The invitations arrived last night! They look soooooooooo pretty. They turned out perfectly!
Except for one teensy thing. Our invitation vendor had checked with the post office on postage for the entire invite package, so I could check into ordering specialty stamps that I was interested in getting. We went over the price a couple of times, and she was sure that the entire invite should cost about $1.17 to send. I looked into stamp options, and unfortunately, the only stamp I could get that would cover that price was one for $1.31. No matter…I just figured that would surely get every invitation safely to their intended recipients.
So the invitation vendor had bad news for us when she arrived last night. She had returned to the post office one more time (I don’t know why she went this time…could be for another project) and the clerk asked her if she would be sending the items via parcel or flat. Apparently, one option sends the invites through a machine that could bend them, and the other doesn’t.
Also? The one option costs $1.17, and the other one costs $1.47. And the way our invitation is, it might not even BE an option to send them with the smaller amount of postage on them.
So. Now we have 120 stamps on their way to us, custom made with a picture of Jesse and me on them, which we will have to likely supplement with a second stamp of some certain value. Fun, huh?
The invitation vendor felt pretty bad, since she was trying to help us plan ahead by checking how much postage would be on our invites. Last night, she kept telling me to let her know how much extra we wind up spending on the postage so she can supplement the cost by lowering her final bill. But I think its fine, really. First off, the cute personalized stamp was just a fun extra bit we wanted to do. The fact that we now need to put another stamp next to it on the envelope won’t be that big of a deal, I’m sure. I’m willing to bet people won’t look at the personalized stamp and think to themselves, “Aw! How clever and cute that is…” and then see the additional postage and find the entire invitation “experience” ruined. I do know that it would ruin the experience to have postage due when the invite got there, so that is the important thing to avoid here!
But the main thing is that the invitations look beautiful, and I cannot WAIT to send them out! Today is a bit busy for post office visits, but tomorrow I’ll definitely get it taken care of, and then I just have to wait for the personalized stamps to arrive, and we can get them sent out.
This is getting scary. :)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Shower re-cap, and other bits...
It’s been a special level of busy at work these past couple of weeks, so I apologize for the lack of posts as of late. As we all know, work must come first, though…the wedding and the private life and the fun have to be set aside when things get as busy as they have been in the professional world!
Thank goodness it hasn’t been all work work work, though…for example, yesterday we went and bowled for charity in the morning and I got back to my desk at about 1 after bowling 2 games with my other 5 teammates. It was nice to get out and do something fun for charity! (My teammates and I have been practicing over the course of the last month, too. We went for extra-long lunches twice in order to prepare for today. So that hasn’t been all that terrible, either.)
Of course, things were a bit more stepped up over the last couple of weeks at work due to my vacation days I took last week. I went to California for a wedding shower that my sister threw for me, and I took last Friday and this past Monday off for travel. Saturday, the day of the shower, was perfect, and we had such a nice time! I was hoping to be able to see a lot of family and old friends that I don’t get to see very often, and the party did not disappoint in that respect. In fact, it didn’t disappoint in any respect! The food was great, the aforementioned weather was lovely, and everyone seemed to have as good a time as I had, which always makes things even nicer than one could hope.
We did have an odd occurrence during one point of the shower, though. See, we were on a lower level of patio seating at a restaurant on this little lake in Mission Viejo. We were at the one end of the patio, and were pretty well backed into a corner. The buffet was set up in that corner, and then the tables were along the railing looking over the water. Very pretty, well-situated, comfortable for everyone, etc…
Well, after we had all gotten our food and even been back for seconds, we settled in to take some pictures and chit-chat and that sort of thing before I opened presents. While we hung out, a few of us (if not all of us) noticed that one of the waiters from the restaurant was at our buffet, getting a plate of food…presumably for himself, but who knows. He finished filling up, we all kind of laughed, and then went back to chit chat.
After a few minutes, the chocolate covered strawberries my sister had ordered for dessert arrived, and we went to town on them. Yum! Then a waiter came to get orders for coffee, and we continued on with our chatting. (We did a LOT of chatting!)
Pretty soon after the strawberries had arrived, another “gentleman” showed up to our buffet. This guy was wearing a normal brown shirt, though, so I wasn’t sure who he was, exactly. Then a waiter arrived with the tray of coffee, he set them down on a table next to the present table, and then he went to the buffet to fill a plate. Note: he did NOT distribute the coffees to the guests who had ordered them…he just left them on the tray on a side table. For some unknown reason. (He must have been really, really hungry, I s’pose.)
This pretty well pissed me off. I was angry, and while my sister was a bit confused by the actions of the waiters as well, she just wanted to let the whole thing go for the time being and follow up with management later. In the meantime, these two guys were filling up plate after plate of our food, and then passing the full plates to the next level of the terrace to other waiting employees of the restaurant who wanted free food from our buffet.
Well, I couldn’t just SIT there like that! I decided to cheer myself up by taking a picture of the two food-stealers.
And then our best friend (and one of my “chicks of honor”) jumped up and got in the picture as well, to help express our feelings about the randomness of the act.
(That's my cousin Denise taking note of the random food-stealing as well, along with my sister-in-law Rebecca.) As you can see, it’s not like the buffet was far from where our tables were at, or anything. So we thought the whole deal was very strange, to say the least.
Eventually, they stopped coming to our buffet to eat our food, and we wound up taking home a lot of leftovers (although I think we all wished there had been more leftover tamales/sweet corn cakes, which I’m pretty sure the absconders had taken a good deal of. Jerks.), which we ate for the rest of the weekend. It was great!
It was sooo, so nice to see old friends of my mom and dad’s (who are now friends with my step mom and still my dad, of course!) whom I haven’t seen since dad’s wedding. And my aunts that I never get to see, and my step aunts, and my cousins, and step sister once removed. One of Jesse’s aunts was there as well, and it was awesome to be able to spend some time with her like that before the wedding. She’s a hoot! Unfortunately, other local family and friends of his family were unable to make it, but maybe we’ll be able to see some of them at the wedding! You never know…(There are more photos of the shower at the end of this post, by the way...)
So for now, the pre-wedding parties are over. At this point, I’m finalizing plans with the caterers, the florist, and the invitations. I need to put together a vendor list for my coordinator (and also just to help me keep my sanity, if possible…), and after we know who and how many will be coming to the wedding, I’ll order table names and have the table “assignments” printed out. I hate that I have to wait until the last minute to get those things done, but it is what it is!
Tomorrow I’ll be going to the salon for a second hair trial, since the first one didn’t turn out as I’d have liked it to. I’ve got more pictures of examples, and a more defined idea of what I’d like my hair to look like, though, so hopefully that’ll help. If not, I’m afraid I’ll have to have a 3rd trial at a totally different salon. Which would be fine, I’m sure. It’s not like there are hard feelings in the world of hair-do’s, and I’m sure the girl I’m attempting to have it done by wouldn’t care much if I went someplace else. She’s a cool chick.
Alrighty, off to get some end of the week work done! (13 weeks to go! I have to try to keep my mind off of it, seriously…)
Here are some more pictures from the shower, though. This is of my twin, our best friend, and me. We like to laugh...
Thank goodness it hasn’t been all work work work, though…for example, yesterday we went and bowled for charity in the morning and I got back to my desk at about 1 after bowling 2 games with my other 5 teammates. It was nice to get out and do something fun for charity! (My teammates and I have been practicing over the course of the last month, too. We went for extra-long lunches twice in order to prepare for today. So that hasn’t been all that terrible, either.)
Of course, things were a bit more stepped up over the last couple of weeks at work due to my vacation days I took last week. I went to California for a wedding shower that my sister threw for me, and I took last Friday and this past Monday off for travel. Saturday, the day of the shower, was perfect, and we had such a nice time! I was hoping to be able to see a lot of family and old friends that I don’t get to see very often, and the party did not disappoint in that respect. In fact, it didn’t disappoint in any respect! The food was great, the aforementioned weather was lovely, and everyone seemed to have as good a time as I had, which always makes things even nicer than one could hope.
We did have an odd occurrence during one point of the shower, though. See, we were on a lower level of patio seating at a restaurant on this little lake in Mission Viejo. We were at the one end of the patio, and were pretty well backed into a corner. The buffet was set up in that corner, and then the tables were along the railing looking over the water. Very pretty, well-situated, comfortable for everyone, etc…
Well, after we had all gotten our food and even been back for seconds, we settled in to take some pictures and chit-chat and that sort of thing before I opened presents. While we hung out, a few of us (if not all of us) noticed that one of the waiters from the restaurant was at our buffet, getting a plate of food…presumably for himself, but who knows. He finished filling up, we all kind of laughed, and then went back to chit chat.
After a few minutes, the chocolate covered strawberries my sister had ordered for dessert arrived, and we went to town on them. Yum! Then a waiter came to get orders for coffee, and we continued on with our chatting. (We did a LOT of chatting!)
Pretty soon after the strawberries had arrived, another “gentleman” showed up to our buffet. This guy was wearing a normal brown shirt, though, so I wasn’t sure who he was, exactly. Then a waiter arrived with the tray of coffee, he set them down on a table next to the present table, and then he went to the buffet to fill a plate. Note: he did NOT distribute the coffees to the guests who had ordered them…he just left them on the tray on a side table. For some unknown reason. (He must have been really, really hungry, I s’pose.)
This pretty well pissed me off. I was angry, and while my sister was a bit confused by the actions of the waiters as well, she just wanted to let the whole thing go for the time being and follow up with management later. In the meantime, these two guys were filling up plate after plate of our food, and then passing the full plates to the next level of the terrace to other waiting employees of the restaurant who wanted free food from our buffet.
Well, I couldn’t just SIT there like that! I decided to cheer myself up by taking a picture of the two food-stealers.
And then our best friend (and one of my “chicks of honor”) jumped up and got in the picture as well, to help express our feelings about the randomness of the act.
(That's my cousin Denise taking note of the random food-stealing as well, along with my sister-in-law Rebecca.) As you can see, it’s not like the buffet was far from where our tables were at, or anything. So we thought the whole deal was very strange, to say the least.Eventually, they stopped coming to our buffet to eat our food, and we wound up taking home a lot of leftovers (although I think we all wished there had been more leftover tamales/sweet corn cakes, which I’m pretty sure the absconders had taken a good deal of. Jerks.), which we ate for the rest of the weekend. It was great!
It was sooo, so nice to see old friends of my mom and dad’s (who are now friends with my step mom and still my dad, of course!) whom I haven’t seen since dad’s wedding. And my aunts that I never get to see, and my step aunts, and my cousins, and step sister once removed. One of Jesse’s aunts was there as well, and it was awesome to be able to spend some time with her like that before the wedding. She’s a hoot! Unfortunately, other local family and friends of his family were unable to make it, but maybe we’ll be able to see some of them at the wedding! You never know…(There are more photos of the shower at the end of this post, by the way...)
So for now, the pre-wedding parties are over. At this point, I’m finalizing plans with the caterers, the florist, and the invitations. I need to put together a vendor list for my coordinator (and also just to help me keep my sanity, if possible…), and after we know who and how many will be coming to the wedding, I’ll order table names and have the table “assignments” printed out. I hate that I have to wait until the last minute to get those things done, but it is what it is!
Tomorrow I’ll be going to the salon for a second hair trial, since the first one didn’t turn out as I’d have liked it to. I’ve got more pictures of examples, and a more defined idea of what I’d like my hair to look like, though, so hopefully that’ll help. If not, I’m afraid I’ll have to have a 3rd trial at a totally different salon. Which would be fine, I’m sure. It’s not like there are hard feelings in the world of hair-do’s, and I’m sure the girl I’m attempting to have it done by wouldn’t care much if I went someplace else. She’s a cool chick.
Alrighty, off to get some end of the week work done! (13 weeks to go! I have to try to keep my mind off of it, seriously…)
Here are some more pictures from the shower, though. This is of my twin, our best friend, and me. We like to laugh...
And these are two of my aunts on Dad's side, Yvonne and Ginny. Ginny is my godmother, and Yvonne is my twin's. (I think. We have a few aunts and uncles, so I might be off on that...) They are a couple of the sweetest people you could ever know, and I miss hanging out and seeing them on holidays at this point in my life. *sigh!* That kind of comes with the territory of choosing to live 1500 miles from your family, though, I guess!
Aunt Yvonne was married to my dad's brother, Bob. They were what we call (and I suppose lots of people call, really) "Irish twins" so it was beyond sad when Bob died 4 years ago from complications of a bout of pneumonia. He had something called Pulmonary Fibrosis, though, and was unable to recover like most healthy people might be able to do. I miss him. Yvonne won't be able to make it to the wedding, I learned, since she is going to be on a cruise at that point. It sounded like it will be a LOT of fun though, and I was just so grateful to have some time to chat and catch up at the shower like we did!
And here I am with my step aunt Yvonne (yep, another one!), and my step mom Yvette. Aren't they just the prettiest?
Maybe some more photos next week...we took a TON of them!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Hotel Info
For those that are interested, here are the links to the hotel info for the Marriott and the Sheraton Suites, where we have reserved room blocks for our out of town visitors coming for the wedding in October.
The Sheraton created a little website for us, which was nice. The page includes a link you can use for booking rooms in our block, as well as a good amount of information about the wedding itself, the area the hotel is located in, and what kinds of ammenities they have to offer. But keep in mind, that page also states that "you are cordially invited to the wedding of..." and that does NOT represent any kind of formal invitation to the wedding by any means. The readers of this blog should only be folks that are, indeed, invited to the wedding, but please be mindful of that info if you should choose to forward the link out to anyone. I'd hate to have any misunderstandings due to that bit of info on that page, but I think the webpage is too helpful to not pass along as well. Double-edged sword, really...
