sign

i saw this sign up on 6th Avenue near 57th Street.

my question is this... how can you move into an apartment (or do anything, actually) sooner than immediately??

stupid billboards.

although the FreshDirect truck in the photo reminds me that i have a delivery of FD food coming today (between 6 and 8), which will help prepare me for my day of sun and BBQ tomorrow, out on Long Island.

Yep, T and i are heading out to check out my parents' newly relined pool, and enjoy some grilled food. i better start on the marinades, i think, since a variety of kabob-ready meat is on its way...

i also need to think about doing some lower intensity workouts. today, with my trainer, i was hella-weak and could barely do 120 lbs. on the leg press with both legs. normally, i can do 12o with each leg alone. pathetic!

swimming tomorrow should be more forgiving, bearing in mind that i'm not that strong swimmer.* sans, water wings, however, i will take to the deep and see what i can do.

not me.

then on Sunday, we're off to the Jerz to see Thurston's family. hopefully traffic won't kill us. and Monday is T's birthday, so birthday hijinx are surely in store. in any event, a surprise dinner is in store for him. the dinner itsself? not so much of a surprise since we generally do that everyday. but the location, unknown to T, will be the shocking part. i know it will disappoint him somewhat, but we aren't going to Pizzeria Uno a/k/a Uno's Chicago Grill. (only because they don't take resos, though).

---

* ok, this is *clearly* the funniest SNL skit ever (my dad and i both think so, so that's pretty authoritative). i do not know this Chris DiClerico, but i thank him for posting this clip. i pretty much die everytime i see it.

My Other Job

since i have been working part-time, i have picked up a sideline enterprise-- shopping. this is much to Thurston's dismay. indeed, as he has mentioned umpteen times thus far, i didn't make it 48-hours working part-time before i headed up to the outlets. (where i did, as Lola can attest, an excellent job).

that trip included stops and purchases at MaxStudio, Missoni, Banana Republic, American Apparel and JCrew. here is an (abbreviated) sampler of what i bought.


having honed my craft to some degree at the outlets, i proceeded to drag Thurston to start the wedding band search (we're talking finger-wear here, not ear candy). at the suggestion of wedding planners Farrell and Jennifer, T and i headed to Fragments in Soho on a very rainy Saturday.

in the past (specifically, my birthday last year), we had great success at Fragments, but we didn't plan on buying on this particular occasion. the trip was more of a reconnaissance mission. there weren't a ton of men's rings at Fragments, but there were a couple of contenders. i wasn't allowed to bring my camera with me (cough--strict T--cough) but we especially like a few brushed platinum bands, with some tooling/indented lines and also plain.

then yesterday, taking full advantage of my part-time schedule, i headed to the Fifth Avenue shops to explore more ring options. at Tiffany, i found some classic options:

plain platinum 4.5mm Lucida band

with milgraining

somehow, in my quest to find Thurston a ring, i managed to find a band contender for myself as well:

the Tiffany Legacy ring

aren't i efficient? i kind of love that band for me but, at the same time, my engagement ring has detailing on the sides:

so i wonder if it's a lame idea to block those details with a band that has plain, unblingy sides. i also suppose i could have the place that created the e-ring design a band of the same style, that would incorporate the e-ring band details, sans stone basket.

T thinks i should just switch my e-ring to my right hand once we're wed, but i kind of like the stacked look. do i switch? do i stack? do i customize a band?

and if i switch, then whatever do i do with my Trinity ring, which i currently wear on my right ring finger? and also happens to be the very first gift Thurston gave me, when we'd been dating just under 4 months. funny story there, actually. we were sitting around on the couch exchanging gifts and he hands me this small, square box (ring-sized, natch) wrapped in white paper with a red ribbon. now why i happen to immediately recognize this as Cartier ribbon is neither here nor there, but i do. and i will tell you this-- my first instinct was not "oh, my lord! how wonderful that he went hardcore posh with my gift." oh, no, i actually thought, "if he's proposing right now and bought the ring at Cartier rather than from a diamond dealer thus spending money on name brand rather than carats, i will kill him." aren't i just the sweetest girl ever? i bet you all are just dying to give my ingrate self a gift, no? anyway, it was *not* a proposal, but instead the symbolic trinity ring, which i LOVE.

however, all in all, i now am starting to realize the dangers T warned me about. all this free time is allowing me to go completely batshit insane. i literally just spent the last 1/2 hour photoshopping my e-ring to approximate how a band in its style would look. i think this is my cue to head to the gym. for an entirely different kind of torture and stress.

