Becoming Left-Handed

Lucky Day

Steve and I are still basking in the glow of our engagement shoot with our wedding photographer Frank DiMeo.  Of course, we are also still enduring the teasing of all our friends who said things like, "Jeez, why didn't you guys just get a room?"  Nevertheless, it's been a hectic week of final details and then today we got some great news.

Frank has lined up a second shooter for our wedding day, and it's none other than Shai Eynav, one of Frank's favorite friends and colleagues.  We went to Shai's site and, if this is possible at this point, got even more excited about the imagery that will come out of our big day.  Shai is amazingly talented and has artistic, creative taste like Frank. 

We are so lucky to be working with them both.

We are also lucky, I have decided, that we are both still alive at this point.  Last night (FULL MOON?!) was one of those crazy nights when everything went wrong - I left my wallet at home, was late to the jewelry store after work, couldn't run my errands because I didn't have my wallet, went home to get it, only to leave it in the car when I finally got to the store I needed.  So, after loading my cart, finding half the merchandise soaked from the rainy cart, and then doubling back through the store to get fresh craft supplies, I had to schlep out to the car for the darn wallet.  Of course, I laid my purse on the backseat at that point, only to realize an hour later that I had a 40% off coupon in my purse I forgot to use!  And, as if that's not enough, I realized today that I left the entire bag of merchandise at the store.  Sheesh!  Then, Steve and I had a dancing lesson that was, well, a bit of a disaster.  We were tired and nerve-wracked and if the old adage that "the worse the dress rehearsal, the better the performance," is true then we are golden!

Our angels are watching over us, that's all I know ... we're safe despite our distracted minds, we're blessed with talented friends and artists, and we're almost married!

I Love NY

I love Syracuse, NY. It holds a special place in my heart for many reasons. I started my "grown-up" life there. Had my first job. Went back to school. Suffered my first real heartbreak and learned some great lessons. I made friends there whom I still treasure, and I met my husband there (even though I didn't know it at the time).

Despite these warm fuzzy memories, I have never really thought of Syracuse as a particularly beautiful city. I mean, the downtown is somewhat rundown, and the city is lacking the vibrant pulse of a Columbus or a Charlotte.

But this weekend, I saw Syracuse from an entirely different perspective - through the loving lens of Frank DiMeo's camera. We are lucky enough to be working with Frank for our wedding, so Saturday we spent the day shooting our engagement pictures and taking a photographic stroll down memory lane. 

It was fascinating to see Syracuse through Frank's talented eyes - the way he looked at the light and the angles helped us see our beloved city as a beautiful, romantic place. We drove around and stopped for impromptu shots where Frank spotted beautiful light, or a great doorway, or fantastic colors.

Steve and I got to kiss, cuddle, dance, laugh, and even practice our "threshold carry"!  We were nervous, and at first it seemed kind of strange to be doing all that kissing and cuddling in public, not to mention in front of a photographer! Frank gave us just enough direction and encouragement so we knew what to do but could interpret it for ourselves. He even helped us get up enough nerve to steal a few shots in the grafitti-covered restroom at Dinosaur Barbeque, lie down on the sidewalk together outside a hair salon in Armory Square, practice our rumba on the SU campus at sunset, and even climb on top of a Harley Davidson (with the owner's blessing, of course!)

Please visit Frank's blog to see the photos and click the link to view our slideshow. And don't forget to leave a comment for Frank ... you know how we bloggers love to receive a little "love" on our blog comment pages!

In case I haven't intrigued you enough, here is a tiny sampling of Frank's talent, and our fantastic day together ...

                       

Bookmark

I was in Chicago for work last week, and Thursday night I took two planes to get to Syracuse for our final weekend of wedding planning.  We had appointments lined up from early Friday to late Saturday, and we had to drive from Syracuse, to Camillus, to North Syracuse, to Hammondsport, to Bath, to Corning, and back to Syracuse. For all you Ohisians, that amounts to about 8 hours total road time over the course of 36 hours.  You should have seen our car - my veil (for my practice up-do) was lying on top of grapevines and grape branches (for our florist), mixed in with my new brown snakeskin pumps and every shirt Steve owned (for our engagement shoot) and a sample of our centerpiece and table decor (for our meeting at the linen rental company).

Somehow, Steve and I managed to steal a little moment on Thursday night that was what my mother calls a "bookmark" in our wedding preparation journey.  Steve met my plane at 11:00, helped me get my ridiculously pregnant-looking suitcase into our car, and we drove to our friends' Brian and Rachel's house.  They live out in the rolling hills surrounding Syracuse, and we arrived in time to appreciate the dark velvet sky and bright white stars you can only find out in the "country."

Steve grabbed us a couple of beers and we went onto Brian's back porch to stare at the sky and re-connect after a week apart and before a daunting weekend ahead.  We talked about this blog, and our parents, and our relationship.  We talked about the wedding, and how amazed we still find ourselves to realize we are getting married in less than three weeks!

During that stolen little moment, we didn't decide anything, and nothing got crossed off the list.  But on the way home tonight, as we crossed from New York into Pennsylvania and finally back into Ohio, Steve asked me what my favorite moment of the weekend was (this is a game we play at the end of every weekend).  And despite the fact that I loved every minute of our engagement shoot (more on this soon), and felt enormous relief at getting some of our details squared away, and was reminded once again why I love the Finger Lakes so much, I had to say my favorite moment of the weekend was sitting out on that deck, overlooking the hills and the city skyline, and just talking to my groom.

Sleepless in Chicago

I spent almost the entire summer "on the ground" in Columbus, hardly traveling for work.  Now, as we enter the final few weeks until the wedding, I am back on the road.

I spent 4 days in L.A. last week and I'm spending 4 days in Chicago this week.  During my brief stopover in Columbus last weekend, Steve had all 4 of his wisdom teeth removed and I had 2 days to tend to him before leaving him to fend for himself (which he's more than capable of doing, I realize, and which he had to do for many years before I was in the picture.  But the point is, now I am in the picture, and, well, it was really hard to get on that plane yesterday.)

Thursday I fly from Chicago straight to Syracuse and meet up with Steve for our last weekend of wedding planning, including my practice up-do, our final wedding meeting at the winery, our floral consultation, linen selection meeting, and our engagement photo shoot. 

Meanwhile, it's midnight here, and I've had a good day, a good workout, a nice dinner, and a little wine.  I finished the wonderful book I've been reading, called "What No One Tells the Bride," by Marg Stark. Like everything else these days, it made me teary-eyed.  So here I am, teary-eyed but desperately wide-eyed, 6 short hours away from the alarm buzzer and I can't even begin to consider sleeping.

I am thinking about itsy, bitsy, teeny, wheeny, brown-and-orange details.  And I am thinking about what it means to be a wife, and whether I could have ever predicted what this relationship would become during the past year. It's a funny little monologue in my head.  It goes something like this:

• "I wonder if the programs should be square booklets, or standard rectangles? And I wonder what's the last possible day we could take the whole project to Kinkos rather than printing at home?"
• "I can't seem to find the right words to introduce my bridesmaids on paper - how do you sum up friendships and relationships like those in a few short sentences?  Can I say that I've learned about marriage from my little sister?"
• "If we have more than enough centerpieces (and according to all my calculations, we do), we can put some in the restrooms and oh, that reminds me, we were going to buy the monogrammed toilet paper as a funny joke."
• "I am scared out of my damn mind at the idea of failing at this marriage.  The engagement was so hard, and I felt so many times like I was doing the wrong thing, that I worry about doing the 'right' thing when we're married."
• "The prelude music needs to be at least 30 minutes with about 10 minutes of 'padding' for potential late arrival of the shuttle bus."   
• "Dad says the one who loves the least controls the relationship.  But the book (see above) said those with a willingness to love more than they thought possible actually are empowered by that love. I do know one thing: I want this to work, and I want to be the kind of wife that Steve deserves."
• "If we have go ahead with our crazy haiku poem/wine bottle 'guest book' idea at the reception, should we also have a traditional guest book at the ceremony?" 

I wish I had convinced Steve to loan me some of his Vicodin so I could sleep!

Do Me A Favor

I spent last weekend at Mom and Doug's house - what a wonderful weekend!  There was something really special about going "home" one more time before this huge life transition is upon me.

Saturday Mom and I paid tribute to "the old days" of our relationship with a day of power shopping.  We finished a lot of last-minute purchases, I got a wedding-day makeover at Lancome, and we finished with drinks and dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. 

By far, though, my favorite part of the weekend was Sunday morning.  Mom and Doug, armed with 2 pots of coffee, 2 pairs of pliers, a hole punch, and an awesome sense of humor, helped me finish 100 wedding favors in 3 hours' time.

Doug listened intently as I described the holes we needed punched for the wine charms to hang.  He disappeared with the hole punch in his hand (and believe me when I tell you his hand was about the only one large and strong enough to grip that thing, cute purple handle notwithstanding) and came back with a cardboard template affixed to the end of the punch.  He proceeded to punch 400 holes, all the while complaining that he and Mom should unionize to get better working conditions at the Bridezilla Factory!  It was wonderful.

I hope someday they let me return the favor.

whew!

we've started working out again, which means i have more energy and more thoughts running through my head at all times: things just cascade through my brain like a filmstrip...did i send photos to the florist with the dimensions, email the itinerary to the photographer, what day should i do my spa appointments, is there time to get a tan, what if the dress STILL doesn't fit, those are not the kind of truffles we had in mind, will anyone even notice if the centerpieces don't match, too bad about the wine tour logo we may not use, did i tell the minister about the 'intertwined' passage, can we make that program idea work, it's time to switch to neutral nail polish, how is it already september, will the girls' gifts get here in time, where do i find small necklaces for the flower girl and jr bridesmaid, why didn't anyone book at the hotel block we reserved, the leaves in NY better not be turning colors yet ...

and on it goes. 

other than the fact that it's sometimes hard to concentrate in meetings, i really don't mind.  i think the workouts have actually speeded up my brain.  i ran 5 miles last night and just let the thoughts flow through me and out through my sweaty skin the whole run.  this morning i feel amazing!

Labor Day

We have been working really hard, with the help of family and friends and both our cats.  This weekend we worked on finishing favors, painting buckets, building centerpieces, writing welcome cards, and getting it all packed to take to NY for our wedding weekend.

Here's a few photos of our hard work on Labor Day!

As you can see, I'm still not great at formatting these photo posts!