It feels like there is a LOT left to do, and only 3 days to do it in. Well, 2 days, if you discount driving time.
In reality, there is a very limited number of projects left to complete, and most of those are in the final stages. Thanks to all the hands we have had helping out for the past couple of weeks.
Next post will either be via BlackBerry, a quick "OMG!" update; or after the Big Day. Wedded bliss, here we come!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Showerlette Review
The showerlette (part shower, part bachelorette) on Saturday was great. Very low-key and laid back, which is pretty much what I was hoping for.
Jen made some fantastic food (fresh gaspacho, a simple salad with vinagrette, 2 kinds of stuffed mushrooms) as well as a cheese + cracker plate and dips with dippers; and mimosas (aaand, pretty much whatever I wanted to drink).
She also decorated (she made the door deco in my last post), and Karen went all-out (as expected/suspected) and had simple framed photos of EJ + myself throughout the house.
We played a few games (the word search became amazingly competitive!) And spent a lot of time socializing.
fMIL made a gorgeously simple cake (carrot cake, one of my faves); Karen + Jen put together a great "well wishes" type of book from all the attendees; and later on Sam and Wolfe spent some time with us before they all left.
At the end (we were all kinda tired), the 3 of us womenfolk watched "Never Been Kissed" (Jen hadn't seen it, and its one of a very short list of romantic comedies I enjoy).
Like I said, very laid back and relaxing sort of day. Just what I wanted!
Jen made some fantastic food (fresh gaspacho, a simple salad with vinagrette, 2 kinds of stuffed mushrooms) as well as a cheese + cracker plate and dips with dippers; and mimosas (aaand, pretty much whatever I wanted to drink).
She also decorated (she made the door deco in my last post), and Karen went all-out (as expected/suspected) and had simple framed photos of EJ + myself throughout the house.
We played a few games (the word search became amazingly competitive!) And spent a lot of time socializing.
fMIL made a gorgeously simple cake (carrot cake, one of my faves); Karen + Jen put together a great "well wishes" type of book from all the attendees; and later on Sam and Wolfe spent some time with us before they all left.
At the end (we were all kinda tired), the 3 of us womenfolk watched "Never Been Kissed" (Jen hadn't seen it, and its one of a very short list of romantic comedies I enjoy).
Like I said, very laid back and relaxing sort of day. Just what I wanted!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Another cake in the bank.
So with a little tweaking, mom turned her carrot cake into a low sugar cake and took it to the showerlette for testing. It was approved by all. The carrot cake will be one of the two low sugar cakes that will be part of the tower-o-cakes. So that gets all of the experimental bits out of the way. No more testing. Now we have a collection of proven recipes to work with. So all that is left now is to make them and freeze them.
And then we eat them.
And then we eat them.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Another (mini) Milestone
Today when I arrived at work, I was handed a box containing my new batch of business cards. With my married name. I squee'd a bit - and the rest of my team came by to squee with me!
Can't hand them out for another 12 days...!
Can't hand them out for another 12 days...!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
My friends are slackers.
So the day started off with me trying to wrangle up the cats before heading out to the car (and driver) waiting for me by the curb. Needless to say they had to wait longer than they wanted to. Then on the way out to the street my large gunny sack that I had stuffed with all my gun stuff that wasn't specifically a gun (ammo, cleaning gear, more ammo, ear muffs, even more ammo) started ripping apart as I was walking. Thankfully it was just the strap, but it did make carrying it a bit more of a trick. I made it to the street and with help from Brian, to the car. To Johns we go!
After a brief bit of glad handing and bull $#!?ing, we started making the calls to everyone that wasn't there. After 15 min of this it became clear that nobody else was coming. Dan & Azim had rock solid legitimate excuses for not being there. Everyone else I'm going to give a hard time for years to come. Thomas and his bro Richard were meeting us at the range, so off we went.
To the shooting range!
Trap shooting is great way to start any party. I don't care that I missed almost every damned clay pigeon that flew across the sky. I had fun. We all did. All five of us shot the hell out of our shotguns. John managed to bruise up his shoulder by letting the butt of the gun slip away from his shoulder just before pulling the trigger. This causes the gun to punch you square in the shoulder real hard. It hurts a lot. I laughed at him for this. He would've done the same for me. That's what good friends do. And John is the best kind of friend. He takes a joke almost as well as he takes a shotgun to the shoulder.
Prado shooting range is great for skeet and trap shooting. They have a good pistol range as well, witch was good since Thomas, Richard, & my self brought a few hand guns to play with. Sadly though Prado is not set up for riffle shooting, so almost every long arm we had had to spend the day in the trunk of the cars. : (
So after filling our noses and lungs with the scent of burnt nitrogen and hot brass we packed up our toys and headed to the next stop.
