We're back from vacation. Well, really we've been back for a week; but apparently life was eagerly awaiting our return and pounced on us like a giant puppy as we entered the front door.
We got back and had the kind of return where thirty things need your attention, and it's not the type of stuff that you can reprioritize 'til later. Things like clogged sinks that flood the kitchen, and a visit from your VP on your first day back, and a double work week to make up for your time off, and just when you think, 'Okay, I'm gonna make some time for the blog, and the wedding, and get some calls and emails done!', the computer BREAKS. Yes, that's right: when I realized that we'd gotten from Monday to Friday without even being able to look through the wedding magazine that Mo had brought me, I set aside the better part of eight hours on the weekend to just do wedding and P:P stuff. So naturally, when I woke up on Saturday morning, sent Brian off to work, had a quick shower, and returned to my computer, she was broken. All that she would do was give me a black screen with a Microsoft logo and a black progress bar, with a little green inchworm, indicating magical technological processes, crawling forever across the screen.
Mo came by in the afternoon for a derby meeting and I lamented by computer issues to one and all, and she took Bleeblo (my computer's name is Bleeblo, props to whoever knows where that comes from) to her house where her Jay started working on transferring the files onto a hard drive before attempting a hard drive wipe. It made me think of a doctor trying to salvage all the viable organs from a recently deceased person. I kept thinking of files and folders that I couldn't live without; for 24 hours, I had a weird form of Turret's where I would suddenly call out things like, "My portfolio!", "The cruise photos!", "My invoices!" regardless of what conversation I was in the middle of, or where I was in the world. I would get updates from Mo via text, saying that they needed reboot discs, or that they were picking up an external hard drive which would act as the cooler in which to store the harvested organs. I kept thinking we should go over to Mo and Jay's and...help...somehow, but then I realized it would just become four of us staring at the green inchworm screen, three of us with no knowledge of how to fix it.
Oh, and because Brian's desktop computer died a gruesome death a few months back, my Bleeblo is the only truly viable computer in the house; we have the loan of my brother's old laptop, but its cord had been chewed on by his dog, and Mike's patch job has finally let go, revealing sparking, smoking wires.
In essence, I spent the first five days home without a single moment to even update P:P's facebook status, and then spent the weekend without any possible way to do anything for the wedding that involves a computer, email, or blogs--which is everything.
The end result was kind of nice, though, I must admit. Because of the public profile of our wedding, I think we both feel a certain level of responsibility to be updating you all, answering emails with great speed, and staying 'on the ball' where other couples may routinely take a week off of planning. Instead, due to these life happenings, we had to let all the wedding stuff just sit for an extra week...and it was actually kind of nice! I did find time on the weekend to look through my wedding magazine, and Bri and I went on a date night, sharing a bucket of muscles at the Casino Lac Leamy. I spent almost all of Sunday with Mo and Jay, talking at mach speed with Mo and watching as Jay worked some sort of magic on my computer.
The weirdest part? As Bri and I were over there on Sunday, having brought the reboot disks over, Mo and I went in the other room to talk about something way too girly for the boys. We heard Jay calling us back into the living room, and he told us that apparently, Bleeblo had simply started working again. He'd taken out the hard drive, removed some dust, and put it back together, but that was all--no reboot, no virus fix, nothing. Bri went to work, but I stayed well into the evening while Jay did some updates on Bleeblo just to make sure those wouldn't cause an issue; this gave me more time to just hang out with Mo, and with Jay, who I see far less frequently. Mo drove me home, and as usual we found ourselves sitting and talking the car endlessly instead of rushing upstairs as I'd planned to, to begin working on all the blog and wedding tasks I could now do. But in the end, I had a really wonderful weekend, and while I am indeed stressing about wedding tasks, I wonder if this come-and-gone computer issue (and maybe even the sink flood, the VP visit, etc etc etc) was the 'greater power's' way of slowing us down a little.
We're getting back into the swing of things now, so expect some good blog updates soon, including a tidy list of what we're still trying to put together for the big day, and the long-awaited offer that one of our donors is offering to all of you. In the meantime, consider the possibility of turning off your computer tonight, and making time for tasks or people that you haven't been able to prioritize lately. The wedding plans can wait--it's just one day's celebration. The relationship is now, and I'm so glad we had the week to focus on it.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Ring awesomeness, travels, and other tidbits
I keep making notes about what I want to blog about, and losing them. So here is my hodgepodge of half-remembered thoughts, before Brian and I are away for 8 long days...
