TxtingMrDarcy Reads: “Tick, Tick, BOOM!” Edition

“Ashfall”~ Mike Mullin

Plot Summary (From Amazon):

Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don’t realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano. It has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years, and it will erupt again, changing the Earth forever.

Fifteen-year-old Alex is home alone when the supervolcano erupts. His town collapses into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence, forcing him to flee. He begins a harrowing trek in search of his parents and sister, who were visiting relatives 140 miles away.

Along the way, Alex struggles through a landscape transformed by more than a foot of ash. The disaster brings out the best and worst in people desperate for food, clean water, and shelter. When an escaped convict injures Alex, he searches for a sheltered place where he can wait–to heal or to die. Instead, he finds Darla. Together, they fight to achieve a nearly impossible goal: surviving the supervolcano.

Soundtrack: “Winter Song”~ Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

 I know, you’re thinking “WHA?!” But the repeating theme of this song, more than anything is “Is Love Alive?” What’s more fitting for Alex’s tale, in search of his parents and finding allies in unexpected places?

This is probably the first time I’ve bought a book entirely based on how likable the author is, but it certainly won’t be the last. I read a charming post about Mike Mullin hanging out with the ladies of Forever Young Adult, and decided that I needed to know more about his writing. Even his author biography hooked me, and I added Ashfall to my extensive to-read list.

Like Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, Ashfall deals with an intensely plausible catastrophic event that changes the way the world exists as we know it. In this case, the eruption of the supervolcano beneath Yellowstone (which, YES, does exist and YES has erupted before) causes mass destruction and throws the United States into chaos.

Alex is a typical teenager, testing his limits in every way possible and eschewing family trips in favor of spending days playing World of Warcraft. When his home and town are decimated by the explosion of the volcano, he realizes that nothing is more important than being with his family, no matter what the cost.

His journey to get there brings him in contact with both the bad and good in humanity in startling ways. Mike Mullin has fascinating answers to whether the “system” we have in place in the even of a cataclysmic event would really serve us, or if humanity itself is too flawed to survive. In a notable quote, Alex remarks, “The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles and our airplanes, but it hadn’t taken our humanity. No, we’d given that up on our own.” (p. 344)

Part of what makes this story so effective is how believable it is, from the plausibility of an unexpected volcanic explosion to the survival tactics of some of the people that Alex comes across during his time on the road. He meets all types, from the quietly generous to the terrifying, and each character feels completely authentic.

Alex’s evolution over the course of the story, from a sulky teenager to a self-reliant young man is fascinating. His background in taekwondo doesn’t hurt, of course, but his survival instincts are dead on and he’s the type of character you’d definitely want on your side in a pinch.

Likewise, Darla is a total fireball. What Alex lacks in certain areas, she more than makes up for in her mechanical knowledge and moxie. In spite of both of them being violently thrown into adulthood, these two are a compelling team and I couldn’t wait to see how they were going to meet their next challenge. From violent gangs, to personal tragedy, to a dismal “aid camp,” I spent the whole book rooting for them to come out on top. Even though this is the first book in a series(?), the ending is satisfying and the story contained.

Four out of Five pieces of corn pone.

Eleven Things

Most of the time, I avoid these posts like the plague, but since I’ve been a little, ehm… short on inspiration lately, it’s a good reason to crank my weekly post out. Thanks to Amy over at Hamlet’s Mistress for tagging me.

The Rules:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them that you’ve tagged them.

Army Boy's face says "I Married That."

Eleven (Mostly) Random Things:

1. Spelling out the word “eleven” always makes me think of the word “elven,” which makes me want to watch “Lord of the Rings,” STAT. And think about how much dreamier Orlando Bloom was with his flowing golden locks. Amirite?

2.  Operation “New Job” is taking longer than hoped/expected. I’ve had some interviews though, so that’s a start… but it’s almost harder not to take it personally once people have met you and still go “eh. NEXT.”

3.  I’m currently in a smutty romance reading spree… I finally decided to try a few books by Stephanie Laurens (after my Paranormal February) and managed to get sucked into her Cynster stories. Of which there are 18. Part of me really wants to embark on reading all of them, remembering how much I adored Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” novels, but I know that there are a lot of good reads in the bookshelf that I should get through first.

4. I don’t know if I’m interesting enough currently to come up with eleven random things. Crap.

5. I definitely fell of the “wagon” over the holidays and have gained back an embarrassing amount of my pre-wedding weight. Each week, I tell myself I’m going to crack down again, but I just. love. food. Even though the program that I followed (rhymes with “Schmate Schmatchers”) taught me a lot about cooking better, enjoying what I eat more and portion sizes, it also taught me to enjoy the crappy food choices I make even more. Lately, there have been a lot of those.

6.  Also, the winter sucks for being active. I should recognize in myself that after a full day of working, if it’s dark and cold I’m going to lack the motivation to get out there and get moving. And should join a gym, at least for those winter months. I hate the way I feel when I’m not staying active.

7.  PS- Easter candy is back in stores. Meaning that those evil little Cadbury eggs taunt me with their sugary siren song every time I go to the store.  Oddly, after a year of better portions, I’m more satisfied by getting the small individual serving bags and no longer feel cheated by not hoovering a large bag over a couple of days. If a large bag does make its way home from the store? It’s immediately doled out into snack bags.

8.  I’m going to stop talking about food now. Because that is boring.

9.  I never blogged about the awesome Christmas present I surprised Army Boy with! The stars managed to line up with some Groupon deals right before the holidays and I was able to book a long weekend for our 6-month anniversary. We’re going to Oheka Castle on Long Island, and Das Boot will not be coming with us.

10.  The above is a big deal because we’re insanely broke right now and getting ready to replace our house’s central air unit. And Wesley has been sick multiple times this winter (including today, which is why I’m working at home and keeping an eye on him). Vet bills are KILLER.  Oh, and remember our adventure in Baltimore in November? Yeah, the hits have just kept coming since then.

11.  I really really really really wanted to go to BlogHer this year with Amy to hang out with Aunt Becky and meet some of the amazing women that I’ve been reading for the last two years.  I wanted to spend the weekend in the city, get inspired and dance my ass off at SparkleCorn (MAMAPOP, FTW!), especially considering it’s in NYC, which is such a manageable trip from this neck of the woods. See also: Boo boo boo, listen to mah first world problems.

Questions From Amy:

1    If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead, who would it be and why?

I would definitely choose Henry VIII.  I’m totally fascinated by his story and his 6 wives, and would love to see what made him so compelling. (It wasn’t JUST that he was king, right?

2.  You have a room in your house full of something you don’t want anyone to see.  What’s in the room?

Ooo… this is a good, and thought-provoking one during which I could totally come up with something insightful about the lessons I learned in my past…. For now I’d have to go with dust bunnies.

3.   What is your most ridiculous fear?

I’d have to go with “the dark.” I just hate waking up in the night and not being able to see what’s in the house. We have a total of three nightlights in our tiny one-story home… and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

4.   What’s your go-to happy song?

“The Authority Song” by Jimmy Eat World. It never failed to inspire a dorm room dance party in college, and still takes me right back to that feeling every time I hear it. “Fuck You” by Lily Allen is a very close second.

5.   What’s been your best day so far?

I think the day of our pony trek in Ireland was my best so far. There have been some amazing days in my life, but none are surrounded by a glow quite like that one. It was carefree, romantic, breathtaking and exhilarating all in one… followed by the blissful reaction of a hot tub, tea and a hearty meal.

6.   Hands down favorite movie and why?

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. (Can I cheat like that?) I can watch them over and over and always take something new out of them, and I think that Peter Jackson did a marvelous job at translating the world that Tolkein created

7.  What are you reading right now?  (Because you should always be reading something)

“In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster” by Stephanie Laurens. I’m so psyched because I just re-joined BooksFree, and I’ll have lots of ready reading material for the forseeable future (without driving Army Boy crazy with the weekly Amazon boxes!)

