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BlahBlahBabble

At Last…

Continuing my “1 year, 1 month and 1 day” anniversary theme (ok, so we’re on day 2 of that, forgive me. Wait, 1 day after the 1 year, 1 month and 1 day anniversary – how’s that?), I thought it was time to finally share the track list from our wedding CD favors. I wanted to give our guests a CD of songs full of wedding memories because I thought it was something they might use and keep. I mean, really – how often do you actually use the favors you get at a wedding? I always take them home, and a few months later I end up throwing them away. It is sad to think of all the money wasted on trivial wedding favors. Well, it is sad to think of the general expense of weddings, but I did my best to keep ours to a minimum! So CD favors were the best option, and I enlisted the help of the fabulous Kymberlie to put them together for me. I supplied the music, and she found a great photo of a couple on a beach – we were married in Galveston – and she did all the work of printing, burning the CDs, putting them together, and so forth. I couldn’t have made them without her – she saved my sanity!

While I was working to select songs for the CD, I realized that the playlist looked like “Nat King Cole, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole…” Well, you get the picture. So we hunted for covers of some of the songs we liked, and found some great ones in unexpected places.

Here are the tracks (I’ll post mp3s of them this weekend, but only for Saturday & Sunday – so get them while they are hot!)

1. At Last – Etta James: Our first dance song. We picked a short song because everyone gets bored watching the bride & groom dance when the song is too long. Plus it was perfect for the moment!
2. Unforgettable – Nat King Cole with Natalie Cole: The father/daughter and mother/son dance. Fit well thanks to the duet of Nat & Natalie.
3. It Had to Be You – Harry Connick, Jr.: Our DJ suggested picking a song to dedicate to our guests to encourage everyone to get out on the dance floor. It was a great idea, and it worked!
4. More Than You Know – Rosemary Clooney: While the DJ hit a winner with suggesting the dedication, he skipped right over the father-in-law/bride and mother-in-law/groom dance we had planned. Gah! But I still love this song.
5. I Love You for Sentimental Reasons – John Pizzarelli: I love John Pizzarelli. If you like music from this era, check him out. He is truly amazing.
6. Love is Here to Stay – Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
7. The Very Thought of You – Natalie Cole
8. All The Things You Are – Ella Fitzgerald: This is a song that the group Mike used to belong to, The Lager Rhythms, sings. I’ve always loved the song, but it isn’t one of Mike’s favorites because he said they always struggled with it in rehearsal. It makes me smile though, so it made the cut.
9. They Can’t Take That Away From Me – John Pizzarelli
10. A Kiss to Build a Dream On – Louis Armstrong
11. For Once In My Life – Frank Sinatra & Gladys Knight with Stevie Wonder
12. I Could Write a Book – Harry Connick, Jr.
13. It’s Only a Paper Moon – Nat King Cole
14. Ain’t That a Kick In The Head – Dean Martin
15. You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You – James Darren: Yes, James Darren. Scotty from Star Trek. Not only can he sing, he can sing well.
16. Fly Me To the Moon – The El Orbits: A local Houston group that plays a lot of cover songs. We’ve been to several of their performances, but nowhere near as many as Kymberlie. 😉
17. I Say A Little Prayer – Diana King: I couldn’t find the version used in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” but I really wanted the “Lobster Claw song” on our wedding CD.
18. Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole: Mike & I didn’t really have a first date in a traditional sense, but we consider our first date the night I invited him over to see “The Wizard of Oz” because he had never seen it (and he still hasn’t seen to this day) . After he got over to my apartment, I discovered that my DVD of the movie was missing, so we watched “Moulin Rouge” instead. Really, I promise, it wasn’t a ploy to get him to date me. Nuh uh. And I still need to replace that missing DVD.
19. Can’t Smile Without You – Barry Manilow: We put one song on the CD that symbolized us as individuals. I had to choose between Barry and the Bee Gees, but this song flowed the best with the rest of the tracks. And really, I can’t smile without Mike…
20. What a Wonderful World – Da Vinci’s Notebook: I had first heard of DVN thanks to Erika and Su, and Mike & I went to their concert when they came through Houston a few years ago. Fabulous! See them if you ever have a chance!
21. The Rainbow Connection – Kermit the Frog: This was Mike’s song (although I love it too); he wanted it to be our first dance, but if you listen to the words it just doesn’t work. But I had to include it on the CD because he loves it, and the Muppets, a lot. Someday I’ll tell you all about the names of the electronics in our house…
22. The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra: Our “last dance” at our wedding reception was to this song.
23. The Best is Yet to Come – Tony Bennett: The second to last dance, since the wedding is just for a day – the marriage is for a lifetime and the best is truly yet to come.
24. Thanks for the Memories – Bob Hope: A little way to say “Thank You” on the CD to our guests for coming. I’m so grateful for everyone that was able to come celebrate with us.
25. Fare Thee Well – Lager Rhythms: This song was originally written for Michael & Ginger’s wedding by a former member of the group. We had hoped to have the Lager Rhythms sing this at our wedding also (with Michael & Ginger’s permission), but since Mike couldn’t sing during the wedding (you know, being the groom and all) and one other bass was missing because he had a commitment that weekend, there was no way they could pull it off with just 6 out of the 8 members. It had to be on the CD though, because it meant so much to us.

What songs did you play at your wedding? What was (or will be) your first dance song? Any special musical memories?

By Christine

Christine is an Avenger of Sexiness. Her Superpower is helping Hot Mamas grow their Confidence by rediscovering their Beauty. She lives in the Heights in Houston, Texas, works as a boudoir photographer, and writes about running a Business of Awesome. In her spare time, she loves to knit, especially when she travels. She & her husband Mike have a food blog at Spoon & Knife.

13 replies on “At Last…”

Beautiful in My Eyes by Joshua Kadison. Without realizing it, my husband and I would think of one another whenever we heard this song. One day we finally heard it when we were together and we figured out that this should just be “our” song. So, this was the only song played at our wedding. (we had a nice, small reception at the church)

And I cannot wait til you get the MP3s up…I have been looking for Kermie’s version of the Rainbow Connection for a while now! COOL!

I have been thinking about how awesome it would be to have a 1940s style wedding…just that old, classy feel to it, with all the music you listed. I’m such a child of the 80s, though, and I would really miss those tunes. But there’s something classy about the 40s that just appeals to me 🙂

Oooh, cool tunes! A CD is a GREAT favour, because everyone likes music, and almost everyone likes standards like that.

About Da Vinci’s Notebook: They’re local, and my boy also sings in an a cappella group, so they actually know the guys from shared gigs, etc. Last time I heard they were breaking up/taking a hiatus though?

I had no idea that Mike sings!

P.S. On an unrelated note: I owe you some money for the hosting! I’m sooo sorry that I’ve been procrastinating so much. (Thanks for not pulling the plug on me!) You told me to check the space I’m using at the C Panel (or something like that!), but the thing is, I have NO IDEA how to do that!!!!

Get out! Your man sings a cappella? And *knows* the guys in DVN? That is TOO COOL!!! Mike sings a cappella also (bass) although he resigned from the group earlier this year. As for DVN, I hadn’t heard about the hiatus/break up though. That is very sad. They were a fun group to watch!

Half of DVN is still performing check out:
http://www.paulandstorm.com/
I think DVN also does a very rare performance (previous commitments maybe).
Also check out DVN’s website (very entertaining!)
http://www.davincisnotebook.com/
I first saw them at the very beginning of their career when their best song was Metalshop (I think) — a medley of barbershop renditions of heavy metal songs. Unforgettable.
I also made CDs for my brother’s wedding — totally different selection from yours. And different from what I would choose, also.

these are great songs!!!! I would have cchosen at least half of those, if I had done the CD thing. I wanted to do it for a rehearsal dinner favor, but I never got to it.

James Darren was actually Vic Fontaine from the Vegas holodeck in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He’s wonderful.

In the unlikely event that I do ever get married, my first song is totally At Last. I’ve had that picked out for years.

I’d like to walk down the aisle to the song Touch by Sarah McLachlan, but I’m not sure the resort in Jamaica will allow us to bring our own music. our first dance at the reception when we get back will mostly like be Gabriel by the group Lamb. if the resort lets us have music at our mini reception after the ceremony, I’d like to dance to Sentimental Journey (probably the cover by this teenage jazz chick whose name is failing me at the moment) with my stepdad b/c it’s a very special song to both of us. I’m not sure what Boy will dance to with his mom. I may dance with hid dad since my parents won’t be able to come to our reception in Lake Charles. we may do the wedding cd favor thing too, btw. we have a ton of songs that mean a lot to us and we both have a lot of fun arranging cds and doing the artwork.

