Tech Bytes

Guys. We’re THIRTY DAYS out! I know I’ve been terrible about giving you regular updates on all of my wedding planning activities, and most of you probably couldn’t care less about the part-time job that COSTS me money, that I’ve willingly taken on. But here we are. 30 days. Crazy.

When we got engaged back in October, June felt so very far away. There was PLENTY of time to plan and take it all in. It all sounded so stress-free and magical, but then I began the process and realized that I already had a 9-5 job, a limited budget, and what seemed like a dozen other things pulling at me at all times. To my credit, I’m actually a fairly chill bride-to-be (and I swear Cody would agree). There really haven’t been THAT many things that I have cared so strongly about that the planning or choosing of those things caused me or the people around me a great deal of stress. I also pride myself on my organizational skills, which have certainly come in handy. I have built some pretty badass wedding planning spreadsheets over the past couple of months, let me tell you! Oh, and I hired a wedding planner. Total lifesaver. Especially since our wedding is in Arizona and we live in New Orleans. If it’s in your budget and you’re throwing anything more than a backyard BBQ, I would highly recommend hiring one. Best money we’ve spent.

I hope you can tell by now that I am mostly kidding when I complain about planning my wedding (or really anything trivial in my life). Trust me, I realize not only how fortunate I am to have the resources to even THROW a wedding, but more importantly how lucky I am to have found an amazing person that wants to embark on this whole marriage thing with me in the first place. That said, it’s definitely work. But certainly work that I have created for myself by deciding to have a traditional wedding. Fortunately, I think the end result of all of this “work” will be an incredibly memorable weekend spent with the people we love most.

So that’s the latest! We’re really in crunch time, people. But I say bring it on. Crunch time is when I’m at my best. And luckily, after this weekend we have NO travel planned, and we can sit at home and enjoy the calm before the awesomely fun storm that will take place on June 2nd. Let the 30-day countdown begin!

*If you hadn’t noticed, I actually have a LOT of thoughts on this whole wedding planning process and the wedding industry in general. I’m going to try to work it into some kind of blog post after the wedding, so stay tuned.

I promise I didn’t forget that this is a Tech Bytes post and I owe you, well, some Tech Bytes. So if I haven’t already lost you, I think there’s a few good ones in here this week. Plus I gave you a couple of bonus links since it has been a while.

1. I swear not a week goes by that I don’t hear someone say, “Facebook and Instagram are listening to my conversations!” I’ve said it to Cody many times when I’ve seen an ad pop up in one of these two apps for a product or service that I SWEAR I have only thought about in my head or mentioned in a real-life conversation with other people. The good news? It’s unlikely that Facebook is actually listening. The bad news? The reality isn’t THAT much less creepy. This Wall Street Journal article does a fantastic job of breaking down just how Facebook DOES track (aka spy on) your (almost) every move.

2. Spotify and Hulu recently announced a bundle that will save you a few bucks if you use both services. While I find myself questioning the value that Hulu actually adds to my life, if you’re paying for both, this is really a no-brainer (note: I love Spotify and use IT constantly). It was a little tricky to switch my billing info over to combine the two, but once I found the right link, it was pretty painless. If you get stuck, I recommend going through Spotify’s Twitter account — telephone customer service seems to be nonexistent for both companies. Irritating.

3. I wrote about Pocket Casts in my blog post about my road trip to Bank School last summer, and it really is the best podcast app I’ve used. If you’re a podcast addict like me and you’re looking for an alternative to the default Apple or Android apps, you should check it out. I’m just glad to hear it’s sticking around. Phew!

4. Forget an Apple Watch or a Fitbit, how about a watch that predicts when you’re going to die. Well, kind of. While I’ve definitely made a conscious effort to be more present in 2018 and live life more in the moment rather than through my phone, I am not sure I’m thrilled at the idea of wearing my life’s countdown clock on my wrist.

5. Snapchat seems to be refusing to give up the hardware game, even after they took a huge “L” on the first iteration of Spectacles. In fact, they recently launched V2. We’ll see if this version sells any better. Oh, and if you’re interested, you thankfully no longer have to wait in line for five hours and buy them from a vending machine. You can pick up a pair here.

6. So this “May the 4th Be With You” is a real thing, huh? I will admit that I have never seen even one minute of a single Star Wars movie, but since my soon-to-be husband is a die-hard Star Wars fan, I guess I’m going to have to start acknowledging this “holiday”. The things we do for love.

7. This little “days between calendar” has been incredibly useful in so many situations. I find myself using it so much that I finally bookmarked it and gave it a home on my iPhone home screen.

I’m currently on a plane headed to Arizona for my last in-person wedding planning weekend with my Mom and my wedding planner (#dreamteam). While there are a few boring tasks to complete, there are some good ones too — like re-tasting wedding cake flavors. Look, I may be a pretty low-maintenance bride, but I take my cake EXTREMELY seriously.

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend celebrating Cinco de Mayo, watching the Derby, enjoying the beautiful Spring weather, or sitting on your butt binging on Netflix. Remember, live your best life no matter what that looks like, because you’ve only got one!