This has nothing at all to do with weddings, but it made me laugh SO hard, I had to share it...copied directly from my friend Ali's blog (with her permission, of course). She's spending a year in Korea teaching English.
*Actual conversation during a game of hangman
the board looked like this:
_aterme_on
Students: Teacher, Hint please!
Me: Ok, here is the hint : "This fruit tastes sweet"
Ria: DETERGENT
Me: Please don't tell me you eat detergent.
Ria: yes, one time teacher.
Me: Ok .... OK guys, pick another letter.
Ria: "D"
Me: No it isn't detergent!!!!
Random student:' WATERMELON"
Me: Yes, good job
Ria: OHHHHHHH, much better than detergent. Good word teacher.
Me: Thank you Ria.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Details, details
So, as I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of the site A Practical Wedding. I credit that site with getting me AWAY from mainstream wedding media and making me realize that we can do things our way, we can do things simply, and we don't have to spend a fortune to have a beautiful wedding.
But sometimes...I almost think I've gone too far with the practicality. I read about cool, homegrown, DIY weddings that are simple and beautiful without lots and lots of trappings, but our wedding? We really aren't having ANY trappings. This is mostly because I have a very, very hard time justifying anything that isn't necessary. It almost killed me to buy the beautiful expensive lace for my dress, and I wasn't even the one paying for it. I can't stand spending my own money, and I can't stand spending other people's. Even things that DON'T cost money, I can't see spending time on. Napkins cut from old fabric? That would cost us literally NOTHING considering all the fabric lying around my basement, but I just don't see the purpose in it. Pictures of the two of us strung up on clothesline between the trees? I love the idea, but how on Earth will I ever have time to do that the morning of the wedding, and who on earth is going to really notice it?
I'm not out to impress anyone (really, I'm not), but I would like to do SOMETHING to make our guests feel like we put some effort into throwing this shindig. I want them to be comfortable (let's see how comfortable they are in lawn chairs...), I want them to be fed (uh...Chik-Fil-A chicken nugget trays, anyone?), but...well, whenever I go to weddings, I don't marvel at the pretty decorations or the little details. All I can do is think about how many better ways that money could have been spent. And one of the best weddings I've ever been to was when my friends, Hope and Andy, got married at a state park. The groom wore shorts, the bride wore a purple dress, their son ran around barefoot, and ducks waddled in the background during the ceremony. The reception was held under a picnic shelter with "Brown-Eyed Girl" blaring from a boombox. It was a stark contrast to the huge white wedding I had attended only ONE day earlier; a friend of mine got married in a huge church, with a 5-piece string group playing the Gone With the Wind theme as she walked down the aisle. There was a ton of food, all the napkins were monogrammed, there were patterned lights on the dance floor, and if memory serves me, I'm pretty sure there was an ice sculpture. And while it was beautiful, I guess, and while the girl is a sweet woman, I felt SO much more welcome at the lakeside wedding. It was relaxed and carefree, and I really felt like I was witnessing something unique and special. I remember the details of that day...whereas I don't really remember much about the huge wedding from the day before. I'm not even sure I got to speak to the bride.
Anyway, the point is...I'm practical. I like practical, simple weddings. But I really would like to put some sort of effort into the day...I mean, right now the hardest thing is gonna be setting out food and lawn chairs. So, because I am so uber-uber-uber practical about things...I'd like to ask my handful of loyal readers a question. What sort of details do YOU actually appreciate seeing at a wedding? And, if you know Scott and I personally, what sort of details could you see us having that really fit our personalities? Is there anything in particular that makes you feel really welcome at weddings? I'm missing something, I just know I am, and I need some help figuring out what it is!
But sometimes...I almost think I've gone too far with the practicality. I read about cool, homegrown, DIY weddings that are simple and beautiful without lots and lots of trappings, but our wedding? We really aren't having ANY trappings. This is mostly because I have a very, very hard time justifying anything that isn't necessary. It almost killed me to buy the beautiful expensive lace for my dress, and I wasn't even the one paying for it. I can't stand spending my own money, and I can't stand spending other people's. Even things that DON'T cost money, I can't see spending time on. Napkins cut from old fabric? That would cost us literally NOTHING considering all the fabric lying around my basement, but I just don't see the purpose in it. Pictures of the two of us strung up on clothesline between the trees? I love the idea, but how on Earth will I ever have time to do that the morning of the wedding, and who on earth is going to really notice it?
I'm not out to impress anyone (really, I'm not), but I would like to do SOMETHING to make our guests feel like we put some effort into throwing this shindig. I want them to be comfortable (let's see how comfortable they are in lawn chairs...), I want them to be fed (uh...Chik-Fil-A chicken nugget trays, anyone?), but...well, whenever I go to weddings, I don't marvel at the pretty decorations or the little details. All I can do is think about how many better ways that money could have been spent. And one of the best weddings I've ever been to was when my friends, Hope and Andy, got married at a state park. The groom wore shorts, the bride wore a purple dress, their son ran around barefoot, and ducks waddled in the background during the ceremony. The reception was held under a picnic shelter with "Brown-Eyed Girl" blaring from a boombox. It was a stark contrast to the huge white wedding I had attended only ONE day earlier; a friend of mine got married in a huge church, with a 5-piece string group playing the Gone With the Wind theme as she walked down the aisle. There was a ton of food, all the napkins were monogrammed, there were patterned lights on the dance floor, and if memory serves me, I'm pretty sure there was an ice sculpture. And while it was beautiful, I guess, and while the girl is a sweet woman, I felt SO much more welcome at the lakeside wedding. It was relaxed and carefree, and I really felt like I was witnessing something unique and special. I remember the details of that day...whereas I don't really remember much about the huge wedding from the day before. I'm not even sure I got to speak to the bride.
