The Daily Bacon

Happy Halloween! (also, don't call me for a month)

2009-10-31T10:55:00.004-04:00

Boo!

Scared you, didn't I? Tee hee.

OK, so it's Halloween, the night where I dress up like Frida Kahlo, ditch Hot Pants (who is sick) and go to a party. At midnight, instead of turning into a pumpkin, I will transform into a literary genius with my first attempt at NaNoWriMo. (Now, that's scary.)

So, if I don't pick up the phone for the next 30 days, don't hate. Just know that I will let you share in my millions when my clever, pithy novel becomes the top-selling book of all time.

NaNoWriHuh?

2009-10-22T17:43:00.003-04:00

I have just committed myself to writing a 50,000-word novel between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30. It's National Novel Writing Month! Yeee haw!

What do I get at the end of it, aside from self-respect and a bloated ego for being so clever? A T-shirt, I think. Or I may have to pay for that. I don't know. The point is, I'm doing this and it's going to fucking rock. The novel won't fucking rock, mind you. Because I will have to write 1,600 words daily to get it done in time, and that kind of crunch rarely produces awesome results. But the process, people. The process will rock. It's a like a giant creative catharsis. A writing-gasm, if you will. Ew.

Just 11 days until the fun begins! Watch out, Dave Eggers!

Music, music, music!

2009-10-08T16:07:00.004-04:00

Wooo! New music!

* Firstly, there's Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, which put out this fabulous single on their debut album. Here's their recent appearance on Letterman. Ignore the stupid talk bubbles the poster inserted into the video.

* The Avett Brothers put out a new record with producer/music magnate/facial hair enthusiast Rick Rubin. It's a lot more polished than their previous albums, which has been a tough adjustment for me. I liked how imperfect their voices sounded and their lo-fi studio chat before and after songs. But I find myself listening to the album over and over again, mesmerized by the songs. Maybe ol' Rick knew what he was doing after all.

* Wild child Karen O has released the "Where the Wild Things Are" soundtrack and you can stream online for free. Check it out. I can't wait to see what Spike Jonze has done with my favorite children's book! If Maurice Sendak approves, it's got to be more than OK.

A proper thank you

2009-10-01T13:47:00.006-04:00

I got married last weekend!

Chances are you, you already know this. Because you were probably there.

But just in case you didn't, I'm now someone's wife. It's kind of weird.

I only have one regret from the whole thing. During the reception, we had a time where we thanked everyone for their love and support, etc. I did not take time to prepare myself for this activity, which is why I panicked later realizing that I hadn't thanked everyone I needed to. I made 1 million lists for my wedding but managed not to make a list for that. *Head desk*

So, here's what I should have said:

We would like to thank each and every one of you for your role in our
lives. You have made us who we are today, both as individuals and as a couple. But there are some people here who went above and beyond the call of duty and deserve to be named individually. In no particular order...
Sara Jackson designed the awesome programs that so many of you have asked about. She is a truly amazing and talented person, and I am fortunate to have worked with her. Plus, she's got a really cute kid. Hi, Owen!

The Rev. Lindsay Riddell officiated the wedding, and what a marvelous job she did! She made it look easy to stand up in front of 100 people and formalize a marriage. Lindsay will always be one of my favorite people on the planet, and I am so happy she could be such an important part of our wedding.

Ashley Heher, please stand up. This girl kept me single-handedly calm and collected this week. She helped me walk it off when I wanted to yell at people (sorry, Mom!) and was invaluable in getting stuff done. She made to-do lists, sent me calendar entries and reminded me to breathe. I could not have made it without her. Thank you, Noodles.

A whole group of our friends showed up early this morning to put up the beautiful decorations you see all around you. In fact, Lindsay had to scale the entrance gate because it was locked this morning. So, thanks to all of you who took time out of what could have been a lazy morning to make my wedding gorgeous.

I love all of you so much and am so grateful for your help. You have made today unforgettable.

What's in your file?

2009-08-29T09:26:00.006-04:00

My mom recently gave me the big file she kept on me throughout my life...report cards, standardized test scores, finger prints, my birth announcement, etc. It's as if the comments from my teachers were written yesterday, not 20 years ago.

