So. It is starting to feel like we hit the ground running with this whole wedding thing. Last Saturday was the crux, really -- having finally signed the hall contract, we were in town (and in Metrotown, no less) where we, in quick succession, purchased Steve's suit (which he can wear to my work's Christmas party) and our wedding rings, as well as registering at the Bay. I've also ordered darling cake toppers -- ok, things to be reworked to be cake toppers -- and Sandol Stoddard's "I like you" from eBay. Oh, and did I mention my sparkly headbands came in and they're wonderful?
That's how I know I'm becoming a bride -- sparkly headbands no longer fill me with an urge to simultaneously laugh and hurl. Now I go "awwwwwwwww" and try them on. Again.
Getting the rings was a relatively easy process. We wandered very unenthusiastically around a few jewellery stores, then saw the place where our second-choice engagement ring was. We went right over, were greeted politely, helped immediately, tried on, loved and bought. Our rings are pretty much exactly as above: Steve's is 5mm and mine is 4mm but they are identical in every other way, which was Steve's only real stipulation. Plain and "I want us to match." It actually ended up really sweet: we wanted to do something really nice with Grandma's Christmas money so that we could write her about the buying experience, and we wanted to buy rings so... and it will be very nice to write a thank-you to her describing how meaningful her present was. The other nice thing is that her and my Grandpa had a lovely relationship which lasted really 'until death [did them] part' -- we can only hope to be so lucky. Except not with one of us dead.
Steve's suit was equally as easy. We stopped by a shop where the suits didn't look polyester from fifty paces and took a look. The first suit the saleswoman brought would have been the one we bought except that it was a 'tall' and Steve isn't quite as tall as he looks. She brought a normal size and sold! The WOOL suit was on sale already and they threw in a shirt, tie, socks and leather belt. The bonus was that they had very sharp shoes for $29.99 down from $95.00. Holy sale, batman!
The Bay didn't go quite as smoothly -- Steve thought you signed up then shopped online... not so much. The magazines (bridal porn) describe the registering process as the part grooms are most likely to enjoy. After all, it's just running around a store pointiing a gun-like object at barcodes on items you would never ordinarily think of purchasing. Sounds manly, right? Did I mention Steve hates shopping? Ah well. Maybe next time.
As I write this, it is Friday night and I have taken over Di's computer. I blog; they make astonishingly beautiful music. Right now they are playing Balteorum (15th C. Irish) and I love it. Recessional, mmmm?
A few minutes ago, Mary and Erynn were teasing Steve about his shiny new shoes -- his wedding shoes, which he wore because he was supposed to do a gig tonight (and forgot to remove the stickers from) -- just as I was writing about purchasing them. It was an interesting meta-fiction/meta-life moment.
I also chatted with Tracy earlier in the week -- hey! Happy Birthday to my mum! -- and we got to do what I'd been wanting to do for so long -- gush over dresses. Even on the phone, looking online, it was wonderful fun. Alex likes the brown silk best, and Lisa likes both the brown and the pink. They both (independently) like this wrap shirt:
With a more a-line skirt like this one, which is one of the contenders for the top I would wear with the skirt like this:
But I also like these dresses, too, though in floor-length a-line:
I am going to see if they can add sleeves to these designs, and that poor, single, lonely, traditional bone is demanding that I wear white. Which is fine. Did I mention that I got sparkly headbands?
What else happened... We spent last weekend (less shopping trip) with Steve's parents, which was lovely. The look on Gayle's face when I showed her the rings was wonderful. Her face lit up and she said "looking at them makes it seem so REAL" which is exactly what I felt when I looked at them on our hands. I think I'm most looking forward to how Steve's hand with that beautiful ring on it will look on the neck of his mandolin: the white gold against the dark wood, on my beloved's hand.
We decorated John & Gayle's tree, which reminds me that we need to get ours next week and set it up. I don't know where any of my decorations are (Kaslo?), so I picked up a few pretty ones to go with Steve's motley collection. We're going to have an open house on Twelfth Night (January 6), so we need to put it up late enough that it won't be naked sticks and a pile of needles on the carpet by the day of the party.
I'm looking forward to having our first tree. Along with our first... well, everything :-)
Did I mention Crete? THIS is why I need to do entries more often! We had originally been thinking of doing a drive 'round the Rockies for our honeymoon in October. We realized it wasn't going to be as cheap as we hoped, considering the cost of lodges, even in the off-season. When that lightning struck, we thought of our other options. We initially thought about Central/South American, then Morrocco, Turkey and then... Crete! Which is apparently pretty cheap by Europe standards, and if possible we'll take a few days in Turkey at one end or the other. I've always wanted to go to Turkey, but even by my somewhat-foolhardy standards, going as a woman alone seemed downright stupid. Now I'll have the protection of my husband's (!) name.
It's very exciting, as I've never travelled anywhere, and Steve has gone just about everywhere -- except Europe. We'll still go in October, when it's the off-season. Oh my!
I also have been in contact with potential caterers; I'm expecting menus any time now.
On a sadder note, Steve's cat Bean isn't well. She's been all listless for about a week; we thought it was her sulking at the snow, but we gradually realized she wasn't eating much and was looking sore when she went to walk or jump. She's not a very sociable cat, so it took some time to grasp her condition, which of course makes us feel guilty. The vet gave her an antibiotic shot and some cortisone this afternoon, and we're to take her back in tomorrow to see if that's made a difference -- which will determine the next course of events. Sad!
She has had a nice long life: she's eaten lots of small defenceless animals and houseplants, jumped amazing distances, soaked up lots of sun, and danced with raccoons. Hopefully she'll be ok, but if not, she didn't miss out on anything life had to offer. I just hope Steve is ok too. He loves Bean a lot. And I love him. And Bean, except when she scratches me.
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