, but I sure missed you. And I'm back.

And since I'm such an attention whore, I'll give you one photo that brings a smile to my face.

Wedding Week: Day, 3,4, and 5

Wedding rings: check

Microphone pick up: check

OOT bags: check

Wrap attendant gifts: check

Take bud vases to florist: check

Make and print photo sharing cards: check

I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting, but the point is wedding headquarters are bustling with activity. My parents got in town Sunday night and have been amazingly helpful with the last minute preparations. I'm sure most people would complain about having their parents around for the full week before the wedding, but I know we could not have gotten everything done without them. The H's arrive today and we'll be heading out for a nice dinner with both sets of parents, Mr. H and me.

Here are a few of my lessons learned from this week.

OOT bags take way longer than they should. Or maybe that's just because we had to put together 40 OOT bags and anything multiplied by 40 is going to be time consuming. This number could have been much hire, but we have lots of budget-conscious guests who are sharing rooms. Hooray for that! And hooray for saving money!

Not all sunscreen is created equally. Back to lesson #1, plan ahead if you decide to fill tiny bottles with sunscreen to keep your guests sunburn free. We waited until Monday to buy our sunscreen. Most stores are out. Which leads me to another post for another day about why the hell fall clothes hit Austin retailers in August (despite the reading on the calendar, we still have 2 more months of summer). Back to the sunscreen though, we bought some really thick sunscreen that try as we might would not go into the bottle, but rather would sit in a bubble on top of the bottle's mouth teasing us. My ever-resourceful Dad took a trip to Walgreen's and came back with a child's medicine shooter and it worked perfectly.

Relax. There is only so much you can do each day. Don't add new things to the list a week before the wedding. If you didn't think of it in the last 8 months, you don't need to have it. Be productive in the mornings and afternoon and you too an enjoy a mexican martini or half bottle of wine when the day's work is done.

So how am I feeling? First, this doesn't seem real. At all. Yes my parents are in town and guests start arriving today, but it certainly doesn't feel like they are here to celebrate Mr. H and me. I'm excited and happy (obvi). I've known for 3 years that I would marry Mr. H and I've dreamt of what that would feel like. Honestly, it feels pretty great. I can't wait to see what the coming years hold for us. But as far as the actual wedding goes, I just hope that I can step back, take it all in, and enjoy it. Oh, and that I achieve the overarching theme I've been pouring hours upon hours into every week.

I'll probably be back one (or a couple) more time(s) before I become a Mrs. Expect some 3 a.m. blog posts if I can't sleep!

Wedding Week: Day 2

Well Saturday certainly had its highs and lows. I'll start with the lows, because those are no fun. My Georgia Bulldogs lost their season opener. It is very unlike us. BUT it's also unlike us to play a team ranked higher than we are in our season opener. Oklahoma State- I hate you. And I hate orange. The best we can hope for is OSU to continue winning. And yes, in my head that means beating Oklahoma and Texas. (Oh am I going to lose followers this fall...)

This time of year also brings back my yearning to be back in Georgia surrounded by other UGA fans and the pageantry the Southeast brings to football. Tailgates with bourbon, fried chicken, southern-style potato salad. Dressed in the most adorable red and black attire my college student budget can buy. In years past, I feel blue leading up to the start of college football season knowing that I won't be watching games with other fans and knowing that I'm going to have to put up with Big 12 coverage all season. This truly is the one negative about Austin that I can think of. So if listening to UT nonsense is the worst thing I have going for me in Austin, I'm doing pretty well.

So the happy stuff!! Um, next Saturday I'll be married. Which means my focus the past month has shifted from college football to flowers, gowns, and Canon in D. I am so ready for this wedding! Not just for it to finally be here as I've heard many bride-to-bes say. Because Mr. H and I feel like it's already here. On December 14, Mr. H proposed. Almost exactly 9 months later we will be wed. Nine months went by so quickly. The short engagement was stressful at times and I often hoped for more time (oh the number of additional DIY projects I would have done!), but Mr. H reminded me that I'm good about stressing no matter how much time I have. And yes, it probably would have been ridiculous for me to have 138 DIY projects for the wedding. We don't even have that many guests!

We celebrated the 1 week mark by going on our last "single" date night. We saw Extract at the Alamo Ritz. I give it a big fat meh. It wasn't all that funny, the characters were not likable, and the story line wasn't that interesting. I'd wait for the rental. On the other hand, Mr. H liked it, but agreed that we've been to much better comedies lately.

