Vale, Vail, or Veil?

Once I finally figured out how to spell "veil" correctly, I stumbled across MANY interesting things (aside from the fact that as a 2nd grade teacher, YES, I should know how to spell 'veil').

Interesting fact number 1: There are some flippin' ugly veils out there. I know, I know - to each their own, but honestly, someone is going to put that on their head? Do I really need to worry about tripping over my veil because it's SO long? I think not.  Pretty pictures, though...

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Interesting fact number 2: You can attach anything you want to your veil, aside from the obvious feather/flower attachee one can find.    People have them monogrammed, too!

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Interesting  fact number 3:  There are many options, almost as many options as there are opinions.

 

silk chiffon {source}

I have 2 needs from a veil:

1) It can actually veil me so I can be unveiled, to follow a Jewish tradition.*

2) To make me pretty/accessorize me.**

*Back to the Jewish tradition.  It's called Bedeken, which in Yiddish means "to cover up" and likens to the English cognate "bedeck" which means "to cover with decorations."  According to a valuable site, Jewish-History,  "The groom brings down the veil over the bride's face, reminiscent of Rebeccah's covering her face with her veil upon seeing Isaac before marriage. The veiling impresses upon the Kallah her duty to live up to Jewish ideals of modesty and reminds others that in her status as a married woman she will be absolutely unapproachable by other men. The covering of the face symbolizes the modesty, dignity and chastity which characterizes the virtue of Jewish womanhood."
The Jewish Chronicle notes "There is a powerful romantic charge at the Bedecken; the groom is danced into the room where the bride sits surrounded by friends and family."
Sitting all prettied up in a room and having people come dancing in to see me sounds awesome, by the way.

**I have no need for something over my face during the ceremony.  You can see the obvious conflict here.
I luuuurve birdcage veils.  Their simplicity warrants sophistication and class.  Seeing one makes me want to listen to jazz music and lounge in a speak easy.  While I know those have no connection to a wedding, it does make me feel all swanky and glamorous! 

Chasing Rainbows, Kissing Frogs found many pictures, making a great post showing off birdcage veils.

I think I might have a solution to this, which involves "something borrowed" and a costume change, of sorts.  Oh yes, this will be grand!

Weekend O' Wedding Planning!

My parents were in town for the weekend, not only to see me (and help plan the wedding) but for my third-cousin's wedding.  Naturally I was not invited because she's my third cousin and I honestly never met the girl!  However, her reception was held at The City Club - a place which was secretly in contention as our reception site.  No, don't go looking through my past posts for info on it because you will not find it.  Never before did I mention City Club because Mike and I did not feel it was for us, so I didn't even go there.  That should say enough about it and it's fit for us.

Moving on.

On Friday I whisked my parents over to the Carnegie Institute for their own tour of the facility.  (Click on that link for a previous post and my take on the place.)  They instantly fell in love, and how can you not: the grand marble staircase, the beautiful rotunda, the elegant ballroom, the huge french-door entrance, and the staff is largely helpful.  At this point we began entertaining the idea of a June 2011 wedding, since our summers are open.  Also, my parents will celebrate 45 years of marriage on June 18.  What a nice tribute to them to be married on/around that date.  (We also found out the CI takes credit cards, which means bonus points on the visa!)

Saturday we viewed Glen Echo Park.  I put a tentative hold on Memorial Day weekend of 2011, and have yet to receive a contract.  We also had to track down a representative of the park to give us a tour, so Mike and I largely winged-it ourselves.  As much as it pains me to give up on GEP, there are too many variables, which my parents helped me to see:  weather, shuttle buses, distance to bathrooms, drinks in a confined space, location.  However, there is a way around this.  We can still take pictures at GEP prior to the ceremony!  My mom proposed getting transportation for the wedding party and immediate family, pre-nuptials - enjoying the GEP grounds through photographs with ceremony ad celebrating at Carnegie. 
That I can do!

Then we started entertaining April dates, settled on two possibilities, then realized grad-school calendar would not allow for such.  Back to June dates.

I put a request in with the Carnegie Institue for June 19.  I'm not allowing myself to get excited, yet, until I hear the availability.  I hope, hope, hope, though that it is!


Oh, and we enjoyed a lovely Mother's day together as a family!

50th Post!

