Friday, 29 April 2011

63 Days left!!!

So, every now and then, I go and check on the Registry that we have at the Bay to see if it's still there, and to see if anyone has bought us something.  On the main page of the registry is a little countdown clock, saying how many days left until the wedding.

I've looked at it before, and been like, "Oh cool!  100 Days to the wedding!!!"  But, now I'm looking at the clock, and thinking..."HOLY CRAP!  Only 63 days?!?"

I think I've got a lot of the planning done, there's obviously still more to do, but at the same time, I'm freaking out a little.  I just know that things are going to go awry, as do the best laid plans of mice and men; however, that does not mean that I can't worry about it a little bit.

I've got the venue, someone to marry us, food to eat, and someone to take pictures, so I guess the rest is just icing on the cake, so to speak.  (Which we already have in mind, so I don't really have to worry about that either.)

I guess I just didn't realize how quickly time can go when you have things to plan out...

Sunday, 24 April 2011

World of Color

I know, I know. Color is spelled incorrectly, but that's how it goes in America.

I am going to turn the blog over to April, to let her see how awesome it is to type on an iPad, and I also want to go and change into a bathing suit and head to the pool!!!

Here's April!!!

April is in!! And tres jealous of this iPad!! We just had the most amazing experience this evening - we splurged and bought the World of Colour dining package. For a fee, you can have a meal from a prix fixe menu and reserved seating in what is considered to be the best area to watch the World of Colour show. The food was delicious and the service was great, but then we were escorted to our viewing area and MAN!! It really was the best spot to watch the show! Soon we were fully ensconced in the " experience" and there are no words to describe the epicness of the lights, the fountains and the music. Some people even got a bit misty eyed...but I'll let you guess who that was! Kudos to Disney and their imagineering team - they really know how to put on a show! I now have a hard time choosing between Fantasmic and World of Colour, and that is no easy feat!

Ok, it is after midnight, and I'm due for a midnight swim, so I will sign off now, but I am very glad we still have one day left before we have to return to the real world...here is Troy for a closer...

Thanks so much for that, April!! It was totally me that got misty eyed...and by misty eyed, I mean crying hysterically. The wood nymph, with the hunchback, with Chernabog...I was a freaking mess!!!

Anyway, April and I need to go and take a swim, but it's been fantastic blogging with you, and bringing you along with me only journey. I know that we have another day left, and I hope to be able to blog to you, but I am not 100% sure.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday, 23 April 2011

Another wee mid-day break

Today we did the Magic Morning, which meant waking up at 6am to get to the hour before opening at 7. We did that so that we could go and do a bunch of the rides in Fantasyland. You normally would not be able to do the rides, because the lineups for them were so long that it wouldn't really be worth the wait.

We went on Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Pinnochio, It's A Small World, and Mr Toads Wild Ride. The Peter Pan ride wait time the last time we checked was about 2 hours...so definitely needed to be done early on in the morning. After doing Mr Toads, we went over to Big Thunder Mountain, and then rode the train from New Orleans Square to Tomorrowland to have breakfast.

The biggest thing that we noticed today was that there was a very large amount of people missing from the park, so it was much easier to do the rides. When we asked a park member, they said that the annual pass members were being denied entry since today is a blackout day. Woot!

After breakfast, we went over to California Adventure, then we did a bit of shopping in the stores, and went over to do the Tower of Terror. Sabrina and I loved it so much (we bonded over it) that we went back to the ride to get fast passes for everyone. We then went to the Muppets 3D show, and then to Aladdin show. Shaun fell asleep during the Muppets show, and Stephanie fell asleep during both shows. Sleepy McGees!!!!

After the shows we went to the animation studios, then to have a bit of lunch, then back to the hotel. After getting back to the hotel, we went for a dip in the hot tub, and that leaves me back to where I am now!

Everyone is waiting for me to go back to the hotel, and I'm starting to feel the peer pressure. Tonight is the World of Colour, along with dinner at Ariels Grotto!! Super stoked!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So I only lied a little bit...

Well, it's day 3 now, and we are actually taking a bit of a breather. If I kept on going like we did yesterday, it would have been impossible for me to keep going.

