2011 is almost done. What's on the horizon?

Blog friends! Hello there. I've been neglecting you big time. I always say I'm going to come back and post more, and then I fail miserably to follow through. But this time. I MEAN it! I'd like to start by sharing some reflections on this last year of my life:

There's the obvious: Wedding. Marriage. Awesomeness.
I'm probably the happiest I've been in life in a looooooong time. Recognizing that there is someone in your life so special that you want to stand by this person forever is a huge enough revelation in and of itself. But taking the step of verbally committing to that person in front of your closest friends and family is something so profound I can hardly find the words to talk about it. I don't know that having a piece of paper that says I'm now legally related to someone else has changed our relationship significantly, but I am still as in love as I was just over 6 six years ago when I first laid eyes on a tall, geeky blond boy in Belgian restaurant. I am so excited about our future and what we can accomplish together!

Then there's the money bit.
We spent a lot of it this year. On our wedding and honeymoon. While I generally have no regrets, I kinda wish we has spent less on the wedding. It was an amazing day - literally everything fell into place as I had imagined it. Everyone had a great time, and in fact, people are still talking about it. I have gorgeous photos (that I can't stop looking at). But lately I've been fantasizing about real estate, and there is so much affordable property on the market in our neighborhood (which we love, like, a lot, and never want to leave) right now it pains me to know that we just don't have the funds to capitalize on the opportunity. And the question lurking in the back of my mind is when we do have the money in a couple years' time, will we be able to find what we want and can afford? So next year, I think it may be time to institute some financial goals and go on a little post-wedding money diet.

The J-O-B...
Well, friends, this is the part I'm most excited to share. In my heart of hearts, I love what I do. Working in the museum world I think has ultimately made me smarter. And I've made some great connections. However, it's very cyclical and the kinds of challenges I like to handle are becoming fewer. But having to plan my wedding this year has unleashed this insane creative energy that I had no idea I really had in me. I've always been a creative, crafty person. But I was able to take lots of already-great ideas out there in the world of weddings and cobble them together with my own spin, feel, vibe, and creative touches. And I've never had more fun! My mind is still racing with with ideas, talents and skills I'd like to hone, but most importantly, the prospect of going out on my own. It's always been part of my long term plan to do my own thing eventually, but I just feel like I kind of have this momentum going right now, so why not harness that sooner rather than later? I have a pipe dream that I'll share with you later on, but I would like 2012 to be the year when I figure it out. What is it, of my many skills and talents, that I can offer that is special, useful to people, and at which I can successfully keep running long term and support myself? Excited to share some of my ideas in another post, but my goal is to do as much as possible! Ok, here's a little taste: it involves making awesome, interesting and beautiful things!

While 2011 brought together a lot of people, it made me realize that as time passes, I feel further away everyone. My local circle of friends is dwindling. On the one side, I was all over Facebook and discovered Twitter this year, and have gained a bunch of awesome virtual connections out there who I am excited to tap into for creative resources next year. But on the other, I realized that I need to make a bigger effort on cultivating some offline relationships. So as part of my longer-term adventure into becoming self-employed, I am going to be more social in 2012. I'm going to shut down the laptop more and stay at home a little less. Step one: I joined a Monday night bowling league! Don't rub your eyes - I actually just said bowling league! I used to play in a volleyball league here in NY pretty regularly, but a series of related and unrelated injuries kept me from re-joining. I may eventually go back to it when I'm feeling a little more in-shape, but bowling requires little physical involvement so I figured it would be a good place to start.

Last but not least, I'm going to work on my health. I was able to lose 20lbs in honor of looking fab in white dress for a day, but shortly thereafter, I took the road many newlyweds take. We've been eating out a lot. I've been buying my lunch every day. I've gone to the gym twice since the wedding. As of today, I've gained back about 10 of those 20lbs. No bueno! This year, I am going to return to healthier habits and keep it that way. So prepare yourselves for the occasional health/recipe/food amazingness posts next year.

As you may have already discovered by now, all of the above things are linked together! Having better job perspective and a goal to move toward means I can make more time to focus on those things. Which means more time to do healthy stuff like cook and go to the gym. And more time to do things that will help me be more social and launch my own business (flower-arranging classes, anyone?). Which means ultimately saving money and making money at the same time!

I'm not typically one to be excited by a new year. To be honest, I think I'm more excited about 2012 than I was about 2011. Seriously, I'm just bursting at the seams with all the ideas and plans and things I can do over the next 12 months. I hope you'll all still be around to watch and help and offer advice and perspective. I will definitely need it!

