Posted by Monica Danna on Jun 11, 2009 in
arts & crafts,
weddings I’ve always so admired crafty people like Katie, Sarah, Michelle, and Melissa. People who can take a piece of felt and a glue stick and create a masterpiece.
I’m not a crafter. In any sense of the word. I can’t sew myself out of a corner. The only time I’d ever use craft to describe me, would be followed by the words mac’n'cheese.
I subscribe to no less than 50 craft, design, and fashion blogs, wide-eyed gazing at the posts in my Google Reader like a little girl would tear through a Tiger Beat issue. It’s sad, yes. But I am an admirer of crafty design, not a possessor of the skills required.
I usually find that when I get something in my head, it won’t get out ’til I satisfy it. And for months I’ve been determined to find a stress relieving hobby that does not require me staring at a computer for 20 hours a day. However, I never expected to summon my crafting desire at midnight on a Tuesday in a 24 hour Kinko’s in Katy, TX.
If you are a reader of this blog, you’ll recall that this year I am attending 15 weddings. Four of those which I am either in or helping to plan. Over the next 10 weeks alone I will be hosting 2 bridal showers, organizing 1 couples shower, planning 2 bachelorette parties and attending 3, 2 bridal luncheons, 4 rehearsal dinners, and attending 5 weddings. And that only takes us up to August 31st. Then begins fall wedding season. I’ll spare you the details. Plus, I’ve gotta leave something for you to read in the book I’m writing about all of it! 
So takes me to Monday night. Sitting at dinner with Amber talking about the upcoming 3 weeks of wedding festivities upon me. I had searched all day for bridal shower invites for a shower I am hosting in a few weeks. I really needed to get the invites out stat, and couldn’t find anything I was looking for. Amber suggested Michael’s and I immediately perked up. I had been searching at every stationery store I could find in Houston. (Actually have a later post planned on this, found some great places!) But nothing had what I was looking for color and budget-wise.
The thought of going to Michael’s always intrigues me. Much like things normal people do, like grocery shopping, when I am in Michael’s, I feel like part of a society of crafty people. “Ah, yes, can you point me in the direction of the paper mache aisle,” I could hear myself casually say. Or exchange jovial beading tips with whoever happened to be standing on the bead aisle. (Did you know there is a whole aisle of beads?!). Dreams, all dreams.
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Tags: arts, bridal shower, craftiness, invitations, shower, weddings
tumblers, by slightclutter
It feels as if this post is way overdue. On the other hand, it also feels to be entirely immature.
I’m going to cram a lot into this post, so for you ADD readers, here’s the short version:
- Update on Baby Kailey: she’s doing great!
- I moved in with my parents to help with the baby!
- I still have my place, so there will still be a Christmas Tree Viewing Party 3.0!
-
I quit my job!
- I’m freelancing! (yes, read above: i quit my job!)
- I’m really, really happy, excited, and scared as all hell!
- Wedding Bells
Whew. That wasn’t so hard? Now what took me so long to write this post? (Besides painstakingly searching for the exact right image. Which I will always obsess over.) Read more…
Tags: blogging, career, colab, cosmopolitician, family, friends, houston, MagsMac, Politics, schipul, weddings, writing
Posted by Monica Danna on Mar 22, 2009 in
personal,
social media issues,
weddings 
Two weeks after the Mom 2.0 Summit wrapped up, as I was continuing to catch up on 3 months loss of sleep and eating things other than the Weight Watchers + Quaker Oats swag bags items (which both, by the way are excellent–chocolate and raspberry True Delight Bars FTW!!), me + Maggie + the Kirtsy gals reunited again in Boulder, CO, for the much anticipated nuptials of our dear friend + fellow Kirtsy Gal, Gwen Bell.
Gwen, and her lovely fiancé Joel Longtine, had been quite the talk of the Twitterverse + Social Media world, ever since their love affair bloomed online for all to see last year. They embraced it, and continued to celebrate the role that technology has played in their relationship.
I’ll never forget the first conversation I had with Gwen about Joel. It was June, and Gwen was in town for the Caroline Collective opening party. I could tell she was bursting at the seams to share a bit of information with me, but I couldn’t tell what. When she began talking about Joel, and their initial courtship, I swear I never saw it coming, from the one who I gab with about technology, and business ideas, and social media. The one who we could talk for hours on the importance of brand, and community, and Mexican food. Never did I expect that the news she was so excited to tell me. was. about. a boy.
This boy, who I would over the next few months, get to know as a caring, loving, intelligent, lovely person. This boy, who had turned this girl on her head, and allowed her to experience true companionship. I watched as a strong partnership was formed. Amidst skeptics, and drama, and naysayers. I watched. As these two friends shared their lives. Online. Offline. Who made their networks of friends and acquaintances a part of their relationship.
On my 30th birthday, Oct 5th, I got a text message: Joel Proposed! It was a wonderful ancillary birthday gift. And over the next 5 months, I looked on as they planned the celebration of the beginning of their lives together. A day I was so fortunate to be a part of.
So as I traveled to Boulder, a town I once called home, what seems like decades ago, I was ever conscious of the relationship I was in at that time. And how much I have grown as a person. And how these two technology-clad lovers have shown me that love does exist. Even with wires, and no wires, and http’s and twitterstreams, iPhone applications, and custom gmail scripts. At the end of the day it’s still love. And it’s bold.
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Tags: boulder, gwen bell, gwen+joel, joel longtine, MagsMac, weddings