The Wedding Blürg

Honeymoon Day 14: First stop African Safari, next stop Life

2009-05-20T12:53:00.005-05:00

We knew it had to end sometime, and today would be our last day as Honeymooners yes dear friends...the honeymoon was over.

Well not just yet, we had one final stop: Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Look Ma! No lines!

This was the only park I had never been to so I was quite excited to explore. Plus it held one of the newest and most exciting rides in Disney- Expedition Everest.

A quick shot before one of our multiple rides. Insider tip: sit towards the back.

We rode it four times, and managed to videotape our final voyage. It's not filmed with the steadiest of hands, but hopefully you will enjoy it.

Aside from scaling Everest multiple times we did the African Safari, which to be honest was kind of lame, and took in all the other major rides and attractions. The Bugs Life Comedy Hour inside the tree of life was a big hit.

As was the Dinosaur hunter ride, however one of the most memorable parts of the day was Finding Nemo: The Musical.

A 45 minute full scale production of the hit movie which was really enjoyable, and had one tune which wouldn't leave our heads, and truthfully still hasn't.

We did not film this, but I found it on YouTube. It has become our honeymoon theme song.

It's fun to change out the words "Go with the FlooOOOoooWWW" to other things, such as...

"I want CheerioooOOOooosss..."
"Open the DoooOOOOoooorrr"
"We're going to ChicagooOOOoooo"

The possibilities, my friends, are endless.

After a great day in the Animal Kingdom it was time to bid adieu to the land of imagination and get on back to real life. Thankfully our final leg of the trip was on time and we had two great friends waiting to pick us up at the airport (thanks Roni and Rick!)

We were so very lucky to be able to take such a nice, long honeymoon, and do so many new and exciting things. We of course look forward to more trips in the future, but this one will always hold a special place in both of our hearts.

Honeymoon Day 13th: Our Guide to The Most Magical Place on Earth

2009-05-20T12:35:00.003-05:00

Today would be our final full day at Walt Disney World and as always we were determined to make the most of it. Our point of origin today was WDW's original place of origin: The Magic Kingdom.

(We were first in line..yes...yes we were).

Throughout our trip to Disney we referred back to a sacred book which held many secrets of the Magical World of Disney. It advised us on which attractions to visit, at what times and in what order. It provided us with reviews of the various eateries, and when they would be at their peak hours. It was our very own Gideon's Magical World of Disney Bible.

We weren't able to see the mesmerizing Hall of Presidents because they are in the process of building OBAMA!

Jürg's punishment for making me get up so early...

By following the strict guidelines set out for us we found ourselves waiting in no lines at the Magic Kingdom, which in turn provided us with many hours of free time before dinner that evening. It seemed only natural that we should return to the MGM Studios and play one more round of the Toy Story game. How did things shake down? Take a wild guess...

That evening we took ourselves out to a fantastic restaurant called Jiko. A fine dining establishment which specializes in African cuisine located in the wildlife preserve on Disney's Animal Kingdom. The meal was amazing, and our server was so very lovely. We took a picture but I look so heinous I will not subject the 7 people who read this blog to such an image. We do clean up nice though...trust me!

Honeymoon Day 12: How we spent Innauguration Day

2009-05-13T14:00:00.005-05:00

At Epcot that's where!

While the world ushered in a new Era of Change we were up with the birds to secure our place in line. How did we fare?

We managed to hit all of the major rides at Epcot very early in the day, which allowed us to ride them all multiple times before lunch! It will certainly be quite an adjustment when we go back this summer. The new ride Soarin', soared to the top of our list of "coolest rides." A virtual hand gliding experience which feels pretty darn close to the real thing. We loved the Mission Space ride despite the warnings we were given about motion sickness (weaklings). Conversations with Crush blew our minds and we got to chow down on some legit German Grub. All in all a great way to spend this historic day. The only other place I would rather have been....on the mall in D.C.

One downfall...the weather. After having been spoiled with the tropical rays of the Carribean the harsher temps of southern Florida were a small cog in the wheel. We hadn't dressed for 40 degree weather, so our plans to stay and watch the fireworks were thwarted. Thankfully we will see them again soon!

We went back early that night and enjoyed our hotels hot tub before calling it a night and silently saluting our Country .

Honeymoon Day 11: The Early Birds Get The Royal Treatment

2009-04-10T13:42:00.010-05:00

Today was the day I said "see ya" to all those well rested mornings. We woke up at 5:00 am (yes, it was as horrible as it sounds) to board a shuttle back to the airport so we could hop on the Disney Magical Express to our hotel. Thankfully we had our choice of seats.

Why so empty? Two reasons really:

1) Mid-January is one of the least crowded times of year at Disney
2) Who in God's name wants to be up and on the Magical Express at 6 am? Jürgen, that's who!

We arrived at the Port Orleans French Quarter resort in no time, and shockingly (note the sarcasm) didn't have to wait at all to check in. Of course our room was not ready as someone (not me!) was probably sleeping. After checking in they gave us our park passes and two buttons with the images of Prince Charming and Cinderella emblazoned on the front of them with the words "Just Married!" We were advised to wear these during our stay. Best. Advice. Ever.

We had some time to kill before we could catch the 7:45am bus to MGM...oh wait...I'm sorry it's Disney's Hollywood Studios...ridiculous new name. So here are some photos Jürg snapped. He likes to do that.

Not quite PSV....but it certainly had it's own special flair.

When we arrived at MGM (I refuse to conform!) we were the FIRST people in line. Yes it's true. Have you ever heard of such madness? We had over an hour before the park actually opened which gave us plenty of time to chart our course of action for the day. At about 8:30 two Disney crew members approached us and offered their congrats (this is what happened everywhere we went due to the magical powers of our buttons). Then, much to our surprise, they asked "Would you like to open the park for us?"

Being attention whores we said yes, and were immediately let through the gate into a VIP waiting room. This is how I felt about all of this:

"What is going on??"

We were informed that we would have lines we would have to say in front of the entire crowd, but it would be easy and we would be told what to do. For the next half hour we had no idea what was going on, but we did get to stare at everyone behind the rope while we had access to the empty streets of Disney. Freakin' sweet!
Getting ready to be stars. Maybe they had seen my Zune commercial?

A candid moment caught while we waiting for our close up.

It had been years since I had been to Disney World, in fact the last time I was there I couldn't drive and Bill Clinton was in office. Suffice to say, times have changed. Nowadays before they let anyone into the parks they put on some kind of "show" just to rev you up and make you irritated (I don't think that's the actual intention...). The premise of the MGM show is an old Hollywood actress turns the corner in a white car and she will be starring in a new film called "Celebrate You!" (you have to say that with TONS of energy). We were to be the young Hollywood Couple alongside a "famous" film director and his quirky assistant. We were introduced, the crowd cheered for our newlywed status and we were prompted to say our big line:

"Hollywood Here We Come!"

This woman was very intense.

Can't you just sense their irritation?

The whole thing took at least seven minutes, but in the end we were driven to the Rock and Roller Coaster where we got to ride the coaster all by ourselves.

That will certainly wake you up! After our solo ride, we were given fast passes to any ride in the park and told there would be a gift waiting for us at the hospitality suite on the way out.

My Advice: Get thee a "Just Married" Button. Honestly when we go back with my family in August we are gonna rock them all over again. Don't tell anyone!

The rest of the day was a blast. We rode the Tower of Terror three times and the Rock and Roller coaster twice. We saw the car stunt show, the Indiana Jones show, Fantasmic, the Muppet 3-D movie and so many others. However, without a doubt, our favorite ride of the day was the Toy Story Midway Adventure. An amazing 3-D experience of all kinds of Midway Games. We rode it three times that day and came back a few days later to ride it again. Jürgen always beat me, but I excelled in the accuracy department. Now I ask you, which is more important?

Mr. Potato Head entertains you while you wait (longest personal wait time: 90 mins)

Tomorrow: Epcot!

Honeymoon Day 10: From one world to another...

2009-04-09T13:41:00.005-05:00

I have to say, one of the best decisions we made was to add on a trip to Disney World after our stay in PSV. I think I would have suffered a breakdown if I had to go straight back to the land of the real life from such a remarkable place. Disney was a perfect outlet: fun, fast paced (but in a good way) and equally relaxing (in a totally different way).

Today was another long travel day with three plane rides and one boat ride. We are jet setters what can I say? The managers at PSV sent us off with a packed lunch which was beyond nice of them, and was put to good use while waiting to check in at the Barbados airport.

First step: A boat ride to Union Island.

Second Step: A 45 minute flight from Union Island to Barbados in that god-forsaken plane.

After we arrived in Barbados's we were excited to be able to spend the four hour layover in the airlines executive lounge, which boasted free drinks and snacks along with continuing coverage of Obama's soon to be Inauguration and best of all....free Internet!

My name is Blair and I am an Internetaholic.

It's true. As much as I enjoyed being "away from it all" oh how I missed my Internet. My connection to the world. My gmail. My facebook...the list goes on.

After several hours of world wide web-inducing bliss we hopped another plane to Atlanta (3rd step). "The Duchess" was our in-flight film and I am pleased to report that is one of the most forgettable films of the decade.

When we arrived in Atlanta we made our way through customs and needed to feed ourselves. This was the first, harsh, kick-you-in-the-stomach-back-to-real-life moment: airport food. This picture sums it up nicely I think.

After we finished our food, and I wanted to run away forever, we still had a two hour wait until our flight to Orlando. It occurred to me that I have an American Express card which allegedly grants me access to Airline Clubs. I wanted to test the theory, and I passed! However it must be said that the woman who checked us in stared and me and asked "You are 21 right?" We spent the next few hours drinking some more and I enjoyed being able to use my crackberry once again.

We finally landed in Orlando around midnight, checked into a nearby hotel, and slept for a grand total of four hours. More on that later....

Honeymoon Day 9: That Darn Cat

2009-04-09T13:30:00.004-05:00

Remember how I fondly recollected our time with the Hobie Cat? We aimed to recreate this romance again today, only to discover we were missing a vital element: wind.

Yep not so much wind today. We had high aspirations of sailing around the island but without the wind we found ourselves going no where fast. We had our moments of glory, but they were fleeting and our joy came to a schreeching halt.

Today was our final day in PSV and we enjoyed it as much as all the others. It really was a perfect place to honeymoon. That evening there was another island cookout, this time complete with a steel drum band and of course lots of yummy food.

One of the few pictures of the two of us that we have! We are so bad about taking pictures.

While we were of course a bit despondent about leaving la-la land, we were also very excited for the adventures that lay in store for us. No the honeymoon did not end here! We were going to Disney World!

Honeymoon Day 8: Not all Cats are Afraid of the Water

2009-04-08T14:12:00.003-05:00

As we entered the home stretch of our stay at PSV we were eager to eek out whatever we could from the island. At dinner the night before one of the managers suggested we take out a Hobie Cat and give it a whirl. Well whirl we did! We LOVED the Hobie Cat! It’s easy to maneuver and very relaxing. We sailed back and forth from Petite Martinique to PSV for over an hour. Our only regret? We didn’t discover it sooner.

The rest of the day followed our standard protocol, except we did decide to have our afternoon tea served at our west end hammock while we played games. One thing to note was today marked a change in the weather…humidity season began to descend and with it brought bugs.

My entire life I have been like a walking neon purple light flycatcher. Bugs….what can I say?…. they love me. This love affair was none to sweet and left my legs covered in welts.

That night we got before dinner drinks once again and enjoyed tuna, avocado and artichoke beignets along with sautéed Kingfish filet and slow braised Veal Osso Bucco

Now I leave you with more photos from the Jürg:
The yoga studio. We never actually took a class but it would have been an ideal place if you wanted to get up at 6am.

More unique shrubbery.
A portrait of the artist.

Honeymoon Day 7: It's a small world...

2009-04-05T20:39:00.008-05:00

Today was back to the daily grind....no no we didn't head back to reality, just no major adventures planned for the day.

We attempted to wind surf after breakfast, which proved to be a smashing failure. Jürgen managed to get up for a bit, I however fell twice and promptly threw in the towel. I do not like to be bad at things, which prevents me from learning new skills. I must improve this flaw within myself. Today was not the day.

We received an invitation in our room from the mangers inviting us to their cottage for cocktails that evening. What a nice surprise. We gussied ourselves up and walked down the hill to their beautiful place with an open air kitchen and yummy hors d'oeuvres. It was at this cocktail party where we met Sue and Tex, a lovely couple who also reside in Chicago! As luck would have it they had even seen Jürgen in Rabbit Hole at the Goodman Theatre. Amazing how you travel to a remote island only to meet your fellow neighbors. I promised them we would email....which I have yet to do, but I will as soon as I finish this entry! Shame on me.

That evening proved to be the least eventful dinner of our stay in PSV. We started with golden crusted chicken fingers and a green salad, Jürg had a baked stuffed lobster with lump crab meet and scallion butter sauce, and I had the St. Vincent curried conch stew which I ate three bites of.

Since today wasn't a super eventful day I wanted to take this time to share some of the beautiful photos Jürgen took throughout our stay at PSV. Sit back, relax, enjoy.

The hill near our cottage

The spot on the West end beach where you could order food...or.....
Have a Banana!

All kinds of interesting shrubbery

More photos to come!

Honeymoon Day 6: Climb Every Mountain...

2009-04-05T19:48:00.008-05:00

PSV is meant to be an escape from the perils of daily life, a chance to recharge and reconnect. However there was a fitness trail on the island you could indulge yourself in if the grueling task of being in the prone position all day was too much for you. Did we ever do the fitness trail? Hell no.

However we had decided to partake in some activity today and decided that after lunch we would hike to the very top of the "mountain" on PSV. It's really just a big hill, but it sounds far more impressive to call it a mountain. I have no recollection of how it high actually was, a fact which would either have served to impress you more or perhaps less. oh well.

Lunch today was done differently as it was one of the two outdoor Barbeque's thrown each week. Set near the island's solar stills it's a lovely setup for a very classy (and of course yummy) BBQ.

We feasted on shrimp, polenta, lots of fruits and veggies, cookies and rum punch. It was a great way to shake up lunch for sure.

Not a bad view while you dine...

After we stuffed ourselves we figured now would be the perfect time for our hike! What better chance than when you are at the height of fullness and the height of the sun's power? We shunned any disparaging words and took off.

In truth it wasn't bad. It took about twenty minutes to make it to the top and another twenty to get down. Here are some photos from the journey.

That's our cottage!

That's our cottage again...only smaller.
All smiles at the top

A spot to rest your tired feet....but there is no rest for the weary here!

Too bad the ocean isn't blue....

After our expedition I retired to my West End hammock for some reading in the shade while Jürgen undertook the Herculean task of kayaking around the island. I was deep into book when I heard a faint yell, I turned and this is what beheld my eyes....
Look Ma! No Hands!

He made it all the way around! Not without much burning from the SPF but it was a noble feat. I never attempted this, nor do I feel bad about it.

After our afternoon tea and games we decided to allow ourselves the opportunity to grab a pre dinner cocktail in the pavilion.

That night we feasted on Escargot, Veal Chop, Barracuda with an orange butter sauce, and a dessert which I cannot recall anymore, however I am sure it was lovely.
mmmmm....snails and butter.....

Honeymoon Day 5: We Have To Move The Island

2009-04-02T14:08:00.005-05:00

(anyone know what I am referencing?)

Instead of the usual lounge routine, this morning started off with an ambitious attempt to Kayak around PSV. We were doing pretty well for a bit but, but when we hit the Northern tip of the island we began fighting with the current and realized pretty quickly we were going to lose. Plus, our attempts to shield the sun's harmful rays left us with sunblock filled eyes, which was less than pleasant. I am happy to report that we made it back safe and sound.