To Dave & Buster's!
This place is great. I love the bartender we had. She is one of the few drink slingers that didn't turn me down when I asked for the spill matt shot. She cringed at the notion, but went around the whole bar and poured all the spill matts into a Collins glass for me. I love asking for this drink. I love it even more when someone will actually pour it for me. Believe it or not, its usually a tasty drink. Most of the time its more mixer than booze. This time it tasted like a lot of sweet&sour and a little bit of rum. Not bad for a free drink.
After much play time in the arcade it was decided that it was time to start winding down. So Thomas&Richard headed home while Brian, John, and my self headed back towards HB to have a bit of dessert before dropping off Brian before he passed out. Then it was just me, my self, and my best friend. So we headed out to Stubrik's in Fullerton to shoot some pool. This brings us to the afore mentioned hitch of 2am close down. We didn't even get to finish our first game when the place started closing down.
To Denney's!
Like all good parties it ended at Denny's. I tell ya, there is no better place to people watch than a Denny's near 3 bars at 2am. Oh my gosh drunk people are fun to watch. So that's what John and I did till about 4:30am.
All said and done, it was a good day. I had fun with my friends. I did get to pull off 1 of 2 bachelor party traditions I have. The first is the spill matt shot. Did that. The second is a bit more risky. I've been known to streak an In&Out once or twice. Alas this did not happen last night.
I know, I'm disappointed in me too.
So the bachelor party went off without a hitch.
Well, that is unless you count all the people that were invited that didn't show up. Then you could say that there were a few hitches. But aside from that it went well.
Well, unless you count the shooting range not allowing the use of almost all the rifles that we brought.You could sat that all the ammo we bought for them was a waste. That might count as a hitch. But aside from that it went well.
Well, there was also that pesky 2am closing of all the bars that kept my best man & I from spending any great amount of time in the bar. Or the pool table that we were playing on for that matter.
So that was my big party. It was good. Had some laughs. Had some good beer. And got to hang with some good friends. What more could I ask for?
After a brief bit of glad handing and bull $#!?ing, we started making the calls to everyone that wasn't there. After 15 min of this it became clear that nobody else was coming. Dan & Azim had rock solid legitimate excuses for not being there. Everyone else I'm going to give a hard time for years to come. Thomas and his bro Richard were meeting us at the range, so off we went.
To the shooting range!
Trap shooting is great way to start any party. I don't care that I missed almost every damned clay pigeon that flew across the sky. I had fun. We all did. All five of us shot the hell out of our shotguns. John managed to bruise up his shoulder by letting the butt of the gun slip away from his shoulder just before pulling the trigger. This causes the gun to punch you square in the shoulder real hard. It hurts a lot. I laughed at him for this. He would've done the same for me. That's what good friends do. And John is the best kind of friend. He takes a joke almost as well as he takes a shotgun to the shoulder.
Prado shooting range is great for skeet and trap shooting. They have a good pistol range as well, witch was good since Thomas, Richard, & my self brought a few hand guns to play with. Sadly though Prado is not set up for riffle shooting, so almost every long arm we had had to spend the day in the trunk of the cars. : (
So after filling our noses and lungs with the scent of burnt nitrogen and hot brass we packed up our toys and headed to the next stop.
To Dave & Buster's!
This place is great. I love the bartender we had. She is one of the few drink slingers that didn't turn me down when I asked for the spill matt shot. She cringed at the notion, but went around the whole bar and poured all the spill matts into a Collins glass for me. I love asking for this drink. I love it even more when someone will actually pour it for me. Believe it or not, its usually a tasty drink. Most of the time its more mixer than booze. This time it tasted like a lot of sweet&sour and a little bit of rum. Not bad for a free drink.
After much play time in the arcade it was decided that it was time to start winding down. So Thomas&Richard headed home while Brian, John, and my self headed back towards HB to have a bit of dessert before dropping off Brian before he passed out. Then it was just me, my self, and my best friend. So we headed out to Stubrik's in Fullerton to shoot some pool. This brings us to the afore mentioned hitch of 2am close down. We didn't even get to finish our first game when the place started closing down.
To Denney's!
Like all good parties it ended at Denny's. I tell ya, there is no better place to people watch than a Denny's near 3 bars at 2am. Oh my gosh drunk people are fun to watch. So that's what John and I did till about 4:30am.
All said and done, it was a good day. I had fun with my friends. I did get to pull off 1 of 2 bachelor party traditions I have. The first is the spill matt shot. Did that. The second is a bit more risky. I've been known to streak an In&Out once or twice. Alas this did not happen last night.
