Cute idea for a wedding "guest book"

While reading WeddingBee, I saw a really cute idea to replace the traditional guest book. Guests can write a message to the newlyweds on black note cards, business card sized cards, or whatever size you choose.



A gal made it herself to match her other reception decor. It's kind of hard to see in the first picture , but the things on the points of the diamonds are simply thumbtacks with little flowers glued on (see below).




I am going to get a platter from Glazed and Confused. I used to go there pretty regularly with some ladies, but we don't go anymore. I like the idea of the platter, though, because it's something we can actually use! My parents guestbook is just sitting in their basement somewhere.

Debating on the size of the platters, I might get 2 different ones. I don't want people to have so write super small to fit it all on. Getting the platter is on my list of things to do in the next month or so. Would anyone like to go to G&C for a ladies night soon?

My relaxing morning

Yesterday morning I went to get a massage. I belong to Massage Envy, so I prepay for an hour massage once a month. I haven't been in a while (lack of time), so I decided to go for a 1 1/2 hour massage this time. It was heaven! I feel so relaxed.

Next time, I might even try a 2 hour one, if I can fit it in my schedule. I have a couple prepaids left, so I'm going to try to go again in a few weeks.

Yeah for Y98!

A gal (Mary) on my bridal boards posted earlier today about a $1.99 a gallon promotion three radio stations in town were having. The first 100 cars got gas for $1.99 a gallon, plus a free car wash. I was listening to Y98 at 3:00 pm to find out where they were. It was my lucky day - they were in O'Fallon, MO!

I was already in my car and started to head that way. I called Donna right away since she lives out this way, too. She ended up being in line right behind me - numbers 56 and 57. I was able to get a little over 8 gallons of gas for slightly over $16! I saved about $16 on gas. Plus, I got a free car wash normally priced at $9.99. While it took a while, I saved $26 today!

This is kind of what it looked like. There were a TON of cars. The line of cars trying to turn left into the gas station was backed up to the next light. It was crazy. I feel bad for people who waited in line for a while and then were told they were too late.

Thursday humor

I found out about a funny blog through the always entertaining Sarah. (She posted a funny conversation between a girl and her mother.)

The blog (The Customer Is Not Always Right) is about customers and the not so smart things they sometimes say. I'm sure my sister (who worked at Starbucks for a few years) could add some things on to there! I cut and paste a few in here for you to read. Enjoy! I'm currently on page 6. I figure I'll read a few more tonight and continue tomorrow!

One Dangerously Pressurized Coffee, Coming Up

Coffee Shop | Eugene, OR, USA

Me: “Hi, what can I get for you?”

Customer: “Can I get a 16 oz. coffee in a 12 oz. cup?”

Me: “No. We can’t do that here.”

Customer: “What are you talking about? They do this for me every time I come here!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but there’s no way we can put 16 oz. of coffee in a 12 oz. cup.”

Customer: “Yes you can! You’ve always done it!”

(The customer’s friend was standing next to her at the time.)

Customer’s friend: “Um, I think you meant a 12 oz. coffee in a 16 oz. cup.”

Customer: “… ooooh. Yeah, that’s what I meant!”

Me: *facepalm*

There Are No Stupid Questions, Just Stupid People, Part 2

Garden Center | Toronto, ON, Canada

(I overheard a coworker trying to help someone choose a plant.)

Coworker: “Hi, how can I help you today?”

Customer: “I’m looking for a nice plant for the front of my house.”

Coworker: “Alright, we have a number of excellent options to choose from. What kind of sun exposure does the spot get?”

Customer: “Well… it’s light all day, then dark at night.”

Me: *losing hope*

Next Time, Less Hair, More Planning

Buffet Restaurant | Ottawa, Canada

(My mother is a hostess in a Chinese buffet restaurant. Said restaurant only has Chinese employees. A woman with a fully stacked plate angrily approaches her.)

Woman: “Excuse me! There’s a hair in my food! You have to give this meal to me for free!”

(My mother looks at the woman’s plate, and what does she find? A single long blonde hair, neatly laid on top of her plate.)

More Frisky Than Frail

Retail | Cincinnati, OH, USA

(A man of at least 80 years of age came up to my checkout lane. Here’s what happened as I was bagging his last item.)

Me: “Man, I just don’t think this is gonna fit in here.”

Customer, completely straight-faced: “That’s what she said.”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Customer, still straight-faced: “That’s what she said.”

(Needless to say, I nearly died of laughter. If

If I were this bride, my parents would kill me!

I read the Wedding Bee blogs. Today there was a post regarding a venue a bride no longer needed.

...last minute wedding in San Francisco but can’t find a venue? ...has paid a $15,000 non-refundable deposit on the famous Yank Sing Restaurant for the evening of 9/13/08 from 4-11pm and has planned to marry elsewhere. Yank Sing houses 300 guests and her event is fully-transferrable. She’s looking to recover $10,000 from her deposit, which means you can book the venue for a $5,000 discount. She’s also booked a photographer, florist, videographer, deejay and lighting package which she is willing to transfer to you if you’re interested, and looking to recover 50-75% of her costs on them. Check out her listing in the Weddingbee classifieds for more information.


It's a beautiful place, but wow - that's a lot of money! I'm sure the other vendors are equally pricey.

I wonder if she paid for the deposit, or her parents (or his) did? My parents would kill me if they put that much down for a venue, plus the other vendors, and then changed my mind. I'm hoping there's a better reason than just changing one's mind.

