Short Term To-Do List

How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!

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I like to think about things in pieces so I don't get overwhelmed and give myself ulcers.  Right now, ie: February- May is phase 1.  Phase 1 includes all the to-do items up until save the dates get mailed out.  For those of you just joining us, we already have our budget together and made the rough invite list, booked a venue and our date at the church.  So now I will apply Natalie's patented work backwards method to create my list.  I made up this method long ago and it has changed my life as far as prioritizing tasks goes and figuring out how to get stuff done.  I am going to write a book about it and sell it for 3 easy payments of $9.95 on an infomercial one of these days...  Ok probably not because it is very simple, and can be applied to anything.  I think about the end product, in all of its glory, then figure the step right before the end, then the step before that, etc., and get the prior steps to making it happen.  Here is a visual example of N.P.W.B.M. to my career:

So anyway, back on topic.  When I think about a save the date card/magnet/whatever that I want to send out, these questions arise:
1. What is the theme of this card?
2. What info is included?
3. Is there a color scheme?

I am a fan of things coordinating so I would like the save the dates we use to have a theme that will go with the wedding.
To Do Item 1. Pick a theme

What goes on this thing anyway?  Our names - done.  The date - done.  City - done.  Website - not done.
To Do Item 2. Make website
What goes on a website?
*Info about us
*Places/addresses/maps
*Attendants
To Do Item 2.1 Choose attendants
*Registry Info
To Do Item 2.2 Register
*Accommodations
To Do Item 2.3 Get a group rate at a hotel somewhere

What color scheme is incorporated into the website and save the date card? 
To Do Item 3. Take Mom to Petroleum club (she is my artistic consultant) and see which colors she thinks would totally clash in there.
To Do Item 4. Choose a color scheme that works with church, reception venues, compliments attendants' skin tones, comes in seasonal flowers for January.  I am nothing if not thorough.  lol.
To Do Item 5. Get addresses and mail these suckers out.

To Do List
1. Pick a Theme
2. Make Website
2.1 Choose Attendants
2.2 Register
2.3 Get Hotel Group Rates
3. Get a Mom Tour of PCOH
4. Pick Colors
5. Get Addresses
6. Order Save the Dates
7. Mail Save the Dates

Deadline: May 2011

Ready, set, go!

Shoes!

www.offbeatbride.com

My friend JF shared this totally awesome article from Offbeat bride, about shoes with bows!  I haven't even begun to think about my fashion selections for the big day, but bows are a non negotiable (of course). 

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These are my faves, but JF and I are in agreement that they are all pretty great!

Photo booth deal!

www.groupon.com

Can I get a 'heck yes'?!?!  I am so lucky my little brother is looking out for me and my budget and informed me of this killer deal on something that I was planning on getting anyway!  Photobooths are mega fun!  I was at a wedding a few summers ago with one and had a blast!  Groupon, you amaze me and I love you!! 

Spousonomics!

I was delighted to read this article about this book and the thought of using economic theory to create a happy marriage.  I majored in economics in my undergraduate career, so the topic is near and dear to me as is - but applied to my next favorite topic of marriage and weddings, looks like we will have a winner!  In 5-7 business days I will have a copy of my very own and will let you know how it is!

lol.

....really?  American flag themed wedding gown?

Valentine's Day!

A posted this on my facebook wall :)

Valentine's Day was great!  A and I were keeping it low key because we have a wedding to pay for, so we stayed in - A made dinner, and we watched Intervention (like we do every Monday).  Only this time, there were presents and candy, yay :)

AND flowers!!! <3

I gave A some candy and a book called Groomology, so he can be the best Groom he can be, and a book on how to make vintage cocktails since he has seen into that subject a lot as of late.  You can check them out on Amazon via the side bar on your right.

I got candy, and a book about Orthodox Christianity, and the new Decemberists CD!  Good job A!!

The King Is Dead

A made a delicious steak recipe which involved nearly burning my kitchen down.  The video is above.  This is my very first youtube video ever, so I wasn't aware that I can't film sideways on my phone and rotate it later, so you will have to turn your head to get the full effect.  My apologies.

Steak auPoivre recipe

Yum!!!

For Valentine's Day

One of my favorite days :)
When I was single, I wasn't one of those mopey wear black in protest types.  And while I can admit the whole thing can seem like a commercialist scamola, I think love is wonderful.  I think it is why we here, and that without it life isn't worthwile.  And that, in my opinion, is something worth celebrating!  I'll do a seperate post on what A and I are up to this evening, but for now I would like to talk about my favorite love songs.  Music is my very first love, ever since I was very small.  And I would have to say, most of my very favorite songs are about love.  Here are some of my all-time favorite songs about love, (which are by no means masterful works of music, I just love them) that I just wanted to share:



Tegan and Sara - When I Get Up
So simple, and so sweet.  All we need is each other :)



She & Him - Home
I love love love Zooey Deschanel.  The line - I want to be where your heart is home - that is just really nice. 



