I'm getting ready to transfer to San Diego and I'm super excited about that. Ever since I visited Karrie and Kat in 2003 I have wanted to live there! Before all of that can happen I have to go to Oklahoma City, OK for some tower training. All of my Air Traffic experience is in RADAR so even though I took the training in the Air Force I wanted to (and had to) take the FAA's Tower course. Last time I went in 2007 it was only for 1 month so I suffered (yes suffered) without a car. I thought I'd be no problem when I was there last time, you know I'd just catch the bus and rent a car on 2 of the weekends to go and visit my very good friend Cristin in Dallas. Well the public transportation system in Oklahoma isn't as good as it is in other cities. I know I'm spoiled by living in CA where we have things like the BART and buses and the train and stuff. Not that I use them too often but I have, especially when going to San Fran.
On to the drive. So yesterday I left Sacramento at 8AM and arrived in Flagstaff (aprox the half way point) at 10PM. Man was I tired! I'm very glad I felt I could make it to Flagstaff though because now the rest of my drives are going to be much shorter and I won't be travel exhausted when I get to Oklahoma. It was raining Sac when I left and it continued to rain until just after Bakersfield. Once I started heading SE the sky started to clear up and it got much warmer. Everyone had said the drive would be boring because there isn't anything to look at. I guess since I'm from the desert I thought it was very beautiful! the mountains were a very pretty purple color (no not at sunset) and there were lots of different kinds of plateaus and cliffs with lots of different warm colors. I wanted to take some pictures but maybe on the way back. Mike is driving back with me so I'll have him bring the big camera. We are also planning to go to the Grand Canyon so that's another reason to bring it! Oh and the roads in Arizona on Interstate 40 are very rough in a lot of places! Well off to breakfast and onto day two of driving I'm hoping to make it to Amarillo today. (should be no problem).
Originally a blog about my wedding planning, that was 5 years ago. I recently became inspired to start blogging again. I'll see where my adventure takes me.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Flowers
I like to receive flowers, I like the way the smell, I am actually one of those people who will stop and smell the flowers, and flowers usually make me smile. The funny thing is I don't have a favorite type of flower. I didn't even know where to begin when I started looking at bouquets. I just knew that flowers out of season = expensive so I told the two flower shops I looked at that I wanted something in season. I began my search online. I dare you just type in flowers in season for (insert month), you won't come up with very much information. I'm thinking this is some secret squirrel stuff why wouldn't this information be available. All those wedding websites weren't helpful either; they just talked about different flower shops in the area. So to begin my search I just started looking through pictures of bouquets, I looked at a ton of pictures and eventually decided that the deep purple color I was looking for would probably best be displayed in calla lilies. I was a little hesitant about getting calla lilies because I had always heard that they were really expensive.
Florist # 1 meeting day comes along and I just crossed my fingers and told the florist what color I was looking for. They started talking about roses these were special roses fromMexico
Florist # 2, Jackie's Flowers out of Elk Grove, was AWESOME!! She had great pictures her shop was full of different props I could rent to place flowers on or candles or whatever and she has some wonderful ideas!! She is truly an artist. While looking at her pictures I found this gorgeous bouquet of caramel colored roses and I knew that's what I wanted just modified a bit. So we talked it out and add the deep purple calla lilies to the caramel roses, the bridesmaids would carry a single calla lily with feathers (1920's theme). The backdrop to the ceremony would be a rustic/medieval candelabrum with flowers and candles on it. Another thing that sold me was she hand picks her flowers at the flower market in San Fran! Wait until you see the pics! If you have never been to The Firehouse Restaurant back patio you need to check it out. It is very beautiful back there and one of the reasons for picking it was we knew it would require very little decoration. I had some ideas about other things I wanted from Jackie but they were putting my flower budget out the window so I had to scale back. Jackie is awesome though (as I 've said) and the day of the wedding she surprised me with some of the things we had talked about that were out of my reach because of my budget.
Anyway some ideas that I had that didn't come to fruition were to have some carved pumpkins around with Mike and I initials and things like that, it was Halloween after all, but that was going to be too time consuming and was out of my budget. I didn't want my bridesmaids and groomsmen sitting around carving pumpkins the night before the wedding (although that could have been fun). I also had ideas to have small pumpkins be part of the table centerpieces that were just scattered around. What we ended up doing instead was free and only took some time of some very good friends. I bought gold, silver, and ivory with various design's scrapbook paper, placed two wine bottles with white ostrich feathers, candle's and ivory rose petals on the table. This was very inexpensive and looked fabulous!
In closing flowers are beautiful but, not necessary and I really really had to twist Mike’s arm to get him to wear a boutonnière. I just knew that my grandma, mother and mother in-law would appreciate the touch of flowers so I bit that bullet instead of fighting it. I did see some pretty cool looking homemade flower ideas on etsy.com while browsing there so if you are against flowers then that’s the way to go!
Florist # 1 meeting day comes along and I just crossed my fingers and told the florist what color I was looking for. They started talking about roses these were special roses from
Florist # 2, Jackie's Flowers out of Elk Grove, was AWESOME!! She had great pictures her shop was full of different props I could rent to place flowers on or candles or whatever and she has some wonderful ideas!! She is truly an artist. While looking at her pictures I found this gorgeous bouquet of caramel colored roses and I knew that's what I wanted just modified a bit. So we talked it out and add the deep purple calla lilies to the caramel roses, the bridesmaids would carry a single calla lily with feathers (1920's theme). The backdrop to the ceremony would be a rustic/medieval candelabrum with flowers and candles on it. Another thing that sold me was she hand picks her flowers at the flower market in San Fran! Wait until you see the pics! If you have never been to The Firehouse Restaurant back patio you need to check it out. It is very beautiful back there and one of the reasons for picking it was we knew it would require very little decoration. I had some ideas about other things I wanted from Jackie but they were putting my flower budget out the window so I had to scale back. Jackie is awesome though (as I 've said) and the day of the wedding she surprised me with some of the things we had talked about that were out of my reach because of my budget.
Anyway some ideas that I had that didn't come to fruition were to have some carved pumpkins around with Mike and I initials and things like that, it was Halloween after all, but that was going to be too time consuming and was out of my budget. I didn't want my bridesmaids and groomsmen sitting around carving pumpkins the night before the wedding (although that could have been fun). I also had ideas to have small pumpkins be part of the table centerpieces that were just scattered around. What we ended up doing instead was free and only took some time of some very good friends. I bought gold, silver, and ivory with various design's scrapbook paper, placed two wine bottles with white ostrich feathers, candle's and ivory rose petals on the table. This was very inexpensive and looked fabulous!
In closing flowers are beautiful but, not necessary and I really really had to twist Mike’s arm to get him to wear a boutonnière. I just knew that my grandma, mother and mother in-law would appreciate the touch of flowers so I bit that bullet instead of fighting it. I did see some pretty cool looking homemade flower ideas on etsy.com while browsing there so if you are against flowers then that’s the way to go!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Pre- Ceremony reading
As you know by now Mike and I really wanted our guests to have fun at the wedding, even during the ceremony! We both wrote our own vows and included things in the ceremony that were "serious" and funny. We actually had laughter during the ceremony because of things that we included in it. We had references to the things we like (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Team America) as well as things that were "appropriate" for Halloween (zombies). So without further ado here is the pre-ceremony reading! Enjoy! Before beginning I must note that the pre-ceremony reading I found online and borrowed it from the author. She gave permission on that site so that's why I did it. I'll post the other's later, I just didn't want to make it so long !
Pre-Cermony reading
Dearly loved friends and relations, I have the honor of welcoming you all to this ceremony, in which we will wed Michael & Sharon to each other.
