New Space

Now that we're hitched, we've moved to new Web space.

Check us out at www.newlyweddedwife.com

We're Back!

The Leopold's are back from Hawaii!

We just wanted to let everyone know that the blog will be continuing, but it will be getting a face lift and possibly a new name. We'll keep everyone posted on the details and look forward to sharing all of the fun stories and details of being husband and wife.

Stay tuned!

It's Here....

Well, it's finally here! Our wedding day is in three days - and we are ready! We are heading to Wisconsin in just a few hours.

Reflecting on the last nine months, I'd say it has been an adventure. All of the planning and preparing for this day has been pretty incredible.

We're going to take a blog break for awhile. We'll be busy getting married and honeymoon-ing in Hawaii!!

Love ya!

Laurie and Dan

Hint, Hint

Yesterday I got to work and in my email inbox I saw that Dan had forwarded me an article titled, "Boyfriends Do More Housework than Husbands." Hmm...is this a hint? Does he feel overworked in terms of amount of housework he is doing?

While Dan may have his own motives for sending me this article, it was rather interesting. It's based on the findings from an international survey, and one of the researcher says that the institution of marriage has a "traditionalizing effect" on couples - even those who see men and women as equals.

According to the study, men spent about 9 hours a week on housework where women spent more than 20. But the kicker was that live-in boyfriends did more housework than their live-in counterparts. Very interesting. Maybe men think they can "slack off" once they've tied the knot? Or maybe that traditionalizing effect will work its magic on me after we get back from the honeymoon!

Out of our systems

Don’t let the headline mislead you...Dan and I aren’t interested in “sewing wild oats” or doing anything crazy while we’re still “single.” But we do want to get any illnesses or beauty blunders (i.e. pimples) out of the way before the big day.

Now that we’re approaching the two-week mark, I’m starting to obsess about things. Well, more than usual anyway. Take the weather, for example. I have no control over it, but once I can see our wedding day on the 10-day forecast I will officially begin to obsess and check it compulsively. And I’m sure the forecast will change many times, and I bet at least one of those changes will call for rain.

But even more important than the weather is our health. There’s no room for colds or coughs or blemishes – but that’s an issue I’m taking up with my face wash.

I somehow managed to get sick last week. Luckily it only lasted a few days. But now Dan has whatever I had and is now home sick. If it is in fact what I had, then he should be in tip-top shape for the weekend. But it still won’t stop me from worrying about our health. This particular virus we had was one that gave us a major headache, chills/hot flashes and body aches. Ughh. See why I’m worrying?!

I’ll do my best to curb the worrying...but there better not be any rain in the forecast!

Bridal Trivia

I’m a sucker for tradition. And for the most part, Dan and I are having a very traditional wedding. We wouldn’t have it any other way. And most of the preparation and the wedding day itself involves tradition – even though half the time I have no idea where the tradition stems from.

For example, at my wedding shower I had a bit of trouble getting a ribbon off of one of my gifts. Of course, I grabbed a pair of scissors and solved that problem. And then my cousin Jenny cautioned me against doing that again because the number of ribbons separated would be how many children I would have. Or something like that. And then there’s the classic ribbon bouquet my bridesmaid Jen made for me with the adornments that came from my gifts.

The traditions go on and on. And one of the most obvious traditions is having a wedding party – the bridesmaids and groomsmen. I never even thought about where that stemmed from. I always assumed they were there to support the bride and groom. While I think that is the most practical interpretation, there is a bit of tradition and folklore behind it.

According to tradition and folklore, a bridesmaid’s purpose is to “confuse evil spirits so they wouldn’t know which one was the bride.”

What do you think – can you tell which one is me in this photo???

I've learned not to question tradition. I'm just trying to enjoy every last bit of the wedding planning and our engagement!

The Name Change...Again!

My office is moving to a new building next week - which means we all need new business cards to reflect the new address. And because it is so close to our wedding, it is no use ordering new cards with my current last name.

So I had my name printed on my cards as Laurie A. Leopold and I proofed it and looked it over several times before giving the ok on my order.

But the one thing I looked over was my email address. It was still printed as lmurphy@...

Oops!

Luckily someone pointed that out and changed it before the order was placed - but this is going to be so hard! I know I've said this before, but it really is going to be. Our IT people have already changed my email address to lleopold, but it will still allow for emails sent to lmurphy to come through.

The display name, however, has not changed to read Laurie Leopold yet. I'm a Murphy for three more weeks, and I'm going to revel in it!

One Month

Today is 8-9-07 - we are getting that much closer to 9-8-07!

We have a lot planned for this weekend too. Dan and I are actually heading to Kenosha this evening - hoping that the storms don't delay us. I suppose traveling in August is always a risk - given that it always so stormy, but we're holding out for a break from Mother Nature.

Tomorrow morning we are going to the County Courthouse to get our marriage license, which means five days after that we''ll technically, but unofficially, be married! Wisconsin requirements for getting a marriage license are fairly simple, but I've quadruple-checked the forms to make sure we have everything. I think we're at the stage where if something seems easy, there must be a reason why.

We are also meeting with the baker to finalize our cake order - yummy. Maybe they'll give us more samples? And then we're off to meet with Deacon Terry who will be officiating our ceremony. He is such a nice man and we couldn't be happier that he is the one doing it. We're pretty confident that all of our guest will feel the same way.

And that's our short list for this weekend. It's going to be a busy one....

Flashback...

Poor Britney Spears. K-Fed is suing for more custody of their two children. Given what you see in the news these days, those two boys would be better off if that were the case.

Anyhoo...came across this funny photo of Dan and I from Halloween 2005.

We dressed up as Britney and K-Fed when they were expecting their first child.

This photo always makes me laugh - Dan and I are in rare form with that get-up!

Would YOU do it?

Now that we are about a month away from the big day, Dan and I are pulling out all the stops to make sure we look and feel our best.

We started Crest Whitestrips last week - and let me tell you, they are legit! I can already notice our brighter smiles. They're sort of a pain to wear, even though it's only for a half hour each day. They have a slimy gel that has a goofy taste, but it's a small price to pay. Anything for beauty right?

That's pretty much been the extent of Dan's "beauty" routine. He doesn't like when I refer to it as that:) Which brings me to my next point...should a man get his eyebrows waxed before his wedding?

This is where Dan and I aren't in agreement. I'm allowed to trim his brows - but he is really frightened of tweezers. My suggestion for a nice, manly eyebrow trim: WAX! It doesn't hurt - and it lasts so much longer.

We're interested to hear what you think. Help us settle the debate!

Should Dan get his eyebrows waxed before the wedding?
	Yes, even men need pampering
	No, that's for chicks
pollcode.com free polls

An open letter to the Washington DC Metro

Dear Metro,

I’ve been riding you for more than three years now, and overall I think you’re pretty great. Sure you can be slow and sometimes a little hot and smelly, and you do insist on running four-car trains at rush hour...but I suppose you do get me to work on time. I like to think we have a pretty good relationship – but you really let me down yesterday.

You see, yesterday was my fiancé’s birthday. (For the record – he thinks that you are the nicest public transportation systems he has ever used.) I left work about 20 minutes early because I wanted to surprise him with ballons and cake – and I needed to run to the store to get one more ingredient for the dinner I was planning on cooking for him. Chicken parmesan, if you must know.

But when I got to Foggy Bottom metro station, you were a little backed up. But I was able to get on a train – four-car of course – headed in the right direction. Sure it was packed and we were squeezed in like sardines but it is only a ten minute ride. I can suck it up for ten minutes.

But then you got stuck. For an hour. In between Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn. And we were in the part where the train is underwater. And I couldn’t get any cell phone service.

Also, your speakers were not working properly. So while one of your conductors thought he was explaining why we were stopped all we really heard was, “blahablaha...thank you for your patience.” Patience – as if we had a choice?

Some people were passing out. Luckily they were ok and there were some nice riders who constructed fans out of loose papers. Sure I made it out ok, but it took a long time. And we had to de-board at Rosslyn because our train was disabled.

Because of this incident Metro I wasn’t able to surprise my fiancé. He actually had to come pick me up at Rosslyn because I didn’t have another way to get home. And after being on a hot train standing for an hour, I didn’t exactly want to go home and cook a hot meal for an hour and a half.

Metro, I hope you now understand why our relationship is strained. You’re going to have to prove to me that you can be efficient again.

Sincerely,

Laurie

My 'Source' Ties the Knot

It’s no secret that I love television. And I’m often the one with inside “scoop” on plot twists and spoilers with my favorite shows. Because the only thing that is better than watching TV is reading about it! My “source” is none other than E! Online’s Kristin Veitch (now Kristin Dos Santos) from Watch With Kristin.


I’ve been a loyal follower for three years now – I even link to her column on the sidebar of this blog! She gives just enough dish to keep you “in the know,” but doesn’t completely spoil anything. And, she tied the knot on 7-7-07. And she had TV personalities at her wedding! Veronica Mars was there, so was Hiro from Heroes! And Sylar! And Jin from Lost! And the Lost writer Damon Lindelof! I wonder if for a wedding present he gave her some juicy Lost scoop!

What a lucky girl...

The Somethings

Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. We all know the saying, and it is a tradition for brides to have one of each. The custom stems from an Old English rhyme, and each item is supposed to serve as a good luck charm for the bride. And I think I’ve finally determined each of my somethings.

Old
Something old was probably the one I thought about the longest. I didn’t want it to be just any old thing; I thought this would be the item that had the most sentimental value. My mom actually came up with a great idea. On my First Communion dress there is a pearled beading around the collar. She recommended taking that beading and wrapping it around my bouquet stems. I loved the idea, even if it meant mangling my communion dress a bit. But then Tricia came up with another idea – right on this very blog, courtesy of Eva Longoria.

Eva carried her communion rosary down the aisle. That never even occurred to me – but I love it! I cherish all of my first communion goods – especially because the nuns really up-selled us on some serious swag. I remember my eyes lighting up at all of the sparkly rosaries and white patent prayer books – it was very exciting for a second grader. Actually, Dan uses my prayer book in Church now to follow along. It may be somewhat emasculating – given that it is a petite white patent book with an angel girl on the cover – but it is sweet to see him using it.

New
This one is easy, because most everything I’m wearing that day is new. The most obvious being my dress. While that may be a traditional something new – I’m happy to designate that as mine. I was scanning The Knot’s suggestions – and I have to say, most were really unrealistic and lame. Among their suggestions were a spanking new “getaway” car, a stick of gum (yes, that was actually on the list), a diamond nose ring, a Wonderbra, and Chanel or Christian Dior lipstick in a sweet new shade. ‘Nuff said.

Borrowed
Earlier this year my mom got me a beautiful pair of pearl earrings. They’re very simple and classic – and I knew right away that they were the earrings I wanted to wear on my wedding day. So my mom offered to lend me her pearl necklace for the occasion as well. And the two match perfectly. I didn’t want to wear any overpowering jewelry, because I don’t think the neckline on my dress really needs any adornment. The strand of pearls is just perfect!

Blue
I know that many brides choose to wear a blue garter, but I don’t plan on wearing a garter. I will, however, put one on at the reception for Dan to remove and toss to all of our single male guests! I did mention to my mom that I didn’t want to do a garter toss because I wasn’t going to wear one, and I got a lecture on tradition:) It’s silly, but I don’t like the feeling of a garter on my leg. It’s somewhat OCD, but if one leg is constricted by a garter, I guess I’d like the other leg to be as well.

So, at the risk of giving away TMI, I will be wearing another sort of blue undergarment. I’m a fan of having the ‘blue’ tucked away somewhere, i.e. no blue nail polish, shoes or jewelry of any sort. That would throw off the whole all-white look I’m going for!

Hey Mr. DJ

Dan and I met with our DJ while in Kenosha last week. His name is Paul Kloiber, and we found him through a teacher that Tricia works with. He was a family friend of hers and he DJ’d her wedding. So I called him up, and it seemed to be a good match. He’d sent us a nice packet of information, and he offered us a discount because of the referral. So, we booked him!

I’d spoke with him over the phone a few times, but last week was the first time that we had actually met in person. Now I’d heard from Tricia that he was a very large man, so I guess I anticipated that before our meeting. Wow…no kidding. He's about 6’8 – and just a generally large man. I’ve never felt so tiny. Ditto for Dan!

He also informed us during our meeting that he was going to be undergoing gastric-bypass type surgery at the end of July. And today's Kenosha News published an article about the local businessman and his upcoming surgery. Check it out here. It’s a nice write-up – and we’re happy he is taking his health into his own hands! He’s an incredibly nice guy, and we’re looking forward to seeing him in action at our reception. He’ll be the one towering over all the guests:)

Not so-sweet dreams

I know in my last post I knocked the couple that was going to Barnes & Noble on their wedding night, but I've got to say - Harry Potter was the #1 man in my life this weekend! I think Dan was a tad jealous of all the attention that I gave HP this weekend. He really did dominate the weekend, so worth it. The book is amazing.

Anyway, I had the strangest series of wedding-related dreams last night. I kept waking up and then just when I thought I could get some sound sleep, I'd have another strange dream. In one dream, it was right before our ceremony and I was putting my wedding dress on only to find that the alterations were never done. I had a bunch of pins in the dress still, but the seamstress never followed through! That was not a good dream.

And then I had another one - this was really strange. Deacon Donovan, who did our marriage prep in Virginia, called me to tell me there couldn't be any food at our wedding reception because of a huge salmonella scare. And then flash forward to the wedding day, Deacon Donovan was marrying us (even though the wedding is in Kenosha), and he was totally dissing me in front of all the guests. And then no one could have food after that.

If I channel my inner psychoanalysis - I'll chalk these dreams up to wedding on the brain and the stress of finishing up all the planning before the big day. Has anyone else encountered strange dreams like this?

Harry Potter!

Unless you have been living in an underground cave for the last week, you are well aware that the next, and final, Harry Potter book comes out at midnight Saturday. Naturally, as an HP fan, I am extremely excited. It’s a given that I will have a copy of that book in my hands first thing tomorrow morning.

But, I had to laugh this morning reading a story online about a couple in Oregon that is getting married today and stopping at Barnes & Noble after their reception to get the new book.

I’ll be sure to keep this PG, but I imagine that on my wedding night I’d have more exciting things going on than Harry Potter! Don’t get me wrong – I’m a true HP fan, but is she really going to go back to the hotel and start reading the book?

Apparently the groom, who does not even read HP, arranged for him and his new bride to be first in line to get the new book. I guess that B&N is letting them “cut” in line as a wedding gift. That’s true love right there. Hey, I guess it will be a good story for their kids someday!

Bridal Shower

Whew...what a whirlwind week. Dan and I returned late Monday evening from Kenosha. I had my bridal shower, we had various family members in town, and we packed in meetings with our florist and dj as well. I feel like I aged an entire year last weekend! Oh – that’s right. I did. I turned 25 on Monday:)

The bridal shower was awesome – thanks to all who made it so fantastic! I thought I’d share some photos from the shower with everyone. For all those men who wonder what women do at these gatherings, here's your chance to get the inside scoop!


We played the toilet paper wedding dress game - that is, all of the attendees split into three teams and they had 12 minutes to create a wedding gown made only out of toilet paper. Each team was given a small piece of tulle, which everyone used to create the veil. I was able to channel Tim Gunn from Project Runway and critique each dress, and ultimately decide the winner.



So here were the three "brides," my cousin Krista, sister Tammy and my mom! Krista ended up the winner - the veil was the deciding factor. Although, the tp necklace and garter my mom sported was very inventive!


And here's a snapshot of the female wedding party (minus Dan's sister Abby who couldn't make it!)



From left to right: Top row: Alyssa, Jen, Me, Tricia, Crystal, Tammy. Bottom row: Flower girls Maya and Emma

I also had my first dress fitting last Saturday before the shower, which was really exciting. I loved seeing it on. I can’t wait to wear it - and for Dan to see it! I think the alterations will be minor – it fit fairly well. Lucky for me– or I’d probably have to end up wearing one of those tp gowns:)

Headlines

On my daily scan of the day’s headlines, I came across some wacky wedding-related stories. I thought I’d share them. In an odd way, hearing about other people’s mishaps (or in the case of one of these stories, serious problems), makes me feel like Dan and I will be just fine!

First, I came across this article about a wedding guest who arrived a year early for the wedding. This man, a teacher from Toronto, flew all the way to Wales to attend his friend’s wedding, only to discover upon arrival that the wedding was in 2008. He apparently called the couple when he arrived to get details on the location. According to the premature guest, "He [the groom] just said July the 6th and I assumed it was this year because if you tell the guy July 6th, they're going to think it's this year.”

Hmmm....does he not realize that people send invitations detailing the time, date and location?

Onto the next story. This one is a little more somber – a tale of “what not to do on your wedding night.” It was the headline that caught my eye, “Bride attacks groom with stiletto shoe.” While the guests were dancing away at the reception, the newlyweds were scrapping in the hotel room. The bride clocked the groom in the head with a stiletto, and she was hauled off to a jail cell the rest of the weekend. Not good – and a stiletto, that’s a serious weapon! Poor guy is lucky to have made it out alive. Apparently they’re still married.

And, last...Eva Longoria and Tony Parker’s 7-7-07 wedding in France. They sold the exclusive rights to their wedding photos to OK! Magazine for 2 million dollars! Insane, right?

OK! is dubbing it the “Wedding of the Year.” Wait a second, I thought that title was being reserved for our wedding?

Organizational Brouhaha

I live for organization. It helps me keep track of things. Whether it is filing emails or organizing the sweaters in my closet by color, I am a fan of keeping things in order. I guess it’s the Type A in me.

So when it comes to planning the wedding, it would be safe to assume that I am just as organized. But the reality is...not so much!

I think I’ve spent the past six months trying to be organized about the wedding. I started with a binder where I stored clipped pictures of ideas from magazines and informational packets from our vendors. I even had checklists of all of the things I needed to do over the course of our engagement. The binder grew in usefulness, growing from eight folder tabs to 16 in just a few short weeks, and actually, I can’t imagine life without it at this point. But, somehow it just wasn’t enough. I began filing emails into a “wedding” folder, which also proved essential. But even that wasn’t enough! Then I resorted to the excel spreadsheet. I sorted each line item by category, e.g. ceremony, reception, flowers, cake, etc., and added a color-coded status line to inform me if the task was done, in progress or not completed.

I had high hopes for the spreadsheet. But I still wasn’t feeling like I had achieved organizational satisfaction.

That was almost two months ago. Since then, I’ve abandoned some of my usual tactics and am now living “on the edge.” I still use the binder, religiously sort emails and refer to the spreadsheet, but more often I write notes and reminders and stick them all around my office and our apartment. That and I put reminders into my Outlook calendar so my blackberry buzzes at me at odd times of day. I think that may have been what I needed all along. While I had the tools in place before – I didn’t have an enforcer. Materials sitting in a binder and emails stored in a folder don’t remind you to call the florist or choose a cake design.

Now that we have less than two months to go, I’m sure all of my tactics will fly out the window and we’ll just be doing what we can to get everything done. And hopefully not forget anything....

Here comes the bride

Here's the most adorable bride of them all!

English bullies are my fave - ever since Tricia and Tom got Mary eight years ago. If I could, I would dress her up like this and send her down the aisle with the bridesmaids on Sept. 8! But, even I'm not that crazy:)

What's luck got to do with it?

It’s July 5th, and I’m already sick of 7-7-07. The media frenzy has been steadily building over this day – specifically for weddings it seems (although I might be on a one-track mind) – and now it is reaching its peak. Biblically speaking, seven is an important number – but really, outside of that it is way too gimmicky.

Take this couple that CNN probably spent a year trying to find in anticipation of making this story! Here’s their situation:

They met seven years ago, went on their first date on September 7, and then found out they and Hardy's daughter, Kelli, all share the same birthday -- July 7. They live at an elevation above 7,000 feet in Mammoth, California, and their post office box number is numbered in the 70s.

Whew...that’s exhausting. I bet they’ll have seven kids and given them each seven names. I wonder if they eat seven meals a day? See...this whole “seven” thing can get really out of control!

I’ll stop being a crank now...for the sake of those couples that are tying the knot Saturday and doing so for genuine, non-gimmicky reasons:)

In other news, my key lime pie was fantastic! I do owe some special thanks to my mom for instructing me on which lime juice to buy and to Dan for beating the egg whites until they were foamy. What can I say, I needed the extra muscle.

4th of July Pie

I love the 4th of July. From the parades to the picnics to the fireworks. It’s all so fun! This year, Dan and I will be staying in D.C. Typically, we take some time off and head to Wisconsin, but we’re budgeting our vacation time for the honeymoon this year!

In honor of the holiday, I’ve decided to make Dan one of his favorite desserts: key lime pie.

This is no small feat for me. I cook, sure. But baking is a whole different story. I’m even going to make my own graham cracker crust (?). I think I was destined to make this pie. Yesterday, I got an email from SELF.com with instructions on how to make a low-fat key lime pie. Sure, I signed up to receive weekly emails from SELF on healthy recipes – but I’ve never actually acted on it until now.

While I’ve never made pie, this seems fairly straightforward. Here’s the recipe:

KEY LIME PIE
Makes 10 servings

INGREDIENTS
Crust
1 1/2 cups graham crackers, crushed1/4 cup sugar5 tbsp butter, melted (or use a commercially prepared graham crust such as Keebler Ready Crust Graham Cracker Pie Crust)

Filling
1 can (14 oz) nonfat sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp lime zest, minced
1 egg2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups low-calorie whipped cream (such as Cool Whip)
1 lime, thinly sliced (optional)

PREPARATIONS
Preheat oven to 325° F.

For crust: Mix graham cracker crumbs with sugar and butter. Spread evenly over bottom and sides of a nonstick 9" pie pan and bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool.

For filling: In a medium bowl, using a fork, beat milk, lime juice, and zest. Add 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks (reserve whites) and beat well. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. After about 20 seconds, add cream of tartar. Fold whites into custard mixture and pour into partially baked crust. Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until set. Let cool. Serve with whipped cream. Garnish with lime slices, if desired.

I'll let you know how the pie-making goes, and I make no promises that it will actually taste or look good.

Happy 4th of July to all!

The Key to a Happy Marriage?

What would you say is the key to a happy marriage? I’d say a marriage built on love and friendship holds the key to a lifetime of happiness. But, according to a new survey by the Pew Center it’s sharing household duties!

Yep that’s right – sharing household chores was ranked as “very important” to 62 percent of survey respondents, up from 47 percent in 1990. Surprisingly, this was the third most important factor to the more than 2,000 married adults that took this survey. Number one was faithfulness at 93 percent and happy sexual relationship came in second with 70 percent.

I would have loved to see this survey done in 1950 – I can’t imagine sharing household chores would have even made the list! I can see it though. If I had to do all the household duties, I would be a little unhappy. I think the same would go for Dan. We both work full time and are equally unmotivated at the end of the day to do dishes! So, we developed our own system. It just sort of fell into place. I hate taking out the trash. It’s probably my least favorite chore of all. So Dan is on that one full time. On the other hand, I love laundry (well – as much as one can really love laundry), whereas Dan hates that task.

I know it makes me happy that Dan is willing to help out, and I can certainly see how that could be a marriage booster. I’m sure I’d be much more of a “nag” if I had to fill the homemaker role on my own!

The survey also dished on the perceptions of cohabitation, children out of wedlock – all of the common no-no’s! It was all very interesting if you have the time to check out the full survey.

Also – if you were wondering, Dan survived his bachelor party! Thanks to all who showed him a great time. And – for the record, I didn’t actually give Dan any rules to abide by:) It was all for fun!

Boys Night Out

Dan’s heading out for a weekend of fun in Columbus....it’s his bachelor party! I know he’s excited to catch up with his old pals that we don’t get to see very often. But, if I may, I’d like to dissect the concept of the “bachelor” party a bit.

Now – Dan is probably the most well-behaved man I have ever known. Even when we were in college, he was always a little more mature than most guys his age. In fact, I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen Dan intoxicated since 2003. Now, he has two beers and calls it a night. But, I’ll give the bachelor party attendants a little more credit – I think they are going to show Dan a good time. Best man/brother Dave is planning this shin-dig. So, Dave, listen up!

By definition, “bachelor” party is a soon-to-be married man’s last hurrah as a single man. I’ve always felt that was a little archaic. For example, Dan is anything but a single man. He hasn’t been a single man in 5 ½ years. The fiancé thing doesn’t just fly out of the window for one night. And don’t get me started on strippers. They sort of gross me out. Is that what you really want to be doing at a bachelor party? And, I know all women probably say this about their man, but Dan’s not really into that. Seriously. He thinks they can be overly aggressive and doesn’t care for that raunchy behavior.

So here is my list of tips - for my "bachelor" and the participants:

1) Don't do anything your girlfriend, fiancé or wife wouldn't approve. This doesn't mean you can't go out, enjoy some drinks and goof off with the guys. It just means that you shouldn't do anything that would compromise the very reason you are out for the night: to celebrate your impending nuptials!

2) Keep it classy. This goes for the whole she-bang. Don't go out to trashy places, don't interact with trashy people, and don't act trashy. You can interpret that as you like!

3) Have fun. Just enjoy the time with your friends. That's all. And, then when you return home, tell me all about it. If you follow tip #1 and tip #2, that shouldn't be a problem.

And, there you have it. Laurie's tips for having some good, clean fun! Have a good time boys.

Are strippers necessary at a bachelor party?
	Yes, it's a long-standing tradition in the history of bachelor parties.
	No, it's more fun when there aren't any.
	I don't know - I've never seen a stripper.
pollcode.com free polls

Marriage Prep = Complete

That time has come. We finally finished our marriage preparation at the church. Last night, we had our last meeting with Deacon Donovan at St. Ann in Arlington. After six months, five one-on-one meetings, a weekend seminar and countless amounts of paperwork – Dan and I are officially ready to be married in a church. Our thick file of requirements is now making its way to St. Peter in Kenosha. It has to make a couple of pit stops at the Archdiocese on the way, but our part is done.

Whew.

Deacon pulled out all the stops though on this last visit. He reminded us of our test results that revealed we aren't “financially compatible” (I’m working on it!), that marriage is forever (yep, got that one down), and he again encouraged us to “not wait too long to have children.”

And, he even recruited Dan to the RCIA program that starts up in the Fall. Which, Dan was actually interested in doing anyway – but he was really put on the spot by Deacon! I didn’t get off so easy myself. Even though I’m already a card-carrying Catholic, he tried to recruit me to be more active in the church. Deacon should really be in sales – he has a great pitch!

And the fun didn’t stop there last night....

When we got home, we had a “stuffing” party – invitations! I’d addressed the invitations last week, but it took us a week to track down the right stamps. I won’t bore everyone with my frustrations with the U.S. Postal Service....but they don’t have their act together. But, the stamps are great. They actually have hearts on them, so they’re perfect in that sense. It was that or Star Wars....

It sort of felt like I was at work. Whenever one of our clients have a press conference or event, we assemble press kits. And we usually get together as a team to knock the task out quickly – assembly line style. I applied that same methodology here. Dan was on stamp duty. I did the stuffing and sealing.



Dan on stamp duty!



Me, carefully assembling


We had fun doing it, and I admired my handwriting along the way. It’s not very often that I write in cursive. Hopefully it's legible:) And now they're in the mail...in the hands of my friends, USPS!

4Real

Ok, so I have to blog about this – because it made my day. It really has nothing to do with our wedding – but three of our married friends are expecting their first born this year! So, Shawn and Lynn, Trevor and Kristen, Brian and Brittany...this is for you!

I imagine that when Dan and I have children, naming them will be fun and exciting – and extremely important. We want them to love their names and we don’t want them to get beat up because we named them something stupid....like this couple in New Zealand is fighting to do.

Apparently, this couple wants to name their son “4real.” What!!?? I guess after they had their first ultrasound, they were “struck by the reality of his impending arrival.” This poor child’s dad had this to say about the name:

"For most of us, when we try to figure out what our names mean, we have to look it up in a babies book and ... there's no direct link between the meaning and the name," Pat Wheaton told TV One on Wednesday. "With this name, everyone knows what it means."

New Zealand authorities are blocking the name, saying that numerals aren’t allowed. But, that means if the NZ government and the couple can’t come to an agreement by July 9, the baby’s name will officially be registered as “real.”

Yeah....that actually happened. "For real!"

WaPo Wedding Week

It’s Wedding Week – Washington Post style! A colleague alerted me this morning to the special feature, and I thought I’d take a look. All papers do this type of things, and typically they’re more ad/vendor-heavy than they are substance. And, seeing as I am not getting married in the District – I don’t really care who makes the best cake here! But...seeing as it’s the Post, I knew they would have something worthwhile to share.

I’m particularly enjoying the Travel Log blog. While I’m not having a destination wedding, I’m still planning a hometown wedding long-distance – which means a packing nightmare! I’m already nervous that I’ll forget something important. Although, I’m pretty much doing most things in Kenosha – dress and veil being the most important – it’s still a big job. We’ll have to pack for the wedding weekend and the honeymoon at the same time. And then there’s remembering the wedding bands, gifts, jewelry, etc. I think I need to get started on those lists I’ve promised myself I would make.

I’m not quite sure how people plan destination weddings – it seems like so much work. Sure, planning from long-distance is one thing. But, planning long-distance to an exotic location you’ve never been seems like even more work. Although I think couples who take that option are probably a little more laid-back than me, and may not sweat the details as much. Which is why, this story that was posted by one of the Travel Log’s editors confirmed these thoughts on the complications a destination wedding poses (or really, any outdoor wedding)....

The couple whose dream wedding in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., was ruined by rain. So in the spirit of Wedding Week, we offer this cautionary tale -- and a warning that if you're planning a ceremony at a beach resort, make sure you ask about the hotel's contingency plans in the event of inclement weather.

"It should have been a fantasy come true," our reader reported about her stepsister's wedding at a St. Thomas beach resort. Except it rained, and the hotel didn't have enough indoor spaces to accommodate the seven couples getting married there that day. "They offered her a hallway, which she declined, so we all stood around for a couple hours (no chairs or water even for the grandparents) along with the guests from the other weddings until her bridesmaids asked if they could use the restaurant (which didnt open til 6), then moved the tables and chairs (themselves) and had a quick ceremony with guests standing. But the icing on the cake (no pun intended): When we finally got to the reception, they had confused the hors d'oeuvres with a kids' party in another room, so instead of shrimp cocktail and beef wellington we were served chicken fingers and pizza bites! We had one unhappy bride, let me tell you..."

A hallway! Oh my gosh. That’s just insulting! I know rain can happen anywhere, anytime, but still, a hallway? Heck, it could rain September 8...but that would just spoil planned outdoor pictures. No sweat. (I hope I don’t regret that statement). The appetizer screw-up I could live with. In fact, I know of one particular groomsmen that might prefer that. He’s got a thing for appetizers. And, no, we won’t be serving buffalo wings during cocktail hour.

82 days

82 days.

One side of me is thinking very sweet thoughts, only 82 days until Dan and I get married in front of our dear family and friends and – oh my gosh, I wish it was tomorrow! The other side is thinking, holy s**t, I only have 82 days to finish planning. Now, I am in the “home stretch” of planning I suppose. We have had all of the vendors booked for months and we’ve booked everything else we’ve needed to – including the honeymoon. But, now we have to finalize everything – and that’s where the real work comes in. I know I sound like a broken record these days, but really – the devil is in the details!!

It’s thrilling and exciting, but all the more real. While I “technically” have 82 days, for my own peace of mind – I want to be done with everything on August 27! I know, it’s an ambitious goal – but I think we can do it. My last trip to Kenosha before the wedding is August 24-26. It will be crazed and hectic, but hopefully I can relax after that. (Am I living in lala land??!!!)

Anyway, we had an awesome weekend. We’ve been traveling quite a bit, and we don’t have many weekends free this summer – so it was great just to lay by the pool and catch up on things like laundry and cleaning:) We also ordered my wedding band on Saturday, which should be arriving via Fed-ex tomorrow. I can’t wait to see it on – I’ve gotten so used to the engagement ring, now I’ll have to adjust to the band. Well...in 82 days I will.

Here’s a glimpse of it:

I think we’re going to go looking for Dan’s next weekend. He has long, skinny, bony fingers – but his knuckles are bigger than they should be. (Recall the bad habits entry!!) For him, it will be more of an adjustment to wear a ring – which he has told me on several occasions. But, no sympathy here...suck it up Dan! You have 82 days to get over it!! I say this with love, of course!

Speaking of l-o-v-e....on the tube tonight is the Age of Love. It is the only reality tv show that I am giving in to this summer, because really, reality tv is on the decline. And, So You Think You Can Dance doesn’t count – that’s a talent show. But, I’ll give this one a try. The premise: a hacked up tennis player – I think he’s 30? – is setting out to meet a mate. And he has two camps of women competing for his love: Cougars and Kittens. Yup, 20-somethings and 40-somethings. Read the Washington Post’s write up – “Old Enough to Be His Sister.”

Shoes

Can you believe there's less than three months until the big day? That means that 2/3 of my planning time is gone. Lucky for me, I've been productive and I have help:) It seem like just last month that I ordered my wedding dress -- and now I have my first fitting coming up in July. I am so excited to see it on, now that it isn't four sizes too big and pulled together in the back with clamps! I finally get to see what it truly looks like. Hopefully it fits, or at least isn't too small, I've been having nightmares about that. (I hit the elliptical a little hard tonight because of that!)


While the fitting is very routine, a non-stressor for me, it means I have to get other things done first. Like shoes, veil, headpiece, jewelery...etc. And then the situation sort of moves into the stressor category. So to prevent a meltdown at the first fitting, I've made sure to have all of that stuff checked off the list. See...told you I was productive.


The shoes are a big deal. I humored Dan with the idea of getting two pairs, a daytime/ceremony shoe and an evening/cut loose on the dance floor shoe. He didn't go for it. And, I am respecting that decision. After all, I do indulge in shoes from time to time, and I'd rather get more "bang for my buck" if you will - I will only be wearing these shoes for a day! And if I had two pairs, I would wear each for about 6 hours. So, I'm going the practical route.



I wanted something with a heel, but not too high. I'm really not interested in tripping coming down that aisle:) I also wanted a traditional white satin shoe, which is hard to find. Dyeables are pretty much the only option unless you go very high-end. But seeing as I was limited to only one pair, Jimmy Choos were out of the question. I also wanted a pump - but it needed to be open-toed. So, what does this all add up to?






And, I must say. I'm very pleased. I brought them to work to break them in a bit and decide if they were the ones. And, I think they are very flattering to my feet. I will get some type of insert for comfort probably - although they are fairly comfortable, and I need to scuff up the bottoms. They are not dance floor ready, in fact they aren't really walking ready! The bottoms are so smooth - I'm not sure why companies sell shoes like that. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen if you ask me.


But, I'm happy with this choice and they'll be accompanying me that first fitting in July. Now onto the rest of the attire decisions to make...

Front Page News!

Our engagement announcement ran in last Sunday's Kenosha News. Here it is! Literally - front page news, it was the first engagement listed in the 'Celebrations' section. We like to think it that was done because our picture was the best:)

Photo Shoot

On Memorial Day, Dan and I had our engagement "photo shoot" with our wedding photographer. She hadn't met Dan yet and vice-versa, so this was a good time to meet up. Her name is Renata, she is originally from Czechoslovakia and lives in Silver Lake with her husband and their young son. They're both photographers - and they have a very unique style which we love.

So we met at Kemper Center at aroun 10:00am on Memorial Day - which turned out to be the perfect location. For those of you who don't know what Kemper Center is, it is very rich in local Kenosha history. The grounds are right on Lake Michigan and there is a ton of greenery and the buildings are a great backdrop. It's an old girl's school and is rumored to be haunted - ooh! - by nuns! It's a neat story/urban legend...check here for the scoop.

Anyway...onto our photo shoot. Now, I watch a lot of America's Next Top Model with Tyra Banks. I've seen every season - and thanks to VH1 marathons, probably two or three times. Tyra is a great coach to the model wannabes, and I think her advice can be carried over to just about anyone getting their picture taken.

Some of her main tips are:

1) Smile with your eyes: sometimes we don't want to show off a huge mouth of teeth, but we still want to appear as though we are smiling and happy....which leads me to her next tip...

2) Keep the face pretty: Tyra often has the contestants doing something in motion or some aerodynamic stunt, and if you're not careful, you can end up with a scowl or some other fierce expression (although fierce can work...if you're going for those edgy or editorial shots)

3) Find the light: This is very basic, we all need to work our angles and highlight our best features. What makes this so hard is that we don't always know what our best side is.

Now, I muttered a lot of this to Dan during the photo shoot - just to keep it fun. "Dan, find the light," and "Honey, smile with your eyes." I'm sure all of those shots were we are giggling are those moments. I didn't keep the face so pretty in all of those!

Allright...here's some of our best work!

We started out with a walk - and Dan did his best George W. Bush impression. Do you ever notice how GW points at everything - it must be a presidential thing?

Now, here are the true candidates. We're not sure which one we like the best - what do you think?

The Wedding Cake

This past weekend Laurie and I made the most important wedding-related decision--choosing a wedding cake! No seriously! Laurie contends that a good wedding cake really isn't that important but for me it is key. While some people focus on the dresses, flowers, reception hall, dinner, etc, my focus is the cake. I always remember whether or not the cake was good at weddings. Is anybody else like this?

Anyway, on Saturday we went to Paielli's--a local Kenosha bakery--to find a cake. Like most other couples we looked through some pictures to determine what we wanted our cake to look like. Surprising we both liked the same type of cake--a traditional three-tier cake. The baker we met with also had three mini-cakes for us to sample--something Laurie had arranged beforehand. The three types included carrot cake, chocolate cake with a raspberry filling, and yellow cake with raspberry and buttercream frosting mixed together as a filling.

Rather than digging in ourselves we decided to take the cakes home to Laurie's family for the true test. After much taste-testing from multiple members of the Herzog, Saladis, and Murphy families, first place went to the carrot cake (which was rated as "breathtaking"), second place went to the yellow cake (which was rated as "sensational"), and third place went to the chocolate cake (my personal favorite). Since Laurie and I don't like to discriminate--and since all three tasted so good--we decided the we would go with all three flavors--one on each layer. What a deal! We even had enough leftovers of the sample cake for Jack--Laurie's dad--to have cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the next week. [For those of you that don't know, Laurie's dad can go through some serious cake--or any other sweets for that matter.]

So...with the biggest decision behind us I declare we are finally ready to get married!!! Oh...and by the way...if you don't like our wedding cake pretend that you do or just tell Laurie! Until next time...

Which of our cake flavors is your favorite?
	Carrot
	Chocolate with Raspberry
	Yellow with Raspberry/Buttercream
	I don't like cake!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

(Thanks Brian - 'Life of Dad' - for the polling idea!!)

Conference for the Engaged

Dan and I attended the Conference for the Engaged this weekend. It was a lot different than we expected. I guess going into it we thought it would be a lot of group discussion, with maybe 10 other couples present. Oh, no no, nothing like that at all – which I must say, was a good thing. I wasn’t really in the mood to have touchy-feely talks with strangers. There were about 75 couples there and we sat through a series of lectures for nearly 8 hours.

We heard from a priest and two married couples – one married for 43 years and the other for six. The topics ranged from intimacy to finances to parenting, but primarily focused on Jesus and God. Actually, the couple that has been married for 43 years – Bev and Bob – were fantastic. And Bev reminded me of my Aunt Peggy. Although, Bob didn't bear too many similarities to Uncle Ralph. Bev and Peggy sort of look alike in a way and Bev is very active in the church, as is Peggy. They teach CCD and marriage prep together, very sweet couple. At one point, Bob shocked us a tad. I think his comment actually snapped us out of our after-lunch nap we were secretly taking with our eyes open. He was talking about the importance of communication and never going to sleep at night without resolving a fight and he said, "If you really want to resolve a fight, fight naked." Come again, Bob? Wasn't expecting that one - and that is why he doesn't remind me of my Uncle Ralph! I can't imagine him standing in front of a room full of couples talking about communication and fighting naked. Hmm...next topic!

We had to wear name tags at this function with our names, parishes and wedding dates. As you can imagine, there were tons of 7-7-07 brides (and grooms). It's actually a cult I think. I was tooling around on The Knot's Web site the other day and reading some of the message boards. I noticed a ton of postings "calling all 7-7-07 brides" and those brides were posting with these fancy graphic signatures with the date. It is a pretty cool day, but I think we have some brides getting a little crazy over it. Today, my coworker told me that she saw a segment on the morning news about one 7-7-07 bride that is getting married at 7:07 p.m. and had seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen. Whew, that's tiring. And it's funny because last year everyone was fearing the spawn of satan on 6-6-06!

I think that we have the "sleeper" date, 9-8-07. After July 7 passes, that is the second coolest day of the year:)

Also - Dan is out of town until Thursday. He says he'll give everyone his take on the Conference for the Engaged when he gets back.

Habits

Bad habits. We all have them - although the degree of "badness" (I know, not a word) is how I classify them. Smoking, that's a really bad habit, it can give you cancer. Picking your noise is a bad habit, because it is gross. Biting your nails is a bad habit, because it makes your fingernails jagged and you could really be chomping on germs.

I think Dan and I have pretty much discovered each other's bad habits. And while I don't think they rank high on the "badness" meter - we're both trying to help each break them. I am a perpetual hair twirler. It's really more than that. I pull my hair out of my head and twist it into a ball and then toss it on the floor (of sofa or bed). This one has escalated over the years, and Dan is pulling out all the stops to help me break it. Now that we are living together (and he does the vacuuming), he is noticing this one a bit more. And to help me break it, he is instilling fear. "You'll be bald in five years if you keep up that pace." It's working somewhat...he might need to tweak his strategy though. Now, I've been pulling from the back and bottom of my head!

Now, Dan is not bad-habit free. He cracks his knuckles. This is one of those annoying habits. This is a tricky one to break. I've been using the "your rings won't fit you if you keep that strategy" for awhile. And, finally it might be working! Dan doesn't really wear rings, but now he's got to get ready for the wedding ring! If his knuckles are too big, he might not be able to get in on or off, right?

Hopefully we can both kick our bad habits, otherwise I might end up prematurely bald and Dan might always look like a Bachelor!

Marriage Preparation, Round III

Hello. I am on marriage preparation blog duty again. Yesterday, Laurie and I attended our third marriage preparation session. Unfortunately neither of us were at "full strength" for this session. I had a very long day at work and Laurie had two root canals 8 hours before our meeting. You all should have seen Laurie...chipmunk cheeks and all!!! Hey, you know what they say..."there is no excuse for missing marriage preparation!"

Anyway, the session got off to a bit of a rough start because we gave the deacon the four affidavits (to show we are "free to marry") signed by our parents and then found out that they have to be notarized. He failed to mention this requirement....sooooo...it looks like we will be repeating this step. Fortunately we were able to redeem ourselves by telling the deacon we had booked our "Conference for the Engaged" date and had picked our readings.

The rest of the session was filled with a discussion of the "three pillars of marriage"--permanence, fidelity, and openness to children. I got a good education on how these three pillars resonate from the scriptures and the deacon made sure to emphasize that Laurie and I not wait too long to have children. Wow, he is starting to sound like Laurie's mother Marilyn! If anybody was wondering, our deacon has seven (7) children!

Well....that about sums it up. Next stop--the full-day "Conference for the Engaged." Want to hear how it goes? You'll have to stay tuned! I know, the suspense is almost too much to take...

Hometown Visit

We're back! Dan and I were in Columbus this past weekend, and so were both of our parents. What a great weekend. It was so nice to be with both of our parents at the same time - the first time they have met in five years. We figured it might be a nice thing to arrange before the wedding:) We grilled out one night, had dinner out another night, watched the Kentucky Derby, ladies did some shopping - just an awesome weekend. Although...seeing as our parents read this blog, I probably wouldn't tell you otherwise! Kidding! With all sincerity, it really was a good weekend.

And....I got a rose. I mean, I knew I would. The other three girls had nothing on my hometown visit. Haha...those tv shows are interfering with reality again! I'm talking The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman. I don't want anyone to give me crap for watching this - because many of you do as well, even if you won't admit it. And, if you aren't watching it this season, you have in the past. I gave it up for a few seasons, but I'm back on the Bachelor train - and I am ashamed no more.

The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman vs.
The Bachelor: An Analyst and a Baseball Fan



In tonight's episode of The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman, we have the hometown visits. He's down to the final four. I have new appreciation for this show given that I am now going to be married. When I first met the Leopold family (and when Dan first met the Murphy clan), there was no pressure of proposing in two weeks. I really think Dan and I are lucky - we have great parents - but it can still be weird to meet the parents/family for the first time. (Hello - took Dan 4+ years to decide to "become a Murphy!!") Besides, imagine getting that final rose, having to wait until the tv show airs to finally be together, and then planning a wedding with this almost stranger, really?

This episode should be a good one. I really am kind of curious to know who else watches this? Certainly - more than just me and my sisters??! My fellow tv addicts - give me some support!

Oh - and on tonight's episode of The Bachelor: An Analyst and a Baseball Fan: After eating a fantastic dinner prepared by his number one girl, Dan goes to bed early because he has a presentation to give early in the a.m. And the Yankees, now celebrating the return of Roger Clemens, are battling Seattle in the last game of a three-part series.

"When you're here, you're family!"

What a great weekend it has been. Relaxing, great weather and date night! Now, Dan and I go out fairly regularly - we'll grab a quick bite around our neighborhood, or go out to happy hour - but date night is different! We both get a little dressed up - more so than usual, and Dan will do his best to open doors for me:)

For this date night, we frequented a favorite restaurant of ours. One where you get unlimited salad and breadsticks, that's right - The Olive Garden. I'm not sure when this became a favorite, but we really enjoy going there. I know that we live in a great area for food - there are tons of great restaurants - but that OG really hits the spot! My parents love it too - in fact, we try to go there together when Dan and I are both in town. We sort of eat too much though, we can never finish our meals. It's that darn salad and breadsticks. Which works perfect, because we have always have leftovers for lunch the next day.

After our lovely dining experience, we went to see Blades of Glory - the new Will Ferrel flick. It was awfulllllllll - so bad, we had to walk out of the theatre. Has anyone actually seen it and liked it? We almost always like the Will Ferrel movies. Anchorman was hilarious, so was Talledega Nights. This just didn't do it for us. But, date night was still really fun. I love to spend time with my husband-to-be and it's fun to see how our date nights have changed. I'm not sure I would've chowed down quite as much at the OG had this been 5 years ago. I think we both burped out loud after dinner too (not at the dinner table though) - that probably didn't start happening until three years into our relationship:)

Unfortunately, the weekend is coming to a close. It is nice to be able to relax, our weekends have been pretty busy lately. We've been traveling a bit. We were in Kenosha last weekend, and now we're going to Columbus next. That should be a fun one - our parents our meeting for the first time! We'll keep you posted. But, luckily, my mom is nothing like Barbara Streisand in Meet the Fockers, and Dan's dad doesn't take after Robert Deniro's character!!

Rocking To Our Own Beat

Music has a way of bringing back memories and reminding you of a specific time or moment in your life. We relate to certain songs, whether it is because of the lyrics or the beat. For example, if I hear the song ‘Joyride’ by Roxette, I remember dancing around my parent’s dining room table singing like I was auditioning for American Idol. Same goes for any Wilson Phillips song...I loved that tape! High school was all about the boy bands – Nsync, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees – and college was very pop/hip-hop – 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake, Ludacris, etc. And, if I hear a song from any of those groups, it brings me right back to that specific time in my life. (Shake Your Tailfeather - Kelly and Jess??!!)

So, Dan and I have decided that for a wedding favor, we would like to compile a cd of our favorite music. We’ll also include the music that we play at our reception – the first song we’ll dance to, the song I’ll dance to with my Dad to and others that we’ll request to the DJ. For us, this is a way to make a soundtrack for our wedding – and for our relationship thus far. We can listen to this for years to come and be reminded of our wedding day – and I can’t think of anything more perfect. And how neat will it be to look back on the songs we chose now when we’re celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary?

We haven’t quite finalized the tracks, but it has been so fun picking them out! For those of you who know Dan well, you know he absolutely loves 80s music. He listens to the 80s station on satellite radio on his drive to and from work – it’s just kind of his thing. It sort of threw me off a bit when we first started dating, but now I’m used to Dan jamming to Cyndi Lauper or Pat Benatar! In all fairness, we share similar taste outside of the whole 80s genre. And, this cd will reflect that. I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as we already do – and remember our wedding day when listening to some of the tracks!

My New Name

So last week I was on the phone with La Sposa Bridal in Kenosha - the place where I ordered my dress and where my bridesmaids are ordering their dresses from as well - and I was giving them the names of my bridesmaids, measurements, etc. I mentioned Dan's sister Abby and I said, "Here's Abby Leopold's information." And then they asked me to spell Leopold...

Now, I can't wait to be Mrs. Dan Leopold. And I think that Laurie Leopold is very cute - I like alliteration. But, it just dawned on me that I am going to have to adjust to this new name. One that apparently is more difficult to spell than Murphy? I personally think Leopold is very straightforward to spell, but everyone seems to question if it is with an "a" or an "o." Everyone knows how to spell Murphy - many cities have pubs or restaurants carrying the name and it is a fairly common beer. Every now and then, some yo-yo asks me if that is spelled with a "ph," but that's really it.

I'm prepared to do the legal change - it's actually an item on my to-do list to get the paperwork going - but I'd never considered the other side of it. Is it a hard adjustment? Will it take me awhile to actually refer to myself that way? Every New Year, it takes me about a month to adjust to the new date - I'm constantly mis-dating things in January and February! Will this be like that? And - my signature? Will I by habit sign things 'Murphy' for years to come?

Any advice? How about from you Leopold folks? What to do when dealing with people who are troubled by the spelling? Should I say, "Last name Leopold, as in Aldo." Would anyone even know what I was talking about!?

Marriage Preparation, Round II

Hello again. Laurie and I had our second round of marriage preparation meetings with the our church in Virginia--this time with Deacon Bill. Most of the time was spent reviewing the results of the 150 question compatibility test that Laurie and I took a few months ago. Let me tell you, there were some real earth-shattering results. For example, according this test (and our conversations with the deacon), we determined that Laurie is less fiscally responsible than me and really likes to shop. Hmmmm.

The deacon also told Laurie that she may be small but in his review of her answers, it appears she has a very dominant personality [Translation: Laurie wears the pants in our relationship]. Wow, there is a real shocker! We also found out that Laurie is stubborn and watches too much TV (I know...more surprises). To be honest, I really can't remember what my flaws were--probably because there were so few of them.

In all seriousness though, we were actually more compatible on a lot of things than we realized. For example, we scored high in terms of compatibility in several sections, to include the "lifestyle expectations," "communication," "personal issues," "readiness," "family," and "religion and values" sections. In fact, according to the test, Laurie and I were 100 percent compatible on the "religion and values" issues. Okay, maybe that is a little surprising, but we'll take it.

Now we are off to the next round. We have another meeting with the deacon in May and also have to schedule a 1 or 2-day retreat. My instincts tell me there is surely more fun to follow. Stay tuned for "Marriage Preparation, Round III."

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Remember a few posts ago when I said I didn't think I was getting enough done, and that time was flying by? I think I called it a "Tricia-induced" panic (which I meant with love). Whatever it was - it was a good thing, because I think Dan and I have turned it around. I feel like we are making tons of progress, and I have become quite the decision-maker.

It's not that I'm a poor-decision maker. I'd actually say that I am extremely decisive, a little picky perhaps? It absolutely drives Dan nuts, but it's what I know. For example, my Mom is my numero uno shopping buddy. I think it is because we have the same shopping mentality. When we go to our favorite store, Banana Republic outlet, we stay in there for a long time. We carefully select the items we would like to try on, and then circle the store a few times to make sure we didn't miss anything. And then we'll try stuff on, and then usually go grab what the other person tried on, which is why we have so much of the same stuff! Currently, we are sporting the same purse. (A purchase I debated in-store for a good half hour.) Finally, we make our way to the checkout. And then, we go through the same process at the next stop. Dan has accompanied us on a few of these trips - he's very patient.

Another classic example: the grocery store. Dan will just grab anything off the shelf, whereas I like to really feel good about the rice I pick out or the lean cuisines for the week. I'll stand in front of the frozen meals section for a good ten minutes debating 'sesame chicken' or 'three cheese ravioli.'

But, this bride gig is really helping me make quicker decisions. We went to Papyrus yesterday to get some ideas for our invitations. Dan's sister-in-law Traci recommended the store - and thank goodness for that. It was great! We weren't sure where we were going to get invitations, but this ended up to be a perfect choice. I was making decisions left and right, and I wasn't even expecting to! We stopped into the Papyrus right near our apartment just to get an idea for what they had. And, we ended up looking through binders of styles, and found one that we really liked.

We both liked tea-length invitations - the long, skinnier cards. The sales manager really liked it with a rounded edge, but I wasn't feeling it. Instead of going back and forth and humoring him, I said, "No, I don't like the rounded edge, I prefer a straight edge." It was so liberating! From there, I was able to quickly decide on an icon to decorate the invitation, the font, the colors, the envelopes, and EVERYTHING! Dan agreed with all of my decisions, but I think he was just so excited to see me making them!

We haven't set everything in stone yet, but we're getting there. Don't be surprised if you get an address request soon:)

We're off...to register. I'm going to run with this decision-making while I have it in me!

Cherry Blossoms

It's that time of year - the cherry blossoms are at their peak in DC. This season, typically about a two to three week period in March/April, is insane! One million people flock to DC during this time to take a walk down the Tidal Basin and see the blossoms at their peak. People even plan their weddings around this day - which baffles me, because you never know when those blossoms will peak. They estimate a day, but it isn't always accurate. Besides, who would want to get married with one million tourists in the background? Dan and I usually check them out every year, and there's no way to get a good photo - you always have a crowd behind you!

Here's the brief history behind the cherry blossoms for those unfamiliar:


The two-week National Cherry Blossom Festival, which begins Saturday, honors the anniversary of 3,000 cherry trees gifted from Japan to the United States in 1912. It has become Washington's signature tourist event, drawing 1 million visitors annually. And officials are well aware that the whole affair depends on the lush canopies of pink and white blossoms staying in pristine condition. (courtesy of USA Today)


While I must admit that the increase in tourists (especially during rush hour on the metro) tends to get on my nerves, the cherry blossoms have special meaning for Dan and I. In April of 2004, I came to DC to visit Dan. I was still in college, and had planned to visit Dan way in advance. I didn't even know what the cherry blossoms were. But, they happened to be blooming that weekend, and we went to see them. It was such a good time, and it was really romantic. If I remember, it was pretty chilly out so there were hardly any people down there. I hadn't seen Dan in probably a few months, and we just strolled along the tidal basin and held hands. I know, so nerdy we are. But, it was very memorable.



(Checking out the cherry blossoms in 2005)


Actually, that weekend in 2004, Dan and I celebrated two years of dating. Now, three years later - here we are! That means we're celebrating five years of dating this month.

I think we'll go check out the cherry blossoms this weekend if it is nice. Easter Sunday is coming up, and we'll actually be in DC this year.

Typically for Easter, I go home and honor certain traditions each year. Good Friday = coloring eggs. Saturday = Easter vigil mass. Sunday = egg hunt (for the kids, unfortunately - I don't participate anymore!)....and napoleon! I think Dan and I are going to honor all but one of those traditions here this weekend - no egg hunt! But, we'll be attending Easter vigil on Saturday, and I'm going to call some bakeries and try to get my hands on some napoleon!! And, we'll continue a tradition that we've started on our own - going to see the cherry blossoms!

Joint or Separate - or Both?

Separate, joint - or a combination of both? That is the question. I'm talking about finances! This week, the NBC Nightly News is taking a closer look at: "Marriage - The State of our Unions." Very cheesy...but also very interesting. We happened to catch it on Monday...and Tuesday and Wednesday (Dan has a thing for Brian Williams). What we found interesting was the story on how married couples now-a-days manage their finances. (Here's a link to the story on MSNBC.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17803471/)

They say that 37% of women keep some type of separate account. We've been thinking about this for a while, how we'll combine our assets and accounts, all that mumbo jumbo when we tie the knot. While it isn't practical to maintain completely separate accounts - I joked with Dan about going "halfsies" on our mortgage someday - I see some benefits to keeping my checking account. First, I would drive Dan completely nuts with all of my daily, small deductions ($5 at Subway, $3 at CVS, etc.). Second, I would like to maintain some sense of independence financially. Third, we don't necessarily keep the same spending habits. Dan goes shopping like twice a year - and drops a larger amount of $$ on those two occasion. On the other hand, I spend money - not necessarily more (that's probably a lie) on a more frequent basis. Hello, I'm a chick - I can't help it!

This segment had some very interesting quotes:

It's not romantic, but we're talking about a generation raised on equality. Keeping money separate means husbands never get to ask, "You paid how much for those shoes?" It's not romantic, but we're talking about a generation raised on equality. Keeping money separate means husbands never get to ask, "You paid how much for those shoes?"

While we will most likely have a joint "main" account, I imagine I'll still squirrel away some "discretionary" funds for my own use. It's an interesting debate, and one we've seen covered in other outlets as well. In the April issue of Money Magazine (Dan has a subscription), they cover it also.

I'm off - to shoe shop online - (ha!) Actually, I am, sort of. Each year, Dan and I compete just with each other in a March Madness pool - and I won. He can't catch up with me point wise, I've locked it in with the final four! In the past, we've bet a nice dinner, movie of winner's choice, etc. This year, I decided if I won, Dan would have to buy me a pair of shoes of my choice. Within reason of course - as I am a very reasonable person:) So - here I go. New shoes await!

Centerpieces

Wow...time flies by when you're planning a wedding! I stepped into a Tricia-induced panic-mode this week, when she kindly reminded me of all of the things that I need to do for the wedding. It's true, I think I got a little comfortable after we settled the photographer and dj - and then there's that full-time job I have during the week:) And, that brings us to almost the end of March. Basically, only five months left to get it together!!!

So, I got busy this week. I'm trying to settle some logistical issues - hotel, transportation, etc., and also settle on a theme. Maybe theme isn't the best word, maybe it's style? I'm trying to figure out the reception right now. What will the centerpieces be? What type of favors? How about placecards, tablesettings? (Just writing all of this down right now is bringing on that panic feeling again!)

I'm focusing on centerpieces right now - and it is a big wild card. Dan and I took a trip to Michael's yesterday to see if we got inspired. Tricia took a trip as well at the same time Dan and I did, so we conferenced via cell phone at our respective Michael's stores. I have a lot of ideas in mind - all DIY (do-it-yourself) to some degree. I have a few solid ideas in mind, but am not sure how to bring those ideas to life. One of the ideas I have is to place 2-sided floating frames on the table with a picture of us (together or from our childhood) and write something to explain what the picture represents. If we were to do something along those lines, it would affect what we "name" our tables (rather than using #s). So far, we haven't come across a frame that would stand alone. And I will not use plexiglas - under no circumstance!

Does anyone have any insight? Seen anything really cool at other weddings?



In other news...our second reader at our wedding is celebrating his 8th birthday on March 26! That's Brandon at the 4th of July parade last year. We're very excited that he is going to be doing a reading for us. It's a big year for him - he's making his first communion in April.


I'm off to surf the Web for centerpiece ideas - until next time!