Perfect Pyramid Proposal

So I have alluded to our engagement, but I haven't told you guys the full story!  Where we last left off with the Pyramid relationship, our trip to Disney World had to be canceled because of Sphinx's job, but things were looking up as he got a new job and our vacation was rescheduled for December - and it just so happened to be the week of our seven-year anniversary.

On Saturday morning, the Pyramids drove down from New Orleans to Orlando, stayed off the grounds that night, and hit up the nearby outlet mall.  I had the greatest luck ever and found a purse in the Kate Spade outlet that had been stalking online for months.  It had gone out of stock on the KS website right when I decided I wanted to buy, and I had found some on ebay but you just never know with that.  But there it was, sitting right in the outlet for me!  Ok, so not entirely relevant to the story but it sure was a sign of a great week to come.  We also got some coordinating shirts at the Disney store and we both got some new kicks.

Showing off the new purse new purse, Keds, and Duck Tales shirt!  Silly Miss P, she thinks the purse is the most exciting souvenir of the trip!

Building Pyramids: One Block at a Time

Alternative post title: Everything Happens for a Reason

As a long time reader on the Bee, I always like to get to know the couples I am reading about and I hope you do too; it puts everything in perspective for us here.  If you don't like this kind of thing, then I've got plenty of wedding planning posts coming up soon!

Where we left off, I was telling you about how Mr. Sphinx and I started dating when I was a senior in high school, after meeting on a trip to Europe.
Most of our relationship has been long distance; we weren't very far away but it did last for several years.  I moved to Baton Rouge, LA, for college for four years, and Sphinx worked in New Orleans.  It's only about an hour apart, but we were limited in how much we were able to see each other.  He got plenty of frequent-driver miles on I-10 over those years, coming up to see me whenever I had a free-ish weekend.  And of course, as a good LSU student I was able to make it work it by getting him some tickets to see his favorite football team play.

Attending LSU games through the years.

How I Met Your Pyramid

I know I may be biased, but I love our "how we met" story.  Sometimes I just start with "We met in Rome," which prompts the question "Wait, he's Italian?" Nope! His hometown is just down the road from mine and we went to the same high school.  See, Mr. Sphinx (yea, we decided on Sphinx!) is four years older than I am, so we were never in school together.  But his sister, BM C, was in high school with me and brought home word that a few teachers were organizing an EF Tours trip*.

Most of our group - that's me and Sphinx on the very left.

Myself and several of my friends signed up for this trip, as it was right before our senior year, so what a great senior trip option!  Sphinx was unable to find any friends to accompany him on the trip but travels to Rome and Athens were enough to convince him to sign up too.  If it involves Caesar, SPQR, the Spartan 300, Alexander the Great, etc., he is all over it - and can probably tell you enough over a beer to write a paper about it.  

Presenting Pyramids

Helloooo Hive!  I can't believe I'm actually writing an introductory post here!  Somebody pinch me, please!

I received the email from Mrs. Mouse while relaxing on my couch after a hardcore kickboxing class, and I totally screamed out loud!  We're lucky the neighbors didn't knock on the door to see if something was wrong.  Mr. Pyramid wasn't home yet, so I nervously went into cleaning mode around the house while bursting into random dance moves of excitement!  When he got home, I shared my exciting news and he let me squeal some more and I was all like...

GIF from Giphy

And then we were all...

GIF from gif database

And that continued for the rest of the night...

So who are these Pyramid people and what's their story?  

At the Orpheus Mardi Gras Ball this year.  There's an evening gown under all those beads./Personal Photo

My First Wedding Nightmare

So I can finally say that, like Miss Filly, I've checked into the bridal brain club - I've had my first wedding nightmare!

While we still have about seven months to the wedding day, in my dream it just was the day with nothing else done besides what we have right now.  I was in my hotel room with BM E and realized that time must have just flown by!  I told them to wear any dress that they wanted, since apparently we never got around to picking out bridesmaids dresses.  While sitting on the bed trying to figure out how time had sped by, I saw the setup crew for the venue unloading boxes of my decorations and looking confused.  Nothing was completed or organized, and some of my chandeliers weren't even assembled yet (oh yea, I got the chandeliers and I'll be sharing them soon!).  I wanted to go rush out there and help put them together, but I was also worried about messing up my nails - hey at least I had those done, right?  Then some weird secret agents from the hotel took me into a bridal backroom store to pick out special cards for my family - it started getting pretty weird from there.

Google "sleeping bride" and this is what you get. Good to know./Source: Science Reflections Wallpaper

Tips for your Tips (Nail Care!)

If I were a superhero, my tragic flaw that ultimately leads to my demise would have to be somehow related to my fingernails.  I'm not exactly sure how my archnemesis would use that against me, but he's probably pretty crafty and can figure something out.  The truth is, I'm a nail biter, nail picker, cuticle harasser, etc., and my nails have always plagued me. For a while in college I would get acrylic french manicures, just so I would have something there, but it destroyed my nail beds, making the problem worse and I really don't like the look on me.  So sometime around the senior year of college (when I was also exploring the great, big world of cosmetics), I found that I was obsessed with nail polish too!

When I got swept up into the hype of buying all these pretty nail polish colors, I realized it was kind of dumb to have six different kinds of griege nail polish, but really crappy nails to paint.  So I did something about it.  My nails are in no way fantastic, but I've figured out some tricks to get them healthier and better looking with a little bit of maintenance and care.   I also do all of my manicures at home to save on time and money.  Since I'll change out my polish 2-3 times a week, it's much easier and cheaper to just do it while watching some TV.

And if you've been neglecting your nails and find that you are hiding your fingertips while showing off your shiny new ring, these tips will help you to put your best hands forward!

I want to start by debunking a myth.  You can have a beautiful manicure without growing your nails long!  So if you have weak nails that always break or a job that requires them to be trimmed back - fear not!  Take a look at this pretty manicure, and her nails aren't even to the edge of her fingertips.  You can see through the sheer polish that she's only got a little bit of the "white" nail grown out.

Or just add glitter - it makes everything better!/Photo credit to Glitter and Nails

So what's the takeaway here? I believe that the keys to a very impressive and polished manicure (pun intended!) are healthy cuticles, a smooth, even edge to the nail, and a nice shiny finish.

Let's Take It There...

Do you remember the instructions given to you in school for a creative writing assignment?
Okay, I was probably a high school junior the last time I did that and I don't fancy myself a writer (Momma P's response to hearing I was accepted as a Bee: "But you're not a writer!" Thanks Ma.) but I still recall the premise.  I know that my teachers would always tell us to start off by writing down words or phrases, just getting all the ideas out there on paper and whittle it down later.

Well, this very non-creative engineer bride was able to apply this idea to wedding planning!

When I was trying to figure out what my inspiration was for wedding decor, I realized I was being too picky and couldn't figure out what I wanted.  Of course I wasn't going to stumble across one picture online that would perfectly sum up what I want, so I applied the creative writing technique!  Anything that appealed to me on Pinterest or other wedding blogs would get saved or pinned.  I didn't stop to question "oh no, how much would that cost?" or "now how would we be able to set that up?" or "does that go with my theme?"  No, none of those idea-squashing questions were allowed!

If you're going to come along with me now, I ask you to suspend your disbelief (and any thoughts of a budget) for a few minutes because I'm going to take it THERE.

Floral and draped altar/Photo via June Bug Weddings/Photo by Alante Photography