Moving Sale...

So, we're done. We're even up on Emilie's blog, if you'd like to see her take on it. I did NOT discover a passion for wedding planning. I discovered a passion for shopping for outfits. That is different. Wedding "planning" was virtually absent. Anyhoo...

We're moving!

Due to the fact that there will be very few (none?) wedding updates from now on, I encourage you to check out our non-wedding blog. I'm actually using it to keep track of recipes I like (because I am actually incapable of just doing a recipe as written) and things I've made. I'm hoping that Brian will jump in with descriptions of hikes and bikes we do (maybe with some of his patented incredibly detailed directions) so that (especially with the bikes) I have some chance of remembering where we went and how to do it again. Also, updates on the house repairs.

I have yielded to pressure

Yes, I have yielded and released the pictures to the public. That is you. In case you didn't get the email (or you spam filtered it or something) here is a link to the event on pictage. The prints are expensive. I'm planning on getting both (a) thank you cards with pictures and (b) some nice prints for various people. Also, eventually I'll have digital negatives so that if I decide I want prints of something in the future I can still get them.

AND if you don't feel like sifting through all 800 or so pictures, feel free to drop me an email and I will point you towards pictures that I think you should see like this one (remember when Brian said "I do" before I asked?) Or, if you are Bob, this one (showing my sentimental side). Or this one which just goes to show that the kids in the family will always be the kids. Unfortunately, I think the posed formals are the weakest of the batch. Except for the one of me and my sisters. And I'll point out that Brigid was saying, "I always look horrible in pictures, I hope I don't ruin all your pictures." (and I said that to Brian yesterday and he said I did a really good Brigid voice). Look at the picture and say it with me, "What is the problem?"

Finally, in case you've forgotten what we look like when we're not all decked out in our finery, I've included a picture of us hiking on the monday after our wedding.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Hah hah, made you look. No, seriously, our wedding pictures are up online. I'm sorting through them right now. There are 892 (holy crap!) of them. Some of them are very good but I'm not going to make everyone sort through that many. So yeah, there will be a short delay. And no, I can't put a link to a picture or anything because I am limited by the photo website. Y'all have to wait until I release them to the public.

But I'm totally excited. And yes, I am trying to build the suspense. I am mean.

Feeling crafty, acknowlegements, pictures and more

In case you were wondering, our wedding photographer, Emilie has a blog. I like to think that this allows me to estimate when our wedding pictures will be available. You see, she just posted pictures from a wedding on August 9th. That means we're getting close. In the meantime, my father-in-law would like you to know that he has posted his pictures here.

Oh, yeah, Brian has been having people come by and look at the house for the purposes of home improvement. And we're still married. And our house, she will be awesome. Do you think we could gut the in-law apartment ourselves and re-do the inside? How hard could it be?

AND...Disobeying all the blogging rules, (I don't need your stinkin' rules!) I will post multiple unrelated topics all in a mishmash together. The wedding inspired me to be all crafty. I am currently working on jewelry and fabric grocery bags (because the ones we have live in Brian's car and that is kind of not useful to me when I go to the store with my car). I will someday post pictures of my crafting adventures. In the meantime, I would like to point out that many of my wedding accessories were purchased from etsy.com. I plan to make proper acknowlegements to the artists/craftspersons (whatever you want to call them) when I have proper photos, but in the meantime, isn't this bumble bee wristlet awesome?

We did it!

(Thanks to Adam for the picture)

Come early! Let me kick your ass!*

In keeping with our relaxed wedding theme, we invite you to come join us on Saturday afternoon** (weather permitting) on the lawn of the Inn for a relaxed game of "Edith is the Bride and therefore she wins!"*** Yes, I know that we're supposed to be stressed out and doing all sorts of last minute stuff and you don't believe that we can pull off this relaxed thing but (1) there are more than enough people in my family who are willing and able to stress about details and (2) we would much rather be hanging out with you and playing a nice game of croquet (or Bocci). So anyway, if you are around (like, if you are staying at the Inn) or would like to show up early to play, we would be glad to have you. So far the weather looks good (crosses fingers) and it seems a shame to have such a nice lawn and not put it to good use.

* Not literally, although I think some of you would enjoy that.
** Afternoon meaning after lunch, I guess.
*** If no one else is there we will be playing, "Brian tries to figure out how to let Edith win without letting her know that he is letting her win because when he figures that out his marital bliss is pretty much guaranteed."