Wedding Wake-Up Call

much to my dismay, the following face appeared when i entered my weight into WeightWatchers' online "weight tracker" feature.


for those of you who are robots and, thus, unable to interpret emotions, that is *not* a happy face. that's right, Weight Watchers is not happy with my gain of +1 pound(s). now, to be fair, this weight gain is since December, when i had already lost 9 pounds on WW, and was the last time i was so brave as to enter my weight into the tracker. you see, the engagement and the holidays caused me to gain back most of the 10 lbs. i had already lost on WW, between September and December. slowly but surely, i have managed to re-lose all but 2 of those pounds. which would otherwise be impressive if not for the additional 20 lbs. that i need to lose on top of the first 10.

they do hold out hope for me, though, as the computer tried to take the sting out of its grouchy face with this oh-so-inspirational quote:

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."-
Eleanor Roosevelt

so now i embark upon my no holds barred weight loss regime. this involves much kicking of my ass on the part of Matt Hayes, and his intense "bridal boot camp" program. Matt used to be in the Army and does not f around when it comes to torturing me. in addition to the two to three times a week that he comes to train me, i am now on an everyday, no excuses workout program.

my week thus far and looking ahead:

• Sunday: cardio combo: rowing and treadmill
• Monday: obscenely difficult "homework" weight training (i.e. weight without Matt)
• Tuesday: cardio combo: rowing
• Wednesday: Matt and his bag of torture
• Thursday: cardio
• Friday: Matt again!
• Saturday: more Matt...

and my diet? also, medieval.

yesterday, for example, i ate the following:

• breakfast: Quaker Weight Control oatmeal (3 pts.)
• lunch: Campbell's Select microwavable lentil soup (3.5 pts.) and 6 oz. of WW yogurt (1 pt.)
• snack: Quaker rice cake with one wedge Laughing Cow Lite cheese (2 pts.)
• dinner: Lean Cuisine Enchiladas Suiza (5 pts.)
• dessert: Blue Bunny HealthSmart ice cream pop (0 pts.--miraculous!)
  

this is no fun at all. but since the wedding rapidly approaches, i need to focus up and stop screwing around. if anyone has *any* great diet tricks to share, i would greatly appreciate them. i am desperate!!

the non-existent snack

endowed with some kind of mystical powers, the Blue Bunny ice cream bar i just ate somehow has zero Weight Watchers points.



i really don't want to know how something so tasty can remain almost calorie free. i'm sure it has something to do with science and/or black magic.
but as i try so desperately to embrace the wedding weight loss, i'll take zero-points items anywhere i can get them.
eat first, ask questions later.

always a wedding guest...

...almost a bride.

this past weekend, Thurston and i attended (yet) another wedding. this time it was Magnolia and Scott--the couple to whom we entirely owe our happiness, in that T and i met at Mags' birthday. (since i've already used my wedding channel page for the exhaustive summary of how we met, i'll not rehash it here. you can all breathe your collective sighs of relief now!)

the night before the wedding, they did their rehearsal dinner at Maroon's, a Jamaican/Southern restaurant in Chelsea, and then drinks after at Woody McHale's, on 14th Street. although T and i weren't at the rehearsal dinner, we had dinner with another couple of wedding guests (at good, which is, well, good) and did meet up for the drinks thereafter. for better or for worse*, i started my drinking with the impressive array of fun cocktails at good (Pisco Sours, specifically) so was in high spirits when we walked over the Woody McHale's.

when we got there, lo and behold, i recognized the bouncer at the door. indeed, it was Clay, my old pal from when i worked at the-now-defunct-Life nightclub (see #23 on this page), formerly of Bleecker Street. while i was working at Life in my first post-college full-time job, Clay worked security there. honestly, we had the best security guys, and i loved working with 99% of them. sure, they used to tease me over the walkie-talkie (anointing me with the handle "Project Booty" or "Ghetto Booty" and calling me "Hooks" are just a couple of examples) but they always looked out for me and they were a blast to work with. i can say without question, that i will never again work with such a colorful cast of characters. anyway, back to the subject, it was great to see Clay and catch up and also great to see the bride and groom, pre-wedding.

the next morning, after getting my ass handed to me by Trainer Matt, i found out that my sister--coming in from Cali for the wedding--has overslept and missed her plane. despite intellectually realizing that this situation was out of my control, i proceeded to freak out completely, since the control freak in me could not adjust to the idea that there was literally *nothing* i could do to get her here more quickly.

