The Hug

So I started my day off today like most of my days, meeting with a bride and her mother. One of my favorite brides actually. They were late by about ten minutes. We are on bride time, not my time. This is at least our fifth meeting and I swear we talk about the same thing every time we meet, nothing is ever decided it is just merely that I am the only one in the world they can schedule time with to sit around and talk about the wedding. We were deciding on a runner color. Purple, eggplant, violet, lavender, it has to be the exact color of the bridesmaid dresses or the world will literally stop turning. Not even Crayola has this many names for the same color. And it's my job to know the difference. My second meeting of the day it was sapphire, royal, indigo, all shades of a primary blue color. If we can't settle on a name for the color, settling on a runner won't be any easier. And how do I tell you I think you centerpieces are the ugliest thing I have ever seen at a wedding and your glassware will never rent again. Oh well, your day not mine. Please describe to me every detail of your ceremony site. I care if the shade comes in from the east or the wind picks up at exactly 3 p.m. daily. So I leave one job to head to the other and I'm on the phone with a photographer who is refusing to negotiate to a reasonable price for a wedding I'm planning. Since when did snapping photos for 4 hours become worthy of $400 + an hour. I don't make anywhere close to that I have to work way harder. Plus when the photographer messes up the candid shot of the first dance, it will some how be my fault. And if I'm bringing the bride, dealing with all the negotiations, and the job is literally handed to you, what is the big deal if you knock a few bucks off. Then I'm so worked up in negotiation that I am suddenly lost the countryside of hicksville, making me 20 minutes late for my next appointment. And my boss is there waiting and counting the minutes that I'm late. Of course, the one day I'm late and they are perfectly on time. Of all the appointments that never show up or do 40 minutes late, not this bride. Her and her mother and perfectly perky and on time, they just came from an appointment with the florist. The mom tells me that there is never enough time in the day to talk about the wedding and I can't help but agree. There's never enough time for me to talk about weddings in a day. Everywhere I go, the hairstylist, Safeway, Starbucks, Target. Everyone is getting married and everyone wants to talk about. But not everyone wants to listen. Only the chosen few get to. So mom and daughter eat lunch. I talk and explain the contract in terms my dog could understand and somehow no one gets it. I finally get her to sign the copy, buy them lunch, make my break for the exit and get trapped in a hug with mom. Then daughter feels the need to join. And I'm in the middle of the restaurant, in front of collegues and other patrons involved in a group hug. No way is this happening I think. Since when does signing a contract and paying a $500 deposit make me want to hug it out. Never. All in a day.

Life and family

Life or life as we know it. For most of us, it consists of work, home, some television, bed. Family and friends on the weekend if your really lucky. I am really lucky. I have my family and friends close enough to be around when I want and need them, and not when I don't. For those of us who are lucky like me you will understand where I am coming from. I love my family. I do. They have always been there for me, regardless of what mistakes I am making and how many times I choose to make them. They are there for me, whether they are supportive or not is another story. My life as I know it is like most. Bed, work, home, TV, bed. I do watch an obscene amount of TV. But that is not all I do. I love to read and write, walk with the dogs, clean the house and listen to music, study and work. But I usually have the TV on too. I like the sound and the people's voices. I love living alone. But I love to be around people. It's comfortable to me. I guess it's just what I'm used to. The point being who are we if we think we can judge what makes someone else happy. I wonder sometimes if my family really even knows me. Like would they like me at all if they didn't have to. I know they would. I think that is why God gave them to me, so that I would make it through this world. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have. And even though sometimes they drive me crazy. I know they just want whats best for me. But shouldn't they realize that maybe I know whats best for me. I tell you what though. I am lucky. Because I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here.

My Mya

Mya. I have only had Mya for a little over a month. I'm still not really sure how I ended up with her. But I love her. I remember driving home after picking her up and thinking to myself this is crazy. I can't have two dogs. What am I doing? How is this going to work? What is everyone going to think? Two dog is a lot of work. I didn't tell anyone about her. I didn't want to listen to what everyone else thought. I knew what I was thinking and what is best for my family. Mav is my family. He has been a completely different dog now that we have an addition. He loves Mya. They could play together for hours. She is good for me too. She needs exercise and love and attention. It a quite the experience having a puppy. It is overwhelming and exciting and tiring. It is crazy how my priorities change from being about me to being about her and Mav. I think they have saved my life time and time again. My favorite things about Mya. Her whole body shakes when her tail wags. She is the most loving creature in the world. I am doing my best to train her, but it is incredibly hard for me to say no to that face. She sits at on the floor by my bed and looks from me to the bed every night hoping to get in. Sometimes I let her. She listens to everything I say. 3/4 of the time she does what I say. She loves to cuddle and be held. She likes to sleep under the covers. She makes a weird low howl sound when I tell her to do something she doesn't want to do. Her and Mav are opposites and its a perfect match. He doesn't cuddle, she does. She doesn't share, he does. Their energy level matches each other. My biggest pet peeve about Mya, when she jumps onto the couch full force at 100 mph.

My Mavy

Maverick. He is my angel baby. I have had him since May 2006. This year will be three years together. What do I love about Mav? Everything. I love that his attitude is 20x bigger than he is. I love that he is only 12 pounds and he barks at dogs who are 100 lbs. I love that his feet are messed up. i love that when he shakes water off, his back feet come off the ground. I love that when he gets out of the bath, he runs around the house crazily. I love that he shows his chomper teeth when he gets angry. I love taking naps with him and sleeping in late with him on Sundays. I love that every day he is just as excited to see me as the day before. His personality is huge. I can't believe that something so small could have an attitude so big, it's outrageous. He is so gentle and loving in his own way. He is patient with Mya and loves to play with her. He shares his toys and his water and his food without complaint. He loves other dogs. He loves to play, even with cats they just don't play back. He is incredibly protective of his love ones and his territories. He is incredibly smart, I think he just chooses not to listen. My biggest pet peeve about him is when he gets out of the house and runs around the neighborhood. When that dog was a puppy he had some many near death experiences that I thought he'd never make it.

The Event Diva

I am not the only, nor the first, to ever choose a life in events. And I must say I absolutely love it. I started doing what I do almost exactly two years ago. The time has flown by. I am currently getting into my busiest season of the year. Wedding season! I can't believe it is that time again. I think that being in this job makes the year pass faster. Always planning ahead. I wonder if I am ever living for now. Rather than July or August or better yet October when wedding season is finally coming to an end. I think that getting a ring is like a license to go crazy. It's all about bridesmaids, dresses, color swatches, cake tasting, and so much more. God forbid something go wrong, a vendor back out or your cake melts or your linens are stained. I have to be honest though. I love it. The drama and the high stress. The planning and the anticipation. It's amazing. Most days, I think I am the luckiest person in the world. I get to go to work every day and do something that I love. Something that challenges me and excites me. I love being part of such and exciting and special time in someones life. They say those who plan, don't wed. But I think it makes me so hopeful for the future. I'm excited for my family and my friends to fall in love. I think that it is a beautiful and honest place to be. I imagine that someday it will happen for me. You would think as an event coordinator I would not want a lavish big event, something simple yet posh. That's wrong. I can't wait. I am totally going to be a crazy bridezilla. I want to have a smallish wedding of 250 to 300. I want to have an amazing white dress. I want to have Chiavari chairs, full length linens, toppers, crazy beautiful centerpieces, floral to die for, classy bridesmaids dresses (it can be done), expensive photography. a 4 or 5 tiered cake, oh my list goes on and on. Since this is what I want, this is what I work towards. Making your event a dream come true, your day, your vision, your experience. It's so powerful. I make peoples visions come to life.