Meg and Rob's Excellent Wedding Adventure

Engagement Picture Preview from the Roots!

2009-06-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm so excited! Here they are!!

LOVE THEM!!!

Quick update!

2009-06-05T15:42:00.000-04:00

Sooooooooo............ a mini-update if you will.

I went for my 1st fitting today with my rehearsal dress and wedding dress. The rehearsal dress needs to be taken in one inch at the chest, and the wedding dress needs to be let out one inch at the chest. They're both David's Bridal and the same size and everything! So go figure on that one!

Not much else other than a 3/4 inch hem adjustment and bustle to be done to the wedding dress. We're doing a one loop bustle - it looked best the way that the train is...

Continuing on the world's most dull update....

We've started working on the invitations and will be (hopefully) printing them up this weekend. I'm also doing a newsletter and will post that when it's done. I downloaded Microsoft Publisher so hopefully it will come out as nice as the samples sent to me by Sam, Vanessa and Christine. Thank you all!

I'm dying to see my engagement pictures. I know it's only been about 2 weeks, but I can't wait! I'm stalking the Roots blog, even though I know they'll email me when done! AHHHH waiting is always the hardest part..

I also decided to start a Twitter account after DF bugging me to for a good few months. If you're on Twitter - let me know! So far I'm following Rob and the Roots. http://twitter.com/macmeggie

That's all for now - I'll leave you with my trial monograms from today!

Cuteness!!

2009-06-02T16:47:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share adorable flower girl pictures

This is my FG Callie who is 3. Her mom and aunt took her to Davids Bridal to get a dress and she picked out the one that looks like my dress. Callie is calling it her "foofy" dress. Obviously it needs to be taken in quite a bit. But the cuteness is def. there!

This is the poofy one I liked (it doesn't match anything in my wedding, but how adorable is she in it!)

and this is the one Callie wants - the foofy one!

Cuteness!

Day Five

2009-06-01T10:24:00.000-04:00

Day Five - May 19, 2009

Our final day at Disney. The one day I needed to be up on time. Guess what?

I wasn't! EEK!

This is the one day that I really overscheduled us. Luckily Patricia was running about 15 minutes late as well. So up and got dressed and had enough time to have Rob take a picture of me without makeup for comparison later.

(UGH!)

Patricia came in at about 8:15 and we promptly kicked Rob out for a walk around the POP. We have a ton of pictures of the buildings, rabbits and random weather. And it was raining at this time - poor guy! (Have I mentioned how patient he is?)

Anyways - I showed Patricia the picture of Lynn from her wedding. I really wanted my hair down like hers. I didn't know if she would be able to get my hair to curl because it just doesn't do anything! Let me tell you - Patricia's a magician! But before I unveil the pictures of me after, let me tell you the makeup look I was going for - "me - only better". I honestly didn't want to look overmade up. I think she did it!! (If you want to see the pictures, email me at justonemeg@charter.net and I'll send them to you! I'm trying to keep them away from Rob)

We put the veil on afterwards, and I was almost crying I felt so bride like! Patricia then pulled my hair back for the engagement pictures. I can't describe it, but it was nothing I would have ever considered, but I loved it! When the wonderfulness that are the Roots post my engagement pictures, you'll see!

So Rob came back in the room when we were done, and we said a very hasty goodbye to Patricia and had Rob get ready. We literally threw him into his clothes and ran. We managed to make it over to the Boardwalk only 15 minutes for the Roots.

Now let me post a picture of the weather that day...

Blecch. Nathan Root had called me the night before to let me know how icky it was going to be. As long as it wasn't pouring we could go through with the engagement shoot. I prayed for drizzle. The one and only time I've ever prayed for drizzle. And guess what?

It drizzled the entire time! The rain held off! So we got the pictures in! I'll post once the Roots get them up, which they said could be four weeks. (Only 2 and a half more weeks - not that I'm uber excited and looking forward to it or anything!)

We were totally goofy, and hyper the entire shoot. But I loved it. We did everything from dancing to me kicking Rob's butt. (They promised I could!) I really enjoyed working with the Roots, they're a wonderful couple on top of being excellent photographers. But let me tell you - after having 2 people follow you around with cameras for an hour, it's a let down when you realize no one is following you anymore! You feel like a celebrity! LOL

Rob and I were scheduled to meet Pam Pearce, our WC at 2pm. It was about 11:30 by the time we were done with the Roots. We had to find ways to entertain ourselves. First thing we did was grab a drink at the Bakery (coffee for Rob, Vitamin Water for me) and sit in chairs under an awning as it began to pour. We watched the ducks and other birds come in for cover for about half an hour and just talked. It was actually really nice just to sit. We had been running place to place the past two days.

We decided to have lunch at the ESPN club where Rob reports TVs in the bathroom (I have no idea - he loved it though! Typical male!) I wasn't uber interested in ESPN that day - my Bruins and Celtics were out of the playoffs, and the Red Sox had lost I believe. They were all talking about Michael Vick. I didn't bother to take pictures of what we had for lunch, but I know we both got the Philly Cheesesteaks. They were ok - I would give them a B. Eh.

Then we look a walk down the Boardwalk stopping in the Candy shop for chocolate covered pretzels and white chocolate peanut butter cups. (Did I not mention the bride diet was out the window??) We went shopping in the stores for little souvenirs for our friends, but nothing big. By the end of all this it was time to meet Pam.

Pam is a complete wonder! She's dealt with all my questions and crises for the past 8 months. It was wonderful to finally meet her! And this is how cool Pam is. She brought a company car over to drive us backstage so we wouldn't get soaked (again). The three of us went over to the ADH and I went picture crazy. Might I mention how much I loved this place?! So the right decision!!!

And at the end of the tour of ADH, Pam drove Rob and I back over to the POP. That's just how cool Pam is!! Anyone who gets her as their WC is in good hands indeed!

Rob had a headache, so we didn't get to go anywhere that night. We stopped in the arcade for our last chance at playing Afterburner (him) and Out-Run (me). And then we went up to the room for a nap... which lasted all of 8 minutes before a thunderstorm woke Rob up. He wasn't going to just lay in bed and miss watching the T-Storm. So he took some tylenol and watched the storm. We spent the rest of the evening getting ready to go back to Maine. We packed and had dinner in the food court.

The next day, we got on the Magic Express for our trip home. Blecch. I took one sad picture on the way out.

Sigh.

We only had one problem going home. Rob and I thought we were being smart only bringing one suitcase as we figured it would only cost us 15. Leaving from Bangor, our bag was 52 lbs, but the agent didn't say anything about it. Leaving from Orlando our bag was 56 lbs. The agent said we needed to take stuff out of it to bring it under 50, or pay 90 to have it go oversize! Luckily we had that bag we bought at EPCOT. So we took out all the shoes we had in the suitcase and carried them on the plane. We felt like such dweezers carrying a big bag of sandals through two airports (Orlando and Boston)

I got really depressed when we hit Boston! I was only 40 miles away from Worcester. I didn't want to get on the plane to Bangor. I wanted to stay home in MA. Again. SIGH. But I did and here I am. It's 45 out and windy. When can I go back to WDW??

BTW - here are our photo pass pictures. Where I'm wearing the teal shirt, we're in the Magic Kingdom. Where I'm wearing the navy blue shirt, we're in MGM.

Day Four - Meg and Rob's Planning Session where Meg takes pictures of every single thing and Rob pretends not to know her

2009-05-30T11:22:00.001-04:00

We woke up to gloomy skies - another day of rain. We were happy that it was raining for the people of Orlando who had been in drought conditions. However - why on our vacation? Oh well - Hakuna Matata!

No breakfast was had, because we were going to have our tasting session at 9:30. The usual Fruit Punch powerade (me) and Coffee (Rob) and we were up and out by 8:30. We had decided to take a taxi to the Boardwalk instead of going through WDW transport and having it take forever. There are always taxis outside the POP, and we had no trouble getting one and making our way over to the Boardwalk. (For reference - the fare was 6.60 from POP to Boardwalk)It was about 9am when we got there. We had to sit around and wait. So being the intrepid Bride, I decided to take all sorts of shots of the Boardwalk lobby in case anyone needed them.

Big huge picture when you come in the doors

The doors coming in

The Chandelier

One hall away from the lobby

The other hall from the lobby

The Floral Arrangement

The entrance outside

Looking one way outside

Looking the other way

The floral arrangement at the end of the hall

Rob looking bored as we wait for Diane

I even took pictures of the women's loo. Rob refused to take any of the men's room. I have no idea why I thought this would be important!

(No there wasn't anyone around!)

Diane showed up not long after and escorted us to our room. I have no idea why but we didn't take any pictures of the tasting session! I'll describe everything as much as possible!

We started off by meeting our chef and waiter. Our chef was Wayne, and I just adored this man. He was funny and sweet - not to mention an extremely talented chef! One of my favorite things about the tasting session was honestly just talking to him - I hope we meet up again! Our waiter was Mike, who was from Lowell Massachusetts! YAY! We talked Boston Sports with Mike, who was a great guy as well!

The first thing we did was choose our napkin folds - we decided on the fan fold as it seemed to be more traditional than the other ones, and New England is pretty traditional. Then we started with our appetizers - Spankopitas with Artichoke-Tomato Tapenade and Crab Cakes with Lemon Dill cream. Oh my gosh - I loved the Spankopitas! The only way I can describe them would be spinach and artichokes wrapped in a flaky pastry crust. Oh delicious! I only nibbled on the crab cake as I don't like seafood. Rob loves crab and declared this crab cake to be the best ever!

Then we went on to salad. Let me tell you something before I forget. Before you go down to tasting session and/or wedding - be sure you know which fork to use. I thought I knew all this etiquette stuff, and I found out that I was so lost. I wanted to look all dignified as a big part of the tasting session is people watching you eat. But I was lost. I tried, but I really was lost on the fork thing!

Back to the salad - we went with the medley of field greens with sunflower seeds, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot angel hair, raisins, dried cranberries with either zinfandel vinagrette or bacon ranch. Again - I love veggies and fruits down in Florida - they taste so much better down there than in Maine. I loved the salad as well - I prefered the vinagrette as a dressing and Rob liked the bacon ranch, so we decided to get both. And we also decided to make it a mini-salad bar, where all the toppings are separate from each other. We figured people would be able to get what they wanted!

Then onto the best part - the main course! We had chosen the grilled NY strip steak with merlot and black pepper reduction and roasted shallots and the roasted chicken with applewood bacon, carmelized shallots, and with an apple and cabernet reduction. I cannot put into words how excellent the chicken was. It was one of the best things I had ever tasted!! Rob says the steak was awesome - I only had a bite- I'm not big into steak. But the chicken was amazing! Wayne gave us Herb Roasted Red Potatoes and grilled veggies (zucchini, red onions, asparagus, summer squash, carrots, and red peppers) to go with it. I ate it all (except for the steak!) oh so good! So both of those things were definites!

We were done at that point - we aren't going with a dessert - we say let them eat cake! So we sat with Wayne and Diane and went over the menu. For another starch we added saffron rice in and for the cocktail hour we added the antipasto display. So the menu for the reception will be...

Cocktail Hour - Spankopitas with Artichoke-Tomato Tapenade and Crab Cakes with Lemon Dill cream
Antipasto Display - Plates of Meat, Cheese, Vegatables, and Seafood

Reception - Lunch Buffet

Salad - Medley of field greens with sunflower seeds, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot angel hair, raisins, dried cranberries with either zinfandel vinagrette or bacon ranch
Grilled NY strip steak with merlot and black pepper reduction and roasted shallots
Roasted chicken with applewood bacon, carmelized shallots, and with an apple and cabernet reduction.
Herb Roasted Red Skin Potatoes
Grilled Vegatables - Zucchini, Red Onions, Asparagus, Summer Squash, Carrots, and Red Peppers
Saffron Rice
Assorted Dinner Rolls and Butter
Coffee, Decaf, Selection of Hot Teas(We're also probably going to add New England Clam Chowder at the request of my dad - he loves the stuff and since he's paying - if he wants it - he gets it! LOL)

With budget trimming - we may take out the spankopitas and crab cakes - we'll see!

At this point we bid a fond farewell to both Wayne and Mike - I gave them both huge hugs - they were wonderful! I wish I had thought to get pictures. It was about 11am, and the rest of the Planning Session wasn't until 1pm, so Diane left us on our own until 1. We decided to go take a walk on the boardwalk.

We were completely full, so no lunch was necessary! We decided to take the aforementioned walk on the Boardwalk to see it for the first time! And also we decided to cut through EPCOT to get to the monorail to the TTC. We figured we would jump on the resort monorail to the GF from there. So off to the Boardwalk!

I had this unreal moment when I got to the Boardwalk itself. Look one way and you see ADH, look the other and you see SBP! As evidenced below -

Rob and I set off to SBP. I did a complete pictorial of everything and anything SBP.

Walking towards SBP from near the ESPN club.

The walkway up

Didn't see any bugs, but plenty of these

Looking out from the arch

A nice mother/daughter pair walked by and we took their picture and they took ours!

The entrance going towards Yacht Club

Look what you can see from SBP

I had no idea that the bushes were gardenias! (It was the most beautiful smell walking up the walkway!)

Looking out at the arch

Looking towards the left

The light in SBP

Looking towards the right

Looking out front

Looking inside from out

The flowers and trees outside of it

The top of it

The entrance

After this photoshoot we were off to EPCOT - I was hoping we would have time for a ride on Spaceship Earth as we cut through. Well... we would have, had Mother Nature cooperated!

Rob and I went in the International Gateway to cut through EPCOT. The security guard was Puerto Rican, so I worked on practicing my horrible spanish. He was really nice - another person I wish I had taken a picture of! Bah!

So we're walking at a fairly decent pace - I was driving Rob batty stopping every few seconds to take a picture. EPCOT was having their flower show, so everything was so beautiful! I loved the tea garden through England - my dad is obcessed with Twinnings tea!

Rob didn't like the way the sky was turning so dark and kept hurrying me along. I stopped at a souvenir stand to buy a magnet (I collect magnets - I have two sides of my fridge completely covered) and one of those green eco-totes to carry my planning binder in. In a few minutes I was praising GOD that I had bought it. I didn't buy a Mickey gnome - but I wanted to!

The last pictures I have of EPCOT are the Lion King toperaries -

Why were those the last pictures you ask? Look at the sky behind it. It completely opened up after these pictures. I had not seen rain like this other than in hurricanes - and I've only been through 3 of those (Bob and Gloria in Massachusetts, and Bertha in 96 in Puerto Rico)This rain was coming down so hard it actually hurt when it hit you. So the camera, IPhone and anything electronic was thrown into my purse. We ran to Spaceship Earth, which was predictably packed with people. At least Rob had predicted this was going to happen. We were both wearing our Mickey crocs and our WDW Rainjackets (purchased the day before at MGM). Other people were just soaked! Our shorts got soaked and I was worried. I was wearing light colored shorts and I was wearing Kermit the Frog undies! I was so worried that Kermit would show through I made Rob go behind me as we were running and make sure that you couldn't see anything! (Have I ever mentioned what a patient man Rob is? LMAO!)

Well there were no froggy incidents as we ran up to the EPCOT Monorail platform. The monorail was delayed as the black one was switching tracks or some such. But we eventually got on the monorail and went off to the TTC. When I sat down in the monorail, I squished. My shorts were just light khaki. Rob had been smart and worn North Face shorts that were a cross between mesh and nylon that dried before he even got on. I was stuck in my soggy misery. I now wish I had had Rob take a picture of me and my hair - my makeup was completely washed off and my hair was in the process of making me look like Doc Brown from Back to the Future. It was horrible!

You should have heard the rain on the monorail - it was just pelting. It was while we were in the monorail that it began to thunder and lightning. I was convinced we were going to get zapped in the monorail. I used to love thunderstorms, but that was before I got engaged to a meteorlogist. Rob has made me paranoid about them! He's told me of cases where people have got struck by lightning coming through windows, electrical sockets, and roofs. I'm really neurotic about them now. (To put this in perspective, the summer before I met Rob, I lived in Lubbock, Texas with my step-mom for the summer. I used to sit on the porch and watch the storms come in over the plains!)

Both of us got off that monorail and onto the resort one without incident. We traveled to the GF and got off. I felt very awkward going into the GF. It was the first time I had been there and I looked like a drowned rat. There were all these beautiful people walking around - especially coming out of the hair salon. I did not fit in and Rob and I looked to make a speedy exit to get over to Franck's. By the time we got outside again, the rain had slowed down to a drizzle, so I was able to pull out my camera again for some more shots.

After all the drama and rain of getting over to Franck's - we were there about 40 minutes early. So we were told to make ourselves comfortable. So we did.

Diane showed up promptly at one and we were ushered into one of the rooms to start our planning. I have to say that I am wicked confident that Diane will get every single aspect of our day as we want it. She really knows her weddings! Any question I had for her, she could answer. Here's all that we decided - (I didn't take pictures because I was too busy writing everything down)

Rehearsal -Sunday October 11th at Salon 7 at the Grand Floridian at 4pm. It's over at the GF because we're going over to Ohana's for the rehearsal dinner.

Transportation Limo
We're going to have a limo to bring our wedding party and VIPs over to SBP. The Limo is going to take two trips around to get all our people

10:15am - the limo will pick up my parents, DF's parents, Rob and I, Rob's brother Mike (Best Man), and Ashlyn (JR.BM - Mike's daughter)

the limo drops us off and they come back for:

10:45am - Maid of Honor (step sister Jen), friend Andrea and her two boys Josh (Jr. GM) and Daniel (RB), friend Melissa and her daughter Callie (FG).

We're going to have a motorcoach to get people from POFQ and Pop to SBP.

11:15am - Pickup at POFQ
11:35am - Pickup at Pop
5:45pm - leave from Boardwalk to the resorts

I've scheduled a motorcoach to bring people to the dessert party, but I'm really hoping people will understand how to walk over to international gateway without issues.

7:50pm - Pickup at Pop
8:10pm - Pickup at POFQ
9:45pm - bring everyone back to their resorts

Ceremony

10:30-11:00am - Bridal Party pictures at the Boardwalk
12:00-12:30pm Ceremony

Open seating - reserved first row on each side.
Programs - One on each chair

We'll be having a CD player set up with technician. So we'll be providing our own CD to be played. Here are the songs and what will happen as written in the BEO. (Audio system - 1 mixer, 2 wireless mics, 1 wired mic, 1 CD player and 1 technician)

Prelude - DFTW Instrumental CD
Mothers - "Annie's Song" (as done by the O'Neill brothers)
*Groom's Mother, Anna escorted by Groom's Father, Alan. Anna & Alan place sand cylinder on altar table.
*Bride's Mother, Lucy escorted by Bride's Father, Jim. Lucy & Jim place sand cylinder on altar table. Jim Returns. (My dad's pulling double duty on this one)

Groom (right entrance of SBP) - "Real Love" - John Lennon
*Rev. Day enters with Rob, Mike (BM) and Josh (Jr.GM)

Bridesmaids (left entrance of SBP) - "The Wedding Song" (as done by the O'Neill Brothers)
* Ashlyn (Jr.BM) and Jen (MOH) enter

Ring Bearer/Flower Girl (center entrance of SBP) "The Wedding Song" (continued)
*Daniel (RB) and Callie (FG) enter
Bride (enter center) - "At My Most Beautiful" - R.E.M. (I'm neurotic - I have this whole song timed out as far as me walking in)
*Me and Dad enter

MajorDomo - "Fanfare/When you Wish Upon a Star" (I'm considering changing this to Can You Feel the Love Tonight - O'Neill Brothers)
*MajorDomo presents wedding rings

Sand Ceremony: "Bless the Broken Road" (O'Neill Brothers)
Recessional: This is where Rob and I haven't been able to come up with something. I want something like "Shiny Happy People" (I mean honestly - do you know of a happier song??) but Rob's not sold on it. He wanted Sarah McLachlan's "Ice Cream" but I'm like I want something joyful!! We'll figure it out... by October 12th!

PreReception - 12:30p - 1:30p

- 6' Skirted Table for placecards in foyer
- Skirted Table for Guest Book in foyer
- Existing Tables- All white linen

Reception - 1:30p - 5:30p
- Headtable for two- 6 Rounds
- White Linen, Floor Length, Napkins and Skirting
- DJ to use existing DJ Booth- Cake Table
- Fan Fold Napkins

Florist to provide
-Overlays
-Chaircovers
-Centerpieces
(I'll update with you with this info once I actually get it - I don't have my floral BEO - I'm scared!!)

You've already read that what the menu will be for our reception, so I won't reprint that again. We're doing a BOC soft drink and bottled water bar - no alcohol! We planned a sparkling cider toast, but they want 24 dollars a bottle for it! EEK! That might be cut but quick (and we need at least 8 bottles). Toast with water!!

Diane asked if we want characters and I was like yes Mickey and Donald - but I wish we could have Stitch (I'm a bit Stitch obsessed). She looks at me and says "Why not?" I just about fainted with excitement at that point!! So we're going to have STITCH! FREAKIN YAY!! And we're going to get Mickey and Donald as well. If we need to cut, we're taking out Mickey. Diane says Donald and Stitch are hilarious together.

Dessert Party
First off, we've been moved from UK Upper to Terrace des Fleurs - something about the tables at UK Upper. Which is fine.
Tables
- 5 Cocktailes with 5 Chairs each
- 3 Highboys

The only thing I'm concerned about is this small clause in the BEO that talks about the weather. Specifically - it defines bitter cold as 50 degrees and lower. I guess I'm weird, but 50 degrees is a warm spring day in Maine so I don't consider it "bitter cold". Going to have to ask Diane about that.

We'll be doing the Build a Brownie Dessert Party - Tangerine Brownie, Banana Blondie, Fudge Brownie, Raspberry Blondie, Sugar Free Brownie with Strawberry Sauce, Chocolate Sauce, White Chocolate Mousse, Whipped Cream, Cherries, Nuts, and Jimmies. Fresh Fruit Salad, Fruit Punch, Hot Coffees, and Teas. Served with Flavored Syrups and sticks, Sugars, Cream and Honey.

Unfortunately due to that stupid idiotic rule about no outside photography in the parks, we have to go with DPS for the Dessert Party. I hate giving up the Roots at the DP.

MagicKingdom Shoot

We're doing the 6am shoot on the 13th. I'm not sold on this shoot though - seems like an awful lot of money for pictures that are eh at times. If something needs to be cut - this will be one of the things. After straightening all this out - Diane left to begin working on the BEO, and Laura came in to talk about floral. I absolutely adore Laura!! She had so many great ideas and was excited to hear what I was thinking of. I don't have my Floral BEO yet, but I'll post what that all is when I get it.

Cake Tasting!!
I wish we could have a small cake of each of the flavors we liked. My favorite was the tropical mousse on the almond cake. It's all passion fruit, mango - YUM! Rob didn't like it, but man I want my own cake of that. Oh so good! Diane said I was the first northern bride she had ever seen like the tropical mousse. Once I explained how my step-mother is Puerto Rican, she understood.

Rob's favorite that I didn't like was the chocolate cake with the dark chocolate mousse. I don't like chocolate cake, so we didn't go with that either.

Let's just say it was hard to pick out cake... Rob and I took forever to agree!! So drum roll please....

Our cake is being called the "Simple Elegance" 3 tier cake at 425 for the whole cake. Remember that picture I posted of the cake I wanted?

We're going to have one like this, only with blue hydrangeas and yellow roses between the layers and yellow ribbon. Also we're going to have the Willow Tree Topper on top of it.

Layer One - (top) - Marble with Bailey's Mousse
Layer Two - Marble with Bailey's Mousse
Layer Three - Chocolate with Peanut Butter Cup Mousse.

The only one we could agree on was the Marble with Bailey's Mousse.

So ended our PS at 4:15pm in the afternoon. We decided to go to downtown Disney for dinner. We monorailed over to the TTC and then walked to the Poly. We checked Ohana's to see if there was a wait (only an hour and a half), so we jumped on the bus from the Poly to Downtown Disney for a dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Rob and I love the Rainforest! We've been to the one in DTD and Burlington Mall, Massachusetts more times than I can count.

We were seated almost immediately. I went with the Pastalaya as I always do (hold the shrimp please!) and Rob got some sort of chicken thing (he can't remember what!). I didn't take pictures of anything but fish while we were there - I was enjoying being sat right next to the aquarium. All these are from the IPhone

After dinner, we walked around DTD, didn't buy much other than a few souvenirs at World of Disney. We were zonked from the long day. We bused it back over to the Pop. Rob and I had decided to have dessert back at the Pop. We stopped at the cafeteria and picked up our new favorite dessert - Tye Dye Cheesecake.

So ends day four!!
Next Day Five - Patricia LeJeune, The Roots, ADH Site Visit and we meet our WC - Pam!

Meg and Rob's dissertation on Why Hollywood Studios is Blecch - Day Three!

2009-05-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

Day Three!
Today was the first day we had an inkling that we were in for some wet weather. I woke up entirely too early to Rob's "tickita tappita tappy tap" (consider that my description of his typing) as he was doing his morning weather forecast. Snoozed Rob and fell back to sleep for a bit. I knew this morning was going to be long and lazy as we were both tired from Magic Kingdom the day before. And since it was no longer my birthday, I had no idea to pop out of bed like a jack in the box. So between Rob doing his forecast, and myself resolving not to get out of bed - we weren't up and out until 11. At which time we decided to have lunch at the Pop cafeteria. No pictures of course! (BAH) But Rob had the Asian Chicken Salad and I had the Mediterrainian Chicken Flatbread (we were feeling very worldly!)

After digesting that we were off to Hollywood Studios! I hadn't been there for a few years - it had never been one of my favorite parks. We actually had a seat on the bus (yay!) and got over there in good time. Rob had never been to Hollywood Studios, so I was going more for him.

We came in and were immediately ridiculed by one of those street performers. He said something that really burnt my beans, but now I can't remember what it was. So it started off on a bad note. Rob and I made our way over to Star Tours stopping only to watch the Jedi demonstration. I mean how cool would it have been to take on Darth Vader back when we were kids?

As we were walking into Star Tours, I got a pebble in my sandal and had to stop to get it out under that huge dog like droid thing (I've only seen Star Wars Episodes 1 and 2). Note that there's no one behind us. The CM starts yelling at me to move down the line. I was just getting the stupid pebble out! It took less than 30 seconds to fix and no one was coming. (Can you tell my mood was getting grumpy?)

Waited in line for about 15 minutes for Star Tours. I was the last seat before the door and I don't know why, but I had no sensation of movement really when the ride was going. I mean I felt up and down, but the jerks and lurches I didn't get. I've been on that ride other times before, but I just didn't get this one. Rob loved it though.

Sounds Dangerous was closed, which also bummed me out - I love Drew Carey! (Huge Whose Line is It Anyway Fan!!) so we went on the Movie Ride, which was good as always - a little dry. I got freaked out in the Alien part because I couldn't remember what all was going to happen. I thought something would come popping out of the ceiling! So I was in suspense the whole time! Rob loved the cowboy part of course.

I was excited that we were going to be going over to one of my favorite rides/attractions in the entire WDW- Muppet Vision 3D! As always it didn't disappoint! I grew up watching the Muppets in the 80's (my decade -no matter what Rob says! lol) I loved it and o'course didn't take any pictures until we got out.

Rob and decided to head over to the Backlot Tour, which in my memory was much cooler than it ended up being in reality. Stopped to get pictures with the umbrella!

Rob - the "normal one"

Meg - the "anything but normal" one

Now people have asked why I didn't like the backlot tour. Let me explain how I see it. It's advertised as being a 35 minute tour. When I think of tour, I think of motion. What this tour was was you walking through a fake soundstage and watch some effects be done for about 20 of those minutes. And it was all Pearl Harbor (the movie) themed. Which really didn't interest me at all. I figured after standing around in the sun (there's a covering but at this time of day the sun (the last time we saw it) was streaming right in. So you're hot and standing around. But you have in mind that you'll be on this cool tram tour shortly, so you pretend not to mind.

You get on the tram after the very lame demonstration. I think the tram tour took 10 minutes - 5 of those sitting and waiting for people to board. I have pictures from this tour when I was a kid and you actually got to see house facades that they used in actual movies and TV shows (the Golden Girls House would be one). Now you get brought around a parking lot and see a bunch of falling apart movie props from movies that you didn't even see (Herbie Fully Loaded anyone?) And they take you through a tunnel in a building that should show the prop and costume departments. However, when I went all the shades in the rooms were down so you couldn't see anything in there. They do have costumes from HSM3 on display (joy), but that's it. The only interesting thing you do is go through a "canyon" and have explosions and water gushing. But you know what's going to happen - the scorch marks make it pretty evident. Here are my pictures from the ride.

I literally give it a D-.

Mickey Topiary

Watertower

Walt's Old Plane

and the aforementioned "Canyon" bit

There - now you don't have to go on it! YAY! Oh and one more irk - they don't even do the narration live anymore - it's prerecorded.

So we got off and found this weather coming in towards us

(Rob makes me take weather pictures! I have more pictures of clouds than anyone should!)So we decided to stop for a drink and then go right off to our reservations at the SciFi Drive In. I'm usually much more positive in my reviews, but this one is going to be mixed as well. Sorry!

What I liked - the ambience, and the movies. What I didn't like - our waitress and the food. Our waitress was really curt and bordered on rude. We got our food out of order - the dinner first and then the appetizer. We tried to complain about the dinner coming first but she gave us an attitude like who cares? So we ate our dinner. We both got a steak and blue cheese salad, which was ok but not great. The steak was cold and the lettuce was warm. We never should have eaten it.

We also got the Spinach-Artichoke dip. Let me tell you - that was like a cheese dip with no Spinach or Artichokes! Horrible on both counts. We didn't have a pleasant experience there, and it really wasn't that busy. We are thinking about trying it again in October, we'll see.

After all this - we came out of the SciFi and it was pouring rain. We decided that this was a sign from the Gods to finish our ill-fated trip to Hollywood Studios. Rob wasn't impressed with it. We might go back in October just for Muppet Vision, but that would be it.

We got back to the hotel at approximately 6pm. We worked on getting all our planning stuff together for the next day and were in bed fairly early.

Next up - Meg and Rob's Planning Session where Meg takes pictures of every single thing on display at Franck's and Rob pretends not to know her.

Meg's Magical Birthday in the Magic Kingdom - with the world's weirdest sunburn!

2009-05-23T14:29:00.001-04:00

May 16th - my birthday!!

I'm never awake and functioning before 7am. On my birthday, I'm up awake and perky! This year was no different from the others! Rob didn't need to do his Meg wakeup routine! He had gone over to the Pop Cafeteria to fill up our mugs with coffee (him), and fruit punch powerade (me). I was too cheap to spend money on juice when I had these nifty mugs that I could keep refilling! When we stopped at Target before we left, I had purchased a weeks worth of peanut butter Balance bars and trail mix, so we wouldn't have to buy breakfast. (This trip was on the cheap!)

We decided to take a dip in the Hippy Dippy Pool. I took some more POP pictures on my way over, but I'll skip any bathing suit pictures.

It was wonderful in the pool - no kids! So we swam (err.. I swam and Rob just walked around - he can't swim!) and then got ready for our day at Magic Kingdom.

On our way out Rob forced me to take a picture from HIS decade. He considers the 80's to be his decade as that was when he grew up and went through high school and the like. Here's the picture!

We jumped on the bus over to the Magic Kingdom. We were squished in there pretty tightly, but I managed to get a shot of the clock!

So we get to the MK and I realize by looking at our Annual Pass vouchers that we need to go over to the Transportation and Ticket Center. So to the monorail we went! This was about 11am - we had ADRs at the Liberty Tree Tavern at 12. Cue the Mission Impossible music here.

Monorail!

We got to the TTC and waited in the wrong line - of course! But we only found out about it after we had waited 20 minutes in line. Our first bit of pixie dust came into play here - The woman behind the counter called a guard over to escort us to another window, where a ticket guy opened his lane up just for us! We got our annual passes (YAY!) AND a 75 dollar Disney giftcard for it being my birthday! WOOT WOOT!

Back over to the MK in an expedient manner - monorailed it back. Stopped only to take a picture of the Wedding Pavilion.

Got through security after they took time to sing a round of Happy Birthday to me! Didn't get a picture of that, but Rob says my face was red. Ran into the MK stopping only for Photopass pictures (which I'll post later), and got to the Liberty Tree Tavern just in time!!

Had to take a picture of the castle before hand.

Now for our first food porn pictures!

Rob got the salmon with lobster mashed potatoes and green beans.

And I got the pot roast

So YUM on both counts! After eating those, we got a little surprise. A strawberry shortcake birthday cake with a whole bunch of people singing. No not embarrassing at all.

And the cake! I wanted this for wedding cake until I actually tried wedding cake at our planning session...

It was so good to taste fresh fruit again... and the cake wasn't bad either! LOL After that it was off to the Haunted Mansion where the kid from the family in front of us (kid must have been 3 or 4) just wouldn't leave Rob's side. The family didn't even care! We were like "umm random child trying to belong to Rob!" He even grabbed Rob's hand to hold at one point. It was just weird! During this insanity I busied myself by taking a picture of my favorite headstone -

We stopped in the Christmas store where we just had to model the new wedding hats. I had to promise to Rob that I would never put that on his head again to be able to take a picture.

Rob's such a patient guy. lol!
Here's mine - give me the Bride headband any day!

Note what I was wearing. I forgot to put sunscreen on my neck and chest area so when we got back that night I had the weirdest sunburn. The Square neck of the top, with two lines down the middle (from the necklace) and a round spot off to the side from the birthday pin. And the sunburn didn't go all the way up my neck - I had a white face. It really was the weirdest sunburn ever!

We walked over to Big Thunder Mountain and got fastpasses for later on in the afternoon. Since we had just had a big heavy lunch we decided to hold off on Splash Mountain for a bit and take the railroad around the park. I snapped a few pictures.
Two monorails passing like two ships in the night!

Wedding Pavilion from on the train

Neither Rob nor myself like parades so we decided to skip it and head over to Adventureland where we walked right onto Pirates of the Caribbean. Rob was inspired by the ride...

We did the Magic Carpets, Tiki Room, and Jungle Cruise after that and had time for a Dole Whip to boot! Yum! We went back on Big Thunder (Rob's first time riding it! - he loved it!) and it was time for dinner. We originally were going to hoof it over to Epcot, but decided to try the Crystal Palace and stay in the MK. It was only a 20 minute wait to get into the CP. Only negative of the day happened when we were sitting on a bench waiting for our name to be called. A woman sat on my lap. I'm not even kidding. She sat on me to "make me aware that I could push over and give someone else room to sit" Seriously I was already right squished up to Rob. This woman was so incredibly rude. And she squished her not so tiny heiny right next to me. What a .....

But let me tell you about the goodness of Crystal Palace. The buffet is incredible and the service is top notch. They ask you if you're allergic to something and if you are, the chef comes over and tells you if you can't eat something. There was a rice dish I couldn't eat, but I was pretty much all set other than that! I loved the Mediterrainian Chicken and the Chili Rubbed Salmon (Rob wanted that Salmon at our wedding as well, until our food tasting!) The Pooh characters were all around and stopped at our table. We got to see all of them and get pictures as well!

My absolute favorite

I love Eeyore!

And of course they have a parade with all the characters. Guess who Pooh pulled out of his seat to join the parade!

Rob's a really good sport so he was marching around jolly as can be! Our waitress brought over a card signed by all the characters for me wishing me a Happy Birthday! And I got a cupcake, which was excellent. (The Bride Diet was out the window for this trip, let me tell you!!)

Here are pictures of the plants on the way out of the CP.

So we decided to do some Main Street shopping to let our tummies settle from dinner. I found that they are now selling a Bride Princess Dress. Thought someone might want to see it, so took a picture of course!

We love the emporium, and spent way too much in there. I seemingly tried to purchase anything with a 2009 on it. Rob had to remind me that we were going to be back. LOL. Rob bought me Minnie Ears Headband, and a Stitch jumping out of Happy Birthday cupcake! YAY! I bought a 2009 Magnet, T Shirt and Antenna Topper that says Just married with the Wedding Ears, which I'm planning on making into a magnet - it wouldn't survive the weather up here.

Rob also tried on the top hat, but I think we're going to go the Groom baseball hat with ears attached to it.

We walked back to Tomorrowland where we went on the Carousel of Progress (needs an update at the end, but still loving it!), Stitch's Great Escape (of course!) and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. I had never been on the Laugh Floor before and let me tell you - I loved it! It's now one of my favorite rides/shows! Unfortunately the Transit Authority and Space Mountain were closed, so that pretty much ended our day. I tried my best to take a picture of the Castle lit up.

We left before Wishes as Rob was really getting tired - he had been up longer than I had been, so we bused it over to the POP, where we had a little surprise for us waiting in our room.

My first towel cake! YAY for Mousekeeping! That effectively ended my birthday, which was awesome!

Next - Meg and Rob's dissertation on Why Hollywood Studios is Blecch - Day Three!

Travel Day - May 15th

2009-05-22T16:02:00.000-04:00

May 15, 2009

The day begun, as they all do with Rob bringing my cranberry juice up to our bedroom. As you all start thinking, "Aww.. how sweet", let me tell you - that's just a bribe for me not to kill him after what he does next. Within seconds - the blinds are opened, the radio goes on full blast and he plops down in bed next to me. Blecch. I attempt to ignore him until I realize, today's the day I'm going to Disney! It's amazing how fast one gets out of bed, showered and dressed when they know they'll be leaving for Florida within hours!

We got on the road by 7am - our flight was out of Bangor (3 hours away) at 1pm. I'm addicted to Target, and wanted to spend my birthday gift cards before we left, so hence the early departure from Northern Maine! I let Rob drive down there - even with the giddyness of travel, I still wasn't fully awake. It was actually a nice day up here for once as the pictures will prove.

Rob in profile. Styling with the shades!

Caribou, Maine

So we make it down to Bangor with the minimum of bickering and blithering. My Target visit was more than successful AND I got a Starbucks Shaken Passion Ice Tea Lemonade - my favorite! We went over to the airport after that, which is pretty rinky dink. After parking the Meg-mobile and getting ripped off by Delta for 15 to check baggage, we went to grab lunch in the cafeteria of the airport. This airport doesn't even have a franchise place. So we ate at something like Cafe Air. No food porn here - the food (if one can call it that) was horrible!

Then we went through security screening. I had my tiara in my backpack as I wasn't going to let the luggage goons break it in handling! So when I got to put my stuff on the conveyor belt, I asked the guard if I needed to pull it out for them to inspect as it was going to show as a weird piece of metal. He said no, but all the screeners went over to the XRay monitor to see it go through. (There was no one in line - we were early). Two of the women guards got really excited and wanted to know all about my Disney wedding! LOL. I was kinda taken aback since I thought these people couldn't even laugh on the job.

After explaining the goodness that is a Disney Wedding, we waited for about an hour for the plane, and then got into the world's smallest and most uncomfortable jet ever! We were in row 13, literally paralell to the bathroom. EW!! That wasn't the worst part though - the seat belts were wicked short in this row! Rob who is all of 130 lbs soaking wet had some trouble getting his to close. Then he had to help me get mine done! Needness to say there wasn't breathing on this trip for multiple reasons. Ugh.

We landed at JFK right on time. When we got off, we immediately went to Starbucks (again) for our second drink of the day! We don't have Starbucks in Northern Maine, so we kind of overdo it when we can find them. We boarded our flight to Orlando right on time, and of course we were all the way in the back (again). We were like row 36 out of 38. But at least the seats were comfy (as far as coach airplane seats can be) and we got into Orlando only 30 minutes late. (We were delayed on the tarmac due to incoming traffic. I resolved then, never to fly through JFK again.

I hate lines, and by this time it was about 8:30 at night. We had been travelling for 13 hours. So when it took extra time to get off the plane, I got uber fustrated! I got a picture to prove my fustration.

Finally off the plane and Rob had to use the loo, so I took the time to take a few pictures of the airport for anyone who had never been there before.

There was this board as you walk through the airport with fish on it. When you walk by, it stirs up the water and the fish move - totally neato!

Once Rob was all set, we jumped on the shuttle over to the main building. I tried to get some nifty shots of the sky as we went.

With a stop at the KSC gift shop (we're space geeks),

We were off to the Magical Express area. Guess what I encountered there? Yes another line!! So I took another picture of it as Rob pretended not to know me.

It was the first time Rob or I had ridden on the ME. No complaints at all! Stopped at the Caribbean Beach and then right over to the Pop! I was curious to how the cast members would be at check in at the Pop after reading Carly's TR, and how they didn't even acknowledge that she was standing there in her wedding dress! Well, we got the friendliest guy named Kevin. He gave us a ton of buttons - Happy Birthday (for me on Saturday) I'm Celebrating (for Rob because he had to celebrate my birthday), Just Engaged, Happily Ever After and even Just Married! LOL He was even going to give us the Happy Anniversary ones, but I declined those! LOL. We got our keys to our room in the 70's, and hiked over. I had never been to the Pop, so I was really interested in all the theming. Rob was born in the 70's, so I took great pleasure in pointing out how we were staying in HIS decade. Here are some pictures of the theming around us, and room for all those interested in Pop Century pics.

The view from our room

The view from the balcony

The Room

The TV

The Loo

It was about 10pm at this point, and we were ravenous! So we took a field trip to the cafeteria. I had the parmesan crusted chicken with a side salad and Rob had chicken alfredo. My chicken was dry, but edible. Rob's was really good, but the portion was miniscule. (Sorry no food pics! I'm trying to get in the habit!)

After that, it was off to bed! I tried to stay awake to see my birthday come in, but we were out like a light by 11:30...

Coming up - Meg's Magical Birthday in the Magic Kingdom - with the world's weirdest sunburn!

I'm BACKKKK!

2009-05-21T19:58:00.000-04:00

Hey all, I'm back and will be working on my TR from the PS, but I wanted to give you the highlights to chew on as I assemble my thoughts and pictures. Oh yeah and the lowlights - there were a few!!

Highlights

The Roots are awesome and incredible.
Patricia LeJeune is just as awesome and incredible.
Stitch (as in Lilo and Stitch) will be attending my wedding.
I have one of the coolest Wedding Coordinators ever in Pam Pearce.
Got a birthday card from Tigger, Eeyore, Pooh and Rob's favorite - Piglet. He led a parade with Pooh!
Tie dyed cheesecake is the best thing since bread came sliced.

Lowlights

It rained every day. The day of the PS - 5/18, we learned the definition of torrential downpour.
Our bag going home was 56 lbs - 6 pounds over. Delta wanted $90 for the overage. We had to take all my shoes out of the suitcase and carry them on the plane. And through the airport. Blecch.
Hollywood Studios Backlot Tour - what happened to it? It's horrid!!

So I'm going to work on getting day one up if I can - with more to come. Later! -Meg

Revised Trip Schedule

2009-05-12T22:02:00.000-04:00

After much ado and craziness, we're finally packed for the PS! Two hours of trying to decide what to wear for the engagement photos came down to being cool and casual. Me - Navy Blue Peasant Shirt with turquoise and green flower accents, jean shorts and brown suede Birkenstocks w/ turquoise jewelry. (Yes, when not wearing Patriots jerseys, I'm usually a hippie, or as Rob says Crunchy!) Rob - North Face Navy Blue T-Shirt, Tan North Face Shorts and Brown Birkenstocks. We're also bringing our sunglasses. I had originally decided to ask the Roots for our engagement pictures to be over at the GF, but now I just emailed them and asked them to go to the Boardwalk. I saw this post on their blog http://rootphotography.blogspot.com/2009/05/dara-jason-engagement.html and became inspired! The pictures are going to be awesome, I can't wait to post!!!

Our schedule has changed because like two nitwits, we forgot to schedule a site visit. Oops. So I had to change a few things around.

May 15th - fly Bangor, ME to NYC, NYC to Orlando getting in at 7pm. Magical Express to POP.

May 16th - MY 28th BIRTHDAY!! Magic Kingdom. Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern (one of my favs!) and dinner at Rose and Crown at EPCOT. Illuminations! WICKED PISSAH!

May 17th - Hollywood Studios all day! Lunch at 50's Cafe, haven't decided on dinner - I'm so bad with ADR's!

May 18th - Food tasting at 9am over at the Boardwalk. 1pm Planning Session. Who really is going to want to eat after all that food? We'll probably grab something in the food court of POP if we get hungry.

May 19th - Hair and Makeup Trial with Patricia LeJeune at 8am, Engagement portrait session with Roots at 10am and then site visit with WC Pam Pearce (who is awesome - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!) at 2pm.

May 20th - Back to the Arctic. Blecch. That's all I can think of for right now.

A quick update before bed! Zzzzz

2009-05-08T23:35:00.000-04:00

One week until we leave for Florida! I have to do more planning, but I'm out straight this week. I have to do 32 hours of internship in four days, finals, 2 birthday parties (for me! yay 28 baby!!), 2 papers, our Yard Sale and pack for Florida! Crazy!

I talked to our WP and realized that I forgot to plan a site visit. Oops. So called the WC and she's on vacation but her assistant is going to try to squeeze it between our tasting session and PS. Or I'll do it Wednesday afternoon, after the Roots, but before Carolyn Allen's. I'll update on how that goes!

I am worried about our engagement pictures with the Roots. Not because of them, of course (because I totally <3 the Roots!), but because my allergies have come on full force! EEK! Red eyes and nose, sneezing, coughing, runny nose blecch. And also it's that time of the month so I've got all that goes with that too - bloated, broken out etc. So I'm just feeling totally UGH! I'm praying that all this goes away by 5/19. I hope they can fix all that in photoshop You know with how cool they are they probably can!

Off to bed - Yard Sale tomorrow! Hopefully the rain holds off!

Later gators! -Meg

Ceremony - Inspirations and Pictures

2009-04-24T10:23:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

As you know I've been getting ready for the PS and have ideas of what I want. I'm going to share them and if anyone has any thoughts or ideas of what other things we can do, please let me know!

Ceremony - Sea Breeze Point:

- The tuile (sp?) swag on the arch with two blue hydrangeas at the corners. Inspiration is this picture -

With the new chairs at SBP (picture thanks to Jenna)

We're not doing chair covers. I was thinking of maybe swagging the aisle side of the chairs, but it depends on the cost.

We're also going to do yellow rose petals down the aisle and have a yellow rose petal staged exit.Obviously we'll need a sand ceremony table. I don't know if you spiff those up or anything. Here's a picture of my sand ceremony jars and sand.

We're also going to have a Memorial Vase of flowers. I haven't decided if they're going to be yellow or white though... I keep going back and forth. We're already going to have alot of yellow with the rose petals, dresses bouquets etc but they'll show up better. White is traditionally the color to use from what I can find on the internet, but they won't show up as well.

The BOUQUETS!I don't really have an inspiration picture other than

Which are just my two flowers of choice. We're definitely thinking silk after all the horror stories as of late with Keepsake Floral. My bouquet in my mind is kind of modeled after I think Scottish_Canadian (sp?) She had a beautiful bouquet but there were some hidden things on the bottom.

So I see blue hydrangeas with yellow roses with accents of sea grass (for the New England theme). Hand tied with a yellow handle with hidden Mickeys. At the bottom of the bouquet I would like one gardenia for my Aunt Tee, who died about 13 years ago, but I was extremely close to. A sprig of shamrocks for my Irish heritage and a NE Patriots charm complete the bouquet. I wish I had talent to draw or something to show it. Oh well.

