#who let lazaro grow his hair

[folkbreeze]

📌Summer in Tartosa

[darylwillfightnatureforcarol]

Just finished watching the rest of the episodes. Obviously, there will be spoilers for all of the bonus episodes, including Here's Negan. Here's my thoughts. WARNING for some negativity:

Home Sweet Home:

Kind of a blah episode. Half of it seemed to be a 'walking in the woods simulator'. Don't have any eagerness for another rival group. I'm sick of the people vs people storylines. We should go back to basics for a while, just fighting the dead. This is just recycling the same storylines.

Enjoyed Maggie and Daryl's chat in the container (though I just know it ignited crack shippers). Was it just me or was Lauren Cohan's accent weird? Like, is it because she's been away from the show that she can't remember how to do it the way she used to? It just sounded off the whole time to me, like she was trying to sound more country than Maggie has in the past.

Liked Daryl seeing Hershel, though I wish the scene had been longer. It looks like we're continuing the trend of having 'legacy' kids around without giving them a personality like they do with RJ.

Liked Daryl and Kelly's interactions in this episode. It did annoy me how they wrote Kelly running off on her own in the woods. Like, you guys literally wrote her getting lost and losing her hearing not even a handful of episodes ago. Why would she risk doing that, knowing there was a chance it could happen again? Sure she wants to find her sister, but I don't think anyone in the group--Daryl especially--would have opposed to going with her. Annoying writing again.

By the way, I can't not point out that the spoilers for this were so anti-Carol. The way it sounded through spoilers made it sound as if Maggie was pissed at Carol for letting Negan out when it was clear that she understood Carol's decision (she was just irritated that Negan was out at all).

Find Me:

I won't go into a full rant about this episode. You can find that on my page. I'll just discuss a few things.

First of all, I really liked the banter between Caryl at the start. It was the kind of content we've been wanting for a while.

We probably all saw it this way but Leah was a Carol replacement. No doubt about it. Carol was 'happy' so Daryl tried to move on with the next best thing (well, according to him at least).

Shipping aside, the relationship and build up to it between Daryl and Leah was so bland and generic. The woman literally seemed to have no personality apart from 'I live in the woods and I lost my son'. I actually rolled my eyes when she started explaining about not having a good family growing up. It was like watching Mary Sue fanfic play out on screen.

I don't want to rant too much but I have to say again, you can't just have a relationship blossom that generically with a character who has clearly struggled with intimacy for a good chunk of his life. It was literally inserting Daryl into the plot of any other cheesy boy meets girl romance. If you are going to do something like this, you need to do it realistically. There should have been more of a struggle there for Daryl. For pete's sake, Daryl's love life (or lack thereof) has been a point of discussion for so many years. You can't just rewrite that lore with some half assed meet-cute storyline.

Oh and I can't forget to say another big fuck you to the end of this episode. Seriously, fuck the shit Daryl spouted at Carol. That shit would have worked for S2 Daryl but not this one.

Okay I'll stop myself there or I'll just keep going. Seriously, I don't think I'll run out of things to bitch about for this episode.

One more:

This episode was okay. I'm not a fan of Gabriel, so I didn't really enjoy the focus being on him. I do like Aaron though, so that was a saving point.

No offense if you're a Gabriel fan but I found this episode kind of pointless. The message was relevant of course but the whole thing seemed a bit hoky to me. Especially the whole 'talking at the bad guy until they have a change of heart'. I can see that this was an important turning point for Gabriel but honestly, I just don't care enough about his character to appreciate it. Felt bad for Aaron though. You can tell he's trying so hard to hold onto humanity.

Splinter:

Probably gonna upset people with this but I'm not really a Princess fan (though Paola Lazaro is great). The episode had an interesting concept and I know it was to try to set up for the Commonwealth or the CRM etc. I just found the way they went about it to be too dragged out without much substance. Even the twist with finding out that the others were figments of her imagination didn't save it for me. I like the concept of seeing things through Princess' mindset and it could have worked well but we just didn't really get any storyline there. I think the only thing I enjoyed was when she talked about her family (she should chat to Daryl. There would certainly be some common ground). Gotta admit though, Ezekiel and his Walker posse was kind of hilarious.

Diverged:

Loved it for the most part. Who knew we needed Carol vs a rat? I certainly didn't but I'm glad I got it. Also Carol smashing that wall to pieces was so badass and kind of hot. Anyone else feel like that? No? Okay...

I enjoyed the comedic moments in this episode. Loved Carol hanging out with Dog and Dog being a menace. Appreciated seeing more of Daryl's room (Why did he have a pirate book though? There had to be a point, right? WAIT, I just realised as I was typing this what it is. It's a reference to when Carol invited him to go out on the boat with her and they would be 'pirates' 😢)

Daryl certainly got a collection of multitools, didn't he? Seriously though, that scene where he was just walking away from the walkers was hilarious. It's literally what people have been saying for years--that the walkers are too slow.

Okay, now let's get to the bad parts I didn't like. Hated the start. They were so stilted and awkward and the fact that Daryl didn't apologize pissed me off. I don't care what Carol said, she didn't deserve any of that shit he said in Find Me. He knows better than anyone why she has done what she has done.

This storyline they seem to be running with for Carol is starting to piss me off. It's obvious they're trying to go for a redemption arc for her when she shouldn't need to be redeemed. She didn't do anything wrong. Yes, she made mistakes but think about how you would be if you had lost so much.

Maggie is being lorded as a hero but remember, she behaved pretty much the same as Carol did in S7,8,9. But no one labelled her as a villain or a nuisance. No, Maggie was strong and a leader for stepping up and making a stand.

I'm really dreading the last season. It's obvious they're planning for Daryl and Carol's rift in their relationship to be a main arc. We probably won't see them reconcile until the end of the season where Daryl'll be like 'Alright, I don't hate you anymore, let's go to New Mexico.' That will annoy the shit out of me.

Here's Negan:

Mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed seeing Negans backstory. Also props to the makeup team. They did a great job making JDM look younger. The thing I didn't like was the flashbacks within flashbacks. It made it hard to follow at times. Still, JDM and Hilary Burton Morgan had great onscreen chemistry (which they should, of course). I was surprised to see Laura pop up. I never thought she would have been one of the first Saviours.

Can't not mention how good Carol's hair looked in this episode. Please let us have this wig more often. It's so cute compared to the other frizzy one.

Also, I really don't give a shit about the drama between Maggie and Negan. There can't be a peaceful solution to it. There's no way Maggie will ever be okay with Negan being alive. Carol's right. If he stays, Maggie will (try) to kill him. If they have them come to an understanding next season, it will be super out of character. Same as when they kept pushing the Daryl/Negan team up. No way, no how, can either Maggie or Daryl look past what happened to Glenn.

Well, there are my thoughts on the episodes. I seriously battled against my anxiety to even sit and watch these. I was dreading watching Find Me especially for obvious reasons. It was awful but not as bad as I expected. I still wanted to throw my laptop out the window though.

[emilyemcnabb]

Cait and Ned’s California Vineyard Wedding

Cait and Ned, self-confessed opposites, knew they wanted something unique and different than anything they’d seen on any blog or Pinterest for their big day. From Cait: “I wanted to infuse the traditional, starched, East Coast elements of Ned’s upbringing with the feminine, luxurious, and rad Californian in me; and so we struck a balance. The contrast element was a big part of our love story, and it came out strongly in our design aesthetic – which reflected us perfectly as a couple.” They achieved all that and more in this gorgeous East meets West wedding with a “larger than life” bouquet and amazing tablescapes by Siren Floral Co. Since Cait worked with Designer and Planner Kaella Lynn Events for two years before she got engaged, Kaella already had a discerning eye for Cait’s vision for her wedding and orchestrated it perfectly. We’re sure you’ll agree that Jake & Necia Photography did an incredible job capturing every beautiful detail.

From the planner:

Cait assisted me for 2 years before getting engaged herself, so naturally we had discussed her dream wedding long before, but the vision became such a reflection of the two of them as a couple once it became a reality. We worked with Siren Floral Co. to create a flower-full masterpiece that was equal parts foliage and big, bodacious blooms and garden roses. Everything started and ended with the florals, and for Cait a larger than life bouquet was the only way it could be.

Aside from the aesthetics and materials used to illustrate how Cait and Ned’s personalities come together, additional touches were incorporated to reflect their future together. During their ceremony, they planted a baby spruce tree with soil from Rochester and California that they since planted in their new home in Rochester. Both love to read and be inspired, so their favorite quotes were written in calligraphy, framed and displayed throughout the event. Cait’s cousin, who lives and owns a candle-making business in Australia created 3 different scents of small candles for guests to take home as favors. She also created larger ones, one in a more masculine scent to be enjoyed in the masculine den (Ned’s lounge) and the other a floral candle to scent the air at the feminine setting (Cait’s lounge) at cocktail hour.

