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The Details
Theme: Laid-back, simple, intimate, secular. Cheap 
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Hey hive, just dropping in to share what I think is an OMG-so-cool moment. Let me set the scene. It’s a half-past-the-crack-of-dawn this Friday AM and I’m barely awake. I’m churning away on our stationary bike as I do most mornings before work, and flipping through my Google Reader app on my phone. Almost 2 years after our wedding, I still follow our wedding photographer’s blog…and this morning when I reached her lastest post, I was so shocked I nearly stopped peddling.
Because look!
[Source: Shawna Noel Photography blog]
Two years ago today, I joined the hive. My schtick? I was a blogger from the middle of nowhere, planning a very intimate wedding for under $1000. (Here’s what was actually spent, by the way.)
I showed you our proposal and my ring and later, his ring too.
I’m popping in again because I’m so excited to share this with you…
Our wedding album has arrived (and only 18 months after the wedding!). A really long time ago, I blogged about how in love we were with the $1000 (or +) albums offered through our photographer. They were amazing. Seriously amazing.
But after the wedding was over and we were thinking about albums (well, mostly I was thinking about albums…), I decided that an album like that probably wasn’t right for us. My reasoning? I wanted to include our wedding, our cake cutting (which was in our home and had no pro photographer), our family/friends picnic reception (which was on a different day and also had no pro photographer), and our honeymoon (which of course had no pro photog tagging along!). In addition, I’ve also cropped, retouched, and otherwise edited a lot of the professional wedding photos after receiving them from the photographer. Don’t get me wrong: Shawna and Kory did an excellent job editing the photos. But I have personal preferences (can we call them “hang ups?”) when it come to pictures of me, so I put in a bit of time making the photos look exactly how I wanted them.
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Recently, I spent several minutes convincing my husband to spend a large chunk of money on a component for a home theater system. Me, the girl who is generally content with the single, garbly built in speaker on her cell phone. Why would I want Mr. Mary Jane to waste his money on something so unnecessary? (Completely unnecessary because um, we already own a decent component; this was simply an upgrade.)
Let’s explore this topic.
I don’t know about you, but I spend money on myself on a regular basis (and I don’t even consider myself to be a shopper). But I buy handbags (even though I have perfectly good ones in my closet at home). I buy shoes. I buy makeup and hair products. I get my hair cut at a nice salon. I get it colored. I get manicures once in a while. Unless you are truly strapped for money (and even if you are), you probably spend money on yourself in at least some of these same ways. And you probably do this while also contributing to any savings or debt reduction plans you may have decided to follow. Do you ask your significant other before you buy that cute Kate Spade bag from TJ Maxx? (I mean, you can’t not buy it at 40% off, right?!) Does your fiance have any idea how much your latest cut and highlights cost? (We can try to convince ourselves this is a necessary, but we know it isn’t.)
To give this funny little money post some background: I frequently see posts on the boards (and on some of the blogs I follow) about women’s money frustrations with their significant others. The situation is usually something like this:
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Hey hive, what’s up? I know I’m very married now (firmly in my second year) and my recaps are over, but I still have a few more posts for you before I really say goodbye. The other day, for example, I was painting my nails and it occurred to me: I have a lot of knowledge and experience on the subject. Maybe I ought to share! Consider this post to be a culmination of my personal experiences, articles read in magazines and books, internet research, tutorial-watching, and learned-from mistakes. (Hint: that means this post is pretty long.)
You see: I may be terrible at makeup and just so-so with hair-styling, but I’m really, really good at painting nails. I’ve been doing it since age 11. I think my mom let me do it because she thought it’d curb my nail-biting habit. (But it didn’t.) I’ve painted friends’ nails for proms, weddings, etc. Swimmers on rival teams in high school used to call me ’the nail polish girl’ because my toes were always painted up wild for the meets. I’m the girl who hates to spend $5 on an eyeliner pencil (let alone $20+), but I own probably $300 worth of nail polish. I have curbed the habit (for the sake of practicality and storage space) in recent years, but I used to pick up a snazzy new color every time I went to the store.
If I had a beauty shrine, it’d look like this.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Hey ladies! I’m back* with a contribution to the latest series.
So uh, I was a pseudo-hippie in high school.
I love this post because it addresses something I see all too-often among ’waiting’ girlfriends. We get so impatient, so focused on that ring and that wedding day, that things get ugly. We might even have our beloved fiances-to-be wondering if they REALLY want to propose to such crazy women! Wedding days come and go, but your relationship is what matters. Stay solid!
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I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I may have gotten a little obsessed with the impending engagement between the time that I helped pick out the ring and when Mr. Mary Jane chose to give it to me.
It wasn’t the ring itself that I wanted. I mean, of course I wanted the ring, in its beautiful sparkly gorgeousness… but what I wanted more than anything was to be engaged (and then married) to Mr. Mary Jane. We were so close. Sooooo close. And I was SO ready for the next step.
