Our rehearsal dinner was held right down the street from the church at studio 275. Leo Moscato does a wonderful job. If your ever in the need for a place to do a small private party, studio 275 is the place.
Amazing Grace
The hall looks Amazing... Thanks to the hard work of my brother David, Jay, Jody, Paul, Margaret, Nancy, Meg, Marci, Liz and I'm probably forgetting someone. My bad for not bringing my camera to take pictures. Thank you everyone, Alice and I are very fortunate to have such wonderful and talented friends, your talents will be appreciated by all. Off to the rehearsal. I'll post pictures later.
First Home Video
This is a first, I never used a video camera before. I shot some video at my brothers house after dinner and then again at my cousin Laura's house. I hope it works. I'm planning on posting some video from the weekend here on the blog.
Gobble Gobble
I found this on a Yankee beat writer blog, I thought it was fun so I copied it. Happy Thanksgiving to all, may your bird be tender.
Giving Thanks
Tonight I baked my traditional pumpkin cheesecake, and as always, they cracked. If anyone has the secret to keeping a cheesecake from cracking, please pass it along. Don't let the cracks fool you, my pumpkin cheesecake is one of the best around. One of my secrets is that I cook my own pumpkin, no canned pumpkin in these cheesecakes. Then I use organic eggs, and create my own pumpkin spice from 4 spices.
The wedding stuff is winding down, I believe Alice and I are going to make it to the finish line. A couple of loose ends still to tie but for the most part, I would say we are 95 percent complete. Not bad for starting only seven weeks ago. Friday will be an interesting day setting up at the Scandinavian club. If anyone is just hanging around on Friday, feel free to stop by, we can use all the help we can get.
Alice and I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels to those who will be traveling during the weekend. Remember to save room for dessert! Ciao.
Under the Weather
On a rainy day like today it's easy to feel a bit under the weather. Alice has been fighting a cold since last Saturday, last night she really looked like she had a cold. If you have a cold remedy that works for you, send it along to Alice, alice@liptrot.com. Grazie!
Pre Party
With a little less than a week to go till the big party my mom had a party at the house for Alice. All the girls looked like they were having a good time when I arrived. Alice is pictured here with my cousin Carl's wife Michelle and my cousins Karen and Sandy. I'll be posting pictures from the big party over the weekend so be sure to check back.
If you need directions to any of the events next weekend, please email me at johndedonato@gmail.com. Ciao!
Cheers
Alice and I spent the afternoon shopping for items for the wedding, we managed to get a few things but still need to find glass holders for the votive candles. Alice's sister Liz found some glass holders at target which we were trying to match but had no such luck at the target store around here. Alice and I took a break from our shopping and stopped off at one of our favorite places, the windmill in Stratford. Alice and I have become friends with several people at the windmill but Toni is our favorite, a wonderful person and waitress. Toni knows Alice and I are getting married next weekend so she was full of questions about the big day. We talked for over an hour and when we asked for our check Toni said that lunch was on her today. Toni gave us a big hug and while Alice and I were walking out she announced to a full bar that we are getting married next weekend. The reaction from the bar was quite interesting, several folks were yelling out "don't do it" and "we still have time to call it off", the funniest one I heard was someone was yelling the name of a law firm.. The windmill to Alice and I feels a lot like Cheers in Boston must have felt.. Everyone knows our name...
Elking it up
A picture of my cousin Carl and brother Joe at the Elks last night. I managed to take a couple of pictures early and then again late in the evening. I had an awesome time last night. Many thanks to brother Dave for arranging the dinner and for everyone who attended, it meant a lot to me to see all your smiling faces! I'm looking forward to seeing them again at the wedding.
The Land of Oz
Alice's house has been turned into the Land of Oz.. Alice, her sister Liz and friend Nancy went to East Coast Wholesale flowers this morning, I believe they have a plan, now the plan just needs to be executed! The girls have it under control.
I managed to visit Romeo, the caterer, this afternoon, looks like we are all set with the food. I also visited DelPrete's bakery, that's where the italian pastry will be coming from for the wedding. I talked with Nick about the hall and Charlie about the linens. Looks like everything is coming together. Keep your fingers crossed! Only a week to go...
I'm off to the dinner, wish me well. I'll be bringing a camera so check back tomorrow for some interesting photo's. Thanks again Liz for coming up to help, it meant a lot to me and Alice!
Ciao!
