Trying My Hand at Wedding Ceremony Coordination

Since Nate and I started dating a year and a half ago, I have accompanied him to his disc jockey gigs, which have primarily been wedding ceremonies and receptions. I love getting to spend the extra time with Nate, but to be perfectly honest, wedding receptions can be kinda boring if you don't know the bride, groom or any of the guests AND you aren't allowed to get up and dance when the good dance music is playing. So we did a little brain~storming and came up with a way that I could potentially be kept occupied at an event ~ we started offering day~of reception coordination. The idea was that I would be on hand to make sure that the reception proceeded in a timely fashion and that everyone was where they needed to be for all the important events. We thought it was a great service to offer ~ usually a family member or friend is delegated to this task, but if we could take responsibility for it, we could ensure that all the guests were able to enjoy the event as stress~free as possible. I considered venturing into wedding planning, but decided that day~of coordination was the best way to go as I can have a short fuse sometimes and don't exactly have the patience to deal with bridezillas during the entire wedding preparation process.

Several months ago, we met with an adorable couple who happened to be the first bride and groom who wanted to use our new service. But in addition to coordinating the reception, they also wanted me to coordinate the ceremony. {Oddly enough, they didn't seem too concerned with the fact that I've never done this before! I think they really just wanted someone outside the family to take a leadership roll at the rehearsal and before the ceremony, and help make sure that everything goes smoothly.} Their wedding is this weekend and while I'm a little nervous about it, I'm also pretty excited. I've been researching the best ways to conduct a ceremony rehearsal online, and I think I'm actually ready!

The wedding should be a lot of fun ~ the bride is Canadian and the groom is American, and they're getting married at the Peace Arch, which rests on the exact U.S./Canadian border, and happens to be where the couple met for the first time. I don't know that I've been to an outdoor wedding and reception since my uncle got married in 1986 {they're somewhat rare here in Washington as the weather cannot be trusted to cooperate} but we've had beautiful, rain~free weather for weeks, so hopefully we'll all stay dry. It's been so hot though ~ I hope we don't melt!

Darn You, Stupid WebMaster

I am only slightly ashamed to admit that I do a teeny bit of blogging while at work. Or at least I did until this week. Our I.T. department has tightened up the reins on what sites are deemed inappropriate for viewing on work time, and unfortunately for me, Blogger and Yahoo Mail are among those sites that our WebMaster now blocks. {Oddly enough, Twitter and YouTube, which were previously unavailable, can now be viewed.} No more checking and responding to personal and garter~related email throughout the day. No more logging onto Blogger to check out what my favorite bloggers are saying when I have a few minutes of down time, or posting a new post that I worked on during my break. I can't even leave blog comments using my Google username! I did just figure out that I can still comment on Blogspot blogs using just my name and URL {so if my comments look different now, that's why} , which is better than nothing, but I'm still bummed out about the whole thing. Stupid, stupid WebMaster. I don't like you at all.

Feeling Like I Can Call Myself a Dancer Again

I think we all have labels that we give ourselves {or that others give us} that serve to describe or identify us ~ mother, sister, daughter, wife, friend, artist, crafter, animal lover, blogger, etc. The list goes on and on. I have always thought of myself as: daughter, friend, dancer, crafter, book worm, collecter of yarn and ribbon, cat lover; recently I've even added two "labels" I never thought would apply to me: small business owner and dog person. But for the past several years, I've questioned whether I could continue to label myself as a dancer considering that I very rarely make it out dancing despite the fact that I miss it more than anything and that I am my happiest on the dance floor.

As I mentioned a few months ago, Nate and I started taking Argentine Tango classes. Last night was the conclusion of our second four~week session; after class, we attended our second milonga {which is an all-tango dance party}. While we were dancing at the party {and feeling pretty good about ourselves and our progress, I might add ~ we're getting pretty darn good!}, it finally struck me that not only can I definitely call myself a dancer again, but I AM a dancer again {or still... whichever way you want to look at it}. And that feels fabulous. It's great to be doing something I love with someone I love, and I am happy happy happy.

I may still be missing my bloggy mojo, but my dancing mojo is definitely back! Now I just have to decide which of these pairs of gorgeous tango shoes I need to add to my dance shoe collection...

*** UPDATE *** I accidently posted two pictures of the animal print shoes with black soles, which Becca so kindly pointed out ~ I must really like those ones! I meant to include this pair in my original post. I think I may be a big fan of animal print! Not overly practical, but so fun!

Feeling Blah

I've been suffering from a case of the Bloggy Blahs lately. I have been tagged, given an award, have a book I want to write a recommendation on, and have several ideas for posts, but I just can't motivate myself to do any of it! So my blog and I have decided to take a break during which we hope to get our bloggy mojo back. With any luck, we'll be back next week!

It Must Be Wedding Season Because I am a Busy Busy Girl

Just wanted to wish everyone a fabulous weekend and offer a little explanation as to why I haven't had a Fabulous Finds Friday or Friday Confessions post the past few weeks. Wedding season is in full swing and almost every free moment I get is spent on garters. I'm excited that things are going so well ~ I've already had a record~earning month and we still have two more weeks of July! ~ but have definitely had a lot less "Heather" time lately and have yet to open up the box my new embroidery machine came in. Hopefully I can squeeze in an hour or two of play time with it this weekend and try my hand at a little monogramming.

I do want to share a little lesson I learned this week ~ if you have a puppy known for her stinky farts, you can TOTALLY pass your SBD's off on her!

Enjoy the sun this weekend!

I Think Daisy Needs a Friend...

I just discovered that both of Daisy's brothers, Ultra and Uzi, are still available. {I can only get one of their pictures to save ~ click here to view Uzi.} Wish me luck convincing Nate that we need to bring one {or both!} of them home!

Here's Ultra ~ isn't he adorable?!?

Does Jack in the Box Have the Best Commercials or What?

A few months ago, Nate fell in love with Jack in the Box's mini sirloin burger commercial. He constantly sang the little song, and would always pause the DVR while fast~forwarding through commercial breaks to watch it when it came on.



Now the folks at Jack in the Box have given us a new "mini" commercial ~ this one's for mini buffalo ranch chicken sandwiches, and I'm in love with it. The little dance moves are just fabulous!




Nate thinks the other one is better because it has a catchier tune and better backdrops, but I think the buffalo chicken moves just can't be beat! When I watch the commerical, I want to get up and do the mini buffalo ranch chicken sandwich dance too! What do you all think? Which is better ~ mini sirloin or mini buffalo ranch?