too many shoes

I woke up this morning in a state of glee at the sound of rain slapping the roof of Stub and against my window. My first thought, "I get to wear my rain boots!" Mind you, it's been over a year since I've had them on my feet! Let there be joy!


Good news or bad news first?

Good news: We found our photographer today!! Well, we didn't want to seem over eager and sign the contract with her on the spot, but it's a done deal in our minds! Laura Ivanova Photography is going to be shooting our wedding, engagement, and day after photos! We met with Laura this morning at Caribou. I was nervous about the whole thing. Some photographers will just kind of ignore the fact that I care a lot about pictures, cameras, and am a fellow photographer, so it always makes me a little anxious to see how someone will treat me if they know that I do it too. Of course I'm no where near her skill level but not once did she make me feel that way. We talked about tons of details, our unique engagement session ideas (you'll have to wait to see the pictures...top secret!), and she and I even talked cameras and equipment for a while. She's convinced me that I need to upgrade a few pieces of my equipment. I already have 7 weddings lined up for NEXT summer, so it would be worth it to invest in a few new lenses and an even better camera body! Anyway, Laura is great. We spent two hours with her, but it felt like 30 minutes! Great personality, a total perfectionist "J" like me (LOVE IT!), and a fantastic photographer! She'll have a second shooter with her that day so we'll have a buttload of images to choose from! We're so glad to have this really big decision made! YAY for Laura!

Bad news: I almost threw up today. We've moved probably close to 30 boxes worth of stuff into this place of mine and even with three closets to hang stuff in, they're jam packed. I can't get over the shoes. For years I had been keeping all my stuff at 3 different places so I had no idea how many pairs of shoes, dresses, jackets, and pairs of jeans I had. Here's the tally, and I'm not proud of this:

102 pairs of shoes

66 dresses

26 coats

17 pairs of jeans

I'm annoyed with me! Is this really necessary? I confessed to Kevin, "You're marrying a pack rat!" Where did all this stuff come from? The good news is that 80% of it is from Goodwill so it's not like I paid full price for any of it, but the sheer ridiculousness of quantity is embarrassing. (So it that sentence, but you get my point!) I already have two boxes full of Goodwill donations. But why is it so hard to get rid of it? Am I really going to wear that pink leather jacket with rhinestones on it that I got for $1.49 on blue tag day at GW? But it's from Wilson's leather, it says DIVA across the front. I have to keep it. Wow do I have a problem! The good thing about moving is that it forces you to get rid of a few things. I need to get rid of a few more than a few. Wish me luck!