Perfect, Yet Off Registry Bedding

I've never actually come out and said this, but I'm not sure I condone off registry wedding gifts...unless you know its perfect for the bride and groom.

{found it here}
This bedding is one of those perfect off registry gifts. It appeals to my aesthetic without being too girlie for the PHI. Awesome gift, but not on our registry. Perfect candidate for an off-registry gift. As were the GreenPans that MamaP gave me at my Florida shower, and the Vera Wang toasting flutes that my former-roomie Janelle gave me at my Atlanta shower. All tasteful, amazing gifts that were perfect for me.

Now, that gift basket I received from my inlaws (MamaD, sister in-law, etc) containing champagne, massage oils, candles, feathers and a pregnancy test? Not so much. I love them, but they should have shopped the registry.

♥

Adventures in Nesting: Husband Training

This post is not about the wedding, but rather the part that happens when you aren’t planning the wedding: the nesting. Were having quite a few guests at the end of the month, and I want the apartment to be ready. As a result, I’ve been spending a lot of my spare time nesting – more so nesting than wedding planning (gasp!). Before we begin, I need to introduce a term that you may or may not be familiar with.

Shaping: the reinforcement of successive approximations to train a type of behavior. Not to be confused with what Pavlov achieved with dogs. A guaranteed-to-be-covered concept in every introductory psychology course.

And as you may have guessed from that definition, one of my adventures in nesting has been “training” my (soon to be) husband. The behavior I’m trying to modify? Wet bath towel placement.

You didn’t think it was anything serious, did you? Shame on you if you did!

But anyway, in the 2 years that the PHI and I have been together, I’ve been working on him and what he does with his wet towel. As someone who’s lectured about learning theory a gazillion times, I decided to use the shaping technique. Small modifications to already occurring behavior to achieve a more desirable response. It was slow going before we started living together, but now he’s doing extremely well! Here’s how it played out:

- When we first met, the PHI would leave the towel balled up or just thrown down wherever he left it. It got funky fast and left wet spots in its wake. Gross.

- I suggest stretching the towel out over the edge of the bed, since the wet towel is already in the bedroom. The PHI starts stretching the towel out over the bed, but I think that over time the bed will suffer from the daily additional moisture.

- I move the wet towel stretched over the footboard to the bathroom and hang it over the bathroom door. This is a case of not having a good place for it in the bathroom. At the time we only had one bar (where my towel usually lives), so the next best place (still in the bathroom) was the door. PHI has recently started hanging his own towel over the door (yay!), but it makes the door hard to close.

Which brings us up to today – I think we’ve made excellent progress. As many of you know, it’s hard to change a habit, even for someone you love. I recently installed a hook on the back of the bathroom door for our towels, so that’s my next move getting him to hang his towel there. And I promise, after he does that I will leave his towel alone.

I realize that what the PHI does with his wet towel is not a terribly big deal in the grand scheme of things. But considering the relationship I have with our towels, it makes me happier to know that they’re being treated a little better while in use. And if nothing else, the smell (or lack thereof) alone is worth it.

♥

It's My Birthday!

{My 5-year old (at the time)little cousin Tori took this pic of me on my 26th birthday.
Yes, she is definitely in the wedding.
In fact, I'd put my money on her being the one who actually does her job properly.}
Guess who turned 27 today?! Me!
How do I feel? In a word: blessed.
Honestly, twenty-seven feels alot like 26...but better.

This was a low key birthday. Lunch with my work-friends, take out from one of my favorite restaurants, a small birthday cake, and an evening full of doing absolutely nothing (except for visit with you, my lovely blog readers). The PHI had to work today (no complaints here, thankful he has a job), so we'll have couple birthday time tomorrow when we're both off from work. We'll probably sleep late, get something fun to eat, and catch a movie.

Interestingly, I've had a birthday celebration of some sort more years than I have not. No wonder I'm enjoying wedding planning - its a natural next step from planning almost 25* birthday parties. This year, I'm not having a party per se, but I will get to spend the entire weekend with 3 of my favorite people - the PHI (of course) and my podmates BM Dani and GM Brew. They're making the trek up to Athens from Florida to hang out this weekend. I like to tell them that they've known me so long (and so well) that they are officially a liability. I love those two to pieces, and the PHI and I are THRILLED that they are spending the weekend with us (he's pretty wild about them too). Its going to be a fab weekend and I cant wait.

Today was a really good day, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. A little birthday celebration today...a little tomorrow...a little Friday...a little Saturday...you get the point.

Cant wait!!

♥

*okay, so its safe to assume that MamaP planned the first five parties or so. Id have to ask to be sure, but I know around that age I started telling her what kind of party I wanted to have, the color scheme, the activities, etc - lol.

important (random) revelation

I hate to interrupt the wedding talk, but I feel like I need to share something that's really starting to wreck my mood (and my Bridal Brilliance in the process): My house is a mess. Like, its so bad that I now see why people pay good money for house keeping service.

But today I stumbled upon something that I think may work for me...once I get my house cleaned up a bit. Its called the Daily 7 for A Highly Successful Household, and the lady that created it used Covey's 7 Habits for Highly Effective people as the inspiration for 7 behaviors that we can do everyday to make our houses a little cleaner.

Number 1: Make Beds Right Away

Number 2: Do One Complete Load of Laundry

Number 3: Empty All Garbage Cans

Number 4: Keep Your Kitchen Sink Empty

Number 5: Clean Up After Yourself and Help Children Do the Same

Number 6: Bathroom Wipe-Down

Number 7: Before Bed 10-Minute Clean Up

See, it breaks cleaning up into small, manageable tasks. If you do a little every day, the house will stay pretty clean. If you're interested in more details, you can read more about the Daily 7 here.

I actually think I'm going to apply this to my wedding world - which could also use a good bit of spring cleaning. But maybe only 1 or 2 things daily (rather than all 7).

Number 1: Tackle one thing on my growing to-do list, no matter how small (and even if I add two additional things in its place)

Number 2: Have the daily wedding pow wow with my co-planner, MamaP

Now if only I could get in the habit of making my bed...on any day (let alone every day).

♥

Its been a long time...

...I shouldn't have left you.
At the very least, I shouldn't have left you without reading materials.
I'm sorry ya'll.

I know its been awhile since I blogged. In fact, MamaP mentioned it yesterday. Yes, my mama. My mama who reads my blog and giggles. My mama who assumes that I blog because I'm an only child and I need someone to talk to (she's not terribly off base with that one). So when MamaP noticed I hadn't posted in awhile, I knew it was time to comeback.

You're probably wondering what happened.

Well, when I got home from Spring Break, I needed a break from the wedding. So I took one. At first I was just tired of talking about the wedding. But then I realized I didnt feel like writing about it either. I think all brides get to this place at some point in the planning process. I was overdue for a small vacay.

Despite self-imposing a wedding-vacay, I was still doing wedding stuff. But mostly just the bare minimum. As an example of my wedding-negligence, there are about 6 save the dates that need to go in the mail. Have I sent them yet? Nope. Am I worried? Not really. They'll go out soon enough.

Long story short, I'm back, refreshed, and bearing lots lots more wedding goodness to share. We only have 6 months left!

And as a peace offering, if you promise to come back by later today, I promise to tell you about my first (and hopefully last) wedding craft failure, and its replacement plan.

Interested?
See ya in a bit.

♥

Lea-ving on a jetplane

I'm going home today! Its almost kind of sad how excited I am. Well...maybe not. You'd be excited to if you got to go home to this:


You're looking at a pretty awesome picture of West Palm Beach, Florida (aka my SoFla hometown). That building on the left is the Palm Beach County Convention Center. The right is the West Palm Beach Marriott, the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (I only use the whole name cause MamaP used to work there - most people just call it the Kravis Center), and the bottom right corner is the southwest side of CityPlace. If the camera scooted a bit to the right, you'd see our venue - the Harriet Himmel Theater! I just realized I haven't blogged about it yet, so I'll be sure to post some pics and show you around (it's absolutely fab).

Yes, many of the streets really are lined in palm trees like that. I never really noticed it until I moved away and started bringing friends home. Its always one of the first things they comment on - lol.

