Another check off the list

I went this morning to get a much-needed haircut at the Aveda salon in my neighborhood, Biz on Fletcher and had an all around fabulous experience. This visit was also a little reconnaissance mission to see if I'd want to have my hair styled here for the wedding day. By half way through my cut I was sold!

I love that this salon is located in the currently-revitalizing historic neighborhood where we live and that the owners are active in the neighborhood association. When I told her I was new to the area my stylist, Miranda, and I had great conversation about the restaurants, nightlight, and other community activities Fletcher Place and Fountain Square have to offer. I am also a total sucker for Aveda products (which could be worse, Aveda is pretty natural and environmentally sound compared to a lot of beauty products) and love the little perks an Aveda salon offers (like a complimentary stress-relieving back/neck/scalp massage before your haircut).

Also, my final concern about scheduling was assuaged when I learned they open at 8 am on Saturdays! Many places don't open until 9, which was stressing me out because we're planning to start photos at 10. Before leaving today I booked my appointment for 8 am, June 13, 2009 (along with another haircut in March, at which point I'll bring a few photos of what I want and set up a hair-trial appointment.) Woo hoo! For some reason this particular issue had been causeing me anxiety so it feels great to have reached a decision.

Power couple, UNITE!

How fun is this picture?
I totally want a "power ring" photo. I should really start making a list of these things!

Welcome and Happy Holidays!

I'm guessing our Christmas cards (with save-the-dates inside) must have started arriving today because I noticed a big spike in the page hit counter and some new dots on the map from cities where we know people! If this is your first visit, welcome! Take some time to look around. Bookmark the page for future reference as we plan to us this page to distribute useful information. Leave us a comment or two. (Comments really make my day!)

Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas and and Happy New Year. I'm looking forward to my first Christmas at "home" in 8 years and the chance to introduce FH to the remainder of my family (there're a lot of them!) It is also bittersweet to be away from so many of the people we hold dear this holiday season, but we look forward all the more to seeing you next summer!

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

Or, the Early Bird Gets the Worm ...

Or, the forethinking, decisive bride saves $150 on photography, which is exactly what we did by booking our photographer in August! I was looking over his site again today (because I now enjoy stalking all the other weddings he shoots and at least once every week or two peruse the proof gallery ...) and saw that his new 2009 rates are posted. Score one for us!

Just goes to show that while my desire to plan ahead may sometimes seem a little neurotic I may just be on to something ... now if I could get FH to stop rolling his eyes at me when I pull out the invitation envelopes to start hand-writing all the return addresses (because, seriously, I do not want to do all 90 of them in one day in March.)

Let's Do the Time Warp Again

Wow. Today we made what we thought would be a quick trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to add items to the registry we set up online ... 3 hours later we emerged, dazed, hungry, and exhausted. Holding that scanner in my hand made me drunk with power! (Though I was a little disappointed that it didn't look like a gun ... I thought it would be a gun.) Completely overwhelming. The whole "this ____ is for the rest of your life!!!" is a lot of pressure to put on a towel/pillowcase/coffee mug/trashcan!

At least our sales associate left us relatively alone ... as we were finishing up we returned to the registry desk and I overheard another clerk lecturing a registering couple. She was talking up the KitchenAid mixer and said "Now, I know you can't imagine using a big mixer for anything now but before you know it you're going to be baking a double batch of cookies for a 3rd grade class and you'll want it!" Um, excuse me? First of all, I can think of plenty of things to use a mixer for now (like baking bread, which I very much enjoy), and second of all, when did our bedroom life become your business? Because that's what someone is really asking when they ask whether or not you're going to have kids ... I'm just sayin.

In any case, we put a lot of thought into our choices and managed to communicate our reasoning to one another fairly well. I'm pretty sure successfully registering together qualifies as some sort of pre-marital counseling so I can check that off the list too! :P

T-minus 6 months

So, FH and I woke up this morning and realized it's our negative-6-month anniversary! Wow, can it really be only 6 more months until we are married? We can't wait to see our family and friends and, with your love and support to guide us, complete this rite of passage that will enrich our life together.

Sidebar

Hello to any family and friends who might be visiting the blog for the first time after receiving our Save-the-Date notecards or emails! You will find links to the hotel blocks in the left sidebar, along with other important information that will help you navigate the site. For example, the tags section will allow you to read all the posts about any one topic (like DIY projects or the wedding party, etc). Check back for more exiciting planning posts and useful information. Thanks for stopping by!

Edited to add: The Hilton Garden Inn can also be booked online using the same group code as the Embassy Suites, OHW. (This is a change from the Save-the-Date information. You can, of course, still call the hotel directly for reservations in our hotel block.)

Vacation Dreamin!

With all this excitement and planning the only thing I'm looking forward to as much as the wedding is the honeymoon (not more than the wedding, but close to equal!) Barring any dramatic events we have decided on Door County, Wisconsin as our destination.

In considering where we might like to go for our trip we came up with some excellent criteria:

-warm during the day but cool at night
(so, the Caribbean was out)
-slow-paced
(ie. NOT a major urban center)
-accessibility to light outdoor activities, such as hiking and
kayaking on a lake
-good food
-good wine
-somewhere to get a massage
-less than an 8 hour drive from Indy

Door County seems to fit the bill wonderfully!