Miss Minty Fresh

I’m not a crazy cat lady.  Truly.  I just like taking pictures on my phone.

I have an iPhone 3GS, and I am continually impressed by the pictures I can take with it.  As long as I have some decent natural light, I’m usually set to take some really great and spontaneous pictures.  In some ways, I’m almost glad that my phone is my only camera (aside from a couple old analog cameras that I pull out only when the mood strikes me), as it allows me to capture life as it happens…no fuss.  A phone is really a true point-and-shoot…no flash, no settings, no nothing, really…just your own take on composition and some simple post-processing in Instagram or PIcasa or iPhoto.  I’ll be glad for this simplicity when the baby arrives, I’m sure.  Though….I still hope we’ll be in a position to spring for that Canon EOS Rebel at some point soon.  =)

Snappily,

Miss Minty

It’s taken me way too long to get around to making this post.

I already posted all these pictures and similar captions on Facebook, but the blog should house them, too!

I posted here about our wedding before.  We of course never ended up having a wedding in the way that one would normally think of having a wedding.  Even people who elope seem to generally put more thought into the details (something new to wear, maybe some flowers) than we did.  We didn’t skimp on the intention, though.  There was plenty of that.

Enjoy.  We did.

En route to Bloomington, Indiana:

We decided to take a before-and-after picture. Here we are before saying our vows:

We said our vows next to the pond at Oliver Winery, home of the incredible and delectable Maximum Port! We have big plans for the bottle we bought on our wedding day; since I can’t drink it right now (sh*t is STRONG) we are planning on cracking it upon coming home with the baby…cupcakes, some wedding port, and…..breastmilk?

Incidentally, it’s across the street from the place where we met each other almost six years ago: Star Hall.

We used the self-uniting license (also called the Quaker license) to be legally wed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the Quaker religion (which is a huge part of Philadelphia history), there are no ministers/preachers/priests/holier-than-thou types, so being wed in the Quaker fashion means that no one needs to preside over your declaration of commitment to make it valid. In our case, no god(s), either. Here I am, about to sign our license:

Here’s my handsome husband, signing our license! It was really a very easy and smooth process. Once it was signed, we mailed it back to City Hall in Philly (specifically, the Orphans Court in the Court of Common Pleas….kind of awful, right?) and they sent it back to us via certified mail:

Here’s our after picture! Newlyweds!

Another “after” picture:

I think he loves me:

Post-ceremony, we hit up a cute little hippie café for…..coconut:

Of course, there was an awesome New Years Eve party at the Sulliman household that evening. It was SOOO hard to not shout our news from the rooftops that night!

And….that’s pretty the story.  We still need to scrape something together to get Ben a wedding band, we aren’t even sure if half of our announcements made it to anyone we sent them to, and I am 95% I won’t be changing my name (having a Classon child on the way has made me slightly second-guess myself on that subject), but we are married…..and…..it’s fantastic.  Mere words really do feel insufficient to describe how I feel to be married to Ben.  With that in mind, I’ll leave it with “I’m so happy.”

Thanks for letting me share our beautiful day with you.

Is it pathetic that I’m already kind of thinking about autumn and winter clothes?  I promise I do sometimes hear the siren song of layers and cozy woolens and no sweat stains as loudly as the next person, but normally I can’t bear to think about the turning of warm weather to cold.  I suppose the promise of having my old body back is already more alluring than going sans socks.

Have you heard of Pinterest?  I have to thank Kerry for getting me into it.  I did a little “window” shopping on the ‘nets tonight (mostly Etsy) and found quite a few things that I’m pretty sure my post-baby body will likely look decent in.  

No accessory can top a sweet baby, though.  The little dude and I have a lot of travel adventures to go on all winter long (visiting baby daddy, who will likely be away for work) and we are going to be mostly inseparable.  One thing, post-birth, I am going to aim for (for my own sanity) is to keep my sense of self intact.  Being a mother is going to change me in many ways, I’m certain, but I am bound and determined to remain myself.  Getting dressed and put together with a little sense of pride might not be easy for a while, but I am going to do my best; I know I’ll feel more like myself if I push through The Big Tired.

Happy weekend,

Miss Minty

I mentioned that I was going to steal mulberries from the various trees on my street.

So I did.  And I recruited a mulberry virgin.  Apparently they are rare in Florida.

He now has ideas for a mulberry-infused wheat beer.  Yay!

The commenter from the first mulberry post indicated that they litter the sidewalk.  Yep.  There’s also purple bird poop under trees and electrical wires.

If you pick some, make sure you don’t wear white….they are juicy!

Miss Minty

This is a list of things I’ll be happily doing next week while home in dear old Philadelphia:

1. seeing my mom (and pouting because my dad will be in South Korea the whole time I’ll be home)

2. visiting my grandparents

3. dog-sitting for the only dogs I could possibly stand living with

4. eating pickles at Varga at 10th and Spruce

5. stocking up on Café Bustelo, vanilla beans, decent-quality cat food, and quinoa…all things that are stupidly expensive (or non-existent) in Toronto

6. watching my Phillies at the bar while talking to friendly strangers

7. speaking of strangers, I’ll enjoy mutual acknowledgement of our shared humanity while walking down the sidewalk….this does NOT happen in Toronto

8. dancing (as long as I haven’t forgotten how)

9. seeing SO many other dear friends (who are all already amazing aunties and uncles)

10. helping to make a world-class event happen

11. frozen spicy chocolate drink thingy at Naked Chocolate

12. eating fruit purchased at Headhouse Farmer’s Market

13. dinner at Local 44 (and maybe a little tiny glass of Festina Peche!)

What did I miss?

Miss Minty

…and a radish:

I grew that,

Miss Minty