Monday, August 30---------------------------------Day Off

+My vacation days this year are all saved up for the wedding and honeymoon. Today was seriously needed and well spent. I ate and shopped. And felt guilty for both - but that's part of the fun. I also finally got that pedicure I had been wanting and because the nail shop was slow, I got an extra long foot massage.

I kicked some butt on the invitations. The design part of the invites is pretty much finished. I took it all to Kinko's tonight and printed one of all the components (invite, map, postcard rsvp) to check for sizes and see how it was all looking together. I am pleased with the results. After some minor tweaks, we should be good to go for final production in a couple days. As soon as the envelopes arrive, I can start printing labels.

It's 11pm. I hear Snail shuffling down the hallway. Better get off the computer. Time for bed.

[ doesn't that breakfast taco look like the most perfect one you've ever seen? it has eggs, cheese, tortilla chips, jalapenos, tomatoes, onions. is the only instance where I allow such things to touch my eggs.]

[ my fries were hot and fresh, but they gave me my bag at the drive thru so fast that I didn't have time to think before I had pulled off with no salt or ketchup. I can understand that they don't want to waste ketchup by not giving it to EVERY customer....but they don't even give you a second to think about it. sheesh. ]

Sunday, August 29---------------------Relax

+The best Sunday night is the one where you don't have to work the next day. HAAAA! I took a vacation day tomorrow. I can't wait. The day will undoubtedly start with a breakfast taco and there will be a pedicure and from there, who knows.

Tonight, is dinner at a friend's.

Snail and I started reading The Fellowship of the Ring together.

Wednesday, August 25---------------------Mexican with mexican

+I had some mexican food with my mexican friend tonight. Chicken enchiladas with green sauce. Tonight, i realized plain as day what my favorite part of an enchilada platter is. It's the part where the green sauce + melted cheese get together with the rice. That's the gold. It's all melty and soft and ricey.

The prevous time I met with this friend, she told me about a lost chihuahua that was trying to follow her home, running behind her truck. She scooped him up and began driving around trying to find his home. When she connnected the dog with its owner, she asked what its name was. "Killer Willer" --- Best Dog Name Ever.

Tuesday, August 24-------WEDDING UPDATE

+We are in the throws of wedding invitation design. Its an equal combination of fun and un-fun and a joint effort. Snail and I battle with ourselves over the same issues. On the one hand, we want it to be the coolest thing ever. On the other hand, neither of us can be bothered to go through the many iterations it takes to get to that place of unanimous perfection. The end result will be something kinda cool that only took some iterations. Right now, we are debating various avenues of printing; costs, quality and methods. I am ready to be at the point of stuffing envelopes and placing postage.

+The dress is done. As soon as my veil arrives, I will go up to the place where I ordered it and try on my entire outfit one last time. I don't foresee any problems. CHECK.

+Do people still rent limos to ride off in? I've never been in one, but all I can think of is David Lee Roth. In my fantasy mind, we would ride off in a rented Mini Cooper or an old fancy car......(which i'm sure they don't rent in the small town we are getting hitched in.....). And do I change first?

These are the asinine details my mind is preoccupied with. Good times.

Wednesday, August 18-------Dinner, Dogs, Dream, Doctor

+I was mad today when my stack of recipes that I had been grocery shopping with after work, did not make it home with me and my groceries. This, the same stack of recipes that I had taken time to pull out of various publications. This, the same stack of recipes that I had left at work last night. Maybe none of them were going to be any good and someone was trying to tell me something. All my sorrows were washed away with the first scoop of some guac I made.

+We haven't heard a peep from our neighbor's dog for the past two nights. Snail and I were just discussing the matter. I revealed to Snail that the dog owner had given me a hug at the end of our discussion. (He's kind of a mushy guy.) "In that case," Snail said, "you should definitely bake them some cookies, if we can get through a week of no barking." Barking. Baking. Barking.

+The ultimate breakfast dream is to be able to cook my grits and an egg at the same time in the microwave. (Grits and egg are good together.) Into my bowl, I dumped grits, water and an egg. The problem came when I couldn't tell if the egg was cooked or not, because you want the grits to be a little moist. In the end, it was all overcooked and came out looking like over-cooked scrambled eggs.

+I've had three Dr. Peppers today. Somebody stop me.

Monday, August 16----"I don't hear any barking." --Dog Owner, 8:40pm

+During the hell that was last night, I promised myself that I would go over to the neighbors' at a decent hour and have a few words about their barking pet. I am back home after that conversation. I felt it was only fair to warn them again and to let them know that we were breaking out the big guns...err, i mean, calling the cops from here out. He was naturally defensive at first but I stuck it out and continued to talk calmly about the problem at hand.

The funniest part of the whole ordeal was at the end when he casually mentioned that they leave town every weekend. That was the point that I (someone that doesn't own a dog) really wanted to lose my temper. Obviously, he (the dog owner) doesn't understand that dogs need people and that THAT is why his dog barks ALL THE TIME, not cause it sees something rustling in the weeds.

Attention dog owners: Your dog needs to spend time with you.

I told Snail at 5:30am this morning that those dog owners are lucky that I'm not pregnant. They are lucky that we don't have a newborn. They are lucky that I'm not a high-powered lawyer that has to be at work at 7am and attend high-powered meetings. They are lucky that I'm a nice person.

Sunday, August 15------------------------Shower

+I went to a baby shower on Saturday. If there'd been a baby in my belly, I would have thought it was for me. My favorite foods kept appearing like magic, one after another. I first laid eyes on the chocolate covered strawberries, and then a big pan of tator tots and after that, the mini-burgers were revealed. Just when I thought I was in heaven, I saw the bowl of sliced *avocado* along with the other gourmet burger toppings (basil mayonnaise, not to mention all the cute little bowls with ketchup, mustard and the 5 kinds of cheeses). The picture was complete. ............Oh, wait?!?! There's more?

