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April 18, 2004
April 18
I mentioned that I have a lot of work to get done for my job before we take off for the wedding and honeymoon and despite my inclinations to enjoy the spring day, I went into work this afternoon. Adam had graciously offered to go to my office with me to help me with a couple of things and afterwards, we grabbed a cigarette on one of the park benches in Central Park. Seeing all the vendors and throngs of people on the park path, I was reminded of Venice Boardwalk, the association of which was only strengthened when we noticed the woman with two costumed iguanas sitting on a bench adjacent to ours. I'd never noticed her before even though I work in the park but, then again, I rarely go into work during the weekends but I guess she uses them as a means of earning some money, allowing people to pet them, pick them up, or take pictures. I wish I had had my camera on me so I could illustrate the similarities between that path in Central Park at that moment and Venice Boardwalk but, alas, I did not.
Posted by Jennifer at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2004
April 17
It's my last week as a bachelorette and, unfortunately, between work and the final wedding preparations I can't really enjoy it. Besides all the work I need to get done at my office before we take off for the wedding and honeymoon, I have these crazy grant applications to complete--applying for federal funding, especially when it involves applications that require all this technical data is definitely no fun. I've barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to get done as far as planning for the honeymoon goes but, unfortunately, work seems to be taking precedent. It also happens to be my honey's birthday in a few days so last night we went out for dinner and finally saw Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. An excellent movie--I love the story line, Kate Winslet's character, and I liked that Jim Carrey played a character which was basically the opposite of the characters he generally plays.
Speaking of things I like, I love the show Globe Trekker. Every weekend I get a glimpse of a country (or countries) I probably will never see but more often than not prefer seeing other people explore. I'm not a particularly adventurous person--I would never go sea kayaking or spend days travelling through a rain forest or even go on a safari in Africa, much less a lot of the things that the hosts of Globe Trekker do. They'll eat roasted insects, go on mountain treks that most people would not be able to endure, watch animals being sacrificed, all sorts of things that I don't mind watching but that I wouldn't want to do myself. Anyhow, today one of the hosts, Ian, happened to join a Greenlander on a reindeer hunt and after the Greenlander gutted the one he caught, he showed Ian the partially contents of the reindeer's stomach (partially digested plant material) and told him that Greenlanders used to eat this stuff, since vegetables are hard to come by in Greenland. "Really?" Ian replied and asked if he had ever eaten that stuff. The Greenlander responded it that he'd eaten it a number of times and, hearing this, Ian took a smidgen of the stuff and proceeded to put it in his mouth. The Greenlander smiled and said he was just kidding and Ian immediately spit the stuff out and washed his mouth out with snow. It's rare that you come across moments like this on Globe Trekker and I thought it was pretty funny.
Posted by Jennifer at 09:37 PM | Comments (1)
April 08, 2004
April 8
Where have I been, you ask--busy selecting music for our wedding! We had an appointment with our DJ today so Adam and I spent the last few nights picking out our music and burning them onto cd's for our DJ only to have our DJ reschedule on us. We also bought our rail tickets to Italy! I can't wait but as I mentioned in my last post, I've had no time to read up on Italy or learn Italian like I had been planning to do. Anyway, an interesting article in the Daily News today about the health risks of wearing heels--I'm a girly girl, but I hate wearing heels--I like my shoes comfortable (though I do encounter the situation of buying what I think are comfortable shoes only to hobble home blistered the first day I wear them). Anyway, it's definitely an eye-opener of an article.
Posted by Jennifer at 10:37 PM | Comments (1)
April 04, 2004
April 4
So last night was Adam's bachelor party--it was co-ed so I participated in the festivities which, save for the last part of the evening was pretty g-rated. It was fun--it was great having all of Adam's friends in one room together--it certainly made karaoke and the last part of the evening more fun and interesting. I can't believe only three weeks left until the wedding--this morning I perused a few pages of one of our Italy guide books (our honeymoon destination) and worried about how we'd get to see what we wanted to see in Italy with only three or less days in each city we're visiting, how I'd be able to go through all the guidebooks and plan the way I want to plan for the honeymoon with not much time left, how I'd be able to enjoy things related to the wedding including the wedding itself in between all the things that we need to get done for it in addition to all the work I'll have to scramble to finish with my job before embarking on our wedding and hm. Frequently, between work and just regular life in general, I find myself too busy to think about the things ahead--every year when we go to L.A. for the holidays, for example, I never really get to think much about the holidays except for the shopping I need to get done for it, until we're actually in L.A. (which is usually two or three days before Christmas). And my life isn't even that crazy--it's just populated with enough things that I only have time to carry out things I need to do in the present and things I need to do for the future generally without much thought into the future itself.
I'm a daily user of wedding msg boards, and in the bio template of one, there's a field for your job--some brides-to-be are unemployed and assert that planning for a wedding is their job. I don't agree that planning a wedding is the equivalent of a real job but I do wish in some ways that I had the next few weeks off from my job so that I'd have more time to absorb the weeks ahead..
Some pictures from the karaoke portion of last night:
Talk about environmentally conscious! I found this on one of the bios of the aforementioned wedding websites. I think she takes it to an extreme but by the same token, I think what she's done with her wedding quite admirable (I'm an environmentalist myself but by no means as hard-core).
FI and I are aiming for simple and minimalist in design and frills. One of the caveats in choosing our sites, vendors, and décor is its eco- and socio-impact.
The event is in daytime, for minimal electrical need. We’re hiring independent sellers who use locally grown products. Our rings are not new--they are heirloom pieces that predate the diamond conflict in Africa. Live musicians with little to no amplification needs. No disposables. All clothing can be worn again, and the beautiful gown, given by a generous bride in Nevada, will be passed to another bride. Invitations, programs, menus are printed on recycled tree-less material with flower seeds mixed in; the papers can be planted and grown as a token of this occasion. In lieu of the bouquet and garter toss and favors, a donation was made to a local environmental organization in honor of our guests. Every component that is purchased will be a statement of our values for conservation and responsible consumerism.
Many elements have long lost their pertinence to our values today yet are perpetuated for the sake of tradition, and propagated by the wedding industry’s notorious promotion of excess. Our dream wedding is set in an atmosphere of quality involvement with our friends and family, and inspiring awareness for our community and the earth.
Yes, this is a multiple-post entry--pretty funny list of things to expect when you turn 30.
Nice photo montage of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on bluishorange. This is a movie we've been meaning to see..
Posted by Jennifer at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2004
April 1
If there's a 66-car pile-up in the news, you know it has to be somewhere near L.A...
Gothamist shares my love of pandas--they have the cutest picture posted on their website today. I would love to go to the research center where this photo was taken.
Posted by Jennifer at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)