Girl Meets Girl (& Other Peculiar Love Songs)

Anticipation

2009-12-18T12:20:00.001-08:00

Some photos from just before the ceremony started, in the wedding tent:

And meanwhile, back at the ranch (AKA the green room):

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

Let the Photo Rumpus Begin!

2009-12-18T12:11:00.001-08:00

I'm finally getting a chance to go through and re-size the photos for the web, so Yay! This means you get to start seeing them!

So here's the first batch. I'm going to be posting these in installments over the next week or so, so keep an eye out!

The tent in which K and I got ready was total chaos, and it was FREEZING that morning. I even ended up wearing two pairs of socks when the plan was to go bare. We were shivering, trying not to let the wind blow down the tent, and laughing the whole time.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

:D

2009-12-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

The wedding photos are done. We got the email about an hour ago, saw them online, and hee! They came out beautifully. Tomorrow, K's going to call the photographer to find out what we have to do next. You can order them online, but I know we bought a package with the photographer that gives us credit towards prints, and we get a CD with the high-res images, so we want to make sure we know what we're doing and how to obtain the prints.

At any rate, expect some dumpage of wedding photos and anecdotes in the near future-ish, once we figure out how to obtain them. I'm in the middle of sending out MFA applications, and have deadlines breathing down my neck, and also have a pile of submissions to the journal for which I edit that need reading, so it might take a while, but hang in there! I'm really looking forward to sharing these.

Hee!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:39:00.001-07:00

Hope it was a good one for all of you! (And yes, those ARE my wedding goggles. I'm SO going to wear those every chance I get.)

Just To Tide You Over

2009-10-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Basically it goes like this: K and I are still in recuperation mode, I'm taking my GRE's in two days, and then we're giving the honeymoon another try next week, since the first time around, I was so sick that neither of us actually honeymooned. So. The recaps are going to have to wait a little longer, and I'd kind of like to wait until we have the professional photos back for the recaps to start anyway.

But really, look at this guy. He was our officiant. Very solemn fellow.

So, in the meantime, I thought I'd post some teasers. These are some photos our friend Judy snapped at the wedding, so you can get a taste. (Thanks, Judy!!)

Home

2009-10-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

KNOCK KNOCK!
(Who's there? You ask.)
K and M!
(K and M who? You say.)
K and M WHO ARE MARRIED NOW WOOP WOOP!

First of all, let me just say that the wedding was fantastic, better than anything I could have hoped for. We had fun, we danced, we laughed and cried, we were surrounded by friends and family, people dressed up in awesome costumes, and there was so much love I still kinda tear up thinking about it. We got married. We got married!!

I promise to update with details and pics later. But for now, I'm tired.

K and I have actually been back from the honeymoon for a couple of days now, even though we weren't supposed to be home until today. Because, you guessed it! I got hella sick. *laughing* The first day of the honeymoon, I woke up with the worst sore throat I've ever had, and by day three, we decided we had to come home early because I couldn't even swallow and it hurt to breathe. Turns out I have some kind of infection in my throat- similar to strep. I'm on antibiotics now, and just starting to feel better. So the plan is to try and have honeymoon mark 2 in a week or so. I have my GREs a week from yesterday, and then after that, we'll try it again, and maybe this time we'll get a real vacation, since we didn't actually get to do anything or leave the hotel room, and not even in the fun newly-wed way. *laughing*

Anyway, once I'm feeling better, I'll update with photos and stories and such, promise!

In the meantime, our engagement photos were featured over on So You're EnGAYged! Pretty cool!

2009-10-16T06:30:00.001-07:00

YOU GUYS IT'S TOMORROW ASFKLAS;GHDKL;AGHDKLGHFDKSFGHSAJKDFSA

yesterday: the epic adventure of getting the tent up. lots of baking.
today: rehearsal dinner and running around like chickens without heads.
tomorrow: marriage. :)

I can't wait.

2009-10-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

With the wedding about a week away, life is getting really crazy. I've got constant butterflies in my belly, my emotions have been all over the place, from stressed to giddy to nervous to sad (between the fact that my dad won't be there and that the one year (!!) anniversary of his death is only about a month away).