Shaun, Sabrina, and myself stayed in the park for 13 consecutive hours. It was so super epic, and my feet were so sore that I thought that I was going to cry. Having said that, I had so much fun! We rode quite a few rides, but man the park is super busy!

We managed to get some pictures with some of the characters, which made me happy. We got a group picture with Winnie the Pooh, and Eyeore, and Shaun took a picture with Tigger. Shaun was wearing his Tigger shirt that he bought last time, and I figured that Tigger would do something, so I took a video. Shaun tried to hug Tigger, but he was acting as though Shaun's shirt was a mirror. It was super cute! I will post the video later on Facebook.

The whole group wanted to do soarin over California because the lineup said that it was only 35 minutes. It ended up taking over an hour and a half by the time we were finished. After that, everyone was so sore that only me, Shaun, and Sabrina ended up staying in the park. We went to do the tower of terror, and I was so tired that I was contemplating going back to the hotel room, and then this awesome guy went up to Sabrina and gave us 3 fastpasses. So we ended up doing the ride in 15 minutes instead of 45 (or longer!)

After that, we went out to find elecTRONica, and we think we must have missed it, because there was nothing really going on. So we decided to go look through a couple of shops, and I found a shirt and a jacket that I am contemplating buying.

When we finished our shopping experience, we went back to Disneyland to watch the fireworks show at night. I must say, they put such amazing production value into those shows! It was a mix up of all the rides and parades of the past that have been at Disneyland, like Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and the Main Street Electrical Parade.

After the fireworks, we went on a few rides, and ended up closing out the park yet again! When we left, we noticed a bunch of people standing in a line, and looked over to see Mickey Mouse standing there in his classic costume! We went and got some group shots, and came back to the hotel.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, 22 April 2011

It's just not going to happen

So when I started off my trip, I had these amazing plans to blog about it all the time so that my friends and family who couldn't be here could read about the trip. After 13 consecutive hours in the park, I really don't think that's going to happen.

I'm sorry my blogging skills suck, but my feet and back are sore, and my neck is sunburnt. I will update as often as possible, but unless we take breaks, I'm too old for this crap.

Hopefully I will blog tomorrow about what has happened over the past two days, but again, it's 1:14 am and I am exhausted.

Talk soon!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, 21 April 2011

The first day

It is now 12:29 and we have just returned from our first full day in California, and man, what a full day it has been!

We went to Knott's Berry Farm this afternoon at around 12:30. We dared to be different, and actually took a bus there.

You know what, I am soooo freaking tired from the day that i had today that i am going to just go to bed.

Shaun actually just managed to break our suitcase...I'm out.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Anaheim, California

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

The trip begins!!!

Right now we are sitting in the Bellingham international airport. While we haven't yet left for our vacations yet, I feel like we have already gone through so much.

We woke up this morning at 2 am to make sure that we got down to the airport by 7am. I managed to finally get out of bed at around 2:15 and started to pack, because of course I hadn't finished. Shaun finished his shower, and i still had some things to do, so Sabrina decided to take her shower before me.

I was loading some movies onto my fancy new iPad, when I heard an epic amount of water rushing through the taps in the bath. That's fairly normal for when you turn off the flow to the shower head, so I wasn't too concerned, but then Sabrina started to yell for help. When I walked into the bathroom, there was water rushing straight out of the taps! The hot water tap had fallen off, and water was shooting into the tub.

Shaun tried a couple of times to fix it, but couldn't figure out how to do it, so I ran into the kitchen and turned off the hot water from the valve underneath the kitchen cupboards.

We had to call the superintendent to get her to come in and fix the taps, at 4:30 in the morning. Needless to say, she was unimpressed.

The fun didn't stop there!! We went to the border to make our crossing into the states, and got caught with the most unimpressive border guard I have ever had to deal with.

When we pulled up to the booth, the guard asked April (who was driving) to roll down the window. Instead of rolling down the back window, she hit the wrong button and rolled up her own window. She apologized to the guard and rolled down the window. He said to her "I know, it's very complicated sometimes." I thought that he might have been joking, but from the rest of our transactions, I don't think that was the case.

