We are going to the Hartford Town Clerk this week to obtain our marriage license!

It is valid for sixty days; we can fill out the paperwork and jump through the hoops now, and keep the certificate safe with our Pastor until our wedding.

Thankfully, the Town Clerk is just a quick two block walk away. Vermont does not require blood tests, and we should not have to wait for any reason. It is an easier (and cheaper) process than it is in Pennsylvania.

(Also, Vermont allows second cousins to marry? Odd. The odd things you learn when you have to read all of the fine print).

Next on our paperwork list: Christopher needs to apply for his passport, and I need to have mine renewed.

My grandparents gave us a suitcase collection for a Shower present, and I am so thankful!

We were wondering if we should pack Christopher's hiking pack for our trip to Greece, and now we have a more manageable (and more attractive, lol) option.

Thinking of our trip, I've been reading Rick Steves' Athens and the Peloponnese. We were given a copy of the travel guru's guide from Peggy, a close family friend. Steves' has a lengthy section devoted to Nafplio.

Writes Steves':

"Note that the town's name can be spelled a staggering number of different ways in English: Nafplio(n), Nauplio(n), Navplio(n), Naufplio(n), Nauvplio(n), and so on. This makes it tricky to look for information online; try all the variations until you find one that works."

Our apartment is in the Old Town section of Nafplio. We are staying near St. George Square, named for the large cathedral dedicated to St. George. It was the neighborhood church of King Otto.

St. George is the Patron Saint of Greece, and we will be in Greece on his Feast Day: April 23rd. Christopher and I are not sure if we will be able to participate in a small local festival, or an enormous local festival. Either way, we're sure to have fun and enjoy a colorful Mass.

According to Steves':

"Back outside, surveying St. George Square, you get a feel for an old Nafplio neighborhood. Well-worn Neoclassical buildings date--like most of Old Town--from the boom that followed the city's rise to prominance when it was Greece's first capital. During the 1820s and the 1830s, Nafplio became a haven to regufees from other lands still threatened by the Ottomans."

Christopher and I got home from Pennsylvania earlier today.

What a joyful, humbling, and whirlwind weekend! My Aunt Marykathryn and Grandmom Donaghy threw me a Bridal Shower in my Aunt MK and Uncle Sean's lovely home! I had known they were planning a small family party, but I was still totally in awe of the lovely party they threw in my honor.

There were homemade wraps (yum!), sandwich fixings, so many options of salad, and tasty appetizers. Most importantly, there were mini Philly pretzel bites and Yuengling-- something I've missed so much! My family and I enjoyed a tasty supper, excellent company, lots of laughter, and a pound cake decorated to match our wedding colors.



We were able to get a ton of great family photos because the men of my life were invited: my Dad, my PopPop, my brother Eric, my stepfather George, and--of course--Chris. :)


We also had other fabulous party guests! My cousin's Katie and Kerri attended with their mother, Donna. Katie is my cousin closest to my own age, and we used to work together in summer camps during our early 20s. It was great fun to jump into the details of the wedding, and chat their ears off during the party.

Also, in a great surprise, my mother's oldest friend Peggy attended! Peggy used to be our neighbor when I was a small girl, and my mother and Peggy have stayed close ever since. It's great to know my Mom has had Peggy's love and support for all of these years. She gave us some great Greek travel guides, and I will be blogging about them shortly.

It was such a shame, but we had to leave Pennsylvania very early Monday morning. We had a fabulous time staying with my dear friend Brittany Saturday night, and we had hoped to see my high school friends again on Sunday night but we had to leave so early to beat the traffic and the heat. Hold fast, Tani! We'll see you at our wedding in FORTY DAYS! :)

Christa put our proofs online!
If you'd like to peek visit this website. Enter the password: DC8909

Like any photo session, we have eight or ten stellar photos and about sixty so-so photos.

We'll be incorporating these stellar photos into our wedding. :) Enjoy!

We'll have the rest of the photographs tomorrow night!

We made it back from Mass just in time for our Engagement photos. We actually had them taken! It started to rain the moment we finished our photos.

Christa, our photographer, was very personable, professional, and fun! She helped us feel very natural, and we weren't asked to do any artificial poses. Chris and I actually had a lot of fun.

We just got our "sneak peek" photos from Christa; that woman works fast!

You can peek at the other initial photos over at Christa's blog.

Chris and I returned this afternoon from our Massachusetts mini-vacation.

I am *very* thankful Mark and Margaret arranged a spur-of-the-moment "family day" and took us to Revere Beach. Known as "the oldest public beach," Revere Beach is a fun place to spend a sunny afternoon. Or a sunny morning. Or a whole day.


Bostonians are so lucky. They can live in the city--or, like Chris's parents, live just outside of the city--and be at the beach in twenty minutes.


After we ate lunch, walked the beach, got our toes wet, laughed


watched Benjamin explore, and took a hundred photos, I was treated to a quick tour of East Boston.

I've heard Chris share his memories of his old neighborhood, and it was good to be able to see the neighborhood. :) It is fun to see the similarities between our fathers: if I'm driving with my Dad through Philly, he always dips back into the "old neighborhood" to point out the homes my grandparents lived in, his favorite spots, and other landmarks. :)

Last, we stopped by the USS Constitution Museum. I could spend *hours* there. I've always loved military history. So cool! I knew we were all sort of fading (especially Ben), so I didn't rush right into the muesum. Chris and I will have to steal Margaret to get a tour before winter.

I forgot to mention-- Chris went with his Dad to get a suit for the wedding! They went shopping before we all went out to the beach and harbor. Chris felt really confident in his suit, and why wouldn't he? He's so handsome.

We are getting married in fifty days!

Oh my goodness, there is so much to do!

We've selected all of our vendors and service providers, planned with family and friends, and organized. Now, I just have to pull together all of the minutiae.

For example, we have our music professor from Green Mountain College slotted to play during our ceremony. We booked Paul months ago--at a very reasonable and thoughtful rate--but now we actually have to sit down with him and figure out exactly what instrument(s) and music to play.

Honestly, we're probably going to tell him, "Please play something beautiful. We trust you."

Mark and Margaret have been awesome enough to offer to host our Rehearsal Dinner, and Chris and I finalized most of the details last night.

Our Rehearsal Dinner will be held at the Stonehearth Inn and Tavern. Francy and Sheldon are the very hospitable innkeepers, and they have lovely grounds. A few young couples we know from Church go to the Stonehearth Inn for dinner and drinks, and we've only heard good things about their family-style suppers.


From their website:

The Inn features many of the original details including wide board pine floors, original fireplaces, and exposed beams reminiscent of its' days as farmhouse. Named for the beautiful "Stone Hearth", our friendly Inn features a spacious common areas for guests to unwind and catch their breath. Relax by the "Stone Hearth" fireplace, play a game of pool, read a book, or enjoy a libation in the tavern before enjoying a meal in our dining room.

They are a certified "Green Hotel" for their carbon footprint and practices.They also have very spunky, fun dogs.


And air-hockey. And a fire pit.


The eve of our wedding is also my 26th birthday, and I think it would be fun for some of our family and friends in town to gather at the Inn after the formal Rehearsal Dinner to enjoy the grounds, pool table, and maybe even s'mores. Francy said she'd start us a fire after dinner if the weather is nice. I can't think of a nicer way to enjoy and relax the evening before than to sit on their well-appointed deck and watch a fire and stars with Christopher, my family, and friends.

Howdy! We've had a few questions about our online Wedding Map. We've posted the Q&A here as well to help our family and friends navigate the Wedding Map website.

1. Why do you need a Wedding Map?

There are several user-friendly free map websites on the internet, including MapQuest. If you are unfamiliar with the town--or even state!--MapQuest can be tricky because there could be many names for the same road in rural areas. With this map, all the directions you need are in one place.

I was worried about directions to our Church, especially, because the official address is listed simply as "North Street, Chester Vermont." To a person living in the Chester-area, that address makes perfect sense. To my family driving from Pennsylvania or Massachusetts, maybe not. In the case of our church, I actually had to set the map location to a shop--Bonnie's Bundles--across the street in order to set a street address.

2. How do I get Driving Directions?

Go to our Wedding Map and click on any destination marker that you want to get to/from.

Destination markers are small icons representing wedding events or important places. For example, our Reception Site--the Hartness House Inn--is marked by the icon of a wedding cake. There is a list of destination markers and location names on the left-hand side of your screen in a list called, aptly, "Location List."

Chose the destination marker and click "Get Directions."

Directions will appear in a new window for you to print or to copy down by hand.

3. What other information is provided on the Wedding Map?

Chris and I provided information for the closest two bus stations, the closest train station, and the closest airport. All of these services can be found by clicking on their destination icon from the "Location List."

When you click the destination marker for the "WRJ Amtrak Station" you can read:

This station is along the Vermonter line, with service from Philadelphia. This is the closest train station. If you'd like to take Amtrak to our wedding please let us know so we can help to arrange travel from the station.

Call 1-800-USA-RAIL for rates and details.

We have included additional information for each of the transportation destinations to help you make your travel plans and save time.

4. Can we ask you to add locations to the Wedding Map?

Absolutely! Would you like to know the location of the closest Catholic Church so you can attend Mass on Sunday morning before the wedding? We can add that location.

Would you like to take your wife on the Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour or perhaps the Vermont TeddyBear Company Factory Tour? We can add those locations.

Would you like us to add the location of your Bed&Breakfast so you can get directions from your B&B to the wedding locations? Maybe the locations of a few nice restaurants?

Let us know--by calling, emailing, writing, or commenting on this blog--and we will add your location.

Vermont has had one wet summer. It has made haying near impossible, and our loggers our suffering from both the weather and the economy. On the homefront, our garden is sluggish and stunted.

We had hoped to have our free engagement photographs taken at Kent Pond, as I blogged back in May. We'd set up a weekend with Christa and her second-shooter, Ashley, to meet us at Kent Pond... and then it would pour. And pour. Our photographers cannot ruin their equipment, and a marshy bog of a park isn't exactly the most romantic spot.

Finally, after canceling several times, we decided to have our photographs taken at the Tip Top Building here in White River Junction. Chris and I both work inside the Tip Top Building, and the space has been converted from a much-loved bakery into an artist community space.

The Tip Top houses several print studios, a community television station, an eco-aware publishing company, my pottery studio, Chris's work, several holistic health practitioners, a few gallery spaces, and the studios of many local artists. Matt--a friend of Chris and a wedding guest--is a cartoonist and has a studio upstairs that he shares with other Center for Cartoon Studies graduates.

They have art hanging in every hallway, including large sculptures. The walls are painted in fiercely bright colors. I've emailed Christa a few photos of the space, and she is really excited to take some artistic and funky photographs of us. In case you've never been inside the building, I'm posting them below. We've scheduled our photos for next week. At least we can't get rained out!