His 'n Her Towels

Our Wedding: The Location, The Church, The Dress

Monday marked the two year anniversary of when Carl and I said our sweaty "I Do's". This blog was supposed to chronicle our journey to the altar, but instead it came down with a severe case of babyitis. Babyitis takes over your life, leaving you bleary-eyed, itchy, and certifiably insane. Trust me. I’ve been rolling around on baby blankets trying to get my scent to rub off on them, because someone told me it would help the baby sleep. Now my body is covered in rug burns, and the baby still cries when we try to make her nap.  See, certifiable.

Before this blog succumbs to babyitis completely, I might try to get some wedding details down. Since that is where it all began anyway.

 

 

The Location: Vernazza, Italy

Vernazza is one of the five towns in the Cinque Terre region in Italy. It is a tiny fishing village on the Italian Rivera.

There are no roads, or car traffic in Vernazza. Just a beach, boats, sunbathing rocks, gelato, and plenty of fantastic things to eat. The perfect quaint Italian town, where the locals speak little English, and everyone knows you (if you stay long enough).

 

 

 

 

The thing to do, besides drink wine from the local vineyard, is to hike between the five towns. It is gorgeous! My favorite place on earth.

 

 

 

 

 

The Church: Santa Margherita d'Antiochia

One of the main reasons we chose to get married in Vernazza was the church. It was built in 1318 right on the sea. The church looks like it is coming out of the rocks and water, and when we were standing at the altar we had the most beautiful views. We didn’t need any decorations, the views did it all for us.

 

 

 

 

The inside of the church was gorgeous as well. Typically, when you see one old church, you’ve seen them all…but this one definitely stole my heart.

 

 

 

 The Dress:

Three things I needed when searching for a dress: one that would fit with the venue, one that had sleeves, and one that was easily transportable. We were informed that the ladies shoulders should be covered during the ceremony, so I went looking for a dress with sleeves, that wasn’t completely modern and awkward against our traditional Italian Catholic ceremony, and that we could drag across all of Europe. I think this dress fit all my criteria pretty well.  

 

 

The Final Countdown

SIX(TY):

The number of times Carl mentions Lance Armstrong or the Tour de France in a day. We are stopping by a stage of the Tour when we arrive in Switzerland and Carl is beyond thrilled to go. It is quite possible he’ll forget what he originally went to Europe for (to marry me) and join the Lance Armstrong Caravan instead.  He even says he can’t take off his Livestrong bracelet for the wedding because, “it’s the last day of the race, and Lance needs my support!”

FIVE: The number of shots I took, or the number of times I got sick, after my bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun, but I’m not conditioned for that kind of fun anymore. We went to a winery and did a wine tasting. It wasn’t your stuffy wine tasting with your “swirl, sniff, and sip”. It was more like, “pour, guzzle, and repeat”. Our wine tasting guy was an eccentric fellow who told us he is the roofie king, as he was pouring us multiple glasses of wine and filling his own glass up even fuller. I had a great time, even though I lost the use of my legs by the end of the night. A couple pictures from the night…

 

 

 

Four: The number of days until we leave for our trip. I’m SO excited that I can barely eat or sleep. I wake up at 3am every night thinking about things I need to accomplish before we go, but then ADD kicks in and I start thinking about the Disney Channel and how the Disney Channel Original Movie, ‘The Princess Protection Program’, was not as good as I thought it was going to be. And then I start debating with myself about the quality of television programming I watch, and whether or not grown adults should be anticipating great things from movies that originate from the Disney channel in the first place. Before I know it, it is 5 am and my alarm clock is about to go off in 30 minutes.

THREE: The number of fittings I had before I picked up my dress. I decided to keep the dress I originally purchased and just make it work. After it was altered down to my correct size (or, close enough), it looked much better. There are a few things I would change if we had time, but we don’t, so I’m not going to fixate on the little things right now. I’m happy with my dress!

TWO: The number of successful bridal showers I have had. My side of the family and Carl’s side of the family threw me a bridal shower, and I loved them both! Both parties were fun and had delicious bridal shower food. I seriously LOVE bridal shower food, mostly because they are loaded with carbs and no one will give me the one-eyebrow-lifted-look-of-shame to make me feel guilty that I am inhaling so many carb-filled foods in one sitting, because it's MY party! I’m still in so much shock that people went to all that trouble for me (us). I’m not used to getting that kind of special treatment. It sure is fun being a bride!

