Stick Figures

This is what I do with my free time now. I make diagrams of the beach where we are having our ceremony. Isn't it very lifelike? (It's actually pretty accurate, just...not lifelike!)


Today I'm staring to work on the physical invitations. I know the wedding is 6 months away, but I also know that life will get in the way once I start work again. And since I'm making every single one, the more time I have, the better. The ribbon should arrive next week (I broke down and ordered it from two different places, so that I could get exactly what I wanted.) and once I have that in my hands, I can really go to town!

I'm excited it's Friday. That means that Brian will be home with me again, even if he has things to do and places to go, he'll be here most of the time and I'll have company again. :)

My life...

You know what's really easy to do when you're not drugged but you're stuck at home flat on your back because you just had back surgery? Online shopping. Which isn't good. Especially because I can't go downstairs to get the packages as they arrive because I can't bend down to get them! Oh well. It's all been stuff for the wedding, so I feel OK about it.

So, how am I feeling, you wonder? Today I feel OK. Wednesday's surgery was successful as far as they can tell. But we won't really know until I heal. Because I had this injury for so long, the nerve will take a little while to go back to normal if it's going to do that. Wednesday-Friday were hard days and I truly would not have been able to get through them without Brian. He's a saint. He's done everything for me. He's lifted me up and helped me back into bed-even at 3am when I have to go to the bathroom. He's helped me shower, get dressed, shopped for groceries, cooked and cleaned. And when it hurt so much and I was frustrated, he held my hand and told me it was OK.

Seriously. I struck gold.

I'm not supposed to bend down, lift my arms or twist. Which, you know, is kind of hard to not do. Try it. Try not bending down. Try not twisting or lifting your arms. You can do it for a little while, but ultimately, you really need those things to function. Especially when you're me, and you drop things a lot. (When Brian gets home, he has to pick up some onions that I dropped. Last night it was his comb...)

Today was the first day I was alone since Wednesday. I did pretty well but that's because I slept for most of the day. This medicine doesn't really take the pain away much, but it does make me sleepy, which I guess is good. I managed to make some dinner but by the time I was done I was pretty tired, so I'm waiting for Brian to come home to reheat it and serve it to us. (Don't worry, it was frozen stuff, just putting in the pan.)

This is my life:

I have not felt the air on my skin since Wednesday afternoon when I was too drugged to actually feel the air on my skin because I just had surgery.

I haven't worn makeup since Tuesday night. Luckily Brian thinks I'm pretty without it, but I have a feeling when I put it on again he's going to smile. :)

I'm always in pajamas of some sort. It doesn't make sense to get dressed since I'm not going anywhere, and also, the waistband would sit on my incision, so softer is better.

I've gotten the biggest flower arrangement I've ever seen delivered to me from my boss and co-workers.

I've also received the softest cardigan from Auntie Rita. I think it'll be my outfit for tomorrow. :) (And if I haven't mentioned this before, I love my "new" family. They kind of rock.)

I'm growing my eyebrows out in the hopes that I can reshape them finally. I feel this is the right thing to do when the only person I'll see is someone who loves me no matter what. But I also recognize that they better grow in fast, so I can get them shaped and put on some makeup.

And real clothes. He'd probably like that to happen sometime in the next month too. :)

So there you have it...my life. I'm doing well and healing and at this point I'm not sure how long I'll really be out of work. I have my post-op appointment next Monday and I think he'll assess my progress and see if I can really return after 2 weeks. I'm crossing my fingers, but I know now that I can't push it, even though I want to. I hate being patient when it comes to myself!

Food, Fun AND Frolic-all on the same day!!

What a gorgeous day it was today! Brian and I took advantage of the nice weather to take a trip down to Cohasset, the town we're getting married in on September 14th. I've wanted to go to brunch at our reception restaurant for some time now, and they were having a wedding open house today, so it was sort of a no brainer that we go for both.

Brunch was good-I'm happy, because I've never tasted their food before today. Brian has eaten there before, and thinks it is good, so I trusted his judgement when we booked. I'm relieved to say that I enjoyed everything I had today. I'm also relieved that I love the space just as much now as I did the moment I first saw it in October.

It's so pretty! Three of the wall are completely lined with windows, which look directly over the harbor. And it's so much bigger than I remember! I'm so happy-our wedding coordinator told us that the room was set up pretty much the same as it will be for our wedding and there was a TON of room. Our guests won't feel cramped and we'll have TONS of room for the dance floor.

Since we have no wedding party, we'll be sitting at our own "Sweetheart Table"



The back of the room, as seen from our table

Another awesome feature of the room is this beautiful stone fireplace. This is where we will be married if it rains on our wedding day. (Pray it doesn't!) This is also where the dance floor is...

Isn't it pretty!?!? I am more excited now than I was before-and that's kind of nuts. Oh! We got to taste cake from one of our possible bakeries too! We tried three different kinds, all of which we loved. They were one of two contenders and it was great to meet the director of sales, who was very nice.

