All Downhill From Here

It's kind of weird that people keep telling me my wedding day is going to be the best day of my life.

Don't get me wrong, I'm stupid excited for it (yes, stupid excited...I'm work shopping it) but really? By this time next summer my life will have peaked?

I understand the sentiment, and I know that "the best day of your life" thing is really just an encouraging phrase from well wishers. It's always nice to hear that people are excited and happy for you, because really, all I want for my wedding day is to be surrounded only by the people who love Alex and I dearly, and who sincerely wish us happiness.

And also I want a light up wedding dress like the one I saw on "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" and I want to get a horse as wedding present.

I'm going to name her Thunder

The truth is, I am sure it is going to be one of the best days of my life, up there with the day I was born and the first time I realized Dunkin Donuts was open 24/7. But I plan on having many, many best days of my life. Wouldn't the perfect life be to have every day as the best day of your life?

Some people might say that if every day is special, then no day is really special. To those people I say hey, nobody is paying you to wax philosophic so zip it and drive me to Dunkin to get a Boston Cream.

Our wedding day is going to be awesome. So awesome, I can't even think of another word except awesome. Maybe stupid awesome.

But buying our first place is awesome. And traveling the world together is awesome. And one day having kids together is awesome (I can't wait to meet you, Professor McGonagall Talson-Burtness and Optimus Prime Talson-Burtness.)

(I've started watermarking my photos because there are a lot of creeps trolling the Internet. Now, if they steal my pictures and mass distribute them as some sort of advertisement for mail order brides, at least my blog will get traffic.)

As I type this, I realize that it's not my family and friends who are telling me it's got to be the best day of my life; it's the people who stand to make a profit.

It's wedding professionals who tell me that to rent a tent and have mediocre food is going to cost me $26,000. It's the woman who told me that if I "chintzed" on my wedding and didn't pay for a full coffee bar and extra hors d'oeuvres my gusts would leave angry with me.

My family and friends really do want the best for Alex and I. The love, support and excitement from our "framily" has been beautiful. The pressure for perfection and the unattainable idea of the "best day of your life" has come from the people who are selling me this dream and trying to manipulate my emotions so I'll sell all of my non-essential organs to pay for extra-deluxe gold thread linens.

My wedding day may very well be the best day of my life, because it's the domino that starts more best days of my life.

But this idea of spending a fortune because this one day is the happiest you'll ever be is just stupid.

Stupid stupid.

My Baby!

This post isn't about my actual baby (I don't have one) or the Bruster's baby that I developed over spring break, but it is kinda sappy.

You know in movies when a daughter like, gets engaged or married or has her first walk of shame, and the over emotional mother is like, "My baby's all grown up!" and then she sobs into her handkerchief?

That how I feel about myself.

My siblings and I with our beloved dog Snowy. We found her in the snow when I was in 4th grade, and she died when I was a senior in college. She was the best dog ever.

I mean, I feel like that about myself and my friends. Within a couple days of getting in engaged, 2 of my friends got engaged and one got married!

I've seen my closet friends do really amazing things in life, from starting families, getting awesome jobs and finding causes that they are really passionate about.

Watching things happen on Facebook is pretty cool too, because you kind of watch the lives of hundreds of your peers unfold at once.

Facebook is pretty amazing because you get to watch your friends' lives change, even friends you don't keep up with regularly. Some of these girls I've know since I was little; through Girl Scouts and braces and freaking out about having your first kiss and graduating high school and really finding our niches in the world.

A lot of my friends are in grad school or getting their careers started or getting engaged/married/partnered up, and it's amazing to think that we're all going through a new period of our lives together, even if it doesn't feel like it. It's weird to think that 30 years ago this was our parents, and years before that it was their parents, and 30 years from now it will be our children. I guess I'm just experiencing such a rush of emotions and I feel like my life is going to change so much, I forget that it's all part of life.

High School Prom. I think I was trying to show my wrist corsage?

I was trying to upload more pictures but Blogger is not cooperating. I really need to switch to Wordpress.

I know it's really sappy and sentimental but sometimes I see my friends and myself and I just can't believe how fast life goes. I never understood that cliche before, because it didn't feel fast. But it's a cliche for a reason!

My brother and I graduating from college.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited. I'm excited about the future, and I'm definitely excited about the future with Alex. I can't wait to travel more and move to new places and experience all the next stages of life with my bud. It just feels a little surreal to prepare to leave the only home, the only town, the only state I've ever known, and start this brand new journey. That is so corny! But I can't help it it's true!

Alex and I in Rome.

Ah well. I think I have to get sentimental about this process otherwise the frustrations in booking the Chapel and the reception site would just make me very annoyed.

So as a reward for the 2 people who read this, here is a picture of my cat cuddling up and going to sleep with her giant stuffed bear named Pancakes. Enjoy!

Engagement Post Word Cloud!

ENGAGED!

Yes! Yes! The rumors are true :) Alex proposed to me on March 25, 2011 and I said yes. At the risk of sounding trite, I'm just really happy.

SO, without further ado, the story of our engagement.

CHAPTER 1- Best Spring Break Ever.

I went down to Panama City, Florida for my spring break (I love that you still get a spring break in grad school!). Alex picked me up from the airport around 5:30 Friday evening and we just had a fantastic weekend. We just spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday goofing around together, going for walks and hanging out with friends.

Alex and I in the luxurious and syrupy smelling La Quinta

As most of you know, Alex moved to Florida in late January. Before that he had an apartment just 1/4 of a mile from my house. We spent every free minute together, and it was amazing. Even doing the mundane everyday tasks are so much better when you have your best bud with you. The move and the distance have gone very well, all things considered, but I still miss Alex everyday.

Anyway, the weekend came to an end, and the work week started.

Alex got up at 4:55 every morning to go to work. I hung out by myself during the day, doing school work and driving around PCB in Alex's car. Florida is perfect this time of year. I had a week of blue skies, sunshine and 75 degrees. Although I can't complain about spending my days driving around in a BMW and shopping at Target (Target, I love you...don't ever leave me...) there were still some challenging days. Most days Alex would get back in the early afternoon, but there was one day when Alex left at 5:30 in the morning and didn't return until 8:30 at night.

It could be a little lonely (and our hotel room smelled like maple syrup. Well I thought it did, Alex thought I was having a stroke), but seeing Alex at the end of the day was worth every minute alone. As soon as he walked in the door we both were just so happy to see each other and forgot about about anything else. At night we would go out to dinner, walk around the base and then relax with a glass of wine. It was a fantastic week.

Alex and I out to dinner one night at Schooners. Beautiful beach and sunset.

After a long week and a few especially long days, the work week was finally over. It was Friday!

Chapter 2- Sundae in the park with Alex.

I was trying to be clever with that title but referencing a Stephen Sondheim play we studied in Theater History really cements my place as nerd. But I'm not sorry!

Anyway, on Friday afternoon Alex got off work around 3. We decided to go out for some Brusters.

Let me tell you about Brusters. Brusters is a delicious ice cream shoppe that is within walking distance of the hotel. They have all kinds of ice cream, including cake batter and Oreo, and have amazing sundaes, including my personal favorite, the strawberry shortcake sundae. You could say that Brusters and I became intimately acquainted during my visit.

Alex enjoying some delicious Brusters

Hello Lover

So we're eating Brusters, and I think I may have been doing something TOTALLY out of character, like complaining about how I hate the air conditioner in our room because the air smells like a pool used by un-potty trained babies, and he looked up at me and said, "Well what you say if I told you that we never have to go back there?"

And I just looked at him for a second, trying to figure out what he meant. I narrowed it down to A) He booked us a surprise weekend trip, B) He joined a cult and we were drinking the Kool Aid tonight, or C) He was going to make me go camp somewhere.

I would definitely hate C. I believe in camping the way Troop Beverly Hills camps (It's a fabulous movie, you much watch it now, stars Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley as a child). Also he just bought me Brusters, which is the nicest thing you can do for someone you love, so it couldn't be C.

B was possible but not probable. He knows that the giant guy from the Kool Aid campaign freaks me out.

So A it was! We packed up our things, hopped in the car, and Alex started driving to our surprise destination!

Chapter 3- "I fell in love on the seaside..."
After driving for about 20, we started making some familiar turns, and I knew exactly where we were going.

Rosemary Beach!