I guess I like blogging. 
HA! Ok, I love it a whole-lotta-bunch and really love the opportunity to "be heard" (or read,  glanced, even stumbled upon).  I mean, I love the attention! (even if it's all in my head) 

Way back in high school I wanted nothing more than to be a writer, whatever that meant.  I turned to my journal to blab about everything and dramatize my woes.  I absolutely loved a good book (with many exceptions, mostly having to do with required reading for classes) and even scored a 5 out of 6 on our stupid standardized writing tests.  My first desired "major" in college was creative writing.  (However I never made it into UT's college of communication and then ended up transferring back home to FSU, where I majored in Elem. Ed.)  My love of writing even helped me BS my way through many college essays.  I still profess that I want to write kiddie lit, and will get around to it one day.

Since this blog's intended use is wedding planning, I shall try to stick to that.  It's just soooo much fun to talk about myself.
Instead, in this monumental 50th post I shall divulge how & when I knew Mike was "The One."

Mike and I only dated about 4 months before my teaching internship required me to move a whole 4 hours away, during my last semester of college.  Not only was this the most demanding semester of my entire undergraduate career, but also the semester I allowed for the most distractions.  Those distractions were all Mike's fault.  *smile*  (Disclosure: I maintained an A and did a great job in my internship and walked away learning a lot, still).

During our "long distance" jaunt, we saw each other every other weekend, at least.  The first time I realized we were in-it-to-win-it happened during one of our routine visits, with a not-so-routine twist.  Around that time I started having intense migraines.  I'm talking PAIN, here.  Pain so bad that in one instance my mother had to drive me to the Emergency Room because the discomfort was not only causing me to puke my guts out, but interrupted my speech patterns.  I couldn't talk coherently or form sentences because of the extreme badness of it all.  (At one point I told my mom something about chickens when trying to convey that I wanted an ambulance, and we were already at the hospital).

After a long day on the job, I started loosing my vision and knew a migraine was coming.  Mike, en-route to Orlando, knew my head hurt and promised a quiet evening.  He arrived to find me writhing in pain, in the pitch-dark bathroom, begging him not to talk so loudly and call my doctor immediately.  Nothing stayed in me, and I needed pain meds, or some relief, STAT.  Mike called my doc, who had no choice but to prescribe me the only option for relief.  Mike, being the amazing boyfriend he was (now fiancee), drove to the pharmacy and proudly comes back, glorious medicine in hand.   He then proclaimed (softly), "Good news! It's a suppository!"  WHOLE-LOTTA Sarcasm.

I'll spare you the details, but I managed to treat myself from there, and recover.  I know many men who shy away from even buying tampons at the store, let alone receive tips from the pharmacist from how to administer dosages, and then relay said instructions to their lady.

I knew from his dedication, concern, and desire to help that he would make a wonderful husband, and I wanted him to be exactly that.

Soon after that, when Mike put the idea of moving to DC on the table, I knew yet again that he was the man for me.  I'm no idiot girl who is going to throw away her life and follow some dude to some other place where she might as well drown her sorrows in Lifetime TV.  When Mike talked about moving to DC, I knew I was going with him for the next adventure in our lives together.    The ring came later, but that's just logistics.  I knew back in '05 that my man was named Mike S.

Friday Featurette -- College Bestie/Super Mom

This shall kick-off a new series, featuring (on Fridays) a strong-female blogger(ette) and her world.
To start us off, read about a college bestie who is honored with the upcoming holiday, Mother's Day: 

I spent my freshman year of college at the fine institute of the University of Texas, in Austin, TX.  In short, it was the best mistake of my life.  I ended up transferring back home to FSU for the remainder of my time in college and graduating with a degree in Elementary Education.
Deciding to attend UT was me breaking out of the box, feeling my boundaries, and trying to prove my parents wrong.  I won't go as far as to say my parents were right and that's why I ended up at FSU, but I will agree that the opportunities in Florida outweighed Texas.

However, that year at UT rocked hardcore.  "Sublime awesomeness" merely compares.  I had the time of my life, and am surprised I remember it!
While the first weeks were a tough adjustment, I think the first weeks of college have the possibility to be tough for many -- and once my then-long-distance-boyfriend (now ex) and I both cheated on each other and I conceded that UT was home for the time being, I made friends.

I made some of the greatest gosh-darn friendships with the most genuine people ever, and I still keep in touch with them.

Somehow those long, inebriated nights which turned into early morning talk-fests still resonate in my memory.  The stupid choices we made remain some of my favorite decisions in life, and I have the tattoo to prove it.  I learned more about people in 6 months than I did the 18 years prior.

