Reunions, Shavuot, and state of the wedding

[chanaleh]

It's still Shavuot, technically, so I might be considered to be jumping the gun, but whatever. I'm home hanging out in the A/C-by-proxy computer room (next to the bedroom where Tiger Boy put in the window unit on Sunday, not a moment too soon), eating a large bowl of blueberries for dinner. Procrastinating on shul work (updating the web calendar and laying out the overdue June newsletter), but technically I shouldn't touch those until 9pm, so hey, here I am.

Sunday night, we went to the [beginning of the] Community Tikun Leil Shavuot organized by the Charles River Beit Midrash. It was a cool thing, as last year, and I was also pleasantly surprised to run into debka_notion there. :-) Monday there was shul, including the cool and trippy "wheels within wheels" haftarah; today there was more shul, including the Book of Ruth, and special bonus outdoor picnic with cheesecake.

So, earlier in the weekend, I took Tiger Boy to my 15th (!) Brandeis reunion, and it was ... weird. Not too surprising, I guess, but it really freaked me out how there can be so many people IN MY CLASS whom I totally do not know at all, or have anything to say to. I did see Carl and Brianna (from the old Hillel crowd) and their almost-two-year-old, so we sat with them at the Shabbat dinner -- also wavebrs, which was kinda hilarious to go all the way to Waltham to have Shabbos dinner with her! -- and that was nice at least. The Saturday BBQ was fun, too, in its way, and worth going on the whole, but also discomfiting as abovementioned, much as I was glad to see the few people I did talk to. Maybe I'll go next year to the '94s and hope to catch some more people. Or maybe I'll just start campaigning for as many people as possible to join LJ and Facebook and then we won't need formal reunions at all. ;-)

My dad's back home in Indiana after spending about 2 months down in Florida dealing with fiscal matters on behalf of my ailing grandfather. I finally reached him today and we had a good chat. My stepmother has also apparently resumed the role of Person Who Does Not Hate My Guts, for now, so that takes some psychic weight off.

And, for those of you who have been dying to know, here is the current state of the wedding preparations.

• Invitations: Addressed, assembled, sealed, the first round has now been mailed out. My mom got hers on Saturday. Note: We had sent out a bunch of save-the-dates (magnets) back in January, and the majority of them got mangled by the USPS because I didn't know the envelopes were inadequate. Incidentally, I have seen more mangled letters and packages this year than ever before; is it really just a sampling error, or are they doing things differently in the interest of "progress"? Nevertheless: We sent out more (carefully double-wrapped) that seemed to reach their destinations more or less intact. Still, now I'm secretly panicking about 100 invitation envelopes getting variously mauled and destroyed, or having the addresses declared illegible because I used scripty font on them, or aaaaaugh.
• Wedding website: is up, and people (at least, family members) have already started making their room reservations.
• Dress: bought and hanging in my closet! Funnily enough, it is the same one that eudociainboston had, only in white instead of ivory, and I'm having these sleeves put on it.
• Bridesmaid dresses: chosen and ordered.
• Mikvah: appointment made
• Rings: bought and en route from Israel.
• Benchers: deciding between B'Kol Echad and (thanks to magid) Shaarei Simcha.
• Menu tasting: Was at the end of April (right after Pesach, so no doubt everything tasted just That Much Better than usual), and we pinned down a bunch of detail work there (napkin folds, anyone?!).
• Cake tasting -- which was the part that Tiger Boy was excited about, less for OMG CAKE than for the aesthetics of picking out something cool -- done yesterday evening at Konditor Meister (the option included in our wedding package). In practice, we were kind of like "eh, it's cake" but managed to make our selections, and now are concentrating on the decorating process, which is essentially a graphic design project, so I am at least on familiar ground.

Still in process:
kippot
photography
music
tuxedo vest, plus cummerbunds and/or other specs for groomsmen and fathers
chuppah sewing (Spark Crafts has public sewing machines, yay!)
flowers (on hold until next month at least, since we're going very low-key)
ketubah
wedding program (should finalize a reasonable draft before our next rabbi meeting tomorrow night, aah!)
synagogue service program for aufruf
Friday night dinner plans etc. for wedding weekend
sheva brachot plans
honeymoon plans
More stuff I am totally not thinking about at the moment, like centerpieces and whatnot (I have the placecards at least, ready for printing on)
Gah! How is "overwhelmed" not a choice of mood icon?

Comments

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

Your wedding dress is nice.

Which inscription did you pick for your rings?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

On mine, "Matzati et-she ahava nafshi" (I have found the one whom my soul loves). On his, "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li" (I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine).

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

I like "Ani l'dodi". It's on our katubah and was recited as part of our ceremony.

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Wah! Let me know if there is anything I can do. Glancing at the list, I'm not entirely sure what, but possibly there are brainless errands or something?

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

I guess it was my 10th reunion, and now that it's over they can stop sending me reminders every 3 days in the mail! :)

[laurion]

Nice, nice. Glad things are lining up for you.