After brunch and the open house, we drove over to the beach where we'll being getting married. It's just stunning. Truly, it's so pretty there, it takes my breath away. And I love that there is a lighthouse in the background and that there are rocks jutting out into the sea. It's just perfect.


Brian and I on our "Wedding Beach"

On our adventure home, we scored a fantastic find for our centerpieces. I'm not going to mention what it is here because most of you will be coming to the wedding and I want SOME things to remain a surprise. But we're psyched that we found it and psyched that we're both crazy enough to be able to see what it can become.

This wedding stuff is getting funner and funner!

Discs

It is done. I am (finally) having back surgery to fix the two discs in my back that broke when I slid down a flight of stairs on my back last year. I'm told that I must have fallen through the cracks because I shouldn't have been able to go on for as long as I did without speaking to a surgeon. Apparently, 6 months is the cut off, and here I am at 13 months...yeah, something's wrong there.

Considering I had to practically beg to get them to take X-Rays and then again for an MRI, I can see that. It's discouraging to say the lease. But the surgeon still thinks I can benefit from surgery and so it is done. On Wednesday 2/29 I'll be having a microdiscetomy. And I pray that this is the key to getting me moving again.

By this time, I had hoped to be about 80 pounds lighter than I was 2 years ago when I started my major weight loss journey. I made it halfway. And then I fell, and I gained more than half of that back. I feel like a big fat pig and I hate that I gained it back, but I have to remind myself that I couldn't really move the way I should. In fact, every time I exercised, I'd end up in more pain for days-and it became not worth it. So I'm psyched that I might actually get enough relief...and then when I recover, I can get back into the gym! And hike without pain. And sail without cringing when I jump off of the boat! Oh, it'll be so great!

Dude wanted me to be out of work for a month! I told him no way. He joked and asked if my boss was so mean that she wouldn't let me out of work to recover. I told him it isn't a matter of them letting me leave, it's a matter of me not wanting to be out that long. And also, I don't think it's necessary. I mean, I'm not going to be laying flat on my back during those four weeks, so why is it so different that I would be sitting at work instead of here? In fact, at work I have a better chair to support my back! And they're so great that if I really felt like I couldn't handle it one day, I could just go home. So we compromised at 2 weeks. I think that's plenty of time...

So, if you pray, please send some my way on the 29th. If you don't pray, send some good vibes instead. I'll be saying a few prayers and crossing everything I can to ensure that this actually works...

Food: Strega

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope that you treat yourselves extra special today...

Last night I made a couple of batches of chocolate cake pops to bring into work for my friends. So far, they're a big hit. They were fun to make and I'm really happy with the results. I'm pretty sure these will show up at our wedding in 7 months (from today!!).

Have you all celebrated Valentine's Day already? Or will you be doing something tonight? Brian and I spent our day (Saturday) going to the boat show (dreaming out our future home and our future business) and then went to dinner in the North End.

For those of you who don't know Boston well, the North End is our little Italy. It's become very touristy, but it's a cute little burrow with tons of great restaurants and I love going there now and then. I have a huge list of restaurants that I want to try so every time we have a special dinner planned, I try to choose from that list. This time, I chose Strega.

Strega is the sort of place that everyone has heard of because the owner is an advertising whore. Which I totally get, because if I had a place in Boston, I would be too. This guys face is on billboards over the highway and is pretty vocal in the community, apparently. Last year we dined at Nico, which is owned by the same man. That dinner was one of the best Brian and I have ever shared. Strega seemed like a natural choice for Valentine's Day.

I have to say that it was not the best place I've ever dined. It's not horrible and we enjoyed our dinner (Brian loved his dish) but if asked if I would go there again, I'm not sure I would say yes. The space itself is very cute. Small, but cute. Though we were crammed in and sitting right next to another couple, I didn't feel like I was sharing a table. The waitstaff, for the most part, was attentive and everyone was very nice. It was actually the food that makes me say I wouldn't go back.

Again, it wasn't bad. It just wasn't out of this world. To start, we ordered the calamari. We both love it and have been pretty disappointed with the ones we've tried lately, so we thought Strega would hit it out of the park. It arrived hot and crispy and it smelled delicious. However, it wasn't seasoned at all so it was bland. The red sauce they served it with was good, but it still didn't make up for the blandness of the calamari...Brian missed the hot peppers (which is RI style, but he still wished they included something like that) and I missed some salt. Not a 100% loss, but by no means scrumdiddlyumptious.

The foccacia on the table was also just OK. Again, it wasn't really seasoned. No herbs, no salt...just plain. Luckily the olive oil had some hot pepper flakes and herbs, and it offset the lack of flavor in the bread.

