Chair cover dilemma

I have the material. It's a relatively simplistic pattern (no complicated features). But I am dreading making chair covers. Why? There are (at least) 100 of them to make.

I like these chair covers the best. They have these adorable pleats in the back that I think will make the cover fit better, especially since the chair legs go out a bit in back. Then, I wouldn't have to account for that. But still... there are 100 of them, and that just ugh...

I suppose I could set things up assembly-line style... cut out 100 chair backs. Cut out 100 chair pads, etc etc etc. But that would just take a LONG TIME.

There are these chair covers online. I suspect they are basically a white sheet, gathered appropriately. They are very tempting, but I think they just look bad. I tell myself that they'd look better with a tie and a sash, but I really don't think so. They look baggy, and they look like they'd catch on chair legs when someone moves the chair or when someone sits down.

So I think I'm going to be stuck making these. Suggestions? I (and B agrees) really want chair covers. The chairs right now are this hideous green pleather round top banquet chairs with gold metal legs. EW. But the work.... Maybe I should just bite the bullet and start.

YAWN.

So tired from this weekend... photos will be posted a bit later (today, tomorrow... sometime).

Friday:
Work till 4 (worked crazily through the week to do this), drove down to Eugene.
Picked up Sweet Life cake (yumm).
Picked up beer cheese Bierstein soup (a B favorite).
Drove to Springfield.
Coordinated with people arriving for party, did not tell B I had left Portland yet.
B arrived-- he was more baffled than surprised.
Party party party
Check Heather into hotel around 11:30.
Sleep.

Saturday:
Sleep in a bit (yay... tho not long enough)
Get Heather
Meet with Katherine for breakfast.
Tour Eugene with Heather and Bob (skinner's butte, columns, old apartments, university, etc)
Show Heather the dress rehearsal dinner spot.
Go to hall to measure it, it had an event, so that was postponed until Sunday
Value Village it up with amazing 50% off discount ($2 skirts and shirts, anyone?)
Swing by Hendrick's park to see Rhododendrons and cherry blossoms.
Stop by for quick North Bank drink to watch the birds and river
Show Heather the church.
Meet with church music director to organize music for wedding.
Go to Market of Choice (Heather: fully impressed and wanted the whole store. And wants to go back).
Go to Safeway.
Go by Amazon and a few other places.
Go to Springfield for dinner and movie.
Drop Heather off at Hotel.

Sunday
Get going... took a while.
Get gas and coffee (Dutch Bros-- yum! and friendly)
Get Heather and check her out of hotel.
Get B's car from Springfield and tape measurer
Measure reception hall and take photos.
Drop B's car off in N. Eugene.
Get Cafe Yumm for lunch (yummmm)
Drive to Hinman/Sylvan Ridge Vineyards to taste/buy
Drive to Sweet Cheeks Vineyards to taste/buy
Drive back to Hinman/Sylvan Ridge for Heather to buy.
Drive to Florence (on coast).
Drive to sand dunes. watch nutjobs try to offroad up sand dunes.
Drive further down sand dunes, park car, hike over dunes to ocean.
Walk down beach for a while.
Drive to Haceta Head & see lighthouse and creek and etc.
Drive to Newport and go to Rogue Brewery.
Eat dinner at brewery.
Stop by distillery and realize their prices were horrendous.
Drive to Florence and then Eugene (missed the darn turnoff to drive to Salem from Newport and then Eugene).
Drop off B, get stuff.
Get gas, see new hospital so Heather can drool over it.
Drive to Portland. Get home at 11:30pm. YAWN.

Very tired.

Helpers

At the beginning of wedding planning, a smart friend of mine, Natalie, gave me this piece of advice: "Don't ask anyone to do anything unless they volunteer their assistance."
I sort of shrugged it off for a bit, but her advice continued to ring true. One by one, people who did not offer their help and whom we asked for help flaked out. A family member. A groomsman. Another family member. Another friend.

But then, one by one our friends and family began to pull through. We kept our mouths quiet, and people began offering help. It's been the most touching thing. One of our friends (Kerry!) offered to help with flowers. Another friend (Tiana) is cutting and folding circles for lanterns and may staple them too. Tiana's been a godsend in many other ways too. Jason is letting B use space and is helping B with a step in the invites. Our friend Jenn is making lanterns with a bunch of petals I gave her. Another friend (Erin!) offered to do wedding invitation addressing (godsend). We've also tortured Jenn with many a fondue recipe at this point too. Our friend Zack is taking the cat monsters while we're at the wedding and on a honeymoon (he's leaving them alone for a day or so when he goes to the wedding). My dad has figured out music rentals and placed the reservation... that's a LOT of faith there... I hope that all works out. B's dad is working on some special gifts and touches for the wedding and sending prototypes this week. My Oma has sent me her recipes. The bridesmaids have all bought their shoes. Friends are emailing offering help.

