Book Your hotels ASAP!

I have finally nailed down the hotel that we are going to be reserving a hotel block in. The rate will be $205 + tax per night. (it's about $235 total/night). Once I get the contract signed and back to them, I will be given a special reservations phone number to you to call to book your rooms. That will probably be available tomorrow.

The hotel block is at:
Hyatt Regency Chicago
151 East Wacker Drive,
Chicago, Illinois, 60601
(click to check it out)

It's less about 50 steps from Millenium Park, Michigan Ave (aka Magnificent Mile), Chicago River, (and my office, not that that's relevant). It's a great location and right in the desirable part of downtown. And it's about 1 mile from the reception site. Cabs are everywhere, so there is no need to rent a car.

If you are NOT planning on staying in the hotel block, or if you would prefer to do a expedia-type reservation, that's cool too. If you are booking online: buyer beware! There are many locations that can claim to be minutes from the loop, or where ever. That doesn't mean it is in a good part of Chicago.

Here are a few guidelines when you are booking your stay.

A) Airfare from Boston/NYC to Chicago on a non-holiday will always be less than $200. No need to book a plane ticket right this second. Just keep your eyes open for a good deal and as soon as you see something below $150, book it. Midway and O'Hare are both the same distance from the Loop. Either is about $25 - $40 in a cab.

B) Book your hotel ASAP. There is a very large convention being held in Chicago on my wedding weekend (the NERVE of some people). Many hotels are already booked, and the prices will only go up. That being said, if you start looking now, there are a ton of hotels downtown. So even if you aren't staying at the Hyatt, there are plenty of other options.

C) In Chicago, there is a really logical coordinate system with addresses. the 0 N/S & 0 E/W intersection is at Madison and State downtown (look at the map above). Consider that the center of the grid. That's right in the middle of the loop. As you get farther away from that intersection, the number part of the address gets higher, either going north or south, or east or west. Unlike places like Boston... 200 N. Whatever street will be about the same amount north as 200 N. Someother Street. So you if you can get the cross road, you can figure out where the place is you are looking at. For example: The reception is just West of the Loop. (1300 West Randolph). The hotel is just East and a little north from the loop (151 E. Wacker). As you go further from that intersection the address will reflect either a XXX N. or XXX S. address. (or a XXX E. or XXX W.)

As a rule, If you want to be in a good part of downtown: do NOT pick an address with an address:
* further south than 500 South [Street Name].
* further west than 400 West [Street Name].
* further north than 900 North [Street Name].
* All East addresses are ok (as long as they aren't too far north or south).

To get a good indication, you can ask the hotel or look at the address of the cross street. Or, just mapquest how far it is from 1 N. State St. Anything withing a half mile from there is good. If you are going to go further out, go North.

Good key words:
Magnificant Mile
River North
Theater District
Millenium Park
Lakefront

Or, you can just call me and I'll tell you if someplace is in a good 'hood.

Then again, if you are booking a room in the hotel block, I'll have a weblink or a phone number tomorrow. Happy travels!

Let the fun begin!

After all of the stress and effort to pull details together, we had a very refreshing and FUN day today...

We started our first Wedding Registry! We spent HOURS at Williams-Sonoma today with the help of two store managers (thank you Jonas and Luna). They knew so much about everything in the store, and they made it really easy to find the right things that we never knew we always wanted! It's crazy to think about cooking with something not purchased at Target. We had so much fun. It was also nice to agree on almost everything.

We are still planning on registering at a few more places, but that will have to wait until next weekend.

Note: to check out the registry, go to www.williams-sonoma.com and enter in one of our first and last names, select Illinois and October 2007 as event date.

No fun.

There has been radio silence for the past few days. Work has me so busy that I can't see straight by the end of the day.

Tonight I had my Wednesday night Mosaic class, which I adore. I'm three quarters of the way through a square vase. I'm doing the four seasons... one season on each face. Original, I know, but I'm really really happy with the progress I've made so far. It's wonderful to finally find a hobby that doesn't require me to be a "good" artist.

Anywho. No new news with the wedding plans. We have a few feelers out for hotels. And a few more for caterers. But nothing concrete yet.

On an unrelated note: we have our wedding color... cranberry. Is it required to have two colors? I'll have to get crafty and think of something on the fly.

I found My Dress!

Emily and I spend the day today driving around the 'burbs with a mission. A mission to find The Dress.

It was very entertaining. There were MANY too many dresses with sparkley sequins, which I decided are not me AT ALL. And there were many ugly dresses, which were also not me. But there were a few beatiful ones too. And more importantly, I found THE dress. It's really pretty, and fits me perfectly, and I adore it.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. The weather was gorgous and it was so fun to have Emily here to help me shop. And now that the pressure of finding the dress is off, Em and I can spend the rest of the weekend having fun. Maybe tomorrow, we'll go and start looking at bridesmaid dresses.

Z has requested that I don't put any pictures of me in any white dresses. So you aren't allowed to see me in any of the fun dresses I tried on. But trust me, some of them were SO funny!

