A Joyful Bride

Goin' to the Chapel

2010-02-08T10:20:00.000-06:00

That, my friends, is the church I will be married in. First United Methodist Church in downtown Fort Worth. Isn't it gorgeous? We will be married in the chapel of the church which is significantly smaller than the sanctuary but more beautiful (I think). It will offer a more intimate feel for the ceremony as well. The moment I walked in the chapel I felt peaceful and calm. It was like my soul knew this was the right place to marry my love.

Originally, I wanted to be married in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. It would have been far more cost effective but they make it nearly impossible to pull off without causing me a headache. They didn't allow chairs at all (which I thought was odd) and they only allowed a two hour block of time for all of the pre-ceremony, ceremony, and post-ceremony happenings. Plus, they had no inclement weather plan that would accommodate more than 25 people. I decided pretty quickly after touring the place that as much as I'd love to get married in a garden, I was not willing to risk my sanity to do it. So we started looking at churches and I'm so glad we did!

If you ever have a chance to visit First United Methodist Church in downtown Fort Worth, I highly encourage you to do so. It's an architectural treasure in the heart of an amazing city. I can't wait to get married there!

Hey, Mr. DJ, Put A Record On...

2010-02-05T15:16:00.000-06:00

Huzzah! Another big TO DO out of the way! This week Lobster and I made a joint effort to find ourselves a good, but affordable, DJ. This was no easy task. But we divided and conquered! Basically, I did all the research (I'm good at that) by finding the best rated DJs in the DFW area on WeddingWire and then gathering more information from the Star Telegram Bridal Show last weekend and busted out my super sleuthing google skills to find out more about the candidates. I had the pleasure of meeting one guy from DJ Connection Dallas at the bridal show who was very informative and had a great personality. And he quoted me a great price. I liked him immediately. But, being me, I still had to research the snot out of every other candidate I found. I really make a lot of work for myself, don't I? Don't answer that.

Anyhoodle, I fired off about a dozen email inquiries and most of those that came back were a bit disappointing. They were all so flipping expensive! $1,500 for a DJ??!! Seriously?? I had budgeted $600. . . because I'm naive and have no idea what anything costs. I quickly realized we weren't going to find a good DJ for that amount (key word being "good"). But I was determined not to spend a whopping $1,500 either.

So we continued our email inquiries, but in the meantime, Lobster started making phone calls. One of the calls he made was to the DJ Connection dude I met at the bridal show. They really hit it off (and they even offered to train Lobster to be a DJ, which is an entirely different post). They had really good ratings on WeddingWire and they seemed professional and entertaining but not in a cheesy way (which was a must for us). AND they offered us a price that was WAY closer to what I had originally budgeted. Not spot on, but close enough for comfort.

After a couple of days of discussing the pros and cons, Lobster finally called them back and booked them. Woo! So now we have our DJ and I'm really excited. A little nervous because you never know what you're going to get with a DJ, but we did the best we could with the information we had. I guess that's all you can do, right?

Book a DJ...CHECK!

Put Down the Gun!

2010-02-01T11:47:00.000-06:00

This weekend Lobster and I went to the Galleria to look for his wedding band. We went to the jewelry store where Lobster got my Shiny and the matching band and he found a very cool Tungsten band that was (amazingly) within budget. We didn't put a deposit down because Lobster wants to keep looking, but it was good to get an idea of what he wants wrapped around his finger for the rest of his life.

While at the Galleria we decided at the last minute that we might as well start registering for gifts since one of the stores we knew we wanted to register at was just downstairs. So we hightailed it to Williams Sonoma and got signed up for a registry. The nice sales woman explained the process and showed us how everything worked.

And then she handed us The Gun.

The woman, God bless her, began to hand me The Gun and I quickly corrected her, pointing out that this store was, in fact, Lobster's mecca. He nearly snatched The Gun from the poor woman. Lobster looked a little nervous at first, but as soon as he zapped the first item he was as giddy as a school boy.