The Marriott didn't create a webpage, but if you utilize this link, it will take you to their reservation page for the Plaza location, and our group code is already entered for you when you go to make reservations there. (Group code is ldwldwa in case it doesn't populate, for some reason.) It also gives info about the hotel, has photos of their rooms, etc...to help you choose the right hotel for you for the weekend.
There are loads of other hotels in the area as well. Marriott has a couple of others, and there's a Hampton Inn right across the street from the Sheraton Suites we'll be staying at. There's also an Embassy Suites not too far from the Plaza (between the Plaza and Westport, respectively), and several other hotel chains represented such as Holiday Inn and Best Western. If you look into any of those hotels, just be sure to look for Plaza/Westport locations, and not downtown. While there are, indeed, several very nice hotels downtown that I would be happy to recommend, they are also a bit further from where we will all be located, so I hesitate to mention them as a #1 option. Let me know if you want more info, though, and I'll be happy to pass it along!
More posts to come. We had a wedding shower this past weekend in California that I want to talk about, but the time is running thin this week due to work catch-up and home issues. I'll try to post some pictures and stories soon!
The Sheraton created a little website for us, which was nice. The page includes a link you can use for booking rooms in our block, as well as a good amount of information about the wedding itself, the area the hotel is located in, and what kinds of ammenities they have to offer. But keep in mind, that page also states that "you are cordially invited to the wedding of..." and that does NOT represent any kind of formal invitation to the wedding by any means. The readers of this blog should only be folks that are, indeed, invited to the wedding, but please be mindful of that info if you should choose to forward the link out to anyone. I'd hate to have any misunderstandings due to that bit of info on that page, but I think the webpage is too helpful to not pass along as well. Double-edged sword, really...
The Marriott didn't create a webpage, but if you utilize this link, it will take you to their reservation page for the Plaza location, and our group code is already entered for you when you go to make reservations there. (Group code is ldwldwa in case it doesn't populate, for some reason.) It also gives info about the hotel, has photos of their rooms, etc...to help you choose the right hotel for you for the weekend.
There are loads of other hotels in the area as well. Marriott has a couple of others, and there's a Hampton Inn right across the street from the Sheraton Suites we'll be staying at. There's also an Embassy Suites not too far from the Plaza (between the Plaza and Westport, respectively), and several other hotel chains represented such as Holiday Inn and Best Western. If you look into any of those hotels, just be sure to look for Plaza/Westport locations, and not downtown. While there are, indeed, several very nice hotels downtown that I would be happy to recommend, they are also a bit further from where we will all be located, so I hesitate to mention them as a #1 option. Let me know if you want more info, though, and I'll be happy to pass it along!
More posts to come. We had a wedding shower this past weekend in California that I want to talk about, but the time is running thin this week due to work catch-up and home issues. I'll try to post some pictures and stories soon!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Breaking in, schmeaking in...
I finally found a pair of shoes that I think will work for the day of the wedding, and I tried wearing them last night as Jess and I practiced dancing in our living room.
Ok, first of all, OUCH!
And second? OOUUUCH!
These shoes are NOT going to be fun to "break in". I've been buying a brand of Aerosoles called What's What for my work shoes lately, and they've spoiled my feet, it seems.
So the plan is to wear the shoes around the house a little bit each night, and I'm gonna buy some Foot Petals for them as well, and hope that helps. The biggest problem area is under the ball of my foot, which makes sense, so the Foot Petals should do the trick. Just have to get them, is the thing...
Wish me and my feet luck!
Ok, first of all, OUCH!
And second? OOUUUCH!
These shoes are NOT going to be fun to "break in". I've been buying a brand of Aerosoles called What's What for my work shoes lately, and they've spoiled my feet, it seems.
So the plan is to wear the shoes around the house a little bit each night, and I'm gonna buy some Foot Petals for them as well, and hope that helps. The biggest problem area is under the ball of my foot, which makes sense, so the Foot Petals should do the trick. Just have to get them, is the thing...
Wish me and my feet luck!
Friday, July 13, 2007
The sample centerpiece...
Eeeeee!!!
LOVE THIS. Love.
Here is the centerpiece sample that our fabulous and wonderful (and pretty!) florist made for us and brought over to the house last night for us to check out. (The whole house smelled like roses this morning! It's a small house, though, so that makes sense.) We were working with the image below as our "inspiration" for the centerpieces, and I think she hit it pretty darned spot on.
The inspiration is a bit smaller, but since we have 72" round tables we'll be setting, we needed more diameter on ours. There are 40 roses in there!
The container she used is just a temporary one...she thought she had one that would work, but it was only 13" round, and we need 15". So she's going to be looking for that at this point, and I hope she finds it! The ribbon wrapped around the base is lumpy and wobbly looking because of the material she used to create the "vase". It was just a thin plastic thing...I don't even know for sure what it all is, actually!
Jess didn't like the arrangement as much as I did. He feels that there should be more separation between the flowers and the base. Drue (our florist) had cut the roses really short, so it was hard to play with the arrangement much, but we pulled some up and took the picture below to get an idea of what might make him a bit more happy.
I still think it looks pretty, so I'm fine with whatever. As long as it's flat, I'm good to go. Eeee!!!
LOVE THIS. Love.
Here is the centerpiece sample that our fabulous and wonderful (and pretty!) florist made for us and brought over to the house last night for us to check out. (The whole house smelled like roses this morning! It's a small house, though, so that makes sense.) We were working with the image below as our "inspiration" for the centerpieces, and I think she hit it pretty darned spot on.The inspiration is a bit smaller, but since we have 72" round tables we'll be setting, we needed more diameter on ours. There are 40 roses in there!
The container she used is just a temporary one...she thought she had one that would work, but it was only 13" round, and we need 15". So she's going to be looking for that at this point, and I hope she finds it! The ribbon wrapped around the base is lumpy and wobbly looking because of the material she used to create the "vase". It was just a thin plastic thing...I don't even know for sure what it all is, actually!Jess didn't like the arrangement as much as I did. He feels that there should be more separation between the flowers and the base. Drue (our florist) had cut the roses really short, so it was hard to play with the arrangement much, but we pulled some up and took the picture below to get an idea of what might make him a bit more happy.
I still think it looks pretty, so I'm fine with whatever. As long as it's flat, I'm good to go. Eeee!!!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
I feel a need to post an update here today, but I don’t know what to chat about. Hmm.
Let’s see…the florist is coming over to our house tonight to show us a sample centerpiece she’s creating for us, so we’re sure of the design, and we’ll know if we need to add or remove anything for the final product. I can’t wait to see it! I’ll take pictures of it for sure, and will share them when I can.
Next week is when I get to go to California for the shower my twin is throwing for me there. We’ve had a few interesting replies regarding the party from people that don’t really know me, though. One person called my twin and asked her who I was, since the invitation to the shower just mentioned my name and not Jesse’s of course, I guess there was some confusion. (I would have hoped that the Save the Dates we sent would have helped with that, but apparently they didn’t in some cases!) Another person sent a reply via mail and told my twin that she wouldn’t be able to make it to her daughter's shower, which is probably a good thing since my sister has two daughters that are under the age of 12 at this point. I’d worry about her if she was trying to marry them off already…:D
It’s been fun, though. Although the whole process has left us wondering about how it is people don’t know how to deal with the RSVP requirement to a formal party. This is something I’ve been hearing about for a while, due to my message board contact with other brides on wedding websites, and the like, and I’ve been getting prepared accordingly, but it’s still amazing to me that people don’t know they should RSVP to a party more than a week or two weeks in advance of it! Headcount is important to certain parties, particularly when being held at a location like a restaurant, and I guess I just don’t understand why people assume that we know they won’t be attending if they simply don’t reply at all. It’s not something to feel bad about, by any means…not everyone’s schedule allows for attendance at every event they’re invited to, of course. No excuses are necessary…no explanations are needed. Just a simple email or phone call stating that they won’t be able to make it is all that need happen.
And the people that just show up without warning that they’re coming (via a proper RSVP, I mean…), well, that’s just plain rude. I’m sorry…I don’t know if people are gonna think bad things about me saying this, but you simply should not show up at a party without giving some notice to the host/hostess. A barbecue, or a relaxed gathering at someone’s home…ok then. That’s understandable. But a formal get together like a shower of any kind, or a wedding, or something like that? It’s just not fair to the host/hostess who planned the party!
I’ve also heard, via those wedding message board thingies, that people have experienced a fair amount of no-shows at their weddings as well. I can’t believe people would do something like that. I think most any host/hostess can understand when something pops up for one or two of their guests, like when someone gets sick and can’t attend, and they wish the best for them. But I heard of a girl who said she had an entire table not show at her wedding. And I cannot imagine what I would do in a case like that. The tasteless and tacky side of me (everyone has one, right? Heh…) would love to send people a bill after the wedding, charging them for the cost they incurred due to their impropriety.
I think people fail to realize that it’s not just a dinner they’re missing out on, or some drinks and dancing and cake. It’s also the cost of the rental of linens, china, and flatware in some cases. And the cost of the centerpiece for the table that was prepared to accommodate them, the menu that was printed, the favor that was ordered, and even the place card that was created for them. In our case, we will have a certain number of servers per guest, so it might be the cost of their hourly pay for a server that might not be necessary if 10 people who say they’re coming wind up not making it. It could mean a difference of literally hundreds of dollars in some cases, so it can be more important that some realize, I think.
I’m prepared to deal with this tactfully, although I honestly hope it doesn’t happen. A simple phone call as late as 2 or 3 days prior to the event is all that’s needed. But people should know that those that don’t show up after replying that they will be attending? They tend to be remembered after the fact. It’s glaringly apparent on those bridal message boards I frequent that it’s not an easy faux pas to forgive and forget about!
Again, I hope this hasn’t ruffled any feathers, as I know that the folks that read this blog have faboolous manners, and really genuinely care about Jesse and I and know how much we’re putting into getting our wedding together so the celebration of our union will truly be a fun and joyous one to attend. We’re getting more and more excited as the months come and go, and we get closer to the actual day of the wedding! (It helps that football season is around the corner, though…that should keep us effectively preoccupied for those last couple of months, I think. I cannot wait to see what happens with that USC vs. Notre Dame game the week before the wedding. Should be interesting…)
Let’s see…the florist is coming over to our house tonight to show us a sample centerpiece she’s creating for us, so we’re sure of the design, and we’ll know if we need to add or remove anything for the final product. I can’t wait to see it! I’ll take pictures of it for sure, and will share them when I can.
Next week is when I get to go to California for the shower my twin is throwing for me there. We’ve had a few interesting replies regarding the party from people that don’t really know me, though. One person called my twin and asked her who I was, since the invitation to the shower just mentioned my name and not Jesse’s of course, I guess there was some confusion. (I would have hoped that the Save the Dates we sent would have helped with that, but apparently they didn’t in some cases!) Another person sent a reply via mail and told my twin that she wouldn’t be able to make it to her daughter's shower, which is probably a good thing since my sister has two daughters that are under the age of 12 at this point. I’d worry about her if she was trying to marry them off already…:D
It’s been fun, though. Although the whole process has left us wondering about how it is people don’t know how to deal with the RSVP requirement to a formal party. This is something I’ve been hearing about for a while, due to my message board contact with other brides on wedding websites, and the like, and I’ve been getting prepared accordingly, but it’s still amazing to me that people don’t know they should RSVP to a party more than a week or two weeks in advance of it! Headcount is important to certain parties, particularly when being held at a location like a restaurant, and I guess I just don’t understand why people assume that we know they won’t be attending if they simply don’t reply at all. It’s not something to feel bad about, by any means…not everyone’s schedule allows for attendance at every event they’re invited to, of course. No excuses are necessary…no explanations are needed. Just a simple email or phone call stating that they won’t be able to make it is all that need happen.
And the people that just show up without warning that they’re coming (via a proper RSVP, I mean…), well, that’s just plain rude. I’m sorry…I don’t know if people are gonna think bad things about me saying this, but you simply should not show up at a party without giving some notice to the host/hostess. A barbecue, or a relaxed gathering at someone’s home…ok then. That’s understandable. But a formal get together like a shower of any kind, or a wedding, or something like that? It’s just not fair to the host/hostess who planned the party!
I’ve also heard, via those wedding message board thingies, that people have experienced a fair amount of no-shows at their weddings as well. I can’t believe people would do something like that. I think most any host/hostess can understand when something pops up for one or two of their guests, like when someone gets sick and can’t attend, and they wish the best for them. But I heard of a girl who said she had an entire table not show at her wedding. And I cannot imagine what I would do in a case like that. The tasteless and tacky side of me (everyone has one, right? Heh…) would love to send people a bill after the wedding, charging them for the cost they incurred due to their impropriety.
I think people fail to realize that it’s not just a dinner they’re missing out on, or some drinks and dancing and cake. It’s also the cost of the rental of linens, china, and flatware in some cases. And the cost of the centerpiece for the table that was prepared to accommodate them, the menu that was printed, the favor that was ordered, and even the place card that was created for them. In our case, we will have a certain number of servers per guest, so it might be the cost of their hourly pay for a server that might not be necessary if 10 people who say they’re coming wind up not making it. It could mean a difference of literally hundreds of dollars in some cases, so it can be more important that some realize, I think.
I’m prepared to deal with this tactfully, although I honestly hope it doesn’t happen. A simple phone call as late as 2 or 3 days prior to the event is all that’s needed. But people should know that those that don’t show up after replying that they will be attending? They tend to be remembered after the fact. It’s glaringly apparent on those bridal message boards I frequent that it’s not an easy faux pas to forgive and forget about!