For the navigationally challenged

I'm going to recap some locations and directions for you now. We sent a card with your invitation describing how to get to the Snowvillage Inn from the Boston area, but you probably lost it already, and we didn't describe the location of the 1785 Inn (Friday night dinner) or Seth's house (Sunday cookout).

First, for context, here is a Google Map that has all of the locations, with recommended driving routes between them.

Friday Night

Friday night's dinner is at the 1785 Inn. They refuse to give an actual street location on their website, saying it is at the "scenic overlook", two miles north of downtown North Conway. If you are checking into the Snowvillage Inn first, then drive north on NH Route 153 to its end at the intersection of Route 16 in Conway. If you are travelling directly from Boston, then continue north on NH Route 16 all the way to Conway.

Regardless of where you're coming from, each of these routes meet at the intersection of Route 16, Route 153, and something called West Side Road. The official routing from this intersection to the 1785 Inn is to continue north on Route 16, driving through North Conway, until you reach the Inn. This is a good choice if you enjoy sitting in traffic while looking at outlets, motels, and tourist traps. If you are feeling adventurous and/or impatient, an alternative is to take West Side Road north from the aforementioned intersection (turn left from Route 16 North, or continue straight from Route 153). After about 6 miles, you'll reach a T intersection. You can turn right to go into North Conway, and then turn left onto Route 16/302. I think this will help to bypass some of the traffic. Your mileage my vary, as they say.

On the way back from the 1785 to the Snowvillage Inn, take Route 16 south towards Conway. There is a right turn at the intersection with Route 113, then an immediate left turn onto Route 153 South. Drive south on Route 153 to Brownfield Road in Eaton, at the town beach at the north edge of the lake. Drive one mile and turn right on Stewart Road. The Snowvillage Inn is a half mile up on the right.

Sunday

It is easy to get from the Snowvillage Inn to either the golf course or to Seth's house. From the Snowvillage Inn, head back to Eaton and Route 153 South. Drive south on Route 153 until you reach the intersection at Route 25, with the flashing traffic light. This is 10 miles from the corner of Brownfield Road.

From here, if you are going to Seth's house, continue straight across Route 25 onto Green Mountain Road. Drive 4.9 miles on Green Mountain Road. Just past the intersection with Elm Street (on the right, mile 4.8) is number 44 on the left, a white house with a big white barn. Park in the driveway, (we have proven it can fit something like 8 or 10 cars). If it is somehow full, presumably the street is OK at this time of year.

If you are going to golf, turn left at the flashing light onto Route 25 East/153 South. Drive one mile and turn right onto Route 153 south. Drive about a half mile and admire the tornado damage from July 24. Then drive approximately 8.5 miles to Province Lake Golf Club.

I haven't worked out the drive from the golf club to Seth's house, but several of us will have GPS systems and we should be able to follow each other.

No. We are not freaking out.

Well, I can say definitively that I'm not freaking out and Brian shows no outward signs of doing so. Since I've never actually known him to be able to HIDE his freaking out, I have to assume he is not doing so.

I'm kind of finding it funny how everybody assumes everything is a much bigger deal than we think it is (not that we don't think getting married isn't a big deal, we just doing appear to think that putting together a wedding has to be). Like, the woman at the Inn who is going to do my hair (yes, we are back to the hair. I never really got the hang of the rollers. Also, I'm lazy.) I got an email asking me for a picture so that she could figure out how long my hair is, if I had any pictures of styles I liked etc., etc. Also, could I please bring along any colors of makeup since she might use that along with what she has. I have a couple things to answer to that. (1) By "do my hair" I kind of mean, "make sure it doesn't do the annoying thing it has a habit of doing which is to be both frizzy and flat at the same time." (Seriously. How unfair is that? It's doing it RIGHT NOW.) Also, I am supposed to have multiple colors of makeup? Because I only have the one color. It matches my skin. It probably wouldn't match my skin if I ever got tan, but I don't because me and the sun, we have an agreement.

Which brings me to my final rambling thought. What happens to brides who get married in the middle of the day in strapless dresses? Do they put sunblock on? I would think that sunblock and wedding dress fabric would have some sort of chemical reaction. As it is, all I have to worry about is that my whiteness will blind my guests.

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!

(read your email)

Ahem

Invitations people (puts hands on hips and taps foot impatiently). I mean, for heaven's sake, there is a stamp and everything. All you have to do is check a box and drop it in the mail. Seriously, if you are THAT lazy, drop me an email with your menu choice. PLEASE.

