Steampunk!

Already I know a bunch of you are going, "huh?" Steampunk?
That's right; we finally made at least one major decision about having a wedding, and we settled on something we're really excited about: Steampunk. For those of you who are unaware of Steampunk as a genre, culture, art, or fashion trend, I encourage you to take a look at these websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk
http://steampunkculture.com/
I've been enamored with Steampunk culture since the first time I really encountered it at Burning Man. In 2007 there was a fantastic Steampunk tree house with an eerie steam whistle out on the open playa. Russell was also introduced to Steampunk art and fashion out at the Burn, and we've both really enjoyed it. Upon further reflection, we realized that a lot of our movie and literature preferences also fell into the Steampunk category. Russell, for instance, really enjoys the anime series FullMetal Alchemist, and we both enjoyed the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman (the first movie of which has already been released: The Golden Compass).
In my case the clothing style is really inspiring; it's got all the romance of Victorian style, with the quirky attraction of DIY upcycling of found materials like gears and clockwork. A broad color palette and a variety of sub-categories make it so flexible in its details. We could take it in a vaudevillian/circus direction, or a post-apocalyptic flavor, or perhaps airship pirate style...
This got me thinking hard about some of the ideas we already had, such as renting a beach house and (possibly) doing the ceremony at the aquarium. How could Steampunk fit in with an easy-breezy beach wedding? The two things didn't seem to fit together well at all. In fact, I had been ruminating on the Steampunk theme idea for a few days without mentioning it, because I had a feeling that Russell would be all for it and I wasn't sure I was ready to commit to it! But I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I said "We could go steampunk" to Russell and that was pretty much that. Now we just have to put it together.
We watched this video (Thanks, StumbleUpon.com, for throwing this one at me): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfJ2xa9nzmw
and it gave me a genius idea and the connecting thread I'd needed: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. One of the iconic examples of early Steampunk, Jules Verne, with an obvious under-sea theme. Perfect for a wedding in an aquarium. And allows for a lot of great images for use in jewelry and on invites... I, for one, am excited.
This is also a huge costuming challenge for me in every way I adore. I'm still in the collecting info stage, but my research so far has been sooo inspiring and fun. I'm about to embark on a major DIY adventure - I intend on doing a lot with feathers, gears, keys, and nautical/sea creature motifs in everything from my bouquet to headpieces. We may even get Steampunk rings, just to be fun.
It's not going to be a normal wedding, but we knew that from the start, I suppose.
We're still trying to make final decisions and settle on dates and places and things, and obviously we've got some time if we're planning on doing this in May 2011. However, the aquarium does get booked up, so we have to move relatively soon. The original date we chose isn't available - but the next day is, which is also Orion's first birthday. We're not sure if we want to double dip like that, but it could happen.
The artwork I've included here is an image I discovered while Google searching ideas, and is attributed to an artist by the name of Lone Momo from the website http://www.hunterbonyun.com/web/about.html - I definitely recommend you take a look at the portfolio - so many fantastic images and great character ideas, with a lot of Steampunk flavor throughout. I'm using it as a basis for my inspiration for the design... And now I'm off to do some sketching! Ahh, inspiration!

So Much Music, So Little Time (and money)

Russell and I both love music, especially when it's presented in festival format. There is something so special about being sequestered away from 'reality' or 'the default world', surrounded by other like-minded people (read: hippies), and inundated with great music for several days straight. Personally, spending a weekend at a festival makes me feel more alive, more myself, energized in a way I just can't get any other way. It's like being a kid again!
Some festivals, like the Lake Eden Arts Festival and the Shakori Hills Grassroots festival, are super kid-friendly, especially because they're both smaller and NC-based. I grew up going to music fests; indeed, LEAF is in large parts responsible for who I am today. I so look forward to introducing Orion to the festival world of fun clothes and play-all-day music and new friends. I know he will enjoy it as much as we do!
In the meantime, though, we've missed all the spring festivals this year. I can honestly say this is the first time in nearly 20 years that I have attended not one festival during the spring season, when they are happening almost every weekend all over the East Coast. Orion is a worthy reason for the festival attendance drought, but I still really miss them and envy my friends who report back on various bands' sets, etc. I also just adore my time with Russell at the fests, since he's such a great travel partner and we have an excellent time together. It's one of the many ways that we are clearly made for each other.
I think my true goal/dream in life is to travel around from spring to fall, hitting every festival possible along the way, supporting myself by vending cool clothes and then hibernating/sewing all winter. It could happen...
To go along with my nostalgic mood today, I've included a photo of us from the Rothbury Festival 2009 (easily the best big music festival currently occurring in the U.S.).
Can't wait till next year - see you there!

