trying it on for size

last week on our way downtown to the phillies game, j. tried on my new spoon ring. i wear it on my right middle finger, but he tried it on his ring finger.

he said he would never get used to the way it feels but then told me [later] that he'd forgotten about it 2 minutes after he put it on.

hooray!! i'm so excited to see a wedding ring on his finger in just over 5 months!!

[this is silly, but] i've started looking at wedding bands on etsy. some of my favs are thin solid white gold bands. here are my two favs: number two. too bad the second ring is sold already!!! dang.

j. said he wants a titanium ring so i've looked a little on etsy for those, too.
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on another note, i love love love reading wedding blogs. and reading them makes me want to have one. although i don't think i could make it interesting enough... plus i don't take enough pictures. plus i already have this blog. hmm...

he thinks i'm fun

nearly every weekend i discover a new glimpse into joel's mind and another tidbit about his thought process early on in our relationship.

the other day he told me that last summer he was thinking about whether or not to try to continue things with me once he returned from michigan. he was looking at my facebook page/pics with some of his close friends. they all thought i looked really fun. j. said he thought "this girl looks so fun. i bet if i continue this i could have a lot of fun..."

and then he thought "i just need to get over myself and ask her out again" [or something like that.]

i'm so so so so so glad he did.

& i hope he continues to think i'm fun for the next 60 years... even though i'm sometimes irresponsible and choose fun over hard work. and even though i totally embarass him by taking cardboard boxes out of the top of dumpsters.

cute clothing!

ooooooooooooooof course i'm at work alone today. again. and of course i'm spending all my time putzing around on the internet. mostly looking at wedding stuff, but sometimes straying off track.

i stumbled across lands end's new line called "canvas". check it out. so so cute. these 2 shirts are my favs:
i also really really like these khakis. if i get a full-time job for the fall within the next 2 months, i will celebrate by buying these to wear to work.
[p.s. i found canvas through design mom. who i found through oh happy day]

xoxo, melissa elaine chiasson

today is my best friend's 24th birthday. that's a good excuse to brag on her, isn't it? [not that i really need an excuse. but still.]

melissa is such an awesome friend. she's super hilarious [and thinks i'm funny, too]. she has a killer smile ["you can't improve perfection"...]. she works hard. she loves people. she likes entertaining. she has a really cute style. she enjoys artsy things & home-cooked meals.
but none of those things are the reason she's my bestest. the reason she's my bestest is because she loves me for me.

she lets me be my grouchy, rude, impatient, selfish self. and she challenges me to not be any of those things.

but still she loves me. she knows my heart. she can read my mind [sometimes this quality gets us into trouble in social settings...] and she understands me. even though we're basically opposites, still she understands. and still she likes me. and still she loves me.

i think that's amazing*[p.s. can you believe that when i posted yesterday, i spelled my own best friend's last name wrong?! it's fixed now!]

wedding planning 3

these three weeks alone @ work have been torturous at times. it feels so lame to have no real work to do. however, it has been good to crank out some small wedding details.

accomplished: j. ordered his tux [when he tried on the jacket, i lost my breath for a second~] and bought ties for his groomsmen. i have two good reception site options: one is better than the other in terms of looking nice. i'm regularly updating my registry, thinking of more things we'll need. it's likely but not 100% certain that we're getting our reception catered by Qdoba. i dunno about our guests [sorry, dad!], but i personally love love love mexican food so i'm super duper excited. i ordered a dress from nordstrom & it arrived yesterday. i'm pretty sure i need 1 size smaller, but i can't decide whether to order it or to get another dress i really like from nordstrom....

upcoming: j. closes on our house on friday!!! we'll spend the evening cleaning together. then our friends help us move his stuff & the furniture we inherited in on saturday. he'll start staying there on saturday & i hope november hurries up so i can move in, too!

ideas: i've started thinking about ceremony and reception music. it looks like the ceremony will be a mix of slow songs played via iPod and perhaps live music played by some friends. the reception will be based on a playlist, including tunes for dinner & dancing!

things i didn't think about: getting a block of rooms at a nearby hotel so all our relatives can stay together. rehearsal/rehearsal dinner organization.

funny story: two weeks ago j. suggested we have kent [sam & ML's dog!] as our ring bearer. i absolutely vetoed the idea, and now it's settled into a comfortable joke. when he presented the idea to his parents last night, his dad said "well, they allow service dogs. he'll be performing a service for you guys..." [haha!!!!!]

unrelated but adorable photos:

january wedding

nope, we didn't change our wedding from november to january, but my post title is the name of my current favorite song. i'm such a copy-cat. melissa liked the song first. she gets all credit for introducing me to the song/the band.

check it out. avett brothers. january wedding.
so so so sweet. don't believe me? check out some of the lyrics:

She keeps it simple
And I am thankful for her kind of lovin'
'Cause it's simple

No longer do we wonder if we're together
We're way past that
And I've already asked her
So in January we're gettin' married

She's talkin' to me with her voice
Down so low I barely hear her
But I know what she's sayin'
I understand because my heart and hers are the same
And in January we're gettin' married

I hope that I don't sound to insane when I say
There is darkness all around us
I don't feel weak but I do need sometimes for her to protect me
And reconnect me to the beauty that I'm missin'
And in January we're gettin' married

happy 1st anniversary!

to my dear friends dan & becca:
they stayed at the shore for their anniversary this weekend and invited us all to come and hang out yesterday. we had a lovely lunch and relaxed on the beach. they have a funny/cute dog and we played with her, too.

my local group of friends is seriously fun. i'm so grateful to have them here, as joel & i will be starting off our married life in this area. it's awesome to have friends and loved ones living so close!