Wow, have the past two months been crazy! After deciding that the party in Seattle was, indeed, back on, I moved back to Seattle from Washington, DC. I was sad to go; I loved my co-workers in DC and working with Suzanne Farrell is an experience I never even dreamed of having. Though I do not miss living in a hotel room, I do miss someone doing my dishes, cleaning my bathroom and making my bed every day. But I digress.
I spent five days in Seattle, one of which was Thanksgiving. It was glorious to see my friends and family again. My oldest niece, Evelyn, is starting to learn to talk, which is DELIGHTFUL for this Linguistics-degree-carrying-gal. My littlest niece, Mazie, is growing quickly and I love her red hair! My siblings, their significant others and I all gathered at Ma's house for a great meal. Most importantly, however (no offense to anyone else), I got to see my beloved fiance again. :) I heart him.
The Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, though, the fun ended and I moved down to Portland, OR. While in DC, I found on Craigslist, a guy looking for a roommate to share his townhouse that wasn't too far from my new job. His name is Jake and he and I chatted, e-mailed and Facebook stalked each other before deciding that it would be a good fit. So, Bradley and I packed up our cars and drove down there. I unpacked the few things I brought that first load (I couldn't take everything, though 'cause Bradley still needed stuff for his house in Seattle, so mostly I brought my clothes. Everything is good when you have the shoes you need), Bradley hung out for a while, helping and trying to keep me laughing, then he took off and I quietly cried in my room. It's not any easy thing, to move away from your fiance and sometimes, I've discovered, you just have to cry about it. It makes the other times easier if you just let it out. :) I decided after not too long, though, to dry my eyes and go chat with my new roomie. I am happy to announce that Jake is AMAZING and I am so lucky to have him as a roommate! We get along smashingly and the fact that he's a guy and I'm a girl isn't an issue, which is a huge relief!
On Monday I left my new home, headed for my new job in my new city. I would be lying if I said that the past two months have gone smoothly or have been extremely happy times for me. If you have never been to the northwest during the winter, here are a few things to expect: The sun comes up around 7:30, but it's often too cloudy to see that fiery ball in the sky. It sets around 4:30. It rains or drizzles 9 out of every 10 days. It can be depressing in the best of circumstances. However, I am starting to learn my way around my job and the city. Things are looking up. Now, though, I just realized what time it is and I need to start my drive up to Seattle to see Bradley this weekend! Ciao for now!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Party on, Garth!
The party in Seattle is back on!!!! Whooo hoooo! After canceling it, I just felt awful. It just didn't feel right, so I texted Bradley that I wanted to make the party back on. He wrote back that he really, really, really didn't want it. I wrote back that I really, really, really did. That night we spoke on the phone. Things got a little heated in that I wanted to do the brunch at the venue with the catering, cupcakes and the whole nine. He wanted nothing at all. However, we reached a compromise - we almost always do - and this is why we are getting married.
His concern with the brunch was that it was going to be way out of our budget and was essentially a 2nd wedding. He felt it was too much to ask people to attend a cruise and a party. When I pointed out that the party would be for people who couldn't make the cruise, he asked me how many weddings I wanted to have to make sure everyone got to celebrate with us. He felt it was over-the-top.
My argument was that people who are important to me wouldn't be able to make the cruise. For instance, my step-sister is getting married in June, so she and her fiance won't be able to afford to join us. My former co-workers (who I love more every day) won't be able to join us and I would like them to be able to celebrate. Besides, having the wedding on a cruise means that I don't get to do the really fun stuff, like decorate a venue or have cute place-settings or anything like that.
What won out was that we had already told people that we were going to throw a party. In our Save-The-Dates, which went out in August, we told people to save a date for a party in Seattle. We have committed ourselves. However, Bradley is right - the brunch is way out of our budget. Hilariously, my maid of honor made an off-hand comment about having a BBQ at a park near our home. I made the same off-hand remark and it is now exactly what we are doing. Congratulations, Jen, on making this decision for us! :) It's a great compromise and I'm super excited about it!
His concern with the brunch was that it was going to be way out of our budget and was essentially a 2nd wedding. He felt it was too much to ask people to attend a cruise and a party. When I pointed out that the party would be for people who couldn't make the cruise, he asked me how many weddings I wanted to have to make sure everyone got to celebrate with us. He felt it was over-the-top.
My argument was that people who are important to me wouldn't be able to make the cruise. For instance, my step-sister is getting married in June, so she and her fiance won't be able to afford to join us. My former co-workers (who I love more every day) won't be able to join us and I would like them to be able to celebrate. Besides, having the wedding on a cruise means that I don't get to do the really fun stuff, like decorate a venue or have cute place-settings or anything like that.
What won out was that we had already told people that we were going to throw a party. In our Save-The-Dates, which went out in August, we told people to save a date for a party in Seattle. We have committed ourselves. However, Bradley is right - the brunch is way out of our budget. Hilariously, my maid of honor made an off-hand comment about having a BBQ at a park near our home. I made the same off-hand remark and it is now exactly what we are doing. Congratulations, Jen, on making this decision for us! :) It's a great compromise and I'm super excited about it!
Monday, November 15, 2010
The contract debacle
I have always been a "drink the cool-aid" type of employee. I got excited at Gap rallies (yes, in 1998, I attended at Gap rally and actually had a good time. Don't judge me), I participate in team building events and I - until recently - have believed that my employer usually acted with my best interests in mind (even if that best interest meant me having to take a two week furlough so the whole company didn't go under - better to go two weeks unpaid than have no employment at all). Unfortunately, this meant that I was very often taken advantage of at my previous job. Eventually I got tired of being treated poorly and left, vowing to never be treated that way again.
Very recently, I was offered a new position at a new ballet company in Portland and they basically offered me exactly the job I told them I wanted. We agreed on a salary and sent me a contract. When I eventually got my work weeks (there are very few 52-week a year jobs in the arts. Most of the positions have a few lay-off weeks built in), I was at my current job, so I just printed it out and put it in my bag. When I got home, I pulled out my weeks and was stunned to see so many lay-off weeks. I called Bradley in a panic; I only had three full months of employment, two months of partial employment and I would have a four month gap between contracts. We looked and tried to figure out how to make it all work - Bradley even suggested his getting a second job, but in the end we figured out that we could save more money if I took a job as a legal assistant in Seattle for $15/hr than if I accepted this job the way it was. So I wrote my new bosses and told them I could not afford to take the job with as many lay-off weeks as there were.
I was equal parts terrified and proud of myself. It was the first timeI had really stood up to an employer, really made sure that I was taking care of myself rather than being a martyr for my job. For the following week, we talked on the phone several times - they seemed shocked at my reaction. They appeared to have meeting after meeting all about me. I stuck to my guns. Either I got fewer lay-off weeks or it wasn't going to work.
I'll skip to the punch line - I was looking at the wrong schedule. I had been looking at the dancers' schedule, not my own. It turned out that when I printed the attachment, the column that had been highlighted in yellow so I would surely see it, didn't print. When the new company called to tell me that they couldn't afford me, we realized my mistake. Even though this happened 5 days ago, I am still mortified. I think about how much of everyone's time I wasted, how much stress they had because of me and I am completely embarrassed and wish I could take it all back. Why is it that the first time I decide to stick up for myself, I am completely and totally wrong?!?! *sigh*
Very recently, I was offered a new position at a new ballet company in Portland and they basically offered me exactly the job I told them I wanted. We agreed on a salary and sent me a contract. When I eventually got my work weeks (there are very few 52-week a year jobs in the arts. Most of the positions have a few lay-off weeks built in), I was at my current job, so I just printed it out and put it in my bag. When I got home, I pulled out my weeks and was stunned to see so many lay-off weeks. I called Bradley in a panic; I only had three full months of employment, two months of partial employment and I would have a four month gap between contracts. We looked and tried to figure out how to make it all work - Bradley even suggested his getting a second job, but in the end we figured out that we could save more money if I took a job as a legal assistant in Seattle for $15/hr than if I accepted this job the way it was. So I wrote my new bosses and told them I could not afford to take the job with as many lay-off weeks as there were.
I was equal parts terrified and proud of myself. It was the first timeI had really stood up to an employer, really made sure that I was taking care of myself rather than being a martyr for my job. For the following week, we talked on the phone several times - they seemed shocked at my reaction. They appeared to have meeting after meeting all about me. I stuck to my guns. Either I got fewer lay-off weeks or it wasn't going to work.
I'll skip to the punch line - I was looking at the wrong schedule. I had been looking at the dancers' schedule, not my own. It turned out that when I printed the attachment, the column that had been highlighted in yellow so I would surely see it, didn't print. When the new company called to tell me that they couldn't afford me, we realized my mistake. Even though this happened 5 days ago, I am still mortified. I think about how much of everyone's time I wasted, how much stress they had because of me and I am completely embarrassed and wish I could take it all back. Why is it that the first time I decide to stick up for myself, I am completely and totally wrong?!?! *sigh*
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Party in Seattle
Last night Bradley and I had a very, very long talk. This talk was about the wedding budget. You see, Bradley and I set a budget the day after we got married. We decided that if we went over X amount, we would talk about it. About two months after we got engaged, I told Bradley that we would be going over X, but would stay under Y. He nodded and continued playing spaceships online. Several weeks later, I told him I wanted a $1,500 wedding band, which was outside of the Y budget and he said OK. It appeared that Bradley was cool with whatever money I wanted to spend, so I figured we would both be super into piling money into our savings. I'm sure you see where this is going. When our savings account began to sputter and stop growing, I got super anxious and Bradley couldn't figure out why.
