Monsoon!

That's right Mother Nature, get it all out of your system before September.

[ Our backyard on Sunday ]

Our basement is flooded yet again, despite repeated complaints to the landlord. I mostly stuck around home last weekend to watch the rising water level in my house. Yikes. Of course this happens while Alex is 4000 km away (and enjoying perfect LA weather)! There is a lot of stuff in our basement now, as it has become Wedding Central. Keeping everything dry and above-ground has been tricky and a bit like a game of Tetris. It finally seems to be draining (or evaporating) as I can actually reach the washing machine without wearing rubber boots.


Please, please cross your fingers for clear skies for our wedding. While we will have a roof over our heads for the most part, the bathrooms are a bit of an outdoor trek, and the buffet will be in a separate area. Rain would be a slight annoyance. However, my dress would like mighty cute with my red Hunters...:)

[ it wouldn't be THAT bad if it rained... look at how cozy they are! Photo: David Purslow]

Maybe it's the weather, but the distance has finally started to get to me. (Come home soon!) Or maybe it's pathetic fallacy (that's the term we were looking for, Alex), and the skies are shedding tears for me. OK, that's just me believing in stars again. But, Alex comes home oh-so soon, and I hear that the weekend weather is looking up. Yay!

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In other news, I have made strides. Yes, progress at last! This week I:

• connected with the officiant
• completed our marriage license application
• reached out for quotes from caterers (this is my mother's only request, I think) and spent the last two days haggling details
• chose a colour scheme and fonts
• designed buttons for all of our guests and sent them off to be produced
• rejigged the seating plan (on Martha's website) as the dinner location has changed and I need to see how many extra tables/tents we would need
• purchased fabric for the jam jar tops (for favours)
  
• designed printed and punched out labels for the jam - pics to come
  
• purchased more paper samples for invitation print tests
• worked on music

I shouldn't get too comfortable - still lots to do. Updating hotel info on the website and getting the invitations done should be my main focus. However, my current project is cupcake flags. SO not a priority, but I am really getting caught up in the fun things. Eep. Here is my inspiration c/o notepolish.com and weddingbeepro.com:

Over Easy

I am currently stuck at work, as the skies just opened up, and I refuse to bike in wet jeans for the 3rd day in a row. So, while marooned here, I will blog.


The other day I made a huge batch of egg salad, with good intentions of bringing my lunch to work. Every egg in the bunch was impossible to peel. Gah! Even if you know the trick - sliding your thumb under the thin skin between the shell and the egg - some of the little buggers are just stubborn. In this case, it was all of them.

I really hope this doesn't happen the day before our wedding. We need to shell about 130 of them to make deviled eggs and potato salad. We can't have them looking pitted and we certainly might lose our minds if they all decide to hang on for dear life. My mother has always made deviled eggs with mayo and a pinch of paprika. Maybe she adds onions, too, but I can't remember. I guess I assumed that this was the generally accepted - and only - recipe. Then, my friend Sheila suggested cumin. I realized that the possibilities were endless! Snooping around online, I found a whole range of ingredient options: horseradish, hot sauce, curry, mustard, black olives, dill. Since I love the photo above, however, I think I'll make mine with the following:

• Mayo
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Mustard Seeds
• Capers
• Green Onions
• Paprika
• Pepper

Yum! This is a combination of what I think is in the above, and of my special egg salad recipe. It's a secret.

On the subject of food, yet again, I have finally decided to tackle this to-do and reach out for more quotes. A few dead ends, but some definite possibilities. The first quote was astronomical, however. I am waiting on a second. If this one doesn't pan out, I am back to begging Dads and uncles to put in a little elbow grease on the big day. My assumption is that Dads would rather be helpful and busy than idle or social, anyway. We'll see...

I did find a great blog with a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to cater your own wedding. It is my new bible. Visit Forkable for details.

Dear Ms. Post

While visiting a flea market with my parents this summer, I happened upon a copy of a 1955 edition of Emily Post's Etiquette ("The Blue Book of Social Usage"). Originally published in 1922, mine was already the 9th edition. It interested me for two reasons:

1. Pistachio (my employer/baby/bread-and-butter) currently retails the 17th edition (published in 2008). I wondered if Emily (via Peggy Post - her great-granddaughter-law, if you please) had lightened up just a tad in 50 years.
2. Morbid curiosity: I don't care much for etiquette. I prefer the speak-your-mind/be-yourself approach (although I do value manners and politeness, thank you). I do, however, find the subject of formal etiquette to be quite amusing, especially the 1950s interpretation.

