Hold on. Let me come out from beneath the pile of wedding magazines, to-do lists, bridal gowns and wedding details to say hello! Today was the first day in two weeks that has felt somewhat normal. Yesterday I went to Oak Ridge to do some planning with my Mama and boy was it good to start on the master to-do list, which grew to many, many pages. It's the beauty of a short engagement: you don't have much time to plan so you have to make quick decisions.
We did set a date: May 7th! Our plan is to have a very small wedding with family and close friends and then parties this summer in our respective hometowns along with a housewarming party in Charlotte and another one in NYC. It seems like it will work and really fits our personalities.
I should mention this... and open up the floor for discussion. Back in December when Andrew and I decided we were going to get married, one of my first thoughts was: I'm no longer going to be CCC!! Of course I cried a little and have been savoring every moment being CCC until I become a Day in May. My family has had a fun time thinking of all the names we should name our children, like Happy, Sunny, etc. :) I need to think of new names for the blog, and while I have one that I'll most likely use for after we get married, I'm open to suggestions and creative ideas.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Hopslam & wedding plans
Yesterday my fiance and I took a break from apartment/house shopping and stopped into Earth Fare to pick up beer for a double date we had last night. Right as we walked in Andrew ran into one of his good friends who told us to ask the guy at the cheese counter for a bottle of Hopslam. He told us in a quiet whisper to do this. Apparently it's a little hush-hush as this beer is in high demand and you basically have to know someone to get a bottle since very few were brewed. Now, please know that I am in no way a beer snob. I am marrying a beer snob, but I generally can't tell the difference between hops and malts and stouts and the like. However, when there's a secret beer to be had that no one else has, I'm on it!!
So, we walk up to the guy at the cheese counter and I ask in passing (in a quiet voice), "Do you have any bottles of Hopslam?" He responds with a quick "no". We then walk to the beer section and wouldn't you know that a minute later he comes over with two bottles of Hopslam. He tells us that they only got a case and if we want we can have two bottles. We then spend a good five minutes talking about the beer and leave the store with one in hand. While it was a good beer, I like the story better and knowing I'm one of the select few in America who enjoyed Hopslam.
I'm sure you really don't care about beer and might be wanting to know more wedding stuff. Truth be told, this wedding planning is quite the project! I think I've always dreamed about marriage more so than my wedding, which is why I'm glad I'm marrying Andrew who is great at planning events so we're doing most of this together. We're still trying to finalize things and the guest list is a bit tricky, but we're shooting for May 7th of this year! More details to follow! Happy Monday! :)
Monday, January 17, 2011
Surprise!
Well what you might not know is that I wasn't completely surprised when Andrew proposed. He had made reservations at a nice place for dinner, taken me to Starbucks and after refusing my suggestion to watch a movie for driving "aimlessly" around Charlotte until we got to a parking deck... I kinda had a clue. It was still wonderful, don't get me wrong.
This morning after reading Proverbs 31 (!) and a few John Piper articles on marriage, I went over to his house for pancakes and then we went to the Levine Museum of the New South, a coffee shop and made our way back to his neighborhood. At this point I was starving. There's a comic book store right next to Crisp, where we were going to have lunch. I have no interest in comic books and therefore I was completely uninterested and wondered why we had to spend so much time in this place when I was ready for lunch. So we finally go get in line at Crisp and I turn around to tell him something when I see him walking out the door and leaving. Gone. I was so confused. Then he comes and says that he has someone he wants me to meet. I walk with him and see my MOM, LUCY, GINNA, and JEFF in the parking lot!!!! And then comes ALLISON!!!! Ahh!! What a surprise!!
I had no clue! Everyone drove to Charlotte just for lunch and just so we could all be together. They all gave me the sweetest engagement bucket of bridal magazines, a 'D' mug and wall hook, and so many other wonderful things. It was truly one of the best surprises and it meant the world that they drove to come see us. THANK YOU!
I continue to feel quite loved by all the texts, tweets, fb posts and calls. I am hoping to respond to them all tomorrow. Thanks again for everything!!
This morning after reading Proverbs 31 (!) and a few John Piper articles on marriage, I went over to his house for pancakes and then we went to the Levine Museum of the New South, a coffee shop and made our way back to his neighborhood. At this point I was starving. There's a comic book store right next to Crisp, where we were going to have lunch. I have no interest in comic books and therefore I was completely uninterested and wondered why we had to spend so much time in this place when I was ready for lunch. So we finally go get in line at Crisp and I turn around to tell him something when I see him walking out the door and leaving. Gone. I was so confused. Then he comes and says that he has someone he wants me to meet. I walk with him and see my MOM, LUCY, GINNA, and JEFF in the parking lot!!!! And then comes ALLISON!!!! Ahh!! What a surprise!!
I had no clue! Everyone drove to Charlotte just for lunch and just so we could all be together. They all gave me the sweetest engagement bucket of bridal magazines, a 'D' mug and wall hook, and so many other wonderful things. It was truly one of the best surprises and it meant the world that they drove to come see us. THANK YOU!
I continue to feel quite loved by all the texts, tweets, fb posts and calls. I am hoping to respond to them all tomorrow. Thanks again for everything!!
Engaged: Me & Andrew!
Hooray! I'm getting married! We're getting married! I can't sleep and can hardly contain my excitement! (And I might use a lot of exclamation marks in this post... beware!!)
If there was ever a picture to show for tonight, it would be this one:
Andrew all calm and collected and me bouncing off the walls and trying to call everyone. Time got away from us and I was afraid to call people late into the evening, so I'll make round 2 phone calls tomorrow.
But, seriously, what a day! What a past few months! Our first date was September 24th and we went to Festival in the Park and then got Yoforia and talked for hours. One thing I mentioned on our first date was how much I missed rooftop parties and rooftop views of NYC. On our second date, a week later, we went to a gallery crawl, then to a fun place for dinner, Starbucks on East to get a pumpkin spice latte, and then... he took me to the top of the Target parking deck for the rooftop view of Charlotte. How thoughtful! We had 3 more dates after that before making it "official". Those first few dates were key, though, as he put a lot of time into each one. It really is the little things that mean the most to me.
So tonight we went to Providence Cafe for the first time... it was sooo good. Al, you would love it! Then we went to the same Starbucks to get coffee and afterwards, we went to the top of his parking deck at work, a place we'd been to before in the daytime, and that's where he got down on one knee, with the beautiful skyline in the background, and asked me to marry him. Yay!!
The ring is beautiful. We actually went looking for rings a few weeks ago. The ring itself is a bit unconventional, but we're starting to realize that we both are unconventional about a lot of things. It's a simple, small band of diamonds. When I was browsing through rings on Tiffany's, I came across this one and among all of the other huge diamonds, I would just tear up every time I saw it. It's beautiful, simple, sparkly and I can't stop looking at it.
Maybe I'll post more tomorrow. Thanks for your love and support!
photos taken by MK, Caitlin and Al, respectively.
Friday, January 14, 2011
That Ginna Girl
This weekend is Ginna's bridal shower in Oak Ridge! I am just too excited I can barely contain myself. Seriously, I'm ready to hit the road and let the festivities begin! My little sister is getting married!!!!
Ack! Look at Gin's funny face and Jeff's belly laugh!!! (photos by Lucy Goosey)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Golden
Margot, my little chickadee, has a birthday coming up. And it's not just any birthday, it's her golden birthday. She'll turn 5 years old on the 5th of February. Hooray!
I've been talking about it with her for quite some time and when I saw this cake, I knew it was meant to be.
I'm thinking I'll get a big balloon with the number 5 on it so it can be the "gold" at the end of the rainbow.
I can't wait for Margot's birthday this year!!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
My 2010 Christmas card
Well hello there! Happy New Year! I meant to do a lot of things in 2010, sending out Christmas cards being one of those things. Oh well. So here's my 2010 blog recap for you in lieu of a card. (for the record, I totally loved receiving cards, so thanks to those who sent them, especially the ones from the NYC girls... Pam, LA & Perr... too cute!)
I absolutely loved being in NC (when I finally lost the NYC homesickness around May), which meant that I had many frequent trips visiting friends and family. I enjoyed working on our house (inside and out), talking to Allison *almost* every day, expanding my cooking/baking recipe collection, and becoming more involved at my church. Overall it was a great year, and looking back, these following things are the first to come to mind:
proudest moment: when my friend Michelle became a vet. It was overwhelmingly special to be there and celebrate with her on this day, especially since I remember back when I first met her in the 7th grade (how old is that?! 13?!) when she said that one day she'll become a veterinarian. I am so, so proud of you, Malart!
happiest day: honestly, there have been so many, but the one single happiest day, where I could hardly contain my excitement and thought I'd burst with joy was one day this past summer. I had just gotten back from a wonderful trip to Maine with my friend Tammy. I said goodbye, drove to Huntington, Long Island and went to my favorite restaurant for dinner. Then I drove across the causeway to see my little boys. There's just something about Long Island, the house and those kids I raised that reminds me of a time in my life where I grew up and really learned who I was. Ah, I can still feel the excitement from that day.
biggest blessing: my Aunt Diane became my life coach this past fall and looking back I couldn't imagine life without her. She is insightful, very wise and helped me sort through career and life paths. We had a coaching session for an hour each week and her guidance, support and encouragement meant far to me than she'll ever know.
biggest surprise: Andrew was honestly the biggest and most wonderful surprise in 2010. Oh good gracious, he is amazing. I won't go on and on (although I could) about how incredible he is, but I definitely had given up on dating and relationships this past summer so when Andrew came along in early fall I was totally surprised. The Lord is good. He knows when to give good gifts and I have nothing but thanks for this relationship and the glory belongs to God.
*this is actually our first picture together, taken on Halloween :)
I absolutely loved being in NC (when I finally lost the NYC homesickness around May), which meant that I had many frequent trips visiting friends and family. I enjoyed working on our house (inside and out), talking to Allison *almost* every day, expanding my cooking/baking recipe collection, and becoming more involved at my church. Overall it was a great year, and looking back, these following things are the first to come to mind:
proudest moment: when my friend Michelle became a vet. It was overwhelmingly special to be there and celebrate with her on this day, especially since I remember back when I first met her in the 7th grade (how old is that?! 13?!) when she said that one day she'll become a veterinarian. I am so, so proud of you, Malart!
happiest day: honestly, there have been so many, but the one single happiest day, where I could hardly contain my excitement and thought I'd burst with joy was one day this past summer. I had just gotten back from a wonderful trip to Maine with my friend Tammy. I said goodbye, drove to Huntington, Long Island and went to my favorite restaurant for dinner. Then I drove across the causeway to see my little boys. There's just something about Long Island, the house and those kids I raised that reminds me of a time in my life where I grew up and really learned who I was. Ah, I can still feel the excitement from that day.
biggest blessing: my Aunt Diane became my life coach this past fall and looking back I couldn't imagine life without her. She is insightful, very wise and helped me sort through career and life paths. We had a coaching session for an hour each week and her guidance, support and encouragement meant far to me than she'll ever know.
biggest surprise: Andrew was honestly the biggest and most wonderful surprise in 2010. Oh good gracious, he is amazing. I won't go on and on (although I could) about how incredible he is, but I definitely had given up on dating and relationships this past summer so when Andrew came along in early fall I was totally surprised. The Lord is good. He knows when to give good gifts and I have nothing but thanks for this relationship and the glory belongs to God.
*this is actually our first picture together, taken on Halloween :)
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