Wedding Planning: The Dress

So, I will admit that I have not blogged in a while.

But that is because I have become addicted--or at least infatuated--to Twitter. It is the lazy man's blog. And, well, I am a lazy man--err, woman--at the moment.

I have promised to post about my wedding planning--so here goes.

I will post Wedding Planning Post based on details of the actual day.  Today, I will discuss The Dress. 

After Aaron proposed, I immediately started thinking about dresses. I began thumbing thru magazines, looking at styles, imagining The Day. 

I am not the big, princess pouffy dress girl.

 

And this see-through biz-nass is just not my style.

And was thinking something with straps or something very demure and slimming. And with straps. Did I say I didn't want to look like every other bride?

When my little sister--RaeBabe--was coming to NYC, the MOB suggested we go to Kleinfeld's to check out dresses and just have fun. I agreed and booked an appointment. 

Little did I know I would get my dress that day. I brought all my pictures. Told myself I would not buy a dress that day. And took a taxi--not the subway!--down to 20th and 6th. 

The consultant--RaeBabe of course knows her name and I have forgotten--looked at my pictures and looked me up and down. Said she would pull some dresses and why don't RaeBabe and I look at the dresses at the trunk show.

We picked out a few dresses--like I said, it wasn't serious--and I immediately put on a beautiful Amsale dress. (Aaron DO NOT LOOK AT THIS LINK)

And needless to say, it was perfect. And totally nothing like I had imagined. Slightly poufy, but still demure. Strapless. I was in love. And steely RaeBabe who never cries at anything...teared up. 

So, I tried on the other dresses. I looked boob-a-licious and curvaceous. But not bridal.

And after webcasting with my parents--my mother uttered a sob and dad was speachless--I bought the first dress I tried on.

Later this fall--during the Amsale trunk show in Dallas--my mama and I made a faux bridal appointment to try on my dress. She saw it and loved it. And I fell in love all over again.

Wedding is August 29, 2009. So much planning and still a ton of time!

Pugnacious Word Cloud

Nomadic Living

Confined closet space. Limited clothing (and shoe!) selection. Fast food wrappers. Empty diet-coke cans. Le sigh. 

I am living in The Village, Dallas while working on my second internship. Next week, my parents will be moving to Dallas and I will be living with them. Until then, a benevolent sorority sister offered to let me stay with her and her newly-wed husband. A little awkward, but she has been incredibly nice to me. 

For the past three weeks I have been homeless. After arriving in OKC from NYC, I stayed with my grandmother. At doctors appointments and healthcare cobra meetings, I gave my parents San Antonio address. But I was not living there. 

Two weeks later, I moved in with sorority sistah and hubby. Not wanting to appear like Cousin Eddy in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, I brought only the essentials. I must say, forgoing my complete shoe collection has been tough. And I also left all casual clothes. 

I cannot wait for my parents to move so I will no longer be nomadic. What college grad ever said that?

Post-Brooklyn

Before I start this, I would like to say I had no internet for the past week in my sublet. Thus, I was forced to forgo my plans of posting while in Brooklyn. I apologize. 

Brooklyn is not the new Manhattan. Brooklyn is the borough for baby-makers, hipsters without money, and people plotting to move into the city. Brooklyn is perfect for those people. Not for me. 

But I loved Brooklyn. It is the small town I never lived in--I always grew up in the 'burbs of big cities, namely St. Louis and San Antonio. The tiny, locally-owned shops called out to me every time I passed. I walked in a few and found the clothing just as expensive as in Manhattan. Boo! 

Yet, Brookyln is exceptionally domestic--babies and dogs galore. And, while I do consider myself a domestic goddess, I refuse to be a domestic mortal. 

I want action. I need excitement. I am ready to start a career. I am 23. Newly engaged. Excited about life and love.

Yet, why are all my friends focused on domestication? 

Please spread the word. Don't fence me in. 

Moving Out

I utterly despise moving.

The packing. The planning. The lifting. I really hate the lifting.

And that it is such my luck that I was born into a transient family. I have moved with my family six times--not including rent houses. 

And, I have yet to settle into a house of my own. So I have been nomadically drifting from rent house to rent house. Right now I am at a dorm.

