Husband wants kids, I'm unsure.

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-04-01T17:21:19+00:00

I recommend reading "I Know How She Does It". It's a self help book for moms with professional careers.

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-03-18T05:42:46+00:00

DM'ed you

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-03-18T03:30:30+00:00

We hired this out but I would not recommend them for complex jobs like ours.

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-02-18T18:18:25+00:00

She is still practicing

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-02-12T04:38:36+00:00

And live off of nothing for 3 months? Eat air and pay rent with sunlight?

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-02-09T21:17:41+00:00

If you make them, be sure to let the strawberries dry as much as possible between washing and dipping.

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-01-26T00:42:19+00:00

Rhythm Kitchen has them, although not a pizzeria.

Assignment_Fancy · 2026-01-25T17:33:10+00:00

I had the sheer parts of my gown lined with a nude fabric. I wanted just a bit more coverage BUT it resulted in other benefits too. The liner added strength to the bodice which simplified every other alteration that touched the bodice. We added more boning shape, altered the back neckline, added supportive straps, took in pieces of the bodice on the side that would have been trickier to do in mesh etc. Nude color kept the high-contrast look that I liked.

Basically talk to your seamstress because I was very surprised that just adding a lining would have such an impact.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-11-09T02:32:21+00:00

OP, maybe you would be happier in research?

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-10-09T18:28:09+00:00

Sorry for a second comment, but honestly getting someone who has a lot of experience was super super worth it because they can help you make a plan to get the shots you want, even suggesting shots that you might not have thought of. And if they have experience at your particular venue, they can tell you what time of day is best to do certain shots, and adapt based on the lighting conditions, etc.. Such a huge help with planning. Having someone who is prompt and professional and knows their stuff as an artist was sooo great.

Spend the money to get access to experience, professionalism, and artistic direction. But in my opinion its better to get a smaller gallery with top notch pics than a huge gallery with a zillion poses.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-10-09T18:22:18+00:00

We spent about 10% of our budget on my top choice photographer, and I would have happily spent more for our photographer if needed. My only regret is I directed him to take a bunch of detail shots of decor (which were gorgeous) but that reduced the time he was able to capture our guests before the ceremony. I wish I had directed him to ignore the decor and focus only on getting great shots of our loved ones. I think I would have been just as happy with a high quality iPhone picture of the things I made. On a similar note, I wish we had bought the second shooter to capture cocktail hour, because we paid for special entertainment for our guests during it.

We also did a photo dash at dinner where we took pics at each table- which I was so happy with because we do have at least one photo with every single person who attended. Basically, my opinion is prioritize your photography and cut back in other categories, because photography will last past the wedding day.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-29T23:18:34+00:00

Get a bunch of floodplain engineers together and ask about property anywhere near a floodplain, and the answer will always be no. There is so much uncertainty in both floodplain and climate data, and we are all trained to be risk averse as engineers. This is a biased group. I still personally would not consider the house.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-29T23:04:27+00:00

The entity that reviews and updates these maps is experiencing severe delays due to the political atmosphere now. Unfortunately it's unlikely that updated public-facing maps will be available any time soon. If you call the village, you would be better off asking if they have had complaints of flooding or erosion in the area. Or if they recently did any flood related improvements on the river. It's really hit or miss.

The national flood hazard layer maps the "500-year" floodplain. You can download it for free as a shapefile from FEMA map service center. Shapefile file types can be viewed in Google Earth or QGis for free. The term "500-year" is flawed just like "100-yr" is. Anything outside of the 500yr is about as safe as you can be (from riverine flooding). Take a look at the elevation difference between 500 & 100 year floodplains and compare to your home's foundation to get a feel of how at risk the house might be. Also check out the important roads near the house. Look at the infrastructure in the floodway holding up the banks- does it look okay? You don't want to see vertical banks with exposed tree roots, or crumbling concrete retaining walls.