I know, I'm disappointed in me too.
So the bachelor party went off without a hitch.
Well, that is unless you count all the people that were invited that didn't show up. Then you could say that there were a few hitches. But aside from that it went well.
Well, unless you count the shooting range not allowing the use of almost all the rifles that we brought.You could sat that all the ammo we bought for them was a waste. That might count as a hitch. But aside from that it went well.
Well, there was also that pesky 2am closing of all the bars that kept my best man & I from spending any great amount of time in the bar. Or the pool table that we were playing on for that matter.
So that was my big party. It was good. Had some laughs. Had some good beer. And got to hang with some good friends. What more could I ask for?
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Basic Info: #1
We have had a few "basic" questions asked as our invitations have been received and RSVPs mailed back. Here's some basic info about our Big Day (or, Big Party, depending on how you look at it!)
1) We are renting a lodge for the ceremony and reception; the ceremony will be out-of-doors, and so will the reception (for the most part).
2) The area around the lodge is woodsy and filled with small boulders. Since we will be outside, you may come in contact with bugs, small animals, and other forms of "nature".
3) Because of the above points (as well as the focus on Big Party and the 30-minute drive up the mountain) we are really stressing comfortable, casual clothing. And sunscreen ;)
4) There will be food. (Yes, we have been asked this, and yes, I giggled a bit)
5) Many of our invitees have told us they will be staying 'up the mountain' for the weekend. There are many B&Bs and rental properties in the area. If you are considering this option, I recommend you check out http://idyllwild.com
5a) Parking will be at a premium because of the location. We are working out the logistics on our end; it would really help if people who know one another could carpool. I'll give you all an update (here, as well as individually) when we have this figured out.
If there are any more questions out there feel free to comment and we will answer them!
1) We are renting a lodge for the ceremony and reception; the ceremony will be out-of-doors, and so will the reception (for the most part).
2) The area around the lodge is woodsy and filled with small boulders. Since we will be outside, you may come in contact with bugs, small animals, and other forms of "nature".
3) Because of the above points (as well as the focus on Big Party and the 30-minute drive up the mountain) we are really stressing comfortable, casual clothing. And sunscreen ;)
4) There will be food. (Yes, we have been asked this, and yes, I giggled a bit)
5) Many of our invitees have told us they will be staying 'up the mountain' for the weekend. There are many B&Bs and rental properties in the area. If you are considering this option, I recommend you check out http://idyllwild.com
5a) Parking will be at a premium because of the location. We are working out the logistics on our end; it would really help if people who know one another could carpool. I'll give you all an update (here, as well as individually) when we have this figured out.
If there are any more questions out there feel free to comment and we will answer them!
Friday, September 3, 2010
The Sword Comes Together!!!
So we now have, though not in our possession at this time, our wedding sword.
Yay!
There were lots of renditions and revisions and total backtracking, but it is finally done. Went to a great blade smith in Norwalk Ca. by the name of Bill Stroman. He is good at what he does, and a real nice guy.
So I ended up deciding to give him a Irish style sword, as Nessa is my lil Pict. Then gave him the designs I wanted engraved onto the pommel and guard, and had him blue it to boot. I'd give you all a pic, but as of yet there are none to post.
But even though the type of work to be done on it was simple enough, compared to casting solid bronze pommel and guard, there were hidden troubles that neither he or I had expected. When he took the sword apart, it seems that the blade was epoxied into the handle and it actually broke at the tang. But again, Bill is good at what he does and a good guy, so he welded it all back together and gave it a proper polish. No extra charge. I like him.
So the ceremony will go off on a sword, without a hitch.
Or so I'm lead to believe.
Yay!
There were lots of renditions and revisions and total backtracking, but it is finally done. Went to a great blade smith in Norwalk Ca. by the name of Bill Stroman. He is good at what he does, and a real nice guy.
So I ended up deciding to give him a Irish style sword, as Nessa is my lil Pict. Then gave him the designs I wanted engraved onto the pommel and guard, and had him blue it to boot. I'd give you all a pic, but as of yet there are none to post.
But even though the type of work to be done on it was simple enough, compared to casting solid bronze pommel and guard, there were hidden troubles that neither he or I had expected. When he took the sword apart, it seems that the blade was epoxied into the handle and it actually broke at the tang. But again, Bill is good at what he does and a good guy, so he welded it all back together and gave it a proper polish. No extra charge. I like him.
So the ceremony will go off on a sword, without a hitch.
Or so I'm lead to believe.
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