(Photo taken before our expedition)

We were super excited about our adventure for the day, which would be a trip out to an even smaller island for a picnic lunch and some well suited waters for snorkeling. We took a small speedboat out about 2 miles to a small sandbar with a lone tiki umbrella and there we were left to our own devices for two hours.

The first setback: The wind. The PSV winds are nothing like the biting, knock you down, make you want to cry, winds of Chicago. No, they are warm and comforting. However when you find yourself on an island made entirely of sand, that causes a bit of a problem. We sat with out back to the wind as we quickly inhaled our picnic lunch , and kept our eyes down. Snorkeling provided a much needed escape from the sandy stingers flying at your face.

As these were uncharted waters for us, we saw many lovely fish of all sizes and colors, which kept us busy for quite sometime. Snorkeling is very calming and voyeuristic in a way. You get to spy into a window of a world different from your own. I loved the feeling of the water running over my back, and the waves pushing me back and forth. We snorkeled, a lot.

After an hour or so we decided it was time to simply swim, we we had seen all we needed to see. As we waded in the water we noticed, in the distance, a large yacht circling our island. It was full of people and we assumed they were on some kind of tour. However the massive creature soon came to a halt and began unloading passengers onto a small, inflatable dingy. This dingy was headed right towards us, and we quickly realized our tiny spec of an island had been invaded by "the others."

Within twenty minutes the island went from looking like this:

To this:

(let's play "Where's Waldo?"...just with me instead of waldo.)

Sadly there was no way to "radio" the homeland, so we were stuck for another hour just waiting surrounded by Ukrainians and Frenchmen in tiny Speedo's. Good times.

Upon our return home we cleaned up and decided to try our hand at tennis. Which lasted for all of fifteen minutes, because....well....we suck.

That evening we had dinner in our cottage and feasted on Pork Shortribs, Callaloo Soup (full of local fish and ingredients), Lobster Tail, Mahi Mahi, Banana's Foster (not so great) and Mint Chocolate Mousse. Not a bad way to end the day.

Honeymoon Day Four: Pictures of Paradise.

2009-03-31T10:50:00.008-05:00

For those of you who didn't get the memo...PSV is a private island with no phones, no TV, no computers...just beautiful beaches and warm breezes. Therefore, many of our days were spent lounging and swimming (like you do...). It would be silly to recount each day of lounging and swimming, so let this entry be sort of an outline for days 4-9. Changes will be noted henceforth.

Oftentimes Jürg would wake up in time to watch the sunrise. I did this, begrudgingly, only once.

Here are some photos of pretty sunrises from outside our cottage. We literally had one of the best views for the sunrise on the island.

We would eat breakfast around 8:30 (sounds early but you would be amazed how much earlier you go to sleep when you do not have John Locke, or Jack Bauer, or Tom Collichio to distract you), which would usually take place in our cottage, but we would sometimes opt to go to the pavilion instead.

There was so much yummy fresh fruit to be had....

And the birds would often peer over your shoulder for a taste. Savages....

After breakfast we would make our way to the West End beaches where we would secure a hammock for the day (there were always plenty available). Here we would swim, snorkel, play games (yahtzee being my personal fav) and read.

We would eat lunch around 12:30ish which we would either have in our cottage, at the pavilion or have it brought to us on the beach. Times were tough let me tell you.

This picture was snapped later in the week, but still...you can see how difficult life was back then.

After lunch we might take a walk and usually end up on the Atlantic side of the island to do some snorkeling off the dock.

We would have afternoon tea around 4:30 and clean up for dinner.

Cocktails would be enjoyed in our cottage (with drinks I smuggled in...) and card games played (favorites being Scopa and Castle).

We would watch the sunset from the harbor area of the island.

Dinner would commence at 7:30, either in our cottage (we did this twice) or at the Pavilion (our preference).

After dinner we would usually retire to the cottage for more card games and then it was off to bed for us to begin another hard days work at the beach.

So there you have it folks, life in PSV. Tough job, but somebodies gotta do it.

Honeymoon Day Three: Barbados to Union Island to Petite St. Vincent

2009-03-27T11:47:00.009-05:00

We awoke that morning in Barbados and had several hours to kill before heading off to the airport. We got some breakfast and basically held down the fort at the Meridian Inn, counting down the minutes until we could leave. Finally at noon we hopped in a cab and mad our way back to the open-air air port to make the third leg of our expedition. This time it was a tiny puddle jumper plan (aka a death trap) from Barbados to Union Island. A island among many smaller island which make up The Grenadines. I did not enjoy this plan ride. Not one bit.

Yes I am wearing the same dress as the day before. Don't judge me.
When you are asked to keep all bags at the rear of the plan for balance reasons, I get a wee bit ancy.

Views from the tin-can-of-a-plane's window. Sure it's pretty, as long as you do not crash.

Finally back on solid ground, we had one final trek before we could really relax. This time we would board a yacht and travel 5 miles to PSV. We were greeted by a lovely, jovial chap named Maurice who gave us bottled water and drove the boat so quickly that I swear I was air born a few times. Thankfully I found all of this to be quite delightful.

The Union Island Yacht Club docks.

Happy not to be 10,000 feet in the air.

Views from the boat.

PSV!!!

Pulling int the PSV Docks and being greeted by the delightful managers.
What's even more delightful? A mixed alcoholic beverage.

As soon as we hopped into the robins egg blue cart we were whisked up a hill to the "Little Bluff" where our cottage, cottage #2, sat nestled among the hills.

This is where we stayed for the week, and should I ever be able to build a vacation home in a tropical area, this is what it would look like.

In a word: Amazing.

They had prepared a lunch for us which we devoured in our cottage and quickly made our way to the beach. That evening we opted to have dinner in our cottage as well, which was our first taste of many amazing meals to come.

That night the menu consisted of: A Roasted Pumpkin Soup with toasted almonds and creme fraiche. Fried cod ( I think it was cod...) fritters. Lobster tail with a butter sauce and some kind of fish (which escapes me at the moment). Fried apple fritters and a few sorbets rounded off the meal.

In a word: Yum.

Honeymoon Day Two: Hotlanta-Barbados

2009-03-27T11:29:00.004-05:00

(yes I realize it has been over a month....no excuses, just lack of motivation)

After a whirlwind day in Atlanta we were up (yet again) at the crack of dawn to board a flight to Barbados, where we would spend an evening before arriving in Paradise. Thankfully all went as scheduled and our flight was on time and ran smoothly.

Here we are in the Barbados open-air airport.

These pictures were taken right before we jumped in an unmarked cab (an action we were warned against taking on our way out of the terminal). We live life on the edge. Thankfully we were transported safely to our dwellings for the evening: The Meridian Inn.

I knew this place would not be fancy, however I was able to pay for it with American Express points. Since it was currently the "high season" in Barbados there was no way to find an affordable hotel for the evening. While our place had it's own "charm" one might say it was really just a step up from Youth Hostel. I kept telling myself it was only for one night.

That afternoon Jürgen took a dip in the ocean, and we walked to a small restaurant about 10 minutes from our mo...a hem...hotel. We had a simple dinner of local fish and local beer. A small kitten approached us begging for food, and since we both go weak in the knees for kitties we fell prey to its batting eyes.

It was about 8:00 when we finished dinner, and after two days of little sleep and much travel it was time hit the hey, which is exactly what we did.

Hotlanta Honeymoon

2009-02-10T21:37:00.019-06:00

It all began with a call to my mother. No...it all began with a weather report. No...I think someone called and told me about a weather report. One way or the other, we'd heard it reported that Chicago was expected Armageddon: Snow throughout the weekend, beginning January 9 - our day of departure. The original itinerary had us leaving Chicago, from O'Hare (which is always a mistake) at 7pm to spend a very brief evening in Atlanta, before heading back to the airport the next morning for a flight into Barbados.

After hearing about the snow, and taking into account how fickle the weather service can be, especially in Chicago, I called my mother for some sage advice. I think we both landed on "pray for no snow" as the answer. Thankfully it didn't stop there. After a talk with my sister, my mother figured that since it was already snowing ridiculously in PA, where Stef is in college, and the storm was headed our way, it would be smart to try to get out of Chicago on the earliest flight possible. She called me back and then things got difficult.

We were flying out on Delta, due to a generous gift from my Uncle Richard, who has more frequent flier miles than he can use in two lifetimes, and so I called to find out how to get our flight changed. When I called they said you can call 3 hours before a flight you want to get on, on the day of, and it'll cost you $50 more dollars to change your flight if there's room. OK. So, for some reason I wound up calling back to double check the flight times that morning, since we figured the earlier the better, and now I got a different story. No, since our flight's eventual destination, regardless of the evening in between was Barbados, and since it wasn't a domestic flight...in end destination, we were not eligible for the $50 rate. It would cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $250...per person. I tried to reason with this guy, saying Altanta was domestic and they needed to promise to have us in Barbados by the end of the day on Saturday, at the latest if we couldn't get this flight cancelled. Oh, and by the by, according to these geniuses, their contact at O'Hare said, "We're not calling for any snow." Meanwhile, the weather stations and nightly news and preparing you for the storm of the year. But...don't worry...O'Hare's not calling for any snow. After many frustrating minutes of trying to reason with Delta, I finally took my wife's advice and called my Uncle to see what he could do. He, being amazing, came through for us not too long afterwards and we were to leave on a 7am flight.

After just about no sleep, we took a taxi at 4:15 A.M., driven by a man with some kind of palsy, who drive right by our house, right off our street, and off into the night, while I was on the phone with the taxi company trying to figure out why this guy was so late. We got to the airport just as it started snowing, and they put us on the 5:50 flight, because they were already starting to cancel flights later. Good Old O'Hare. A note to readers: ALWAYS FLY INTO MIDWAY. God knows what's wrong with this city that it seems like every winter it's caught unawares by the snow. If we lived in Florida, I could understand. But Chicago?

We arrive in Atlanta, take a shuttle to our hotel, relax for a minute and plan out the rest of the day. We decided to head back to the airport, hop on their metra system and go into town. Blair placed her status on facebook, and through her phone took suggestions for what to do during an unscheduled day in Hotlanta. Two answers came back: aquarium and the coca cola museum...oh, and the Varsity, which Blair's cousin, Ben, suggested...we'll get back to that.

We get into town, and on my mother's suggestion scope out Underground Atlanta. Useless. I don't know why I was thinking it would look more like an underground city, but it looked more like Navy Pier in Chicago, except a little bit dingier and less kid-friendly. We ate a very artery-angering meal in the food court, before heading off to find the aquarium.

The Atlanta Aquarium is supposed to be the largest Aquarium in the country. What they meant was that it houses the largest single standing tank in the country. Being such a huge fan of the Baltimore Aqaurium, I was skeptical that this could outdo it. In the end, though, I'm still sticking with Baltimore as a better aquarium, but the tank was pretty darn impressive. There is a long moving walkway that runs you under a tunnel set up inside the tank, which is just beautiful, especially when you see the whale sharks swim right over top of you. From the sharks, to the otters, to the ray petting zoo, it was an enjoyable experience, all in all. Here are some of the pictures.

After much debate, and a call in to James, who had been through the Coca-Cola Museum on a tour just the year prior, we decided that it would be a unique experience...and it was. After being brought into a room filled to the brim with Coca-Cola paraphernalia, we were escorted into a movie theater to watch a ridiculously uncomfortable animated tour through the inside of a Coca-Cola machine with the creepiest little characters your nightmares could conjure, being voiced by people who actually work inside the factory itself. It probably would've been better as just a documentary-style tour. Cree-py.

It was a pretty enjoyable time, but it was all worth it to finish the tour in the tasting room. In this room you can taste 60-something different cola-style beverages from around the world. How bad can this be? Let's take a look...

To be honest, I had a lot more fun than you see here. There were some great ginger ales with actual ginger in it, and some pretty decent stuff from Asia. The best, however, was the cola from Italy that everyone was trying to get people to try. I, being a people-truster, decided to give it a whirl, only to discover a taste unlike anything I've ever tasted before, and hopefully will taste since. Carbonated, soured urine? Maybe. One way or the other, it was repulsive, and yet, I went back for a second try, just to get the picture above.

After such a wonderful time, we decided to top it all off...on a tip from Ben, mind you...with a dinner at the famous Hotlanta Varsity. We're greeted with a nasal, half-hearted "Whaddya have?" from every direction, whereupon we realized that it was a fast-food style establishment with some of the most horrid food we've ever encountered. Let's just say that the cheese fries were enough to put people off cheese fries for good, and it inspired this picture:

Goodnight Hotlanta. Off to Barbados with us.

Wedding Wrap Up

2009-02-03T09:27:00.006-06:00

Wow...it's hard to believe it has already been one month since the big day. Time sure does fly.

What a day it was! Thankfully mother nature cooperated with us and blessed up with "balmy" weather in the upper 30's and clear skies. No one had any flight delays amd everyone arrived safely. Who could ask for anything more?

We are still pouring through all of the wedding photos (there are 800 of them), but if you find yourself with some free time and want to browse please do! Just follow this link: http://www.pictage.com/609971

For those of you in attendance you may have noticed several photographers capturing the moments throughout the celebration. No I wasn't trying to create my own paparazzi! As it turned out a good middle school friend of mine is starting his own photography business, and as a favor to me agreed to shoot the rehearsal dinner and day after brunch. I invited him to attend the wedding too because one can never have too many photos. Here are a few he snapped.....

Getting ready is such a process.

Portriats of a bride.
Jürgen's Grandfather knows how to party.

Slowing down for a few minutes.

I LOVE the pictures Devin took and cannot wait to see more. I will certainly keep you posted as they come in!

How I spent my Christmas Vacation....

2009-01-28T14:24:00.003-06:00

Celebrating Hanukkah!

With my family staying in Louisville and Jürgen visiting with his family in Baltimore I was left to fend for myself in the Arctic Tundra of Chicago. Thankfully I had two wonderful friends, Roni and Rick who brought me in for Christmas Eve and Christmas to celebrate the festival of Lights with them. We had a wonderful time, ate yummy latkes and helped calm me down after the garage debacle. Rick's mom, Ginny, snapped a few photos!

Rick, Roni and Myself before the yummy feast
Rick and Roni saying a Hanukkah prayer before we chow down
Christmas day was spent with many lovely ladies...Jude, Roni, Ginny, Jessica and Melissa. Such fun!

The Little Prius that could

2009-01-28T13:55:00.004-06:00

Hello friends and family! It's been awhile since my last post. With the holidays, the close of my show and then.....oh yes....the WEDDING...times were busy. But I am here to tell you the Blürg is back!

Now sit back, relax, and I will share with you the tale of the Little Prius that Could.

The time was 12:30 am on Christmas Eve. The place was the alley behind my house. It had been a long snow filled day of work, then a show, then a visit to Clarke's for some hot chocolate and socializing with friends. After taking a detour to drop off my friend at her house I made my way home. It must be noted that I have spent my previous Chicago winters driving a Jeep, and was still getting used to navigating the harsh roads in my more compact, fuel efficient vehicle.

