Yes, there is an apple fritter where my head should be. This apple fritter makes life worth living, and it is brought to you by the fine folks at Greenbush Bakery. Greenbush is this tiny bakery tucked into the corner of a strip mall, and you could blink and miss it, but it's worth a special trip. All the reviews I read about it were pretty spot on - there will be surly hipster cashiers who are rude and act like you're bothering them (except for that one guy) even though their job is to sell you donuts (whatever, hipsters), and the donuts will change your life! This is totally true. Apple fritter aside, the boston creams are filled with some of the most velvety, rich, thick custard I've ever had in a donut. This place is no joke. People go out of their way to stop at Greenbush when they drive by Madison from out of state.

This is the kind of local awesomeness I hope to expose everyone to during our future wedding weekend. They would be great as part of a dessert buffet, or a breakfast or brunch. Or, if I'm really honest, just because you have an unchecked need for sugar. I'm sure you can get great apple fritters in your town, but are they as big as your face? Are they locally famous? They may be, but each place does it a little differntly, and that's what's so great about regional flavor. It's specific to your town, your life, and is part of what makes it great. It's so much fun to share these kinds of finds with people and watch their reactions.

Wait, I just had a brilliant thought. Greenbush is close to the zoo, which is free. Grabbing an epic donut and spending the afternoon at a cute, free zoo in a beautiful neighborhood would be a great event for wedding weekend! It costs next to nothing and it's great for children of all ages. Yes! One more idea for the list. For now, I'll just leave you with this...

Father-Daughter Dunk?

As I was thinking about ways to personalize my wedding I thought about the father-daughter dance. It just doesn't feel right for my dad and I because we don't dance together. Plus, the first dance songs tend to come off as more incestuous than sweet. You all know you've heard one. We could, of course, but I have other great memories from childhood. Like Basketball!!!

I spent many weekends with my dad at the park learning how to shoot, so what better way to honor him? See dad, I still got my skills! (Actually I don't. Andrew and I shoot hoops in the gym sometimes, and he kicks my ass evey time. The other guys make fun of me, "Trying out for the WNBA, huh?") I may not be as accurate, but I still have the correct form at least, and that's what he worked so hard to teach me. Having a dad who took the time to teach me and share something he loves with me seems to be a somewhat rare thing, and I am so thankful he did that for me. I think this would be a great option for us instead of a dance and WAY more fun. I don't know his feelings about it, and I kind of hope he doesn't read this and this post gives it away, but I think it would be so much more personal, more us. It would make the "first" about something we truly share rather than simply doing what is expected by the wedding world. Plus, the idea of swaying back and forth for 3 minutes isn't appealing AT ALL. Now, to find a venue with a basketball hoop!

Pictures from Flickr and RussellMartinPhotography.com respectively. How much do you love that bride playing b-ball with her ladies?!

Elopement Daydream

Oh dear readers, I've been thinking about eloping. Again. In fact, that was the first thing we though about. Wouldn't it be great to get married here?

Right on the beach. Sugar white sand, aqua water, and the sea breeze in your hair. Is there anything better? We've talked about eloping, but have sort of decided that our families would be left out. That's not something I want to do because it's about our families too as much as it's about us. I keep thinking about how great it will be to have both our families and friends in our town for a weekend for a giant fun reunion..oh yeah, and there will be a wedding somewhere in there to interrupt the fun. I want to throw a party for my family and friends. I want the ones I love to witness our marriage. But sometimes I want to run away to a tropical island and do the damn thing already! I want to avoid the stress of planning. I'm already not a big fan of large-scale party planning, but maybe i'll feel differently when I'm working on mine. Mostly I'm secretly afraid no one will come.

I've tried to plan get-togethers my whole life and they always fall through. It's so consistent it's like a bad joke. If I plan something, nobody comes or they back out at the last minute. Now, I'm a fun, party loving gal but this is rediculous. I'm afraid, deep down in my heart of hearts, that I will put all this energy into planning and no one will show up because that's what happens to me. Of course I know someone will come. My rational brain knows that having 0 people turn up is highly unlikely as there are people who love us too much to miss it. I am so grateful for that...but still. I have a record.