Oh.My.Goo

Can we just talk about how Anthropologie is my favorite store and how it pains me that all of these beauties are sooooo overpriced:

MY FAVORITE! It is even more beautiful up close and it has all of my wedding colors in it!

I already know this would be Jonathan's pick, but not my favorite. I just thought is was neat that they would have a bicycle necklace!

.....And, I die.

Feeling Nostalgic

Despite having a bumpy few days last week, the weekend turned out really well for both of us. We did Valentine's a weekend late, so that we could catch good deals on a room at our favorite hotel. I would have pictures of our amazing view downtown, but I forgot to put my battery in the camera...joy.
But, before that, we did two very important and special things this weekend!
1. Found our photographer. Her name is Stephanie Maurie and she is a girl around my age with an amazing portfolio. Here are some of the pictures she has done:

I wish I could show more, but her website doesn't allow me to save the images! Although, if you're curious enough, check out her website.

2. We found our wedding rings! Going with a suggestion from one of our good friends, we found a store with a good selection and came up with these:

Mine-

and his:

They don't match, but it is exactly what we wanted! Jonathan has always wanted a simple gold band, that mimics his father's, while I like a band with a little flair and matches my solitaire setting. I don't think I have posted my ring on here yet, but this is it:

So, as for the nostalgic part of the title, I have really been craving literary quotes. One of my favorite books that I have read is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. There are so many good parts to this book but this is my favorite. It is of a man apologizing for running out on a girl, for the hopes of being with an idolized woman and pursing a coveted career. 

"Katie, why do they always teach us that it's easy and evil to to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves? It's the hardest thing in the world, to do what we want...As I wanted to marry you. Not as I want to sleep with some woman or get drunk. Those things are not even desires- they are things people do to escape from desires- because it's such a big responsibility, to really want something."

A quote that I found today was pretty good, too:

"You can smile when your heart is breaking because you’re a woman."

-The Other Boleyn Girl

Share your quote!

Trolling can be bad

Oh my goo! So, I have already shown the shoes that I bought for the big day, but of course, I was scouring Etsy last night and came across a woman who makes replicas from the movie Marie Antoinette. And they are only $40 a pair! Oh no!

From the movie:

Replicas:

I'm very sad right now. I think that I may have to take a trip to Hobby Lobby and start decorating ideas on the current shoes if I am going to match the awesomeness of these shoes.

While waiting for my laundry to be done so I can drag myself to bed, I have decided to jump on the blogging band wagon and give an 'about myself' list. Some people give it a certain number, like 'Top 100' or '25 things about me,' I'm just gonna go until I get tired.

1. My middle name is Ruth and one of my earliest memories is spelling it for my mom in the car.

2. In theory, I like most children

3. In reality, not so much

4. I am a strong believer that my cats have souls

5. I hate that I am so messy

6. My oldest friend is having a baby soon, I still feel like too irresponsible for that

7. I don't have armpit hair

8. One of my favorite books is The Fountainhead

9. I'm overly proud of being left handed

10. I'm even more proud that I'm an INFJ

11. I would have never started climbing without Jonathan

12. I wish that I ran more

13. One of my aspirations is to do an ironman

14. I hate when people are late

15. I hate it even more when I'm late

16. Lattes are one of my favorite comforts

17. I get paranoid about being mugged easily

18. If I could wear a dress or a pair of ripped jeans everyday, I wouldn't wear anything else

19. I have champagne taste, living on a pabst blue ribbon budget

20. I take my job very seriously, sometimes too seriously

21. No one will understand me the way my mother does

22. One of my biggest fears in life is getting fat

23. I can't go more than a month without an intense desire to be laying on a beach

24. I love to read to Jonathan in bed

25. I feel like less of a girl with my hair short

26. Tortillas and queso from Taco Cabana is the best meal substitute I have ever found

27. My favorite type of weather is rain when it's sunny

28. I'm surprised at how okay I am with living in a cold weather state

29. I want to go to Tahiti before I die

30. If I could have 5 dogs and 2 cats, I totally would

31. My favorite modern day artist is Anselm Kiefer

32. I still feel so young, and I love it

33. I love whining to Jonathan, only for the pouty face he gives back

34. I still maintain an unhealthy crush on Lindsay Lohan

35. I just started watching the bachelor- apparently, I like to torture myself

36. My favorite day is Sunday

37. The best thing to do on Sundays: bike, brunch, nap

38. I am the queen of napping- I have a theory that if I keep napping, it will slow the signs of aging

39. I always strive to be as patient as Jonathan

40. I used to be able to do a back hand spring

41. Lady Gaga is 2 days older than me, I think that's why I find her so fascinating.

42. I love to watch old home movies of my childhood.

43. I never cursed much, until I started dating Jonathan

44. I live off of Lean Pockets

45. I'm more like my dad than I would ever choose to be

46. I look down on people if they don't understand my sarcasm

47. I used to tell people that we had a horse, but really, we just rented one for riding lessons

48. I hate chalk with a passion

49. I'm slightly lactose intolerant,  but I still eat cheese every day

50. It's annoying when people call me quiet

Well, made it to 50! And, I'm done.

Anything you share with me on the list?

I don't know how to feel about this...

