Weekend Review {2/27}

FRIDAY

Friday started off extra-ordinarily shittily (yes, I made those words up).  I had decided to ride Bagheera into work since it was spring and as I was closing the garage door, I heard the thunk that no bike owner wants to hear.  Bagheera had fallen over.  Not only did I have to hoist this bike up by myself, then I had to see if anything had happened.

Of course something happened.  Because I'm unlucky.  It's a piece that Teh German said he should be able to replace, but it meant no riding, which was a huge disappointment.  It also meant going back inside to shower since I had gotten super sweaty from the adrenaline rush and weight lifting.  Le siiiiigh.  This also meant getting into work later than I had anticipated, which means long working hours on half-day Friday.  I know, I have the absolute worst life.  (I can hear you rolling your eyes.)

So I finally get to work and work was fine.  I was out of the office by 1:30.  I met Roux's Humom at the gym and I was home by 3:30.  I was running on empty, so I showered and took a nap.  It was as I laid down to take my nap I remembered that I had steaks on the schedule for dinner and I hadn't went by the butcher.  I had a debate about what I needed more: a nap so I could endure whatever Teh German's suit appointment held or a trip to the butcher to keep Teh German's expectations met (rather than change things, which often results in brain wrinkles for Teh German).  I needed a nap.  There were other dinner options (frozen pizza, leftovers, sandwiches) and my sleepy irritation would do no one any good later.

Teh German was kind enough to call me on his way home from Crossfit, which woke me from my barely napped state.  Of course, I was unable to fall back asleep in the 20 minutes it took him to get home.  This did nothing to help me feel better about not just having powered through and going to the butcher since I was still tired.

Meri is always down for a nap

When Teh German got home, I suggested we go out for dinner to Wild Wing Cafe since it was right across from the mall where Men's Warehouse was.  He agreed.  We made it to dinner without much issue.  As seems to be the new, unfortunate, norm, after dinner is when shit went down hill. 

There is this one intersection near the mall where we were going.  To get to the mall from across the street you are at an intersection.  Both lanes are turning lanes (one right, one left) and both lanes are straight lanes.  So essentially, you might get a green arrow for your direction, but if you are going straight, you are blocking traffic.

Well, Teh German was insistent on not blocking traffic to get where he was going.  THEN he proceeded to get pissed off at me for telling him to just wait out the red light, since it was about to change.  Queue shitty driving. 

I have this thing about extra aggressive driving (like tires squalling and cutting people off, etc) where I do not like it.  I'm sure if you're reading this and you've ever ridden in a vehicle I'm driving, you're laughing your ass off.  Please note I said extra aggressive.  I consider myself an aggressive driver.  I live in Charleston. I believe this is necessary.  Maybe my yelling is a bit much, but only on accident do I squall my tires and it's very rare I will slam on the gas with others in the vehicle.  Essentially, I drive differently by myself that I do with others in the car.  I don't think Teh German follows this philosophy. 

Because he was pissed off (at himself, but taking it out on me), he cut off oncoming traffic to cross 3 lanes to REenter the shopping center we'd just came from (instead of just staying on the main road and going into the mall's back entrance, which we took the LAST time we were at this intersection and he started yelling at me because I told him to stop for the green arrow since we wanted to go straight (ok yeah, did I mention this isn't the first time this has happened?)).  Then instead of going to main intersection like a normal person, he yanked to the right to turn into a parking lot, only to have to circle through the parking lot.  He did at least turn left at the intersection, but by this time, I'm freaked out and screaming at him that I will drive from now on if he's going to drive like this and I will call an Uber to get home. 

We somehow make it across the street.  My horror turned into tears.  I told Teh German that we needed to go into the JCPenny entrance.  He pulls into the Dillard's parking lot and I'm like, "What are you doing?  I told you we need to go to Penny's."  Him, "I don't know where Penny's is!"  Ya'll.. this is the same man who when I tell him where things are that he knows about, he gets annoyed at me.  I know he knew where Penny's was because we've been there several times.  Of course, he gets amnesia when I don't want to speak to him.  I direct him around and stop speaking to him entirely.  I even get out of the truck and walk alone, complete with arms crossed in front of me, into the mall. 

Then, Men's Warehouse isn't where Google showed it to be.  So we walk to Dillard's (haha funny), and I stop at a directory and Men's Warehouse isn't even listed.  F.M.L.  So I just call the store and ask where they are.  Close.  I was a 10 second walk away.  It would have been closer to park at Dillard's.  Teh German was somewhere behind me, I had seen him walk up and away and then didn't know where he was. I went into the store and asked if a guy with a Stingrays hat had walked in and they said no.  I went back out to sit in the middle area at a stage that was set up and started angry texting.

I texted Teh German to tell him where the store was and got no response.  Well, fuck you too.  After I had calmed my tits a little, I walked back into the store to see him standing at the desk.  It was 7:30.  His appointment was at 7.  I'm sure that it was my fault that we were late.  I walk in the store and take a seat.  The clerk gives Teh German a few options and tells him there isn't anything in the store he can try on.  Teh German is not pleased.  I think he was expecting an experience like me trying on dresses.  He wanted to see how he looked in different suit colors and have someone help him.  Yeah, not what happened.  They also only had 2 different suits for rent, white and black, neither of which I liked because the lapel.

Disappointed, we headed home after the clerk explained that prom season was coming so we might be better off not coming back in until the end of May if we came back.  So that was helpful.  Since we had to walk through Penny's, I suggested we look at the suits.  We were still not speaking to each other, except out of necessity.  We were both too pissed off to even really look or like anything at Penny's, but Teh German does know he has options.  Essentially, his suit dilemma just became my problem.  So much for not worrying about it.

Pissed off, we both headed home.  Teh German seemed to take some care not to drive like an asshole and I just waited to get home because he wasn't making my rage dissipate by acting like nothing had happened.

When we got home, I took care of dog prep and headed upstairs to lay in the bed and listen to Outlander and do puzzles until it was time to sleep.  When Teh German came to bed, I told him that he was mean and he should say he was sorry and he did, but it was out of obligation so I was still disgruntled.

We have this scene in our house!
This is the view from Schloss Neuschwanstein (Disney castle).

SATURDAY

We got a slow start on Saturday morning since we didn't have anywhere to be.  I asked Teh German what he wanted to accomplish since we were having his birthday cookout that evening and he said yard work.  I had scheduled an acupuncture appointment for us at noon and we needed to leave by 11:30, so I wanted to accomplish stuff before the appointment.  We got up and had a "German" breakfast of bread, meat, and cheese, it was messy, Teh German was continually disgruntled.  He didn't like that I kept asking him what was wrong when he insisted that nothing was wrong. 

Meri had 1/3 of the bed, Teh German had 1/2 of the bed and I was sandwiched in the remainder.

I hate this thing that I do when I FEEL something wrong.  I know that something is wrong, but I can't figure out what it is.  This is what happened most of the weekend.

Finally, we got outside.  I listened to Outlander and scooped poop while Teh German pulled weeds.  After I was done scooping, I helped with the weeds.  I also picked up the pine needles the concrete guys had left in a pile and the dead grass that never took when they relocated it to lay the patio slab. 

With the yard chores completed, we headed inside to shower and get ready.  We made it to our acupuncture appointment right on time.  It was an interesting experience.  The place we went to is a community nap/acupuncture place.  They only do your face/ears/hands/arms/lower legs/feet.  It is encouraged that you nap and when you're done they remove the needles and you can relax for as long as you'd like.  Cool concept.  We were there for 2 hours total.  This included filling out the paperwork and being told what was going to happen and waiting on 2 "more comfortable" chairs to vacate.  I had some issues with one of the needles in my arm and it continued for the whole time, which was unfortunate.  I was also cold, so I had to have the lady cover me with blankets, since I couldn't get up and do it myself since I was a porcupine.

Teh German and I agreed that it was weird but cool.  He was surprised that we were there for so long.  I hadn't slept well when I did nap (the needle in my arm/I'm a sensitive sleeper/was cold), so that.  After the needles were removed, we headed to Publix to stock up for the party.

Our first stop was Ye Old Fashioned.  Teh German wanted to split a sandwich and fries so we wouldn't be hangry by dinner time.  I resisted on the ice cream and it was difficult, but I managed.  After dropping $199 at Publix ($50 of that on beer alone), we headed to the butcher for hamburger meat and steaks (finally).  Once we got home, I turned on Roomy to "tidy up" and put away the groceries and started portioning out hamburger patties while talking to Teh Dad.  I'm not really sure what Teh German was doing.

Around 6, guests started showing up.  I put a sticky note on the front door to come in and not let the dogs out so no one would have to keep answering the door.  I also put sticky notes on the garbage cabinets so people wouldn't have to ask where they were.  Call me resourceful.

Teh German cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill.  We had a nice group of people that gathered for Teh German, which was awesome.  We pulled out the Jenga and ladder golf and the Jenga game was very intense.  I manned the fire and smores.  Our last guests left around 12:15 and after we cleaned up (mostly because it was windy outside and I didn't want to hear the Jenja blocks potentially fall over at 0300) we were in bed by 1.

SUNDAY

We woke up on Sunday morning around 8 and once Teh German opened his eye, I sang happy birthday to him in German.  I almost started in English, but then corrected myself.  He said he was feeling hung over and I asked him if he would take the things that I brought him and he said yes without a battle, which was a change.  I brought him 2 advil, water, a nut ball, and some leftover meatballs, knowing he needed something in his stomach.  While I was gathering the stuffs, I fed the dogs.  After I ministered to Teh German, I headed downstairs for puzzles and Outlander.  While I had told Teh German I'd wake him up at 10:30 since we had a Skype date with Aunt P at 11, I failed because I had 20 minutes left of my book and wanted to finish.  I ended up going upstairs at 11 to wake him, book complete.

Aunt P chatted with us for a bit.  We hadn't talked to her since she was in Charleston, so it was nice to catch up.  We snacked on what we had in the fridge while we chatted.  We had planned to eat lunch at a neighbor's house since they had food they needed to get rid of from a party they had.  When I got the text that lunch was at 2:30, we both decided to have a hot dog to hold us over until time for food.  To pass the time, I decided to finally shave Meri.

I had told Teh German that we were headed over early so the dogs could play so we were about to start getting ready when Mama G said she was home and could Skype early.  So we didn't have to leave our lunch date early, we went ahead and chatted with her, then we got ready and headed a few doors down.

We played some yard games for a bit, then we all decided we were hungry and moved the party inside.  We left the dogs outside to keep running.  We ate and had cake and eventually headed back outside for more games.  I learned that I'm no good at Washers, which is essentially like horseshoes.  Once the sun started to go below the trees, I got chilly and it was time for doggy dinner, so we headed home.

Marci loves chasing Meri around.
Not pictured: Sven, Rumble, Phil, and Max

Once home, I decided it was time to give Phil and Meri their yearly (if not less frequent) bath.  Phil was a hot mess and knew before he'd even looked at it, he decided that the shower floor was made of lava.  Despite the rugs I had put along the floor for him, I still had difficulty getting him into the shower, which made it an even more traumatic experience.  He shook the whole time so I just tried to get everything done as quickly as possible.  After Phil, it was Meri's turn.  She was also a mess, but she weighs 50 less pounds, so I could handle her way better. 

Notice how Phil refused to look at me?
Yeah.

With the dogs bathed, I put on my pjs and headed downstairs with a book.  I made it to page 45 before I couldn't hold my eyes open anymore.  I fell asleep on the couch at 7.  At 8 I woke up with a crick in my neck that was super uncomfortable.  Teh German agreed that it could be bedtime and we headed upstairs.

After teeth and face were cleaned, I headed to bed to wait on Teh German and did my German lesson.  When Teh German came to bed he found his birthday card from me (which I explained is because the mail delivery person must run late to our bedroom), he asked me what time it was and I told him 8:30.  He seemed wary we were in bed so early.  Of course, it took me at least 30 minutes to get to sleep while Teh German had fallen asleep within 2 minutes of lights out.  Seriously, does he not have thoughts? 

____________________________________

Despite still feeling like something is off (it's me), it was a good birthday weekend for Teh German.  He got to enjoy friends coming over to celebrate him and he received a LOT of beer.  It was a very laid back weekend, which was kinda perfect.  Nonetheless, this weekend drained me.  I woke up this morning at 06 and still didn't feel rested.  I would have stayed in bed if it wasn't for adulting and responsibility and guilt that Teh German would be jealous of my "teleworking" life.

Mr. Chicken Wang.

Five on Friday #100

I've missed my Friday posts.  Friday posts often become a catch-all for what happened during the week and things I've been pondering.  These may be intermittent, but my blog, my rules.

EINS

I used to pride myself on only attending one university from start to finish.  I'm an idiot.  I attended 3 colleges for my Bachelor's.  1 in high school, NC State, and then a community college for a summer.  So this great idea of going back to school means requesting transcripts from all the schools I've taken classes.  Great.  I start the process of getting some transcripts.  This is 2017.  This should be easy, right?  HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA.  (That would be the sound of the world laughing at me since the mid-1980s.)

