Fear not, dear reader! (I mean, at this point… let’s be honest…) I’m still here! It’s been a slightly busy week at work and alas, blogging has taken a back seat. However, I do want to keep you apprised of how things are coming along…
Humor me, for a moment, as I do the meta thing again - what’s happening with the process of wedding planning? The approach? Do I even have the use of the word “meta” down (Robertson, I’m asking you)?
My mother will shake her head, remembering how I would gather my little stacks of Groschens (like pennies, but possibly even more worthless, and now, extinct) and head down the street to the little bakery and buy individual pieces of Haribo gummy bears, worms, peaches, cherries, cola bottles, what have you. The problem is, I would inevitably buy more than even I could possibly eat in one sitting, and I’d hoard away candy in various drawers necessitating clandestine late-night search and destroy missions on my poor mother’s part to keep the gooey bits and pieces from rotting and/or attracting unwelcome pests. Another fond memory from my childhood entails traipsing along with my parents to the canteen of the Vienna International Center where my dad worked - a cafeteria! With stations serving up different types of food! Chest freezers full of various delicious treats! But also baskets of apples, and, why the heck not, some yogurt and cheese and crackers. This was Austria in the 80s, we didn’t really see much of the buffet thing (buffet Sundays only arrived in force when we moved to Taipei, where that stuff is loooved!) My parents would try to convince me that I, a wee 6-year old, couldn’t possibly finish a burger and fries and spaghetti and yogurt and ice cream and a banana and a slice or two of cake. But nooo… I’d insist, I wanted it all! Of course, two bites of banana later, I’d be full and everything would sit there slowly melting away on my tray.
Fast forward 20+ years (ouch..) and I still am able to elicit a resigned but affectionate sigh from my mom when she sees my stacks of shtuff.
I wouldn’t call myself a pack rat; rather, I think of it as liking to store stashes of supplies just-in-case I might need that random free airline eyemask (you know, in case the other 10 identical ones happen to grow legs and walk off), or because I’m sure that this is the winter when I’ll reform my 5+ year neglected knitting attempts. And therefore still won’t throw out that ancient bag full of skeins of wool purchased for an ambitious throw, which have long ceased to be in production. I have no excuse, I’m not a child of the depression, I did not have a childhood of want. Perhaps I am simply a reincarnation of someone from leaner times, and now I’m armed with my own credit card. Muahahaha!
In recent years, this has allowed crafts industries to see little blips in sales when I’ve taken an interest in their particular slice of the DIY world.
Exhibit A:
(It’s too cold out to go out to the garage and dig up the jigsaw, dremel, handsaw and drills… so all you got was the set of mini but very useful files, some sandpaper and other tool-y looking things by my desk; and a finished product as evidence of the existence of the other tools).
Exhibits B & C:
Fabric stash accumulated after <1 year :-/
(Just some reference materials)
Exhibit D:
Rubber Stamping and Heat Embossing tools.
And what, you ask, does this have to do with the wedding planning process? Look no further..
Exhibit E:
Wedding planning books & magazines galore! To be fair, I only purchased a few of these items. I know some lovely brides who have gone before me, and they have passed along/loaned me some of their goodies.
Basically, my approach to something new, exciting and intriguing is to arm myself with supplies and a few (okay sometimes several few) reference materials and jump on in for a feverish but blissful spell. This wedding planning thing? Yeah… Those books: building up another arsenal to be consulted perfunctorily and then cast aside with a cry of “let’s do this!”
I have read parts of all those books and leafed through several of the magazines. And then subsequently dived into the planning, which has left less time for further reading and browsing. But I do feel as prepared as I can be, given that this wedding stuff is all new to me! :) With the DIY precedent, perhaps the whole wedding thing is really just an excuse to craft, in addition to blogging, of course. (And don’t think I’ve forgotten about that Nike sponsorship.) Nevertheless, I suspect that, as with passions past, a wedding will occur… and it will be made with love, if not to perfection, but not too bad for a beginner’s attempt, just like the fruits my other hobbies. Except for that throw I started to knit, that one’s a lost cause.
Next time I post, you shall see that some of the crafty supplies have been put to use! ‘til then, Good night :)