The guard then started in on a whole slough of questions. That's totally fine, but he started asking us how we knew each other, and then he asked everyone in the car what we did. By the time he got to Shaun, he asked Shaun "am I boring you?" Shaun obviously said no, but the fact that he even asked is kind of douche-y.

As I have been writing this, many members of our group have been laughing and joking around. I'm glad that everyone is getting along so far, and I can't wait to actually get down to Disney!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:The belllingham international airport

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Disneyland!!!

As many of you may know in one week, several members of the wedding party will be heading south to enjoy some fun, and to create some "magical" moments!

I will be blogging daily while I'm down there, and sharing some photos and some moments.  If you want to be a part of the fun, but can't actually make it to Disneyland, make sure to stay tuned in to the blog!

I know I haven't been blogging very much recently, but honestly, the only thing that is going on right now is very minor stuff.  We booked the photographer, and Stephanie has spoken to the florist.  The cake is just going to be picked up from Whole Foods, so that's not a big deal.  I already blogged about the favours, so those just need to be re-wrapped.

Right now the biggest issue that I'm having is the pianist.  I don't currently have a pianist to play for the ceremony or the live music that will occur later on.  I'm hoping it won't be that big of a deal to find an alternate, but yeah.  If you know of someone, please let me know!

Anyway, it's just a quick update for now.  I will be blogging a lot next week!  Talk to you all then!

Monday, 28 March 2011

Scanning Party!!!

On Thursday, Shaun and I had a very busy evening!  We were invited to a scanning party at the Bay, but we also went and played Tennis, then I had a video chat with one of my groomswenches in Toronto, and then I met up with a friend for coffee.  It was a whirlwind of an evening, and I've been pretty busy since then, but now I shall impart my wonderful experience at The Bay.

So, you are probably saying to yourself "Scanning party?  What the **** is that?"  (Depending on your own personal taste, it could have been a "damn" or a "hell" or something else.  No judgement.)

A scanning party is where you go, and scan items AND THEN GET GIFTS FOR IT.  Wait, that's normally how the scanning thing works...EXCEPT YOU GET THEM RIGHT AWAY!

We went to the Bay, and they gave us a scanner, and said to us "You don't have enough items!  You're supposed to have 86 items on it, and that's just for a wedding!"  Shaun and I departed from them and went skipping around the store, scanning items as we went.  According to the Bay people, we STILL don't have enough items, but this is why we would rather get money for a house than items, because we have most of the stuff that we need!  (Apparently our "want" list isn't huge either.)


After we finished scanning, we went to go give back the scanner.  The lovely lady behind the counter gave us a gift bag!  She told us it contained a pair of champagne flutes, and some Lancome stuff.  After we walked away, I said to Shaun "Oh, awesome.  At least we have the champagne flutes, but what the hell are we going to do with a bunch of stupid make-up?"


Shaun and I arrived at home, and after going and rallying at the local tennis courts for about an hour, we decided to open the gift bag.  I took pictures, so you can follow in our excitement!


The Gift Bag, untouched!


Man, they really used a lot of tissue paper...


Our beautiful new champagne flutes!


The mysterious Lancome make-up package.


What, ho?!?  This is not make up at all!  It's samples of Lancome's "For Men" line, including Anti-Aging serums, cleansing gels, moisturizers, and cologne!


Our glorious bounty!

I am so please with this bag.  I found it to be very thoughtful, because I had assumed that we would get make-up, since it was a gift bag for married couples...typically male-female.  My experience with The Bay keeps on getting better and better!

Well, that's all for right now!  Thanks for following the blog (if anyone is...) and don't forget to leave me a comment.

Thursday, 24 March 2011

Don't forget!!

If you got an invitation, don't forget to respond!  You need to send us an email to traunwedding@gmail.com.  We need to start getting the actual numbers in, so if you are coming, even if you think we already know, if you haven't sent us an email, do that.

I want to thank everyone that sent in their responses already!  It's really helpful to have preliminary numbers, so we can start inviting more people if you kids say "No thanks, we don't want to have an awesome time at your wedding.  We just prefer to sit at home and cry knowing that we are not in your presence."  Okay, maybe you won't say that...maybe...