I attended Appalachian State University during high school.  NC State accepted whatever transcript I brought with me for orientation.  Fast-forward to 2017 and I'm trying to request my transcript and I put in my info to find my username/password and my info cannot be verified.  I called and spoke with a really nice lady.  Nice lady informs me that my birth year is wrong in their system.  FANTASTIC.  She did break the rules and tell me which year it had so I was able to request an unofficial transcript.  But to order an official (which is now a requirement because fucking cheaters) transcript I have to have the information corrected.  I need to fax/mail the form in, or email and get a link to upload an encrypted file to a file system.. blah blah blah.  A fucking hassle.

Fun discovery: ASU still had my mom's PO box as my mailing address.  That address was 17 years old and not correct when it was put into the system. 

So then we move on to the request from the community college, CVCC.  I go to their website and unless I've been a student in the last 3 years, I have to request a transcript via mail or in-person.  BECAUSE THIS IS 1999!  Faack.  I call and leave a message for someone to call me back, there has to be some other way.  Lady calls me back.  Nope, nothing.  They upgraded their system and something messed up so now every student enrolled before 2013 has to go through this bullshit process.  Ya'll, my high school even does online requests.  Also, over the phone is not an option.  There are no words.  I could ask someone (Teh Dad/Stepmom) to get them, but that requires a notarized form...  I just CANNOT.

Why schools don't just have a way to request transcripts from each other is beyond me.  This is why people don't go to college!

ZWEI

Teh German's birthday is this weekend and we're having a gathering at Teh Ville.  He wants to do hamburgers and hot dogs.  I tried to talk him into bratwurst, but he insisted on hot dogs.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We'll be having a fire and I'll be roasting marshmallows/making smores.  #priorities

Technically, for his birthday we "exchanged" presents.  I was allowed to buy Roomy the Roomba and he was allowed to buy a new after-market grill for his truck.  He hasn't done that yet, but he has been distracted by other "upgrades" which haven't went through my approval process.

A few weeks ago he mentioned that he'd like to have a programmable coffee maker and since he never asks for in-the-house things, I was all over that.  I actually bought one for him from Bed Bath and Beyond since we had a gift certificate from our relator from when bought the house that I had forgotten to use when we purchased curtains.  BBB price-matched to Amazon, so I paid the same price I had originally planned on (coupons cannot be used with price-matching, otherwise I would have got it at a super discount) and I saved some dollas by using the gift certificate.  $100 coffee maker for $30?  Yes, plskthx. 

It's a Cuisinart with a 12 cup carafe and a hot water dispenser on the side.  As if I was going to get him something for the kitchen that I couldn't make use of... I opted for a coffee pot because the brew stations mean you have to wait on coffee and usually most people in our house are drinking their coffee at the same time.  I didn't want to have to deal with the waiting.  Teh German's only requirement was that his coffee would be ready in the AM when he goes downstairs to leave for work.  Done.

I actually had him open it when it arrived on Tuesday afternoon.  He is big on not celebrating his birthday until the day of because of bad luck or something German and I just didn't want that huge box sitting around so I told him to open it and then said it was a birthday-not-birthday/house present that he could use for his entire birthday week. 

I'm pretty sure he loves it.  He is now able to leave 5 minutes earlier.  We did have a dilemma when Teh German realized that he couldn't program the machine if he ran the dishwasher at night, so we adjusted our schedule to run the dishwasher in the morning when we leave for work and he can just put the coffee stuff straight in the dishwasher instead of leaving it in the sink for the entire day.  This works best for me because I hated coming home to see the dishes in the sink.

DREI

Here is the link so you can be horrified by the comments like I was.

A FB friend shared this and I couldn't control myself and typed a 3 paragraph long response.  While I hope she doesn't take it the wrong way, I had such strong feeling about it, I needed to just put them out there.  It went like this:

Ok, I'm taking the bait because I just can't stop myself.

Christians have discriminated against people based on their status, color, and birth place since Christianity became a thing. Sadly, they often haven't just stopped at discrimination. Because most Americans are Christians we use a syntax to make atrocities committed by Christians less demonized as those committed by other religions. If you want an easy example: Dylan Roof.

Until Christians stop believing that they are innocent and follow the ultimate religion, we won't achieve anything, just as Muslims who do acts "in the name of Allah" aren't really helping their cause. It doesn't matter what the Pope does or doesn't say/do. It's easy to criticize, but has "Uncle Ted" (as so many of the commenters refer to him as) fed the hungry or clothed the poor as Jesus called for in the bible? I'll just assume he's met with immigrants as we are pretty much all several-generations worth of immigrants (unless you're 100% Native American). Has Uncle Ted ever met with a recently immigrated Muslim? If so, did they try to blow up his house or harm him?

Having lived in an Islamic country for a year, I was never afraid that a "terrorist" would attack me. Muslims aren't any worse than Christians. It's easy to vilify an entire religion because of events that have been done "in the name of" a shared religion. But if we are going to call all Muslims terrorists, then in my opinion all Christians are racist murders.

This came right on the heels of me reading Steph's post (linked below) and like I commented on Steph's post, I wish I could wrap my head around WHY people see the world like "Uncle Ted".  What huge thing happened to them that they feel like an entire group of people should be turned away/not helped because they happen to share the same religion as a growing number of individuals who feel justified in committing atrocities?  I really just want to understand.  I know that I will never agree with this mentality, but I just feel like if I can understand then I can speak to these people in a different way to make them see how blind their viewpoint is.  I mean, probably not.  But damn, a woman can wish.

VIER

Random things:

-Steph wrote this post about humans and it spoke to all the words in my heart.

-Last week I paid an appliance repair person $55 to tell me that I was doing laundry poorly, which was causing the washer to be off balance.  But also that our washer has a brake issue that costs more than it's worth to fix.  Just to keep using the washer until it finally gives up.  While it saved me $2300 (the cost of the new washer and dryer I had in an online shopping cart), the lesson I learned was to always wash a 2nd load before calling the repair man.

-I'm a sucker for a cute mug.  I bought 2 on this list.  It was a moment of weakness.  (I'd do it again, Edna Mode is my hero.)

