The April List

Ah! We're already halfway into the month. There are lots of wedding related things going on and getting done that leave little room for other projects. Here are a few things I have in store for this month.

Here we are in the Photo Booth at Michelle and Marios's wedding last weekend!

One. My Bachelorette weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona!!! I'm so excited to be traveling with my girls to Arizona next weekend for some sun, nature, food, and drink. I've never been to this state and am really looking forward to the introduction. As I write this, we are almost confirmed for a guided tour to Sedona as well for 12 hours of nature on the day before we head back home. 

We're staying at an AirBnB with a huge backyard and pool so I've ordered a few pool floats for us: a giant preztel, a flamingo, and a slice of pizza. I think it'll make for some funny photos and I've wanted to sit on a giant pretzel float for a really long time now since I first laid eyes on one in a Pinterest pin that randomly cropped up on my feed some time back. That image got pinned to my "Happy" board. :) 

Two. Get a haircut, or maybe not. My hair hasn't been cut since I had my wedding hair/makeup trial at the beginning of the year and it has gotten so long that it's constantly in a low ponytail just to keep it out of the way. My window for a haircut is quickly closing as I want to let the super clean ends grow out a bit for a more natural finish before the big day, so let's just say if it doesn't happen by the end of this month it ain't happening until June. 

Three. Work on my green thumb. It's herbs-on-windowsill season for New Yorkers living in apartments. Our basil plant miraculously survived the winter and I've just clipped it to keep it healthy and am hoping the trimming can turn into a second plant. I've also just procured a sage plant from Sunday's farmers market and separated it into two pots. 

I love plants but my thumb is not the greenest. Is there something I can do about this? I google plant care for all of my different types of plants to help make up for my lack of instinctual ability to keep them healthy. Can I build those instincts from experience? I sure hope so. 

Four. Visit the Manhattan Public Library branch on 53rd street by the MoMA. I dug out my library card just for this. Also, I've already read two books so far this year which is more books than I've read in the past several years combined and I want to keep going. 

Five. Plan a hike. Let's get back out there eh? This one's for Kev as he is more antsy for a return to the trails ASAP. 

Six. Slow time down. These weeks can fly by as we're running around meeting vendors, finalizing seating plans, and juggling so many to-dos. But this is what we'll miss once it's all done, and each of these moments are what will make our wedding possible and wonderful. 

As much as the aloof Aquarian part of me says  "I can't wait to just be married and planning other things," I do really take pride in each of our decisions for our wedding. We make them with love, and it's been an amazing experience planning something so huge with the man that I'll be making many more big and small plans with here on out. 

Our styles really complement each other: he is very on top of it, forward looking, regimented, and organized, if a bit stressed and alarmed. I have lists everywhere from online spreadsheets to my work notebook to the wall in my breakfast nook currently covered with post-its. He's neurotic, I'm too chill. And yet, all along the way we've made things happen as a team, and at this point in the process I look at all we've done and can see that we've been able to honestly and creatively infuse our taste and style as a couple into everything we've done. 

We have lived that ubiquitous piece of advice that comes in many forms: it's your day, do what makes you happy, etc. Every part of this is a reflection of who we are, what we value and find beautiful, and I'm excited to share something we've created together with our friends and family.

Pictures from the past month!

I had an early meeting with my florist in the Flower District before work one day. It was so cool to be there when the vendors are still stocked with flowers (because this is a wholesale district, flowers are typically gone by mid-morning)

Michelle's bridal shower, STAR TREK themed. How awesome. It's been so nice to have them in it with us through planning. They had their wedding in Brooklyn last week and have another one in Cyprus in July.

A little DIY I did using Etsy-sourced supplies. It was super easy and I'm really looking forward to debuting this wooden beaded camera strap in AZ.

Scoops and spoons at pottery this month. In the past few weeks I've put other projects aside to focus on the little salt dishes for our wedding favors. I've made about 70 so far and can see the finish line on the horizon.

I made a few pots of paw balm in March after a snowstorm left lots of slush and salt on our sidewalks.

Here, a chicken noodle soup recipe from Tia Mowry. So random and yet, really easy and delicious.

We had our wedding tasting on a cold rainy night in March at the Gardens. The tasting is one of the best parts of wedding planning :) Above, beet tartare, potato blini with caviar, mini lobster roll, and tuna tartare spring roll. These are some of the passed appetizer hors d'ouvres that we'll have. We had to choose eight, and three of the four items here made the cut (not the beets, they were a tad messy).

My first table number out of the kiln!

Update on my March list:

One. Visit our local farmers market on weekends as spring produce starts to return.

Two. Book our return itinerary from the July wedding in Cyprus. Okay this is already mostly done.. we've decided to stop in Chania on the island of Crete on the way back home. All that remains is to book our hotels/AirBnBs and then we can start planning and packing.

Three. Donate clothing to the Dress for Success drive going on at work. Well, not quite Dress for Success, but we've continued to donate using Give Back Box and love the convenience of it! 

Four. Complete my BVDR travel diaries including processing select pictures from the trip to share. ... still working on these. I have a draft of Vienna (stop 2 of 4) almost ready though! 

Five. Consume less sugar. My body is pretty inflamed, as signaled by my constant low grade allergies, my dry skin, and my tendency to feel anxiety when I'm on the subway in between two far apart stops. Part of my wellness focus this year is going to be looking for ways to reduce inflammation and less sugar will really help this cause. I was pretty careful about this. I noticed that I do get cravings for sweet things. After a few weeks of not having too much sugar I really had a strong craving for Haribo gummy bears and bought a pack. Everything in moderation, right? I ate a few dummies and left the rest for later - though later never came because Kev finished the whole pack while I was out at my dress fitting and having dinner with Cat.

Six. Drink more water and tea.

Seven. One and only wedding related item this month: experiment with making our table numbers at pottery!