back to life, back to reality

I don't know how you guys (and our mothers and grandmothers) do it.

Cooking every night is hard. It's amazing to me that housewives don't wear epaulets, because the amount of planning it takes to orchestrate a week's worth of meals at home seems on par with planning an attack.

And seriously, groceries are SO expensive. Does anyone have any tips for how you remember to actually use the coupons you save? I save them and when I finally remember them, they're out-of-date. Tough business.

All this boils down to the fact that I haven't cooked since Friday. Sean and I were basically out of food by Saturday and we knew we were going out of town, so we decided to put off buying groceries. Sunday we had the cookout, yesterday we ate a frozen pizza and today I got a callback on an interview, so I had to cancel our grocery shopping. Which means I went alone. Without a well-planned list. Which means I spent way too much money. Plus, I might have wandered down the magazine aisle to buy some wedding magazines (insert squeal here).

Which leads me to a word on weddings and how my impending one will impact this blog: Male readers, I'm sorry. I wish I could say that I'll definitely keep the gushy wedding planning to myself, but since I've been dreaming of this since I was three years old, I can't do that. But don't worry: I still plan on writing about cooking, decorating and other trials and tribulations.

Many people have asked me what ideas I have for my wedding. Seeing as how I used to watch "A Wedding Story" twice a day, every day in high school, I have TOO MANY IDEAS. I could, right now, probably plan six radically different weddings based on the things I've said in the past. And now that it's really time for what should be my one and only nuptials, I'm second-guessing everything. But here's what I DO know:

• The wedding will not be in 2009. At the earliest, it could be late 2010. At the latest, late 2011. I know that sounds ludicrously long from now, but when you're unemployed like me and trying to figure out your new calling, planning a wedding sounds like an insane amount of additional stress.
• The vision I have in my mind right now (which may change in a year or two) is chic, antique-filled garden party. Kind of country chic with a mix of Grey Gardens, a pinch of Sense and Sensibility and who-knows-what. So I know I would like a large part of it, if not all of it, to take place outside.
• Many people know exactly where they want to get married; they have a beloved home church or a relative's backyard or a beautiful estate near where they grew up. I don't have anything like that. Wise, though I love it, would be convenient for about 5 people. The DC metro area, where Sean grew up, is very expensive. So I think we're leaning toward Hampton Roads. I guess the next few months will be a perfect excuse for Sean and I to really explore the area while looking for venues. Sweet!

When I picture my wedding, I picture it kind of like this scene from "Big Fish."


or this picnic scene from "Sense and Sensibility." Something like that.

Tomorrow, back to cooking. For dunch (what my mother and I call a late, dinner-like lunch), Sean and I will make our own pizzas. For dinner, my friend Ashleigh is coming over and I'm specifically making her something Sean would never eat: baked three-cheese pasta.

Tomorrow is also exciting because we will set up our inherited sofa, so expect decor updates soon, too.