My parents arrive this evening! The only big thing we have left is to put together our out of town bags. It's almost here!!!

Wedding Week: Day 1

Today is my last day of work before the wedding. I'll get to enjoy my Labor Day weekend, and then finish preparations after my parents arrive in Austin on Sunday evening.

Mr. H and I got our marriage license this morning. It was possibly one of the easiest parts of this whole wedding planning process. We got in and out in about 10 minutes.

I'm celebrating my last day of work today by going to Frank for lunch. I've heard loads of good things about Frank. And seriously-- how can you not love a place entirely dedicated to upscale hot dogs and fries? Rumor has it that they have bacon infused Makers Mark. I love bacon. I love bourbon. Will I make a poor decision and drink bourbon in the middle of the work day? Stay tuned!

The First 3 Checks

Update #1 in living for good stories.

Check 1:

Last Thursday, a group of friends trucked up to Round Rock for an Express game. We drank cheap beer in the parking lot, ate some hot dogs, and watched a minimal amount of baseball.

Good story: Apparently yelling "Keep running you dumb ass" at a player who has ample time to run from second to third is inappropriate. Parents covered their childrens ears and loads of people turned to stare.

Check 2:

To celebrate Tuesday's "cooler weather," we went to Tiniest Bar in Texas. Right after we got there trivia began. We won. The prize? 1 pint of beer for the winning team each round... to share. There were 5 of us.

Good story: We noticed a player on another team playing with her iPhone. We asked if she was cheating and she firmly said, "No. I promise I'm not cheating. I'll show you what I'm looking at. I'm looking up how to spell potato!" Hmmm, guess our competition wasn't very stiff.

Check 3:

On the way home from Tiniest Bar, we stopped at La Mexicana Bakery. Melt in your mouth breakfast tacos for $1.30. Did I mention they are 24/7.

Good story: Did I mention $1.30 breakfast tacos that happen to be delicious?

Live for Good Stories

Perhaps it's seeing the 101 in 1001 lists in my reader, perhaps it's wanting to drink in everything that Austin has to offer, perhaps it's the desire to do more than just plan my wedding, go to work, hang out on the couch with Mr. H...

But I'm taking something on. It isn't 101 in 1001. It's simpler and yet perhaps more difficult than that. 50 new Austin-y things by Dec. 31, 2001. That is in almost exactly 4 months. Two weeks of that I"ll be off the radar for trying new things because of the wedding. I also have about 2 weeks of work travel in there too.

Right now the list is 25 items long. My friend KK and I are embarking on this together for similar reasons. And hopefully the result is more than just a smaller bank account and a larger waist line. Hopefully the outcome falls something more like "We tried new things and some were great and others were not, but it doesn't really matter because we got out there and did something, lived some great stories, and maybe made a few friends along the way."

So, do you have any non-food related, inexpensive items you'd like to enter into the running?

Missing Bridesmaid's Dress

I'm not sure if I've fully explained my amazing bridesmaids to you. So amazing, they live all across the country. We keep in touch via email, gchat, phone calls, and the occassional "hey we actually get to see each other!" weekend. Usually, this isn't a problem having friends in great cities. That is, until you need to get a grape satin bridesmaids dress to them.

Last Sunday, J of Chicago informs me that her dress has still not arrived. Since they were shipped 2 weeks prior, I obviously feel the need to "trouble shoot." So I call the boutique we bought the dress from, but they can't do anything until Monday. So I call Alfred Angelo, as that is the designer. The consultant checked the database for all dresses in the warehouse in grape satin in her size. No luck. So I go to David's Bridal because they have dresses in every color imaginable and surely one of those is equivalent to AA Grape. No such luck.

I look on eBay, Craigslist, second hand stores... no luck.

In the meantime, J is calling all AA dealers in the Chicago area, encounters tons of mean people, and finally finds someone willing to help. She also says that they can easily get in dresses that are samples and it just so happens that 2 long satin dresses come in grape as a sample! Hooray!

While deciding on bridesmaids dresses was a difficult decision, I'm so so so happy I decided to have 2 different styles for my 5 ladies to choose from. Now there will be 3! 2 in each of the short styles and J in the long style cut off to cocktail length.

The Kids' Table

Part 1 in trying to make good on my last post's promise. After I get caught up here I need to catch up on the 421 unread posts in my google reader.

Mr. H's coworkers are adults. They own houses, they are married, they do more than hang out with friends and drink beer on the weekend. They also go on shrimping trips, which will come to play shortly.