So, over the weekend, Shaun and I got a bunch of wedding stuff done, and I didn't blog about it, because I've been a little preoccupied this week.  With sleeping.  I can't sleep through the evening, and it's been making me very tired during the day.  Plus this week has been super long.

Ahh!  I keep digressing!  The lack of sleep is destroying my mental capacities!!!  Wedding stuff!

Sunday, we went with my sister to the dress shop and ordered Kari's dress.  Steph and April are going in this week to get theirs ordered, and then we just have to wait for the other ladies to order their dresses from their respective dress shops in their respective cities.  In any case, one of the dresses is ordered!  Let's hope it gets here well in advance of the wedding!!

After that, Kari left, and we picked up Stephanie and went shopping at Queensborough Landing.  I went into International Clothiers.  It's that store that exists in every mall, but no one really knows the name of it.  It's that Men's Only store where you can buy a suite for 99 bucks.  I didn't think I'd find anything, but I bought 2 cute shirts that makes me look all "Mad Men" like with my 50's style hair.  (It's fairly long, for those of you who read this from out of town, or just haven't seen me in a long time.)

We then travelled to meet up with Stephanie (as she wanted to check out the Closing Sale that was going on at Suzy Shier next door.)  Steph managed to find a sweater, pants, a skirt, and I think she also bought two leggings, or maybe it was two shirts...either way, it came to less than what I paid for two dress shirts.  Stupid cheap women's clothing!!

DC was next on the list, and Shaun bought two pairs of shoes and a really nice black hoodie for like 85 bucks!

After that, we went to a store, and I won't tell you which store we went to, but we found the PERFECT wedding favour!  So, we managed to purchase almost all of our wedding favours already!  (We only have 80 of them, so I think we should go get some more, just in case!)  We may leave them as is, or we may re-wrap them so that they are more personalized, but it's so nice to get another thing done off the checklist!  Woots!

That completes the Sunday story.

Last night, Shaun and I met up with the photographer and signed the contracts and gave him the deposit, so that is all done too!  One more thing done!

The wedding moves along nicely...

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

Sigh...

So, yesterday, I think my "gay" quotient went up about 15 degrees.

I was at the drugstore to pick up some stamps so I could FINALLY send out the last of my mailed invitations, when I saw that Lady Gaga was on the cover of Vogue magazine.  You heard me, I bought a copy of Vogue because Lady Gaga was on the cover. 

Now, I've never actually bought a copy of Vogue before, but I always wondered what the big deal was.  That thing is less of a magazine, and more of an epic tome of fashion!

When I went to go pick the thing up, I only grabbed the first 50 pages or so, 'cause I figured it wouldn't be that big!  It must be at least 2 inches thick, and is pretty much filled cover to cover with ads of all of the major fashion houses around the world.

I must admit, it was definitely interesting to flip through the "magazine" and see all the different styles that the major fashion houses have.  It was also fun to see the actual clothing/shoes/make up that you always hear about from places like Gucci, Prada, Michael Kors, DKNY, Cover Girl, Juicy Couture.  Mixed in were the hilarious ads from KMart.  That was definitely unexpected.  I don't normally pay all that much attention to how clothes are made, but when you put a KMart ad next to a Gucci ad, you're bound to notice a difference in craftsmanship...and man was there ever a difference!!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, the wedding!  I have always said to my good friend April that I would walk down the isle in nothing less than Vera Wang.  Well, my copy of Vogue magazine has a spread of Vera Wang outfits, and man, that woman can design a dress!  (As well as flowers, plates and shoes.  Her name sells things, I guess...)  The next time you see a copy of Vogue, open it up and see if you can find it.  It is absolutely gorgeous!

If only my budget were a little bigger...

Saturday, 12 March 2011

Wedding Registry

Before I go any further, I would just like to state that after my last post, we contacted the Bridal shop, and we can have the dresses sent to wherever we like.  We have to get them to send it to the Bridal Gallery, but then they will forward that to wherever we need it to go.