-Kathy's tips for saving money came at a good time for me (after being a sucker for those cute $10 mugs).  I would add:
1.  Unsubscribe to those advert emails or send them to a separate email address you do not look at regularly and only visit it when you have something you need to buy (or would like to buy, whatevs).  Essentially remove the temptation.  This also goes for TV if the advertisements affect you like they do me (I never want fast food unless I've been watching tv). 
2.  Make a list.  Stick to it.  No excuses.
3.  Refuse to pay the convenience fee.  If you know something you want costs less somewhere else, go there to get it.  If it's not worth the savings to go somewhere else, you don't need it.  This applies to everything from candy bars in the vending machine to tickets to an event. 
4.  Prioritize. Know what is important and what isn't.  Mileage may vary on this one, but no one knows your habits better than you do. 
5.  Know the difference between your needs and wants.

The biggggggeeesssttttt thing ever that helped me control my spending was learning the difference between a want and a need.  I need vegetables for dinner.  I want a Reese's at the check out.  I need laundry detergent.  I want new hand towels.  I want a massage.  I want a new shirt.  I need dog food.  I need to pay my power bill.  It makes things very black and white, which makes the decision to splurge easier.

-Verizon made me laugh this week with this mess:

I'd say with one week left in my cycle, I'm doing better than "okay" on data use, thank you very much.  I roll over a little under half of my data per month, on average.  Things I don't miss: Teh German being on my data plan and having to "budget" data.  What a nightmare.

-This.  No matter which side you stand on, this conversation was respectful and how I wish we could talk to each other always:

FÜNF

10 things that made me happy this week:

1. Visitors
2. Deciding on/purchasing a dress.
3. Getting rid of the flower graveyard.
4. Completing TWO wedding tasks (save the dates, dress)
5. Going to some of my favorite restaurants in one weekend (Spero, Mex 1, Willie Jewell's, Sesame)
6. Decent weather.
7. Finishing a book and only having 2 more books to complete to finish the challenge.
8. My new Stingrays Turvis.  Now I can alternate between my RunDisney and Stingrays Turvis'.  I consider this more sanitary.
9. New shampoo and conditioner, which smell delightful.
10. Just hanging out with Teh German.  In good news, he just makes me happy, still.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Linking up with these ladies since it's FFFFRRRRRRIIIIIIDDDDAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!

http://meetatthebarre.blogspot.ca/ | http://farmerbell.blogspot.com | http://theflynnigans.com/

Weekend Review {2/21}

Do you want the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Fine.  I confess...
Wedding dress shopping was the pits. 

I think there are a lot of things that go into that statement, so let me explain. 
1- I'm not super girly.  I don't enjoy being treated like a princess or being fawned over.  It's just not me.
2- Wedding dresses are expensive and I'm cheap.  It is painful to spend that much money on something I will wear for one(-ish, if we do a trash the dress) day.
3- I get very disappointed very easily.  To get super excited about THE dress would only lead to disappointment, so I didn't allow myself to get really excited.

To say I went into dress shopping with a critical eye is an understatement.  Let's just be honest.  wedding dresses can cost whatever you want them to (I'd give an average, but I won't bother).  I will go out on a limb and say that the higher end dresses are made to make a woman look the most gorgeous.  That is the POINT of a wedding dress.  Let's be clear though, if I'm paying more than $500 for a dress, it better make me look fan-fucking-tastic.  It shouldn't be a question.  So to hear, "Oh that dress is so beautiful on you!" doesn't do anything for me.  Of course it does, it costs a house payment.  It should look good on anyone.

Let's recap though, shall we?

FRIDAY

I worked from home on Friday morning.  Of course, I flexed my hours and had already warned my bosses that I'd be done by noon.  Phil had slept downstairs (again) on Thurs night and woke me up before the alarm with his whining to go out.  The medication they gave him at the vet made him drink a lot of water (which I was warned about), so perks.  Since I was already up and had work to do, I just started on it.  Gettin' those hours in early! 

Teh German left for work and Phil and Meri hung out with me.  Eventually Teh Running Bestie woke up (she had flown in on Thurs night) and came downstairs to hang out with us.  By lunch time we had a game plan.  We'd eat leftovers for lunch, then go check out a bridal shop that I didn't have on the schedule for everyone, then go by urgent care since Teh Running Bestie wasn't feeling well, then we'd go back home and wait on Teh Mom and Teh German to arrive. 

I planned an impromptu visit to a bridal shop because I was a little bit (ha) stressed out about going into my first appointment with the gang blind.  I didn't know how they were going to react, so I needed to do a test run myself so I wouldn't be completely overwhelmed with everything at once.  This was a good decision. 

We headed to Condon's Bridal and picked through the rack and I tried on a few dresses.  We all knew that I was just browsing, that I had 3 appointments coming up for dress shopping and that I probably wasn't going to buy anything, if I happened to find anything I liked that'd be ok.  I explained to the lady that I just need to have the experience and she was ok with that.

first wedding dress I ever tried on.

All veils make me go into first communion pose.
This could be because I never got first communion pics and I harbor a deep bitterness.

As expected, nothing really jumped out at me.  But that was perfectly ok.  Teh Running Bestie did notice one of those wrap dresses and she was a good sport while I mummified her.  We also saw someone else come in and try on the mauve (imo) dress and Teh Running Bestie was a good sport and tried it on.  She would have bought it since it was $20, except that it had "SAMPLE" embroidered into the shoulder and we were afraid that even with removing the stitching there would still be holes.  Cute though.

 

After dress shopping, we stopped by Total Wine and picked up some items that had been on the list since we were nearby.  On our way home, we stopped by urgent care for Teh Running Bestie since she was feeling poorly.  Fun announcement: I'm the Yelp Duchess of the urgent care place from my trip in Dec and now this past trip.  No big deal.

After Teh Running Bestie got some shots in her butt, we headed home for naps.  Teh Mom and Teh German arrived around the same time.  Teh Mom's first thing she did after arriving and saying hello was to prune my Haunted Mansion flower graveyard.  Roux's Humom is going to be pumped.  After the beasts were fed dinner, we headed to Spero for dinner, yep the same place we went to for my birthday. 

While delicious, we had gotten a late start on dinner plus their usual slowness.  This meant that we arrived at the Stingrays game about 5 minutes into the first period.  Not so bad, but oh well.  Teh German really likes being there before the game starts, but he was ok with being late for the delicious noms.

Bread flight, minus the tallow biscuit (it was eaten first)

I had the sweet potatoes and the most perfect scotch egg and I shared the lamb barbacoa sandwich with Teh Mom

We won the game, which was extra awesome since losing usually puts Teh German in a funk.  We headed home after the game and Teh WJL had arrived when we were 5 minutes away from home.  We all stayed up for a little bit hanging out, and then we had finally wound down enough for bedtime.

SATURDAY

Saturday was the big day.  We had a slow start but then we were out of the house by 1030 to be at Mex 1 for lunch at 11 when they opened.  Teh German joined us for lunch on Suzi, but parted from us when we headed to the dress session.

as always: carnitas torta with street corn (light seasoning)

We finished eating and paid and walked next door to Bridals by Jodi for my first dress session.

