Gorilla Glue ≠ Elmers Glue

Via Google Image Search

My drawer-o-undergarments finally broke under all the pressure yesterday (there's a lot in there, not gonna lie), and I had to glue it back together. Well, not really back together I guess, just together since it didn't appear to have been glued before, but I needed to add some reinforcement in the form of Gorilla Glue yesterday. I normally heart Gorilla Glue, but it definitely ≠ Elmers Glue! Do not let this stuff sit on your hands and just think "Oh I'll just peel it off later, no biggie." Ummm yeah. Don't even let it sit there for 15 seconds. The stickiness will go away, but apparently it stains your skin?? Who knew?? Ok, well, they knew because it's clearly written on the back of the bottle, and they even include the intelligent suggestion of wearing rubber gloves while using it, but who really reads that stuff? And it's a clear liquid - how could it possibly stain your hands any color but clear?? Yeah, my hands officially look like I played in dirt this morning.



And this is after I scrubbed, peeled and picked at it all night. Boo. Oh well, lesson learned.

Also, yes, I know these pictures suck. I don't have my real camera so all I could get were camera phone shots. My b.

-C
xxx

New Year Resolutions

Via Google Images

Every year people make resolutions for themselves when the new year begins. Well, I didn't actually come out and tell myself I'm going to do certain things, but for over a month now I have taken up what I can only call "bettering myself". Maybe the new year inspired me? Don't think so. I think it was that I had a couple months after the wedding that I just stopped doing everything I did before the wedding and I finally realized that my little "post wedding break" needed to be over. What am I talking about? Well, mainly the fact that my clothes weren't fitting right anymore due to mass comsumption of food. Yeah, I'm blaming it on the hubby. Not that he force feeds me or anything, but I guess it takes some getting used to (for me at least) to NOT eat everything, or the same quantity, that he eats. It's a proven fact that men need to eat more calories in a day because they (somehow, MIRACULOUSLY) burn off more. My hubby also goes to the gym, A LOT, so he needs to eat even more. I used to be all "screw the whole men eat more than women thing!" Um, yeah. At least 10 lbs. later (I won't step on the scale), I realize that they can, and they should, eat more than most women, and that I need to get over myself. Lol.

I get that I'm pretty much in the minority these days since we hadn't lived together until 2 weeks before getting married, and most people live together for a year, or a few years even, before tying the knot. So you probably all have a leg up on me. And you all should have warned me and given me this wisdom. For that, I blame you. :)

So since I like to think that writing things down will make them actually happen, and that my readers/friends will hold me accountable if I actually blog about it, I'm listing my "resolutions" below. It's kind of sad that my "resolutions" are things I did to better myself in the months before my wedding, but my problem then was that I had the end goal (our wedding date) to look forward to stopping all these things. Which is kind of stupid when you think about it. Were they painful and horrible to maintain? No! Now I have no end date by which to stop and I think that's good.

Anyway, I have unofficially resolved to:
** Getting into a going to the gym routine. 2 days a week is better than my usual 0. If I hit 3 times every now and then, even better! Also, using my Shake Weight while watching TV, etc. That's right, I own a Shake Weight. Don't mock it til you've tried it and have felt that burn under your arms - it works, I tell you!
** Eating better/less - as in, stop eating like my husband! First problem - I need to accept that I should not be eating the same quantities of things that he does. There's no reason to stuff yourself (I'm talking to myself here) just so that you both eat equal amounts. I've started giving him double from the getgo and only eating til I'm full - then he gets what's left on my plate (and loves it). I also try to trick myself by eating slower and then by the time I would get 2nds it's all gone because he's already eaten it! So there's one way to do it! Next problem - I usually make dinner for us at least 5 days a week, and have gotten into the pattern of making things that he likes - aka things with a ton of meat in them. Everything has to have meat in it! Now, I'm no veg, but this is ridiculous. I mean, mac and cheese has to have chicken, ham, or some sort of deli meat in it (gross, and no, I don't put it in mine. nor do I even eat mac and cheese to be honest - that's hubby's specialty for when I'm out of town). Really?? That's not necessary. For this problem there's a sub-resolution:
**Eating more vegtables; trying to eat vegetables in lieu of meat when hubby's not around. I've always like my veggies, but I'm starting to like them a lot! I'm not on my way to becoming a vegetarian or anything, but if you throw a vegetarian dish my way I'll definitely enjoy it! And definitely broadening my horizons with them as well. My favorite veg of the moment: orange peppers. YUM. Hubby definitely looks at me funny sometimes and asks, with disgust, "You're not going to become a vegetarian, are you?" I think he fears that I will stop making him meaty lasagna. Have no fear, hubby, lasagna just isn't the same without meat sauce.
** Making my own lunch more often. I've always done the pack a lunch thing, but usually only tops 3 days a week and want to start doing it more. Not only does it save money, but you control the portions. I have this problem where I have a really hard time leaving things on my plate... so controlling my own portions versus letting a deli or someplace do it, is probably good for me. You know what I'd like to see? More packed lunch vegetarian recipes. I'm on the hunt for these! Salads can get boring! (Let me know if you have one!)
** Flossing on a regular basis. I know, it sounds like I'm a 7 year old but for some reason I always forget/always tell myself I don't have time. Really? It takes less than a minute to floss. (This is the conversation I now have with myself when I try to talk myself out of flossing.)