8.   What made you start blogging?

I started blogging while I was using one of the big online dating sites. I figured that it would certainly be an interesting experience to write about, to say the least. Then I had to ruin it all and start dating Army Boy.

9.    Who’s going to play you in the movie of your life?  Why?

Any celebrity comparison that I get is usually to Anne Hathaway. I’d have to say her, logically. I have a soft spot for Michelle Williams, though- I think she does phenomenal work and she’d probably score an Oscar nomination.

10.  What’s your favorite thing to do during your favorite season?

Absolutely everything about Christmas! Chopping down our tree, snuggling by the fire and drinking spiked hot chocolate… It’s a great time of year.

11.   What is your secret guilty pleasure?

Watching Gossip Girl on Netflix after Army Boy is asleep. I wish I could quit, but between the clothes and the snarky one-liners, I’m not quite ready to go to rehab just yet.

My Questions:

1. If you were a cocktail, what would you be?

2. What would you say is your ritual to relax and unwind?

3. Who was your favorite author when you were in high school?

4. If you could give an award to a fictional character, who would it be and why?

5. What would you do in the supermarket if you thought nobody was watching?

6. What is your dream vacation?

7. Is there one thing that you could have changed that would drastically have altered the course of your life? What was it, and if you could go back and change it, would you?

8. If you could marry one historical figure, who would it be?

9. I have admitted my obsession for all things Cadbury. What one food could you not live without?

10. What one thing would surprise me about you?

11. What is the soundtrack of your year so far?

The Moment of Truth: I’m respectfully tagging Chris, Angela, Dana and Becky. (Respectfully because if you don’t feel like doing this one, I will not go all Amish and shun you.) If anyone else would like to join in, please do and let me know in the comments.

TxtingMrDarcy Reads “It’s The End of the World As We Know It” Edition

As those of you whom I’m buddies with on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (and I’d say that’s most of you) know, I booked my “wife chop” a month after the wedding and never looked back. For the girl who used to debate piercing something whenever she was bored to keep her hair the same style and let it grow for a year and a half was almost impossible, so I was thrilllllled to finally get to make a change. Not only did I lose about 8 inches off the length, I decided it was time for a real change and became a red-head.

I quickly found out that Redheaded Brooke is considerably more gutsy than Average Brooke, as evidenced by our recent string of horror movie watching and New Year’s Eve “Walking Dead” marathon. Nobody has greeted this with more enthusiasm than my dear Yezel, who INSISTED that I buy and read the following selection.

“World War Z”- Max Brooks

Plot Summary (From Amazon): The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Let me say right off the bat I LOVED this book. I know it’s not new, and those of you who have already read it are giving me a big “UH DOY.” Max Brooks (Son of Mel, which automatically scores him some points in my book) has written a book that is massive in scope and thinks of positively everything.

Told as a collection of first-hand accounts of the Zombie plague and eventual war to reclaim the planet, Brooks manages to travel the globe and explore myriad viewpoints in humanity’s fight to save itself. He alludes to the government minimalizing the threat, the insidious way the infection spread from nation to nation before being identified, and the mind-blowing terror when the average citizen realized that the dead were really reanimating. It addresses how to fight a war when the usual tactics fail, when your opponent doesn’t tire and when your own forces are being killed and joining the enemy horde.

But it’s not just gore and hopelessness and technical mumbo-jumbo… Among the stories are those (cheese alert!) vignettes of the power of the human spirit. There’s the supply pilot who crashes her plane in the everglades and is talked through her ordeal by a civilian “skywatcher.” There’s the soldier who bonded so deeply with his canine partner that he can easily imagine laying down his life for her. There’s the remarkable tale of how castles in Europe came into service again for defense, and how the Queen remained in residence with her subjects until the end of the battle, rather than fleeing with the rest of the royalty.