It's very heartwarming.

I guess what Natalie said is true. It's a wedding, right? It's an event that often needs help, and people should know that. And if they don't offer up help to something they need help for, then they probably can't offer help, so don't ask.

We've re-learned in this process how flakey people can be, and really, it was because we expected something that wasn't offered. So we're adjusting our expectations, and people are really being fantastic. We don't expect help, but we're really touched by those offering up their time, you know?

Things are really getting busy...

There are a lot of projects on the table right now... Thought I'd list the immediate ones, partially for my organization, and partially, well, to post.
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Invitations: B's finishing step 1 of the actual invitations down south; they should be ready to come up by next weekend. We'll work on step 2 and 3 the weekend of 4/3. I'm working on envelopes at home right now, and I'll get the outer envelopes from B this weekend so I can start labeling next week.
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Placemats: 56 have fabric on them, which means another 44 need fabric. We're planning 100 for now, and additional ones can be made if we get more than 100 rsvps. Then, all 100 need ribbon and backing. Goal to get this done: 3 weeks from now.
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Giftboxes: We've done nothing! Well, we have all the supplies. I need to cut and glue paper on to all of them, as well as make the contents. I think the making will occur the weekend of 4/3 because baking can happen while other stuff is happening.
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Registries: Will be finished up the weekend of 4/3. BBB's will take a while though... there's a lot to go through.
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Website: Needs: photos for a few things, hotel information, and registry links and info. I think that's it though!
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Centerpieces: My big project this week and next week during the week. I sit at home and cut and make paper roses. No joke. I made probably about 40 last night and cut probably about 70. Not very productive, especially considering each centerpiece needs about 200 roses. UGH.
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Lanterns: Our friend, Tiana, it cutting circles and folding, B is doing the same. Our friend, Jenn, is stapling and making lanterns. So, while I NEED to staple the petals I have, I have to work on centerpieces the next couple of weeks. Those take greater importance right now.
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Food: I need to do a test-run of the rouladin to double make sure the freezing/thawing process doesn't ruin the integrity of the item. This is more to please my parents than me... I've done this before! Ugh. But I suppose it will make me happy too. Food preparation should begin the first week in May. I figure 1.5 months frozen is an ok time. I plan on freezing the rouladin in gravy so as to keep it moist in the freezer. Spaetzle will be made probably the first week in June.
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Tablecloths: Need to be made. I have the material... but I think I will use the material I have on chair covers first, and then possibly use the remainder or buy thicker material for the tablecloths.
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Chair Covers: Need to be made. ASAP. We will be measuring the hall this weekend, as well as taking detailed measurements of the chairs. Then it will be a matter of cut and sew for me. I need to get these finished soon. Hopefully by mid-April.
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Yellow Lanterns: Haven't even begun to be made. Eek. I figure we'll probably need about 200 of these.... They will be easier than the regular lanterns because these only need to be hung on a vertical strand... but still.
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Hiring Workers: One has been hired, the other 2-3 need to be. This will occur in late April/early May.
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Flowers: Need to be ordered. Probably this weekend. I need to also order other items for the flowers, and that will probably happen online or I will call local florists.... that will probably occur next week.
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Menu Cards: Will occur late-April, once I do a test-run of the rouladin.
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Name Cards: Will occur mid-June, after we've hunted down all the RSVP folks.
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Church Decorations: I think we're going to do all-white. There had been the hope of doing color, but B and I discussed it, and we like the idea of lanterns in the church done in all white. Thign is though, white will show staples more, so we may glue these lanterns. 28 rows, each side, so 56 pews to hang on, times 3 lanterns each = 168 lanterns. I have beautiful white satin ribbon to hang them on. B & I think it will be a nice way to tie the church decorations with the reception decorations
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Dress Rehearsal: I need to fill out the card reserving things. UGH. I keep forgetting. B and I need to decide who will provide the meat... probably a local BBQ place.
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Cake Decorations: I have to get started on these. Maybe a day in the next week or two can be devoted to these....I will probably start after 4/3 weekend because I want to do a few more practice ones and get B's input.
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Rose Droplets: It depends on whether we get the centerpieces done with enough time. I'd like to have 3 rose droplets on the back of each chair at the reception, but if we dont' have time, these will become lanterns instead.
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Table runners: Need to be sewn. This shouldn't be too complicated.
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Wine Glasses: Need to be cleaned (they have logos on them right now... extras from an event) and have charms put on.

There's more, but you get the idea....

