WE WON! WE WON!

The opening game of Duke football was last night in Wallace Wade Stadium. Lauren scored a few free tickets through the Duke Employee Appreciation Night, so I jumped on the band wagon and went along. I am so glad I did. The guys really did a great job. Welcome, Coach Cut, and congratulations Duke football!!!!

Our East Campus Tailgate


The team reflecting before the game, and the first stop on "Devil's Walk"


Excited Dukies


The long awaited start of the game (88 minute rain delay)


DO YOU SEE THAT????


YAY! (me, Lauren, Amy)

While the cat's away, the mice will....get culture?

I had a nice chance to chat with Mike this morning, and it appears that the school interviews are going well. He had three yesterday, will have four today and three more on Saturday. Mike is a natural people person, so it seems his interviews are not just going well but are fairly enjoyable. I'm glad he is going into today with such a good experience yesterday.

While Mike continues on his job search, I am here in Durham doing my thing. Last night was Thirsty Thursday, our weekly tradition. I meet up with Cookie, Lauren, Neil, and last night Marty joined us, too. We start at the Fed with $1.50 PBRs then usually head to the Joyce. Last night we decided to switch it up and head over to Satty's to cap off the evening. That was a great time as always.

Tonight, I am heading over to the Common Ground Theatre in Durham to check out "Performance Art Night VI." When Lauren, Cookie and I were at the Forever Duke event on Monday evening, we met a nice guy who happens to be one of the artists performing. He gave us an invite to check out the show, so Lauren and I are going to have a date night with Mexican food and performance art! The Indy described the show like this:

And now for, as they say, something completely different. Common Ground Theatre's sixth episode of "Performance Art Night," presented by Verynormal Productions, follows in the previous episodes' traditions of apes, yoga, cross-dressing geishas, dance, group poetry, head shaving and more. This particular presentation features Rus Hames, Catherine Overman, Jonathan Blackwell, Phyllis Wiley, Gabriel Sexton and Tony Hughes, along with a special screening of Jeffrey Moore's short film What the Frock? The 12-minute short, which recently screened at the N.C. Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, tells of a recently deceased drag queen's last request to be buried in a dress and pearls, with much hilarity ensuing. The emceed event is performed in a cabaret style, with an emphasis on performers talking directly to the audience. Tickets for this popular event, which starts at 8 p.m., are free on a first-come first-serve basis, though donations are accepted. Drinks and snacks are available at the performance. For more information, visit www.cgtheatre.com or call 417-1445.

It should be an experience! I'll update you on it all later. Ciao, folks, and have a great weekend!

The beginning of "the beginning"??

Mike got up at 3:30am this morning to finish packing his bag. Today he is off to Boston for the annual American Political Science Association (APSA) meeting. Mike has been attending this meeting for a good chunk of his academic training, so attendance at the shindig is no new thing. But what makes this year's participation different is that this year he is on the job market. All the years past, he has tried to ease the minds of friends and colleagues going through the process and wandered through the lobbies and hallways to watch the meetings taking place between school and hopeful PhD candidate. This year though, it is he who will be in the interview chair.

Luckily, the market looks pretty decent for American Politics scholars this year, so here's to hoping he has a fighting chance at landing a decent gig for the next few years. He has 9 or 10 mini interviews set up for his 4 day stay in Boston, many of which are amazing liberal arts schools all over the country. Both Mike and I are excited at the propsective list of schools he's talking to right now. For the sake of confidentiality, I won't name them here, but let's just say that some pretty great schools are in the mix. Any one of them would be lucky to have Mike on their faculty.

I started with Self-Help almost one year ago, and at my time of hiring I promised I would stay about two years. Therefore, the timing works out perfectly that if Mike gets placed at a school for the 09-10 school year, my time will have run out at Self-Help (they are already worried about me leaving but know that next year will probably be my last). That means that both Mike and I are ready for the next phase. And after this weekend, we may get a few more leads on what that phase may be like! I'll keep you posted!

Oh - and yes, Mike flew out at 6am and made it into Boston with no problem. He sent me this lovely photo to see what I'm missing (I was banned going to the conference with him this year since he will be so busy with interviews, etc).


Good luck, Mike. Just be your awesome self, and they will love you!

"Songs from the Hog Vigil"

A friend at work left this for me on my desk - it was an article cut out of the Neuse River Keepers Summer newsletter. Earlier this summer, there was a 51 hour vigil at the state capitol in response to legislation (or lack thereof) around hog farms. These are the lyrics to one of the vigil's songs. It isn't going to win a Grammy, but it makes some great points!

Song written by Rick Dove. Song should be sung to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm"

Swine producers have big farms
E I E I O
And on those farms they have lagoons
E I E I O
Lagoons over here, lagoons over there
Here's one, there's one
Everywhere you see one
Swine producers have big farms
E I E I O

Swine lagoons they make us sick
E I E I O
That bad odor will get you quick
E I E I O
The bad smells are here, the bad smells are there
Here it stinks, there it stinks
Everywhere you go it stinks
Swine lagoons they make us sick
E I E I O

Swine waste sprayed is poop and pee
E I E I O
It gets sprayed, oh even on me
E I E I O
They spray it in the day, they spray it in the night
In wind and rain, with all their might
Poop and pee is sprayed on me
E I E I O

Swine producers smell only money
E I E I O
To them that money don't smell funny
E I E I O
The poop stinks here, the money's there
We get the poop, they get the loot
Swine producers just smell money
E I E I O

Swine poop it kills lots of fish
E I E I O
Fish that are dying can't be frying
E I E I O
With a dead fish here and a dead fish there
Kill one, another one, from a million to a billion
Swine poop kills lots and lots of fish
E I E I O

Swine men say they love their pigs
E I E I O
Cute little things, lots of money they bring
E I E I O
Locked in a cage, no light or fresh air
Misery, misery everywhere
They suffer, suffer with no one to care
Oh my what those pigs have to bear
E I E I O

The Honeymoon

Here's our collection of pictures from the honeymoon - the most dramatic of those photos coming from our hike on Grandfather Mountain. The full hike took us about five hours from start to finish. We did the full Profile Trail, the Calloway Gap Trail and one other which I am currently forgetting. We did a little over 7 miles in that 5 hours, but let me tell you - the inclines on the Profile Trail are WOW. As we tackled the steeper and steeper switchbacks near the top of the mountain, I said some not so nice things to nature when I would see that yes, the next incline actually IS steeper than the last. I never would have made it through without the encouragement from my husband!

Saturday: The conclusion

My Dad drives a lovely red Seabring convertible, so he drove Mike and I from the Nelson Music Room over to the reception site – Alivia’s Durham Bistro. Since I didn’t mention much about the planning process on the blog (I wanted to keep some stuff hush hush til the wedding, let me say a bit about our reception location. Mike and I often play trivia, as so many of you know, and a lot of our friends happen to hang out at the James Joyce. And luckily, the wonderful owners of the Joyce think we are pretty cool people too. Therefore, with the help of Mr. Sholtz, one of the owners, we were able to hold our reception at Alivia’s Durham Bistro, another of their ventures. Jason shut down Alivia’s to the public for us so we could have an awesome slammin reception. Thank you, Jason, for everything!

Our awesome cake - www.simplycakesnc.com

Anyway, we get to Alivia’s and jump out of the car. I think someone was supposed to announce our arrival, but I am not totally sure that actually happened! Not a big deal. Alivia’s looked stunning. Courtney and Fay did an amazing job getting the place put together, and Mike and I were absolutely in awe. As soon as we arrived, guests were already raving to us about the food. “It is so good!” nearly everyone said. We had a menu of heavy hors d’oeuvres. Grilled asparagus – some wrapped in prosciutto, bruschetta, spinach salad with candied pecans, fresh fruit, cheeses, steak kabobs, chicken kabobs and veggie kabobs. Hummus and veggies. Another form of bruschetta. Just an amazing spread. It was fresh, delicious and just amazing. If you haven’t eaten at Alivia’s yet, I highly suggest you do so. Their chef, Carlos, does a bang up job. Fantastic.

The bar was set up outside in the beer booth, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Mike and I put together a “happy hour” mix of music, and everyone seemed to be enjoying that, too! The reception was such a blur, so you will have to excuse me if the last chunk of the wedding is described in total generalities. We hugged people, we talked to people, we caught up, we said hello and thank you, we said goodbyes and wished we would have had more time. The distances people traveled was amazing. Their generosity and good tidings were unmatched by anything I have ever seen. We eventually made our way outside for some toasts (hilarious and moving toasts), then the “party” got started. We put on our dance mix and the dance floor was jumping! Everyone was out there – well everyone, but Mike and I – the whole greeting people thing takes up a decent amount of the reception. There are some great photos out there of the reception. Just awesome wonderful fun photos.

Listening to the toasts!

A conga line? I had no idea.

Eventually, people started saying goodbye. I remembered thinking, “hmmm, maybe this isn’t as awesome as I thought. Everyone seems to be leaving early.” Then I asked someone what time it was – nearly 11pm. Ummm, we were scheduled to leave at 10:30pm! So much for the timeline, right??? It was time for us to go shortly after 11pm. Mike and I were tired, and it was time for Alivia’s to be opened up to the public. We threw the bouquet and the garter, then we said all of our goodbyes before we were escorted to our super secret “wedding night” location. Stefan drove us to our destination – amazingly, the girls had all put together a great night for us at the Washington Duke Inn. We had a goody basket of snacks, drinks, and champagne. Just amazing. It was a wonderful, wonderful way to end the night. Thank you, ladies!!!

Lauren and Stefan got us tucked into the room, and like so many couples…..we went right to sleep. It had been such an exciting and emotional day. We needed some sleep. And the beds at the WaDu, covered in about 20 pillows and 500 thread count sheets were just too awesome to pass up. We were out in a matter of minutes!!!!!

THE NEXT DAY

The next day, we managed to get up and out of the room before the 11am checkout time. We headed home to hold an informal meet and greet at the house – that way we could see folks who were in from out of town and about to leave. It also gave us a chance to open gifts, sit back and relax. We had about three waves of people come through, which was amazing. We managed to trash the house with the amount of wrapping paper and boxes accumulated with the gifts. Craziness. In fact, Mike and I actually got rather overwhelmed with the generosity of our family and friends. We have since cleaned out our kitchen of older items, and a full kitchen of stuff is on its way to charity.

Scout, with his newfound freedom, helped us unwrap gifts.

Opening more presents!

That evening, we met my Mom, my Dads and my Aunt out for some dinner and drinks. After that, it was time to say goodbye to the last of the family. It was sad but joyful at the same time. We all had a wonderful time, and it was difficult to leave it in the past. But alas, time requires we move forward. We paid our final bill at Alivia’s then took off for home. Later that night, Mike and I packed our stuff up for the honeymoon. We were leaving the next morning.

MONDAY

Monday morning we got up super early to take Miss Allie to the vet. We made the very tough decision to finally have her declawed.* She constantly beat up the other cats, and poor Scout was too afraid to even leave our bedroom. Buddy’s anxiety got even worse, and Miss Allie thought that her reign of terror was the most fun she had ever had. We just had to even up the odds. We dropped Allie off at our awesome vet, Triangle Veterinary Hospital, and they assured us all would be well. They even promised to call us as soon as she was out of surgery.

Mike and I headed back home to load up the car and get ready to head out. About an hour after being home, we got a call from the vet, Dr. Miller. “She’s all done, and everything went great!” Wow. I wasn’t expecting it to be done THAT quickly. But it was good to know she was fine and in good hands – Miss Allie would be spending her time at the vet til Friday.

Knowing the kitties were set, Mike and I jumped on the road. Thanks to the awesome TomTom we received from my Dad for the wedding, we knew we were set on directions and should easily be able to find our end destination. We made a quick stop at the courthouse to drop off our marriage license and make it official, then we were on the road.

Mike and I rented a cabin in Todd, NC, just outside of Boone and Blowing Rock. We stayed on the New River and started each day on our porch with a cup of coffee and greeting the heron who lounged outside our cabin. The week was wonderful – we slept in, we napped, we went walking up and down the river, we went tubing (River Girl Fishing Company), we explored Boone, and we even hiked up Grandfather Mountain (Mike insisted and I obliged). We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped several places along the way. It was just a wonderful week. We cooked all our meals and managed to not eat out once. Fantastic. We loved the mountains, and I know we will be back soon.

So, there you have it – the wedding in a nutshell. My CD drive on my laptop is acting up, so I will post some professional pics in a few days once I have some time to sit down at the PC at home. The photos are wonderful. Just wonderful.

If you wonder about any of my vendors or want more specific reviews, just ask!!!


*I am happy to report that Miss Allie has recovered just fine from her surgery and is now back to her old ways. Poor Scout and Buddy are still getting chased and beat up, but at least they don't have huge slices across their face anymore. Scout has realized it doesn't hurt as much when Allie hits him, so Scout has actually for the first time since Mike and I moved in together, been hanging out downstairs with us on a daily basis!

...in the meantime

As I know I am being really slow about posting photos, etc, here is a mini slide show that gives you a quick visual rundown of the ceremony through the reception. If you would like to take a look at the professional photos, just shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment here with your e-mail address, and I will be happy to share the access code with you!

PS - If you want to see the photos in color, just click "SEE ALL IMAGES"

SATURDAY - Part II

We arrive at Wavelengths a tad early – I was rather excited to have my hair done here, as originally I just planned on doing it myself to save the cash. But then Meredith graciously offered to gift me a hairdo! It was very sweet and generous of her. Last minute, she decided that she would try to get fit in as well for a quick hairdo. She actually got in and done before I was ever in the chair!!!

Lauren and I headed upstairs to wait for my lady to finish with her customer, so we just sat on the couch and chilled. At that point, I was actually starting to feel the weight from the ceremony that would occur that evening. I did this once before, and I didn’t do too good of a job. This is a big decision and a huge step. But I felt confident and rather chill, so I just took lots of deep breaths and I was fine.

Finally it was time for me to get my hair done – I also realized at this time that I had left all the photos I had for suggestions on a possible hairdo at home. They were all sitting on my iPod touch, which was on the coffee table at the house. Poo. So, the hairdresser and I talked a few minutes and I trusted her experience in this subject. Anyway, she did a lovely job, and I was thrilled with my hair.

Once the hair was done, for me it was time to wait. Meredith and I got back in her car and headed over to the East Duke Building. We rented the parlors in the building for respective boy and girl getting ready space, so we just headed over there about 3:30 or so. Lauren needed to touch base with Cookie for last minute things at Alivia’s as well as picking up a table cloth for the guest book, so she took off for a bit. Meredith and I hung out in the Pink room, painting toenails, reading miscellaneous stuff in the room, and I finally had to get to an important task. Instead of exchanging gifts, Mike and I decided to write each other a letter and exchange them shortly before the wedding. Therefore, I picked a lovely antique desk in the corner of the room, formerly owned by Mark Duke Biddle, and I wrote Mike a card. I spilled my emotions all over each open surface of the card, expressing to him how happy I was to have run across him in my life and how excited I was to start this partnership for the future. I thanked him for his love and friendship, I thanked him for his appreciation of my flightiness and desire to try new things every day, I thanked him for being the amazing social creature he is – for loving my friends and family as much as I do, and for being such a wonderful citizen of the world. I think it was a good letter ;-)

After that was wrapped up, I waited. And waited. I actually told Meredith, “Soak this in – it is so quiet right now, but within one hour, the time will fly.” Boy was I right. Eventually, I started to wander the parlors and found out that the Blue Parlor actually had a TV, DVD player and a radio! Jackpot! Meredith and I packed up the pink room and moved everything over to the blue room. Blue is for girls now! We found some fun tunes and started the party. Woo hoo! Shortly after that, Lauren was back, and then my Mom arrived. Taylor got there shortly after and wheeled in a cooler of champagne. Awesome! We broke open the bottles, shared the wealth of yumminess and started to get ready. About 4:30, our photographer arrived, and that was super exciting! This meant it was all going to be real now. WOO HOO! Laura, Darrah and Becky arrived, and it was great to get them in on the celebration, too.