Last week Bradley sent me a spreadsheet with what he thought the budget would be. I laughed out loud when I saw it and directed him to the budget with which I have been working. He was shocked by how much it had increased. So last night we had a phone date wherein we went through every item on our wedding budget and cut what we could. Sadly, even after all of these cuts, we were still $10,000 over budget X (which is what we were trying to get to). So we had to make a horrible decision. We decided to cancel the Reception in Seattle, thereby cutting $6,000 from our budget, getting us under the budget Y number.
I am devistated by this. I was so excited about this party! The venue we chose is super cute, we were going to do a brunch and I was all set with decorations and ideas for favors and themes and the whole nine. It was going to be so cute! I know that cutting it is the right decision and that, one year from now, I will be happier when I'm not looking at this on my credit card statement. But right now I am so sad and so let down, I don't know what to do. I had horrible dreams last night about how great it would have been (because my subconscious hates me). I'm not sure how to make it better. I'm just sad. I feel like a 5-year-old who's birthday party has been canceled because she's sick. *sigh* Why can't it be a year from now already?
Last week Bradley sent me a spreadsheet with what he thought the budget would be. I laughed out loud when I saw it and directed him to the budget with which I have been working. He was shocked by how much it had increased. So last night we had a phone date wherein we went through every item on our wedding budget and cut what we could. Sadly, even after all of these cuts, we were still $10,000 over budget X (which is what we were trying to get to). So we had to make a horrible decision. We decided to cancel the Reception in Seattle, thereby cutting $6,000 from our budget, getting us under the budget Y number.
I am devistated by this. I was so excited about this party! The venue we chose is super cute, we were going to do a brunch and I was all set with decorations and ideas for favors and themes and the whole nine. It was going to be so cute! I know that cutting it is the right decision and that, one year from now, I will be happier when I'm not looking at this on my credit card statement. But right now I am so sad and so let down, I don't know what to do. I had horrible dreams last night about how great it would have been (because my subconscious hates me). I'm not sure how to make it better. I'm just sad. I feel like a 5-year-old who's birthday party has been canceled because she's sick. *sigh* Why can't it be a year from now already?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
I'm ridiculous
I'll admit it freely: I'm crazy, impulsive, ridiculous and don't always think things all the way through. This is part of the reason Bradley and I get along so well, I come up with the crazy ideas and he either convinces me it's a bad plan (moving to Egypt) or does the work to make sure it happens (riding the Seattle to Portland last summer). However, this has been bad for our wedding plans, where Bradley has learned that I take "No" even worse than ususal. The most insane, thus far, as been our Save-the-Dates (sadly, I don't have a photo of a completed one...how did that happen?):
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Unfortunately for Bradley's sake, our invitations are looking like they are going to be even more ridiculous.
I decided a long time ago to make our invitations like a passport. Initially I was going to have a page for each port where the cruise will stop in an attempt to stop people from thinking that they're going to just be sitting on a boat for 7 days. My initial attempt looked terrible and cheap, though, so I scrapped it and am going for a more authentic approach. This is proving difficult, though, since we're inviting people to two separate events. *sigh* This is what I worry about these days. :)
What Bradley doesn't know yet is that the passport-invitations are not the end of the craziness, however! We will also have envelope liners, for which I bought a kit earlier this week. Finally, today was an example of just how ridiculous I can be.
I love www.weddingbee.com. It's quite literally a blog for brides to talk to other brides and I love it. Imagine a ballroom filled with brides who were only discussing their weddings and now you get the idea of the blog. It's brilliant and I love it. On it today I saw that Ms. Giraffe (the bloggers all have cute names to protect their real identities) was trying to teach herself calligraphy for her invitation envelopes. Raise your hand if you immediately logged on to Amazon and bought the same book, then paid for expedited shipping so you know for sure that you will receive it before you return home, where your fiance will see it. *Jill raises her hand.*
I can't help myself! It would be so handy to be able to be able to write so fancy throughout my life! *sigh*
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Unfortunately for Bradley's sake, our invitations are looking like they are going to be even more ridiculous.
I decided a long time ago to make our invitations like a passport. Initially I was going to have a page for each port where the cruise will stop in an attempt to stop people from thinking that they're going to just be sitting on a boat for 7 days. My initial attempt looked terrible and cheap, though, so I scrapped it and am going for a more authentic approach. This is proving difficult, though, since we're inviting people to two separate events. *sigh* This is what I worry about these days. :)
What Bradley doesn't know yet is that the passport-invitations are not the end of the craziness, however! We will also have envelope liners, for which I bought a kit earlier this week. Finally, today was an example of just how ridiculous I can be.
