Even More Invitation Inspiration!

Yup, it's another post about invitations! And I can't promise it will be the last. What can I say, I have invitations on the brain. Today I'm loving the idea of shaped invitations. Rectangles and squares can be awesome, but I'm digging the unexpected wow factor of some uncommon invitation shapes.

I heart this heart shaped invite.


A circle is such a classic shape, yet it's rare to see in wedding invitations:


I love how this is almost a standard rectangle, but with a twistor rather with a curve.


The scroll design is echoed in the shaping of this gorgeous invitation.


This suite is a sweet mix of many shapes!


The incredible and intricate shape of the invitation creates the design!


What do you think of unusually shaped wedding invitations?

Meet Our Wedding Officiant!

As we approach the 100 day mark, we need to start hammering out some of the details—like the ceremony. You know, just the little thing that actually makes us married. Thankfully we figured who would be performing the ceremony at the beginning of our planning.

In California, people can be ordained online, or even temporarily deputized in order to perform wedding ceremonies, so we wanted someone close to both of us to perform our civil ceremony. Enter our close friend, BW. BW went to high school with Mr. Cheetah and I have known her since I first moved to California. A few years ago BW casually mentioned that she would love to officiate our wedding when the day came. Hurrah--A wedding decision made years before either of us had engagements on the brain!

BW is a wedding superstar. She herself has been a bridesmaid at least a dozen times! She is a teacher and has a theater background, so she’ll be very comfortable speaking in front of all our guests. And most importantly, she is an amazing person who knows us both alone and together.

The Cheetahs & BW

BW has a deep rooted love for all things Dr. Pepper, so Mr. Cheetah I and decided to work that into asking her to be our officiant. After a glamour photo shoot with a couple old fashioned bottles of Dr. Pepper at the beach, we had a nice glossy photo perfect for BW. We printed out a little banner asking her to be our officiant and simply taped it atop the picture.

the framed photo

BW must’ve liked it because she said yes--even though she had long forgotten offering to marry us years ago!

How did you choose your officiant?

all personal photos

Such Great Heights

Okay, I'm just going to say it: I hate platform shoes. I know they're all the rage, but I just can't get on board. Please don't hate me all you platform-loving-ladies out there, especially you, Lady Gagawe're still besties, right!?!


Maybe it's because I'm tall, but I also just don't like the look platform heels. To me they seem unbalanced and kind of chunky, while I find non-platform shoes to be very classic and elegant.


I may not want a platform, but I do want a heel for my wedding shoes. I like the way heels look and I like how I feel fancier in them. And let's face it, I want to feel pretty fancy on my wedding day. There are times when I'm all about rocking a 4in heel, but the wedding is not going to be one of those times. Mr. Cheetah is around 3 inches taller than me. While most days I don't care if I'm a smidgen taller than Mr. Cheetah, for some reason I don't want to be taller on our wedding day (for the record, Mr. Cheetah doesn't care either way, but then again, his SIL is 6 in taller than his brother). Although the main reason I don't want sky high heels is that I want to be comfortable and I want to dance. All. Night. Long.

My goal wedding heel height is 2 1/2 in, but I am willing to go a bit shorter or higher. However platform shoes are so popular, it's becoming difficult to find fashionable heels without a platform.

I would love all these shoes if only they were platform-less!





It's looking more and more like I will be shopping in my platform-free closet for my wedding shoes, but I have found some cute non-platform options if I decide to get something new.





How do you feel about platform shoes?


The Bloody, Beating Heart of Thanksgiving
By Nick Rich

Oh Thanksgiving.


Day in which we gorge ourselves until we resemble the fowl creature we just ingested... can you think of a better holiday? I can't (well, I can, but my stomach can't). Between the stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, scalloped corn and candied yams I don't know what to do with myself! Faced with such a situation my brain shuts down and I succumb to my instincts and just eat, filling my gullet until it brims over; then shoveling in a bit more an hour later.

There are many days that fight to fill our waistlines throughout the year, but Thanksgiving puts them all to shame with its singular focus on the art of gorging one's self to almost horrific proportions. Gorging aside, there's something at the core of this caloric holiday that rings true to something deeper within us all.

Have you ever stopped to think about what it is that drives every man, woman, child and rodeo clown on this oxygen pup-tent we call home? Well friends, fear not for I have! As varied as we all are the world over there is one thing that drives us all: hunger.
Whether you're black or white, Team Edward or Team Werewolf Kid, Republican or Democrat, Amos or Andy... We all hunger.