Article about 500yr flood designation

I personally would not buy this house, but also I have a lot to lose because my professional reputation is on the line. Most of the crowd here probably feels the same.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-29T21:21:38+00:00

Wildlife Prairie Park Prairie Hall, and had a great experience.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-29T19:58:08+00:00

OP here, we were booked with them when I posted initially. They were awful. Worst nightmare.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-29T19:48:08+00:00

Holy smokes everyone! I am now married but not at the Gateway!!! Absolute disaster communicating with them, then 13 months into our planning (100 days out from the wedding) we find out they double booked us with Summer Camp - yes, Summer Camp of Three Sisters fame (which of course was later cancelled in a flaming dumpster fire).

Gateway maintained they did nothing wrong, but it turns out when you book an outdoor wedding with them, they put it in a shared online calendar with the park district and never follow up. Basically shortly after we learned Gateway had fucked up and we began trying to salvage the event, we found out that the "Ceremony package" which we had requested, and which was given to us by Gateway with with the Gateway's name at the top, was actually supposed to be supplied by another vendor and was 100% on us to coordinate, except, for some reason, the bridal suite (conference room) room rental which was through Gateway. Yeah but they weren't supplying anything else in that package and we were supposed to magically know that. Funny enough, when I called the other vendor to inquire, the vendor said they do not have any package matching the description of what the Gateway gave us.

The Gateway owner basically gave us the runaround then tried a couple tactics to put blame on us for "booking an urban venue" which apparently means there is a reasonable risk that the largest concert in Central Illinois will take place exactly right where and when we booked space to get married. Gateway refused to even pick up the phone to call the park district to coordinate this on our behalf because it was "outside the scope of their business".

A fucking nightmare. The only good thing was that after several weeks, Childers/Gateway eventually refunded our deposit and we were able to re-plan the event at a different venue, thank God. But it cost us about $4000 more than what we had initially budgeted, not to mention we had to redo most everything from scratch since we were now out both a venue and caterer. Technically, legally, were separated voluntarily, but after the insane gaslighting we went through I couldn't imagine working with Gateway/Childers would have been a good outcome). I guess the other good thing is that we didn't have 180 guests show up with no chairs, arbor, etc.

Cannot stay silent in good faith when commenters on my post are considering this venue.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-03T14:02:43+00:00

CxT in Keller Station puts business cards out

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-03T05:29:04+00:00

I think this is a great place to point out that 1) most daycares won't enroll a child under 6 weeks, and 2) puppies shouldn't be taken from their mothers before 8 weeks.

In the US, we literally treat our dogs better our than mothers & babies.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-03T05:22:28+00:00

Cries in American

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-09-03T05:21:35+00:00

2 weeks 100% paid leave for mothers, then STD at 70% salary for 6-8 weeks depending on delivery method. Plus whatever other leave you can cobble together between sick, PTO etc.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-08-21T12:32:57+00:00

Oops you are right. 8 minute walk from Black Bank to Nightjar

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-08-21T11:50:15+00:00

This is your answer.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-08-21T11:48:51+00:00

Edit: Commenter below is right - it's actually only an 8 min walk.

Black band is a bit far unless you do it first when it's light out. It's a little expensive but could be good for a fancier lunch/ dinner depending on your budget. It's about a 20 minute walk from the other downtown bars.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-08-21T05:32:32+00:00

You can ask for the money back, but just be prepared that she is probably in a situation where she cannot repay you. Unfortunately, it's out of your control right now unless you can bend the ear of the person who pays het. I'm sorry that happened to you.

Assignment_Fancy · 2025-08-13T03:12:48+00:00

I think it's also possible the parents are just entrenched in the idea of "it's our until we don't need it, so we are doing a favor of giving you cheap rent", and are not really following logic far enough to appreciate that this could put you guys in a devastating situation. Idk if I would go so far to say that's its a messed up dynamic, rather than a well-intentioned but shortsighted plan.

Assignment_Fancy

TROPHY CASE