My toss bouquet will be a small cluster of yellow roses. Nothing fancy. The MOH bouquet will be yellow roses and blue hydrangeas - hand tied as well, but without all the extra stuff I've stuck in mine. The JR.BM will have a smaller version of that.

My FG will either have white rose petals or blue hydrangea buds. Also haven't decided. Need to see if they'll do the hydrangeas - haven't seen it done before! Of course all petals will be real per Disney standards. Here's my FG basket if you haven't seen it before.

It's a Nantucket basket - made on Cape Cod, Massachusetts - so there's some New England for you!

The groomsmen bouts are going to be yellow roses. Rob's (DF) is going to be a yellow rose with a sprig of blue hydrangea to set him apart.

I haven't thought much about the mother's corsages - I'll post on the main board to get ideas for this. Not sure how we go about it - like do they match the wedding or what?

We originally were going to do a piano player with a violinist, but have taken that out for cost. We're planning on doing the music by CD. Do I have to find someone or will they provide (at cost) someone to do it?

As stated before, we're going to do the Major Domo - I just think he's too cool! We are having a 3 year old ring bearer and we'll send him down with this pillow I got off Ebay

So that's the decor for the ceremony. I'm working on the ceremony itself, which I should have finished by well... October 12th! LOL

Next up is the reception, but I don't have all the pictures I need on my work computer.

Plans for Planning

2009-04-23T22:04:00.000-04:00

Meg's Great REVEAL OF HER PLANS for her PLANNING SESSION! DOO DODODO DOOOO! (Where's my trumpeteer when I need one?)

May 15th - fly Bangor, ME to NYC, NYC to Orlando getting in at 7pm. Magical Express to POP.

May 16th - MY 28th BIRTHDAY!! Magic Kingdom afterwards. Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern (one of my favs!) and dinner at Coral Reef at EPCOT. Illuminations! WICKED PISSAH!

May 17th - Hollywood Studios all day! Lunch at 50's Cafe, haven't decided on dinner - I'm so bad with ADR's!

May 18th - Food tasting at 9am over at the Boardwalk. 1pm Planning Session. Who really is going to want to eat after all that food? We'll probably grab something in the food court of POP if we get hungry.

May 19th - Hair and Makeup Trial with Patricia LeJeune at 8am, Engagement portrait session with Roots at 9:30am and then field trip to Carolyn Allen's for tuxes at 2pm. Meetup with Linda possibly! YAY!

May 20th - Back to the Arctic. Blecch. I'm going to break down my ideas for my planning session and run them by you all tomorrow. More to come...

Back from Portland!

2009-04-19T18:58:00.001-04:00

Hey all!

Once again I have managed to defeat the bonds that have tied me to Northern Maine and escape to Portland, ME! My niece Ashlyn was staying with her dad in Portland for April break, so the MIL 2B and I took a field trip to see her! It was lovely to go see my niece and take her dress shopping.

We went to David's Bridal. Now if you haven't been reading along with this, Ash is 10 years old (11 in June) and is now about 5'1". So I had been having a really hard time trying to find a dress for her. She's about a size 18 in Girls, but most of the Jr BM dresses only went to 16. So we went to DB and tried on regular BM dresses. They were all way too old for her! So we asked if they had any size 18 girls in stock at all. The women who helped us (and were UBER helpful and nice) looked in back and found a return. A Girls Sz 18 Jr BM Dress in Canary!! I prayed that it would fit, because it was just perfect. I'll let you see for yourself how it turned out!

(Don't ya just love the shoes?! LOL! )

WE GOT THE JR.BM Dress!! WAZOO!! All they had to do to it was take in the front, so we paid and it will be ready for pick up on May 15th. (Day before my birthday!! And day I'm leaving for my PS!) Mike (Rob's Brother and Best Man) will pick up the dress so I don't have to worry about that. I also found flat strappy sandals for Ash for 13.99 in the dyeables at DB. We're having them dyed canary as well!

Mike also gave me his measurements for the tux so now I have measurements of all 4 guys who needed a tux down there! YAY! I feel so accomplished!

I wanted to show you all what my MIL bought me while we were in Portland. Ashlyn found it at Things Remembered and Anna, my wonderful MIL had it personalized for us. We're going to put one of the pictures the Roots will take when we're down in FL and put it on the Cake Table. Check it out -

Love it! and was so touched at her kindness. It's just perfect!

So that's all from the frozen North, where we still have a little bit of snow on the ground. Getting busy with our Yard Sale coming up May 9th and 10th and the Planning Session on the 18th. Only 175 days left to go!!!

Peace, Love , and GO RED SOX! -Meg

A lot of stuff going on!

2009-03-16T17:02:00.001-04:00

Hola!
This is my crazy update - I haven't bought anything, but it's been a crazy few weeks here!

The contract was sent in and received! Our Disney Save the Dates have gone out, and I'm not sure if I want to send out my own. I was thinking of doing a postcard. That would be do-able. And it would give our family our website so they could see it. I dunno... what do you think?

The feedback from our website has been incredible! Our friends and family are really enjoying it. I've updated it with our wedding registries at Target AND Disney Honeymoon. Yes I finally got that up! I registered for like 4000.00 on the Disney Honeymoon registry. Trust me - I harbor no illusions that I'll ever receive (nor expect to) anything that crazy! I also changed the room block.

From what I had been told by the guests that I have talked with, no one was going to use Boardwalk. So we dropped it from the room block and put the nights on POFQ and POP. I'm actually worried about filling up the room block because most of our guests are off property. I found out from my father that he's putting up him, my step-mom, my MOH (stepsister), her boyfriend, step-mom's sister in law, and step-mom's two friends in his two timeshares at Vistana!!! EEK! One of my best friends is coming down with her two kids (Jr.GM, and RB) and staying with a friend in Orlando. EEK! We also have about 8 friends and family living in St. Augustine and Tampa who are going to drive in. EEK!

In other news, we decided to forgo Boardwalk and stay at POFQ. My dad is paying for our honeymoon as a gift, and once we figured out we were staying down there 12 nights, there's no way we could justify that price for that long! And Rob and I weren't going to move all over creation. I love New Orleans, so I'm excited to stay at the POFQ! Especially with the Riverboat to Downtown Disney and my favorite store BASIN! I have a feeling I'm going to go broke on bath bombs when I'm down there!

So my parents were in Orlando the first week of the month. They decided that they wanted to see SBP and ADH for themselves. My WC Pam Pearce (who if I haven't raved about her before, let me take this opportunity to say again - INCREDIBLE!!) set up a visit for them. Unforunately she took ill the Thursday morning they were going on the site visit, but Stacey Meacham took them around. First off - Stacey helped my parents to understand why a Disney Wedding and then she spent a hole bunch of time answering their 1,001 questions. Both of them liked her muchly. Secondly, she showed them both places... while they liked both SBP and ADH, ADH really knocked their socks off. So it confirmed to me at least that I made the right decision!! Both my dad and Lucy (step-mom) took pictures of all the locations.

I got a surprise on Friday. I came home from work (LONG DAY) and saw a big old box on my kitchen table. What do you think was in it? This:

It's a huge WDW Wedding Snowglobe - direct from WDW from my dad! I it!! I was so surprised, Dad hadn't said anything about it! It really means alot coming from him. <3 my dad!!

Phew - so that's all for now. I'm back to Massachusetts this weekend. I got home from MA and found a recall notice for my car in my mail!! The closest Nissan dealer (I have a 2007 Nissan Sentra SE) is in Bangor, Maine about 3 hours south of me. I figured why not just go where I bought it in Auburn, MA 4 hours south of Bangor (right outside Worcester!) and have a weekend of it! So after not being home since last July, this is my second time going to MA in less than a month! I'm going to have to make a list of what I need to look for while down there!More craziness to come!

Peace , Love and GO RED SOX!! Love, ME!

A HUGE Update!

2009-02-27T21:00:00.001-05:00

Hey all!

Bear with me - this is going to be a big update with lots of interesting wedding stuff!

First off - the contract has been signed and the deposit has been sent in! Now when can I get my paws on the planning kit and get a planner? LOL!!

Two - I decided on what cake I would like to have at the wedding. This is my inspiration:

Three tiers with these colors of hydrangeas and roses:

And this topper from Willow Tree: (already bought!)

Can you see it? I think it will be rather spiffy!

Now for the stuff I bought in MA...I found jewelry for my MOH and JrBM

Originally 28, I got it for 8 at Kohl's

Bridal Emergency Kit from Target for less than five

I just thought these luggage tags were wicked cute! Again, from Target for less than 3.50. I think they're cleaning out their Club Wedd stuff.

And Rob's (DF) Hat - I just need to get Mickey ears on it. Again less than five on clearance!

I also went to Michael's and found these headbands on clearance for my MOH and JR.Bm. -

And I found this cute FG purse as well. I doubt that Emily will need her keys, cell phone and credit cards at the wedding (as most 7 year olds def. carry all that right?) but at least she can play with it or something!

I took a trip to AC Moore as well. I didn't find much there. I found pens for the guest book and a tiara for the Girls Night Out.

I found a container for my programs - it's kind of Shabby Chic with my blue hydrangeas!

Here are the football cufflinks that I bought for BM, and the two fathers. They are just silver - I'm wearing a red Red Sox t shirt, so you can see that reflected. They are just plain silver.

Now you all know that I got the dress! I scheduled my first fitting for the dress for June 5th. I'm starting a workout thing and working out on my new Wii Fit! I finally got one WOOT WOOT! I'm going to start with it tomorrow. I'll report back!

Here are my accessories up close and personal!

The tiara

The purse

The veil

The detailing on the veil

Just crazy good amounts of good wedding stuff is going on! One of my friends at school just got engaged on Valentine's Day, so we're sitting around looking for a dress for her and doing all that beginning stuff! I think I remember that time..

That's all for now!

I'm sure I forgot something - I'll edit later if so!

Atlantic Dance Hall here we come!!

2009-02-22T16:28:00.002-05:00

Hey all!

Rob and I have decided to move our reception to the Atlantic Dance Hall. It's just too cool of a place not to take advantage of while we're down there! I hope you all enjoy it - and the boat ride there!

I finally got a picture of the flowers I want to use at the wedding.

I went to AC Moore last night and they had the spring flowers out! YAY! All I wanted was a picture and I got it on the down low. I'm slick like that! LOL

Love, ME!

To ballroom or not to ballroom...

2009-02-17T16:41:00.000-05:00

Hey all from the warm state of Massachusetts! (no sarcasm, I actually feel warm!!)

I'm about to send the contract and deposit in, but I'm now (for the first time) teetering on the brink of not wanting to have my reception in the ballroom. I'm now worried that if my guest list goes down to its lowest point (30), I'll feel like I'm in a cavern.

I chose the ballroom originally because I didn't want to have to do transportation between the ceremony and reception. Now I'm kind of wondering if I should have chosen a different cooler place like the Atlantic Dance Hall. I love the Attic, but we want to boogie! I just don't see room there to dance without taking out a tricycle or something. I could be wrong though!

I wanted to check with you all if I should think of changing. At the most I think our guest total could be 75, and the low of 30 with my gut telling me about 45. Any suggestions on reception locations would be great.