I will be at home for about a week and some change, and I'm looking forward to sleeping in, hanging with MamaP and the fam, handling some wedding business, going to my first bridal show (!) and getting a smidgen of school work done.

Can't wait, can't wait...

♥

Lookin Good for 100

Hey ya'll! I'm sorry I stayed away so long, but a couple weeks ago I realized I was fast approaching 100 posts and wanted to make the big 100 very special. So I waited for inspiration to hit...and it never really did. But I did find this awesome pic. Nevermind the fact that they're celebrating their 100th episode and I'm celebrating my 100th blog post.

Ah well.

One hundred posts...already. My blog looks good for its age.

Heres's to another 100!
♥

Unexcused Absence

MamaPs internet decided to take a few days off. It didn't even warn me. One day it was here, the next day(s) it wasn't. Totally jacked up my posting schedule. And as a result, I have a couple things I want to share before I take a bit of holiday time.

Just wanted to give you a heads up. I'll be back later.
Boo AT&T.

♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

Collard greens and macaroni and cheese are my favorite parts of Thanksigiving. That and taking the time out to give thanks for our many blessings.

Hope your day was happy and filled with lots of love and. Oh, and I hope you got to eat alot...but not too much :)

Lots of ♥,
Patti and the PHI

I try not to be super political...this is a wedding blog (lol). And I know you probably aren't that interested in my politics. However, I voted absentee a couple weeks ago, so I don't get my voter sticker (yup, I really am sad about not getting a sticker). The point is I voted. And you should to. For whomever. Just as long as you do it. Oh, and thanks Joy for the super cute pic. ♥

This is one of the cutest videos I've seen in a long time

So my MOH Krissi sent me this awesomeness today. She got it from her (very cool) little bro Kody and now I'm passing it along to you.



...maybe I was the only one who couldn't hear all the words. But on the off chance that you're like me, I'm posting (most of) the lyrics. I got them from here.

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah
Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah

(McCain supporters)
McCain's the best candidate
With Palin as his running mate
They'll fight for gun rights, pro life,
The conservative right
Our future is bright
Better economy in sight
And all the world will feel our military might

(Obama supporters)
But McCain and Bush are real close right
They vote alike and keep it tight
Obama's new, he's younger too
The Middle Class he will help you
He'll bring a change, he's got the brains
McCain and Bush are just the same
You are to blame, Iraq's a shame
Four more years would be insane

Lower your Taxes - you know Obama Won't
PROTECT THE LOWER CLASS - You know McCain won't!
Have enough experience - you know that they don't
STOP GLOBAL WARMING - you know that you won't

I want Obama
FORGET OBAMA
Stick with McCain and you're going to have some drama
We need it
HE'LL BRING IT
He'll be it
YOU'LL SEE IT
We'll do it
GET TO IT
Let's move it
DO IT!

Obama on the left McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah
Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah

I'm talking big pipe lines, and low gas prices
Below $2.00 that would be nice
But to do it right we gotta start today
Finding renewable ways that are here to stay

I want Obama
FORGET OBAMA,
Stick wit McCain you gone have some drama
MORE WAR IN IRAQ
Iran he will attack
CAN'T BRING OUR TROOPS BACK
We gotta vote Barack!

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah
Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. ♥

The key is moderation

image source
I realize that I've been off from wedding vacay for 36 hours and have hit the ground running. What I'm realizing though is that I really have to do wedding planning in moderation. In order to maintain forward momentum on the wedding planning front (and ward off another mental health vacay) I really am going to have to master moderation.

But what is moderation exactly? Moderation is not spending all day in front of Google Reader where the majority of the blogs I subscribe to are wedding related. Moderation is not driving the PHI crazy with details that he doesnt care about. Moderation is writing down my ideas and planning to act on them rather than going from idea to implementation in the time it takes a cupcake to cool enough to remove it from the pan (for you non-bakers, that's about 10 minutes).

I love wedding planning. Seriously, I do. But I also need to love wedding planning in moderation. Moderation is knowing that in a little more than 11 months I will be happily married and that I'll only get to plan our wedding once. So I better stop, smell a rose, bake...something, and enjoy it while it lasts.

