renewed social life / surprise bridal shower / first yoga class / css website
sheesh, it's been almost a month. i've been so neglectful since i've had so much going on lately, especially regarding the wedding. with exactly one month and one day to go, things have been getting really hectic and crazy.

but in addition to wedding craziness, i've really been enjoying myself socially lately. i'm much more willing to hang out nowdays instead of being lazy and shutting myself inside, and it's been so fun! i've gone duckpin bowling with some new friends to celebrate hattie's birthday, attended a video game party at another new friend's place (loved that hot pizza dip, byron), and put together a lovely roast dinner for our good friend jacob since we hadn't seen him in a while. we also introduced him to boggle, my favorite "board" game, and played until our eyes couldn't see anymore.

two weeks ago cory's parents came down to take care of a ton of wedding stuff with cory and me. after we got home and were ready to send them off, cory's parents totally surprised me with a bridal shower! cory's aunt and uncle even came up from virginia for it. i was completely floored. we got a ton of great gifts, mostly for the kitchen, which is great. aunt sue caught me off guard with a super sentimental gift: she crocheted this beautiful blue doily for me using a pattern that her grandmother had taught her, and she used her great-grandmother's crochet hook to make it. what touched me the most was that a photo of aunt sue with her grandmother was included with the doily, and i totally lost it when i saw that. it was so touching and flattering. here's a good sequence that documents my reaction:







i am so going to be crying my eyes out at the wedding.

exercise has never been a priority in my life. i bike to work three times a week but i don't count that since it's only a fifteen minute bike ride. so it's big news when i can say that i attended my first ever yoga class yesterday. after talking to kat and whit about never having gone to a yoga class before, they inspired to try it out...so i did. and it was awesome. i am sore in so many places i didn't know i could be sore in. it was the beginner yoga class at charm city yoga in midtown. there are four different beginner yoga classes throughout the week so i'm planning on going at least once or twice a week. it felt amazing to be sweating my butt off in a room with other students, learning poses, making mistakes and sweating buckets alongside me.

i presented my css website yesterday in class. i got extremely good feedback and, i'll have to admit, their praise gave me a (temporarily) HUGE ego boost. it's a dangerous feeling to have, but dammit, it felt good. since i have a design background i am a little more ahead than the others, so i think that's why they were going somewhat nuts. anyway, check it out! warning: the navigation doesn't work. i just wanted to show what it would look like if it did have navigational links (we were just suppose to design a single page website. our final website will have to have at least five pages). there are still a few things i need to fix/add, but i'll get to that another time.

there is going to be so much stuff happening within the next month. i get excited when i look at my calendar and see everything that's planned. my life is starting to feel a little different, in a good way. i've been eating healthier, going to bed earlier, working and thinking harder, filling up my schedule with more fun events and becoming a bit more balanced overall. i've been doing a lot of positive things for myself lately in order to prepare for this wedding and it's been really nice. i'll have to keep up with it even after the wedding is over and done with.