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  • Truffling some feathers

    I’m back! It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks but I’ve broken the seal on ye ol’ vendor flirting. You know the part where you make them think you are too cool for school and that you couldn’t really care less if you worked with them or not and in reality the only thing you want in the world is to work with them. Then they act like that have so many bookings that fitting you in would really be a saintly act on their part and really it’s a recession people and we all know that any business is good business. I set forth on this mission (Weddingcon09) with a mostly ‘do it yourself’ attitude. I mean if you want it done right do it yourself am I correct? I (My Dad) did about every science fair project ourselves as opposed to the help of my group, so why wouldn’t I use the same mentality with my wedding?

    At one point I was convinced I wanted TO CATER THE WEDDING OURSELVES. Was my headband too tight that day? Who was I kidding? While we are at it why don’t we provide the music ourselves too? I’m glad I came to on that topic. We now have a wonderful caterer who has devised the most fabulous menu just for us. All for the small price of 10,000 dollars. I’m completely kidding. But they have been really great on working with us on the mood and ideas that we want to convey. There will be nary a casserole in sight and I’m sorry no fluff of any kind. There will be gourmet cheeses, frittatas, ceviches and edamame to name a few dishes and ingredients. It’s going to be so delish

    Then I can’t even talk about the desserts without getting giddy. We’re talking truffles, macaroons and little chocolate tarts oh my! Just say no to fondant is what I like to say. No, no my dear wedding voyeurs I will not let you eat cake! It will be so. Much. Better. Than. That. I promise for reals.

    Added by Allison on
    Fri, Mar 27th 2009
    0 comment(s)

  • Down, but not out in Napa Valley

    Engaging in a honeymoon destination

    I pledge that I will do no lamenting of my troubles on this blog. But I will regale you with tales of moving across the country 8 months before my wedding and how that has been going. Really I can't complain, I live in Napa Valley. I mean...what? Who does that? Apparently not any other 25 year olds. It's almost as if I can hear my youth and empty pockets echoing off the valley walls. Helllloooo....anyone out there that has the same interests, within a ten year age range, likes wine but isn't elist about it and doesn't sell drugs? How about just doesn't sell drugs? If I can leave you with one nugget of advice, never make the switch straight from a college town to a vacation spot for older, rich people. It's a shock people lemme tell ya. We were in this bar the other night and they called last call at 12.30..."whaaa?!" I sputtered mid chug of my very expensive lager. (I'm kidding about the chug...NOT about the expensive part). Twelve thirty? We had just gotten there! Where was the crowd? Shouldn't things just be picking up? I was anxiously awaiting a gaggle of young 21 whippersnappers to stumble in and make me suddenly covet 15.99 Charlotte Russe shoes if it would make my legs look so tan and cellulite free. But alas nary a college girl stumbled in. They were already shutting off the lights in the back AND I remembered all of this! I'm kidding, kinda. We got up to leave and after my (one)(expensive) beer and I felt it!? What. But as Josh so lovingly reminded me "Baby we aren't at our fighting weight anymore." That's what having friends will do for ya....peer pressure you to go out when maybe you'd rather not and spend money you'd rather just keep. Man I miss them.
    But since moving here we've both found that we have found ourselves considering things we haven't considered before. Like in my case I seriously have entertained the idea of joining rollerderby(Yay!) all the way to the Junior League(Hahah hohoho).*Not that the Juna' League is bad...I just didn't fit in. Josh was almost coerced into attending a "free" tasting party of an energy drink just so we could meet people. I'd rather be cold and alone than be cajoled into purchasing a $45 32oz bottle of the acai berry energy juice by some hyper charged man cake named Trav. Maybe thats our problem...I'm pickyWhenever we see someone youngish and well kept in our complex I almost have the urge to increase my steps, come up and really subtly be like "wanna hang out?" This isn't high school people, no lunch tables to show you where people fall in the social hierarchy, my apartment has become the bathroom stall during lunch.
    I'm really hyperbolizing here. It's been an adventure to say the least and its seems to be becoming one of those stories that you tell your kids about just starting out. I know this time will soon pass and before I know it I will be looking back on it nostalgically and yearning for the days when all I had to worry about was where my puppies needed rain slickers or not.
    Added by Allison on
    Mon, Mar 2nd 2009
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  • Bridesmaids on a Stick