To say that Lobster went nuts is a bit of an understatement. More than once I had to use my veto power. For example:

Lobster: "OOOHH! We need this!"
Me: "What is it?"
Lobster: "It's a [insert random, useless item here]?"
Me: "We don't need that."
Lobster: "Yes, we do! It's awesome!"
Me: "How many times since we've been together have we ever had a need for [refer to useless item here]?"
Lobster: Pause. "Well, we might need it someday."
Me: "Put it back."
Lobster: Giving me a dirty look. "FINE!"

He would then run off to zap more items. I can't be sure that I caught all the useless ones, but I sure did try. Later, we went to Crate and Barrel where I proceeded to go nuts with The Gun. Lobster was not as excited with the home goods as I was but as soon as we got to the kitchen section, he perked right up. We spent a good eight hours registering and we were both exhausted.

When we got home I realized that we hadn't registered for any linens. I just hadn't found any that I liked enough. So I did a bit of research online and finally found exactly what I was looking for at Restoration Hardware (be still my heart!). So I registered online and I was a happy, happy girl.

I think it's going to be funny when we get a bunch of kitchen stuff and Lobster's going to be the one that freaks out about it. I will be pleased as punch, too, because it means that he will be cooking more. Bwahahaha!

Visions of Photographers Dance in My Head

2010-01-29T13:31:00.001-06:00

Anyone who has planned a wedding (or is obsessed with weddings) knows that there are certain things you must do in a particular order to have a smooth wedding planning process (and when I say smooth, I mean the least amount of people getting maimed or killed by the crazy bride). In keeping with many traditional wedding planning checklists, my No. 1 Thing To Do was Find a Venue, whereupon I would inherently Pick a Date. While I kinda checked this one off the list out of order (Buy a Dress accidentally sneaked its way up to No. 1 somehow), I managed to get it done as No. 2. Many brides will have Hire a Caterer and Arrange a Bar as Nos. 3 and 4, but since my venue includes those things (whether I like it or not), I need not worry about that. So, the next priority on my list was Hire a Photographer.

And not just any photographer, mind you. Nooooo. It was known from the very beginning that a photographer was on my Top Three Most Important Aspects of My Wedding List. The photos, you see, are the only tangible things I will be able to keep from my wedding. They will capture the emotions of that day. They will memorialize the tiny special moments that I will not get to see in person because I'm too busy getting married. They will be passed down to my children's children. My photos MUST be amazing.

Being a lawyer, I'm a bit of a researcher. I research every decision I make TO DEATH. If you recall, I visited a grand total of five possible venues in one day...and I still wasn't sure. So it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I booked appointments with five photographers within a two week time frame. I also had three more in the wings "just in case." Type A, you say? Why, thank you!

Anyhoo, thus began my whirlwind search for the Perfect Photographer. I had my first appointment on Wednesday night in Dallas and I was PREPARED. I had not just one, but two, lists of questions to ask the photographer that I was "interviewing." I brought my trusty blue Wedding Planner with all of my research, including print-outs of all the emails I had sent and received pertinent to each potential photographer. I knew exactly what I wanted out of my photos. I was ready to ROCK.

Enter Cristina, the first of my candidates. I had heard of Cristina from a girl in my boot camp class who had just gotten married. She spoke so highly of Cristina and her photography skills, I just had to see for myself. I had been stalking Cristina's website and blog for weeks before I actually made an appointment, so I knew she was talented. But I wanted to see if we got along because, frankly, being in front of a camera makes me a bit nervous so if the photographer and I can laugh and joke then I know she's my girl.

Upon meeting Cristina I could tell she was a very sweet spirit. But only when we started talking did I realize how down to earth and friendly she was. During the "official interview" part of the meeting, though, as much as I already liked her, I was not yet blown away. I still had my cautious hat on. I was still in Bride-on-a-Mission mode.

After the interview, however, Cristina walked me downstairs and out to the parking lot. As we walked we began chatting like regular girls. We talked about how Lobster and I met and how our significant others seem to have a desperate need to get German Shepherds, much to our chagrin. As we started talking and laughing and joking like we had known each other for months, not just minutes, I suddenly realized that THIS was what I was looking for in a photographer. We just clicked.

Of course, being who I am, I decided that I needed to at least visit with one other photographer before I made any decisions. So I did, the following day at lunch. And the other photographer was wonderful and nice and did amazing work too. But we didn't joke and laugh as much. And I could never shake the feeling that I was already committed to another photographer.

That afternoon I decided it was time to stop the madness and just seal the deal. I canceled all my other appointments with the rest of my candidates. I emailed Cristina and asked her to be my photographer. We both squealed with delight. We're now BFFs.

So, let me formally introduce you to my Perfect Photographer: Cristina Wisner of Wisner Photo. Go check her out. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Hire a Photographer...CHECK!

Dressing the Maids

2010-01-27T13:50:00.000-06:00

Remember when you were a little girl (ladies, I'm talking to you, obviously) and you would spend hours either dressing up your dolls in pretty dresses or driving your mother crazy by putting on every dress in your closet (that was me)? Ah, those were the good old days.

Flash forward about 25 years and here I am still playing dress up. But this time I have life-sized dolls! I have been scouring the internet for dresses for my bridesmaids since I bought my dress back in November. My dress is a beautiful champagne Maggie Sotterro. It's form fitted with a trumpet skirt and an asymmetrical bodice. Clearly, I can't post a picture of the dress for fear of Lobster finding it. Sorry! Anyhoo, I love the warmth of the champagne color of my dress and I wanted to stick to an equally warm, elegant tone for my bridesmaids. Almost immediately I knew that eggplant purple (or jewel-toned purple) was the color I wanted them in. I also wanted to mirror the asymmetrical shape of the bodice in their dresses if I could.

With that in mind I continued my internet quest to find the perfect dress. Here are a couple of the short dresses that I liked:

For a while I couldn't decide whether I wanted them in short or long dresses. I slept on the decision for a couple of weeks and then came to the realization that I really wanted them in an elegant long dress. Thus, these were the two dresses I decided were my top picks:

Very similar, I know. The color of the one on top is perfect, but I love the style of the one on the bottom a little better. Luckily they are both made by the same designer, Mori Lee, so hopefully we'll be able to order the one on the bottom in the purple color. The best part is that they are not that expensive (compared to other bridesmaid dresses, that is.)

What do you think? Me and a couple of my girls will be going to try on the dresses sometime within the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to a fun girls' day playing real life dress up!

Tablescape Inspiration

2010-01-25T12:12:00.000-06:00

One of my biggest challenges in saving money is going to be the decor. I want to have an elegant, beautiful, warm, glowing room with personal touches everywhere. I would love to have gigantic flower arrangements on each table but I have never understood paying so much money for flowers. Sure, they're beautiful but they are also very expensive and THEY DIE. Why do I want to pay so much for something that will be thrown away in a few days? So what's a girl to do? How does one create an elegant tablescape on a budget and without wasting a lot of money?

Candles. That's my solution, anyway. I love candles. They are inherently beautiful and elegant. They create a warm, magical atmosphere. And there are so many shapes and sizes, you can really fill up a table with them. Here are some pictures that I found on the internet that inspired this idea:

So with this idea in mind, I headed over to my local Homegoods. Oh, Homegoods, how I love thee. It just so happened that Homegoods had twelve crystal candlesticks and a few other goodies (like a beautiful cupcake stand, which I'll discuss in another post) ranging in price between $3.99 and $12.99. I bought them all! Here is a sample of my lovelies:

My goal is to find 12-24 more of these babies (or similar models) and have these grouped on the tables at the reception interspersed with votive candles. Well, you say, you can rent stuff like that for about the same price. Yes, yes you can. But if I rented them, I couldn't then re-sell them on ebay, now could I?

Bwahahahaha! Saving (and recouping) money makes me giddy.

So, whatcha think about my candlesticks? Do you have other suggestions for saving money on decor?

It's A Date!

2010-01-19T12:32:00.001-06:00

Yeah, so, remember that time that I thought I had a reception venue picked out? Um, not so much, it turns out.

