Laundry Day Finds

I just love cleaning!  Well...  I don't clean nearly often enough but when I get on a roll, I love the feeling of accomplishment when it's all done.  Plus when sorting through and cleaning an area that I haven't touched in months, I tend to find many things that were either lost and/or forgotten about.  Yesterday's washing of the exponentially growing delicates/hand wash basket proved quite beneficial.

My first find was a set of purple sheers.  These are perfect to swap out the blue bathroom curtains with to give the room a more vibrant look.  =)

Next I stumbled upon a tube of Bert's Bee's.  I thought it was my pomegranate flavored stick to only realize later it was the stuff bought years ago for skiing.  (It's the lifeguard opaque white stuff...)  This was a bit of a disappointment.  But that only made the last find even more exciting.

My final find of the night was a handful of "naughty-wear".  Ok...  Not really so naughty but along those line of intimates.  They were a mix of drastically reduced lingerie from the semi-annual sale at Vicki's last fall.  Apparently I had set these on the hand-wash pile (as I refuse to wear any sort of underwear without washing first...just in case someone tried them on before me) and over the last 8 months they became lost in the pile.

Silk Pattern

French Maid...  with lace on the rear...  ;p

Lace and Fleur De Lis details...

This find was my (and future hubby's) favorite find of the afternoon.  For me it was the fact that I found possible honeymoon undergarments without having to spend anymore $$$$.  I also found a corset like item that has a built in garter which would be perfect under the city hall dress.  That is if I decide my legs are in need of thigh highs due to their stark white appearance.  For him...well, he's a guy so I'm sure his mind went to the horny little boy place when I pulled them out of the basket saying "Hey, look what I found!".  ;)

Any one else out there have some laundry finds lately or is it just me being a clutter-bug?

Trash Bin Dumpster Diving Win!

It's sad but once I get old and loose my modesty, I'm sure you'll find me feet up in a dumpster digging for finds...  Well, maybe not exactly in a dumpster as my desire to avoid germs, dirt and all things nasty would not fade as I age!  ;)  None the less, I am of the notion that if it can be repurposed or upcycled, it might as well be saved!  This leads me to pick up all things big and small that can be reused.  In lab that means collecting "one time use" filter tip boxes that would be on their way to a landfill if I weren't repurposing them for my artistic endeavors.

At home it can mean something as simple as collecting bottle caps from twist off beer bottles for various crafts.  Or while randomly walking down the hall at school this week, it meant letting my eye catch something that could save me a bit of cash...

Catering trays from a departmental event placed on top of the recycle bin set to be thrown out!

{local trash bin area where I found the elusive trays}

  Your first thought might be "why does she need trays?".  We are planning a Pittsburgh cookie table at the wedding!  And while my sister thinks the guests who bring the cookies will bring something to serve them on, this is not always true.  Despite having several trays (a hodgepodge of old coke collectables and plastics kitch from dollar general), I don't have a large variety.  And after seeing that our possible catering company also lacks a large quantity of trays, my first idea was to purchase more dollar store kitch.  At a few bucks a tray that wouldn't be bad.  But then these beauties walked into my life.

They are NOT extremely flimsy black plastic trays (5 large and 1 medium)...  they appear to be quality plastic!  If I decide at a later date that I don't like the idea of having black trays, we can do one of two options.  We can spray paint the trays a different color, we can find some large doilies at the local party store to cover them or do a combo of both.  =)

Ever find something quite useful in the most unexpected places?

Found by a Chance... City Hall Dress

In anxiety, I couldn't wait for my sister to go to Athropologie and Urban Outfitters with me...  To maximize time and effort, I drag Josh to Urban Outfitter's the day before planning to go shopping with Meg.  Walking in with my vintage hat in hand, I made a bee line to the Pins and Needles lace dress I found online!

