Scribble Nation

Bean Town Brewery

This story is a little over due, but I felt the urge to post it anyway, if only to express my love for the particular beer that is invented here.  Many weekends ago Scott Bobleo and I popped off for a quick trip to see my sister, Heather, in Boston.  While we were in town, we decided to check out The Sam Adams Brewery Tour.  Since Heather lives so close by it made visiting extra tempting, but I would recommend stopping by to any beer lover. 

Our tour was particularly great thanks to our tour guide, a young brunette who seemed to have a genuine love of beer, as well as a quick wit, and a talent for riling up crowds of tourists.  She was a lot of fun, and continued to impress us with answers to each and every question that was hurled at her.  Her responses were both educated and hilarious, making the whole experience really enjoyable.

Apparently, Boston's Sam Adams Brewery is more of a formulary these days.  The folks here formulate new beers, ales, and lagers (which thanks to our tour guide I now know the difference between) and brew small batches of their most limited edition recipes.  The short tour takes you through a few rooms of tanks, barrels, hoppers, and gizmos, then into the tasting room, which is likely considered the highlight of the tour.  Each guest receives a small souvenir glass to taste from, and a selection of three popular Sam Adams beers.  After the three quick drinks everyone wanders into the gift shop with a sweet little buzz going on.  All in all, a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning.

On the way we home we saw some nifty metal sculptures outside a metal studio.  Heather was a sport and posed for me with these lovely hooker robots.  We also discovered that there was a Boomerangs outlet right outside the Sam Adams Brewery. Lucky! Heather got a bag full of loot for 3 bucks!  We visited the regular Boomerangs store front the next day, where I picked up tons of great stuff.  It was definitely one of the best thrift stores that I have been to in a while.  Next time you hit up Jamaica Plain, make sure to stop by Boomerangs on Centre Street.  They have great stuff, and their profits go toward Aids activism.  Good deals, AND good karma, all in one shopping trip!

By the way, one of my photos from our Sam Adams trip is being featured on Boston's Schmap, the online map and tour guide.  How exciting!

Thank You Cards & Test Dress

My test dress for the wedding left Whirling Turban today! I already received my black petticoats from Memphis Vintage. I can't wait to see how this looks! Also, I can't wait to go shoe shopping for this little number. Black, or red? Hee hee hee.

In other news, Michelle & I whipped out a whole boat load of Thank You cards the other night. Originally, I had carved this crazy stamp out of rubber, and wanted to stamp out the cards.  After many less than stellar stampings we were inspired to approach the cards a different way.  We wound up tracing over a stamped image with a black marker (to clean it up) then having it reduced and photo copied onto card stock 125 times! We then cut the images out to create cute little thank you note cards. I'll need to order special envelopes, but so far these have cost a total of five bucks. Score!

Bridesmaids, Beauty Parlors, and Beyond

I've been oh so silent lately, but I do have a good reason. I have been wedding planning! Oh my, oh yes. It has been quite a circus around here between wedding plans, travel plans, and musical mayhem.  Mr. Scott Bobleo has been busy learning music and working like a fiend while I have been booking food, flowers, and other details.  Our invites are out, RSVP's are flowing in, and we are down to having just 38 days left to go before the big night.  Here is a little taste of what I've been up to.

Bridesmaids: I asked the girls to pick out some cute, retro, A-line dresses with cap sleeves. They decided to go with this lovely little number from Daddy-O's.

The girls will all look totally adorable, especially when they pop on their black peep-toe pumps, and get their hair done in rock n' roll pomp and ponytail combos. Sweet! My new wedding BFF, Sailor, from the Hot Rock & Dye Salon in Windsor, CT suggested the girls also get some saddle shoes to dance in at the reception. 

That was just one of the ga-billion awesome ideas Sailor has had.  I swear it was absolute kismet that we found the Hot Rock & Dye Salon for this wedding.  I visited recently to do a trial run for my wedding hair do. 

I went in frazzled, with pretty much no idea what to do with my hair or the bridesmaid's hair.  In no time Sailor was dazzling us with brilliant ideas.  Sailor turned out to not only be an awesome, pinup and retro hair and makeup pro, she's also mid century period expert!!  She has spent time consulting for photo shoots and movies, and now puts her passion to work at her very own salon and pinup photo studio, Hot Rock & Dye.  To me, she was a gift from destiny.  Total kismet!  We started talking, and before we knew it, I'd invited Sailor and her crew to our wedding, and she offered to help take photos throughout the event!  I can't wait to see Sailor and her crew dressed to the nines and dancing it up at the wedding.  It's going to kick some serious ass.

We are also being treated to photography by my father's very talented BFF, Rich Menides, or as I call him, Uncle Rich.  Richard has a natural talent for photography, so I know that his work will be lovely, adding a very personal touch to our wedding photo book.

Anyway, back to Hot Rock & Dye!  Sailor had a brilliant idea for my hair.  We're going with a "Priscilla" Beehive, complimented by matching banana curl extensions and faux flower hair clips!!  Her inspiration to try out this "do" was Priscilla herself.  When she married Elvis, Priscilla wore her signature beehive.  Mine will be slightly different, since I have a lot less hair, but it will still be super cute. Sailor has even offered to create special flowers that will match my dress.  In addition to giving us awesome ideas for hair do's and makeup (which will be, by the way, big black false eyelashes, black liner, nude shadow, and dramatic red lips), Sailor gave us tons of great ideas for decorations, drinks, and more.  These ideas included, but were not limited to: Pink Champagne Fountains, Rockabilly Dance Music, and my personal favorite, turning the dingy concert hall bathrooms into frilly fifties powder rooms!

