HaselBride

Hasel at EAD Living

Just a quick break from the wedding recaps (I'm aiming for two to three a week, by the way) to let you know that I am the newest blogger over at EAD Living!

Ami, the editor and publisher of Elizabeth Anne Designs, invited me to join the team of bloggers writing about life, travel, cooking, crafting, etc. at the suggestion of Erin from Blue-Eyed Bride. I am so excited to be able to share some of my experiences as a newlywed without the pressure of daily posts, creating a new blog, etc. Thanks, Ami, for asking me!

After the wedding recaps are complete, I hope to transition HaselBride into a source for fellow winter brides and eventually start my own blog where I can share more about my newlywed life, being a military spouse,  working in graphic design, etc. I am thrilled to have that outlet at EAD Living: head on over and check out my first post.

Catching Up

I'm back and have a lot to catch you up on {and to get caught up myself...I am so behind! Yay for procrastination!}.

First things first, our friends' beautiful wedding went off without a hitch, although the weather and the Air Force tried to put a kink in things. Some of the guests missed connecting flights and had to drive the rest of the way because of the rain; and because of a spur-of-the-moment Air Force related trip to Texas, Nick {the best man} nearly missed the whole thing. Luckily his flight arrived just in time for the luncheon/groomsmen hangout on Saturday morning, and I filled in as planned on at the rehearsal Friday night.

J and K at the altar with the back of Nick's head to the left; Nick and I after the ceremony.

I'm hoping to be able to share some of the details from the wedding with you, but the bride and groom {after a 24 hour drive to their new home out West} are about to embark on their honeymoon so it will have to wait until they return. We had a wonderful time, chatting and dancing with all of our college friends. I looked at Nick at one point and said, "I can't wait until December!" It WILL be great, but first I have to get caught up AND make some big decisions!

I've got some great posts coming very soon; hopefully I'll be able to get some of those up later this week. I'm in a bit of a transition right now {more on that later} and super busy after work and freelance clients {and life in general}! Haha.

Tag, I'm It! {Again}

First off, thank you all for voting for the envelope. Envelope 2 is currently in the lead, but since 1 and 2 are almost exactly the same I will see which works best with the Gocco. They were my favorites, too, I just wasn't completely sold on the idea and thought I should give some others a shot.

Sorry posting was at a minimum this past week; I took an unannounced break from the computer during non-working hours this week. Some weeks you just need to unplug. This was the perfect one because the weather was fabulous.

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I was tagged by two of my favorite bloggers/brides-to-be: Emily of A Windy City Wedding and Tara from In This Instance.

RULES:
1. you link back to the person who tagged you.
2. post these rules on your blog.
3. share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5. let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs

{Unimportant? Then why does anyone even want to know?! I'm going to mix it up and put six facts–about me and our wedding. This is a wedding blog after all! :) }

1. My dad chose my name from Linda Ronstadt's cover of Elvis Costello's "Alison". {He went through a serious Linda Ronstadt phase during his stint in Vietnam and I guess his love for her stuck well into the 80s!} He also liked the name Carmelita from another song she sang, but my mom put her foot down on that one! I'm considering having "Alison" be our father/daughter song, but the lyrics {here} themselves are not so meaningful. One of the lines is, "Did he leave your pretty fingers lying in the wedding cake?" Hmmm...I sure hope not. {For whatever reason, my mom and dad decided on the double L spelling instead of just one.}

2. Every wedding/party my mom, my aunts, cousins and I all dance like mad to "We Are Family." I know, I know, so cliche, but I am honestly super excited about carrying out our silly tradition at our wedding. One of my next steps in planning is going to be deciding what DJ will be groaning when we put this song on the list.

3. In high school, the camera was my date to many dances. Yep, I was a yearbook staffer aka a super geek. I've always had a thing for photography and took some beginning courses in college. This is making the hunt for the perfect photographer SO HARD. There are a few fabulous ones who would absolutely break my budget, BUT I'm hopeful I'll find the perfect {and affordable} one soon!

4. I have never been a bridesmaid or a flower girl. {I've sang and read at weddings.} Most of my married friends were married long before I met them and my other friends are single or not quite ready for the altar. Nick has been a ring bearer and a groomsman and will be a best man at one of our friends' weddings this summer.

5. I commute thirty minutes to work and at least half the week daydream about our wedding during my drive.

6. I have recently become very attached to my maiden name and I would love to keep it in some form, but I can't make it middle name {maternal Grandmother's middle name/family name} and don't want to hyphenate {our last names are both ridiculously long and hard to pronounce at first}.

I'm tagging: whoever hasn't been tagged! I'm a bit late getting this out there and I believe everyone and their sister has been tagged. If you want to participate, say so in the comments, so I can read your responses!

To Assign or Not to Assign: that is the question.

Great discussion going on over at the Weddingbee boards: to assign or not assign seats?

This has been an ongoing conversation in my mind and with my mother, and I have to agree with many of the people who are for it. It creates more work, but also adds another way to incorporate the colors and them into the reception site.

I am leaning more and more towards assigned tables, but unassigned seats. I want to be sure our families are able to sit together because I am planning a group photograph of my mother's entire family immediately following the wedding. My mother has six brothers and sisters and we haven't taken a professional photo since one of my older cousins was married six or seven years ago. My cousins are beginning to have children of their own and I want to document the occasion with a photo of us all. I know it will take some time and wrangling and I want to be sure they still sit near us at the reception. I think the best way to ensure this is to assign tables.

