Tag: engagement

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

We’re California bound in 4 days! I’m so excited! I haven’t been to the Bay Area since 1999, so I hardly remember it. I’ve already packed my clothes. I actually had a bit of a stress nightmare about the airport and the flight. I’m not a great traveler, and I’m an even worse sleeper.

I haven’t even begun to plan all of our activities. My main priorities are jumping into the Pacific Ocean, eating at In N Out (my few-times-a-decade exception to vegetarianism), and going to the Amoeba Records in San Fran & Berkeley, but we have a whole 8 or 9 days to fill! I definitely want to hit up some art museums, but unfortunately the SFMOMA is closed for expansion right now! This is the second time I’ll have been deprived of a MOMA on a trip…not cool.

I’m going to start compiling a list of coffee/donut shops in the Bay Area since we are sorely lacking them in our little corner of the country. Of course, we’ll be spending a ton of time with family. My cousin Shelly is the owner/designer of the Oakland-based jewelry company Harp Designs, so we’ll have to visit with her and (maybe??) talk about having her design our wedding bands. She was actually just profiled on another blog—a must-read!

In other news, this happened:

He liked it, so he put a ring on it!
glasses/Warby Parker, ring/refurbished vintage (my mother’s), dress/American Apparel

I finally got my engagement ring after 2.5 weeks of being engaged. It sounds like nothing, but when people frantically reach for your left hand to check your bling multiple times per day, it’s so disappointing to have to say, “Oh, I don’t have my ring yet,” or to explain that the one I was wearing was a big ol’ fake. I’m getting married, and now I have proof! What is life?

Sherri Dupree Bemis of one of my favorite bands, Eisley, recently recorded a cover of the John Denver/Peter, Paul, and Mary song “Leaving On A Jet Plane”. It’s sweet, lovely, and available for free download on Soundcloud. In honor of our trip (which I’m dubbing our engagement trip even though the two are unrelated), I’ve posted it below for your listening pleasure.

Fourth of July

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

So, from the title, you probably think that I’m going to link you to a Sufjan Stevens song, right? (You guys are probably going to think I only bought 1 album this year. My bank account says/weeps otherwise.)

We celebrated the Fourth of July in style, graciously hosted by the family of my fiancé’s dear friends. I had never been down to Manomet before. I didn’t even realize Plymouth was that beachy of a town. I’m so bad at being from Massachusetts.

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We asked a friend of ours to catch some beach/engagement snaps. Not a single one turned out decent but the bloopers are pretty hilarious.

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This is legitimately more of an accurate depiction of our relationship than any of the staged photos.
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sweatshirt/Madewell, jeans/Banana Republic, sneakers/Keds

On Sunday, the day after we arrived, Fig had a gig in Hyannis at an outdoor music festival. I wish I could say I actually listened to them play, but I met his drummer’s wife (aka the most interesting person alive). Nothing pleases me more than meeting older (as in, older than my mere 23/4) women that have achieved great things in their lives. This woman is a historian with a PhD whose father is a medievalist and who can sew period clothing (as in, potentially, a 1930s-style wedding gown for me). That doesn’t even begin to describe her merits. It was 100% worth the hideous 2 hours we got stuck in traffic on the way back to meet this amazing human being.

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Things are just prettier down the Cape.

hyannis 2Hyannis was such a cute town. As a native Bostonian who has spent 0 time down the Cape, it was refreshing to see such quaintness as the south of Massachusetts boasts.

My dad and I got crêpes! It was kind of a perfect morning,
My dad and I got crêpes! It was kind of a perfect morning,

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I didn't know there was a JFK Museum in Hyannis! I wish we could have stayed to tour it.
I didn’t know there was a JFK Museum in Hyannis! I wish we could have stayed to tour it.

My fiancé is not one for the beach, so my dad (who had faithfully shown up for the gig) and I took a cooler of Millers down the beach and got our ocean on. I got what amounts to about half a sunburn (while wearing organic SPF 50 baby sunscreen), and jumped in the Atlantic for the first time since 2013. I’m so lucky to call my father one of my best friends. We actually just got back from having drinks with my newly 22-year-old baby brother. It was so great to have a relaxing beach day. Although relaxing apparently took a lot out of me—I slept like 14 hours Sunday-Monday night!)

