Walking the walk.

Ha. Leave it to Murray. Just when you thought there was nothing else to be done with a mason jar he comes up with this! Jam! Naturally I'd assumed the mason jars sitting on the bench were for a rejuvenating  late afternoon goji berry juice with a hint of ginger and sprig of mint (who wouldn't?), not this food storage innovation. I hardly know whether to post it to my "Storing Jams" Pinterest board or just keep to myself. In any case remember you saw it here first. Once it gets out there on the interwebs there's no stopping what comes next. Chutneys...pickles...cocktail olives...

In other news from Trophy Wife I just wanted to thank all those who expressed genuine excitement over Murray and I renewing our vows. Actually, to be honest, no one has but I know that news like this cannot help but generate online excitement so I want to get in now before I'm deluged and say thanks, but hold your horses a bit because it's not set in stone yet. The thing is Murray hasn't totally okayed the idea. That's not to say he won't but then all last night while I was awake thinking of neon pink sugared almonds and an Orla Kiely faux vintage dress that would be perfect for renewing vows in (not overly formal but at the same time clearly signalling indie occasion ) I suddenly thought, hey, do you know who won't be wearing an Orla Kiely faux vintage occasion dress to their wedding? The gays. Thats who.
And that's when I knew I had to make my stand. How can I be all "Hey Murray lets renew our vows with a showy gesture and some quirky yet deceptively expensive designer clothes" when there are people out there who CAN'T get married thanks to discrimination. I'm not sure if I've said this here before but I think it's really important that high profile, and okay, let's say it - edgy - bloggers like Trophy Wife take a stand on something also high profile. That they use their online voice to say Hey, if Mr and Mrs Gay down the street can't have an etsy inspired wedding then don't be expecting one from Trophy Wife. Because it's one thing to talk the talk but another to walk the walk. if it's important enough you should totally walk the walk. Though not down an isle. Walk that is. In an Orla Kiely vintage whimsy of a frock. Or with a hand made bouquet of paper flowers in trending coulorways and vintage rhinestone accents that would be like, literally, instagram gold.
Of course Murray is going to want to know why the change of heart. I'll say something casual like "Forget the whole second wedding thing Murray. I've changed my mind. I'd rather a gay person down the street got married" then I'll just leave it. But he'll know. He wont say anything. But he'll know...

Renewing Our Wedding Vows.

Weddings are, like, totally trending at the moment. Or at least magazines about weddings are totally trending now. And not just run of the mill $60,000 weddings but creative, indie DIY hipster types that are packed with inventive new uses for the humble mason jar. Every time I go into the newsagent to buy the scratchie that won't be changing my life any time soon I see yet another cool indie magazine devoted to having the coolest hipster indie wedding possible. In fact it is not unimaginable that fave indie mag Frankie is working on it's own as we speak. In fact Memo to Frankie: should hurry as you risk being buried under all the other indie wedding publications that have beat you to it such as Hello May, Hitched and White.  Even though I have no need for these magazines I still want to buy them. Maybe it's because they are so pretty to look at? Or maybe it's just because they remind me of my own Special Day. Which is funny considering my own Special Day is the annual Lifeline Book Fair where I get to drop the kids at mum's house before school so I can queue up in the rain for cheap used books.



Still, I do love this new take on the biggest day in a girl's life. Those indie style weddings are so creative. For example you could have your wedding in an old disused barn or an old disused barn or make like it's the 1929 stock market crash and have your wedding in one of those old disused barns.

It's not just magazines though. It's also the coolest bloggers out there showcasing their own super personalised mason jar indie nuptials on their blogs. Which gives me the spark of an idea......As you well know, I'm no jump on the band wagon opportunist blogger, but I guess it's no secret Trophy Wife has been slack/disinterested/struggling for content lately. And what could revive this blog better than myself and Murray renewing our vows in an old disused barn amongst some good looking hipsters? Or even, should it come to that, just our friends and family? (Sorry guys, I love you, but you know it's true. Karen, you couldn't even be bothered to dress up for the school's trivia night Fairy Tale themed fund raiser. And if I could whip up a freaking red cape for Little Red Riding hood how hard was it for you to dress as the Wolf in Grandma's nightcap and dressing gown???????).

I put this fab second wedding idea to Murray.

"Murray" I say "Wow, the years sure have passed since we joined our bank accounts. Wouldn't it be meaningful if this spring we rented out a disused barn, rinsed out some old jam jars and renewed our vows in front of some photogenic extras?"
"What are you talking about Mia?" says Murray "We never even got married in the first place. You said in between your swollen ankles, chronic morning sickness and hatred for gatherings, you'd rather poke pins in both eyes that have a wedding."
"Mmmmm. So wouldn't it be nice to make up for that? I mean maybe if we had made some highly personalised, if idiosyncratic, vows all that time ago, surrounded by lots of darling etsy type touches, the last fifteen years would have gone a lot smoother?"
"I guess so" Murray seems warmed up to the idea "For example you could have vowed not to leave your jam knife out in the morning so that when we got home in the afternoon the ants hadn't taken over the house with their own nuptials"
"Yes" I say "And you could have vowed not to have become so obsessed with bike riding that dozens of broken inner tubes now litter the house even though that look is at least three years off trending"
Suddenly though Murray is looking at me all suspicious like "Hang on Mia, is this something to do with your blog?"
"What? God, no, what? God, what do you mean, no, I mean, God...."
Murray shakes his head at me imperceptibly and leaves the room. Which is total couples shorthand for Find a bespoke letterpress printer in our area and gets those invites out now....

Photo sources: One; Two; Three; Four.