I tried to be a mature, compassionate adult about the whole thing. I convinced myself that I found it sweet that Mr. MJ wanted to be traditional about the proposal. He is, after all, a door-opening, coat-taking, heavy-stuff-carrying gentleman. It was nice of him to include me in the ring-picking process, which I enjoyed very much. I would let him do this himself, on his own time.
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What follows might be the longest post I have ever written for Weddingbee. That’s because I don’t want to leave anything out. If you’re considering this resort for your honeymoon, I want you to have all the facts. (At least, the facts based on our experience.) I haven’t been paid or influenced to write this review of the resort. This is just ’how I saw it’.
You should note that there are a lot of minor little snafus mentioned in this post.
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In Part 1, I summarized our trip. Now it’s time to talk about food. I love food. Even though I feel like I’m in a perpetual state of junk food –> diet –> junk food –> diet, I still really love me some food.
The Secrets Wild Orchid and St. James complex had five ’formal’ dining restaurants:
We had assumed that these restaurants offered different selections throughout the day but as it turns out, they are only open for dinner (and dinner starts at 6:00 PM; I’ll get back to that in a minute).
The formal dining restaurants were only open for dinner, so first let me tell you about the others.
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We’re back from our belated Jamaica honeymoon, where we stayed at the fabulous Secrets Wild Orchid resort. And that means it’s time for… honeymoon recaps!
In thinking about my recaps, I’ve decided to write three big posts. The first one will discuss our trip as a whole. The next one will be about the food and restaurants at the resort. And finally, the last one will give my ’formal’ review of the resort*.
Let’s get started, shall we?
Getting There and Getting Settled
Mr. Mary Jane and I woke up at the ass-crack of before-dawn on July 1. Before 5, we were on our way to Fargo to catch our first flight (which was scheduled to depart at 7 AM). We were sleepy, but excited. The day we’d been waiting for had arrived!! At about 6:15 I cheerfully strode into the airport — dragging our luggage behind me — only to be yelled at (yes, yelled) at by the gate agent.
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Well, it took a little longer than I thought between Part 1 and Part 2. Sorry! In Part 1, I discussed some of the things Mr. Mary Jane and I were doing to prepare ourselves for the possible snafus that might prevent us from fully enjoying our upcoming honeymoon trip to Secrets Wild Orchid in Jamaica. Now, I want to tell you about some of the things we’re bringing, and why.
For several weeks, one corner of our bedroom has looked like this.
That thing on the left is our portable rolling air-conditioner/dehumidifier. Please ignore it. It is not coming to Jamaica with us (though I’m sure Mr. MJ wouldn’t mind some extra cooling power on our tropical trip).
This is our trip stuff.
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Hi gals! I’m kind of back! At least… for a few posts. Because soon, Mr. Mary Jane and I will finally be taking our honeymoon! And I know you’ll want to be hearing about that — especially since we’re planning to visit a brand-spanking-new resort in Jamaica.
[source]
Now, here’s the thing.
Like I said, the Secrets Wild Orchid/St. James resort is new. It opened in late March and while the approval rating is going up steadily, most reviews are still so-so. I’ve been monitoring message boards, Facebook, and Trip Advisor since opening day, and I have seen a few trends that have left me feeling a wee bit unsettled.
The continuing trends seem to be:
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Howdy hive, how have you been? I’ve been busy with school and work and school and… well, you get the picture. Mr. Mary Jane and I are still totally stoked for our Jamaica honeymoon, coming up in just a few short months.
Anyway, I finally figured that — with wedding season upon us — I ought to take a moment to show you a little DIY project I finished up several weeks back.
Mr. Mary Jane and I did not have a guestbook at our wedding. It’s not hard to remember the names of our parents and brothers, so there was no need! There was a piece of paper laid out at our picnic reception, but I don’t think many people signed it. (And I never saw it. Maybe my MIL has it?) Anyway, the point is: we did not have a guestbook.
We did, however, have no shortage of “congratulations” from others. As people heard the news of our wedding, we received dozens upon dozens of beautiful cards, letters and notes in the weeks surrounding our wedding day. I saved them all, determined to preserve them in some way.
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We chose Secrets! A few days ago, we Mary Janes booked our honeymoon to Secrets Wild Orchid in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
We’re used to this…
(My photo of one of Grand Forks’ major intersections on a windy day)
But we think we could get used to this!
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Mrs. Mary Jane, Grand Forks, ND Age and Occupation: 26, Instructional Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Lead Programmer Engagement Date: February 28, 2009 Wedding Date: September 2009 Venue: City Hall About Me: I'm a career woman on the surface and a homemaker at heart. I love fast cars and high heels, and my favorite food is cake. Mr. Mary Jane and I are both full-time employees and students, and we just bought our first house. We love to curl up on the couch with buttery popcorn, Sour Patch Kids, and the latest Netflix arrival -- whenever we can get a break from everyday life.
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