Babe Ruth Summer Ale

Some people might wonder why the home-brewed beer we served at the wedding is called "Babe Ruth Summer Ale." There's a legend there.

While he was a pitcher for the Red Sox, Ruth rented a house about 2.5 miles from the Arabian Horse Inn, where the wedding takes place. Sudbury has a special place in Red Sox history, in fact. As legend has it, Ruth got drunk one night and pushed his piano out onto the ice of Willis Lake in Sudbury. When the ice melted that spring, the piano sank to the bottom. The Red Sox didn't win a World Series for another 86 years.

In 2002, a group actually organized a volunteer effort to retrieve the piano, believing that a successful salvage might break the then 84-year-old curse. This demonstrates how desperate Sox fans were at the time. The group scanned the pond with sonar and identified what it thought was the submerged instrument. They made two dives but came up empty-handed.

Of course, the Red Sox won the World Series two years later and the salvage effort was forgotten. Thanks to the Web, though, the details are still available.

So the name of our beer is a tribute to Sudbury and to Paul's undying devotion to his beloved Red Sox. Does this all make sense now? :-)

Making extra work for myself

I'm actually making extra work for myself -- on purpose. If I had nothing to do this week, I'd be concerned about what I'm forgetting. I'm checking and rechecking every checklist (that's a lot of checks!) I can find online, just to make sure I have all the things done I need to have done.

Speaking of a lot of checks, I'm going through money this week like it's water... or in my case, iced tea. The balances are all due or will be due on Saturday.

So I'm making extra little presents for the bridal party and helpers and immediate family -- those who will be at the rehearsal dinner. I don't want to ruin the surprise, so I'll post about it after the honeymoon. Shhh! :-)

We're not the only ones getting married

Yesterday, Paul and I went to a wedding party -- kind of a reception for a ceremony that happened about 5 months ago. It was lots of fun and low-key. Colleen and Sergio are obviously very happy together, which was nice to see, even though we've seen them quite a few times this.

It was funny how Paul and I turned into celebrities, getting married 6 days from then (5 and counting now). People wanted to know about the wedding, the honeymoon, us. It was all very cute.

But the women, especially, all seemed surprised how calm I am, considering I'm a week away. They all expected me, I think, to be running around frazzled. I honestly don't have a lot to do this week until Thursday when I go shopping for dinner for 10 people. Pick up my dress, have a final catering meeting, that's about it.

I'm not-so-secretly wondering what I'm forgetting, of course... But at this point, I suppose, it'll only be Paul and I that realize we forgot anything if we have. I think we're pretty well set. Thank God for that organization gene I seem to have inherited!

Birthdays

Many of you don't know this, but Paul and I had planned on having quite a big party this year way before we got engaged... See, on Wednesday, my wonderful fiance turns 50 years old. And for exactly one week every year, I can make cradle-robbing jokes to him, as he's 21 years older than I am instead of 20. It's always a good week, but I'm running out of jokes, so if you can think of any, comment and share!

Then, next Wednesday, when we touch down in Paris, I'll turn 30. We just managed to slip that wedding into my 20s, didn't we? It'll be an exhausting, jet-lagged day, but then again, Paul and I won't even see each other on his birthday, as he's keynoting a conference in Colorado this week (I'm so jealous -- I wanna go with him! He's staying at the Broadmoor!). This year, even though they're big birthdays, we have to put off celebrating pretty much both of them. Good thing we have that huge party between them to console each other with!

So don't be surprised, those of you who can attend the wedding, to hear a birthday song in the playlist around cake-cutting time.

Weekend o' fun

So the schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Thursday
afternoon/evening -- Mom, Dad and Jannine, Liz, Leigha and her daughter Chloe come to town.

night -- Dinner for 10 at the Big Yellow House (BYH) -- Dana, Mom, Dad, Jannine, Liz, Leigha, Chloe, Maggie, Joe and possibly Mark. Since we're basically having a gourmet rehearsal dinner and wedding and brunch on Sunday, I find it fitting to serve the crew spaghetti and meatballs. :-)

Friday
11:00 a.m. -- The girls (Mom, Jannine, Maggie, Liz, Leigha) and I go for an earlyish lunch at Olive Garden (because I love OG, that's why!).
12:30 p.m. -- The girls and I head to TenSpa to get pampered for a few hours.
3:30 p.m. -- We should be done at the spa, at which point, I head home, get a quick shower to wash off all that luscious oil from my massage.
4:45 p.m. (ish) -- Stop by the Framingham Sheraton (which is where everyone is staying) to pick up Mom and whoever else wants to come and head to the Inn to decorate.
6:00 p.m. -- Everyone else involved in the wedding party/helpers arrive at the Inn for the rehearsal.
7:15 p.m. (ish) -- We all head to Bullfinchs for dinner.

Saturday (aka, the big day)
8:30 a.m. (you read that right) -- Dana, Leigha, Alice pick up Maggie, stops by Sheraton and gather Liz and Corinne and head to Inn, breakfast in tow.
9:00 a.m. -- Get to Inn, Jamie from TenSpa starts on hair.
12:30 p.m. -- Paul and the other guys arrive.
1:15 p.m. -- The guys and Aunt Gene toast downstairs.
1:20/:25 p.m. -- The girls toast upstairs. Julie Spilka (our videographer) is shooting both toasts, so they're offset a bit.
1:30 p.m. -- Guests start arriving.
2:00 p.m. -- The ceremony starts.
2:30 p.m. -- Cocktail hour/pictures.
4:45 p.m. -- Toasts and first dance and Dana/Dad dance.
5:00 p.m. -- Dinner starts.
6:15 p.m. -- Dancing starts.
7:00 p.m. (ish) -- Cake is cut.
8:30 p.m. -- Last dances start.
9:00 p.m. -- Paul and Dana head up to the honeymoon suite...

Sunday
10:30 a.m. -- Paul and Dana arrive at the Sherborn Inn for brunch.
11:00 a.m. -- Others start arriving, brunch is served. All out-of-town wedding guests are invited to this shindig.
1:00 p.m. -- Paul and Dana, Dad and Jannine, Mom, Scott and Liz and Corinne and Aiden, Brett and Sara head to BYH for a quick tour (for Scott and kids and Brett and Sara).
2:00 p.m. -- Gift-opening party with immediate family.
5:00 p.m. -- Paul and Dana start putting on their Parrotheadwear and shortly thereafter head to Foxboro to party with Jimmy Buffett.

Monday
Morning/afternoon -- Paul and Dana and Dad and Jannine go watch the golf tournament for which Dana won tickets.
Evening -- Paul and Dana head to Fenway for a Red Sox/Blue Jays game.

Tuesday
Paul and Dana pack/get ready for honeymoon. Leave in the evening for our honeymoon in France. Sucks to be us, eh?! :-D By the time we're on the plane, we'll be so ready to just veg...

The big drop off

My "lair" (aka my craft room in the basement) is much emptier now that I brought about a dozen boxes of stuff over to the Inn last Thursday. of course, in true Dana fashion, every box was sealed and labeled with its contents. I even know where the extra super glue is. :-)

There was actually room to walk around in the room now, which is good because I needed a little space to wrap the presents for the wedding party and assorted helpers, which we'll give out on Friday night at the rehearsal dinner.

I know we're getting close when I relinquish the detritus (written with the best of intonations) of the ceremony and reception...