Movement

The wedding dress

Here’s a few pics (as promised) of the fabric and patterns on my future wedding outfit:

This is the pattern on the dress.

This is in the dupatta.

This is from the bottom of the dress…I won’t have as much work on mine…it’ll be about 11 inches on the border and then a small pattern from their up to the top of the skirt.

This is what the top will look like, though longer!

Happy 2007!

Hope everyone has a wonderful new year! I’ll be spending the evening with my guy, just hanging out, watching how the rest of the world will be celebrating. I like that.

There’s lots going on in 2007 - getting married, the honeymoon, another year in England…perhaps even getting pregnant? Yup, it’ll be a big one irregardless!

Home again, home again, lickity split

I’m back!

I got to Newark Airport very, very early as dad & step-mom wanted to visit some friends in the evening. But the good news is that I as first in line…and as I had checked in online, I truly was first to get to the desk. There they offered me an upgrade to Premium Economy for only $75. And yes, I took it. Much nicer for an over-night flight. I still didn’t sleep well (I’m horrid on planes), but enjoyed the trip a lot more.

R. came to pick me up from the airport along with two friends and we all headed into W. Hampstead for breakfast. Mmmmm.

So here I sit now, having eaten my favorite burgers from Gourmet Burger Kitchen (I only had half a burger to be somewhat healthy)…and I’m so happy to be home with my love!

We were planning on having a party, but I think we’ll just be sitting in our place on our own…relaxing and sipping champers…a lovely New Year’s Eve.

Goodbye…until April

Today I leave to go back to the UK. It’s been so hectic and busy the past few days that I just didn’t have time to post. Mostly family stuff but also wedding things too…

I’ve met with the event coordinator at my ceremony/reception site. I think it’s going to be a great place to have this wedding. The plan is to have a tent outside next to the river…with it will come the heating lamps (just in case). If the weather is good then we can have the sides up and have the beginnings of drinks as well…we’ll see. We don’t need the tent, it would just be nice. I’ll see how my budget looks.

I’ve gotten most of the invitations ready and they should go out by the end of the week or so…early I know, but with me living overseas I have to be a bit more organized. Plus lots of people will have to start planning now for flights (I have to get ours, in fact!). The invitations were a nightmare - couldn’t get a printer to work and the other one made the envelopes look horrid. So I had to drop them off (the US ones) to a printer. I did all the stuffing of the inner envelopes, so all my sis-in-law (who is taking over this job) needs to do is stuff them into the outer envelope and put on the pretty stamps and send them.

I’ve celebrated a birthday (yesterday) with lots of food and worry about the weight of my suitcases (I’ll have to spend $100 on sending some stuff home, which is annoying!).

I spent time with my grandmother who is 91.

Christmas was lovely and crazy and family. We laughed, yelled, rolled our eyes, but ultimately just loved spending time with each other (and the food was awesome!).

It’s been worth it to come home. Overall it’s been good. Stressful (with some tears) but good.

And now I’m off to the UK once again, not to return until the week before my wedding (in April)…and happily will see my honey tomorrow morning. I can’t wait.

‘Tis the season

Happy Holidays!

I’m off with my dad to pick up my grandmother (Nanny) from the nursing home. She’s wheelchair bound so two of us are needed. Then my bro & sis-in-law will come over with little baby, Ryan.

Of course, most of the pressies are for Ryan…children are what Christmas is all about (at least the consumer side). He won’t have any clue this year and probably the next, regarding what this is all about…but soon he’ll be the one waking up mommy & daddy on Christmas morning.

I wish everyone a peaceful day…I know it can be a tough time of the year for those with and without family obligations. But know that there is someone out there in cyber space who wishes you the best!

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! (or any other holiday you are celebrating this season!)

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almost 3pm:

IT’S SNOWING!!!! ON CHRISTMAS!!!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled show…

Busy, busy, busy

Wednesday:
My final big day of wedding planning…and boy was I busy!

At 10am I went to talk to the salon about a hair/makeup trial, nails for the girls & moi and then the time for my wedding hair & makeup. It didn’t take long. They were trying to sell massages and the like…but that’s what I have my honey for!

Then I ran to the florist and put down a deposit as well as showed her pics of my dress and gave her a bit of the fabric I had for colours. She thought it was gorgeous (it is…ya gotta trust me here).

And on to the jeweler. I picked everything out, asked for our wedding date to be put on the inside of the rings and paid for it all. And best of all - IT CAME UNDER BUDGET!!!! Happy day!

