2 kids from jersey

This past week was all kinds of busy but we got SO much done.

Saturday the 8th, we picked up Mom’s dress, Rob’s vest, the extra fabric and MY dress!! All look amazing. I love my bustle; even though she had to redo it while I was in it. Jan, the tailor, said it was easy to bustle. Mom watched, so I hope she thinks the same thing. I have NO idea how it’s done.

We also started on the centerpiece bases. Good gravy these centerpieces are involved! I hope there are 32 people who are going to want a giant copper tree in their life. We’re putting so much work into them. I certainly don’t want them to just be thrown out. Do YOU want a centerpiece? Consider it sculptural art. Please say you’ll want one.

Saturday night was the Christmas in Carol and Song concert at Rutgers’ Kirkpatrick Chapel. It’s my favorite Christmas concert; so festive. It’s one time when we can just sit and enjoy. No phones ringing. No emails to check. Nothing else to do. Just sitting in a candle lit chapel listening to amazing music. The wedding and holiday craziness just gets put on hold for an hour and a half. It’s perfect.

Sunday Karen, Erin, and Skip came over. They thought they’d be just hanging out with us. HA! Be warned. If you come over within the next 2 weeks, you’re getting put to work. The boys did manage to get some guitar hero in but some favors were made, so that kept me happy.

Monday, Rob, Skip & I went and put in the paperwork for our marriage license!!! It’s officially official folks. Apparently it’s the old carbon paper stuff, so we CANNOT sit or spill anything on it. Typos or cross-outs void it. It has to be returned to them 100% correct with no additional scuff marks. Talk about pressure. It’s ready for pick up Monday but maybe we won’t pick it up until Friday. That way there’s less chance of anything happening to it.

After that, Skip, Erin, Rob and I all celebrated with breakfast at Holly Brook. Then it was back to the house. The boys peeled labels and de-gunked copper fittings for the centerpieces. Erin & I tied tags to favors until our fingers were about to fall off. Boy do we owe them! They’ve been an amazing help!! Thanks guys!

I worked from home M-Th. So I read apps like a fiend in the morning and late at night. Then had the afternoons and evenings to help Dad with centerpieces. It was a very productive arrangement. We’ve got all the bases just about done. Well, cut, sanded, and painted at least. We’ll assemble this weekend. If you can come and help, let me know! I’ll send you the evite. It’s All Hands on Deck time. Busy busy.

We’ve selected and finalized the menu for Fish Lake Friday. YUM! Tonight is the final meeting with the florist. Then this weekend is our final work weekend. YAY!!!!

Today I came into the office because I thought Jason’s boss was throwing a Christmas party. There as a Christmas party last year, so I didn’t think anything of it. Jason called me into his office to discuss a special tour for March he was asked about; business as usual. Then we go up to the 2nd floor conference room; last year it was on the 3rd floor but I accepted the change of venue at face value. Walk in. “SURPRISE!!!” What?!?! I was thoroughly confused. It wasn’t until someone yelled “it’s your shower!” that I got it. They threw me a shower! There was a whole catered lunch and all the counselors were there, even Kyle, one of my SA managers came. SO freakin’ sweet!!

And look what they got us!!

It’s our KitchenAid 12-cup Food Processor!!! I’m already dreaming of things to make with it. Oh the parties we’ll throw with all our new goodies! I foresee many a good time in our future. Don’t worry, you’ll be invited.

Anyway… I officially have the best, most awesome office ever. SO thoughtful! They are fabulous and I love them.

FYI – Rob is a Wii mule. Over the past year or so 7 Nintendo Wii’s have past through his hands. Last night, we camped out for Wii’s 6 & 7.

I certainly don’t want to ruin any surprises so there will be no naming names. But it had come to pass that Rob was asked if he could get 2 Wii’s. It certainly didn’t seem like a big deal. He works right next to Nintendo World in Manhattan. In October, he was asked to procure Wii’s 4 & 5. He was able to buy them on his lunch break. No lines, no waiting. It seemed they had plenty in stock. For the holidays, they get about 150 new Wii’s everyday; more than any other store in the area, possibly country.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning. Rob arrives to Nintendo World at about 7am (the store opens at 8am). No Wii’s. The last person on line with a wristband (you get a wristband if you’re high enough in the line to get a Wii) got on line at 5AM. Yes, you read that right. 5AM, folks. And he was at the very end.

Here’s how the system works. Nintendo World opens for business at 8am but the line for Wii’s begins forming much earlier than that. The line forms down the edge of the sidewalk, on one side of metal barriers (so it doesn’t take up the entire sidewalk). The very first people started the line before midnight. Yes, that’s right, during the PM hours of Wednesday night. At about 7am, Nintendo employees come down the line with a certain about of wristbands. 1 wristband = 1 Wii; 1 Wii per person. Rob and I decided Wednesday afternoon to go get in line really early for a Wii.

9:30pm: Manage to get to sleep
1:00AM: We woke up and put on the layers. I had tights and leg warmers under my jeans, socks, 2 shirts, a sweater, my big blue boots, jacket, scarf, mittens and a hat. Rob put sweatpants over his work pants, 2 shirts, a sweater, jacket, scarf, gloves, and hat. In the apartment, it seemed like A LOT of layers. We even packed a backpack with some CheeseNips and the Rutgers blanket. Add in 2 iPods and we were good to go.
1:30am: The walk to the train hinted as to just how cold north Jersey is in December. We stepped out of our building and, after about 2 minutes, I could feel the cold on my thighs. That wasn’t a good sign.
2:06am: It was the last train out of Jersey and into NYC for the night. The next train after that wasn’t until 4-something. Newark Penn Station looked a lot like the casino’s do in the middle of the night. My personal favorite was the home-challenged gentleman who was having a very animated conversation with himself. It didn’t make much sense but he sounded very invested in it.
2:38-ish am:We arrived in New York Penn Station and were ready for dinner. We had gone to sleep soon after Rob arrived home and skipped the evening meal. McDonalds was about the best thing open at that time. Mmmmm…. cheeseburgers…..
3:00am: From Penn Station we hopped in a cab to go up town. 30 Rock was a quick potty stop and I was surprised that there were actually people there. Not sure if they were coming in or heading home. Then we headed over to Nintendo World. And the waiting began. I knew we’d be near the front of the line but there were already 25 people there!

This is the line we were at the end of at 3-something-am. Nintendo World is the store with the glass panels, on the left at the corner. Here is Rob & I when we very first got on line. Excited, wind-swept, perhaps a little blurry-eyed.

Then we waited. The temperature dropped. And waited.

Rob made friends with the guy behind us. Well, the guy behind us started talking to Rob and he was kind enough to reciprocate the conversation. I’m not sure Rob was totally impressed but he was a good sport about it. We broke out the Rutgers blanket within the first hour. It quickly became apparent that we should have brought a couple larger blankets. We shared or Rob let me have it all. We stood; we sat; then stood some more.

I watched The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat and Grinch Nighton my iPod. Holding the iPod where I could see it over my jacket and scarf was a bit challenging, especially since it was during the sitting phase. The barricade we were leaning on kept scooting out from behind us. I tried laying on my side but there just wasn’t enough blanket or padding for that. After that, I moved on to the World War Z audio-book. It’s about life after the zombie wars. Nice and long, very engaging, it kept me going for the rest of the wait. I tend to tune music out but audio books I actually listen to.

Rob was a little more festive in his audio selections. While there he listened to various podcasts and some Dragonforce, Christmas music dominated his play-list. Charlie Brown Christmasis a personal favorite of his. I’m not exactly sure what our audio selections say about us but feel free to interpret it as you please.

According to weather.com, it dipped down to what felt like 8°F Thursday morning.  It says it was about 14F when we got on line. I thought it got colder while we were standing out there but wasn’t sure. It makes me feel slightly less crazy to know that the temperature did in fact drop. There was a little bagel place across the street that opened about 4am or so. We each took a turn going to get something hot to drink and attempt to regain feeling in our toes. By the time the sun started to rise, we were both pretty frozen.

I spent much of the morning with the red blanket (that is currently around my shoulders) draped over my head and wrapped around my body. Rob did eventually put on a fleece ear wrap and a hat but I don’t have any documented proof of that. I also don’t have any proof that I shared the blanket – which I did. My favorite position was what we came to call the “Koala”. I would lean foward onto Rob’s back and wrap my arms around into the front pockets of his jacket. He would grab the wide corners of the blanket and wrap it around his back, completely covering the top half of me and his shoulders. I couldn’t really see how much of the blanket he was able to wrap around the front of him, but it did a great job of keeping my face protected from the wind. I hope he didn’t freeze to bad.

7:10am: The Nintendo people came out to give out the blue wristbands. Each band was numbered and the staff secured it to our wrists – tightly! I’ve never worn a wrist band that tight. I’m pretty sure Rob’s was half taped to the hair on his arm. But there certainly wasn’t anyway those things were coming off in one piece; which I guess was the point. They didn’t want anyone selling or giving their wristband to someone else. It was just about 7:30am when we got our wristbands, numbers 233 & 234. This last half hour felt the longest. Every 10 minutes felt like a half hour. So close, yet so far.

8:00am: The store finally opened!!! The first 15 people went in. We were in the 2nd batch of wristband numbers; numbers 228-238. The store felt so warm but I’m glad we got in line early. Being towards the front of the line meant we could get everything and on our way quickly. Rob had to be at work by 10am, so he was a little early. I managed to catch a subway, then train, then another subway and be to work by 9:30am! It wasn’t much later than I usually show up.

All in all, it was a pretty fun night. Albeit a little chilly but our toes have since thawed.

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

A couple weeks ago, we finalized everything with the caterer. Menu, linens, timing, etc… We’re so excited about the food! I just have to share the menu with you. It’s going to be AWESOME!!

Butlered Hor D’Oeuvres

Macaroni & Cheese Balls (a la Cheesecake Factory)
Mini Slammers with cheese, ketchup, mustard & pickles
Mini Franks in puff pastry with mustard on the side
Italian Wedding Soup Shots
Mini Crab Cakes
Grilled Chicken Skewers with Peanut Satay Sauce
Stuffed Mushroom Caps
Spring Rolls with Asian sauce
Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

Appetizer Stations

Asian Station
Shu Mai Chicken Pot Stickers
Sir Fry Beef with red & orange peppers
Pork Pot Stickers

Pasta Station
Fussili & Bow Tie pasta
with the following sauce choices
Vodka Blush
Pommodore
Wild Mushroom

Salad
Asian Pear Salad
Mescalin & Romain greens with
gorgonzola, candied walnuts, crasins, & Asian pear slices
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Dinner
served Buddakan style (similar to family style)
Apricot Glazed Chicken Breast over
Orzo with shallots, leeks & onions

Black & White Sesame Encrusted Tilapia with Mango Salsa over
Long Grain and Wild Rice pilaf

Filet Mignon with Reduced Garlic Brandy sauce over
Smashed Red Bliss & Yukon Gold potatoes

Blanched Asparagus
Sauteed Bok Choy & Spinach with garlic
Assorted fresh baked breads & butter

Dessert
Wedding Cake

MMmmmmmmmmm………

This past Saturday was my 2nd shower. It was simply amazing! Aunt Becky and Aunt Karen really out did themselves. Decorations coordinating with the Breakfast at Tiffany’s theme were everywhere. Tons of little blue boxes and Tiffany blue and white ornaments, candles & fabric. Even the food coordinated! Pictures of Rob & I were subtly scattered around the house. As people introduced themselves, they were invited to share an amusing story or memory about me (or us). It was fun to hear what people remembered over the years. Apparently my mom never knew about that flour fight….

Thank you to everyone who came!! I felt SO special and loved. Thank you to the wonderful hostesses! I had the best time and sincerely appreciate all your hard work. You guys must have prepped for hours. Pictures to come!!