Somehow I’ve managed to hear this song on my way to work EVERY day this week. Various stations, various times, SAME song.
Same German Reggae song. Yes, German. Reggae.*
Fortunately for YOU, this morning it was played on a station that broadcasts songs in such a way that the title scrolls across the radio. Otherwise I would have no idea how to look it up and share it with you.
So here you go. On the off chance you haven’t heard the musical stylings of German wannabe Rastafarian Peter Fox on your morning commute, I’d like to present “Haus Am See.”**
* Well, slightly Reggae. Peter Fox calls himself a “hip hop/reggae” artist but this song is much less reggae-esque than many of his others. But. I find the whole idea of German Reggae so comical that I’m sticking with it…
** Haus Am See roughly means “House at the Lake” in German.
“The returns on dollar assets, no matter how good they have been, are just not good enough relative to the returns you can get outside of the U.S.”
Although the article hints there is hope the dollar could get a boost as the global economy stabilizes, the overall outlook is grim.
This wouldn’t be THAT big a deal considering BF gets paid in Euros, BUT, we have a WEDDING to pay for in the next 8 months. If the Euro keeps strengthening that could translate into hundreds thousands of dollars of additional, empty expense.
BOO.
p.s. something when pretty wrong with that last post. I wrote paragraphs and paragraphs of witty, entertaining prose. Complete with pictures. Stunning pictures. And video. Oh the video! Awesome, dancing Germans video. Sadly, none of it saved/posted. And the thought of redoing it right now is daunting. So… I’ll fix that this weekend and commence with wedding news for the remainder of this week!
Much has happened in the last week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks (!).
Went to Alsace. Had a minor Mini accident (again). Had a visit from the mom. Played a convincing tourist in London. Checked out Barcelona for a long weekend.
Obviously, none of this was without issue. There was a crying scene (or two) at the airport that led to me asking to see the manager of Ryan Air (yes, me! asked to see a manager! i didn’t believe it either when the words just popped out of my mouth…) There were baggage issues. And key issues. And bus issues. And passport forgetting issues (for the record, England is a different country than Belgium…).
Among other things.
So where to begin?
How about pictures & videos? Everyone likes those. As the only pictures/videos I have online at this point are the ones from Alsace, we’ll start there.
First things first. Alsace. Where is it? And why would anyone go there?
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| From Year in Review |
Here’s the thing about my work.
When it’s bad, it’s very bad. But when it’s good, it’s grrrrrrreat (yes, Tony the Tiger great).
Today we are having an “Extra Muros” day. Which is basically an all day team building/day of fun somewhere outside the office. Last year we had it on the grounds of this old castle and I got to ride a horse. (It was the most fun I’ve ever had during work hours…)
This year, we are having our “Extra Muros” at “Bobbejaanland,” a Belgian theme park that looks a lot like Kennywood. I have no idea what sort of organized activities this will entail, but as long as I get to check out this King Kong ride, I think it will be a good day. (definitely better than the past week of writing a tax memo on US tax consequences of third tier partnership technical terminations… right.)
Seriously, click on this video. It’s awesome. I can only hope the ride is this, uh, high tech:
As an added bonus, work is funding a dinner at some cool restaurant and then a night of drinking & dancing (plus covering half the cost of a room for all those who should not be driving after said drinking & dancing…).
Like I said, when it’s good, it’s great…
When last we left our confused and utterly torn heroine & hero, they were caught between a rock and a hard place.
Or rather an overcrowded place, a sandy place and an expensive place.
Fortunately, just as the patience of their parents was about to expire, they were suddenly inspired. Lights went off. Bells rang.
(seriously, this little guy at on the top of the church in the Grote Markt rang the bell)
BF and I were sitting in our “happy place” – the Oude Markt in Leuven, listening to an impromptu concert by a group of friends armed with bongo drums, trumpets, acoustic guitars and a cymbal when a bride and groom walked past our table. Not THAT surprising – it was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in summer – you’d expect lots of newlyweds to be taking pictures around town. But then they sat down at one of the bars with their small wedding party and ordered a few drinks.
In American English.
I looked at BF. “Ahh! Why can’t that be us?”
He replied. “It’d be nice. Too bad our families aren’t here.”
[Then the bells rang.]
Suddenly, I remembered, “But Kels & Dave are going to be here in May for their honeymoon.”
