We're Getting Legalized

On my way to the Howard County Circuit Court to pick up our marriage license! Eep! I'm foreseeing beauracracy, long lines, and signing-next-to-the-X, but after it's over, we'll be good to go.

With every step recently, I've been getting this great butterflies in the stomach feeling of "it's actually happening--we're getting married!" I'm ready to enjoy what has been dubbed the "Weekend o' Jenn," and since my birthday is actually on Wednesday (but celebrated on Tuesday, Wednesday, AND Saturday), I'm extending it to the whole week.

Life is good with 46 days and counting.

Wedding Bells Are Ringing (and so is my head)

51 days and counting, ladies and gentlemen! I'm sort of anxious that I'm not more anxious, but I can only count my blessings. As long as Jake and I wind up married at the end of this whole thing, I'm good!

I started a new job two months ago, and I'm lovin' it. But between busy times at work (in addition to my regular duties, I start teaching a creative drama class tomorrow afternoon), wedding planning, doctor's appointments, and writing my thesis proposal, my days are full to overflowing. I thought I'd take a moment out to process it all and write a post about wedding planning.

I'd like to give a shout-out to the lovely and wonderful CoCo Myles. Dude. Custom-made dresses for under $150? In a custom color, chosen by yours truly, for no extra charge? And the company naming the color after me, making me world-famous? Hell, yes! The dresses are very well-made, and customer service was superb.

I am never going to feel this pampered again. A hair and makeup trial means that we played with my hair for an hour, which led to playing with makeup for an hour. I haven't done this since I almost gave Bobbie Bardzik chicken pox when we were four, and sharing my mom's cast-off blue eye shadow and coral lipstick. (I don't think I got chicken pox this time. I'm immune now, suckas! Plus, they keep their equipment pretty clean there, so no cross-contamination.)

Hair:

Makeup:

(That's my makeup artist, Ashley, behind me. She's adorable.)

What else...? Oh, if you're in the Baltimore area and need affordable accessories, go to Treasure House in Owings Mills. That's where I got my hair clip. For $32! Treasure House is not to be confused with Treasure Trove in DC, which is where we got our rings.

Everyone (and everything) has been great so far. More wedding news to come!

Our Trip!

Looking at Elise Sewell's awesomely awesome blog has prompted me to post pictures of our holiday road trip earlier than I had originally planned. (Read: no more procrastination in 2007. Maybe.) However, blogger seems to be unable to process my pictures right now...

I'll try again a little later.

So Long Jordan and Nelina!

The DC-NZ kids are on their way, enjoying family, friends, and In-N-Out burgers. And since I just now viewed their goodbye video, I thought I'd post pictures of the famous (infamous?) couch which has made its way from apartment to apartment, and is now being coveted in our space. So, here it is:

Hope this makes you feel a little more at home!

(Pictures from our awesome Christmas-slash-New-Year's trip coming soon. Gotta love the digital camera!)

Wedding Jewelry

Since my dress is all be-Swarovski-ed at the top (my two criteria--no strapless and no sequins--have been long since thrown by the wayside), I won't be wearing a necklace with my dress. I've enlisted the girls to help me pick jewelry. I'm trying for a vintage-y look. The consensus seems to be falling toward these earrings (narrowed down from 6 choices!):

(All from emitations)

And the votes are completely split on what brooch to turn into a hair accessory. Any further advice would be much appreciated!)

What Not to Wear

Am I wrong in wishing I had a worse sense of style so I could go on that show? I'm not a fashionista or anything, but I could use a new wardrobe!

I want Stacey and Clinton to belittle me.

I want to toss out all of my clothes and start anew.

I want Nick to do my hair and Carmindy (of the worst name in the world) to do my hair and makeup.

And I want $5000 to buy myself all new clothes!

Throw a struggling grad student a bone!

Our Apartment is Comfy!

See this? We moved a couch from their apartment to ours on Saturday. So now their apartment is even more empty. The couch-moving invoolved Jake and our friend Steve carrying half a couch down seven flights of stairs (yes, that's right: seven) while Aly and I waited in the parking lot with cushions. Fortunately, both pieces of the couch fit in our elevator (fitting in the elevator is why they had to carry the couch in the first place), so the move-in took exponentially less time than the move-out. We're the third owners of the couch, and damn if it isn't comfy!

Our living room is now all seating area: one love seat, one oversized chair, and one L-shaped couch. We need to have a party soon, now that we actually have room for people to sit. Fortunately, we have more than enough room for tonight's houseguest to crash.

And Jake is an expert U-Haul driver!

I'm Free (To Do What I Want, Any Old Time)

I figure since the Stones have given commercials full rein to use this song, I might as well use it as my post title.

Anyhow.

As some of you know, I quit my job last week. I loved teaching there. I loved the kids. It didn't matter how stressed-out I was, there was always someone there to make me smile, and I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment.

But I'm not a salesperson. I once asked my dad why I didn't seem to have the Jewish cultural imperative towards taking people's money. (It's a joke, OK?) Unfortunately, stereotypes don't seem to work that way.

Plus, I haven't been able to focus on school as much as I'd like. Staying up until 4:30AM to read should not be the only option. And this while I'm getting B+s. I feel like such a hypocrite telling the kids that school should be their number-one priority, and not listening to my own advice. I know I need to work for a living, but this schedule was killing me.

So, I'm out.

I've got a couple of good leads, and I hope to be differently employed by the time my last day pops up...I'm so happy about this decision.

Oh! And I plan to post more now--gonna keep you updated on the whole wedding-planning thing. Fun!

You're a Drama-what?

Courtesy of LMDA. Hee! One of the best cartoons I've ever seen.

(Edited because "carton" and "cartoon" aren't the same thing.)