Yesterday, and tonight, and possibly more tomorrow, are going to be spent finishing up the dresses. In case you're just now tuning in, our good friend, Leah, who is one of the Best People (we're sharing three of 'em between the two of us, rather than having a traditional wedding party- it's a long story) was kind enough to make our dresses/ outfits for us as a gift. I still can't get over the generosity of this gesture.

So now we're scrambling to finish them up (K and I are sous chefs to her Morimoto of the sewing world) and last night was an adventure (about 12 hours of sewing time, ending at approximately 2 AM). The adventure was particularly thrilling and lulzy when Leah was in the middle of using the sewing machine and I was ironing and then the entirety of Nashua blacked out. We panicked. Then we gathered flashlights and candles. Then we started hand-cranking the sewing machine- Leah guiding the fabric, K turning the wheel, me holding three or four flashlights to light the sewing table. Then we laughed. A lot.

After about 20 minutes ish, I'm guessing, the lights came back on, so it worked out okay, but that was a nice adventure to add to the books. We tried to take pictures, but then we realized the flash from the camera lit the room nicely enough that it just kinda looked like we were goofing around with flashlights for no reason. *laughing* Anyway, we're working more on them tonight, and again tomorrow if need be. I can't wait to see them all done, and I think they're going to look stunning. It's worth the work and the wait and cutting it this close because really, even only mostly done- it's beautiful work. And I know she keeps saying she's worried we'll be mad at her that we're cutting it this close, and I wish I could come up with just the right thing to say to put her mind at ease. I just feel so lucky that she offered to do all this work for us, and so lucky that these garments will have so much meaning and so many memories attached to them even beyond the wedding.

Finally Some Photos

2009-10-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

Last time Leah came over to do a fitting for K's jacket, I finally remembered to take some photos. And Leah even happened to be wearing the Best Man shirt I made for her that day, so double points!

The jacket was still in the assembly stage, so you can't tell too much about what it will look like, but I assure you, it's awesome. And the fabric is inside-out in these, but rest assured, it's also awesome- a beautiful gold and brown brocade.

Tomorrow, Leah's coming over with the finished products, and we can't wait to see them all done!

Also, while I'm at it, I guess I can post the other T-shirt designs now that everyone's received theirs. (And yes. The t-shirts are all gender-switched.)

Shower Weekend!

2009-10-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little crazy what with all the writing of big scary checks to vendors and being swept off to a surprise bachelorettes party, and we haven't gotten a chance to post about last week's epic Shower Weekend!

It started out on Saturday when M and I went off to do some errands and came back to find a slew of cars parked in front of the house. Inside, the first floor had been redecorated by our Rockin' Best Man Leah and our lovely friends. The only lights were strung up lanterns and blue string lights that made everything white glow--including Baby, our guinea pig. There on the floor was the area rug from Romania that we plan to use as our wedding dance floor and there were pillows all over the floor and gypsy music playing. And of course, a bunch of our awesome friends all standing around waiting for us. We listened to good music and ate great food and had great conversations. It was fantastic! My face hurt from smiling so much.

The next morning we were off to Pickity Place with my side of the family for an incredibly delicious lunch all made with fresh herbs and local ingredients. Pickity is this cute little place hidden up a dirt road in Mason, NH so getting there can be a real adventure. We got to sit around and chat with the fam' and have a great time. After everything that has been so high energy, it was nice to have some time to just sit around and catch up with people we love.

I know there were pictures taken at both showers, but we haven't seen them yet. If they pop up, we'll probably add them on here, and if not that will be okay too. Just imagine us with huge grins surrounded by people who love us.

Suprise Bachelorette Party Goodness

2009-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

So last night. LAST NIGHT. *laughing*

K and I thought we were going to dinner with her brother, Shawn, and sister-in-law, Lauren. We thought it was a little weird when we got to the restaurant and we didn't stop at the hostess station, but some guy told us he had a room reserved. We thought it was super weird that as soon as we walked into the room, someone was aiming a camera at us, and is that MO'Brien?

