Cone Heads

"You know Connie, I read in a magazine that you can talk to me about anything." Ha-I have to watch that movie now, but I don't think we own it. How sad. Anyway, the real deal with the cones is for our ceremony site. Our beautiful, wonderful opera house needs very little to add to the decor which makes me a happy bride. It does need a little oomph, so in comes another DIY project. Luckily it is ridiculously easy! Yay for easy DIY! These cones will hang at the end of the aisle, alternating every other row.

List of supplies:
Roll of Embossed Wallpaper
Metallic Spray Paint (Gold or Silver)
Hole Punch
Hot Glue Gun
Tape Measure
Scissors
Ribbon/String/Wire

I don't have pictures for the beginning steps, but it is super easy.

Mark the wallpaper into 8.5 inches tall by 9 inches long. You may actually want these bigger or smaller, mine a just a tad smaller. Our seats aren't that big, play around with it. One roll of wallpaper goes a long way, trust me.

Cut the wallpaper into as many cones as you'll need. Lay them out and spray paint them. Wait for the pieces to dry.

This is my little pile of cones to be after they have dried.

Next, heat up your hot glue gun and practice rolling the paper into the cone shape. I had problems with this step, so Mr. Tal rolled and I hot glued the edge to maintain the cone shape. Voila, a cone like the one pictured below:



Then punch a hole at the top center point for your ribbon/wire/string, or in my case raffia. Like so:

Side note: Another hole towards the bottom of the cone could be helpful to stabilize it when you go to hang it, we're going to need to do this to all our cones because they aren't centered or stable when we hang it. Luckily we only made about two to test, so we don't have to redo all of them.
Easy peasy, you have some cones for your ceremony site. Add whatever flowers you want, I used a giant Gerber daisy from Michael's. It works well, I just needed to add some paper to keep it from sliding around. This is what the cone looks like finished with the flower. Sorry the one picture isn't vertical, we're having technical difficulties in the Tal household.

A Healthy Middle

I want to let you readers in on a little secret, for a majority of my life I've struggled with my weight. Now this may not shock anyone, because a lot of Americans this day in age do struggle at some point with their weight, but my struggle has been one on the lower spectrum. You see I have struggled a majority of my life with being underweight. I have never had an eating disorder or anything of the sort, I have just been under the ideal weight that my physicians felt was healthy for me pretty much my entire life. Most people I encounter have a sort of flippant response along the lines of, "Wow, I wish I had the problem." It's a little hurtful and a little ignorant, but it still happens. I get it, people don't really understand, they think that it was lucky that I couldn't gain weight. It seems like a dream to some people and I understand their view point, but I'm here to tell you that it's not a dream at all. Being twenty to thirty pounds underweight is no healthier than being twenty to thirty pounds overweight, both are a serious health concern. It was irritating and disconcerting that I couldn't gain weight no matter what I tried. To gain healthy weight one needs to eat a great deal of protein and gain muscle mass. It's a lot of work and most of the time I couldn't gain a pound no matter how hard I tried, so around the age of 21 I just stopped trying.

Then I met Mr. Tal and things changed. Dinners out, bar nights, parties, road trips, plus my metabolism slowing down made it easy to gain all the weight I ever needed and then some. I don't blame our relationship at all, I became comfortable with him which made it easy to let my eating habits fall in the crapper but that's my doing. It became apparent with the wedding approaching that I needed to shape up. If you recall I wrote a blog in June about that need to shape up. I currently am on the higher end of the weight spectrum for my height and I'm not happy with it at all. I was doing well working out and eating healthy until medical issues put me on bed rest for two weeks. My depressed mood combined with my doctor ordered down time had me falling behind in the working out and eating healthy department. I let it go on for about a month and a half, drowning my sorrows in ice cream and pizza. However, I need to get back to that goal I set for myself a few months ago. I'm starting up my routine again and feeling really good about trying to be healthy. However, I feel an inner struggle, one that I felt when I originally began my journey to a healthier me. For so long I struggled to gain weight, it seems odd that I'm trying to loose some now. That's not exactly the truth of it though, what I'm really trying to do is be as healthy as I possibly can. I'm trying to eat right and exercise and that is a wonderful thing. Getting to look beautiful and radiant on my wedding day is a fringe benefit of all that.

So now to share my plan of action to getting to a healthier me. Exercise using my EA Active for the Wii, 30 Day Shred, walking and running. Exercise will be two days on one day off in order to achieve a gain in muscle mass. Eating healthier, which means no fast food, or very little, no junk food in the house at all, well rounded meals, with necessary amount of protein. I'm hoping for now that this will be enough. I hope to see results in a few weeks and that my inner struggle will subside when I hit that middle ground I'm aiming for.

So readers, do you have any plans to get healthier? What do they include?

Tune in next time for more tales of a DIY bride.

Happy Anniversary!

Mr. Tal this post is for you.

Two years ago today a guy in a soccer jersey showed up at my apartment door and took me on an incredibly long first date. Who knew that it would lead to this? That the guy would turn out be my partner, my companion, and most of all my best friend. Happy anniversary my love, in seven and a half months we'll be joined in marriage. I would say that we're beginning our lives together, but in many ways, our lives together have already begun. In our daily talks, our cuddles on the couch, in our dinners in and out, in our daily laughter, our nightly walks, we've begun our life together already. However, in just a short time we will pronounce our intentions to spend our lives together in front of family and friends, we'll announce to the world what we already know, that we belong together. I love you. You are my inspiration, my hope, my rock, and my strength. I'm so glad that two years ago today you came to my door and started this journey with me.

I'm a little achiever

If you get the reference from my title I totally am high-fiving you through the internets. I have to say I'm quite proud of myself, I've gotten a lot accomplished this week, none of which is wedding related. I will say, if it weren't for the crafty skills I have developed the one project that happened this week, probably wouldn't have happened. See this weekend marks the very important second anniversary of my first date with Mr. Tal, it's the GAF, or German American Festival for all you non-Toledoans. This doesn't actually mean a whole lot, except the festival is this weekend and many a fraternal brother, sibling and friend treks back to Toledo for this shindig. This means we open up our apartment to whoever needs a place to crash. This year it's my best friend (and MOH) and her boyfriend, and was supposed to be Mr. Tal's brother and his girlfriend. I got really pumped about this and dove into planning mode.

The way our apartment is set up, we can sleep two couples pretty well, with one in the second bedroom and one in the three-seasons room, so long as the weather doesn't become too hot. This is when I decided to make our place themed like a B&B. Totally crazy with everything else on my plate right now, but it sounded fun. I went out and started to buy a few things, like some guest towels. Yeah, we don't have guest towels, found that one out the hard way. I got some snacks, mini-shampoo and conditioner bottles. Then I got a basket to make it like a little welcome kit. I bought some raw hide, a rope toy, and a squeaky toy for the couple bringing their dog. I got mini-bottles of sparkling wine and I'm getting some plastic champagne flutes. Then I put it all together and made it look all pretty. I'm a little sad that only one couple is coming now because I have these little baskets made, so I guess Mr. Tal and I will have one for ourselves. Poor brother Tal and his girlfriend couldn't make it this weekend, too many things to do and not enough time to do them...sad, I was really looking forward to some time with them. Anyway, I've got to also set up the room for MOH and her man and figure out the best placement for the "Welcome Basket." I may even be cute and print off some German phrases to put into the basket, but that might be crossing the cute line. I blame wedding planning, I doubt I would ever do this prior to thinking about guests needs and out of town bags.

At least now I've gotten a good idea of what the out of town bags will take, I need to scale it down tremendously, but it really made me think of what our guests will need and want when they are away from home. Those are a ways off, I'm not planning to do that until maybe two weeks before the wedding, but I like getting an idea of what should be in the bags and what people will want. It's really difficult for me because I like having a lot of stuff when I'm out of town. Mr. Tal says I like my home comforts and it's true, so I want to shower people with things they will need and want. However, our budget doesn't really allow for that, so I need to think of the basics. It'll come to me. Plus I have Mr. Tal to help me narrow down the list.



Any fellow brides have problems narrowing down supplies for the wedding? What did you do? How did you make it manageable?



