Columbia at night

Yesterday was just awesome. It was probably close to 50 degrees. I slept until 10:30 am - which I never do.... or seldom do. We had a Scottish dance group here on Saturday night and there was a member outside playing the bagpipes. Bagpipes have a way of bringing tears to your eyes. Anyway, the dancers were awesome - I have no idea how they remember all of those steps. This is probably why I only free-style dance. The town was participating in the Christmas Lantern Tour which always is a huge success. This year was no different. I would suspect that we had between 60-100 people.... most of them really in the Christmas spirit and departing with a hearty "Merry Christmas!".... so very nostalgic. I served hot chocolate that was a huge hit and I got to talk to lots of people at my bar. Things like this remind me of why I got in this business to begin with... people from different walks of life really pique my interest and I simply just like talking to them. I took pictures of Locust St. that has been lined with lit snowflakes. Which I love! Everyone in town has been talking about them, too. The picture is a little dark but forgive me for wanting to get off of 441 with Turkey Hill trucks zooming by! Tony's nerves were wrecked. hee-hee. So here's the picture, and I'm still alive.

Our 20th

So today is our 20th Anniversary.... very hard to believe. We decided that we would celebrate last Saturday right after the wedding we had. We called for reservations to the Railroad House in Marietta. I had the best crab cake dinner I ever had in my life. Then we checked in to the bed and breakfast. I know it's called the railroad house but for some reason I forgot about the railroad part. By the fourth train I was ready to just go and lay on the tracks... I was that tired. In the morning the owner, Raphael (who is also a life coach and very bubbly), asks in his usual upbeat way "so how'd you guys sleep?" - he must have seen the bags under my eyes. "Ok" we say in unisom - lie. "any ghosts sightings?" "um, no" I say "... should there have been?" He smiles coyly and says "I put you in the ghost room" ... greeeaaattt. Seems that for the year that they've been owners they have had 4 ghost accounts in that room. The ghost has a sheet fetish and likes to play with guests sheets. Ok, I say to Tony, remember when I got up at 4 am to make the bed? I was sleeping on a bare mattress.... I didn't think anything of it. I turn to tell Raphael and he says - "you ought to tell that to that woman over there... she's the one on the brochure that had the sheets pulled at night" seems that that woman decided to revist the B&B after the escapade with the ghost.... brave soul. "I'm glad you're telling me all of this now.... I wouldn't have been able to sleep in that room."Nice joke, Raphael..... about returning that favor.....

Columbia Ledger

Our very own Jamie Fessler-Koons came over to interview me this week to talk about Perfect Settings. I just love her. Look for the article in next week's Columbia Ledger. It's a weekly paper for our town - you have to get it if you want to be in the know of it all. I'm sure Jamie did a fine job - as always with no typos. I'm looking forward to it. I'll post it here next week for all to see.Thanks for your time, Jamie.

Skipping Christmas

Who's with me? It seems that everyone I talk to is stressed that Christmas has successfully snuck up on us yet again. With having soooo many irons in the fire this year (yes, I got burned quite a few times!) I just feel like I can't do another stinkin' thing. Sure I'm jolly for the holly but who gave me the job to deliver all that honkin' holly? I soooo love Christmas (I know, you can't tell) I just think it came at the wrong time of the year this time! Last year at this time I was completely done with Christmas shopping, had all of my cards in the mail (BTW... I do Christmas cards every other year so don't feel slighted if you don't get a card this year) and most of my cookies baked. I can't even fathom going to any store... even if I didn't do cards every other I wouldn't want to do them and Pillsbury is looking mighty fine for my guests this Christmas. Oh, and did I mention I coordinated a wedding in 2 wks - for this Saturday - with an ugly cold trying to keep it's grip on me. Someone help me.... tell me that I am blessed and smiled upon... tell me I have 2 functioning arms and legs and that alone should suffice... if you can't tell me these things then you should at least consider coming down and unpacking ornaments; for crying out loud!!

Ben and Wanda's Wedding

Now that I finally have time to breathe, I can safely say that Wanda's wedding was absolutely beautiful. She was just ecstatic. - not to mention beautiful herself. The reception was held at Perfect Settings and I have to tell you - if I say so myself - it certainly was a Perfect Setting. The ambiance was perfect. The lighting was perfect and guests were perfect - well maybe not all of them... we were expecting quite a few less. I don't think I ever saw Wanda so happy. This was the very first time I was involved with one of my closest friend's wedding. I never had to before. So it was critical to me that everything be just perfect. Not only did I know the B&G I knew I had to see people I've known my whole life - quite different from working with clients that you've met within a year and have never met their guests - only by name. I reminded Wanda - quite a few times - that I was missing a coordinating symposium that I was supposed to attend down in Baltimore. Fortunately, it was well worth it.

*****I wanted to add the picture that Whit took during set up. perfect-settings001.jpg

The food whore

... of course I didn't name her that.So I belong to a wedding planner's website. One of the women - I think she's in CA - has a caterer that she works with exclusively. She's called the food whore - makes you wonder. At any rate, she has a blog that keeps me generally entertained for days.... when I grow up in blog world I want to be just like her. Read on:

It's not that I am not a romantic person by nature, I mean - I have that in me.

But some of the stories we hear when dealing with Brides for Wedding Tricks - well, they seem just a little over the top.

We recently met with a bride, and she went into great length discussing her desire for an ice sculpture. She wanted >"... flowy and graceful... I want it to evoke emotion. I want it to be The Groom and I entwined in a loving embrace - and to look like we are floating to the sky in a cloud of passion...I want it to reflect how our married life will be..."

She was dead serious. And hey, good on her. But when she left The Partner looked at me and said, "Maybe I am cold and dead inside, but I think I threw up a little during the ice sculpture description."

"Yeah. If an ice sculpture reflected my married life it would be a picture of me slumped over my butcher block with an empty martini glass while the husband sat watching Battlestar Galactica in tattered sweats."

"Good times."

"Yeah, good times."

She should be writing for someone at Fox, for crying out loud!

For someone like me who is going on 20 years of marriage, this really struck my funny bone.

October 15, 2006

Definitely a day to remember! The day we completed the venue. WHEW! That was a very long haul. I thought the day would never come.We spent all of Sunday in the basement - me shining a flashlight into the electrical panel and Tony installing breakers. Every so often I was given the responsibility of handing off instruments, taking me back to the OR days. Thank goodness Tony's not as snippy as a surgeon - no pun intended. Anyway.... it's complete.... and workable. Now to just start finding those bookings.... Bring on those Christmas Parties!

The Historic Tour of Columbia and Wrightsville

The tour is finally over and it was totally awesome. We were out looking at other houses and met up with some friends who wanted to see our house so we came back. Well when we got here we couldn't get out! Everyone kept asking questions... I finally put my bag away and smiled and answered questions. I don't remember ever seeing that many people at one place that weren't prepared to cut-a-rug and toast the bride and groom. Not only that, I truly didn't think that our place was that intriguing.... I'm not trying to be humble. When we restored the place we didn't take into consideration all of those people who thought we should do things differently. We merely did what was best for us. I was very touched that so many people thought the place was fabulous. Also, it really made me happy to see that there were a lot of young people involved with the tour. For some reason I thought that mostly older folk were interested in architectural history but not so. I bet 1/2 the people that toured the building were in their 40s. ... Hey, that's still very young! Someday you'll agree with me! At any rate, Columbia will be featuring a Ghost Tour in October as well as a Christmas Lantern Tour in December. You should check it out! You will not be disappointed!

Heartfelt sadness

This post goes without saying.... I'm truly saddened by today's events, here in Lancaster County. All of the forthcoming details have literally made me sick. I do pray that the community would bond together and reach out to the Amish. Those children - the hurt and unhurt will need lots of counseling. I do hope that the Amish will allow the outside community to help them in this regard. I originally set out to post (this am) about this weekend's marathon of floor laying..... I'm too exhausted to talk about that now....

House Tour

The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster has joined forces with Columbia and Wrightsville to do a historic tour of 20 homes. Mine is included in the tour. It's October 8th. Come join us and see what our blood, sweat and tears have gotten us...and 19 other people, too! http://www.hptrust.org/calendar.php

Painters welcome

We are all recovering from a full weekend of painting. What an awful job!! Thank God for paint sprayers... what a blessing in disguise on wheels.Yesterday when I was getting out of bed, I realized that patients who had been telling me for years "Don't get old, it hurts" really had some wisdom in those words. Your back doesn't forget anything! It's been screaming for mercy for 2 days now. I'd love to stay in bed past 8 am tomorrow but no such luck. Poor Tony has to feel worse. He did much more work than me. I promised myself I wasn't going to whimper at all this w/e but an hour before calling it quits I finally said "I can't roll with that huge roller thingy!!" I felt like my head was going to roll right off of my shoulders.... those ceilings are soooo high and far away. Thankfully, we are truly in the home-stretch. The brand new concrete sidewalks (a real source of contention for me) are being repoured tomorrow. The granite was to be delivered tomorrow but some poor soul dropped it and it cracked and broke in half. The shop owner called me today and apologized profusely. Jose, just add it to my list of chronicles for this book I'll write called: Never build a reception hall unless you own the town, the land, the state and all of its people.

The Knot Party Pics

Here's a link for the party pics.http://www.pictage.com/event.jsp?event_id=224070 Courtesy for Conte Photography - who did the photography for the evening.

The party was a huge success and I definitely had a great time. - I think from the pictures you can see everyone else had a good time, too.... or maybe the Martini Luge was what was making them smile.

Everyone was really helpful and I met some really good contacts and vendors for future engagements (no pun intended).

I hope you like the decor.... especially the lounge... it was my favorite. My vision was met with the rental company, he did a great job. Telepathy works wonders. I just love when my vendors acquire telepathy from me...

Susquehanna Style

The Susquehanna Style Magazine article featuring Tony and me (and even the dog, Pebbles) is finally on newstands.As soon as I get a copy for myself I'll scan it here. The article is called "If Walls Could Talk" - actually if they could, they'd say we were nuts. www.susquehannastyle.com

What a week!!

One heck of a week it's been!On Tuesday it finally happened.... Whit moved out and we helped her move in at College. I cannot tell you the sadness that overwhelmed me when it was time to go. As I was swimming in denial (all day) I knew the time would come that I'd have to say good bye but I kept packing those feelings down. She said good bye to her Pop first.... and I thought I was ok until she turned to me and I saw that she was crying. UGH... I couldn't pack the feeling down any longer and Niagra Falls needed out. G' Lawd, I couldn't stop crying and my son (God love him) had never saw me cry like that and he must have thought I lost my mind. I could tell he was nervous and I was making him anxious. On the way home I couldn't turn the faucet off (or like Tony says "put the onion away"). I felt bad for Whit's friend that was riding home with us b/c I couldn't stop crying let alone speak. When we got to Ephrata, off of the PA turnpike, I thought; "Ok, I can keep it together now" but all of a sudden another wave came over me and I sobbed harder than I did when I left her. Of course this all surprised me - as it did Tony - we were expecting Tony to do all of the crying. My excuse was I even cried when I sent my kids off to Kindergarten. Wednesday I was emotionally drained. The public doesn't need to know this when you are working for yourself.... sooooo .... on goes the Emmy Nominated personality and you keep your emotions in check.... ALL DAY LONG. Thursday.... Good Lawd, Thursday. I prepare myself to have my Mother-In-Law come over for dinner. This is an all day process - emotionally. If anyone knows me, they know that my Thursdays are Market Day. Our town's Market House is open and I really look forward to going to Market if for nothing else, seeing townsfolk. At any rate, I never made it to market. Instead, I go to run errands and come home and start cooking. When my MIL gets here she wasn't feeling well and really didn't want to talk.... hmmm. Ok. Long story short? We have dinner (that was too spicy for her) and she starts having a nicotine fit - she thinks Tony doesn't know that she smokes - that's another story - she starts getting anxious and wants to go home. We're going down my steps and the cigarettes must have been calling her name b/c she starts to really go down those steps. I look down just in time to see the bottom of her feet in mid air and she slams her head on the last step. I think she misjudged how many steps there were and thought she was on the landing. I scream at the top of my lungs.... I mean scream. I could have been a sound over for a Friday the 13th movie - I couldn't believe the sound came from me! I run down the steps and she is clearly not focused. My son comes running.... and we are all hovering over the MIL. We head off to the ER (it's 7:30pm) clearly knowing that that bump on her head meant something since she shook the whole staircase. But she kept complaining about her leg and how much it hurt - she never hit her leg! At the ER there's not a soul in the waiting room - thank God, I think - and they take us back right away. The Dr. who is appointed to her comes in and asks "how long have you had that cough" but then the Dr. starts hacking worse than MIL's smoker's cough. They send her back to radiology. In comes the Sister in Law.... NOT a good thing since her and me grew up together and we find humor in the simplest of things. She asks me "how'd she fall down the steps" - with a smirk on her face... I tell her the grave story. Tony starts chiming in about how MIL was running down the steps and wouldn't let him help her down.... the giggling starts....I see a childhood friend and go over to extend my sympathies over a dieing family member and she gets up and hugs me soooo hard that my back cracks from my shoulders the whole way up to the cranium! I think "she cured my neck kinks". I go tell Tony and SIL ... more giggling... and it didn't stop for 3 more hours. They roll my MIL in and her daughter dutifully talks to her mother. My MIL is 4' 8"... I put her shoes in her purse and they fit like 2 little cell phones.... when my SIL asked where her shoes were I opened the purse and showed her and she about had a coronary trying not to laugh. We were just delirious. It was approaching 1 am. The Dr. comes in an announces that the CT scan of MIL's head is fine but she broke her leg. SHE BROKE HER LEG!! UGH... of all flippin' people. I can go on and on about the night.... my MIL was hating the 3 of us... we just couldn't stop laughing. We all were up that morning at about 8 am and we were there until 2:30 - clearly we were all sleep deprived and we had the sleepy laughs. We got home at 3:30 am - it was one long night. I announced to Tony "I'm going to sleep like a rock"... especially since I knew I wouldn't have a kink in my neck the next morning.... Friday my phone starts ringing at 8am... I'm on deadline for the Knot Party.... "PASS THE COFFEE" I demand and start answering phones.