And it was! The result? A fantastic bachelorette party that didn't require us to party separately, some fantastic food and wine, even BETTER company, 3 embarrassing moments that could have been worse and were actually a lot of fun, the revelation that I don't know K's favorite movie, but that's okay, because she didn't know mine either, scrabble, fondue, a whole lot of chewing gum, blinking light-up "bride" sashes (both of which ended up on K by the end of the night), and a whole lot of hugs.

(Photos are courtesy of Jenn - Thanks!!)

Embarrassing moment number 2. There was a slide show. Of embarrassing baby and teen!years photos. What more could you ask for?

Shawn quizzing K about how well she knows me. Neither of us did very well on this exam, but both of us were about 3 glasses of wine in, to be fair.

The aforementioned great company.

It was SO awesome. So thanks, you guys. We had such a great time.

Deep Breath

2009-10-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Just paid the remaining balance for the venue and tent-rental fees, the photographer's paid off, all that's left is the food bill, and even taking what's left to be paid into account, our budget's looking good. And the best part is? We'll never have to pay that money ever again.

And that is a goooood feeling.

ETA: Also, it has come to K's and my attention that October 17th is supposed to be the day for peak foliage prettiness in NH. My, what good timing! SO COOL.

Lookin' for that chill pill

2009-10-01T11:48:00.001-07:00

As K and I come up on the two week mark (!!), I find myself freaking out more and more, not about whether we're making the right decision, but about how we're going to pull everything off, there's so much to do, oh god what if this happens or doesn't happen or that falls through or or or...

But you know what? Two weeks.

TWO WEEKS

THAT'S CRAZY.

*panics and flails*

I'm so glad K has a good head on her shoulders and can get me breathing again every so often. Now! Off to make some programs!

In Sum

2009-09-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

The dresses? They're gonna kick some srs butt.

Leah just left from our fitting/ visit time, it's 1:00 AM, and I can say with confidence that K and I are gonna look HOT. They should be done by Monday, at which time we will have them in our hot little hands, and at which time I will commence with the "beading" by which I mean, I will commence sewing clock bits onto my dress.

I'm glee-ing out right now. She's so talented.

(Ugh aheheheh I totally forgot to take pictures again.)

Centerpieces

2009-09-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

As I was working on printing our programs and waiting for our printer to get its stuff together (some of the pages of some of the programs are going to be pink or purple or blue or crazy rainbows because the black and white ink decided to drop some acid before printing some of these, I don't even know, but eff it, they'll look cool), I finally got around to taking some pictures of the centerpieces Cassie helped K and I make a few weeks ago. The photos aren't great, but I'm sure the photographer will get some pics of them once they're like, on the official tables on the official day and stuff, but. Here's a peak at some of them:

Later today: Dress fitting! (And Leah Time!!)
This Weekend: Wedding Shower Weekend!

Engagement Photos Are A GO!

2009-09-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

K and I just got back from meeting with our fantastic photographer, NH Images, and though we walked away poorer a whole bunch'a dollahs, we also came home richer a disk full of 80-something high-res images to with what we wish, so long as we don't turn a profit. SO! I thought I'd post a handful of photos from our Engagement Photo Session! (Though, it feels weird to call it that, since our engagement was such a long one. It's more of a Hey Yippy We're Getting Hitched Photo Session, really.)

2009-09-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

On Monday (That's tomorrow, actually. Huh.), a few things of note will be occurring. First, Leah is coming to do another fitting for the dresses (the third to last, I believe? There will be three of them next week and the dresses are scheduled to be done by the 26th or the end of the month at the latest. We are so lucky), and I can't wait to see what they're looking like. Not to mention I, oh, I dunno, miss her like woah. So. That's an awesome day right there as it is! I'll try to remember to take some pictures this time. We'll see how that goes.