My coworkers are awesome (not that Mr. H's aren't). They are adults who refuse to believe that being over the age of 23 means you need to act responsibly, cut yourself off after 2 drinks, settle down, etc. Needless to say, most of our social life revolves around my coworkers. Even though we own a house and are getting married.

That was, until the fruits of a shrimping trip were put on the table.

Enter last Saturday (1 week and 1 day ago). Shrimp boil. Mr. H doesn't eat shrimp, but I all but begged him to go to this. After all, we'd been couped up in the house all day working on (you guessed it!) wedding stuff. I drank exactly 3 beers and ate upwards of 20 shrimp. Hallelujah. I also got to know 3 of Mr. H's coworkers. They are mischievous and will be throwing a Summerfest party next weekend with a 16 foot tall inflatable water slide. Again, I begged Mr. H to let us go to this party.

As we walk to the car, we have the following exchange...

Me: That was really fun. I'm glad we went!

Mr. H: Good I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Me: Yeah. I think this was the first real adult party we've ever been to. (thoughtful pause) And somehow I still found myself at the kids' table.

Mr. H: That's what S said. When you walked away, S apologized that you got stuck at the kids' table.

Never ever get too cool for the kids' table. Cheers!

Bad Blogger

I am still here and I have so much to share. This week has been absolutely nuts between work and all the fun (stress) that comes with being one month away from wedding day.

Coming soon...

• The Bridesmaids Dress Crisis
• How I Met Jesse, Mike S., Tanner P., Dave, and Wes of Bachelorette fame
• Finding the kid's table at my first real adult party

I know you're on the edge of your seat!

Is this what they mean by water cooler?

My weekend etsy purchases arrived! And hijirik threw in 2 extra Live What You Loves for me. Gooo Me! Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that I ordered 8, meant to order 9, she read my mind, and thought of a super-special-just-for-Emily deal where she'd make it an even 10.

But the excitement over free stuff was dulled when my purse came in and it wasn't exactly what I expected. Less structured than I had hoped, but I'm still going to use it.

And because this blog is a litte etsy heavy these days (addiction I tell you!), here's a story from last night. So my friend turned 24 at midnight so naturally he had some friends over to help celebrate. He ran out of glasses, so I resorted to rehydrating (post- Boulevard Sampler selections) by gulping from a measuring cup.

Awkward engineer (I can say this because Mr. H is an engineer and only sometimes awkward) walks up to me with his water filled wine glass. He makes fun of my measuring cup and I say that at least I don't have to refill constantly. Then we proceed to discuss my daily water intake (yes, you read right) for a five minutes.

Me:Desperately searching for a way out of the conversation. Trying to make eyes at Mr. H to come save me. Hoping AE notices the bling on my left hand...

Him: "Well the downside to drinking this much water..." walks away and goes to the bathroom!

Who SAYS that? And who talks to a girl about her water intake at a party?

Lesson learned: Drinking from Pyrex measuring cup at a party is brilliant and you should totally try it. But if you do drink from said measuring cup, be prepared for some awkward, creepo conversations. Or just have a safe word for your man to swoop in and save you.

Lunch Time Window Shopping

Continuing the search to spice up my pretty, white "reheasal and bridesmaids' luncheon dress," I found these beauties on Etsy. I smell an addiction coming on.

Percy Handmade

Everyday Diamonds

Linen Me

Oh, and apparently I'm jealous my bridesmaids get to wear plum and I don't. Because I seriously wasn't trying to buy a plum flower, but it looks like I'm going that way. Any recommendations on wear to find a similar color of shoes?

Deadline Day

August 5, the day we asked wedding guests to kindly respond by, has come and gone. We've received many phone calls and emails from friends apologizing for their lack of attention to dates, how busy they've been, and how they are trying to figure out if they can make the 10-15 hour trip to Texas. All perfectly legitimate concerns. I mean, it takes quite a bit of effort to drop a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope in the mailbox. I'll let it slide.

I know work and life get to be too much for me to handle sometimes and adding in a walk to the end of my driveway seems like a ridiculous waste of time.

I know time just flies by and before you know it, you wake up on August 5 and think, "Wasn't there something I was supposed to do today?"

And I know that sending out-of-town guests a save the date card 5 months before the wedding just isn't enough time to think about whether or not and how they are going to come to Austin.

All that aside, we are still missing 20% of our response cards, including those from 2 groomsmen.

1-1-1

I swear I am not going to be one of those people who treats my blog the way STFUMarrieds people treat facebook and myspace. But I thought it was neat that today I’m 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day away from my wedding, so says my ticker on the knot. And if you’re reading this at 4:29 p.m., 1 month, 1 week, 1 day, 1 hour, 1 minute, but I totally didn’t go there.