The lace on this dress was SUPER soft and I kept rubbing all over myself.

That butt ruching.. mmm mm.

I found one top contender after trying on no less than 20 dresses.  The only dress I said no to was one Teh Running Bestie had picked out because it was $2500.  Hard no.

While Teh Mom is paying for my dress, I have set a $1000 budget for my dress. This doesn't include alterations.  I know that I could spent our entire wedding budget on a dress, but I refuse to do so because I also know that there are perfectly good dresses that are in my budget. 

Having exhausted my options, we left.  While we sat in the parking lot, I called DeBorah's Bridal to see if I could come in early.  Side story: Teh Sister had dress shopped at DeBorah's and the lady recognized me when we arrived.  I had originally scheduled an appointment for 3, but it was only 1:45 and I had no idea what to do to burn time.  They said it was ok to come in early and we were there before 2.

Where I had been able to peruse the dresses at other stores, that was not the case at DeBorah's.  My ladies were given a shower ring to attach to a single dress they wanted me to try on.  All the while, I was brought into the dressing room to discuss my preferences.  Apparently, this is very Say Yes to the Dress-esque, but since I don't watch TV, I had no idea.  I did like the lady that was working with me, so that was a positive.

After trying on 6ish dresses, we took a break so I could pee, then we were back at it.  Teh Mom, Teh Running Bestie, and Teh WJL said that the dresses they were picking weren't being brought to my dressing room to be tried on.  I pointed out that I hadn't even gotten to look at the dresses at all.  So when I was on my way back from the bathroom, I told them I was going to look around.  I think both DeBorah and my assistant knew better than to say no.  I had been a good sport and had tried on everything they brought me, but I get a say. 

I picked out a few dresses, DeBorah added some dresses, and my assistant picked some dresses.  I'm not sure if any of those were picks that my ladies had made..  I found 3 dresses that I really liked.  2 of them I liked because I heard, "This dress makes you look soooo skinny!"  Someone spoke to my vanity, I loved them.

My assistant was wonderful.  There were dressed that came into the room that I looked at and said no and she said, "Alright, on to the next one."  I was very pleased with that.  There were dresses that my ladies didn't even see because I wasn't pleased so we took them off and put the next one on. 

Using back pillows was genius for making dresses that were too large fit.
More shops should employ this over clipping/pinning the dress.

#3

#2

#1

About my favorites:
#3: Everyone gasped when I walked out of the fitting room in this one.  Like, audible, simultaneous gasp.  AND THEN, someone said, "You look sooooo skinny."  The real problem was, I didn't love it.  I didn't love the lace pattern, I didn't love the straplessness.  I just didn't love it.  I love how I looked in it.  Finally, it was over budget.

#2: This was our surprise dress.  I will opt for a high waist 98% of the time and I fussed and fussed about thinking it wasn't going to look good, blah blah blah.  I was wrong, my assistant was right (she picked this one), and a drop waist can look good on me.  This was another "you look sooo skinny" dress and I liked that.  Also, it was super light and very much different from what I had been looking at.  It was $50 over budget AND would require some serious alterations work because it was slightly too small.

#1: This was the dress that called to me when I started to look in the racks before I was pulled into my own Say Yes to the Dress episode.  It had the lace, but was different and I liked it.  I wasn't sure about the bubble bottom, but I liked the way it looked on my midsection.  I also didn't mind the flower, but everyone else hated it.  I really liked this dress and DeBorah was willing to cut a deal and include some alterations for us, but even still, it would have come out at $1750 and that really killed my vibe.

A little after 4, probably 15-25 dresses later, I gave up.  I took the card with the #1 dress info on it and we set out for home.  Originally, I had planned to cook dinner in the crockpot, but no one really seemed keen on the idea, so I hadn't done it.  Shortly after we got home, it was decided we would go to Willie Jewell's for dinner, which was fine for me.

We all loaded up in Yurtle since she was already out of the garage and headed out.  Dinner was scrumptious, as expected.  Since it was super busy, we headed out soon after we finished to free up a table.  When we got home, it was time for stretchy pants and laziness for the rest of the night.

SUNDAY

Sunday was the 2nd big reason that the ladies had descended on Charleston, the Charleston Wedding Show.  Teh Mom and I had went to this with Teh Sister in 2015 and when I acquired enough free tickets for 6 of us to go, it was a date.  I threw in the dress shopping after they said they were coming for the show. 

Our first stop was to tour the venue.  Christy, our coordinator, had set up an appointment for us to go visit.  Unfortunately, there was an event already going on (a wedding), so we weren't able to go into the bridal/groom suites, but everyone did peep in.  Everyone was in awe.  Even Teh German hadn't seen the inside of the venue, so I was especially concerned about his opinions.  He loved it.  While the coordinator and I discussed ceremony locations and reception layout, everyone got to have a look around. 

When we were done at Alhambra, we headed to Holy City Brewery for brunch.  Teh Running Bestie needed some chicken and waffles, even if she couldn't taste them.  I suggested splitting meals, knowing we would be getting samples at the wedding show.

I approved of this photo for social media.
My faces were on point all weekend, this is just an example.

Bestie selfie!

Once brunch was consumed, we gathered our things and headed to the coliseum for the wedding show.  Teh German decided (after much pleading on my part) to come with us.  YAY!  This worked out way better for me than I had anticipated.  Since I was one of the first 400 brides, I got a veil and a sash and a bag of goodies. 

Unlike the year that we went with Teh Sister, we were given SOOO many bags to put stuff in.  We had actually brought in one of my bags because I had anticipated getting so many handouts with nowhere to put them.  I was wrong.  We ended up with no less than 5 reusable bags, plus the one we had brought in. 

My main goal in attending the wedding show was to sign up to win free shit and get free samples and visit every photobooth.  We did hit up 2 photobooths, we used almost an entire sheet of labels signing up for free shit, and I did have some delicious bbq and mac and cheese from Sticky Fingers.. but mostly, I was overwhelmed and there were too many people and had Teh German not been there, I probably would have just left.  I might have been nice enough to my people to tell them I was leaving the show floor.

I don't know what the difference was between this time and the time before.  Probably because this time I was the bride and last time I wasn't.  It's a completely different mindset.

It took us about an hour to walk through the entire floor.  Disappointingly, most vendors weren't doing their drawings until the end of the day and you had to be present to win.  I knew that I wasn't going to last that long AND that if we left, I probably wouldn't be coming back.  There's only so much to do at an event like that when you have almost all the big decisions made. 

