ok, I said I would do a PJ a few days ago, so here goes...
Patty - 30
Alex - 31
We first met at Rutgers University, where we were neighbors in our dorm apt. I was actually better friends with his roommate, but he would knock on my door for me to join him on smoke breaks. My roommates all said he had a crush on me, but he insists he didn't. I never saw him as more than my neighbor.
I never saw him again at RU after that year, but I kept in touch with 2 of the guys that I met in that dorm through the years. Through one friend, I had maybe 2-3 conversations with my DF over 10 yrs. In July '06, my buddy conferenced DF in on a call and I found he was celebrating his 30th bday with a dinner in NYC. I work in NYC, so he invited me to join them. I did, and had a great time. We exchanged numbers, and started speaking more frequently. He was relocating from a home in western NJ to a condo near NYC, so we started hanging out more often, going out for dinner, movies, shopping, etc. My friends insisted there was a connection, but I said I wasn't his type, etc. We wound up actually having a Valentine's dinner at a Korean restaurant (it was after midnight on the 13th) after a concert. Then, I noticed a change in the way he was treating me. By this time, we were hanging out and even spending entire weekends together (only as friends).
On March 25, '07, after a day of jogging and shopping, we ended up on the jersey shore, McLoones in Long Branch's Pier Village. We had dinner while watching the sunset on the water and afterwards walked to a gazebo on the boardwalk. He put his arm around me and I asked him what he was thinking. He said, "I was thinking about how much I would like to kiss you." I said, really? He replied, "What do you think about that?" I said, I think that would be nice...
And that's all she wrote!
We freaked out after that first kiss, only because we had been hanging out as friends for the past 6 months, and because we have a handful of common friends...so we told our friends and loved ones, who all said FINALLY!
We started talking about marriage early on, but agreed to wait it out and see if we made the 1 year mark before making any moves. Then a month before our one year anniversary, we started looking for rings, did extensive research online and found some designs we liked. After going to a few jewelers and finding nothing, we found a great design at Costco. (yes, the warehouse. My mom's rings are from there and are gorgeous!) After much debate, we decided to go back the next day and get it with my mom so she could use her Amex and get the cash back (somebody might as well get the cash back), but my mom went to the store and said someone purchased the ring. I was devastated. I had taken a picture of the ring (which I guess I'll have to post here...eek? how do I do that?), which included the model number, and on a visit the same day to another location I spoke to a manager to find out where else I could get the ring. My DF was saying that I was being crazy and that we would find a similar design or one better elsewhere, but I had fallen in love with that ring, though I hadn't really thought I had before. Before, it was a great ring that had the best design we had ever seen thusfar, but we thought we might be able to find one better. But the more I thought about it, the more I loved it. So we went to my mom's with the full intention of traveling to a costco in upstate NY to get this ring (there were only 7 in the NE region of US/CA); I have a drink and start gabbing with my parents, and after an hour, I notice something at the bottom of my glass!
MY RING!!!!!
I started crying, because I realize that my mom, stepdad, and DF were all in on it...DF didn't officially propose until 3/21, over chocolate fondue at the Rock Center Cafe overlooking ice skaters at the Rockefeller Center, because he wanted to talk to my dad and ask for my hand (my dad can be uncharacteristically old fashioned sometimes).
So...flash forward to today, I've spoken to my consultant, have my date almost locked in stone (working on drafting the contract); have tried on a few dresses (did the Filene's basement running of the brides); and went last weekend to register at various places. His parents are hosting an engagement party for us later on this month and people are starting to ask where we are registered...so far the engagement has been a blur!
I'm still working on cutting down from my estimated budget proposal, have talked to Randy Chapman and he is free on the date (yay), so I think we are going with him. I'm wondering how Disney Floral is, and how budget minded they can be, or if I would do better with an outside florist. Do they transfer whatever is in the WP to the reception for a cost, or for free? And I just had a thought the other day...I wonder if I can make the pew markers the centerpieces for the tables in the reception. If they do the transfer for us, can it be done? In theory, it sounds like it would cut down costs, still be pretty and be multi-functional. Does anyone have pics of inexpensive centerpieces for Citricos?
I'm working on my room block, guest list, etc., so they can draft up the contract...and I recently recieved some invitation samples in the mail (mickey and minnie raised with raised lettering) but I didn't really like the quality of the paper. It was really thin and didn't feel like a good card stock. So, I guess I'm going to have to order more samples.
Ok, thats it for now, more to come, I promise!