Another Shout-Out to the Glam-Moms!

I just wanted to share with you this wonderful project that Jo Ann, Russell's mom, has taken on. She is a quilter, and like most folks who sew she has gathered a wealth of fabric, some of it too small to really be used in another project. Like me, (and most others) she has a hard time tossing it out - and now has found a great use for it.
Jo Ann makes teddy bears - cute, simple, little bears - and donates them to the Orange County/Chapel Hill EMT/Ambulance teams to stock in the emergency vehicles. When a kid has to ride in the ambulance, either because they are hurt or accompanying an adult who is, they get a bear to hold and take home. As an adult who is absolutely not ashamed to admit that I still have my teddy bear (given to me by my best friend Nicole for my seventh birthday) and keep him by the bed, I think it's amazing what Jo Ann's work does for these kids. A bear to hold can be a very comforting thing during traumatic times.
She's made quite a number of them already, and they are now included on the official supply re-stocking lists used by the response teams.
Apparently she's even saved a few for Orion to play with when he's at her house - he's a lucky boy!
And I know how much the kids out there benefit from her bears, and I think it's really special that she does this for them.

Turtle World

Life in the microcosm known as our fish tank continues to develop! Toodeloo, our Red Eared Slider turtle, is noticeably growing. She has also become quite accustomed to us and will swim to the front of the tank when we open the hatch. She knows who feeds her, that's for sure! She is great at making eye contact, even, and will smile up at us as we drop the food in.
The tank does get dirty rather quickly, so we have to keep up with cleaning it regularly. We've also had a problem with algae springing up in the past few days, so Russell gave the tank a good cleaning. Sadly, when he was relocating the fish to a temporary home in a vase, one of the tiny neon tetras chose a bad time to bail on the net and got crushed. We were bummed about that, especially because his little buddy seemed very forlorn without his twin companion.
This clearly occasioned a trip to the pet store, where we picked up two more tetras and a Plecostomus, an algae-eating fish. We now have three blue and red neons, two orange neons, a silver tetra (by far the biggest and fattest fish of the bunch - he even eats the turtle food!) and Toodeloo.
We're aware of the fact that Toodeloo may at some point decide that the fish we got to keep her company are better used as snacks, but at the moment she's too little to catch them. Hopefully that will continue for a while, because turtles are actually quite social animals and I don't want her to get lonely in there. If it were legal to sell turtles as pets in NC, I'd pick up another baby to keep her company, but so far I haven't seen any other baby turtles in need of a home.
Some years ago I actually bought two Red Eared Sliders for a friend who had always wanted pet turtles. I knew she'd been looking for them and was frustrated by the NC ban on turtles. Florida, however, had no such law at the time and I was surprised to find a kiosk in the middle of the mall full of super-cute quarter-sized baby turtles. I called her, confirmed her turtle desires were still in tact, and bought two. They lived in a tiny plastic tank in a Victoria's Secret bag from St. Petersburg back to Chatham County, in and out of hotels and fast food joints the whole long road trip home. I gave them exercise on an upturned frisbee in the car... Hilarious. The last time I saw them, they were both huge and doing well. I hope that Toodeloo grows up big and stays with us for a while. They can live to be around 40 years old, so she could be part of Orion's life for a while.
In order to give her better shell-health, we got a better full-spectrum bulb for the tank, which she seems to enjoy. She hangs out on the 'basking shell' we built for her a good part of the day, and is no longer so shy that she slides into the water if we get close. She likes to do a funny move where she stretches all her limbs out away from the shell, so that her shell is balanced on the high ground and everything gets plenty of 'sun'. We call it 'turtle yoga'!
I still find having the tank in the house very relaxing. The stream of the filter supplies some nice water white noise, which I enjoy when I'm dozing during mid-day naps with Orion. It's also very soothing to sit and watch the fish - Russell even likes to hold Orion up to look at the tank. He does look, but at this point I think it's mostly just the color and light that attracts him. Regardless, I think we all benefit from our little underwater world.

Orion the Socialite

This photo is a good example of how attention-getting our little man was last night; folks at nearby tables are clearly looking at him and Russell!

