They really grew while I was away!



( some more shots under the cut )

I know that probably half of you guys have already been weddinged-out by me, between facebook and myspace and livejournal. But I want this here, dangit.
Reposted from weddingplans :

Just thought I'd share how things went! Despite only spending almost exactly $2000 (including rings but not including honeymoon), it was everything I'd hoped for :)



I got married 5/30/09 and went on honeymoon to the Yucatan/Quintana Roo area of Mexico, in and around Cancun.

( Very image heavy! )

23 days left, and bought the food!
CHINESE FOOD RECEPTION omg. All the frozen food bought, waiting on fresh fruit, veggies, salad later.

For an estimated 60-70 guests, we bought:
72 servings worth of fried rice
2 big boxes of sliced beef, for beef and broccoli
120 egg rolls (30 each shrimp, pork, chicken, and vegetable)
60 crab rangoon
60 pot stickers
125 fortune cookies
diet lemonade and grape drink

Decided we'll get a Sarah Lee carrot sheet cake for the wedding cake and still make the Star Trek homemade-fondant chess cake for decorative purposes.

There's still a huge brown area I'm working on filling in this year (that's what the 111 little 2-inch pots of perennial flowers are for! 60 planted today!), but I'm really excited about ( the tulips! )

Here's my ice cream contest entry for this year:

---

I remember when I first won that Ice Cream Salute, in a mostly-rental neighborhood a bit east of where I live now. It felt like pulling teeth going door-to-door, encouraging people to eat some tasty Fudge Tracks with their family, friends, and neighbors. People'd tell me, “I'll think about it”, and then I'd never hear from them again. I'd end up with a small turnout, but in the end, it could have been better.

Last year, after buying my house and hosting a Salute in a new neighborhood, I was amazed at the difference. This new neighborhood is mostly permanent homeowners rather than renters, which I think somehow meant I didn't have to prod so much for positive turnout.

I met tons of people I'd never seen before: a firefighter from across the street, a guy who works at the local news station next door, and a disabled woman who brought her two super-adorable blonde girls along for some Edy's tasty-ness. One neighbor told me how happy she was that the community could get together officially for once, and brought her husband and a gift of lily seeds (originated from Thomas Jefferson's estate, she says; how cool is that?!). There was tons of sharing stories and a neighbor telling me they'd always looked for us newbie-neighbors on the front porch to say hi, with no luck.

The point is this: Last year's Neighborhood Salute brought us together and made me realize just how warm and friendly my new neighborhood really is. I'd love to recreate that moment in 2009. I hope that I get the opportunity to do that!

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COME ON, FOUR YEARS IN A ROW GO GO GO!

I made the card box! :)



I still need to tape that gap at the top-- ah well.

It's just a gift box with a slit cut up top, plus a paper flower made based on a video at Paper Source. Not difficult at all!

I was looking through a 1992 issue of Family Circle at work today when I found a 50-cent-off coupon for Kix Cereal.

No expiration.

I am totally going to use this baby at Scott's and see if it scans.

For some reason, this is utterly hilarious to me.

On December 23, I came home from vacation in St. Augustine w/family.  It wasn't 'til talking with family that I decided that I was going to get married in May.

From then to today, 20 days later, I have:
-booked the location (Lakeside Park Pavilion #2)
-chosen the date (5/30)
-secured time off for the weekend
-chosen colors-- light purple and silver/gray
-written up a list of people to invite (shockingly, maybe as many as 70)
-made the website (http://mysite.verizon.net/ganit -- dad says only viewable in Firefox... )
-bought the dress-- a bridesmaid dress special-ordered in white (well, more accurately, Tom's dad bought it)

-got a suck-it-all-in, slimming slip for under the dress-- on sale for $4.99!
-dad told me he's setting us up with a honeymoon to Playa del Carmen, right beside Cancun OMG.  His wife owns an old-fashioned house there with a palapa roof that we're gonna stay in.
-bought the favors, clear boxes that I'm filling with ebay-bought cosmos seeds and planting instructions

-bought the rings, for him and myself

-designed invitations
-booked an officiant/received a package including music (my friends Erik and June)
-picked up vases, tableware, and tablecloths
-found a very cool guestbook idea online
-wrote up an Amazon registry
-bought my shoes
-talked with a few people about taking photos
-have looked into cake options (wtf $2.85 a slice?!  No.)...

I AM OBSESSED.  IT AINT HEALTHY.

Florida was great.
After icy roads, fallen trees, and two days of no power in Indiana (Friday and Saturday):
( Photos and a video behind the cut: )

See the red thing in there?  That's a ladybug that apparently bit through a seed pod on my Hosta, ate a seed or two, then slept in the empty pod.

OK, I think that is cool. 

That is all.

I GET A WEEKEND OFF WORK! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG Anyway :P Sam and I had some fun outside today.


Yesterday I planted a whole bunch of bulbs (over 100); today, I cleared out an area to plant Stella d’Oro seeds that Tom’s grandparents gave me:

Weirdly, I found an old glass bottle in the dirt. I washed it and will keep it but dunno what I’ll do with it.


Here are some other pix from today:



OK, *now* I’ll read all that crap for class :..

^^ found at ontd_political 

This made me smile :) so sweet

I'm FINALLY working on my Master's synthesis paper. The next step is to collect data for the very last survey-thing I'll have to do as a COM major :)

I'd love it if any females reading this could fill out a survey for me. Not taking male respondents right now.

If your birthday falls between January 1 and June 30,
click here to complete your survey.

If it falls between July 1 and December 31,
then click here.

THANKS in advance!

Feel free to privately write me asking what I'm looking for when you're done.

More braggingtime. I just gotta show!

As I was walking to the garage for work today, I couldn't resist but take some followup garden pics. Seeing my first sight of sunflower petals just got me so giddy--

this garden looks like a REAL one now! :)

 

the weekend of September 13. Late, but OK with me, since it means I have more notice to ask for that weekend off.

What I'm asking of you guys is, if you might like to come:
-Let me know you're interested.
-Let me know if there are particular days you can and can't do (F/Sat/Sun are on the table).

Thanks!

Dear Ganit,

Congratulations! Your Edy’s Slow Churned Neighborhood Salute contest entry has been selected as a grand-prize winner!

Within the next 10 days, you will be receiving a letter in the mail with all the details about your prize package. The letter lists the date of your party and, most importantly, has a form that you must send back to us letting us know you accept your prize. If you have not received the letter by Wednesday, July 2, please call us immediately at 866-263-1943 or send an e-mail to slowchurned@ketchum.com.

So, please keep an eye out for your mail!

Congratulations again! We look forward to helping you and your neighbors celebrate and get to know each other better over scoops of ice cream this summer!

From our neighborhood to yours,

Edy’s Slow Churned Neighborhood Salute Team

There's this baby bunny (maybe two of 'em, not sure) that live under my deck.
I've heard tons of solutions:

shoot it (poor baby, no, can't do it),
slingshot it out of the backyard (wtf?),
cage it and let it go (good luck-- it'll just come right in from under my wood fence)
spray the plants with cayenne (which I did, and it's worked, but only temporarily)...

But I found my favorite solution:
Plant a clover lawn.
The bunny/ies looooove the clover so much that they're only eating the clover, nothing else. So I made the baby happy, and I am happy too :)

This one is on revenge. Again, this is for a class I'm taking:

I'd appreciate it tons if people would fill it out for me. Thanks in advance-- and thank you to those who have been doing these for me in the past :)