First Christmas Tree

We have a Christmas tree! The first of many Nunnery trees, I hope. And there’s nothing fake about it (unless you have an allergy, I don’t want to hear any excuses).

Our beautiful 4-footer has been up since the Thanksgiving holiday, and decorated with an ornament donation from our friends Jenny and Jason. See their blog and current baby adoptions here.

We picked out our perfect little tree at the Austin Optimist Club Christmas Tree Lot at Lamar and San Gabriel. Brian actually worked at the Optimist lot years ago with the Boy Scouts, who benefit from the sales between December 17 and Christmas Day each year. The Optimist Club seems to be a bunch of retired guys who help out local youth programs, so it’s definitely better than buying your tree from Papa Noel, the big corporate tree sellers who haul in trees North Carolina!

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I learned something new about Brian in this tree experience– he has very particular Christmas traditions which MUST be followed. For the first, we had to wrap all our presents and put them under the tree immediately after setting it up. For me, this is TORTURE! Every day I stare at the Anthropologie bag with my name on it and contemplate sinful things like taking a peek. So far so good. Brian also seems to spend an amazing amount of time with his head under the trunk, staring up at the branches and thinking big Christmas thoughts. Nothing wrong with that tradition, but it is a little funny looking from the outside.

Oh, and in lieu of owning a baby doll, Brian found my stuffed animal sheep and placed him under the tree with a makeshift halo– he is now called “Lamb Of God Who Takes Away The Sins Of The World” (no abbreviations or nicknames please).

Yes, it’s getting very Christmas-y in here…

-Cat

Work Squared

After a long hiatus, I am back in the kitchen (and on the blog). I have literally- Brian says I use this word wrong, but I think I’ve got it right here- not baked a single thing in 6 weeks. Why would a baking enthusiast, who had just acquired the absolutely phenomenal Sur La Table cookbook ‘Art and Soul of Baking’, ignore her measuring cups for so long?

The answer is Work. Yes, that dreaded thing. When Brian and I got engaged (a year ago now!) I finagled a deal out of him: If we made it into an apartment at UT’s Married Student Housing, I wouldn’t have to work in our first year of marriage. The logic being, rent here is so cheap that I wouldn’t need to. Well, we did, and I attempted to not work. I failed miserably.

The problem was, I have ALWAYS had a job, if not two, for the past six years or so. And on top of my light school load this semester, no work just felt lazy. Not to mention, I was driving Brian crazy! So I set out to find a low-key nannying job, and ended up with: the hoped-for nannying position, PLUS a 25hr/week+ job as Office Assistant at my mom’s work.

This is what happened: My mom, who is the Executive Director of the Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin – www.milkbank.org – asked me to fill in for a recently vacated position until they found a replacement. Two weeks tops, she said. With money signs in my eyes, I agreed. What happened next was pretty much killer. I found myself working ten hours shifts (yes, my mom is a slave driver) without a break, and at the end I’d feel energized and ready for more. I loved working at the milk bank, a nonprofit I already believed in. And I discovered that I love office work, which is rather surprising. Really, I enjoyed answering phones, scripting emails and- not to forget- filing. So when two weeks turned into 3… and 4… and 5… I cleared my calendar.

On the down side, I didn’t have much time for other things, once school and work were accounted for. So as heartbroken as I am that the position was finally filled, I did enjoy baking bread today (Old Fashioned White Bread, from the aforementioned cookbook). Next up: Creme Brulee!

-Cat

Brian’s new map blog

While we’re waiting for wedding photos, you can check out Brian’s new map blog. He drew maps as a kid (and as a big kid), and he’s finally starting to post them online for people to see.

Brian and The Cat

Wedding Memories (add your own!)

People warned us that the wedding day would go by in such a blur, we’d better take snapshots in our minds of the important moments. But we want to remember it all! Ever since we got to the airport after the wedding, we’ve shared our memories of conversations, guests, feelings, food… so that we don’t forget. What kills me is that I wasn’t at every table enjoying everything at once. Some people I never even got to talk to! Here are our favorite moments from the day, and please- post yours to, so that we can add your memories to our stock!

