US meets UK

Until I created my Weddingbee application, I hadn’t really ever blogged before.  I had only dipped a toe into the “blogosphere” at a previous  job and couldn’t fathom that anyone would be interested in what I had to say.  I’m certainly not an expert in anything (unless we’re talking PB frosting) and what useful insight could I offer to the faceless internet?

Then, Mr.D and I started going through the K1 Visa process. It was rough, we didn’t really know what to expect and didn’t know a soul who had gone through the entire process.  What makes the application worse, is that unlike in the movie The Proposal (heck yes we saw it!) you never actually speak to an actual immigration official till the very end.  Even then it’s only the immigrant (him) and not the sponsor (me).  All you can hope for is a letter followed by other letters.

I had been googling to find personal stories of the process, for someone other than a forum of conspiracy theorists saying ” He had a speeding ticket 7 years ago?!?! He’ll be denied!!!” to tell me their story, what happened in their process. But I kept striking out.

Of course, I was also looking (I think for centerpieces) and stumbled across one of Mrs. Avocado’s posts. I didn’t really “get” Weddingbee at first.  I distinctly remember thinking “oh..this updates too much for me, I’ll never keep up!”.  Riiiight.  Then I was hooked, because of all the things Weddingbee is, it certainly isn’t “faceless”.  I began to think, maybe there are other brides who feel just as alone as I do in this whole K1 visa blahbity blah. So I began to write, I wrote without knowing if I’d be accepted.  I wrote without knowing an ounce of what I know now about the Visa process. In doing so, I’ve found so many other brides who have felt just as lost, confused and overwhelmed at the giant bureaucracy standing in between them and their marriage.

It’s so nice now, on the other side of one visa hurdle (yet, about to mount another) to be able to say, “It’s okay, it’s long and sucky and you spend a lot of time writing checks and waiting for letters but eventually it’ll happen”.

Your comments (especially on the visa posts) have helped me to feel so much less alone (both in visas and in wedding planning!) in a confusing and mind boggeling process. Thanks for being there for me and I hope that I’ve been able to be there for you too.

Do you blog? Why’d you start?

After seeing this post on Engageology I knew that tissue paper pomanders would make a great addition to our ceremony decor.  We aren’t doing too much decorating since we’re hoping to be outside, but in case it rains these would be able to decorate an indoor ceremony as well.

First step? Figure out which tissue paper you want to use.  It’s best to do this by getting samples BEFORE you purchase or finding your tissue paper in person.  Don’t trust your computer or the internet to show you how colors look in real life.  I originally searched for dark purple, then gave up and looked for light purple, then gave up on that and randomly found ivory tissue paper at the Container Store.

Assemble your tools. I used:

• 22 gauge floral wire (stiff, sturdy but pliable$4.00)
• tissue paper (ivory, from the container store 3 packs $3.50 each)
• scissors
• wire cutters (thanks dad!)
• 5 inch Styrofoam balls (about $4 but use those 40-50% coupons to save $$)
• Hot glue ( and glue gun)
• tiny box for the 1,000,000,000+ paper pieces you’ll be cutting out

Next, fold one million flowers. No…for reals, one million.  I’m making 10 pomanders, and at 20some flowers per ball that will be ALOT flowers.  Perhaps not a million, but it feels close.

MOH MaryBeth and I realized that folding the flowers assembly line style works best, so if you have unlimited volunteers the best roles would be “paper cutter”, “flower folder”, “stem twister”, “edge cutter”, “flower fluffer” and “flower stuffer”.

Paper cutter? Cut your paper into 10×5 inch rectangles.

Flower folder? fold lengthwise (so you make more folds and the flower isn’t super wide). Accordion fold it about 3/4 inch.

Stem twister? grab your wire cutters, cut off a piece of wire then attach it to the flower.  Hook it over then twist the ends to make a tight seal.  I like to cut the ends off to give it a nice sharp point and to make the “stem” shorter.

Flower cutter? Cut the ends of the paper into rounded not too pointy tops, I did pointy at first and it just doesn’t look as nice (IMO).

Flower fluffer? Fluff that flower, I prefer to start with pulling up the top layer and working my way around both sides in a circle.

Flower Stuffer? Add a dob if glue where the “flower” meets the “stem”.  Stick in to ball…don’t burn yourself. Continue sticking flowers into the ball, not too far apart and not too close to squish them together too much. It helps if you can sift through the already attached flowers on the ball so when you’re working on the opposite side your fingers are pressing the ball to the new flower and not smushing the flowers.

After several hours of manual labor…you’ll have these I haven’t timed myself on making one yet since I usually chillax and zone out while creating them.

*Credit where credit is due: I used this tutorial and barely altered it.

No really… Think Jean Gray

or Mary Jane…Spiderman’s girlfriend

Because that’s how I look at the moment and these photos in the bathroom to show you…just aren’t cutting it.  When I go outside…my head is on fire…literally flaming red.

How did this happen you might ask? Well,  I did it to myself. I’ve been coloring my hair at home using Garnier Nutrisse #67 Light Auburn for almost three years now.  Once I tried to go darker (see WB profile pic) but wasn’t too wild about it.  So I went back to light auburn…and then let my hair grown out so I had a half and half thing going.  I briefly contemplated having my natural hair color for the wedding. As you can see from the photo below I had to make a choice, would I stick with the top or the bottom?

True to form, I went with the red I’d become so accustomed to seeing on my head, and at 3 years running it’s been the longest my hair has been in one color family! Except, I DIDN’T STICK WITH WHAT I HAD EXPERIENCE WITH. mistake.  Instead of going for my usual fix, I tried a semi permanent color, just in case I wanted to experiment with my natural after the wedding - I hadn’t seen that much natural growth on my head in years! I just didn’t want to waste  it.  Well, now I look like a superhero. You can see what I mean with these twit pics…I took Mrs. Avocados suggestion and took a photo in the sun. Look at the ends of my hair people!!!!

It really is worse is person…I’m not exaggerating… People might start calling the fire department when I’m out in the sun. Since it’s a semi permanent I’m giving myself lots of hair washings and perhaps not protecting my hair as I normally might in the sun. I plan on re-evaluating the situation in a week.  Till then Ms. D’rosay is here to save the day!

Any beauty mishaps before your wedding?

Welll…It would be great! Because I’m not talking about insects, I’m talking about bloggers! Specifically, these lovely ladies (plus a few hornets and a baby bee).

Mr.D and I are so excited to welcome a few of our online friends to our nuptials.  Though… at first my mother thought I was referring to “B list people” vs “Bee people”. By now though, she’s used to my saying things like “Avocado said…”, “Candy Corn is coming!”…which all sound kinda strange if you’re not hip to the ‘bee.

Have you ever invited anyone to your wedding you hadn’t (yet) met in person?

Just Kidding…I’m too scared I’ll lose again! We’re getting down to the wire here, and we need to submit our first dance (and other) songs.  The real trouble is simply deciding the first dance song…everything else has been super easy!

Here are the songs in the running:

Otis Redding - That’s how strong my love is

John Legend - Stay with you

Elbow  - One day like this

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody