The one about a cap & gown.

Okay, I'm coming in real quick this Monday morning with a funny story.  

This past week was the "Grad Fair" where NC State seniors came to pick their cap & gowns and honorary sashes.  On Wednesday,  I was talking to my classmate.  

Classmate: "Do you know if we have to pay for our cap and gowns?"  
Immediately, I was like "NO!  We pay thousands of dollars to go here and we work hard to earn our degree.  Surely, they can afford to give us a slip of fabric to walk across a stage in."

Early the next morning, I went to the bookstore to pick up my graduation get up before class.  I tell them my degree, my height and GPA and they handed me the appropriate attire.  Besides the grad fair ladies, I was the only person in the bookstore, so naturally -- I didn't think I had to pay.  I placed my attire in my bookbag & walked right out.

Later that night, my roommate Sarah came in the living room with her cap & gown.  A wave of excitement came over us and we decided to try them on!  As we were waving our arms around and just being goofy, I told Sarah about the conversation I had with my classmate a couple days before.  She immediately stopped dancing and the conversation went as follows:

Sarah: "Um, Courtney, you had to pay for your cap & gown"
Courtney: "No you didn't."
Sarah: "I paid for my cap & gown"
Courtney: "Okay, Sarah... you're a good liar"
Sarah: "I'll show you the receipt."
Courtney: "What?! I didn't pay for mine"

Sarah then fell to her knees and she lost it.  "You stole your cap & gown! Hahaha!!"  We both we just started cracking up and were in disbelief of how dumb I was... 

The very next morning, I went to the bookstore to pay for my cap & gown.  I came in and this super sweet lady was loud with her "Well hi there!  What can I do for you this gorgeous morning?"  I told her all that went down & told her at least 5 times how embarrassed I was.  She got a serious look on her face & called someone on the phone.  Their conversation gave me a heart attack.  It was about how the inventory didn't add up right with cap & gowns, and they had "found" one of the faces on the surveillance video.  Y'all, I was sweating.  She got off the phone, looked at me and then with her loud, sweet voice she said "Girl, I'm just playing with ya!  I appreciate your honesty!  Thank you so much for respecting your morals and school.  But now, Im gonna have to take ya money."  So I slid that plastic card and my graduation debt was paid... officially... legally.  

The Hitchin' Post - Invitations

During this wedding process, I have become more aware of how giving people are.  We are constantly coming in contact with people who love love & who have a giving heart.  With fabric, burlap, lace, ribbon, card stock, to printing the invitations.. sweet folks have been giving us discounts just because they feel like it.  It could be my mom's real personality and her ability to make a joke out of nothing that makes them connect to our story, maybe its our willingness to bend, make-do, & compromise so easily...  regardless, people are crazy good. 

Background story:  last week I freaked out a little bit when I realized we were like 8 weeks away from the wedding.  I freaked out because we hadn't ordered wedding invitations... or really, the card stock for the invitations, which would take a little time to process then ship, then we had to go get the invitations printed on the card stock and then packaged, then addressed, then stamped and finally, sent out.  And with my ridiculous academic calendar for the month of April... I got a little stressed out.  So Mom & I decided that we were just going to go to a fine papers company in Winston Salem, buy the card stock they had and then go get it printed the next day.  A normally a week to a week and half project done in 24 hours -- seems perfect right?

Well, perfect-ish.  We went and bought the card stock.  They did not have full sets of what I wanted, so in our second natural we bent & compromised & left the store content.  Next, we were trying to figure out who could print the invitations for cheapest... to come & find out that MOST stores don't print on pre-cut card stock.  They usually do large sheets, print multiple copies & then cut them in the size we wanted.  Well, we then realized that the card stock we just bought was final sale.  Crap. 

While Mama was walking through the jungle maze, also known as the grocery store, I was calling every printing store I could think of.  I called Sam's sister to ask where she got her invitations printed, my dad filled me on places that he has used to print blue prints, I called the "go-to's" such as Staples and FedEx.. nobody.  Feeling a little overwhelmed, I plopped down in the "for decoration only" outdoors table set while Mom stood in line texting all her friends for suggestions.  She mentioned to me Office Max, so I called and put on my "stranger voice" -- ya know, the really high pitched, perky, pleasant voice that you use with strangers -- Mr. Rocky from the printing department of Office Max told me that I could indeed get my invitations printed on pre-cut card stock!

"Oh my word, are you serious?  YAY (clapping of my hands)!  Are you sure?  I need [this size & this size].  Seriously?  YAY!  Okay, see you tomorrow morning!  Thanks so so much"

So Ashley & I got up early Saturday morning & headed to Office Max.  After a almost 2.5 hour adventure in Office Max (we were the only ones there in the first 2 hours), we have adorable printed invitations on cute, little card stock and the rest of my Saturday looked liked this:

Until around 7 at least.  Then I went over to the Scott's residents to celebrate the 21 candles of Miss Sidney Lee with a cookout, cake & a drive-in movie (in their own driveway!)

iPhone picture.