They asked me to say a few words to set the proper mood and tone for their wedding.
I thought for quite some time about what I would say, discarding metaphors and quotes of love, before finally settling on a topic near to their hearts - Today I'm going to say a few words about zombies.
Zombies. The shambling ghouls of black and white Saturday matinees and the quick, ravenous monsters of modern horror are all suffering from the same disease - disconnection - from the world around them and from each other.
And aren't we all there sometimes?
Don't we shuffle to work, monosyllabic, until we get our caffeine, and then go through the motions of work and house as if completely unaware of other people? Don't we set our sights on one desire after another, rushing from experience to experience without actually stopping to enjoy any of it?
Haven't you found yourself staring into space, wishing for just a little more brains?
Michael & Sharon were there too and they've decided to take the only vaccine that works - they've decided to get married. By which I mean they've decided to get connected - unashamedly, unhesitatingly connected - to each other.
In this they refuse to become numb themselves, they promise to give each other attention, consideration, and kindness - emotions zombies most certainly do not share. They refuse to feed on the heart and mind of the other, agreeing instead to grow those things together and share them equally. And they vow not to allow the other to become a zombie when they aren't looking - slipping into apathy, these things with the shotguns of their love strapped strongly to their backs and the truncheons of their humor held firmly in their hands.
Together, they will defend their humanity and their home with all the wit, grace, and power of any spunky heroine or over-sized hero.
Together they are an example of what is possible when two people set their sights on the same star. They cut through our 21st century cynicism and prove that, in fact, zombificiation is not inevitable - that friendship, love and desire, when held with both hands, are the only weapons any of us need to stay human.
With the zombies held at bay by their mutual promises, Michael & Sharon are ready to face the other monsters of life - defending against the Frankenstein coworkers, the Soul Vampires of false friends, and the Mummy of age itself.
The adventure they are about to embark on has all the magic of any Hollywood movie and all the terror of true Lovecraftian horror - dread Cthulhu has nothing on balancing family Christmases.
But the truest fact is that as long as they stick together, connected to each other, the zombies of life, real and imagined, apathetic and disastrous, cannot harm them.
That said, let's get married, shall we?
- Written by L.E.H. Light, 2008
Pre-Cermony reading
Dearly loved friends and relations, I have the honor of welcoming you all to this ceremony, in which we will wed Michael & Sharon to each other.
They asked me to say a few words to set the proper mood and tone for their wedding.
I thought for quite some time about what I would say, discarding metaphors and quotes of love, before finally settling on a topic near to their hearts - Today I'm going to say a few words about zombies.
Zombies. The shambling ghouls of black and white Saturday matinees and the quick, ravenous monsters of modern horror are all suffering from the same disease - disconnection - from the world around them and from each other.
And aren't we all there sometimes?
Don't we shuffle to work, monosyllabic, until we get our caffeine, and then go through the motions of work and house as if completely unaware of other people? Don't we set our sights on one desire after another, rushing from experience to experience without actually stopping to enjoy any of it?
Haven't you found yourself staring into space, wishing for just a little more brains?
Michael & Sharon were there too and they've decided to take the only vaccine that works - they've decided to get married. By which I mean they've decided to get connected - unashamedly, unhesitatingly connected - to each other.
In this they refuse to become numb themselves, they promise to give each other attention, consideration, and kindness - emotions zombies most certainly do not share. They refuse to feed on the heart and mind of the other, agreeing instead to grow those things together and share them equally. And they vow not to allow the other to become a zombie when they aren't looking - slipping into apathy, these things with the shotguns of their love strapped strongly to their backs and the truncheons of their humor held firmly in their hands.
Together, they will defend their humanity and their home with all the wit, grace, and power of any spunky heroine or over-sized hero.
Together they are an example of what is possible when two people set their sights on the same star. They cut through our 21st century cynicism and prove that, in fact, zombificiation is not inevitable - that friendship, love and desire, when held with both hands, are the only weapons any of us need to stay human.
