Things to do in Westmoreland County.

For those of you arriving early/staying late, there are many fun and cultural activities for you to enjoy in or around Westmoreland County. Mt. Pleasant is a good 1 1/2 hours from the Pittsburgh International Airport, so it would really make more sense for you to plan your day(s) in Westmoreland County rather than driving the distance back to the big, bad city.

Some suggestions:

• Take a drive out to Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece Fallingwater. We've actually never been to Fallingwater, (though we've been meaning to), so do drop us a line and let us know how you enjoyed it!
• Whether you have kids with you or you want to enjoy an afternoon with your sweetheart, Idlewild Park is a quaint little amusement park full of history and charm.
• The last day for the Westmoreland County Fair is the 29th (the day of our wedding), and it's actually pretty fun.
• Take in some art at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art .
• Rent a pedal boat and enjoy the natural surroundings of Twin Lakes Park.
• Soak up some rays at our favorite swimmin' hole, the historic Ligonier Beach. Beware, though-- the fresh water in the pool is COLD as it's fed from mountain springs.
  
• Toss back a few cervezas as our favorite drinking hole, Red Star Brewery.

• If all else fails, stimulate the economy a bit at Westmoreland Mall!

If you need any more recommendations or information, leave us a comment or give us a call!

xo!
jaimie & cory

Place cards are finished!

I think they turned out rather nicely. Not perfect, but no DIY project ever is. The bookmarks were Cory's idea and we kind of ran with it, using the swallow/bird image from the invitations.

8 days to go!

Thank You for the Great Shower!

We wanted to write a post thanking everyone that made our shower a wonderful day. It was great to see family and friends mingling and celebrating our soon-to-be-wedding.

For those of you who could not make it, thank you for the cards-- and we can't wait to see you at the wedding!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making the shower run smoothly-- it was a stress-free day that we will cherish.

gorgeous view from the Hunter cottage!

delicious cake with plenty of decorations

Invitations!

Some folks have asked for photos of the Gocco'ed invites, and I figured the easiest thing would be to post them here (I think if you click on them, they'll pop up in a larger window...)

Here we are gluing the envelope inserts into the envelopes:



A view of about 1/4th of the RSVP cards on the table, drying:



A close-up of the RSVP (front):




Hotel/Directions information:




Addressing them while enjoying a breakfast at Tom's Diner:



xo!
jaimie

One month to go!

It's been quite a while since our last blog update, but boy howdy, have we been busy! Mostly fun stuff, of course-- after I returned from my 2-week tour in Europe (where yes, I was robbed, and no, it doesn't make sense to file a homeowner's claim), I had just enough time to do some laundry and re-pack my suitcase, and then were were off for Ocean Isle, NC!

After a whirlwind trip in Europe full of meetings at NATO and the UN and whatnot, the beach was a welcome reprieve. Cory and I spent six days doing next to nothing except swimming in the pool and in the ocean.

I got to meet so many wonderful folks I'd heard about, and everyone was so warm and welcoming that I felt immediately at home. Mary Beth planned a little engagement party on the beach for us complete with bride-and-groom decorated bottles of wine, wedding bells garland strung from the beach umbrellas, and CUPCAKES!

We came back home relaxed and toasty brown, and got right back to work with the wedding planning. In our first week back, we've met with the DJ, the florist, the jeweler, and the caterers (and the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker, for good measure.) Today we had an appointment for a tasting at the catering place and be assured, folks, that you are in for a treat as far as the food is concerned! I have half a mind to list the entire menu, but there is something to be said for the element of surprise.

We still have lots to do, but it's all coming together. We can't wait!

A photo of the ceremony site:


Engagement party!






xo!
jaimie & cory

Jaimie's Back!!!

Jaimie has returned from Europe! We are packing for the beach now and leaving early Sunday morning. I know that she is exhausted from her European adventures (and if you did not hear, she had her purse stolen) but the beach should be a wonderfully relaxing trip.

Jaimie will finally get to meet Uncle Johnny, all of the Nuzzulo girls, and various second cousins. We can't wait to get there!

I received a lot of positive calls about the video of Edie Beale chasing the bug. Here is a picture of her helping us with the invitations!

Update from Cory: Jaimie's European Trip & Spending Time with Edie Beale

Thankfully, Jaimie has been able to call me almost every day that she has been out of the country. She is having a great time, even though most of the day is spent in meeting with European Union people. 

She did make it a point to say that the Delirium Brewery (one of our favorite beers) is not too far away and they were heading there the last time I spoke with her. 

I have been fielding calls all day about the invitations-- and we are both glad that you like them so much! A lot of work went into them and I think they turned our great! Feel free to write comments on any of our posts-- we would love to hear from you!

Since Jaimie is gone I have been spending a lot of time with our cat, Edie Beale (named after the protagonist of the documentary Grey Gardens). Some of you may remember a time when I was allergic to cats-- and I still am, just not Edie Beale (funny how those things work out!). Here is a video of her chasing a bug that got into the house. You can hear her chirping at the bug. Enjoy!!!

Like peas and carrots!

Cory proposed to me on June 5th. Today, exactly 3 weeks later, we have the following wedding preparations completed or nearly so:

• a venue (Sand Hill Berries Farm-- thanks to Todd for the suggestion!)
• a caterer (thank you, Elegant Tents and Y&S Catering!)
• a hotel for out-of-town guests (thank you, Eric!)
  
• my dress (thank you Kelly, and thank you, J. Crew!)
  
• my shoes (ditto)
  
• Cory's suit (thank you, Mr. Ralph Lauren!)
  
• a photographer (thank you, Vaughn!)
  
• amazing live music for the ceremony (thanks, Terry!)
• invitations: paper chosen, purchased, inked and stamped, addressed, stuffed, and mailed (thank you, Cory, Heather, and Christopher!)

Not too shabby for three weeks' worth of work, don't you think? You wouldn't believe how many people have asked me why we're rushing this thing, but we just figured: why wait? This would be impossible for us to plan during the school year, and neither of us wanted to put it off until next summer. We couldn't do any of it without the help of Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, so our biggest thanks goes out to them. <3

So now that we have the big stuff out of the way, I am about to depart for my first visit to Europe. I'll fly in to Paris tomorrow night, and will then go to Brussels, then Vienna, with a few stops along the way. I will be posting updates to the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh blog: www.worldaffairspittsburgh.blogspot.com

It's going to be a great experience, but I'm going to miss Cory terribly! He promises to take good care of Edie Beale and the house and as soon as I return we will pack up the car and drive to Ocean Isle to spend some relaxing time on the beach with his family. We need it!

xo!
jaimie

What is "Dressy-Casual", anyway?

It's one of those phrases that I feel like a tool for including on the wedding invitations. "A dressy-casual, outdoor reception"...

According to www.casualpower.com (not kidding), dressy-casual means:

For women, this level of casual implies a pant suit, a dress, or coordinated separates in semi-dressy fabrics. Dressy Casual demands that the outfit be well-coordinated and accessorized.

For men, this category indicates dress trousers, a turtleneck or mock-turtle version, a dress shirt or a silk sport shirt (long-sleeved), a tie (optional), and a jacket or sport coat.

Listen, you don't have to wear a mock turtleneck if you don't want to. We won't call the style police. We just wanted to convey the message that this (very awesome) shindig is not a black-tie affair. Also, there may or may not be a dance floor (we still have to speak with the caterer/rental place a few more times) so the possibility exists that we'll be dancing on the lawn. I say this so that all the fancy ladies can plan accordingly, and avoid sinking stiletto-deep into the soil while boogieing down to "The Pennsylvania Polka".

xo!
jaimie

Cory in the year 2059

Loco for Gocco!

Cory and I have decided to try to make our own invitations using a Gocco screen-printing system. I am really looking forward to working on this little project with him; it's going to be arts-and-crafts day at the Cullen/Sebastianelli household. Although they will surely turn out less than perfect, they will be made with love. So wish us luck, and try not to judge too harshly!

xo!
jaimie

Preeeetty

Oh, how I love my ring!

I mean, clearly, I love my husband-to-be even more, but hot damn do I love this ring! If you had any idea of the irony involved here, it would make your head spin.

Let's talk about vows, shall we?

In my 33 years, I have vowed to:

1. never get married
   
2. never have children
3. never change my last name
4. never wear a diamond engagement ring
5. never have a wedding
   

And now I find myself wearing this ring and dreaming of raising kids. I find myself a mere 10 weeks away from my wedding date, a mere 10 weeks away from committing myself (for the rest of my days on EARTH*, omg!) to my best friend in the world. (The name-change thing is still up in the air. It's hard for this fiercely independent woman to give up her name without somehow feeling that she's giving up her identity, but I'm slowly coming around, I think...)

On our last day of school we went to the Parkwood Inn to celebrate with some work friends (and to say goodbye to two of our principals who will be sorely missed). I acted as designated driver which, in hindsight, might actually not have been the safest option: I kept finding myself totally distracted by the *sparkly* on my ring finger. Cory expressed the concern he had about our impending death on Rt. 76, so I made a sincere effort to keep my eyes on the road.

Maybe he thought I was having a moment of extreme shallowness, but the truth is that I was overwhelmed by what that ring represents for me-- the realization that I totally lucked out and am getting to marry my very best friend in the world. Honestly, I can hardly believe it! I have this man who has gotten to know me through three years of carpooling, three years of morning grumpiness and snow delays and coffee stops, three years of lesson planning and field trips and parent conferences, three years of sordid tales of bad dates and youthful debauchery. And still we somehow found ourselves in love in spite of it all (or perhaps, rather, because of it all?)

The fact that we got to know each other as friends first and held nothing back makes me all the more confident that what we have here is really kind of special, and I don't take that for granted for a minute.

All of our plans are falling into place so effortlessly that I am amazed by the serendipity. We can't wait for you all to come celebrate with us!

xo!
jaimie


*You might remember the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry and Cheryl David are renewing their vows and bickering over the meaning of Til death do us part. Cory and I have already had this discussion and are in agreement with the answer to that Big Question!

Finding the Perfect Ring

The most logical way to start our wedding blog would be to discuss the purchase of the wedding ring. For a few weeks we talked about getting engaged and we tried to learn the basics for choosing the best wedding ring. I wanted Jaimie to be part of the process since she would be wearing it the rest of her life (I would hate for her to have a ring that she didn't love). She knew that she wanted something vintage, possibly a gemstone (not necessarily a diamond).

Our first stop was the Clark Building in downtown Pittsburgh. We heard that this was the place to go for diamonds, so we went. After a rude saleswoman, a panic attack (Jaimie) and almost passing out from the prices (Cory), we decided to get a beer and go antiquing in Fox Chapel.

While drinking at the Cornerstone Inn (a very cool place on Freeport Road), we looked up vintage jewelry in the Pittsburgh area (even though the aforementioned "rude saleswoman" promised us that there are no places in Pittsburgh that sell antique jewelry") and found a place only a few miles away.

Upon arrival at The Marlene Harris Collection, we met some of the nicest people in the business. What started as a trip to simply price rings soon turned into much more when my soon-to-be-bride fell in love with a diamond ring from the 1930s.

.....

On Friday I proposed to Jaimie with the gorgeous ring that she fell in love with. I waited a few days and blogged about it.

--Cory