Crossing the Finish Line Never Gets Old.

Stephen King, who happens to be my all time favorite writer in the entire world, said once about writing that the "scariest moment is just before you start. After that things can only get better." I happen to think that this is true for almost anything. The payoff for all that fear is the moment, after a lot of hard work, when you can finally throw up your hands in victory and shout. "I did it!" I got to do this yesterday and even though only the dog and cats were the only ones there to witness it, it still felt awesome. It always does. If starting is fear, than finishing is like turning on the light and realizing the snarling monster in th corner was just a floor lamp.

I finally finished my sister’s quilt. I posted a picture of it earlier in this post. I have been working on this quilt for at least two years now, and I sewed up the last of the binging yesterday afternoon. My fingers hurt, but I managed to get the binding done in about 5 days. It turned out much better than I expected:

There a few spots where I had to hand sew. I am not sure what happened, but it didn’t catch all the layers in a few spots of the binding when I sewed it on with my machine. I am trying not to beat myself up over it, because by the time I sewed then binding on that quilt was bigger than me, heavy and really hard to guide through the machine one handed. Still, I am slightly disappointed. There are also some spots that didn’t line up exactly, which is more noticeable on this quilt than my others because of the pattern. I know my sister will love it, but I really wanted it to be perfect for her.

Oh well, I guess I am still working on perfect. I'll let you know when I accomplish it. Then we can put on out party hats and call Guinness because that'll be a first.

In other news something really exciting happened for Disability and I Do that a few of you might know about. A few weeks ago, I was contacted by one of the writers over at Etsy who was doing a feature for the Etsy Blog on planning accessible weddings and wanted to include Disability and I Do as part of the article. Those of you who have been reading awhile know how much I love Etsy, so of course I said yes. The article can be found here.  The result of this article is about 2,000 new hits and 10 new followers. (Hi, new readers!)

It’s probably not a big deal for many people, I mean, there are bloggers that get 10,000 hits a day and have hundreds of followers, but it was really exciting for me. I never meant for this blog to be something just for me and my family and friends. I wanted to reach out to as many people as I could. I did a lot of work to make sure that it would show up on search engines and on other websites so that it might actually help someone, and I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to reach an even wider audience.

I am feeling a little more pressure now, I hope I don't fail hopelessly...

That shadow in the corner is just a floor lamp, right?

Getting Things Done!

Well, another month has come and gone so fast I feel as though I might have whip lash. In just a little over a week, we will be at the two month mark. I can’t believe it. Things are coming together though. My invites have been made and ordered by the lovely and talented Christy Beckwith, the flowers have been ordered, the girls have their dresses and the boys have their tuxes, linens are ordered, center pieces have been started, vows are being written and the shower is in two weeks.

I can’t believe how well it is all coming together. I know there is probably going to be A LOT of scrambling in the near future. We still have to send out the invitations, finish the centerpieces and work on the favors. Lights and tulle still need to be procured, I sill need a CD player with a mic and I have no idea what I am doing yet about these atrocious tan lines.

However my “done” list is much longer than my “to-do” and for that I am grateful.

I think the hardest thing for me in this whole process is the fact that I can’t drive; that running around doing wedding tasks involves a week of planning and volunteers willing to give both their gas and their time to the cause. Thankfully, I have THE BEST friends and family a girl could ask for. They keep there eyes open for deals, drive me to appointments and pick things up for me.

For my part, I have been trying to do as much as I can online as far as purchases go. Most people might be nervous by this, but I have been online shopping for years and have become quite good at it. I buy most of Tom’s gift online for obvious reasons, so I feel really comfortable with this. One of my favorite sites for the wedding has been Etsy.

I have had the cake topper hang over my head for months now. It was one of those things that I didn’t want to be generic and boring. Tom and I are not romantic. We just aren’t. We don’t kiss if we are caught in the rain, we sling mud. That’s just who we are. So I didn’t want your typical cake topper were the bride is smiling up into the face of an adoring groom, even the ones meant to be funny seemed to cheesy. I wanted something different. Originally, Tom and I were going to go up to Frankenmuth, but with the price of gas it was decided that we would have to find one closer to home.

After getting Tom’s approval to look on my own (he was doing a great job pretending to care about which cake topper we chose) I decided to check Etsy. They had everything. Many shops even made custom brides and grooms to look like you. But those were expensive and had many time constraints. And then I found a shop with some of the cutest toppers I had ever seen.

The Quirky Corn Crib makes cake toppers that are the perfect mix of nature and nerd because they use nature inspired elements and scrabble pieces to make adorable custom cake toppers.

Behold: 

Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

The shop owner at The Quirky Corn Crib was amazing. I contacted her on the 21^st and we chatted for a bit about what I wanted. Within a day my order was ready for purchase. I receive my cake topper on the 27^th and it was exactly what I had been shown online only better. I was very excited to check "cake topper" off my list.

I just hope the rest of the “to-do” list comes together as easy as that. 

I have discovered Etsy. Someone hide my credit card!

It’s been a while and I just know that you all have been eagerly awaiting the next installment of my wedding adventure. What do I have in store for you today you ask? Will it be words of wisdom? A humorous anecdote? A subtle jab at society? 

It’s hair.

Yes you heard me correctly; I am going to talk about hair. Boys you are excused. See, next to the dress, and the shoes, the next vain, somewhat shallow concern of any bride is the hair. Fortunately, for me my Step-Mom is a hair stylist and my sister/Matron of Honor is the best untrained hair stylist I know. My hair is going to be rockin’ folks. My dilemma was not how to do my hair but rather, what to put in my hair.

The trend it seems is to go for something shiny, glitzy and glamorous. I am opposed to shiny. Not only because it does not go with the simple yet pretty look I am going for, but because my loved ones are easily distracted. The last thing I need is for my future husband, half my wedding party and guests to be staring distractedly at the sparkling beacon atop my head.

Have I mentioned the cost? David’s Bridal wanted $100 dollars for one fake crystal and pearl encrusted comb. Now I know how they sell those dresses so cheap.

I began perusing websites took for something I could pin my hair back with. One of my good friends, Christy who is aside from being one of my bridesmaids-of the-married-sort, is a phenomenal artist, suggested I try Etsy. Etsy for those of you that don’t know is a website that allows crafters and artists of all types to sell their merchandise to people from all over.

After seeing some of the prices for hair clips, barrettes and combs at many of the stores I typically shop at I decided to give it a try. I was a little apprehensive about the quality of the products once they got to my house, but I figured I wasn’t having luck finding what I wanted elsewhere and I gave it a shot.

After only a few minutes of searching I found a shop called BohemianBlossom owned by Cassie and Kayley. They specialize in making flower hair clips. I immediately found a set of sunflower bobby pins that my sister the Matron of Honor thought would be cute. I was so excited about the purchase that I actually forgot to pay for them after placing my order, but Cassie was very understanding and even sent me a little gift. These girls do great work. The pins look exactly as the picture depicted and they are very sturdy.

Now I will have something unique and handmade to wear on my wedding day, and any other day, because they aren’t over the top I can wear these baby’s any where and everywhere! Thanks girls. :)

Did I mention I saved a CRAPLOAD of money?

I must say, if you have not been shopping on Etsy you have to give it a try. They have everything! It’s my new favorite place to shop!