The Jury is out
So Jury duty was a very long day. They didn't pick me so luckily I had some time on my hands to get some random grocery shopping done. The major Asian grocery store I'm familiar with is unfortunately a bit of a hike from my home so I rarely go but since I was already in Hartford it was very close. Where else can you get a gallon sized jug of my favorite Chinese Soy Sauce and and aisles of difficult to read food labels?
In any case we looked at 3 houses this week. The ones in Manchester were...ugh...dumps. The Windsor house though was lovely...and of course the most expensive. But on the bright side it's in a very cute area and while there's not a lot of land the house is very large and seemingly well kept up. We've seen a lot of really disgusting houses. I can't begin to express how unkempt people allow their houses to become.
So if all goes according to plan we'll have a house by the time the wedding rolls around.
And yes I am aware that sounds like utter lunacy. Buying a home and paying for a wedding doesn't come cheap but it's a buyer's market if you happen to run into the right home and a motivated buyer. Add in the fact that we don't have anything to sell right now and we're in a good position to find something at a decent price that we could slip in to right away.
Trevor will go into great length about real estate if you want to hear. I've heard his plan at least 3 dozen times now so I hope no one minds if I pass on this one, I'm not much of a technical mind anyhow. I'm not an emotionally driven buyer either...I'm really more of a "this is our first house, it's not going to be perfect, it'll never be exactly what we picture for ourselves but we have the rest of our lives to find that" person.
Not to beat a dead horse but the rise in energy prices isn't exactly in anyone's favor either. It costs a lot to heat a home during the winter and at this rate it will cost twice as much as it did last year to heat a home. Not to be all doom and gloom, but it's the truth and it does ultimately affect what we can forecast toward spending. I'm sure homeowners are pained at knowing what's in store for them. Having never actually paid for my own heat (our apartment includes it in the rent) I don't particularly look forward to it.
In any case, life is rolling along. There's not a lot that's wildly exciting. I do need to buy more things for the wedding but I'd like to know how many guests I have first so I don't overbuy. Generally speaking buying a little too much doesn't hurt you; in fact you get a great bulk discount but in terms of wedding planning what the heck does anyone do with +5lbs of Jordan almonds? So I've tried not to fall into the trap of buying things I don't actually like just because they're cheap and plentiful because I'll regret it. That or I'll end up trying to pawn off my wedding stuff on upcoming brides who are getting married after me.
Dad bought his suit. Trevor still has to get hopping on that for himself and his groomsmen. I would be more nervous but I trust that he'll get it done. He might not do it the same way I would but he'll always get what he's supposed to do done.
I have a gameplan for favors. I had a prior plan that involved ordering something online but decided that I was okay with another do-it-yourself project if it meant spending less and having more creative control. Anticipate nothing grand nor amazing as a result. lol But I'm very proud of the things I've crafted with my little industrious hands.
Those invitations didn't stamp and wax seal themselves after all.
I wish I had a picture of them all lined up because I was so happy after I finally got the hang of it. The calligraphy even came out pretty well. Not perfect mind you, but anything personally done will have a few blips along the way. I've got a good number of replies now but I'm sorry to say that I'm missing like half of the RSVPs for my own family even though those were the first ones out. It just figures; we're a perpetually late people. But I'm glad I went through it because they were beautiful and just the way I wanted them. I'm not so positive that if I purchased pre-fabs and sealed with (much easier and readily obtainable) stickers that I would have been as happy with the result. I'm sure I would have been generally more happy just because I'd have had experienced a good deal less misery but the end product makes you forget about the path it took to get you there.
I don't sugar coat things if I honestly dislike them and I really hated doing invitations toward the end. Not so much the act of doing them but the fact that I never had all the addresses I needed so I had to start and stop and once I stopped I lost my mojo. I'm sorry to those of you with the last wave of invitations because I lost my mind and I think I may have forgotten some stamps on the reply cards. On the bright side I'm now out of invitation land and I (most likely) will not bite your head off.
I cannot make promises though...particularly if you're one of my late RSVPers. (Shakes fist!)
We buy the components of our centerpieces and the reception workers put 'em together and on the tables. I have to assemble the favors. I have already assembled the invitations. And I intend to assemble the bouquets because flowers are not something I place a great deal of importance on. I don't care enough about them to drop $2,000 on them but I do care enough that they be live flowers because I think silk ones tend to look fake unless you really go all out and get really nice ones. But if you're going all out on silk flowers you might as well just buy real flowers and do it right.
Jenny's getting married the 19th! I don't look forward to maneuvering my way through the 203 but I think it'll be a nice day and I get to see her and Emily. I love spending time with them even though I'm guilty of not doing it much more than twice a year. (I'm such a bad friend.) But I look forward to seeing to fruition the various months of Jenny's and her mom's planning. I am pretty sure there'll be a mass since it's a church wedding. I haven't been to many a church wedding so I never really know what to expect other than overall awkwardness about feeling like a sinner in the house of God. Like at any second I'll be smited or at least given the stink eye by a member of the clergy.