As I pulled into the alley behind my house I was quick to notice how much snow had accumulated throughout the day, and my little Prius was trying as hard as she could to get over the snow mounds. At one point I thought to myself "I should just park out front" however I ignored the little voice in my head and kept on truckin'. I came to my garage and began to engage in the oh so delightful snow mobile dance. The dance consists of two steps, driving forward a few inches, reversing a few inches, driving froward a few inches, reversing a few inches. It's tedious but if done correctly it will safely get you over the snow mound and home safely. My car was aligned properly to enter the garage, I pushed on the gas in a final attempt to hurdle over the mound of snow in front of my garage and as soon as I made it over my little Prius surged forward and through, not into, but through the wall of my garage. The carnage looked something like this:

Yeah see that open space...a brick wall used to be there!

I sat in disbelief as I watched a wall of bricks collapse on my windshield and shatter. It was cold, dark and I was all alone. Not to mention it was only a little more than a week before the wedding! Not what you need as you enter the final prep stages for such a huge event.

In the end all I could do was be thankful I wasn't hurt, and amazed that my car wasn't horribly damaged. Look how well it help up!

The Prius is all fixed now and the wall....well it's still down but construction should commence soon. In the meantime I am parking out front more often, for this is a mistake you are only allowed to make once!

Slip slidin away.....

2008-12-20T09:35:00.004-06:00

Mother Nature has reared her ugly head once again. It happens every year, and regardless of how many Chicago winters (this will be my 8th!) you have survived it never seems to get any easier. Currently we have about 5 inches of snow on the ground with the threat of more. It's lovely to look at, but not so lovely to walk or drive through. With this snow comes ice....lots of ice. And with this ice comes....doom!

Last week I headed out the door on my morning venture to the mindless day job. The hour was early and I was groggy, so I walked slowly down the three flights of stairs to my garage. I had made it all the way to the first floor flight when all of a sudden and without warning I felt my feet slip out from under me. I flew up, then back, then down, right on my sacro with a brute force and proceeded to slide the rest of the way down the stairs. I saw stars and crumbled into a heap at the bottom of the staircase in the snow. I could not believe what had just happened, and wondered if I could feel my legs or move my hips. Thank the heavens above for I managed to make it out of this debacle virtually unscathed. I am still pretty sore, and doing seven shows a week is not aiding in the healing process, but I will persevere.

Thinking back on it this could have been an absolute nightmare. Had I fallen on my head or my neck it's quite likely I would not be around to type this blog. I could have potentially broken a hip or my tailbone, which would not have fit into my "dance all night" wedding plans. I find it best not to ponder the "what if's" but rather count my blessings daily. And always hold onto the handrails, like a seven year old child.

Be careful...it's dangerous out there.

Some views from my back porch. Brrrrrrr.......

O Tannenbaum O Tannenbaum!

2008-12-15T14:00:00.005-06:00

My parents visited me this past week to check out The Snow Queen and help me do a little decorating around the house. We picked up a lovely tree from Gethsemane (no, not the garden from the good book, just a local greenhouse in town) and had a grand ol' time setting it up and listening to cheesy holiday music. Here are some photos:

Unwrapping the tree from the evil plastic netting.
All fluffed up and ready for some light action.
Puttin' on the Ritz.
Time to decorate! Look at all my lovely ornaments!
Some favorite ornaments: the Dapper Dancing Frogs.
Hanging our first Christmas ornament.
Close up shot. Thanks for the ornament mom!
The final product. Can you find the pickle?

Happy Holidays to all!

Opening Night!

2008-12-15T13:15:00.006-06:00

After a mere two weeks of rehearsal and a few days of tech The Snow Queen opened to a full and supportive crowd on December 1st. I bought a special dress for the occasion and ended up taking nary a photo. Terrible I know. However here are some images from the show.

For all you Chicago peeps: It closes Dec. 28th....hit me up for tickets!
We're Summertime Kids! This is yours truly aka Gerda alongside the talented Patrick Andrews aka Kai. We are best friends. Until he becomes a jerk and leaves me.
Gerda surrounded by Kai and the Imps, dancing like they are flower children of the 1970's
Kai becomes seduced by the Snow Queen. Foolish boy.
He flies to the Arctic Circle until a small shoe less girl decides to chase after him. That's Broadway Veteran Cheryl Lynn Bruce as the Storyteller. I adore her.
The enchantress throws me off course while I try to find Kai. Crap.
Composer/Adapter/Musical Genius plays Ravenheart, and gives Gerda advice. How nice of him.
Back on track, I got me some fancy horses, a funny hat and nothing will stop me now!
Except maybe the Robber Girl (Barbara Barrow). I look concerned.
Gerda manages to weasel her way out of that situation to hop on the Reindeer's (Bob Goins) back towards Lapland (which is an actual spot on the map).
The Fish Lady sings about fish and the audience FREAKS OUT!
Yeah you may be seven feet tall and made of ice, but I will bitch slap you to Timbuktu. Yes I will.
Kai is depressed and so very cold. It's his fault. Don't feel bad for him.
Oh Kai I am here to save you. Run away again and I will tell everyone about the time you dressed up in your mothers heels and pearls.
Love at Last!

So basically you saw the whole show right here, but trust me it's way more fun with the band and the music. All in all a great experience which I am really enjoyed coming back to this year. We have two more weeks which means I have about two days of peace before family descends on Chicago and wedding madness begins!

Unique Shower Ideas

2008-12-15T12:23:00.007-06:00

OK I know I know I promised to write more frequently and I FAILED! With being in rehearsals, teching the show, thanksgiving, opening the show, going back to the day job while doing shows, and oh yeah planning the wedding blogging has taken a back seat. Now I have no choice but to overload you with new blogs to catch you up to speed. Buckle your seat belts.

First off our most recent wedding showers. We have been blessed to have had a total of five...count em...five wedding showers this year. I credit this to being from different hometowns and living in a different city than our parental units. Whatever the reason it has been so much fun and we are so thankful to all who attended and certainly to those who hosted.

I journeyed back home to Louisville at the end of October for a Christmas Ornament shower hosted by my cousins Cassie and Brenda Stokes. I have taken to collecting Christmas ornaments since I graduated from places I have traveled, museums I visit and other exciting adventures. Therefore a shower dedicated to the baubles was a perfect fit. We had a wonderful time and I think it made us all excited for the holidays to arrive. Sadly I have very few decent pictures of the event, but here is one I enjoy:
What's that you say? Why am I holding a pickle? In case you didn't know there is an old German tradition to hide a pickle in your Christmas tree and the lucky soul who finds it first wins a prize! I love this.

A few weeks later my dear friend Jenn hosted an unforgettable shower for us here in the Windy City- A Book and Boardgames shower! It was so much fun and such a clever and unique idea. We had it at a neighborhood bar called Guthrie's which houses hundreds of games for people to play while they drink and eat pizza. Which is exactly what we did (when in Rome...)! They rented out the back room and the Chicago wedding contingent joined us for beer, pizza and a rousing game of Apples to Apples (along with a few other varieties). Thankfully we snapped several photos at this one. Here's some eye candy for you....

(from L to R): John, Sara (Hoyer), Sarah (Kinsey), Brigid and Ira have their libations in hand and their game face on.
The game playing begins. Apples to Apples in the best game. Get. Yours. Today.
Meanwhile I take a moment to pose for the camera on the other end of the room. Check out my boots...LOVE them! Katie and LaShawn love them too I think....
LaShawn, Roni and Jess join me in posing. Pity they are all so un-photogenic.
Roni and Rick get in touch with their 2nd grade selves with an intense game of Guess Who?
Jürg and Katie survey their cards in the group Apples to Apples game
More of the group. That's Jenn our lovely host in the glass and her handsome partner-in-crime Mark. Thanks guys!
Jenn is super excited!
There was also some fun gift opening. I let Jürgen do the honors this time. Mackenzie and I are enjoying this apparently.

I have to say both of these showers were an absolute blast, plus very creative and unique ideas. I highly recommend both should you or someone you know be having a shower in the near or not so near future. You can't go wrong with a nice Christmas ornament and who doesn't enjoy a good book or board game?

Thank you to our lovely hosts and our guests!

The Commercial has AIRED!

2008-11-18T19:49:00.002-06:00

I received word from my agent that the crazy last minute commercial I filmed has aired. It appeared last night on NBC during an episode of Heros. Awesome.

When we actually filmed the commercial I had way more lines, but many were edited out. I am ok with this as I had no idea what I was doing!

Enjoy!

Blürg Career Updates

2008-11-12T20:39:00.001-06:00

Alot has been happening to us career wise and I though I would post a few updates!

Jürgen recently closed Amadeus at Chicago Shakespeare. It was a lovely production directed by Broadway director Gary Griffin. Jürg understudied the title role and performed as a member of the terribly underused ensemble. Oh well it was a steady job for four months, hard to find in the life of an artist.

I have just started rehearsals for The Snow Queen at Victory Gardens. I had the pleasure of doing the show last year and I am excited to remount it. I play a small child which is not surprising, plus I get to wear a funny hat.

We are just two days in but I am excited to see the show unfold. We have new castmates and new music. I will keep you posted!

I mentioned in a previous post booking two national commercials in one week. It's true and my fingers are tightly crossed that they actually air! The first was for a product called Zune 3.0 it's essentially Microsofts version of an iPod. I got a call at 11:30am on Halloween from my agent asking if I was available to shoot a commercial that afternoon. Thankfully I was free, but how on earth did this happen considering I had never audition for said commercial. Apparently I had been cast off of my headshot-this never happens! I zipped downtown, having no idea what I would be doing or even what the commercial was for. I soon found out it was not only a national commercial but it would feature the band The Kings of Leon and the rapper Common...and me apparently. I was even more shocked to discover that I had lines...lots of them! I wasn't informed of this until minutes before I was to shoot. It was an insane experience, and I literally have no idea what I said or how I did. Still, thankful for the opportunity nonetheless.

The second features my hands, and it's for Glade scented Candles. In one I am trying to light a candle, in another I am putting quarters into a coin slot on the candle. The whole conceit is "why spend $25 on a boutique candle when you can spend $6.95 on one from Glade...that would be like burning money." Clever huh? My audition for this consisted of meeting the producer and putting my hand up to hers. Intense.

Jürgen is free for a bit until next spring when he travels to Milwaukee to work with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre on their production of The Cherry Orchard. I will be visiting Milwaukee quite a bit!

Ok those are a few updates. I cannot believe it's November already.

More blogs coming soon....I promise!

Yes We Did...And boy did we ever.

2008-11-07T07:59:00.005-06:00

On November 4th 2008 America made History and changed the course of politics as we know it.

I was there to see it.

Chicago hosted an Obama rally and I manged to snatch up two tickets the day it was announced. God bless the day job where I spend hours in front of a computer. Chicago was buzzing all day, everywhere you looked you saw Obama buttons, Hope shirts, Yes We Can paraphernalia. I realize this wasn't the norm for a good portion of America, but that is why Chicago is the city for me! I met up with my friends Mark, Jenn and Katie around 6pm and we quickly made our way over to Grant Park. It was crazy. People of all ages and colors were there. The excitement was palpable and hope filled the skies. I just knew it would be a victorious night and I think 100,000 of my closest friends that night felt the same. You could feel the change moving in with the wind and we were all ready for it.

We could not have asked for a more perfect night. Chicago in November can be frigid, snowing, windy as all get out. Not that night. It was in the perfect 60's with a light breeze. Mother Nature herself was smiling I think.

With each projection the crowd roared. I jumped, quite a lot, it's what you do when you are small. As the clock ticked we saw states turn blue and sweet victory was moments away. As we reached 10pm we counted down to the polls closing in California, and when the announcement came up on the gigantic screen screams of joy erupted from the crowd. It was a night of peace and hope. Of change and patriotism. I feel so blessed to have been a part of it.

Being short does not have it's advantages in situations such as this, and as a result I spent much of the night on the tip of my toes trying to catch of glimpse of, well, anything. I did get photos though and Jenn was able to pick me up so I could actually see Mr. Obama at one point. It didn't matter though. I was there and thrilled.

Here are some photos snapped by Jenn. Mine are forthcoming.
The Massive crowds and massive screen.
Our President Elect!
One more for good measure.
The four of us. Yes none of us look great but we were filled with joy and exhausted/dehydrated from standing for over four hours. Totally worth it.

The "Yes We Did!" stickers came from a gent in front of us. As soon as Barack was announced the winner he passed them out to everyone. I am going to save it for posterity.

And by the by, this year I picked the winners of: The Superbowl, Wimbledon, Top Chef, Project Runway (both of them) and of course the Presidential Race. What can I say? I have killer instincts.

And We're Back!

2008-11-06T16:43:00.002-06:00

The original Blürg is back in action!

Version 2.0 was working just fine but I was still deeply saddened by the loss of the orginal. One afternoon I was tinkering on the computer and lo and behold the blürg was back!

Whew.

So, now comes the apology for being such lazy bloggers. I was out of town for most of the weekends in October and my day job has kept me busy as well. Plus we haven't had that much to do in terms of wedding planning lately.

However there are many fun updates in the life of Blürg. Some highlights:

November 4th 2008-History was made and I was there in Grant Park
We took our first cooking class together: Photos to follow
I managed to book two national commercials in a week. Details are forthcoming
The Invitations have been sent and people seem to like them. No turning back now.
I had an amazing ornament shower in Louisville. I cannot wait to decorate my tree.
We finalized our menu for the reception. My stomach growls thinking about it!
And much more!

I promise from here on out to be more consistent from here on out. We are less than two months away! Crazy!

Check back often...

Hot off the Presses!

2008-10-20T16:42:00.000-05:00

The much anticipated engagement photos are here! Many were taken, few will be selected. The main object of these photos will be to make a guest book for attendee's to sign at our reception. However my mom may pick one from the bunch for an engagement announcement. Here are a select few...some good, some goofy. To see the entire line up go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jurgenhooper/EngagementPhotos#

We found these cool iron structures while on our way to a 4th of July party. They are fun to play in.

I think this looks like it could have been taken in Paris. It wasn't. We were in Chicago.
You gotta have at least one in front of the bean. It was raining by this point.
He is trying to bite my ear and I think his expression is hilarious!
Notice the change in attire, and more importantly the change in weather!
Amazing what a little sunlight can do....
We were standing on a dock full of goose crap. Yep, it's true. Anything for the shot.
Two by the lilly pond.
I call this Sweet....
And Sly....
Tiny and not so tiny feet.
Out by the "Point". Check out my sun dress....it was that warm! Who knew?
Kind of looks like a prom shot. And I think we could pass for high schoolers too...
I love these gold shoes. They are falling apart but I love them....

So here is just a smattering of photos. None of which will actually be used for our guest book....we are keeping those a secret. Plus we still have yet to take our night shots, which means even more fabulous photos are on their way!

We LOVED working with our Photographer Kevin Weinstein, and we cannot wait to have him shoot our wedding.

Happy Viewing!

We Got Sunshine!

2008-10-10T16:41:00.000-05:00

Hooray!

We were finally able to take our engagement photos today. Whew.

The day began at 8 a.m. (sheesh), but we put on our game faces and got to work. We started around Lincoln park, followed by the Lilly Pond, The History Museum ending at "the point." The point being a beautiful spot by the water with a full view of the Chicago skyline. Lovely.

We had amazing weather: blue skies, cool breeze. You would never know it was October.

Pictures coming soon....so exciting!

Rain Rain go Away

2008-10-08T16:40:00.000-05:00

Well we try as we might we just cannot seem to get Mother Nature to shower us with sunshine during our Engagement photo sessions.

Our original session was to be held on September 29th, however the heavens opened up around 10:00am and didn't let up for hours on end.

We rescheduled for yesterday, Tuesday October 7th, at 2:00pm. We managed to get about an hour worth of shots in before the heavens opened, yet again. Ugh.

So we are hoping the old adage "third times the charm" holds true on Friday morning. We will have to make ourselves all pretty at the ungodly hour of 8:00am, but we are troupers. Right now the forecast calls for sun.

Send us your good vibes on Friday morning!

I'm a Satisficer

2008-10-06T16:39:00.000-05:00

My name is Blair, and I'm a Satisficer

("Hi Blair!")

While reading the October 2008 issue of Real Simple (love it!) I came across an article by Gretchen Ruebin titled "Ten Ways to be Happier." I was intrigued. In it I learned there are two types of decision makers: "Satificers" and "Maximizers".

She writes:

"Satisficers (yes, satisficers) make a decision once their criteria are met. When they find the hotel or the pasta sauce that has the qualities they want, they're satisfied. Maximizers want to make the best possible decision. Even if they see a bicycle or a backpack that meets their requirements, they can't make a decision until they've examined every option. Satisficers tend to be happier than maximizers. Maximizers expend more time and energy reaching decisions, and they're often anxious about their choices. Sometimes good enough is good enough."

I occured to me, I have been a Satisficer throughout this entire planning process, and will do my darndest to stay that way. I have mentioned this before, but reading it tickled me pink...just a little bit.

I must clarify....I am not always a true Satisficer. You can ask my MOH about the time I spent hours debating over what type of purse to buy. Seriously I spent more time deciding on that than my wedding dress.

What brought on this clarity of choice in decision making? I haven't the slightest idea, but one must not question a good thing....that would be very Maximizer of me.

Smoking Guns

2008-10-01T16:37:00.000-05:00

Do you think my mom developed her fierce biceps from stuffing all these envelopes?

Here they are, your tickets to the main event. Our invitations. We had had them for awhile, but now they are all addressed and ready to be stuffed. I am so pleased with how they turned out. These lovelies will be mailed one month from today. In the meantime your mailboxes can pine...
Sorry the photo isn't bigger, but you get the idea. Simple and classy. Just the way I like it.

My mom and I were both in agreement from the get-go that neither of us wanted to address the invites. Our handwriting simply will not do, not to mention the idea of hand cramps make us cringe (I am a hand model after all!). So we hired a calligrapher.

Her name is Kim Diamond and she did a wonderful job! Should you wish to inquire about her services contact me! I will hook you up.

I scratched out some of the pertinent info, so no one gets stalked, or egged, or TP'd

Thank you Kim!

And thank you Mom for doing all that stuffing!

Bar none to bar some....and then some....

2008-10-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

I have determined the trick to a long lasting relationship is access to nice wine and good spirits at all times. Wine solves everything.

Therefore it is necessary to have a stock the bar shower. Thank you to the Taustine's, Butler's, Lawrence's and Penta's for hosting a delightful party for us this past weekend. Jürgen wishes he could have been there, but alas the stage calls and that is where he was. Thank you also to all who attended! It was wonderful seeing all of you and catching up, and I am so blessed to have so many lovely people who are excited and supportive.

Here are some fun photos!

Everyone needs a nice Tequila! Thank you to Bo for keeping track of the gifts!

Everyone also needs nice wine glasses!

Cheers everyone! Thank you!

A Woman's Right to Shoes: Update!

2008-09-30T16:35:00.000-05:00

I live in one of the largest cities in America. Chicago is home to millions of people, thousands of amazing restaurants and never ending shopping options. One would surmise if you cannot find it here you just may not be able to find it anywhere.

Not so dear sirs! Not so!

While home in Louisville this weekend I found my wedding shoes! A thrilling experience it was. After dragging Jürgen up and down Michigan Avenue, scouring the Internet for hours on end, they were in the Bluegrass State all along!

Here they are:

As you may recall, I mentioned wanting shoes of the non-white variety. They are, indeed, white... but not for long! The shoe store from whence they came specializes is bridal shoes and can dye your chosen pair any color you wish! This means they are soon to be a lovely shade of sapphire blue. Pictures to follow.

Oh and by the by, these lovelies were modeled after the Carrie Bradshaw Monolo Blahnik in the episode bearing the same name of this blog! Perfect!

Making a list. Checking it twice.

2008-09-23T11:53:00.002-05:00

I just counted and we are three months and eleven days away from the marriage day. My how time does fly. Honestly this year has been a blur…what happened to 2008?

From time to time Jürgen and I both like to reference various wedding checklists to keep the wedding planning on track and stress free. This morning I cross-referenced two checklists to see how we are doing. Here is what I found:

The Real Simple wedding guide suggests the following actions should be taken at the 4-month mark:

--Book the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner venues. If you’re planning a day after brunch book that place as well: Done, Done, and maybe done? We are having a day after brunch but I need to send an e-mail to the host to see where we are at on that.

--Check on the wedding invitations: Done, and have been for MONTHS! (go team go!)

--Select and order the cake: Done

--Send your guest list to the host of your shower: Done

--Purchase shoes and start dress fittings: Oh my heart sinks looking at this. I must find shoes but wherever will I find the right ones? Will shoe shop this weekend, with mom. I will call the tailor recommended to me by a friend today to set up a time for next week.

--Schedule hair and make-up artists. Make a few trial appointments: I have a hair trial set up for this Sunday, however I need to secure the hair and make-up artists for the wedding. Will do this today (god bless my easy day job).

--Choose Songs. What do you want playing when the wedding party is introduced? What should play during dinner?: Done! We sent our list of what to and what not to play in last week. Since there will not be a sit down dinner there is no worry of what to play and, hate to say it, the wedding party will not get an introduction (sorry guys!).

--Plan welcome baskets for guests, if desired: I do desire this! Mom and I have come up with some good ideas but we need to finalize everything. It’s on our list to tackle while I am home this weekend.

Theknot.com suggests I should accomplish these tasks between today and October 23rd:

-Book ceremony Musicians and send deposit: Not done. I did fax in the music form to the director of music yesterday. Awaiting reply.

-Finalize menu and service details with caterer: Not done yet. We have another tasting on October 20th, so it is highly unlikely all will be settled by the 23rd. However I a not worried about this.

-Research and purchase wedding insurance, if necessary: What?!?!?! I will research. Clearly this was not on my mind. I have a feeling I will deem it “unnecessary.”

-Brides: Buy special lingerie if your gown requires, in time for first fitting: Hmmmm…nope don’t think it does

-Confirm Delivery date of Bridesmaid Dress orders: Will give Rebecca’s a call today.

-Start taking better care of yourself (eat right, exercise) so you look and feel great on your wedding day: We both exercised yesterday! However we followed our workout with hamburgers and fries…not so good?

-Talk to people you want to do special performances or readings: Halfway done, I have asked one of our readers. Jürg needs to ask the other. Jürgen…get on it!

-Arrange for all insurance policies to include you and your future spouse: health, auto, homeowners and life insurance: That all sounds incredibly boring but necessary. Will figure out how to do this.

-Send wedding bands out to be engraved: Paying for the wedding bands this weekend (while I am in Louisville). Will send them to be engraved then.

-Grooms: Choose and buy any accessories you will need: Done I think. Jürg bought his tie and the rest will be included with the tux rental. Will check with him on this.

In total: 18 tasks on the list
7 totally done
7 almost/halfway done
4 to DO!

Not bad. Let the crossing off begin!

Location Scouting

2008-09-21T20:25:00.004-05:00

It's true, we have picked the locations for the wedding, the reception, even the honeymoon and rehearsal dinner. However, the locations we had yet to pick were the sights for our upcoming Engagement session. Considering it is transpiring in one week I thought it best to get on that, and quickly!

Our photographer, Kevin, has a series of spots he usually uses, however we wanted to have pictures taken in spots that either meant something to us personally, or places we just find oh so very pretty. Also, we thought it would be fun for Kevin to take photos in spots he usually doesn't visit. Perhaps he will find new inspiration in these new locales!

Some spots we may visit are:

The Lilly pond near the Lincoln Park Zoo...would you ever think this existed in the City of Chicago?
One more shot of the cool rocks in the Lilly Pond
A shot of a beautiful fountain in front of the Lincoln Park Conservatory.
The gardens by the Conservatory. Chicago has so many pretty parks.

I never knew these structures existed until Jürgen and I attend the 4th of July party this past year. There are several of them near Millennium park, which also boasts a plethora of photo opps.

There are several other spots we hope to have our photos taken at, but we did not snap them during our photo trip this weekend. We are both so excited about our upcoming session and cannot wait to show you all the photos!

Opening Night!

2008-09-19T20:11:00.003-05:00

This past week Jürgen opened the highly anticipated Chicago Shakespeare production Amadeus. The production values were wonderful and showcased some spectacular performances. Even better Chicago Shakes knows how to throw a nice opening night party. Here are some photo highlights:
What do we think of the Jurg with long hair? Should he grow it for the wedding?
The Blurg!
Roni and Jurgen, pouting, for no reason. After all there was free champagne!

Some cast members: Phillip (aka Venticelli), Robbie (aka Salleri, aka Brilliant), Kari (aka Opera Singer), Mackenze (aka Saucy Maid)

A Woman's Right to Shoes

2008-09-16T17:06:00.007-05:00

Yes that is an SATC reference.

I, like Carrie Bradshaw, have an obsession with shoes. Nothing seems to lift you up when you are feeling down like a new pair of shoes. They can make or break an outfit. So you can understand my strong desire to find the right pair for my wedding. I have been searching high and lo for a while now. I even forced Jürgen to spend a few hours looking with me. No such luck so far.

At the moment I am not keen on wearing white shoes. After all my dress is white, why not switch it up. Of course a deep blue shoe would be my preference but I cannot seem to find many that I like. One style I am interested in is:

It's classy with a touch of sparkle. I wonder if the bow would be annoying though, plus I am not sure if the heel is high enough.

Then of course there is the Carrie Bradshaw dream shoe....
Mr. Big (ugh, do NOT like him. I am such an Aidan gal) gave Carrie these in the movie. I could die, seriously. They are so beautiful. Probably too bright, and oh yeah they are Manolo's so they cost the same as a black market kidney. No go. But if I could find a pair like them. Oh where or where would they be?

Naturally the next choice in color would be silver (I feel like I am hitting people over the head with this theme). Some ideas:
Meh. It's pretty but I think it's king of boring? Am I wrong?
Another, similar in style, and similar in boring factor. zzzzzz.....
These would not work, but I was intrigued by the sapphire blue in the brooch. But they are too grey...

Another Carrie Bradshaw shoe
Again, I could die. These shoes were featured in the show bearing the same title as my blog. Carrie goes to a party (thrown by Tatum O'Neal back when she wasn't a crack addict) and she has to remove her shoes. At the end of the party they are missing! Gasp! And they are Monolo's! In the end she gets a new pair and jumps over puddles in the streets of the Big Apple. Yeah, don't deny it, you know the episode.

I could beat anyone in SATC triva, just try me.

Regardless, I LOVE these shoes. Notice a theme in style? They are classy and simple, yet they have a touch of pizazz that I like. These are not as expensive as the blue ones, but still maybe more than is necessary. Really? Maybe I could donate plasma or something.

Now I have found one pair of ivory shoes that I find pretty

I am just not crazy about them. Honestly, I want to get shoes I would actually want to wear again, so this feels like an important decision.

Also, I secretly want to change into crazy sneakers for the reception. I am a wimp when in comes to heels. Carrie would be terribly displeased with me.

Thoughts? Places to look? Help! (again!)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2008-09-16T11:39:00.002-05:00

God Bless Southwest.

Seriously folks. Times are tough, and with fuel costs rising I know for the many out of towners purchasing airfare may make ones pockets scream in agony. Luckily Chicago is accessible via Southwest from both Louisville and Baltimore. I looked up airfare today and check out these deals:

Leaving on either Jan.1st or 2nd from Louisville to Chicago: $69
Returning from Chicago to Louisville on January 4th: $79-$84
Total Cost: $148-$153

Leaving on either Jan 1st or 2nd from Baltimore to Chicago: $102
Returning to Baltimore on January 4th: $102-$110
Total Cost: $204-$212

Cost of witnessing the Blürg say "I do": Priceless.

I urge you all to go ahead and book your flights before prices go up. Southwest also offers group deals if ten or more people fly on the same itinerary. Also Southwest is great about letting you switch/cancel/exchange at the last minute.

Just a little tip from me to you....

The polls are now open

2008-09-15T15:10:00.007-05:00

( a little election themed entry)

With many of the major, and even semi-major (can that exist?) decisions made, my mind is now left to wonder on such things as: accessories, hair, make-up etc. Today the focus is on outerwear. An essential item for the winter bride. I currently live in my ankle length down coat for six months out of the year. However, something tells me I would not look so blushing were I to wear it on the big day. I must find a fabulous jacket to wear en route from the ceremony to the reception, along with any daring outdoor shots we attempt to take.

The coat must fit effortlessly into my color scheme, it must be warm, and above all it needs to be fierce. I have done some browsing. Here are some thoughts.

For blue colored coats

This seems to be the most true to the color blue I have chosen. But I wonder if it is dressy enough.
This color is called "Lapis" I like it for it's simplicity. Plus it's on sale.

Silver

Definitely unique, although I feel it may look too much like a raincoat.

For a winter white look

Classy and simple. Of course I would be destined to spill something on it.

Classy with a touch of funk?

To be honest my ideal wedding coat would look something like this

Isn't it amazing? I would not necessarily want these colors, but just look at this beauty. It's would be like wearing a painting. So unique. So special. Too bad it's um....(sob)....upwards of $3,000.

My question to you dear friends, family and readers is which do you prefer? Are you down with the blue, should I go for classic white, funky silver? Or should I try to find a coat like the dreamy Osacar de la Renta? If so, where do you think I could find one for say 90% less?

Help!

Remember this election is about you....

Moon over your Honey

2008-09-11T10:44:00.006-05:00

Taking a break from the thoughts of wedding planning and thinking about the exciting adventures to follow. The honeymoon!

We were conflicted at first when it came to deciding where we should vacation. Should we travel to Europe and be taken in with the history and grandeur of it all? Should we go someplace tropical and swim to our hearts content. Both sound lovely.

In the end we went with the latter. Our friends Roni and Rick (have I mentioned them yet?) had visited a tiny island called Petite St. Vincent for their honeymoon and raved about it. I wasn't sure if it would be my style, but a quick look on the website and my mind was changed. Check out the photos:
A view of the island, surrounded by liquid turquoise.
Lovely white sand beaches.

The more we thought about it, the more we simply wanted to take a honeymoon that would be relaxing, calm and schedule free. We are adventurers and knew if we were in Europe we would want to get up and see things, stand in line for whatever castle happened to be in whatever town we were in. It would be an incredible experience, but we think it will be a wonderful treat to be able to simply "be" for a week. Plus look where we would be staying:
We could be out on a cliff encased in lush green landscapes
Or in a Villa right on the beach. I will take either thank you.

The special thing about PSV is the privacy. The island only houses 22 villas, guaranteeing you will not be caught in any crowds or noisy beaches. It operates on a flagpole system which is super fun. Each villa has it's own pole, if you want room service raise the yellow flag and someone will be right with you. If you want to be left alone, raise the red flag and nary a soul shall disturb you. It sounds just lovely. I want to go now.

Our honeymoon shall not end there, no sir. After seven days is remote bliss we will throw ourselves back into the fray with a three day jaunt to...

Disney World!

I have not been in years, and it has always been a special place for Jürgen. Being actors we never know when we will be able to take long vacations, so we wanted to do this one up right. It will be a nice transition back into the real world and a great way to end the trip. We will be staying at the Port Orleans French Quarter which is right on the park. And seems very quaint.
We plan to ride all the rides, multiple times. Even space mountain, which always makes you
feel as though you will be smacked in the face by a metal pole at any moment. We plan to see a Cirque du Soleil show (I have never been) and of course catch the light show at night.

