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.