Resolutions, pt. 1

I sort of hate that we only resolve to do things on January 1st, but I also like the fact that a new year can bring fresh new ideas.

Deborah and I talked about our goals for the following year and I tried to keep it from sounding like a high school project. See, I had envisioned this great time where we sat and thought and wrote out our goals and then shared them together, maybe over a cup of earl gray tea, but Deborah has serious aversions to these types of things thanks to years of "Kingdom Education" aka Baptist Christian High School. Apparently, they were big on discussing goals and resolutions...

So, I adapted, and the reality was much nicer than my 'assignment'. A simple conversation while waiting for our order at Sonic.

Our last order from Sonic (sadly).

So, My biggest ( a pun on many levels, really) resolution is to lose 30lbs before the wedding.

I know I am supposed to love my plus-sized self, and that my body is a wonderland and I am gorgeous and all of that crap. But to be honest, I don't love myself at my current weight and I often look in the mirror and say "what happened?", and I don't want to be saying that at my wedding. More so, I don't want to say "wow, our photographer did a good job making me look good!" I just want to look good. No camera tricks... I just want to look smokin' hot, and feel smokin' hot too.

To me, 30lbs seems like a reasonable goal in 11 months. It means no more fast food (my weakness), and watching what I actually eat. I did a good job this summer after the diabetes scare, but then I got lazy. I always get lazy.

I can't be lazy anymore!!!

So, to hold myself more accountable, I've joined a Biggest Loser sort of group at my work, and whoever loses the largest % of body fat by march wins 200 bucks. Seems like nice extra motivation to me!

Here's hoping I'm not too hungry all the time.... hungry + wedding planning = terrible.

Save the Dates, round 2!

I'm a procrastinator. For example, our Christmas/New Year's (aka Happy Holidays) cards we ordered? They are addressed, but not stamped... and have not been sent out. Folks will probably get them in February.

Sometimes, I'm pretty terrible at the follow-through.

Which is why I realized that I needed to get the ball rolling on these Save the Date cards. Even though the wedding is 11 months (!!!!!) away! Some etiquette sites and etiquette guru friends of mine have stated that weddings that take place around holidays (IE: 4 days before Thanksgiving), should send Save The Dates out 8-12 months before the wedding.

So, in an effort to hit the 8 month mark, I'm starting on these little things early. Once ordered, I'll have two full months to gather addresses, actually address them, and then add some postage and send the suckers off.

I've also changed the design. After a change in colors, and looking at the old design too long... I decided it was too busy and I didn't like it. Besides, in 'theory', Save the Dates are supposed to set the tone of your wedding. I feel the way we are going is laid back, fun, with a nice hint of vintage-y goodness thrown in.

So, for your consideration, the final Save The Date (minus some tweaking):

The reverse side will have our names, the date (again) and the location, along with our wedding website. We don't currently have a wedding website, so once I get *that* done then I can get the dang things printed and start on this marvelous journey!

Side note: Did you know vistaprint lets you upload your design AND you can pre-pay for postage? Do you know how awesome that is for procrastinators like me?! That means all I have to do is drop them off at the post office once they are addressed! You can send it first class, or regular! It AMAZING!

Taking the Extra Step

Sometimes, I feel there are so many extra random things LGBT couples have to think about.

First of all, there is the wording on our invites, which I haven't even begun to figure out! My parental units are helping out LOADS, emotionally and financially, but D's parents aren't even attending the wedding. At the same time, we are paying for *some* of the wedding, and trying to create the proper wording on our invitations is migraine inducing...

but that's another post, entirely.

Today, I went perusing some local stores to find "THE STORE(s)" we will be registering at for the wedding. We don't want to register at more than two stores, and we'd like to find two stores that:
1. Have the things we need/would need to register for 2. is an LGBT friendly store

I mean, we don't want our friends and family (and ultimately us) giving a store any sort of monetary gain if they do not support gay marriage.

Thankfully, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) sent me this nifty Buyer's Guide around the holidays. And since then-- it has become my go to for many things.

Did you know that Macy's and Target both received a rating of 100? But Dillard's and Wal-Mart didn't even make the list? Makes you think where you are going for that fiestaware.

One of our 2010 resolutions is to be more conscious of where our money is going. I know it is going to be difficult at times, and we will probably have to forgo convenience (ex: our closest/regular grocery store gave a significantly large sum to the Yes on 8 campaign, so now we will be driving those extra miles to another store).

