Weddings are Wack

For starters, let me say, I dislike planning events.  Surprise parties for 15, holiday parties for 30, dinner for 4 - no problem.  A wedding for 75 - EW!

We have a venue, a caterer and a save the date design.  I'm 90% sure I'm on track. 

We are currently seeking an officiant.  This is harder than it seems.

Things we aren't interested in having present at our ceremony:
Jesus
Unity Candles
Handfasting
Extensive Prayer
Wedding Lassos (I shit you not, this exists)
Decorative Sand
People in white robes (I don't care if it's religious, it looks creepy)


How come everyone wants those things?  Vomit.

Traveling Pets: Trying Something New

In a few weeks, I'll be heading to Williamsburg and Yorktown to meet with some wedding related folks.  Normally, I just board Ellie for that type of thing.  There are two problems with this.  1) I always want Ellie to be better about traveling, better interacting with people, etc. and 2) Boarding pets gets expensive when you go out of town a lot.  Since I travel so much for work, I'd like to spend my down time with the people and animals that I love.

I am trying something new - I'm taking Ellie with me.

Although information about it is hard to find, Williamsburg has two pet-friendly hotel options - 1) Williamsburg Inn (high-end) and 2) the Cascades Motel.  The Williamsburg Inn requires a $500 pet deposit...and your dog must not bark.  The Cascades, which have no dedicated website, require no pet deposit, are inexpensive and don't much care if your dog barks.  Trip Advisor has reviews here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g58313-d1059984-Reviews-Cascades_Motel-Williamsburg_Virginia.html. It doesn't sound like it's going to win any awards, but having the option to bring your pet always warms my little heart.  In addition to getting a nice room with a decent view for you and your pets, you also get breakfast at the Woodlands and you can take your pet with you all over the colonial section.

I also stumbled upon this website: Dog Jaunt, which actually has a post which details a visit to Colonial Williamsburg with dog in tow!

I'm excited to check out the place and see how Ellie likes it.

How could you ever want to leave this behind?

Productivity Abound!

Such a productive weekend:

• Taxes - done and filed!
• Seeds - started!
• Bread - baked!
• House - tidied!
• Laundry - done!
• (Hated) Grocery Shopping - accomplished! 
• Impromptu baking - finished with flying colors thanks to my neighbor's butter!

The Classic French Bread that I tried...was maybe not so classic.  I accidentally used whole wheat flour instead of bread flour.  I'm not sure how I did it, but I did.  I think they turned out just fine, but ultimately it produced a coarser texture than I had wanted.  That being said, I'm glad I tried it and I will be doing the recipe again the correct way later this week.  Blerg.

Who doesn't love a little added productivity to their lives?!?  Later this week, I'll be traveling to NYC for work.  I had thought about tacking on a day so that I could look at wedding dresses from two designers that are based in NYC.  Money's a little tight for me to be dropping $150 to change a flight and stay up there for an extra day.  Looks like I'll be making another trip up to NYC sometime soon for that purpose.

And last, but certainly not least, on a whim last night, I decided to bake a chocolate cake.  We probably didn't need additional baked goods in the house, but sometimes, you just need a pick me up.  Mid-evening, with no sweets in the house, I found out that I'd missed National Chocolate Cake Day.  To remedy that, I found an easy recipe.  The complication: I'm out of butter! Blasphemy.  Mine was a little dryer than the one in the picture on Smitten Kitchen, but nonetheless, it was well received.  Here's the recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/everyday-chocolate-cake/