Date Night on a Budget

Weddings are expensive.  Relationships are still important. What's a girl on a budget to do? Restaurant.com is my newest find.  It's not entirely free as my tag implies, but it is a deal.  I was watching the News in Chicago and they had a report on the site's efforts to market restaurants in this troubled economy.  Currently they're running a special for 70% off gift certificates.  For example, you'd pay $10 for $25 certificate and right now it's $3.  You have to read through each offer to make sure it suits your dining out desires....but overall, a pretty sweet deal.  We found certificates to our favorite Chicago hot spots. Chocolate, Delicious, Deleece, Kaze, Mrs. Murphy's Bistro (not so much a hot spot, but a neighborhood favorite...)  Enter promo code: THANKS for the special discount. Not sure when it expires, so get moving on it, okay? 

Oh Adobe, How do I love thee?

Thanks to my buddy, RJ, I have a link to all kinds of fun brush strokes for Adobe. You can download a variety of swirls, floral and block prints to embellish your stationary. I am going to play around with a few things and post the results.

In other news, I recently visited I Do I Do bridal shop on North Damen in Chicago. It's a trip. The store smells a little funky. I can't quite place the scent...it's kind of like a lot of body odor and mustiness from an attic. The couple who owns the place is hilarious but not funny ha-ha, more like funny are-you-for-real-around-brides-to-be? The lady runs the show and her husband kind of does what she says. They're not the traditional sales personalities, they follow you around and insist that they handle the merchandise. There are signs every few feet to indicate that they want to preserve the quality of the merchandise to perfection for the 'right bride' to enjoy. It's weird. Almost like it should have been a part of Seinfeld. If you know what you want, you can find it, but browsing isn't recommended. They have beautiful tiaras, headpieces, and jewelry. They also have favor tags, place card holders, favor boxes. It is a great place to find little gifts for your bridesmaids and she has a TON of ideas for you. There's a whole corner of ring bearer pillows, unity candles and stationary like you wouldn't believe. I am just probably too OCD to enjoy the store the way one should. I might take my dress with me next time to pick out jewelry. One fun tip of the day, she's got a bunch of stuff on sale (potentially discontinued) on line at www.ido-ido.cathysexpress.com through the end of the year.

FREE Templates

Click on the title link to find a list of downloadable templates by Minneapolis based Russell & Hazel. They make a FABULOUS wedding binder (retails for $75) and you can download the lists for FREE. They've thought of every list you haven't even thought of making yet. How fun is that?