I spent some time with Catie & Ryan, and then went back to cook diner for the ‘rents. I used one of my new cookbooks (love them)…and made fish & chips with mushy peas. I thought I’d bring a bit of England to them. And it worked. The fish was crispy outside & tender inside, the chips were fully cooked (thick cut french fries) and the mushy peas were nice and creamy with bits of pea all throughout. Mmmmmm! Yummy. We then proceeded to eat tons of cookies. While not good for the waistline, it was perfect for my taste buds!

The next few days are a blur of running around, doing a lot of shopping (needed a new suitcase to fit everything!) and eating & drinking lots of food. Nothing much went on in terms of wedding stuff, other than to pick up the matting we’ll use for the wedding guest signage.

Today we went to church in the morning, followed by a small tea in the annex. Saw lots of people I haven’t seen since I was very much younger. And then on to see my Nanny (grandma) in the nursing home. She’s 91 and doing okay, though not as well as she’d like. I hope she’s okay for my wedding as I’d love to have her there. She’s coming over for Christmas dinner tomorrow.

We’ll be having a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner this afternoon, followed by another round of church. As a non-religious person it’s a bit much…but it is tradition, so I’ll go along!

Happy Holidays!

Lady in red…

A bit more about Sunday (cause I get my days all mixed up):
Went shopping for wedding stuff with my friends, J. & N.. J is my maid of honor and we’ve been friends since we were around 7. N. has been an off and on friend…not cause of anything bad, but more just losing touch. We’ve gotten closer in the past few years. J lives in Colorado and N lives in NEPA, so it’s always fun to get us together.

We went to try to find accessories for the ceremony and reception. It’s always fun to see what you can find. We tried out Michael’s (craft shop), Bed Bath & Beyond, and some home furnishing store that I can’t remember at this time (darn getting old). I had seen someone on a wedding website do something a bit different for the wedding guests to sign other than a guest book…they had the guests sign matting (the stuff inside the frame) which has a picture of the couple in the middle. That way guests could both sign their name and also write a little note. So I went and bought a HUGE mat with a cut-out for a pic. R & I will pick out the frame after the wedding. I also found a rug/throw to use under the mandap which is a multitude of different colours. I think it’ll look cool (especially since we may be making this thing ourselves!).

We had a great time, ate a fun lunch…yeah, it’s great to have time to bond with old friends.

Now on to other days….

Tuesday:
It’s the big day. The day that I find my Indian outfit. I’m both excited and nervous…what if I don’t find anything I like? What if nothing looks good? What if I love something and it’s too expensive? I guess all the things that normally go through most brides minds.

We (step-mom & me) headed to the Little India of New Jersey…about a 2-1/2 hour drive away. This is a big commitment ya know! We spent some time just walking around to get a lay of the land and discovered that there was basically one road where the main shops were located. We went into the first store. A woman comes up to us and I tell her what I’m looking for. I know there were some very nice looking things that she didn’t bother to pull out. Just a few things that looked and fitted horribly. She wasn’t very responsive and seemed to want to serve the Asian customers instead. I tried on two things and just left. I felt like I had been in the Dress Nazi’s store and she told me “No dress for you!”.

We then went into store number two. A bit more promising. Once again she kept pulling out the lesser dresses. I swear I could see more expensive ones that were more like what I wanted, but at least the dresses she pulled out where pretty. I tried on one lehnga choli that was a dusty pink with a creamy gold embroidery on it. Very lovely. I could see that it was something I’d like. So I had option number one. I think she was disappointed when we left.

Then we got to store number three. It looked like a very high end store. The woman greeted me and I let her know what I was looking for. She then asked me what my budget was…which I took as a good sign. I wish I had taken a picture of all the lehngas that she had on the shelves. It was amazing. And then she started pulling out dress after dress. And they were gorgeous. Reds, pinks, oranges…stunning colours and beadwork. But it was the first one that she pulled out that stuck with me. It was a bright lipstick red (Chanel red), a blue-red red. There was an amazing amount of beadwork. Now the lady told me that I could not afford that dress. (which was true…it was almost twice my budget). But as they were designers, she could get me a lehnga in that style or colour or whatnot for my budget. So I tried it on. And it was stunning. Knocked my socks off. Step-mom almost began to cry. Yup, this was the one. There was no more need to go shopping. This was it. So we began the compromising…and it meant that the dress I’d have would have less beadwork (which was fine as I found the original beadwork a touch overdone), the choli (top part) would be longer (I didn’t want to show off my tummy thank you very much) and it would be A-line. Yippee! I had my dress.

As we drove back home, Ev asked me about the white dress. What were my thoughts on it now. And ya know what? I don’t even want to wear the white one. This red dress will blow it away. There’s no need for the white dress. Not a bit. So it’s gonna go back on Ebay. I only spent $35 so who cares! While it’s a pretty dress (worth much more than $35 I’ll tell you), it can’t compare to my new lehnga choli in red. I’m gonna look good!

