Stress has been my middle name lately, and I really don't like it. It's just that everything is happening really fast lately and I can't seem to keep up or slow things down. The wedding stress is mounting (and really it shouldn't be... we're fine. Things are getting done. It will all fall into place), I leave for school tomorrow and I'm totally unprepared (which is my own fault and I'll just have to play catch up while I'm up in Cambridge), and then there's the house, which is stressful just in the fact that it's our first home! Our closing date has been pushed back to July 30, which is 8 short days before our wedding. Thankfully we'll have one weekend to fill the house with boxes before week-of-the-wedding-chaos (which is what I'm anticipating, though I really hope I'm wrong and that week is fabulously calm..HA).
So right now I'm shifting my focus to school since I'll be at my residency for a week starting tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to seeing my writing friends and jumping into my thesis! That'll be interesting. It needs to be 100-120 pages (or around 30,000 words) of my writing. Some people are working on novels (actually, 30k would be more novella length or excerpt-from-a-novel length) and some of us are working on short stories (and then there are the other genres, like poetry and nonfiction and stage & screen). I'm doing a collection of short stories, which hopefully will be publishable. That's the goal, anyway. I'm bored with my old work and I'm totally ready to take my writing in an edgier, more risky direction. We'll see what happens. My thesis mentor is the aaaa-amzing Rachel Kadish, a woman I could gush about for hours. I worked with her last semester and saw my writing explode (in a good way). I secretly wish she could be my writing mentor forever, she's that good at what she does. I can't wait to see what my thesis becomes under her guidance.
Anyway, I have to focus. I need to temporarily forget that I have a wedding to finish planning, a house to finish buying, a life to finish packing up. I have to go into grad student mode for 8 days and then come back into reality next weekend. That's always what residencies are like: a break from reality. It's really a time warp where you forget the day and all you know is that you're in Cambridge with a bunch of other cool writers and you're sitting in seminars with brilliant professors and workshopping your peers and being workshopped yourself. And then suddenly it's Saturday and you have no idea where the week went (yet at the same time you're amazed it's only been a week and not a year, which is tends to feel like after a few days). Really, though, Lesley's MFA program is incredible and I'm a bit nostalgic that this is the beginning of the end for me... Better make it count and not worry about reality! :)
See you all on the flip side!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Kristin and Matt get organized
Right now I'm downloading the new Hanson album (going to see them in concert next month with Sonja and Shana in Hyannis!!!) and watching the movie Away We Go (which is fantastic and so much better than I expected) and generally being lazy because this entire Saturday was spent in organization land. It was a really nice, albeit hot, summer day and we spent all of it packing up our winter clothes, repacking the boxes and bags of shower gifts in my parents' garage, reorganizing Matt's clothing in my brothers' old room, and almost finishing our wedding favors. We bought plastic storage bins at Wal*Mart and DAMN they were expensive! Who knew simple plastic containers would be so pricey? And we're going to need many more, unfortunately.
Anyway, we did a lot of organizing so that when it comes time to move into our house (which hopefully will still be July 12 as long as our seller over there actually does what we need him to do), things will be easier to find and unpack. We already packed up our winter clothes and coats and labeled the bins so those can go right into the basement. From there we divided kitchen stuff and other room-specific items into their own bins so that when we unpack, everything can easily go where it needs to go. Because the move is probably (hopefully) going to be before the wedding, the easier we can make the process, the better. It'll also make it really easy to see what we still need to buy for the house and it will give us a chance to sort of begin to get settled in so when we come home from our honeymoon, we won't have a trillion boxes to contend with (again, hopefully).
It's really bizarre packing up my childhood bedroom and getting ready to move my life into a new house, but at the same time it's really exciting to have this new start. Everything seems to be changing at once-- we traded my car in today so my brother could get a safer car, and I then inherited my dad's car. So I symbolically said goodbye to my teenage years today when my car left because, really, that was the first car I ever drove and it always took care of me and transported me to many, many great places (like college for 4 years, my friends' houses, Cape Cod, the beach, etc). Love you, old car! But now I have a new car (well, new to me), a new house, a new almost-husband, a new neighborhood, almost a new last name! A new role as wife! It's strange, but that's life, right?