Reading the book gives me great delight.

[ Ms.Post / an early edition / 17th Edition by Peggy Post ]

Sentences like "Correct Invitations to a wedding are always engraved on the first page of a double sheet of ivory white or note paper either plain or with a raised margin called a plate-mark." and "The bride-elect and her mother then go to the stationer and decide details..." and "The phrase 'and Family' has never been approved for invitations by persons of taste..." have me very close to rolling on the ground in tears.

I intend to break her every rule.

Sure, I can send a professionally crafted email to a colleague, use the right fork at a 5-course meal, and put on a polished look for a formal occasion. Really, though, I am not much for formality. Please do not expect the words "request the honour of your presence" to appear anywhere on our invitations. I suppose there may be some guests, in my grandmothers generation, most likely, who may disapprove, but "traditional" is just not our style. I am wearing a white dress, though. Isn't that enough?

Luckily, my parents are one top hat away from a 3 ring circus, and have always appreciated my own brand of quirkiness (which I invariably get from them). They are not concerned in the least about offending Ms. Post.

I have only scratched the surface of the daunting task of designing, printing and assembling my own invitations, but I have at least started experimenting with fonts and colours:

As for design, I'm not quite there, although I have thought that a stitch-bound booklet would be quite cute. In the meantime, here are some lovely and somewhat unconventional invitations that inspire me (images courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings, Once Wed, Etsy, and The Green Wedding Shoes):

The Big 3-0

This week, I turned 30. Being the dramatic and sensitive Cancer that I am, you'd think that I would have overreacted. You might have expected me to invest in absurdly expensive eye creams and obsessively investigate my impending varicose veins and crows feet. Not so.

Besides wondering aloud if a woman of 30 should be wearing a skirt that hits well above the knee, entering a new decade didn't bring on so much as a pout (pouting is unbecoming at my age, right?). My mother always says that every decade is better than the last. Considering the fun she is having at 50, I believe it. Besides, how can I possibly hate turning 30, when I am getting married this year?

I love my job, my dog, my friends and my house, and I'm marrying for love. It's shaping up to be a great decade, I think.

I am in LA (where I also celebrated my birthday) at the moment, and am taking opportunity of a little down-time to think about the wedding. Alex is recording, and I am left to my own devices. LA is great, but I am currently without a car, and I have exhausted all of the walkable shopping areas in Glendale. I went a tad crazy at Michael's, too (nothing new). This store often brings on hyperventilation and half a dozen new hobbies on a normal visit. Add to that one bride on a DIY mission, and you have near cardiac arrest. I picked up paper, a myriad of glue/adhesive products, ribbons, tuile, calligraphy pens and florist tape. I am eager to get crafting!

While here, I have also flip-flopped on our dessert for the wedding. I dislike cake, and had hoped that Mom and I could make 115 strawberry tarts. She pointed out, however, that strawberries are not in season in September. Since there is nothing worse than imported strawberries, we returned to the drawing board. I then saw this image:

Gorgeous lemon tarts topped with blueberries! Yum. Same problem though: I don't think that Ontario blueberries will be easy to come by in the fall. Today, however, I picked up, on impulse, the cutest little cupcake kit at Urban Outfitters, complete with 250 colourful liners, recipes and decorating tools:



Ok, I guess we're doing cupcakes! Mom will be happy, as this saves her the chore of pastry making (since my pastry resembles the texture of a hockey puck). I think that cupcakes will be easier.... right Mom? So, I'm not a cake fan, but not everything about the day has to be about me, right? Plus, this could be a good thing: if I dislike the dessert, I won't eat it! Now, if only I could find a reason to steer clear of sweets altogether.

La La Land

I wrote my Thank-yous for the shower last night. I feel like I'm doing little things to feel a sense of accomplishment, and somehow avoiding the major tasks. Truth is, I keep waiting for a huge chunk of time to really delve into wedding to-dos. This may not happen. At least, it won't happen anytime soon. I leave for LA in 2 days! This week, besides the usual things that occupy my waking hours - work, dog, house/garden upkeep - I have also filled my days with long-overdue appointments, and necessary errands for trip preparation. Plus, I am scrambling to tie up loose ends at work. I'm afraid our poor wedding will be neglected for yet another week. *sigh*

Perhaps, however, the guys will have long days in the studio, and I, having run out of shopping money by day 2, will have nothing better to do than sit by the pool with my laptop and finally tackle my to-dos. Wishful thinking.

Oh, does this count as actual progress: today I discussed wedding hair with my stylist and we decided on a braided side-bun (although I will need temporary extensions) to really let my yet-to-be-purchased giant flower headpiece shine. The catch? I have to pull off the 'do myself. As we'll be farm-bound 3 days prior to the wedding, there's no way my Toronto stylist could possibly tackle it. No fear! Years of cutting my own hair should invariably make me equipped for the job. Right? Right?

Until I have real wedding news, I will leave you with this lovely blog from Etsy: Click here!

A Chance of Showers

I could really go nuts if I keep sourcing inspiration pics. There is just so much out there to awe and inspire; *sigh* if I only had 6 more months and an unlimited budget. But really my whole existence has been made possible by last minute decisions and on-a-dime budgets. Maybe I like the challenge.

Speaking of inspiration, I love this "Real Wedding" on Once Wed: the dress, the girl, the pictures. Ahhh, so romantic...

I am, admittedly, a tad behind. Despite jam-making success and nailing out a menu with mom this weekend, there are far too many major hurdles to conquer and I am wasting time fussing with inspiration boards. (But this is the FUN part). Focus, Dayna, focus.

Today my general well-being went from A-OK to near-death in 45 minutes flat. We went out for a staff brunch and by the time it ended, I swore I would vomit if anyone so much as looked at me the wrong way. My head pounded, my eyes pulsed. I was concerned that this could be something serious that would render me bed ridden and unable to catch up on clean-up, unpacking/re-packing, and wedding stuff. I walked my bike home from work around noon, taking twice the usual time, and verging on passing out. I have deduced that it was actually a migraine. A 3-hour nap and a few Advil did the trick. Whew, all better for the weekend!

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Another reason for my trip home to Ottawa, was the shower that my mom-in-law-to-be wanted to throw for me, to introduce me to my new relatives.

[ Opening Leah and Sally's very fragrant gift. Mmmmm, Christmas trees!]

I had met most of them only briefly, and the thought of the event had me feeling a tad awkward. But my mom and her friend, and three of my Ottawa-based girlfriends came along. Alex's family was so great, though, and I didn't actually need the moral support after all. Although, I am SO glad they came anyway. We scored enough towels to completely replace our current somewhat dingy collection. Yay! Mom bought us a memory foam mattress topper...sigh... I might never leave bed. Seriously, best thing to happen to me since Alex and Dudley!

[ Dudley helps to open Philam's immaculately wrapped gift]

I now own "negligée" as well, care of Philam, Jane and her girls. I suppose they are more suitable married-adult pyjammas than my fat pants and a ratty t-shirt. Opening lacy undergarments in front of your future in-laws is not really something I would reccommend normally, but the experience was far less painful than I had imagined.

[ New Family - Meghan, Andrea and Betty ]

Mom-in-law promised no weird games, and kept her word. Leah and Philam were attempting to fashion a hat out of gift bows, however. The evening was really lovely, and nothing like my worst fears about showers. Great company, wine and food - perfect! I am sneaky enough to have found out that a potential 2nd shower is in the works. I am attempting to thwart it.

Thanks Diana and the Dagenais/Drouin/Stevenson clan for welcoming me to the family!

[ "We need to save the bows!"]

I don't think you're ready for this jelly.

Mom and I spent the past extra-long weekend checking another to-do off of my list: Make 113 homemade jam favours for the wedding. Check!

Ingredients:
3 days
2 very determined women
113 mini mason jars
15 lbs of local strawberries (picked by me and Dad!)
10 lbs of rhubarb (picked from the backyard...by Dad!)
9 lbs of sugar
4 boxes of pectin
1 cup of lemon juice
A little heat and a lot of elbow grease


I saw this fantastic idea on a blog, and decided it was the perfect DIY wedding favour for a country wedding. While I'm sure I sensed a little "are you crazy?" in my mother's voice when I suggested the idea, she was more than happy to oblige. Considering I had NO idea what I was doing, this was a serious relief. The results might just be perfect. You'll have to call me during breakfast in October to confirm it, though.

OK, so the hard part is complete, but maybe my to-do doesn't quite deserve a checkmark. Just yet. You see, I've yet to pick a fabric and ribbon, and have not designed the hang tag. And then there is the assembly! It may finally be time to call on my helper elves. My wedding squad has been checking in, but until now I haven't had much to delegate. I am sensing that your time is coming, ladies!