I love www.weddingbee.com. It's quite literally a blog for brides to talk to other brides and I love it. Imagine a ballroom filled with brides who were only discussing their weddings and now you get the idea of the blog. It's brilliant and I love it. On it today I saw that Ms. Giraffe (the bloggers all have cute names to protect their real identities) was trying to teach herself calligraphy for her invitation envelopes. Raise your hand if you immediately logged on to Amazon and bought the same book, then paid for expedited shipping so you know for sure that you will receive it before you return home, where your fiance will see it. *Jill raises her hand.*
I can't help myself! It would be so handy to be able to be able to write so fancy throughout my life! *sigh*
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Bradley's here!
Last night, my most glorious fiance arrived in DC to visit for 10 days. It is wonderful to see him again; it's funny how different conversations and such are face to face rather than over a telephone or super-slow Skype connection. We have lots planned over the few days that he's here; tonight we are going to see "Cirque du Soleil" and I'm super stoked about it!
The thing for which I think I am the most stoked, however, is for a Halloween party held at a mansion not far from my hotel. It's a masquerade theme, so Bradley and I are simply dressing up and putting on masks. He actually found a place in Bellevue that had some great masks and he brought them to DC with him. I got to put mine on for the first time last night and I love it! It's absolutely beautiful! I wish I had more excuses to wear it again! Which, of course, brings me to the wedding. :)
I really want there to be a night or an event to which I can ask people to wear masks as if it were a masquerade. But our party at home will be on a Sunday afternoon and the cruise already has themed nights for each night aboard. I really can't ask guests to also pack a mask that they will wear for one night that might be damaged in transit. *sigh* Sadly, I think I'm going to have to let this dream go. Sad, but the way it must be, I suppose.
The thing for which I think I am the most stoked, however, is for a Halloween party held at a mansion not far from my hotel. It's a masquerade theme, so Bradley and I are simply dressing up and putting on masks. He actually found a place in Bellevue that had some great masks and he brought them to DC with him. I got to put mine on for the first time last night and I love it! It's absolutely beautiful! I wish I had more excuses to wear it again! Which, of course, brings me to the wedding. :)
I really want there to be a night or an event to which I can ask people to wear masks as if it were a masquerade. But our party at home will be on a Sunday afternoon and the cruise already has themed nights for each night aboard. I really can't ask guests to also pack a mask that they will wear for one night that might be damaged in transit. *sigh* Sadly, I think I'm going to have to let this dream go. Sad, but the way it must be, I suppose.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Bradley's coming to visit!!!
I have been in DC for a month now. I've made friends, visited sites and, just this weekend, began the hunt for my favorite brunch place. I've been to see "Les Ballets de Trockadero de Monte Carlo" and have slinked around in the wardrobe hallway while "Salome" performed in the Opera House. I have visited the Lincoln Memorial, one of the Smithsonian Museums, seen the Pandas in the National Zoo and wondered by the Vietnam Memorial. However, my favorite event will happen on Friday: Bradley will arrive!!!
Bradley and I quickly realized that his coming with me on tour or on these out-of-town engagements were a great way to get in a bit of a vacation. First off, my hotel room is always paid for, so we have a free place to stay. Secondly, I am always paid some sort of per diem and my airfare is always covered. Therefore, for simply the cost of Bradley's airfare, we get in a nice vacation! It's a little odd sometimes, when I have to get up and go to work while he snores (loudly) in bed, but it's a great nonetheless. This is how we went to New York, where we had a lovely time!
This time, he's coming to visit me here and I couldn't be more excited about it! Not only does it break up our separation almost exactly in half, but it allows us plenty of time to hang out and see DC together! I already have more events planned for us than any working-vacation could actually handle, but that hasn't stopped me at all. I'm just so excited to see him!!!
Bradley and I quickly realized that his coming with me on tour or on these out-of-town engagements were a great way to get in a bit of a vacation. First off, my hotel room is always paid for, so we have a free place to stay. Secondly, I am always paid some sort of per diem and my airfare is always covered. Therefore, for simply the cost of Bradley's airfare, we get in a nice vacation! It's a little odd sometimes, when I have to get up and go to work while he snores (loudly) in bed, but it's a great nonetheless. This is how we went to New York, where we had a lovely time!
This time, he's coming to visit me here and I couldn't be more excited about it! Not only does it break up our separation almost exactly in half, but it allows us plenty of time to hang out and see DC together! I already have more events planned for us than any working-vacation could actually handle, but that hasn't stopped me at all. I'm just so excited to see him!!!
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