Meet the Best Man and Maid of Honor

Rob has two wonderful kids, Henry (age 11) and Cassie (age 9). Here is their photo from this Easter.

Cassie is my Maid of Honor and Henry is Rob's Best Man. The wedding will be a big day for them as well so we wanted to honor that and make them a big part of the ceremony.

The flowergirl will be my niece, Anna who is just turning 7. When I asked Anna to be my flowergirl, she answered, "I've wanted to be a flowergirl my whole life!!!" We are also having help from my two nephews and Rob's nieces and nephews.

Spring in Plymouth

We spent the afternoon yesterday in Plymouth doing weddingish errands and had a good time mapping things out a bit more. It is an easy town to navigate and on this blustery March day, we wandered around getting things done as well as finding more great things for you, dear wedding guests, to do during your visit.

We revisited the Plymouth Yacht Club for the first time since our initial viewing. It was as beautiful of a spot as we had remembered. Simple and quiet and right on the water. The picture above is us standing on the deck area where the cocktail hour will take place. Cold and windy but happy! Look at that view behind us!

It was an exciting day in the world of wedding planning. The level of detail and the number of banal decisions you must make to prepare for an event like this is truly staggering. I met my hairdresser in South Plymouth (she was great). I did NOT meet the make-up artist who blew off our appointment (not great, she's fired). I picked out linen colors. We mapped out where the heck to stand in the park. Where to put signs? Where to put the guestbook? Don't get me wrong. I really am having a great time planning this event with Rob. I just sometimes don't quite recognize myself when I just stymied about which shade of blue to use for napkins. Yikes.

We had a great meal that evening at 14 Union, a restaurant very close to the Yacht Club and right on the water with the requisite stunnning view. They had a great deal of 3 courses for $13 which they say will be in effect all year long, every day. It's definitely a hidden gem -- a little hard to find but the locals sure know about it. Here is a really good comprehensive list of restaurants from which to choose. It is always a lot of fun to spend the day in Plymouth and we really hope you'll feel the same.

More Lodging Thoughts

I wanted to add a quick note to the blog about another possible place to stay. I'm a big fan of supporting local businesses and the lodging options I've listed have all been local places and not national chains. However, there have been guests (my family mostly) who really prefer to stay at a place that they know well because they'd stayed at similar venues across the country. They were nervous about staying at places they didn't recognize.

So! They seem to have reasonable rates at the Hampton Inn in Plymouth. I hadn't even put them on the list when I was figuring out where to stay because they were $160 a night so not really a bargain, but rumor has it that you might be able to get a room closer to $115. I'll do my best to make a wedding block there which should help in this process. It's a few miles from the wedding but still close enough, and if you just like the oh so familiar chainy feeling, well, this is probably a very good option. You can give them a call and see what you get.

UPDATE: I spoke to them today and they really seem to be random about the prices they are giving out. You can give them a try but even with the wedding discount the lowest they would give me (unless you are staying more than 3 days) is $140.

Happy Spring and Hey, We Were In The Papers

Before I launch into my latest oh so fascinating blog entry, I want to wish everyone a happy spring! There is nothing like the transition of what seems like endless winter into the time when the world seems to blur a little around the edges, gets all soggy and muddy and little by little, greener and greener. It makes me feel all poetic. Anyhow. Yay for the vernal equinox! And most Happy Easter to you all. I'll post some easter photos soon.

Not that the seasons are all about me or anything, but 3 months from now is the wedding. Whew!

On to my story. At some point, Rob and I had to decide if we were going to announce our engagement in the newspapers. It's kinda fun to see the brides and grooms in print, etc. etc. However, being my thrifty (or is it cheap) self, I balked at paying $150 to put it in the local newspaper. Nonetheless, without meaning to, we still ended up in the paper, sortof!

Way back last fall when I was trying on somewhere around 850 dresses at the national chain of mostly affordable wedding gowns, a salesperson approached me saying someone The Boston Globe was on the line and wanted to speak to a "bride-to-be." I gulped at claiming that title, but gamely took the phone spoke to the reporter who was doing an article on whether or not men still ask for their girlfriend's hand in marriage from her parents . I gave the reporter my take on things, she asked for Rob's contact info to speak with him and that was that. I didn't think to ask where or when this might appear and mostly forgot about it.

Lo and behold, a few days later on the front page of the Boston Globe, this article appeared with Rob's words of wisdom included at the very end! Whoa. Apparently this article caused a mini firestorm of controversy on various discussion boards. I didn't feel that much drama about the whole thing, although I certainly have my opinions and approaches to some of the, er, shall we say, more paternalistic aspects of the whole wedding kit and kaboodle. I'm not going to go into them here out of lack of time, space, and I'm not sure this is the right forum for it. And in the end, every woman has to figure out her own way to walk down the aisle -- literally and metaphorically. (You'll have to wait for the wedding to figure out which one I choose). '

Oh and as for landing on the front page with this story, I'd say that's a pretty slow news day!

The Other Side of the River: Or, All It Takes Is One Cupcake Bakery and I'm Yours

The area south of Boston, locally referred to as the "South Shore" is Rob's native stomping grounds. Born in Quincy and then lots of time in Milton, Duxbury, Kingston and Braintree, the South Shore feels like home to him. This is part of why Plymouth seemed a good fit for the wedding. All of Amy's 10 years in Boston has been on the northern part of the city on the other side of the river. Not the North Shore exactly (that would be much further north), but Somerville and Cambridge, maybe Brookline and Arlington were places around here that Amy came to claim as her own, as places where she knew the nooks and crannies.

So as I (can I switch to first person now?) get to know Rob's home, and we start planning and creating our lives together on the South Shore where Rob owns his home, I've been slowly (and at times, I will admit, reluctantly), getting to know Braintree and Hingham and Quincy and Weymouth. Some of these towns I'd never even heard of while living less than 5 miles or so north. I really liked north of the city. I was suspicious of this South Shore thing. Who were these people and why were they living here when Somerville was obviously so cool? Is this just a big suburb with lots of malls or is there more? I wasn't sure.

Little by little, I'm finding my places down here. I really like the local library -- always a good place to orient oneself. I've figured out how to get to the local UU church on my own. The grocery store, post office and gas station are now less daunting journeys. It's funny how long it took me to get comfortable -- I think I assumed that it would be just another section of Boston but it feels like a different part of the country to me. And there are a few places I'm pretty excited about. The Talbot's Outlet for one, is pretty fun to visit, especially with CF. I love the wooded walking paths at Pond Meadow. There's a decent Mexican place we can actually walk to. I've found a natural foods store in Quincy that I think I like better than the big natural food chains. Rob and I found a fun Asian hotpot soup place in Quincy which we are always trying to convince our friends to try. And you can't forget the ocean is much closer to here than it is in Somerville. Finally, lo and behold, a bakery called Babycakes, specializing in cupcakes. The one above is a chocolate caramel cupcake, perfect for um, breakfast.

Little by little, it's growing on me, this new old world.