On a Wedding Invite High

This one is going to be a quick one.  I haven't posted much because A:  I'm busy and tired and B:  I'm lazy and have nothing to talk about.  And yes, I can be both of those things at the same time.  Wedding planning has been going along great minus a few mini freakouts and one color change which was reversed the next day. Last night I ordered our wedding invitations and RSVP cards and was so impressed with the service we received, I had to post a quick blog about it.

I ran across the site Wedding Paper Divas while doing research for my wedding planner certification and ordered a couple of samples to put on my inspiration boards.  I had really quick service from them the first time so I decided to check them out for my own wedding, (seriously, that is still really weird to say...this rock on my hand freaks me out every time I look at it).  Mike and I like to make snap decisions and go with our gut so after only a couple of times perusing the site, we decided on a simple and modern invite.  I finally bit the bullet last night after hemming and hawing over spending money on something and ordered them.  Not only did they give me free shipping because I left my order in my shopping cart so long they got nervous that I had died, (coincidentally, I have done this on more than one web site and never do it on purpose, but it always ends up getting me free shipping!), but I also had forgotten to put in a discount code to get 10% off so when I e-mailed them about it, they refunded me the eleven bucks I would have saved.  I just ordered them last night and I already got a proof today and my estimated shipping date is next week.  Basically, they ROCK.

I went back and forth about showing you guys my invites, but here is the one we've chosen so if you don't want the surprise ruined, (the four of you I'm actually inviting to my tiny, weird, little wedding), then don't scroll down!

The invites!  We love the soft yellow, the simplicity of the invitation and the cute font.  I'm a sucker for a simple/modern layout no matter what it's for!

And the RSVP cards!  I love the wording and design.  The only thing I didn't love about these cards is how little about the food you can fit on there because our food all has really long descriptions and I love how fancy our food sounds so I was bummed out that all I ended up fitting on there was new york steak, chicken, and halibut, but it would have been that way with most any RSVP cards, they are usually this size.





So we love them and I'm so excited how insanely ahead of the game we are so far with the wedding.  I'm sure I'll be eating those words come the first of next year, but I'm enjoying my cheap wedding invitation high right now!

And the Wedding Journey Begins...

Welcome to the first of many wedding blogs by Not-So-Wedding-Planner extraordinaire Valerie.  Today, we're going to talk about inspiration.  The thing I've been struggling with the most as a bride/planner is knowing when a decision is "right."  This is a problem of mine not only with the wedding, but with life in general and it drives Mike insane.  How do you know you're right?  Isn't life black and white? And so on and so on.  The answer is, of course, no.  There are no right and wrong answers when it comes to stuff like wedding planning.  Okay, 2 tables + 4 tables = 6 tables, that is a right answer, but "should I do my wedding in black and white or black and pink?" has no correct answer.  That is my point.  Took me a while to get to it...whew!

When I first started planning the wedding, I spent a lot of time flipping through bridal magazines and browsing The Knot.  A couple of weddings stood out to me during my research and I was immediately drawn to the colors yellow, white, and gray.  Now I know the first thing that is going to pop into everyone's head when I say the color yellow is how much I've been complaining about the yellow walls all over my house.  I know I don't make sense and I'm a total flip flopper, but just go with it.

My all time favorite wedding inspiration came from a real wedding shown in The Real Simple Weddings magazine for 2010, (pretty expensive magazine at 10 bucks, but it only comes out once a year and it is totally worth it).  Here are a couple of pictures of their yellow and white wedding:

The things that stood out the most to me were the crispness of the colors, the simplicity of the decorations, and the comfortable, handmade feel of the entire event.  After looking at weddings like these and deciding a time of year for the event, (late April of 2011), Mike and I decided on yellow with accents of gray and white.

I think the most important thing I learned when making this decision is that you can find tons of weddings you fall in love with.  I love the pictures I posted of that yellow and white wedding, but our wedding is not going to look anything like it except for the color scheme.  You have to gain inspiration from pictures and be able to convert it to your own style and feeling.  Mike and I constantly verbalize what we want our wedding to feel like and it helps so much with the planning and decision making.

Engaged!

So, one of the things I love about me and Mike is how...I don't know how to put it...un-mooshy or un-traditionally romantic we are. Case in point - for Valentines day instead of going out to a fancy dinner or giving each other expensive gifts, we spent the whole day in our pajamas watching a Harry Potter marathon. Yes, Mike cooked a lovely meal that I showed all of you guys, but what you didn't know is that we ate that lobster tail in our pajamas, on the couch, while watching Harry Potter. Basically, we're nerdy, non-romantics in love.

We've been talking about getting engaged since pretty soon into our relationship and life has just thrown us too many curve balls up unto this point. We've moved so many times, switched jobs so many times,and then bought this house, so it was just never the right time to plonk down a sack of cash for a ring and then plan a wedding. Mike, being a super nerd who works in a library, loves to research things and has been researching rings for ages. We've even tried a few on when we've been at the mall which always makes me nervous and nauseous...but in a good way!

The other day, after having researched for so long and even picked out one he wanted to order online, Mike decided that I should come and help him pick out the ring because he really wanted me to get what I want. I agreed, saying that I would pick out two that I love and then leave and let him make the final choice so it would still be a surprise when he proposed. Just like when we bought this house...our best laid plans did not go as planned! We got to the store and no one was free to help us so we walked around and looked at every ring. There were so many, it was a little overwhelming, but there were two that really struck me that we decided I should try on. One that we were immediately drawn to was this gorgeous 1ct round solitaire sitting alone in the display that Mike and I couldn't believe was in our price range. So, the sales guy finally comes to help us and I try on the first one we saw and it was pretty, but I didn't really feel anything . Then he takes out the solitaire and when I tried that on, we both were just blown away by how pretty it was. Our sales guy even let us take it outside and compare it to a more expensive 1ct and see if we could tell the difference. I'll admit...I had quite the urge to grab the thing and run when we were outside, but the sales guy was bigger then me so I didn't.

We looked at other stuff and talked to the sales guy forever, but he let me hold onto the solitaire and I just kept putting it back on my finger and staring at it and Mike had that huge goober smile on his face that he gets when he's really happy so I knew this was the one. It took forever to pay and sign all the papers and I kept the ring on my hand the whole time. When our sales guy said that we could have it sized that day, but it wouldn't be ready until Tuesday, I got this look of panic on my face and asked if we could just take it home and bring it back later. Mike laughed and said that there's no way we're getting this ring off of my finger. Our sales guy finally pried the ring off of my clenched fist so he could put a sizer on it, (for such a chubby person, I cannot believe my ring size is a 4.25!!), and Mike and I got a minute to calm down and walk around and look at watches for him. By the time the sales guy brought the ring back, I was a little less nervous and freaked out. He gave the ring to Mike and we walked out of the store, ready to finish the rest of our errands for the day. Mike didn't even put the ring back in the box. Right when we got outside the store he turned around to me and asked me if I wanted to marry him and put the ring on my finger. We had a big kiss and ran to the car excited and laughing and kissing over and over. We spent the rest of the day shopping and talking about the ring. Mike is just as excited about the ring as I am and keeps picking up my hand and staring at it.

So...it might not be the most romantic or exciting proposal story. There were no roses or rings hidden in food, but it was perfectly us - we researched, we talked everything out, and we laughed.

We're both so happy right now that I almost don't care that my initials are going to spell vag...

Me in the car right after Mike proposed. Elated/Surprised/Goober.

Can't get a great picture of it, but this is my new shiny best friend.

2009 A Retrospective

So I realized, a little late, that I should probably look back on last year and talk/think about what happened and what I learned, but I'm drawing a blank. I blame the aspartame. I heard once years ago that aspartame which you can find in sugar free gum and diet soda kills your short term memory and ever since then, I've been blaming it for the fact that I can't remember ANYTHING. Like what I wore yesterday...no idea. Aspartame!! So to make it more simple, here are the top ten things I did in 2009 in no particular order:

1) Taking a trip to Disneyland with Mike and getting to meet up with my cousin who I haven't seen in years. Great day with my man, great reconnecting with one of my amazing relatives, AND I got to eat a Disneyland pickle which, if you haven't ever had one, is one of the greatest foods of all time...ever.

2) Visiting Dad & Monica in Virginia and exposing little old nerdrific history lover Mike to Washington DC and Virginia. Watching him stare up at the statue of Jefferson was an unforgettable experience. Oh, so was watching Dad hug Mike in the airport when meeting him for the first time after a red eye flight and no sleep...classic.



3) Loo's Champagne Train birthday party wine tasting champagne limo shenanigans. Here's how it went: finger foods, cheese, champagne, Bean, limo, pictures, champagne, singing, champagne, wine tasting, wine tasting, wine tasting, home, puke, Tough Love, puke, Tough Love, puke, Tough Love, puke, sleep. Worth it!!