In all reality, though, my parents would never have been ok with a place that has a $15,000 non-refundable deposit. I wonder how much the reception was going to cost in all?

Another wedding problem to try to solve...

Since my FI is Chinese, we wanted to hang some paper lanterns at the reception. Plus, it will bring in some red color (a lucky color for the Chinese). I emailed the gal at WOW the other day asking how much it would be to hang the lanterns. It will be $15 each!! Goodness!

Since I have 25 lanterns (15 red and a pre-lit string of 10 white), that means it will cost $375 to hang all the lanterns. Not happening.

Now I have to see if I can find someone else to hang them for less, or I'm going to have to cut down the number of lanterns. :-( I obviously prefer the first option!

I emailed Exclusive Events to see how much they would charge. I'm thinking of having the ten white lit up around the dance floor (kind of like the picture below) with the red scattered around at different heights.

Any ideas? I'm not having a DOC. My mom's best friend was a DOC for a gal I went to school with, and it went great. However, I don't think Debbie's going to want to hang 25 lanterns....

I won!

Nothing super big, but I still won! I played Bunco last night with some teachers at my school. I won first place! I ended up winning $25. Considering that I put in $5, I only won $20. Second place won $20.

I'll take it! The sad part is...that's only about 1/3 a tank of gas for me!

When I started driving, I'm pretty sure that I could fill up my whole tank for $20, or maybe even less!



While winning is fun, the best part of Bunco was meeting baby Louie! Ramsey (a literacy specialist at my school) gave birth to Louie on May 23, so he's almost a month old. He is absolutely adorable! I got to hold him for a while. He kept moving around and stretching, but then fell asleep. I didn't realize how good babies are for your arms! After holding him for a while (maybe 20+ minutes?), my arms were sore!

Our friends are coming over tonight with their little boy Noah, who is about 6 months old (posted about him previously). Maybe I'll get another arm workout in! I definitely need to tone up my arms for my dress!

Why are houses so darn expensive?!

I'm having trouble sleeping, so I decided to check out Gundaker to look at houses. I fell in love with this house first.


I love that the main part of it is symmetrical. There's a beautiful bradford pear tree in the front yard, too. The front is the best part. There are a few things inside I could change (more cabinets and change the color of the bathroom).

I like the white cabinets in the kitchen, as well. However, it doesn't have a ton of cabinet space. (I know...it looks like a lot, but I have a TON of cooking stuff.)

Bad news...it's $400,000.

FI and I don't plan to move for at least a few years. During that time, we plan to save as much as possible. Hopefully our next house will be the last. So, we want to make sure we're in a good school district, and the house is big enough.

If we had unlimited funds, I would like to move to Ladue, Clayton, or Kirkwood.

Wow - what a house! It can be yours for only $3,325,000. (Cheap compared to the next one!) It has 7 bedrooms, 6 full baths, and 2 half baths.


Ok, this time I'm seriously in love. I think this would be the house of my dreams!



There is the main house, pool house & squash court, gatehouse, gardens, lake, dock & fountains. The 13,253 sqft home boasts 5 bedroom suites, 8 gas fireplaces, a home gym, and a private wine cellar with tasting room. Gorgeous views are enjoyed from each room, many with French doors leading to balconies & patios. [Some of the details]

Look at the gorgeous back patio!



The pool looks amazing!


Ok...I'm sure there are a ton more gorgeous houses in the area. I'm going to stop, though, before I get more depressed. Seriously - someone gets to live in this gorgeous place! I could work as a teacher until the day I die, and I could never make even close to what it would take to buy this place.

Ah...I didn't say how much it cost yet. Well, if you have $16,000,000 you could be the lucky owner of this amazing house! I need to win a REALLY big lottery prize...

New hair color

I had my hair dyed and trimmed last week. This is the lightest my hair has been in a long time, maybe ever! I'm still getting used to it, but I like it a little more everyday. Please be honest - do you think it's too light?

I look pretty pale in some of the pictures. Part of that is the lighting. Part of that is that I'm just pale! I'm going to start using some of the Jergens natural glow lotion to give me a little color. I think that will help. Also, I've been using a bit of bronzer since I changed the color of my hair to give my face a little more color.

I'm considering getting a slightly darker toner put on next time I go for my touch up. I think it's in early August.

Pardon the lack of smile.

Well, the smile's better here, but my nose looks huge! Bad angle!!

Pew buckets

**I've stuck a couple questions at the end to get your opinions. I'd love to know what you think. Please leave a comment!** :-)

Originally, we were going to put some of the standard white bows on the pews. However, I fell in love (and I think my mom did, too) with the look of galvanized buckets with flowers in them. (Sorry - I don't remember where we found this picture).




It would nicer, but more expensive, to get real flowers. However, I'm not sure it would make that much of a difference since they're just for a little extra decoration. All the other flowers at the ceremony (bouquets, bouts, altar arrangements, etc.) will be real flowers. We found these on sale for a nice price!

We have enough buckets (still working on the flowers) to do every other pew all the way down the aisle.

This is the front of the bucket, the side that would be facing out toward the aisle.

This the back view. They're not as full in the back, but this side would be against the pew.

I'm not sure what color ribbon we'll use. We could use white, black (the color of the BM dresses), or green (some of the flowers will be green and the table runners have green on them).



What color ribbon do you think will look best?

Do you think the buckets look full enough?