Long time, no post

I've been pretty bad about posting lately, I know. The PE exam was three weeks ago, so I really have no excuse for the past three weeks. The updates:

• My wedding dress has arrived and is at Sandra's! I'll call them this weekend to see if I can get in to try it on while I'm in Easton over Thanksgiving.
• After a trip to Sandra's with Carol, my mom, Lisette, and Little Luca, we picked out bridesmaids dresses.

(Check out that baby monkey hair!)

• Patrick got our website up and running, which is pretty exciting. Last night I edited his write-up about how we met and how we got engaged, so that's up on the site now. Stop by the site, read our stories, and don't forget to sign our guest book! The website is a work in progress - I imagine we'll be adding things to it as we get closer to W-day.
• I worked with Katy to get our Save the Dates designed, and then used Vistaprint to print up 100 postcards. We'll get our guest list nailed down while Pat and I are in Easton over Thanksgiving, and the cards will hopefully go out in the mail shortly after that. I'm very excited!
• We're meeting with our photographer over Thanksgiving weekend as well to get some more information from him, such as how many hours he thinks we'll need, and if we'll get a second photographer for that day. I'm looking forward to meeting him.
• As for my fantastic orange shoes, I finally bought some inserts, so they should fit me much better now. I'm still on the lookout for some comfortable (but cute!) dancin' shoes, so let me know if you see anything. I'm thinking flats or flip flops, and still hopefully in a bright color.
• You might notice that I've added a few things to the sidebar here on the blog -- a direct link to our website, links to our vendors (and "friend-ors" although Pat has forbidden me from using that term on our main website hahaha), as well as links to some of my friend's blogs. Katy and Matt's blog has a great account of their recent trip to Scotland, Lana has super cute pics of her girls, and Brooke has an awesome video of her husband, Jeff, taking a nap.

Let's see what else... In other, non-wedding-related news, Pat has decided on a research group with one of the most prestigious researchers in his field, Ted Belytschko, doing computational mechanics. Pat has a lot of hard work ahead of him for the next few years - this professor asks that his research group be in the office six days a week. Theoretically, by working his butt off for the short term (three to four years), he'll be back in the working world sooner. Other professors don't ask as much of their research team, but then their PhD students stay in school for five or six years. It's a trade-off, but it looks like it'll be for the best in the long run. Pat hasn't gotten started on research yet - his classes are keeping him plenty busy. I don't think I've ever seen Pat work this hard, but I get the feeling he's learning plenty and all in all is glad to be away from horrible ASI (his old job) and back at school.

On the moving-Claudia-to-Chicago front, I heard this week that we're expecting to get a big project started in the next few weeks. This project (based out of our Houston office) will keep me busy full-time for the next three to four months. The work for this project can be done anywhere (including the Chicago office), so it looks like I'll be able to move up there soon. My big hope is that I can move up there between Christmas and New Years, before Pat starts back with his classes. I am excited for us to be in the same city again!

That's about it from here... have a good weekend! :o)

Mid-September Update

Lots has been going on here... I found a dress!!! (email me for pics) It might look something like this...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22588108@N03/2759564404/

(haha, just kidding!)

In other news, I bought shoes!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XYVDQS

Not kidding about this one... they really are orange.

We have a photographer! http://www.michaelbranscom.com/ He's a friend of Steven R's :o) And speaking of Steven, his wife Adrienne will be making our invitations! http://madebyadrienne.com/ Stop by her site and send her some love! As for bridesmaid dresses, these have caught my eye recently. Maybe in a "warm" shade of green... I should order fabric samples. Next time I'm in Easton, I'm hoping to go back to Sandra's (where I got my dress), and take a look at what they have (they carry that line of dresses).

http://www.dessy.com/dresses/bridesmaid/6513/

I think that's all I have to report right now... There's plenty still on the agenda (ahem, find a DJ), but I think things are in good shape! Yay! :o)

Idea Board

Polyvore.com lets you create an idea collage... here's tonight's version!

The Golden Inn

Last weekend while we were up in NJ, we checked out The Golden Inn, where the reception will be. We met with Ron the wedding coordinator and Kathy who does wedding sales. Ron was all about "takin' care of business" and within less than an hour with him we had picked out linens, our menu, and he answered all our questions.

The cocktail hour will be outside on their deck next to the pool, which is right over the dunes from the beach. I'd like to get some color out there to liven things up a bit, and we had a thought to hang paper lanterns from the umbrellas, clustered around the center pole. (We could hang the lanterns from the supports that hold up the umbrella - although I need to clear that with Ron) Maybe some sort of super simple centerpieces too...?

Food... Ron had some recommendations for food, and this is what we decided on:

Apps: stuffed mushrooms, bruschetta, beef skewers, bacon wrapped scallops, and a fruit and cheese platter (I put in a special request for brie)

Dinner: "steak and cake" = steak and crab cakes. Everyone will get some steak and a crab cake (let me know if you don't like either, and we can get you a vegetarian meal). If you don't like one of the other, you'll have to trade with whoever is sitting next to you. We've already decided that Pat will get two steaks and I'll get two crab cakes! :o)

Drinks: We're going to have a keg of Yuengling (for you, Oliver). The bar will be closed during dinner, but we'll have wine service during dinner to make up for it.

Linens..... Ron took one look at my color/flower inspiration and decided on a seafoam green tablecloth, dark orange table runner, and peach colored napkins. I'm sold - I think it sounds great.

We saw the room where the reception will be - it's L-shaped. We'll have the sweetheart table, which will be in the outer corner of the L. The DJ and dance floor will be at the "top" of the L. They're going to be renovating the room this winter, so we're not sure yet how it'll look come May, but my dad said he remembered hearing that they might be putting in a window (to the hallway), which would be nice. Anyway, everything else at the Golden Inn is tasteful, and I'm sure their renovations to this room will be tasteful as well. (And if anyone wants to see something NOT tasteful, they can run up to Atlantic City between the ceremony and the reception. There should be enough time to drive up there, gamble for 45 minutes, and make it back in time for the cocktail hour. BONUS!)

Cake...... Ron asked if we had given any thought to what we want the cake to look like, but we really hadn't. He said we should get him a picture of what we'd like, and he'll see if the baker (which is included with our package) can make it.

Next time we're in Avalon, Ron told us to give us a heads up and he can set up a food tasting for us... yummm... you know I'm looking forward to that!!

Totally rethinking the wedding

After seeing this article, Patrick and I might need to totally rethink our wedding planning... http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/print.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=84&ArticleID=16944 Please scroll down and watch the slideshow on that link. It's worth it.

Maris Stella

We had a very nice weekend in Avalon this past weekend. We accomplished a bunch for the wedding, and I'll start with the church. Maris Stella Church is about one mile away from my parents' house, and about a mile and a half from the reception hall. We filled out some paperwork with the super friendly (ha. ha.) lady at the rectory, so things finally feel official. After meeting with the florist, we're going to have two big flower arrangements up at the altar. In that picture up above, that's my mom and I up on the right. Oh yeah, and I imagine the lights will be on during the ceremony (unlike the picture).

I'm not sure yet how to get pew decorations to work - let me know if you have any ideas. Of course, we can't use tape or glue or nails, so I think the ribbon is going to need to go around the whole seat back, and maybe pinned or velcroed in the back. Then we could attach a bow facing the aisle. Pat's arm is up against the seat back for scale. There are 23 pews.

Dress Appointment Made!

Alright, it's set -- I made an appointment yesterday to try on wedding dresses Saturday August 30 at 10am at Bridals by Sandra in Nazareth PA. http://www.bridalsbysandra.com/ I'll be up in Avalon this weekend doing some wedding planning... I'm sure I'll have a lot more to post after I get back! Plans include: - See the church - Meet with Becky "Paisley," my former boss who lives in Avalon and knows what's what - Look for a rehearsal dinner place (Stone Harbor Women's Civic Club? Whitebrier? Stone Harbor Yacht Club?) - Investigate mini ice cream cones at Springers - See the reception hall (and ask lots of questions!) - Meet florist? - Get DJ suggestions - Get sand from the beach for centerpieces - Get a little bit of a tan so that I'm not confused with the real "vision in white" at Haley's wedding... What else do I need to do, girls?