The Wedding Files #2 - Getting Organized

Hello brides! I'm working hard to pump out a bunch of my wedding drafts from when I was resting my arm so thanks for being patient!

Today I want to talk about getting yourself organized so that you can actually really start planning out your big day!

There are many, many moving parts to planning a wedding so before you start, figure out how you're going to keep it all straight.

There are great online resources - of course, nearly everything is online these days! - which all have tips, ideas, trackers and wedding site templates. It's pretty much your free, one-stop resource shop.

We chose Wedding Wire because it has the most Canadian vendors. There were so many factors to consider and I really just needed to pick one and move on. At the end of the day, we only used to build our wedding site as well as track the RSVPs and guest list. That's not because it wasn't useful otherwise - they do have tons of tools - but I'm a plan-on-paper kinda gal.

For those who want something more tangible, you can pick up books or binders like this one from the Knot.

I received the binder from my MOH and it had a really good variety of different wedding tools - tips, ideas, trackers, templates. The best part was that it allowed me to save all of my receipts, contracts, brochures, business cares, samples, etc in one place.

But the holy grail of all of my planning was this customized notebook that I received for my birthday from my hubby shortly after our engagement:

The bottom reads #teamdcdk :)

This is where I kept all of my to do lists, reminders, vendor meeting notes and brainstorming. Plus like 42 versions of our guest list. Seriously, that was painful but I'll leave it for another post...

In the last couple of months when we were getting right into the thick of the knitty gritty, we created a wedding bulletin board with key headings to track important to-do's.

I loved it and even call it the 'Wedding Status' meeting which hubby absolutely hated HAHA I think that made me enjoy it even more LOL But it totally worked! I feel like having a quick visual reference easily accessible to both made a huge difference in not forgetting the small details.

At the end of the day, you can create your own spreadsheets, notebooks, trackers and anything else that will help you stay on top of all of the wedding craziness. It's really whatever works best for you so don't let anyone or anything try to convince you to use tools that just aren't right for you.

Curious to know what tools you guys have used, or plan to use, and why. Also, hit me up with any questions!

My Right Arm is Back!

After nearly six weeks of physio, my right arm is finally starting to feel normal again. I'm so thankful because I thought the pain and discomfort would never end. Though there's no real diagnosis; just repetitive strain.

I've had wrist pain, or what I like to call pre-carpal tunnel, in my right wrist of the last five years or so. I get flare ups a few time a year but they only last about a week with the help of a very sexy brace, which you can also see here.

It's definitely related to my constant computer use - hey, a girl's gotta earn a living - and the associated ergonomics, but I haven't been able to figure out a set up that works for me 100% of the time.

In August, I had another flare up which has pretty much lasted me until about a week ago. Yes, seriously. I finally went to physio when I realized that this 'flare up' wasn't going away on its own and that definitely helped. But because it went on for so long, I was over-compensating with my shoulder and then it turned into a full arm pain. I was...a gimp.

So I had to give up a bunch of stuff. No, sadly going to work wasn't one of them LOL No more leisurely computer use at home, no working out, no more sleeping on my right side... I had to stop and think before everything I did to remind myself to use my left hand. It's so much harder than you realize!

Hopefully this improvement will last and I'll be able to finish all those drafts I started with my phone's voice keyboard. Those things are the best, by the way. So entertaining when they're not insanely infuriating...

Does anyone else suffer from this as well? How do you manage it - I'd love some tips!

things i've learned about blogging

Don't confuse this with a how-to-be-a-good-blogger post. It's probably the opposite so that you can learn from my ways. Even though I've been blogging for over 5 years, with breaks of course, I haven't mastered it all and definitely still make some rookie mistakes. 

- don't ever think that you can quickly put together a [good] post 30 minutes before bed

- if it feels rushed or your heart's not in it, it will most certainly sound that way

- writing about something you think people want to read instead of something you actually care about is not going to make you feel fulfilled

- you will never be able to keep up with all of the link ups out there

- even if I'm not posting, reading other bloggers' posts still makes me feel connected and all warm&fuzzy

- getting comments = amazing feeling!

- blogging isn't about getting comments - it's about whatever makes your heart happy

- 'saving up' to reply to said blog comments will probably lead to you forgetting and then you will feel bad. [apologies to anyone i may currently owe responses to! LOL]

- it's OK to be more excited about receiving emails/likes/tweets from your blog than your IRL ones. trust.

