380 days - I need to vent.

I am going to preface this post to let you know this has nothing to do with our wedding planning and everything to do with how much I hate moving and this new apartment.

Ahem. . .

Right now I wish I had a bat because I would smash every window in this apartment this very instant. We are officially living in the new place although all of our furniture, with exception to two camping chairs, our TV, bed and a pink chair, is still residing at the old apartment. We have no organization for clothes- they are within two different suitcases, two different bins and three different spacebags, so we spend 20 minutes every morning wondering where his pants are and where my blouses are. For those of you that know me, you know I love/need to be organized. Waiting for a dresser until Friday is testing me.

Other things that irritate me about the new place:

1. Our toilet screeches every time we flush the toilet. It could wake the dead it is so loud.
2. Our stove-top wouldn't light until today - not that we can cook anything on top of it because ALL of our pots and pans are at the old place, which I still need to pack.
3. Our oven decided to fill our entire apartment with smoke - baking is now out of the picture, as well.
4. We did our first load of dishes in the dishwasher last night. Fifteen minutes after I went to bed, Sam said I needed to go into the kitchen. . . to see the HUGE puddle of water taking over our floor!!!

I have been trying to think of ways to calm myself down. Breaking all of the windows doesn't seem to be an option. Weird, I know. I can't drink because I need to be up early tomorrow to get to work for 7. I want to scream, but our neighbors that play video games until 1 am may call the police. . . I have to do laundry. I wish I could pay someone to do our laundry.

. . . I just got back from switching our laundry over and a couple in the laundry room offered me the use of their pre-paid laundry card. Confused, I asked them why they would want to let me use their card. They said they were moving and they needed to return their card to the building, which is why they needed to use the rest of the money on their card - the building gives tenants the cards when they move in and they expect them to be returned when tenants move out. This makes sense to me. BUT. . . when I asked the couple where they were moving to, they said "down the hall." They said they had $27 on their laundry card and had to wash everything they own, even the clean stuff, because despite the fact that they are moving within the building, they still need to return their old card. Conclusions - nice neighbors. Ridiculous building.

I miss the Brandywine.

387 Days - Pack n' Play

As I write this I am waiting for the internet and the cable to be shut off. Sam and I are moving the TV and a few necessities down to the new apartment tomorrow. We have been packing all evening. Check out the mess. . .

I just spilled ginger ale everywhere. Awesome.

Can I tell you how much I love moving?! This is my eighth or ninth move since 2001 and I'm over it. How is it that two people in a one bedroom apartment have so much stuff?! At least we are getting movers to move all the furniture. The prospect of doing this again makes me ill though. One reason why I would love to be looking for a house instead of moving to a new apartment is that we wouldn't be moving again in a year. I have reached the stage of wondering why we even bother to unpack everything when we will just be packing up again in a few months.

The dishwasher is running and I need to go pack the air mattress, bed and bathroom linens, toiletries, and clothes.

I won't be updating until next week. The cable and internet won't be set up at the new apartment until this Friday. Then, my dad is coming down on to help us move the bed down to the new apartment and to get the little sister into her dorm this weekend. The movers will get the rest of our furniture and boxes on the fourth. Wish us luck!

394 Days - Travel to the North Country

Tomorrow we go to the North Country for my friend, Michelle's wedding and my sister's bridal shower. While I am running around in taffeta and heals, Sam will be chilling with Bob and Jules- my parents. My parents are pretty funny and laid-back, but it will be the first time I leave Sam with them when I am not in the other room. The last time I left Sam alone with my parents, my mother told him she would kill him if he hurt me (nice and cliche, Mom). So I expect he will have a great time.

I am excited that he will get to see the North Country in the summer. He has visited during a Thanksgiving when he ran the Turkey Trot in freezing rain. He also came up last Christmas. It was seven degrees when we got off the train and by the time we got to my parents' house, the temperature dropped down to two below. Cold is an understatement in upstate NY. I am hoping it won't rain this weekend, so he can appreciate the beauty of the Adirondacks and hopefully we'll have time to get out on the boat for an afternoon/evening.

I must go pack for this trip. I am definitely lacking in motivation, though. Work has been really hectic and by the time I get home in the evening, I am ready to pass out. Now that it is past ten, I suppose I should dig out some shoes and a tooth brush. ugh.

396 Days - Meet the team!

Meet the ladies and gentlemen of the bridal party!

Mia Moylan - Flower girl
Daniel Batkins - Groomsman
Kim Brown - Bridesmaid
Andy Batkins - Groomsman
Laura Collier - Bridesmaid
Ryan Collins - Groomsman
Michelle Liberty -Bridesmaid
OJ Reuter - Groomsman
Heather Gorman - Bridesmaid
Kyle Bruse - Groomsman
Emily Bonsignore - Bridesmaid
Andrew Moylan - Groomsman
Elise Munn - Bridesmaid
Tyler Love - Best Man

Bridget Munn - Maid of Honor

401 Days - Buh-bye, Brandywine

We're moving! Sam is officially over the hour commute to and from Old Town Alexandria. As a result, we did a little craigslist research and received a few recommendation of places that are between our jobs on the Yellow and Blue Metro Lines. The place we decided on is a one bedroom, 790 sq. ft. apartment in Arlington that was recommended to us by Sam's classmate, Joel. It is right near the Pentagon City Metro and about $200 less in rent per month! Also, our very good friends live just a few blocks away and the church where we will be married is just a ten minute walk, as well.

We officially say goodbye to The Brandywine on September 7th. (Actually, the movers are coming on the 4th. Potato - Potahto. We'll have a few days extra to clean up.) We're sad about leaving. We love this apartment. It became our first home together and where we learned to be roommates, as well as a couple.

Our application is being processed right now and this weekend we will go in to sign the lease, which will start on August 21st. Let the packing and purging begin!

407 Days - You have got to be kidding!

I left a message with the reception venue yesterday to tell the catering manager I was ready with a credit card to put down our deposit. Today, he called me to tell me that there was a five percent surcharge for using credit cards. WHAT! Five percent is a pretty hefty amount when it comes to the costs of renting a reception venue and all the related catering costs. The crazy thing is that I have done quite a bit of research on credit card rules. (I am doing work on credit card interchange fees). According to Visa's rule book, merchants aren't allowed to charge surcharges to consumers. The same thing goes for the small merchants that put up signs with $10 minimum purchases - not allowed!

Even though I know these rules, I don't plan on calling Visa to tattle. Why, you may ask? Yes, it would be a lot easier to just charge my credit card, but I don't want to upset my vendor. I would like to build a good relationship with our catering manager. The last thing I want is for an "accidental" cake drop on our wedding day. (I don't think that would actually happen, but I don't want any bad feelings. I feel like our venue is one of the best deals in DC. So we will pay by check and spread the costs out over a longer period of time and all will be well.)

411 Days - Sam meets The Arts Club

He came.

He saw.

He liked.

Sam and I went to The Arts Club yesterday. We were given a tour by JP, the beverage manager, who told us about the courtyard and the salons, as well as the potential details of our bar (We like JP!). Sam had a meeting at work to get to after our tour, so we couldn't stay long. The good news is that we'll be calling The Arts Club on Monday to officially book the Federal-era mansion for our wedding reception!! Woot!