Chapter 43: Meetings!

Joe and I haven't been doing much for the wedding recently. We have looked for invitations, but that is about it. However, we are planning ahead for after the school year. We have a meeting set up on May 8th to walk through the house and go over some minor issues that have arose. On the 9th, we have a meeting with the company that will provide our linens. Hopefully we will be able to pick a color scheme. On the 10th we plan to meet with the "Pure Luxury" representative to discuss fixtures and flooring for the house. We intend to set up another meeting with the florist on one of these days as well.

School is almost over now! I only have 2 days of class left and then a few projects that I need to finish and turn in before Friday. Joe is done with all of his projects, but still has one final next Tuesday. Graduation will be on May 18th. Sometime this week, Joe, Vas, Dorann and I plan to take pictures at the Nittany Lion Shrine in our caps and gowns. On graduation day, there is typically an enormous line to take pictures at the shrine. This way we will beat the rush and save some time. We'll post the pictures!

Chapter 42: 5K!

Joe and I have been running together for the past month or so. We started out with running just a mile but have been slowly increasing our distance. I have always enjoyed running but Joe has usually lifted for his workouts. So, running was a good way to change it up.

This morning we ran the Jeremy Herbstritt 5k race. Jeremy was a graduate of PSU who was continuing his education at Virgina Tech. He was unfortunately a victim of the shootings that took place a year ago, so a race was set up in his name. This was our longest run yet together and we were proud to finish the race without having to stop or walk. It was a big step in our training!

Chapter 41: Bridesmaids!

Vas received her bridesmaid dress from J Crew today! She tried it on and looked beautiful! I look forward to seeing the rest of my bridal party in the dresses.

Otherwise, we found invitations that we liked but could not order a sample of them because they are out of stock. They haven't been in stock for over a week so we are going to start to look for a different design now. We want to order them soon so they we are not pressed for time later.

Since it is the end of the school year, Joe and I have put the wedding planning on the back burner until after Joe's final is done on May 6th. Then we plan to do a lot of planning before our graduation on May 18th.

Chapter 40: Productive Day Trip

Joe and I made another trip to Pittsburgh on Friday, and we were accompanied by my mom and Joe's mom. We only had two meetings scheduled, but they were both very important. For our first meeting, we met with a representative from All Occasions to discuss table linens, china, stemware, and flatware. The flatware, china, and stemware decisions were made, but we are still up in the air with the table linens. We haven't quite figured out our color scheme yet, so we couldn't decide on the exact linens. We did agree on most likely having a overlay or something along those lines to show two tiers of colors.

After All Occasions, we grabbed a bite to eat and then met with our caterer, Rania. The meeting ended up spanning 3 hours, but we made a lot of progress. We selected the food for every course of the reception, including a wedding cake design! Rania also helped us with all of the rentals that are needed, such as tables, chairs, and tents. She also walked through a time table of the evening's events. Overall, it was extremely productive and another great trip.

Today is PSU's blue and white game, which is where the football team scrimmages against itself. There are a lot of people in the State College area! We are planning a cookout to enjoy this great weather!

Chapter 39: Just A Day Trip

Joe and I will be going back to Pittsburgh again tomorrow. This time my mom and his mom will be coming with us. We are going to meet with our caterer, Rania, in order to plan the menu as well as discuss the layout of the special events hall. Since Rania has worked at Phipps Conservatory many times, we expect she will have good advice on where the DJ, bar, cake and other tables should be set up. We had been planning to wait until after our graduation to have this meeting but, we needed to push it up so that we know what to put on the invitations (which we would like to order soon).

Chapter 38: Back from the Burgh

Our weekend trip was once again successful! We had our meeting with 'Pure Luxury' home center on Saturday morning. We had thought that we would be planning flooring, lighting and all the details of our house; however, the home center concentrates only on kitchens and bathrooms. We are still very excited because we picked out everything for the kitchen. Our cabinets will be maple with a cinnamon finish and the counter top will be a light-colored granite. We also got to pick out all of our appliances. It was a productive meeting!

We stopped by the house to check on its progress. The decks were completely done and the insulation was in but the dry wall has not been put up quite yet. The siding on the house was finished. It's nice to see things moving along.

After that we stopped to have lunch at South Side Works and did a little bit of shopping. Then we went to the jewelry store where Joe had bought my engagement ring. We looked at quite a few wedding bands with help of the saleswoman and ended up buying them! So we were able to check house and wedding things off the list!

Chapter 37: Back to the Burgh

Joe and I will be going to Pittsburgh again this weekend. Although the primary reason for the trip is for the house, we hope to accomplish somethings for the wedding as well.

We will be meeting with a guy named Dimitri on Saturday morning. He operates a one-stop-shop for home construction. We will be picking out our cabinetry, counter tops, fixtures, flooring, and paint colors. These should be the last big decisions until furniture. We'll let you know how it goes...

For the wedding, we hope to purchase the wedding bands and look at a store called 'All Occasions' for table cloths and other decorations. After graduation in three weeks, we will be making another trip to Pittsburgh for even more wedding planning.

Chapter 36: Ceremony Details

Today I was able to call J. Crew to request a swatch of the material for the Bridesmaid dresses we plan on getting. That will be arriving in 4-7 business days and I look forward to seeing the material. Hopefully I will like it and we will be able to purchase the dresses soon.

I also looked at some invitation designs online. There are a lot of design options and by looking online I am identifying my likes and dislikes. This should make the decision easier when it comes time to make it.

I have also been reading a book called "The Wedding Ceremony Planner." The book should help Joe and me plan a ceremony that fits our style best. It has been very helpful so far.

Chapter 35: Boston

Well we had a very good trip to Boston! It took 6 and a half hours to get there on Thursday but we had an excellent time there and was well worth the trip. On Friday, Joe and I took a duck tour, which is where you get on an amphibious landing vehicle from World War II and take a tour of the city. It drives through the streets showing some of the historical highlights of Boston and then it drives right into the Charles River! It is very touristy but very fun!



We also went to the top of the Prudential Tower (the tallest building in Boston) and went to a nice dinner with Katie and her friend Danielle.

Saturday was a full day! We went to an IMAX film at the Museum of Science. It was about a man who climbed the North Face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps. Katie, Joe and I all enjoyed it! We then took the T (the subway of Boston) to the Samuel Adams Brewery. Danielle and her boyfriend met us there and we took a tour of the small brewery. It was small but still very informative. Afterwards they gave us three samples of beer in a 7 oz. glass we got to keep! We then went for a late lunch at one of Katie's favorite restaurants. After that, we walked from our hotel past the Public Garden, Boston Common, to Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market. We met another one of Katie's friends, Jenn, at the Comedy Connection where we saw Steve Byrne perform. He was very funny! Lastly, we walked to the North End where Little Italy is located. We walked along the street and got a pastry from one of the shops! It was a perfect end to the night.

This morning we got up, had breakfast at Starbucks and then commenced our long trip back to State College!

Chapter 34: Busy Week

So we said we would update more frequently. However, this was a bad week to make that promise; Joe had a big test to study for and quite a bit of homework and I had a project and a considerable amount of homework as well. Also, we are leaving for Boston tomorrow afternoon. We had promised to visit my older sister, Katie, and we are finally following through with it!

Every time I have visited Katie, it has rained. And unfortunately the forecast shows and 80% chance of rain on Friday and a 40% chance on Saturday. Hopefully that will be wrong and we will have a dry and sunshiny trip! Joe and I will be sure to take some pictures and will post those when we return.