May Day!: Painting Faces

With hair done, it was time for my entourage to get their makeup on! Luckily, there were a ton of mirrors around--it was like the suite was made for a bridal party in the getting ready stages.

Personal Photo

There were makeup brushes and eyeshadows galore, scattered all over the counter and on any surface where a mirror was available.  Mascara wands were wielded to tame unruly eyelashes; blush and bronzer powdered on to combat the early-summer lack of color we were all experiencing. 

May Day!: Perfectly Coiffed

After my head was full of preliminary curls, it was time for all my bridesmaids to get glammed up! Because she would be doing my makeup, Sister Goodlaff was first in the chair.

Just like their dresses, I let each girl choose her own hairstyle, and true to form, all of my bridesmaids had completely different hair.  Sister Goodlaff went with a '60's-inspired French Twist, with a few fun curls for a pop, which suited her dress perfectly.

Shoe Transformation Inspiration

If you remember, I finally decided to have my bridesmaids wear silver shoes on wedding day.  I called Sister Goodlaff a few weeks before the wedding, and she still hadn't gotten her silver shoes, so a few days before W-day (being the nosy big-sister that I am), I asked her to show me her shoes. 

Here's what she brought out:

I thought they were super cute, but didn't remember seeing these shoes in silver during any of my wanderings at Payless Shoesource. That's because, once upon a time, Sister Goodlaff's shoes looked like this:

May Day!: The Calm Before the Storm

Let the Goodlaff wedding recaps begin!

After all the stress, after all the decisions, after all the projects, and the all the chaos of the last week before the wedding, I found myself all alone in a lovely, but massively over sized hotel suite.  I wrote my vows, I tidied up, and I got the champagne chilling for use in the morning.  When I crawled into bed, I had a million thoughts in my head, and was convinced that there was no way I'd be sleeping that night.

Miraculously, I was able to squeeze about six hours of sleep out of all that anxiety. At 7AM, I was wide awake and had about an hour and a half to kill before anyone else would be there.  It was a quiet morning, and I was unbelievably calm.  The Enforcer would have setup taken care of, and I had no reason to worry.  I completely let the details go, because, quite frankly, if it wasn't done at that point, it wasn't going to be finished, and if something went wrong, there wasn't much I could do to stop it: Zen and the art of Bride-ing. 

Maybe I was so Zen because of my breakfast that morning--I bought it in a hurry around 10 o'clock the night before...

What? It was tasty! Okay, maybe it wasn't the breakfast of champions. If I'd been thinking clearly, I may have chosen differently. Then again, maybe not...

Time to Dine

After our rehearsal was over, we headed down the street to Lefty's Grill in Nevada City. Mr. Goodlaff and I chose the restaurant because, exactly three years ago to that very day, we were set up on a lunch date at Lefty's by Tally and Houdini, and the chance to celebrate that anniversary with our family and friends at the place where it all began was just too good to pass up. The venue was a perfect fit for us. It had a private banquet room in the back that fit just enough, but not too many people, and made for a cozy rehearsal dinner atmosphere.

We gathered in the back banquet room with our bridal party and immediate family, and everyone mingled and chatted as we waited for our dinner to arrive.

At one point, there was also a painting of a knife behind me, but it mysteriously came crashing down.  The fork painting shared the knife's destiny, and later was floor-bound as well. Oops...

After dinner, there was much speechifying as Mr. Goodlaff and I passed out the gifts for the Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, and our parents, and the handkerchiefs I had hand embroidered for all the moms.

(That's Houdini, convincing one of Mr. Goodlaff's groomsmen that he should be doing a reading in the wedding the next day....)

But the hour was late, and everyone began heading for the bars or home.  I must confess: I was in a huge hurry to get out of there. I had vows to write and a hotel to check into, and a million details to try to empty out of my head before I'd be able to sleep.  Crazy time was just beginning, because I was getting married in less than 24 hours!

Practice (Even at the Last Minute) Makes Perfect

Because of a high school prom the night before, the Goodlaffs were unable to rehearse in our wedding venue until the morning of the wedding, which I found frustrating but manageable.  Upon learning that a wedding eve rehearsal was out, I came up with the genius idea of having a rehearsal breakfast, which was quickly shot down by Mama Goodlaff.

See, until about two weeks before the wedding, I was absolutely convinced that it wouldn't be too bad rehearsing on the day-of . Then I had my hair trial, and I found out just how long it would take for me to get beautiful--hours! Hours and hours of hair, and a wedding rehearsal on the big day would mean a start time of 7:30AM for my hair.   I'm not a morning person anyway, and the thought of being in a stylist's chair about three hours before I usually begin functioning on a normal day would be especially brutal on wedding morning.  Score one for Mama Goodlaff.