4) Graduating college FINALLY. After three colleges, two majors, and 8 years, to finally have my Bachelor's Degree in hand was at times exciting, liberating, and embarrassing.

5) Surviving a soul crushing, emotion bruising, career screwing tax season where two of us ended up in tears, I was yelled at by at least two old women, and I watched my boss fall asleep in his chair and we still didn't get every client's tax return sent in on time...even though we didn't tell them that!

6) Shopping for and buying a house. It was such a jumble of emotions...from wanting to vomit to excitement to regret, to fear, to happiness to really truly feeling like an adult for the first time.

Mike signing the offer on the house. Look how happy he is!

7) Thanksgiving at the Ways. First time in a long time that a holiday was perfectly stress free, enjoyable, tasty, and fun. And it helped that they have the world's cutest butterball baby and rock star little boy.

The Bean helping me make the desserts. Love this kid to pieces.

8) Getting to live with Mike alone for a while in Chico and really see how we are as a couple. The guy drives me nuts, but man are we good together.

9) Moving back to Ridgecrest. I might not be too happy about it right now since I'm STILL unemployed and we are STILL painting our damn house, but getting to re-experience the city I was born and grew up in with Mike turned out to be really great; from going to our favorite hole in the wall restaurants to having one of the most amazing dinners ever at Mon Rev, to spending time with the moms, it has turned out okay...for Ridgecrest...

Mike at our favorite hole in the wall Ridgecrest joint, Golden Ox.

10) New Years Eve / Mike's Birthday / Our 3 Year Anniversary. One of the only trips we've gotten to take out of town with each other alone and by far our best trip yet. We hit all of our faves: art and history, great food, and quality goofy time together. It was romantic, funny, silly, a little bickery of course, just basically a perfect couple of days for Mike and Val.

Cheers! Champagne in the hotel room after the world's best dinner. We're old and boring, but champagne in bed and asleep by 10:30 was perfect for us!

Runners Up: Palm Springs with mom and Loo: relaxing, eating, pooool and Jason and Paul bonus! Painting and bonding with the mo in law. Hanging out with K-Furg and renewing our friendship. Adopting Laci Bailey and loving her in memory of Mike's amazing grandma. Ven visiting and getting to see her after sooo long. Taking care of Loo after she broke her baby ankle. The Green Day concert and spending quality time with the Waysters.

P.S. Seriously, how many of my special moments in 2009 included booze?!!

Buyer's Remorse

Once upon a time sweet little Mikey and Val went house shopping with their fairy godmother/realtor Joette. They looked at many houses, some old and not so great, some okay, and even one with two kitchens and a toilet in a closet. Then they saw THE house. They walked in and it was....well perfect. They loved that modern color pallet, loved the floors, the appliances, the layout. This was IT. They put in an offer and little Val got tears in her eyes from the excitement and happiness. After a month or so of shenanigans, rigmarole, stress, and silliness, sweet little Mikey and Val were handed their keys. They walk into their new home and for the first time realize.....it's YELLOW. Like really really yellow. And oh yeah, the previous owners did a piss poor job painting so there is paint EVERYWHERE. And the trim is black. Lots and lots of black. And things don't work and they painted OVER DUCT TAPE and there is a random roll of chicken wire in the shed and they left behind buckets and buckets of paint and and and and....

Buyer's remorse is a thing right?

That being said, sweet little Mikey and crazy pants Val really do love the house. The trim is no longer black and the red wall is no longer pinkish. Things will be fixed and the chicken wire and paint buckets will be on their way to the dump soon. It's on its way to becoming a home. And to anyone that doesn't like the yellow, Mikey and Val don't want to hear about it!!

A Letter to 17 Year Old Me

Dear Valerie,

I am having a horrible day today and quite a bit of it is your fault. Here are some simple things that you can do to make my life less miserable:

1) Don't slack off your senior year of high school and eff up your grades just because your parents are getting separated.
2) Don't only apply to three colleges, all of which are in California.
3) Don't choose a random major right away. Instead, take GE's for your first year and THINK about what you actually want to do so you can perhaps have a career one day.
4) Don't reject going to a great college because your sister went there.
5) Don't do a long distance relationship with your first boyfriend making you miss any fun you could have had your freshman year in college.
6) Don't transfer schools for a boy who you know deep down you don't really love.
7) Don't get shit-faced drunk at a frat party because you are upset over a break-up that you know was for the best anyway.
8) Don't jump around jobs just because you keep getting offered different ones and you think it's a good thing. It's not. People later on in life will NOT hire you because your resume is so sporadic.
9) Don't stop going to classes because you are depressed and school gives you anxiety. Just suck it up and finish your classes. You are too smart to have F's on your transcripts.
10) Don't fall for mean boys who lie to you. They don't change. Ever.
11) Don't drop out of school 3 classes until graduation after you've already been accepted to grad school so you can move across the country. I don't care if it's a job that you've always wanted. I don't care if you're scared of graduating. I don't care if you've just had a messy breakup. DON'T DO IT.
12) Don't quit that job six months in because you are lonely and a chicken and out of money. You did this to yourself, suck it up and make it work.
13) Don't move for ANOTHER boy, get accepted to a good college, not go and instead go to school online and get a pointless degree.
14) Don't, under any circumstances, move back to Ridgecrest.

Follow these 14 simple hints and you will be a much better and happier person, I guarantee it.

Sincerely,

Valerie

P.S. You suck.

Tales from the Home Hunt

In case you hadn't noticed, I have been really lazy lately. When you don't leave your house and/or change out of your pajamas, you don't have much to blog about! I figured in the absence of new and interesting things to say, I'd post a story from mine and Mike's short, but entertaining hunt for a home. Mike decided once we moved to Ridgecrest that we should buy a house. I was super against it because, well...I DON'T HAVE A JOB. Mike did his crazy anal Mike research, (he does work in a library after all), and ended up convincing me that we could afford it and that it was fiscally smart to do. So we got a realtor and set out to find the home of our dreams...within a budget. We set out on the sunny flex Friday, (if you don't know what a flex Friday is then you aren't from Ridgecrest and you really don't care), hoping to find something worth the massive amounts of money we are going to dump into it. The first house we pull up to is OKAY. The cul de sac kind of scares me, but I'm a sheltered, white, small town girl so I tend to try to ignore my HOLY SHIT THIS PLACE IS GHETTO instinct. We go inside and it's nice. The floors are wood and the backyard has a pool, but further investigation unveiled some weirdnesses that I personally could not ignore. Weirdness #1 - there was an extra room off of the living room with no door and with a fireplace and bed in it. Weirdness #2 - there were these big box thingies on two walls that apparently acts as the heater. Maybe this is me being naive or just never having lived in an old house, but I do not want my heat being puffed out of two big boxes located randomly throughout the house. Also, we couldn't go in the backyard because there were little yappy dogs guarding the pool. Shouldn't the dogs NOT be locked in WITH the pool? Just a question. So we left that house feeling sort of eh about it. We didn't hate anything, but we definitely didn't love anything either. I started to get worried that I wouldn't get THAT feeling. You know what I mean? That feeling they say you get when you put on the right wedding dress. That "I just know" feeling. I worried the whole drive to the second house and then I walked in. OHhhh that's the feeling I was waiting for.

We'll come back to that later. Fast forward to a couple of houses later. We pull up to a house that looks abandoned. Yet again, maybe I'm naive, but I was shocked with the state of houses in our price range. We're not talking 80 grand cheapo houses. These were people asking legit amounts of money for houses with holes punched in the walls and carpet ripped out of the hallway. It still shocks me that people will just ditch their house or will put it on the market looking like a rock band had a bender inside of it the night before. Anyways, we walk up and this place is pretty crappy looking, but nothing we couldn't easily fix. I walk inside and turn right to enter the kitchen. I immediately get a vibe that this place is icksville and I don't want it, but Mike is methodical and wants to look at ALL of the house so I keep looking. I turn to the right of the kitchen and enter another room. I immediately do a double take because I am standing INSIDE OF ANOTHER KITCHEN. I actually at this point turn around and walk back into the first kitchen to make sure I'm not on crack. Nope, I'm sober. There are TWO kitchens in this house. Fighting the urge to run out the door, I turn to the right again and enter the next room which is not a kitchen hurrah! No, this is a bedroom. A bedroom with Mike standing at the closet looking horrified. Because inside the closet is A BATHROOM. I'm pretty sure that is the fastest Mike, myself, and the realtor moved all day getting the hell out of there.

Needless to say, we did not purchase creepy icksville house. We are currently in the process of purchasing the second house. The ohhhh this feels right house. Once everything is officially over and escrow closes on the 31st, I'll post pictures and details, but until then let me just promise you this...our house does not have two kitchens, or a toilet in a closet.