Well, first off, my ring is getting fixed. Or is actually done getting fixed, but not back on my finger yet. The jeweler who created my ring has not participated in Project: Priceless to date, but regardless, I have to give a little shout-out here: Gemvara (http://www.gemvara.com) is amazing. I have been so impressed by their service, and their jewelry. First off, my ring is beautiful. Gemvara specializes in customizing their jewelry; so you choose a setting, and can change the stones in a variety of ways, right on the computer screen, until you figure out exactly what you want. My ring, therefor, has two little diamonds in it, and nine little green tourmaline. Well as some of you know, one of my tourmalines fell out and disappeared about two weeks ago, and I was panicked. I figured it would be a pretty tricky thing to try to replace, one very specific size and shade of tourmaline in my ring, with its unusual setting style. Luckily, I found the info sheet that had come with my ring, and realized there is a year warranty on my ring. I called their helpline, and a very friendly woman listened to miserable me, reassured me that my ring was under warranty, and promptly sent me a FedEx thingy so I could send it in the mail the next day.
Barely a day later, I got an email from Gemvara, saying they had my ring and were working on it, and they gave me a date they would send it back to me. I couldn't believe they'd already received it and was thrilled! I noted, however, that the day they would ship back was a day that we would be away (more on this later), so I wrote and asked if they could possibly hold the ring until I got back. Magdalen at Gemvara wrote back and said they'd do me one better: they'd send it back to me before my trip--even noting that she realized I was probably eager to show the ring off on our trip...which of course I was!
If this wasn't cool enough, I ended up writing back to her about a day later and just asking for a quote on resizing the ring. It's a little big, and while I'd rather have a ring slightly large than slightly tight (personal preference), we've discussed getting it resized to a 1/4 size smaller. Well, Gemvara wrote back and said that they would happily do that, that the purchase of the ring gave me one free resizing, and that they would still get it back to me the day before I left! I was amazed and delighted, and we put the resizing request in. Now, unfortunately, Boston got smashed with a snow storm, so FedEx shut down for the duration and refused to ship any packages my way...but even then, Gemvara's Magdalen wrote to me and explained the situation with deep apologies. Hey, I live in Ontario--I know about snow. To my utter relief, Gemvara remembered that I would be away and offered to hold off on shipping the ring 'til my return date. I won't have my ring for my trip, but I don't even mind, and I'll still be bragging on this jeweler the whole time. Anyway, all this to say, I have been super impressed with Gemvara's customer service annnnd the beautiful jewelry, and I think it really says something when a girl is happy with her ring even when it's not on her finger, but miles away. Seriously and truly, as a consumer doing a project involving social media and word-of-mouth, I gotta say, I would recommend Gemvara to you all.
This seems like another good opportunity to remind people to check out our ring project for Brian, up in the 'special projects' tab at the top of the page. We're starting to get contributions of gold, and the next step will be finding a jeweler, so recommendations are welcome!
So we're heading out tomorrow morning for 8 days...my parents' early wedding gift to us begins tomorrow. For those who don't know the story, Brian and I booked a cruise last February for this January, and four days after putting money down, one of my jobs was downsized drastically to one shift a month. With the shifts went all our spare 'play money'. We fought tooth and nail to save up for the cruise regardless, and just weren't making it. So my parents, amazingly, gave us a really incredible wedding present: they paid for the balance on the cruise so we could still go. (They're also going, so really, they get our charming company for a week straight...so it's a win-win.) This trip is wrought with stretch-and-grow experiences, something that I have been trying for the last two years to do a lot more. Mo stopped by tonight to pick up keys for our apartment and the three of us ended up sitting and discussing the scientific evidence on whether or not women on their cycle are more likely to be eaten by sharks, and whether a brightly-coloured bathing suit would deter sharks. (I have a shark phobia, and we are going to snorkel off a barrier reef. SIGH.) We are seriously looking forward to the break; winter sucks, we are both overworked, and I haven't been warm since September. While we're gone, Super Mo is going to be watching out for our wedding project, my chum Mich is watching Darcy, and my derbymate Loco is coaching my derby girls. All is in good hands, so all there's left to worry about is sharks...and plane rides...and 8-legged bugs in the rainforest....oh, my.
And I even need a break from the wedding, quite honestly. It's hard work, and there've been some frustrations lately, all normal but still frustrating to hair-pulling levels. A woman called me 'bridezilla' the other day because I said that while I didn't require the wedding party to wear anything fancy, I did want them to be coordinated with each other. For the twelfth time: just because we're doing this wedding in a crazy, hodgepodge way, doesn't mean that we don't want some semblance of order. I had to laugh, because from anything I've read or seen, bridezillas don't freak out if the groomsmen don't match: they freak out if one single groomsmen has a crooked lapel.
Another reason to look forward to our trip: our Lululemon bags. Lulu Westboro gave us our bags early (you recall, they are donating two pieces of 'luggage' for our honeymoon), and we got permission to start using them now. So Brian has his much-loved Lulu backpack, and I have a bag that I want to be buried with. It is called a flight bag I think? and is grey and black furry, and HUGE and just amazing. I can't wait to carry it through the airport. With today's rather intimate security screening, it may be the only bright spot of the airport experience: showing off my bag. Lulu Westboro, thank you again! We love you.
We do have some offers to update you on, but we're waiting on a couple things, and I'd rather give you a nice list all at once. So patience! And as soon as we get back, we will be refreshed and ready and will fill you in. I may, who knows, sneak in an entry while we're away...but this is good time for me and Bri. We're going to have some real alone time, and get to just enjoy each other. We're planning to talk about our vows, and what we want to say at the ceremony, which is just fun stuff. And I'm attempting to only bring one wedding book on the trip--a new one I just picked up that is mostly wedding trivia, bits of history about the traditions, etc, and mostly useless for planning. When we get back, we begin meeting with officiants, bakers, photographers, and much more...so we'll have lots to talk about, and lots of balls will really start rolling. Which is good, because my wedding website countdown is excitedly reminding me how we're going to be down to just 7 months left when Bri and I get back.
Now, I'm going to go stand outside in the snow for a minute, breathe deeply of the clean cold air, taste the snow on the breeze, and let the chill get into my coat. Because a few days into our trip, when we are sweating like an old cheese in the sun, and I have the urge to complain about being too hot, I want to remember this frigid, horrible climate and...bite my fool tongue.
Stay warm, and stay tuned.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Random Post: Why I Love Brian
Just some random thoughts as I wake up:
I love Brian because yesterday when he got up, he checked facebook on the computer and I heard him say, "Oh nooo!" in the most heartfelt, sorrowful way. I called, "What's happened, honey?" He said, "Murphy died!" I realized he'd seen Mo's status about her in-laws' dog having died. We have never met this dog, nor have we yet met Mo's in-laws, so I was confused and wanted to clarify: "Who's Murphy, honey?" "Murphy is Mo's in-laws' dog," he said. "Okay, I thought so; but you didn't know that dog, honey," I said, worried that he was confused and thought that perhaps one of Mo's family dogs had died, and we'd met them. "No, I know," he said, "It's just sad." My heart swelled up with love for a person who can be so moved by a loss so personally removed from him.
I love Brian because he's so excited about this wedding. We were discussing tasks that need to be done the soonest, and the invites came up. Bri's mom is making them (an amazing feat, one that I think she's certifiably insane for attempting, but am eternally grateful), and she asked for some guidance on the look and feel. I've recently found myself struggling with envisioning the feel of the whole wedding, so I was surprised and happy when Bri piped in and said he wanted to do plan the invites with his mom. I was a little surprised, at first, as he's not really a detail person...but our recent Christmas crafting experience stands as evidence that he has a fantastic artistic eye. I asked him if he was sure he wanted this job, and he was adamant. I remembered that about a year prior, at a card-making day at his mom's, he had participated and had, in fact, made a joke wedding invite for us, which I still have tucked away somewhere. I chuckled now at his insistence, and said I wasn't arguing, and he was welcome to do it. Of course, when he called his mom he was all cool about it, perhaps feeling a little silly for wanting to do a task that is a very traditional bride's task; but I love it, and I love Brian for wanting to be a part of even the little details of the wedding.
I love Brian because he looks out for me in the most unusual ways. I have issues with my shoulder muscles, and after many tries at therapeutic massage, my orthokinesiologist said that I was causing the damage by sleeping with my hands behind my head (lounge-on-the-beach position) and that I had to stop; sure enough, when I do manage not to sleep like that, my shoulders hurt much less--but try telling yourself not to sleep a certain way! Anyway, many months ago I told Brian about this, and had half-jokingly told him that if he ever saw me sleeping with my hands over my head, he should get me to put them back down. Well, in the wee hours of the morning last week, I felt Brian shift beside me, and felt a firm yet gentle hand guide my elbows down to my sides: I hadn't even realized it, but I had been sleeping in the 'beach' position. If I hadn't been sleeping lightly, I never would have noticed Bri guiding my arms to my sides, but without even waking, he did so. And I realized how much less my shoulders have been hurting, and that Bri is doing this all the time, in his sleep. I love that he does little things for me, even when he's asleep.
I love Brian because he wanted an engagement ring, too. He's been hinting at it pretty strongly for a while now, and, unable to provide him with something that wasn't silver (he reacts to silver), I told him it may have to wait a while. On the weekend we were passing through the mall and stopped at the jewelry counter at the Bay; there was a display of marked-down items from Christmas, including some stainless steel men's rings. Intrigued, I picked a couple up and thought they were really quite nice. I handed Bri a few to try on, and one fit perfectly. And then, the hinting began. Oh, such hinting, full of all the subtlety of a marching band! I mean, I know that Brian is learning from me, Jordan, Queen of the Stage Whisper, subtle as sequins, but short of clutching it to his chest and begging "pleeeeeeease!" he could not have been more obvious. The price tag on the ring said $10.00, and there was no way I wasn't getting him this ring. I went to the counter and bought it while he wandered down the counter pretending to give me some privacy for the transaction; I tucked it in my purse, and we didn't speak about it again 'til dinner. We'd stopped at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant (Mrs Le's) to pick up a single order of fried rice (a delicious special treat--mmmm, don't even get me started), and as we sat at a table sipping icewater, surrounded by enough awesome Asian kitsch to fill twenty restaurants, I said some sweet things for Bri's ears only, and slid the ring onto his finger. He smiled and teared up, and has refused to be parted with the ring ever since. I just keep hoping his skin won't react with the ring, as it appears that everything non-precious causes issues; and I can envision the battle we'd have to go through if I had to tell him to take it off because of a reaction. I'm soooo hopeful that we'll have a good response to the gold-gathering project (see 'Special Projects' tab at the top of the page), so that I can give Brian a beautiful ring he can cherish forever. I love Brian because he's so excited about marrying me, he wanted a ring to show the world.
That's it, really. I have some stuff to blog about relating to the wedding, but this entry right here is what it's really all about. So I'll sign off here.
I love Brian because yesterday when he got up, he checked facebook on the computer and I heard him say, "Oh nooo!" in the most heartfelt, sorrowful way. I called, "What's happened, honey?" He said, "Murphy died!" I realized he'd seen Mo's status about her in-laws' dog having died. We have never met this dog, nor have we yet met Mo's in-laws, so I was confused and wanted to clarify: "Who's Murphy, honey?" "Murphy is Mo's in-laws' dog," he said. "Okay, I thought so; but you didn't know that dog, honey," I said, worried that he was confused and thought that perhaps one of Mo's family dogs had died, and we'd met them. "No, I know," he said, "It's just sad." My heart swelled up with love for a person who can be so moved by a loss so personally removed from him.
I love Brian because he's so excited about this wedding. We were discussing tasks that need to be done the soonest, and the invites came up. Bri's mom is making them (an amazing feat, one that I think she's certifiably insane for attempting, but am eternally grateful), and she asked for some guidance on the look and feel. I've recently found myself struggling with envisioning the feel of the whole wedding, so I was surprised and happy when Bri piped in and said he wanted to do plan the invites with his mom. I was a little surprised, at first, as he's not really a detail person...but our recent Christmas crafting experience stands as evidence that he has a fantastic artistic eye. I asked him if he was sure he wanted this job, and he was adamant. I remembered that about a year prior, at a card-making day at his mom's, he had participated and had, in fact, made a joke wedding invite for us, which I still have tucked away somewhere. I chuckled now at his insistence, and said I wasn't arguing, and he was welcome to do it. Of course, when he called his mom he was all cool about it, perhaps feeling a little silly for wanting to do a task that is a very traditional bride's task; but I love it, and I love Brian for wanting to be a part of even the little details of the wedding.
