#38. lemons & limes, part III

will continuously using this title get old? probably. too bad.

so back forever a few weeks ago I promised you some pictures from the latest lemon/lime extravaganza when I was home to visit momma. after the tests we did with real fruit (and the resulting mess!), momma thought it would be a good idea to test, well, fake fruit. foam fruit to be exact. somewhere (t.j.maxx), somehow (clearance rack) she found large amounts of foam faux lemons and limes. momma already has more vases than a second-rate flower shop so we hauled out tons of hers and got to work.

here's what we put together:

here's what I learned:

• I really like the look of all the same fruit in the tall lined vases (see the right side of pic 2)
• the deep green vase with the bright yellow lemons is great (see pic 1, just right of middle)
• I don't like the fishbowl vases (pic 2, left)
• the low bowl with flowers & fruit is super pretty (pic 2, lower left) but real fruit won't float, right? will that be good or bad?
• we will in no way need to buy vases! seriously. there are, what, 10 vases on the table here? not even a dent in the displayed collection. not even a dent. I swear the woman has 15 tall lined ones & 8 or 10 of those low floater bowls
• wine is a necessity in these endeavors
• my step daddy is such a good sport

and, for those of you who have made it this far, here's a bonus shot of my memorial day weekend. we got a grill!

(yeah, that's me. in a box. I may or may not have tried to trap the dog in it later that evening. unsuccessfully.)

#20. location showdown, part 2

after much debate (no really. we went rounds and rounds about this. I have the "master matrix of decision making" to prove it), we picked a location! and confirmed a date! and got a caterer! woo! I feel like I've accomplished so much!

ok, so, we're gonna do this thing May 29 at a hill country bed & breakfast . . . not my original date choice, honestly -- the venue GAVE AWAY our original date & didn't feel like they needed to tell me until a week later when I called them . . . (can you tell I'm still a little steamed) but, really, this will be a much better date. Rock's granny & gpaw got married on May 29 years and years ago. I didn't know this until Granny got misty when we told her the date we picked . . . Gpaw passed last year, so it will really mean a lot to her.

anyway, enough talky-talky . . . pictures of the b&b:

It looks like Tara . . .

(the gazebo isn't actually tilt-y, just Rock's photo skillz)

something terribly facinating in the fountain . . .

and, my favorite . . . at night . . .

I am so super duper excited about this place! and it's a b&b so we're staying there the night before and the night after! (the pics of the inside turned out strange . . . probly ghosts. no really, it totally looks like ghosts. and while we were there, a really heavy vase just fell over in a totally empty room. ghosts. I'm excited!)

also, they have a chef, so that's a check too! we're having steak fajitas & lime-cilantro chicken quesadillas and other deliciousness . . . mmmmm . . . .

in a strangely-related conicidence, it turns out their sous-chef worked in and around yellowstone (where Rock & I met!) . . . .

have I mentioned I'm excited?!

#16. rocky mountain high

if we had decided to have a mountain wedding, this would be my ideal backdrop . . .
but we decided on texas. and I'm ok with that. I'm very ok with that. until I saw this gorgeous wedding on a.mountain.bride's blog the other day . . .

courtesy of the very talented Julie Harris Photography, Jen & Matt's colorado wedding:

makes me homesick! that aspen grove makes my heart sing . . .

a texas wedding will be best. and it'll be dramatic too. but nothing can compare with that mountain vista . . .

#14. location showdown, round one

I am from the mountains. Rock is from texas.
we met in the mountains. we live in texas.
we someday want to live in the mountains. we currently live in texas.
we love the mountains. we don't love texas. (ok, that's mostly me)

so where oh where would we think to get married? no, not the mountains . . .

our dream wedding** would be outdoors, in a forest or even a meadow with a majestic rocky mountain backdrop. wildflowers, Mexican food, a cold mountain lake, snow-capped peaks . . . *sigh* perfection . . . seems like a no-brainer, right? oh no . . . this has been perhaps the biggest source of anguish since our engagement. (which is saying a lot considering we got engaged at the height of the crazy-family-explosion-of-drama that is the holidays) (no really, my family is nuts)

so, it might come as a surprise to you that, in the end, the big supporter on the "wedding in texas" side was me. (surprised me!) really, hosting the wedding where we really live will be much easier for us in the long run. it'll be a chance for both our families to take a mini vacation. we can still find somewhere gorgeous and outdoorsy to have it, mountains or not. (they still have trees and grass and flowers in texas. imagine that)

texas is fine, but it sure isn't the same . . .



**ok, my dream wedding. one of them, at least . . . (there may or may not be a dozen more possible scenarios. I did work in a bridal store.) (funny, none of those ever included texas . . . hmm)