Only one more sleep until the legendary (it hasn’t even happened yet and it’s already legendary) trip to Seattle.

All day I’ve been hearing the voice of this funny little guy playing over and over in my head:

Although I’m ecstatic to be going, the timing couldn’t be worse in terms of work; we have a huge deadline to hit so while I should be dancing around my place and singing and making shopping lists and printing off Google maps, instead I’m stressed out (and writing about being stressed out, d’oh!).

On top of that, I’ve been running around all day like a chicken with its head cut off… or is that, like a Bee with its, er, stinger (…?…) cut off (oh ok, so the analogy isn’t great).

Because of course when it rains, it pours, and guess what other excitement is going on?

This Miss has a new home in the hive.

A friend of mine planted the idea in my head some time ago and I thought about it for a long while. I only got into Weddingbee early this year but it didn’t take long for me to get addicted to the friendly vibe and honest sharing. I knew that to be a part of it would be enormously fun but I also knew it would be a lot of work. Plus I sort of liked having my own little corner of the ’sphere.

But lately I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on why I started this blog in the first place.

While yeah, I really like having somewhere to just go and dump everything that’s buzzing (that time it was unintentional, I swear) around in my brain, the high moments of my experience thus far were when I’ve gotten an email from a girl who is just starting out on her destination planning wedding and she’s turning to me to try to help her navigate through her million and one questions. And ALL the questions are the exact same ones I had.

It gives me such an enormous sense of satisfaction to be able to pass on all I’ve learned about planning a DW. If I can save even one bride from the mental anguish and stress I went through at the toughest moments of the planning process, then not only has it been a really, really great day but all the pain was WORTH IT.

So at the end of the day, it’s about making a difference (cue: rainbows/unicorns/Lennon). Being part of the hive will allow me to share my experiences with a much, much larger audience.

Consider this your very warm invitation to come visit me at the hive from time to time. But not to worry, I’ll still be coming back here.

(Thanks to everyone for their advice regarding the dream Loub shoes. I have decided to order the half-size larger and am just awaiting a response from an American based friend-and-hopefully-co-conspirator (shipping/customs/taxes are ridiculously unfair for us Canucks) before I make the click and they are mine!)

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Remember when I was all depressed a couple weeks ago because the plans I had made with my MOH Pepperpot and my (non-bridesmaid) sister-in-law… we’ll call her Mrs Nenny… to go on a shopping trip to the States fell through?

Yeah, well, it’s back on. For real this time.

ROAD TRIP!!!

Pepperpot and Mrs Nenny are flying into Vancouver from Toronto and Calgary this Thursday, and I will pick them up at the airport and make a mad dash for the border. Destination: Seattle (and surrounding areas).

I am almost as excited about this trip as I am for the actual wedding. That’s how much fun I am anticipating!

Since she lost her Westjet buddy flying privileges last fall, I haven’t seen Pepperpot nearly as often as I used to. In fact, the last time I saw her was when she came for a visit last September, bringing my engagement ring with her (I didn’t find out about that part till after Mr Purple popped the question), and I miss her like crazy!

Not only do I foresee many multi-coloured martinis, mani-pedis and hours of some seriously high-quality dishing sessions, there will be shopping. And oh, what shopping it will be!

Apart from spending time together and making memories, the object of this trip is to purchase some very important wedding-related items, namely:

• Bridesmaid dresses
• Groomsmen attire (possible just pants… more on that to come)
• Wedding shoe back-ups (in case the Loubs don’t work out… oh dear God I hope that’s not the case but a girl has to be prepared)
• Cute dresses/outfits for the rehearsal dinner, the day-after event (more on this to come, too) and and other photo-heavy moments (er, that might be the entire week)

It’s no secret that our friends south of the border are much, much more blessed in terms of stores, labels and general availability of clothes and shoes, so I’m looking forward to a smorgasmord of orgasmic shopping delights.

There’s only one problem.

Apart from one short day trip to Bellingham and the Seattle Premium Outlets near Tulalip last year, I’ve never gone shopping down there.

I don’t really know where to go!

We’re thinking of staying at the Tulalip Resort & Casino our first night (after hitting the outlets, natch) and trying our hand at winning back our purchases (wish us luck!) but that’s about as far as we got, planning-wise.

Anyone have any recommendations for other places we should check out in and around Seattle for shopping (or other fun girly activities)?

Oh my Lord. My heart is racing and my palms are sweaty and I think I might be hyperventilating.

Because of this:

My book club friend Sam–to be herewith forever known as Samantha, Patron Saint of the Heavenly Shoes (God bless her soul!)–just sent me a link to these shoes at Net-a-Porter.

And when I saw them, these spectacularly magnificent, exceedingly ravishing Christian Louboutin Mauresmo chiffon slingbacks I promptly swooned.

It was like the heavens opened up and the angels began to sing.

They are the absolute picture-perfect incarnations of all my deepest, wildest desires. They are everything I’ve been looking for–sexy, summery, comfortable and deliciously purple. I don’t even care how much ridicule and derision I will have to suffer at the hands of my thrifty and penny-wise fiance. I’ll promise him ten years of back rubs or something, so help me God!

As soon as I caught my breath, gingerly clicked on the Choose Your Size drop-down list.

And that’s when the panic set in.

Of ALL the sizes, mine is sold out!!

A rapid online search revealed that they are only available at Net-A-Porter, or at least that’s all I could find.

I’m putting out a call of desperation. Anyone know of any other place to find these amazing shoes? Do you think it would be worth it to try the half size smaller or bigger??

