One of the intriguing things about Twitter (there aren't many, it's quite basic)is the ability to 'meet' strangers and have them open a whole world of ideas up for you, even unwittingly. I've mostly been interested in this dude http://www.oyvagoy.com/ and his philosemitic ways. Because sometimes living in Israel is really, freaking hard. Sometimes the weight of knowing how misunderstood we are, how we're portrayed as this vicious, heavy-handed state (surrounded by - what? peace-loving nations?!).. it's really painful to swallow. Sometimes the sandy, dust-filled Tel Aviv breeze brings floats the scent of how much hatred there is in the world towards this home, a home I chose. Then you start reading about someone who, without connection to birth, religion, roots, simply loves us. Simply loves Israel and all things Jewish.

It's brightened my week, absolutely.

Ah the madness of planning a wedding. There is unlimited scope for how crazy one could potentially become, how caught up in the details, the prettiness, the colours... There's also just SO much to love about it. It's a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime process - the excitement, the planning, the details, the colours, flowers, favours, outfits, the music, the dancing... then you need to stop. You need to step back from the wedding blogs, cake toppers,ice cream machines, hair accessories (how do we feel about these? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41743742).
You need to breathe, and to look at your lovely man in the eyes and remember that before and beyond all the other craziness, you're actually planning for the day you officially commit yourselves to each other. The commitment happens over time, has been happening since we met for brekky one sunny Friday morning, but the ceremony happens only once. You're planning for the day when you'll stand under your chuppah and be joined under a traditional canopy, amongst blessings and wine and and in front of lots of people who love you - as wife and husband, guy and girl, chatan v'kallah.

Part of the build-up of that excitement does actually come from planning the details. Not obsessing, just planning. When I chose the colours for my flowers, I had to remember that I would be carrying them to my chuppah and that's why it rocked to be ordering pretty flowers. If I'm not focused on the meaning of our wedding day, none of the planning will be worth anything.
Saying that, however, I'm still a girly-girl who loves some crazy colour (the overwhelming pinkness of this new layout may have already given that away) and even though my wedding will be nothing like the super-planned, super-detailed and highly expensivo do's I see on the w-blogs of late, I'm still inspired and excited. This Friday, we'll be having a fun belated-engagement photo shoot with our photographer - preparation for the big day, but also just an excuse for a fun morning out! Mostly, the engagement shoots I've seen on some of my fave w-blogs are disappointingly over-planned, contrived and too prop-centric. Why must EVERYONE have balloons?!
This one gets a mention because her skirt is fantastic:
http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/2010/01/travel-themed-engagement-session.html, and I really like how this is so English (nothing flashy here) and showcases sunny-yet-frosty London at its best! http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2010/02/quintessentially-english/

Inspired more by the fresh, outdoorsy prettiness of these kinds of shoots, http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/2010/02/wet-fall-san-francisco-engagement.html, I think we're going to head somewhere naturey (nature-like? natural. oh, that's a real word) and just let Yonit do her thing. If they're any good, I'll post the results when we get 'em :)

'Til then, happy Tuesday, teapots xx