More later!

Ring around a rosey…or is it gerberas?

Sunday:
Sunday was a day of rest. I refused the offer to go to church as I got very little sleep. My dog, who I had given to my brother & sister-in-law, was staying with dad & step-mom while her family was visiting. So I got to spend some quality time with my lovely yellow lab, Amber. Unfortunately, Amber is not a calm sleeper at night and kept me up for hours. Still…it was worth it for the furry snuggle.

Amber was a rescue dog. I applied to get her and went to the house where she was staying. The family had tried to keep her, but due to not doing enough training and having both an under 2 year old dog, a 2 year old child and a newborn, Amber was out of control. So I took her on. She got the works - one-on-one training with this amazing guy for eight weeks, life on a boarding school where she could run to her hearts content. Yup, she was a lucky dog. And by the time I moved, she was well trained and a bit more mature…so my bro got a lovely animal.

During the day, I just read and read and read. I didn’t want to do a thing. I was a bit jet lagged. I did go out to dinner with my mom at a lovely restaurant. Yummy calamari & a fishcake plus all the desert you could eat (crazy). And it was nice to have some time with her just one-on-one. We made plans for the next day to go wedding ring shopping.

Monday:
I went with my step-mom to meet with the florist I had chosen. Dad and step-mom had used them with great results so I figured why not. The only other florist I wanted to check out was already booked for that weekend, so I just went with Matterns. And it was fun. I decided to use gerbera daisies for the bouquets and ceremony, roses for the guys & moms and usherettes. I’ll have reds and yellows and pinks…a mishmosh of colour! It’ll be purty. And it was within my budget. Now I just have to figure out how to make a mandap…

In the afternoon I went and hung out a bit with my nephew (the cutest boy ever) and then took mom with me while we went ring shopping. I found the best jeweler ever. He designs and makes his own rings. He came up with an idea that will fit perfectly with my engagement ring and within my budget (actually less than my budget…yeah!)…but I wanted to check other places out so didn’t place the order yet. The second place we saw was horrid. That’s all I have to say. And we were done by then. I was pooped. It was time to go back for dinner with dad and step-mom.

Tuesday to come….

Arrivals

Hi! Yup, I’m here in the USA. It’s been quite a trip, I have to say…I’m still a bit tired…my mind is not quite up for the time change…but overall - I’m loving it!

I arrived in Newark about 1/2 hour late. Poor dad, having to wait for me to arrive. But c’est la vie. We drove to NEPA in his new car (comfy) and decided that since I was on overdrive (second wind or more), we might as well stop by my brother & sister-in-law’s place to greet the new baby. Well…let me tell you that Ryan is cuter in person. He’s still sleeping and eating more than anything else. Then again, he is only a week or so old! I got to see the humorous situation that baby boys get themselves into - aka…the ‘in the air pee’. Yup, boys when they are babies, end up peeing in the air pretty much whenever you take off their diaper. My sis-in-law, C., forgot to cover this up one time while I was there and the geiser erupted. She was in a state of giggles (it’s still funny), while poor Ryan was crying his eyes off (it was cold having someone take off all his clothing). I got to hold him after (in his new warm clothing) and it was heaven!

The following day was my bridal shower. It was awesome! We went to a ‘tea room’ in the area. It was pretty much newly opened and so very few people even knew of its existence. There were a lot of impressed guests. We started off picking out the hats that we wanted to wear - well, I was given a ‘bridal’ hat so I didn’t get to choose. And then the pictured commenced. I have to say that I am the goofy one in all the pics! And if anyone sends one to me, then I’ll post it. I don’t mind making fun of myself…

We had tea, scones, sarnies, soup and desert. It was fab. And of course, there was the prerequesit opening of the presents. Now, let me tell you, I don’t usually mind being the center of attention. But this whole sitting in front of women and announcing who got you what - it was my own private version of hell. I didn’t let anyone else know this, but it was bad. But I got through it was some very yummy gifts. From cook books to a nativity scene to a frying pan to a few bits of moolah…yeah, it was nice. And I guess worth the embarrassment!

Well…that’s it for now. There will be more on wedding stuff to come…happy holidays!

Flying

I head out today for the States. 7 hours in cattle class. Never a fun journey, but it is one I’m looking forward to. Dad is picking me up from the airport. Yeah! And then we drive a few hours to get home.

Not sure if I’ll be able to blog from my dad’s computer…the connection and system is a bit iffy…but I’ll try. I’ll have tons to talk about with all my wedding meetings going on.

So…in 4 hours, I’ll be off…goodbye England, hello USA!