JenLeoLIVE!

Getting settled and honeymoon thoughts

I don't really feel like writing right now, but I just wanted to let you know that everything is fine and John and I are both in Las Vegas for the time being. He's working getting ready for the WPT Championship $25,000, and I'm here getting my routine down. Life moves more smoothly when I work at the same time every day and mornings are better than afternoons.

I have plenty to talk about. But let me get my schedule solid and then we can turn to the fun bits.

Regarding the wedding, things felt in control for a minute, now they don't. We have to find a place for the ceremony still. We did have the very first reservation ever for the Golden Nugget chapel, but then they told us that they only hold 30 people. As much as John would love that size of a wedding, we need a bigger place. So, now I have to hunt that down, while still staying true to the restaurant for our cocktail reception.
We also have to nail down our registry and shower and party invites are starting to go out.

Today I'll be researching HoneyFund.com.  Hopefully we won't have to plan the whole vacation right this second. John says December is the best time for him to take a honeymoon. I'm sort of ok with that. I like the idea of us having a longer honeymoon exactly how we want it in Australia and Bali, but that would push out the kids agenda till next year. I definitely do not want to be pregnant on my honeymoon. That said, we aint getting any younger. So, should we squeeze in a quickie honeymoon sometime after the WSOP? Probably not, but it is one of the things I'm thinking about. And that was a rhetorical question. We don't have much choice with the way John's work schedule is. There's your bone for tolerating me not writing more of a proper catch up about things like finding a wedding dress, our new sport, and where we've been out to the past two nights.

I'm also behind on correspondence. This irks me.

But really, even though I'm rattling off my to-do list to you, thing are actually well and fine right now. Busy, happy, and >>  << this close to being caught up on things.

CURRENT: Las Vegas, NV
NEXT: New York, NY (Friday - Monday)

The Wedding is Under Control

Thanks to our good friend Susan Brady, we are settled in Las Vegas and the wedding is under control. Susan came out here for five days and did the unpacking, set up a slew of appointments, and even cooked a meal or two. She did laundry and the dishes, made lists, phone calls, and John's new favorite salsa. It was an amazing wedding gift. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a such an organized personal assistant for a week, let alone permanently. Dare I say, that John got a taste of being spoiled. As he should! I'm not the only one that deserves all the treats around here.

So, THANK YOU, Susan. I'm not quite sure what I did, or do, to deserve such love and attention, but I truly do appreciate it.

As of now, we have our 7-7-07 wedding nearly locked down.  I'm not going to tell you all the details because everyone has an opinion about how to do it better or different. I guess it's kind of like when you have a baby and you start telling people what you want to name the child before they are born. People scrunch up their faces, or make uncensored comments. Well, we've had a small taste of that and it's no fun. We're just going to do what we're going to do. It's very untraditional. But it's us and we're excited.

The guest list is the hardest part. I am not able to invite everyone who has put me up over the years on tour, let alone grew up with me. So, please don't be offended if you follow along here and are not invited. There are lots of people, even family, who will not be invited.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

CURRENT: Las Vegas, NV
NEXT: San Diego, Los Angeles  (Sat - Wed)

Wedding planning meltdown

I had a mini-meltdown yesterday about the lack of wedding plans accomplished. All I want to do is throw a nice party at a house in Vegas on 7-7-7. We don't need a chapel, we already have an officiant, and I'm reluctant to have it at a golf course because of the weather. And the best country clubs and golf courses are already taken anyway, I've looked. I'm going with John to Vegas tonight and maybe I can find some information tomorrow, but we also have to look for a place to live from now through the World Series of Poker (ends July 17) so that has to be ticked off, too. And I'm moving house by myself as John will be in Monte Carlo.

There's my vent. My friend Cotie, who has a location and dress and save the date cards for her August wedding was real sweet the other night. After replying "No, I didn't have this or that" to many wedding questions she asked me, she finally said, "You have a city, that's something." It was too cute, and provided about three seconds of comfort.

All this said, Last Minute Leo is a master at making things happen. I can do this. I know I can. Dan's dad was a bit concerned yesterday when I had little to reply to his questions about booking reservations when we didn't have anything secured, "There's no beach for you to just fall back on." I guess that's the thing about being older. I can make do. Can't I? John and I have pretty drastic tastes when it comes to this wedding and we're both doing a fairly acceptable job of compromising. It won't be a traditional wedding. And everything  one would take for granted about a wedding like  having a bridal party, or a first dance song, or dancing at all—is on the bargaining table.

The good news is that we will be able to afford to have a wedding. My whole life I thought I wouldn't be able to afford a wedding at all because of the tradition of the bride's family paying for it. And that it would be a $5,000 jobbie in a park as a potluck picnic at best.  John and I made a reasonable budget for the wedding, small but not spartan. And having the new job means that I will be able to pay my half of it. This is something that I am very thankful for. That we can afford to throw  a decent party as soon as we find the place...

Just wish me luck this weekend and next week. We've got our group room sales nearly worked out and I'll at least try and send that out this weekend so people can start booking their rooms. Good grief.

CURRENT: Pasadena, CA
NEXT: Las Vegas in five hours.