pre-wedding vacation?

So I suppose I should start at the beginning. Well, maybe a little sooner than that. In a fit of "oh my gosh the wedding is so soon and she's moving out" and "holy crap we all reeaaaallly need a vacation" my parents decide that it is a fabulous idea to take me to Block Island, Rhode Island.  Well, I love Block and am pretty much defenseless against its siren call.  We had planned to go Tuesday, I think.  Well, you get there by ferry and Mother Nature had other plans in the form of a hurricane so the ferry didn't run.  Instead, we went down on Friday.  Yes, 9 days before my wedding.  I told you it was insane.

Anyhow, we drove down to Point Judith, RI (where the ferry leaves from) and had lunch at a place looking at this:

After that we got on the ferry and as we were leaving saw lots of cute, tiny beachgoers.

The very first day there we dragged our butts (and beach chairs) a mile up the road (which is far in flip-flops carrying a lot of crap).  I immediately proceeded to totally sunburn my whole face.  I may or may not have had a freak out, yelled at my parents for putting me in this situation a week before my wedding and complained about it all weekend, even as it began to fade.

Complaining, time crunches and panic aside, it was really so lovely to be there.  Block in late August and early September is a thing of beauty.  Sunshine, cool weather (mid 70s!) and the perfect breeze.  It doesn't hurt that it's so damn cute, either.

Also, the best ice cream cone on the face of the planet.  Seriously, Aldo's makes a banana cream pie ice cream.  Banana ice cream with pieces of pie in it!  It is beyond the best thing ever.  Now, there are a lot of choices, and I am a chocolate girl and not at all loyal to one ice cream flavor, but it was so good, I had it two nights in a row.  I'd eat it right now if I could.  It's worth the schlep to Block for this ice cream.

And I found a knitter!  Well, a knitter's car at least...

In the end, it was sad to leave, but I was anxious and eager to get back to New York to finish Wedding Prep (yes, that does require word initial capitals, thank you).  I think the moral here is yes, absolutely go on a quick little vacation with your parents before your wedding.  It was really great to have that nice bonding time with them before the insanity of the wedding week and the insane emotional upheaval that a wedding is for everyone involved.  However, for your own sanity, do it three weeks before, not one!

PS.  Thanks Mom and Dad, I had a blast!

Next Up: Arrivals begin and bachelorette party ensues!

the almost elopement

When the wedding insanity starts to set in (starts is perhaps not the right word...), or works itself to a pitch, I often ask myself, or Ari if he's handy, why we didn't elope.  Weddings are exciting and fun and a labor of love, don't get me wrong, but they're not without their share of tears, fights and anxiety.  My fantasy for a good long while was a flight for this weekend (whichever weekend it happened to be), and a trip to San Francisco City Hall (which is beyond amazingly gorgeous).

In the end, we both knew that what we really wanted was a wedding with our friends and family.  But hey, if you can narrow down your nearest and dearest to 30, and would rather trade the big city for sandy beaches, you might be in luck.  Pacific Weddings Magazine is giving away a wedding in Maui.

You give them a photo of you and your fiancé and tell them how you met, fell in love and got engaged in 300 words or less, and they might give you

• Wedding and reception at Timba in Lahaina, Maui
• Honeymoon stay at the Hyatt Regency Maui
• Wedding and ceremony for 30 people
• Reception including floral décor, dinner and drinks for thirty guests
• Photography coverage of wedding and reception
• Oceanview room for bride and groom for three days
• Sunset sail for two aboard Trilogy Excursions

Sounds pretty damn good to me.  And since the whole thing is paid for, the head count comes with a concrete cutoff and you're already at your honeymoon, I'd say the only thing you have to worry about is what to wear.  Have a pina colada for me.

home again, home again

jig a dee jig!

This afternoon I'm off home to New York for my sister's birthday, delivery at college and the rest of my mad wedding prep.  Still not done packing so I'll keep it brief.  I may be sad to leave my honey, but I'll sure be glad to see this:

Think on time, non-turbulent thoughts for me!

Honeymoon! Honeymoon! Honeymoon!

This has been my mantra of late.  Anytime I get stressed or nervous or anxious or frustrated with the wedding, I repeat that over and over again (in a fun little singsong voice) until I feel better.  Because no matter how crazy things get, on September 6, Ari and I will be getting on a plane and going here.

That's Club Med Turkoise.  Everything is already paid for (except tips).  Air is booked and they take us to and from the airport.  I expect my hardest decision all week to be whether I should drink my pina colada by the beach or the pool.  And bonus points for being an adult-only resort.  I love kids, I really do, but I don't want to have to deal with them on my honeymoon.  Oh yeah, and did I mention I will be doing lots of this?

Only I won't be sticking my ass out like I'm terrified of leaving the board.  Shoulders back, hips forward!

Cos they have a flying trapeze there kids.  I haven't flown in almost two years and I miss it so badly.  I am beyond excited.  I really hope the safety belts really are that gold color, because then I will totally pretend I am Wonder Woman.

I am predicting a very good week.

on the docket

So with 45 days to go, things are coming fast and furious.  Some of the bigger things have gotten left later than they should have (thank you blog overload and massive indecision!) but it means they all start happening pretty rapid fire.  On the agenda for today is ordering our ketubah, booking our honeymoon and ordering my veil!  That means I'll actually have a complete outfit, the ability to have a ceremony and a week of total bliss full of booze, beach, flying trapeze (we're going to club med - so excited!) and my new husband (husband!).  This thing is really happening!

So, um, yeah.

Apparently Lincoln is home to Arbor Day, not Earth day.  (Thanks for that, Honey.)  Clearly you can see how interested I am.


Anyhow, the boy and I are off the visit Nana and Pops in Minnesota this weekend.  Should be fun.  And I get to get my engagement ring resized, finally.  Though I do fully admit to being a baby and not wanting to give it up.

I have all sorts of photos of fun things that you'll get to see either when I find my camera cord (uh huh) or my new (yay yay yay!), hopefully correctly functioning this time, Canon 20D arrives for me to redo the pictures.  Though I suppose that's also dependent on the giant rain cloud currently occupying the sky over the entire Midwest gets the hell out of here.