Let's Get Married! Museum of Science Entourage

I think Scott and I both forgot that there would actually be...you know...people? In the museum? When we were all getting there? We made a scene.

Still. Arriving at the museum was kind of awesome:

(As before, click on the pictures to see them bigger!)

A tender moment with my momma, taking in the view over the Charles River as we walked into the room.

Work was already well under way getting everything set up!

A quick consultation with my mom making sure the felt flower arrangements were just right.

Hello, Sister Marilyn! She's a friend of my parents from when they were all teachers together at a catholic school in Portland, Oregon. She and another sister, Sister Rosie, did all the lovely napkin rings.

And look! My two awesomest buddies from college, Ruthie and Camilla! They hung out with me all day - cracking jokes, force-feeding me delicious pastries, and handing me tissues as needed.

Wait, who's that on the phone?

This guy! I like this guy!

Yeah, this guy for reals! I'm totally going to marry this guy (his name is Scott) in about two hours!

Awww...

More awww....!!!!

Wait, this doesn't bode well....

Let's Get Married! Getting Ready

Whew! As many people warned us it would be, the wedding was a complete whirlwind! A lovely, fantastic, emotion-filled whirlwind. It's been really fun to go back through all the pictures and relive the moments that seemed to slip by so quickly.

(Click on any of these pictures to see them larger!)

The morning of the wedding, I headed over to the Taylor House, a bed-and-breakfast in Jamaica Plain where my family was staying.

My lovely aunt took charge of my hair. She was a hair stylist in another life, and it was special to me to have her be the one to do my hair. The original idea was a simple French twist, but Char really went to town!

Here's Char (on the left) and my mom Joyce (on the right) having a quick consult about the 'do.

Me, attempting to sip my mimosa through layers of hair!

Char and her mighty can of hairspray, making triple sure my hair wasn't going anywhere for a while. It didn't.

A moment with Dad.

Mom, pinning felt flowers in my hair.

With jewelery and make-up!

A last minute fit of nerves once I saw myself in the wedding dress (and boob check, apparently).

Meanwhile, across town...

Scott putting on his tie.

Scott and Troy (and Jana, the photographer!) waiting for the bus to the Museum of Science!

And we're off!

Boston to Columbus: The Drive

Driving. Lots of driving. That said, our days weren't so bad. We did a little jaunt out to Springfield on Saturday night, then 6 hours yesterday and another 6 today. Lots of breaks. Lots of scooby snacks. Lots of silliness. 

We stayed in Buffalo, New York, on Sunday night. Although we weren't downtown as we'd expected, our little off-the-highway Holiday Inn Express did have this in the near vicinity:

We could smell the doughnuts driving by, which of course meant that we couldn't drive by. I got a glazed sourcream doughnut. It was so deepfried and drenched in glaze that it actually crunched when I bit into it. Perfect.

Unfortunately, this was all that was left by the time I thought to snap a picture. 

I have no idea if Dickie's is an institution or a random find, but if ever you pass through Buffalo, I highly recommend it: Exit 1 off I-190. You can't miss it. (P.S. Then I'd also recommend continuing on to downtown Buffalo for the rest of your stay, because there wasn't much more going on for this little corner of town...)

Back on the road again this morning. Most of the time our view looked like this:

Not too shabby, though any view is bound to get monotonous after a while. Until you stumble upon something like this:

I think we need a closer look:

Let's discuss this for a moment, shall we? 

We've got Jelly Belly's, a favorite delicious candy, being advertised next to fireworks. Not quite sure how those two go together. And then there's a sign for Steak 'n Shake next to one for something called "Quaker Steak and Lube," which troubles me on many levels. And then in the bottom right corner, we are notified that this is really all just an "Attraction." Indeed. Indeed.

The Steak n' Shake, at least, received a thumbs up.

I do love Steak n' Shake and I'm happy to be back in the land where they are plentiful. I especially love that it hasn't changed one iota since it was my high school hangout. Normally that would be a negative, I know, but not in this case. Here's a hint: for those of you who've tasted my Crack Burgers, the ones at Steak n' Shake are near rivals. Right down to the "secret" dressing.

And right around noon today, we saw this:

Columbus or bust!

Cliffhanger for tomorrow: It's all fun and games until you get gated out of your own gated community...

Moving Day!

Hello from the Holiday Inn Express in Buffalo where the shampoo smells like vanilla frosting and the lotion is labeled "Soothe." Yes, please! But backing up a few days, we thought we'd bring you a few snapshots from moving day.

After being stuck in the traffic for most of the morning (we won't miss that!), the movers showed up Friday morning and got right to work packing, disassembling, and loading.

The crew was really really awesome. They moved too fast to get a good shot of them, so this is the only group photo. That's Todd on the left, then Mikey, then the boss man, Gilberto.

We really couldn't have asked for a better crew. Even though they had to work into the evening after getting off to that late start, they were chipper and careful and took time to chat with Scott and I. As stressful and emotional as it was to watch our belongings get packed away, the respect and attention these guys showed really helped set our minds at ease.

They finished packing up in a few hours and started loading the truck.

Although the movers seemed happy to let us hang out, it was pretty obvious that they had things well in hand. We were really just cramping their style, truthfully.

Since packing our own car didn't really have a lot of appeal...

...things quickly disintegrated into goofiness.

We even got a visit from our favorite neightborhood dog and dog walker. In the five years that we've lived in this neighborhood, this man has never made eye contact or smiled at us despite our escalating attempts to force his hand and the fact that his dog OBVIOUSLY wanted love from us. I surreptiously snapped this shot as the dog walker passed by (still avoiding eye contact as usual, of course).

So mysterious. So intriguing. We'll miss you, strange dog walker man! And your cute dog, too!

Thing were still a little slow, so we decided to do some pro bono modeling work for J Crew.

Until the paparazzi showed up, that is. No paparazzi!

All too soon, the van was loaded. That's all our stuff! It will be going into storage in Ohio until Scott and I find a place of our own. (We're in temporary housing provided by Honda until then. Thanks, Honda!)

Goodbye, stuff! See you in a few months. Eep!

And then it was just me and Scott in an empty apartment.

A very dirty empty apartment.

Guys, this still feels like our apartment.

It feels like we're just on vacation. It feels like we'll be back next week. 112 Bynner Street still feels like home.