You Know You've Been Together TOO Long When...

...You're leaving a restaurant sans your fiancé after having dinner with your friends, and you proceed to unlock your car and get into the passenger seat...And sit there wondering why the car hasn't starting moving yet.

Sushi Wednesday

Sushi with Salmon Roe
Originally uploaded by Kirti Poddar

I would like to take this moment to thank whoever invented sushi. I don't know why, how, or when someone thought to wrap delicious fish and veggies in rice and dried seaweed...but I would like to thank him/her for thinking outside of the box. Sometimes the idea of going out to sushi is the only thing getting me through the day.

The only thing that would make sushi better would be if Don liked sushi. (And maybe if it were not so expensive, and maybe if I also had a bigger stomach that would enable me to eat more sushi...a fact Elisabeth and I were lamenting at our last sushi night.) Maybe I can convince the chef tonight to wrap a mozzarella stick or a rib in some rice and pawn it off as sushi to Don. If Denny's gets to put mozzarella sticks in a grilled cheese sandwich, I am sure it can be put into a sushi roll. All we would need would be a little Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce on the side, and maybe, just maybe, Don would like sushi.

Little does he know that all we are having at our wedding is sushi...

Shopping at Hobby Lobby is better than Homework

Don and I went to Red Lobster for lunch. Note to our future children or any family members ever in dire need of Don's help: you will not come before cheddar biscuits. If he had to choose between taking you to school (future Jacob Eli - and yes mom, we still like that name) and eating cheddar biscuits, cheddar biscuits will always win.

After 2 rounds of cheddar biscuits, I decide that we should go over to Hobby Lobby to get a fall wreath for out door. Apparently cheap plastic gourds/pumpkins and fake leaves on a round of twigs are very expensive. So we went to plan B. We decided to buy a wreath later, and find a nice Halloween/Thanksgiving centerpiece for the table. Yeah...cheap plastic pumpkins/gourds and fake leaves in a vase are just as expensive as when they are attached to a wreath.

I decide that this is a great time for a design project since all the individual fall items are on sale for all those crafty people out in the world. We found this really awesome metal wire cornucopia frame with a leaf design. Somehow all the random leaves and shiny ball twigs I picked out looked really good when I put them together!

And of course the moral of the story is that after we bought all the items to make the centerpiece, it ended up being almost as expensive as one of the pre-made centerpieces. But this one has the added benefit of stroking my ego every time I walk by the kitchen table. (And I think that it looks better than the ones they were selling...)

A Moment of Silence

One of the biggest struggles that Don and I have faced from the beginning of this planning process was how to accommodate his father. Don's father had been sick for a very long time. The whole time we have have been together, I have watched Don struggle with dealing with his father's pain. The logistics of getting his father to Florida were a big concern for us. Especially since his father was a huge Disney fan.

Don and his father used to drive down to Orlando every year. They would road trip together. They knew Valdosta, Georgia before it was the roaring town it has become today. Every time Don and I took a trip down to Disneyworld, we would be cautious about speaking to his father because we both knew he would have given up anything to be down there enjoying Space Mountain with us.

Don's father passed away three months ago today. He passed away the week before my parents were going up to Chicago to meet him. He had not been doing well, but that week before he passed away he was so happy. The last time we spoke he was over the moon excited to be able to meet my parents. He had been so down on his situation that I was hopeful to hear him so at peace. But they say that often a person gets better before they pass. It is my belief that this occurs because the person is getting ready to be at peace with God.

Donald is still with us. He will be with us at our wedding. He is with us in Stella's caring gestures. He is with us in Don's intense Modern Warfare sessions. He is with us in the Snyder's love of football. He is with us in every Bears victory and loss. He is with us in my mom's long disjointed stories. He is with us everyday in our thoughts and prayers and in countless other ways.

Donald -

You were loved, and you were lost. But you will never be forgotten as you will always live on in our memories and the lives of your loved ones.

10 Princess Dresses are better than 5

Alfred Angelo, in corroboration with Disney, just released a whole line of Disney princess gowns. (I found this on yahoo.com, btw.) I was basically in heaven. I even made Don watch the youtube video about the dresses. And the icing on the cake is that the dresses all run under $1,500. Yes, you heard me right...Disney produced princess dresses; high quality dresses; low-priced dresses; beautiful fairytale dresses.

PROBLEM: I cannot buy them at Kleinfelds. They are only offered through Alfred Angelo stores.

I guess it is not really a problem, since I am getting to go shopping at Kleinfelds in NYC. I am lucky enough to spend almost a week in NYC with my mom, my fiance, and my future mother-in-law. I do get to buy my wedding dress from the same store where my mom purchased hers. There is a whole line of Kristie Kelly Disney dresses at Kleinfelds...but 10 princess dresses are better than 5.

A link to the youtube video featuring the dresses out next year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzj94IoIAws

I Wish I Could Just Open a Fortune Cookie...

Fortune Cookie
Originally uploaded by C.P.Storm

...and it would tell me all the details of my wedding.

1) Good things come to those who wait. These things are purple and green.

2) Invite someone new over. Use an old-fashioned lace bordered invitation in green.

3) Your questions will be answered over a lunch buffet featuring chicken and two appetizers.

4) Give presents to those you love. People always enjoy a corkscrew or satchel of candy.

5) Stop to smell the roses. And the hydrangeas, sweet peas, and calla lilies.

When and Where

When: December 12, 2011 (fingers crossed on availability)

Where: Disney's Wedding Chapel at the Grand Floridian for the ceremony

Disney's Grand Floridian Ballroom for the reception; cocktail hour in an outdoor pavilion

Current thoughts:

I have been to a few larger weddings and never felt very comfortable. There is always a ton of people, and the bride and groom spend more time shaking hands and making small talk than enjoying what should be the best day of their lives. That is not what Don and I want. We want an early morning ceremony, followed by a brunch. A very casual and relaxed vibe so that people feel comfortable and we have time to enjoy ourselves. We are also in Disney...so why have an evening event where people waste a whole day in Florida. My hope is to have this earlier in the day so that people can still go and enjoy the parks and take in all the holiday decorations. Plus, Don and I actually get to spend the day together and let the fact that we are married sink in!