One of the girls restocking dresses asked if I needed help and I responded by pointing (with my hat) to the dress on the dressmaker's mannequin saying "I came in for this dress to go with my hat"!  Amazingly enough, she said they just got those dresses in that day!  Double woot!  I pulled out the sizes in my range and went back to the fitting room to find the right size.

After slipping into the first dress, I positioned the hat on my head then went to the full size mirror to snap a picture.  As my shutter clicked, the dressing room attendant came back in.  I felt like an idiot snapping a picture so I explained that I was trying to find the perfect dress to go with the vintage hat for our city hall wedding.  She was absolutely delighted and also expressed my content on how the dress went perfectly with the hat (When I first walked into the dressing room, she got excited that they might be selling the hat but slightly disappointed when I explained it was vintage.  On a brighter note, modcloth is selling a very very very similar replica hat).  I then got Josh to snap a few photos that turned out to be less than flattering as I was making faces and moving too much...

But after we got home, I did my best to snap a few shots in an old pair of black heels (that I plan to wear that day) for posterity...

Josh got a hold of the camera and was hounding me like a paparatzi.  I did my best to play along then had enough...

I'm overly excited and happy that I decided to drag Josh out that evening for a couple reasons.  The first is that this dress absolutely goes with the hat!  It's perfect for the era and vintage of the hat.  The second reason is the price tag.  This dress came out to $78.  It's $100 less than the first dress (considering shipping and all) and $40-60 less than anything I would have bought at Anthropologie.  Considering that I made around $110 from selling 3 paintings at the gallery opening, this works out perfectly!  =)  I just have to remember one thing while wearing the dress...  keep a good posture! Slouching makes the dress look frumpy and unflattering.

Ever try on a dress that you didn't think was just perfect to find that it's the right one at the right price?

Feels good to be appreciated...

The other night, future hubby said something that I wasn't expecting.  See we were in the midst of a wedding discussion that involved both ceremonies and I was in uber problem solving mode.  We were debating on the best time to do the civil ceremony, when he mentioned the idea of wanting to do it mid June after first session of summer semester.  I agreed but realized there might be a slight conflict.  I thought my friend/our photographer told me, when we first met to discuss photos, that June was a busy month.  So I was sure she couldn't do our "city hall instead of engagement" session in June.  I also knew that his mother mentioned that his cousin, who is a professional photographer, offered to do our wedding.  Now I still plan on using both my friend (who we hired before we knew about his cousin's offer) and his cousin for the large September wedding but these changes in civil ceremony planning gave me some room to play...  

I love my friend's artistic non-traditional eye.  And if she can't do the city hall wedding, I'm much rather have her do a "trash the dress" session after the wedding.  I know she would do beautifully for such a shoot.  So scratch E-shots and city hall from her.  In exchange, if his cousin is willing... We would use her for city hall (and E-shots if she offers).  In all honesty...  given the right lighting and training my sister's photographic eye, I can get her to take some E-shots of us as we aren't so concerned with getting those.  =)

After problem solving the photographic tangle...  Josh told me something he held back mentioning as he didn't want to make me more anxious (as I was already anxious enough with his mother's upcoming visit).  His grandmother had a stroke this week.  I was shocked to say the least but realized that this increased the need for the city hall ceremony.  It also made me realize how important it is to invite all immediate family to that ceremony as well.  So I rearranged plans again and told him that we would plan on June for the city hall ceremony making sure that when we get the wedding license, it's a self-uniting license.  This way if we need to, due to his grandmother's declining health, we could get everyone together for a shotgun wedding.  As the self-uniting only requires the couple and two witnesses and does away with the need for a justice of the peace, we could gather the family on short notice for this ceremony if needed.  We will, of course, still be doing the huge wedding in September.  But instead of having the civil ceremony as our own little moment, we would now be offering an open invitation to all of the immediate family.  He and I both agreed that this was a good game plan and might serve to lessen his mother's negative reaction when he tells her of the city hall marriage.

