One down, two to go

Well, "two" is a bit gracious. I initially scheduled three wedding venue visits within a few days of each other, but if none of these feels right then I've got a whole list of other places to try. The possibilities are awfully close to endless, which thought simultaneously thrills and terrifies me.

But anyway, we saw venue #1 of 3 (...scheduled visits) this afternoon, and it was...well, nice, I guess. If I give our three current options cute little nicknames, this one would be called "Seattle Urban." (The other two are now deemed "The View" and "The Garden.") It's a yacht club on the shores of Lake Union (the lake surrounded by Seattle, as opposed to the lake surrounded by Seattle and its suburbs, and different from the other lake surrounded by Seattle), and while the view of the sun setting over the water was very pleasant, that was pretty much all it had going for it. The room was dark even with the maximum amount of sun streaming through the wall of windows, and even though it was supposed to comfortably hold our projected number of guests, I could just see everyone tripping over each other to get to the buffet, bar, and even smaller patio. Oh, and did I mention that it was located just underneath a highway overpass? The noise wasn't deafening, and there'd likely be less traffic noise during a Sunday afternoon ceremony, but it was another turn-off.

The recommended catering company sounds great (and we may try to hire them for another venue), but it just didn't feel right for the amount of money they were charging for the full package. The Boy and I decided out in the car that this was a pretty definite no, and it feels good to cross an option off of our list but I'm hoping that something feels right soon.

Coming up on Saturday: The View. (Also a friend's wedding shower, a choir barbecue, and another friend's housewarming. Saturday will be busy.)

Shrug

That's been my response to pretty much every question I've been asked so far about the wedding. "When is it?" Shrug. "Where is it?" Shrug. "Where's your honeymoon?" Shrug. Lots of shrugging going on. (Also, the word "shrug" has lost all meaning to me from typing it so many times. Shrug shrug shrug. Funny word.)

We have some ideas so far: Summer 2011, ideally late July (when summer officially begins in these parts) or August. Probably on a Sunday to save money. (This may also save the out-of-town guests some money since they can travel on Saturday and Monday. Everybody wins!) Somewhere in the Puget Sound area, ideally close enough to Seattle that the travelers can fly into the major airport and easily transport themselves to a chain hotel that participates in their chosen travel points program. But when exactly and where exactly? Shrug.

(I DO have bridesmaids and the officiant all lined up, though. Priorities!)

But anyway, I was inspired to write this blog post by a different type of shrug. I have...issues with my upper arms, and from what I've seen so far something like 90% of wedding gowns (and 100% of the ones I've seen that I would consider wearing) are sleeveless, if not strapless. This poses a problem with my...issues. (Long story short: fast weight gain as a kid + dark skin = scars that no amount of weight loss or tanning will remove. If I could go back and tell 8-year-old me to put down the milkshake, I totally would.) So barring a major personality change which renders me totally at peace with my body's quirks, I will be in the market for a short-sleeved sweater-type-thing. In other words, a shrug.

So, thought #1: I'm going to look for a shrug to wear with my dress, ideally in a color complementing the color scheme (what's the color scheme? shrug) and lightweight enough that I won't overheat during the (hopefully outdoor) ceremony or while dancing at the reception. Thought #2: I knit. A lot. (Like, enough that my fiance secretly worked with two of my friends to learn how to knit the pouch in which he presented the ring. Yes, it was as cute as it sounds.) And I can handle fairly intricate projects--heck, I'm working on a semi-complicated lace scarf/wrap right now. So why don't I make my own shrug?

(Note to next-summer self: When I'm awake at 3am the night before the wedding finishing the last few rows, don't curse my just-engaged self too harshly. It honestly sounded like a good idea at the time.)

Here are some ideas I've come across on a cursory search through Ravelry (worth joining if you're at all interested in knitting or crocheting, and possibly my favorite/most dangerous technological discovery since online yarn stores). I don't think in-site links are accessible to non-members, so here are some photos (with apologies to their photographers):

Pretty wavy lace shrug, on a bride no less! I may do shorter sleeves, but I like.

A little more intricate lace here. Again, the sleeves look a bit long, but that can be fixed.

I'm not a huge fan of the lace pattern, but it's a nice length. And this bride looks so happy!

Actual decision to come in a few weeks, although any final decision and yarn-purchasing (ooh, maybe I'll spring for cashmere. You only live once...) should wait until I've done some dress-shopping and, oh, picked the theme colors. But maybe I'll find yarn in the perfect shade of blue that inspires the rest of the color scheme...and now it's clear why no other decisions have been made.

Sigh. Getting there.

Edited to add: If any of the images don't show up, email me. I'm linking directly to image URLs, some of which may require Ravelry membership to view.

This blog just got girly

So...this happened:

We couldn't be happier, and my super-awesome fiance (holy crap, that's the first time I've used the word) is living up to his adjectives by smiling happily through the minor freak-outs I've already had about details, dresses, money, etc. We've set up a shared workspace for wedding-related documents (including a spreadsheet for the guest list--yes, we're nerds), I've built a profile and a bare-bones wedding site on theknot, I bought my first Brides magazine today (along with this month's Cosmopolitan--old habits die hard), and as previously mentioned the (minor) panic attacks have started. I generally don't enjoy uncertainty, decision-making, or massive life changes, so until we put down a deposit on a wedding venue and start throwing darts at the wall to settle details I'm going to be at full freakout mode on all three. (The third will likely wear off just in time for me to get pregnant.)

