School Days
I am wrapping up all of the loose ends here at the end of the semester at UH and marveling at the passage of time. Things seem to move at lightning pace these days. I have a group project due tomorrow, a final on Thursday, and a paper and a final on Monday. But after that I can take a deep breath and relax for the holidays. I'm looking forward to some quality reading time and a chance to map out a timeline for all of the wedding bits. I'm much better about planning when I have the big picture in front of me.
Despite the busy schedule post-Thanksgiving, we are making a little progress on the wedding plans. Jeff and I have designed the basics for the invitations and save-the-date cards. Both of us enjoy the basics of design, so we decided to do them ourselves. The big project for the holidays will be assembling the possible guest list and compiling addresses.
I went with Mom a few weeks ago to look at the Italian Cultural and Community center as a possibility for the reception. It is a nice old house in Montrose near the Museum District and between my parents' house and Jeff's parents' house. As soon as school is out, Mom and I will sit down and just go over the budget, but I think that it is a really good choice. The location is great and the people there seem very nice and easy to work with.
To all of our friends and family traveling to Texas over the holidays: please give us a call or send an email. We want to see you!
Just a note about the previous posts. Blogger changed the way that we sign in to post to this blog. Now it shows up as Zoe or Jeff as the author of a post, but any entries prior to the new format show up as Jeff since he originally set up the blog.

Date Set!

The second question everyone asks when you tell them you're getting married is, of course, "When's the wedding?" (the first is, "Where's the ring?"). Well, we've finally got a date set: Saturday, July 14, 2007! I know, could we have chosen a hotter time of year? Not to worry, air-conditioning will be in abundance. It took a few weeks to talk to the right people at our Quaker meeting, but we're on the calendar now (finally!). We're still working on getting the reception site nailed down, but I don't think we'll have any trouble. So watch your mailboxes for Save the Date cards!

Oh, and happy early Bastille Day to the francophiles out there! It'll be a revolutionary wedding...

The ring! The ring!

Okay, after many requests (demands?) for more pictures and for shots of The Ring, here it is...

It's an English ring that was made sometime in the 1880s. It's got three sapphires and four really tiny diamonds. As I think we've said before, we didn't really think we'd walk out of the shop with a ring made of yellow gold, but this one was just right. Unfortunately, it's back at the jeweler's for a couple days to be appraised. Knowing our luck with things, insurance is a must...

Friday Night Writes

So it's Friday night, and yours truly is being a slug on the couch. Zoe and I had a great dinner with my mom at Teala's this evening, and now we're basking in the glow of post-fajita bliss. I know, we should be out on the town partying the proverbial hardy, but...boy, this couch feels good. Zoe went to Texas Art Supply (fun!) and found some neat calligraphy stuff, and she's practicing Roman letters with a dip pen. It's beautiful but painstaking work, and the thought of doing all our invitations this way is a bit daunting...

We checked out the lovely Italian Cultural Center on Thursday as a possible reception site. Essentially a historic home with a small banquet hall built onto it, we found the setting and the staff to be wonderful. We'll be going back with a few more sets of eyes to just make sure the space will be comfortable for all our guests. I'm rooting for this place, but there are probably others we should check out. We've definitely ruled out the Czech Cultural Center as too ritzy - HGO holds their annual holiday parties there! That's life on a budget. But the Italian Center is lovely, and I think it would work great. Stay tuned...

I'm so happy that the ring came back from the jeweler. It really is beautiful. It is delicate and fits my hand very well. I love the fact that it is so old and it makes me wonder about the women that wore it before me. I wanted an antique ring because I knew it would be unique and have a history. As Jeff mentioned in his post, I thought that I would choose a white gold or silver ring, but this one just felt right when I put it on. The sapphires are the color of bluebonnets and blue delphinium.
We announced our engagement at Live Oak Friends meeting this past Sunday and we have begun the process of talking to the meeting about planning this wedding. Everyone was very congratulatory and seemed very willing to help us. So, we can move forward and check the calendar for the availability of the meeting house in order to choose a date. I think that we will both breathe a sigh of relief once we have "the date" set. Even though we have plenty of time, it is hard to resist the urge to plan, plan, plan!

The Ring Thing

We opted to go ring shopping together after I proposed to Zoe, and given my complete lack of experience in buying jewelry, I'm glad I did. We went to a place on Westheimer called Past Era and had a lovely experience - no pushy salespeople and a beautiful selection of rings. I think we both expected to choose a silver engagement ring, but Zoe actually ended up with a beautiful gold one from the 1880s. It was apparently made in England, and has three small sapphires (and two diamonds) on the half-hoop design. Beautiful!

Unfortunately, we haven't seen it since the day we bought it, since it had to be resized (itty-bitty fingers!) and some of the gold setting repaired. But I got a call from the shop today, and it's ready to pick up! Woo-hoo!

Class? Work?
I am officially procrastinating at the moment and posting to this blog rather than reading for my classes. Jeff and I have started the process of breaking down a budget for this wedding. I think that we will be able to keep costs down, but it is going to take a lot of involvement on our part and the help of family and friends. The whole wedding industry (and industry it is) is geared toward lavish affairs. Most of the "advice" websites and books offer articles like: "Find your bride style!" and "Latest trends in table settings!". Frankly, I am more interested in knowing if there are liability issues if we choose to provide the alcohol ourselves, and finding a location for a reception that won't eat the catering budget. I'll be calling a few friends in the next week to see if they have tips. But, all in good time. Right now I am going to just enjoy the glow, wait for my ring to return from the jeweler, and go put my nose in a book for a few hours.

en·gage (in-'gAj)

to bind (as oneself) to do something; especially : to bind by a pledge to marry

We know, we know - you're all yelling, "FINALLY!" Well, so are we. No date set yet, but check back soon!