INAuguration training

2009 is a very special year! Not only is it a new start for Cyrus and me AND my brother and FSIL Ollie, but it's a new start for our country with Barack Obama as president! I had the privilege of being chosen as a volunteer (15,000 chosen out of 80,000 that applied!) for the inaugural events next week!

The evidence:

It was so exciting! The best part about it? We got these hats! ("Presidential Inauguration 2009 Volunteer")


See you on the Mall at 5:00am next Tuesday!

Sam & Simon

Cyrus and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of our friends Sam & Simon this weekend! What a gorgeous wedding! The couple was on a budget, so we were warned not to expect much. But this wedding was decadent, large but somehow intimate, and you could feel how much heart the friends and family of this couple put in to make this happen! We couldn't get a shot of Sam & Simon, but here's one we took of ourselves! :)

The only thing we could complain about was a stinky diaper.

Congratulations, Sam & Simon! We wish you happiness forever and ever and ever!

Thin Ice

Cyrus's mom's house is by a beautiful lake which had frozen over while we were there over the holidays! All I wanted was to walk on the ice, "Eternal Sunshine" style, and take a picture! So here it is:

Next time, I will not wear ballet flats to walk through half a foot of snow to get to the thin, cold ice. :) Even though my feet were soaked for the rest of the day, it was still worth it!

Flip-Flops?

I'm not much of a shoe person. As a kid, I just replaced one pair of plain white Keds when I outgrew the old ones; I've had the same Doc Martens since sophomore year of high school; I hardly wear anything but flip-flops in the summer if I can help it. So when it came time to think about shoes for the wedding, I was strangely attracted to these sandals from J.Crew:

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Too simple? Most likely this will not exactly match our color scheme (what is our color scheme??) or the style of my dress, but I just love them! And they're gonna be so comfortable! As I look through wedding blogs, I'm noticing that brides aren't really sticking to the rules so much anymore, and they're just doing what they want!

Bling! Blong!

When I hear the word "bling," I think about this hilarious and haunting video now:

Anyway... Last week, Cyrus and I went to the jeweler where Cyrus got my engagement ring (thanks to the recommendation by superhero couple Tina & Rob!). Check out International Exchange in Boston if you're curious. We purchased both of our rings that day, and what's more--we were in and out of there in less than 10 minutes! This guy's got a small little store but the selection is great! I found exactly what I was looking for.

Here's my description: I want to be able to wear the wedding band by itself, and I still want it to sparkle. I don't need sparkle all around, but I want it at the top.

Based on that, he showed us a bunch of rings, and in about a minute, I picked out one that looks sorta like this:

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Whoa. That's a crazy picture. The diamonds probably aren't as big as the ones in the picture, but it's really beautiful and totally complements the engagement ring! Cyrus's is also manly and rugged - or, as rugged as a ring can be. :) He's got good taste.

Blong!

C&B, BB&B

As soon as I arrived in Boston last week, we had a quick lunch and made a beeline to the glorious city of Burlington, Massachusetts not knowing that this was a black hole of energy and excitement.

After looking for parking for about 30 min, we finally made our way into Crate & Barrel where we had to spend another 10 minutes hunting down an available employee to help us get started. Cyrus said he'd read that a trick to keep the groom entertained while registry shopping was to give him the scanner...so he took the scanner and it brought a few moments of enjoyment. But overall, our time and Crate & Barrel and Bed Bath was productive, but pretty tiring.

Here's Cyrus telling the registry machine who's boss.


I have to mention that the customer service at Bed Bath & Beyond was out of this world fantastic. Seriously, they were treating us like we were celebrities!

So what's the item that we're most excited about?

I was eyeing the Waring Pro Professional Waffle Maker ($79.99)...

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But we decided that it would be a little impractical. So instead we went with the modest, practical and probably just as effective Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker ($29.99).

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You will be ours. Oh yes, you will be ours.

New Banner!

Thanks Grace for the beautiful new banner! Check out Grace's amazing design skillz and photography at her blog. Brides unite!

Cyrus and I made a lot of progress over the winter holidays. More updates to come!