But as much as the whirlwind of this past weekend scares me, every time I look down (or see my Facebook wall posts, or open my email inbox, or look at my wonderful fiance and our healthy cats, who will hopefully someday get along) I'm reminded that I'm a lucky, lucky girl. This marriage--whenever, wherever, and however it begins--is going to be GREAT.

The year so far

My, it's been a while since I've posted. I'm not in the mood for a terribly long or introspective post, though, so I'll just fill the space with a selection of photos from the first chunk of 2009. Good times :-)

Bigger versions of these photos (and the rest of the albums they came from) are here, here, here and here. Someday I may even add captions. Enjoy!

Yes, we f-ing did.

Goodbye! Have fun in Texas! Go away now!

I just wanted to share. (This is from Salon.com's coverage of the Inauguration.)

Workiversary

There's a tradition here that on the anniversary of your first day of work, you bring in as many pounds of M&Ms as the number of years you've worked. I had to approximate (turns out the medium bag is only 14 oz, so I added some truffles), but within minutes of announcing the presence of candy outside my office I'd received a few visits (from the true chocoholics) and several congratulatory emails.

It's a little mind-blowing to look back over the past year and think about how much has changed. I'm probably supposed to say something like "it went by so quickly!" or "wow, it's like I've always been here!" but somehow neither is appropriate. Some parts of the year went by quickly -- the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, for example, when I was scrambling to schedule meetings and reach milestones before everyone cleared out for the holidays -- but others, like the never-ending winter of nothing but rain for 6 months, ...well, they never seemed to end. Even now, as I take a break from a couple of large and less-than-thrilling projects to write this post from work (I'd normally be home by now, but my modem decided last Saturday that it didn't feel like working anymore and the cable guy can't come out until tomorrow so I'm taking advantage of the internet wherever I can get it), I can already tell that the 7 days between me and vacation will involve both mind-numbingly boring meetings and moments of panic when there aren't enough hours in the day to write decent web copy for 5 new pages. (Or 6. The number keeps growing.)

It might just be the fact that I'm sitting in my office as I write this, but the past year for me has been completely dominated by work. It'd be an understatement to say that my relationship with my job has been rocky -- I've gone from totally overwhelmed to madly in love with the Pacific Northwest (although I'll point out that that post had nothing to do with work) and back again in the space of a few weeks -- and at the moment I'm a couple of last-minute-bombshells-from-the-boss away from hitting another low point. But one thing I've learned in the past few months is that this is actually kind of normal. There are various remedies ranging from asking your boss to assign you to something that doesn't make you want to shoot yourself to looking for another position within the company (which at least a couple of my co-workers have chosen). Right now I'm sticking with the first option, and it's likely I'll start looking at other positions/departments next spring or early summer, which is totally normal at this point in my career.

Life outside of work has picked up, too, despite my fears of spending the rest of my existence friendless and lonely in Seattle. I've made some good friends at work (although I'm starting to see the downside of being close friends with workmates -- arguments make the hallways awkward), and between b-school classmates and friends of friends I've got a nice little network of people to hang out with. The rumors of single, attractive men swarming the streets of Seattle (and the halls of my office building) have largely proven false, but I haven't given up all hope just yet. It's a big city, and it's entirely possible that one of these friends of friends will turn out to be a good matchmaker.

So...yeah. I had all these plans to spend this post ruminating about the lessons I've learned in the year since I moved and all of the ways my life could have turned out differently (what if I'd turned this job down to keep trying for the CPG marketing job I so desparately wanted? What if I'd stuck with non-profit management like I planned going into business school? What if I'd gone to law school instead? What if I'd decided to stay in California for college?), but now I'm tired and will be hungry by the time I get home, and even if there's no internet in my apartment (*sob*) there's still a New Yorker to read and a sock that needs knitting and episodes of Firefly to watch (and you wonder why I'm single). So I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from the team birthday lunch I attended yesterday and be on my way.

And "workiversary" = work + anniversary. I'm trying to make it a thing. Help me out?

I really should've gotten this OR the BLT, not both.

and time goes by so slowly

...actually, no. No it doesn't.

Spring has been an odd mix of nonstop craziness and lazy days of knitting and the Food Network. (One day I will run away and join Duff and the gang at Charm City Cakes. Fair warning.) Between a second weekend in Portland, the discovery of my new favorite board game, and the weekend in which I visited most of the West Coast's major cities, I have worked my way through most of "Arrested Development," a backlog of New Yorkers and 9/10 of a pair of socks.

Here's a guided tour of my recent adventures:

cool sky in Portland

unflattering photo of my legs on the first (and, so far, only) warm day (yaaaay beach!)

wedding! this took place in san diego and was the source of my whirlwind west coast tour (layover in SF on the way down, LA on the way back)

baby! also at the wedding. I last saw her at christmas and I didn't think it was possible but she has somehow become even cuter.

spoils from an awesome, awesome concert

Also, let me just pause here and thank United Airlines for NOT screwing up my (admittedly risky) plan to return from San Diego and attend the aforementioned concert mere hours later. I had my doubts, especially because "importance of attending engagement" usually correlates with "probability that something major will go wrong," but no! United delivered me (and my luggage!) safely home in plenty of time.

Now, Alamo, on the other hand...