Monday, May 25, 2009

Classic Over-Thinker

Classic Over-Thinker should be stamped permanently on my resume' and any business cards I happen to procure in the future. And I can over-think about basically anything: will my teaching license renewal be submitted before the expiration date? Will my acne choose to flare up for the wedding? Will Target let us return some glasses without a receipt?

Currently, wedding shoes are the bane of my existence. I wish I already owned a fabulous, comfortable, and colorful pair of shoes, b/c really, if I had something suitable I wouldn't look for something new. I love shoe shopping and shoes in theory. Then I go to an actual store and put some shoes on my feet, and my rather short and quite wide feet do not fit. I have to have a conversation with my brain about how I cannot will them to fit me every time I try on a new item of footwear.

I acknowledge that I'm over-thinking this. As soon as I settle on some wedges with height, I think that I won't be comfortable. But most often comfort = expensive. And I find that the majority of my current comfortable shoe needs are met (aka investing in a new pair of worthy shoes doesn't make a lot of sense right now). So what to do? I am officially tired of looking for shoes, and every time I do look, the sensible part of my brain announces that I am over-thinking a tiny decision and that the whole thing is ridiculous because my dress is ankle-length. But is it so wrong to want something colorful peering out of that dress? And to feel a little tall and confident?

See? Classic over-thinking behavior, as I have now devoted an entire blog entry to my plight. Basically, I need to stop thinking about it and just purchase a pair of shoes. Or reassess and see if in fact, I can use something I currently own. I pride myself on staying away from wedding porn and the like, but even on the alternative/DIY blogs I read, each (aka most, not all) bride has killer vintage fashion sense and excellent, full of personality footwear. These same brides search antique shops for months for vintage table linens and full sets of unmatched plates in the same color scheme. Sometimes these brides inspire me, but when I start to over-think, I feel inadequate. But that's just not my style. I'm a good enough kind of person. Are the invites cut relatively straight? Will the post office be able to decipher my handwriting? If both of the above are true, good enough. Don't get me wrong, I take pride in my work. It's not shoddy, just not absolutely the awesomest ever. Currently, I have visions of indie brides with delicious, amazing shoes. And suddenly I need them too.

Except I don't. Which I will eventually remember and find something that fits at least one of my many criteria (relatively comfortable, if not flats, something that doesn't sink into grass, colorful, will wear again) and feel good enough about it.

Until then, the over-thinking continues.

P.S. James and I really did complete the invitations from start to finish this weekend. It wasn't even terribly time-consuming, and was actually kind of fun. We're now hand-addressing envelopes, and will mail them off into the wilds shortly!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Wedding Not-Wednesday

I haven't talked about the wedding in a little while, but today, I just had to share. When I checked my email this morning, right there in between the Snapfish photo offers and the Barnes and Noble coupon was a little email that made my heart leap.

Rings are done! is what it said. We're having our rings made by a local artist in Goshen, and she finished them over the weekend! All we need to do is send the remainder of our bill, and the rings are ours! These little concrete (or white gold in this case) bits of our upcoming marriage are what get me really excited. It's really happening! And we're going to have beautiful rings, which I can't wait to see!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Really Good Things List

1) Yesterday Erin and Kate made an Italian feast in honor of spring. Words cannot describe exactly how delicious the meal was. To top it all off, we played a rousing round of Quiddler with our guests. I love that game!

2) Last week, I taught an exceptionally awesome group of 40 3rd grade students. I left the class feeling energized and excited about my job. 

3) This Friday, that same group of 3rd graders came to the BP for their class field trip. They were all lined up outside waiting for their class to begin, and as I approached, I heard them all yell, "EMILY!" I then received about 30 hugs in approximately 2 minutes. Kids rock.

4) Earl Grey tea. Enough said.