I sincerely wish you all a HAPPY new year and hope you find ways to celebrate all year round! I tip my glass to you! Until 2012...

(source)

Tales from the other side of the ring!

I'm back, and married, and probably better than ever!! It's been a long hiatus, friends, but I am officially a married lady... and officially again in possession of my body, my schedule and my own time again! It feels great! It's a journey I'd like to more properly document sometime, perhaps on another portal of this blog, but I will share a few nuggets from my experience in the short time before and the day of the wedding! But for now, I leave you with this... this about sums up the entire experience. Worth a least 2,000 words I think ;)

photo courtesy of my amazing, stupendous photographer, Jaymie Batoon over at J. Castro Photography

On Marriage (please forgive my rant)

*Editor's Note: This is being published long after it was written. Long after the Marriage Equality act passed in NY State. But I feel strongly this is worth publishing anyway :)

As I enter into the 2-month-countdown period before my wedding, I have begun to reflect on my relationship and what marriage means. We were recently asked by our officiant why we are getting married. I was kind of unsure what to respond, other than in our gut it just feels like the right thing to do. I suppose there is nothing necessarily different about our situation now vs. us being married: we have lived together for nearly 4 years, and maybe save for the joint finances thing, we do most things married people do. I consider us a very typical couple, and often take for granted our day-to-day existence, even in light of the fact that only 45 or so years ago, my fiance and I would not be allowed to marry because of the menacing anti-miscegenation laws on the books. But I was very recently given pause to think otherwise...

I was struck recently by a commercial I saw on ESPN that has since been airing during NBA playoff games. And it disgusts and saddens me. The commercial is a totally bogus attempt to persuade people not to support LGBTQ rights and marriage equality. Its premises are so totally bogus that it's even shocking to think this network can get away with airing it in this neck of the woods. And regardless of what the law says, let's face it: love is not a legal act and therefore people will love who they choose. Better said: In 1919, the federal government banned the production, sale, trafficking and consumption of alcohol. Did that stop people from drinking? Nope. And yet the LGBTQ community pays taxes to the federal government and to local governments, vote, fight in the armed forces, spend their incomes on commercial goods and services, collect garbage, travel and are tourists, volunteer and donate time to bettering the world. I could go on, but as much as any of the rest of us, the LGBTQ community are IMPORTANT contributing members of society that should not be denied such a basic right.

Stopping the LGBTQ sector of the population from marrying is not going change their orientation. Little Johnnies across the nation aren't going to suddenly decide that they prefer little Bobs overnight, simply because they heard that their math teacher is gay. Not. gonna. happen. If children, however, learn tolerance and acceptance from those who lead different lives than themselves as a result of exposure to the LGBTQ community, this is NOT a bad thing. I spent this past Wednesday evening at a fundraiser for community activism, where one of the groups involved was an organization dedicated to working for the rights of LGBTQ youth in NYC, for kids from low-income families or economically depressed neighborhoods that have been disowned by their families because of their orientation. And then I come home to watch what I think will be a benign basketball game and I am confronted with hate. Hate that EPSN has been paid who knows what amount to sell to its consumers. Rest assured, ESPN has been contacted and we have pleaded with them to remove the ads. Who knows if they will listen, but it felt good to stand up for what I believe in.

Anyone else seeing an increase in anti-marriage equality campaigning or activity recently?

Taming the Biggest Wedding Beast Yet: The Guest List!

This post is long overdue, and I know it's not going to be a revelation to anyone when I say it: Keep your guest list in check! It's been a rocky road for me & my fiance - and in fact, is one of the few moments in the whole process where I became a bridezilla. I wanted a wedding of 75-100 people (and closer to the 75 end than 100). I'm not getting it. It happened with the best intentions, but still brought me several ulcer-inducing moments. Believe me, sticking to your guns when it comes to your guest list is easier said than done, I know. So here are a few helpful tips I wish I had had in my back pocket for you brides-to-be out there:

1) Make a budget and stick to it! Whether you have a target number of people in mind first or a specific venue your hearts are set on, the first order of business you & your new fiance should address is making a wedding budget. The interwebs is a great place to do research, and many blogs I've talked about in other posts have forums where real brides all over post budgets or estimates for various services that can help you plan. Be realistic about what you can save and what your parents may or may not contribute. It may also be helpful to prioritize and have a wish list, in the event that you have some funds freed up and want to add on, or you choose to spend more on one thing you know where you can cut back on something else. Once you've decided how much you want to spend, do not go over. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. No matter how much your parents may want that ice sculpture. And if they want to give you money for that specifically if it's that important to them, fine. But we'll discuss that more in #2.