As we both smiled at each other like giddy high school teenagers in love, he told me that he was glad I was taking care of the wedding plans for both ceremonies.  He didn't think he could come up with plans that would take such considerations of others and work so well not to offend anyone.  His complements made me feel all warm and gushy inside... needed and love...  appreciated.  =)

Doesn't it feel lovely to know you are appreciated?

I want to be a real girl...

...who can shave her legs at the sink!  Yes, I totally suck at the sink shave.

As you can see, I shot the shave gel clear across the sink and behind the towel rack.  I still don't know how none of it managed to end up on the floor.  I'm choosing to blame this misdirected spray on the combo of the sink being over 3ft tall, me having my left leg on the sink while balancing on the right trying to squirt a little of the gel into my left hand using my left hand while the right was holding a razor and the extreme excess of pressure in the can.  Quite the mental picture, eh?

So why have I chosen to sink shave in the first place?  There's a good possibility that I might be heading to the gym tomorrow with our recently graduated labmate.  I'm attempting to get in shape the good old fashion way.  Yes I have lost a little weight due to a slight increase in activity and that stomach bug last week but it needs to be more.  Or rather, I need to tone key areas such as my arms and my abs.  While I devised that I would do the gym twice a week and weights/crunches at home the other 3 days, I have been unable to stick to that.  =(  So any chance to use a gym buddy, I shall take!  But what can I do versus what I can make myself do is the ultimate question.  When hubs gets his student ID for Pitt, I do plan to use him as my gym buddy.  But when doing exercises for my cheesecake photos, I got grumpy when he pushed too hard.  Although in the gym, I'm more likely to try as there are onlookers.

Hubs also suggested the idea of doing push-ups as it tones your core and arms.  And while i scoffed at that back then, I'm allured by it now.  That is after I noticed miss hot wings post on a toning program called one hundred push ups.  The challenge consists of a 6 week program to train you up to be able to do 100 pushups.  I would just be happy to be able to do more than 25 in one go.  =)  Hubs does 50 a day and I think they are 8-counters (he usually does his new routine after I leave in the mornings or when he ends up at the VA gym after appointments).  So this week I'm making a resolution to myself, as we are a little over 4 months out from wedded bliss, to start an exercise routine next week that includes the 100 push up challenge.  I will hate it and growl the entire time.  But at least this way I won't direct any of the exercise dislike at future hubs.

Anyone else need a gym buddy to keep on task?  Have you tried this push up routine and like it?  What easy to stick to routine would you suggest?

Delicious Noms ~~ Pt. 2 ~~ the eats

When arriving at the strip of businesses in Gibsonia, you see that Mitch's is located in an old ice cream shop (perfect for the ice cream side of his business).  We walked in and were greeted by Mitch and his wife Bev.  After talking for a bit, Mitch showed us the kitchen and then took us out back to show us the smokers (he has 3 of varying sizes).  When it comes to cooking the small meats, he tows the smoker to the event and cooks the food there.  This way your guests not only get fresh made food but they also get to see the smoker in action.  Following the tour, we got right down to business and the eats.

The first was chicken, not marinated as long as Mitch wanted so he improvised with a beer marinade.  It was amazing!  Very moist but cooked to perfection.  And it was to die for when you added one of Mitch's 3 sauces.  Mitch puts each sauce out separately so that the individual can choose if they want regular, spicy or very hot BBQ sauce.

(don't mind the pork hiding in the chicken... these were the leftovers we got to take home after the tasting...)

After the Chicken, Mitch cut up some freshly cooked pork tenderloin.  It was just as delicious as the chicken and cooked perfectly as well.

We then dug into the pulled pork.  It was more amazing than I remembered and instantly won over Josh and my sis Meg.  Josh even commented that it was better than the world famous pulled pork he had out in L.A. as a kid.  The pork was seasoned just right and cooked to perfection.  It wasn't dry or too watery but just right!

