Saturday, August 28, 2010

Wedding Gown

I bought my wedding gown! Yesterday I went with my mom, my grandma, my aunt, Daniel's mom, Nicole, and Sarah. I didn't think it would be a problem to bring so many people, because none of them are particularly opinionated (except for my sister). That turned out to be wrong. Everybody had an opinion, but in the end it was easy for everyone to agree. We went to Demetrios in Scottsdale. I like a lot of their dresses, so I knew I would find one. And of course I did! I tried on 8 or 10 different dresses. They were all different variations of what I want. When I put on "the dress" everybody instantly loved it. I was surprised that all 6 people agreed so easily. I tried on a million different veils with it. There were still a few more dresses to try on, but none of them were as perfect. There was one that Nicole and Sarah liked better, but once I put on my dress again, they changed their minds. Then we got to the whole price issue. I had a budget of $1500. I had a feeling that the dress I liked would be over budget because the things I wanted are expensive (lace and beading). And it was by $200. But the saleslady told me that I get 15% off my first visit. So that put it just under budget. Then we added in tax and it was back over budget. Then Nicole said that she thinks I would be stupid not to get the dress just because it's $90 over, and she would even pay the difference if it came down to that. So I conceded. I also found the perfect veil that matches the dress, and that was surprisingly expensive. But I have a separate budget for the veil and alterations and everything like that. The saleslady knew that I was over budget, so she gave me 15% off alterations too. The most important thing is that I love LOVE my gown. It's perfectly me, and has everything I was looking for. I was surprised how well it fit everything I want. And Julie was confident that Daniel is going to love it too. The whole experience was just so much fun. Everybody enjoyed it, and everybody agreed that the dress is perfect. After the appointment we all went out for lunch. I'm dying to post pictures, but I know I can't! Poor Daniel feels so left out of the whole thing. He thinks the tradition of not seeing the dress until that day is silly. But that's the way it has to be. Now that I have the dress and the veil, my picture for that day is so much clearer. And I'm so excited!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

New Roommates

This past week has been a big adjustment with the new roommates moving in. They're super nice and I feel lucky that we found fun people just through Craigslist. But living with new people is always a little hard. My biggest issue is that they smoke. I find smoking absolutely disgusting. But they are just about the most courteous smokers I have ever met. They only smoke outside, and they don't throw their cigarette butts on the ground. I still would prefer if they didn't smoke at all. It's also a little hard for me to relate to them. They grew up in Rhode Island and basically haven't ever left the northeast. They're used to a very rural environment. They have talked about having chickens and rabbits in the backyard, and have never had a fenced backyard either. Their dog, Burt, has never been on a leash either. He just roams around the forest or whatever and comes back when they call. (I wish we could trust Jackson that much!) The city is kind of new for them. But they seem to like it okay. Just about everyone loves the weather here, and they are no exception. There's one other big difference between us, and I don't know quite how to describe it exactly. I just get the impression that their families aren't like ours. Where I have grown up surrounded by college educated people, they haven't. It was always expected that I would go to college, and my parents and grandparents went to college. They, and their family, are largely blue-collar it seems to me. For example, Dave has worked in construction since he graduated high school. I'm not saying that's bad or anything, it just makes it difficult to relate to one another. It's a different culture. I'm actually kind of glad. It will be a great opportunity to expose myself to different kinds of people. I realize more and more that growing up in Scottsdale, and attending a private university, has severely limited my exposure to people not like myself. I think I'm just beginning to understand the value of diversity. Overall, it's going better than I thought. They are fun to hang out with, especially Lily. She's so outgoing and upbeat and laughing all the time. They both talk so much, it's hard to get a word in! But I'm sure that will calm down as we get to know each other better. It's been really hard for me to let strangers move into our house. Your house is supposed to be your safe place, where you always feel comfortable. But when you have roommates, it's not always that way. I hope after a few weeks I feel more comfortable.

Last night was Hope's 21st birthday so we all went downtown. Daniel and I were the only ones invited for her birthday, but we thought it would be a good chance for Lily and Dave to see downtown. I guess they were expecting a slightly different experience however. We met up with Hope and about 12 of our other friends at a wine bar, and then walked to a nearby club. Lily and Dave were really uncomfortable. I guess they just wanted a beer. They weren't really into the dancing, shots, and cocktails scene. So they went next door to a pizza place while Daniel and I stayed with Hope. I had a blast. The place we were at was called Double Daughters and the interior was designed by Tim Burton. It's so hard to describe, but it was clearly Tim Burton's style. It was the coolest place. And Hope and I took tequila shots and it was the best tequila I've ever had. And I had this drink called a teddy bear orgy that was like candy! Well, very strong alcoholic candy. It had gummy bears in it! So around midnight we thought we should meet back up with Lily and Dave and we took the light rail home. They still had a good time.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My August

Way too much has been going on and I don't have the patience to write about all of it. So, here's a quick summary of my last 3 weeks:

Chris was here for about 10 days. It was so great to spend some time together and show him around Denver. I don't usually like to go out on weekday evenings, but we did something almost every night. We went to see Daniel play with his dixieland band in downtown Littleton. And I got a little drunk. And we drove up to the top of Mt. Evans which is a 14er (higher than 14,000 ft) and I got altitude sickness, but it was still fun. Chris cooked us chicken and dumplings for dinner which was really good. I was excited to try some of his authentic southern cooking.

Then my parents came to visit. They stopped in Denver for 2 nights on their way up to Estes park for our annual vacation. It happened to coincide with the annual National Jewish all company picnic, which this year was held at the zoo! So we got a delicious barbeque dinner and admission to the zoo after hours for free. The next day, Thursday, was the final day of my internship. I presented my research project to the whole lab and my parents and Daniel. I was kind of nervous, but it went really well. I'm glad it's over! My parents brought their new puppy, Rocky. He's 4 months old now so he's still a baby and he can walk right under Jackson's chest. At first he was terrified of Jackson, but when we put him behind a fence, he was a little braver and by the end of the night they were chasing each other around the backyard and rolling around in the grass together. Thursday night Sarah happened to be passing through Denver, so she stopped by as well. On Friday my parents, me, Daniel, and Sarah drove out to Golden and toured the Coors brewery. I had little tastes of Daniel's beer. We got 3 free beers, which is way more than I can drink. Then we drove further north up to Boulder where we tasted wine at Boulder Creek winery. It was so good and my parents bought us 3 or 4 bottles of it :-) They also bought us an entire set of pots and pans from Costco. Our set was a mix of goodwill and handed down from Daniel's parents so it was really nice to get a good set. Good pots and pans make a big difference in cooking. Anyways, after the winery, we drove to the celestial seasonings tea factory and took a tour there. That was awesome! Every few steps, there is a new delicious smell. And there was a whole room just for storing mint because it's so strong. Walking in there it stung your eyes because the smell was so strong! I loved it though. Then Daniel, Sarah, and me cooked dinner for all of us at our house.

The next morning Sarah left for Phoenix and we went up to Estes Park. We spent the weekend at my parents' cabin. Most of our time was spent walking Jackson, playing fetch with Jackson, taking him out, and trying to keep him and Rocky apart. If they were in the same room, then they were playing. They just couldn't help it. I was really glad they got along though. It was fun to watch them together. On Sunday my dad took us out fishing at a pond. Daniel caught 3 1/2 fish, way more than everyone else. They were big fish too!

On Monday we drove back to Denver and on Tuesday our new roommates moved in. We introduced Jackson to their dog, Burt, at the dog park. Burt is a 2 year old yellow lab. They got along great. And now they are best buds. The only bad thing is that they constantly hump each other. We think they're trying to determine dominance. Hopefully that will stop soon. It's already diminished a lot. Right now Jackson is laying at my feet, and Burt is laying a few feet away. So they're perfectly comfortable with each other.

Work is getting tiring. I just want a few days off. I will get some time off next week when we go to Phoenix. We're going from Wednesday to Wednesday. And in that time I am going wedding gown shopping, and showing everyone our venue, and cake tasting, and food tasting, and I have an appointment here and there. But I would really love some vacation time just at home. Every single day off I have been traveling somewhere. So though it's fun, it's not very restful. I'm really looking forward to school starting.

That was a lot. Now I'm all caught up, and hopefully I won't wait so long to blog next time.