This is the type of story that you have to be careful not to read before bed, because it will simply set your brain spinning with what-if’s and strategies and mental images too vivid to let you rest. (Yes. I have in fact thought of our zombie-defense strategy, thank you for asking.) If you haven’t yet read this book, definitely do so. If you’ve found yourself sucked into even one episode of “The Walking Dead,” get thee to a bookshop/Amazon/nunnery and read this book. I tore through it like a zombie through a … well, a fleshy body part. Let’s go with that.

(image courtesy of Wikipedia)

In Case You Weren’t Sure That I Had Issues….

After reading my posts about our honeymoon in Ireland, my sweet hubby pointed out one thing I’d missed.

“You forgot all of the flower pictures.”

“What?”

“You know. The hydrangeas. That you took pictures of EVERYWHERE.”

“In my defense, they were unusually vibrant.”

“Uh huh.”

Honestly, I couldn’t help myself. I first started noticing the hydrangeas while we were on our pony trek, and pointed them out to Army Boy.  They were so strikingly gorgeous that I couldn’t wait to get back to my camera to document them.  Growing in the naturally acidic bog soil, they displayed hues that some gardeners can only dream of.

So here is my cache of shame- SOME of the hydrangea pictures. You should all agree with me, just to make Army Boy feel guilty.

 

Interlude

January is typically the busiest time of year in the pharmacy world, as many health plans undergo changes that take effect on the first of the year. It seems that this year is even more hectic than most, and that plus a million other factors has contributed to my “non-resolution” in a previous post. If I have some time to write each day, it’s working on the novella the honeymoon story has become. (Seriously, who knew? And if it’s become horribly boring, you have my full permission to tell me to cease and desist.)

I HAVE been doing a lot of reading, however- not only of George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy but of all of my favorite blogs, plus a few new ones. If you’ve noticed, my blogroll has gained a new category devoted solely to book blogs. These varied and wonderful bloggers (I’m as eclectic in my online reading as in my book choices) are a fabulous source of information and will probably make me a little bit poorer each month with their excellent recommendations. Raych at Books I Done Read and the fabulous ladies at Forever Young Adult (Twilight drinking games and champagne reviews, anyone?)  are most likely to make me cry-laff each day,  while Angela at Bookish and Kit at Books are my Boyfriends keep me intellectual.  I highly recommend you check them out. For all of the talk of books that I do over here, it’s a pretty big DUH that I didn’t find myself gravitating to the book bloggers sooner.

Otherwise, I’ve been keeping myself amused by watching Downton Abbey (Side Note: Ok Universe? I AM SO MAD THAT YOU DIDN’T TELL ME ABOUT THIS RIGHT AWAY.  Because I am madly in love with everything about it. The cast, the plot, the dry wit and the clooooooothes, omg… If Matthew Crawley would be into some polygamy, I’d gladly invite he and Mr Bates to come live with Army Boy and I, that’s all I’m saying) and The Walking Dead. The latter is as much a shock to me as it is to everyone who knows me, as I’ve made no secret of documenting what a huge wuss I am. There’s something totally compelling it that makes me able to overlook the horror aspect and stick to the narrative as a whole.

So, there’s all that. Between the job, the job search, and the overwhelming desire to take the winter and hibernate, I’m around. Just not quite as talkative right now.

 

Our Wedding: The Ceremony

Our ceremony was definitely the part of the day which required the most preparation from both of us, and the part that was the most time-consuming in my desire to be thorough and filter through all of my available options. Our officiant was amazing, and the choice for the day that we both agree was the best one that we made. Rather than a “cookie-cutter” ceremony, where we could choose from a handful of readings and a list of musical selections, we were given free rein over every moment of the event. It was practically a “choose-your-own-adventure” of wedding ceremonies (“If you want everyone to laugh, choose this. If you want everyone to cry, go to page 28. If you want people to think you’re total nerds, include “Princess Bride” quote here”. Done and done!), and everything from the greeting to the closing presentation of the couple was chosen specifically by us.

I extensively searched the Interwebs for reading selections, and found a great deal of help on the amazing wedding blog “A Practical Wedding.” (Seriously. If you’re engaged, or thinking about becoming engaged, you need to read these ladies. They’re wise, witty and helped me retain my sanity during planning on more than one occasion.)

They did a series of posts called “Words to Read When You Wed,” (Here, here and here) which helped me get a great deal of searching out of the way right off the bat. (The OTHER best thing about APW is the other readers- they’re as down-to-earth and smart as Meg and her team, and I got some great reading suggestions from the comments on the posts above.)

I copied and pasted reading after reading into word documents, and then read them over and over to see if they could capture the emotion that I wanted from the day. If they did, the narrowed down choices were printed out for Army Boy to mull over. After his review, we were left with a short list, which came under STILL MORE scrutiny.

As I religiously followed my “wedding countdown” lists, the time came for us simultaneously to meet with our reverend and get our programs ready for printing. I needed to have solid decisions ASAP. And honestly, I still wasn’t feeling the majority of our shortlist.

Back I went to the interwebs, and just out of curiosity I checked on The Knot. I figured that most of the readings on there would be far too cliché (Corinthians, I’m lookin at you), but sometimes cliché is ok if it gives you the right emotional response. Fortunately, I found TWO pieces that were just what I was hoping for, and they immediately bumped all but two of our previous choices into oblivion.

They ended up being the two that we used in our ceremony, because we felt that they captured our relationship and our families so well. Army Boy’s brother read the first selection, and did a gorgeous job giving life to Paulo Coehlo’s lovely words.

From the “The Alchemist”

“When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke — the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert… She smiled, and that was certainly an omen — the omen he had been awaiting, without even knowing he was, for all his life…

“It was the pure Language of the World. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels through endless time. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. He was more certain of it than of anything in the world. He had been told by his parents and grandparents that he must fall in love and really know a person before becoming committed. But maybe people who felt that way had never learned the universal language. Because, when you know that language, it’s easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether it’s in the middle of the desert or in some great city. And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one’s dreams would have no meaning.”

~Paulo Coelho

 ”They say they will love, comfort, honor each other to the end of their days. They say they will cherish each other and be faithful to each other always. They say they will do these things not just when they feel like it, but even — for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health — when they don’t feel like it at all. In other words, the vows they make could hardly be more extravagant. They give away their freedom. They take on themselves each other’s burdens. They bind their lives together… The question is, what do they get in return?

“They get each other in return… There will always be the other to talk to, to listen to… There is still someone to get through the night with, to wake into the new day beside. If they have children, they can give them, as well as each other, roots and wings….

“They both still have their lives apart as well as a life together. They both still have their separate ways to find. But a marriage made in heaven is one where a man and a woman become more richly themselves together than the chances are either of them could ever have managed to become alone.”

~Frederick Buechner (from “Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith”)

The last reading selection that I felt that we HAD to use was a poem written by Neil Gaiman, one of my absolute favorite authors. Since we’d set the ceremony in stone, I decided to put it on the back of our programs, where we had some room left after the listing of our limited wedding party. I think it’s just beautiful, and I’m glad that I could share it with our guests.

This for you, for both of you,
a small poem of happiness
filled with small glories and little triumphs

a fragile, short cheerful song
filled with hope and all sorts of futures
Because at weddings we imagine the future
Because it’s all about “what happened next?”
all the work and negotiation and building and talk
that makes even the tiniest happily ever after
something to be proud of for a wee forever

This is a small thought for both of you
like a feather or a prayer,
a wish of trust and love and hope
and fine brave hearts and true.

Like a tower, or a house made all of bones and dreams
and tomorrows and tomorrows and tomorrows

~Neil Gaiman

What readings did you choose for your Big Day, and why? Were there any writers in particular that you wanted to feature?

Up Next: I’ll finally stop being a jerk about our music selections and just tell you already.