[besamim.livejournal.com]

As a grad alum, I don't get reunion invitations (not that I could afford to fly there anyway), but I do still receive the alum newsletter and magazine. Interestingly though, they've long stopped hitting me up for donations. Maybe they figured that if I hadn't given in all that time (UJA and international emergency relief programs being my charitable priorities), I wasn't going to. Or, more likely, they're not as aggressive about soliciting foreign students as they are with U.S. residents who would at least have a tax incentive to give.

[ursamajor]

Konditor Meister is yummy :)

I am right now at the terrified, overwhelming beginnings of the "planning a wedding" process, and am bouncing back and forth between "Let's get married at the Museum of Science!" and "Let's just go down to City Hall and get married secretly, then plan an anniversary party?"

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Right now, I would nudge you toward the latter. ;-) But ultimately that's not really what we wanted, either, and I know we'll be glad we did it this way. Even if it's gotten rather more Wedding-Industrial Complex than I ever wanted.

[ceo]

For the full Konditor Meister wedding-cake-tasting experience, get an early-morning appointment and don't eat breakfast first. Oh, and drink lots of the tea they offer you. By the time we left, I was so wired I could barely drive.

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

You know, it's not yet too late to elope. :-) But it sounds like things are more or less set, so I guess there's not a compelling reason to anymore.

As to the reunion, I'm sorry it wasn't much fun, but in a way I'm glad to see your report holding up my suspicions of what it was going to be like (i.e. "gee, who are all these people, and where are the folks I actually went to school with? oh yeah, they graduated in '91, 92, and 94..."). Maybe it's time to set up a "cool people reunion" (to which I, of course, will not be invited) or an LJ group. It's probably a sign of getting old, but I'm actually starting to wonder what became of folks I knew in college...and high school...and elementary school...argh.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was thinking of you guys while I was there, too... but knew it would have been pretty hellish for you to pull off, even if it were going to be worthwhile!

Going in '02 to the '92 reunion was a much better experience. Of course, that also entailed much more planning on other people's parts of an actual Cool Weird People Reunion, so that was a big part of it.

[beardedone.livejournal.com]

Why would you not be invited? I was originally planning on being at the '93 reunion, even though mine is next year, as I would have met with yehoshua, alandd, possibly murph_grrl, the Sherman couple, and my other Ziv suitemates. Unfortunately, I came down with a really nasty sinus infection and had to pay to cancel my flight.

I'm planning to send invites to everyone I can track down (using Facebook, B-Connect, and other data bases) for next year so that we can have a get together of folks from '91 through '96. We could make it a biannual event. I may even be bringing seventorches and her hubby robvagle to the shindig.

[points.livejournal.com]

I think I may have an extra sewing machine you could borrow, if that would be helpful.

[(Anonymous)]

go for anim z'miros!! it is teh best.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Let us know whether we're making plans! :-)

[lyriendel.livejournal.com]

I have both a sewing machine and a serger that you're welcome to borrow for the summer, if it would help.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a kind offer, and on reflection I think it would be VERY useful. Thank you! (Of course, then I wonder whether it would be better to just plan times to take J over to play with M and use it there. :-) Does it have a manual, so I can remind myself how to thread it and so on?

[lyriendel.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Michael would love having you guys over more. :)

It does have a manual, although I'm not confident that I can tell you where in my house it is, so here it is online:
http://www.simplicityhomecare.com/ftp/whitepapers/SA1500.pdf
Also, if you would like to use the serger, here's its manual:
http://www.simplicityhomecare.com/ftp/whitepapers/SL390_SL370.pdf

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

FYI, we went over Saturday afternoon, and in two hours I got as far as sewing one or two practice seams -- and then having to troubleshoot the threading and wind a new bobbin. ;-) so the online manual was a godsend! We then took the machine home, though, so I'll tackle the real project soon. Thanks again.

[lyriendel.livejournal.com]

Glad you were able to use it. :)

Maybe cousin-in-law?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi - I was poking around looking for a wedding registry for my cousin Justin and his fiance, which led me to your amazon profile, which led me here. I'm thinking you are the Erica I am thinking of, but want to check. If you are, what I really want to know is where you are registered, if at all.

Let me know, thanks! (nora at gmail dot com)

Re: Maybe cousin-in-law?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Alas, that email just bounced (!) so I will post a response here too just in case: Yes, indeed, I am the right Erica, and how very funny (and fun). And yes, we do have an Amazon registry as well as a couple of others.

Thanks, and I look forward to meeting you (someday if not this August!).

Re: Maybe cousin-in-law?

[(Anonymous)]

It bounced because I am insane, and typed nora instead of norarachel at...

I was working on a puzzle with my daughter when I realized what I'd typed. Sorry.

Congratulations on your marriage. I am so sorry we won't make it, but my parents are coming and promise to hug you on my behalf.

[katanah.livejournal.com]

FYI, I believe my wedding program is still in my memories for this LJ, and you're welcome to use whatever might be helpful. :)