On to fun stuff that my readers actually care about…

I’m pretty sure Jill of Enginerd can read my mind. She commented on my last post that the first etsy purchase leads to many more. I don’t know how she knows that I bought these beauties over the weekend.

Wedding Day clutch

When I first heard about a wedding day clutch, I thought “Hm. That is something I can do without.” But really, where else am I going to have lipstick, Burt’s Bees, altoids, and… Plus, how am I supposed to say no to a bright red clutch with a rosette? That’s what I thought.

Bridesmaids gifts (part 1)

I was first introduced to these through Kate on her pretty paper Thursdays. I couldn’t get these signs out of my head. I’m known to most of my friends as the gal prepared with cheesy inspirational quotes. I thought my ladies might enjoy a less cheesy, but still inspirational quote to hang on their walls. Each girl is getting it in a color that matches their personal favorites. I’ll be purchasing frames once they come in.

Buyer's Remorse

After 8 hours (yes 8) of errands yesterday, I was so desperate to purchase an outfit for one of the pre-wedding events. BCBG was having an amazing extra 50% off sale, but apparently their dresses were either designed for standing only (no walking or dancing) or I'm just plain too curvy for them. Cute stuff when standing, but as soon as I'd lift my foot to take a half step closer to the mirror, the whole dress would hike up. Ick.

So I ventured into my old stand by White House Black Market. I know my size, I know what styles look good and hell, it's my wedding and I can wear a white dress two days in a row if I want to. So I bought this:

Mr. H and I live about 30 minutes away from the San Marcos outlets. This purc

hase was the last of the day because we had to get back to Austin for a going away party. Oh, and dinner too. Just as we were turning onto our street I said, "I don't want to wear that dress any more." Thankfully this buyer's remorse is over a $60 white sundress, not a $XXX wedding gown.

Of course I have to tell my blogger friends about this. So I go to the store's website and find this:

Problem solved. Now where does one buy a rosette belt like that? I'm thinking bright pink or some other funky feminine touch. I'll wear it for the morning wedding rehearsal and bridesmaids' luncheon. What do you think?

(photos from White House Black Market)

(Note: We did not spend 8 hours at the outlets. We had our layout appointment at our venue, ate lunch, went to Hobby Lobby, Homebrew Store, friend's house to pick up homebrew supplies, and THEN the outlets.)

Next Month...

I'm getting married!

41 days until "I Do"...

34 days until wedding vacation begins...

26 days until my bachelorette party weekend...

24 work days left...

All that and an ever growing To Do list with Sept. 12 deadlines.

What are the Chances?

Awhile back many bloggers were posting their results from “How Many of Me.” So I never got around to posting, but have been struggling with the fact that I’m currently 1 of 3 in the United States, but in 43 days I will be 1 of 249, a number that was 250 until Mr. H’s sister wed in May.

So as a 1 in 3, you can imagine my surprise when I receive an email at my first.last email account saying that X time is available for X date for an informational interview. Umm, what? Thankfully this email had been forwarded by someone to his secretary/personal assistant asking her to set up this meeting. Sure enough, the email had been sent by first.middleinitial.last at my same email client. Oddly enough, this girl with my namesake (who has probably been cursing the fact that she had to use her middle initial in the first place) has similar career interests as I do—non-profit public relations. Cue Twilight Zone theme music.

I responded to the assistant explaining that she’d reached the wrong person with this name, but that the organization sounded very interesting should my life relocate me to Boston.

Long ago I gave up the dream of having a first.last email address through gmail. But it does make me wonder how many of my future emails will go to the person who claimed that address years ago. Not that I was checking, but I assume Mr. H’s sister would have taken it if it had been available when she signed up with gmail. I love my gmail, but you better believe I’m claiming my new name on any new email client that comes out.

Still My Favorite

So what if I'm posting twice about reality TV this week. So You Think You Can Dance is nearing its season's end and the results show tonight was peppered with some of the best routines of last season. Including my all-time SYTYCD favorite "Bleeding Love." Enjoy!

You're welcome.

Calling Cupcake Lovers

Have you all heard about the Cupcake Smackdown that's happening this Saturday? Check out the official site, which just so happens to be an Austin food blog that I may start following soon.

On a related note, I tried out Sugar Mama's over the weekend. Tasted the mint chocolate chip bar, mud pie cupcake, and red velvet cupcake. The bar and mud pie were absolutely delicious. The red velvet was your standard "is this really red velvet?" cupcake. They also have a cute store and friendly service.