Moron?

I've been trying to post for weeks.... seems like I'm a moron. I thought the site was down but it wasn't. I was using my email address instead of my user name. UGH! Looks like we're in the homestretch of construction.... what joy it brings me to say that. I've never loved picking out toilets so much in my life. I'm dieing to be done. We should be painting by weeks end. Ahhh!

FYI: I've been working on a deal in Columbia with an officiant to help coordinate weddings nearby. I'm so looking forward to this. He's been a real life saver as far as town politics go and I think we're panning out some of the bigger details and should know something by week's end. This way, he can officiate the ceremony nearby and we can have receptions here. Life is good... stay tuned!

4 wks away!

Today is literally 4 wks away from the Knot's party. The Coffee, Cocktails and a Cabana theme is well on its way. It should be a success - all the vendors I spoke with are very excited - not as much as me!

Wife swapping

So the makers of "The Wife Swap" called me today. Again, I thought it was a hoax. They too, saw me in Special Events Magazine. Seems like they want to do a show on ungrateful kids - I thought all of the shows were of ungrateful kids. At any rate, he wanted to know if I knew of anyone who was throwing a huge elaborate party for a kid that wasn't really wanting the party. Of course they were going to find another family that they could potentially switch moms with.No, I tell them. Don't have any of those clients. Thank God! I took his name and number anyway. Never can tell! - he says. On another note, 3/4 of the ballroom is now covered in drywall. Love small miracles.

I thought I was patient!

Seems like the contractor was here and left.... he forgot his keys... do they still give you life for killing someone? C'mon!!!So I call the contractor. He says the dry wall hangers were here and left b/c they forgot the keys and couldn't get in. What's wrong with ringing the bell? I have a canine with huge ears - she would have heard them! I say - they have to come back. He calls them and tells me that they are down the road and won't come back. UGH!! AAARRGG!! I can't explain my frustration. I'm told they will be back tomorrow.... what the hang! I just lost a day of work b/c I live in a large warehouse and couldn't hear the light tapping on the front doors. If they wanted to work bad enough I think they could have read the sign that says "RING THE BELL!!!" Do me a favor.... in the future... ring the honking bell!!! Again, I ask.... do they still give you life for killing someone? - I stole that phrase from my mom.... I heard that maybe once a week as a teenager.