I have moved...

Wedding happened over six months ago. Follow me to married life at my other blog, Life at 26. So that some people *don't* follow me, I will not post my new URL here, but comment if for some strange reason you would like me to send it to you. Otherwise, click around enough on the blog for a new online bookclub that just started and you can find me there =)

So, I'm a big, fat liar.

I said I was going to blog, and I didn't. No good reason. I think I am just at an antsy stage, where I really want to get this show on the road, but I can't because it's still too far away. After attending the best man's wedding and preparing to attend one of my bridesmaid's wedding showers this weekend, I think I am just ready for our turn. I feel like I have all the inspiration I can stand to use. If I see too much more, I will change my mind 987498654 more times, and I just can't, because deposits have been made and I think my lovely fiance has tired of my indecision! So, instead, I have almost blocked out the wedding maddness. Almost.

Last week, we couldn't take it anymore. We keep making an insanely long mental list of things to register for, and we finally bit the bullet and did it. We spent three long, tiring hours at Bed Bath & Beyond attempting to plan our future home. No one told me that registering was going to be so hard! Here is my favorite BBB item so far:

 Dinosaurs!

We have a strange love of dinosaurs, so this was a must. I can't wait to make and decorate little dinosaur-shaped cakes! Weird, I know.

I started a Target registry a long time ago. I got a coupon the said they would give me a free $25 gift card for making a registry, so I made one online. Today we went to Target and added to it. This is the thing I can't wait to get.

I love Lamp.

My "spot" on the couch is farthest from the light, so I am dying to get this plugged in behind me. I love Target!

I thought registering was kind of hard. You have to coordinate every room, remember what you already have, think of your storage limitations, stay within reasonable budgets for guests, try to ask for everything you may ever need, and not look selfish! It stressed me out! I am mostly focused on home decor- something I never spend money on. I want a lot of things I can mix and match through all rooms, but by registering so far out, I am worried both stores will be out of what I need by June. Eeeek!

What was your registering experience like? Was three hours a bit too much?

You better shop around...

So, as I may or may not have mentioned before, Andrew recently graduated from culinary school. The French kind where he made rabbit and learned to cook different sauces and is now the go-to source for everyone we know anytime they have any question at all about any food. Needless to say, we like to eat! One of the (many) ways he "takes care" of me is by making me dinner every night, and he likes to challenge himself to make something good, not merely just put something on the table. He is very picky about restaurants we go to and what recipes he is even willing to try for dinner. He takes food very seriously.

(Not Andrew. But you get the idea. [source])

It makes sense that his one requirement for our wedding from the day we got engaged was that he got to pick the food. I gave in because I knew he would do a great job. This really was his element.

The first place we fell in love with was Pappa's Catering. Pappa's has a ton of restaurants in Houston (and other areas too) in different types of cuisine (Mexican, steaks, Greek, Cajun, seafood, etc.) and while it isn't the best meal you've ever had, their food is consistently good and affordable. We put that on the back burner until we booked our venue.

Our venue, oh our venue. That is a story for another post. Our venue has a list of five preferred caterers. There is no on-site kitchen. If you don't want one of the preferred caterers, there is a $500 fee. We definitely did not want to tack anything onto our wedding budget unnecessarily, so we decided to stick to their list. Can you see where this is going?

Of COURSE Pappa's wasn't on the list. So, we had to focus on what was.

One option was wayyyy too far out of our price range. That left us with four choices. We went to an open house for one and were less than impressed (There was a mashed potato bar with a large martini glass of cheese. I asked for some tongs or for the gloved woman working the station to put my cheese on for me. She looked at me like I was crazy, so I am guessing countless others put their germy hands in that glass before me. ICK! Needless to say, I had my potatoes plain.). One caterer runs a restaurant in Sugar Land that we visited with Andrew's dad and sister and we all four hated our meals! And then there were two...

Both of the other caterers were highly recommended by our day-of coordinator. We went to meet with one, and she could work in our budget. She insisted to me that two bites of appetizer were more than enough for our guests (I disagreed, because I like to eat!) and gave us a quote that included two passed appetizers and a buffet meal with chicken. I was okay with the menu, but not super excited about it. The quote for silverware and napkin rental also seemed really high. Before we booked, we decided to talk to our last option.

