Counting Down!

Yikes- this wedding is getting closer and closer! I'm working on music selection and gathering addresses and trying seating arrangements and filling out registries and picking readings (and readers!) and mailing off details for our cake topper and scheduling dress fittings and arranging for bridesmaids' gifts. I'm having fun, but am busy, busy, busy!

I think that the friends who knew me in college (Juliette, Courtney and Josh come to mind) are used to my frenzied planning mode. In fact, Juliette has even told me that she's glad to see some of my craziness back... I had apparently calmed down too much for her tastes since moving out of a dorm and into a cubicle. (Something about work breaking my spirit may fit in here...?) But most of the people who met me since I graduated (mainly work folk) aren't used to seeing me this excited! I thrive on stress, and even though I have a lot on my mind (tons, really!), I'm enjoying the details.

The thing that is really different from college, though, is that I'm actually getting things done! (Which, as literally anyone who knew me at Hamilton knows, NEVER happened while I was in college.) All of the major decisions have been made- the dress, the bridesmaids' dresses, the guest list, the invitations, the photographer, the band, and more. The most important of all these final decisions, though, is the groom!

I think a big part of the reason I'm not as crazed all the time anymore is Greg. He can relax me like no one else. Take the other night: the knives we had registered for were being discontinued, and I was nervous that the set that was available in their place was too expensive and that we would not receive it. (I mean, we're registered for Tiffany china- I'm nervous enough about receiving that!) We sat down "together" and spent an hour figuring out another option. Now, you may ask "how can you sit down 'together' when you're in New York and Greg is in South Carolina?" Easy: we were on the phone, on IM, on the Web Cam and e-mailing... all at the same time. Yes, this seems like overkill, but we were sending lists and files back and forth over e-mail while IMing web links. About the only thing missing was being able to sit with him on the couch. Gotta love modern technology!!

It was nice to be able to relax with Greg that night. We talked about lots of things other than cutlery, and when we finally hung up the phone, I realized that we had been talking for four hours!!! What would we do without unlimited in-network calling? My January 12th Verizon statement tells me that we were on the phone for 815 minutes... and we were together for well over a week of that billing period!

I miss Greg like crazy when he's away, but we see each other whenever we can... even if it means putting down $200 at the last minute for something like 32 hours together! So, I flew down to Charleston over the long weekend a few weeks ago! My flight got in at 12:30 Saturday night/Sunday morning, and I flew out at 10:00 on Monday morning. I know it sounds crazy to do that much traveling for so little time together, but we're both so glad I did it!

Greg and I spent the day walking around Charleston together. He had gone a walking tour of the city when he moved there a few months ago, and we retraced the route. Greg has an amazing memory for detail, and I think I probably heard about 90% of the tour! We had lunch on Market Street at a place called The Noisy Oyster. I knew I liked tuna melts, but crab melts?!?! Yummy!!!! We spent the evening playing cribbage and watching De Lovely, which was just perfect. We had both been going through serious withdrawal after spending so much time together over Christmas and New Years, so a night of simply hanging out together was exactly what we needed, even if it was only for a few hours.

Work is INSANELY busy these days. I was really happy when I first thought about the timing of quitting my job: I'd leave just before things started to get busy. Well, not so much. Our client pushed our planning season forward three months, and I'm up to my neck in PowerPoint slides and stacked bar charts! Poor Greg has been getting the brunt of this- I get out of work and talk about things like logical coding for targets and the very important difference between and "inclusive or" and an "exclusive or."

Juilliard is back in full swing, and we start rehearsals at St. Augustine's again tonight, so that's keeping me busy. The choir wants to sing at the wedding, so I need to talk with Michael (the choir director at St. A's) about that. I've wanted to practice my new guitar in the evenings, but by the time I get home the rest of the family is asleep. Makes me miss having my own place. So, guitar practice isn't really going to happen until after the wedding, but I'll have lots of evenings when Greg is on duty to practice without bothering anybody.

Until then, I've found a nice, quiet project: I'm knitting a blanket. Yes, I know this sounds like the typical "Lizzie starts some grandiose project and then never finishes it" thing, but I've got about a third of it done and I really like the way it's turning out. There's also the financial investment- I've spent $50 or $60 on yarn for this throw, and I don't want that money to go to waste. (Greg and one of his buddies were talking about the way the friend's new wife can spend $80 or more a month at Michael's; one of my favorite craft stores. Greg had heard me mention the store before and asked me- very carefully- about how much I guessed I usually spent on craft supplies a month. He was more than relieved to hear that I spend probably $20 to $30 a month on things like yarn, despite having matched or exceeded $80 a month in the past. I'm glad we talk about things like this now- we're trying to avoid surprises once we're married.)

Well, I need to put my nose back to the grindstone. And by grindstone I mean Dimetapp Target Analysis charts. Fun fun.

"Are you EVER going to post again?!"

Yes, I am... just not a long one for a while. Oh, and Happy New Year!

Work has been uber busy. I was hoping that by the time I left my job to run away with the Navy our slow season would be almost over and I would miss the hectic stuff. No such luck- our client moved the whole planning season up about 4 months, and we're crazed. Since I do most of my posting at the office during lunch or after work, I haven't been able to fit it in. And I'm sorry, but I don't want to sit in front of a computer and type when I get home.

Christmas was great. Every year I enjoy it more. (Though Greg is going to have a hard time ever topping 2005's Christmas... I'm not expecting diamonds for Christmas again for many years to come!)

Greg's family (who shall be known from now on as The S.'s, since I've decided to take last names off my blog) all came to our house for Christmas Eve again, which was lots of fun. And they came bearing wonderful gifts: pretty gold earrings and some fun kitcheny stuff (including an monogrammed apron from our Williams-Sonoma registry... my first "S." thing!!) from Teresa and Hap, a fantastic coffee table book on Broadway musicals from J.J. (who I never told but seemed to channel the fact that I collect coffee table books on musical theatre!) and a web cam from Paul. (Paul gave Greg a web cam, too- a most thoughtful gift for a couple separated for long stretches of time!) I had fun finding gifts for Greg's family this year... though both Paul and J.J. seemed strangely relieved when (after Teresa and Hap had each unwrapped Lizzie-made scarves) I promised that their gifts contained nothing knit. :-)

Greg saved his gift to me for last. He told me that it was in the dining room, and that he was not going to carry it into the living room for me- I would have to go and get it myself. I got into the front hall (which separates the living and dining rooms) and couldn't miss the package. It was wrapped in bright green paper... and was about four feet tall. Quoth the Lizzie: "What in the world did you get me?!" My question was answered soon enough- inside the box was a brand new guitar! Hooray!!!! Greg knew that I wanted to learn how to play, but practicing on my Dad's very large steel string guitar was too difficult. It was a very, very thoughtful gift, and I absolutely love it. (If you're ever over, ask me and I'll play The Beatles' "Yesterday" for you... very, very slowly!)

Both the P.'s and the S.'s were most patient and sat through not one but TWO masses to hear me sing. We had dinner in between the two and champagne afterward. The singing went really well this year- in fact, I think it might have been my best year at St. Augustine's yet, though it is likely to be my last for a long while. (Though the choir did joke about flying me in from Hawaii!)

Christmas morning brought more singing: three more masses. I really did sing a lot this year- 8 out of 9 days leading up to Christmas. Highlights included a concert at the Juilliard Theatre, (in which I finally got to sing in a small group,) Carl and Mary's Christmas party (which is my favorite party of the year, or maybe ever), several caroling things at the yacht club, and soloing at church.

After Christmas morning mass(es), my family finally got to open gifts around 1:30. (Yeah- I'm looking forward to having Christmas morning back- I've sung from 9:00 to 1:00 for the past four years!) This year's givings included a new set of hurricanes (the pretty glass cylinders that go over candlesticks) for my Mom, (Greg, Dad and I actually gave them to her together,) a "scholarship" toward a new pair of dress shoes for the wedding for my Dad, and a shirt and makeup brush for Allie. Gifts I received include some fun little things like a pretty blue colander for my soon-to-be kitchen, a ridiculously hard puzzle (my favorite kind!), a pretty sweater and vest, Kate Spade Scrabble (from Allie- who else?!), and a really pretty gold necklace from my parents (it has charms with Greg and my names.)

The most special gift of this Christmas, though, was one I've received every Christmas for longer than I can remember. My Dad (both of my parents, really, but it's always been a Daddy-Daughter thing) started Add-A-Pearl necklaces for my sister and me when we were babies, with one pearl added for every birthday and Christmas. My sister and I have unwrapped the same square red leather boxes our whole lives, with the strings of pearl inside slowly getting longer and the gold chains slowly getting shorter. This year would have been 50 pearls.

Well, when I was getting ready for church on Christmas Eve, I went into the kitchen to ask people's opinions on a necklace to wear with my new dress. My Dad said that the one I had chosen looked nice, but that maybe I should consider wearing a different one, then produced an unfamiliar, flat, rectangular box. I unwrapped it, and in silky folder inside found a full string of pearls with a pretty gold clasp that I wasn't sure how to work. I thanked him, saying that they were beautiful, but was a little disappointed. Clearly these were to be worn at the wedding, but I had wanted to wear my pearls, as I had for almost every special occasion for my whole life. I even planned my dress around them!

But before I had more than a few moments to think about it, my Dad told me that he had had my necklace finished for me. I knew that he had planned to for the wedding, but with the new clasp and box, and the complete lack of gold chain, I hadn't even recognized it. I know it sounds silly, but as I gave my Dad a big hug, I couldn't help but cry. The necklace has always been something special for us, having grown with me. And now it's finished, and I'm grown up, and I'm getting married. Okay, now I know I'm really sappy, because I'm getting a little teary typing this.

Wait- wasn't this supposed to be a short post? Oops. Okay- I'll wrap it up.

We drove down to Pennington Christmas afternoon and visited my Mom's parents for a few days. I had fun visiting with my cousins and got the only thing I asked for this Christmas: a game of backgammon with my grandfather.

Christmas was followed with more wonderful things, including a trip to Mystic with Greg and New Year's in D.C. with the Branford gang, but I think those will have to wait for another post. I promise it will be sooner this time, though- less than a month, and maybe even before the end of the week. I'll also put up some photos- I have some great shots from all sorts of Christmassy things. I hope Blogger will allow me to post sound files someday, because I have an MP3 of O Holy Night that I'm quite proud of.

More soon. In the mean time, Merry Ho and Hoppy Gnu Year!

Mid-November Update

Busy Lizzie. Lots has happened since I last posted.

Greg came to visit last weekend. We had a blast. He arrived around 10:30 on Friday night. I had fallen asleep reading and awakened to a kiss. He's good! ;-)

We had a delightfully low-key weekend. After a pizza lunch on Saturday we went for a walk through Central Park. It was an absolutely beautiful day. We stopped in the 70's to see the Frick Collection, (a small museum) which was interesting, then continued all the way to the bottom of the park. We went over to Saks to look at Christmas cards, then Greg gave me a tour of the New York Yacht Club's Midtown clubhouse. (Which, incidentally, is where we will be staying on our wedding night!)

After walking for over three hours without sitting, we decided to take the subway back uptown. Somewhere in the course of conversation I learned that Greg has never seen "What's Up, Doc?", which is one of my favorite old movies. We stopped at Blockbuster, (oh, the incompetence we encountered there!) but sadly they only had DVDs... no "What's Up, Doc?" We wound up renting "Cocktail" instead, then picking up some groceries around the corner.

We had a really nice, low-key evening. We made dinner at my apartment (yummy fajitas) and watched half of the movie before calling it a night. I think I'm turning into my Mother- I fall asleep in the middle of movies all the time now, just like she does!

On Sunday, Greg took me to breakfast at The Barking Dog; a cute little restaurant downstairs from my apartment. We watched the rest of "Cocktail," and I had a great time frustrating Greg by guessing the various twists in the movie. (Sorry, but '80s movies are predictable!!) :-)

The Christmas card hunt hadn't been very successful on Saturday, so we ventured into the drizzly Sunday afternoon to try again. It didn't take us long to run out of patience shopping- it was wet and we weren't finding anything, but going back uptown didn't make sense, as Greg had to leave for the airport in about two hours. The solution: use the internet at my office!

Surprisingly enough, we weren't the only people in on a Sunday- there were a few people there working on a new business pitch. Greg got to meet Audrey, our EVP, after two years of missing her by a few minutes. I like Audrey- it's nice to work for a person who enjoys what she does, does it well, and genuinely cares about the people who work for her. Anyway, we finally found cards we like, and I'm hoping we can get a discount on them through a certain sister!

After we left the office, I went with Greg to Penn Station, where he was catching a train to the airport. It's always easier saying 'goodbye' when I know I'm going to see him again in a week and a half! He got on the train, and I headed up to Juilliard for rehearsal.

