What's On Our Minds

This is Our Wedding Day

Wow! It's Here! It's the Wedding Day... I can't believe it.

By the way, I'm finally nervous. :-(

One more day

Oh my God! There is one day left before the wedding. I cannot believe it. 18 months went by so slowly and them boom 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1- Blast Off!

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm nervous.. Well, No! I'm not nervous. What is there to be nervous about? Okay.. so maybe we'll trip over each other's feet during the first dance. Or maybe I'll ramble on too much during the toasting session. 'Tis no matter.. It's our day. We can tromp all over the dance floor and ramble on for hours if we want. :-)

My only focus now is to try to slow down and enjoy the moment.

Word of the Day!

Jabberwocky \ja-ber-wa-ke\ n : meaningless speech or writing

I was so tired yesterday, I'm sure most of what I said was pure jabberwocky.

4 Days to Go!

Yesterday I was extremely tired the entire day. I'd barely slept the night before. I was supposed to pick up my dress from Macy's last night. John went to pick up my MOH so she could get hers too. He was running behind, so he didn't have time to pick up the marriage license.

We all get to Macy's and my dress isn't ready. All they had to do was steam it, but that didn't get done in the last TWO WEEKS my dress has been sitting there. Okay, I could have been home sleeping. Why couldn't they call me at work like they usually do? My MOH's dress wasn't finished either. My other bridesmaid Kristin had already been in the shop for her final fitting and agreed to come back Wednesday to get my dress for me (now she has to pick up mine, hers, and MOH's). This Macy's is very far from my house, and I was really ticked off that they expected me to make another trip.

Word of the Day!

Impromptu \im-'pram(p)-tu\ adj. *1: made, done, or formed on the spur of the moment: improvised 2: composed or uttered without previous preparation: extemporaneous

*Robyn hasn't decided whether or not to write out her wedding toast or give it impromptu.

5 Days to Go!

Final To Do List

- Write wedding speeches
- Pick up marriage license
- Fill out name change paper work
- Finish honeymoon packing
- Clean house
- Drop off ceremony and reception supplies on Wednesday
- Pay off reception on Wednesday
- Prepare wedding day payment envelopes
- Stop delivery of mail

Bridesmaid Brunch

Today I had a brunch for my wonderful bridesmaids. My sister couldn't make it, but the rest of us had a lovely time. I served scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, tuna and chicken salad finger sandwiches, fruit, croisants and cookies with orange juice and coffee.

Here are some pictures:

Word of the Day!

Dissemble \di-'sem-bel\ v *1: to hide (something) under a false appearance 2: to put on the appearance of :simulate *3: to conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense.

*Brides have to be careful about the wedding vendors they choose; some have been known to dissemble their service charges to make their prices seem lower.

8 Days to Go!

Yesterday, after all the blood test result (BTR) drama. John picked me up at 1:30 and we went to the Marriage License Bureau (first he had to stop at another office to get his BTR transferred to a blue card). It was all pretty simple despite the bureacratic junk they put you through.

Nevertheless, with all the traffic, we had to cancel our teeth cleaning appointments at the dental office. Crest Whitestrips, here I come.

Word of the Day!

Wallah \'wa-le\ n: a person identified by a specified line of work or service.

Robyn had a lot of trouble picking up her test results due to the inefficiency of certain medical wallahs that shall remain nameless.

Marriage License Drama

Okay, so DC requires a blood test to get a marriage license. You'd think this would be a simple thing. Call your doc, get the blood test, apply for your license. It has been nothing but simple for me.

Back in March I asked my doc what I needed to do for the blood test. Can you believe she said she didn't know, but they'd test my blood for whatever I wanted! Okay, fine. So John researches what we need done and I call for a referral. It's some answering machine you leave your info on. So I wait thinking the referral is in the works and five days later they call my voice mail and tell me I can't get a "PRENATAL" blood test without a doc's orders.

Okay, so by now it's April and I don't have another five days to wait. So I call and make an appt. with the doc, which I can't get for another week. When I go, she speaks to me for 2 seconds, takes my co-pay and writes a prescription for my blood test. So I troop off to a DC lab to get the bloodwork done. Should be simple, now all I have to do is pick up my results in 2 business days.