2) Know your limits. Have a serious conversation with your fiance about what's really important to you, and how you're going to pay for it. If either set of parents wants to contribute, make sure you and your fiance are clear about what that means. If you are ok with them participating or having a say in your decisions *because* they are contributing something, say so. Or if you prefer their contributions go to specific things (flowers, cake, transport, etc.) be very clear about that. Or, if you suspect that you may be bullied by the parental dollar, insist on paying for everything yourselves. It may mean you'll have a leaner wedding or something a little less extravagant than you imagined, but hey, you'll have the wedding you really truly wanted. And you can tell your parents to contribute to your honeymoon :)

3) Insist on priorities. If the parents have a set number of people they want to invite that you & your fiance deem reasonable, that's great. It can stop there. In most cases though, the sad truth is that your parents probably see your wedding as a way to show off their awesomeness to the whole dang world. I can't blame them for that. Translation: they will want to invite the far reaches of your family, their friends, their frenemies, their co-workers, their postal worker, you name it. Insist on having an A, B and even C list. The reality is that for whatever reason, not everyone on your A list is going to be able to make it. So if having as many people as possible at your wedding means a lot to you & your respective families, having backups are great. Not to mention that you have clear direction come RSVP time, and everyone is happy.

4) Set up artificial boundaries. If you want a target of 80 people to attend your wedding, you could choose a venue with a max of 85-90. Or, if you are dealing with a BYO-type place that you love, cost might also be a great deterrent. Say you want to have your wedding at a historic location that only allows tented receptions, which means you have to rent e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. This may bring your per person cost to, say, $250/person and you've decided that's awesome because it means you can only realistically invite 50 people. That way, you can blame it on "circumstances beyond your control." It may not always work, but it's something to think about.

I hope this is helpful. Your guest list affects almost everything else in your budget, and 10 extra people that you didn't anticipate or 10 people that don't show up can be equally nerve-wracking and stress-inducing. Save yourself a headache (or ulcer) and take hold of your guest list by the horns and be the boss of it. You'll be happy that you did!

Slacking, Slacking, Slacking... and Happy New Year!

I can't really believe it's been 4 months since I posted something. WOW! How embarrassed am I? Sorry folks! Life has taken some interesting turns, and I hope you'll forgive me when you learn why. But I'm really sorry for neglecting my blogging duties! I promise, I'm back!

So besides that ridiculous snowstorm that happened the day after Christmas (yeah, what was that about??), both of my fiance's grandparents died within a month of each other. I mean, they weren't necessarily at 100%, but I was holding out a little bit of hope that they were going to make it to the wedding. I am thankful I was able to meet them at least, and they lived long enough to see their two great-grandchildren (fiance's niece and nephew). And I know what I'm about to say is a little, um, unorthodox, but the amazing thing about having witnessed these two deaths is that I think now believe that death by broken heart is really a legitimate cause of death. My fiance's grandfather died first, and literally, just five or six days later, his grandmother followed suit. How in love must they have been for one not to be able to go on without the other? It's as sad as it is inspiring. I'm not an optimist, but I'm a softee and that hits me right there. Le sigh. So I think on our wedding day, I will leave a symbolic empty chair in the front row on both sides for both sets of grandparents.

In work news, my firm was selected to do the exhibit design for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture! I am super excited but unfortunately, having been promised to other projects already, I won't really be getting my hands dirty until next year. It's an exciting time nonetheless, and something I'm looking forward to it!

The wedding planning has been up and down. Deaths in the family always remind people of those they should have invited, which inevitably almost happened. Our guest list, and budget, have since ballooned - so much so that even all of the free and free-ish stuff we've managed to get hasn't really saved us much of anything. Another post on that later - and hopefully a lesson to you out there! So we've been trying to pick up the pieces, since we can't uninvite people at this stage. We will sadly have to cut back on some things that we wanted to do to make our a day a little bit more extra special. Probably my first real bridezilla moment, but I think I was in my right ;) I can hardly believe the big day is just a few months away! I am giving you fair warning though, that I will probably experience some serious WPW (Wedding Planning Withdrawl) so I'm gonna have to hit you with a little more wedding stuff even after all is said and done. You'll indulge me that, right?