Now we both just have to get in shape before we don our swimwear apparel!

Happy Birthday Roni!

2008-09-11T10:29:00.003-05:00

September 7th marked Roni's ascension into year 28 of her high energy filled life. We were thrilled to be a part of the annual celebration. I am not sure how this tradition was started, but for some years now Roni always holds the festivities at the popular Italian restaurant Bucca de Beppo. Guests sit around a large table in the aptly named "Pope Room" and feast on dishes that are way to large to ever be considered acceptable. But alas, they are. We had a great time and managed to even get a photo, which we never do!
Happy Birthday Roni!

The Blürg is going to get trashed!

2008-09-10T15:01:00.003-05:00

I have been following Dana's blog for some time now. It's delightful. It was through her that I learned about a new trend in wedding photography called "Trash-the Dress" henceforth called TTD.

What do TTD photos look like? Well here are just a couple examples

A stunning shot by (and in) the water

I love the color of her dress just pops out of the photo. Very intense

I think it would be fun to run through the snow in a wedding dress

As you may have gathered TTD photos feature brides (and grooms too) in situations where their dress could get...um....trashed. Why would anyone want to trash their dress? One school of thought is that you will never wear the dress again so why not get a unique artsy photo out of it. Another is why not just take some cool photos for posterity. Truth be told, your dress does not have to get trashed maybe just a little damp. I thought it sounded like fun.

Lucky for Chicago based photographer Jody Garland is building her very own TTD portfolio and is offering free TTD sessions to 10 lucky couples. I sent her an email and we have been selected. The location of the photos has yet to be finalized but she has some great ideas. Also I will not be wearing my actual wedding dress for two reasons.

1) They will most likely be done before the wedding and I do not want the Jürg to see me in my dress
2) My mom would probably kill me if I actually trashed my dress.

All is not lost however, for I do have an unused wedding dress hanging in my closet at home. I know that sounds weird, but being a product of private school education we were required to wear long white dresses for our graduation. We got a wedding dress on sale, but in the end I deemed it "too wedding dress like" (maybe because, it is!) and opted for a different one. It has been hanging there for almost eight years now. I cannot think of a better reason to bring it out than this. Now we just have to hope I still still fit in it! I can wear my high school prom dress (and have many times thank you) so there is hope!

I will certainly keep you updated as the details firm up. Whoo hoo!

Pre Cana Shout Out!

2008-09-09T10:41:00.006-05:00

For the month of August Jürgen and I had the pleasure of spending our Thursday evenings at the Chateau du Lisa et Keith. They, along with power couple Mike and Christa, hosted a four week long marriage preparation class, otherwise know as Pre Cana. If you are to get married in the Catholic church you are required to attend Pre Cana classes. You can opt to do the whole “curriculum” during the course of one day, a weekend long retreat, or do as we did over the course of a month.

It was such a wonderful experience. As our lovely hosts said “this class is really a gift you are giving yourselves” and we really do treasure this gift. It was such a special time to spend together, reflect together and learn together. It also didn’t hurt that we got to spend our evenings with some kick-ass couples. Lisa and Keith, and Mike and Christa both have two daughters and are such lovely families. It was really inspiring to hear them talk about their marriages. We were joined by three other couples: Sara and Carl (to be wed in October at St. Clement…so soon!), Melissa and Scott (to be wed in January in Columbia South America…it will be so warm!), and Cristin and Ryan (to be wed in August at St. Clement…yay!). What a great group. Everyone was so funny, honest and open. They are all fantastic couples who will undoubtedly have beautiful weddings and a fantastic life together. Jürgen and I hope to organize a group outing soon!

I am kicking myself for not having brought a camera to capture a group shot. However I did find one image I felt best summed up the Pre Cana experience
Kinzie! While this is not a shot of the actual Kinzie, she certainly made our Pre-Cana classes exciting. For those of you who have not had the esteemed pleasure of meeting her just know she likes people, jumping on people and pre-cana.

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 6: Final Thoughts

2008-09-08T15:09:00.014-05:00

They say success is in the details. I have to agree. While the major decisions of a wedding (who you will marry, when in will happen, where it will take place etc) are certainly the most important, it’s the little things that can truly make the day your own. As I go through this planning process I am realizing how important it is to let inspiration guide you when it comes to choosing these fine details. You can draw inspiration from all sorts of places. It’s helpful to flip through magazines and cut out images that strike you, think of your favorite colors and perhaps to try and incorporate them into the day, even the time of year could inspire your decision making process. I have tried my best to think of each element as a continuation of another, rather than separate entities. For example the invitations use the same color palette as our reception décor. I carry around a swatch of the bridesmaid’s dresses so the florist can match ribbons we use to their color. In the end I hope it will create for a cohesive “look” and a very thought filled event. Allowing inspiration to guide me has made this planning process a lot easier and way more fun.

Our initial source of inspiration came from the Chicago History Museum.

(I am thrown' up the west side represent. I am so street.)

It’s classic architecture, clean lines, and simple elegance is what struck us and what subsequently informed every decision we made thereafter. Hence, a good reason to choose a location first before deciding on any other decorative elements. The CHM definitely informed my flower choice, because while I have always loved Calla Lilly’s, I felt that a calla embodied the same classic beauty as our reception site.

Now it was time to choose a color palette. Or as they say in the bridal world “your colors.” It being a winter wedding I certainly wanted to use colors inspired by the season. Any sorts of reds or greens were vetoed immediately for fear of looking like a Christmas village.

Blue has always been my color of choice

But there are a plethora of blue hues out there and how was I ever to choose one? I thought about a champagne color...
or maybe even a chocolate brown (my mom did not approve of this idea)
(these collages were created on the ever so addictive Montage-a-google...yeah I have no life)

Instead of freaking out about it I decided to put it on the backburner and move forward. Inspiration found me in the form of a dress at Rebecca’s Bridal in Louisville, KY.

I decided to try on some wedding dresses with my mom while I was home. No pressure, no expectations. I had tried on maybe ten dresses and had found a few I liked when my delightful dress consultant brought me one final dress. She had clearly been inspired too! I put it on and instantly liked it, and in retrospect I think I “knew” right then. However I put three on hold to return at a later date, which ended up being the very next day. I nixed one right away and was down to two, although I knew my choice. My mom snapped some photos and they were quickly emailed to the people who mattered: my oh-so-fashion-forward brother Neill, my MOH Brittany (who forwarded them to her mom and sister), and my friends Katie and Jenn. The response was unanimous for dress #2. It was my dress and I would search no further. Now I cannot go into detail about the dress, as I do not want to diminish the dramatic power of “the big reveal” on the big day, plus Jürg wants to be totally surprised. I will say though that an element of the dress set off a light bulb in my mind. What about white, light silver and sapphire blue?

Perfect! Silver and blue have always been my favorite colors, I adore sapphire’s and what a lovely classic wintry combination! Eureka! I was beyond pleased with my choice.

In general the overall pallet will consist of mainly white and light silver, the sapphire will serve as more of a surprising accent.

My beautiful bridesmaids will be wearing sapphire blue dresses. It’s a color that looks good on anyone. They will not, however, all be wearing identical dresses. I prefer to mix things up. Here is a photo of one of the dresses in my chosen color (it appears brighter than it does up close and personal).

Along with the sapphire blue dresses some of the vases will be wrapped in deep blue ribbons. Here is the photo that inspired me (minus the brooch like thing)

The choosing of these colors helped me pick out our invitations. There are so many amazing invite options these days. With fanciful fonts, and adorable motifs it’s could be difficult to choose. Luckily I knew we wanted something very simple. Here is what we chose.

This is not the font we will be using, nor is in the same ink choice. Our ink is light silver; the paper is white with a light pewter border around the edge. It’s very classy and very wintry. We picked them from a delightful independently owned store in Louisville called Celebrations. It is the only place I looked as I am all about “freedom within boundaries.” We will also be working with them on our wedding programs. These have not been printed as we have yet to pick our music etc, but they do incorporate the blue in both the ribbon that binds them and the ink color. Pictures to follow along with updates on other little wedding details.

Thus concludes my multi-part series on wedding planning. Things are moving along smoothly as we enter the T-Minus 4 month mark. Time is flying by! The next steps to tackle are finalizing the wedding ceremony, the out of town gift baskets, figuring out the final menu, or yeah and the whole floor plan debate. That’s a whole separate entry!

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 5: Flower Power.

2008-09-04T13:50:00.008-05:00

Flowers die.

This is my first thought when considering how important I want the flowers to be during the wedding and reception. Clearly I am not placing a lot of importance on the flora and fauna. Again I go back to the value of prioritizing. Our church is so stunning and our reception site is so elegant that neither Jurg nor I felt the need to overdo it on the flowers. However,
after calling several florists I learned that clearly there were people who place a great deal of importance on the budding beauties. Some of the minimums these places had were insane in my opinion. Did I mention flowers die? Luckily we met up with Rachel at Dilly Lilly. An adorable flower shop in Lincoln Park, steps away from St. Clement. I actually lived above Dilly Lilly for two years in college so it excites me to have a small personal connection with the place. Now, let's be clear even though I do not put flowers way up on my priority list that does not mean I do not have opinions about them.

I have always loved Calla Lilly's
I think they embody feel we want our wedding to have: simple, classic and elegant. They are so sleek and stand on their own so well and you need not hide them among any sort of "filler flowers."

Thus, the perfect choice for my bouquet, my bridesmaids, the boutonnieres and other centerpieces. Here are some pretty images.
So pretty and simple. Not to mention small....I do not want to be overwhelmed with a poufy bouquet. Heavens no.

I think the guys could get behind this.

You can't go wrong with a nice calla.

Too bad they are not so much in season around January rendering them more expensive than I hoped. Originally one way we were going to cut costs was to have different centerpieces at the reception. Some would be callas while others would have dusty miller and perhaps silver foliage. However after careful consideration I deemed this idea "to kitchy" and too "winter wonderland." We have now opted to incorporate other white flowers to not only offset some of the cost, but also to add more visual interest. The centerpieces will be low and made up a single flower. It suits my simple tastes beautifully. Of course calla will still be the main flower, she will just have to share the stage with a few others. Those may include:

White Hydrangea

White Orchids
White Ranaunculus
White Roses

There are a few others which have been suggested to me, but I am not sold. They are: white lilac, star of Bethlehem and white snapdragons.

I am very pleased with our choices and hope to donate the flowers at the end of the night to a nursing home, or someplace close by that can enjoy them longer than a few hours. Tis' the season as they say.

(P.S- For those of you who love flowers and would certainly put them at the top of their list I hope I didn't offend you!)

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 4: Sights, Sounds, Smells...

2008-09-01T21:34:00.010-05:00

Once we had decided on our locations for our “Big Day” it was now time to work on the details. Now if you are wondering what my advice would be for this step (I know you are, I know you are!) it would be” Prioritize. Now is the time to determine what elements are most important to you in order to create your perfect wedding. For us it was the photography, the band and the food. Here is what we chose…

1) Kevin Weinstein Photography: Kevin served as the photographer for our friends Roni and Rick when they were married on August 13th 2006. I did not know Roni and Rick at the time, but I have seen the photos. The photos beautifully captured the "essence" of the day, so much so that I feel I was actually in attendance. Before I was ever engaged I knew I wanted Kevin to take my wedding photos, Jürgen felt the same way. This again hearkens back to the “going with your gut” feeling I propagate. We loved their photos, they loved working with Kevin, so we didn’t feel a need to look anywhere else. And with photos like these why would we?

One of the photos from their engagement session. Roni says this photo "looks like the picture in the frame when you buy a frame from Target."

Another engagement session photo. Seriously how beautiful is that?

Lovely wedding day photo, so very sweet.

They look so happy.

This is my friend Aine who recently got married and also used Kevin! Yay!

2) Although I will shamelessly admit that I am not a music person, one cannot deny the power of live music. We knew we wanted to have a band, and we hope it will provide for hours of uninterrupted dancing(get your dancing shoes broken in now folks…) However neither Jürgen nor I had any idea where to look for a great wedding band. I put Jürg in charge of this task as he is the designated "music snob" between the two of us. However, he was not working up to my standards in terms of swiftness, and I became a grade-A nag. After many, many days of goading Jürg to hop to it, he talked to his stage manger who had recently been married (and also had her reception at the History Museum). She told him about a band called the Chicago Catz, and according to her "people still ask about that band." A personal recommendation! I googled them right quick and was on the phone with Richie (aka Band Leader) in no time. He was friendly and even offered to stop by my house to personally drop off the band info and some demo CD's. I was able to listen to them that night and had no doubt they would be a fantastic addition to our wedding. They have the kind of energy and sound that you can't help but dance to, which is exactly what we want.
Here are some of the talented Catz. I wish I knew how to upload a sound clip, but I am just not that technically advanced. Check out their website www.chicagocatz.com

3) Blue Plate Catering: You have hopefully seen a few pf the photos I snapped during our tasting a few months ago. Those photos give you a hint of the yumminess Blue Plate provides. Chicago is a culinary mecca, and we are wanna be "foodies". Naturally the food was very important to us. We are striving to create a menu of familiar classics and more adventurous dishes. There will be three different "action stations" which will encourage you to mix and match to create unique flavor combinations and delectable experiences. It would be very hard to choose one caterer in a city that has so many amazing chefs, but luckily our reception site only allows you to choose from four preferred caterers. We chose Blue Plate for several reasons. 1) We had heard from our photographer (who has been to many many weddings) that they were great. 2) I had the chance to taste their food at a wedding event 3) the menus they proposed to us were the most sophisticated and unique 4) Kelly was so much fun to talk to and really helped us navigate through the uncharted territory of planning a wedding. Our menu is not yet set in stone and we look forward to having another tasting later this fall. I will snap some photos of the food during that time.

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 3: Location, Location, Location

2008-08-29T15:15:00.012-05:00

I have been fortunate enough to travel to Europe several times, and it is inevitable that I will visit a historic cathedral or basilica during my travels. I have always enjoyed going inside houses of worship. It’s quiet, and there seems to be a common understanding between whoever is inside that you are standing on hallowed ground. Even if you don’t ascribe to that school of belief, I think you would have to be made of stone not to feel something while inside these grand structures. Chicago is a city of many churches, and many of them are just and grand and beautiful as those I have seen overseas. You can be walking down a residential street and out of nowhere appears a church. Sometimes I go inside as I appreciate the momentary respite from busy city life.

It was December of 2007 and I was in tech rehearsals for a holiday production I was working on. For those of you who are unsure what a tech rehearsals is just know they usually involve twelve hour days, lots of waiting under hot stage lights, and if your lucky only mild levels of chaos. All actors have a love/hate relationship with tech week. On one of our breaks I wanted to find a place of calm during the storm and I remembered a church around the corner. Despite the frigid temperatures outside I walked the few blocks to St. Clement Roman Catholic Church and let myself in. It was breathtaking. The only source of light was the multitude of flickering candles all around the sanctuary. Still they produced enough light to behold the splendor inside. The huge domes, the stunning stained glass rose windows, and the exquisite marble altars. I was alone and I felt like I was in a scene in a dramatic mystery movie. I sat quietly taking it all in. Letting the stress of tech melt away and I knew I have to bring Jürgen back here.