Orion's Big Night Out

Weaver Street Market is an excellent little natural foods co-op in Carrboro, which is sort of like a conjoined twin with a slightly different personality to Chapel Hill. The Weave, as we affectionately call it, has a nice lawn out front and they host a music shindig on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. We finally managed to get out of the house and to the happenings last night, and we were really glad that we did.
Not only did we see a lot of our friends, but we also met quite a few new folks. Turns out having a cute little baby makes one particularly popular, and folks were coming up to us all night to meet Orion. He was quite the little star!
We also got some good time in with Kevin, my dad, and he was quite the proud grandpa, carrying Orion around and introducing him to his many friends at The Weave.
Orion, of course, managed to sleep through almost the entire evening of live outdoor music, dinner, and conversation (part of the reason I ended up awake with him most of the night, I suppose). Music seems to lull him and he's just not at all perturbed by people. I even nursed him for a very short while out on the lawn, but he didn't stay up long for that before conking back out.
Russell and I felt really good about getting out of the house for a while and getting so much social time in. We hatched plans with some of our friends to get together and do some art and sewing projects, which I am looking forward to, of course! There's always so much stuff to be made, and I sure have a wealth of stuff to make stuff with! Speaking of which, I may try to do some sewing today if the little man will let me, but it's really always up to him!

Progress...

It's funny how, in life, things seem to stall out for a time and then will suddenly develop in leaps and bounds.
That is of course the way of it with childhood development and growth. Orion, for instance, has been experiencing a growth spurt recently and has been eating like a little piggy. He's 'filled out' quite nicely and has been awake and alert more and more often. His sight is also rapidly improving and he gazes a things that catch his eye in complete wonder. He seems to really like the star lamp in our bedroom and the prayer flags in our living room best of all.
Then there's the type of progress that refers to organizing and planning, etc. We have two major things we need to accomplish; the most immediate of which is getting my car fixed. I have a bad wheel bearing, a blown head gasket, and may as well replace the timing belt since the engine has to be removed to fix the head gasket. The local auto place quoted the job at about $2,500 for all three repairs - the amount would be hard for me to handle if I were working, which I'm not, so my poor car has just been sitting idle. We hatched a plan to take it to my old hometown mechanic in Siler City, who would hopefully give us a better price, and would allow me to apply for a NAPA card (which has a one-year no interest deal). We still were going to wait until I was back at work to do that, however, as we'd have to start making payments right away and that was still out of our budget. However, while we were waiting to enact these plans, our good friend John recommended a friend of his who does auto repair work on the side. Danny quoted the head gasket job at $800-$1,000, roughly $700 less than the place we to her initially. Obviously this is a good route to go - and on top of that my dad offered to help us pay for it, so now we're in business and I may actually have my car back soon! This thrills me to no end, as being stuck in the house all day has made me pretty stir-crazy. And anyone who knows me well knows how much I love to travel and that I enjoy driving in general. Plus I adore my Subaru and hate to see her out of commission!
We've also made some great progress as far as wedding planning is concerned. We've been engaged since early March, but as of a few days ago we hadn't managed to pick a date or even a season. Folks keep asking us when we're getting married, and we've been explaining that with having a baby, wedding plans were set aside. But now I'm spending a lot of time just hanging out at home with Orion, and could actually accomplish a certain amount of planning from my couch via the 'net... But we still were having a lot of trouble settling on any kind of idea. Granted we've got the time, as it's just not possible financially for us to get married in 2010, not to mention a bit too much to pull together with a newborn in the house as well. After much discussion and idea proposals, we decided that we definitely wanted to have a beach wedding, we just weren't sure which beach or what it would look like. I stumbled on the idea of having the ceremony at one of the NC Aquariums, focusing first on the one at Fort Fisher, which is the only location I've ever been to. But then Kevin, the wonder-dad (and now proud grandpa), put me in touch with a friend of his who owns a beach house on Emerald Isle. Said house is only eight miles from the Pine Knoll Shores aquarium. Some dates in May seem like they will work well for all involved, and Austin even offered us a deal on the rental. Couple that with Kevin's quite generous offer to help us pay for the house rental, and suddenly our ideas are coming to fruition! Though we haven't settled on anything just yet, we have the beginnings of a great wedding plan here that also includes a beach vacation and Orion's first birthday. I like that, as it will allow for our families to celebrate with us as well! So it's possible that we'll be at Emerald Isle from May 18-25, the wedding would likely be Saturday the 21st, Orion's birthday is Sunday the 22nd, and Kevin's birthday is the 24th - a stellar week and plenty of reasons to celebrate!
I, for one, am glad to have an idea - even if it's not the one we ultimately go with. It was stressing me out a little bit that we just had no clue what to do, although Russell assured me that we'd figure out just the right thing for us. He was right - and I always appreciate his confidence when it comes to stuff like this. There are a lot of reasons that I'm excited to marry him, and that's what's important anyway!