Our Wedding: The Details

I wish I could say that I wasn’t excited about finally unveiling all of the little details that went into our big day, but it was tough keeping them all quiet as we were spending hours crafting together. For the sake of not spoiling everything for our guests that read the blog, I did my best to stay hush-hush.

People who are more accustomed to posting about weddings typically say a wedding has a “theme” or an “aesthetic” that they’re going for. Whether it’s vintage, whimsical, steampunk… Yeah. My theme was “Use my colors and make it look pretty.” I think there was a healthy dose of New England Preppy thrown in there, but we dressed it up a little because of having an evening, ballroom wedding instead of a beachside clambake.  (Which would be totally awesome, btw. Navy and kelly green, anyone?)

The Welcome Bags:

Thanks to lots of time spent crafting in our college sorority, I had a vision for these almost immediately. They’d incorporate our colors and some kind of cute sticker (logo, initials, whatev), be tied with a pretty ribbon, and be packed with Pennsylvania-centric snacks. Not blow your mind original, but whatever. We make good junk food in this neck of the woods.

Once I wasn’t thrilled with the “wedding labels” I was finding online (re: mostly tacky), we went back to the drawing board and decided to incorporate the fact that we would literally be “tying the knot” during our handfasting ceremony. I searched for images of scrimshaw knots (which were also a nod to the preppy New England part of my multiple personalities), and used that in Zazzle to create our finished product. They turned out surprisingly well.

Treats in the bags included Utz potato chips, Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels, Tastycakes, and both Hershey and M&M products. We are (un)lucky enough to have both within 10 minutes of our house. (We even managed to find some navy and white ribbon with scrimshaw knots!)

We also included directions to the rehearsal dinner and sweet little door hangers ordered from Etsy. These were in our colors, and we chose the hydrangea design as a nod to our flowers and again to the “preppy New England” theme.

The Table Numbers:

These were straight up ordered from Dear Emma on Etsy. I loved the intricate design, rich colors and the art deco feel to them. Even though NOTHING else that we did was art deco, I thought they’d really pop against the flowers and the table cloths.

I’m so in love with these I’d love to use them to number our kitchen table every night. I may have a problem.

 

The Escort Cards:

The one lesson I learned from the wedding: Attempting almost anything pictured in Martha Stewart? HAHAHAHAHAHHA.

Ahem.

There was a gorgeous Martha’s Vineyard wedding pictured in one of the issues of Martha Stewart Weddings right around the time when we had to really start thinking about escort cards. The bride in this case had collected vintage postcards from the Vineyard (yanno… just for kicks?) and used them as escort cards. I was smitten.

I went on a scavenger hunt, trying to find vintage PA or Ireland postcards, but the more I looked the more I became convinced that it would be far too complicated and expensive to find enough cards for all of our guests. Even ordering them off Vistaprint would have been a greater expense than we were shooting for. Enter Etsy once again, who inspired me that I could totally make my OWN postcards with some cardstock and some stamps.

I had a lot of help from Army Boy on this one, and we’re pleased with how they came out. We coffee-stained ivory notecards, then stamped them with table numbers and hand wrote the guests’ names on them.

The cards were then tacked onto a large corkboard (as a nod to our venue) that Army Boy built for the purpose, and displayed at the reception on two easels.

The Placecards:

During one of our very early forays to the craft store, my mom noticed some wax seals and sealing wax. “Wouldn’t it be fun to incorporate these somehow?” she suggested. “You know, because you guys are all weird and Renaissance Faire-y and like that sort of thing?” Why yes, Mother. It would be fun. Rather than sealing our invitations, we decided to embellish the placecards with a wax seal. We even took it one step further and used wax in our colors, each color designating the guest in question’s entrée choice.

 

For something with high potential for burnination, these turned out surprisingly well. And again, I had to look past the ones that weren’t “perfect.” It “adds character.” (And they got pitched at the end of the night anyway.)