Side note-- packing is such a huge pain in the butt that I don't plan on doing it again for a VERY long time. Like ever. The nice thing is that it gives me a chance to weed through all my possessions and take inventory. Do I really need all those binders full of 10th grade tests and homework assignments? Or 700 pajama t-shirts? I don't think so. Purging feels great and I'm sure it'll make moving less insane, but it really sucks too. And Matt tried many different tactics today to get me to give up some of my books ("Maybe we can leave some here for our future kids? Maybe we can leave some in boxes in the basement? I mean, some of these seem like one-time-reads? You could sell a few on one of those book-selling websites?) and I had to gently remind him that I'm a writer and I kind of get emotionally attached to my books and they're really the only thing I collect, so they're all coming to live with us. I might donate a few... but I told him not to get his hopes up.
Anyway... tomorrow we're transporting antique furniture from my great-uncle's apartment in Pawtucket (he passed away a few weeks ago) and putting it in my parents' garage with the rest of our stuff. Should be interesting... we have a family friend helping us, so hopefully it'll be a piece of cake and won't take all day. It's Father's Day, after all! So that's our weekend... our last "unscheduled" weekend until the wedding. Crazy! With only 49 days to go, we're starting to feel the crunch. And at the end of next week, I go to my residency for 8 days. Bring it on, thesis semester, wedding, house, and big move! Bring it! I'm ready (I think...).
Anyway, we did a lot of organizing so that when it comes time to move into our house (which hopefully will still be July 12 as long as our seller over there actually does what we need him to do), things will be easier to find and unpack. We already packed up our winter clothes and coats and labeled the bins so those can go right into the basement. From there we divided kitchen stuff and other room-specific items into their own bins so that when we unpack, everything can easily go where it needs to go. Because the move is probably (hopefully) going to be before the wedding, the easier we can make the process, the better. It'll also make it really easy to see what we still need to buy for the house and it will give us a chance to sort of begin to get settled in so when we come home from our honeymoon, we won't have a trillion boxes to contend with (again, hopefully).
It's really bizarre packing up my childhood bedroom and getting ready to move my life into a new house, but at the same time it's really exciting to have this new start. Everything seems to be changing at once-- we traded my car in today so my brother could get a safer car, and I then inherited my dad's car. So I symbolically said goodbye to my teenage years today when my car left because, really, that was the first car I ever drove and it always took care of me and transported me to many, many great places (like college for 4 years, my friends' houses, Cape Cod, the beach, etc). Love you, old car! But now I have a new car (well, new to me), a new house, a new almost-husband, a new neighborhood, almost a new last name! A new role as wife! It's strange, but that's life, right?
Side note-- packing is such a huge pain in the butt that I don't plan on doing it again for a VERY long time. Like ever. The nice thing is that it gives me a chance to weed through all my possessions and take inventory. Do I really need all those binders full of 10th grade tests and homework assignments? Or 700 pajama t-shirts? I don't think so. Purging feels great and I'm sure it'll make moving less insane, but it really sucks too. And Matt tried many different tactics today to get me to give up some of my books ("Maybe we can leave some here for our future kids? Maybe we can leave some in boxes in the basement? I mean, some of these seem like one-time-reads? You could sell a few on one of those book-selling websites?) and I had to gently remind him that I'm a writer and I kind of get emotionally attached to my books and they're really the only thing I collect, so they're all coming to live with us. I might donate a few... but I told him not to get his hopes up.
Anyway... tomorrow we're transporting antique furniture from my great-uncle's apartment in Pawtucket (he passed away a few weeks ago) and putting it in my parents' garage with the rest of our stuff. Should be interesting... we have a family friend helping us, so hopefully it'll be a piece of cake and won't take all day. It's Father's Day, after all! So that's our weekend... our last "unscheduled" weekend until the wedding. Crazy! With only 49 days to go, we're starting to feel the crunch. And at the end of next week, I go to my residency for 8 days. Bring it on, thesis semester, wedding, house, and big move! Bring it! I'm ready (I think...).
Friday, June 18, 2010
Jimmy Buffett!
I used to hate Jimmy Buffett. Actually, it wasn't so much hate as it was misunderstanding. I just didn't get him, his music, his crazy followers. I mean, all the guy plays is mellow island music and his fans are called Parrotheads. I was an outsider looking in on a crazy subculture with no interest in joining. Then I met Matt, who, while in Kansas, had a license plate that proudly stated PRTHD (not pot head, as many people thought). Matt knows all the words to every Buffett song. He grew up on this music and started his descent into fandom in the 6th grade. He has a straw Margaritaville hat and various shirts, DVDs, and random Buffett memorabilia. I didn't understand it! He was too normal to be a Buffett fan.. right?
But then love happened and I bought him tickets for Valentine's Day in 2009 for the annual concert at the Comcast Center. I figured if it was something he enjoyed, the least I could do was give it a shot...
Last year's concert was a bit of a shock. There were tents, costumes, boats, flags, and more alcohol than you can even imagine. It was fascinating. I was still a shock, though--I only knew a handful of songs and wasn't quite prepared to wear beer all night as people repeatedly slipped in front of me and spilled their lager on my feet.
This year, I knew what I was getting myself into when I purchased the tickets again for Valentine's Day. We even prepared a little more this time, buying a small grill and tailgating stuff. We were still wayyyy unprepared, though. The thing with Buffett fans is that they have no shame. They come in all shapes, sizes and ages. I mean, the truck next to us in the parking lot was filled with kids who were obviously under 21 (I gathered this fact when the security cops pounced on their car the second they pulled out bottles of vodka and a 30 rack of Bud Light and confiscated everything...sorry kiddos, that's a bad day!) and as we walked around, we saw people who were our age and much older .There were even some little children there (it wouldn't be the first place I'd bring my kids, but Matt might disagree someday and insist that our children be raised on Buffett). In any event, his music brings together people from all walks of life. You can't peg a Parrothead in real life... it's only when you get to the parking lot of a show that you know you're in their midst. There's no shame in wearing costumes (or no clothing at all), there's not shame in weird hats or wearing shark fins. There's no shame in being male, chubby and hairy and wearing a grass skirt with a coconut bra. NO SHAME! It's totally normal to be a complete freak, and once I realized this, I really embraced the culture (and I insist on calling it a culture). So this year, like I said, I knew what I was getting myself into and I kind of looked forward to it. I knew more songs than last June and had such a good time with Matt dancing to the music and scoping out all the other shameless weirdos.
The best part of it, though, was spending time with Matt and seeing how happy this concert made him. We've been so busy lately with house stuff, wedding stuff, and work stuff that we haven't had a chance to forget it all and just have fun. I think we both needed this concert a lot. And maybe next year I can get Matt to bring me to a Hanson concert....? Hmmm....
But then love happened and I bought him tickets for Valentine's Day in 2009 for the annual concert at the Comcast Center. I figured if it was something he enjoyed, the least I could do was give it a shot...
Last year's concert was a bit of a shock. There were tents, costumes, boats, flags, and more alcohol than you can even imagine. It was fascinating. I was still a shock, though--I only knew a handful of songs and wasn't quite prepared to wear beer all night as people repeatedly slipped in front of me and spilled their lager on my feet.
This year, I knew what I was getting myself into when I purchased the tickets again for Valentine's Day. We even prepared a little more this time, buying a small grill and tailgating stuff. We were still wayyyy unprepared, though. The thing with Buffett fans is that they have no shame. They come in all shapes, sizes and ages. I mean, the truck next to us in the parking lot was filled with kids who were obviously under 21 (I gathered this fact when the security cops pounced on their car the second they pulled out bottles of vodka and a 30 rack of Bud Light and confiscated everything...sorry kiddos, that's a bad day!) and as we walked around, we saw people who were our age and much older .There were even some little children there (it wouldn't be the first place I'd bring my kids, but Matt might disagree someday and insist that our children be raised on Buffett). In any event, his music brings together people from all walks of life. You can't peg a Parrothead in real life... it's only when you get to the parking lot of a show that you know you're in their midst. There's no shame in wearing costumes (or no clothing at all), there's not shame in weird hats or wearing shark fins. There's no shame in being male, chubby and hairy and wearing a grass skirt with a coconut bra. NO SHAME! It's totally normal to be a complete freak, and once I realized this, I really embraced the culture (and I insist on calling it a culture). So this year, like I said, I knew what I was getting myself into and I kind of looked forward to it. I knew more songs than last June and had such a good time with Matt dancing to the music and scoping out all the other shameless weirdos.