 

(YES! I LOVE pizza cutters!)

 

 

 

 

(piling on way too much food, but getting away with it because it's MY party!! Love shower food!)

ONE: The number of potential wedding DISASTERS we may have. First we were told that the legal documents that the church in Italy needed to review and approve for our marriage were lost! They were just sent to the wrong church, they should be making their way to the correct church now, but we still haven’t heard if our wedding is approved or not yet. Time is running out, and I am getting really nervous!!!

And finally….

FIFTEEN! The number of days before I am legally (hopefully) wed. Sometimes I think about all the things that we have done, and all the things that people have gone out of their way to do for us, just because we are getting married, and I get a little embarrassed. People have thrown us wonderful showers and parties in our honor, we are planning a wedding where we are asking people to travel across the world for us, and the weirdest part to me, making a list of gifts that people can give to us just for getting married. I’ve had a great time, and I appreciate all that everyone has done, but I just feel so silly. All of this just for me (and Carl)? What did we do to deserve this?

And then I have to remind myself that this is not just a WEDDING, but it is a MARRIAGE. I am going to be marrying the man I love the deepest, making the biggest commitment one can make, and giving myself completely into the role of being a wife. I take marriage very seriously, but I forget sometimes that when we are celebrating a wedding we are really celebrating the marriage of husband and wife.  I have to remind myself that our wedding is a big deal; it’s the day we are going to be married. That means something.

 

C is for....

Have you ever bought a plain blue tank top at Target for $5?

Then, have you ever washed that plain, boring, unreliable, no-good blue tank top with your other more beautiful and admirable clothes, only to have that defective blue tank top bleed all over them, infecting its contagious blue dye on innocent white stripes, dainty yellow shirts, and timid khaki pants?

My washing machine looked like a crime scene, and Cookie Monster was the victim. If I find a cookie crumb trail leading to the dumpsters in an alley out back, someone has some explaining to do….

*****

After months of eating tree bark and gnawing on number 2 pencils, I’m slowly starting to see an improvement in weight loss. Barely.  I had my first dress fitting last weekend and it was too big for me in the waist region. So, that’s good. At least I won’t look like a tightly packaged sausage. Now, hopefully the alterations lady can alter it down to my correct size!

The dress had some other issues too. There is a huge seam showing, and it just didn’t feel right. My heart sank when I first tried it on, fearful it couldn’t be fixed, but I’m staying optimistic and hopeful that the alterations lady is a kind-hearted woman, who also happened to be bitten by a radioactive spider and now has Super Sewing Powers and can shoot lace and thread out of her fingertips!

Wedding Blog, Schmedding Schmog*

I remember awhile back I said this blog was going to be my “Wedding Blog”, a blog where I would share EVERY. SINGLE. DETAIL. of my WEDDING! Well……… after being suffocated by tulle and fondant over the last few months, my brain wasn’t functioning properly. However; my brain has just recently received the proper amount of oxygen in order for me to think clearly, and I came to the conclusion that a.) Sharing everything is boring, and takes away any element of surprise when the actual wedding does occur. 2.) I should have put a little thought into the name of this blog before I committed to such a stupid title.  3.) Yes, I know the picture of the wedding cake at the top is severely out of focus. And 4.) Does anyone really care about the details? Why would they want to read about it when they could hear about it afterwards? At least then they could pretend like they were listening, while drinking heavily.

So, pre-wedding details be gone! I’ll recap when it’s all been said and done, just in case there are any brides out there looking to get married in Italy and need some suggestions. It can be a VERY extensive and time-consuming, but lovely and totally worth it process.

As for the rest of my life story, well, it can be told in a few short bullet points (sad.):

·         Classy: My first bridal shower is this weekend. I’m excited to get together with the ladies and have lunch, so I can call us the “Ladies who Lunch”…because I think it sounds coooool.

·         Unclassy: I rode a mechanical bull over the Memorial Weekend for the first time. Watch out! I’m a loose cannon.

·         Classy: I setup an appointment for a Microdermabrasion Facial. I’ve never had one before, but I’m picturing my face turning cartoon character red afterwards. I’m hoping my face will look classier when the swelling subsides though.