Please Reply: Hotel Count

Please let me know if you plan on joining the blocked hotel room arrangement.

There are plenty of hotels in the Chicago Loop area, but I will be reserving a block of rooms someplace (I have to make calls this weekend to figure out exactly where). Once I have the block, I will post info about the hotel so you can call and make your reservation.

If you know that you would like to stay where the majority of the wedding people are, please let me know. I need to get an idea on room counts ASAP so I can reserve the appropriate amount of rooms.

Even if you think I already know, please comment (or email me at leahsbaker@gmail.com) and let me know.

FYI: If you want to book a hotel on expedia or whatever, there are tons of great hotels downtown. I'll be posting details for reference so you don't end up at a convention center out by the airport...

Please let me know by Monday 4/23 if you want to be counted in the block.

Mama I'm coming home!!!

Did you sing Ozzy? Because I was.

Anywho... for all of you east coasters: I have a few visits to the boston area that you might want to put into your calendars.

5/18 to 5/20: I will be in Boston (Just me, not Z) for my brother's graduation from URI. We are very happy for him, although we all know that the weekend will still be all about me :)

6/1 to 6/3: I'll be in Rhinebeck, NY celebrating Michaela's graduation from Cornell Vet School (golf clap). I'll be arriving in NYC on Friday afternoon and will be back in NYC on Sunday. It's kind of a fly-by visit, but let me know if you'll be around.

9/13 to 9/16: Both of us will be there. The main purpose of the visit is Rosh Hashana, but we might be scheduling in a few wedding related events also. Details to come at a MUCH later date.

Congrats Em

One of my bridesmaids, Emily C, ran the Boston Marathon today.

I wish I could have been there. I'm so proud of you!












And like the wonderful friend that she is, Haley was there to root her on!

Weekend Debauchery

Meet Maria and Susie. They are going to be hosting my bachelorette party in Chicago the last weekend in July (we think). And really, could I trust such an event to anyone else?

We all went out on Saturday to celebrate Maria's 30th. Boy did we have fun. And by fun, I mean a LOT of vodka. Can you tell? And yes, we wore our Speedracer helmets all night :)

For Laughs

This has absolutely nothing to do with my wedding. But it's the funniest thing I've seen all day.

I'm a dork

I have a confession to make.

Today, I got into my car, drove to Staples, and purchased supplied to build a "Bride's Binder". It's got tabs, sheet protectors, I even bought a 3-hole puncher to keep things nice and pretty.

I was getting so into the organization process, it that my wonderful fiance decided to start cleaning and reorganizing the apartment. And he rearranged the configuration to turn our dinning room (that we never use) into an office. So now I have a Bride's Binder and a Bride's workstation :)

It's official: Save the Date

Get the Champagne glasses ready! We have selected a reception location, and have a wedding date.

Friday, October 26, 2007

The exact details are changing day by day, but we have settled on the basics:

• The ceremony will be held during the early afternoon (immediate family & attendants only... sorry).
  
• The reception will be held in the evening in the west loop, at a location to be disclosed later (some things get to be surprises)
• We will be reserving a hotel block for all of my out-of-towners. If you already know that (a) You are invited ;o) (b) You can come (c) You need a hotel room then (d) Let me know. I'll put aside a rough room count, but if you are going to be sharing rooms, or NOT sharing rooms, or whatever, that will obviously effect the count. These details do not need to be figured out now, I'm just letting you know just in case you wanted to start coordinating (Haley). I will be posting information about the hotel block once we get that info figured out.
  
• There will be fun things to do in the city all weekend long. Chicago is a beautiful city (and Zeke and I will be around all weekend) so please, stay as long as you'd like.
  

Get ready!!! This wedding is going to be FUN. (We're really excited, can you tell)

Zeke's Groomsmen

Since I'm splashing my friends all over this page, it's only fair for the boys to get equal treatment.

I'd like to introduce: The Groomsmen!





Meet Zeke's brother, Jon Zalinski. He will be acting as Zeke's best man. He lives out in Colorado with his awesome family. He's vowed to "Rearrange" his life for us. It's much appreciated!
















This is Cousin Jim. Cousin Jim has killer parties. And we all know how much I like a killer party.
















This is Nick. He and Zeke used to hang out a place called the Jub Jub Club. 'nuff said.













Photo Not Shown - Chad Fox. Bio to come if we ever get a photo.

Dates and Places

I've received a few request about hotels and dates.

We are incredibly close to picking a location... and once we have the location, we'll be able to confirm the date.

As of now, we want to have our wedding on a Friday in October. We're hoping for later in the month. But I'll be able to be specific by this weekend. So stay tuned.

As for hotels and such for the out of towners, I will be arranging for a block of rooms in a hotel downtown. I know that cost is important, so I will make sure not to reserve rooms at the ritz. But I haven't figured out where yet.. I'll let you know when decisions have been made.

That's it for now.... more to come on Thursday. xoxo

Strike a Pose!

So, today we met with our photographer-to-be. He was very cool, seemed very flexible, and is very talented. And best of all... he's available for our penciled in date!