I wish I could say I became best friends with my roommate, but to live up to that cliche she would need to have stayed the night in the dorm for more than 3 total days.  Victoria Secret's 'Love Spell' remains my only memory of Stacy.  I laugh when I smell it, because I was able to tell when she was around by smelling that scent from down the hallway.
No, instead my favored friend was Joey, as I liked to call her.  We just 'got' each other.  She lived on the other side of the wall from me (I guess that makes us neighbors?), and it was easy to get each others' attention by pounding on the concrete slab that separated us.

Joey allowed me to tag along as she went home some weekends, as I couldn't easily pick up and fly home to FL.  I loved her family, just as much as her.  Jo introduced me to Blue October and solidified my admiration for DMB.  She made Texas seem not so bigger, as they claimed it to be.

She's a  funny, resilient, smart woman inside and out - including her awesome, red hair!  Her roller-coaster ride of a life might not be easy, but she always comes out shining brighter than before.

She's a mommy-blogger, too - and a darn good one.  Hop on over to Raising-Madison to read up on her adorable baby girl, who is recovering from hip-dyplasia.  Or check out one of her inspiring posts on her struggle with cancer.  And if things weren't crazy enough, hear how she got laid-off because of her devotion to her daughter's medical needs.

So before I unveil my huge photo surprise, a few words from the woman herself.

Q: What is your favorite memory from college?
A: Oh man, its impossible to pick a FAVORITE memory from college, there were so many good ones. Vicki and I had a knack for getting ourselves in really weird situations. Like finding an old headboard, setting it up in the hallway in the door and running & jumping over it like a hurdle in our pajamas. Or the time we toilet papered the study lounge on our floor and everyone got in trouble. Or that other time we stole a purple chair from Taco Cabana and I sat on it in the elevator at Jester. Those are all in my Top Ten for sure.
OMG. Joey I TOTALLY forgot about the study lounge, and the chair!  Hilarious!

Q:  How do you feel you've changed since UT?
A:  I am no longer that self-conscious girl looking for acceptance and love. I was always trying to make someone love me and wanting to fit in. I did things that where completely out of character to just fit in. I don't regret anything I did in college. I lived, I learned, I made some mistakes and had a LOT of fun in the process. But I grew up so much after UT. And just when I had gotten an apartment all by myself, decided I really loved who I was and focused on my job (which I was damn good at) I ended up meeting the love of my life. Funny how that works out.  

Q:  Did you ever imagine life to be as it is for you now?

A:  Yes and no. I mean, I always imagined that I'd get married and have a family someday. I'll admit that were a few years in my early 20s when I really wondered if that was ever going to happen for me.... and then it did. I married my best friend. We laugh a lot and are madly in love. He just gets me. And then we have this great house and some wonderful crazy strange dogs that we adore. And then there's Madison. The best thing I ever did. We made this beautiful baby and I just look at her and can't believe that she exists. She's my greatest accomplishment. She's so headstrong already and has this awesome little personality.

So yes, I imagined this life all the time and I can't believe I'm actually living it. 

Q:  What is your favorite wine?
A:  I'm pretty easy when it comes to wine. Oh Hell, who am I kidding? I'm pretty easy when it comes to most things. I think this is the point where I would insert a penis joke if I was like that, but I'm classy and totally not like that so I won't.

Wine. Ahhh yes, wine. I love Yellowtail, it is tasty and cheap. I've recently opened up my love of alcohol to include Franzia because I'm laid off and broke and that box LASTS. See? I'm totally saving my family money through my drinking, I rock.

Q:  Favorite quote?
A:  "Never take life seriously, nobody gets out alive anyway."  

And oh yeah, that John Mayer concert we went to, ten years ago, was pretty awesome.
(um, take note of where his hands are!) 

I love you Joey!  Happy First Mother's Day!!! 

6 years together?!

Today, on Cinco de Mayo, Mike and I celebrate 6 years of being a couple.  I find it hard to believe that 6 years ago we first started dating.  It honestly does not seem that long!

To honor our anniversary, I will share with you the (short) story of how Mike and Vicki came to be, and how Cinco de Mayo isn't really our anniversary.

So waayyy back at FSU, I joined a co-ed service "fraternity" called Alpha Phi Omega.  I met a lot of friends there, but not Mike.  We did community service together and it seems like everyone dated each other, among our "families."  It was socialization at its finest.  I met a very good friend through APO, Adam Emling.  Adam died tragically almost 3 years ago.  I digress...Adam was one of my roommates at 1300A Rumba Lane.  That townhouse had a faulty foundation and sat on a 3 degree tilt with awful landlords that tried to keep our security deposit for no good reason.  Amazing, fun times were had at 1300A.
I find myself lost in nostalgia right now.  Maybe this won't be the short version of Mike/Vicki.