Enjoying some champagne

Our photographer, Annie, was just amazing. She got her bearings with the building then started snapping photos. Awesome. Eventually, Cookie arrived after running all sorts of other errands. By that point, we were only an hour away from the ceremony start, so it was full on “get ready time.” Mike called me (the first time I had talked to him that day) and asked me to go through the list of items he was supposed to bring from home. “Let’s see, marriage license, camera, iPod, um, that’s it!” I said. Thankfully he replied, “You are forgetting one big thing – our toasting glasses!” WHEW. I am glad he thought of that, as it had totally slipped my mind.

By that point, I could hear folks outside and you could feel the buzz in the air. Make-up, hairspray, perfume, dry cleaning bags, shoes, champagne, 80s songs on the radio, hugs, cameras, flowers, oh wow. It was just a flurry of activity. So much fun.

Putting on the dress

Suck it in!

The boys!

Handsome, handsome!

The girls all helped me into my dress and then Mom helped me with my jewelry. By that time, we were only about 15 minutes from start time (my tummy is even getting fluttery as I write this!!). The last guests were shuttled upstairs, and the boys were in the room off to the side of the Nelson Music Room. We were ready to start.

The girls, my Dads and I all headed up the stairs. I realized we never set up a signal to let our good friend Marty, the pianist, know that it was time to start the wedding entry music. Somehow we managed to get that point across, and Canon in D started. YAY! Meredith went first, followed by Cookie, then Lauren and Owen. As I stood there with my Dad, I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Many worried I would cry like a baby for the wedding, as I kind of have a habit of doing that. But tears were the last thing on my mind. I was just SO excited. I was ready to get in there – I wanted to see my future husband, my family and friends and just soak it all in.

We made our way to the door and went in – Mike was beaming. And it was contagious. I just smiled. A huge HUGE all gum smile. My Dads walked me up and Mike took my hand to help me on stage. My heart had stopped pounding, but I could not stop smiling. The ceremony itself was record speed fast. Ambassador Joseph, my former boss and former US Ambassador to South Africa under Clinton’s second term, officiated the wedding, which was huge for us. The service was ecumenical and spiritual, and it was so packed with everything a couple needs to hear when making this commitment. It was a beautiful ceremony, and Mike and I both could not stop smiling. Smiles, smiles, smiles (we have been told by a few folks that we looked like the happiest people ever getting married).

(I'll give you the professional pics for this one soon...)

Before we knew it, we were hitched. Awesome. It was beautiful, wonderful and quick! Mike and I filed out and just waited outside the doors to greet all of our friends and family. We did a receiving line and said thank you to every single person there – it was a great feeling. Once all the hugs were done, we headed downstairs to sign the marriage license and take photos. Annie was great with the group photos – those went at record speed, too. It was a bit steamy outside, so being quick with outdoor photos was a pretty good idea. We whip through those, then it’s time to grab the stuff out of the building and head off. We managed to load everything up, and we headed for the reception………

COMING NEXT…..the reception and after!!!!!

SATURDAY, Part I

I slept surprisingly well. After running around most of the day on Friday and staying up til past midnight, I guess that’s not too much of a surprise. My alarm went off about 7am, and for once I didn’t hit the snooze button at all. I got up, wiped the sleep from my eyes, had some water and got over my morning grogginess. Once I accomplished that, I decided to give Miss Lauren a call and find out how the day was going so far. (WARNING: WEDDING FREAKOUT COMING IN 3….2……) Cookie and Lauren were scheduled to go get the remainder of the flowers at the market early that morning. When they left the rehearsal dinner, they said they were picking them up about 6:45am. So, I was excited and wanted to get the day started with good wedding news.

“Good morning!” I say to Lauren.

“We are just about to leave, I promise,” is her response.

“Leave to go where? The farmers market?” I ask (with a semi-snotty tone in my voice).

“Yes,” she replied.

I then asked, rather sternly and somewhat worried, “You mean you haven’t picked up the flowers yet? The market opens in 30 minutes! You guys need to get there NOW.”

Yeah, that wasn’t the best way for me to respond. Saying that to two ladies who had stayed up til 3am+ working on a grooms cake and flowers, yes they did work on the flowers AFTER my spies had left, was not well received. They were tired, I was worried. Add the two together, explosive.

Many ladies were coming to my hotel room around 8 to help put together flowers. Shortly before then, Lauren and Cookie arrive, drop off the flowers and are very obviously super upset with me and my attitude. They drop off the flowers, pick up the items from the prior night’s dinner that needed to be returned, and they left. Angry. I cried. And cried. And cried. Thank goodness my Mommy was near. I went immediately to her room. And cried some more. Here it was, only 8am, and I had managed to seriously piss off my maid of honor and one of my bridesmaids. I got snappy and shouldn’t have. I felt terrible.

Lauren and Cookie finally got back, and the situation just worked itself out. I looked pouty, they gave me hugs. I apologized, they said it was okay. Crisis passed. Thankfully. Again, I’m sorry, ladies. Luckily, that was my ONLY freakout the whole day.

Anyway, we had lots of help on the flowers. Cookie orchestrated the process, and everyone put together the bouquets, the table arrangements, the stage arrangements and the like. Every flower had been cut between 24-48 hours hand picked by Cookie and Lauren, then delivered to the Farmers Market that morning. Just amazing. The flowers went so smoothly that by 11am, Meredith and I were able to check out of the room and head over to the mall to have our nails done. But escaping the hotel was a feat all in its own. Mike and I decided that we did not want to see each other until the actual wedding, so there was an entire crew working very hard to make sure we did not run into each other. It worked fairly well, although as Meredith and I were at the light next to the hotel, I looked over and sure enough, there was Mike sitting on the stairs! The theory is that the groom shouldn’t see the bride, right? I think we’re okay.

Meredith and I dropped off the flowers and table decorations to Alivia’s and into Courtney and Fay’s hands. All would be fine. We dropped off the other flowers to the Nelson Music Room, and we realize that we are actually fairly ahead of schedule. Amazing! With time to kill before our nail appointment, Meredith and I agree – IT’S BLOODY MARY TIME! Therefore, she and I made a quick stop by Tripp’s near Northgate Mall and enjoyed a lovely bloody mary (they make them with Absolut Peppar, give it a shot!) We finished our drinks and made our way to the nail place.

The place was packed, but Cookie had made reservations for everyone; therefore, we got to skip to the front of the line. Meredith and I got started, then Lauren and Cookie arrived. We all got our nails did and they looked great. Cookie had to bolt pretty quick, as her hair appointment was quickly approaching. Once our nails had sufficiently dried, the three of us remaining decided it was big soda time before my hair appointment. We made a dash for the closest BP to get big sodas, then made our way to Ninth Street for my hair appointment at Wavelengths.

Part II coming soon………….

I promise, Saturday is coming!

I promise, promise, the recap of Saturday is coming! I just picked up our professional pics yesterday, so I think I will post the text of Saturday's summary, then post a link to an online photo album for pics of Saturday. Sound good? I hope so :-)

FRIDAY!

After a nice evening of rest, Mike and I got up to prepare for the day’s festivities. Today was the day before the wedding, and I had just spent my last night in the house as woman living in sin (hee hee). I got to quick work packing up a bag that had everything I needed for the next two days, as I wouldn’t be back to the house until Sunday morning – the day after the wedding. I managed to fit most of my stuff in my roll-on suitcase, a small shoulder bag and the bag for my wedding dress. Mike was taking his Aunt, Uncle and cousins on a driving tour of Durham from about 10am-1pm, so it was a bit quiet in the house while I got ready to depart. It was actually a bit strange. I knew that once I left, when I eventually came back, Mike and I would be husband and wife!

Anyway, I loaded up the car with all the vases, table runners and miscellaneous reception supplies, threw in my dress and all my belongings. I decided to give Lauren a call and see how she, Darrah and Laura were doing that morning. First hiccup of the wedding schedule (I told you it would go out the window, right??). Lauren was sick. Her throat hurt and she wasn’t feeling well. Same for Cookie. Cookie had planned on going out to the flower grower’s house to select the wedding flowers, and somehow it was decided that Lauren would go with her (so not in the schedule – but I love you girls!). Turns out that Darrah and Laura were at Lauren’s house with no way to get to the hotel and check in. I made the decision that I would go get the girls after my morning appointments.

I was scheduled to meet Lauren, Cookie and Meredith at noon to go pick up all the rental equipment for the rehearsal dinner and wedding. With Cookie and Lauren still fairly far away from Durham, Darrah and Laura still in South Durham at Lauren’s place, we moved the pick up time for rental items to 12:30. I was also supposed to meet with Val, the manager at Duke Towers, around 11:45 to discuss setup for the rehearsal dinner. I needed to get going! Therefore, I scurry over to the towers, meet with Val, then rush to South Durham and pick up the girls. They had sufficiently entertained themselves that morning, but I think they were ready to get settled into their long term digs.

Once we got to Duke Towers, I dropped off the girls to get checked in. Cookie and Lauren decided to meet us at the rental place, so I jumped in Meredith’s car and we shot off for the rentals. This place was a bit tough to find. The address read Alston, but if you know Durham, you know Alston is a strange street. It breaks off and switches names, it is north and it is south. Just a weird road. I call Lauren and Cookie, they are getting antsy, they can’t find the place, and Meredith and I are already loading up the chairs. We were actually able to get all the chairs and the columns for the ceremony stage in Mer’s car. And now being rather behind on time and very hungry, Mer and I went up to the corner store to get a healthy lunch of Doritos and soda while looking for Lauren and Cookie to flag them down. We see them, wave them in the direction they need to go, and they pick up the remaining items (a few tables).

