see, the thing is....

most of us use mid-western speak in our daily language (well, at least cool people do) and one of my favorite-est sayings is "see, thing is...."
when i hung out with Canadians, they would always bust out laughing at that phrase no matter if it was for a night out for sushi or sitting in a club. my ole buddy Paul Fox would often start his mid-set story/ramblings with the phrase when my old band Letters in English would play shows. and scarily, ive heard andrea use the phrase from time to time.
why am i writing about a phrase? a specific phrase? in a few days andrea and i will be saying another phrase. not used as much in daily vernacular, or really when its not appropriate, but the simple words, "I do." are getting ready to resonate from our mouths and change the universe on a sub-atomic level. well, depending on who you ask, many things change on a sub-atomic level, but this one is important.

daily we go down the check list of things to make sure are done. our families are wonderful units of helpfulness and inspiration that we know will not let up come this saturday. calling folks to rsvp is done and thank you cards have already been written, signed, and mailed. schedules are set and keys have been passed into possession. no more deposits, its final payment time. and yes, we are still working at our jobs. i dont know how younger people could do this. it really takes some time and patience, and if theres one thing i know about kids today, its that they have no patience. regardless, after five years of courtship and two and a half years of cohabiting, we are ready for the rest of our lives. and guess what? as much as we dont know whats going to happen tomorrow, we hope you are at least ready for the rest of your life. its going to be long (or relatively short in the larger scheme of history) so be ready. anything could happen and you know it.

comfort is a luxury. but partying? its required.

if you dont hear from us before friday or saturday, know that our blessed union is true, that we wish you could celebrate it with us, and that we are thinking of all of you no matter how much this is supposed to be "our day."

ok?

bridal shower, packages and frivolous gifts...

Last Saturday I had the pleasure to go my second ever and own bridal shower. It was awesome. The three Jennys did an amazing job organizing an afternoon that I could enjoy and hopefully everyone else did as well.
All of this is beyond overwhelming, as I am sure everybody who has been in this position knows, but lots of fun, once you get over the stress of it.
We played some fun little games, ate lots and lots of food and I got tons and tons of presents. There are pictures too, but I don't have the time to post them right now. Later.
My mom and my stepdad are here, which is really nice, I just wish I didn't have to yell at 65 kids all day and had stronger nerves. I am not the most sociable person during the week anymore.
Anyway, it's great to have them here and to be able to give hugs and talk face-to-face. Tomorrow morning we are leaving for a weekend in Chicago and I couldn't be happier to get out of the city for a few days.
We have been getting presents in the mail constantly, and that's a very nice change in mail away from just bills and advertisements. However, our living room is looking smaller and smaller by the day. That's why people buy houses after they get married. All the new stuff.
Our dear friend Maggie send us a package today that made me laugh so hard...we know have M&Ms with our picture on it. They are fabulous. Way to pretty to eat...
We are going out to dinner now, but I will try my best to keep this updated.

the government wants to know...

how you have heard about our relationship, the first time you heard, what you thought, if we are really a couple....all that fun stuff.
if you are willing to vouch for us in form of a letter, please let us know. We also need pictures of us together. Please check if at some point you took one and have it on your computer. First of all, it would be nice to have a picture or two of Ben and I (we really don't have too many) and second of all, immigration wants proof that we actually are a couple.
We would appreciate every help we can get.
For more information, write us an email, or call us.
I am still trying to figure out this whole process, but I thought I'd ask now, before it gets to hectic.

My mom is coming in two days, and I couldn't be more excited (even though I would like it to be cleaner here) and Saturday is my awesome bridal shower thanks to Jenny and Jennifer. It's a good week.

it's real!

after a wonderful night out at the Christ the King Summer Social, we received a wonderful rsvp from our friend Kirsten, who we KNEW would be attending, but none the less, she gave us some info that go me thinking....


i could have sworn that as a child, watching too much TV, that once, on some silly televised circus that as the finale they showed a REAL UNICORN. supposedly not a real unicorn but a mix of goat and mule that some italian family had bred for having one horn and "kinda" looking like a horse-like creature. then a few years later Art School happened, but i am still pretty sure i saw what i saw.

until....Kirsten....sent......

this:




yea, a freak of nature. but not that much unlike our marriage. just kidding. its exactly like it.