In any case we looked at 3 houses this week. The ones in Manchester were...ugh...dumps. The Windsor house though was lovely...and of course the most expensive. But on the bright side it's in a very cute area and while there's not a lot of land the house is very large and seemingly well kept up. We've seen a lot of really disgusting houses. I can't begin to express how unkempt people allow their houses to become.
So if all goes according to plan we'll have a house by the time the wedding rolls around.
And yes I am aware that sounds like utter lunacy. Buying a home and paying for a wedding doesn't come cheap but it's a buyer's market if you happen to run into the right home and a motivated buyer. Add in the fact that we don't have anything to sell right now and we're in a good position to find something at a decent price that we could slip in to right away.
Trevor will go into great length about real estate if you want to hear. I've heard his plan at least 3 dozen times now so I hope no one minds if I pass on this one, I'm not much of a technical mind anyhow. I'm not an emotionally driven buyer either...I'm really more of a "this is our first house, it's not going to be perfect, it'll never be exactly what we picture for ourselves but we have the rest of our lives to find that" person.
Not to beat a dead horse but the rise in energy prices isn't exactly in anyone's favor either. It costs a lot to heat a home during the winter and at this rate it will cost twice as much as it did last year to heat a home. Not to be all doom and gloom, but it's the truth and it does ultimately affect what we can forecast toward spending. I'm sure homeowners are pained at knowing what's in store for them. Having never actually paid for my own heat (our apartment includes it in the rent) I don't particularly look forward to it.
In any case, life is rolling along. There's not a lot that's wildly exciting. I do need to buy more things for the wedding but I'd like to know how many guests I have first so I don't overbuy. Generally speaking buying a little too much doesn't hurt you; in fact you get a great bulk discount but in terms of wedding planning what the heck does anyone do with +5lbs of Jordan almonds? So I've tried not to fall into the trap of buying things I don't actually like just because they're cheap and plentiful because I'll regret it. That or I'll end up trying to pawn off my wedding stuff on upcoming brides who are getting married after me.
Dad bought his suit. Trevor still has to get hopping on that for himself and his groomsmen. I would be more nervous but I trust that he'll get it done. He might not do it the same way I would but he'll always get what he's supposed to do done.
I have a gameplan for favors. I had a prior plan that involved ordering something online but decided that I was okay with another do-it-yourself project if it meant spending less and having more creative control. Anticipate nothing grand nor amazing as a result. lol But I'm very proud of the things I've crafted with my little industrious hands.
Those invitations didn't stamp and wax seal themselves after all.
I wish I had a picture of them all lined up because I was so happy after I finally got the hang of it. The calligraphy even came out pretty well. Not perfect mind you, but anything personally done will have a few blips along the way. I've got a good number of replies now but I'm sorry to say that I'm missing like half of the RSVPs for my own family even though those were the first ones out. It just figures; we're a perpetually late people. But I'm glad I went through it because they were beautiful and just the way I wanted them. I'm not so positive that if I purchased pre-fabs and sealed with (much easier and readily obtainable) stickers that I would have been as happy with the result. I'm sure I would have been generally more happy just because I'd have had experienced a good deal less misery but the end product makes you forget about the path it took to get you there.
I don't sugar coat things if I honestly dislike them and I really hated doing invitations toward the end. Not so much the act of doing them but the fact that I never had all the addresses I needed so I had to start and stop and once I stopped I lost my mojo. I'm sorry to those of you with the last wave of invitations because I lost my mind and I think I may have forgotten some stamps on the reply cards. On the bright side I'm now out of invitation land and I (most likely) will not bite your head off.
I cannot make promises though...particularly if you're one of my late RSVPers. (Shakes fist!)
We buy the components of our centerpieces and the reception workers put 'em together and on the tables. I have to assemble the favors. I have already assembled the invitations. And I intend to assemble the bouquets because flowers are not something I place a great deal of importance on. I don't care enough about them to drop $2,000 on them but I do care enough that they be live flowers because I think silk ones tend to look fake unless you really go all out and get really nice ones. But if you're going all out on silk flowers you might as well just buy real flowers and do it right.
Jenny's getting married the 19th! I don't look forward to maneuvering my way through the 203 but I think it'll be a nice day and I get to see her and Emily. I love spending time with them even though I'm guilty of not doing it much more than twice a year. (I'm such a bad friend.) But I look forward to seeing to fruition the various months of Jenny's and her mom's planning. I am pretty sure there'll be a mass since it's a church wedding. I haven't been to many a church wedding so I never really know what to expect other than overall awkwardness about feeling like a sinner in the house of God. Like at any second I'll be smited or at least given the stink eye by a member of the clergy.
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