Liz is in the House
Alice's sister Liz came up today to help Alice with the flower arrangements. Liz and Alice went down to Norwalk to visit the wholesale flower guy (Steven) while I stayed behind cleaning (what's wrong with this picture). Tomorrow the girls will return to the wholesaler to pick up potted plants.. Who new making the flower arrangements would require such an effort? I believe there will be a small army of people over the next week involved in creating the arrangements.. I'm sure the flowers will be beautiful come the day of the wedding... If I remember tomorrow, I will snap a couple of pictures to give you a sneak peak... Thanks Liz for coming up to help, your presence is an early gift.
Music update.. The new mixing board works great.. we now have music!
Tomorrow night there will be a dinner in my honor at the Elks club in Derby, I'll try to update the blog before the dinner, I'm sure I will be moving slow on Saturday!
A Little Help from our Friends
Today was a bit of a crazy day.. Alice made an appointment with East Coast Flower Wholesale in Norwalk, we made it down there around 11:30, what an amazing place. I've never seen so many beautiful flowers. Steve, the owner, gave Alice and I the tour, he imports flowers from all over the US and world, truly an amazing operation. After checking out the flowers, Alice and I stopped in Westport to pick up shirts and ties for the boys in the wedding. When we returned home, Alice prepared for class while I worked with Victor from IDJNOW trying to get our music system working. We are still having issues, I am hopeful to have the music working in a couple of days.. Keep your fingers crossed.. A note for Alice's friends... Alice is feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the wedding plans. Add on top of that her class work and her businesses she is trying to start and you can see why Alice is feeling overwhelmed. Please give Alice a call or send her an email with positive energy, thoughts and prayers. I love you honey.
Lunedi 17 Novembre
Even in Italian, the wedding is getting close... Alice and I are hopeful to travel to Italy in the spring to visit with her Aunt and my niece who will be studying in the Florence area. I practice a little Italian every day..
Several wedding items accomplished today... Alice talked with the woman who will be doing the music at the church, she also talked with the florist who will be doing the flowers for the church. I managed to meet with the rental people today to take care of all the items needed for the reception.. I'm still in search of the elusive perfect tie... hopefully we will find the tie tomorrow.
The weather is getting a tad colder, I worked outside at Alice's house for part of the day... We are hoping for nice weather on the weekend of the wedding.. I enjoy snow but I'm hoping for a green wedding! Buona Notte!
Yesterday Once More
On Saturday Alice and I attended her 30th high school reunion, Montville High School class of 1978. It was a fun time and nice to meet the people Alice hung out with during those formative years.. A very nice group of folks, I'm looking forward to the 40th! My high school celebrates all the years of the same decade together so I'm not sure when the next 70's decade reunion is.
The wedding is starting to fall into place, we received our rings from Japan, Alice's cousin sister Chie made the rings, they are truly beautiful. I've never wore a ring, something I'm looking forward to. Alice met with her friends to go over the flowers for the hall on Saturday while I attempted to get the sound system tested. Houston we have a problem, I'm hopeful to resolve the issue on Monday. Today we will be going over the list of people who responded to get a better number of how many people will be attending the wedding.
If anyone is in need of directions, please email me, johndedonato@gmail.com, we did not include directions in all the invitations. Enjoy your Sunday. Ciao!
Girls Night Out
Alice headed into New York City to meet up with her girl fiends for a girls night out. Not sure what happens on a girls night out.. What happens in the city... stays in the city... so they say... If any of the girls who are with Alice tonight just happen to snap some pictures, please send a few my way so I can post them here on the blog... johndedonato@gmail.com... I'm sure Alice will have a slow morning tomorrow.
Off to Mass we go
Alice and I are off to Massachusetts to pick up the planters for the flowers at the church and hall... should be a beautiful day for a trip, no pets this time, we need all the room for planters... more later. Enjoy this beautiful day.
Well we made it back from Massachusetts. Compo De Fiore is in Sheffield MA, it took us about an hour and twenty minutes to make it up there, what a nice place. The planters for the flowers are beautiful, Alice did a wonderful job finding the planters. I'm sure the arrangements will look awesome.
House stuff.. Well I installed a new washer and dryer.. Alice's washer finally died after many years of service. I'm sure the old Maytag washer and dryer were from the 70's... We can only hope we have half as many years of service from the new machines.. Isn't that a sad statement with all the new technology.. Products just are not built to last...