What a cool topic! My wedding started with the song “Love Never Fails”, and my matron-of-honor walked down the aisle to “Prelude”–both from Jim Brickman (Love Songs & Lullabies).
Our first dance was to “Real Love” by the Beatles (almost was “At Last”, but hubby loooves the Beatles!), and father/daughter dance was “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion.
We didn’t have a DJ, we burned a bunch of CDs and one of my sisters watched over the CD player!

hi,
i was just wondering im getting married in august and my soon to be husband cannot think of any song to dance too with his mother…could you give me a few songs for ideas please?

thank you!

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Categories
BlahBlahBabble

At Last…

This time, I decided to jack with the cable company. I mean, after all, they have made me wait for them twice – so I thought that today it should be my turn.

I made a trip in to downtown for my allergy shots. While sitting in the doctor’s office, I called Mike and reminded him to investigate if his company offers a “Domestic Partner” option for their health insurance – I’m currently paying an arm and a leg for my coverage through my former employer, so if I can be an add-on to his policy, the cost will drop. It is available – we just had to sign an affidavit stating that we own a house and they can get it set up. However, the affidavit needed to be notarized, of course.

After I finished at the doctor’s office, I zoomed off for a quick lunch date with Emily and Natalie at the Twisted Fork. Mike stopped by to drop off the paperwork that needed to be signed and notarized. After lunch, we went our separate ways, and I went to the law firm where I used to work so that Gigi, a former co-worker, could do her notary magic.

Uhm, big mistake.

I should have known that dropping in just after lunch would involve visiting with several people. Not that I mind at all – don’t get me wrong, I miss seeing them daily. But by then it was almost 1:30, and the cable guy was supposed to come today between 2:00 and 4:00 – and I live at least 30 minutes from downtown. Oops. It was close to 2:00 by the time I left there, and I figured that, with my luck, the cable guy would actually show up on time!

I called the cable company. I informed them that this time *I* was running late, relaying my horror story from Tuesday. They called the dispatcher and asked that the cable guy come “late” in the timeframe. All I could think was, “Great. Now he’ll actually show up at 9:00 tonight!”

He arrived at 3:30. I was stunned that he actually made it within the timeframe of the appointment! He got to work, installed the cable outlet in my kitchen, tested my other outlets, and even answered all of my questions about things like signal boosters for the cable.

I am a happy customer after today’s experience.

The bad news? We need one of those signal boosters. So I need to make another appointment. Hopefully, it will go smooth as well!

By Christine

Christine is an Avenger of Sexiness. Her Superpower is helping Hot Mamas grow their Confidence by rediscovering their Beauty. She lives in the Heights in Houston, Texas, works as a boudoir photographer, and writes about running a Business of Awesome. In her spare time, she loves to knit, especially when she travels. She & her husband Mike have a food blog at Spoon & Knife.

Categories
The Amazing Race

At Last…

Guess what I finally did tonight? I watched the final episode of the last Amazing Race! Yeah, yeah … it aired a month ago and it has been sitting on the Tivo waiting for me. I was so tired earlier, worn out from the new temp job where I’ve been working hard – plus I have to leave the house by 7am! Ugh. Not good when you’re used to staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning!

I don’t have a lot to say about the final leg other than this – if Flo had said one more time “I want to quit” then I would have to hunt her down and kick her ass. If you’re going to quit, don’t wait until it’s down to the final 3. You could have quit earlier and given someone else a chance. Zack truly carried her weight in that race, and she was such a twit it was amazing.