The Favors:

We got to use our little “logo” again on the favors, in the form of smaller stickers. From the beginning, we wanted to stick to an edible favor, as those seem to be the most popular with guests. Once we’d booked our honeymoon to Ireland, it gave us a nudge in the direction of UK-themed treats. In the end, we decided on Walker’s shortbread fingers at each guest’s place.

(The OCD part of me would like some props for not freaking out over the fact that the plaid packaging basically clashed with our color scheme and was mad confusing with the slightly nautical feel of the stickers. *breathing into a paper bag.* Ok, we’re good. Moving on.)

The Cake:

This is honestly for sheer gratuitiousness. All along, Army Boy and I had the same things as priorities for the cake- no fondant, and it had to be delicious. I know, you can do beautiful things with fondant and make a really stylish, beautiful cake. But if it’s not done “just so,” it’s more like eating sugary plastic, no matter how good the cake itself might be. Our cake certainly fit that bill- the tiers were alternating chocolate cake with rich chocolate mousse, and white cake with vanilla mousse, poached pears and black raspberries.

This is one of the areas I was almost lazy in my creativity, sticking with simplicity and relying on the florist and the pastry chef to carry out what I was hoping for. Up until a couple of weeks before the wedding, we were planning on having navy ribbon on each of the tiers, but the further we got in the planning process the more I found myself gravitating to the plain ivory icing. The cake stand is the hotel’s, but it happened to look great with the flowers and my colors, so I think the effect was pretty nice overall.

I thought that filling you in on all the details was a good place to start with our “Recap-aganza.”

Next time: I’ll finally stop teasing and tell you what we chose for the ceremony music (Hint: Some of you were right!) and readings.

New Last Name, Same Ol’ Slacking.

I was all ready to return from our honeymoon and launch into the requisite round of “recap” posts, even though I have no doubt that everyone is HEARTILY sick of wedding posts by now.

What I didn’t plan for was the absolutely soul-sucking exhaustion that follows the wedding and the honeymoon travelling, plus added lack of sleep from doctor’s visits due to my overwhelming klutzitude and the JET LAG OMG. As much as I am positively aching to go back to Ireland RIGHT THIS SECOND, I am totally going to research jet lag prevention. I need some solutions, other than, say, sleeping. Because we all know that I’m far too control-freak/anxiety-prone for THAT to happen.

(For the record, I did sleep! In my first moving conveyance EVER! Unfortunately, I was then awakened by bone-rattling turbulence that gave me “Castaway” style terror and was unable to get back to the blissful slumber that Army Boy was enjoying. Jerk.)(Look, we really are married, I am calling him “jerk” now.)(KIDDING.)

There is just so much to come back to following a wedding…*insert moaning about first world problems here* Plus our fun of combining name-changing errands with dr appts and returning to work, and a little more travelling for me this weekend.

All of this was to say that yes, I am figuring out a coherent way to share with you the sheer massiveness of the last three weeks. I am formulating and organizing and remembering what I deliberately kept from you on the pretext of being tricksy and not spoiling all of my secrets to those amazing friends who read the blog and were present at the big day. (Roomie, Angela and Danielle- I’m lookin’ at you.)

Even more than all that, I’m still figuring out what changed for us that day, as individuals and as a couple. Once the dust settles and the big event is over, are there changes? I don’t know if I didn’t expect there to be, since we were already co-owners of a home and “parents” to Wesley. In both of our minds, we were hardcore committed to each other the day that we signed our mortgage. Somehow, though, marriage is new. Having a husband, and being a wife… even in the first weeks, it’s meant giving up some control (OMG SO HARD) and realizing that even if I’m wearing a giant ugly walking boot on our honeymoon, he’s not going anywhere. In short? It’s awesome.

This weekend, we’re going to finally sit down and go through our honeymoon photos, start on our thank-you notes, get some SLEEP, and I’ll begin in earnest to write everything down. Both for all of you, and for Army Boy and I.