Suits Me
A busy day today running errands for the wedding. Alice and I covered a lot of territory, from New Haven to Westport. Alice and I visited New Haven to check out a couple of men's clothing stores, I'm still in search of a suit for the wedding. Alice talked with Machie today about our rings, they are ready, we just need to work out the shipping details. Alice designed the rings with Machie, they look beautiful from the drawings, I can't wait to see them. We talked to Charlie in Norwalk about the linens for the wedding and my friend Jeff about people to help server the food. We also talked to Leo the grape about the details for the rehearsal dinner. Leo runs a place called studio 275 right down the street from the church where he teaches culinary instruction classes and cooks for private parties. Many of the pieces are starting to fall into place... Today I turned 48, a good age to be getting married for the first time, it just took a while for the right girl to cross my path..
Weekend Update
Another weekend has come and gone. Sorry for the lack of updates but it's been another hectic weekend. Leaf wars were waged at both Alice's house and my parents house. Alice and I managed to pick the the leaves in her yard on Saturday before the rains came with a little help from her neighbors. One neighbor let me borrow his leaf blower which was a bit stronger than the one Alice owns. I used the neighbors leaf blower to clean the leaves from the road in front of the house. While Alice and I were bagging the leaves, Jay, a neighbor two houses down stopped by with a gas leaf blower and offered to blow the leaves in the back yard into a pile for us.. Thank you again Jay, you were a life saver, and a back saver. Very nice neighbors on Lee Drive, it's going to be fun living there. On Sunday, my brother David, dad and myself picked up what we hope are the last of the leaves at my parents house. After the leaf war, my mom made an awesome Sunday dinner, ravioli with sausage and meatballs. You just can't beat homemade gravy (sauce for you non Italians). Mom also made a cake to celebrate my birthday, Monday I turn 48. Not much news on the wedding front, this weeks needs to be a very productive week, there's too many items still on the to do list for my comfort. Keep those fingers crossed. A prayer or two for Alice's mom who is still in the hospital recovering from her surgery. Alice said her moms humor has returned which is a good sign.
Dog Tired
Alice and I headed out to East Hampton on Wednesday with Rose and Olive to visit Alice's parents. Most of the time was spent at the hospital visiting Alice's mom while the dogs hung out in my car. Keep up the prayers for a quick recovery for Alice's mom, she may be in the hospital for about a week. This was the first time I have ever been in East Hampton, a very nice place, even in the rain. I look forward to returning soon to pick up a mirror Alice has been wanting to bring home for a long time plus I have an eagle to retrieve for Alice's dad.
Several more responses today, so far only 1 person is not able to attend the wedding. We still have several wedding plans to iron out, keep your fingers crossed.
A Time for a Change
Today will be a day of change.. This presidential election has been too long for me, I grew tired and stopped watching and listening to the news months ago. Each candidate wore me out. We need a strong leader, I'm not convinced either candidate will do well.
As for the wedding, today our invitations started to arrive in home, it is very exciting to get responses. The first person to respond to me was my uncle Fran, Alice's first phone call was from her friend Mia.. A prize will be waiting for both of you at the hall for being the first to respond. A note about the brunch on Sunday at our house, it will start at 9AM and go till we run out of food, so please stop by when ever you can, even if it's early in the afternoon. The football games will be on for the guys!
An update on Alice's mom, she will be having surgery on Wednesday morning, please keep her in your prayers. Alice and I will be heading to Long Island to spend time with my future (very near future) mother and father in law.
Welcome November
November is here, only 27 days till the wedding. A lot has been going on already in November, some good news and some not so good news. For the good news, Alice's cat schnoopepe has returned. Seems that schnoopepe is smarter than the coyote, maybe she has a little road runner in her. Schnoopepe was hiding out a couple of blocks away. On Saturday night Alice's neighbor Margaret threw a welcome to the neighborhood party for me, a very nice time. I'm looking forward to my new home and neighbors. Thank you Margaret. Today, Alice and I spent time with Deacon Bob reviewing the results of our FOCUS questions, 156 in all. Alice and I managed to be thinking along the same lines in 14 out of the 16 categories, maybe we are not as opposite as we think we are honey. Some sad news, Alice's mom is in the hospital on Long Island. She was taken to the hospital on Saturday and today they were going to do a procedure to see if they can find out why she is having pains in her stomach and bleeding. Keep Alice's mom Patricia in your prayers. Some wedding news, Alice and I managed to complete our invitations, they will be in the mail on Monday.
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