p.s.

Sorry to everyone who I told the "little white lie" about the Visa. I was too shy to say it before (blush) ...

Fiance Visa

Many of you have asked, and I've been purposely vague about the process of getting a Visa for Franchesco to come back. At the beginning of November, we started the process of applying for a Fiance Visa. I didn't want to say that's what we were doing because it was a couple months before we got engaged, so nobody knew we were talking about marriage at that point. But anyway, we're now glad that we started the process early because there's no way of knowing how long we could be waiting. The USCIS website says the average/goal is 5 months, but it all depends on how busy they are and how many applications need to be processed before ours.

It's been close to 3 months, so we're hoping that Franchesco will soon receive a date for his interview, but even then he may have to wait a couple months before the next available appointment. Please send your prayers our way so that the process goes smoothly and as quickly as possible! And also pray for patience because waiting for Franchesco to get back here is going to be the hardest part :(

Thank you to everyone for supporting us! Hopefully in the near future you will all have a chance to either meet Franchesco or to get to know him better. We're so excited for what the future holds :)

Love you all!

The Cork Factory Hotel

Here are some photos of my favorite wedding venue so far. It's called The Cork Factory Hotel and it's located in Lancaster, PA. Let me know what you think!

The Wedding Date

Since I started planning our wedding, the question I have heard the most is "when is the wedding going to be?!" Unfortunately, this is a question that I am still unable to answer. My first big goal for the planning process is to nail down a venue and a date so that I can begin planning all of the other details. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely been thinking about all of the details since day one (I bought 2 wedding magazines within an hour of landing at the Miami airport after my trip to Brazil), but I'm trying to hold off on making any big decisions until the date is set in stone. Don't worry - as soon as I know, I will make sure everyone else knows too :)

When Franchesco and I began talking about the wedding, our first choice of dates was Friday 11/11/11. It's such a unique date and is also relevant to our relationship. Unfortunately, none of the venues I have contacted are available on that day, and November is also approaching very soon, giving us limited time to plan the wedding.

Our second choice of date was New Year's Eve 12/31/11. It seemed like it could be a super fun New Year's celebration for everyone, and would be a memorable anniversary date that's for sure! My current favorite venue, The Cork Factory Hotel (http://www.lancastereventvenues.com/), was also available that day. I thought that this seemed like the perfect wedding idea, until I realized it would cost an additional $5,000 just to host the wedding on New Year's Eve. Bummer :(

Another date we had in mind was 11/26/11, which would be the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It would likely be a nice long weekend off of work for everyone, but like I said before - November is pretty soon, so that might not give us the time that we need to plan and for our out-of-country guests to plan travel.

We will most likely be planning the wedding for early 2012 (I'm really liking the idea of a winter wedding!), but it's going to depend on what our prospective venues have available. That said, I booked a flight to come home at the end of February (the 25th-28th) so that I can see some venues, attend a local Wedding Expo, and maybe even start dress shopping :)

No further details at this point, but I'll keep you all informed!

Click Flash

As some of you may already know, I have spent the past several months volunteering on the Goodwill Bridal Steering Committee. We are planning a Bridal Showcase event that will take place February 18-19th in St. Paul, MN. The goal is to sell hundreds of donated bridal gowns and formal dresses at the event, and all profits go to helping people with barriers to education, employment and independence achieve their goals.

You can find out more about the Bridal Showcase here: http://www.goodwilleasterseals.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BridalShowcase

Last week, our committee leader, Sherry, asked me if I would be interested in modeling a couple of the wedding gowns for professional photographs...of course I said yes!! I was also asked to make an appearance on FOX news the morning of the showcase event, modeling one of the gowns. At the time, Sherry didn't even know yet that I was engaged, so the timing of it all is just so funny! Well today was the big day :) I left work early and spent my afternoon at Bradshaw Design (http://www.bradshawdesign.com/) modeling two gowns for photos that will be used in local blogs and media advertising the event. What a neat experience! It felt a little bit like Carrie Bradshaw (coincidence that the photographers last name was Bradshaw??) in Sex and the City, only not quite so glamorous ;)

I'm so anxious to share the photos with everyone, but I haven't even seen them yet myself. As soon as I get them I promise I'll share!

Rio de Janeiro

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from our engagement day. Enjoy!

Can you see the rainbow in the background of this picture of us?

WE'RE ENGAGED!

For anyone who hasn't heard the news, Franchesco and I are engaged! After spending Christmas at home in Pennsylvania, I traveled to Brazil (for the 2nd time since Franchesco left Minnesota) to visit him. I flew into Sao Paulo, and the very next day on New Year's Eve we flew together to Rio de Janeiro. We spent New Year's with some of Franchesco's friends at Copacabana beach, and then spent the rest of the week lounging by the ocean and taking in the sights of the city :)

Now to the good part! On Thursday 01.06.11 Franchesco took me to see the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue high up in the mountains overlooking the city and beaches. It was a beautiful, sunny day and it will always be remembered as the day Franchesco asked me to "marry with him" :) That same day we visited the Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf) where we saw even more amazing views of the city, and we even saw a rainbow. I like to think of it as a token of good luck! We finished off the day with a romantic sunset walk on Ipanema beach.

We are both very excited to be able to spend the rest of our lives together and to have a "no-distance relationship" again! If you know me at all, you would know that I'm also excited about our engagement because that means for a whole year (or more!) I get to plan our wedding! Not an imaginary wedding made up of magazine clippings and photos saved in folders on my computer, but a real-life wedding! I decided to start this blog so that I could share my ideas with anyone who is interested and also so I can think "out loud" as I go through the planning process. One day, I can look back at all these memories and laugh at myself for being stressed over stupid details (it's bound to happen), but most importantly to remember all the events that occured during this once-in-a-lifetime chapter of my life. I hope you'll enjoy this last single-girl year along with me!