PS- You were all so lovely about the wedding photos, I decided to be a vain bitch thoughful and link to our photographer’s preview blog.  In case you wanted to see a couple more, yanno. (And yes, I AM playing Angry Birds, reading “The Help” and drinking Smirnoff Ice in the third photo down. Because we kept it Classy.)

Not So Royal Wedding Music, Part Deux

Where we left off last, I was exploring the works of various British composers to decide if they would be the right choice for our wedding music selections. I’d found a real possibility with John Rutter’s “What Sweeter Music,” but I still hadn’t had quite  the reaction I was looking for.

I decided to look in a different direction entirely, using some of the music from the night that we got engaged. Army Boy proposed at an “Enter The Haggis” concert, so using them in some form throughout our day was practically a given. They have a lot of great songs, but I wanted something really joyful, and with a real punch. I was thinking that really letting loose for the recessional would be a great way to let our guests know that it was time to PAR-TAY.

I narrowed it down to two of my favorites, and played them for Army Boy and the family to get their input. They agreed with BOTH, so we found a way to work them both into the day.

(Here’s one of their songs that we didn’t choose… but it’s one of my favorites!)

 

That night, we also got to hear Eric Rigler perform the love theme from “Braveheart.” Since he played it in the original soundtrack, he did a damn good job of it. I mentally filed it away as potential wedding music, and downloaded a few selections from the soundtrack when I started my search.

Again, the music was gorgeous… again, it still didn’t feel quite right for a trip down the aisle. The recording quality wasn’t as great as we’ve come to expect from more recent recording. However, we have found a way to include it as part of our ceremony. Just not the “biggest” part.

Fortunately, finding one of my selections from a film soundtrack helped me to narrow my focus in on the sound that I wanted. I started racking my brains, trying to think of any particular film music that stood out to me, that gave me goosebumps and that I could picture myself walking down the aisle to.

There was one selection that I was drawn to right away. My grandfather made a series of home videos before he passed away, about the birth of each of his grandchildren and the family celebrations through the years. He got very creative with this projects, often including soundtracks and what limited special effects he could use at the time. His taste in music was impeccable, even if he was only standing in the woods, pretending to conduct an invisible orchestra. (Yes. He was also quite quirky and ever the performer. I have no idea if that’s genetic. ) I was immediately reminded of a Henry Mancini piece that he chose to use in his videos, and thought “Yes. Thank you, Pop.”

I also spent literally hours poring over iTunes, following its suggestions to songs it thought I’d “like,” and then following suggestions from those. One piece stopped me in my tracks immediately, and I thought it might be “the One.” I was looking for music from historical shows like “The Tudors,” and iTunes suggested the love theme from the movie “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.”

You have to close your eyes and listen, but that was the very first piece that I could genuinely imagine the ballroom doors opening, and my dad escorting my down the aisle. I thought I had a winner.

Or did I??

Frat House Tales: Who’s Type A?

(Scene: Brooke, in the Lego Block of Doom, in her cubicle. She’s on the phone with Momma Darcy.)

Brooke: Army Boy is driving me crazy. You know how we were talking about being on the same page where the dog is concerned, and how one parent is going to know him a little better?

Mom: Yup

Brooke: Well, he’s off sick today [Army Boy] and I told him to keep the dog on his usual schedule so that he can have some time to relax and sleep And he said “wah wah wah i’m not doing that…”

Mom: Do you think you have some control issues?

Brooke: NO. Because I have to come home and listen to how he didn’t get to sleep all day because the dog was a dick.

Mom: When you go to High School BFF’s wedding in Philly, are you going to let him drive?

Brooke: Nope. He just got us lost in our neighborhood!*

Mom: So you have the directions. But he’s a better driver

Brooke: He’s not a better driver in traffic and cities when you have to focus on more than one thing at once

Mom: BROOKE! He went to IRAQ!

Brooke: MOM! He didn’t DRIVE THERE.

(End Scene. Stay Tuned For: Brooke and Army Boy Do Marriage Counseling!)

*- No really, that happened.