Preliminary Wedding CD Mix

2009-02-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

One of our wedding favors is going to be a personalized CD! We're going to buy these labels

and make them ourselves. So I've been working on the mix. I wanted the songs to span the beginning of our relationship to the wedding. I wanted a mix of songs - the eclectic to the well known. Here's the first draft
1. "I Knew I Loved You" - Savage Garden
2. "The Longest Time" - Billy Joel
3. "Answer" - Sarah McLachlan
4. "Close to You" - The Carpenters
5. "Everything" - Alanis Morissette
6. "Stuck with You" - Huey Lewis and the News
7. "Just the Way You Are" - Diana Krall
8. "Never Gonna Give You Up" - Rick Astley
9. "The Way I Am" - Ingrid Michaelson
10. "Everything" - Michael Buble
11. "Better Together" - Jack Johnson
12. "I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz
13. "At My Most Beautiful" - R.E.M.
14. "I'll Be Loving You Forever" - NKOTB
15. "Forever" - John Stamos (From Full House when he marries Aunt Becky)
16. "Beautiful" - Jim Brickman feat. Wayne Brady

I've got my favorite group R.E.M., Rob's favorite Sarah McLachlan, and then just a bunch of everything else. I could add a few more - the mix is 60 minutes, and the CDs hold 74. I'm not sure about a few of the songs that we're planning to use at the reception (namely NKOTB) in there. But then Rob's cousin made her CD full of music from the wedding and reception and I liked it. You know how you hear a song you haven't heard in a while and then you want to listen to it? It was nice to have the CD to drive home from the reception. Are there any glaring omissions? What all do you think??

3 months left until Florida!!

2009-02-01T13:15:00.002-05:00

Hello from the frozen arctic where last weeks low was -42. 3 months left until Florida!!

Some good things to update the PJ with today. I did manage to get in contact with Randy from LeJeune. I think the problem was that I switched my email address at the same time I was trying to get in contact with him (I worked as a music director of a radio station up here until this winter and I've been transitioning from that email to Gmail). So I'm all set for the morning of May 19th, before I have my shoot with the Roots!

I also got an email from my WC Pam that my contract will be coming to me on 2/12!! I'm wicked excited and can't wait to get my hands on the planning materials. I feel like I'm the last of the fall brides to sign the contract, but I'm sure I'm not... right? lol!I've been really busy in my "real" life - I'm going into my last (thank GOD) year of college, completing my BSW (Bachelor of Social Work). I have to do a small intership this semester (100 hrs by May), Work 20 hrs a week, School and occasionally see the DF. Oh yeah and did I mention plan a wedding?! I do my field placement (500 hrs) next semester and I'm going to have to figure out a way to tell them that I'll be MIA for 2 weeks in October (one of them is school vacation though). Haven't figured that one out yet though.I've picked up a few things for the wedding. LMK what you think!!

I got this zip up hoodie for 10 dollars at Fashion Bug. I'm going to save it for the honeymoon. I've bought Rob an entirely new wardrobe for the h-moon, but I have nothing new other than my wedding t shirt. So yay! I'll be warm at night

See all that stuff there? I got it for less than $2 at Claire's up here. Unfortunately they closed the one up here and they did a 75% off deal. I'm not sure if we'll end up using the hair crystals, but it's good to have them just in case we decide to. The earrings are for MOH, Jr.BM, and FG.

I had originally decided on Mickey Mouse cufflinks for all the men in the wedding. The only ones I could find that I liked were 50 a piece. So we're talking 200 just in cufflinks! Someone posted that http://www.americanbridal.com/ was having a huge sale 50% off clearance. I saw these and knew I had to buy them for FOB, BM and FOG. I originally wanted a Patriots wedding so I'm trying to get football into this wedding in small things like this! They're small enough so they don't scream football, but we'll know they're there. Oh and did I mention - 8 dollars for each pair? Woot woot!!

I originally wanted the Adirondack chair placecard holders that I posted a few days back. When I was looking on American Bridal I found these. They're pewter shells and for 72 I paid less than 30.00! 2 more weeks until I get back home!

I'm sure I'm going to be wedding shopping while I'm down there and I'll post that stuff when I get back. I've got a wedding website started with wedding window that I'm going to work on today while I have some time. As soon as it's done I'll post the link so you all can give your two cents!
Peace , Love and Go BRUINS! -Meg

Meg's Freezing Cold Mini Update

2009-01-16T16:40:00.000-05:00

Now when I mean freezing, I mean FRIGID! -40oF last night. Blecch..

Just a few things to report in. We've made up our mind on some songs.

First Dance: "I'll Be Loving You Forever" by NKOTB which goes directly into "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley

Mother - Son Dance - is tippy top secret!

Father - Daughter Dance - "Daddy" by Beyonce. This song is completely me and my dad. There's this lyric

"And I remember when you could do no wrong
You come home from work
And I jump in your arms when I saw you (I was so excited)
I was so happy (So happy to see you so happy to see you) To see you"

And that is exactly how I was when I was a kid - and Dad loves Beyonce so I think it will work well.

I decided on the place card holders: They come in sets of 12, and we're assuming about 30-50, so I'm going to order 4 sets which comes out to 63.80 - not horrible!

I'm trying to get in touch with LeJeune to schedule my makeup trial, but haven't been able to so far. Will post back on that.

Peace , Love and Go BRUINS! -Meg

Random Musings from Meg

2009-01-11T20:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went with Rob and his dad to get measured for the tuxes. They had Rob put on a pair of tux shoes and I had a moment. It was at this moment (odd as it may be) that I realized that I am really getting married in 9 months. That I will be walking down an aisle and getting married in front of friends and family. It really took my breath away.

Later on, I had some time to think and reflect what made that the ah ha moment what it was. Rob is an outdoorsy kind of guy - he's mainly a North Face/Columbia/LL Bean kind of guy. I've never really seen him dressed up other than dockers and a shirt and tie. I don't want to be weird and make it sound like I have a foot fetish because Lord knows I don't. Especially not his . But seeing him with nice patent tux shoes on instead of his usual Columbia hiking boots really made it real.

I'm probably odd, no - I know I'm odd but it's real to me. I'm getting married! 9 Months Out as of tomorrow!! Woot, woot!! That is all -

Peace , Love and Go BRUINS! -Meg
__________________

Ahh pretty flowers!! Makes me feel like Spring!

2008-12-30T15:40:00.000-05:00

Hey all,

School's out! YAY! I'm on break through this week and back to work next week. So because I have time on my hands, I've been thinking about possible floral arrangements. A quick refresher for those who haven't been reading along - the theme is New England Floral. My colors are hydrangea blue and pale yellow. Number one...

I really like this one, but I'm not sold on having a tall centerpiece. I can't remember where I read it, but I read that a tall centerpiece disturbs conversation or something like that.

This is a bit smaller, but I like it. I even like the lily and I wasn't thinking about putting lilies in the centerpieces. I especially like the blade of sea grass. Seeing this has inspired me to put sea grass in my bouquet.. I saw it done somewhere. Where - I have no idea!

This one is really different from what I was originally thinking. Now don't look at the arrangement look at the flowers. It's kind of the reverse of my bouquet which will eventually be blue hydrangeas, yellow roses and now sea grass! I like the small blue flowers and the hydrangeas that aren't blue. It's just a thought!

So what do you all think?

Accessories and Updates!

2008-12-08T15:05:00.000-05:00

Hey all,

A small update since I've neglected this thing for about a month. We're all moved into the new house now and it's wonderful! But between that and Christmas, I'm flat broke. So I won't be purchasing anything between now and Jan for the wedding. However, in my down time (otherwise known as the time where I should be writing my paper about Adult ADHD), I've pondered out/come to conclusions.

1. We decided on the first dance. "I'll be Loving You Forever" by NKOTB. Hokey? Yes! Cliche? Yes! Perfect? YES!! Since I missed out on their concert, Rob is allowing me to make him dance to this song. But we've decided to "RickRoll" our guests. At the 3:45 minute mark of "I'll Be Loving You..." we're going to pop on "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. We figure about 60% of the people will "get" it. We're going to pull people out onto the dance floor at this point and do ridiculous 80's dances. The rest of the wedding can be elegant and normal - Rob and I are gonna have fun at the reception! lol As Rob pointed out, the lyrics actually are kind of about our relationship from his point of view - all those "never gonnas".

"Never gonna give you up,
Never gonna let you down,
Never gonna run around and desert you,
Never gonna make you cry,
Never gonna say goodbye,
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

2. I'll be buying my dress next month after this Christmas insanity! I've found a toe ring and ankle bracelet to wear with my dress.

Both from QVC. I still haven't decided on tiaras though... I've got a list of 15 that I like... but I'm leaning towards the Kristie Kelley Snow White Tiara.

3. Here's the Veil -

I'm torn about how to put my hair for the wedding. I like it how that girl has it, but God knows that my hair does nothing! It's my fear that I'll get it done down like this and by the time of the reception it will be as straight as an arrow. Any thoughts?

4. As I said before, welcome bags are out. I just can't afford them as I wanted to do them. And I just don't think they would be used. I'm going to put the money from the welcome bags into the favors. Somehow. Ideas are wanted and welcomed!!

That's all from the frozen North where it's currently 9 degrees with a -4 degree wind chill. I have to think of Florida and WDW to warm up!

Peace , Love , and Go PATRIOTS! -Meg

A Ridiculously Quick Overdue Mini-Update

2008-11-12T00:34:00.000-05:00

Hey all,

Here's my really ridiculously quick overdue mini-update. I'm sorry I've let the cobwebs build up here on my PJ over the past week or so - we're in the process of moving into our new house. We're going from a two bedroom apt to a four bedroom house. In the new house we're doing some fix up stuff and painting the walls. I've got lavender paint everywhere - in places that I would rather not discuss.

We didn't go down to Massachusetts for the NKOTB concert . A close co-worker of Rob's passed away unexpectedly, and the funeral was Saturday morning. There was no way we could get down there. I didn't know the person, but Rob was close to this woman. So how could we go to the concert? I couldn't allow him to go to the funeral alone. So we stayed. I mean we sold the tickets on StubHub, and we did get alot done on the house this weekend, but I missed seeing Jonathan Knight! BAH! Ok done on the selfish NKOTB pity party.

I have decided to get the second dress. I'm going to order it this week. YAY! Thanks to everyone for helping me decide on the second one.

That's it all for now - I have got to go snooze. If I'm MIA again between now and 12/1 - it's just moving stuff - I got several PM's from people who wondered what rock I crawled under and died - I'm sorry for making anyone worry!! Bad Meg!

Peace , Love and GO PATRIOTS!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T00:25:00.000-04:00

BOO! Happy Halloween!

Hey all! Not much new here - we're moving into the new house starting next week, and we're also going down to Massachusetts to see the New Kids on the Block on 11/8. Just crazy busyness!

I haven't bought anything new for the wedding, but I do have a quandry.I found a dress online that I like better than the one I have. I didn't spend much on the one I have, so I could sell it on ebay and probably come out even. If you want to see the dress, just shoot me an email and I'll send you the link! I have to keep the pictures out of this blog and away from Rob's prying eyes!!

If I could figure out how to post a poll I would - what do you all think? I could always use the other one for a home reception... I just like this one more because I think it works better with my shape (yes round is a shape!) and it's more modest. I have nightmares about dancing at the reception and the twins popping out! In other news... here's the updated list as to who I've confirmed and am working with currently:

Photography - Roots - Deposit Sent!
Videography - Stan's - Deposit Sent!
Officiant - Rev. Jack Day - Paperwork Sent!
Make Up - Patricia LeJeune - Deposit Sent!

So if anyone wants to know what my theme of the wedding is, it is

"Meg and Rob's Excellent New England themed Wedding Adventure that they couldn't afford to actually have in NE, so they drug their family kicking and screaming to WDW - October 12, 2009" hehehe

Otherwise, I've put a freeze on buying stuff. In moving from this apartment to the house I'm finding all sorts of junk I never knew I had. I'll start ebaying again after the New Year. We're planning on having a housewarming/new year's day open house and I don't want all my wedding stuff all over! Going to bed now! I have to get up early to get dressed as a good witch - kids are coming around to work for Trick or Treat. I'm working on my cackle as I type. heh heh heh

Happy Halloween!!!

Peace , Love and GO PATRIOTS! -Meg

2008-10-21T23:20:00.000-04:00

I realized I hadn't shared anything but the dress as of late. I haven't bought much because I've been a bit busy with the move. Here are a few more things I've taken care of.This is my flower girl basket - I wanted something to show my New England heritage - what is more NE than a Nantucket Basket?

The newest addition to the pin collection!