  From the Bride:

How we met – He was East Coast, I was West: we met for the first time working at an advertising firm in San Francisco, and Ned says “the moment I saw her across the sales floor, I knew she was what I had been waiting for.” Hailing from LA originally, and having just graduated from UC Berkeley across the bay, I couldn’t have been more opposite from the girls Ned had met growing up in Rochester NY and living in Manhattan – and that made all of the difference. I was sunshine and positivity and youthful enthusiasm; Ned was life experience and rationality and conservative savings goals (and 10 years my senior, both in his career and in life). I asked him on an outing in October 2012 under the guise of friendship – “Let’s go to the pumpkin festival in Half Moon Bay!” – and being a good sport, he agreed. A two hour drive and 45 minute festival turned into a 4 hour lunch date filled with craft beer, stories of his life on the East Coast and mine in LA, and both of us hoping that ‘friends’ wasn’t a title that would stick. 2 years later, we were engaged under the Brooklyn bridge in a secret garden by the waterfront – and his surprise proposal was one of the only moments in my life that has truly shocked me. It was perfection.

What inspired our wedding – When Ned and I met, I was working full time in ad sales, and on weekends and evenings, an assistant planner at Kaella Lynn Events. Needless to say, I had very little free time – but weddings have always been my calling. Ned says “I’ve always been in awe of her style, and weddings are what make her happy, so I learned that while my Saturdays were for golfing with friends, hers were for helping people on the most important day of their lives. I support that.”  I carried around a copy of ‘Brides’ magazine to preschool with me from the time I was three years old, and when my dad married my stepmom in 1998, I was at the center of their ceremony and planning process. Naturally, when Ned and I got engaged, I looked to my mentor and friend, Kaella Wilson, (the Chief Wedding Planner at Kaella Lynn Events) to bring our big day to life. She and I had a vision for what the day would look like LONG before it actually came to be – but we gathered most of our inspiration from my life with Ned, our unique backgrounds, and our shared vision – what really made our love story pop. The year-long planning process was such a wonderful time for me, because Ned and I had just moved to New York, and working closely with Kaella kept me tied closely to my roots in California during that time, through endless calls/emails/skype meetings that made me feel right at home.

  Ned and I would be married in my home town, just around the corner from where my dad and stepmom had tied the knot – and given our shared love of Northern California wineries, a vineyard was a no-brainer.  But I wanted something with edge – a wedding day that didn’t look like anything I had seen on Pinterest or a wedding blog. When I saw my personal flowers on our wedding morning, I almost fell out of my Louboutins – I’ve never seen anything more beautiful, more me, or larger (!) than my bridal bouquet.

The Dress – I went to no less than seven bridal salons with varied groups of my bridesmaids and best friends to try on wedding gowns – and while a number of dresses had felt pretty enough, I hadn’t had a ‘wow’ moment until I visited Bridal Galleria in San Francisco. On that day, I had pulled a few gowns to try on from the sales floor, and as I rounded a corner to take one last glance around, MY gown was hanging from a single rack directly in front of me. I swear it was bathed in magical light as I walked toward it – all gossamer ivory tulle, hand stitched lace with gilded thread, and golden glitter infused throughout the endless layers of horsehair edging. It was a strapless Lazaro ball gown with a 4 foot train and peplum waistline – and I will never forget twirling around the salon, refusing to take it off, while the other gowns I had seen hung unnoticed in the dressing room. It was everything I had ever dreamed of in a wedding dress, and when I saw tears well in Ned’s eyes as I started down the aisle on our wedding day, I knew I had chosen the right one.

Designer + Planner: Kaella Lynn Events // Photography: Jake & Necia Photography // Florist: Siren Floral Co. // Invitations and Paper Suite: Aerialist Press // Calligraphy: Brown Fox Calligraphy // Venue: Triunfo Creek Vineyards // Bridal Gown: Lazaro // Shoes: Christian Louboutin // Bridesmaids’ Gowns: Donna Morgan // Hair & Makeup: Bliss Bridal Beauty // Groom’s Attire: Bonobos // Cakes: Sweet and Saucy Shop // Dessert Bar: Delish Designs // Caterer: Command Performance Catering // Furniture Rentals: Found Vintage Rentals // Tabletop Rentals: Casa de Perrin // Linens: La Tavola Fine Linens // Ring Box: The Mrs. Box

  The post Cait and Ned’s California Vineyard Wedding appeared first on Grey Likes Weddings | Wedding Fashion & Inspiration | Best Wedding Blog.

[heiresstochaos]

*Tali had been focusing on anything and everything else, but her headaches for the past few days. She didn't want to think about what was going on. All she wanted was to numb it enough that the voices would fade into a garbled murmur. It hadn't been easy and had taken a lot Patron to get to the point she was at when her cell rang for the umpteenth time* I swear she knows when I am off work. *grumbling to herself when she see the caller id say "Mother". Her mother had been calling her seemingly non-stop for the past few days. That was a record that bordered on stalking if you could pin that on family, but today her mother was calling repeatedly like her hair was on fire or the world was ending. Finally Tali has enough and answers her cell* What is it, mother?

"Talise Alazne Demara! Why haven't you returned my calls?!" *her mother was furious and worried. Two things that could spell trouble if Tali didn't diffuse the situation tactfully* Mama, you know things have been chaotic since I moved and I've been working a lot. *Tali was inwardly cringing as she hoped and prayed that her explanation would be enough. She never wanted to have her mother angry at her. That, no matter what, was just something she never wanted to face. Sofia was a tough task master and even harder to please, but she wasn't a woman anyone wanted to have her anger pointed in their direction* "I know you have but mi hija I have been worried. Your father and brother have been worried as well. There is so much we need to discuss and not a lot of time for me to explain." *Sofia's voice went from being furious to worried in the blink of an eye. This fact had Tali growing concerned* What is wrong, mother? *Sofia sighed slowly like she was thinking through what she needed to say then she had started talking about things from the past. Things that Tali couldn't get her mind to wrap around and grasp. That was until she mentioned Jaguars and that she had hexed her children.. the two she loved more than herself.. for a very good reason. Tali wanted to curl up into the fetal position and go into the beyond then and there, but her mother continued to rattle off an explanation as to why Tali was having such severe headaches that led to vomiting and moments of blacking out after feeling like her skin was being stretched too tight and the bones inside her were being shifted in ways that weren't natural by any means. Sofia ended the call with "We are coming to you so we can talk in person. All of us. Remember te amamos nuestra hermosa hija." Then she had hung up. Tali could feel the love of her family in the words that were spoken as well as in her mind. it washed over her so that she felt embraced by it* What do I do? *Tali looked up at the clock and saw that it was time to head to work. She couldn't or rather wouldn't let Janessa or JJ down. They had put faith in her and she had responded in kind to that. The staying busy meant she could put the conversation with her mother into the back of her mind and figure it all out when her family arrives at week's end* Fuck me. Can my life get any crazier?

*Tali hurried to get ready for work and drove the short distance to @JJsCigars. She parked her Audi R8 in the employee section and entered through the back entrance after setting the alarm on her car. Things seemed to be going smoothly for everyone as she made her way passed the bar where she spoke to John and Scoti who were busy serving the guests then she waved at Trixie and Bex who were taking orders out to the various tables and booths around the massive building. Tali finally made her way by the DJ booth and winked at RaeRae who was dancing to the beat she was spinning. All in all it was a normal night at JJ's up until three men walked in. The way they moved had her insides cringing as they checked out the place. To describe it actually they cased the joint. Their eyes darting here and there like they were looking for someone. Just their beady eyes and expressions had an image coming into Tali's mind of blood and death. The men made their way past her and as they did the small hairs on the back of her neck raised like hackles of a great beast warning her of danger. That was when she saw Kye out of the corner of her eye. Kye had spotted the men and had made a beeline towards the back entrance. She had moved so fast it was like a blur. One second she was just outside her office and the next the back door was clicking shut* What the.. *Tali softly spoke inside her mind as one of the men slammed into her right shoulder* Excuse you! *Tali's head began to pound as she spun towards the man in question and all three were glaring directly at her. It was like an old west standoff. The three of them on one side and Tali on the other. "Why does my head hurt?"

{Let the memory flow. Like water in a stream.}

There was that voice. This time it was her mother. There were more words but Tali didn't understand them as they were spoken in a language she had never heard before. Her chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it and her head... Hell she thought it might explode from the way it was pounding. Then flashes of images come into her field of vision.                 A man..                         A gun..                                Shots being fired...                                                     And screams...

"What the fuck?", Tali asked in her mind to get no answer as the images finally cease and she's left looking through her hazy vision. This had become the norm from the headaches, but the feeling of impending dread weighed on her. It only grew when the men headed out of the bar as a name finally came to her. {Lazaro Milian. He's trouble} Her father's voice firm but calm like that of a man who knows and has done far more than anyone knew. "That's what I sensed?", Tali was asking mentally seeking some kind of answer. {No you remembered his scent. That one was a member of his crew.} His crew?! Just what the hell was happening? Tali didn't know. The one thing she did know was that @JanessaKye was in trouble and she had to help. "Papa I have to help her." His answering warmth told her that he knew what Tali was going to try to do even if she wasn't sure of it herself. She glances around to see if anyone else noticed anything off before making her way to the back door. She grabs her head in agony once more as a feline predator stalks her way up the metaphysical path sharing her strength with Tali even if she wasn't ready. Tali knew this beast was her protector and she needed it's help to ensure @JanessaKye comes back in one piece*