P.S. Did you know that "Nag's head" is apparently a popular pub name?

More invitation clarifications

I was thinking this morning about the invitations that have come back and it occurred to me to clarify (some more). If it isn't clear from your invitation, if you have a significant other who you'd like to bring (even if they aren't explicitly mentioned) they are invited. This only applies to about three people, but I thought I'd mention it. Just write us a note on the reply card and indicate which two entrees you want. Now I'm going to nag. Send reply cards now. NOW. No procrastinating!

Party at Edith and Brian's House!

If anyone (else) was thinking of getting us an outdoor table and chairs for a wedding present (I can hear a couple people saying, "I wish I had thought of that" right now) it's too late. Thanks to Mike and Jayson for the excellent gift! Now everyone come over to our house for cocktails on the back "deck" (I'm working on that one. Maybe we'll build it out next summer.)

Invitations are out

They should arrive soon in the mail. Thanks to Kirsten for making them as fast as she possibly could even while suffering from pregnancy-brain. AND for mailing them out.

You will have a choice of entree for dinner. Because we are not all that organized and we are lazy and/or unable to make decisions, it will ask if you would like "fish," "beef," or "vegetarian". I know that is not very descriptive so I will attempt to elaborate. The fish is likely to be something like red snapper with mango coconut salsa (OK, so it probably will be exactly that, because that sounds good.) Beef means tenderloin (I think? I don't know. I'm not eating that) and vegetarian will probably be some sort of mushroom pasta thing (Porticini mushroom pouch?). Choose wisely.

Cake is good

As many of you know, my mother is a Celiac. One of the only wedding requests she made (well, besides you know, wanting me to HAVE a wedding) is that she wanted to have a cake she could eat. So began the great cake search of 2008. Well, I exaggerate. The cake search really consisted of my mom saying, "hey, there is this woman in Arlington who makes gluten-free cakes!" And me responding, "OK! lets go taste some cake!" Then my mom set everything up and on Tuesday Brian and my mother and I traipsed over to CeliaCakes (where I parked my car, Selma,* on a very dangerous seeming hill) and ate some cake. The summary: cake is good. Buttercream frosting is good. I like cake.

After that surpising revelation, I learned that choosing a wedding cake is not really about choosing cake flavors so much as choosing cake decoration. Honestly, I am happy when someone just plops a mangled slice down in front of me, so I hadn't really considered this, but in the end we settled on a design that I think I will like very much. It has what I consider to be the traditional wedding borders around the top and bottom of the layers (2) and some yellow and green scrollwork flowers on the sides. On top (to add some height) will be some fresh flowers (which I think come in some sort of handy dandy flower holder thingy). As for the cake flavors, well, I'm being careful not to reveal too much. I will only end by repeating, the cake, she will be yummy**.

* Selma and I are having a little bit of an argument right now. She seems determined to cost me money. Brian tried to appease her (or me) by telling me she was purring like a kitten, but then he added, "a very large, very angry kitten."

** Do not be fooled by the picture. There is no fondant involved. I can't guarantee that you won't witness me dragging Brian by the scruff of his neck to the altar, but I can't guarantee that you will either.

Sartorial adventures

The first thing Edith did to kickstart this whole wedding process was to buy a dress. Now with about 4 weeks to go, most of her obligations are complete (she says she has finished shopping, as of this morning), and most of my list remains to be done. So, yesterday was reserved for my wedding outfit shopping.

Together with my better judgment (also known as Adam and Seth), I took the afternoon off of work and headed into Cambridge, still trying to nail down my preferences on the car ride there. I initially thought I would just buy a new, fancy suit, something classy but slightly unusual, like Adam's linen suit that he wore to his wedding. But after further consideration, I wasn't sure I liked that idea. If Edith gets to wear a fancy dress to distinguish herself as the bride, I should wear something that marks me as her date. I thought about wearing a "HELLO my name is GROOM" tag with my suit, but since our first stop was Keezers, I started trying on tuxedoes, and decided this was the way to go. A suit is just... a suit. A tuxedo says "I just spent money to borrow someone's clothes for a special occasion." Except that I didn't do that, I actually purchased a new one -- the "finest quality tuxedo in the store", according to the owner. And it is nice, an Italian design with three buttons. I also purchased a vest and bow tie that should coordinate nicely with the bride's outfit (or so I hear).

