Phillip Phillips. Yes, I Will Stay.

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Honeymoon Pixie

This is a sponsored post. The integrity of T30SB is everything and all post are written by us. If we didn’t believe in their product/service then the post wouldn’t be on this blog.

An overwater bungalow in Bora Bora. This is the fantast locale of T30SB and The Candyman.

Don’t you wish there really was a wedding pixie? Don’t you wish she (he?) would just show up, sprinkle the magical mystical sparkle dust over you wedding woes, turning that garden pumpkin into the horse drawn carriage?

OK, maybe not a horse drawn carriage. That’s so Disney wedding circa 1985….

Leaving the fantasy world behind (because you know we’re all about straight shooting here on T30SB), there are some pretty amazing things out there that can ease those wedding woes of yours, especially if you’re pinching those pennies for the honeymoon.

Couples are doing all sorts of things when it comes to the post-wedding week-long sex-a-thon. First of all, they aren’t always a week. Some couples are taking a long weekend someplace nearby in order to give themselves time to further save for a longer, more exotic honeymoon. Some couples are going super-exotic and fancy, but for that long weekend versus a week.

There’s also the Honeymoon Registry. So many couples are using an alternate registry for the things they want and need. The reality is that couples aren’t getting married straight out of college, needing all sorts of household goods. We’re not jumping from our childhood homes to our married homes. We’re pit-stopping (some of us for longer than others) and we don’t really need the toasters and the blenders and the sheets and Calphalon. We have our own Calphalon, thank you very much.

But I digress. The  point here is honeymoon registries, most specifically, Honeymoon Pixie. Honeymoon Pixie is a fantastic alternate registry for couples who want or need a little help with the after-part of the “I do.”

Check out how easy it is to do:

Setup your free honeymoon registry in 2 minutes.

Notify your guests with our Facebook connection, email or announcement cards.

Guests view your honeymoon registry and give a monetary gift towards your honeymoon.

Redeem your monetary gift funds at any time so you can enjoy the honeymoon of your dreams!

OK, but I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, “OK, Louise, this sounds great, but get to the details.” Here are some of the import things:

• It’s free to set up a registry website with your choice of custom designs, announcement cards, gift and guest tracking, boutique shopping links, travel tips, the Ultimate Packing List, honeymoon destination guides and Facebook integration.
• Did you see that Facebook integration there? Your friends and guests can see gifts from your registry as they are purchased for you. This encourages guests to visit your honeymoon registry.
• There is a 7% processing fee (which includes a 3% credit card fee) that your guest can pay when they donate to your registry (that’s the default)  OR that you can choose to pay if you don’t want your guests to incur the fee.
• Wondering how you get the cash for the honeymoon?
  • Check mailed directly to you sent USPS First Class Mail (free).
  • Bank to bank wire transfer in the U.S. ($10 fee).
  • International bank wire transfer ($30 fee).
  • Your PayPal account (free; PayPal's terms may apply).

Not sure how to integrate an alternate registry into your wedding? Have no fear, Honeymoon Pixie has great Alternate Registry Etiquette advice.

And it’s not just about racking up cash for a plane ticket. You can register for fun activities (hello gondola ride in Italy!), gear (think luggage, camera), pampering (think couple’s massage), wining and dining and last but not least, you can add a charity donation to your registry. Check out this honeymoon registry for an idea of what it looks like once it’s all set up.

So what are your registry/honeymoon plans? Have you embraced the traditional registry? Are you including alternate options for both your guests as well as yourselves? Do tell.

Smoochable Rooms

So the last time The Candyman and I were looking at houses, this happened. I love that post, mostly because of the fact that is one of the VERY few times he’s commented on my blog (though he reads it almost every day).  He doesn’t say much, but when he does, it’s GOOD!  

So we've fallen in love with a house. It was the first house we looked at. And we haven’t looked at a lot, but enough to use the first house as a point of measure. It’s SOOOOOOOOO cute. It’s so very us. The yard is huge and is a certified Nature Habitat. Cool, right? And Our House has nearly everything we want, love and need. And we’d pay the list price in a heart beat, only ALL the other houses in the neighborhood are selling for $35k-$60k less than the price of Our House. Not a good sign.

A little further research shows that there is to be an expansion of a main artery in Charlotte. While park land and privately owned institutional  land are “protected” from the project and completely buffer Our House, it won’t do much for property values in the long term.  All that, and someone put a cash offer on it the same day we looked at it.

Sigh.

I don’t think our house is Our House.

But it was sooooo cute. Lookie:

The yard is in full bloom now and it’s freakin’ incredible. There are a few things that aren’t perfect, but no house is, I know that much.

We tried not to have love at first sight. We tried to keep it all business. It’s hard though, when there are things you just adore about a house.  So we keep looking.

I owned my last house that The Candyman moved into with me a few months before he popped the question. We decided on the house we’re renting together, but it was a decision we had to make quickly after The Candyman has already looked at a gazillion properties here solo. We knew this house wasn’t a permanent home, though it’s been a good house for us thus far. It’s weird to be looking at houses together. This will be the first home we buy together. How weird is it that I’m doing this for the first time and I’m 41? My parents did this when they were practically teenagers, they were married so young! This is The Candyman’s first house and he’s like a little puppy he’s so excited.

This weekend when we looked at Our House as well as others, The Candyman was getting on my nerves a little. Each house we went into, he’d let the realtor wander off, then he’d grab me and smooch me in random rooms throughout the house. I didn’t want anything to distract me. I’m busy looking for lifting drywall tape, sloping floors, gapping windows and fireplace placement. Exhausted of his antics after the fourth or fifth grab and smooch, I pushed him off and said “WHAT are you doing? Look at the house! Pay attention!” And he smiled at me, all patience and kindness and said “I’m just checking to see if the room is ‘smoochable.’”

Smoochableness is an important house attribute.

Tell me you’re first house house hunting stories. I need to know that Our House is out there somewhere.

Teeny by Priscilla of Boston

So, this past weekend I headed out to the Charlotte Metrolina Antique Show. I went because a lady I had met there invited me. About a year ago, I met Bonnie at the show and we exchanged cards after I bought some vintage goodies from her. We’ve interacted both on-line and at the show. She wrote me an email and said she’d left me season passes at the Metrolina office.

SA-WEET! Right?

She said if I couldn’t  make it that month (I couldn’t) that the passes would be there for me whenever. So I went this month and headed to the office for the passes. No one could find them, but the sweet ladies there just wrote some up for me, no questions asked. I told them I’d have Bonnie call them. They seemed disinterested and oddly trusting. I headed to Bonnie’s new booth only to find she’d left for the day. Boo.

I headed over to my favorite permanent booth, Bob’s Antiques. They’ve had some great vintage laces and such and I’ve been slowly cleaning them out of their sewing goodie stock. Several months ago, they showed me what I thought was a confirmation gown they had picked up in New Orleans. A teeny, tiny wedding dress, of sorts. I turned down the offer though the price wasn’t the issue. I just think confirmation gowns are kinda creepy. Why do they have to look like miniature wedding gowns? WHY?

So when I walked into Bob’s showroom, I was shocked to see how little goodies they had. I bought a handful of things, some lace and appliques and such. I got a more than a fair price and the sweet lady who always helps me told me they were getting out the vintage sewing aspect of their business. Boo. A sad day for T30SB and TruLu Couture.  As I was about to leave, the woman again offered me the dress, this time for free.

As beautiful as it was, I just didn’t think I’d have the time to restore the gorgeous lace that looked slightly moldy, but in tact. But how could I refuse?

Here she is:

 

  

So imagine my surprise when I shook out the dress and saw the Priscilla of Boston name in both the dress and the veil! The dress has another tag in it that says “Teeny.” I thought it must be a confirmation gown line. So I did a little clicky-clicky on the internet and look at what I found!

In the 1970's, the Priscilla of Boston firm began a line of petite gowns, effectively marketed to customers who had trouble finding gowns in a size 2 as "Teeny by Priscilla."  Aiming to please petite customers, the gowns were waif like and feminine, with body proportions suitable for women 5' 4" and under.

"Teeny by Priscilla" gowns featured the same superb dressmaking details of regular Priscilla gowns.  Once a forgotten demographic, the petite bride was recognized by the Company as a niche market.  This gorgeous gown at left retailed for approximately $600 in 1973.

How freaking fantastic is THAT? What I thought was a child’s Communion dress is actually a wedding gown for the uber-petite! I mean, this dress is SMALL. You can see that it’s waaaay small on my size 6 dress form. The back is gapped about about 9”. The form is on the shortest setting and is still several inches above the floor. Even the cap-style veil looks like it fits on the head of a child.

Treasures come from the oddest place and by the strangest means, no?

Tell me, WHAT should I do with this sucker? I could try to restore it as is, or I could use parts of it for other fun stuff. What do you think I should do with it?

Amendment One

I voted today.  I voted solely on Amendment One. The amendment states:

Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized.

Valid or recognized. Not just by you or me or the neighbors, but by the state. This doesn’t just mean you can’t have a big gay wedding or a small civil union at City Hall. It means that domestic partners aren’t recognized either. By the state. This, most disturbingly to me, means that children belonging to domestic partners who have health care coverage under a ‘domestic partner’ clause can actually lose that coverage. Why? Because that partnership isn’t recognized by the state.

The stupidity of this amendment isn’t even worth discussing, is it?

Is it?

It is. And the amendment could pass, just like it did in a crap load of other very disappointing states. I was hopeful at first…I saw the Against tab at 57%. And then I realized I was watching my county and not my state. Boo. It’s looking bad. Really, really bad for same sex partners. And I’m really really sad.

Shame on you, North Carolina.