BUT...now I really do! For real this time! I'm super excited. It's in Fort Worth (like I originally wanted), it's beautiful (like I wanted) and it came in less expensive than the other option that I almost decided on (bonus). And they had my preferred date available! I'm officially getting married on November 6, 2010!

Holy wedding bells, Batman!

Now I just have to find a ceremony location that also has my date available. So the search continues...oy.

Mission Accomplished...Maybe

2010-01-12T12:30:00.001-06:00

This is my dream wedding location: Blair Castle in Scotland. Due to budget concerns, this idea has been scrapped.

Moving on...

This weekend was a whirlwind of wedding planning. I managed to book five locations for Lobster and I to go look at in downtown Fort Worth. My mom and my sister Cupcake, the Maid of Honor (a.k.a. MOH), joined us for most of the tours. While most brides would feel overwhelmed to have so many people giving her advice and opinions while looking at so many places, I must say I was glad that they were all there.

The first two locations were really lovely 100 year old buildings that had been renovated into ballrooms. Although I liked the space of the first venue more than the second, only the second had my preferred wedding date available. Neither venue provided linens or anything other than tables and chairs (ugly chairs, I might add) so I would have to spend money on tablecloths, chair covers, etc. The second venue was a bit more light and bright and I felt I could work with it and the lady there was willing to negotiate price with me (bonus points for her). So we took lots of pics and notes and continued on our journey.

The third location would have been nice if it (a) were not run down, (b) did not provide super cheesy decorations and (c) not located in the semi-ghetto. We moved on fairly quickly from that one.

The fourth venue was the venue Lobster liked best. It was an old movie theater that had been renovated into event rooms and ballrooms. The space was very nice, very elegant and the location was AMAZING (in the middle of downtown). However, it really bothered me that the ballroom had no windows. I'm a nature girl and I would have preferred to be married outside but I don't want the headache of worrying about the weather on my wedding day. So I prefer windows, especially if it affords a view of the city lights. Also, the venue was more expensive, although they provided linens. The catering and bar situation they offered, though, left much to be desired and they did not offer tastings until a month before the wedding. Um, RED FLAG. Sorry, folks, but I'm not going to be under contract with you without having first tasted what you're serving my guests. I did not like that one bit.

After the fourth tour, mom and MOH headed home for other engagements and Lobster and I headed to Starbucks to compare notes. We determined that, so far, it was between Venue No. 2 and Venue No. 4. We still had one more to look at, however, so we headed out.

Our fifth venue had two spaces in which we could hold the reception. The first one we looked at was being set up for a wedding that night and it was really lovely and elegant and very expensive looking but I was not blown away for some reason. But then we looked at the second room and even though it was not being set up for a wedding, I fell in love with it immediately. We went back to the event manager's office to discuss numbers and I was heartbroken to learn that it was the most expensive venue we had seen so far and he was not willing to negotiate with me. AT ALL. ON ANYTHING. Not even the tiniest, least expensive little detail. It really irritated me and made me sad. All the way home I was agonizing about it because I fell in love with the place but it was more money than we wanted to spend and the fact that the guy wouldn't even negotiate a little had me seething. Of course, Lobster told me that if it was the location I wanted, we'd make it work, but I still felt sick about it.

So I prayed about it that night and the next morning I got up and decided to glance over my spreadsheet of places to check out (yes, I made a spreadsheet). There was one place that had been high on my list and that I really wanted to go see but I had already discounted it because it wasn't in Fort Worth but in McKinney which is pretty far away. But I looked over their brochure again and their website and I just had the feeling I should check it out before making any decisions. So I called the place and I was surprised to learn that they had no problem with me coming over to see the place after that day's event ended. So Lobster and I trekked out to McKinney and as soon as I walked in the place I knew it was the right one. It just felt right. It's an old restored opera house that has been turned into a boutique hotel and ballroom. The site is gorgeous and they provide linens. I wanted to see if they had my preferred date available but the manager wasn't in so I was going to have to call on Monday. But just as we were leaving, another staff member arrived who was able to access the schedule and she was able to tell me that while my preferred weekend was already booked, the next weekend wasn't. Okay. I can live with that.