My kindergarten teacher told my parents I needed to work on neatness in writing and coloring and should focus on "being a better listener." This would serve as a theme throughout my report cards, as if all my teachers had gotten together and told each other that I talk too much. This teacher also wrote that I had "trouble with small and large motor coordination." Yes, indeed, I was a klutz even then.

My first-grade teacher wrote that I needed to work on "neatness and excessive talking." In P.E., she wrote that I had "a difficult time picking up new concepts or skills." I'm guessing my personal trainer could attest to that if you called him right now.

My second-grade teacher wrote that I needed to "continue to work nightly on her math facts, as this is slightly a weak area for her." If she had only known what a weak area it would be! Math is the bane of my existence. For each one of my standardized tests, I blew the roof off the verbal, vocabulary, spelling and reading sections. The math sections had me down in the 60th percentile or lower. It's the reason why the 28 I got on the ACT was mind-blowingly awesome considering I bombed the math portion.

Fast forward to eighth grade when I scrawled "yuck" on my report card because I got a B and a B+ mixed in with my As. I was a perfectionist even then, aiming for all As on every report card. Freaking myself out when I didn't quite meet my own, irrationally high expectations.

Inspiration

2009-08-28T10:20:00.003-04:00

Hello, friends.

Thought I had forgotten you, eh? Well, I had. But then some inspiration hit, and I couldn't get you out of my mind.

Firstly, my friend Noodles has started a new blog about training for a 5k after, um, not training for, like, her whole life. She and her coworker, Shawn, lost their minds and decided to do a couch-to-5K by Nov. 1. I give them both crazy mad props, not only because that's quite a feat, but also because the blog is hilarious.

Secondly, I saw "Julie and Julia." Yeah, it was too long and the parts with Amy Adams weren't nearly as good as the parts with Meryl Streep. But what I came away with was how much blogging _ and in turn, the cooking challenge she set for herself _ helped her dig out of a deep, dark sadness hole. I've been down a few of those holes in my life and can appreciate the strategery.

Lastly, I miss writing for me. Meeeeeeeeeeee. I spend all day at work writing for other people the way other people want me to write, and I started this blog so I could flee that misery. This is supposed to be my saving grace, and instead, I made it a chore. Well, fuck that. I'm done with that.

Now, I order you to listen to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It will make your Friday worthwhile.

Welcome to SNAFUville

2009-08-08T16:33:00.000-04:00

We are 49 days from the wedding, and things are starting to get really interesting. And by interesting, I mean WHAT THE FUCK, PEOPLE, ARE YOU TRYING TO SEND ME TO AN EARLY GRAVE?!!??!!?!

Ahem.

The lovely dress I ordered in March has yet to arrive here in Atlanta. The latest information from the dress shop is that it is en route from "the Orient" to the distributor. Once it gets there, they will mail it to the shop, where I will retrieve it and beg a seamstress to alter it for me. Now, the seamstresses I talked to say they need six to eight weeks to do the alterations, particularly because I've lost a bunch of weight since I ordered the dress. But we are already seven weeks from the wedding and the dress probably won't be in my possession for at least another week and a half. Great.

And speaking of getting married, don't try to do it in Tennessee without a properly ordained minister or justice of the peace. The Volunteer State is one of just four states that don't recognize online ordination, which is how my wonderful friend Mooch got her certification to do my ceremony. Turns out we have to get married at the courthouse to make it legit. Add that to my ever growing to-do list. Awesome.

That to-do list includes such small items as choosing the menu, making the music playlist for the reception iPod and decorating the grounds of the place we're having the reception and ceremony. No big deal.

Beantown in photos

2009-07-25T09:32:00.016-04:00

I've been meaning to post photos from our eventful trip to Boston last month. No time like the present.

Chowdah!

A Red Sox game at Fenway

Mmmm. Beer.

Plymouth Rock, in all its glory

The first thing the Pilgrims saw? Yachts!

Boat thingees on Plymouth harbor

Not art at Harvard

The bridge to Harvard

Where everybody knows your name

Make way for the ducklings

The Freedom Trail

I can see the little Japanese people running now...

