Honeymoon Planning

One of the more frustrating and fun parts of the wedding planning is the Honeymoon.  A while back, Roger and I went through a bunch of ideas for a honeymoon.  Our top choice, Japan, was unfortunately NOT in the numbers.  Cost alone deterred us.  So we decided to take on a more ambitious and affordable project:  a train ride from coast to coast of Canada.

Here's the map:

It pretty much looks like we're crazy, right??  But after a bit of research, it doesn't look too bad.  A VIA CanRail pass will cost us about $530 each in low season (which starts the week after the wedding: Oct. 16) and will give us thirteen days of unlimited travel.  According to my calculations, we're looking at 6 days of travel.  The fun comes when we stop.

Right now, I've planned out an itinerary that has us arriving in Halifax on Friday or Saturday after the wedding.  We'd head out to Montreal on Sunday, stay a few nights there, then leave for Toronto on the Thursday.  As the Westbound train leaves at 10pm, I figure we can pop off in Toronto for a nice dinner then back on before anyone can say "transnational".  We'll arrive in Vancouver on a Sunday.  Now how long we stay there is up in the air - I'm considering hopping over to Vancouver Island... but we'll see.  Budgetwise, the numbers are probably against us.

And so may I take this chance to remind folks that VIA Gift Certificates can be bought with Air Miles??  That's right!  If we buy our passes and our upgrades (because the passes don't cover sleeping arrangements) with gift certificates, we might have the bulk of our accommodations AND meals (sleeping accommodations for the Tor-Van train ride includes food) paid for!  Then we can worry about spending too much on things like Montreal B&Bs owned by a delightful gay couple, Japanese Garden tours in Vancouver, and a stay at the possibly-haunted-by-Oscar-Wilde victorian Waverley Inn in Halifax!

If anyone has some suggestions on awesome (affordable!) things to do, oh, pretty much anywhere in the country, let us know!

Pretty Registry Things!

One of the MAJOR cons to The Bay's registry program is LACK OF PICTURES.  Now, I don't know about you, but I love salivating over pretty things.  And since people really don't like buying stuff they can't see, it is up to me to enlighten you about what we've got on our list.

For starters, here's what we finally decided on for tableware - a mix between two Vera Wang for Wedgewood patterns, Gilded Leaf and Gilded Weave

Gilded Leaf:

 Gilded Weave:

Together, they make perfect awesome and Roger and my compromise between 'white' and 'pattern'.  Trust me, this was one of the harder compromises in our relationship - kinda sad, I know.


Other fun things:

Rowenta Focus (It's a really nice iron.  Good to have if I get serious into sewing like I always say I will.)

Earth Chef Cookware:

I like the fact it's ceramic/green.  Roger likes the fact it works on induction cooktops (another Earth Chef product he was drooling about, but at this point in time - not needed.  Trust the chemist to drool over a glorified hot plate.)


Mikasa Kya flatware:

Cheeky, isn't it?  I especially like how the knife is dancing, and how big those spoons are.  Mmm, spoons.


Cuisinart 7-Speed Hand Mixer:

It's sexy.  It mixes.  And it isn't one of those outrageous upright ones that are ridiculously heavy and you can't stir while you're mixing.


That's it for now - the other things we have on there are non-googleable items, like a bathroom scale that ISN'T digital, and shows both kilograms and pounds AT THE SAME TIME.  We have to think of these things, being from two different measure worlds.  Also, some swanky dark caramel/chocolate sheets, a chubby white soup tureen (that they call a vegetable dish or something weird), and an ironing board.  Woot.

Hope I satisfied some visual needs!

Registry - More Than 3 Items!

Finally, Roger and I grabbed a chance this afternoon to pop into The Bay and register for some more things.  But let me tell you - whoo... it's tough.  It is not a relaxing task, but both Roger and I realize it's pretty much a necessity so that our guests will have some idea of things we both agree on.

But I want to make something very, very clear.  WE DO NOT EXPECT PRESENTS.  From anyone.  Best phrase I heard was "We request your presence, not presents".  Seriously, you being part of our wedding by being there is more than we expect from anyone - especially with the amount of out-of-town guests.  We couldn't ask for more.  The registry is for those incredibly generous friends and family members who like to respectfully dismiss this and get us something anyway - and since Roger and I are picky in two completely different ways, you can imagine how much 'fun' we're having finding things to put on the registry.  Oy.  Hardest so far was the china.  Nearly caused a ruckus - him liking plain white plates, me hating them with a fiery passion.

We'll probably have to go in again, but hopefully we'll have recovered by then.  So check out the registry, and be happy that we've expanded the list of 3 items to 'more than 3'.  If we can, we'll try to get pictures up for the items - so those interested are not totally blind or dependent on having to go into a Bay store to see them.