Again, I hope this hasn’t ruffled any feathers, as I know that the folks that read this blog have faboolous manners, and really genuinely care about Jesse and I and know how much we’re putting into getting our wedding together so the celebration of our union will truly be a fun and joyous one to attend. We’re getting more and more excited as the months come and go, and we get closer to the actual day of the wedding! (It helps that football season is around the corner, though…that should keep us effectively preoccupied for those last couple of months, I think. I cannot wait to see what happens with that USC vs. Notre Dame game the week before the wedding. Should be interesting…)
Friday, July 06, 2007
16 weeks and counting...
That's it. Only 16 more weeks until the wedding.
Wow. When I think of it that way, it's really rather intimidating. So I think I'll stop doing that, dammit. (Except now that I've done it, I probably won't be able to stop doing it...shoot, shoot, SHOOT!)
Jesse and I have started taking dance lessons in order to better prepare ourselves for our first dance together as husband and wife. While I'm ok at dancing as long as I'm being led by someone who knows a thing or two about swing, or cha-cha, or waltzes, or what have you, Jesse is an expert at one dance step, it seems: the rock-back-and-forth-slowly-turning-in-a-circle-a-la-junior-high/high-school-dances type of step. Our first dance song is a bit more...complex...than most songs usually are, and so we needed to get another couple of moves under our belt before whipping this baby out at the reception.
And, no...we aren't telling anyone what the song is that we're dancing to. No hints other than the fact that it changes pace during the song. To be exact, it changes pace and tempo. It's foooon.
Anyway, the dance lessons are going exceedingly well, and I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying so. *knocks on wood, just in case!* The dance teacher is a sweet guy who is starting to get just how quirky (and sort of obnoxious) I can be, and I think he feels sorry for Jesse because of it. It's very helpful when it comes to his teaching style, though. He's being somewhat hands-off (lovely) and is doing a great job of understanding how different Jesse and I are when we are absorbing the lessons. Jesse is more pragmatic when it comes to figuring out certain moves. He's got the box step of the waltz down. And he's getting better and better at the fox trot. But when we learned the pretty under-arm turn I get to do, if we want, he needed more to go on than just to lift his arm in the air so I can go under it during the step. He needed to know exactly when to lift the arm...what step is he on when he starts to raise it? One, two, - up arm! - three, one, two, three, one, two, - down arm! - three. It's not too fluid of a movement at this point...so right now, it looks a bit more like we're playing a one-armed version of London Bridges, I'm sure, but over time, we should get smoother with the move.
I'm less heady when it comes to learning this stuff. First of all, it's for fun. This is not a contest, or a performance, or anything like that, so it's just something else we're doing for the wedding, IMO. Not that Jesse isn't having fun with it, though...I think he is. It's just he does a lot more thinking about the dancing as we do it than I do. Which, let's be honest, is the boy's job in the dancing thing. So I guess it makes sense that he's being like that! Anyway, I've danced for a LOOOONG time. Started out with the ballet and tap and stuff when I was a kid, and then I did the Irish dancing as an adult for 2 years, so I've got it in me. Waltzes are my thang. The fox trot? Not so much, but I'm getting there. And let's not really talk about the turn step for the waltz...visually beautiful, but technically, it makes me dizzier than all get out, so I think we might avoid doing it much during our dance. Maybe for one stanza...we'll see.
The dance teacher even asked us in the middle of our lesson the other day if we both play an instrument of some sort. I think he was impressed by our ability to pick up on tempo and timing. I told him I'm a singer, but Jesse doesn't have any musical background, really. But he IS really, really good at the rock-back-and-forth-slowly-turning-in-a-circle-a-la-junior-high/high-school-dances type of step, so maybe that's helped him for all these years without him even knowing it. Hmmm...
Anyway, it's been a fun addition to our wedding preparations over all. Much more fun than the getting up at 4:30 to go to the gym during the week, although I cannot express how awesome it is that he does that with me when he doesn't really need to! I found it interesting that we were both sore in totally different ways from our workout on Wednesday...we both did the same exercises. Sometimes he lifts/pushes more weight than me (sometimes I lift/push more than him! I have been doing the training for a lot longer than he has, though, so it makes sense. You don't wanna screw with my thighs, is the thing. Just a friendly warning...), and maybe I'm doing it in a slightly different manner, since our form during the exercise might vary. I dunno.
We have 4 more lessons to go, and I can't wait to see what we learn next! We need to practice first, though, so tonight, I think we'll be hitting the back yard. (It's the largest space we have for practicing in, so we thought it'd be fun to do it out there...) I certainly hope everyone enjoys it when we are able to do it on our wedding day! So excited...
As it is Friday, I will leave you all be now. Happy weekend, and I'll be back with more info next week!
Wow. When I think of it that way, it's really rather intimidating. So I think I'll stop doing that, dammit. (Except now that I've done it, I probably won't be able to stop doing it...shoot, shoot, SHOOT!)
Jesse and I have started taking dance lessons in order to better prepare ourselves for our first dance together as husband and wife. While I'm ok at dancing as long as I'm being led by someone who knows a thing or two about swing, or cha-cha, or waltzes, or what have you, Jesse is an expert at one dance step, it seems: the rock-back-and-forth-slowly-turning-in-a-circle-a-la-junior-high/high-school-dances type of step. Our first dance song is a bit more...complex...than most songs usually are, and so we needed to get another couple of moves under our belt before whipping this baby out at the reception.
And, no...we aren't telling anyone what the song is that we're dancing to. No hints other than the fact that it changes pace during the song. To be exact, it changes pace and tempo. It's foooon.
Anyway, the dance lessons are going exceedingly well, and I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying so. *knocks on wood, just in case!* The dance teacher is a sweet guy who is starting to get just how quirky (and sort of obnoxious) I can be, and I think he feels sorry for Jesse because of it. It's very helpful when it comes to his teaching style, though. He's being somewhat hands-off (lovely) and is doing a great job of understanding how different Jesse and I are when we are absorbing the lessons. Jesse is more pragmatic when it comes to figuring out certain moves. He's got the box step of the waltz down. And he's getting better and better at the fox trot. But when we learned the pretty under-arm turn I get to do, if we want, he needed more to go on than just to lift his arm in the air so I can go under it during the step. He needed to know exactly when to lift the arm...what step is he on when he starts to raise it? One, two, - up arm! - three, one, two, three, one, two, - down arm! - three. It's not too fluid of a movement at this point...so right now, it looks a bit more like we're playing a one-armed version of London Bridges, I'm sure, but over time, we should get smoother with the move.
I'm less heady when it comes to learning this stuff. First of all, it's for fun. This is not a contest, or a performance, or anything like that, so it's just something else we're doing for the wedding, IMO. Not that Jesse isn't having fun with it, though...I think he is. It's just he does a lot more thinking about the dancing as we do it than I do. Which, let's be honest, is the boy's job in the dancing thing. So I guess it makes sense that he's being like that! Anyway, I've danced for a LOOOONG time. Started out with the ballet and tap and stuff when I was a kid, and then I did the Irish dancing as an adult for 2 years, so I've got it in me. Waltzes are my thang. The fox trot? Not so much, but I'm getting there. And let's not really talk about the turn step for the waltz...visually beautiful, but technically, it makes me dizzier than all get out, so I think we might avoid doing it much during our dance. Maybe for one stanza...we'll see.
The dance teacher even asked us in the middle of our lesson the other day if we both play an instrument of some sort. I think he was impressed by our ability to pick up on tempo and timing. I told him I'm a singer, but Jesse doesn't have any musical background, really. But he IS really, really good at the rock-back-and-forth-slowly-turning-in-a-circle-a-la-junior-high/high-school-dances type of step, so maybe that's helped him for all these years without him even knowing it. Hmmm...
Anyway, it's been a fun addition to our wedding preparations over all. Much more fun than the getting up at 4:30 to go to the gym during the week, although I cannot express how awesome it is that he does that with me when he doesn't really need to! I found it interesting that we were both sore in totally different ways from our workout on Wednesday...we both did the same exercises. Sometimes he lifts/pushes more weight than me (sometimes I lift/push more than him! I have been doing the training for a lot longer than he has, though, so it makes sense. You don't wanna screw with my thighs, is the thing. Just a friendly warning...), and maybe I'm doing it in a slightly different manner, since our form during the exercise might vary. I dunno.
We have 4 more lessons to go, and I can't wait to see what we learn next! We need to practice first, though, so tonight, I think we'll be hitting the back yard. (It's the largest space we have for practicing in, so we thought it'd be fun to do it out there...) I certainly hope everyone enjoys it when we are able to do it on our wedding day! So excited...
As it is Friday, I will leave you all be now. Happy weekend, and I'll be back with more info next week!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
You Must Be THIS TALL To Enter This Wedding Blog
Today, I thought I might talk a bit about the wedding. Why? Because it’s my wedding blog, and I feel like it! Makes sense, no? :P
Seems there might be a little confusion about certain details of the day (and the weekend in general) that I really hope I can clear up a bit with this post. So here we go…
I’m an auntie to 9 lovely nieces and nephews who happen to reside in California and Texas respectively. (7 of them are in California, and 2 of them are in Texas.) The oldest is, what, about 15 now? 14 at least, anyway. The youngest will be about 6 months at the time of the wedding. We have 2’s, 6’s, 12’s…we have ‘em all, dammit. Babies to toddlers to pre-teens, basically. (I don’t count the oldest among the “children” anymore, since she’s actually a young adult, IMO.)
Besides those kiddos, I have a Maid of Honor who has a 1 year old little guy named Aiden (who will be about 1 and a half at the time of the wedding), and the Best Man has a daughter named Ava of almost exactly the same age, as she was born either the week before or the week after Aiden…I can’t remember which way it goes. Anyway, I’m hoping I can make a little baby hookup at the wedding for those two.
Ok, not really, but whatev.
One of my bridesmaids and Jesse’s groomsmen (Layla and Robb) will be having their first child here in the next few months. So we’ll even have an infant hanging out at the wedding.
I also have cousins that have children who will be invited, since they live in California as well. Not sure if they’ll be able to make it out to the wedding, but I sure hope they can!
It’s going to be a regular kiddo hoopla all up in this thing, and while it’s not exactly how I always dreamed it would be, it is what it is, and I am damn happy and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Most of these folks (my sisters, my brother, my Maid of Honor and Jesse’s Best Man, and my cousins) will be traveling into KC for the wedding from their respective locals in Texas, California, and Oregon in order to help us celebrate the nuptials, and we are so very, very happy and excited about this fact, we’re ready to burst! As such, we are making plans to have baby sitters available on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in order to help take care of kiddos and babies so that parents can have a great time while not having to completely tend to their children the entire time they are visiting in town.
Thursday night is the Parents’ Dinner night. Our parents haven’t met each other yet, so Jesse and I will be taking them all to dinner someplace (I think we’ve decided on a spot, but we aren’t totally sure yet…) so we can introduce them and chat a bit prior to the wedding. After that, the girls will be going our way (including FMIL and any of her friends that want to join the fray, and bridal party spouses – that means you, Amanda!), and the boys will be going theirs (again, including the FFIL and his buddies as well as bridal party spouses that want to go along) as a sort of bachelor/bachelorette party-type thing. This is when the baby sitters might come in handy, and I have yet to figure out how we’re going to do it, but I think we’ll just have them in one room at one of the hotels (perhaps my suite at the Sheraton…I’ll just have to lock up the dress and some of the other essentials in someone else’s room while we’re out and about) where they can order pizza and play games and watch videos and sleep and do other kiddo-type stuff.
Friday night is the rehearsal dinner night. After the rehearsal, the family and bridal parties (again, spouses are also included in this, in case anyone was wondering) will be off to our dinner to get to know each other a bit better, to hang out and pre-celebrate, and eat, drink, and be merry and all that. Baby sitters will, again, be available to help at the hotel during this time. My one exception would be for Layla and Robb, since I wouldn’t blame them one bit if they didn’t even want to be detatched for a teeny tiny second from their sweet new daughter at that point. It’s not a plan for the other kids to be invited, though. Hopefully that’ll be ok with everyone!
Saturday, kids are invited. Since I have such a large number of children-aged folks in my immediate family, we’ve planned a Kid Area at the reception (all you parents are on your own at the ceremony, though!) where we will have Halloween-type crafts, kid food to munch on, videos to watch, and comfy bean bag chairs (I hope, I hope, I hope…) to lounge on. I know that my Maid of Honor told me her mother is planning on attending the wedding (I wish the whole family could, gosh darnit!) in order to help her with Aiden, and that’s lovely of her. But I hope he’s able to hang out and have some fun with the crafty stuff, and enjoy the food we’re bringing in for them and all, too. (That way, MOH’s mom can come out on the dance floor and boogie down with us when she feels the desire!) The kids will be down the hall from the reception area, monitored by at least 3 baby sitters, and will be able to come and go as they please to that area.
The hope at this point is that the baby sitters from Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will all be the same people each time. That way, the kids will be used to them, and they will feel more comfortable hanging out with them after their first meeting. My wedding coordinator and I will be working closely to make this happen if we can.
So. There it is. Some of the basics that we’re planning for the weekend, in hopes of making things not only more fun for the parents, but also for the kids that will be making the trip to town for the wedding. I’ve asked my friends here in town if they would want to bring their children to the wedding, since there will be some there and all, and they’ve all assured me that they would prefer a kid-free night if they can have it, so I’m sending invites accordingly. I can certainly appreciate the fact that some parents might prefer a night out on the town without having to worry about their kids at all…heck, I don’t blame them one bit for that! So hopefully the availability of the baby sitters will make things a bit easier in that respect.
