Resolutions

Today, Laid-Back Bride was anything but. (At least it wasn't wedding-related stress...)

It was my second day back at work after vacation, and oh, what a fabulously shit-tastic day it was. I could just about feel the bile churning around in my innards this afternoon, singeing my stomach. The kind of day that makes me want to curl up in the recliner after work with some liquid therapy and too many cookies and melt my brain staring at the frivolously large TV for a few hours.

But today, I am pleased to report, I did none of the above. I had my usual stockpile of excuses for not going to the gym: It's cold outside. I'm hungry. I'm sleep-deprived. My lungs hurt. It's after 6 p.m. - I won't be able to get my favorite elliptical machine at the Y. I made myself go anyway, and I stayed on the (not-favorite) elliptical for the whole damn hour, until all my anger had burned up and evaporated. 

Then, I came home and ate a late dinner of an orange, a big leafy green salad with homemade mustard vinaigrette, and beef stew I made in the crock pot yesterday with mixed vegetables. No cookies, no weeknight drinking, no TV. Instead, I sat down to devour a new book and float along on endorphins and the ethereal music of Broadcast in the background. It has been a glorious evening.

New book, you ask? Yes, on Day 37 of my Buy Nothing Year, I kind of maybe violated my resolution to not buy any nonconsumable material goods until after the wedding. My Sierra Club wall calendar ($6.94) and copy of Meg Keene's A Practical Wedding: Creative Ideas for Planning a Beautiful, Affordable and Meaningful Celebration ($11 with my discount card) arrived from Barnes & Noble today. But really, as splurges go, I think these are small and well-founded. I'm 94 pages into the book already, and reading Meg Keene is like seeing the voice in my head transcribed. I am SO GLAD to see this sane alternative to the Wedding Industrial Complex and hear real advice from other brides who share my wedding philosophy! So far, my favorite part is that she gives you permission to skip all those "Things that Must Be Done or everyone will be Horribly Offended" that I consider extraneous and unnecessary for our purposes - three-course meal service with waiters, aisle runners, favors, embossed invitations addressed with calligraphy ... 

How about I file this one under "Necessary Wedding Expense," so it's not technically breaking my resolution.