Dave Matthews - I'll Back You Up

I know, I know, posting a DMB song totally kills my street cred, but I really really like this song.  I think I read once that it was about being rejected by someone he wanted to marry.  It just seems so pure and unselfish.  You go do and be wherever you want, and though it may hurt me, I'll back you up.  That is the real stuff, my friends. 



Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life

Bet you didn't see this one coming...lol.  Oh Bright Eyes.  They can be so self loathing and whiney, yet so wonderful too.  I love the honesty of this song.  And I especially relate to - I could go anywhere with you, and I'd probably be happy - because I think that about A :)



Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle


This song always gets me.
If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you


If this doesn't melt your heart, nothing can - you are probably a robot!















The Turtles - Happy Together


This tune is fun :)

Ok, I'll end it here before I get too out of hand!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

BHLDN

Behold(en)!

I know it is Valentine's Day and I should be gushing about A and how much I adore him, but I will get to that post later.  I am so excited to annouce that Anthopologie's bridal boutique BHLDN launched today!!!

Frills and ruffles and bows, oh my!

I looooooooooove anthropologie, and thank the Lord that I am too voluptuous to shop there for clothes because I would be broke as a joke.  But now their take on all things bridal is available, and I am already in love (but I knew I would be).  They have everything: bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, underwears, shoes, hair accesories, and more!  And I hear in May they will have even more, like invites and such.  So exciting, go take a look!!! http://www.bhldn.com/

<3 <3 <3 <3

Houston, We Have a Venue!!!!

Contracts have been signed, non-refundable deposits have been made.

Post - wedding ceremony, we will be partying at...

The Petroleum Club of Houston

!!!!!!!

The price is right, the place is big enough, and the view is amazing!
You can read about the tour here, incase you missed it.

I am beyond delighted with our decision, and it feels like a humongous weight off my shoulders! 

Here are lots of photos of other people's weddings!

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YAY!

Traditions

So sorry for neglecting the blog for an entire week!  I have been mourning the loss of my iPhone, welcoming my new iPad into my electronics family, trying to stay on top of my class work, etc.  After this weekend I hope to be back into my routine!

So I have been casually thinking about wedding traditions, and which ones I want to partake in and which I will pass on.  If Wedding Sunday on WEtv has taught me anything, it is that your wedding can be anything your crazy little brain can think of.  And weddings these days seem to have a 'theme' rather than just being a wedding.  While I think themes are way fun, and can be done in a way that makes the whole shebang personal to the couple yet still classy - some people go waaaaaay overboard.  This isn't your eighth birthday party, people.  I am more of a fan of keeping your wedding like a wedding.  It doesn't need to be skulls and crossbones, or Wizard of Oz, or Safari themed.  I get it if you want to go retro or earthy, but that is about as far as themes should go, if you ask me. 

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No thank you.

I like traditional stuff though.  It is hard though, because the personalization of literally everything involved in a wedding makes your choices limitless in creating the exact perfect day that personifies you and your fiance to a t.  If I were to just spout out some ideas, I'd say; I'd wear a sweater over my dress, and glasses, and I would have a giant cheese sculpture of the characters from The Office (or something to that effect), during the cocktail hour our signature drink would be diet coke, Aaron's cat Irene would be our ring bearer, we'd feast on breakfast for dinner (for dinner), and the party would be over by 10, because we are tired by around then.  Fun party, right?  More like totally weird.

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Or maybe a cow on a motorcycle?

The thing that sticks with me about traditional vs. not, is that I feel like I would regret not doing something the traditional way.  Not that I am in love with all things traditional, but I like that my wedding day would not be all that different from the day my Mom married my Dad, or my Granny married my Grandpa.  Like it is part of the human experience.  I am certain that Granny did not arrive to her wedding on an elephant because it was safari themed.  Though that would have been kind of awesome. 

The only tradition I am semi unfond of is the bouquet and garter toss.  I don't know, but being single up until my late 20s, I can tell you that I would rather hide in a bathroom than stand in a group of fellow single ladies trying to fight over some flowers being thrown at us.  And when I would try to be cool and stay at my table, all the relatives are like  - Go Up there!  All loud and stuff.  Ugh.  Do I want to subject my single friends and family to this??  And plus A pulling a garter off my leg in front of everyone seems equally mortifying.  And I don't know if I am going to have anyone 'give me away' and escort me down the aisle.  It is a complicated issue, which I will go into at another time.  The Orthodox Christian wedding ceremony is kind of different that a regular wedding.  And I only know what it is like from youtube, so I can't go into a lot of detail at this point, but that too can be saved for another post.   