With the zombies held at bay by their mutual promises, Michael & Sharon are ready to face the other monsters of life - defending against the Frankenstein coworkers, the Soul Vampires of false friends, and the Mummy of age itself.
The adventure they are about to embark on has all the magic of any Hollywood movie and all the terror of true Lovecraftian horror - dread Cthulhu has nothing on balancing family Christmases.
But the truest fact is that as long as they stick together, connected to each other, the zombies of life, real and imagined, apathetic and disastrous, cannot harm them.
That said, let's get married, shall we?
- Written by L.E.H. Light, 2008
Saturday, October 23, 2010
I'm in the final days and I'm thinking about things I can't control....ie weather
So I just checked the "extended" weather forecast....Yes I have a rain plan but, I really don't want to use it!!!! It says partly cloudy and a high of 68 with a 20% chance of precipitation! Holy shit it's going to perspire on my wedding... or maybe I'm going to do that...is there a word to describe one type of precipitation like geese vs goose? Perhaps not, I don't have the time to check right now either. I know it's possible and I can't stop mother nature but,I really don't want rain on my wedding day...! Speaking of rain on your wedding day here are some myths that I came across on the interweb. This was taken from Metro Creative Services
According to Greek culture, tuck a sugar cube into your glove on your wedding. The sugar will sweeten your union.
• English tradition says that Wednesday is the best day to marry. Monday is for wealth and Tuesday is for health.
• The groom carries his newly betrothed across the threshold to protect her from evil spirits.
• Hindu tradition says rain on your wedding day is good luck.
• For good luck, Egyptian women are known to pinch the bride on her wedding day.
• In Holland a pine tree is planted outside of the newlyweds' home for good luck and fertility.
• A law in 1775 said a wedding was not legal if the bride wore makeup during the ceremony.
• Wedding and engagement rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was long believed a vein ran from that finger directly to the heart.
• Ancient Greeks and Romans said a wedding veil protected the bride from evil spirts. It has been a tradition to wear a veil ever since.
• The term "tie the knot" comes from Roman times when the bride wore a girdle tied in knots that the groom was later able to untie. Some also believe it refers to the knots of rope that were tied to form the marriage bed.
Those are some interesting fun facts. Anyway less fretting about the weather...
According to Greek culture, tuck a sugar cube into your glove on your wedding. The sugar will sweeten your union.
• English tradition says that Wednesday is the best day to marry. Monday is for wealth and Tuesday is for health.
• The groom carries his newly betrothed across the threshold to protect her from evil spirits.
• Hindu tradition says rain on your wedding day is good luck.
• For good luck, Egyptian women are known to pinch the bride on her wedding day.
• In Holland a pine tree is planted outside of the newlyweds' home for good luck and fertility.
• A law in 1775 said a wedding was not legal if the bride wore makeup during the ceremony.
• Wedding and engagement rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was long believed a vein ran from that finger directly to the heart.
• Ancient Greeks and Romans said a wedding veil protected the bride from evil spirts. It has been a tradition to wear a veil ever since.
• The term "tie the knot" comes from Roman times when the bride wore a girdle tied in knots that the groom was later able to untie. Some also believe it refers to the knots of rope that were tied to form the marriage bed.
Those are some interesting fun facts. Anyway less fretting about the weather...
Monday, October 18, 2010
2 Weeks to go, Vows.
OK so I'm 2 weeks out, and I am going to post everyday until the day of the wedding! I'm getting excited, we have a lot of Halloween stuff to decorate with and I'm hoping it doesn't look tacky. I think I'll be able to make it look good still. Mike and I were picking out our the sayings we want for our ceremony late last night, I'm pretty excited with what we've picked. I'll post the whole thing after the wedding because I don't want to give anything away but, make sure you listen up! I think you will find our vows/ceremony touching and funny at the same time!
Well I know this post is super short but, I wanted to a least get something out there! see everyone soon!
Well I know this post is super short but, I wanted to a least get something out there! see everyone soon!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Location Location Location
My dream wedding location was a winery. I just loved the idea of being out in the vines when they were all orange and red with bits of green during the autumn! Plus I figured that if it was a winery I'd be able to save on alcohol.... Little did I know just how much a winery would cost!! This was actually the very first thing we did. Before anything else I wanted to get the location nailed down. I felt it would help us be more realistic with decor and what we wanted it to feel like in the long run. A wedding is nice but, it's not just about the wedding it's about the marriage. Mike and I knew we didn't want to spend a small fortune on the wedding so I guess you could say I'm a bride on a budget!
We started out looking at some winery's in Napa. This one with the wine cave was perfect for our theme! It was on Halloween and the cave was just sooo cool there were this really cool rustic looking black chandeliers and it wasn't a huge space so it would have been nice and intimate . It really would have set the theme. Once I called and set up a tour of the cave with the event coordinator I realized this just wasn't going to happen, This location alone without anything else was going to put us in way over our heads debt. So the search continued.
I still had my heart set on a winery I just thought well maybe because it's Napa it's expensive. I mean if you think about wine country most people immediately think of Napa County. They don't think about the many many other regions of California that have wineries. So off to Amador County I went. I loaded up the car with my friend Nicole and we took the one hour trip from here to Amador county. Where there are many wineries!
There were 3 out here that I liked. The first one Karmere vineyards and winery It was beautiful it sat atop a hill looking out over the vineyards but, considering that my wedding is at the end of Oct I didn't really want to have to worry about rain and there wasn't an indoor area that would work just in case of rain. Also out here the vineyards were again more than I wanted to spend. NOT as bad as Napa but still bad.
The next one was Bella Piazza Winery, this place was beautiful!!! Included many wonderful things in the price and it was a top contender. Perhaps a little more then I wanted to spend but more in the price range. Also had an indoor location in case of rain and a bridal suite and contracts with hotels allowing for a bus transportation to and from the winery for the wedding.
The last one out in Amador county was the sister winery to Bella Piazza Winery and I felt like it fit my theme a little better. (Remember when I was looking for a winery out here I still had my heart set on the wine cave....)
The Villa Toscano Winery was a little more Tuscany and absolutely gorgeous. Again it wasn't the wine cave but, I still liked it. My hang up with these locations were. Weather (Plan B), location from hotels and at all the wineries there was a 10:30 noise curfew. I took the information home and the search continued.
Next I took Mike out and we went to a winery that is closer to Sacramento in the Delta about 15 min from downtown, The Citizen Hotel, Tsakopoulos library and finally the location we chose, The Firehouse Restaurant in old Sacramento.
Wilson Vineyards were in the price range and close to Sacramento. Mike and I just weren't sold on the location. It was pretty and a good deal for the money but, it just didn't have the right feel to it. Also they had a 10:00PM Noise curfew so there would have been an after party.
The Citizen Hotel was pretty cool. It had an old world feel to it as far as the price was concerned it was about the same as Wilson vineyards. The Tsakopoulos Library Galleria was pretty cool also. They were very restrictive on which vendors you could use so that made the price go up. Plus sides to these were close to hotels and no noise curfew limit.
We finally decided on The Firehouse Restaurant, it is beautiful has all the things I was looking for and wasn't going to break the bank!! I'm not going to post any pictures of it I want you guys to see it the day of. So I'm not even going to tell you which room I am going to use because I want it to be a surprise!! Mike and I spent about 3 months looking for the location and we found it in Jan. We ate here for dinner one night and just loved the food so we came back to get information for the wedding! I would say this was the least painful process. It was hard to pick a location because there are a lot of places at there to choose from!
Next I took Mike out and we went to a winery that is closer to Sacramento in the Delta about 15 min from downtown, The Citizen Hotel, Tsakopoulos library and finally the location we chose, The Firehouse Restaurant in old Sacramento.