No, I have not started my college years again. But, I have spent the summer in the big NYC. And in an effort to shirk craigslist--it was a pain to sift through--I paid the extra money to live in "quality student living" which really means a dorm room.

And now, I am packing. And have a check out time a 9:30. I do not mind the packing--I am pretty organized and my mother trained me to roll, fold, and using every space available in a suitcase. But I am not looking forward to the lifting. I think that it dates back to my mother telling me to lug box after box to the car or moving van. My nickname was the "Pack Mule."

I am moving to Brooklyn for a week during the last bit of my internship. I will let you know how it goes.

NYC Wendy's Chili

That's right. NYC Wendy's Chili has made up my mind that I must live in the South.

My mother always got the hearty blend of beans and ground beef. She claimed it was healthy. Later in my teen years, I started to see her point. Delish. Filling. And best of all--no white carbs.

I was starving Tuesday. Mark--my precious building mate who is a full blood, All-American male who is always hungry--stopped by my desk and offered to go get lunch at Wendy's with me. Automatically, I started craving Wendy's Chili.

After ordering a classic Wendy's meal--large chili, medium fries (hey, I can't always be healthy) and a chocolate frosty (did I mention I felt low on calcium?)--I settled down to chow down on some hearty chili. I was disappointed.

Much to my chagrin, the chili turned out to be a watery, sad version of Wendy's chili! I lamented over the fact that NYC does not know how to make Wendy's chili. Nearly tearful for the thick chili of my childhood. And I decided.

I need to live in the South. Perhaps Dallas.

A girl needs to have direction in her life. And I am feeling like I need to pick a geographic area to find a job since this internship is ending soon. With food always on my mind, I can think of no better place to settle down right now. 

All because of watery Wendy's Chili. 

Dancing Queen

I get it from my grandmother and my father. Something about a good beat thumping across the room makes my body begin to move and shake in time. I cannot help it. I love to dance.

Saturday, my suite mates and I went to the Beauty Bar to have a few drinks. But instead of schmoozing and sipping cocktails, we were delighted to find an electric dance floor amidst the retro, salon inspired bar.

The DJ made me feel like I was back in middle school dancing with abandon. DJ Dimitry mixed it up with 70's disco hits, 80's pop music--think "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", old school rap and recent hits. I was jumping up and down, bopping to the music for two hours without even realizing it! 

Granted I was a slick mess when I left. I will admit I had lost my hair tie, and was eyeing the one I saw on the floor. But alas, I did not grab the dirty hair tie and went without.  The cab ride home was steamy--literally with no or little AC and a cab driver who refused to pick a popular radio station for my Finnish roommate. 

Overall, the night was good and at the end I felt like I was 12 again dancing in my room with not a care in the world. 

Engagement

Writing this post is a tad surreal. But I am engaged. Even now as I say it, one of those silly smiles spreads on my face. AH! I am engaged! Yea! 

But right now I feel more inclined to talk about a conversation I had with my fiancee--Aaron--this morning. 

I goes without saying that I am a morning person. I struggle to stay asleep past eight when everyone else is blissfulling snoozing. But on the other hand, I often cannot stay up extremely late. Anyway, this fact will be more relevant in a second. 

So this morning, I flip on the teley and see that the Men's Finals of Wimbeldon is just starting. Aaron loves tennis and adores Wimbeldon even more. I think for a second about texting him, and then decide to just call him. Here is the conversation:

(The phone rings several times, I am sort of worried that he is a)not there or b)not waking up. Have I mentioned Aaron is not a morning person and he loves me anyway?)

A: (alert and focused) Hello?

S: (I realize I woke him up, sweet sounding voice ensues) Good morning, Baby.

A: (the sleep catches up when he realizes I am not in any danger, just awake) Oh, hey.

S: So I just turned on the tv and saw that Wimbeldon was on. And I thought I'd call you.

A:(even more sleeply sounding) oh, yea. I see. 

S: I was going to text you, but I figured I couldn't spell Wimbeldon without looking it up. And I just turned it on and thought of you. I thought you might like it.

A: That's why I love you.

S: Yeah? Because I thought of you or because I can't spell?

A: Both. 

S: Well, I love you too.