• the wedding was called for 7 p.m.
• her original, dearly departed, flight was scheduled to land at Kennedy (Kennedy!! the Van Wyck!! the traffic!!) at 3:30 p.m.
• the new flight would land at 5:20 p.m.

this scared the bejesus out of me but i tried to relax and, with the help of JadedDad, arranged for a car service to be waiting for her at the baggage claim so she could at least save a minute or two by not waiting in the taxi line.

trying my bestest to be zen, i went for my pre-dress up manicure/pedicure. there was some drama as my "kit" (read: the VCR box where they keep my personal file, buffer, top coat, etc.) was missing! finally it was located, thankfully, as i had not brought my own polish with me and planned on using the one i kept at the salon. (although this may not be a big deal to some, to me, it was a horror. anyone who downplays this clearly doesn't take their nail care nearly seriously enough).

when i got home to start getting ready, CaliSister called and told me she had landed and was in the car en route. it was 5:40 at this point. she walked into the apartment at about 6:20, did the quickest freshen-up-and-change ever, and we got to Bryant Park Grill, where the wedding was about to begin. (this wasn't one of those weddings where it's called for 7 o'clock but actually begins at 7:30. it was starting promptly.)

a still slightly stressed me + my perennially calm sister

we were seated just in time for the nuptials! which were touching and amazing. and the vows--oh boy, they were incredibly well written and delivered with such genuine emotion that it just filled my heart with joy. and i am *so* not the kind of girl to get joyful on a lark. i am usually all about the cynicism. but really, these two are so in love and so happy, even my cold, black heart was moved. did i mention how bee-yoo-tiful the bride was? see for yourselves:



the ceremony and cocktails were on the roof, where the weather was definitely warm, but not unbearable.

please note T's expertly (ahem) tied bow-tie.

the cocktails portion had a crudités station, as well as passed hors d'oeuvres including pastry-wrapped salmon, half-hamburgers, pigs-in-blankets, mini-goat cheese/veg tarts, beef satay skewers, sushi rolls and probably other stuff that i'm forgetting. Thurston being a non-aggressive hors d'oeuvres grabber, i enlisted Tyrone to help me snag the coveted burgers.

this is what Tyrone looks like when the burgers are all gone.

once the hors d'oeuvres were exhausted, it was time to head downstairs to the dinner/dance portion of the evening. our table was in a prime location-- right next to the dance floor and the cake!
instead of one cake, they had tiered cupcakes, but with a single layer of regular cake for the cake-cutting (très forward-thinking, no?)

the tables were simple and lovely:

forgive the askew knife--i managed to do that within five seconds of getting to the table.

and the band! i have to find out the name of this band that kept all people on the floor the entire night despite the warm weather (that somehow crept inside). warmth notwithstanding, everyone was dancing like it was their job (if one's job was a job one enjoyed, while also not being particularly lucrative) and it was a great time. Thurston even cut a rug with the groom's mom, who called him out in a manner not unlike the one The Boss used to get Courtney Cox up on the stage with him in for his Dancing in the Dark video.

except Thurston looked somewhat less winsome.

all-in-all the wedding was a success! the food was (shockingly) delicious. i note this because, so often, wedding food is nothing to write home about. Thurston and i both ordered filets, which were perfectly cooked, mine being exactly rare** as per my request and not some b.s. medium-rare substitute. and the fries that accompanied them were awesome! even my vegetarian sister (and don't even get me started on how this pains me) loved her ravioli option. (the third option was crab cakes, which looked like they would have been good, based on my observation of others eating them).

now the newlyweds are in Thailand, where i am sure they are having more fun than i am, as i stress the f out over planning my honeymoon. thus far, i have even designed a spreadsheet for that purpose. (i thank part-time work for allowing me enough time to become super-OCD.)

---

* oh, you have to just love that wedding-related humor.
** i really find it hard to talk about how T likes his steaks. it hurts me to think of those poor, little steaks, on the flame for so very long before they are cooked to T's liking. last night, at Bobby Van's with the JadedParents, he actually whispered his order to the waiter, so as not to upset my delicate sensibilities. (isn't he the sweetest?)

America's Got Talent/American Juniors

ok, i'll readily admit that my taste in TV is questionable, at best. during the summer--even more so. back in the day (the days of 2003, to be specific), i watched a FOX summer program called American Juniors, whereby America got to vote five kids into* an all-kids singing/dancing/being adorable group, aptly named "American Juniors." (i am sure that Thurston is thrilled that this show aired prior to us meeting, allowing him to dodge the bullet of watching it...)

the group consisted of Taylor, Danielle, Tori (Taylor's sister), Chauncey and Lucy (at least those are the names i remember).

but there was a less moppety-cute girl on the show, who was a quite a singer. that girl was Chantal Kohl. sure, sometimes judge Debbie Gibson thought she was dressed a little too maturely, but Chantal was pretty good. she did not get picked for the group, which is why i was not that surprised to see her on another awesome(ly horrible) show last night:
America's Got Talent.

however, as it turns out, the girl on last night's show was actually named Alexis (i don't recall her last name) and just happened to be Chantal's doppelgänger.
although the AGT web site has yet to update photos of its "talent", i have found this clip of Alexis singing Whitney, natch. (why do all reality singers pick Whitney???) and she looks *just like* Chantal:


as soon as i get an Alexis pic, i will do a side-by-side and you will see that strange things are afoot at the Circle K.

---

* see how they flipped the Idol formula on its head? noone got voted *out* here. just voted *in*. it's so different!

One Degree of Kevin Bacon

clearly, because i promised my first part-time day would bring excitement, the stars aligned for me. at around 7:20 last night, Thurston and i ran out to grab a cab (he, too, was having dinner in the East Village, although separately). as we saw occupied cab after occupied cab go by at the corner of 8th Street and University, T spied a cab that had just pulled over and flashed on its "vacant" light.

we waited next to the cab for the passenger to vacate and when he did, lo and behold, it was a scruffy (but still handsome) Kevin Bacon, sporting jeans and putting on a baseball cap disguise.
if you think the excitement stops there, you'd be entirely wrong. *then* our cab driver proceeds to tell us that he told Kevin Bacon a story about a dream he had. in this dream, our cab driver was looking into an antique mirror, but it was blocked by smoke. when the smoke cleared, he was looking at himself, yet he was dressed in full Civil War battle uniform, including a hat with two crossed swords.

we asked him which side he was on and we were happy to hear that it was the Union. then T asked him if he had been watching the History Channel or some such Civil War stuff prior to going to sleep. apparently, Kevin Bacon had asked him the same thing, confirming what i have long believed--that T and KB, as i will now call him, are kindred spirits. (truth be told, T does have some Footloose-quality moves, as Dr. Sexy and Mrs. Dr. can attest, having seen some of the same at their wedding.)

as it turned out, our cabbie had *not* been watching the History CHannel and was not any type of Civil War buff. he then began searching on the Internet for uniforms that resembled his. somehow or another, he came across this guy:



Charles Hamlin, son of Hannibal Hamlin who was Lincoln's VP, and i tell you this without kidding, Charles Hamlin is the *spitting image* of my taxi driver. (who was clean-shaven, however). weird!!

then i went to Lavagna with the girls and had a lovely dinner. for some reason, i forgot to have a cocktail. well, as *my* Civil War hero once said:

After all, tomorrow is another day.

China Girl

ok, as i alluded to in a prior post, my china pattern has returned from the dead.

Orsay Powder Blue by Philippe Deshoulieres.

