ClamBake.

-clam bake-

When you think of a clam bake, chances are you think of New England. Of, well, clams and various other types of seafood.

But I am here to tell you that it is indeed possible to have a Clam Bake without having even a scrap of seafood.

As some of you may well know, I’m getting married in September. And not wanting to be hung over the day of my wedding, I wanted to have my stagette well before the big day. And as I’m really, really, REALLY not into the public acts of embarassment that tend to dictate how a stagette usually unfolds, we switched it up.

My friend K has a great cabin out by Wainwright, so I gathered my ladies and we road tripped it to this beautiful lake a couple hours out of town. (with the exception of E who couldn’t make it in  from the coast but with whom I will most definitely have fun times with when she’s here in the fall. I was thinking of ya, missy!)

-clam-

-bake-

The first night was gorgeous and we all had our hopes up for sunny weather for the Saturday. But mother nature had other plans for us (as she tends to every time I’m out at this cabin. I have often witnessed snow on August long weekend). Despite the lack of sunshine and the bitter wind (it was only +9 Celsius for the majority of the day) we had a lot of fun. It was great to have my mom out there too. She’s one of my best friends, and it wouldn’t have been the same without her. Sadly, she was also the driver for our pregnant friend who decided she had to go home Saturday afternoon as opposed to Sunday morning as the original plan had been. This meant my mom had to leave just as the sun was finally peeking out.

And peek it did, just in time for our fondu!

-fondu goodness-

(that would be me on the right in the captain’s had and funky eyeball glasses)

That night was full of sparklers (see above), roaring fires, roasting marshmallows, marshmallow-Bailey’s shots and much laughter.

-pouring Bailey's into the roasted marshmallow-

On Sunday, the sun came forth with all its warming power! We actually dared to strip down to our bathing suits and get into the ice cold lake. It was such a relaxing day!

-kona making sure my ears are clean-

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. I got to shut my brain off for a bit, stop thinking about wedding stuff, get a tan, have a few bevvies, spend a weekend without men and just have fun!!!

-clam bake 2009-

-clam bake cake-

Purdy.

I saw these fantastic pencils on love forever . Loooove these. I want a set to put in my imaginary backyard.

.pencil trees.

Jonna Pohlalainen has a great site of environmental art.

Bitch!!

As in I need to vent, not as in I’m calling all of you a bitch. Mostly.

I have complained before about the job I have now. I’ve bitched about the work itself, the hours, the co-workers, everything imaginable, I have bitched about.

For the first time, however, I find myself bitching about my boss. I’ve been there almost a year now, and right up until the beginning of this month, she was fantastic. But then my co-worker left for Montreal.

As soon as she left, the schedle went to shit. Aside from this week (where I’m only working 3 days!), every other week this month I work 6 days  on, 1 day off. Adios summer sunshine!

**

Okay. I walked away for a moment, and now I’m feling better. Bitter yes. But also a little better.

Wet.

I used to laugh at people who claimed that the weather was conspiring against them.

Ha! I’d say.

The world is not shitting on you! I’d say.

Get over yourself! I’d say.

And yet now, here I find myself. Hiding indoors on yet another day off as the weather continues to keep me down. Granted, the finaky and I did go play kick ball for a bit this aft, but the humidity made the air so thick it was a work out just to breath.

And now, here I find myself, making the same complaints others have made before me. Why has the sun not come out once on my days off? Why have I not had occassion to lay about, semi-clothed, on my patio sipping something cold and bubbly while flip flopping every fifteen minutes to ensure an even tone?

WHY I ask you!?!

If it continues like this, I will need to seriously invest in rain boots and a flashy umbrellas just to keep a smile on my face.

(but if I had a camera, I’d show you the amazing cloud formation over our apartment right now. it’s eerie.)

Done.

.the finished invitation.

So some things have been blurred a little for privacy’s sake, but here are our finished invitations.

Tada!

Coworkers.

For the past year (or close enough to a year) I’ve worked nearly every day with Brittany. And it was fun. She was a bit younger than me, so had a different view on the world. We got along.

But Britt moved to Montreal.

Now I work every day with Michele. She’s older, mom to 3 boys, divorced. And has a different view on the world.

When working with Britt, my days felt full of laughter and plots and observations.

Working with Michele, my days are full of complaining, a skewed reality and a dash of bitterness.

With Britt I felt old, but it was a happy environment.

With Michele I feel young (if only because she calls me a baby whenever I admit that I don’t know certain references or candy), but it’s not so happy anymore.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could create your ideal coworker? Considering I spend more time with them than anyone else, it would be great to mix and match characteristics of different people you know so that work would be, well, better.

Hairs!!!

Swoon…..

Yesterday my cousin J and my dear friend L came over to do a practice run of the wedding hair. (E, I missed having you here tonight. But have no fear for your wedding day hair, because my cousin is really good!*) J is doing the girls’ hair and L is doing mine. Because yes, it does take over an hour to finish. But my oh my, is it ever worth it.

The inspiration for the hair is this gorgeous woman:

-wedding hair inspiration-

Not only is she absolutely beautiful, but her hair is amazing. So I told L (who had done hair like this for a theater show she’d done years ago) that I was going for a retro feel and she was all in. When my cuz J heard what I wanted, she was pretty hesitant because she’d never done anything like it before. And when this evening got under way I showed her the above picture and she was still doubtful.

But then I put on my shiny new wedding dress and gorgeous red shoes, and she agreed that the hair has to be something like the 1950’s ish hair I wanted.

I can’t share the wedding dress with you yet, as the fianky might find his way here. But here’s a close up of the hair as it will more or less look on the big day (although slightly ’shorter’ so that the bird cage veil will fit):

-practice wedding hair-

And then I threw on my fantastic new $9.99 Army and Navy dress (will which will eventually be a job interview dress when the companies start a’calling) and felt Mad Men calling. Sadly I can’t seem to get that picture off the camera, but I’m on it, I swear!

*yes, there is a note of surprise in there.

Invited.

Wow.

It was a LOT of work.

And boy oh boy am I ever glad that we’re not sending everyone an invitation, because we made 60 and that was more than enough to keep me busy for a few days. My gal K found some fantastic glimmery red spray that we sprayed over the tree stencil on the backside of some vellum squares which were attached to shimmery red paper by black ribbon which were then glued to a larger piece of black paper. And I think they’re gorgeous. Each one is unique and gorgeous.

They are a little more formal than I would have originally opted for, but they’re great. And I really do love the individuality of them all. Hopefully the people on the receiving end appreciate the work that went into them all.

Now I just have to finish writing all the names and address on them. Yikes!

Vanity.

(E- expect part of this in letter form)

(Also, this was written at our “local Cheers” after a pint or two while the boys were blabbering on about Fringe spots)

Think back to the first time you remember having a crush on someone you saw on almost a daily basis. Personally I’m thinking of cute coworkers (maybe in part because the fianky started off as a coworker). You liked them so you wanted them to like you. So you wanted to look good. So you spent time on picking the right outfit and feeling that you looked great.

Flash forward to today when we hang out at our own version of Cheers. The fianky and I got engaged and we had a wedding fundraiser at said Cheers locale. And in the days immidiately following, I had three people from my Cheers (of the male persuasion) approach me to tell me of how, when they first met me, they wanted to meet me. They wanted to know who I was with. These men made a point of telling me that, at one point, they thought i was hot and wanted to get to know me. And that I’m still hot.

So now, despite being completely in love with my man friend, when we go out to our own version of Cheers, I have an extra reason to look good. And I just might spend an extra second or two on makeup.

It’s always neat to see what happens when you know someone is looking (in on oh so non stalkeresque kind of way).

Check. [lists]

A while back, I made a list of things I would like to accomplish by my 29th birthday in February.  Well I realized today that I get to check some things off!

My list:

1-Learn to walk in heels (and maybe even enjoy wearing them!). [June 25 note: I now have two pairs of shoes with heels. One pair of wedding shoes, one pair of convocating shoes. I love them both. And most importantly, I can almost walk with in them and not look like a complete tool]

2-Take the class that came with my sewing machine so that I can really use it and use it well.

3- Get fit so that I don’t look back with regret on my wedding photos and so that I can keep up with my soon-to-be husband on our honeymoon. We’ve decided on a 5 day canoe trip through Algonquin park. Honeymoon delayed as we are now, possibly, planning on going camping with all our friends who are coming out from Ontario instead. [June 25 note: My fitness regime now consists of  lunges around the store when it's slow, arm dips off the tub every time I go pee, playing kickball with the fianky every couple of days, the odd walk, and hiking up three flights of stairs at least twice a day]

4-Have as much of a stress-free wedding as possible.

5-Complete said canoe trip through Algonquin park. (Okay, this now won’t be before my next birthday, but I’m keeping it in here to make sure it doesn’t totally float away from the realm of possibility.)

6-Call my grandfather at least once a week.

7- Find a pair of pants that aren’t jeans that I can be comfortable in.

8-Graduate from college. June 18- DONE!!!!

9-Have my friends over for dinner more often.

10-Plant a ‘box garden’ on my patio. [June 25th note: It's not exactly a 'box garden', but I have plans. And they're still growing]

11-Get a job that allows me to pay the bills and then have some left over for the luxuries. Like groceries.

12- Put some serious thought into the idea of compiling all the stories of my grandmother’s life into a book.

13- Keep the kitchen stocked with bread flour so we can start using our bread maker again. Nothing beats home made bread!

14- Finish the knitting project I started while I was home sick. Hopefully it will be cowl-like. Done!

15- Get a camera. Nothing fancy, one that I can use will help me take better pictures.

16-Find out if the reason I’ve been sick for the past year really is due to mold in our apartment. (This will have to wait until after school is done).

17- Be more open with my fianky in terms of what I feel and what I want.

18-Sew a shirt and skirt. Not necessarily matching, but an outfit nonetheless.

19- Get serious about my creative projects so that T. and I can actually do an art show together.

Checked a few things off, added something on. While I tend to completely forget about this list, when I do remember, it serves its purpose of reminding me that, however minute, I do have some goals that will keep me company along the way. And as soon as I get pictures from my Pa , I’ll share some graduation moments with y’all.