Wedding (Web) Sites

Now that we are officially engaged there are magazines pilling up on the coffee table, new folders on my desktop and new favorite sites adding up like crazy. It has been a lot of fun researching and reading wedding stories of do it yourself brides. At first, Evan and I were having anxiety about the cost of a wedding, but after a week of research I think we can get creative, have the wedding we want and not go into debt. Still no date, place or anything really, but it has been a lot of fun looking for inspirations and new crafty projects. I am going to use my side bars to keep track of my wedding finds and crafty projects, but here is a list of the favorites so far:

Style Me Pretty

One Lovely Day by Project Wedding

Wedding Bee

Martha Stewart Weddings

Hostess with the Mostess

Moving Again

In what feels like a former life, I used to be a dancer. I danced ballet with the Ballet Theatre of Annapolis (now the Ballet Theatre of Maryland) until high school. Once I got to high school I participated in my high school’s dance company, expanding into modern dance and contemporary styles. In college, I joined the Dance Team and performed at football and basketball games where I learned to do Russian jumps and switch leaps. I took ballet class my freshman year, but then dropped it because it was at 8:40am and once in a while I was lucky enough to be invited to dance in a piece for one of my dance major friends. I thought about changing my major to dance a few times, but never had the courage to do it. And after college, I started working and stopped dancing.

Yesterday, I took a dance class with a local dance company, Dragonfly Dance Experiment. The director of the company is a girl I went to high school with, Megan. I ran into her at the performance last week and she graciously invited me to come to her class. I couldn’t believe how strange it felt to move again. I knew it would be hard to get back in to dancing, but I had no idea how foreign the movements would feel. I had a wonderful time, even though my feet were cramping and I couldn’t pick up the combinations as quickly as I used to. All of her dancers were so nice and welcoming. I think that I faked it pretty good, but it was a struggle not to look like a complete fool.

Megan kindly told me that I have an open invitation to keep coming to class and watch their rehearsal. I will definitely take her up on her offer. I loved watching her dancers rehearse for their upcoming performance and I would love to just be part of their warm up as long as I don’t get in the way. It feels good (and a little sore) to be moving again.

Engagement Story

I didn’t know how I felt about putting the very personal story of Evan and my engagement up on the internet for all to see, but I am being harassed by most of the people I know…so here is the story.

Last week was a very hectic week for me and Evan. We had my Grandfather’s birthday Monday, my Mom’s birthday Tuesday, the birth of my nephew, Owen, on Wednesday, a performance on Wednesday night, Evan’s birthday on Friday and Evan’s Mom visiting us for the 4th of July weekend. We both had a four day week last week, so we were trying to fit 5 days worth of work in to 4 days. That’s a lot of stuff going on. We have both been exhausted and stressed, so I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when Evan said he’d been nauseous and anxious.

On the 4th of July, Evan, his mother and I went to Bay Ridge to watch the neighborhood parade with my Mom, Michael, Miah, Eric, Debbie and their two kids, Alena and Aiden. It was quite a family affair. The highlight of the day (up to that point) was the Bay Ridge races. We had family in all the speed races and the egg toss. Evan ran the 25 and over race (with my ring in his pocket.) The kids won some of the speed races. Eric won 1st place in the 50 and over men’s race and my mother won 2nd place in the 50 and older women’s race. She competed against one other woman and they both were given 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons! It was a hysterical event.

After the races, we all went back to our next door neighbor, Rick’s house as he was having a party with tons of food. We ate and drank and relaxed in his backyard, then moved to our backyard and were just resting up for another party and fireworks that evening. Evan asked me if I wanted to walk down to the end of the street. This is nothing out of the ordinary because we always walk down to the end of the street to look at the water and get a moment away from the family. We got to the end of the street and Evan asked if I wanted to walk down on the beach and I said, “No, I don’t want to get all sandy.” Then he said ok, let’s just walk a little ways down the road. Then on a grassy spot overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, Evan fished in his pocket and pulled out a ring box. When he pulled it out of his pocket something else fell out with it and I saw panic on his face, but it wasn’t the ring that fell. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I kissed him and said yes!

After our engagement was official, we went back to my Mom’s house and the family freaked out for a few hours. Debbie went and got a bottle of Champagne and we toasted in the backyard. Then all the girls told the stories of their engagements and we got ready to go to the next party.

The last party of the day was at a beautiful mansion overlooking the point of the Chesapeake Bay. They had a band, a bar and delicious appetizers. They house is located in the perfect spot to see fireworks. We ran into neighbors and were excited to share our news with anyone who would listen. We danced the night away and then spent the night at my Mom’s house.

I am pretty amazed how excited I feel. We have been dating for 3 years and have lived in 3 different states in 6 different apartment/houses. We have been through a lot and I always knew we would eventually get married, but now it is really real.

Evening of Artistry

This past week was jammed packed with exciting events and Wednesday night was no exception. My good friend, Graham was in town doing a dance workshop and a performance in Takoma Park. Graham and I danced together in high school and became close friends, but I hadn’t seen him in years. We had a quick visit in Philadelphia 6 years ago and his wedding in Salt Lake City the year before that. It was so nice to get to pick up right where we left off and hear about all the “where are they nows” of his family and people we knew from high school. I went to the performance with my friend, Jill, who teaches dance at Annapolis high school. Graham performed with his brother, Joel, a series of improv pieces, choreographed works and music. Graham performed a solo improv piece, a dance with his brother and a choreographed work in a modern style. Graham has always had a very unique movement and it was really fun to recognize it right away as something familiar. His brother’s story is a pretty amazing one. Joel was in a car accident with Graham and the rest of their siblings when we were in high school and Joel was 9. As a result of the accident, Joel is paraplegic. Joel performed a dance with Graham and did three of his songs from his band, Seriously Evan. Joel has grown up to be a very cool guy and it was fun to see how he has found to express himself in this family of dancer artists. It was a pretty emotional display of art followed up by dinner at an Olive Garden in a rough part of town, but it was a really great night.

On an unrelated note, Evan proposed to me this weekend and I said yes. I am going to try very hard not to turn this into a bride blog, but we are very excited. More details to come soon.

Birthday Dinner Round II

Tuesday night, Evan and I went to dinner with my Mom and Michael to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. Yes, this is the second celebration of the birthday and there will be more celebration this weekend for Evan’s birthday. (We like birthdays in this family.) My Mom decided that she wanted a proper steak dinner, so we did dinner at Lewnes’ Steakhouse and drinks and dessert at the Chart House, both in Eastport. Lewnes’ is rumored to be one of the best steak houses in Annapolis. Mom and I both ordered the petit filet. It was by far the best steak that I have ever had. I ate the entire filet before anyone else could finish their plate and that says a lot. Evan had the prime rib and Michael had the rib eye. Both pretty impressive to look at, but it was voted unanimously that the filet was by far the best. The sides were very good as well. We had the hash browns and mushrooms. The quote of the night was “This is out of this world!” After the steaks we headed over to the Chart House and ordered the famous lava cake and a piece of key lime pie. For cocktails, I had a glass of Moet & Chandon, Mom had a Granny Smith Apply Martini and Evan a Grand Marnier Snifter. It was a fancy party! After the cocktail, the conversation got fun. Mom told Michael that he was delightful; Michael announced that the key lime pie was “out of this world” and we all had a good laugh about Dale’s brother’s house in Bay Ridge, which famously has a pool in the back. At the end of our cocktail hour it started to pour buckets of rain, so the boys did the gentlemanly thing and went to get the cars. On our way out, another couple was leaving and the women waited with us for her man to get their car. While we were standing on the deck under cover, she told us that this was her third anniversary and she was planning to be proposed to and because he did not pop the question, she would have a headache once they got home. A lot of information to share with two strangers, but it was a funny end to the evening.

In even more exciting news…yesterday, Michael’s daughter Melody gave birth to my new nephew, Owen. I haven’t gotten to see him in person yet, but this picture is absolutely precious. I might be a little bias, but I think he is out of this world.