Hear ye! Hear ye!

After hours of sweating over yards of ecru, tons of bamboo, reams of recycled symbols, tri-folds and bi-folds, inserts and thermography and after countless arguments, tears and threatened break-ups, we've finally done it. We've chosen the vehicle through which we will endeavor to convince friends, family, co-workers and the once were friends and are now are more acquaintances to our wedding. It was a struggle, and in the end, Arthur's idea won out. If you think you might be one of those who shall receive some such petition from us, I would like to offer one piece of advice, beware the trumpeters.



Nah. I was just trying to make buying invitations sound dramatic. It wasn't. We just looked on-line, ordered a few samples and then made a relatively painless decision. At least, I think it was pretty painless. Most of my big decision making is filled with a certain amount of angst and anything less than that is like winning the lottery. In other words, Arthur might disagree as to whether or not it was easy. We did sift through the verbiage for the invitation, as well as the response cards. I find that if I do the initial research and then present Author with my top ten choices, it makes things easier for both of us. Except of course, when he doesn't choose the right one.

In any event, we went through costco invitations. The same invitations at other, more popular invitation sites were over $100 more expensive. So I am please. They are simple and elegant. Sort of like us. Well, the simple part at least.

These are not our invitations.

That's a Good Answer, In't?

If you have a moment, click on this link: Couple's 81st wedding anniversary
Frank says the secret to the longevity of their marriage is give and take. It is as simple as that. As I watched the video and read the story about their century of life and eighty one years of marriage, I could not help but feel in awe of them. They must have lived through much together and now they celebrate this landmark with smiles and bright eyes. As Anita has to repeat everything so that Frank can hear it and as they hold hands and giggle, they look content. And after all of the ups and downs, fights and make-ups, kisses and bruised egos, thoughtful actions and careless misdeeds, toilet seats left up and poignant moments, I believe that is all any of us can hope for? In't?

Honeymoon Blues

After much discussion, Arthur and I picked Morocco as our ideal honeymoon destination. I am sure you might be thinking, "huh. interesting." We chose it because a) neither one of us has ever been there b) it is not a typical honeymoon destination c) there is lots of history and culture d) there is lots to do e) there is still plenty of resort type areas for those days of relaxation.

Marrakesh




Agadir

So Arthur put in his passport application and I put in my renewal. I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from those of you have seen my passport photo. Twenty-three year old me - uh, not so pretty. We then went on an adventure to Liberty Travel. Once there, we informed a bearded, burly and overly enthusiastic gentleman travel agent that we were thinking about Morocco, but we were open to other ideas. This, apparently, was a mistake. He had just come back from a trip to Argentina you see. He was singularly focused. Don't get me wrong, it looked and sounded amazing. However, we had said we were open to other places, not another place. Our conversation was akin to the World Cup - Argenina vs. Morocco. He would highlight some fabulous aspect of Argentina and then sort of mumble something about Morocco. His enthusiasm was significantly dampened, however, by the mention of our budget. One could practically feel the wind from the slamming of the South American brochure. "You are probably better off looking into Morocco if that's what you want to spend."

Needless to say we left there unsatisfied and with a brochure of Argentina. Arthur and I decided to stop by the travel section of Barnes and Noble to make ourselves feel better. There we found lots of interesting tidbits and renewed our determination. We looked on-line, but did not find anything that seemed like more than 30 person guided tour - not exactly romantic. Finally, I remembered to look up the company I used to travel through Egypt - Imaginative Traveller. They were great then with just the right amount of tour without overdoing it. It turns out that they actually have honeymoon trips to places like India, Kenya and ...gasp...Morocco! I have been in contact with one of their people and she has been very informative. Almost too informative. The bottom line is staggering - at least it is to me.

I guess it has been a while since I went on a full-fledged vacation. This is the only possible explanation as to why I am absolutely blown away by how much it may cost us to go on the honeymoon we want. Fundamentally, I understood that it would be a few grand, but I just didn't imagine that the honeymoon would cost nearly as much as the wedding.

It saddens me to think for practical reasons we may not be able to go on this trip. Logically, I understand that I am a big girl and should be able to get over it. Illogically, I just want us to be able to go on the honeymoon that we want. We don't even have Paris.