After Teh Mom decided to wander back to us from her bathroom trip, we headed home.  Teh Running Bestie napped, Teh Mom and Teh WJL went to Lowe's, and Teh German and I headed over to Teh PT Neighbor's house to pick up some wedding stuffs they were donating to our cause.  While we were chatting, I invited them over later to have a dog nail dremeling party.  When we got home, I also laid down for a quick nap. 

When I woke up, there were flowers planted in my flower graveyard.  Teh PT Neighbors came over shortly after and I worked on dog nails.  Max was exempt after he freaked out, Meri was the absolute worst, and Phil and Marcie were just resigned.  After nails were done, the beasts expended their energy, then recharged. 

Max is not pictured because he was whoring himself for pets.

After a while, we all headed inside and I started making dinner while we all socialized.  Teh WJL ran back out to the store to pick up things she refused to tell me.  While waiting on dinner to cook, I sorted through all the stuff that I had been given at the show.  99% garbage.  We did get a gift certificate for free wedding bands (no real catch, just pay $25 for processing per ring) and a gift cert for some sign type of thing.  Eventually, Teh Running Bestie woke up and soon after, it was time to eat.  Teh PT Neighbors headed home and we sat down to dinner.

We had cheesecake for dessert that Teh WJL had picked up.  After dinner was cleaned up, we just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

MONDAY

I had scheduled an appointment for 1030 at David's Bridal, our last dress try-on session.  We were there around 1020 and I had intended to just go in and browse until our appointment time, but they don't open until 1030, which is weird.  Of course, we were right on time for our appointment.  I was pumped because there weren't a lot of people in there, which I assumed would be better service.  Teh Mom hadn't been pleased with Teh Sister's David's Bridal session, which she reminded me about while we were sitting waiting on our assistant.

I was patient for the first 15 minutes while our helper worked with another bride who was looking for shoes?  I wasn't really sure what she was doing, but we saw her carry her dress in with her.  I was given a book to look through.  The tabs to mark pages weren't pointed out to me, so we started a text message list of page numbers.  I had been done with the book for about 5 minutes before the helper came and said she'd be with us soon.  Uhh ok.  5 more minute passed and now we are 15 minutes past the start of my appointment time and there is not a single dress for me to try on, nor have I taken my clothes off.  Queue the frustration.  I decided to start perusing the racks.  About this same time, I was told that she had started pulling dresses for me.  I figured that the helper was going to help me in and out of dresses, so I kept perusing.  When there were about 5 dresses on the rack, we finally figured out she wasn't going to help me and Teh WJL came in the closet with me to help me get in/out of dresses.

I'm forever stuck in 2003 and I love a split overlay.  Unfortunately, this waist did not work for me.

I saw another bride wearing this dress and tried it on.  I liked it, but it was meh.
The lace jacket looked like it had been pulled from a glamor shots studio.

#1 pick, but I had issues with the waist and the $1350 price tag.

I probably tried on 10-20 dresses at David's Bridal.  Nothing worked.  In fact, I didn't even have a number one when I left the store I was so disgruntled.  The service was shit, none of the dresses were what I wanted, I was just over it.  In addition, the dressing room was smaller than my cubicle at work and 2 people were in it with usually 2 huge dresses.  Oh yeah, and there was no fucking mirror in my closet.  #RAGE

I even had a mild meltdown in the dressing room.  Frustration tears for the most part and disappointment that I hadn't found anything.  It was good when the group made the decision to leave.  I worried that maybe I was a little hungry, but I didn't think so.  We agreed on Sesame for lunch, which was as delightful as I had anticipated.  After lunch, we headed back home. 

Teh Mom and Teh WJL headed back to NC.  Teh Running Bestie went upstairs to take a nap.  I worked on laundry and printed out the front side of our save the dates for the Germans.  I had just pulled the stack out of the printer when Teh German came home. 

He had a look on his face, which I couldn't tell if it was because he smelled something (Phil's breath), because he had went to Crossfit, or because something was wrong.  I knew it was the last option when he picked up the stack of save the dates and flipped through them and sat them back down on my desk with a sigh.  Then he sighed heavily again when he took a seat in the office.

Concerned, I asked what was going on and he explained that Papa G had sent him an email that essentially said a lot of shit that wasn't true.  I was infuriated.  There was yelling.  Lots of yelling.  Yelling that roused Teh Running Bestie.  I had Teh German forward the email to me so I could reply to Papa G.  Short story: Papa G wanted to send out an email to our German guests because our save the dates weren't fast enough for him.

I know that I'm a lot nicer in text than I am in person, so I sent him a strongly worded email that said do NOT send your email.  Having observed some human behavior and knowing myself, I know that when people understand the situation they are less likely to get riled up.  So, that's what I did. I explained to him that we had agreed to do exactly as he had asked, we didn't debate it, we just agreed to it.  But nothing is instantaneous (unless of course he wanted electronic save the dates/invites, HA (ok I didn't put this in my email)).  I explained that I had created the save the dates from scratch and they needed to be printed but my ladies had been in town for wedding dress shopping.  Essentially, there are a lot of things going on right now and sometimes I have to prioritize.  I did make sure to add the line that said, "While my job is flexible, we cannot drop everything and work on wedding things." 

While I had been overwhelmed at the wedding show, Teh German was overwhelmed with this email.  I'm really glad that our weaknesses complement each other's strengths so well.  He was there for me when people were blocking my way on Sunday and I was there to deal with his dad on Monday.  I read my email out loud to Teh German and Teh Running Bestie and with no protests, I clicked send.  Since Germany is 6 hours behind, Papa G was already in bed, so we had to impatiently wait on his response.  Teh German was not positive.  I knew that I had this one in the bag.

After the drama was handled, we all settled on the couch for quiet time.  Teh German watched videos while Teh Running Bestie and I read from our Kindles.  The room was very 2017.  Eventually, my mind started wandering to wedding dresses and I scrolled through the photos that had been taken. 

It's very difficult for me to see things in person, which I've mentioned before, so it was easier for me to see myself in the photographs vs in the mirror.  I decided to check out my #1 dress on the David's Bridal website to see a better picture.  8 minutes till they closed, I called David's Bridal to ask if the helper had written down the number of the dress I had liked the most.  Luckily, she had since I was unsuccessful finding it on the website.  After the lady gave me the code, I found it and noticed that the dress was on sale for $499!  But only size 4 and 8 were available online.  I called the lady right back and asked how long the sale was going for, if it was possible to come in on Tuesday to try just that dress on, and if it was possible to order my correct size.  She explained the sale was through 2/21 and I could come back in.  Since the sale was through the 21st, that meant that I could just order the dress when I went back in the store.  Done.