We hunger for love... hunger for attention... hunger for purpose... hunger for security... hunger for Jimmy Johns... hunger for puppies... hunger for the next Walking Dead episode...
We all hunger for something. (For the record I'm pretty sure rodeo clowns hunger for fair wages, Roth IRAs and reconciliation with their old man... oh, and Twinkies wearing cowboy hats)

Do you know what else gentle readers? Monsters are no different! So in honor of the holiday that is all about hunger, gluttony and general decadence when it comes to being satiated I've compiled a list of what monsters hunger for - think of it the RDHP's version of the Thanksgiving tradition of going around the table and stating what you are thankful for. As you think about the 4,000 calories you consumed yesterday and try not to relapse into your food coma, please exercise your mind by reading about the voracious appetites of some of the most famous monsters around.


Dracula
As the main man of the things that go bump in the night Dracula has many appetites, among which are: medallions, lint rollers, stain removers and a sensible wardrobe selection for his ladies... oh, and blood.
He kinda likes blood too.



Zombies
Often misunderstood, these gentle creatures are only searching for someone named "Briiiiian".
No. Wait. They could be searching for 'brains'. I'll leave it to you to decide which is more likely.




Frankenstein
Talk about misunderstood! All the original monster every wanted was that which we all hunger for and his doomed fate could never afford him: love.




Gremlins
Besides eating after midnight and skinny dipping, these purveyors of mayhem hunger for social interaction as can be attested to by their finale demise scenes in Gremlins 1 & 2.
On a personal note, to this day, one of the most disgusting movie scenes I have ever seen is the cringe-inducing, fog-lensed shot of a group of Mogwais munching on leftover chicken that Billy has mistakenly given them after the witching hour in 1984's Gremlins. I can still hear their tiny lips smacking!!! Ewww!



The Wolfman
This feral beast on the prowl only hungers for two things:
1) Destruction
2) Spandex (so he can stop ruining his wardrobe every time he transforms!)




Jason Voorhees
Paramount in Mr. Voorhees still, rotting heart is the purity of today's young people.
He is a strong advocate of personal responsibility, abstinence and prohibiting underage drinking/illegal drug use. Mr. Voorhees is also eager to engage the opposition in lively discourse about said subjects.



The Mummy
Mothballs. 'Nuff said.


You're (maybe) Invited!

The hardest part of planning this wedding, or as my dad referred to it the other day "that little party you're organizing," is the guest list.


Mr. Cheetah and I want a semi-intimate wedding. We want to include all of our family and closet friends, we want to know (and like) all the guests, and we want it small enough where we can at least greet everyone personally. Out first draft of the guest list was around 150. Our venue maxes out around 140--it seemed like a perfect fit. But we should've known it wasn't going to be so easy. We realized that we had forgotten some people from our original guest list. Plus there were obligatory invites we overlooked. And of course our parents keep wanting to add... and add, and add... So we are left with a very tight A list, and an ever growing B list. For some reason we even have a short C list. Don't get me started on the dreaded Plus One debate. Don't even get me started.

We have a bunch of friends hovering on the B list, and I find myself avoiding them. I don't want to talk about the wedding around them, or indicate in any way whether or not they are invited--since we don't even know yet. I feel so guilty that I haven't made plans with any of the "B listers" in a couple months. I'm likely over thinking everything, I'm sure most of our friends would understand and may not even expect to be invited. I've realized that it's just guest-list-paranoia, so I'm going to stop worrying about it.

Is anyone else suffering from guest-list-paranoia?

The Bold & the Beautiful

My wedding dress should be in next month (woo-hoo!), so guess what time it is? It's accessory time!

In day to day life, I tend to like my accessories like I like my tea; delicate & sweet, or big & bold. So which way should I lean for my wedding look?

Veil

Delicate:


Bold:


Hairpiece

Delicate:


Bold:


Earrings

Delicate:


Bold:


Necklace

Delicate:


Bold:

Bracelet

Delicate:

Bold:

Shoes

Delicate:


Bold:


Handbag

Delicate:


Bold:


Wrap

Delicate:



Bold:


Are you going for delicate or bold pieces for your bridal accessories?

More Invitation Inspiration

This Cheetah is on the hunt. My prey: awesome and unique invitation inspiration.

