A Happy Halloween On The Fly!

Boo!  Are you ready for the spookiest, sweetest day of the year?  I’m not the biggest fan of the scary part of Halloween (I’m a big scaredy-cat and I startle REALLY easily), but I’ll take any excuse to dress up in a costume…AND get free candy (I love all things sweet!)!  I’m all about getting creative with my costumes, either using stuff I already have with Goodwill supplements, or pulling out my poster board, markers, scissors and glue to craft something!  We’re about 24 hours out from the big night, so if you’re scrambling to come up with an easy, cheap AND unique costume, I thought I’d share some of my past hits…plus, I’ll throw in a Halloween treat that’s quick and easy to make for your kid’s classroom party!

First the costumes:

Mary Poppins.  Step in time with this classic character, which also promises to keep you warm if your Halloween plans entail time in the crisp fall air.  Here’s what you need:

• Long skirt/black tights
• White button down shirt
• Black overcoat – one that nips in at the waist
• Red ribbon – tie around shirt collar in a bow
• Scarf
• Black hat accented with flowers
• Carpet bag (I know, they don’t really sell these – so any black purse, small tote, etc.)
• Umbrella!!

Once you’ve collected everything, simply assemble!  Tuck shirt into skirt, tie the red ribbon around the shirt collar, and add the overcoat.  Mary is prim and proper, so hair should be pulled back into a bun.  Then, add the hat, loop the scarf around your neck and grab your umbrella and bag as you head out the door!  I actually found a purse at Goodwill made of some rug material - not quite a bag, but had the effect, plus I had something to carry all my stuff in all night! Here’s my version from a few years ago, compared to the real deal (and yes, that’s a Bert with me, who I randomly met while waiting for the train. Crazy!).

Me and stranger Bert - and Julie Andrews. Not bad, right?

Elf.  Christmas is my MOST favorite holiday, so I just dug out some of my decorations a little early.  Poke through your attic and collect the following:

• Santa hat
• Green or red jumper
• Tights (red or green if you have them!)
• Lots of bells

Just pull on any combination of red jumper over green shirt or green jumper over red shirt, or maybe even pull out that candy cane turtleneck your great aunt gave you one year – just get Christmasy.  Add the tights, and tie on bells to your shoes, maybe one around your neck, bell earrings, you get the picture, and top it off with the Santa hat, and maybe a little red lipstick to make rosy cheeks.  Ta-da! You’re Santa’s favorite helper.

This one is a little more involved...but you get the picture.

Time Flies. Play on words costumes are the best!  Super cheap, super easy, and super fun!  A few years back, as a poor rookie news producer, my budget was li-mi-ted!  So, my news friends and I hit the internet and came up with some costumes from familiar sayings!  I was Time Flies – cut out a big cardboard circle, drew a clock on it, hung it around my neck and strapped on some wings.  Get it?  (when people asked, I would add that I was Time Flies When You’re Having Fun – and I was the fun…maybe it was more hilarious while the cocktails were flowing.)  Anyway – here are a few other good ones, some tried, some not:

• God’s Gift to Women – wrap a big box in wrapping paper, cut out a head and arm holes and attach a large gift tag that reads “To: Women, From: God” (my friend James did this – it was a hit!)

• Lawsuit – wear a suit and pin pieces of paper with laws written on them to the suit (my other friend James did this – also a hit!)

This man is from the internet.

• Cat’s Pyjamas – Wear your PJs, and stick on some kitty ears, maybe a tail, and draw on whiskers for good measure…

• 50 Shades of Grey – my current new favorite. Hit the paint store, grab the little swatches – enough to amount to 50 paint shades of grey.  Then just stick them on to the front of your shirt. Done!

• Holy Cow – Cow costume with wings and a halo.  If you don’t have a cow costume, just use a Sharpie to draw black patches on a white t-shirt. Awesome.

You get the picture.  They’re a lot of fun to come up and make – and GREAT conversation starters at parties!

SEE how much fun we had! The clock is cut out, but you can kind of make out my wings - just hanging with my friends the Lawsuit and God's Gift to Women!

 

Now, onto the treat!  Of course, you can always just grab a bag of candy from the store, or a baked good already made – I mean, kids aren’t picky, as long as there’s sugar in it!  But, if you want to impress the other moms at the school party, collect the following ingredients:

 

• Lollypops
• Tissues
• Ribbon or string
• Sharpie marker

Wrap a lollypop in a tissue, tie the ribbon around the bottom, then dot two eyes and a mouth...Voila! It’s a Ghost Lollypop!

I remember my Mom making these for our treat bags for school!

Share your costume and treat ideas!  I’m more than happy to keep celebrating well into November…did I mention I love sweets?  Happy Halloween!

Cuddleshrub Nuptials, Part 2: Organization! Checklist, anyone?

I don’t know about you, but once that ring went on my finger, it was game ON!  We jumped right into guest lists, venues, photographers, DJs…the list goes on, and it quickly becomes A LOT to keep track of!  So, while some may call this a “nerd” move, I just call it smart – as the thoughts, ideas and decisions piled up, I immediately began to organize myself in hopes of this process moving smoothly right up until the walk down the aisle.  So, here are the 3 things that I’ve relied on so far to stay sane and (hopefully) not become a bridezilla:

1.   Get yourself a wedding binder.  Get your "back to school" on and hit up the stationary section of your Walmart, arming yourself with at least a heavy duty binder (it's got to make it at least a year!), dividers with tabs and labels and a hole punch (er?), if you don’t already have one (check out mine – it was $4. It can only punch 1 page at a time, but this isn’t a legal deposition you’re binding, so it will work!).  Within this binder you will keep track of anything and everything related to planning your wedding: contracts, receipts, emails, ideas, information, guest lists, addresses, etc.)  Important sections to “divide” out in your binder include, but are not limited to:

• Guest List
• Venue
• DJ
• Photographer
• Flowers
• Dress
• Hair/Makeup
• Groomswear (if you're leery about handing this duty over to the dudes...)
• Marriage License info
• Rings
• Honeymoon

            Those are just a handful – it’s your wedding, and your binder, so whatever is important to 

            you, that’s what goes in the binder! 

Yup, I even crafted a fun cover page. Like I said - NERD.

2.   Checklist!  I Pinterested the hell out of this until I found one I liked – and then I STILL adapted it to fit my needs!  I needed something to tell me where in my wedding planning I should be when – as in, what should I do right away?  What should be done 9 months out?  6 months out?  And so on… Here are some links to the checklist I settled on, plus some others I liked:

• OvenLovinBlog.com checklist
• DesignedByBH.com checklist
• DocStoc.com checklist

I finally settled on this one I pinned from Pinterest - even though I couldn't seem to get it to come up by clicking to the link.  SO, I actually ended up using it as a template to create my own.  Check it out:

My attempt at uploading a printable doc - closest I got was JPEG of it.

I kept the basics, but switched out things I wasn’t having in my wedding for other things I thought was important.  Some of these, the ones that get closer to the wedding, I still don't know if we'll do, but figured I'd leave them on here so I don't forget to at least think of them and decided if they're important! Again, your wedding, your checklist!  I basically just retyped it in Microsoft Word into a few different columns, using a square bullet point (in our wedding color purple, of course!) as my “check box.”  It’s ridiculous how good it feels to check off each box!

3.     Microsoft Excel – Guest Lists & Addresses.  I’m a self-taught Excel user, but I managed to come up with an Excel chart to keep track of my guests and their addresses.  I separated into several different columns, so that I can check off when I’ve sent their Save The Date, their invitation and then later, their RSVP responses.  Keep this saved on your computer, as you will likely update it a few times as you add more people… You can also program it to tally up your guest list total, and your “yays” and “nays”.  I also made a corresponding chart with everyone’s addresses, so they’re all in one spot.  Plus, when I printed labels for our STDs, I could just copy and paste the address from the chart to the label templates! 

Hoping I get lots of "ready to party"s!

 

4.    Bonus Tip – when in doubt, take a sec to remember this is supposed to be fun!  I think us     brides can forget that sometimes.  Enjoy this ride, it’s the only time you’re going to do it!

 

That’s it!  I mean, there’s obbbbbviously more, like countless phone calls to Mom and my bridesmaids to bounce off ideas, and glasses of wine to calm my frayed nerves after a 2 hour internet search for photographers…but I sort of feel like these are givens, as in things I do while just getting through life.  With these 3 resources in place, I’m feeling really good about our progress… I have so many checked boxes on my checklist so far! :)  Anything special YOU’RE doing to stay organized and avoid the deep, dark hole of crazy??  Share with me!!  I mean, I still have to get through a little over 6 more months of planning, I’ll take any help I can get!

Cuddleshrub Nuptials, Part 1: Help! Where Do I Begin?

So you may have heard...I’m getting married!! Woohoo!!  But….now what?  Talk about feeling overwhelmed!  With the rosy bliss of getting engaged comes an onslaught of questions, details, fears and excitement of planning of the wedding!  Ummm, no one really tells you where to start.  Or that most of what you’d been daydreaming about up until this point is likely going to be chucked all out the window, as you get a cold, hard dose of reality.  Wedding reality.  But, never fear,I'm here with the Cuddleshrub Clues I've collected so far to help you ease into this!

SO – what should you do first??  Well, first, you should make out hardcore with your FIANCE, since he just put that shiny diamond on your finger.  I mean, it’s just soooo sparkly…. Oops, sidetracked.  Time to plan!

First of all, a little reality check - the sooner you find out that the “Under $4,000” wedding that seems so easy to pull off according to Pinterest doesn’t really exist, the better off you’ll be.  In fact, I just plain don’t believe those weddings really happen.  I read all of those “Budget Wedding” pins, and was pumped to pull off a sweet inexpensive-but-looks-expensive affair.  But, a.) I have a full time job and can’t spend my days crafting and DIY-ing, and b.) realized quickly that if you want to feed your guests, serve them cocktails, dance to the sweet spins of a professional DJ, cut a cake and have someone take decent pictures of the whole experience (so you can remember just HOW awesome you looked in that dress), you’re going to spend more than a few thousand dollars.  Still, that doesn’t mean you have to spend your not-yet-born first-born’s college fund.  Just hit the interwebs and start doing some research!!  Don’t worry, I’ve got some tips…

Before you really get underway, begin with an idea of when you want to tie the knot, like time of year/season and how many people you’d like to share the day with – but just an idea.  Depending on availability, and how badly you want something, these can change quickly!  

Onto the heart of the matter - As your brain is scrambling to find a starting point, let me fill you in on the key THREE parts to lock down first:

1.  Venue
2.  Photographer
3.  DJ

Once you get these locked in, you can relax a bit, but these 3 things book up the fastest, so you want to coordinate them ASAP! 

Start with what’s most important to you.  Maybe you have a place you absolutely have to have, or maybe everything starts with the fabulous photographer… It’s your wedding, base it around what means the most to you! 

For me, it all started with the VENUE.  I want a place that feels right, and perfect, and sets the whole mood for our special day.  Here’s my plan of attack:

• Jump on TheKnot.com and WeddingWire.com to check out their local bride boards for venues.  Also, Google “inexpensive wedding venues”, “rustic wedding venues”, pretty much any mix of words relating to wedding and venue and cheap.  It’s not going to be hard to find list upon list of wedding venues in your area, so just start clicking through and checking them out

• Keep a list of ones you like, then go back and check out pricing.  This will help whittle down your list, find a venue that you love and for a cost that feel fits your budget.  If there isn’t pricing, there’s usually info to call or email the wedding consultant at each venue – just don’t mix up who is who when they respond! 

• Look for places that include as much as possible in the overall fee.  I’m a one stop shop kind of girl, so the more a venue included, like cake cutting, champagne toast, tables, linens, etc., the more I liked it!  Most venues charge by the head, so do some basic math to multiply guests by the fee for food & bar to get an idea of your overall cost.  I’m guessing that unless you’re planning on serving McDonald’s (which I’m not wholly opposed to), your budget is going to surpass $4,000 with just that first step.  Hello, wedding wake-up call #1.

• Be willing to change up your date.  For me, I lucked out, and my venue of choice was available on the date we’d settled on (5.16.15!).  But if a place happens to be booked solid, and you can be a little flexible, ask if anything else around your first date is free.  A week or two can be the difference between getting your favorite place!   