After the spurt of excitement and having potentially made a decision, it was time to go to bed, so we prepped dog food and took care of our chores and headed upstairs.

TUESDAY

Since I knew, Teh Running Bestie wasn't feeling well, I went into work like normal.  Before I got out of the bed, I checked my email though.  I had received an email back from Papa G saying that he will calm down and be patient.  Teh German was surprised, but happy.  During the morning, Teh German texted me and said that Papa G had apologized to Teh German, which is rare.  I was very glad to hear this because I could tell that Teh German had been upset by his dad's email.

Before lunch, I headed home.  I was sad to see her suitcase first thing when I walked in the door.  While I ate lunch, we planned to head back to David's Bridal.  We'd move the sash on the waist down and see if that solved my waist issues.

Teh Running Bestie was smart and loaded her bags in the car, just in case.  We headed to David's and it took 20 minutes for a different helper to bring out undergarments (which had been part of my problem the day before) and pull the dress.  I put on the undergarments while she pulled the dress and I was still waiting on her.  By undergarments I mean a corset bra thing and some spanx... difficult undergarments...

She finally showed up with the dress and Teh Running Bestie helped me into it.  The different undergarments really helped.  Then the real test happened.  We found a sash and put it around my waist to see if it helped my waist problem.  It did!  I finally said yes to a dress.  I made a wish and rang the bell and everything.  After changing into my clothes, we headed up front to order the dress.  My helper had to be replaced with the check in lady, who was nice.  Slowly, it came out that they had to get an override for a 22 week wait time.  Then we learned that the wait time wasn't applicable since the dress was no longer in production.  I could buy the floor model though. 

It was not even an option for me.  Because of the lace and beading on the dress, the dress was super torn up.  Even with repairs, I didn't think that dress would look good.  So we were back to square one.  Honestly, I wasn't really upset about it.  It just was. 

Glad that Teh Running Bestie had brought her bags with us, we headed back to Bridals by Jodi for my 2nd #1 choice.  I wanted to try it on again and try it with a colored sash.  Since it wasn't a holiday, neither David's Bridal nor Jodi's was busy, which was nice.  Jodi's had a lot faster service and I was in the dress within a few minutes.  We tested the dress with different sashes and at different waist placements.  I tried on a few other dresses, but none compared to the one I had come in to try.  So I said yes to the dress, for the 2nd time.

They took my measurements and I put 2 other dresses back on to test out the size to see what size they should order.  While the dress wasn't as cheap as the David's Bridal dress (I do love a good bargain), it was still under budget and they gave me a 10% first-time visitor discount since they don't offer a military discount.  Total, I paid $835.  I'll take it. 

They explained that it should arrive during the summer, probably July-ish.  Both Teh Running Bestie and I were relieved that the dress had been taken care of.  We were also worried because the ordering and trying on the last 2 dresses pushed past 1:30, which was originally when Teh Running Bestie had wanted to be at the airport.

I feel like I bounced out of the store.  One more task checked off the wedding to-do list!  We jumped in the car and headed to the airport. We made it a little after 2 and since her flight didn't leave until 3:30, I wasn't worried.  We said our sad goodbyes and I headed to Teh German's work to share the good news.

He was excited for me.  I had told him the night before that dress shopping would have been much easier if I was able to do it with him and he agreed.  I also said that I knew WHY he couldn't have helped, but it still stands, it would have been easier with him.  We talked about Papa G and Teh German shared the message with me that he had sent back explaining that poor communication had played a part in everyone's frustration.  I was just relieved that everything had calmed down and I didn't have to yell anymore.

I explained to Teh German later that sometimes, people just need to bellow and when someone challenges them, they sit back down.  I felt like this was one of those instances.  I bellow a lot.  When I'm challenged, I sit down and shut up, unless it's something I am very adamant about.  I had been nice at first, but when someone hurts someone in my pack, my heckles get raised. ;)

I left Teh German's work and headed home to finish up my work day.  I still had plenty of tasks to complete (yay for tasks!).  When Teh German came home early, it felt weird, but was nice.  We ate dinner early and then we headed into the office to print out save the dates.  Of course, I had some printer issues to start with and some troubleshooting was required.  Teh German was the problem solver though when he reminded me to check the printer's network.  It wasn't connected to the network at all, but a router reset helped and we were able to get down to business (to defeat the Huns).

Since it was a learning process, I was less inclined to teach Teh German how/what I was doing to print off the cards.  I did manage to figure out an expedited way to get the addresses into Photoshop without having to type everything in (which I started to do and messed up one card, got frustrated and went back to the copy/paste drawing board).

I had a question about one name, which I messaged Papa G about.  I was able to get all the save the dates printed except for one (with the name issue).  Teh German had sat in my office with me, encouraging me as required, proofreading when necessary, and perusing social media.  After the task was complete, it was time for night chores and bedtime. 

________________________________________________

It was an interesting weekend for sure.  Teh Mom spent a lot of time doing her own thing when she wasn't with the group and we all suspected something was going on, but she wouldn't talk about it.  Teh WJL and Teh Running Bestie were super excited, and I might have been a bit overwhelmed by this.  I tried to be humble about it being "my day" but I just didn't love it being "my day."  Really, I wanted to have fun, but it didn't feel that way at all.  I am glad that everyone was able to meet and come together though!

I was able to print out the last save the date this morning since Papa G messaged me during the night with the name I needed.  I'll be mailing out the save the dates probably tomorrow since I have a late meeting today and I need to go to the gym (I ate like shit all weekend and I really want to finish my book).

FYI, wedding posts are scheduled through the end of March, for those of you who are into that kind of thing.  I may shift the day around on them though because I'm kinda missing my Friday brain dump posts.

I'm just resurfacing from a busy weekend, so I haven't had a chance to open my Feedly to see what kind of madness is there.  I also still have intentions to go through the Show Us Your Books linkup.. buttt I always have good intentions about that. 

This weekend is Teh German's birthday and we're having a gathering to celebrate.  Otherwise, it's going to be a quiet weekend where I get to catch my breath from all the wedding activities.  Then we march right into invitation design.  F.M.L......

Happy middle-of-the-week, Gentle Readers!

MegMo2017: Deets: Venue

The theme and date were the biggest players in our venue selection.  I knew that a picturesque wedding at Magnolia Plantation (one of the hottest venues in Charleston, pics below) in October/November would cost $6500 on a Saturday or $5500 for a Friday or Sunday or $4500 for a Mon-Thurs.  Guess what was not in line with the theme? 