Tune in next time for more tales of a DIY bride.

Future Mrs.Tal and the Thousand Paper Luminaries

Way back in the day, in elementary school we had to read a book that had a similar title, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, I remember it vividly because it was my first encounter with origami. In Asia it is believed that if a person folds a thousand paper cranes they will be granted a wish by a crane. I wonder if a similar legend holds true for paper luminaries? I would love a nice little wish, maybe a new car…oops, lost myself in fantasy (or as I call it if-I-had-money) land for a minute; I’m back now. Anyway, I would love to know if there is any special treat for folding paper luminaries because I’m sure I will have a thousand of ‘um when I finally finish.

I’m making all these luminaries for our centerpieces. Centerpieces that I haven’t really seen beyond the visions I hold in my head. I guess I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping these centerpieces stick and I’m not wasting time and energy on this project.

The luminaries themselves are super easy and to do only 2 or 3 of them takes a just a few minutes, however, I need about 75-100, perhaps more. So each time I’m watching TV I pull out my little luminary making supplies and bust out a few paper luminaries. It slowly adds up and it’s easier on my hands, which I noticed start to ache if I do more than 10 at a time.

What’s that you say? You want a tutorial…so far ahead of you sister friend (or brother man, can’t forget the brothers).

Supplies needed:
· 8.5 x 11 paper (Standard Size Letter) in whichever color your heart desires
· Scissors
· Paper Cutter of some sort
· Standard Hole Punch
· Glue or Double-sided Tape
· 16 mm Circular Hole Punch (Or any shape around that size would probably work)
· Pen/Pencil/Some sort of marking implement

Doing this on a flat surface is helpful; I just used a cutting board while sitting on the floor.

Step 1: Cut paper into 4 inch by 8.5-inch strips, each piece of paper should make 2 luminaries.

Step 2: Fold the strip in half the long way. (Or make a hot dog bun, if you’re familiar with that term)

Step 3: Open up the paper, then with your tape measure, make marks every two inches, (1 mark at 2, 4, 6, and 8-inches)

Step 4: Fold the paper at each mark

Step 5: Cut at each of the section folds just to the half fold. Cut away the bottom portion of the small half inch fold.

Step 6: Glue or tap the small half-inch piece to the inside of the first square, so it makes a box-like shape. Then fold all the bottom pieces under and glue or tape the last piece so that you have a box without a top.

Step 8: With the small hole punch, punch two holes opposite of each other, do the same with your larger hole punch.

Voila! Add a tea light (mine is battery operated) use ribbon or craft wire through the small holes to hang your finished product wherever you please!

Flashback: Our First Date

The last post in my flashback series, Our First Date, was going to be posted next weekend, on the anniversary of our first day, but I just couldn’t wait that long. I have some projects that I worked on this weekend that I would like to post about and I don’t want this post hanging over my head. Here it goes again, cue wavy flashback lines and music…

Finally, Sunday arrived in all its glory. Mr. Tal was picking me up around 12:30, so I worked meticulously to make my appearance look wonderful with just the right amount of casual. He arrived pretty close to the time he said he would and he came to the door walked me to his truck and opened the door for me. As we drove to the bus stop it seemed very strained and quiet, this continued for the duration of the bus ride to the German-American Festival. We talked a little but for the most part we were silent and observant. When we finally got to the festival I paid for the bus ride myself, which irritated Mr. Tal. We had to get our IDs checked at the gate if we wanted to drink and I forgot mine, pity because it may have broken the ice a little more. Finally we got some food and beverage, which I let Mr. Tal buy for me and sat down. I think this is the moment that the entire date turned around for us. As we were eating I noticed that Mr. Tal had gotten some green ink on his nose from the hand stamp that was used to identify he had paid for his entry. I giggled a little and pointed it out to him; he smiled sheepishly, wiping it off with a napkin and a laugh. From that moment on, it was just easy. We walked around and talked, laughed and ate some more. When we realized there wasn’t much more to do we went to wait for the bus. We both knew we didn’t want the date to end but I wasn’t sure how to vocalize that. As we sat in the grass talking Mr. Tal asked if I would like to go catch a movie or something, I eagerly agreed to the suggestion.