And now back to your regularly scheduled blogging...

Spotlight Wedding Blog/Website Extraordinaire: WeddingBee!

I just want to give a quick shout-out to WeddingBee today! I found the "hive" about 5 months before I was actually engaged, and it blew my mind. Seriously. Of any wedding website out there, I have found a pulse on the wedding world from the ground up, vendor connections, amazing ideas & inspiration, and a genuine community & support network all in one place! Certain other sites that shall remain nameless may offer the same things with a bit more industry presence, but the 'Bee is all real people. It's been a long journey to get where I am today, and I can honestly say that if I didn't have a sounding board and this amazing network of supportive strangers, I'd be lost. And without hair/makeup recs and a DOC :) For the marrying types out there, take a peek. You just might get hooked!

Gagnant à nouveau!

So I also speak French. On occasion. What little I can remember! So remember when I was talking about my strategy for paying for my wedding? Well, it's working - still! Since then I have won two small but very cool and helpful giveaways! Printable patterns I can use to jazz up our reception decor, and a gift certificate to the elegant and always classy Bonita J jewelry boutique! Yay! I also found a super great deal on a "Day of Coordinator" for the wedding.... The hits just keep 'on rolling! I'm so inspired that I think I'm going to start featuring a weekly round-up of the best discounts and giveaways out there! Might as well share the love - at some point I won't have anything left to win!

Manners Mondays installment #2: Party Etiquette

In the spirit of weddings and holidays, no doubt everyone out there will receive at least one invite to a holiday party and or wedding in the coming weeks. But paper goods are no longer as treasured as they used to be. It's almost 2011, I know. People are being eco-friendly and high-tech with virtual and digital invitations these days, and they seem to be getting more and more sophisticated by the hour. BUT. Yes, I said it. BUT... just because the invitation format has changed, that does not mean invitation and party attendance etiquette should or needs to change as well. Here are some quick rules of thumb:

If you are sending invitations:
- Balance the timing. For a more formal party, particularly one where a headcount needs to be given or a specific amount of food needs to be purchased, give guests extra time to plan ahead and time for yourself to remind them accordingly. However, too much advanced notice and your guests may not feel the need to pay attention. 2-3 weeks for a more casual affair seems to be sufficient, but perhaps an additional week if you need strict numbers!
- Be clear about who is invited - your friends will not be offended. If you plan to have an adults only kind of party, say so. You may risk some friends not being able to make, but lots of parents may appreciate the no-kids atmosphere and use it as an opportunity to decompress! Accordingly, if you prefer to have a more intimate affair, say a dinner party, make sure guests know how many people they are allowed to bring.
- Don't be afraid to ask your guests to contribute. You may be the host, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to bleed your wallet dry to have a rockin' time. If you're hosting, especially at your home, ask guests to bring beverages, desserts, sides, snacks, etc. Chances are, people will do that anyway, but providing some direction is very helpful so you don't end up with one six-pack and 6 fruitcakes!
- Beware the theme party! Theme parties are fun, but if you want your party to be more inclusive, suggest multiple ways guests can participate, particularly if it's a costumed theme party. Dressing up, particularly if your guests are traveling some distance (and using public transit), may not always be a desirable option.
- An obvious one: make sure the date, time & location is very clear. Also, provide your phone number and/or your venue's phone number in the event your guests need directions, are running late, etc.
- Thank your guests for coming. In person, by email, whatever works. If you took photos, you can use this as an excuse to share them!