Keezer's was a great place to shop. There have been some remarks from the peanut gallery about how "all the Harvard kids go there to get their cheap tuxes". There is a wide variety of pre-worn merchandise there, but they also have a large new tuxedo section. I couldn't find any item of clothing in the store that wasn't reasonably priced, and you know that I am cheap frugal. The owner was helpful with his suggestions, but also gave us time and space in order to try all the different combinations that we wanted to try. My better judgement says I looked good, and I bought a whole outfit (except shoes) for less than a sport jacket in a high-end department store.

Above, Adam and Seth confer about my choice of outfits.

Announcing: Edith and Brian's Photo Search

"Finally!" You say, "Some actual information."

Well, maybe not information, but participant interaction. Does anyone have any good digital photos of their adventures in New Hampshire? (Adamooo, I'm looking at YOU.) Or good picture of us? Or pictures of Brian making a fool of himself? (Note that I do NOT say me making a fool of myself. Because I am always dignified and beautiful and therefore I never am photographed with my mouth wide open or food all over my face. Also, I never break stuff because I'm totally coordinated and graceful all the time.) I would very much like them, if so. I'm not telling you why, you'll just have to, er, hrm, trust me.

P.S. AND I always smell like roses.

It's just a tiny, tiny bit of genetic material

There seems to be some confusion. I believe it is related to a little tiny missing bit of chromosome, a condition that afflicts about half the population. In order to avoid future problems, I think I should try to clear things up now.

My beloved, darling, ever-so-awesome, husband-to-be seems to be a little unclear on the meaning conveyed by repeated use of the phrase, "We need..." (as in, "We need a wedding website." or "We need new siding on the house.") Just to clarify, it does not mean, "We need to think about this problem for a long time." or "If I wait long enough, Edith will solve this problem for me." What it DOES mean is, "Edith has assigned this problem to me. I should figure out a way to solve it so that she stops repeating this phrase." I hope that this clarifies things and makes them easier going forward.

Defending my honor

I'm told that I have to make an appearance here in order to ensure that my good name is not tarnished, or something. Also, Edith is getting lonely in blogland. So here I am. With regards to the creation of this blog, for the record, I didn't know I was responsible for creating the blog. I thought I was only responsible for naming the blog. It's not that I'm lazy (I am), but there was a misunderstanding.

With that out of the way... speaking of croquet, the inn has a large grassy area that seems well-suited to the game. It does have a moderate slope, but anyone who has ever tried playing with the St. A's group on the Orwig Lawn in Providence will find it to be a weak challenge, at worst. Please review the 6-wicket American Tournament Rules prior to attending -- no wimpy "backyard rules" for us -- and come ready to play.

I was a girl before you knew me

Brian was surprised this morning to wake up and find that I have a set of hot rollers and I'm not afraid to use them (well, not very afraid. Ouch. I may have burned my finger.) That's not all. So far this wedding preparation process has taught him: (a) I like shopping (b) I really like shopping and (c) I am not afraid to wear pink. No, alright, I do wear pink on occasion anyway and I haven't actually bought anything pink, although I am pondering black and white polka dot shoes with pink accents for the rehearsal dinner. The point is, Brian is discovering a whole new "girly" side of me. I don't want to divulge my secrets (yet) so I'm not going to go into details, but I have a whole plan for my "rehearsal" dinner outfit. I'm very proud of my outfit.

But what will we do when you aren't getting married?

When we were visiting the Inn, we noticed a croquet set right at the door. So, croquet anyone?

Yeah, we invited her to the wedding.

If you don't believe in synchronicity, well, you should:

http://currentconductor.blogspot.com/2008/07/they-are-very-model-of-modern-married.html

The birth of wedding theatre

So I say to Brian, "Hey, do you think we need a wedding website?"

And he says, "um, ah...um...yeah, I think it would be good."

"What should we call it?" I say.

He pauses, then laughs. "Brian and Edith's wedding theatre dot com?"

I took him seriously, but he might have only been joking. I think the truth is that he wasn't sure whether he was joking or not. He knows better though. If he didn't want it out there, he shouldn't have said it in the first place.

Having got the naming out of the way, I left the rest up to him. He didn't do anything. I prodded him some more (it's like we're married already). He still didn't do anything. I was bored at work one day and blogger makes it really easy to set up a blog. I set up a blog. That's the whole story.

You see, when you've been engaged for two years and suddenly decide to throw a wedding in eight weeks, you just can't take yourself too seriously.