So, now I'm just waiting on their catering manager to give me a proposal so I can sit down and compare numbers with the other places we saw. I am fairly certain that this is the place but I just have to do my due diligence before I make any huge decisions. Gotta get all the facts. I really hope it all works out because it will be a huge relief to get this part of the process done!

Well, Hello Winter!

2010-01-08T12:27:00.002-06:00

This morning I woke up to a frigid 14 degrees with a windchill of negative 3. It made going to the gym at 6:00 a.m. AWESOME (note the sarcasm here). I am fairly certain that the few live plants I had left in the backyard are now completely dead. I probably should have brought them in the garage at the very least, but I am lazy and forgetful. I'm blaming my forgetfulness on being almost 30. But the silver lining is that one of the plants is (was?) mint and I keep hearing that it's impossible to kill mint. IS THAT A CHALLENGE? Then I accept! This spring we will finally know the truth! Go me!

In other news, Lobster and I have a very eventful weekend ahead of us. Over the holidays I kinda took a break from wedding planning because (a) it was stressing me out, and (b) I had no time to go look at anything anyway. But I resolved that once the holiday craziness was over I'd jump into planning head first. And so I did. I managed to book tours of five, count them--FIVE, possible venues in downtown Fort Worth. The tour appointments range from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with very little time in between. For a fleeting moment, the thought did cross my mind as to when we are going to eat lunch. And then I remembered that I don't care about eating when I have planning to do. I am hardcore. Welcome to Wedding Boot Camp, Lobster. BWAHAHAHA!

But, in all seriousness, I am looking forward to finally getting things done. I think I am going to tackle the trimming of the gust list tonight because it seriously needs trimming. I'm not pointing any fingers or anything, but SOMEONE has way too many friends for his own good. Someone else is a chronic introvert and only had four friends, all of which are in her bridal party and two of which are her sisters. So cutting the list might be a bit of a one-sided affair. Poor He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Blamed. (I love you, Lobster!)

Anyhoodle, I hope I have a venue picked out by the end of the weekend. It sure would be nice to have some firm decisions under the proverbial belt, you know?

Have a happy weekend!

Bride Brain

2009-12-07T12:24:00.000-06:00

This is what I'm calling the craziness that's going on in my head right now. It really should be classified as a legitimate disease that is spread through placing shiny rings on the third finger of the left hand. Because all I do these days is think about planning a wedding.

I know. I'm driving myself crazy, too!

But what's difficult about it is that I'm trying to plan an affordable wedding. I would not be having issues if I were planning an extravagant bash at any location my little heart desired (a chapel in the Highlands of Scotland). That, my friends, would be easy. But planning an elegant, refined affair on a beer and nachos budget is FLIPPING FRUSTRATING!

My main complaint: venue. If I could just find an affordable (but not cheesy) (or ghetto) (or circa 1975) location that did not force me to use a sub-par (expensive) (tasteless) (limited choices) caterer, I'll be golden. Until that time, I have Bride Brain, and I apologize that I cannot think of other things more interesting to blog about right now. I promise I'll get better soon.

(Maybe.)

(Here's hoping.)

(Oh, and not to mention that alcohol is uber-expensive, too, but that's an entirely different post...)

1 "To-Do" Down, 4,827 More to Go

2009-11-24T12:23:00.001-06:00

This weekend was pretty darn exciting. My mom and Cupcake and I planned on meeting in Fort Worth to go look at wedding dresses. I had been chatting with a girl from L.A. about buying her wedding dress, a gorgeous Pronovias, for a very discounted rate. I wanted to go try on the dress first to make sure it would fit before making such a large purchase. (Side note for those not wedding dress savvy: the size of the wedding dress is greatly disproportionate to the size a girl wears in regular clothes. For instance, I wear a 4 in most clothes but in a wedding dress I wear anywhere from an 8 to a 10. It's ridiculous.)

