Free Money

Yes, really.

ingdirect.com, an online bank that offers competitive interest rates and charges no annual fee, has always offered a referral bonus for new members. Through the end of April, though, they're upping the ante with an enhanced referral promotion.

If you open a new ingdirect account through a referral email, they'll give you $25, and they'll give me $20.

Sound too good to be true? Not really, but there are some limitations. The program is only for new customers, so if you've already got a savings account with them, opening a checking account won't cut it. They're also limiting the referral bonuses to one per household, and any new account needs to be opened with at least $250 to qualify.

I actually started my first ingdirect account through the referral program, back in the day. Several years later, I've been nothing but happy with them. Try 'em out to see for yourself, and get some free money while you're at it.

If you'd like me to send you a referral, leave me a comment with your email address. I'll send you an email to get your first and last name (if I don't already know it), which is needed for the referral form.

Hooray for free money!

Oh don't you worry, we'll rock out.

Apparently I'm going to have to remind myself a couple more times in the next few months to just trust my/our instincts with all this wedding-type stuff, already. Seriously.

This time it isn't elegant flowers and sleek vases distracting me, it's music. Specifically, a dj. Specifically, this dj (scroll down, he's in the last photo). Not some guy with a computer and a bunch of mp3s and a microphone, but an artist who uses vinyl and turntables to create something that's greater than the sum of its individual-song parts. Click around through some of the dj mixes over there and just try not to bust out with some dance moves.

I'm not genuinely, deep-down-in-my-heart-of-hearts disappointed that we won't be hiring him (although I *am* disappointed not to have an opportunity to rock out to his tunes at some other event). We're compiling our own music, and -- as with the bottles and jars as vases -- I'm excited about it because it's very us. The Awesome Fiance and I are music people, and while Mr. Flashdance there clearly has excellent taste, I think it's safer if we keep complete control of the set list (mostly so we make sure to include all the must-haves, of which there are many).

I have no idea what Mr. Flashdance charges for a fee, but that's probably another good reason to stick with the plan. We surely shouldn't be able to afford him if his rates are in any way linked to his level of talent. Plus, there's the pesky matter of him being located in California. And the fact that if he played our wedding, I'd spend half the night at the table asking about the songs. I mean, honestly, how cool is it to watch him at work? I find live artistry and musicianship (this guy, a really good band, whatever) so fascinating, but for this particular event I intend to be fully immersed in dancing with the wonderful man I will have just married (and lots of other loved ones), so recorded music will do just fine.

Plus, we found that most elusive and important of items this afternoon: a suitably danceable Rage Against the Machine track, free of profanity. So, clearly, it's going to be ok.

Operation Garden Setup

We've been talking about the garden work we have to do for weeks. It's been rainy or we've had other things to do, and it keeps getting pushed off the schedule. Not. This. Weekend.

Tomorrow morning we're going to buy the lumber we need to add a raised bed in the backyard, then come home and assemble it. Next, we'll line the trunk of my car with a tarp and shovel compost into into it (thank you, municipal compost supply). Two or three trips and trunkfulls later, we'll set up stakes and wire fencing around all the raised beds. It might not look pretty, but it'll keep the groundhogs out. (It better keep the groundhogs out.)

Then and only then can we put some cold weather seeds in the ground. Spinach and lettuce and peas to start. Maybe some flowers if the instructions on the seed packets say they can planted this early.

Maybe then the backyard garden can catch up with the plants in front of the house. Namely, the strawberry plants that already have flowers on them. I know, I can't believe it either!

Well, that settles that!

Remember when I wrote about our indecision with respect to reception decorations? How we weren't sure whether to go with mismatched bottles and jars to hold flowers, or to acquire plain, matching cylindrical vases for a more elegant and dramatic effect?

I never did get around to posting pictures of what the latter would look like. Sweetpeas and snapdragons submerged in water with tea lights is kind of hard to envision, I know. Trust me, it's stunning. And we're not using it.

We've opted to stick with the approach we initially thought of: cleaning up a slew of vintage bottles and jars that came with the house I bought years before I met Senor Stupendous. We should have trusted our instincts rather than continuing to seek out -- and get distracted by -- other, sleeker ideas that are aesthetically beautiful but not really in line with our personalities.

You know what matches our personalities really well? Using what we've already got. Incorporating a nod to my life before we met and his love of all things historical. Not stressing about whether everything matches, and having faith that it'll look great if we follow our instincts.

It didn't hurt that a couple of test cases cleaned up remarkably well, with nary a hint of their cloudy, dirt-encrusted former selves. Baking soda, it seems, can do anything.






Ideal, indeed. Thanks for the confirmation, jar!

Happiness is...

... spontaneously deciding to hold on tightly to the arm of one's unsuspecting fiance and thusly prevent him from leaving the couch as he'd planned; persisting with said endeavor until he opts to try in earnest to stand up and succeeds only in causing you both to topple over like dominos; giving up said arm only when continuing to hold on becomes impossible because one's stomach hurts too much from laughing.

Go, team!