- the likelyhood of you gaining blog famousity is slim, but one can dream...

Summer, Defined

By the looks of all the "Happy September" instagrams today, most people are excited for fall. Or at least think that it's fall now, I'm not really sure. I mean, when is the definitive summer season? Like, how soon is too soon to wear white? Or drink all day on a patio? [hint: never] I feel like there's more than just one moment that I define as the start and end of summer, and since I must not be the only one who wonders about this, I've broken it down for us all. You're welcome.

Because I'm the most indecisive person ever, I kind use a mix of all these to define summer. I feel like I focus all of my "summer plans" in July and August. That's because in June I'm all like, "Yaaaaa I got lots of time! Summer's just starting!" And then it's September and I'm like, "Shiiiit, there's so much I didn't do! I guess next year...". Definitely happened this year. But the last summer hoorah, for me, is definitely Labour Day. Anything later is just desperation to hold on to summer. The #summermemories hashtag begins, as does pumpkin spice everything and cute fall outfits on Pinterest. Yeah, I see you opening a new tab to check those out right now...

No matter how you define summer, it is pretty damn short. By the time you finally get that glowing tan, you have to throw a sweater over it. When you finally get all of your friends on board for a day at the amusement park, it closes. Like I said, short. But oh, so sweet! Make the most of what's left!

How do you define summer?

My BFF Leah [Remini]

We totally met by accident one Wednesday night. There I was hanging out on TLC waiting for my evening of Wahlburgers & Donny Loves Jenny to begin, but instead I was blessed with Leah Remini: It's All Relative. (Then I realized I was on the wrong channel...)

Basically, it's a reality show about the day to day life of Leah Remini and her family, and it's just about the best reality show I've ever seen. Probably because it's so damn refreshing to watch myself on television HAHA We're totally the same person. I mean, you have to know us both to get it but just trust me. Even my husband agrees and usually I have to pay him to agree with me.

I've been a fan of Leah's since Saved by the Bell to the point that those are probably my most favourite episodes of that entire series. I didn't watch King of Queens because I cannot fucking stand the sight or sound of Kevin James. I also somehow I missed her season on Dancing with the Stars but discovering It's All Relative reminded me just how great Leah is.


It's definitely the sarcasm. Cracking up everyone around her without even cracking a smile. It's a gift. We both have it. Leah gives zero fucks about who she offends with her humour - her mother, sister, husband, assistant, camera crew. She dishes out the truth and the people around her take it all in good fun. Honestly, her people need to teach my people how to just get over it. Plus, she's doesn't take herself seriously and I love the shit out of that.

But best of all, I make the same face when my mother says something fucking weird and foreign without my permission while in my presence...

{via GIPHY}

And just in case Leah happens to read this - oh heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy *cheesing fan girl*

The Wedding Files #1 - The Big Question

Not the, "Will you marry me?" question; the other big question.  We'll get to that.

There's a serious misconception about feelings when it comes to getting engaged and planning a wedding. You're expected to be thrilled & excited and anything less is regarded as just plain weird. I'm here to tell you that it's more than ok not to feel this way. In fact, being shocked, scared, doubtful, angry and stressed are far more likely what you'll experience once you get engaged. Along with the happy and exciting moments of course!

I most certainly felt all of the above for the twenty months we were engaged. Yes, twenty whole months. I wrote two posts about wedding planning after we got engaged, and was then MIA for eight months. It's a lot of work but it's worth it in the end. Trust me - I didn't believe it myself until the day was over but it is. You'll see!

That's why I'm starting wedding series - in the hopes that at least some of you will find my experiences beneficial. While nobody's wedding journey is the same, I found it very useful to pick and choose different people's advice and suggestions as I saw fit. I also ignored a lot of the advice because well, sometimes it's just not good advice!

So welcome to...

There are definitely some key things to do before you jump into planning but the most important one is to answer the 'big question' first:

Do you want to have a wedding?

I know how that sounds but seriously - is this what you want? You've more than likely talked to your partner about it before, but if you haven't, now is the time. Who cares what everyone else expects - your fiancé, your family, his/her family, social norms - you need to know what you want! It's not necessarily a black and white yes/no to the wedding, but what you envision for yourself and where you're willing to make compromises.

I hate to break it to you but it's about the marriage, not the wedding so how you two go about this wedding business will be a good indication of how you two handle 'big things' together. So before the next post I need you to go figure out what you want! 

Happy Planning!

Guilty Until Proven Innocent - Adnan Syed

*Spoiler alert! I do discuss the case here a bit so if you think you might want to listen to the podcast, stop reading now!*

In my last post, I mentioned that during my stint away from the blog I had become obsessed with the Serial podcast. That's partially true. What I actually became obsessed with was the case of Adnan Syed and everything surrounding it.

{via}

I didn't catch the podcast in Fall 2014 when it came out so by the time I heard about it this past winter, all of the episodes were available. I devoured them immediately. If I ever couldn't finish a full episode on my commute, I hung out in the lobby to finish them - screw being late! And if there was a cliffhanger, there was no way I was waiting for the next commute. I may or may not have listened to episode 9 in the shower with the bluetooth speaker on full blast. Priorities!

But why was I so obsessed? The case wasn't special - young girl goes missing, her body is found and the ex-boyfriend is convicted. That seems pretty standard (you know what I mean!) and we see it all the time on Dateline. It's certainly no secret that I love real-life crime shows, however I've never cared about a case beyond the episode's conclusion. Possibly because those rarely end such a cloud of convolutedness. Or injustice, whatever you want to call it.

I'm not really here to air my opinions on whether or not I believe Adnan is guilty. It's not the place and any opinion I have is just that - an opinion. What gets me most is that the conviction was based on a whole lot of circumstantial, and occasionally non-existent, evidence. It's not that I don't care about guilt because that's obviously important, but you're supposed to prove it.

That's why I am also loving the new podcast, Undisclosed. Their main purpose, by their own description, is to investigate the investigation. Not to investigate Adnan, or anyone else who may have done it. It's too late for that; like 16 years too late. But it's not too late to figure out whether what led to the conviction was proper or not. Listening really makes me regret not pursuing a law degree even more than Serial originally did because it's actually extremely fascinating to listen to.

Could Adnan have been where he is described to be at specific points in time? Does Jay's (latest) story actually work in real life? Could anyone actually recall the events of January 13, 1999, as well as the days & weeks that followed, with any reliable clarity? Is it possible that the police coerced Jay because, by his own admission in his Intercept interview, he was dearly afraid of going to prison on drug charges? Are phone records really so reliable? Was there really no way that it could have been anyone else? Did Adnan have a motive? And finally - was there any [forensic] evidence at the crime scene?

There are certainly a lot of questions, ones that may never be answered. But I absolutely love tuning in each week to try to work things out myself because that may be all I ever get. For now, I think this is probably the most fitting quote in regards to this case:

{via}

Obviously, I'd love to hear what you think of Serial/Undisclosed/the case in general! If you're interested, you definitely must start with Serial before moving on to Undisclosed. Trust me, you'll be confused.

Happy listening!

Fresh Start.

Oh, hey there! I can't believe you're actually here reading this... Not gonna lie - coming back here after eight months to the day feels pretty weird. And I don’t even know if I’m really back yet. It’s actually insane for me to think back to eight months ago - October! So much has happened since then…

I went on my first Vegas trip in November for my birthday, first ski trip with Mike (the ski newb), became obsessed with the Serial podcast and somehow surviving a long ass Canadian winter. Seriously - like seven months of winter is not cool.

And of course - wedding planning. I only did two posts on wedding planning, way back in March 2014 when I apparently planned on getting my shit together and doing this thing properly. Well that didn’t happen and I avoided most of it until January 2015. At that point, I realized that all I had was a venue, a dress and a photographer. *Lets that sink in* Needless to say, I was in ultra crunch mode.

Well guess what - we pulled that shit off with flying colours! But also with a lot of fighting, yelling, crying, stressing, and general freaking out. Of course, how else?

I won’t bore you with wedding details now - I hope to do separate posts for that - but I’m hoping to get back into this and my other hobbies now that my time isn’t being held hostage!

I’ve already started reading my favourite blogs again and commenting. I even gave this little blog o’ mine a refresh! So let’s see how this goes. If anything, I vow to stop posting “Hey, I’m alive...really!” posts. Two in a row is enough I think, right? Though to be fair, everything I said in my last post about going back to my 'blog roots' and find inspiration still stands true.

Cheers to new beginnings!

Still kicking.

Oh, hey. Look who's still alive! That's right, I am.

I'm really just going to cut to the chase - I have been beyond uninspired. Like, beyond. And not just lately; for a very long time. Somewhere along the way, this little blog lost its purpose & became something that doesn't really define me. I got sucked into some kind of black hole of blogging leading me to post things of little value and I'm not crazy about that fact.