T-Minus

one month away.
if you have not, please rsvp. we have to make sure we have a chair for you to sit in.

andrea and i went to the county office and swore that the information we filled out on an OFFICIAL marriage license was true. the clerk was looking RIGHT at andrea when we both said "yes." i dont know if it was because he didnt quite believe her or because shes so pretty.

i think its because shes pretty.

really people, rsvp if you havent.

invite only...we are very exclusive...

So most of the invites are on their way. Finally. My printer, unfortunately, decided to ruin the last 5 sheets of mailing labels I had, so about 30 invitations are still sitting here waiting to be mailed. I'll take care of that tomorrow. Brian did an amazing job on the design and as soon as I get the German announcements they will be send as well.
Yesterday we went decoration-shopping, which wasn't even half as painful as I thought it would be...well, the humidity was a big minus, but other than that it was fine.
If the final result will be anything like I imagine, it will be nice and simple and pretty.
It was also our 5th anniversary this weekend, so we went to the Spaghetti Factory, did some extreme sweating, ate what we could eat and went to see Iron Man, which was awesome. If you like Marvel, you should see it.
Today I did some more dress fitting (It fits, yay) and planning with Betsy and it looks like everything is going to work somehow. Enough wedding talk now.

So as Ben mentioned, we got a little emotional during Obama's speech. While it is always historical when the nominees are finally chosen, it is still a completely different kind of history being written right now. It was about time, and as sad as it is that for me it came down to siding with the male candidate, I do believe that it is amazing that the kids I work with have now seen that it doesn't always have to be an old white guy. I hope it will make a difference in the long run and not just momentarily.
Besides his politics, what I (as a foreigner) like about Obama is his international background, his apparent understanding of world affairs, and that he keeps saying that he does not want to surround himself with yes-men.
It can only get better, and I am hoping for substantial change and more accountability for the administration.

That being said, now back to the important stuff:
UNICORNS

who wants a tasty treat?

whats in that box?


andrea and i got up early (for us) today in order to go do the one thing that most couples either leave up to someone else, take too seriously, or think too little about. thats right, we went to look at wedding cakes. but if you know either andrea or myself well enough you know that we do indeed LOVE cake, but a "wedding cake" is something for other couples. so, since we are young(ish) and hip(ish), we decided early on to try something a little different for our attendees. we hope you all will enjoy our desert selection since the reception wont have much in the way of a dinner.

SIDE NOTE: we also woke up tuesday morning to go to Sahm's where a nice lady name Ellen was nice enough to feed us pork kabobs and cheese at 9:30 in the morning. yes, you will be gnoshing on some good eats come july 19th.

ok, back to the yummy yum - our fantastic friend Kirsten Eamon-Shine was nice enough to purchase a box of what can be safely said was some of the best baked goods that have ever entered my stomach that didnt come our of a wrapper. just the look of these tasty little cakes, just by the halo of not-quite-healthy-but-its-good-for-your-soulness, it was decided.

the flying cupcake bakery is a super cute little shop in indy. its within stone skipping distance of the canal and rife with second handness - when you pay for your cupcakes youre standing in front of an OLD coke cooler, probably from the 50's or 60's based on the size of it. the owner and head baker, Gigi Powell (no relation to Dick's family at CTK) was super energetic and very helpful in all ways. i know how hard it is to be an enthusiastic seller in the morning, but really, her product sells itself. yea its a little pricey, but its hella good, kids. really, theyre great!


behold!

clockwise from top left; razmatazz, not-a-ho-ho, red velevet (my fave), koo koo coconut.


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in other news andrea and i shared a tearful moment tuesday night as Obama clenched the delegate count to claim the title of "presumptive nominee" for the Democratic Party. andrea cant vote, and i know that voting as a citizen is really nothing more than nudging some other citizen with more political power to vote the way you want. that persons ribs must hurt after a while, ya know? anyway, as the two of us share this magical time, let us also recognize that in the USA, in 2008, there is an amazing candidate that has both broken the mold and played the game within the rules. i have no ill-will towards Clinton, but Obama is really something else....that something else being the direction i think this country needs towards.

hey, what did you expect from this blog? just pictures of cupcakes and magical knights riding unicorns?
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well, here you go!


thanks travis!