Really, though, I can’t express enough to everyone that reads this blog how excited Jesse and I are to share our new home town with you, celebrate our union with you, and to introduce our respective family and friends to one another. We are so deeply filled with gratitude to everyone who is planning on coming here for the event, and we want to make it as fun as we can for you while you’re here. For all of the folks that will be checking into the hotel blocks we’ve reserved, we will have information (and other goodies) waiting in your room for you when you arrive, making suggestions on restaurants, shopping, and other favorite hang outs for you to check out while you’re in town if you can. I hope that everyone’s visit here can help them see why it is that Jesse and I choose to live here as we do. Some photos below show images of some of my favorite things about the city…enjoy!
Seems there might be a little confusion about certain details of the day (and the weekend in general) that I really hope I can clear up a bit with this post. So here we go…
I’m an auntie to 9 lovely nieces and nephews who happen to reside in California and Texas respectively. (7 of them are in California, and 2 of them are in Texas.) The oldest is, what, about 15 now? 14 at least, anyway. The youngest will be about 6 months at the time of the wedding. We have 2’s, 6’s, 12’s…we have ‘em all, dammit. Babies to toddlers to pre-teens, basically. (I don’t count the oldest among the “children” anymore, since she’s actually a young adult, IMO.)
Besides those kiddos, I have a Maid of Honor who has a 1 year old little guy named Aiden (who will be about 1 and a half at the time of the wedding), and the Best Man has a daughter named Ava of almost exactly the same age, as she was born either the week before or the week after Aiden…I can’t remember which way it goes. Anyway, I’m hoping I can make a little baby hookup at the wedding for those two.
Ok, not really, but whatev.
One of my bridesmaids and Jesse’s groomsmen (Layla and Robb) will be having their first child here in the next few months. So we’ll even have an infant hanging out at the wedding.
I also have cousins that have children who will be invited, since they live in California as well. Not sure if they’ll be able to make it out to the wedding, but I sure hope they can!
It’s going to be a regular kiddo hoopla all up in this thing, and while it’s not exactly how I always dreamed it would be, it is what it is, and I am damn happy and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Most of these folks (my sisters, my brother, my Maid of Honor and Jesse’s Best Man, and my cousins) will be traveling into KC for the wedding from their respective locals in Texas, California, and Oregon in order to help us celebrate the nuptials, and we are so very, very happy and excited about this fact, we’re ready to burst! As such, we are making plans to have baby sitters available on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in order to help take care of kiddos and babies so that parents can have a great time while not having to completely tend to their children the entire time they are visiting in town.
Thursday night is the Parents’ Dinner night. Our parents haven’t met each other yet, so Jesse and I will be taking them all to dinner someplace (I think we’ve decided on a spot, but we aren’t totally sure yet…) so we can introduce them and chat a bit prior to the wedding. After that, the girls will be going our way (including FMIL and any of her friends that want to join the fray, and bridal party spouses – that means you, Amanda!), and the boys will be going theirs (again, including the FFIL and his buddies as well as bridal party spouses that want to go along) as a sort of bachelor/bachelorette party-type thing. This is when the baby sitters might come in handy, and I have yet to figure out how we’re going to do it, but I think we’ll just have them in one room at one of the hotels (perhaps my suite at the Sheraton…I’ll just have to lock up the dress and some of the other essentials in someone else’s room while we’re out and about) where they can order pizza and play games and watch videos and sleep and do other kiddo-type stuff.
Friday night is the rehearsal dinner night. After the rehearsal, the family and bridal parties (again, spouses are also included in this, in case anyone was wondering) will be off to our dinner to get to know each other a bit better, to hang out and pre-celebrate, and eat, drink, and be merry and all that. Baby sitters will, again, be available to help at the hotel during this time. My one exception would be for Layla and Robb, since I wouldn’t blame them one bit if they didn’t even want to be detatched for a teeny tiny second from their sweet new daughter at that point. It’s not a plan for the other kids to be invited, though. Hopefully that’ll be ok with everyone!
Saturday, kids are invited. Since I have such a large number of children-aged folks in my immediate family, we’ve planned a Kid Area at the reception (all you parents are on your own at the ceremony, though!) where we will have Halloween-type crafts, kid food to munch on, videos to watch, and comfy bean bag chairs (I hope, I hope, I hope…) to lounge on. I know that my Maid of Honor told me her mother is planning on attending the wedding (I wish the whole family could, gosh darnit!) in order to help her with Aiden, and that’s lovely of her. But I hope he’s able to hang out and have some fun with the crafty stuff, and enjoy the food we’re bringing in for them and all, too. (That way, MOH’s mom can come out on the dance floor and boogie down with us when she feels the desire!) The kids will be down the hall from the reception area, monitored by at least 3 baby sitters, and will be able to come and go as they please to that area.
The hope at this point is that the baby sitters from Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will all be the same people each time. That way, the kids will be used to them, and they will feel more comfortable hanging out with them after their first meeting. My wedding coordinator and I will be working closely to make this happen if we can.
So. There it is. Some of the basics that we’re planning for the weekend, in hopes of making things not only more fun for the parents, but also for the kids that will be making the trip to town for the wedding. I’ve asked my friends here in town if they would want to bring their children to the wedding, since there will be some there and all, and they’ve all assured me that they would prefer a kid-free night if they can have it, so I’m sending invites accordingly. I can certainly appreciate the fact that some parents might prefer a night out on the town without having to worry about their kids at all…heck, I don’t blame them one bit for that! So hopefully the availability of the baby sitters will make things a bit easier in that respect.
Really, though, I can’t express enough to everyone that reads this blog how excited Jesse and I are to share our new home town with you, celebrate our union with you, and to introduce our respective family and friends to one another. We are so deeply filled with gratitude to everyone who is planning on coming here for the event, and we want to make it as fun as we can for you while you’re here. For all of the folks that will be checking into the hotel blocks we’ve reserved, we will have information (and other goodies) waiting in your room for you when you arrive, making suggestions on restaurants, shopping, and other favorite hang outs for you to check out while you’re in town if you can. I hope that everyone’s visit here can help them see why it is that Jesse and I choose to live here as we do. Some photos below show images of some of my favorite things about the city…enjoy!
Country Club Plaza (this is the corner of Pennsylvania and Nichols Rd.)
Downtown Skyline
Monday, July 02, 2007
Weird.
This past weekend was a weekend wherein Jesse and I had absolutely no obligations. Nothing to do but laze about, workout on our own schedule (sort of), eat when we wanted to, and catch up on some serious resting time. (Ok, most of that was for me, but still...after an 8 hour day with me, Jesse needs the rest too, I assure you!)
I did have my hair trial on Saturday morning, which was a little bit o' fun. I'm afraid that after some careful thinking, though, I'm gonna have another one. I didn't like the way it turned out so much, and I want to make sure we have the right idea of what we're doing as we go into it, so I'll just make another appointment for one sometime in August and see how that goes. I liked the makeup, though, so we're good to go on that! Just the hair...not happy. Well, not as happy as I should be, I suppose I should say. I've got some other ideas of what we can do instead, though, especially now that I've seen what I don't want. I dunno...my hair is a pain in my bum, so I'll just leave it at that for now, mkay?
I promised more pictures from the shower weekend, though, and so here they are! Hope you likey...
Late on Saturday after we'd spent some time on Martini Corner with Valerie, Sharon, and Veronica, the bunch of us silly kids went out to play some pool and air hockey. We happen to know of a lovely place downtown called Balanca's (which doubles as a swinger bar in their downstairs section...don't ask me how we know that. It's an ugly story that involves very large women wearing far too little clothing doing gross things we didn't want to see them doing with scrawny biker-type losers wearing leather chaps over their jeans. God that was a weird night...) where they have an air hockey table that is fitted with a blacklight. We had to take the picture without a flash to give the full effect, but here ya have it. Blacklit teeth on myself, my twin, and Alisha:
As we were sitting eating bruschetta and drinking REALLY expensive beers and martinis at The Drop, we saw an...interesting car pull into the lot across the street from the bar. The picture below doesn't do the paint job on it justice. It was what I think Alisha refered to as being an "oil slick" look, where the colors kind of changed as the lighting changed on it. I don't know how else to describe it! I'm not sure just how the guy was disabled that was driving it, except that maybe he might be slightly retarded for spending what was probably a ridiculous amount of money on making the vehicle the way he wanted it, but at least he's able to get in and out of the car relatively easily, whatever his disfunction may be...the doors swung up instead of out! (They stayed that way even after he and his little group had walked away from the car and come into the bar we were in. I guess it needed airing out, or something...) Miranda and Alisha took a chance and got into a shot of the car for me. I hope they didn't catch anything too disgusting from being that close to the thing...
To be fair, it did look pretty cool. I just don't understand why someone would spend money on adjustments to a car like that, is all. And the guys seemed nice. Just not too smart, really.
Ok, the picture below was one Miranda took of me and the Twin when we were on our way to Balanca's. I made it black and white at home because it suits the color of my face better when it's like this. (I have an unsightly vein under my right nostril that likes to come out and play when I least expect it. Yeah...fun.)
I did have my hair trial on Saturday morning, which was a little bit o' fun. I'm afraid that after some careful thinking, though, I'm gonna have another one. I didn't like the way it turned out so much, and I want to make sure we have the right idea of what we're doing as we go into it, so I'll just make another appointment for one sometime in August and see how that goes. I liked the makeup, though, so we're good to go on that! Just the hair...not happy. Well, not as happy as I should be, I suppose I should say. I've got some other ideas of what we can do instead, though, especially now that I've seen what I don't want. I dunno...my hair is a pain in my bum, so I'll just leave it at that for now, mkay?
I promised more pictures from the shower weekend, though, and so here they are! Hope you likey...
Late on Saturday after we'd spent some time on Martini Corner with Valerie, Sharon, and Veronica, the bunch of us silly kids went out to play some pool and air hockey. We happen to know of a lovely place downtown called Balanca's (which doubles as a swinger bar in their downstairs section...don't ask me how we know that. It's an ugly story that involves very large women wearing far too little clothing doing gross things we didn't want to see them doing with scrawny biker-type losers wearing leather chaps over their jeans. God that was a weird night...) where they have an air hockey table that is fitted with a blacklight. We had to take the picture without a flash to give the full effect, but here ya have it. Blacklit teeth on myself, my twin, and Alisha:
As we were sitting eating bruschetta and drinking REALLY expensive beers and martinis at The Drop, we saw an...interesting car pull into the lot across the street from the bar. The picture below doesn't do the paint job on it justice. It was what I think Alisha refered to as being an "oil slick" look, where the colors kind of changed as the lighting changed on it. I don't know how else to describe it! I'm not sure just how the guy was disabled that was driving it, except that maybe he might be slightly retarded for spending what was probably a ridiculous amount of money on making the vehicle the way he wanted it, but at least he's able to get in and out of the car relatively easily, whatever his disfunction may be...the doors swung up instead of out! (They stayed that way even after he and his little group had walked away from the car and come into the bar we were in. I guess it needed airing out, or something...) Miranda and Alisha took a chance and got into a shot of the car for me. I hope they didn't catch anything too disgusting from being that close to the thing...
To be fair, it did look pretty cool. I just don't understand why someone would spend money on adjustments to a car like that, is all. And the guys seemed nice. Just not too smart, really.Ok, the picture below was one Miranda took of me and the Twin when we were on our way to Balanca's. I made it black and white at home because it suits the color of my face better when it's like this. (I have an unsightly vein under my right nostril that likes to come out and play when I least expect it. Yeah...fun.)
And here is the one and only picture I got with my camera at the shower! Still waiting for the Twin to send me the shots she got...
Somehow, this is also the only picture I got of Stacey and Jason with my camera, too. I wish I had more!
And now I must go and prepare for the end of the work day, as it is almost over and I am quite tired. Uploading photos is tough work!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Midwest Shower Weekend
Ah, the first shower I’ve ever had ever, ever. The very first present I’ve opened from someone in conjunction with the wedding activities. The first time I’ve had all my bridesmaids in one place together. The first real party to celebrate our upcoming marriage.
This past weekend was a blast and a half! Seeing my friends and my sister and my future family all in one place like that was beyond words. On Saturday night, probably due in part to exhaustion and maybe a bit of the heat, I cried. A LOT. No real reason for it…the tears just needed to come out. It started when I was on my way home from dropping my sister and our best friend off at their hotel, and then continued when I got inside and was grabbing a bite to eat after a long day of probably not having enough to eat up until that point. Jesse held me and let me cry on his shoulder, and then it was over almost as quickly as it began, and I finished my sandwich and went to bed.
Having everyone in town like that, and having people come to the shower to help celebrate my ability to finally snag a man after all these years…well, it meant a lot to me. I don’t think anyone I know thought I might be so lucky as to find someone like Jesse after all this time had passed (making me into the bitter, often non-complacent, almost-middle-aged woman that I am today!), least of all me. But I did. And I’m soooo, so lucky! (Not so sure about him, though…I mean, he is, after all, stuck with a bitter, non-complacent, almost-middle-aged woman now! Poor thing…)
Anyway, mucho fun was had. We had a barbecue at the house on Friday night, welcoming all that had traveled in from out of town to come to the shower, as well as some old friends that hadn’t even had the chance to meet Jesse yet, so that was great. Then we cooled down in the pool at the White Haven, only to return to our house so the girls could catch up on some creepy ghosty shows I had in the TiVo, while the boys went out and had some beers nearby.
Saturday morning was an utter meltdown of a morning for me. I’d rather just put that behind me and forget about it, if I can…
The shower was a BLAST! Drinks were flowing, the food was mighty tasty, the waiter (Raphael) was on top of his game, and everyone seemed to be having such a good time, I worried about whether we were bothering anyone else in the restaurant! Raphael assured us we were fine, and to make as much noise as we wanted. So we did. And it was good.
Later that night, we spent some time on Martini Corner (at about 31st and Main here in Kansas City, we have 4 or 5 restaurant/bars that make up a little section of town where people like to drink martinis…among other things, of course!) grabbing some food and drinks, and then headed out to play some pool and air hockey (I still can’t believe I didn’t win my air hockey games! Clearly, this marriage stuff doesn’t agree with me… :P) before we all went our separate ways for the night.
Stacey and Jason, I don’t remember getting to say a proper goodbye to the both of you, and I’m sorry about that! I cannot express how much FUN it was to have you in town for a visit, and how pleased both Jesse and I were to be able to spend some time with you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to drive down here and be with us for the weekend. I hope you had fun, and that we didn’t drive you too crazy in the process! It will be wonderful to see you both again in just a few short months!
And to prove that good times were had, here are some of the photos documenting the damage done at the pool on Friday night. I haven't uploaded the photos from Saturday yet, so I'll get those up later this week. (Twin, please send me the photos you have, too. Because I think you got some good ones at the showah...)
Aw! A big, wet hug for mom...who hadn't gotten in the pool yet herself, of course. All the boys had turned into 12 year olds when they hit the water that night, apparently.
This past weekend was a blast and a half! Seeing my friends and my sister and my future family all in one place like that was beyond words. On Saturday night, probably due in part to exhaustion and maybe a bit of the heat, I cried. A LOT. No real reason for it…the tears just needed to come out. It started when I was on my way home from dropping my sister and our best friend off at their hotel, and then continued when I got inside and was grabbing a bite to eat after a long day of probably not having enough to eat up until that point. Jesse held me and let me cry on his shoulder, and then it was over almost as quickly as it began, and I finished my sandwich and went to bed.
Having everyone in town like that, and having people come to the shower to help celebrate my ability to finally snag a man after all these years…well, it meant a lot to me. I don’t think anyone I know thought I might be so lucky as to find someone like Jesse after all this time had passed (making me into the bitter, often non-complacent, almost-middle-aged woman that I am today!), least of all me. But I did. And I’m soooo, so lucky! (Not so sure about him, though…I mean, he is, after all, stuck with a bitter, non-complacent, almost-middle-aged woman now! Poor thing…)
Anyway, mucho fun was had. We had a barbecue at the house on Friday night, welcoming all that had traveled in from out of town to come to the shower, as well as some old friends that hadn’t even had the chance to meet Jesse yet, so that was great. Then we cooled down in the pool at the White Haven, only to return to our house so the girls could catch up on some creepy ghosty shows I had in the TiVo, while the boys went out and had some beers nearby.
Saturday morning was an utter meltdown of a morning for me. I’d rather just put that behind me and forget about it, if I can…
The shower was a BLAST! Drinks were flowing, the food was mighty tasty, the waiter (Raphael) was on top of his game, and everyone seemed to be having such a good time, I worried about whether we were bothering anyone else in the restaurant! Raphael assured us we were fine, and to make as much noise as we wanted. So we did. And it was good.
Later that night, we spent some time on Martini Corner (at about 31st and Main here in Kansas City, we have 4 or 5 restaurant/bars that make up a little section of town where people like to drink martinis…among other things, of course!) grabbing some food and drinks, and then headed out to play some pool and air hockey (I still can’t believe I didn’t win my air hockey games! Clearly, this marriage stuff doesn’t agree with me… :P) before we all went our separate ways for the night.
Stacey and Jason, I don’t remember getting to say a proper goodbye to the both of you, and I’m sorry about that! I cannot express how much FUN it was to have you in town for a visit, and how pleased both Jesse and I were to be able to spend some time with you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to drive down here and be with us for the weekend. I hope you had fun, and that we didn’t drive you too crazy in the process! It will be wonderful to see you both again in just a few short months!
And to prove that good times were had, here are some of the photos documenting the damage done at the pool on Friday night. I haven't uploaded the photos from Saturday yet, so I'll get those up later this week. (Twin, please send me the photos you have, too. Because I think you got some good ones at the showah...)
Aw! A big, wet hug for mom...who hadn't gotten in the pool yet herself, of course. All the boys had turned into 12 year olds when they hit the water that night, apparently.
Twin/Laura looks like she has an idea! Alas...it was nothing. She's such a poser sometimes. (Heh.)
Lloyd can cannonball like NO ONE has ever cannonballed before! He won that contest, hands down...
Miranda is sexay...she says, "Look at my sexayness and be jealous, yo!" Believe me, we are, sista. Go and get prego again so you can be fat like me for a while, will ya? Buggar...
Thanks again to everyone for making the weekend as fun as it was. You guys are the greatest!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
It scaaarres meh...
I have a confession: I’m a teensy bit afraid of being a wife.
I don’t know why this bothers me in the least, except that I worry about Jesse getting fed up with the ‘tude at some point, throwing up his hands in disgust and saying, “That’s it! I’m outta here!” But really, it’s just that there’s a certain way I like things done. Loading the dishwasher isn’t an art, per se, but it can be done in an efficient manner that allows lots of things to be loaded into it, and still get clean. I love it when he helps out with loading it…I really do.
Except I really don’t, because I’ll just have to rearrange everything once I get my hands on it.
But the effort he makes is what matters. :)
Now we have agreements when it comes to chores, so things don’t get all discombobulated. He takes out the trash, cleans the bathroom, and washes himself off now and then.
I do the dishes, wash the laundry that both of us use, clean random surfaces here and there, vacuum, make sure the alarm is set in the morning, wash myself pretty much daily, pay the bills, and fluff the cushions on the couch.
If it weren’t for me doing half of those things (ok, ok…MOST of those things), I’m pretty sure they would never, EVER get done. Particularly the fluffing of the cushions. What does he have against normal-shaped cushions? I dunno.
Basically, I’m a pretty picky bitch. Takes a lot to put up with me, as the usual thing for me to do as soon as I get home from work is see something to immediately complain about, and then mention it as soon as I see Jesse when I walk in the door.
I honestly don’t know how he does it. Nor do I know how he’ll continue to do it for the rest of our lives!
And so, I’m afraid to be a wife.
*sigh!* After the first 5 years, he will definitely have earned a cookie, that’s for sure.
I don’t know why this bothers me in the least, except that I worry about Jesse getting fed up with the ‘tude at some point, throwing up his hands in disgust and saying, “That’s it! I’m outta here!” But really, it’s just that there’s a certain way I like things done. Loading the dishwasher isn’t an art, per se, but it can be done in an efficient manner that allows lots of things to be loaded into it, and still get clean. I love it when he helps out with loading it…I really do.
Except I really don’t, because I’ll just have to rearrange everything once I get my hands on it.
But the effort he makes is what matters. :)
Now we have agreements when it comes to chores, so things don’t get all discombobulated. He takes out the trash, cleans the bathroom, and washes himself off now and then.
I do the dishes, wash the laundry that both of us use, clean random surfaces here and there, vacuum, make sure the alarm is set in the morning, wash myself pretty much daily, pay the bills, and fluff the cushions on the couch.
If it weren’t for me doing half of those things (ok, ok…MOST of those things), I’m pretty sure they would never, EVER get done. Particularly the fluffing of the cushions. What does he have against normal-shaped cushions? I dunno.
Basically, I’m a pretty picky bitch. Takes a lot to put up with me, as the usual thing for me to do as soon as I get home from work is see something to immediately complain about, and then mention it as soon as I see Jesse when I walk in the door.
I honestly don’t know how he does it. Nor do I know how he’ll continue to do it for the rest of our lives!
And so, I’m afraid to be a wife.
*sigh!* After the first 5 years, he will definitely have earned a cookie, that’s for sure.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
This week scares me a little bit.
Ok, Friday I have to go up against the dress monster again. For the second time.
Wait, have I already explained the problem I'm having with my dress on this blog? Shoot, I might not've...let me check.
Yes, I have brought it up before. Here. So, ok then...
Basically, I've only managed to lose 6 pounds since I was advised to lose 10. So I'm hoping this fitting will give me a good guage to use for future weight loss needs, if any. I really, really, really can't wait until I can eat without worrying about it again!
I have to say that 5 workouts a week pretty well keeps me in a place that lets me eat just about anything without having to worry about it, though. The problem is that when I eat whatever I want, I don't lose any weight. And that's part of the essential equation right now. And really, I'm eating what I like, but I'm trying to eat less of it, of course. That's the key, as they say.
This week is a short week for me, as I'll be taking Friday off to hang out with my sister who's coming to town for my shower this weekend, as well as to try on the dress and have a party on Friday night with everyone who's coming into town for the shower as well as some other friends I haven't seen in a while. We're really looking forward to the weekend. Thanks again to everyone who is planning on coming in from out of town to join us! (And for those of you in California, I can't wait until July when I get to see all of you, too!)
Not really much else to update on, I'm afraid. I think we found the labels we plan on using for the favors we'll be offering to our guests at the wedding. That's a nice development.
Uuuummm...yeah, not much else going on. Things really slow down in the planning department once we hit this mark, it seems like. Maybe I'll think of a better topic to post about tomorrow...
Wait, have I already explained the problem I'm having with my dress on this blog? Shoot, I might not've...let me check.
Yes, I have brought it up before. Here. So, ok then...
Basically, I've only managed to lose 6 pounds since I was advised to lose 10. So I'm hoping this fitting will give me a good guage to use for future weight loss needs, if any. I really, really, really can't wait until I can eat without worrying about it again!
I have to say that 5 workouts a week pretty well keeps me in a place that lets me eat just about anything without having to worry about it, though. The problem is that when I eat whatever I want, I don't lose any weight. And that's part of the essential equation right now. And really, I'm eating what I like, but I'm trying to eat less of it, of course. That's the key, as they say.
This week is a short week for me, as I'll be taking Friday off to hang out with my sister who's coming to town for my shower this weekend, as well as to try on the dress and have a party on Friday night with everyone who's coming into town for the shower as well as some other friends I haven't seen in a while. We're really looking forward to the weekend. Thanks again to everyone who is planning on coming in from out of town to join us! (And for those of you in California, I can't wait until July when I get to see all of you, too!)
Not really much else to update on, I'm afraid. I think we found the labels we plan on using for the favors we'll be offering to our guests at the wedding. That's a nice development.
Uuuummm...yeah, not much else going on. Things really slow down in the planning department once we hit this mark, it seems like. Maybe I'll think of a better topic to post about tomorrow...
Friday, June 15, 2007
Busy, busy, busy!
Sorry for the lack of posts this week! Work has been a bear, and by the time I get home each night, I just want to hang out, eat some dinner, and then crash into bed. (I'm getting old, dammit.)
There will definitely be new posts up next week! In the mean time, happy weekend...:)
There will definitely be new posts up next week! In the mean time, happy weekend...:)
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Tonight should be fun...
Jesse and I get to go see our engagement photos tonight at Van Deusen. I can't wait to see how they turned out! I hope there are at least 10 that we can agree on to put into the guest book for the wedding. It'll be nice to have that task taken care of.
Yesterday, I got an email from the caterer regarding the plans for the rentals of the linens and the menu and all of that good stuff. I really need to get back to her, but she was wondering if we're on the right track with the menu, and I want to take a minute to look over the appetizer selections we made again. I should probably be doing that instead of writing this post, but whatever...I'm more in the mood to write right now, I guess. :)
Updates on everything that's going on:
Jesse had a dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago, which I think I mentioned, didn't I? Anyway, he's recovered really well from that, and we have the outline from the dentist's office about the next steps they would recommend, so we're looking into that now as well. I'm hoping that he might get to the point where sedation isn't necessary to do. At least we know for sure now that I can drop him off and pick him up, and then he is ok at home by himself after he's had some work done, so I don't have to take full days off from work to help him with those appointments any more. I totally would if I could! But each day that I earn is so precious with all we need to do this year, and the time off I'll be taking for the honeymoon in November and all. Regardless, he's working on getting healthy, I am so, sooo very happy about his dedication to it, and I really hope it makes him feel worlds better ASAP since I can only imagine how he was just putting up with the discomfort of it all for all this time.
I am still losing weight..kind of at a plateau right now, but the shirts I own that are button down are my guage for my upper body changes, and they are all definitely looser than they were a few weeks ago. When I try my dress on again in a couple of weeks, I'm hoping it will really work out ok! I talked to my trainer about how I look very top-heavy in all the pictures I'm taking, and we agreed that instead of piling on more and more weight as I get stronger and stronger, it's time for me to work with a weight that I can lift/press/crunch for 15 reps without too much difficulty, and then do another set relatively quickly, and that should even things out a bit more. My muscles need to be long and lean, not big and bulky! I think doing things this way should help.
By the way, I'm taking this month off from the trainer. Since he moved to another gym, and the main one isn't open yet (he's working in a temp space right now), I'm just working out on my own until mid-July when he and I can get back to our regular 2-days per week meeting schedule. It should be fine. I'm much less likely to "cheat" on my workout schedule these days...the incentive is just too high a price to pay otherwise! I mean, if I don't fit in my dress in October, what will I wear down the aisle? A dress from Target? Um, no thank you.
I also visited the dermatologist last week to see if there's anything we can do about the melasma on my face. She prescribed me a cream that I could start using, and if that doesn't show results within 2 months, we can head down the laser flashy-thingy route. (I don't know the official name of the laser flashy-thingy. But I've seen it on all those extreme makeover shows when they need to even out people's skin tone and stuff.) I don't know that it will come to that, though...this cream seems really effective, and it's only been a week! They warned me that I might not start seeing any results for the first month, so keep using it and wait for it to happen...but it's already doing it's thing. I can't wait to see what it does in another 3 weeks! Keep your fingers crossed...the cream wasn't cheap, and the laser flashy-thingy is definitely not cheaper than the cream. Why doesn't my insurance company want me to be beautiful for my wedding day, huh? jerks.
Just about 2 weeks away from the shower here in Kansas, and I'm so excited to see everyone! Looks like the party will be a really manageable size of about 16 guests, but that's only if the people who haven't RSVPd yet RSVP as I expect them to. Since it IS happening in the middle of summer, I can imagine some might be heading on vacations and stuff, so we'll see. I can't wait!
Also, Jesse finished up his job at the Blue Moose last weekend, and is currently working his little butt off around the house doing a TON of yard work and general clean up. (He's doing it because he wants to, too. I don't understand it...I HATE yard work, so I'm really happy he enjoys it as much as he does!) Between the work he's doing and the work we're having done professionally by the landscaper, the yard is looking more and more lovely over time. This weekend is the big Yard Sale that I've been planning to do for, oh, about 3 months now! Our friends Alisha and Lloyd will be coming over to hang out and sell some of their stuff, too, so that should be a lot more fun than I had expected it to be. We'll be getting a new table (that one from Crate & Barrel that I talked about a long time ago) on Tuesday, and then hopefully, we'll need to pick up a new t.v. after the sale is over on Saturday. (We want to sell the one we have now and upgrade to an HD ready plasma thingamabobber.)
We thought that Jesse had hit the jackpot with the job situation, as he found a listing for an available daytime sous chef position at a restaurant we hold in high regard here in town, but unfortunately, the job had been filled last week and the ad hadn't been taken down yet. Regardless, the owner/chef of the restaurant wanted to talk to Jesse if he was available to do so, so he's meeting with him next week to chat about his experience, and hopefully maybe get an inside tip as to who else might need a good sous chef or chef in a similar restaurant here in town. It's just great that this particular chef wants to meet with him, anyway. He wants to hang onto his resume as well, "...in case anything happens." Since, in the restaurant world, people can come and go in a matter of days, and sometimes hours! You never know. Maybe he'll have an opening again sooner than we think...
But he's getting his resume out there, considering the possibilities that are available to him, and also getting a lot done that he hadn't been able to for the last few months, now that he has some actual time to himself without someone calling him to ask what the soup of the day is, or how to make a chocolate mousse on his day off. I can't wait to see what his next step will be! I'm very excited for him.
And now I must get back to the caterer. Hope everyone is having a great week!
Yesterday, I got an email from the caterer regarding the plans for the rentals of the linens and the menu and all of that good stuff. I really need to get back to her, but she was wondering if we're on the right track with the menu, and I want to take a minute to look over the appetizer selections we made again. I should probably be doing that instead of writing this post, but whatever...I'm more in the mood to write right now, I guess. :)
Updates on everything that's going on:
Jesse had a dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago, which I think I mentioned, didn't I? Anyway, he's recovered really well from that, and we have the outline from the dentist's office about the next steps they would recommend, so we're looking into that now as well. I'm hoping that he might get to the point where sedation isn't necessary to do. At least we know for sure now that I can drop him off and pick him up, and then he is ok at home by himself after he's had some work done, so I don't have to take full days off from work to help him with those appointments any more. I totally would if I could! But each day that I earn is so precious with all we need to do this year, and the time off I'll be taking for the honeymoon in November and all. Regardless, he's working on getting healthy, I am so, sooo very happy about his dedication to it, and I really hope it makes him feel worlds better ASAP since I can only imagine how he was just putting up with the discomfort of it all for all this time.
I am still losing weight..kind of at a plateau right now, but the shirts I own that are button down are my guage for my upper body changes, and they are all definitely looser than they were a few weeks ago. When I try my dress on again in a couple of weeks, I'm hoping it will really work out ok! I talked to my trainer about how I look very top-heavy in all the pictures I'm taking, and we agreed that instead of piling on more and more weight as I get stronger and stronger, it's time for me to work with a weight that I can lift/press/crunch for 15 reps without too much difficulty, and then do another set relatively quickly, and that should even things out a bit more. My muscles need to be long and lean, not big and bulky! I think doing things this way should help.
By the way, I'm taking this month off from the trainer. Since he moved to another gym, and the main one isn't open yet (he's working in a temp space right now), I'm just working out on my own until mid-July when he and I can get back to our regular 2-days per week meeting schedule. It should be fine. I'm much less likely to "cheat" on my workout schedule these days...the incentive is just too high a price to pay otherwise! I mean, if I don't fit in my dress in October, what will I wear down the aisle? A dress from Target? Um, no thank you.
I also visited the dermatologist last week to see if there's anything we can do about the melasma on my face. She prescribed me a cream that I could start using, and if that doesn't show results within 2 months, we can head down the laser flashy-thingy route. (I don't know the official name of the laser flashy-thingy. But I've seen it on all those extreme makeover shows when they need to even out people's skin tone and stuff.) I don't know that it will come to that, though...this cream seems really effective, and it's only been a week! They warned me that I might not start seeing any results for the first month, so keep using it and wait for it to happen...but it's already doing it's thing. I can't wait to see what it does in another 3 weeks! Keep your fingers crossed...the cream wasn't cheap, and the laser flashy-thingy is definitely not cheaper than the cream. Why doesn't my insurance company want me to be beautiful for my wedding day, huh? jerks.
Just about 2 weeks away from the shower here in Kansas, and I'm so excited to see everyone! Looks like the party will be a really manageable size of about 16 guests, but that's only if the people who haven't RSVPd yet RSVP as I expect them to. Since it IS happening in the middle of summer, I can imagine some might be heading on vacations and stuff, so we'll see. I can't wait!
Also, Jesse finished up his job at the Blue Moose last weekend, and is currently working his little butt off around the house doing a TON of yard work and general clean up. (He's doing it because he wants to, too. I don't understand it...I HATE yard work, so I'm really happy he enjoys it as much as he does!) Between the work he's doing and the work we're having done professionally by the landscaper, the yard is looking more and more lovely over time. This weekend is the big Yard Sale that I've been planning to do for, oh, about 3 months now! Our friends Alisha and Lloyd will be coming over to hang out and sell some of their stuff, too, so that should be a lot more fun than I had expected it to be. We'll be getting a new table (that one from Crate & Barrel that I talked about a long time ago) on Tuesday, and then hopefully, we'll need to pick up a new t.v. after the sale is over on Saturday. (We want to sell the one we have now and upgrade to an HD ready plasma thingamabobber.)
We thought that Jesse had hit the jackpot with the job situation, as he found a listing for an available daytime sous chef position at a restaurant we hold in high regard here in town, but unfortunately, the job had been filled last week and the ad hadn't been taken down yet. Regardless, the owner/chef of the restaurant wanted to talk to Jesse if he was available to do so, so he's meeting with him next week to chat about his experience, and hopefully maybe get an inside tip as to who else might need a good sous chef or chef in a similar restaurant here in town. It's just great that this particular chef wants to meet with him, anyway. He wants to hang onto his resume as well, "...in case anything happens." Since, in the restaurant world, people can come and go in a matter of days, and sometimes hours! You never know. Maybe he'll have an opening again sooner than we think...
But he's getting his resume out there, considering the possibilities that are available to him, and also getting a lot done that he hadn't been able to for the last few months, now that he has some actual time to himself without someone calling him to ask what the soup of the day is, or how to make a chocolate mousse on his day off. I can't wait to see what his next step will be! I'm very excited for him.
And now I must get back to the caterer. Hope everyone is having a great week!
Friday, June 01, 2007
Another checkmark on the "to do" list...
I'm giving the official request for the invitations to be ordered today. Holy cow...
Thursday, May 31, 2007
I always wanted to see what it was like to be a morning news anchor...
My personal trainer informed me this morning that the powers that be at 24 Hour Fitness have transferred him to a new gym that will be opening in Olathe tomorrow. They told him yesterday about this. He now has to inform all his clients about the change, and give them the option of working with another trainer at the gym they've been going to to see him, or moving along with him to Olathe.
Olathe is an additional 10 - 15 minutes from the house. As it is, I already get up at 4:40 a.m. to get to the gym by 5:30 in order to meet with my trainer all warmed up and ready to go at 6, and then I finish up with him at 6:30, get showered and cleaned up and head out to work by 7:30.
The new gym isn't finished yet. Won't be until mid-July, apparently. So showering and getting ready for work there isn't an option. I'd have to get up even earlier than I do now to drive down to meet him, only have about 5 minutes to warm up before doing the strength training stuff with him until 6, and then high-tail it home to shower and get ready for work there. For the next 6 weeks, anyway. After that, I can get ready there.
Ok, it is only 2 days a week we're talking about here, so that helps the situation a great deal. And I'm still trying to figure out if he and I can work out an evening schedule instead, so I can go work out as usual on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a decent hour, and then go see him for weight training stuff after work, perhaps. Because as it is, I'd have to find another way to get my cardio in on those days when he and I get together, even if we're meeting at 5:30 a.m., or 5:25 a.m., or whatever the hell it winds up being.
Jesse and I will head down there to check it out on Saturday. He's Jesse's trainer too now, so he will have to figure this all out as well. Since his schedule is a wee bit more open than mine for at least the next couple of weeks, though, he doesn't have as much to worry about, IMO.
Just when things were going so well, too. Damn.
Olathe is an additional 10 - 15 minutes from the house. As it is, I already get up at 4:40 a.m. to get to the gym by 5:30 in order to meet with my trainer all warmed up and ready to go at 6, and then I finish up with him at 6:30, get showered and cleaned up and head out to work by 7:30.
The new gym isn't finished yet. Won't be until mid-July, apparently. So showering and getting ready for work there isn't an option. I'd have to get up even earlier than I do now to drive down to meet him, only have about 5 minutes to warm up before doing the strength training stuff with him until 6, and then high-tail it home to shower and get ready for work there. For the next 6 weeks, anyway. After that, I can get ready there.
Ok, it is only 2 days a week we're talking about here, so that helps the situation a great deal. And I'm still trying to figure out if he and I can work out an evening schedule instead, so I can go work out as usual on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a decent hour, and then go see him for weight training stuff after work, perhaps. Because as it is, I'd have to find another way to get my cardio in on those days when he and I get together, even if we're meeting at 5:30 a.m., or 5:25 a.m., or whatever the hell it winds up being.
Jesse and I will head down there to check it out on Saturday. He's Jesse's trainer too now, so he will have to figure this all out as well. Since his schedule is a wee bit more open than mine for at least the next couple of weeks, though, he doesn't have as much to worry about, IMO.
Just when things were going so well, too. Damn.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Happy girl
I love my vendors. LOVE. The caterer, the florist, the photographer, the event site coordinator...all of them are awesome. AWESOME I tell you!
There is nothing like talking to someone about your plans, and having them be as excited as you are about how things are going to look. It's as if I'm the only bride they're dealing with right now, which obviously isn't the case, and which really makes me feel like we've made good choices in the long run.
Now if I could just figure out the invitation issues, I'll be happy! (Doing the final wording on all the directions to locations that we'll be including is just a bit scary. I'd hate for my directions to not be enough to help out of towners find their way to their hotel or the church or the Brewery! Hopefully, the little map we'll be including will help, but I don't know how to be sure, and it's driving me a little crazy...)
There is nothing like talking to someone about your plans, and having them be as excited as you are about how things are going to look. It's as if I'm the only bride they're dealing with right now, which obviously isn't the case, and which really makes me feel like we've made good choices in the long run.
Now if I could just figure out the invitation issues, I'll be happy! (Doing the final wording on all the directions to locations that we'll be including is just a bit scary. I'd hate for my directions to not be enough to help out of towners find their way to their hotel or the church or the Brewery! Hopefully, the little map we'll be including will help, but I don't know how to be sure, and it's driving me a little crazy...)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Days off, schmays off...
Yesterday was a fun day. Jesse was having some work done on his teeth, so I had to take the day off from work in order to drive him to and from the dentist, and to make sure he was recovering ok after the appointment. (He has to be sedated to have his teeth worked on.) As the dentist office is relatively close to my work, I did have a chance to slip in the office for a couple of hours while he was being worked on and had the chance to set up a meeting for my boss and our team, as well as activate a new phone/palm device for my boss while he was in another meeting. (Although I learned today that the chick who walked me through the “very simple” activation process told me to do something wrong, so it didn’t work properly for my boss when he got back from his meeting, like I’d hoped it would, and he wound up having to go through the whole waiting on hold and then having someone help him activate the phone thing himself later in the day. Which makes me feel terrible, dammit.) It was nice to have something else to think about while he was being worked on.
Everything went VERY well, though, and they were able to sedate him without any major issue, they were able to accomplish much of what they had planned to do in the first place, and they have a much better idea of what the next step is now that they’ve been able to look into his mouth a bit more extensively. Woohoo! On the road to a healthy mouth for Jesse! :D
When I take days off from work, they are, to say the least, far from being actual “days off.” For example, I took last Tuesday off so we could get our engagement photos done and in order to also take care of a few other things that Jesse and I needed to do together. I woke up at my normal 4:30 a.m. to get to the gym by 5:20, so I could complete my cardio workout before meeting with the trainer at 6. I finish up there at about 6:40, and then head home for a teensy nap before I get up and shower. Then I had a hair appointment at 9, since my hairdresser knows how to make my hair do the perfect little things that make me look as pretty as I can, and then I ran home to get Jesse and head to the photo studio for our 10:30 appointment. Once there, we learned his shirt was too stripy to work well in the photos, and so we agreed on a new time to meet to take the photos instead. We then went to Macy’s to see if we could find a shirt that would work better for the photos and which would also match relatively well with my dress (which was a deep navy color), and then grabbed a couple of sammiches at Mr. Goodcents before heading home to change. We had reset the photo appointment for noon, so we had to eat lunch pretty quickly, and Jesse had an ultra-fast ironing session with the new shirt that wasn’t all-together successful. We went back to the photo studio, Jesse ironed his shirt a bit more once there, and we were done by 1:30. After that, we went to the gym to sign Jesse up with a new membership. We realized Jesse had left his wallet at the photo studio, so we headed back there to get it, and then made a pit-stop at a little vacuum store on Wornall Rd. to look into a new vacuum for the house. (We did have one on our registery, but I’d heard really good things about the vacuums they sell at this little vacuum store, so we went to check them out just in case. Also, waiting another 6 months for someone to possibly buy us a ridiculously priced vacuum from our registry wasn’t going to work. We need the new vacuum NOW.) We left with a brand new Riccar vacuum in tow after having had a delightful conversation with an apparently very bored vacuum salesman, and headed over to the bookstore. We’ve been wanting to get a book on the Virgin Islands for a while, so we can look into some of the attractions of the island we’re staying on for our honeymoon, and also check out what other island might be worth the price of a ferry ride for a day visit while we’re there. We got done with that at about 4, and I was STARVING at that point. So we went to the Whole Foods to figure out dinner, which I left up to Jesse to decide what we were going to make. I was far too hungry to be able to make any good decisions, so it worked out better that way. We went home, he made dinner, and I made my guacasalsa that I have come to love so very much over the past few weeks. (It’s a couple of avocados thrown in the food processor with some tomatillos and some onion. There’s other stuff, too, of course, but that’s the jist of it. Soooo yummy! And WAY less fat and calories than regular guacamole! YAY!) By the time I was done with dinner, I was exhausted, and willed myself into staying awake for another 2 hours so I wouldn’t reset my internal clock with an insanely early bedtime by going to bed at 8.
So THAT is what it’s like when I take a “day off.” Yesterday wasn’t very different. After making sure Jesse was comfy once we got home from the dentist (the fact that he passed out almost immediately gave me some idea that he was fine…), I had an appointment at the Brewery to meet with my caterer (Denise) and the Brewery event coordinator to go over linens for the reception. We needed, more than anything, to look into the possibility of covering the chairs they have there. They have some black and silver chairs that they use at standard functions, and apparently, no one has ever inquired about covering them before. Call me fussy, but black and silver doesn’t fit in with our color scheme at all, and I felt like the chairs would be sticking out like a sore thumb if we don’t cover them. (The mosaic bar they have in the room doesn’t fit in either since its blues and greens, but it’s prettier than the chairs. Plus, covering the bar would be a bad idea, IMO. So we’re gonna ignore that all together.)
Finding a chair cover to cover these specific types of chairs wasn’t easy. But the caterer found a company that carries “extra-wide” covers, and she ordered a sample. One of the materials she got was more of a silky material that didn’t have any give to it at all. It didn’t work. BUT. The other material is a lovely polyester that kind of stretches over the chair. AND IT FIT! Success! We found the perfect chair tie for it, and then set about deciding on a table cloth.
Ok, lemme tell you that these days looking for the proper table coverings for a party table is not a cut-and-dry process. We had to choose from ivories and slightly peachies and dark browns and light browns and prints and lacy things and shiny fabrics. And then we had the different fabrics to consider, which ranged from damasks to thin sheers to heavy brocades that seemed more curtain-in-grandma’s-house than a linen for the reception to me.
But we found the perfect linen early on, thank goodness, and it was tough to find anything that was going to change our minds about it. It’s a copper metallic color, actually, and it has this criss-cross pattern on it that gives it a lot of depth, and a bit more pizzazz. The chair tie wound up not matching it so well, so we changed it out for another color, and fell in love. Once we decided on those, we put out the china options, and found that the ivory plates with the gold band around them went perfectly with the chairs and the linens, and kind of tied everything together for us. I almost forgot about napkins, but Denise and I wound up agreeing that the same color fabric we’re using as the chair ties will look perfect, so that was an easy decision.
All in all, it took an hour and a half to work all that stuff out. Since there was an amazing quantity of fabrics to choose from, it just wasn’t as simple as I thought it might be. But I’m soooo glad we have it taken care of now! We’ll have a different fabric on some of the accent tables, too, so things won’t look so matchy-matchy and blocky all over, and that way we got to use some of the other linens that were sent to sample, but which didn’t work out for the actual main table linens over all. They should look beautiful in the areas we’ve decided to use them, though!
After I was done meeting with Denise, I went home to check on Jesse. He was fine…he’d been sleeping the whole time I was gone. I had to leave again for a hair appointment at 5, and then I stopped on my way home and picked up a variety of smoothly pureed soups for Jesse to choose from for dinner (along with some mashed potatoes from the deli at the market, as I didn’t have time to make some for him myself), and got home in time to make him the soup, eat some dinner myself, relax on the couch for a bit and let my dinner settle, and then headed to bed at about 10.
I really, really can’t wait to have some official “days off” in November. I think the shower in California will count as official “days off” as well, since all I need to do is go home and have a good time, but we’ll see.
And now I must head out and get some lunch stuff. I’ve lost 6 and a half pounds so far, but have another few to go before I hit my goal. Definitely seems I’ll hit the 15 before my next dress fitting on the 22nd, but we’ll see. I’m hungry much of the time, and I miss my favorite foods (and drinks!), but I keep figuring that I just have to keep hating food for another 5 months…that’s it. After that, I can love it again, and all will be right in the world. I’ll keep you posted on that.
Everything went VERY well, though, and they were able to sedate him without any major issue, they were able to accomplish much of what they had planned to do in the first place, and they have a much better idea of what the next step is now that they’ve been able to look into his mouth a bit more extensively. Woohoo! On the road to a healthy mouth for Jesse! :D
When I take days off from work, they are, to say the least, far from being actual “days off.” For example, I took last Tuesday off so we could get our engagement photos done and in order to also take care of a few other things that Jesse and I needed to do together. I woke up at my normal 4:30 a.m. to get to the gym by 5:20, so I could complete my cardio workout before meeting with the trainer at 6. I finish up there at about 6:40, and then head home for a teensy nap before I get up and shower. Then I had a hair appointment at 9, since my hairdresser knows how to make my hair do the perfect little things that make me look as pretty as I can, and then I ran home to get Jesse and head to the photo studio for our 10:30 appointment. Once there, we learned his shirt was too stripy to work well in the photos, and so we agreed on a new time to meet to take the photos instead. We then went to Macy’s to see if we could find a shirt that would work better for the photos and which would also match relatively well with my dress (which was a deep navy color), and then grabbed a couple of sammiches at Mr. Goodcents before heading home to change. We had reset the photo appointment for noon, so we had to eat lunch pretty quickly, and Jesse had an ultra-fast ironing session with the new shirt that wasn’t all-together successful. We went back to the photo studio, Jesse ironed his shirt a bit more once there, and we were done by 1:30. After that, we went to the gym to sign Jesse up with a new membership. We realized Jesse had left his wallet at the photo studio, so we headed back there to get it, and then made a pit-stop at a little vacuum store on Wornall Rd. to look into a new vacuum for the house. (We did have one on our registery, but I’d heard really good things about the vacuums they sell at this little vacuum store, so we went to check them out just in case. Also, waiting another 6 months for someone to possibly buy us a ridiculously priced vacuum from our registry wasn’t going to work. We need the new vacuum NOW.) We left with a brand new Riccar vacuum in tow after having had a delightful conversation with an apparently very bored vacuum salesman, and headed over to the bookstore. We’ve been wanting to get a book on the Virgin Islands for a while, so we can look into some of the attractions of the island we’re staying on for our honeymoon, and also check out what other island might be worth the price of a ferry ride for a day visit while we’re there. We got done with that at about 4, and I was STARVING at that point. So we went to the Whole Foods to figure out dinner, which I left up to Jesse to decide what we were going to make. I was far too hungry to be able to make any good decisions, so it worked out better that way. We went home, he made dinner, and I made my guacasalsa that I have come to love so very much over the past few weeks. (It’s a couple of avocados thrown in the food processor with some tomatillos and some onion. There’s other stuff, too, of course, but that’s the jist of it. Soooo yummy! And WAY less fat and calories than regular guacamole! YAY!) By the time I was done with dinner, I was exhausted, and willed myself into staying awake for another 2 hours so I wouldn’t reset my internal clock with an insanely early bedtime by going to bed at 8.
So THAT is what it’s like when I take a “day off.” Yesterday wasn’t very different. After making sure Jesse was comfy once we got home from the dentist (the fact that he passed out almost immediately gave me some idea that he was fine…), I had an appointment at the Brewery to meet with my caterer (Denise) and the Brewery event coordinator to go over linens for the reception. We needed, more than anything, to look into the possibility of covering the chairs they have there. They have some black and silver chairs that they use at standard functions, and apparently, no one has ever inquired about covering them before. Call me fussy, but black and silver doesn’t fit in with our color scheme at all, and I felt like the chairs would be sticking out like a sore thumb if we don’t cover them. (The mosaic bar they have in the room doesn’t fit in either since its blues and greens, but it’s prettier than the chairs. Plus, covering the bar would be a bad idea, IMO. So we’re gonna ignore that all together.)
Finding a chair cover to cover these specific types of chairs wasn’t easy. But the caterer found a company that carries “extra-wide” covers, and she ordered a sample. One of the materials she got was more of a silky material that didn’t have any give to it at all. It didn’t work. BUT. The other material is a lovely polyester that kind of stretches over the chair. AND IT FIT! Success! We found the perfect chair tie for it, and then set about deciding on a table cloth.
Ok, lemme tell you that these days looking for the proper table coverings for a party table is not a cut-and-dry process. We had to choose from ivories and slightly peachies and dark browns and light browns and prints and lacy things and shiny fabrics. And then we had the different fabrics to consider, which ranged from damasks to thin sheers to heavy brocades that seemed more curtain-in-grandma’s-house than a linen for the reception to me.
But we found the perfect linen early on, thank goodness, and it was tough to find anything that was going to change our minds about it. It’s a copper metallic color, actually, and it has this criss-cross pattern on it that gives it a lot of depth, and a bit more pizzazz. The chair tie wound up not matching it so well, so we changed it out for another color, and fell in love. Once we decided on those, we put out the china options, and found that the ivory plates with the gold band around them went perfectly with the chairs and the linens, and kind of tied everything together for us. I almost forgot about napkins, but Denise and I wound up agreeing that the same color fabric we’re using as the chair ties will look perfect, so that was an easy decision.
All in all, it took an hour and a half to work all that stuff out. Since there was an amazing quantity of fabrics to choose from, it just wasn’t as simple as I thought it might be. But I’m soooo glad we have it taken care of now! We’ll have a different fabric on some of the accent tables, too, so things won’t look so matchy-matchy and blocky all over, and that way we got to use some of the other linens that were sent to sample, but which didn’t work out for the actual main table linens over all. They should look beautiful in the areas we’ve decided to use them, though!
After I was done meeting with Denise, I went home to check on Jesse. He was fine…he’d been sleeping the whole time I was gone. I had to leave again for a hair appointment at 5, and then I stopped on my way home and picked up a variety of smoothly pureed soups for Jesse to choose from for dinner (along with some mashed potatoes from the deli at the market, as I didn’t have time to make some for him myself), and got home in time to make him the soup, eat some dinner myself, relax on the couch for a bit and let my dinner settle, and then headed to bed at about 10.
I really, really can’t wait to have some official “days off” in November. I think the shower in California will count as official “days off” as well, since all I need to do is go home and have a good time, but we’ll see.
And now I must head out and get some lunch stuff. I’ve lost 6 and a half pounds so far, but have another few to go before I hit my goal. Definitely seems I’ll hit the 15 before my next dress fitting on the 22nd, but we’ll see. I’m hungry much of the time, and I miss my favorite foods (and drinks!), but I keep figuring that I just have to keep hating food for another 5 months…that’s it. After that, I can love it again, and all will be right in the world. I’ll keep you posted on that.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Apologies!
I just wanted to take a sec to apologize to everyone who has asked if they might be able to stay at our house for the weekend when you come to town for the wedding shower.
First of all, it is so, SO generous of you to want to even travel here to spend that time with us, and we are very much looking forward to seeing everyone that will be able to make it! It's going to be fun to see you all a few months prior to the wedding (and I'm secretly hoping that whatever the secret is that Jesse is keeping from me will somehow slip out during the time we all get to hang out together. It's eating me alive to know there's a secret, but not have any clue what it might be about!), and to catch up and hang out in a relaxed, non-stressed environment for a couple of days.
But here's the caveat to all the pleasant fun visiting time: The house that Jesse and I live in is a temporary one. Don't get me wrong...it's cute! But it's a little tiny. And I had A LOT of crap in it even before he moved in with me, and then we decided to get the dog. So now, there's even more crap than ever before! The whole house is 912 square feet (that's including the garage), which is standard for the houses in my neighborhood and amazingly housed a family of 7 before I moved in (don't ask me how...when I think about it at all, my head starts spinning a little bit), but which is now overflowing with clothing and dog crates and paperwork that I haven't taken the time to file in over 5 months, and holy crap don't make me think about it at all because I might turn and run the other way screaming and waving my arms in the air!