I love Brian because he looks out for me in the most unusual ways. I have issues with my shoulder muscles, and after many tries at therapeutic massage, my orthokinesiologist said that I was causing the damage by sleeping with my hands behind my head (lounge-on-the-beach position) and that I had to stop; sure enough, when I do manage not to sleep like that, my shoulders hurt much less--but try telling yourself not to sleep a certain way! Anyway, many months ago I told Brian about this, and had half-jokingly told him that if he ever saw me sleeping with my hands over my head, he should get me to put them back down. Well, in the wee hours of the morning last week, I felt Brian shift beside me, and felt a firm yet gentle hand guide my elbows down to my sides: I hadn't even realized it, but I had been sleeping in the 'beach' position. If I hadn't been sleeping lightly, I never would have noticed Bri guiding my arms to my sides, but without even waking, he did so. And I realized how much less my shoulders have been hurting, and that Bri is doing this all the time, in his sleep. I love that he does little things for me, even when he's asleep.
I love Brian because he wanted an engagement ring, too. He's been hinting at it pretty strongly for a while now, and, unable to provide him with something that wasn't silver (he reacts to silver), I told him it may have to wait a while. On the weekend we were passing through the mall and stopped at the jewelry counter at the Bay; there was a display of marked-down items from Christmas, including some stainless steel men's rings. Intrigued, I picked a couple up and thought they were really quite nice. I handed Bri a few to try on, and one fit perfectly. And then, the hinting began. Oh, such hinting, full of all the subtlety of a marching band! I mean, I know that Brian is learning from me, Jordan, Queen of the Stage Whisper, subtle as sequins, but short of clutching it to his chest and begging "pleeeeeeease!" he could not have been more obvious. The price tag on the ring said $10.00, and there was no way I wasn't getting him this ring. I went to the counter and bought it while he wandered down the counter pretending to give me some privacy for the transaction; I tucked it in my purse, and we didn't speak about it again 'til dinner. We'd stopped at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant (Mrs Le's) to pick up a single order of fried rice (a delicious special treat--mmmm, don't even get me started), and as we sat at a table sipping icewater, surrounded by enough awesome Asian kitsch to fill twenty restaurants, I said some sweet things for Bri's ears only, and slid the ring onto his finger. He smiled and teared up, and has refused to be parted with the ring ever since. I just keep hoping his skin won't react with the ring, as it appears that everything non-precious causes issues; and I can envision the battle we'd have to go through if I had to tell him to take it off because of a reaction. I'm soooo hopeful that we'll have a good response to the gold-gathering project (see 'Special Projects' tab at the top of the page), so that I can give Brian a beautiful ring he can cherish forever. I love Brian because he's so excited about marrying me, he wanted a ring to show the world.
That's it, really. I have some stuff to blog about relating to the wedding, but this entry right here is what it's really all about. So I'll sign off here.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Holiday bedlam, dress decisions, and a resolution or two
Welcome to 2011, lovely people. We started off the new year under a cascade of balloons and streamers on the floor of the Casino Lac Leamy in Hull (just a few minutes from home), where we spent the evening with my parents, losing and then winning back our $20.00. We went to bed way past our usual bedtime, and woke up around 11 in the afternoon with sleep headaches. And about twenty minutes later, I realized that one of the green tourmalines in my engagement ring was missing.
We searched everywhere, to no avail. The stones are very very tiny, so it's not really surprising...but superstitious Irishwoman that I am, I went into a bit of a spin about the whole thing. I'll be calling the jeweler today to see what can be done, but if anyone has any suggestions, email us please!