When Rob was a kid he had two dolls that he loved - Snoopy and Belle (the female version of Snoopy) I got a picture of him when he was a kid (he looks like Dennis the Menace) with these dolls

Vintage (1966) Snoopy and Belle! I'm going to put them on our table.

We also got our ring bearers pillow. I got it in a lot from Ebay. In this lot I got the Bobblehead Wedding Mickey and Minnie, the Wedding Minnie and Mickey Caketopper, a Wedding Mickey and Minnie Candle topper and this pillow for all of.... $15 plus 10 in shipping.

I picked out our cake serving set - 12 on Ebay. If I had bought it from Rexcraft - 50.

We also got our sand ceremony set - there's no way we could do a Unity Candle at Sea Breeze Point. I like the set, but I want to get a different color blue for the sand. I like the yellow, but the blue is a little bright.

I bought a Minnie Costume for my new niece Isabella for next year...

I'm going to make a CD set for my favors. I'm going to buy 50 of these Case Logic cases (24 CD) for 50.00 at my local surplus store.

I'm going to put a Meg and Rob logo on the middle (completely removable!) and put "our" cd of music inside with a label custom made, similar to this.

Total cost for cds, labels and cases less than 150. We are going to do candles as well... those are 120 custom from Yankee Candle.

I already have the organza bags to put them in.

Next on the list is our Flower Girl Dress.... when my stepmother was up here she and I choose this dress. I just hate how the yellow looks in this shot. The yellow bow will be the same color as the yellow in my dress.

And that's all for now. I don't have pictures of my 2 nieces welcome bags that I finished. I wish I did - I love them!!! They're all full of cool stuff - anything a kid could need in WDW! But they're packed up in the disaster that is my home!

Peace , Love , and GO PATRIOTS! -Meg

WAZOOO!!

2008-10-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

YAHOO!!!!!!! WE GOT THE DATE!!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Wedding Ceremony~Sea Breeze Point (BoardWalk Resort) 12:00pm
Wedding Reception~BoardWalk Resort Ballroom 1:00pm-2:00pm (Pre reception) 2:00pm-6:00pm (reception)
Dessert Party~United Kingdom Upper Terrace 8:30pm-9:30pm

I should send a picture or video to this board of me in my Mouse Bridal Ears dancing around the house - quite a sight!!

Thank you to everyone for the good thoughts and pixie dust!!! You all rock!!!

Waiting is the hardest part.

2008-10-13T23:15:00.001-04:00

Just another quick note to thank you all for the good wishes and pixie dust!

I've been cleaning all weekend - I'm almost done the laundry and the rest of the house is pretty much clean for the parental visit. Rob says I've been grouchy and snappy, so he's chalking it up to waiting to hear about the date. I emailed Pam, our WC and just mentioned that I was going to be at home all day on Tuesday, at my home number, but I'll keep my cell on me if I go outside. Insanity!

And also I'm driving him crazy - "Honey, this is our last October 13th being single." Pray for the poor man. OH and good good news - my dress is in Limestone. I slept in on Saturday, and that was o'course the day that USPS delivered the dress. They need a signature, so it's hanging out in Limestone until tomorrow. I'll also be waiting by the door for that... well not that bad. There will be a note on the front door. As soon as I get it, assuming that Rob isn't home, I'll try it on and post pictures. And the parents will be here at 3pm. Really is it any wonder I've lost it?

Love always, ME!

One year to go...

2008-10-12T00:55:00.000-04:00

So I work 30 something hours a week (Music Director at a Radio Station and Secretary for the Dean of Students at UMaine), go to school full time and am now planning this wedding.Oh yeah I also have two dogs, two cats and fish. Free time? What's that?

Well it's something I'm going to have less of. We're moving! December 1st, we move to the next town over, Caribou, Maine. We currently live in a townhouse in Limestone Maine. We're moving into a 4 bedroom house. This is a good thing, but a mixed blessing. We're moving when it's cold of course - why move when it's warm? That would make sense!

So there will be more insanity in my life. For example - this weekend Rob and I are cleaning the house because my parents are coming up here for a few days. I'm looking forward to October 12, 2009 - much more fun than this year's October 12th.

Henceforth there will be no "real" update this week. I'll post as soon as I hear if I have the date. I'm going to be putting my deposit in for the Roots as soon as my Dad's up here, really excited about that. I fell in with their photography when I saw Carrie's wedding pictures. That's all for now. Update later!

Peace Love and GO PATRIOTS AND REDSOX! Love, ME!

Rehearsal Dinner Dress!

2008-10-02T22:11:00.001-04:00

I got my Rehearsal Dinner dress today!! I had to change into it immediately and have Rob take a picture of it. The bust needs to be brought in - it's huge! I'm all icky and bloated with PMS, so I don't look too swell, but you get the idea. I'm going to get something to go over the arms.

Rob is fine!

2008-09-30T20:08:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

Thanks for all the warm wishes for Rob and I as we went down to Mass General. I have really good news - he's going to be fine! The reason why we had to go screaming down to MA is that when Rob was born he came out without part of his esophagus. It was repaired, but every so often something gets out of wak and they have to check it out. The medical care up here in Northern Maine is minimal at best. So we have to go down to MA for specialist care. He was sick for three weeks with a really bad virus that just sapped him of all energy - he didn't even have enough energy to let the dogs out. He's probably about 85% better now. He went back to work today and that went well, so hopefully this is all in the past.

I tried to come home on Saturday, but there was this crazy wet rainy Nor'Easter that made driving dangerous. So we stayed down in Scarborough Maine (right outside of Portland) and I was able to get some more shopping done for the wedding. Rob and I actually had a date night - we went out to eat at On the Border and then off to Borders to go bookshopping. To us, that's a big deal now that we live 3 hours away from any of these places. I didn't want to tire him out or anything, but it was fun.

So I'm back up here in Northern Maine. We're already past peak for foliage - yuck! I'm back to school and work tomorrow, so I'll update more over the weekend with pictures of shopping, crafting and my usual general insanity.

Peace Love and GO PATRIOTS! -Meg

Wedding cake... YUMMY!!

2008-09-21T22:13:00.000-04:00

I found some possible pictures for the cake I want... opinion wanted!

I like this one because there seem to be hidden Mickeys in it. I would like the green hydrangeas replaced with yellow rosebuds...

I like the ribbon on the bottom of this one.

I like the frosting on this one. I like the swirls

This is yellow rose version of what I'm thinking of. There would have to be blue intertwined with the roses.So what do you think?

The Day Meg Breaks Her Nose

2008-09-20T21:07:00.000-04:00

No I didn't really break it - I think. I was lying on the bed and my 55 lb boxer/pit bull dog Boo jumped on the bed landing on my nose. Blood went everywhere, but Rob swears it's not broken, but man does it hurt! I think it's just bruised. But ouch! Here's a picture of the guilty party.

I can't get mad at him - his name is Boo and he's a shelter dog. He has no nerves whatsoever. Loud noises scare him, so saying NO loudly would make him really scared and he would cower. But just to put blame where it is deserved. If I have a poofy nose for this wedding it's his fault!

It's been a very busy week wedding preparation wise. Unfortunately Rob's been sick . We don't exactly know why, but we're going to Massachusetts to see a specialist this week. But I've been at home with him with alot of time on my hands.. hehehe... so here's what I've been up to!

As I talked about before, I decided to try to order my dress from China directly. I found the one I wanted from Alfred Angelo and o'course it was over 800! On Ebay it was 50. The exact same dress. I've sent all my measurements in, and the gentleman I've been speaking to has been very helpful. I'll post when I get it. Originally I was going to go navy, but I changed navy to my accent color and yellow to my primary color.

Jen, my step-sister and MOH has taken on the task of finding a proper dress for her and my 11 year old niece to wear. Here's what we decided on for the dress. It's also Alfred Angelo, but the Jr. Bridesmaid version is a bit more modest, i.e. higher neckline, hem below the knee etc. (I know I've been on my soapbox about this before) So here it is. It's very simple, but that's how she is. She really wanted my dress to be the main attraction. Jen's just happy it's in yellow - her fav. color!

And Rob, while sick, worked with me on the tuxes. Here you go!

And a DISBride had a bouquet idea that she's graciously allowing me to steal from her wedding - thanks muchly!

We're going to do something similar to this, only with yellow roses. I love hydrangeas!!

And also this week, I took the advice of another DISBride and asked those artisans on the Creative DIS board for a design for a shirt. A very kind DIS'er made this for us:

Oddly enough, she captured exactly how I look when I wake up!

I've also contacted Rev. Jack and Rev. Randal to try to get one of them set up for the shindig. Neither have replied.

I've also been a busy bee shopping. Check out the newest additions to the Meg Stash of Wedding Stuff:

What you see above is an autograph book (customized!) with its own bag.

Here's a lanyard with wedding pins - also off of Ebay

We got our wedding glasses!

And I started buying stuff for the welcome bags. The stickers are for my two nieces:

And I bought 50 Mickey and Minnie embry boards for 12.99 on Ebay!

I know I've probably posted the bubbles I got from Oriental trading, but I don't think I posted them with the tag on them.. I got the tags off of ebay. My full first name is Meghan Kathleen, but well, that didn't fit so Meghan it was! Not that anyone calls me that... and not that anyone should!

And here are the tags on the organza favor bags I ordered. I put a tag on one so you can see how it will look. The bags are in there so you can see the color of them. I think my rug shows through on the single one.

Now we ordered from Rexcraft two different items. Both had to be re-done as they mispelled Rob's last name. They made it into Lightbrown instead of Lightbown. Grrr... and I'm letting these people do the invitations!

Mr and Mrs. Lightbown Pillowcases for the H-Moon. They're going to be part of the room decorating!

Here is one of the luggage tags they did for us

And the piece d'resistance - my garter! (Done by Garters by Gingersnap)

I told everyone I would get the Patriots in there! hehe! Phew - I've been a busy girl this week. O'course I wish I hadn't had all the time I had, but life happens. I'll be running down to MA this week, which means more shopping while Rob is in doctor's appts. (He doesn't want me in there, I usually wait in the waiting room, but I've got shopping to do!! Which he's offered to pay for... he must be sick! )

So until next week!

Peace , Love and GO PATRIOTS! -Meg

Random musings.

2008-09-11T23:19:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that my wedding is one year, one month and one day away. I had to post that! There's got to be some good luck with that! O'course I'll take all I can get.

*crosses fingers, toes and eyes for luck for getting October the 12th in SBP or YC!*

Update of the journal this weekend - dress doings, and more shopping! (Ebay is my friend).

Meg goes shopping!

2008-09-06T20:09:00.002-04:00

Hey all!

Sorry that I haven't updated this week, but back to school has kept me really busy! Only 400 more days until our wedding - not that I'm counting or anything. ;o)

First off, I got in touch with my WC on Friday. It looks good for October 12, 2009 at either the YC or SBP. I'm going back and forth as some of you may know from reading the boards. I like the look of SBP, but I'm a born and bred New Englander, so I'm kinda pulled towards the YC. I'll be going back and forth until October 13 of this year - which is when I have to make the decision! I really liked Pam - my WC. She answered all my questions - even the dumb ones! She was explaining everything and I was like "yep, I've heard that" - I think I know too much from these boards! lol - but she was great. When I looked at the price lists she sent, I just about fainted . I know it will be worth it, but it just seems like alot. My dad is paying for everything, but I'm really trying to save up some to help defray the costs, and buying all the little stuff as I see it. I called Dad right after I talked to Pam and told him how much this will cost. He was like "You're worth it, but this better be a one time deal!" (He's been divorced twice)

I also made a decision about photography. As beautiful as Randy Chapman's work is, I decided to get the Roots for my wedding. Rob and I sat down and looked through both of their work, and he really loved the Roots. What really sold us on their work was one of our DIS friend's wedding. Rob was insistent! And that's the only thing he's insisted on so far! (Well with the exception of the wedding not being pink..) So I agreed. I emailed them, and they have our date open and available! AND they give a 10% discount for weekday weddings (which ours is!). I really like Jensey - she's my kind of girl!