2009-07-20T21:59:00.005-04:00

I was never one of Those Girls. You know the kind. They primp and preen and pout and prance and other p-words. They're twits. They're the kind of girls who, when they get engaged, turn into complete and total lunatics. They're the kind of girls I hated in high school and who, at my 10 year reunion, had not changed one bit despite the five urchins they'd managed to pop out before the age of 28. (Have I mentioned I went to a super conservative Christian high school?)

So, when Hot Pants proposed, I immediately swore to myself I wouldn't worry about stupid shit that didn't matter when it came to planning the wedding. Um, yeah. Here is the list of minutiae I have managed to focus on while losing sight of the bigger picture items, such as the reception menu and the ceremony.

1. Shoes. I am not wearing shoes during the ceremony. I've wanted to be barefoot at my wedding since I was a little girl, though I can't really remember why. Probably has something to do with the hippies who raised me. Anyway, part of the reception is outside, so I decided I needed shoes for that. But you can't wear old shoes on your wedding day! You must buy brand new shoes that are shiny and pretty. I've bought three pair so far (yes, three) and I'm pretty sure I've decided on which ones to wear, but that could all go out the window the second I run across another pair of adorable flip-flops with sparkly flowers on top. Or striped ballet slippers. Or another pair of green Chuck Taylors. Or those kitten heeled peep toe shoes!

2. Earrings. Oh, dear God, the earrings. My dress has an antique look to it, so I wanted art deco earrings. But I also wanted vintage, which can be pricey. And I need them to go with my grandmother's pearl necklace. Or do I scrap the necklace and wear big, long sparkly statement earrings? Is it more important to wear heirloom jewelry, even if it isn't the Perfect Pair of Earrings? Still, I want to honor the women who helped make me who I am today, even if they didn't wear beautiful tear drop earrings with filigree and crystals. People, I have been to a ton of weddings in the last three years and I cannot tell you what the earrings looked like on a single one of those brides. Chances are, I could wear radishes in my ears and no one would bat an eye. And, yes, I have bought two different pairs of earrings that I still don't think are quite right. The quest continues.

3. Envelope liners. Wow, did I ever have a quandary on my hands when I found out about envelope liners. See, our invites are really cool but kind of plain, so I was looking for ways to gussy up the invites without a) spending a lot of cash and b) making them too froofy. Envelope liners seemed perfect. I had visions of making them myself (all the cool DIY brides are doing it), but that went out the window when I thought about actually having to execute that plan. And then I debated whether I should get them at all considering envelopes are the first thing to go in the recycling bin in our household. Who gives a shit if the damn things are lined? Spend that money on booze! Besides, I was having a hell of a time finding the right size since we apparently chose the largest envelopes known to man. All the cute patterns are for the dainty little envelopes that only eat three bites before saying they're full and wear cute little dresses without looking ridiculous. I hate those bitches. After several days of searches (both on the Internet and in my soul), I found some cool liners for cheap that will look awesome with our invites. Done.

You say it's your birthday...

2009-07-14T22:45:00.005-04:00

It's my birthday, too, yeah! (No, really. It is.)
This time 30 years ago, I looked like this. Give or take a few hours.

Newsfeed

2009-07-08T10:56:00.003-04:00

Newsfeed away!

1. We found Kevin's mom! She was this very nice, very clueless young woman who asked us for dog-owning advice. Thus ensued a very nice, very long sermon from Hot Pants and me on her missteps. For starters, she told us he had run away several times before, "but he always came back." Uh, he's run away before yet you've never gotten him a tag? Um, yeah. He weighs 3 pounds and runs in the street, so chances are pretty good he's going to get squashed by a car. Get him a tag right now! She also told us that she didn't want to get him neutered because she wanted to breed him. I informed her that he would run away a lot less (and hump a lot less) if she would have his boys snipped off. Lastly, she announced she's moving to France in two months and wasn't sure what she needed to do to take him with her. Sigh. Here is where I told her that we would be happy to find a home for him if she couldn't take him. People, people, people. Don't buy a dog unless you're ready for the long list of responsibilities that come with it.

2. How sad was the Michael Jackson memorial yesterday? I was fine and making snarky comments about everything until his daughter, Paris, got up there and started sobbing about how much she loves her Daddy. Holy hell, did I cry! So effing sad.

3. Two friends of mine have started a rather hilarious blog called Matt and Marlene Devour the Culture. Read and love.

And he shall be called Kevin

2009-07-03T23:54:00.006-04:00

We found the cutest little long-haired Chihuahua wandering around our street last night, scared to death of the big bad world. He's got a collar but not tag. Way to go, conscientious owners.

He's a sweetie, but he's caused quite the stir in our house, as Oscar The Only Dog Who Ever Existed In the Whole World isn't very happy to learn his name isn't terribly accurate.

We've posted signs around the neighborhood, figuring the little guy couldn't get very far on his four tiny legs. It'll be a week before we start looking for a new home for him, so get in line now.

Meanwhile, I'm calling him Kevin. Behold!

News feed

2009-07-02T16:02:00.004-04:00

I've been kind of bitchy latey. First the squirrels, then Boston. I promise to be better about the bitter. For now, here's some what's in the hopper lately:

1. It's been two months since Hot Pants and I started personal training, and we are seeing great results. I've lost 13 pounds and gained muscle and confidence. I'm not sure how much he's lost (though I know it's more than I have ... men are so lucky!), but he looks awesome. I'm hoping I can shed some more of me before the wedding dress arrives and I have the first fitting. I ordered it in late March, so I should be getting the call from the dress shop in the next few weeks telling me it's here! *Does happy dance*

2. "So You Think You Can Dance" is back! The season has been really good so far, and I've actually been disappointed at a few of the dancers who've gone home. I've finally learned to love Sonya and Mia Michaels, both who drove me nuts last year. (Although, now that I've seen her Web site, I might feel differently about Mia...) My favorite dancers are Melissa, the ballerina with a heart of gold, and Evan, the Gene Kelly-esque Broadway dancer.

3. Michael Jackson died. Just in case you were, you know, living under a rock or just stupid.

4. My dad's been scanning and sending me old photos to display during the wedding. Here's some eye candy.

Fuck you, Boston

2009-06-27T18:16:00.014-04:00

This is a tale of the worst vacation ever.
We should have seen it coming. After all, we've had horrible weather in every other city we've visited this year, including riding out a tropical depression along the Gulf Coast that flooded the island we were staying on and buried our car in sand and surf. See?

Washington, D.C.? Cold and rainy. Chicago? Rainy and cold. The beach? Flooding, wind, rain, evacuation. You get the picture.

So why would Boston be different? We just had no clue what Beantown had in store for us.
First, our flight was delayed leaving Atlanta, which meant we arrived in Boston at 2 a.m. We had a bike tour scheduled for the next day, but we decided to postpone it because of the nasty weather. We spent the day walking around, avoiding downpours by running into stores. That night, we went to the Braves-Red Sox game at Fenway, where the Bravos absolutely ruled. (Woot!) The rain held off during the game, but this was my view during the game from my "partially obstructed" seat.

The next day dawned gloriously sunny. We nabbed a ridiculously expensive rental car and headed for Plymouth to attend a wedding. We didn't have time to see much of the town before the ceremony, but we did see a rather disappointing rock that played some importance in our country's founding. Big lot of hooey, it is.

The wedding was gorgeous, and we met some really awesome people at the reception while dancing the night away. Plus, they had an ice cream sundae bar. Mmmm!

Back to the tragedy.

We woke up the next morning to biting wind and a nasty misting rain. So much for touring Plymouth. Back in the car to Boston, where the roads are so confusing that it took us an hour to find our hotel right across from Harvard. You've heard of Harvard, right? Google Maps seems to be confused as to where it is. Or, at least, the GPS in our iPhones seemed to be confused about where we were in relationship to Harvard. Arg. More rain, more walking, more wet feet and cold. Cambridge is cool, but I'd rather see it when my extremities are dry.

The next morning was just as disgusting. We decide to take that bike tour anyway, as it was our last day in Boston and we didn't want to eat the tickets. About five minutes into the tour, I fell off the bike, skinning up my hand and knee on Beacon Hill. Awesome.

I got back up, hopped on my bike and continue with the 10-mile tour (after some first aid). Ouchy ouch ouch. By the end of the ride, we were cold and very, very wet. My hand, wrist and knee ached. We walked around the North End neighborhood for a while and grabbed some tasty pasta for lunch, where Hot Pants promptly dumped a full glass of Diet Coke all over himself.

Determined to make the best of it, we headed back out into the rain to see about the Institute of Contemporary Art's Shepard Fairey exhibit. I noticed my ankle and foot starting to hurt, but I chalked it up to my hugging the sidewalk earlier. After a mile and a half trudging through the rain, we discovered the ICA was closed. It's Monday. Fuck.

We grabbed a cab and headed for Cheers, where I gleefully bought a pair of dry socks to relieve my feet of their misery. At this point, I was kind of limping from the ankle pain. The more I walked, the worse it got and before long, I could barely walk. Fuck.

Finally, we decided to just head for the airport, where was now hopping on my one good foot and cussing under my breath. We checked to see what gate we were leaving from, only to discover that our flight was delayed for FOUR HOURS. This was where I announced really loudly that I hate Boston. No longer able to walk at all, I sent HP off to find a wheelchair. Turns out you can get checked in and through airport security really quickly if one person in your party is in a wheelchair. That's great, unless you're at Logan airport, where the AirTran terminal has absolutely nothing but a small newsstand and you're stuck there for, I don't know, FOUR HOURS.

I had to elevate my ankle, so I ended up lying on the floor with my foot up in the chair, showing the entire world my Cheers socks. We finally arrived home at midnight, never more glad to see our cat-hair infested home. I'm sure Boston is great, but I'm not really interested in going back any time soon.

Peachy Keen

2009-06-17T20:22:00.002-04:00

I live in the Peach State, even though Georgia actually is third in the nation for peach production, behind California and South Carolina. Whatever. We're the ones with peaches on our license plates. Imagine how excited I was when I moved in with Hot Pants and discovered the very lovely tree in our front yard was, in fact, a peach tree! I had visions of making homemade peach pie and canning peaches for the winter and doing all sorts of homespun peach things with the peaches because they are peachy.

Fast forward a few months to when the tree started to actually produce peaches. Did you know peach trees produce too many peaches, so you have to constantly thin your crop or you'll end up with tiny, nubby peaches instead of gorgeous juicy ones like you see at the grocery store? Yeah, um, it's really fun spending time each afternoon picking tiny little peach buds off a tree in your front yard. Woot.

We did the best we could, but by the middle of the summer, the tree's branches were sagging under the weight of its fruit. Add in a two-year-old drought, and what you have on your hands is a bunch of broken branches. Not just one or two branches, but, like, entire hunks of the tree just ripped right off. The tree just gave the hell up. And the peaches looked like sad little golf balls.

That's when we decided to trot off across the country on a nine-day vacation, leaving our miserable little peach tree to fend for itself. About three days in, we got a call from our next-door neighbor, Julie. A lady and her five children had pulled up in front of the house and started loading trash bags full of our peaches. Despite threats from Julie that the police would be involved if they didn't leave, the woman continued harvesting our fruit. I was livid. If that woman had come by when we were home, knocked on the door and asked for some peaches, I would have gladly given her as many as she could carry. It's a terrible economy, and folks have got to help each other out. But to just take them? That's bullshit. Sure enough, when we got home, what few peaches were left were rotten.

This year comes along, and the drought is over and the tree looks healthy and I'm all "We're gonna have peaches!" I carefully thinned our crop, thinking of all the wonderful things I could make with the fruit. Long about mid-May, we noticed gnawed on little ball-like things all over our back deck. Yep. Squirrels. Motherfuckers ate every last one of our peaches and left the evidence on the back deck, just in case we didn't feel the sting of the theft enough. There is not a single goddamn peach on that tree and the season isn't even half over! Fucking rodents.

So far, it's:

Thieves and rodents - 2

CB - 0

Clean cut vs. Guyliner

2009-05-21T09:40:00.005-04:00

There was a moment during last night's "American Idol" finale where Adam Lambert appeared in the gayest outfit I've ever seen on that show. He had on stacked gold boots, tight black leather from head to toe and some kind of sparkly, wire wing-like raised shoulder guard things. Hot Pants burst into hysterical laughter.

"I hope he wins, because that means American would have voted for THAT!" he said between shrieks.

