I bought my wedding dress!

Well, technically it's a bridesmaid's dress -- it seems to be impossible to find a knee-length wedding dress (let alone anything that's not strapless, sigh). It's from J.Crew, and it was actually the very first dress I saw online. I spent ages looking at other dresses but eventually decided that my first choice was the right one. Here's a link to the dress on their website: http://tinyurl.com/mtelk4 -- the color is "champagne". (I have to confess that I tried on the dress at J.Crew but bought it for a lot less on eBay...)

So why Santorini?

So, some may wonder, why, of all the places on Earth, did we choose Santorini?

I've actually been there once before, and always vowed to return someday. The sheer improbability of it — the brilliant-white cubist jumble of its terraced villages, its perfect blue domes, all forming a graceful arc one thousand feet above the dazzling blue Aegean — it all needs to be seen to be believed.

Traveling Greece with my good friend Bill was an unforgettable experience. Previously, we'd toured Morocco and Nova Scotia together and we were excited to head out on another adventure. Our friend Gigi, a Greek-American living in Athens, was a great host to us, and she gave us some great insider travel tips. (And she's helping Hillary and me with our upcoming trip, as well - thanks, G!) After a couple nights with Gigi in Athens, Bill land I left to set out on our own, first to tour the ruins at Delphi, then, on to the unfathomably precarious monasteries of Meteora, and then, finally, to the Cycladic islands of Mykonos, Naxos, and Santorini .

We pulled into Meteora, one of the most serene places on Earth, on September 11th, 2001. Like all Americans, we were thoroughly traumatized by the events we saw unfolding on the television screen of a local taverna where we'd stopped in for lunch after a quiet morning of touring. Desperately, we implored the concerned employees of the restaurant to interpret the news to us, which was unfolding in Greek.

By the time we pulled into Santorini a few days later, we were still recovering from the trauma. Being on vacation during the aftermath of a historic national tragedy is no fun. We felt so guilty being on holiday, and we considered cutting it short and returning home to help (how we did not know), but there were no flights to be had. How could we possibly allow ourselves to have fun under such circumstances? Amidst the stunning tableau of Santorini, the juxtaposition of our depressed states of mind made for a surreal few days. This isn't to say we didnt' have ANY fun, but there was certainly a pall cast over the trip.

On a lighter note, Bill and I soon learned that we'd landed in one of the Honeymoon Meccas of the world. Among all the smitten and smooching newlyweds gazing out at the otherworldly sunsets, we may have drawn more than a few quizzical looks. September 11th aside, I think we both vowed to return someday under more, um — romantic — conditions, and with lady traveling companions at that!

This is all to say that Bill and I both returned back to the States claiming an eventual Santorini "do-over."

I can't wait to return there to be married with Hillary. Not a bad "do-over," eh?

Perhaps it's fate that we'll end up being in Greece on September 11th, 2009. We're hoping that the fact that our wedding date is the same forwards as backwards ( 9-05-09) may trump any numerological danger that the looming 9-11-09 date may pose.

Honestly, if something bad happens AGAIN, we promise, we won't go back. What's that old saying? "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice....."

Getting married in Greece for dummies

My mom e-mailed me yesterday to say "did you know you can't just show up in Greece and get married?" (paraphrasing here) Yes. Yes, we do. There are documents to be procured, stamps to be stamped, translations to be made. As Matt on our favorite Greek travel website says, "Getting married in Greece requires some red tape and in Greece, any red tape is too much." We did have to make two trips to the Division of Vital Records on our two recent vacation days, but other than that it's been fairly painless. Our awesome wedding coordinator at Dana Villas is helping us make sure we have everything we need.

Here's what the U.S. Embassy in Athens has to say about getting married in Greece: http://athens.usembassy.gov/marriage.html

(And, in answer to Carl's dad's question, no, we will not be Greek citizens afterwards...)

So, first we got engaged

We got engaged in Paris, right here:



(At the tip of the Ile de la Cite, in the Pont Neuf area.)

While Carl was getting the ring out, he distracted me by telling me to take a photo of these ducks. The Pont Neuf bridge is in the background.



Here's another picture to put it in perspective - the tree in the first picture is in the lower left corner of this one:



After we got engaged, we celebrated by eating this macaroon:


(almost actual size)

Our two awesome engagement cakes

From Herb and Judy (Carl's dad and stepmom):



We were really impressed with this Eiffel Tower! I even love the little trees.

From Carl's Aunt Gloria and family:


From Lulu's, the amazing bakery in Scarsdale.

We would have gotten engaged much sooner if we had known there was going to be cake!