On transient relationships

Moving away has given me a new perspective on a lot of things. It has made me realize that the wonderful thing about where I grew up isn't necessarily the World Famous San Diego Zoo or the stretches of sunny, perfect beaches...but the people I've left behind. Granted, modern technology helps me maintain these relationships in ways that are as close to being there as I can get without becoming piss-poor from excessive plane tickets, but there is also a downside to relocation.
Here's a question: How many people do you still talk to from college? High school? Are the numbers dwindling? Most people have relocated or changed schools, jobs, and social circles at least once. It's something I really value in childhood (i.e., adjusting to new social situations, peers in their classrooms, etc.), because I think it teaches children valuable skills in forming new relationships, engaging others with diverse personalities, and entering into social situations from an early age. However, I feel we often focus on the "making new friends" part and less on the "keep the old ones" portion of that famed silver and gold song.
What am I talking about? Well, let's say you get new job, move, or start school. You form new relationships and often, especially in the case of college, become very close. However, these life circumstances thrust people together and then they just as quickly fall apart. M. (my fiance) doesn't keep in close contact with his friends from college. He keeps telling me "it's a guy thing," but I still feel like Facebook and social media makes it so simple to at least shoot a quick hello to someone every other month or so. Now that I've moved, I think about my own relationships: which friends from high school will still talk to me? If I was living in my hometown still, they would be my primary social circle. But even when I was in LA, there were more of them keeping in touch than they are now. I know that I'm out of sight and out of mind, but are these transient relationships?
This is even more salient in my latest efforts at wedding planning: making a guest list. How many people, once 2015 rolls around, will still be talking to me and have an invite to the wedding? Now I have friends from high school, college, grad school, my first job, and my current job, along with my Chicago social circle. This doesn't even include family, M's business school friends...the list goes on. How many of these people are we supposed to invite?

Readers--help! What was your rule of thumb for building your guest list? Do you still keep in touch with friends from all these different life situations?

On Weddings (and Saving Money)

I'm back from the wedding in California (but sick from all the traveling and the rushed weekend), and now I have weddings on the brain.  Luckily, 100 Layer Cake just put up this post on borrowed bridesmaids dresses that is genius.  I'm seriously going to consider this one, because they also have the option to buy.  The styles are pretty nice, too.  That's for you, bridesmaids who might not agree with my style and don't want to waste money on a dress!

Knee Deep in Wedding Planning

The Internet is a wonderful thing, guys. First off, I wouldn't be sharing these inconsequential details of my life with you all over the world.  Secondly, I wouldn't be planning my two-point-five-years-away wedding so efficiently.

 I should start by saying that I'm not the type of girl who had a wedding binder growing up.  Sure, I know my general preferences (a shade of purple for the bridesmaids), but no extreme details (like what the centerpiece should look like and where to buy those little gems or the floating candles).  Then the magical website called Pinterest came along, and lo and behold, EVERYTHING beautiful and wonderful is just one click away from inspiring you.  But wait--I wasn't engaged yet.  I also didn't want to be creepy, online friends.  I was biding my time, clicking "Like" for all the pretty wedding pins, until I was engaged.  THEN I made my crazy wedding board and pinned oh, 200 images or so in a short span of time.  Anyway, that's the extent of the wedding planning I did to this point.

Then I found The Knot app on the iPad.  Um, this is like Pinterest, but all weddings, and all the time.   I skimmed over venues and looked at the fun details (see: dress, bridesmaid gifts), but mostly just messed around.  More recently (as time tends to pass when you're not paying attention), I've started looking at venues more seriously as the impending year 2015 is looming.  I even made a Google Drive spreadsheet laying out the venues I like and important details (like how much open bar costs) about each one.

Then my fiance sent me this: http://www.google.com/weddings/plan.html#docs

 Gee, I feel pretty dumb.  Of course Google already had something convenient for me to use for EVERY ASPECT OF MY WEDDING.  Well, I'll leave the less fun spreadsheets (see: Budget, Guest List) for later and focus on the fun ones (see: Music List).

For you, fellow planners.  In case you haven't done all that work yet. Oh, and remind me to tell you about my dress later, if you are curious.  Because that's one thing I did 2.5 years ahead of the event--bought a dress.

Pandora's Box

Bad news, Interwebs: I have opened the fabled Pandora's box of wedding planning by starting to look into venues in my lovely hometown of San Diego, CA. Just reception sites, but still...any recs would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind the wedding will likely be in September of 2015, so I have loads of time...