Manly Man, Meet Girly Girl

The other day, I was sitting around having deep thoughts. And I thought to myself, "Self, why are their gender stereotypes? And why, self, do you and Mr. Self, fall right into those stereotypes?"

And while I had no real answers to those deep questions, it did get me thinking (less deeply, since I didn't want to get a brain-strain too close to the wedding and all). Mr. PC and I really do fall surprising neatly into 'blue' and 'pink' categories:

Exhibit A: Mr. PC is an engineer and uses microscopes and stuff, whereas I am a nurse (and get to use the awesomely named sphygmomanometer).

Exhibit B: Mr. PC has a great sense of direction, whereas I have none (and thus, need a GPS).

Exhibit C: Mr. PC is much more analytical, whereas I am more emotional (don't look at me funny, I might start crying! Or laughing. Who knows.).

Exhibit D: Mr. PC could eat pizza all day every day, whereas I believe the food pyramid consists of chocolate cake, candy corn, and cookie dough.


Exhibit E: Mr. PC likes video games. A lot. Whereas I like sewing and crafting. (Or one might call it 'attempting to sew and to craft'. [But I call those people downers.])

Do you and your main squeeze fit into gender stereotypes, or any other stereotypes? Or do you break free, run wild and defy any labels?

After Mr. Pin Cushion and I (and my parents, and my parents' employees, and my ex-uncle's dogwalker) created our Save the Date cards, we figured it might be a good idea to set up a website . . . considering we'd put a web address on the cards (I told you I have these glimmering moments of genius). Neither Mr. PC or I know anything about web design. But we like to challenge ourselves (and raise our blood pressures from stress while doing so). So instead of choosing one of the lovely build-yourself-a-very-nice-website-the-easy-way, we forged ahead with our own website design using iWeb.

I leaned heavily (like, fully body weight) on Mrs. Cupcake iWeb tutorial. And I bumbled and fumbled my way along. After I managed to makes something that I was pretty pleased with, I gave myself a hearty pat on the back and let Mr. Pin Cushion do the more internet savvy part of actually getting it online.

Some screen shots to show offer our handy-work:

The home page (in which, by posting, I shout, "Anonymity, Shamonymity!")

Our story, in the form of a very long, rhyming poem ('cause I'm the Rhymenoceros). The poem goes on for, um, another 20 stanzas or so (that's what happens with a 10 year long story).

Links to photos to make our guests sick of our mugs before they even get to the main event (the top pic is Mr. PC having an existential moment with modern art. It happens sometimes.).

I was still patting myself on the back when I stumbled across some other bees' posts. And then my hand stopped mid-pat, and hung sadly in the air, looking forlorn. Because wowza, Miss Snow's site. And Miss Chick's site. Well, they make my website look a bit amateurish (what? It was made by an amateur, you say?!). But hopefully not many of our guests will be checking the 'Bee, so they won't know what they're missing!

What wedding website are you using? Did you make your own?

Sadly, No 3-D Glasses Here

The first DIY project the Pin Cushions undertook was our Save The Date cards. (Not) coincidentally, this was also the first project in which I became totally overwhelmed by the internet (well, the first wedding project at least; I've been overwhelmed by the interwebs plenty of times before [it's like a the blob people, it just keeps growing]). I was so inundated with the brilliant ideas of other people that I became physically unable to think for myself. It was a very serious condition. The doctors are still puzzled.

I didn't want to directly copy anyone's ideas, but my own creativity seemed to have been sapped by my computer. I had to take an internet hiatus and take a few days to do my own brainstorming. If only I had kept looking a bit more, I might have stumbled upon my dreamboat Save the Dates (which I would totally have stolen 100% [and felt no shame]):

[Source]

Alas, I saw these wicked awesome 3-D glasses-requiring STDs only after we had sent ours on their merry way. Bummer.