Other than the missing gem, I can honestly say the holidays were damn near flawless. In fact, when I realized the stone was missing, that was my first thought: well, that's the only bad thing I can remember happening all season! Last Christmas involved illness, drama, and chaos on a supreme level, so I am incredibly grateful, to both the people and the powers that be, that this year went so nicely. Mo spoiled me with overly generous gifts: she actually did some CSI investigating and figured out where we'd filled out our practice gift registry that I blogged about, and bought me all the green kitchen accessories that I'd been loving. My parents, despite saying that we wouldn't exchange gifts this year because of the upcoming family trip, spoiled Brian with tools and me with all sorts of goodies. Both sides of the family got Brian socks, so we had a ceremonial sock burning on Christmas morning and burned Bri's old socks. They actually sat there, untouched by the flames, for so long, that I remarked we may really need to find a young priest and an old priest and do this exorcism right; just as I said that, they quite literally burst into flame. It was awesome. We spent Christmas eve and dinner with Bri's family, and were lavished with prezzies there as well, and even got some money, which we spent on a couple squash racquets to play squash at the gym.
All our handmade gifts went over really well, too. I was very much impressed with Brian's meticulous crafting, and was amazed by the beautiful things he created out of paper and glue and wood. My own creations were lovely, too, if I do say so myself...but I'm frankly hoping that Bri makes me something soon, because it was hard to give his handiwork away. (Always a sign of a good gift: if you don't want to give it up.)
And a special Christmas gift was delivered to me, by my friend and derbymate Sandi's in-laws: the green wedding dress was brought up from Windsor for me to try. Sandi and family, thank you again for doing this. It took all the pressure off of trying it on, because there was no shipping to worry about, no fears of damage in transit, etc. Well, I put it on and I had to admit, it is a beautiful dress, but Mo and I agreed it wasn't the right 'vibe' for the wedding. I packed it away for a day or so, then tried it on again with my mom. She loved it, of course, as it's a beautiful dress; in fact, even my dad, who usually only likes traditional things, really loved it. I stood in front of the mirror for what seemed to be forever, staring at it, and then realized I ought to take it off...and that's when a little voice spoke up inside of me, clear as day, and said, 'I WANT IT'. I couldn't bring myself to let this dress go back to Windsor. We'd already acknowledged that I've got a split personality in terms of taste, style, and tone, and that the wedding would have to reflect that...so on the one hand, we have the white dress, playful and short and retro and cute--and on the other hand, we have this green beaded, gem-covered, sparkly shining elegant dramatic ballgown. Well, sister, we're just gonna have to fit both in. I am now 99% sure we will be putting me in the green one for the ceremony--a more serious, 'weighty' part of the day, deserving of a dress that speaks to the vibe--and the white one for the reception. I like that, while most brides may change into a coloured dress for the second half of their day, I will be changing into the white dress at that point. And I will, of course, be wearing my riding boots through both the ceremony and reception, then changing into my hand-painted Figgie shoes for the dancing.
The green of the dress is entirely different from the green of the wedding, and all plans for wardrobe colours for the bride and groom attendants have to be changed, as well as the colours in my bouquet, etc etc etc...but even as Mo and I talked about these details, I just felt like, it'll all work out. I felt more confidence in this fact than I have in any other aspect of the wedding. So. Two dresses it is. To my utter delight, and to my complete shock. (Have I said THANK YOU to Shannon for the white dress, and It's Your Day bridal for the green yet? THANK YOU!!! This is more than I could ever have dreamed of. I get to feel like a pixie and a queen all in the same day. I wish I could hug you all right now!) If you haven't seen the dresses, go to the 'No Brian Zone' at the top of the page and take a look.
Oh, we received another wonderful Christmas gift, as well: the timely arrival of a giant box of CheeCha puffs to try, which arrived on Christmas eve and has kept us crunching away ever since. CheeCha, if you recall, has offered (and we've accepted!) a supply of CheeCha puffs to feed our wedding guests on the big day. We were excited by the fun nature of the offer, but we hadn't got to taste them; so Tracey at CheeCha sent us an enormous box of them. It was funny, as I had forgotten that she was shipping them to us, and when we got a notice on our door that there was a delivery left for us at the post office, I had no idea what it might be. We went to pick it up and found ourselves standing in a never-ending line at the post office on Christmas Eve. I loudly and incessantly whined to Brian the whole time about how stupid we were to get ourselves stuck in a line at the post office on Christmas eve, and he just murmured reassurances and looked around apologetically. When it was finally our turn, the postal worker brought the box out and put it on the counter; for all its size, it seemed to weigh nothing. The woman remarked that there must be a lot of packing peanuts, and I said (in an ever-increasing volume), "No, it's not packing peanuts, I KNOW WHAT THIS IS!!!" And then, no lie, jumped up and down and turned to the people in line and grinned. Someone said, "Have a Merry Christmas," as we walked away and I called back, "Oh, I WILL!"