His style is photojournalism - no posed shots here! Well, I'm sure there will be a few, but those can't be avoided. And he works with various photolabs around the city, so he can get some really cool stuff done after the final prints are selected. He showed us all of these beautiful bound books with gorgeous matting and EXORBITANTprice tags ($650... are you joking!) Did you know that you can get oversized coffee table books of our wedding? Yah. If any of you love us enough to want to see us every single day, staring at you from your table, let me know, maybe I can get you a price break if we order in advance. While some of the options are a bit over the top, there were also a few really great options, also classy, but much closer to our price point. We can get linen hard cover & bound 4" x 6" prints, that look like one of those old fashioned autograph books, but with prints.

We also talking a lot about all of the options around the city that we can use as photo shoot locations, and he works with a videographer so we can document the day in action and still. Very cool. We both started to get really worked up about the possibilities. It was a wonderful meeting and he's giving us quite a price break on his normal fee. And that makes it even more lovely.

Check out his website

It's crazy that this event is starting to take shape!

Meet the Bridal Party

Meet Emily Dunlop. She's my maid of honor. She lives in San Francisco. But she's coming in April to help me find the dress of my dreams.















You all know Ms. Haley Claflin. She's the unofficial mayor of Newton. And she's a kick ass party planner.

















This is Emily Cohen. She loves being in weddings. She had a bit of free time on her hands, so I figured that this would be the perfect side activity for her.

















My brother Mike. What would a party be without Big Mizz? I love him to pieces and I think he's going to be the prettiest Brides-man ever. Thanks for being a good sport Mikey.

The Engagement

The one thing I haven't been able to tell everyone is how it all went down.

Short Story:
It was sunset. He asked. I cried. I said yes.

Long Story:
We were enjoying day one of our cruise. Our first full day of the cruise was a Sea Day (no stops). The sun was out and our sun-deprived selves spend the entire early afternoon out on the pool deck (along with every other occupant of the ship). We drank fruity drinks. Made new friends. Got a little tan. By the time the sun started going down, we were both ready for a nap.

Within minutes of putting my head on the pillow, I was out. But my sneaky boyfriend avoided falling asleep somehow and crept out of our stateroom. When I woke up, there was a beautiful bouquet of daisies (my favorite), yellow and white roses on the bedside table. (Clue #1) While this would have been a clue to most women, my lovely boyfriend has spoiled me with flowers for no occasion before, so I didn't have a reason to suspect anything.

Dinner that evening required formal attire, so we dressed to the nines. As we finished dressing, Z mentioned that he wanted to see the sun set while we were at sea. (Clue #2) But of course, the spoiled New Englander in me thought "Of course my wonderful midwesterner boyfriend would want to see the sunset over the sea... It doesn't look that pretty setting on Lake Michigan".

When we got to the elevator bank to get to the sundeck, Z rushed back to the stateroom saying that he forgot something. For the first time, my heart skipped a beat. When he returned with a single red rose (which he NEVER does, clue #3), my heart skipped another few. For the first time, I had a feeling that something might be up. But how could I assume that an engagement was what he had up his sleeve!

When we got up the deck it was a bit windy, so not very many people were around. We went up to the top deck and headed towards the setting sun. It was so beautiful. We watched the sun set slowly standing by the railing, and as it approached the horizon, Z turned me towards him, and dropped to one knee.

From that point on is a bit of a haze. I know there was a diamond ring. And I know he said something about making me happy for the rest of my life. But I was too emotional (of course) to remember all of the details.

After he proposed, we made our way down to the dining room. I couldn't help but blurt out to everyone we saw "We just got engaged!" I didn't want people to think my tearstained cheeks were about anything but the happiest of news.

So that's that... That's the story.

We didn't know it yet, but the cruise was all about photo opps (which they would later try to sell you for a small fortune), so we were able to get a few great shots from moments after the engagement.

LOLA

One of our friends is a wedding planner, and she has been soooo helpful in pointing us in the right direction. Without her, we would be totally lost.

Check out her site. Lori is the LO of the LOLA.

My Ring

Since very few people live where I am, I wanted to show you my new favorite piece of jewelry. It's beautiful, looks perfect on my hand, and was a total surprise. Didn't Zeke do a good job?

Let the plan begin

The ring fits. The money is in the bank. Let the plans solidify!

Since I have so many people involved in the planning process, I'm opening up a blog to keep you all updated simultaneously. How wonderful technology can be. This way, when we chat, we can talk about something OTHER than the wedding. (unless you want to, of course).

First and foremost: we are so excited and grateful that there are so many people who are interested in the plans as they develop. This is a really special time, and it's absolutely fabulous to have so many willing listeners who don't mind my rants, emotional breakdowns, or excited recounts of the newest discovery.

Second: I change my mind every 17 seconds. So don't think anything is final until you see it in print. And when I say print, I mean on paper... not online :)

Third: comment away. You are all my network and your feedback is so important to me.

Finally: I am getting so excited about this wedding. While we had no idea that it was going to be so complicated, we are so happy to be able to have such a special day begin our life as husband and wife.