We didn’t even consider getting married anyplace else. Once we decided on a day we phoned St. Clement right away to see if our day was available. It was! However there were a few more important bits of info to find out before we made it the official site of our marriage sacrament. I am not Catholic (gasp!), I am an Episcopalian and some churches will not allow you be married if both parties are not baptized Catholic. Luckily St. C’s is a more forward thinking parish and they do not mind my Anglican ways. Also, it was very important to me that my first cousin, Reverend. Benjamin Robertson IV would be able to officiate my wedding, which again some churches do not allow. Again, major props to St. Clement for being so cool. So that is how an Episcopal girl ends up getting married in a Catholic church…anything is possible.
The next step now was the reception. Along with my original dream wedding of being married in a garden I always wanted it to be on the grounds of some grand historic home. Well there are not many of those in Chicago, so I needed to rethink my ideal reception site. I knew I wanted it to be in Chicago, and I didn’t want all my out of town guests to have to travel further out to the suburbs. I also wanted to keep the church and the reception site close by one another, because it after all it will be winter in Chicago. We both agreed that we wanted a site that was unique but also beautiful on it’s own, for I didn’t want to spend a lot of money gussying up the party space. I did a search online and looked through some magazines and came up with six possible reception sites. That seemed like plenty to me. One (Café Brauer) was not available, and Fulton’s on the River were difficult to Jürg on the phone, so they were crossed of. We visited the other four in this order.

1) The River East Art Center.
We visited the space during a gallery opening so we got to eat yummy passed bites and drink free wine. It is a very cool, open, modern space (plus!). Located near Navy Pier and the Chicago River (minus…not very close to our church). It would no doubt be a very cool spot for a reception, but we both felt it was a tad “too cool” for us. We are not trendy or cool people at all. Jürgen watches homestarr runner regularly, and I like to Google myself from time to time. Not trendy art gallery material at all. Next please.

2) The Ivy Room
Also a part of an art gallery but a very different feel. Located downtown off of the Mag Mile (minus, closer than the first but not as close as I would like), it’s a very simple warm space that overlooks an enclosed courtyard (plus!). Sadly the courtyard would not be open during our wedding (minus), but the tress would be lit up with Christmas lights and the old time lamp posts would be on, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere (plus!). Also, since it is privately owned we could have the space open as late as we wanted too (plus!). A downside though was it was the most expensive locale on our list (minus), and while it was simple and pretty it was perhaps borderline boring (kind of a minus). Still after we left we decided to keep it in the “to be considered” pile in our minds.
3) The Peggy Noterbaert Nature Museum
The museum is not far from St. Clement, which was certainly… a plus! It’s located in a beautiful area of Lincoln Park near the lake, and it’s certainly a unique space (plus!). Lots of exposed stone and glass. One cool perk you get when you host an event there is you have access to their butterfly haven, which houses over a hundred different species of butterflies. However the actual event room itself was totally underwhelming (minus), and it even had carpet (minus). Bleck (minus).
(it's a small photo but do you see the carpet?)

We knew right away this space was not for us. Like I said earlier, we didn’t want to spend a lot trying to make the space beautiful.

Now it was off to visit our fourth and final reception destination.

The Chicago History Museum. I had been intrigued by the museum from the moment I visited the webpage. The photos looked stunning, and I don’t know I just had a “feeling.” It is also in Lincoln Park and not far from our church of choice (plus!). It has stood for over a hundred years giving it the historic feel that I so love (plus!). As soon as we walked up the stairs and into the “American Room” we just…well we just knew. The first room was just stunning. Designed in old colonial ballroom style (I am not sure if that is a design term as I just made that up) there is a beautiful chandelier hanging in the center flanked on either side by beautiful columns and classic crown molding. A perfect spot to have cocktails and late bites.
This is Kelly Milam (now Cavanaugh!) our go-to gal at Blue Plate. She just got married at the CHM so I decided to use her photos for this entry! Yay Kelly!

You then travel through the doors into the Robinson gallery. It’s exactly how we want our wedding to feel: simple, classic and elegant. Lovely panels of stained glass designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Tiffany adorn the walls, and along the east side the walls are lined with windows over looking a beautiful plaza. This plaza will probably not be used as we are getting married during one of the coldest months, but it will still make for a lovely view.
This is one side of the Robinson room.
I love how the back looks like a grand old mansion!

More of the plaza and the museum.

We needed to look no further. We had found it. After only four places too, and that’s not a lot. Again, it’s all about knowing what you want, and trusting your gut. You will hear me repeat this over and over again. It’s sort of my mantra, and maybe I should make it my mantra for life. Hmmmm…..

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 2: Choosing the Date

2008-08-28T12:57:00.011-05:00

When I was sixteen years old I spent my summer working at a florist in Louisville called Creative Illusions. They are no longer in business and I may have something to do with that, one will never know I suppose. The owner was a lovely woman named Marci who was much more of a “creative person” than a “business person.” The latter comes in handy when you, um, own a business. Oftentimes I would be left to my own devices for hours on end with no guidance or complete knowledge of how to operate the cash register. Many of the items in the store would mysteriously be devoid of price tags, and with no log or catalog of prices to be found I had to use my keen sense of intuition to make up a price….on the spot. A favorite memory of mine was a lovely summer day when one of the “ladies who lunched” stopped in and inquired on the price of a nice sized hanging fern.

“Ten dollars.” I said, with a slight hint of concern

“TEN dollars!” she gasped, her eyes popping out from the shadow of her visor.

“Um, seven…” I choked.

I learned later that ferns should go for around twenty-five dollars. Needless to say she bought it on the spot. This happened a few times.

However one interesting fact I did learn while working there was that flowers are apparently best during the month of September. This may or may not be true, although it makes some sense to me. It’s not too hot to dry out the soil and it’s not so bitter cold that nothing even wants to be living.

From then on I decided: I wanted to be married in September.

Outside.
In a Garden. Looking something like this photo.
Or perhaps this.
This would be nice too. You get the idea.
With Gerber Daises for the flowers.

Clearly this is not happening. So how did we go about choosing January 3rd? Well as this wedding isn’t just about me, even though I am the bride, I took Jürgen’s desire to have a winter wedding into consideration. However it was my mom that initially put the idea of a New Years Eve wedding in my head.
Flashback to June of 2007 and we were in the car somewhere in Indiana en route to Louisville from Chicago talking about, well, weddings. As an actor I have met many actor couples that have chosen to be married on a Monday, which is the “dark day” for a theatre person. However, I wasn’t crazy about that idea, but at the same time most of my friends are in the business and I would want them to be in attendance. Whatever would I do? It was then when my mom pointed out that New Years Eve is a day when 99% of the world is off of work, along with New Years day. Plus people are always looking for something to do. I loved this idea! How much fun! I began to reconsider my September idea altogether. If you have not put two and two together, I was not, in fact, engaged at this point, but rather being extremely girly.

Fast-forward to February of 2008 and I am now engaged. With my new love for the idea of a New Years Eve wedding we began to look into venues for that day. We did not look far because for one New Years is quite possibly one of the most expensive days to be married. Hotels are booked and at a premium months in advance. Most importantly one of my initial favorite possible reception sites wasn’t open on NYE. Hmmmmm. After a few days of wondering it finally dawned on me to, oh I don’t know, consult a calendar. It occurred to me that NYE ’08 falls on a Wednesday. Meaning 99% of the world will be off on Thursday. Leading me to conclude that a good 93% of the world will probably say “screw Friday, I’m not going into work for one day.” Therefore, a perfect travel day for our many out of town guests! Also (and I didn’t know this at the time) the Saturday after NYE is one of the LEAST expensive days to be married. Hotel rates are at the lowest for the year, and many receptions sites are more than willing to cut you a deal because that first Saturday heralds the “slow time of year”. What a lucky coincidence. Thank goodness for the leap year!

So that, fellow readers, is how we came to choose January 3rd. Picking the date is probably the most important step in planning, after saying yes of course.

This is part two of a multi-part series on planning Blürg’s wedding! Check back soon….

What’s the point of a Blürg and thoughts on planning a wedding (part 1)

2008-08-27T12:45:00.006-05:00

When I think back on it I am not entirely sure how we came up with the idea of keeping a wedding blog (henceforth called a Blürg). I am pretty sure it was my idea, but that is neither here nor there. I suppose we both liked the idea of being able to keep friends and family both near and far updated on what we are doing, both in life and in terms of planning the wedding. I hope everyone out there (and it may only be my mom who actually reads this) is enjoying it so far. So what is the point? To use the wonders of the world wide web to spin us all into the same world in cyberspace, Blürg’s world! Thank you for visiting.

The wedding:

We are four months and 7 days away (I think I counted right….) and so far no fatalities or serious injuries have occurred in the planning of it. I am actually surprised at how easy it has been and for the most part, stress free. I have been reflecting on why this unlikely state of calm has transpired for the past six and a half months and I have come up with some conclusions. They are:
1) The real simple wedding guide: Available at your local bookstore, I have found this book (more like a thick magazine) to be amazingly, well…simple. It avoids being over superfluous and “frilly” and cuts to the chase. It breaks down each month before the wedding and what you should be concentrating on, and the pictures are beautiful. I recommend it to any couple planning their own wedding. It really has everything you need.

2) GoogleDocs®: Have you heard of googledocs? Have you used them? They are amazing. I love google! A googledoc is similar to an excel spreadsheet but it is stored online. This means you can share it with others and they too can view it and/or make changes to it from their personal computers. We have spreadsheets set up for many different aspects of the Big Day: the ceremony, the reception, hotels/ transportation, attire, the rehearsal dinner and the best part…the guest list. It’s all online. If my mom needs to contact someone at the reception site, the contact info is there, if I need to double check on the address for one of our guests, it’s there. I’m telling you, it’s worth looking into.

3) A DIY Wedding Binder: I impulsively purchased a pre-made binder (looking oddly similar to the photo above) from Borders months and months ago and quickly felt the pangs of buyers remorse. Not only was it kind of cheesy, but I didn’t like the way they categorized certain sections, oftentimes the folders wouldn’t hold standard 8x10 documents and I just didn’t enjoy being slave to someone else’s preconceived notion of how a wedding binder should “be.” So I created my own and I must say I am very pleased with it. At present I have sections for: the ceremony, the reception, the catering, the band, the hotels, the florist, the transportation, the honeymoon, and the photography. More will be added I am sure and perhaps I will post a photo of it. Regardless of whether or not you choose to make your own or buy a pre-made one, I highly recommend having some sort of wedding binder. It keeps you sane and vendors love it when you appear organized. You are a “good bride” in their eyes.

4) Going with your gut: Quite possibly the most important piece of advice I could pass on to anyone planning a wedding. If you are truly honest with yourself I think you would agree that you usually like something the first time you see/hear/touch it. Trust that feeling. My dad always said that about trying on shoes “you know if you like how they feel in the first ten seconds.” I see his point, but shoes are an exception as sometimes those cute polka dotted mary-jane heels just need to be broken in a bit, or your foot needs to shrink. However I echo his sentiment when it comes to choosing wedding elements- like the reception venue, the invitations, and yes even the dress. I will go more info to detail about this in part two. Until then, brides and their mothers everywere, trust yourself, you know best.

Take me out to the Ballgame

2008-08-20T15:22:00.004-05:00

We could not have asked for a better night than the night we went to see the Chicago Cubs (who are apparently doing really well this year...I don't know things about baseball) with my mom and dad on July 10th. It was a great game and it marked the first ever visit to Wrigley for myself and Jürgen (it's shameful but true). Naturally we had to eat bratwurst, drink cheap beer and cheer against the opposing team (in this case the St. Louis Cardinals). The Cubs took home a victory that night with a final score of 6-2, and we got to see four of those runs happen all in one inning. I hear that's kind of exceptional. Will this be the year the curse of the goat is broke? Who's to say, watch and find out.

More Appendage Modeling!

2008-08-19T12:15:00.007-05:00

One of the best/worse things about being an actor, is you end up taking on all sorts of random trades to get by. I recently posted about my new career as a hand model and I am beginning to think this just may be a great to way to kill time before Broadway or Hollywood realizes there is a huge void which can only be filled by Blair. Until then I shall let my extremities do the work for me. Here are two photos of recent shoots I have done (my feet have not been retouched in this photo-just FYI). Now if only my hands could break into one of those cool iPhone commercials. Then I would really be in the big time.

Take the Cake!

2008-08-18T15:37:00.010-05:00

We spent the rest of our time in Maryland mainly on the beach and enjoying leftover crabs and corona's. Nothing wrong with that. We bid goodbye to the Land of Mary on Tuesday and endured the ten hour drive with no dents or scrapes. The following day we headed over to our cake tasting. I have to be honest when I say neither of us are really "cake people." Except when it is served to me in a party fashion, I will rarely order any sort of cake, unless the words "molten chocolate" are attached to it. That my friends is an entirely different story. Honestly this was one of our least favorite wedding "to-do's" thus far. Not because the cake tasted bad, or our lovely caked lady was rude, not at all. Really it just wasn't all that fun trying cake after cake after cake. I am actually a little nervous about our choice because by the end I really just wanted to be done with all the cake and sugar, but hopefully on the day of I will remember why we chose what we chose. Fear not fellow guests, there will be a multitude of sweet treats to try! Here, of course are a few photos

Enagagement Party: Ocean City Style

2008-08-18T14:55:00.014-05:00

For all of you who could not be with us at the Ocean City soirée celebrating the impending nuptials of the Blürg you were deeply missed. However you consider yourselves lucky to have missed the escapades that transpired on the mini-golf course the evening prior. Let's not dwell on discolored memories, but rather march forward with pride.

Day two of the Ocean City vaca was spent at the ocean. Having deemed my several year old bathing suit ill "suited" for the wild waves of the Atlantic, the first order of business was to purchase a new one. Luckily there is no shortage of swimwear merchants in the O.C. As soon as my mission was accomplished Jürgen and I took to the beach, and save a quick lunch we were out side until about 5:00 in the evening. We were joined by Stefanie for a time, but for the most part were left to relax on our own. I questioned this at times and even felt bad. "Where is your family?"
I would chirp, "should we go upstairs and help?" Jürgen assured me all would be well. That evening we both managed to clean up for the celebration. It should be noted that this lovely gathering took place on July 26th, which happens to coincide with Jürgs date of birth. No one seemed to remember this however as all focus was on 1) the wedding and 2) the crabs. You will notice our crisp white attire in the photo above....well that didn't last long. Some event photos
Peering wide eyed into the seemingly unending bushel full of CRABS! We really are in Maryland (we had three of these by the way)
The crab eatin' begins. Must have items to eat crabs: Corona with lime, newspaper, wooden mallets and clothes you do not care about. An ocean view is desirable but not required.
I'm gonna kiss you Crabby, I'm gonna kiss you and then I am going to eat you. Notice the change in attire. This did not occur due to any sort of stain making activity, but rather my astute sense of foreboding.
The carnage begins to pile up. Dave seems unphased.

The festivities continued for sometime and I got the hang of ripping apart the little buggers only to be rewarded with little meat. This is not a spot for the weak of heart. A strong will and constitution are necessary. A few hours in some of the ladies proclaimed they were moving the party upstairs to the fifth floor, while many of the gentlemen remained on the balcony. Jürgen and I stayed downstairs among the wreckage for sometime longer when Stefanie asked me if I would like to go upstairs to "see the condo her Aunt was renting for the week." I obliged and headed upstairs. As I walked into the unit I noticed something hanging over the sliding glass door, as I squinted in an attempt to decipher it I heard a rousing chorus of "SURPRISE!"