Anyway, so mom and Cupcake and I head to the bridal shop and proceed to try on a billion dresses. Mom and Cupcake arrived before me. A woman greeted them and asked if they had an appointment. We didn't. Evidently, appointments are "preferred" (read: you're sure to go to hell if you don't make an appointment with a bridal shop.) Luckily, the Bridal Shop Gods were feeling benevolent that day and forgave us our sin. These people are far too serious.

Eventually, we were ushered into a dressing room/waiting area. The poor woman attending me, Vicki, was a little old lady with the patience of a saint. I was a good foot taller than her but she heaved those heavy dresses over my head like a champ. It was a little odd, however, when she came into the dressing room with me, handed me a corset bra and ordered me to "strip down and put on the bra." Er...excuse me? Not even my mother sees "the girls" anymore. But there I was, naked as a jaybird because little old Vicki demanded it.

At first, I chose only Pronovias dresses because they're gorgeous and I was trying them on to see if the one I found online would fit me. It turns out, the online dress would have been a size too small. But when I tried them on I just didn't feel like me in them. And let's not even discuss how expensive they are. So I went back to the racks and started looking at all designers to try to get a sense of what I really wanted. I finally narrowed it down to three: one my mom loved (but I think it was because it was the first dress I put on and so it had an immediate impact), and two others that were champagne colored but very different styles. Of course, I had to try on all three at least two more times to help me decide which one I liked best. Poor Vicki.

Finally, we got it narrowed down to the two champagne dresses, one of which was a Maggie Sottero. I felt like a million bucks in both of them. But I kept looking at the Maggie thinking, "This might be the one." But I couldn't really say it out loud because I wanted to know my mom and Cupcake's true feelings. I put on the Maggie one more time and went out to stand in front of the mirror. All three of us just stood there looking at my reflection. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I said, "I think this is the one."

Suddenly, my mom starts clapping and saying, "Me too!" and Cupcake bursts into tears. Then I start crying. Then Vicki starts crying. And my mom's snapping pictures of all of us crying (you wonder where I get my obsessive need to take pictures of everything?).

Then I turned to Vicki and asked her if I could buy the dress of the rack at a discount. One of the best things about the Maggie was that it was already a very good price. Far less than the one I was thinking of buying online at a discount. But I knew that if I bought off the rack I could possibly get an even better price. And, lucky for me, the dress that I tried on fit perfectly. So Vicki went to ask the store owner and came back and offered the dress for $100 cheaper. I looked to mom who nodded her head vigorously and said, "Let's do it!"

So I bought my wedding dress. At the first shop I went to. During the first day of looking. Holy cow!

But the fun didn't stop there. We then headed to a vineyard just outside of Fort Worth to consider for a venue. It was beautiful and quite reasonably priced compared to all other locations I've looked into so far. I want to take Lobster to see it (he's been out of town since last Tuesday) but I think it will be a top contender!

So that was my weekend. It was so much fun and it will be an amazing memory for me, my mom and Cupcake.

Deep Breath

2009-11-19T12:21:00.000-06:00

To say that I am overwhelmed is an understatement.

From the time I was a little girl I dreamed of my wedding. Except for a few bitter years in college and law school, my wedding was one of my biggest dreams. When Lobster and I started to fall in love, that dream started to rise up from the depths of my heart again and I allowed myself to begin hoping that one day it would come true.

Now here we are on the cusp of the beginnings of my dream come true. And I've suddenly come to understand one thing I never realized before in all my childhood fantasies...

Holy mother of pearl, weddings are flippin' expensive!

*Begin Rant*

I mean, really. What makes an empty room with a bunch of tables and chairs worth $3,000 just for the privilege of using it for four hours? And what exactly is it about a white dress that makes it five times more expensive than a dress of any other color? Is it sprinkled with magic fairy dust? Will it make my boobs grow or melt the fat off my hips? Well, then sign me up! Otherwise, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

Maybe this wouldn't be so mind-blowing to me if my parents were taking care of the financial burden of a wedding but I don't expect them to. This is my wedding. Why should my parents go into debt for a one-day event? I think it's ridiculous for ANYONE to pay this much money for what really amounts to a big party. Yes, of course I want all the wonderful things that all other brides want. This is a once in a lifetime deal for me; I want it to be beautiful, I want it to be memorable, I want it to be elegant, I want it to ROCK.