And I'm sure we will be doing even more research, other than this one guide. But by supporting companies that support us, I feel much better spending all that money.

A Big Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and spent it with loved ones and friends! 2010 is such a big year for us! By the end of this year, we will be married!

Now, when someone asks me "when are you getting married?", I can reply "this November".

Usually I have to qualify that with 2010, but not anymore! It is so exciting!

Tomorrow, D and I are setting down to discuss our goals for 2010. We are going to try and cover a plethora of goals, anything we can think of--financial, business, personal, education, familial, and of course, as a couple.

I encourage everyone to do this! This will be the first year we do something like this, but I look forward to making it a yearly tradition to re-evaluate the year that passed and planned for the future.

Sloth is A Terrible Thing

And my new year's resolution is going to try and post on a regular basis, because sometimes I just plain forget.

But as promised... The awesome thanksgiving place settings. These things are so cool! Great for any kind of party!

Bridesmate, Kathryn,made these fancy little things! And here is the rundown:

• Chunk/Sliver crayons. I believe it is easier to do one color, and then start on the next while the first is drying.
• Heat/Melt the crayon bits in silicone baking cups... this makes clean up MUCH easier.
• Turn wine cups upside down on newspaper and then drizzle the melted crayon on with a spoon! Then twirl the cup! ... if you'd like
  
• Let them dry!

You can even do it on plates!

I love this! And Kathryn did such a great job. She turned plain old clear plastic cups and plates into lovely pieces that enhanced the atmosphere... and I'm pretty sure she only used a few boxes of crayons... and the off brand kind! So it couldn't have cost more than $10.00 for the supplies (minus the plates and stemware, of course)

Photos by my lovely friend, Katelyn!

Glenn Beck can Suck It, Part 1 (most likely)

I'm a little pissypants over this "Keep Christ is Christmas" biz. Glenn Beck is spitting and spewing and crying (he cries a lot!) over the phrase "Happy Holidays". Saying that America is losing values by trying to be politically correct.

Hold the phone, Glenn. Mayhaps your are jumping to a sensationalized conclusion, eh? I have always felt that Happy Holidays was an all encompassing wish to have a pleasant Christmas and New Years (for the Christians) or Channukah and New Years (for the Jewish folks) and so on and so on.

Shoot, if you start saying it in November, it can even include Thanksgiving. What's the big deal, Glenn? What is wrong with trying to encompass multiple holidays in one? I won't even get started on the fact that the ACTUAL Christmas Day wasn't a holiday in the US until 1870 or so... or that the Church of England (Cromwell, to be exact) tried to outlaw Christmas because it WASN'T the day of Jesus' birth then... it was still pretty much a pagan holiday...

But that is some figgy pudding I'm not going to touch today.

I've been gone for a while, huh? We had Thanksgiving up in NYC with 22 of our closest friends in a 2 bedroom apartment and it was glorious. Speaking of glorious.... on the morning of Thanksgiving, Deborah ran a 5 mile Turkey Trot with some of our friends and our team name?

The Inglorious Basters.

Oh yes. It even had a turkey with an eye patch on it. And on the back?

We suspect fowl play.

It was pretty great. Soon (hopefully tomorrow!) I will post the DIY dinner place settings my bridesmate Kathryn made! Here is a sneak peak:

Full Speed Ahead!

The holidays are fast approaching, and D and I are gearing up for our epic mini-vacation to New York City for the Thanksgiving break. I love this time of year! But I feel like it goes by too fast. First you leisurely waltz into Halloween, then you have a nice month of fall and then Thanksgiving but then BAM, just like my parents 180lb St. Bernard, Christmas knocks you over and says I'M HERE! I'M HERE!

That St. Bernard in question is Suki. And that Basset is Lily. Imagine THESE GALS running full speed to greet you!
Now, imagine it with a SANTA hat.

Epic planners (and budget conscious folk too) we are starting to plan out what to buy family and how much to spend, etc. And the question of multiple gifts keeps popping up. As in, do we buy each person a gift separately? Or one together? This question is particularly difficult when it pertains to gifts for D's family.

Oh, yes. We will be visiting them over the holidays. We will be going there for a day or two to celebrate with her family. And D has made it very clear that we go together or don't got at all. And gifts will be bought, and Christmas will be had. But do we buy one gift? two? one each?

Do I seem like I'm trying too hard if I buy them one, separately, as well? Will they read it as a ploy to get them to accept our relationship/like me as a person/not see me as the scaaaaaaaary lesbian that took their precious daughter away? Or me being that nice friendly girl they once thought as a "part of their family" (exact quote!)

I think it is rude for me NOT to get them a gift, they are after all my fiancee's parents. Especially if I am going to be spending part of the holidays with them. But I also think putting our both our names on a gift may be seen as cheap?

Bridesmate Jackie of All Trades believes that once rings are on hands, gifts are given as a couple. But I'm just not so sure.

Thoughts?

Moving On, Moving Up

We are still pretty bummed about Maine. All in all Wednesday was pretty crappy. I accidentally kept crying when my students or co-workers asked about it... Thankfully I also have bad allergies right now so I could turn my from blithering idiot and into a fake sneeze or two. No need for students to see me semi-defeated for a day.

Most heartwarming were former students of mine who had nice little "f@!* you, Maine" facebook statuses, it is nice to know that they support marriage equality! And all of the great comments that I got on the blog made me smile in my heart.

If you didn't hear, Houston is in a run-off for mayor and Annise Parker could be the first openly gay woman to be governor in HOUSTON FREAKING TEXAS.

This is more than big. This is huge.
And this is even huge-r for Texas.
Huger isn't even a word, folks..... that is how HUGE this thing is.

My new friend, Meghan and her wife Lindsay, (who also happen to be founders of Impact Houston) are trying to fund-raise for Annise and have created their own fundraising page.I know after Maine's defeat, I wanted to throw my support behind SOMETHING (that wasn't HRC this time around). And I'm definitely planning on donating to her campaign to help her win the race.

You can donate here!

Also, Erica over at Bi-Wedding Diaries, had a great post about her feelings on Maine and a link to an Etsy shop that is donating profits to No H8. You should check out her blog first, and then the etsy shop next.

Hope everyone has plans for a happy weekend!

No Crumbs...

I have been dreaming about my wedding since I was 5. When I was in high school and college and had a bad day, I would go buy a bridal magazine. True story. I would peruse through those glossy pages and bookmark or tear out things I liked. Then, like any good theatre designer, I'd put them in an image book... to keep safe.

Just because I never thought or planned about a having a groom doesn't mean I'm not entitled to standing in front of friends and family and saying vows to the one I love. And it doesn't now. But, apparently 53% of Maine and my home state and half of bloody America think my 'commitment ceremony' (i loathe that phrase) is just fine and dandy as long as I don't want the rights and privileges of straight couples.

Well, I'm pissed. I'm glaring a lot. Just the fact that we have to go outside of the state we were raised in to get married is insulting enough. And now, with Prop 1 passing....

Last year, I was devastated. When Prop 8 passed, Deb and I couldn't talk about it. She went out and ate an entire thing of cookie dough. I smoked a lot of cigarettes. It wasn't pleasant by any means. I can't believe it has already been a year.

I have a lot of mixed emotions. Part of me doesn't want to make a big deal out of this. Part of me just wants to get married like the rest of the population. I just want to celebrate and then be a wife and not HAVE to be a part of this. Another part (the more prominent) knows that just by having a blessing in Texas we are making some sort of stand. We are drawing attention to ourselves (blog or no blog) and creating conversations and hopefully changing people's minds with every vendor, every person we talk to.

D and Me? We're the same as you. We want the same things in our life. We wanted to get married.

A saw this on twitter (I know, lame), but it made me laugh in a way that I feel like sums everything up:

"I don't want crumbs anymore, I want the whole damn wedding cake."

I will raise a toast to that.

Falling in love with fall colors (awwww)

Trying my hand at inspiration boards.... now that I have photoshop on my computer! I'm slowly falling more and more in love with these colors, and I know how much easier (read: cheaper) they will be since they will be in season.

And do you love those invitations? Because we do, and we decided about 3 months ago to splurge and make them OURS! We were going to change the color, but if we go fall-- we won't have to... and I love that orange and cream! The best part about the shop owners, Golden Rectangle Press is that they ACTUALLY HAVE A SAME SEX INVITE on their page. Which I appreciate more than anything. I think it is one thing to support same sex marriage, but another thing entirely to put examples up on your site. So, Thanks for that one, awesome shop owner!

The Facts and Links:
Brilliant letterpress invites from Etsy shop owner, Golden Rectangle Press.
Gorgeous Cottage Photo From Evrim Icoz Photography in Portland.
Pretty Orchid Centerpiece from bridesmate Harmonious-- who found it on theknot.com
The rest-- google image search: fall wedding