my flowers! my flowers! my flowers!

They are in! Here are sneak peak shots...




A special bonus gift...



Corsages!


Boutonnieres! (Everytime I try to type that word, spell check comes up.)


...But to see the big guns photos, you'll just have to see them at the wedding!
(Unless you're a creepy stalker reading my blog. And in that case, please don't show up.)

pretty flower creation!

This whole wedding planning hubbub has lit a fire inside of me.

Little tdk, who always declared I was not artistic and could only work with combining "straight lines" (thus the name of my blog), has started making pretty things on a DAILY basis. Yesterday I took a sick day (read: "mental health day," which is highly encouraged here in our social work-y environment) to relax and also to get through some tedious wedding BS that needed to be done... and I somewhat accidentally made one of my prettiest creations yet. I plan to replicate this and think it could make a great pin, hairpiece, or even bouquet.

I brought it to work today to provide me encouragement and inspiration throughout the work day... so of course I have to post a few pics...!

parties!!!

we had a weekend of wedding-related parties this past weekend. an engagement party on saturday night, complete with a mexican theme (VERY FITTING for both of us), including a pinata with our faces on it.


don't worry -- no one hit the pinata. it is now at our house, sitting on a couch in the reading room, trying to find a place for itself to fit. maybe we should bring it to the rehearsal dinner?

on sunday, mom's friend pam hosted a bridal shower for me. it was so nice, in both a humbling way, and also in a "it's my party" kind of way.

overall: i feel really, truly humbled by the amount of support austin and i have. so many people drove in from out of town for this weekend, and one friend even flew down in an airplane.

in other news: the wedding flowers are IN THE MAIL! i'm so freaking excited to see them.

alternative Guestbook ideas

On to the next decision: Whatever to do about the "guest book?" Both Austin and I don't know how we would use a book full of people's signatures, so we are talking about doing something different instead of a plain old book with blank pages and ivory satin cover.

Surprised?
(Everything else about our wedding is slightly off-traditional, so why wouldn't this be also!?)

Here are some ideas that I found through a few Google searches:

What about a poster?


Or a nice customized book?


Or how about notes put into a cool jar, that we figure out what to do with later?


Or my current favorite...a fingerprint tree!!

new ring idea

I've decided to take a different direction for Austin's wedding ring........

wedding rings = drama

Buying our wedding rings is the bane of my wedding planning existence! I recently wrote about the drama with my ring, and that is a whole other issue. I have to send it back on Monday (after our "engagement party") so Tacori can re-make my wedding band correctly.

I finally found a GREAT deal on Austin's wedding band yesterday and was so excited that I ordered it, and then afterwards I found a 10% off coupon online. So I e-mailed the company and asked if they could please change my order to include the 10% off amount. They cancelled my order and suggested I re-order (which I was happy to do) EXCEPT when I went to do that this morning, the price had DOUBLED. What is this kind of business? I have an e-mail in asking for them to please honor the original price, but we will see what happens. There are negative reviews of this company online. Ugh. Drama.

(Hopefully this means all of the wedding-day-something-must-go-wrong stuff will happen beforehand?)

mild celebrity sightings... TWICE in one weekend!!!

On Saturday morning, we went to Millie's for brunch with Dad. My father is ALL ABOUT diners and especially diners that are like dives, so of course we had to take him to Millie's. We figured the wait would be better on a Saturday, but when we arrived, we found a camera crew filming an episode of The Balancing Act, which is a show about women and living a healthy life...I think. So instead of the typical hour-long wait with my mimosa, I stood on a booth bench with my mimosa and watched the same "Wow, these potatoes are amazing! And now we're heading off to the Picasso exhibit" scene being taped repeatedly.
It was funny to watch these folks who were clearly from another part of the country try to "fit in" at this diner that is a self-described "snob's nightmare."

And one more side note: you could tell that Beth, "the talent," was wearing a full body Spanx.


At the tail end of my run with Laura on Sunday (5 miles!!!), we passed a couple on Floyd Ave with a stroller walking past us down the street. Laura kept saying "No way... no way... NO WAY!" Can you guess who it was?
The couple from Young House Love. Just last week we were talking about how it's cool that they live in Richmond also, and wondered if we would ever run into them, after realizing we had gone to Hobby Lobby around the same day they blogged about a trip to the same store. Turns out... we saw them a week later instead! Didn't say hi of course, and therefore, there is no photo evidence, but it was still cool.

i want i want!

is this skirt from WHBM not awesome?



guess i will have to wait until it goes down from the initial $98...

a craft explosion!

this weekend, austin was away at a bachelor party (not his) and i had lots and lots of quiet time at home with the animals. my time was filled with mostly non-wedding-related crafting. it was so much fun.

so, i ask my friends: should i make more of these? or just give them as gifts to friends?
how much would you pay for them? any ideas on how i can make different varieties?
is there anything specifically you want me to make for you?





of course, i must include the obligatory davis-dressed-in-the-wedding-colors-looking cute photo:


and one more photo, a glimpse of some of the wedding decorations

overheard in the screening process

It is my turn to return general phone calls for the agency today.

A lady answers the phone saying "Jeremy, pee over here... in the grass!" We start talking about her rental situation. I'm asking her about her power being cut off, and all of a sudden I hear her screaming, "Jeremy! The neighbors!! You can't pee in front of the house!" I'm wondering if she's talking about her dog or a human being, and then she comes back... "I'm sorry, my son..." I change the subject back to housing and away from child urination.

