Year: 2004

To address issues brought up in my previous post comments, I thought I would write another post.

– I have started writing my fancy thank you notes already. That way they won’t be piling up and waiting after the honeymoon. I just wanted to acknowledge that we have received it somehow, so I’ll send a “we got it” note now, and the formal thank you notes in a year.

– While I realize that some etiquitte rules say that you can wait up to a year to say thank you for the gifts, that just seems really, really tacky. My “how to write a good thank you note” book says to send them as soon as possible. Either do them before the wedding as gifts come in, or right away after the wedding. I agree with that system. Waiting 3-4 months even is terribly rude and makes people wonder if you got the gift or if you just don’t care about thanking them.

– Mike has lived in London, but there was a lot he didn’t do or see. So it is nice to know that he will be able to find our way around, and at the same time we will discover new things. Having a tour guide is good.

– When I went to bed last night, I was thinking “well, London is probably the best choice.” When I got up this morning and saw the Eiffel Tower statue that D got for me on one of his trips to Paris, I thought “but Paris sounds just soooo romantic.”

– Visiting both London and Paris has been considered. I’m investigating that further.

– When I visited Paris 13 years ago, I got away with knowing just hello, goodbye and thank you in French. As long as you attempt to speak the language in a foreign land, they are normally nice to you. They realize you don’t really have a clue – they just get bitter when you don’t even try.

– I loved, loved, loved Ste’s photos of Venice. However, I went there when I did the Eurorail thing in the early ’90s and got massively dehydrated. I was miserable. And there was no way I could read a map in that city. I swear that every single square had the same name. I’m sure being sick didn’t help.

– However, Venice has been brought up on the list. I want to give it another chance, I know it is an awesome city. When I was there, I swore I would come back with someone I love and rent a gondola. I really want to ride in one of those.

– Scotland was also brought up, but Mike travelled there some with an ex when he lived in London. That taints Scotland just like parts of Germany.

– Bavaria absolutely ROCKS. I have been to Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland – but could not wait to return to Germany. As mentioned above, I left a lot of emotional baggage behind there, so it might not be a good honeymoon spot. (The Danube cruise doesn’t touch my baggage cities, so it’s ok.)

– We have both seen some of the same things in Paris – like the Eiffel Tower. He didn’t go up in to the tower at all; I only went up to the second level. I swore I would return someday to go to the top. I visited Notre Dame, he didn’t. I haven’t ever been up on the roof though, and I love the Gargoyles, so I must make that trip someday. (Again, go and check out Ste’s photos. *le sigh*) I also want to see the Louvre. Versailles. A lot of other places. And I want a good photo of the Arc d’ Triomphe.

– Let’s be honest. No matter where I go, it will become a giant photo tour. Fortunately, Mike is ok with that. (He would have to be, otherwise I couldn’t have married him. Seriously.)

– I’ve never had a desire to visit Australia or New Zealand. I know, I’m strange like that. I also don’t want to go to Japan or really anywhere in Asia. There are some places in the world that just seem to call to me. I feel most at peace in Boston (I know, that probably sounds weird) and England and Europe just call to me.

– New Orleans is dirty in a way, but … well, we still found it romantic. When we visited last summer we had a great time, but it was too short. There is so much we still want to see there. I still want to go on the cemetary tour – that’s an absolute must someday. (Yeah, I didn’t get to go last summer. I’m still bitter.) It’s close enough though that we can visit on a 3 day weekend.

– We briefly discussed beach locations – Jamaica, Hawaii, etc. Then we realized we are city people, not beach people. Europe became the front runner then.

– There is a certain “stress-free” factor to returning to a city that one of us knows like London. However, I was able to get around the Paris subway system without any problems at all, so that is an option too.

Maybe we can pull off 10 days – 5 in London and 5 in Paris. Some down time, not moving around too much, but getting to see it all. Hmmm…

I have some questions, and I want *YOUR* opinions. Yes, you. Right there. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Please? Share your thoughts. I *need* your help!

– We have already started receiving wedding gifts. We want to send out thank you notes right away so that the person who sent it will know that it made it here ok. Problem? Our “formal” thank you cards have our married name. I am not supposed to use them until after the wedding. I don’t want to wait a month to mail these notes. What should I do?