A surprise bridal shower! Amazing! I am a tough cookie when it comes to surprises as I usually figure out what is happening before it happens. Not this time. I was totally fooled and I am so happy that I was. Here are some fun photos.

I do not look cute in this photo but it captures the moment perfectly. Love the bride to be sash. It matched my outfit!
Another lovely looking (and tasting!) cake!
Thank you Judy for the incredible decorations.

The following are a series of possible expressions one can have while opening gifts.

No need to limit yourself folks!

Us again, in less white clothing.

I am regretting now that no one thought to take a big group shot of all the ladies! If any of you all have any photos send em my way and they will certainly be posted. For now I leave you all with this image.
Thank you all, it was an amazing party and an amazing shower!

...and then there was that time Jürgen humped a dinosaur

2008-08-16T09:04:00.009-05:00

I guess you really can't say "Poor Blair." Though she really didn't get more than one full day's introduction to the area in which I grew up (actually, now that I think about it, I never really gave her a proper tour of my own house...errrrrrrrrm), she did get to spend Friday to Monday in Ocean City at my Grandfather's condo. So this sight-seeing and introductions trip became more of a vacation proper. Who's really complaining, you know?

We headed down to Ocean City (had to stop myself from writing down the ocean...or "downee owshun" in Bal'more speak) on Friday morning, July 25th and spent the better part of the afternoon introducing Blair to the frigid (surprising in late July) glory of the Atlantic Ocean and it's waves...of doom. She was a good sport, though she spent the majority of the time papoosed to my back, although she never would let me teach her to ride a wave.

We helped some assorted other Hoopers (or Dickerts as the case may be) in the immediate family move their stuff into the condo as we prepared ourselves for the greater question to come: Who Sleeps Where? Thankfully Blair was able to sleep in a bed that evening, though future arrangements were in doubt.

Once everyone arrived we laid out plans for an evening out of typical Ocean City fun: the boardwalk and mini-golf (don't call it "putt-putt" or you will incite much wrath). The crew consisted of my mother and father, Stefanie, Aunt Judy and my Grandfather....oh and the Blürg...don't forget them. In the picture above you also see my brother, Kevin, (in full military regalia no less) who joined us later as a nice surprise since he was in Delaware all week with his military obligations.

We began our trip to the boardwalk by seeking out those staple O.C. (don't call it that) treats: Thrasher's french fries...which, by the by, have really declined in quality over the years. Maybe it was because someone decided to buy the two of us the wheelbarrow size, but I've tasted them at a much higher quality in years gone by. We also ate some pretty intestine-challenging hot dogs as well, but that was to be expected. What next to do but really give your digestion a good swift kick in the...well...gut, but to ride the rides.

Every year the Pier part of the boardwalk, to counteract the fact that its only real attracting is the increasingly purple Ferris wheel, hosts some new and ridiculously expensive new ride. This year's version was a type of human slingshot. Two people strapped themselves into a steel ball and at the conductor's whim would be shot many feet up into the air where they would bungee about three sine waves (who remembers math, huh?) before slowly lowering you back to earth. I declined my father's offers to pay for Blair and me to go - not because I was scared, but because I thought the price was not worth the three-bounce maximum. He, however, took my sister and accepted the challenge. The following is what occurred

We watched their reactions on the little televisions standing to the side of the ride. Personally, I think it alters genuine reactions when people know they're being filmed in all their snot-flying glory below. But I'm just jealous I didn't get to go.

We walked over to Trumper's (I think that's the spelling) Rides, which are, in my opinion, the only decent rides on the boardwalk. We heard through the grapevine that someone's trying to buy these people out to build some hotel down there. We must stop this at all costs. Where would my summer be without the sinking feeling that maybe someone hasn't really made adjustments to these rides since the late 80's, while I'm tumbling over my ankles in the Zipper? What would I do without the Tidal Wave roller coaster reminding me what a migraine feels like as I plow into my headrest time and time again? I kid, but seriously, these things may be overdue for a tuneup. I think it may have only been the dulcet tones of Blair's screaming that kept my mind off the thought of one of the zipper cars hurtling into the night sky, unhinged and free at last. And yet somehow, when my brother arrived, we swindled her into getting on again. It may be dark in the photo but you should be able to make out Blair's true enthusiasm with the ride at hand.

After finishing off this leg of the trip with more O.C. (don't call it that) staples - Dolly's popcorn (sorry, Blair, I was wrong about them carrying cheese popcorn) and Dumser's ice cream - mom, dad, Stef, Kevin and the Blürg went to our staple family mini-golf course (everyone knows this one) on 70th with the dinosaurs outside and the underwater scuba world inside.

Kevin was housing all of us for awhile with repeated 2's, coming in under par just about the entire game, though Blair would like me to mention that she held her own the entire time. Shoot, she did much better than I did. Time was, where I would hurtle my golf club into some bush in a pre-adolescent rage, but those days had passed and now I handled my inability to excel at any sport, no matter how mundane, with grace and poise. Grace and poise which disappears completely in the event that I should ever land a hole in one...and I did.

If you've been to this golf course, and most of you Marylanders have to have, you know the large green T-rex that stands at the course facing Ocean Highway grinning his large come-hither grin. Well I, though there seem to be no apparent embankments to make this possible, landed a glorious hole in one. So surprised was I at my fortune that I hurtled myself headlong onto the thick part of this reptile's tail, and though my mind was asking "Um...hey there Pardner she ain't exactly saddled up there is she?" this didn't deter me in my decision to repeatedly hump the dinosaur. Not completely forgetting (amazingly) the company that I was in, I held my joy to three humps to keep it at that PG-13 level so as to simply embarrass my parents, not mortify them. In my defense...look what he was wearing. He was asking for it. And the grin was noticeable wider when I was through. The little stoner kids in front of us thought it was a riot.

Mom...Dad...I'm really sorry.

Other such incidents included...

Blair gets her ball stuck in the middle of the log, which is next to impossible to do. Sorry for the unattractive photo.

Blair gets her ball trapped under the Brontosaurus.And Jürgen unwittingly drops the pencil, though not his ball, into the blue family recreation water, which is just perfect for little kids to drink or pee in...or.....both....

Good night. I slept well. As for the T-rex.....

Baltimore: Come for the Crabs...Stay for the Treatment

2008-08-11T09:53:00.009-05:00

A cheeky title, I know, but I was so proud of my little witticism that I had to include it.

So we'd made it. The google mapsmen said eleven hour and nineteen minutes, but I scoffed at that prediction. I'd see us there in just over ten safe and sound...save the car...which I dented...uh...before we left Chicago. My attempts to get us out of the house in a reasonable amount of time had been thwarted and so maybe I was still a little too overheated to reconsider that quick shift into the center lane and right into some poor lady's Chevy Malibu. I did look, and she was in the lane behind me when I did, but alas, she was the quicker mover and I was to blame. Needless to say the wheel was not surrendered back to me for another two hours. Still, we made considerably good time, and while James and Blair weren't sleeping all three of us enjoyed many road games which have that strange way of only appealing to those under the age of twelve and over the age of twenty-one. NOT I-SPY. That game should be shot...in the arm...at close range.

We arrived at the House of Hooper around 7pm that July 22. My mother made us an amazing dinner, paired at every turn with wine selections by my father. We ate, drank, were merry, toasted the cute new dent Blair's car had acquired, etc. After dinner I took James home, then returned to get some sleep for my Welcome to Maryland outing I'd planned for Blair the next day.

If we had breakfast of some sort I couldn't tell you, but I'm pretty sure we were out of the house sometime between 9 and 10am, which is no small feat when you've spent the previous day up at 5:30 and spent 10 hours on the road. I took Blair first to my college, Towson University to show her around. It was a very nostalgic experience, which is strange considering the Theatre Arts building has been completely renovated since I had graduated and I only recognized about 30% of it. So poor Blair had to constantly hear, "No...you don't understand. There was a door here. This wall used to be a classroom. None of this was here," and on and on and on.

From Towson, we went to my high school, Calvert Hall. This experience, however, bore no feelings of nostalgia. It felt rather empty - not empty in a lonely way, but more like nothingness. So, needless to say, we didn't spend too much time there.

We drove into Baltimore and went to Fells Point, which is a nifty little area of downtown that was a favorite spot of mine through most of college. There are plenty of great places to eat, lots of history to be viewed and, of course, my favorite record shop, which I avoided going into...took some doing. We ate at a place called Bertha's Mussels.

We had about 2/3 of a great meal. The mussels were outstanding, the crabcake was decent (not the best but I've been away so long I wouldn't know where to take her), but the sage-brushed chicken livers proved a poor choice, despite our adventurous natures. We walked around a little after the meal bemoaning the fact that we couldn't spend more time in Fells but we had a schedule to stick to, and of course we had to see...

The Baltimore Aquarium!

Chicago you can keep your miserable little Shedd Aquarium, paying waaaaay too much for too little...and lizards aren't nearly as cool as the many-colored frog displays we were privy to. And let's pit your puny little dolphins against the full bottle-nosed power of our DOLPHIN SHOW!

Can your dolphin do this?

After a great time at the Aquarium we went to my friend, and former professor, Steve's house for a little dinner. Steve and Patrick did a wonderful job with dinner and there was much merriment before a titanic storm came and threatened to wash half of the city away. This, of course, didn't deter me from driving us back down into Baltimore to meet up with some Towsonite friends for a late night gathering at Brewer's Art - a favorite haunt of we Towson alumni.

All in all, a wonderful day.

Shower Time!

2008-08-10T22:22:00.014-05:00

These photos and this entry are long overdue, but my mom just now got these photos to me, so what can you do? The week after Jürgen and I travelled to Louisville for our engagement party, I travelled solo to the ville to attend my first bridal shower. What a lovely time it was! It was co-hosted by Glen and Brittany (aka Maid of Honor) Hume and Mollie and Francie Mulloy. We gathered on the evening of July 6th at the Mulloy abode for champagne and desserts (a delightful combination, never fails) for a recipe themed shower. A truly memorable event and I am so thankful to Brittany, Mollie, Mrs. Hume and Mrs. Mulloy for being so generous and for throwing such a fantastic event. Thank you to all who attended...I hope you have been enjoying your recipes! I am enjoying mine!

To see all the photos visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/BlairBRobertson/RecipeShower070808

The lovely looking (and tasting!) cake

Brittany, Mollie and myself before the guests arrive

Ms. Strange helps me cut the cake, I was very stressed about messing it up. Thank you Ms. Strange and CONGRATS on your engagement!
Brittany helps me serve the cake. Way to take charge Brittany!
The present opening begins. I believe I will use this lovely platter when I have my much anticipated and talked about wine and cheese party.
My cousin Amanda Ganz puts her skills to good use to create a gorgeous bouquet for me to use at the wedding rehearsal. Amanda's one year wedding anniversary is approaching next month! Yay!
Brittany was a very attentive MOH and kept the present opening running smoothly and in an organized fashion.
KCD Buddies! Mollie Mulloy, Emily Albrink and Jenni Pollard (Bo we are sorry you left before this photo was taken!)
Us daughters and our stunning mothers!
Pretty Ladies: Mrs. Hume, My Mom and Mrs. Mulloy

Thank you all!!

A Show of hands...

2008-07-22T12:08:00.000-05:00

I was very excited to shoot my first ever hand modeling job a month ago. The joys of working at a photography studio! It's funny, for years my mom has said "you have such lovely hands, you should be a hand model." I hemmed and hawed about it and could only find flaws in my clappers, but last summer (while working at the photo studio) the producer asked to look at my hands, and apparently she liked them. I was whisked upstairs to shoot a Pampered Chef catalog. This gave me the courage I was seeking to contact the print department of my agency to be considered for hand modeling jobs. After a few weeks a meeting was set and I went in to have my hands judged. According to my agent "It takes two seconds, it's either a yes or a no, and nine times out of ten it's a no." (encouraging!). I placed my hands and as luck would have it they were a yes! Felicitations! Shouts of joy! However, he was quick to point out that my knuckles were a tad "rough" and I need to be more diligent about using hand cream. Well ok, since you said it so nicely. Nothing came of this meeting for awhile, until recently and now I have a legitimate comp card. Hopefully (nicely filed and polished fingers crossed) I can embark on a new career path! I will keep you posted. (thank you for the awesome appendage-genetics passed onto me from my grandmother, Annie)

More James Photos

2008-07-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

Day three of Flanagan's Chicago Expedition was spent expanding our minds and stomachs. We traveled to Hyde Park to visit the Museum of Science and Industry where a fully functional "Green" home has been built in the courtyard of the museum. It is the most eco-friendly and efficient home out there and we had a great time exploring it. From the recycled deck, solar paneled roof, Chardonnay glass tiled shower and the dual flush toilets it was interesting to learn about how we can make changes, big and small, to make our homes more safe, efficient and enviro-friendly. If you are in Chicago from now through January 4th (hmmmm.....) be sure to check it out!

After the home tour, we traveled north to show James the Chicago History Museum, which is of course the site for our upcoming reception. We had a little too much fun with our camera on the old time El car.

Um...excuse me while I grope your leg and take your stuff.

After our museum trips we stopped at Chicago Oven and Pizza Grinders, a local haunt specializing in pot pie pizza. In a word: delish. After which we rolled ourselves home and tried to force ourselves back into hunger as we had dinner plans that evening with Ira. A few hours later we succeeded in making a yummy Summer bouillabaisse with smoky rouille. The recipe is forthcoming! Followed by more hoopla and another favorite game, Apples to Apples.

Mr. Flanagan has arrived!

2008-07-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

The weekend of July 19th heralded the arrival of the infamous James Flanagan, creator of the word Blürg, and best man for the impending nuptials. Sadly we did not document our first night with James, but we will tell you it was filled with succulent mussels, fantastic beer, a rousing game of mini-golf (which Blair won by the way) and many games of Hoopla on Blair's deck, certainly waking the neighbors. Day two we spent the late afternoon attempting to see Lang Lang, a piano virtuoso at Ravinia only to have our plans thwarted by lack of parking (Blair was not pleased about this). Proving ourselves to be adaptable (well sort of in Blair's case) we instead payed a visit to the Chicago Botanical Gardens, which are actually located in Glencoe but let's not fight with semantics. It ended up being a lovely evening as the gardens are stunning and the weather was cooperative. Here are some photos of the day! More can be found at

http://picasaweb.google.com/jurgenhooper/JamesVisit

Blair calms down when she enters a beautiful garden
James heeds the advice: For your safety please do not climb on the fountain
Blair does not: Rock on!
Not. A. Good. Picture. At. All
Take two, much better!
James and Jürgen take time to "sense" the tree in the sensory garden.
An arty photo through the arches. So deep.
The esplinade. Kinda pretty if you ask me.
Look Ma, a catfish, can I touch it?

After our trip to the gardens, we drove back to Blair's abode and played more hoopla. Everyone needs to know about this game.