My reception venue (a hotel) wants us to have someone at the door to make sure people can find their correct table. With a giant chalkboard like in the wedding featured in New York magazine's Winter 2007 wedding issue, how could they miss it?

Image © New York magazine, photography by Shawn Connel for Christian Oth.

Links

In the next few days, I am hoping to have a more complete list of the Fabulous Wedblogs I have enjoyed perusing recently. I'm also planning a list of non-wedding, lifestyle blogs that are inspirational on a less wedding specific basis.

I'm curious, because we all need more inspiration, what is your favorite new blog? your favorite old standby? or just one that pops into your mind that we all need to see? Do you have a blog?

Crazy week!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I recently started a new job and I'm still trying to get into the swing of things. I will be back this weekend with tons of new posts about my first Gocco project and another wedding project in the works!

Tag, I'm It!

I'm a big dork for these types of things so I was thrilled to be tagged by Tina from With This Ring, I Thee Obsess!  Plus, it is a way to get to know me better!

What is your occupation?
Graphic designer.

What color are your socks right now?
I next to never wear socks between my high heels and flip flops, but they'd probably be white or black depending upon the shoe {tennis shoes and boots, respectively}.

What are you listening to right now?
Reruns of What I Like About You.

What was the last thing that you ate?
I sinned and ate hot dogs at a bbq Nick and I went to last night. {It is Lent and Fridays are no meat.}

Can you drive a stick shift?
I have absolutely no idea how to drive a stick shift.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
I'd say green, my fiance says I'm lemon yellow. I'll take that as a compliment.

Last person you spoke to on the phone?
A supervisor from my old job. I'm designing some brochures for her!

Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Of course! She's a bride-to-be like me!

Favorite drink?
Currently, Diet Sunkist. Previously, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet 7UP, Fresca. Those are still favorites.

What is your favorite sport to watch?
I'm a baseball person and I love the Red Sox, but I'd rather watch a game {baseball, basketball, football} in person than on tv. My fiance however, can't live without football season and is currently going through withdrawals. I'm glad to have our weekends back.

Have you ever dyed your hair?
Never. My hair is a virgin, no perms, no color ever. Last summer, I really really wanted to go blonde ala Sarah Jessica Parker with some of the dark still in tact, but I chickened out.

Pets?
I wish, but no. I'm a great "dog aunt" to Gracie and Peyton.

Favorite food?
Mashed potatoes. Chips and salsa.

Last movie you watched?
Finding Neverland

Favorite Day of the Year?
I would say Christmas, but to be honest I like the time leading up to the day, but I'm usually a little bit sad on Christmas day because my nephews, niece and sister aren't around or Nick and I are not together.

What do you do to vent anger?
I yell and carry on to Nick, then I instant message my best friend from college or call my mom.

What was your favorite toy as a child?
I'm guessing Barbies. I loved Barbies.

Which is your favorite, fall or spring?
They are both so great because they are not winter. I'd have to chose spring because my favorite days in college were the first days of spring. Everyone on campus would be hanging out outside listening to summery music.

Hugs or kisses?
I love a good hug from my mom, aunts or nephew. {And of course, a kiss from Nick!}

What kind of pie?
Apple with strawberry a close second..

Living arrangements?
Nick and I live in a fabulous three-bedroom house. It is a 70s style ranch, but the owner has painted all of the trim and walls whites and tans. I love it.

When was the last time you cried?
I believe that was during the marathon phone conversation with my MOH earlier this week.

What is on the floor of your closet?
Some shoes,two boxes of purses I haven't unpacked, a huge stack of jeans, a container of winter clothes.

Favorite smell?
Hmmm... I adore the way my two favorite, discontinued perfumes smell. Secret 88 by Victoria's Secret and Closer from Gap.

What inspires you?
The city, which I am not even remotely close to.

What are you afraid of?
I'm a bit of a wuss, so many, many things.

Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
No cheese with pickle, ketchup, tomato.

Favorite Car?
Oooh, a Mercedes CLK or SLK. When I hit the lotto...

Favorite cat breed?
I'm a dog person.

Number of keys on your key ring?
Four, but I just condensed and put the ones from Indiana on a separate key chain.

How many years at your current job?
Years!! Ha! I wish. I've been at my current job for four days, but my job before that for over two years.

Favorite day of the week?
Saturday

How many states have you lived in?
Two, Indiana and Mississippi.

How many countries have you been to?
One. Canada. I've never been out of North America. Believe me, I have a list. {Germany, France, Holland, Australia, England, Italy, and many, many more.} Nick and I would love to go to Europe for our honeymoon, but would rather not go in the dead of winter so we're thinking some place warm, maybe Hawaii?

I'm tagging anyone who wants to be tagged!  Comment below if you join in on the fun, so we can read your answers.

Thank you! And you!

A huge thank you to Abby from Style Me Pretty for mentioning little ol' Hasel Bride in a recent post about new wedding blogs.

I was thrilled to come back from a wonderful long weekend with my fiance in Atlanta to so many comments from new readers. Thank you for the warm welcome and kind words. I loved reading each and every one of them. Keep them coming! I hope you all will continue to join me on my journey to a fabulous winter wedding. I will be back tomorrow Wednesday afternoon with all-new posts! {marathon phone call with matron of honor put me off schedule!}

Image from Style Me Pretty.