BF: “I wonder if I could get my [immediate] family to make the trip? They’ve been talking about it…”
Me: “I bet I could rope my parents & Aud into coming. You think they’d all approve?”
BF: “But what about extended family? And friends? What’s the point of getting married without them?”
Me: “Yeah. I don’t know. Forget it. Can we get married on the beach now?”
BF: “NO. No beach. No.”
Me: “Wait. What if we have a beach wedding here? Minus the beach. I mean something small. But long. We could do a tour of Leuven. And the rehearsal dinner at our favorite restaurant. And the ceremony & reception in Leuven. Followed by drinks in the Old Markt. And a brewery tour the next day. Or maybe a chocolate tour? You know what I mean? And we could invite family & friends with the understanding that many couldn’t come so we do a big party back in the US as well? Something low key? Informal. Church ceremony followed by cake & champagne & drinks & dancing in a park or a backyard? Our extended family & friends could still be a part of our big moment and we could invite EVERYONE without the pressure (or expense!) of a formal wedding? Whatcha think?”
BF: “hmmm… that could work, kid. That could work.”
********
So that’s The Plan.
Our mad idea.
Our crazy way for a girl who is, at best, ambivalent about weddings to have TWO weddings.
Our crackpot scheme to have the best of both worlds. An intimate ceremony in our personal fairytale town of Leuven. Days of showing our loved ones our favorite breweries and chocolates and cafes and parks and restaurants. Plus a casual, genuine, CELEBRATION with all of our important people back home in the US. A chance to say our vows in front of and dance with everyone.
Our attempt to keep our level of happiness with the whole process inversely proportional to the level of offense taken by family & friends.
Our way of getting married… in our own way.
-
We’re going to try and have our cake and eat it too. (Actually, make that TWO cakes!)
More details to follow. As we figure them out. We’re still in the planning stages of the plan.
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| Crazy kids. With crazier ideas. |
Right. So. In the previous post, I mentioned the biggest hurdle we are facing in reaching the holy grail of wedding planning – the setting of the date – was winning the Numbers Game.
As I see it, we have three options. 3. Trois. Drie. Tres.
1. Suck It Up. We “suck it up” and invite everyone. All 350+ of our nearest & dearest. Plus our parent’s nearest & dearest and our parent’s friend’s nearest & dearest.
(+) We will be surrounded by everyone we know & love.
(+) No one is offended. Everyone is happy.
(-) I have panic attacks leading up to the big day and end up exhausted, frazzled and awkward around strangers.
(-) We eat ramen for the first two years of marriage to pay off the reception.
(-) If the celebration lasts 8 hours we will have approx. 1.4 minutes to spend with each guest. Ok for some, not so much for those people we only get to see a few days each year.
2. Barefoot in the Sand. We do a destination wedding at a beach resort in the Caribbean or Florida or Mexico or Hawaii. We invite 100 or so family & friends and have a 4 day beach vacation.
(+) Just the right size.
(+) At least 4 days spent with our best friends and close family.
(+) Offending of family members is kept to a minimum.
(+) Ocean! Sea breeze! Sun! Perfect weather! Tropical drinks! Tans! Snorkeling! Sailing!
(+) Fresh, delicious seafood & fruit for the reception.
(+) We’d only have to eat ramen for a few months after the wedding.
(+) EASY to plan. (call up the resort, explain you’d like a wedding, block off rooms for guests, show up, party.)
(+) It would be casual and, above all, fun!
(+) I love, LOVE, love, love, LOVE the beach!
(+) Who wouldn’t want to get married in paradise?
Gazebo? With palm trees? Sigh…
(-) Boyfriend HATES the beach.
(-) Boyfriend HATES sand.
(-) Boyfriend loathes the idea of a wedding that involves the beach and sand.
(-) Simply put, Boyfriend does not want to get married in paradise!
(-) To have my dream beach wedding I’d need a new fiance.
3. Love in Leuven. We invite family & friends for a wedding weekend (week!) in our favorite place in the whole world… Leuven! We’d get married in one of the amazing old churches and have the reception in one of the manor houses or our favorite restaurant or perhaps near the Begijnhof (a Unesco Heritage Site!). We could end the night with drinks in the Oude Markt and have a brunch & brewery tour the next day. Maybe a chocolate tour? Hmm…
(+) Everyone knows that both BF & I love Belgium. And we’re obsessed with Leuven. At last we’d be able to show our family & friends why.
(+) It’d be the epitome of intimate (maybe 25 friends & family from the US would be able to come? plus another 20-25 friends from around here?). More like inviting people to our elopement.
(+) It’d certainly be unique.
(+) We wouldn’t have to eat ramen unless we REALLY wanted to.
(+) We’d be able to spend quality time with friends & family.
(+) We’d get some amaaaazing pictures.
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| We could have the civil ceremony at the Stadhuis… |
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| We could take pictures in front of the library… |
We could get married in this church…
We could have the reception in the Groot Begijnhof area of Leuven…
(-) It would be a serious expense for friends & family.
(-) We’d offend a lot of people.
(-) Some of our closest friends & family would not be able to come.
Hmmmmm… tricky, tricky, tricky.
Fortunately, we have nearly come up with a solution. Nearly.
Details to follow tomorrow.
You know that ring I was gushing about in the previous post?
The shiny thing? Yeah. THAT one.
Turns out the the thing is a veritable beacon to family, friends, acquaintances… even strangers in stores.
They zero in on the sparkle and, as if programmed by some wedding obsessed fiend, immediately spit out “Ohhhhh! Did you set a date?”
To which I typically reply, “No, we aren’t sure yet. You know, Belgium and all.”
They all accepted the (admittedly lame) excuse for the first few months. Like Belgium was some sort of condition that had to be cured before giant halls and childhood chapels could be booked.
But. 10 months in (yes, 10!), we still do not have a date. Or a venue.
We’ve got a guy. And a girl. And a ring.
Isn’t that enough?
Apparently not.
If you ask either of our mothers they will exclaim in tones of mock (scratch that, genuine) consternation, “WHAT is SO difficult?? Check out a few locations, pick a place, set a date and we’ll all show up.”
And therein lies the problem. “We’ll ALL show up.”
If my ENTIRE family plus our close family friends all show up we’ll fill a half dozen pews at the church. Including aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends (including little kids) we’re in the 50-60 range.
Awesome.
Under normal circumstances, you would approximate the same number for the fiance’s side, invite 50 friends and have a lovely gathering of 150 or so of your friends and family.
Super awesome.
Except.
Except that BF does not come from “normal” circumstances. His was not the standard American family with 2.4 kids and a dog. His family would take up a dozen + aisles. Standing room only. Christmas mass style. How?
He is the eldest of 7.
His father is the eldest of 9.
His mother is the 5th of 16.
He has 90 first cousins. At last count.
His father is remarried and his stepmother has siblings who are close with BF.
Etiquette dictates that if we invite my entire family, we have to invite his entire family.
We’re talking 300+ people. THREE HUNDRED. 3-0-0. Like the movie. But even more terrifying.
And the’yd “all show up.”
I have a panic attack just thinking about it. Nightmares of tripping down the aisle in front of 300 laughing strangers. Of spending the entire reception meeting people and engaging in small talk ala “It’s so nice to meet you! Did you enjoy the salmon?” instead of dancing with friends.
Because that’s the thing. I’ve met maybe 20 members of BF’s extended family. If we do invite all of these people, I’m pretty sure there will be a quiz component to the invitation. Along with the RSVP, they will have to answer three simple questions. If they get any of them wrong, their acceptance of the invitation will be null & void. Or perhaps it will self destruct, Mission Impossible style. I still have to play with the details. I know the questions though:
1. Who is getting married? First & Last names please. (I’d be sure to not include my first name anywhere on the invite…)
2. Where do we currently live? (I may accept “Europe” but Cleveland or Pittsburgh will be an immediate disinvite.)
3. Where did we go to college?
+ Bonus question: What do we do for a living? (#3 could get tricky for some people so I’ll throw in a bonus question…)
Ha. Except it’s not so funny.
So. Yes. Our first hurdle in setting a date has not been the dreaded “Belgium” disease but rather the Numbers Game. How do we have the kind of ceremony we want, surrounded by the people we love, without offending anyone? And without going bankrupt?
It’s taken 10 months but we’ve come up with some options. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s discussion of said options.
Days & nights are still long here in the world of Int’l Tax, however, I have found a marvelous way to cope with the stress:
Over my lunch & dinner breaks I research, inquire upon and plot adventures to exciting places like Barcelona, London, Paris and the Alsace region of France!