A: good. Um, Sarah. I think I am going to go.

S: Okay. (He was quite nice to talk with me when no one else is up, and he typically wouldn't be up at 7 am anyway) Well, I love you. 

A: I love you too. Talk to you later?

S: Yeah. Okay, go back to sleep. Love you. Bye!

(The phone hangs up)

So Aaron puts up with me calling to tell him about Wimbeldon and I often stay up late to hang out with Aaron--I don't stay up late in NYC b/c I don't have anyone to force me to stay awake. When midnight rolls around, I am toast. But anyway, I love him and am so happy he proposed. I could think of no one else to spend my life with. sigh.

I am seeing everyone on Friday--I will see Aaron on Thursday--to celebrate Laura's wedding!! Yea!  If you remember other posts, some weddings make me a little sick. Others like Laura and Kevin's makes me happy. You would have to know Laura and her drunken exercises to understand. 

Okay, that is all. I will proceed to work stuff now.

Mobile Revolution

I just finished watching VH1's Rock Doc's documentary series about the Sexual Revolution in America.  And it made me think about what people are claiming about our mobile revolutions.

It seems that Americans just loving thinking up new, ground breaking ideas that change the world: religion, government, race (sort of but not really), sex, and now communication. 

Since I just finished reading Oil! by Upton Sinclair; I feel like that the sexual revolution was a mockery of the socialist/communist revolution that flourished in California. 

And thus, is the mobile revolution just a shell of what fighting for control in your life should be. But I cannot imagine any sit-ins for mobile phones...but I guess that was what the iPhone wait lines were. 

Pet Names

Right now, I wish I had a pet name. Something cute and cuddly, like "kitten" or "bunny" or even "monkey."

I just finished watching The Bachelor: London Calling Season Finale--which I do not normally watch but it sucked me in like any other season finale where a sexy specimen (undetermined whether they are there for 'love' or publicity) gets selected from a cattle call of similar qualified applicants. 

And the guy called his love, "monkey," with that British accent--in Texas it would be called a twang. 

Why cannot bf have a pet name for me? I wonder, as I imagine him calling me his monkey or kitten or bunny. But I remember, he already has a pet name for me: the Solomonster.

Not cute. Not cuddly. But was I ever any of those things?

Nope. 

Gearing Up

What I should be doing instead of blogging:

-getting a storage unit to put all my college-quality furniture in for the summer

-reserving a truck to move it all

-fixing my phone so I can use my bluetooth headset

-cleaning my smelly house

But I am not. I am reading blogs and getting into StyleHive

drunk

I blame Sally.

I totally blame Sally for being tipsy on a wednesday night. She said she needed a drink, and I said okay. And I drink sometimes too fast. But that is not the issue. The thing is that I will not be teaching forever. And I am watching American Idol do some promo for hybrids. lame.

Bridal Showers

I have entered into adulthood and am attending a close friend's bridal shower today. Sigh. I never thought this day would come and it arrives with trepidation. The clan I claim is no longer happy-go-lucky sorority sisters; but alack, blushing brides longing for white weddings. 

What does this mean for me? Well, peer pressure aside, it means that weddings and engagements now constitute the conversation du jour among friends. She is engaged? Oh, I am so happy for her! or OH MY GOD! SHE is engaged?! She is such I whore. I have hated her since that one time she called me fat! Such are the musings of sisters.

So, today, with my roommate throwing a shower at her mother's house, I will attend my first real sorority shower. I will help serve fancy punch, participate in traditional games, and gossip about who is now fat, who is dating whom, and when is she going to get engaged. I must admit, I am often the subject of the last topic and I try at every turn to shirk off this question. I do not plan to become wed any time soon. But if my boyfriend--of four years--asks....well, who knows what I might say. 

Videos in the Classroom

All throughout high school--even middle school--all I ever wished for was to watch a video in class. Sometimes I was disappointed with the results, but mostly I found whatever we watched was interesting. 

There was a point in high school where the only two videos shown during sub-days were Shrek and Remember the Titans. I would inwardly moan every time the sub would pull out one of those videos. The historical videos were my favorite--that is the inner nerd. 

