Joe Bob, get ready for some new pants!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered. You’ll note that there are 28 comments and my random generator only goes to number 26 – two of those 28 comments were duplicates due to my inability to handle html comments, apparently. Well done, Self!

Happy weekend, all!!!

There are a lot of things that I can’t say, or say very well, at the moment. The things I can say sometimes feel stuck behind the things I can’t. It’s almost as though my ability to not be a social cretin has been plugged up by the things I can’t say. But there are a few things that I can articulate.

1. Tomorrow is my honey-love’s birthday, and friends, I have become the worst birthday planner OF ALL TIME. I went to buy his gift on Friday, and the store was out of them. I went today, and they still haven’t come in. I know exactly what I’m giving him, and I am not willing to substitute… so I handmade him a certificate. This is lame. At least I am making beer-braised short ribs, and a cake. Right??? Erm…

2. I have some totally spectacular friends. Despite the fact that all I seem to talk about lately is ME! ME! ME!, my friends haven’t stopped speaking to me.

3. I have realized that I often think of money as “the enemy.” I feel like money is something to be attacked, and beaten into submission. This was a strange realization, and I’m still not sure whether it is a good, bad, or indifferent thing.

4. My future Brother in Law and his wife arrived this morning, and are staying for a week. While I know many people would be dreading a visit from any form of in-law, I’m pretty pumped. They are lovely houseguests, and good friends, and we have the best time with them. I honestly wish they lived here full-time.

5. This evening, I am meeting a dear, dear friend for cocktails, and also to talk work stuff. Although this is technically work-related, I am so beyond relieved and excited to go see my friend. I’m terrible at making time for people these days. I feel like I should work on that.

First, don’t forget to enter the giveaway! You have until Friday!

A few oldies-but-goodies that are getting me through this crazy Monday morning:

Every year, I fail at blogging in July. Last year I wrote something like seven entries. Same story the year before. This year, I promised myself that I wouldn’t drop off the face of the earth.

Yeah, about that…

Anyway.

A few weeks ago, Brand About Town sent me a gorgeous faded denim jacket from The Gap. You may well be wondering why there is no photo of me sporting this fine piece of attire. The answer is simple, friends: It is FIFTY FIVE FREAKING DEGREES in San Francisco, which means that the wool coat has been taken off its two-week spot on the bench. Come September, when summer finally arrives in this fair city, you’ll see pictures. This jacket is great! The denim is soft and thin, just how summer denim should be, and the cut is spot-on. Gap apparently released an entire line of faded denim this summer. I say “apparently,” because AGAIN: FIFTY FIVE DEGREES. Ahem.

The best part of my little gift from the Gap, though, is that I once again have the pleasure of passing a little bit of the fun on to you. Sitting on my desk next to me is one final “pants certificate.” This little paper, worth well over its weight in denim, will be sent out to one lucky person. Want to be the winner? Here’s the scoop:

In the comments below, I want you to tell me your favorite thing about July. For an additional entry, submit a second comment containing a photo of your favorite July-related moment (just paste the html into the comments box). For one more entry, tweet about this giveaway including a link and the tag #bywpants, then come back here and tell me that you did it. That’s three possible entries!

You have until next Friday, July 30. And maybe, possibly, potentially, I might write another entry by then. But you know, breaking my own low-post record has its merits, too.

GET TO IT, FOLKS! And good luck!

Disclosure: I received this jacket for free, courtesy of Brand About Town. I think I said that effectively in the post, but… you know. Just in case it wasn’t clear, and someone legal is interested. It was free, yo.

Well, friends, since last we spoke I have flown across the country twice, eaten a lot of pork, and moved my wedding location 3,000 miles.

Yes, yes, I know that you really want to know about the pork, but I’m going to tell you about the wedding.

Newsflash: planning your entire wedding from 3,000 miles away? Difficult. Really, really freaking difficult, and also fraught with the perils of knowing very few vendors. If you, like me, find yourself in the position of working at a cathedral, being a performing classical musician, and knowing the a battalion of organic farmers in one region, please do yourself the following favor: go ahead and just plan your wedding in that region. Do not – I repeat, DO NOT – attempt to plan your wedding 3,000 miles from that region. It will lead only to turmoil.

All of which is to say… HEY! I MOVED MY WEDDING TO SAN FRANCISCO!

Believe me, this is far less insane than it sounds. The amount of legitimate work that had been done on the wedding up to this point has been minimal, really. I’ve been digging in my heels, refusing to admit that my “dream country wedding” was a pain in the booty. Now that I’ve surrendered to the world of logic, things are feeling much more doable.

There’s so much more to say on this subject, but really it all comes down to what my dad said, when I sheepishly suggested that perhaps San Francisco was a better idea.

“Why is this a question???”