But wait! It gets better! K and I are also going to be meeting with our photographer to pick up our engagement session photos and discuss which photos we want them to make sure to take day of. I'm pretty psyched to see the pictures. So keep your eyes peeled for some highlights of those soon, as well. I'm looking forward to finding out if K and I (not normally very photogenic) actually look decent in photos in the hands of a very talented professional. *laughing*

Also, I don't know how many of you out there are actually reading this, and I don't know how many of you are also LGBTQ engaged couples, but there's an awesome give-away going on over here. So if you're an LGBTQ couple lookin' to get married/ who just got married, you should check it out.

So yeah. This is the boring "heads-up" post. Hopefully the next couple of posts will be a bit more interesting.

Five Years

2009-09-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

As of today, K and I have been together for five whole years.

And next month, we get to start being together for the Rest Of Our Lives.

I can't wait.

If I were a better blogger, I'd write about how after five years, it still seems like we're just starting out, and it seems like we've been together forever. I'd write about how easy it is to have entire conversations in only exchanged glances, never a word spoken, but it's easy to read the muscle tension in her shoulders or the set of her eyebrows. I'd write about that wonderful sixth sense that comes with knowing someone so well that it's like they're an extension of yourself. I'd write about how love is work, and even though there are fights and hard times, the work seems effortless when that first kiss seals the deal on making up, especially when you were never really afraid you would split due to the argument (maybe a little afraid it would just result in some couch time for the night, but that's not so scary come morning).

I had something like three more paragraphs about this stuff, but it was cheesy and dumb and it doesn't even begin to encompass what I'm feeling and how thankful I am.

So instead, this: I love that I fall in love with her at least once a day, and I love that we have so many wonderful friends and family who believe in us and support our relationship like they would any other. That means the world to me.

Let There Be Cake!

2009-09-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

We ordered our super secret stealth wedding cakes today! We're getting them from this fantastic place in Amherst called the Dutch Epicure and goodness do they bake tasty things. These are stealth wedding cakes because the bakery has not been let in on the information that they are going to be consumed at a wedding, since the use of the W-word tends to lead to unnecessary price jacking.

So we ordered awesome cakes for a "theme party." The theme being steampunk which they had, of course, not heard of. We were originally going to go with some marzipan steampunk decorations, but apparently marzipan requires special care so it won't melt before our awesome party--and we both figure that around the day-before-the-wedding point we might be just a wee bit too stressed to care about the state of marizpan. Marzipan nixed, we're falling back on Plan B: super awesome tasy cakes and DIY.

Have I mentioned that I cant wait? :)

2009-08-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

K and I wanted those cheesy "BRIDE! YAY!" t-shirts too, only we didn't want to pay a bajillion bucks for them and we didn't want them bedazzled to hell. Therefore, the obvious solution was to buy some cheap t-shirts from A.C.Moore, and I'd paint them.

So today, I broke out the fabric paint and the fabric markers and had some fun painting! I'm super proud of the results.

This one's K's:

And here's mine:

I tried to make 'em steampunky, so I figured you can't go wrong with robots and clock towers, right? :)

The War of the Flower Beings

2009-08-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of having gone with silk flowers (besides that they're very eco-friendly, re-usable, and mucho cheaper than real ones) is that we get to play with them as far ahead of time as we want.

And we wanted to play with them yesterday. Because it is fun. So there.

Our wonderful friend (and from hence-forth, she shall be referred to as The Bitchin' Bloom Wonder Warrior), Cassie, came over and graciously offered her help to us in this matter for the small price of a few daiquiris. It was well worth it and a lot of fun, but little did we know that the stems of these fake flowers were made of wire clearly forged on the planet Krypton. And, while we didn't have any Kryptonite with which to conquor these beasts (otherwise we would have had multi-foot long stems on everything), we did have a saw.

Below, you will find, for the sake of Historic Record Keeping and also the lulz, a photo-story illustrating the Fierce Battle of the Blooms:

(Also, hey, did you notice my cool use of Poladroid? It's that neat-o thing that probably everyone and their grandmother knows about, but in case you haven't played with it yet, click the above link. It's cool. I promise.)