Beef Flank steak was next and it also tasted good...  It had a little more chewiness than other steaks but that is the type of steak it is.  At this point, Josh was ready to hire Mitch!  And they started to discuss the menu...  chicken, pulled pork, a small roast pig, beef.  I began to worry because on their online menu, it was only 2 meats for around $16 per person.  But Bev assured me that quantity of each meat would be adjusted as everyone will not be wanting complete servings of each and the price would not vary much.

So we went onto tasting the sides.  This included broccoli salad, amazingly sweet baked beans, and guacamole.

I enjoyed the salad and the beans but I've never been a huge fan of guacamole so I didn't really like this stuff.  After the sides, we each got to taste Mitch's homemade ice cream.  I could eat a whole tub of this... it's that good!  And should be as he's been in the biz for 20yrs.

In the end, we went with the meats Josh chose above (BBQ chicken, pulled pork, beef flank steak and a small pig...  yes we will be getting a small piggy and I want a redic pic of me kissing the thing in my wedding dress...) with sides of broccoli salad, baked beans, parsley red skin potatoes, and shish-kabob vegi skewers and of course the ice cream bar!  Fingers crossed they are affordable enough or we can adjust the meats and the sides to take it down to our price.

Did any of you fall in love with your wedding food after the tasting finding yourself crossing your fingers that the cost is affordable?

Business Card Etiquette

I propose this question to Artists as this past weekend made me realize the issue...  When is it right to plant your business card at a local shop or gallery?  By plant, I don't just mean handing them one and telling them you want to sell your work there.  I mean putting a stack on their table of cards (many of the businesses in Pittsburgh's local city art scene have tables at the front of their stores to promote other local businesses and happenings).

Now you may ask why this question has arose...  And why am I so concerned about card etiquette?

This past weekend was the opening night of the house artist's show at Trinity Gallery.  I myself am in this mad dash to sell around $200 worth of artwork (regular price or extremely reduced).  While I don't have the time for commissions, I have many pieces floating around.  And any recognition I can acquire to get these pieces sold is key!  What slightly worries me is unintentional misdirection.  See at the gallery they have a table in the back room for business cards.  A friend of mine who came with me last year to this exhibit had wanted to place her cards on the table.  But I told her that she ought to ask before placing just incase the gallery owners want only their house artists on the table (there wasn't many cards there at the time and the gallery owners organize their shows so that no two artists with the same style end up competing for sales).  I forget if she asked or not but I don't recall her putting the cards down.  However, at this past show, I noticed her cards on the table and not seeing her at the show realized she must have dropped them off at one point over the last 6 months.  Under most normal circumstances I wouldn't be bothered as I don't do this for profit but rather as a hobby for fun.  But her cards are highly recognizable as being that of a Chinese Brush Painting artist as her red seal is stamped on the front.  Mine on the other hand have the seal and another stamp on the back.  As I had just letterpressed my cards, I put my red seal and a dragonfly stamp on the back until I could sit down and find the proper positions on the front.

 

My biggest fear is that someone who hasn't looked too closely to find my name, may see her seal and pick up the card to see what else might be available from the artist on display at Trinity.  Sadly, they will be picking up the wrong card and contacting the wrong artist.  And inadvertently she will be getting possible sales that I would have made as a direct result of my art exhibit.  This loss of sales will hinder my efforts over the next month to gather the funds for my city hall dress.  Now she is a sweet friend who I trust will direct the sales back to me if someone mentions seeing asian inspired artwork at Trinity but I still worry about that initial misdirection.

So I propose the initial question again...  When is it appropriate to plant your business card?  In retail shops with a wide variety of merchandise, it may not be such a big factor.  But in a small gallery featuring artists who do the same media and style, should you refrain from planting out of respect?

"2nd" Dress Woes

Yesterday I messaged Unique Vintage, who sells the city hall dress I loved, about it's backorder status and received no reply but an auto-generated response.  I checked the site again today before sending them another message to only find that the dress is now on backorder until the middle of June.  WTF!  I was trying to get the dress for mid-May not June.  This led me to go through a spiral of panic looking for a dress that could take the place of this dress.

