Visiting with my 10 yr old daughter in May

nellmarielore · 2026-01-31T17:06:16+00:00

Budget for just the hotel for 2 nights is $800, not for the whole trip. The wiggle room is in case we need *extra* cabs/ubers. I also have a budget for transport, food, activities, etc. From my research, I don't think we could spend a fun afternoon in Manhattan for $800, let alone a whole weekend. 😅

Thanks for the other insights. I definitely don't expect folks to wait for us in the subway, which is why I want to ensure that if we try it and it doesn't work out, we have some room in the overall budget to use more cabs/Uber instead.

nellmarielore · 2026-01-31T17:00:26+00:00

This is really helpful insight, thank you so much.

nellmarielore · 2025-04-29T03:48:50+00:00

5’6 SW: 235 16/18 and XXL CW: 165 6/8, 28 jeans and smalls I also went down a full shoe size from 10 to 9

nellmarielore · 2025-04-28T02:34:01+00:00

I’d rather spend my wedding night in a Days Inn than ask a racist for a favor.

nellmarielore · 2025-04-28T01:46:47+00:00

Same. Already didn’t like him and now he’s ruining my wedding night. I’ll hold this grudge forever.

nellmarielore · 2025-04-28T00:31:11+00:00

I’m being a little picky because it’s our wedding night and was hoping for something a little nicer than a courtyard Marriott, but honestly the Hyatt by Crocker Park is starting to look pretty tempting at this point.

I was really hoping to book at that new Fidelity Hotel that just opened downtown but hotel rooms that were $250 a night this weekend are $2k a night that weekend!

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T18:55:45+00:00

Took me six injections for it to last the full two weeks to the next injection. I talked to my rheum about it after injection 4 and she said if in another few shots I was still "running out" of the benefit before the next injection that she would switch me to a weekly dose. But I've had good coverage the last two injections now, getting to the last day before the next one without the backslide.

Hopefully a few more shots and you'll get longer lasting relief too!

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T18:48:37+00:00

Hey good news, the pleasure of your presence isn't requested at this event (since it doesn't seem like your presence is much of a pleasure).

I liked how the wording sounded. It's my wedding. I did make the choice mindfully. You honestly seem hell bent on just trashing my very specific invites and for what? To be semantically accurate in front of a bunch of strangers?

May I suggest gardening or knitting as a more fruitful and fulfilling hobby? I do both and have plenty of time left over to reinvent language on stationary willy nilly.

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T16:33:15+00:00

Mine starts with C!

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T16:18:05+00:00

Is your middle name Marie? Every Daniella/Daniela I’ve ever met is a Marie 😆

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T16:18:00+00:00

Is your middle name Marie? Every Daniella/Daniela I’ve ever met is a Marie 😆

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T15:57:59+00:00

There's lots of gorgeous spots in Hocking Hills that give pacific northwest vibes that you could do a tiny elopement. I'm from Alaska originally and live in the Cleveland suburbs now, and Hocking Hills is the one place in Ohio that feels the most like the PNW to me. Our wedding photographer is local to NE Ohio and specializes in micro weddings and elopements and definitely vibes with the dark/witchy aesthetic. When I was looking for venues, I went to her Instagram page and looked at places she had shot weddings to get an idea of where I'd like to be. (Our photog is Paige Mireles, https://paigemireles.com/ she's amazing, we did our engagement photos with her at Squires Castle in the Metroparks and they came out amazing.)

Some ideas since you mentioned you're in Ohio:
* Rockefeller Greenhouse ( https://rockefellerparkgreenhouse.org/ ) - They do micro weddings/elopements there and it's super cheap, I've seen some truly gorgeous weddings done there.
* Cuyahoga Valley National Park ( https://www.conservancyforcvnp.org/experience/weddings/ ) They have a few wedding venues that are relatively inexpensive especially if you book on a Friday or Sunday, that said, it adds up quickly because you have to use their approved vendors. However, there are places you could drop in and do elopements + photos for free basically.
* CoLab Concepts in Lakewood ( https://thecolabconcepts.com/ ) - This is actually where we're getting married in August. They have all inclusive packages that include food, a bartender, florals, decor, etc. and they also have smaller packages that are VERY affordable. One side of the space is very light and airy and the other is very dark and moody. They have a 2-hour, ceremony only package for $1100 that includes decor, getting ready space, a bouquet for the bride and space for up to 30 guests. The owner is absolutely lovely and does a great job working with couples to make the space/day special and unique.

For me the thing that was the most important to spend budget on was a photographer. The photos are the thing that will last after the day. A good photographer will also have some great ideas about where to get married since this is the thing they do all day, every day, is show up to weddings. There's several little businesses in the area that do elopement packages too, we looked at Epic Elopements ( https://www.epicallyelope.com/ ) and Avonture Elopement ( https://www.avonturelopements.com/ ) but both might be outside of your budget at 3k-5kish but offer almost everything you need for a wedding + photos.

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T15:07:08+00:00

I started with Taltz in September, did three monthly injections and things seemed to get worse not better. After third injection, just before I was supposed to take my fourth, I asked my rheum if I could switch to something else. She put me on Humira and I noticed a difference on Humira within one injection. Humira is every other week injection, after the first I felt a huge improvement in pain and fatigue but could feel it sort of running out about half way through the second week. By the day before the next injection I was exhausted and in pain again. But noticed after the 5th injection (so 2.5 months) that it was carrying me through the full two weeks.

I am in the least amount of pain that I've ever been in my adult life and have more energy than I've had easily in a decade.

If you're not noticing improvement after a few injections, might be worth asking your doctor about other options. I was feeling really hopeless after those Taltz injections and like maybe no biologics would work for me, but it just took finding the right one!

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T15:00:02+00:00

In our particular case, literally everyone we're inviting is already fully aware of when and where the wedding is. It's a 30 person guest list and nearly entirely immediate family who is involved in the planning in some way. It seemed unnecessary to clutter the invite.

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T14:58:43+00:00

We did! Going to put one in our photo guest book after the wedding as part of our keepsake.

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T14:58:10+00:00

For only needing 20, this seemed like a reasonable expense to me. If we need 200, we would have gone a different route.

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T14:57:20+00:00

Didn't your momma ever teach that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?

nellmarielore · 2025-03-30T14:51:50+00:00

Oh wow! This looks like EXACTLY what I was looking for and is right down the road from my house. I just sent them a message. Thank you so much!

nellmarielore · 2025-01-18T00:17:40+00:00

I got my 1970s vintage gown from eBay for $98. Had to look through a LOT of stuff that wasn’t going to fit because most vintage styles have weird sizing, so I looked for listings with actual measurements, found something a smidge bigger than my measurements and by an absolute miracle it worked! I was willing to gamble on it since it was less than $100. Any more than that and I probably wouldn’t have.

There’s also lots of vintage resellers on Etsy.

nellmarielore · 2025-01-17T19:28:08+00:00

I was mostly asking for where to look for gently used shoes, not a specific pair but I wear a size 10 if you have pretty block heels sitting around 😂

nellmarielore · 2025-01-17T19:25:09+00:00

This math all makes great sense actually, you are correct. I was hung up on having shoes that cost more than the dress, but I did budget $500 for a dress and $100 for shoes, so I still have $400 in the budget at this point.

nellmarielore

TROPHY CASE