I'm moving on.....

Well what a strange few weeks I've had!
Firstly, and most importantly (and all consumingly!) we have been told that the lease on the house we have rented for the last 2 years will not be renewed come the end of October.  We have been looking for a house to buy, thinking we would buy around Christmas time, which would give us plenty of time to get everything organised and settled and fit in with our wedding quite comfortably before our next lease would have been due at the end of March, however, the owner of our house has decided to move back in, so we have to pack up our lives and wedding by October 28, giving us around 5 weeks to clear on out!! We are very sad to be leaving, and packing is such a daunting task considering the amount of teacups I have collected over the last few months!! We started doing some packing today, filling 9 boxes with books and dvds, and then running out of boxes :(
At this stage we definitely want to buy, rather than find somewhere else to rent, so we have spent the last week trawling the internet and open homes in the hopes of fi
Fnding something perfect.  We have managed to find a place in Somerset that we really love, and are very excited about, however being first home buyers the amount of paperwork and time is greater than the time we have, so we are going to have to end up moving twice :( Putting most of our furniture into storage, and living with my parents until we can complete negotiations on a property, then finally moving into the property.  We have been to lots of open homes, and have 2 more tomorrow afternoon, but, we both seem to have our hearts set on the Somerset house, probably not a good thing, as you should never count your chickens before they hatch!! But we both can't seem to stop discussing ideas and developments for the house :( so fingers crossed everything goes well, as I think we will be slightly devastated if it all falls through :( 
This week, as well as property hunting, I had a birthday.  I turned 25 on Wednesday, and I was determined to do everything in my power to avoid celebrating this day, as I had just found out that we were being 'evicted' and was feeling pretty down about this, but, it came to my attention, that I have some pretty amazing friends in my life, and they were not going to let this day go uncelebrated, protestations, and 'FML'S' aside!
Firstly, my lovely friend Jess made me cupcakes and bought them to work, as well as an amazing Paris themed pinboard, and Cath Kidston tissues- obviously she knows me pretty well!

We went out for dinner that night with my parents, who bought me a benchtop mixmaster- but feeling bad that they had bought me a gift that as a soon-to-be homeless bum I would be unable to use, I also recieved a cute little clutch bag and necklace from one of my favourite stores, Chile.  The following day the lovely and thoughtful Allana (http://www.highmaintenancehippy.blogspot.com/) bought me the most amazing and thoughtful gift- It arrived in a gorgeous handmade drawstring vintage linen and crochet bag, with an amazing bunting card, which I think has just inspired our wedding invitations- and upon opening the bag I found a beautiful That Vintage Tea Party necklace.  The thoughtfulness and appropriateness of this gift touched me, and having had quite an emotional week, almost brought on tears!!  I wore my beautiful new necklace out for dinner to Rialto's with some lovely friends, and drank too much wine, ate too much bread and pasta, and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Before our house-hunting issues began, I made the envelopes to send out our save the dates, but have been a little bit slack in getting them out, due to a wandering mind- but i'm hoping to have them out by the end of this week!!

We have also had some lovely friends home from Sydney for a visit, Adam and Lucy, who have just had a gorgeous baby girl Miss Elsie Grace.  She is so placid and lovely, and definitely makes the clucky genes kick in!! We had some wonderful visits with them all, and can't wait to see them again at Christmas time!

Have been feeling somewhat down for the last few weeks- think it definitely has something to do with the fact that this time last year I was having the most amazing time in England and Paris, and I think that the wet and cold weather, combined with losing our house, and the uncertainty of it all have got the best of me.  Can't wait for the sunshine, and for all our moving problems to be over so that we can concentrate on getting the fine details of our wedding sorted, as it will certainly be busy, as all progressions are going to be put on hold, at least for 2 months.  How will I ever catch up on my September/October checklist jobs?  We have been to discuss our menu with our caterers, and we are pretty happy with the way it seems to be developing. 
The big thing at the moment seems to be dessert and candy bars with pretty glass containers holding sweets and desserts, but rather than doing this, we wanted to do something a little bit different.  For our entree, rather than having a formal sitdown meal, or a roving fingerfood option, we have decided to adapt the candy-bar idea to an 'Antipasto Buffet' and utilise the pretty jars, platters etc, but fill them with deli meats, crackers, delicious breads, dips, cheesewheels and raw vegetables.  This means that people will eat from the buffet, and mingle, giving us time to arrive at our reception and greet guests in an informal and relaxed way, while enjoying yummy savoury food without feeling sick from too many sweet things!!
Our mains will be a sit-down meal, with a selection of rack of lamb, chicken breast wrapped in proscuitto, or a thai-marinated calamari (which is sooooooo yummy!!).  Dessert will be a choice of wedding cake or one other option which we are yet to decide upon. 
Hopefully this week my brain will start functioning again- and I can be productive not only on the house hunting front, but also on the house-packing front, and on the wedding-planning front!  Have to say, I am VERY much looking forward to the long weekend for the Burnie Show- 3 days off will be extremely welcomed!!
Yours in house-hunting frenzy,
Emma xx