That and I'm pretty sure I became boring. Seriously. My posts used to actually be funny! By which I mean, I read my old posts, circa late 2010 / early 2011, and they make me laugh. I'm my biggest critic.

That actually sounds extremely sad & terrible haha Probably moreso than it should, don't worry. But somewhere along the way, life sucked the life out of me & I stopped caring about documenting it.

I also became afraid of documenting it as I saw it & that just deflated me further. Surrounding myself with people who I don't feel I can be myself with 100%, and who one way or another may find my blog (which I have generally kept a secret from most people that know me IRL) makes me feel censored.

Or, made. Because I want to get back to those roots. Other people's feelings be damned. That may sound insensitive - I won't deny it - but guess what? I am not known for being sensitive to others or for censoring myself so why the fuck should I have to censor myself on MY OWN blog???

That's right, I don't. So let this be a blanket upfront apology to anyone who stumbles upon this blog (and maybe shouldn't have) and reads something that offends them. Sorry, but that's my opinion. It's not personal. Unless I specifically talk about you - then it's probably kind of personal.

So I'm not going away just yet. I love writing - I really, really do. And if I manage to get re-inspired in this tiny corner of mine on the world wide web, then GREAT. If not...well, the world is my oyster.

Can't wait for new things, whatever they may be.

Nail Files 11.14 - B&W Jolly Jewels

Linking up with my girl Jennie for...

Here's one more of my awesome Golden Rose nail polishes! I didn't use any 

polish underneath and went with only the fancy sparkles.

Thoughts?

This the polish I used:

Golden Rose Jolly Jewels #118

I can't wait to use my other polishes from this line! Especially the Christmas ones!

Nail Files 10.03 - Purple Carnival

I would love to post our vacation pictures, but our internet has been the WORST this week and I haven't been able to upload anything! Working on it though!

Therefore, I'm linking up with my girl Jennie for...

I picked up a couple of amazing glitter polishes on vacation, by Golden Rose, and from the first use I've totally fallen in love. The other nails have a Sally Hansen buff polish on them.

Excuse the background - work has better lighting than my house LOL

 Close up of the feature nail

The polish:

Carnival #11

They have 26 'shades' of the Carnival line and I'm totally going to ask my mom to pick me up some more. Because of course, they sell them absolutely everywhere except for in Canada. Did I mention they cost less than $3CAD? Exactly.

Which ones catch your eye?

Have a great weekend peeps!

Paris a la Pinterest, deux

In my last Paris Pinterest post, I realized I've only ever pinned pictures of the Eiffel Tower. While that's like, my favourite thing, it doesn't make for a very wholesome trip lol

Here are all the other things I'm looking forward to!

Breakfast like this...

Love Lock Bridge

 I have my lock ready! I know, it's kind of become a hazard. I don't care if they remove it later.

The gardens

Jardin de Luxembourg

ALL OF THE CARBS BREAD!

The Louvre

These streets

These bridges

Charcuterie

Macarons

Notre Dame

Arc de Triomphe & Champs-Élysées

Bike tour

So excited I can't even tell you!

More suggestions welcome!

All pins are from my pinterest board: Paris is Always a Good Idea

Summer Byes

Yesterday I posted Mike's fabulous CNE ride mashup video - it's awesome, watch it!

We also took some pictures last Friday at the CNE, which ended up being like the perfect day/night!

View from the gondola

Our CNE winning collection keeps growing. Everything but the 2 normal giraffes are from this year...

On Saturday we were off to Niagara to visit my fam for a couple of days. More beautiful weather - just in time for September...whomp.

Obviously, the best thing to do there is hit up Niagara on the Lake for some beautiful views.

Triplets :)

I just realized how ridiculously frumpy I look in these pics but whatever...

Obligatory selfie :)

We also brought Mr Koko because he hadn't seen his sister in a long time. He took this opportunity to climb up on everything.

Mila though, is an even bigger shit disturber, as she's now an outdoor cat.

Koko was happy with the visit - he's my absolute fave when he's smiley :)

Sunday was way too summer hot so we hit up the bike path along the lake. Which was packed with people trying to catch the air show. To be honest, the air show was nothing special and it was almost impossible to get a pic because those planes are so damn fast! But I managed ;)

And that's the end of summer fun! Bring on fall, my fave season!

Did you do anything to see summer off for the Labour Day weekend?