I call on Tuesday and they take my info and call back Wednesday. Tests are in. Cool, I say I'm coming to get them. Their Wednesday office hours are 8A-8P. I show up at 6 and they're CLOSED! We skipped dance practice so I could pick them up!

Now what? We wanted to get apply for the license today because there's a 5 day waiting period. So John says he'll stop by my doc's office and try to get them. I call this morning and tell them to give the results to my fiance. They say no, gotta sign a release. I say fax me the form. I get the form and it's long and drawn out. I rush to fill it out cause John is at their door. Send it back WITHOUT SIGNING IT! So I fax it again.

No word from John for an hour... then he calls me back. THEY CAN'T FIND YOUR CHART! Come back later. I'm losing it at this point. Finally he goes back an hour later (now he can't go to work because he was waiting on them) and the results were at the front desk the WHOLE TIME!

It's been a very stressful morning, but if all goes well, John will pick me up at work this afternoon and we'll apply for our marriage license.

Word of the Day!

Palaver \pe-'la-ver\ n. *1: a long parley: discussion, conference 2a: idle talk b: misleading or beguiling speech

*Our photographer called to request a palaver to discuss the wedding time line.

11 Days to Go!

Yesterday evening I met Monette (friend that's helping with details) and Allie (Wyndham Coordinator) at the hotel to see the layout. They're upgrading their system so she still doesn't have any diagrams of the space for us. We went through everything and it sounds like it's going to be wonderful.

Word of the Day!

Artless \'art-les\ adj 1: lacking art, knowledge, or skill 2a: made without skill: crude b: free from artificiality: natural 3: free from guile or craft: sincere

Since I'm new to scrapbooking, I'm afraid my first attempt will appear artless to those who are veterans of the craft.

12 Days to Go!

Saturday was my bachelorette party. My MOH planned it and wanted to keep me in the dark about the agenda. I showed up to her house at five pm, where two of my friends joined us. From there we went to the Olive Garden, my favorite restaurant. Two more of my friends met us there. They put a little "Bachelorette on the Loose" tiara on me, gave me a wand that said Good Girl/Bad Girl and some beads, one with a Hottie Whistle and the other with a plastic shot glass on the end.

We had a nice dinner, then we went back to the house to drop off some of the cars. We took a few pictures, then went to the Baltimore Harbor to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. We had fun just enjoying the girl time.

Word of the Day!

Solecism \SAH-luh-sih-zum\ noun 1: an ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence; also: a minor blunder in speech 2: something deviating from the proper, normal, or accepted order *3: a breach of etiquette or decorum.

*Not sending back your response card and then showing up at the wedding is considered a solecism in most circles.

14 Days to Go!

Yesterday was my day off, but it didn't really feel like it. I got up at 6:30 AM so John and I could run all the way to DC to get our blood tests for our marriage licenses. Then on the way home from that, I had to stop and get re-measured for my rehearsal dinner dress alterations because the new seamstress didn't like the way the original seamstress pinned the dress.

After that my sister came over and we went to have our hair done. We had a nice time visiting, but the appointments took hours and hours. She had to rush home to pick up her daughter as soon as it was over and I went home to take a nap.

Today is my bachelorette party! I don't know what we're doing except that it involves me bringing an overnight bag. I think it's a slumber party! Woo-hoo!

Cute Survey

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
"Cara"--he let her name slide from his lips like molas-
Promise Me, by ME!

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
My glass of water

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Mad About You (on Tivo this morning)

4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:
9:10 AM

5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
9:22 AM

6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My radio, outside traffic, co-workers in the hallways

7: When did you last step outside?
This morning when I got off the Metro

8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?
Wedding Channel

9: What are you wearing?
Hot pink button down shirt and black pants

10: Did you dream last night?
I can't remember any dreams right now

11: When did you last laugh?
This morning watching a Mad About You rerun

12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A clock, two framed pictures of flowers, two framed pictures of butterflies, two Ann Geddes pictures, on collage photo frame, a list of proofreader's marks, a bulletin board and a white board.

13: Seen anything weird lately?
A homeless man screaming about politics at the Metro station

14: What do you think of this quiz?
It's unique

15: What is the last film you saw?
It's been a while since the theater... the last movie I saw on cable was Biker Boyz

16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
I'd pay off all my outstanding debt then buy a house for my mom.