Rosemary Beach is a GORGEOUS planned community that is a real life Pleasantville. Rosemary Beach is a sister town to Seaside, which is only a few miles down the road. Seaside was where The Truman Show was filmed, because these towns are just that adorable.

Rosemary beach is filled with coblestone streets, stone piazza's surrounded by outdoor cafe's, bookstores and art shops. There are large green spaces all over the town, where people are playing catch or just enjoying the sun.

Green spaces in Rosemary Beach. The ocean lies at the far end of the green.

My favorite part of the town are wooden walkways that connect every house. It's hard to describe, but basically even though all of the houses sit on a street, they are all connect by a boardwalk that goes between and around the houses. It's so innovative, I've never seen another town like it!

Taking a picture break while walking between the homes on the boardwalk.

Alex and I had been to Rosemary Beach once before, and LOVED it.

I found it totally serendipitously. On my first trip home from visiting Alex, the woman who was sitting on the plane next me started up a conversation. She was extremely well dressed, with gorgeous clothes, hair, make up and jewelry. I was in a sweatshirt and yoga pants, no make up and in a bummed out mood about going home. I was so intimated by her I almost just put in my headphones or something so I didn't have to make pleasant conversation! But we started chatting, and she told me I HAD to go to Rosemary beach. She owns a store there, and Alex and I went in while we were there!

Rosemary Beach is now a huge part of our story. It was fate!

So we get into Rosemary beach, and there is one office that controls all the rentals for town. I wait in the car, Alex runs in to get our keys and such, and comes back out. He tells me that we'll be spending the weekend in the Pensione!

The Pensione is a little hotel on Main Street in town. I had actually looked at the website before, thinking ahead for future birthdays and anniversary gifts. It is a cute, affordable place to stay.

A room at the Pensione, taken from the website.

So we start driving, and we pass Main Street. I tell Alex this, and he says that he'll just keep driving on the road we're on and then turn around. We drive past several places where he can turn around, but he just pretends like he's lost. We keep driving into the community and toward the ocean.

Finally, he pulls over in front of this gorgeous house that's right on the beach. He turns off the car and then turns to look at me.

I look at him.

At this point I'm half expecting him to pull out a thermos of Kool Aid and tell me to drink up because I have no idea what is going on.

And then...

Me: "OHMYGAWD! ARE WE STAYING HERE?! WE CAN'T BE STAYING HERE!!! HOW ARE WE STAYING HERE?! OHMYGAAA WE'RE STAYING HERE!!!!"

Yup, he surprised me again with a MAGNIFICENT, gorgeous house right on the beach. The type of house that you can open the windows anywhere in the house and hear the waves crashing outside. The type of house that you never in a million years think your boyfriend will just pull up to and say that it's ours for the weekend.

Our view. Perfect.

View from the deck

Sitting in our living room right when we got there, trying to take it all it.

View of the living room from the loft.

Spiral staircase up to the loft.

Street view of the house.

There was a gorgeous kitchen and an additional floor with the bedrooms on it as well. It is a breath taking house.

So we explore the house for a bit, marveling at how amazing it is and how incredible the view is. After a while, we start to get ready for dinner. We get all dressed up and head out for some delicious food. We had made a reservation at a restaurant called Firefly that we'd been to before and loved.

Us at dinner

We came home, full from delicious food, and went out to the deck with a glass of wine (I'm realizing only now that we drink a lot of wine. We can't help that we're so classy).

We're sitting out on the deck, under a blanket, looking at the stars and listening to the ocean. We're talking about the future, and Alex tells me he loved me. He kisses me, and then says that he can't imagine the rest of his life without me. On bended knee, he pulls out the ring and asks me to marry him.

And I said YES!

(And then he asked if he could put the ring on me and I said OH HELL YES!)

Inside after the proposal. Lovebirds in love.

The ring is PERFECT. I had told Alex that I wanted something classic. There are a lot of neat, intricate rings out there, but I wanted a classic piece of jewelry that would stand the test of time and that I would still love when I'm 60. He picked out the ring entirely on his own, and I couldn't have dreamed a better ring. It is his gift to me. Sweetest man ever :)

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying Rosemary Beach and celebrating with friends.

This post has certainly been long enough, so I'll save the musings of wedding planning and solicitation of advice for another day. I think these last two picture sum it all up more that I ever could.