A Flowery Frenzy

It started out as such a beautiful, warm day. Now it looks like it's going to rain.

Maybe if I post some pictures of pretty flowers it'll make the sun come back?

As you may have noticed, I love old flower brooches. I originally wanted to do my wedding bouquet completely made out of them, but decided against it when I weighed it out against the other projects I wanted to complete. That doesn't mean I still don't swoon over photos like this:

Source

However, I've still been collecting them-- I just can't resist when I see a bright retro flower pin at an antique shop, and some of my gal pals have even been contributing to the madness when they see them in their shopping adventures. I have some ideas up my sleeve about how I can incorporate them into the wedding decor...

And what to do with them when it's all over?

I saw this posted on stylelist.com, and the little article had a link to this gal's cute blog! I love finding new blogs...especially when it means putting off writing papers some more. Oh yes.

And would you look at that, the sun is coming back! After attending my last ever 8:00am class this morning, I could totally go for a snooze in the sunshine.

Unfortunately, productivity calls. Incidentally, so does Starbucks....

The Stamp Guy

After our tavern breakfast yesterday, it was off to the races to complete the homemade wedding invitation suite-- printing off response cards, compiling address labels, and assembling envelopes. But first, we needed stamps. Lots of stamps.
 

Apparently wedding stamps are a hot item this time of year, because the Boalsburg Post Office was fresh out. So it was off to the State College Post Office, where the lines are a mile long, the staff is scarce and they are as grumpy as can be. Not to mention, no matter what day it is, everyone seems to wait until the last 10 minutes of the post office being open to go mail or pick up crucial things. (Ourselves included...we had to get those stamps!)

When it was finally our turn, we stepped up to the friendly looking redheaded post office man and informed him that we needed about 300 stamps. After some confusion and debate about whether we needed one or two stamps for each envelope (who knew that stamps were one ounce or two ounce?), we were told to step to the side. Because we were going to need to talk to the Stamp Guy. 

"Have you ever seen that episode of Seinfeld?," he said. "He's like the Soup Nazi. The Stamp Nazi. And you don't want to make him mad."

My mom and I thought this was hysterical. "Like the Assman!," we said.

Post Office Guy: "Huh?"
Mom: "Have you seen THAT Seinfeld? When Kramer's the Assman!"
Post Office Guy: *Blank Stare*
Mom: "Assman....The Stamp Man!"
Post Office Guy: "Stamp Guy."
Us: "We'll just step aside." 

So there we stood in cahoots, as he moved to help another customer, clearly displeased at the humor we found in the whole thing. If you've ever seen my mom and I together, you know that when we get to laughing about something (especially when it's inappropriate) we are an impossible force to stop. I'm talking busting a gut, peeing your pants, scrunched up face, and crying laughter here, and the more we go, the more we egg each other on. It's just bad news.

But suddenly, the Stamp Guy emerged from the back, clutching a handful of stamps. It was time to get serious. In perfect unison, Mom and I stepped back over to the desk to get our soup...er, stamps, fighting back giggles that would set us off again.

Without acknowledging us, the Stamp Guy roughly said to the redhead, "This is all we got. Just the wedding ring stamps. When I counted 'em I was one off, so you're gonna have to count 'em again."

As the redhead counted, he pointed out a college kid standing in the still-growing line. "You see that guy back there? He's the richest guy in State College. Wanna know why? Because he sells Monopoly pieces. On Ebay."

It was our turn for the blank stare.

He counted 300, and gave us our stamps. We left, puzzled by the series of events that had just taken place.

But it was time to get busy! We even put the fiance to work. Fueled by coffee and homemade peanut butter eggs, every invitation was put together and is now ready to mail. First major wedding DIY project is checked off....for good!

The ultimate Stamp Guy. Way better looking, too.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Breakfast at a Bar

To kick off a day of wedding invitation finishing, I enjoyed a lovely breakfast with my aunt and mom at a bar. Yes, that's right. Duffy's Tavern in Boalsburg, a little town just outside of State College where chickens cross the road and locals gather at the pub for eggs, bacon, and beer on Saturday morning.

No seemed to care why they were crossing the road...

Amid the strains of local gossip and motown songs playing on the satellite radio, I enjoyed a hearty (aka, completely filling) feast of chocolate pancakes and bacon.

Although we didn't opt for the Bloody Mary morning special, I found an odd sense of comfort in sitting on a wooden bench, enjoying delicious pancakes and steaming sub-par coffee with the scent of beer in the air. It was a chilly morning, but the room was still packed with the folks who make the trek down the street for some food and kabitzing with each other. Every regular who walked through was greeted with a chorus of welcome, and was sent off with a "see you next week". It wasn't the kind of place you go for fine dining or speedy service, but rather for the leisure and camaraderie. 

Although technically the service could have been enough to make a hospitality major cringe, I didn't get antsy when my water glass wasn't constantly refilled or coffee kept piping hot. It was more about the people and seeing a snapshot of life on a small town Saturday.