"but, how ever could a china pattern be so swiftly resurrected?" one might ask. the answer is, it's fairly easy when the pattern was, apparently, never discontinued in the first place.

flashback to April 28, 2006. on that day, my mom's friend went to Bloomingdale's, 59th Street, to purchase some china off my registry. an unidentified registry sales associate informed her that the pattern had been discontinued. upon hearing this tragic news (trust me, it *was* bad news--it took us-for-freaking-ever to pick a pattern), my mother also contacted Bloomingdale's, whereupon the discontinuance was confirmed. reluctantly, my mom called me to break the news. i wasn't looking forward to choosing another pattern, but i was definitely far more consolable than Thurston who highly dreaded another scorched earth china search mission.

unwilling, to take Bloomingdale's word for it, i contacted the china manufacturer, Philippe Deshoulieres. in my very poor French, i asked them if this were true:

Bonjour,
J'ai une autre question en raison de, peut-être, la désinformation. à bloomingdales, un magasin Américain, j'ai un enregistrement de mariée. Cette semaine, Bloomingdale's m'a dit soudain qui le Orsay bleu poudré est maintenant interrompu par votre compagnie et que je ne peux plus l'achatil. Je suis désolé pour vous ennuyer encore, mais j'ai voulu voir si cette> information est correcte. Vous remercier si beaucoup encore pour votre assistance. (Je m'excuse de mon français terrible!)
Sincerement,
Lovey

when i didn't receive any answer, my mom--being ridiculously helpful--went to bloomingdale's and switched our registry over to Bernardaud's Elysée, which we had previously seen and quite liked:



the fact that the cost of an Elysée place-setting is roughly 2x the cost of an Orsay setting stuck in my craw, but only for a bit. i came to love my Elysée even more than the Orsay that came before. but then, i received the following email in my inbox:

From: [Bloomingdale's Registry Guy]
To: Lovey Howell
CC: [Philippe Deshoulieres Lady]
Date: Friday - June 9, 2006 2:41 PM
Subject: Fw:
Requête envoyée depuis le site internet Philippe DESHOULIERES

Dear Ms. Howell,
I'm not sure why you were told that Philippe Deshoulieres "Orsay Powder Blue" is no longer made. It's our best selling china pattern from Philippe Deshoulieres. It is still manufactured, we still carry it, and we would be happy to register you for that pattern.
Most sincerely,
[Bloomingdale's Registry Guy]

below his email was my original email, which had been forwarded to him by the Philippe Deshoulieres' national sales manager. she had written the following note:

Hello,
Sorry for not sending this email to both of you sooner but I am still cleaning up from my maternity leave. I will translate and summarize this email from a Bloomingdales bride: She emailed the factory to find out if the factory was still making Orsay Powder blue, the pattern she is registered for because she had been told by the store that the factory had stopped the production of this pattern.
Best regards,
[Philippe Deshoulieres lady]

so, now, what do i do??? do i stick with the pricier Elysée, or do i take back my poor, beleaguered Orsay? (wasn't Helen Hunt faced with a similar choice in that movie Cast Away?)
i need guidance*!

---

* and, as T knows by now, despite my own request for such guidance, i reserve the right to ignore any and all guidance with a "whatever! i do what i want!" it's kind of my life motto, modeled after the great Eric Cartman.

part-time lover

as of today, that's what i am. (though not necessarily the type Stevie Wonder had in mind.)
in that i now work part-time and love it.
from now on, i work Mondays, Tuesdays and every other Wednesday. this now leaves me plenty of free time to obsess over wedding planning. and also to go shopping. and to have lunches.
so, yeah, life is pretty awesome. except that it's a little boring being home and unoccupied. however, it's amazing how little activity is required to stave off such boredom.
case in point-- today.
i woke up, ate some olives that the JadedBrother left here before he set off on a month-long roadtrip,
and then met with the contractor who is going to renovate my bathroom and also build an extra closet so that there will be some parity between my large closet and T's not-as-large closet. the olives and the contractor kept me busy straight through 11:36 a.m.

then i decided that i would embrace my inner-housewife and do some laundry, since i had been putting off for over a week. now, usually when T and i do laundry, we do it in the evenings or on Sundays. this is probably the better way for us to continue doing laundry in the future, since today i had a showdown with some of the cleaning ladies and am now none too popular in the laundry room.

here's the deal. our building has two laundry rooms--one on the second floor for "residents only," and one in the basement where cleaning ladies can go. i prefer the basement laundry room since it has more washers and dryers. (10 dryers and as many washers). the thing that i do *not* prefer, though, is when somebody does not keep track of their timing and leaves their unattended clothes in the dryers. when i got down to the laundry room, 6 of the dryers had finished their cycles and were still full of clothing. so, giving this "somebody" the benefit of the doubt, at best case scenario, these dryers cycled off the moment before i stepped into the laundry room. anyway, i go about my business, putting Oxiclean, Downy Fabric Balls, detergent and Shout Color Catchers into each of my machines and starting them up.

then i come back downstairs about 1/2 hour later, just as my machines are finishing up. the 6 dryers remain off and full of the same clothes as before. so in order to put my stuff in dryers, i have to empty each of those dryers into separate little carts, and then use the one remaining cart to transfer my stuff from washer to dryer. i do this and put my dryers up for an hour cycle.

with my hour of freedom, i go to the grocery store and purchase, inter alia, the fat-free salad dressing of which Thurston is so fond (and actually brings to work since his office cafeteria does not stock light dressings at its salad bar.) i return to the laundry room and the carts are *still* full of the dryer stuff and this is now approximately two hours after i first got down to the laundry room. as i am emptying my stuff out of the dryer, two cleaning ladies mosey in and start to assemble the clothes from the carts.

so i say to them (in the most charming way, natch), "you know it's really inconsiderate to leave your laundry down here for so long. other people need to use the dryers in the meantime." the cleaning ladies stare at me blankly, so i repeat myself. needless to say, after some back and forth, i get my point across. then as i am folding my laundry, the cleaning ladies keep throwing me hard looks and start blasting their transistor radio, tuned to La Mega NY (97.9FM). now this is something i have never seen. i mean how long does folding take, that you need to bring a radio with you? i mean, really.

anyway, i now know that i am even less a fan of La Mega than i am of people who leave their clothes behind for hours on end.

look, i *said* that being home was boring. tomorrow promises more excitement as Lola and i head up to Woodbury Common. and tonight i have dinner with the Bean, Lillers, Ivona, Mel and Jen, so that also should result in something. (cocktails and a subsequent buzz, most likely.)

a tale of two showers

when it rains, it pours.* at least vis-à-vis bridal showers of late.
this past weekend i had the shower of Liz, the (once) little girl for whom i used to babysit (cue the Sunrise, Sunset music right about now) and the weekend before that was Mags' shower. (Mags and her fiancé can be credited with introducing me to Thurston). both showers had a couple of things in common: great food, fun people and lovely brides-to-be. aside from that, they differed greatly and i definitely will plumb both for any ideas to coopt.
in order of appearance:

Shower de Magnolia
Mags' shower was at the apartment of her sister-in-law-to-be. this was excellent for two reasons: a) it was close to my apartment and b) it was a rainy, rainy day. (those two perks may be unique to me but, hey, it's my blog. what did you expect? perspective? ha!)

although i initially fell for the clever ruse of Magnolia's mom, the food was not actually all home-cooked by her, but was from Trader Joe's. the spread included the following:

• appetizers: crudité, hummus, another dip (maybe chipotle, maybe crab), coconut shrimp, hot chicken wraps, and probably other things that i am forgetting.
• mains: mini-meatballs, sushi, cous-cous with cranberries, sesame noodles
• desserts: spice cake with lemon frosting (actually made by Mags' mom) and a trifle with brownies, pudding, heath bars and a whole lot of awesome (made by the hostess).

the shower was low-key and sans bridal games, except for a cute idea that i'd never seen before. as Magnolia opened a gift, the gift giver had to pick a little scroll from a bowl. the scroll contained a question about Scott, her fiancé, and before she could open the gift she had to answer the question correctly. as a bonus, two of the scrolls contained the word "gift" meaning, shockingly, that whomever picked that one got a little gift from the hostess. the questions were insanely tough and had i been asked them about T, i would have gotten maybe 10% right. (happily, ignorance is bliss, so i guess that means the less i know about him, the happier we'll be. or something...)