So, to buck the sub has the video trend, I am showing a vocab Quack video tomorrow! It is a combo of old movies and funky sat words. 

Also, I am looking forward to leaving West Side Story for my students to watch. The thought of the Sharks and Jets snapping and pirouetting across the sound stage impersonating NYC sends chills up mine spine. Equally, the thought of my students enduring such a movie makes me smile. 

I hope they enjoy. 

NYC

Like all neophyte professionals, The draw of NYC was too great for me to resist. 

For the summer, I plan on living in NYC and working. Who knows what will happen. I am not feeling entirely creative right now, so that is really it.

Books to Inspire

Some books inspire you, others just provide a good laugh or thrill.

Okay, so most contain a plot driven train-of-thought in order to be viewed as "marketable."

Introducing: "Eat, Pray, Love."

My mantra after reading the book--in total awkward young adult fashion: 

God

Give me a direction.

Show me where to live.

Show me what to do.

Show me my students' strengths.

Teach me to appreciate my students' strengths. 

If you are looking for an inspirational/love story/self-help book all in one interesting cover, please pick this up.

Purpose Statement

Here is my purpose statement:

To bring you into my tumultuous life to experience the changes a young woman makes. 

Thus, here is my latest episode:

How do you quit your first job? Easy. You write a polite letter to your boss/principal explaining that you will not be joining the faculty for the next academic year. The hard part is--actually talking to him and listening to how he takes it. Not to get too gory, but he took it pretty well and said he wanted to help me find my next job. 

Now the hard part--what do I do now? I guess I need to look on Monster.com or read the newspaper. Maybe I need to check out these cities if I want to get out of the big OK. Who knows! Any suggestions?

Snowshoeing

Like a Native American or an old-school European. Our guide was Sigi--pronounced Cig-EE--a slight woman whose accent betrayed her German ex-pat status. Her dog--Silver--is the fittest black lab I have ever seen. Not the tubby, Texas versions whom I am accustomed to; but Silver is a sleek creature who bounded through the snow with more exuberance that my family's Jack Russel Gracie. 

We took the steep way up, due to Mamma's bum knee--she is getting it fixed this coming Friday. I rarely noticed the scenery. I was busy panting, deep-breathing as the altitude deprived my lungs of their typical air density. Sigi was going slow, but I struggled to keep up. This makes me believe that everyone should stop working and move to a mountain town. At said mountain town, they should then walk over six miles a day and eat no meat. But I believe that is called being a hippie.

On the way down, we took the slow route. The view was amazing. The snow was falling. I felt exhausted but happy. I felt better when I noticed the dog was tired too.

Overall, I would recommend snowshoeing to anyone. The combo of difficult-I-will-never-make-it-up-this-God-forsaken-Mountain with easy-this-is-so-nice was perfect.

Arrival

I have nothing to say but this:

• The kitchen sink is stopped up and Mamma is trying desperately to unstop it.
• Spring Break is wonderful. 
• I love the mountains.
• The dishwasher empties into the garbage disposal.
• Altitude sickness is no laughing matter. You have to be proactive in your well-being.
• Today, is not a creative post.
• I wish I could take a picture on my cell phone and upload it here. 

That is about it. 

A False Spring

Is an accurate description to spring where I live. Mother Nature likes to toy with humanity's inner clock by raising and dropping temperatures at her whim. Add Daylight Savings to this and you get one messed up population.

Spring Break is in one week. 

My plans are to go skiing, look posh, get some sleep, and blog. 

I hope that this title does not reflect E. Hemingway's short story and end in broken relationships. Spring is the time of romance and rekindling. Or, if it is a false one, a time of false romance. 

Kowabunga

A term used by a friend last night at Margarita Fridays--a weekly meeting of friends at my local mexican bar--and it brought back memories of teenage mutant ninga turtles. Yet, so appropriate to how I feel after surfing through numerous blogs gleaming fresh news. 