I began at Modcloth again as their prices tend to be easy on the wallet.  The first dress I found, named "Limerick Lass", had a splash of color with green trim.  It also has this scarf that can be tied around the waist or neck.  But sadly this dress would be too similar to my September wedding dress.  It's also white not ivory so it would conflict with the vintage hat.  And I don't believe it came in a size big enough for me.

The next one, called "Take the Night Off", which would go great with the hat was entirely green.  She'd be a beauty to wear and has a true vintage style.  But it might be a bit too much green when put up against Josh's Class A's.  Actually, Josh said it's the same green as his A's.  And a bride should wear some kind of white.  Although I might just have to get her for the sake of getting, if I can dig up the extra cash.  ;)

I then stalked an etsy seller named Cherry Pie Vintage who has some authentic looking handmade vintage style dresses.  She can do custom orders but they take 5-6 weeks and that might be out of my timeline.  Her pre-made dresses (in Afternoon Splendor and the Darling) on the site also appear to be in white rather than off white, which would throw out the idea of the hat.  But I can custom order one in the color I want along with being exactly made for my body.  If I can wait 5-6 weeks.  =/

Yet still, I was freaked out about the possibility of our photographer not having time in June for the city hall affair and the possibility of needing to find the dress in the next 2 weeks.  In a tissy of fear, I twittered Miss Penguin from Weddingbee asking her if it was White House Black Market that she had twittered about having an affordable wedding dress weeks back.  She came through quickly with quite a few ideas and after seeing my vintage hat led me to Anthropologie (No I'm not talking the science but the store).  Luckily for me, one of the upscale suburbs in Pgh actually has an Anthropologie store making it easier to try on dresses and not have to deal with shipping back!

Miss Penguin suggested the "Camillia", which is a simple dress that would look good with the hat.  It's off white/ivory and black so that's a win!  It also sports a slightly vintage look by featuring cotton eyelet fabric.

The next dress I found was the "Things and Joys" dress in cream.  I first spotted the dress in blue and thought the style was appealing.  Upon realizing it also comes in cream, the dress instantly went on the "to try" list.  =)  It a nice loose dress that might do Ok with the hat.

Digging deeper, I came across the "In A Twinkling Dress" and found myself thinking that would fit the hat quite well!  Although it doesn't have the dressy sass and style as other dresses I had seen, it would work.

The final dress at Anthropologie that caught my eye was the "Sure Lock Dress".  Hubs finds it hillarious as he reads it as Sherlock (aka Sherlock Holmes).  We both agree that the style of dress would be quite nice with the hat and smooth lines to go with his Class A's.  Hopefully the black bow is removable as it might conflict with the black on the vintage hat/fascinator I have.

Now all I need to do is get out to the local Anthro store to try on these pretties.  They are all around 125-140 so that's not too hard on the budget as the original "the One" was $168.  I'll have a bit left over now for shoes.  =)  Maybe even a black scarf...

Anybody else out there have their ideas of the perfect dress destroyed by backorders and deadlines?

Delicious Noms ~~ Pt. 1 ~~ the options

As with any wedding, food is one of the most important and costly items.  It one of those things that you don't really think about when attending a wedding but when planning one, the cost adds up quick!  Take for instance the idea of paying $20 per meal.  At a local restaurant with a couple friends, it's not that big of a deal.  But if when looking to feed 300 people then you're paying at a minimum of $6,000 (more than half of our wedding budget).  Hence why in our search for reception food, we are attempting to keep it between $10-15 per person.  But in limiting the cost, we realized that we had to do something that was more of a buffet/BBQ picnic style rather than the traditional 4 course meal.  We just love the idea of a BBQ at a wedding reception although I'm sure some of the guests may frown upon it.  So I sent Josh off to contact a couple catering companies around our T -5 month mark to find out what types of meals and costs they could do.