When we got back, instead of going to the movies, we ended up going to his apartment to watch a movie. I believe that nothing good was playing in theaters at the time. He had me pick a movie from his DVD collection, while he built a couch for us out of blankets. (If you remember correctly, he only bought his couch the night before, so it still wasn’t there). So we sat, or kind of laid down, and watched a movie together. By this point, I knew I liked this guy but the chemistry element hadn’t been explored. I needed to hold his hand or maybe even kiss him to know if that chemistry was there. I held my hand out awkwardly trying to bait him. It didn’t work. We then went out to dinner, then back to his place. By this time, our date was about 7 hours and it wasn’t over yet. We watched another movie, again I held my hand out, and eventually he took it. It was like sparks, amazing. We watched the movie, held hands and talked a bit more. I don’t quite remember how it happened, but somehow we got close enough to kiss and I went for it. BAM! That was it. I was hooked. He eventually took me home around 12:30 that night; when he dropped me off he kissed me again and asked when he could see me again (!!!). Our first date lasted 12 hours, so I like to say it was 3 dates rolled into one. When I walked into my apartment, Miss Ann looked a little relieved (I think she thought that I had been kidnapped and stuffed into a trunk), she asked me how my date was and I told her, “I think he is the one.”

So there you have it, the beginnings of the Tals. It’s not the greatest story ever, but it’s our story, which is what matters to me.

Up next, some project posts.
Tune in next time for more tales of a DIY Bride.

Our Vedors: The Ceremony Site

I always knew I wanted to get married in a church, always. I loved the stone church in my hometown where I grew up with the beautiful archways and high ceilings. It felt holy and special, which was perfect for a wedding. When Mr. Tal and I decided to get married, this was one of the first things we talked about, my desire to get married in a church. The problem was that we lived in Toledo, it's a nice central point for both our friends and family to access easily. This made my hometown church out of the question, we needed to get married in Toledo, so the search began for the perfect church.

First we scoured the area for Lutheran Churches, because no matter how pretty a church it is, it wouldn't be so much if it killed our grandmothers. We found two, we started to go to one and felt pretty okay there, not super comfortable but it was nice, the pastor seemed nice, so it seemed decided. I should've known that if I didn't feel at home there that it wasn't the place for us, but I didn't, so we continued down that path for probably a month and a half. Then I actually had a conversation with the pastor via e-mail. He actually mocked my words, mocked them, it was horrible and humiliating. We were done. D-O-N-E, done. I don't deal well with condescension. We were also back at square one. This is when my mother, the God sent angel that she is, brought to our attention an opera house in a small suburb outside of T-town. We decided to go take a peek, couldn't hurt, right?

We walked into the Pemberville Opera House to behold this:

Picture courtesy of Pemberville Opera House Website

It's beautiful isn't it? And we felt at home the minute we walked in. It's perfect for us. A historical opera house, beautiful and classic. The historic aspect did it for me for me and Mr. Tal practically grew up in a playhouse so he loved it. Every inch of this place is fully restored from the original opera house that was used around the turn of the century. (The price was right too!) This picture really doesn't do it justice, but it's all I have right now. The rows seat five and they are the same seating used when the opera house was first opened, bonus is that they can be moved anyway we want to, which we played with today when we visited for decoration ideas. I wish I would've taken some pictures while we were there but I'll go out there again soon to get some more. I loved it even more today. My sister tested the acoustics for when she sings at the ceremony, it was so beautiful I was almost moved to tears. I'm so excited about this, it didn't turn out how I thought it would, but I'm happy with our ceremony site.

How about you readers, did your original plans come how differently? Better?

(I know the original plan was to finish the flashbacks but I have a plan for The Big Date post...muhahahaha! So I'll post it soon, promise, just want to wait a few more days.)

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride!

A Pause

I want to take a post to really pause and reflect about my impending nuptials. In recent weeks I have had days where my nerves get to me and I wonder if I am doing the right thing. I’m young, according to some too young to get married. I’m 23 and tantalizingly close to the finish line for my undergrad. I have lived on my own and I live with Mr. Tal now, I have dated, I have had previous serious relationships, well at least one, I have traveled from a very young age, but I know there are many things I have yet to do and want to do. I want to go to Europe and Africa, I want to get a job that has something to do with my degree, I want to have an income with some breathing room, I want to buy a house and a car, there are too many things to really list. I do realize that just because I get married does not mean I can’t do all those things; it’s a great growing process for Mr. Tal and myself but it’s these things that cause me to pause.

Yesterday was one of those days in which I started to pause; the ring on my finger felt like a weight and my impending marriage loomed in the coming months as an apocalypse. This does not happen frequently, but it does happen, I start to see my “single” days as numbered and somehow it becomes a bad thing. It’s mainly comments that spur these days, like in my classroom yesterday when students talked about how couples that co-habitat before marriage have higher divorce rates (why is this by the way?). That sent me into a tizzy, mostly because Mr. Tal and I don’t believe in divorce; our theory is that if you were in love enough to make the commitment of marriage, you can work it out (there are exceptions to this theory, but I don’t expect those exceptions to occur in our marriage). So fully believing that I have no “out” from this marriage really makes me pause and appreciate the gravity of what I am about to do. I am committing myself to one man for my entire life; do I really want to do this? To never again experience the thrilling life of a single gal? I know in my heart that I do want to spend my life with Mr. Tal and that I detested being single and dating. However, my head is telling me to be rational and think about it. I don’t think there is anything wrong with thinking and having moments of doubt.

Marriage is serious business and very hard, it takes a lot of work and commitment, and this is the rest of our lives we’re talking about. I think entering into a marriage without any pause or moments of doubt is a mistake. This is only my opinion here, but I think it’s natural to think these things and allow yourself to have the occasional freak out. Entering into a marriage without the slightest thought, worry, or doubt seems a little irresponsible to me. Perhaps too few people really actually think these things and that’s why the divorce rate is so high (only speculating!), but who really knows.

Eventually I did talk myself down off the doubt ledge, I reassured myself and Mr. Tal is the one for me and our marriage will work. We have the drive, determination, and the communication to work through any problem that challenges us. I think our mindset also helps as well. I'll step down from my little soapbox now and I’ll resume the flashback series soon.

Any readers have those moments of pause? I’d love to know I’m not alone!

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY Bride.

Flashback: The party, the cookies, and the sleepover

As I said in my previous post, with the wedding planning slowing down, there is not too much to write about at the present moment. While there are still many things I could share (vendors, wedding party, budget, etc.) with you readers I have a confession: I have a deep desire to be a Bee on Weddingbee. So I'm secretly hoping (okay, maybe not so secretly) that I'll be picked and at that time I will want something to post about on there. I'll continue posting little niblets here and there about the wedding planning because some things are still happening, like my mock-up of the new centerpieces and choosing soe vendor. However, I'll also be dispersing little stories along the way like my previous post about how we met, or today's post, "The Party, the Cookies, and the Sleepover."

Probably one of my favorite stories to hear Mr. Tal tell is the story of the first time he slept over at my apartment. I know, I know, you’re probably all thinking, that’s dirty, but it wasn’t like that, it was before our first "official" date even! I should probably let him share some snipets in here so one can get the whole story. Now cue the wavy flashback lines and some good flashback music…

The next night after karaoke night, there was a big party going down at one of the fraternity brother’s houses. Miss C, Miss Ann and I got the brilliant idea that we should stop by after we heard about it. Secretly, I was hoping Mr. Tal would be there so that perhaps we could break the ice a little more before the big date on Sunday. Thanks to Miss C’s quick thinking and some lightening fast text messages, we found that in fact Mr. Tal was at said party. (Insert 3 girls giggling here) We arrived to find Mr. Tal intoxicated…not exactly what I had in mind, but it was a frat party, not really sure what I expected. So Miss C, Miss Ann and I made the rounds, saying hello to those we knew, but Mr. Tal wouldn’t even look my way (I know now that he was nervous, however, at the time I was pretty upset). The party actually became pretty boring pretty quickly, even with some drinkies in me, Mr. Tal did say hi but he didn’t really say a whole lot more.