But, it really makes me angry that this whole wedding industry essentially rapes people of their hard earned money by jacking up the cost of everything simply because its a wedding.

So the question is: how do I orchestrate an elegant, beautiful, memorable, rockin', but CHEAP wedding? Is it even possible?

If this is how they want to play, I'll play. I'll put my gameface on. I am not a pleasant person when I have my gameface on. I will take no prisoners. I will not be investing one cent of my hard-earned money until these people, the vendors, prove to me that their location, cake, dress, photos, food, etc. is worth every penny. So far I have seen nothing that has justified such costs.

If all else fails, I am not above taking my money to the nearest tropical island and paying some random preacher to say the magic words.

*End Rant*

Deep breath.

Roommate

2009-11-16T12:19:00.000-06:00

Boy am I tired!

This weekend I officially gained a new roommate! Lobster finally moved in and we are so excited! He arrived on Saturday afternoon with a truck full of stuff. We had no idea how much stuff he truly had until it was deposited into every free space in my house! On Saturday we only had a couple of hours to unload the U-Haul before we had to start getting ready to go to Fort Worth for a myriad of celebrations. My dear friend V from *uncorked was in town for a visit and it was my sister, Cupcake's, birthday as well as my dad's belated birthday celebration. We ate our fill of Mexican food, drank our fill of margaritas and stayed out as late as we could possibly keep our eyes open...which turned out to be 11:00. We are some crazy kids! Watch out!

Sunday we slept in because we both needed the sleep. Then we got up and I made a yummy breakfast and then we hit the ground running. Returned the U-Haul after a series of unfortunate directions, unpacked as many boxes as we could until we realized it was dinner time and we were hungry. We gave ourselves permission to stop for the night and instead we enjoyed an excellent frozen lasagna and watched the new animated movie, UP! It was so good and really funny! I recommend it.

After the movie we headed to bed and read for a little while. At one point I looked over at Lobster and thought, "Wow! You're still here!" I don't think it has really hit either of us yet that he's actually here to stay! It still feels like a visit. I am so happy that he's here I can't even describe it.

In other news, I had to drop off my Shiny (and the matching wedding band) at the jewelers to get it re-sized. It's just slightly too big and I kept worrying that it would fall off. It was very difficult to just leave them there and walk away. I don't want to be naked-handed for a week! But I'd rather do it now and be done with it than continue to worry about it slipping off. That would be decidedly worse, don't you think?

Modern Day Fairy Tale

2009-11-09T10:35:00.000-06:00

This is a story I wrote a few weeks ago. It just popped into my head one day while I was driving to get my hair done. I started furiously scribbling it down in a little leather journal that I keep in my purse while sitting under the heat lamps with foil sticking out of my head. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person.

I decided to post this story today because it has special meaning. You'll see why I thought it was appropriate to publish it on the blog today at the end of this post...

The Girl With the Texas-Sized Heart

by CJR

Once upon a time there was a girl with a Texas-sized heart. Ever since the Girl was very little, she dreamed of finding her One True Love and she hoped and wished and prayed very hard so that she might find him. As the Girl grew, she gathered all her Hope and stored it away in her Texas-sized heart for safe-keeping.

One day when the Girl was a little older, she met a boy whom she thought was her One True Love. With joy, the Girl carefully wrapped her Texas-sized heart filled with all her Hope and presented it to the Boy. The Boy accepted her heart hastily and with the greedy foolishness that Boys sometimes have around a Girl with a Texas-sized heart. But a little while later the Boy changed his mind and sheepishly gave back to the Girl her Texas-sized heart filled with all her Hope. But the Girl, frozen with sadness and fear, did not reach out in time and her Texas-size heart filled with all her Hope fell to the hard ground, shattering into pieces, all her Hope leaking out and draining away.

Using as much strength as she could muster, the Girl gathered up the broken pieces of her shattered heart, now empty of all her Hope, and did her best to mend it. Try as she might, she could not seem to mend her heart as it had once been; for you see, a heart that has lost all of its Hope quickly turns to ice. Dismayed, the Girl took her now icy Texas-sized heart and stuffed it deep down inside herself where she thought that no one would be able to hurt it again.

For many years the Girl tried to live a normal life while ignoring the heaviness of her icy Texas-sized heart. Every now and then, when the Girl found a safe place and a quiet moment, she would carefully take out her Texas-sized heart from where it was hidden and the Girl would try to feed little bits of Hope into it. But he ice was still too thick and the tiny slivers of fiery red Hope just got wedged into the small fissures and cracks of the ice, never reaching the center of the Girl’s Texas-sized heart. Soon the Girl gave up on trying to feed more Hope into her icy heart.

One day, the Girl was busy ignoring the heaviness of the icy Texas-sized heart that had become her burden when she met a Matchmaker. Of course, the Girl had met many before who had claimed to be Matchmakers, but they had all been frauds. Naturally, the Girl thought this Matchmaker was just like all the others so she ignored his offers to help her find the one who could help her to un-freeze her Texas-sized heart. For you see, what the Girl did not know was that the only way for the Girl to mend her shattered, icy heart was for her to meet her real One True Love who could help the Girl find and feed more Hope into her Texas-sized heart. But the Girl was stubborn from fear and hurt and she told the Matchmaker to leave her be. And he did. Or so she thought.

The Matchmaker, being wise and understanding the burden that was keeping the Girl from finding more Hope, went back to the place where he lived and did the Magic that only Matchmakers could do. He worked very long and hard and finally, when he was done, he sat back, smiled, and waited for the Magic to begin its work.

Many days passed since the Girl met the Matchmaker and then one day, the Girl met another boy. He was from a land far away but she could see that the Boy liked her for he was very kind to her. But the Girl was weary and guarded. The burden of her icy Texas-sized heart had made her very tired. Nevertheless, the Boy continued to be nice to the Girl and, for some reason, she did not tell him to let her be.

Many more days passed and the Boy and Girl became friends. The Boy could see that the Girl had a Texas-sized heart hiding deep within her. He could see that it had been shattered and was delicately held together by the covering of ice. For other boys, seeing the condition of the Girl’s heart might have frightened them into giving up on the Girl. But this Boy would not give up, for the Magic of the Matchmaker had allowed the Boy to see something hidden deep within the tiny fissures and cracks of the Girl’s frozen Texas-sized heart: tiny, shining slivers of fiery red Hope.

So the Boy continued to be very nice to the Girl and soon the Girl noticed that the burden of her frozen Texas-sized heart was not quite so heavy anymore. The Girl noticed that the more time she spent around the Boy, the lighter her burden became, as if the ice that had frozen her Texas-sized heart was slowly, slowly melting. She even thought that one day she felt a bit of Hope flutter deep within her chest, like a newly born butterfly testing its fragile wings.

Then one day the Girl found that she could not feel the burden of her frozen Texas-sized heart anymore and she knew that it had thawed so much that the Hope had begun to seep into the cracks and fissures, healing and mending her Texas-sized heart back together. When the Girl felt that her Texas-sized heart was whole enough, she took it carefully from the hiding place deep within her and timidly, cautiously offered it to the Boy. For you see, the Girl knew she had found her One True Love.

At first, the Boy did not take the Girl’s Texas-sized heart and the Girl was confused and scared. But then, slowly, the Boy reached deep within himself and took out his own Texas-sized heart, which had been bundled with a protective wrapping, for it too was bruised and beaten though not frozen. The Boy held his bruised heart out to the Girl and said, “I will take your heart and protect it if you will keep and protect mine.”

And the Boy and Girl exchanged their patched-up, Texas-sized hearts and did not hide them away but displayed them proudly for each other. Then the Boy gathered the Girl in his arms while Tears of Joy rained down from the Girl’s eyes. For you see, that is what happens when boundless hope fills a Texas-sized heart to overflowing.

The Girl said YES!