~The first company wasn't taking on large events as she was unable to handle a large reception without her former partner.

~The second, which I had before at a few of our departmental retreats in grad school, said that they could surely feed 2-300 for around our $3-4000 catering budget.  They also offered the picnic style food including pulled pork, BBQ chicken and even a pig roast if we so decided.  And the owner makes homemade ice cream that he perfected before starting his BBQ business.

~The third was a company that could only do $20 min per person with full 4 course meals.  While the food is said to be amazing...it's too much for our small budget.

~And the 4th, which I found through my grandma's church, had a menu online containing all the BBQ favorites.  But it would come out a little more costly than #2 when factoring in sides and varieties of meats.  Plus this caterer had just started his business and we'd prefer to have someone a little more established if we are paying around the same price.

After a tiny bit of discussion and telling Josh about #2's homemade ice cream bar, he was sold.  So we set up a tasting with Mitch's Mobile BBQ and was told to "Come Hungry!"

Check out Part 2 for the tasting!  =)

You can't please everybody

The whole idea behind us paying for the wedding was to keep other people's opinions out of the planning.  While we want input from our family, at least one of them is going to not favor one of our ideas.  And of course, everyone has an opinion about everything.   Opinions that are helpful during decision making become down right annoying when it comes to plans that are already made.

source

One such instance was when we were first trying to have the reception in an art gallery after a late wedding.  To cut costs we were going to just serve cocktails, hor d'oeuvres and the cookie table as it was a late wedding.  My one grandmother made a remark that you have to feed people and can't just have cocktails.  Despite trying to make the point that it would be a late wedding, that by 7pm people should have ate dinner already plus we couldn't afford to feed full on meals, she still didn't budge.  In response we tried to do meals but found that the gallery preferred catering company could only do full meals for $20 per person, which was too rich for our blood.

Since then plans have changed and the reception is in a park setting.  A setting full of trees, leaves, flowers and DiRt!  We, being the non-traditionalists that we are, decided to do something along the lines of a BBQ and pig roast.  This was due to our love of BBQ, the park setting and my knowledge of an amazing mobile BBQ in the burgh.  I mentioned to my dad that we were going to a tasting for this caterer and he questioned having messy BBQ at a wedding reception.  I explained that we didn't want regular "wedding" food and with the park setting for wedding/reception the dress code would be informal (kahkis and polo rather than dress suit).  He went along with it although I got the sense he thought others would be bothered as well.  And yes such a meal can be messy but from what I remember about this company's food in the past, it wasn't messy like BBQ ribs.  The food isn't dripping with sauce to the point where you ruin your clothes and should be fine for the setting.  None the less, I found myself trying to think up ways to make those who would complain about the BBQ's messiness happy.  We're not going to change the catering but how can I warn people of it and also protect if they are worried about spills?  Besides having to redo the text for part of the invite to include informal dress code and state more firmly that it's BBQ picnic buffet style... what to do?  Find wholesale amounts of those crazy lobster bibs so that people can wear a bib to protect their clothing?

I'm at a loss as I just want to plan this wedding without opinions changing things or costing us more.  Despite knowing that it's our wedding and we can have it how we want, I still want to make everyone happy.  But I also know that if we do that, it's going to make us a big ball of stress.  I want to let family members know of our ideas and our plans in hopes of approval but I also want to hide it all because I don't need the stress of disapproval.  I completely understand how some brides go bridezilla when being bombarded with opinions.  It's one of those points where you just have to say I appreciate your opinion but if you aren't paying for *said aspect of the wedding* then we will do as we please.  In all honesty, you can't please everybody!

How do you deal with opinions on everything while planning an event?  Do you keep them in mind and try to work them in?  Do you totally redo your plans to make everyone happy?  Do you completely ignore them?  Or do you tell them to stick the opinions somewhere unpleasant?