As it turns out, American didn't vote for that. Or, at least, enough of American didn't, despite Lambert's lovefest with the judges throughout the season. America vote for Mr. White Bread. Shock!

Truth be told, I like Kris Allen. He was a big ol' snoozefest at the beginning, but he really showed his stuff as the season wore on. His rendition of "Ain't No Sunshine" was AWESOME. I loved his Kanye West cover. I thought his Michael Jackson cover was decent. For the first time in a while, I agree with America on this one. I didn't like David Cook. I hate Taylor Hicks. Jordin Sparks is boring. Carrie Underwood is not my style. Kelly Clarkson? Nope. But there's a tiny chance I might actually buy a Kris Allen album, provided he doesn't do a whole record of Kara DioGuardi songs.

Martha Stewart, eat your heart out

2009-05-11T22:33:00.005-04:00

After searching through nearly every adorable bird cake topper set on Etsy.com, I sighed heavily and then gave up on the idea of ordering one. They're just too damn expensive. Plus, I knew I could do something similar myself with just a little effort. So, a few weeks ago I was shopping with my sister-in-law-to-be (hyphens! yay!), and we ran across the most adorable little bird salt and pepper shaker set. Add a little tulle, some pearls and a bow tie, and viola! Cake toppers!

Hot Pants crafted little the little brown shoes out of polymer clay and I painted them to look like Chuck Taylors, which he and his best man will be wearing at the wedding. I used the tulle from my mom's veil and the pearls from her dress. I'm really happy with how they turned out, though I'm still considering a hat for the dude bird since he's got three little holes in the top of his head. And I can't decide if I should let them stand alone or if I should attach them to some kind of platform or nest-like thingee.

My crafty streak doesn't end there! I had found the coolest note cards on Etsy for wedding guests to fill out during the reception, but they were, again, pricey. So, I re-purposed the card stock we have left over from the save the dates and put to work a set of stamps that look like typewriter keys. Check it out:

Dum dum da-dum

2009-05-08T22:52:00.006-04:00

Thanks to theknot.com, I know there are exactly 141 days until Hot Pants and I wed. Hard to believe it's that close. Wedding bloggers (yes, I read them. Shut up.) are obsessed with creating inspiration boards to help get their creative juices flowing. I've not created my own, but here are a few I find rather beautiful.

This just in: I'm not dead

2009-05-07T15:01:00.003-04:00

And to prove it, I shall weigh in on the Scrubs debate that is raging out there today.

Will they or won't they?

Last night's season (and Zach Braff) finale sure did play out like a series finale, complete with dozens of past guest star appearances (Laverne! Snoop Dogg Attending! Tasty Coma Wife!), an almost reveal of the The Janitor's name and a home-movie-style glimpse into what could be the future for the characters (much of which was reflected on J.D.'s face, which was a super cool effect). Throw in a Peter Gabriel cover of "The Book of Love" by the Magnetic Fields and touching moments between Carla, Turk, J.D. and Elliott, and we have ourselves the perfect ending to a series that has a special place in my heart.

I can't imagine it any other way, and don't really want to. How could they possibly do the show without J.D.? He's the centerpiece, narrator, protagonist and everyman of the show. Plus, he's Zach Braff. *Swoon* I'm hoping they don't pull a "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" on us and hope we continue watching even though Kelly, Slater, Zack and Lisa have been replaced with a bunch of no-names and Screech on steriods.

What do you think? Will ABC beat this dead horse as it rides a motorcycle over a tank of sharks or will they let the characters live on in syndication?

The fabric of our lives

2009-04-15T12:57:00.003-04:00

Hot Pants pointed me to this super cool project from the Cotton people. It's different artists singing songs they wrote with Cotton's memorable little jingle ("the touch, the feel, the fabric of our lives"), including Zooey Deschanel from She & Him (one of the best actors-turned-singers since Jenny Lewis).

I'm Hanz, and I'm Franz

2009-04-14T17:11:00.004-04:00

Hot Pants and I started sessions with a personal trainer yesterday, which means typing this is very, very painful. In fact, doing anything at all sends twinges of unhappiness up my muscles. Even lying very still. So, I am going to stop typing now and simply tell you to go here and watch this little bit of hilariousness that had me guffawing on Saturday. I nearly peed my pants when Zac Efron said, "They don't project or cheat out!" (NOTE: It's important for you to be a theater dork to get this joke.)

HAHAHAHA. Whimper.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming

2009-04-08T16:16:00.003-04:00

OK, so I did promise not to make this entirely about my upcoming nuptials. Not that there's anything wrong with writing about it! I just want this blog to remain what it was prior to my engagement -- a lovely mish-mash of random things that fascinate me, give me chills, excite me or otherwise catch my eye.

Now that I've mentioned the engagement and the wedding (check and check), I can move on.

Music you should buy RIGHT NOW:
1. The new Neko Case. It's haunting. It's melodic. It's beautiful. You will love it.
2. The Heart Strings. Hot Pants describes it as "twee pop" or "perfectly suited for a moderately happy intro scene of a Zach Braff movie." Yep. You may have to order it from an Amazon dealer because it's not in wide release in the States yet (the British are just so elusive). I found it here.
3. The new Andrew Bird. He's just so tasty that it makes me want to pinch his gaunt, pale, hipster cheeks. This one's got some more of his awesome up-tempo stuff, which is good. Because there's only so much sad bastard music one can take. Even Belle and Sebastian got the hint eventually.

American Idol update:
Why does America keep voting for Scott? I don't care if he's blind. He can't friggin' sing! Stop with the pity votes! Boooooo, Scott!
At first, I adored Danny, but he kind of puts me to sleep now. Plus he sang "Jesus, Take the Wheel," which is one of the worst songs ever written. On the other hand, I hated hated hated Adam at first, but I've loved his last few performances and voted for him each time. Maybe a new stylist would do something about his hair dye and eyeliner problem.
I think Allison rocks and should be snatched up by a record company immediately. I also love Matt. He's so adorable in this geeky way and has a nice set of pipes.

CB, out!

Flower talk

2009-04-02T22:42:00.006-04:00

Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on flowers for corsages and boutonnieres for our nuptials, I decided to go with these beauties from Etsy.

For the womenfolk:

For the boys (but in all green):

For my hair:

For the bouquets, I'm thinking of using green spider mums:

Or green hydrangeas:

DIY wedding

2009-03-30T23:31:00.005-04:00

I promise not to turn this into a wedding blog, but as that particular event is occupying about 98.7 percent of my brain power these days, it could get very wedding-y here at the Daily Bacon.

Just a warning.

Anyway, I like to be crafty, so I'm currently scouting DIY projects for the ceremony and reception. So far, I have decided to make my veil using the tulle from my mom's veil. I also am planning to make a version of these awesome Ann Wood cake topper birds.

So friggin' cute, but expensive and really difficult to come by, as Ann apparently isn't really producing much these days.

We are collecting jars from friends over the next few months to use as hanging votive holders during the ceremony. We're planning to have the service under the trees in the yard of the venue, so votive candles hanging from the tree branches will be lovely.

Meanwhile, Etsy is saving my life. So far, I've ordered the corsages and boutonnieres for the wedding party there. Those links are only approximations because I'm having the artists make them in our colors (light green and dark brown). I'm also looking there for thank-you gifts and other decorations. It's a little addictive.

We're headed to Memphis this weekend to get a good look at the venue and to meet with a cake vendor. I want to do a tiered cupcake display instead of a traditional wedding cake because a) cupcakes rock and b) cupcakes are cheaper. Plus, I can get a lot of different kinds rather than just a couple of kinds of cake.

That is enough wedding for now. Stop yawning.

Deck the halls

2009-03-25T16:32:00.007-04:00

We finally have a deck! It took weeks of meetings with six different companies to get what we wanted at the price we wanted, but it was worth the wait. Exterior Design + Deck did an exquisite job. They showed up on time, they left on time, they didn't annoy us and they didn't cut corners. It's the first time I've ever encountered a contractor that didn't make me want to kill them.

Hot Pants and I went to Lowe's last night to get chairs for our new back porch. These photos aren't the finished product because we have since put on a tin roof and are planning to install a porch swing, but they give you the idea.

Imagine a porch swing attached to that roof. The pattern on the railing is called Chippendale.

That roof has been covered with tin and makes a lovely sound when it rains.