Getting Creative

Did you watch the video? If you haven't trust me, you wanna. It's freakin' sweet.

With weddings, jobs, and unemployment on my mind constantly, it's no wonder that I am becoming more creative than I have ever been before. With the wedding, I want it to be as suh-weet as the one in the video with our own twists and turns. With unemployment, I'm having to get creative as to where to find money in my life. (Trust me, I've looked for the bunny in the top hat... I keep coming up with zilch.) And of course, with the job market, I'm having to get creative as to what I'm looking for.

It's no secret that I had my dream job. Ski industry? check. Media? check. Cool people? check. Web? check. So now, any job I look for (unless it is the same) won't be as great. It took a while to come to terms with that, but now I'm okay with it and eating humble pie.

Sure, I'll take that executive assistant job. Yes I'll work for that hippy company. Nannying? Why not. Freelancing? Hell yes. It's time to get creative, and while I don't have a soundtrack like these people, I am sure trying hard.

Another Wedding? Sheesh!

The problem with being one of the first people to get married among your friends is trying to set the bar high. The problem with getting married among wedding aficionados (people that go to weddings like it's their job) is making it unique enough to not have it fade away in their memory. Funny enough, I have both problems.

Not that it is an issue. Long ago I thought I wanted to be a wedding planner. I was planning events like crazy and loved it - not knowing that weddings were a whole other beast. So setting the bar high is kind of turning into my goal. Not that I am trying to compete with my wedding, I just want to make it so unique and so fun for our guests that we'll hear how much people appreciated it for years to come. Just because I have a ton of friends that get married later on, doesn't mean that I'll try to slip things by hoping they won't remember. We are planning this thing like it's the last wedding on earth.

Which leads to my other problem in trying to make it unique. I have a few friends that go to 8,9,or 10 weddings a summer. They are sick of seeing the standard fare and want something different. While I am not willing to forgo all traditions and some things will be the same as everyone else, we are adding in enough pizazz that I think people will be surprised at every corner. Yes, I will have a white strapless dress. Yes, I do have a solitaire engagement ring. Yes, my dad will walk me down the aisle. But I am getting married on a dude ranch for goodness' sake, so I think our guests will be happy especially my pro-wedding guest friends.

These problems aren't problems at all. I am taking these "challenges" as ways of making our friends and family more and more welcomed to the ranch, we are putting more and more effort into small projects that probably most people won't notice, and we are loving our wedding more and more everyday. It helps that I am unemployed, of course, but I'm enjoying it.

Living the Freelance Life

I faced a hard decision when I got laid off. Follow my heart and spend the summer enjoying the sun, traveling, and wedding planning. Be responsible and start severely looking for my next career move. Or I could find a way to support myself and take some time off.

My decision wasn't really made by me; more it kind of presented itself. After I got laid off I probably sent out 150 emails to my entire rolodex asking if anyone knew of any rocking opportunities. Not surprisingly, not many did, or at least not in my area. So, a few kind an pitying souls offered me something else.

Acquaintances Rick at SAM Magazine (Ski Area Management) and Brad at SkiCoupons.com offered to give me some writing projects for their respective mediums. Which is pretty funny, considering I haven't ever really been known for my writing skills and I haven't really written much in two years. I never really consider my writing a skill, as I feel everyone should know how to write, I guess not everyone does though.

Anyhow, the problem now isn't the lack of things to do or write, its actually having the discipline to get them done. My SAM article is due July 15 and the articles for SkiCoupons are due as I write them, which means I am slacking hard core. I've never claimed to be very disciplined on my own; this is the reason I don't know how to play an instrument or know another language. I've never even taken an online class or anything. I know I need to go somewhere to get something done. Thus, I've never really considered freelancing as a permanent gig.

Although the life of a freelancer is appealing (especially once I become a mom), it's not something I really want to do forever, which makes it perfect until I find a job I love after the wedding.

For now, I'll take any kindness anyone can offer. I love when (almost) strangers reach out. I also love having the time to get everything else done that I love.

**Nerd Alert** 'Cause I'm FREE.... Freelancing!

There's a reason DIY could be pronounced DIE

In the world of weddings, if you don't make it personal, your wedding will suck.

Okay, maybe not completely, but after reading such wonderful blogs and forums like Weddingbee and Snippet & Ink, I want to make everything in the wedding myself. Wonderful thoughts of calligraphy classes and hand-made favors come to my head. Although, I keep getting knocked down by the harsh reality that these talents don't suddenly appear when you get a rock on your finger.

Recently, I have been pitched in an epic battle of woman vs. printer. I really wanted to do the "I didn't pay for calligraphy but it looks like it" look (my inspiration is here) but my printer doesn't seem to agree. I'll get it perfectly set up on the computer and then someone drops the ball. Envelope size? check. Font bought? check. Font color? check. Print example? NO WAY.

It seems that my old mac and Mr. Snow's old printer don't want to get along. Maybe one cheated on the other a while ago (I blame the mac) but that doesn't mean they should hold grudges, right? My nerves are frazzled so Mr. Snow is on the case.

Any tips on how to make beautiful invitations have matching beautiful envelopes without breaking the bank?

One job down: Dog sitter Extraordinaire

In my hunt for identity and a career, I now know something I DON'T want to do.

I'm watching my friends' dog Rossi this weekend while they are off doing some wedding planning of their own. This dog is adorable. All 70 pounds of him. He's only seven months old so he's got a good way to go as well. I love him dearly, but having him and my crazy companion Bode around is WAY too much to handle.

They love to wrestle, dig, and generally cause a ruckus. I seriously know what kind of mom I'm going to be like now. The one that kind of ignores the temper tantrum going on in the super market because it's just simpler. Yeah, that's probably not that great of an idea, but I don't care.

But on the other hand, I haven't stopped laughing since he got here on Thursday. Like, for example, yesterday when Rossi got highgrounded on Bode and had his feet dangling off of him for three minutes when Bode tried to figure out what was going on. I couldn't get to a camera in time, but trust me, it was hilarious.

So I know now I can at least rule out a career as a dog sitter or walker or anything. I need some calm parts in my life and I don't think either of those jobs is conducive to that. I would, however, totally be willling to work to champion for dogs for a humane society or something. Got any great ideas for me?

The invitations are here!

I'm busy contacting my rolodex today on the job hunt, so I've gotta keep this short and sweet.

Yesterday was a Wedding Planning Bonanza. I picked up some necessary chicken cutlets for the boobs (or lack thereof), picked up the invitations, and had my first dress fitting. I have a secret: I think the invites are my favorite.

Why? Because they highlight my wonderful fiance's artwork.

This is what our guests will see when they crack open the wonderful folio.



Ain't he crazy talented?

He drew our Save-the-Date as well. A lot of people asked me where we got the clipart of a redheaded bride, which is pretty funny.


We are also using several other "friendors" (vendors that are friends) for our wedding. I'll tell you about those in another post. Whaddya think of Mr. Snow's awesome artwork?

All you need is... Softball?

I'm a terrible softball player. While this may come as a shock to some of you (Why Morgan, you are normally so graceful and athletic, I would have thought you would have had a full ride to college! Ha!), to others this is just part of my charm.

I am looking for a job everywhere. I've emailed my friends and family, will be contacting my rolodex, and frequent Craigslist often. I play on a softball team with a few ex-work friends and some non-work friends. Of course, I network there and now bug my new friends for openings at their companies. (Sorry to those of you on my team that are reading this!)

While it's a bonus that I have the ability to network with a wide variety of young professionals through this team, it's more just the blast that I have with them that I appreciate.

Having an hour a two a week to think about things completely unrelated to my unemployment is a blessing. These people don't care if I am a bum. They care if I can hit a ball. (Which I can't, so I don't really know why they keep me around.) Plus they are such a great group of people to be around, it's just a fun event that I get to go to when rain doesn't ruin it.

I really think that my friends and family are the most wonderful things in the entire world. When I got home from my softball game tonight, I was welcomed by two incredibly sweet notes from friends of mine offering their support and love. What could be better than that?

Who cares if I don't have a job. I have friends, family, and softball. Suh-weet.