If you guessed, "Any of that," you are correct. 

I was NOT willing to spend $4500 for a venue, in addition to having to have food catered from Magnolia's preferred vendors which generally have minimum cost requirements.  To use a preferred vendor, I would expect to pay $35+ per head for food.  Yet another hiccup with following our theme.  With a guest list of 100ish people, $3500 for food and $4500 for the venue was almost our entire budget.  Once you add taxes, fees, and tips, we were already over our budget.  Kthxnope.

via

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Knowing that the hot places like Magnolia were definitely out of our price range, I started to get very selective about venues.  I knew that I wanted a "cheap" place that wasn't cheap looking.  I knew that I wanted it to include the tables and chairs for the reception so we didn't have to pay for just the roof over our heads and add another headache of something else to find (rentals) for the big day.  I narrowed down the search to 3 places.

I've listed these venues in our original order of preference.  Teh German and I visited the first two together and I actually visited the 3rd choice on my own since I went during the day and he wasn't able to come with me (thus why I actually took photos of the place, abet shitty (to show him)).

Medicine Wind Farm  ($1200)

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Pros:

-Venue was located in Summerville which means cheaper hotels.
-Several options of locations on the grounds for an outside ceremony.
-Covered pavilion for a weather backup.
-The reception area had a pretty cool loft area.
-Reception area had a full kitchen.
-Reception area had a room that could be used for food so guests wouldn't cause a traffic jam while getting foods.
-Reception area had a room available with a "dead spot" that was perfect for a bar.
-Usable fireplace
-Speakers that could be used with an aux cable.
-Cool old wagon that could be used as a prop for whatever we wanted.
-Military discount

Cons:

-VERY rustic.
-Smelled like horse (since it's actually a horse farm on private property).
-Cowboy boots outside
-Old wagon was huge
-The bridal suite and groom suite were attached to the reception area and I didn't like the idea of our guests peeping inside accidentally or on purpose.
-Furniture in the suites was SUPER old.
-No ice on premises.
-Limited tables/chairs included.

Destination Goldbug  ($1000)

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Pros:

-Cheap!
-Sullivan's Island bridge view/waterfront
-Tables/chairs included for up to 100 people
-Bar area
-Renovations underway (for the bathrooms/kitchen)
-Patio area could be screened in to keep in heat/keep out bugs.

Cons:

-Very boaty with the plaques on the walls and there was also a fish somewhere.
-No bridal/groom suites
-It didn't feel like a big space.
-In Mount Pleasant (which is further away from Teh Ville than Summerville).

Alhambra Hall   ($1500)

grounds

downstairs formal entrance

super cool landing pattern

reception area

Bridal suite

Bridal makeup/hair did area

Groom's suite

Hallway from the Groom's suite to the entrance area.

Pros:

-Bridal/groom suites.
-Large private toilet for bride.
-Waterfront.
-Elevator to get up to 2nd floor.
-Ice on premises.
-All inside tables/chairs included for up to 200 people.
-Small kitchen area for staging.

Cons:

-Most expensive.
-Grounds are public park, which means that we could have party crashers.
-No outside chairs available.
-Fireplaces are capped so no actual fires.
-In Mount Pleasant.
-Requires an off-duty Mount Pleasant police officer if alcohol is served.



Now if you've noticed in my date announcements, you actually already know what venue we picked, but if you didn't, I'll just tell you.

We went with Alhambra Hall.

Yes, it was the most expensive location, but it was the location that we both liked the best.  Medicine Wind and Destination Goldbug didn't feel like us.  We aren't cowboys (much to Teh German's disappointment) and we don't really resemble the boat life (even though we are happy to enjoy our friends' boats, we'll stick with Bagheera and Suzi).  We felt that the hall wasn't overly rustic and was simple, which was perfect for us.  In fact, in many ways, the Hall reminds me of our house.  Large and simply furnished with a few touches of personality.  And ya know, the white walls are exactly the same...

I did take Teh German by Alhambra before we made the decision.  After our tour of Destination Goldbug, we rode to Alhambra since they are about 5 minutes apart from each other.  While Teh German was only able to see the building in the dark, I could tell he immediately felt more comfortable at the Hall than at either of the other 2 venue options.  It could have also been that I was his tour guide instead of a stranger we didn't know.

After we lurked about in the dark at Alhambra Hall, we headed to Poe's on Sullivan Island for dinner to discuss our options.  I told him what he'd seen were the 3 places that I could find at a rate I was comfortable paying.  There were other cheaper options out there (parks) and more expensive choices as well and I could keep looking, but I think I was able to make a decision based on the 3 we had seen.  He agreed with me that he could make a choice from our 3 options and we could end the search.

Before we had even left the Hall, we both kinda knew our decision, but I told Teh German we could listen to music while we rode to the restaurant.  I wanted him to be able to think about it without my interfering.  Once we sat down at our table and ordered dinner, we discussed the pros and cons of each of the venues and we both knew that we had each decided our favorite before heading to dinner. 

We both liked Alhambra Hall the best out of the 3 choices.  We were most comfortable at Alhambra, which in the grand scheme of things is one of the most important things to me.  I clarified with him as we waited on our food, "So, we're making a venue decision then?"  Teh German, "Yes."  Me, "So Alhambra Hall?"  Teh German, "Yes."  Me, "You're sure, even though you haven't seen it in the daylight?"  Teh German, "Yep."  Me, "Alright then, we just made our biggest wedding decision!"


Our decision of a venue directly affected our date and other budget items (photography).  The Hall was booked for both Oct 28th (Saturday) and Oct 29th (Sunday).  I didn't really want to get married on "the day before Halloween" or Halloween.  So when I suggested Nov 1st, Teh German agreed and said that was fine.  He also mentioned that 11/1 is an easy anniversary date to remember.  He's funny.  I know he would never forget because he never forgets our first-date-aversary either, and this was before he put it in his calendar on repeat every month.  /swoon.  But I'm glad I could make it easy for him.

If we were Mount Pleasant residents, we wouldn't have had to pay as much for the venue, but we aren't.  Oh well.  That said, if we were Mount Pleasant residents, we'd pay a lot more for day-to-day things, so ya know.. trade offs.

We kept our decision on the DL until after we signed the contract with the venue.  We told our family and close friends so that way they could go ahead and start figuring out travel arrangements.  But once we signed the contract, it was game on and social media official.  I won't lie.  Signing for the venue made it feel the most real to me.  I think Teh German was equally excited.  Or it could have been that I swung by Metto before our contract signing and surprised him with coffee.  Ya know, either one.

We have a venue!!!