January 27, 2007

Jonathan is taking a training class in New York, so we’ve spent the last 24 hours in Manhattan.  We’ll be here a total of 7 days/6 nights.  We arrived at about 4:30pm yesterday afternoon and fly home on Thursday. 

Last night we walked to Time Square and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Today we went to Rockefeller Plaza.  The following is a picture from The Top Of The Rock (Rockefeller Center).

Behind us on the left is the Empire State Building.  It was quite windy and cold up there (the 70th floor).  We took over a hundred pictures, just at Rockefeller Plaza alone.

Our room is on the 16th floor of the Sheraton Towers, and it provides a great view too.  This morning before we went to Rockefeller Plaza, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park and also spent time in the FAO Schwarz toy store.  The following is Gail with the Toy Soldiers at the door of FAO Schwarz:

Our plans for tomorrow include visiting the Empire State Building, and taking the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue Of Liberty.

Gail bought a bridal magazine at the airport before we left Phoenix.  We’ve been reading through it as it provides a lot of great suggestions (as well as a few hundred pages of dresses).

When we get back we will be making our deposit with the photographer too, so things are getting closer!

It is Valentine’s evening, and we find ourselves at Sonic (yes, Sonic).  Last year after Jonathan’s surgery, we came here for our dinner in our pajamas.  At Gail’s request, we are making it a tradition and plan to come here every year.  So, our second year at Sonic in our pajamas, and it is living up to its hype.  It’s quite comfy, and the cherry limeade is a great drink.

On Saturday evening Jonathan’s dad invited us to dinner.  Accompanied by his dad’s wife and Jonathan’s mother, the five of them headed to what was being hailed by his father as “the best italian food in Phoenix”.  Well, it was so good that they only take reservations and we didn’t end up eating there.  After heading to Maggiano’s as a backup, we discovered they had a two hour wait.  Our third option was Carrabba’s, which we were told would only be a 30 minute wait.  After waiting 75 minutes, we finally were seated.  However, Jonathan managed to score us four (as in 1, 2, 3, 4!) free desserts.  We made friends with the waitress, and we talked to the manager about having the rehersal dinner there.  The back room seats 40 comfortably, which is perfect.  After discussing it over dinner, Jonathan’s parents agreed it was the best location out of our other candidates (Red Devil Pizza, and Oregano’s).  There may have been a few others, but it doesn’t matter now.

The car hop has brought the food to our car, so we are ready to enjoy. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Gail says that we are already an old married couple because it is Friday evening, and neither of us has the energy to go to a movie.  Thus, we sit here on the couch watching Wallace and Grommit.

Building upon Gail’s comment of it being a good thing to take care of the other when sick, Jonathan went and skillfully managed to take a hit in the head with the ball during his softball game last night.  He went to the ER and got a couple staples placed in his head, for removal in 8-10 days.  So each night for the next few days, the doctor said Gail is to wake him up every few hours and ask him some simple questions to be sure he is “not loopy”.  To which she replied, “great, how am I to tell the difference?”

Looking into the future, we are still thinking about where we wish to have our rehearsal dinner.  We had quickly concluded it would be held at Carrabba’s, which is an italian restaraunt Jonathan loves, and was a first dinner date for us as a couple.  However, we have continued thinking and a few other places come to mind.  We’re still researching and discussing, but we believe that with immediate family and out of town guests attending the dinner, there could be as many as 40-50 people in attendance.  That’s almost 1/3 of our wedding guests!

There was a Will and Grace episode on television the other night, and it was about Grace helping a groom plan his wedding.  The episode was funny, as the groom was suggesting the same ideas that Jonathan had mentioned he wanted, to which Grace asked, “are you planning your 10th birthday party?”  Therefore, I guess we will not be having ice cream cake at our wedding reception.

It is Superbowl Sunday, and although the game has yet to begin (Prediction: Steelers), Gail is at work, and Jonathan is home sick.

One of Gail’s beliefs is that before two people get married, they should take care of each other when the other is sick.  With us that happened early on, as Jonathan had emergency surgery last December and was in the hospital for nearly two weeks and home for two months.  And Gail, well, we won’t mention the Christmas party after which she was a little inebriated!  Aside from those, each of us has had our occassional cold and we both do well with each other.

As for wedding planning, Gail is still searching for a dress, and Jonathan is still trying to convince Gail that they need a videographer.

We’ve just brought up our journal here, but it will likely take us time to get things just right aestetically, as well as to bring everybody up to date on our wedding planning progress.  We had a full wedding weekend on January 27th of this year (our negative one year anniversary).  We went to dinner with both our parents at the reception site (A Different Pointe Of View).  The evening went well, and the next day was the wedding expo in downtown Phoenix.  After six hours of walking around to all the booths, we headed to lunch at the Hard Rock cafe and went home.  We have a lot of thinking to do about all the information we received.  We’ll keep everybody up to date as soon as we can!