Circa 1988:  Me dressed in a bride costume!

Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side. ~The Talmud

Last night while watching the movie Last Chance Harvey starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, I broke down in hysterics.  If you’ve never seen Last Chance Harvey before–the beginning of the movie focuses on Harvey’s daughter whose getting married in London. He struggles internally because he is no longer heavily involved in his daughter’s life, and he feels that he’s missed out. I ended up turned the movie off because I was exhausted and needed to wake up early, but I continued to lay in bed contemplating Harvey Shine’s every word.

Why am I in such a rush to have everything here, now, today? Yes, I’ve enjoyed every second of wedding planning–but have I given myself the chance to enjoy every second of our engagement? I hate that I am rushing through every step, every second, to get to the big day.  I realize that I need to stop, take a look around, and breath it all in.

This weekend my family and I are throwing my daddy a 60th birthday party. I am so excited to celebrate his life and birthday with our family and close friends. I even hired a professional photographer to take pictures of the big bash! While planning his party, I started realizing that these are the moments that I need to savor I am the proud aunt of three nieces (Ava, Abbey & Marley) and one nephew (Justin) with another on the way in September. I feel like it was yesterday that they were all born, and now the oldest is getting ready to start pre-pre-school (yes, they have that!)

While I love the wedding dresses and flowers and music choices, I am finally allowing myself to slow down and take in these days. I want to embrace the flashes of pure happiness that are passing me by.  I vow to eat cake at my dad’s birthday party instead of worrying about looking perfect for our upcoming engagement pictures.  To wait to pick out my invitations, programs and menus so I have some wedding planning details left to do over these next few months. To go out to dinner with my girlfriends and talk about things other than the wedding.

Thanks to Harvey Shine and his inability to enjoy life until it’s too late, I am just starting to see (at the ripe age of 25) that if I don’t slow it down, I’ll be missing the best parts.

January 2009: Me and my nieces Abbey and Ava

The sample was too small for Josh – but you get the idea. Here are my rings in all their glory!

My first month post marriage proposal centered all around THE ring. Driving became more than just driving, but rather the ideal time to see the sunlight hit my ring in the perfect way. Doing dishes became thrilling because the ring sparkled a bit more after it was showered in bubbles and warm water. I loved showing off my ring and was really proud to have a visual representation of our love and commitment to each other.

Besides my fiancé Josh, my cats (Shluffy & Rigby), and my complete infatuation with sleep, the love of my life is my engagement ring; she is perfect in all of her sparkling glory.  Josh admitted to me that at first he was nervous as he learned the ropes of diamonds.  Now ask him anything about the 4 C’s (cut clarity, color and carat), and he’ll proudly respond with his knowledge of all things diamond.  Josh enlisted the help of my dear friend Jaime, who works for a lovely shop on Jeweler’s Row in Philadelphia (Ben Sorkin Jewelers–highly recommended!)   He felt completely comfortable purchasing my ring there, and I’d almost go far as to say he was glad to fork over his hard-earned savings for this ring.  He proposed to me with a brilliant center diamond hugged by two gorgeous baguettes, all set on a pave band of 36 diamonds on a platinum band.   She is perfect – a handmade and one-of-a-kind ring.  To me – you can’t get more ideal than that.
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This is the story of how I ended up as a semi obsessive-compulsive bride who can’t get enough of weddings.  My tale begins a little over 8 years ago upon receiving a rejection letter from Penn State University. I was so confident that I would get in to Penn State that I did not apply anywhere else! (Word to the wise – bad move!) After many tears and plenty of discussions with my parents, I made the crazy decision to move to Orlando, Florida to attend the University of Central Florida.  I was 17 years old,  knew no one in Florida, and had never even visited the school before.  However, this was by far the best choice I ever made.

Me and my fiancé in college, circa 2005.

My freshman year of college was a whirlwind of emotions, homesickness, new friends, and plenty of fun.  In November of my Sophomore year, I was introduced to a tall, handsome boy at his fraternity house. He was easy to talk to and made me laugh.  He asked for my phone number and called later that night. We ended up spending more and more time together.  By the following summer, we were inseparable.  Our love for obscure movie lines, jam bands, poker and cereal made us feel like two puzzle pieces fitting together. We laughed and laughed for hours on end and craved each others attention for the next 3 years. After I graduated college, I made the decision to move back to Philadelphia though, and after a few months the distance relationship took its toll and we ended our relationship.  Ten months later, Josh realized this wasn’t our best choice.  He flew up to Philadelphia and reestablished what we both knew all along – that we were meant to be together. By September 2007, Josh was living in the city of brotherly love.

Although we had been discussing marriage for a long time, we decided that owning a home was more important. We found a perfect 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath townhouse in a suburb of Philadelphia, and the thought of engagement was pushed aside. On November 6th, 2008, we were ecstatic to make settlement on our brand new home.  With the whole process taking less then an hour, I felt inspired to go buy a refrigerator. Josh insisted we go see the new house, even if only for a few minutes.  He was extremely persistent and I finally agreed. We drove over to our brand new home and stood outside the front door smiling with anticipation. While I fumbled through my bag for the keys, Josh told me how much he loved me. I nodded and turned to find him on one knee.  I immediately broke into tears as he asked me to marry him (among several other beautiful statements, none of which I remember).  He pulled out the most beautiful ring and I screamed YES!! Josh picked me up and carried me into our new house. We celebrated with champagne and called everyone we knew. It was my ideal proposal.  Almost immediately the wedding plans began.