it's the little things...

To bring you this quote: " Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ―Lao Tzu Ah, yes. That's a good one. I think I start feeling anxious when I know there will be time to get something done but it's just not RIGHT NOW. When other obligations must be taken care of first... Now, back to the program. Nine days left, people! Single digits. I think everything will get done but not too far in advance. But, you know, I was thinking about it and I don't think I'd prefer to be done with everything now. I'd be too antsy. Or adding more projects. I must admit I have added a few tiny projects over the last week but they were super quick.

I've been meaning to write this post for some time. So here are our invitations. No, I didn't make them but I did make that orange belly band that keeps everything together. See? We were slightly green by not including an inner envelope. This is what they looked like when guests took them out of the envelope. Here's the suite: Close up of top of invitation: RSVP card. We asked folks if they'd like to request a song for the reception. An oddly small percentage actually did. Oh, well. I thought it was fun. Our RSVP date (while it was a Sunday when the postal service doesn't run) was my dad's birthday. The map, which The Fiance and I both slaved over for way too many hours (but I think is super cute and am really proud of): The super fancy, faux calligraphy I did plus the lovely wedding cake stamps (Thanks Post Office! I was getting kind of sick of those hearts.): And all packaged up ready for the mail: And while we're on paper products, how about a look at t...

The weeks are just flying by! I must say, though, a lot has gotten marked off the GIANT LIST this week. It's so nice to meet with people who know how weddings work. Ones who can be helpful in making last-minute plans and timelines and such. It's also reassuring to know that you're not forgetting much (or if you are, so is everyone else). In addition to meeting with the photographer, I got the bulk of our playlist to the DJ. And met with the reception location people. Seems like things are better there than I dared hope. And I met with my Day of Coordinator aka my MIL-once-removed aka The Brother's MIL. And The Fiance has been in touch with the baker. So, yeah, feeling more organized. Don't get me wrong. The list is still long but I'm only out of town one more day for work before the wedding. That could not make me happier. Not wedding-related? Boy, we sure had some rain this afternoon! Enough to knock out power in the parking garage, leaving us briefly trapped. ...

Starting to freak the heck out. I go back and forth, back and forth. Feeling like progress has been made, feeling like there's too much to do. The thought of adding anything that's optional is not doing it for me right now. Sure, if we forgot something major, it will have to be added to the list. I just want everything to be finished. I want everyone else I'm depending on to do their job and do it well. I want all the stuff I've worked so hard on to come together. And I still want that nap... (Thanks for bearing with me.)

Would you prefer a bulleted list or crazily disjointed paragraphs? Let's mix things up a little this morning... Yesterday was our RSVP deadline. We've probably heard from about 75% of folks. I think that's quite good. Not good enough to avoid sending a mass email to the other folks... And yes I know that the mail doesn't run on Sundays but it would have been Dad's birthday yesterday so I thought that was a good date to pick. And, you know, I'd remember what we put on the RSVPs. Last week I was out of town for 4 days. All in the same place. I can't tell you the last time I stayed in the same hotel for 3 nights in a row. I crafted there. Finished a little project for The Fiance and his guys, rehearsal/rehearsal dinner invitations, and baby shower invitations for the Matron o' Honor. It's getting to the point of difficult crafting. Most of the easy stuff is done. What remains are the things I've been waffling about or have been uninspired by or just...

Yes, there's a lot to do. Yes, I occasionally freak out. Yes, sometimes I am still surprised that we're getting married. Period. Let alone in a matter of a few short weeks. But, really, I know that I'll get everything done (with help) and whatever doesn't get done won't get noticed anyway. And I know that everything will turn out well. People will come. They'll have fun. Things will be pretty and memorable and a little quirky and us. And the day will fly by all too quickly. So what's really important about all of it? That our people are there. That the ones who can't be there--whether they're on bed rest in Florida or were lost years ago--are there in spirit. That my bridesmaid who had a freakin' heart attack on Friday is there. That The Fiance's Grandma makes it. And that at the end of the day, in front of all those people, we'll be married. (Also? For the record, God, Mother Nature, etc? It would be swell if we could avoid any hurricane...

So I just noticed that the little ticker over there? The one that's counting down time left till the wedding? Has switched to measuring in days. All on it's own. That's a little freaky of it. Yep, 26 days. Less than a month. With the help of some nice ladies, we had a very productive craft-o-rama on Saturday. I got a few more things done on Sunday. And I packed up multiple projects to work on while I'm on the road this week. We got The Fiance's ring. Yea! And got mine appraised. Finally! Got my shopping mostly done. Was given the ok on the two dresses I bought--one for the shower on Saturday and one for the rehearsal. Still haven't heard from the baker. Perhaps I'll give her a call... I'm not terribly freaked out about the very few days left. Given the LIST, I probably should be. I'm just going to force all you people to help me. Please? Pretty please?

As Katie mentioned in the Comments, it does seem like a total footrace to the end regarding all this wedding stuff... I'd love to write this lengthy post with real sentences and paragraphs but all I can hammer out is bulleted lists. I'm back home. Yea! I briefly thought I'd get to come home a day early next week but no dice. Instead, I'm going to someone else's site (which means less travel but more work for me). Whatever. If I can load up the car (since I'm driving this time), I can craft in hotels! Um, is it bad that that won't be a first for me? The Fiance's ring is in! We'll pick it up (hopefully) either today or tomorrow. One of the bridesmaids and her flower girl daughter are coming up today. We're trying to avert a flower girl dress crisis and get shoes. Have a craft-o-rama planned for Saturday. I actually have a long list but feel like I need to do some prep work for it so that I can maximize the use of my slave labor friends and soon-to...

would like to kill some time? Go here . Apparently, there are 70,308 people in the U.S. with my first name. Statistically, it is the 656th most popular first name. Shockingly, >99.9% are female. There are 1,253 people in the U.S. with my last name. Statistically, it is the 22,507th most popular last name. There are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. with my name. I'm betting on one. Oh, you know you want to do it. It takes 5 seconds. Then you can put in other people's names to waste a significant amount of time. (I was going through draft posts and came across this one, which was good since I'm at a total blank when it comes to writing right now. I'm pretty much only thinking about the wedding and doing wedding-related tasks. With 33 days left, I'm a flood of different emotions. Maybe I'll be able to get them out on virtual paper soon.)

Holy moly, people. And suddenly it's a week from my last post. Here's the run down: You know how I had that crappy travel day last Monday? I totally made up for it the next day when I flew to San Diego. First class. Also first class coming back on Tuesday. And that means I had but one night in my super posh suite in the hotel. Upgrades all around. We had a nice little outing with the Houston work folks on Friday. I ate ice cream and chatted with some ladies I rarely see. Too bad not everyone could make it. I had my first bridal shower on Saturday. It was really nice. Mostly family. We got some nice things, ate great (and pretty) food, and some lovely homemade favors were given to our guests. I also had a cute dress and got a hair cut that morning so that I could take advantage of someone else fixing my hair. And it wasn't so bad opening gifts in front of all those people. I guess I haven't done that since a birthday party in about 2nd grade. Last Saturday...