We get back to Duke Towers and unload all the items, then we set up the tables and chairs for the rehearsal dinner. It’s hot hot hotttt that day, but I just cross my fingers that the temp will be manageable to sit outside and have dinner at 6pm. Lauren and Cookie are still not feeling well, so they take their leave to go grab lunch and prepare to meet us at the actual wedding rehearsal at 4pm. With all of the essentials in place, I actually had some time. My parents were all at the pool at the Towers, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take a quick dip. Meredith and I got checked into our room and unpacked. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited to crash with Meredith, but with the sickness that had befallen both Lauren and Cookie, they were now not staying at the hotel with us. Major bummer and probably my biggest disappointment of the weekend. ANYWAY, I get changed into my swimsuit and go meet my parents at the pool. This was actually my first swim of the year! It felt wonderful. I got in an hour at the pool, and by that time I needed to get cleaned up a bit to head to the wedding rehearsal. Man, time flies!

I take a quick shower, throw on a t-shirt and shorts and jump in the car with my Mom and Dad. We go over to the Nelson Music Room about 3:30pm and were greeted by Stefan. He was there early to help out with anything that needed to be done – thank you, Stefan! All the rooms are unlocked as scheduled, so we start rearranging chairs, cleaning up the room, etc. I was all fluttery. This is the room in which we would be wed! woo hoo! Eventually, all the other parties start to arrive – the rest of the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the parents and Ambassador and Mrs. Joseph. With everyone there on time, we jumped to the actual wedding rehearsal. At an amazing 20 minutes to run through the ceremony, the rehearsing was straightforward and pretty easy to manage! Marty ran through the music on the piano (which sounded amazing), we walked through the entrances and exits, and we had a lot of smiling and giggling. We all knew our roles and what we were to do the next day!

Mike and I practicing our exit! (thanks, Amy!)

With that over with, we did a bit more decorating then headed back to Duke Towers to prepare for the rehearsal dinner! A colleague of mine at work had suggested we use the Q Shack at North Hills in Raleigh if we planned to do BBQ, as that location uses all organics and local foods whenever possible. I promised Mike he would get BBQ for part of the wedding celebrations, and we decided the rehearsal dinner was the time to do so. I had placed the order a couple weeks before and was anxious to see how it all turned out.

The Q Shack delivery person showed up on time at the right place. He started dropping things off and first notified me he had brought no beverages as it was not on the ticket. Uh, great. We were supposed to have enough tea for 25 people. Then, he asks me to sign my credit card receipt. I look at the total, and the amount is 2.5 times higher than I was quoted!! “Hold on!” I said. “This is not right!!” He put me on the phone with the store, and it turns out they charged me for 75 people rather than 25 people. The guy on the phone said he voided the charge and charged us the right amount now. Hmmm, okay (more on this later). Anyway, they drop off the rest of the food and I am thinking that this in no way will feed 25 people.

A moment at the dinner

But, it’s 6pm, dinner start time, so we open it all up and request people dig in and start eating. And the heat? Yeah, it was oppressive. We did the rehearsal dinner outside on the brick patio at Duke Towers. There’s no cover. So, we all ate outside, in the heat. The hot hot heat. (sorry, everyone!!) People arrived at various times – we had invited all of our out of town guests to this shindig, so we actually got to say hi to some peeps we hadn’t seen yet at that point. The Q shack was a huge hit with folks, and for the vegetarians and vegans, Stefan and Mike grilled up some awesome veggie dogs and brats.

Dad enjoying the Q Shack (thanks, Lauren!)

Becky enjoying the rehearsal dinner (photo BY Becky, too!)

We of course had to have another hiccup with the dinner though. Mike and I had bought a great cake and a pie to serve as dessert. Which we realized right as the dinner was starting was still at home in our oven. Great. Luckily, best man Ed was kind enough to go to the house and pick up the desserts. Thank you, Ed! We all chatted at the dinner – had great food, great conversations, and sweated out every bit of food we ate!

Sweating out our dinner (thanks, Lauren!)

At the dinner, we wanted to thank everyone who had been there helping with the wedding, so we presented the full wedding party with gifts. The groomsmen and bridesmaids got these awesome cooler totes filled with all sorts of goodies. The Josephs got a nice dinner gift certificate, and Owen the ringbearer got an awesome towel that made him look like a monkey and a big container of cheezy poofs! Darrah, Laura and Becky (who was there by now) all got some trendy little piggy banks. The parents all got big thank yous – their gift was a new kid – Mike or me! Mike and I were also presented with a wonderful gift from Owen - he made us an awesome painting!!

Owen enjoying his cheezy poofs!

Our cool gift from Owen! (thanks, Lauren, for the photo!)

Eventually some people drifted from the party. It was hot, and the next day was a big one. But for those of us staying at the hotel, it was a chance to get the party started! We put away the food and started on the beer pong! Several people in attendance hadn’t played before, so we had to do a few tutorials. But everyone seemed to enjoy playing and watching. We all learned Laura has some wicked defensive moves and that Marty is a ringer. I was also able to show off my own beer pong prowess….hee hee. With Lauren and Cookie still not feeling well, they went off to Cookie’s house to work on flowers and the groom’s cake for the wedding. After the beer pong wrapped up and even more people had gone to sleep, we moved the party to the pool. By this time it was well after 10:45pm, but we were all happy and excited.

Several of us jumped in the pool while others chose to just dangle in their feet. It was a great night – we all chatted, drank beers, swam, told jokes and old stories. But before I knew it, it was approaching midnight, and Mike had to get out of there! We decided to not see each other on the wedding day, so as of midnight, he needed to be gone. Therefore, Mike, with Ed and Sean in tow, headed to the house. I heard they had a good time sitting up and chatting, drinking beers and doing boy things!

I stayed in the pool a bit longer – I was relaxed and really not ready to go to sleep yet. I did find out through some recon that Cookie and Lauren were still up and doing stuff. I asked about flowers, and a certain little birdie let me know that they had seen nothing of flowers. Just cake. It was then I started to panic a bit…….

Coming next…….THE BIG DAY!

THURSDAY!

Mike and I wake up groggy on Thursday morning after only a few hours of sleep. We need to run a few errands and get all our ducks in a row before more guests start arriving that afternoon. Therefore, Mike and I head out to take care of a few things – we ran by the offices for the Duke Music Department to drop off payment and thank Mr. Percy, the head of performance venues at Duke. We chatted with him for a while (great guy by the way), paid our rental fee, then we headed to Parker and Otis for a couple cups of coffee. While getting our coffee, we realized that we should come up with a plan for an informal meet and greet that evening. Mike came up with the brilliant idea to go to Satty’s – we could have them reserve a space for us, people could come and go as they pleased, food is plentiful and cost effective, and it was big beer night! The two of us walk over to Satty’s, speak with a very friendly manager, and we successfully book the back room for that evening. One more stop after that – we got a nice thank you for Ambassador Joseph for doing the wedding ceremony – a gift certificate to Piedmont so he and Mary could go have a nice dinner, care of the soon to be “Bradys”.

Once those errands were completed, it was time for Mike and me to run our individual errands of the day. This day was particularly exciting for me, as my friends from cyberspace, Darrah and Laura were arriving today! I met Darrah, Laura and Becky (who was arriving on Friday) on an Internet chat board back in 2001. I had just moved to North Carolina, and my former college roommate Marissa invited me to join my first ever chat board. It was there I met these awesome ladies. Since ’01, I have met Darrah and Becky only once before – in the summer of 2006, and Laura three times. It was a real treat to have them all here for the wedding.

ANYWAY – I head off to the airport around 11:30 to pick up Darrah. She was scheduled to get in shortly after noon. Unfortunately, the airline had other plans. Darrah was about 45 minutes delayed, but I patiently waited in the terminal reading a book. Honestly, the down time was welcome during what was sure to be a crazy weekend. Finally, I saw her bright red hair coming down the walkway. It was a wonderful reunion!!!! Darrah and I rushed off to meet Lauren for lunch at Tyler’s in American Tobacco. The three of us had a positively lovely lunch – and some Framboise to go along with it. Yumm!

After lunch, I had to leave my guest with her host for the evening, as I needed to pick up programs and find out where my parents were! Ran by the printers for the third time over the past two days and was finally able to collect the completed wedding programs. Right after picking them up, I got a call that my parents had just arrived at Duke Towers. Woo hoo! Rushing straight over, I was a ball of excitement. Everyone is starting to get here! I greeted my parents and chatted with them about their trip. It had been a while since I had seen my parents – since March to see Mom, and sadly over a year or so since I had seen my stepdad. Anyway, the hellos were wonderful. I found out in the meantime that Mike’s Aunt, Uncle, and cousins had also arrived. At the same time, Lauren and Darrah were on their way to pick up Laura at the airport! HOW EXCITING IS THIS????

I decided to give Mom and Dad a quick driving tour of the area so they could find all the goodies that they needed to survive the next few days. The grocery store, restaurants, etc. We jump in my car and start on the tour. One problem – that belt I got fixed? Yeah, it was squeaking more than it ever had before. It was downright embarrassing.

“Mom, Dad, you mind if we stop at Neal’s? This is crazy,” I asked. No problem for them, so we stopped and were immediately tended to at the shop. They said it would be about 30 minutes. Mom, Dad and I walked around the corner to Charlie’s, grabbed a drink, and halfway through my beer, we found out my car was ready. Headed over, grabbed the car, good to go. We do the tour – Food Lion, Ninth Street, Main Street, East Campus. I think they got their bearings.

I drop them off after the tour and head to the front office to leave a note for my Dad about that evening’s plans. Evidently he and my Aunt Julie got stuck in some serious traffic on I-85 due to a sudden rainstorm and not so smart drivers. I figured I would leave him a note about where to meet us. As timing would have it, halfway through writing my note I saw his car pull into the parking lot. I ran out to greet he and my Aunt. Today was truly a great day!! I unfortunately wasn’t able to hang with them too long, as I needed to get back to the house to take a quick shower and prepare for the family Meet-N-Greet that evening.

By this time, the clock is pushing 5:30pm. I quickly, yet safely, drive home, jump in the shower and get ready to meet the family and wedding party at Satty’s. Mike and I both manage to get ready in time and head out shortly before 7pm. We told everyone it was casual and that we would be there around 7 – I expected people to arrive at different times, stay for a bit, then go. Oh no – that is definitely not what happened. Mike dropped me off at Satty’s on his way to get his Mom and Peg. I wanted to make sure Satty’s was ready to go – by now, it was right at 7pm. Satty’s did a great job, and the room was all set up for us. I barely had time to sit my bag down before I saw my parents walk in! Then, Mike’s Aunt, Uncle and cousins! Then Mike and Mom and Peg! Then Dad and Aunt Julie! Then Lauren with Laura and Darrah! Then Meredith! Everyone was there at the same time! Mike and I started all the introductions – and it was a lot of introductions.

