Time to be positive.

This week has put me in a bad, bad mood.

Particularly after getting my allergy shots, & then a pap smear. Not a good day.
But, I've been so negative all week that I decided I need to be positive about something.
So, here's a short list of things that I'm happy about.
(I must pay homage to Steph's "happy list" posts, that I always love reading)

• I have the sweetest cats in the entire world.
• I have the most perfect fiance that I could ever imagine.
• I saw Margaret Atwood tonight!
• I get to see my best friend in a sketch comedy show on Saturday night!
  
• My friend Alex is coming in town all the way from NYC.
• My best friend comes home from Africa in a matter of weeks.
• Nathan & I will, at some point, have an engagement photo shoot, and it'll be awesome.
• I'm doing well in my classes (so far....).
• The leaves are bright orange and yellow.
• Nights are getting colder.
  
• I am back to dancing, which I've been missing so badly.
• Life is, despite its bumps & bruises, good.

Longing for London...

Today I'm feeling blue. I'm stressed, tired, and altogether bummed out by life right now.
So, I'm taking a moment to remember one of the greatest months of my life. Last summer I went to London and got to spend 5 weeks there with my past roommate Amy & my current roommate Caroline. They are two of my favorite ladies in the world, and two of my bridesmaids!

I absolutely fell in love with British culture, and I want to spend at least a year of my life living in this British countryside. If we had the money, it'd be the perfect honeymoon location.

Here are a few of the highlights. I wish I was there right now...

Pittenweem, Scotland

St Andrews Cathedral ruins
St Andrews, Scotland

having a cosmo at the pub in Hampstead

mint chocolate ice cream at the market

We found this in the bushes, no lie.

Absurd, and vile... but hilarious.

Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried

Jane Austen's home in Chawton, England

outside the British Museum

a piece of the Berlin Wall,
Imperial War Museum in London

This week sucks

Sorry to be a sour puss, but this week really sucks already.
Today was supposed to be me & Nathan's engagement shoot with our awesome photographers.
So, naturally, Nashville decided to have SEVERE freakin weather all day.

UGH.
Rescheduled.

yeah, really doesn't look good for an outdoor photo shoot....

Do I really look like Shirley Temple?

It's not that she's ugly or anything.... but when people say you look like Shirley Temple, they mean 6-year-old Shirley Temple, not 55-year-old Shirley Temple. So basically I look like a 6-year-old with ringlet hair. Awesome.


Gah.

Bridesmaid dresses?!

Right now I am in the midst of a floral-induced headache.
I've spent practically my entire weekend looking at floral fabrics & dress patterns for my bridesmaids' dresses. I am realizing now how big of a task this is!

Here are my favorite fabrics so far (next to photos of the chapel, to see what it might look like)






I think my favorites are the last two (and they're almost identical.... very subtle differences)

Now, what dress pattern? Well, Mom & I found a pattern that we really like (cred to her, she actually found it online), and it could easily be altered for each girl. I'm thinking every girl can decide what kind of neckline she wants (boatneck, halter, strapless, sweetheart, etc) and have her dress made for her. That way they'll all have the same line & look, but they'll have some individual flair.

Here's the pattern we like the most so far:

please watch.

A Trip to the Bakery

Today Nathan & I had a cake consultation at Dulce Desserts in Edgehill Village. It went absolutely perfectly. The owner, Juanita Lane (who happens to be the ONLY person I've ever met to have the same middle name as me), was so extremely helpful and honest, and she was able to quote us a really great price. They make all of their cakes from scratch, which means no lard, no crisco, no weird fake preservatives. Yay! And they use excellent ingredients in their frostings and fillings. =)

We got to taste just the plain butter cake with a few different flavors of frosting. We decided that our absolute favorites were the Almond-Amaretto Buttercream and the Lemon Curd filling. YUM.

We talked for a long time about our aesthetic ideas and what flavors and designs we wanted. I'm totally convinced that our cake is going to be both beautiful and deliciously tasty!!!

Once we send in a contract & deposit (which we need to do soon so she doesn't get booked for June 3rd!), we'll get to schedule our "Cake-a-palooza,"as she so lovingly put it, when we get to come in for tastings of freshly baked cake & frosting flavor combinations! We are seriously so excited. And mom already said that she wants to come to Nashville for the cake tasting, haha! I definitely don't blame her.

Things are coming along! Now if only I could get this dang thesis written so I can graduate in May....

Happy National Coming-Out Week!

As many people know, I am a serious supporter of gay rights issues. It's increasingly becoming one of my biggest passions, and I could definitely see myself working long-term in LGBTQ rights & community-building. There is such stress put on the divide between "heterosexual" and "homosexual," but in reality we are all people. I have loved the past couple of meetings with our unofficial GSA on Belmont's campus. Just because BU won't officially let us be a recognized group, that won't stop us from being a community and supporting one another in this important, transitional time in our lives. LGBTQ students need a welcoming support-group the way that theology students going through spiritual crises do. It's a HUGE life issue, and we all need to have somewhere safe to turn to.

Also, the number of suicides and tragic bullying cases this fall have been devastatingly high. We need to reach out to one another to offer protection and support, and prevent the kind of bullying and degradation that has been happening to kids in schools.

I am an ally. There is no us & them, there is only a WE. Anyone who chooses to lash out in hate and judgment against the LGBTQ community has also to deal with the vast and expansive group of allies. We will not stop fighting for justice.

YES.

One step closer to graduation...

Impatient.

Today
I am very tempted,
more than ever,
to screw this whole plan
& run off to the city hall with Nathan.

Patience....patience...patience.

Today I almost wrote "Becca Dryden" in a book.
That's how badly I want it to be June 3.

not a bad place for a wedding.....

Date Night with Nathan & The National

Last night, Nathan and I had a very fun date at the Ryman to see The National live in concert! They're Nathan's favorite band, so I was really excited to share that experience with him. It was truly a breathtaking show. Unfortunately, the entire audience decided that they should ignore the pews and just stand the whole time.... seemed a bit dumb to me. But, despite the mass of somewhat irritating kids around us, it was a really wonderful show. The National put on a stellar performance. Every song was just about perfect. I'm so glad I've seen them live because I can appreciate their music more now. I've always enjoyed listening to their songs, but seeing them in concert made their music really come alive to me. It was phenomenal.

The highlights of the night:
Being with Nathan (duh)
When their lead-singer jumped off the stage and started climbing through the audience during a song.
Their last, entirely acoustic song.

What a wonderful evening. =)

Ponyo

I finally saw Ponyo (Wednesday night, when I had my personal evening to recover from my bad day)

It is an absolutely delightful film. This was the first Miyazaki film I've seen, and now I want to see all of them! The story is just absolutely precious and wonderful, and the animation is astoundingly beautiful. The colors he uses and the images he creates are so imaginative and exciting. Not to mention, the two main characters to too cute for words. I really enjoyed every moment of this film, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who had a bad day & wants to see little glimpses of joy through a child's eye.

"Ponyo loves Sosuke!"

Dear best fran

I just need to say, for the whole digital world, how proud I am of my best friend Stephanie.
She is changing the lives of kids in Africa, and she makes my heart glow with joy every time I get an e-mail from her. She is definitely one of the most beautiful people, inside & out, that I have ever known. I can't WAIT for her to get back from Africa.... even though I'm sad about all of the great relationships & experiences she'll be leaving.