Wilson Vineyards were in the price range and close to Sacramento. Mike and I just weren't sold on the location. It was pretty and a good deal for the money but, it just didn't have the right feel to it. Also they had a 10:00PM Noise curfew so there would have been an after party.
The Citizen Hotel was pretty cool. It had an old world feel to it as far as the price was concerned it was about the same as Wilson vineyards. The Tsakopoulos Library Galleria was pretty cool also. They were very restrictive on which vendors you could use so that made the price go up. Plus sides to these were close to hotels and no noise curfew limit.
We finally decided on The Firehouse Restaurant, it is beautiful has all the things I was looking for and wasn't going to break the bank!! I'm not going to post any pictures of it I want you guys to see it the day of. So I'm not even going to tell you which room I am going to use because I want it to be a surprise!! Mike and I spent about 3 months looking for the location and we found it in Jan. We ate here for dinner one night and just loved the food so we came back to get information for the wedding! I would say this was the least painful process. It was hard to pick a location because there are a lot of places at there to choose from!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Awesome Vendor's
I'm sure everyone loves there vendor's mostly I feel like I've found some really really good ones!! The first one that Mike and I found was our DJ. I had gone to a friends wedding last year and this was the DJ that they used. He was very energetic and I felt like he had a good read on the crowd, keeping the dance floor full for most of the evening. I think one of my pet peeves about DJ's are the ones who just sit up at their podium and say stuff like "We have everything folks, just request it". I really think to be good you have to have personality. I'm no expert so those are just my thoughts. The DJ that we booked is Mitch Perez Showtime DJ. Like I said we got the DJ first then very shortly after we got the location.
After the DJ I attended a bridal show in Feb and met Jennifer Starr of The Memory Journalists. We stood there and talked for about 30 minutes about life, the universe and everything but wedding except for a brief moment when I said I was still looking for a photographer. It was a connection I couldn't get out of my head and I had Mike meet her and he agreed. It was a little out of budget but, I know we are going to get great pictures and some great friends possibly! I'm looking forward to working with her and I am excited about a little surprise we are putting together..... :)
Finally, I got around to cake tasting. I went to my favorite bakery and I wasn't impressed...I was pretty bummed out about it actually because I love this bakery so I searched on for another baker. I had seen ads for Sugar and Spice Specialty Desserts and decided to give her a call. Carissa Jones the owner was fabulous!! When we went for a tasting she brought out this huge plate of different things to taste along with 3 different types of cakes (they were still warm)! Everything was good!!! It was hard to make a decision but, we did and I'm sure you'll love what I picked out!!!
I just had to post about these guys because they are so great. They are great business owners and even if I'm not the only bride in the world I sure do feel like it!! They always know who I am when I call and I think that's another great thing!!
After the DJ I attended a bridal show in Feb and met Jennifer Starr of The Memory Journalists. We stood there and talked for about 30 minutes about life, the universe and everything but wedding except for a brief moment when I said I was still looking for a photographer. It was a connection I couldn't get out of my head and I had Mike meet her and he agreed. It was a little out of budget but, I know we are going to get great pictures and some great friends possibly! I'm looking forward to working with her and I am excited about a little surprise we are putting together..... :)
Finally, I got around to cake tasting. I went to my favorite bakery and I wasn't impressed...I was pretty bummed out about it actually because I love this bakery so I searched on for another baker. I had seen ads for Sugar and Spice Specialty Desserts and decided to give her a call. Carissa Jones the owner was fabulous!! When we went for a tasting she brought out this huge plate of different things to taste along with 3 different types of cakes (they were still warm)! Everything was good!!! It was hard to make a decision but, we did and I'm sure you'll love what I picked out!!!
I just had to post about these guys because they are so great. They are great business owners and even if I'm not the only bride in the world I sure do feel like it!! They always know who I am when I call and I think that's another great thing!!
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