Happy Feet

Previously, I shared a video from an epic first dance. Remember how I mentioned that I'm a seasoned dancer? Because of this, Jake and I do not dance together much. We'll do the obligatory hug-and-waddle once in awhile, but it's not my thing. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with others doing it, I just have a problem with doing it myself.

Anyways, enough about me. Jake wants to dance at our wedding. After some research, we found a private instructor that specializes in teaching beginners AND teaches one of my favorite dances. It's not the waltz, foxtrot, or evolution of dance. But it's awesome. We're not going to reveal anything more. You will just have to wait till the day of to be surprised.

We've had two lessons with Karen to date. Jake is picking the stuff up like a sponge! I love watching him break down the movements, both footwork and arm/hand positioning, until he understands. It's fun to watch him "debug" dancing like he would software.

I love how much Jake is getting into swing of things (sorry couldn't resist the pun). He is considering learning a few other dances!!!!

Karen, our instructor, working with Jake during our first lesson.

Home Improvement

Source

What girl didn't have a crush on JTT back in the day? And now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

Last weekend, Jake and I helped our friend M fix up his newly acquired home. It's not a brand new home or an old fixer upper. The house just needed a bit of TLC before he moved in. Along with his parents and other friends, we spackled, sanded, painted, and assembled an entire dining set (8 chairs!). M's dad refused to paint, so he was off working on electricals and plumbing.

All this work inspired me to spruce up our place. Not long after we moved into our current place, we hit up Ikea. In addition to all the bookshelves, we also purchased some diode lights. I had intentions to install them under the cabinets in the kitchen for two reasons: 1) more lighting over the counters and 2) a light source at night time. I HATE the overhead kitchen lights because I can see them from the bedroom. Ever since we started living together, I've become a light sleeper. I used to sleep like a rock too!

It's been almost 6 months, but the lights are finally up.

Not too shabbyand I didn't even drill any holes. I hid all the ugly wiring behind my mixer :) 

365...days...left!

One year.

12 months.

52 weeks.

365 days.

Those are all ways to say the same thing. On this date next year, we will be surrounded by family and friends. We will be promising a lifetime to one another. We will be starting a new chapter together. But most importantly, we will be partying the night away with our friends and family!

Dressing the Women Folk: Bridesmaids

All but one bridesmaid is wearing Alfed Angelo. Photo by Jason Angelini.

That's exactly how I envisioned my ladies to look: fabulous in mixed, black, chiffon, knee length numbers. There are a bunch more examples of complementary bridal party garb on a fellow bride's blog here and here. I thought it was going to be easy. I pick the designer, pick the color, pick the fabric, and let the girls choose the neckline and shape.  Good LORD I was wrong. PSA to all brides out there: your bridesmaids want more direction than that. They basically want you to tell them what to wear. They want to please you! Or maybe that's just my ladies, they're the best.

My ladies and I hit up a bridal boutique called Charolotte's Weddings in Beaverton, OR. They carried both Jasmine Bridal and Alfred Angelo. I had looked at both lines and they seemed to have what I thought I was looking for. As it turns out, while the dresses that had caught my eye were chiffon, they had way too many layers and were heavy. What's the problem? The wedding is in August, in Boston. Hello heat and humidity! New England natives may think that humidity isn't that bad. Remember, it's called relative humidty for a reason. Compared to Oregon, any amount of humidty in the summer is too much. The girls need light airy dresses that are breathable.

We also hit up David's Bridal since it was just up the street and this would be the last chance we had to shop together. This time we put the kids in the stroller (I forgot to mention our ring bearers were there too!) and I was able to interact with the girls more and actually pick through dresses. Talk about slim pickings. Apparently chiffon dresses are hard to find. Bridesmaid dresses are mostly satin, some other shiny fabric, or even worse...jersey. Jersey knits are not flattering unless you are Gisele Bundchen. And I do not want shiny bridesmaids.

The girls humored me and tried on some dresses at David's. No winners here. BM J is obviously not excited about me and my camera.

For the time being, I'm going to forget about the bridesmaid dresses until next year. Maybe JCrew will have new stylings released by then. And until then, I'll succumb to the idea of matching dresses. They're not so bad right?

Photo from The Knot.

Photo from The Knot.

Wedding Train: Stop #4

Hannah and Ben

July 31, 2010

Cannon Beach and McKeown's Restaurant

Cannon Beach and Seaside, OR

We can officially say that we've been to a barefoot beach wedding. It was a simple but awesome wedding ceremony, complete with the bride's sister reading The Princess and the Pea, a champagne toast (on the beach), and a giant sword. I don't have a picture of the sword, but was used it to cut off the top of a champagne bottle.

Ben is a long time friend of mine from college. We first met (this is everyone's favorite story of Ben) at a scholarship banquet dinner. While everyone was dressed up, he showed up in ratty jeans and a dingy white under shirt. This was to be Ben's uniform for most of scholarship related events for years to come. Who guess that we'd become roommates and great friends?

All photos by me.

I can't tell you how amazing the food was. It was buffet style, but I've never had salmon served that tasty and perfectly cooked before. They also had a carving station with melt in your mouth pork tender loin.

Ben and Hannah also had a DIY photobooth! A bunch of us piled into the photobooth and tested it out. I've got bunny ears on in our photo.

Aboard! Next stop: Voorheesville, NY

Previously:
Wedding Train: Stop #1
Wedding Train: Stop #2
Wedding Train: Stop #3