    Making your friends (your) Maids

    It was really easy for my to assemble my starting line up for el weddingtando. With me and the female persuasion it takes a certain type to mutually hit it off and suffice it to say there are a lot of "friends" of yore that didn't make the cut. Right. Like it is such an honor. "Hey girl! Love you sooo much will you buy a plane ticket, take off work, throw me a bajillion parties and buy yourself this really kewl mango bm dress with this skirt that looks like drapery from Tara and has a big 'ol key lime bow tied around your spare tire that you didn't have before you squeezed into this dress I accidentally ordered a size too small? Thanks loooove you!" *scene*...... I really don't feel that strongly about it. But really first this one time spin around the merry go round that is WeddingCon '09 I am trying to make it special for the special ladies in my life. That is why I would never invite them into the inner circle on a cookie. Yes. The picture above is of a Bridesmaid Dress Cookie. Sweet Baby Jesus. What. Why??? Though the scalloping looks kinda cool and vintagey it only forcasts sausage arms ahead for the poor recipient. Square should straps, sleeveless AND the waist tie. eeee. I love my dear friends too much. So I'm going the what once used to be the untraditonal route but is now thankfully becoming more mainstream...I'm letting them pick their own! Since I can't wear black(tear) their own stipulation is a black dress. A LBD who wouldn't want an excuse to buy a new little black dress?! I could hear the excitement in their voices as I laid down the decree. "I want you to look sophisticated and sexy. Hey if you look better than me awesome! I gots myself a man already no one else I need to impress." They are topping or footing their outfits with the sassiest pair of green heels that they can find. It will look ravishing with my dove gray dress. Yes ladies and men Ally D was told not to wear black and whoaha did white ever look bad....what color do white and black make? Exactly. It's going to be so good.
    I must admit I was also worried about having bridesmaids because it all seems so expected. I kept telling the lovlies I wanted no bachelorette partay or anything like that. I am just excited to be with everyone on the day of. There will be no roping in to help with "oh just this one last detail....could you whip up some petite madelines with lemon merigue here is Martha's recipe...I need them in an hour." No none of that. I wanted nothing seriously but for them to look sassy and you know show up. But my ladies did me one better. They're taking me to Chicago for the weekend. I think it's because I didn't ask them on a cookie.
    Added by Allison on
    Sat, Feb 21st 2009
    1 comment(s)

  • Anything you can burn I can burn better

    Adventures in love and canning

    I was in a jam. Thank god I wasn't making jam. Preserves are my calling. I really didn't know the difference until I got the bright idea that this wedding didn't need the presence of stale chocolate covered almonds from the Oriental Trading Co. neither did it need shot glasses with our mugs on them. It needed JAM! Gourmet jam, jam from the gods or the Amish whichever came first. I sifted through many websites touting their wares of glorious exotic jams filled with passionfruit, jasmine and Bolivian misen berries. (I totally just made up the word "misen" but its believeable isn't it?) All for a measly 14.99 A JAR. A .5 OZ JAR. What? No. Hi. We're doing chic on a tacky budget here. On to gooooooogle where I find a plethora of mind blowing recipes. That Josh of course would know how to do. Trotting home I present the idea to my speculative Beyonce. Who slowly warmed to idea. I didn't tell him of course that it would take three hours to complete the process. (I'm already so good at this marriage thing) After buying 8 lbs. of pears and peeling and dicing them we were ready to rawk.
    We had the pots at a rolling boil, we had the jars ready at hand and after about 2 hours of "constantly stirring" the pears OR ELSE THEY WOULD BURN, I was losing interest in this Little House on the Prarie pursuit. So maybe my constant stirring became occassionally stirring and my occassional became an every once in a while which then became the sound of Josh yelling to me from the kitchen, "Hey your little pursuit in here is burning!" What do you know? He was right. I burned the hell out of those pears. When Josh wasn't looking I attempted to stir it up a bit and maybe the charred bits would make it taste more "woodsy". No? Yeah I made it worse. Nothing was salvageable. So what did my dear H.O.O.F(Husband of our Future) do? He re-made everything...the pears were perfectly diced, the boiling a nice solid boil and the preserves? Made to perfection all for you. Currently "we" have finished Spice Pear Preserves and now we are working on Wine Jelly yeehaw!
    Added by Allison on
    Wed, Feb 18th 2009
    1 comment(s)