I want to like it because it seemed like a lot of effort, but it's just so...stupid?






Around the 2:33 mark, I threw up in my mouth a little.


Thoughts?

Restoration of Faith!

So, a few very positive things have happened since last post. For one, I found a florist that didn't rip me off! I'm very excited, especially because the quote is even bigger than the first two, but at a drasticly lower cost. When I got to the shop, the florist happened to have a bouquet made for a wedding that was similar to what I have been wanting. He also had a good stock of flowers, so when we talked about flowers going together, he could actually show me what they looked like side by side. This takes a load off of my plate, considering that I was actually thinking about making them myself.
I also got more of a variety in the bouquets than I thought I could afford, with tulips and hydrangeas for the girls and hydrangeas, roses, and peonies for myself.
These are a few example of the color palette and a close idea of what they may look like:

Another great thing that has happened in the last week is we secured our deposit on the cottage we are renting in Mallorca. It is in a small town called Fornalutx:

It is in a mountainous region, but about 15 minutes drive from the beach. It also is supposed to be one of the more picturesque towns on the island. We rented out this cottage for a week and I am so excited!

 

It is supposed to be a great place for hiking/climbing, so it should be nearly ideal for what we had in mind.

The next step this week is securing invitations. I have been working with the same girl who did our save the dates. I don't think I showed the STD's, but they turned out great:

They were, of course, just one strip. We also made them magnets, so they will last a little longer on people's fridges!

Anyways, the person I am working with, whom I found on Etsy, has been working on a custom invitation having to do with our cake topper:

(remember the cake topper?)

They are very sweet and I really like them, but I am still doing some price comparisons to make sure they will work within our budget.

For now, I am scheming for new ways to try out my kitchen aid. Any recipe suggestions? I would like to try and make something that isn't going to make us go into diabetic shock!

Impulse Buy of the Year

Oh man, I got on ebay this morning to help Maris find her bridesmaid dress and I found this beauty. Of course, it's made by Betsey Johnson, my fashion hero. I had tried this dress on previously at a store here in Chicago, but it retails for $450!

It had 18 minutes left to place a bid on ebay, with a pretty good price, and without giving it another thought I bought it! I was kind of astounded at myself! I was thinking of getting a dress that I could wear after the reception, so now I will have to stay up long enough to wear it!(For those of you who know me, that will be a major commitment to get me to stay up past 11pm)

I think it could also be worn to other occasions, like weddings or nice dinners. I still can't believe that I bought it so quickly!

Good Humor for the day!

Mairead was nice enough to send me this. I know exactly how this feels!

Hitting a Wall

This has been one of the low points in planning. I was on a role with the cake and the photographer, but I have hit a road block with flowers. Even reading those first two sentences makes me nauseous to know that  I care so much about something so silly. I hate to sound like my life is in shambles because of something so petty, but it is more about the treatment that you get when going through the wedding process.
Unfortunately, anything with the word "wedding" tied to it makes it much more expensive. I saw this with the dresses, experienced it a little with the photography situation, but now especially with the flowers.
So, I had started by getting a quote from a local store. Not my favorite people to deal with, but they are close and do good work. Well, even with their "special rate" a bridal bouquet, 4 bridesmaid's and 3 corsages came out to be around $450! Yikes! They also tell me that in a week(ending this last Saturday) the deal won't be as great, as a way to get me to commit to the contract. I tell a co-worker about this and she suggests a woman that we both know. This woman runs her own company from home and besides flowers, they do invitations and day-of consulting. We set up an appointment for this last Saturday, so that I could see if she would do better than the original quote I had.
Our meeting was lovely and we spent about an hour  talking about colors and themes and different types of blooms and blah blah blah blah. This is a feeling that I have gotten a lot from wedding vendors. A sense of security and that your wedding is important and that they really want to make it special. Oh, how the deceitfulness grows!
Half way through our conversation I put the numbers on the table. I let her know who I was working with and the price they were offering me. I told her that I would like to work with her, but I need the price to be matched, or lower. She looks at me as if the prices from the other florist I had quoted were ridiculous and say "of course we can!"
I go home with a sense of relief that I am finally dealing with a wedding vendor that doesn't suck! I leave the other quote behind because she had promised me that her quote would at least match it, with an additional corsage included.
Fast forward to today, I get the quote and it is $20 more than the first one! Was she not listening? It was amazing to me. The even more astounding thing is that she had an optional delivery fee of $75! This woman lives less than a mile from the venue! I was beside myself.
There is nothing that irks me more than to have a decent conversation with a person, then to feel like it was all for that sense of security to lure me into paying more. However, I guess that is how sales in the wedding world work.
I hate it.
I think that is why I never wanted to do the whole dress shopping champagne thing, just inflated prices sold over a measly bottle of cheap sparkling wine.
And I digress....

I can see how the bridezillas form, going both ways. There is one way of giving in to all of the vendors, thus ignoring your budget and feeding off of that false sense of importance, actually believing that you are, in fact, queen of the world.




 On the other end, you become so cynical and budget conscious of the whole situation that it becomes overbearing and you just want to elope and never speak the word wedding again!

Ugh, done. I'm going to bed and hopefully will wake up with a little more enthusiasm.