They were worth all the excitement, let me tell you. Brian loves them, and I can eat them without any difficulties, given that I usually can't eat much in the way of chips or snacky food because the fat and grease content just kills me. They are truly delicious, and much to our excitement, it turns out they ARE available in Ottawa, at Bulk Barn locations, online, some Shopper's Drug Marts, Metro stores, Fortino's and effective Feb 1st Sobeys locations. Wooooohooo!
We searched everywhere, to no avail. The stones are very very tiny, so it's not really surprising...but superstitious Irishwoman that I am, I went into a bit of a spin about the whole thing. I'll be calling the jeweler today to see what can be done, but if anyone has any suggestions, email us please!
Other than the missing gem, I can honestly say the holidays were damn near flawless. In fact, when I realized the stone was missing, that was my first thought: well, that's the only bad thing I can remember happening all season! Last Christmas involved illness, drama, and chaos on a supreme level, so I am incredibly grateful, to both the people and the powers that be, that this year went so nicely. Mo spoiled me with overly generous gifts: she actually did some CSI investigating and figured out where we'd filled out our practice gift registry that I blogged about, and bought me all the green kitchen accessories that I'd been loving. My parents, despite saying that we wouldn't exchange gifts this year because of the upcoming family trip, spoiled Brian with tools and me with all sorts of goodies. Both sides of the family got Brian socks, so we had a ceremonial sock burning on Christmas morning and burned Bri's old socks. They actually sat there, untouched by the flames, for so long, that I remarked we may really need to find a young priest and an old priest and do this exorcism right; just as I said that, they quite literally burst into flame. It was awesome. We spent Christmas eve and dinner with Bri's family, and were lavished with prezzies there as well, and even got some money, which we spent on a couple squash racquets to play squash at the gym.
All our handmade gifts went over really well, too. I was very much impressed with Brian's meticulous crafting, and was amazed by the beautiful things he created out of paper and glue and wood. My own creations were lovely, too, if I do say so myself...but I'm frankly hoping that Bri makes me something soon, because it was hard to give his handiwork away. (Always a sign of a good gift: if you don't want to give it up.)
And a special Christmas gift was delivered to me, by my friend and derbymate Sandi's in-laws: the green wedding dress was brought up from Windsor for me to try. Sandi and family, thank you again for doing this. It took all the pressure off of trying it on, because there was no shipping to worry about, no fears of damage in transit, etc. Well, I put it on and I had to admit, it is a beautiful dress, but Mo and I agreed it wasn't the right 'vibe' for the wedding. I packed it away for a day or so, then tried it on again with my mom. She loved it, of course, as it's a beautiful dress; in fact, even my dad, who usually only likes traditional things, really loved it. I stood in front of the mirror for what seemed to be forever, staring at it, and then realized I ought to take it off...and that's when a little voice spoke up inside of me, clear as day, and said, 'I WANT IT'. I couldn't bring myself to let this dress go back to Windsor. We'd already acknowledged that I've got a split personality in terms of taste, style, and tone, and that the wedding would have to reflect that...so on the one hand, we have the white dress, playful and short and retro and cute--and on the other hand, we have this green beaded, gem-covered, sparkly shining elegant dramatic ballgown. Well, sister, we're just gonna have to fit both in. I am now 99% sure we will be putting me in the green one for the ceremony--a more serious, 'weighty' part of the day, deserving of a dress that speaks to the vibe--and the white one for the reception. I like that, while most brides may change into a coloured dress for the second half of their day, I will be changing into the white dress at that point. And I will, of course, be wearing my riding boots through both the ceremony and reception, then changing into my hand-painted Figgie shoes for the dancing.
The green of the dress is entirely different from the green of the wedding, and all plans for wardrobe colours for the bride and groom attendants have to be changed, as well as the colours in my bouquet, etc etc etc...but even as Mo and I talked about these details, I just felt like, it'll all work out. I felt more confidence in this fact than I have in any other aspect of the wedding. So. Two dresses it is. To my utter delight, and to my complete shock. (Have I said THANK YOU to Shannon for the white dress, and It's Your Day bridal for the green yet? THANK YOU!!! This is more than I could ever have dreamed of. I get to feel like a pixie and a queen all in the same day. I wish I could hug you all right now!) If you haven't seen the dresses, go to the 'No Brian Zone' at the top of the page and take a look.