• Cat sleeping through her alarm, waking up an hour and a half late, and thinking she’d missed the wedding. “I had pure panic in my stomach when I saw the clock.”
• Cat, so nervous that it would rain, sat outside with her eyes closed for ten minutes during a sprinkly rain, without a clue. Laura her make-up artist, wisely worked extra long on her eyes so that she wouldn’t open them and see the rain.
• The moment, at 8:30, when Brian saw Cat still in a tie dye t-shirt, getting her hair done. The pictures were supposed to start at 8, and at that point Brian thought, “we’re screwed.”
• Brian, trying not to cry as he walked down the aisle. Cat, trying not to cry as she walked down the aisle. She says it was harder for her, since everyone stood up in a dramatic whoosh and stared at eye level.
• During the ceremony when Max made a cave with his hands to safely transport the rings to Jeff without dropping them into the lake.
• The ring bearer bursting into tears after the ceremony, thinking that we were moving far away after getting married.
• The guests wearing peacock feathers (thanks Hector, Joan, and Zoey!)
• The rather strong attempts of Kayla and Kacee to get Cat to a table for some food. I did manage to eat a breakfast taco, thanks to you guys!
• Taking pictures in the swamp and getting bug bites to thank for it.
• Cat’s Aunt Lisa: “Brian, get ready – you guys are getting out of here in five minutes.” Brian: “But I don’t know where our bags are – or who’s taking us to the airport!” Lisa: “Well, you’ll just have to run to the other side of the parking lot, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
• Having lavender thrown at us as we departed for the airport. We tried to close our mouths but had to scream for delight, so it got everywhere. We’re STILL discovering lavender flowers in our luggage!
• Cat’s bobby pins warranting a full-body screening at airport security – which escalated into a sequestered search of Cat and Brian after Brian illegally handed Cat her shoes while she was in the TSA search box.

Top Drawer or Bottom?

Phew, is it the weekend yet? Brian and I have been working non-stop to set up our new apartment, which I moved into on Saturday. It’s amazing to have our own space! Everything here belongs to one of us, and we can argue all day about where to put the spatulas and books. (I’m about to teach Brian the merits of topically organized bookshelves.)

We’ve already made two Ikea trips for new furniture, and later today we’ll buy some chairs for our new dining room table (thanks, Archers!). We have never had so much fun setting up house, in anticipation of living here together in just a few weeks. By the way, only a little over two weeks until the wedding… wow. If I didn’t have this blog as a historical record of the last eight months, I would wonder if time had skipped.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be busy hammering nails into the walls and meeting our neighbors. Soon we’ll be Mr. & Mrs. Nunnery at 3487 Lake Austin Blvd, Apartment D!
-cat, taking a much-needed break from closet organizing

Extreme. Wedding. Weekend.

This past weekend, wedding activities really began for me. I don’t think I knew what I was getting into until then!

My aunt came up to attend a friend’s wedding on Saturday, and she was quickly roped in to the plans my mom and I had made. On Friday we kicked off with some shopping and then we re-worked my ceremony program design. I’m making them by hand, which sounded like a good idea… before we started.

Saturday began with a shower at the lovely Stys house, where our host wore a peacock themed outfit and presented me with my very own teal, peacock feathered hat and veil! I wore it all day (even after leaving the shower…) Before attending a bridal shower for myself, I was nervous and sure I would hate it. Normally, I wouldn’t choose to be the center of attention. But now that I’ve been, all I notice is how great an honor it is to have friends who are excited, supportive, and ready to give advice about my coming nuptials! Poor Brian. There really should be groom showers… as it is, he just gets to come over afterward to hear all about it.

And on this day he met us after the shower for a visit to East Metro Park, where our wedding will be. We needed to measure the rooms and talk details for the big day. Brian’s sketching skills and excellent handwriting came in handy here.

The next day there was another shower to go to, this one thrown by Brian’s aunt and cousin. All the Nunnery relatives were there, and I now feel as if I know my in-laws much more intimately! Especially since one such relative attempted to steal all of my gifts… ; ) We ended the day with more do-it-yourself wedding crafts, which are far more expensive and time consuming than one would imagine. But far more personal and fun than ordering from a service. Brian is even typing up explanations for our choices to display at the wedding, so that all our guests will know how and why we did what we did. No blind choosing for us! Our goal is for every aspect of the ceremony and reception to have meaning and be specially prepared.

But, we’ve only got four more weeks! Tomorrow is the 22nd, which starts the final countdown. And our to-do list is growing by the hour. Haha. Maybe we should invest in yoga or meditation. Any suggestions?

Roommate Needed

Not for us, obviously. We are our roommates, starting May 22nd! But I need someone to take over my lease at my current house in East Austin. The lease goes through June, and I’m moving out on May 1st. So that means two months of living in this great, 2 story, 2 bedroom (my old roommate will still be here in her room), fully applicanced house on Garden St! I’m desperate not to pay for two rents at once, so if you know of anyone who needs a place to stay in May, send them our way! -cat

Our TOMS Wedding

We’ve successfully ordered TOMS for our wedding! 18 pairs for us, and 18 pairs for little kids without shoes.

If you don’t know TOMS’ business plan, it’s a for-profit charity. Buy a pair of shoes, and a second pair is made and delivered to third world countries where kids frequently develop fungi and other nasties preventable by wearing shoes. Of course, we also like them because they come in cool colors and styles ; ) and lots of them will be represented at our wedding.

Everyone’s chosen their own style; I’ll be in blue linen ones (they’re my ‘something blue’) and Brian’s got gray Cordones… the bridesmaids will be in an assortment of glitter and canvas, the groomsmen all chose gray, the flower girl has pink ones, and the list goes on and on.

TOMS was so great in helping us with our massive order, and they’re excited that our entire wedding party (and then some) will be outfitted in TOMS! They even gave us a discount code for all of you guests who’d like to buy a pair for yourselves. I won’t go as far as saying you have to wear TOMS to get in, but it would be cool to see them on lots of your feet.

So, here you go: If you order TOMS online for yourselves (or someone else), plug in this discount code “NextBigStep” for 10% off, courtesy of Tyler at TOMS Shoes. We’ll also be taking pictures of all the TOMS and sending them in to him, so you may end up on their website!

Sorry I’ve said TOMS so often in this blog. Hopefully you’ve all got it saved to memory by now. Can’t wait to see all your shoe choices at the wedding! -cat

Two Months To Go – Top 5 Songs Not At Our Wedding

The 22nd of the month! This time it means that there are only two months to go… crunch time is beginning.

To celebrate, here are 5 songs you will NOT hear at our reception:

1. I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas. For some mysterious reason, this song has made it onto countless wedding playlists. Why??? The lyrics detail getting “krunk” and spending all your money at clubs. Doesn’t exactly ring wedding bells in our ears…

2. Anything by Keith Urban. Because we’re Austinites.

3. My Life Would Suck Without You, Kelly Clarkson. I’ll leave my Kelly commentary out, but this song is still about staying in a bad relationship because it’s too hard to leave. Again, who thinks lifetime commitment to love and cherish when they hear this?

4. Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Elton John. We love Elton John. And we loved this song in The Lion King. We would not love it at our reception.

5. I’m Yours, Jason Mraz. This is a cute song, and we sang along to Jason’s live rendition two years ago. Thanks to the radio’s endless play, we now just feel sad when we hear it.

One song which didn’t make our reception playlist that I will miss: Grow Old With Me, John Lennon (though I also like the Postal Service rendition).

-cat

Lodging for out of town guests

Hey guys, as you’re making travel plans feel free to ask us for help. There are quite a few good places to stay here in Austin, and we also have a lot of friends, which is why we’ve decided not to block a section of one hotel for everyone to stay in.

Here is an alternative (may we say better?) option: Our good friend Tracie has put a house up for vacation rental. It is a beautiful cottage in East Austin, two blocks from my current house. She has just renovated it and filled it with lots of neat stuff, and even got bikes for two! Perfect for a couple or family who wants to turn this wedding trip into a mini vacation. Check it out here.

PS Can’t wait to see you all!!
-cat