Hanging at Satty's (photo courtesy of Darrah)

For the first time, my Stepdad met Mike. Very exciting! All the family members met, the wedding party met the family and vice versa. It was wonderful seeing everyone interact. Lots of big beers were ordered and drank. Lots of pizzas were ordered and eaten. Lots of fried foods were ordered and nibbled upon. The waiter taking care of us was beyond amazing. He never wrote anything down and got every order right every time. Even when it came time for everyone to pay their bills, the guy rattled off exactly what they had! Amazing. Two thumbs up to Satisfactions for providing a wonderful atmosphere for our families and friends to meet. By about 10:30 or so, we had lost a few folks who were tired from traveling, but we still had a contingent that wanted to stay out. Therefore, we paid our bills and wandered across the street to the Joyce.

Meredith, Laura, Neil and Lauren at the Joyce
(photo courtesy of Darrah)

We took over the bar!
(again thanks to Darrah!)

Ahh, the Joyce. It is the heart of our social circle. It was really fun to have my out of town family and friends come over to a bar they had always heard me talk about. They finally got to experience it in all its musty glory. I think everyone who made the walk over had a pretty good time! There were a few more drinks had at the Joyce, but we had to wrap it all up at a reasonable hour. Friday was the day before the wedding – the final preparations, the actual rehearsal and yet another party. We needed to save ourselves for the next day……….

COMING NEXT…..The Rehearsal and Dinner!!!!!

PS - I also have a lot more photos from people starting on Friday. So, hopefully these posts will be just as photo filled as word filled moving forward!!!

The Wedding Journal: Wednesday

As there was so much fun and excitement over the wedding weekend, I figured it would be more fun to go through day by day and tell what happened rather than trying to spill it all out in one ridiculously long blog post. I'm starting at the beginning - Wednesday. It was my first day off work for the wedding and the first arrival of a family member for the celebration. So, that's where I will start!

Wednesday

Today is the first real day of “post-work” wedding preparations. I have a full time-line together for everything that needs done over the next few days, but something tells me it may all go with the wind anyway. I sleep in a bit this morning, relishing the first day of wedding celebrations to come. I figured I will get some rest, hit the gym, run some much needed errands, then veg at home until Mike gets back to the house that evening. Ah, the best laid plans…..

So, I take my car to Neal’s Garage in Durham for an oil change. I was way overdue, and I figured that while I have a day off work I can get this important chore checked off my list. I drop off my car and walk over to the East Campus gym to get a good workout in while my car is worked on. Within about 15 minutes into using some newfangled gazelle/elliptical machine thing, I get a phone call. It’s Neal’s. “Michelle, you have a belt in here that is about to die. It’s cracked, it’s in bad shape and you need it replaced.” I knew it – the damn belt had been squeaking for a long time (and when I say long, I mean LONG. So long in fact, I am even embarrassed to say how long it had been since the squeak started.) “Alright,” I said, “what will it take to fix it?” The friendly lady on the other line quoted me a most reasonable price and only about 45 minutes to get the work done. “Go for it,” I said.

I switch to a stationary bike only to be greeted by a ringing phone yet again. “Michelle, it’s Neal’s here. The motor turning the belt is also fried, hence why it is killing your belt. We need to replace that, too.” At this point I explain that I am getting married this weekend and had just planned on getting an oil change, not leaving my car all day. I asked about price (again, very reasonable) and was quoted only an additional hour for the car to be done. “Go for it,” I said. It needs to be fixed, and there is no time like the present. I plug through another 30 minutes of cardio, lift some weights and finally tire of the gym. By now, it is lunch time and I am one hungry bride. COSMIC! I haven’t had a burrito in a while, so I head on down to have a yummy veggie deluxe burrito. Yum. By the last bite, I have a call from Neal’s that my car is ready to be picked up.

After I have my newly repaired car, I head to Whole Foods to pick up some veggie grilling items, and I finally head home. I put together the last remaining items at the house that needed boxed up for wedding venues and waited for Mike to get home. Once he arrived, it was time to go see Mama Brady. She had arrived earlier in the afternoon with her bestest buddy Peg, so Mike and I went to pick them up and take them to dinner. It was great to catch up and hear about all the latest happenings from her, and fill her in on what was going on for the exciting weekend. We had a great meal at Elmo’s and closed the evening at Peg and Mama Brady’s room with a very touching gift giving of family heirlooms. It was meaningful to both Mike and me. We finally left about 9 and headed home to finally put together the dance mix for the reception!

Mike and I popped open a bottle of wine and parked ourselves in the office at the house – scanning through each and every song in the iTunes library upstairs! Mike flipped through tunes, I steamed table runners. We had a great time – so much so we decided we should make playlists together more often. That process lasted well until 3am – we finally needed to head to sleep. Thursday meant the arrival of a large part of our out of town guests – and the real adventure was about to begin!!!!!

NEXT.......Thursday and the get together at Satty's!

We are back - AND MARRIED!

Hi, everyone! I am happy to report Mike and i are very happily married and trying to get settled into "real life" after the honeymoon. The wedding day went amazingly well, and the honeymoon was fantastic! Once I get my head above water, I will post some reviews, summaries, and photos!!!