So here's to a new year and to bettering myself!

Oh, and maybe I should add "blogging" to my resolutions. My bad...

-C
xxx

It's Called "Multitasking"

If your invites smell like sunscreen and/or chlorine (when you finally get them) then this would be why:

It's called multitasking, folks. Not only was I working on my invites, but I was also working on my tan. It was insanely hot while sitting in the sun, so much so that at first I jumped in the pool as a reward for every two invites finished, then I started doing it after every one, then I ended up doing them in the pool. I'm not kidding.

It was so bright out it hurt to look up at the camera!

I had to dodge the vacuum (which sprays water occasionally as it goes around the pool) AND the dog (who loves the pool and goes in a lot and shakes all over the place when she gets out). She looks so threatening:

Do you think I'll start a new trend? Scratch and sniff invites, minus the scratch? It'll make you feel like you're already at my wedding! (Note: Yes, this is where the wedding is being held, although you can't see the yard in any of these pics.)

Progress this past weekend included: making bridal hair trial and day-of appointments, getting prices for Sunday post-wedding breakfast, unloading a couple boxes of green glass at MOB's house (so I don't have to move with it in a few weeks), finding a couple new "pieces" of green glass at our local thrift store, finding another glass bowl for the candy bar, assigning my brother a couple of painting tasks (fingers crossed), coming up with projects for me and MOH Cassie to do this weekend (or the next weekend if she doesn't make it up this weekend), and invites! Saturday night this invite machine was fueled by white wine. Hey, it helped me stay up til 3:30 in the morning working on them! Whatever works, right?

38 down, 19 to go!! (of the US portion, remember, the UK portion already went out!)

-C
xxx

The Black and Brown Collision

I had the biggest brain storm last night! Well, to me it was big. In case you haven't seen on facebook, FH and I found a house to live in! Signed the lease last week. So, obviously, ever since then I have been decorating every room in my head. :) I've come to realize that I've really been decorating each place I've lived in the same way for the past 5 years, with the exception of my bedroom, and I think it's time for a little bit of a change. I guess because the rest are common areas I've been sharing with roommates and what's the point of redecorating those rooms? Anyway, my living room has the basic theme of black and white, which really just comes from the black and white Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn pictures I hung on the wall. I like it - it's clean and classic. But I've always just let them go with whatever furniture is in that room (surprisingly, I don't own couches!). Now that we'll be getting our own couches and decorating the whole room ourselves (ha - "our", more like MYself, lol), we can really do whatever we want, you know? My plan is for whatever couches we get, we'll probably put couch covers on them. I already have a couple from a previous house I lived in. So, couches are a blank canvas. My coffee table is brown. The frames my pictures are in are... black and silver. Ouch. Does the thought of black and brown together make you cringe? Well, it makes me cringe! I've been revisiting my registry recently since the invites are getting ready to go out and I want everything to be pretty much finalized on there. Yesterday I was looking at TV stands because FH is DYING to get a "TV like Mark's" (that's Bridesmaid Amanda's now husband) and says that when we do we need something sturdy for it to go on. Sweet, I'll add something to the Target registry. Easy. My first thought was I'll get a black stand to go with the pictures. Then I was really bothered by the flow of the room, since it'll go directly into where the brown bamboo bar is and then the kitchen (rust, green and yellow). Then I realized I could just get a brown TV stand... and buy new picture frames! Wow. What a novel idea! Then I realized I will have at least 10 8x10 bronze picture frames lying around after the wedding (I've been painting frames for our table names)... so I don't have to buy any new ones AND they make the room flow better with the bar area and kitchen. Also registering for rust colored pillows to really tie it together. Looks like my retro dream may come true after all! :)

Sorry, just had to share. Sadly, this made me really excited! This is what happens when you have Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle subscriptions starting at the age of 18 (and now Martha Stewart, too).