We explored the option of rehearsing somewhere besides the Miners Foundry before the rehearsal dinner, but until the day before the wedding, never really made a decision on where or when to rehearse. So, mere hours before our rehearsal dinner was scheduled to happen, we decided that yes, we would rehearse that evening. Since the Foundry was out, we decided to rehearse somewhere open, with a lot of parking, and not a lot of people around: the county government center.

Romantic, I know. 

Learning to be Normal Again

You may have noticed a few non-wedding related posts here lately.  Never fear, I'm still planning on writing recaps of our wedding and showing you all how fabulous the day turned out, but truth be told, I'm in transition right now.  I've been a bride and a bride to be for over a year now; I've been blogging about it for 9 months, and as soon as the wedding was over, I was at a bit of a loss.  Now that real life has resumed, I'm realizing that I've spent so much time being a bride that I have completely forgotten how to be a normal person.

I can focus on my job again.  I'm not constantly thinking about the next item on my to-do list.  I'm able to take one day at a time.  I have time now to think about things other than our wedding, and I'm slowly beginning to realize how all-encompassing planning a wedding was. You want to talk about a black hole? Plan a wedding and see how fast the time and your sanity goes by. But it's totally worth it. Our wedding was fabulous; it was worth every hour of time, every penny we spent. 

It's just that now, I have a lot of free time. I can craft and sew with no other purpose than to amuse myself. I can read books. I can...whatever, really. So, I'm trying to do, well, whatever it is that I want to do on any given day.

You'd think I'd be having a field day--a post-wedding celebration extravaganza. But I'm not. I'm overwhelmed by my choices, and I'm trying to find some sort of balance between all this free time and everything I want to do now that I'm post wedding. I want to do everything and nothing all at the same time.  "Was this what it was like before I got engaged?" I wonder. "Was there really this much time in a day?"

On one hand, I am rediscovering all of these things that I love, which is awesome. On the other hand, I'm having a hard time letting go of some aspects of wedding planning, which is completely understandable, given I've spent the better part of fifteen months focused on my nuptials.  I still love reading wedding blogs, and Martha Stewart Weddings was halfway into my basket at the grocery store the other night before I realized I didn't really have a reason to buy it anymore (it was a sad moment).  What I wish now is that I had taken more time during the last year to do more non-wedding related things so that transitioning back would have been an easier process.

So, going forward, you will see my upcoming wedding recaps, but you will also be seeing some glimpses into my life as I transition from the Goodlaff Bride to the Goodlaff Girl. Here's to the beginning of the next adventure!

Did you have a hard time adjusting to normal life after your wedding was over?

Purse Aid Kit

Source

I happen to be a bit of a disaster.  If there's a cord, I trip over it; a sharp edge, I run into it; a gap, I don't mind it.  I have many scars from tangles with pavement, sharp knives, and train stations.  I fall down a lot, and I use a lot of Band-Aids.  But, because I know that I'm a total klutz, I come prepared.  Years ago, I found what might have been the best invention ever: a mini first aid kit full of assorted bandages, a perfect size for carrying on my person at all times. 

The carrying pack has suffered a good deal over the past few years, first being repaired with scotch tape, then black and yellow-striped caution tape (I thought it was appropriate), and now, even my repairs can't save my trusty bandage pack from impending doom.

A New Friend

A package filled with fabulousness arrived at the Goodlaff house two days ago.  What did it contain?

A new playmate for me!

My old sewing machine broke down before the wedding as I was attempting to sew the clutches for my bridesmaids, and a few weeks ago, I took it in to a repair shop to see about getting it fixed. Turns out my old machine was dead, and would never live to stitch another day.  After an appropriate grieving period of about five minutes, I went on the hunt for a new sewing machine. The sales lady at the repair shop was happy to show me some options, one of which was $499. Sure, it was expensive, but it was also incredibly cool.  I love new gadgets, but I also love a good deal, and wanted to do a little more research before committing to anything that expensive. I left the store and poked around online, finding the same machine in multiple online venues for $299--$200 less than the store's price. Big difference.

Now I know I live in a small town, and we pay more for convenience, but really? Just because this is rural area doesn't mean you can charge 67 percent more for something. One thing was clear: that store wasn't getting any of my money. I'm all for buying local, but massively inflated prices like that are the reason people shop online. Just sayin'...

Eventually I decided on a different machine--the Brother CS6000i--because it had tons of features and tools that I was unfamiliar with, was heavily discounted, and came highly reviewed--plus free shipping! Now that I have it in my hands, I love it even more.

Because it was a fancy new sewing machine, I knew that not any old project would do: I had to have an appropriately reverent first project. Instead of going with a pattern of someone else's design, I decided to throw caution to the wind and make something of my own. 