The best part of it, though, was spending time with Matt and seeing how happy this concert made him. We've been so busy lately with house stuff, wedding stuff, and work stuff that we haven't had a chance to forget it all and just have fun. I think we both needed this concert a lot. And maybe next year I can get Matt to bring me to a Hanson concert....? Hmmm....
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Wedding shower! And other fun stuff!
This weekend was so jam packed with friends, family, and lots of love that I can't even process it right now. Friday night Matt and I met up with a bunch of friends for dinner and drinks, which is always a fun time. Saturday morning bright and early at 8am we had our house inspection, which was extremely informative and actually kind of fun. It went pretty well and the house's progress is coming along quite nicely! After the inspection, we had the Crohn's and Colitis walk at Colt State Park in the afternoon, and even though the sky was threatening rain all day. It drizzled a little at the end, but we got through the grueling 2-3 mile walk somehow! Here's a picture of my wonderful friends who made up team Take a Hike, Colitis:
Aren't they cute?? We had a fun afternoon and luckily stayed dry for the most part!
Then that evening my lovely friend Arielle had her graduation party (congrats, Grad!) and it was a bit of an epic night because the whole "family" of high school friends were back together for the first time in a while. It was really nice to see everyone especially now that we're all doing grown up things like getting married, getting engaged, graduating college & getting real jobs, buying houses, etc. We grew up together and for a long time our only worries were about which movie we'd all agree to watch on a given Friday night. Now life is happening in big ways and I'm so happy to see where everyone is going... it's both surreal and wonderful at the same time.
So that was Saturday. I slept like a baby that night because I was beyond exhausted. Sunday morning we got up and got ready for church and I was told to change out of jeans because, as my mother said, I would be "way too hot" all day in pants. I was confused-- it was only 70 degrees... But ok, I changed into a sundress just in case it really was as hot as she claimed. Good thing I did change because right after church Matt brought me to my BRIDAL SHOWER! This was by far the greatest day ever. We had friends and family there (well, all the women friends and family) and Matt even stayed for the whole shower. I was really happy about that, because opening gifts in front of a room full of people is AWKWARD to say the least, so having my partner in crime there with me made it more comfortable. Not only that, I was glad he got to see the things we were getting because he played a big role in making the registries. He did his research and chose things that he really liked, so it was nice having him there with me. Besides, the stuff is going in OUR house! He should be a part of it, too.
The food was great, the mimosas were great (thank you to my sister-in-law for having one at my place setting to take the edge off!! That was brilliant and so appreciated), our friends and family were great, our gifts were great. Beyond great. Our gifts were WONDERFUL. Everyone is so thoughtful and we felt more love than we knew was possible. I really have to give credit to my mom for all her hard work (I know now that she stressed out big time over this) and of course all my bridesmaids because they are just the most talented and thoughtful friends ever, and also my godmother who played a role in the shower prep too. I just love everyone, seriously. If this is a mini-version of our wedding, I really can't wait. Plus the wedding will have a dance floor and a live band, so BRING IT ON!
One month til the house closing, two months til the wedding.... Life is good :)
Then that evening my lovely friend Arielle had her graduation party (congrats, Grad!) and it was a bit of an epic night because the whole "family" of high school friends were back together for the first time in a while. It was really nice to see everyone especially now that we're all doing grown up things like getting married, getting engaged, graduating college & getting real jobs, buying houses, etc. We grew up together and for a long time our only worries were about which movie we'd all agree to watch on a given Friday night. Now life is happening in big ways and I'm so happy to see where everyone is going... it's both surreal and wonderful at the same time.