My own save the date design came in the form of a going-to-sleep-WAIT!-I-have-an-idea moment. I turned on a light and sketched out a design. The next morning, Mr Pinster used my chicken scratch to whip up an Illustrator image. And that weekend, I utilized my familial resources and printed the cards at my parent's screen printing company (though I wasn't the one actually doing the printing [those machines are like a demonic Gocco and I wasn't willing to lose any fingers]).

Personal photo (taken from under the screen, so it looks wonky)

Here's our test run to see everything was lined up correctly.

We finished the printing, cut them, attached mini envelopes, ordered and added Moo cards to go with them, stamped them and sent them on their way.

Here they are in all their do-it-yourself-with-the-help-of-your-parent's-business glory:

The envelopes with a wrap around label and the quintessential King & Queen stamp.

The front and the back (though the card is pretty ambi-sided).

The vellum envelope held a mini-Moo card with all the details on one side (the orange side you can see above) and a variety of engagement photos on the other side.

The card (in case you don't have 100-20 vision and can't read the blurry photo above) reads:

After 10 years together,

6 educational degrees,

13,752 chocolate chip cookies consumed,

24 cross country flights,

2,513 high fives,

15 address changes,

dozens of Pictionary opponents humiliated,

and 1 amazing marriage proposal. . .

C & K are getting MARRIED!!

Who else has become overwhelmed by the internet and blogs and ideas? What did you do to get out of the funk? (I'm begging you, dear readers, for help, because it happens to me all the time!)

Birthday Party or Wedding Reception?

With the bright colors that Mr. PC and I chose for our wedding colors, I sometimes wonder if our wedding reception is going to resemble a child's birthday celebration. We're not a fancy schmancy-black tie wearing-coiffed hair (or even blow dried hair)-kind of couple, so we're not adding many (or any) touches like calligraphy or silk table linens that would elegance-up the reception.

Despite this fear, I find myself infatuated with objects that would only exacerbate the kids-party atmosphere. Like non-wedding cakes that I want for our wedding cake. But really, I don't think it's humanly possible (at least not for this human) to resist a cake like this:

[Source]
My heart. It melts.


[Source]
And this one! I don't think I want to eat anything else besides this one. Ever. Can we make it with 3 tiers? Please!?

[Source]
Oh my. This is like the mullet of cakes. Business on the outside and party on the inside. And a mullet never looked so good to my taste buds.

If people saw your reception not knowing it was a wedding, would they know it was a wedding? Or would they think it was something else? A kids party like mine (sans clowns ['cause those guys don't belong at a wedding or near kiddos]? The opening of a candy store (Miss French Fries, perhaps . . .)? A Moroccan festival?

Color me Happy

I'm going to show you guys something. It's the inspiration board for Mr. Pin Cushion's and my wedding. But there is something else I have to tell you. It was a solid 14+ months into our engagement before I came up with this board. Before that, I had another board, with another color scheme, and I had even asked my bridesmaids to start looking for dresses in the other colors. But then I had an existential crisis and decided it was all wrong. I couldn't possibly get married surrounded by yellow and orange and red! The earth might catch on fire if I did that. Or dinosaurs might be resurrected.

So I changed. And my bridesmaid's still love me (at least they continue to pretend very well). And my fiance only thinks I'm a bit crazier that he had thought before. And I am much happier.

Phew. Feels good to get that all off my chest. And now I can show you the board (created at Style Me Pretty):

Row 1 Sources: Ice Cream, Fuchsia, Red Stripes (personal photo-Ikea fabric), Liberty of London Fabric, Bow-tie
Row 2 Sources: Flowers, Cake, Croquet Set, Red Dress, Green Burlap, Gingham, Strawberries and Flowers,
Row 3 Sources: Flowers, Jam, Green dress, Strawberry Baskets, Baker's Twine

As you can see, we're aiming to achieve a feeling of: celebration, picnic-ing, summer, other perky adjectives . . . We don't want to go over-the-top hokey, so Mr. PC is helping me use an "editing eye" (a la Tim Gunn) to cut down on the number of ginghams we incorporate. Otherwise, our guests might be smothered in checks.

