Retail Therapy

This week has been a little nutty - work, personal, etc. It's all a little bit crazy. As a result, I feel like I'm in a bit of a funk. And how do I usually break myself out of a funk?

I shop.

But, I'm trying not to shop as much. Not for a noble reason like I should be saving money to buy wedding stuff. But for a more practical reason which is that if Mike and I are going to be moving into my condo, I have to get rid of stuff not buy more stuff. Yes, we'll put some stuff in storage, but I really should try and cut back on buying more stuff as much as I can.

Normally, when I'm in a funk I usually buy myself one of three things - a book, a piece of clothing, or a handbag. (yes I get that there's a huge price difference in this mix). And, what you may ask currently accounts for about 90% of my possessions and thus the bulk of what I have to get rid of?

You guessed it - books, clothes, and handbags.

And what do I want to buy myself to get out of my funk?

right again - a handbag.

This one to be precise.


It's from Anthropology. I haven't bought it yet, but it's tempting me. It would be so cute for the summer! Bright and happy. With lots of space.

We'll see how much I can resist. I mean would it really take up that much room?

Sculpture Project Opening

For the last year, I have been helping the National Museum of Women in the Arts fundraise for their New York Avenue Sculpture Project.


It's a really cool public art project in DC. Four statues were placed on the median of New York Avenue in front of the Museum. The goal is to extend the project for 4 blocks until it reaches the Convention Center. Every year or two, the statues will be changed for new statues by a women artist.

The inaugural statues are by Niki de Saint Phalle. They are colorful and cheerful statues. They are definitely not to everyone's taste. But, they are a vibrant start to the project.

Last Thursday, Mike and I were invited to attend the opening party for the Project. It was a really fun event at the Museum. It was a pretty fancy event but not stuffy. Everyone was all dressed up, but the atmosphere was very low key.


There was a jazz band performing in the Museum lobby. There were fun colored rum drinks chosen to match the colors of the statues. There were carnival entertainers who created origami type things for people. You could tell this man anything that you wanted and he would create it out of a paper plate. Seriously, it was crazy.


There was a man juggling a plate on the end of a stick. Mike got to try that and it was a blast to watch. And, there were performancee artists dressed like the statues.

We had a really great time.

One decision down. . .

I have a wedding date. On May 14, 2011, I will be married!!!! Whooo hooooo.

I am really excited about this date. It's what I had in the back of my head all along. I tried not to wish for it too much so that i would not be disappointed if it did not work out. But, it did! In fact, it was the only date in May that our venue still had open. It was fate!

I think it's the perfect date. It's far enough away from my birthday so that I can have two celebrations. It's early enough in May that it should not be too hot. And if it is warm, the evenings should still cool off.

Plus, Mike and I first met on June 14 so the 14th is a special day for us. We'll be married 23 months to the day we met! That's pretty cool.

We picked the Links at Gettysburg for our wedding site. We are going to do the reception and ceremony all here. That will keep it easy. Plus, the setting is really pretty so we'll have lots of nice pictures and it should be a lovely atmosphere for the guests.

The ceremony - weather permitting - will take place on this pretty little patio.
But, if it rains, the wedding will still be pretty. The ceremony will be by this quaint little fireplace.




Then, we'll get to take cool wedding pictures outside. Like, on this pretty little bridge.



or by this cool waterfall.

And then it will be time to party! The reception - in the room below - should look really pretty. Colors and flowers TBD.



Hopefully it will be amazing. But even if everything goes crazy, I'll still be MARRIED to Mike at the end of the day. And that's all that matters. :)

Where to get married?

Finding a place to get married sounds way more fun than it actually is. I am feeling really stressed out about it.

There's just so much that goes into this decision. We need to find a place that is affordable, in a good location, and is elegant. I do not want an overly fancy wedding but I would like one that is classy and memorable.

It's also hard because to keep it affordable we are going to be married in the Hagerstown/southern PA area. So, we can only look at places on the weekends. The last couple of weekends have been full of wedding location scouting. We've nixed a couple of places and are down to three. I hope that no other places cross our paths because I like being down to the final choices. I'm hoping to have a decision by the first weekend in May.

This weekend we are checking out the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, WV. I used to go here all the time for special dinner (i.e. graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, etc). It's also the place where Mike first met my parents - we met there for brunch. It's a picturesque Inn just over the Maryland border in West Virginia. It would be a fun place to have a wedding because people could easily stay at the Inn or in a nearby bed and breakfast or hotel. Plus, Shepherdstown is a quaint little town that would be fun for people coming from out of town.

One place that we've already checked out that is still on our list is the Waynesboro Country Club. This is right in my parents' town. It's a very pretty location and it gives us the most flexibility in terms of decorations, size, etc. It's also the least expensive. But, it has a few drawbacks - namely that it's in Waynesboro. Everyone would have to stay in either Hagerstown or Chambersburg and that would mean a lot of driving for people who are not familiar with the area. I'd provide directions of course but it's still a bit problematic.

A new venue that was just referred to us is the Links at Gettysburg. This is a golf course in Gettysburg, PA. It would be kind of cool to be married in Gettysburg because it is one of my favorite towns. The pictures are also really pretty. A big plus for this place is that a lot of things - including the cake - are included in the package price. Plus there are a ton of packages and all can be customized. That appeals to me. Another plus is that the ceremony could be outside and it's a very picturesque place. But, the downside to that is if it rains, we are screwed. Sure, it could be moved inside but it would not be as nice. However, we could decide to have the ceremony in a church and just have the reception here. There's a lot up in the air. We are going to visit this location soon. It's the last on our list and then it's decision time!

I cannot wait for this decision to be made. It's the one that has me stressed out the most because it will determine our date. I really want to have a date nailed down. Then, we can take our time with some of the other details and I can work out a schedule (I am a production person after all). But, until we have the date and the location we cannot do much else!

Wish me luck.

Happy Birthday to Me

It's my birthday today. Happy Birthday to me!

My 28th birthday is far different from my 27th birthday.

For example this time last year, I had accepted my dad's dare to try online dating. Today, I'm engaged and planning a wedding. And last year, I was watching some dumb movie about the apocalypse starring Nicholas Cage. This year, I'm LA bound. Weird.

All in all it's been a great year. And, I've received some kick ass birthday gifts.

Like these from my fianceAnd this from my parents.
And something from my sister to put it all it.
So now I'm off to celebrate. Hopefully a fun dinner in LA will be in my future.