So yay!!!

Today, Shaun and I went and had a lovely breakfast at Eighties Restaurant, and then decided to go do some fake retail therapy.  Wedding Registry fun was to ensue!

I had no idea that pointing and shooting a laser at something that was not moving could be so much fun!  Of course I'd like a set of wine glasses!  I could definitely go for a food processor!  Sure, we definitely need some new towels.

Ohhh, so much fun!!

Now, we are only putting up a gift registry because a lot of people will not give money for a wedding present.  The only reason why we would prefer money to presents is because we are looking to buy an apartment within the next year or so, and we've been together for such a long time that we have a lot of items already.

Anyway, I think that's all for today, I should go work on the website so all of you who are invited can know what the details are for the day of the wedding.

Groomswench Dress Drama

So, the Bridesmaids' dress situation is interesting...

I was at work earlier today, when I got a text message from Shaun asking me to call him right away.  I felt rather alarmed at that, because Shaun rarely texts me, and it's even more rare that he ask I call him right away.

When I called, he had said that one of our bridesmaids was freaking out over text message about getting the dress altered.  Apparently, the lady that she had been speaking to said that she doubted the bridal store would have been able to alter the dresses in time.  

Now, we had spoken with the consultant when we asked about the dresses because we wanted to make sure they understood that most of our ladies would not be getting into town very far in advance, and our consultant said that was okay.  Shaun was not so convinced that we had made it very clear to her, so I told him "Well, go call her and ask!"

Shaun called, and while the consultant was busy, he spoke with the receptionist, and she said that she doubted we would be able to get it done there in time.

Well F**K!

So, we are going to call them tomorrow to see if we can just ship it directly to the people in Montreal, rather then coming here and wasting time sitting about, waiting for our other ladies to get in from out of town.

Hopefully everything will come together soon...

Time to go work on the website, and actually let everyone know what's going on!

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

New Blog Location

So, I have been having issues with the blog that I originally created on www.traunwedding.com.  It looked good, but if I had the inkling to update the blog, I had to be at home.  iWeb has no interface that you can use to update it when you are not at that specific computer.

I was annoyed at the fact that I couldn't update from wherever I wanted to, so I decided to change it up, and put a link to an actual blogging site.  This way, I can update the blog when I'm at work, and things generally happen more often during the day than when I'm at home and merely vegging out.  You can also comment on these postings as well!!!  FINALLY!!!

I forewarn you.  This will be a fairly epic posting because it's been such a long time since I have updated the blog.

SOOOOOO much has changed since I last updated the blog.  The last time I actually updated the blog was almost a month ago when we received the invitations.  Well, most of the invitations have been sent out.  Don't worry if you haven't received one yet, they are not ALL sent out.  (If you live in Vancouver, the likelihood is that I am going to give your invitation to you personally.)

Having sent out some of the invitations, I have actually recieved some responses!  We have received 2 yes's and one no thus far.  One of the yes's came from a good friend of mine who I am VERY excited to see!  He lives in Ottawa, and moved there before I left Montreal, so it's been a while since I've seen him.  As it turns out, he was planning a trip out to BC anyway, so said that he'd just make sure it coincided with the wedding!  How awesome!  I'm super stoked!

About 2 weeks ago, Shaun and I met up with April and Stephanie to go try on some of the dresses for the ladies in the wedding party.  We went to Bryan's Bridal, and had quite an interesting experience.  We just went for a casual visit; take a look around, see what the prices were like, and what the dresses were like.  We didn't bother booking an appointment, because we didn't think we were going to get anything.

Stephanie ended up being our model, and what a fabulous model she was!  She tried on 3 different dresses.  I would post pictures of the rejects, but you are not allowed to take photos of the dresses which I find quite stupid.  The first two dresses that Steph tried on were okay, but there were a couple of things that we didn't like.  The first one was cut a bit awkwardly, and we foresaw issues with the dresses, and the second one had a nice front, but a frilly back, which didn't look so nice once it was on a person.

The third was just right, as the story goes!  It is a gorgeous dress, and I can't wait for you all to see it.  I won't describe it in much detail, but it will be an amazing European Wine with a white...hmm...sash is the only word I can come up with, but that's not correct.  It goes around the waist.  Beautiful dress.

