Wedding Planning: Dress Shopping

     Well...So much for my calligraphy goal haha.  This month has been consumed with wedding planning!  I decided to move the wedding up a month based on weather patterns in my parents' town since we will be getting married in their back yard!

     The new date is August 18th and this past weekend was a busy one!  I'm so thankful for my sister and mom throughout all of this.  They have been awesome to bounce ideas off of, kept me company through all of the vendor visits so far, and my sis gave me quite the fashion show of bridesmaid dresses!  I think she's tried on over 15 dresses at David's Bridal recently.

Here's what I learned while dress shopping last weekend!

     I chose David's Bridal as my starting point because they have tons of dresses to choose from and if you find a winner, you can take it home with you that day!  I was assigned to a consultant who was working with me and another bride (I happened to choose a busy Saturday to shop).  My sister and mom were with me and the consultant gave us a quick tour of the store and left us in the dress aisles so she could go help her other bride for a few minutes. 

     The dresses are hanging in huge, see-through bags so you can kind of pull them out to see the detail.  My sister pointed one out and I immediately loved it.  The consultant came back to take it to a room for me and we found one other dress for me to try on that she took as well.  When you're in the room, your consultant gives you a bra in your size and a slip.  You put the slip on and put the bra against you so she can come in and fasten the back for you because the bra has the cups attached to a part that goes around your rib cage as well.  There's probably a name for that but I have no idea haha.  She fastened me up and told me to put my arms out like I was going to dive into the dress and slipped it over me and fastened the back. 

     The dress was already my exact size so that was thumbs up number one.  I walked out and stepped up onto the platform and my mom started crying a little (thumbs up number two!)  When I saw it I immediately loved it and everyone said my face lit up. (Winner!)  It made me feel beautiful and it was flattering and I could have walked out right then only having tried that one on but I thought since it was a huge deal I should try on more. 

     My consultant helped me out of that one and into another.  I really liked that one too but it didn't get nearly the same reaction.  My consultant brought over two more that were similar to my taste but those were the same as the second.  It's VERY fun trying on such beautiful flattering dresses by the way :). 

     My consultant then put me back into the first dress so that we could see it once more and she could try some accessories on me.  She found a matching set of veil pieces and it looked amazing but for some reason I couldn't stomach paying $150 for a piece of lace that I was only going to wear once.  I had no idea there were 3 parts to a veil and for anyone who has not shopped for a veil before...they're dang expensive!  Just the one piece I'd probably be interested in was $150!  My mom is pretty handy in the sewing dept so she's going to make one instead. 

     I can't remember what all of the pieces are called but there is a short part that starts at the top of the head or in front of where a pony tail/bun would be and falls behind you around armpit length, there is another one that hooks in underneath where the pony/bun would be and has varying lengths but this one is pretty long (they probably make them to be as long as your train if you wanted that but $$$!), and the last part is the duster?  It's the part that covers your face.  If I had to buy these I'd only get the short one that goes behind me but since mommy is making them it might be cute/romantic to have the one that covers the face also!

     Something else to think about is you should buy the bra and slip with the dress because they help it look the way it was meant to and help your posture.  That was an added expense I didn't expect.  I did get approved for a $2500 line of credit with David's Bridal though so that REALLY helped.  The dress was $450, the bra was $80 (I think) and the slip must have been somewhere around the same price as the bra.

(This is my dress!  Not me in it...I need to work on my posture first haha)

     David's Bridal also offers a photography service that you can pay for with your David's line of credit.  That frees up a lot of cash to use for other parts of the wedding!  I also wanted to pay for the bridesmaid dresses for the girls so those will be going on the card as well.

     As a last note about David's Bridal...I read some bad reviews about it and went in a little worried about how my experience would be.  SERIOUSLY Great service from these people!

• I made a last minute appointment on their busiest day of the week and was still treated to AMAZING service. 
• Like I said, my consultant was helping me and another bride at the same time but did not ever rush me or run off without answering questions. 
• She never left me unattended for long periods of time and she was really warm and friendly the whole time.
• The manager got all of my items together at the front desk for my consultant to help free up her time to finish the other bride's appointment and offered the line of credit application to me and I was approved within a matter of mintues.
• I decided against the veil and she didn't pressure me into buying it at all.
• They didn't have the particular slip I need for my skirt so it needed to be ordered and they provided me with a special receipt for that and an expected date for arrival.
• We decided to spend a few minutes looking for bridesmaid dresses while we were there and though our appointment was well over, they still provided us with a new dressing room.
• I've called the store a few times with questions and all of the employees that answer have been polite and helpful, even for a complicated question that took about 15 minutes to research and answer.
• My sister and I went in without an appointment to try on bridesmaid dresses and they immediately provided a dressing room and consultant for us (this was also on another busy saturday).
• I noticed another bride trying on the same dress I had bought and I pointed it out to my sis saying "I think that's the same dress" and as the manager and another consultant walked by and overheard, they both remembered me and confirmed it.
• One last thing...When you find the dress you love they bring out a cute bell with lace on it and you get to ring it.  I heard a ring or two while we were there but had no idea what it was for before they brought that out for me.  We got pictures of me in the dress with the bell and with my mom and sister.  Such a cute little tradition :)

For anyone that lives near Victorville, CA, I highly recommend this David's Bridal!  Amber was my consultant but all of the ladies here are amazing.

Cooking: Home-Mixed Yogurt

     A while back, I got tired of hearing all the hype about greek yogurt and these sugar substitues, Stevia and Truvia so I decided to try some.  Let me tell you...they are both nothing short of awesome.

     This yogurt (Athenos brand) has 140 calories and a whopping 23 grams of protein per 1 cup.  Not to mention, the only ingredient is milk!  No MSG, high fructose corn syrup or any other weird chemicals.  Here's the nutrition label:

     On to the sugar.  A lot of the fitness experts list recipes on their blogs and they usually include Stevia or Truvia instead of regular sugar.  My grocery store only carried Stevia in little tea bag things so I picked the Truvia container that had what looked like normal sugar.  This sweetener has 0 calories, smells almost as great as brown sugar or syrup in the container and is made by steeping dried stevia leaves in water, then purifying.  It says right on the box that it's suitable for diabetics too!  I've been using this to sweeten foods and there is NO bad after taste (like diet sodas, saccharin-yuck!)  Nutrition label below:

    
     I read somewhere to use a koolaid powder packet to flavor plain yogurt since it lets you control the sugar content so I bought some packets.  I wanted to use frozen strawberries so I pulled out the strawberry koolaid packet and sprinkled a little into my yogurt.  It made such a pretty pink color :)  You'll have to flavor it to taste and since the packets have no sugar, stir in some Truvia with it.  This is my result:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt - 70 calories (11.5 grams protein)
1/4 packet strawberry koolaid (unsweetened powder) - 0 calories
1 tsp Truvia sweetener - 0 calories (It's more potent than regular sugar so you use less!)
1/2 cup frozen strawberries - 25 calories (according to the bag)

Conclusion:
95 calories (awesome)
11.5 grams protein (more awesome)
3 times LESS sugar than a Yoplait yogurt and NO bad chemicals or processed ingredients :)

Calligraphy: Time Flies!

     I can't believe that we are already 9 days into this month!  I've been doing post-holiday deep cleaning, new workouts, cooking low calorie meals, crafting a headboard, writing a short story, and planning for the wedding.  Not to mention spending more hours than I should browsing Pinterest...I love that site.  I've been seriously slacking on the Calligraphy practice since the month has been so busy but I'm planning on making and addressing my own Save the Date cards next month so I'm going to kick myself in the butt to get started. 
     SO...as I said earlier, I'm most interested in the "calligraffiti" style because I love the way the letters blend together like this:

     I also wanted to get some practice in with some real calligraphy fonts and found a good page that has a few samples.

     And finally, the following are a few font samples I found that would be pretty in every-day writing.  I love all of the little "flourishes" in calligraphy.

     So I have all of these fonts printed and I'm blocking out some time this afternoon to get that practice in.  After the workout and healthy dinner of course :)

Crafting: Headboard Design

     I was recently invited to join the wonderful addictive world of Pinterest.  It pretty much stole a good 4 hour block of my day yesterday!  So many craft ideas, all loaded on to one easy to read page :)

     Anyway,  I thought I'd share a little more about my newest project (even though I should be working on calligraphy!!  I will today...I think.)  I found the top of an old table out in the desert at an abandoned house.  I also found an awesome end table with all of the legs nearby but that project will have to wait.  My goal for our trip into the middle of nowhere was to find something to make a headboard out of.  Doors or shutters would have been awesome but I think the table I found will work nicely too.  Here's a picture:

     This is basically how I found it, I did remove a few scraps of old carpet that were attached for some reason.  It still has some of the shiny finish on it and after trying to sand it by hand for a while I've realized I might need an electric sander for this.  I also hope I can get that oily spot out! 

     I've been searching for cute quotes or sayings to paint on it.  Pinterest is really helping me out there!  I'm going for something about love and so far I like "Who would we be without each other's love", "Our love is a journey starting at forever, ending at never", and "Faith makes all things possible, Hope makes all things work, and Love makes all things beautiful".  Soon as I get this thing sanded I can get the words on there.  I'll post an update when it's finished :)



To a wonderful, busy, happy new year

     Happy new year's eve everyone! I have more resolutions this year than all of the past years combined. In addition to my year of new hobbies I also want to make one that everyone makes. Eat healthier and exercise more!

     Something that doesn't really fit in with my other hobbies is finding crap in the desert to re-purpose into stuff for my house. I live near a part of the desert few people live in. Sadly there are messed up people that use the desert as their dump. Sometimes there is interesting stuff to find out there. I recently came back with a cute end table that I can sand and stain, a cabinet door I might turn into a piece of art or a shelf, ten pieces of unbroken tile, a nice whole piece of glass, and a fairly large piece of wood I'm considering painting and turning into a headboard for our bed.

     I've also started a short story. It's a lot more fun than I expected. This vacation has been wonderful. I was actually able to deep clean my kitchen and front room. I still need to organize the bedrooms. One in particular because it is where all of my crafts and books are stored :)

     Tomorrow I'll be starting the master cleanse. I find it much easier to lose the weight first then build habits to keep it off. For anyone interested, the site is http://www.lemonademastercleanse.org/ and it works wonders if you have the willpower to do it. My first time on it I lost ten pounds in 4 days, felt amazing the whole time and kept the weight off easily watching my calorie intake. It's meant to cleanse your insides and detox, the weight loss is just an awesome perk.

Happy new year everyone, I hope you had a great 2011 and I hope you have an even better 2012.

Cooking: Chocolate Covered Stirring Spoons

I received an email the other day with an idea for chocolate covered stirring spoons.  The idea was for a home-made christmas gift but I thought it was so cute, I decided to try it for my co-workers.  Below is the picture from the email (http://www.homemadesimple.com/en-us/pages/home.aspx)



So I gathered the materials:  Plastic spoons, chocolate chips (semi sweet, white, and butterscotch), sprinkles, mini candy canes, sandwich baggies, and ribbon.  I really thought this looked like an easy project but I could NOT get the semi-sweet chips to be the right consistency.  I empied a small bag of them into a bowl and microwaved them until they were melty.  I was heating them for 15 seconds at a time then stirring to prevent overcooking but I suspect I overcooked it somehow because it was similar to the texture of a three musketeers candy bar!

I worked around that snag by pressing the chocolate into the spoon and refrigerating that to set it a little.  Then, I decorated the spoons with white chocolate and butterscotch dots.  I melted those chips in the corners of sandwich baggies and it melted to the perfect consistency.  Go figure!  After all the dots were placed, I dipped each spoon in sprinkles and put them all in the refrigerator again.  Below is my end result wrapped up in a little sandwich bag with a curled ribbon.

They didn't come out anything like the picture but everyone loved them!  Some people ate the chocolate right off the spoon and some people used theirs to stir into their coffee.  Cute idea!

Writing Improvement: Free journalism courses

With how busy this month has been, I've had a really strong urge to be creative to relieve some stress. One of my year long goals is to improve my writing so I was doing a little research into free journalism courses online and it's amazing how many wonderful people there are out there willing to share their knowledge for free.

• This site http://creative-writing-course.thecraftywriter.com/ has me motivated to try my hand at writing a short story. 
• Here is another site with lots of good information on it http://education-ortal.com/articles/10_Universities_Offering_Free_Writing_Courses_Online.html (tons of variety!) 
• I also came across this cool tool.  You put in your writing goals and get 7 little reminders to help keep you on track.  http://www.writershelper.com/writing-goals.html .  My goal: To research what makes a great short story, to finish a draft of the story, to receive a critique, and to finish my own book!

Starting tomorrow, I will have 12 days of vacation for the holidays.  I really hope to get a short story going!  I know I have a weird dream or experience in my head just waiting to be turned into a good first attempt.  If you're interested in improving your writing skills check out the links...nothing beats free and on your own schedule!

Wedding Budget: Pricing your Top Priorities

     We decided to set the total budget at $5000, a reasonable amount of money that we could save within the next year.  If we get help from friends or family members it will be a wonderful surprise but we didn't want anyone to feel burdened with the wedding expenses and we also didn't want to start our marriage in any debt of our own.  This budget is taking a serious amount of research so I'll tackle the biggest chunks of our budget, the photographer, cake, and attire.
     PHOTOGRAPHY:  After getting prices quotes from about 10 photographers, I think we're going to allow $1000 for the photography.  I've seen prices from $500 to $4000 so it will be difficult to find the perfect fit but we have a long time left to look.  If anyone can recommend a photographer in the Southern California area I'd appreciate it!

     CAKE:  I used google image searches to find styles of cakes that I like and emailed them to several bakers in my area asking for estimates on the work.  The average for my area (southern california) turned out to be roughly $300 for a cake, $3.50 per slice with buttercream frosting or $4.50 per slice with fondant.  The price will depend upon how much detail the cake has, filling, frosting, and how many people you plan on serving.

     ATTIRE:  I have not been to David's Bridal to look for my dress yet but they have a HUGE selection.  After browsing their dresses online I saw several that would be beautiful and they were all under $500.  We're hoping to keep my fiance's tux rental at about $100 and no higher than $80 for each bridesmaid dress.  David's Bridal also offers a discount for bridesmaid dresses if you buy your wedding gown there!  This will put the attire budget at about $1000.

     So using $1000 for the photography, $1000 for the attire, and about $300 for the cake, we will have $2700 left for the rest of the elements of the wedding.  I think I'll be using the budget tool on http://www.mywedding.com/.  All of the budget tools on the sites I've linked to before are awesome and user friendly but I think I like the style of this one the best.

Wedding Budget: What are your priorities?

     So I'd love to jump right in and share the secret to knocking out a wedding budget but it turns out they are pretty difficult!  I chose to start this intimidating process with careful consideration of my priorities.

• Photography is our top priority.  Finding a photographer that can work with our theme, make us feel comfortable, capture the major events and the little details in a romantic way will be well worth a good chunk of the budget for us.  In ten years when we're looking back on the day, beautiful photographs will be priceless.
• Second is the cake.  I always dreamed of having a beautiful, heaven-in-your-mouth cake with tiers, edible flowers, and a romantic cake topper.  To quote my best friend, "everyone remembers the wedding cake".
• Next on my list is the dress.  I'll be paying for my dress as well as my bridesmaids' dresses and while I'd like to save as much money as possible, I still want the dresses to be beautiful and good quality.  David's Bridal has the largest selection in my area so I'll be starting there.

     Those are the top 3 elements I'm willing to spend extra on and I think it's important to nail that down so you know where to estimate a little higher in your budget.  Below is a list of 4 sites that have amazing budget tools.

http://www.theknot.com/,
http://www.weddingwire.com/
http://www.mywedding.com/
http://www.costofwedding.com/

     You can add and remove items from those lists to fit your unique situation.  For example, I removed the venue fees because my parents are going to let me get married in the beautiful back yard I grew up in.
     I'm working on talking to local bakers, florists, photographers, djs, caterers, etc to get some average costs to put into the budget because I would hate to come up short if I estimated a cost too low.  Wedding planning seems hectic enough without having to worry about dealing with unexpected expenses.  Until then, good luck and let me know if you find anything helpful in your own planning adventures!

Calligraphy Beginnings

I spend half the afternoon searching for online calligraphy sources and found a lot!:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calligraphy
http://www.studioarts.net/calligraphy/
http://www.jennibick.com/learning-calligraphy.html
http://www.societyforcalligraphy.com/classes.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw4nUdHYQ4E
http://cmcgavren.home.sprynet.com/chiselpt.html

The other half of the afternoon was frustrated information-overload searching through google images for calligraphy fonts I would like to be able to reproduce.  I discovered that I'm drawn more to the artistic side of it than the super precise side and that lead me to "Calligraffiti". 

Niels Shoe is an artist that practices this: http://www.calligraffiti.nl/  I'm not a fan of the super thick lettering since I'd like to be able to do this with a regular pen/pencil most of the time but I love the artsy style and the way the words and embellishments blend together.  Here's an example of his work!

I printed several font examples to begin practicing.  I'm looking forward to seeing a change in my daily writing and working up to a skill level that I can address my save the date cards and wedding invitations with class!

Wedding Planning: Where to begin

     Lots of sites have long to-do lists (weddings have so many details!) but here is a small, basic list to get the wedding planning ball rolling.  I've already spent two months trying to iron out the details on this list for our wedding!

1. Envision your wedding - Big, small, elegant, casual, outdoor, church, traditional, etc. Consider themes as well.  Ours will be a starry night romantic theme!
2. Choose your wedding attendants - Pick reliable ones!  A tip from my best friend was that while large wedding parties can be fun, they can also be chaotic and make for less intimate group photos.
3. Create a rough guest list - Only include people that you couldn't imagine leaving out at first.  If your location and budget allow, add more to the list before finalizing.
4. Choose a location - Pay attention to how flexible they are and what's included in the price.  Consider your guest list, decoration ideas, the venue's alcohol and food options, length of time the venue is yours, etc.  Once I made my decision on the location it was much easier to imagine how the wedding would look and feel.
5. Work out a budget - This step is the one that's currently giving me the most trouble.  I placed it last on my list because different locations come with different costs and needs.  It seems difficult to create a budget when you have no idea what the average rates are for all of these wedding services.  I'll be researching budgets next and I'll be sure to write up what I learned. 

     If I were to pick one source of information that has been most helpful to me, it would definitely be forums.  But to find those wonderful forums you need a good starting place.  I really recommend http://www.theknot.com/.  They have a budget tool, address book, timeline, to-do list, web space for a wedding website, and tons of discussion boards.  http://www.weddingwire.com/ is another great site with similar tools.

     I also wanted to share an awesome idea I found in one of the dyi forums.  I was already planning on making all the guest invitations myself after seeing some outrageous prices but this was different. It was a cute little paper invitation asking the lucky girl to be in your wedding party.

     Above is the original idea for the invite.  I tried finding the source for this but I originally saved it as a PDF and the only information on it is "Anna from Rifle Designs".

     This image is my end result.  I found special poems for each of my 5 bridesmaids and customized them to add personal touches.  I printed out the poems, attached them to yellow card stock and then added the paper bridesmaid chain on top.  (I love the bridesmaid chain idea because upon receiving the invitation, the girls all know who else is included)  All of the girls loved them.  I'll be on the look out for any other ideas like this.  I'd love the chance to show everyone involved how special they are to me during all of this.
    
     Oh and before I close, the other idea was to take all the girls out to lunch and present them with ring pops in pretty boxes and similar invites that say something like "The groom popped his question, now it's the bride's turn!".  Pretty cute :)

Hobby Buffet: 1 exciting year, 12 new skills

     This is my brilliant new year resolution. To devote a whole year to all of the new hobbies or activites I've been interested in.  I'll be spending a month on each activity to learn all that I can, or at least all of the basics.  My goal is to end each month with a new understanding of each of these choices, some skills or creations I can be proud of, and possibly a new passion to go forward with.  I also hope that I can share some helpful information with anyone that comes across my page.

     Based on what's happening in my life at this point, there will also be some year-long activities.  Wedding planning, scrapbooking, and reading.  Developing my writing skills is another year-long goal but that is the motivation behind this blog!  Below is my year of activities.

1. JANUARY:  Calligraphy, handwriting analysis - I started hearing more about calligraphy when I began planning the wedding and people can actually make good money doing this!  Learning the basics could definitely add class to my wedding invitations and save me some money.  And even if I never make a cent doing this, beautiful writing is always a pleasure to look at.
2. FEBRUARY:  Photography - I've been really interested in photography for years, just never pursued it the way I should have. My goal with this is to learn enough to take beautiful pictures for myself.  If I discover that I have any real talent in it I may start saving for better equipment!  I'm really looking forward to this month.
3. MARCH:  Painting - This hobby has been a fun idea since high school art classes.  I love landscapes and would love even more to be able to re-create them on canvas.  I also consider this somewhat of a bonus hobby because I'll be able to decorate the bare walls in my house with artwork I can be proud of!
4. APRIL:  Candle, soap making - I was inspired to make candles after watching an episode of "How it's made" and seeing the beautiful creations. This will take quite a bit of research because I'll be going into this one with not even a bit of prior experience.  (Possible wedding favors here!)
5. MAY:  Personal fitness/training - I bought a fitness plan online and now receive countless emails from "fitness pros". There is so much information out there, I'd love to learn the facts myself and know the theory behind their strategies. Becoming a certified personal trainer is also a future goal of mine to supplement our income if we ever have a child!
6. JUNE:  Scuba diving - This is the activity I'm looking forward to the most.  Exploring is definitely a passion of mine and I'm intensely curious about what's at the bottom of those deep dark bodies of water.  This month I will get scuba certified and if there are no negative experiences, save up for my own equipment.
7. JULY:  Pole dancing - We currently have a portable "stripper pole" set up in the garage. We set it up for parties but after playing around on it we discovered it's an amazing workout! This one will be a serious challenge and I'm hoping the two months before this will have helped me build some core strength and given me a little bit of a head start!
8. AUGUST:  Gardening - Last year I planted random plants everywhere and they grew like a wildflower field. This year my goal is to grow beautiful plants (flowers and herbs/veggies) and learn the skills behind it.  This is the month I plan on getting married so in order to avoid being overwhelmed I will be taking notes and pictures all season for this month.
9. SEPTEMBER:  Languages (spanish, german, french) - My current goal language is spanish because I know a lot of the fundamentals but the language may change depending on our honeymoon destination.
10. OCTOBER:  Guitar - I learned a bit back in high school but I'd love to be practicing again and pass my previous skill level.  A lot of people around me still play and this seems like a fun group activity. 
11. NOVEMBER:  Cooking, cake decorating - Definitely the most useful skill. I hope to cook at least 6 nights a week, learn a lot of new techniques. and learn some dessert decorating skills during the month to round it out.  Some of the more advanced areas of cooking are still a bit intimidating so I'm looking forward to breaking through that.
12. DECEMBER:  Sewing - My best friend from high school helped me sew my prom dress. She and her mom taught me the basics but I've long since forgotten them. I recently had some fun sewing up a blanket and want to take the skill further.  There are so many similar hobbies to sewing (crochet, cross stitch, quilting, embroidery, knotting, macrame, needlepoint, etc!) I might try out a few side projects if this month isn't as hectic as usual.

     I know what this goal is going to do for me, I designed it to be a very entertaining year but I'd love for it to help out others as well.  Each month I'll strive for daily posts with pictures and updates about what I'm learning and working on.  I welcome all comments, suggestions, criticisms, experiences, etc!  Hope to see some readers through this journey and maybe even a few that would like to make a similar resolution!

Introductions

     Good morning!  I'll be using the name "Crazy Woman" because that's what my fiance calls me.  He's called me "woman" for so long some of our friends even call me that.  And don't worry...it's not in the carry me around like a caveman context - I don't think ;). 
     To elaborate on the "about me" part of the page, my fiance proposed to me on November 6, 2011.  He cooked me a fancy filet mignon and lobster dinner and served it in front of our fireplace.  We plan to be married next fall when the leaves are changing colors.  I work full time but I'd love to be a stay at home wife to have time for all of the fun things I want to learn.
     I'm a bit nervous about my writing because in the past, I tried to commit to writing in an online journal once a day and sometimes a month would pass between time stamps.  I'm hoping this will be different because I really believe writing is awesome therapy for people and this blog idea has been marinating for quite some time now.
     Anyway, I've been bitten by the desire-for-new-experiences bug lately and suddenly I have urges to try all sorts of new things!  I realize most blogs have a single focus but I plan to pack a lot of useful information into each month's posts.  I could probably write a whole blog about the evil things my cats do but I think this will be a bit more educational than that!
     So thanks for stopping by and I hope that even if your skill or experience level is beyond mine, my new year resolution might inspire you.  I'm going to create a list of all of the fun projects I'd like to start and maybe connect with someone out there doing something similar.  See you soon!