63 Days to Go: a potpourri of happenings

With 63 days to go, I can honestly say our heads are spinning. Everything is speeding up now, which means we have a lot happening in short periods of time. Over the last 8-10 days, several adventures have taken place. I’ll attempt to bring you up to speed…

First off, Brian got his jacket. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited we are about this. We stopped into Harley on Brian’s birthday and played dress-up with all the jackets, and they put aside the one Brian liked best. Then, like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, Brian waited the interminable 72 hours ‘til we could go back and pick it up. But wait he did, and on the Wednesday after his birthday, we headed back over to Freedom Harley Davidson on Industrial Road, and got his jacket. We chatted with Harley Ottawa’s marketing guru, and met some of the staff, as well. I thanked them for making it possible for us to walk down that aisle, now that Brian would be dressed like the cowboy in shining leather I had so desperately hoped for. We met a sweetheart of a salty biker dude, who also gave us a generous donation towards completing our scavenging of plates and cutlery for the wedding. Brian put on his jacket, and I swear he stood six inches taller. He strutted over to a bike where we took his picture, and he insisted on wearing the jacket in the car (until the heat got him and he quietly took it off). We felt like the final major piece of our wedding puzzle had come together. We`re helping HD Ottawa out with their next fundraiser, offering volunteer time and/or graphic design work as a trade for the jacket. Harley, thanks for rockin' so hard, and way to go on your kick-butt fundraiser, Precious Metal (raising funds for the Ottawa Cancer Foundation). We'll be blogging about the next one, for sure.

Then…we hit a road bump. Turns out we can’t use the on-site fridges, stoves, ovens, or microwaves. Eeeeeesh. So now what? To avoid a smorgasbord of salmonella at 7pm that evening, we have to be able to store and prepare food at proper temperatures. I was calmed with promises that we would figure something out. Here we are, about a week later, and we’re still waiting to confirm a solution. It looks like my cousin Steve and my dad have figured out a potential roast that will be transported to the venue at a safe temperature, and fed immediately to our hungry guests. So we would simply have to ask guests to bring only cold dishes to accompany the roast, and to pack these on ice in appropriate coolers. Okay, so fingers crossed, this plan works out…because our only other option is to find a caterer that’s ready to feed 200 people in about 60 days. Stay tuned, I guess…

We started planning our wild Stag & Doe with Boston Pizza Orleans on July 12^th all evening. We’ll talk more about this later, but basically, BP Orleans is incredible and is hosting our ‘all-welcome’ (that means YOU) party. There’s no cover as at some Stag & Does; you can come, eat and drink, and then deposit your receipt in the provided bin…BP Orleans will donate 10% of each to us. We’ll also be having games and a silent auction. If you have something to donate towards the grand prize package or the silent auction, give us a shout! You can RSVP on facebook here. Invite everyone you know!

We had some downtime at Westfest, where, you’ll recall, we were on site in the VIP area for Bif Naked’s concert on Saturday night. Westfest is a local festival in our neighbourhood. It was our friend MJ’s birthday gift, and she had a total blast. Elaina Martin, mastermind behind Westfest, took MJ backstage and sat her on a stool where she listened in quiet rapture to Bif, only ten feet away. We texted her to run out and give Bif a hug, but MJ is a much more laid-back kind of gal, so she was quite content to sit just out of site, in perfect bliss. I said a hasty thank you to Elaina at the end of the evening, avoiding a longer, wordier show of gratitude for fear that I’d cry like a little girl. One of the greatest joys in life is bringing joys to others, and we are so grateful that Westfest treated us with such a lovely wedding present, where we were able to cross a really special moment off of our friend’s bucket list.

Little pieces are also starting to come together. I stopped by DavidsTea last week to find Brian holding out a shoebox for me: it was the borrowed cake cutting set that we were offered from a lovely woman named Kerry H. This set is so beautiful, styled like silver branches with leaves and gems, and is absolutely perfect for our big day. I find myself walking by the box and opening it just to peek at them again. I am not the biggest ‘small detail’ person when it comes to an event of this size, which is why it wasn’t a big deal for me if we didn’t have our own cutting set; but my oh my, when one of these small touches is right, it really adds to the feel.

Oh, and we received in the mail (just before the strike, phew!) a giant box containing about two dozen aisle markers and twenty-five table number cards. Angela Klassen of Imagine Events in Regina came through, despite almost no helpful direction from anti-bride moi, and created some gorgeous things. The table numbers are done in our colours, and the aisle markers are purple cones with leather tips and sprays of ostrich and peacock feathers. Again, this is really helping us to start visualizing the big day.

My wardrobe is nearing completion, as well. My cousin Stephanie sent me the incredible bag she made me for the day of. It’s a full-sized messenger bag (because we’re being honest here and we all know I feel compelled to carry that much stuff around with me), made of a kickass sparkly green vinyl that I bought years ago. I had attempted at one point to sew my own bag out of it, and had succeeded in maiming my sewing machine, creating a rat’s nest of black thread in the vinyl, and basically just ruining the whole thing. I’d held onto the mangled remains in the hopes that one day, someone could help me. Well, Steph managed to deconstruct what I’d started, begin anew, and make it into something really fantastic. I love my bag and it’s killing me not to use it right now!

