Blog love, and some goals

Today's one of those Mondays where I'm embarrassingly behind on the work that pays (some of) the bills and loathe to admit that my workday to-do list isn't nearly as interesting as wedding blogs or today's White House Press Briefing. So in lieu of a fun wedding post, I'm going to take care of some blog housekeeping. I've gotten fun blog shout-outs from two lovely bloggers in the past couple of months: ABCD and Kate. I've neglected to return either compliment, so consider this my amends.

First up, Amy gifted me with a Uber Amazing Blog Award. Thanks, Amy! Besides being our extremely talented invitation designer, Amy is completely delightful to work with and has a fantastic design sensibility that really comes through on her blog. I love seeing someone else appreciate the aesthetic of modern and rustic coming together, and (unlike me) know how to articulate it. Her blog is a daily stop for me.


Next, Kate gifted me with a trifecta of frothy blog awards: Simply Lovely, Truly Beautiful, and Happy New Year, fitting for a fab new friend who is as fun and charming in real life as she is on her blog. Kate oozes wit and sass in exactly the ways I adore, and I can't wait to see how her March wedding comes together, or how that next round of drinks materializes... Thanks, Kate!

As part of that New Year award, I'm supposed to list "Things That'll Rock My Socks off in 2009." Now many of these are obvious - getting married, being an aunt again, etc. But since I never really stated any resolutions for this year, I'm going to use this one to set out a few goals instead. Because goal-meeting = socks rocked, right?

1. Eat more seasonally, with more planning. Some of you know I'm a fairly conscious eater anyway - I try my best to practice what I preach about eating as much locally-grown, humanely treated, organic food as possible, and I love to cook with fresh ingredients. But I know that I can do better, particularly when it comes to eating seasonally. For example, while enjoying some to-die-for heirloom tomatoes in my salad the other day, I heard the voice of Barbara Kingsolver in my ear and knew that January and tomatoes - even heirlooms - come with a price. I'd like to rely more on the farmer's market and less on produce sections, and doing so means adjusting my expectations of variety and making the time to shop smarter. I'd love to become a weekly meal-planner, rather than visiting the market a few times a week. What would it take for me to get there?

2. Shape up and find peace, without obsessing. Like many of us, I am absolutely my own worst critic. I'm more of a health person than a fitness person, but have accepted the role the gym can and should play in my life, particularly with the wedding approaching. While I've been enjoying the results of my amped-up efforts, I'm not sure if that inner critic of mine will ever be silenced. Will I reach a goal? Is there a goal? I'd like to put on The Dress and feel amazing, but regardless of how much working out I do between now and then, will my head ever really let me feel amazing, no matter what others say? I'm not sure, and the more I try and figure out the mind/body balance, the more my only answer is "work harder." I recognize the disconnect there. So... how do I find the peace?

3. Re-focus my career. This is a biggie. For someone who used to be inspired left and right (okay, mostly left) and could've chosen any of several career paths, I'm now sitting inside of one that doesn't excite or challenge me, doesn't utilize my biggest strengths, and leaves me bored and disconnected from communities and positive change. Not fixing this problem has been a decision of logistics more than anything, but when I think seriously about this situation, the fact that I'm wasting time and perpetuating my professional unhappiness is unavoidable. More than that: what are the effects of this situation on other parts of my life? How could everything be enhanced and improved by that big fix? Besides all the big things going on this year, in 2009 I need to take charge of my career again and be proactive about the change I want to see. It's the directive I'd advise to anyone else, and not doing it myself is beyond hypocritical.

Can I tackle these biggies in 2009?

I'll be back soon with something more fun than resolutions, promise. :-)

Celebrating with friends

Tonight we're toasting the New Year with a table full of friends. Mellow, low-key, great food and drinks, and a whole lotta laughs. The perfect combination for me, really, and fitting for this moment in time.

Over the past few months (thanks, economy!), we've found ourselves contemplating eloping on a pretty regular basis. The benefits are obvious: saving money, being impulsive, getting married now, having a crazy story to laugh about, saving money... Yet I go back to the wedding weekend we've started planning every time; it keeps speaking to me as a worthwhile endeavor.

One of our friends eloped with his wife about ten years ago, and maintains that having that moment together, just the two of them, is an image and a feeling that carries them through the tough spots, and they wouldn't change a thing. The couple in question is fantastic together, but I don't think their wedding is right for us. I definitely don't have a problem skipping over a traditional ceremony, because for me it's certainly not about being "The Bride" (heck, I don't even like people looking at me). I have no worries that I wouldn't feel like I was really married if we ran away to Vegas, either; life goes on even without a walk down the aisle, after all, into the really good stuff - the life we're going to build together, and one day, the family we'll have. So no, the reason that eloping isn't for me isn't because I'm one of those girls who has to have the whole shebang. Maybe it's because of how we began this deal together, or because of the long-distance we put ourselves through, or because we live in a city far away from most of our friends, and all of our families, to begin with. Because here's the thing: what matters most to me about our wedding is the bringing-together of both our families and all our crazy friends in one place.

For one weekend, and one weekend only, I imagine, I'll be able to talk about a mutual favorite book with my oldest girlfriend and one of my newest at the same time; I'll be able to introduce my dear friend who'll marry us to my college girl who grew up nearby him; I'll be able to watch T's Wall Street friends figure out what to make of my lefty intellectual crowd; I'll watch our Dallas friends find random things in common with my hometown crew, or my college crew, or Trevor's college crew; I'll watch all the amazing folks in my life who've heard all the stories and shared all the twists and turns that got us here make fun of me all at once; I'll watch them make fun of Trevor, too; I'll watch them smile at us, and grin at how happy we are. Our wedding will be a fantastic jumble of crazy people who love us for entirely different reasons, and I will never again be able to orchestrate such a circus.

Some people do it for The Dress. Some people do it for The First Dance. Some people do it for The Tradition. Me? I think I'm doing it for The Circus.

So to the wonderful world of friendship - gathering tonight over champagne, tomorrow morning to gossip over breakfast about what happened tonight, tomorrow afternoon lounging together in front of football, and in May in honor two weirdos who found each other in dark corners and ended up being the lightest, brightest duo to ever make them roll their eyes... Cheers.

Happy New Year, everyone!

And.... baaack!

You know, every time we're feeling the sinking economy, wondering if we're better off using wedding $ to move somewhere else to take happier but lower-paying jobs, or being just plain impatient, we bring up just running to Vegas and getting married.

But Election Night? In the middle of that beautiful moment, together and looking ahead? Pure joy. If Albuquerque were Vegas, I'd have a wedding ring on my finger right now. Just saying.

Gone votin'

I'll be taking a short break over here in order to travel back to New Mexico to do Get Out The Vote work for Obama and my friend Martin Heinrich. It's going to be a very full couple of days - the capstone to the most important election of my lifetime - and one that I hope beyond hope gives us the leadership we deserve come tomorrow night.

Trevor and I never would've met if not for politics, and being in New Mexico together on another Election Night will be special for both of us. In 2006, we were separated by a mandatory ballot recount and a press pass. But this time, I think we're in the clear.

Here's to progressive victories far and wide, and to political nerds like us who plan on turning their wedding into one big campaign event. We wonky weirdos need to stick together. :-)

PS: I'll be updating Twitter while I'm gone if you want to track our progress!