Shower de Elizabeth

although it's still hard for me to accept**, Liz is actually a grown-up now and about to be a bride. the shower, thrown by Liz's two aunts, was a tea at Café Opaline in the Dahesh Museum. not only did the shower coincide with the timing of the Puerto Rican day parade, but the location was just a block East of the festivities.

despite the proximity, neither J.Lo nor parade grand marshal Marc Anthony stopped by the shower. too bad for them, because they missed:

• mini tea sandwiches: salmon napoleon, lobster sausage, mint and yogurt rolls, sesame chicken wraps, grilled cheeses, cucumber cream cheese and maybe a couple of others
• petit fours: mocha éclair, chocolate squares, carrot cake, fruit cream tarts
• scones, clotted cream and jam

this shower also had one game, and that was one where the mom of the bride-to-be (and the woman under whom i have a subsidiary Costco membership, so big ups to her) asked if you had something in your purse (i.e. thread, food, a train ticket) and then whoever answered first received a book that thematically related to the thing asked for. because i am so utterly charming, i was able to win the book How to Disagree without Being Disagreeable, since i was able to raise my hand for the "who has had an argument today?" question.*** i probably will not read this book, since i rather enjoy being disagreeable and fear that, were i to abandon that trait, my own family might think i'd been taken over by pod people and have to exterminate me in order to save the human race. i mean, probably.

anyway, another shower perk was the favor they gave out:

a little box of two Teuscher champagne truffles. so freaking good!
and, they came in a little decorative box, which you can actually create with a custom color box/ribbon combination.

if my guests are extra lucky, i may well try to incorporate these as favors for some aspect of my wedding events. because they really taste a lot like what i imagine heaven would taste like if it were an edible bonbon.

---

* ok, yes, "when it rains, it pours" is a lame expressions, but i'm talking about "showers" here, so if the rain expression is going to work anywhere, this is really my best use of it.

** interesting (to me, anyway) aside: when i used to babysit Liz and her siblings, Michael and Andee, i would make them this Orville Redenbacher caramel popcorn, which had just then been invented (thgis was in the late 1980's). anyway, the popcorn was your basic microwave popcorn, except with a twist--it came with this slab/block of caramel that you would put in the bag just after it had finished popping in the microwave, and shake around so that the caramel would melt and coat the popcorn. for some reason, perhaps due to the brown chunky nature of the caramel, the kids all called it "doody popcorn." and to this day, i still think of poop whenever i encounter caramel popcorn.

*** surprisingly, my argument had nothing to do with PR parade hijinx, but rather with the antics of a museum patron who went into the revolving door at the same time as me and then stopped to talk to her husband who was still outside on the street, holding the revolving door still while she chatted and trapping me in my compartment. i had to give her a "jesus, lady, let go of the door and chit-chat on your own time" [edited for content]. she tried to throw me a hard look, but i threw a harder one and she backed off. wisely.

Blogging Miss Daisy

so, as some of you may have noticed, i am now part of a group wedding blog at Weddingbee. basically, my wedding-related blogs from this blog will be copied over to there. since the weddingbee readers know nothing about me, the following will seem redundant for this blog, but more of an introduction to that one

initially, i love the name Miss Daisy (even though the moniker comes without the Morgan-Freeman-chauffeur perk) and i am also loving my little daisy icon that comes with.

i suppose i should summarize a few of my wedding details for those just tuning in.

i've booked a venue, the Metropolitan Club, which is a private club in Manhattan. (my sponsor is my friend Mrs. A's dad. i introduced Mrs. A to her husband Evil A, so he seems happy enough to do it.)

the Great Hall, with 55-foot ceilings, where the cocktail reception will be held.

• my port-in-the-storm, sounding board, stress-reliever is my wedding planner Farrell of the Wedding Library. the Wedding Library is an incredible resource, even if you don't use them for planning, as they do custom invitations/stationery, shoes, accessories and maids dresses there. i can't go on about this place enough. oftentimes, sans Farrell, i would be rocking back and forth in the fetal position, overcome by wedding drama.
  
• my gown is by Monique Lhuillier and i bought it at Saks. but those are all the details i'll give now since Thurston, my groom-to-be, reads this blog (isn't that sweet?) and there is no way he is getting a dress preview!
  
