Our procrastination and foot dragging has been rewarded. Big time.
If you ran into me this week, I likely spilled forth a soliloquy on the subject so, for you, this is oh-so-yesterday’s newsflash, but for the virgin ears: We found a site for our wedding! Or, I should say, it found us! I’m not kidding; it was like the stars aligned…and shone their luck down on us like laser beams.
Image source, Rachel Schulz
Remember how I said I was in molasses-mode about planning our September holy-cow-that’s-3 1/2-months-away wedding?
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Image via Dynamite Weddings
Well, the other day, something magical happened. But it didn’t start out that magical. It started with a simple walk. My mom had stopped over to walk my dog, Lilo, with me. My usual walk is up a steep hill, and down, and then up again, and back, but my mom was feeling tired, so she suggested somewhere flatter, shorter, different. Get that? This is example Number One of “What were the odds?”
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I’ve only taken this short route two other times, (in the nine months since JB and I moved here), so, not only was it highly unusual that I would be there, but I almost never run into anyone on my walks, so it was highly unusual that anyone else would be there, either. But, low and behold, we spotted a couple. (Hint: This is the, “It was fate!” detail number 2.)
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A couple I recognized as two fun and friendly people I helped pick floors for about three years ago. I remember they had a very neat, arty house. And that they liked seagrass and wool carpet. And that was about it. I mean, come on, that was three years ago.
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So we quickly caught up. Their house had burned down (ohhhh!) been rebuilt (ohhhh?) and they had just moved back in the week before (ohhhh!). (Last and third coincidence: Since they’d only just moved back into the neighborhood, we would NOT have been able to run into one another, until now.) Ooh eee ooh = the sound of destiny unfolding.
Image via The Frosted Petticoat
I shared that my fiancee’ and I had bought a house–which turns out is only a few blocks from theirs–back in September. (More “Ohhhh’s”, but, from them, this time.) When the wife asked me the date of the wedding, I think she looked a little stricken when I said, “September,” but even more so when I added I was still looking for a location. And then these words passed her lips, “We have a house!” and I’m sure I looked whatever the opposite of stricken is. (Gleeful!)
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This house to which she referred, did she mean the newly built one they had just finished explaining is all glass and metal (no more of that flammable material called wood!) and nothing short of amazing? Yes, she did. “Call us!” she said and I floated the rest of the way home.

Image via Craig Clement
Then I let a week and a half go by. I told you, when it comes to this wedding, I have been dragging my feet all zombie-style. But last weekend, I dutifully checked my To Do list and like a good, trying-not-to-procrastinate-any-longer engaged person, I made the call.
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The call that changed everything! The call that prompted the super duper, incredibly nice and generous couple to say, “Come on over and check it out.” So we did. I took photos and drooled and smiled and my inspiration banks started filling because this was one of the most impressive houses I have ever seen. (Big, big statement here since 1) Their house before was pretty rockin’ and, 2) Well, this is Santa Barbara and all, where there is no dearth of dreamy houses.) This house was wowwwww with its modern juxtaposition of weather-worn corrugated Corten steel siding and sleek stucco walls, towering doors, swooping roof lines, and staggering mountain views. All–could this get any better?–within walking distance form our house.
Genius image via Lydias Next Step
Inside, adjacent walls were painted lime, red, and deep eggplant. And it worked, brilliantly, says the white walls devotee (me). A motorized garage door separated her office from the open floor plan living room/dining room/kitchen with all the “Woah, check it out!” mountain views. In the guest bath, instead of cupboards under the countertop, there was a bicycle. Oh, and there was an elevator. An elevator! Everywhere I looked, I saw modern art, giant fans (from the Big Ass Fan company), and ceilings as tall as Barbie’s legs are long. And down below, next to the Olympic-sized pool, was a beautiful orchard of oak trees.
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The kind of orchard you picture all done up with twinkly lights and long tables adorned with succulent centerpieces, burlap ribbon, and, you know, Pinterest stuff. “I love it,” I said, and then mustered enough confidence to ask, gulp, “How much will it cost?”
“Nothing! It’s our wedding present to you!”
And I’m sure I looked as far from stricken as possible. (Bursting with glee.)
What!?!? As JB’s friend, Chris, said when he heard we got engaged, “Head explodes!” (I can only hope Chris meant it as a good thing, but that’s definitely how I mean it.)
Image via The Bridal Detective
I mean, I was a bad delayer, putting off finding a site like there was…something around the corner that was just meant to be and…it turned out, there was!
Just when the news is all about the bad folks killing the good folks, and you wonder, “Why? Why? Why?” you meet people who are so, unexpectedly, I can hardly believe it, do-they-really-make-people-like-this-anymore? nice, and it makes me happy to be human again.
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And not want to give up on mankind. Not when there are some good souls. And your silly stalling is rewarded–for a site that is better than you could ever have imagined!
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All because you took a walk–because your mom was tired–in a different direction.
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While I snapped about twenty photos with my iPad, I have yet to ask formal permission to post any of the photos of the house so I’ll limit my sharing to this one of the exterior. I think it sums up the genius of this couple. It is their Steinway piano (once a shiny red Baby Grand) that was burned in the fire and is now placed outside as a piece of sculpture. Brilliant, isn’t it?

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Of course, the next step is to send out our Save the Dates–hence the proliferation of themed photos in this post.
I know I included a mass of them, but each one was so darn creative, I couldn’t bear to give it the boot.
I’m studying them like mad, now. And prodding JB, “Hey, look at this one. And this one. Oh, and this one.” He is not only being kindly patient, but when I said, “I love them all, but we need to come up with our own creative version and vision,” he came up with something. Just in case we can actually pull this off, I don’t want to give it away entirely, but I’ll say it involves his bicep, a fake tattoo of my name on said bicep, a tattoo shop and a tattoo needle in my hand. Now, all we have to do is find a tattoo parlor that is willing to let us turn this bizarre photo shoot idea into a reality. (Wish us luck with this one!)
Image via Wedding Paper Divas
And to stop procrastinating! A big thank you to our neighbors who have offered their brand new, amazing home as a wedding site. Now that we know the where, this all finally feels real. And for that, I am the three G’s: grateful, glad, and giddy!