Patty - 30
Alex - 31
We first met at Rutgers University, where we were neighbors in our dorm apt. I was actually better friends with his roommate, but he would knock on my door for me to join him on smoke breaks. My roommates all said he had a crush on me, but he insists he didn't. I never saw him as more than my neighbor.
I never saw him again at RU after that year, but I kept in touch with 2 of the guys that I met in that dorm through the years. Through one friend, I had maybe 2-3 conversations with my DF over 10 yrs. In July '06, my buddy conferenced DF in on a call and I found he was celebrating his 30th bday with a dinner in NYC. I work in NYC, so he invited me to join them. I did, and had a great time. We exchanged numbers, and started speaking more frequently. He was relocating from a home in western NJ to a condo near NYC, so we started hanging out more often, going out for dinner, movies, shopping, etc. My friends insisted there was a connection, but I said I wasn't his type, etc. We wound up actually having a Valentine's dinner at a Korean restaurant (it was after midnight on the 13th) after a concert. Then, I noticed a change in the way he was treating me. By this time, we were hanging out and even spending entire weekends together (only as friends).
On March 25, '07, after a day of jogging and shopping, we ended up on the jersey shore, McLoones in Long Branch's Pier Village. We had dinner while watching the sunset on the water and afterwards walked to a gazebo on the boardwalk. He put his arm around me and I asked him what he was thinking. He said, "I was thinking about how much I would like to kiss you." I said, really? He replied, "What do you think about that?" I said, I think that would be nice...
And that's all she wrote!
We freaked out after that first kiss, only because we had been hanging out as friends for the past 6 months, and because we have a handful of common friends...so we told our friends and loved ones, who all said FINALLY! We started talking about marriage early on, but agreed to wait it out and see if we made the 1 year mark before making any moves. Then a month before our one year anniversary, we started looking for rings, did extensive research online and found some designs we liked. After going to a few jewelers and finding nothing, we found a great design at Costco. (yes, the warehouse. My mom's rings are from there and are gorgeous!) After much debate, we decided to go back the next day and get it with my mom so she could use her Amex and get the cash back (somebody might as well get the cash back), but my mom went to the store and said someone purchased the ring. I was devastated. I had taken a picture of the ring (which I guess I'll have to post here...eek? how do I do that?), which included the model number, and on a visit the same day to another location I spoke to a manager to find out where else I could get the ring. My DF was saying that I was being crazy and that we would find a similar design or one better elsewhere, but I had fallen in love with that ring, though I hadn't really thought I had before. Before, it was a great ring that had the best design we had ever seen thusfar, but we thought we might be able to find one better. But the more I thought about it, the more I loved it. So we went to my mom's with the full intention of traveling to a costco in upstate NY to get this ring (there were only 7 in the NE region of US/CA); I have a drink and start gabbing with my parents, and after an hour, I notice something at the bottom of my glass!
MY RING!!!!!
I started crying, because I realize that my mom, stepdad, and DF were all in on it...DF didn't officially propose until 3/21, over chocolate fondue at the Rock Center Cafe overlooking ice skaters at the Rockefeller Center, because he wanted to talk to my dad and ask for my hand (my dad can be uncharacteristically old fashioned sometimes).
So...flash forward to today, I've spoken to my consultant, have my date almost locked in stone (working on drafting the contract); have tried on a few dresses (did the Filene's basement running of the brides); and went last weekend to register at various places. His parents are hosting an engagement party for us later on this month and people are starting to ask where we are registered...so far the engagement has been a blur!
I'm still working on cutting down from my estimated budget proposal, have talked to Randy Chapman and he is free on the date (yay), so I think we are going with him. I'm wondering how Disney Floral is, and how budget minded they can be, or if I would do better with an outside florist. Do they transfer whatever is in the WP to the reception for a cost, or for free? And I just had a thought the other day...I wonder if I can make the pew markers the centerpieces for the tables in the reception. If they do the transfer for us, can it be done? In theory, it sounds like it would cut down costs, still be pretty and be multi-functional. Does anyone have pics of inexpensive centerpieces for Citricos?
I'm working on my room block, guest list, etc., so they can draft up the contract...and I recently recieved some invitation samples in the mail (mickey and minnie raised with raised lettering) but I didn't really like the quality of the paper. It was really thin and didn't feel like a good card stock. So, I guess I'm going to have to order more samples.
Ok, thats it for now, more to come, I promise!
arty: Welcome and Congratulations!
We are at the phase where we are working on our addresses for save the dates and the room block, so since this get together is this weekend, I am thinking that maybe we can have an informal poll of what these guests would like. It should be about 50 or so people there. 
