09.20.08

A year from yesterday would be our big day.

David and I took Friday off (swapped with another holiday) and drove up to 1000 Islands to check out the weather, and also sign some contracts to finalize the wedding - just the big picture, no details yet. We actually drove up Thursday night, stopped and see Grandma Nancy on the way and got there at midnight. We stayed at Sir Robert Peel Motel - it was very clean and inexpensive, although the beds are a little hard. If you ever want to go up there and visit (well worth your time, I promise), this would be a good place to stay. Actually, when you call up for the reservation, you can pick rooms that come with a mini fridge and microwave if you are staying longer. In the back of the motel, there is actually a huge back yard with picnic tables and grills so you can actually have a BBQ.

Friday morning, we got up and met up with Terri from Happily Ever After to finalize some of the contracts. I have to say that I was very biased from the website at the beginning, but after meeting with Terri, all my doubts went away - website isn't EVERYTHING! We had booked Terri for the flower and chairs/tents rental (she's a florist by trade) when we went up back in July, so this time, we booked the harpist, DJ, define how many chairs/tents we need, officiant, and photographer. We are using John Wayne Photographix - again, website isn't everything! We actually turned him down when we first saw his website, but after seeing some of his work in real life at Terri's, we decided to meet with him and chat - he really fit the style we are looking for and we are very excited to say that we are glad to have him as our photographer. He is actually redoing his website so hopefully he doesn't lose too much of business base on his website.

We went into town after the appointment and just walked around for a little while, and then we drove to the Wellesley Island State Park to check out the lighting of the ceremony spot - we are quite pleased with the whole thing.

The area we are having the ceremony is actually closed, hence that we would be able to have the ceremony there. We picked the location on where we usually camped so it is more meaningful to both of us.

We left the park went directly to the Joey's at the Thousand Islands Yacht Club for dinner. We are thinking of having the rehearsal dinner there so we want to try out their food first. On the way there though, we found this:

We bought these to go with the Drive-In for later:

We got to the restaurant just when they opened and was seated immediately. David and I ordered these, and they were delicious!

Salmon with Mustard glaze in Honey Butter sauce


Pork Chop in Honey Butter sauce

We spoke to Rick, the owner, and set up the logistic of things and then left with full stomach. We went directly to the Drive In as it got dark very quickly after the dinner. We went and saw Super Bad, lets just say it is super bad...

Saturday was pretty relaxing. We woke up late and didn't leave the motel till 11am. We went to the Thousand Islands Winery first and tasted some wines. They are actually a very new winery and have quite a few sweet wines. I came home with two 375ml bottles:

St. Lawrence Red and Seaway Blues

We went into town and walked around some more, including Treasure Islands - where we got my engagement ring, David's wedding ring, and they are currently making my wedding bands. This time, I actually brought up the pearls my mom gave me to have them make earrings to match. I can't wait to see what they come up with!

We then went on the Twilight cruise by Uncle Sam's - the castle was absolutely beautiful under the twilight -

After the cruise, we grabbed some dinner and went to bed early to get ready for the ride the next day.

We woke up pretty early today and left the town around 10am. We decided to stop at Grandma Nancy's again since we don't really get to see her all that often. On the way to grandma's, there is an Indian Casino with gas stations - we stopped and got gas, and decided to live a little and gamble. We took out 80 bucks and told us that would be the only money we play. David started it with Let It Ride, it was a very cool game, but we only won one hand. I then spotted something named Keno - it's kinda like bingo, but don't have to be in order. It was pretty cheap to play so both of us played 10 dollars worth of games (5 games). The first couple of games, I got either too many matches or not enough. I wasn't too happy about it but it was only 4 dollars worth of entertainment so far so there wasn't much to complaint about. Before the 3rd game started, David said, "Watch, this is the game you are gonna win like 100 bucks!" I laughed and said "Yeah, right, I NEVER win anything!" Lo and behold...

My card

The numbers called

I have 9 numbers matched! I didn't even realize what it really means, I actually just told David "oh, I got 9", and David flipped the pamphlet and yelled - You won 150 bucks!!!! WHAT? We counted again, and sure enough, I won $150! I was so excited I could careless for the rest of the games! I won total of $152, and David won $6, along with $10 he won from Let It Ride, we were up 100 bucks!!! We left pretty happy :)

When we got to Grandma's, uncle Dave and Leslie were there helping grandma changing the cabinets face - they looked really nice! I keep asking when is uncle Dave coming to see us instead :)

We got home around 7:30 and I worked on MS3 on the way home today. Yes, you read it right, I knitted lace stole with beading in a car - I know, not the smartest thing to do, but I only screwed it up once! I am three rows from finishing the whole thing and blocking! I can't wait. No picture of it just now, hopefully tomorrow :)

So did you have a nice, relaxing weekend?