♥

My WeddingBee Pocket Change

Today was a big day at WeddingBee.

I dont really want to go into all the details, but you can read about it here and here.

Many of the Bees are speaking out against the new development. Some are staying and trying to incite change within. I'm kind of sad.

Not that I think WeddingBee is selling out (I'm not sure I do), but because there is a HUGE division in what used to be a very happy hive family. I love WeddingBee. Its inspired some of my best wedding ideas to date, given me the courage (and many times the instructions) for some cool DIY stuff, and allowed me to meet some of my new blog friends and buy some great wedding stuff for the low.

However, some of the members of the hive have brought up some important points, and so here's what I have to say about the whole business.

1. How do you stay when the parent company may not be overtly discriminating, but they aren't welcoming to people with diverse sexual orientations? As a social psychology and a minority, I have a pretty good understanding about how discrimination works. I know it can be overt and/or blatant, and that systems of oppression tend to be interlocking...its never just sexual orientation, it that and gender and age, etc. I cant say I'm particularly an advocate, but I think that people should be able to get married no matter what their personal life choices are.

2. About diversity, WeddingBee is diverse in that there are women from all different walks of life and all different pats of the country. Some are crafty, some aren't. Some are corporate, some aren't. My two major complaints about WeddingBee were that there was a shortage of plus sized and/or African American brides...both segments of the general population I identify with. Another member brought the Af.Am brides issue up, and allegedly in the 100+ bees that are in existence, there have been 3. Just 3 folks. Did I hope to maybe be one? I'll get to that.

3. There is lots of talk of leaving the hive. Like, ALOT of it. Many think the hive is going to change. It will. But who is to say if the change is going to be positive or negative - that remains to be seen and may average out to be a little of both. However, talk of leaving the hive impacts my status as a future Bee applicant. I'm still a year out, so I wont even be eligible for a few months, but I was considering it, and I dunno if that decision is jeopardized. Could I really volunteer to blog for a site that's totally making money? Do I actually care or do I care because lots of other hive members care. I really don't have any answers for this one folks.

What I do know is that the goings on at the hive have surprisingly affected me. Who ever knew I'd be so impacted by a bunch of strangers? I will say this: I'm skipping town if/when the hive starts to change. Until then I'm sticking around.

That's my $0.02.
♥

Welcome (to the dark side...lol)

Hello blog world!

Today I decided that it wouldnt be a terrible idea to separate my wedding thoughts/plans from my regular rantings. Hence, the new blog was born: Soon to Mrs. Patti. This will be THE place for the wedding goodness. I'll still continue to post at ....just fabulous, and I may even cross post for a while, but I am transitioning over to this blog for wedding planning so that I can still have just fabulous for when the wedding is ova!

To all of my faithful readers (all 2 of you - lol), please update your links/feeds to the new blog.

To those of you just joining us, feel free to thumb through the "Oldies but Goodies" list, or use the topics list to see where I am with the planning.

To everyone: I recently discovered how much I love comments...so feel free to comment away!

So again, welcome! This should be fun!

♥

LOL, literally!

I've been on wedding overdrive lately. Part of it is my fault, part of it is...well, its probably all my fault. I've come full circle about dresses - mine and the 'maids, and have really taken some positive strides towards making some decisions and getting a better feel for what the aesthetic of the day will be.

One thing that keeps me from being overwhelmed is working on other things. Another thing is TV. Particularly funny tv and commercials. So today, in the spirit of making sure you arent on wedding overload, I just wanted to share some of my favorite commercials. I am generally a reluctant YouTube-r, but I have to thank YouTube (and the PHI) for putting my favorite show-interrupters in a format that I can pass along to you. I still dont 100% understand why people make/post videos of themselves trying to be entertaining. Funny is so subjective. Lets leave it to the professionals:



Did you know the french word for stop before this vid? I didn't!

And this one takes me back to Girl Scout Camp. I said a Boom Chicka Boom!


And yo mama says....






What is a pookie anyway?


I'm going to run now, but research shows that laughter really is good for the soul. I feel better already (although I was pretty good to start with). When you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed, or just a little down, find something funny that can lift your spirits and improve your mood. Commercials totally work for me...what works for you?

♥