Not a girl

I'm so not a girlie girl. However, my friend wants me to have a bridal shower and has offered to throw one for me with the help of my best man (no maid of honor for me) and my mom. My mom said she was game. My best friend said "um, I don't know the first thing about this stuff." To which I told him he didn't have to, and he'd probably not even attend as it was a girl thing. He seemed relieved. So my mom was saying that if I'm not into the girlie parts of it, she didn't want to plan stuff I wouldn't like. And I appreciate that. But... If it were up to me, if I were planning everything for the wedding, I wouldn't bother with a bridal shower. It's something my friend wants to do, and wants to do for me, so how could I say no to such a sweet sentiment? And I'm sure I'll have a good time. It's just out of my normal realm of knowledge. I've only been to one of these and I think as far as bridal showers go, it wasn't "typical" so I have no idea what to expect. I'm going to keep an open mind and just see what it's like. I dig a party, so it'll be a good time either way.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to register. I don't want to register. To me, the idea of a registry when you have an established house is presumptious. Sure, there are things I need to replace, but that's my responsibility as a working adult. We've been in this house for over two years and we really don't need anything. The things we do need, we wouldn't know what brand or whatever until we shopped for it. I get the idea of registering if you're just moving out on your own, or just moving into a new place, something like that. But we're set. So it seems like a greedy thing to me. My friend who wants to throw the shower says that registering is necessary so you don't get wierd gifts. I understand her point, but if we don't register, maybe people will just throw a check in a card toward the honeymoon we're planning for next year. That's my hope. She disagrees with me and says I'll get strange candleholders and such that people like that I might not. I dunno. I really feel strongly against this whole registry thing at this point in my life, but she makes valid arguments. I'll have to get with Dave on it and see what he thinks. I'm pretty sure he's opposed to registering too though.

Yummy

Last night Dave and I went to Sundy House for a tasting to choose what the menu items will be. OMG yummy!!! We tried two salads, both of which were delicious, and settled on one we thought was more of a crowd pleaser and had a crisper flavor. And we tried the two entrees that sounded best to us, both were terrific. I was nervous going in that we only got to try two things, and what if one or both was not good, we'd be stuck choosing something else without having tried it. But it all worked out great. We're serving: beef tenderloin with a cabernet sauvignon reduction, garlic mashed potatoes, wild mushrooms, and asparagus; and pan seared grouper, risotto with english pea and lime buerre blanc sauce, and carrots. I even liked the carrots, and I don't like carrots usually. We tried the beef with some kind of tomato risotto but it was not at all good and mashed potatoes sounded much better. We have no doubt they'll be delicious mashed potatoes since everything else was so tasty. Plus there'll be an open bar, cake, coffee, tea, the salads. We're hoping people will try the grouper. It's what I'll be having, although the beef was really good too. Dave said we'll have different things and share a few bites. It'll be a miracle if my dress isn't covered in food by the end of the meal.

The restraunt is the kind of place where, as Dave described it, they cater to "old money" and I've never been in that kind of place before. The waiters hovered a lot. They were always near to offer wine suggestions and refill your water and scrape the crumbs off the table. It was odd. I wouldn't eat there I don't think. And it's pretty expensive. Well, expensive for my budget anyhow. But the view is beautiful at the outdoor tables. And I'd guess they hover less outdoors than inside the restaurant proper.

Oh, we had a minor dilemma at the end of the meal. I was ready to leave and Dave asked if we should tip. We had great service, but I didn't think you tipped at a tasting. We sat around for a few minutes trying to figure it out. They'd brought us wine and coffee and dessert, things we weren't there for, so we wanted to tip, but neither of us had cash and they never brought a check. So we left after a little while. But we felt bad.

Slacker

I know I've been a slacker lately and haven't updated the blog. Thanks to those of you who poked me and asked what was new.

Last week I went to Sundy House to see it all set up for a wedding. The room was set for 39 guests (almost 10 more than we're expecting) so it was not the same layout, but I got to see the staff working on things and how efficient everything seemed. I also got to see how it looked with the DJ set up by the pool for cocktail hour and decided I definitely didn't want to do that.

I did not like the floral arrangements they used. Rather, it would have been fine if you couldn't see all the floral foam in the glass bowls. But it gave me a sense of my florist's statement that the arrangements I wanted (tall vases with clouds of baby's breath blooming out of them) was going to be "too heavy" in that space. Once I saw all the tables in there, I knew she was right. Drat. So back to the drawing board (and up with the price) for the flowers. The florist had an idea and I'm going to ask her to mock up something for me to see. I don't have a distinctive idea at this point.

Here's some pictures of the site all set up for that wedding. I'm a little concerned about the tables for two reasons. First, I have crappy spatial skills and can't picture the room how it'll look without seeing it just like it'll be. I have to rearrange the furniture to see how the room will look. So I'm going to have to just trust that the site knows how to arrange things best and leave it alone from there. Second, if you notice the pictures of the tables, the tablecloths are not ironed. I will drop an email to the site coordinator and just ask that they make sure to iron them. It must have just gotten missed, but I don't want it to look shabby and I think those creases look crappy.

See the picture of those ugly Warhols? Damn I hate them! I took my friend with me to see the site and she's on the same page as me about the art. It's nice that the art is original and valuable, but if it was Picasso I'd feel the same. If it was Dali, I'd be thrilled. Sigh. We got a new number for a place that has covered them in the past. Hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg. Even if it does, it might be worth it.