I dutifully returned to work after our truncated (but amazing) weekend on the coast. My store marked down a bunch of Tahari sample sized dresses down to $12.95 as a July 4th special, so of course I had to try on about a thousand of them. Unfortunately (or…fortunately?) at size 6, most of them were hilariously huge on me. I’m still buying a royal blue jumpsuit though, and having it altered. I mean, c’mon, $12.95 plus my employee discount??

I mostly picked out white dresses (because REASONS!) and I landed on one that actually fit me. I texted my fiancé this picture with the caption, “$9 wedding dress? Probably.” Needless to say, he was down. We’re obsessed with the environment/fighting the wedding industrial complex, so any frugality is a plus.

dress 1dress 2The dress probably looks wacky because it’s super sheer, but it’s nothing a slip or shapewear couldn’t fix!

I have Friday off from work, so I’m going to try to commit to an honest-to-goodness recipe post and actually see the mission of this blog through. But for now, here’s a My Morning Jacket tune that rules! I haven’t been able to stop listening to this album. It makes me wish I’d gotten on the MMJ wagon a long time ago!

Lazy Day Jam

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

Today felt like the first real day of “being engaged”. Both of us had the day off, so we hung out and ran errands. We even got a Costco membership (#married)!

Stacked breakfast tacos with salsa verde—it's what's for breakfast.
Stacked breakfast tacos with salsa verde—it’s what’s for breakfast.

Our enjoyment of each other hasn’t changed, yet I find myself happier and more at peace. More enjoyable to be around, I guess. The “will we or won’t we” question had been weighing heavily on my shoulders, so getting to take a deep breath for the first time in months was exhilarating. I wish I’d been more secure and practiced more self-love before getting engaged, but at least now I can spread the positivity and wisdom to the younger women in my life.

This is an appropriate .gif to send to haters/people putting sexist pressure on you. You do you, girls.
This is an appropriate .gif to send to haters/people putting sexist pressure on you. You do you, girls.

My best friend sent me the above .gif when we were talking about yoga earlier. I’m so fortunate to have a brilliant, badass feminist in my life.

I snapped a couple of dorky photos of my fiancé (!!!!!!!????!!!!) and I at dusk. He’s been very indulgent with me lately—I think he can tell how excited I am.

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I didn’t get a full outfit pic, but rest assured, my everyday look is casual mime. Our Converse were a bridal party gift from my fiancé’s brother’s wedding last month. It felt super appropriate to wear them today.

**”Lazy Day Jam” is the name of a song that one of my fiancé’s music students wrote. They performed it at the school recital last week. Insert 1,000 cry-face emojis.

Club’s going up—on a Tuesday

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

I took an accidental five-day hiatus from blogging. At first it was just so that I could focus on finishing my summer semester and turn out a 12-page research paper. (Mine was only 9 pages, to be fair, and honestly pretty recondite, but I FINISHED it, damn it.)

But then something completely insane and unexpected happened. I GOT ENGAGED!

I never thought in 8 million years that it would happen so soon. We had discussed and agreed that it was something we both wanted, but we weren’t in any rush. So that’s why, when he said “Let’s get married” on Tuesday night I didn’t believe him. For like an hour. I made him swear on his grandmother’s grave that he wasn’t messing with my head. I still kind of don’t believe it. It wasn’t overly romantic or cheesy. It felt like an equitable decision between two adults. So my style.

I still haven’t called him my fiancé out loud (it feels way too weird), but I did order a FEYONCÉ shirt on Etsy because I mean, I’m a girl. A girl who happens to love both Beyoncé and puns. Unfortunately, I have to wait 2 weeks to get my ring, since the jeweler is closed next week for the July 4th holiday (I know, the whitest of white girl problems). But it’s a hand-me-down from my mom that I’m having reset, so it’s really special and worth the wait.

Pretending to like each other.
Pretending to like each other.

I’m already finding it difficult to stay reasonable and sane when other people express their enthusiasm about “wedding things” but I always swore that I wasn’t that type of girl. I’ve got goals, man. I need to see France before I die. I want to be a homeowner and a mother to many cats (jury is still out on humans, but we’ll see). I’m not spending a small fortune on a wedding. So, wish me luck. Pray that I will not turn into a heinous bridezilla, and have to forfeit my membership to the feminist club.

Maybe this amazing song by Janelle Monae will help: