Today we booked our limo for the wedding day.  I’d never been in a stretch limo before (did not go to prom, there was a youth orchestra conflict) so that was an experience.

This Friday I am playing for Winter Opera’s Gala.  I did this last year as well, but this year I will playing with my friends (and colleagues) Jen and Tony.  I am concertmaster for the orchestra for Winter Opera so I have a personal interest in the group.  Gina Galati is doing a wonderful job running the group and trying to increase the exposure.  It’s similar to what we are doing with Chamber Project St Louis—taking a quality product and then trying to grow your audience.  So many people think they don’t like classical music when they really do!

It’s a masquerade ball.

We rehearsed tonight for the Gala after teaching, and then I ran over to the Tin Can to meet with Chris.  He had run into our upstairs neighbors there (duplex) and we ended up planning to have a joint party in November.  After the July Fourth party, Chris and I agreed not to have a big party again, but what can we say?  We love entertaining.  We decided to do a backyard party with a fire pit of sorts and chili.  I will have to enlist my friend Laura to make this amazing cornbread she makes.  I’ll just have an evite though, rather than a printed invitation (still dreaming about my rehearsal dinner invites, though I’m waiting on a few details before ordering them.)  Our upstairs neighbors are very nice and seem like fun people—it’s funny how rarely we see them!

I have developed a small obsession with invitations and stationery.  The other day of course I showed you my (our) wedding invitations.  Since then I spent several hours (I mean, like 12 to 15 hours) browsing etsy, pretending I was looking for ideas for my sister Leslie for her upcoming wedding (next October, it looks like).  Of course, we don’t have the same taste, so that was a completely pointless exercise, except that I love looking at invitations!  I love the concept of having something printed especially for you, and I’m the sort of person who SAVES all that stuff.  Seriously.  If I have attended your wedding, birthday party, funeral, whatever, you can guarantee that somewhere in my house or at my mom’s house, there is a box that contains your invitation, thank you card, birthday card, place card, you name it, I’ve got it.

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This means three things.  One:  I am already over budget on my stationery.  Two:  I am still planning more printed items (well, programs and place cards are required, right??  place cards in some form actually are required by our venue).  Three:  I realized I can send out printed invitations for the rehearsal dinner as well!  In a totally different theme if I want!  It took a little convincing for Chris to get on the same page, but I believe he realized pretty quickly I was a woman obsessed and it was a losing battle.  I’ve found a set I LOVE, though he is not totally convinced of them.  I think he’ll like them when all is said and done and they are a lovely contrast (yet of course we’ll maintain the color scheme) to our main invitation set.

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We’ll see what I decide for sure.  Watch this space!  (Hahahaha.  Like you really care!)

I haven’t mentioned my dad’s bike trip lately, and a lot of people ask me about it.  Yes, he’s still on the bike.  He was in Texas for a LONG time (since September 20, according to twitter)…in fact, still is in Texas, though he is now very close to New Mexico.  There he plans to visit a cousin for a few days and then continue on to Phoenix, where my sister Leslie lives.  I think that might be the end of the road for him, but I’m not sure.

(Previous blog posts in case you missed them: Bike Trip, From South Carolina to Phoenix by bike, Cross Country Solo Bike Trip)

Some of my favorite tweets from him:

Other things people have asked:

Did he train for this?  Well, yes.  He’s been riding bike his whole life, and has been doing long trips for many years now.  Before this however, his longest trip was for a week.

Where does he stay the night?  He camps.  He has a little tent and sleeping bag with him.

Will he ride back?  No, most likely he will take a plane.

How will he get his bike back?  Ship it.  Or check it on the plane.  Evidently there are boxes you can put a bike in.

Any other questions?  Ask in the comments and I will answer, or perhaps my dad will 🙂

If he were riding this cross country there would be far more room for luggage…

I can’t wait any longer to tell you about my invitations!  I am sure a few people still haven’t gotten theirs, but maybe they don’t read the blog anyway.

We found our invitation designer on Etsy.com.  But it turned out she lived in St Louis!

She had done a similar type of invitation before, so we simply had to tweak it to our colors and exactly the way we wanted it.

I don’t know if you can tell, the purple frame is a different piece of paper and the invitation has three pieces put together.

I love them.  I love the skyline at the bottom.

Ginger did a fabulous job.  Though the post office doesn’t hand cancel.  They laughed at me when I asked.

www.serendipitybeyonddesign.com

These were the save the dates she did, if you recall.

We’ll have a few more paper products such as menus and programs still to come.  Wedding planning is fun!

Yesterday I was on television with Dana from Chamber Project St Louis.  We talked about the group and our upcoming season.  Well, she talked.  I didn’t say much…mainly I stood there trying to not freak out and figure out what to do with my hands.

Here are the links to the two segments of the interview, if you are interested.  I have NOT watched them.  I hate hearing myself talk!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyieqXFP04Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kryrc5HZMzM

It wasn’t the same as being on FOX2 News like in January, but it was still fun, and hopefully some people learned about the group that didn’t know before!

I have a bad feeling about the next three months.  I just have this feeling I’m going to get stressed and overwhelmed over wedding planning.  I am suddenly aware that all these things we’ve been putting off NEED to happen soon, because the next three months are going to fly by…and before we know it, it’ll be January 2…

I think I found my wedding ring today though, and I’ve done a whole bunch of other stuff as well.  The best way to deal with stress is get stuff checked off the list, right? 

People are really excited about our invitations.  I can’t wait to share them on the blog here, but I obviously want to wait until my guests receive them in the mail.  I also want to tell you about my fantastic designer (found her on etsy, but she lives right here in St Louis.)  Soon!!

I’m recovering from yesterday’s race.  By late last night I could barely walk at all—my right hip and knee hurt so much I was worried I’d injured myself.  But today I feel much better, in fact, both legs are equally sore and tired, which is totally strange.  Maybe all my stretching, rolling, and icing paid off.  Or the constant ibuprofen is paying off?  Either way, the human body is a marvelous thing.

I’m waiting to see if there are any photos from the race yesterday.  Right now there are two posted for me, but neither is actually me.  I remember one being taken coming down a hill but what looked to be an official photographer, but maybe not.  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.