Eye’ve been thinking

I started uni in October of 2008.  I would spend entire days cooped up in my teeny tiny little bedroom, pushing myself to read through my textbook and pages and pages of legal cases.  One of the wonders of the 21st century means that much of the case-reading could be done via the internet.  I therefore spent a large percentage of my day staring at a computer screen.

I started to notice that I was finding it difficult to read slides during lectures, and that it was giving me a headache to concentrate on what was being written.  This is how, in December of 2008, I discovered that I had managed to make myself short sighted.

A Man and I pose in front of the canal in Amsterdam in March. Personal photo.

Show us them pearly whites

So, tell me.  What’s wrong with this photo?

Photo taken by Best Man P during a recent ‘mini holiday’ we all had in Northampton.

The ‘B’ Word

Several times, A Man and Bridesmaid L have informed me that, in the run-up to the wedding I will be a nightmare who no one will want to be around.  I’ll be moody and shouty and inconsolable when insignificant things go wrong.  In short, I’ll be a Bridezilla.

To me, the word ‘bridezilla’ suggests this.

And having people I love tell me that I’ll be a nightmare makes me want to cry.

Date Night

No matter how long you’ve been together or what your other responsibilities, it’s important to make time to see one another.  I don’t necessarily mean by doing something gushy and romantic, but sending time doing something fun and silly helps to keep a relationship healthy and fresh.

Yesterday, A Man had the day off work and we trekked over to Salisbury to go to the cinema.  Although we watch DVDs at home a fair amount, it’s nice to get out of the house and see something on the big screen, even if it does cost a fortune these days and you’re surrounded by primary school kids.

Yeah, OK, so that latter point might just have something to do with going to see a Disney film. Image from salon.com.

The Ring’s The Thing (Part II)

Today was an exciting day in the Chiffon household – we put down a 50% deposit on our wedding rings!

I was a little bit cheeky with my last post, as I knew full well where I wanted to buy our rings, I just didn’t know whether it was going to be feasible.  A couple of months ago, when we started to discuss the ring issue, A Man spoke to his colleagues to see whether anyone had any recommendations for jewellers in the area.  One of them (who’s getting married this October) very enthusiastically suggested Rachael Ann Bird, an independent goldsmith who is based around 10 miles from where we live.

Image from rachaelannbird.co.uk

Annivers-i-date

As I said before, it was A Man and my anniversary on Friday and on Saturday we went for a fun date to Weymouth and Portland Bill.  And this time we came back with photos!  Twas a good good fun day and, following the epic 3 course meal I cooked on Friday night and all of the yummy food I ate on Saturday I basically couldn’t move come Saturday evening.  The weather was lovely and perfect for biking the hour or so over to Weymouth.

When we got there, we had some lunch, sat on the beach, did some shopping and ate an enormous cream tea at the Sandcastle Café

Those scones were huge! And yummy. And very good value.

Past, Present and Future…

Nine Years Ago Today…

I met A Man.  You’ve already heard about that story, so I won’t bore you with it again.

This Time Next Year…

I’ll (hopefully) just be waking up (or more likely have been up for 2 hours already!), ready to begin my day as a bride, about to marry my best friend; the man I love.  That’s kindof what this entire blog is about, so I won’t bore you with that either.

Six Years Ago Today…

A Man asked me to marry him.  That’s the story I’d like to bore you with.

Warning!  I have no photos from that day whatsoever!  I know, we’re rubbish.  It just never occurred to either of us that we might want some…

Truly inspirational

Yesterday I talked about the different wedding themes I’ve spied on the internet, and the elements I will and will not be incorporating but I never said anything about how I see our wedding playing out.

I have one person in particular who’s my main wedding inspiration: Cousin E.

Cousin E with my dad on her wedding day

The start of something beautiful

As I have already mentioned, A Man and I became best friends quickly after we met.  I do realise that I went immediately from there to us getting married.  Needless to say, there was a lot more to it than that.

When A Man and I first met, like the protagonist of any good rom-com I had a boyfriend.  I had been with him for around 6 months at the time, and our relationship continued on-off for another 2 years after that.  Even at 14, I was a relationship girl, in it for the long-haul!  He and A Man were perfectly well aware of one another’s existence, and the three of us all got along great together.  They would go out riding on their 50cc motorbikes (I wasn’t allowed to call them mopeds!) and leave me behind.  It even got to the point when the two of them went to a tractor rally together and the roof of their caravan was dented by hailstones the size of golf balls.  I loved my boys and the fact that there never seemed to be the risk of our little posse falling apart.

A Man and I in 2003 or 2004. I’m always way too close to the camera in these photos!

A Date to Remember

Throughout our wedding planning process, one thing has stood firm and unchangeable.  The date.  We have been flexible about other things, but that date was important to us, and it was something that I particularly wouldn’t budge on (hence The Longhouse making it immediately to our ‘No’ pile).

A Man and I technically first met when we were 11, but I don’t count it as I never got to know him.  We attended different schools in the same town, and a group of ‘Gifted and Talented’ kids from his and another school in the town came to my school for a three-day science event.  We hardly spoke, and I was warned that he was ‘weird’ so we left one another alone.