So let's talk about how major life events can be happy and exciting in their own right, but also as opportunities for self improvement. Specifically (yes, I'm going somewhere here) I think wedding planning will be a good exercise in learning how to collaborate.

I always hated group assignments in school. Being at the mercy of randomly selected classmates and their level of effort to determine my level of academic success? Yeah, I wasn't a fan. I've mellowed a bit, but my tendency is still to prefer to maintain responsibility (er, "control") for projects myself. That's all well and good, but there are times when it's nice to work with others as a team. Especially when you can choose to work with people you like and respect, and when your eighth grade GPA isn't at stake. (Stop laughing. It felt important at the time.)

Enter: wedding planning. The Awesome Fiance and I want to make the day about more than just the two of us getting married. The way we see it, the day is also a celebration of all the people who love and support him, and all the people who love and support me, and the fact that those groups are converging to become a great big bunch of people who love and support us.

So, with that in mind, I'm fighting the urge to do everything ourselves, and we're asking people for help (*gasp*). One of the things we're doing in this regard that I'm most excited about is assembling a team of gardeners to grow wedding flowers. My mom, his mom, and a few other friends and family members who like to garden (and don't have other Big Life Stuff filling up their proverbial plates) will be allocating space in their yards for seeds and plants I'll be handing out, then we'll all cross our fingers for things to bloom when they should. And if they don't, well, that's what the farmers market is for.

Like I said, I'm super excited to work with these folks and be able to point to the resulting floral loveliness as a successful team effort. I'm hoping they're excited to be involved, too. Bring on the planting!

I, for one, would be a smidge more excited if I hadn't had to scrape frost off my car this morning. Maybe this whole wedding planning thing will teach me about patience, too...

Finished!

I've finished a sweater!

Remember how I said I was making a highly modified version of the Mirabella Cardigan? Here's what it looks like as a pullover... with long sleeves... and a different neckline... at a tighter gauge.



Now I need to return my focus to the super-secret gift knitting endeavor I'm halfway through. It should take about two more months, if I can stop making the foolish mistakes that have been slowing me down.

... and if gardening, running, socializing, cooking, etc. don't get in the way. That too.

Second-string Gratitude

Here's what I'm thankful for today (excluding, as always, the big and obvious items):

- cute argyle socks that go perfectly with my sensible Mary Janes
- first listen of a CD I received for my birthday (Attention all fans of good music: look up Sean Costello. I'd recommend starting with his cover of Al Green's "I'm a Ram." Talent, yo.)
- azalea bushes starting to bloom in our yard
- plans set up this weekend to spend time with one of my oldest and dearest friends
- pink grapefruit. yummy.

Whatcha got on your list today?

Birthday Deliciousness

I'm a lucky girl. I turned 31 over the weekend, and I was overwhelmed with good wishes from family and friends. Mr. Wonderful, of course, was a big part of that. He gave me some lovely gifts, but what's really impressed folks so far (if my coworkers are a representative sample of "folks") is that he baked my requested birthday dessert item: Mexican Caramel Cheesecake. Not attrociously unhealthy (I know, can you believe it?), and so, so, so yummy.

On Sunday, my mother took a stab at a celebratory birthday dessert. I say "took a stab at" in jest, because she's an extremely talented cake decorator. So much so, in fact, that she'll be making our wedding cake. She used this year's birthday cake as a trial run for doing a tiered cake in swiss meringue buttercream frosting, with dowels (well, drinking straws, cut to size) holding up the top tier.



Not bad, eh? The wedding cake will be white, and sans chocolate chips, but you get the idea. And, I should add, the frosting was applied to the cake in about 15 minutes, by my estimate. Impressive indeed.

Crusading in the Name of Logic: Item 1

Like I've said before, this is a things-I-like blog. One thing I'm a big fan of is logic. You know, rational thought, arguments that make sense and use words properly, that sort of thing. High on my dislike list is blatantly faulty logic masquerading as that which is valid. So, in the spirit of encouraging critical thinking and spreading sound reasoning throughout the land, I'm taking a page from Kelly's book and starting a series of posts about lapses in logic I notice around me. Join me as I shine a proverbial light on their insidiousness! (Note: Kelly is plenty logical, but what I'm getting at here is her use of the blog series concept, to great effect.)

So. First up, a radio station identification/advertising spot I heard yesterday that went a little something like this:

Do you like [xyz component of concerts]?

Yeah, we do too.

You're one of a kind.

You're just the type of person who should be listening to [radio station in question].

I paraphrased the last line, but otherwise it'e pretty accurate.

Now, maybe everyone who likes a particular part of the concert experience will in fact like the same radio station. The connection is thin, but it could be there. What I take issue with is the first three sentences, clearly designed to transition in order toward a supported conclusion. But -- and here's where my eye starts twitching from the sheer illogic of it all -- if you like X and everyone at the radio station likes X (which I assume they mean by the line "we do too"), then you're not one of a kind. Well, you might be, but certainly not because you like X. The only way that sentence makes any sense at all is if it's disconnected from everything that precedes it.

"Do you like X? We like X too. The sky is blue. You should listen to us." That would have about the same effect.

Wishing you all a happy, relaxing, and well-reasoned weekend!