The first part of rehearsal was for a small subset of the choir, so when Courtney came in a bit later, she told me that Greg had sent her a message asking me to call him when we were on break. I checked my phone when the conductor was working with another section and found two messages. The first read "You got your wish. My flight was cancelled. Can I spend one more night with you?" The second said "I'm at Lincoln Center. Give me a call when you get this." Well! I put down my music, left my bag, and left the room! I actually sprinted through the halls of Juilliard's third floor as I called Greg- he was at the Barnes and Noble across the street! Hooray! He met me on the corner of 66th and Broadway, and I would swear that the people around us must have thought I hadn't seen him in months! (I was a little happy!)

Greg sat through the last hour of our rehearsal, the only noteworthy part of which was that our conductor lost her voice in the middle of the rehearsal. Judy is a very, um, well, she has a strong personality, and she talks, um, yells alot. Well, at the beginning of the rehearsal, I had been talking with one of my fellow sopranos about "Once Upon A Mattress." For those of you who know the show, it was as if a mouse had devoured the hawk! (Let's see- who would get that? My parents, Allie, Keith, Jamie, Ellen, and Kate. No... no, wait... Kate never saw Theatre Workshop's shows- she only went if she was playing in the pit! :-P ) Anyway, I don't know if I would have made that connection if I hadn't been talking about the show a few hours earlier, but it was fantastic: the "Queen" COULD NOT SPEAK! She was actually using pantomime to talk to the choir!! Ha!!

After rehearsal, Courtney's fiance Tyler drove us all back uptown. I may have been in a fantastic mood, but Greg was (understandably) upset about the flight. I made an easy dinner for the two of us and we went to bed early. He left my apartment at about 3:30 the next morning to catch a 6:00 flight back to Charleston. Poor guy- travel is tough enough when everything goes as planned, but twice as draining when flights get cancelled- you can't help but wind up frustrated and tired.

Last but not least in the Greg section of this post: my fiance has fantastic taste in jewelry. We celebrated my birthday a little late this year, but it was worth the wait- he gave me a beautiful white gold necklace with a blue topaz- my birth stone. It's very, very pretty, and I absolutely adore it!

Whew! All that for two little days! Yeah- sorry about that! Here's the rest of the update:

I sang in a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall on Monday night. The cool part: I was on stage with Marvin Hamlisch, Liza Minelli, Maureen McGovern, Judy Collins and some other famous people. Oh, and the New York Pops. The lame part: our call was at 7:30, we warmed up at 7:45, we went on stage at 9:00, we STARTED singing at 10:15, and we left the stage at 10:45. Yeah- it was what my Dad would call a long walk for a short drink. How is it that charity events ALWAYS wind up being PAINFULLY long?!

Teresa, J.J., Mom and I saw "A Chorus Line" last week- whee!!!! My ticket was a birthday from Teresa and Hap. (How cool is it to have in-laws-to-be that can find the perfect birthday gift!) The show was really well done- they've recreated the show exactly as it was performed 30 years ago! I've read a lot about "Chorus Line" over the years, and it was so cool to finally see it performed live! I thought I was an expert on the show, but there was music there I didn't even know existed!! After the show, Teresa and J.J. were really sweet/patient and waited with me outside the stage door. I'm really glad we stayed- most of the cast signed my program! It was a really fun night- very special!

We've booked the band for the wedding, but photographers and florists are still up in the air. Yikes- we're getting down to the wire! I tried on my dress a few weeks ago, and my first real fitting is this Saturday morning, followed by a meeting with ANOTHER photographer.

I'm starting to get ready to move back to New Rochelle. I'm hoping to move by the end of the year, maybe even before Christmas, but we'll see.

I think that's about it. T-minus five months to the wedding, and work has been super busy, so who knows if I'll be able to post more regularly than I have recently, but I'll try. Hugs to all!

Kyrie Eleison

Sang Mozart's Requiem at Carnegie Hall this morning with the Juilliard Choral Union and the Juilliard Orchestra. It was a moving event. Check out what the New York Times had to say.

My Dad came (Mom had jury duty) and told me afterward that he had been sitting next to a woman who had been in the second tower. I remember trying to get in touch with him that morning all too well, and then how scared I was about him going to Grand Central around noon. I'm just really glad he's here.

The view from my roof tonight.