come with me and escape...

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) / it's always ourselves we find in the sea.” -- E. E. Cummings

So it's been quite a hectic week, and perhaps surprisingly it has nothing to do with the wedding planning. Even now, I don't have much time to blog since I'm doing some last minute packing for our cruise to celebrate our "engagement honeymoon" (of sorts) and Al's birthday. Instead, I leave you with a few pictures of the places that we will be stopping at during our week-long cruise. There isn't any one else I'd rather spend this week with. :)

St. Thomas

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Check back after April 27th for pictures from our trip and an update about our wedding planning. :)

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand..." -- Psalm 139:17-18

going to the chapel...

"Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears." -- Edgar Allen Poe

In the Catholic faith, the wedding is traditionally held in the bride's home church. Having grown up and gone to church in Spring Valley, NY, but having spent the last five years residing and attending church in Manhattan, I wasn't exactly sure where my "home church" was. I knew it was one of two places--

1. St. Paul's Chapel, Columbia University -- This is where I went to church during my four years of undergraduate, where my Christian fellowship met each week, and where I was going to church when Alphonse and I first started dating. While the church itself is pretty small, the campus around the church is definitely quite picturesque. Parking in Manhattan, however, is always a pain, and reservations at the chapel are quite pricey.
2. St. Joseph's Parish, Spring Valley, NY -- This is where I've been going to church for over fifteen years. It's where I first received three very important sacraments: reconciliation, first communion, and confirmation. The church itself is quite modern and simple; nothing too ornate or over the top, but still beautiful. The way the wooden beams run across the ceiling always reminds me of an ark. And in addition, there's a ton of parking and the price is right.

Yesterday Al and I visited St. Joseph's for the first time since we've been engaged to get a feel for what it might be like to have our wedding there (see pictures below, click on them to get a better view). The visit was a success, and it's likely we'll have our ceremony there, but nothing is set yet, so no promises. When we get back from our cruise we're going to look in to booking our reception. We have a place in mind, but I'll save that for another day. :)

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." -- Matthew 16:18

party time!

"Celebrate love. It is the breath of your existence and the best of all reasons for living." -- Author Unknown

So baby steps... the engagement parties are finally set (dates and locations)! When we were deciding where to hold the engagement party we couldn't settle on a location that was easily accessible to our friends (who mostly reside in Rockland, Manhattan, and NJ), his family (mostly in NJ), and my family (mostly in PA), so we decided to have two parties!

• Sunday, July 6th, 2008 in Mohrsville, PA
• Saturday, September 13th, 2008 in Nutley, NJ

Everyone is definitely welcome to both! Details to follow...

"They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." -- Psalm 145:7

now and then

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." -- John Lubbock

My junior year of high school I got a brand new Nissan Sentra to match my brand new driver's license. Definitely not the hottest car on the market, but a smooth ride and hot enough for a seventeen year old. Oddly, as soon as I started driving around in my car I noticed so many others on the road. I know I'm pretty cool, but I doubt my choice to drive a Sentra inspired so many others to purchase and display the exact same model. The truth of the matter was, there weren't any more Sentras out on the road, I just began noticing them more.

It's funny how you can see the same things day after day for years without even noticing, but with one small change they take on a whole new light and become so apparent. Since my engagement I've found myself looking at things that I've seen countless times before from a totally new perspective. With just about everything that I encounter, wedding thoughts come to mind. So crazy. Here are a few examples how how I viewed things before and how I see them now:


"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self... to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." --Ephesians 4:22-24

love and baseball

"You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen." -- Joe DiMaggio about Opening Day

Two months ago Al and I bought tickets to the last home opener at Shea Stadium. At 1:10 PM today, with the first pitch of the ball game, weeks of anticipation finally gave way to reality. The sun was shining, the seats were filled, the smell of good ol' stadium food was in the air, and the Mets were winning. It was a (nearly) perfect ball game, at least for the first six innings. But then, like many good things, the sun dropped behind the stands, the crowd grew rowdy, and the Mets bullpen fell apart. Before we knew it we were on a train back to Manhattan and the Mets had another loss on their record. Right about now you might expect me to start talking about how love is like baseball, curve balls and all... but that's been done before, sorta (rent this). Instead I wanted to talk about the role sports have played in our relationship and our wedding planning...


Over the past two years or so Al and I have been to countless sporting events and watched even more on tv. When I told my fiance that I was writing about sports, he started listing off facts, such as: "John Elway was drafted by the Yankees but refused to play because they didn't offer him enough money. The Colts also gave him an offer, but he refused that, too, because it was too low," and many others including very specific names and dates. And while most of these facts went over my head I can say that, as two people who were each very involved in sports in high school, watching sports together and (usually) rooting for the same team has been one of my favorite parts of our relationship. Of course it's most fun when our teams win, but even when they lose, it's enjoyable to partake in the experience together. This probably goes without saying, but for any relationship to thrive, I definitely recommend finding an activity that you can enjoy together and doing it as often as possible! When we first started planning our wedding we were thinking of having it in September, but then sports came in to play in a new and different way. I realized that a late September wedding, although autumnally pleasing, fell at possibly the worst time of the year-- the end of regular season baseball and the start of football season. When I shared this news with my "wishes-he-was-a-sportscaster" fiance he replied, "And that's how you know a girl's a keeper." To say the least, we are no longer planning a September wedding. In fact, this weekend we are visiting my home church and seeing what dates they have available in August 2009. Wish us luck-- major moves are to be made in the near future!


"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." -- 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

running of the brides

"Know first who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly." --Euripides

The Filene's Basement "Running of the Brides" sale, like Christmas, happens only once a year (in New York). So when I discovered that the sale was happening at the 14th Street/Union Square location on February 29, less than a month in to my engagement, I thought, "Why not?" With no pressure to buy anything, I dragged along the only person crazy enough to wake up at the crack of dawn and help me fight off crazy brides to find the perfect dress for my big day-- and thus began Sara's first official task as Maid of Honor. Sleep deprived and all, I can say that the event was definitely worth it, even if for the experience and nothing else. Here are a few snapshots of some of the dresses I tried on (some successes, and some not-so-successes), none of which shown here I actually bought:


To all future fiancees out there, I definitely recommend stopping by the sale, if timing falls right. The few tips I have are (1) arrive early -- we arrived around 6:30 AM and doors opened at 8, (2) bring at least one friend -- to help with zippers and finding more dresses, (3) wear tights and a tank top -- everyone just changes in the middle of the store, (4) bring a camera -- to review your selections, (5) grab as many dresses you can that you like in your size and be willing to trade for dresses later, (6) have fun!

Three hours and 21 dresses after I first set out to buy my wedding gown I walked away with not one, but two gorgeous dresses, for a grand total of less than a thousand dollars. And I even made it to work by 10:15 AM. Impressive, right? My only problem now is deciding which one to wear! :)

And I even made it into the gothamist, among other papers. Click here for more details.

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment... Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." -- 1 Peter 3:3-4

a very decent proposal

"For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of / Long before I knew / Someone warm like you / Would make my dream come true" -- Stevie Wonder

On February 3rd, 2008 the Giants won Superbowl XLII. The win came as a surprise to many people, but not to my boyfriend, who named the win one of his best fan moments. On February 7th, 2008, the boy, still riding on Superbowl joy, gave me a surprise of my own. There were flowers -- roses to be exact. There was music -- our song, For Once in My Life, by Stevie Wonder was playing. There was surprise -- no need to elaborate. There was a four word question and a one word response. There was a ring -- something like this (but see the previous post for more details). There was jumping and "eeeeeee-ing" and running up and down the hall. There were phone calls and text messages -- to family and friends. And of course, there was dancing -- happy dancing, slow dancing, fast dancing, all sorts of dancing as Stevie played on repeat.

As someone who loves to capture every thing on camera, I am quite sad that I didn't have my camera with me for this momentous occassion. But then again, I was probably too overcome with joy to sit still for a photosession anyways. So here are a few mushy photographs from the night we got engaged +1.

"Blessed be Your name, When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be,' Blessed be Your name
... Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise."