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