yes I said yes I will Yes

We're married! (To each other, as DJ likes to clarify.) It was absolutely wonderful, I wouldn't change a thing.

(Snapshot from my camera, probably taken by a bridesmaid.)

DIY flowers: I did it!

At 9:30 in the morning the FedEx guy wished me a happy marriage. He left three boxes; two deceptively narrow, one the size of a small coffin.

Thirteen hours later...
(There are a few more pieces, including one big mama of a bouquet for me.) I'll tell you all about it in a week or so. I'm off to get married! I have had such a good time at EAD, getting advice about veils and family struggles and enjoying all of your ideas. After 21 months of I have an idea and I think I could make that, it's all happening!

Although, at the moment I am most excited about handing my bouquet to Katie so I can hold DJ's hands. Walking back down the aisle together. Sneaking glances at his hand with a ring on it. Doing the stand-and-sway to a sappy song. Celebrating a life ten years in the making, and worth every minute.

words of love

During our ceremony, two of our friends (a happily married couple) will read letters that DJ and I have written to/about each other. She will read what I wrote, he will read what DJ wrote. We are not sharing our letters with each other before the ceremony, so it might be a very nice and genuine moment.

But then we had this discussion over e-mail.

Me: I’m excited to hear what you wrote. Unless you are going to have {friend} get up there and yell WHO FANCY NOW! Because that would be stealing my idea.
DJ: You can have “Who fancy now.” {Friend} is going to holler “Who gonna check me, boo?” and do the head shake thing that goes with it.

We are a very romantic couple.

trial run

There was another bride at the salon on Saturday, with her mom and bridesmaids. They were sipping mimosas and enjoying bagels with the stylists, taking turns having their hair done. The bride had a pretty veil and really cute short hair, super shiny and full of volume. There she is in the corner behind me - bride and bride-in-training.
I really liked how my hair turned out for the test run. But it didn't stay "up" very well, partly because I have a ton of unruly hair, partly because it had been messed with too much, and partly because it needed better pins. Those pins shaped like a U never work for me - do they for anyone? I need the grippy ones you have to pry open, and an entire can of hairspray.

Your Colors are PINK and PINK

Here's the last of the difficult questions. Hairstyle chosen, menu approved, timeline set, song list delivered. But what color will I paint my fingernails?

Dear Future Julia,

Please stop buying neutral nail polishes. You have too many, and you are not very good with minor decisions.

xoxo,

Julia

yes, we have no bananas

This morning I was wide awake at 5:30. Like a kid on Christmas. I must be excited about today - hair trial (still seems funny to have a test run for hair), last dress fitting, and tonight is my bachelorette party!

I was dressed and ready to go by 6:15, with two hours to kill before leaving. So I cleaned the kitchen, top to bottom, and I have my eye on dusting the living room next. I could really use some of this productivity in my everyday life.

There was a minor hitch in the plan this week, when I found out that the garden roses I ordered from Fifty Flowers aren't available this week. The same thing happened to Abbie, I believe - probably the same roses, too. Flowers are always iffy, so I wasn't really surprised. They offered me my pick of the other flowers, and when I couldn't decide between two varieties, they split my order into half of each kind. Which was nice of them.

I care less about the substitution than how difficult it was to get an answer - it took about two hours on hold, four separate calls, two e-mails, and over 24 hours to find out whether my second choices were available. Maybe not their fault, but it was frustrating. All will be forgiven if the flowers show up on time and pretty, though.

If you were the Baltic Sea and I were a cup

Humor me, I'm dated. More or less intentionally.

I listened to Mike Dougherty sing Janine over and over the first summer that DJ and I were re-dating. It was 2006. I was 25. It was exactly the right sound for how I felt then, and now it takes me back. To 25 and humid lake breezes and the agonizing wait from Wednesday to Friday.

We hadn't yet told our families, but Katie and Chloe had already heard quite a bit and thought it was promising. I thought so too.


The sleepless lyrics made me feel romantic about my insomniac habits (since reformed.) But the thing that really stuck, really resonated with me then, was being so besotted with someone that you couldn't get enough. In that respect, not much has changed.

for clean sheets or dirty dishes, as long as we both shall live

You all had fun weekend plans, thanks for sharing. If you have fun Monday plans, I would like to know about those too - but I think most of us are less excited for Monday.