Finally, our little gaggle of girls decided that making cookies sounded amazing and we were going to leave. Mr. Tal overheard this and practically jumped on us to take him with us. In my head I’m thinking, dude, you’re drunk, how will you get home, luckily Miss Ann asked this and Miss C said, hey someone can bring him back to his car tomorrow…this is a bad plan, a very bad plan. After some logistics were figured out, we took him with us to the store and back to our apartment for some 2AM baking. Peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses (mmm, I want to bake now!), while Miss Ann baked, Mr. Tal, Miss C, and I sat in the dining room and chatted while flipping through Cosmo, it was fun and weird all at once. Finally the cookies were finished (and some devoured) and sleeping arrangements had to be made. Mr. Tal insisted on sleeping on the couch, which didn’t make much sense seeing as both Miss C and Miss Ann had to get up early for work and they would end up disturbing him. So he slept on my floor. Weird.

The next morning it got really strange, because I didn’t really think about the whole, there’s-a-boy-in-my-room-and-I-have-to-take-him-home-thing. I was just jazzed that I got to talk to him a little more before our date. Then I woke up and realized he was there, I quietly snuck out of bed, got dressed, brushed my teeth and made some coffee. Then I waited and waited, and waited some more until finally he emerged from my room. This was probably the most awkward moments in our entire relationship because neither of us knew what to do. He finally asked if we could go get breakfast, so we went to Waffle House. Any attempts at conversations would end in a crashing halt, it was sad. Towards the end of the meal he asked me if I would mind going with him couch shopping. I couldn’t believe it, we didn’t really seem to be having a good time, but he still asked me to go with him, so we went couch shopping. Seriously, I helped him pick out a couch, he bought it that day and everything. Now I’m quite fond that couch because every time I sit in our living room I think about how that couch was picked out when we barely knew each other and things were weird and awkward. Eventually we found our way back to his truck and we awkwardly hugged goodbye and said we’d see each other tomorrow. That was it. I didn’t and still don’t consider this day we had together a date. It was more of a hang out session, an awkward, slow to warm up hang out session, but I love that story because it’s quirky and fun just like Mr. Tal (and me.)

Next up, The Big Date

How about you readers, did you have some awkward beginnings with your guys?
Tune in next time for more tales of a DIY Bride.

Flashback: How we met

My DIYing has come to a halt as of late, in reality there isn't much I can do, the wedding is about 8 months away and I start student teaching on Monday. I'm really happy with where I am at with my projects and progress with the wedding, however, that means blogging is going to be more difficult. It's easy to write about projects and progress, but what happens when you hit that slow patch in wedding planning? I've heard all about it, even dreaded it because I love it, it keeps me busy and sane while I'm unemployed. So I've decided that while my projects are slow and I'm busy with other things like teaching, I'll write about our relationship, vendors, and anything else that comes to mind dealing with this wedding! First up, how we met (cue the wavy lines and flashback music):

I moved to Toledo from a rinky dink little town about 45 minutes away from Toledo in the middle of July 2007. I transferred from my community college because I had finally decided what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and I wanted to complete my degree. This wasn't too big of a deal for me, I already worked in Toledo, I had friends in the area and my best friend from back home was going to be my roommate. Once we moved, we had a lot more time on our hands. The 45 minute commute turned into 10 minutes and we didn't start school for another month, so Miss Ann (my roommate) and I started going out with our Toledo friends and co-workers a lot more. We had already been joining them for a Thursday night special at a bar called Mutz for several weeks before we moved. It was karaoke night and so much fun. We would head there with our friend Miss C and her boyfriend Mr. S, usually a group from Mr. S' fraternity would be there and it was quite a lot of fun and mischief. Each Thursday we'd meet up and have drinks and sing the night away, often I'd flirt with some boys at the bar, trying to see if I could score a date. This was the first time I'd been single in 6 years and actually been able to date, I found out that dating is actually highly overrated after a date or two.

