two pictues

had a great weekend with family and friends alike. received some great input on planning and got to spend some QT with some super cute kids. we are tired.

the cool kids! (2008)


the Krider Family

happy RACE weekend & the SPOT!

so its one of the best weekends in the city of indianapolis! not because i have four days off from work or that i got to spend a friday night drankin' brews with my dudes..... no no no..... its INDY and that means THE RACE!!!

family from all over this great country come back to lil ole indianapolis for the greatest spectacle in racing. i dont go to the actual race because being around a couple million other people kinda freaks me out. well that and i cant afford a ticket PLUS the cold fried chicken and beer that i would consume en mass. but its a great time to hang with family, tell stories, eat overnight salad and brats with great people. awesome....

speaking of awesome: here are a few pictures of the reception spot!

911 mass. ave!

big room!

as stated before, this is the future home of WITT community radio. theres still some clean up to be done and the bike store that used to be there has some stuff laying around, but trust me you, come july 19th the place will look even more amazing.

oh, where will the magic happen?

Ben already said that we found a location, and yes, it's going to be the WITT room. To be more specific, it's on Mass Ave, right across the street from the video store. And it's awesome. I couldn't be happier with how it looks and feels.
We don't know about the curfew yet, but we are hoping for something like midnight+, considering the ceremony is going to be at 7pm.
Now, if anyone knows a place that rents out tables and chairs and linens for a reasonable price, please share.
So far we've managed to stay within our means (well, kinda), which is good, but we want to make sure that everybody will be well fed and won't have to be thirsty, and if we could only manage to get an appointment at Sahm's...Maybe this weekend.
In other news, my thesis is going to the bindery tomorrow and after that all I need is some signatures and I'll be donedonedone...As much as I am proud of what I did, I just don't want to think about it anymore.
Summer camp starts in a week and I won't have to get up at 5am anymore which will be amazing...I might even be able to stay up until 10 then...good times!!
To get back to wedding fabulousness, the rings we found are really nice and while Ben thinks mine looks like it has pixie-dust on it, I like it. Who doesn't like pixies anyway?
But all of the materialism aside, the most exiting thing is that my friend Felix from Germany is going to be here for two weeks and he's going to be one of my bridesmaids...Don't worry about traditions, he looks real nice in a little black dress. He's been one of my best friends for 18 years now, and while most of my dear Germans are not able to make it (thanks to horrendous ticket prices), he will be there, so it's okay.

direct registry links and reception news!

by request:

CrateUndBarrel

Target


i guess i was a little too slick with the previous links and this way you dont even have to know how to spell my legal name.


our friend Brooke has helped us nudge closer to a location for the reception; it looks to be the future home of WITT, the first community radio station in indianapolis since ive been alive. the space is awesome, its close-ish, and i think everyone will like it. Viola!

Also, my cousin Cindy Traub is getting married next weekend. i havent seen her since my little brother got married and im pretty excited to see what kind of awesome stuff she has planned for her future.

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so many weddings are happening lately. it makes me think about when i would find out someone was getting hitched and respond, "man, theyre droppin' like flies!" now im just happy for people and hope it all works out. dont get me started on my "suckers' game' opinion, that could take some time to explain. in the meantime, just stay away from malls and think twice before getting in your car to run errands.

rings

yea. they fit.

with all that magic happening it's hard to get enough sleep.

Many things have been going on here as Ben already reported.
Saturday we went to register and, as Jen noted, you kind of start feeling greedy, but we did our best not to go completely overboard. I REALLYREALLYREALLY do need an apple corer. At least I want one, because they're awesome and as we all know we need our 5 servings of fruit a day.
Who would have thunk that scanning fun things for 5 hours could be so exhausting?
So Sunday then I got the girls together to go on a dress shopping trip that I was dreading. Turns out, it's not so bad to try on dresses and it doesn't even look all that funny.
Anyway, we started out at several department stores, because I did NOT want to go into a bridal store. After being unsuccessful there, we passed by the Bridal SUPERstore, which looks more like a family dollar from the outside, and went in.
I saw the dresses and thought, Oh, No!, saw the sales lady and thought, This is not going to be pleasant!, but eventually I started looking more carefully and it wasn't bad at all.
Tried on 5 dresses, really liked the 5th, payed and took it over to Betsy's to keep Ben from being to nosy.
Big relief that that's taken care of.
Now, if we could only find a place for the reception...
We do have a trial design for the invitations now, and they are gonna look nice, thanks to Brian, who really wants us to party on unicorn moon.
It's going...Unicorns.