Here is what I have learned this morning sipping earl grey tea from my sorority bid day mug:

1. Stuff White People Like is another site I have discovered from reading the fabity-fab-fab New York Times blog The Medium. It is comical and SO TRUE! Even though it could be further narrowed as: Stuff Upper-Middle-Class to Upper-Class White People Like. In America, White means well-off? I guess. 
2. Auction. I had no clue that the FCC was auction off the air waves! I feel like I should have known if the air space above me. Isn't that a health hazard or something? 
3. Brit Brit has a stalker. I am not surprised at all. Crazy/Once-Crazy People attract other Crazies! 
4. Linguistics. Everyone knows that colonialism launched the English language as the premier internet lingo. But sheer force by numbers--2/3 of the internet community doesn't speak English--asian languages are challenging the Crown's claim! Presenting--Engrish. A crazed English slang that appear to be from an illiterate native speaker but is actually from an educated Japanese person. This new lingo is popping up every where, but mainly on YouTube. This pigeon English has the roman letters of English but the writers' often misspelled words and eastern ideas mutate English into Engrish. Is Engrish the bridge between the colonial world and the technological world?

Video

I am sure my generation will kill me--but I am not a fan of YouTube. It has SO many amatuer vids and I would never be able to find what I am looking for. Okay, I am bitching, but the only great thing about YouTube is the pirated t.v. shows and music videos. I never sit down and think, "I'm going to watch YouTube." I have too many better things to do.

What I do heart is I Hate Young People. I found this site from The Medium which is another blog I heart. IHYP documents New Yorkers' views on several different topics. I like the videos because they are artful AND feel professional. They cull the crap and produce just the good stuff.

I am thinking about showing "N-word" if I teach To Kill A Mockingbird next year. I feel like it would be a great discussions starter.

Update: I've changed my attitude towards YouTube. While I still do not think, I'm going to sit and watch YouTube, I think it plays a very valuable role.

The Metamorphsis

So--I am trying to find my blogging voice. And I know that no one is really reading this right now, so I am enjoying the time to practice. I feel like I am struggling to: find interesting topics and keeping it short and sweet and witty.

So I am feeling like Gregor in Frank Kafka's Metamorphis, which is an awkward place to be in. 

Here are my three things I would like to talk about:

1. The Wire 

I heart this show! 

The writing is fabity-fab-fab and the actors are so believable! I have watched the entire first season and cannot to see the second season. I need to have my parents send it to me when we meet in Park City for Spring Break.  

2. Name of My Blog

The name of my blog has changed three or four times and I am having trouble picking the right name. Currently, I like Pugnacious but it might change to Pugnacious Living, Pugnacious Life, or just plain Metamorphsis. But I am stuck with this web address of teachingresidencyyear.blogspot.com. 

3.  The Circus

Last night I dreamt I was in the circus. It was odd, but vaguely familiar. Today at school, the kids were going crazy and I wish I had a bull whip with me. It seriously was a three-ring circus.

4. My cell phone (I know I said three)

I am getting to a point where I really want a data package to look up websites on my phone. I cannot access half the stuff I want to online at school and I need to check-up on my shit. 

Domestic Goddess

Tonight--I am an official domestic goddess. Not only did I make a pot roast but I also baked chocolate-chip cookies. 

So, maybe I didn't cook the pot roast tonight, but it was in the crock-pot all day. I just threw in the roast, lots of garlic, onions, carrots, and potatoes. But that is cooking right? I think so. And so does my boyfriend. If only he would do the dishes. I hate doing the dishes.

Chocolate-chip cookies. Is the only thing that will get my students' attention. "If you turn in your homework, you will get a cookie." And it works! They are like monkeys, or hyper little dogs.

So, I make cookies. 

Grading

Ugh.

Grading over the weekend is true dedication to teaching. 

Before I start, I pick the channel--either marathon or some hour-long program. Right now, I am watching Food Network. And then I start the torture.

Sometimes, the television fails to entertain me. Feeling fancy? I suggest perching yourself in a chic Starbucks. Time crunch? A boring desk in your room will work. 

I could always put it off, but I won't. I have this need to start fresh every week. So, Sunday night will find me with a stack of papers, a highlighter, and the television on.

The Genesis

This is my first year teaching, ever.

I teach freshmen--a challenge to say the least.

All day, everyday, I watch awkward youth parade around the halls attempting to discover themselves. This blog will be a place to discuss the oddities and tribulations of teaching. 

Please feel free to comment and offer any suggestions to a wobbly-legged residency year teacher.