How did it turn out?  Stay tuned!

Are you a comparison shopper?

A Day at the Spa

The day before the wedding, Sister Goodlaff, BM TCollins, and I were all sporting rocking hangovers, but as the saying goes, the show must go on! And go on, it did, but with a little help from the infamous Golden Arches. As if his wanting to marry me wasn't enough, Mr. Goodlaff sacrificed a portion of his morning to go and get me hangover food: a sausage McGriddle and hash browns. That is love!

After a morning of McRehabilitation, Mama Goodlaff, Sister Goodalff, and I met BM Sunrise and BM Cosmo for a late morning brunch at Kane's in Grass Valley (TCollins was still suffering, and hence did not join us until later that evening). We had a tasty lunch, walked around town for a while, and ended up at the nail salon, ready to get fluffed and buffed in preparation for the big day!

It was manicures and pedicures all around, and my army of pink t-shirt wearing bridesmaids took over the salon:

 

I'm ashamed to say--and Cosmo and Sunrise were horrified to find out--that it was only the second pedicure I've ever gotten, and it was lovely. I felt incredibly spoiled and pampered, but spent the next 24 hours trying so hard not to chip a nail (I was unsuccessful) that it was almost more trouble than it was worth. Still, my toes were the perfect shade of pink, and my nails--chips and all--have never looked better!

Post beautifying, I took Cosmo and Sunrise to get settled in their hotel, ran home, and set about getting ready for our somewhat impromptu rehearsal, followed by our rehearsal dinner!

Are there any other spa slackers out there?

Painting the Roses Red: Bridezilla Emerges

I spent so much of the wedding planning process trying not to be a Bridezilla, and like to think that I was--on the whole--quite successful. But (you knew there had to be a 'but'), I must admit, in the end, I too tore through Tokyo on a rampage. The cause? Fake lemons. I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but those damn plastic fruit were my undoing, and I just cracked--CRACKED!

You have seen the fantastic archway that Daddy Goodlaff built, but I haven't shared with you how I wanted to decorate it. So, here it is. The local craft store, aka: the bad place, had this fantastic arch set up, and I loved the way it looked. Overdone? A bit. But on the whole, quite lovely.

The Hangover, Part II

On the recommendation of the bartender at Maria's, after we finished eating, we headed over to the bar at Cirino's on Main Street.

For some reason, everyone kept asking me if I was getting married.  "How did you know?" was my drunken sarcastic reply...

Was it the veil?

The Hangover, Part I

Two days before the wedding, Sister Goodlaff, BM TCollins, and I celebrated one of my last nights as a single woman.  My bachelorette plans were left until the last minute, and unfortunately not everyone that I wanted there was able to make it.  I was pretty sad, and had a mini-bridal hissy fit, but that's just how it goes, and I mostly got over it.  Ultimately, between the three of us, Sister Goodlaff, TCollins and I had enough drinks and fun for an entire gaggle of girls!

What did I want for my bachelorette party? Sister Goodlaff wanted to know.  Nothing crazy, was my reply, but I wanted to go somewhere where we could get huge margaritas!  (Tequila and I have a deal--we've always been on good terms).  What I didn't want to do was shots...

Ummmm.....

The Mix Tape

When I was in middle school, one of my prized posessions was a CD/Tape Player with a radio that I won from selling a crapload of magazine subscriptions to my friends and family.  I used to sit by the radio, waiting for that one song to come on, and when I heard the opening chords, I'd hit record, and my very own custom mix tape was born. 

Jack's Mannequin is one of the best bands ever...just sayin'

I have dozens upon dozens of mix CD's (I've evolved) from college and beyond, and Mr. Goodlaff does too.  What better way to thank our wedding guests than to create the ultimate wedding mix tape favor?

We started large, each of us coming up with songs we thought could possibly make the cut.  They had to be love songs, or songs about love, or songs that we thought could represent Goodlaff love.  Sounds easy, right?

Playing Florist

Two days before the wedding, and just a few short hours before my bachelorette party, Mama Goodlaff, Sister Goodlaff, BM TCollins, The Enforcer, Mama Goodlaff's Boss' wife, Cee, and I got to play florist.  The Goodlaffs spent months and months hunting and sussing out vases, and finally, here was their moment in the sun!  Mama Goodlaff and I transported our vases over to the Grass Valley Florist, where Ingrid was waiting for us, ready to teach us her wise ways of floral arrangement.

We were working with simple, fun flowers: white hydrangeas, green spider mums, a few orange gerbera daisies. To our flora, we added fruit: lemons! We learned how to lay a base for the flowers, how to arrange, and what made the arrangements look the best, then off we went!

Let the arranging begin:

Sister Goodlaff is surprised, while TCollins hides...