So my roommate Adam had a good friend from back home, who we'll call Guy.  I kinda messed up Guy's life for a little while, and for that I feel very badly and will honor his anonymity.  Love makes you do crazy things.
I met Guy through Adam, and Guy and I started dating.
(Congrats if you're still with me, it gets better.)
Guy said to me one day, something along the lines of, "I've got this friend, Mike, who is in Central America right now, and I know you two would get along."
Yeah, he didn't know just how well we'd get along.

After a few of us moved out of 1300A (the good times were just too much for me!), Guy and Eddie (a groomsman) moved in.  I met Mike as "the guy on the couch" at 1300A.  Mike observed Shabbat on Friday nights, so he was limited to how he got around and did not spend any money.  On Friday nights you could count on fro-y-haired Mike to crash on the couch, and I could count on stellar conversations late through the night. (Even though I didn't live at 1300A anymore, I found myself there all the time.  I wonder if that house is still standing?!)

So here's where I start looking like a total sleaze-bag and a serial-monogamist.  But hey, at least I'm being honest and owning up to my decisions.
I broke it off with Guy because I started having feelings for this Mike guy.
This all happened some time around the end of spring semester.
Mike and I started dating, but promised each other it was nothing serious, as I had dabbled in my share of guys during that year (again, sleaze at my finest), and was leaving Tallahassee in the fall to start my internship in Orlando.

Once Mike and I realized we were in-it-to-win-it, we also realized we had NO idea when we first started dating.  None, aside from the end of spring semester '04.
So we picked a date around that time that we knew would always have good drink specials, so we can go out and celebrate!
And thus, Cinco de Mayo is our anniversary, for the couple who had no idea what was to happen 6 years later.

Now, to plan a wedding!
(And Happy Anniversary to my love, Mike!)

 Mike and Vicki, 5/2004

Lovely Ladies & Gallant Gents

Who needs a wedding website when you can blog about it?  Well, eventually Mike and I will create a "wedsite" - like when we actually decide on a date and venue.

For now, continue reading on said blog  for detailed awesomeness of our plans, lack of plans, and the ladies & gents who will stand witness as Mike and I exchange vows.

Don't ask me what my bridesmaids will wear, because depending on the day you'll get a different answer.  I do know that I want it to be knee length -- none of this floor length, fancy-pants stuff.  I'm just not that type of gal.

I can tell you names of important people (aka bridesmaids/groomsmen) are: Kathryn (a longtime, family friend of Mike's turned girl friend of mine), Diana (coworker turned bestie and go-to-person who always saves my ass), Meagan (highschool bestie, a tried and true friend who always comes through) and my matron-of-honor is my siiiiiister, Marlo (love her!).  We musn't neglect to mention little miss Eleanor (niece), my flower girl!

Then men representin' are:  Rob Jay (he's a first name/last name person, a friend of Mike's from his stint in Israel, a true mensch, and a Brit to boot!), Eddie (FSU buddie/roommate extraordinaire and the brother I never wanted), Todd (a mutual bestie of the couple and a favorite person all around), and the best man will be Mike's bro, Danny (100% good guy, heart of gold, and truly a best man).

Photo Montage!!

For some odd reason, I have NO pictures of Meagan, which is a travesty.  This could be attributed to our limited once-a-year engagements (aka Christmas visits), which we spend the total time talking and catching up and forgetting to take pictures.  (side-note: It should be noted that Meg and I have matching cats.)

And Eddie, all pictures of you are crazy, funny, and wild - so I picked my favorite of the bunch.  Maybe I'll do a post dedicated to the  many faces of Eddie.

So there ya have it!  Those are the 'besties of the resties', can't wait to see ya'll dressed up!

Engagement Photos

I shared these on Facebook, but now I'm realizing the following I have, which is totally awesome!  If you're stopping by from SITS or any other source, please leave some comment love!

So to all my new followers and friends, and my tried-and-true followers, please enjoy a photo montage from our Engagement Photo Shoot.  Our friend, Emily Goodstein, of Wild N Crazy Pearl, is not only a blogger at her finest, but also a photographer-extraordinaire.  She met us at the zoo to capture the moments, and got some great shots!

And if you don't know the story of our proposal (the reasons we took the photos at the zoo), read about it here and find the video link there, too! 

ta-da!
More photos can be found by clicking on this post's title.