T-Minus One Week for Bachelorhood

Yesterday was my bachelor party. And, now, anyone that knows me knows that my party was not going to be a traditional bachelor party. Despite that for some, but probably because of that for me, I had a great time yesterday and am thankful for everyone who spent the day with me.

First of all, I want to thank Eric, my best man, for planning the day and his father for driving everyone down to Milwaukee. I also want everyone who I had not seen in a long time and those who came down in spite of having a lot going on during the holiday weekend. I had a great time and it was nice to be able to talk with everyone and relax.

The day really began after we all got to Milwaukee and parked at Miller Park. Eric set up two grills, fired them up, and we officially began tailgating. We had snacks, including my favorite ham wraps and Doritos, brats, chicken-asiago brats, cheddarwursts, and hamburgers. All of the food was good and filling.

Before, during, and after eating, we all talked about the future and a lot of past memories. It is amazing how everyone has changed, but still has so much in common. I am really blessed to have the longtime friends that I have, who I know will be lifelong friends no matter where we all end up.

We packed up the cooking stuff and headed in for the game. We had incredible seats on the third base side with a great view of everything. The game was a pitching duel with the Brewers taking an early lead with a solo-homerun. The Pirates scored one run on an error and tied the game. My prediction of a Jason Bay home run in the top of the ninth was vanquished. It remained tied going into the bottom of the ninth, when the Brewers scored on a Fielder (Kristy's Dad's favorite player) blooper to center, scoring the man on second and won the game.

As some of you know, I have been a Pirates, and Pittsburgh, fan for a long time. Just look at the city (just beautiful):

I can trace it back to a lingering memory of mine watching Game 7 of the Braves/Pirates NLCS series in ’92, when the Pirates lost in the bottom of the ninth in a play at home:
After that, my fandom spread to the Steelers and Penguins. I was pretty serious about these teams for a while, but lately, probably after working for the Packers for seven years, I have mellowed and learned to appreciate a hometown team more. Despite this, it was nice to rekindle my fandom during this game by wearing one of my Pirates hats.

The game was incredibly exciting, which was increased by the throw-back Negro League honoring jerseys both teams wore. Although Pittsburgh’s uniforms said something that began with a C and ended in a hard to read script, Milwaukee’s said “Milwaukee” in block letters. I later learned that the Pirates jerseys had said “Crawfords,” in honor of the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

After the game, everyone stood around and continued earlier conversations and memories. Wedding talk permeated most conversations, and expressed thoughts of “in one week, at this time, I will be…” were common.

My bachelor party was a success. It was a lots of fun and exactly what I needed. I had a great time will cherish my memories.

So... Do You Wanna Be Famous!?! Nah... I have a Facial.

Ring....

Ring....

Krsity: Hello?

"Hi. This is the casting director of Public Enemies. I know this is short notice, being Saturday and all, but we would like you to be in a scene filming Monday. Can you do it?"

Kristy (responding immediately, without skipping a beat, almost as if she was expecting the call and had been dreaming about this opportunity all of her life): No, I am babysitting. Thanks, though.

Now, I did not hear the person on the other end of the phone, but imagine their end of the conversation going something like:

....okay. Ummm... Are you sure? You do know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You might be on screen with Johnny Depp or Christian Bale in a major Hollywood movie that is already getting Oscar buzz (for 2010!) and will be huge coming out July 1, 2009. Are you positive you cannot be an extra, I am sure someone can cover your 'babysitting' for you.

(Hypothetical) Kristy: Oh, yeah. Someone probably could, but I also have a facial scheduled. So.... yeah. Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass.

(Hypothetical) Response: Wow. I really do not know what to say.... You know, this is a paid extra position. We will actually pay you to experience something very few people do in their lifetime.

(Hypothetical) Kristy: Sorry. I'll probably alway remember my facial...

I think that is probably enough. Kristy shocked a lot of people by flippantly turning down the extra role. Jackie, Jennifer, my mother, my father, her father and mother were quite taken aback with the news.

However, in her tardy but oft-mentioned defense, she would have had to cut her hair. Kristy, I hope your facial was amazing. You deserved it and will look amazing with all of your hair in just over 19 days. Love Ya!

The Sound of Music

~~ “The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears” ~~

What is a wedding reception without music? I will answer your question with another question: What is a car without an engine?

Music, in the form of either a band or a disc jockey, is a wedding reception must. The choices are numerous, and in this case, left almost entirely to me, the groom. So, let me tell you, I think I made a great choice- and so far, my mother and Kristy seem to agree.

For the past three groomal shows, I have been scouting out DJs, in addition to tasting cake samples. I talked with numerous potentials, but almost immediately decided on Elite Music Service. All of the other DJs seemed to range along the standard of aged rockers to kids my age that will play what they like. The one I chose was the only one that I could carry on a conversation with at the wedding show and at our first two meetings.

My mother and I met with him about a year ago and signed him on the spot, and then Kristy and I met with him a few weeks ago and, despite her prior apprehensions, was incredibly pleased with my choice. It is a fact that 78% of brides one week after their wedding wish they spent more money on the reception entertainment and made it a higher priority. I hope that it all works out and Kristy does not become just another statistic of disappointed brides who have been let down by their reception music. With everyone’s’ help, we can make this a great reception and not allow Kristy to become just another number. So, let your hearts be filled with the "Sound of Music."

Disclaimer: The Sound of Music may make an appearance at the wedding reception; however, the movie, soundtrack or any of its representatives have endorsed our wedding. Therefore, you will have to listen closely for SoM songs. Michael Bublé on the other hand, if I am not mistaken, has endorsed the wedding and has been given prime time exposure during the cocktail hour.

The Forecast is Bridal Showers

We apologize that it has taken us so long to write. As my mother has pointed out, seeing the same headline every time you visit our blog for months cannot have been inspiring. But the end of the school year flew by and before we knew it, the end of May was upon us. This meant that it was time for both family bridal showers, exactly one week apart from one another!

My family's bridal shower was on Saturday, May 31st and hosted by my Grandma Bunny, my Aunt Jeanne, my Grandma Susan, and my Aunt Carrie. It was a lovely lunch affair at the Rivers Bend Supper Club and we had a delicious meal. The table decorations consisted of vases of fresh roses, chocolate ribbons (my favorite!), antique ephemera pictures, and handmade bracelets for all (courtesy of Susan and my cousin Theresa). A rousing game of bridal bingo was played to determine who received favors. My Grandma Bunny supplied a moist cake from the bakery at Festival Foods where my sister was an employee for two weeks. One of my wonderful SMC bridesmaids, Kelly, was able to make the journey up despite being stopped near the cruel city of Milwaukee for speeding. My bridesmaid, Jackie, was also able to make the trip up from Madison and I know that if I did not give her a shout out for it that I would hear about it tonight. But really, the bridal shower was wonderful because I got to see many family and family friends that I have not visited with in quite some time. It was nice to spend some time together before the wedding day which, of course, will be quite hectic. Chad was able to make it for the gift opening which made my life easier since he was able to identify the cooking utensils (which he researched and picked out) that had me stumped. Needless to say that Chad will be the head chef of our domain and I will stick to baking my treats with love.

The Zadrazil bridal shower was the following Saturday, June 7th (my sister's 21st birthday though she was in a monastery in Southern Indiana!) It was held in a beautiful room at the brand new Holiday Inn. The decorations on the tables were silk flowers in depression glasses on mirrors that also showcased antique shoes (courtesy of Aunt Cheryl). Each table also had a silver shoe bottle opener and tasty bridal mints covered in pink tulle. In addition to the decorations, several gigantic cupcakes were also at each table. Their taste can only be described as divine. Chad was able to attend the entire bridal shower this time, which was nice since we both got to visit and talk with his family and friends. During the gift opening, we drew advice cards that everyone had filled out for us to determine who received a door prize. I was also kept on the hot seat during the gift opening as I was asked questions that Chad had answered the day before and had to guess his previous answer. Some of the questions were, "What does Chad admire the most about your family?" and "How many kids do you want to have, according to Chad?" Many of the questions were easy as pie (or should I say divine cupcake) since we have discussed them several times; however, the ones about my family were much more difficult and I paused several moments while contemplating. My mother and I clearly are unable to think under pressure, as she loudly pointed out during one of my longer hesitations.

All in all, both showers were quite lovely and enjoyable experiences. We could not have asked for more caring people in our lives and are grateful for all that our friends and family have done to support us through our entire engagement. We are so blessed to have a wonderful foundation to start our marriage upon and are excited for everyone to be there to witness it's beginning. In 24 days! We will do our best to write about the coming days havoc as the wedding draws more near.

Are Kristy and I ‘Public Enemies?’ We’ll See…

This past Thursday Kristy and I met in Chicago for a meet and greet with the extras casting department on the movie being shot around the area “Public Enemies.” The movie stars Johnnie Depp and Christian Bale. Kristy is more fond of Bale than Depp, but said that she would not mind being in a scene with either of them. But, I digress…
Kristy got to Chicago about an hour before I did, so she met me at Union Station, where my bus drops us off. It was cold, cloudy and rainy, so we took a cab to the casting office. The cabbie apparently did not know where the place was so he dropped us off about four blocks too soon and said “it’s around here.” Great, thanks.

Kristy and I walked up and down a nice neighborhood street. The street did have its fair share of commercial establishments, such as the “Erotic Warehouse,” but overall, the feel of the neighborhood was a bit artsy combined with light industry. It was nice, and only about two miles from downtown.

We walked three block and could not find the address. There was an unmarked door, but that seemed too “sketch” as Kristy would say. Well, we wandered around back and found another door. This was the loading dock as we were soon confronted by a man wheeling empty produce cartons, who, if surprised, did not show it. We trekked on.

Kristy and I wandered around the ritzy restaurant like we were casing the joint. We kept looking in windows at diners and staff. We probably walked by the building three or four times, before I suggested we cross the intersection and look around. We did and lo and behold we found the door marked with the address.

We entered, signed in and proceeded to the casting room. It was cluttered with desks and photos all over the place. It was relaxed, but intense. They handed each of us forms to fill out.

“Can you ballroom dance?”

Me: Kristy, if I have no rhythm should I mark that I can dance?

Kristy: Probably not. But you could mark yes to the question about learning how to dance
quickly.

Me: Ummm… I don’t know if that is a good idea. I don’t want to be the guy tripping, rolling an ankle and screaming out in pain during a scene. I better be honest.

“Do you have any hobbies (such as stamp collecting or knitting)?”

Me: Can you knit?

Kristy: I can learn. Do you think I should mark it as a ‘yes’?

Me: Maybe.

“Do you have any talents (such as juggling or fire breathing)?”

Me: I am talentless.

Kristy: You can sing. You were in choir.

At this moment, I glance at Kristy’s sheet and it is full of musical instruments and her hobbies. I look at mine and question my ability to be an extra.

Me: I really cannot sing. (As I write down signing in my talent column)

We finished our forms and Kristy whips out her recent color photo that the casting people required. Shoot. I whip out an envelope with four pictures to choose from, two of which I liked the most and hand it to Kristy.

Me: Kristy. Which picture do you like?

Kristy, apparently never seeing such an envelope before, rips the entire side off of it. She later claims she panicked, but I think she just wanted the part and sabotage the competition by making me look unprofessional.

Kristy: I like this one. (Pointing to one I did not like)

Me: What?!?

I capitulated, turned in the picture she chose, and the casting director is probably at this moment in Oshkosh looking at the angled picture of my unshaven face and thinking, “and this talentless kid thinks he has what it takes to blend into the background of a movie scene.” At this point, she crumples my information card and picture and throws them away, destroying my Hollywood career, probably forever…

Next, we had our pictures taken, without smiling. Check.

Casting Agent: Kristy you do know that you will have to cut your hair if cast.

Kristy: I know, can you tell me how long?

Casting Agent: Shoulder length to a bob.

Kristy’s jaw dropped, but recovered quickly and mumbled some type of affirmative response. Kristy was relieved a little when the agent said she was not sure if she would cut her hair. I later learned Kristy added a category to the questionnaire and checked maybe to the question regarding hair. Although not the same situation, I have found that in multiple choice exams, adding your own answer does not work out so well. We’ll see, though.

We left the casting office and the rest of the day we had lunch at Giordano’s, shopped at Nordstrom Rack (a perennial Chicago favorite) and sat in an underground Starbucks talking and doing homework. Overall, it was a good day. It was nice to see Kristy for a time, albeit brief. In addition, perhaps one of us will be “discovered” and in many years, be able to tell everyone the funny story of how our amazingly lavish Hollywood career started as a whim and just a fun thing to try. Or, we will not be cast, and “Public Enemies” will bomb when it comes out. It is really up to the casting director at this point…

The Final Countdown

It is official- the countdown is in the double digits. After all this time of having thousands and then hundreds of days until the wedding, we are in the home stretch. And it is the most wonderful feeling that I can't even begin to describe.

People have started asking me every day if I am excited for the wedding or getting cold feet. Yet it is difficult to fully articulate the level of my excitement. This is no ordinary excitement, because as Chad will attest, I get excited about many splendid things. Wonderful Wisconsin family and friends, a trip to Target, ice cream, walks to the grotto with Sister, magazines, giving tours, spinning with Stacey, Mars Cheese Castle, pizza, late nights in Trumper with Michelle and Liz, shiny hair, visiting Saint Mary's staff in their offices, Pride and Prejudice, pilates with Nikki, boxer dogs, Taco Bell with Haley, Gloria Jeans white chocolate caramel cookie chillers, car trips to and from SMC with Kim, Deanna, and Sarah, anything to do with Humanistic Studies include Laura Ambrose and Simon Schama, facial masks with Maggie, and naturally, anything that involves Chad, including Jade Garden, bananas foster, IKEA, Chicago, the Office, Billy Joel, and the Packers. I get excited about any of these things anytime they come up in daily conversation or as an activity to pursue. So the excitement I feel that I am finally approaching the day when I will marry the boy who I have liked since 7th grade is significantly greater than the word "excitement" can convey.

It is interesting that people specifically ask if I am excited for the wedding. I think it is inherent (especially at an all-women's institution) to assume that brides look forward to the big day more than anything else because we spend so much of our time and money (and other people's time and money!!!) planning this one day that is supposed to be THE DAY, the one that we remember for the rest of our lives. And I know that our day will be amazing and something I will cherish forever. But going beyond that, I am most excited when I think about what comes after THE DAY. Our married life together, which promises to have ups and downs and everything in between, is what makes me truly excited. It will be the little things, like being able to say good night to each other in the same room and not over the phone, which I look forward to the most. Or even cleaning our small 600 square foot apartment together. Because my favorite thing about getting married after spending 4 years apart from one another is that we are excited to do even the most mundane activities since we are simply excited to be in each others presence. Of course, I know this will change over time, but I hope we both never forget what college life was like without each other so that we never take for granted our married life with each other.

Of course, I can't exactly explain this sentiment when people ask if I am excited for the wedding and will continue to say, "Yes, I can't believe the big day is almost here!"

"Hold on... I'll figure it out..."

Last weekend, Kristy and I did a majority of our registering. It was the only time that we would be in Green Bay together and would have enough time to complete the process, which was longer and more involved than either of us thought.

The first place we registered was a local kitchen supply store. I had scoped it out a few times prior, but was apparently woefully unprepared for the big moment. We walked in and went to the counter to get the registry sheet. I had warned Kristy that they are in the process of making their registries electronic, but in the meantime, we would have to hand write everything. She understood, but was not fully prepared herself for the wonder of the largest kitchen supply store in the United States.

I had a printout with all of the items I had researched and knew would be nice to have. However, with Kristy having to write things, I kept trying to be a step ahead and make it as seamless and painless as possible for her. I would find everything in a section and lay it out for her to write down. Inevitably, though, I forgot things and we excitedly (at least I was excited) circled around the store numerous times. At one point, we ran out of room to write things down, but we thankfully got more. After this, however, I think Kristy lost her patience and sat down and asked me to bring her things, which I did. When we ran out of writing room on our new sheets, it was time to go. On our way out, we noticed the free samples. I knew of them before, but under the pressure had not thought to use them to assuage the situation. Oh what could have been- if I had only thought of the fresh honey, chips and salsa, perhaps I could have squeezed out a third hour, but two was sufficient to get the job done.

After a few hour break, Kristy and I trekked to Appleton to register at a home furnishing store. As an aside, I have been thoroughly prepped on the use of scanning equipment. Kristy has told me for months that I would get to scan things when we registered, and that time had come. When we got to the store, we had to wait a few minutes until an employee finally helped us and got our information and gave us a scanner… not a gun, but more of a Star Trek medical device. She handed it to me and explained how to use it. I apparently blacked out in the excitement as I heard or saw none of it. The first item Kristy told me to scan… and I choke. What?!? Well, Kristy had apparently been immune to the excitement and politely reminded me that the clerk had JUST showed us that both of the massive buttons need to be pressed to scan an item.

