So I took of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week with the blessing of my boss and used up the 3 Paid Personal days that I was going to lose April 1st if I didn't use them. This time off actually couldn't have come at a better time considering everything going on with us right now. We are getting ready to move to a bigger place a bit further from the city. We're both really busy at work and to top it all off we're also planning our wedding. Oh, and I had a bit of car trouble when some woman hit my parked car outside of our apartment. So between talking to insurance people all day and taking care of the every now and again business with having to deal with people for wedding things, I just felt like there was so much to do and in so little time especially because for me personally we're in the midst of a big push at the moment. I almost expected my boss to tell me that I couldn't take off these three days but thankfully he did.
Wednesday I drove around getting an estimate on my car and then drove home to Va Beach. Then Thursday I managed to visit the cake baker that I'm going to go with (Jaime's Bakeshop) and visit one florist (Bloom on Granby St. in Norfolk). It was a bit of a bust because I was just so tired from my lack of sleep the night before that I didn't get as early a start as I would have liked. Actually, this lack of sleep trend is something that Ryan and I have been wrestling with the past couple of weeks. With all that's been going on we find it hard to sleep at night and one of us is always restless and always waking up the other one who is fitfully sleeping as is. We've been having to take turns on the couch some days. I went to bed early Thursday night because it finally caught up with me. Friday I got an early start like I had wanted.
My first stop was to the thrift store on the way to the church to drop off a few things I had forgotten to take during last weekend's trip to the thrift store. Then I went to the church to drop off our paperwork for getting married in the church even though I could have mailed it. Little did I know that the church office is closed on Fridays. Luckily for me, a woman who worked at the church had just finished locking up the office and was trying to shoo me away. I told her that i didn't realize that the church ofifice was closed on Fridays and that I had wedding paperwork to turn in and that I was out of town. So, bless her heart, she relents. She lets me into the office, unmans the alarm, drops all the stuff she was carrying, and writes a note for the lady who takes the paperwork. I thank her profusely and then offer to help take some of the things she was carrying as she remans the alarm to lock up the office. As we are walking out of the office she says to me, "God must really want you to marry this man. What timing you had!" I thought about what she said and realized that it was really good timing. At first I went in the wrong entrance to the church and had to drive around but only after sitting in my car a minute wondering if I should just park it where it is and walk to the office. I had also stopped at that thrift store on my way in. Had I been a minute earlier or a minute later, I might have missed her coming out of the office. It was one of my strokes of luck for the day. (And yes, I realize I could have easily mailed them but I did feel uneasy about them.)
The next stop was to Norfolk Wholesale Florist in downtown Norfolk. I found some really good stuff there and took a look at their inventory for flowers. Wholesale really is the way to go. I am wondering if I should just buy a bunch of flowers and make all the arrangements for the bridal party myself. They have gorgeous flowers in an array of colors. Lucky for me they are open for a short time on Saturdays so I can set up consultations with them on weekends since I don't relish taking anymore days off than I have to.
On my way out of downtown I decided to stop at the Nordstrom and talk to someone about a makeup consultation. I stopped at the MAC counter but was told by some lady working in the area that I will have to make an appointment for a consultation because they are so busy right now and on weekends in general. That poses a problem since I am a weekend-planning bride being out of town and all. She booked me for the Saturday before Easter but I'm not sure yet if I'm going to keep it. I understand that at the counter they tend to do pretty garish things to you but if you buy the makeup and apply it yourself at home that it looks much better. I need to check out The Knot for specific makeup artist recommendations in the area again.
I then stopped at my mom's jeweler, Rinehart Brothers, who did the great work on my ring twice now. They are in a small office in a nondescript office building in Janaf Shopping Center. They don't advertise and they get most of their business from word-of-mouth. It is a family owned store, a mother, father, and a son. The son, Justin, is who did the work on my ring. I was happy to finally introduce myself to him and then started looking at wedding bands. After some deliberation (I wasn't in there all day) I finally decided what band I wanted. I'll post pictures of some similar ones later. He was very patient and offered good feedback. I really like feedback. I have a hard time making decisions without feedback. I got what I think is a really great deal! They can pretty much do anything you want and find something to match your desires. They also come reasonably priced and I didn't even have to put anything down to put in an order. It was just the way I like to work with people, especially jewelers. I've been put off by those chain jewelers that usually reside in the malls. They are either idiots or disinterested. I just wish this place was open on weekends too. Now we have to get a band for Ryan.
This post is so long overdue in being finished that I'm posting it unfinished like this.