Blog Spotlight: 100 Layer Cake

Instead of being productive on this sunny and windy morning, I spent a good chunk of time perusing 100 Layer Cake, one of my favorite wedding blogs. Please take some time to feast your eyes on these images from A Whimsical Columbus Wedding, because it pretty much sums up everything I want my wedding to be--the bright colors, oversized balloons, her birdcage veil, and the candy table--absolutely adorable! 



Even if you aren't planning a wedding in the near future, this site is totally worth checking out, if for nothing else than procrastination purposes (just in time for finals...you're welcome!). 100 Layer Cake was introduced to me by my lovely friend/bridesmaid Shannon, and it has not only been the source of countless wedding inspiration for me, but has also further confirmed that planning a wedding is much, much more fun than school. Sigh.

With my biggest class of the semester OVER, the only thing standing between me, graduation, and bringing this wedding to life is 3 weeks, a 25-page paper and a final for a class I've given up going to for Lent. Umm...senioritus much?

Operation: Bridal Bod

While I was doing my grocery shopping over the weekend, I found some grapefruit at the little grocery store down the street. Being a small, downtown, overpriced college student monopoly, this store's produce selection is usually very limited and you never quite know what they'll have on a day - to - day basis. But I couldn't resist some bright orange grapefruit on a rainy day.

Even though I didn't have a sharp pointy spoon to scoop the pink fruit out, I savored the kind of sweet (thanks to a dousing of sugar), kind of sour, delicious flavor. It turns out grapefruit is GREAT for you packed with antioxidants that fight heart disease. It also is a natural appetite reducer, is loaded with fiber, decreases cancer risk, and acts as a pro biotic and digestive enzyme. Oh, and grapefruit juice is said to cure insomnia--hmmm...

I decided when I got engaged that I wanted to have the best body ever for my wedding, and when spring semester began, I went right to it. However, with 79 days to go, I have gone through phases of insanely healthy eating only to  snap when I get a hankering to bake cookies. I have gone through a couple week's stretch of consistent gym-going, only to be unmotivated by one rainy day and ruin the streak for another few weeks. I have hopped on and fell off the P90X bandwagon (although I haven't completely lost hope on this one! The money spent on that is the only thing that will keep me going...).

With a student budget, a student schedule, and little access to a decent grocery store, buying healthy food has been the biggest challenge for me. I start out every week with good intentions of cooking at least 3 meals that week, but then end up eating PB&J for dinner because I don't feel like spending 7 bucks on chicken. I find myself saying that 'next week I'll do better'.

However, friends, don't get worried--I'm not trying to lose a crazy amount of weight or change the way I look, because I know I'm already a healthy individual. I'm just trying to tone up and eat a more balanced diet that doesn't revolve around coffee, chocolate, and wine (although wouldn't that be swell?). I know I'm not the only one who has ever made lofty fitness goals only to fall short and be disappointed, and I know that Ian loves me the way I am.

But from here on out, I'm going to try and incorporate at least one healthful thing into my day, whether it's eating fruit, going to the gym, or just taking a walk outside now that the rain has finally gone away.

In fact....I think I might just go do that now. Helloooo sun! 

Gettin' Crabby in Maryland

Hi friends! I do apologize for the quiet last few days around here-- I was on a mini tour of Maryland and PA for a weekend of interviews and exploring a potential future home with the fiance, and hanging and catching up with some old friends at their schools in Baltimore and Gettysburg. 

Ian had a fantastic interview with the Anne Arundel County school district, so keep your fingers crossed! Afterwards, we spent the afternoon exploring Annapolis, an beautiful town filled with coffee shops, restaurants, antiques, and vintage shops. Um....perfect? 

After asking around the Safeway parking lot for where to get the best seafood, we were directed to the downtown area where we stumbled across Buddy's Crabs and Ribs. Yeehaw!

Ian went for the buffet, while I opted for a nice $15 crab cake sandwich. But oh my, was it the best crab cake I've ever had. While in Maryland, right?

We refueled with some amazing cinnamon and pecan coffee from Hard Bean Cafe, we putzed around in the warm sun, popping into antique shops, a cigar shop, an Irish store, and a fun vintage crafty place. You know--a little bit of everything.

Soon it was time to head down the road to Baltimore, where Ian left me off with some of my best friends/bridesmaids to see our gal Shannon in the two-person play Dutchman. Afterwards, we enjoyed hanging with her artsy friends, as well as the strength of some $5 cocktails and leaving our PSU mark on the chalkboard walls.

Next stop on Saturday morning was the Gettysburg battlefields to visit the lovely Courtney and Megan, two more best friends and bridesmaids. Despite the monsoon, we received the driving tour of Gettysburg College and some dinner at Gettysburg Eddie's. We left G-burg in a flood and tornado watch, and set off down the road home, dodging lightning and flooded forests.

It was a GREAT weekend. And after today, I will be done with my restaurant class, which has been the bane of my existence over the past few months. The sun is shining, and I'm getting married in 86 days. No complaints here!

Next order of business: get a job. 

You Say It's Your Birthday...

Today is my fabulous fiance's birthday!

Isn't he the most handsome thing you've ever seen? I am so excited to marry him and celebrate many more birthdays together.

I love you Ian!