sleepless night

i had a sleepless night last night.  i was up worrying--not about the usual finances, work or anything like that--but about what will happen if prop 8 passes!  and i'm such an optimist!  {patty calls me "pollyanna" most of the time!} but the thought of it really started to scare me a bit.  not necessarily because of our wedding, but i got scared thinking about what might happen next.  if a good citizen's rights can be taken away, what next?  i understand the homophobia and the "religious" issues--fine, have your opinions about what other people should and shouldn't do.  but the idea that some people out there don't support equal rights for all is just sickening.  our country wages wars for freedom--yet we don't guarantee freedom for all our citizens.  

etsy love: {schmutzerland}

i just stumbled upon this awesome etsy seller, schmutzerland.  she has vintage clothing, but it's the fabulous accessories {rings & necklaces} that really caught my eye.

our wedding & the upcoming election

with the upcoming election and the debate over prop 8, i've been thinking a lot about semantics.  we were planning our wedding months before the historic supreme court decision that essentially made it legal for us to get married.  what i am uncomfortable with is the term "gay marriage."  we simply got married.  we didn't get "civil unionized" or "domestic partnered," we got married and we happen to be gay.  sometimes i feel that the "gay" in front of the wedding implies that we are "separate but equal."  

i am guilty of the use myself--i've even "highlighted" gay wedding blogs versus just wedding blogs.  it's a bit of a catch-22, i want the inclusion and the acceptance alongside any other wedded couple, but i still feel the need to single us out as "gay."  part of me thinks it's about visibility--if we point and celebrate our "difference" {gay versus straight}, then the recognition and acceptance will follow.  but inclusion without distinction is what we are after.  isn't that what fighting prop 8 is all about?  the right to have a wedding.  plain and simple.  so i guess i'll vacillate between the two--i'm proud that we had a wedding and we happen to be gay, but still feel that our wedding is no different than any other--it was a celebration of love in front of our community.

new blog

this blog is new to me, but i love it!  i just spent half my afternoon checking out this great blog: rock'n'roll bride.  she finds the coolest most fun photos from some really awesome weddings...glad i found her, but wish i found her sooner!  on her married me site, she has a discussion of favorite wedding day photos & has been posting on her blog!  so fun.  the photo from above is from a series featured on her blog--a magician and his assistant wife.  i love the look of these photos.

credit and more photos here via rock'n'roll bride.

steady happy

steady happy was a mantra i learned in yoga & it's something i like to apply to everyday married life & it's a mantra i often recited while wedding planning.  it reminds me to stay calm, easy does it, remain positive, stay focused and do the footwork & let go of the results.  i often recited this when i started to stress out about minor wedding details.  it helps me remember what's important...so i've changed the blog name.  not sure what that does to links to the old name, but hopefully you will find me.

the miracles never cease

my dad was in town today for the day at LAX, so i went to meet him for lunch.  i usually completely avoid the topic of politics, but after the wedding, i thought i'd ask him about prop 8.

me:  "so, you are voting no on prop 8, right?"

dad:  "of course.  well, i don't really believe in it...but i'm voting no."

me, not wanting to really get into it with him:  "that's great.  all that matters is you vote no on prop 8."

dad:  "i will, i'll vote no, and i'll tell everyone i know to vote no.  who are you voting for president?"

me:  "i'll take my small victory & ignore that question!!"

miracle of miracles, my italian-catholic, republican, navy captain dad is voting no on prop 8.  if he can vote no, anyone can!

some wedding details

it has been so much fun going through the photographer's photos.  here are some details.  we did end up going with the gold jordan almonds.  we used recycled lace and ribbon to wrap them and then put them in people's drink glasses.  to minimize washing & water resources, we encourage people to use the same glass all night, so we dropped the jordan almonds in the glasses.  that's the only favor we had, i struggled with the idea of a favor, but decided to go with the jordan almonds since they are such a strong italian tradition...and it's not something wasteful since all the wrapping we used was recycled (i have so much vintage lace & ribbon for crafting, i just used that).  plus it was a fun project.  the lovely ladies linda and moore wrapped all the almonds during one of our project brigade afternoons.

even the little tags that i wrote names on were doubly-recycled.  they were made from discarded file folders that were made from post consumer recycled content.  and i found them on etsy.

the other signs were also recycled.  i purchased ribbon from another vendor on etsy, blue bird lane & she used the large tags to wrap the ribbon.  so i re-used those tags for the lettering.