One Great Day

Our first official day here, came too quickly for me. Poor Michael had to tear me from the pillows and blankets. I was not ready to wake up by any means. Breakfast started at 9am. Let me preface this by saying that neither Michael nor I are breakfast eaters. Maybe a muffin or oatmeal with coffee but never breakfast. Oh my goodness, I have never been so pleasantly full so early in the day. We were served oven roasted pears in blueberry soy yogurt. Then came the big deal. We then ate blueberry pancakes that were out of this world with "cheesy" potatoes and mock duck sausage-style patties. Oh yes, it was all vegan and the best breakfast I had eaten to that date. No apologies Pizza Luce brunch. You don't even compare.

We almost took a nap after breakfast. Even our bodies were freaking out. :laughs: We gathered the courage to move around and got ready. We unloaded our bikes and took down the hills. We took our time to get over to Canal Park. We took a break on an amazing overlook. It was simply stunning.

maybe we should crop the bench out

sassy, fun photos


trying to get back on the right path


meet Michael, master biking photographer

As we got into the boardwalk area we began the hunt for a bike rack. We parked by the Maritime center. We took to the pier and began the photo shoots. I highly anticipated going over to the DeWitt & Seitz building as 3 vegan friendly places resided there. We went down to Amazing Grace Bakery and Cafe. The mission was coffee but Senor Sol was out so we settled with juice and bubbles. We mozied through the shops and went up to the studios of amazing artists. They were not open for us but we ogled everything. There was an old fashioned printing press in one. Around 4pm our stomachs were telling us lunch was needing to happen.

oh the bridge

too bad I had squinty eyes

the cutest husband, I ever did see

did i mention the weather was perfect?

pier art.

We hopped into Lake Avenue Cafe and were pleasantly surprised. Our waitress was more than helpful. We ordered a starter of babaganoush and grilled pita triangles. Oh my babaganoush. I think this will be a staple in our household. Michael decided to break the veganism cycle I had forced upon him. :laughs: He ordered a tuna sandwich with provolone, red onion, olive oil on a toasted ciabatta bread. i could tell he was in love with it. i ordered the pasta nero. In this simply perfect pasta there were kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and wilted spinach brought together with a white wine and olive oil sauce. It was to simply perfect. Everything here was so delicious I wanted to make a second trip over there.

pasta nero

tuna sandwich

trust me, I was much more excited than I look

We leisurely strolled through a few stores after lunchish. We walked into the art gallery we have been in before. There were some lovely prints hanging on the wall. The artist, Rick Allen, turned out to be the same guy who had the printing presses in the top level of the DeWitt Seitz Marketplace. I believe we will start collecting his work. We then felt ready to head back. We only made it to the 21st block on Superior street before I wimped out and had to walk my bike up the hills. We made it back, took a shower and I promptly passed out. Our nap turned into sleep.

One Great Night

We're on our way!

We are traveling back from our honeymoon in Duluth. If I were to rate this trip on a scale of one to ten, it would get ten out of stunning view of Lake Superior. I would definitely say that everything surpassed our expectations. We were blessed with glorious weather. The sun, Senor Sol, as we like to call him was always out shining while we were out. Mother wind provided cool and mostly soft breezes.

We drove up here after our wedding night in Minneapolis. We grabbed soup from Panera before heading up. The trip was nice and calm. Even our bikes made it without knocking over bicyclers on the side of the road. We checked into our B&B, the A. G. Thomson House, around 5 pm. We met the inn-sitter who kept referring to us as "veh-gans". It was so cute, I just couldn't correct her. After being shown the house, we were brought out to the carriage house, in which we were staying. We stayed in the Brule River retreat. Our room was nothing less than cozy and way too comfortable. We settled into our space.

Michael spying as I got ready

Then we made our way out to downtown for dinner. This was Sunday night so the parking was free and not too hard to come by. We mozied on over to Pizza Luce. As always, we ordered our favorite pizza, the Rustler. Even if you are not vegan, I highly reccomend the rinotta instead of cheese. It was phenominal. It is sweet and tangy and the little kick of bbq sauce just puts this pizza into perfect flavor profile.

After our stomachs had exceeded capacity we hobbled back to the car, talked about the next days plans, and drove back to our "home." We found the giant bathtub in our room to be perfect for soaking away the troubles and worries in our minds. If everyone had a giant bathtub, I believe there would be more peaceful hearts in the world. Still lacking proper sleep, we then sank into the pillows and soft blankets. I was out pretty quickly.

Lobotomy

94 beats per minute and counting. The thoughts could light up a room given the electrical stimulation of my mind. The funny thing is, I am not so sure what I am even thinking at the moment.

I feel like I am caught in a storm right now. My thoughts whip around me at 40 miles per hour. The clouds are about to cave in at any moment. There is a possibility of grave danger. My chance to head to the hills is running out. Still, I am filled with excited energy to see how this all will turn out.

This wedding may just give me a heart attack. I love my lists. I love my details. Honestly, I despise this planning. I am not a decisive person. This is the last job I want. Out of all the decisions I have made the only one that counts is that I want to be with Michael forever. I didn't expect that decision to leave 100 different decisions with it. I have been trying to stay positive, but I have so many doubts.

There is a rainforest population of monkeys that are latched to my back. Decision after decision and talking about my decisions has dulled my enthusiasm with this wedding. I think all my work has especially been wearing me thin. I work to save for the wedding, but I have lost so many social nights with the people who I love and care about. I am even missing half of this Easter Sunday to work. The additional stress of finding a place to live is killing me. We are ready to have our own place together, but it doesn't look like it will happen any time soon.

This is definitely not my most tactful post, I am sure. It really has been all "oh woe is me". My heart has been heavy lately. Please do not worry though. I am just ready to spend everyday with my soulmate, building a life together. He has been the greatest friend to me. He comforts me as well as fuels my dreams and passions in life. I just want to be with him. Right now I have hurdles to cross before I can do that. I have tripped a few times, but I have to keep running. I will get to my wedding day no matter how improbable it feels. As rough as the past year has been I am still finding hope.

As selfish this post is, I know that I cannot do much without all of the amazing and wonderful people we have around us. I am always so blessed and inspired by so many beautiful souls. It is time to fine tune my heart strings and stop dragging my feet. I need this wedding to happen, because it is going to be awesome.

Got A Lot to Say

A few moments of my life I have convinced I may have been a cat. With all of the sleeping here and there, the love of pats on the head, and the ability I have to sneak up on people always seemed to point towards cat. I am sure I am turning into a bear though. I mean, If a bear had a bath tub, I would totally be one.

I will explain a little further for you. I have been sleeping more than usual lately. This past weekend alone I slept for 36 hours. If weren't for work, I would have hibernated the entire weekend within my dark cave. Not to mention, when woken up, I may have been willing to claw a face off. Luckily for Mike, I keep my nails short and he finds the humor in this decaffeinated zombie thing that I am. Aside from getting into the garbage (that is Brady's job) I think I can relate to a bear.

Oh and the bathtub thing. I have been taking so many late night trips to the bathroom to light candles and lay into the warm bubbles and let my thoughts float to the surface. Sometimes it isn't relaxing. It just gives me a space to share my inner secrets with myself. I will admit that my stress levels have been ridiculous lately.

I feel stupid saying this out to the world, but I need to send out save the dates. I have them all addressed and sealed I just need to be awake when the post office is open. I never realized how difficult this would be. It really isn't excusable by any means, I could just get up early and go, but you don't want to wake the bear. I am willing myself to count them up, stamp them and send them tomorrow.

I still feel like we haven't been far down the wedding planning road lately. We really have a lot accomplished.

We have:

an officiant (finally)

meal picked out

liquor list

menswear all decided on

poofy under dress thingy (thank you Jaci!)

a dress big enough to fit me and 3 children in

2/5 bridesmaids dresses ordered

invitation wording figured

timeline figured out

favors in mind

All of this has just occurred recently. I am really getting excited about it finally. My gown is the big stress party right now. When we got it, it was a little loose. I cannot think of a proper metaphor to explain how much it doesn't fit anymore. It has to be at the very least two inches too large on each side. I was told that our original alterations lady couldn't do that much work. I am swimming in a dress 3 sizes too large. I feel magical but not in a good way. I don't understand how this is possible.

We have just under 3 months to plan this baby. I am so mixed in emotions lately. The debate on our pace while running towards the wedding is really the most concurrent topic with every other thought I have. I am definitely considering a garter belt that can hold a flask.

I can at the very least, take pleasure in the sunshine that is finally peaking out. Of course, Spring always posing a much more serious issue; the search for the perfect punk album. I truly am in need of some manic, loud punk rock music.

Okay I will update a music video shortly, but for now you can revel in the peace of a quiet entry.

I love you and am truly thankful for your support.

Lobotomy

Finally getting around to those envelopes.

I have 67 addressed and 21 without addresses.

Who knows how many more we will add once we get the list of the Stier side of the family.

I'll tell you, they are great pro-creators. ;)

I am trying to figure out what I need to do next.

I have my first dress fitting on the 28th I believe.

I am behind on my deposits. I couldn't figure out why I didn't have the money until I looked at my bill pay. I brilliantly paid my credit card bill two weeks earlier than the due date. I suppose this means I will have more to work with later, but it still frustrates me a little. I tend to sabotage myself with trying to pay my bills early. Oh well.

Since we have registered, I have been dreaming about what our apartment will look like. We need to go apartment hunting once more. It is so exciting to dream about what we will do with it. I especially enjoy the idea of a kitchen to ourselves. Holy goodness, we can create some amazing meals in there.

It is pretty much 5am currently. Why am I wide awake? I am totally a night owl. As much as I appreciate a quiet, cool morning, I am can only as good as a zombie without coffee. I will even bite your head off if you wake me from my slumber. I feel so much more productive in the darkness. I want to call people and make appointments, if only they wouldn't hate me for doing so. I guess I will just sit here and write return addresses on the envelopes and get them ready to send out.

Planning a wedding means looking into your options. Sometimes options just irritate me. Example: Spider and I went to the Wedding Shoppe on Grand to try on bridesmaids dresses. While waiting, which already felt like we were waiting for a prime seat at a fancy restaurant, we took a look around. We glanced at some unity candle sets. Ivory candles with a gold ribbon tied around one of them was $60. Why do people give into this? It isn't going to be any more amazing because it's $60. I would only buy them if it filled the air with glitter and Etta James magically sang At Last. Seriously, why is this even an option?

It hasn't been too hard being modest with expenses. Handmade things take time but they can save so much money. Our save the dates are magnetic business cards and only cost $36 for everything except for the postage. It wasn't the cheapest thing in the world but it's definitely cheaper considering most save the dates are $1.25 per card. Speaking of handmade items, I have developed an amazing plan for the favors. It's a secret though.

I have so many things to do, so many questions to ask, but alas we only have 107 days to get it straight. Where has the time gone?

I appreciate your devotion to read through all of my ridiculous rambles.

I hope the Ramones music makes up for it.

Punk Rocker

I think you may just have to listen to Anxiety by the Ramones for every single post until the wedding.

I am excited for the wedding, don't get me wrong, but there are some things I would rather not complete. It feels like I am back in high school. I have a bunch of addresses I need to input on the mighty guest list at the knot(dot)com as well as write out on envelopes. I have been avoiding it like crazy.

By completing these things, I will see just how many guests we could potentially have. My biggest fear for this wedding is that too many people will show up. We have a max capacity at the venue of 140 guests for the ceremony and 200 for the reception. 130-140 is ideal though, being that it isn't the largest venue in the world. What if we have too many guests? What are we going to do? We can't tell them, "sorry but I'm sure you will find other weddings to go to." This is the one thing I do not have complete control over.

So as I tell myself, I do not have time to do this now, I am really just hiding from the reality of the subject at hand. Why can't I be more brave? I wish I could be one of those kick-ass girls who will tackle anything and get it done, just to get it done. In reality I am the shy girl who is shuffling closer to it, but most times needs her friends to make her "bump into" the issue to really face it. Even by blogging about it, I am procrastinating. Ironic isn't it?

Tonight I am going to buck up and get the courage to get something done. I need to pick up the actual save the dates from my parents place and before I can send them off I need to get a total guest count and a total envelope count. I also need money for stamps but that is doable. So tonight we rock the envelopes. Maybe I just need a little musical accompaniment. I'm thinking the Soviettes are you?

So I looked at hotels in the area. The closest one to the venue is a Holiday Inn. They don't seem like the most reliable of places. They don't block rooms for wedding groups. They just give a discounted rate to guests who say they are attending the wedding. The "discounted" rate is $120 a night for a single King bed and $130 for two queens. And not to mention that they cannot guarantee you a room as it is based on overall room availability. It just sounds weird how uncommitted they are to making this a stress free issue. It's a reasonable hotel but having you kids pay that much per night (and that's the discount rate) is another concern. Just doesn't seem right, but I will look into more options.

They are just your boring hotel rooms.

My mind wants a break from the wedding. I find myself in the kitchen with some contempt for that little purple box of cookies purchased from innocent sweet talking girls.. You know what I am talking about. Those vanilla cookies with a caramel coat, thrown around in some coconut, and sweet chocolate drizzle. Pretty sure that those little bit...bites of heaven are plotting some corruption. I want to get a little radical and punk rock on those cookies. I need to make a vegan batch for myself. I have been plotting my attack for awhile. I lay in bed and contemplate what sort of cookie I should use to match the texture and flavor of the original. I need a vegan caramel recipe that doesn't taste like butts. There is a secret to their chocolate I believe. I remember it being sweeter but darker than milk chocolate. Online recipes for this just won't do. We need something original. I just want to bake, create a batch of deliriously delicious cookies.

If it was about having cookies, I would just go to the co-op and buy some. This isn't the case. There is something so therapeutic about spending time in the kitchen, putting just the right amount of flour and baking soda in, having a risk of getting your hands and hair a mess, and once you create you can fill peoples hearts and stomachs with it. There is order but still risk for absolute chaos. You nurture it and treat it with care and then watch it do its baking thing. It somehow helps direct all of the unrelated masses of thoughts in your mind settle into order. There is no better food than food made with love.

Let's sum this entry up. I am tired and scared of wedding planning. I am my own psychiatrist. I hate it when people get ripped off. I have a secret punk rock, radical side to me when it comes to cooking and baking. I also have a heartfelt love for love-food. How multifaceted.

Heard this on the Current the other day.
Does anyone remember Sheena, our old copper Rav4?

P.S. We registered at target yesterday. I've attached a link that will hopefully bring you to our Target registry. You don't have to buy me a bike though. hah.

Any Way You Want It

:never ending squeaks of excitement:

We got it!

We got it!

Summit Manor is all ours on Saturday, June 26th.

It is so official and I am so ready.

This could not have been done without my beautiful mother and amazing father.

Well we have that down, so let's get planning.

I guess this means I have to contact local hotels and figure which one will have the best rates for out-of-town guests. That shouldn't be too hard. I work in the hotel industry now, so I understand all this blocking rooms business. How many should I block? Say 20, just in case we have guests that don't want to drive home?

Just received a call from my soul sister (maid of honor) after I texted the good news. Nothing but screaming "Yay! You're getting married.... at Summit Manor!!!" :laughs: She was at a bus stop too which makes me giggle harder. Too funny. Totally lost my train of thought. hah.

my spider is the cutest of them all!

I now we get to pick out food and start stocking up on booze. It is all coming together. Wow. Everything is so exciting. I need to save save save my monies. It will all be worth it.

Invitations are being creatively built by Micah Kopp still. We should have a clearer idea of what is going on with them in a week or two. Save the dates came in the mail yesterday. Tiny envelopes and stamps are now of the "to purchase" list.

The only things we don't have yet and do not know what to do about it are the officiant (the one we wanted will be at rainbow gathering the last half of the month) and counselling. I hear counselling can benefit (aside from the obvious) by reducing the cost of a marriage license. Will the counselling cost more than the license though? What? How are we even supposed to get an officiant who we have a relationship with now? Maybe one of our friends can become ordained online or something. haha.

I almost forgot to tell an awesome story! So my mom had called the main dude at Summit Manor this weekend. They were on vacation until Monday. Today, my mom received a call back from said main dude. Let's call him David, being that is his name. He is very hesitant about the date, almost in an agonizing, I-have-bad-news-coming sort of way. If you have ever tried planning an event such as a wedding you will know, Saturdays are hard to come by, especially in summer. He checked the date. It was open. I am pretty sure we got one of the last Saturdays in the entire summer! How absolutely killer is that? Way too cool. All the fingers crossed has paid off. Thank you kids!

I am pretty sure Michael and I have the coolest family and friends out there. So many resources and help. I could not have achieved half of this on my own. I just want you to know that your love and amazing support will never be over-looked. My world is full of the most beautiful people.

This is so freakin' cool.

:sigh:

one day at a time.

baby step.

giant, fat baby steps.

This is the only good live video of this song.

You tell me if Eddie Vedder is trying to hard.

Personally I don't care for the dude.

Still it's a good video.