I was a single girl for 31 years before Jesse moved in last February. In that time, I had one older sister visit and stay with me one night in 2002 (I think), and then the Twin has ventured a visit or two as well over the last few years, but that is it. A whole of 2 visitors in aallll that time. (Well, I actually had two friends come and visit when I was living in Oceanside, CA in 1997, but I prefer not to remember that night if at all possible. It involved some Jaegermeister and then some throwing up off the balcony that was none too pleasant, and I also had a total of 3 couches at the time...all in a one bedroom apartment! So the guests were not only passed out at the time, but they were passed out on comfy couches. Which smelled of cat pee. But I digress...) I haven't had much need of a guest room, I guess is my point. When I was single, I would either let my twin share my bed with me when she came to visit, or she'd sleep on the couch, or whatever. The last time she came, she brought her 2 girls and they all stayed at the motor lodge (that I love and stay in myself when I have the need) which is down the street from where we live. Since Jesse and I don't even have the space for a blow-up mattress to be laid down anywhere, it was the only way we could do the visit, unfortunately.
We do plan, in the near future, to have a yard sale in order to get rid of a good amount of the clutter, and also in order to help us redecorate a bit more in the coming months. This is to help us prepare to sell the house next year, and hopefully be able to move into not only a bigger house, but a better one to entertain in. One which will have a proper guest bedroom and bath, so that we don't have to turn away guests in the future, and instead direct them to the local motor lodge. (Which really is very cute, and I've always loved it! Plus, they gots a pool down there, yo! WOO!)
Thank you again to those of you who are considering traveling here to KC to attend the shower, as well as the wedding in October. We really value the time spent with everyone this year, since we will be using vacation time to go on our honeymoon instead of being able to visit our respective homes at all.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
First of all, it is so, SO generous of you to want to even travel here to spend that time with us, and we are very much looking forward to seeing everyone that will be able to make it! It's going to be fun to see you all a few months prior to the wedding (and I'm secretly hoping that whatever the secret is that Jesse is keeping from me will somehow slip out during the time we all get to hang out together. It's eating me alive to know there's a secret, but not have any clue what it might be about!), and to catch up and hang out in a relaxed, non-stressed environment for a couple of days.
But here's the caveat to all the pleasant fun visiting time: The house that Jesse and I live in is a temporary one. Don't get me wrong...it's cute! But it's a little tiny. And I had A LOT of crap in it even before he moved in with me, and then we decided to get the dog. So now, there's even more crap than ever before! The whole house is 912 square feet (that's including the garage), which is standard for the houses in my neighborhood and amazingly housed a family of 7 before I moved in (don't ask me how...when I think about it at all, my head starts spinning a little bit), but which is now overflowing with clothing and dog crates and paperwork that I haven't taken the time to file in over 5 months, and holy crap don't make me think about it at all because I might turn and run the other way screaming and waving my arms in the air!
I was a single girl for 31 years before Jesse moved in last February. In that time, I had one older sister visit and stay with me one night in 2002 (I think), and then the Twin has ventured a visit or two as well over the last few years, but that is it. A whole of 2 visitors in aallll that time. (Well, I actually had two friends come and visit when I was living in Oceanside, CA in 1997, but I prefer not to remember that night if at all possible. It involved some Jaegermeister and then some throwing up off the balcony that was none too pleasant, and I also had a total of 3 couches at the time...all in a one bedroom apartment! So the guests were not only passed out at the time, but they were passed out on comfy couches. Which smelled of cat pee. But I digress...) I haven't had much need of a guest room, I guess is my point. When I was single, I would either let my twin share my bed with me when she came to visit, or she'd sleep on the couch, or whatever. The last time she came, she brought her 2 girls and they all stayed at the motor lodge (that I love and stay in myself when I have the need) which is down the street from where we live. Since Jesse and I don't even have the space for a blow-up mattress to be laid down anywhere, it was the only way we could do the visit, unfortunately.
We do plan, in the near future, to have a yard sale in order to get rid of a good amount of the clutter, and also in order to help us redecorate a bit more in the coming months. This is to help us prepare to sell the house next year, and hopefully be able to move into not only a bigger house, but a better one to entertain in. One which will have a proper guest bedroom and bath, so that we don't have to turn away guests in the future, and instead direct them to the local motor lodge. (Which really is very cute, and I've always loved it! Plus, they gots a pool down there, yo! WOO!)
Thank you again to those of you who are considering traveling here to KC to attend the shower, as well as the wedding in October. We really value the time spent with everyone this year, since we will be using vacation time to go on our honeymoon instead of being able to visit our respective homes at all.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Engagement Photo Session Happiness and Joy Story
Yesterday was a day filled with frustration with the weather, sometimes with my lovely and faboolous fiance, and then with the level of exhaustion involved with the errands we needed to do/had time to do. It all started with our engagement photos we had planned to take. (Well, it started with my work out and then my hair appointment after that, but the point of the day was to get the engagement photos done.)
I took the day off from work in order to match schedules with Jesse, and so we could have more time with the photographer if necessary, since Tuesdays are infinitely less busy for her than Saturdays. We don't really need the engagement photos for any significant purpose...they were really just a fun extra part of the package that we chose for our wedding, and we plan on using them for nothing else besides our Guest Book, which the photographer can create for us using 6 - 10 of the best shots we got out of the shoot. I wanted outdoor, somewhat candid, more photojournalistic shots, kind of what we plan on doing on our wedding day as well. When I saw the weather reports starting on Saturday saying that rain would likely hit the area on Tuesday morning, I really hoped it would clear out by the time we planned on heading out to take photos.
Our appointment was at 10:30. I went and got my hair done early, and then Jesse and I headed over to the studio. Unfortunately, the shirt he chose was not a good one for digital photos, so we needed him to change. We rescheduled the shoot to start at noon instead, and went home to eat some lunch and to iron the new shirt we bought for Jesse on our way there.
The shirt was better, and although we had hoped that the extra time we had before the shoot started would give the skies more time to clear up, it was steadily raining again as we pulled back up in front of the studio at noon. Dammit.
So we had an indoor shoot. We wore more dressy clothes at first, and then changed into more casual items after about 45 minutes. But by then, Jesse's attention level was dropping, and quick. Had they had a pool table or something in the studio, we probably would have been fine. But they didn't. (Although the little toy Big Bird that said "peek-a-boo!" every time a flash went off was relatively entertaining once it had been pointed out to me. We wound up putting it in a closet after a while because the way it was making me laugh wasn't as helpful to the photographer as I think she thought it might be at first.) So it got to the point where he just looked unhappy and forced and I was looking like I wanted to beat him up in all the photos, so we called it a day after about 20 minutes in our casual outfits. I was worried we wouldn't have given her anything to work with. She showed us the shots, though (which she said she doesn't usually do, but I think she was reading my frustration and worry really well, and I definitely like that about her), and there were plenty in there to work with, I think. Thank GOD.
We get to see them in about 2 weeks or so, she said. And then we can decide which ones to make a book out of. Should be fun! I wish we could have taken some outside, and of course, the weather was beautiful and happy after 4 p.m. Gotta love the midwest for its casual use of stormy weather in the springtime to ruin certain outdoor plans now and then, though! (Grrrr...)
The photographer did tell us that if we absolutely hate the pictures after seeing them, we can do a quick little second shoot when it's convenient for all of us in the future. I thought that was very nice of her, and she did call and offer to cancel yesterday morning before we even went to the studio, since she knew we wanted outdoor stuff. But I'd taken the day off, and I'd just had my hair done...it just wasn't feasible to cancel on the day-of like that. I can barely afford the days off I'm already taking, much less plan even MORE of them in the near future! Plus, it seems really petty and bridezillaish to me to complain about the photos we do have, especially with as many cute ones as I saw from yesterday. We'll get outdoor photos on our wedding day, and that'll be just fine.
After we were done there, we had lots of other things to do, like hit the post office to buy 10 two-cent stamps, and go to the gym to sign Jesse up with a membership, and go to the book store to find a book that can give us more info about the island we're honeymooning on in November, and shop for dinner, and buy a new vacuum. We did a LOT yesterday, and I was officially exhausted by it all at about 7 p.m. last night. I pushed through that though, and stayed up to watch an episode of The Riches we had recorded for me from Monday (when I was also too exhausted to stay up past 9:30 p.m.), and then an episode of The F Word that had been recorded by TiVo earlier in the day, since it knows how much we love Gordon Ramsay and his wacky kitchen antics. I couldn't wake up to go to the gym this morning, I was still so tired. And even getting out of bed at 6:20 to shower (after 8 and a half hours of sleep, mind you!) was still a bit tough, so I'm not sure what the problem is here. I'll walk the dog tonight to get in some extra exercise, but I'm not going to push it. When I'm this tired, something is afoot. If it's a slumbering virus of some sort inside of me, I definitely don't want to piss it off and wake it up. I have stuff I gotta do this weekend, dammit! (And you KNOW that's when the slumbering viruses like to wake up and pounce on ya. Just when you don't need them the most. I hate it when they do that sort of thing!)
And now I'm off to figure out why I am having such a hard time logging in to my work stuff remotely when I need to. That's not going to work for me over the next few months when I need to be able to work now and then on days off. Nuh-uh. Happy Wednesday! (It's Wednesday, right? Yes. Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, for sure...)
(And for those of you who read both this AND my other blog, yes I pirated the story from there this morning. THAT is how tired I am. I don't have the energy to write two different accounts of the same issue today. Sorry!)
I took the day off from work in order to match schedules with Jesse, and so we could have more time with the photographer if necessary, since Tuesdays are infinitely less busy for her than Saturdays. We don't really need the engagement photos for any significant purpose...they were really just a fun extra part of the package that we chose for our wedding, and we plan on using them for nothing else besides our Guest Book, which the photographer can create for us using 6 - 10 of the best shots we got out of the shoot. I wanted outdoor, somewhat candid, more photojournalistic shots, kind of what we plan on doing on our wedding day as well. When I saw the weather reports starting on Saturday saying that rain would likely hit the area on Tuesday morning, I really hoped it would clear out by the time we planned on heading out to take photos.
Our appointment was at 10:30. I went and got my hair done early, and then Jesse and I headed over to the studio. Unfortunately, the shirt he chose was not a good one for digital photos, so we needed him to change. We rescheduled the shoot to start at noon instead, and went home to eat some lunch and to iron the new shirt we bought for Jesse on our way there.
The shirt was better, and although we had hoped that the extra time we had before the shoot started would give the skies more time to clear up, it was steadily raining again as we pulled back up in front of the studio at noon. Dammit.
So we had an indoor shoot. We wore more dressy clothes at first, and then changed into more casual items after about 45 minutes. But by then, Jesse's attention level was dropping, and quick. Had they had a pool table or something in the studio, we probably would have been fine. But they didn't. (Although the little toy Big Bird that said "peek-a-boo!" every time a flash went off was relatively entertaining once it had been pointed out to me. We wound up putting it in a closet after a while because the way it was making me laugh wasn't as helpful to the photographer as I think she thought it might be at first.) So it got to the point where he just looked unhappy and forced and I was looking like I wanted to beat him up in all the photos, so we called it a day after about 20 minutes in our casual outfits. I was worried we wouldn't have given her anything to work with. She showed us the shots, though (which she said she doesn't usually do, but I think she was reading my frustration and worry really well, and I definitely like that about her), and there were plenty in there to work with, I think. Thank GOD.
We get to see them in about 2 weeks or so, she said. And then we can decide which ones to make a book out of. Should be fun! I wish we could have taken some outside, and of course, the weather was beautiful and happy after 4 p.m. Gotta love the midwest for its casual use of stormy weather in the springtime to ruin certain outdoor plans now and then, though! (Grrrr...)
The photographer did tell us that if we absolutely hate the pictures after seeing them, we can do a quick little second shoot when it's convenient for all of us in the future. I thought that was very nice of her, and she did call and offer to cancel yesterday morning before we even went to the studio, since she knew we wanted outdoor stuff. But I'd taken the day off, and I'd just had my hair done...it just wasn't feasible to cancel on the day-of like that. I can barely afford the days off I'm already taking, much less plan even MORE of them in the near future! Plus, it seems really petty and bridezillaish to me to complain about the photos we do have, especially with as many cute ones as I saw from yesterday. We'll get outdoor photos on our wedding day, and that'll be just fine.
After we were done there, we had lots of other things to do, like hit the post office to buy 10 two-cent stamps, and go to the gym to sign Jesse up with a membership, and go to the book store to find a book that can give us more info about the island we're honeymooning on in November, and shop for dinner, and buy a new vacuum. We did a LOT yesterday, and I was officially exhausted by it all at about 7 p.m. last night. I pushed through that though, and stayed up to watch an episode of The Riches we had recorded for me from Monday (when I was also too exhausted to stay up past 9:30 p.m.), and then an episode of The F Word that had been recorded by TiVo earlier in the day, since it knows how much we love Gordon Ramsay and his wacky kitchen antics. I couldn't wake up to go to the gym this morning, I was still so tired. And even getting out of bed at 6:20 to shower (after 8 and a half hours of sleep, mind you!) was still a bit tough, so I'm not sure what the problem is here. I'll walk the dog tonight to get in some extra exercise, but I'm not going to push it. When I'm this tired, something is afoot. If it's a slumbering virus of some sort inside of me, I definitely don't want to piss it off and wake it up. I have stuff I gotta do this weekend, dammit! (And you KNOW that's when the slumbering viruses like to wake up and pounce on ya. Just when you don't need them the most. I hate it when they do that sort of thing!)
And now I'm off to figure out why I am having such a hard time logging in to my work stuff remotely when I need to. That's not going to work for me over the next few months when I need to be able to work now and then on days off. Nuh-uh. Happy Wednesday! (It's Wednesday, right? Yes. Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, for sure...)
(And for those of you who read both this AND my other blog, yes I pirated the story from there this morning. THAT is how tired I am. I don't have the energy to write two different accounts of the same issue today. Sorry!)
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