I got my hair cut as well this week, and experienced what I think was a pretty typical bride moment. I asked Lori to style it after cutting as she plans to for the wedding. This isn’t as big a deal for me as it is for many women, as my hair is incredibly short; Lori’s plan is to allow my hair’s natural curl to happen, then to style it into more of a wavy ‘beach hair’ kind of bohemian mess. Problem is, when she began styling it, the curl was intense. I iron my hair every single day, so looking into the mirror and seeing my natural poodle pelt…it was terrifying. I felt my pulse quickening, and I was certain I hated it. Lori, amazing professional that she is, gently reassured me that there was a greater plan in motion; and by the end of her styling, I had an adorable coif that I couldn’t stop admiring all day. This was a good reminder that there are professionals for a reason: they know what they’re doing so I can just sit back and relax.

Speaking of pros who know what they’re doing: I also did some fabric shopping with Judy Ruggles, our seamstress, this past week. Our goal: to purchase fabric to make vests for the boys that will make them all look like Jude Law. I love fabric shopping because as unskilled as I am with any sewing that requires actual measurements or attention span, I adore the idea of fabric, and I make a lot of stuff for my home. When we arrived at the fabric store, we realized a major sale was going on; this was a bittersweet discovery, as it meant that the prices would be good but the store was in total chaos. We scouted around for the better part of an hour, looking for an acceptable orange for Brian’s vest, and I’m very, very hopeful that what we found will work out well. It took the two of us a good long think to decide on a lining colour that would complement the shade, but I’m glad we took the time because I think it’s going to look great. I appreciated Judy’s patience as I toted around a pair of the boys’ slacks, two ties, a motorcycle jacket, my wedding dress, and paint chips, and attempted to pair each fabric selection with the whole lot. In the end, the fabric cost us around well under $40.00, and Judy was sweet enough to pick up the tab for the pattern. With Judy’s fine work, we will have four lovely vests in a couple of weeks.

Brian and I both had some work done by Katerina Pek of OrthoKinetics this week, too. (I told you we were busy, didn’t I?) Katerina, as we’ve mentioned in an earlier ‘offers’ post, performs a unique form of multi-faceted therapy called orthokinesiology. It’s a combination of manual therapy, exercises, movement re-education, and pain management. I had been a client of Katerina’s at a younger age when I was struggling with some nasty back problems, but haven’t seen her for years. Brian has never had a professional touch his back or body in any sort of way (outside of rehabilitative physio, for various insane accidents involving martial arts, rugby, and probably skydiving into a shark pit, if you know Brian at all)…but he loved this experience. Katerina’s method involves very little rubbing or movement at all, and a lot of ‘unlearning’ of things, like how we engage our core.

We went in twice to Katerina this week; the first visit, I stripped down to my underthings and discovered, in my utter haste and complete distraction these days, that I had worn a bra that no one should ever see. Now, I feel comfortable enough to bring this up on the blog because I am certain that every woman in the world has one of these bras: a bra that you know is worn out beyond any decency, but that you haven’t managed to replace yet…a bra that is super comfy, and goes perfectly under that cute dress or tee shirt—but if you were ever, heavens forbid, in an accident, you are certain you would will yourself to remain conscious long enough to rip it from your body before the paramedics could see it and recoil in terror. Yes, that, lady friends, was the bra I wore to an appointment where I was guaranteed to be wearing little else. I spent the first half of the appointment attempting to cover it with my arms, until, given the nature of the treatment, that became an impediment and Katerina began to wonder if I had trouble unbending my elbows. I sighed, gave up the effort, and reassured myself that I couldn’t possibly be the first woman to commit such a silly error. I still don’t know for sure…but I actually went and bought a new bra, on sale, on my way to the second appointment, and it was worth every penny for the peace it brought me. Regardless, the treatments have been helpful for my messed-up ankle (long story) and Brian’s rockclimbing-related pains, and that’s wonderful, indeed.

Oh! We also got my ride confirmed. We finally met JP Walsh, local realtor, in person. JP is loaning us a 1969 Vista Cruiser in lemon yellow. I couldn't be more stoked. JP is a sweetheart and we chatted for a while when we went to see the car. I adore the car and it'll be perfect for jumping out of just before walking up the aisle.

And lastly, this morning your favourite almost-newlywed couple had an extra fifteen seconds of fame on television. We were interviewed on Rogers Daytime Ottawa about the wedding…six minutes of sweating, shaking, and stagefright. (Watch the interview here.) I really think it wouldn’t be so bad if we were hosting ourselves, and could set the pace; but I get so panicked when there is someone asking questions, keeping you on an incredibly tight schedule, and you don’t know anyone in the room. Either way, the interview is done, and we are able to laugh at the moments where our amateurisms shone. It’s another cool story for our wedding scrap book, another special moment we got to hold each other’s hands and celebrate with a bagel and a walk in the park.

Sixty-three days, people. In sixty-three days, the short wishlist of items in the left-hand column of the blog will either be found, or forgotten. In sixty-three days, Brian and I will walk that long walk, and will meet in the middle and stumble through some promises, and take some pictures, and eat some food (hopefully) and dance some dances. In sixty-four days, this wedding will be over, and it’ll be just the two of us, joined together not only by those few minutes of vows, but by the adventure we’ve been on since October last year with all of you. We can see the finish line, and we are soooo excited.