The winner of the Amazing Race got a million dollars. There are other races though – or rather contests – where the stakes aren’t so high, and 24 hours after finding out who the finalists are for the Bloggies, now I’m finding all sorts of chaos, discord, and “you cheated” in the Blogosphere. Hello? People? As absolutely thrilled that I am to be up for a Bloggie … it’s a Bloggie. You know what? I bet there are 10,000 blogs out there run by people that don’t know the Bloggies exist. Remember that whole “Inner Circle Syndrome” thing I talked about a few weeks ago? One of my points that got lost in the shuffle was that there are circles. I have my close personal circle of friends, then the circle outside of that one made of people I talk to but that may not know the me quite as well, then it builds from circle to circle, growing larger & larger – eventually I hit a circle of blogs that I’m just a Blurker on, and then finally there are the sites that I don’t even know about. The Bloggies are a small measure in a vast universe. I realize this. I told Mike last night that I won already, because I’m just that happy to be in the finals. If I don’t win my category, that’s ok. (By the way, check out his Big Pink Cookie photo…) There isn’t a million dollars at stake – this isn’t the Amazing Race. This is the blog world. I love the friends I have met through my blog and the people I haven’t met yet but will someday. Meanwhile, I will go on blogging.

It’s the Bloggies. It’s not worth a scandal, and I hope the people that are turning it in to one will stop instead of causing more people more pain. Otherwise, it’s time to call in the Spork Posse!

UPDATED: I wrote this post after getting a phone call and reading three blog posts. Then I discovered all sorts of things going on as I started reading my daily reads. Wow. Damn.

Let me just say it again – I have a life outside of this website. We all do. It brings me a lot of joy, I won’t deny it. If I let it, it has the power to bring me a lot of pain. But … I don’t want to do that. I’m just going to focus on the many things that make me happy about it – that would be YOU, the people reading it – and the chance to say what I want when I want to say it. Awards, no awards, nothing is going to change here for me.

By Christine

Christine is an Avenger of Sexiness. Her Superpower is helping Hot Mamas grow their Confidence by rediscovering their Beauty. She lives in the Heights in Houston, Texas, works as a boudoir photographer, and writes about running a Business of Awesome. In her spare time, she loves to knit, especially when she travels. She & her husband Mike have a food blog at Spoon & Knife.

10 replies on “At Last…”

right on, sistah! isn’t it like 1 guy sorting through hundreds (or thousands) of blogs? that’s a tough job… especially when everyone’s looking at you wondering what the heck you’re doing and when the deadline’s not met, you’re to blame. what is up with that? if they think it’s a scandal, a cheat, did they help out any? or are they just all bitter that their nominations didn’t show up in the list?

anyway, spork posse unites! and where is that button again? i wanna put it up on my site! 🙂

I think one post from the owner on where they’re out and how they got there would do a world of good. When something gets this big, there’s bound to be checks and balances — as I’ve stated here. That’s just human nature. That so many great, and 100%-deserving sites, have got caught up in the cross-fire is very unfortunate though. It’s cliché, but “no one wins”.

Every time I read “Bloggies” I add “Porn Ring” to the end of it. It’s the only thing making all the hate entries I’m stumbling upon interesting. Though I still feel like I’m being spit in the face everytime someone says “All those nominees SUCK cause they aren’t the people *I* wanted nominated”. I’m tempted to make a button – if you think I don’t deserve my bloggie nomination, come tell me to my face… only catchier and perhaps with a boobie picture. Cause y’know, love the bloggies, but not more than I love all the big pink cookies. 😉

I sort of feel that way, too, Cis (and congrats on your nomination!). And the thing is…I didn’t even DO anything to get people to nominate my webring…I almost fell off my chair when I saw it there! So it DOES bother me to read about how all the nominees supposedly *suck*.

I agree with Christine…I feel that in way, I’ve already won, just by being nominated. If I win, cool, but if I don’t, it won’t be the end of the world.

Just ignore the naysayers and have fun with it! 🙂

You know, this is like the fifth place that I’ve read about bloggers who have been told they have cheated, the Bloggies are fixed, nyah, nyah, nyah. On some of the new blogs I have visited (from the Bloggies list, I might add), I’ve only seen the bloggers complaining about getting slammed, but not any slammers. Actually, all the commenters seem really supportive. Are these “bad” people emailing you folks personally or what? I think you have the right attitude, but I’m wondering if all this hub-bub is being made up in the “blogosphere,” cause I’m just not seeing it.

By the way, congratulations to you. A little recognition is nice once in a while.

I’d like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company
Is it right or wrong Try to find a place We can all belong Be as one Try to get on by If we unify We should really try All this time Spinning round and round Made the same mistakes That we’ve always found Surely now We could move along Make a better w…

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