Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Wedding Planning Update

I think I am finally getting into the swing of this whole wedding thing… I’ve accomplished more in the last month than I have in the 4 months or so we’ve been engaged!

Save The Date cards printed and mailed – check

Flowers decided on and ordered – check

Wedding dress purchased – check

Bridesmaids’ dresses purchased – check, check

Photographers met with = 2

Photography contract signed – check

Caterers spoken to over the phone / e-mail = 3

Caterers I’m planning on meeting with in February = 2

Shoes purchased for wedding dress – check (with the added caveat I might find another pair I like more – I reserve that right since I have a minor obsession with shoes)

Stores registered at = 3 (this is a work in progress)

Hotels contacted about group rates for guests = 3

Hotels actually giving us a group rate = 1

Wedding website up and running – check

Wedding cakes sampled (courtesy of my soon to be MIL) – check (also, yum!)

That doesn’t even include the things we’re still working on including the Hawaiian shirts for the groomsmen and a new suit for TheBoy. Areas yet to be tackled include the honeymoon, the timing of which depends greatly on another wedding we are attending in the fall. But all in all I’m happy with my progress.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Puerto Vallarta

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta after a sleepless night spent either in the air or waiting for our connecting flight in the International Airport in Mexico City. Neither place was conducive to sleeping but we tried. After procuring both our luggage and a taxi cab we finally made our way out to our hotel. Riding through the hotel district and then the marina area we both had our car windows rolled down and were enjoying both the warm sunny weather and the fact that we were blissfully free from any responsibilities for 5 days. Paradise!

Our hotel was located just at the beginning of the downtown area and the Malecon (boardwalk). After some initial snafu with our room (the first one they assigned us had one tiny window that overlooked the interior of the hotel and was very dark and dreary) we settled into our ocean view suite overlooking the swimming pool and bar area. The waves crashed just under our balcony it seemed and literally I could have thrown something from our room and have it land on the sand. We slept with the sliding glass door open every night and enjoyed several beautiful sunsets on our balcony.

The first order of business that first day was to wander around and get the lay of the land. We left our hotel and wandered in the direction of downtown, taking note of which taco stands were busiest and generally enjoying our new environment. First order of business? $1 Pacifico beers over looking the ocean along the Malecon. It was heaven. We wandered some more and found a wonderful little taqueria where the owner was friendly and helpful. He practiced some of his English on us and I dusted off a few rusty sentences in Spanish. 6 tacos, 4 Pacificos, and 2 tequila shots = right about $7. Gotta love Mexico!

We fell into an easy routine. I would wake up in the morning about 9:00 am and slather my lily white self with SPF45 and head down to the pool with my book for a couple hours until I felt TheBoy had slept long enough. We would then shower and head out in search of some breakfast. The afternoons were spent poking through shops and spending time in the flea market. We almost always found a screaming deal on Happy Hour cocktails, once involving a real coconut which was split open for us after the drink was gone and sprinkled with salt, red pepper flakes and hot sauce – it was divine! We would head back to the room to watch the sunset either from the pool area or from our balcony and then change and rest up for dinner. Dinners were cheap, several great little taquerias were within steps of our hotel. We would often stop for a late-night snack at one of the taco trucks that stayed open all night.

We didn’t do anything touristy. No tours of Tequila. No whale watching. No snorkeling. No booze cruises. What we did do was relax and defrost our frozen, soggy selves from the gloom that always accompanies winter for me. We spent time together just laughing and enjoying each other’s company. There was no talk of the wedding (except for the occasional vendor asking if we were honeymooners or “jus practicing”). No jobs to stress over. No home projects to consider. It was truly the best vacation I think I have had in ages. No agenda. No worries. Just fun.

Friday, January 04, 2008

I am a terrible blogger.

I know this. And I would use the excuse that things are hectic around the holidays but I know it’s no good since many of my favorite bloggers ALSO were busy during the holidays and yet they all managed to put up some posts. What can I say?

"Hi, my name is Tiffany and I am a bad blogger. Forgive me for I have sinned. It has been one month since my last post."

Ha! Aren't you glad you're reading this? Ahem.

On the wedding front I finally decided to pull my head out of the sand and get some planning done… Save-the-Date cards have been ordered and should arrive early next week. Guest list is intact for the most part. I have my dress. The girls have their dresses (or have ordered them at least). I have been playing phone tag with a couple photographers. I have a consultation call scheduled for flowers. TheBoy and I ordered the knife we are cutting the cake with.

What is left on the list? Deciding on decorations, choosing the Hawaiian shirts for the guys, buying TheBoy a new suit, invitations, catering, music, honeymoon and… I’m sure about 52 million other things I haven’t thought of yet. This wedding business is really stressful y’all! I thought I would love it since it’s basically just a big party and I LOVE throwing parties but… no. I do enjoy sticking it to the wedding industry as a whole though. :D I didn’t buy a “wedding” dress, the girls are not wearing “bridesmaid” dresses, and so on. Seriously, if something has the words “wedding” or “bridal” attached to it the prices go up 10x!

Also, in the midst of the largest storm to hit CA in several years TheBoy and I scrapped our plans for a mini-vacay/road-trip over his birthday weekend and impulsively booked a trip to Mexico instead. That’s right. This time next week I will be lying on the beach, drinking a cocktail with a cute umbrella in it. Most importantly I will be warm. I really hate winter y’all. I think there might really be something to that whole seasonal depression thing. I’m just saying.