Today I ran three miles in twenty six minutes. That's pretty quick for me. But it also means that I had only twenty six minutes of exercise. So am I fast or lazy? I asked DJ, and he said fast. But I think he's biased.

Before that, yet another makeup artist tried to give me a "smoky eye." This was the best one yet, but I'm uncomfortable with it. On me, it feels like trying too hard. I don't like trying too hard (or at all.) I forgot to take a picture before my run. Now it's definitely not a good look.

I've also been writing our ceremony. It's difficult, since "Do you take this man to be your beneficiary" doesn't have the most romantic ring to it. True, though.

tradeoffs

On the one hand, running 25+ miles a week goes a long way towards nice legs (and good cholesterol, and reasonable blood pressure blah blah blah).

On the other, my feet are hideous and no pedicure can really fix that.

Weekend: DJ and I are going to eat French food and see about that spun sugar cake topper. Then I have a hair appointment. Then we are going to teach Kid B how to shop for groceries, since apparently he's been living off fast food for seven months. Oh, to have the metabolism of a 21-year-old; then I wouldn't have such ugly running feet.

What are your weekend plans?

brideface

Ever since I decided not to hire a makeup artist I've been paying a little extra attention to brides with great makeup.

Brideface is written by a makeup artist from Cincinnati, Ohio. She posts some gorgeous beauty shots. Lots of polished but very fresh faces, great inspiration for those of us with one elbow propped on the bathroom counter while attempting a straight run of liner.

Bloomers, Again

Remember that time my mom gave me bloomers at my bridal shower? Well. There's more to that story.

If you need context, Harriet the Spy is one of my dearest imaginary friends. I've known her since the days of Diaryland, where I called myself Fairlywell. (You know, as in: How are you? I am Fairlywell.") Years and years ago we made the leap from imaginary to real friends, and now we bike together and (apparently) tell stories about each others' underwear purchases. I have no shame; this is absolutely the funniest thing that's ever happened to me.

still obsessed with puffy veils

This one seen on Audrey Hepburn. I resemble Katharine more than Audrey (and still not that much), but I'll take style cues from either.

(Audrey Hepburn Library via Weddingbee)

In just a few weeks I'll be wearing my own puffy veil. I'm looking forward to so many things, every moment I think of a new one. It's so close now, I can hardly wait.

bustle me!

When I told my brother (Kid A) that my dress needed a bustle, he thought we were talking about this:
Boys! Love them to pieces.

I scheduled my dress fittings as close to the wedding as possible. I like to live dangerously - but really, three weeks seemed like plenty of time.

I asked the seamstress to replicate this bustle. It looks to me like little waves lapping around the hem of her dress.

(Style Me Pretty)

I think the train on my dress must be a bit longer than hers, because I ended up with more volume. Still pretty, but different. DJ's mom came with me to the fitting, and she was super-concerned that DJ not see the dress until the big day. So if you would like a sneak peek (and are not DJ), click here.

Where the Wild Things Are {Seated}

Once we had all the RSVP's in, DJ's mom helped me finish this project. She has pretty, scripty handwriting, much better than my ugly scrawl. The bronze rectangles are mini envelopes, each with a couple or guest's name written on the back. Inside each is a picture of a book cover corresponding to their table assignment. Like Memory! for adults with wine in hand.

(remember these?)

The board above is not the same as the one in my previous post. Yep, I screwed up. The other one wasn't big enough for all the cards, so I had to start over. But it all worked out for the best - the too-small board recently became part of a different project!

Right after I snapped that picture DJ helped me wrap the whole thing in plastic. Hopefully Elizabeth will appreciate at least one project with minimal setup required!

things that work

As soon as I wrote about the things that were bothering me, they stopped bothering me. They haven't gone away, and probably they'll bother me again. But thanks for the free therapy!

I do have one more small problem. I've been really good about getting to the gym for a while now. My treadmill jaunts are showing the effort, too. Today I ran my four miles after work, and it was a good one. Everything felt good, I kept my pace without getting tired, no shinsplints.

Then I came home to this. DJ grilled burgers (with bacon and gouda and stone-ground mustard) and asparagus for dinner.

I have a dress fitting on Saturday, but I was helpless to the burger. I can't resist DJ's cooking. My life is sooooo hard.