To drink: tasty virgin strawberry daiquiris and iced tea served with simple syrup to sweeten individually. Simple syrup is a sign of true class and for those that don't understand what i'm talking about: its basically sugar dissolved in water, so that when you sweeten your tea, it all mixes up nicely. Its one of those thoughtful details.

The entire event was totally cute, delightful and wonderful. I think I may have enjoyed it more than the mother-to-be. Hurray for the people in the world that know how to entertain!

Thursday, August 12---------------------Bitchy Britches

+Buying pants is a big pain and that's why I never do it. Well...until i get sick of seeing myself in jeans and my one pair of khakis and then I take off to the mall thinking, "I'm going to buy me some pants, wear them and like it."

I admit that buying jeans is complicated. Buying pants has all the complications of jeans and THEN SOME. Let me sum up what I dealt with today at the Gap. Pick one from each and see if its in stock and then see if it looks good on you:
1--------- Capri length, Ankle length, Regular length
2------------- Low rise, Sits at waist, Ultra low rise
3---------- What color are you looking for?
4---------- Different fabrics (thick and thin)
5------- Butt pockets vs. plain butt ( if i wanted a plain butt, i would wear stirrups)
6---------oh, yeah....Size
7-------------Price, if you care at this point

Once you get pants, you have to have shoes and a shirt to wear with them. Regarding shirts I've found its best, when going to work, to have a shirt long enough to make up the difference in my low-rise jeans. Like this is something I want to be thinking about in the morning when I get dressed. "Hmmm, I can wear these jeans/pants? ...they are low-waisted and is that a shirt that's long enough so that I don't end up walking around in my belly button all day?"

Sigh.

Wednesday, August 11------------------------------------Design Blogs

+I've been lazy lately about keeping myself on the up and up regarding design. But, I'm about to come out of that slump.

Someone at work told me about Design Eye for the Usability Guy, as I have recently been thinking about the language of links: how to color, underline, etc. What's more fun than that, is the treasuretrove of blogs that belong to the designers that contributed to that effort.

I was positively glued to Cameron Mull's linkage page this afternoon -- and will be for the next several weeks, as there's a lot to cover. I love when I feel as though I've stepped into a new blog realm. Soo many fresh links and so little time to tear through them all.

Tuesday, August 9-----------------------Kiss My Grits

+If you're a longtime reader of Sleepypie, you'll know that I am always in search of a hot savory breakfast. As of a few weeks ago, I have reconnected with an old favorite, Grits. You see, I ordered a side of grits at this little breakfast joint in a small town and I thought, "Hey , how come I'm not eating these all of the time? I mean, they are all the elements that I love: hot, creamy, white, mushy and able to withstand butter. In fact, they are like my long lost gluten-ridden pal...Cream of Wheat: except better. Savory!!"

I bought the instant grits in the serving size packets. True they aren't as good as the cooked ones, but I'm a woman on-the-go. In fact, this morning I grabbed a pack and a stick of butter and was off to work. I didn't have time to cut off a pat and wrap it to carry. And I wasn't about to eat my instant grits (made with all water) and no butter. They make pre-flavored packs but my grocery store only had the multi-flavor packs and I didn't think I would be able to get through the 2 country bacon-flavored ones and 3 chedder -cheese. Just wait'll I get my paws on those buttered-grits packets! Yee-haw!

Sunday, August 8------------------------WEDDING UPDATE

+This is the beginning of the topper I am making for our wedding cake. As you can see, its the start of mini-replicas of me and Snail. It's made of paperclay--which is sand-able and cut-able. I am building out the skirt of my dress little by little. (The skirt is going to need some texturing work) The reason there are no arms, is because I am going to try and make us holding hands....but I think that's going to be complicated and we'll see how it goes. I have a lot left to do. There are toothpicks sticking out of our feet which will help me attach them to a paperclase base.

I think I can hear the sounds of 3 televisions. Ok, just turned two of them off.

The wedding dress situation is well on its way to being complete. My friend/seamstress has done an amazing job getting it all to work and come together. She helped me pick out a veil on Saturday. I wasn't really planning on getting a veil, but there's argument to be made that it completes the look. Its quite true.

The next big task is the invitations. Gotta get those out by the end of this month. More to come on the next wedding update.

Saturday, August 7--------------------------

+I just love these fun dishes at Plum Party. I love all of them.

Tuesday, August 3---------------------------------------------

+Our wedding ceremony music was one of the few things that was decided without question. Bagpipes. Done. What else is there??? I called my wedding ceremony music booking agent (a.k.a. my 3rd grade music teacher) to get the where whens and whys. She told me the price and assured me that more than an hour of pipes would never be needed.

It was a sad day today when I recieved her email letting me know that NO pipers were available for our date. It seems that we are getting married the same weekend as the Annual Bagpipers Convention. Its pretty disappointing, but i'm certain this is the first of other wedding day letdowns to come. I've asked Snail for other suggestions; but he's not ready to discuss it. I rather agree. If we can't have the bag o' pipes to envelope our most sacred exchanging of vows, then...I just don't care what we have.

Sunday, August 1-----------------------------------

+Pictures from my birthday dinner at UCHI: the menu, grilled pork belly wrapped apples, sea scallops in melon basil sauce, red snapper in citrus grapeseed oil and fatty tuna. We also had a baked avocado with crabmeat (super duper) and some tempura but those photos were a bit blurry. The whole ordeal was top notch.