Next, I moved onto the photographer and DJ.  Can we say, hello Craigslist??  Yup, I found both of mine on Craigslist.com.  Think about it, photographers and DJs who have the talent, but are still trying to grow their business – they’re totally going to advertise in a spot that doesn’t cost them anything!  Yes, it took a little weeding through many pages of listings, and lots of email inquiries for quotes, examples and references, but I’m super pleased with who we settled on.  Some of the recommendations I was getting from the venue, and David’s Bridal, and every other wedding website that suddenly knew I was engaged, were coming in with quotes double and triple what we’ll be paying.  Just be willing to take the time if you tackle Craigslist.  Here’s a few tips:

• Don't bother with listings that don't offer a website to check out their work.  It’s not hard these days to put together something online (hello, I did it!), so if they’re serious about their craft and promoting their work, they’ll have something on the web to learn more about them. 

• Reach out to vendors through email or phone.  I got responses within 24 hours from almost everyone I contacted.  You can get some background info and actually get a feel for how passionate they are about what they do. 

• Ask for a meeting.  Anyone who wants your business should be willing to meet with you.  This is a special and personal day in your life, you want to feel like your photographer or DJ gels with your personality. So, go meet ‘em and see for yourself! 

• Document everything!  Be sure to get receipts of any deposits and copies of contracts, and store it all in your super organized wedding binder – I’m not the only one who has one of these, right?

Yes, that's labeled sections and a month by month checklist - I'm a nerd.

Now, breathe… You’ve got a place to get hitched (and hopefully one that serves food and booze), some sweet tunes to keep your party dancing, and a photographer to capture the day’s best moments!  You’re practically done!  Haha…okay, not really.  But now that you have the core parts of the day locked down you can a.) do a mini-jump-for-joy dance because this is REALLY happening, and b.) get your Pinterest on!  Start collecting ideas, figuring out what colors you like, ideas of dresses you want to try on…remember, this is supposed to be FUN!  Pin crazy ideas, simple ideas, off the wall ideas – eventually you’ll find yourself coming back to the same ones and before you know it, you’ve made a whole bunch more decisions…but more on that later.  Coming up in the next wedding edition of Clued in with Cuddleshrub – Saying yes to the dress!! 

P.S. T-minus 8 months from TODAY til I walk down the aisle!!

I Found True Love...And You Will, Too!

So, I may have mentioned I’m engaged? Oh, you haven’t heard?? Guess what, I’M ENGAGED!!

Celebrating with Mom & Grams!

Clearly, I'm very excited about it.  Let’s just say, it’s something I’d been hoping would happen for quite some time, but as I’ve mentioned before, life and its curveballs got in the way a bit.  Still, I forced myself to have a little patience, saw things take a turn for the better about a year ago, and in May, the love of my life popped the big question…and (obvi), I said yes.  A big, overwhelming, couldn’t catch my breath, YES!  Of course, this means wedding planning is in full swing…and I’m hoping you don’t mind me “wedding-ifying” some of my upcoming Cuddleshrub Clues, because if several of my (apparently delusional) thoughts of planning a wedding on a budget have already blown up in my face, I’m thinking a few of you could use a dose of reality, too!

But, first, can I just take a moment to share a little of my engagement story?? It even comes with a video!  No, it’s not a video of an elaborately planned proposal that was edited by a professional and set to tear-jerking music…it’s just shaky, raw i-Phone video that was shot by my BFF during the moment I had never really believed would happen.  And, I want to share it with all the other girls (and boys!) out there that think it will never happen to them, that they’re not worth that much love, that they don’t deserve to fall head over heels, because it will and you are and you do.  So, here goes…

First, a little background:  I met Mark almost 4 years ago, in a bar in Philadelphia.  I know, so typical.  But, it was on a night that I was especially down, believing to my very core I was fat, ugly, un-loveable and meant to be alone.  I was 29 years old, and while I had stumbled onto the occasional date, I had never dated steadily and I had certainly never had a boyfriend.  Anyway, like I said, I was trying to convince my girlfriends of my un-loveableness, who just weren’t having it.  (Why do all my excuses at preventing my own happiness seem so silly when I say them out loud?) With their positive words of encouragement beginning to bolster my ego, plus with the help of a little liquid courage, I found myself suddenly empowered, and brave enough to dance with a very cute red-headed stranger – one of the ONLY guys on the dance floor (what can I say, I’m a sucker for a guy who’s got moves!).  The rest of the night is a blur of dancing, laughing, talking, a crazy taxi ride, maybe a few smooches, and eventually an exchange of phone numbers.  I didn’t know it then, but I was about to start the ride of my life!  We began texting, eventually dating long distance, then moving into together – and the whole time, I would periodically pinch myself, “Is this really happening? Am I falling in love?”

He cracks me up.

I did. We did.  I didn’t even realize it was happening.  But, one day I realized I was head over heels for this guy.  I have found someone who adores me, who makes me laugh, who appreciates my quirks and loves me for them, not in spite of them, who adds mushrooms to my Chinese food order without me reminding him – and I feel all of that for him!  Granted, we’ve had our moments, our crazy fights, our obstacles that tested our relationship, and holy crap, have I been scared we’d break up, or he’d give up on me, or worse I’d have to leave him… But, we’ve come through it, stronger and even more in love with each other.  Sigh.

Oh, the engagement!  Sorry, I got off track… Well, it’d been a few years, and as I not-so-subtly reminded Mark, neither of us was getting any younger, ahem, “don’t you think we should take the next step?”  I had, also not-so-subtly, told Mark that when said proposal happened, I would very much like my family, most of whom live several hours away, around me – I wanted to hug my mom, not just call her.  So when my mother and my brother came to visit on Mother’s Day weekend, and we got together with all of Mark’s family, I’d be lying if I didn’t think it was going to happen then.  And it didn’t.  So, I pushed it to the back of my mind, gave myself another mental deadline of the fall, and moved on.

Mark and Chad enjoying the day...pre-engagement!

Two weeks later, we headed to my home city of Rochester, NY for a week to visit my family and friends.  We drove in very early on a Saturday morning, stopped to see my mother at work, settled in at her place, and decided, since it was such a gorgeous day, we’d find a place to have lunch, maybe a cocktail or two outside.  Bleary-eyed from the 6 hour drive, I tried to rally, fixing my hair, re-touching my makeup, and (thank god) exchanging my yoga pants for a fun summery dress.  We picked up my BFF Chad and on the recommendation of his sister, hit a waterfront pub called Schooners.  We sat in the sun, along the water, and of course, I filled up on beers and a burger – couldn’t have been a dainty salad or something...

Chad headed off to the bathroom, Mark followed a few minutes later, and I settled back with my full belly to text my 2 besties from college about getting together the next day for a cookout.  The boys came back, and I’m half listening to them, half playing on my phone, when my friend Heather texts that she’d rather just order pizza the next day, because guess what, she’s pregnant!  This was, of course, amazing news, and a little bit of a miracle for my dear friend…so as I’m exclaiming to Mark and Chad, “Oh my goodness, Heather’s pregnant! I can’t believe it, what should I say back?”, my quick-witted, always-has-a-comeback boyfriend says, “Why don’t you tell her YOU’RE engaged?!” -- to which, I frowned with irritation and asked, “Why would I say that?”  That’s when I looked up and saw him on one knee, holding a shiny ring, and saying, “Because you are!” I’m pretttty sure I blacked out for a moment…the exact moment when Chad started recording.  So, I share this video with you, with the disclaimer that I had no idea what I was saying or very much recollection of those few minutes.  Also, I apologize for the “only-dogs-could-hear” high-pitched shrieking…

Um, super weird, no one around us even blinked.  You’d think with all the commotion, we’d get stares, maybe applause from the tables around us, but nope.  People just went about their meal.  I felt like I was having a strange twilight zone moment that merely added to my out-of-body experience.  Then the waitress dropped off the bill, like the biggest moment of my life hadn’t just happened…so, I blurted out, “We just got engaged!”  She was shocked, exclaiming, “Oh my god, that’s never happened to me before!”  YOU?? It’s never happened to me YOU?  How about it's never happened to me before!   I swear, yet another saga in my Bridget Jones related life.

I still called my mom on the phone, but we saw her just minutes later, celebrating with lots of hugs and champagne.  And, I got to celebrate with my girlfriends the next day, and my grandmother the day after that…just a week-load of happy.  Maybe it didn’t go down like scenes out of the romantic comedies I’ve idolized, or the novels I’ve poured through, but it was just perfect for me and Mark, the guy known for always having a comeback, and in this case, it was the best comeback of his, and MY life!  My guy certainly did it right. :)

So, not much of a Cuddleshrub Clue in this one, it was really for me to re-live and chronicle my most favorite moment.  But, if you take anything from this, believe it can happen for you, too.  You deserve that love, that moment.  And, when it does happen, because it WILL, it will be oh, so right.