(Helpful leads will be rewarded with your very own Patron Saint name and undying gratitude for the rest of my days.)

]]> http://purplewedding.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/ive-found-the-dream-shoes-almost-help/feed/ misspurple http://purplewedding.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/why-is-a-wedding-ring-worn-on-the-fourth-finger/ http://purplewedding.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/why-is-a-wedding-ring-worn-on-the-fourth-finger/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:04:43 +0000 misspurple http://purplewedding.wordpress.com/?p=137

This is quite sweet… once you get over the initial shock of the creepy voice-over. (There–you have been warned!)

(Thanks to my fellow office bride, K!)

I just saw movie trailer for Margot at the Wedding on Xbox Live. What, you didn’t know you could do that? You must not have a fiance that’s totally obsessed with his Xbox.

Anyway, not to worry. You watch it here.

I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this movie before. I mean, it’s Nicole Kidman. And it came out in 2007, for goodness’ sake. But it looks FANTASTIC. It is now officially on my to-do list for the weekend.

And seriously, how fetching is Nicole Kidman in that hat??

Anyone seen it? What did you think?

Any other wedding-related movies you would recommend?

At my workplace there’s another girl who’s getting married just a month before me and so we spend lots of time hovering around each other’s cubicles, swapping ideas (and causing much eye-rolling among our neighbours, both male and female).

Today she told me she started this little fitness program that I had sent her a link to a couple weeks back: hundredpushups.com

I had totally forgotten about this!

Basically it’s this training program that you follow which consists of… you guessed it… push-ups. And nothing but push-ups.

I didn’t know this, but push-ups are actually sort of miraculous. They do wonders for strengthening your core and toning your chest (pectorals), the fronts of your shoulders (deltoids) and your triceps (the back of the arms)–otherwise known to brides as the part of your body that EVERYONE will see on your wedding day (well, most brides anyway; the trend for adorable short wedding dresses is definitely growing and I guess those fashionable gals would have their pretty legs to consider too, heh).

I think I will definitely try out this program. I’m scared to think how many push-ups I’ll be able to manage for the initial test. I’m thinking like, maybe three.

Do you have any toning or fitness moves that you absolutely swear by?

I have an epic post that I’m working on, all about Groomsman Attire at Destination Wedding and How It’s Even More of a Pain-in-the-Butt than Normal Weddings (yes, all capital letters… that’s how epic it is… crap, I shouldn’t be talking about it since I’m raising expectations by doing so… D’oh!) but I keep getting distracted.

By things like this.

It’s not technically wedding related, thought if I had to stretch it, I’d say that in order to be true to thyself in all matters wedding-related, you first have to know thyself.

(Hmm. That’s deep.)

Apparently I’m Captivating-Warm-Empathetic. I was actually surprised by how accurate it was… for a 10 minute survey, that is.

If you like this kind of thing, check out Carrie and Danielle. I think I might cave and buy this book very soon.

Gosh darn you, Canada Day Long Weekend!!!

Who am I kidding? I love Canada. And long weekends. I mean, who doesn’t?

But being away from the computer for four days means I have temporarily forgotten how to type. Well, not really. But my brain has sort of gone mushy. And I am having flashbacks of my university days when assignments were piling up and piling up and deadlines looming (and looming) and Miss P and I would look at each other with stricken looks on our faces and then one would say to the other, “Let’s go for a Dairy Queen Blizzard–the one with the chocolate and brownies and other stuff and gooey and yum yum let’s GO,” and the other would say, “Race ya!” as we’d make a beeline out of the house, leaving papers and pencils and floppy disks in our wake.

I have lots to write about but no time.

Well, that’s sort of a lie. I have time but not the ‘right’ time. The mood has to be just right. Am I the only weirdo out there like this?? Not to mention the fact that I absolutely MUST read each and every single one of those sweet, mmm, yum yum wedding-related posts in my Google Reader before I could possibly capture even one of those elusive ideas swirling around in my own mind.

Maybe I should admit it. I’m a serial procrastinator.

I do, however, somehow find time to… ah… you know. This: twitter.com/misspurple

I know, I know. How on earth does someone who rambles on and one for almost 300 words about how she has nothing to say manage to edit herself down to 140 characters?

I think it’s magic.

We will return to our regularly scheduled programming shortly.

You picked a group of girls to be in your bridal party, but are they the right girls for the job? Will they do the tasks you need them to do, and will they do it the way you want it to be done?

Take the weddingbells quiz and find out.

I found it really tough since my answers for each of the questions varied depending on the bridesmaid. Not to mention the fact that none of them live in the same city as me so duh, of course when I have a dress emergency they’re going to console me over the phone rather than rushing over straight away.

Oh well. It was a fun two-minute distraction.

Today I read that apparently we North Americans aren’t the only ones feeling the pressure of the high costs of throwing a wedding:

A Saudi Arabian charity is spending millions of dollars helping people get married in mass ceremonies because inflation has put wedding costs beyond the reach of many would-be couples in the oil-rich kingdom - Source

I think this is also one of the reasons why more and more couples are doing destination weddings at all-inclusive resorts. Mind you, the costs of doing that can be exorbitant too, depending on how you do it.

I say a round of applause to that charity for reminding us that weddings are first and foremost about getting married. (Of course, there are several other ways of looking this story, but I’ll stick with the most positive one.)

All the rest of it–the party, the cake, the dresses and the shoes–is just the icing on top! And aren’t we lucky that we get to enjoy and fuss over these fun bits together?

It’s so fun. And I am so grateful.