Excuse #100 for why I'm not writing

Because I'm getting married.

I know, I know. Excuses, excuses. I know I have to make time and after talking to a supermom who schedules her writing time around her 3-year-old - I know anything's possible.

But sometimes, planning a wedding feels impossible. Girls in serious relationships [mayhaps of a certain age] daydream about The Dress, The Colors, The Location, The Food, so on and so forth. Don't get me wrong - all that stuff is still really, really fun, but, well, there's also:

* The Budget

* The Picking-A-Venue

* The Who's-Gonna-Rent-And-Clean-The-Forks

* The What-Do-You-Mean-I-Have-To-Order-Water-Pitchers?

* The I-Have-To-Buy-A-Ton-Of-Ice

* The I-Wonder-If-I'm-Grown-Up-Enough-To-Handle-Dry-Ice [or any of this for that matter]

* The Cancelling-That-Venue-And-Picking-Another-More-Inclusive-One

* The Restaurant-I-Love-Increasing-Their-Price-To-20k

* The Going-Over-The-Budget, and

* The I-Have-To-Now-Get-A-New-Caterer

Stuff I never daydreamed about. Who knew wedding planning could be so ... not fun?

*breathes*

I am happy to say that after researching over 100 locations and one cancellation, we have a gorgeous venue that me, fiance, and parental units are over-the-moon happy with!! And I don't have to worry about forks and water pitchers anymore!!!! And, after all that was said and done, I got what I wanted all along: a wedding reception at a Sonoma winery.

Next on the list: trying to find a caterer who will make something other than dry chicken with dark brown mushroom sauce.

The fiance and I adore Mexican food, but the taco truck idea was a tad too informal for my mom. Problem is: I can't quite figure out how to make Mexican fancy enough for a sit-down plated menu. Italian is another option, with duck and mastutake ragu raviolis and wild mushroom risotto in small plate form. Then, there's paella.

Visually stunning, comfort-food-like, but also [with seafood] possibly fancy enough.

So this is what I'm doing instead of writing. Reading very many menus and funny words like:

* cambozola mousse

* toybox basil

* chiogga beets