This was my only semi-humorous call today. The others were all sad. They involved me telling homeless adults that they need to make more $ to get into our program. Common responses today: the individuals either yelled at me or started telling me their life stories, one of which involved having a close family member shot in front of the person.

A Shelter Visit

My job involves identifying folks who are homeless, and have enough income to sustain on their own, and then giving them the push that is often needed to get them into their own rental units. Whereas voucher programs subsidize housing for years, our program just helps with deposits and a few months' rent if needed.

Last night was my night to advertise our program at the Overflow Shelter. Overflow is only open if it is 35 degrees or lower outside overnight. It's basically the City's "humane" response to where people can go at night if the shelters are full and if it's too cold to sleep outside. So the population at Overflow is generally (not always) people who stay on the streets regularly.

Overflow was very humbling. It brought me back to my days volunteering at Gateway House, a transitional housing/substance abuse recovery home where our church prepared meals once a month in Lynchburg. This Overflow was in the basement of a church, and looked similar to the shelter pictured on this website, except instead of padded mats, there were Yoga Mats spread out for people to sleep on. Some people had blankets that they spread out over their yoga mats, and it was clear that they carried around these blankets during the day, in order to utilize them at night. They knew the process.

I was reminded last night how important it is to participate in your community. I don't like the phrase "give back" as much, because it implies that the community has nothing to give you, which is not true. The men I met with last night, while none of them were eligible for our program, were all very kind and hopeful. I gave some of them contact information for other programs that may be a good fit for them. Not everyone who's homeless wants to be housed, but most do.

I hope that our children will have many experiences like the ones I have been able to have, both in my job and in my volunteering experiences.

blue drinks

At our most recent marriage counseling appointment, we told Alane that one of our next wedding plans was to figure out the "Signature Drink." Our caterer highly suggested this to us, as it is a great way for guests to grab a drink as they get into the reception. According to her, it will take away from the initial dump of the line at the bar, and needs to match the color scheme.
So, with the invitation and our minister in tow, we went to Republic this afternoon to try out blue drinks for the Signature Drink to start our reception.




We ordered just about every martini- like drink the place made that had Blue Curacao in it, and 10 drinks later, we found it!



Our minister and her friend were our DD's and it was a grand old time. What did we pick? You will just have to wait and find out! For now, I will leave you with a classic shot of Alane, our minister, taste-testing option #7...

The BEST and the WORST of Wedding Planning

Today has been a day stock-piled with wedding to-do's.

Our first stop was a cake-tasting at Jean Jacques in Carytown. A co-worker told me this was the best deal in town, so of course Austin and I were going to check it out. While I am certain their cakes are awesome when they are done up, the samples were singer layer, dense, and dry, with frosting that was mediocre. It made it difficult to see what the cakes would really taste like. Either way, who doesn't love free dessert?

Our second stop was to pick up my wedding band. A potentially super exciting moment, and one that I was relieved to have over, after the drama of the prices changing and them taking my engagement ring for a month. Unfortunately, it's not over yet, b/c although they ordered the correct ring, Tacori sent back a different wedding band. Other than the blue fabric fiasco at the dress shop for my first fitting, I think this was the worst moment of wedding planning so far. A huge disappointment. BUT I'm hoping this means that all of the "go wrong" stuff will happen before the wedding and not the day of. Here's to hoping.

What I ordered:------------------------------------------------------------What I was given:


Third in line: Finding Austin's wedding band. We went to two stores and it took just minutes at each store. We will have quotes on Monday and I bet we will have ordered one by Tuesday. It's funny how SO MUCH work and energy goes into this day and the ring is so easy for him. Good for AP!

Finally: Cake tasting at Frostings! Holy moley, this place has AMAZING cupcakes. A-ma-zing. I can't wait to take mi padre here when he comes into town, b/c their Vanilla Bean cupcake is the best. Everything is the best. I really hope their price quote comes in as we need it.



















Now: sugar food coma. Naptime necessary. So much sugar and so much running around. Super movie time b/c we don't have the energy for anything else!!
Gotta rest up for our minister taking us to a bar tomorrow to determine the best Signature Drink for the big day. Did you read that right? Yes, you did. If you are doubting me, here is a bio that was done about her, Alane Cameron Miles, a few years ago, for this program in Richmond called "Top 40 Under Forty." If that shocks you, here is more evidence of her awesomeness, other than the fact that she's taking us to a bar tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

And just for fun, I think this cupcake looks super cool, and is worth re-posting, even though it will not be featured at our wedding:

inspiration

I love this photo

3 surprises

There have been three super surprises during the wedding planning process so far:
1) Finding out that I won't be able to see the fabric they are using to change my dress until I get the dress back. Surprise, you just have to trust us!
2) Tacori required having my engagement ring back in order to create a wedding ring that fully matched it. In the end, I will be really happy about that, but it was definitely a surprise to find out I would be leaving the store without my engagement ring. Surprise!
3) EVERYTHING costs more than we originally thought it would. Everything. Surprise...your budget was pointless!

But SURPRISE! I got my ring back last night, and I will see the dress with the changes tonight. And hopefully next week, all of this silly decorations stuff will be fully figured out. So, since I had never posted a non-fuzzy image of the ring, here it is now, in all of its polished-by-the-manufacturer glory: