This past weekend, I had no plans. This was the first weekend when I could do what I wanted whenever I wanted. Planning a wedding has made my weekends more unavailable, much to the surprise of no one. It’s gotten to the point where I started to feel mentally drained. I would get out of work, eat dinner, work out, and then spend an hour or two browsing Instagram. It felt like I didn’t have the energy to read, play Animal Crossing, or watch Critical Role. This weekend helped lift my spirits emotionally, mentally, and physically.

One thing I did this weekend was finish a book I was reading. I read The Shadow Mission by Shamim Sarif. This is the second book in the Athena Protocol series. It was amazing to spend my day reading without interruption. It allowed me to fully commit and become enamored with the characters, the setting, and the action scenes. I went through a reading slump recently, but now this weekend has allowed me to get back into my books. My TBR pile is slowly shrinking.

Besides reading, I watched a couple of movies. On Friday, I saw The Suicide Squad, which rocked. It was the first movie I saw in theaters after the pandemic. I’m going to write my review shortly. I also watched a recently released documentary on Netflix called Pray Away. Pray Away is about gay conversion therapy and the history behind it. It also features a couple of stories from the survivors. One of the stories brought me to tears. It’s an emotional documentary, and I would highly recommend it.

Finally, I installed some new video games to play. On my PS4, I bought Far Cry 5. For PC, I installed Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water’s Edge and Death and Taxes. I wanted something else to play besides Animal Crossing.

This is a reminder to check in with yourself. I needed a break from all the plans I have upcoming. I feel so much better and more equipped to launch into my plans. From now until our wedding on October 2nd, I don’t have any more free weekends. Wish me luck!

In any personality quiz, it always asks if I’m an introvert or an extrovert. This is always tough to answer. I like being social and hanging out with my friends. However, I need to recharge. If I’m too social or have too many jam-packed social weekends, I find myself mentally exhausted. Neither introvert nor extrovert seems to fit my personality. After reading Donovan’s blog post “It’s Time to Get Rid of Introverted and Extroverted” I wanted to talk about my experience with labeling myself as either an introvert or an extrovert.

In high school, I was shy. I was insecure about every single part of myself. I wasn’t sure who I was, and I didn’t feel confident in how I looked. I still needed a social recharge now and then. I would often stay home on Fridays and watch movies with my mom because I needed a break from socializing at school. When I reminisce about this part of my life, I would have labeled myself as a shy introvert. I always thought that someone’s personality can’t change throughout their life, but this isn’t something I still believe in.

Once I graduated from high school, I went to college. Going off to college is where I was able to shine. I was able to fully explore hobbies, meet new friends, and confront some of my insecurities. I dated someone who wasn’t right for me, and after realizing this, I ended things with that person. It was empowering for me to take control of my life and recognize what I fully wanted from a partner. I started meeting friends with similar interests to me, and this led me to become more social in college. While in high school, I labeled myself as a shy introvert; now I would rank myself as an outgoing introvert.

Some find the use of labels comforting, but I’m the opposite. Trying to fit introvert, extrovert, shy, outgoing, etc., into my personality feels a bit overwhelming. I’m a unique person where I feel opposite terms apply to me. I wish we would get rid of introvert and extrovert because I think they aren’t full-encompassing personality terms. I feel very similar to Donovan and how they describe these terms. I would highly recommend reading their post I have linked, because it resonated with me enough to write my post.

Do you think introvert or extrovert are labels you use, or do you think that these are wholly unnecessary?

My fiancé has been getting back into golf. He used to golf when he was younger, and he realized how much he missed it. This led to my fiancé planning a bridal party/groomsman social at Top Golf. Top Golf is an outdoor driving range with a restaurant and bar. This social was a blast! I was happy to mix our friends and have us all hang out. If there’s anything I have learned from planning my wedding, it’s that I’m so fortunate to have my friends.

At Top Golf, we reserved two bays. Each bay can host up to six people. Top Golf is a driving range, not a full course. To help keep golfing interesting, there are various game options to help keep things competitive. Additionally, Top Golf has left-handed clubs! I’m left-handed, and I have tried playing right-handed, but it’s too awkward for me. As a beer drinker, I ordered a couple of pitchers and took turns golfing and drinking all day.

Overall, the day was a blast! It was a fun summer activity. It was perfect for mixing everyone, especially since it was two completely separate friend groups.

My dad loved Baseball. He was always watching the Minnesota Twins from his comfy recliner with our family cat, Jasmine, on his lap. I went to two Twins games with my dad before he died in 2006. Baseball will always have a special place in my heart because of the passion my dad had for the game. Most critics of Baseball say the game is boring to watch, and I get it. It’s a lot of watching for nothing to happen. It’s exactly why I love it. It’s a game to sit down, have a beer, and socialize with friends.

For those who aren’t from Minnesota, our baseball team is named after our two cities. In most states, there are at least two major cities. Our major cities in Minnesota are right next to each other, so they are often named “The Twin Cities,” hence the Minnesota Twins. Our baseball stadium when I was growing up was the Metrodome, which was a big stadium for both the Vikings and the Twins. The Metrodome collapsed one year after enough snow piled onto it. Without getting into the specifics, this led to the creation of Target Field, which is an outdoor stadium in Minneapolis.

For my friend’s birthday, we went to a Twins game. The Twins played the Houston Astros, the same team accused of cheating after winning the World Series in 2017. I find that’s important to mention because while they still kept their World Series title, they still cheated. Anyway, my friends and I went to a brewery and a cidery before the game. The Twins ended up winning the game 5-2 over the Astros.

While driving home from the game, I thought about how much my dad would have loved to see the new stadium. My dad has been gone for 15 years now, and I’m at a point in my life where I can fondly recall memories from my childhood and feel blessed that my dad was in my life. Baseball will forever be a sport that reminds me of my dad and his devotion to the Minnesota Twins.

I took a bit of a break from writing weekly posts. Writing new posts every Sunday felt like a chore, so I knew it was time to take a step back. I figured a nice way to dive back into weekly posts would be to talk about the Harry Potter bridal-themed shower I went to a couple of weeks ago.

My friend and I met in college and were roommates for a year. We bonded over our shared love of Harry Potter and other nerdy interests. She has always stayed in my life, no matter the distance, as we are a couple of states away. It was such a blast to attend.

I’m excited to get back into writing for Bizarre Brunette! I knew this break was needed, but I’m happy to be back.

I took a week off from writing to catch up on my comic backlog, plan my wedding, and learning to throw an axe. It was my fiancé’s birthday last weekend, and he requested we book a reservation for axe-throwing. The Burrow is where we booked our reservation. Besides axe-throwing, they have a full indoor mini-golf course and an arcade. There’s also a restaurant and a bar with beers on tap. I was surprised that they let us order beers while we threw axes. Throwing an axe was intimidating at first, but I would gladly go again.

There are four axe-throwing lanes, with one lane being able to accommodate a bigger group. The instructor was friendly and gave us a quick rundown on how to throw an axe correctly. There’s way more involved than you would think. It’s your abdominal muscles holding you in a good posture, the upper body strength to hold the axe, and power as you throw the axe with enough force to hit the wooden board.

My fiancé picked up on axe-throwing quickly. The instructor started telling my fiancé about the axe-throwing leagues they have during the summer. It took me way longer to figure out how to throw an axe. I was nervous when I first started. I have seen numerous axe-throwing videos where someone would throw an axe, and it would rebound backward. The instructor started going into their safety measures and how they built their lanes, which made it a safe experience. Once I felt comfortable, I started sticking the axe into the board. I got one bullseye!

I would happily make another reservation at The Burrow. My fiancé and I had a thirty-minute reservation, which I thought was plenty of time for two people. For a group of four or more, I would say an hour would be needed, so everyone has the time to throw. For those not in Minnesota, I would recommend researching axe-throwing places and their safety measures. Throwing an axe was a fun date night for both me and my fiancé.

In less than six months, I will be getting married! These months will fly by, and I still have a lot of planning to do. This past Saturday, my friends and I drove down to the winery to see the venue. It was such a fun time, and I consistently think about how fortunate I am that I have the best of friends.

Leading into the day, my fiancé dropped me off at my friend’s apartment. As we walked by her apartment, I saw that my friends had rented a luxurious SUV! They rented the car, so we could all have a couple of glasses of wine and no one had to worry about driving home. My friends brought two bottles of champagne for us all to share as we drove up to the winery. It made the day feel so special.

If I haven’t mentioned this before, I’m getting married at Four Daughters Winery in Spring Valley, MN, which is south of Rochester. It’s located on the border of Minnesota on the southeastern side of the state near Wisconsin. My fiancé and I chose the venue because everything was on-site, there was plenty of parking, and it’s a gorgeous place. They have held many weddings at the venue before, and it will be nice not to have to worry about doing all the setup myself.

Of course, we ended up taking pictures as we always do for any girls’ day extravaganza. The pictures give a hint of how beautiful this venue truly is. The room where we had our wine is the room where we will be having dinner for our wedding. I love how rustic the barrels feel in the space. We are getting married in the Fall, and I think the barrels add to the feeling I’m going for.

Planning a wedding makes me truly thankful for my friends. They have gone above and beyond for me and making this feel like a once-in-a-lifetime moment in my life. I know they have something up their sleeve for my bachelorette party and I’m excited to see what they have planned. I love my friends, I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend! For Easter, my fiancé and I visited his family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With COVID, we would normally quarantine at his parents’ house and watch TV. However, with both of his parents being vaccinated, we decided to go do something. For the Easter weekend, I convinced my fiancé to go to the 11th Annual PEEPS Art Exhibition at the Racine Art Museum. From the title, all the art pieces were made out of PEEPS or were inspired by PEEPS in general.

The exhibit was open from noon to 4 PM. We arrived at the museum at 12:15 and there were already people waiting outside of the museum. Each ticket was $7 which I thought was a good price to see the PEEP room along with the whole museum. As we paid for our tickets, there were dots on the floor representing where to stand to be socially distanced. The museum had a cap of 50 people, so someone was counting how many people were being sold tickets. The PEEPS exhibit was in one room with a walkway with various art pieces. My favorite had to be the Baby Yoda made of brown and green PEEPS glued together. There were also several Bernie sitting on a chair PEEPS along with a Harry Potter-themed one as well.

With COVID, I missed going out and doing random activities. I would happily go to this exhibit next year. It was such a fun way to spend the Holiday.

It was one year ago when I canceled my trip to Seattle for Emerald City Comic Con and spontaneously drove to Michigan. On the way home, I checked my work email, and to my surprise, we all were able to work from home the following Monday. At that time, I had no way of knowing this would be semi-permanent. While 2020 was a rough year for almost everyone, I have found myself reflecting on what this pandemic has taught me. I wanted to share what I have taken away from this experience.

Be Appreciative of My Experiences

Before COVID, I was always planning the next vacation. I would finish my trip, and a week later, I would plan my next destination. Since I wasn’t able to travel, I found myself going through old pictures and reliving memories of previous trips. One example was reading through my travel journal. Reading through my past vacations made me hopeful for the future and helped me to feel less isolated. It made me appreciate all of the life I have been able to live. I was always living in the future, not as much in the present. I don’t want to lose the travel bug I have acquired, but I also want to live more in the moment.

Paid Sick Leave

While the stimulus checks are crucial, I hope the United States re-evaluates the need for sick leave. In previous jobs, I would show up sick because I had no other choice, as I didn’t have paid sick leave. While I think the pandemic would have been the same regardless of paid sick leave, I think this would have made a difference.

Activism!

By staying home, I have been able to save money. Since I had more money left over, I was more aware of how I spent my money. I found myself trying to donate to various nonprofits. After the murder of George Floyd, I started donating to the NAACP, Black Lives Matter, and the ACLU. I want to leave the world a better place, and donating money here and there helps. I’m fortunate that I’m able to do this, as I was employed throughout the pandemic.

What Makes Me Happy

Playing video games, reading books & comics, and exercising all got me through this pandemic. It was a stressful time, and to get through it, I needed to figure out ways to destress. Additionally, I had to analyze my coping methods. Last April, I found myself relying more heavily on alcohol. It was a Friday staple to drink and play video games. The morning after, I woke with a headache. I found myself having to analyze why I was using alcohol in the way that I was. I still drink, but I find I’m more in control.

I’m elated because I feel there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My mom received her first dose of the vaccine. While I wait for my turn for the vaccine, I realize how much COVID has taught me about myself and life in general. I’m excited to be able to attend conventions, see friends regularly, and go to my favorite brewery.

I haven’t written a personal post in a while, so here it goes. Wedding planning has taken up the majority of my time. This week, I was organizing my hair and makeup schedule for the bridal party, along with booking our hotel block. I’m trying not to get stressed with having to remember everything I need to book. Throughout this experience, I’m discovering I don’t like planning events. I’m going wedding dress shopping next weekend, and the actual dress shopping isn’t even the part I’m most looking forward to. I’m excited to gather my friends together and to get their honest opinion when I try on dresses. With this post, I wanted to share what I have learned from planning a wedding, along with documenting this experience.

Planning a wedding is a lot of work, so I find it’s crucial to be organized. My fiancé works in finance, so he created an Excel sheet with our vendors and what we owe. Additionally, we have been logging any down payments or payments made throughout the year. I have also been using my planner to log any checklist items I need to complete for that particular week. This helped me gather almost all the addresses I needed for save the dates. It helps make wedding planning more feasible versus forgetting what I’m supposed to be doing this week.

The fun part about wedding planning is having an opinion on how the wedding should be. I’m all for the Fall theme. We are planning to have white pumpkins on various shelves at the winery, which will feature pictures of loved ones who have passed. Our floral arrangement will be a mix of dark red, orange, and mustard yellow. I still haven’t picked out centerpieces for the tables, so that’s a work in progress.

While the wedding will be a fun day, I’m more excited to say I’m married to my partner. He is a lovely human who is respectful to anyone he meets. He has always lifted me when I’m down, and I love his knowledge about cars. He will fix things on my car and take my car to get the check engine light looked at. He is someone whom I want to grow with as we go through the various phases in our lives. After our wedding in October, we will be buying a house. There are a couple of trips I want to go on before I’m fully ready to have kids, but that’s something we both want eventually.

I realize this post was less of a “wedding planning” and more of a personal tone with the relationship I have with my fiancé. I plan on documenting some aspects of our wedding planning, as that’s been taking up a lot of my time. Time has been flying by, and before I know it, it will be time to walk down the aisle in the vineyard.