As much as I adore all things paper, I'm digging the idea of putting wedding invitations on a different material, such as fabric or even wood.

This wedding invite is looking pretty on a vintage handkerchief! Wouldn't it be awesome if your guests brought the invitation to the wedding and used it to dry their misty eyes during the ceremony?


I love how this invitation is the expected shape and size, but the fact that it's printed onto fabric really adds a wow factor.
This invitation is printed on real wood veneer!


I do still love paper though, and lately I have been gravitating towards booklet invites.

This one is simple and sweet. Plus, check out the awesome wood grain paper!

I'm a huge fan the clean, modern design of this booklet:

I'm in love with the book-like layout of this invitation. Each page says "Our Story Begins" along the top.


Did you pick an unusual material or layout for your invitations?

To Be With You

A few months ago I was out to dinner with my friend L, and we got to talking about how much time we spend with our significant others. At the time, Mr. Cheetah and I had similar schedules and we were able to spend quite a bit of time together (it was awesome). L was on the other end of the spectrum; her husband’s work schedule had him out of town for weeks at a time. It got me thinking about how much the amount of time spent together varies greatly from couple to couple, and even year to year. Some couples are able to be with each other all day, and may even work together (like Jim & Pam below). While many other couples are in long distance relationships and may only get to see each other every couple months or so.

Recently the Cheetahs' schedules have changed and even though we live together we only get to see each other a couple hours a day. In 10+ years together, our schedules, and thus the amount of time we spend together, has changed many times.

When we first started dating, I hated every moment away from Mr. Cheetah—even going to class was a struggle (but I always went). One quarter in college I had a 30-minute break between classes. It took 10 minutes to walk from class to Mr. Cheetah’s apartment and another 10 to walk back to my next class. I visited him every day (well, it was a Tues/Thus class—so twice a week) for those 10 leftover minutes. Yeah... I had it bad.

Just a year ago, there were many days when the only time we’d spend together was when we were sleeping in the same bed. I was finishing up my grad school course work and working on my thesis, so I was gone 15 hours a day. At that same time Mr. Cheetah was working on his Masters and working full time. There was also a 5-month period where we were long distance (I know that might seem like a walk in the park to some of you LD people out there!). We’ve also been lucky and have had stretches of time where we got many hours a day with each other.

While I still love spending oodles and oodles of time with Mr. Cheetah, the years together has made time apart easier. I believe that a little absence does make the heart grow fonder… I love the feeling of seeing Mr. Cheetah after a couple days apart.

How much time do you spend with your SO? How has that changed during your relationship?

Zombies: Tortoise or Hare?

By Chris Dimick

The issue is more contentious than the debate between Republican or Democrat; pro-life versus pro-choice, or even deep dish versus thin crust: can zombies run or not?
Not a day goes that someone doesn't shove a gun in my face, pull back the hammer, and scream "Well, what are you, a zombie walker or runner advocate!?"
With the rhetoric at an all time high, the RDHP sees the need to finally draw the line in the brains-soaked sand.


















Are zombies, to quote the sheriff in Night of the living Dead, so "messed up" that they couldn't possibly run faster than a hop? Or, are zombies able to reach sprinting speed when pursuing human hamburgers?
My answer: yes.
Okay, okay, put down that gun and let me explain this seemingly-Switzerland position.

Based on years of personal research, I've come to the conclusion that given certain circumstances, zombies are able to both walk and run. Don't tell me this argument is moot given that zombies are "fake." The zombie apocalypse is a matter of WHEN, not IF. Even the former President thought so. Ignoring this fact will just put you first in the zombie buffet tray... and I don't think that denial sneeze guard is gonna protect you much.

Zombies can both walk and run depending on their level of decomposition and physical completeness upon conversion. Let's say you have a healthy human male walking to work, minding his own business. Bam, zombie teeth chomp out a section of his arm (now that's a serious case of the Mundays), but the man escapes further devouring. The zombie virus, named solanum (by zombie researcher Max Brooks), takes over the man's body and first kills then transforms him into a flesh-seeking zombie.

The now zombie-man may have limited use of his bitten arm, since muscle tissue and bone is likely destroyed. But the rest of him, including his legs, would work perfectly fine allowing him to run if needed -- at least for the first day of zombiedom.

As his body undergoes the various stages of decomposition following death, the ability of his muscles to function would deteriorate. Slowly, the zombie would lose the ability to not just run, but move as various appendages rot.

