Wedding Notes

Brace yourself: When you hit your 20's, you go to a lot of weddings!

I love weddings! I love trying to catch the bouquet and eating delicious wedding cake! I love the sweet toasts and how radiant the brides always look. I love smelling the flowers and always tear up a little during the father-daughter dance. I love seeing my guy friends in suits--they look so dashing. I love the Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble songs. Weddings rock!

I've never given a ton of thought into planning my wedding. Many of my girlfriends have had their color schemes picked out since they were five, known what kind of flowers they want, subscribe to bridal magazines, and have already narrowed down venues in their heads. Not me.

I want a simple wedding. I'm not entirely sure what that means because weddings are significant events and require a lot of planning, but I know I will not ever care about what font the name cards are typed in (I mean, unless it's Papyrus) or to which degree of transparency that little sheet needs to be that goes over the invitations. Now that I think about it, why is that even there, anyway?

There are two things I think would be cool, though. The first is that I'd love for the song Yellow by Coldplay to somehow be incorporated into the night. Coldplay is one of my favorite bands and Yellow was the first song of theirs that I heard. The lyrics make my heart ache and always remind me of how loved I am by Jesus (...for you I'd bleed myself dry...). Maybe I'll walk down the aisle to it someday. Who knows?

The other thing I thought would be really cool is centerpieces of stacks of books. I went to a wedding earlier this year, and these were at all the dinner tables. If my future husband is on board, we'll copy this idea.

Oh, and I really don't want to dance at my wedding (or, ever), but I'll just have to get over it, I suppose.

That is all...

Water IS Best

I love Diet Coke. It's so delicious and refreshing. And Coke is so American. How can you not love a glass of Coke with a slice of pizza, a big plastic $5 cup of Diet Coke at a ballgame with peanuts, or a frosted glass of soda served with lime to accompany your chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant? I mean, what else would you even order?!

It was only when I realized I craved soda after a workout or super late at night that I thought, "Hmm, this is not healthy." I decided that for the month of June, a month full of baseball and barbecues, I would challenge myself to not drink any soda.

So I haven't had any soda since May 31st. I've been drinking a lot of iced teas (Bagels and Brew's is delicious!) and a ton of water, and although it hasn't even been that long, I notice the difference in my overall health. My muscles feel less fatigued when I work out, I just feel better, and my skin even looks healthier. I'm hesitant to say I won't ever touch the stuff again, but I certainly won't ever return to the habit of daily soda drinking.

I took this picture of the Temperance statue when I visited Bath in 2008--a city known for the healing qualities of its mineraled water. I should have listened to it...water really is best!!

Summer = Here

With sunscreen slathered and sold-out tickets in hand, my brother and I kept a Birle sibling tradition alive on Saturday as we braved the crowds and heat at KROQ’s annual Weenie Roast. An all-day outdoor rock concert with an awesome lineup of 10+ bands is always a great way to start summer.

This was our fourth Weenie Roast. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate enough to see some great performances by the Strokes, Beastie Boys, Bad Religion, Velvet Revolver, the Hives, Modest Mouse, The Killers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Kings of Leon, and Weezer, to name a few. My brother and I don’t have too many overlapping interests (He doesn’t read Jane Austen or watch Disney movies—can you believe that guy?!), so it’s great to be able to spend a day together and enjoy a lot of the bands that provided the soundtrack to our high school and college years.

I must admit that I have to kind of psych myself up into going to the Weenie Roast. It can be a taxing environment at times. Alcohol and profanity flow freely, and my close proximity to illegal substances definitely challenges my comfort! Oh, and someone spilled beer on my TOMS this year, so that was awesome.

On a high note (figuratively—well, for me, anyway…), there was much less Ed Hardy clothing worn this year, the crowd was downright friendly, and the bands were awesome. I was pleasantly surprised by Paramore’s energetic performance and Spoon’s great set. It was so fun to see Devo perform “Whip It” with their Energy Dome hats, and to see Courtney Love—she seemed sober and much more put-together than I anticipated. But Scott Weiland and the Stone Temple Pilots were definitely the stand-out performers. Scott is quite a showman! I had such a fun day, and I can’t wait to go back next year!

Thoughts

A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts.

--Joshua Reynolds

Sans Tans

Will anyone join me in embracing aristocratic pallor this summer, and perhaps bringing back parasols? Come on...it's a viable trend! Plus, we'll have the last laugh in about fifty years, and without laugh lines and leathery cancer skin, too!

To all you perfectly sun-kissed beachgoers, smugly glistening in the summer sunshine while I drench my pasty Irish-German skin with gobs of sunscreen...good riddance!