It went along like this for quite a while. Then we came to the frames. We did not want just one of every frame in the store, but multiples of each frame… you can never have too many. Well, I could not recall being told how to do multiples and tried a few things, but repeatedly heard three beeps indicating an error. Hmmm…. Let me think about this...

Kristy: Stop… Let’s go ask the clerk how to do multiples.

Beep…Beep…Beep…

Me: Hold on...

Beep…Beep…Beep…

Me: I got it. You have to push the [alpha] button and then the number you want to register for.

Kristy: You are such a guy. I could have asked and gotten an answer without all the beeping.

After we got all that out of the way, it was pretty much smooth sailing for the rest of the store. Except for the $1000, 18-square foot ottoman Kristy wanted to register for and squeeze into our 600-square foot apartment. We did not register for that, but we did register for the $100 wall buttons.

After an hour and a half, we drove back to Green Bay and took the night off from registering. The next morning, however, we got up and registered at a department store. They had everything the other store did not, including Simply Vera Bedding (amazing!) and Ralph Lauren towels (exquisite!). They also had a nice selection of kitchen gadgets I had missed in my haste at the kitchen store. I did not impress Kristy with my thoroughly researched items, however, as she did not care about nor know the difference between salad tongs or grill tongs… which I could not believe.

We registered for everything, using the gun-shaped scanner. Kristy had heard that other people have had trouble with the registries at this store and after they thought they had registered for everything, the gun had actually scanned nothing. However, we took a chance and braved it because of the long line of angry mothers with small children we would have had to wait through to check to make sure our gun was working.

In the end, our gun worked and everything was okay. All in all, a more stressful process than I had imagined. The most notable aspect was the momentous decision that Kristy had made a few days prior: we were not registering at Target! What a curve ball, but we managed and I think we got it all covered. If not, we have access to our registries online and I know for a fact, one of us has already been tinkering with our choices…

Third Annual (and Final!!!) “Groomal” Show

For the third consecutive January, we have attended the local trade show that demonstrates all of the things grooms care about most in a wedding. For this year, I made sure we were extremely well prepared. I finally came through with the labels with all of our contact information (and the sticker proclaiming my status as a non-creep (see last year’s post)).

Focus was the name of the game this year. I, however, had a terrible virus that had not allowed me to swallow anything for the week prior to the show. It was not getting better, and the pain killers seemed to just make me nauseous with my empty stomach. So, I valiantly recused my cake tester position, and noticed that it took everyone else to taste the cakes to do as good of a job that I have become known for. We were just lucky there were four people to take on the role- God only knows the strife that would have occurred had we had fewer people.

One of the first things we did was wander over to an invitation display. I pulled out a chair and sat a few feet away as Kristy, her mother, sister and aunt went to town pointing out differences and what they all liked. Eventually, I got up the nerve to enter the fray, when I pointed out an invitation I thought looked interesting… Kristy said nothing … turned to me in surprise/horror and just looked deep into my soul, deciphering whether or not I was joking … She decided that all signs in my heart pointed to no, this is for real …. So, she pointed it out to everyone else gathered around the table … time skipped a beat as they all stopped flipping their pages and turned towards the invitation and then to me with the same horror stricken faces that Kristy had just given me. For context, imagine that you are at the most chaotic Hallmark Store ever looking for a birthday card for your boss and your friend calls you over and points one out to you in all seriousness- it has a highly detailed photo of a pile of earthworms and says “I dig you” on the front. The look you would give your friend is the look I got from everyone at the table for a seemingly nice invitation. The ladies working the table even looked at me this way. Wow… I left to go buy a bottle of water and cool off.

After that disaster, I wandered a little and met back up with the group, still looking at invitations, but just exchanging info and getting ready to move on. Invitations are the one thing that had gotten tedious, but are thankfully now done.

We talked with our photographer… of course she was adorable. She is building a new studio in De Pere, which we are going to check out the next time we are in Green Bay. By the way, she has a new website which is of course adorable- so check it out.

We talked a little with limo and party bus vendors. Not knowing exactly what either of us wants made these conversations less than fruitful. Either way, we know we have options.

I think that is about it. I scathed off sickness for a few hours that Friday night, however I missed the testing of the wedding cake. Hopefully the four others who took up the slack can be trusted with high honor. If not, I may have to go back next year just to make sure the cake is still okay for everyone.