Anyway, the point is...I'm practical. I like practical, simple weddings. But I really would like to put some sort of effort into the day...I mean, right now the hardest thing is gonna be setting out food and lawn chairs. So, because I am so uber-uber-uber practical about things...I'd like to ask my handful of loyal readers a question. What sort of details do YOU actually appreciate seeing at a wedding? And, if you know Scott and I personally, what sort of details could you see us having that really fit our personalities? Is there anything in particular that makes you feel really welcome at weddings? I'm missing something, I just know I am, and I need some help figuring out what it is!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
No _____? No Problem!
Apparently I am a horrible, horrible blogger who hasn't updated in two months. I'm not sure how that happened.
Well, okay, I know how that happened - I started rehearsing for King Lear and all my free time went out the window.
Last night Scott and I were at the amphitheatre, getting ready to start rehearsal, and we were standing down on the grass on the lower level of the stage...and he put his arm around me and said, "We're gonna get married here in three months." And while it's more like four months...it still makes me all giddy and excited to think about.
Of course, we're no closer on the details than we were before. I still don't have any bridesmaids dresses picked out, although I have a lead on where to find them. I still haven't bought my dress fabric, although my mother and I are supposed to go hunt for that tomorrow. We haven't booked anything...mainly because there's nothing to book. Scott occasionally stresses out on me, thinking we have to do this this and this, but really...I think we're okay. We aren't renting chairs; we're telling people to bring their own lawn chairs, and we're using the twenty or so nice lawn outdoor chairs at the theatre for our close family. We're mostly borrowing the tables for the food, and there won't be tables to sit at because we're doing kind of a finger-food reception. We're running the music through the theatre's sound system and my iPod.
Of course, if it rains, we are absolutely screwed because we haven't got a backup plan. So we're telling people on the invitations to bring umbrellas as well as lawn chairs.
Am I really crazy in thinking we can do all this so simply and it will work out? Sometimes I read the beautiful wedding graduate posts over at A Practical Wedding and I feel like we don't have enough cool things planned. Or...any cool things, for that matter. I mean, our cool thing is that we're getting married at a theatre, and we're actors. That's special to us. But...I don't know, sometimes I wish I had the ambition to find some friends to play music for us, or to make cool DIY decorations. Right now we have no plans to decorate. Our decoration is going to be whatever the Twelfth Night set looks like.
But what can I say? Neither one of us are very detail-oriented. Neither one of us are control freaks. We're both kind of going "Eh, yeah, that'll work! And we'll be married, yay!". Scott freaks out more than I do, but I'm convinced that's because he still thinks there are things We Have To Do that we really don't. He worked sort of alongside the wedding industry for a long time, they sorta brainwashed him.
Anyway. Here's to everything working out and not stressing.
Well, okay, I know how that happened - I started rehearsing for King Lear and all my free time went out the window.
Last night Scott and I were at the amphitheatre, getting ready to start rehearsal, and we were standing down on the grass on the lower level of the stage...and he put his arm around me and said, "We're gonna get married here in three months." And while it's more like four months...it still makes me all giddy and excited to think about.
Of course, we're no closer on the details than we were before. I still don't have any bridesmaids dresses picked out, although I have a lead on where to find them. I still haven't bought my dress fabric, although my mother and I are supposed to go hunt for that tomorrow. We haven't booked anything...mainly because there's nothing to book. Scott occasionally stresses out on me, thinking we have to do this this and this, but really...I think we're okay. We aren't renting chairs; we're telling people to bring their own lawn chairs, and we're using the twenty or so nice lawn outdoor chairs at the theatre for our close family. We're mostly borrowing the tables for the food, and there won't be tables to sit at because we're doing kind of a finger-food reception. We're running the music through the theatre's sound system and my iPod.
Of course, if it rains, we are absolutely screwed because we haven't got a backup plan. So we're telling people on the invitations to bring umbrellas as well as lawn chairs.
Am I really crazy in thinking we can do all this so simply and it will work out? Sometimes I read the beautiful wedding graduate posts over at A Practical Wedding and I feel like we don't have enough cool things planned. Or...any cool things, for that matter. I mean, our cool thing is that we're getting married at a theatre, and we're actors. That's special to us. But...I don't know, sometimes I wish I had the ambition to find some friends to play music for us, or to make cool DIY decorations. Right now we have no plans to decorate. Our decoration is going to be whatever the Twelfth Night set looks like.
But what can I say? Neither one of us are very detail-oriented. Neither one of us are control freaks. We're both kind of going "Eh, yeah, that'll work! And we'll be married, yay!". Scott freaks out more than I do, but I'm convinced that's because he still thinks there are things We Have To Do that we really don't. He worked sort of alongside the wedding industry for a long time, they sorta brainwashed him.
Anyway. Here's to everything working out and not stressing.
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