Wedding Shoes Have Been Acquired

2009-08-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

I found my shoes today! And what's more, they kick ass. I mean this in the way that they're totally not shoes that will only be worn once. I'll likely wear them every single day from my wedding on until they disintegrate from use because they are So. Darn. Comfy.

I'm such a hippie yuppie kid. Yeah. They're Birkenstock Clogs. And they'll be perfect and I guarantee I'll have the comfiest feet around. And now I don't have to feel cruddy for buying shoes I'll only wear once and feeling like that was a waste of money! Especially since I couldn't find a pair that both fit and matched my fabric for under $20, like K did*. And frankly, if I'm going to pay more than $20 for shoes, they'd better last me years. I'm super psyched.

*Also, in case you were wondering, here's a nifty swifty photo of K's shoes. Well, one of them anyway:

Some Thoughts on Wedding Uniqueness and the Speshul-Indie-Super-Cool-Kid Image

2009-08-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of pressure out there, it seems, to be a Super Speshul Indie Original Politically Conscious Bride.

And I like to think I'm doing all that just fine, but sometimes we need to step back and kind of evaluate things a bit.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and then I came across this post over at To Each Her Own, and it made me think.

For instance, Kris and I both have strong political beliefs and a strong aversion to the diamond industry as a whole, so when we decided to buy our rings, we both set out to get Indie Super Cool Cheap Non-Diamond Unique Rings That Say We Are Very Sensible And Green.

Well. I'm here to admit, officially, in a public forum, we both walked away with diamonds. Granted, they're really more like diamond chips, so the cheap part worked out well. And we bought them from a seller (a mainstream one, yes, I'll admit it) that only sells Green diamonds. Guaranteed not to be soaked in the blood of, well, anyone. But there's still this feeling of guilt and a need to explain or defend our choice of diamonds. See? Even now, I'm explaining.

But the rings are beautiful and they make us feel beautiful and they really feel like the perfect symbols of our commitment, you know? And that's really what they are. So who cares?

Why should I feel the need to defend myself? Where is this guilt coming from?

Sometimes that Indie Super Conscious Unique Image needs to be re-evaluated to make sure you're not being unique for the sake of being edgy alone.

It's about so much more than that; it's about being true to yourself and feeling PERFECT and knowing that the beautiful you feel is about so much more than just pretty. So sometimes, traditional and cheap and expected holds something special and unexpected and priceless, and it's good to step back and be brave enough to look past the knee-jerk reaction of Wedding-Industry-Rebellion.

Good News, Everyone!

2009-08-11T17:19:00.001-07:00

I've just had a brilliant plan!

(And no one can stop me from making bad Futurama jokes, apparently.)

There is a reason K likes to keep me away from my blogroll full of DIY crafting blogs.

What if. JUST WHAT IF. I learned to master Sculpy (Hint: probably not). And then I'd be able to make ALL KINDS OF WILD THINGS. Like menu holders for the buffet! And the seating chart! And they could be shaped like ROBOTS!

Guys?

Guys?

Where are you all going?

Musings

2009-08-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

The other night, I was sitting in the living room watching K on the deck just on the other side of the sliding glass door. She was saying something to my mom about the garden she's been working so hard on, the one she lets me help with sometimes, even though I have an awful black thumb. There are vegetable sprouts coming up now for a late harvest, and she was explaining something about it that I couldn't hear from inside.

I guess it sounds a little cheesy, but I just kept thinking, I hope this is what's in store for the rest of our lives. She was laughing, and I couldn't hear it, but I could see it in her body even though her back was turned to me. And I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot.

Lately, too, we've been told on a couple of occasions how strange and funny it is to watch the two of us together, that we read each other so easily and silently; people can see whole conversations happen between us through exchanged looks alone. I guess I've never really thought about it, but once it was pointed out to me, I've been more conscious of it. And you know what? That's what I love about being in love. There's so much understanding and not really a need to constantly fill gaps of space with sound because you're just comfortable and you just understand.

You guys, I can't wait to be married to her.