Bearded.

Josiah: "Do you want me bearded or not bearded for the wedding?"
Celeste: "Did you really just ask me that?"
Josiah: "Just making sure."

Suiting

One of the benefits of having a really attractive future spouse is that I don't have to worry about him looking good at our wedding.

Girls have to worry about lots of BS:

"This color washes me out."

"You can see my cellulite dimples through this ill-fitting satin."

"My boobs are falling out."

Josiah, on the other hand, could wear anything and look hotttt (middle-school throwback).

The day after Christmas, I made Jo join me to register for presents at the mall. We decided to have him measured at J. Crew, then stop next door at Banana Republic to try on some suiting.

And holy shit. I felt sinful, he looked so good. I am now worried about being one-upped by his handsomeness at the wedding. I don't think that's allowed.

Anyway, the only concern for Jo is that since he's so slender, he needs a slim-fitting suit. Luckily for him, every hip brand in the world these days make clothes for men like Jo. I like it.

We're thinking of doing a charcoal suit with a white shirt and green tie.

The J. Crew Ludlow suit:

Banana Republic Monogram:

Some randoms:

Five years

Well, five years ago today, Josiah told me he loved me. It's been a great five years and I couldn't be more excited for the future.

For your entertainment, here are some glorious pictures of Josiah and I over the years.

Early spring 2005?

Summer 2005

Spring 2006

December 2007

May 2008

October 2008

May 2009

June 2009

I am the ultimate delegator.

OK, so Josiah is a busy person. I am a busy person too ... but not as busy, so I tend to get more done than Josiah. Anyway, he is a high school English teacher and is going to graduate school at ASU for his Master's in English literature. Consequently, his contributions to wedding planning have been less than amazing, but it hasn't been his fault (mostly).

But. Being a teacher and a student, he is one of those lucky assholes who gets a winter break. What kind of 24-year-old still gets winter break? So jealous.

Any time I have asked him to do anything ("Let's go register!" "Can you try on suits?" "When are you going to create a wedding playlist?"), he pushes it off until winter break.

Now that winter break is quickly approaching, I am hereby creating Josiah's Winter Break Wedding To-Do List.

1. Search the Internet for men's wedding fashion.
2. Go to Banana Republic and J. Crew to try on suiting.
3. Develop plan for groomsmen's outfits.
4. Come with me to Target and Crate and Barrel to register for gifts.
5. Gather songs and create a preliminary playlist for the wedding.
6. Find someone to man the iPod/laptop music situation.
7. Order wedding rings.
8. Find birth certificate and apply for passport.
9. Make a decision on the honeymoon location so we can book a flight.

Hopefully we can cross at least half of those things off the last by January 2.

Five years

So, five years ago today Josiah and I met at Barnes and Noble for our first "date." We chatted over Italian sodas and I fell in love. Not kidding.

Here's an e-mail I wrote a friend, dated Nov. 19, 2004:

a few weeks ago i started hanging out with this kid josiah. but alas,
josiah is a special one. when i switched to my present high school
the second semester of freshman year, i think i fell in love with this
kid. amazingly gorgeous. i was so interested in him, in general, but
the whole two years he went there (graduated two years ago) i never
said a word to him. and even the past year and a half--i see him
everywhere. maybe you've noticed about half of my lj update's
subjects as "OMG I SAW JOSIAH TODAY OMG OMG OMG!!!# !v 3."

luckily he's still around and we have mutual friends. somehow things
got around and he found out about my everlasting crush. and what do
you know, it was the same for him.

needless to say, we've been hanging out more and more. he is one of
the most amazing and gorgeous (can i not find two better words or
something?) people i've met so far.

sadly, he's been pretty sick the past week and we haven't gotten to hang out.

i thnk something great is going to happen though.

We're on our way to fall in love.

