The Long & Short of It (my Pittsburgh trip, that is)

Last weekend I took a trip back home to Pittsburgh to get the ball rolling on the wedding plans. I’ve been engaged for, oh, 3 months now and have yet to make a single decision on one of the most important days in my life. I’m kind of a procrastinator.

First thing on the agenda: Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall. I was impressed. It was in a word, grand. Literally. It used to be a church that was converted into a banquet hall so there is this enormous pipe organ in the balcony, and stunning stained glass windows. My dad of course, saw all the dollar signs. Leave it to me to pick the most expensive place in Pittsburgh to have a wedding. While it’s still an option for a venue, I’m currently looking into other options. Right now I’m seriously considering Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

Second (and perhaps most important) on the agenda: dress shopping!! I rounded up my mother, maid of honor/best friend/cousin, grandmother, and a couple of my aunts for a day at the dress shop. Poor Chris was left to spend the afternoon with my father. After trying on pretty much anything and everything, I narrowed my choices down to 3 dresses. At first I thought for sure my heart was set on one dress, but dress #2 was growing on me. The longer I had it on the more I loved it. It was settled, that was the dress. I am so excited and dying to reveal it, but I can’t post a picture for fear Chris would see the dress I chose.

Last but not least, I had scheduled a hair appointment with my friend Ashley. I still have have yet to find a hair salon here in Chicago, so my hair was in desperate need of TLC. As soon as I sat in the chair and took my hair out of the ponytail, I commanded to Ashley: “cut it off”. Ashley’s semi stunned response: “Are you sure??”. I was. 7 inches were lopped off. It felt so liberating!!

(ps. I hate smiling in pictures)

Basically, I’m exactly where I started–still looking for a venue, still struggling to set a date, and still debating on eloping. At least I picked a dress.

Pittsburgh brides (or brides in general really)–any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. How did you settle on some of the bigger choices in planning a wedding?

Peafowl!

Did you know peacocks are actually called peafowl (unless you’re specifically referring to a male)? I didn’t. The last time I was at the zoo, I chased a couple around. I found it amusing, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t.

Since Chris won’t let me own one for reasons I can’t fathom, I found myself searching on Etsy for peacock themed things when I came across something I couldn’t live without: a peacock feather headband.

Cool, huh? If you know me, then you know I have a headband addiction. Now this can be added to my collection.

Luckily for me, the tax gods smiled favorably upon me this tax season. With my refund I’m paying off my registration for BlogHer Conference, and I signed up for the 20SB Ultimate Meetup as well. Not being totally irresponsible, the rest of it is going towards credit cards and personal savings.

Now that I’m thinking about it, who thinks peafowl colors would be good for a wedding? If I decide to move up my wedding date, I think they would be great for summer. Thoughts??