If you are guest who has received an invitation:
- Respect the RSVP. Evite, email, by phone or by post, if you are expected to respond to the invitation, please do so. This is the major complaint I get from so many of my friends. An email invitation should be taken as seriously as a paper one. If your host took the time to create and distribute the invitation and plan the event, you should respect that and reply in kind. It will take you no time at all, and save your host from that awkward moment when all the food has run out and you show up with five friends.
- Respect your host's wishes, and don't hesitate to call and ask questions if something isn't clear.
- If you are being invited to someone's home, respect their space. Don't get out of control drunk, break dishes and spill drinks everywhere. Of course, accidents happen, but you can prevent them by acting accordingly. And if you do something accidentally, fess up to it at the very least. From experience, nothing is more infuriating (and inspiration to stop having parties) than finding a mess, a broken glass, etc., that a guest made after the party is all over and everyone has left. If you're truly a good friend and you are responsible, clean up immediately, offer to pay for cleaning or the cost of replacing the broken item. It's the grown up thing to do.
- Respect your host's guest requests. If your host is allowing a plus one only, but your two best friends from high school dropped into town unexpectedly, just ask if it's ok. And although plus one is generally reserved for significant others, spouses and partners, close friends or family are a-ok to bring as well. But use your judgment when bringing random friends.
- Try not to show up empty-handed when going to a party at someone's home, unless specifically requested. You can never have too much booze and you don't have to worry about other guests' food allergies! But even a small box of chocolates just for the hosts is always appreciated.
- Be realistic about your RSVP. Don't say you're going to someone's birthday bash if you're really not feelin' it. Put yourself as a maybe and let your host know what the probability of you showing up. If the event is happening across multiple venues over an evening, meet up with the group later.
- If you are invited to a party at a bar, restaurant, etc., let your host know in advance if you are planning to arrive later than the first 30 mins of the party. Particularly if your host is having dinner at a restaurant and has made a reservation for a specific number of people at a specific time, your host could end up losing their reserved area and risk being embarrassed by venue staff for no-shows. Again, from personal experience, not cool to make the host look bad.


That's all for today folks! Happy Monday!

A financial strategy for weddings that is underrated

So I wanted to focus today's post on paying for weddings. While my mom will be contributing a generous amount to cover our wedding costs (a little more than 1/2), my FH & I will still be left with some hefty bills, including paying for our honeymoon. Enter: Wedding giveaways! Unconventional, yes. But generally speaking, the odds are in your favor, and if you could end up winning lots of things large and small that will save you money. And all the better if you win items or monetary amounts for things that you can only use for the wedding. Better to invest your money in things that you will use again anyway, no?

Also, the internet (Twitter, Facebook) is your friend! Since we are not having a super traditional wedding, I have been trolling the internet for ideas and inspiration. I've found at least 10 wedding blogs that are utterly amazing resources, but the really beautiful thing is that most of these blogs have relationships with vendors, and that means giveaways! I've probably entered about 30 giveaways thus far, and have won 3 of them!

Our biggest win to date is our wedding photography! Huge coup, right? We are getting married in the Hudson Valley, and in my research for photographers from/familiar with the area in last spring, I happened upon the blog of J.Castro Photography and started reading through some archived posts. I took note that last year he offered a contest, and as soon as he announced the 2011 contest, I was in it to win it. And we did! We still paid a deposit, but as the winners, we get that money back in album/print credits! So our wedding photography in the end is costing us between 1/3 and 1/4 of what it would have been.

Another awesome win: invitation design by little birdie studio! I was going to ask one of my graphic designer pals to help on this one, but I won it instead! It will probably preserve our friendship in the end anyway, and despite said designer being on the up & coming side, I couldn't be happier with the results so far! She was supposed to design just the invites but even offered to do our Save the Dates! Sweet!

Lastly, I won a $100 shopping spree to a fantastic etsy shop, Bead Flora Jewels, for fun accessories. I chose to get a custom made, awesome beaded hair piece and an ivory clutch! I may even splurge and buy some shoe clips for the big day too :)

So ladies & germs, the lesson here is just try it out! It's always free to put your name in the hat for these things, and the amount of entries varies greatly so chances are you'll enter something with not too much competition and victory will be yours! But wait? Where might one find out about these giveaways? Here's a short list of some cool giveaways going on now that are just super cool:

A great site that posts all kinds of wedding giveaways, no signing up necessary:
http://www.luckybridegiveaways.com/

A wonderful lady who has a weekly giveaway on her blog:
http://www.brendasweddingblog.com/blogs/category/giveaways

A great. ECO-FRIENDLY multi-item giveaway with lots of really useful stuff! And as a bonus, you can buy and sell all kinds of wedding stuff, saving yourself lots of Benjamins :)
http://www.smartbrideboutique.com/blog/green-wedding-contest-win-an-eco-prize-pack/20101101/511/

A $25 certificate to BonitaJ jewelry's shop, posted on Nutritionist Reviews' blog:
http://www.nutritionistreviews.com/2010/11/25-bonita-j-giveaway.html

I could go on, but Google is your friend!

Happy Tuesday!

It's been awile... I know

Wow! It's November already. Sigh. I know I've been MIA for a loooong time, but remember all that free time I was complaining about not having? Well life set sail on a slow moving ship after late May, and I have been devoting my life to planning the wedding and sticking to our budget! I'm in the midst of so many things right now and I'm just bursting with excitement!

On the wedding front, we've managed to book all but one of our major vendors (and the last will happen w/in the next few weeks or so) - awesome. The not so awesome part? How 'bout our budget being eaten up rather quickly? Between mid-June when we booked our *fantastic* venue and now, I've bought my dress, and we've made deposits on our ceremony musicians, a band for the reception, and paid for our engagement photo session. The florist is our last item to tick off booking for 2010. We were doing well until I decided to buy my dress at Kleinfeld's and we caved in and booked a live band. My mom offered to pay the difference of what I had budgeted for my dress and the final cost of the dress which was great, but I still have to pay for alterations - boo. And the band really only was $600 above our budget, but it means I'll need to finagle some other things I had been dreaming up (or not do them at all) so we can afford everything else we actually still have to pay for. I'm socking away lots of money, and the fiance is too, but I'm still a little nervous about where we'll be financially when we really have to start paying for stuff! But some things that have helped out immensely: we won a photography contest and now have (nearly) free wedding photography; I won a giveaway that paid for some cute bridal accessories; and I won free invitation design! I've been stalking lots of wedding blogs like a hawk, and hopefully my winning streak will continue and I'll win more awesome stuff!

This year on my job scene had been going well I think. My 2 yr anniversary was in late September, and I have yet to have a review scheduled, which is frustrating. I am really hoping for another raise this year, but I won't necessarily be disappointed if it doesn't happen. But I do have a wedding & honeymoon to pay for so some extra dough would be really really awesome :)

I can't believe the holidays are here already! I am trying to think of some unique, crafty items to get my friends/family and I'm coming up empty! I can't afford much in the way of gifts this year, so I need to find some good alternatives! Open to suggestions though.

I always seem to end up writing these right before I need to go to bed. Oh well! Until next time!

Hmm. Here I go!

This is day one of my blog. I've always thought blogging was cool. So I'm giving it a whirl. Why should anyone read this? Well, pull up a chair and listen to a little story.

I just turned 30. Three months ago, I got engaged. About 9 months ago, said fiance and I landed a sweet sweet apartment in Brooklyn. A year and a half ago, I landed what might possibly be my dream job. Nearly 4 and a half years ago, I landed said fiance. So it seems like things are just going peachy for me, right? Well, not so much...

Sometimes in life, and especially in life, we get ourselves into these little predicaments that make all of the really awesome stuff look just kinda ok. For example:

In 2006 I entered a Masters program at NYU (which shall remain nameless). It appears that, due to the complete lack of professionalism, good sense and compassion of said Masters program staff, I will probably not be graduating. Why? I am an exhibit designer. As in museum exhibits. By some strange act of fate, my first project at my really awesome design firm happens to be a 50,000 sq. foot, multi-million dollar museum....in Charlotte, NC. Us creative types a) don't make tons of $$, 2) work insane hours (and in my case, travel to our project sites frequently), have frequent and often unrealistic deadlines that we have to meet, and are generally understaffed, and c) happen to want to move ourselves up in stature in this very small creative museum world by getting additional degrees. Hmph. Well, this degree is hanging in the balance and appears to be tipping in the NO-GO favor. Of course, I still have to pay for every last minute that I participated in this program regardless of whether I get a stinkin' piece of paper to show for it or not. There's much more to be said here, but I won't bore with more details. More will come, I promise

And speaking of finances... I have a wedding pay for!!!!! Yeah. Which, in theory is really great. But I get to live like a pauper for the next year because a massive chunk of that pocket change I make called a salary is getting stashed away for what I hope to be a very worthwhile event! However, sticker shock is a bi***! Does everything wedding-related really need to be this expensive? Which leads me to issue 2: I have been working and traveling for work so much in the last month and a half that I have not been able to devote ample time to the best thing ever: planning my wedding!! It makes me sad. Especially since there are just too many awesome places to do the deed within a hundred mile radius of Brooklyn, and I just have so little time....

In a nutshell, my life is nothing short of insane right now. But I thought maybe someone out there might benefit from reading about my insanity and how to deal! Over the course of the next year or so, I will attempt to drop some wisdom about 3 W's (yes, I was an English major): Wealth, Weddings and Work, and how to successfully (ehem, or unsuccessfully as might be the case) manage all three, all the time! I'll provide a little backstory on each of these on another day, but for now, I need to conserve my energy for Work tomorrow!