17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
I took my driving test 5 times.

18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I'd make war nonexistent.

19: Do you like to dance?
I love it!

20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nut case or some one who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?
Uh, power-crazy nutcase, for sure!

21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Danielle

22: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him.
Probably Michael

23: Would you ever consider living abroad?
Probably not

24: Will you pass on this survey?
Sure

Word of the Day!

Daedal \'de-del\ adj. 1a: skillful, artistic *b:intricate 2: adorned with many things

*Robyn hopes the Wyndham Hotel is able to keep up with her daedal table settings.

17 Days to Go!

Last night I met with a friend who's going to help me coordinate the details on the wedding day. She's actually an online friend from the Ultimate Wedding web site. We went over some details, and she's taking the job so seriously that she wants to meet at the hotel to see the layout. I'm so fortunate that she's willing to do this for me.

18 Days to Go!

Yay, I have the final head count! Woo-hoo! Including John and me, we'll have a 110 people at the wedding = 105 guests + 3 vendors + bride and groom.

Yesterday was my FINAL fitting. The dress looks so beautiful. The seamstress did an excellent job. My Matron of Honor feels comfortable tying the bustle because she says it's like hers was. She looked adorable in the bridesmaid dress. She's about 5 months pregnant now and the dress looks gorgeous in person. Dagnabit, I forgot my camera again so we'll all just have to wait for the wedding day pictures.

Word of the Day!

Seder \'sa-der\ n: a Jewish home or community service including a ceremonial dinner held on the first or first and second evenings of the Passover in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt.

Since my friend ate dinner with me last night, she didn't have a seder with her family.

Word of the Day!

Taciturn \'ta-se-tern\ adj: disinclined to talk: laconic

When Robyn asked John why he didn't change any of the clocks in the house for Day-Light Savings time, he became very taciturn.

19 Days to Go!

This weekend was very productive. Friday night John and I went shopping and we bought some clothes and shoes for the honeymoon. We also got a lot of the wedding things that I'd ordered in the mail.

Saturday we ended up not going to see the Cherry Blossoms, so we went shopping again. We went to a shoe store and I bought backup sandals and a matching purse. Then we stopped at Old Navy and I went nuts buying more clothes for the honeymoon.

Sunday, I was very tired and spent some time just slacking in bed and watching movies on cable. I managed to go the entire day without realizing it was Day-Light Savings Time!

So this morning my alarm goes off and I see the cable box says it's 7:00 AM! My alarm clock says 6 AM! I get up and start questioning John. He knew it was DLS time but changed NOT ONE clock in the house. He didn't say a word and I had NO CLUE.

Needless to say, I was an hour and a half late for work and extreemly ticked off about it.

Today is my final gown fitting!

Word of the Day!

Pukka \'pe-ke\ adj:genuine, authentic; also: *first-class

*Robyn hopes her guests are impressed by the pukka reception she's planning for them.

22 Days to Go!

Last night John and I went to practice our first dance. There were a lot of people at the studio, so we practiced without music for the most part. We didn't want to disturb the other dancers. Toward the end we tried to run through it with the song, but I felt self-conscious with all the other people there, so it didn't go too well. We're going to try going once a week until the wedding.

I was so tired by the time we got home. I had just enough time to watch Survivor and The Apprentice before I crashed.

Tomorrow we hope to stop by the Cherry Blossom Festival. It's been so rainy the last few days, I'm not sure if the weather will clear up.

Word of the Day!

Expedite \'ek-spe-dit\ v: to carry out promptly; also: to speed up

I need to simplify my scrapbook layouts so I can expedite the completion of my guest book.

23 Days to Go!

I'm so excited that we've finally reached the wedding month. I saw a friend I haven't seen in a while at the train station today, and I realized just how long we've been planning. I'm ready to have it come so we can move on with the rest of our lives together.

We had a wonderful dinner for John's dad's birthday last night. I love John's family so much and I feel so blessed to be joining them.

I feel like there's suddenly so much to do. Even though I've been working on things a little at a time. I can actually feel the deadlines creeping up on me.

Today we're going to the dance studio to practice our first dance. We never made it last week, so we're bound to be very rusty.