Team Reid

Photo from ABC

I’m on Team Reid. Especially on Team Reid with Glasses. If you don’t watch The Bachelorette, you have no idea what I’m talking about. Those who do watch will either think I’m crazy or spot on. However, I’m not on Team Reid for Jillian, especially after seeing last night’s After the Final Rose. Reid for the next Bachelor. How does this always happen? Brad dumps Deanna who dumps Jason who dumps Jill who dumps Reid who dumps…

But really, I watch this show for the train wreck, textbook romantic dates (who really goes on a date in a helicopter over Hawaii followed by a candlelight dinner followed by an awkward moment where you must decide if you will accept a card from a television host that gives you permission and a room key to a suite with candles, champagne, a tub full of bubbles, and various massage oils), and the possibility of a fairy tale proposal at the end (though I’ll take my picnic in the park with a very nervous Mr. H any day).

Ed and Jill are happy together. Will it last? I don’t know. And frankly I don’t care. If they last, I’m happy for these two people that I’ve never met for finding love. If not, I don’t have to watch them parade around their perfect life in Colorado with a perfect house and two perfect children every time a new season begins and ends. I’ll leave that to Trista and Ryan.

While I’m only halfway opposed to ousted bachelors becoming the next Bachelor, I have a few tricks up my sleeve if Reid does take on that role. Two very close and very single girl friends that are also on Team Reid may or may not allow me to put my marketing skills to use. And they both wash their vegetables.

I Could've Walked

5:02 p.m.: Left Work
6:18 p.m.: Arrived at my house.

76 minutes to drive 7 miles. So maybe walking would've taken longer, but I could've jogged a 10 minute mile home. Grrr. Wanna know why? Read this.

And I missed my favorite class at the gym. That's what I'm really pissed about.

First Etsy Purchase

Ta da! After years of browsing Etsy looking for handmade treasures, I finally bought something.

Seller GarterLady

And I got to check something off of my wedding To Buy list. Cheers to that!

Feeling the Burn

First fitting - check
Bridesmaids dresses arrival - check
Centerpiece supplies purchased - check
Shoes dying - check
Ribbon send off prototype - check
Transportation - check
Hair & makeup - check
Order booze - check
Pre-wedding event attire - in progress

With 10 mail days left, we're still awaiting the arrival of 60% of our response cards. 60%!!!!

Sorry I'm MIA lately. My mom and sister are in town and we've been running here, there and everywhere all weekend. Thursday and Friday also took me away from my computer and to Lake Travis and Lake Austin respectively (tough life I know) for a department boat trip and company retreat.

Now only 48 days to:

• Figure out ceremony
• Write ceremony program
• Construct send off ribbons
• Create and order guest book
• Print and mail rehearsal dinner invitations
• Pick up wedding rings (already purchased!)
• Schedule and attend hair and makeup trial
• Buy attendant and parent gifts
• Finalize all details with vendors
• Finish dress fittings

Anything else?

Cuts, Cups, and a Waltz

Well ladies, after Friday's hair mishap I finally got my hair cut. Just a trim. My hair is just above my shoulders now and is the longest it has been since I moved to Austin. Emily + long hair= child.

Then I finally made it up to Petticoat Fair to search for cups to be sewn into my dress. As long as I was up there I had to get a bra fitting. Turns out I’ve shrunk a cup size (chorus of angelic Hallelujahs) but I’ve also shrunk a half a band size making it so that I have to get my bras altered (whaaaaa?). And somehow I spent $200 on a new support system (the cups were only $10). I’ve had bra fittings before, but these ladies were by far the least pushy, most professional and knowledgeable that I’ve encountered.

I was so enthralled by my slightly smaller rack that I forgot to watch the clock and had to go go speed racer down to UT for our first informal class dance lesson. I’m not sure how I got Mr. H to agree to dance lessons (er, I signed us up for them…) but he seemed to enjoy himself. I conveniently left out the part about switching partners every 3 minutes. We learned the waltz and it was mostly fun save for the 65-year-old man with giant sweat beads dripping off of his face onto the unfortunate girl who had to dance with him (read: me). So 4 more hours of these classes and we should be A-OK for our 2 minute 32 second first dance.

My mom and sister are en route to Austin and should be arriving tomorrow around noon. I’m hoping we can get some solid shopping in for centerpiece fixings and pre-wedding event dresses! Also, first fitting on Saturday!