The Maiden Voyage

... of my glorious Kitchen Aid mixer.

I have looked forward to owning my own Kitchen Aid since I was a little girl. Kelsey and I used to mix batter in my mom's when she would let us help make cupcake and cookies and I have, in a very odd way, perhaps equated owning one with adulthood- I always looked forward to being a grown-up so I could have one. (Okay, there were other reasons I wanted to grow up, but the Kitchen Aid has always been on the list). I promise I am not alone in this either, in college I distinctly remember joking with the girls about wanting to get married so we could register for a Kitchen Aid and then we all discussed what color we wanted- oh so many choices, they have special spring colors! I have no idea why, but a Kitchen Aid is one of those things every woman wants, no man understands, but in many of our minds, having one on the counter is just domestic and culinary bliss.

So bless my mother's heart, she didn't even make me wait to register for my mixer after we got in engaged, I found it underneath the Christmas tree in December. It is a perfect butter yellow and is the BIG one- awww. It was an early wedding present so I promised not to use until we got married, plus Dana and I really have no where to put it so for the last 6 months it has been sitting in my closet staring at me, just begging to be used. When I go to throw something in the laundry bin, there's my Kitchen Aid. When I go to grab a belt, there's my mixer, when I put on my shoes, there's my mixer suffocating in the box. And. I. Can't. Take. It. Any. More.

So today I pulled out the box and whipped up a batch of perfectly whipped lemon cooler cookies, then cleaned every piece, stuck it back in the box and shoved it back in closet. And I feel so much better that I don't even care that I probably broke a serious bit of etiquette by using one our wedding presents 5 months before the wedding. Sorry Dear Abby, I couldn't help it.

Wedding Bee Addict

I am so pathetic.

A couple of months ago, Holly introduced me to the ultimate wedding blog, The WeddingBee, which is essentially like 40 wedding blogs in one as different brides from all over the United States write about their weddings. I started reading it like once a week, but then there were so many posts to get through, I started to check more frequently, upping it to every couple of days and I would check whether Miss Shortcake (everyone has foodie/flowery/girlie pseudonyms) had bought a dress or how Miss Lovebug's centerpieces were turning out. And then I got sucked in. I read it every day and then multiple times a day, and now I check more often than my email and I JUST CAN'T MISS A POST. We went out of town for the weekend and the first thing I checked when we got home was- of course- what had been happening at The Bee. And of course, I would give anything to be a Bee!

I have valiantly tried to justify my addiction to myself. "Look at all the great wedding ideas I have gotten from the Bee," which is true but hardly justification for checking it 3 times a day. But I can't give it up because in an odd way, I feel like I know these girls and as a bride I love knowing that someone else UNDERSTANDS how fun (and hard) wedding planning can be.

So for the next months, I fully intend to bask in my short-lived addiction to the Wedding Bee while I still can because I really can't justify it once I am a married lady who no longer needs ideas for place cards. But all this has got me wondering: what DID I used to do on the Internet? I must have looked at SOMETHING, but for the life of me I don't remember much before Bee Land. I hear a rumor that there are newspapers online but I think thats just hogwash.

I think I need a hobby. Does blogging count?

A New Beginning...

Okay, perhaps I have jumped the gun a little bit by naming the new blog "The Newlywed Game," but my reasons are good, I promise.

1. Wedding planning stories are way too funny for you to miss out on, plus if I wait until we are married then I have no place to insert my sarcastic comments for the next 5 months and that my friends, would be tragic.

2. Although I am blogging for Oregon Bride magazine (shameless plug: check out my blog at http://www.orbridemag.com), there are things I cannot get away with mentioning on the blog because they are either inappropriate or have nothing to do with being a quote-unquote Oregon bride, like the delightful little story of the poor Parties To Go people being traumatized on their visit out to the wedding site after they saw an 80-year-old-man. Mowing the lawn. Buck naked. I mean buck naked people. Welcome to our classy Oregon wedding!

3. The college blog, in all its glory, no longer really applies to this new phase in our lives and its time to retire it to the green pastures of Collegeland. I started it my sophomore year when I didn't know what to do with my life, was still adjusting to life on my own, had just started to date Casey and was just a little bit awkward. I mean now its completely different: I don't know what to do with my life, I'm adjusting to life on my own, I am MARRYING Casey and man, I'm just so awkward. Oh wait. Never mind....

4. The freelancing gigs, for the time being, have dried up like the Sahara Desert due to some seriously fun corporate issues at work, so I desperately need an outlet to write- so sorry, you guys are stuck listening to me chat about new things including trying not to become a Bridezilla while trying to become a super crafty, do-it-yourself bride, trying to decide whether to buy or rent a place and in a very short amount of time living with a boy for the first time.

5. Oh, because blogger is free and because I can.