– The great honeymoon debate continues. Here are a list of citys, with the issues related to each one:

– Chicago: Fabulous city. I lived 60 miles south in Kankakee, IL when I was in elementary school, but we moved to Houston when I was 15. I’ve never been there as an adult. Mike’s never been there at all, and really wants to go. Fabulous food. Museums. Restaurants. Navy Pier. Lots of other stuff. Negatives? Doesn’t sound “honeymoony,” and I have seen some of it when I was a kid – I’m afraid that I’ll be disappointed by some things. Childhood memories not living up to reality and all that.

– Paris: I love the Eiffel Tower. We have both visited Paris, for a total of maybe 24 hours – combined. Less than one day each. We both want to see Paris again. It’s the city of love and all that. We have airline miles to pay for the flight, so going there probably won’t be much more expensive than staying in the US. Negatives? George Bush is an idiot and the French hate Americans right now. (I’ve heard that Americans that have loved Paris in the past were treated very rudely there.) Mike’s afraid it’s too touristy. He knows a little French, I know “Bon Jour.”

– London: I have always wanted to visit London. Always. Since I was a little girl. We’ll blame Mary Poppins for that, I guess. I want to see so many historic places, there are too many to list here. Mike lived there for a year, so he knows his way around the city – but he spent most of his time at work and never saw all the touristy things I want to see. He absolutely loves the city, and wants to share it with me. And the people speak English (with a heavy accent, but still – it’s English.) Negatives? He lived there, so he has memories associated with the city. That’s a pretty minor negative though, as there is so much he has never seen in the city – so much that will be new for us together.

– Danube River Cruise – This trip starts off with 3 days in Prague, and then you travel the river from Nuremberg to Budapest, stopping in Vienna and other cities. It’s a gorgeous part of Europe that we have never seen, and it would be nice leisurely travel. We won’t have to make decisions about where to go – we get an itinerary to follow, and the decisions are made. Negatives? We’re on their time schedule. If we like one city and want to stay there, we can’t – we will have to continue on. If the food is horrid or anything like that on the boat, it could really ruin the trip.

– Germany – I lived there in the early ’90s, and have wanted to go back since the day I left. I would love to take Mike to see Heidelberg, Rothenberg, Wurzburg, Neuschwanstein, Garmish and Munich. He would love to see all the cities I love so much. Negatives? My memories tied to Germany. There are so many places I want to see, we would be moving around from city to city every other day. We would have to rent a car probably to drive from one side of the country to the other.

– New Orleans – Originally, we wanted to go there. Unfortunately, the weekend after our wedding is the “Great French Market Tomato Festival” and all the rooms in New Orleans are booked. It was like a flashback of our trip there last year.

We’ve also talked about a bunch of other places, but I think the final three right now are Chicago, Paris, London or the Danube cruise. What do you think? Have you been to any of these places? Pros? Cons? If we go to one of the locations, what should we see? Have any tips to share? Come on, you know you’re thinking something about all of this.

The wedding is May 29th. 1 month away. I talked with a total of 4 vendors today. Last night Chelsey, Kymberlie and I went to have our dresses altered. (Kymberlie has photographic evidence – including a shot of her wearing my tiara.) 1 month. Flowers are set, catering menu is in with services from halal catering, and rooms are reserved for guests. I have finally learned why I hate planning things – because I am a freak and obsess over all of the decisions. It’s just easier to pick one quickly and get it over with. Sort of like ripping off a bandaid or something like that.

If you have an invitation and you haven’t mailed back the response card – send it. I’m starting to freak out over the guest list and the RSVPs, and I’ll start stalking you until I know what your answer is. If you’re in to that sort of thing … well, I don’t have time to stalk you really, so I guess it’s a somewhat idle threat. RSVP anyways. Pretty please.

We have no clue where we are going for our honeymoon. Instead of making the list of places shorter, we keep making it longer. GAH! I like the Danube river cruise right now though. 3 days in Prague, a trip through Europe, and ending in Budapest. However, we are still talking about Paris and Chicago too. Or Scotland. Or San Francisco. Decisions, decisions.

Ok. I’ll be ok. Breathe in, breathe out. Whoooooosh. I have no doubts about the wedding itself – but this last month is going to be crazy!

Wow. 1 month. Wow…