• my florist is the amazing DeJuan Stroud. he is in Tribeca and also did Emma Bloomberg's wedding, so clearly he has awesome (Wall) street cred.
  
• my photographer is Lilian Haidar, who does wonderful photojournalistic stuff. and is someone i could happily spend 10 stress-filled hours with. (and surely will on the big day.)
  
• my band is Soul Connection from Total Entertainment. we worked with Jeffrey Foster there, and he's just a fantastic guy to know.
  
• bridesmaid dresses are from Thread, though i haven't yet put in the order. my San Francisco sister will be in town in two weeks to choose her dress and then, bang, that one's done too.

we're just now deciding on our videographer and are about to embark on cakes, rehearsal dinner venues and brunch spaces. officiants, favors, invitations, veils, headpieces, etc. are still on the horizon. and next week i start my part-time work schedule, so cannot wait to take full advantage of my newly-found spare time.

first on the agenda is deciding what to do about my former china pattern, which, though i had been told it was discontinued, turns out to have been resurrected from the dead. oh, the drama!

hair clip details

because some people at Weddingbee, were curious about the hair clip i wore to the Dr. Sexy wedding, i took a couple of photos of it. (i'm just so all about sating your undying curiosity).

i bought the clip from my ab fab stylist Adolfo (at Paul Lebrecque), who introduced me to the concept of layers.


my hair, many years ago and P.L. (that's pre-layers)

i adore Adolfo, even though between me and Thurston, T is definitely Adolfo's favored client. yes, for wedding day efficiency, i have also forced T to get his haircut by the same guy as me... happily, T loves Adolfo too, so it's worked out well. (in fact he's getting his hair cut there next week, just in time for a the Robinhood benefit, which we attend with my folks each year. this would be another great hair experiment opportunity, were the event not beginning straight after work...)

anyway, here is a close-up of the front and back of the clip. to be sure, i think i want more Swarovski-esque bling for my wedding day hair, but this clip is definitely a good "night out" go-to...

Thurston giveth...

my present
Originally uploaded by jadedem.

...and Amazon taketh away. unfortunately, the camera T got me for my birthday had a slightly misaligned shutter. it just sat one tiny bit shy of flush and so, back to Amazon it goes. hopefully the new one will come soon and i'll be back in the awesome gift receiving business.

all defects aside, this was the best birthday present and T is the best guy i know. oh oh oh! isn't love grand?

danke schoen...

darling, danke schoen.

that's what you'll get if you send us a present. (though, Wayne Newton lyrics aside, it's more likely than not that i'll thank you in English rather than German.)

in order to properly thank people for all the lovely engagement gifts we've received, we have been sending out our pre-wedding thank you notes. (i.e. they don't have my to-be-name on them).

the notes are folded letterpress cards (from William Arthur) with brown tissue-lined envelopes.

very simple and very cute.* (i have to thank the JadedMom and Lil'E, who both helped me order these when i was in full wedding OD mode back in January. it was a scary time for one and all.) i'm not sure what we'll do for our wedding invitations but i am sure that my überfantastic wedding planner Farrell will have some great ideas.

she's already helped me with the cutest save-the-dates ever, inspired by my trusty day planner.

palm pilots? palm pilots!? we don't need no stinking palm pilots!

i don't even know what's going to happen when i have to start picking out the *actual* invites. it's going to be crazy, that's all i know.

---

*forgive the shoddy photos. T got me spanking new camera for my birthday, but the battery is still charging... so sad!

the omen

Originally uploaded by jadedem.

i meant to post this screen shot back when i had 666 hits, but forgot to do.
so today seems as appropriate a day as any to finally get around to it.
spooky!!

what's not spooky, but awesome, is that we're going to see Kathy Griffin tonight with EvilA and MrsA. i am very excited, as is Thurston. we did our homework, too-- watching many a DVR'd Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List episode over the weekend.

i was a bit concerned about seeing the KG show, though, since i was saddened to hear of her divorce from her IT-consultant husband Matt.

so very sad!

however, while listening to Kathy being interviewed Howard Stern this morning, Thurston found out that she and Matt are back together. hooray!! apparently, they were separated for a few months and are now back together, although they're not going to remarry. which really brings a tear of joy to my eye. long live Kathy and Matt!!