Saturday, August 06, 2005

Hitting the Jackpot

Everything's just coming up roses the past few days.

This past Thursday, Nick and I went up to Davis IL and Lake Summerset to check out the Lodge they have there as a possible wedding & reception site. Being the godless heathens that we are, we don't belong to a church and finding a place to have the ceremony has been a bit fraught. Some places don't allow alcohol, some are too small, some too boxy, some too churchy, some have stuffed (taxidermied) animals in the foyer. We've been feeling a bit like Bizarro Goldilocks--we were doomed to never find anything that was just right. Then we saw the Lake Summerset Lodge.



This is the Lodge. Isn't it pretty? It's really one big room (one really big big room) set on a curve, to take advantage of the beauteous views of Lake Summerset...



I have poor picture-taking skills. Obviously, if you were standing in the lodge and looked out, the view is amazing and the walls and curtains aren't pitch black. But the view is stunning and the whole south wall is windows. You could even see my Grandma's house from the Lodge. Not in this photo, though.



This is the other end of the room, opposite the stage end. The doorway beyond Nick leads to the entrance & foyer & possibly kitchen and bathrooms. Here is the courtyard entrance from the parking lot:



And there you have it. This is where we're getting married. I feel kind of light-headed. I might need to have a little lie-down and a cup of strong tea. Anyone have a fainting couch?

This is turning into an actual thing. We've been together for so long (8 years, no eight-and-a-half years!) that The Wedding was always something very far in the future that was nice to talk about and plan in a vague and dreamy way, but never real enough to actually make decisions over. Now it's here (or here in the sense of less than a year away), I mean, we have an actual date picked out and everything. Wow. Where's that tea?

To combat the stress of wedding-type stuff, I'm keeping busy with the crochet (keeps me from biting my nails, at least). I finished the Tunisian Skinny Scarf, which was my first real venture into the Land of Tunisian Crochet (for more, check out this fabulious site), and I totally love it. I'm going to have to do up more scarves this way. Here's a wide view of the scarf...



So that's exciting. To top off all this tremendousness, I got the new Lion Brand yarn catalog the other day (I'm planning many new projects with their many new yarns, some of which aren't even on the website yet); I am going yarn hunting tomorrow with my good friend Heather; will be watching Spike TV's UFC event tonight; and will be seeing Sleater-Kinney in a month's time. Wooo-freakin'-hoo, baby.

Some might question the combination of hobbies in one medium-sized woman. Ultimate Fighting Championships and crochet? Yarn hunting and punk-ish rockin' awesome grrrl music? You betcha.

And you thought crocheters were dull (well, maybe you didn't, but I bet your friends did).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Puuuurty! Tres rustique. Er something. ;) Really, it's a lovely room, and the view beyond the black curtains is excellent. Have you thought any more about flowers, since it's a non-garden-y type setting? At least on the inside, anyway...hard to grow flowers on hardwood floors. Personally, I'd think a slightly non-traditional approach, with lots of wildflowers, would suit the room nicely. Black-eyed susans would also suit your coloring quite well, and are pretty inexpensive, I believe. Or maybe I'm just partial. ;)

Anonymous said...

This place looks beautiful. What a wonderful room! However, there are two very important things that we need to deal with before you and Nicholas make any final decisions on this location. #1 - I will need solemn promises from both of you that you are willing to invest at least 3 days and 2 evenings to drive me from my home to this location and back so that I can take notes on the to-and-from route (I know I can do it with a little help). #2 - We must be absolutely sure that you are both convinced that because this is your big day and, if you so choose, it is understood that you have every right to carry or decorate with sunflowers. That being said, I'm looking forward to the day when my dear son marries the only person he has every truly loved.