Oh, we received another wonderful Christmas gift, as well: the timely arrival of a giant box of CheeCha puffs to try, which arrived on Christmas eve and has kept us crunching away ever since. CheeCha, if you recall, has offered (and we've accepted!) a supply of CheeCha puffs to feed our wedding guests on the big day. We were excited by the fun nature of the offer, but we hadn't got to taste them; so Tracey at CheeCha sent us an enormous box of them. It was funny, as I had forgotten that she was shipping them to us, and when we got a notice on our door that there was a delivery left for us at the post office, I had no idea what it might be. We went to pick it up and found ourselves standing in a never-ending line at the post office on Christmas Eve. I loudly and incessantly whined to Brian the whole time about how stupid we were to get ourselves stuck in a line at the post office on Christmas eve, and he just murmured reassurances and looked around apologetically. When it was finally our turn, the postal worker brought the box out and put it on the counter; for all its size, it seemed to weigh nothing. The woman remarked that there must be a lot of packing peanuts, and I said (in an ever-increasing volume), "No, it's not packing peanuts, I KNOW WHAT THIS IS!!!" And then, no lie, jumped up and down and turned to the people in line and grinned. Someone said, "Have a Merry Christmas," as we walked away and I called back, "Oh, I WILL!"
They were worth all the excitement, let me tell you. Brian loves them, and I can eat them without any difficulties, given that I usually can't eat much in the way of chips or snacky food because the fat and grease content just kills me. They are truly delicious, and much to our excitement, it turns out they ARE available in Ottawa, at Bulk Barn locations, online, some Shopper's Drug Marts, Metro stores, Fortino's and effective Feb 1st Sobeys locations. Wooooohooo!
We also finished choosing our wedding parties over the holidays, but this entry is getting long-winded, so I'll wrap up.
I know that this is early January, and it's the time for resolutions. No doubt, most blogs you follow will be full of writers committing to the world that they will eat better, work out more, and try harder to get a haircut that works. Bri and I didn't do resolutions, partially because we're always resolving to do something new, regardless of the time of year...and also because resolutions put a lot of pressure on people to do something, or be something, they haven't managed to do or be for the whole of the previous year. I would like to take a moment to encourage you to read my own ongoing resolutions, totally flexible and applicable at any time of year; see if you might like to incorporate one into your own resolutions, with perhaps some adaption to fit your own needs:
I resolve to:
-take myself less seriously
-shed negativity and negative people
-feel the fear, and do it anyway
-love the way I look as I am
-make time for the things that matter to the future
-make time to soak in the sweet things my partner does
-slow down a little, and speed up a little
-enjoy the ride
-love my future spouse as often, as much, and as genuinely, as I can.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Lets ring in the New Year with 10,000 hits
Happy new year everyone!
Thank you everyone for making our blog a huge success; we are now at over 10,000 hits in just under 3 months. The end of 2010 for us has been exciting: we got engaged, started to plan a wedding, and started Project: Priceless. We have met so many amazing people, and I have talked to so many people who randomly have come off the street to tell me they read about my story somewhere. Thank you all for your well wishes!
I wanted to make sure that we say a very big congratulations to all the newly engaged out there. I feel it is amazing that we get to share this amazing year with you all and we all get to have the same marriage year as one member of the royal family, its kinda a big deal :) So from Brian and Jordan from Project: Priceless, Congratulations and may your marriage last happily ever after.
Happy 2011, everyone!
Brian
Thank you everyone for making our blog a huge success; we are now at over 10,000 hits in just under 3 months. The end of 2010 for us has been exciting: we got engaged, started to plan a wedding, and started Project: Priceless. We have met so many amazing people, and I have talked to so many people who randomly have come off the street to tell me they read about my story somewhere. Thank you all for your well wishes!
I wanted to make sure that we say a very big congratulations to all the newly engaged out there. I feel it is amazing that we get to share this amazing year with you all and we all get to have the same marriage year as one member of the royal family, its kinda a big deal :) So from Brian and Jordan from Project: Priceless, Congratulations and may your marriage last happily ever after.
Happy 2011, everyone!
Brian
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