Finally, August 9th arrived when a guy named Mr. Tal walked into the bar and joined our group of 15 to 20. Miss C and I whispered back and forth about him for a minute when I inquired who he was, "Oh Mr. Tal is in Mr. S' frat, he is cool, really nice, you should date him." to which I responded, "Umm, no I'll pass," and made a little wrinkled up nose face. I can't remember why he was so unappealing to me that night, maybe because I had a bad date earlier that day. The next Thursday he showed up again, this time he peaked my interest a little, he could sing, he laughed a lot, and from what I heard he was a certified geek, my favorite kind of man. So after a few drinks I got brave enough to tell Mr. S to give Mr. Tal my number and then we got home and I facebook stalked him. (Creepy, but after the dates I had been on I needed some reassurance he was semi-normal). Four days later I sent him a message saying hello, he responded, saying he'd seen me out and about and inquired about me. He asked if I'd be at the bar again the following week so he could say hello in person. I responded with a yes, he responded with an inquiry about my plans for the following weekend. I was suppose to work but could get out of it if need be. He asked if I would like to go to the German-American Festival with him, I immediately gave up my shift as quickly as possible and told him I could go.

Thursday night couldn't get here quick enough, I was excited and nervous. I had said yes to a date with a guy I'd not even spoken to and barely knew, I needed to remedy this in the course of a night. As always Miss C, Miss Ann, and I arrived early and grabbed drinks, he wasn't there and I was sad. So we decided to all sing together, we picked Queen's "Somebody to Love," (Oh the irony). He showed up halfway through our song, I was ready to stop because I wanted to look cool but the show had to go on. After the song, he was sitting at our long table looking through the song book, Miss Ann and Miss C were coaxing me to go say hello but my liquid courage hadn't kicked in yet. Finally, I bit the bullet and walked over to the stool next to him and sat down. I think I said hey, he asked me to help him pick out a song since I had chosen such a great song to sing earlier. I don't think I ever did pick a song, but we sat and talked a bit, nervously trying to make a good impression. I was comfortable enough by the end of the night that I felt that we could go out on Sunday and have a good time.

Up next: The party, the cookies, and the sleepover. Followed by: The First Date.

How about you readers, any interesting "how we met" stories?

Tune in next time for more Tales from a DIY Bride.

I've seen the light!

Throughout the wedding planning process I've used my gut to make my decisions. Obviously, careful thinking and planning was involved in the decisions as well, but ultimately, I knew in my gut when a vendor or decision was right. That's actually a little weird for me, I'm usually a think-it-through type of person, but the wedding has been easy. Caterer, flowers, venues, all gave me a certain feeling. This feeling was what I felt when I found the centerpieces in The DIY Bride and fell in love with them. They were clear vases, filled with water, rocks on the bottom, with a table number suspended in the water, very pretty, very simple. I loved them. I made a mock up of them several weeks ago, which you can read about here.



That was all well and good, but ever since the mock up I've had a nagging feeling about those centerpieces. They just aren't what I want. Plus, they aren't very big, and at a table of 8 with no place settings or favors, the tables would look very bare. So after some deliberation and some research, I've decided I want to do luminary centerpieces. Images like this made me love the idea. It's simple, elegant, and beautiful. However, will it turn out like I plan? I don't know, I'm still going through the materials to see if it's in the budget. I have lots of paper from the original centerpiece idea, which can be crafted into very pretty luminaries (I know I tried it!) and hung from branches with floral wire. The branches we can get for free from local parks and family back yards. We plan on using clay or plastic flower pots which can be spray painted those aren't very expensive, neither the sand or rocks to hold the branches in place are too horrible, and we can get tea lights for a steal as well. Well at least candle tea lights, see Mr. Tal is adamant on using battery powered tea lights for fear of fire. I understand his fear, especially with children running around. However, these are the expensive portion of this project and after some online research it didn't seem that it would be in the budget. Then I went to Meijer, 99 cent battery powered tea lights!!! It's in the budget, which means I can at least try this project.

Now all I have to do is make a mock up and hope that my gut likes this one. I hope it does, I don't want to have to pick something else again!

How about you, readers, have you ever had decisions made and then end up changing your mind about it?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY Bride!