Sarah and I took a trip to thrift shops on Saturday with this mission in mind. We scored: Mesh zebra curtains, kitschy faux bouquets, silver perfume trays, glass vases and candy dishes, and deco candelabras.  The ladies room will be transformed into a pink, girly explosion, while the men's room will feature a palette of green and black, reminiscent of a mod casino lounge.

My dress is also coming along, according to the ladies at Whirling Turban. Honey and Katherine, the seamstresses there, have been working hard at creating a custom made gown that will be fitted exactly to ever curve.  I received the test bodice last weekend, and the ladies in Fiji used the photos I sent to calculate their next move, which will be creating a leopard printed test dress. I have been debating changing into the leopard gown after the ceremony ends, and dancing the night away in leopard and black ballet flats. We shall see...

Here's a little snapshot of me with my test hair and the test bodice. The hair has been a little beat up between the test run and this photo - the wedding day "do" will be more perfect, plus it will be redder colored, and have extensions attached!

This is the only part of the bodice I can show, since it only goes down by another inch or so. Picture "I Dream of Jeanie". The dress, however, will cover my whole body. I hope! Ha ha ha.

So, here is a wedding plan summary for all of you information hungry folks out there:

Invited: 165
RSVP'd Yes: 61
RSVP'd No: 17
Awaiting Reply: 61
Days Until RSVP Due Date: 11
Days Until Wedding: 38

How to Make a Flat Friend

Sometimes our friends cannot always join us when we want them too. Perhaps you have a favorite buddy, sibling, or pal who can't make it to your big party or special event?  Don't fret.  There is a great alternative to having your real friend with you for all of life's precious moments.  In just 3 easy steps you can create your very own Flat Friend version of your stick in the mud buddy.  Your Flat Friend will actually be MORE fun than your real friend since you can do almost anything to or with them for the sake of taking funny pictures.  Being mostly paper, they are pretty much powerless to stop you.

Step One:
Print out the funniest/worst picture of your friend and cut them out.

Step Two:
Glue your friend to a stick of some kind.  I used a foam paint brush here, but you can also use a chop stick, a popsicle stick, a pen, or even a fly swatter. Pretty much anything tall, slim, and stiff. I'm sure you can find something appropriate. (Or depending on how far you want to take this joke, something inappropriate.)

Step Three:
Embellish your friend.  On their own a Flat Friend is, well, kind of FLAT.  Try jazzing them up with some glitter, buttons, or brick-brack. 

My sisters and I recently made a Flat Friend out of our youngest sister, Caitlin, when she wasn't around to help us do silly wedding crap.  Doesn't she look fabulous?  Now that your Flat Friend is ready, go out on the town and have some fun.  Don't forget a camera!  You'll need it to take tons of embarrassing pictures of your new and improved friend, and then upload them onto Facebook, lovingly tagging each one to your 3D friend's account.

It All Started With a Haircut

Written Monday afternoon, March 16...

It is amazing how making one small change can impact your life.  By doing one little thing that you were afraid to do, you can start a domino effect. Before you know it, you could find yourself on the opposite side of the world.

Scott got his hair cut on Saturday night.  I posted photos on my Facebook account, which sparked our friend, Daly, to drop us a line, letting us know he'd be in town on Sunday.  By Monday morning we had agreed to pull up our stakes and move to the other side of the world, China to be precise, so that Scott could pursue his lifelong dream of touring as a professional musician.

Monday morning we withdrew an offer on a house that just the day before we'd been planning our lives around buying.  We spent the rest of the day at our jobs, jittery and restless, still shaken to our bones with the massive change we had just invited into our lives. We have responsibilities here, friends here, an entire life here that we were in the process of building a foundation for. It seems crazy to do what we are doing.  But every so often life opens a door that you just can't pass by.

We'll be back, Connecticut, and we'll miss you while we are away. But we are going, we are really, really going. Tonight we'll start calling parents, family, and friends, start making arrangements and plans, figuring out the elephant in the room (his name is "HOW"), and reassuring ourselves every few minutes that this is really all going to be OK, despite how terrifying it all is.

P.S. I can't believe this is happening.

It's now been about a month and a half since I wrote the note above, carefully tucking away my feelings until I was ready to share them with the world.  Since then, we have made plans, we have told parents, family, and friends.  Thanks to the unbelievable support of my parents, we have developed a plan to put our current lives on hold, so that we'll be free to pursue what could be the greatest experience of our lives.  To make things more complicated, we've decided to get married before we leave.  We'll walk off the plane in China, hand in hand, husband and wife, ready to face the unknown with enthusiasm and hope. 

Because I can't bear to part from our friends and family completely, I'll be bringing you all with me through this blog.  Stay tuned for stories and photos of our wedding, and then our adventures beyond.  Keep your comments, pictures, and emails coming. Once we've flown the coop they'll be more precious to us than ever!