Brian ordered the Fettuccine Strega, which was basically seafood alfredo. He said that it was delicious and that the sauce was light (not too cheesy) and the seafood was very fresh-especially the scallops. I ordered the Bucatini All' Amatriciana. It was pasta sauteed with pancetta and onions and served with tomato sauce. It was just OK. The flavor was fine, and it was seasoned OK, but it wasn't anything special. I could have easily made this (better) at home myself. When it came to the table, I was immediately disappointed because it just looked like a bowl of fat spaghetti...which is what it was. Not bad, but not what I would expect from a place like Strega. I should have gotten the lobster ravioli. At least if that was just average, I would have felt better because I wouldn't really make that at home.

We opted to not get dessert there, but to walk to Mike's Pastry for a to go box.

We had a lovely evening and it is always fun to get dressed up with Brian and to share a bottle of wine over candlelight. And just being there, in love, celebrating Valentine's Day was fantastic. I feel good about crossing another restaurant off of my "to try" list but wish it was a little tastier. But overall, I'd call the night a win.

The Beach or What Would You Do?

For a couple of months now, Brian and I have known where we'd like our wedding ceremony to take place. It's a beach, in a little town on the coast-the same town we're having our reception. This is the view we'd have as we exchanged vows:

In person, it's really quite breathtaking. And very fitting that after we were married, our hair would smell salty and we'd be a little windblown.

The beach is a private one, and run by an association. For two months I've been playing phone tag with the president of the association but had heard that he's very laid back and that it probably wouldn't be a problem for us to use the space. Finally last night I was able to speak with him.

He is, indeed, very laid back and sounds like a very kind man. He chatted with me for a few minutes and asked about Brian and asked if we were planning on moving to his town, since we love it so much. No, I said. We're planning on living on a boat.

He liked that very much.

Mr. Beach Association President granted us the right to have our ceremony on the beach. I am thrilled, except for one thing. The "donation" price is quite high. Hundreds of dollars higher than I had heard it was. And I'm not sure that we can afford it. It's not enough money that we couldn't save up for it but combined with all of our other expenses (daily, monthly and wedding related) it's quite a lot. So I don't know what to do. Since it's a private association (not for profit, by the way) I feel like we could ask for a lower price, telling them that it's a bit steep for use of the beach for one hour. But I don't like bargaining with people. I'm not good at it and I give in too easily. I'd really like to tell him we could pay him $100 for the privilege of using the beach. That's what I had heard was the fee, and that is a respectable amount. But this new price...it's steep.

What would you do? Would you explain that you couldn't afford the donation price and ask if you could pay what you could? Or would you just not use that sight all together? Or do you have an alternate idea for me? We would really, really love to be married with our feet on the sand and the waves crashing in the background...

Beads

I used to make jewelry, did you know that? I could sit for hours upon hours stringing beads until I had so many necklaces I could barely wear them all. But then I stopped for some reason. I think it was because I moved to Florida and couldn't bring my stash of (antique) beads with me and after so many years of not beading, I just didn't miss it anymore.

Last year I made my sisters wedding veil which included tying each crystal onto the veil individually. And, while it was very tedious, I started thinking that I missed being creative like that. And yet, over the last year, I've only made one necklace and once bracelet.

Now that I have my wedding dress, I can start thinking about what type of jewelry I want to wear. I know, I know...it's still very far away. But, if you know me, you know that I LOVE planning things and I LOVE being prepared. So, if I can cross something off of my "list", I do. Even if other people think it's far too early.

I've always been the girl who likes funky jewelry and statement pieces, specifically necklaces. I don't very often wear delicate necklaces, actually. So it's only natural that when I began thinking of wedding jewelry, I knew I wanted something a little less traditional...and something a little...chunky. Oh, and it needs to sparkle. But that's a given, right?

In any case, I started looking online and came up with this necklace:

I completely 100% absolutely love it. And I would buy it today if only I knew if it would look nice with the dress. I've contacted the seller (it's an Etsy item) but haven't heard back-I want to know about the return policy. It's a little pricey, but I really do love it, and it's my wedding day...so I can splurge a little, right?

BUT...the other day Brian and I were shopping and I happened to stroll into the jewelry section and I found 3 bracelets made of crystals that were on clearance. My brain started turning and I decided to buy them because I think I'd like to make my own necklace!

I know that I can make it, I'm just not completely sure that I should. I mean, I know that I won't save any money by doing this. And it could potentially be stressful if it doesn't come out the way I want. And if I bought the Etsy necklace, I'd be supporting a small business, which I like.

But, it would be something creative I could work on to make the wedding more personal. And I DO already have lots of sparkly crystal beads. :) I think the real deciding factor will be if the seller writes back within the next couple of days. If she doesn't, I'm pretty sure I don't want to deal with her anyway...but if she does, and the return policy is written in such a way that I can return the necklace if it doesn't look right with my dress, then I might just go that route.

Decisions, decisions...