Under Seven

We're officially seven months away from the "big day" as of today. Here's our list of to do's.

1. Get Nathan's apparel
2. Finalize catering
3. Send out save-the-dates - oops, those were supposed to be out awhile ago!

And just a million other teenie tiny details...

Opposites Attract

I had to use one of these this morning. I am NOT ready for winter.

Sampson also wiped out on a patch of ice this morning. He is NOT ready for winter.

Nate likes to sleep with the window open in winter. He actually LIKES winter.

twilight

So my friend Jenny was reading this book the other day. I had seen it before: on friends blogs, in magazines, at Borders - but always continued my search for a new book ignoring it. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of friends that have completely gushed about how great it is, blah blah blah. One of them *ahem* Megan *ahem* even went as far as waiting in line at 8.5 months preggo to get the fourth book in the series and after getting it at the release party at midnight, or some crazy hour of night, and drove straight to read it until the wee hours of the morning!!!!

Hooked, all of them, totally and completely hooked. Who would read a book about vampires and love it? Certainly not me.

WRONG. I'm obsessed. I literally read Twilight in two days. And that is NO small feat for me...the slowest reader in history. I couldn't put it down. I think Nate got upset for a moment or two as I shrugged off any chance to go out this weekend just so I could stay home and finish the most amazing book I'd read since My Sister's Keeper. In fact I loved this one so much that I had to borrow the second book of the series, New Moon, as soon as I'd finished Twilight. I brought it home from work last night, fed and walked Sampson and proceeded to read it until way too late last night/early this morning. I was literally crying as I was reading, but couldn't stop myself...I had to know what happened next.

So, it's official. I too am hooked. Sorry ladies for not trusting your reading judgement earlier this year...now I know what I've been missing out on! I'm almost mad at myself, scratch that, I am mad at myself for not picking it up earlier!

To my extreme pleasure, they've made Twilight into a movie. In fact, they were filming it right near my Aunts house in Portland last year when I was there. I can't wait for November 21...Jenny and I already have big plans to grab candy and tissues at Target before we head to the big premiere. You can see the trailer here: Twilight

No Escape

So Nathan and I decided to give in to the Ross School of Business peer pressure. We are officially Blackberry users. I know how to call people, sends and receive text messages and set the alarm. That's about all I've got so far. Nathan on the other hand has taken to checking his email in the middle of parties and happy hours. I still can't decide if we made the right choice...now anyone can get ahold of us anytime. Again, not sure if that's good or bad. I do have to say it's fun to have a fancy phone...especially after carrying el cheapo phono from Sprint for so long.

Talk to you soon...as you all know how to find us now.

C.E.O.

I forgot to post this picture last weekend. Perhaps it's because I was totally depressed over our loss to *ahem* Toledo. Here is Patrick in all his CEO glory at the tailgate after the game. Gotta love the cookies at Michigan tailgates, they almost numb the pain of losing!



When asked to "what does your shirt say?" this was the pose that Patrick gave. Classic.

Wasem's

Today we ventured out to get pumpkins with the Gaucher family. Wasem's is in a town just south of Ann Arbor but the drive provided a nice fall trip with some beautiful fall leaves on the more rural roads. We started out with donuts and apple cider, no pictures though...we were too busy eating fast so the bees wouldn't sting us! We walked the mile or so to the pumpkin patch, picked out some lovely gems and hauled them back. It was the perfect little fall morning complete with all kids of "punkins." Now to figure out how to carve our little guy!















Nate's big on safety for everybody. :)

Polenta

Meghan and I went to a cooking class today at a local specialty foods store. They were doing a one hour course on how to make polenta. We had olive oil fried polenta, traditional polenta with truffle butter and finally polenta with raisins and pure maple syrup. It was delicious, but Meghan and I ended up purchasing twelve bottles of wine and no polenta. The best part? We had to walk home with our wine...it's only three or so blocks but STILL what a pain!

Next week? Paella
November? Cheese fondue and Risotto

Shoot me an email if you want to come along with us for any of those!

An Evening with David

Nate and I went to a reading by author David Sedaris on Thursday night when he stopped in Ann Arbor on his current book tour. We've been huge fans of his for a few years now. It was so exciting to see him live and on stage. We have a few of his books on audio cd's so we already knew we loved hearing him tell stories but we had no idea how much more fun it would be to listen in person! The event took place in an auditorium on campus that seats nearly 3,000 people and it was SOLD OUT! We had a great time up until we tried to get out of the parking garage to go home. 45 minutes later we finally got home...it should take us 15 tops! Ugh! Too bad we didn't have our favorite Sedaris book on...Holidays on Ice...maybe then we wouldn't have had such a frustrating end to our night!

WE FOUND IT!

We found it! We bought it! Done and done! I can't even believe that we bought my wedding dress!!!! It seems so surreal now. It's beautiful and just exactly what I'd hoped to find. I just hope I look happier than Carrie Bradshaw on her big day...and I hope my something blue isn't a bird on my head.

I can't wait to show pictures of my actual dress...after May 30, 2009 of course! I really want to keep it a secret from everyone not just Nathan. I myself know how exciting it is to see the bride for the first time. After attending so many weddings this summer, Nathan and I loved to guess what the bride would look like when the doors opened. Poofy? Sexy? Sophisticated? Cupcake-y? Rarely were we right but I was always taken aback by the how beautiful each bride was and how unique their dress was. I want to surprise everyone with my gown...will it be Sexy? Simple? or a Carrie Bradshaw bird-on-her-head original? You'll just have to wait and see...

(Thanks again to my dress hunters...I wouldn't have found it without you!)

Spooky Doughnuts

I spent Monday morning with Max. It was so fun to see him all by himself. I think he was more than pleased to have all eyes on him! He was treated to a Spooky Doughnut for breakfast by Boppie (my dad) with chocolate icing and ghost/pumpkin/bat sprinkles on top. Do you think he liked it? Those grandkids are so spoiled...we NEVER got sprinkled doughnuts on Monday mornings! :)

(this is the face Max makes when you ask him to smile now. You can't tell in the picture but he leaves his eyes open just a sliver. Dork.)





sidenote: Max got a mosquito bite on his eye. Can you tell which one? Yes, the swollen one on the left. Poor little guy gets eaten up everytime he steps outside even with bugspray ON!

Michigan Homecoming

Nathan and I attended Mud Bowl 2008 on Saturday before the Michigan vs. Illinois game. We had never heard of it before his friend Bryan called to say he was on his way to pick us up for it. Here are a few snapshots from the day.



There were two teams of frat boys (maize and blue) playing each other. This was not flag football...it was full on tackle!



The girls made their entrance but I wasn't able to get a good action shot of them. They played just as hard as the boys did.



I didn't think much of the Mud Bowl tradition until I heard a 30-something couples remarks.

Husband: Remember when I used to live here?
Wife: Yes, that was so crazy.
Husband: We didn't have to walk very far for the Mud Bowl that year!
Wife: Nope, we sure didn't.

Apparently the Mud Bowl has been happening on Homecoming weekend for quite a few years! :)

On another note: we lost. We stunk it up BIG time. We could have won, but we lost. I'm still a fan though. In fact, Nate and I were some of the last men standing in our section, most fans left early in the 4th quarter because we were playing so poorly. We stuck by our team though, and as usual didn't head out until the clock ran out. Next week we play Toledo...we definitely need the win! Go Blue!

Congrats Are In Order!

After dinner on Friday night we headed back to the Gaucher's to celebrate. Dave got the first offer of the season! We were so excited for him and his whole fam...too bad Meghan had left earlier that day for California (a wedding) so she couldn't help celebrate that night. Here are some snapshots from our mini-celebration!

The celebratory toast!



The girls version and the guys version.



Dave taking congratulations calls the fabulous way...with a PBR in hand.



I even drank one for good measure. Barf.

Thai Tea

Nate and I tried a new Thai place on Friday night. The food was okay, but the best part was the Thai Tea. Can you tell that he likes it? He rarely poses for pictures...I need to carry this tea with me from now on.

Gaucher Time

I had the pleasure of watching the Gaucher boys on Friday while Dave had a second round interview with a company. (Meghan was in California for a friends wedding.) Patrick is 3 and Brendan is 1. When I got there it was still naptime, so I got to finish some work while I waited for the "wake up time."

Here is how I found Patrick sleeping when I went to wake him up. How he sleeps with his leg crossed and covered in books I'll never understand! And yes, he's actually sleeping under there. Out cold in fact.



Here is Patrick sleeping after my first attempt at waking him up.



Time to wake up Brendan brother-style





Brendan is always happy...I swear! He has Nate wrapped around his finger, it's pretty hilarious to watch.



Patrick drinking from my water bottle. He told me the water tasted better than what was in his cup. I didn't dare tell him they were both filled from the same water pitcher. Here's the big boy at work.









I was feeding Brendan a snack while Patrick ate his own. Patrick of course ate his quickly and Brendan got it in little bites. After awhile Patrick decided he was still hungry so he started pretending he was Brendan so he could have more bites. I love how kiddos play make-believe...either that or they just have a funny way of geting their way. I totally gave him a bite of Bren's snack after laughing so hard.





Patrick and I being silly. Doesn't he have the best little boy smile?

My First Game of the Season and more

I made it to my first game of the season and boy was it a good one! My parents came up so Nate was able to find two great seats for them as well. Great as in 12 rows up from the 40 yard line. Whatever...I had to stand in the student section. Okay, I admit, we LOVE standing there...so much energy!!!!

So, back to the game. WE BEAT WISCONSIN!!!!!! It was an awesome game because of the record breaking comeback that we made in the fourth quarter. GO BLUE!!!! Check out that score board....





After the game we had a yummy dinner at Zingerman's Roadhouse, our favorite place in town. My dad had never been there, so it was fun to introduce him to all the yummy parts of the menu! We came home and checked the other scores then quickly headed to bed, it had been a long day. The next morning we woke up and enjoyed some breakfast while teaching mom to play the Wii. She was a natural...she beat Nate which is not easy to do!

It's Official...I'm Crunchy

Ta-Dah...the new Whole Foods opened in Ann Arbor. We already have one but I guess the crunchy organic lovin' peeps needed another one. Looks like I've been officially suckered into that crowd because I love me some Whole Foods.



My girlfriends Jenny and Meghan and I went to the "VIP walkthrough" on the Monday before the store opened. We had a blast tasting champagne, cheese, smoked salmon, homemade gelato and more.



We even walked away with a goodie bag full of treats. The best part? The coupon book that offers a new great gift each week!

flower girls