design and registration

those two words make me think about lithography and screen printing, but really they have nothing to do with andrea and i right now - well.... i think a monotype printing press would be a pretty awesome wedding gift, but those are like $2,000. wedding or printing press? hmmmm....

i am still compiling images for the invites. still want it to look cool but provide all of the information you will need to be at the right place at the right time (i WILL be sending one to myself, just to make sure i make it).

if you so choose, you can take a look-see at what andrea and i have chosen as objects to register for at two stores. this is a very odd situation, due mainly to our political beliefs on labor and spending practices. these are things that will bring us joy together, even more than the two of us just watching some dumb or amazing movie with one another. maybe justification for our choices should be said like this: at least we didnt ask for a couch from Crate & Barrel or a Dyson Vacuum Cleaner form Target. crazy expense for furniture and things that suck are not our forte.

check it out anywho:
Target has this thing called Club Wedd. i think its a play on words because there isnt any secret oath to join.


C & B is like the rich white persons version of Ikea, only for REALLY rich white people.


my name is ben traub and my lovely wife to be is andrea freund. click away.


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Andrea bought a wedding dress today. i would love to say its beautiful and amazing, and i guess i should since its important. so yea, its beautiful and amazing. i dont get to see it until 7.19.08, but im pretty sure its dress shaped and doesnt have any weird hat that goes with it. i hope it didnt come with a hat.

and as much as i loved the idea of looking like james bond at my wedding when i was 13, i dont think a tux is in the cards for me. black suit. tie. white shirt. i want to wear my all black chucks, but andrea says 'heck no.' whatever....


and thanks to all of you out there reading up on this magical time we are having. it is surreal and strange and makes us laugh a lot. the stories i have heard about other weddings make me think we are doing something very wrong, but it feels like we are doing it right. i guess we will see in a about thirty-three years.


hmmmmm......wedding.......hmmmm......or a press........hmmmmmm. do i have a choice? of course not!

the Sacred Promise

andrea and i have been together (in hearts and minds) for almost five years now. the actual time spent in physical proximity to one another is more like three years. regardless, we have decided to take the step so many people that love each other take; we are going into business for ourselves selling replica american classic cars and bald eagle statuettes. of course we will be able to get any and all unicorn schnick-schnacks your heart can dream of, so dont worry.

but really, we are getting married. and it is very, very, really exciting.

we hope to update this blog with information for our friends and relatives so that they can, in our words, enjoy what happens when two 'corns become one. yes, we are a UNIcorn. yes, its silly, and maybe even a little ironically dated, but we are having fun with each other. we only hope you can have some fun with us too.

what we have ready for ya'll so far is this:


the DATE & PLACE - July 19th, 7 pm (short Catholic service, no kneeling, i think) @ Christ the King Church (thats my parish!)

the RECEPTION (or what we like to call, the party after the storm) - right now we are weighing options of where to do this. we want to make it fun for all but want to be able to keep the celebration going past 11pm, which since i grew up in Indiana, is hard to do since everyone wants to go home and watch the news. my choice is near northside downtown, but andrea has a lead on another spot just south of downtown. it doesnt really matter, because it will be fun and the food will be yummy (no dinner folks, its too late for dinner, ok?) and the drinks will be cold and free. this portion of the equation MUST be decided before we send out invites.

INVITATIONS!!!! - ug. you would think my awesome ideas would just come to exist, but they dont. we are playing around with images and wording and want to make them unique but not break the bank. just look in your mailbox in a week or two, if you still use that thing. trust me, it wont look like another bill, i promise.

REGISTRATION - target, c&b, amazon.com - links will be provided later. and trust me, we took it easy on you.


are you ready for next semester? oh right! ANDREA GRADUATED!!! she now has a Master's in Sociology from IU Indianapolis (that means iupui, but lets just keep the rivalry going) and is working a LOT for AYS. i am keeping the money rolling in at WFYI and doing some painting,cussing, and writing on my own blog. we are two busy young people with two adorable cats. this is a big step we are very excited about and want to thank everyone involved NOW before this monster gets out of control. so thanks.

young people in love!