We met with Courtney of Campbell's Catering. Instead of presenting us with a premade menu, she asked us what we envisioned. When I told her we wanted a seated dinner but had decided to settle on a buffet, she stopped me and told me to tell her what I wanted. She would let me know if I couldn't have it. We wanted our guests to have a choice of proteins, larger appetizers, a seated meal, and sides closer to our favorite foods. Whereas the other venue quoted us as having a rice pilaf as our starch, Courtney listened when we told her we love rosemary new potatoes and added that to our menu immediately. We told her the things that Andrew likes to cook, and we looked over her extenzive menus and created our own. It helped us make yet another aspect of our wedding truly unique. At the end of the meeting, she said she would send us a quote for a basic Italian buffet, our menu served buffet style, and our menu served seated. She promised that the price difference for seated vs. buffet was negligible.

We got the quotes a few days later, and, um, let's say we disagree on the meaning of "negligible." However, her buffet prices were drastically cheaper than option #1 and her seated price wasn't much higher than it was. This was the time to spend the money to give the groom what he wanted. He has gone along with all of my indecision, lazy DIY, and money spent on other things, so it was worth it to give him the one thing he's wanted from the beginning. No buffet for us!

What decision have you made for your groom? Did shopping around save you some cash?

Give me my remote.

I have been doing a good amount of wedding stuff, but I haven't posted any of it because I can't get it just right enough to talk about! I will take some pics of something in the works as well as blog about my honeymoon destination ASAP. I am off Friday - Sunday in honor of turning the big 2-5, so lots of blogging is in order for this weekend!

Anyways, the point of this post- On Weddingbee, the bees are answering different questions to give readers a peek into their relationships, and one very obviously stuck out to me. It was about the TV that you and your significant other watch together as well as alone. If you know Andrew and I, you know we are TV freaks. We have three DVRs, HD, LCDs (yes, plural), and Netflix subscription... It's gross. Besides the obvious sloth that comes from consuming such large doses of TV, I really think it has helped us learn to compromise as well as given us something to talk about when we aren't glued to it. (Because, let's face it: neither of us are into trying to solve the world's problems over dinner).

There are a few shows we can agree on: The Office, 24, American Idol, Top Chef, almost anything on Food Network, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Chuck, Entourage, Dexter, Rescue Me, Breaking Bad and Damages. We love them, watch them together, predict what will happen next, and name our furbaby after them (Bauer comes from Jack Bauer).

He is absolutely obsessed with Lost, but I don't get it. I watch Flash Forward with him, even though I think it's kind of boring, in an effort to compromise. It makes me feel like a better fiance.

He, in turn, watches Glee with me. I know it's not his thing, but it's a fun show! After he goes to bed or when I get time to myself, I watch all the good ABC shows (Grey's, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty), trashy CW shows (Gossip Girl and 90210), everything on TLC, and Oprah. He hates all of them.

TV is cheap entertainment. There is always something on, and it provides great time for cuddling on the couch. Sometimes simply watching a football game with him instead of going in another room to do my own thing makes me feel like I am showing him how much I care, as cheesy as it sounds. Hopefully I can learn to apply these compromising skills to other, more important parts of our marriage in the future.

What do you watch with your significant other? What are the areas most important to compromise in?

My Dress Distress

So, we all know I already have my wedding dress. If you would like a long-winded account of how that came to be, you can visit here. It was $100 brand new. When I bought it, it didn't fit, but my "retail diet" suited me nicely and now (well, okay, in July) it fit! Here is what it looks like, since I never posted pics. Sorry about the quality; these are the only images I will allow in the house because I know Andrew wants a look at the dress!

It is diamond white, A-line, with lots of beading. Definitely worth more than $100, right? There's kind of a problem though. I didn't try on piles of pretty dresses. I didn't stand on a pedastal while a consultant froofed me and my mom cried and my tummy got fluttery because I found the one. I went with my mom and stood in a conference room with bad flourescent lighting and bought the dress I liked the most out of the ones that I had hopes of fitting into.

Let's call it what it is. I kind of settled. And now, I am less than pleased. What's a bride to do?

I called my BFF/fellow bride, who bought her dress to the same sale. We went to Ventura's Bridal under the ruse of both needing dresses (I have since watched 923497234987 episodes of Say Yes to the Dress and I know this was dishonest to my very nice consultant. I'm sorry!) and "played."

I tried to be good. I tried to try on fairly inexpensive dresses so if I fell in love, I might have a chance of getting one. But the whole time I kept thinking I have a perfectly good dress waiting for me. A pretty dress. But it didn't feel like me. I don't really like beads. I have sensitive skin and I am terrified that all the beading that touches the area underneath my arms will itch and burn (anyone have experience with this?) and make me miserable! Since I told the consultant I was a simple girl, she brought me this one to try on.

I loved the top. The ruching, sweetheart neckline, and otherwise simplicity were exactly what I was looking for. I tolerated the pick-ups (although the consultant told me they were "last season," so now I sort-of hate them. They are kind of annoying). I liked the low-ish price tag (in the $500s). I left the place thinking that I hated my dress. 

I don't think I love this dress as a whole enough to ditch the first dress for it. But it shows me that there ARE other dresses out there. Dresses that make me fluttery and feel like me. But they will cost more money. Is it worth it to expand my budget, or should I remember that it's only one day and wear the gorgeous dress I already have? Did you ever feel like your dress wasn't the one?

Avoiding the Slideshow Cliche

Slideshows always provide the requisite "awws" everytime I have seen them at a wedding event. But, how can they be made unique anymore? It seems like everyone has their cute baby pictures, awkward years photos, shots of them playing their former favorite sport, and a timeline of their couple-dom. It's cute, it's easy, but it can make people lose interest.

This couple had a great idea. The groom gave the best man complete creative control. No matter what your political leanings are, this is funny!


Best Wedding Slideshow Ever from Olde English Comedy on Vimeo.

If you don't have a friend with amazing Photoshop skills, how are you keeping your wedding slideshow interesting?

What's in a (last) name?

Although it could be considered highly unsafe, I will put my last name out there for everyone one to see. It's Perez. P-E-R-E-Z. Now, in case you haven't been paying attention, this is what I look like.

(Awful pic of the mister and I.)

Um, do you see that pasty pale girl? That's me. This picture was taken in July, when I should have been tan. But no, all my life I have been freckled and pale and burned at the slightest brush of the sun. I guess with vampires being so "in" lately, I can just say I am ahead of the trends, but the truth is, I am fair-skinned. I like to remind myself that Snow White and Nicole Kidman have proved that pale is pretty, but that is not the point of this post.

The point is that no one has ever really believed my last name is Perez.

I remember the first day of school as a kid when teachers would give me a double take when I raised my hand when my name was called. I live in Texas; Mexicans are a dime a dozen here, and they are generally characterized by browner skin and darker hair. I definitely wasn't what anyone had in mind.

I wasn't adopted. My dad's grandparents came from Mexico, and as my grandparents faced persecution for only speaking Spanish as children and having to "learn" American culture, they raised my dad and his siblings to speak English at home with only fair comprehension of Spanish. So, needless to say, I wasn't raised in a house filled with Mexican culture, although I wish I were.

So, my whole life, I have wanted to get married to be done with this name that I have never felt has "fit." I am proud of who I am and where I come from, but tired of feeling like I don't match up. Ever since I was a kid, I have said I can't wait to get married so I can change my name!

Enter Andrew Martinez.

Yup. That guy up there, who is a little darker than me, is as Puerto Rican as I am Mexican. So, I can change my name to Lauren Martinez or still be Lauren Perez. Or I can really throw people off and be Lauren Perez-Martinez.

While I love the idea of sharing a last name with my hubby-to-be, we do not know if children are in our future and it is not important to him for me to change my name. I am sure he would love it if I did, but he won't be crushed if I don't.

(Sidebar: We actually had a wedding coordinator at a venue suggest we have a mariachi band at our ceremony after hearing our last names. I loved her stereotype and told her I thought it would be great!)

So, here is my dilemma: Should I change so I can have the joy of being Mrs. Andrew Martinez, or is now the time to truly embrace my Perez-ciousness (yeah Perez Hilton, I stole that, but I've had the name longer than you =P)? Did you have a name change debate?