  • I know you are, but what am I?

    Playing the Name Game

    Getting engaged and all that brought on somethings I never forsaw. Like what we are "supposed" to call eachother. "Hi this is my fiancee Josh...." "You and your fiancee are now eligible for theknot.com!" "Are you bringing your fiancee?" .....fiancee, fiancee, fiancee if you say it enough it starts to sound even MORE ridiculous than the first time.
    Believe you me it sounded bad the first time. I've found that when I preface Josh's name with "my fiancee" it makes him sound like such a...well pansy. It makes him seem like he prefers cashmere neckerchiefs because "they breathe" and he "totes is down for some mad fab gos with the gyrrls" Then afterwards he'll want to critique my shoes. I kid. Kinda...... It just weirds me out to call him my fiancee, so what do I do when I'm weirded out? Obviously try to make it funny of course, so now I refer to him as my "Beyonce Josh." Which is probably more embarrassing, but its funny and thank god he has a sense of humor.
    But even Beyonce is only used in certain company because Beyonce is only known by certain generations. Most of my co-workers at 65 years+ sure as steve don't know who Beyonce is. If fact I think it makes them uncomfortable knowing I'm being "courted" by someone I live with! They always refer to Josh as my roommate. As in "How is your roommate doing? What was is that boy's name again?"..... I must tell them 50 times a day but atleast they remember he is a boy. Alas, it still is better than fiancee. Maybe I can just call him my BFFL(boyfriendforlife)..... I like that better than fiancee or husband even.
    Now see "husband", to me, brings to mind a life,if not careful, thats slower than a CVS worker. It gives a couple permission to prefer generic wafer cookies, sammiches with one ingredient and really d-lite in the SaraLee section at Safeway. Again I kid. Kinda.... I like husband better than fiancee (really I do!) so I can do the long term title. Lets try to avoid the trap some marrieds fall into of "whelp I'm firmly snapped into ye old ball and chain..let's get unattractive and doughy." Facebook is unforgiving in bringing that life into the light of day. I want to save that little present for child bearin' time!
    With all my reluctance I just wonder how long it will take me to get to the social security office to legally have the initals A.S.S. The hyphen thing just ain't my bag baby... Maybe the combo of our last names...Shay? Daeffer? or A.S.S. might be just fine..then atleast I can get monogrammed commode paper made.
    'Til next time!
    Added by Allison on
    Fri, Jan 23rd 2009
    1 comment(s)

  • We're getting Nupped!

    Altar your thinking

    It's happening. Count down to WeddingCon '09 and all systems are a go. We can't wait for it all to happen. It's been a long decision making process on which route we wanted to go. Our approach we've decided is to have a great party with a quasi nuptial theme. We have a good idea of what married life will be like(he cooks and I clean it up, I clean the bathroom and he takes the dogs out, we both don't cap the toothpaste) and we feel ready to tackle the good and the less than good, so we've decided we don't need a serious affair to kick off a really great adventure.
    I could ruminate on how "it will be the first day of the rest of our lives" or some other over done poetic thought but it all sounds so cheesy and so....unrealistic. We're fun, creative and different..why would be want our wedding to be any different I ask you?! Please come and expect something erreverent and celebratory of what we have together. There will be no awkward speeches, there will be no bad cake and there will be no unity candle.
    Keep checking back for more updates and exclamations !!
    Cheers
    Added by Allison on
    Wed, Jan 21st 2009
    2 comment(s)