Monday, January 31, 2011

Civil Unions Legal in Illinois!

The Civil Union bill was signed by Gov. Quinn today and goes into effect June 1, 2011. I can't wait to be able to perform my first LEGAL civil union ceremony!

It was a long wait, but ...... HOORAY!!!

Friday, January 28, 2011

DIY Wedding Ideas from my Close, Personal Friend, Martha


Okay, she has worn down my resistance. I love Martha!!! I can't help it. I received a subscription to Martha Stewart Living and when it comes in the mail, everything else gets tossed aside. It's like a drug! Now you know my secret shame.

So, I am now compelled to share the latest DIY projects from her wedding website - ideas for spring weddings. My favorites? So glad you asked!

Personalized tea bags - take-home treats for your guests
Flower girl parasols, which could also be for bridesmaids or the bride!
Flowers-to-Go Favor Bags - What are you going to do with all those cut flowers? Let your guest enjoy them at home after the wedding!
Pom-Pom Car Decoration - Seriously, do you really want old gym shoes or rusty cans trailing your car?

See all the spring wedding ideas here. Enjoy - and say hi to Martha for me!






Friday, January 21, 2011

101 Things About Me That You Didn't Know - and Maybe Don't Want to Know

I recently noticed that several people on Facebook have posted "101 Things about Me" and I thought it was a cute idea.
However, I can also see how some folks might thinks it's presumptuous for me to assume that anyone really cares to know anything about me. You're right. So, if you don't want to know anything else about me (and I don't blame you), please feel free to move on. I have many other posts that have absolutely nothing to do with me.
Otherwise, here you go.....

101 Things About Me
  1. I only came up with 66. I didn’t want to bore you to death.
  2. I hate mustard – the smell, the taste, everything. Blah.
  3. I have a huge collection of beads. There’re waiting to be turned into jewelry that I’ll never wear.
  4. I finally officiated a ceremony at Brookfield Zoo – now I want to perform a wedding ceremony at the Shedd Aquarium.
  5. I love Portillo’s hotdogs – topped with tomatoes, pickles, and ketchup. Yes, ketchup. I’m not ashamed.
  6. I had no idea how happy I could be until I met my husband.
  7. I miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We have a poster of the musical episode on our living room wall.
  8. I have two children – a son and a daughter. They are my greatest joy.
  9. Joan Cusack came through my line when I worked at Jewel in college.
  10. I kissed a hermit crab when I was on the beach on Saipan. Don’t ask me why. It was funny at the time.
  11. Even though I was born in Chicago, German was my first language.
  12. I officiated my friend’s wedding on Halloween and all the guests were in costumes. My daughter was the flower-girl, dressed as a witch. It was as fun as it sounds!
  13. Peonies are gorgeous. Even with the ants.
  14. There’s nothing as delicious as homegrown tomatoes.
  15. Megamind was a great movie. I still say "Metrah-city."
  16. I’m addicted to The Tudors. Thank goodness for Netflix.
  17. I have a tiny crush on Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. I have a thing for nerds.
  18. There’s nothing better than ordering a pizza and watching a good movie with my husband and kids. Except maybe when they agree to do a jigsaw puzzle with me.
  19. My desk chair gets mysteriously switched with my husband’s chair at least once a week. This drives me crazy. That could also be why it keeps happening.
  20. I love coloring. Dover coloring books are the best. No one else gets to use my special stash of markers. Or else.
  21. I miss Krispy Kreme’s lemon filled donuts. Why did they leave me??
  22. I like reading comic books & graphic novels. FABLES is my current favorite.
  23. I have never watched American Idol. Or Desperate Housewives.
  24. Typos in signs make me insane. Especially the rampant abuse of the apostrophe. (I really hope there are no typos in what I’ve just written.)
  25. I was so excited when I purchased a food processor last summer. It’s still in the box – with the instructions.
  26. Sun-dried tomatoes make just about everything taste better.
  27. The Office almost never fails to make me laugh out loud.
  28. I am really good at making brownies – from a mix. The secret is adding things. But I can’t tell you what things, or it wouldn’t be a secret.
  29. I like to be the first one to get to the Sunday paper so I can divide up all the sections, get rid of the ads I don’t want, and get first crack at Ask Amy.
  30. Give me a hot beverage and a book store to roam, and I’m a happy camper.
  31. I would love to meet Clarence Darrow. It would help if he were still living.
  32. I don’t care what anyone says, cupcakes are fantastic!
  33. I once drove through Nebraska and knew the words to all the old country songs on the radio. It scared everyone in the car - including me.
  34. I love fresh, juicy peaches in the summer.
  35. In the past year, my favorite books have come from the young adult section of the library. Hunger Games, anyone?
  36. I married a couple on the 4th of July - in my back yard.
  37. I collect Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer figurines, even though Santa, the head elf, and most of the reindeer are all jerks. Still love the movie.
  38. I plan to take a trip with Bead for Life to Uganda within the next five years.
  39. I have a pussy willow tree in my yard named Miss Yvonne. I’m a big fan of Pee Wee’s Playhouse.
  40. I love cephalopods. Who else can change color – and shape – and texture?!
  41. My family celebrates Christmas in July - we even put up the tree.
  42. I really want pet chickens. Just three hens – that’s all I ask. One would be named Henrietta.
  43. I saw U2 in concert in March of 1985. The show ended with the song “One,” which everyone kept singing as we left the arena, even into the parking lot.
  44. I really like cookbooks. But I need pictures of the recipes.
  45. When I was a kid, I had a crush on Speed Racer. Yes, I know he was a cartoon.
  46. April Fool’s Day is great – especially when I can pull off a good prank on my family. One year I made “cupcakes,” which were really little meatloaves topped with colored mashed potatoes. I crack myself up.
  47. I have a dog named Krypto. He has the sweetest “puppy eyes” and floppy ears. It’s impossible not to love him.
  48. My first record (before cds!) was The River by Bruce Springsteen.
  49. When my husband proposed to me, I said, “Yes.” Then I said, “Can we go eat now?” I was really hungry.
  50. I like to break off the ears of chocolate bunnies and dip them in peanut butter.
  51. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies.
  52. I love singing in the car – really loud. Even when the windows are open. Especially to my 80’s/90’s mix tapes. Yes, that’s right – mix tapes.
  53. At a recent wedding, the Best Man commented on my preparedness by calling me the Wedding MacGyver. I like my new title.
  54. My favorite Saturday activity is going to garage sales.
  55. My kids are two of the funniest people I know. Today they made a video of the cats and did voices for them. It cracked me up.
  56. My living room is green and my bathroom is purple.
  57. Peach pie is the best kind of pie.
  58. Oversized mugs are essential for tea. Dainty cups are for the birds!
  59. I used to teach jewelry-making classes at a community college.
  60. Zucchini is delicious!
  61. I love Lego people. I’m dying to get the guy in the gorilla suit.
  62. I once had a groom ask me to begin the ceremony by using a line from The Princess Bride. “Wuv. Twu Wuv” was a big hit with the guests.
  63. You can never have too many pairs of earrings. Or socks.
  64. I can’t fold over the corner of the page to mark my place in a book. It feels wrong.
  65. Band-aids make real and imaginary injuries feel better.
  66. I have the best job in the world!!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Gorgeous wedding pix - Enjoy!