Oh yes, and I started my DIE-T (Note that's DIE with a T, and pronounced the same way ) I've lost 3.4 lbs this week, with 46.6 to go! I'm not going to be skinny - ever! But I will be in shape for this shindig. I'm a size 26 now and I will be a 22 by the wedding! That's 400 days to lose the weight. I think that's plenty of time!

A shopping I will go! As stated in my last post - I've been busy shopping! Today I went on DisneyShopping and found some great deals for the honeymoon. Most of the clothes I bought are for Rob. They had pretty much everything in his size (Small or Medium depending). Check it out!

This is Rob's Grumpy Shirt - 4.99

Rob's Grumpy Sleep Pants that say "This IS my good mood!!" 12.99

Rob's Grumpy Hoodie -19.99 (They only had his size left- yay!!)

I bought myself a Tinkerbell watch as my Stitch one bit the dust. It was originally 40.00 - I got it for 4.99!

A tote bag for going to the pool - 5.99

Flip Flops for me - 1.99

And a Mickey travel umbrella to take with us to the parks - 3.99

Then I went on QVC.com, where they were having a sale on some of their Disney Jewelry. I picked up a pair of blue Mickey earrings that I might wear on my wedding day - if not some time on the HM. And I got an awesome sterling bracelet with just a touch of Mickey Magic. I'm really looking forward to wearing it - it will probably be an everyday item!

I did try to make the Mickey Flip Flops. I think they came out well.... except my Dog ate one. So I only have one to model. I'll have to buy a new pair of flip flops to redo these. I put Mickey's on the strap, and then single crystals around the base. The white stripe you see on the side is ribbon that I glued on. So you'll get an idea of what they looked like. The picture is coming out dark - they look black, but they are really Navy Blue

I also made an I DO sign for the Cake Table. Note the Mickey Crystals!

I wanted to post the scrapbooking stuff I picked up. I got the book for 6.00 on clearance at Target! I used to scrap alot, and now I don't have time, but I really want to make a scrapbook for the wedding.

I bought my card holder at AC Moore when I was in Bangor - I liked the design! It's a Mailbox where you attach your picture to the flag!

I also got this countdown clock that I keep on my desk...

Wow... I've been shopping!!

We decided on the invitation. It doesn't look like much in the picture, but the Navy Blue has a subtle shimmer to it. I've roped Rob into ribbon tying!

That's about it for now. Getting excited for the Patriots game tomorrow! Woo Hoo! The leaves are turning up here and we really had a nice fall night last night - low 50's. Life is good!

Meg's First Bride Freakout!

2008-09-01T22:53:00.000-04:00

I am not patient, but I don't think even I can take much more of this waiting! I called Disney last Tuesday and they said they would call me back within 24 hours. They (obviously) didn't. Someone on the boards said that they could take up to 3 days. So I gave them 3 days. Still... nothing. Today I get an email from my father in Massachusetts. He worked over the weekend at the hospital and wasn't home. He came home yesterday to a message from the DFTW people! What the?

I called the number he gave me for a Pam Pearce at DFTW. O'course this being labor day she wasn't there! After hanging up the phone I decided to chuck a good old fashioned wobbly (or pitch a fit... someone from Australia used this term, and I think it's a better fit for my err... fit!). And then after the wobbly had been completed, I tried to think how they got my dad's number. I didn't give it to them! I figure they got it when they asked me if I had ever stayed on property. Something about getting information from a profile. But I know I gave them my number up here.

School starts again tomorrow and I have a class at 9:25 am (Race, Sex and Gender! Woo Hoo!) Glug. So I'll be calling her between classes and work. As soon as I know I've been penciled in, I'll feel better. On the happier side of the street - I went shopping! I'm going to take pictures of everything I picked up for the wedding tomorrow. I got an incredible scrapbook at Target on sale for 6.00 with Minnie and Mickey on the cover looking at the fireworks over the castle. I also got some Disney Wedding scrapbooking stickers. My fav is one that says "Once Upon a Wedding". I also picked up a box for cards that looks like a mail box. And at AC Moore I got I DO Letters and painted them navy blue with Mickey crystals on them. I also made Mickey flip flops with crystals and ribbon. I also got a countdown clock for the wedding for my desk, 72 bottles of wedding bubbles (which I'll tie a card to in the future) and other stuff I can't remember. I was a busy Meg! But I figure if I can get the small stuff as I see it, it will prevent me going broke in October of 09.

To bed I go... summer ends for me tonight. The leaves are already turning up here. I'm 13 months, 11 days away from my wedding. It feels like an eternity between here and there. I already feel like the kid who can't wait until Christmas morning. Other than the aforementioned screw up, life is good - it's the waiting that will be the end of me!

Peace , Love , and Go PATRIOTS! -Meg

The search for the dress and wedding colors begins!

2008-08-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

Ever have one of those days where the world seems to be out to get you? Sure you have! It seemed like one of those days today. So how better to get out of a funk but to look at beautiful dresses?

I'm not a size 2... add a 4 or 6 (depending on the time of the month) and you'll get my size. I grew up playing sports so, I'm kind of built like a linebacker. I'm totally not complaining. I like who I am, and I am working on making myself healthier through yoga and trying to eat right. Hakuna Matata!

The only reason I state this is the obvious dress issues. 90% of the dresses I've seen are sleeveless. The one part of my body that I detest are my upper arms. Remember when you were a kid your parents told you to eat your dinner because there are starving children in Africa? Well this is kind of the same thing. I know there are people with arm problems, without arms and I should just shut it and stop complaining! I CAN'T DO IT!! I DETEST MY UPPER ARMS! And there's nothing that can be done.

Bleecchh... Henceforth, my dress search seems complicated. However I have found a few that I really like. Last night I saw this article about wedding colors and it suggested blue and yellow. In my previous post, I stated that blue is my favorite color. Yellow is my stepsister's (maid of honor) favorite color. So this makes sense to me. So I thought about it some more (if you smelled smoke from the North last night, that was just me thinking! Doesn't happen often! lol) and I remembered a certain Disney movie that had the colors blue and yellow in it...

See what I'm thinking?! This could be the breakthrough that I need to stop obsessing over colors. Also I was informed today that none of the groom, groomsmen or my father will wear a pink tie or vest. So that's out. I do think that this one is a keeper. I love Beauty and the Beast. And I do love this dress. I don't remember what gave me the idea for this dress, but I do appriciate it. I found it on Alfred Angelo and found that they could make a little jacket bolero thing that would camo my upper arms. It could have either blue or yellow trim!

I am very lucky that the one bridal place up here has this company and is 2 minutes away from my school (U of Maine), and 35 minutes from where I live. Yay!

Today obviously got better.. except the Disney people didn't call within the 24 hrs they promised.... worried am I... (Oh great now I sound like Yoda!! ) Tomorrow I'm going to look for dresses for my attendants or whatever you call them. I need one for the following ages (at the time of wedding) 30 (MOH), 11 (JrBM), and 7 (FG).

Peace , Love , and Go PATRIOTS! -Meg

How we met... are you ready for this?

2008-08-26T22:16:00.001-04:00

My previous bf and I broke up on the day of Hurricane Katrina 8-29-05. His mother made him break up with me for reasons that still elude me. Not that I thought he was "the one", but I had spent three years with him - if there was going to be breaking up, I was going to do it! Bah... denied of the drama that I so deserved. Oh well!

Later that month...

My friend Meg was surfing the internet and went to Eharmony. She emailed me and told me that she flunked the test! She got a result that she couldn't be matched with anyone. So being the weirdo that I am, I decided to see if I would flunk it as well. I didn't. But I didn't think anything of it either.

Then one day...

I got this random notification from Eharmony that someone would like to go through the matching process with me. For those who don't know, you go through different levels during the process. One is multiple choice questions, the next is what you're looking for, the third is open ended questions and the fourth is open communication. Usually this process takes a few days. With this person it took less than three hours. I couldn't believe how compatible we were. And he was from Maine! (Often with Eharmony, you get matches from around the country). It wasn't until later that I found out that he was 8 hours away from where I lived in Worcester, Massachusetts. So then...We did the whole matching thing at the end of September. He had been planning a trip to New Hampshire to visit family and hike up Mount Washington. He said he would call me while he was down there, and see if I wanted to meet up somewhere. I wanted to take it slow... you never know who you're going to meet online!

But...

The weekend of Columbus Day came and it seemed like all my friends were out of town. I was at home alone as my dad and his girlfriend had gone on a weekend trip. I was digging the solitude until I got a call from my aunt on Friday October 7th, 2005. My cousin (age - 46) had been found dead in his bathroom. He had slipped on a rug, hit his head, cut his leg open on the radiator and bled out. I was in shock. It was one of those moments when you think that happens to other people. I had no one to talk to... except for that Eharmony guy. I called him at his hotel and talked to him for 6 hours on the phone. We just completely clicked. Maybe it was my vulnerable state, but he talked to me about my sorrow, and then we talked about other things. We arranged to meet at a local Barnes and Noble for some coffee the next day.

And so we meet...

I knew it was him. He was wearing a green windbreaker, jeans and hiking boots. He looked like an advertisement for Eastern Mountain Sports, North Face, or LL Bean - take your pick! I looked like hell - I know I did. I had pulled my hair back and threw on a old college t-shirt, jeans and birkenstock sandals. I was red and puffy from crying, but he gathered me up in a hug and I just cried like a fool. In the middle of Barnes and Noble! What a great first impression! He held me and it just felt right. He (Rob) just accepted me right from the beginning. He got me through that horrible day.In the end...He asked me out that very day. We were just too perfect together. He and I quickly got sick of that distance between us, and I moved up to Northern Maine - which I consider my great sacrifice for this relationship - in Jan of 2006. Just so you understand why I consider this a sacrifice, I moved from a city 40 miles outside of Boston - where there is culture, shopping, sports, concerts etc, to a small town on the Canadian border of Maine. To put this even further in perspective - the county I live in - Aroostook - is the biggest county west of the Mississippi. It covers an area that Rhode Island and Connecticut could fit into together with room to spare. Population about 70,000. Worcester, my hometown - 150,000 people.But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way!

It begins!!

2008-08-26T21:51:00.002-04:00

I'm finally going to be a bride! Who would have thunk it? I suppose I'm feeling like the last of my friends to go through this. I've been a bridesmaid/maid of honor about fifteen times. I know what I don't want to become... a bridezilla! But I can see how it could be easy to go that route.

Today I called WDW Weddings and gave them my information. I felt like a total dweeb-o. I spoke with a guy and I was just gushing over how this is going to be the best wedding, in the best place, at the best time (see a pattern?!). I'll need to be reining myself in... although that is difficult in the best of times. (Yes I'm overusing best today!)I've got my budget - 20K from my dad. I know there's about 50 people who will come. (Who wouldn't want to escape from Northern Maine?!). As Oprah would say.. that's what I know for sure!

I feel somewhat overwhelmed at this point. I originally wanted a pink princess wedding. (Pink because of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, and myself being very into that cause). Princess because... well... I'm an only child of divorced parents. I hate to say it, but I am a Princess. lol Now I'm not sure if I want it to be pink. My favorite color is Cobalt Blue. I don't want that to be my wedding color either! Is this a decision that I'm jumping to?I'll tell you why I'm focusing on color today. I was surfing around the internet last night and I saw some beautiful cakes and ceremonies done with a sea theme. I love the sea. I love to snorkel. I would love to get my scuba license. My bathroom is under the sea, complete with mural. (Cliched I know!). But my dear fiance Rob... well... he can't swim to save his life. He grew up 2 minutes away from the beach on the coast of New Hampshire and never went. He's a meterologist. So what we have here is a failure to coordinate. (Did I steal that from a movie or something?!) I want this ceremony to reflect both of us. I suppose a pink princess wedding doesn't do that either. I'm just venting in here for now. It's all good in the end! I know whatever the end result is, it will be magical. For now I sign off.

Peace Love and GO PATRIOTS! -Meg

PS - Please excuse the overusage of ( ) and ... I tend to have too much inner dialogue.