I feel deflated. The GFS is out. Too expensive, plus they only rent one building, which is way too big for the size wedding we're having. There goes my whole peacock theme!

So, I'm procrastinating on schoolwork by looking for more sites. There has got to be a perfect location out there, and I'm going to find it! Or Ryan will, because he's a determined planner as well.

Ryan, Tessa, and I are the only ones who are showing any engagement/wedding enthusiasm. Hopefully all y'alls are just waiting until the official engagement so that it seems more of a big deal despite not being a total surprise. My mom didn't seem particularly excited either, although she was quite taken aback when I described my future ring. Hopefully the lack of excitement was just due to seeing it coming.

I called GFS yesterday and left a message with their event coordinator. No word back yet, I'll probably follow up with an email later today. In the event that it doesn't work, upon further investigation there are plenty of pretty garden type places around. None have quite the uniqueness factor of GFS, but it's not like we've even searched that hard yet. Ironically, of my favorite two others so far, one is in NY and one is in PA, despite NJ being the Garden State.

Ryan is quite into all of the planning. Not just "involved for a guy," and not just because he's worried about spending too much money (we will probably be paying for most of it. . .cross fingers for winning an NSF in 2 months). I guess that it's a good thing since I don't have other people close by to consult. I think it's just his personality- he does want to be a project manager at L0ckheed, one who keeps the team moving along the timeline and staying in budget. So far, I've had a lot of fun doing wedding scheming. If I didn't loathe talking to strangers on the phone, maybe I'd drop out of school and become a wedding planner.

The aesthetic I have in mind (and I'm pretty sure Ryan will agree with most of this) is streamlined and sophisticated. We're going for quality over quantity (good thing Ryan's mom isn't catering) and dispensing any traditions, frou-frou, or hoopla that doesn't particularly appeal to us. Therefore: small guest list (don't worry, you faithful readers who I know in real life will be invited), small wedding party, good food, good drinks, and naturally beautiful locations with little additional decor needed. For our unfussy yet classy affair, there will be no obscenely poufy skirts, flower girl, bouquet toss, or especially garter toss. We're not sure what we're going to do about music, but there will probably only be minimal amounts of dancing. We'll think of something to fill the extra time. Maybe we'll just have lots and lots of toasts in our honor. You might want to get started writing those.

Now I know what you're thinking. I am getting way ahead of myself. I'm not even officially engaged yet. But Ryan is going along with it, and without him to keep me in line, I've practically got the entire wedding planned already.

I was browsing Jersey ceremony/reception sites this morning and came across a very interesting looking place called "Grounds for Sculpture." It's between Trenton and Princeton, which is only a 40 minute drive from our apartment. It looked really neat while poking around online, so I suggested we drive up today. If we liked it, then great, and if not, then we just spent the day going to a sculpture garden, which is better than watching Simpsons DVD's.

To sum up the visit, I LOVE it. They don't list pricing info for events online, so I'm going to call tomorrow to see if it would fit in our budget, because I just have to know ASAP. It's cool and different and special, yet still makes sense for a wedding. Pics on Flickr, just keep in mind that we'd probably have it sometime between April and September, so the grounds would be much more green and/or flowery. We'd have both the ceremony and reception there; they have a perfect "altar" type place and a great gallery with courtyard for the reception. Plus there are acres of other neat sculptures and probably 50 or so free-ranging peacocks around the grounds. Peacocks are awesome!

Yesterday was a most informative and educational experience. Ryan and I went in to center city with the plan to 1) browse store fronts along Jeweler's Row (my idea), 2) see the Liberty Bell, and 3) go ice skating at the outdoor rink along the Delaware River.

Browsing the jewelry store fronts was fun, but outside the store that had the most engagement rings in the window, a salesman popped out and asked if we were looking for anything in particular. I tried to give us an out by saying, "Oh, just giving him ideas for later." But the guy, being a very good salesman, persuaded us to go inside the store so I could try some on and decide exactly what I wanted.

It was fun, and when we emerged an hour later we were both diamond experts and know exactly what I want. And it fits within Ryan's budget, taking into account that we're buying a house this year. And it's decadently sparkly, at least according to my standards. So I can't wait to get it. I'm not going to tell all y'alls what it looks like; someone should be surprised at some point in this engagement deal. But the chances of Ryan surprising me with exactly my dream ring without any guidance would be less than the chances of kitten growing wings and flying away.

Oh yeah, then we walked to the Liberty Bell building and there was a decent line, and Ryan recalled that he had his pocket knife on him. I didn't want to wait in line if there was a possibility of just getting turned away at a security checkpoint (Ryan: "What am I going to do, stab the Liberty Bell to death?"), so we decided to save that for another day. Then we walked to the ice rink, but it was really crowded, and I've been spoiled in the past skating at Lynah, where there's no stumbling children, so we passed on that too. So the highlight of the day was definitely the ring shopping.

Last night Ryan called each of his parents to let them know what he was planning on doing. His mom suggested that even if it's not a surprise, he can still make it romantic (apparently that's what his parents tried to do). Ryan's still going to do some shopping around to make sure he's getting a good deal, and the ring will have to be custom-made, so I wouldn't hold your breath until late Feburary or early March. But considering how he told his parents and is currently feverishly hunting around online for diamonds, it's getting closer to a certainty. Yay!

I got an email today that began, "Dear Amazon.com science fiction fan." Obviously I need to stop buying Ryan so many freakin gifts!

Not engaged yet, but have done a little thought on the wedding thing. The bridesmaids dresses will be blue. That's a no-brainer. And the cake will be at least mostly chocolate. Ryan thinks fall is a good season, which sounds good since I'll be busy summers anyway. So fall 2008 or 2009, probably? Our anniversary is on a Sunday in September 2008, but people would be able to party more hearty on a Saturday. Hmm. I am definitely getting ahead of myself; hopefully the other half isn't too bothered that it's not official yet.

Time to go home and snuggle the kitten!

As I promised long ago, I present to you Jibblies the Sim cat.

How would you like to hear something interesting for a change?

Ryan and I discussed marriage this weekend, in a pretty specific, non-abstract way. While we're not engaged, it is highly probable that we will get married within the next 3 years. The main reason it isn't sooner is financial: it seems all the more clear after house-hunting yesterday that we'll be putting a lot of money and energy into a house soon, so other major life events will have to wait a bit. That's fine with me, because I mainly wanted to know if marriage (to me) was something he was interested in, because I feel that way about him. He's my favorite.

As for more house-hunting updates, we went to 4 open houses yesterday. After gaining more info, we're probably not going to get a townhouse/condo, because paying monthly association fees, although cheaper than apartment rent, is basically throwing money away instead of building equity. Also, since it's likely we'll be moving within 5 years, if we want to come out ahead buying versus renting, we will probably have to buy something fairly inexpensive. I guess our ideal house (within our limitations) would be a 3 bedroom (ours, office, guest room), 1.5 bath that's in need of a lot of cosmetic repairs but is structurally sound. Then we'll repaint, refinish wood floors, landscape, and make easy repairs to help increase the resale value. We need a constructive hobby anyway, and this hobby should pay for itself. Unlike weddings, which are ridiculously overpriced.

Wedding things I'm looking forward to:
Foxy dress
Cake (mmm, cake)
Open bar
Getting all our friends together at the same time and place with an open bar
Presents
Jibblies as the ring bearer (kidding, folks. we'd of course need a tuxedo cat for that job)

Wedding things I'm not looking forward to:
Family-related awkwardness
Ridiculously overpriced everything
Planning-related hassles

I didn't actually eat chocolate cake on my birthday. Ryan had bought me one, but I was too full from my petite filet AND lobster tail :) It was the most expensive and one of the more delicious meals I've ever had. Yay for, "order whatever you want."

Today we went to our first open house. The property was not far from our apartment and the house was on the small side, so I'd hoped that it was near our price range. Unfortunately, despite it needing much remodeling, it was $50K above what we are hoping to pay. We're just casually looking around nowadays, but will probably get more serious about shopping in March or so. If the stand-alone houses are all priced on the scale of what we saw today, that probably means we'll be going with a townhouse or condo.

We also stopped by Petsmart to see the kitties up for adoption. They're soooooo cute! The two best things about owning a house will be having a dishwasher and having no limit on the number of kitties we have, other than common sense, which tells me that the limit is somewhere in the double digits.