In summary, a fresh zombie whose legs were fully operational at the time of "turning" can and will run after human prey until their legs are either destroyed, rot to the point of non-function, or their brain is destroyed and the solanum is deactivated.
My conclusion:
Fresh, complete zombies = the ability to run
Rotted or mutilated zombies = the ability to only shamble
















Most other zombie experts can't come to a consensus on this topic. In Brooks' 2003 masterpiece, "The Zombie Survival Guide," he writes that the solanum virus travels through the bloodstream to the brain where it causes all bodily functions to cease and kills the victim. The virus then mutates the brain causing it to operate independent from oxygen.
He writes, "by removing the need for this all important resource (oxygen), the undead brain can utilize, but is in no way dependent upon, the complex support mechanism of the human body.... Some bodily functions remain constant (such as sight and hearing), others operate in a modified capacity, and the remainder shut down completely."

When describing the zombie's speed, Brooks writes they "tend to move" at a slouch or limp. "Even without injuries or advanced decomposition, their lack of coordination makes for an unsteady stride. Speed is mainly determined by leg length... Zombies appear to be incapable of running." This school of thought has been portrayed in films like "Dawn of the Dead," and "Shaun of the Dead."

However! While Brooks is a scholarly source for zombie knowledge, many disagree with his assessment of the zombie's ability to run. Exhibit A in the "runners" camp is the 1968 film "Night of the Living Dead." This is considered the authority on undead zombie behavior since it is the first major film to portray the living dead.
The film's very first zombie attack scene, and in effect the world's first screen zombie, runs after a frantic victim driving a car! This zombie also picks up a rock and tries to smash out the car window, showing at least some level of cognitive ability (use of tools). The running zombie has been portrayed in other genre films like "Return of the Living Dead" and the 2004 remake of "Dawn of the Dead."

Night of the Living Dead also shows the slouching or slowly limping zombies that Brooks supports. To the untrained eye, this could be a contradiction. However, in the 30th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead, director/creator/zombie god George Romero included a new introduction to the movie which shows us that Zombie #1 had just died, legs intact, before he was converted into a zombie (in this case by radiation from a Venus satellite).
















This backs my conclusion that as a fresh zombie, Zombie Number 1 could run and operate his limbs as any living person. But as he decomposes, this zombie would lose that ability and turn into a shambling, slow walker, as he appears near the end of the movie. Romero just confuses things by only including walking zombies in the rest of his "of the dead" series. But he had it right the first time around, a zombie can both walk and run.

Bottom line is, whether you are facing a zombie runner or a walker, a person should be equally afraid. As Brooks so elegantly put it in Survival Guide, "The dead's advantage over the living is their tirelessness. Humans who believe they have outrun their undead pursuers might do well to remember the story of the tortoise and the hare, adding, of course, that in this instance the hare stands a good chance of being eaten alive."




Top Five Zombie Movies
(And their speed portrayal of zombies)
Picking one's top five zombie movies is like The Duggar's picking their top five children. There are just so many you equally love! However, here is an attempt at my best of brain-munchers list.
















Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The original and best zombie flick. Several disagreeing people are forced to hole up in a farm house as the reanimated dead stalk outside.
(Read the RDHP review here)

Running and (mostly) Walking Zombies:



Return of the Living Dead (1985)
This movie takes zombies to the next level, with a fresh punk rock take on the zombie legend. Warehouse workers accidently unleash government-created gas that turns the living into dead, and causes corpses to party on. Features a great punk rock soundtrack that compliments an energized take on the zombie genre.

Running and Walking Zombies:




Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Romero uses the zombie apocalypse to comment on our obsession with consumerism. A thinking man's zombie movie that follows a group of survivors who ride out the zombie invasion in a shopping mall.

Walking Zombies:












Dawn of the Dead (2004)
A modern remake that is less satire and more gore. Highlights include redneck security guards you can't wait to get eaten, a zombie baby birth, and an on-the-edge-of-your-seat reinvention of the usually slow-paced zombie movie.

Running and Walking Zombies:














Planet Terror (2007)
This ultra-bloody zombie masterpiece was created by director Robert Rodriguez as an homage to 1970s grindhouse scream films. It is ultraviolent, hilarious, full of stars, and fun as hell. Again, a government war toxin turns folks into zombies that like to nibble on Rose McGowan's slinky legs. Survivors fight back.

Running and Walking Zombies: