1) Well, my mom and her fiance have picked a wedding date. (I know – they don’t waste time, do they?) They’ll be married on October 11, 2014 on Clearwater Beach. I am SO excited! I will be the maid of honor and I honestly have no idea what that entails or what I need to do. I’ve been Googling like crazy for beach wedding packages and venues and trying to figure things out. They want something small and intimate, with just close family members and a few friends. And now… I have 10 months to lose 50 lbs so I can look amazing in my dress! Let’s do this!
2) So let’s talk Scandal, shall we? I have never watched this show, until a few weeks ago when I decided to download the pilot episode on my iPad. And now I am hooked. I flew through the first season and I’m working my way through the second season and I’m just in complete unabashed love with this show. It is really, really good and all I can think about is when I can watch the next episode. My thoughts so far: Huck is my favorite character with Quinn a close second, I think Mellie is kickass and I kinda love her even though I feel like I shouldn’t, Fitz is a putz and I kinda don’t love him even though I feel like I should, and Olivia is just plain awesome and dazzling and wonderful and scary. We’ll see how my feelings change throughout this second season.
3) My mom and I have been talking seriously about quitting cable. Right now, we pay around $164 for a digital cable with two DVR boxes + a high-speed Internet combo. If we keep the high-speed Internet and then add Netflix and Hulu+ accounts, that brings us down to $68 a month, which is a much nicer price, wouldn’t you say? Almost 60% cheaper! My only qualm with quitting cable is what to do when football season is back, but I figure there has to be a solution for this and I have until September to figure it out. (We wouldn’t get rid of cable until after the Superbowl.) But it just makes so much sense to go this route. We’d definitely order a Roku box so we can stream to our TV and we both have tablets so we can watch on there if we want, too. Here’s my question: should I go the Netflix & Hulu+ route, or just stick with Hulu+? (I wouldn’t just do Netflix, because I would need current TV shows. And I’m not terribly concerned about a great movie selection.) And if you have a Roku (or whatever you use to stream to your TV), how do you like it?
4) This past weekend, I saw my dad again. My mom and I were in the car and leaving Target and my dad biked past us going the opposite way. He was pretty far away so I know he didn’t see us, but it was still so startling. Every time I see him, I just remember that he still exists. He’s still here and his face is so familiar and I can still hear him laugh and say my name… but at the same time, he’s not here. He’s gone. He’s left. He was a toxic force in my life and I had to exorcise him from my life. It’s just weird because it’s what I want but then I don’t. I just want to have a dad again. Especially because I can have a dad when so many others can’t. I wish things were different. I wish he was different and I was different and we both knew how to have a functioning relationship but we didn’t and we don’t and I just couldn’t do it anymore. Deep breaths. I still hold so much hope we can one day have a relationship. I still have hope he will walk me down the aisle and I’ll be able to tell him I love him again. There’s always that hope.
5) On a happier note, I have a full weekend planned! Tonight, I am attending a farewell dinner for one of my book club friends at The Cheesecake Factory. (She’s moving to Texas and I am basically devastated because I love this girl and was hoping to become closer to her this year.) (Also, I have never been to The Cheesecake Factory. Never!) Then, on Saturday, I am going on a brunch date and later, my brother is coming over to watch the NFL playoff games. On Sunday, I need to get the headlights in my car replaced (oh, fun) and then my brother is coming over again for the games. I’ll be rooting for the Saints, Colts, Niners, and Broncos this weekend. It should be a great weekend for football!
We both did 5 on Friday posts today. 🙂 That is exciting that your mom set her wedding date! A beach wedding will be so awesome! I have been a MOH twice and it’s definitely a special experience to have that role. It wasn’t too different from my times being a bridesmaid, besides having responsibility for planning a bach party and giving a speech at the wedding.
Wow, that is a lot to pay for cable so I can see why you are exploring your options! My apt building picks up the cost of cable (it’s built into my rent) so I just have to pay for a DVR and then my cable internet. I had the same set up in Minneapolis, too, but my DVR in Mpls was only $9/month!! So when I first moved here, I did not have a DVR because I couldn’t handle spending $50/month on it, but i caved this summer as some of my favorite shows weren’t available online. Hope you come up with a solution that works for you guys!
Jerry and I go the Roku route ourselves. I miss cable, but it saves us so much money (like $100 a month!). We have two Roku boxes, high speed internet, Hulu Plus, and Netflix. We use Netflix way more than Hulu because it is much more user friendly and we like to watch the whole season of shows. Netflix has tons of shows, just past seasons. Hulu is good for keeping up on current seasons of shows basically but they usually just have the 4 newest episodes or so. With Netflix, you can binge watch whole shows. 😀
Oh an October wedding. Yay! Mine was October 5th! You will be a great maid of honor!
I quit cable about 2 years ago and don’t regret it at all. In terms of deciding what services to do for streaming, I’d make a list of the shows you watch and find out how they are available to view. I don’t watch any current TV shows really so I decided Hulu wasn’t for me and just do Netflix because I’ m mostly a TV watcher. Also some TV shows are streaming on their network websites too and you can often connect that to your TV too if you don’t want to watch on a computer screen. If you want local over the air channels ( ABC, NBC, etc.) you can get an antenna. I have one & get a few channels which I mostly use for watching local news and weather. You can check out http://www.antennaweb.org/ which you can put your address in and it will tell you what strength antenna to get and what channels should come in strongest.
We got rid of a cable about 2 years ago and never looked back. We have both Hulu and Netflix. I like Netflix because Hulu usually only has one season of a show so if I want to go back and rewatch New Girl, for instance, I use Netflix to watch the older seasons. Plus it has the Wonder Years so, ya know…We have both a Roku and a Chromecast. I have to say, I like the Chromecast 100 times better. It doesn’t see to have as much interruption from other signals or have problems ever (the Roku can be a bit finnicky). If we want to watch a particular game, we just go to a sports bar or hope it’s on cable. We aren’t huge into sports though. During baseball season, John buys some Cardinals all access pass thing on his computer and we stream the games from the tablet using the Chromecast.
I hate you for mentioning the Cheesecake Factory. Now I will not rest until I get my hands on an Incredible Eggplant Sandwich. It’s, you guessed it, incredible.
How exciting for your mom and her man! And I just know you’ll be the best maid of honor ever!
You’ve never been to The Cheesecake Factory? That’s so funny to me because Chris and I go there all the time. (He LOVES cheesecake.) If you need a cheesecake suggestion, try the Reese’s, Oreo, or s’more. All so good!
Have a great weekend, lady!
I just recently quit cable and I have found that I can definitely live without it! We have a Roku in my bedroom and my blu-ray player in the living room, and they can both pick up the Netflix and Hulu Plus subscriptions. It has DEFINITELY saved me a ton of money!
Clearly I have a lot of feelings about SCANDAL because IT’S MY FAVORITE AND WELCOME TO THE CLUB.
Okay, calming down now. But really. I binge watched that show and I’ve rewatched episodes and it’s just so good.
& hurray for a fun weekend! Happy friday!
A friend of mine had an October wedding a couple years ago and it was SO pretty! The fall colours make for a gorgeous backdrop 🙂
My husband and I didn’t waste time setting a date either when we got engaged. It happened in mid-November 2011 and we were married in early June 2012! But lucky for you, low-key weddings are the easiest to plan in short time frames!
Unlimited internet is finally here, so now we have that and no longer pay for TV.
Mellie is my fave. She is one BAMF.
Keen to hear what you think of season 3. I’m not a big fan, it’s getting outlandish, but I’m still hooked.
After the break up, I no longer have cable. I discovered Scandal on Netflix end of December but am just JUMPING out of my skin waiting for season 3 to get on Netflix.
That’s a huge savings on cable!
So happy that you get to be your mom’s maid of honor. REALLY LITERALLY AN HONOR.
I’m sorry you spotted your dad. I’m sure it felt like an emotional bomb. Hugs and love to you.
I have SO been wanting to watch Scandal! Everyone raves and raves about it, and especially working in PR, I think I’d probably like it. Looks like I need to start watching.
How exciting that a date is set for your mom’s wedding! You’ll be a fabulous MOH!
The main thing I’ve seen a MOH do that I thought made them really good is someone who has everything the bride will need – lip gloss, tissues, mints, water, etc. When my friend got married, her younger sister always had EXACTLY what she needed, almost before she could even ask for it. Other than that, it’s all about planning the shower and bachelorette party. So fun!
I am really enjoying Scandal too! I am halfway through the second season (whoa that is a LONG season) and it is getting better and better. It took me a few episodes to get into it though.
I’m actually not 100% sold on Olivia. Some of the stuff she does annoys me. I really like Abby and Harrison though and I think they should get together!
I don’t get cable – just the basic ten channels + internet and I pay $70 a month. I asked about dropping cable completely and just having internet but that was going to cost even more! It’s nuts what the cable companies get away with.
The wedding date is sooooo close!! My God. That must be so startling to randomly see your dad like that. Just when you stop thinking about it, he comes up again. It’s sad, but it was necessary at this time in your life. Who knows what the future holds?!