Happy All Hallows Eve

Halloween is also known as All Hallows Eve and here is our flower girl Ava dressed up as mini mouse this year. Ava is definitely a treat.  Ava's mom Sue is in the background, she is a treat too! 

Wedding update... Well, it looks like our invitations will be in the mail on Saturday. The printer did an awesome job as well as Alice, the coloring, look and feel of the invitations are all Alice's creation. Please respond as soon as you can, we need to have a head count by November 15th. I posted a link to mapquest and the addresses of the church, hall and house in the right hand side of the blog, give it a try if you need directions. Tomorrow is November 1st, only 29 days to go.

Congrats to the Phillies

The 2008 baseball season officially ended tonight with the phillies beating the rays 4-3. The seaon was over a long time ago for me, I'm a die hard yankee fan. I'm sad to see yankee stadium being replaced, I'm looking forward to the yankees returning to the playoffs in 2009. LET'S GO YANKEES!

Today was filled with errands for the wedding. Alice and I picked up several white and red wines to taste, we stopped by the hall to talk about seating and rentals, then we stopped by the florist to talk about flowers for the church. Tonight Alice managed to finish off one of the white wines while working on the music for the wedding while I worked on the information that will be included with the invitations. Our readers are all set for the wedding ceremony, Alice's God child Allison and my God child Kara will do the readings, now Alice and I just have to finish choosing the readings.

A Rainy Tuesday

Well, the lawns are covered again in leaves and branches from today's rain and wind. Alice's yard was looking good till last night, such is the time of year. I managed to find Alice and I a place to stay after the wedding. We talked about going to Newport RI for a couple of days, then onto Providence and Stonington. I booked us a couple of nights at the Hotel Viking in Newport, I've read nice things about the hotel, if anyone has stayed there, drop us a comment. I also booked a night at the Providence Hilton, I have a ton of points from all my nights staying in Freeport ME so the night in Providence will be on the house. Another plan made, the list is getting shorter...

A step back in time

Today Alice and I took a ride to New Haven to check out a possible caterer for the wedding. After mass on Sunday Alice and I were talking to several people from church about catering, they told us to check out Romeo and Cesare's in New Haven. Alice and I first walked around the store looking at a variety of amazing food. We asked a very friendly person behind the counter if there was anyone we could talk to about catering our wedding. A few minutes later, Romeo came out of the back of the store. Alice was busy in the front of the store ordering food while I started to talk to Romeo. One of Romeo's first comments to me was that if we did not like his food, we wouldn't have to pay him, he never wants an unhappy customer. Romeo talked with a broken english accent, he has been in business in New Haven for over 35 years. Alice joined the conversation and we started to pick out some food. Romeo went behind the counter and made a sample dish of several foods for Alice and I to taste and told us to go out side and enjoy the food while going over the catering menu. Romeo joined us several minutes later, we reviewed the menu, he made some suggestions, several times going back inside to bring Alice and I something else to taste. While sitting at the table, an older Italian gentleman stopped at the table to thank Romeo for the prosciutto he recommended over the weekend. If anyone is looking for good Italian food, check out Romeo and Cesare's on 771 Orange Avenue in New Haven, you're in for a treat.

Another week flies by

Boy time flies when you're having fun.. or when your scrambling to get your wedding plans done. This weekend Alice and I spent a good part of the day on Saturday at our Engaged Couples Deanery Conference, previously known as Pre Cana. St. Thomas Church is Oxford did a very nice job with the Conference. There were three couples plus the parish priest leading the conference, thirteen couples attended. One of the couples Alice and I sat with are getting married on the same day.. Dan and Liz have been planning their wedding for a year.. Alice and I are down to a little over four weeks. Invitations will be going out this week, we also plan on picking a person to do our food. There's still plenty of time left... Say a prayer for us!

Now Appearing

A picture taken today of Alice on stage at the Scandinavian Club, she is just about to start her growing up Liptrot routine.  We stopped by the club today to take a second look around, need to start planning on how to decorate for the wedding.  We also stopped by town hall and picked up our marriage license. I think Alice is more nervous than I am, as we were walking out of town hall, Alice let out this heavy sigh. Tonight we are planning on tasting some food that will be served at the wedding.

A Crazy Monday

A busy day on my first day not working for LLBean.  Alice lost the very sweet and lovely Schnoopepe to a coyote over the weekend.  This is very sad news.  Alice loves her pets very much and in return they love her also.  Please keep Alice and Schoopepe in your prayers.

