Gosh its been awhile

Yes, it has been a while since I blogged, but I said in the beginning that I usually slack off on things like this.

Since my last post, I have completed painting the living room. As we speak (or type), I am starting into the dining room, kitchen and our back room (I don't know to call this room, its just there).

I have been busy today taking off all the outlet face plates and washing down the walls, so they will be ready to be painted on Wednesday or Thursday.

I am doing a goldish/yellow color on the back wall that runs the entire back of the house and brings the 3 rooms together. I was going with an burnt orange in the dining room, but my token decorator Todd, pointed out that the color is very close to the rust in the living room and you might not see too much of a difference. Point taken.

So, I am switching up the colors again, I HATE WHEN JUAN IS RIGHT. I let Juan pick all the colors, because he hit it on the head in the living room. He had selected a periwinkle blue, a plum and an mango color along with the gold/yellow. I hate the mango, to crayola for me. But he had originally said that the periwinkle should go in the dining room and the plum in the back room. But I thought, that orange for the dining room. So, alas, the periwinkle will go in the dining room and the orange in the back room. The plum is a very bright purple and I like it but on 4 walls in the back room would be too much. So, the plum will go in the kitchen. There is very little wall in there and I really think I am going to love it.

Here are a few shots of the living room. Ignore the porkie lounging on the couch.

Ignore the "porkie" I can't go anywhere in the house without him following.


The paintings against the wall on the left are for the dining room.

Okay, that is the update on the house stuff.

On the wedding front...I have purchased a dress. It is everything I didn't know I wanted. I don't want to post a picture because I don't want Juan to see. I can be a traditionalist at times. The great thing is that it was 1/2 the price of what I had budgeted. So, I could actually go buy another dress if I wanted. (I was thinking about it) LOL.

We also are going this week to put down a deposit for our photographer. This like I can provide. We are going to be working with Krista from Impressions Photography. The funny thing about this, it turns out that she photographed our friends Melissa and Dan's wedding, several years ago.

Originally, we were torn, or I should say I was torn between 2 photographers, their work is very similar in the style and details, but one would have cost a whole hell of a lot more, I am talking thousands more. I was going to go that way and figure out where to get the money from. Then last night I was thinking to myself, that extra money is flowers, a limo, a DJ, that second dress.

Right now I am really excited. We are getting married in less then a year, so now is the countdown time and everything is going to come together.

Next on the list, a DJ and a steel drum player.

I will try not to go too long between posts next time.

We Booked a Date

Well, we finally booked a date for our wedding. November 21, 2009. The Saturday before Thanksgiving.

We wanted to do it in November, so it wouldn't be too hot. It's hard to avoid the heat in FL. We wanted to do it on either the 19th of a month or the 22nd. The reason....well, Juan's birthday is the 20th of the month and mine is the 21st (not of November). We just thought it would be funny to have all our dates, 19,20,21 or 20,21,22. Whatever, I am strange. I also wanted to get married on leap year. I have always wanted to do this. I proposed back in February but obviously this didn't happen and I don't want to wait another 4 years, 4 years of dating 3 of living together is enough.

So, here is the unusual part. Being from NY, it is taking some adjusting to how laid back weddings are here, not in terms of being elaborate or not, but more in terms of what you get for the dollar. I come from the land of big over the top catering. In NY, you get a cocktail hour which is what is a buffet reception down here and then some. At my first wedding (yes, I have been married before), people from FL thought our cocktail hour was the reception. After that you walk into a 4 or 5 course sit down dinner, all with open bar and your cake is included. Down here, everything is extra. They even charge you to cut a cake. Give me a knife, I will cut it.

Enough about that. We went on Thursday to place a deposit at Rumrunners. I was completely prepared to give the $750, but I was surprised, we met with the Managing Partner, not the manager who I had met with previously. He told me he didn't want to take our money until we get closer to the date. He said to hold on to it, put it somewhere else, or put it in a CD to gain interest.

Who does that?

On one hand it was very nice of him. On the other the NY'er in me doesn't trust it. I kept asking if I could have it in writing. He told me, if I want him to take my money he will, but he has been in business for over 20 years. So I am happy with that and we recieved an email confirming the date. My good friend Michelle is helping us plan the wedding (she is interning with a highend wedding planner) and she said we will touch base again in about 6 months.

Rumrunners does have the ability to have the ceremony there, but we really want to get married on the beach. My only concern is what if it rains. How do I have a backup plan then? Michelle says with the length of time the ceremony usually is, even if it is a light rain it can still happen. Worse comes to worse, we will get a lot of umbrellas, maybe it will make a cool picture.

You gotta love her, she finds the positive in everything.

So now I feel like I don't have anything to do, but there is still so much to do. I guess people down here don't book things until 6 months or so before. Again, in the land of NY, you book things ASAP in order to not miss anyone. I had booked my wedding 18 months before the date the first time.

So, now it will be research and finding the best vendors where I can get the best bang for my buck and looking through magazines for ideas.

Suggestions are always welcome

I'm getting married

So, as most people know, Juan and I are getting married. He proposed back in April and it was really a shock because we had been having a very serious discussion at the time.

Apparently, we are in no rush to get to the alter and are planning on next October or November (2009). At least that will give us time to save and we won't have to charge the entire thing. I don't want to start out further in debt then I all ready am (isn't that the "American way"?)

We had been talking about what kind of wedding we both wanted and have gone back and forth between having it here in Florida, or doing a destination. We even went so far as to contact a company that specializes in destination weddings and got all the numbers and locations that were appealing to us. But in the end, we decided to do it here because we wanted everyone to be able to celebrate with us. I also felt kind of weird asking people to drop a grand to go to my wedding, even though they were getting a vacation out of it too.

Because this is my second marriage, I don't want to repeat what I did before and I don't want anything too BIG. Juan would prefer low key anyway. We haven't gone to many places maybe 5 in total. But we have decided what we are doing.

I am really excited now. My friend Michelle is asking as our wedding planner. She has been interning with a high end planner in town for about a year now and with my budget and her knowledge, it was the perfect match.

She suggested that we personalize it. So we were thinking about what we like to do, what could make it personal. Then we decided to have a Caribbean theme. Since we wanted to have a beach wedding and we enjoy going on cruises, this seemed perfect.

My thought was to have a ceremony on the beach and then the reception in a restaurant. That should keep costs down since it isn't specifically a wedding venue. We visited a couple of places on Fort Myers Beach that could host a ceremony and reception but the prices were crazy or the room was run down. I also looked into the Cape Yacht Club and Cape Harbour. I also looked at a country club. But because I did the whole country club thing, I really don't want to do it, but the prices were very appealing. We also looked at Rumrunners. This is a restaurant at Cape Harbour that is right on the water. They have a room that is part of the restaurant but it has doors and can be closed off from the main dining area.

Well, we went and had dinner there last night. WOW, it was so good. Plus the decor and menu are Caribbean themed. Can you get any better? So that is were we will host our reception.

We are planning on getting married on Fort Myers Beach and I went today to look at a location. Because it is a public beach, we can have the ceremony there at no charge, we just have to leave the beach the way we found it. Hopefully without a lot of birds. I also looked at the Cape Coral Beach, they are pretty much the same. The only thing that worries me is if it rains. Being in Florida, the rainy season should be over by then, but it can still rain. If we do it on the beach we have to figure out a back up plan.

We can have the ceremony at Rumrunners too, but we really wanted to do a beach wedding. So we will have to talk about it.

I guess most importantly, we have to set a date. Before we do anything else.

Well, more informtion to follow.