I got my present early (last night), and it's very pretty and sparkly and is, in fact, a ring, although it's a sapphire instead of "that big and gaudy Cartier one" (his words, not mine!):

Ryan's coming back tonight! Yay! Seriously, I don't know how people are able to handle long-distance relationships. Nowadays, I can hardly imagine not living with Ryan. The next couple summers are going to be tough, with me up in Maine and Ryan having a limited amount of vacation time to come visit. I guess I should just devise an ingenious research plan that involves several couple-week stints in Maine instead of requiring me to be there every day. As if designing a good experiment wasn't hard enough!

Thoughts on turning 25 soon:

• That's a quarter of a century!
• I can't say that I'm in my early twenties anymore.
• If you round up at the number 5, that makes it late twenties!
• I hope I get to eat filet and chocolate cake.
• The perfect present from Ryan would be a kitty with a diamond ring around its collar. I would, however, settle for either a kitty or a ring.
  
• Stuffed animals don't count as kitties under my definition.
  
• If a box of expensive assorted chocolates could somehow be affixed to the diamond-bearing kitty, I suppose that would be an improvement.
  

I lead my first discussion section today. I've made a pretty extensive outline, so worst case scenario is that I give a mini-lecture, but I'm hoping that the students are willing to discuss. Hopefully my natural "cool grad student" vibe will get them all interested in talking.

One plan for the weekend is outdoor ice skating at Penn's Landing. It was 19 degrees this morning, which is the coldest it's been here so far this winter. (You're probably not too interested in the temperature, but the blog is also a personal fact-storing device).

Instead of doing work, I will tell you about yesterday's shopping trip. The best part: through a combination of sales and gift cards, I only spent a total of $23 of my own money! The clothes were 75% off. . .I don't care if they're from last season, they're cute.

Silk chiffon dress. I have no idea where I'll wear it, but it was such a steal that I couldn't pass it up. And it makes my waist look teeny tiny, although you just know that the paparazzi will be focusing on its baby bump-hiding abilities :P

Silk/cashmere sweater on top of the new dress. At least the sweater I can mix and match and could wear to school without raising eyebrows (in a bad way).

Ceramic vase from Pier 1. The black/white matches our crazy swirly rug, and I plan to fill it with fake palm frond looking greenery. Thus, it will fit our existing decor yet also bring some color to the room.

Oof, I'm full. I was in my kitchen, cooking my foodz. With Ryan gone I decided to cook all weekend and stockpile meals in the freezer for later in the semester when we're too tired to cook dinner after work. Recently I compiled a list of main courses that we've made multiple times. It turned out to be quite extensive, although the degree of difficulty varies quite a bit. I'm keeping track of what we make every night in 2007 so maybe next year I could rank by popularity.

Chicken
Marsala
Piccata
Hazelnut-Crusted
Chicken and Ham Herb Patties
Matchstick Veggie-Stuffed
Satay
Apricot Curry
Spicy Peanut Soup
Apple Walnut Wraps
Phad Thai
Tacos
Basil Hazelnut Spirals
Pot Pie
Autumn Chicken Salad
Shake 'n Bake
Pesto Pizza

Beef
Bourguignon
Swedish Meatballs
Hungarian Goulash
Shepherd's Pie
Meatloaf
Beef and Broccoli
Pepperncorn Strips
London Broil
Garlic and Sage Rubbed Tenderloin
Pot Roast
French Dip
Tacos
Regular Steak

Pork
Tenderloin with Raisin Brandy Sauce
Flavored Tenderloin
Pulled
Sweet and Sour
Orange Stir Fry
Ragu
Pork with Leek
Escarole Sausage Soup
Ham Steaks

Seafood
Cashew Shrimp Stir Fry
Lemon Pepper Shrimp
Jambalaya
Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp
Triple Citrus Salmon

Ideally I'd like to eat more seafood, but Ryan mainly only likes shrimp. I have to respect his wishes, though, because he respects my wishes and we don't cook with cheese in the apartment (we even leave it off the tacos and pizza listed above). He's so nice to me. He usually gets something cheesy when we go out to dinner, but I'd be a total bitch if I didn't let him eat it then, right? I do make him brush his teeth before I'll kiss him, though. It's just a thing I have, but he's very nice and compliant with local ordinances.

I was thinking about my dream life earlier today. Ryan and I would live in a nice big house with 3-5 kitties and a super well-equipped kitchen. I'd have a cushy professor job with tenure at a well-ranked small college, and Ryan would be successful enough to be happy but not so successful that he would have to work insane hours. We'd be able to travel a lot, and would hopefully have nice neighbors who could feed the kitties while we were gone. Sounds good to me.

Sigh. I'd much rather hang out at home than be back at school. I haven't been working very hard this week, though, so I shouldn't complain. My classes seem to be similar difficulty as last semester's (straight A's, my favorite), and I'm really into my TA assignment (sitting through animal behavior lectures again is infinitely better than sitting through intro bio lectures again). But I'd still rather be snuggling with a kitten right now.

Ryan's annual ski trip is Saturday-Wednesday, so I hope there's lots of shows on TV that he generally doesn't enjoy watching with me, like "What Not to Wear."

The weather has been all over the place. On Saturday, when we went to Baltimore, which is admittedly a little south of here, there was a high of 70 degrees. We were comfortable walking around in short sleeves. Today I saw a few snowflakes, but we still haven't had any real snow. I like the mild winters on a day-to-day basis, but it would be nice to have a couple real snowfalls. Just a few, so that it's novel enough to bother going out for a snowball fight or to make a snowman.

The Baltimore waterfront area was very nice. We had lunch, watched a band perform outdoors, and went to the national aquarium. The aquarium was okay, but I think the Jersey one in Camden (15 minute drive from our apartment) is just as good. There were also ridiculous numbers of screaming children, which everyone knows is not my favorite thing.

Back to the schoolwork...

Lunch: peanut butter off a spoon; Bailey's on the rocks. Maybe I'll add some carrots to up the nutritional value. . .

My cold finally disappeared yesterday. I went for a walk but have otherwise just been bumming around the apartment watching TV and surfing l'internet. Ryan and I will probably take a day trip to Baltimore tomorrow, hang out near home on Sunday, then it's back to school on Monday.

Redheads have more fun. 2007 is a little spicier than 2006 ;D

Kitten is behaving a lot more like a grouchy old cat than a cute little kitten these days. He's less shy about getting bitey. Guess it's time to get another, younger cat. I told Ryan that I either want a kitten or one of these for my birthday, but it's probably not a good idea to hold my breath!

When I worked at RL, "New York" from VH1's Flavor (Flava?) of Love ate in my restaurant (though not at one of my tables). She's apparently from Syracuse (not NYC). The commercials for her new series "I Love New York" are revolting, but should give you a feel for some of the entitled personalities our restaurant got as customers!

I dyed my hair yesterday. The color was called "warm medium brown" but it turned out almost auburn. I like it a lot though- it's just the change I needed. Ryan really likes it; he's got a thing for redheads :) I also bought a straightening iron and it's crazy how straight my hair can get. It even behaves like straight hair; just blow-drying straight doesn't compare. I'll only straighten occasionally (it took a half hour to do), but the difference in appearance is quite striking. Check Flickr to see what I mean.

Ryan and I have both had colds for the last week. They just won't go away. Most of his family caught it from his brother over Christmas. So we've been fairly blah feeling, with the exception of New Year's, where we felt improved for a little while and had fun playing Wii at Dan's. The next day we were back to feeling sick again, and it's still not completely gone. Ryan went back to work yesterday anyhow, although I have off until next Monday. We've been watching a lot of TNG (his present from me), and I have to admit that I've really come to like it. It's quite good for the drama and comedy aspects even if I'm not as into the sci-fi.

I reposted most of my Fortunately, Unfortunately entries on a new site (link in the sidebar). I left out a few, mainly the meme-type ones or short, meaningless ones. And I took the liberty of correcting a few spelling errors, but I didn't rewrite history. That's your late holiday present.

So...Christmas was good with the exception of getting sick. Ryan got me a bunch of small stuff, including: jewelry box, laptop cover, America the book, and the new flavored Bailey's in both caramel (yum!) and mint chocolate (I thought I'd like this one better, but it tastes too artificial). His mom gave him a hard time for getting me an empty jewelry box, then later that day his aunt also gave me a jewelry box. So then he got more grief because I have two "empty" jewelry boxes. My birthday is coming up, though.