So that was Saturday. I slept like a baby that night because I was beyond exhausted. Sunday morning we got up and got ready for church and I was told to change out of jeans because, as my mother said, I would be "way too hot" all day in pants. I was confused-- it was only 70 degrees... But ok, I changed into a sundress just in case it really was as hot as she claimed. Good thing I did change because right after church Matt brought me to my BRIDAL SHOWER! This was by far the greatest day ever. We had friends and family there (well, all the women friends and family) and Matt even stayed for the whole shower. I was really happy about that, because opening gifts in front of a room full of people is AWKWARD to say the least, so having my partner in crime there with me made it more comfortable. Not only that, I was glad he got to see the things we were getting because he played a big role in making the registries. He did his research and chose things that he really liked, so it was nice having him there with me. Besides, the stuff is going in OUR house! He should be a part of it, too.
The food was great, the mimosas were great (thank you to my sister-in-law for having one at my place setting to take the edge off!! That was brilliant and so appreciated), our friends and family were great, our gifts were great. Beyond great. Our gifts were WONDERFUL. Everyone is so thoughtful and we felt more love than we knew was possible. I really have to give credit to my mom for all her hard work (I know now that she stressed out big time over this) and of course all my bridesmaids because they are just the most talented and thoughtful friends ever, and also my godmother who played a role in the shower prep too. I just love everyone, seriously. If this is a mini-version of our wedding, I really can't wait. Plus the wedding will have a dance floor and a live band, so BRING IT ON!
One month til the house closing, two months til the wedding.... Life is good :)
Monday, June 7, 2010
2 months!!
Today is the two month mark and the best part is that the wedding invitations are addressed, stamped, sealed and READY to go out the door tomorrow (I'm just doing some quick reading about hand-cancelling them at the post office).
We are moving right along with everything. I can't believe that it's only two months away... that's totally insane to me. I'm excited about getting the response cards back in the mail!
Only a few weeks until my residency, about a month until we move into the house... and then the wedding! So much happening, and it's absolutely wonderful. I'll probably stress at some point, but right now, I'm smiling through it :)
We are moving right along with everything. I can't believe that it's only two months away... that's totally insane to me. I'm excited about getting the response cards back in the mail!
Only a few weeks until my residency, about a month until we move into the house... and then the wedding! So much happening, and it's absolutely wonderful. I'll probably stress at some point, but right now, I'm smiling through it :)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Crackin' the whip!
Ok, maybe I'm not exactly "cracking" any "whips," but I did round up some of my local bridesmaids yesterday for some much needed help, and they were beyond wonderful. The day started with a trip to the dress shop with my maid of honor Katy (who came down from New Hampshire for the weekend), and my mother. Katy was picking up her dress and mom was having her fitting.
After that, we headed back to my dress shop for my second fitting. It's amazing what my seamstress is doing with this dress! Matt reads this blog, so I'm not saying much else besides this. She's just amazing. When I had my dress on, I tried the whole wedding day look together and wore my something borrowed (Lisa's incredible cathedral-length veil) and my something old (a 3-strand pearl necklace that my grandfather gave to my grandmother when they got engaged) and my something inexpensive (my $7.99 cubic zirconia bling bling earrings that tie the whole look together). I love it! I think my preferences might be changing about my hair, though-- I had originally wanted to wear it long and loose and curly for the ceremony, then put it up at the reception in a low bun and affix my hair piece over it, but when I put the veil on yesterday, I had my hair twisted in a bun already and it actually looked really nice. I think my hair might cover some of the details of the dress and my jewelry, and now that it's so hot and muggy out, I'm thinking it might just make me uncomfortably warm, as well. So, my mind is a-changing I think! We still have 2 months to go, so who knows how many more mind-changes I'll have between now and then.
After my fitting, a slew of my amazing bridesmaids came over to help address and assemble invitations, response cards and favors. Lisa, Katy, Sonja and Shana started off the process, and then we had a shift change when Son & Shay left and Sara showed up with poor Eric. Unfortunately for him, Matt was away at the reserves this weekend so Eric had to sit around a table with 4 girls and a whole ton of wedding stuff. He's great though-- he jumped right in and helped me tie bows on all my favors! (Thanks Eric!). I had the girls hand write the invites, not because I didn't want to, but mainly because I'm really insecure about my handwriting and I feel like it's messy and unattractive. I stuck to favor-duty and let my friends who all have really pretty handwriting take that job. And I can't say how absolutely GRATEFUL to the moon and back I am for their hard work and effort. It took a few hours and it was hot and humid, but they really did an amazing job and now I'm feeling a lot less stressed. Tomorrow I'll go spend about $75 on postage, but what can you do? We saved hundreds by doing the invites ourselves (and buying them on clearance and ebay) so spending a little on postage is not only necessary, but still technically within our budget.
I then took my Mrs of Honor and Maid of Honor out to dinner, which was fun, then Katy spent the night. We took a sunset drive down to see the house, and while we were there we drove around the park and cruised by the beach (so romantic haha). Of course, we spent the rest of the night watching episodes of The Office and catching up on life, and as mellow as it was, we still had fun.
Today I need to hunt down some more blue card stock (COME ON AC MOORE, YOU'RE KILLING ME OVER HERE WITH YOUR INABILITY TO RESTOCK SHELVES IN A TIMELY MANNER! sorry to yell about it). I also need ribbon. And I might go to Target for no reason other than Matt won't be home til later tonight and I haven't been to Target in a while haha.
In two months we'll be at the rehearsal dinner and I can't believe how FAST everything is moving. It's pure madness, but I kind of love it. I'm so excited to be husband and wife and move into our new house and start our life together. Time can just keep on moving, thank you very much! :)
After that, we headed back to my dress shop for my second fitting. It's amazing what my seamstress is doing with this dress! Matt reads this blog, so I'm not saying much else besides this. She's just amazing. When I had my dress on, I tried the whole wedding day look together and wore my something borrowed (Lisa's incredible cathedral-length veil) and my something old (a 3-strand pearl necklace that my grandfather gave to my grandmother when they got engaged) and my something inexpensive (my $7.99 cubic zirconia bling bling earrings that tie the whole look together). I love it! I think my preferences might be changing about my hair, though-- I had originally wanted to wear it long and loose and curly for the ceremony, then put it up at the reception in a low bun and affix my hair piece over it, but when I put the veil on yesterday, I had my hair twisted in a bun already and it actually looked really nice. I think my hair might cover some of the details of the dress and my jewelry, and now that it's so hot and muggy out, I'm thinking it might just make me uncomfortably warm, as well. So, my mind is a-changing I think! We still have 2 months to go, so who knows how many more mind-changes I'll have between now and then.
After my fitting, a slew of my amazing bridesmaids came over to help address and assemble invitations, response cards and favors. Lisa, Katy, Sonja and Shana started off the process, and then we had a shift change when Son & Shay left and Sara showed up with poor Eric. Unfortunately for him, Matt was away at the reserves this weekend so Eric had to sit around a table with 4 girls and a whole ton of wedding stuff. He's great though-- he jumped right in and helped me tie bows on all my favors! (Thanks Eric!). I had the girls hand write the invites, not because I didn't want to, but mainly because I'm really insecure about my handwriting and I feel like it's messy and unattractive. I stuck to favor-duty and let my friends who all have really pretty handwriting take that job. And I can't say how absolutely GRATEFUL to the moon and back I am for their hard work and effort. It took a few hours and it was hot and humid, but they really did an amazing job and now I'm feeling a lot less stressed. Tomorrow I'll go spend about $75 on postage, but what can you do? We saved hundreds by doing the invites ourselves (and buying them on clearance and ebay) so spending a little on postage is not only necessary, but still technically within our budget.
I then took my Mrs of Honor and Maid of Honor out to dinner, which was fun, then Katy spent the night. We took a sunset drive down to see the house, and while we were there we drove around the park and cruised by the beach (so romantic haha). Of course, we spent the rest of the night watching episodes of The Office and catching up on life, and as mellow as it was, we still had fun.
Today I need to hunt down some more blue card stock (COME ON AC MOORE, YOU'RE KILLING ME OVER HERE WITH YOUR INABILITY TO RESTOCK SHELVES IN A TIMELY MANNER! sorry to yell about it). I also need ribbon. And I might go to Target for no reason other than Matt won't be home til later tonight and I haven't been to Target in a while haha.
In two months we'll be at the rehearsal dinner and I can't believe how FAST everything is moving. It's pure madness, but I kind of love it. I'm so excited to be husband and wife and move into our new house and start our life together. Time can just keep on moving, thank you very much! :)
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