Is this thing still on? Holy crap, it is! 

It took me a good hour to remember my username for this blog. So yes, it's been a while.

But remember it I finally did. I'm not making any crazy promises, but I'm feeling the itch to write...

After eight weeks of no action, a dress has been purchased.

I tried on eight dresses in trips to three stores on two different days. I didn't try anything on at the first store because I wasn't particularly interested in looking like a sequined whore when I walked down the aisle. That seemed to be their specialty. The second store was nice enough and had non-sequined-whore dresses but nothing in my size. And the woman informed me that it could take up to eight months to get a dress made, which sent me into a minor panic given our desired February/March timeframe.

But a trip to David's Bridal on Sunday proved to be much more productive. I had seen a dress I liked on the store's website and my parents both accompanied me to check it out. I tried that dress on and liked it quite a bit, but then the girl next to me was trying on something else that caught my eye, and the rest is history.

It's nothing like I expected I'd want to wear. And that's about all I'll say about it for now. I don't think the Captain remembers I even have a blog (completely understandable, given that I seem to have forgotten about it for the better part of the year) but I don't want to risk it.

Venue and date are next on the list. We have found a place we both really like but need to visit said venue and make sure it's not completely unreasonable. But we're optimistic it will work out. We also have an invitation list and some semblance of a wedding party.

In the meantime, I've decided to get a head start on some things people probably put off until the last minute. For instance, the wedding music. Given our lack of a date, we certainly don't have a DJ, but that hasn't stopped me from researching songs we'd like to hear, including a song for the father-daughter dance. Attendees will not be hearing that "Butterfly Kisses" vomit-a-thon.

But they also will not be hearing "Papa Don't Preach," as is oh-so-helpfully recommended here. The list contains several questionable choices, including "Material Girl," "Brown Eyed Girl," which refers to a girl getting it on with her boyfriend behind a stadium, and John Mayer's Daughters, which is a song about a father who emotionally scars his daughter so badly she can't have a healthy relationship with her boyfriend. That seems slightly out of place.

So the Captain and I have been engaged for five weeks and have accomplished ... absolutely, positively nothing. We've really just been enjoying being engaged. I'm not much for stress and it seems like planning a wedding has the potential to be very stressful.

We also don't have a clue as to what we want to do, other than get married and have a big, fun party. The word Vegas has been mentioned more than once, as have options like Vermont, Atlantic City and a cruise. We've also discussed a January or February timeframe, which means we really should get cracking.

I got an email from Marriott the other day and this was the photo they used to advertise Mexican and Caribbean resorts. Unfortunately I can't figure out where this is, but this seems like it would a sweet spot for a wedding.













I have purchased five bridal magazines, which contain a variety of utterly useless information. We usually try to hit the wine before we read anything, to make their ridiculous tips seem amusing.

I've also been looking at wedding dresses online, which has replaced house shopping as my favorite time waster. Last night I looked at dresses while the Captain tended to other important matters (fantasy football is actually a higher priority for us right now; we desperately need some wide receivers). There are some truly horrible wedding dresses out there. The Captain provided some wonderful commentary as he looked over my shoulder...

"Is she supposed to be a bat?"




















"She looks like a lampshade. An ugly one."




















"Is that rubber?"




















"I am Batwoman."




















"I think I saw that on Star Trek."




















"Is she supposed to be a bell?"




















and my personal favorite...

"What the hell is that?"




















We quickly returned to looking for wide receivers...

We saw incredible things while in Alaska, ranging from countless bald eagles to salmon spawning in streams to brown bears less than 10 feet from us.

But we also found plenty of entertainment while in The Last Frontier, starting with this.

We did not have time to visit "A Place to Meat," which is certainly our loss. Next time.

I did eat reindeer sausage, however. Quite a lot of it. Tasty! My culinary growth knows no bounds.

Life has been chugging along very nicely and rather quietly for a while now. No big changes, no real excitement, little movement on the home front, and generally nothing of note to report (which is one way to try to explain the complete lack of any posts here for the past seven months).

But that is about to change. In the past three weeks, I started a new job and got engaged (and yes, an earthquake and hurricane rattled NJ within days, which I'm sure was just a coincidence). We're also getting closer to putting Casa Magnolia on the market and buying a house.

So we'll have lots to chat about soon. I'd imagine the trifecta of new job, planning a wedding and buying/selling real estate will likely send me into a real tizzy.

And if nothing else, I could bore you with the 2,000 or so photos I took while on vacation in Alaska...

As a strong-minded, independent woman, I'm probably supposed to find this offensive. Instead, I find it hilarious...