gabrielle loves tara: a wedding blog

Transparency.

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:54:08 -0700

I just stumbled upon this great photo project, Quinnford and Scout (Some NSFW). It’s a multi year photo documentary of their relationship and life.

The intention behind Q+S is to capture the small details that underline the excitement of being together; whether it be sexually, romantically or domestically. Over the months it has emerged to be a neat reflection of the development of our time spent together. One can see the exhilarating thrill of a damn good breakfast, sex after much time apart, right up to the present, where creativity found its way into our first apartment together…Our time in this project has brought along many amazing things - we see our timeline and can reflect on our ups and downs, changes and progressions.

I love that and hope that intentionality comes through in our own blog, and when reflecting on our relationship. We always said that because we met so young, in order for our relationship to work we’d have to grow into each other as we grew up ourselves. I think we have done that in many, many ways and I can hardly wait to keep doing it.

PS. How many lesbian wedding blogs feature hairy bear boy chest photos?! NOT MANY!!!

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Sun, 13 May 2012 20:47:00 -0700

Happy Mother's Day!

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:39:47 -0700

We’re so excited for the future, and the day that we’re the two mamas.

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Sun, 13 May 2012 10:25:52 -0700

The Two Best Things on the Internet Today, Post North Carolina's Amendment 1

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:25:00 -0700

This website: Gay Rights in the US, State by State by the Guardian. (Although, Guardian, what’s up with forgetting about transfolk’s rights?)

AND …

Barack, Michelle, Malia, Sasha—I want to burst out in love songs and/or tears in praise of you. Re-election political reasons and the complicated queer politics of advocating for a privileged marriage institution aside, it feels so incredibly and surprisingly affirming to have the leader of our country publicly announce that we are worthy and deserving and equal. And for people to see that this fight—this debate that everyone assumes will not offend and that they can just casually take a side on—is incredibly, humbly, and deeply personal.

Gabrielle, I can’t wait to marry you.

On days like today, when overwhelming majority of people in...

Tue, 08 May 2012 16:48:00 -0700

On days like today, when overwhelming majority of people in North Carolina decide that I don’t deserve to have rights, I find that it helps to cry and watch this video over and over again on repeat.

So original...

Fri, 04 May 2012 16:32:25 -0700

Apparently we aren’t the only lesbians who like succulent bouquets…

Check out these ladies BEAUTIFUL farmhouse wedding in Vermont.

So cute!

Via: On a Bicycle Built for Two.

Can you promise that this will be Gabrielle and I in another 67...

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:52:00 -0700

Can you promise that this will be Gabrielle and I in another 67 years? :-)

This was a desperate hope for such a long time, and I’m...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:47:00 -0700

This was a desperate hope for such a long time, and I’m finally realizing it’s true. Feeling blessed, for real.

Sonoma County Weekend Getaway

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:32:00 -0700

How You Know When Tara Has Had Too Much Wine After a Day of Biking to Wine Tastings in Wine Country

I told Gabrielle that I was really hungry. She said that she had a mini Slim Jim in her bag. I asked her for it and she said I could have half of it, but later. I told her that I was really hungry now and said that I wouldn’t eat it right there at the nice, fancy winery bar. She slipped it secretly into my hand, I walked into the bathroom, went past a woman washing her hands, closed the door of my stall, and took a single chomp of my one and half inch half Slim Jim, and decided it was the most delicious thing ever. Twenty seconds after I had left, I went back out of the bathroom and joined Gabrielle once again at the bar, slipped the other inch and half of the Slim Jim into Gabrielle’s back pocket, and resumed my Chardonnay pouring.

How You Know When Gabrielle Has Had Too Much Wine After a Day of Biking to Wine Tastings in Wine Country

Tara: It’s that woman’s 41st birthday?! She looks so young!

Gabrielle: (Whispering) She’s lying. She’s not 41.

Tara: Why would she lie to make herself older?

Gabrielle: (Whispering, decidedly) I’ll tell you later.

Later, after we’re getting on our bikes outside the winery…

Tara: What do you know about the birthday woman?

Gabrielle: Oh, I don’t know. She just doesn’t look 41.

(Birthday woman in question: middle-right of photo in white blouse and purple pants.)

Filing Taxes

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:03:00 -0700

This is a dream.

The fact that I can’t claim these is injustice.

Photo

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:12:02 -0700

Succulent Bouquets

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:54:00 -0700

One of my chores last summer was dealing with all of the paperwork and details of our move to our new house, and trying to get our full double rent deposit back from the management company that was in charge of our old apartment. Our management company was just terrible, but the one good thing that came out of dealing with that was having the opportunity to talk to one of the few positive people involved in our old management company, Monse.

Though I was originally talking to Monse about our deposit and retrieving any mail that had slipped through the cracks between the move, we got around to talking about different neighborhoods in San Francisco, and specifically, Bayview. I told her about my then recently discovered and favorite new store, Building Resources, and she told me about her newest discovery and gem, Flora Grubb Gardens.

At her mention of Flora Grubb, I realized that I heard of Flora Grubb Gardens before and read about her recently before in ReadyMade Magazine, listed under Amber Bravo’s article, “How Did You Get That F*$%ing Awesome Job?”

Shortly thereafter, I read about the floral designer who she works with and who does weddings, Susie Nadler, and instantly fell in love. Ever since then, I’ve been dreaming of beautiful and bright succulents at our wedding, and all of the rustic, repurposed, earthy table decorations that would go with them. Mmm!

I think one reason why I love succulents so much is because they’ve become such a part of how I view California, and a symbol of Gabrielle and my life in San Francisco. Succulents obviously aren’t something that can survive outdoors in the Midwest environment from where we’ve come, and have become distinctly California in my mind. In fact, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I’m not sure if I would have even known exactly what a “succulent” was before we moved to California. Susie Nadler, who combines succulents with other non-succulent, more traditional flowers, seem like a perfect, fitting reflection of who Gabrielle and I have become: bright and traditional, Midwestern background and influence, with an undeniable and definitively defining West Coast flare and fusion.

I look forward to walking down the aisle with these beautiful babies in my hands, with my favorite beautiful baby at the end of it…

Don't agree with homosexuality? Don't practice it!

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:31:54 -0700

Highlights from Our (Combined) Two Week Spring Break: A Photo Essay in Lists

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:28:00 -0700

Gabrielle’s spring break lasted March 24th-April 1st. Tara’s spring break lasted March 31st-April 8th.

Although we only had a weekend of overlap, these past two weeks have been really nice and calm, as at least one us has been able to relax more during the day and take care of the house and the other while they’ve been off at work.

- We had dinner and/or drinks with several lovely couple friends.

- A friend took us on an amazing new hiking spot alongside the ocean.

- I miraculously captured this amazing photo of the cat mid-yawn.

- We stocked up at the farmer’s market and did our first canning as a couple, making eight jars of dill pickles, one bottle of strawberry syrup, and one jar of strawberry remnant jam!

- Gabrielle was the amazing domestic goddess that she is and on her first day off of school, made two different kinds of soups to freeze, sixteen varied breakfast burritos (available in pork, chicken, and vegetarian), homemade bread from scratch, and a mojito for me as I walked in the door from work.

- I was the amazing domestic goddexx that I am and over my break sewed thirteen new coordinating pillow shams for our living room and window sill bench, painted things to match said pillow shams, and sewed a coordinating dining room table runner to match said pillow shams and painted things.

- We cuddled the kitty extra hard on her 3rd birthday.

- The kitty brought us a very special (and gross) present on her birthday, placed it at the threshold of our room, and sat by it until we noticed her achievement and generosity.

- I bought a big bag of almonds at Costco for $6.50, used only two cups of almonds, and made my own homemade almond milk out of almonds and water. (Compare that with the list of ingredients in my store-bought almond milk!) Win!

- I carried the kitty around in a shopping bag, and Gabrielle grudgingly snapped a picture.

- It rained a bit in San Francisco, but we found that our fireplace and fresh California flowers were just lovely. (Our cat, Macky, liked them too.)

- We threw in four and a half chickens on a Saturday at 3:00 and stayed up late until midnight cooking them and making two 12Q batches (which, if you’re not blown away right there, you obviously don’t know how much soup that really is) my mom’s amazing homemade chicken matzo ball soup for our upcoming annual interfaith Passover seder this week!

- We planned our annual interfaith Passover seder for this week, and once again began our continued challenged and exhausting relationship with matzo and matzo meal… (And got some comments from the checkout girl at the grocery store as we rang this all up.)

- We cooked (and did lots of taste testing) up a big batch of chocolate covered matzo toffee with walnuts, with sea salt, and with just chocolate! Mmm!

- I woke up one day to this precious sight of the kitty collapsed on Gabrielle’s face and sleeping cheek to cheek.

- Gabrielle made a new kind of matzo variety food for Easter Sunday breakfast: matzo brei. Despite it looking like regurgitated matzo, it was pretty good, especially with lots of cinnamon sugar (for me) and homemade strawberry jam (for Gabrielle) on top.

- Gabrielle and I celebrated our third engagementversary together on Easter. Can you believe that it’s already been three full years since I popped the question and she said that she wanted to marry me? Since then, we’ve had ~~six~~ seven (or am I forgetting some?) close friends get engaged and/or legally married. When will it be our turn?

Currently thinking about how femme invisibility is an unfortunate reality, even for those of us who...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:30:57 -0700

Currently thinking about how femme invisibility is an unfortunate reality, even for those of us who don’t claim (or have any interest in claiming) a femme identity.

Photo

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:16:50 -0700

Out future pantry…when we own that house on the Sonoma...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:53:00 -0700

Out future pantry…when we own that house on the Sonoma coast..

This just slays me. Via:...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:40:00 -0800

This just slays me. Via: http://www.onabicyclebuiltfortwo.com/2012/03/wedding-leigh-and-kelsey.html

An Eight-Word Love Story

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:59:56 -0800

I left this note written on a post-it for Gabrielle this earlier this week on her desk. She was downstairs doing her reading for class, making rice for our take-out-Chinese-food dinner, and I was upstairs finishing up grading a stack of essays.

I suddenly felt this sentiment so strongly.

Without any mention of my note’s existence, this morning I found her reply on mine.

This is love.