Registries

We're in a planning lull right now, but we're getting at least some things decided. Like where we're going to register. I think we've decided on Bed Bath and Beyond and Macy's. When we build the registries, I'll add links to them in the blog template, so they'll be easily found. We're going tonight to shop for something -- to build our registries or for wedding bands or for Paul's tux or something. It'll be good to get back into it.

Harry concert

The modern crooner and my musical hero for about 15 years now, the cure for every bad mood if you want one and the perpetuator of sullenness if you so desire, held concert in Providence last night with his Big Band. My love bought us tickets. We went, we heard, we laughed at his stories and his audience banter (he's funny on top of it all!), we tapped along to his New Orleans bluesy jazz and we left, a bit too soon for our taste.

Harry was a mixed bag. It was amazing to see him in person (we waited over 1/2 an hour after the show to get an autograph and I talked to him), but his 90 minutes of music was a bit short and he played only the stuff from the new album except for 2 or 3 songs, so that was mildly disappointing -- that he didn't dig deeper into his bag of tricks and/or get the crowd more into the show by playing just a tasting of his hits. Still, his band was great, his voice was just pure and amazing and it really was a thrill to see him.

What did I say to him? Here's the convo:

Me: Hi, Harry. I'm Dana and this is my fiance, Paul. Is there any chance at all you'd be able to sing at our wedding?
Harry: Sorry, I don't do weddings. But thanks for asking me!
Me: Eh! It was worth a shot! Thanks!

He seemed genuinely grateful that I asked. Paul and I thought it'd be worth it even if we had to pay a boatload, although we kinda know he's not the kind of artist who'd be in it for the dough.

So here's an idea for Harry and his publicists: Do a wedding a year. Get back to the small-audience, do-it-for-love, albums upon albums worth of love songs that you're most known (and let's face it, loved) for. Charge whatever you want and have that price be public. Also provide available dates, so that the contest can work around your schedule. Have some sort of contest (essay? photo?) and run the entries on your Web site so that your fans (or members of your fan club, if you want to herd people into joining) have to prove themselves worthy. Pick the best story each year and make someone's dream come true.

As for our wedding, no worries... Harry's voice will be there even if Harry himself isn't. Our playlist will be heavily peppered with him.

Where have I been?

Secluded on the third floor since Sunday with "flu-like" symptoms. I doubt it was actually the flu, but it's the Dana version of it, at any rate. I missed an annual dinner event on Wednesday night because Paul wouldn't let me out of the house (I would have fallen down the 2 flights of stairs, who am I kidding?), but I managed to not only get myself ready and out the door, but actually have a decent amount of fun at the Harry concert last night.

It's been a HUGE week

And I'm not talking about picking a videographer or deciding on and ordering my dress. I'm talking about much bigger things...

On Wednesday, Ryan got into college. They interviewed him and accepted him on the spot. So in September, while Paul and I are on our honeymoon, Ryan will be moving into Lesley College dorms. Paul's jealous, because Ryan will get to live like 3 blocks from Harvard Square.

Today, we got our box of books. I can't tell you how proud I am of my Paul. He handed in the manuscript in October, so we've been waiting a long time for these babies... It's going to be a best-seller... just you wait and see.



If social media perks your ears, check out Paul's The New Influencers site. It's chock full of goodies having to do with the book. It's also currently the only place you can read the acknowledgments.

I'm bursting with pride for my fiance. And with love like I've never known and never will with anyone else. He's my hero in so many ways. And now he's an author, too.

Videographer chosen

I used Craigslist to list the videographer gig for our wedding. I got a few good responses, but eventually landed on a delightful person named Julie Hathaway Spilka. She posted a few vids on YouTube for me to watch. Now for the coincidences...

• One of the vids she posted for me was shot at Penn State, my alma mater. She even captured the lion shrine in the beginning, which was wonderful. That was her best friend's wedding.



• The second vid she posted was her own wedding. Julie teaches videography production at a public high school in the area and had her students film her video. She edited the montage, I think. Julie's new husband, Dan, works at TechTarget, where Paul and I used to work.

So, welcome to the madness, Julie!

Wedding colors

The predominant wedding color will be light blue, with yellow as the accent color. Here's what one site has to say about what those colors mean:

Light blue in your wedding suggests health, happiness, patience and creativity.

Yellow symbolizes intellect, friendship and cooperation.

And to think I picked them for the color of our eyes and hair! :-)

Relief and excitement

Maggie, Joe and I went to Maggie Flood today. They don't have the color swatches in that we ordered quite yet, but they were willing to talk "Dana's dream wedding gown." When it was all said and done, I picked out "fabric" and put down 50% of the total. It's done. Ordered. It's been living in my head for over 2 weeks now, so it's a relief to share the image with other people, especially since those other people will be creating the gown... I can't divulge details, bc Paul's being a stickler about not knowing anything about it until he sees it, but it's going to be a gorgeous dress. I can tell you that it's a different version (again, fabric) of a knockoff of a VW gown that Maggie Flood made apparently a few years ago, because it's nowhere to be found on the Internet or on the VW site. These women are amazing -- they just saw a picture and created this beautiful dress, which I tried on and proceeded to use to then dream up a "Dana special."

No details, but I can tell you it's white. ;-)

I can't thank Maggie and Joe enough for humoring me these last few weeks and going to "another dress store," as Joe keeps reminding us. I was hunting for a dream and the dresses I saw all fueled the creativity fires in my head. What I'll end up with won't only be a dream gown, but my specific dream gown -- literally; I've been dreaming about it. And the patience of Maggie and Joe (Maggie's patience totalled about 10 hours in this one task alone), not to mention Maggie's astute fashion sense in this area, allowed me to flit and flutter and then focus. Thank you!