Happy 4th O' July (many days late)

2008-07-03T15:27:00.000-05:00

(I am sad this photo is dark, but I like it nonetheless)

Alright I will admit that we have both been very lazy when it comes to updating the Blürg. We hearby solemnly swear to be better about this henceforth and promise to bring you many updates and images from the life of Blürg! Several weeks ago (I cannot believe it is almost August) Jürgen and I had the extreme priviledge to attend a fantastic fourth of July party held on the 16th floor of my dear friend, and voice teacher's, lovely condo in Chicago. Now it must be noted that for some reason Chicago always hosts their annual fireworks display on the third of July, not the conventional fourth day of the month. Why this is we do not know, nor did we spend much time speculating about it because there was much merriment to be had. Jürgen and I had the great honor of attending this soiree last year, and we were thrilled to receive an invitation this year. Thank you John and Pasquale for hosting such a lovely affair! Below are some pictures (which turned out to be very small) of the fireworks and the amazing view:

Tasty Treats

2008-06-30T21:36:00.000-05:00

Jürgen and I had an amazing time at our menu tasting about two weeks ago. After a long day at work we went to Blue Plate's office and we treated to what we felt was equivalent to a multi-course tasting menu. For us burgeoning "foodies" it was an ideal way to spend the evening. They greeted up with Champagne (you can tell from the photo Jürgen is pleased about this) after which we were led into a room all set up with lovely linens and a personalized menu just for us. A friendly waiter served us while Kelly (our go to gal at Blue Plate) described each item. We tried about eight different Hors d' oeuvres, followed by a full carving station menu, an Asian station, a French station and finally about ten different desserts! Needless to say we left in a semi-comatose state. Now we want you guys to be surprised on the day of so we will not give away what we chose, but rest assured, you will be very well fed!

After the tasting: smiling and satiated.

A Day At the Downs

2008-06-29T18:04:00.000-05:00

For our last day in Louisville I felt it necessary to take Jürgen to an historic Louisville landmark: Churchill Downs. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Downs, it is a world famous horse track which hosts the most prestigious horse race, the Kentucky Derby . Our good friend Bruce gave us tickets to the Turf Club so we could watch the races in style. We had a great day eating good food and putting our money towards some promising thoroughbreds. We partook in what we called a "show parlay." How does this work? As a group we each put $2 in for a given horse to "show" (that means to come in third in betting lingo), if we were to win that race we would take whatever our winning were to put towards the next race. Out of eight races that we bet on, we "won" seven of them. It was a very exciting day and a great way for Jürgen to get a slice of Kentucky history. Here are a few photos which were snapped while we stood out by the paddocks and perused the horses before their race.

See those twin spires in the background? Yeah, they are pretty famous.

More Photos!

2008-06-28T22:36:00.000-05:00

I could only upload 5 at a time and because my dad is a master photographer I felt I should post some more!

Group Shot! We had a great crowd.
Group shot from other end of the dining room
The "young folk" Blair the boy, Bo, Jürg, Blair the girl, Mollie and Scott!
Mom and some of her best friends-Glen, Denise, and cousin Meme
Last group shot of the eve (Mom, Bo, Blair x2, Jürg, Uncle Jamie, Mr and Mrs Butler and Charlie Bond!

Party Time!!!

2008-06-28T22:19:00.000-05:00

Jürgen and I traveled to Louisville, KY the weekend of June 27th to attend a fantastic soiree thrown in our honor by my lovely parents. Thank you mom and dad for putting together such a lovely party. Below are some photos. Thank you all for coming out, it was an unforgettable event!

Out in front of LCC before the party (the rain stayed away-whoo hoo!)
We are on a sign...how...um...exciting?!?!?
Mom, Dad and myself before the guest arrived
Prepping Jürg on how to behave for a group of 60 eager guest

The first guests! Aunt Nancy, Uncle Whitney and Uncle Dick---the interrogation begins!

Jürgen in the news....

2008-06-10T15:59:00.004-05:00

Jürgen has been performing in Collaboraction's annual new play festival Sketchbook:08 for three weeks now and the response has been fantastic! TimeOut Chicago called him "excellent" Hedy Weiss with the Chicago Sun-Times called him "sensational." It's also a very exciting time for Ira (the playwright) because the piece, titled Dated: A Cautionary Tale for Facebook Users, has been picked up by a festival in DC which will perform later this summer. On top of being a critical and audience favorite in the festival the piece has also been asked to perform at the Chicago New Media Summit and at the Union League Club dinner. Here is a photo from the New Media Summit. The show closes this weekend but it has been a wonderful experience for all involved (even for Blair as her photos we included in the projection portion of the piece).

In other news we are excited summer has finally arrived. Blair traveled to NYC to meet up with her family to see her brother Neill in wacky version of Alice in Wonderland. She also had the chance to see her old friend (and maid of honor) Brittany!

Here is a picture of the Robertson clan (minus mom who was taking the photo) having High Tea in honor of Neill's show!

We will be traveling to Louisville the weekend of June 28th and to Maryland in July for a week to celebrate Jürgen's 26th birthday!

Wedding planning is going well. We have secured several old time trolley cars to transport guests from the Church to the reception site. We think this will be a fun way to travel. The menu tasting will happen in a few weeks, and seeing as how one of our favorite pastimes is to EAT we are very excited about this. Blair continues to look for things to "check-off" but apparently you can only do so much in advance. Some things will simply have to wait until closer to the time. She will do her best to contain herself!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! Keep in touch!
Blürg

The Robertson ladies love to blog

2008-05-18T22:53:00.002-05:00

Blair traveled to Louisville, KY this past week to spend some time with her family and to meet her baby cousin Anna. In town from North Carolina, Anna found some time in her busy schedule to visit with her eager cousin and Great Uncle and Aunt. Blair felt as though she knew Anna because of the fabulous blog Anna keeps, chronicling her day to day life as a newborn. You too can see what Anna is up to at www.robertsonbaby.blogspot.com.

She is an absolute delight and meeting her was the highlight of the visit. Anna's Dad, Rev. Ben G Robertson IV will be con-celebrating the wedding service in January. Having been a reader in Ben and Ellen's (yes there are two Ellen Robertson's one tall and one short....try to figure out which is which) wedding in 2002, I am so thrilled to have Ben be a part of my wedding and to have Anna in attendance. She will have just celebrated her 1st birthday....we will have to think of a special treat to give her when she gets here!

You are no longer listed as in a relationship

2008-05-12T14:04:00.002-05:00

I've been meaning to post this blog for about a week, and with Blair nagging me every other minute I figured I'd better get on it. A little back story:

My best friend, and groomsman, Ira has a play in this year's Sketchbook Festival. Collaboraction, a Chicago theatre company, hosts a festival of new works every summer. I participated last year and will again this year...in Ira's play no less. (It's at the Steppenwolf garage theatre if you're interested...and you should be) The play - "Dated: a cautionary tale for facebook users" - deals with a young man who finds out that his relationship with his girlfriend is over via facebook (a social networking site these crazy youngsters use today to keep tabs on one another). It's a good mix of humor, tragedy and...erm...poignancy....? Sure, that'll do.

I play the young man and Ira, always considerate of the tech crew's time and energy (tech took over 3 hours yesterday for a 9 minute play) has written in a ridiculous number of projected slides, video clips and images from facebook, myspace and livejournal to help tell the story. We knew that we would need to use my facebook page with my picture for many of the images, but we needed to find a willing female to play my girlfriend. Blair readily volunteered to let us use her page as well. This presented an interesting dilemma: we'd have to cancel our relationship to get the frame shots we needed to help tell the story.

We were both really excited, both sharing a very dark sense of humor from time to time, and thought it'd be a lark to spend a half hour or so letting all of facebook think our relationship had ended. Even typing that right now sounds about 80% less cool that it once did, but we thought it'd be a laugh, as facebook tells all of your friends publicly when your relationship status changes (highly considerate of it with such delicate information).

So Ira comes over to Blair's place on a Wednesday evening during our Top Chef time (we're big geeks) to get still captures of our respective facebook and myspace pages before, during, and after we digitally cancel our relationship. What followed was a very unnerving forty-odd minutes. We thought the process would be quite simple, but it wasn't.

First of all, the character's name is Guy...not Jürgen, so we'd have to change my name first. This proved difficult as facebook is a little more toffee-nosed than myspace and won't let you post nicknames. "Guy" was a no-go, so we tried "Guy Smith" and were told there would be a waiting period while facebook verified this. Just to give you an idea of how long that verification process can take: this took place almost two weeks ago, and only a few days ago did my name magically change to Guy Smith for a few hours on facebook. Frustrated by that, Ira decided he'd just photoshop over my name.

Next: the cancelling of the relationship. Again, Guy is not engaged to his girlfriend, so when Blair ended our relationship instead of the desired "Guy is no longer listed as in a relationship," we got "Jürgen is no longer listed as engaged." So we had to restart our relationship as just "relationship," and then cancel it again. Splitting focus between all these problems and Top Chef was proving a mild annoyance but it was milder still when compared with the sense of disquiet growing inside of me.

The laugh I thought I'd have at our relationship being cancelled on facebook wasn't coming. What was coming was the unease I felt at all of facebook being able to access information about my relationship status. Though there were plenty of people I cared about who would get the joke and I wouldn't mind explaining the situation to, there are plenty more people I'd really rather not know about this. My profile isn't set to private so I can be searched by anyone in the area and from random theatre acquaintances to crazy exes I really didn't want the possibility of a rumor mill starting. I started getting very anxious for the whole thing to be over, and breathed a great sigh of relief when we finally recommitted ourselves...digitally.

So that's that...take from it what you will. We laugh about it now, but more about the surprise of feeling exposed. It was a wild thing to experience and hopefully it'll inform the play more when it opens....this weekend. Come and see it.

Below are the links for Sketchbook and the Steppenwolf box office respectively.

http://collaboraction.typepad.com/sketchbook/2007/01/post.html
http://www.steppenwolf.org/boxoffice/productions/index.aspx?id=453

Things we love: Wine, Cheese and Birthdays!

2008-05-12T12:46:00.004-05:00

On Wednesday May 7th our dear friend (and groomsman) Rick celebrated his 42nd birthday! His wife (and bridesmaid) Roni hosted a wine and cheese soiree in his honor. What a lovely time it was! Many gathered in their new condo and sampled cheese from all over and a variety of wines. Rick's mom snapped this photo of us. Jurgen doesn't like it, but I think he is just being hard on himself. Thank you for including us in the festivites Roni and Rick!

The Group!

Lists, Lists, Lists

2008-04-30T10:38:00.003-05:00

Well so far we are pleased to report that the wedding planning is going along swimmingly. Just checked theknot.com's online checklist and we are all up to speed which is great. All the "big" decisions have been made: the date, location, reception site, caterer, florist and band (check them out www.chicagocatz.com). There is still much to do, but we are trying to remain as low key as possible. We will see how this works out, particularly two weeks before the wedding when Blair is doing eight shows a week at night. Oh my.

Be sure to check out the wedding website as hotel infomation will be updated along with the "Visitors" section.

The weather in Chicago has been fickle, but hopefully spring is here to stay and summer is on it's way. We plan to make trips to Louisville and Baltimore this summer so hopefully we will be able to see all of our fantastic family and friends outside of Chicago. Of course if you wish to visit us in Chicago let us know, Chicago is an amazing city to be in during the summer (and Blair has an extra bedroom and pull out couch!)

Jürgen has about a week and a half left of the Romeo and Juliet tour with Chicago Shakespeare he will then spend about a month performing in a ten-minute new play festival called "Sketchbook" with a company called Collaboraction. In August he begins rehearsals for Amadeus also at Chicago Sheakespeare. Thankfully there will be about a two month break to enjoy the summer.

Blair is not in a show at the moment, but she has been keeping herself busy on the "other side of the table" working as a freelance casting director with some smaller Non-Equity and Equity companies around town. She also fills her days as a temp (which leaves her lots of time to do wedding stuff which is great) and auditioning. She will reprise her role of "Gerda" in Victory Gardens musical production of The Snow Queen which will begin rehearsals on November 1st (her birthday!).

Other than that the life of Blürg is pretty low key. We enjoy cooking and often harass Jürgen's mom for new recipes. We watch a lot of Top Chef and have been seeing a fair amount of theatre lately which is always fun.

Thank you for visiting our site....more to come!
Blürg

The Wedding Website is up and running!

2008-04-25T16:52:00.003-05:00

Hooray! The website is up and it looks AMAZING! We are so so so thankful for our dear friends Roni and Rick for taking the time to help us create such an amazing and unique site. They are such talented, funny and loving individuals. You must check it out: www.blairandjurgen.com

Jürgen and I got the idea to create a site like this from Roni and Rick. They created one when they got married and we absolutley copied some of their ideas (they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery). You can check out their site at www.practicalcooperation.com

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Roni and Rick, you guys rock!

Have an amazing weekend everyone! Check back often for updates in the world of Blürg!

Engagement Story

2008-04-25T10:07:00.003-05:00

So, here's the story for those of you who are interested:

Having obtained her parents' permission I went about planning my attack. My initial plan was to use the mainstage of the Goodman theatre. I had already convinced her that I had an audition there, which I didn't have, for a play whose title I stole from Ira ("Lying Through Your Teeth") which he invented for an audition monologue he'd written back in college. The deal was that she would pick me up from that audition on the way to a real one at collaboraction, and somehow I'd get her inside by calling her cell and saying "oh...dear, you've got to see the stage setup in here," or something ridiculous to that affect. She'd come in, I'd be on the mainstage and I had planned to sing "Absolutely Cuckoo" by the Magnetic Fields (69 Love Songs...buy it). That was the initial plan.

For those who don't know the Goodman is where we met, where we had our first date and has been all around important to our relationship, so I figured it would mean something special to do it there.

Well, it's a good thing I check on my plans. I called my friend Lilly, who works there, and said, "Hey, the Goodman's dark on Mondays. How difficult do you think it'd be for them to walk me in and let me use their stage for maybe five minutes?" To which she replied that it wouldn't be possible due to the load-in and teching of "Return to Bountiful."

Glavin!

To make a long story short, Lilly and I wetn back an forth for a day or so trying to figure out how it could work, before I finally decided I would be just as happy using the roof. That...she said, would not be a problem.

So, Friday afternoon (February 22) I was working downtown in the offices of Mtv Networks, which is about 75-80% less cool that it sounds. And it's not really all that cool to begin with. Blair and I were planning on seeing some Theatre School MFA performance that evening, and somehow, I convinced her with little trouble to drive down and pick me up. She pulls up to where I'm standning. I shuffle around to the driver's side and say, "Switch."

"Ummm...no, I'm driving."

"No, no. Switch."

She does.

I get into the driver's seat, and hand her my scarf, already folded to blindfold width, and say, "Either you're gonna put their around your eyes, or you're going to have to promise to keep them tight shut."

She kept her eyes shut, which she was having much difficulty with.

Now, she's smart enough that she knew both where we were going and what I was going to do, but she was good enough not to say anything until we got there. Had she I would've just said, "Fine, I'll propose in this Burger King drive through." (we didn't eat at Burger King. Don't eat at Burger King)

After I took two wrong turns like a mook, we finally pulled up in front of the Goodman.

"Where are you parking my car?"

"Don't worry about it. The flashers are on"

"Oooooooooooookay."

I steered her through the lobby. Lilly guided us into the elevator and rode with us, which Blair didn't know that anyone was with us in the elevator. I get the high sign from Lilly, and lead Blair out onto the roof. I'm about to get down on my knee, when I see....

some jamoke on the corner of the roof smoking. Boo.

I take Blair's hand and say, "Wait right here and keep your eyes closed."

I run over to this guy, who I know from when I worked here, and say, "Listen, I need you to do me a huge favor."

He looks at me. Looks at Blair, then gives me this look as if to say, "Uh, listen buddy, I don't have a lute stuffed down my pants. I can't accompany you if you're about to serenade."

"No, no. Just finish your smoking at a later time."

"OH! Yeah. Sure thing."

He runs inside and I return to Blair...get down on one knee and say, "Open your eyes."

She says, "......what's my return on this?"

"Well, it's me or the four story drop."

No, no. None of that happened. She said yes and then soon after asked, "Uh, so where'd you park my car?"

And that...as they say...was that.