-C
xxx

Guest Book Ideas

This week I'm working on a secret project so I can't post about it... I can tell you only that it may or may not be partially blue. I'll post pics next week! Muwahaha :)

In the meantime... I recently decided on what I'm doing for a guestbook. I guess I'll tell you. I mean, it's not like everyone who's coming to my wedding reads this blog, right? Sure. Well, I decided on a photobooth guestbook! You know, where you have a photobooth and doubles of the pics come out and people paste them into an album and write nice things in there? Yeah, that. I kind of need to find a photobooth vendor and all, but that's a minor detail...

via Bridal Gown Blog

Anyway, all along I've been waiting for some unique version of a guestbook to just jump out at me and make me fall in love with it, and of course the second I decide on the photobooth guestbook, I find this:

Curse you Martha Stewart!!
Just kidding, I love you...

That's right, it's a quilt where people write on the squares and someone sews it together so they'll have it forever. *sigh* How freaking cool is that? Martha, you've done it to me again. Or, rather, your executive assistant has because it's her wedding. Grr! I know I could give up the photobooth guestbook, but what's the point? I'm not giving up the photobooth, so there'd be no point in not using the pics in a guestbook and there'd obviously be no point in having both the quilt and the photobooth guestbook. However, I'm not giving up completely. If I ever have a child, I want somebody to do this at my baby shower. That's right friends, take note. I won't forget either. AOB Cheri quilts in case you're wondering who I'd volunteer to put it together :)

Anybody else know any unique guestbook options? I love seeing new ones like people signing guitars or skis. I tried to think of something like that for us, but couldn't think of anything! I guess I have to leave some of the cool ideas for other people to have as their own!

-C
xxx

Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!

I have always been kind of a... recycling nazi. I'm not ashamed of this, but I know some past roommates may have been none too pleased about this - I also know that I was none too pleased with them throwing cans into the trash! In college we didn't even have recycling pick up - I had to take it to the grocery store and return each individual can! Ok, so I got a couple cents a can out of the deal, too, but that's not why I did it (and actually you pay an extra couple cents per can when you buy sodas/beer in New York State, so they give you a few cents back to entice you to return the cans, so you're not making money, just getting your money back).

The wedding industry is SUCH a wasteful industry. Just think about it for a minute, it's true. Think about everything that gets tossed after just one day of use. That's why there are so many green (as in eco-friendly) wedding bloggers and websites out there these days. I'd really like for my wedding to be as eco-conscious as possible, but at some point it almost seems like more trouble than it's worth, to be honest. Not that the earth isn't worth saving, more like me trying to figure out how to get 100+ guests to compost their food and garbage just doesn't seem feasible. My belief is that as long as you are aware of the situation and do what you can, every little bit helps. But that's just me.

I do get pretty happy when I find ways to lessen the effect our wedding has on the environment, I have to admit. And this? This is insanely simple and can be filed under "why didn't I think of that?" or "duh" if you will.

Not only is this eco conscious by having people recycle, but it is so cheap and simple to do. Hello, dollar store laundry baskets? Sticks with signs fool-proofing the process? Thank you Backyard Bride, for the lovely tip. My wallet and mother earth thank you as well. I'm sure my brother won't when he has to take all of our recycling up to the recycling center, but I'll deal with him.

-C
xxx

Why Didn't I Think of This Before?!

I've been going over rental pricing of sooo many different rental companies for months now. Each time I usually do a lot of searching on it in a few days, and I've always just written down the costs I could find. Then when I revisit my search a couple weeks later, I forget who had what pricing and all that jazz. Tonight a lightbulb went off. I should just add all the vendors to a google spreadsheet! That way I can open it from whatever computer I'm at and add new contacts or see how everyone compares all in one spot! I started doing it tonight and I know it's a simple thing... that I probably should have thought about long ago, but it made me giddy to see all the prices and information in one place! And know that it'll be there and I'll be adding to it! So note to anyone who wants to do any comparison shopping, excel/google spreadsheets are the way to go. I started with just writing in a notebook, but hello, spreadsheets have columns and they can be sorted and columns can be created for each thing you want to know a price of. I love sorting spreadsheets! Wow, geek shining through right there...

Ok going now before the Ambien makes me not make any sense...

-C
zzzzzzzzzzz