This is the thing about a small wedding...despite the fact that it's small, you still have a lot of the same big decisions to make. There's just less people there to judge you about it afterwards. I'M KIDDING. Mostly.

I know I haven't said much about the wedding. It was small, only 46 people total. And that included the photographer and the guitarist. But we still had to decide about tablecloths, flowers, centerpieces, and flatware. Did we want our own table to sit at, or would we just pick one and sit with some guests? Seating chart? Processional song? Recessional song? You get the idea. And through this whole process, I realized that I do not like planning things like this. AT ALL. But we made decisions! And it all worked out just fine. The ceremony was quick, there was plenty of food (which was amazing) and beverages and everyone seemed to have a really good time. Even I had a good time! And it didn't end up being this total blur that I thought it would be.

For two introverts that don't like to be the center of attention or plan parties, I think we did a pretty good job!

I'm almost a little bit sad it's over.

Almost.

Go on, read the rest...

Earlier this year (WAY earlier), the nice people at Amy Sacks sent me a pair of frames to check out. I had no obligation to write anything about them, but I wanted to. And then life, as it sometimes does, got in the way.

Better late than never, right?

Especially now, because in preparing to write about these frames, I went to the Amy Sacks website and discovered that they're now called Fetch Eyewear.

So let me tell you a thing or two about Fetch Eyewear!

There seem to be three types of online eyewear retailers out there:

1. The huge selection, okay quality, low price retailer (Zenni, Firmoo, Goggle4U)
   
2. The smaller selection, higher quality, slightly pricier (but still reasonable) retailer (Warby Parker, Lookmatic)
   
3. And the ones that sort of fall between those two (Eye Buy Direct, Glasses USA)

I would put Fetch in category #2. Small-ish selection, high quality, and a reasonable price. Though they have the added bonus that they donate their profits to the Pixie Project in support of animal rescue and adoption. Which makes me kind of love them. A lot.

Also, I really like the frames I ordered: Pepper in Olive Tortoise. I love that they're a dark tortoise shell, because I tend to like black frames but I also like the textural look of the tortoise shell, and this frame is a bit of both. The quality is also awesome - these are a well made pair of frames. AND, if that weren't enough, they came in the best case I've EVER received from an online retailer - sturdy with a cute design. Win! They also offer a "Try At Home" thing, so you can make sure you get the frames that look best on you.

I know there are a lot of places you can order eyeglasses online now, and I don't know that one is necessarily better than the others, but I think Fetch Eyewear definitely has a few things going for them, and the next time I need a new pair of frames, I'm definitely ordering a pair from them.

We all know that I had a little bit of an addiction to online eyeglasses. Maybe "a little bit" is an understatement. I have managed to curb the buying of all the frames in the past few months, but then Firmoo contacted me with an offer to try out a pair and I had a hard time turning them down.

Their site reminds me a little bit of Zenni Optical but since their selection is a bit smaller, it didn't take me long to find a pair that I liked (the black pair seem to be out of stock now, but I kind of like the patterned ones too!). When they got here, I think they arrived in one of the nicest cases I've received for eyeglasses at this price. They also came with a little eyeglass screwdriver and some extra screws. I ended up using the screwdriver right away because the arms of the glasses were loose. But once I tightened them up, they felt pretty sturdy for a lightweight pair of plastic frames.

As far as style goes, they're a little bit more square and thin than I like. But the husband* tried them on and they actually look better on him, so I think they're destined for a new prescription pretty soon.

If you've been hesitant to try ordering eyeglasses online, Firmoo may be a good place to start. They offer a free pair for first time customers. Hard to say no to that, isn't it? They were also very nice to deal with when ordering my pair, so I'm guessing customer service is probably pretty decent.

(Many thanks to Firmoo for sending a pair my way!)

* More on that later!

Have I mentioned that my cats are scavengers? My step-mom once remarked, after I had listed off the things the boys have dragged off the counter, that it sounds like I live with wild mongoose, not cats. (They ate lemon bars once. LEMON BARS!)

Their latest endeavor was a box of taco shells. The tacos were on the counter, inside the box, in a sealed ziploc bag. Apparently this was not enough to deter the wild mongoose cats. NOTHING IS SAFE.

In other news, I'm getting married in less than two weeks and I'm eerily calm about it. I also signed up for an online programming course that started earlier this month. Possibly not my best decision ever, but we'll see how it goes. Also, I think I may take a pass on Halloween this year. Unless I dress up as a bride. That counts as a costume, right?

We got a Vitamix blender earlier this year, and it's turned out to be one of those things that I don't know how I lived without before it entered our home. It's also rekindled my love for green smoothies.

I had started on a smoothie kick a couple of years ago (I went through a brief raw food phase), but I was making them for my breakfast and it became tedious to keep the ingredients for my favorite recipe stocked in the fridge. (So many bundles of fresh mint gone bad. SO MANY.) Eventually, I gave up and went back to cereal.

But now that we have the Vitamix, I'm back on the smoothie bandwagon! But I make them for dinner instead, and I've modified the recipe to use ingredients that keep longer in the fridge or can be frozen.

I don't have exact amounts for any of what I use because I just sort of throw it all in the blender and see what happens. If you're looking for something with more exact measurements, this recipe is a good place to start.

And if you have a favorite smoothie recipe, please share!

Go on, read the rest...

I pin a lot of stuff on Pinterest. Well, I used to. And then it became kind of overwhelming and I slowed down with the pinning of all the things. Except the food. I still pin a lot of that. By far, the board with the most pins? Recipes to Try. (Yes I know, super creative with the name on that one.)

There's 244 recipes pinned on that board. And while I probably won't ever have the time to try making them all, I have actually found the time to make some! I know! And I thought I would maybe review some of them from time to time. Sort of as a reminder to myself, but maybe it'll help other people out too.

Tracy's spaghetti squash recipe should have been one of the first things I pinned on Pinterest, but I ended up just pinning it a few minutes ago. I've made it a couple of time and it's awesome. It makes vegetarians happy and it makes gluten-free folks happy. In our house, that means everyone is happy!

The hardest part of this recipe is probably cutting open the squash, cleaning it and then waiting for it to finish roasting. Everything else is a breeze, and you end up with a tasty result. Definitely worth repinning and making over and over again. And now that there's a little chill in the air, I'm starting to look for excuses to turn on the oven. This recipe is the perfect excuse.

Remember how I bought a Clarisonic last year? I've used it every day since then. For serious. My skin has never looked better.

Then, this past weekend, I left it behind at my future in-laws house. I'm embarrassed to admit that I panicked a little. And I annoyed the almost husband with a lot of, "Are you going to call your mom now? How about now? Now?" In the meantime, I already had another one added to my cart on Amazon (I seriously love my Clarisonic that much). But my future MIL is awesome and she mailed it back the next day.

Number of day I managed to live without the Clarisonic? Two. And no horrible teenage acne situation surfaced (which I was fully expecting to happen). Though now I'm thinking maybe I really should get another one. You know, for back-up.