And what is the number one big bear I'm seeing? Wedding planning.
Not that I'm really in any kind of tight place on this - I keep freaking out that I'm getting behind, emailing my vendors, and they keep trying to gently remind me that I'm still WAY ahead of schedule. This helps, but even so, it's really nice to knock a few details off my list of to-dos. You know, like cleaning your office of all the clutter and papers and crap helps you actually focus on the work you need to do? I've been needing to do that with my brain lately, so I've knocked a few wedding things off the list, and now I can go back to focusing on design on work!
This weekend was particularly productive, Saturday especially. I've been traveling for hockey tournaments for the last three consecutive weekends, so I decided I wasn't going to work any games this weekend, breathe a little, and get some real-life stuff done. So Anthony and I set out to run some errands, and inadvertently got a few extras squeezed in there, too.
First thing to check off the list was our wedding bands. We'd gone back in December to 'start looking' at options, and found rings we were both in love with. That was unexpectedly quick, and we weren't quite ready to actually buy them yet, so we wrote down the models and held on to it until the beginning of Feb. However, when I went back to actually make the purchase, I was shocked to hear my band, that I'd actually really really loved, was actually double the price I remember being quoted! They'd written down the price of Ant's band, and while his was a little more expensive than originally thought (prices in the market have fluctuated a bit), it was just a trivial amount off. But we hadn't actually written down the quoted price of my band. So now I don't know if we'd been remembering the price of another ring (I was being very careful to only look at rings that were within our budget), or if something big really did change. At any rate, I wasn't about to drop double the price on a ring, so I was unexpectedly shopping for another ring.
Now, I'm not sure how many of you know my shopping habits, but for the most part, I don't buy things the first time I see them. I like to see it, get all the details and options, take the thought home, and sit on it for a least a few hours, if not a few days. And for something big like this (I am going to be wearing it the rest of my life, after all) I like to have a second opinion, even if mine is the only one that really counts. So not having Anthony with me to bounce thoughts off of REALLY threw me. He's really good at reading my reactions, too, so I know that if I'm getting a little emotional clutter, he can at least help me sort out what he thinks I'm actually happy about (or telling me, "You're not really excited about any of these, you're just settling - let's move on"). Well, on this visit, which was supposed to be just ordering a couple rings we'd had months to think about, I was standing there with a sudden change of direction, and trying to pick out an expensive and important piece of jewelry without any mental preparation or my trusty idea-bouncer. I did select a ring and paid for it with customizations (they didn't have anything I was thrilled about, so I was trying to make adjustments to the 'next best thing' - oops). Anyway, by the time I got home, I was already freaking out about it, and Anthony told me to call and have them hold the order, which I did.
Anyway, this all happened more than a month ago. Shortly
afterward, we started our crazy month of traveling, starting with a weekend in CO for more planning details (and a bridal shower), then my three consecutive traveling tournaments. I think I freaked out the jeweler a bit by canceling the order and then disappearing, though I can't really blame her, and, long story short (too late), it took us until this weekend to find a time we could both go in together and re-evaluate the situation. And I am so glad we did... looking at the ring I'd selected again, we both hated it. They'd also gotten in a couple new rings we were able to look at, and I found another that I was much happier with on display =) I asked about a few customizations to make it 'perfect,' though they weren't really worth the price, and we finally walked away with both rings purchased that day.The ring on display was about a half size too large (though I probably could have gotten away with it, the resizing didn't cost anything), so we headed over to the mall across the street to blow off a couple hours while they did the work. We had fun just hanging out together (it's been way too long!), getting quick and easy lunch, and walking around a mall looking at things. We stopped in a couple jewelry stores trying to find a necklace and earrings I loved enough to buy for/wear on our wedding day (still no luck),
and had fun exploring a kitchen/baking superstore in the mall.As a side note, here is a beautiful necklace I found and would LOVE to buy, but I can't remember where I found it. If you've seen a jeweler with something similar, PLEASE let me know... I've been searching for a while now. I love that it's 2-stranded, pearls with a drop-pendant, and rather delicate looking.
So, after wandering the mall for a while, we took off looking for a Verizon store. This was actually the original point of heading to the mall - Ant's been ready to kick his old iPhone and AT&T plan for quite a while, and they've just come out with the phone he's been anticipating. So off we headed to another nearby mall which actually had a V-store. This mall happened to also have a DSW and David's Bridal, so we popped into those stores pretty quickly to take a look at shoes (my dress fittings are supposed to start in a few weeks, and I still didn't have shoes!). Nothing really thrilled me at DSW, so I went on to my fall-back of David's dye-able shoes. They actually had some pretty nice styles, I'm just a little concerned about walking away from my wedding with purple feet, or about somehow landing in a puddle and having the dye bleed off. My sister in law had dyed shoes from David's and she said they did bleed on her feet, but not the dress. So, it's always been an option, but more of a backup.
Well, at this point, it was time for a backup - I can't stall any
longer looking for shoes! So we popped in and found a style I liked. It was great having Anthony along, too, because I know the heels are an appropriate height to match up with him =) And, as it turns out, one of their dye colors PERFECTLY matches the bridesmaid dresses we bought from another store. I didn't really expect to have a perfect match, but when I brought the color swatch home to compare, it's pretty indistinguishable. So hooray for that! I ordered the shoes (I was actually considering a size 5.5 - my feet aren't THAT tiny, are they??) and have one more thing to check off my list! For anyone wondering, they didn't have a 5.5 or 6 in the style I wanted, so I had to take a little gamble and guess. I ordered a size 6 and figure I can add padding to make sure they fit.So, another big check mark on my list! Ant fully enjoyed playing with the new phone, and went back later that night to buy it (he shops like me - never makes a purchase without sitting on it for a while). At this point, my ring was ready, and we went over to pick the two wedding bands up. Hooray!! After this weekend, I'm able to check off shoes and rings (both of which were stressing me out), Anthony got a new phone, and we got to finally spend some time together enjoying each other's company! All in all, a great Saturday spent, and Sunday went well, too. We borrowed a friend's power tools down in San Diego and built a letterpress so I can make our invitations - but that's a story for another post, hopefully later this week. But, I'm sure if you've even made it to the end of this post, you're ready for a break before reading more, anyway =)