Today’s booking? A (hopefully) lovely apartment for our big 4 day sojourn to Barcelona in October. Although they will most certainly destroy any of the sympathy I had garnered with my stories of long hours, check out these pics of the place:
(https://www.habitatapartments.com/en/barcelona/apartment/view/verdiamsterdam.htm)
AND. My favorite part, floor to ceiling windows with a small balcony:
I’ll be sure to report back on whether or not the place lives up to the pictures…
Geeeez. Is it really Friday? Are you sure? My calendar says its so but during busy season days are fluid. More of a suggestion than a convention held to by the majority of the globe. Tuesday went faster than cake in my kitchen while Thursday took three weeks. I worked last Saturday & Sunday and will be putting in a good 20-25 hours this weekend. So what IS today?
[Note 1: Can you even call it a weekend if the week never ends?]
Either way, I’m a bit on the sleep deprived/stressed side and have been grasping for moments that quietly scream “Calm!” (they exist, I swear.) For things that are just plain pretty. And chock full of creativity. And smile inducing.
Essentially, things that embody everything my job is not.
[Note 2: I know "things" is a terribly vague filler word for those with a limited vocabulary. but. I'm running on 4 hours of sleep AND there are any number of objects, places, events, shows and songs that could fit the bill. So "things" will have to do.]
Lo and behold, over lunch I was listening to my favoritest station in the world, Pittsburgh’s own 91.3 WYEP.org over lunch and who would come on but Lisa Hannigan, an amazing Irish singer I forgot I loved.
Her song “I Don’t Know” was everything I was looking for at the moment. Calming. Fun. Pretty. SUPER creative.
It puts a smile on my face. Hope it does for you too.
Happy Friday! (Or Tuesday. Or Thursday. Whatever.)
Most smile worthy parts:
-How she sort of bops her head along to the song and smiles while working & singing. This is exactly what I look like at my desk. Minus the singing and the smiling. But the bopping? I’m all over the bopping.
- The final product is just amazing. How did they transform a room with just scissors, paper, paint and friends? I’ll try and put those elements together in the future. I’m sure we’ll come up with something similar. Definitely.
(I also like this one lots and lots):
Note 3: Dad. this is total chick music. no need to click. stay tuned for the next post. includes pics of the Mini all banged up.
Why, hello September! Where on earth did you come from? Last time I checked you were a good two months away.
Am I the only one who feels like summer passed in less than a blink of the eye? A flutter of the eyelids, perhaps.
From September of last year right through March all I could do was talk about the *amazing* summer I was going to have. It was going to be chock full of European festivals, visiting new cities, picnics in the park, Friday night roller blading, winery tours, beer fests, gallery openings and long nights in the old market. The final tally?
Cities visited (outside Belgium): 6.
- Amsterdam (NL), Den Hague (NL), Pittsburgh (USA), Duck (USA), Cleveland (USA), Columbus (USA).
I know. I know. GLAM-O-ROUS. It’s okay to feel jealous of my trips to Pittsburgh & Cleveland. Everyone does.
Festivals attended : 2
- Beleuvenissen (i.e. the amazing music series in Leuven which features FREE concerts all over Leuven every Friday in July) I made just 1 of 4 Fridays. Very sad showing on my part. Though the night I went was pretty amazing.
- Markt Rock (i.e. a 2 day FREE music festival in Leuven with lots of shows, dj’s, etc.)
A downright embarrassing showing by yours truly.
Long nights in the Old Markt: 2 Unless “long” equals past midnight. Then it’s only 1.
No excuses other than that BF & I are old. And lame.
Picnics: 0
Gallery Openings: 0
Friday Night Skating: 0
Open Air Movie Nights: 0
Trips to the Moon: 0
Looking back, I’m not sure what I DID do this summer. I worked a lot of weekends. And there was that family vacation I may have mentioned once or twice. And that weekend trip to the US for a dear friend’s wedding. And I worked a lot of nights. And there was the time BF and I had a nice night in Den Hague & at the Scheveningen beach. And there was a fun night out in Brussels with some crazy friends. But the rest of the time? I think it was spent relaxing, hunting down Mini’s, having low key nights with friends and… working. And then working some more.
All in all, I have MUCH to catch up on this fall once BS (busy season) ends and my nights & weekends are returned to me! Thus far, we have mini trips or weekends in London, Barcelona, Paris (just can’t stay away!) and Luxembourg planned. Plus a beer festival or two. And some parties here and there.
Hmm… fall is looking pretty attractive. So long summer, welcome September!
BF and I in Beaune, France last September… Perhaps we’ll explore another wine region this fall?