But there are plenty that I want to include.  The 'something old, new, borrowed and blue', and not seeing A until wedding time on the day of - we Mexicans can be a superstitious bunch..., throwing rice alternatives (since rice isn't allowed anywhere anymore), toasting, and cake eating, etc.  It'll be fun! :)    

Family Plan!

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Today was a bittersweet day.  

I got up, like any other day.  Had to go off to my VITA site for my volunteer tax preparation gig.  Upon leaving, I go to check my phone which has been in my purse the whole time - and there staring me in the face was the white screen of death.  Resetting and updating did nothing to fix the situation.  But then the lines showed up.  White screen with lines = your beloved iphone is totaled.  So this got me in a very sour mood because I did nothing wrong.  The phone was safely in my purse - I didn't drop it, or throw it, or get it wet, nothing.  And to add insult to injury, I am due for a new phone upgrade on 3/1/11.  Seriously.  So my options were to go pay full price for a new phone with AT&T (where my calls get dropped like a hot potato), go 3 weeks without a phone, or get signed on with A's plan with Sprint.  I chose A's plan because I have been consistently unhappy with the service I get on the AT&T network, and also because the plan is $25 cheaper per month.  So A is stuck with me (or at least my cell phone bill) for a minimum of 2 years.  No backing out now, my friend!  lol.  My new phone is nice.  I really dig the purple color.  Back in the day I was all about the festive colored phones.  It will take some getting used to though, and I will miss the super user friendliness of the iphone.  And I still am a little bummed, I wasn't ready to say goodbye...  

But something about a silly cell phone 'family plan' makes my heart smile.  <3

The Petroleum Club of Houston

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Holy 43rd story view, Batman.

I took a quick tour of The Petroleum Club of Houston on Wednesday before class.  I was pleasantly surprised by this venue.  At first, I thought country club in a skyscraper.  A and I aren't country club people, so that already had me thinking - meh.  Then Petroleum Club - though very 'Houston' - sounded funny to me.  Like I am a Texas Tycoon, eating some steak in a country club in the sky across from a man with a big mustache wearing a suit with boots and a cowboy hat.  Much like this gentleman:

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But part of me thought that it might be sort of kitschy or something, I dunno.  The only reason I was giving it a chance was that it fit the location criteria and holds 200+ people.  I almost canceled my appointment because I don't like feeling rushed and I had already gotten out of work later than I had planned and I needed to get to school to finish a quiz that was only partially done.  Plus it is downtown, so I thought the traffic would be a nightmare at 4:30pm and if I had to park in one of those underground tunnels that would be a total deal breaker because they scare the tar out of me.  It is about 4pm when I am talking myself out of this tour, but I decided to not be a jerk to the event manager and just go.  So I pull up to the ExxonMobil building downtown and find convenient street parking right in front of the place and head to the 43rd floor.  As I enter, I think - wow, this place is nicer than I thought it would be.  I'm not even sure how to describe the feel of the place.  It isn't trendy, but it isn't untrendy.  It is very nice without seeming overly fancy.  The carpet is like an eye-pleasing take on ugly hotel carpet.  The space is the perfect size and the setup is good too - no dance floors shoved in a corner or anything.  And while all of those things are swell, holy cow that view is incredible!  I can see Russia from my house up there.  AND (yes, there is more!!!) it is very reasonably priced compared to what we have been looking at.  Only downside is that our date is already booked, so we'd have to move to the 28th.  And 2 other brides want the 28th also, so I need to decide yay or nay kind of quickly.  So I don't know what to do.  I feel very weird that I even like this venue at all, because that is not what I mentally prepared for.  I need to figure out what other places I need to look at and crunch some numbers for this place and see where we are at.  But PCOH is looking really good...

Indie Hipster Bridezilla?!?!

I am famous on the internets via my dear friend Ryan's blog...


http://ryandrums.com/things-learned-along-the-way/its-so-cold-in-tha-d/

A Meeting with Fr. S

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I had my first meeting with Fr. S on Monday regarding the wedding and becoming Orthodox.  I wish I had more to say, but the meeting was very basic.  He asked me about my church background (which is minimal) and my family.  I got a rundown of how the Orthodox wedding ceremonies go, and a little history of that.  Then he was explaining the process of becoming "some church jargon word" into the church (converting).  I will have to meet with him and take classes about the history and practice of the faith.  It was also suggested that A and I go to pre-marital counciling with Fr. J, the other preist at church.  That should be interesting!  Then he was explaining what the foundation for Orthodoxy is: it is about healing(from sin?), and to lead a good, simple life of prayer.  Then he asks me if we had any plans for the reception or whatnot yet - so I felt saying super deluxe Hotel Zaza party was inappropriate, and just said we weren't sure yet.  But overall, the meeting was a good outline of what is in store for me, and I feel pretty eager to get on board with all of it.

But, Hotel Zaza and Orthodox Christianity seem to contradict one another... :\