Our colors, if you ask me, are: spring green, fuchsia and cherry red. If you ask Mr. Pinster, they're: green, pink and red. Those differences stem from something deeply ingrained in our DNA (it's scientifically proven-really!), as illustrated here:

[Source-XKCD, the ultimate in geek-chicdome]

Despite the differences in naming colors, Mr. Pinster and I are on the same page with our vision. After a long long (like eons long) time of perusing through inspiration on line, it feels good to finally have a solid idea about our wedding! But who know . . . ask me next week and I might have a new idea (though I might be out a few bridesmaids if I do).

What brought you your wedding inspiration? Elves? The blog-o-sphere? A favorite painting? Your favorite book?

A Direct Relationship Theory: Revisited

After my last post on the thoroughly researched and highly scientific theory that the length of engagement has a direct relationship with the length of a relationship, an outpouring of new data was brought to my attention (in the form of your comments). These new data points (92 to be exact) allowed me to develop a new and improved theory:

There is absolutely no relationship, neither direct nor indirect nor anything in between, correlating the length of engagement and the length of a couple's courtship.

(If anyone can find a relationship in the mess of dots below, speak up, since you all are likely much better mathematicians than I [I bite my thumb in your general direction, Calculus!])

[Mind blowing Excel graph, once again, created by yours truly]

Further research needs to be done to determine if there is a relationship between age of the engager or engageee and the length of engagement. Funds are currently being collected to continue this research (and will likely go towards the purchasing of more Chevy's margaritas, because it is largely possible that the lack of a constant supply of said margaritas was the cause of the downfall of theory #1).

A few fun statistics (if you're into that kind of thing) from the "data" collected:
1. The average time a couple was together when they got engaged: 4 years and 1 month.
2. The average length of engagement: 17 months.
3. The record for longest engagement goes to pohget, at 6 1/2 years (the data point at the very top of the graph).
4. The record for longest relationship at the time of engagement goes to Miss International, 
with 10 1/2 years. Congrats on your longevity, Miss International!

Then & Now: 10 Years Later

Ten years is a long time. It's an entire decade. A tenth of a century. The length of the Friends series. And the approximate amount of time needed for a Twinkie to become stale. It also happens to be how long Mr. PC and I have been together.

Let me take you back. It was 2000, and Mr. PC and I were both high school sophomores. We were in the same Spanish class. He thought I was funny. And I thought his accent was muy caliente (though admittedly, his accent probably left something to be desired, but my teenage hormones were clouding my thinking). We talked. I tossed my hair around, which he liked. He tossed around his PSAT scores, which I liked. One thing led to another, and 3 months and one 6 hour phone call later, we were officially dating.

We've been through a lot together in the last ten years: prom dramas, college admissions, dorm food, a 3 hour time difference while I lived in DC for 16 months, the dissolution of N*Sync, a family divorce, an episode of micturition syncope, and our own development into full fledged adults (well, maybe just 83% adult, but close enough).

When people hear we've been together a decade, they're shocked. Understandably. 10 years is a long time, and a lot has happened since the Pin-ster and I became an item. Let's take a look back, VH1-style, in what we'll call "I Love 2000 and 2010" (because who hasn't spent an entire weekend watching those shows? Oh, you haven't? Yah, me neither. Sheesh, who does that anyway?)

Music Players:

Then: The discman

[Source]

and now: the iPod

[Source]

Top News Story of the Year:
Then: Elian Gonzales

[Source]

and now: Haiti earthquake

[Source]

Popular Song:
Then: "Who Let the Dog's Out" (Oh, you know you want to listen to it!)

[Source]

and now: "Empire State of Mind"

[Source]

Our President:
Then: President Clinton

[Source]

and now: President Obama

[Source]

And finally, Mr. and Miss Pin Cushion:
Then:

[personal photo, circa a track meet]

and now:

[personal photo]

A lot has happened in the past 10 years. There is less hair tossing now a-days. And his PSAT scores have been replaced by his PhD status. But a lot has stayed the same (like our inability to find someone to take our picture, apparently). We've grown up and grown together. We're the couple we are because of our long history.

How long have you been with your dude or dudette? What life changes have you been through together that have made you the couple you are today?

Somebody Pin-ch Me!

Can you believe that was the best Pin Cushion pun I could come up with? Believe it! And get used to it, 'cause there's a lot more where that came from!

Dud puns aside, I just want to tell all of you lovelies how excited I am to be the newest member in the hive! My Excitement Cup (similar to a Crunk Cup, but with less bling) runneth over. Check out just how excited I am:

Source: (surprisingly [since they're so professional]) these are all personal photos!

Let me break it down for you a bit more by providing a play by play of my thoughts when Pengy's acceptance email hit my inbox:

1. "Whoopee! I've been waiting for this email for months (okay, just weeks, but it feels like months, and that's what counts.)"
2. "Oh crud. Now that the email's finally here, I'm too nervous to open it . . ."

Chews on lip. Clicks on the email and squeezes eyes shut. Slowly peels one eye open and . . .

3. "What the dealio?! I'm the newest Bee?! Cowabunga!! This is going to be legendary!"
4. "Oh man, these readers won't know what hit 'em. Mwah ha ha!"

Now that you've all gotten a glimpse into my brain (not much else clinking around in there [it's like a hot air balloon up there people]), I hope you'll stick around for more! I've got lots to fill everyone in on, and plenty more to do before my July wedding to Mr. Pin Cushion!

Engagement Shoot Love: The Fun

In addition to the romantic photos we took with our fab photographer Kelty, we also took a bunch of fun, crazy pics. I had brought along a few 'props' (if you can call them that), which you can see below: mustache glasses and party blowers. You're pretty much guaranteed super classy engagement photos when you buy your props at a party supply store. Oh well, that's how we do it around here (well, around my house it is).

We also utilized some other 'props' that we had lying around. They're called: the awesome sky. And flocks of seagulls (the birds, not the haircuts [though that would have made for really interesting photos . . .]). Oh. And sand. Can't forget the sand.

We had wandered down to the beach, and Kelty instructed the mister and I to run up behind a bunch of birds. I felt like a kid, trying to scare all the seagulls and get them to fly away. And I was reminded of how hard it was to run in the sand! My thighs would be like steel if I did that every day (alas, I do not, and thus, my thighs are nowhere near steel-state [but perhaps a softer metal, like gold {oh! gold thighs!}]).

We also took a bunch of photos on a huge concrete wall above the beach. It was a foggy day (welcome to San Francisco), but Kelty made it look magical.

Check it out-here's that cool "sky prop" I was telling ya'll about! Looks pretty good, doesn't it!? And free, to boot.

Fake running is scary when there is a 20 foot drop on one side of you.

Here are the noise makers. The mister hated them because they were so loud and obnoxious, but I love them (probably because I can be loud and obnoxious-we're kindred spirits, noise makers and I).

That's us in the mirror at a snack stand by Stow Lake. I used to come here with my family as a kid and get blocks of pink popcorn (did anyone else used to eat that stuff? I think it might actually be dyed styrofoam).

Mr. Pin Cushion got reprimanded by his mom (a ballet dancer and teacher) because of his flexed feet during the leaps! On the other hand, nobody mentioned my awesome jazz hands!


A little belly action . . .


For this shot, Kelty asked some teenagers skating by to do some tricks behind us. She captured it perfectly! Props (I don't think I'm cool enough to say that) and thanks to those skaters.

And I think these pictures below are my favorite. They are just totally ridiculous.

It looks like my nostrils are about a mile wide-that's hot.

The mister and I think we're going to bring back the glasses for some wedding shots. We've already gotten some extra use out of them for my grandma's 92nd birthday:

Doesn't she manage to look graceful in those glasses? I don't know how she does that.

What crazy props are other people using in their engagement shoots? The crazier the better, in my books! I'd love to hear some wacky ideas, and perhaps steal them for our photo booth!