I remember a summer's day
I remember walking up to you
I remember my face turned red
I remember staring at my feet
I remember before we met
I remember sitting next to you
I remember pretending I wasn't looking

When Josiah and I met at Barnes and Noble on Nov. 3, 2004, he handed me a burned copy of “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” by Yo La Tengo. It was his favorite CD, he said. It still is.

It was appropriate. I was initially drawn to him because I knew he listened to the same music as me. It sounds shallow, but that’s a big selling point for indie hipsters. You know, we just “get” each other. Zack Horne brought me up when meeting Josiah at a Microphones concert at the Modified. Our first date was a Delgados concert at the Clubhouse, back when it was like 10 square feet.

I remember driving home from Barnes and Noble, and stumbling upon track two “Our Way to Fall,” while pulling into my neighborhood. It instantly struck me.

A couple months prior, I was at Barnes and Noble (cut me some slack, it was the only cool place in Goodyear) with my good friend Mia and her brother Bo. We were hanging out at a four-person table when I heard a faintly familiar voice and looked up at the fourth person joining us at our table: Josiah. I can only imagine the panic clouding my mind as I instantly looked away and tried not to freak out. I have a feeling I did a poor job.

This was a common occurrence during my few interactions with Josiah pre-November 2005. Whether in the Millennium High School cafeteria or outside of Mrs. Sveom’s class where I had homeroom the last period of freshman year, my reaction was always the same.

I remember pretending I wasn’t looking.

Needless to say, I could relate to “Our Way to Fall.” I tend to be a superficial music listener. I don’t pay much attention to lyrics or delve into songs, but how could I not pay attention to this anthem of embarrassment and eventually love?

In the past five years, Josiah and I have probably attended 100 concerts. Our most anticipated one is coming up a week from today: Yo La Tengo. They haven’t played in Arizona for years and we fear this may be the band’s last hurrah (they’ve been together for like 20 years). We are both incredibly excited to see this concert and I know we won’t be disappointed.

Josiah’s main contribution to the wedding planning is the music. I’ve given him the task of compiling the music that will truly set the tone for our event, including mingling music, what I walk down the aisle to and reception tunes. This portion of the wedding is so incredibly important to us, and I wouldn’t trust anyone else.

I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

P.S. - In an upcoming post I'll include some of our favorite tunes that we plan on including in our playlist.

I remember a summer's day...

I'm getting married. Not sure when. Not sure where. Not sure to who. Just kidding.

Josiah and I "met" in January of 2002. I was 14 and he was an older man of 16. He had black, plastic-rimmed glasses and wore black band T-shirts, just like me. I knew we were perfect for each other. I would see him in the halls of Millennium High School with his emo friends. Truth be told, I was his emo princess. He says my "Cheer Up Emo Kid" backpack patch "spoke to him."

Years passed and I had yet to say a word to him (barring when I interviewed him for the school paper). I continued being really girly, walking certain ways to class because I knew his friends hung out by the vending machines (so cool). I drew a heart around his junior year picture in the yearbook. I awkwardly sneaked around Blockbuster when I saw him walk in, only to run to the corner and call my best friend Megan. Looking back, I'm somewhat embarrassed, but not really. I'd probably act the same now!

In October of 2004, I received an unexpected instant message from my recently ex-boyfriend/good friend Zack. Our AIM exchange went like this:

"So I went to a Mt. Eerie concert and saw Josiah."

"..." (me being nervous over the Internet)

"Yeah, I told him you were in love with him."

"bad words!!!"

"He said he was interested in you."

"I hate you."

Considering Zack hadn't spoken with me for a couple months after I broke his heart (kidding about breaking the heart, not about the silent treatment), I thought he was just being a jerk. Turns out, for the first time ever, he wasn't!

After some gutsy contact via Livejournal, Josiah and I started e-mailing ... then phone conversing ... then meeting at Barnes and Noble on the fateful Wednesday evening of Nov. 3, 2004.

And now we're getting married.

It's about damn time. (Thanks Zack.)