Wedding stuff.  Alice and I worked on the menu and talked to one person about getting a price.  The wording for the invitations was given to the stationary folks today, hopefully we will have the invitations by the end of the week. Alice and I also stopped by the jewelry store to look for bands and her bracelet.  Much more to do for sure, if feels good to be making progress.

Best Friend

Adele pictured here with her third child. Adele is Alice's best friend, the two met while in college.

Wedding Update

This week more progress was made with the wedding plans.  Alice, with the help of her neighbors and friends found a dress which is big, now I need to find a suit.  I believe the girls in wedding will be wearing gray, I need to ask the boys if they have a gray suit.  We also decided on the invitation, they will be printed this week. We hope to have the invitation in the mail early the last of October. We still have a number of plans that are still in progress, check back later in the week for more wedding plans update.

Rose and Rafta

Alice's Pet Family.  Missing from the album is the lovely and sexy schnoopepe, a second cat, and the Olive.  The Olive is pictured in a separate posting.  To see all the posting which have a picture, just click on the label picture at the bottom of any posting.  Clicking on Rose will show you other pictures of Rose and Rafta.

Legs

Signs from Freeport

Working in small town America has many benefits, one being you really get to know everyone in town.  The shop keepers become like family.  Here are the signs from the shops I spent most of my money at.. Enjoy the tour.

Freeport

A week of lasts

This week is full of lasts for me given this is my last week in Maine.  Tuesday's for the past 2 years have been spent for the most part at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Freeport listening to the Tony Boffa Trio.  Virgil, Paulie and Shaneequa are very talented people and if you ever have a chance to see the Tony Boffa band, do it, they are one of the best bands around today.

Being that this was my last Tuesday night with the trio, I was convinced to join them for Frank Sinatra's great hit, The Summer Wind.  I managed to make it through the song thanks to Tony.

Thanks to everyone who made tonight special, Delta Dawn and White Cloud for the gifts and arranging the cake, you are the best and will be missed.  Champagne, thanks for dinner, you are a very kind person, I have been very fortunate to know you.  H, CB, Juanita, Syd and Lucy, I will miss you, you've made my stay here a very enjoyable experience.  Cookie, thanks for coming out the past couple of Tuesdays, you are a special person to me, I wish you well with everything that is going on in your life.  More on lasts in another post.. Thanks again everyone, you are the best, I have been truly blessed.  Jack.

Trick or Treat

A picture of our ring girl Ava DeDonato from last halloween.  She looks like the cookie monster!

Hotel Arrangements

Today I signed the contract with the Trumbull Marriott for our guests who will need to stay locally during the weekend.  The rate is $99 dollars and the rooms are under Liptrot and DeDonato.  If you need a room, the phone number is 203.378.1400.  Reservations should be made before Novemeber 14th.  Alice and I are working on providing transportation from the hotel, not sure how this will work yet.  Stay tuned...

The plans so far

The plans so far are

Hotel reservations for guests traveling from away can me made at the Trumbull Marriott, phone number is 203.378.1400.

The Wedding will be held at St. Mary's Church on Elizabeth St. Derby Connecticut at 2PM on Saturday November 29th.

The party after the wedding will be held at The Scandinavian Club, South Pine Creek Rd. Fairfield starting at 4PM.

The party will last till 11PM so please feel free to come at any time, there will be plenty of food and beverages.

We may have a gathering at the house (only a couple of minutes away if we want to continue the party).

On Sunday, please feel free to stop by the house at 55 Lee Dr. in Fairfield for brunch, any time from 9AM on.

More details to follow.

Plans are starting to come together

Well our plans are starting to come together.  Today we were able to find a place to hold the party after our wedding.  Alice and I wanted to have the party at her house, with the number of guests that may attend we decided there may not be enough room at the house.  We looked around and found the Scandinavian Club on South Pine Creek Road in Fairfield.  The club is only minutes away from Alice's house which will be very convenient.

First Video

My first try at including video on the blog... I hope it works...

Seven weeks to go

we made progress today, we may have found a hall and a hotel for our out of town guests to stay.  Tomorrow will be a big day, we should have a lot of answers.  Alice told me today she is starting to freak out.  Please feel free to pass on any words of encouragement to Alice in the comments of this post.

Here are a couple of pictures...

Olive

Here she is

Alice at the windmill, one of our favorite places.

Boys in the wedding

Here are the boys that will be in the wedding. The groom with brother Joe and brother David.

T Minus 52 and Counting

Busy day here in the great state of Maine.  I only have one week left here at LLBean, work will be crazy.