Anyway, after we found that dress, the lady who was helping us (who was quite nice) had disappeared.  I went to go find her, and she was up at the front speaking with the receptionist.  I said that I had a few questions, and she came to help me.  When I got back to the group, Momma Bryan was there, and man, she looked angry!  Apparently she was super annoyed that the consultant left us alone, and took over for her.

This lady was an epic bitch.  The best way to describe her would be to call her a used car sales person.  She was practically trying to get us to put down a credit card right then and there for these dresses, which we loved, but weren't sure if we were going to get the ladies to wear the same dress.  Then she tried to tell us to get our tuxes from Western Tuxedo Rentals.  Stephanie went with Western Tux, and they totally screwed up the grooms tux.  Even after telling her about the story, she was still trying to tell us to go there and get them from there.  No thanks.

Leaving that store left a bitter taste in my mouth.  I talked to April, Steph, and Shaun, and everyone else agreed that the associates handled themselves very poorly.  So, Stephanie, being the weddinator that she is, went and found us a deal at another location.  A better deal than what Bryan's was offering, so it worked out in the long run anyway.

TUXES.  Man, again, a super ordeal.  I've been to tux fittings, and I've been to tux fittings where there are 5 men to get fitted.  I have not been to a tux fitting where 5 men get fitted and it takes 2 hours to do so.  EPIC.

So, it started off by me being totally stupid.  I had invited everyone to the tux fitting, or so I thought.  Lo and behold, I forgot to invite my best man to the freakin' tux fitting.  I am SUCH a jerk.  I also didn't realise this until 1am on the day of the tux fitting.  Luckily, I have about the bestest friend in the world, and he changed his plans around for me!  (Yes, Stephan, you've passed the test!!!)

Now that we are all there and ready to be fitted, we walk in Moores.  We are greeted by a nice man, and an even nicer lady.  They take us to the back of the store, and then we go over to the middle, and the lady starts taking measurements.  She asks her co-workers if they could help her, because there are 5 of us, so then we won't be standing around doing nothing while the others are getting fitted.  A very old associate comes over, and asks me to follow him.  For some weird reason, I had my tux fitting on the other side of the store.  Why I couldn't get fitted with the group is well beyond me.  I do my fitting, and in that amount of time, everyone had been measured, and Sameer and Stephan had tried on the products.

Then, something happened.  A whole bunch of people came into the store and all of the representatives that had been helping us disappeared.  They went to go help the new customers.  After about 10 or 15 minutes had passed, we went and asked someone for help, as Shaun and Paul had still not tried on anything.  They came and got products for Shaun to try on.  (He looks SUPER sexy in a tux, btw!!)  I went to go and choose exactly what extras we wanted with the tux while Shaun tried it on.  After a few questions, I went to go confirm something with Shaun.  We talked about the tie vs. bowtie, (it's the tie), and then were talking about the other accessories.  Paul still had not tried anything on.  I went over to the guy who was helping me before and said, very angrily but politely, "A member of my party still has not tried anything on.  Please send someone over to help him.  Right. Now. Please."  They ran to help him.

Stupid...

Anyway, after Paul finally tried something on, they took forever entering the information into the system.  Stephan had said that he needed to go, since he had changed his plans for me, and nothing was happening, I told him that was fine.  The guy then asked me for the deposit.  Sameer wanted to pay for his whole thing right away, which was fine.  Then Paul took Shaun's and paid his deposit, so I was going to pay for Stephan's deposit, and my suit.  The guy entered all of the suits on one bill, despite Sameer having already paid.

All in all, as you can tell, I was very unimpressed with the service that I received from Moores.  I think that the tuxes will look good, and I like the styles that Shaun and I chose, but overall, not too keen on them.

Well, this has been a very epic blog.  I'm sorry it's been such a long time coming, but as I say, I will be a bit more free to write them now that it's using a more open source! 

I'll let you know what else is going on later...hopefully it will be only awesomeness!

PS:  Write a comment to let me know that it worked!