China, take III

We're going ahead with possibly getting my grandmother's china. My dad sent a new photo of the set. I LOVE it, and so does B. It's not a definite... my dad has to hint about the idea to my grandmother to make her think it up and think it was her idea.

It's a beautiful set... soup, dinner, bread, salad and saucer plates. Teacups, big salad bowl, sugar and creamer, gravy, and a few other serving pieces too. And SO many memories with this set. It really is perfect. Fingers crossed.

Why I love B

Two-fold today:

1) He knew my phone's battery was dead, but he still called me and left messages so that when my phone finally came on, I'd have them waiting.

2) It was a lot of effort to do part 1 of the registry this weekend, and he was tired. Since BBB has even more stuff, I asked if he wanted me to take the first run at things. He said no... that he had fun last weekend and it was a project he wanted to do with me, not separately.

Freezer, take II

This is it!!
And now, not only will our food be properly stored, but we won't have to worry! And, if we pick too many berries this summer, I won't have only a day or two to can them up before they spoil. :)

Small freezer!

After weeks of hounding craigslist, we have a small chest freezer! Ok, it's actually a side-opening freezer (not a top, chest-freezer), but it's about 3.5-4 cubic square feet, and it was only $20. It works well and everything.

Ok, that's not actually it. Ours is bigger, but you get the idea. I'd take a picture of the actual freezer, but... it's kinda stuck in my car. B's down south right now. The person I bought it from helped me load it, which was an adventure.

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We tried to lay it in the  backseat... 1.5" too big to fit. 

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We tried to put it in the trunk (which I wasn't too happy about because it's raining outside and a 40 minute drive home), but it was 2" too big to fit. 

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So finally, we laid the front seat down and passenger seat down. Then we put the freezer in over both chairs and then rotated it 90 degrees so it would lay flat on the passenger seat. Then we pushed it all the way back (because the way it was was putting my car car in permanent "park" position; I couldn't move the stick), and bungie corded it to the back headrest. B had put recycling plastic containers in the trunk, so I put those trashbags between the dashboard and the freezer, that way it was a bit more of a buffer in case the bungie didn't hold and I had to stop fast. 

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MADE IT HOME! Photos will occur when it is out of the car. Maybe when it's wedged in the car too, because it's kinda impressive. 

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My neighbor is going to help me unload it in the next day or two. I hope it's soon because right now I can't see out of my rearview mirror. Luckily, I take the bus to work!

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But this is so nice, because now we have enough space for everything. I want to make MORE than enough food for everyone, and just a freezer wasn't going to hack it. Granted, we have 2 salads and B's mac and cheese, but still. I want a LOT of food because I'd rather have too much than run out! B agrees. 

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So exciting.

Spaetzle success!

It's been years since I made spaetzle (or Spätzle, depending on if you want to use the umlaut or not) with my grandmother. But, I used her recipe last night and made spaetzle! YUM! Yum yum yum. I could eat a punch bowl of this stuff.

It's basically like 7 eggs and 5 cups flour and 1 cup water. You add more water or more eggs or more flour until it gets a sticky stretchy pancake batter consistency (thank goodness for my kitchenaid mixer!).

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Then, you put ladels of the mixture into a Spatzle press. You can also use a cutting method where you use a knife and wood board and slice rows off into boiling water. This is more time-consuming and difficult. I swiped (well, she's loaned me) my mother's press.You wait like 30 seconds, and then the noodles float to the surface. Pull them out with a slotted spoon and put them in a collander! Voila. You can take a small amount of the boiled ones and pan-fry them too, if you want some to be crispy. That method is delicious, but not as healthy as regular boiling.

But OH SO GOOD!!! And seriously, I made enough to feed about 10 people really easily. This is going to be one of the foods at the wedding, so I'm glad a) that it turned out, and b) that it was as easy as I remember. It should also be noted that these noodles are freezeable, so I can make a bunch and freeze them without concerns.

Dear cheese,

Why must you be so expensive? I long to melt you down and stick bread on sticks and dip and eat, but you are so pricey. The yummiest recipes call for Gruyere and blue and gorgonzola, and especially the Gruyere makes me just cringe at the price tag. Even at costco, land of bargains, you remain $10.49 for 8 ounces. Why oh why?

Gruyere, I know you are merely fancy swiss cheese. Why the hate? Why the lack of love? Why can't you lower yourself down to Cheddar's level and make yourself a bit more middle-class?

Love,

J&B

PS: In case you can't tell, we went to Costco this weekend. Half an hour later after yelling out types and amounts and prices, we had all of Costco's cheeses on a notepad. Some fondue recipes were crushed (due to price), some were elevated. We tried a cheddar beer recipe last night, and that one is likely going on the list as a possibility for yes. Our friend's recipe which involves Gruyere and other expensive cheeses: Likely off. :( Sadness.