You have to check out this wedding! Fabulous local photographer, Dawn Roscoe, is responsible for the dee-licious photos featured on WeddingWire's blog.

You'll go crazy when you see the purple and yellow gorgeousness!

And be sure to note the bride's purple shoes - LOVE 'em!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Fun Giveaway Entries!


The entries for the AnitaWeds Giveaway have been coming in and I can already tell - it's going to be hard to decide! You creative people out there have some fabulous ideas!

I've seen some amazing personal touches, ranging from a Blackhawks-inspired cake toppers to sugar skulls for a Dia de los Muertos theme. I love it!!

Keep 'em coming, folks! This is so much fun!

Monday, January 3, 2011

AnitaWeds Giveaway Extended - More of "A Few of My Favorite Things"


Due to several requests, I've extended the deadline for entering the AnitaWeds Giveaway - and made the prize even better!

One lucky winner will receive a box filled with A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!

How to enter: Send an email to AnitaWeds@gmail.com with the heading: "A Few of My Favorite Things Entry."

1. In 350 words or less, tell me how your wedding is going to be ALL ABOUT YOU! How will your ceremony reflect your personality? Which of your favorite things will be seen at your reception? I want to know that fabulous, unique details!

2. Include your name,
wedding date, and a way of contacting you (phone # or alternate email) in case you're the lucky winner!

3. Entries must be received by Monday, Jan. 31st. The winner will be notified by email.

This contest is open to all couples having a wedding, commitment, or civil union ceremony in the U.S. this year (2011). By sending an entry, you agree to allow me to publish excerpts from your story on my blog and/or Facebook page.

The winner will be announced here on the AnitaWeds blog on Friday, February 4th!

The prizes of A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS include:
So hurry up and enter now -
I can't wait to hear about your fabulous wedding!





A Stormy Wedding Proposal

Okay, you may have seen this already, since it's already a year old, but I'm a sucker for a marriage proposal! My husband saw this on TYWKIWDBI and I just had to share.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Lara & Joe's Wild Wedding!

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of Lara & Joe's fabulous wedding this past October at Brookfield Zoo.

Besides getting to marry another librarian (some of my favorite people are librarians!), I finally had the opportunity to do a zoo wedding!! How cool is that?

Seriously, I LOVE Brookfield Zoo (and librarians), and every time I went to the zoo with my kids I would say, "I really want to do a wedding here." My wish came true!!!

But, what made it even better was the fact that Lara and Joe are so nice - and fun! I had a great time working on their ceremony. I even managed to use one of my favorite quotes, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: While they’re riding up in the glass elevator, Willie Wonka says to Charlie, "Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted…..
He lived happily ever after."

They also incorporated a handfasting in the ceremony, which is one of my favorite rituals.

Of course, the surroundings were nothing less than amazing. The ceremony took place in front of the Roosevelt Fountain, which is home to pelicans rescued from the Gulf of Mexico. A beautiful setting!

Cocktail hour was in The Swamp, where guests could mingle amongst the river otters and alligators. So cool!

My favorite part? Lara's dad giving me the new title of Priestess.

Be sure to click here to see the gorgeous pictures by their great photographer from r3 multimedia group.