·         Unclassy: I’m sweating through my pants in the gym and eating spinach leaves and egg whites for dinner, but STILL I cannot seem to lose much poundage. I’m also drinking tons of water as suggested for weight loss by the Culligan Man, but yet I’m pretty sure I’ve gained weight. That is so not classy.

·         Classy: new shoes! Buy one pair; get the second half-off.

·         Unclassy: returning the full priced pair, and keeping the half-off pair. Even unclassier is knowing you were going to do that ahead of time.

 

 

* Microsoft Word just informed me that Schmedding Schmog is not a word

That's Amore!

I know it can be hard to listen to your friends and family when they tell you that the guy you’re dating is a loser of infinite proportions. But if the WHOLE WORLD is telling you that you shouldn’t be with a guy, then Rhianna, maybe you should sit down and think about it.  

I bet there’s a new song in the works, entitled “The World is Against Us.” Or “Us Against the World.” …a tragic and gripping love-song that takes a bite out of your heart.

Wedding Update:

We have officially booked a church, signed a contract, and put down a deposit, so this time there really are NO taksies backsides!

July 14^th is when we leave, we’re going to travel to Switzerland,  France, and then to Italy where we’ll be married on the 25^th. Then we’ll spend our honeymoon wandering around Florence and Rome.

 

We found a beautiful church in a town called Vernazza. It is located in Cinque Terre, which is made up of 5 towns, and is a part of the Italian Riviera. From what I’ve seen, everything is gorgeous, and quaint, and authentic, and I fell in love with it!

Here is a picture of Vernazza:

(photo credit: Rob Greebon)

The building with the tower is the church where we will be getting married:

 

 

New Countdown: 136 days!

To Do: Get wedding dress!

Jamie and Carl: World Tour

Carl: “We’ve decided to elope to Europe."

Carl’s Father: “Carl, if you’re trying to get rid of your mother, it’s not going to work. She’ll follow you around the world.”

 

Yes, we’ve decided to “elope”. No, we’re not trying to escape Carl’s mother. It’s actually refreshing to have someone involved and enthusiastic about our wedding. And no matter what crazy idea we come up with, she is always so supportive.

 

Hawaii didn't work out.

Long story short, we are going to buy a new house, but first we have to sell Carl’s current house. That means we might take a loss for his house, and on top of that we need a down payment for the new house, so there goes all of our savings for a wedding.

 

While we can’t afford an actual wedding, with guests and stuff, we still want to make a wedding that is memorable and special for us. I suggested we go to Thailand to have a Buddhist Wedding Blessing. Carl was NOT onboard with that idea. He suggested Italy and I immediately started researching if the Pope was available for weddings.

 

We are still planning a small reception back home after the wedding. So hopefully those that were really interested in seeing me do the ugly-face cry at the alter, might still have a chance to catch a glimpse at the reception as we reflect and celebrate our marriage!

 

Also, we’ve moved up the wedding date to this July. And you know what that means??? Babies, faster. I want to wait a year after we’re married to have kids, so moving up the wedding sure makes the baby-making happen sooner!

Trading Up

Wedding planning is not as exciting as the WE channel makes it out to be.

I haven’t had any cake disasters yet. No jealous exes showing up to ruin everything. Nothing has caught on fire. And not once have I had to threaten to call off the whole event. Wedding planning is boring.

Just kidding. We actually haven’t gotten very far. We’ll tackle that this weekend. Hopefully.

We have been really busy lately, which is part of the reason we haven’t been able to be as elbow deep in taffeta and place-settings as we’d like. Besides my midterms and our dog having diarrhea for a week straight, we also decided to throw purchasing a new vehicle into our schedule. But not on a whim, my friend. Oh, no. There is nothing whimsical about Carl. He is very meticulous when it comes to buying a new car. For twenty-two days and nights all we were allowed to think about were cars, car facts, car fax, car gas mileage, or car cup holders.

We bathed ourselves in information until we were confident that we found the car we wanted to vote for...I mean, buy.  We settled on a Nissan Altima ’08. Making it silver was my decision. 

We traded in my old car for $930.00. That’s a mighty good deal considering all the features it included:

 

• Dented bumper from a collision with a stop sign

• Long, deep scrape ingrained on the driver and passenger side doors, due to an extra-narrow garage

• Free air ventilation from the broken window in the back.

• A snickers bar that melted, and then froze, then melted again, into the carpet. Removable only with chainsaw. 

• Powered by a small jet plane engine.

• All the original floor mats and owners manual.